Field, button, and nested panel properties

Data source

Displays the path to the entity in the data model. The binding icon indicates the binding state.

Caption

You can specify the following properties for the field caption:

Text:

Specifies the caption text. The caption text cannot be blank. You can edit the text and add rich text formatting (RTF).

Select font type :

Displays the font name for the selected text.

Select font size :

Displays the font size for the selected text.

Bold :

Applies or removes bold formatting to selected text.

Italic :

Applies or removes italic formatting to selected text.

Underline :

Applies or removes underline formatting to selected text.

Color :

Applies a color to the selected text. You can select a color from the color picker or type the hexadecimal value for the color.

Left align :

Aligns text to the left.

Center align :

Aligns text to the center.

Right align :

Aligns text to the right.

Spread justify :

Justifies the text.

Bullets :

Creates a bulleted list.

Remove rich content settings while retaining the text :

Removes RTF but preserves the text. It also removes any image that may have been associated with the field.

Link to:

Specifies the URL for a link. The URL can use an absolute or a relative path. When the Guide filler clicks a link, the linked content appears in a separate browser window.

Show/Hide image settings :

Shows or hides the following image settings:

• Image: Specifies the URL for an image file. You can specify a URL to an image, or you can select an image file that is in your application. To remove the URL for an image, click the Remove button.

  • Position: Specifies the image position.

  • Width: Specifies the image width.

  • Horizontal pad: Specifies horizontal padding for the image.

  • Height: Specifies the image height.

  • Vertical pad: Specifies vertical padding for the image.

  • Scaling: When selected, maintains the aspect ratio.

Position:

Specifies where the caption is located relative to the field. Select one of the following caption positions:

• Left: Specifies that the caption appears on the left of the field.

• Right: Specifies that the caption appears on the right of the field.

• Top: Specifies that the caption appears on the top of the field.

• Bottom: Specifies that the caption appears on the bottom of the field.

• None: No caption appears.

Style:

Specifies the style for the field caption. The style options come from the Guide Style that you specify for the Guide. (See Guide properties.)

You can create or modify caption styles in the CSS file associated with the selected Guide layout. The CSS files are located in the Guides (system) application. For information about modifying the CSS file, see Guide CSS Styles.

Width (in pixels):

Specifies the caption width. Overrides the default Caption Width setting in the panel properties. If the caption includes both text and an image, set the width to display the image and text appropriately at run time.

Control Type

Specifies properties for the control type. Different properties are available for different control types. Guides support both MX and Spark controls.

Display as:

Sets the run-time appearance for the selected field to a specific control type. For example, if the control is defined in the model as a button, you can set it to appear as a check box at run time.

Note: List objects must have a Data Source, which means they must be bound to an item in the data model.

Style:

Specifies the style for the control type. The style options come from the Guide Style that you specify for the Guide. (See Guide properties.)

Width (in pixels or %):

Specifies the width of the selected field. Leaving this property blank sets the field width to the default value. If a text object includes an image, specify the width of the text object to prevent overlapping. To accommodate multiple lines, adjust the width.

Height (in pixels):

Specifies the height of the selected field. This property is available only when the field allows multiple lines. Leaving this property blank sets the field height to the default value.

Advanced properties

Advanced Control Properties: Displays the Advanced Properties dialog box. The dialog box lists additional properties that are available for the selected control, and includes properties for custom controls. Select the properties that you want to add to the Guide Properties view for the current control. The selected properties appear in the Advanced Properties section below. Configure the properties as required.

For information about the advanced properties, see the ActionScript 3.0 Reference for the Adobe Flash Platform.

Some advanced properties may negatively affect the behavior of some fields in a Guide.

When a Rotation value is set, the Guide filler cannot enter data in the control. When the control type is a drop-down list or a list box, setting a Rotation value also removes the list items from the Guide.

When the Enabled property is unchecked, the Guide filler cannot enter data. Only the following control types support the Enabled property: Text Area, Text Input, Text Input Comb, Text Input Mask, and Text Input Symbol.

Display Rules

Specifies the following display rules for the field:

Displayed:

Specifies whether the field is displayed in the Guide. If the Guide is based on an data model (FML), selecting this option displays the field. If the Guide is based on an XDP form, selecting this option uses the field’s presence property to determine visibility. When this option is not selected, the presence property is ignored and the field does not appear in the Guide.

When you bind a property in the Data Model view, specify the condition that determines when the field appears in the Guide. If the Guide is based on an XDP form and the resulting value is true, the field’s presence property determines visibility. When the resulting value is false, the field’s presence property is ignored and the field does not appear in the Guide.

Read-only:

Specifies that the current field is read-only and Guide fillers cannot edit it. When you bind a property in the Data Model view, specify the condition that determines when the field is read-only. If the model or the panel that contains the field is set to read-only, this option is unavailable.

Required:

Specifies that Guide fillers are required to fill the current field. When you bind a property in the Data Model view, specify the condition that determines when the field is required. If the model or the panel that contains the field is set to required, this option is unavailable.

Important: By default, all objects set to display as radio buttons are automatically assigned a value of false at run time. If you select the Required display rule for the radio button, the automatic value satisfies the rule, even if a user makes no selection. To ensure that users make valid radio button selections, it is recommended that you add the appropriate constraint to the corresponding model.

(See Develop model-driven applications.)

Events

Specifies on which event to refresh the data for a particular object. Events are associated with each control type and can trigger a property to recalculate the associated expression.

If a property from the model has the DisableAutoReCalc property set, the expression executes only if it is associated with an event on a control. However, there are situations where an expression that automatically recalculates also must be associated with an event. For example, if an expression returns the current stock price for the associated stock symbol, you can retrigger it even though the symbol has not changed.

onEnter: Refresh data:

Executes the onEnter event when the specified item in the Data Model view gains focus.

onExit: Refresh data:

Executes the onExit event when the specified field loses focus. The onExit event executes even if the content of the field has not changed.

onChange: Refresh data:

Executes the onChange event when the value of the specified field changes and loses focus. It does not execute on every keystroke in an editor field.

onActivate: Refresh data:

Executes the onActivate event when a field, such as a button or a check box, is activated. With mouse operations, this action is equivalent to a mouse click. However, either a mouse click or a keyboard action, such as pressing the Space key, triggers the event.

Field Help

Specifies the Help contents that appears for the selected field. You can format the text and add links to the contents.

If your field Help contains both images and text, set both the image width and height to a maximum of 200 pixels to avoid cropping the Help text.

Select font type:

Displays the font name for the selected text.

Select font size :

Displays the font size for the selected text.

Bold :

Applies or removes bold formatting to selected text.

Italic :

Applies or removes italic formatting to selected text.

Underline :

Applies or removes underline formatting to selected text.

Color :

Applies a color to the selected text. You can select a color from the color picker or type the hexadecimal value for the color.

Left align :

Aligns text to the left.

Center align :

Aligns text to the center.

Right align :

Aligns text to the right.

Spread justify :

Justifies the text.

Bullets :

Creates a bulleted list.

Remove rich content settings while retaining the text :

Removes RTF but preserves the text. It also removes any image that may have been associated with the field.

Link to:

Specifies the URL for a link. The URL can use an absolute or a relative path. When the Guide filler clicks a link, the linked content appears in a separate browser window.

Show/Hide image settings :

Shows or hides the following image settings:

Image:

Specifies the URL for an image file. You can specify a URL to an image, or you can select an image file that is in your application. To remove the URL for an image, click the Remove button.

Note: If a text object includes an image, specify the width of the text object to prevent overlapping.

• Position: Specifies the image position.

• Width: Specifies the image width.

• Horizontal pad: Specifies horizontal padding for the image.

• Height: Specifies the image height.

• Vertical pad: Specifies vertical padding for the image.

• Scaling: When selected, maintains the aspect ratio.