> Design Form

Design Form

You use this program to design a full-featured customized form for use within a SYSPRO application. A form in a customized pane has the same look-and-feel and behavior as the standard forms used throughout SYSPRO. The structure of a form can be built by supplying XML within a customized pane's OnLoad function.

This program is accessed by selecting the Design Form function in the Customized Pane Editor program. This function becomes available when the Form object type is selected.

Toolbar and menu

Field Description
Save and Exit Saves your changes and to return to the previous screen.
Delete Deletes the field currently highlighted in the Form Design pane.
Options  
Form ID This uniquely identifies the form and uses it to define the name of the saved XML layout (Form_operator_ProgramNameFormID.XML).

For example:

OperatorADMIN
Program nameIMPMEN01
FormIDabc
Resultant XML fileForm_ADMIN_IMPMEN01abc.XML

This is especially important if the contents of the form will be changed dynamically using VBScript so that before the new form fields are applied, the current form fields and layout are automatically saved.

Clear Form at Runtime Clears the form contents at runtime (including removing any VBScript variables associated with that form) and re-populates it with the contents from the incoming XML file or string.

Form Design

This displays a preview of the form you are designing, with the fields you have added to the form. The Form Design pane is a normal form, so you can reposition fields as required or supply more advanced properties by selecting the Field Properties window (i.e. right-clicking in the Design Form pane).

Toolbox

You add new fields to your form using the Toolbox pane. Fields consist of captions and values.

Field Description
Add Field Adds the field to the form.

Once added to your form, use the Properties pane to adjust the behavior of the form field.

Caption Enter a caption for the field.
Field Type Indicate the type of field.
Alpha

This creates a field which allows alphanumeric characters to be entered for the value.

This field can contain up to 3,000 characters, although its maximum length can be restricted using the Length field property.

Check box Select this to create a tick box which the operator can either select or deselect.
Color picker

This creates a field which enables the operator to select a color.

Alternatively, the Red/Green/Blue (RGB) value can be manually entered, delimited by semi colons.

Date

This creates a field for a date.

This field uses the short date format as defined in the company setup. A date can be entered or selected from the displayed chooser.

Drop down Select this to create a list of values from which the operator can select the value required.

When the operator selects an entry from the selection box, the value associated with the entry is automatically placed into the field.

A drop down selection box involves defining the contents of the selection box. You generate the drop down list using the Enter Items function.
Drop down entry Select this to define a drop down list but also allow the operator to enter a value in the field rather than only being able to select it from the drop down list.

A drop down selection box involves defining the contents of the selection box. You generate the drop down list using the Enter Items function.

The list of values in a dropdown list can be replaced programmatically, using the Drop down list Field property in VBScript. However, if this field property is applied to a Drop down entry field, then it effectively changes the Drop down entry field to be a Drop down.
Font This creates a field which enables the operator to select from a number of fonts and font properties.
Hyperlink

This displays a hyperlink which calls a VBScript function when selected.

Group heading

Select this to create a group item to which you can attach fields. This is typically used to group fields that logically fit together.

Multiline

This creates a field which into which more than one line can be entered, for example a Notes field.

If the text is greater than the available display space, a slider bar will appear alongside the text.

The depth of the multiline field can be defined at the Multiline count field on the Properties pane.

Numeric

This creates a field for numeric values.

The maximum size of a numeric field on a form is 12.6 (999,999,999,999.999999), but the field can be configured to have a smaller size using the Length and Decimals fields on the Properties pane.

Picture This creates a placeholder for a picture in the value section of the field. A browse function is included, enabling the operator to insert the required picture.
Radio button

Select this to create a list of items, from which the operator can select one only. You generate the radio button list using the Enter Items function.

Because of the amount of space that it can take up, you would usually only use a radio button when there are a limited number of items from which to choose. When the list becomes large you would typically use a dropdown list instead.

Slider This creates a field with a slider button which the operator can use to indicate a selection. For example, selecting a volume level.
Spin button This creates a field with a spin button allowing the operator to increase (up arrow) or decrease (down arrow) the value in the field. The range of values are defined in the Min value and Max value fields in the Properties pane.
Time This creates a field allowing the entry of hours and minutes and is represented as hh:mm in the form.

The value of this field type is assumed to be 4-digits long, where the first two digits represent the hour, and the next two digits represent the minutes. Therefore, to change the value of a Time form field using VBScript, a value of 1223 would be displayed as 12:23.

Time span This creates a field allowing the entry of days, hours and minutes and is represented as __ Days __ Hours __ Minutes in the form.

The value of this type of field is assumed to be 10-digits long and represents time length in seconds. Therefore, to update this field type with 45 minutes, you must multiply the minutes by 60 to get seconds and apply the calculated value.

Similarly, in a VBScript, the value given will be represented in seconds; thus an entered value of 1 Days 1 Hours 1 Minutes would make the VBScript variable value 90060.

Add to group Optionally indicate the group heading to which the field must be added.

You can change this later by dragging a field out of a group and attaching it to another group in the Form Design pane.

Properties

Once you have added a field to your form, you use the Properties pane to adjust the behavior of the field (e.g. an editable form requires you to define the length of the field). The properties available depend on the Field type you select.

Field Description
Appearance  
Caption

The label that is displayed in the field. The caption can be changed after the form has been created.

Override description

Use this property for forms with multiple fields that have identical captions.

You also use this property to use the functionality that automatically becomes available when you add a field to the form that has the same name as a standard SYSPRO field. If the standard SYSPRO field has a browse, the field you add with that same name will automatically have a browse against it.

Field type

The type of field you are defining.

This is a read only field for all fields. The field type cannot be changed so if the field type is incorrect against a field, the field will need to be deleted and added again.

Behaviour  
ID The unique identity number of the field.
Length

The maximum permitted size of the data entry field you are creating.

The fields making use of this property include Alpha, Numeric, Multiline, Drop down entry and Spin button.

Read only Create a non-editable field.
Password

Replaces each character of the password with an asterisk as it is entered into the field.

Passwords can only be added to alpha fields.

Items Use the Enter items hyperlink to define a list of items for the field. This is used for drop down, drop down entry and radio button field types.
  • Radio button field type

    Enter the list of available options. Each option is automatically numbered from 1 upwards, so that when you select the 4th option, the value 4 is returned for the form field.

  • Drop down field type

    Enter the list of available drop down items. The value returned for the form field is the description of the selected drop down item, unless you associate a specific value to a drop down entry, which is achieved by adding the value to the end of the item text enclosed in brackets [ ]. For example: Scheduled Orders[SC]. When this item is selected from the drop down list, the value SC is returned.

    You can optionally associate an icon with a drop entry by inserting an icon index enclosed by [] in front of the item text. For example: [123]Scheduled Orders.

    The icon index is numbered from 100 upwards and you can view available icons (derived from IMP50.DLL) by right-clicking on any program in your Navigation Pane, selecting Properties and then the Change Icon button.

    Icons are shown with numbers in the displayed screen (remember to add 100 to the displayed icon).

    So, if you want an icon and a special value associated with a drop down item, then the syntax is:

    [123]Scheduled Orders[SC]

Upper-case conversion Automatically converts any alphabetic text entered in the field value to uppercase (only applicable to alpha fields).

This overrides your Case setting within your setup options.

Input mask

Enter a mask to limit the type of characters and the number of characters that can be entered for a field value.

The input mask consists of character types which define the edit mask and placeholders for the number of characters which can be entered for each specific character type. The placeholders are defined using the underscore ( _ ) key.

Input masks can be applied to editable and non-editable fields, but cannot be applied to a hyperlinked form field (i.e. you cannot apply an input mask and a hyperlink to the same caption on a display form).

The basic format for an input mask is an underscore followed by the mask character (e.g. _0_0_0 for a 3 digit number). For example: The input mask for a telephone number, restricted to only numeric values with the area code displayed inside of parentheses, would be (_0_0_0) _0_0_0-_0_0_0_0.

Additional characters can be combined with the mask characters to create a restrictive field for text entry. For example: you could define an input mask for Stock code as: Color: _L_L_L Size: _0_0_0. This entry would be displayed in the form as: Stock code Color:___ Size: ___

The following mask characters can be used to define the input mask:

Mask characters Description
0 Allow numeric characters (0-9)
9 Allow numeric characters (0-9) or space (' ')
# Allow numeric characters (0-9) or space (' ') or ('+') or ('-')
L Allow alpha characters in upper or lowercase (a - Z)
? Allow alpha characters in upper or lowercase (a - Z) or space (' ')
A Allow alphanumeric characters (0-9 and a-Z)
a Allow alphanumeric characters (0-9 and a-Z) or space (' ')
& All print character only. Allows characters a-z, A-Z and any arbitrary unicode characters. Control characters are not allowed.
H Allow hexadecimal digits (0-9 and A-F)
X Allow hexadecimal digits (0-9 and A-F) and space (' ')
> Automatically changes any alpha character entered to uppercase (A-Z)
< Automatically changes any alpha character entered to lowercase (a-z)
Tooltip Enter the text you want to display for the tooltip.

You typically use this to display additional information about the field or the type of entry required for the field.

Hyperlink caption Enter a caption for a hyperlink. The caption is displayed when the operator hovers the mouse pointer over the hyperlink.
Multiline count The number of lines to display before a scroll bar appears. This applies to a multiline field type.
Allow zero date Allows a zero date to be entered against the field. By default a date is assumed to have to be a valid date, so select this if you want to allow a zero date.
Disallow null field Indicates that the value of the field cannot be blank. This forces the operator to enter data in the field.
Cannot remove field Prevents the operator from being able to remove the field from the form.
Icon Adds an icon to the field caption.
Help text Enter any text you want to display for the field. This is displayed at the bottom of the form.

This is particularly useful for adding information about any custom fields you added to the form.

Help text is not available for a Group heading.

Category

Select an address category to help describe what the address field contains.

By setting one of the Address category property's options against a field, when the Resolve Geolocation button is selected SYSPRO knows which field refers to the street, which field refers to the state/province, which refers to the country, etc

Address group

Enter one character to group the components of an address together, primarily so that the Geolocation function knows which fields to match up.

If a form has more than one set of address fields, such as a delivery address and a billing address, when the Resolve Geolocation button is selected it needs to know which set of address fields it must use. It will use those that have the same Address group as it has.

When the Resolve Geolocation button is selected, SYSPRO attempts to resolve the address using fields against the form that match the Address group of the Geolocation field.

Numeric behaviour  
Decimals Specify how many digits are to appear to the right of the decimal point.
Allow negative values Allows the entry of negative values in the field.
Edit without commas Displays the value without any thousand's separators.
Min value

The minimum value allowed for the field.

This property is only available with the Slider and Spin button field types.

Max value

The maximum value allowed for the field.

This property is only available with the Slider and Spin button field types.

On first time load  
Show hidden

Hides the field when the form is loaded.

Show group collapsed

Displays only the group headings when the form is initially loaded (and not the fields within the groups). The operator must select the plus sign against the group heading to display the fields in the group.