Section form
Completing the Parameters tab

XXXXX REVISE FOR 6.2 -- consolidated this tab and the Advanced Parameters tab. Radio buttons You can't change the type of parameters after you save the Section rule.

Optional. Identify parameters for this section rule. Proj-1128 5.4 (Parameters are allowed only for JSP-based section rules.)

Parameterized sections provide flexibility and promote reuse. For example, a single section may include a button which has one of three labels — Increase, Decrease, and Clear — depending on the value of a section parameter. (Since that button always calls a single activity, some mechanism within that activity must operate at runtime to determine the context and desired result.)

Using parameterized section rules can promote reuse and reduce the number of distinct section rules you need in your application. Be careful to ensure that each parameter has a value in each enclosing rule (section, harness, or flow action) that includes the section.

Which controls accept parameter values

You can use parameter values in these three situations:

• To set label text. See Harness, section, and flow action forms — Placing a text label in a cell. Localization of the label text, if defined, occurs on the resulting text.
• To set the caption on a button. See Harness, section, and flow action forms - Placing a button in a cell. Localization of the button caption, if defined, occurs on the resulting text.
• To set the value of any parameter in any control rule. See Control rule — Completing the Parameters tab.

Setting parameter values for sections

You can use any of these ways to supply parameter values for a section rule that accepts parameters.

• On the Section Include tab of the Section Include panel (of the rule form that includes the section), click the magnifying glass to access a parameters form. Enter a value for each parameter.
• At runtime before the form is presented, execute an activity that computes values for the section parameters. (For example, the activity can set an Out parameter with the Property-Set method, or call the PublicAPI function putParamValue( paramname, paramvalue). Then, on the Section Include tab of the Section Include panel (of the rule form that includes the section), click the magnifying glass to access a parameters form. Select the Pass current parameter page? checkbox.
• When this section rule is referenced in hand-crafted HTML code that uses JSP tags, use the <pega:include> JSP tag supply values for the parameters. For examples, see JavaServer Pages tags  — Include. GENTJ 4/7/08 not reference tag

Completing the tab

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Field	Description
Name	Choose a name for this parameter, starting with a letter and using only letters and digits. Do not choose a parameter name that starts with the reserved word pega. Use the following syntax to identify complex parameters: Proj-1128 .MyValueList() — for a Value List or Value Group structure .MyPageList().Prop1, MyPageList().Prop2 — for parameters Prop1 and Prop2 on the embedded pages of the Page List structure MyPageList() As with scalar parameters, these complex parameters are not true property rules — no Rule-Obj-Property rule exists for them — but they mimic the structure of the property types. Complex parameter definitions are accepted on this Parameters tab, on the Parameters tab of the Control form. Use the <pega:param > JSP tag, within the <pega:reference ..> JSP tag, to set values for complex and scalar parameters. Typically, complex parameter values are used within the scope of a <pega:forEach ..> JSP tag.
Description	Optional. Enter descriptive text to document the purpose of each parameter. This description appears when a developer completes parameter values.
Data Type	Select String, Boolean, or Integer as the data type of the parameter.
Required?	Select to indicate that the parameter (of data type String or Integer) must not be blank when this control rule is referenced in another rule. This restriction is enforced when rules are saved, not at runtime. REALLY? Leave cleared for Boolean parameters.
Type for SmartPrompt	Optional. To aid application developers in selecting a value for this parameter, identify a concrete class that has a single key part, such as Data-Admin-Operator-ID. This instructs the system to let developers complete this parameter value through a SmartPrompt selection rather than by typing; it has no runtime effect. Vague Examples?
Validate As	Optional. Identify a Single Value property in the Applies To class of this rule (or an ancestor class) that defines, on the Table Type field of the General tab, a Local List of values. When the developer enters a parameter value, the system uses the Local List values of the referenced property.

About Section rules