You can restore a selector for an AutoForm single link by choosing an AutoForm control that matches the target class; use this page when the ... open-link button and Set button are missing.
Symptoms
In an AutoForm, a single link normally lets the user inspect, find, or assign the linked object. If the link is rendered without the expected ... open-link button and Set button, check the link's AutoForm settings before changing the layout or button styling.
This issue is caused by an incompatible control choice: the link is configured as SearchAndPick, while its target class uses the ValueStorePattern.
When this problem occurs, the AutoForm displays without certain controls.
If your Autoform is missing the "..." open link button and the "Set"-button in the Autoform for single links - and looks like this:
If this happens to you, check your links AutoForm-settings.
Because there are certain combinations that will be incompatible.
Why the buttons are missing
SearchAndPick requires a Seeker to find objects that can be assigned to the link. A class using ValueStorePattern does not provide the Seeker required by this control choice. MDriven therefore has no Seeker to open, and the AutoForm cannot render the expected open-link and set controls.
Use Combobox for this combination instead.
| Link AutoForm setting | Use it when | Result for a ValueStorePattern target |
|---|---|---|
| SearchAndPick | The user must search for an existing object through a Seeker. | Incompatible when no Seeker is available; the ... and Set controls are absent. |
| Combobox | The user selects one existing object from a suitable list. | Appropriate for a ValueStorePattern target. |
Fix the link configuration
- Open the AutoForm configuration for the affected single link.
- Find the link's AutoForm control setting.
- If it is set to SearchAndPick and the link target class uses ValueStorePattern, change the setting to Combobox.
- Save the model.
- Run the AutoForm again and verify that the user can select a value for the single link.
Example: selecting an audience
Assume a LinkedInPost has one Audience link. If Audience is maintained as a value store, configure the post's single link as a Combobox. The user can then choose an existing audience value when creating or editing a post.
A combo box is intended for a bounded set of choices. For example, a list of cars can be presented as a combo box when all available cars are suitable choices and the list is small. In a training example, the picker list contains all car instances and one column supplies the text shown for each list item. Lists of roughly 100â200 items can become inconvenient to scroll; use a different selection strategy when the candidate set is larger.
Related AutoForm behavior
AutoForms generate views from the model and can be regenerated. Changes made directly to a generated AutoForm can be replaced when AutoForms are refreshed. If you need to retain view changes, adopt the AutoForm before making those changes; see Training:Bootcamp:Chapter 3.
The missing controls described here are not a visual styling problem. Use Documentation:Formatting and Styling Buttons only when you need to format buttons that are already rendered.