Text Box component for Axiom forms

The text for the text box. This setting serves two purposes:

• It defines the initial text for the text box, when the user first opens the form. You should only define text here if you want that text to be the default value for the text box. If you want to display instructional text within the text box, such as "Enter name here", then you should use the Placeholder field instead.

• When a user views the form and edits the text in the text box, this changed text will be submitted back to the source file and placed in this cell on the Form Control Sheet. Formulas can reference this cell in order to dynamically change the form based on the current state of the check box.

NOTES:  

• This setting supports indirect cell references. You can enter a cell reference in brackets, such as [Info!B3]. This causes the text to be read from and written to the specified cell reference instead of directly within the Text cell.

• This setting supports use of the FormState tag and the SharedVariables tag, so that the text is stored in memory instead of written to the file, and therefore can be shared with other files. Form state can be used to share values between a form dialog and an active client spreadsheet, in the Desktop Client. Shared variables can be used to share values between multiple forms that are open in a shared form instance (embedded forms).

The placeholder text for the text box. This text is displayed when no Text value is defined for the text box. It is typically used to define instructional text for the text box, such as "Enter name here".

As soon as a Text value is defined for the text box, the placeholder text is no longer displayed and instead the Text value is displayed.

Keep in mind that placeholder text is not the same as defining a default value for Text. Placeholder text only displays when the value of Text is blank. This also applies when using indirect cell references for Text (if the target cell is blank), or when using a form state / shared variable tag for Text (if no value has been set for the form state key or shared variable). If instead you want Text to have a default value, then you should define that value as the Text value instead of using placeholder text.

NOTE: The appearance of placeholder text depends on the skin assigned to the form, and on the browser used to view the form. In most environments the placeholder text displays in a lighter color than the Text value, but not always.

Optional. The tooltip text for the component. When a user hovers the cursor over the component, the text displays in a tooltip.

NOTE: For numeric text boxes, the custom tooltip displays unless validation detects that the current entry is out of bounds in regard to the defined Min or Max. In that case, the validation tooltip displays.

Specifies whether the text box is read-only.

• If disabled (default), then the text box is editable, and Axiom form users can change the text in the text box.

• If enabled, then the text box is not editable and the text displays as read-only.

This is intended for situations where you want to dynamically change the text box from read/write to read-only depending on a certain criteria. If you want text that will always be static, use a Label component instead.

Specify a type for the text box:

• Text (default): The text box accepts free-form text inputs. When using this type, you can also optionally enable multi-line input or enable rich text input.

• Input Mask: The text box uses a defined input mask format to restrict the user input to certain character types and formats. Selecting this type exposes additional options that only apply when using the Input Mask type. For more information, see Using an input mask with text boxes.

• Numeric: The text box only accepts numeric characters within an optional range. Users cannot input letters or other special characters. Selecting this type exposes additional options that only apply when using the Numeric type. For more information, see Using numeric text boxes.

Specifies whether the text box supports rich text. Only applies if Type is set to Text.

By default, this is disabled. This means that the text box is a regular text box, and any text entered into the text box is plain text. For more information on enabling this option and using rich text, see Using rich text boxes.

Specifies whether the text box allows multiple lines. Only applies if Type is set to Text, and if the Rich Text option is not enabled.

• If disabled (default), only one line is allowed in the text box. The text does not wrap, and the Enter key cannot be used to create new lines. Instead, the Enter key exits the component and triggers an auto-submit (if Auto Submit is enabled).

• If enabled, then the text box allows multiple lines. The text will wrap if it exceeds the width of the component, and the Enter key can be used to create new lines. To exit the component and trigger an auto-submit, you must use the Tab key or click outside of the component.

Specifies whether the Axiom form automatically updates when a user changes the state of the component.

• If disabled (default), then a form update is not triggered when the user edits the text box. This means that you must use a separate Button component (or a different component configured to auto-submit) if you want users to be able to update the form after entering text into the text box.

• If enabled, then the Axiom form automatically updates when the user inputs text into the box and then exits the component—such as by clicking the Enter key, the Tab key, or by clicking outside of the component.

Specifies whether a save-to-database occurs when a form update is triggered by this component.

• If disabled (default), then changing this component does not trigger a save-to-database.

• If enabled, then a save-to-database will occur as part of the form update process when this component triggers an update. The save occurs after editable values have been submitted to the source file and after data has been refreshed in the source file. A save-to-database process must be enabled and configured within the source file. For more information, see Saving data from an Axiom form.

This setting only applies if Auto Submit is enabled for the component. If you are not using the auto-submit behavior but you do want to save data to the database from the Axiom form, then you should instead enable Save on Submit for the Button component that you are using to trigger the update process.

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".

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.