You are here: Chapter 7: Configuration and Administration > Workspace Administration > Fields > Form Designer Introduction

Form Designer Introduction

Workspace fields are used to track information for issues in the current workspace. The fields, tabs, and other data configured here are displayed on the tabs of the Create Issue and Edit Issue pages. The fields are available as criteria for searches, reports, escalation rules, and auto-assignment. The Form Designer designs the form used for issues. A form comprises the format of the issue page (the number of columns in which the fields are represented and the tabs or sections in which those fields appear) as well as the fields contained on the issue page. FootPrints issue pages have built-in fields and the workspace administrator may add custom fields.

The FootPrints built-in fields are:

Only one version of a form can be developed in a single Workspace. That is, you cannot have forms with different fields and layouts in the same Workspace. Different forms can be designed for different Workspaces and also fields can be displayed or hidden based on user role and permissions.

 

Field Types

FootPrints supports the following field types:

Restrictions

With respect to any size limits for fields, there is very little danger of exceeding the limits of most databases. Nevertheless, there are limits of which administrators should be aware.  When the number of fields in an individual workspace grows into the hundreds, performance may begin to degrade or data may begin to be truncated.  Administrators should at least be aware of this possibility. There are two ways in which field proliferation could get out of hand. One is through the use of field dependencies.  The other can occur by using field-level permissions to combine multiple workspaces into a single workspace.  Both of these features are extremely valuable and help to simplify life for the user. Administrators should not in any way avoid using these features. They are mentioned here only because of the slim chance that they could cause a problem through field proliferation.

 

Reserved Words

For a list of FootPrints Reserved Words, open the mrReservedWords.pl file in the FootPrints/cgi directory.