Form layout

What a form is made of

A record form has two parts. The main area holds the matter's content grouped into sections. The side panel on the right has three fixed tabs: General, Attachments, and Comments. The administrator may additionally place selected record fields in it. It is described in the separate topic The side panel.

Sections in the main area have titles and group fields by topic. On extensive records, some content is sometimes hidden in tabs, so that the screen does not stretch on endlessly.

Tables of related items

The form may contain tables: offer line items, settlement rows, related documents. Depending on the administrator's settings, you can add new rows in them, pin existing records, or only view them. If there is no add button, this is not a fault but a design decision.

Elements that are not fields

Besides fields, the form may also contain:

• divider lines, organizing long sections,
• buttons that start an action, for example generating a document,
• lists and summaries showing data related to the record,
• information blocks with an instruction or a warning prepared by the administrator.

Reasons a form changes during work

Two things make the same form look different at different moments.

• Mode. Creating a record looks one way, viewing another, and editing yet another. Some sections deliberately appear only after saving.
• Conditions. A section or a field may be shown depending on the value of another field. Changing the kind of matter can reveal or hide a whole section.

Example. On a contract form the Contract termination section appears only after you mark that the contract is being terminated. Before that, no one sees it, because there is nothing to fill in.

Reporting remarks about a form

A form's layout is configuration, not code. Moving a field higher, adding a section, or hiding rarely used information in a tab is a change of a few minutes. If you scroll the screen every day looking for one field, report it to the administrator instead of getting used to it.