Section form
Completing the Layout tab (SmartFrames format)

Areas of the layout that correspond to section rules (or other elements) that you cannot update appear with a gray background. This may mean that the rule needs to be checked out to you, or belongs to a locked RuleSet version, or a RuleSet version you are not allowed to update.

You can't use this tab to modify section rules with the Auto-generated HTML? check box cleared (on the HTML tab). These are marked Manual HTML on the wireframe presentation in this tab. Similarly, you cannot use this tab to modify section rules are in the legacy format. These are marked Not Upgraded on the wireframe presentation in this tab.

When you save this rule form, Process Commander also saves any open section rules it references, and validates the rules as they are saved.

As a best practice, build your application skin (using the Application Skin wizard) before you develop section rules for work objects, especially if you are using Smart Layouts (with spacing determined by the skin styles.)The system renders the Layout tab using the styles of the skin rule identified in the Skins field of the Run Process In group of your General preferences. If the Skins field is blank, these displays use the styles marked Work on the Styles tab of the skin identified in your current portal rule. See Developer Portal — Setting preferences.

Using the Section form to review or update a section rule causes a clipboard page to be created and properties to be initialized. This may in turn cause declarative processing to be executed. Use caution before implementing any on-change declarative processing that produces database updates.

Controls that alter the preview

The preview area of this tab holds an approximate visual presentation of the runtime appearance of the section. These buttons do not affect the contents of the rule, only the display on this tab:

• Click to present the SmartFrames wireframe preview. Blue wireframe rectangles help you understand the structure of the section, names of rules referenced in this rule, and the size and other relationships of elements in the section.
• Click to hide wireframes, providing a less busy and higher fidelity preview.

Controls that alter a layout table

These controls operate on a table structure. Select one or more cells first, then click the control to apply the operation described. When a control is not available (grayed), it cannot be applied to the current selection.

Control	Description
	Delete the contents of a single cell (not a row or column).
	Insert a new row before (above) the selected row.
	Insert a new row after (below) the selected row.
	Delete the selected row.
	Insert a new column before (to the left of) the selected column.
	Insert a new column after (to the right of) the selected column.
	Delete the selected column.
	Merge right — Combine the selected cell and the cell to the right.
	Merge down — Combine the selected cell and the cell below it.
	Unmerge — Undo the previous merge.

You can also alter the table structure with Windows pointer operations. Select a row, cell, or column and right-click to access a context menu. Select a menu operation: Cut, Copy, Paste, Insert Row, Delete Row, or Delete Column.

Expand and collapse (+/-) controls

Sections in a harness may be presented as horizontal elements (). These work in the  Layout tab; click a plus sign to expand a section.

When you save a section rule form, the state of these controls is saved as well, and determines the initial presentation of the form. To achieve the desired results, before you save the section rule form, the or elements as desired to control the initial presentation of a subsection.

Structurally, a section rule consists of one (or more) layouts or <TABLE> grids, or one or more repeating layouts. (This structure is not required for sections that are produced with handcrafted HTML code).

Both layouts and repeating layouts contain rows and columns, defining a set of cells. A cell can be empty or contain any of various fields and controls.

Fields on a section rule may be located on any page identified on the Pages & Classes tab of the section rule.

You can rapidly mock up the layout, labels, and controls on this tab before all properties it ultimately will reference are defined. The development effort you make in designing layout is not wasted, as the resulting section rule is a valid starting point for further evolution after the property rules are created.

When you first drop a control dragged from the Basic Group, the control initially references a standard placeholder property, for example @baseclass.pyTemplateInputBox. You can save and preview the Section form (although these properties are not part of your application).

To produce a section rule with the appropriate layout, drag and drop the controls, adjust the labels, but do not complete the Cell Properties panel. Reopen the Section form and update each Cell Properties panel later, when the real properties are defined.

For an example of this approach, see Pega Developer Network article PRKB-25216 Use pyTemplate properties and controls to rapidly prototype work object forms.

Each control is defined by your inputs in floating panel, which you can pin for faster input. To open the panel, select the control (after dropping it) and click the magnifying glass () icon that appears. Use these controls on the header of floating panel:

• — Pin the panel to a location. The OK button disappears, and each input you enter is immediately applied to the open rule form.
• — Release the pin. The OK button appears. Your inputs do not affect the open form until you click OK.
• — Collapse (hide) the panel body.
• — Expand the panel body, after collapse
• — Close the panel. If you have entered changes that are not yet applied, a warning dialog may appear, depending on the Warn on modified check box in the SmartFrames Edit area of the Edit preferences group. See Developer portal — Setting preferences.

Click the down arrow () in the Container control group () and select a control:

Control	Description
	Add a tab to a section. See Adding a tab.
	Add an accordion group into this section. See Adding an accordion control.
	Add a section rule into this section. See Adding a section.
	Add a layout to the section — a <TABLE> element containing one or more rows and one or more columns. You can then change the number and size of rows and columns, and set up the contents of each cell (a <TD> HTML element). See: Adding a layout Adding a Row Repeat layout Adding a Column Repeat layout Adding a Tabbed Repeat layout

You can't add a Container () or Panel Set control ( ) to a section.

A cell can hold a label or property value or a form field that accepts a user-entered property value. The property value may be presented in read-only or read-write mode.

You can reference properties on the primary page — typically the page holding the work object — with simply a period followed by the name. You can reference properties on other pages with the pagename.propertyname syntax. Don't forget to identify the class of pages (other than the primary page) on the Pages & Classes tab.

Click the down arrow () in the Basic control group () and select a control:

In the Cell Properties panel

Control	Description
	Add a static read-only text label into a cell. Adding a label.
	Add an Input box, which corresponds to <INPUT TYPE="TEXT"... >. Adding an Input Box.
	Add a TextArea, which can contain more than one line of text. Corresponds to <INPUT TYPE="TEXTAREA" ...>. Adding a TextArea.
	Add an icon to the form, in a cell or on a header. When clicked at runtime, the icon starts an activity. Adding an icon.
	Place a button into a cell or to the bottom of the form. When clicked at runtime, the button starts an activity. Adding a button.
	Add a check box representing a property value. Adding a check box.
	Add a radio button group representing a property value. Adding a radio button group.
	Place blue, underscored text in a cell. When clicked at runtime, the link starts an activity. Adding a URL.
	Add a text box containing a Date or DateTime value. Adding a Date or DateTime value.
	Add a Select control to present a fixed list of values. Adding a Select control.
	Include an image in the form. Adding an Image.

Click the down arrow () in the Advanced control group () and select a control:

Control	Description
	Reference, in a cell, a paragraph rule that can present read-only text and images using rich text. Optionally, you can link a Smart Info pop-up section with the paragraph. Adding a paragraph.
	Use an autocomplete text box to present a drop-down list of dynamic choices computed by an activity. Adding an autocomplete field.
	Add a red label that opens a pop-up SmartInfo section when the user hovers the mouse pointer over the label. Adding a Smart Label.
	Add a Dynamic Select control. Adding a Dynamic Select control.
	Add a control that allows multiple selections from a possibly long list. Adding a list-to-list control.
	Present rows of a report, optionally allowing selection. Adding a List View.
	A cell can contain an interactive chart, defined by a summary view rule with a non-blank Chart tab. Adding a chart.
	For sections that are part of a composite application built with Internet Application Composer only. Add a hidden field to expose a property value, making it available to the external page that displays the composite application. Adding a Data Field control.

In addition to these Advanced controls, you can add a DataGrid control, to support interactive review or editing for a Page List or Value List.Adding a DataGrid.

You can complete two cells of a layout in one step if the left cell is to contain a text label and the right cell is to contain a field corresponding to a property on the Application Explorer.

1. Locate and expand the work type () that contains the property on the Application Explorer.
2. Expand the Property category () and the property rule type () to list property names.
3. Select the blue dot () for the Single Value property to be placed in the field. Drag and drop the dot into the desired cell.
4. The system places the Short Description text of the property as a label in the left cell. It places the property as a (read-write) field in the right cell. You can adjust the settings for these cells.

After you save this rule, click the Preview toolbar button () to see a split-screen presentation of the section as it appears in read-write mode at runtime.