Updating ReadOnly and Disabled Fields

This is a repost + comments from an article by Ryan Farley. Many thanks to him and the information he puts out. The full article is located here >>. Relevant portions are copied below.

When you need to set fields disabled or readonly at runtime, you need to keep in mind the type of field you use. Setting a HTML input field is a simple line of Javascript, however, the type of CRM field you've chosen will have an impact on exact items you need to change at runtime. I personally like the look of disabled over readonly. A disabled control will show it's value greyed, indicating to the user that they cannot modify it's contents. A readonly field appears normal. The user only finds out that they cannot change it's value until they attempt to do so.

Use the following code to toggle the field status -

// set it as readonly crmForm.all.new_textfield.readOnly = true; // OR set it as disabled crmForm.all.new_textfield.disabled = true;

 

Here’s the tricky part. By default, read-only fields aren’t saved back to the database. Makes sense, right. However, what if you’re updating a field with some code and want that value saved even though you don’t want the user to be able to change it?

Use the ForceSubmit action.

crmForm.all.<field>.DataValue="some value";

crmForm.all.<field>.ForceSubmit = true;