Paragraph Component (a!paragraphField)

Inputs

Paragraph Component

Function

a!paragraphField( label, instructions, required, readOnly, disabled, value, validations, saveInto, refreshAfter, labelPosition, validationGroup, requiredMessage, height, placeholder, helpTooltip, showWhen, accessibilityText, characterLimit, showCharacterCount )

Displays and allows entry of multiple lines of text. For a single line of text, use a text 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 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 paragraph 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.
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.
Validation Group	`validationGroup`	Text	When present, the requiredness of the field is only evaluated when a button in the same validation group is pressed. The value for this parameter cannot contain spaces. For example, `“validation group”` is not a valid value. You need to add an underscore between words: `“validation_group”`. See the following recipes for more information: Configure Buttons with Conditional Requiredness Validation Groups for Buttons with Multiple Validation Rules'
Required Message	`requiredMessage`	Text	Custom message to display when the field's value is required and not provided.
Height	`height`	Text	Determines the field height. Valid values: `"SHORT"`, `"MEDIUM"` (default), `"TALL"`.
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"`.
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.
Accessibility Text	`accessibilityText`	Text	Additional text to be announced by screen readers. Used only for accessibility; produces no visible change.
Character Limit	`characterLimit`	Number (Integer)	Determines the maximum number of characters. Depending on the language, some characters may count as more than one.
Show Character Limit Count	`showCharacterCount`	Boolean	Determines if the character count displays on the paragraph field. Only applicable if the character limit is set. Default: true.

Usage considerations

Using the labelPosition and placeholder parameters

If you set labelPosition to "ADJACENT" or "ABOVE", but do not give a value for label, a space still displays to the left-side or above, respectively, of the component as if there was a label displayed. To ensure the component appears to the far left when label has no value, use "COLLAPSED" for labelPosition.
Whether placeholder text clears on focus or input varies by device and browser. Placeholder text does not display on Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.

Using the characterLimit parameter

Emojis and characters in some languages (for example, Chinese and Arabic) may be counted by characterLimit as more than one character.
The characterLimit parameter and character limits set on CDT fields must be independently maintained to ensure that the two limits match.
If you set readOnly to true, the component's character limit won't be displayed.

Using the readOnly parameter

If readOnly is set to true, the component's value displays without a box around it.
If you pass the same local variable to value and saveInto when readOnly is set to false, you can use the user's input in the component to modify the interface.

Examples

Use the interactive editor below to test out your code:

Paragraph with only an adjacent label

Editable paragraph with a label and instructions

Paragraph using character limit

Feature compatibility

The table below lists this component's compatibility with various features in Appian.

Feature	Compatibility	Note
Portals	Compatible
Offline Mobile	Compatible
Sync-Time Custom Record Fields	Incompatible
Real-Time Custom Record Fields	Incompatible	Custom record fields that evaluate in real time must be configured using one or more Custom Field functions.
Process Reports	Incompatible	Cannot be used to configure a process report.
Process Events	Incompatible	Cannot be used to configure a process event node, such as a start event or timer event.

The following patterns include usage of the Paragraph Component.

Inline Survey (Radio Buttons, Checkboxes, Buttons): Use this pattern to create a clean and easy to navigate survey.