Form layout

In the Form Builder, the Layout tab is used to specify the internal presentation structure of the form. Its Navigation panel shows the organization of the form's internal presentation structure. When a form is first being created, all that is in the Navigation panel is an icon that represents the root of the hierarchy that is the internal structure.

The operation of the Navigation panel is similar to panels in other platform tools that display a tree. Each part of the tree or node is displayed with a name on the right and an icon on the left. If a node has other nodes under it, clicking the node's icon will alternately expose and hide the nodes under it. Clicking the name of the node will select it so you can work with its properties or other aspects.

The label displayed next to the root icon is initially Form. The label Form is just a placeholder that is used until you specify what the name of the form will be. After you specify that, the name of the form replaces the label Form.

The Layout panel displays a mock-up of the form being specified. It will help you see how the internal structure you specify lays out on the screen.

When you are just beginning to create a form, the Layout panel is blank. As you fill in the structure of the form, you will see the Layout panel filled in.

The Layout panel shows a mock-up of the form based solely on its internal presentation structure. Some aspects of a form's appearance are not based on its internal structure, such as the presence of an Associations tab. Clicking the Preview action at the top of the window causes a preview window to pop up that presents a mock-up of the form that includes things like the Associations tab that are not part of the form's internal presentation structure. In preview mode, the system does not render a report in a report section; instead it displays "Report Section".

The Properties panel shows the properties of whatever component of the form's internal structure is selected in the Navigation panel. Initially the form is the selected component, so initially the Properties panel shows the properties of the form.

The Components panel displays a list of fields or sections from business objects that is available for inclusion in a section.

When you create a new form, first specify the properties for the form. You will not be able to save a new form until you have specified values for its Business Object and Name properties.

After you have saved the form for the first time, it will have a Publish action at the top of the Layout tab. Clicking the Publish action will publish the form. While the state of the form is published, the top of the Layout tab will not have a Publish action, but it will have a Revise action that you will be able to click to revise the form. Publication and revision are described in "Create-Publish-Revise cycle".