Using a form's SelectWidget to retrieve multiple fieldValues

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#1

In effort to set up a form to create transactions.

In need of a functions/macros to retrieve multiple field data from a single selected Tiddler.

Case Scenario in my best pseudo articulation.
suppose a filter can list a group of tiddlers either tagged as vendors (i.e tag=vendor) or my preferred way of clustering tiddlers by a fieldName (i.e group=vendor). Each tiddlerVendor represent an individual merchant containing the following fieldValues:

vendor.contact.business.name	
vendor.contact.business.payee.name	
vendor.contact.business.phone
vendor.customer.identification.number
vendor.merchant.identification.number

In a tiddlerForm, users need to fill-out a few <$edit-text/> questions (i.e amount, discount, purchase.date, purchase.item); and select one tiddlerVendor (a merchant), from that vendor group list and/or the tagged list; upon selection, it retrieve all those multiple fields; to display it on the tiddlerForm (so that the user can see his/her selection data).

Finally a buttom to create a new tiddler with a unique dynamic title such as <<now "Entry#YYYY.0MM.0DD:0hh:0mm:0ss">>

  1. who’s fieldData is populated with the data collected from the <$edit-text/> form questionnaire (i.e amount, discount, purchase.date, purchase.item)
  2. Along with the multiple field names (listed above) populated by the data collected from that one SelectWidget merchant choice.
#2

You don’t need any new functions or macros for this. I don’t have much time now to model all of what you’re asking for help with. But using a select widget to let someone choose a vendor — and then having various field values for that vendor show up (formatted however you like) is fairly simple.

You just need to name a tiddler (usually a system tiddler, perhaps temporary in $:/temp namespace) to hold the selected vendor. Then you can transclude values from there, and use them in your button actions as desired.

Here’s a simple model of choosing from a menu, and seeing the field values display (conditional on that selection), which you should be able to adapt to your needs: Biblio-Springer — working on automatic author template

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#3

For us non-programmer who copy/paste code hoping to tweek our way into a tiddlywiki solution; your recommended link was a fine pick of an example; useful/educational/tweekable.

I dragged the tiddlers involved to a clean notebook (tiddlywiki.com) to isolate its functionality; the variables seem to be called effectively except for the ImageWidget which only transclude external images; this snippet of code can only point to the URI of an image.

<$tiddler tiddler={{$:/temp/currentChoice}}> 

<img style=float:right;padding:20px 20px 10px 40px; width=150px src={{!!image-url}} />

</$tiddler>

I went to the selected tiddler’s field image-url and experimented with every possible image location address syntax I can find to no avail; I don’t understand the handing of images enough to make this work; I keep breaking this code’s function every time I try.

How can this code be edited to serve its function except using imported or embedded images?

#4

Once you select a tiddler as a source, the new button can simply contain action widgets that set the fields to fieldname={{!!fieldname}}. If you structure it in a particular way, you can use the action widget ActionSetMultipleFieldsWidget

#5

My issue with action widgets it seems to only want to function with explicit constant variables; when I try the tiddlywiki’s examples but with a widget, as a value, with the objective to create a new tiddler with a unique dynamic title that uses some “random number creator” (if one exist) widget/function" or my clever solution: <<now "Entry#YYYY.0MM.0DD:0hh:0mm:0ss">> seems to fails to take the value; sometimes it reads it as a string/does nothing/breaks the function.

#6

I understand why this is proving difficult for you. It was the same for me when I started using tiddlywiki.

But to be clear;

  • As a rule you cant use widgets as values of a parameter. You can use variables, functions, transclusions including fieldnemes. Not widgets.
  • There are some cases where you cant use macros \define and \procedures as values to a parameter but there are ways around that, which are best avoided.
  • There is a trick you can use, to make use of the output of a widget as a value to a parameter. Put the widget in a field or tiddler which you then transclude.
    • I am still researching this trick, otherwise you need the not-recommended wikify, to wikify something and set a variable to the result.
#7

Help putting the solution into syntax.

A population of tiddlers grouped by a field value tiddler.data='ledger' each containing the following field data:

tiddler.data ledger.number ledger.title ledger.class ledger.description

in a new tiddler a syntax has a variable ID value

{{$:/temp!!ledger.number}}

how can I syntax a filter run where i can use the value of that variable to find the tiddler matching that unique ledger.number among the tiddler.data='ledger' group in order to access that identified tiddler’s fields?

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#8

Perhaps something like this will do:

<$tiddler tiddler={{{ [all[tiddlers]tiddler.data[ledger]ledger.number{$:/temp!!ledger.number}] }}}>
{{!!ledger.title}}
{{!!ledger.class}}
{{!!ledger.description}}
</$tiddler>
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