A slider is a control that allows user to input values by shifting a horizontal or vertical button within a predetermined minimum and maximum values. Each slider must be associated with a Single Named Range (SNR) in the workbook.
The Named Range property lists all Single Named Ranges (SNR) from the workbook. The value selected on the slider will be sent to the calculation engine as an input for this named range. Named ranges containing formulas are excluded from the list, as well as named ranges that have already been bound to a different input in your user interface.
The Name property constitutes the label that will appear in the user interface. Other properties, such as Tooltip, will also derive their dynamic {FriendlyName} value from this property.
The Orientation property will determine the alignment of the slider control. In a vertical placement, the very bottom of the slider corresponds to the Minimum Value, and the top to the Maximum Value. In a horizontal placement, the left corner corresponds to the Minimum Value and the right corner to the Maximum Value.
The Slider Size input will only be visible if Vertical is selected for the Orientation property. Slider Size is used to define the height of the slider input in pixels. It should be an integer value between 100 and 1000.
The Minimum Value and Maximum Value fields are numeric inputs where you can enter the highest and lowest values the slider can select respectively. The Increment option determines the interval at which the slider module will move. For example, an Increment of 2 will increase or decrease the input value by this much, at each position. Consequently, users will only be able to input numbers that is allowed by this limitation. A Minimum Value of 1 and an Increment of 2 will make the available options go like 1, 3, 5 etc.
You can enter a value into the Default Value option to make the slider start at a given number by default. This property may have a suggestion populated if the target named range for the textbox includes a default value.
Tooltips are informative message boxes that are displayed when you mouse-over or click on a control. The Tooltip Type property determines the message style, and when the information will be shown.
- Tooltip: The content will appear in a small bubble when the user enters focus on the target input by moving their mouse over the control.
- Popover: The content will appear in a pop-up box when the user clicks on the target input.
The Label Horizontal Alignment property determines the horizontal orientation of the label. This value can be set to Left, Center, or Right. The default horizontal alignment is Left.
The Label Vertical Alignment property determines the vertical orientation of the label. This value can be set to Top, Middle, or Bottom. The default vertical alignment is Middle.
The Label Size property is the spacing distribution of the input control’s label vs. the input control. The maximum width of both controls cumulatively is considered to be 12 – a width of 12 for the label would indicate that the label occupies a full row within its container and the input control occupies a full row beneath it.
Any label distribution below 12 will indicate that the label and the input control occupy the same row in the user interface. The label’s width will be used to calculate the control’s width such that the two controls cumulatively occupy the full width of 12.
For example, setting the Label Size to 6 will indicate that the control width is also 6. This means the label will occupy 50% the width of the row and the control will occupy 50% the width of the row.
Likewise, setting the Label Size to 3 will indicate that the control width is 9, meaning that the label will occupy 25% the width of the row while the input control occupies 75% the width of the row.
Setting the Label Size to 0 will hide the label in the user interface.
If Trigger Calculations is selected, changing the value in this input control will trigger a calculation. Calculations perform a server call with all of the inputs from the user interface and populate the output controls with the values from the updated calculation.
In workbooks with complex calculations, enabling calculations may lead to delays in the user experience.
The best practice when determining whether an input should trigger calculations should take into account the following factors:
- Does this input affect any calculated values? If the field is simply informational, then there is no reason to trigger a calculation.
- Does this input affect my user interface? If the field can change the visibility or enabled-ness of pages or other controls, then it is a good idea to trigger calculations when changes occur to the input.
- Will something else trigger calculations before this input is relevant? If the user won’t see the results of the calculations until reaching a different page, then you can hold off on triggering calculations until a button press or a different control’s value is changed.
The Mask Type determines the format of the value that is displayed in the label.
The following formats are supported:
- Integer – The value will be presented as a whole number.
- Currency ($) – The value will be presented with a currency mask (i.e. $ #,##0). This is the mask to use for USD ($) format.
- Currency (€) – The value will be presented with a currency mask (i.e. € #,##0). This is the mask to use for EUR (€) format.
- Currency (€) – The value will be presented with a currency mask (i.e. £ #,##0). This is the mask to use for GBP (£) format.
Default format is Integer.
Enabled indicates whether the slider is enabled. Visible indicates whether the slider is visible.
Enabled and Visible can be configured as Always or Never to indicate whether the slider is statically enabled or not. Alternatively, if any Boolean Single Named Ranges (SNR) exist (i.e. ranges pointing to a single cell that evaluates to TRUE or FALSE), then the enabled-ness of the slider can be configured to reflect the value of that named range using the ‘By Value Of’ setting.