Switchable field

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
form
tabs
tabText
fields
message
options
plainText
label	Plain
selected	true
value	plainText
richText
label	Rich
value	richText
fields
plainText
fieldType	text
label	Plain text message
rows	5
richText
fieldType	richText
label	Rich text message
height	200
fieldType	switchable
label	Message

See Referencing fields for further information.

Field-specific properties:

`<field name>`	required Name of parent switchable field.
`options`	required Options (radio buttons) that allow switching between child fields. You can add more than two options.
`<option>`	required Options available for selection. Add one node for each option. The number of options should match the number of child fields. .
`label`	optional Label displayed next to the radio button.
`selected`	optional When set to `true` the option is selected by default. Applied only when creating a new item, not for already existing items.
`value`	optional Value saved to the repository when selected. Should match the name of the corresponding child field node name.
`fields`	required Child fields displayed when the user selects an option.
`<child field name>`	required Child field name. Should match the `value` property of the corresponding option.
`class`	required Field definition class of the child field. Basic upload field does not work inside a switchable field.
`class`	required Definition class of the switchable parent field. Use `info.magnolia.ui.form.field.definition.SwitchableFieldDefinition` .
`layout`	optional , default is `horizontal` Defines the layout of the radio buttons. Set to `vertical` for a vertical layout.
`selectionType`	optional, default is `radio` Defines the selection type. Valid values are `radio` and `select` .
`transformerClass`	optional, default is `info.magnolia.ui.form.field.transformer.composite.SwitchableTransformer` Custom property transformer definition.

Common field properties:

fieldType

or

class

required

Defines the field type via either a field alias name or a fully-qualified field definition class name. See Field definition: Field types.

To check the correct form of the name, use the Definitions app.

type

required, default is java.lang.String

Model type of the field. Use the fully qualified class name. See PropertyType for possible values.

A default type is typically hard-coded in each definition class. You only need to add this property if you want to override the default implementation (for example, with java.lang.Long).

defaultValue

optional

Pre-filled default value displayed in the field. The value can be overwritten by the user. Use alphanumeric characters.

Applied only when creating a new item, not for already existing items.

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. Use alphanumeric characters in literal values. Not applicable to the static field.

i18n

optional, default is false

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 i18n is set to true.

i18nBasename

optional, default is the message bundle defined in the dialog definition

Message bundle such as com.example.messages for localized field labels. You can set this property in the parent dialog, form or tab definition. Child fields will inherit the bundle.

label

optional

Field label displayed to editors. The value can be literal such as Product name or retrieved from the message bundle with a key such as products.product.label. Use alphanumeric characters in literal values.

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 label: " " in YAML.

name

optional, default is the name of the field's parent node

Name of the node where the value is saved. The name jcrName is reserved. Use alphanumeric characters.

placeholder

optional

The placeholder text to be displayed in the empty field. The property replaces the deprecated placeholder text field.

Applicable in the text, link and comboBox fields.

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 false

Makes the field uneditable. Adding this property has the same effect as creating a static field.

required

optional, default is false

Makes the field required (mandatory). An asterisk is displayed next to the field label. See also Checking for null values.

requiredErrorMessage

optional, default is "This field is required"

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 validation.message.required.

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 checkbox disabled. The style name will be rendered as an HTML class name, which can be used in a CSS definition. The class name is added to the field by calling the Vaadin method addStyleName.

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.

Complex field definitions may define a different default transformer in their constructor. See Transforming field values for more.

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

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Switchable field

Switchable field properties

Switchable field and complex nesting