server/AyaNova/Controllers/PickListController.cs

@@ -43,11 +43,12 @@ namespace AyaNova.Api.Controllers
 
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// Get picklist
+        /// Get picklist of all Active objects of type specified and filtered by query specified
+        /// Note that this list is capped automatically to return no more than 100 results
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="ayaType">The AyaType object type to select from</param>
         /// <param name="query">The query to filter the returned list by</param>
-        /// <param name="inactive">Include inactive objects in the returned list</param>
+        /// <param name="inactive">Include inactive objects in the returned list </param>
         /// <returns>Filtered list</returns>
         [HttpGet("List")]
         public async Task<IActionResult> GetList([FromQuery]AyaType ayaType, [FromQuery]string query, [FromQuery] bool inactive)

server/AyaNova/PickList/PickListFetcher.cs

@@ -74,6 +74,9 @@ namespace AyaNova.PickList
                 {
                     while (dr.Read())
                     {
+                        //query is always in the same order:
+                        //plId, plActive, plName
+
                         //                         List<AyaFieldData> row = new List<AyaFieldData>(returnRowColumnCount);
 
 

server/AyaNova/PickList/PickListSqlBuilder.cs

@@ -27,27 +27,51 @@ namespace AyaNova.PickList
             string ActiveWhereFragment = string.Empty;
             List<string> lWhere = new List<string>();
             List<string> lOrderBy = new List<string>();
+            string PlIdSelectFragment = string.Empty;
+            string ActiveSelectFragment = string.Empty;
 
 
-            //Add rowid column as it's always required
+            //PROCESS ROW ID "VALUE" COLUMN 
+            //
             AyaPickListFieldDefinition rowIdColumn = pickList.ColumnDefinitions.FirstOrDefault(x => x.IsRowId == true);
             //this should only happen with a development error
             if (rowIdColumn == null)
                 throw new System.ArgumentNullException($"DEV ERROR in PickListSqlBuilder.cs: picklist for {pickList.DefaultListObjectType.ToString()} has no rowId column specified in columnDefinitions list");
-            lSelect.Add(rowIdColumn.SqlIdColumnName + " AS rowid");
+            PlIdSelectFragment = rowIdColumn.SqlIdColumnName + " as plId";
 
-            //add active only as default for all lists unless inactive is specified
+
-            if (!IncludeInactive)
+            //PROCESS ACTIVE COLUMN
+            //
+            //NOTE: default is to filter *out* inactive objects because that's the most common need at the Client
+            //but we provide the override for that if necessary as there are often (management usually) cases where user needs to select inactive records
+
+            //add active column, fake it if necessary
+            AyaPickListFieldDefinition activeColumn = pickList.ColumnDefinitions.FirstOrDefault(x => x.IsActiveColumn == true);
+            if (activeColumn == null)
             {
-                AyaPickListFieldDefinition activeColumn = pickList.ColumnDefinitions.FirstOrDefault(x => x.IsActiveColumn == true);
+                //no active column which is normal for some types of objects
-                //it's ok if there is no active column, it could happen so just roll with it
+                //so make a fake one and return them all as active=true as all lists must return the same format
-                if (activeColumn != null)
+                ActiveSelectFragment = "true as plActive";
+
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                //we have an active column, set accordingly             
+
+                //regardless of wanting to see inactive, we always want to see the column itself
+                ActiveSelectFragment = activeColumn.SqlValueColumnName + " as plActive";
+
+                //this is the normal path unless there is an override
+                //if there is an override to see inactive too then we just don't set the filter on active
+                if (!IncludeInactive)
                 {
-                    lSelect.Add(activeColumn.SqlValueColumnName);
                     ActiveWhereFragment = activeColumn.SqlValueColumnName + " = true";
                 }
             }
 
+
+            //PROCESS TEMPLATED COLUMNS TO BE RETURNED IN RESULTS
+            //
             foreach (string ColumnName in templateColumnNames)
             {
 
@@ -63,20 +87,16 @@ namespace AyaNova.PickList
 
                     var valueColumnName = o.GetSqlValueColumnName();
 
-                    // 
-                    // 
-
-
-
                     string sWhere = string.Empty;
 
-                    //Tags column
+                    //TAGS COLUMN
+                    //
                     if (o.ColumnDataType == UiFieldDataType.Tags)
                     {
                         //Handle tags for each part of the sql query
-                        //idea is they display as a comma separated list
+                        //idea is they display as a comma separated list,
-                        //filter as a like comparison to each individual tag
+                        //filter as a like comparison to each individual tag and
-                        //order by the array which appears to do it left to right as if it was a giant string
+                        //order by the array which appears in testing to do it left to right as if it was a giant string
 
                         lSelect.Add($"(array_to_string({valueColumnName},',')");
                         //tags can order by without the arraytostring
@@ -90,16 +110,19 @@ namespace AyaNova.PickList
                     }
                     else if (o.ColumnDataType == UiFieldDataType.Text || o.ColumnDataType == UiFieldDataType.EmailAddress || o.ColumnDataType == UiFieldDataType.HTTP)
                     {
-                        //regular text field, no special requirements
+                        //TEXT COLUMN
+                        // 
                         lSelect.Add(valueColumnName);
                         lOrderBy.Add(valueColumnName);
                         if (HasAutoCompleteQuery)
-                            sWhere = $"({valueColumnName} LIKE '%{autoCompleteQuery}%')";
+                            sWhere = $"({valueColumnName} like '%{autoCompleteQuery}%')";
                     }
                     else
                     {
+                        //NON-TEXT COLUMN
+                        //
 
-                        //if any part of a select contatenation query using the || postgres concat is text then all fields are automatically converted to text
+                        //Note: if any part of a select contatenation query using the || postgres concat is text then all fields are automatically converted to text
                         //so no need to make it text here as the automatic spacing character will force the whole thing to a text concat anyway 
                         //ref: https://stackoverflow.com/a/19943343/8939
                         lSelect.Add(valueColumnName);
@@ -107,10 +130,10 @@ namespace AyaNova.PickList
                         //order by for now seems to be best as just order by it's value whatever it is
                         lOrderBy.Add(valueColumnName);
 
-                        //needs to be cast to text to query on it
+                        //Where fragment is different for non text fields: it needs to be cast to text to like query on it
                         //(cast (awidget.serial as text) like '%some%')
                         if (HasAutoCompleteQuery)
-                            sWhere = $"(cast ({valueColumnName} as text) LIKE '%{autoCompleteQuery}%')";
+                            sWhere = $"(cast ({valueColumnName} as text) like '%{autoCompleteQuery}%')";
                     }
 
 
@@ -125,14 +148,24 @@ namespace AyaNova.PickList
 
             //SELECT
             sb.Append("select ");
+
+            //ID COLUMN
+            sb.Append(PlIdSelectFragment);
+            sb.Append(", ");
+
+            //ACTIVE COLUMN
+            sb.Append(ActiveSelectFragment);
+            sb.Append(", ");
+
             //select name || ' ' || serial || ' ' || array_to_string(tags,',') as display from awidget
             foreach (string s in lSelect)
             {
                 sb.Append(s);
-                sb.Append(",");
+                sb.Append(" || ' ' || ");//sb 11 characters
             }
-            //clear trailing comma
+            //clear trailing concat element
-            sb.Length--;
+            sb.Length -= 11;//length of last concat fragment above
+            sb.Append(" as plname");
 
             //FROM
             sb.Append(" ");
@@ -176,7 +209,8 @@ namespace AyaNova.PickList
             return sb.ToString();
 
         }
-
+        //"select awidget.id as plId || ' 'awidget.active as plActive || ' 'awidget.name || ' 'awidget.serial || ' 'auser.name as plname from awidget left outer join auser on (awidget.userid=auser.id) 
+        //where awidget.active = true and ((awidget.name like '%on%') or (cast (awidget.serial as text) like '%on%') or (auser.name like '%on%')) order by awidget.name,awidget.serial,auser.name limit 100"
 
 
     }//eoc