What are Forms, Views, Controls, and Data Fields?

Forms and Views

Forms are reusable pieces assembled in various combinations to make different views; forms are the building blocks of all Infor CRM SLX views. For example, the Account detail view is made of one form for the detail pane and other forms for the tabs.

A form may be used in multiple views. For example, the InsertContracts form is used in the Contracts Detail view and in the Insert Contracts view.

There are two kinds of forms: custom forms and Quick Forms.

You can make simple changes to a view by editing its component forms with the Web Form Designer. For example, you can change captions and move things around on a form. When you save the form changes, all the views that contain the form, change as well. Changes you make affect everyone on the system because form and view definitions are shared. Tell me more...

Controls

Each thing on a form, such as a button or a field, is called a 'control'. There are about 30 different kinds of controls used on Infor CRM SLX forms.

Some kinds of controls cause an action to be performed. Examples are button controls that save data and link controls which open a view.

Many kinds of controls show data from the Infor CRM SLX database so that users can view or edit the data. For example, this pick list control enables users to view and change the status of an account:

All the control types discussed above are visual controls; that is, the control types are intended to be displayed on forms. A few kinds of controls are non-visual.

The Web Form Designer shows the layout of the controls on a form and allows you to drag and drop the controls into different positions.

Control Properties

Control properties are settings that define a control's behavior and appearance. For example, the Image property of a button control specifies the icon to show on the face of the button. Pick list controls have a property called Allow Multiple Selections. Two properties common to almost all the controls are Caption and Tooltip.

When you select a control on the design surface of the Web Form Designer, the control's properties are shown on the tabs where you can change many of the values.

Data Fields

Data fields are the individual kinds of information users view and change about account, contacts, and so on. Examples of data fields are Account Name and Status. A control that shows data from the Infor CRM SLX database is able to do so because data is tied or "bound" to the data field in the database.