FormsDesigner User Manual

How to build form logic in Qdabra FormsDesigner: conditions, action rules, validation rules, formatting rules, user profile lookups, Dynamic Data Connections, and the Dev / Prod workflow that goes with them.

Please read this first. Only chapters 0 to 5, which cover the rules engine, have been reviewed. Chapters 6 to 11 are a first draft and may contain mistakes, so please read those with that in mind; each one is marked at the top. Comments on any chapter are welcome at [email protected].

#	Chapter	What you learn	Status
0	Quick Start - One Field, Three Rules	A 30-minute walkthrough: one action rule, one formatting rule, one validation rule, tested in FormsViewer	reviewed
1	The Rules Pane	Where rules live, the three kinds of rules, ordering and the stop flag, form-load rules	reviewed
2	Conditions	The Condition editor: rows, operators, AND / OR, nested groups, expressions	reviewed
3	Action Rules	Every action type, the Formula editor, the qRules Command Builder, validate-before-submit	reviewed
4	Validation Rules	Flagging values that need attention, screentips, running the check with GetErrors and showing the messages	reviewed
5	Formatting Rules	Hide, disable, and restyle controls; evaluation context	reviewed
6	Reading the Current User's Profile	GetUserProfileByName connection, on-load query, copying profile values	draft
7	Dynamic Data Connections	Making a template site-independent; start-up order and why it matters	draft
8	Prod / Dev Design and Operations	Two ways to run a development copy next to production; promotion checklist	draft
9	Recipes	Seven end-to-end builds that combine the earlier chapters	draft
10	The Rule Inspector	Seeing and searching every rule in the template	draft
11	Custom CSS and JavaScript	Resource files, LoadResource, screentips as CSS classes, relative widths, custom qRules commands	draft

Conventions

Bold names are things you click or see on screen.
Monospace is text you type: formulas, command strings, literal values.
Field names in examples (Name, EmailAddress, Status) are from the sample template; substitute your own.

Screenshots were taken in FormsDesigner on a Qdabra test site with a sample template.