This page is is for application designers who need to create forms. It explains techniques for associating text with a data field, to label a field.
Overview
We can use data held in PhixFlow to set labels seen on our dashboards. Stream data can be used to:
- Setup the Dynamic Text Field Value
- Set the label on a Form Field (aka Data Fields)
- Set the Place Holder Text on a Form Field (aka Data Field)
For information about these components see Understanding Components and Layouts
For information about Binding Data to a form, also known as Backing Data, see Showing Data on a Screen.
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Setup the Dynamic Text Field Value
Dynamic text fields link to data by matching its name with the name of a Stream attribute that is bound to the form, or area, the dynamic text field resides on.
Worked example
Create a dashboard with a dynamic text field and back it with data (see Showing Data on a Screen for more detail)
The dashboard is backed by a stream called
Business.The dashboard contains a dynamic text field, its Name is set to
Name.- As the dynamic text field name matches the name of an attribute on the Business stream a link is created, and the name of the business is displayed.
Set the Label on a Form Field
When designing a dashboard we most often want the form fields to have a label to indicate what the data is. For example:
Data is stored in streams and displayed using views. Any form field associated to an attribute from either of these items will automatically use the name of the attribute as its label.
Creating Form Fields from a Stream or View
To set this up as follows:
Open a stream, or view.
Open the attributes section.
Drag one or more attributes onto a dashboard.
PhixFlow creates a form field based on the default component defined for your application, automatically associated the attribute with the form field and uses the attribute's name as the label.
Editing a Form Field Label
To change the default name of a form field:
Click on the form field, then click again to select the label.
In the properties window on the right, update the
Display Textto the desired value.Save your changes.
Manually Creating Form Fields
In the Screen's toolbar click the Palette button
.
Open the your desired palette e.g. Theme 2.1
Open the Labelled Fields section e.g.
Drag a labelled field onto your screen. Note, select a field that matches the type of data the attribute will display.
Provide a name when prompted.
Optional Steps
If you need your field to be backed by data it will need to be associated to an attribute on a stream.
Click on the broken link Icon.
Follow the wizard prompts.
Setting Place Holder Text
Place holder text can be used to display a message to communicate information to the user. The value can be set manually or set to match the form field label.
- Select the Form Field on the dashboard.
- In the properties window on the right:
- Type a value in the Place Holder Text field to manually set a value.
- Tick Use Field Name as Place Holder to use the name of the field as the place holder text.
- Type a value in the Place Holder Text field to manually set a value.
Advanced Editing
In addition to a label, you may want additional text below the field. For example you might want to add
- static text, to explain what the user can do.
- dynamic text that depends on selected data.
- In a basic components palette, such as Basic Components, drag a Static Text or Dynamic Text layout onto a form area.
Right-click the new field and select Find. In the layouts list, find the container for the fields and double-click it to open its properties.
In the Advanced section, the View Type is Field container. Expand the drop-down list and select the empty row. Save the container component. This "opens" the container so you can add more components to it.
- In the layouts list, shift-click and drag the new component into the container. PhixFlow moves your component to be a child of the container component.
Important: Open the field container properties again and reset Advanced →View Type to Field container. All child components are now contained within the parent, which is also a composite component.