Data Forms templates - generic fields

Owned by Julia Çam (evolu.software)
Last updated: Mar 05, 2023 by Andreas Spall (evolu.software)
3 min read

Starting with Version 1.8.0 Data Forms introduces generic fields in form templates.

What are generic fields and what are they for?

When creating templates you might need certain fields over and over again in all kinds of form templates. Fields like Manager or Contact Information or Summary will probably be used in a number of different forms. But what if you need a field in your template that you will only use once, only in one template? This is when generic fields come into play.

Generic fields come in all possible types (e.g. textfield, select, url, user… Possible Field Types ). They can be added to a form and then customised.

How to add generic fields

  1. Go to the Template tab in the DataForms Admin Interface.
    In the right sidebar you find all the predefined fields.

     

  2. Click on the generic fields tab in the right sidebar.

  3. Here you can find one generic field for every available field type.

     

  4. Pick a field and simply drag and drop it into your template as you would with a predefined field.

  5. Once the generic field is part of the template you can customise it by clicking on the Configure button.

     

  6. A modal will open. Here you can change the name of the field, add a description and make it a required field. For most field types you can also set a default value.
    For rating and select field this is the place to define options. And for boolean fields you can set names for the true and false values.

What is the difference between generic fields and fields predefiend in the fields tab?

  1. A generic field is only usable in the template it was created in. Wheras predefined fields can be used across multiple templates.

  2. Predefined fields can only be used once per template. But you can add as many generic fields of one type to your template as you want.

  3. Predefined fields are searchable. Generic fields are not.
    That means e.g. that whenever a user can select fields the generic field won’t be options.
    E.g. in the DataForms for Confluence Macros you can define tables to get an overview over specific data from your data forms. Here you can select the fields you want to see in your table. The generic fields won’t be an option here. Only the predefined fields.