Working with Forms

PinkApple uses a centralised Form Engine for creating and editing records across the entire application. Whether you're creating a client, editing a GL posting rule, or submitting a batch of journal entries, the same form system powers the experience.

How Forms Work

When you click a Create or Edit button anywhere in the application, a form drawer slides in from the right side of the screen. This drawer contains the form fields, validation, and submission controls.

Form Drawer Layout

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  📄 Create Client                     ─ □ ✕ │  ← Title bar with minimize/maximize/close
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                             │
│  ┌─ Basic Information ─────────────────┐    │  ← Sections group related fields
│  │  Client Name: [____________]        │    │
│  │  Email:       [____________]        │    │
│  │  Phone:       [____________]        │    │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────┘    │
│                                             │
│  ┌─ Address Details ───────────────────┐    │
│  │  Street:  [____________]            │    │
│  │  City:    [____________]            │    │
│  │  Country: [▼ Select     ]           │    │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────┘    │
│                                             │
│  ┌─ Additional Information ────────────┐    │  ← Custom fields section (if configured)
│  │  Membership ID: [____________]      │    │
│  │  Referral Source: [▼ Select  ]      │    │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────┘    │
│                                             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  [ Reset ]                      [ Submit ]  │  ← Action buttons
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Title Bar Controls

Control	Icon	Action
Minimize	─	Collapses the form to a small floating widget at the bottom of the screen
Maximize	□	Expands the form to full width
Close	✕	Closes the form. If you have unsaved changes, a confirmation dialog appears

TIP

You can minimize a form, work on something else in the application, and then restore it from the floating widget at the bottom-right of the screen. Your data is preserved.

Field Types

Forms contain a variety of field types depending on the record being created or edited:

Field Type	Description	Example
Text	Free-text input	Client name, description
Number	Numeric input	Amount, quantity, percentage
Select	Dropdown selection	Status, type, category
Date	Date picker	Start date, end date
Lookup	Search and select from a table	COA account, business unit, client
Currency	Formatted monetary input	Transaction amount, limit
Checkbox	Toggle on/off	Active flag, approval required
Tags	Add/remove classification tags	System tags on GL rules
File	Upload a document or image	Attachments, photos
Rich Text	Formatted text editor	Long descriptions, notes

Lookup Fields

Lookup fields are special — they let you search and select a record from a data table. When you click a lookup field:

1. A modal opens with a searchable, filterable table
2. Use the column filters or search box to find the record
3. Click a row to select it
4. The selected record's name appears in the field

Some lookup fields are read-only in edit mode, showing the selected record's details without allowing changes.

Tags Fields

Tags let you classify records with searchable labels. You can:

• Select existing tags — Click the "+" button to browse available tags in a table
• Create new tags — Define a new tag inline with a key, category, and description
• Edit tag bindings — Click any tag chip to set metadata like business unit, currency, priority, and validity period

Sections

Forms are organised into sections — collapsible groups of related fields:

• Click a section header to expand or collapse it
• Required sections are expanded by default
• Optional sections may start collapsed

Some sections are repeatable — you can add multiple instances. For example, an address section might let you add a home address, work address, and mailing address using an Add button.

Validation

The form engine validates your input at multiple levels:

Field-Level Validation

Each field can have rules like:

• Required — The field must have a value
• Email — Must be a valid email format
• Minimum/Maximum — Numeric or text length limits
• Pattern — Must match a specific format (e.g., account codes)

Validation errors appear as red text below the field immediately after you move to another field.

Form-Level Validation

When you click Submit, the entire form is validated. If any field has an error, the form scrolls to the first error and highlights all invalid fields.

WARNING

You cannot submit a form with validation errors. Fix all highlighted errors and try again.

Batch Mode

Some forms support batch mode — creating or editing multiple records in a single session. This is especially useful for operations like creating multiple journal entries or updating several records at once.

How Batch Mode Works

1. Fill in the form for the first record
2. Click Add to Batch to save it to the batch list
3. The form resets (some fields may be preserved for convenience)
4. Repeat for each record
5. Review all entries in the batch table or batch cards below the form
6. Click Submit to send all entries at once

Batch Table

The batch table shows all queued entries with columns matching the form fields:

Feature	Description
View modes	Switch between table view and card view
Edit entries	Click a row to load it back into the form for editing (highlighted in orange)
Delete entries	Remove individual entries from the batch
Row colours	Orange = currently editing, Green = edited, White = original

Batch Edit Mode

When editing existing records in batch:

• All records load into the batch table
• Click any row to edit it in the form
• Only changed records are submitted (unchanged records are skipped)
• The system tracks which fields were modified

INFO

The Submit button is disabled when the form has partially entered data. Either add the current entry to the batch or reset the form before submitting.

Custom Fields

PinkApple supports custom fields — additional fields defined by your organisation that appear automatically on relevant forms. Custom fields are configured in Administration → General Setup → Custom Fields.

When a form has custom fields configured for its entity (e.g., "Client", "Employee", "Loan Account"):

• A section called Additional Information appears at the bottom of the form
• Custom fields render with the same field types and validation as standard fields
• Custom field values are stored separately and can be searched and reported on

See Custom Fields for setup instructions.

Multi-Form Management

You can have multiple forms open simultaneously. This is useful when you need to reference data from one form while filling in another.

Minimized Forms Widget

When you minimize a form, it appears in the floating widget at the bottom-right of the screen:

• Shows the count of minimized forms
• Click the widget to see a list of all minimized forms
• Click a form name to restore it
• Each minimized form preserves all entered data

Switching Between Forms

• Only one form is visible at a time
• Minimized forms are accessible from the floating widget
• Each form operates independently — submitting one doesn't affect others

Draft Auto-Save

Some forms automatically save your progress as you type:

• If you accidentally close the browser, your data may be recoverable when you reopen the form
• Draft data is stored locally on your device
• A "Restore draft?" prompt appears if a previous draft is found

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Tab	Move to the next field
Shift + Tab	Move to the previous field
Enter	Submit the form (when the submit button is focused)
Escape	Close the current form (with confirmation if changes exist)

Tips for Efficient Form Use

1. Use Tab to navigate — Faster than clicking each field
2. Leverage lookups — Type in the lookup search to quickly filter records
3. Use batch mode — For repetitive data entry, batch mode saves significant time
4. Minimize forms — Keep a form open while you look up information elsewhere
5. Check validation early — Fix errors as they appear rather than waiting for submission