Navigation Tree

Use

The navigation tree in the Form Builder offers an up-to-date overview of the form description. The subtree Global Settings allows you to maintain the global attributes of the form. You cannot change the structure of this subtree. To construct the logic and the contents of your form, you insert nodes into the subtree Pages and Windows. Each new Smart Form automatically contains the start page with a main window.

Integration

To create or delete nodes in the navigation tree, use a context menu or the main menu ( Start of the navigation path Edit Next navigation step Nodes End of the navigation path ) in the menu bar.

Double-click on an existing node to display its maintenance screen next to the navigation tree. If you entered conditions for a node, the system displays a special symbol next to the node symbol in the tree:

Prerequisites

To edit (create, delete, copy, and so on) nodes in the tree, you must have called the Form Builder in change mode.

Features

Automatic Naming of Nodes

For newly inserted nodes the Form Builder automatically assigns unique names. These names start with the percentage character ('%'). When copying certain nodes, two nodes with identical names may appear in the navigation tree (see: Copies and Links in the Navigation Tree). Two nodes with identical names link to the same object.

Context Menu

If you press the right mouse button in the navigation tree, a context-sensitive menu appears (depending on the current node type). It offers the following functions:

Create or delete (only in change mode) When creating a new node, only valid node types appear, depending on the selected node type.
Clipboard operations, for example, cut or copy nodes
Expand and compress a subtree

You can find the functions of the context menu in the main menu as well. However, before you can choose a function from the main menu, you must first double-click the desired node.

Clipboard

There are three clipboard operations:

Copy Copies the selected node and all its inferior nodes to the clipboard. The copy is kept in the clipboard even if you exit the Form Builder and call a different form. This allows you to copy subtrees of one form to another form by means of the clipboard.
Cut Copies the selected node and all its inferior nodes to the clipboard and, thereby, deletes the copied original nodes from the tree.
Paste The system first checks whether and where the root node of the clipboard contents may be inserted. Depending on the node type and on the position at which you want to paste the node, the Form Builder creates either a copy or a link to an existing node. For a copy it assigns a new name to the pasted node (see Copies and Links in the Navigation Tree).

Drag and Drop

You use Drag&Drop to move (left mouse button) or copy (Ctrl + left mouse button) subtrees. This function uses its own intermediate storage, so that the clipboard contents is not affected by a Drag&Drop operation.

If you are allowed to append the moved node either inferior to the target node or on the same level behind the target node, then the system offers both options as context menu.