Code On Time: Web Application Generator

Thursday, June 7, 2012Print Subscribe

Both name and id of a user selected in a lookup window can be captured in a database table when necessary. Let’s set up a lookup field to capture both properties of the user identity.

Start SQL Server Management Studio. In the Object Explorer, right-click Database / Northwind / Tables / dbo.Orders table node, and select Design option.

Add two columns with the following settings:

Column Name	Data Type	Allow Nulls
OwnerID	uniqueidentifier	True
OwnerName	nvarchar(50)	True

Save the table modification. Refresh the Orders controller.

Regenerate the project. Navigate to the Orders page, and edit a record. The OwnerID and OwnerName fields will be visible at the bottom of the form, but are currently only simple text boxes.

Let’s configure the OwnerID field as a User Id Lookup and have it copy the user name into OwnerName field. The OwnerName will become an alias of OwnerID data field. Only Administrators will be allowed to modify the owner of the record.

Start the Project Designer. In the Project Explorer, switch to the Controllers tab. Double-click on Orders / Fields / OwnerID field node.

Make the following changes:

Property	New Value
Items Style	User Id Lookup
Copy	OwnerName=UserName
“Write” Roles	Administrators

Press OK to save the field. In the Project Explorer, double-click on Orders / Views / editForm1 / c1 – Orders / OwnerID data field node.

Assign an alias for the data field:

Property	New Value
Alias	OwnerName

Press OK to save the data field. In the Project Explorer, right-click on Orders / Views / editForm1 / c1 – Orders / OwnerName data field node, and select Delete option.

Confirm the operation. On the toolbar, select Browse option to regenerate the web application.

Navigate to the Orders page, and edit a record. If your user account belongs to the Administrators role, then the field is rendered as a lookup.

Activate the lookup, and a lookup window will open and display a list of users.

Select a user from the lookup, and the name of the user will be copied into the field Owner Name.

Save the field. If you look at the record in the database, both UserId and UserName fields have been populated.

Labels: ASP.NET Membership, Database Lookups, Designer, Security, Tips and Tricks, Web Application Generator

Thursday, June 7, 2012Print Subscribe

Items Style–User Name Lookup

Data fields can be configured as a User Name Lookup to allow selection and insertion from the user names registered in the ASP.NET membership tables.

First, add an Owner column in the Orders table.

Start SQL Server Management Studio. In the Object Explorer, right-click on Databases / Northwind / Tables / dbo.Orders node, and select Design option.

Add the following column:

Column Name	Data Type	Allow Nulls
OwnerName	nvarchar(50)	True

Save the table design. Switch to Code On Time web application generator, and refresh the Orders controller.

Generate the application. Navigate to the Orders page, and select a record. The Owner Name field will just be a simple text box. Let’s convert this text box into a User Name Lookup.

Start the Project Designer. In the Project Explorer, switch to the Controllers tab. Double-click on Orders / Fields / OwnerName field node.

Change the Items Style property:

Property	New Value
Items Style	User Name Lookup

Press OK to save the field. On the toolbar, click Browse.

Navigate to the Orders page and edit a record. The Owner Name field will now be a lookup.

When you activate the lookup, a list of users will be displayed.

Select a user, and the user name will be inserted into the field.

Labels: Database Lookups, Security, Web Application Generator

Wednesday, June 6, 2012Print Subscribe

Creating Multiple Views with the Same Base

Multiple views can be created to support alternative sort and filter expressions. If the views have the same data field configuration, then it is possible to create “empty” views that reference a shared base view.

Let’s create several views in the Customers data controller. Start the Project Designer. In the Project Explorer, switch to the Controllers tab. Right-click on Customers / Views node, and select New View.

Give this view the following properties:

Property	Value
Id	customersfromUSA
Type	Grid
Command	command1
Label	Customers from USA
Header Text	This is a list of customers from the United States.
Filter Expression	Country='USA'
Base View Id	grid1

Press OK to save the view. In the Project Explorer, right-click on Customers / Views node and select New View.

Configure the view:

Property	Value
Id	customersfromUK
Type	Grid
Command	command1
Label	Customers from UK
Header Text	This is a list of customers from the United Kingdom.
Filter Expression	Country='UK'
Base View Id	grid1

Press OK to save the view. The Project Explorer window should look like the picture below.

On the toolbar, press Browse.

When the application loads in the browser window, navigate to the Customers page. On the action bar, activate the View dropdown and select Customers from USA. The view inherits data fields from the base view, grid1. Only customers from USA are displayed.

The Customers from UK view also inherits the same data field set, but filters to only customers from the UK.

If the base view of grid1 is modified, then the views will change accordingly.

Switch back to the Project Designer. In the Project Explorer, right-click on Customers / Views / grid1 / Postal Code data view node, and select Delete option.

Confirm the operation. In the Project Explorer, right-click on Customers / Views / grid1 view node, and click New Data Field option.

Assign the Field Name for the data field:

Property	Value
Field Name	Fax

Press OK to save the data field. On the toolbar, click the Browse option.

Navigate to the Customers page. The default grid1 view will no longer have Postal Code column, and will now have Fax column at the right.

On the right side of the action bar, activate the View dropdown and select Customers from USA. This view shows the same set of data fields as grid1.

The same data field configuration applies to Customers from UK view.

Labels: Designer, Web Application Generator