HTML Editor

The HTML Editor control allows users to type in and format multiple lines of text for display in an HTML Viewer control. Unlike other text input controls, if you do not want users to change the HTML text, you must display it in an HTML Viewer control.

The benefits of an HTML Editor control are listed below.

  • Users can format multiple lines of text for display with the built-in editing tools or with HTML tags.
  • Users can spell check the text.
  • RDBMS tools can typically query HTML Editor control fields as long as you map the HTML Editor's input field to a multi-row array table. See Multi-row array table.
  • Third-party reporting tools can typically read HTML Editor control fields as long as you map the HTML Editor's input field to a multi-row array table. See Multi-row array table.
  • Users can update the text value at any time.

The costs of an HTML Editor are listed below.

  • You must use a separate HTML Viewer control to display a read-only version of data you do not want users to change, such as an approved knowledge article.
  • You must choose RDBMS mapping that has sufficient space for potentially large HTML input. Typically, an array mapping strategy is best for storing HTML Editor control data as there is no risk of data truncation when users type large amounts of text. See Array mapping options.
  • The control uses the character encoding of the back-end RDBMS to determine how to store character data. If users type in text using a character encoding that your system does not support, the data will likely become corrupted.
  • It is difficult to validate that users type in meaningful values into the control.
  • You must use a separate HTML Viewer control to provide a read-only version of the text.
  • The longer the width of the HTML Viewer control the more form space the control requires.

In general, an HTML Editor control is best used in the following circumstances.

  • The user needs to type in and format multiple lines of text. For example, the text is a knowledge document.
  • You want the option to spell check the text.

If you do not want users to format the text, use either a Text or Text Area control instead. Likewise, if you need to display the value of another text field in the system, use either a Text or Text Area control.