Text Component

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Function

a!textField( label, instructions, required, readOnly, disabled, value, validations, saveInto, refreshAfter, validationGroup, requiredMessage, align, labelPosition, placeholder, helpTooltip, masked, accessibilityText, showWhen, inputPurpose, characterLimit, showCharacterCount, marginAbove, marginBelow )

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 saveInto expression is evaluated. Valid values: `"UNFOCUS"` (default), `"KEYPRESS"`. When set to `"UNFOCUS"`, the expression evaluates when the user deselects the field after changing its value. When set to `"KEYPRESS"`, the expression evaluates after every character typed into the field.
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.
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.
Show When	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.
Input Purpose	inputPurpose	Text	Indicates the intent of input for accessibility improvements, like autocomplete, used by browsers and assistive technologies. Valid values are "NAME", "EMAIL", "PHONE_NUMBER", "STREET_ADDRESS", "POSTAL_CODE", "COUNTRY", "CREDIT_CARD_NUMBER", "FIRST_NAME", "LAST_NAME", "DOB" and "OFF".
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 text field. Only applicable if the character limit is set. Default: true.
Margin Above	marginAbove	Text	Determines how much space is added above the component. Valid values: "NONE" (default), "EVEN_LESS", "LESS", "STANDARD" , "MORE", "EVEN_MORE".
Margin Below	marginBelow	Text	Determines how much space is added below the component. Valid values: "NONE", "EVEN_LESS", "LESS", "STANDARD" (default), "MORE", "EVEN_MORE".

Usage considerations

Displaying different data types and placeholder text

This component is useful for displaying values of another type that require formatting other than the original type’s default formatting.
Whether placeholder text clears on focus or input varies by device and browser.

Using the characterLimit parameter

The character limit value

The value of the characterLimit parameter is in bytes, not characters. Most characters are one byte. However, certain characters are more than one byte, including emojis and some characters from non-Latin alphabets. So if you set the characterLimit parameter to 255, you are allowing 255 bytes, not necessarily 255 characters.

Matching the character limit to the database field

Make sure the value you set for the characterLimit parameter matches the length of the field in your data source. For example, most standard Text fields have a 255 character limit.

Using the showCharacterCount parameter

The character limit is not displayed when the component is read-only, even if showCharacterCount is set to true.

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, such as filtering a grid.

Using inputPurpose parameter

When using inputPurpose, there is no visible change in the interface object.
If inputPurpose is set to "OFF", autocomplete may be disabled depending on your browser settings. The default behavior allows for autocomplete, but does not require you to specify inputs.
inputPurpose is not supported if the masked parameter is set to true.

Examples

Use the interactive editor below to test out the example code.

Text with only a label

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

Text with label and instructions

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

Time with 24-hour formatting

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

Integer with no formatting or with special formatting

This example shows an integer with no thousand separators.

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

Integer formatted as currency

a!textField(
  label: "Amount",
  value: a!currency(
    isoCode: "USD",
    value: 12345
  ),
  readOnly: true
)

Displays the following:

integer as currency

Date with "m/dd/yy" formatting

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

Date and time with "m/dd/yy h:mm a" formatting

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

Text with character limit

This example uses the characterLimit parameter to validate that a user's entry meets a particular limit.

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,
    characterLimit: 12,
    showCharacterCount: true
  )
)

Feature compatibility

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

Feature	Compatibility	Note
Portals	Compatible
Offline Interfaces	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.
Process Autoscaling	Incompatible	Cannot be used in autoscaled processes.
Event Consumer Filter Conditions	Compatible	Can be used in filter conditions.
Event Consumer Event Handlers	Compatible	Can be used in event handler expressions.

The following recipes include usage of the Text Component.

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.
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.

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