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Sunday, December 30, 2012Print Subscribe

Client-side business rules allow changing the value of a field without having to save it to the database. This way, the user can either approve the value, change it, or leave the original data intact.

Let’s add 7 days to the Order Date of an order when a user starts editing.

Start the Project Designer. In the Project Explorer, switch to the Controllers tab. Right-click on Orders / Business Rules node, and press New Business Rule.

Assign the following values:

Property	Value
Type	JavaScript
Command Name	Edit
Phase	After
Script	var d = [OrderDate]; if (this.dataView().get_isEditing() && d != null) { d.setDate(d.getUTCDate() + 7); d.setHours(0); [OrderDate] = d; }

The business rule will get the current date value of OrderDate, add 7 days, and assign the value.

Press OK to save. On the toolbar, press Browse. Navigate to the Orders page. Note the Order Date of a specific record.

Start editing the the record. The Order Date will be moved forward by 7 days from the original value.

If the user presses Cancel at this time, the Order Date will not be changed. If the user saves the record, the new value will be applied.

Labels: Application Builder, Business Rules/Logic, Designer, Web Application Generator

Sunday, December 30, 2012Print Subscribe

Exclude from Menu & Include In Menu

It is not necessary for all application pages to be visible in the navigation menu. These “system” pages may be accessed by a link from another page or a redirection via the Navigate action.

Exclude From Menu

Let’s exclude the Customer Demographics page from the navigation menu.

Start the Project Designer. In the Project Explorer, right-click on Customer Demographics page node, and press Exclude From Menu.

On the toolbar, press Browse. Notice that the Customer Demographics page is no longer present in the navigation menu.

The page may still be accessed by the URL ~/Pages/CustomerDemographics.aspx.

Include in Menu

Let’s restore the page to the navigation menu. Switch back to the Project Designer. Right-click on Customer Demographics node, and press Include in Menu.

The page will be included at the end of the menu. Let’s move it back to the original position. Drop Customer Demographics node on the right side of Categories node.

On the toolbar, press Browse. The Customer Demographics navigation menu item will have been restored.

Labels: Application Builder, Tips and Tricks, User Interface, Web Application Generator

Saturday, December 29, 2012Print Subscribe

Pre-selecting Fields for Update

When a user is performing a batch edit on several fields, they must check “update” boxes next to the fields that will be updated. These boxes are unchecked by default.

Let’s change the default state of the checkboxes to be enabled when the form loads.

Start the Project Designer. In the Project Explorer, switch to the Controllers tab. Right-click on Suppliers / Business Rules and press New Business Rule.

Use the following configuration:

Property	Value
Type	JavaScript
Command Name	Select
Command Argument	editForm1
Phase	After
Script	if (this.dataView().get_lastCommandName() == 'BatchEdit') { $('.DataView.Suppliers_editForm1 input:checkbox') .attr('checked', 'checked'); }

Press OK to save. On the toolbar, press Browse.

Navigate to the Suppliers page and check the box next to several rows. Press Batch Edit (Form) option in a row context menu.

When the form loads, all “update” checkboxes will be enabled.

Labels: Application Builder, User Interface, Web Application Generator