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Form Properties

Color Scheme​

Color scheme property is only applied on macOS.

This property defines the color scheme for the form. By default when the property is not set, the value for a color scheme is inherited (the form uses the scheme defined at the application level). This can be changed for the form to one of the following two options:

  • dark - light text on a dark background
  • light - dark text on a light background

A defined color scheme can not be overridden by a CSS.

JSON Grammar​

NameData TypePossible Values
colorSchemestring"dark", "light"

CSS​

This property allows you to load specific CSS file(s) for the form.

A CSS file defined at the form level will override default style sheet(s). For more information, please refer to Style sheets page.

JSON Grammar​

NameData TypePossible Values
cssstring or collectionCSS file path(s) provided as:
  • a string (a file for both platforms)
  • a collection of strings (a list of files for both platform)
  • a collection of {"path":string;"media":"mac" | "win"} objects

    • Form Class​

    Name of an existing user class to associate to the form . The user class can belong to the host project or to a component, in which case the formal syntax is "componentNameSpace.className".

    Associating a class to the form provides the following benefits:

    • When you work in the Form editor, the associated class is used for accurate syntax checking of expressions such as Form.myProperty in all areas of the Property list that support expressions (e.g. Variable or Expression, Font color expression...). Errors are displayed in red and warnings are displayed in yellow in the left column of the Property list and you can hover it to get explanations:

    • The detection of errors in the code of form object expressions by the compiler is improved.

    • You can also to benefit from autocompletion features in the code editor.

    • When the form is executed, 4D automatically instantiates a user class object for the form, which is returned by the Form object. Your code can directly access class functions defined in the user class through the Form command (e.g. Form.message()) without having to pass a formData object as parameter to the DIALOG, Print form, or FORM LOAD commands.

    note

    See this blog post for an illustration of this feature.

    JSON Grammar​

    NameData TypePossible Values
    formClassstringname of an existing user class ("className" or "componentNameSpace.className")

    Form Name​

    This property is the name of the form itself and is used to refer to the form by name using the 4D language. The form name must comply with the rules specified for identifiers in 4D.

    JSON Grammar​

    The form name is defined by the name of the folder that contains the form.4Dform file. See project architecture for more information.

    Form Type​

    The form type, i.e. its destination, defines the features that will be available to the form. For example, markers can only be set for list (output) table forms.

    Each table in a database generally has at least two table forms. One for listing records on-screen and the other for displaying one record at a time (used for data entry and modifications):

    • Output form - the output form or list form displays a list of records, with a single line per record. The results of queries are shown in an output form and users can double-click a line to display the input form for that record.

    • Input form - used for data entry. It displays a single record per screen and typically has buttons for saving and canceling modifications to the record and for navigating from record to record (i.e., First Record, Last Record, Previous Record, Next Record).

    Supported types depend on the form category:

    Form TypeJSON grammarDescriptionSupported with
    Detail FormdetailScreenA display form for data entry and modificationProject forms - Table forms
    Detail Form for PrintingdetailPrinterA printed report with one page per record, such as an invoiceProject forms - Table forms
    List FormlistScreenA form for listing records on the screenTable forms
    List Form for PrintinglistPrinterA printed report that list recordsTable forms
    Noneno destinationA form with no specific featureProject forms - Table forms

    JSON Grammar​

    NameData TypePossible Values
    destinationstring"detailScreen", "listScreen", "detailPrinter", "listPrinter"

    Inherited Form Name​

    This property designates the form to inherit in the current form.

    To inherit from a table form, set the table in the Inherited Form Table property.

    To remove inheritance, select \<None> in the Property List (or " " in JSON).

    JSON Grammar​

    NameData TypePossible Values
    inheritedFormstringName of table or project form OR a POSIX path to a .json file describing the form OR an object describing the form

    Inherited Form Table​

    This property specifies the database table from which to inherit a form in the current form.

    Set to \<None> in the Property List (or " " in JSON) to inherited from a project form.

    JSON Grammar​

    NameData TypePossible Values
    inheritedFormTablestring or numbertable name or table number

    Pages​

    Each form has is made of at least two pages:

    • a page 0 (background page)
    • a page 1 (main page)

    For more information, please refer to Form pages.

    JSON Grammar​

    NameData TypePossible Values
    pagescollectionCollection of pages (each page is an object, page 0 is the first element

    Published as Subform​

    For a component form to be selected as a subform in a host application, it must have been explicitly shared. When this property is selected, the form will be published in the host application.

    Only project forms can be specified as published subforms.

    JSON Grammar​

    NameData TypePossible Values
    sharedbooleantrue, false

    Save Geometry​

    When the option is used, if the window is opened using the Open form window command with the * parameter, several form parameters are automatically saved by 4D when the window is closed, regardless of how they were modified during the session:

    • the current page,
    • the position, size and visibility of each form object (including the size and visibility of list box columns).

    This option does not take into account objects generated using the OBJECT DUPLICATE command. In order for a user to recover their environment when using this command, the developer must repeat the sequence of creation, definition and positioning of the objects.

    When this option is selected, the Save Value option is available for certain objects.

    JSON Grammar​

    NameData TypePossible Values
    memorizeGeometrybooleantrue, false

    See also​

    Save Value

    Window Title​

    The window title is used when the form is opened using the Open form window and Open window 4D commands in Application environment. The window title appears in the Title bar of the window.

    You can use dynamic references to set the window titles for forms, i.e.:

    • A standard XLIFF reference stored in the Resources folder.
    • A table or field label: The syntax to apply is <?[TableNum]FieldNum> or <?[TableName]FieldName>.
    • A variable or a field: The syntax to apply is \<VariableName> or <[TableName]FieldName>. The current value of the field or variable will be displayed in the window title.

    The number of characters for a window title is limited to 31.

    JSON Grammar​

    NameData TypePossible Values
    windowTitlestringThe name of the window as plain text or as a reference