Understanding Creating Component Interface Definitions

This section discusses key concepts for creating component interface definitions.

Component Structure

You must know the structure of the component for which you are constructing a component interface because each component interface refers to a single component. You can use an existing component within an application or create a new one for the sole purpose of constructing a component interface. Many parts of the component interface, such as the keys, are created based on settings in the referenced component.

Criteria for Setting Automatic Default Properties

To be able to set automatic defaults for fields in the new component interface, the system needs the properties to be of a specific field or page control type.

The fields should be of the following types:

• Character

• Long character

• Number

• Signed number

• Date

• Time

• Datetime

The field should be one of the following page control types:

• Edit box

• Drop-down list box

• Check box

• Radio button

The field cannot be invisible and should not be the same as the key field of the immediate parent.

Collections must have at least one child property that satisfies the field or page control criteria for providing the field by default. Collections with no properties are not added.

For a field on a secondary page to be selected for the default properties process, it must satisfy all the criteria for field type and page control and must be at the same level as the host page.

Additionally, the component tree that a component interface uses to order the properties lists the fields in the record based on their order in the record definition and not the order of the fields on the page. If the component tree lists the fields of a record based on the page, the properties of the component interface will reflect that order.