Designing Custom Application Forms

Concepts

Use the custom application form designer to create or edit custom application form layouts, making them available for data entry use. You can edit and save a custom application form layout within a project, which makes it specific to that project.

Steps in This Task

1. From the VSys One main screen, click the Administrator tools bar to open the panel, then click the Custom application forms link. To work with project-specific custom application forms, click on Custom application forms from the Setup panel in the project. The Custom application form designer window opens.
2. Use the links on the left navigation panel to create a new application, load an existing application, and edit application properties.
   You can load an existing application from the current (or any) project, or load an application from an XML file from another VSys user.
3. To load an existing custom application form layout, click the Load an existing application link. Your custom application form layout opens. You can load:
   • any existing application you already have,
   • a form from another project,
   • a built-in design, or
   • copy a form from a disk.
4. To create a new custom application form, click the New application link.

If you already have a custom application window open, a Confirm window opens that asks if you want to throw out changes to your existing application.

Insert a Data Field

Data fields contain information that is used in different places throughout VSys. When you add a data field, VSys will locate the existing information and pull it in from where it is stored in VSys.

1. To add a data field to this screen, click the Insert data field button.
   A drop-down window opens from which you can select specific fields for your form.
2. For each option, click the plus (+) sign to expand your selections. For example, click on Basic.
   The fields you can add to your form are listed when you expand your selections.
3. Click on the field you want and drag it over to the blank screen. For example, click on Application date. The Application date field displays with "handles" that let you manipulate it. A table also opens under the left navigation panel, which lets you change the appearance of the field.

Insert a User Field

User fields allow you to add whatever field labels you want to a new field. Unlike data fields, user fields do not affect or use data outside of the custom application form itself. To add a user field to this screen,

1. Click the Insert user field button. A drop-down list opens from which you can select fields of a specified type, such as a date field.
2. Select any field from the list. The New user field window opens.
3. Enter the name of your new user field and click the OK button. VSys displays the new user field on the screen.

If the field overlaps another field, first click on the screen, click within the field (not on the field title), and drag it to another location.

Add a New Page

To add a new page to your form, click the Add new page button. VSys adds another page with a tab button at the top of the screen that lets you click to select it, along with a Delete this page button.

Delete a Page

1. To delete a page, be sure you click on the correct tab at the top of the screen for the page you want to delete. The page tab will turn gray when you select it.
2. Click on Delete this page button.

Editing basics

To move a field to another location: click within the field and drag it to another position on the screen. This will also move the associated field name, if applicable.

To move a field label (the field name): click directly on the label and you can drag it independently from the field.

To change the width of the field: position your cursor over one of the handles on either end of the field until you see a line with an arrow at each end. Then, click and drag it to the right or left to lengthen or shorten the field.

To change the properties of a field: click on it to select it. A table displays beneath the left navigation panel that lets you change various aspects of the field.

• Change the label for a field by clicking on the caption alone, then change the Caption property.
• To select a different background color, click on the down-arrow in the Color field and select the color you want.
• You can also change the font and size properties by using the editor in the lower left.
• To change the field label (name), click directly on the field label, not on the field itself. VSys highlights the label and you can move it, or delete it.

To move or delete multiple fields at once, click on the first field normally. While holding down the Shift key on your keyboard, click on the remaining fields one by one. After releasing the Shift key, you can click and hold any of the fields and then drag them to a new position, or hit the Delete button on the keyboard to delete them en masse.

Delete a field: click on it and press the Delete key.

Unlabeled icons

There are a series of button icons at the top of the screen between the Insert user field button and the Add new page button. These icons let you line up the various fields (when you've selected multiple fields) in precise positions on the screen. Select the fields you want to align and then click on the appropriate icon.

The actions of each icon are described as follows, in order from left to right.

Save changes

Saves the Custom application form to the database, overwriting the existing application definition, if any.

Save as...

Save the Custom application form as a new application or as an XML file on a disk.