Support for HTML 5 placeholder attribute

[Jim Coyne]

I've created a function to add support for the HTML placeholder attribute. You can use it to include some extra helpful text in input fields:

It's real simple to use - just include a call to the function in an onLoad script with the name of the field/variable and the text you want displayed:

u_addPlaceholderAttribute('short_description', 'Enter a short description of the problem');

I've tested it in Chrome, Firefox and Opera on Windows 7 and it works. Of course it does not work in current version of IE, but it does work in the upcoming IE 10.

Here's the script:

function u_addPlaceholderAttribute(variableName, hint) {
   try{
       var fieldName = g_form.getControl(variableName).name.toString();
       if (Prototype.Browser.IE) {
           fieldName.placeholder = hint;
       } else {
           $(fieldName).writeAttribute('placeholder', hint);
       }
   } catch(err) {}
}

I've also attached it as an XML export of the function - just remove the ".txt" extension and import it into your instance.

[CapaJC]

This is awesome, Jim.

You can also make use of the relatively new "Messages" field on Client Scripts to internationalize this for different languages. For the example given, you'd put the following into the Messages field of the Client Script:

Enter a short description of the problem

Then in the function, add the following as the first line:

hint = getMessage(hint);

Then, if you have localized versions of "Enter a short description of the problem", your users will see them in the proper language.

[Jim Coyne]

Hey Capa JC, just to be clear, the string that goes into the "Messages" field is the value in the "Key" field from the Messages table, correct?   The wiki is not very clear about that.   And in fact, the client-side version of getMessage is not documented at all.   It appears in a few places, but it is not actually documented per se.

I'm guessing there's something similar to a before display Business Rule that gets the appropriate string from the Messages table and stores it client-side for use by getMessage.

[Mike McCall]

I'd also be interested in knowing exactly how to use the Messages field--how do you add multiple messages and pull them throughout the script?--as well as what the system benefit is to this approach.

[Mike McCall]

Oops, I forgot to "close the loop" with a related post of mine (though the answer--internationalization--was right in @CapaJC 's initial reply above): Usage/Benefit of Messages field on Client Scripts