ewe.data
Class InputObject

java.lang.Object
  ewe.data.DataObject
      ewe.data.LiveObject
          ewe.data.InputObject

All Implemented Interfaces:

Comparable, Copyable, DataUnit, FieldListener, HasProperties, LiveData

Direct Known Subclasses:

GetSearchCriteria

public class InputObject

extends LiveObject

implements HasProperties

This is a utility object which can be used to input data from a user. There are two basic ways of doing this:

Construct it using InputObject(String fields,int inputLength) and provide a text formatted specification for "fields".

Override InputObject and override the setupInputStack() method.

Using the first method, constructing an InputObject with a field specification, the format for the "fields" variable is as follows:

"prompt$hotkey|fieldName$fieldType|prompt$hotkey|fieldName$fieldType|..."

prompt can be any string which will be displayed as a prompt for an input field. If you end the prompt with the sequence "$x", where 'x' can be any character, then 'x' will be considered the hot key for that field.
fieldName must be a field name for the previous prompt. This must be followed by a '$' and then an optional java type in 'L' format. For example if you want to input a ewe.sys.Time object then you should have: "$Lewe/sys/Time;" immediately following the field name. If you want to enter an integer then you should have: "$I" immediately following the field name. A '$' with nothing after it denotes a String.

For example:

public static void main(String args[])
{
        ewe.sys.Vm.startEwe(args);
        PropertyList defaultValues = PropertyList.fromStrings("name|Homer Simpson|age|42");
        PropertyList entered = new InputObject("Name:$n|name$|Age:$a|age$I",30).input(null,"Please enter data!",defaultValues);
        if (entered != null) ewe.sys.Vm.debug(entered.toString());
        ewe.sys.Vm.exit(0);
}

With the second method, in the overriden setupInputStack(InputStack is,Editor ed) you should add the appropiate input controls and fields to the InputStack 'is' and editor 'ed'.

Field Summary

String	fields This is the specification of the fields to be input.
int	inputLength This is the default input length, currently set to 30 characters.

Constructor Summary

InputObject()

InputObject(String fields, int inputLength)
Create an InputObject with the specified fields and with a particular input length.

Method Summary

void	addToPanel(CellPanel cp, Editor ed, int which) You should not need to override this, but you can if you want to completely change the way the input form will look.
PropertyList	getProperties() Get the property list which holds the values for the entered fields.
PropertyList	input(Frame parent, String title, PropertyList values) This does the following: Sets the values of the fields to be as specified in the "values" PropertyList parameter.
protected boolean	isValid(PropertyList pl, Editor ed) This is called before the InputObject form exits with an exit code of IDOK.
static void	main(String[] args) This allows you to test the InputObject with specified data.
protected Editor	makeNewEditor(int options) This shoudl create the new Editor object but not add anything to it.
protected void	setupInputStack(InputStack is, Editor ed) You can override this to add your own custom fields and controls.
protected void	showErrorMessage(String title, String message) Use this if you wish from the isValid() method to display a message if the input is invalid.

Methods inherited from class ewe.data.LiveObject

action, action, addMeToPanel, addObjectToPanel, decode, decoded, decodeFields, enableEditorScrolling, encode, encoded, encodeFields, fieldChanged, fieldChanged, fieldEvent, getEditor, getEditorScroller, getIcon, getName, input, runAsApp, textDecode, textEncode

Methods inherited from class ewe.data.DataObject

_getSetField, appendAllFields, compareTo, copied, copyFrom, equals, getCopy, getDeclaredField, getDeclaredFieldValue, getDeclaredFieldValue, getFieldList, getFieldList, getMyFieldList, getNew

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, finalize, getClass, hashCode, toString

Methods inherited from interface ewe.data.DataUnit

copyFrom, getNew

Methods inherited from interface ewe.util.Copyable

getCopy

Methods inherited from interface ewe.util.Comparable

compareTo

Field Detail

inputLength

public int inputLength

This is the default input length, currently set to 30 characters.

fields

public String fields

This is the specification of the fields to be input.

Constructor Detail

InputObject

public InputObject()

InputObject

public InputObject(String fields,
                   int inputLength)

Create an InputObject with the specified fields and with a particular input length. Each field must specify its type.

Parameters:

fields - This can be in two formats:
Either: field1$type1,field2$type2,field3%type3,...
Or: Prompt1$hotKey1|field1$type1|Prompt2$hotKey2|field2$type2|...
Note that the first one is comma separated while the second is '|' separated.

The type of the field must be specified and should be for primitive (non-object values): I (integer), D (double), Z (boolean) or, to specify an object type: Lfull_class_name;. Note that can just have a '$' with nothing following to specify a String. Note also that for object values, you must use a '/' instead of a '.' to separate packages. e.g. Lewe/sys/Time;

inputLength - The length of the inputs.

Method Detail

getProperties

public PropertyList getProperties()

Get the property list which holds the values for the entered fields.

Specified by:

getProperties in interface HasProperties

setupInputStack

protected void setupInputStack(InputStack is,
                               Editor ed)

You can override this to add your own custom fields and controls.

addToPanel

public void addToPanel(CellPanel cp,
                       Editor ed,
                       int which)

You should not need to override this, but you can if you want to completely change the way the input form will look.

Overrides:

addToPanel in class LiveObject

input

public PropertyList input(Frame parent,
                          String title,
                          PropertyList values)

This does the following:

• Sets the values of the fields to be as specified in the "values" PropertyList parameter. If this is null then no change will be made.
• Creates an Editor for the InputObject and sets the title.
• Calls execute() on the Editor to display the input form.
• If the user presses OK, it will return a PropertyList containing entries for the data entered. If the user pressed Cancel, it will return null.

You can retrieve the data entered for each field by calling getValue("fieldName",defaultValue) on the returned PropertyList.

makeNewEditor

protected Editor makeNewEditor(int options)

This shoudl create the new Editor object but not add anything to it. This is called by getEditor(). By default it returns a standard Editor object.

Overrides:

makeNewEditor in class LiveObject

showErrorMessage

protected void showErrorMessage(String title,
                                String message)

Use this if you wish from the isValid() method to display a message if the input is invalid.

Parameters:

title - the title of the message box.

message - the text of the message.

isValid

protected boolean isValid(PropertyList pl,
                          Editor ed)

This is called before the InputObject form exits with an exit code of IDOK. If it returns false the form will not exit.

Parameters:

pl - the PropertyList holding the input data.

ed - the Editor form used for input.

Returns:

true to allow the input form to exit, false to prevent an exit.

main

public static void main(String[] args)

This allows you to test the InputObject with specified data. Simply execute:
ewe ewe.data.InputObjct "field_list" ["default_data"]
To display an input box for the specified field list. The default_data is optional.

Try it out with the following field lists:
"lastName$,firstNames$,smoker$Z,salary$D,dob$Lewe/sys/Time;
and
"Contact Name$n|name$|Company$c|company$|Age$a|age$I"