Control settings
The Control Settings dialog allows controlling all the aspects the a control besides its label and hint. The dialog has several tabs, detailed below.
The control name specifies a identifier for the control, unique in the entire form (except Section Templates). The identifier is used for the following:
to refer to the control value from formulas, using the notation
$foowherefoois the control nameto determine an XML element name when the form data is represented as XML
If a control name is not explicitly specified, Form Builder assigns a default name, such as control-42.
A control name can be changed, provided it doesn't collide with another control name (an error will show otherwise). [SINCE Orbeon Forms 2019.1] When renaming a control, all dependent formulas that use the $foo notation, as well as all dependent templates and actions, including when using the new syntax.
Main options
The following options are available:
Show on Summary page:
When selected, the control value is visible as a Summary page column.
Show in Search:
When selected, the control value is searchable in the Summary page.
Encrypt data at rest:
SINCE Orbeon Forms 2018.1
This is an Orbeon Forms PE feature.
See Field-level encryption for details.
Email options
The following email options are available:
NOTE: SINCE Orbeon Forms 2018.2, these options are in a separate list.
Email recipient:
When selected, the control is used to determine an email recipient ("To:") when the form data is sent by email.
If more than one non-blank email addresses is found, they are all included as email recipients. In addition, the
oxf.fr.email.toproperty is used.A single control value can contain more than one email address, separated by commas (
,) or spaces.
Email carbon copy recipient:
SINCE Orbeon Forms 2017.1
When selected, the control is used to determine a carbon copy email recipient ("Cc:") when the form data is sent by email.
If more than one non-blank email addresses is found, they are all included as email recipients. In addition, the
oxf.fr.email.ccproperty is used.A single control value can contain more than one email address, separated by commas (
,) or spaces.
Email blind carbon copy recipient:
SINCE Orbeon Forms 2017.1
When selected, the control is used to determine a blind carbon copy email recipient ("Bcc:") when the form data is sent by email.
If more than one non-blank email addresses is found, they are all included as email recipients. In addition, the
oxf.fr.email.bccproperty is used.A single control value can contain more than one email address, separated by commas (
,) or spaces.
Email sender:
SINCE Orbeon Forms 2017.1
When selected, the control is used to determine an email sender ("From:") when the form data is sent by email.
Only one "From:" email address is used, specifically the first non-blank address selected in the form. If no such address is found the
oxf.fr.email.fromproperty is used.
Email reply-to:
SINCE Orbeon Forms 2020.1
When selected, the control is used to determine a reply-to address ("Reply-To:") when the form data is sent by email.
Only one "Reply-To:" email address is used, specifically the first non-blank address selected in the form. If no such address is found the
oxf.fr.email.reply-toproperty is used.
Exclude from email body:
SINCE Orbeon Forms 2018.1
When using "All Control Values" in an email body template, controls selected with this checkbox will be
excluded and omitted from the email body.
Include as email attachment:
SINCE Orbeon Forms 2016.1
this option only shows for file and image attachments
when the property
oxf.fr.email.attach-filesis set toselected, only file and image attachments with this option checked are attached to the email
Show in email subject:
DEPRECATED SINCE Orbeon Forms 2018.1: Use a template for the subject instead.
When selected, the control value is used as part of the subject of the email when the form data is sent by email.
If more than one non-blank values are found, they are all included in the email subject, comma-separated.
[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2018.2]
This informational field shows the name of the field to use when using a PDF template.
See also PDF templates.
The "Custom CSS Classes" field allows adding CSS classes which will be placed on the control in the resulting HTML. This can be used for custom styling.
[SINCE Orbeon Forms 4.10]
Some controls support more than one appearance. For example, a single selection control can appear as a dropdown menu, or as radio buttons. When available, the "Control Appearance" selector allows selecting and changing the appearance of the control.
See also How the new Form Builder Appearance Selector Works.
Some controls have custom settings. For example:
See also Control metadata for the Control Settings dialog​
See Form Builder Validation for details.
See Formulas for details.
[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2018.2]
The "Yes" and "No" options have their own radio button. Select "Formula" to enter a dynamic "Visibility" or "Read-Only" formula.
[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2019.1]
For the Explanatory Text control only, you can modify the text in this location, including making the text dynamic using templates as is the case for the Label, Hint and Help Message.
[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2017.2]
In addition to setting a control's label and hint in place in the form area, you can also set and update them in this tab. You can switch between plain text and HTML text as well. The "Previous" and "Next" buttons allow quick navigation between controls.
This allows specifying some help text, which can be plain text or rich text when the "Use HTML" checkbox is selected.
The help message is available at runtime through a help icon positioned next to the control. By default, the icon opens a pop-up containing the help text. In noscript mode (removed since Orbeon Forms 2018.1), the icon links to a help section at the bottom of the form.
The help text is localizable.
See also Improving how we show help messages.
[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2018.1]
Controls support dynamic labels, hints, and help messages. This means that, instead of being specified once and for all at form design time, labels, hints and help messages can incorporate dynamic parts such as control values and other custom expressions.
For more, see Template syntax.
​Form Builder Validation​
​Formulas​
​Template syntax​
