Version identification

A vendor version can serve as the basis for multiple customized versions created by or for individual users and groups. FormSync identifies versions of forms and global objects using a combination of these factors:

  • Form or global object name (not caption)
  • Scope type
  • Scope name

These identifiers, in turn, appear throughout FormSync prompts and messages to identify customized versions to the user.

Scope type and scope name specify who can use a given version of a customized form or object:

Scope type Scope name
User A user name (user ID)
Group The name of an administrative group defined on the Groups form
Site Empty when Site is selected. Internally, in the database, ScopeType = 1 and ScopeName = "[NULL]".

Note that "[NULL]" is a literal value.

This is an example of a logged message: 
Processing property class extension VendNum User version for user B_Smith.
  • The object name is VendNum.
  • The scope type is User.
  • The scope name is B_Smith.

In FormSync, a customized version is any form or global object with a scope type of User, Group, or Site. A vendor version is any form or global object that has not been customized and so has a scope type of Vendor (ScopeType = 0 and ScopeName = "[NULL]"). In the synchronization process, FormSync compares any customized version of a form with vendor versions of the same name in both the Source and Target databases.

All forms have scope attributes. Customer developers with Site Developer editing permissions specify scope attributes when they customize forms.

TIP: You can set the scope attributes either when you:

  • First enter the designer (Web Designer in the web client or Design Mode in the Windows client).
  • In the designer, select Form > Definition > Site Developer Impersonation.

When developers with lower-level editing permission customize forms, the application sets scope attributes automatically.