Thursday, April 7, 2011

CRM 2011 Javascript - attributes and controls

Based on an optionset (picklist) value I wanted to show or hide a field and make it required or not. Within CRM 4.0 I would write the script by heart. It would look something like this:

//CRM 4.0 Toggle field visible and required
if(crmForm.all.new_picklist.SelectedText == "value-A")
{
    crmForm.SetFieldReqLevel("new_showhidefield", 0);
    crmForm.all.new_showhidefield_c.style.display = 'none';
    crmForm.all.new_showhidefield_d.style.display = 'none';
}
else
{
    crmForm.SetFieldReqLevel("new_showhidefield", 1);
    crmForm.all.new_showhidefield_c.style.display = 'inline';
    crmForm.all.new_showhidefield_d.style.display = 'inline';
}

With the CRM 2011 Xrm.Page model, things have changed quite a lot. The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 SDK describes the Xrm.Page Object Hierarchy. It shows there is a difference between the attributes (Xrm.Page.data.entity.attributes) and the controls (Xrm.Page.ui.controls). Trying to hide or show a field and make it required/not required made me realize that depending on functional requirements you have to figure out if you need to work with the attribute or the control (or both).

For example:
For making a field required, you need to work with the attribute
For making a field hidden, you need to work with the control

The SDK describes for both the methods supported:
Xrm.Page.data.entity attribute Methods
Xrm.Page.ui control Methods

So the CRM 2011 javascript for toggling a field visible/not visible and required or not required is this:

toggleLeadVisible = function()
{
    var Leadcontrol = Xrm.Page.ui.controls.get("new_leadid");
    var Leadattribute = Xrm.Page.data.entity.attributes.get("new_leadid");

    if(Xrm.Page.getAttribute("new_customertype").getText() == "Lead")
    {
        Leadcontrol.setVisible(true);
        Leadattribute.setRequiredLevel("required");
    }
    else
    {
        Leadcontrol.setVisible(false);
        Leadattribute.setRequiredLevel("none");
    }
}

It’s quite simple. Just know what you can do with attributes and what with controls!

6 comments:

  1. I have :
    var tabGeneral=Xrm.Page.ui.tabs.get("mytab");
    var seccionCheck=tabGeneral.sections.get("msec");

    i want to access controls on seccionCheck and activate checked of a checkbox

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, this was really useful when customizing the Opportunity Products Line Item forms to hide disabled controls when switching between Existing and Write-In product types.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is great. In your CRM 4 example above, you were setting the style.display to inline so that the controls share the same space when toggling their visibility on and off. You do not show how you did that in CRM 2011. Can it be done in CRM 2011?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your "fixed" code is not equivalent to the original code: with the original display = "none", the control no longer takes up screen space. With the supposedly fixed code, the control still takes up screen space.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Excellent post. I absolutely appreciate this site.
    largest private equity firms

    ReplyDelete