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Sunday, April 15, 2018PrintSubscribe
Overview of Data Views

Data views are instances of a data controller. Data views render views of the data controller on the page, along with corresponding data controller action groups. The same data controller can be exposed with data views on the same or multiple application pages.

Data View Properties:

Property Description
Activator Specifies the user interface element that will activate the data view. The available options are Tab, Side Bar Task, and Site Action.
Auto Hide Specifies which user interface element is hidden when the filter value is empty.
Auto Highlight First Row Specifies that the first row will be highlighted when the view loads.
Auto Select First Row Specifies that the first row will be selected in the form of the master data view.
CSS Class Name Assigns a CSS Class to the div that contains the data view.
Command Argument Specifies an argument for the startup command.
Command Name Specifies a command that will be executed when the data view is loaded.
Filter Field #1-#5 Determines which fields in the child data view are filtered by the values of the primary key fields in the master data view.
Filter Source Determines the master data view.
Id The Id is automatically assigned when the data view is created. It can be changed using the Rename context menu option in the Project Explorer.
Page Specifies which page the data view belongs to.
Refresh Interval Specifies how many seconds will pass before the data view is refreshed. When empty, the data view will not refresh automatically.
Roles Controls which user roles are allowed to see the data view on the page.
Page Size Determines how many rows are displayed in the grid.
Search by First Letter Displays a menu of first letters of values in the first column at the top of the data view for quick filtering.
Search On Start Specifies that no records will be retrieved and the advanced search bar will be opened when the page loads.
Selection Mode Specifies single or multiple row selection mode in the data view.
Sequence Provides sequential index for the data view. Data views and controls are rendered within a container in the order of the index when available.
Show In Summary Controls if the select data fields of the current row are displayed in the summary box on the side bar.
Show Action Bar Determines the visibility of the action bar.
Show Action Buttons Determines the location of the action buttons in form views.
Show Details in List Mode Indicates if detail data views are visible when a master data row is selected in the grid view.
Show Modal Forms Specifies that the form views of the child data views are displayed in modal windows.
Show Page Size Determines the visibility of the page size information in the pager.
Show Pager Determines the visibility of the whole pager bar at the bottom of the data view.
Show “Quick Find Controls the visibility of the Quick Find box.
Show Row Number Displays a logical sequence number next to each row.
Show Search Bar Controls the visibility of the Advanced Search Bar.
Show View Description Determines the visibility of the description text above the data view.
Show View Selector Controls the visibility of the view selector in the top right corner of the data view.
Tag Assigns a tag to the controller to use in custom business rules.
Text Specifies the text displayed in the activator.
Visible When Specifies a JavaScript expression that must evaluate as true for the data view to be visible.

Supported Tags:

Tag Description
action-buttons-none Equivalent to setting Show Action Buttons= “None”
calendar-drag-disabled Calendar events will not be draggable.
calendar-mini-disabled Mini calendar in the sidebar will not be rendered.
calendar-mini-twomonths Mini calendar in the sidebar will show two months.
content-stub-none Disables the spacer at the bottom of the form.
grid-fit-none Automatic grid shrinking to fit available space will be disabled. Grid will be sized according to “Columns” defined on data fields.
header-image-none Disables the display of images in the header area.
header-image-original Form header background will use original blob, instead of thumbnail.
inline-editing Inline editing mode is enabled by default.
inline-editing-none Inline editing mode is disabled by default.
inline-editing-option-none Disables the inline editing toggle in the view selector.
modal-always Always render form as a modal.
modal-buttons-fullscreen-none Disables the “fullscreen” icon.
modal-buttons-more-none Disables the “more” icon.
modal-dock-top
modal-dock-left
modal-dock-right
modal-dock-bottom
Docks the modal window to the specified side of the window.
modal-fit-content Shrink the modal to fit the content. These modals will begin stacking, instead of sliding from the right.
modal-auto-grow Automatically resize the modal when field values change. Used in combination with modal-fit-content.
modal-max-tn
modal-max-xxs
modal-max-xs
modal-max-sm
modal-max-md
modal-max-lg
modal-max-xl
modal-max-xxl
modal-max-any
The max width of the modal will be restricted to the selected logical size.
modal-never Never render form as a modal.
modal-fullscreen Modal will always start in "maximized" mode.
modal-tap-out Closes the modal form if the user taps outside the modal area.
modal-title-none Disables the modal title bar.
modal-when-tn
modal-when-xxs
modal-when-xs
modal-when-sm
modal-when-md
modal-when-lg
modal-when-xl
modal-when-xxl
Will begin rendering the form as modal if the screen is at least the specified logical size. Default is “md”.
multi-select-none User will not be able to enable multi-select on the data view.
page-header-none Disables the page header displayed above the form
promo-none Disables “promo” button.
search-on-start-simple When Search On Start is enabled and this tag is added, the simple search will be displayed when the page is loaded.
search-suggestions-none Disables search suggestions displayed on Quick Find.
thumb-person Image fields will be rendered in a circle.
thumb-standard Image fields will be rendered square.
view-style-grid
view-style-list
view-style-cards
view-style-map
view-style-calendar
view-style-charts
The view will switch to this presentation style when the page is loaded.
view-style-grid-disabled
view-style-list-disabled
view-style-cards-disabled
view-style-map-disabled
view-style-calendar-disabled
view-style-charts-disabled
The view will not offer this presentation style.

Use tags to apply an icon to a data view.

Learn to work with data views in the Project Designer.

Learn to drag and drop data views in the Project Explorer.

Common tasks:

Task Description
"Soft" Filtering Learn to activate optional filters on a data view based on a condition.
Customizing the Search Bar Learn to control the fields available for search in the Advanced Search Bar.
Monday, April 9, 2018PrintSubscribe
Changing Field Values Via JavaScript Business Rules

Some form of validation is required in every application to help the user insert the correct data. Applications created with Code On Time app generator offer validation in the form of business rules.

Validating the Last Name field of the New Employees form.

Let’s add validation business rules the Employees controller of our sample Northwind app.

Open the Project Designer. In the Solution Explorer, switch to the Controllers tab, right-click on Employees / Business Rules node, and press New Business Rule.

Creating a new business rule on Employees controller.

Specify the following:

Property Value
Type JavaScript
Command Name Insert
Phase Before
Script
if ($row.LastName == 'Smith') {
    this.preventDefault();
    $row.LastName = null;
}

The above script will run when the user presses Save. It will check if the user has specified a Last Name of “Smith” – if so, it will cancel the save operation and clear the field.

Save the new business rule. On the toolbar, press Browse to run the app. Navigate to the Employees page and create a new record.

Creating a new employee with Last Name of "Smith".

Enter values for the employee and press Save. The save operation will not be executed, and the Last Name field will be cleared.

The Last Name field has been cleared.

Our business rule does ensure the user does not enter an incorrect value, but it does not make it clear to the user what is going on. We will want to add some feedback in the form of a message box to help the user understand.

Change the business rule as shown below:

if ($row.LastName == 'Smith') {
    this.preventDefault();
    // show message box
    $app.alert('Last Name "Smith" is not allowed.').done(function () {
        // update field value to null
        $app.input.execute({
            values: [
                { name: 'LastName', value: null }
            ]
        });
        // focus on the field
        $app.input.focus({ fieldName: 'LastName' });
    });
}

Our updated business rule has a few changes. Notice that the $app.alert function is used to display a message to the user. However, this alert will show a different form and change the current context. Attempting to update the field LastName after an alert is displayed will attempt to update a LastName field inside the alert form – which does not exist. Therefore, a done handler will need to be added to the $app.alert method call in order to execute code after the user closes the alert.

One more point to notice is that the $row variable is only in scope during the execution of the business rule. The asynchronous code in the done handler is executed when $row is out of scope. Therefore, it is necessary to use the $app.input.execute API to update the field values when the user returns to the Employees create form. The execute method accepts an object with the property values that contains a list of key value pairs. The $app.input.focus API is called in order to focus on a field called LastName as well.

Save the business rule and regenerate the project. Create a new employee with the last name of “Smith” and attempt to save. Notice that a message box now notifies the user that the last name is not allowed.

Alert message box is displayed to the user.

Press OK to close the message box. The Last Name field has been cleared and is currently focused.

The last name field is cleared and focused.

There are other ways of displaying a message to the user without interrupting the workflow. Let’s try the following:

if ($row.LastName == 'Smith') {
    this.preventDefault();
    $row.LastName = null;
    // focus and show message next to field
    this.result.focus('LastName', 'Last Name "Smith" is not allowed.');
}

The example above will clear the field, and use the result.focus() method to focus on the field, and display a message next to the input. The result can be seen below.

Focus message displayed next to the LastName field.

Another technique is to use the notification API to display a transient message to the user at the bottom of the screen.

if ($row.LastName == 'Smith') {
    this.preventDefault();
    $row.LastName = null;
    this.result.focus('LastName');
    $app.touch.notify('Last Name "Smith" is not allowed.');
}

The result can be seen below:

image

The notification will disappear after a default of 2 seconds.

Saturday, September 2, 2017PrintSubscribe
CMS (Site Content) Configuration

Applications created with Code On Time may be configured to have a built-in CMS (Content Management System). The purpose of the CMS is to store runtime configuration of an application, which can include:

  • Dynamic HTML pages
  • Images
  • Documents
  • Scripts
  • Dynamic Access Control Rules
  • Data Controller Customization
  • Sitemaps
  • OAuth registrations
  • Workflow registrations
  • Etc…

The CMS data requires a database table called SiteContent (or SITE_CONTENT, site_content). Application generator provides a built-in facility to install the required table in the project database. Follow the instructions below to install the CMS into new or existing projects.

On the home page of the app generator, click on the project name. Select “Settings”, then press “Database Connection”. Tap the “…” button next to the Connection String input.

Opening the connection string settings.,

Under “Membership” section, press the “Add” button.

Adding membership.

Under the “Content Management System”,  press the “Add” button.

Adding the Content Management System tables.

Confirm the installation to add the required table to your database. Once complete, press “OK” to save the connection string, and press “Finish” to skip to the “Summary” page.

It is necessary to refresh the project to ensure the new pages and controllers are present. Press “Refresh”, and confirm.

Refreshing the project.

Upon completion, proceed to regenerate the app. A new page called “Site Content” will now be available to the admin account or any other user with the role “Administrators”.

Site Content page is now available to administrators.