Property

A property defines the individual parts of an object. An example of a simple property would be a string type that represents a last name. A property can also define foreign links to other objects inside the same system. These foreign links may be: another defined object, another collection of objects, or an object that will be selected at runtime.

Property Definition

The following are used to define each property in the XML configuration file. See below for details on each descriptor.

Descriptor	Type	Required	Default	Short Description
Name	string	X	empty	Name of the property.
Description	string		empty	Short description of the property.
DataConnectionKey	string		inherit	Key in the web.config with the data connection string.
DataStore	DataStoreType		inherit	Type of storage for this property.
DataType	TurnDataType		Unset	Data type of information stored in the property.
DefaultValue	string		empty	Default value of information stored in the property.
ReportOperation	string		empty	Report operation that will be done on this column.
ForeignName	string		empty	The foreign name of the object linked to this property.
ForeignType	TurnDataType		Unset	The type of the foreign object.
ForeignTextProperty	string		empty	The foreign property that contains the text description.
ForeignValueProperty	string		empty	The foreign property that contains the value.
ForeignLoadMethod	ForeignLoadMethodType		UnSet	The method for loading the foreign data.
ForeignLoadFilterKey	string		empty	The property to key on when filtering foreign data.
ForeignLoadFilterValue	string		empty	The value to filter on when looking at the foreign filter key.
ForeignLoadOrderKey	string		empty	The property to key on when ordering foreign data.
ForeignCacheTime	int		0	The amount of time to cache the foreign data.
IsBase	bool		false	Is this an abstract property?
IsRequired	bool		true	Is the property required when creating a record.
IsSearchable	bool		false	Is the property looked at when searching the records.
IsDuplicateCheck	bool		true	Is the property looked at when determining a duplicate record.
IsLoadBy	bool		false	Is the property used as a key to load a specific record.
IsInput	bool		true	Is the property an input when creating a record.
InputPrompt	string		empty	The text that prompts for the data.
InputMethod	InputMethodType		UnSet	The method of input for the property.
InputMax	int		0	The maximum size for input.
InputWidth	int		0	The width of the input control.
InputHeight	int		0	The height of the input control.
InputRegExId	string		empty	The ID in the pattern library that will be used to validate this property's input.
RenderMethod	RenderMethodType		SingleLine	The method for rendering out the property.
IsGridVisible	bool		true	Is the property displayed on the grid view.
IsDetailVisible	bool		true	Is the property displayed on the detail view.
DisplayFormatId	string		empty	The ID in the pattern library that the string will be formatted to.

Name

The name of the property will be it's identifier in the object. It is also the field name in the data storage. No spaces are allowed in the name.

Description

The description of the property is used as an aid to developers reading the system configuration.

DataConnectionKey

The DataConnectionKey represents the value in the web.config file that will contain the connection string. The DataConnection property of the TurnProperty class will return the connection string by getting it from the web.config.

DataStore

The DataStore is the type of data storage that will hold data that is recorded by the object. Currently the system only uses the MS SQL database.

DataType

The type of data that is being represented by the property. The table below describes the avalible types:

Type	Description
UnSet	No data type set
Guid	Unique identifier that is the primary key for the majority of the objects
Integer	32-bit, -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
Decimal	128-bit, ±1.0 × 10e−28 to ±7.9 × 10e28
Double	±5.0 × 10−324 to ±1.7 × 10308
Long	64-bit, -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807
String	String of Unicode characters
DateTime	A particular instance of time and date that can be represented in a variety of ways
SecurityRole	A TurnObjects security role
PlaceHolder	Shows where properties are added when combining to a base schema
DynamicObject	A foreign dynamic object that is determined at run time
StaticObject	A foreign static object that is determined at design time
Collection	A collection of system objects
OptionCollection	A collection of options that are avalible selections

DefaultValue

The default value for each property is set when the object is set to default, not when instatiated. Depending on the type of data the property represents, the default value can be any number of things. The table below shows special strings you can use to set specific default values for a property.

Type	String	Action
Integer Long Decimal Float	##NEW##	-1
DateTime	##CURRENT##	Current time
Guid	##NEW## ##EMPTY##	New unique ID Empty ID
StaticObject DynamicObject	##DEFAULT##	Sets default values for the foreign object

ReportOperation

The type of operation that will be used to report on the property. The following options are avalible:

Operation	Action
None	No reporting done on this property
CountNonNull	Number of record that are not null
CountUnique	Unique number of records
Count	Number of records
Average	Average of records (column should be numeric)
Sum	Sum of records (column should be numeric)

ForeignName

The name of the foreign object that will be linked to by this property. This can be an object in the system or the name of an existing data store, a database table name etc. No spaces are allowed in the name.

ForeignType

The type of object the foreign object represents. Normally the foreign type will be one of the following:

Type	Description
DynamicObject	A foreign dynamic object that is determined at run time
StaticObject	A foreign static object that is determined at design time
Collection	A collection of system objects
OptionCollection	A collection of options that are avalible selections

ForeignTextProperty

The foreign property that contains the text description. This is the human friendly description of the value that is represented by the ForeignValueProperty. This is primarily used when linking to an OptionCollection.

Properties of the input type DrillDownList use ForeignTextProperty as a way to define the levels of the drill down. The levels are comma delimeted and start with the highest level first.

ForeignValueProperty

The foreign property that contains the value. This is the value that will be recorded in the data store for this property.

ForeignLoadMethod

The method for loading the foreign data.

Method	Description
TurnSystem	Load from the system configuration file. These are the options defined in the PropertyOptions section.
SqlLoad	Load the options from the database table specified by the ForeignName.
ObjectCollection	Load the options from the avalible items in the collection of TurnObjects defined in the ForeignName.
Calculation	The value is calculated from the values of other properties in the schema. The calculation is described in the ForeignValueProperty of the property.

ForeignLoadFilterKey

The property to key on when filtering foreign data.

ForeignLoadFilterValue

The value to filter on when looking at the foreign filter key.

ForeignLoadOrderKey

The property to key on when ordering foreign data.

ForeignCacheTime

The amount of time to cache the foreign data. The option to cache the foreign data improves performance by allowing the system to cache the data for a specified amount of time. Options loaded from PropertyOptions are part of the system and are already cached with the system.

IsBase

Determine if the property is represented in the base class. This will only be set to true inside a configuration file that is describing a base class.

IsRequired

Is the property required when creating a record? If the property is true the UI for the input controls will validate that a value has been set.

IsSearchable

Is the property looked at when searching the records. If this is set to true the property, and all properties with IsSearchable set, will be looked at when searching for a specified string. The specified string to search on is held by the SearchString property on the collection class.

IsDuplicateCheck

Is the property looked at when determining a duplicate record.

IsLoadBy

Is the property used as a key to load a specific record. Normally the primary key is used to identify a particular record. If a property IsLoadBy then the object can be loaded by setting the property to a value and then calling the LoadBy method.

IsInput

Is the property an input when creating a record.

InputPrompt

The text that prompts for the data.

InputMethod

The method of input for the property.

Method	Description
UnSet	No method set.
TextBox	Textbox with specified height,width,max characters.
DropDownList	DropDown list with specified height,width.
ListBox	ListBox list with specified height,width.
CheckBox	CheckBox
RadioButtonList	RadioButtonList
Hidden	Hidden properties are avalible in the input UI, but not displayed. This is useful when storing a value that the user does not input.
DrillDownList	A DrillDownList will have multiple dropdowns that are useful when many options are avalible. The user can select broad catagories that will narrow the option avalible in the next selection.
Grid	A grid represents child items that are connected to the main item.
Inline	An inline item is a foreign object that will be displayed according to it's own properties inline with the properties of this object.
TextBoxLookUp	This textbox will contain a value that is used to load another object in the system. The loaded object becomes the value for the property.
Separator	The separator is a UI indicator only and is used to logically separate sections in the input UI.

InputMax

The maximum size for input. Primarily used for text entry to limit the number of characters allowed in a TextBox.

InputWidth

The width of the input control.

InputHeight

The height of the input control. If this is set > 0 using a TextBox the box will become a multiline box.

InputRegExId

The ID in the pattern library that will be used to validate this property's input.

RenderMethod

The method for rendering out the property.

Method	Description
SingleLine	One line for the prompt and input.
DoubleLine	One line for the prompt and one line for the input.
SameLine	On the same line as the previous input.

IsGridVisible

Is the property displayed on the grid view.

IsDetailVisible

Is the property displayed on the detail view.

DisplayFormatId

The ID in the pattern library that the string will be formatted to.

Property Foreign Link Methods

Options list from the database

Descriptor	Value
ForeignLoadMethod	SqlLoad
ForeignName	Name of the table in the database
ForeignType	OptionCollection
ForeignTextProperty	Field on the table with the text that will be on each option.
ForeignValueProperty	Field on the table with the value that will represent each option.
ForeignLoadFilterKey	Field used to filter the options from the table.
ForeignLoadFilterValue	Value that will compared against to filter the options.
ForeignCacheTime	Number of seconds the options will be cached.

Options list from the TurnSystem

Descriptor	Value
DataType	Datatype of the value stored for the selected option
ForeignType	OptionCollection
ForeignLoadMethod	TurnSystem
ForeignLoadFilterValue	The name of the option set to load.

Static Child Object

Descriptor	Value
DataType	Datatype of the primary key in the child object.
ForeignName	Name of the child object
ForeignType	StaticObject
InputMethod	Inline

Dynamic Child Object

Descriptor	Value
DataType	Datatype of the primary key in the child object
ForeignName	Name of the property in this object that holds the schema name of the dynamic object.
ForeignType	DynamicObject
InputMethod	Inline

Collection Of Child Objects

Descriptor	Value
DataType	Collection
ForeignName	Object name that is the collection
ForeignType	Collection
ForeignValueProperty	Property on the object collection that is used to join to this object