Data Aware Property Introduction

The Data Aware property allows variable data to be used in place of static text for Label, edit box, and Memo Field objects.  When an object has the Data Aware property set to True, the Text property becomes a drop down list from which the user can select the data field they need.  The dropdown list includes all of the DataBlock variables and SQL variables for the DataBlock.

To illustrate the use of the Data Aware property, the DataBlock used in Example 1 will be expanded to include an edit box to display the name of the DataBlock.

Add the Data Aware Object

1. Select the DataBlock created in Example 1, right-click and select Edit DataBlock.
2. Resize the multi-column list box to leave room for the new object at the bottom of the form.
3. Add the edit box with its associated label near the bottom of the form as shown in the figure below.

Set Data Aware property for edit box

1. Click on the “DataBlock name” edit box which displays its properties shown below. 
2. Change the Data Aware property to Yes and click on the Text property.  The Text property, which is used to enter text by default, becomes a drop-down menu as a result of setting the Data Aware property to Yes.
3. Select $DataBlock.Name from the Text property drop-down list.  The DataBlock name for this example will appear in the edit box when the report is executed.

Objects with Data Aware Property

• Label
• Edit Box
• Memo field

Execute the Report

Executing the Dashboard produces the following report.  Note the DataBlock name in the newly added edit box.

Summary

The system variable containing the DataBlock name was chosen to populate the edit box; however other variable types that exist in the DataBlock could have been used as well.  For instance, the fields within the multi-column list box (see figure below) exist as Argos variables, and are included in the drop-down for Data Aware objects.  This list is displayed when clicking the Text Property for the Data Aware object.