INPUT ARRAY ATTRIBUTES clause

INPUT ARRAY specific attributes can be defined in the ATTRIBUTE clause of the sub-dialog header.

INPUT ARRAY specific attributes can be defined in the ATTRIBUTE clause of the sub-dialog header.

HELP option

The HELP clause specifies the number of a help message to display if the user invokes the help the INPUT ARRAY dialog. The predefined 'help' action is automatically created by the runtime system. You can bind action views to the 'help' action. The HELP clause overrides the HELP attribute.

COUNT option

The COUNT attribute defines the number of valid rows in the static array to be displayed as default rows. If you do not use the COUNT attribute, the runtime system cannot determine how much data to display, so the screen array remains empty. The COUNT option is ignored when using a dynamic array. If you specify the COUNT attribute, the WITHOUT DEFAULTS option is not required because it is implicit. If the COUNT attribute is greater than MAXCOUNT, the runtime system will take MAXCOUNT as the actual number of rows. If the value of COUNT is negative or zero, it defines an empty list.

MAXCOUNT option

The MAXCOUNT attribute defines the maximum number of rows that can be inserted in the program array. This attribute allows you to give an upper limit of the total number of rows the user can enter. It can be used with static or dynamic arrays.

When binding a static array, MAXCOUNT is used as upper limit if it is lower or equal to the actual declared static array size. If MAXCOUNT is greater than the array size, the size of the static array is used as the upper limit. If MAXCOUNT is lower than the COUNT attribute (or to the SET_COUNT() parameter when using a singular INPUT ARRAY), the actual number of rows in the array will be reduced to MAXCOUNT.

When binding a dynamic array, the user can enter an infinite number of rows unless the MAXCOUNT attribute is used. If MAXCOUNT is lower than the actual size of the dynamic array, the number of rows in the array will be reduced to MAXCOUNT.

If MAXCOUNT is negative or equal to zero, the user cannot insert rows.

APPEND ROW option

The APPEND ROW attribute can be set to FALSE to avoid the append default action, and deny the user to add rows at the end of the list. If APPEND ROW =FALSE, it is still possible to insert rows in the middle of the list. Use the INSERT ROW attribute to disallow the user from inserting rows. Additionally, even with APPEND ROW=FALSE and INSERT ROW=FALSE, you can still get automatic temporary row creation if AUTO APPEND is not set to FALSE.

INSERT ROW option

The INSERT ROW attribute can be set to FALSE to avoid the insert default action, and deny the user to insert new rows in the middle of the list. However, even if INSERT ROW is FALSE, it is still possible to append rows at the end of the list. Use the APPEND ROW attribute to disallow the user from appending rows. Additionally, even with APPEND ROW=FALSE and INSERT ROW=FALSE, you can still get automatic temporary row creation if AUTO APPEND is not set to FALSE.

DELETE ROW option

The DELETE ROW attribute can be set to FALSE to avoid the delete default action, and deny the user to remove rows from the list.

AUTO APPEND option

By default, an INPUT ARRAY controller creates a temporary row when needed (for example, when the user deletes the last row of the list, an new row will be automatically created). You can prevent this default behavior by setting the AUTO APPEND attribute to FALSE. When this attribute is set to FALSE, the only way to create a new temporary row is to execute the append action.

If both the APPEND ROW and INSERT ROW attributes are set to FALSE, the dialog automatically behaves as if AUTO APPEND equals FALSE.

KEEP CURRENT ROW option

Depending on the list container used in the form, the current row may be highlighted during the execution of the dialog, and cleared when the instruction ends. You can change this default behavior by using the KEEP CURRENT ROW attribute, to force the runtime system to keep the current row highlighted.

WITHOUT DEFAULTS option

The WITHOUT DEFAULT clause defines whether the program array elements are populated (and to be displayed) when the dialog begins. Once the dialog is started, existing rows are always handled as records to be updated in the database, while newly-created rows are handled as records to be inserted in the database. The REQUIRED and DEFAULT attributes defined in the form are only used for newly-created rows.

It is unusual to implement an INPUT ARRAY with no WITHOUT DEFAULTS option, because the data of the program array would be cleared and the list empty. In an INPUT ARRAY sub-dialog, the default is WITHOUT DEFAULTS=TRUE.

Important:

The default in INPUT ARRAY used inside DIALOG is WITHOUT DEFAULTS=TRUE, while in a singular INPUT ARRAY dialog, the default is WITHOUT DEFAULTS=FALSE.

For more details about WITHOUT DEFAULTS usage, see Form field initialization.