The Component Fields section of the toolbox holds ready-made fields: ordinary field types that arrive with their settings and their lists already filled in. Dropping one on a form saves typing out a list of states or building an invoice table from an empty one.


They are starter fields, not special ones. A component is an ordinary Option List, Radio Button or Table underneath, so everything in Common Field Settings applies and every setting can be changed once it is on the form. Give each one a Field Name that suits your form - they arrive named after the component, which is rarely the name the record wants.


Value and display

Several of these lists show the user one thing and save another. That is deliberate, and it is worth checking before the form goes out, because the value is what reaches the record and appears in searches and merge documents.

  • States Abbrev. saves and shows the two-letter code.
  • States Full saves and shows the full state name.
  • Hours, Hours 15min and Hours 5min show a 12-hour time such as 2:30 PM but save a 24-hour value such as 14:30.
  • Months Numbered shows the month name but saves its number, 1 through 12.
  • Months Named shows and saves the month name.


Where a component does not save what your record needs, either swap it for the sibling that does - Months Named instead of Months Numbered, States Full instead of States Abbrev. - or edit the option list on the field, which is an ordinary list once it is on the form.

The lists

States Abbrev. - A drop-down of the US states as two-letter codes, including the District of Columbia.


States Full - The same list with the full state names.


Yes/No Options - A Radio Button field offering Yes and No. Because it is a Radio Button rather than a Checkbox, an unanswered question stays visibly unanswered instead of looking like a No - which is the reason to use it for anything that has to be answered deliberately.


Hours - A drop-down of the hours of the day, on the hour.


Hours 15min - The same at quarter-hour intervals.


Hours 5min - The same at five-minute intervals. It is a long list, so use the coarsest one that suits the task.


Months Numbered - The twelve months, shown by name and saved as a number.


Months Named - The twelve months, shown and saved by name.


The tables

Invoice Table - A Table set up for line item entry, with a footer and the ability to add rows. Its columns are Item #, Description, Qty, Amount and Total. Qty and Amount are number columns that total in the footer, Amount to two decimal places, and Total is a calculated column showing quantity multiplied by amount, which also totals. Drop it on the form and it works as it stands; rename the columns to match your record's line item fields before you rely on what it saves.


Timesheet Table - A Table set up for a week of hours, with a footer. Its rows are fixed - Monday through Sunday, already filled in - and unlike the Invoice Table it does not allow rows to be added, which is the point: a week has seven days. Its columns are Day of Week, Morning, Afternoon, Evening and Total, where the three number columns total in the footer and Total adds the day's three figures across the row.

Both tables are ordinary Table fields, so everything in the Table Fields topic applies - adding and removing columns, changing what the footer does, and deciding whether the rows are saved as the record's line items.

Making your own

If you find yourself dropping the same component and making the same changes to it every time, save your version as a Custom Field instead. It then appears in the Custom Fields section of the toolbox with your settings already applied, and it is the better answer for lists that are specific to your organization - your departments, your locations, your reason codes - which will never be shipped as components.