Dynamic Columns

Dynamic Column Definition

If you wanted to display a table that lists Buyers and all the Supplier Companies they work with, you could define the Buyer column, and then define the Supplier Companies columns to be added dynamically. The content of the columns would be a check mark or x or other indicator.

You can include multiple sets of dynamic columns in a table.

To dynamically add columns to a table, you need to write a custom JPO:method that retrieves the required columns and data for those columns. You use these settings on the column:

• Column Type = Dynamic
• Dynamic Column Program = JPO name
• Dynamic Column Function = JPO method name

The table can include any number of specifically added columns in addition to the dynamic columns. If the table only includes dynamic columns and an empty columnMap is returned, an error is presented to the user.

This is the required method signature:

public static List getCompanyColumns(Context context, String[] 
args) throws FrameworkException

The JPO:method is provided a single args[] array containing a packed Map with these inputs:

• requestMap--Contains the request parameters passed to emxTable.jsp or emxIndentedTable.jsp stored as a map with request parameter names as keys. Also contains objectId, relId, etc.
• columnMap--Details of the dynamic column.
• ObjectList--A MapList (derived from ArrayList) where each entry is a map with details about each objectid, connectionid, and so on.

The JPO:method returns a list with each entry corresponding to a column to add to the table. The columnMap matches the format returned by the UICache component for static columns defined in the administrative table. Data is stored as key/value pairs with settings stored as an additional map.

Each entry in the columnMap list is a map with this structure:

Guidelines for Adding Dynamic Columns to a Table

You can follow these general guidelines to include a dynamic column in a table:

1. In Business Modelerr, create a new table object.
2. Configure the static columns for the table.
3. Configure the dynamic column for the table. Only one column is defined as dynamic, although the end-result could be any number of columns added to the table. At minimum, include these settings:
   
   • Column Type = Dynamic
   • Dynamic Column Function = method_name
   • Dynamic Column Program = JPO_name
   • Registered Suite = suite_name
4. Complete the steps required to define a table as defined in the Business Modeler Guide.

Any settings defined for the dynamic column apply to all columns added by the JPO:method, unless specifically overridden by the returned MapList.

Sample JPO Code

This code sample retrieves dynamic columns of companies.

Public static List getCompanyColumns(Context context, String[] 
args) throws FrameworkException

{

    // unpack args array to get input map

MapList programMap = (HashMap) JPO.unpackArgs(args);

// get request information

MapList paramMap = (String) programMap.get("requestMap");

//get dynamic column information

MapList columntMap = (String) programMap.get("columnMap");

// get object list

MapList ObjectList= (String) programMap.get("ObjectList");

//Define a new MapList to return.

MapList columnMapList = new MapList();

// User defined code to populate company list

// for each company

for( int i=0; i<companyList.size(); i++){

    // create a column map to be returned.

Map colMap = new HashMap();

HashMap settingsMap = new HashMap();

// Set information of Column Settings in settingsMap

settingsMap.put("Column Type","program");

settingsMap.put("program","emxUtil");

settingsMap.put("function","getCompanyColumnValues");

settingsMap.put("Registered Suite","Framework");

// set column information

colMap.put("name", companyList.get(i).getName() );

colMap.put("label", companyList.get(i).getName() );

colMap.put("settings",settingsMap);

//user added key value pair.

colMap.put("Company Id", companyList.get(i).getObjectId()); 

columnMapList.put(colMap);

} 

// return final list

return columnMapList;

    }