B ADF Desktop Integration EL Expressions

This appendix describes the syntax for EL expressions in ADF Desktop Integration, provides guidelines for writing EL expressions, and how to configure attribute control hints.

This appendix includes the following sections:

Section B.1, "Guidelines for Creating EL Expressions"
Section B.2, "EL Syntax for ADF Desktop Integration Components"
Section B.3, "Attribute Control Hints in ADF Desktop Integration"

B.1 Guidelines for Creating EL Expressions

The following list describes the characteristics that EL expressions for your integrated Excel workbook can have and provides recommendations for writing EL expressions:

Literal values that evaluate correctly to the type expected for the Oracle ADF component property. The following list describes some examples:
- Boolean values true and false
- Integer values such as -1, 0, and 100
- String values such as hello world
Strings that contain one or more valid EL expression parts. The following list shows examples of valid syntax:
- #{row.bindings.ProductId.inputValue}
- #{components.TAB416222534.errors}
- #{res['excel.saveButton.label']}
A valid Excel formula. An Excel formula string must start with the = character. If the literal string includes an #{...} expression, ADF Desktop Integration evaluates this expression first and inserts the resulting value into the Excel formula string. Excel then evaluates the Excel formula.

Note the following points if you write an EL expression:
- Excel formula elements must not be used inside an #{...} expression.
- EL expressions should not contain references to Excel cells because EL expressions are managed within ADF configuration. Excel cannot update the ADF configuration if the referenced cell moves. A workaround is to define a named cell reference or range using the Name box in the Excel Formula Bar. You can reference the named cell reference or named cell range reference from an EL expression. For information about defining named cell references or ranges, see Excel's documentation.
EL expressions in a page definition file

For information about the syntax that you use to write EL expressions in a page definition file, see Section 4.3, "Working with Page Definition Files for an Integrated Excel Workbook."

B.2 EL Syntax for ADF Desktop Integration Components

Table B-1 lists supported expression properties for the ADF Desktop Integration components that support EL expressions.

The EL expressions use the following syntax to reference these properties:

#{components.componentID.property}

where componentID references the ID of the component and property references the property (for example, rowCount).

Table B-1 Expression Properties for ADF Desktop Integration Components

Property	Component Type	Property Type	Expected Runtime Values	Value at Design Time
`rowCount`	Table ROTable	Int	>=0	0
`currentRowIndex`	Table ROTable	Int	>= 0 AND < RowCount (zero based index)	-1
`currentRowMode`	Table	String	"insert" "update"	"unknown"
`errors`	Table	String	N/A	N/A
`readOnly`	Table.Column	Boolean	TRUE FALSE	FALSE

Write EL expressions with the following syntax to retrieve:

Worksheet errors at runtime

#{worksheet.errors}

For more information about worksheet errors, see Section 12.4, "Error Reporting in an Integrated Excel Workbook."
Workbook initialization parameters

#{workbook.params.parameterName}

where parameterName is the name of the workbook initialization parameter. For information about using these parameters, see Section 14.5, "Passing Parameter Values from a Fusion Web Application Page to a Workbook."
Resource bundle string key values

#{resourceBundleAlias['resourceBundleKey']}

where resourceBundleAlias is the alias of the resource bundle and resourceBundleKey is the string key value. For more information about resource bundles, see Section 10.2, "Using Resource Bundles in an Integrated Excel Workbook."

Table B-2 describes the supported syntax and properties for Oracle ADF control bindings. For information about the attribute control hints (controlHint) that ADF Desktop Integration supports, see Table B-3.

You can use the expression builder described in Section 5.8, "Using the Expression Builder" to generate some of the EL expressions described in Table B-2. You have to write some other EL expressions as indicated in Table B-2.

Table B-2 Expression Properties and Syntax for Oracle ADF Control Bindings

Syntax Component Type Object Property Value at Design Time

Syntax	Component Type	Object Property	Value at Design Time
Use the expression builder to generate EL expressions with the following syntax: #{bindings.attributeID} #{bindings.attributeID.label} #{bindings.attributeID.hints.controlHint} You can also write the previous EL expressions in addition to the following EL expression: #{bindings.attributeID.inputValue}	Attribute	Attribute control hint	""
Use the expression builder to generate EL expressions with the following syntax: #{bindings.ListID} #{bindings.ListID.label} #{bindings.ListID.hints.controlHint}	List	Attribute control hint	""
Write EL expressions with the following syntax for a column in a table-type component #{row.bindings.attributeID.inputValue} Write an EL expression with the following syntax when adding a dynamic column to an ADF Table component as described in Section 7.15, "Adding a Dynamic Column to Your ADF Table Component": #{bindings.TreeID.[TreeNodeID].AttributeNamePrefix.inputValue} #{bindings.TreeID.AttributeNamePrefix.inputValue} #{bindings.TreeID.[TreeNodeID].hints.AttributeNamePrefix.controlHint} #{bindings.TreeID.[TreeNodeID].hints.AttributeNamePrefix.label} A value for `AttributeNamePrefix` and `[TreeNodeID]` is optional while `*` is required.	Table.Column	inputValue	""

Use the expression builder to generate EL expressions with the following syntax:

#{bindings.attributeID}
#{bindings.attributeID.label}
#{bindings.attributeID.hints.controlHint}

You can also write the previous EL expressions in addition to the following EL expression:

#{bindings.attributeID.inputValue}

Attribute

Attribute control hint

""

Use the expression builder to generate EL expressions with the following syntax:

#{bindings.ListID}
#{bindings.ListID.label}
#{bindings.ListID.hints.controlHint}

List

Attribute control hint

""

Write EL expressions with the following syntax for a column in a table-type component

#{row.bindings.attributeID.inputValue}

Write an EL expression with the following syntax when adding a dynamic column to an ADF Table component as described in Section 7.15, "Adding a Dynamic Column to Your ADF Table Component":

#{bindings.TreeID.[TreeNodeID].AttributeNamePrefix*.inputValue}
#{bindings.TreeID.AttributeNamePrefix*.inputValue}
#{bindings.TreeID.[TreeNodeID].hints.AttributeNamePrefix*.controlHint}
#{bindings.TreeID.[TreeNodeID].hints.AttributeNamePrefix*.label}

A value for AttributeNamePrefix and [TreeNodeID] is optional while * is required.

Table.Column

inputValue

""

B.3 Attribute Control Hints in ADF Desktop Integration

ADF Desktop Integration can read the values of the attribute control hint names described in Table B-3. You write EL expressions that ADF Desktop Integration uses to retrieve the value of an attribute control hint from your Fusion web application. Table B-2 describes the EL expression syntax that retrieves the values of attribute control hints at runtime.

You configure attribute control hints in your Fusion web application. Information about how to add an attribute control hint to an entity object can be found in the "Defining Attribute Control Hints for Entity Objects" section of the Oracle Fusion Middleware Fusion Developer's Guide for Oracle Application Development Framework. Information about how to add an attribute control hint to a view object can be found in the "Defining Attribute Control Hints for View Objects" section of the Oracle Fusion Middleware Fusion Developer's Guide for Oracle Application Development Framework.

Table B-3 Attribute Control Hints Used by ADF Desktop Integration

Attribute Control Hint	Type	Value to configure in the Fusion web application
`label`	String	References the value of the label attribute control hint configured for an entity or view object.
`updateable`	Boolean	Returns `true` if the associated attribute binding is updatable.
`readOnly`	Boolean	This attribute control hint is unique to ADF Desktop Integration. Returns `true` if the associated attribute binding is not updatable. To optimize the performance of an integrated Excel workbook when it evaluates Excel formulas in EL expressions, it is recommended that you write an EL expression with the following syntax for a component's `ReadOnly` property: #{bindings.attributeID.hints.readOnly} rather than: =NOT(#{bindings.attributeID.hints.updateable}) Note that the attribute control hint `readOnly` property differs to the `ReadOnly` property of ADF Desktop Integration components described in Section A.1, "Frequently Used Properties in the ADF Desktop Integration."
`mandatory`	Boolean	Returns `true` if a value for the associated attribute binding is required.
`dataType`	String	Returns the data type of the attribute control hint. A Fusion web application can support many data types with complex names. The `dataType` attribute control hint was introduced in ADF Desktop Integration to simplify the writing of EL expressions. It maps the data types that a Fusion web application supports to the values supported by ADF Desktop Integration listed here: `string` `number` `date` `boolean` `other`

The ADF Desktop Integration attribute control hints are based on information available in the web application's model configuration. ADF Desktop Integration supports view object or entity object hint values, but does not support programmatic overrides of hint values if they are calculated at a row-by-row level at runtime.