EGL Reference Guide for iSeries

Binding controls to data areas in the page handler

Most controls on the JSP have a one-to-one correspondence with data. A text box, for example, shows the content of the EGL item to which the text box is bound. An input text box also updates the EGL item if the user changes the data.

A more complex situation occurs when you are specifying a check box group, list box, radio button group, or combo box. In those cases, you need two different kinds of bindings:

In the Attributes view, you can follow either of two procedures to bind the control to the text that the user sees:

Alternatively, you can bind a single-select control (combo box, single-select list box, or radio button group) to an array of character items by dragging the array from the Page Data view to the control.

To bind a control to a data area that will receive a value indicating the user's choice, you can work in either the Page Data view or the Attributes view. The procedure is the same as when you are binding any control, even a simple text box.

If the value can be only one of two alternatives, you can bind the control to an EGL item for which the item property boolean is set to yes. The control populates the item with one of two values:

When a check box is displayed, the status (whether checked or not) is dependent on the value in the bound item.

For details on the properties that can be applied to data items in the page handler, see Page item properties.

Note:
If you have experience with JavaServer Faces programming, you can manually bind controls to data areas in the page handler using the Page Designer Source view. Although EGL is not case sensitive, variable names in the JavaServer Faces source file must be the same case as the EGL variable declaration. Additionally, the case of the EGL variable must not be changed after it is bound to a control or a JavaServer Faces error will occur.


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