| Table of Contents |
Text Area
Overview
Text Area is the name used to describe an input element that accepts a string of text with line breaks. Text Areas are also distinguished from Textboxes in that their content will line wrap, and if the content is taller vertically than the size of the Text Area, a scroll bar will appear.
To add a Text Area element, go to Base Types > Text Area and add it to the canvas.
To add a prebuilt Label / Text Area prebuilt custom type, go to Custom Types > Common: Label | Text Area and add it to the canvas.
Type of Data Stored
A Text Area stores a string of text with line breaks but no styling.
A Text Area is capable of storing up to 4000 characters, including spaces and punctuation.
A Text Area has no limit on the type of characters that can be inputted by the users.
A Textbox has line wrapping. If the content is taller vertically than the size of the Text Area, a scroll bar will appear.
Attributes
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| description |
This is the description of the element used by other modules in the clevr platform. For more information on how description is used, please read this article. A description should be placed on all input elements, to allow them to be identifiable in those modules. |
| maxlength |
This is a definable input character limit below the default limit of 4000 characters. This limit includes spaces and punctuation. If a maxlength greater than 4000 is defined, it will be ignored and the default maxlength of 4000 will apply. |
| placeholder | This is an temporary hint that can be displayed in a datepicker before content in inputted. When using placeholder, do not place important information about what the inputted data represents, as once the element is populated the placeholder will disappear.
  For more information on the proper use of placeholders, please read this article. |
| disabled |
This will disable the element and prevent modification for all roles, regardless of applied permissions. The disabled attribute should only ever have the value “true” applied. A value of “false” will still make an element disabled. The disabled attribute differs from readonly as it visually greys-out the element to indicate that it is disabled. Utilizing disabled is preferrable to readonly, as it provides visual feedback to the user for why they can’t modify the element. |
| readonly |
This will disable the element and prevent modification for all roles, regardless of applied permissions. The readonly attribute should only ever have the value “true” applied. A value of “false” will still make an element readonly. The readonly attribute differs from disabled as it provides no visual feedback to the user that the element can not be modified. Utilizing disabled is preferrable to readonly, as it provides visual feedback to the user for why they can’t modify the element. |
| shadowId |
This attribute will cause this element to be populated with the value of another element, if the element has never had a value applied in the current record. A value applied to an element, even if blank, will override the value coming from the shadowId. For this reason, we recommend applying the class = “unhook” which will prevent the value from saving its own value. For more details on shadowId, please read this article. |
Other attributes may be applicable to Textboxes, such as searchable, bulkdataentry, SIS Data Import, and attributes related to Data Tables. Information on the use of those attributes can be found in the applicable lessons.
Import Data
Text areas are an ideal element to use Import Data into. Because they store a string of text, they can store any data that is being sent by your SIS or stored in the demographics file your organization provided to clevr.
For more information about setting up elements for Import Data, please read the lesson called “SIS and GDI Import” in Level 2.
Compatible Common Functions
The following common function are compatible with with Textboxes:
- updateVal