How to Use Default Forms
Business Studio automatically generates a default form for each user task in a business process, based on the data that is defined in the user task.
Default forms are managed by Business Studio and automatically synchronized whenever there are changes in the user task data interface. Users can also open the form for editing and customizing manually.
Customizing a Form allows you to introduce custom logic into the form, adjust the layout, look and feel, and use different controls or panes from the default ones, or to tweak the default settings on the controls and panes used. But default forms offer an important advantage: they are automatically synchronized with the data in the user task. This means that changes to the user task parameters are immediately reflected in the form, without manual synchronization.
After this tutorial you will be familiar with:
- Default forms and customized forms: advantages of each
- How to preview a form (without opening it for editing)
- How to choose the controls you want added to a default form by specifying primitive data for the user task
- How to add a control to a default form by adding attributes to a class in a business object model
- Defining restrictions for a control through the business object model.
You should work through each section in turn to complete the tutorial.
- Opening the Business Process
This tutorial uses an already-prepared project, FormsTutorialStart, as a starting point. - Previewing the Default Form
Since default forms are generated automatically, they can be previewed but cannot be opened for editing. If you choose to open a default form, it is automatically converted to a customized form. You can always return to the default form later, but any customizations you have made to the form will be lost. - Choosing Fields to Display in a Default Form
When you explicitly add a primitive data field as a parameter to a user task, the default form for that user task will show a control that corresponds to that parameter only. The form will no longer contain controls for all data in the business process. - Specifying Structured Data for a Default Form
When a class from a business object model has been used as the data type of a parameter for a user task, the default form generates controls corresponding to the attributes of the class. - Previewing the New Default Forms
The default form for a user task can be configured to display controls based on data definitions in a class in the business object model. In this case, the controls on the form will correspond to the attributes in the class. - Adding Fields to a Default Form
In this task you add an attribute to a class in a business object model. As a result, a corresponding control is placed on the default form. - Defining Restrictions for a Control on a Default Form
In this task you define restrictions for a control on a default form by specifying them in the Properties view for the business object model. - Verifying the Tutorial Solution
You can verify the results of your tutorial by installing the tutorial from the samples folder in the product directory. Your project must look similar to the sample solution project.