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The Form Designer window |
  
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The Form Designer window |
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You use the Form Designer to modify the layout of data entry windows. You can add or remove data fields, move fields around, change the size of field controls, modify fonts or colors, etc.
Please note that you cannot create any *new* data fields.
To activate the Form Designer, either select the appropriate table in the 'Database Setup' window and click the Form Designer button, or choose Form Designer from the File menu in the data entry window.
Before you start modifying a form, we recommend you backup the original layout to a file by choosing Save to File from the File menu. If you later decide you want to revert to the original layout, you can load the form layout file with the Load from File command.
There are 7 object types you can add to a form:
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The text object is usually linked to a data field, but you can also use it, for example, to add a heading to the form. When you add a data field, the program will by default also add a corresponding text label. The text label is then linked to a data field by the Field property, and the actual field name is displayed (and automatically updated if you rename the field). You can override this by filling in the Text property if you want to display a different text. |
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This is the form object you will use the most. When you add a data field, the user interface control for the selected field is added to the form. The control type depends on the actual type of field. For a standard text field (for example Face Value or Custom 01) this is a text box, for a lookup field (for example Country or Custom 08) this is a drop-down list, and for a checkbox field (for example Duplicate) this is a checkbox. |
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The tab control is a set of pages used to create a multipage control. For more information on how to use the tab control, see How to use the tab control. |
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Use the group box to group fields. All fields placed inside a group box is part of this box, and will move when you move the group box. If you delete the group box, all fields within are also deleted. You can give the group box a title by using the Title property. The title is displayed along the top edge of the group box. |
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The button object allows you to add a button to the data entry form. The button will execute a specific action when you click it (for example save the changes and close the window, cancel the changes, or go to the next record). The action is determined by the button's Type property. |
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The Line object will add a vertical or horizontal line. The orientation of the line is determined by the Orientation property. |
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Add an image object if you want to add an image to spice up the look of the form. When you add an image object, you first see the 'Select Image File' window. Here you select image file. When you click Open, the image is added to the form. Note that the image is saved with the form layout. |
