HTML Component Data Representation

  • Article

Extensible Markup Language (XML) structures are used by Commerce Server Business Desk to represent the data that is displayed within the various HTML components (HTCs) that are provided as part of the Business Desk Framework. For the most part, a single standard format is used, though it can be nested more deeply for some controls than for others. In general, an XML data-island with this structure is one of two data-islands that must exist for a particular HTC to operate correctly.

Many of the HTML components (HTCs) in the Commerce Server Business Desk Framework expect the data they display to be provided in this standard XML data record format, available as an XML document on the page. These HTCs include DynamicTable, EditField, EditSheet, ListEditor, and ListSheet. In general, this XML structure contains a single tier of record elements, where each record element contains the same set of child elements. Child element names are arbitrary (shown as dataidN in the structures below), but they do need to correspond to the value of certain id attributes in the corresponding configuration information for the HTC in question.

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  • Certain types of ListSheet HTCs expect more than a single tier of record elements, as described below.

For more information about how an XML document can be included on a page (creating an XML data-island), see XML Data-Islands.

The other XML structure in this category is used to represent the nodes in the TreeView HTC. This structure is unique because the data and configuration information are embedded into the same XML structure. For more information about the TreeView HTC combined data and configuration structure, see TreeView Configuration.

This section contains:

  • Mapping Data to Metadata. Describes how items of data from the DataXML data-island are mapped to the data descriptions provided in the MetaXML data-island.
  • Multi-Tiered Data Record Formats. Introduces two- and three-tiered data record formats, and describes which varieties of the ListSheet HTC expect which format.
  • Standard Data Record XML Structure. Provides detailed information about the elements and attributes of the standard data record format.
  • XMLList and XMLRecord Properties. Discusses two variations of the standard data record format that are used as event object properties and normal HTC properties by the DynamicTable, ListEditor, and ListSheet HTCs.

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