Field properties

Each field type that you add to a form has field properties. After you have added a field to a form, you can specify the properties of the field.

The following describes the default properties that may be associated with different Field Types.

Property nameProperty description
Box sizeFor a single-select or multi-select box field, this property determines how many lines of values are displayed.
ColumnsFor a radio button list, this property determines how many columns radio button values are displayed in. This property can be used in conjunction with the Layout property to determine the way in which radio buttons are displayed.
Category Link

For a single-select field (radio buttons, drop-down list, single-select box) and for a multi-select field (checkboxes, multi-select box), you can pick an SDL Tridion Category to create a list containing all the Keywords in that Category, instead of specifying options yourself by hand (Items property).

Default valueThe default value of the field.
Field inclusion

In a Summary field, this property determines how WebForms Designer interprets the list of fields listed in Field reference:

  • If Field inclusion is set to All but selected, the summary field contains all fields, except the ones listed in Field reference.
  • If Field inclusion is set to Selected only (default), the summary field contains all the fields listed in Field reference.
Field reference

For a Summary field, a property that lists one of the following:

  • the unique IDs of fields that you want the summary field to display if a visitor has already entered a value for them (if the Field inclusion property is set to Selected only)
  • the unique IDs of fields that you do not want the summary field to display (if the Field inclusion property is set to All but selected). The summary field displays the values of all other fields for which the visitor has already entered a value.
File size limit

In an upload file field, this property allows you to specify the size of the file that a visitor can upload when filling in the form. You can specify two values for this property:

number
this is the size of the file (a positive number)
unit
this is the unit of the measurement. You can specify the following: byte, kilobyte, and megabyte
Hint text

A hint for the field that will help the visitor to fill in the field correctly. You can enter this value in the Properties pane, or directly in the Design View of the form.

You can also include or link to an SDL Tridion Component: see the property "Linked hint text". If both the "Hint text" and "Linked hint text" properties are filled in, "Linked hint text" is ignored.

Image

For an image field, the Image properties specify the following values:

Component to Link to
the Multimedia Component to which the image field will display
Alternate text
the alt text
Custom height
custom height of the image
Custom width
custom width of the image
Border
the border size of the image
URL Link
a URL that the image field can link to
Component Link
the Content Manager URI (unique identifier) of a Component that the image field can link to
ItemsExplained below.
Label

A label for the field that identifies the type of value that the visitor should fill in. You can enter this value in the Properties pane, or directly in the Design View of the form.

LayoutFor radio buttons, this property determines if the radio buttons are displayed horizontally or vertically. This property can be used in conjunction with the Column property to determine the way in which radio buttons are displayed.
Linked hint textExplained below.
Linked labelExplained below.
Maximum LengthUsed to denote the maximum number of characters allowed in a field.
Maximum relative value

In a date field, this property allows you to set the latest date that a visitor can enter relative to the current date. In this case, the current date is the date on the server the presents the visitor with the form.

You set two values for this property:

date_Type
You can select day, week, month, or year.
date_Number
You can enter a positive or negative integer.

For example, if you are creating a reservation form, you may want to ensure that the visitor cannot enter a value that is more than two months away from the day that they are viewing the form. In this case you would set date_Type to the value 'month', and date_Number to the value '2'. In other words, the visitor cannot enter a date value that is after two months from today.

Maximum valueIn, for example, a number field, the Maximum value denotes the highest value that a visitor can enter into this field. For a date field, this value denotes the latest date that a visitor can enter into this field.
Minimum lengthUsed to denote the minimum number of characters allowed in a field.
Minimum relative value

In a date field, this property allows you to set the earliest date that a visitor can enter relative to the current date. In this case, the current date is the date on the server the presents the visitor with the form.

You set two values for this property:

date_Type
You can select day, week, month, or year.
date_Number
You can enter a positive or negative integer.

For example, if you are creating a reservation form, you may want to ensure that the visitor cannot enter a value that is earlier than the day on which they are viewing the form. In this case you would set date_Type to the value 'day', and date_Number to the value '0'. In other words, the visitor cannot enter a date value that is prior to today.

Minimum valueIn a number field, for example, the Minimum value denotes the lowest value that a visitor can enter into this field. For a date field, this value denotes the earliest date that a visitor can enter into this field.
Mutliple valuesIn an input select field, this allows you to specify if the visitor can enter multiple values for this field.
Number Type

For Number fields, you can select one of the following number types:

  • Select Integer to allow visitors to enter a whole number, such as 0, 1, 2, and so on.
  • Select Decimal to allow visitors to enter a number that contains a decimal, such as 1.23.
Relevance conditionExplained below.
RequiredThis property identifies whether a field is mandatory or not. If you select "true", the visitor must fill in the field before submitting the form. If you select "false", the visitor can leave the field empty.
TextThe text that is displayed for a read-only form text field.
Unique IDThis property identifies a field. Each field on a form must have a unique ID.
Height (Rows) and Width (Columns)These properties determine how many characters wide and how many character high the field is.

The following Field properties require a more elaborate description:

Items

To enter values into the Items property, do one of the following:

  • Click the "+" symbol to expand the field and enter the property values as you would for other fields.
  • Click the button with three dots next to the field and enter values into the pop-up that opens. You can perform the following actions from this popup:

    Add values
    To add an item select the bottom row (marked with a *) and type the values in the fields.
    Edit values
    To edit a value, replace the existing Value or Labels
    Change the order of list items
    To change the order of the items in the list, drag and drop the row header or a list item (the gray cell to the left of the row data) to a new position.
    Delete values
    To delete a value, delete the data entered in the Value and Label row.
Linked hint text, Linked label

A linked hint text or a linked label allows you to link the hint text or label of a field, respectively, to an existing Component. You can specify the following properties for a linked hint text or label:

Component Link
The URI of a Component that contains the text of the hint or label. By default, the Component to which you link must be based on the ComponentLinkText Schema; however, your WebForms application administrator may have configured a different Schema for these Components.
Render Type
  • Render Inline renders the selected Component within the form
  • Render as a Link renders the selected Component as a link
Link Text
The text of the link that you create if you choose Render as a Link.
Link Following Behavior

If you selected Render as a Link, you can define what happens when a visitor clicks the link. You can select from one of the following options:

  • New Window
  • Same Window
Unresolved Link Text
The text that appears if the link cannot be resolved. This text appears if you selected Render as a Link, and the Component Link refers to a Component that does not exist on the Presentation Server.
Relevance condition

You can apply a relevance condition to compare the contents of a field against a value or a regular expression. If the comparison evaluates to 'true', the field is displayed; if it evaluates to 'false', the field is not displayed. Note that you cannot use this property to compare dates.

The Relevance Condition Property can be used to specify:

Field
the Unique ID of the field that must contain or not contain the specified value
Operator

One of the following comparison operators:

Equal
checks if Field is equal to Value
Not Equal
checks if Field is not equal to Value
Smaller
checks if Field is smaller than Value
Smaller or Equal
checks if Field is smaller than or equal to Value
Greater
checks if Field is greater than Value
Greater or Equal
checks if Field is greater than or equal to Value
Matches
checks if the string value in Field matches against the regular expression contained in Value. The syntax of the regular expression used is explained in Advanced properties.
Contains
checks if the string value in Value is present in the string value in Field. For example, if Field contains "czechoslovakia" and Value contains "oslo", the comparison using Contains will return as true.
Value

The value to compare the field value against.

Here is an example of a Relevance condition: if you want to display a Customer Satisfaction field only if a visitor has selected Yes in answer to the question, "Are you an Existing Customer?" you could create the following relevance condition:

Field
Customer
Operator
Equal
Value
Yes

Also refer to Implementing Dynamic Drop-down fields for more information about Dynamic Drop-down field properties.