com.smartgwt.client.docs.serverds

## Class AdvancedCriteria

- java.lang.Object
- - com.smartgwt.client.docs.serverds.AdvancedCriteria

-     public class AdvancedCriteria
      extends java.lang.Object

  AdvancedCriteria is a format for representing search criteria which may include operators on field values such as "less than", or may include sub-clauses such as several criteria applied to fields joined by an "OR" operator.

  This class is not meant to be created and used, it is actually documentation of settings allowed in a DataSource descriptor (.ds.xml file), for use with Smart GWT Pro Edition and above. See `com.smartgwt.client.docs.serverds` for how to use this documentation.

  Smart GWT DataSources can use AdvancedCriteria to search a list of `Record`s, and the Smart GWT Java Server can translate AdvancedCriteria to either SQL or Hibernate queries (Note: The server-side AdvancedCriteria handling feature is only available with the Power and Enterprise Editions of Smart GWT; the Pro Edition is limited to ordinary criteria handling on the server side).

  If the entire dataset is cached locally, Smart GWT can perform AdvancedCriteria filtering on the client, avoiding a server call.

  AdvancedCriteria objects can be created directly in java. For example:

        AdvancedCriteria criteria = new AdvancedCriteria(OperatorId.AND, new Criterion[]{
            new Criterion("salary", OperatorId.LESS_THAN, 80000),
            new AdvancedCriteria(OperatorId.OR, new Criterion[]{
                new Criterion("title", OperatorId.ICONTAINS, "Manager"),
                new Criterion("reports", OperatorId.NOT_NULL)
            })
        });

  In addition to building a raw AdvancedCriteria object as described above, the `DataSource.convertCriteria()` and `DataSource.combineCriteria()` methods may be used to create and modify criteria based on simple fieldName / value mappings.

  When passed to the Smart GWT Server, a server-side AdvancedCriteria instance (in the package com.isomorphic.criteria) can be retrieved from a DSRequest via com.isomorphic.datasource.DSRequest.getAdvancedCriteria(). These same AdvancedCriteria objects can be directly created server side, and applied to a DSRequest via setAdvancedCriteria().

  `RestDataSource`, the recommended way of integration with servers that are not running the Smart GWT Server Framework, defines a standard XML and JSON serialization of `AdvancedCriteria`. Date, DateTime and Time values use the same XML Schema representation used for other XML serialization like RestDataSource. Further details can be found at `DateFormatAndStorage`.

  It's a best practice for XML representation to have `<value>` as a subelement with `xsi:type`. Although most systems will auto-convert criteria explicitly setting type leaves the least room for error or ambiguity.

  For other servers, you can translate `AdvancedCriteria` into whatever format is expected by the server, typically by implementing `DataSource.transformRequest()`.

  The internal representation of AdvancedCriteria is a simple JavaScript structure, available via AdvancedCriteria.getJsObj():

        // an AdvancedCriteria
        {
            _constructor:"AdvancedCriteria",
            operator:"and",
            criteria:[
                // this is a Criterion
                { fieldName:"salary", operator:"lessThan", value:"80000" },
                { operator:"or", criteria:[
                    { fieldName:"title", operator:"iContains", value:"Manager" },
                    { fieldName:"reports", operator:"notNull" }
                  ]
                }
            ]
        }

  And an AdvancedCriteria can also be created from a JavaScriptObject. This makes AdvancedCriteria very easy to store and retrieve as JSON strings, using `JSONEncoder`. See `Criteria Editing` for information about editing AdvancedCriteria in a DynamicForm.

  When using the Smart GWT Server, AdvancedCriteria created on the client and stored as JSON can be used directly by server code (without involvement of the browser and client-side system). Use the server-side API AdvancedCriteria.decodeClientCriteria() to obtain an AdvancedCriteria that can then be used with a server-created DSRequest object. Note that the client must be serialized by the `JSONEncoder` class, using `JSONEncoder.dateFormat` "logicalDateConstructor".

- - ### Field Summary

    Fields
    Modifier and Type | Field and Description
    --- | ---
    `java.lang.Boolean` | `strictSQLFiltering` When set to true, causes filtering using this criteria object to follow SQL99 behavior for dealing with NULL values.

  - ### Constructor Summary

    Constructors
    Constructor and Description
    `AdvancedCriteria()`

  - ### Method Summary

    - ### Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

      `clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait`

- - ### Field Detail

    - #### strictSQLFiltering

          public java.lang.Boolean strictSQLFiltering

      When set to true, causes filtering using this criteria object to follow SQL99 behavior for dealing with NULL values. See `this discussion` for more detail.

      Default value is null

  - ### Constructor Detail

    - #### AdvancedCriteria

          public AdvancedCriteria()