Control Groups
- Christopher Rushing (Unlicensed)
Contents
Overview
In many forms, a group of fields work together to define a single control. For example, a control might require an assigned value, some text to support the option chosen and some files for evidence. A Control Group is container that contains one or more fields and allows them to be labeled as a group and treated as a single control.
In this section of the guide we will look at using control groups when creating forms, the options that can be configured, how to add or remove fields from control groups and finally what effect adding control groups has on the data and display of a form.
Adding a Control Group to a Form
A control group is added to a form in the same manner as any other field. Using the Form Builder, select the Add a Field tab. At the bottom of the list of fields is the option representing a control group. Simply click on the Control Group button and drag it to your form, dropping it where you want it to be on the form.
To find out more about building a form, the various form fields, and their properties, see sections of this guide on the Form Builder, Form Fields, and Form Field Properties.
Working with Control Groups in a Form
Configuring a Control Group
A control group has a limited number of options for configuration.
The Field Label property controls the text displayed on the label for the control group and is also used to represent it in some other views and displays. Although a large rich text field is provided, best practice is to limit the length of the Field Label value to less than 100 characters.
The Field Type property simply shows that this is a Control Group. As soon as the form is saved with the Control Group on it, the Field Type will become read-only.
The Field Visible to property controls whether the control group and all of the fields it contains will be visible to all users or to admins only.
The Control Group Code works like a Template Code and can be used in a similar manner, but instead of being used for transferring inputs to document templates, the Control Group Code is used for display purposes.
The Control Group Options property can be used to add new fields to the control group by selecting a field type from the dropdown. It can be used multiple times to add any number of fields to the control group.
Adding Fields to a Control Group
As mentioned when reviewing the properties of the control group, fields can be added to the control group by using the dropdown in the Control Group Options section of the properties of the control group. Simply select the Control Group Option drop down to display a list of field types. Select the type of field you desire to add and once you click on the field type in the list it will be added to the Control Group.
In addition to adding fields in that manner, fields can also be added by dragging the field type from the list of field options in the Form Builder onto the form and aligning the yellow positioning guide to be inside the control group.
Until a field has been added to a control group using the Control Group Options it is not possible to move an existing field from the form into the control group. Once an initial field has been added, other fields can be moved onto it or added via the drag and drop functionality.
Moving Fields in a Control Group
Similar to how fields are manipulated in the rest of a form, the fields in a control group can be reordered within the control group by clicking on the field and dragging it up or down, aligning it using the yellow positioning guide. Field can also be moved in and out of the control in a similar manner.
Removing Fields from a Control Group
Fields can be removed from a control group in two ways. First, if you want to retain the field in your form but remove it from the control group, you can do so by dragging the field until its yellow positioning guide is outside of the control group.
If you no longer need the field in your form, you can also delete it by selecting the field and deleting it via the Delete button.
Effects of Control Groups in data
Grouping fields into a control group will change how some data is displayed within the system.
Heat Map Tiles
When you add one or more control groups to a form, the system will automatically add a heat map of the existing control groups to the information displayed for that form in the Dashboard and Form Manager screens.
Dashboard is only visible to Examiners and Portal Users.
Regardless of which interface you are looking at, the heat map works the same way, displaying a representation of the Control Groups in a color-coded grid. Each control group tile is assigned a color based on the calculated Maturity Score. The value of the score will be between 0 and 100 and will be displayed in a gradient color moving from red to green as the score increases. This allows you to see what needs the most attention in a form at a glance. No data will leave the tiles gray.
The tiles representing a control group also act as a quick navigation option. Clicking on a tile will bring you directly to that control group in the form, displaying on it and fields inside of it.
Unlike the normal flow of updating a form, clicking Continue, Submit, or Exit (depending on the scenario when editing) will save the data and bring you back to the Dashboard.
In this section of the guide covered using control groups when creating forms, the options that can be configured, how to add or remove fields from control groups and finally what effect adding control groups has on the data and display of a form. In the next section we will look at the other Form Field Properties available.
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