APPLICATION DESIGN

Designing forms
Forms, like pages, display information. Everything that can be done with a page can be done with a form. What sets forms apart from pages is that forms can be used to collect information. A form provides the structure for creating and displaying documents, and documents are the design elements that store data in the database. When a user fills out the information in a form and saves it, the information is saved as a document. When a user opens the document, the document uses the form as a template to provide the structure for displaying the data.

Here are the basic steps involved in designing a form:

1. Decide on the purpose and type of form you need. To do so, consider:

2. Create the form.

3. Add elements to the form.

4. Name the form.

5. Assign its properties.

6. Preview and test the form in the browsers users access it with.

NOTE: Changing a form (for example, by adding a field) will not change documents previously created with that form until they have been edited and saved, either manually or programmatically by an agent. Removing a field from a form does not remove the value of that field from previously created documents. When adding a computed field or field with a default value, it may appear to have been added to the document, because opening the document will show a value in that field, but unless the document is edited and saved, the field will have no value, and no value is displayed in views referencing that field.

See Also