Workspace members who have Designer access can replace a Forms tool design with the design from another Forms tool. Although Forms tool designers can always update a Forms tool application's design directly in the tool, designers may sometimes opt to use a "Replace Design" process for the following reasons:
It separates the Forms tool design process from the "production" Forms tool and provides an environment for updating a Forms tool design without needing to enter the Forms designer in the production Forms tool.
Designers can introduce and test design updates more freely, without needing to be immediately mindful of how the updates will affect users. The designer then performs the Replace Design operation only once a specific set of updates are complete and tested.
In a Forms tool application in which the design is locked, meaning that access to the Forms designer in not available, using the Replace Design process is the only option for updating a Forms tool design.
The use of Replace Design is most appropriate only under the following circumstances:
The designer is planning to introduce a significant number of design updates.
The design in the production Forms tool is locked, and therefore (as noted above), using Replace Design is the only option.
Designers who have access to the Forms designer in the production Forms tool should avoid using Replace Design to introduce smaller, incremental design updates. This is because the Replace Design operation replaces every design object in the tool (even those that are identical to the ones replacing them). Depending on the size and complexity of the Forms tool design, this activity may push large numbers of updates to all workspace members.
Caution: Replace Design literally replaces every single design object in the target Forms tool with a new version (though the new versions of most of these design objects are typically exactly the same as the previous ones). Replacing a Forms design via a Forms tool that contains significantly different design objects will likely have significant impact on access to and the appearance of existing records. For example, if the design used for replacement contains few (or none) of the fields contained in the original Forms tool, records that used these fields will probably be lost.
For optimal results, it's best to use the following general steps for setting up a Replace Design process:
Do all Forms design work in the production Forms tool until it's ready for deployment -- that is, until it's ready for workspace invitees to become members and start adding records.
Before inviting members, save the workspace as a template.
Create a new workspace using
the workspace template.
You will now have two workspaces, each of which contains Forms tools
with identical design objects. The copy of the Forms tool in the new workspace
can be used as design "master", meaning that from now on you
will make ALL design updates via
the Forms designer in this Forms tool.
In the production Forms tool, run the Replace Design process, referencing the workspace that contains the master Forms tool template.
Alternatively, instead of saving the original workspace as a template, you could save the original Forms tool as a template. You could then add this Forms tool to another workspace or even to the same workspace. Some Forms designers might opt to create a workspace that simply contains a set of Forms tools used as design masters.
When you replace a Forms tool design, you replace the set of design objects (that is, all forms, views, fields, macros, scripts, and styles) in the current Forms tool with those of the Forms tool you select in the Replace Design dialog box. The resulting set of design objects will have these characteristics:
Any design objects that were not previously in the Forms tool design are added as new objects.
Any design objects of the same name are simply
replaced and use the properties of the replacement object.
For example, if you replace a Text field named "City" with
another Text field named "City", this field changes only if
the replacement field has different field properties.
Any design objects from the original Forms tool
design that are NOT part of the Forms tool used to do the replace design
are deleted from the original Forms tool.
For example, if the original Forms tool contains the text field "City"
and you replace design with a Forms tool that does not contain this field,
the "City" field will be deleted. It's important to keep in
mind that if existing records included data in this field, this data will
be lost.
In some cases it might be possible to change a field's type using Replace Design (for example, from a Date to a Date/Time field, or from a Text to a Multiline Text field). However, this practice is generally not recommended for the following reasons:
Not all field types are compatible. Changing a field to an incompatible type will result in data loss for existing records. For example, you cannot change a Text field to a Number field and retain field values for this field in existing records.
To change a field type, you must be able to create
a new field in the master Forms template that has the exact same name
as the
field whose type you want to change in the original Forms tool. However,
if you've created your master template using the Replace Design process
described above (the recommended process), you cannot create a new field
under the exact same name because the Forms tool permanently stores field
names once fields are created.
For example, suppose you have a Text field named "Cost" in
your original Forms tool. In your master template (created via saving
the workspace containing the original Forms tool as a template), you have
the exact same Text field, but you'd prefer if this were a Currency field.
However, you cannot create a new field named "Cost" in this
workspace even if you delete the existing Text field named "Cost"
and then re-create it because the Forms tool still stores the name of
the original field. If you create the new field, and type the name "Cost"
in the fields Name property, the field name will be saved as "Cost0"
(and subsequently, Cost1, Cost2, and so on).
Replace Design is highly effective for making changes to field properties. However, just as with changing field properties directly in a production Forms tool, some changes to field properties may impact data in existing records. When making these changes, Forms designers should always be careful to consider whether the changes may enforce new restrictions on allowable data.
For example, suppose the original Forms tool includes a List Box field
that allows multiple selections, but you update this property in the master
Forms tool so that it allows only a single selection, and then replace
your design. Any existing records that previously contained multiple selections
in the List Box field will actually continue to store them, but only until
the first time the record is edited. At that time, only one selection
will be allowed in the List Box field, and initially, no values will be
selected.
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