Label – a descriptive text displayed on the left.
Editor – an input area that displays the field value and receives user input e.g. text box, text area, dropdown list etc – this is displayed to the right of the label.
Calendar – optionally shown for fields of type DATE (the calendar is not shown when using Bootstrap, use field property Display Type set to Date instead)
Value Pattern – optionally shown for fields of type DATE, TIME or DATETIME and shows the user the format of data entered or displayed. The value pattern is not shown when using Bootstrap, use field property Display Type set to Date, Time or Datetime-local instead)
Help – displays a help text for the field.

Any or all of parts can be selectively displayed.

Note that the display type e.g. input box, text area, dropdown etc. is not specified as a property of Field Control; instead it is a property of the underlying Field. To change the display type, click the Field name hyperlink and the Display Type property is found in the Presentation Tab. There are also other display properties that are properties of the underlying field including: display length, and number of rows (for text areas).

Bootstrap

When using Bootstrap, fields are normally displayed vertically like this (this example has no layout set on the parent container):

Note that the Calendar and Value Pattern field parts are not shown when using Bootstrap. Instead it is recommended to use the HTML 5 input types Date, Time and Datetime-local; these provide localized input formatting. These input types are specified using field property Display Type.

Optionally, fields can be displayed in a grid-like structure with labels and editor portions aligned by using the Bootstrap Field Layout on the parent container:

Non-Bootstrap

When not using Bootstrap, the way the field parts are laid out depends on the layout associated with the Field Control’s parent container.

In particular, a Field Grid Layout is specifically designed to be used with Field Controls and presents the field parts in a columnar display that will align successive fields as shown below: the label, editor and help parts are displayed in table columns that provides vertical alignment with all other Field Controls in the same container; the calendar and value pattern parts are added to the editor part when required.

fieldControl3

Other layouts present the field parts with no intervening formatting, and this is not likely to be an appropriate layout unless only a part of the field e.g. the editor part, is displayed.

Properties

Style Tab - Styling Assistant

The Styling Assistant shows a sample field in the currently configured layout of the parent container control.

The properties and the Interactive Preview are divided into sections that represent the field parts described above. Each section can be selected from the Edit Properties dropdown or by clicking on the appropriate area in the preview. Note that the Field Properties section is displayed initially, but can only be subsequently redisplayed from the Edit Properties dropdown.

SNAGHTML91100578

Property	Description	Name¹	Type¹	Get¹	Set¹	Get/Set Values¹
Field Properties
The following properties apply when the field is not* in a Field Grid Layout and are applied to the entire field.*
Background	Background properties for the entire field. See background properties.
Border	Border properties for the entire field. See border properties.
Padding & Margin	Padding is the space between the field and its border. Margin is the space beyond the border. See padding and margin properties.
Vertical Alignment	Vertical alignment for all parts of the field.	vAlign	Character	Yes	Yes	Click here for values.
Gaps	Gaps between the label, editor and help parts of a field. See gap properties.
The following properties apply in all cases.
Display Options
Label	Indicates whether the label part of the field should be displayed.	displayLabelText	Boolean	Yes	Yes
Editor	Indicates whether the editor part of the field should be displayed.	displayEditor	Boolean	Yes	Yes
Help	Indicates whether the help part of the field should be displayed.	displayInfoText	Boolean	Yes	Yes
Hyperlink Properties	These properties are applied when the field is displayed as a hyperlink. Hyperlink properties are shown below.
These properties apply to all hyperlink states unless overridden by a property for a specific state
Text	Hyperlink text properties: font, size, color, bold, italic etc. See text properties.	hyperlinkProperties .xxx
Background	Hyperlink background properties. See background properties.	hyperlinkProperties .xxx
Border	Hyperlink border properties. See border properties.	hyperlinkProperties .xxx
Padding & Margin	Padding is the space between the hyperlink text and its border. Margin is the space beyond the border. See padding and margin properties.	hyperlinkProperties .xxx
These properties apply just to the named hyperlink state
Hover	Override above hyperlink properties for the hover state. Text properties Background properties Border properties	hyperlinkProperties .hoverTextStyle .xxx
Visited	Override above hyperlink properties for the visited state. Text properties Background properties Border properties	hyperlinkProperties .visitedTextStyle .xxx
Linked	Override above hyperlink properties for the linked state. Text properties Background properties Border properties	hyperlinkProperties .linkedTextStyle .xxx
Active	Override above hyperlink properties for the active state. Text properties Background properties Border properties	hyperlinkProperties .activeTextStyle .xxx
Advanced Properties:
Style	CSS class and inline style applied to the <div> tag that wraps all parts of the field.	fieldClass fieldStyle	Character	Yes	Yes	As per HTML class parameter As per HTML style parameter
Label Cell Properties	The following properties apply to the label* part of the field*
Text	Label text properties: font, size, color, bold, italic etc. See text properties.	labelProperties .xxx
Advanced Properties:
Style	CSS class and inline style for the label text. This is applied to the <div> tag that contains the label text.	labelClass labelStyle	Character	Yes	Yes	As per HTML class parameter As per HTML style parameter
Label Style	CSS class and inline style that is applied to the <label> tag that contains the label text. The <label> tag is written inside the <div> tag to which the Style property above is applied. e.g. in most cases, label texts appear as follows: <div><label for=xxxx>label text</label></div>	labelElementClass labelElementStyle	Character	Yes	Yes	As per HTML class parameter As per HTML style parameter
Editor Cell Properties	The following properties apply to the editor* part of the field*
Text	Editor text properties: font, size, color, bold, italic etc. See text properties.	editorInputProperties .xxx
Background	Editor background properties. See background properties. When in a Field Grid layout, a background can be applied to the containing table cell using parent layout override properties.	editorInputProperties .xxx
Advanced Properties:
Input Style	CSS class and inline style for the editor. This corresponds with the <input> tag when the control is not display only.	editorClass editorStyle	Character	Yes	Yes	As per HTML class parameter As per HTML style parameter
Style	CSS class and inline style applied to the <div> tag that wraps the editor.	editorCellClass editorCellStyle	Character	Yes	Yes	As per HTML class parameter As per HTML style parameter
Calendar Properties	The following properties apply to the calendar* image. This is only applicable for fields of type DATE where the display calendar option is date/time options has been selected.*
Image	Properties for the calendar image. See image properties.	calendarProperties .xxx
Pattern Properties	The following properties apply to the value* pattern part of the field. This is only applicable for fields of type DATE, TIME or DATETIME.*
Text	Value pattern text properties: font, size, color, bold, italic etc. See text properties.	valuePatternProperties .xxx
Advanced Properties:
Style	CSS class and inline style for the value pattern.	patternTextClass patternTextStyle	Character	Yes	Yes	As per HTML class parameter As per HTML style parameter
Help Properties	The following properties apply to the help* part of the field*
Text	Help text properties: font, size, color, bold, italic etc. See text properties.	infoProperties .xxx
Alignment	Aligns the help text horizontally. This is only applicable when the help text is displayed underneath the field editor i.e. property Help text position is configured as Underneath editor.	infoProperties .hAlign	Character	Yes	Yes	Click here for values. Value Fill is not supported.
Popup Properties	These apply when property help text position is set to as popup window.
Image	Properties applied to the help popup image. See image properties.	infoProperties .imageProperties
Popup text	Properties for the help text in the popup window. See text properties.	infoProperties .popupTextProperties
Popup background	Popup window background properties. See background properties.	infoProperties .popupBackgroundProperties
Popup padding	Padding for the help text in the popup window. See padding properties.	infoProperties popupPaddingProperties
Popup window	Properties that apply to the popup window. See popup window properties.	infoProperties .popupWindowProperties
Advanced Properties:
Style	CSS class and inline style for the help text.	helpClass helpStyle	Character	Yes	Yes	As per HTML class parameter As per HTML style parameter
Help Window Style	CSS inline style for the popup window.	popupHelpStyle				As per HTML style parameter
Help Window Properties	These properties are used with the Javascript window.open() statement used to create the popup window. They override any properties configured under Popup window above.	helpWindowProperties

Html Element Properties Tab

See Html Element Properties Assistant for more information about these properties.

In addition to its Root Element, Html Element Properties can be configured for its Editor, Label and Info. If the Field Control is in a Repeater Control the Id Html Element Property is disabled for every element in the Control.

Root Tab

Every Field Control not in a Field Grid Layout is surrounded by a div element; this is its Root element. However Field Controls in a Field Grid Layout are not surrounded by a div but are instead part of a table element. Here the Field Control occupies a row of this table and its tr element is the Root element.

As the Html Element Properties Assistant explains, events Bubble up the DOM, so Event Handlers added to the Root element will respond to events generated in the rest of the Control (because this element surrounds it). For example if an onclick Html Event Handler has been added to the Root element then it will be run whenever a User click in any part of the Control. If an Event Handler is configured for other elements of the Field Control then code in those Event Handlers will run first, followed by the code in the Root Handler.

Editor Input Tab

The Field backing this Field Control can be displayed in a number of ways that affect the underlying element and which HTML Element Properties can be applied:

Text, Text Areas & Password Display Types: The Editor is an input element and the Html Element Properties are applied directly it.
Radio Button & Check Box Display Types: These types cannot have an Id Property (as they are repeating elements) and the Custom Event Handlers are disabled. The editor is represented by a series of label and input element pairs, one for each button/check box. The Html Element Properties are applied to each of these input elements.
Drop Down Display Type: The Editor is a select element and the Html Element Properties are applied directly it.
Label Display Type: The Editor Tab is disabled – there is no editor for labels.

Info Tab

Html Element Properties are only added to the element when the Help text position Property (see Help Tab below) is set to ‘As Popup Window’. When set to this an image is used which when clicked on a Popup appears containing the help text. This image is represented as an input element with a type="image" attribute and it is to this input element the Html Element Properties are applied to.

Label Tab

The Html Element Properties are applied directly to the label element which represents it. If, however, the Field has a Label Display Type, the label is written out in a <div> tag in which case the Html Element Properties are applied to this div element.

Field Control Tab

Property	Description	Name¹	Type¹	Get¹	Set¹	Get/Set Values¹
Field name	The name of the field displayed by this Field Control; this is displayed as a hyperlink. Click on the link to navigate to the field properties.		Character	No	No
Place holder	This text is displayed as an HTML 5 place holder text when the field is editable, has no value and has a display type of text, search, url, tel, email, or password.	placeHolderText	Character	Yes	Yes
Required	Indicates that this is a required field. An asterisk () will be shown to the right of the label text. The required field text shown to the user when no value is entered can be specified with the following property. When the document type (see Form Properties Presentation tab) is set to HTML 5* and the browser provides full support for the validation API¹, required fields are implemented using the required attribute of the appropriate HTML input tag. This causes the browser to generate messages when no value is specified. These messages will vary between different browsers and are usually displayed in the local language. ¹ Browsers that do not fully support the Validation API include all versions of IE	mandatory	Boolean	Yes	Yes
Required message text	Specifies the message displayed to the user when a required field is missing. The default message shown depends on the document type (see Form Properties Presentation tab) : HTML 5: browser generated message – will vary between different browsers Others: taken from system text 22, this can be changed if necessary	requiredText	Character	Yes	Yes
Validation message text	This text can be used to override the browser's default validation messages when HTML 5 input validation is used. This applies when any of the HTML 5 field display types are used or when one of the HTML 5 validation attributes is used e.g. min, max, pattern etc. It's advisable to be cautious when overriding the browser's default validation messages. The browser may have many validation messages for any given type depending on data entered by the user, whereas it is only possible to enter a single replacement message using this property. Reasons to override the browser's default might include: to create a specific message when pattern validation is used e.g. when validating a social security number to create a message in a specific language	validationText	Character	Yes	Yes
Immediate validation	Indicates that control should pass immediately to the Ebase Server when the user changes the field’s value. This is normally configured together with an on click event that specifies the action to perform.	immediateValidation	Boolean	Yes	Yes
Hyperlink	Indicates that the field’s value should be displayed as a hyperlink. When the user clicks the link, control is passed to the Ebase Server and the on click event is executed.	hyperlink	Boolean	Yes	Yes
Display Label	Indicates whether the label part of the field should be displayed.	displayLabelText	Boolean	Yes	Yes
Display Editor	Indicates whether the editor part of the field should be displayed.	displayEditor	Boolean	Yes	Yes
Display Help	Indicates whether the help part of the field should be displayed.	displayInfoText	Boolean	Yes	Yes

Presentation Tab

Property	Description	Name¹	Type¹	Get¹	Set¹	Get/Set Values¹
Label for	Links the label and editor parts of a field when these have been added separately and results in the generation of <label for> HTML with the output of the label part. This property is only enabled when only the label part of a field is displayed alone.	labelFor	Character	Yes	No

Help Tab

Property

Description

Name¹

Type¹

Get¹

Set¹

Get/Set Values¹

Help text position

Specifies where help text is positioned. Options are:

None
To right of editor (this option is not available when using Bootstrap)
Underneath editor
As popup window

helpPos

Integer

Yes

0 - None

1 - To right of editor

2 - Underneath editor

3 - As popup window

Help image

Specifies the URL of the image displayed when Help text position of popup window is selected. See URL properties for more information.

helpButImage

Character

Yes

See URL properties.

Button Tab

This tab is only displayed for buttons created before Ebase Version 4.0

Property	Description	Name¹	Type¹	Get¹	Set¹	Get/Set Values¹
Button text	Text for the button.	buttonText	Character	Yes	Yes
Display as image	Indicates that the image specified in the Image URL property is displayed instead of a button. When displayed as an image, any configured button text is displayed as alternate text. Accessibility note: when using image buttons, an alternate text should always be provided.	buttonDisplayAsImage	Boolean	Yes	Yes
Image URL	Specifies the URL of the image on the Ebase server when the Display as image property is checked. See URL properties for more information.	buttonImageUrl	Character	Yes	Yes
Skip validation	Specifies that the system will omit all validation prior to executing the on click event. See skip validation for details.	buttonSkipValidation	Boolean	Yes	Yes

Events Tab

Property	Description	Name¹	Type¹	Get¹	Set¹	Get/Set Values¹
Before Control	This event is executed each time the system moves forwards to a new page i.e. in the following circumstances: for the first page of a form when the user clicks the next page button when a GOTO PAGE command is issued If the page is subsequently redisplayed by moving forwards (options 2 or 3 above), only events for event fields are executed. Note that this event is not executed when the previous page button is clicked or when a page is re-displayed without a page change e.g. a button click on the same page or display of an error message. See Events for more information.			No	No
Validation	Validation events are intended to be used to validate field values entered by the user. A validation event is executed when: The field has a value The field control has not yet been successfully validated Validation is unsuccessful if an error message is issued by a script. The page is then returned to the user with the error message, and will be validated again on the next pass (if a non null value still exists). Validation is successful when a validation event is executed and an error message is not issued. The field will not be validated again unless its value changes. Fields are validated in the order they appear in the Outline View, up to the point of an action object clicked by the user e.g. a button, image, hyperlink, immediate validation field etc. Fields past this point are not validated. Page navigation buttons (forwards, backwards etc) are treated as if they are at the bottom of the page, regardless of where they are actually situated i.e. all fields are validated. Tab set selection actions are treated as if they are at the end of the tab set contents i.e. all fields in the currently visible tab are validated before the tab is changed. Validation events are not executed when a button or image with the skip validation option has been clicked. See Events for more information.			No	No
On Click	This event is executed when either: A field value is changed by the user and the field control has the immediate validation property checked. A button field (only applies to forms created before Ebase Version 4.0) has been clicked. A field has the hyperlink property checked and the user clicks the link. Any applicable validation events are run before the on click event. If a validation event fails, the on click event is not executed. See Events for more information.			No	No

Immediate validation simulation tab

The following properties apply only for immediate validation fields when Javascript is disabled.

Property	Description	Name¹	Type¹	Get¹	Set¹	Get/Set Values¹
Display immediate validation as image	Indicates that the action button is displayed as an image. If not checked, the action button is displayed as a Go! Button where the button text is taken from system text 399.	displayIvAsImage	Boolean	Yes	Yes
Immediate validation image URL	When property Display immediate validation as image is selected, this provides the URL of the image used. See URL properties for more information.	ivImageUrl	Character	Yes	Yes

¹ See accessing control properties from scripts

Examples of setting properties via API based language:

controls.FIELDCONTROL2.vAlign = "Top";

controls.FIELDCONTROL2.mandatory = true;

controls.FIELDCONTROL2.displayInfoText = false;

controls.FIELDCONTROL2.labelProperties.textColor = "white";

Examples of setting properties via FPL:

set FIELDCONTROL2.vAlign = 'Top';

set FIELDCONTROL2.mandatory = 'true';

set FIELDCONTROL2.displayInfoText = 'false';

set FIELDCONTROL2.labelProperties.textColor = 'white';

Hints and Tips

How to specify display type: text area, checkbox, radio etc

The display type e.g. input box, text area, dropdown etc. is not specified as a property of Field Control; instead it is a property of the underlying Field. To change the display type, click the Field name hyperlink and the Display Type property is found in the Presentation Tab.

How to set background color and horizontal alignment

When using a Field Grid Layout, background color and horizontal alignment are usually set using the Field Grid Layout properties and can be specified for individual controls using the parent layout override properties. These properties apply style to the table cell that contains the field (or part of it), and this is usually where background color and alignment are required. The following example illustrates this with the editor part of a Field Control in a Field Grid Layout:

fieldControl6

It is also possible to apply background color and alignment to a field part e.g. to the editor using the editor properties, but then the properties are applied directly to the editor and they do something different.

fieldControl7

Right Click Menu Actions

Click here for right-click menu actions available to all controls.

Field control right click menu actions:

Mandatory – acts as a toggle switch for the mandatory property
Immediate Validation - acts as a toggle switch for the immediate validation property
Hyperlink - acts as a toggle switch for the hyperlink property

Appearance in Outline View

A Field Control is shown with the field name first followed by the field control name in brackets:

fctl1

The field control icon has decorator letters attached to it which indicate which parts of the field are displayed:

L (bottom left) indicates the field label part is displayed. This is controlled by the Display Label property.
E (top left) indicates the field editor part is displayed. This is controlled by the Display Editor property.
I (top right) indicates the field help part is displayed. This is controlled by the Display Help property.