Field Controls

Superficially, Wings treats fields very similarly to the way they function in 5250 display files: By default they'll appear with similar placement and entering information in them is as simple as selecting the field by clicking it and typing. Fields and constants of various types are represented in the code-behind by a number of controls, all derived from the DdsField Control.

These include:

• DdsDataField
  • DdsCharField
  • DdsDecField
  • DdsTimeField
  • DdsTimeStampField
  • DdsBaseDate
    • DdsDateField
    • DdsDecDateField

Each of the controls listed above allows roughly the same functionality as its traditional Display File counterpart: A charfield takes only alphabetic characters, a decfield takes only numbers, and so on. Names, dates, timestamps, and other information can be seamlessly relayed between the mobile app and the IBM i through the use of the appropriate fields.

Input-capable fields with defined VALUES Keywords will (by default) be rendered as dropdown boxes. This behavior can be changed in the modernization dialog by unchecking the When fields use VALUES keyword set their ValuesStyle to 'DropdownBoth' checkbox.

Each of the field types have a certain selection of properties in common:

Property	Notes
Alias	Provides the field name to be used by the RPG compiler when defining this field to the program
ChangeInd	Specifies which indicator to set on when this field changes
Color	Specifies the color of a field
ErrorMessage ErorMessageId	Identify a message to be associated with this field when the field is in error
MessageId	Identify at run time the messages identifier to be used with this field
PositionCursor	Gives focus to this field when the screen is presented to the user
Protect	Protects the contents of the field from user input
Usage	Specifies if this field is: output-only, input-only, input/output (both), hidden, or program-to-system
VirtualRowCol	The Row and Column reported to the RPG program if this field has the focus when the user submits his data to the program
VisibleCondition	Provide a set of conditional indicators determining whether the field is visible and rendered

For a more in-depth examination of manipulating field elements (specifically by adding a new one) see the Add a field topic.