Universal Layouts on macOS

Create a new Universal Layout on macOS:

1. Open your document and click on your form.
2. Click a record.
3. Select New Layout from the Layout menu or click the plus button to the right of Default Layout. Tap Forms Pro will create a standard custom layout just as before.
4. Click the globe button next to the Design for: setting on the Layout Inspector panel. Now you’re in Universal Layout edit mode.
5. You can now either drag and drop specific fields to your layout or click the Add Default Items button to let Tap Forms build a new layout for you.
6. Click on the Layout Name property on the Layout Inspector panel and give your new layout an appropriate name. For example, Desktop, iPhone, iPad, etc. You can create as many as you like. All your universal layouts will appear available to you on your iPhone and iPad.
   

Arrange items on the layout

1. Click a layout item to select it and then drag it around. You’ll see a horizontal bar appear in the spots where you can drop the item. It will be placed before the other item you drop it on.
2. You can also drag items up and down to rearrange them on the Layers tab. Tap Forms Pro will rebuild your layout with the items in the new spots.
3. Click the (x) button on a selected item to remove it from the layout. This does not delete the field associated with this layout item. It simply removes it from the layout. Since it’s not entirely a destructive operation, there’s no confirmation. You can always bring it back by dragging it back onto your layout from the Fields list of the Layout Inspector panel.
4. Click the (•••) button on a selected item to change display settings:
   1. Column span – this dictates how many columns the selected item will span across the row.
   2. Height. Setting this value to 0 will use dynamic heights so Tap Forms Pro will size the item automatically according to the size of the content.
   3. Pick list column count (for pick lists). This is specific to Radio Button and Checkbox Button Pick Lists. It dictates how many columns those controls use to display their values.
   4. Fill/stroke colour and stroke width
   5. Group Fields. For Section Heading fields, this setting lets you group fields together within a single boxed unit.

Add custom layout items

At the top of the Layout Inspector panel, 3 buttons will be enabled:

• Text block: Add block of text that appears on every record in this layout. Useful for things like providing instructions on how to fill out a section of your form.
• Image block: Add an image (from Files or Photos on iOS). For example, the company logo banner at the top of the records.
• Script button: Add a button and assign a script; in normal mode, tapping it runs the script.
  

Group fields together

Section Heading fields become more important than ever with Universal Layouts. Section Heading fields are a great way to split up your form into areas with a title that describes what the fields below it are for. But now, Section Heading fields can be used to group other fields into bordered areas with their own background colour. You can drag these sections around on the layout and all the fields within its borders will move with it.

1. In layout editing mode, click the Section Heading field to select it.
2. Click the (•••) button to display the properties.
3. Click the Group Fields number popup button and choose how many fields from below the Section Heading field you want to group within that section.
4. Selecting 0 will not group any fields.
5. Selecting 1 or more will group that many fields from below into the selected Section Heading box.

Section Heading fields can also be dragged into other Section Heading field groups. So basically sections within sections.

Finish editing

1. Click the Layout button on the window toolbar to dismiss the Layout Inspector panel or click the Form button to switch to the Form inspector panel.
   

Notes and limits

• The Default Layout cannot be deleted.
• Universal Layouts are form-specific. They cannot be copied to other forms.