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Making a Custom Main Menu: A step-by-step guide Creating forms for data collection Because a Custom Main Menu Form is used to initiate tasks in other forms, it is typically created after all of the other forms have been designed and distributed to the handheld.
The sample Menu form below will create and review records in a form named "Hazards". Both the menu form design and the subform are included in the Tutorial Resources Kit.
Creating and naming your new menu form The first step when making a Custom Main Menu is to create a form that has MENU in the form name, e.g. HighwayMENU.
Including MENU in the form name indicates that this form should be displayed instead of the Pendragon Forms menu. You'll also need to select the AutoExecute Form Property. This selection is discussed in a later step, Sending the form to the handhelds. Of course, only one form should be named MENU.
Field 1: A text headline To provide a bold visual cue for users, the company or project name might be used as headline. For this sample form, Question 1 is a read-only text field. The Question font is large bold.
Field 2: Adding a menu item Now, we're ready to make the first menu item. This will be a button that will be used to create new records in another form named "Hazards". Menu buttons are made using Section fields with decorative graphics.
Add a new field that and select Section as the Field Type. Make sure to add a Field Name and a Section Name. |
Custom Menu Articles: Tutorial: Make a Custom Main Menu Tutorial Resources Kit: This file contains Menu form design, a related subform and the graphics used in the sample form.
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On the Form Designer Visual Tab, a picture is added to make a button. The Get Picture Button can be used to browse your PC and select the picture that you want to add to your form. (If you are using the tutorial resources, this file is named hhsimple1.bmp.)
The selected picture is shown in the Decorative Image box and in the layout preview area. Since the decorative image is larger than the default field size, the Question Height and Answer Height settings will need to be changed to fit the picture.
About Decorative Images:
Decorative images can be Windows bitmap (.BMP) or JPEG (.JPG) pictures that are up to 320 x 192 pixels in size.
For best results reduce the number of colors to 256 before importing the image. Pictures that use more than 256 colors will be reduced before being placed on the form.
Learn more about making decorative graphics on the Advanced Topics page.
On the Form Designer Sizing Tab, the field size is changed to fit the decorative graphic:
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Since the default Skip Section button will not be used, the Answer Height is minimized so that this button does not appear.
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The Question Height is increased to display the entire graphic.
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The Spacing is also increased to provide additional white space at the top of the field.
On the Script Tab, a simple script is added to determine what happens when the user taps the button.
On a picture menu, a decorative image in a Section Field behaves like a button. When the picture is tapped, it generates a CLICK event. The CLICK event is used to take some action, such as creating a new record in another form.
From your main menu, you can create and review records in other forms using GOTOSUBFORM, SELECT and REVIEW statements. SELECT WHERE statements can also be used to filter records. Learn more about filtering records with new criteria for Select...Where... statements
Field 3: Adding a second menu item
Another menu item is added that will review records from the Hazard form. Like the previous field, a decorative image has been added to a Section field and the field height selections have been changed to fit the picture. Finally, a script is added that will display all records stored in the form named Hazards.
Sending the design to the handheld
The Custom Main Menu form design can now be saved, frozen and distributed to the handhelds.
You will need to select Auto Execute from the Behaviors Tab on the Form Properties menu in order to automatically run the Menu form when Pendragon Forms is launched.. Show me how
TIP: Make sure that the Layout View is selected as the default view for new records and reviewing records, on the Defaults Tab on the Form Properties menu. Show me how
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On the handheld After the form is distributed and the handheld has been synchronized, the new Custom Main Menu looks like this:
Records A Custom Main Menu only has one record. New records are not created for the menu form each time the Menu form is launched. Underlying forms (e.g. the Hazards form) will create a new record each time the button is tapped.
For more information Visit the Advanced Custom Main Menus page to learn more about advanced graphics, options and scripting for Custom Main Menus.
Visit the Search Menu page to learn how to create a Menu to filter records stored in a subform.
Please see Chapter 21: Creating a Custom Main Menu in the Pendragon Forms Reference Guide (To download the PDF, right-click on the link above and choose Save Target As...)
Note: Pendragon Forms 4.0 or higher required for Custom Main Menu. |
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