How To Attach A Control File

This topic discusses attaching a Control File to a form or a field. It does not explain creating them.

Requirements

- Access rights to form and field properties
- Create a Control File

Attaching A Control File To A Form

1. Right click in the form, not on a field, and select Properties from the choices that are displayed. This will bring up the Access Rights form for the form you are on.

You can Right click on any grey area of the form.

Check the Name field in the Access Rights form. It should display the name of the form you want to attach the Control File to.

Pull down the System menu and choose Layout and Languages, Form properties. The Access Rights form will be displayed. Check the Name field as described above.

2. Double-click in the Control File field to open the Control File editor or choose a button as described below.

3. Refer to sample files for guidelines.

4. Press F8 to save your Control File. The next time you enter the form, it will be activated.

Control files at the form level run unconditionally. You can only set conditions based on field values in control files attached to individual fields.

Attaching A Control File To A Field

1. Right click in the field you want to attach the Control File to. Select Properties from the choices that are displayed. This will bring up the Access Rights form for the field that is currently selected. Check the Name field in the Access Rights form. It should display the name of the field you want to attach the Control File to.

Pull down the System menu and choose Layout and Languages, Field properties. The Access Rights form will be displayed. Check the Name field as described above.

2. Double-click in the Control File field to open the Control File editor or choose a button as described below.

3. Refer to sample files for guidelines. Press F8 to save your Control File. The field will display the changes when you exit from it.

Control file attached to fields are invoked as the user exits the field. Field level control files will execute on leaving a field if the field data has changed.

Saving Control Files

When you create a Control File, Collect! gives it a number and a *.ctf extension. Control files are stored in the MASTERDB\control subdirectory of Collect! (i.e. ..\CV11\masterdb\control\1.ctf)

Buttons On The Control File Field

In the Access Rights form, the Control File field has four buttons to the right of it.

Use these buttons to do the following:

- Open a file
- Print a file
- Delete a file
- Select a .ctf file from the CV11\masterdb\control folder.

Open A File

If the File field already contains the name of Control File, click this button to open the file in the Control File editor. You can modify the file if needed.

If the File field is empty, selecting the Open button will open a new Control File for you to create.

Print A File

To Print the displayed Control File select the Print button.

Delete A File

To delete the Control File select the button with the stylized X on it. This prompts you to delete the file.

Select An Existing Control File

To attach an existing Control File select the Magnifying Glass button. Collect! will open a dialog displaying the contents of the CV11\master\control folder. Control Files have a .ctf extension.

You should already know which file you want to select.