Text Component

Text

Function: a!textField()

Displays and allows entry of a single line of text. For a multiple line of text, use a paragraph component.

Parameters

Name Keyword Types Description

Label

label

Text

Text to display as the field label.

Instructions

instructions

Text

Supplemental text about this field.

Required

required

Boolean

Determines if a value is required to submit the form. Default: false.

Read-only

readOnly

Boolean

Determines if the field should display as not editable. Default: false.

Disabled

disabled

Boolean

Determines if the field should display as potentially editable but grayed out. Default: false.

Display Value

value

Text

Text to display in the text field.

Validations

validations

List of Text String

Validation errors to display below the field when the value is not null.

Save Input To

saveInto

List of Save

One or more variables that are updated with the text when the user changes it. Use a!save() to save a modified or alternative value to a variable.

Refresh After

refreshAfter

Text

Determines when the interface is refreshed with the saved value from the barcode field. Valid values are "KEYPRESS" to refresh after every character typed into the field and "UNFOCUS" (the default value) to refresh when the user deselects the field after changing its value.

Validation Group

validationGroup

Text

When present, this field is only validated when a button in the same validation group is pressed. See the documentation for more information about how to use validation groups.

Required Message

requiredMessage

Text

Custom message to display when the field's value is required and not provided.

Alignment

align

Text

Determines alignment of the text value. Appian recommends this setting only be used inside the Grid Layout component. Valid values: "LEFT", "CENTER", "RIGHT".

Label Position

labelPosition

Text

Determines where the label appears. Valid values:

  • "ABOVE" (default) Displays the label above the component.
  • "ADJACENT" Displays the label to the left of the component.
  • "COLLAPSED" Hides the label. The label will still be read by screen readers; see accessibility considerations for more information.
  • "JUSTIFIED" Aligns the label alongside the component starting at the edge of the page.

Placeholder

placeholder

Text

Text to display in the field when it is empty. Does not show if the field is read only.

Help Tooltip

helpTooltip

Text

Displays a help icon with the specified text as a tooltip. The tooltip displays a maximum of 500 characters. The help icon does not show when the label position is "COLLAPSED".

Masked

masked

Boolean

Determines if the value is obscured from view. Default: false.

Accessibility Text

accessibilityText

Text

Additional text to be announced by screen readers. Used only for accessibility; produces no visible change.

Visibility

showWhen

Boolean

Determines whether the component is displayed on the interface. When set to false, the component is hidden and is not evaluated. Default: true.

Notes

  • Useful for displaying values of another type that require formatting other than the original type’s default formatting.
  • If Read-only is set to true, the component's value displays without a box around it.
  • If you pass the same local variable to Display Value and Save Input To when Read-only is set to false, you can use the user's input into the component to modify the interface, such as filtering a grid.
  • Whether placeholder text clears on focus or input varies by device and browser. Placeholder text does not display on Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.

Examples

Copy and paste an example into the INTERFACE DEFINITION in EXPRESSION MODE to see it displayed.

Text with Only a Label

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=a!textField(
  label: "Title",
  value: "Expenses could not be submitted",
  readOnly: true
)

Displays the following:

Text with Label and Instructions

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=a!textField(
  label: "Title",
  instructions: "The ticket title is exactly as entered by the creator",
  value: "Expenses could not be submitted",
  readOnly: true
)

Displays the following:

Time with Special Formatting

For example, to show the time in 24-hour format:

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=a!textField(
  label: "Daily Meeting Time",
  value: text(time(13, 20), "hh:mm"),
  readOnly: true
)

Displays the following:

Integer with no Formatting or with Special Formatting

For example, to show an integer with no thousand separators:

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=a!textField(
  label: "Reference Number",
  value: 12345,
  readOnly: true
)

Displays the following:

To show an integer as a currency:

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=a!textField(
  label: "Amount",
  value: dollar(12345),
  readOnly: true
)

Displays the following:

Date with Special Formatting

For example, to show the date in m/dd/yy format:

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=a!textField(
  label: "Created On",
  value: text(date(2013,1,12), "m/dd/yy"),
  readOnly: true
)

Displays the following:

Date and Time with Special Formatting

To show the date and time in "m/dd/yy h:mm a" format, excluding the time zone:

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=a!textField(
  label: "Created On",
  value: text(datetime(2013,1,12, 11, 20), "m/dd/yy h:mm a"),
  readOnly: true
)

Text with a Length Validation

To validate that a value enter by the user meets a particular character limit:

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=a!localVariables(
  local!storedPhoneNumber: "555-456-7890-876",
  a!textField(
    label: "Phone Number",
    instructions: "Include only dashes and numbers. For example, 555-456-7890.",
    value: local!storedPhoneNumber,
    saveInto: local!storedPhoneNumber,
    validations: if(
      len(local!storedPhoneNumber) > 12,
      "Limit your entry to 12 characters",
      ""
    )
  )
)

The following patterns include usage of the Text Component.

  • Add Multiple Text Components Dynamically (Looping): Show a dynamic number of text components to simulate a multi-text input box. A new text box is shown as soon as the user starts typing into the last input box.

  • Define a Simple Currency Component (Formatting): Show a text field that allows the user to enter dollar amounts including the dollar symbol and thousand separators, but save the value as a decimal rather than text. Additionally, always show the dollar amount with the dollar symbol.

  • Format the User's Input (Formatting): Format the user's input as a telephone number in the US and save the formatted value, not the user's input.

  • Inline Tags for Side-by-Side Layout Pattern (Formatting): This pattern shows the best practice for combining tags with standard-sized rich text, or plain text, using a side by side layout.

  • Year-Over-Year Report (Charts, Reports, Formatting): This is a feature-rich, interactive report for sales and profits by products over select periods of time.

Open in Github Built: Fri, Mar 11, 2022 (04:59:07 PM)

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