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Subject: Basic ListX Generator

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nxtrack

Posts:53

09/16/2006 4:59 PM	Alert
OK, here it is... the first version of my ListX Generator. What is it? It is just a rough Excel spreadsheet that pushes text around to create various parts of the ListX system after you put in some basic table/field information and settings. I use it to save me loads of time. I hope it helps you, too. But, use at your one risk... there are no guarantees as to ... anything. Good Luck. Fletch http://dnn.webcamone.com

emaynard

Posts:182

09/16/2006 7:05 PM	Alert
Fletcher, This is good stuff! I especially like the fact that you have finer control over each of the different form def sections. I'll give this a few days use and if I can think of any improvements, I'll be sure to post. -e

PittsburghSteelersFan
Welterweight

Posts:43

09/17/2006 10:47 PM	Alert
Thanks for sharing this...i use codesmith a lot, which is great for "bulk" stuff, but not so good when you want/need more granularity... I was a bit confused about how to use this, but I'll try wrestling with it and see if it makes more sense when I actually USE it versus just looking at it, but I'm very appreciative.

nxtrack

Posts:53

09/18/2006 12:50 PM	Alert
Sorry, the last version was very buggy. Some column references were messed up due to a column move. This should be better... although it still needs work. You can see the working version in the tabs above. http://dnn.webcamone.com

rtonerii

Posts:310

09/28/2006 8:51 AM	Alert
Do you have any kind of document on how to use it? Or maybe a video clip seeing it in use? I am new to ListX so it does not make that much sense yet. Thanks Rick

nxtrack

Posts:53

09/29/2006 1:29 PM	Alert
A video... OK. I've been looking to test out some video making software I have. So, time allowing this weekend, I'll post an updated version of the Generator along with a "how-to" from start to finish video.

rtonerii

Posts:310

10/12/2006 7:09 PM	Alert
Hi nxtrack, Any word on a video? I would love to understand how to use your process. Thanks Rick

nxtrack

Posts:53

10/13/2006 1:08 AM	Alert
OK, here an amateur video of how to use my ListX Generator. http://dnn.webcamone.com/Temp/ListXGenerator1.40a/ListXGenerator1.40a.html An easy link to the video is also available on the website: http://dnn.webcamone.com Make sure you get the latest version of the generator (1.40). Good Luck.

pauldes

Posts:1392

10/13/2006 9:12 AM	Alert
AWESOME dude..... THANKS!! I'll definitely use it Question: why do you escape all the fields in the query? Suggestions(since you asked for them)..... Implement the ability to include lxFetch in any form field utilizing onchange="" Implement the ability to have a select field values dependent on the value of another field on the form Add another area where I can enter the defult paths to MY icons for add, edit, calendar, delete, etc, instead of using the default /images Add a Column number property to the form, so that I can define which fields are in which column in a multicolumn form For both FORM and TABLE: add a cell for add two columns for HTML tag and HTML Property so that I can add my own default properties to the generation. Such as tags <table>, <tr>, and <td> for properties class="MyCSSStyle" or style="width:100", etc. Very cool though....

ListX....makes you look brilliant, even though you're not.

nxtrack

Posts:53

10/13/2006 10:51 AM	Alert
Question: why do you escape all the fields in the query? ---I can’t exactly remember, but it seems to me I had a query that wouldn’t work until I escaped the field. Figuring that others may run into it, I just escaped them all, which is easy for a generator. Suggestions(since you asked for them)..... Implement the ability to include lxFetch in any form field utilizing onchange="" Good idea. Implement the ability to have a select field values dependent on the value of another field on the form ---Can you post/send me a form that does this? Add another area where I can enter the default paths to MY icons for add, edit, calendar, delete, etc, instead of using the default /images ---Good Idea… but you could just do a search and replace in excel. For example: find ‘/images/edit.gif’ and change to ‘/myimages/editrecord.gif’ Add a Column number property to the form, so that I can define which fields are in which column in a multicolumn form ---Another good idea. For many forms, I prefer to use the single column… and reserve the right side of the form to put subqueries (in addition to the validation). For both FORM and TABLE: add a cell for add two columns for HTML tag and HTML Property so that I can add my own default properties to the generation. Such as tags <table>, <tr>, and <td> for properties class="MyCSSStyle" or style="width:100", etc. ---Yes that would be a nice addition… but like the images, just jump in and change the excel to your liking. You can also change the CSS. I figure most things, like a column width mod are an occasional mod, and would be done in the listX module (post generation). Besides, if we go too much further with this, we couldn’t call it a BASIC ListX Generator ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---I also think excel, while flexible to create the basic of these functions, is not the right platform for this generator… but ListX could be. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a ListX – ListX Generator? ---I’d like to know if any of the current (or your suggested) generator features are in the works for future ListX versions. Although, features such as math functions (they may be working on) would be cool, too.

pauldes

Posts:1392

10/13/2006 12:09 PM	Alert
Implement the ability to have a select field values dependent on the value of another field on the form ---Can you post/send me a form that does this? It's pretty straightforward. It's just a <select> with a subquery. The WHERE in the Query parameter of the subquery = [frm_name1,Form]. My thought was that in combination with my lxFetch suggestion you could autogenerate the code so that lxFetch is on frm_name1 and a <select> called frm_name2 would refresh and use the value of frm_name1 in the WHERE clause of its subquery. EXAMPLE: <select name="sltEmployee" class="FormDataA" id="sltEmployee"> <option value="NULL">*None</option> {SUBQUERY, Name="qryOwner", Query="select full_name, last_name, employee_id from employee where Country = [frm_name1,Form] order by last_name", Format="<option value="[employee_id]">[full_name]</option>", SelectedFormat="<option value="[employee_id]" selected>[full_name]</option>", SelectedField="employee_id", SelectedItems="[FORMAT,[sltEmployee,Form],{ISEMPTY:[employee_id]}]", UseCache="False"} </select>

ListX....makes you look brilliant, even though you're not.

rtonerii

Posts:310

10/13/2006 1:32 PM	Alert
nxtrack, Have you thought about adding a column for format? Just a thought.

pauldes

Posts:1392

10/16/2006 6:37 PM	Alert
Found a bug when using a Select tag. In your subquery tag you are missing and underscore each time in the label of the last query item just before your UNION statement SUBQUERY, Name="qry_assigned_to_id",Query="Select -1 as qry_assigned_to_id, '*None' AS qry_Assigned To UNION Should be qry_Assigned_To Still, you just saved me about an hour.....THANKS!!

ListX....makes you look brilliant, even though you're not.

nxtrack

Posts:53

10/16/2006 11:11 PM	Alert
Nice Catch. New in 1.41: Small fix for select fields containing a space in the label. Make sure, if you use a label with a space, you convert that space to an underscore for the label field in your subquery. If you don't quite follow this, just don't use spaces in your label :-)

nxtrack

Posts:53

10/16/2006 11:20 PM	Alert
Nevermind about the subquery underscore requirement... it appears to work regardless.

tinymetin
Posts:5

10/26/2006 12:13 AM	Alert
Have I missed something? I tried downloading the file.. but I can't open it..

rtonerii

Posts:310

10/26/2006 12:48 PM	Alert
You need to most likely rename it with a .xls on it. In Firefox it is not putting an extension on it.

tinymetin
Posts:5

10/26/2006 10:23 PM	Alert
Thanks for your reply rtonerii. I'm new to listx. I have another question... Was able to generate the listx using the generator but the save / update and validation functions do not work. What am I supposed to do? Thanks again

nxtrack

Posts:53

10/26/2006 11:34 PM	Alert
Have you downloaded and viewed the video yet? It runs through the implementation from start to finish... and shows a screen shot of the Actions page (video time 12:15), most of which needs to be entered manually (for the save/update). For validation, that's a checkbox on the 'General' tab, and an 'r' in the validation column of the generator for fields requiring basic validation. There were probably a couple of steps in the whole process I didn't cover in the video, like the sql table creation, but those are outside the scope of the generator.

DavidWSnow
Cruiserweight

Posts:128

12/12/2006 2:57 PM	Alert
This is a great idea! I too am not sure that Excel is the right platform. When I did my first ListX, with a table that has 22 fields, I was impressed (read unhappy) at how many times I had to type the names of the fields to create a search form, listing table, and details/update form, and pass the data around. By extending this concept a tool that looked at the table defination and allowed you to add associated label names / column headers and a preferred order; you could almost automatically create a Search form, Listing page and edit / deatils form along with the required action statements and a stock set of message actions. If the table / form data was formatted in a friendly way then all a ListX user would have to do is delete the sections for filed that they didn't want displayed or used as search items. This is a concept that Biforce should consider. Right now there is way too much grunt work in getting started with ListX and not very good debugging info when you drop a character while typing or even cutting and pasteing. This is good work and a great idea! Thanks

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