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Field XML Tags Field XML tags control all aspects of a field on a screen. They can be used to set labels, the data type, access security, whether or not the system tracks revisions made to it or whether or not the field is encrypted in the database. A full list of all of the available field tags and what they do follows. [ back to Screen Configuration section ... ] AccessSecurity - This attribute controls whether or not the user can access the field. Note that when the security is configured so that the user can not access a particular field, the user will not even see it. This parameter works in conjunction with the AccessSecurity XML parameters. AuditField (True or False) - When the AuditField attribute is set to True, then any changes to the data are recorded in the system audit trail. The default value for this attribute is false. AuxSrchFirstName (True or False) - The employee search function searches on SSN, employee number, last name and first name on the screen that has the SearchScreen Screen attribute set to true. Sometimes the user would like to search for employees by beneficiary (or perhaps dependent) information. When the AuxSrchFirstName attribute, along with the AuxSrchLastName and AuxSrchSSN attributes are set to true, then another icon next to the employee search icon will appear on in the Icon bar. When this icon is clicked on, name searches will be done against the screen and fields that have AuxSrchFirstName, AuxSrchLastName and AuxSrchSSN set to true. AuxSrchLastName (True or False) - See the documentation above on AuxSrchFirstName. AuxSrchMiddleName (True or False) - See the documentation above on AuxSrchFirstName. When AuxSrchMiddleName is set to true, then the field that has this attribute set will be treated like a middle name (i.e. it’s value will be appended to the first name in the search results drop down). AuxSrchSSN (True or False) - See the documentation above on AuxSrchFirstName. AuxSrchSuffix - See the documentation above on AuxSrchFirstName. When AuxSrchSuffix is set to true, then the field that has this attribute set will be treated like a suffix (i.e. it’s value will be appended to the last name in the search results drop down). CatchTab - This attribute only applies to Text data types. When it is set to True, then when a tab is entered into the text input area, a tab will be inserted into the text. When this attribute is false, entering tab will cause the input focus to leave the text input area and jump to the next data field. The default behavior is to jump to the next field. Cols - This attribute only applies to fields of Text data type. Text data types allow for the entry of a lot of text on multiple lines. Lengthy descriptions are a good example of a field that would be configured as a Text data type. The Cols attribute determines how many columns (or the width) the multi-line text box will have. DataLength (Required for Char and Decode data types) - When fields are of DataType Char or Decode, this attribute will determine the length of the underlying database column. For Char DataTypes , it will also determine how many characters can be entered into the text control. Note that Decode DataTypes don’t require character entry. The user selects a value from a drop down. DataQueryLabel - If a data field does not have a label associated with it, then the DataQueryLabel attribute can be used to control the label that appears in the Edit Data Query dialogs that allow the end user to create reports. Labels are often not set when a field is directly to the right of another field and the field to the left has a label that indicates what both fields are for. If both the Label and the DataQueryLabel are not set, then the field Name attribute will be displayed in the Edit Data Query dialogs. DataType (Date, Char, SSN, Number, Decode, Time, Text, Telephone, and Zip) - This required attribute determines the data type of the underlying column as well as how the data is formatted when displayed to the user. Note that Text DataTypes create BLOB columns within the database and can have multi-line input areas. This DataType is used when large amounts of text may be entered by the user. A notes field for example would typically be a Text DataType. SSN, Time, Telephone and Zip DataTypes result in a numeric field being created in the database. The only difference between these DataTypes is how the data is formatted when presented to the user on the screen and in reports. Decode DataTypes don’t require the user to enter any data but rather to select a data value from a drop down list. The DecodeTable attribute determines what values are present in this drop down. DecimalPlaces (Required for Number data types) - This attribute tells the system how many decimal places a numeric field has. This value will determine how many decimal places are displayed on the data screen as well as any reports. It also will determine how many decimal places are reserved in the database column definition when the system creates the database table. DecodeTable (Required for Decode data types) - Decode DataType fields allow the user to select a value from a drop down. The DecodeTable attribute specifies the XML decode table that determines what values are in the drop down. DisplayLength - This attribute determines the length of the input area where the user enters data. When screens are designed, it is sometimes useful to be able to control how long the input area is. There may be a lot of fields on the screen and space is at a premium or it may be visually pleasing to have all of the fields in a given column have the same length. DisplayOnly (True or False) - This field determines whether or not a field has a corresponding column in the database table that the screen’s data is stored in. When this attribute is True, then it is typically a field that gets populated by JavaScript logic. Encrypt (True or False) - This attribute is a very powerful one as it causes the data to be stored in the database in an encrypted format. This capability should not be overused, as it uses more data storage, CPU resources as well as creates sorting difficulties. Typically, personally identifiable information (name, SSN, address, e-mail, etc.) is appropriate for encryption. The encryption algorithm is AES 256 bit Rijndael based and very strong. EntryRequired (True or False) - If this attribute is set to True, then the system requires that the user make an entry in the field before saving the data. Note that this edit check takes place at the client (i.e. no trip to the server is required). FollowPrevious (True or False) - When this attribute is set to True the field’s label will be suppressed and the input area will be displayed on the same row as the previous field and just to the right of it. FormatString - This attribute only applies to Number data types. When it is set, the format string provided will be used to format the number for presentation. A common format string is “###,##0.00”. HistoryLabel (True or False) - This attribute only applies to MultiRecord and System screen types. When it is set, the text provided is what will display in the header of the history area of the screen and on the screen print report. Because the history area of the screen displays all of the fields across the screen horizontally and the detail area of the screen displays the fields in vertical columns, the history area is often space constrained. When this is the case, the HistoryLabel attribute can be used to create a header that uses less space. HistoryShortDecode (True or False) - This attribute is only applicable for MultiRecord and System screen types and for Decode data types. When this attribute is set to True, the history area of the data screen as well as the screen print report will display the short value of a decode field. The default behavior is to display the long value. The short value of a Decode data type is the value that gets stored in the database. The long value is what gets displayed to the user in the drop down that they select from. State is a good example of a field that is typically a Decode. MA would be a short value and Massachusetts would be the associated long value. HistoryShow (True or False) - The HistoryShow attribute is only applicable for MultiRecord and System screen types. When it is set to False, the field will not be displayed on the history area of the screen. This attribute is useful for screens that have a lot of data fields and displaying them all in the history area is not feasible. Indexed (True or False) - The Indexed attribute is only applicable for MultiRecord and System screen types. When this field is set to True, then when the database table is created by the system, it will create an index on the associated field. This is useful for faster data queries that sort or select by this field. Setting the Indexed and Unique attributes to True will ensure that multiple history records with the same value can not be created. HideInput (True or False) - This attribute causes the input area to display asterisks instead of the characters entered. It is typically used for password fields. KeyPosition (Required for MultiRecord and System screens) - MultiRecord and System type screens require the KeyPosition attributes to be set for at least one field on the screen. When the system creates the underlying database table, it will create the primary index based on all of the fields that have the KeyPosition attribute set. Up to five key fields can be defined. Key position must be a number between 1 and 5. KeySort (Required for MultiRecord and System screens – Asc or Desc) - If the KeyPosition attribute is set for a field, then the KeySort attribute must also be set. The KeySort attribute determines the order in which records are presented in the history area of the screen. For example, if EarningsDate was defined as the 1st keyfield, then if the KeySort attribute was Asc, the the earliest earnings records would be displayed first. If the attribute was Desc, the the latest earnings records would be displayed first. Label(Required) - This attribute determines the text that displays just to the left of the data input field. LabelColor - When this attribute is set, the value entered will determine the color of the label that is displayed to the left of a data input area. Common values are Red, Yellow, and Black. LabelFontSize (Integer between 6 and 24) - This attribute controls how large the label that displays to the left of a data input area is. LabelOnly - When this attribute is set, the text provided is displayed as a label on the screen. No associated data input area on the screen or column in the database table is created. Name (Required) - The Name attribute is used through out the system. The name determines the database column name that holds the data for the associated field. Also, any reference to the field will use the Name attribute. All Javascript commands that access data will access the field’s data using this name. NoComma (True or False) - This attribute only applies to Number data types. When it is set to True, no comma will be displayed when the number is formatted for presentation. A good example of a field that would have this set is year. OrgSecurity (True or False) - Organizational security allows the system to be configured to prevent users belonging to one group of employees from viewing employees from a different group. Organization security is keyed off of a decode field. One that typically identifies the organization an employee belongs to. Setting this attribute to True identifies to the system which decode field will be used to determine what group an employee belongs to. PrintScreenDisplayHeight - This attribute only applies to MultiRecord or System screen types. It controls the height of the data displayed on the Print Screen report. It should only be used for Text data types as this is the only data type that has more than one line of data associated with it. PrintScreenDisplayLength - This attribute controls how much horizontal space the field’s data takes up on the Print Screen report. PrintScreenLabel1 - This attribute only applies to MultiRecord and System screen types. When this attribute is set, the value provided is what will appear on the header of the Print Screen report for the field. Note that if the PrintScreenLabel2 attribute is also set, then this attribute will control what is on the first line of the Print Screen header and PrintScreenLabel2 will control what is on the second line of the header. Typically, Print Screen headers have only one line. However, if any field on the screen has the PrintScreenLabel2 attribute defined, then the header will have two lines. PrintScreenLabel2 - See PrintScreenLabel1 PrintScreenShortDecode (True or False) - This attribute only applies to Decode data types. When this attribute is set to True, the Print Screen report will display the short decode value for the field and not the long value. For example, with a State decode table containing Massachusetts, the value displayed would be “MA”. PrintScreenShow (True or False) - This attribute determines whether or not the field is printed on the report that is generated with the user clicks on the Print Screen icon. Rows - This attribute only applies to fields of Text data type. Text data types allow for the entry of a lot of text on multiple lines. Lengthy descriptions are a good example of a field that would be configured as a Text data type. The Rows attribute determines how many rows the multi-line text box will have. ScreenShow (True or False) - When this attribute is set to False, the field will not be displayed on the screen but will be displayed on the Print Screen Report. A common field that has this attribute set is SSNLastFour. Typically the SSN will be displayed on the screen, the SSNLastFour suppressed from the screen, the SSN suppressed from any reports and the SSNLastFour displayed on any reports. ShortDecode (True or False) - This attribute only applies to Decode type fields. When it is set to True, the values displayed in the Decode drop down are the short values. Typically, the long values are displayed. The default value for this attribute is False. ShowCalculator (True or False) - This attribute only applies to Number type fields. When it is set to True, a calculator icon will appear to the right of the input area. If the user clicks on this icon, a calculator dialog will appear. ShowCalendar (True or False) - This attribute only applies to Date type fields. When it is set to True, a calendar icon will appear to the right of the input area. If the user clicks on this icon, a calendar dialog will appear. ShowDefaultValue (True or False) - This attribute only applies to Dialog screen types. When it is set to True, the dialog input fields will be pre-filled with the values last entered by the user when they accessed this dialog. Note that the system will keep track of the default values for different users. TabOrder - This attribute controls how the focus changes on input fields as the user tabs through all of the input fields. When this attribute is not set, the tabbing order is determined by the order of the columns and and then fields set up in the screen XML. Typcially, this order will result in the tabbing order being column oriented (i.e. as the user enters a tab, the next field in the column will receive the focus). When the end of the column is reached, the next column’s top most field will receive the input focus. If a different tabbing order is required (perhaps left to right and not vertically), then the TabOrder attribute can be set. Unique (True or False) - This attribute is only applicable to MultiRecord and System screens and it is only applicable to those fields that have the Index attribute set to True. For those fields that do have the Index attribute set, this attribute controls whether or not the database index field created by the system requires the field value to be unique or not. When this attribute is set to True, the system will not allow the user to save history records when the field value is already on file. Wrap (Off, Hard or Soft) - This attribute only applies to Text data types. Text data types are used for entry of a lot of text on multiple lines. The wrap attribute controls how text wraps when the user enters text that goes beyond the right boundary. When this attribute is set to Off, no wrapping occurs. Soft causes the text to wrap but when the data is saved, no carriage returns are saved. Hard wrap causes the carriage returns to be saved. ZeroAsBlank (True or False) - This attribute only applies to Number data types. When this attribute is set to True, then any numeric fields that are zero will be formatted as spaces and not “0”. 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Field XML Tags