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Introduction to 36 controls

Fields with the same data characteristics are encapsulated as controls, and each control has corresponding data format validation and properties.

Mingdao provides 36 types of controls to meet your diverse needs for data management. It is important to choose the proper control based on the data type of the field, which has an impact on data collection, referencing and analysis.

1.Relationship between worksheets and fields, fields and controls

Worksheet and Filed: Worksheet is used to store the data set of business objects. Each row of records in a worksheet is a business object, and business objects have many of the same attributes, such as order number, contract date, order amount, and so on. Such attributes are called fields, for example, in the Order worksheet, there are fields for order number, contract date, order amount, etc.

Field and Control: In order to standardize the input of data in the fields, some formatted field types are pre-set, which are called controls. For example, there are date controls, mailbox controls, amount controls, etc. Therefore, when adding a field, you need to first select the appropriate control based on the data characteristics of this field.

2. Introduction to 36 controls

Text​

  • For recording name, number, bank account number, meeting minutes, order details, etc.

  • It can be set to single line or multi-line.

  • You can set the default value when editing the text field.

  • Its width can be set to 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 of the line or the whole line width.

  • When editing the text field, you can check [No repetition allowed].

  • You can set [Limit word number] when editing the text field.

  • You can set [Limit input format]-[ Regular expression] to qualify the format.

  • You can set [Allows barcode scanning] and [Allow scanning of QR codes] to scan the barcode or QR code to read the content into the text.

  • Text controls can be converted to and from rich text controls.

  • You can check [Parse links], and if checked, users can jump to the corresponding page by clicking on the link.

Numeric and Amount​

  • You can set the unit and decimal place.
  • You can set the default value.
  • You can set the unit to be displayed before or after the number (prefix or suffix).
  • You can set [Range of amount given].
  • You can check [Display thousandth] or [Display by percentage].
  • Enter up to 16 digits.
    • If you enter more than 16 digits in the numeric and amount fields, it will be stored in scientific notation and will be inconsistent with the original content. For non-calculated numbers, such as bank card number, business ID, etc., you need to select the text control, and for phone number, you need to select the telephone control.

Difference between Numeric and Amount:

  • The uppercase amount control can only be associated with the amount control.
  • You can set [Display by percentage] in numeric control.
  • You can set the input method, number or progress in numeric control.

Email​

This field requires the validation of the mailbox format, mailbox like xxx@xx.xxcan be saved, such as tony@md.com and 123@qq.com.

Date​

  • There are two types, Date and Date/Time, and six display ways to choose from.

    • Year

    • Year-Month

    • Year-Month-Day

    • Year-Month-Day Hour

    • Year-Month-Day Hour: Minute

    • Year-Month-Day Hour: Minute: Second

  • You can set the default date.

  • You can customize options.

    • Set specific days, e.g. only weekdays can be selected.

    • Set time range, e.g. only the time between 9 and 18 o’clock can be selected.

    • Set the minute interval, if the interval is set to 1 minute, when adding records and selecting time, you can choose any time, if set to 1 hour, you can only choose the time on the hour.

    • Set the start time, and when adding a record and selecting time, the time before start time cannot be selected.

    • Set the end time, and when adding a record and selecting time, the time after end time cannot be selected.

  • Four formats for dispaly

    • ISO (2023-01-16)

    • China (2023/1/16)

    • US (1/16/2023)

    • EU (16/1/2023)

Format requirements for writing time through workflow, API, function, and importing

The following 4 formats are supported.

  • YYYY (year) MM (month) DD (day) HH: mm: ss
  • YYYY-MM-DD HH: mm: ss
  • YYYY/MM/DD HH: mm: ss
  • MM/DD/YYYY HH: mm: ss

Note

  • Date in DD/MM/YYYY format is not supported, it will be recognized as MM/DD/YYYY.
  • Date in YYYYMMDD format is not supported. If you enter a date in this format, the field is empty or the original value is cleared.
  • For the date written by function, the default value only can be in the format of Year-Month-Day for now.
  • If the number of month, day, hour, minute and second is less than 10, it doesn't matter whether there is a zero before the number.
  • The number of month, day, hour, minute, and second cannot be greater than the actual reasonable number, otherwise the field is empty or the original value is cleared.

Example

Write/ImportResult
20221212 16:15Empty field, not supported format
14/4/2022 08:35Empty field, unreasonable number
2/30/2022 8:35Empty field, unreasonable number
12/4/2022 08:35:20Normal
2022/12/14 16:14Normal

Time​

You can choose to display the time in Hour: Minute format or Hour: Minute: Second.

  • You can preset the minute interval, if the interval is set to 1 minute, when adding records and selecting time, you can choose any time, if set to 1 hour, you can only choose the time on the hour.

  • You can set the start time, and when adding a record and selecting time, the time before start time cannot be selected.

  • You can set the end time, and when adding a record and selecting time, the time after end time cannot be selected.

Format requirements for importing time

  • If the number of minute and second exceeds 59, it will be imported as 59.
  • If the number of hour exceeds 23, the field is empty and there is no time format like 24:00:00. |Import|Result| |:----|:----| |3:4|03:04| |19:45:70|19:45:59| |12:60|12:59| |19:65:59|19:59:59| |24:00:00|Empty field| |29:45:50|Empty field|

Telephone​

  • You can enter a cell phone number or a landline phone number. If both are required, you need to add two telephone controls.
  • You can check [No repetition allowed] when editing.

Region/City​

There are three types, which are Province, Province-City, and Province-City-County.

If a more detailed address is required, you can select the text control and write the detailed address to the text control.

More details about region/city control

Choice and Choices​

  • You can pre-set the options, and when adding records, users can directly select.
  • There are 3 ways to display options, drop down, tile and progress.
  • You can add, delete, and sort options, as well as set default options.
  • You can set different colors for the options.
  • Data sets can be set as options.

Interconversion of Choice and Choices

If data in a choices field has been submitted in a record, after converting the choices control to the choice control, the original multi-select data will still be retained.

More details about choice control and choices control

Members​

  • It is used to select contacts in your organization, your friends or external users.
  • The default selected member can be the creator of the record, or a specified user.
  • Those who are selected in the member field will receive a notification message. More details about members control

Department​

It is used to select departments in the organization. The default selected department can be the department of the record creator.

More details about department control

File​

With the file control, you can add multiple files directly to a record.

  • File Number and File Size

    Local files and knowledge files can be uploaded up to 20 of each type. The total size of local files uploaded at one time cannot exceed 1G; the total size of knowledge files cannot exceed 40G; each knowledge file cannot exceed 2G.

    ![](img/ZMM20230118171645.png)

    * **Customize File Number and Size**

      Upload at least 1 file, up to 20

      The file size ranges from 0.01M to 2028M

  • Download File

    You can download all attachments in the file field with one click, up to a maximum of 200M.

  • File Format

    • File formats not supported

      Files in the formats of exe, .vbs, .bat, .com, .cmd and .url cannot be uploaded. The extensions are not case sensitive.

    • Customize the format of the files that can be uploaded

      The extensions are not case sensitive.

  • Other Settings

Disable input from the desktop: If checked, users cannot upload attachments through desktop browsers, but only from mobile terminal, including APP, mini program and mobile browser.

Disable the photo album: If checked, you can only take photos and upload them.

The following can only be set on Mobile Terminal

Add watermark to photos (APP only): Adding watermark only when taking and uploading photos in APP.

Compress image: Compress images only when taking and uploading photos in APP, and not compress when selecting album photos or taking and uploading photos in mini program or mobile browser.

Get input before displaying the form: If checked,when adding a new record in APP, you need to take a picture and upload it first, and then fill in the other fields.

Submit the form directly after obtaining: If checked, when adding a new record in APP, the record is automatically submitted once the photo is taken and uploaded.

How to write attachment fields via workflow or API

Positioning​

It can get the user’s location and is available on both Mobile Terminal and Web Terminal (GPS is required for cell phones). You can check to show the map or to show latitude and longitude.

It can get the latitude and longitude of your current position on Mobile Terminal (using the WGS84 coordinate system)

Formula​

With the formula control, you can get a value through the operation of multiple field values.

More details about formula control

Check items​

There are three ways to display, which are check box, on-off and yes/no. A default value can be set when editing.

Level​

This control helps users to display progress, priority, etc. in a more visual way.

  • A variety of icons or styles to choose from (e.g. ★, ♥ and many others)

  • You can set the number of levels (1-10)

  • You can set a different color for each level

  • You can add a description for each level (the corresponding description is displayed when the mouse hovers over the level)

Concat​

This control is similar in function to the CONCATENATE function in Excel, which allows users to combine the contents of other fields into a new value.

More details about concat control

Autonumber​

It can automatically assign a unique running number to each new record, and you can also customize the rules.

More details about autonumber control

Rich Text​

As shown in the image below, it is a simple text editor for paragraphs of descriptive text. You can also insert images.

It can be converted to a text control, which by default converts to multi-line text control.

ID Number​

  • There are four types of documents, namely Chinese ID card, passport, Hong Kong-Macau laissez-passer, and Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents.
  • You can check [No repetition allowed] and [Required] when editing.

Signature​

  • On Web Terminal, you can sign with the mouse; on Mobile Terminal, you can sign manually.

  • You can set [Allow the use of the last signature].

  • The signature can be printed.

  • The signature can be written through workflows.

OCR​

This control can quickly and accurately recognize text in images and automatically fill in the corresponding fields. Currently text, invoices and ID cards can be recognized.

More details about OCR control

Relationship​

You can associate records in other worksheets or this worksheet in one worksheet to avoid duplicate entries.

For example, in the Order worksheet, each order requires the contact information, and there is contact information in Contact worksheet, so you can associate the two worksheets without entering it again.

More details about relationship control

Foreign​

You can customize the display of a field in the associated worksheet.

For example, the Order worksheet is associated with the Contact worksheet, if you want to display the position information of each contact at the same time, then the foreign control can help you.

More details about foreign control

Subform​

Business data derived from business objects, which are meaningless apart from the business objects, are suitable for subforms.

In a subform, you can add data in rows when creating a record.

More details about subform control

Cascading​

Cascading selection means that based on the previous selection, only the options of the corresponding range are displayed for subsequent selections.

The control supports multiple levels of associations such as secondary and tertiary. The data source is a worksheet with a hierarchical view.

For example, a worksheet that collects location of customers, province-city-county, can be referenced as a data source.

Rollup​

It is used to count the value of a field in an associated record or sub-form. For example, a sub-form (Order Details) of an order records the sales details of each product, and the rollup control can help to get the sum of the product amounts.

Line​

It can help to display content in chunks, making the structure clearer. For example, it can divide explanatory text into multiple paragraphs; or divide a form into different sections.

Remarks​

If you want to add instructions to tell the user how to fill out the form correctly, you can select the remarks control, which supports rich text. The contents of this field can only be viewed, not modified. If you need to add some notes, please select the text control and set the name to “Notes”.

In this control you can add tasks, projects or calendars from the collaboration module. This is a one-way connection. You can only open the associated task, project or calendar directly in the worksheet after adding it, not the other way around.

Uppercase​

  • If you associate an uppercase field with a field of an amount control, it will automatically display the uppercase amount.

Embedded​

It refers to embedding external links or charts in the form and passing the values of other fields in the current form as parameters to enable the display and interaction of custom elements in the form. In addition, embedded fields can be used as covers for gallery views.

Setting:

Embed Chart:

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