Special Lawson Portal Page Objects

The following sections describe some special objects that you can create or modify for your needs.

  • Text: An object that lets you add explanatory text to a custom page.

  • Composite: An object that lets you add an existing custom page to a new one. This is a way to create an object made up of multiple objects that can be used in multiple custom pages.

  • Formlet: A formlet is a form you create that can reside within a custom page.

Text

You can add text to a custom page and, to some extent, control how the text appears. The text you add might be an informational message to the user or virtually any content that you need to convey.

You access the text object from the General, not the Lawson, Toolbox.

When you click the Custom button when the Text object is selected, the Text dialog box appears.

Form clip: Text Property Page Dialog box

Type the text you want to appear on the custom page in the dialog box. You can apply styles (bold, italic, underline) and change the alignment (left, center, right).

You can add background color. When you change the background color, the color of the virtual box through which the text displays on the custom page will change. When you click the background color icon, a Color Picker dialog box appears. Click the color you want to use as background and then click Okay. Click Okay again to apply the color.

You can also change the color of the text itself. When you click the text color icon, a Color Picker dialog box appears. Click the color you want to use for the text and then click Okay. Click Okay again to apply the color.

Any style you assign applies to all text in the text object.

Composite

A composite is an object (actually, a custom page) that is made up of a group of objects and can be inserted onto other custom pages.

Here is an example of how you might use a composite. If you have a group of objects, say, a report, a data query, and an image, that you want to use on multiple custom pages, you can create a custom page that can be inserted as a Composite object on the other custom pages.

The custom page that will be used as a composite object must already be created before you can insert it.

When the composite object is selected on a custom page, click the Source button in the Properties pane. This opens a dialog for selecting a custom page to be used as a composite. Select the custom page you want to work with and click OK.

You can use the resizing and location properties to determine the location and size of the composite on the custom page.

Formlet

A formlet is a form that is launched from a custom page. The form you plan to launch must already be defined before you can add it to a custom page. When the formlet object is selected, click the Source button in the Properties pane. This opens a dialog for selecting a form that will launch as a formlet from the custom page. Click the Find button to open a list of forms that are available to be selected.

You can use the resizing and location properties to determine the location and size of the formlet on the custom page.

Composite and Formlet Properties

Composite and Formlet objects have the following properties.

Property Description
Auto Hide Select to hide the object until the data it depends on is available in the custom page's data source.
Border Add a border to the object for display purposes.
Height Height of an object.
Left The left position the object occupies.
Name Changes the internal name of the object, the name which identifies the object in the XML code. All objects have an internal name. The name can be changed but, unless you are planning to modify the code through JavaScript, there is no reason to do so.
Scroll

Sets how to manage content of an object when content exceeds height or width of the object.

By default, content is not clipped and scrolling capability (scroll bars) is added only when necessary.

Refresh

Applies to Formlet only, not Composite.

Determines when the custom page should be refreshed. Options are:

  • Always: The custom page will refresh any time it receives a refresh notification.

  • When Keys Changed: If this option is selected, the custom page will be refreshed only occur when a key field is changed on the formlet. Any other refresh notifications will be ignored. This option can save processing time.

Source The source name appears automatically in this space after you have selected the formlet or composite by clicking the Source button to open the list of available objects and selecting it. The composite or formlet must already exist before you can add it to a custom page.
Top Vertical physical position of an object in relation to the size of the form.
Width Width of an object.
zIndex If two objects are placed on top of each other, zIndex, in conjunction with your JavaScript code, determines which object will display when. This property is used only in conjunction with custom scripting.