Creating and Using FormParts in IBM Forms Designer

Welcome to Creating and using FormParts in the IBM Forms Designer.

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

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This video shows you how to create a FormPart as a reusable component to simplify form design and maintenance.

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

FormParts are reusable components that simplify form design and maintenance.

A FormPart can be any portion of a form, such as a header containing company information, or an address block containing multiple fields. Once created, you can add a FormPart multiple times to one form, or reuse the FormPart in multiple forms. In this video, you will see how to:

• View a list of existing FormParts that are shipped with the Designer.
• Locate where FormParts are stored in the Palette.
• Create a new FormPart.
• Add a FormPart to a form.
• Edit a FormPart in the FormPart editor.
• Apply FormPart changes both to individual forms or to multiple forms using the Update FormParts tool.

A screen shot of a FormPart displays with the header and address blocks highlighted.

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In this video, you will see how to:

• View a list of existing FormParts that are shipped with the Designer.
• Locate where FormParts are stored in the Palette.
• Create a new FormPart.
• Add a FormPart to a form.
• Edit a FormPart in the FormPart editor.
• Apply FormPart changes both to individual forms or to multiple forms using the Update FormParts tool.

There is no limitation on the size of a FormPart; it can contain one or two items, or a whole section of a form. The Designer comes with several FormParts. These include address, zip code, and postal code blocks and popup menus for US states and Canadian provinces.

IBM Forms Designer displays the Sign Permit Application form and the header and sections of the form highlighted.

To see the FormParts that come with the Designer, scroll down in the Palette to the FormParts section. When you create new FormParts, or import other FormParts provided by your company, they are added to the FormParts section of the Palette.

IBM Forms Designer displays zoomed in on the Palette to see the list of available FormParts.

In this video, we'll create a new FormPart and use it in two forms: a Sign Permit form and a Business License form. First we'll open the Sign Permit form.

Click File > Open File and browse to the location of the Sign Permit form. Click Open to open the form.

You can see all form items are already in place, but a header containing the Permit department's contact information would enhance the look-and-feel of the form. If we create the header as a FormPart, we can reuse it across all forms for the Permit department.

The Sign Permit form displays with the empty area highlighted where the header will be inserted.

Click File > New Lotus Forms FormPart. The FormPart wizard opens.

The locale and XFDL version for the FormPart can be modified, but for this header, we'll accept the default settings.

The New Lotus FormPart Wizard displays with the Select FormPart Locale drop-down box displaying.

Accept the default settings and click Finish.

In the FormParts Properties window, we can provide a title and a description of the FormPart. The description can include more information to avoid having overly long FormPart titles. The description is visible when we hover over the FormPart in the Palette.

Type "Government Header" into the Title field and "Contact information for Permits department" into the Description field.

You can change the property settings in the Properties window, or accept the defaults as they are shown. For this example, no defaults need changing.

Click OK to accept the settings and close the Properties window.

You now see the empty FormPart editor and can begin adding items to the FormPart.

There are two ways to add items to a FormPart: one is to add items manually from the Palette into the FormPart. The second is to select items from an existing form, copy them and paste them into a FormPart. For this example, we will add items to the FormPart from the Palette.

To create a header for this form, first we'll add an Image and then two Text Labels. First, we can add an image from the Palette, and drop it on to the FormPart. You'll notice that the size of the FormPart automatically adjusts to the size of the image.

The blank FormPart displays zoomed in on the Palette. Click Image from the Palette, then click the FormPart. The Properties window opens. Click the picture icon to the right of the Image field and browse to the location of the Gov_logo.gif image. Click OK.

Now that the image is shown in the FormPart editor, we'll add a Text Label to contain address information for the Permit department.

We'll drag a Text Label from the Palette and drop it onto the left-side of the frame created by the Image. Then we'll adjust the location of the Text Label so it is centered.

Click Text Label from the Palette, then click on the left-hand side of the Image on the FormPart. The Properties window opens.

Type "My Government Building", "100 City Avenue ", and "My City, MS 12345" each on a separate line into the Text field. Click OK to close the Properties window.

Adjust the location of the Text Label so it is centered by clicking and dragging.

We'll add a second Text Label to contain a contact phone and fax number. We'll drag a Text Label from the Palette and drop it onto the right-side of the frame created by the Image. Then adjust the location of the Text Label so it is centered.

Click Text Label from the Palette, then click on the right-hand side of the Image pane. The Properties window opens.

Type "Licensing and Permits", "Tel: 123 456 7890", and "Fax: 123 456 7891" each on a separate line into the Text field. Click OK to close the Properties window.

Adjust the location of the Text Label so it is centered by clicking and dragging.

The header is now complete. You must save the FormPart before it can be used in a form. FormParts are stored independently of the form; you can store FormParts in the FormParts folder on your computer, or to a central repository on a server. When stored in a central repository, others can edit and use the FormParts you create. This saves time as a FormPart can be created once and used by multiple people. For this example, we will save the FormPart locally to the FormParts folder. The default file name is the FormPart title you used in the Properties window.

Click File > Save to save the FormPart. Save the FormPart to the default My FormParts folder. Click Save.

Now that we have a complete FormPart, we'll add it to the Sign Permit form.

Return to the Sign Permit form by clicking its tab, located at the top of the design area.

The completed FormPart in the FormPart editor displays.

Click the tab for the Sign Permit form. The screen changes from the FormPart editor back to the main form.

Scroll down the Palette until the FormParts section is visible.

Click the Government Header FormPart, then click the form to drop the FormPart into place. We won't be changing any of the defaults in the Properties window, so click OK to close it.

Adjust the alignment of the FormPart on the form by clicking and dragging it into position. Blue guide lines appear when the FormPart is aligned with other form items.

In the Palette, go to the FormParts section. Click the Government Header FormPart, then click on the top of the form to drop the FormPart into place. Click OK to close the Properties window. Adjust the alignment of the FormPart on the form by clicking and dragging it into position. The Designer displays blue guidelines when form items align with one another.

The form is now complete, so we will save the form.

The Sign Permit form with the FormPart is displayed.

Click File > Save to save the form.

Now that the Sign Permit form is complete, we'll add the Government Header to the Business License form. This will allow us to demonstrate the different ways to update a FormPart.

Click File > Open and browse to the Business License form. When the form opens, add the Government Header FormPart to the top of the form as described in steps 4.1 - 4.3.

Once a FormPart is created, you can make changes to it in the FormPart Editor. For example, let's say the mailing address on the form changes. Make the change in the FormPart editor, then apply the change automatically to all forms containing the FormPart. One of the key advantages to using FormParts is that you don't have to apply changes in each form individually.

The Designer still shows the Business License form containing the Government Header FormPart.

You can edit a FormPart right from within the form that contains the FormPart. This opens it in the FormPart editor.

Click the FormPart, right-click and select Edit FormPart. The FormPart editor opens.

We're going to change the "My Government Building" address block to correct the address information, and save the change to the FormPart.

Once a FormPart is updated, there are two ways to update the FormPart in the forms:

We'll demonstrate both ways of updating a FormPart. First, we'll apply the change to an individual form by returning to the Sign Permit form.

Double-click the "My Government Building" address block to open the Properties window. Change the address to read "200 City Blvd".

Save the change to the FormPart by going to File > Save.

When we go back to the Sign Permit form, we are presented with the Update FormParts window. All updated FormParts appear listed in the window. In this example there is only one updated FormPart, however if FormParts are stored in a central repository there may be many updates to apply when you open a form.

You have the option of accepting FormPart changes manually, or automatically accepting them. If your company has a large repository of FormParts, and you want your forms to stay up-to-date with changes, you can check the box to "Always update FormParts".

We'll apply the FormPart change to the form, and Save the form.

Click on the Sign_permit.xfdl tab located above the form. Focus is changed from the FormPart editor to the Sign Permit form with the Update FormParts dialog box displaying. Check the box beside "Always update FormParts (do not show message)" to automatically accept future FormPart changes. Click Update, then click OK to close the update log see the applied FormPart changes, then save the form by clicking File > Save.

Now we'll demonstrate using the Update FormParts tool to apply a change to the FormPart in both the Sign Permit and the Business License forms. To do this, we'll make another change to the FormPart in the FormPart editor. The Update FormParts cannot apply changes to open forms, so make sure both forms are closed.

Close both forms.

In the FormPart editor, we'll change the fax number for the Licensing and Permits department and save the FormPart.

Click on the Government Header.xfr tab. Double-click the "Licensing and Permits" text label to open the Properties window. Change the fax number to read "123 456 7892".

Save the change to the FormPart by clicking File > Save.

Next, we'll run the Update FormParts tool.

We'll add all of the forms in the folder. The Update FormParts tool scans each form and identifies the two forms that need updating. Click Finish to update the FormPart in both forms. The Update Log tells you if the update was successful, or if any errors occurred.

Click File > Update FormParts. Click Add Forms and browse to the location of the forms. Hold the control key and click all of the forms in the folder to select them, then click Open.

Click Finish to apply the FormPart changes to both forms. The Update Log window displays once the update is complete. Any errors are displayed. Click OK to close the Update Log.

To see the results of the update, open the Business License or Sign Permit forms. You'll see the header contains the address and fax number of the updated FormPart.

Click File > Open and browse to the location of the Business License form and view the change to the header.

Click File > Open and browse to the location of the Sign Permit form and view the change to the header.

This concludes this video for IBM Forms Designer FormParts.

For more information on IBM Forms Designer, including product documentation, please visit the IBM Forms wiki at http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/lfwiki.nsf.

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