Fields

Fields are data input/output elements, in which they display the information contained in the database and allow the user to enter new information into the system.

Field types

There are 3 basic types of fields as described below.

Field for typing

Input fields allow the user to enter information such as text, date/time and numeric values. This field type has 3 parts as shown below:

1. (Label) Text used to indicate the purpose of the field, that is, it informs the user what he must fill in;
2. (Field) Typeable element. This is where the user will fill in the information;
3. Filter button. Automatically added by the application according to the data type (numeric, text, date/time). Once the interface is ready, the user can use these filters to select the information. This element is not visible during the design process, being visible only when opening the interface. When the interface is in edit mode, this button can have another function according to the data type.

• Date/time field: When clicking on the button, a calendar is shown to assist in data entry;
• Numeric field (when primary key): Searches for the next sequential value.

Drop-Down List Field

A drop-down list consists of a list and a checkbox. The list presents the options a user can select and the checkbox displays the current selection.

The figure below shows the 5 parts of the drop-down list:

1. (Label) Text used to indicate the purpose of the field, that is, it tells the user what he should select;
2. (Field) Selection field where an item from the list that the user selected is displayed;
3. Filter button;
4. Button used to show/hide the selection list;
5. List where the items that the user can select are displayed.

Document storage field

A field for storing documents allows you to save files such as spreadsheets, text documents, photos, videos and others in the database.
The figure below shows the 3 parts of the field:

1. (Label) Text used to indicate the purpose of the field, that is, it informs the user what he must fill in;
2. (Field) Displays the name and extension of the stored file
3. Open/select file button. When the interface is in editing mode, that is, when it allows the user to enter data, clicking on this button opens a selection box where it is possible to select the file to be stored. When the interface is in normal mode, clicking this button displays the file stored in the database.

Adding fields to the interface

The tab (Field Config) is where the interface fields are created.

*Before creating a field, select in (Screen Config) the tab on which the field should be created.

*The first field created in each tab will be the table’s primary key field. This means that it must contain a unique value. For a refresher on what a primary key is, see the Primary Key subtopic.

For each inserted record, a corresponding field is created in the table (whose name is defined in the “Screen Config” tab, “Page name” field) of the database. The fields that are part of the tab (Field Config) will be listed below, according to the figure below:

(1) Field Description

This is where the field name is defined. The name must be suggestive in such a way that the user, when using the interface, knows what it means and can fill it in properly.

(2) Link to Page

This option is used to define the relationship between two tables.

*To remember what is a relationship between tables, see the topic User Interface.

When an interface has more than one tab (table), by default, the relationship between the tables is always in relation to the first created table.

Let’s assume that in the example of the interface for registering Employees and their dependents, a third tab was added to register the employee’s promotion history. In this case, we want both the table (Dependents) and the new table to be related to the main table (Employee).

By default, the application automatically creates the relationship between the first table created, in this case the table (Employee) and the other tables (Dependents and History Promotions) as shown in the figure below:

Let’s suppose now that we are going to create an interface for registering countries, their states and cities. The first tab will contain the list of countries, the second tab the list of states and the third tab the list of cities.

We want that when we select a record from the countries tab, only the states belonging to the selected country are shown in the states tab. Likewise, we want to show on the cities tab only the cities belonging to the state selected on the states tab. So, we need to create a relationship between the tables as shown below:

To create the relationship between the table (state) and the table (cities) as shown in the figure above, when creating the first record of the table (cities), click on the button shown below and select the table (state).

*This button is only enabled when inserting or editing the first field of the table. For the other fields, this button remains disabled.

(3) Data Type

Used to select the type of data that the field will store. The available data types are shown in the table below:

(4) Drop-down List

Option used to transform the field into a drop-down list, as shown in the example below.

Follow the guidelines described below to select fields from the drop-down list:

(A) Select the table where the desired information is located (Data Source);

(B) Select the field identified by the symbol (*). This field is mandatory;

*It is the content of this field that will be stored in the table to which the drop-down list belongs.

(C) Selecting a second field that contains relevant information is highly recommended;

*It is the content of this field that will be visible in the drop-down list field when the list is collapsed.

(D) It is recommended to order the list in order to facilitate the selection by the user. Normally the sorting is done in the field (C).

*The data type of the drop-down list field will be the same as the field identified by the (*) symbol.

(5) Filling Mandatory

Use to define if the field is mandatory or not.

If the field is defined as mandatory, the end user will only be able to save the interface data when these fields are properly filled in. When the interface is in edit mode, mandatory fields are highlighted in “light yellow” color as shown in the following image.

(6) Control Tip Text

Used to show a short explanatory text to the end user of the interface. This text is displayed when the user hovers the mouse cursor over the field.

(7) Totals

For numeric fields, you can automatically create totals fields.

The following figure shows an example of using totals.

(8) Show List

This option allows you to insert a list with some of the fields created in the interface.

This list allows the end user to have a better view of the data in addition to facilitating navigation between records. Using the arrow buttons (right/left), move the desired fields from the “Table Fields” column to the “Fields Shown in the List” column. Use the arrow buttons (up/down) to configure the order of the fields.

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