Container/Table Fields
Container/Table Fields
A container is a field that holds other fields. Containers are what turn a list of questions into a form somebody can read: they put fields side by side, group them under a heading, split them across tabs, or hide them until they are needed.
Fields are added to a container by dragging them onto the container, either onto the Add Fields to Container bar at its foot or onto a field already inside it. Containers can hold other containers, which is how more involved layouts are built - columns inside a panel, a panel inside a tab. Use Hide Form Controls on the designer toolbar to see the arrangement without the designer's own borders getting in the way.
A container holds no value of its own and saves nothing to the record. Its settings are about layout and appearance. The exceptions are the two that collect repeating data - Table and Repeater - which do save what is entered in them.
Every container shares the settings described in Common Field Settings, and their conditions work as described in Field Conditions. Hiding a container hides everything inside it, which is usually the tidiest way to show or hide a whole section of a form.
The containers
Flexible Columns - Lays the fields inside it out in columns: a fixed pattern of widths, an automatic number per row, or a grid of tiles with column and row spans. The workhorse for multi-column forms and dashboard pages. See Flexible Columns.
Panel - A box with a heading, a body and a footer, which can be given its own colors, a shadow and a background, and can be collapsed and expanded. Use it to group a section of a form and give it a title. See Panel.
Table - A grid for tabular entry - invoice lines, timesheets, anything with a row per item - with column totals and row highlighting. See Table Fields.
Tab Container - Several tabs in one field, each holding its own fields, so a long form becomes a set of shorter pages without leaving the screen. See Tab Container.
iFrame - Embeds another web page inside the form. See iFrame.
Modal Window - A pop-up window holding fields, opened and closed by a button or an action rather than sitting on the page. See Modal Window.
Split Columns - Two columns divided by a bar the user can drag to resize. See Split Columns.
Repeater - Repeats a group of fields once per entry, for repeating data that does not suit a table - each entry laid out as a small form rather than a row. See Repeater Fields.
Choosing between them
Flexible Columns or Split Columns? Flexible Columns for a layout you decide and the user lives with, which is nearly always the right answer. Split Columns only where the user genuinely needs to change the balance while they work - a document viewer beside a set of fields, say.
Table or Repeater? A Table where the data is naturally a grid and the columns are short - quantities, amounts, dates. A Repeater where each entry needs several fields, longer text, or its own layout, and a row would be too cramped. A Repeater is also the better answer on a form that will be filled in on a phone, where a wide table is hard to use.
Tabs or Pages? Tabs keep everything on one page of the form, so all the fields are loaded and the user can move between them freely. Pages split the form properly, which suits a long form filled in from start to finish. One warning about tabs: fields in a tab that is not currently showing are not computed, so a Math Label or other calculated field inside a tab must only depend on fields in that same tab.
Panel or nothing? A panel earns its place when the group needs a title, needs to collapse, or needs to stand out. Wrapping every few fields in a panel makes a form busier, not clearer.