Forms for Mobile Devices
Form font
For mobile devices, the font of the form must be Microsoft Sans Serif size 8.
Form types
All of the forms are modal by definition. There are no non-modal windows and focus cannot move between open windows. By default, the form automatically expands to the entire screen area of the device. All position and size properties of the form will be ignored.
Due to device limitations, the client does not support parallel programs.
Pop-up forms
The form will be opened as a popup window (not full screen) if the Pop Up form property is set to True.
A pop-up window cannot call a program that opens a window.
On Android and iOS devices, the location of the popup window is defined in the Startup Position form property as follows (iOS support – Since version: 2.3; Android support – Since version: 2.5):
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The Customized value will open the popup window in the location defined by the X and Y form properties.
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The Centered to... and OS Default... values will open the popup window as centered on the device.
Note: It is required that each application start with at least one full-screen form that will remain open for the duration of the session. It is, of course, possible to open additional forms; however, when this initial full-screen is closed, the application will terminate.
Since version: 2.3
Form scrolling
For large forms, a scroll bar will appear on the screen, and moving up and down between fields will scroll the form.
Note:
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On iOS devices, horizontal scrolling is not supported in multiline controls.
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On mobile devices, horizontal scrolling is not supported in Table controls.
It is recommended to use placement so that the controls will fit into the form and scrolling will be avoided.
Placement
The placement mechanism is implemented in a specific way on the RIA client, to accommodate different device resolutions, and to handle device rotation.
The placement mechanism is relevant for “full-screen” forms only, and works as follows:
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Resize on open – Before opening the form, the original form size (as defined by the developer) is compared with the current screen size. The difference between the sizes on each axis is considered a window resize, and will activate the placement mechanism on all controls. This enables forms designed for smaller screen resolutions to “expand” in higher resolutions.
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Resize on rotate – On touch devices, it is possible to rotate the device, effectively changing the resolution on the fly, such as from 480x360 to 360x480. In such a case, the currently displayed form will consider the new resolution as a window resize event, and will activate the placement mechanism on all controls.
Form sizes
The RIA client supports both form scrolling and placement. However, when developing an application that needs to run on devices with significantly different screen sizes, such as iPhone and iPad, it is best practice to develop two separate forms, since the number of controls will be different on each device.
Placement should be used for each of the form types, so for each type, different devices can be used.
When using dialog units as the form units, the Width and Height values of a full screen form with a title bar are:
Form orientation
On Android and iOS devices, you can lock the orientation by setting the display form’s Orientation Lock property to Portrait or Landscape.
Since version: Android support – 2.2a; iOS support – 2.3
Form animation
On Android and iOS devices, you can define the animation of the form's entrance and exit using the form's Enter Animation and Exit Animation properties.
Since version: 2.5
