The Datasource Field List

The purpose of the Datasource Field List is to make it easier to create correct content in your document. To learn more about the document content that WordPage processes go here. The Datasource Field List is the part of WordPage that you will interact with the most. It shows the fields available in the query as well as allowing you to create calculated fields. The field list allows you to insert fields to display values in your document as well as insert the commands that are specific to a datasource. To make it easier to find the field you’re interested in the field list allows filtering by either text or data type.

Using the Field List

The list of available fields is automatically generated based on the query you define. The list is sorted alphabetically by field name. Two features exist to make it easier to find the fields containing the information you want. Only fields whose name contains the text in the “Match” field are displayed. The “Type” list can be used to further limit the displayed fields to those that contain a certain type of information (character, date, currency, etc.).

Inserting Database Fields

To put a reference to a field into your document you either double click the field in the list or select it and click the “Insert field” button. WordPage generates slightly different syntax depending on where the cursor is positioned. If the cursor is not inside curly braces { } WordPage assumes that you want a simple reference to display the value of the field. The syntax it generates in that case is {=dataSourceName.fieldname}. If the cursor is positioned inside curly braces WordPage assumes that you are referencing a data field in a more complex calculation. In that case the syntax is dataSourceName.fieldname. The syntax choices are discussed here.

Creating Calculated Fields

Creating and editing calculated fields is discussed here.

Creating Hyperlinks

The “Insert link” button is used to create a hyperlink that passes filtering information to another WordPage ASP page. When you press the “Insert link” button WordPage creates a hyperlink on the text you have selected in the document that passes a filter for whatever field is currently highlighted in the field list. The syntax for passing filter information in a hyperlink is discussed in the Document Contents section of the manual. WordPage does not have enough information to create a completely accurate hyperlink. After creating the hyperlink you should right click on it and select the “Edit Hyperlink…” option to change the URL to reference the correct document name. WordPage also must make assumptions about the name of the field in the destination document. If the field has a different name in the source document than in the destination document it may be necessary to further edit the URL.

Creating Filter Documents

Filter documents are documents whose primary purpose is to gather information from the user that will be used to control the operation of another WordPage document. Typically filter documents do not contain a datasource. Frequently a filter document is used in a frameset that shows the results in another frame. The WordPage field list has features that make it easy to create filter documents that are associated with another document.

 

If you are editing multiple frames WordPage can create edit fields for the user to enter filtering criteria. Place the Word 2000 cursor in the filter document and click “Insert field” (or double click a field) in the field list. The result is a label that identifies the filter and a correctly named edit field that can be used to filter the document containing the datasource. When the first filter field is placed in a document WordPage also creates a “Submit” button whose action references the document containing the datasource and sets the target frame for the filter document to the frame containing the datasource. An example of creating a frameset and filter fields is shown in the tutorial.