The RichText presentation style allows you to combine input fields that represent database columns with formatted text. This presentation style is useful for display-only reports, especially mail-merge documents. However, if you want to use the RichText DataWindow object for data entry, you can specify validation rules and display formats for the input fields.
In the Design view, you see the text along with placeholders called input fields:
{FNAME} {LNAME}
{COMPANY_NAME}
{ADDRESS}
{CITY}, {STATE} {ZIP}
Dear {FNAME}:
. . .
In the Preview view, the text is the same, but PowerBuilder replaces the input fields with values from the database:
Beth Reiser AMF Corp. 1033 Whippany Road New York, NY 10154 Dear Beth: . . .
The formatted text acts like a document template. There is only one copy of the text. As the user scrolls from row to row, the data for the current row is inserted in the input fields and the user sees the document with the current data. If the user edits the text, the changes show up in every row of data.
In the RichText presentation style, an input field is associated with a column or computed field. It gets its value from the retrieved data or from the computed field’s expression.
If an input field is not a computed field and its name does not match a column, there is no way to specify data for the input field.
There can be more than one copy of an input field in the rich text. In the sample above, there are two instances of the field FNAME. Each instance of the field displays the same data.
Not all the settings available in other DataWindow styles are available. You cannot apply code tables and edit styles, such as a DropDownDataWindow or EditMask, to input fields. You cannot use slide left and slide up settings to reposition input fields automatically. However, you can set the LineRemove property at runtime to achieve a similar effect.
