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Phase 3 / The BLDCustomizer control

The BLDCustomizer control customizes the behavior of Field Templates, Filter Templates, and Page Templates. In many cases, it helps avoid editing the actual Templates files.

It is an optional control, but we recommend you add it because as you work in the user interface layer, you will frequenty visit its properties to customizer your user interface.

It has these settings, some of which you will learn more about later in the Guided Tour:

  • Define page-level properties for your Field Templates with its FieldTemplateProperties collection.
  • Define page-level Field Template Behaviors with its FieldTemplateBehaviors collection.
  • Define page-level properties for your Filter Templates with its FilterTemplateProperties collection.
  • Both Field and Filter Templates have a Themes and Skins feature. Define their theme names with the FieldTemplateTheme and FilterTemplateTheme properties.
  • Provide defaults to each BLDDataFieldValidators control (used by Field Templates to show validation errors) on these properties: ErrorMessageFormat, ListLeadText, ParagraphSeparator, ShowRequiredFieldMarker, and NoErrorFormatter-Mode.
  • Provide defaults to the buttons generated by the BLDDataButtons, BLDFilterButtons, BLDColumnTitle, and widgets of the BLDWidgetsView controls within these properties: DataButtons and FilterButtons.
  • Provides the Filter Template system with several additional settings: FilterValidationGroup, FilterOnlySearchAction, and FilterOneGroupAtATime.
  • Defines the user interface when the DESDA.ColumnRestrictionAttribute identifies a restriction with these properties: DenyEditRestrictionShowsReadOnly, DenyViewRestrictionShowsAlternative, and DenyViewRestrictionUserControlPath.
<des:BLDCustomizer ID="Customizer1" runat="server" FieldTemplateTheme="Colorful"
  BLDDataFieldValidators_ListLeadText="(*)-" >
  <FieldTemplateProperties>
    <des:DateTimeFieldTemplateProperties SecondsMode="Yes" ShowSpinners="Both" />
    <des:NumericFieldTemplateProperties ShowSpinner="true" 
      RightAlignTextBox="true" UseCurrencySymbol="true" UsePercentSymbol="true" />
  </FieldTemplateProperties>
  <FieldTemplateBehaviors>
    <des:ReadOnlyFieldTemplateBehavior ReadOnlyUI="Label" />
  </FieldTemplateBehaviors>
  <DataButtons DisableOnSubmit="True" CancelConfirmMessage="Really cancel?" />
</des:BLDCustomizer>

If you have several DataBound controls on the page, each can share a common BLDCustomizer or have there own. To use multiple BLDCustomizer controls, add each. Then assign their ID to the BLDCustomizerControlID property on the appropriate DataBoundControldAdapter.

In the next topic, you'll learn how to use Page Templates and Automatic Scaffolding to quickly build a user interface.