Controlling the Look and Feel in a T27 Data Source Project

Note: This topic only applies if your Data Source Project is an MCP T27 application.

The look and feel of an .aspx or .cshtml file created from a T27 data source project can be modified using the T27 editor or using the Visual Studio web editors. Refer to Controlling the Look and Feel using Visual Studio Web Editors.

To modify the display preference for the input fields

Modifying the default properties of the input fields that were generated when the screen was captured, gives the presentation build process information to generate appropriate markups for the input fields on the new page.

  1. In Solution Explorer, browse to the Server Messages folder under the data source project, and double-click the appropriate .t27xml file to open it in the editor.

  2. On the <name of the server message>.t27xml tab, select an input field, right-click, and click Properties.

  3. In the Properties window, change any of the available properties for the field. For instance, a field that currently has the ControlStyle property set to TextBox might be changed to a ControlStyle of CheckBox, if the field only has two possible values. Alternatively, such a field might be changed to a ControlStyle of RadioButtonList if the expected input value has only a few options, or to a ControlStyle of DropDownList if the expected input value has many options.

  4. If you set the ControlStyle property to CheckBox:

    1. Set the CheckedValue property to the value that the MCP application expects, when the check box is checked.

    2. Set the UncheckedValue property to the value that the MCP application expects when the check box is not checked.

  5. If you select RadioButtonList, DropDownList, LinkButtonList, ButtonList, or ListBox for the ControlStyle property, do the following to identify the various selections. Refer to T27 Field Property Descriptions for descriptions of the properties and their values.

    1. Click Items, and click the selection button on the right.

    2. In the Choice Collection Editor dialog box, click Add, update DisplayValue with the text that describes the selection, and update SendValue with the value that the MCP application is expecting.

    3. Repeat the previous step for each possible selection.

    Note: The existing text is removed when creating the look and feel of the new presentation.

  6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 for each field that requires any display preference changes.

  7. Click File then click Save to save your changes.

  8. For Web Forms or Web Forms Mobile presentation projects, if you have one or more presentation projects that have already been built, you may need to reconcile your changes to the message with any ePortal-generated .aspx files. In this case, the Save Message Dialog appears.

    Refer to Creating Web Forms Application Projects for more information.

    Refer to Creating Web Forms Mobile Application Projects for more information.

  9. For Scaffolded presentation projects, if you have one or more presentation projects that have already been scaffolded, you may need to reconcile your changes to the message with any ePortal-generated presentation files. Refer to Reference Information for Scaffolded Projectsfor more information on Scaffolded presentation projects.

    Refer to Reconciling Client Message Changes to Scaffolded Presentation Projects for more information.

Refer to also: Markup Template Editor

Applications that Use Special Keys

Some T27 applications require special keys, such as the Specify key, to operate properly. To handle this situation, the client message and server message contain the special field _KeySequence. You use _KeySequence to send keystrokes, such as terminal control sequences or the Specify key, to the application. Refer to the topic Programming Keystrokes for T27 and UTS Applications for more information.