Cascading dropdowns - How to populate db
Last Post 06-18-2012 02:15 AM by robax robax. 4 Replies.
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robax robaxUser is Offline
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05-25-2012 03:06 AM

    Hi

    I've just advised a local govt dept to use Dynamic Forms, but now I'm not so sure, because of the apparent difficulty in doing what is wanted.

    The requirement is to build forms with cascading dropdowns.

    I've examined the manual and the website here and found demo 11 is really the only reference for doing this type of form.

    The demo reads data from the database in order to populate the dropdowns.

    The questions are:

    What is the suggested and safe method for creating and populating tables for this purpose? The forms are to be created by admin users who do not have any further access to the database.

    What does the data look like? Is there a sample table somewhere?

    Is ther perhaps a different module that can do this more easily?

    Thanks for any info on this.
    Regards
    Rob

    Chad NashUser is Offline
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    05-25-2012 09:41 AM
    Hi Rob,

    Is this data already in database table that are within the DotNetNuke database? Or where is the data stored at? Cascading dropdowns are a major feature within Dynamic Forms that are utilized a lot... but it really depends on the queries and where that data exists at.

    The tutorial/demo that you mentioned does cover how to do this pretty well.. I know we just implemented a version of this feature along with an instance that combined with Dynamic Views that turned out to be a pretty slick implementation:
    http://mybiz2biz.com/BizSearch/tabi...earch=True


    Thanks,

    Chad
    robax robaxUser is Offline
    river guide
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    05-25-2012 02:53 PM
    Hi Chad,
    Thanks for the reply.

    I'll rephrase it a little...
    No data exists in the database. When someone is creating a form from scratch on a portal, and they want to create a cascading dropdown, how are they meant to proceed to get the data into the db? Note that the user is an admin, but does not have any direct access to the database other than through the DNN UI.

    I was expecting to find a way to enter the dropdown values into additional dropdown list fields in Dynamic Forms, same as when creating a single dropdown, but that doesn't appear to be the case?

    Or perhaps one can create one top-level dropdown with several values, and then create several hidden sub-level dropdowns and then expose these individually based on the value selected in the top-level list. Is that possible?

    Thanks for any further insights on this.
    Rob
    Chad NashUser is Offline
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    05-26-2012 10:35 AM
    Hi Rob,

    I see what you mean now... In this case you would need to either allow the user access to enter these entries under Host, Lists (such as the cascading data lists are there for countries / regions)... Or you would need to build your own flat tables (database tables) and interface within Dynamic Forms / Dynamic Views to allow users to enter items into those tables... One area for the starting table and another to let the admin always select the "Parent" entry. You would then reference that data with SQL queries.

    For creating and storing the data in flat tables... You might also want to reference demo 14, and demo 21

    Thanks!


    Chad
    robax robaxUser is Offline
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    06-18-2012 02:15 AM
    Ok thanks for the info Chad, I'll check out the demos and see how I go.

    If you are looking for enhancements for the module, some sort of interface for creating cascades would be handy.
    Regards
    Rob


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