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Form Building Tricks and Tips

Optimize your forms with these simple tricks!

Written by Josan Garcia

Dashboard > Settings > Modules > Forms

Permissions

Always remember to ensure the correct people have the appropriate permissions to access your company and project data. This can be done per individual or by applying Permission Templates.

In order to access Form Builder, users will need Edit permissions for Settings

Helpful Tricks and Tips

Get the most out of your forms with these helpful tips! Dig even deeper into each of our components and find out how to make your form building and filling so much easier!

Use your Select Component to Automatically Populate Other Fields!

Say you have a user you want to include in a form, and along with their name, you want to see their Classification, their phone number, and their email address. You can use your Select component to fill in all three of those fields automatically once the specific user is selected!
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  1. Start with the Select Component

  2. Choose from one of the pre-set options listed in the edit screen (this will not work with Custom Select options)

    1. Contacts

    2. Equipment

    3. Projects

    4. Materials

    5. Cost Codes

    6. Users

  3. Next, choose the Input Component for the information you want to populate

  4. Copy the Data ID of the original Select Component

  5. Paste the Data ID of the Select Component into the Data ID field of the Input Component's edit screen.

  6. Add a period and the schema for the information wanted after the pasted Data ID. In the example below, I want the Classification of the user selected so I typed ".classification" after the Data ID.

  7. Follow the steps above for each of your Input Components and Save your form template

Now, once you select the user from your list when filling out your form, the input fields will populate automatically.

The schema is what the system recognizes based on the information required. Each Select pre-set option has its own schema:

Contacts

  • Name – {name}

  • Parent Name – {parent.name}

  • Classification Name – {classification.name}

Equipment

  • Brand – {brand}

  • Category – {category}

  • Classification – {classification}

  • Code – {code}

  • External Code – {external_code}

  • ID – {id}

  • Model – {model}

  • Name – {name}

  • Rate – {rate}

  • Serial Number – {serial_number}

  • Status – {status}

  • Units – {units}

  • Value – {value}

Projects

  • Name – {name}

  • Number – {number}

  • Street Address – {address_street}

  • City – {address_city}

  • Region / Province / State – {address_region}

  • Postal Code – {address_postal}

  • Country – {address_country}

  • Start Date – {start_date}

  • Estimated End Date – {est_end_date}

  • Site Contact Name – {contact_name}

  • Site Contact Phone – {contact_phone}

  • Site Contact Email – {contact_email}

  • Field Manager Name – {field_manager_name}

  • Office Manager Name – {office_manager_name}

  • Status – {status}

  • Field Manager Title – {field_manager_label}

  • Office Manager Title – {office_manager_label}

Materials

  • Name – {name}

  • Code – {code}

  • Unit – {unit}

  • Value – {value}

  • Quantity – {quantity}

  • Description – {description}

  • Cost Code Name – {cost_code.name}

  • Cost Code Code – {cost_code.code}

  • Classification Name – {classification.name}

  • Is Deleted – {is_deleted}

Cost Codes

  • Name – {name}

  • Code – {code}

  • Both – {title}

Users

  • Classification – {classification}

  • Favourite Title – {favourite_title}

  • Specialization – {trade}

  • First Name – {name_first}

  • Last Name – {name_last}

  • Full Name – {name}

  • Email – {email}

  • Employee Number – {employee_number}

  • Rate – {rate}

  • Company Name – {company_name}

  • Data – {data}

  • Phone – {phone}

Creating Labels with your Custom Select Options!

You can create automatic labels with your Custom option in your Select component easily by adding ".title" to the Data ID in the Label field as shown below.

Once entered, the option selected in the form will now show up in your Label column.

Need more information on how to create Labels? Click here!

Using Mathematic Formulas for Repeatable Groups!

Remember that the Autofill option gives you the ability to create Mathematical Formulas. This means the form will be able to create calculations for you based on the fields filled out. But did you also know you can use this option to add the totals in a Repeatable Group?

  1. Start with a Repeatable Group

    1. Select the Group component under your Layout Components section

    2. Open the edit screen of the Group component by clicking on the pencil icon

    3. Scroll down to the Repeatable List section of your Group component edit screen and check "Yes" (feel free to make any other modifications to your Repeatable List below)

  2. Now that you have your Repeatable Group, add the necessary components inside it. In this instance, we want to select an employee, their hours worked, their rate, and the total amount after multiplying hours by rate.

    1. Because we have these four items we want to record, we will implement the Column Layout component under the Layout Components section and insert four (4) columns in the edit screen

    2. Inside these four columns, we will add our Input Components

      1. For the Employee field, we'll add a Select component and choose "Users" from the dropdown options.

      2. For the Hours field, we'll choose the Input component allow for the user to enter the hours worked. Since we're dealing with mathematical formulas, it's a good idea to choose "Number" as the "Input Type" under the Input Options section of the edit screen

      3. In the Rate field, we will also select an Input component, but this time we will choose "Money" as the Input Type (feel free to enter your preferred currency symbol for the PDF)

      4. For our final column, we want to take our Hours and our Rate fields and multiply them to find our total cost.

      5. We will choose another Input component, but in the Edit screen we're going to select "Mathematic Formula" under the Type dropdown in the Autofill section

      6. Once you have selected Mathematic Formula, a new field will appear in the Autofill section where you can enter the formula needed - We are multiplying our Hours by our Rate, so we will need the Data IDs for each of these fields.

      7. Copy each ID one at at a time and paste them into the formula field, being sure to include curly brackets for each. For this formula, we are multiplying the two fields. You can choose to either enter the formula as "MULTIPLY({Data ID1},{Data ID2})" or "{Data ID1}*{Data ID2}"

      8. Be sure to also select "Money" under the Input Type dropdown in your Input Options section

    3. Once completed, users filling out this form will simply have to select the employee, enter the hours and rate, and the total will automatically populate. This will occur for every item they add within their Group!

  3. Now let's take the totals we've populated inside the group and add them together! To do this, start by adding an Input component outside the Group. (to keep the totals lined up, I incorporated another 4 column Column Layout and included it into the 4th column - but this is optional)

  4. Make sure you select "Money" in the Input Type of your Input Options section

  5. Copy the Data ID of the Total field located inside the Group component

  6. Select the Mathematic Formula option under your Type dropdown in the Autofill section and paste the Data ID into the formula field, being sure to include curly brackets around it. Since we are adding up all the totals in the Group block, we are going to use a SUM formula, and since we only have the one field, we need to remind the system that there will be multiple fields when filling out the form, we are going to also add regular brackets on either side of the curly brackets, "SUM({Data ID})"

  7. Save your form template and all Total fields will populate automatically when filling out the form.

    *Building form step-by-step
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    *Form in action
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Want to learn more?

Form Builder Overview
Form Builder Components - Submit
Form Builder Overview
Related Articles
Form Builder Components - Select
Form Builder - Autofill
Form Settings
Form Builder Component - Safety Log
Form Builder Overview
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