Text area

Allows users to enter multiple lines of text. It can be configured to display plain text or rich text.

Data binding

Set or modify the data binding for the view in the General properties. The Text area view can be bound to a String variable.

Configuration properties

Under Configuration, set or modify the appearance and behavior properties for the view.

Screen size: A configuration property that has the Screen Sizes icon beside the property name can have different values for each screen size. If you do not set a value, the screen size inherits the value of the next larger screen size as its default value.

Theme definitions: Theme definitions specify the colors and styles for a view and determine its appearance. You can preview the look and feel of views in the theme editor. See Themes.

The appearance configuration properties for Text area are shown in the following table:

Table 1. Appearance configuration properties for Text area
Appearance configuration property	Description	Data type
Width	Specifies the width of the text field in pixels, percent, or em units. For example: `50px` or `20%` or `0.4em`. The default unit is pixel, in case no other is specified.	`String`
Height	Specifies the height of the text field in `px` (pixels) or `em` units. If no unit type is specified, `px` is assumed.	`String`
Size	Specifies the text size. Applies to both label and text. Default Large Small	`String`
Label placement	Specifies the placement of the label in relation to the text. Top Left Note: Labels on the left change the specified width of the view.	`String`
Label width	The width of the label. You can specify the width in px (pixels), % (percent), or em units. For example, 50px, 20%, or 0.4em. If a unit type is not specified, px is assumed.	`String`

The behavior configuration properties for Text area are listed in the following table:

Table 2. Behavior configuration properties for Text area
Behavior configuration property	Description	Data type
Tab index	Specifies the tabbing sequence index of the view. The tab indices start at 1 and can be set sparsely. For example, you can use 1, 5, 10. The Tab index property controls the tabbing sequence when you move between UI areas by pressing the Tab key.	`Integer`
Placeholder text	Provides the placeholder text that is displayed when no value was entered.	`String`
Validate input	The regular expression to use for validating input.	`String`
Auto-expand on printing	Enables printing of the entire content of the text area, beyond the area that is visible on the screen.	`Boolean`

Events

Set or modify the event handlers for the view in the Events properties. You can set events to be triggered programmatically or when a user interacts with the view. For information about how to define and code events, see User-defined events.

Text area has the following types of event handlers:

On load: Activated when the page loads. For example:
```
me.setText("Some default text on load.")
```

On change: Activated when the text is changed. For example:

if(newText != oldText){return confirm ("Are you sure you want to change the text area field?");}

On focus: Activated when the focus moves to the text field. For example:
```
me.setLabelPlacement("T")
```
where "T" (standing for Top) must be defined in "me.setLabelPlacement("L")".
On blur: Activated when the text field loses the focus. For example:
```
me.setLabelPlacement("L")
```
where "L" (standing for Left) must be defined in "me.setLabelPlacement("L")".
On input: Activated when the user enters text in the text field. For example:
```
return potential.length<=10;
```

Methods

For detailed information on the available methods for Text area, see the Text area JavaScript API.

Additional resources

For information about how to create a coach or page, see Building coaches.
For information about standard properties (General, Configuration, Positioning, Visibility, and HTML Attributes), see View properties.