Flow Action form
Completing the HTML tab

Field

Description

Select:

• Reference HTML to use an HTML rule that defines the presentation.
• Define Form to record the source HTML directly in this rule using open authoring, or to have the system generate the HTML from the Form tab.
• Reference Section to use a section rule that defines the presentation. This approach is often suitable to present an embedded list view to users. See How to present a list view display within a section.
• No HTML to indicate that this connector flow action requires no user input.

This field appears when you choose Reference HTML in the previous field.

Enter the second key part — Stream Name — of an HTML rule that defines what appears when a user at runtime selects this flow action from a Perform harness form. The system uses the Applies To key part of this flow action as the first key part of the needed HTML rule.

If this flow action doesn't require users to read or complete any fields, you can identify an HTML rule that doesn't contain any fields. The standard flow action Work-.ActionNoFields meets this need.

This field appears when you choose Reference Section in the previous field.

Enter the second key part — Enter the second key part — Stream Name — of a section rule that defines what appears when a user at runtime selects this flow action from a Perform harness form. The system uses the Applies To key part of this flow action as the first key part of the needed HTML rule.

If you selected Define Form in the HTML Generation field, select this box to cause Process Commander to generate a skeleton HTML fragment in the HTML Source text area when you save this form. The system derives the HTML from information in the Form tab.

This provides a working form and a starting point for HTML authoring.

Clear this box to prevent later auto-generation (which overwrites any changes you made). A warning message appears when you save the form.

Hand-edited HTML in flow actions can introduce complex, difficult-to-debug processing into your application. Clear this box only when necessary. Following the SmartBuild guardrails, avoid hand-edited HTML in flow actions when other approaches can achieve the same result. For more information on guardrails, see the PDN.

Select to specify that Process Commander is to generate portlet-compliant HTML that can be displayed by a portal server. Portlet-compliant HTML meets the requirements of Java Specification Request 168, which defines the portlet standard.

A portlet-compliant section form can be sent to an external portal server through Service Portlet rules and displayed in a portlet window.

This check box appears only when you select Define Form in the HTML Generation field.

Only auto-generated flow actions are portlet-compliant. You can't select the Portlet compliant? check box unless the Auto-generated HTML? check box is selected.

Select to cause your application to immediately validate the format of user input to dates, integers, and other fields within the browser window when focus leaves the form field, before a user submits the form.

This check box affects the input of many dates, times, text areas, and selected other properties, depending on the HTML Property rule associated with the property at runtime. See client-side format validation.

This feature operates best for those Flow Action forms that use the SmartFrames version of the Form  tab and use only JSP tags, no directives.

Select to enable client-side format validation here for this flow action form. A similar check box on the HTML tab of the Harness form enables client-side format validation for the rest of the work object form, exclude the Take Action area.

As a best practice, check when users are to enter dates, times, integers, or text through typing rather than through selection. Workstation-level validation can detect and mark invalid input earlier, and may consume less network traffic and bandwidth. Do not select if the flow action form contains only check boxes, selection lists, combo boxes, and other input widgets that do not require typing.

Standard client-side validation scripts are in the text file rule webwb.CSValid.js; the corresponding error messages are in the HTML fragment rule CSValid to allow for localization. You can add custom client-side validation scripts or error messages on an application-wide by overriding the HTML fragment rule UserWorkForm, which is included in the fragment WorkFormStandard, which in turn is included in the HTML code for every work object form.

Select to enable automatic update of the display of certain computed property values on the flow action area of the work object form. For example, the flow action runtime form may contain a total that sums values entered into an array.

You can enable this if the flow action form:

• Displays one or more properties computed by Declare Expression rules using forward chaining.
• Allows users to input another property value that affects the computed property.

Computation begins when user focus leaves the input field for a source property. The workstation transmits the input value to the Process Commander server (using Asynchronous JavaScript and XML or AJAX), which applies the declarative rules and sends the results back for display. Only a portion of the form is redisplayed. Results may include a message indicating that a constraint was not met.

For Declare Expression rules, both the input property or properties and the computed or target property must appear on the flow action form, not elsewhere on a work object form. See More about Declare Expression rules.

A similar but separate check box appears on the HTML tab of the Harness form; that field controls automatic expression calculation in areas of the work object form other than the Take Action area.

Select to indicate that at runtime, presentation of this harness rule is localized based on field value rules in a language-specific RuleSet.

For each locale, field value rules in a language-specific RuleSet support runtime presentation of this section. Typically, use the Localization wizard and the Rules Inspector tool to identify, create, and maintain these field value rules. See:

• Internationalization and localization — Concepts and terms
  
• About the Localization wizard
• Localizing forms and reports with the Field Value Inspector

This check box is available only when Auto Generated HTML? is selected and Generate For is set to JSP.

When selected, the generated HTML calls the PublicAPI Java function getLocalizedTextForString() to convert text in the pyCaption, pyButtonLabel, pyActionLabel, pyActionPrompt, and other properties to a locale-specific value.

This field is available when Auto-Generated HTML? is not selected.

Select ON to indicate that you have designed and implemented your HTML to meet your accessibility requirements.

The rule is included in the Preflight Accessibility Report. See Using the Application Preflight tool.

Indicate which browser types can correctly process the HTML code from this rule.

When you specify that the code is to be auto-generated, Process Commander includes only those tags that can be displayed across browser types, the value of this field is set to IE6+ and FireFox2+, and the value is read-only.

If you edit the generated code or manually provide the code for the rule, you specify the browser types that can display it. When you do not use auto-generated code, Process Commander does not validate your code. You must determine that it can be displayed across the browser types you specify.

The Browser Compatibility Report in the Preflight tool uses this field to determine what percentage of the rules in your application provide cross-browser support.

Upgrade note: If your application includes auto-generated harness rules that you created in a version prior to V5.4 that include only sections and properties where the value of this field is set to IE6+ and FireFox2+, open and resave such section rules in V5.4 to have this field correctly reflect the setting.

If you selected Define Form, edit the source HTML text in this text area, or click the pencil icon () to start your HTML editor. Create an HTML source code that defines the runtime presentation of this flow action. When you exit from the editor, the HTML text appears in the text area. Remember to save this rule.

Your HTML can reference standard styles and can define and reference custom styles.

This field is not visible when the form is presented in read-only format, unless the Auto-Generated HTML? box is selected.

If you selected Reference Section, enter the second key part (Stream Name) of a section rule that defines what appears when a user at runtime selects this flow action from a Perform harness form. The system uses the Applies To key part of this flow action as the first key part of the needed section rule.

The HTML rule can reference standard styles and can define and reference custom styles.