All properties are divided into four groups: General, Database, Appearance and Memo, corresponding to four tabs in GridForm Field Designer.

General

• Field Attributes
  
  • Column Name is an identification of field in GridForm. Each field in one Gridform has an unique ID. And it is also the alias name of column in the datasource.
  • Column Title will show up in the column header. Default column title is field id.
  • Add to Hover Panel indicates whether the current field will show up in the GridForm's HoverPanel.
  • Column Order shows the display sequence of columns in GridForm.
  • Add to Query String is only available when Column Type is HyperLink Column. It indicates whether the value of current field will be added to query string of hyperlink so that you can pass some data out of GridForm to other control, such as eDataForm. If this checkbox is checked, then the Name is mandatory. If Value textbox is empty, then the value will be got from datasource. Otherwise, any characters typed in the textbox will be treated as constant value and added to query string.
  • Column Type is a column type for the DataGrid control that is bound to a field in a data source. In addition to the two native column types, there are two new column types, CheckBox Column and Template Column.
    • CheckBox Column represents a single checkbox in each row. The data can be bound to this type of column if it means "true" or "false". Otherwise, the checkboxes are always unchecked.
    • Template Column represents a column type for the eGridForm control that allows you to customize the layout of controls in the column. You can customize the layout by mixing data with any HTML and script(javascript or VB script) code.
      To get a value from a row of datasource, use {field!fieldname} or {file!fieldname} syntax. {field!fieldname} is used to get the primitive data type, such as Numeric, String or Date, while {file!fieldname} is used to retrieve the value of IMAGE or BLOB type. For instance, <font color="red"><b>{field!employeeid}</b></font>, it will display a red bold employeeid in the page. Or, <script language='javascript'> document.write("{field!employeeid}")</script>, to write a string to web page. Use {field!fieldname} will display an image or icon of file type according to the properties which are specified on that column.
    • File Column only shows a single file from the current field, either a image or a file icon depending on the settings of the field. If you'd like to display additional content in one column, please use Template Column.
    • Link URL and Target are only available when Column Type is HyperLink Column. Link URL is the URL to link to when a hyperlink in the column is clicked. Target is the target window or frame to display the Web page content linked to when the hyperlink in the column is clicked. It can be any one from the dropdown list or be the name typed in the textbox
• Format
  
• Data Types are translated to ten data types in DataForm.NET. These data types are String, Numeric, Date, DateTime, Currency, Integer, Email, Credit Card, File and IP. DataForm.NET uses these data types to validate user input of each field, except for File data type. More data types may be added to the list in the future.
  Note: File data type is used to identify current field is used to display file (image or other types of file) retrieved from database.
• Data Format transforms the original data format from database to the format you prefer. This property only applies to numeric or date type. For more information about formatting, please see http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fbxft59x.aspx
• Visible indicates whether the column will be shown in GridForm.

Appearance

• Header CSS Class sets the CSS class properties for the header section of the column.
• Item CSS Class sets the CSS class properties for the item cells of the column.

Database

• Datasource Name represents to which datasource the current field maps. It also can be a table alias name specified in the Join statement.
• Display Column indicates which field from database will be displayed in the GridForm. If current field is not from the current table, then you can specify a column to display. Otherwise, it is the same as the current field name.
• Primary Key indicates whether the current field is a primary key. If datasource is a table, the primary key information will be obtained automatically. However, if datasource is a view, there is not primary key in the view. So if you'd like to show the more data by DataForm, you need to specify which field is primary key and do the same thing in the DataForm so that DataForm can know which column(s) it will use as primary key(s) to locate a row.
• Order By is to specify the default order by this column. If AllowSorting of GridForm is checked, user can also sort the GridForm by clicking the column header.

  Join section will show up when Datasouce Name is set to a different datasource.

  
  • When GridForm needs to show columns from other datasources, for instance, an ORDER DETAILS table has a column, PRODUCT_ID, which is an foreign key to the PRODUCT table. If GridForm shows the PRODUCT_ID column of ORDER DETAILS table as well as PRODUCT_NAME column of PRODUCT table, it has to join PRODUCT table by PRODUCT_ID to get PRODUCT_NAME. Join statement can be written directly in the large textbox or with the assistance of the dropdown lists above to help you write the join statement.
    Note:
    • If the same table name is going to be used multi times in the same GridForm, a alias name of that table will be created automatically, and you need to use that alias name in the join statement.
    • In the join statement, you may use {criteria!criterianame} to reference a value that is in the CriteriaValues property of eGridForm.

Memo

Memo gives you a place where you can write down whatever you want and will be shown as field's tool tip on DataForm Designer.