Zend certified PHP/Magento developer

Use layout XML to conditionally hide UI element based on state of a UI model

I’ve added a new field UI component to an existing form, using layout XML, but I’d like that new field to be visible only under certain conditions.

In my module’s layout XML I can manually switch that field on or off using

<item name="visible" xsi:type="boolean">true</item>

In various core modules, I’ve seen layout xml node values which appear to parametrised, such as:

<link name="setOptions">${ $.provider }:data.sourceCodes</link>

My problem is that I don’t yet understand the syntax ${ $.provider }:data.sourceCodes, so I don’t know how to reference the UI model property I want, or if its even possible.

My general question is, is it possible to reference a UI model property in the layout XML and if so how?

My specific question relates to determining if the customer checkout form is inline or now (whether the customer is logged in or not). The shipping view model Magento_Checkout/js/view/shipping defines the properly isFormInline, which is what I’d like to reference. Of failing that, use Magento_Customer/js/model/address-list, to do the same.