You can make a connection between a RichTextEdit control and a DataWindow control or DataStore object. When an input field in the RichTextEdit control has the same name as a column or computed column in the DataWindow object, it displays the associated data.
Whether or not the RichTextEdit control has a data source, there is always only one copy of the rich text content. While editing, you might visualize the RichTextEdit contents as a template into which row after row of data can be inserted. While scrolling from row to row, you might think of many instances of the document in which the text is fixed but the input field data changes.
To share data between a DataWindow object or DataStore, use the DataSource function:
rte_1.DataSource(ds_empdata)
If the DataWindow object associated with the DataStore ds_empdata has the four columns emp_id, emp_lname, emp_fname, and state, the RichTextEdit content might include text and input fields like this:
Sample letter with columns from the employee table
ID: {emp_id}
Dear {emp_fname} {emp_lname}:
We are opening a new plant in Mexico. If you would like to transfer from {state} to Mexico, the company will cover all expenses.
For the RichTextEdit control, navigation keys let the user move among the pages of the document. However, you must provide scrolling controls so that the user can move from row to row.
You should provide Prior Row and Next Row buttons. The scripts for the buttons are simple. For Next Row:
rte_1.ScrollNextRow()
For Prior Row:
rte_1.ScrollPriorRow()
If you also provide page buttons, then when the user is on the last page of the document for one row, scrolling to the next page moves to the first page for the next row:
rte_1.ScrollNextPage()
