Question Type: Text Field

Contents

About

The Text Field is one of the most common question types, and the most flexible in what it can collect. You can use it to collect contact information for a person who does not yet exist in your back-office system, for a customer's email address (so that you can email them a copy of the form submission later), numeric quantities, or numeric readings about an asset.

If you're looking for something to hold larger blocks of text, use the Text Area question type.

An example of a Text Field on an iOS device is shown below:

2018-09-17-TextFieldDevice.png

Form Builder

In the Form Builder, the Text Field question appears as shown below:

Components of a Text Field question

The Question Edit screen for the Text Field has three tabs: General, Properties, and Help OptionsClosed Help Options are ways to add help content, such as YouTube videos, web pages, text, or images, to questions in a form. Mobile users simply tap the help icon next to a question to see the help that the form designer provided.. This article will go through each of the tabs.

2018-10-30-V2FB-TextFieldTabs.png

General

Unique ID

The Unique IDClosed A Unique ID refers to the specific identifier of a question, form page, form section, or Data Destination. Unique IDs are used as reference points when pulling data for conditional logic, Analytics projects, Data Destinations, and Documents. is the reference for the question. For more information on Unique IDs, read: Overview: Unique IDs. It can either be auto-generated based on the question text, or customized.

Data Types

Data Types are the kind of information your mobile users will be putting into these questions. Setting a data type forces users to enter the kind of information you want in the correct format. This also ensures that the entered data can be used elsewhere in your business process, whether that's by other questions in the form, or in a data destination.

The Text Field supports the following data types:

Free Text Email URL Phone Number Integer Decimal Currency
Text Field
Tips for Form Designers:

Restrictions

Restrictions control how your mobile users interact with a question. They can be set on the question itself or controlled by Conditional Logic.

The following table shows which restrictions you can set for the question type. Note that:

  • indicates a restriction that you can configure.

  • * indicates a restriction that is always on.

  • ✘* indicates a restriction that is always off.

Required Read-Only Hidden on Device Hidden on Reports

Keep question width to 100%

(Side-by-Side SectionsClosed Side-by-Side Sections display questions and answers in a condensed, two-column layout. This can make it easier and faster for field users to scan, complete, and confirm the answers in a form. only)

Text Field

Properties

Properties allow you to set up your question in various ways. The Question Properties enable you to apply a validation rule and a default value. You can also apply the Router Setup property to parse and route data to other subsequent questions.

Question Properties

Question Properties change depending on the data type chosen.

Free Text Email/URL/Phone Number Integer/Decimal/Currency
  • Validation Type: Validation checks that your users have entered information correctly.
  • Default Value
  • Keyboard Type: Lets you define what keyboard your mobile users encounter.
  • Allow mobile users to launch Email, SMS, Phonecall, or Browser to this entry. The browser option is only available for regular, Mobile App forms. This helps to prevent data loss when a customer navigates away from a Customer Feedback (browser-based) form.

  • Default Value
  • Allowable Range (Min/Max)
  • Decimal Place Precision (Decimal Data Type)
  • Currency
  • Default Value
Tip:Need an answer that matches a specific format, but there's no data type that enforces it? Try a Free Text data type with Validation. The Free Text data type has pre-built validation options for Postal and Zip codes, as well as custom validation. For example, you may have serial or model numbers that must be in a certain format—you can create a regular expression to validate it, ensuring that all data is formatted correctly before it reaches its destination.

Help Options

Adding "Help" content to forms gives mobile users access to support and other resources out in the field. Help content is available to users through a button embedded beside a question. Any question in the form can include a link to YouTube videos, web pages, or work instructions.

For more information on Help Content, please read:Add Help Options to Questions

Router Setup

The Router Setup property is a question property available for Text Field, Text Area, File Upload, and Barcode Scanner question types. You can use the Router Setup to parse (subdivide) long strings of data captured by a question—such as from a barcode scan—into smaller substrings. You can then push the substrings to subsequent questions in your form.

You can use the Router Setup property to route data from Text Field questions (source questions) to the supported target question types.