SFDocuments.Form service

The Form service provides methods and properties to manage forms in Collabora Office documents. This service supports forms in Base, Calc and Writer documents and allows to:

• Open and activate forms.

• Navigate through records shown by the form.

• Get access to the controls inside the form.

• Get access to subforms of a parent form.

The SFDocuments.Form service is available from Collabora Office 7.2 onwards.

Forms are usually used in Collabora Office documents to create user interfaces connected to relational databases. Hence, the Form service provides quick access to the linked database through the SFDatabases.Database service.

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

Definitions

FormDocument

Forms are usually created in Base documents, but they can be added to Writer and Calc documents as well.

In Base, each form you create using the Insert - Form functionality or through the Form Wizard is actually a FormDocument that can be handled with the Form service. Base documents can contain an unlimited number of form documents.

Below is an example showing the hierarchy of all the elements involved in accessing forms and subforms in a Base document. Suppose you have a Base file named Employees.odb and inside it you created a form document to add new employees to the database. The form document contains a main form named EmployeeData that gives access to a table. There is also a subform WorksAtPlant that allows you to associate the new employee to one of the plants of the company.

    Employees.odb (Base document)
     |
     |-- AddEmployee (FormDocument)
          |
          |-- EmployeeData (Main Form)
               |
               |-- WorksAtPlant (SubForm)
  

A FormDocument can be seen as a set of forms that provide access to datasets such as database tables and queries from within Collabora Office documents. The names of forms and subforms inside a FormDocument can be accessed using the Form Navigator.

Forms and Subforms

A form document is composed of one or more forms which, in turn, may also contain any number of subforms. A Form is an abstract set of controls that are linked to a specified data source, which can be a database table, a query or a SQL SELECT statement.

In Calc and Writer documents, each form can be linked to datasets located in different databases. On the other hand, in Base documents the database contained in the document is common to all forms.

To invoke the SFDocuments.Form service refer to the methods Forms(), FormDocuments() and OpenFormDocument() of the SFDocuments.Document service

Service invocation

Before using the Form 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

In Writer documents

The code snippet below shows how to access the form named Form1 that is inside a Writer file:

      Dim oDoc As Object, myForm As Object, ui as Object
      Set ui = CreateScriptService("UI")
      Set oDoc = ui.OpenDocument("/home/user/Documents/MyForm.odt")
      Set myForm = oDoc.Forms("Form1")
   

     from scriptforge import CreateScriptService
     ui = CreateScriptService('UI') 
     doc = ui.OpenDocument('/home/user/Documents/MyForm.odt')
     my_form = doc.Forms('Form1')
   

Forms can be accessed by their names or by their indices, as shown below:

     Set myForm = oDoc.Forms(0)
   

     my_form = doc.Forms(0)
   

If you try to access a FormDocument that is currently opened in Design Mode an exception will be raised.

In Calc documents

A form in a Calc file must have a unique name inside its sheet. Hence, the Forms method requires two arguments, the first indicating the sheet name and the second specifying the form name.

      Dim oDoc As Object, myForm As Object, ui as Object
      Set ui = CreateScriptService("UI")
      Set oDoc = ui.OpenDocument("/home/user/Documents/MyForms.ods")
      Set myForm = oDoc.Forms("Sheet1", "Form1")
   

This is achieved identically using Python:

     ui = CreateScriptService('UI')
     doc = ui.OpenDocument('/home/user/Documents/MyForms.ods')
     my_form = doc.Forms('Sheet1', 'Form1')
   

In Base documents

A FormDocument inside a Base document is accessed by its name. The following example opens the form document named thisFormDocument and accesses the form MainForm:

      Dim oDb As Object, myForm As Object
      Set oDb = CreateScriptService("SFDocuments.Document", ThisDatabaseDocument)
      ' The statement below is necessary only if the form hasn't been opened yet
      oDb.OpenFormDocument("thisFormDocument")
      Set myForm = oDoc.Forms("thisFormDocument", "MainForm")
      ' Or, alternatively, to access the form by its index ...
      Set myForm = oDb.Forms("thisFormDocument", 0)
   

To perform any action on a form using the Form service, the FormDocument must have been opened either manually by the user or programmatically in a user script. The latter can be done by calling the OpenFormDocument method of the Base service.

To access a given subform of a form use the SubForms method. Note that in the example below mySubForm is a new instance of the Form service.

     Dim mySubForm As Object
     Set mySubForm = myForm.SubForms("mySubForm")
   

Previous examples translate in Python as:

     db = CreateScriptService('SFDocuments.Document', XSCRIPTCONTEXT.getDocument())
     #  The statement below is necessary only if the form hasn't been opened yet
     form_doc = db.OpenFormDocument('thisFormDocument')
     form = form_doc.Forms('thisFormDocument', 'MainForm')
     #  Or, alternatively, to access the form by its index ...
     form = form_doc.Forms('thisFormDocument', 0)
     sub_form = form.SubForms('mySubForm')
   

In Form events

To invoke the Form service when a form event takes place:

      Sub OnEvent(ByRef poEvent As Object)
          Dim myForm As Object
          Set myForm = CreateScriptService("SFDocuments.FormEvent", poEvent)
          '(...)
      End sub
   

     def OnEvent(event: uno):
         form = CreateScriptService('SFDocuments.FormEvent', event)
         pass
   

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.

It is recommended to free resources after use of the Form service.

     myForm.Dispose() ' Basic
   

     form.Dispose()  # Python
   

This operation is done implicitly when a form document is closed with the CloseFormDocument() method described below.

Properties

Event properties

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

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

Activate

Sets the focus on the current Form instance. Returns True if focusing was successful.

The behavior of the Activate method depends on the type of document where the form is located:

• In Writer documents: Sets the focus on that document.

• In Calc documents: Sets the focus on the sheet to which the form belongs.

• In Base documents: Sets the focus on the FormDocument the Form refers to.

svc.Activate(): bool

The following example assumes you want to activate the form named FormA located in Sheet1 of the currently open Calc file. It first gets access to the document using the Document service and ThisComponent and then activates the form.

     'Gets hold of the form that will be activated
     Dim oDoc as Object, myForm as Object
     Set oDoc = CreateScriptService("Document", ThisComponent)
     
Set myForm = oDoc.Forms("Sheet1", "FormA")
     'Activates the form
     myForm.Activate()
   

     doc = CreateScriptService('Document', XSCRIPTCONTEXT.getDocument())
     form = doc.Forms('Sheet1', 'FormA')
     form.Activate()
   

ThisComponent applies to Calc and Writer documents. For Base documents use ThisDataBaseDocument.

CloseFormDocument

Closes the form document containing the actual Form instance. The Form instance is disposed.

svc.CloseFormDocument(): bool

      myForm.CloseFormDocument() ' Basic
   

      form.CloseFormDocument()  # Python
   

This method only closes form documents located in Base documents. If the form is stored in a Writer or Calc document, calling CloseFormDocument will have no effect.

Controls

The value returned by the Controls method depends on the arguments provided:

• If the method is called without arguments, then it returns the list of the controls contained in the form. Be aware that the returned list does not contain any subform controls.

• If the optional ControlName argument is provided, the method returns a FormControl class instance referring to the specified control.

svc.Controls(opt controlname: str): any

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

      Dim myForm As Object, myList As Variant, myControl As Object
      Set myForm = myDoc.Forms("myForm")
      myList = myform.Controls()
      Set myControl = myform.Controls("myTextBox") ' SFDocuments.FormControl
   

      form = doc.Forms('myForm')
      form_names = form.Controls()
      form_control = form.Controls('myTextBox')  # SFDocuments.FormControl
   

GetDatabase

Return a SFDatabases.Database instance giving access to the execution of SQL commands on the database the current form is connected to and/or that is stored in the current Base document.

Each form has its own database connection, except in Base documents where they all share the same connection.

svc.GetDatabase(opt user: str, opt password: str): svc

user, password: The login optional parameters (Default = "").

      Dim myDb As Object ' SFDatabases.Database
      Set myDb = oForm.GetDatabase()
   

      db = form.GetDatabase()  # SFDatabases.Database
   

MoveFirst

The form cursor is positioned on the first record. Returns True if successful.

svc.MoveFirst(): bool

      myForm.MoveFirst() ' Basic
   

      form.MoveFirst()  # Python
   

MoveLast

The form cursor is positioned on the last record. Returns True if successful.

svc.MoveLast(): bool

      myForm.MoveLast() ' Basic
   

      form.MoveLast()  # Python
   

MoveNew

The form cursor is positioned on the new record area. Returns True if successful.

svc.MoveNew(): bool

      myForm.MoveNew() ' Basic
   

      form.MoveNew()  # Python
   

MoveNext

The form cursor is positioned on the next record. Returns True if successful.

svc.MoveNext(opt offset: int): bool

offset: The number of records to go forward (Default = 1).

      myForm.MoveNext() ' Basic
   

      form.MoveNext()  # Python
   

MovePrevious

The form cursor is positioned on the previous record. Returns True if successful.

svc.MovePrevious(opt offset: int): bool

offset: The number of records to go backwards (Default = 1).

      myForm.MovePrevious() ' Basic
   

      form.MovePrevious()  # Python
   

Requery

Reloads the current data from the database and refreshes the form. The cursor is positioned on the first record. Returns True if successful.

svc.Requery(): bool

      myForm.Requery() ' Basic
   

      form.Requery()  # Python
   

Subforms

The value returned by the Subforms method depends on the arguments provided:

• If the method is called without any arguments, then it returns the list of subforms contained in the current form or subform instance.

• If the optional subform argument is provided, the method returns a new SFDocuments.Form instance based on the specified form/subform name or index.

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

svc.Subforms(subform: str): svc

svc.Subforms(subform: int): svc

subform: A subform stored in the current Form class instance given by its name or index.

When this argument is absent, the method returns a list of available subforms as a zero-based array. If the form has a single subform, you can set subform = 0 to get access to it.

      Dim myForm As Object, myList As Variant, mySubform As Object
      myList = myform.Subforms()
      Set mySubform = myForm.Subforms("mySubform") ' SFDocuments.Form
   

      subform_names = form.Subforms()
     subform = form.Subforms('mySubform')  # SFDocuments.Form
   

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.