Interface Value

RE: Interface Value

Mike Schmitt — Mon, 23 May 2022 15:43:44 GMT

[quote userid="110757" url="~/discussions/f/user-interface/24678/interface-value/95390#95390"]Appian requires direct user interaction in a field for a value to even register in the field and become savable[/quote]

Yup! 🙂

[quote userid="110757" url="~/discussions/f/user-interface/24678/interface-value/95390#95390"]Gopal skipped thinking about anything else by simply saving the value of text field #1 on behalf of text field #2 [/quote]

He (and I both) assumed this is what you were after, per your initial phrasing. If your requirement is different in some way, just let us know and we'll help you figure out what more to add.

[quote userid="110757" url="~/discussions/f/user-interface/24678/interface-value/95390#95390"]saveInto will allow me to save an array of saves if I use the {} and a!save to describe the second save item [/quote]

Yes, and this is an important part of how powerful Appian interfaces can be with a bit of custom tuning, once you get used to the nature of the way these work.

RE: Interface Value

louiss0005 — Mon, 23 May 2022 15:31:20 GMT

Well, this is cool that you are explaining the nuts and bolts, as I am new to all of this. I'm gonna recap the lessons that I think I just learned:

1. field #2 didn't save a value because Appian requires direct user interaction in a field for a value to even register in the field and become savable,

2. Gopal skipped thinking about anything else by simply saving the value of text field #1 on behalf of text field #2 within text field #1's saveInto line,

3. saveInto will allow me to save an array of saves if I use the {} and a!save to describe the second save item and each save item thereafter,

4. there is some potential for further confusion if my intent includes the ability to save different values in text field #1 and text field #2 (it is my intent to save the same value, so I am happy with this lesson as it is right now).

You two have been very helpful. Thank you.

RE: Interface Value

louiss0005 — Mon, 23 May 2022 15:17:03 GMT

Okay, this is working. Thank you!

RE: Interface Value

Mike Schmitt — Mon, 23 May 2022 15:14:15 GMT

Gopalk's solution is probably the correct one for your use case, but it will help if you understand a bit more about what's happening here.

In Appian, for any user input field, the "saveInto" parameter only has any effect whatsoever when the user directly interacts with that field. What you've done here, on the other hand, will cause the "field #2" value to always show the value of ri!record.trainingevent, and if any changes are made to it from that field, only then will the changes save only to "ri!equipment.trainingEvent", but those changes will not be reflected in the field itself since its value is set to only reflect ri!record.trainingEvent.

Instead, per the code GoalK posted already, we have the first "training event" field save any user input directly into both data targets simultaneously. Then the "field #2" value is changed to correctly reflect its own value, and any changes to that field will change only its value. This will roughly accomplish the behavior you're after.

The one thing to be careful of here, though, is that if the user enters a value in Field 1, then makes an edit to Field 2's value, but then also goes back and edits Field 1 again, the new value for Field 1 will overwrite the Field 2 data without caring that it already has a value. If this is your intent, then that's fine, but if there's a chance this will cause further user confusion, then you will need to refine the Field1 saveInto to avoid overwriting Field 2's value if it's anything other than "blank".

RE: Interface Value

GopalK — Mon, 23 May 2022 14:51:32 GMT

HI, You would need to save 2nd rule input value in first text field's saveInto parameter like below,

a!textField(
label: "Training Event",
labelPosition: "ABOVE",
value: ri!record.trainingevent,         <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
saveInto: {
ri!record.trainingevent,
a!save(ri!equipment.trainingEvent,ri!record.trainingevent)
},
characterLimit: 255,
showCharacterCount: false,
required: false
),

Here is text field #2:

a!textField(
label: "Training Event",
labelPosition: "ABOVE",
value: ri!equipment.trainingEvent,         <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
saveInto: ri!equipment.trainingEvent,
characterLimit: 255,
showCharacterCount: false,
required: false
),