Creating Templates for Upper Forms

For most companies, the upper forms in business processes contain many of the same fields. It can be difficult to ensure that forms are consistent, with fields in the same location for similar forms. To make creating upper forms easier, and reduce the chances of errors when modifications are made, you can create templates for upper forms so that you do not have to design and edit each one manually. When you add blocks from a template to an upper form, the template becomes linked to the upper form so that any changes you make to the template can be quickly and automatically "pushed" to the upper form.

A template provides only a layout of fields for the upper form. After a template layout is on the form design and linked to the template, you can use all the design features for the fields, such as formulas, auto-population, and dynamic data sets; but you:

The procedure that follows explains how to create a template. For information on how to use these templates to design an upper form, see Adding Blocks to a Form.

Creating a template

You can create a template manually, from a snapshot of the template, or copy a template from another business process.

Template "Cans" and "Cannots"

When you are creating a template, be aware of the following:

To create a template manually:

  1. Go to the Company Workspace tab and switch to Admin mode.
  2. In the left Navigator, click uDesigner > Business Processes.
  3. Open the business process for which you want to create a template and click Templates > Upper Forms in the Navigator.
  4. From the New menu, choose Manual. A Form Design window opens.
  5. Enter a name and description for the template.

    The name must be unique. A description is optional, but recommended.

  6. Click OK. uDesigner displays the name of the template on the right pane.
  7. Double-click the template name to open the design window. The Form Designer window opens.
  8. Create the template using the instructions under Adding Blocks to a Form and also Adding Fields to the Form.

To create a template from a snapshot:

These steps assume that a snapshot has been made of a previous template design.

  1. Open the business process for which you want to create a template and click Templates > Upper Forms in the Navigator.
  2. From the New menu, choose From Snapshot. The Select Snapshot window opens, showing snapshots that have been taken of the template.
  3. Select the snapshot from the list and click Open. A Form Design window opens.
  4. Enter a name and description for the template.

    The name must be unique. A description is optional, but recommended.

  5. Click OK.

uDesigner copies the layout of the snapshot to the template you are designing. At this point, you can edit the template by adding, removing, and rearranging fields on the form. To edit the template, use the instructions under Adding Blocks to a Form and also Adding Fields to the Form.

To copy a template from another business process:

  1. Open the business process for which you want to create a template and click Templates > Upper Forms in the Navigator.
  2. From the New menu, choose Copy From. The BP Template Forms window opens, showing a list of the upper form templates that have been created for this business process.
  3. Select an upper form from the list and click Open. A Form Design window opens.
  4. Enter a name and description for the template.

    The name must be unique. A description is optional, but recommended.

  5. Click OK.

    uDesigner copies the layout of the template to the template you are designing. At this point, you can edit the template. To edit the template, use the instructions under Adding Blocks to a Form and also Adding Fields to the Form.

In This Section

Using a Template in a Design

Updating an Upper Form Using a Template

Unlinking an Upper Form From a Template


Last Published Monday, June 3, 2024