When you first load a form in design mode, the Aptify Form Template Properties dialog is blank. A field's or control's Form Template Part information automatically appears in this dialog when you select an existing part. When you add a new part to a form by selecting a component in the Toolbox, the system automatically displays the selected component's associated input properties. Note that input properties that require a source value appear in red.
In the example in Figure 10.13bekiw, the Sample Services record's Title field is selected on the form so information related to this field appears in the dialog's Properties tab.Anchor
The dialog has three tabs and a button bar. Each of these features is described below.in the sections below:
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Button Bar
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The dialog includes a button bar across the top of the window. From left to right, the default buttons provide the following functionality:
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Additional layout buttons appear in the toolbar when you select two or more parts on a form. Design Buttons 
These buttons provide the following functionality:
- Align Control Left Edges: This button aligns all of the selected controls with the left side of the left-most selected control.
- Align Control Middles: This button centers the selected controls along a horizontal line using the location of the last selected control as the baseline.
- Align Control Right Edges: This button aligns all of the selected controls with the right side of the right-most selected control.
- Align Control Top Edges: This button aligns the top edges of the selected controls using the last selected control as the baseline.
- Align Control Centers: This button centers the selected controls along a vertical line using the location of the last selected control as the baseline.
- Align Control Bottom Edges: This button aligns the bottom edges of the selected controls using the last selected control as the baseline.
- Resize Selected Controls – Same Width: This button resizes the selected controls to make them the width of the last selected control.
- Resize Selected Controls – Same Height: This button resizes the selected controls to make them the height of the last selected control. Note that the control must support a variable height to resize it. For example, a Text Field uses a fixed height and therefore cannot be resized, while a Multi-Line Text Field uses a variable height and can be resized.
- Resize Selected Controls – Width and Height: This button resizes the selected controls to make them the width and height of the last selected control. Note that only the width will change for a control that uses a fixed height.
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Properties Tab
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The Properties tab is an Input Map for the part. Each part configures the appropriate form component by specifying values for a form component's Input Properties. For example, the Sample Service's Title field specifies property values for the Text Field component to display the Title field (as shown in Figure 10. 12 and Figure 10.13). Note that the Input Properties that appear on this tab flow down from a Form Components record and vary from component to component. See "About the Supported Visual Designer Components" on page 518 for for information on the default Input Properties for each supported component. You can also review the Input Properties tab for a particular Form Components record for information on the input values required for that component.
An administrator can edit these properties as necessary to modify the appearance of the part. The procedure for editing these properties is the same as specifying values in a Form Template Part's Input Map: double-click an input map row to open the Edit Mapping form. In general, the Source Type is always Static. See "About the Supported Visual Designer Components" on page 518 for for more information on specifying the source for input properties in the Visual Designer and see "Configuring Form Template Part Input Map Tab" on page 563 for for general information on input maps.
When you modify the Properties for a field and save your changes, the Visual Designer automatically updates the Input Map in the corresponding Form Template Parts record for that field. The Visual Designer also creates a new Form Template Parts record for any new field or control you add to the form.
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General Tab
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Information from the field's or control's Form Template Parts record appears under the General tab. This includes the following:
- Type: This read-only field reports the Form Template Part's Type (Component, Sub-Template, or Tab Control). Form Template Parts accessed using the Visual Designer are Component-based.
- Component: This read-only field reports which Form Component this part implements. For example, the Date field's Form Template Part, shown in Figure 10.15below, implements the Text Field component.
- Layout Key: This field is used to find and reference form template parts within a Form Template Layout control. The Layout Key is the first candidate for match.
- Part Name: Corresponds to the Name from the Form Template Parts record.
- Category: Corresponds to the category for this part. This field links to the Form Template Parts Categories service.
- Description: Corresponds to the Description from the Form Template Parts record.
- Width Sizing: Corresponds to the Resize Width from the Form Template Parts record's Placement tab. By default, fields have Width Sizing set to None. Note that all generated fields have Width Sizing set to Fill so that the width of the field automatically resizes when you resize its form.
- Height Sizing: Corresponds to the Resize Height from the Form Template Parts record's Placement tab. By default, fields have Height Sizing set to None. If you are adding a new control to the bottom of a form, you may want to set Height Sizing to Fill so that the height of the control automatically resizes when the form is resized.
- Enabled: Specifies whether or not the Form Template Part is enabled on the form. This option is checked by default and the Form Template Part is enabled. When the option is unchecked, the form template part appears on the form but it is grayed out and disabled for all run modes.
- Tab Index: This number indicates the order in which focus moves among the fields when a user presses the Tab key on the keyboard. The first position corresponds to a value of 0. By default on a generated form, this is the first field at the top of the tab. When a uses presses the Tab key, the cursor moves to the second field, which has a Tab Index of 1. When the user presses the Tab key again, the cursor moves the third field, which as a Tab Index of 2, and so on. If you rearrange the fields on a tab (or add new fields), then you should update the Tab Index setting for each field as necessary. Modifying the Tab Index changes the order in which parts appear in the template's Part List tab. (See " Adding Parts to Form Templates or " on page 567 or"Part List Tab" on page 838in the Admin Guide.)
An administrator can modify these settings as necessary. When saved, the Visual Designer automatically updates the form and the corresponding Form Template Parts record. Note:
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If a new field or component is added through Visual Designer and the changes are saved without specifically providing a Part Name and/or Category, the new Form Template Parts record uses a logic similar to the baseline Form Template Generator to create and categorize the new form template part with the appropriate category (fields for components that correspond to fields, and form parts for things like line separators and group boxes). |
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Comments Tab
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An administrator can specify additional information on the Comments tab related to this field. This tab corresponds to the Comments tab on the Form Template Parts record.
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Toolbox
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The Toolbox appears automatically each time you load the Visual Designer. This toolbox lists the Form Components that are commonly used on Aptify forms, grouped by Form Component Category. You can select a component in the Toolbox to add a new blank field of that type to the form. See "About the Supported Visual Designer Components" on page 518 for for more information on the supported Form Components in the Toolbox. You can also review the corresponding Form Components record for these components.
Within the toolbox, you can display all of the supported components by selecting the All Items category on the left-hand side of the toolbox (as shown in Figure 10.16below). Alternatively, you can choose to view only the components in a particular category by selecting that category from the list (which appears below the All Items option).
The toolbox displays those components that have the Add to Designer Toolbox box checked on its Form Components record and whose assigned category has Scope set to Global on its Form Template Categories record.
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In addition to the components, the toolbox contains the Select option as its first entry. Choose this option to select an existing field on the form and load that field's parameters into the Aptify Form Template Properties dialog.