Mastering Empress's 'Make Read Only After Saving' Feature

Guides & Tutorials
1

Introduction

Welcome to this Empress guide where we’ll walk you through the “Make Read Only After Saving” feature. This handy tool enables you to update a field’s visibility within a document type, allowing you to make a field read-only after a document has been saved. This is particularly useful for business users who want to prevent further changes to a document after it has been saved.

Understanding “Make Read Only After Saving”

“Make Read Only After Saving” is a feature in Empress designed to help you control the editability of your form fields. In a practical sense, this means that once a document has been saved, certain fields can be made read-only, preventing further changes and maintaining the integrity of the information.

How it Works

Every document type in Empress has a property known as __islocal. This property tells you whether a document has been saved at least once or never been saved. If __islocal is 1, it means the document hasn’t been saved yet.

To change the read-only property of a field based on whether the document is new or saved, Empress uses a method called cur_frm.set_df_property.

Step-by-Step Guide

Here’s how you can use the cur_frm.set_df_property method:

  1. Access The Refresh Event of the Form: The cur_frm.set_df_property method is used within the refresh event of the form. This ensures that the read-only property of your chosen field is updated every time the form is refreshed.

  2. Determine If The Document Is New or Saved: Empress uses a method called frm.is_new() to check if the document has been saved. If the document is new (i.e., unsaved), the is_new() method returns 1, making the field editable. However, if the document is not new (i.e., saved at least once), the is_new() method returns 0, making the field read-only.

Here’s what the script might look like:

frappe.ui.form.on("MyDocType", "refresh", function(frm) {
    frm.set_df_property("myfield", "read_only", frm.is_new() ? 0 : 1);
}

In this script, “myfield” is the name of the field you want to make read-only after saving the document.

The Benefits

By using the “Make Read Only After Saving” feature, you can:

  • Enhance Usability: Create more interactive and user-friendly forms.
  • Maintain Data Integrity: Prevent further changes to a document after it has been saved.
  • Improve Workflow Efficiency: Streamline data entry and document management processes.

By understanding and effectively using properties and methods like __islocal, cur_frm.set_df_property, and frm.is_new(), you can significantly enhance the usability and functionality of your Empress applications.

For additional support or resources on how to make the most of Empress, please visit our non-technical help center or contact our customer support team. Happy Empressing!