Including Data Validation Rules in Forms

In the Layout tab, you can add and update validation rules to the grid, column, row, or cell. When rules are processed, they can change the color of cells, provide validation messages to users during data entry, and can change the promotional path for Approval units. Validation rules are saved with the form.

Before adding data validation rules, it is important to consider the function the rule will perform and to plan the rule scope.

To include data validation rules in forms:

1. Open the form, and then click Layout.
2. Select Validation Rules, and then select an option:

   Note:

   The menu options that display are context-sensitive, and depend on whether rules have already been added, and if you previously selected a menu option. For example, if you right-click a cell that contains a rule and select Copy Validation Rules, the Paste Validation Rules menu option is displayed when you right-click another cell.

   Table 16-6 Form Validation Rules Options

   Option	Description
   Add/Edit Validation Rules	Add or edit existing rules in the condition builder are of the Data Validation Rule Builder dialog box.
   Copy Validation Rules	Copy the selected rules to be pasted to a new location.
   Paste Validation Rules	Paste the previously copied rules to a new location.
   Validate only for users with access to this form	If the currently logged-in user does not have access to the form, do not execute validations associated with the form when validating the Approval unit.
   Validate only for pages with existing blocks	When enabled, the system figures out which page combinations have potential blocks and runs the validations only for those page combinations. There are a few exceptions to this. If a page combination has any Dynamic Calc, Label only, or Store with one child member, then that page is always loaded.
   Validate only for cells and pages the user has access to	When enabled, validations are run as the currently logged-in user and not as the administrator, which means the user’s security will be applied to the form members.
   Validate with each possible value for user variables from approval unit dimensions	When enabled, the form will be validated multiple times by replacing the user variable from the approval dimension with every possible value for the user variable. If not enabled, the form will be validated once with the user variable replaced with all possible values for the user variable. It is not enabled by default.
   Validate with current approval unit members as values for user variables	When enabled, the user variable for the approval dimension on the form will be replaced by the approval unit member before the validations are run. If not enabled, the user variable will be replaced with all possible values for the user variable. It is not enabled by default.

3. Build and validate the rules.
4. In the form, click Next to continue building the form, and then validate and save the form.