Configuring the Lines
The line fields decide what somebody enters per line and how the grid looks.
Where to find it
Architect Panel → Forms:
- Dynamic Add Fields — the definitions, then View Fields on a row
- Conditional Forms — show and hide rules
- Line Item Builders — the builders, then View Line Fields on a row
What each line field carries
Which field it shows, its size, its order, whether it is a special field, and whether it displays a subtotal with its own formatting and decimal places.
Size the columns to their content
A quantity column as wide as a description invites the wrong thing in it and wastes space that the description needs. Column width is a hint, and on a grid it is a strong one.
Order for the way people work
What they choose first on the left. For most documents that is the item, then the quantity, then anything that varies, with computed values on the right.
The order should match the order somebody would say it aloud.
Put computed columns last
Line totals and derived values belong on the right, where they are read rather than entered. Mixing them among the input columns makes the grid harder to tab through.
Subtotals belong on the columns that sum
Quantity and value. A subtotal on a column that does not meaningfully add up — a reference, a date — is a number that means nothing and invites somebody to use it.
Set decimal places deliberately
Money to two, quantities to whatever your business actually uses. A quantity shown to four decimal places suggests a precision you do not have, and a value rounded to none loses money.
Formatting is per column
Which is right — a currency column and a quantity column should not look the same. Consistent formatting across documents matters more than any particular choice.
Force fields carefully
Requiring every field on every line means a line cannot be left half-entered, which is good for data and bad for somebody working through a long order who does not yet know one value.
For long documents, allow the line to be saved and validate at submission.
Test with a long document
Twenty lines, entered by keyboard, on the smallest screen anybody uses. That reveals column widths, tab order and grouping problems that five lines never will.
Worked example
A grid was arranged as item, quantity, unit price, discount and line total, with subtotals on quantity and total, money to two decimals and quantities to none. Testing with twenty lines on a laptop found the description column too narrow, which was widened at the expense of two columns nobody used.
Recommendations
- Size columns to their content.
- Computed columns last, inputs first.
- Subtotals only where they sum meaningfully.
- Test with twenty lines by keyboard.