What is form #
Form is a structure of groups and attributes configured and ordered to visualize the document.
In Navigator365 you can design and configure forms by using visual editor. When you click on element, the sidenav with configuration will appear.
Types of forms #
There are several types of form in Navigator365.
Form #
Standard option for creating a form which is used to work with documents. Based on form you can create several instances of document.
View #
A special definition of form, strongly connected with the standard form. Using view you can configure different look of the document. Documents created both on view and form are treated the same by the system, e.g. by standard are displayed on the same list.
Dashboard #
A form which is used to show information. You cannot create many documents based on dashboard, thus usually on dashboard there are lists of documents, buttons, graphs etc.
Composite attribute #
This kind of form is used to create complex attributes. For example, if you need a control for displaying address which contains fields such as street, city, ZIP cod etc. you can build a composite attribute which contains all such fields and insert in on regular form. Such attribute can be used on many forms therefore you can build it once and use many times.
Configuration #
This type looks like regular form with all the attributes but difference is you can create only one document based on it. The power of this form is that this document could be used as a configuration form for an application. Using “mentions” mechanism you can easily refer to field on such documents. For example, if you need a hourly rate you can add such field on configuration form an use it to calculate expense on each document in application
Creating a form #
In Navigator365 there are only one kind of document therefore when you create a new form the sole information you should provide is name of the form and type of the form if you want something difference than standard form. After filling Form name you can press Save to create a new form.
Form configuration (settings) #
On the first tab – Settings – beside Type and Form name there are a few other options.
It is worth to mention that you can at any time change the name of the form but you cannot change the type of the form.
Other options:
Form guid – read only field which show the guid of the form. Guid is unique identifier of the form. Each object in Navigator365 has such a field. It is used when you write your own extension to the system or write a complex SQL query
Form description – here you can write the short description of the form. This information is available only from form configuration
Label layout options – this is the default label layer configuration. You can change this option on each element of the form but if you do not change the element option will be identical as this. There are three options:
2-column layout: label are on the left side of the element
1-column layout: label are on the top of the element, element is span to full wight of the group
Label on the right side: this option is used mostly to attributes such as checkboxes where the attribute is on the left an label is on the right.
Document history options – by using this option you can decide how much data will be stored in the document history. The document history will record all information about the creation and modification of the document.
None: document history will not be stored
All changes: all changes made on the document will be stored
Last change: only the last change will be stored
Element accessibility – in Navigator365 each element are assign to the application and by default cannot be used outside the application. If there is a need to use form in another application you have to change this option. There are three variants:
Private: form can be used only in this application
Public: form can be used in all application, even such that are not yet created when creating the form
Shared with applications: option between the two above. You can specific list of application in which this form will be available. Notice that if you add new application and want to use this form in new application you have to reconfigure this form and add new application.
Form tab #
In this tab there is a visual editor of the form. On the left there are toolbox which contain all the attributes you can add to the form. Detailed description of the attributes is in another article. Notice that some attributes can be add to the form only once but another you can add many times. Be aware that there is a limit to the number of attributes. Most of them can be added only 25 times some. The exception are: textbox – 100 items on the form, Multiline input – 50 items, Checkbox – 35 items and Integer – 30 items.
Permissions #
Here you can specify privileges to the documents based on this form. Of course you can add permissions to each document separately, configuration from this form is default for all document.
There are several types of permissions: Read, Add, Edit and Full Control
ADD: Default list of users and group of users who can add the documents.
FULL CONTROL: Default list of user and group of user who can modify and delete document.
EDIT: Default list of users and group of users who can modify document.
READ: Default list of users and group of users who can access the document in read-only mode.
You can select groups, users, etc. from the drop-down lists pinned to each option.
Slightly below is a section with special permissions for the user who created the document based on this form.
Such a user may have full access to the document (Full Access option) – which means that user can both edit and delete the document. The creator can have edit-only (Edition), read-only (Read-only) access or not be allowed to use the document (No-access)
View settings #
In the “View settings” tab you can define the type of access to a particular attribute for the user of the form.
There are several types of access: Visible, Editable and Required. Of course you can change it by defining conditions on the form or in the workflow process. His setting are defaults value.
VISIBLE: User can see the attribute, but cannot change its content
EDITABLE: The user can see the attribute and edit its content. Checking this option will automatically select the “Visible” checkbox.
REQUIRED: As in the “Editable” option, but additionally the document will not be saved if user left this field blank.
As you noticed, you can see here the attributes that were created in the “Form” tab. All fields are set to “Editable” by default.
Here are the default settings for form fields. You can change the access in the attribute settings (you can learn more in this article) and in the processes/workflows section (you can read more here)
API #
An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other.
In this tab you can find and set attribute codes needed to create your own API. Attribute codes must be unique, otherwise your API may not work properly. Therefore, the system checks the attribute codes and send you an appropriate error message. To generate unique attributes automatically, you can use the Prepare API option.
API code could be used by, for example, calling Call Rest API action in the workflow process or from another system.
Dependencies #
In the “Dependencies” tab you can check which part of your application uses the form and what part your form needs to run properly.
You can click on each dependency and display it in a popup window.
If you try to delete an attribute and it is being used somewhere, the application will notify you with an appropriate message.