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Tab selection

This operation covers tab-selection behavior across the library's two structurally independent tab-bar implementations: the declarative SAIFTabBar (markup-persisted tab collection) and the imperative SAIFTabs (code-driven AddTab/InsertTab/RemoveTab)*.

Field Value
Operation ID OP-V2-TABS-001
Trigger Tab LinkButton click (postback).
Inputs SAIFTabBarTabCollection (declarative) or ArrayList of TabSettings (imperative).
Outputs Updated tab selection state; TabClicked event (SAIFTabBar) or BeforeSelectedIndexChanged/SelectedIndexChanged events (SAIFTabs).
Primary components SAIFTabBar.RaiseTabClickedEvent, SAIFTabBar.CreateChildControls, SAIFTabBar.RenderControl; SAIFTabs.LinkButtonClick.
Entry point SAIF.Presentation.Web.Controls.V2\SAIFTabBar.vb, SAIF.Presentation.Web.Controls.V2\SAIFTabs.vb

Steps

SAIFTabBar (declarative)

  1. CreateChildControls sorts _Tabs (by Order, then Text, via the generic Sorter(Of SAIFTabBarTab)), builds one <li><LinkButton></li> per tab, and wires AddHandler lb.Click, AddressOf RaiseTabClickedEvent.
  2. On click, RaiseTabClickedEvent:
  3. Deselects all tabs when Mode = TabBarMode.TabBar (mutually exclusive selection) (BR-V2-006).
  4. Selects the clicked tab.
  5. Raises the public TabClicked event.
  6. RenderControl applies CSS classes (Selected, SelectedSibling, Disabled, DisabledSelected) depending on tab state and Mode (TabBar vs. WizardTabBar).

SAIFTabs (imperative)

  1. Consuming pages call AddTab/InsertTab/RemoveTab to build the tab list (ArrayList of TabSettings).
  2. LinkButtonClick (wired per rendered link) matches the clicked link's ClientID against tab entries.
  3. Raises BeforeSelectedIndexChanged (cancelable via SAIFTabEventArgs.Cancel) — allowing the host page to intercept/cancel the tab switch.

  4. If not canceled: raises SelectedIndexChanged, allowing the host page to coordinate visibility of the tab-associated content panel (DivID).

  5. Delegation: None into referenced libraries in either implementation; purely local control-tree logic.

Process flow

The following diagram visualizes the SAIFTabBar selection flow only; see the "SAIFTabs (imperative)" steps above for the separate, structurally different flow used by SAIFTabs (ClientID matching and a cancelable BeforeSelectedIndexChanged/SelectedIndexChanged pair, with no Mode-based deselection or CSS-state rendering step).

flowchart TD
    Start([Tab LinkButton click]) --> Mode{Mode = TabBar?}
    Mode -->|Yes| Deselect[Deselect all other tabs]
    Mode -->|No, WizardTabBar| Skip[Skip deselection]
    Deselect --> Select[Select clicked tab]
    Skip --> Select
    Select --> Raise[Raise TabClicked event]
    Raise --> Render[RenderControl applies CSS classes per tab state]

Failure and edge-case behavior

  • SAIFTabBar RenderControl wraps its rendering logic in a Try/Catch that writes the exception message, source, and stack trace directly to the output stream on failure — an unusual error-surfacing pattern for a production control*.
  • Whether both SAIFTabBar and SAIFTabs remain actively consumed by downstream applications, or one is deprecated, could not be determined from this library alone**.

Note: Statements marked with * were inferred from code structure, naming conventions, or contextual evidence where direct confirmation was not available in source artifacts. Statements marked with ** could not be confirmed; treat as unknown until verified.

Sources

  • SAIF.Presentation.Web.Controls.V2\SAIFTabBar.vb
  • SAIF.Presentation.Web.Controls.V2\SAIFTabs.vb
  • SAIF.Presentation.Web.Controls.V2\TabSettings.vb