Validating and formatting data
You can change the properties of Formatted Text parts so that they automatically validate the data that the user enters and format the data for display. To do this, you modify the format property associated with the Formatted Text part.
Using the Formatted Text part's Social Security data type
To have the data in the Enter SSN field appear in the format of a standard U.S. social security number, you must change the format type of the Formatted Text part to Social Security Number.
1. Open the SSN Formatted Text part's properties window.
2. Select the Value field for the format property then select
to open the Formats dialog. From the Data type drop-down list, select String. This indicates that the type of data is string.
to open the Formats dialog. From the Data type drop-down list, select String. This indicates that the type of data is string.
3. Now, to set the particular format for the string data, select the Value field for the formatString property then select
to open the Format string dialog. From the Predefined formats , select Social security number (U.S.) and then select OK to close the Format string window, select OK to close the Formats dialog.
to open the Format string dialog. From the Predefined formats , select Social security number (U.S.) and then select OK to close the Format string window, select OK to close the Formats dialog.
4. To test how the formatted text will display, select
from the tool bar.
from the tool bar.
Using the Formatted Text part's Monetary data type
To have the data in the Price per share field appear as currency, you must change the data type of the Formatted Text part to Monetary Amount.
1. Double-click on the Price per share Formatted Text part to open the Properties window for the part.
2. Select the Value field for the format property then select
to open the Formats dialog. From the Data type drop-down list, select Monetary. This indicates that the type of data is monetary.
to open the Formats dialog. From the Data type drop-down list, select Monetary. This indicates that the type of data is monetary.
3. For our purposes, we'll accept the default values for the monetary type format. Select OK to close the Formats dialog.
4. To test how the formatted text will display, select
from the tool bar.
from the tool bar.
For more information on validating and formatting data, see the Visual Programming User Guide.
Add items to the Drop-Down List part
To have something to select in the Security Name Drop-down List part,
1. Double-click on the Security Name Drop-down List part to open the Properties window for the part.
2. Select the items property then select to open an items dialog. Add one or two stocks like ORCL or MSFT. Select OK to close the Formats dialog.
to open an items dialog. Add one or two stocks like ORCL or MSFT. Select OK to close the Formats dialog.3. To test, select from the tool bar and pull down the Security Name Drop-down List.
from the tool bar and pull down the Security Name Drop-down List. Last modified date: 07/23/2020