Creating the Application's Output
So far, you have a way for the guest to enter information and a way for the application to store that information. Now, the application needs to do something with the information. For now, you'll have the application simply display the same information the user entered, in a slightly different format. This allows you to verify that you have correctly received the data. To do this, you'll add dynamic string elements (WOStrings) to the main page and bind them. In the next chapter, you'll use more complex forms of output.- In WebObjects Builder, place the cursor at the end of the document, making sure that it is outside the gray rectangle that represents the form, and press Shift-Enter.
-
Click to create a horizontal rule (an <HR> element).
- Press Shift-Enter to add a blank line.
-
Add a WOString element by clicking
.
A WOString is a dynamic element whose value is determined at runtime. It is shown as a small rectangle surrounded by two icons.
- In the object browser, make a connection from the guestName variable to the center rectangle of the WOString.
-
Click to the right of the WOString and press Shift-Enter.
- Create two more WOStrings and bind them to email and comments, respectively.
- Save your component. It should now look like this:
Notice that the name guestName appears inside the WOString, and the attribute pop-up menu doesn't appear. The message "Connected guestName to value" appears in the upper-right corner of the panel.
WebObjects provides this shortcut for binding to the value attribute of WOStrings because it is the attribute you most often want to bind. The value attribute signifies the string that will be displayed when the page is drawn. If you want to bind a different attribute, you make a connection to the left or right icon, and the attribute pop-up menu appears as usual.
Note that it isn't necessary to resize the WOStrings as you did with the text fields. They expand at runtime to display the value of the variables to which they are bound.
© 1999 Apple Computer, Inc. (Last Updated 24 Aug 99)