2.3.2.1 Properties with Auto Numbering

All properties belong to one of the seven property types mentioned in Property Types. In addition, some properties have a characteristic called auto numbering. This section explains why and how auto numbering is used.

Sometimes when you make a Web template, you cannot foresee how many properties (for example, lines of text) every Web page that will be based on the template will need. An auto-numbering property appears once on a template, but you can duplicate it as many times as you want on the Web page. You can then enter a different value for each of the duplicated properties.

For example, a single text property only represents one line of text (250 characters). To define a paragraph with a flexible number of lines, it is necessary to use a text property with auto numbering. You can see an example of this in the demonstration company.

  1. Open the Web Templates window:

  2. In the Web Templates window, click the line with the Sales Invoices template and then click Template, Properties. The Properties Template window appears:

  1. The fourth property line represents an unknown number of description lines. To see the subproperties, click the Value field and then click the AssistButton in this field:

The Auto Number field contains a check mark, which indicates that auto numbering has been enabled for the property.

To see a Web page that is based on this template, do the following:

  1. Open the Web Pages window: In the Web Pages window, browse until you find the line with the Description property collection for page number INVOICES. Select the line:

  1. Click Page, Properties. The Properties (Page) window appears. (The Code field is not shown in the standard layout. You can insert the field by doing the following: point to a column header, click on the right mouse button, select Show Column and select the field you want the window to show).

 

 The template property has been used to create two page properties.
  1. To add one more line of text, click a blank line. The program automatically fills in a number in the Code field and copies the Description and Type fields from the property line above. Fill in the Value field.