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SwitchableFieldDefinition defines a field that displays alternative fields depending on user choice. For example:
Switch between a plain text editor and a rich text editor.
Authenticated vs. unauthenticated SMTP settings. When the user selects the authenticated option, ask for username and password.
- In a shop, switch between separate shipping and billing addresses or using the same address for both..
class: info.magnolia.ui.form.field.definition.SwitchableFieldDefinition
fieldType: switchable
Here is a switchable text editor field. It consists of alternative text and rich text fields.
Switchable field properties
Simple switchable field definition:
form:
tabs:
- name: tabText
label: Text
fields:
- name: message
fieldType: switchable
label: Message
options:
- name: plainText
label: Plain
selected: true
value: plainText
- name: richText
label: Rich
value: richText
fields:
- name: plainText
fieldType: text
label: Plain text message
rows: 5
- name: richText
fieldType: richText
label: Rich text message
height: 200
| Node name | Value |
|---|---|
Plain | |
true | |
plainText | |
Rich | |
richText | |
text | |
Plain text message | |
5 | |
richText | |
Rich text message | |
200 | |
switchable | |
Message |
Field-specific properties:
| required Name of parent switchable field. |
| required Options (radio buttons) that allow switching between child fields. You can add more than two options. |
| required Options available for selection. Add one node for each option. The number of options should match the number of child fields. . |
| optional Label displayed next to the radio button. |
| optional When set to
|
| optional Value saved to the repository when selected. Should match the name of the corresponding child field node name. |
| required Child fields displayed when the user selects an option. |
| required Child field name. Should match the |
| required Field definition class of the child field. |
| required Definition class of the switchable parent field. Use |
| optional , default is Defines the layout of the radio buttons. Set to |
| optional, default is Defines the selection type. Valid values are |
| optional, default is Custom property transformer definition. |
or
| required Defines the field type via either a field alias name or a fully-qualified field definition class name. See Field definition: Field types. Use the Definitions app to check the correct form of the name. |
defaultValue | optional Pre-filled default value displayed in the field. The value can be overwritten by the user. Use alphanumeric characters.
|
description | optional Help text displayed when the user clicks the help icon. The value can be literal or retrieved from the message bundle with a key such as |
i18n | optional, default is Enables i18n authoring support which allows editors to write foreign-language or regionally targeted content. A two-letter language identifier (en, de, fr etc.) is displayed on controls where |
i18nBasename | optional, default is the message bundle defined in the dialog definition Message bundle such as |
label | optional Field label displayed to editors. The value can be literal such as If you don't provide the property then Magnolia falls back to a generated i18n key and displays they key in the UI. If you don't want a label at all then define the property and set its value to empty space such as |
name | optional, default is the name of the field's parent node Name of the node where the value is saved. The name |
placeholder | optional The placeholder text to be displayed in the empty field. The property replaces the deprecated placeholder text field.
The field is optional, but you should provide a translation or a hard-coded label, otherwise the empty field will display its auto-generated 18n key instead. |
readOnly | optional, default is Makes the field uneditable. Adding this property has the same effect as creating a Static field. |
required | optional, default is Makes the field required (mandatory). An asterisk is displayed next to the field label. See also Checking for null values. |
requiredErrorMessage | optional, default is Error message displayed when required is true and the user saves an empty field. The value can be literal or retrieved from the message bundle with a key such as |
styleName | optional Adds one or more style names to this component. Multiple styles can be specified as a space-separated list of style names such as |
transformerClass | optional Property transformer classes define how field values are stored in the repository. Each field has a default transformer class. You don't need to define a class unless you want to override the default. The value is a fully-qualified class name.
|
type | optional, most fields set a default value automatically PropertyType of the stored value such as |
Best practice
It can be difficult to configure the correct transformers for advanced fields and especially for fields with complex nesting.
When nesting switchable fields, use delegating field transformers such as the DelegatingCompositeFieldTransformer since normal non-delegating transformers can only handle two nesting levels.
Switchable field and complex nesting
The example configuration below shows the use of the delegating field transformers for a complex nesting scenario where, at the top level, the user has a two-option switch:
The Composite option opens into a composite field with two text fields:
The Multi option opens into a multi field that allows the user to add individual text fields (three are shown):
The field's YAML configuration:
switchComposite:
class: info.magnolia.ui.form.field.definition.SwitchableFieldDefinition
label: Option Switch
selectionType: radio
transformerClass: info.magnolia.ui.form.field.transformer.composite.DelegatingCompositeFieldTransformer
type: String
options:
switchInnerComposite:
label: Composite
value: switchInnerComposite
switchInnerMulti:
label: Multi
value: switchInnerMulti
fields:
switchInnerComposite:
class: info.magnolia.ui.form.field.definition.CompositeFieldDefinition
label: Composite Field
transformerClass: info.magnolia.ui.form.field.transformer.composite.DelegatingCompositeFieldTransformer
fields:
text1:
class: info.magnolia.ui.form.field.definition.TextFieldDefinition
label: Text Field 1
type: String
text2:
class: info.magnolia.ui.form.field.definition.TextFieldDefinition
label: Text Field 2
type: String
switchInnerMulti:
class: info.magnolia.ui.form.field.definition.MultiValueFieldDefinition
label: Multi Field
required: false
transformerClass: info.magnolia.ui.form.field.transformer.multi.DelegatingMultiValueFieldTransformer
field:
class: info.magnolia.ui.form.field.definition.MultiValueFieldDefinition
name: newSubMultiple
required: false
transformerClass: info.magnolia.ui.form.field.transformer.multi.DelegatingMultiValueFieldTransformer
field:
class: info.magnolia.ui.form.field.definition.TextFieldDefinition
name: nameProperty
type: String




