Custom JS problem

[Phil Grant]

Hi,
I have an issue with some custon JS, I’m running a function on form save to check if there is some text in a comments box and if there is then move the comments to another field and add a timedate stamp.
The if statement seeems to be firing regardless of wether the comments field is empty or not.

Am I using the correct method to check the field has no text in it, I also tried

if(a !="")

function ETLogSigs(){
	var a = getFieldValue("ET_x0020_Comments"), b = getFieldValue("CCB_x0020_Comments"), c, d = getFieldValue("ET_x0020_Approver"), e = getFieldValue("ET_x0020_Approval");
if(a !== ""){
c = new Date().toLocaleString(_spPageContextInfo.currentCultureName);
setFieldValue("CCB_x0020_Comments", "["+c+" - "+e+" - "+d+"]"+"\n"+a+(b!==""?"\n"+"================================================"+b:""));
// Clear the Log field
setFieldValue("ET_x0020_Comments","");
}
}

• This topic was modified 4 years ago by Phil Grant.
• This topic was modified 4 years ago by Phil Grant.

[Alexander Bautz]

If your comments field is rich text it is NOT empty like “”, but might actually contain an empty p-tag like this:

<p></p>

Try using console.log like this (hit F12 > Console and paste it at the cursor):

console.log(getFieldValue("ET_x0020_Comments"));

Alexander

[Phil Grant]

So I get his as a response

<DIV>
<DIV></DIV></DIV>&nbsp;

Should I check for this text then? if so then how? or is there another way, should I make the field plain text?

Thanks for the help,
Phil

• This reply was modified 4 years ago by Phil Grant.

[Alexander Bautz]

You can do it like this:

var a = jQuery(getFieldValue("ET_x0020_Comments")).text();

This will take only the text content and strip away any HTML.

Alexander

[Phil Grant]

Thanks for that, I’ve tried a few different approaches, none succesfull so far.

[Phil Grant]

I tried that but it wouldn’t work, the if statement never triggered so I changed it to

var a = jQuery(getFieldValue("Additional_x0020_CCB_x0020_Comme")).val();

But this then triggered every if statement, there are four for different comment boxes.
I have to admit I’m out of my comfort zone with Javascript !!
I realise it is probably triggering on some html in the field but it’s now a plain text field.

• This reply was modified 4 years ago by Phil Grant.

[Alexander Bautz]

It’s hard to tell exactly without looking at it, but if you open the form in a full page (not in a dialog), open the console and then types in this:

var a = jQuery(getFieldValue("YOUR_FIELD_INTERNAL_NAME_HERE")).text();
console.log(a);

Replace YOUR_FIELD_INTERNAL_NAME_HERE with the name of your rich text field. What does it show?

Also, if you have to have input in all (a, b, d and e variables) you must change your if like this:

if(a !== "" && b !== "" && d !== "" && e !== ""){
  // All fields have a value - do your thing
}else{
  // At least one field missing info - consider an alert to the user to inform
}

Alexander

[Phil Grant]

I seem to be getting to the bottom of this, when in Dev Console the jQuery will return the text from an already populated feild in Edit view but doesn’t return the text in a field that has had text entered but not yet saved, does this sound right?

Should jQuery be able to read the data from a field before the form has been saved?

[Alexander Bautz]

That doesn’t sound right. What kind of field type is it – a normal multiline rich or enhanced rich text? – can you include a few sceenshots of the form and the console when you try the getFieldValue.

Alexander

[Phil Grant]

All the comments fields are no plain text fields.
The JS checks the comments fields (in Red ellipses) and if there is some text in one then the text is added to the Comments history field at the bottom along with a timestamp and the approver (Blue elipses), each comments field is checked independantly.
The attached images show the form layout and the results in the console log window after typing in some text.
If I query another field that already has text in it it returns the text (second screenshot)

• This reply was modified 4 years ago by Phil Grant.

Attachments:

1. 

   VCR-layout.png
   

2. 

   VCR-Console-display.png
   

3. 

   VCR-Console-display2.png
   

[Phil Grant]

Sorry, I should have said the comment feilds are all multiline plain text fields.

[Alexander Bautz]

If all fields are multiline plain text you can use

var a = getFieldValue("Name_of_field");
if(a !== ""){
  // Not empty - do your thing here
}

I’m not sure why the dev tool in IE does not show your the value of the variable a, but you can just type in a in the console and hit enter to see the value.

I understand that you might be stuck with internet explorer as the default browser, but when developing you have a much better debugging tool in Google Chrome or the new Chromium based Edge browser.

Alexander

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