Working with the fields on forms Selecting fields Deleting fields Checking field IDs Adding fields Assigning field IDs Adding text to fields Specifying text appearance Resizing fields Automatic resizing Enabling autoresizing in the client Moving fields Using the grid Aligning fields Enabling automovement Copying fields Setting background colors Adding borders Making fields transparent Disguising passwords Making fields editable or noneditable Hiding fields Letting users choose from a list Allowing only administrators to work with fields Sending commands with a double-click Making a field initially selected Special attributes for expanding fields Adding user help to fields Changing field draw order Setting field tab order for a form Changing tab order for individual fields Removing fields from the tab order Testing tab order Making one field control another Checkboxes Numbers and slider controls Radio groups Static lists Performing multiple actions on one field Controlling multiple fields Using field control for a range of values After you have created a form, you can add the fields to it that are used to interchange data with the FirstClass server. Each field has an ID, and the combination of this ID and the form ID identifies the field uniquely within FirstClass. Selecting fields To work with a field, you must first select it. To select Do this a single field Click the field. multiple fields in any location Click the first field, then press Control (Windows) or Command (Mac) while clicking the other fields. multiple fields that are grouped together Click and drag the cursor to draw a selection box around the fields. To draw a selection box around fields within a group (a tab or a radio group), press Shift while dragging.         Tip On Mac, to select all fields on a tab, draw the selection box from the bottom right corner to the top left corner. Only fields that are entirely enclosed within the selection box are selected. the next field after the currently selected field Click Next Field in the Field Attributes form. The next field is the next one that was added to the form, not the next one in the tab order. This is useful for selecting a field that is behind another field. all fields on the form Choose Edit > Select All. A selected field has sizing handles: Top Deleting fields To delete a field, select it, then choose Edit > Clear, or press Delete. Top Checking field IDs To Do this check all field IDs on a form Choose Form > Show Field IDs. Field IDs are displayed in each field. To remove the field ID display from the form, choose this command again. find a specific field ID Choose Form > Find Field, then type the field ID you want to find. The field with this ID is displayed and selected. If there are additional fields with this ID, you can choose Form > Find Next to select the next one. highlight duplicate field IDs Choose Form > Show Duplicate IDs. All fields with the same ID are circled. These circles are updated dynamically as you work on the form. To remove the circles, choose this command again.         Notes Normally, you won't find duplicate field IDs on the same form, but occasionally the forms supplied with FirstClass do contain duplicates. In the client, you can display a field ID in a tooltip by pressing Ctrl/Shift (Windows) or Alt/Shift (Mac), then hovering the cursor over the field. Top Adding fields To add a field to a form: 1       Open the form. 2       Choose Fields, then the field category, then the type of field you want. The field type is displayed at "Field type" on the Field Attributes form. Specific field types are described later in this help. 3       Click the form where you want the field to appear. If you just click the form, the field is drawn in a default shape and size, which you can change. If you click and drag the cursor, you can shape and size the field before it is drawn. Top Assigning field IDs When you add a field, FirstClass Designer automatically assigns a field ID and displays it at "Field ID" on the Field Attributes form. You can change this ID. If you are told that the ID you chose isn't unique, click Unique ID to make FirstClass Designer assign a new, unique ID. Message fields must have particular identifiers that enable them to work properly. The following field IDs are reserved for message fields: 1 message icon 2 message status 3 date 4 From: (field label) 5 from name 6 Subject: (field label) 7 subject 8 To: (field label) 9 to names 10 Cc: (field label) 11 cc names 12 Attachments: (field label) 13 list of attachments 14 postmark 15-28 used for internal fields 29 Bcc: (field label) 30 bcc names Top Adding text to fields There are several ways to add text such as field labels, tab titles, or list entries: •       double-click the field, then type the text •       choose Form > Prefill Form, then click the field and type the text You can't use this command to prefill a "To", "Cc", or "Bcc" field. If you want to preaddress a form, use stationery instead. To quit prefill mode, choose this command again. •       type the text in the appropriate field on the Contents tab of the Field Attributes form. Specifying text appearance After you have added text to a field, you can use the Field Attributes form to specify its appearance. These are the fields on the Field Attributes form that specify the text's appearance: Attributes tab Bold Makes text bold. Italic Italicizes text. Underline Underlines text. Color Uses the color specified on the Sizes/Colors tab. This is automatically selected when you choose a foreground color for text or a background color for a field. When this is cleared, the user's default color is used. Word wrap Allows text to wrap automatically to the next line, and gives certain fields scroll bars if they aren't deep enough to display all the text.         Note Checkbox text wraps automatically when the checkbox is deepened. Right justify Aligns text against the right side of the field. Vert. bottom Moves text to the bottom of the field. By default, text is centered vertically. Vert. top Moves text to the top of the field. This happens automatically if you select "Word wrap". Horiz. center Centers a single line of text between the left and right sides of the field. Sizes/Colors tab Font The font of any text in the field. When designing your forms, choose only those fonts your users are likely to have on their computers. USE OWNER Uses the same font as that specified for the field's enclosing group or form. An enclosing group is one in which all enclosed fields move with the group. Examples are radio groups and tab controls. If there is no font specified for the enclosing group, the form's font is used when you choose USE OWNER. SYSTEM FONT Uses the user's system font. The font for all forms is SYSTEM FONT. Size The size of any text in the field. Type a size or choose a preset value. Use Owner Uses the same size as the field's enclosing group or form. System Size Uses the default font size of the user's operating system. The size for all forms is System Size. Foreground The color of the text in the field. Top Resizing fields You need to ensure that the fields on your custom forms fit their contents properly (for example, aren't so short that they cut off content), and that your forms accommodate the fields properly. You can resize a selected field by: •       dragging the field's sizing handles •       using the arrow keys with Shift To shorten the field by moving the bottom up, press Shift and the up arrow. To lengthen the field by moving the bottom down, press Shift and the down arrow. To narrow the field by moving the right edge to the left, press Shift and the left arrow key. To widen the field by moving the right edge to the right, press Shift and the right arrow key. •       using the commands in the Arrange > Size submenu You can scale the field horizontally and vertically by specified percentages, size the field to fit the grid, size a field containing multiple items to fit the tallest, shortest, widest, or narrowest item, or size a field to exactly fit the contents (Actual Size). •       changing the values at "Height" and "Width" on the Field Attributes form This allows you to specify exact values. •       using Designer's automatic resizing feature. Automatic resizing Resizing fields and forms Designer has an automatic resizing feature that aids in resizing fields and the forms containing those fields. Designer both highlights fields containing text that doesn't fit and automatically resizes fields and forms to fit.         Note Designer's automatic resizing feature can save many hours of checking and resizing your forms, but you should always do a manual check to ensure that the results are what you want, and that all fields truly do fit their contents (for example, Designer is very good at checking that dropdown list fields are wide enough for their lists, but can miss the sizing needed for command buttons). To Do this check what fields don't fit, without resizing Press Shift while clicking the Lang Fix button on the toolbar. If you have a field or fields selected when you do this, Designer checks the sizing of those fields. If you have nothing on the form selected, Designer checks all fields on the form. In the case of tabbed forms, moving from tab to tab will reveal what fields don't fit on the tabs. resize one step at a time Click Lang Fix as many times as you wish. Designer will do more resizing each time you click this button, until all fields fit. If you aren't satisfied with the most recent step, choose Edit > Undo. resize completely in one step Press Control(Option) while clicking Lang Fix. Undo is available just as it is when you resize one step at a time. resize just one field Select the field (or multiple fields), then use the Lang Fix button. Making forms exactly fit the fields on them Windows only To size a form to exactly fit the fields on it, choose Window > Zoom Window. Enabling autoresizing in the client You can use the Attribute form's Move tab to specify whether a field should be automatically resized when users resize the form. This is most useful for graphics fields. To Do this leave the field at the original size Select "Leave" at both "Horizontal" and "Vertical". make the field resize as the form is resized Select "Resize" at both "Horizontal" and "Vertical". If you select "Resize" just once, the field will be distorted as it resizes. Top Moving fields You can move a selected field by: •       dragging the field to its new location •       nudging the field one pixel at a time by pressing the appropriate arrow key •       aligning the field •       changing the values at "Top", "Bottom", "Left", and "Right" on the Field Attributes form This allows you specify exact values for the positioning of the top, bottom, left side, or right side of the field. •       changing the field's draw order. You can also move fields from one form to another open form by dragging them. If you are using Windows, press Shift while dragging. Using the grid FirstClass Designer has a grid that helps you place and align fields. The grid does not appear on the final form. To Do this display the grid Choose Form > Show Grid. To hide the grid, choose this command again. change grid spacing Choose Form > Grid Settings, then specify the desired vertical and horizontal spacing. By default, the grid dots are spaced eight pixels apart. force objects to align with the grid when you move them Choose Form > Snap to Grid Aligning fields You can align a group of fields by selecting them, then using the commands in the Arrange > Align submenu. These commands let you: •       align the fields with the grid •       align the fields with the side furthest to the left, right, top, or bottom of all selected fields •       space the fields evenly horizontally or vertically. Enabling automovement You can also use the Attribute form's Move tab to specify whether a field should be automatically moved when users resize the form. To Do this leave the field at the original location Select "Leave" at both "Horizontal" and "Vertical". make a right-aligned field stay aligned with the right side of the form as the form is resized Select "Stick to right" at "Horizontal". make a field that is right at the bottom of the form stay at the bottom as the form is resized Select "Stick to bottom" at "Vertical". Copying fields You can copy fields within the same form, or from one form to another. To Do this copy a field within the same form Select the field, then choose Edit > Duplicate. copy a field from one form to another open form Drag the field. On Mac, press Option while dragging. Top Setting background colors You can add a background color to certain fields. This color can be solid or a gradient that changes gradually to a second color from the top to the bottom of the field.         Note Gradient support depends on a combination of the type of field and the user's platform. To add a background color to a selected field: 1       Go to the Sizes/Colors tab of the Field Attributes form. 2       Update "Color" in the Background section of this tab. Select whether you want a solid or gradient color. Then choose the background color. If you choose gradient, you are also asked to select the color that will appear at the bottom of the field. Where a field supports a background color, this is indicated in the help for the particular field in Field Types. Top Adding borders To display a border around a field, select "Border" on the Attributes tab of the Field Attributes form. This is useful to indicate the presence of a disabled field. Without a border, the field is completely invisible when disabled. Top Making fields transparent If you want to place a field in front of other fields without obscuring the fields behind, select "Transparent" on the Attributes tab of the Field Attributes form. This is useful if you have a form with a background color or picture, and you want that background to show through the fields. Top Disguising passwords If you want your field to disguise characters as they are typed, select "Password" on the Attributes tab of the Field Attributes form. Users will only see a substitute character for each character they type. This is normally used for password fields. Top Making fields editable or noneditable To let users tab to and change the data in a field, select "Editable" on the Attributes tab of the Field Attributes form. To prevent this, select "Protected". When users tab through the form, the cursor skips over protected fields. This attribute overrides the "Editable" attribute; if both are turned on, users can't edit the field. Top Hiding fields To hide fields from users, select "Hidden" on the Attributes tab of the Field Attributes form. A hidden field may become visible under certain circumstances. For example, the "Attachments" field of a message is hidden initially. When users attach a file, this field appears. Top Letting users choose from a list To let users choose a list entry by clicking it, select "Selectable" on the Attributes tab of the Field Attributes form. Top Allowing only administrators to work with fields To allow administrators to see or edit a field, select "Protectable" on the Attributes tab of the Field Attributes form. This overrides the "Protected" and "Hidden" attributes for administrators and subadministrators. It is used when creating stationery. Users can't change the field value entered by an administrator. Top Sending commands with a double-click To send a command to FirstClass when users double-click the field, select "Double-click" on the Attributes tab of the Field Attributes form. As an example, double-clicking a name in the "To" field tells FirstClass to display the user's profile. Top Making a field initially selected To make the cursor appear in this field when the form opens (also called giving the field the focus), select "Selected" on the Attributes tab of the Field Attributes form. Make sure that only one field on the form has this attribute selected. Top Special attributes for expanding fields To prevent fields below this one from moving down as this field expands, select "No bump" for the expanding field on the Attributes tab of the Field Attributes form. Be aware that if you select this, the expanding field may overlap fields below it as it expands.         Tip If lower fields move down unexpectedly with this attribute selected on the expanding field, check whether their horizontal boundaries are outside the boundaries of the expanding field. There is one more attribute that applies to expanding fields, but it is superseded by the newer expanding list field. The "Expandable" attribute indicates that a field can expand to include more data as necessary. This attribute was used by the Forms Editor that predated FirstClass Designer. Top Adding user help to fields You can provide brief help for each field on your form. By default, field help is displayed on the status bar when users hover their cursors over a field. Type your help text at "Help text" on the Help tab of the Field Attributes form. Keep in mind that it must fit within the length of the status bar, if you are going to display help on the status bar. If you want help to appear in a tooltip instead of on the status bar when users hover their cursors over the field, select "Display in popup instead of status bar". This option gives you more leeway in terms of the length of your help. Top Changing field draw order The draw order of fields determines the order in which all fields will appear on a form. This in turn dictates what will be displayed if fields are overlapped, because fields that have been brought to the front of the draw order will be the ones that show on top. You can change the draw order of a selected field by choosing Arrange > Draw Order, then one of the following: Move Field Forward Moves the field one position forward in the draw order. Move Field Back Moves the field one position back in the draw order. Bring Field to Front Moves the field to the front of the draw order. Send Field to Back Moves the field to the back of the draw order. Top Setting field tab order for a form The tab order of a form determines the order in which the cursor will move from field to field when a user presses Tab. By default, the cursor moves to fields in the order the fields were added to the form. Only editable fields are affected by tab order. You can change the tab order of fields by choosing Arrange > Set Tab Order, then one of the following: Top Left to Bottom Right Sets the tab order of all fields to go from the top left corner of the form to the bottom right corner. Manually Lets you set the tab order of fields individually. Changing tab order for individual fields When you choose Arrange > Set Tab Order > Manually, the current tab order displays as numbers in the bottom left corners of the fields. When you are finished working with the tab order, choose this command again to hide the tab order numbers.         Note Any fields with a tab order of zero are not included in the tab order. Users can't tab to these fields. To change the tab order for an individual field: 1       Click the tab order number displayed on the field to open its menu. 2       Choose the new tab order position. First Tab Position Makes this field first in the tab order. Last Tab Position Makes this field last in the tab order. numbers Gives this field the tab order number you choose. Other Opens a dialog box that lets you type a tab order number that is not on the context menu. The number must be within the range of possible tab order positions for all fields on the form. The other fields are renumbered to accommodate your change. Removing fields from the tab order To remove a field from the tab order: 1       Click the tab order number displayed on the field. 2       Choose Remove from Tab Order. This sets the tab order number to zero. Testing tab order To test tab order: 1       Choose Form > Preview Form. 2       Press Tab to move from field to field. Top Making one field control another Field control is an attribute located on the Field Attributes form either as a field or as a separate tab. It causes the choice made in one field to control the action of another field. A common use is to disable a field that doesn't apply based on the user's choice elsewhere on the form. Field control can be used with: •       checkboxes •       number fields •       slider controls •       radio groups •       static lists. The value the user chooses in one of these fields controls the value in, or state of, the controlled field. The chosen value can: •       select (1) or clear (0) another radio button •       select (1) or clear (0) another checkbox, or set that checkbox to the third, unchanged, state (2) •       set the number in another field •       choose a list item in another field •       show (S) or hide (H) another field •       enable (E) or disable (D) another field •       protect (P) or unprotect (U) another field. Values that the user can choose in the controlling field, and their corresponding actions in the controlled field, are strung together in the same control statement, separated by semicolons (;). Although not normally used this way, field control can also be used with image viewers and icons. The field control syntax is the same as that described for number fields, except that you list resource IDs instead of numbers. Checkboxes This is how you enter a field control statement for checkboxes: Syntax Variable Meaning state/field ID:action state The selected state (0, 1, or 2) of this checkbox. field ID The ID of the field to be controlled when the user selects this state. action The action FirstClass will take in the controlled field when the user selects this state. In the example 0/1003:1;1/1003:0 •       0/1003:1 means that when the controlling checkbox is cleared (0), checkbox 1003 is selected (1) •       1/1003:0 means that when the controlling checkbox is selected (1), checkbox 1003 is cleared (0).         Numbers and slider controls This is how you enter a field control statement for numbers and slider controls: Syntax Variable Meaning number/field ID:action number The number specified in this field (this can be a hex number, specified as Xnumber). field ID The ID of the field to be controlled when the user specifies this number. action The action FirstClass will take in the controlled field when the user specifies this number. In the example 5/1002:S;10/1002:H •       5/1002:S means that when the controlling field contains the value 5, field 1002 is shown (S) •       10/1002:H means that when the controlling field contains the value 10, field 1002 is hidden (H). Radio groups This is how you enter a field control statement for radio groups: Syntax Variable Meaning button value/field ID:action button value The value assigned to a radio button in this radio group. field ID The ID of the field to be controlled when the user selects this button. action The action FirstClass will take in the controlled field when the user selects this button. In the example 0/1003:1;1/1003:0 •       0/1003:1 means that when radio button 0 is selected, checkbox 1003 is also selected (1) •       1/1003:0 means that when radio button 1 is selected, checkbox 1003 is cleared (0). This example shows how one radio group might affect another one: 0/1021:2;1/1021:1 In this example: •       0/1021:2 means that when radio button 0 is selected, radio button 2 of radio group 1021 is also selected •       1/1021:1 means that when radio button 1 is selected, radio button 1 of radio group 1021 is also selected. Static lists This is how you enter a field control statement for static lists: Syntax Variable Meaning list value/field ID:action list value The value assigned to a list entry in this list. field ID The ID of the field to be controlled when the user chooses this list entry. action The action FirstClass will take in the controlled field when the user chooses this list entry. In the example 0/1024:36;1/1024:100 •       0/1024:36 means that when the first entry in the controlling list is chosen, numeric field 1024 is set to 36 •       1/1024:100 means that when the second entry in the controlling list is chosen, numeric field 1024 is set to 100. Performing multiple actions on one field You can use field control to perform two compatible actions on the same field (for example, set a numeric field to a particular number and disable it so users can't change the number). The syntax for performing two actions is value/field ID:action 1:action 2 This example: 1/1003:10:D means that when the value of the controlling field is 1 (for example, a checkbox is selected), numeric field 1003 will be set to 10 and disabled (D). Controlling multiple fields You can make a field control the behavior of multiple fields. All controlled fields are included in the same control statement. The actions FirstClass will take in all controlled fields when a particular value is chosen in the controlling field are separated by hyphens; values are separated by semicolons. Syntax Variable Meaning value 1/field ID 1:action 1-field ID 2:action 2;value 2/field ID 3:action 3-field ID 4:action 4 value 1 The state of a checkbox, specified number in a numeric field, or radio button or list entry value. field ID 1 The ID of the first field to be controlled when the user selects value 1. action 1 The action FirstClass will take in field ID 1 when the user selects value 1. field ID 2 The ID of the next field to be controlled when the user selects value 1. action 2 The action FirstClass will take in field ID 2 when the user selects value 1. value 2 Another checkbox state, number, or radio button or list entry value. field ID 3 The ID of the first field to be controlled when the user selects value 2. action 3 The action FirstClass will take in field ID 3 when the user selects value 2. field ID 4 The ID of the next field to be controlled when the user selects value 2. action 4 The action FirstClass will take in field ID 4 when the user selects value 2. In the example 0/1003:1-1021:2;1/1003:0-1021:1 •       0/1003:1-1021:2 means that when the controlling checkbox is cleared, checkbox 1003 is selected (1) and radio button 2 of radio group 1021 is selected •       1/1003:0-1021:1 means that when the controlling checkbox is selected, checkbox 1003 is cleared (0) and radio button 1 of radio group 1021 is selected. Using field control for a range of values If you want to make a range of values (such as the numbers 1 through 10) result in the same action in the controlled field, use the following syntax: value-value/field ID:action This example: 1-10/2010:H means that when the user specifies any number from 1 through 10, field 2010 will be hidden (H).         Note Currently, you can't include the number zero in the range of values. You must create a separate field control statement for zero. Top