Meta Tags

<@CHOICELIST>

Syntax

<@CHOICELIST NAME=inputname TYPE=select|radio OPTIONS=optionsarray [SIZE=size] [MULTIPLE=yes|no] [CLASS=classname] [STYLE=stylename] [onBlur=script] [onClick=script] [onFocus=script] [VALUES=valuesarray] [SELECTED=selectedarray] [SELECTEXTRAS=selectattributes] [OPTIONEXTRAS=optionattributes] [TABLEEXTRAS=tableattributes] [TREXTRAS=trattributes] [TDEXTRAS=tdattributes] [LABELPREFIX=prefix] [LABELSUFFIX=suffix] [COLUMNS=number] [ROWS=number] [ORDER=columns|rows] [ENCODING=encoding]>

Description

<@CHOICELIST> allows you to easily create HTML selection list boxes, pop-up menus/drop-down lists, and radio button clusters using data from variables, database values, and so on.

This meta tag accepts all the attributes of the standard HTML <SELECT> tag and of the <INPUT TYPE=radio> tags. It also accepts additional attributes for specifying the values in the list and the selected item(s). Radio button groups are always formatted as a table, and an additional series of attributes defines how the radio button group table is to be formatted.

The TYPE attribute defines the type of choice list to create. This is one of SELECT or RADIO (which can be abbreviated as S and R). SELECT is the default if nothing is specified.

The following attributes of the <@CHOICELIST> tag function in the same way as the attributes of the HTML <SELECT> tag or <INPUT TYPE=radio> tag:

Attribute

Definition

NAME
The name of the <SELECT> tag or <INPUT TYPE=radio> tags, used for referencing in a <FORM> (control name).

CLASS
This attribute assigns a class name or set of class names. Any number of elements may be assigned the same class name or names. Multiple class names must be separated by white space characters.

onBlur
The onBlur event occurs when an element loses focus either by the pointing device or by tabbing navigation.

onChange
The onChange event occurs when a control loses the input focus and its value has been modified since gaining focus.

onFocus
The onFocus event occurs when an element receives focus either by the pointing device or by tabbing navigation.

onClick
The onClick event occurs when the pointing device button is clicked over an element.

STYLE
This attribute specifies style information for the current element.

The OPTIONS attribute specifies an array of option names to appear in the selection list or radio button group. The array may have either a single column (one option name in each row) or a single row (one option name in each column).

The VALUES attribute defines an optional array of option values. If specified, the size of the array must match the one specified in the OPTIONS attribute. Each array element becomes the value for its corresponding element in the OPTIONS array. If this attribute is not specified, the value for each option is the same as its name.

The SELECTED attribute defines a single value or an array of values to be selected in the list. The value(s) must match items appearing in the VALUES attribute, if specified, or the OPTIONS attribute if VALUES is not specified. Items in this array are selected in the displayed selection list or radio button group.

The OPTIONEXTRAS attribute can be used to set additional <OPTION> tag attributes or <INPUT TYPE=radio> tag attributes. The value of this attribute is placed without parsing in the HTML <OPTION> tag or <INPUT TYPE=radio> tag. For example, OPTIONEXTRAS='CLASS="fred"' adds the CLASS="fred" attribute to each <OPTION> tag or <INPUT TYPE=radio> tag.

The following attributes apply only to lists:

The SIZE attribute specifies the number of rows in the list that should be visible at the same time.
The MULTIPLE attribute allows multiple selections.
The SELECTEXTRAS attribute can be used to set additional <SELECT> tag attributes. The value of this attribute is placed without parsing in the HTML <SELECT> tag. For example, EXTRAS='ID="alpha"' adds the ID="alpha" attribute to the <SELECT> tag.

The following attributes apply only to radio button groups:

The TABLEEXTRAS attribute sets a value that is added to the TABLE tag for the radio cluster.
The TREXTRAS attribute sets a value that is added to each TR tag for the radio cluster.
The TDEXTRAS attribute sets a value that is added to each TD tag for the radio cluster.
The LABELPREFIX attribute sets a value that is prefixed to each radio button label.
The LABELSUFFIX attribute sets a value that is appended to each radio button label.
The COLUMNS attribute sets the number of columns of radio buttons in a radio cluster. If COLUMNS is specified, ROWS is ignored. If neither ROWS nor COLUMNS is specified, then a single-column cluster is created.
The ROWS attribute sets the number of rows of radio buttons in a radio cluster. If COLUMNS is specified, this attribute is ignored.
The ORDER attribute sets the direction in which the options are displayed. This attribute has two possible values: COLUMNS means each column (left to right) is filled first; ROWS means each row (top to bottom) is filled first. COLUMNS is the default value of this attribute. This attribute is used only if more than one column or row is generated.

The ENCODING attribute works slightly differently for the <@CHOICELIST> meta tag: the default encoding for this meta tag is NONE; that is, no escaping of special characters is done for the result of the meta tag; however, this tag does do encoding (always) as part of its normal operation; that is, any special characters within the arrays that define the options list are escaped for HTML. For example, if you specified a list of operators in the options list (= [equals];< [less than];> [greater than]), the characters that have special meaning within HTML (the less-than and greater-than characters) would be encoded as < and >, which are special HTML escape sequences. This appears correctly in a Web browser; that is, as "<" and ">".

Examples

The following Tango meta tags appear in an application file:

<@ASSIGN NAME=colors VALUE=<@ARRAY VALUE="red;green;blue;yellow;black;white;"> SCOPE=local>

<@ASSIGN NAME=selectedColor VALUE="red" SCOPE=local>

<@CHOICELIST NAME=colors SIZE=1 OPTIONS=@@colors SELECTED=@@selectedColor>

On execution of the Tango application file, the <@CHOICELIST> meta tag evaluates to the following:

<SELECT NAME=colors SIZE=1> <OPTION SELECTED>red <OPTION>green <OPTION>blue <OPTION>yellow <OPTION>black <OPTION>white </SELECT>

You can create a drop-down list from an existing array; for example, the resultSet of a Tango action:

<@CHOICELIST NAME=myDropDown SIZE=1 OPTIONS=@@resultSet[*,1]>

The following is a radio button example using the same variable arrays:

<@CHOICELIST NAME=colorChoice TYPE="RADIO" VALUES=@@colors SELECTED=@@selectedColor>

On execution of the Tango application file, the <@CHOICELIST> meta tag evaluates to the following:

<TABLE><TR> <TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="red" CHECKED>red </TD></TR> <TR><TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="green">green </TD></TR> <TR><TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="blue">blue</TD> </TR> <TR><TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="yellow">yellow</TD></TR> <TR><TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="black">black</TD></TR> <TR><TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="white">white</TD></TR></TABLE>

The following example shows the use of table-formatting attributes and label attributes for the radio button group.

<@CHOICELIST NAME=colorChoice TYPE="RADIO" VALUES=@@colors SELECTED=@@selectedColor TABLEEXTRAS="CELLPADDING=2" labelprefix="<FONT FACE=arial SIZE=1>" labelsuffix="</FONT>">

<TABLE CELLPADDING=2> <TR><TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="red" CHECKED><FONT FACE=arial SIZE=1>red</FONT></TD> </TR> <TR><TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="green"><FONT FACE=arial SIZE=1>green</FONT> </TD></TR> <TR><TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="blue"><FONT FACE=arial SIZE=1>blue</FONT> </TD></TR> <TR><TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="yellow"><FONT FACE=arial SIZE=1>yellow</FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="black"><FONT FACE=arial SIZE=1>black</FONT> </TD></TR> <TR><TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="white"><FONT FACE=arial SIZE=1>white</FONT> </TD></TR> </TABLE>

The following example shows the use of the COLUMNS attribute for formatting the returned radio button table, returning a two-column table:

<@CHOICELIST NAME=colorChoice TYPE="RADIO" VALUES=@@colors SELECTED=@@selectedColor COLUMNS=2>

<TABLE><TR><TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="red" CHECKED>red</TD> <TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="yellow">yellow</TD></TR> <TR><TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="green">green</TD> <TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="black">black</TD></TR> <TR><TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="blue">blue</TD> <TD><INPUT type="RADIO" name=colorChoice value="white">white</TD></TR> </TABLE>

Attribute	Definition
NAME	The name of the <SELECT> tag or <INPUT TYPE=radio> tags, used for referencing in a <FORM> (control name).
CLASS	This attribute assigns a class name or set of class names. Any number of elements may be assigned the same class name or names. Multiple class names must be separated by white space characters.
onBlur	The onBlur event occurs when an element loses focus either by the pointing device or by tabbing navigation.
onChange	The onChange event occurs when a control loses the input focus and its value has been modified since gaining focus.
onFocus	The onFocus event occurs when an element receives focus either by the pointing device or by tabbing navigation.
onClick	The onClick event occurs when the pointing device button is clicked over an element.
STYLE	This attribute specifies style information for the current element.

<@CHOICELIST>

Syntax

Description

Attribute

Definition

Examples

See Also