Long Text
  • 27 May 2024
  • 7 Minutes to read
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Long Text

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Article summary

Long text control is the most common user input control. It's essentially a text field that allows for more extensive input than a standard single-line text field. Additionally, it supports rich text formatting like bold, italics, and hyperlinks facilitating clear communication. It can be configured as a plain text area, rich text area, or diary field for detailed entries. Additionally, defining character limits, entry validation, and whether or not to flag fields as mandatory is possible.

A glance at the Long Text control!

Figure: Long Text as seen by Application Designer

Figure: Long Text as seen by End User

Let's explore the following use case.
Use Case
User Persona: Application Designer
Solution
NovaTech organization is a financial organization. They want the auditors to capture detailed information and explanations regarding financial transactions during their financial audits. They want the audit description box to have editing abilities such as plain text and rich text. And also mandate the audit description box and add a minimum character limit.
To achieve this, Sam must drag and drop the Long Text control on the form canvas. He can configure the control as a rich text editor for the auditors to add detailed explanations. Also, two validations can be added to make the long text control. 
  1.  Make the long text control mandatory.
  2. Add character limits such as a minimum of 20 characters should be added to the audit description box. 

Configure Long Text 

Long text control can be dragged and dropped on the form canvas and configured as per the organizational needs.

To configure Long Text control, perform the following steps:

  1. Navigate to Form Designer > Design Form > Controls.

  2. Expand Form Controls to locate the Long Text control.

  3. Drag and drop Long Text control on the design canvas. Hover over the added control to access the Settings and Delete icon.
    The Long text control is displayed.
    Figure: Long Text Settings

  4.  Click Settings to configure the Long Text control.

On the Settings pop-up window, the following tabs can be configured.

Properties

Below are the 'General Properties' for the long text control, followed by specific details about each field.

Figure: Properties

Field Description

This table contains the list of fields and their descriptions that are available under the Properties tab: 

Field Description 
General

Title

Specify a unique name for the Long Text control. This name identifies the Long Text control in the form.
For example: Description, Notes, Comments, etc.

Subtitle

Specify the text which you want to display just beneath the Title. You may use it to describe the purpose of the control or the way it should be used.

Render as

Select from the drop-down to determine the behavior of the control. You can render the Long Text as diary field, plain text or rich text

Plain text box as seen by end user.
Figure: Plain text

Rich text box as seen by end user.
Figure: Rich text

The diary field appears under the Messages tab as seen by end user. 
Figure: Diary field

Edit ModeLong Text field can be made as Write or Read-only.
If it is selected as Write, the field can be edited to add any inputs.
If it is selected as Read, the field is read-only and cannot be edited.
Informative
Help TextProvide a help text that gives the end users guidance on how to fill out the field correctly.
For example: "Enter detailed explanation.", "Enter a summary."

Rich Text

Select it to enable the help text as a rich text format. It allows formatting like bold, italicized, color to the text, etc. for the help text.

Figure: Rich Text

Watermark 

Type in the watermark text that should appear in the text box field providing a hint or example of the expected input. 

Tooltip

Add a tooltip that displays when the user hovers the mouse cursor over the long text field.

Advance

Below are the 'Advance Properties' for the long text control, followed by specific details about each property.

Figure: Advance

Field Description

This table contains the list of properties and their descriptions that are available under the Advance tab: 

Field Description 
General

Include as Filter

If enabled, the respective control is available as a filter option on the Form Designer list page of the application.

Include as a column in grid view

If enabled, the respective control is available in grid view on the Form Designer list page of the application.

Is clickable?

If enabled, a pop-up window with text is displayed.

Include in TemplateIf enabled, the long text field can be included in the export template for the form.
Auto ResizableIf enabled, the long text area is resizable and can be adjusted to any size.

Validations

Validations ensure that the data entered into the field meets specific criteria or requirements. Application Designer can add pre-built validations to save time and effort by ensuring data accuracy and completeness without the need for custom rules. These offer a standardized method of data validation across forms, reducing errors and improving data reliability.  

Figure: Validations

Field Description

This table contains the list of fields and their descriptions that are available under the Validations tab:

Field Description
Tenant
  • Select All Tenants from the dropdown if the validations should be applied to all the tenants, regardless of the tenant selected in the admin or transaction form.
  • Select the desired tenant from the drop-down if the validations should be applied to the specific tenant. 
The validations added for a specific tenant will always precede common validations.

Long Text should be

Mandatory Select the Mandatory from the drop-down to make the control a mandatory control. It ensures that this field must be filled out before submitting the form.
Hidden Select the Hidden from the drop-down to hide the control. It ensures that this field must be hidden if it contains any personal information.
DisabledSelect the Disabled from the drop-down to make the control a disabled control. It makes the control read-only and prevents any changes or inputs.
Specific CharactersSelect Specific characters such as alphabets, Numeric, Decimals, and Special Characters.
Less thanSelect the less than from the drop-down to set a limit for characters in Long Text.
More thanSelect the more than from the drop-down to set an upper limit for the characters in Long Text.
Unique Select Unique from the dropdown to make the control a unique field for specific tenants.
Allow CharactersSelect the allowed characters from the drop-down to allow special characters and symbols in Long Text.
Below Conditions MeetSelect this option if you want the validations on the control to be triggered based on a specific condition(s).
Figure: Conditions

Configure the conditions using the following fields:

Field: Choose the field from the dropdown list to which the condition applies.

Operator: Select the appropriate operator from the dropdown list, which varies based on the selected field type.

Value: Define the value for the chosen field, determining when the condition should be triggered. 

  • For non-referenced fields like short and long text, enter the value in a text box. 
  • For referenced fields such as single choice and tree control, select the value from the respective field type.
    Figure: Below Conditions Meet

  • Use  icon to add more conditions.
  • Use  icon to delete conditions.
Every Time

Select Every Time if you want to display this control always without any specific conditions.
Figure: Every time

Appearance

This tab helps you to customize the long text control's appearance through appearance properties, enhancing user experience and reinforcing brand identity.

Figure: Appearance

Field Description

This table contains the list of fields and their descriptions that are available under the Appearance tab:

FieldDescription
Text

Font Type

Select the desired font from the drop-down menu to customize the Long Text control.

Font Color

Select a font color from the color palette to enhance the visibility and aesthetics of the Long Text control.

Font Size

Select the desired font size to your preference for better readability and presentation for the Long Text control.

Font Style 

Select either Bold, underlined, or Italic font style to emphasize specific text within the Long Text control.

Minimum HeightSpecify the minimum height of the Long Text control to ensure consistent layout and spacing across the form.

Security

The Security tab ensures data security and privacy by applying restricted access or encryption to sensitive field data, ensuring that only users with authorized roles can access or modify it.

Figure: Security

Field Description

This table contains the list of fields and their descriptions that are available under the Security tab:

FieldDescription

Restrict field access

Enable this option to ensure that designated roles possess exclusive viewing or editing privileges for the content within the Long Text control, thereby restricting access to authorized users only.

For example: In a financial management system, only designated financial analysts or managers should have access to view or edit sensitive financial data entered in long text control.

Encrypted

Enable this option to ensure sensitive information remains secure and confidential by making it unreadable without the appropriate decryption key. 

For example: In a financial management system, sensitive information such as bank account details can be encrypted and only personnel with a decryption key can access the information.

To know more about Form Security, refer Form Security.


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