Document Template Classes

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About Print Template Classes

You can use a method in a Print Template Class to manipulate the data that a Print Template has available for processing. Here's how it works:

• When a Print Template is processed, it gets its data from the TemplateContext

• That object contains a HashMap for each kind of record that the Print Template can process.

• The TemplateContext contains the following standard HashMaps:

• objectName - Contains the data for the record the Print Template was invoked on
• createdUsr - The User object for the person who created the record.
• modifiedUsr - The User object for the person who most recently modified the record.

• To a Print Template, then, a data object is simply a HashMap that is present in the TemplateContext.

• That object is passed to a method in your Print Template class. By manipulating the HashMaps it contains, you change the data that the Print Template will be processing.

In a Print Template, a data reference has the form $objectName.fieldname. In your code, you will do one or more of the following operations:

• Retrieve a data object from the TemplateContext: TemplateContext.get("objectName");
• Add or update a data object: TemplateContext.put("objectName", HashMap);
• Get a field from data object: HashMap.get("fieldName");
• Add or update a field in a data object: HashMap.put("fieldName",value);
  where value is typically a string or a nested HashMap.

__TBD: What are the other standard objects?__

Configuring a Print Template to use a Specified Class and Method

--select the class, and the method to use

Methods that take following arguments are listed:

• com.platform.api.TemplateContext - The container that the print template gets its data from.
• String (objectName) - The name of the object the print template was invoked on.
• String (recordID) - The ID of the record on which it was invoked.

__TBD: TemplateContext is in new javadocs, yes? objectName is passed in, yes? Does return value have to be void?__

Accessing Lookup Target Records

__TBD: Is nested data stored like this?__ Data from lookup-target records is stored as a nested map. For example, to get data for the template variable $Order.customer.name:

1. HashMap orderMap = TemplateContext.get("Order")
   gets the Order HashMap from the context.
2. HashMap customerMap = orderMap.get("customer")
   gets the lookup-target record for the customer field.
3. String name = customerMap.get("name")
   gets the customer's name.

Examples

Example: Adding a New Object

This code creates a new ProductSupplier "object" (as far as the Print Template is concerned), and adds it to the TenantContext (context).

public void procesData(TemplateContext context, String object,String record)
{
    HashMap<String, Object> productSupplierMap = new HashMap<String, Object>();
    map.put("supplierName", "Stuff R' Us");
    map.put("phone", "408-555-0987");
    context.put("ProductSupplier", productSupplierMap);
}

After that method has run, the Print Template can use the variable $ProductSupplier.phone, just as though the data had originated in the platform.