Hey all,

I'm trying to build a launch page in the HTML Composer (7.7.02) that uses one of the RIA themes. The controls look good and give the page a more web 2.x look but I can't seem to get them to behave in the HTML Composer!

For example, I placed on the page a panel. Inside the panel are three list-boxes that are chained together and set to be the same size. If I move or resize the panel list-boxes 2 and 3 lose their sizing! Why list-box #1 stays put I don't know. If I adjust the size of a button and then move it, the button size changes. It makes doing the page layout VERY frustrating and time consuming to say the least.

Now, I think I have found a way to work around this but it's still a pain in the you-know-what.
1) Place and size some controls
2) Save the page
3) Close the page
4) Refresh DevStudio view
5) Reopen page

By doing this I can get the previously positioned and sized controls to stay put, even if I move or resize the panel. Obviously, this isn't a sustainable working model!

It's like DevStudio has some sort of cache flow problem. If this keeps up I may have a problem with my cash flow!

Anybody else experience the same type of issues with the RIA controls? Have you found a better way to deal with this?

Thanks,

Dan

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dan Pinault,

Dan, have you put a case in with IBI ?

Any and all bugs should be pass back.

quote:

HTML Composer!

Quick search on the forum.

As Waz says, Cases, feed back, solutions.

Devlopers create tools, they do not use them.

I had not submitted a case at the time I posted my question. I wanted to see if anybody else had similar issues first. I have since submitted a case. I'll update the thread when I learn something new.

No update on the case yet but I did discover that controls that are resized by clicking and dragging with the mouse will retain their size when they are moved. Whereas controls that are resized by entering values in the properties section or by using the make same size/width/height buttons do not retain their size when moved.

Hi Dan,

My name is Minal Shah. I am a Techincial Specialist working for Business Intelligence Product Group at information Builders. I have been able to reproduce this same issue and I wanted to know the hottrack case number for this issue.

Thanks,
Minal Shah
Technical Specialist
Business Intelligence Products
Information Builders, Inc.
Email:Minal_Shah@ibi.com

Hi Minal,

The case # is 70732558.

Thanks!

Dan

quote:

A mind of their own

You've got that right!

Dan, have you experienced the fact that images suddenly disappear as well?

I am creating a Group box and within it I want 2 Radio button groups. The first of them is for the output format (which gets automatically added by the tool when the underlying .fex makes provision for user-selected format via &WFFMT). This controls uses by default some icons that HTML composer puts in there for me.

So, in the name of consistency, we want our secondary radio button group to have a set of "companion" images to serve as icons next to each radio button ... doing this in standard HTML composer is relatively easy (not necessarily painless) but with RIA, whenever I add an image I can see it in the designer, no problem. As soon as I do anything such as adding a new control or even resizing something all images get suddenly dropped from the page.

Bindows seems to be a great and decent Javascript framework but boxing it within HTML Composer looks like choking it

Per tech support, "This issue has been addressed with WebFOCUS Release 7702M HF 2. In addition,
the fix has been included with release 7.7.03."

It's been such a long time since I even attempted to work with the Bindows controls. Looks like we were on 7.7.02 when I first posted this. We're on 7.7.03 so I suppose I ought to see how much better they behave.

As I recall I had to approach the page layout in terms of containers. Every thing had to exist in some container even if that was just the document itself. I wouldn't even bother naming the controls until I had them in their final container. Moving a control from one container to another would cause it to be renamed for me. This is a big deal especially if you plan to add some javascript to the page.

(as a side note)
I wish there was a way to incorporate the WebFOCUS-specific objects in a 'standard' HTML page. Similar to the way the Flex Enable objects work. You use your favorite editor and if you want to use these controls here is what needs to be included. Sure you can do it all by hard coding your pages but I think the number of people out there that truly understand all the parameters and syntax of the WebFOCUS object are very few. I'm definitely not one of them

The components themselves work quite well but, as you say, the HTML Composer seems to choke the usability out of them. If I get the chance to play with the RIA stuff in the next few days I'll let you know if I find anything useful.

Cheers,

Dan