Contents of the Screen Designer Form (Opt-In Available)

Use the fields and options on the Screen Designer form to customize hubs and the chart of accounts.

Contents

Screen Designer Title Bar

Field Description
Select Application

This field displays only when you open Screen Designer from Settings (Settings > General > Screen Designer).

Select the application that has tabs, fields, or grids you want to customize. The application displays on the Screen Designer form.

Area

This field displays only when you open Screen Designer from Settings and you set the Select Application option to Projects.

In the Area field, select the application in the Projects hub that you want to customize in Screen Designer. The options are: Contract Management, Invoices, and Project.

+ New Hub

This option displays only when you open Screen Designer from Settings and only if the Accounting module or the CRM Plus module is activated. Click this option to create a user-defined hub.

Left Side of the Screen Designer Form

The left side of the Screen Designer form displays the hub or chart of accounts that you are customizing, with all its existing tabs, fields, grids, and so on. A hub's sidebar (summary pane) is also displayed. As you use the actions in the Actions bar of the Screen Designer form to add elements (tabs, fields, grids, and so on) to a hub or chart of accounts, those elements are added and displayed on the left side of the Screen Designer form. The user-defined elements that you add are displayed with beside them to indicate that they are user-defined elements, not the elements that come standard with Vantagepoint.

When you select (click) an element on the left side of the Screen Designer form, its properties display in the properties pane on the right side of the Screen Designer form.

When you create a user-defined hub, the left side of the Screen Designer form displays an Overview tab that is automatically added to the hub. In addition, you see a sidebar and the following other standard Vantagepoint tabs if you chose those options on the Create Hub dialog box that displays when you initially create a user-defined hub:

  • Activities
  • Files
  • Links
  • Files & Links

On the Activities tab, you can schedule and manage activities, such as meetings, phone calls, and other activities, for a record. New activities entered here are also added to your calendar and dashboard.

Use the Files, Links, and Files & Links tabs to upload, view, and store files (documents) that are related to the current hub record and add links to external text files, graphics files, or email messages, and so on.

You can further customize these standard tabs in a user-defined hub. You can also remove the tabs using the options on the Hub Preferences dialog box. Click Other Actions > Hub Preferences to open the dialog box.

Search Field

Field Description
Find Field Caption/ID Search

Use this field above the properties pane to locate fields in a hub or chart of accounts on the Screen Designer form. The search looks for both the field names and database column identifiers for the Screen Designer Summary pane and tabs. The field names are the actual names that display on the Screen Designer form. The field identifiers are the database column names for each field.

In this field, enter the field name or database column identifier that you want to find and press the ENTER key. Because the database column identifiers often include the hub name, entering a hub as the search criteria will result in a larger number of matches.

The number of matches found displays below the Find Field Caption/ID search field. For example, Files Found: 4 indicates that 4 associated fields were located.

When multiple matches are found, click or to scroll through the results on the forms and tabs. As each field is located, the Screen Designer moves to and selects the field so that its respective properties display in the properties pane.

Field/Grid/Tab Properties Pane

This pane is located on the right side of the Screen Designer form. The title of this pane and the fields in it vary, based on the element (field, grid, workflow button, tab, and so on) that you select on the left side of Screen Designer form. For example, when you select a field, the pane title is "Field Properties." When you select a tab, the pane title is "Tab Properties."

The fields in this pane vary, based on the element you select on the left side of the Screen Designer form. In this pane, enter or change the properties for the elements that you add to a hub or chart of accounts. Properties include things such as the element's label, a tooltip, and settings that lock or hide the element from users based on security roles.

Field Description
Field Type

This field displays the type for the selected element on the Screen Designer form, which you cannot change.

The field types for tabs, grids, workflow buttons, labels, and divider lines are: Tab, Grid, Button, Label, and Divider.

The field type for a field is more specific and identifies the type of information that users are required to enter in the field. Field types for fields are: Character, Numeric, Checkbox, Date, Drop Down, Currency, <Hub> Lookup, and so on. You specify the field type for a user-defined field on the Add Field dialog box when you initially create the field.

If a field has the wrong field type, you must delete the field and add it again with the correct field type.

This icon displays to the right of the Field Type field name when you select one of the following items on the Screen Designer form: a user-defined field, a standard Vantagepoint field in the Projects hub that supports a default value, a user-defined or standard grid, or a compound field. A compound field is a field such as the Location field for a project in the Projects hub or the Home Address field for an employee in the Employees hub. These compound (parent) fields are comprised of multiple child fields, such as Address 1, Address 2, City, Country, and so on.

Click to open the Field Settings dialog box for a field or open the Grid Settings dialog box for a grid and then edit settings for the selected field or grid. You can change things such as the default value for the field, the decimal places for a numeric field, values for a drop-down field, and so on.

Database Column Name

This field displays only for fields that you select on the Screen Designer form. It displays the database name for a field. You cannot change this name.

Database Table Name

This field displays only for grids that you select on the Screen Designer form. It displays the database table name for a grid. You cannot change this name.

Field ID

This field displays the table name or column name or both, depending on the field type.

  • For standard fields: This field displays the field's table name and the column name in the database using the following format: <table name.column name>.
  • For user-defined fields: This field displays the field's column name in the database using the following format: <application code.column name>.

To view the full table name and column name of the field, hover over . The database table name and column name display in the info bubble using the following format: <table name. column name>. If you selected a compound component (a field that has a value that is a combination of two other fields), the info bubble displays a message that there is no corresponding database column.

Tab ID

This field displays only for tabs on the Screen Designer form. It displays the tab's identifier, which you cannot change.

Caption

Enter, view, or change the name for the element, such as a field. The caption is the element's name that users see in the hub or chart of accounts and wherever that field displays through Vantagepoint, such as in searches and workflows. To change report labels, click Settings > General > Lookup/Report Labels in the desktop application.

For labels (blocks of text), click in the Caption field to open the Caption dialog box, on which you can see all the text as you type it in a large text box. Press the ENTER key to add text in a new row. This field supports a maximum of 2000 characters. You can change the font style and the size of the text, add bulleting, and so on. Click on the text box toolbar to display the text editor tools for formatting the text.

If you use multiple languages in Vantagepoint, you must enter the caption in each different language that you use. To do this, log in to Vantagepoint separately in each language, and in Screen Designer, enter the text in the Caption field in the language that you logged in with.

Caption Position

This field displays only for fields; it does not display for other types of elements such as grids or tabs. This field does not apply to checkbox type fields.

Use this field to specify where you want the name for the field to display in relation to the field: Top or None. When you select Top, you will not see the field name shift to the top position on the Screen Designer form, but the name will display to the top of the field in the hub or chart of accounts. When you select None, no label displays for the field on the hub tab.

Alternate Caption

Enter an alternative caption to make a field's caption easier to distinguish when the field is also located in other applications in Vantagepoint in a different context, such as in searches, workflows, proposals, list view column headings, and the Search and Replace utility.

For example, the Accounting tab in the Projects hub has three different Apply Rate Method at This Level fields: one for cross charges, one for intercompany labor billing, and one for intercompany expense billing. You could enter the following entries in the Alternate Caption field for each of these same-named fields so users can clearly identify the field when they see it in a location in Vantagepoint other than on the Accounting tab in the Projects hub: Cross charges - Apply Rate Method at This Level, Intercompany labor billing - Apply Rate Method at This Level, and Intercompany expense billing - Apply Rate Method at This Level.

The Alternate Caption field applies for fields and the child fields of compound (parent) fields. A compound (parent) field is made up of multiple related child fields. Examples of a compound parent field are the Location field for a project in the Projects hub and the Home Address field for an employee in the Employees hub. These compound (parent) fields have multiple child fields, such as Address 1, Address 2, City, Country, and so on.

To access the Alternate Caption field for the child fields of a compound field, select the compound field and then click beside the Field Type field in the Field Properties section on the Screen Designer form. On the Field Settings dialog box, select a child field and then enter an alternate caption for it in the Field Properties pane.

Field Security

This field displays when you select fields, grids, divider lines, labels, and workflow buttons on the Screen Designer form. When you click the Field Security field, the Field Security Rights dialog box is displayed and you can specify the following security rights for the selected element for security roles:

  • You can hide, display, lock, unlock, or secure the field, grid, or grid column.
  • You can hide or display divider lines, labels (screen text), and workflow buttons.

After you specify field security for an element on the dialog box, <Roles Selected> displays in the Field Security field in the Field Properties pane to indicate that field security settings have been applied.

The Field Security field is also available on the Grid Settings dialog box for grids. This enables you open the Field Security Rights dialog box and secure, hide, display, lock, or unlock a grid column.

Tab Security

This field displays when you select a tab on the Screen Designer form. Click in this field to open the Tab Security Rights dialog box. On the dialog box, specify whether to hide or display the tab for a role. After you specify the tab security for a role on the dialog box, <Roles Selected> displays in the Tab Security field in the Tab Properties pane to indicate that tab security settings have been applied.

Required

Use this option to specify whether an entry is required in the field for security roles that are specified as accounting, CRM, or both in the Type of Role section on the Overview tab in Settings > Security > Roles.

Leave the Required field blank if an entry in the field is not required for any users.

This option does not display for compound components (grids or fields that are comprised of multiple fields, such as the Full Name field for employees) because you cannot set a compound component to be required. However, if the compound component supports the ability to set properties at the individual field level, you can specify that one or more individual fields of the compound component be required. For more information, see Screen Designer and Compound Components.

This option also does not display for standard fields with the numeric or currency field type. To configure a required value for these types of standard fields, you should instead use the Min Value and Max Value fields on the Field Settings dialog box.

Required Level

This option displays only for the Projects hub; it is enabled for a user-defined field that has an entry in the Required field.

In the Required Level field, select the work breakdown structure (WBS) level (project, phase, or task) for which the users who are specified in the Required field must make an entry in the user-defined field. The options in the Required Level field are:

  • All Levels: The users must make an entry in the field at all levels of the project's WBS (project, phase, and task if you have all three levels).
  • Project: The users must make an entry in the field at the project level (WBS1).
  • Lowest: The users must make an entry in the field at the lowest WBS set up for a company. For example if you have WBS1 and WBS2 for a company, the lowest level is WBS2.
Display Columns

This field displays when you select a tab on the Screen Designer form. Select a tab, click in this field, and specify the number of columns that will display on the selected tab. You can display up to five columns on a tab.

If you are reducing the number of displayed columns on a tab, make sure that there are no elements in the display column that you are removing. You can delete, move, or resize elements first before entering a reduced value.

Tooltip

This field displays for fields and divider lines that you select on the Screen Designer form. Enter the text that you want users to view when they click beside a field or divider line. For example, you may want to enter more specific instructions or information about what to enter in the field.

Click in the Tooltip field to expand and display the field on the Tooltip dialog box. This allows you to easily see all the tooltip text as you type it. This is helpful especially for larger amounts of text.

If you use multiple languages in Vantagepoint, you must enter the text for a tooltip in each different language that you use. To do this, log in to Vantagepoint in each language that you have enabled, and in Screen Designer, enter the text in the Tooltip field in the language that you logged in with.

Some fields and divider lines have tooltips that come with Vantagepoint. The text of these system tooltips does not display in the Tooltip field in Screen Designer because you cannot change or delete these tooltips. You can, however, use the Tooltip field to enter additional tooltip text for such fields. When a user displays the tooltip in the Vantagepoint user interface, your tooltip text displays below the system tooltip text.

Level

This field displays for divider lines that you select on the Screen Designer form. The options in this field control where the divider line is placed in relation to the divider line caption text that you enter in the Caption field in the Field Properties section. Select one of the following options:

  • 1: This places the divider line below the caption text.
  • 2: This places the divider line at the same level as the caption text.
  • 3: The caption text is displayed as bolded text, and the divider line is omitted.
  • 4: The caption text is displayed as unbolded text, and the divider line is omitted.
  • 5: The caption text is displayed in a smaller font size, and the divider line is omitted.
Workflow

This field displays only for workflow buttons that you select on the Screen Designer form. Select the scheduled workflow to start when users click this button for a hub record. These are the scheduled workflows that you set up in Settings > Workflow > Scheduled Workflows.

Copy

If you enabled the Screen Designer Copy Property opt-in feature in Settings > General > Opt-in Features that is available for Vantagepoint 7.2, the Copy field displays for fields and grids of a user-defined hub, except for activities, files, links, name, and number-related, user-defined fields.

You can choose to opt in to this feature for the Vantagepoint 7.2 release. The ability to opt in is temporary and will be removed when the feature becomes automatically enabled for all Vantagepoint users in a future release. For more information, see Opt-In Feature Overview.

Use this field to configure how the value of a field or grid is handled when a user-defined hub record is copied. Select one of the following choices:
  • Copy from Source Record: Select this choice to use the existing value in this field or grid from the source user-defined hub record when the user-defined hub record is copied.
  • Do not Copy - Use Default Value: Select this choice to apply the default value for this field or grid when the user-defined hub record is copied.