Creating Form Components

Creation of new form components is possible within Aptify. Each component is based on .NET assemblies that implement the Aptify's IFormComponent interface. New components require new objects and classes to be written and compiled. The creation of this code is beyond the scope of this topic. A sample Form Components record is shown below.

1. Open a new record from the Form Components service.
2. Enter a name and description for the component.
3. Enter a Category. If necessary, you can create a new category. See Creating Form Component Categories.
4. Select the Run Mode from the list to indicate how the component is enabled for use in form template parts.
   • All: The component is enabled for all records (new and saved) defined by the form template.
   • New Only: The component is only available for new records.
   • Saved Only: The component is only available for existing records. 
5. If Run Mode is set to either New Only or Saved Only, the Disabled Behavior field is available. Available options are:
   • Disable: Selected by default. This disables the template part, so it appears as read-only. For example, when a component is set to Saved Only, it appears as disabled until the record is saved (at which point it becomes enabled).
   • Hide: Prevents the template part from being visible except during the run mode selected for the form template part. For example, if Run Mode is set to Saved Only and Disabled Behavior is set to Hide, the part is not visible on new records. 
6. Enter any additional information in the Comments field.
7. If this component corresponds to a tab on a form, you can specify an icon from the Object Repository in the Icon field.
   • Tab parts that use this component will automatically display the selected icon to the right of the tab name, as shown below. 
     
      
8. Select the Add to Designer Toolbox option if you want to include this component in the Visual Designer's Toolbox.
   • This is only applicable for components that correspond to a field on a form, such as a Text Field. 
9. You can specify that a form component is a container component to support the hosting of a sub-template. Select the Is Container option when you want this component to be able to host a sub-template. 
10. Click the Windows Control tab.
    • The Web Control tab is reserved for future use. 
11. In the Object field, enter the component file's location in the Aptify Object Repository.
12. Enter the Class within the object that implements the component's functionality.
13. Enter the .NET Assembly Name for the component.
14. Enter a License key for the component (if implementing a control from a third-party vendor).
15. Save the record.

Defining Form Component Input Properties

The input properties of a form component define the data elements that may be configured when this component is attached to a template part. For example, if the component defines a text field, information that may be modified when that text field is placed in a template includes the label of the field and the font type and size of the text inside the field.

1. Open a new Input Properties record from the Input Properties tab of the Form Components form.
   
    
2. Enter a name and description for the input property.
3. Choose a type from the Type list.
4. If this input property is required, select the Required option.
5. Click OK to save and close the Input Properties record.
6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 to define additional input properties.
   • Alternatively, you can click OK and New in Step 5 to save the current record and open an new Input Properties record in one step. 

Creating Form Component Categories

Form components may be grouped together based on an organization's business-specific reporting needs. These groupings are defined in Form Component Categories records.

Follow these steps to create a new category:

1. Open a new record from the Form Component Categories service.
2. Enter a name and description.
3. If the components in this category apply to a specific entity, change the Scope to Entity and specify that entity in the Entity field. Otherwise, leave the Scope set to Global.
4. Save and close the record.
5. Repeat the above steps to add additional categories as necessary.