Most master tables have both a card and a list form associated with them. Because both of these forms access the same table, there are many standards that determine what each form must do. The following list shows the standards that must be adhered to.

• On the card form, you must be able to view and edit one record at a time.

• On the list form, you must be able to view but not edit all the records. Making this form non-editable allows you to begin a search by typing in a particular column.

• On the card form, you must be able to open the list form in the following ways:

  • By pressing F5.

  • By clicking the List menu item on the menu button with the same name as the table.

  • By clicking the List or lookup button on the toolbar.

• In the list form, you must be able to select a new record and click OK to exit the list form and revert to the original card form. The card form must now display the record that you selected in the list form.

• In the list form, you must be able to select a record and open a new card form by pressing SHIFT+F5 or by clicking the Card menu item on the menu button with the same name as the table. The new card form must display the record that you selected on the list form.

As mentioned earlier, most master tables have a card and a list form associated with them. Many master tables also have a statistics form. You should be able to open the statistics form from either the card form or the list form in exactly the same way.

The standard way to navigate to the statistics form is to click F9 or the Statistics menu item (on the menu button with the same name as the table).

Usually every master table has one ledger table linked to it. From the master forms (card, list, and statistics), you must be able to open the ledger form. You must be able to open it in three different ways:

• By clicking the drill-down button on a FlowField

• By clicking CTRL+F5

• By clicking the Ledger Entries menu item (on the menu button with the same name as the table)

If a drill-down button is used, only the records that are used to create the calculated value are displayed (this is a function of the built-in drill-down functionality). If the shortcut key or the menu item is used, all the ledger entries for this particular master record are shown. This requires a RunFormLink on the menu item that links the two tables. You must also keep the two forms synchronized when the master form is updated. To achieve this, you must change the RunFormLinkType property to OnUpdate.

Note   For performance reasons, you should always set the RunFormView property if the RunFormLink property is also set. In fact, the sort order chosen in the RunFormView property must contain the fields listed in the RunFormLink property or else performance is decreased.

Every journal form has similar buttons at the bottom of the form. These buttons allow you to navigate to another form or perform a task.

The usual buttons on a journal form include: Line, Functions, Posting, Account, and a menu button named after the master table for the functional area. This menu button must contain menu items which navigate directly to the card form for the master table or to the ledger form for the ledger entries. In both cases, the form that is opened should be linked to the master table record that the journal line is associated with.

The "Posting" menu button should contain the following menu items related to posting the journal lines: Post, Post and Print, and Test Report.

Concepts