Overview Of How To Make A Wizard

1. Create a wizard file (ex. wizard.tcl) that contains the "template::wizard create" code.

   ex.
          template::wizard create -action "wizard" -name my_wizard -params {
             my_param1 my_param2
          } -steps {
             1 -label "Step 1" -url "step1"
             2 -label "Step 2" -url "step2"        
             3 -label "Step 3" -url "step3"
          }
       

   • action - the url where the wizard will always submit, normally its the same as your current wizard file. Has no effect for subwizards.
   • name - use to distinguish between the different wizards, since you can have 1 or more subwizard. name must be no spaces, alpanumeric similar to normal Tcl variable naming convention
   • params - are used to keep values that you would like to pass on to the other steps
   • steps - are use to define what includes to use for each step of the wizard

2. Add the "template::wizard get_current_step" on wizard.tcl. Make sure that you call any "template::wizard set_param" if needed before calling get_current_step. get_current_step will redirect to the wizard -action properly setting all -params value and its other needed http state vars

   Note: the wizard will rewrite the url always. Only self submitting forms are preserved. Once the form is finished processing the wizard will take over and rewrite the url.

3. Create the wizard template file (ex. wizard.adp). This file will include the file based current step of the wizard

   ex.
          <include src="\@wizard:current_url\@">
       

4. Create the individual steps, these are just normal Tcl and/or adp files. So make a step1.tcl, step1.adp, step2.tcl, step2.adp, step3.tcl and step3.adp. Normally these files are self submitting forms
5. Add "template:wizard forward" on each step (e.g. step1.tcl, step2.tcl, step3.tcl) , usually the code where the step is processed and successful.
6. On each step add the wizard buttons on the .tcl files. Ex. step1.tcl will include

       template::wizard submit myform -buttons {back next}
       

   On the last step you may want to use the following on step3.tcl

       template::wizard submit myform -buttons {back next}
       

   The following values are acceptable for the buttons: back, next and finish. Back buttons are not rendered if the step is the first step, like wise next buttons are not displayed if its the last step. Finish can appear on any step and will finish the current wizard even if not all steps are done.

Tips And How To Use The Wizard

• How do you display the steps in the wizard to serve as an indicator?

  On your adp file do the following:

         <multiple name="wizard">
            <if "\@wizard.id\@" eq "wizard:current_id">
               \@wizard.label\@ - you are at this step <br>
            </if>
            <else>
               \@wizard.label\@ <br>
            </else>
         </multiple>
      

• How do you set the value of a wizard param?

  Use "template::wizard set_param myparam_name" to set it. Normally you place this in the steps of the wizard where the form has been processed. A param is normally used when you want to reuse a value across the steps.

  Note: if you are to use "template::wizard set_param" on a wizard file ex. (wizard.tcl). Make sure to do it before "template::wizard get_current_step". So when "template::wizard get_current_step" redirects it will properly set the correct values of the param to the new value.

• How do you get the value of a wizard param?

  For example you wizard was created this way:

             template::wizard create -action "wizard" -name my_wizard -params {
                my_param1 my_param2
             } -steps {
                1 -label "Step 1" -url "step1"
                2 -label "Step 2" -url "step2"    
                3 -label "Step 3" -url "step3"
             }
      

  You can access my_param1 and/or my_param2 on any step1.tcl, step2.tcl, or step3.tcl by using "ad_page_contract" or "template::wizard get_param"

  ex.
      ad_page_contract {
         gets the wizard params
      } {
         my_param1
         my_param2
      }
      

  or

      set my_param1 [template::wizard get_param my_param1]
      set my_param2 [template::wizard get_param my_param2]
      

  Note: "template::wizard get_param" has the advantage of getting the param value during the response time. What does this mean? It will properly get the current value of the param which was set by "template::wizard set_param", while ad_page_contract will not pick that up since it will get what is the request http var value. This is because "template::wizard get_param" gets the value from the Tcl var while ad_page_contract gets the value from the http var. So while processing in Tcl that value may change.

• How can you get the url of a wizard that is not your current step?

  You can use the following on your wizard.adp

         <multiple name="wizard">
               <a href="[template::wizard get_forward_url \@wizard.id\@">
               \@wizard.label\@ <br>
               </a>
         </multiple>
     

  Note: that this is not a very wise thing to do especially if the latter steps will depend on the inputs from the earlier steps. You can however do checking on each step.

• How do you know if a step is already visited or not?

  There are situations where in you would like to build a wizard when you can go back several steps and jump back to the step furthest you have been.

  On your wizard.adp you can do the following

         <multiple name="wizard">
            <if "\@wizard.id\@" le "wizard:visited_step">
               <a href="[template::wizard get_forward_url \@wizard.id\@">
               \@wizard.label\@ <br>
               </a>
            </if>
            <else>
               \@wizard.label\@ <br>
            </else>
         </multiple>
     

  Note: that this is not a very wise thing to do especially if the latter steps will depend on the inputs from the earlier steps. You can however do checking on each step.

• Can I use a wizard as a step?

  Yes you can use another wizard a step of a wizard. This will act as a subwizard.

  Note: That visited steps will loose its value when moving from one subwizard to another subwizard in the same level. In order to preserve this you must call "template::wizard load_last_visited_step -key $yourkey" before "template::wizard get_current_step", after "get_current_step" call "template::wizard save_last_visited_step -key $yourkey"

  Also the wizard params name is present across the current wizards being used, so the developer has to be aware not to use the same names with different purpose. For example on main wizard with have a param called "name" for the username. And on on sub wizard we have the param again called "name" but used for the filename.