Background inforrnation

Forms data includes specifications for form components, validation procedures, scripts, variables, and other objects that make up the SyteLine forms (in essence, the user interface). Data specified in design mode is stored as forms data, and the framework interprets the data at run time to create the form.

The forms data includes a set of "strings" tables, which contain translations of the text strings used in form titles, field labels, buttons, and so on. The default strings table, for English, is named Strings. The other strings tables have names like JapaneseStrings, FrenchStrings, and so on. The strings table used for each language ID/culture is determined by the settings in the application's Language IDs form.

If you are customizing SyteLine, you could optionally maintain a separate, work-in-progress database that is accessed by developers using WinStudio design mode. This work-in-progress database stores product changes until they are tested and ready to be copied to the deployed database accessed by end users.

If you are using a separate all-in-one database for your custom forms data, the value you specify in the Forms Database Name field on the Sites or Sites/Entities form points to the database that contains the strings tables you want a specific site to use. The value in this field should match the Runtime Forms Database Name that is specified in the Configuration Manager utility for the primary configuration used to log into this site.

More information about the use of the forms database is available in the online help for the FormControl and FormSync utilities.