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Xrm.Page.ui control (client-side reference)

  • Article

 

Applies To: Dynamics CRM 2013

The control object provides methods to change the presentation or behavior of a control and identify the corresponding attribute.

You access controls using the following collections: Xrm.Page.ui.controls, Xrm.Page.ui Section.controls, or Xrm.Page.data.entity Attribute.controls. The Xrm.Page.getControl method is a shortcut method to access Xrm.Page.ui.controls.get.

Each of the syntax examples in this topic show the use of the Xrm.Page.getControl method to access a control. Which control depends on the arguments passed to the method. The args parameter to access a single control must be either the name of the control or the index.

When a form displays a business process flow control in the header, additional controls will be added for each attribute that is displayed in the business process flow. These controls have a unique name like the following: header_process_<attribute name>.

Controls displayed in the form header are accessible and have a unique name like the following: header_<attribute name>.

For controls that are bound to attributes it is common to access controls through the Xrm.Page.data.entity Attribute.controls collection.

Control properties and methods

  • Disabled
    Detect the state and enable or disable controls using the getDisabled and setDisabled methods.

  • getAttribute
    Get the attribute that the control is bound to.

  • getControlType
    Get information about the type of control.

  • getName
    Get the name of the control

  • getParent
    Get the section object that the control is in.

  • Label
    Get or change the label for a control using the getLabel and setLabel methods.

  • Lookup control methods and events
    Control the results displayed for a user to choose from when they set the value of a lookup control using the addCustomFilter, addCustomView, getDefaultView, setDefaultView methods.

    You can add or remove event handlers for the PreSearch event using the addPreSearch and removePreSearch methods.

  • Notification
    Display and remove notifications to users about a control using the setNotification and clearNotification methods.

  • OptionSet control methods
    Modify the options displayed in OptionSet controls using the addOption, clearOptions, and removeOption methods.

  • refresh
    Refresh the data displayed in a subgrid.

  • setFocus
    Set focus on a control.

  • setShowTime
    Specify whether a date control should show the time portion of the date.

  • Visible
    Determine which controls are visible and show or hide them using the getVisible and setVisible methods.

  • Web resource and IFRAME control methods
    Interact with web resource and IFRAME controls using the getData, setData, getInitialUrl, getObject, setSrc and getSrc methods.

Disabled

Use getDisabled and setDisabled to detect whether a control is disabled or to enable or disable it.

Control Types: standard, lookup, optionset.

getDisabled

Returns whether the control is disabled.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).getDisabled()
  • Return Value
    Type: Boolean. True if the control is disabled, otherwise false.

setDisabled

Sets whether the control is disabled.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).setDisabled(bool)
  • Arguments
    Type: Boolean. True if the control should be disabled, otherwise false.

getAttribute

Returns the attribute that the control is bound to.

Control Types: standard, lookup, optionset.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).getAttribute()

Note

Controls that are not bound to an attribute (subgrid, web resource, and IFRAME) do not have this method. An error will be thrown if you attempt to use this method on one of these controls.

  • Return Value
    Type: Object: An attribute.

Remarks

The constituent controls in a quick view control are included in the controls collection and these controls have the getAttribute method. However, the attribute is not part of the attribute collection for the entity. While you can retrieve the value for that attribute using getValue and even change the value using setValue, changes you make will not be saved with the entity.

The following code shows using the value of the contact mobilephone attribute when displayed on an account entity form using a quick view control named contactQuickForm. This code hides the control when the value of the attribute is null.

var quickViewMobilePhoneControl = Xrm.Page.getControl("contactQuickForm_contactQuickForm_contact_mobilephone");
 if (quickViewMobilePhoneControl.getAttribute().getValue() == null)
 {
  quickViewMobilePhoneControl.setVisible(false);
 }

getControlType

Returns a value that categorizes controls.

Control Types: all.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).getControlType()

  • Return Value
    Type: String

    Possible return values of getControlType:

    Return Value

    Description

    standard

    A Standard control.

    iframe

    An IFRAME control

    lookup

    A Lookup control.

    optionset

    An OptionSet control

    subgrid

    A subgrid control

    webresource

    A web resource control

    notes

    A Notes control

    timercontrol

    A timer control

getName

Returns the name assigned to the control.

Note

The name assigned to a control is not determined until the form loads. Changes to the form may change the name assigned to a given control.

Control Types: all.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).getName()
  • Return Value
    Type: String. The name of the control.

getParent

Returns a reference to the section object that contains the control.

Control Types: all.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).getParent()

Label

Get or change the label for a control using the getLabel and setLabel methods.

Control Types: all.

getLabel

Returns the label for the control

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).getLabel()
  • Return Value
    Type: String. The label of the control.

setLabel

Sets the label for the control.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).setLabel(label)
  • Arguments
    Type: String. The new label for the control.

Lookup control methods and events

Control the results displayed for a user to choose from when they set the value of a lookup control using the addCustomFilter, addCustomView, getDefaultView, setDefaultView methods. The Lookup control also exposes the PreSearch event so that you can programmatically add event handlers using the addPreSearch and removePreSearch methods.

Control Types: lookup.

addCustomFilter

Use add additional filters to the results displayed in the lookup. Each filter will be combined with any previously added filters as an ‘AND’ condition.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).addCustomFilter(filter, entityLogicaName)

  • Arguments

    • filterXml
      Type: String: The fetchXml filter element to apply. For example:

      <filter type="and">
 <condition attribute="address1_city" operator="eq" value="Redmond" />
</filter>

    • entityLogicalName
      Type: String: (Optional) If this is set the filter will only apply to that entity type. Otherwise it will apply to all types of entities returned.

  • Remarks
    More information: FetchXML schema.

    This method is only available for Updated entities.

    This method can only be used in a function in an event handler for the Lookup Control PreSearch Event.

    The following code sample is for the Opportunity form Account (parentaccountid) lookup. When the Sdk.setParentAccountIdFilter function is set in the form Onload event handler, the Sdk.filterCustomAccounts function is added to the PreSearch event for that lookup. The result is that only accounts with the Category (accountcategorycode) value of Preferred Customer (1) will be returned.

    var Sdk = window.Sdk || {};

Sdk.filterCustomerAccounts = function () {
    //Only show accounts with the type 'Preferred Customer'.
    var customerAccountFilter = "<filter type='and'><condition attribute='accountcategorycode' operator='eq' value='1'/></filter>";
    Xrm.Page.getControl("parentaccountid").addCustomFilter(customerAccountFilter, "account");
}
//Set 'Sdk.setParentAccountIdFilter' in the Opportunity form onload event handler.
Sdk.setParentAccountIdFilter = function () {
    Xrm.Page.getControl("parentaccountid").addPreSearch(Sdk.filterCustomerAccounts);
}

addCustomView

Adds a new view for the lookup dialog box.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).addCustomView(viewId, entityName, viewDisplayName, fetchXml, layoutXml, isDefault)

  • Arguments

    • viewId
      Type: String: The string representation of a GUID for a view.

      Note

      This value is never saved and only needs to be unique among the other available views for the lookup. A string for a non-valid GUID will work, for example “{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001}”. It is recommended that you use a tool like guidgen.exe to generate a valid GUID. The guidgen.exe tool is included in the Windows SDK.

    • entityName
      Type: String: The name of the entity.

    • viewDisplayName
      Type: String: The name of the view.

    • fetchXml
      String: The fetchXml query for the view.

    • layoutXml
      Type: String: The XML that defines the layout of the view.

    • isDefault
      Type: Boolean: Whether the view should be the default view.

  • Remarks
    This method does not work with Owner lookups. Owner lookups are used to assign user-owned records.

DefaultView

You can detect which view is the default view to be shown to allow users to select records in a lookup and change the default view using getDefaultView and setDefaultView.

getDefaultView

Returns the Id value of the default lookup dialog view.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).getDefaultView()
  • Return Value
    Type: String. The Id value of the default view.

setDefaultView

Sets the default view for the lookup control dialog.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).setDefaultView(viewGuid)
  • Arguments
    Type: String. The Id of the view to be set as the default view.

PreSearch event

You can add or remove event handlers for the Lookup Control PreSearch Event using the addPreSearch and removePreSearch methods.

Use the PreSearch event to control what results are displayed for the control using the form data current as the user is beginning to search for records.

Both of these methods have the Execution context (client-side reference) passed as the first parameter.

addPreSearch

Use this method to apply changes to lookups based on values current just as the user is about to view results for the lookup.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).addPreSearch(handler)

  • Arguments
    Type: Function to add.

  • Remarks
    This method is only available for Updated entities.

The argument is a function that will be run just before the search to provide results for a lookup occurs. You can use this handler to call one of the other lookup control functions and improve the results to be displayed in the lookup.

removePreSearch

Use this method to remove event handler functions that have previously been set for the PreSearch event.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).removePreSearch(handler)

  • Arguments
    Type: Function to remove.

  • Remarks
    This method is only available for Updated entities.

Notification

Use setNotification to display a notification about the control and clearNotification to remove it.

setNotification

Display a message near the control to indicate that data is not valid. When this method is used on Microsoft Dynamics CRM for tablets a red "X" icon appears next to the control. Tapping on the icon will display the message.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).setNotification(message,uniqueId)

Remarks

Setting a notification on a control will block the form from saving.

This method is only available for Updated entities.

Arguments

  • message
    Type: String: The message to display.

  • uniqueId
    Type: String: The ID to use to clear just this message when using clearNotification.

Return Value

Type: Boolean : Indicates whether the method succeeded.

clearNotification

Remove a message already displayed for a control.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).clearNotification(uniqueId)

Arguments

  • uniqueId
    Type: String: The ID to use to clear a specific message set using setNotification.

    If the uniqueId parameter is not used, the current notification shown will be removed.

Remarks

This method is only available for Updated entities.

Return Value

Type: Boolean: Indicates whether the method succeeded.

OptionSet control methods

Use the addOption, clearOptions, and removeOption methods to manipulate options available for OptionSet controls. See Sample: Create dependent OptionSets (picklists) for an example of these functions being put to use.

addOption

Adds an option to an option set control.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).addOption(option, [index])

Important

This method does not check that the values within the options you add are valid. You should only add options that have been defined for the specific option set attribute that the control is bound to. Use the attribute getOptions or getOption methods to get valid option objects to add using this method.

  • Arguments

    • option
      Type: Object: An option object to add to the OptionSet.

    • index
      Type: Number: (Optional) The index position to place the new option. If not provided the option will be added to the end.

clearOptions

Clears all options from an Option Set control.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).clearOptions()

removeOption

Removes an option from an Option Set control.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).removeOption(number)
  • Arguments
    Type: Number: The value of the option you want to remove.

refresh

Refreshes the data displayed in a Sub-Grid

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).refresh()

Note

The refresh method is not available in the form OnLoad event.

setFocus

Sets the focus on the control.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).setFocus()

setShowTime

Specify whether a date control should show the time portion of the date.

Control Types: standard control for datetime attributes.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).setShowTime(bool)

Remarks

This method is only available for Updated entities.

Visible

Determine which controls are visible and show or hide them using the getVisible and setVisible methods.

getVisible

Returns a value that indicates whether the control is currently visible.

Note

If the containing section or tab for this control is not visible, this method can still return true. To make certain that the control is actually visible; you need to also check the visibility of the containing elements.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).getVisible()
  • Return Value
    Type: Boolean. True if the control is visible, otherwise false.

setVisible

Sets a value that indicates whether the control is visible.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).setVisible(bool)
  • Arguments
    Type: Boolean. True if the control should be visible, otherwise false.

Note

When you selectively show fields to users in code that runs in the Onload event, we recommend that you configure the fields to not be visible by default and then use setVisible(true) to show the fields when conditions are right. Using setVisible(false) to hide fields in the Onload event may result in the field briefly appearing to the user before being hidden.

If you are hiding a larger number of fields using setVisible(false), consider if you can group them together into tabs or sections and hide the tab or section rather than the fields separately. This will provide better performance.

Web resource and IFRAME control methods

Use these methods to interact with web resource and IFRAME controls.

Note

These methods does not work with Microsoft Dynamics CRM for tablets.

Data

Web resources have a special query string parameter named data to pass custom data. The getData and setData methods only work for Silverlight web resource added to a form. For more information see Passing data from a form to an embedded Silverlight web resource.

For web page (HTML) web resources, the data parameter can be extracted from the getSrc method or set using the setSrc method.

getData

Returns the value of the data query string parameter passed to a Silverlight web resource.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).getData()
  • Return Value
    Type: String. The data value passed to the Silverlight web resource.

setData

Sets the value of the data query string parameter passed to a Silverlight web resource.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).setData(string)
  • Arguments
    Type: String. The data value to pass to the Silverlight web resource.

getInitialUrl

Returns the default URL that an IFRAME control is configured to display. This method is not available for web resources.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).getInitialUrl()
  • Return Value
    Type: String. The initial URL.

getObject

Returns the object in the form that represents an I-frame or web resource.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).getObject()

  • Return Value
    Type: Object. Which object depends on the type of control.

    An IFRAME will return the IFrame element from the Document Object Model (DOM).

    A Silverlight web resource will return the Object element from the DOM that represents the embedded Silverlight plug-in.

Src

IFRAMEs or web resources have a src property to define what to display in the embedded window. You can get or change the src property using the getSrc and setSrc methods.

getSrc

Returns the current URL being displayed in an IFRAME or web resource.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).getSrc()
  • Return Value
    Type: String. A URL representing the src property of the IFRAME or web resource.

setSrc

Sets the URL to be displayed in an IFRAME or web resource.

Xrm.Page.getControl(arg).setSrc(string)
  • Arguments
    Type: String: The URL.

See Also

Client-side programming reference
Form scripting quick reference
Xrm.Page.ui (client-side reference)
Write code for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 forms
Use the Xrm.Page object model