Forms Designer 7.5 Beta Release Notes

Forms Designer 7.5 Beta Release Notes

Overview

Our release notes offer brief descriptions of the bug fixes included in the 7.5.x Beta release of our Forms Designer. The version number shown is now shown in the File Menu > Options Window > General Tab. The current Beta version is 7.5.15.

Please contact our Support Team with any questions or feedback about any of these updates.

Product Enhancements

Add the Ability to Determine if a GPS Region Has Coordinates using Scripting in Forms Designer (SB-1296)

Added a new Region.hasCoordinates() script call that returns a Boolean of whether or not a GPS Region currently has coordinates as its value to the Scripting Engine and Preview Mode in Forms Designer.

Add the Ability to Focus a Region using Scripting in Forms Designer (SB-1297)

Added a new script call View.focusRegion(string) where the string is in the format of "PageX@RegionY" to the Script Engine and Preview Mode that will automatically take the User to a particular Region in Forms Designer. 

Add the Ability to Change a Region's Font Properties using Scripting in Forms Designer (SB-1298)

Added the ability to get and dynamically set a Region's Font Properties which include the Font's Color, Font Name, Font Size, and Font Styles (Bold, Italic, and Underline) to the Scripting Engine and Preview Mode in Forms Designer. The new script calls are as follows: Font Color - Region.getFontColor() and Region.setFontColor(string), Font Name - Region.getFontName() and Region.setFontName(string), Font Size - Region.getFontSize() and Region.setFontSize(integer), Font Style Bold - Region.getFontBold() and Region.setFontBold(boolean), Font Style Italic - Region.getFontItalic() and Region.setFontItalic(boolean), Font Style Underline - Region.getFontUnderline() and Region.setFontUnderline(boolean)

Add the Ability to Get the Company ID for a User using Scripting in Forms Designer (SB-1779)

Added a new companyID property to the Field2Base.getUser() script call that returns the Company ID as an integer and added a new Field2Base.getCompany() script call that returns an object that contains the Company ID and Company Name to the Scripting Engine and Preview Mode in Forms Designer.

Create a New UI Theme for Forms Designer (SB-2060)

Started the creation of a new UI theme in Forms Designer using the DevExpress WinForms third-party licensed libraries.

Continue Creating a New UI Theme for Forms Designer (SB-3609)

Continued the development on the new UI theme in Forms Designer using the DevExpress WinForms third-party licensed libraries.

Update the Insert Region and Button UI to Be Present Regardless of the Selected Tab in the New UI of Forms Designer (SB-3610)

Updated the Insert Region and Button UI to be in the ribbon regardless of the Tab selected in the new UI of Forms Designer.

Implement New Windows WPF Form Viewer for Use with Forms Designer (SB-3611)

Implement New Windows WPF Form Viewer for Use with Forms Designer

Incorporate the New Windows WPF Form Viewer into Preview Mode in Forms Designer (SB-3612)

Incorporated the new Windows Form Viewer to be used when Preview Mode is selected when testing Form Templates in Forms Designer. 

Move the Page Properties to Be a Button in the Forms Properties Tab in Forms Designer (SB-3649)

Moved the Page Properties to be a proper Button in the ribbon on the Form Properties tab in the new UI of Forms Designer.

Save the User's Preview Mode Settings in Forms Designer (SB-3656)

Updated Forms Designer to save and retain Preview Mode Settings over multiple sessions instead of having to update the Preview Mode Settings each session the application is opened.

Update the Delete and Resize Buttons inside Regions to Better Scale for Smaller Regions to Allow Selection in Forms Designer (SB-3663)

Updated the Delete and Resize buttons that appear inside each Region to start at a smaller size and scale better for smaller sized Regions in the Design View in Forms Designer. Additionally, an Enlarge option has been added to the right-click context menu if the Resize button is not visible and the User wants to changes the Region's size if it's not visible.

Change Enabling the Scripting Dependencies Tab to a Setting in Options instead of Being Tied to the Build Type in Forms Designer (SB-3664)

Moved the ability to enable Scripting Dependencies from being based on the build type and made it a new setting called "Enable the Scripting Dependencies tab in Region Properties" in the File > Options window in Forms Designer.

Update the Document Conversion Process to Save in Temp Storage when Replacing Backgrounds in Forms Designer (SB-3665)

Updated the document conversion process for PDFs and Microsoft files to save the converted files in a temporary folder when adding or replacing Page Backgrounds in Forms Designer and dispose of these files when the User leaves the application. Additionally, added a Load a new file option to the Page selection pop-up window when replacing Page Backgrounds in Forms Designer.

Update the Region Type Colors in the Design Mode in Forms Designer (SB-3666)

Updated the colors of Region Types in the Design View to make it easier to delineate between different categories of Regions in Forms Designer. All Text-based Regions will remain the same blue color, Checkbox Regions will now be pink, Datasource Regions will remain the same green color, Pen Regions will now be turquoise, all Auto-Populated Regions will now be a light yellow, and all Media-based Regions will now be orchid.

Update the Scripting Engine to Support Draft Class Functions in Preview Mode in Forms Designer (SB-3667)

Updated the Script Engine in Preview Mode in Forms Designer to support the Draft.getIsNew() and Draft.getOpenMode() calls that work in Apps but not previously in Forms Designer. Additionally, these can be configured to be different than the default in the Preview Mode Settings.

Add the Ability to Move the Display Rectangle with the Keyboard on the Display Tab in Region Properties in Forms Designer (SB-3678)

Updated the Display Rectangle to be selected which highlights it in blue which allows the Rectangle to be moved around with arrow keys on the keyboard in the Preview UI in the Display tab in the Region Properties window in Forms Designer.

Add Expand Button to the Collapsed Side Window during Preview Mode in Forms Designer 7.5 (SB-3689)

Added an Expand button (left arrow icon centered horizontally) if the side window is collapsed during Preview Mode in the new UI of Forms Designer.

Add Clear Recent Option and Name and Last Modified Timestamp Headers to the Recent Screen in Forms Designer 7.5 (SB-3690)

Added Name and Last Modified headers to the Open Form Template screen and added a Clear Recent option accessible through a right-click context menu in the Recents section of the Open Form Template screen in the new UI of Forms Designer.

Increase the Maximum Zoom Level Available in the Design Mode in Forms Designer (SB-3757)

Increased the maximum zoom level to be up to 500% now instead of being restricted to 175% when designing Forms in the Normal View in Forms Designer.

Add the Ability to Open the Attachments Menu or the Attach File Pop-Up Window using Scripting in Forms Designer (SB-3763)

Added appropriate messages in pop-up windows when the new Field2Base.openAttachmentsMenu() and Field2Base.attachFile() script calls are made to Forms Designer Preview Mode because this application does not support attaching files.

Add the Ability to Check if a Form Draft Has Attachments using Scripting in Forms Designer (SB-3777)

Added the ability to see what Attachments are in a Form Draft using the Field2Base.getAttachments() script call that was implemented in Forms Designer Preview Mode that returns an array of objects that have the filename property (i.e. [{filename:"photo.jpg"},{filename:"doc.pdf"}]. Additionally, a new Field2Base.getAttachments() option has been added to the Preview Settings in Designer to allow various testing scenarios.

Update Logic to Prevent Form Sending if Exceptions Are Thrown during the Form_Validating Event in Forms Designer (SB-3830)

Updated the Form_Validating Event to now catch Script call exceptions and record them to the Validation Log in the Forms Designer Preview Mode to prevent validation from failing silently and not stopping the Send Form process due a validation failure.

Add the Ability to Quickly Delete Datasource Region Values in Preview Mode in Forms Designer 7.5 (SB-3853)

Added the ability to right click and erase Region Values for Datasource Regions with the "Allow users to enter new values" setting enabled while in Preview Mode in Forms Designer 7.5.

Implement the Time Picker for Date/Time Regions during Preview Mode in the New Designer UI (SB-3878)

Implemented the Time picker for Date/Time Regions when testing Form Templates in Preview Mode in the new Forms Designer UI.

Update the Region Selection and Re-Sizing UI to Allow for Easier Re-Sizing in Forms Designer (SB-3884)

Updated the Region selection and re-sizing to now use a more friendly UI when creating and editing Regions in Design Mode in the new Forms Designer UI.

Add the Ability to Zoom In and Out during Preview Mode in the New Forms Designer UI (SB-3902)

Added the ability to zoom in and out while testing Forms in Preview Mode in the new Forms Designer UI. Additionally, three new zoom options (Fit Page, Fit Width, and ) were added next to the Page Navigation drop-down in the UI for both Design Mode and Preview Mode in the new Forms Designer UI.

Update the PDF Form Background Conversion Process to Not Require Separate Software Installation in Forms Designer (SB-3916)

Updated the Form PDF to Image Background conversion process (which also includes all Microsoft supported document types) to no longer use a separate installation of software (i.e. Ghostscript) in Forms Designer and instead incorporate third-party libraries embedded in our installation.

Add a Save Button to the Add a New Value Field for Datasource Regions during Preview Mode in Forms Designer (SB-3917)

Added a Save button to the Add New Value field in Datasource Regions with the Allow Users to Save New Values property enabled during Preview Mode in the Forms Designer UI.

Make the Date/Time Picker and Full Screen Pen Region Pop-Up Window Moveable in Preview Mode in the New Forms Designer UI (SB-3918)

Added a header bar to the Date/Time Region picker and the Pen Region Full Screen pop-up window to allow Designers the ability to move the interfaces around during Preview Mode in the new Forms Designer UI.

Add a New Form_Reloaded Event to the Scripting Engine in Forms Designer (SB-3919)

Added a new Form_Reloaded() Script Event to the Script Engine in Forms Designer and Forms Designer Preview Mode that gets triggered whenever an existing Draft is loaded into the Form Viewer for filling out. Additionally, a new Reload action has been added to the options while in Preview Mode to simulate reloading a Draft.

Update the User Authentication Process to Prompt within the App in Forms Designer (SB-3945)

Updated the User Authentication process for Form Publishing and taking Preview actions that connect to the server (i.e. getting a Unique ID) in Forms Designer to now stay within an embedded window in Designer when using a Company ID, Username, and Password, and to open the User's default Internet browser when using Single Sign-On (SSO). When SSO Authentication completes, the User can click the Continue button on the Portal page to be prompted to return to Forms Designer to complete whatever action was taken. The updated User Authentication process will take effect in the Portal 03.25.2025 Release.

Add the Ability to Print Pages using Scripting when Filling Out Drafts in Forms Designer (SB-3966)

Added a new script call Field2Base.print(string) where the string is the User Page Numbers that need to be printed (i.e. "1", "1-5", "2,5", etc.) to the Script Engine in Forms Designer and updated Preview Mode to generate a PDF that can be printed based on the Pages defined in the script call.

Bug Fixes

Investigate and Fix the Insert UI Being Disabled after Using Page Sorter and Preview Mode in Forms Designer 7.5 (SB-3655)

Fixed an issue with the Insert Region / Button UI becoming disabled if the User starts Preview Mode while in the Page Sorter View in the new UI of Forms Designer.

Investigate and Fix Not Able to See Region Properties if a Region on Another Page Is Selected in the New Forms Designer UI (SB-3702)

Fixed an issue with the multi-selected Region pop-up window appearing when you attempt to view Region Properties after having previously selected a Region on another Page in the Design View in the new Forms Designer UI.

Investigate and Fix Region Center Alignment Issues for Text-Based Regions in Preview Mode in the New UI of Forms Designer (SB-3706)

Fixed issues with some of the alignments (Horizontal Left / Vertical Center, Horizontal Right / Vertical Center, Horizontal Center / Vertical Bottom) not working correctly for Text-based Regions in Preview Mode in the new UI of Forms Designer.

Refresh the Page Drop-Down List after Changing the Current Page Name in the New UI of Forms Designer (SB-3710)

Updated the Page navigation drop-down list's UI to automatically refresh after the current Page Name has been changed in the new UI of Forms Designer.

Investigate and Fix Crashes Occurring in the New Preview Mode UI in Forms Designer 7.5.x (SB-3903)

Fixed an issue with the Forms Designer crashing if the Validate or the Validate and Send buttons are pressed in Preview Mode and any of the required Regions had not been filled out.

Investigate and Fix Errors and Crashes with the New Region UI Sizing and Scaling in Forms Designer 7.5.12 (SB-3921)

Fixed issues with the new Region sizing and scaling UI that were causing exceptions or crashes when attempting to removing Regions from the Page, when changing the Region Type, and when clicking on Hidden Regions during Design Mode in the new Forms Designer UI.

Fix the Datasource Region Add New Value Field Clipping Issue and Make All Drop-Down Fields Have a Minimum Width in Preview Mode in the New Forms Designer UI (SB-3921)

Fixed the Datasource Region drop-down list UI to ensure that the new Save button for the Add a New Value field and the label in the Search field is always visible when testing Forms in Preview Mode in the new Forms Designer UI.


    • Popular Articles

    • Forms Designer Quick Start Guide

      Overview Field2Base Forms Designer is the proprietary software application that allows your existing paper forms to be quickly converted to a smart E-form available to your end users via our mobile and web-based Mobile Forms applications. This ...

    • Portal 11.28.2023 Release Notes

      Overview Our release notes offer brief descriptions of product enhancements and bug fixes. We include links to the current articles for any affected features. Those articles will be updated shortly after the Portal release to include new ...

    • Integration Service Configuration Guide

      How To Configure Integration Services To Allow Read/Write Access on a Network Path All of our Integration Products, including the DIM, DUU, and EDM have respective Windows Services responsible for communicating with our server. Occassionally, ...

    • Data Integration Module (DIM) Migration Guide

      Overview This article provides the information necessary to migrate the Field2Base Data Integration Module (DIM) over from one server to another. Please refer to the DIM Install Guide for the initial installation of the Field2Base DIM. Once that's ...

    • How to Check the Version of Integration Products Running on a Windows 10 Machine

      Right-click on the Start menu button. Click on Apps & Features. In the Apps & Features search bar type in the Integration Product you are looking for, eg. F2B Data Integration Module, F2B Data Upload, or F2B Enterprise Dispatch Module. Click to ...