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Purpose

This tab screen is used to build configured (Activity, Sample, Specimen, Test) forms for use within your organization. This is where you control what Fields are presented on each Form in Field, Lab, and Quality Control, as well as determine what Fields should display on the final Report and various other Report parameters. 

Adding a Group

Forms are categorized by Groups. Forms can only be associated with one Group. You will need to have at least one Active Group in order to use Activity. To add a Group, choose the Add Group button above the Groups grid. Enter the Group name and select save.

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Working with Templates

By default, you will see a Predefined Forms group that contains two Forms: Special Inspection and Activity Log. These Forms cannot be altered, but can be copied into a new Form for you to customize. 

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Adding a New Form

To add a Form, first you must select the appropriate Group to which the From will be assigned. Choose the Group and select the Add Form button. Enter the Form name and choose save.

When the form is added, three fields will default into your Form: Activity Number, Technician and Date. These fields are required by the system and you will not be able to remove them. You can change the field label that will be presented to your users or various other attributes of these fields. You may also choose to not add these default fields to the Report.

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Creating a New Form from an Existing Form

You have the option of copying an existing Form to create a new Form. When copying a Form, Fields and Field attributes are copied; as well as the Report settings. 

To copy a form, follow the steps below.

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. You can also create Reports for your Forms from this screen. The Form Designer screen is shared by Activity, Sample Tracking and Lab Test Forms. Depending upon the context of the Form you are working with you may see some differences in the controls and settings available to you.

Accessing Form Designer

Select the hyperlink Form name to open Form Designer. 

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Predefined Forms

There may be some preconfigured Forms for your use. Depending upon the context of these forms, some of the controls, such as the ability to Create A Report, Modify / Add Fields, Alter Field Settings, are not available to you. This is done in order to preserve the integrity of the data and Form structure. Custom Forms that you build yourself will have all controls available to you so you can tailor a form to suite your specific business needs. Refer to the specific context area for the Form you are working with for more information.

Form Settings

Some forms will have some optional settings that can be set. For example, when creating a Sample form, you can define which specimen sizes are related to that particular type of sample. This allows the system to pre-filter the specimen sizes presented to the user based on the context of the sample. Another example would be creating a relationship between a Test form and a Sample form. Form Settings are accessed from the button bar after you select a form you want to edit.

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Adding New Form Fields

To add a new Form field, choose the Form and select Add Field. You will then need to set the various parameters for your Field.

Field Parameters

Field	Description

 

Label	When displayed in Field, in Quality Control or on a report, this is what your field will be called Required field	Image Modified
Type	Select the Field Type from the drop-down list Once your field is saved, the Field Type cannot be changed Required field
System Name	Cannot be repeated on the Form Can be repeated on different Forms Used by the system to identify the field for use in searching and returning results (see Search / Results Display) Only letters and numbers are accepted Spaces are not allowed

If left blank, will automatically be populated with the label, but without spaces and other invalid characters

System Name will be suggested real-time as you enter your Label name (suggestion can be changed if needed)
Is Required	Makes the field required when entering data on the form
Use As Placeholder	Fields where this is turned on can be used as placeholder values when defining default Report Description values or other areas form-based dynamic placeholders are used
Settings	Depending on the Field Type different settings options will appear. For more information on working with Field settings, see

Activity

Form Designer - Field Settings. Info If the field you are working with is a Multiple Choice or Pick List Field Type and you have added two or more options, a Reorder Options button will appear. This button will allow you to configure the order in which your options will appear. By default, options are presented to Field and Quality Control users in alphabetical order.
Rules	Various rules can be applied depending on the Field Type

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selected For more information on working with Field Rules, see Form Designer - Expression Builder.

Field Types

Type	Functionality

Example

Chart	Used to generate a proctor curve chart (only) with an optional zero air voids line Based on a data grid data source
Chart - Scatter Plot	Used to generate a scatter plot chart Trendline options can be defined Logarithmic or linear X scales can be used Based on a data grid data source
Data Grid	The data grid is simply a container for multiple fields presented in a tabular grid Users are able to add multiple entries to a data grid - each entry represents a record or row in the data grid on the report The fields in the data grid represent the columns on the report Warning The number of fields, as well as the complexity of the field constructions, can effect form load times and report

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generation speed. Should you run into these issues, we recommend reducing the number of fields contained inside the data grid.
Date	User is presented a date field with a date picker
Information	User is presented a colored box with text in it Useful in communicating instructions, reminders, warnings, etc. Color of box can be configured - green, blue, orange, red Use the Default Value field property to define the text you want to appear in the colored box
Lat / Long	Control is exposed in a mobile device that allows for the capture of the device's latitude and longitude Control can be exposed in a Data Grid also
Multiple Choice	User is presented with a list of values to select from More than one value can be selected Tip Useful for site checklists or settings where multiple conditions need to be disclosed.
Number	User is presented a number field Decimal places can be defined
Pick List	User is presented with a list of values to select from Only one value can be selected Status setting used to hide / inactivate values that are no longer applicable Deleting pick list values only allowed if value has not been used on a record Warning Do not use double quotes when adding picklist options. This can cause issues downstream if you are referencing these options in a visualization/calculation rule on your form.
Section	Similar to Data Grids, this field type is a container for other fields Presents to the user as a separate screen (in Field) or grouping (in Quality Control) Fields contained within a section can be added to an Activity Report the same way as any field added to the main Form Grids and Nested Data Grids can be added to Section fields

TextArea

Text Area

User is presented with a

short

several line block for text entry (numbers, letters, symbols, etc.) Can define the maximum character length

TextBox

Allows text to be formatted Tip It is recommended that all formatting be applied directly in the Text Area field or copy the text from a plain text editor like Notepad. Copying text from Word usually retains some HTML formatting contained in the Word file and can cause undesired formatting in the rich text Text Area fields. For repetitive needs to copy / paste text, it is recommended that customers use text libraries in MetaField to insert commonly-used paragraphs of text.

Text Box

User is presented with a

several

short line

block

for text entry (numbers, letters, symbols, etc.) Can define the maximum character length
Time	User is presented a time field with a time picker
Upload	User is presented an image upload option Users cannot upload files larger than 25MB
Yes / No	User is presented with a simple Yes / No response

Coping Form Fields

MetaField allows you to copy Fields from one From to another Form. You can also copy Fields into the same form to which you are currently working. To copy Form Fields, follow the steps below.

StepDescriptionExample1.Select the copy icon to the right of the Form from which you wish to copy fields.Image Removed2.

Select the Group you want to work with.

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If you want to copy the fields into an existing Form, select the appropriate Form.

If you want to create a new Form, enter the new Form name,

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Select the Fields you want copied.

Tip
Technician, Date and Activity number are required on all new Forms.

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Fraction	User is presented with an optional whole number field plus required numerator and denominator fields Warning While mixed fractional numbers can be used in calculations, the system does not simplify the calculated result of the expression containing fraction fields. Be aware of this when planning your use of Fraction fields.

Reordering Form Fields

The order in which Fields display on the Form Designer tab is the order in which they will be presented to the user for data entry in Field and , Lab, or Quality Control. To change the order of the fields, select the Reorder Fields button and then click and drag the fields into a new order.

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Moving Forms to a New Group

You can move Forms from one Group to another Group by selecting the scissors icon next to the Form. Next you will need to select the Group to which you would like your Form moved.

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Moving Fields to a New Location in Form

You can move a Field from the Main Form to inside of a Data Grid or Section Field. Likewise, you can also move Section and Data Grid Fields to other Sections, Data Grids or the Main Form.

To move a field, select the moved icon next to the Field. Then select the location to which you want your field moved.

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Creating

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and Accessing Reports

When you are ready to begin work on your Report, you will first need to define a report type.

To do this, select the Create Report Type button above the Form Fields.

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Once you select the Create Report Type button a popup will appear. You will need to complete all required fields and save your parameters. See Reports - Settings for more information. 

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After the Report Type has successfully been saved, the Report Designer button will appear. See REPORT DESIGNER] for more information.

 working with Activity Forms or Lab Test forms, a Report Designer button will display. To access all the reports that use your Form or to add a new Report select this button.

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Copying Forms

Forms can be copied, if needed. When copying forms, the underlying report template will copy along with giving you the option to include / exclude inactive fields contained on the form.

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