Elements and Reports

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This article gives detailed information about Elements and Reports that can be added to Screen Designer canvas.

Note: The native Screen Designer XML processor supports only ASCII data for XML documents. It does not support non-ASCII characters such as Japanese. The solution for this is to manually add Japanese to the XML files after downloading them and then updating those on TeamConnect.

Elements can be added to the Screen Designer canvas. Elements are restricted to just UI elements that look like System Fields and Custom Fields, but are not based on the object type. They are work fields that you create and control. Usually several properties will require editing after adding an element to the canvas. Some properties, such as onChange, have text values that are intended to contain JavaScript.

Anchor—A link to an internal or external address. Can contain the Message and Out elements.
Batch Display—The main use case for Batch Displays is adding a table in which you can create, view, and update child or embedded objects. Additionally, it can pull tabular data connected by a one-to-many relationship with the associated object, for creating, viewing, and updating the tabular data.
Block Template—A container to group any amount of fields in a custom block.
Button—An interactive element that will trigger an event based on the Screen Designer user specification.
Empty—Enters an empty <div> element to add spacing to the screen. This ensures that rows do not "collapse upward" to fill empty spaces in the layout as per default behavior.
Message—Outputs a localized message given an i18n key. See Creating Custom Messages.
Message Parameter—Inserts dynamic text into Messages. Message Parameters can only be placed in a Message element.
New Record Link—Creates a new record of the specified object type.
Out—Outputs a message in the block.
Record Link—Links to a record of a specified object type.
Row—Adds a row for housing fields to your screen. Fields require a row to be placed on the screen. Users can utilize rows to create disproportionate column widths and offset values applied to the entire block.

Advanced Elements

Advanced Elements allow additional functionality to TeamConnect fields. For example, if you need a relationship between one field and another field, you can connect them with Java Class files.

However, you cannot create a new field from the Advanced Elements.

Note: Advanced Elements must be attached to a Java Class to function.

Category—Displays a list of CategoryItemTreeItem objects returned from a Java class method. Displays the default category by default.
Checkbox—A box that users can select or de-select to produce a Boolean value.
Date & Time Field—A field for entering date and time information.
Date Field—A field for entering date information.
Lookup—A drop-down menu that lists the contents of a lookup table or a list method in a custom Java class.
Memo Text—A text field that can hold more text than the Text Field Advanced Element. The limit for Memo Text fields is more than 200,000 characters.
Multi-Value List—A multi-select box that lists the contents of a lookup table or a list method in a custom Java class.
Number Field—A field that stores a numerical value.
Radio Button—A list of radio buttons, wherein users can select only one radio button at a time.
Select—A drop-down menu that allows the user to use a custom list force selection.
Text Field—A text field that can hold up to 2,000 characters. The character limit of the input field can be defined in Screen Designer.

HTML Elements

HTML Elements allow you to insert HTML and JavaScript code directly into your custom block.

Html—Allows the user to add HTML elements to the custom block.
Script—Loads an embedded script onto the page.

JSP Elements

JSP Elements allow you to add logic to custom blocks utilizing a Java class. They require either a system Java class or custom Java class to work. System Java classes can be found in the Java docs.

If Statement—Attaches a Boolean condition through a Java class. If that condition evaluates to true, then the contents of the tag are shown/loaded.
If-Else Statement—Attaches a Boolean condition through a Java class, along with content to load when the condition is true and different content to load when the condition is false.
For Each—Attaches to a List field in a Java class. Iterates through each item in that list, repeating some given content for each item (i.e. creating a label and a value for each item).

Reports

Reports are placed in the canvas in the same manner as elements. They can be used to display report output within a block. The Reports pane contains a hierarchical list of reports within folders. The report's properties will appear in the Properties pane after dragging a report into the canvas.

You can also drag a report folder into the canvas. In this case, only the report link is available in the block, not the report output. At runtime, when the link is clicked, that folder's contents (report names and subfolders) will appear in a Reports page.

As of Screen Designer 5.2, parameters can be edited from the Properties pane on reports. The parameters property will list all parameters on the selected report as a comma delimited list. Users can adjust the value of these fields directly by typing within the property, e.g., "MainAssignee=Cody Holden". If the parameter is erased, users can retype the parameter name followed by an equals sign to restore the value (as demonstrated by the image below).

List of Elements

Below are tables containing all the elements, advanced elements, HTML elements, and JSP elements in Screen Designer, the requirements for each element type, and example uses for each element.

Elements

Element	Description	Required Properties	Example Use
Anchor	A link to an internal or external address. Must contain either a Message or Out element.	Message or Out element	Linking to an external page or to a different section of the current page.
Block Template	A container to group any amount of fields in a custom block.	numberOfColumns	Delineating different sections of a screen from each other. Most screens will have one block template. Multiple ones can be added to a single screen if you want to make two sections look like two separate blocks to the user, or if you want to have different versions of a single block that are dependent upon the category of the record (for example, showing different custom fields that are relevant only to a particular category of records).
Button	An interactive element that will trigger an event based on the Screen Designer user specification.	N/A	Allowing the user to trigger some action.
Empty	Enters an empty <div> element to add spacing to the screen.	N/A	Adding more space between rows for better UI. This ensures that rows do not "collapse upward" to fill empty spaces in the layout as per default behavior.
Message	Outputs a localized message given an i18n key. See Creating Custom Messages.	key	Displaying localized informational or cautionary messages on the screen. Identical to out tags except the message will be localized. Generally, this is preferred and should be used in place of out tags.
Message Parameter	Inserts dynamic text into Messages. Message Parameters can only be placed in a Message element.	value	Creating error messages that contain dynamic values that are defined by the Message Parameter element.
New Record Link	Creates a new record of the specified object type.	entityCode	Adding a "Create <Object>" link to a screen.
Out	Outputs a message in the block.	value	Displaying informational or cautionary messages on the screen. Identical to message tags except that the message will not be localized. Generally, message tags should be preferred over out tags.
Record Link	Links to a record of a specified object type.	eoObject	Linking to some other object.
Row	Adds a row for housing fields to your screen. Fields require a row to be placed on the screen. Users can utilize rows to create disproportionate column widths and offset values applied to the entire block.	numberOfColumns	Added to a screen for fields to be placed on the canvas. You can adjust the column width with the columnWidth properties. Adjusting these widths can allow designers to set up disproportionate width columns if desired.

Advanced Elements

Element	Description	Required Properties	Example Use
Batch Display	The main use case for Batch Displays is adding a table in which you can create, view, and update child or embedded objects. Additionally, it can pull tabular data connected by a one-to- many relationship with the associated object, for creating, viewing, and updating the tabular data.	batchDisplayObject	Displaying embedded objects in a single table. Displaying arbitrary tabular data pulled from a custom Java class.
Category	Displays a list of CategoryItemTreeItem objects returned from a Java class method. Displays the default category by default.	name	Displaying a list of categories from a custom Java class method.
Checkbox	A box that users can select or de-select to produce a Boolean value.	name	Linking to a field on a related object via its path, or via a custom Java class method.
Date & Time Field	A field for entering date and time information.	name	Linking to a field on a related object via its path, or via a custom Java class method.
Date Field	A field for entering date information.	name	Linking to a field on a related object via its path, or via a custom Java class method.
Lookup	A drop-down menu that lists the contents of a lookup table or a list method in a custom Java class.	name	Linking to a field on a related object via its path, or via a custom Java class method.
Memo Text	A text field that can hold more text than the Text Field Advanced Element. The limit for Memo Text fields is more than 200,000 characters.	name	Linking to a field on a related object via its path, or via a custom Java class method.
Multi-Value List	A multi-select box that lists the contents of a lookup table or a list method in a custom Java class.	name	Linking to a field on a related object via its path, or via a custom Java class method.
Number Field	A field that stores a numerical value.	name	Linking to a field on a related object via its path, or via a custom Java class method.
Radio Button	A list of radio buttons, wherein users can select only one radio button at a time.	name	Linking to a field on a related object via its path, or via a custom Java class method.
Select	A drop-down menu that allows the user to use a custom list force selection.	name	Linking to a field on a related object via its path, or via a custom Java class method.
Text Field	A text field that can hold up to 2,000 characters. The character limit of the input field can be defined in Screen Designer.	name	Linking to a field on a related object via its path, or via a custom Java class method.

HTML Elements

Element	Description	Required Properties	Example Use
Html	Allows the user to add HTML elements to the custom block.	N/A	Inserting raw HTML into the screen in order.
Script	Loads an embedded script onto the page.	N/A	Inserting custom JavaScript into the screen, or linking to an external JavaScript file.

JSP Elements

Element	Description	Required Properties	Example Use
If Statement	Attaches a Boolean condition through a Java class. If that condition evaluates to true, then the contents of the tag are shown/loaded.	test	Showing a group of fields only if the record has a particular flag set, or showing a field only if the field already has a value.
If-Else Statement	Attaches a Boolean condition through a Java class, along with content to load when the condition is true and different content to load when the condition is false.	test	Making a group of fields non- editable if a record is past a certain date. Otherwise, allowing the fields to be edited.
For Each	Attaches to a List field in a Java class. Iterates through each item in that list, repeating some given content for each item (i.e. creating a label and a value for each item).	var, items	Showing a repeated set of data for a list of related objects