SFDocuments.FormControl service

The FormControl service provides access to the controls that belong to a form, a subform or a table control of a FormDocument. Each instance of the FormControl service refers to a single control in the form. This service allows users to:

Get and set the properties of the control represented by the FormControl instance.
Access the current value displayed by the control.
Set the focus on the desired control.

To use the FormControl service in a particular form, subform or table control, all controls must have unique names.

Radio buttons that share the same group name must also have unique control names.

The main purpose of the FormControl service is setting and getting the properties and values displayed by the controls in a form.

All controls have a Value property. However, its contents will vary according to the control type. For more information, read The Value Property below.

It is also possible to format the controls via the XControlModel and XControlView properties.

The SFDocuments.FormControl service is closely related to the SFDocuments.Form service.

Service invocation

Before using the FormControl service the ScriptForge library needs to be loaded or imported:

• Basic macros require to load ScriptForge library using the following statement:
GlobalScope.BasicLibraries.loadLibrary("ScriptForge")

• Python scripts require an import from scriptforge module:
from scriptforge import CreateScriptService

The FormControl service is invoked from an existing Form service instance through its Controls method.


      Dim oDoc as Object, myForm As Object, myControl As Object
      Set oDoc = CreateScriptService("SFDocuments.Document", ThisDataBaseDocument)
      Set myForm = oDoc.Forms("formDocumentName", "formName") ' SFDocuments.Form
      Set myControl = myForm.Controls("myTextBox") ' SFDocuments.FormControl
      myControl.Value = "Current time = " & Now()

In Python


      from scriptforge import CreateScriptService
      from time import localtime, strftime
      bas = CreateScriptService('ScriptForge.Basic')
      doc = CreateScriptService('SFDocuments.Document', bas.ThisDatabaseDocument)
      form = doc.Forms('formDocumentName', 'formName')  # SFDocuments.Form
      control = form.Controls('myTextBox')  # SFDocuments.FormControl
      control.Value = 'Current Time = ' + strftime("%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S", localtime())

To learn more about how to open a FormDocument and get access to its forms, refer to the SFDocuments.Form service help page.

Alternatively a FormControl instance can be retrieved via the SFDocuments.FormEvent service, which returns the SFDocuments.FormControl class instance that triggered the event.


      Sub OnEvent(ByRef poEvent As Object)
          Dim oControl As Object
          Set oControl = CreateScriptService("SFDocuments.FormEvent", poEvent)
          ' oControl now represents the instance of the FormControl class that triggered the current event
          ' ...
      End Sub

In Python


      def onEvent(event: uno):
          control = CreateScriptService('SfDocuments.FormEvent', event)

Note that in previous examples, the prefix "SFDocuments." may be omitted.

The FormEvent service is used exclusively to create instances of the SFDocuments.Form and SFDocuments.FormControl services when a form or control event takes place.

Control types

The FormControl service is available for the following control types:

Button
CheckBox
ComboBox
CurrencyField
DateField
FileControl
FixedText
FormattedField
GroupBox
HiddenControl
ImageButton
ImageControl
ListBox
NavigationBar
NumericField
PatternField
RadioButton
ScrollBar
SpinButton
TableControl
TextField
TimeField

Properties

Name	Readonly	Type	Applicable to	Description
Action	No	String	Button	Specifies the action triggered when the button is clicked. Accepted values are: none, submitForm, resetForm, refreshForm, moveToFirst, moveToLast, moveToNext, moveToPrev, saveRecord, moveToNew, deleteRecord, undoRecord.
Caption	No	String	Button, CheckBox, FixedText, GroupBox, RadioButton	Specifies the text displayed by the control.
ControlSource	Yes	String	CheckBox, ComboBox, CurrencyField, DateField, FormattedField, ImageControl, ListBox, NumericField, PatternField, RadioButton, TextField, TimeField	Specifies the rowset field mapped onto the current control.
ControlType	Yes	String	All	One of the control types listed above.
Default	No	Boolean	Button	Specifies whether a command button is the default OK button.
DefaultValue	No	Variant	CheckBox, ComboBox, CurrencyField, DateField, FileControl, FormattedField, ListBox, NumericField, PatternField, RadioButton, SpinButton, TextField, TimeField	Specifies the default value used to initialize a control in a new record.
Enabled	No	Boolean	All (except HiddenControl)	Specifies if the control is accessible with the cursor.
Format	No	String	DateField, TimeField, FormattedField (read-only)	Specifies the format used to display dates and times. It must be one of following strings: For dates: "Standard (short)", "Standard (short YY)", "Standard (short YYYY)", "Standard (long)", "DD/MM/YY", "MM/DD/YY", "YY/MM/DD", "DD/MM/YYYY", "MM/DD/YYYY" , "YYYY/MM/DD", "YY-MM-DD", "YYYY-MM-DD". For times: "24h short", "24h long", "12h short", "12h long".
ListCount	Yes	Long	ComboBox, ListBox	Returns the number of rows in a ListBox or a ComboBox.
ListIndex	No	Long	ComboBox, ListBox	Specifies which item is selected in a ListBox or ComboBox. In case of multiple selection, the index of the first item is returned or only one item is set.
ListSource	No	Variant	ComboBox, ListBox	Specifies the data contained in a ComboBox or a ListBox as a zero-based array of string values. Combined with ListSourceType, may also contain the name of a table, a query or a complete SQL statement.
ListSourceType	No	Integer	ComboBox, ListBox	Specifies the type of data contained in a combobox or a listbox. It must be one of the com.sun.star.form.ListSourceType.* constants.
Locked	No	Boolean	ComboBox, CurrencyField, DateField, FileControl, FileControl, FormattedField, ImageControl, ListBox, NumericField, PatternField, TextField, TimeField	Specifies if the control is read-only.
MultiSelect	No	Boolean	ListBox	Specifies whether the user can select multiple items in a listbox.
Name	Yes	String	All	The name of the control.
Parent	Yes	Object	All	Depending on the parent type, a form, a subform or a tablecontrol, returns the parent SFDocuments.Form or SFDocuments.FormControl class object instance.
Picture	No	String	Button, ImageButton, ImageControl	Specifies the file name containing a bitmap or other type of graphic to be displayed on the control. The filename must comply with the FileNaming attribute of the ScriptForge.FileSystem service.
Required	No	Boolean	CheckBox, ComboBox, CurrencyField, DateField, ListBox, NumericField, PatternField, RadioButton, SpinButton, TextField, TimeField	A control is said required when the underlying data must not contain a null value.
Text	Yes	String	ComboBox, DateField, FileControl, FormattedField, PatternField, TextField, TimeField	Gives access to the text being displayed by the control.
TipText	No	String	All (except HiddenControl)	Specifies the text that appears as a tooltip when you hover the mouse pointer over the control.
TripleState	No	Boolean	CheckBox	Specifies if the checkbox control may appear dimmed (grayed) or not.
Value	No	Variant		This property depends on the current control type. Refer to The Value property for more information.
Visible	No	Boolean	All (except HiddenControl)	Specifies if the control is hidden or visible.
XControlModel	Yes	UNO object	All	The UNO object representing the control model. Refer to XControlModel and UnoControlModel in the API documentation for more information.
XControlView	Yes	UNO object	All	The UNO object representing the control view. Refer to XControl and UnoControl in the API documentation for more information.

The Value property

Control type	Type	Description
Button	Boolean	Applicable to toggle buttons only.
CheckBox	Boolean or Integer	0, False: not checked 1, True: checked 2: grayed out, don't know (applicable if TripleState is True)
ComboBox	String	The selected value, as a String. The ListIndex property is an alternate option to access the index of the selected value.
CurrencyField	Numeric
DateField	Date
FileControl	String	A file name formatted in accordance with the FileNaming property of the ScriptForge.FileSystem service
FormattedField	String or Numeric
HiddenControl	String
ListBox	String or array of strings	The selected row(s) as a single string or an array of strings. Only a single value can be set. If the box is linked to a database, this property gets or sets the underlying data. Otherwise it gets or sets the data being displayed.
NumericField	Numeric
PatternField	String
RadioButton	Boolean	Each button has its own name. Multiple RadioButton controls are linked together when they share the same group name. If a RadioButton is set to True, the other related buttons are automatically set to False
ScrollBar	Numeric	Must be within the predefined bounds
SpinButton	Numeric	Must be within the predefined bounds
TextField	String	The text appearing in the field
TimeField	Date

Event properties

The properties below return or set URI strings that define the script triggered by the event.

Name	ReadOnly	Description as labeled in the Basic IDE
OnActionPerformed	No	Execute action
OnAdjustmentValueChanged	No	While adjusting
OnApproveAction	No	Approve action
OnApproveReset	No	Prior to reset
OnApproveUpdate	No	Before updating
OnChanged	No	Changed
OnErrorOccurred	No	Error occurred
OnFocusGained	No	When receiving focus
OnFocusLost	No	When losing focus
OnItemStateChanged	No	Item status changed
OnKeyPressed	No	Key pressed
OnKeyReleased	No	Key released
OnMouseDragged	No	Mouse moved while key presses
OnMouseEntered	No	Mouse inside
OnMouseExited	No	Mouse outside
OnMouseMoved	No	Mouse moved
OnMousePressed	No	Mouse button pressed
OnMouseReleased	No	Mouse button released
OnResetted	No	After resetting
OnTextChanged	No	Text modified
OnUpdated	No	After updating

To learn more about URI strings, refer to the Scripting Framework URI Specification.

List of Methods in the FormControl Service
Controls	SetFocus

Controls

This method is applicable only to controls of the TableControl type. The returned value depends on the arguments provided.

If the optional argument controlname is absent, then a zero-based Array containing the names of all controls is returned.

On the other hand, if a controlname is provided, the method returns a FormControl class instance corresponding to the specified control.

Syntax:

svc.Controls(): str[0..*]

svc.Controls(controlname: str): svc

Parameters:

controlname: A valid control name as a case-sensitive string. If absent, the list of control names is returned as a zero-based array.

Example:


      Dim myGrid As Object, myList As Variant, myControl As Object
      Set myGrid = myForm.Controls("myTableControl") ' SFDocuments.FormControl
      ' Returns an Array with the names of all controls in "myTableControl"
      myList = myGrid.Controls()
      ' Returns a FormControl class instance corresponding to "myCheckBox"
      Set myControl = myGrid.Controls("myCheckBox")

Using Python:


      grid = form.Controls('myTableControl')  # SFDocuments.FormControl
      control_names = form.Controls()
      control = grid.Controls('myCheckBox')  # SFDocuments.FormControl

SetFocus

Sets the focus on the control. Returns True if focusing was successful.

This method is often called from a form or control event.

Syntax:

svc.SetFocus(): bool

Example:


      Dim oDoc As Object, oForm As Object, oControl As Object
      Set oDoc = CreateScriptService("SFDocuments.Document", ThisComponent)
      Set oForm = oDoc.Forms(0)
      Set oControl = oForm.Controls("thisControl") ' SFDocuments.FormControl
      oControl.SetFocus()

In Python


     bas = CreateScriptService('ScriptForge.Basic')
     doc = CreateScriptService('SFDocuments.Document', bas.ThisComponent)
     form = doc.Forms(0)
     control = form.Controls('thisControl')  # SFDocuments.FormControl
     control.SetFocus()

Additional examples

Below are two examples that illustrate the use of the FormControl service.

The first example reads the current value in a ComboBox containing city names and writes it to a FixedTest control in a Form:


     Dim oDoc as Object, myForm as Object, myControl as Object
     Set oDoc = CreateScriptService("SFDocuments.Document", ThisDataBaseDocument)
     myForm = oDoc.Forms("formDocumentName", "formName")
     Dim lbCity : lbCity = myForm.Controls("labelCity")
     Dim cbCity : cbCity = myForm.Controls("comboboxCity")
     lbCity.Caption = "Selected City: " & cbCity.Value

In Python


     bas = CreateScriptService('ScriptForge.Basic')  # Basic-like methods
     doc = CreateScriptService('SFDocuments.Document', bas.ThisDatabaseDocument)
     form = doc.Forms('formDocumentName', 'formName')
     lbl_city = form.Controls('labelCity')
     combo_city = form.Controls('comboboxCity')
     lbl_city.Caption = "Selected city: " + combo_city.Value

The following code snippet can be used to process RadioButton controls that share the same group name. In this example, suppose there are three radio buttons with names optA, optB and optC and we wish to display the caption of the selected control.


     Dim oDoc as Object, myForm as Object
     Set oDoc = CreateScriptService("SFDocuments.Document", ThisDataBaseDocument)
     myForm = oDoc.Forms("formDocumentName", "formName")
     Dim optNames As Object : optNames = Array("optA", "optB", "optC")
     Dim optControl as Object, opt as Variant
     For Each opt In optNames
         optControl = myForm.Controls(opt)
         If optControl.Value = True Then
             MsgBox "Selected option: " & optControl.Caption
             Exit For
         End If
     Next opt

In Python


     bas = CreateScriptService('ScriptForge.Basic')  # Basic-like methods
     doc = CreateScriptService('SFDocuments.Document', bas.ThisDatabaseDocument)
     form = doc.Forms('formDocumentName', 'formName')
     radio_buttons = ['optA', 'optB', 'optC']
     for name in radio_buttons:
        control = form.controls(name)
        if control.Value == True:
           bas.MsgBox('Selected option: ' + control.Caption)
           break

All ScriptForge Basic routines or identifiers that are prefixed with an underscore character "_" are reserved for internal use. They are not meant be used in Basic macros or Python scripts.

ScriptForge.Basic service

SFDocuments.Form service

SFDocuments.Document service