Aptify automatically generates the form template for a new entity when an administrator saves it for the first time with the Generate Table option checked on the Entities record. The system also regenerates form templates as needed if there are subsequent changes to the entity that need to be reflected on the form.

For example, if an administrator adds or removes a field from an entity, the system automatically regenerates the template. If an administrator changes the Show In Find attribute for an entity field, the system does not regenerate the template since this change has no impact on the form's appearance.

A form created by the Form Template Generator includes the following characteristics:

• General Tab: The generator adds all entity fields that do not have a Category specified to a General tab. Fields appear in the order in which they appear within the entity (assuming they are in the same category).
• Attachments Tab: The generator adds an Attachments tab to all generated forms.
• Sub-Type Tabs: For top-level entities, the generator adds a tab for each of its sub-type entity.
• Related Entity Tabs: If an entity is the foreign key for another entity (that is, there is a link box on another entity's form that links to this entity), the generator automatically creates a tab that lists the records in the related entity where the current record appears in the link box. These tabs do not appear on the form by default but a user can add them using the Configure option. (See Modifying the Tab Layout on a Form.)
• Other Tabs: If one or more fields have a Category specified, the generator automatically creates a tab using the Category name. Fields in a particular category appear under the tab with the same name.

Notes Concerning Form Template Generator

• The Baseline Form Template Generator does not place the following types of fields on a form:
  • Non-updateable, In Table fields (such as a WhoCreated field)
  • Virtual Fields not associated with an embedded link
  • Embedded link fields
     
• If fields are added to or removed from an entity and the entity is saved, the system automatically updates all of the entity's generated, global form templates unless the entity has a Viewer Plug-in specified on the Plug-Ins tab of the Entities record. Note that the system does not automatically update non-generated templates that have been modified for organizations or end users; these must be manually updated, if necessary.
• When an entity is regenerated, the Baseline Form Template Generator deletes any existing generated form templates for the entity and recreates them as necessary. Therefore, if you modify a top level Form Template or a Tab Sub-Template Form Template (thus making it non-generated), you should also modify (for example, rename) all of that template's associated sub-templates to ensure that the generator does not inadvertently delete sub-templates that are used by a non-generated higher level form template.
• The Baseline Form Template Generator does not delete non-generated form templates when regenerating an entity's form templates.
• In some cases you may want to regenerate the entity's form templates without having to regenerate the entire entity. For example, you may want to regenerate the entity's form templates if you modified a form manually and now want to revert to the generated version. Regenerating the entire entity in this case may not be necessary and could have a significant impact on system activity during the regeneration. In this case, an administrator can regenerate an entity's form templates by using the Generate Form Template option on the entity's Form Templates tab without having to manually regenerate the entire entity. Selecting this option triggers the regeneration the entity's form templates without having to manually regenerate the entity as a whole.