JavaScript

All apps created with Code On Time app generator contain a single client-side API used for all server-side operations, including Select, Insert, Update, Delete, Report, Batch Edit, etc. One significant advantage of using a centralized API is that any style of user interface is able to access the same API – this has allowed the co-development of Classic and Touch UI.

Another major advantage in the client-side API is that developers are able to extend their apps with custom behavior utilizing the same data access routines – any access control rules, data controller customizations, and security restrictions will also equally apply to these custom requests.

To access the client API from custom JavaScript, simply call the method $app.execute(options) with the required parameters set on the options object. See a list of available options parameters below.

The simplest way to test your queries is to use the Developer Tools Console, available in most modern browsers.

First, browse to your running site in your favorite browser. Press “F12” to bring up Developer Tools. Switch to the Console tab.

You may now begin typing in $app.execute() requests in the console. Note the use of console.log(result), which will print the JavaScript object to the console when the request returns.

The following examples will use the online Northwind sample.

Select

The simplest use case for using the API is to request a page of data. See the following example below on how to fetch the first 10 records from the Orders table where the field “ShipCountry” is equal to “USA”.

$app.execute({
    controller: 'Orders',
    pageSize: 10,
    filter: [
        { field: 'ShipCountry', operator: '=', value: 'USA' }
    ],
    done: function (result) {
        console.log(result);
    }
})

The result shown in the Developer Tools Console.

Insert

In order to insert records to a particular table, the request must specify the “Insert” command and a list of field values. This list is represented by the values property. Each field value object contains a field name. Values that will be assigned to the new record are stored in the field value’s newValue property. The primary key of the table is added as a field value object with the property value equal to null in order for the response to return the new primary key of the inserted record.

$app.execute({
    controller: 'Orders',
    command: 'Insert',
    values: [
        { name: 'OrderID', value: null },
        { name: 'ShipCity', newValue: 'San Diego' },
        { name: 'ShipCountry', newValue: 'USA' }
    ],
    done: function (result) {
        console.log(result);
    }
})

See the results below.

Refreshing the view in the browser window will reveal the new record.

Update

When performing operations on an existing record, either the primary key or an array of selected values must be specified. New field values must be specified in the newValue property.

$app.execute({
    controller: 'Orders',
    command: 'Update',
    values: [
        { name: 'OrderID', value: 11083 },
        { name: 'OrderDate', newValue: new Date() }
    ],
    done: function (result) {
        console.log(result);
    }
})

The result is shown below.

The result can be seen by refreshing the list of orders.

Delete

Delete operations must specify the primary key in the values array.

$app.execute({
    controller: 'Orders',
    command: 'Delete',
    values: [
        { name: 'OrderID', value: 11079 }
    ],
    done: function (result) {
        console.log(result);
    }
})

See result below.

The rowsAffected property will be equal to “1” if the record was successfully deleted.

Conditional visibility on data fields and categories allows hiding or showing page elements based on field values. View templates give the ability to define custom presentations. When a custom template is defined for the view, the client library is not able to determine which page elements should be displayed or hidden based on the conditional visibility expressions. As such, the creator of view templates must mark up the template in order to bind these expressions with the correct elements.

When the template has been correctly defined, data fields, categories, and even custom page elements will be able to displayed or hidden depending on field values. For example, a large label is displayed in the sample below when the order has been shipped past the required date.

Let’s use the create form for Orders in the Northwind sample database.

Arranging Data Fields into Categories

First, let’s rearrange the data fields into multiple categories, in order to control visibility of each category, instead of each individual data field. The user will only be able to enter shipping information if a shipped date is assigned.

Start the Project Designer. In the Project Explorer, switch to the Controllers tab. Right-click on “Orders / createForm1” view node, and press New Category.

Define the following settings:

$row.ShippedDate != null

Press OK to save the category. Next, drag data fields ShipVia, Freight, ShipName, ShipAddress, ShipCity, ShipRegion, ShipPostalCode, and ShipCountry into the new category.

Adding Data Field Visibility

Users should not be able to set the shipped date until the order date has been set. Let’s add a data field conditional visibility expression to ShippedDate data field.

Double-click on “Orders / Views / createForm1 / c1 – New Orders / ShippedDate” data field node.

Make the following change:

$row.OrderDate != null

Press OK to save the data field.

Adding the View Template

Let’s add a custom view template for editForm1 of Orders controller.

On the toolbar, press Develop to open the project in Visual Studio. In the Solution Explorer, right-click on the “WebSite” node and press “Add / New Folder”.

Give this new folder the name “Views”. Next, right-click on the folder and press “Add / HTML Page”.

Give this page the name “Orders.createForm1.html”. Replace the contents of the file with the following:

<div data-container="collapsible" data-header-text="New Order">
    <div data-container="row">
        <div data-control="description">Enter new order information below.</div>
    </div>
    <div data-container="row">
        <div data-control="label" data-field="CustomerID">CustomerID</div>
        <div data-control="field" data-field="CustomerID">CustomerID</div>
    </div>
    <div data-container="row">
        <div data-control="label" data-field="EmployeeID">EmployeeID</div>
        <div data-control="field" data-field="EmployeeID">EmployeeID</div>
    </div>
    <div data-container="row">
        <div data-control="label" data-field="OrderDate">OrderDate</div>
        <div data-control="field" data-field="OrderDate">OrderDate</div>
    </div>
    <div data-container="row">
        <div data-control="label" data-field="RequiredDate">RequiredDate</div>
        <div data-control="field" data-field="RequiredDate">RequiredDate</div>
    </div>
    <div data-container="row" data-visibility="f:ShippedDate">
        <div data-control="label" data-field="ShippedDate">ShippedDate</div>
        <div data-control="field" data-field="ShippedDate">ShippedDate</div>
    </div>
    <div data-container="row" data-visible-when="$row.RequiredDate < $row.ShippedDate">
        <h3 style="color:red">WARNING: THIS ORDER HAS BEEN SHIPPED LATE</h3>
    </div>
</div>
<div data-container="collapsible" data-header-text="Ship Info" data-visibility="c:c2">
    <div data-container="row">
        <div data-control="description">Enter shipping information below.</div>
    </div>
    <div data-container="row">
        <div data-control="label" data-field="ShipVia">ShipVia</div>
        <div data-control="field" data-field="ShipVia">ShipVia</div>
    </div>
    <div data-container="row">
        <div data-control="label" data-field="Freight">Freight</div>
        <div data-control="field" data-field="Freight">Freight</div>
    </div>
    <div data-container="row">
        <div data-control="label" data-field="ShipName">ShipName</div>
        <div data-control="field" data-field="ShipName">ShipName</div>
    </div>
    <div data-container="row">
        <div data-control="label" data-field="ShipAddress">ShipAddress</div>
        <div data-control="field" data-field="ShipAddress">ShipAddress</div>
    </div>
    <div data-container="row">
        <div data-control="label" data-field="ShipCity">ShipCity</div>
        <div data-control="field" data-field="ShipCity">ShipCity</div>
    </div>
    <div data-container="row">
        <div data-control="label" data-field="ShipRegion">ShipRegion</div>
        <div data-control="field" data-field="ShipRegion">ShipRegion</div>
    </div>
    <div data-container="row">
        <div data-control="label" data-field="ShipPostalCode">ShipPostalCode</div>
        <div data-control="field" data-field="ShipPostalCode">ShipPostalCode</div>
    </div>
    <div data-container="row">
        <div data-control="label" data-field="ShipCountry">ShipCountry</div>
        <div data-control="field" data-field="ShipCountry">ShipCountry</div>
    </div>
</div>

Notice that there are three highlighted pieces in the sample above.

The yellow highlight shows how to apply data field-level visibility to an element by using the attribute “data-visibility”, and setting the value to “f:” followed by the name of the field. This will inherit the visibility from the field “ShippedDate”.

The green highlight shows how to apply category-level visibility to an element. Use the attribute “data-visibility”, and set the value to “c:” followed by the category ID. The example will inherit visibility from the category “c2”.

The orange highlight shows how to use custom JavaScript expressions to set visibility. Use the attribute “data-visible-when”, and set the value to your JavaScript visibility expression.

Switch back to the browser, navigate to the Orders page, and create a new order. Notice that the OrderDate data field, custom header, and shipping category are hidden.

Enter a value for Order Date. Notice that the Shipped Date data field will appear.

Enter a value for Shipped Date. The Ship Info category will appear.

If the Shipped Date is after the Required Date, the warning text will appear.