Field states
How a field shows that it is required, recommended, locked, read-only or hidden, so people know what they can and must fill in.
What it is
A field on a form can be in different states. A business required field has a red asterisk and blocks saving until filled. A business recommended field has a blue plus and doesn't block saving. A locked field is greyed out and can't be edited right now. A read-only field is always display only. A hidden field is not shown at all until something makes it visible.
When to use it
Use required only for data a process can't work without. Use recommended to nudge people toward data you would like. Use locked or hidden to guide people through a state, for example locking a field after approval. For rules that depend on other values, use Business rules rather than a script.
Licensing and configuration
No extra licence. The requirement level (Optional, Business Recommended, Business Required) is set on the field in the form designer or on the column. Read-only and Hidden are properties of the field on the form. Making a field required, locked or hidden conditionally is done with business rules or with client scripting (formContext.getAttribute(...).setRequiredLevel(...), setDisabled, setVisible).
Pitfalls
- A field set to required on a form is required on that form only. The same column on another form or in an import can be empty.
- A hidden field that is business required can still block saving, and users can't see why.
- A field that looks locked may be locked by a business rule, a script or field-level security. Check all three.
- Business recommended fields are easy to ignore unless people know why they matter.
Try it in the demo
- Open the first accelerator and find the red asterisk and the blue plus.
- Try to edit the locked field and note that you can't.
- Turn on the toggle that reveals the hidden field.