I like to do a HTML Form from Layout HTML with drop down, these chain one by one.... To fill first and that this fills the second and and thus consecutively

Can anyone help me??
Thank a lot!!!!
Regards

Take a look on this link,

https://forums.informationbuilders.com/eve/forums/a/...951098431#1951098431

hope this helps

Alanocturna (or shall we call you Mr Lobito?)

Chaining drop downs within resource layout painter is fairly easy to achieve, you just select the drop downs one by one (in order) and then click on the "chain" icon on the bottom control bar. Make sure that the small number icons attached to each combo box is in the required order.

I will add more to this explanation when I get home tonight as I have a written small text file that explains how the ibirls.js module dynamically builds the SELECT boxes within your HTML page.

Hold tight and watch this space!!

T

Alanocturna,

As I mentioned above, chaining drop downs within resource layout painter is fairly easy to achieve, you just select the drop downs one by one (in order) and then click on the "chain" icon on the bottom control bar.

Understanding how they work via the ibirls.js JavaScript module is something a little harder to follow and something that most Forum members have probably not ventured far into.

To understand how the JS works you must first understand that, although there are "standard" attributes for various HTML tags, you can actually define your own. For instance - Most tags normally have "name" and "id" associated with them, together with "style" etc. but IB use extras such as "operation", "datafield", "dispfield", "datasource" and so on.

Each one of these has a particular use within the JS and understanding each could help us all to achieve greater results within our UIs.

Here are some of the useful ones and what they mean (roughly) from a SELECT tag -

name

This is used as the variable name internally within your Fex.

elementname

Used by the JS to identify groups of tag types so that a loop through document.all is not required.

elementtype

Similar to elementname.

addalloption

Set to "1" to add an option to you select box for everything or "0" to not .....

dynalldisplayvalue

If "addalloption" is set to "1" then this is displayed in the select as the displayed text.

inchainindex

If not set to "-1" then this indicates the order (and priority) within the chain that the select will be populated.

chainnumber

The number of the chain within which this tag belongs.

displayfield

When the datasource is "typeMas" this depicts the field (column) that is used to populate the displayed values within the option list.

datafield

When the datasource is "typeMas" this depicts the field (column) that is used to populate the data values within the option list.

numofrecords

You can use this to restrict the number of records returned when populating the select boxes. Just think of it as supplying a value for RECORDLIMIT (which is exactly how it is used (lol).

sourcetype

The type of the data source from which the data will be derived. "typeMas" for a master file description, "typeFex" for a Fex. When using a fex, the output must be "PCHOLD FORMAT XML".

datasource

The data source item, for "typeMas" this must be a master file description, or a Fex for "typeFex". The value must represent an existing file within the APP Path.

##### This one is very useful #####
operation

Normally set to "NONE" but can be "AND" or "OR" and controls the way the variables are added to the form execution line for multiple selects. Using "NONE" gives the more common suffixed variables such as &Car, &Car0, &Car1, &Car2 etc. but using one of the other values will produce your single variable with the value "value OR value OR value....." thereby negating the requirement to interpret the multiple variables into an IN list etc.

datafieldtype

Set to "INTIGER" if your variable is numeric e.g. (1 OR 2 OR 3 ....) or "CHAR" if alphanumeric e.g. ('1' OR '2' OR '3' ....).

IBIC_server

I bet that you will never guess this!! (lol)

IBIAPP_app

Yet another conumdrum for you to guess the usage of!! (rofl)

##########################

(edited as I noticed a mistake)

One thing to remember is that each subsequent chain member must use an MFD that contains the field used in the "datafield" attribute from all the first chain member. This is because the XML that is built to populate the combo box is derived by building an AdHoc fex along the lines of (i.e. for chain member 5) -

TABLE FILE filename
SUM FST.displayfield[5]
BY datafield[5]
WHERE datafield[0] EQ datafield[0].value
ON TABLE PCHOLD FORMAT XML
END

As far as I can tell the chaining is not supported when using "typeFex" (except when as the first member of the chain)? Unless anyone else knows different? Guess what, I have been corrected - Thanks Robert!!!

Hope this helps some of you.

T

p.s. As I find that some of my comments are wrong () then I will edit this post accordingly.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Tony A,

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Ok, a small expansion on the above, using the same example (i.e. 6 chained combo boxes - 0 to 5 - with the ALL option on each combo). This applies when datasource="typeMas".

When you change the selection on chain member 0, each subsequent member will be changed as follows -

TABLE FILE filename
SUM FST.displayfield[n]
BY datafield[n]
WHERE datafield[0] EQ datafield[0].value
ON TABLE PCHOLD FORMAT XML
END

Where [n] is 1 through 5 for each chain member.

When you change the selection on chain member 1 (onwards), each subsequent member will be changed as follows -

TABLE FILE filename
SUM FST.displayfield[n]
BY datafield[n]
WHERE datafield[0] EQ datafield[0].value
AND datafield[1] EQ datafield[1].value
ON TABLE PCHOLD FORMAT XML
END

Where [n] is 2 through 5 for each chain member.

If you do not set the ALL option on each combo, then the subsequent extracts will include a selection on each of the preceding combo box value -

TABLE FILE filename
SUM FST.displayfield[3]
BY datafield[3]
WHERE datafield[0] EQ datafield[0].value
AND datafield[1] EQ datafield[1].value
AND datafield[2] EQ datafield[2].value
ON TABLE PCHOLD FORMAT XML
END

Well, hopefully that will be slightly clearer than mud?

T

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Tony A,

Thanks a lot and OK I am Mr Lobito Tony!!!!

Regards!!!