Library wwHtmlHelpers - West Wind Web Connection

Library wwHtmlHelpers

The wwHtmlHelpers library contains a set of HTML helper functions that allow easy creation of HTML elements and form controls with a single line of code.

Helpers are useful for use in raw FoxPro code in Process class methods where you can create HTML and output it like this:

*** Create a textbox
Response.Write( HtmlTextBox("txtLastName",loCustomer.oData.LastName) )

You can also easily use Html Helpers in Templates or Scripts:

< %= HtmlTextBox("txtLastName",loCustomer.oData.LastName) % >

which makes these helper functions nice and quick ways to embed more complex HTML into the page.

Helpers are also great to use in Web Control Framework (or the HtmlDataGrid) binding expressions. For example imagine you want to embed a hyperlink into a column of a wwWebDataGrid - you can do this by binding HtmlLink() to a column expression like this:

loColumn.Expression = [HtmlLink("customer.wwd?id=" + TRANS(cust.pk),cust.company)]

Automatic PostBack on Input Controls

The various input controls like HtmlTextBox, HtmlCheckBox, HtmlListBox/HtmlDropDown etc. all automatically pick up their values from the Web Connection Request.Form() object on a POST operation by default. This means that you don't have to explicitly assign a value to the control on a POSTBACK operation - the control will automatically display the last assigned or altered value from the user from the Request.Form() buffer.

If you bind like this:

lcHtml = HtmlTextBox("txtCompany",loCustomer.oData.Company)]

The value first checks for Request.Form("txtCompany") and if found assigns that value rather than the value of loCustomer.oData.Company. In most cases this is the desired behavior since first display will render the value from the object, and subsequent displays of the page will render the value from the Request.Form() buffer.

To override AUTOPOSTBACK behavior you can append ":FORCED" to the end of the value. The function will strip the ":FORCED" postfix of the resulting string to set the value of the control:

lcHtml = HtmlTextBox("txtCompany",loCustomer.oData.Company + ":FORCED")]

This causes the loCustomer.oData.Company value to always be assigned every time the expression is run - no retrieval of Request.Form("txtCompany") occurs. The ":FORCED" is simply removed from the result string (ie. "West Wind Technologies:FORCED" is turned into "West Wind Technologies" only).

Remarks

All the functions described in this library are not class methods, but plain functions. They are accessed simply by their names without any class prefix:
< %= HtmlDataGrid("tt_cust") % >

Class Members

Member		Description
	HtmlBindingError	This function renders an error message based on a control id and validation error collection. If a validation error is found for the control the error is rendered. o.HtmlBindingError(lcControlId,loErrors,lcMessage,lcAttributes)
	HtmlButton	Creates a non-submit HTML button. Use this button for JavaScript link handling. HtmlButton(lcName,lcText,lcAttributes)
	HtmlCheckBox	Creates an HTML CheckBox as an input element. HtmlCheckBox(lcName,lcText,llValue,lcAttributes)
	HtmlCloseElement	Creates an HTML close element tag HtmlCloseElement(lcElement)
	HtmlDataGrid	Creates an HTML table from a cursor and returns the HTML as a string. HtmlDataGrid(lcAlias,loGridConfig,lcId)
	HtmlDateTextBox	Creates a date entry control that allows automatic date capture and conversion. o.HtmlDateTextBox(lcName,ltValue,lcAttributes,lnNativeMode,lcContainerAttributes)
	HtmlDropDown	Creates an HTML Drop Down list. The DropDown can be populated from a data source of a cursor, array or collection and by binding an evaluated expression for text and value displays of each list item and you can add an initial first item. HtmlDropDownBox(lcName,lcSelectedValue, lcDataSource, lcDataValueField, lcDataTextField, lcAttributes, lcInitialText, lcInitialValue)
	HtmlElement	Creates an HTML Element by its element name. HtmlElement(lcElement,lcContent,lcAttributes,lcId)
	HtmlErrorDisplay	Creates an HTML error display 'bar' using the stock bootstrap Alert box that can be easily embedded into a page. o.HtmlErrorDisplay(lcMessage, lcImage, lcAttributes, lcHeader, llDismissable)
	HtmlFormClose	Creates an HTML form close element. HtmlFormClose()
	HtmlFormOpen	Creates an HTML form open element tag. HtmlFormOpen(lcAction,lcMethod,lcAttributes,lcId)
	HtmlImage	Creates an HTML Image tag. HtmlImage(lcSrc,lcAttributes,lcId)
	HtmlLabel	Creates a control as an HTML string. o.wwHtmlHelpers.HtmlLabel(lcText,lcFor,lcAttributes,lcId)
	HtmlLink	Creates an HTML link (a href) element. HtmlLink(lcLink, lcText,lcAttributes, lcId)
	HtmlListBox	Creates an HTML Listbox. The listbox can be populated from a data source of a cursor, array or collection and by binding an evaluated expression for text and value displays of each list item. HtmlListBox(lcName,lcSelectedValue,lcDataSource, lcDataValueField, lcDataTextField, lcAttributes, lcInitialText, lcInitialValue)
	HtmlOpenElement	Creates an opening HTML element tag. HtmlOpenElement(lcElement,lcAttributes,lcId)
	HtmlPager	Creates an HTML pager display that shows a selected page and buttons for selecting other pages. o.HtmlPager(lcId,lnPage,lnTotalPages,lnMaxButtons, lcBaseUrl, lcPageQueryString)
	HtmlPassword	Works like HtmlTextBox but displays password characters instead of text. HtmlPassword(lcName,lcValue,lcAttributes)
	HtmlRadioButton	Creates an HTML Radio Button control. HtmlRadioButton(lcName,lcText, llChecked, lcValue,lcAttribute)
	HtmlRecord	Displays a single record or object as an HTML form from a cursor or object as a string: HtmlRecord(lvData, loConfig)
	HtmlRssFeed	Method that generates an RssFeed as an HTML based element list. o.HtmlRssFeed(loConfig) o.wwHtmlHelpers.
	HtmlSubmitButton	Creates an HTML submit button. This button submits a form to the server via POST operation. HtmlSubmitButton(lcName,lcText,lcAttributes)
	HtmlTextArea	Creates a multiline HTML Text Area as an input element. HtmlTextArea(lcName,lcValue,lcAttributes)
	HtmlTextBox	Creates an HTML Textbox as an input element. HtmlTextBox(lcName,lcValue,lcAttributes)

Automatic PostBack on Input Controls

Remarks

Class Members

See also: