Web Application Generator

Format strings are used to format data before presentation to the end user. There are standard numeric and date/time format strings. In addition, custom date/time format strings can be created. The formatting is performed in the client web browser by default.

Microsoft.NET offers rich data formatting capabilities. Developers may request formatting of field values on the server to take advantage of everything it has to offer.

For example, the Unit Price field in the Order Details controller uses the standard currency format string of “c”. An application with en-US culture will format the number as a currency with a dollar sign on the left, period as a decimal separator, and parenthesis's to indicate negative values. The $0.00 indicates a zero value.

Server-side formatting offers additional field value formatting options.

Start the Project Designer. In the Project Explorer, switch to the Controllers tab and double-click on Order Details / Fields / UnitPrice field node.

Change the following properties:

The data format string is a custom numeric format string. Positive, negative, and zero value strings are separated by a semicolon.

Press OK to save the field. On the toolbar, click on the Browse button to generate the web application.

Navigate to the Order Details page. The values in Unit Price field will be formatted according to the custom numerical format string. All eight digits will be displayed. Zero values will be represented with the text “Zero Value”.

Notice that when the row is in edit mode, the values of fields formatted on the server will be displayed in raw form.

The “Navigate To” feature allows direct navigation to an item in the Project Designer.

It can be activated by clicking on the Navigate To icon in the Project Explorer toolbar, or by pressing the “Ctrl+,” keyboard shortcut (press “Control” key simultaneously with “Comma” key).

This action will open the Navigate To window. In the Search terms field, enter text describing the project configuration element that you are trying to locate. The list of possible results will appear underneath as soon as you finish typing. The yellow box will show details of the selected item, with the search term highlighted.

Let’s try this feature with the Northwind sample.

When the word “Products” is typed in the Search terms field, the first matched result will be the Name property of the Products page.

Press OK button or the Enter key to navigate to the selected result. The node containing the result will be highlighted in the Project Explorer. The node will also open in the Project Designer.

Activate Navigate To, and search for “reportsto”. Results matching the exact phrase will be displayed in the Result box.

Search for “reports to”. Exact matches will be listed first, followed by partial matches. Select the command from the result list. The yellow box will display all instances of each individual word.

Search for “order details”. Matches of identifying attributes of project configuration elements will have the highest priority in the results. Combinations of the words in the search parameter come next.

Search for “order details”, wrapped in quotation marks. This will only find exact matches of the search term.

You can mix quoted phrases and unquoted words, such as in the example below.