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Quick Guide
to Using Forms
This guide gives you an overview of how Pendragon Forms works. The Quick Guide begins with an introduction to the Form Designer, and then offers step-by-step instructions for creating a form, freezing the form design, distributing the form to a handheld device and collecting data on the handheld. After synchronization, data from the handheld can be viewed in the Forms Manager database.
Getting Started
On the PC, open
the Forms Manager by clicking Start...Program Files...Pendragon
Forms 5.1...Pendragon Forms Manager.
The Forms Manager window in
the foreground and is where you will design forms and view data.
To create a new form, click
the New button.
If you are editing an
existing form, click the name of the form to highlight it, and then
click the Edit button.
When you click the New or
Edit button, the Form Designer window is displayed.
The Form Designer window is where you design your form.
1. Fill in the Form Name field at the top of the window to give your form
a name.
2. Click in the Field Name field and type the name of the first field on
your form.
3. In the Field Type field, select the type of data that the handheld
user can enter in this field.
To add another field to the
form, click the Plus button.
Or, if you are on the
last field of the form, click the Right
Arrow button to create a field.
There are 23 field types that you can use. Several field types require
you to enter additional
information. For example, a Popup List field, shown below, requires you
to enter the
options that you want the user to see in the Popup List.
For more information about field types, see
Chapter 7: Field Types in the Pendragon Forms Reference Guide
(To download the PDF, right-click on the link above and choose Save Target As...)
As you add fields to your form design, the Preview Area on the left
side of the Form Designer
window shows you a preview of what your form will look like on the
handheld.
If your form design is several screens long, you can scroll up and down
the Preview Area to find a
particular screen.
Click on a field in the Preview area to select
that field to edit.
You can also use Left and
Right Arrow buttons to move from field to field.
Form Designer Tabs & Field Properties
The tabs in the Form Designer: Field, Data, Visual, Sizing and Script, apply to the selected field.
The Sizing Tab
The Sizing tab lets you control how a field is displayed on the handheld
screen. To reduce the
screen space that a field occupies, check the Question and Answer on
Same Line checkbox. The
field name (question) and the handheld user's response (answer) will
take up one line on screen.
The Answer Placement control lets you position the answer to the left,
middle or right of the
screen.
Some fields display better if they take up more screen space, not less.
If the question and answer are on different lines, you can add Spacing
before the question, and
adjust the Question Height and the Answer Height as needed.
The question and answer components of a field cannot be larger than a single screen.
The Visual Tab
The Visual tab in the Form Designer window allows you to change the font
for the question and
answer components of the current field.
Fonts can be Standard, Bold, Large, or Large and Bold.
If you are designing for a color handheld device, you can also make the
question font a color other
than black.
If you have a field that you want to start at the top of a screen,
you can check the Start Next Screen checkbox on the Visual tab.
In the Caption field, you can type an optional header for that screen.
If you leave the Caption field blank, the default header is the form
name.
To learn more details of the Form Designer window, please see Chapter 8: Advanced Form Designer in the Pendragon Forms Reference Guide. (To download the PDF, right-click on the link above and choose Save Target As...)
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IMPORTANT: click the Save button in the Form Designer window often, to save your work regularly. |
To re-position a field, click on the field in the Preview Area to select
that field.
Then click the Up or Down arrows to move the field to the previous or
next position on
the form.
To insert a field in the middle of a form, click on a field in the
Preview Area to select the field.
Click the
Plus button to add a new field after the selected field. Remember
to type a field name
and select a field type for the new field.
To delete a field, click on the field in the Preview Area to select the
field. Then click the Garbage
Can button.
To save your form and exit the Form Designer, click the Exit button
and choose Yes when prompted to save the form.
Form Properties & Freezing the Form Design
The next step in the form design process is to select form properties
and freeze the form design.
Freezing a form design creates a database table within the Forms Manager
database for storing all
the records associated with a form. You cannot add, delete or move
fields once the form is frozen.
To freeze a form, click on the name of the form to highlight it, and
then click the Properties button.
In the Data Persistence section of the Form Properties window, choose
how long you want to keep
records on the handheld after synchronization.
Check the Keep a Copy of Records on Handheld checkbox if you want the
handheld to have a
copy of the records after synchronization.
To freeze the form design, click the button labeled Freeze Form Design
for distribution to
handheld and create database.
Once the form is frozen, the Table Name field in the Form Properties
window displays the name
of the database table that was created for storing records for this
form.
The ID field is a unique Form ID number. A form on the handheld has to
match the Form ID on the
PC for the form to be able to synchronize. It is therefore very
important not to delete a form design
from the PC if you are still using the form on the handheld.
Click the OK button to close the Form Properties window.
Distributing the Form to the Handheld
Once you have frozen a form, the next step is to distribute the form to
the handheld device.
Click on the name of the form in the Forms Manager window, then click
the Distribute button.
The form will be added to the Default User Group, and members of that
user group will receive
the form design on their next synchronization.
Forms on the Handheld
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Palm OS devices |
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Sending the Form to the
Handheld To check that Forms is installed on the handheld, tap the Applications button on the handheld (the House icon). You should see an icon for Forms 5.1 on your handheld screen.
If you do not see the Forms icon, refer to the instructions in the Tip at the right. Once the Forms 5.1 icon is present on your handheld device, synchronize the handheld to receive your form designs.
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Click on the name of a handheld device, then click Done. Perform a HotSync data transfer to install the Forms application on the handheld. |
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The Pendragon Forms conduit runs during the synchronization process.
If a HotSync Problem dialog box appears on the PC at the end of synchronization, you should view the HotSync Log (click the View Log button). The Pendragon Forms conduit may be reporting a problem that prevents data from going to the PC. Please see Appendix B: Troubleshooting in the Pendragon Forms Reference Guide. (To download the PDF, right-click on the link above and choose Save Target As...) |
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Creating Records & Entering Data on the Handheld After synchronization, tap the Forms 5.0 icon on the handheld to see the form designs that have been sent from the PC. To fill in a form, tap the name of the form, then tap the New button. This creates a new record, that is, a new instance of filling in the form. To fill in a field, tap in the
answer part of the field, and If a form has more than one
screen, tap the Next button when you are ready to move to
the next screen. The Previous button takes you back to the previous screen. If you are on the last field of the form, tapping the Next button will exit the record and return you to the main Forms screen. You can also tap the End button to end the record and return to the Forms main menu. |
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Tip:
Pocket PCs
| Verify that Forms is installed on your Pocket PC by looking for the Forms 5 icon in the Programs Window. If Forms is not on the handheld, see the Installation Guide. Tap the Forms 5.1 icon to launch the Forms application.
Synchronize the handheld by placing it in the cradle, synchronization should begin automatically. You can also initiate synchronization using the Sync button on the Forms Main Menu. After synchronization, tap the Forms button to view the Forms Main Menu. To create a new record, tap on the name of the form, then tap the New button.
Tap in a field and use the onscreen keyboard to enter data for the field. Tap the right arrow button at the bottom of the screen to move to the next screen. Tap the OK button or the checkmark to save and exit the record. |
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Sending Data from the Handheld to the Database
To send your data from the handheld to the PC, synchronize the handheld.
To view your data on the PC, open the Forms Manager program. Click on
the name of your form, and then click the Edit/View button.
In the database table containing the records for your form, each field
is a column in the database table, and each record is a separate row of the table.
Pendragon Forms adds four fields to the front of the database table,
that the program uses internally: RecordID, UnitID, UserName and TimeStamp.
The Timestamp is the creation date and time of the record.
The UserName is the user name of the handheld device that most recently
changed the record.
IMPORTANT: Never delete or change columns in the database table, or the
form will not be able to synchronize to the database table.
