Implementing dynamic drop-down menus using Domino and Internet Explorer (Page 5)

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Implementing dynamic drop-down menus using Domino and Internet Explorer (continued)

Save the form.

Step 5: Create the view containing the raw data
Create a view and name it "lookupvalues".

The view should contain two columns.

Since this article is aimed at experts, I won't go into detail about how to create a view and populate it with data. Instead I'll show you how the finished view should look and you can set it up. It's shown in Figure D.

FIGURE D

The finished view should look like this. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Step 6: Create the agent
Create an agent and name it the following:


WebQueryOpenAgent for demo form

Set the agent to be a "Shared agent".

Set the agent to run "Manually From Agent List".

Set the agent to "Run Once (@commands may be used)".

Set the "run" dropdown to "Lotuscript".

This is shown in Figure E.

FIGURE E

Set up your agent. Roll over picture for a larger image.

This agent is executed when the page is loaded. It goes to the view, grabs the columns, and returns them formatted as a JavaScript array.

Its output goes into a field on the form positioned inside a pair of <script> tags, thereby converting the contents of the view into a client side JavaScript array.

The final output of the agent will be JavaScript code that looks like this (you don't need to type this in anywhere for our demonstration, its just to help understand the agent):


//Array of options for dropdown fields; 

var dropdownarray = ;

Here's some p-code to help understand what the agent does:

Set up the various objects needed, clear the variables;
Get the view;
Set up a buffer - we'll put all our output into the buffer;
Add the start of the JavaScript array structure to the buffer;
Iterate through each of the view rows and add them to the buffer, structured as JavaScript array rows;
Add the end of the JavaScript array structure to the buffer;
Put the buffer into the tempJavaScriptarray field on the form.

Here's the code of the agent. Put it into the "Initialize" section of the agent:


Sub Initialize

	

	' builds a JavaScript array of Manufacturers and models

	' this gets used at the client for dynamically updating dropdown fields

	

   ' Set up required objects

	Dim session As New NotesSession

	Dim sourcedoc As NotesDocument

	Set sourcedoc = session.DocumentContext

	

	Dim sourceDb As NotesDatabase

	Dim view As NotesView

	Dim entry As NotesViewEntry

	Dim vc As NotesViewEntryCollection

	Dim tmpbuffer As String

	Dim tmpManufacturer As String

	Dim tmpmodel As String

	Dim i As Integer	

	

	Set sourceDb = session.CurrentDatabase

	Set view = sourcedb.getView("lookupvalues")

	Set vc = view.AllEntries

	

	tmpManufacturer = ""

	tmpmodel = ""	

	tmpbuffer = ""

	tmpbuffer = tmpbuffer + {//Array of options for dropdown fields; } + Chr ( 13 )

	tmpbuffer = tmpbuffer + {var dropdownarray = [} 

	

	For i = 1 To vc.count	

		Set entry = vc.GetNthEntry( i )

		

		tmpManufacturer = entry.ColumnValues(0)

		tmpmodel = entry.ColumnValues(1)

		

		' put a comma and a carriage return to separate array values

		If i >1 And i =< vc.count Then

			tmpbuffer = tmpbuffer + {,} + Chr ( 13 )

		End If		

		

		' add each entry		

		tmpbuffer = tmpbuffer + {['} + tmpManufacturer + {'} + {,}

		tmpbuffer = tmpbuffer + {'} + tmpmodel + {'} + {]} 

		

	Next i

	

	' close off the array	

	tmpbuffer = tmpbuffer + {];} + Chr ( 13 )

	tmpbuffer = tmpbuffer + Chr(13) + Chr ( 13 ) + Chr ( 13 ) + Chr ( 13 )

	

	' shove the buffer into the field value on the form

	sourcedoc.tmpJavaScriptarray = tmpbuffer

	

End Sub