Creating a custom edit form for a shapefile using the Form Wizard

Steps:

1. Create or open a layer definition file (.apl).
2. If a form already exists for the shapefile, you'll be prompted to replace it. Click Yes to replace it and launch the Form Wizard, or click No to load the layer's .apl file with its existing form.
3. On the Layout page of the Form Wizard, do the following:
   1. Type the caption of the edit form in the Caption text box.
   2. 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 Layout page of the Form Wizard. For example, you can select 1/4VGA - 240x320 (Pocket PC) to create an edit form that will be viewed on a Pocket PC device.

   3. Optionally, check the Symbology Page, Attributes Page, Geography Page, and/or Picture Page check boxes to display any or all of these pages in the edit form.
   4. Uncheck the Page Tabs check box if you're creating a single page edit form.
   5. Click the Text and Background buttons to set the colors for the edit form.
4. On the Fields page of the Form Wizard, uncheck the fields you do not want to appear in the edit form. Fields that are checked will appear in the edit form.
5. On the Controls page of the Form Wizard, do the following:
   1. Check the Required check box to make the associated controls of any fields required in the edit form.

      If a control is required, the user must enter a value for that control when filling out the edit form.

   2. Type a new label for the associated controls of any fields in the Label text box.
   3. For text and numeric fields, type the minimum and/or maximum values allowed for particular fields.
   4. For text and numeric fields, type a list of valid values the user can choose from for particular fields.

      This can be a comma or semicolon delimited list. If any items in the list contain commas, use semicolons to delimit list items. Some examples of valid lists are as follows:

      • Tom,Dick,Harry
      • Apples;Bananas;Oranges
      • Cat, Large;Cat, Small;Dog

   5. Type a tooltip for the associated controls of any fields in the Tooltip text box.
6. Click OK.