Forms capture information that your application needs to process cases. By configuring intuitive forms in Dev Studio, you can help your users understand the tasks that they need to perform.

When you design your application by using App Studio, you can use a number of low-code tools to build versatile, out-of-the-box forms. If your application requires a unique component, you can build it manually in Dev Studio. Dev Studio forms are more flexible and customizable, but require more effort to build, maintain, and upgrade. Harnesses, sections, and layouts are the building blocks of such custom forms.

Discover more about customizing forms in the following articles:

• Modular design in Dev Studio

  A well-designed interface helps users interact with your application. By applying the principles of modular design to your portals, you can create optimal work environments with greater flexibility and less effort.

• Harnesses

  Harnesses organize the content and structure of a portal. You can populate harnesses with sections to build a modular interface that promotes reuse and maintainability.

• Sections

  Sections are the building blocks of your user interface. You can populate a section with components, such as fields and controls, to create a functional chunk of user interface that can be reused in different contexts for improved consistency and efficient development.

• Layouts

  You can use standard layouts to design the user interface for your application. The standard layouts are rendered in HTML5 standard mode and are styled in the skin of the application, providing an optimal user experience on desktop, tablet, and mobile phone. You can use layouts within a harness or a section while designing the user interface.

• Controls

  Use control rules to determine the appearance of a single property, such as a button or drop-down field, on a form.

• Modal dialog box

  A modal dialog box combines a pop-up window with a flow action, as the front-most screen where the user is working.

• Reusing UI Gallery examples in an application

  Accelerate application development with ready-to-use components from the UI Gallery landing page.

• Configuring views for cases

  Display relevant information and gather data from users by creating views for cases and associating the views with case types. When you create views, you decide what fields the users see and how they interact with the fields as the case moves towards a resolution.

• Building forms for case types

  You capture user input in a case by building forms. When you create, configure, and organize relevant fields in a form, you can clearly communicate to users the tasks that they need to perform to process an assignment in a case.

• Validating field input

  Ensure that the user input on a form meets the required conditions before the case moves to the next step in the life cycle. By validating field input, you check whether the data values that users enter are valid and whether the system can process the information correctly. For example, you can ensure that the customer provides their name and address before placing an order.

• Referencing data

  Applications and their users need data to process cases and make informed decisions. Apart from the information provided by users during the case lifecycle, your application might also require access to existing records. Referencing data helps your users interact with data resources, and improves the efficiency of data collection.

• Restricting user input in a field

  Configure fields in your data model to change the way that they store or display information to create a robust data model that is tailored to your business requirements.

• Configuring a form at run time

  You can configure forms as you process a case. By incorporating edits in real time, you can develop your application in a dynamic and flexible way.

• Configuring a work area at run time

  You can configure the work area of a form as you process a case. The work area includes the content and widgets, but not the header or navigation areas of the case form.

• Configuring a region at run time

  Forms that are based on design templates have one or more regions. Each region is marked with a name or with a capital letter (A, B, C, and so on, depending on the number of regions). At application run time, each region is displayed with this letter or name at the top. You can configure any region as you process a case. By making changes to regions in real time, you can develop your application in a dynamic and flexible way.

• Configuring a table at run time

  You can edit tables at run time by specifying a visual style, changing the table title, setting the table pagination, adding and removing columns, modifying column titles, resizing and reordering columns, and specifying minimum and maximum column widths. Editing tables at run time provides you with the flexibility to update table layouts as you process cases.

• Configuring a case at run time

  You can change the design of a case as you are processing it. By incorporating edits in real time, you can drive your application forward in a focused, yet flexible way.

• Supported display modes by field type

  The following table lists the display modes that are supported by each field type. You select a display mode when you add a single-value field to a form. By default, all fields have a display mode set to Optional.

• Enabling spell checking in user forms

  Configuration elements work together to provide users the ability to check spelling in user forms.

• Legacy forms

  A legacy form presents custom HTML and XML to users. Because legacy forms are deprecated, rebuild your forms by using design templates instead.

• Building forms for case types