Forms Tab, Form Control

The Forms tab provides options to work with forms.

You can work with just the forms, or you can also include the associated form templates and/or global objects in the action.

The particular action that is performed on the form and associated templates/objects depends on what is selected in the Actions group of options.

Selection Criteria

This group box tells Form Control what form you want to work with and shows the current status of the form.

Group Box/Option Description/Comments
Form name From the drop-down list, select the form you want to work with.
Locked by user Shows the user ID of the developer who has the form checked out.

If this field is blank, the form is not checked out.

Exists in TargetDatabase? If the selected form exists in the destination database (TargetDatabase), this field displays the word True.

If the selected form does not exist in the destination database, this field displays the word False.

Refresh Status If you have had Form Control open and the form selected for awhile, someone else might have checked it out or checked it back in while you were busy elsewhere. To verify the current status of a form, click this button.
Note: 
  • Form Control does not update the status of any global objects you might have displayed in the Global Objects Referenced from Form pane. To get an update for those objects, you must click the Refresh Lists button in the Actions group box.
  • The system does not automatically update the status display of objects in Form Control. What you see is a "snapshot" of where the system was when you started Form Control. Clicking this button takes another "snapshot" of the current state of the system.

Global Objects Referenced from Form

When you select the Display/select object to be included with action check box, this pane displays all the global objects associated with the selected form.

This display has these columns (click to expand/collapse):

Group Box/Option Description/Comments
Inc To include an object in the selected action, select this check box. To exclude the object, clear this check box.

To include all objects in the selected action, click the Select All button in the Global objects display/selection criteria group box.

Obj Type Shows what type the object is.
Obj Name Shows the name of the object.
Ref Obj Type Shows the type of the parent object that references this object.
Ref Obj Name Shows the name of the parent object that references this object.
Locked By If the object is checked out, displays the user ID of the developer who has it checked out.

If this field is blank, it means the object is not checked out.

SourceDatabase Value Shows at least part of the value that the object has in the source database (SourceDatabase).
Note: 

For example, if the action is Restore, the source from which the object is to be copied is the archive database, so this column displays Archive Value.

Replacing TargetDatabase Value Shows at least part of the value that the object has in the target database (TargetDatabase).
Note: 

For example, if the action is Get, the location to which the object will be copied is the run-time database, so this column displays Replacing Run-time Value.

Global Objects Display/Selection Criteria

This group box provides an option to display all the global objects associated with the selected form. You can also select which objects to include with the form during the designated action.

Group Box/Option Description/Comments
Display/select objects to be included with action To see a list of all the global objects associated with the selected form, select this check box. As soon as you select it, Form Control retrieves a list and displays it in the Global Objects Referenced from Form pane.

Once the objects are displayed, you can use the check boxes in the Inc column to select objects to include with the action; or you can use the other options in this group.

Eliminate duplicate global references A form can have multiple references to a particular global object associated with that form. To eliminate duplicate global references from being included in the action, select this check box (selected by default). In most cases, it is not necessary to include duplicate references.

However, it can be useful at times to see all the places where that object is referenced. That might (or might not) influence your decision whether to check it out and make a change to it. If this check box is cleared, Form Control displays all referenced instances of each global object. For example, if a string is referenced by five different components, Form Control lists it in the display five times, each time with a different reference (Ref Obj Type and Ref Obj Name).

Select All To include all the available displayed objects in the designated action, click this button.

Clicking this button selects only those objects that are available for the selected action. For example, another developer might have a global object associated with a form checked out. If you, then, want to check out the object, you cannot, because it is already checked out. In this case, Form Control selects all objects in the list except the one checked out by the other developer.

Deselect All To clear all check boxes in the Inc column of the Global Objects Referenced from Form pane, click this button.

Process Options

This group box includes options to process the selected action.

Group Box/Option Description/Comments
Remove runtime changes from database When selected, removes any run-time form changes in the specified database that users have made to the selected form.

This option is enabled only when the Check in option is selected in the Actions group.

Keep form and referenced object(s) checked out When selected, specifies that when you check in the selected form, Form Control is to keep that form and any associated global objects checked out.

This option is enabled only when the Check in option is selected in the Actions group.

This option allows you to have a working version that you trust, which you can later check in (and unlock) or go back and get the intermediate version.

Overwrite unlocked forms and objects When selected, forms and objects that are unlocked are overwritten when you check in your forms.

When you select this option for the first time, you are warned about potential data loss.

This option is enabled for check-in operations only.
Include form template To include the template object associated with the form in the selected action, select this check box. Note that when you have a template checked out, it does not appear in the list of objects on this tab.
Execute Action When you have made all option selections, to perform the selected action, click this button.