Scripting actions
Call client-side JavaScript as a result of XForms events:
Starting Orbeon Forms 2016.1:
<xf:action ev:event="xforms-value-changed" type="javascript">
var v = 2;
myValueChanged(v);
</xf:action>
Prior to Orbeon Forms 2016.1:
<xxf:script ev:event="xforms-value-changed">
var v = 2;
myValueChanged(v);
</xxf:script>
or:
<xxf:script ev:event="xforms-value-changed" type="javascript">
var v = 2;
myValueChanged(v);
</xxf:script>
The embedded JavaScript has access to the following JavaScript variables:
this: element observing the event causing<xf:action>to runevent:event.target: returns the element which is the target of the event causing<xf:action>to run
NOTE: Because regular XForms actions run on the server and JavaScript actions run on the client, JavaScript actions are always executed last in a sequence of XForms actions, even if they appear before other XForms actions.
[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2016.1]
You can specify parameters to pass to the JavaScript, for example:
<xf:action type="javascript">
<xf:param
name="newValue"
value="xxf:binding('fr-code-mirror')"/>
<xf:body>
var instance = YAHOO.xbl.fr.CodeMirror.instance(this);
instance.enabled();
instance.xformsValue(newValue);
</xf:body>
</xf:action>
Syntax:
- nest as many
<xf:param>elements as there are parameters to pass- the
nameattribute specifies the name of the JavaScript parameter to pass - the
valueattribute contains an XPath expression evaluating the value of the parameter
- embed the JavaScript code within an
<xf:body>element instead of directly under<xf:action type="javascript">
Parameters are scoped at the beginning of the embedded JavaScript and you just access them by name, like
newValue in the above example.[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2016.1]
The
<xbl:handler> element works like an <xf:action> element and also supports the type attribute and nested <xf:param> and <xf:body> elements:<xbl:handler event="xforms-enabled xxforms-iteration-moved" type="javascript">
<xf:param
name="newValue"
value="xxf:binding('fr-code-mirror')"/>
<xf:body>
var instance = YAHOO.xbl.fr.CodeMirror.instance(this);
instance.enabled();
instance.xformsValue(newValue);
</xf:body>
</xbl:handler>
Simple server-side scripts can be written in XPath. This is particularly useful when using extension functions that have side effects.
You specify an XPath script either with:
<xf:action type="xpath">
...
</xf:action>
Or (deprecated since Orbeon Forms 2016.1):
<xxf:script type="xpath">
...
</xxf:script>
Example:
<xf:action type="xpath">
xxf:set-session-attribute('foo', $total),
xxf:set-session-attribute('bar', instance()/bar)
</xf:action>
When putting multiple XPath statements, separate them with a comma. This creates an XPath sequence, which is evaluated in order.
XPath scripts have access to the current XPath context, including the focus and in-scope variables.
Orbeon Forms first introduced JavaScript with the
<xxf:script> action. This action is deprecated since Orbeon Forms 2016.1 and it is recommended to use <xf:action type="javascript"> and <xf:action type="xpath"> instead.Here are the differences between the two:
<xf:action type="...">:- this is a standard XForms action
- without a
typeattribute, the behavior is standard XForms and runs nested XForms actions - with a
typeattribute, this is able to run nested client-side JavaScript or server-side XPath scripts - Only available for JavaScript actions starting Orbeon Forms 2016.1.
<xxf:script>:- this is a custom Orbeon Forms action
- this never runs nested XForms actions
- without a
typeattribute, the default is to run client-side JavaScript - with a
typeattribute, this can run nested client-side JavaScript or server-side XPath scripts
Last modified 3yr ago