1 /*
2 * Copyright 2007 The Kuali Foundation
3 *
4 * Licensed under the Educational Community License, Version 1.0 (the "License");
5 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
6 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
7 *
8 * http://www.opensource.org/licenses/ecl1.php
9 *
10 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
11 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
12 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
13 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
14 * limitations under the License.
15 */
16 package org.kuali.rice.krad.uif.control;
17
18 import org.kuali.rice.krad.uif.core.Component;
19
20 /**
21 * Represents an interactive element in the UI (typically an HTML control)
22 * <p>
23 * Each control that can be rendered in the UIF should be an implement the
24 * <code>Control</code> interface. The control is a regular component, thus has
25 * a corresponding template that will render the control for the UI. Controls
26 * provide the mechanism for gathering data from the User or for the User to
27 * initiate an action. HTML controls must be rendered within a <code>Form</code>
28 * element.
29 * </p>
30 *
31 * @author Kuali Rice Team (rice.collab@kuali.org)
32 */
33 public interface Control extends Component {
34
35 /**
36 * Unique index of the control within the tab order
37 * <p>
38 * Tab index provides a way to set the order users will tab through the
39 * controls. The control with index 1 will receive focus when the page is
40 * rendered. Tabing from the field will then take the user to the control
41 * with index 2, then index 3, and so on.
42 * </p>
43 *
44 * @return int the tab index for the control
45 */
46 public int getTabIndex();
47
48 }