Alpha Software Blog



Mobile Forms Beta September Summary


September resulted in some great feedback on the Forums. This post is intended to highlight some interesting conversations, ideas, projects, or threads from our touch optimized forms beta program. If you've had some experience building mobile forms using the beta, be sure to drop by the forums and leave some feedback.

Tablet Forms Beta Resources

If you haven't visited the Mobile Forms Beta Forum yet, then you're missing out on some great resources and conversations. We've been maintaining a thread in the forum linking to the available resources documenting the mobile form tools as well as other resources that may be useful - eg, documentation on client-side templates. Check out what's available. If you can't find what you're looking for or have something to contribute, make sure to let us know on the forums! We want to ensure you have all the resources you need to successfully create mobile forms.

In the Forums

We saw an increase in involvement after Alpha DevCon 2015. Selwyn Rabins and Dan Bricklin both demonstrated tools for creating custom mobile forms. When the video recordings of their presentations are ready, we'll be sure to share them with you on the forums!

In the spirit of their presentations, we want to share several threads that showcase some of the features in the new tablet tools, threads where you can leave feedback about what kind of apps you need to build for your customers, and projects using the tablet tools others have shared with the group.

Introduction to the FormView Control

FormViews, Editors, and Editor Sets make up part of the core set of controls for building tablet optimized applications. Building tablet applications starts with these core components, so be sure to check out this thread.

Building a Star Rating Control

ViewBoxes can be used to create any type of input control interface and can substitute as a light-weight list control. There are several interfaces built in the sample application that use the ViewBox, and the underlying implementation of the FormView control uses the ViewBox. Selwyn created an excellent step-by-step tutorial showing how to construct the start rating control, one of the samples available for the ViewBox.

Questions about the Sample App

Several excellent questions have been asked - and answered - about the Tablet Beta Sample App. Be sure to drop in and share your questions about the sample application with us!

What kind of Tablet App are you Building?

As part of the Mobile Forms Beta, we're asking users to share with us the type of tablet applications they need to build for their clients. Check out what some users have shared with us so far and be sure to let us know what you'd like to build.

Checklist Items with CSS Icons

Bill Hess shared his modifications to the sample tablet app, which integrated CSS icons into the template for the Checklist items. This adds a visual element beyond color to help identify the value of a field in the FormView.

Tablet Beta Contest

The Tablet Beta Contest has been extended until November 20, 2015 at 11:59 PM EST. But don't let time slip away! We'd love to see your designs.

If you want to learn more information, or would like to submit your mobile form design, visit contest page. Be sure to drop by the Mobile Forms Beta Forum if you need help or have any questions!

Joining the Beta

If you're not a part of the mobile form beta, you can learn more information about the program and sign-up here.
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About Author

Sarah Mitchell
Sarah Mitchell

Technical Writer and Documentation Expert at Alpha Software

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