Creating custom forms in a layer definition

Creating a blank custom edit form

Steps:

1. Create or open a layer definition file (.apl).
2. Click the Forms button on the standard toolbar.

   The Forms dialog box appears.

3. Click the EDITFORM button.

   • If an edit form already exists in the layer definition file, it will open when you click the EDITFORM button.

   • If you create an identify form (but not an edit form), the identify form will be displayed in read-write mode when needed in ArcPad.

4. Click the Form menu and click Form Properties.

   The Form Properties dialog box appears.

5. Type the caption of the edit form in the Caption text box.
6. Type the width and height of the edit form in the Width and Height text boxes, respectively, or select the target device for the form from the combo box.

   You can select from several pre-defined form sizes in the combo box on the Form Properties dialog box. For example, you can select 1/4VGA - 240x320 (Pocket PC) to create an edit form that will be viewed on a Pocket PC device.

7. Optionally, uncheck the Symbology Page, Attributes Page, Geography Page, and/or Picture Page check boxes to hide any or all of these pages in the edit form.
8. Uncheck the Page Tabs check box if you're creating a single page edit form.

   If you uncheck the Page Tabs check box in the Form Properties dialog box, make sure you only have one page defined in your edit form.

9. Click the Text Color, Font, and Background Color buttons to set the font and colors for the edit form.

   If you don't set the font or colors for the edit form, the system's default settings will be used.

10. Click OK.

Creating a blank custom identify form

Steps:

1. Create or open a layer definition file (.apl).
2. Click the Forms button on the standard toolbar.

   The Forms dialog box appears.

3. Click the IDENTIFYFORM button.

   • If an identify form already exists in the layer definition file, it will open when you click the IDENTIFYFORM button.

   • If you create an edit form (but not an identify form), the edit form will be displayed in read-only mode when needed in ArcPad.

4. Click the Form menu and click Form Properties.

   The Form Properties dialog box appears.

5. Type the caption of the identify form in the Caption text box.
6. Type the width and height of the identify form in the Width and Height text boxes, respectively, or select the target device for the form from the combo box.

   You can select from several pre-defined form sizes in the combo box on the Form Properties dialog box. For example, you can select 1/4VGA - 240x320 (Pocket PC) to create an identify form that will be viewed on a Pocket PC device.

7. Optionally, uncheck the Symbology Page, Attributes Page, Geography Page, and/or Picture Page check boxes to hide any or all of these pages in the identify form.
8. Uncheck the Page Tabs check box if you are creating a single page identify form.

   If you uncheck the Page Tabs check box in the Form Properties dialog box, make sure you only have one page defined in your identify form.

9. Click the Text Color, Font, and Background Color buttons to set the font and colors for the identify form.

   If you don't set the font or colors for the identify form, the system's default settings will be used.

10. Click OK.

Creating a blank custom query form

Steps:

1. Create or open a layer definition file (.apl).
2. Click the Forms button on the standard toolbar.

   The Forms dialog box appears.

3. Click the QUERYFORM button.

   If a query form already exists in the layer definition file, it will open when you click the QUERYFORM button.

4. Click the Form menu and click Form Properties.

   The Form Properties dialog box appears.

5. Type the width and height of the query form in the Width and Height text boxes, respectively, or select the target device for the form from the combo box.

   You can select from several pre-defined form sizes in the combo box on the Form Properties dialog box. For example, you can select 1/4VGA - 240x320 (Pocket PC) to create a query form that will be viewed on a Pocket PC device.

6. Uncheck the Page Tabs check box if you're creating a single page identify form.

   • Query forms can have multiple pages. When this occurs, each page is treated independently of others in the Find dialog box. That is, only the fields and operators used on the active page are used for the query.
   • If you uncheck the Page Tabs check box in the Form Properties dialog box, make sure you only have one page defined in your query form.

7. Click the Text Color, Font, and Background Color buttons to set the font and colors for the query form.

   If you don't set the font or colors for the query form, the system's default settings will be used.

8. Click OK.
9. Click the Page menu and click Page Properties.

   The Page Properties dialog box appears.

10. Type the caption of the page in the Caption text box.

    This is what will be displayed in the Find dialog box.