Controls and styling

Most layout changes (moving, hiding, resizing, relabelling) need no code: select the control in the Customization Tools Dialog and change its properties. This page covers the things that do need a few lines of C#.

Getting hold of a base control

Controls you add with the ToolBox are available in the script by name. Base controls aren’t; look them up by their EpiGuid, which you copy from the Misc group of the control’s properties.

private EpiButton btnBaseExtra;

public void InitializeCustomCode()
{
    btnBaseExtra = (EpiButton)csm.GetNativeControlReference("00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000");
}

Replace the GUID with the one from the properties panel and cast to the control’s actual type (shown as (Type) in the same panel).

ReadOnly, Enabled and why your change doesn’t stick

Epicor controls have both ReadOnly and Enabled, and the framework constantly resets bound controls from the data and from row rules. If you set txtSomething.ReadOnly = false on a bound control and it flips back, a row rule or the base form’s own logic is winning. Change the rule instead (Row rules) or change the data the rule looks at. Setting properties in code is reliable for unbound custom controls.

Colouring a control from its value

Epicor controls follow the application’s style theme, which overrides colours you set. Turn that off for the control first:

private System.Drawing.Color defaultBack = System.Drawing.Color.Empty;

private void txtCertStatus_TextChanged(object sender, System.EventArgs args)
{
    EpiTextBox box = (EpiTextBox)sender;
    if (defaultBack == System.Drawing.Color.Empty) defaultBack = box.BackColor;

    box.UseAppStyling = false;
    switch (box.Text.Trim().ToLower())
    {
        case "valid":   box.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.LightGreen; break;
        case "expired": box.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.LightCoral; break;
        default:        box.BackColor = defaultBack; break;
    }
}

Wire the handler with the Event Wizard (TextChanged), or by hand as shown in The Script Editor and events. For a button, set UseOsThemes = Infragistics.Win.DefaultableBoolean.False as well as UseAppStyling = false, or Windows theming keeps the default look.

Tip

If the colour depends only on data in a data view, a row rule with a SettingStyle (OK, Warning, Error) does the same with no code, and survives theme changes. Use code when the logic is too complex for a rule.

Tooltips on custom controls

Tooltips come from Infragistics’ UltraToolTipManager. Create one manager and register a tip per control:

using Infragistics.Win.UltraWinToolTip;

private UltraToolTipManager tipManager;

private void SetUpTooltips()
{
    tipManager = new UltraToolTipManager();

    UltraToolTipInfo tip = tipManager.GetUltraToolTip(this.txtXX_Reason);
    tip.ToolTipText = "Why the order is on hold." + Environment.NewLine + "Shown on the pick list.";
}

Call SetUpTooltips() from InitializeCustomCode(). This is intended for your own controls; base controls already carry their own tooltip handling.

Grid tweaks

Summary row at the top

Grids with summaries turned on show totals at the bottom. Setting grid.DisplayLayout.Override.SummaryDisplayArea = SummaryDisplayAreas.Top; (namespace Infragistics.Win.UltraWinGrid) in the form’s Load event moves them to the top. The full example, on a dashboard grid, is in Grid summaries and grand totals.

Colouring individual cells

After the grid’s data is loaded, loop its rows and set cell appearances:

foreach (UltraGridRow row in grdStock.Rows)
{
    decimal needed = Convert.ToDecimal(row.Cells["QtyNeeded"].Value);
    decimal onHand = Convert.ToDecimal(row.Cells["OnHandQty"].Value);
    row.Cells["QtyNeeded"].Appearance.BackColor =
        needed <= onHand ? System.Drawing.Color.LightGreen : System.Drawing.Color.LightCoral;
}

Grid colours are reset when the grid reloads, so run this again after each refresh (or use the grid’s InitializeRow event, which fires per row as it’s drawn).

Asking the user for a value

Sometimes a customization needs one extra input, such as a date, before it carries on. A small WinForms dialog defined in the script does the job:

public class XX_DatePrompt : Form
{
    private DateTimePicker picker = new DateTimePicker();

    public XX_DatePrompt(string caption)
    {
        Text = caption;
        FormBorderStyle = FormBorderStyle.FixedDialog;
        StartPosition = FormStartPosition.CenterParent;
        MinimizeBox = false; MaximizeBox = false;
        ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(260, 80);

        picker.SetBounds(10, 10, 240, 20);
        Button ok = new Button { Text = "OK", DialogResult = DialogResult.OK };
        ok.SetBounds(90, 45, 75, 25);
        Button cancel = new Button { Text = "Cancel", DialogResult = DialogResult.Cancel };
        cancel.SetBounds(175, 45, 75, 25);

        Controls.AddRange(new Control[] { picker, ok, cancel });
        AcceptButton = ok; CancelButton = cancel;
    }

    public DateTime Value { get { return picker.Value.Date; } }
}

Put the class after the closing brace of Script in the same editor window. Use it from any handler:

using (XX_DatePrompt prompt = new XX_DatePrompt("Expected ship date"))
{
    if (prompt.ShowDialog(oTrans.EpiBaseForm) == DialogResult.OK)
    {
        edvTran.dataView[edvTran.Row]["TranDate"] = prompt.Value;
    }
}

Passing the form as the owner keeps the dialog on top of the right window. Keep dialogs like this small; anything bigger is usually better as its own UD form or dashboard launched from a button.

Sources

This page is written in our own words. It was informed by:

• EpiUsers: Summary row on top of grid