Every field on an E-form is configured in the properties panel on the right side of the designer. Click a field on the canvas and the panel shows that field's settings. Click a page in the Pages list and it shows that page's settings. Click neither and it shows the settings for the form itself.


The panel is divided into collapsible sections. The first section is named after the selected field and holds the settings that are specific to that field type, followed by the saving and required settings. Below it are Data Settings, Display Settings, Conditions, Automation Settings and Advanced Settings. Not every field shows every section: a field that holds no value has no Data Settings, a label has nothing to save, and Automation Settings only appear on fields that can raise events. This topic covers the settings that are shared across field types; settings unique to one field type are described in that field's own topic.


Naming and default value

Field Label - The text shown beside, above or below the field. Leave it blank for a field that needs no label, such as a button or an image. A single dash (-) keeps the label space empty but reserved, which lines the field up with labelled fields above and below it.


Field Name - The internal name for the field. This is the name used to refer to the field everywhere else: in conditions, in calculations with the {FieldName} syntax, in Set Field Value actions, and as the field name written into the record when Save to Record is on. Field names are case sensitive and should be short and free of spaces. When a field is dragged in from a Record Type in the toolbox the name is already set to match the record field, which is the main reason to build forms that way.


Default Value - The value the field starts with. This can be plain text, a variable such as [DATE] or [USERFULLNAME], or a calculation that refers to other fields. Calculations are covered in the Calculated Fields topic.


Saving

Save to Record - Writes the field's value into the record's data when the form is saved, using the Field Name as the record field name. This is what makes the value searchable and available to workflow, merge templates and reports. A form field with this off still holds its value inside the form but the value never reaches the record.


Requires Approval - Shown when Save to Record is on. The value is held as a pending change rather than written straight into the record, and is applied when the form is approved.


Line Item Table / Save Entries as Line Items - Shown on Table and Repeater fields when Save to Record is on. The rows or entries are written to the record's line items instead of to a single record field.


Save When Hidden - By default a field that is hidden when the form is saved does not write its value. Turn this on to save the value anyway. Use it for a field that is hidden by a condition but still holds a value the record needs, and leave it off when hiding a field is meant to clear it.


Allow Save for Later - Shown on public forms. The field's value is included when the user chooses to save the form and finish it later. Turn this OFF for anything sensitive, such as a social security number or an account number, so it is not held on the user's device.


Required

Field Required - The user cannot save the form until the field has a value. A field that is hidden by a condition is not required while it is hidden.


Required Message - The message shown to the user when the field is required and empty, when a date is outside its allowed range, or when a double entry does not match. Write it as an instruction ("Enter the invoice date") rather than as an error.


To make a field required only in certain circumstances, leave Field Required off and use Field Required When in the Conditions section.


Data Settings

Data Settings control where a field's value comes from when the form is opened. They matter on forms that are opened more than once, such as a form inside a record or a form used at several workflow steps.


Where to Get Initial/Latest Value - Chooses the source for the value each time the form loads.

  • Do Not Set Value / Compute Value - Nothing is loaded into the field. Use this for any field whose value is calculated, because a loaded value overwrites the calculation.
  • Record Data Only - The value comes from the record's data.
  • Form Data Only - The value comes from the saved form data.
  • Record / Form Data - The record's value is used, and the form's value only if the record has none.
  • Form / Record Data - The form's value is used, and the record's value only if the form has none.


Always Use Latest Record / Form Value - Reloads the field with the current value every time the form opens, even when the value was changed somewhere other than this form. Use it for a field that must always show what the record holds now, such as a status or an assigned name. It is ignored when the form is locked, and when no matching value can be found.


Always Use Document Data Value - Reloads the field with the value stored on the document every time the form opens. Use it to update a field's value without going through record data. It is ignored when the form is locked, and when no matching value can be found.


Display Settings

Tooltip - Text shown when the user rests the mouse pointer on the field. Use it for the explanation that would make the label too long.


Label Alignment

Label Alignment sets where a field's label sits in relation to the field itself. The grid of buttons places the label on the left side, above, on the right side, or below the field, and the icon on each button shows how the label text is aligned within that space. Labels on the left or right take a fixed share of the row, set by the form's Label Size, and the field takes the rest.


Inline is the option below the grid. It removes the label column: the label text runs on and the field follows it on the same line, wrapping like a sentence when the text is long. This suits questions printed on paper forms with the box directly after the text, such as "Are you a US citizen? Yes / No". To place the field at the right edge of the row instead, choose Inline and set the field's Field Alignment to Right. The label then fills the space up to the field and wraps as needed, matching forms that print the box at the right margin.


Inline, field first is the mirror image. The field sits at the left edge and the label text follows it, wrapping beside the field. Use it for statements printed with the box or the entry line in front of the text, such as an acknowledgment line or "____ Number of dependents". Field Alignment has no effect with this option. For a Checkbox field, the text entered in the Text setting still appears after the box, so leave it blank when the question is already in the label.


Fonts, Colors, and Borders - Font Family, Font Size (entered as points or as em, or set with the slider), Bold Font, Italic Font, Font Color, Background Color, Border Color, Border Width and Rounded Corners. Anything left unset uses the form's own styling, which is the better default: setting fonts and colors field by field makes a form hard to restyle later.


Sizing/Spacing Settings

  • Field Width - Width, Min Width and Max Width, each entered as a percentage or in pixels. Leave them blank to let the field fill the space it is given. Min and Max are useful inside containers, where the available width changes with the screen size.
  • Field Height - Height, and on fields that can scroll, Min Height and Max Height.
  • Label Width - How much of the row the label takes when it is on the left or the right, from 1 to 11 out of 12. Raise it for long labels, lower it to give the field more room.
  • Field Spacing - The vertical space below the field, from 0 to 100. Leave it at -1 (Unset) to use the form's spacing.
  • Left Side Padding and Right Side Padding - Empty space at the sides of the field as a percentage of the row, from 0 to 100. Use them to indent a field without putting it in a container.


Custom CSS Settings - Custom Container Style, Custom Field Style in object notation and Custom Field Style in CSS notation, for styling that the settings above do not cover. Inspect the field in the browser to see which classes to target. Changes appear on the field shortly after they are made, although removing a property can need a browser reload before it shows correctly. Use these sparingly; they are the hardest part of a form to maintain.


Conditions

The Conditions section holds Field Required When, Field Enabled When, Field Disabled When, Field Visible When and Field Hidden When, which turn a field's behavior on and off based on another field's value, the user, the workflow, the record or where the form is being shown. A wand icon on the section header shows when a field has conditions set. The Field Conditions topic covers them in full.


Automation Settings

Fields that accept entry can run something when the user moves into the field, leaves it, or changes its value. Each of the three events has a server side and a client side.


Focus Event, Blur Event and Change Event - Server - Choose an Action Set to run. Fields to Use lists the names of the fields, one per line, whose values are sent into the Action Set. Send Record and Document sends the current record and document into the Action Set as the active objects. Server events make a round trip, so use them where the work has to happen on the server - a lookup, a validation against other records, a calculation the browser cannot do.


Focus Event, Blur Event and Change Event - Client - Choose a field on the form to trigger, usually a Multi-Action field. Nothing goes to the server, so this is the faster option for showing and hiding fields, setting values and other work inside the form.


Advanced Settings

Testing Value - A value placed into the field when the form is opened with the Open with Test Data option. It has no effect on real use of the form.


Include In AI Summaries - Whether an AI summary of the form's responses may read what people entered in this field. Leave it on the default unless the field holds something that should not be summarized.


Require Double Entry - Adds a second box the user must fill in with the same value, and the form cannot be saved until the two match. The Required Message is shown when they do not. A placeholder can be set for the second box.


Validation (Regex) - A regular expression the value must match, with the message to show when it does not. Use it for formats the field types do not already enforce, such as an account number or a policy number in a fixed shape.


Notes - Notes for whoever maintains the form. They are never shown to users; they appear as a tooltip on the section headers in the designer.


Page settings

Selecting a page in the Pages list shows the page's own settings: Page Name, Page Icon, Field Spacing for the fields on that page, Lock When Form Locked, and Hidden When, which hides the whole page on the same condition rules used for fields.


Field actions

The buttons on a field's title bar in the designer act on the field itself rather than its settings.

  • Save as Custom Field - Saves the field, with all its settings, into the Custom Fields section of the toolbox so it can be reused on other forms.
  • Copy - Copies the field so it can be pasted into this or another page or form.
  • Cut - Removes the field and holds it for pasting elsewhere.
  • Paste - Pastes the last copied or cut field. It only appears once something has been copied or cut.
  • Duplicate - Places a copy of the field directly below it.
  • Delete - Removes the field from the form.