| Author: | Oracle Developer Product Management Team |
| Creation Date: | 10-APR-2000 |
| Last Updated: | 10-APR-2000 |
| Version: | 1.0 |
| Date | Author | Version | Comments |
| 10-APR-2000 | PM Team | 1.0 | initial creation |
This Pluggable Java Component (PJC) provides an example of enhancing a normal Forms Text Item with the ability to both filter the keystrokes that the user enters into the item, and to obtain information about the keys that the user has actually pressed. The code currently extends single line text items but could be simply adapted for multi-line text items or combo-boxes.
This distribution contains the following directories:
| Directory | Contents |
| .\src | The Java source files for the PJC. |
| .\classes | The compiled classes for the PJC that can be used in an Oracle Developer application. This directory contains a JAR file and also a signed JAR file. |
| .\doc | The Javadoc generated documentation from the PJC source files. This documents the method and attributes used within the PJC. Click here to view the documentation. |
| .\forms | Contains an example Form which uses the component and demonstrate how to work with the PJC from the Forms environment. |
You should perform the following steps to install and configure the PJC for development and deployment in an Oracle Developer Server application:
<ARCHIVE = "f60all.jar, keyfilter.jar">
The fully qualified name for this PJC is oracle.forms.demos.KeyFilter (note that Java is case sensitive).
This PJC must be added to a Form application using a single line Text item. Place the Text item on a canvas and
then set the implementation class property to be the fully qualified name for the KeyPress PJC. You do not
need to add the .class suffix. Alternatively you can set the implementation class of an existing Text item to oracle.forms.demos.KeyFilter
The example Form that ships with this distribution demonstrates how to use the component with Developer 6i. The PJC can be queried using GET_CUSTOM_PROPERTY from PL/SQL to determine what key the user last pressed within the item. The PJC can also apply a filter to the item which restricts the keystrokes that will actually register in the field. Note that the property names below are case sensitive.
| PL/SQL Property | Gettable | Settable | Valid Values | Usage |
| KEY_CODE | Yes | No | n/a | Returns the ASCII code of the last keypress in the field. Note both upper and lower case
keypresses return the same code (the code for the uppercase character. use KEY_MODIFIER
or KEY_CHARACTER to determine if an Uppercase or Lowercase character was entered. Developer 6i Usage key_pressed_code := GET_CUSTOM_PROPERTY(hItem,1,'KEY_CODE'); |
| KEY_CHARACTER | Yes | No | n/a | Returns the actual character entered. If the last keypress was a function key or editing
key, then the returned value will be enclosed in braces e.g. if the user presses the
letter A then 'A' will be returned by this value, if the user presses the function key F1
then '{F1}' will be returned. Simply pressing a modifier
on it's own on the field will
return '{Modifier}' for this value and you should check KEY_MODIFIER for the modifier that
was pressed.
Developer 6i Usage key_pressed_char := GET_CUSTOM_PROPERTY(hItem,1,'KEY_CHARACTER'); |
| KEY_MODIFIER | Yes | No | n/a | Returns any modifiers in force when the key was pressed. These can be CTRL, SHIFT or ALT
(including combinations of these joined by a plus sign). These are all returned in upper
case. Developer 6i Usage key_mod := GET_CUSTOM_PROPERTY(hItem,1,'KEY_MODIFIER'); |
| FILTER_TYPE | Yes | Yes | NONE ALPHA NUMERIC ALPHANUMERIC CUSTOM |
Allows you to get and set the filter in force:
-- Set the Filter to allow Numbers only SET_CUSTOM_PROPERTY(hItem,1,'FILTER_TYPE','NUMERIC'); |
| CUSTOM_FILTER | Yes | Yes | Ant characters you want to be allowed in the field | The CUSTOM_FILTER property allows you to create your own filter which comes into
force when the FILTER_TYPE is set to CUSTOM_FILTER. If you have not defined a custom
filter, or if the value is set to NULL then Custom will act in the same way as NONE -
e.g. all characters will be allowed. You must include both the uppercase and lowercase
versions of each character you require if you want both upper and lower characters to be
entered. This even applies if the items "Case Restriction" property if set. A simple example of a customer filter would be "1234567890ABCDEFabcdef". This would define a field that could only take Hexadecimal numbers. Developer 6i Usage -- Set the Filter to allow Hex Numbers only SET_CUSTOM_PROPERTY( hItem,1,'CUSTOM_FILTER','1234567890ABCDEFabcdef'); |
The sample form that ships with this distribution uses the KeyFilter PJC. The sample form has no dependencies on a database. To run the sample form you must perform the following steps:
This distribution contains the Java source code for the PJC so you can make any changes you wish to the way the component works for your applications.
| Java Source File | Notes |
| KeyFilter.java | The source file for the KeyFilter PJC. It is defined to be in the oracle.forms.demos package. |
To compile the KeyFilter PJC you will need to have the following software components installed and configured on your computer :
A batch script (for Windows NT) has been provided in the src directory that will compile the KeyFilter.java into the classes directory. This batch file also recreates the JAR file using the newly compiled classes and regenerates the Javadoc documentation.
To run the batch file the following environment variables must be set:
| Environment Variable | Notes |
| ORACLE_HOME | Specifies the location of the Oracle software installation. In the case where more than one Oracle home exists, it should specify the location where Oracle Developer Server is installed. |
| JDK_HOME | Specifies the location where a Java Development Kit is installed. This should point to the top level directory only. |
This PJC has been tested with the following software components: