HIDDEN attribute

The HIDDEN attribute indicates that the element is not to be displayed.

Syntax

HIDDEN [ = USER ]
  1. HIDDEN sets the underlying item attribute to 1.
  2. HIDDEN=USER sets the underlying item attribute to 2.

Usage

By default, all form elements are visible. Specify the HIDDEN attribute to hide a form element, such as a form field or a groupbox.

Note: When you set the form file HIDDEN attribute for a form field, the model node gets the hidden attribute, not the view node.

The runtime system detects hidden form fields: If you write an INPUT block using a hidden field, the field is ignored (as if it was declared as NOENTRY).

If the HIDDEN keyword is specified alone, the underlying item attribute is set to 1. The value 1 indicates that the element is definitively hidden to the end user, which cannot show the element, for example with the context menu of TABLE headers. In this hidden mode, the UNHIDABLE attribute is ignored by the front-end.

With HIDDEN=USER, the underlying item attribute is set to 2. The value 2 indicates that the element is hidden by default, but the end user can show/hide the element as needed, when the widget and its container provide a way to do so. For example, in a TABLE or TREE container, the end user can use a context menu option to show a column defined with HIDDEN=USER attribute. When HIDDEN is used without the USER value, the column is definitively invisible.
Note: Form fields hidden with HIDDEN=USER (value 2) might be shown anyway, if the field is needed by a dialog for input. In such case, the program dialog takes precedence over the HIDDEN attribute.

The visibility of form elements can be changed by program with the ui.Form.setElementHidden() or ui.Form.setFieldHidden() methods.

Example

EDIT f001 = FORMONLY.field1, HIDDEN;
EDIT col1 = FORMONLY.column1, HIDDEN=USER;