It's easy to lose track of whether you're looking at the current version of an item, especially when opening an item from a relationship or item property. This tech tip demonstrates two ways to show whether an item is current at-a-glance using form styles.
Getting Started
You can find all of the code and files for this demonstration on the Aras Labs GitHub page in the style-non-current-items project. If you want to install the project and follow along, the project page includes all of the instructions for installing the import package.
ArasLabs/style-non-current-items
style-non-current-items - Demonstrates two ways to style the form of a non-current version of an item.
How It Works
The project's import package includes two methods - labs_StyleNonCurrent and labs_NonCurrentOverlay. Both use the same basic logic to determine whether the context item is the current version.
First we check whether the context item includes the is_current property. If so, we proceed with that value. Otherwise, we retrieve the is_current property from the server. If the is_current property's value is 0, we style the form accordingly.
1. Custom Background Color
Custom Background Color for Non-Current Item
The first method in the import package, labs_StyleNonCurrent, changes the form background color to distinguish a non-current generation of an item from the current generation. Here's the method code to set the background color for non-current items:
gist.github.com/.../2e95b77597f0bfc0dc1f65bd3370d5cc
2. Watermark Image
Custom Watermark Image for Non-Current Item
The second method, labs_NonCurrentOverlay, displays a watermark image over the form when the context item is not the current generation. This approach requires a hidden HTML field on the form. If the context item is not current, the method code updates the CSS properties on the hidden field to make it visible.
gist.github.com/.../4b9b4d9ac026f6b791ee9d59ce1ed679
LOOKING FOR MORE ARAS INSPIRATION?
Subscribe to our blog and follow @ArasLabs on Twitter for more helpful content! You can also find our latest open-source projects and sample code on the Aras Labs GitHub page.
