What's New in Version 28.0 — TX Text Control .NET Server

Form fields and the rules that connect them are the main addition of version 28.0. Document targets, the bookmarks of a document, changed their class hierarchy in this version, which can require changes to existing code, and the Document Editor's JavaScript API grew to cover most of the .NET object model.

Version 28.0 was released on March 16, 2020, as TX Text Control X18, together with TX Text Control .NET for Windows Forms, TX Text Control .NET for WPF and TX Text Control ActiveX. The last full installer of version 28.0 is dated October 26, 2020, shortly after Service Pack 4. The features below are the ones added since version 27.0.

Version 28.0 at a Glance

Area	What is new
Forms	Check box, text, selection and date form fields, saved as TX, DOC, DOCX and RTF and exported as PDF form fields
Conditional instructions	Rules that enable, validate or fill form fields depending on the values of other fields
Document targets	Bookmarks at any position, several at one position, `DocumentTarget` no longer derived from `TextField`
Dialog boxes	The measuring unit of the editor's dialog boxes
Document Editor	Most of the .NET object model in the JavaScript API, reconnection after short connection losses

Form Fields

Four new kinds of text fields let you design forms and let users fill them out. ServerTextControl.FormFields returns the FormFieldCollection of the main text; headers, footers and text frames have their own. See Form Fields for the .NET API and Form Fields for the Document Editor.

Check boxes. A CheckFormField is checked or unchecked by the user. Its text can't be edited; it is the Unicode character for the checked or the unchecked state, set with CheckedCharacter and UncheckedCharacter.
Text fields. A TextFormField is a text input field. EmptyWidth sets its width while it is empty.
Selection fields. A SelectionFormField is a combo box or a drop-down list, depending on whether its text can be changed. Items holds the entries.
Date fields. A DateFormField holds a date that the user selects in a date control or types. DateFormat formats it.
Enabled state. FormField.Enabled switches a form field on or off.
Events. The editor raises FormFieldCheckChanged, FormFieldDateChanged, FormFieldSelectionChanged and FormFieldTextChanged when a user changes a form field.
Filling forms in protected documents. DocumentPermissions.AllowEditingFormFields keeps form fields editable when the edit mode has been changed from Edit to ReadAndSelect.
File formats. Form fields are saved and loaded with the TX Text Control format, DOC, DOCX and RTF. A document saved as PDF contains them as PDF form fields. A form field of MS Word becomes a form field or an application field, depending on LoadSettings.ApplicationFieldFormat.
Rendering in the editor. On the server side of the editor, DrawCombobox and DrawDateControl occur when the combo box of a selection field or the date control of a date field has to be drawn, CanEditFormFields tells whether form fields can be edited, and TextViewGenerator.Colors.FormFieldColor sets the color of form fields.

Conditional Instructions

Conditional instructions are a rule engine for forms. A ConditionalInstruction holds a list of Instruction objects that are executed when all of its Condition objects are met. FormFieldCollection.ConditionalInstructions returns the ConditionalInstructionCollection of a document.

Conditions. A condition is met when the value of its form field compares successfully with a required value.
Instructions. An instruction does one of four things to a form field: it changes FormField.Enabled, marks the value as valid or invalid, sets a new value or replaces the Items of a selection field.
Else values. An instruction can have an else value, which is applied when the conditions aren't met.
User interface. Users of the editor manage the instructions in a dialog box and in the Conditional Instructions sidebar.

See Conditional Instructions.

Document Targets and Bookmarks

A DocumentTarget is a bookmark: a position in the document that a link can point to.

Any position. A document target can be inserted at any text position, including inside a text field and at its beginning or end, and several targets can share one position. Users of the editor can insert several bookmarks at the same position as well.
No longer a text field. To make this possible, DocumentTarget no longer inherits from TextField. Members it used to inherit, such as the ID and ScrollTo, are now implemented by DocumentTarget itself, and inherited members that had no meaning for a target, such as Text and Editable, are gone.
Events. DocumentTargetCreated and DocumentTargetDeleted of ServerTextControl pass a DocumentTargetEventArgs object. DocumentTargetCollection.GetItems is also new.
Text field events. TextFieldCreated and TextFieldDeleted of ServerTextControl occur when a text field is created or deleted.

Dialog Boxes

TextViewGenerator.DialogUnit sets the measuring unit of sizes and distances in the dialog boxes of the editor. With Auto, the unit depends on the culture of the current thread; Centimeter, Inch and Millimeter set it explicitly. A TextViewGenerator is the ServerTextControl that renders the editor's text as a generated image on the server.

Document Editor

JavaScript API. Most of the .NET programming interface became available in the browser: collections, frames, tables, sections, styles, fields, form fields, tracked changes and more. Because web programming is asynchronous, most properties are get and set methods that take callback functions, which receive the value or an error. The existing JavaScript API didn't change, so existing code keeps working. The TXTextControl object is the entry point. See JavaScript API.
Reconnection. After a short loss of the connection, for example on a mobile network with poor coverage, the editor tries to reconnect to the server for some time instead of ending the session. DocumentEditorSettings.reconnectTimeout of today's editor sets that time; see WebSockets.

Upgrade to Version 28.0

DocumentTarget no longer inherits from TextField. Code that treats a DocumentTarget as a TextField, casts it to one or calls a member that only TextField has, such as Text or Editable, doesn't compile against version 28.0. Use the members of DocumentTarget itself, such as TargetName.
TextFieldType.DocumentTarget removed. The value DocumentTarget of the TextFieldType enumeration was removed. Code that passes it, for example to GetTextFields, has to change; the targets of the main text are in ServerTextControl.DocumentTargets.
Update notes. TextFieldType was extended with CheckFormField, DateFormField, SelectionFormField, TextFormField and FormFields. LoadSettings.ApplicationFieldFormat accepts the new value MSWordTXFormFields of ApplicationFieldFormat, which loads the form fields of MS Word as form fields of TX Text Control.

New Classes, Properties, Methods and Events

These are the classes and members that the What's New documentation of version 28.0 lists for TX Text Control .NET Server. .NET names are relative to the TXTextControl namespace. Each name links to its current reference page, and "(obsolete)" marks the members that are obsolete today. The Document Editor's JavaScript API alone gained more than 700 methods.

New Classes

.NET Members by Class

Class	Properties	Methods	Events
ApplicationFieldCollection	Item
CheckFormField	Checked, CheckedCharacter, SupportedCheckedCharacters, SupportedUncheckedCharacters, UncheckedCharacter
CheckFormFieldEventArgs	CheckFormField
Condition	ComparisonOperator, ComparisonValue, ComparisonValueType, FormField, LogicalConnective
ConditionalInstruction	Conditions, Instructions, Name	Copy
ConditionalInstructionCollection	ConditionalInstructionNames, Count	Add, Clear, CopyTo, GetEnumerator, GetItem, GetItems, IsValueValid, Remove
DateFormField	Date, DateFormat, EmptyWidth, IsDateControlVisible, SupportedDateFormats
DateFormFieldEventArgs	DateFormField
DocumentLinkCollection	Item
DocumentPermissions	AllowEditingFormFields
DocumentTargetCollection	Item	GetItems
DocumentTargetEventArgs	DocumentTarget
FormField	Enabled
FormFieldCollection	ConditionalInstructions, Item	Add, Clear, CopyTo, GetItem, Remove
HeaderFooter	FormFields
HypertextLinkCollection	Item
IFormattedText	FormFields
Instruction	ElseInstructionValue, FormField, InstructionType, InstructionValue, IsElseInstructionEnabled, IsFormFieldChangeInstruction, IsInitialInstruction
PageNumberFieldCollection	Item
SelectionFormField	EmptyWidth, IsDropDownArrowVisible, Items, SelectedIndex
SelectionFormFieldEventArgs	SelectionFormField
ServerTextControl	FormFields	OnDocumentTargetCreated, OnDocumentTargetDeleted, OnTextFieldCreated, OnTextFieldDeleted	DocumentTargetCreated, DocumentTargetDeleted, TextFieldCreated, TextFieldDeleted
ServerVisualization.DrawComboboxEventArgs	Bold, FontName, FontSize, Italic, Location, SelectionFormField, Size
ServerVisualization.DrawDateControlEventArgs	DateFormField, Location
ServerVisualization.TextViewGenerator	CanEditFormFields, DialogUnit, IsFormFieldValidationEnabled	OnDrawCombobox, OnDrawDateControl, OnFormFieldCheckChanged, OnFormFieldDateChanged, OnFormFieldSelectionChanged, OnFormFieldTextChanged, OnRemoveCombobox, OnRemoveDateControl	DrawCombobox, DrawDateControl, FormFieldCheckChanged, FormFieldDateChanged, FormFieldSelectionChanged, FormFieldTextChanged, RemoveCombobox, RemoveDateControl
ServerVisualization.TextViewGenerator.Colors	ActiveFormFieldColor, FormFieldColor	ResetActiveFormFieldColor, ResetFormFieldColor
TextFieldCollection	Item
TextFormField	EmptyWidth
TextFormFieldEventArgs	TextFormField
TextFrame	FormFields

Document Editor JavaScript API

Object	Properties	Methods
ApplicationField		getFormat, getParameters, getTypeName, setFormat, setParameters, setTypeName
ApplicationFieldCollection		add, getItem, remove
Barcode		getAdditionalText, getAlignment, getAngle, getBackColor, getBarcodeType, getForeColor, getShowText, getText, getTextAlignment, getUpperTextLength, saveImage, setAdditionalText, setAlignment, setAngle, setBackColor, setBarcodeType, setForeColor, setShowText, setText, setTextAlignment, setUpperTextLength
BarcodeCollection		addAnchored, addAnchoredAtLocation, addAtFixedPositionInDocument, addAtFixedPositionOnPage, addInline, addWithMouse, getItem, getItemByName, remove
BarcodeEventArgs	barcodeFrame
BarcodeFrame	barcode	refresh
BarcodeTypeSettings		getHasCheckValue, getShowCheckValue, setHasCheckValue, setShowCheckValue
ChartEventArgs	chartFrame
CheckFormField		getChecked, getCheckedCharacter, getUncheckedCharacter, setChecked, setCheckedCharacter, setUncheckedCharacter
Collection		elementAt, forEach, getCount
DateFormField		getDate, getDateFormat, getEmptyWidth, getSupportedDateFormats, setDate, setDateFormat, setEmptyWidth
Distances	bottom, left, right, top
DocumentLink		getDocumentTarget, setDocumentTarget
DocumentLinkCollection		add, clear, getItem, remove
DocumentLinkEventArgs	target
DocumentTarget		getDeleteable, getID, getName, getNumber, getStart, getTargetName, scrollTo, setDeleteable, setID, setName, setTargetName
DocumentTargetCollection		add, clear, getCanAdd, getItem, remove
DocumentTargetInfo	targetName
DrawingEventArgs	drawingFrame
EditableRegion		getHighlightColor, getHighlightMode, getID, getLength, getStart, getText, getUserName, save, scrollTo, setHighlightColor, setHighlightMode, setID, setUserName
EditableRegionCollection		add, getItems, remove
EditableRegionEventArgs	id, length, start, userName
FormattedText	applicationFields, documentLinks, documentTargets, editableRegions, frames, hypertextLinks, lines, misspelledWords, paragraphs, selection, subTextParts, tables, textChars, textFields, textPartType, trackedChanges	find
FormattingStyle		apply, getBaseline, getBaseStyle, getBold, getFontName, getFontSize, getForeColor, getItalic, getName, getStrikeout, getTextBackColor, getUnderline, setBaseline, setBold, setFontName, setFontSize, setForeColor, setItalic, setName, setStrikeout, setTextBackColor, setUnderline
FormattingStyleCollection		remove
FormFieldCollection		addCheckFormField, addDateFormField, addSelectionFormField, addTextFormField, getItem, remove
FrameBase		changeZOrder, getAlignment, getBounds, getID, getInsertionMode, getLocation, getMoveable, getName, getSize, getSizeable, getTextDistances, getTextPosition, setAlignment, setID, setInsertionMode, setLocation, setMoveable, setName, setSize, setSizeable, setTextDistances
FrameBaseCollection		clear
FrameCollection		getItem, getItemByName, remove
FrameEventArgs	frame
FrameInfo	id, location, name, textPosition
HeaderFooter		activate, deactivate, getConnectedToPrevious, getDistance, getType, setConnectedToPrevious, setDistance
HeaderFooterCollection		add, getItem, remove
HeaderFooterEventArgs	connectedToPrevious, distance, type
HyperLinkInfo	target
HypertextLink		getTarget, setTarget
HypertextLinkCollection		add, getItem, remove
HypertextLinkEventArgs	hypertextLink
HyphenateWordEventArgs	dividePos, maxDividePos, word
Image		getHorizontalScaling, getVerticalScaling, setHorizontalScaling, setVerticalScaling
ImageCollection		addAnchored, addAnchoredAtLocation, addAtFixedPosition (obsolete), addAtFixedPositionInDocument, addAtFixedPositionOnPage, addInline, getItem, getItemByName, remove
ImageEventArgs	image
InlineStyle		isInheritedFromParagraph, resetToParagraph
InlineStyleCollection		add, getItem
InputFormat		addEventListener, getAllFrameLines, getBold, getBottomAligned, getBottomDistance, getBoxFrame, getBulletCharacter, getBulletedList, getCentered, getFontFamily, getFontSize, getFrameFillColor, getFrameLineColor, getFrameLineWidth, getHangingIndent, getInnerHorizontalFrameLines, getInnerVerticalFrameLines, getItalic, getJustified, getLeftAligned, getLeftFrameLine, getLeftIndent, getLeftToRight, getLinespacing, getNumberedList, getNumberedListFormat, getNumberFormats, getRightAligned, getRightFrameLine, getRightIndent, getRightToLeft, getStrikeout, getStructuredList, getStructuredListFormat, getStyleName, getStyleNames, getSubscript, getSuperscript, getSupportedFontFamilies, getSupportedFontSizes, getSupportedUnderlineStyles, getTextBackColor, getTextColor, getTopAligned, getTopDistance, getTopFrameLine, getUnderline, getUnderlineStyle, getVerticallyCentered, removeEventListener, setAllFrameLines, setBold, setBottomAligned, setBottomDistance, setBoxFrame, setBulletCharacter, setBulletedList, setCentered, setFontFamily, setFontSize, setFrameFillColor, setFrameLineColor, setFrameLineWidth, setHangingIndent, setInnerHorizontalFrameLines, setInnerVerticalFrameLines, setItalic, setJustified, setLeftAligned, setLeftFrameLine, setLeftIndent, setLeftToRight, setLinespacing, setNumberedList, setNumberedListFormat, setRightAligned, setRightFrameLine, setRightIndent, setRightToLeft, setStrikeout, setStructuredList, setStructuredListFormat, setStyleName, setSubscript, setSuperscript, setTextBackColor, setTextColor, setTopAligned, setTopDistance, setTopFrameLine, setUnderline, setUnderlineStyle, setVerticallyCentered
InputPosition		getCaretSize, getColumn, getInactiveMarker, getLine, getLocation, getPage, getPageInSection, getSection, getTextPosition, scrollTo, setInactiveMarker
Line		getBaseline, getLength, getNumber, getPage, getStart, getText, getTextBounds, save
LineCollection		getItem, getItemAtLocation
ListFormat		getBulletCharacter, getBulletSize, getFirstNumber, getFontName, getFormatCharacter, getHangingIndent, getLeftIndent, getLevel, getNumberFormat, getRestartNumbering, getTextAfterNumber, getTextBeforeNumber, getType, setBulletCharacter, setBulletSize, setFirstNumber, setFontName, setFormatCharacter, setHangingIndent, setLeftIndent, setLevel, setNumberFormat, setRestartNumbering, setTextAfterNumber, setTextBeforeNumber, setType
MisspelledWord		getIsDuplicate, getIsIgnored, getLength, getNumber, getStart, getText, select, setIsDuplicate, setIsIgnored
MisspelledWordCollection		getCountOf, getItemAtInputPosition, getItemAtLocation, getItemAtTextPosition, ignore, remove
MisspelledWordInfo	isDuplicate, isIgnored, length, number, start, text
Page		getBounds, getFooter, getHeader, getImage, getLength, getNumber, getNumberInSection, getSection, getStart, getTextBounds, select
PageCollection		getItem, getItemAtTextPosition
Paragraph	format, listFormat	getFormattingStyle, getLength, getLines, getListNumber, getListNumberText, getStart, getStartLine, getText, save, select, setFormattingStyle
ParagraphCollection		getItem, getItemAtLocation
ParagraphFormat		setFrameLineColor
ParagraphStyle	listFormat, paragraphFormat	getFollowingStyle, getParagraphFormat, setFollowingStyle
ParagraphStyleCollection		add, getItem
PropertyChangedEventArgs	newValue
Section	format, headersAndFooters	getLength, getNumber, getStart, select
SectionCollection		add, addAtTextPosition, getItem
SelectionFormField		getEmptyWidth, getIsDropDownArrowVisible, getItems, getSelectedIndex, setEmptyWidth, setIsDropDownArrowVisible, setItems, setSelectedIndex
SpellCheckTextEventArgs	misspelledWords, text
SubTextPart		getData, getHighlightColor, getHighlightMode, getID, getLength, getName, getNestedLevel, getNumber, getOuterMostSubTextPart, getOuterSubTextPart, getStart, getText, save, scrollTo, setData, setHighlightColor, setHighlightMode, setID, setName
SubTextPartCollection		add, clear, getItem, remove
Table	cells, columns, nestedTables, rows	getCanMergeCells, getCanSplit, getCanSplitCells, getID, getNestedLevel, getOuterMostTable, getOuterTable, mergeCells, select, selectCells, setID, split, splitCells
TableBaseCollection		getItem, removeAtInputPosition, removeById
TableCell		getCellFormat, getColumn, getFormula, getLength, getName, getPosition, getRow, getStart, getText, getWidth, select, setFormula, setName, setPosition, setText, setWidth
TableCellBorder		getColor, getTextDistance, getWidth, setColor, setTextDistance, setWidth
TableCellCollection		getCanRemove, getItem, getItemAtInputPosition, remove
TableCellFormat	bottomBorder, leftBorder, rightBorder, topBorder	getBackColor, getNumberFormat, getTextType, getVerticalAlignment, setBackColor, setNumberFormat, setTextType, setVerticalAlignment
TableCollection		add, getCanAdd, getGridLines, getItem, setGridLines
TableColumn		getCellFormat, getColumn, getPosition, getWidth, select, setPosition, setWidth
TableColumnCollection		add, getCanAdd, getCanRemove, getItem, remove
TableEventArgs	table
TableInfo	id, nestedLevel
TableRow		getAllowPageBreak, getCellFormat, getIsHeader, getMinimumHeight, getRow, select, setAllowPageBreak, setIsHeader, setMinimumHeight
TableRowCollection		add, getCanAdd, getCanRemove, getItem, remove
TextChar		getBounds, getChar, getNumber
TextCharCollection		add, addControlChar, getItem, remove
TextField		getBounds, getContainsInputPosition, getDeleteable, getDoubledInputPosition, getEditable, getFormattingBounds, getHighlightColor, getHighlightMode, getID, getIsSpellCheckingEnabled, getLength, getName, getStart, getText, scrollTo, setDeleteable, setDoubledInputPosition, setEditable, setHighlightColor, setHighlightMode, setID, setIsSpellCheckingEnabled, setName, setText
TextFieldCollection		add, clear, getItem, remove
TextFieldCollectionBase		getCanAdd
TextFormField		getEmptyWidth, setEmptyWidth
TextFrame		activate, changeZOrder, getAlignment, getBackColor, getBorderWidth, getBounds, getID, getInsertionMode, getInternalMargins, getLocation, getMoveable, getName, getSize, getSizeable, getTextDistances, getTextPosition, getTransparency, setAlignment, setBackColor, setBorderWidth, setID, setInsertionMode, setInternalMargins, setLocation, setMoveable, setName, setSize, setSizeable, setTextDistances, setTransparency
TextFrameCollection		addAnchored, addAnchoredAtLocation, addAtFixedPositionInDocument, addAtFixedPositionOnPage, addInline, addWithMouse, getItem, getItemByName, remove
TextFrameEventArgs	textFrame
TextPartCollection		activate, getItem, getMainText
TextViewGeneratorColors		getActiveFormFieldColor, getDarkShadowColor, getDesktopColor, getFormFieldColor, getHeaderFooterLabelColor, getHeaderFooterLineColor, getLightShadowColor, resetDarkShadowColor, resetDesktopColor, resetHeaderFooterLabelColor, resetHeaderFooterLineColor, resetLightShadowColor, setActiveFormFieldColor, setDarkShadowColor, setDesktopColor, setFormFieldColor, setHeaderFooterLabelColor, setHeaderFooterLineColor, setLightShadowColor
TrackedChange		getActive, getChangeKind, getChangeTime, getHighlightColor, getHighlightMode, getLength, getNumber, getStart, getText, getUserName, save, setActive, setHighlightColor, setHighlightMode
TrackedChangeCollection		getItem, remove
TrackedChangeEventArgs	trackedChange
TrackedChangeInfo	changeKind, changeTime, highlightColor, highlightMode, length, number, start, userName
TXTextControl	barcodes, barcodeTypeSettings, displayColors, headersAndFooters, inlineStyles, inputFormat, inputPosition, listFormat, pageMargins, pages, pageSize, paragraphFormat, paragraphStyles, sections, textParts	addEventListener, clear, clearUndo, focus, getActivationState, getAllowUndo, getBackColor, getBaseline, getCanCharacterFormat, getCanCopy, getCanDocumentFormat, getCanPaste, getCanPrint, getCanRedo, getCanStyleFormat, getCanTableFormat, getCanUndo, getControlChars, getDocumentTargetMarkers, getDrawingMarkerLines, getEditMode, getFontUnderlineStyle, getForeColor, getFormulaReferenceStyle, getIsFormulaCalculationEnabled, getIsHyphenationEnabled, getIsLanguageDetectionEnabled, getIsSpellCheckingEnabled, getIsTrackChangesEnabled, getLandscape, getPageCount, getPageUnit, getPermanentControlChars, getRedoActionName, getSelectObjects, getSupportedFonts, getSupportedPaperSizes, getText, getTextBackColor, getTextFrameMarkerLines, getUndoActionName, getUserNames, getViewMode, load, redo, removeEventListener, resetContents, save, select, selectAll, selectWord, setActivationState, setAllowUndo, setBackColor, setBaseline, setControlChars, setDocumentTargetMarkers, setDrawingMarkerLines, setEditMode, setFontUnderlineStyle, setForeColor, setFormulaReferenceStyle, setIsFormulaCalculationEnabled, setIsHyphenationEnabled, setIsLanguageDetectionEnabled, setIsSpellCheckingEnabled, setIsTrackChangesEnabled, setLandscape, setPageUnit, setPermanentControlChars, setSelectObjects, setText, setTextBackColor, setTextFrameMarkerLines, setViewMode, showHorizontalRuler, showRibbonBar, showStatusBar, showVerticalRuler, undo, zoom
LoadSettings	addParagraph, applicationFieldFormat, applicationFieldTypeNames, documentAccessPermissions, documentBasePath, documentPartName, imageSearchPath, loadDocumentBackColor, loadHypertextLinks, loadImages, loadSubTextParts, masterPassword, PDFImportSettings, reportingMergeBlockFormat, userPassword
SaveSettings	author, creationDate, creatorApplication, cssSaveMode, documentAccessPermissions, documentKeywords, documentLevelJavaScriptActions, documentSubject, documentTitle, flattenFormFields, imageCompressionQuality, imageExportFilterIndex, imageMaxResolution, lastModificationDate, masterPassword, omittedContent, reportingMergeBlockFormat, saveDocumentBackColor, userPassword

Next Steps

Version 29.0: the features of the next version.
Version 27.0: the features of the previous version.
Older Versions: all versions from 29.0 back to 10.1.
TX Text Control X18 has been Released: the release announcement on the Text Control Blog.

What's New in TX Text Control .NET Server 28.0