IText

From FiFormsWiki

iText creates a simple, data-bound text input on a form. It is represented by the <iText /> element in FiForms XML.

Contents 1 XML iText 1.1 Dynamically Loading Data 2 PHP Implementation 2.1 Class Properties 2.2 Method Detail 2.2.1 Methods inherited from iInput 2.2.2 iText 2.2.2.1 Parameters 2.2.2.2 Examples 2.2.2.3 Returns

XML iText

The iText element and attributes are documented at http://xml.fiforms.org/schema/12/doc/FiForm.html#element_iText

The following example is a typical representation of iText in an XML form definition:

<iText field="FIRST_NAME" caption="Addressee's First Name" size="40"  />

Some of the most relevant attributes of this element include:

• field: The name of the field in the database
• caption: The field label on the form
• size: Width of the field, in characters
• maxlength: The maximum number of characters allowed
• default: default value
• readonly: Makes the field read-only if this attribute is set to "readonly"
• required: If yes, then a value is required in this field.

Regular Expression input validation and input/output mangling (see Input Processing with Regular Expressions).

• formatexp: Regular Expression used to validate input
• formaterror: Used with formatexp to provide sensible error messages.
• displaymatch: Regular Expression to match on converting from database value to displayed value
• displayformat: Value to replace with on converting from database value to displayed value
• inputmatch: Regular Expression to match on converting from displayed value to database value
• inputformat: Value to replace with on converting from displayed value to database value
• transform: Transform text to uppercase or lowercase

Dynamically Loading Data

The iText element can contain <loaddata /> and <depends /> elements for dynamically filling the data from the server using AJAX. For example, suppose you have a form to create a sales receipt. You have a dropdown box (iDBSelect)bound to a field named CATALOG_ID in the receipt form. Then you have an iText (or more perhaps iNumber) field bound to SALE_PRICE. You want the software to automatically update the sale price whenever an item is selected from the dropdown box. You would create the form something like this:

...

<iDBSelect caption="Catalog Item" field="CATALOG_ID" rowQuery="SELECT CATALOG_ID, CATALOG_DESC FROM catalog" />

<iText caption="Price" field="SALE_PRICE">
   <loaddata>get_price.xml</loaddata>
   <depends>CATALOG_ID</depends>
</iText>

...

Then, create the file get_price.xml in the reports folder (NOT the forms folder), like this:

<reportdef xmlns="http://xml.fiforms.org/FiForms/" version="1.1">
 <title>List Books by Category</title>
 <connect db="fiforms_sample" />
 <param name="CATALOG_ID" />
 <query>
   <sql>

     SELECT CATALOG_PRICE FROM catalog WHERE CATALOG_ID="%CATALOG_ID%"

   </sql>
 </query>
</reportdef>

PHP Implementation

The following information describes the internal PHP Implementation of the iText element. This information may be somewhat outdated--the best source of implementation details is the actual source code.

Class Properties

class iText extends iInput

$size	The size of the text input, echoed to the output as size="%size%". Default is 20.
$type	The type of text input. This is simply echoed to the output as type="%type%". Default is "text".

Properties inherited from iInput: $caption $currentRec $dbField $error $errorMsg $formatStr $formatStrRO $otherTags $readOnly $section $value $valueToSave

Method Detail

Methods inherited from iInput

• checkRO
• drawInput
• getValueToSave
• hide
• iInput
• throwError

iText

Constructs a new iText object.

Syntax: iText($dbField,$caption)

Parameters

$dbField - Name of bound database field

$caption - (optional) Field caption. If omitted, set to the dbField name.

Examples

Example

Declaring a simple iText on a form

  $frm->inputs[] = new iText('FName','First Name');

Returns

A new iText object