Forms

Designer > Presentation > Forms

A well-defined form makes data entry and inspection easier and faster.

About Forms

Forms define the Fields that are visible to users in different roles when a Record in an Object is viewed or edited. The fields in a form can be ordered and organized into sections. Labels, spacer lines, and horizontal dividers can be added to create logical groupings, and sections can be added for Quick Links and for related records (Related Information).

The Elements Sidebar helps you to configure the layout for a Form.

Considerations

Forms are associated with Objects
Multiple forms can be created for an Object
In addition to the standard forms, you can create your own custom Pages for viewing, adding, or updating a record, and select them for use in the object Properties section: Presentation Pages.

Users that have the Customize Objects permission can edit Forms

Configuration Options

These configuration buttons are available:

[Edit Layout]
[Edit Form Script]
[Clone Layout]
[Layout Rule]

Considerations

When an Object is created, a Default Form is created
The Default Form cannot be deleted or renamed
When a user creates a new form layout, that user has full control over the design, and can add any combination of elements from a default list, or select from a list of existing elements

Parts of a Form

You work with elements in the form using the icons adjacent to each element.
You can add fields, sections, and other elements to the form using the controls at top left.

Element Icons

The element icons appear when the cursor hovers over an element in the form. Use the icons to edit the element, rearrange its position, add a script, or remove it from the form:

Considerations

The edit icon is not available for the built-in fields that are predefined for every object: Owner, date created, date modified, created by, modified by, object id, record id, and the workflow fields.
The scripting icon gives you the ability to specify JavaScript code to execute when On Change and On Focus events occur for that field. That option is only available for fields that have a "raw data" type like string or number.}}

Elements

The Elements section at top left contains things you can drag and drop into the form.

Fields

The first tab is Fields. It contains the object fields that can be put into the form.

Form Controls

The second tab is Form Controls.

	Spacer	Add horizontal space between elements in a form. Field Label: The name of the element.
	Label	Add a label to a form. Field Label: The name of the element. Content: The text (and optional inline HTML) that will appear when the form is displayed.
	Horizontal Divider	Add a dividing line between elements in a form. Field Label: The name of the element.
	Section	Sections divide areas in a Form for improved readability and organization Sections have a default setting to open expanded or collapsed Fields in sections can be hidden in a View, if the field contains no data Within a section, images can be displayed in the header, footer, left or right margins
	Quick Link	A Quick Link provides the ability to pass a value from a record to a website URL. For example, add a Google News lookup to an Account, or add a Facebook lookup to a Contact

New Section Constructors

Underneath the Elements section, there are two links you can use to create additional sections in the form, either of which can be used to display related records from another object.

New Grid Section

Displays as a table or spreadsheet within a record
During data entry, multiple records can be added in a grid section
For example, the Orders object can contain a grid section that lists the OrderItems
When entering an order, multiple items can be added at the same time

New Related Information section

A Related Information section is created by default in all Objects
Use this link to create (optional) additional Related Information Sections.
During data entry, you add related records one at a time by clicking the [Add] button.
When displaying a Customer object, for example, you might use the Related Information section to display past orders, and use the [Add] button to create a new one.

The prerequisite for either of these sections is the existence of a Lookup relationship that defines a one-to-many relationship. For example, since there is a Lookup from Orders to Customers, the Customer object can define a Related Information section to display a history of Customer orders.

Learn more: Object Relationships

Working with Forms

Assign a Form

Designer > Objects > {object} > Forms > [Forms Assignment]

For each Role defined in the application, select the Form used to access this object's data.
Make one selection for online access and one for mobile access.

Note: The [Forms Assignment] button appears only when the Object Properties specify "Role Based Permissions" for Access Control. This is the default setting for new objects, but it may not be the setting for legacy objects.)

Edit a Form Layout

Designer > Objects > {object} > Forms > {form} > [Edit Layout]

Depending on the type of object you are modifying, you will be be editing one of:

Built-in or CRM Object Form
Custom Object Form

Built-in or CRM Object Form

The default form for a Built-in or CRM object provides a few basic options.

Basic Information

Name

Name of the Form

The following option is available only in Accounts, Contacts, and Prospects:

Use this layout for the Quick Add Lookup Window: Checkbox; If checked, this layout is used in the Quick Add Lookup Window, which provides a [New Object] button in the Lookup Window; If unchecked, the Quick Add option is not available

Use this Form for:

Managing Records - An interactive form for use when adding, viewing, or updating records in the platform GUI.
Printing Records - A form that used to generate a PDF using the Print a Record operation.
Web Forms - A form that will become a Web Form in an external site.

This option only appears for a non-default form, and only when the object is designated as Web Enabled in the Object Information section of the Object Properties.
When a Web Form is accessed from a Mobile device, a Mobile-Optimized version of the Web Form is used

Mobile Access - A form that is used for Mobile Access.

(This option only appears for a non-default form, and only when Mobile Access is enabled.)

Note: Mobile Access forms have a fixed, two-column format. Converting an existing form to Mobile Access causes the form layout to be rearranged into that format.

Display Style

(This section does not appear for a Mobile Access form.)

Choose a Display Style to use when performing these actions:

Viewing a Record
Adding a Record
Editing a Record

Related Information Display Style

(This section does not appear for a Mobile Access form.)

Choose a style to use when Viewing Related Information in a record:

Sectional
Horizontal Tabbed

Advanced Options

(This section does not appear for a Mobile Access form.)

This option is available only in Accounts and Prospects objects:

Show Contacts Addition Section

Checkbox

If checked, the contact details are shown when adding a new Account or Prospect.
If unchecked, contact details are not shown.

Custom Object Form

The default form for a Custom Object provides additional form layout options.

Basic Information

Name: Name of the Form

Use this Form for:

Managing Records - An interactive form for use when adding, viewing, or updating records in the platform GUI.
Printing Records - A form that used to generate a PDF using the Print a Record operation.
Web Forms - A form that will become a Web Form in an external site.

This option only appears for a non-default form, and only when the object is designated as Web Enabled in the Object Information section of the Object Properties.
When a Web Form is accessed from a Mobile device, a Mobile-Optimized version of the Web Form is used

Mobile Access - A form that is used for Mobile Access.

(This option only appears for a non-default form, and only when Mobile Access is enabled.)

Note: Mobile Access forms have a fixed, two-column format. Converting an existing form to Mobile Access causes the form layout to be rearranged into that format.

Display Style

(This section does not appear for a Mobile Access form.)

Choose a Display Style to use when performing these actions:

Viewing a Record
Adding a Record
Editing a Record

Related Information Display Style

(This section does not appear for a Mobile Access form.)

Choose a style to use when Viewing Related Information in a record:

Sectional
Horizontal Tabbed

Advanced Options

(This section does not appear for a Mobile Access form.)

Show Tags link

Checkbox, checked by default
Optionally, uncheck to hide the Tags link

Show the Clone Form button

Checkbox, checked by default
Optionally, uncheck to hide the Clone Form button

Show the Print icon

Checkbox, checked by default
Optionally, uncheck to hide the Print icon

Show Field Hint

Show on-screen help for individual fields during any or all of the following actions:

View Record
Edit Record
Add Record

When Show Field Hint is enabled, this icon appears next to fields that have help text: (?)

Hovering the mouse over the (?) icon displays the help text

If this option is enabled and there is text in the Description for a field in the Form, then:

That text appears as on-screen help when the user clicks the Hint link, by default.
In each Form, it becomes possible to specify the Field Hint to use for that field, in that form. (That text is then displayed as the field hint, overriding the field description.)

Note: The Field Hint option is available for all field types, except for Custom Control and Lookup-Derived fields.

Remove a Field from the Layout

To Remove a Field from a Layout:

In the Forms tab, hover the mouse over the field to remove, and click the Remove Field button in the floating toolbar

The field is removed from the layout, but it remains available in the object. Fields can be reused in this layout or any new layouts.

Clone a Form

You create a new Form by cloning an existing one. When a new Form is created, the layout design is completely customizable, and can include any combination of standard elements and Object fields.

To clone a form:

1. Click Designer > Objects > {object} > Forms

2. Click the Clone link next to the Form you want to copy.

3. Specify Name - The name that appears in the Forms list

4. Specify Use this Form for:

Managing Records - An interactive form for use when adding, viewing, or updating records in the platform GUI.
Printing Records - A form that used to generate a PDF using the Print a Record operation.
Web Forms - A form that will become a Web Form in an external site.

This option only appears for a non-default form, and only when the object is designated as Web Enabled in the Object Information section of the Object Properties.
When a Web Form is accessed from a Mobile device, a Mobile-Optimized version of the Web Form is used

Mobile Access - A form that is used for Mobile Access.

(This option only appears for a non-default form, and only when Mobile Access is enabled.)

Note: Mobile Access forms have a fixed, two-column format. Converting an existing form to Mobile Access causes the form layout to be rearranged into that format.

5. Specify the Form Properties below

The available options depend on the type of Form you created.

6. Click [Save]

The new form is created. You continue to see the form you created the clone from.

7. To see the new form, select it from the Object's list of Forms, which now contains the new entry.

Form Properties:

Display Style

This section appears for a Web Form, and when a Form is used for Managing Records.

Choose the layout format to use when:
Viewing a Record

Adding a Record

Editing a Record

Related Information Display Style

This section appears for a Web Form, and when a Form is used for Managing Records.

Choose the layout format to use when:
Viewing a Record

Advanced Options

This section appears when a Form is used for Managing Records,
Show Tags Link - When viewing a record, show the link that allows Data Tags to be set and modified

Show Clone Button - When viewing the Form definition, the [Clone Layout] button is displayed

Show Print Button - When viewing a record, show the button that allows it to be printed.

Show Field Hint - Choose whether or not to show field hints when the form is displayed to add, view, or update (edit) a record.

Delete a Form

Click Designer > Objects > {object}
Click the [Delete] button
Click OK to confirm deletion of this layout

Layout Rules

Designer > Objects > {object} > Forms > {form} > [Layout Rules]

Layout Rules provide the ability to create dynamic Forms that adapt and offer additional options as data is entered.

About Layout Rules

As data is entered into a form, Layout Rules can be used to:

Hide or show fields or entire sections of a form.
Disable or enable fields
Assign a value to a field
Hide or show values in a Picklist
Hide or show values a Button
Display a message

Sample use cases:

Show a discount button when an amount reaches some value
Hide a section to prevent access to data until after a specific date and time.

Working with Layout Rules

Users that have the Customize Objects permission can edit Layout Rules

Layout Rules use an IF...THEN...ELSE model to customize a form layout:

IF some <condition> is TRUE

THEN do a <thing>

ELSE do another <thing>

The <condition> is written as a Formula Expression, which can make use of most of the fields in the record, as well as some related fields.

Considerations

Each Layout Rule can include multiple actions
Actions are executed in the order in which they are displayed
Actions can be added, edited, deleted or reordered
Sections can be opened based on a condition
A condition can be applied on Add, View or Update of a Record
To be available for use in a Layout Rule, the field must not be hidden in the layout.
(If it should be hidden at times, then hide it using a Layout Rule.)
Multi Object Lookup fields cannot be used to specify criteria for a Layout Rule.
Learn more: Multi Object Lookup#Considerations

Note:
A field can be referenced in either:

a. A section for which Show Empty Fields in View has been disabled
(using Advanced Options in a Section), or

b. A Layout Rule condition.

But it cannot be referenced in both places.

The Reason: If the field is empty, the server removes it from the page. The Layout Rule, meanwhile, is a JavaScript function in the page. When the Layout Rule tries to test that field, an error occurs.

Adding or Editing a Layout Rule

Click Designer > Objects > {object} > Forms > {form} View
Click the [Layout Rule] button at the top of the page.
Click the [Add New Rule] button to add a new Layout Rule,
or click the name of an existing rule to edit it.
Name

Name of the Layout Rule

Enabled

Check the box to enable the Layout Rule, or uncheck it to disable the Layout Rule

Description

Description of the rule

Apply rule during
Executes the Layout Rule when any of the selected actions are taken on a record in the Object
- Add Record
- View Record
- Update Record
On Success do not continue to next Rule
Checkbox, unchecked by default
- If checked, and this rule is Triggered, then any rules that follow are not processed
- The order of processing rules is controlled with the [Reorder Rule] button
Use the Layout Rule Builder to create an IF, THEN, ELSE statement. This statement defines the behaviors and actions of the Layout Rule.
Click [Save]

Reorder Layout Rules

Click Designer > Objects > {object} > Forms > {form} View
Click the [Layout Rule] button at the top of the page.
Click the [Reorder Rule] button to change the order in which rules are executed.

Layout Rule Builder

The Layout Rule Builder has three sections:

IF Section

Specify the condition that will trigger this rule

Create a Formula Expression (using <FIELD_NAME> <OPERATOR> <FUNCTION>) that evaluates to a TRUE/FALSE state
The contents of the Field list may differ based on the object

If the condition resolves to TRUE, take the action associated with the THEN condition
If the condition resolves to FALSE, take the action associated with the ELSE condition

THEN Section: Optionally, create action(s) to take when the expression is TRUE; Actions are displayed in rows which can be added, edited, deleted or reordered
ELSE Section: Optionally, create action(s) to take when the expression is FALSE; Actions are displayed in rows which can be added, edited, deleted or reordered

Available Actions

Available actions include:

Show/Hide Sections or Fields
Disable/Enable Fields
Assign Value to Fields
Setup Value in Picklist
Display Message:

Once During Form Save Only
When Condition Matches

Show/Hide Buttons

Using Enumerated Picklists in Layout Rules

Layout Rule criteria can be specified using Enumerated Picklist Values. The Display Label is not considered valid for criteria in Layout Rules.

About the [Save Changes] Button

If you are editing a form layout and attempt to navigate to a different tab in the object, the following message is displayed, which provides the option to [Cancel] the action and [Save Changes], or continue [OK] and abandon the edit process.

File:Confirmformlayoutchange.gif

Form Scripting

Designer > Objects > {object} > Forms > {form} > [Edit Form Script]

Form Scripting lets you specify JavaScript code to execute when a Form is loaded or saved.

Compare to Post Selection JavaScript and Field Scripting

Learn more:

Using AJAX and REST to communicate with the platform

About Form Scripting

JavaScript code can be invoked at these form-level events:

On Load

This event happens when the form loads
By default, the On Load scripts are triggered on any record action (View, Add, Update)

Optionally, invoke the script on a specific action (View or Add or Update)

Learn more: Trigger on a Specific Action

On Save

This event happens when a user clicks the [Save] button on a form
At this event, optionally perform custom front-end validations before sending the data to the server
Return false to cancel the save

Resusable Script Functions

Available to be called from the On Load or On Save event form scripts
Also available to be called from the On Change and On Focus event field scripts

Working with Form Scripts

Editing Form Scripts

Follow these steps to add or change scripting in a form:

Click Designer > Objects > {object} > Forms
Click [Form Script]
Click [Edit]
Enter or change the JavaScript in On Load Script, On Save Script, and/or Reusable Script Functions
Click [Save]

Writing Form Scripts

In the HTML document object model (DOM), the current form is named mainForm. For example, the line of code below gets a reference to the current form in the variable named form:

var form = document.mainForm;

You can refer to a field in a form using the name under "Field Name" when you select Designer > Objects > {object} > Fields. For example, the line of code below gets a reference to the firstName field in the variable elem:

var elem = document.mainForm.firstName;

Fields have two properties that you can access in code:

name: the name of the field
value: the value of the field

Example - Update the field value of a text field

To update the field value of a text field first_name, use the following syntax:

form.first_name.value = "Adam"

Example - Update the field value of a Lookup field

To update the field value of a Lookup field, two parameters are required:

RecordID: lookup.value; This is the Record Id of the record in the object
Field value: lookup_name.value; This is the value of the record in the object

To update the field value of a lookup field (project_number), use the following syntax:

form.project_number.value = "123456"; 
// 123456 is the internal record identifier of the record present in lookup object
form.project_number_name.value = "My Project"; 
// My project is the value present in the record locator field(s) of the lookup object

On Load Examples

Set the opportunity name with the account name when adding an opportunity.

var form = document.mainForm; 
form.name.value = form.reference_id_name.value;

Convert the current date into day name, month name, and day number format and puts the resulting value in the account_order field.

var form = document.mainForm; 

var v1 = new Date(); 
var v2 = new Array('Sunday', 'Monday', 'Tuesday', 'Wednesday', 'Thurs', 'Fri', 'Sat', 'Sun'); 
var v3 = new Array('Jan', 'Feb', 'Mar', 'Apr', 'May', 'Jun', 'Jul', 'Aug', 'Sep', 'Oct', 'Nov', 'Dec'); 
form.account_order.value = v2[v1.getDay()] + " " + v3[v1.getMonth()] + " " + v1.getDate();

Trigger on a Specific Action

To invoke a script On Load + Action (View, Update, Add or Clone a record):

Trigger on record View:

var action = document.mainForm.a.value;
if ( action == "view") {
// java script to be triggered on the view of the record only
<!--...-->
}

Trigger on record Update:

var action = document.mainForm.a.value;
if ( action == "update") {
// java script to be triggered on the update of the record only
<!--...-->
}

Trigger on record Add or Clone:

var action = document.mainForm.a.value; 
if ( action == "add") {
//java script to be triggered on the add or clone of the record only
<!--...-->
}

On Save Examples

Make sure there is a contact when creating an Lead.

var form = document.mainForm;
if (form.reference_type[form.reference_type.selectedIndex].value == 'Lead')
{
    if (form.contact_id.value == "")
    {
      alert("Please enter Contact Name");
      return false; // cancel the save operation
    }
}

If a user checked the "Done" radio button in a radio button group named technical_spec_completed, set the spec_date field with the current date formatted as month number, day number, and year.

var form = document.mainForm;
function formatDate(value)
{
    return value.getMonth()+1 + "/" + value.getDate() + "/" + value.getFullYear();
} 
for (var i=0; i<form.technical_spec_completed.length; i++) {
    if(form.technical_spec_completed[i].checked &&
        form.technical_spec_completed[i].value == 'Done' && form.spec_date.value == '')
    {
        t = new Date();
        form.spec_date.value = formatDate(t);
    }
}

The email address field on a form is not mandatory, but you want to encourage users to enter it. If the user clicks OK in the confirm dialog, it cancels the save so they can then enter the email address. If they click cancel, the save proceeds.

var form = document.mainForm;

if(form.email.value=="")
    if (confirm("While the Email field is optional, we recommend that you
enter a value")) 
    {
        //User clicked OK: do not proceed with save
       return false;
    else
    {
        //User clicked cancel: let save happen
        return true;
    }
}

Change the value of a checkbox field to True based on an integer meeting some criteria.

if(form.contract_amount.value > 100000)
{
     form.approved_for_loan.checked = true;
}

Learn More

Field Name and Field Value syntax
Use AJAX and REST to communicate with the platform in JavaScript code.
Global JavaScript Variables
Accessing Additional Lookup Variables in a Form