Button Tag Properties

[Application Generation] properties (Iron Speed Designer)

These properties control specific types of controls created by Iron Speed Designer.

Property

Description

ASCX file path

Specifies the location of the associated ASCX control to include.

Postback

PostBack

Specifies whether certain controls inside an Ajax-enabled update panel trigger a traditional post back.  PostBack works in conjunction with the “Smooth panel update” property.

True

The button control triggers a traditional post back when clicked.

False

The button control triggers an asynchronous post back (Ajax-based smooth panel updating) when clicked.

Note: When the ‘Export data from’ button action is selected, PostBack is assumed to be True because this feature requires a traditional post back in order to function properly.

The PostBack property is not automatically created; you must manually enable it.  If PostBack is not present, it is assumed to be ‘False’.

Applies To

Button
ImageButton
LinkButton

Other

.NET Framework 2.0 and later applications.

[Custom properties] (Iron Speed Designer)

These properties control specific types of controls created by Iron Speed Designer.

Property

Description

Consumers

Designates a “consumer” of the button event.  When the button is activated, the application creates an “event” that informs other controls that the button has been clicked.  This allows other controls to take action based on the event.  This property designates which component, if any, receives the event.

None

There is no consumer of this event.

Page

The page consumes this event, indicating that all records on the page should be updated.

Parent

The parent control consumes this event.

ParentRecord

The parent record consumes this event.

ParentTable

The parent table consumes this event.

Control name

The actual control bound to the button, e.g.: CategoriesTableControl.

ControlToUpdate

Specifies the name of the dropdown list control updated by this button.

Applies To

Button
ImageButton
LinkButton

FieldValue

Specifies the name of the database field that populates the dropdown list updated by the Quick Add button.

Applies To

Button
ImageButton
LinkButton

RedirectArgument

URL arguments, if any, to pass to the page being displayed.  There are several special arguments described in Button Actions - Substitution Variables.

RedirectURL

The URL of the page to be displayed when the button is clicked.  There are several special arguments:

Back

This argument can be used with the special RedirectArgument "updatedata", which is related to page history (Back key) handling.

You can modify a page’s OK or Cancel button to return "Back" to a previous page with fresh data by adding a RedirectArgument of "updatedata". This causes the previous page to load with fresh data, while maintaining settings (such as page size displayed, sorting, etc).

RowDisplayAction

Specifies the row display behavior when the ‘Expand’ button is pressed.

ExpandSelectedRow

The selected row is expanded.  No other rows are changed.

ExpandSelectedRowAndCollapseOtherRows

The selected row is expanded and all other rows are collapsed.

SendEmail<Number>From

Specifies the email address to use in the From field of an email.  The email address can be specified as a constant or as a substitution variable.  If it is a substitution variable, then the email address is taken from a field in the Table or Record control during application run-time.  Multiple email addresses should be separated by comas (,).

Email address should take one of these formats:

·         A constant

·         A substitution variable

·         Display name constant <Email address constant>

·         Display name constant <Email address substitution variable>

·         Display name substitution variable <Email address constant>

·         Display name substitution variable <Email address substitution variable>

Substitution variables have the format:

{ControlName:NoUrlEncode:FV:FieldName}

See Button Actions - Substitution Variables for details on substitution variables.

Property numbering starts with 1, must be an integer, and should be sequential.  For example, adding three send email actions using the Button Action Wizard creates this sequence of SendEmail<Number>From properties:

SendEmail1From

SendEmail2From

SendEmail3From

If you are adding custom properties through the Property Sheet, make sure the properties are numbered sequentially.  If numbering is not sequential, then send email code will be created only for those send email actions that are numbered sequentially.  For example, if you have added three send email actions and used numbers 1, 3, 4, send email code will be created only for the first send email action.

Numbering

Send email code is created for

1, 2, 3, 6

1, 2, 3

2, 5, 8

None

The text of all send email related properties is stored as encoded (using URL encoding).  This allows you to use different special characters (for example XML code).  We strongly recommend using the Button Action Wizard to add send email-related properties.  This helps avoid unnecessary problems and assures correct operation of your application.

SendEmail<Number>To

SendEmail<Number>CC

SendEmail<Number>BCC

Specifies the email address to use in the To, CC, and BCC fields of an email.

See SendEmail<Number>From for numbering details.

SendEmail<Number>Subject

Specifies the subject of the email.

See SendEmail<Number>From for numbering details.

SendEmail<Number>ContentURL

Specifies the URL of the web page used as content of the email.

See SendEmail<Number>From for numbering details.

SendEmail<Number>Content

Specifies the text used as content of the email.

See SendEmail<Number>From for numbering details.

SendEmail<Number>EmbedImages

Supplements the SendEmail<Number>ContentURL property.

true

Images are attached to the email.

false

Images and style sheets are referenced by fully qualified URLs

See SendEmail<Number>From for numbering details.

SendEmail<Number>ForRecord

This property is used to create send email actions.

current

Substitution variables are evaluated for the current record of the associated Record control or for first selected record in the associated Table control.

selected

Substitution variables are evaluated for all selected records in the associated Table control.  A separate email is sent for each selected record.

all

Substitution variables are evaluated for all records in the associated Table control.  A separate email is sent for each record.

See SendEmail<Number>From for numbering details.
[Events] properties (Iron Speed Designer)

Property

Description

OnMouseOut

OnMouseOutDesc

JavaScript executed when your mouse leaves the button.

OnMouseOver

OnMouseOverDesc

JavaScript executed when your mouse is over the button.
Appearance properties (ASP.NET)

The ASP.NET controls have a wide variety of properties that can be used to govern the controls’ behaviors.

Property

Description

ImageUrl

The URL of the button image to be displayed.

  • Image URLs that are file names are assumed to reside in the same run-time directory as the page being bound.

  • Image URLs that are relative will be relative to their page's corresponding run-time directory, not the app's directory.

  • Fully qualified URLs must begin with http:// or https://.

  • URLs must not contain backslashes; please use forward slashes.

Example:

Binding an Image tag in ...\MyApp\Shared\test.aspx to "image1.gif" will create a reference to ...\MyApp\Shared\image1.gif.

Binding this same image to "../Images/image2.gif" will create a reference to MyApp\Images\image2.gif.

Text

The text to display in the button or link.  This applies only to Link Buttons and Push Buttons.

Resource File Key

You can also dynamically fetch a text string from your application’s resource file (RESX) at application run-time by specifying a Resource Key.  This is useful in multi-language applications that have multiple resource files, one for each language.  This permits easy application localization by editing your application’s resource file instead of the application itself.  Specify the Resource Key in curly braces, e.g.:

{Txt:MyTextString}
Behavior properties (ASP.NET)

Property

Description

CausesValidation

The data entered into the page is validated by the application.  All data in each data entry control on the page is validated.

true

The data entered into the page is validated by the application.  All data in each data entry control on the page is validated.

False

The data entered into the page is not validated by the application.

CommandName

The particular command to execute upon button click.

AddRecord

Add a new record to the database.  Processing does not wait until a final “Submit” or “OK” button is clicked.

Custom

You can enter any command of your own.

DeleteRecord

Delete the selected record panel. Based on the CommandArgument, the processing commits immediately in the database or waits until a final “Submit” or “OK” button is clicked.

ExpandCollapseRow

The row is expanded or collapsed.

See the RowDisplayAction property for more details.

ExportData

Export data from the associated table.  A file selection dialog is displayed when an Export Data button is clicked, prompting the application user for a file name into which the data is exported.

GotoNext

Go to the next page in the table.  The associated database query is executed and the next page of data is returned from the database and displayed in the associated table.

GotoPrevious

Go to the previous page in the table.  The associated database query is executed and the previous page of data is returned from the database and displayed in the associated table.

LogOut

Sign out of the application.  The application user is logged out.

Redirect

A new page, specified by the URL, is displayed.

ResetData

Clears any data entered on the input form (page).  Refreshes the records displayed on the table panel by performing a database query.

ResetFilters

Resets the filters including the Search, dropdown list box filters and the column sorting on table panels.

Search

Perform a search on the database and display the resulting data in a table or record.  This operation is normally used for the “Go” button in a search panel or in a filter field panel.  The search term is entered into a separate text box field.  Similarly the filter criteria are entered into separate text box and dropdown list fields.

ShowUserStatusLbl

Displays the signed in user name in the upper tool bar.

UpdatePanels

Updates all associated panels to reflect their current data.

UpdateData

Any input data on the page is updated in the database.

CommandArgument

CommandArgument supplements the CommandName property.  The syntax and affects of individual arguments vary depending on various factors, including the URL / Command Name value, the button consumers' properties, table schemas, etc.

DeleteOnUpdate

This argument is typically used when the Command Name is “DeleteRecord”, generally for the “Delete” button within rows in Edit Table pages.  The selected record is hidden immediately, but not deleted from the database until / unless the consuming Table Control’s data is saved.

ToolTip

Pop-up help text displayed when an application user moves their mouse over the button.

Resource File Key

You can also dynamically fetch a text string from your application’s resource file (RESX) at application run-time by specifying a Resource Key.  This is useful in multi-language applications that have multiple resource files, one for each language.  This permits easy application localization by editing your application’s resource file instead of the application itself.  Specify the Resource Key in curly braces, e.g.:

{Txt:MyTextString}
ASP.NET Properties

See ASP.NET Control Properties for details.

Obsolete Application Generation Properties (Iron Speed Designer)

Your application may contain these properties that are no longer used and are obsolete.  In general, most obsolete properties are benign and will not affect your application’s code or run-time operation.

Property

Description

ControlToValidate

Specifies the target control to be updated when adding a new record via the Quick Add button feature.  ControlToValidate is typically the name of the control of the dropdown list whose value is to be updated after a record is added via a Quick Add button.

The database field populating the dropdown list control is specified by the FieldValue property.

Applies To

Button
ImageButton
LinkButton

PostBack property set to ‘True’ in certain cases

When a field is bound to a third-party control (e.g, FCKEditor) a postback may be necessary to retrieve the current field value.  This is not a problem when page content is saved by clicking the ‘Save’ or ‘Save and New’ button which belongs to page, but it could be a problem for table row buttons.  To avoid such problems, Iron Speed Designer adds the ‘PostBack = True’ property to all ‘Save’ and ‘Save and New’ buttons by default.

Properties of buttons within ASCX controls

Properties are declared differently for a Text button (called a ‘theme button’) and an Image button.  For example the CommandName property for a text button is Button-CommandName whereas it is just CommanName for an Image button.

The reason is that theme buttons are usually ASCX controls that are included within a page (ASPX).  A button component creates a reusable panel and is based on a layout that you can specify.  The PushButton, LinkButton and ImageButton are standard HTML buttons.  In order to retrieve the property for any ASCX control within a page, it is essential to prepend the name of the ASCX control before the property so that the page is aware it refers to the property of an ASCX control with that name.  Image buttons, on the other hand, are simple ASP controls and therefore don’t require us to specify the name of the controls before the properties.

The Button uses several properties to set the values of attributes inside of the Button panel.  The properties whose names are prefixed “Button” refer to the attributes within the Button panel.  For example, a code generation tag named Button within the Button.html panel is referred by the name Button by the enclosing page or panel.  As such, the Button-CausesValidation property refers to the CausesValidation property of the code generation tag named “Button” or “LinkButton” within the ThemeButton.ascx control.

See also

Button Actions and Properties

Button Tag Properties

Button Actions

Button Actions - Redirect and Send Email Actions

Button Actions - Substitution Variables

Calling JavaScript Code from a Button