Optional fields

Optional fields are one of the few things implemented consistently in the Sage 300 views. ExView instances take advantage of this, automatically creating the following helpers to manage the optional fields associated with an entry:

• extools.view.ExView.create_optfield()
• extools.view.ExView.update_optfield()
• extools.view.ExView.get_optfield()
• extools.view.ExView.delete_optfield()
• extools.view.ExView.update_or_create_optfield()
• extools.view.ExView.seek_to_optfield()
• extools.view.ExView.has_optfield()
• extools.view.ExView.optfields

When an ExView instance is created, it checks to see if it has any of the fields in the special constant extools.view.ExView.OPTFIELD_VIEW_HINTS. If so, the helper methods are automatically added to the class.

Optional fields are really custom properties of the object they are attached to, i.e. the Order Header optional fields are really properties of the Header itself - they just weren’t included in Sage. ExView applies this idea to views that are composed, automatically adding the helpers to both the optional field and the attached object.

For example, when you open an optional field view (like OE0522 Order Optional Fields), the helpers are automatically added to the instance.

try:
    # Open the Order Optional Fields view
    # Because this is an optional field view, helpers are added on init.
    oe0522 = ExView("OE0522")

    # If the optional field exists
    if oe0522.has_optfield("MYFIELD"):

        # Tell the user its value.
        showMessage("Myfield is set to: {}".format(
            oe0522.get_optfield("MYFIELD")))

except ExViewError as e:
    showMessage("Failed get optional MYFIELD: {}".format(e))
    return 1

Because the Order Optional Fields are really properties of the OE0520 Order Header view, when you compose the header view the helpers are added to it as well. This provides a convenient, idiomatic, shortcut to managing an object’s optional fields:

try:
    # Open the Order Header view and compose it
    oe0520 = ExView("OE0520")
    oe0520.compose()

    # If the optional field exists
    if oe0520.has_optfield("MYFIELD"):

        # Tell the user its value.
        showMessageBox("Myfield is set to: {}".format(
            oe0520.get_optfield("MYFIELD")))

except ExViewError as e:
    showMessage("Failed get optional MYFIELD: {}".format(e))
    return 1

In the composed scenario, access from both the object and the composed optional field view are available and equivalent.

try:
    # Open the Order Header view
    oe0520 = ExView("OE0520")
    oe0520.compose()

    # This will always evaluate to True
    oe0520.has_optfield("MYFIELD") == oe0520.oe0522.has_optfield("MYFIELD")

    oe0520.create_optfield("F1", 1)

    if oe0520.oe0522.has_optfield("F1"):
        # True, we just created it through the header!
        ...
except ExViewError as e:
    showMessage("Failed ...")
    return 1