Grouping / Structuring Elements

Due to their structural difference, structuring data in simple data (tree) forms and screen forms is slightly different. Simple data forms structure the content usually as folder in the tree where a screen form may structure data within areas, groups or trays.

Structure Data in Simple Data Forms

If a new folder shall be added to the Simple Data form, a container element from the CVO types of the available elements widget folder needs to be dragged to the location where the folder shall be added. The display / behaviour can be influenced by the following attributes:

Expanded	Defines if the Folder is expanded when the form is displayed initially

Expanded	Defines if the Folder is expanded when the form is displayed initially
Container layout	Flow - all fields are displayed (with their respective width) directly behind one another. Fixed flow - the length of the first element (usually the label field) among all lines is calculated, so that the first element of all rows has an identical length all other layouts are not supported in Simple Data. If used, Flow layout is used instead.
Load on expand	Load on expand can be used to reduce the initial data loading for the content. Data below the node is not transported to the GUI and, in case this is supported by the feeder, the data is loaded only when the node is expanded.
Title	Defines the title of the Folder in the Simple Data Tree. It is recommended to use One of the supported Text Symbols for internationalization.
Auto. hide when empty	The Folder is not displayed, if no visible sub element is below. This can be used to hide folder, which are not relevant for the current Object (e.g. data not present at the current object) or the user has no access to the corresponding data.

All other attributes are ignored in case the ProFramework form is displayed as a Simple Data widget.

Structure Data in Screen Forms

Structuring Data in a Screen Form is more complex than in a Simple Data form. Depending on the attributes set, the container is rendered in a different way. A new container can be added by dragging a container element from the available elements widget (folder CVO types) to the desired location in the form. The following attributes are relevant:

Container Type	Layout container - generates a visible delimited area on the screen usually using margins in any direction Dummy container - generates an invisible container which may be used to group content which shall be managed together without a representation on the screen. e.g. a column based layout may use dummy container for each column.
Expandable	If the container is set to expandable, the form will generate a tray like (expandable) group
Expanded	Only applicable when the container is set to expandable. In this case, the default state (initially expanded or initially collapsed) is defined via this attribute.
Title	An expandable container must have a title, a non expandable container may have a title. If it has a title, the container is rendered as a group element, otherwise it is rendered with no further visible elements
Expand locked	Only applicable to expandable containers. If the expand is locked on a container, it is rendered as a tray without the possibility to expand / collapse the container.
Container layout	Flow - all fields are displayed (with their respective width) directly behind one another. Fixed flow - The firs element is displayed with a fix length. Usually used for fields with labels in a row based manner. Grid and Grid Lines - Elements are displayed in a grid style. For each Column in the layout a column element has to be provided in the container declaring the width of the column. A new row is started when the amount of elements is larger than the column count or when the Insert in new line attribute is set to true. It is not possible to place more than one element into a cell. If more than one element needs to be displayed in a cell, a dummy container may be used. Grid Lines layout displays a separator (line) between each row. Dynamic columns - May only be used with containers as sub elements. The layout tries to display the containers in two columns when the available screen width allows this. If the screen is to small for displaying two columns side by side, they are displayed below one another. all other Layouts may not be used

All other attributes are ignored in case the ProFramework form is displayed as a Screen widget.