Can grid link control open a smaller window?

[Steve Bovino]

Is it possible to use the link control in a grid to open a pop up type window rather than a whole new browser window? The user would rather see the detail data on the same page. Thanks,

Steve

[Steve Wood]

Re: Can grid link control open a smaller window?

Javascript. Search the forum for many discussions on it.

[Steve Bovino]

Re: Can grid link control open a smaller window?

Steve:

I have used Javascript in many situations. I am not clear on how to use it as part of a link control in a grid. It appears that Alpha opens a window based on what is selected in the control. I looked at the web demo example where they open detailed records on a separate page and basically copied that. If you can suggest an approach I will give it a shot. Thanks,

Steve

[drgarytraub]

Re: Can grid link control open a smaller window?

Here is the approach that I use, which was shown to me by none other than Steve Wood:

As an example, i define 2 calculated fields as such:

psychweb_myurl = ""
psychweb_website = "http://www.psychsite.com"

Then, add those 2 fields to your selected fields list.

Then, put the following code in the freeform template of psychweb_myurl:

<a href="{Psychweb_Website}" onClick="window.open('{Psychweb_Website}', 'mywindowname', 'scrollbars=1, toolbar=1, width=900, height=600, screenX=100,screenY=75,left=200,top=25'); return false">Psychology on the Web</a>

Finally, click "Hide row" on the second field, i.e., psychweb_website.

You can control the width, height, etc within the code of the freeform field.

Gary

[Steve Bovino]

Re: Can grid link control open a smaller window?

Thanks Gary. I will try that.

Steve

[Steve Bovino]

Re: Can grid link control open a smaller window?

While this seems to be relatively easy, I had a difficult time. I was able to get this to work and wanted to detail the steps for others. My objective was to be able to create a link in one grid which would open related data in another grid in a pop up window fashion. I started with the example in the web demo which shows how to create a link that opens up a new browser window or frame. (see web demo grid CustomerGridwithLink) This method however does not permit the use of a sized window (pop up). Steve Wood had posted an example of how to do this with javascript but I was having problems getting the filter to work. I found an relatively easy way to set this up.

According to the Alpha documentation the format for a hyperlink within a grid to open an new page and filter related grid data is:

CustomerInfo.A5w?customers_filter=customer_id='{customerID}'

This example can be used for dbf and SQL data sources.
The alias for the grid in this case is customers so the filter is constructed as customers_filter

Customer_id represents a field in the datasource and {customerid} represents a field name from the grid

You can also use a tool available in the grid to build this filter. Instead of selecting a custom control, use link control. The property for Link Address Type should be set to "Compute from fields in the grid". The link address property box contains a URL builder based on what you are filtering. When complete, it builds the URL which you can copy and paste. Change the control back to custom and continue as noted below.

Once you construct the URL and filter you create a custom control on your grid. Insert the completed URL into the javascript code noted below (courtesy of Steve Wood and others) and place this code into the definition section of the custom control.

When you open definition section there is some preset xbasic code. Replace the highlighted code with the javascript code below. When you publish the grid/page the link will show up in every record ( in this example the word Details will comprise the hyperlink) and will open a new pop up window based on the specifications you set in the javascript code.

"<a href=\"javascript: void(0)\" onclick=\"window.open('CustomerInfo.A5w?customers_filter=customer_id='{customerID}'','windowname1', 'width=200, height=300'); return false;\">Details</a>"

[peteconway]

Re: Can grid link control open a smaller window?

Steve the quality of your summary of the issue was fantastic, one thing that bugs me on this forum site, is you almost never hear of what did or did not work from the various contributions as a solution to a cry for help, well done. And thanks.

Peter

[jkletrovets]

Re: Can grid link control open a smaller window?

Yes...I agree....thank you Steve for such a nice explanation of your solution and a good Alpha tip!

[MikeC]

Re: Can grid link control open a smaller window?

Explanations/samples such as this are what I am constantly gleaning from this messageboard for my own help file--my web help file hopefully will be huge prior to my actually going over to the webside of things!

Thanks Steve

[Scholin]

Re: Can grid link control open a smaller window?

This is really great stuff - Thanks for everyone's help here.

So I have one question - how can I show the linking ID or use a lookupc() to display other information above the grid in the new popup window?

That is, I am using this technique to popup a small window to enter "child records" from the main grid page. If there exist a child record, data shows up in the popup window's grid, but if there is no existing child record yet, the grid is blank (of course). I would like to pull the linking ID value, to display a lookupc() to show the associated name somewhere in the popup window.

I can see the linking ID value in the URL - how can I get access to this in my popup grid?

Thanks!

[Pat Bremkamp]

Re: Can grid link control open a smaller window?

Michael,

When you open the popup, you are not really opening a grid, you are opening a page that contains the grid.

So, do the lookup in the head part of the page and display it in the body above the grid display. The value showing in the url means that it becomes a page variable in your new page so you can use it in your calculation.

Pat

[Scholin]

Re: Can grid link control open a smaller window?

Pat, I know I am real close but when you say to put this in the head of the page, how exactly do I reference this page variable to be displayed?

I have tried some xbasic and some html but no luck yet. I am sure I am missing something simple here. The page variable is Patient_ID and I can see the actual Patient_ID number listed in the url.

Thoughts?

Thanks, Mike

[drgarytraub]

Re: Can grid link control open a smaller window?

Well, I started out with a bit of help to Steve Bovino, but he has progressed beyond that, and to a point where I cannot get it to work, though apparently others can.

Here is the code I have in the definition of the custom control:

function Ptinfo_render as c (data as p, args as p, PageVars as p) 'do not delete this line
with PageVars 'do not delete this line
'Specify the Xbasic that returns the HTML for this control.
'This function must return Ptinfo_render, which should
'contain the HTML that will be displayed.
'The 'data' argument that is passed in contains the current
'row value for each of the fields in the Grid. For example
'if the Grid displays the customerid, firstname and lastname
'fields, you can reference the values in these fields as
'data.customerid, data.firstname and data.lastname

'-------------------------------------------------------------------
on error goto Ptinfo_xbasicError 'do not delete this line

'Write Xbasic code here that returns the HTML to be displayed by this control


Ptinfo_render = <<%html%
"<a href="\javascript: void(0)\" onclick=\"window.open('http://www.msn.com','windowname1', 'width=200, height=300'); return false;\">Details</a>"
%html%


end 'do not delete this line
Ptinfo_xbasicError: 'do not delete this line
Ptinfo_render = "Error in custom control xbasic: " + error_text_get() 'do not delete this line
end with 'do not delete this line
end function 'do not delete this line


This gives me the 403-Forbidden error, The security settings for this server are missing or incomplete.


I am trying to use this method to load another page in to the popup. Without any success there, I am trying to just load the msn.com site. The code works from an a5w page, but not here. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?

Gary

[drgarytraub]

Re: Can grid link control open a smaller window?

I still can't get this to work. Maybe I am overlooking something simple. I am getting bleary eyed :)

Could someone please take a look at my code and tell me what you think the problem is?

Thanks ...

Gary

[Steve Wood]

Re: Can grid link control open a smaller window?

Gary - you don't need the <<%html% container in this instance. There is nothing special about that container, it just is one of the ways to form a block of text.

Here is a Custom field example that opens a smaller window and passes a variable from my grid:

Upload_render = "<input type=button value=\"Upload File\" onClick=\"myRef = window.open('upload_page.a5w?id="+Data.id','upload','left=20,top=20,width=500,height=500,toolbar=1,resizable=0');myRef.focus()\">"

Same example passing no variables:
Upload_render = "<input type=button value=\"Upload File\" onClick=\"myRef = window.open('upload_page.a5w','upload','left=20,top=20,width=500,height=500,toolbar=1,resizable=0');myRef.focus()\">"

Custom field is named "Upload" so replace Upoad_render with your field name.

Here is the Javascript referenceL: http://www.javascripter.net/faq/openinga.htm

Nothing is required in the <head> area of the A5W page, just the code shown here.