Setting tab order for bidirectional applications

WebFacing automatically assigns right-to-left tab index order but if you customize with new elements, you should set their tab order too.
Start with a 5250 application that uses the CHECK(RLTB) keyword. Convert it using the WebFacing Tool. The resulting Web pages will have a right-to-left tab order set for tabbable elements like fields and hyperlinks. This order is based on a 250 x 131 grid.

If you reposition elements with Web settings, the tab index reflects the customized position.

You can add your own elements like fields and hyperlinks. WebFacing handles the tab index for a Hyperlink Web setting, but if you create a hyperlink using any other Web setting (like Insert HTML After) or any other tabbable element, you need to add a tab index yourself.

To add a tab index:

Select Right-to-left tab index from the Insert field attributes dialog.

Insert field attribute dialog for tab index

This adds a substitution variable into your DDS source for any customizations you added yourself:
&{TABINDEX}

Alternatively, you can add the &{TABINDEX} substitution variable directly into your DDS source.

This resolves to the appropriate number. An example for HTML would be:
<input tabindex="&{TABINDEX}"/>
But note the following considerations:
  • It is up to you to add this substitution variable.
  • This variable is processed at conversion time and does not work for customizations done to the JSP after conversion.
  • If you add more than one tabbable HTML element at the same row and column (for example, using Insert HTML After Web setting to add a hyperlink after a field) then both elements end up with the same tab index. The conflicting tab indices are visited from left to right since that is the document order.
Related concepts
Bidirectional user interfaces in WebFacing

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