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Completing the HTML tab

 About HTML Property rules

For non-auto-generated controls, you can enter HTML source directly into the HTML Source text area. Alternatively, click the pencil icon (Pencil) to open your HTML editor.

SR-2666 B-18786 No Save prompt

Field

Description
Omit extra Spaces?

Select to eliminate extra space characters in the processed HTML. This can make transmission or processing more efficient. Is does not alter the appearance of the HTML when displayed in a browser.

When selected, during stream processing the system:

  • Deletes control characters such as tab and newline.
  • Replaces two or more consecutive space characters with a single space, except within the curly brace characters defining directives.

Stream processing always copies space characters within the text of a property value, non-breaking spaces ( ) and space characters within a literal directive into the processed HTML without change.
Property Type

Optional. If this control rule is a likely choice for presenting a field on a work object form or flow action form, you can select a type or ALL in this field.

Your choice helps a developer — while working on a harness, section, or flow action rule — select an alternate HTML format for a property that is best suited to the application need. This value acts only as a filter; it does not prevent this Control rule from being referenced by any property rule. (The Double type is not an option for this field.) SO WHAT DO YOU DO to present a DOUBLE?

If not blank, the name and two previews (read-write mode and read-only) of this control rule appear on the pop-up list accessed by the magnifying glass button (magnifying glass) on the Cell Properties panel, for Harness, Section, and Flow Action forms (in the SmartFrames format). For example, if the property type is a Date or DateTime, see Harness, Section, and Flow Action forms — Fields — Adding a Date control. MELLJ 5/25/05 Q-2176

Advanced featureThis field is intentionally blank on few standard control rules including AutoComplete, ListToList, and Chart that are never intended to be associated with a single property on the Property form. These special control rules support advanced features available from the Layout tabs of the Harness and Section form and the Format tab of the Flow Action form.
Display

Optional. If this Control rule is a likely choice for presenting a field on a work object form or flow action form, you can select a format here. Your choice helps a developer — while working on a harness, section, or flow action rule — select an alternate HTML format for a property that is best suited to the application need. This acts only as a filter; it does not prevent this Control rule from being referenced by any property rule:

  • Select Input Field if the field is likely to be presented by an HTML element <INPUT TYPE = "INPUT" ...>
  • Similarly, select Select if the field can be represented by an HTML selection list, corresponding to the element <HTML INPUT TYPE="SELECT" ...>
  • Select Radio Button or Text Area if the corresponding HTML elements are likely to apply.

If not blank, the name of this Control rule appears on the pop-up lists accessed by the magnifying glass on the Field panel, for Harness, Section, and Flow Action forms (in the SmartFrames format only). Q-2176 MELLJ 5/25/05

INPUT element

When you use an INPUT element for a text box, checkbox, selection box or text area in the HTML text of a Control rule, use this JSP syntax: ERNSG 3/13/06 B-18347

<INPUT name=""<pega:reference name=""$this-name"" />""

(When using directives, you can omit the NAME attribute and its value. The system determines the NAME and value from the property rule that references your Control rule.)
Generate For

This field and the Convert to JSP button appear only when the rule contains HTML directives rather than JSP tags. The value that appears is HTML.

TipAs a best practice, use JSP tags rather than directives. In most cases, you can convert Control rules that use directives to JSP tags automatically, using the button.

Control rules that accept parameters must use JSP tags. See Converting from directives to JavaServer Page tags.

NoteIf this rule is circumstance-qualified or time-qualified, make this Generate For value match the Generate For value of the base rule. The base rule and the qualified rules must all use JSP tags or all use directives. B-20380

NoteDo not save the rule form when the source contains both JSP tags and directives.
Auto-generated?

added V6.1 sp2 proj428xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx When selected, Process Commander generates HTML text for the control based on information in the Control tab. Standard Process Commander auto-generated rules have this checkbox selected by default. If you deselect this checkbox, the system conceals the Control tab and displays the Parameters tab.

Do not deselect this checkbox in auto-generated rule forms. Doing so disables access to the control setting dialog from the Control Cell properties panel in a section or harness.

To create a new control, deselect this checkbox. When working with non-auto-generated controls, avoid hand-edited HTML when other approaches can achieve the same result. As a best practice, use the Rule Security Analyzer to detect and correct for security vulnerabilities.
Browser Support

SmartPrompt5.4 PROJ-954 Indicate which browsers and versions can display the JSP or HTML from this rule. Process Commander does not validate your code. You must ensure that your code can be displayed across the browsers that you specify in this field: either IE6+ only or IE 6+, Firefox 2+ and Safari 3+.6.1

The Browser Compatibility Report in the Application Preflight tool checks this value to determine what percentage of the rules in your application provides cross-browser support.
Accessibility

SmartPromptSelect On to indicate that you have designed and implemented your HTML to meet your accessibility requirements.

NoteThe Application Preflight tool evaluates this field on each rule in an application that displays it, when calculating application accessibility levels for the preflight Accessibility Report. See Using the Application Preflight tool.PROJ-901 5.4
HTML Source

Non-auto-generated controls only. Enter the HTML, script, or CSS text. The text can include JSP tags or directives, but not both.

If this control rule is to support parameters entered on the Parameters tab, use only JSP tags and set the Generate For field to JSP. C-2281 C-2282

JavaServer Page tags

Tip Use of JSP tags in control rules offers superior performance and other advantages over directives. Although both directives and JSP tags are supported, JSP tags are recommended for new development. Conversion of existing Control rules that use directives to functionally equivalent rules that use JSP tags is straightforward.

Inline Java and access to parameter values

Use the <% and %> delimiters to insert inline Java code (a scriptlet) in the HTML. Within the code, use Java syntax similar to the following to obtain the runtime value of a parameter from the parameter page, where MyType is defined on the Parameters tab):

<%
String MyTypeParam = tools.getParamValue("MyType")
...
%>

For additional examples, review the Java code in the standard control rule named Decimal.

Including JavaScript function definitions

See More about Control rules.
Convert to JSP

This button appears only after you save the form when the Generate For value is HTML and this rule is created by a Save As operation. See Converting from directives to JavaServer Page tags.

Tips

TipUse the <pega:when > JSP tag to conditionalize the HTML for a property based on the mode (display or read-only mode versus read-write mode).or equivalently the When directive

To detect review mode, use:

<pega:when test="!$mode-input">
   <!-- display stuff here -->
</pega:when >

Useful JSP tags

These tags are used often. Don't forget to include the closing elements.

JSP tag

Result

<pega:when test="!$mode-input"> ...
</pega:when>

Read-only mode.

<pega:when test="$this:isBad">
...
</pega:when>

Error on this element.

<pega:reference
    name="$this-value" />

Value of the active property.

Example

This example causes the output HTML to display a read-only value if the property value appears in read-only mode, or a select box with three choices if the property appears in read-write mode.

<pega:when test="$mode-display" >
   <pega:reference name="$this-value" />
</pega:when>
<pega:when test="mode-input" >
<SELECT >
   <OPTION VALUE="Best">Best</OPTION>
   <OPTION VALUE="Replaced">Replaced</OPTION>
   <OPTION VALUE="Obsolete">Obsolete</OPTION>
</SELECT>
</pega:when >

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