AX1504

Announcements component for Axiom forms

The Announcements component can be used to display and manage announcements to users. This component provides a self-contained solution for announcements that does not require any other setup.

Announcements are typically displayed in Axiom Software Home file. You might have a single Home file for all users, or multiple Home pages for different user roles or different products within Axiom Software. You can add an Announcement component to any form where you want to display announcements.

All Announcements components in your system use the same announcements repository stored in the Axiom Software database. However, each component can be optionally configured to only display announcements that belong to certain announcement categories. The list of announcement categories is user-definable. Using categories, you can display different announcements to different audiences.

For more information about using the Announcements component, see Displaying announcements in Axiom forms.

Component properties

You can define the following properties for an Announcements component.

Component properties can be configured using the Form Assistant task pane or the Form Designer unless otherwise noted. All properties can also be defined on the Form Control Sheet directly if desired. For example, if you want a property to be dynamic depending on the result of a formula, you can define that formula in the control sheet. To access the control sheet settings for the component, double-click any property name to go to that property in the Form Control Sheet.

Component behavior properties

The following properties control the display and behavior of this particular component type.

Item	Description
Title Text	The title text for the component. This text displays in the title bar for the component within the Axiom form, if the title bar is enabled. If the title bar is disabled, then this text does not display at all in the form.
Show Title Bar	Specifies whether the title bar is visible. By default this option is enabled, which means that the component will display in a bordered box with a title bar across the top. The defined title text displays within the bar. The formatting of the title bar and its border are determined by the skin specified for the form. If disabled, then the title bar and its border will not display on the component. If the title bar is enabled and the component also has a separately defined border (either via a style or by using the formatting overrides in the advanced component settings), then both borders will display on the component. In some cases this effect may be desired; in other cases one of the borders should be disabled. For the Announcement component, the title bar must be enabled if you want users with the appropriate permissions to be able to add new announcements. The plus icon that opens the Add Announcement dialog is only present if the title bar is enabled.
Show All Announcements	Specifies whether all announcements display in the component. By default, this is disabled, which means that only current announcements display in the component. If this option is enabled, then all announcements display in the component, including: Announcements that have not yet started (Start Date is in the future) Announcements that have expired (Expire Date has been reached) This option is intended for use when creating an "announcements management" form, so that users with the appropriate permissions can view and edit all announcements (past and future), and delete announcements that are no longer needed.
Default Message	A message to display in the component when there are no active announcements. For example: "No announcements available."
Show Categories	Specifies whether category labels display in the component. If enabled, then announcements are grouped under category labels (the category Display Text), so that users can see which category each announcement belongs to. This option must be enabled if you want to filter the component display by specific categories. NOTE: This option is ignored if Show All Announcements is enabled. Announcements for all categories will display in this case, with the category labels.
Limit Categories To	Specifies whether the component is limited to only showing announcements for certain categories. If you want the component to display announcements for all categories, then do not select any categories. If you want the component to only display announcements for certain categories, then select the check boxes for the categories that you want to display. The selected categories are written the Form Control Sheet in a comma-separated list, using the category name (not the display name). If the display name is later changed, the component will still be filtered by the category. To filter by categories, the category names must already be defined. If the categories do not already exist, then you must view the file as a form and use the Announcement component to create the categories, then go back to the component properties and select the categories that you want to show in the component. For more information on managing announcement categories, see Managing announcements. Categories are loaded into the Form Designer when the file is opened. If you add or remove a category while the file is open, you must close and reopen the file in order to see the change. NOTE: This option is ignored if Show All Announcements is enabled. Announcements for all categories will display in this case, with the category labels.
Collapse Height	Specifies whether the component automatically collapses in height if the configured component height is greater than the content to be shown in the component. You should leave this option disabled if you want the component height to always be the same, no matter how much content is available to display. If the content exceeds the component height, the component will have a vertical scroll bar. If the content does not fill the component, then there will be blank space between the final row of content and the bottom edge of the component. If you enable this option, then when the content does not fill the component, the component will auto-shrink to fit the content instead of maintaining its configured height. The behavior if the content exceeds the component height is the same (vertical scroll bar).

General properties

The following general properties are available for all components:

Item	Description
Component Name	The name of the component. This is for identification in the file; this name does not display on the Axiom form canvas. The name of the component identifies the corresponding settings for the component on the Form Control Sheet. The component names are also useful if you have multiple types of the same component within an Axiom form, so that you can tell which component you are currently editing. Component names must be unique within a file and must start with a letter. Names can only contain letters, numbers, and underscores. Names are validated when the file is saved; an invalid name will prevent the save. NOTE: Spaces are not allowed in component names and will be automatically removed by Axiom Software. For example, if you enter "My Component" as the component name, it will be automatically adjusted to "MyComponent".
Visible	Specifies whether the component is visible on the Axiom form (On/Off). By default this is set to On. This setting can be used to dynamically show or hide the component using a formula. Keep in mind that if you have multiple components that you need to dynamically show or hide based on the same condition, then it is preferable to place those components on a dedicated layer and then show or hide the entire layer instead of the individual components. NOTE: This setting is only available on the Form Control Sheet; it cannot be set in the Form Assistant or in the Form Designer.
Layer	The layer that the component belongs to on the Axiom form canvas. In the Form Assistant and the Form Designer, this displays as the layer name (for example: Layer 1). In the Form Control Sheet, this is recorded as the layer ID (for example: 1). If the canvas only has one layer, then the component is automatically assigned to that layer and cannot be changed. If the canvas has multiple layers, you can assign the component to any layer using the drop-down list. By default, the component will be assigned to whichever layer is selected in the Layers box when you initially drag the component onto the canvas. For more information on layers, see Using multiple layers on the canvas. If desired, you can jump to the applicable layer settings on the Form Control Sheet by clicking the binoculars icon next to the drop-down list.
Parent	The parent component that this component is assigned to. If blank, then the component does not have an assigned parent. Currently, only Panel components can be designated as parents. If a component has an assigned parent, then that component is positioned within the parent instead of within the canvas at large. If the parent is hidden, all "child" components of that parent are also hidden. The parent assignment is automatically completed when a component is dragged into a panel in the Form Designer, and automatically cleared when a component is dragged out of a panel. In most cases, you should not need to manually assign a parent. For more information, see Using panels to group and position components.

Style and formatting properties

To define the component formatting, you can assign one or more styles to the component. Styles can impact formatting properties such as fonts, borders, and colors.

If you do not want to apply a style to this component, or if you want to override one or more formatting properties in an assigned style, click the Show Advanced Settings link underneath the Style box to display the individual formatting properties. For more information on defining individual formatting properties for a component, see Formatting overrides for Axiom form components.

Currently, the Axiom Software platform does not provide any styles specifically designed for Announcement components. Only the generic styles are available. Most announcement styling is controlled by the form-level skin.

Item	Description
Style	Optional. The styles used to determine the formatting of the component. You can assign one or more styles. Click the Select component styles button [...] to open the Choose Style dialog. Using this dialog, you can select one or more styles to apply to the component. The available styles depend on the component type and the skin assigned to the form. For more information, see Using component styles. Some components have several styles that are specifically designed for that component type, while other components may only have the "generic" styles that are available to all components. When using a generic style, keep in mind that they may not be useful for all components. You can view a description of each style and view the effective formatting applied by the selected styles within the Choose Style dialog.
Component Theme	(Deprecated.) The theme to use for the component instead of the form-level theme. If left blank, the component uses the form-level theme. This setting should be left blank unless you need to override the form theme. Generally speaking, themes should be set at the form level and only overridden at the component level when necessary. This setting is available in the advanced component properties (click Show Advanced Settings under the Style box). On the Form Control Sheet, the setting displays using the name Theme Override. NOTE: This setting only applies if your form uses a legacy skin (any skin except the default Axiom2018). The Axiom2018 skin does not use themes.

Item

Description

Style

Optional. The styles used to determine the formatting of the component. You can assign one or more styles.

Click the Select component styles button [...] to open the Choose Style dialog. Using this dialog, you can select one or more styles to apply to the component. The available styles depend on the component type and the skin assigned to the form. For more information, see Using component styles.

Some components have several styles that are specifically designed for that component type, while other components may only have the "generic" styles that are available to all components. When using a generic style, keep in mind that they may not be useful for all components. You can view a description of each style and view the effective formatting applied by the selected styles within the Choose Style dialog.

Component Theme

(Deprecated.) The theme to use for the component instead of the form-level theme. If left blank, the component uses the form-level theme.

This setting should be left blank unless you need to override the form theme. Generally speaking, themes should be set at the form level and only overridden at the component level when necessary.

This setting is available in the advanced component properties (click Show Advanced Settings under the Style box). On the Form Control Sheet, the setting displays using the name Theme Override.

NOTE: This setting only applies if your form uses a legacy skin (any skin except the default Axiom2018). The Axiom2018 skin does not use themes.

Position and size properties

You can view the position and size properties for a component by clicking the Show Advanced Settings link under the Style box. If necessary, you can edit these properties directly (instead of automatically modifying them by adjusting the component's position and size on the canvas). For more information on using these settings, see Controlling component position and size.

Item	Description
Reference Location	The reference location determines how the x-position and y-position of a component are evaluated. By default the reference location is UpperLeft. NOTE: This setting is not exposed in the advanced component settings. It can be changed on the canvas by double-clicking the corner selection handles of a component, or you can edit the setting on the Form Control Sheet directly.
X Position Y Position	The x-position determines the component's position along the horizontal axis, and the y-position determines the component's position along the vertical axis. Both are evaluated relative to the reference location. Positions can be set in pixels (default) or percentages.
Width Height	The width and height determine the size of the component. The width and height can be set in pixels (default) or percentages. Size keywords are also available to support special behavior.
Rendering Order	The order in which the component is rendered in the layer. A component with a larger order number will display above a component with a smaller order number. For components that support tab navigation (tabbing to the next editable component), the rendering order also determines the tabbing order. NOTE: On the Form Control Sheet, this setting is labeled as Z-Index.
Lock Layout	If enabled, the component size and position are locked and cannot be changed by dragging and dropping on the canvas. This optional setting is intended to protect against accidentally moving or resizing a component while working on the canvas.