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New functionality in 8 - PlaceHolder - label the inside of the field (Ver. 8.0.0.1291)

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New functionality in 8 - PlaceHolder - label the inside of the field (Ver. 8.0.0.1291)

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DataEase 8 is storming forward and it is no secret that we are getting our inspiration more from the Web and Mobile devices than where DataEase for WIndows have gotten it's inspiration from in the past...

The latest addition is PlaceHolder which should be well known to most of you from the web.

In compact design it is not always practical to have to put in a label in front of/over/under a field. What about just putting inside the field? 

Exactly and that is what a placeholder is.

So how do I go about to replicate this functionality?


In DataEase 8 we want to pack in as much useful functionality as possible without causing the normal migration/conversion/compatibility issues that DFW is so famous for (sorry infamous).

One of the main problems with OML for instance is the way the code is stored in the form (or in some cases not stored). 

We don't want to change the FRM format, so we have decided that we will fool and exploit the functionality that is already there. This is what we have done with the Memo functions like MemoExecDQL that exploit memo for storage and all the other functions we have opted for because we know that function storing and execution in DFW is "bulletproof".

When we wanted to add PlaceHolders we had a challenge. We either had to create new storage...i.e. expanding the FRM format or be smart.

Since we in the past had opted for the first, we now opted for the latter in the hope that it would be a more successful strategy.

We discovered that Field Help can store up to 20k pr. field...(don't ask us why) and that it is close to never used. Maybe this is some storage that we can take advantage of?

Placeholder is the first go, but we think not the last. This space can be used for all kind of nice stuff, and we intend to do exactly that ;-)

However, placeholder is simply a tag:

[@placeholder:This is what I want to display in this field...@]

Result: This is what I want to display in this field....

As simple as that....



Written by DataEase 15/05/13 at 13:58:21 Dataease [{8}]FIVE

Re:New functionality in 8 - PlaceHolder - label the inside of the field (Ver. 8.0.0.1294)

Placeholder functionality Improved.

All placeholders will now be left aligned instead of following the default formatting for field type. Placeholders are information i.e. text and shoujld not be formatted as date or numbers etc.

We have now fixed placeholder so that the placeholder can be bigger than 255. This can be very useful in Memo fields etch where one want to show instructions etc before processing.

One can for instance tell the user what will happen when one build the memo with different template choices etc.

You don't have to use a large text in a placeholder of course, you can use anything you like even "" which is normally a showstopper in DataEase ;-)

Enjoy!



Written by DataEase 17/05/13 at 10:53:49 Dataease [{8}]FIVE

Re:Re:New functionality in 8 - PlaceHolder - label the inside of the field (Ver. 8.0.0.1294)


I love this feature. Now we can make use of help area finally :-)

 


Written by Jeyarajah Arulrajah 14/08/13 at 21:00:15 Dataease [{8}]FIVE
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