Getting objects

"Getting" a global object allows you to retrieve a copy of the object without putting a lock on it or formally checking it out. Getting an object that no one has checked out enables several people to work with it at once, but no changes can be made permanent without actually checking out the object. So, typically, you would get an object (as opposed to checking it out) only when you want to make changes of an experimental nature without worrying about the changes becoming permanent.

Note: Both getting and checking out an object overwrite any existing copies in the run-time database with the version currently in the master database. This means that you cannot make changes made to a "get" version permanent, as you cannot check in a "get" version, and any changes you make are overwritten when you check it out.

You can get these objects:

  • Forms, with or without their associated templates and/or global objects
  • Global objects, regardless of whether or not they are associated with forms

During a get operation, Form Control performs these tasks:

  • Verifies that no one has the object checked out.

    If an object is checked out by someone other than you, you cannot get it. (The Execute Action button is disabled in this case.)

    Caution: 
    If the object is already checked out to you, you can get the object, but doing so overwrites whatever changes you have made to the object since checking it out. In effect, this reverts the object to the state it was in when you checked it out.
  • Copies the object from the master database to the appropriate run-time database.