View Editor
The View Editor is used to customize and reorganize your views. Due to the amount of customization available, the View Editor is divided into three tabs:
- Settings: General settings and color options.
- A View Specific Tab: Each view type (discussed below) has a unique middle tab with view specific settings.
- Filters: Security, sorting, and filtering options.
There are three view types: Table, Calendar, and Kanban. Each view type serves a unique purpose and has view specific settings. These individual setting are discussed later in the article.
The Settings Tab and Filters Tab are nearly identical for each type of view. The Table view has the most options for settings and filters, and the other two views (Calendar and Kanban) have some reduced options.
Below are all the available options for Settings and Filters.
View Editor: Settings Tab
These are the general settings and color options for your view. The sections below are organized in the order they appear when you select the Settings Tab.
Note: Not all of these settings will be present for each type of view. All of the following settings are present in a Table view. The other two views only contain certain settings from this list, but they do not contain any additional settings not displayed here.
Title / Description
View Name is the title that users will see in the app left-side navigator, so make sure it properly describes the view’s purpose or what it displays. You may also add a Description, which will only be visible in the App Editor.
Tip: Consider keeping the title short so that it doesn’t take up too much space in the left-side navigator.
Preview Pane
Turning Preview Pane on will allow a record to display as a right-side panel within the view, instead of having to open it in a new window. You can also pick how wide to display the record in relation to the view.
Hide Status will simply remove the status from the preview. In the example image blow, if you turn this option on, the Completed status will not be shown.
Enable Create will allow users to create new records within a preview pane, instead of in a new window. Simply click the ‘+ New‘ button in the top left of the view, and a new record will open in the preview pane.
Mode will determine how the record first opens in the preview pane: ‘View‘ or ‘Edit‘ mode. You may also switch between the two modes in the top right corner of the preview pane at any time.
To open a record in a new window while Preview Pane is turned on, select the record and click ‘View’ on the top bar. (Note: If ‘Edit Cells In Table‘ is also turned on, you must select the checkbox to get this option, since clicking on the record wont select it.)
Editable Cells
Edit Cells In Table will allow you to edit record fields directly from the view. Obviously, only fields that you choose to display in the view can be edited this way. To edit fields that are not displayed in the view you will still need to open the record.
 | Select this icon to open the record when using Edit Cells In Table. (If Preview Pane is also turned on, this will open the record in the preview pane.) |
Easy-Add Records will allow you to add new records directly to the view (rather than opening the form or using a Preview Pane) using a ‘+ Add New Record‘ button at the bottom of the page.
Tip: This is particularly useful for very simple forms. For example, a form whose records are used as lookup values on a more complex form.
Action Column
Show Action Column will display your workflow action buttons on the far right of each record within the view. This allows you to take actions on records without opening the record.
Pagination
Infinite Scrolling allows you to continuously scroll through your view by clicking ‘Load More’ at the bottom of the page. When grouping is turned on, infinite scrolling becomes the default.
Default Page Size determines how many records are shown per page. These options disappear when Infinite Scrolling is turned on.
Formatting
Formatting controls the display size and colors for your view
Display Density changes the font size and the amount of space around the view data. This allows you to display more on a page, though at a smaller size.
Header and Footer Color change the colors on the top and bottom of the view.
Alternating Row Colors alternates colors on Table view rows. When enabled, you can select ‘Color 1’ and ‘Color 2’.
Default Value
Override Form Defaults allows you to auto populate specific fields when you create a new record from the view. This includes using the ‘+ New‘ button in the top left of the view, as well as using the Easy-Add Records ‘+ Add New Record‘ button. This does not apply to records created directly from the form.
Target Field is the field to populate.
Options displays on date fields and allows you to choose either Relative or Exact Date.
- Relative is calculated by adding the day, month, and year values to the date the record is created, e.g., putting ‘1’ in Month would set the date one month in the future, putting ‘-2’ in Day would make it two days ago, and keeping all at zero would leave the date as the record’s creation date.
Default Value is the value to default the field to.
View Editor: Filters Tab
You can further modify your view by applying sorting, grouping, and filtering to the view. Filters allow you to restrict displayed records to those that match a specific criteria, e.g., only records with the Status field value ‘Completed’. (More than one filter can be applied to a view.)
You can also control the Security of the view, as well as set permissions for exporting records.
Note: These Filters Tab options are all present in the Table view, and also the Kanban view. But the Calendar view does not have Default View Sorting or Default View Grouping.
Default View Sorting
Default View Sorting defines how the records in the view will be sorted when the view is opened. A user can change the view sorting by clicking on a columns header, or by clicking on the view options icon in the view header. However, upon leaving the view and returning, the sorting will return to the Default View Sorting. (See the article Views: An Overview for an explanation and example of view sorting.)
Clicking ‘Search the field to sort by‘ will display fields from your form. To add a column sort by, select the desired field from the list.
You may then choose to sort ‘Asc‘ (ascending) or ‘Desc‘ (descending).
 | Select this icon to remove a sorting condition. |
Default View Grouping
Default View Grouping defines how the records in the view will be grouped when the view is opened. A user can change the view grouping by clicking on the view options icon in the view header. However, upon leaving and returning to the view, the grouping will return to the Default View Grouping. (See the article Views: An Overview for an explanation and example of view grouping.)
Clicking ‘Pick a field to group by‘ will display fields from your form. To add column grouping, select the desired field.
You may then choose to sort ‘Asc‘ (ascending) or ‘Desc‘ (descending).
Highlight Color determines the color of the grouped rows.
Show Label will show the field name directly above the grouped value.
Show Count will show the number of records within that group.
Hide Column will hide the field column for the grouped condition. For example, if you group by status and select Hide Column, when you expand the group you will not see a field column for status on the records within that group (in effect, you will not see the status twice).
| Select this icon to remove a grouping condition. |
Search Fields
Search Fields controls how the search function will filter your searches.
Clicking ‘Search the field to search against the search input‘ will display fields from your form. To add search filter, select the desired field.
Operator determines how the associated field will be used when filtering. There are four options:
- Exact Match will only show records with an exact match in the associated field. For example, in the picture above I have selected the ‘Name’ field with the ‘Exact Match’ operator. If I search for ‘Jake’, the only records that will display are those that have ‘Jake’ in the name field. It will not show, for example, a record with ‘Jake C’ in the name field.
- Starts With will only show records that start with the search input in the associated field. For example, if I use the ‘Name’ field with this operator and I type the letter ‘J’ in the search bar, only records with names that start with ‘J’ will show up.
- Ends With is the same as Starts With, but reversed: only records ending with the search input, in the associated field, will show up.
- Contains will only show records that contain the search input in the associated field. Put simply, this limits the search to strictly the associated field(s), rather than all fields.
| Select this icon to remove a search condition. |
Filtering
Filtering reduces the number of records that display in a view by only showing specific fields and criteria.
Field is the desired field to filter by. (Not all fields will show in the list. Special fields types such as Rich Text will not be shown.)
Operator options are context sensitive to the type of field selected. Options include:
| Text Field | Numeric Field | Time Field | Date Field | Drive Picker / Attachment | Created By / Updated By | Status |
| equals | greater than | equals | before | has attachments | equals | equals |
| does not equal | less than | not equals | after | does not have attachments | was | |
| blank | less than or equal to | after | equals | |||
| not blank | greater than or equal to | before | ||||
| contains | equals | blank | ||||
| does not contain | not equals | not blank |
Value is the value to compare the field to. This is also context sensitive to the type of field selected:
- Text or List fields will require a text entry.
- Date fields will require you to choose a type: Fixed or Relative. Fixed has a date picker; Relative is calculated by adding the day, month, or year values to the current date. A zero would mean only records created today would show (demonstrated in the image above), and a negative number would mean only records created ‘X’ Days/Months/Years in the past will show.
- Numeric fields will require a number entry.
- Status fields will have a drop-down list with the workflow stages (you can select multiple).
Uneditable makes the filter a fixed part of the view design. If Uneditable is turned off, the application user will be able to override the filter while using the application. If it is on, the user will be able to apply additional filters, but not remove this one.
| Select this icon to remove a filter. |
Exports
You can control which export options to allow for each of your views.
PDF Export, when toggled on, will require that you select (or create if you don’t have one yet) a PDF Template.
To export from a view, select the three dots in the top right corner of the view.
Security
Security determines who has permission to see the view.
Everyone in the App will give everybody who uses the app permission to see the view.
Custom Roles lets you choose specific roles. If you choose this option but don’t select any roles, then nobody will be able to see the view.
Table View
A Table view is the most common type of view. It organizes your records as a table or list, usually in a predefined sorted order. Your email inbox is an example of this kind of view.
Table Columns
The Table view tab is called Table Columns. This is where you can specify and organize the data columns that you wish to display in the view.
The left side displays all of the available fields (grouped by section) that can be displayed in the view. To add a field to the view, simply drag-and-drop it into the Displayed Columns list to the right. Alternatively, you may select the ‘Add All Fields to View’ checkbox at the top of the palette. However, unchecking this does not remove any fields.
To rearrange the fields, simply drag-and-drop them within the Displayed Columns list. The fields will display on the view header from left (top) to right (bottom).
To remove a field from the Displayed Columns list, click the ‘X‘ on the far right of the field you wish to remove.
Field Column Settings
 | Select the ‘Properties’ icon next to a field in the Displayed Columns list to specify additional settings for that column. |
Override Field Name will change the field name in the view (it will not affect the field on your form).
Column Width controls how much space the column will take up in the view.
Alignment controls how the column will be aligned in the view.
Wrap Column is used to manage content overflow for the column.
Some fields will have an additional Format setting below the Wrap Column settings. These settings are context specific.
Calendar View
A Calendar view organizes and displays your records on a calendar.
Calendar Settings
Calendar Type determines the calendar’s default display. This can be changed within the view itself, in the top right corner of the view. However, upon leaving the view and returning, the view will again be set to this default display.
Hide Weekends simply hides weekends from the calendar.
Enable creating records from calendar allows you to create records by selecting a day on the calendar, or by clicking and dragging to select a series of days. Doing so will open a form and auto populate the Start Date and End Date fields with the day(s) you pick. After toggling this on, you will be asked to select which Calendar Options you would like to use.
Tip: If you turn on Preview Pane AND Enable Create in the Settings Tab, ‘Enable creating records from calendar‘ will open a new record in a preview pane. If not, it will open in a new window.
Calendar Options
These options determine how your records will display on the calendar. You can have multiple option sets; click ‘+ Add Calendar Option‘ in the top right to create a new set of options.
Calendar Name is the title for this set of options. This name is not visible to users. (The View Name in the Settings Tab will determine the title for the calendar that users see in the app on the left-side navigator.)
Event Title is the field (from your form) that will display as the title for the event on the calendar.
Color Type is simply the color events display as. Setting this option to ‘Status’ will color each record with its corresponding status color. You may also use a custom color.
Start Date and End Date are the date fields you would like to use to populate the calendar.
(If ‘Enable creating records from calendar‘ is turned on, these fields will auto populate with the selected day(s).)
Start Time and End Time only display if you have a ‘Time’ field on your form. Similar to the Start Date and End Date, these will be the times that display on the calendar.
(If ‘Enable creating records from calendar‘ is turned on, these fields will auto populate with the selected time(s).)
Calendar Filters is similar to the Filtering found in the Filters Tab. However, this setting allows you to add specific filters to specific calendar option sets. For example, if you want a user to only see records they created for a specific event, but also be able to see all records of another event, you would add a ‘Created By’ filter in the options here, rather than in the general filtering (which would filter all records).
Note: Filters here may override the general Filtering, if conditions conflict.
Kanban View
Kanban is a card-based view; it displays records as movable cards, and allows you to move records by simply dragging and dropping them into the desired column.
Column Settings
Kanban Column Source determines which columns will display. This can be ‘Status’, which will display your workflow stages as columns. Or, if you have a List Selection or Radio Button field on your form, you can display the list options as columns.
Columns is where you customize the order and visibility of your columns. To rearrange the columns, simply drag-and-drop using the six dots in the top left corner of the column. You may also hide a column by hovering your mouse over it and selecting the ‘Hide’ icon. After hiding a column, a new ‘+ Add Hidden Fields‘ button will appear, which will allow you to re-add the column.
Card Settings
The Card Preview on the right gives you a preview of your card settings as you work.
Card Title is the field to display as the title of your records.
Card Description is the field to display underneath the Card Title, and behaves as a subtitle. These two settings are always immediately visible.
Card Color can either be the color of the associated workflow stage, a custom color, or no color at all.
Add additional fields to the card, up to a maximum of five additional fields, by clicking the ‘Select a field’ drop-down. (More on this below.)
Expand All By Default will expand all of your cards in the view by default. They can always be collapsed (and expanded) within the view.
Lock Cards allows you to control which roles are allowed to move cards. By default the Kanban follows the same security rules as the form workflow. However, if you want to create a Kanban that is only visual (i.e., you don’t want users to be able to move cards) you can enable this feature. If you select “All Roles” no one will have access to move cards, if you select “Some Roles” only the selected roles will no longer be able to move cards.
Additional Field Settings
| After adding an additional field to the card, you may select the ‘Properties’ icon next to it for some additional settings for that field. |
These settings allow you to override the field name in the view, and certain fields also have additional Format settings.
 | Rearrange fields by dragging the six dots to the right of the field. |
| Select this icon to remove a field. |
Demonstration Video
The following video outlines creating views:
Next Steps
| Below are links to articles that cover how to adjust the design of a view while looking at it, using in-view editing: |
| Views: In View Editing |
| Below is the link to the view building part of the Building an Expense Reports App tutorial series: |
| Part 7 – Views |