Mobile form patterns

Mobile platforms require special form patterns. These patterns can be modeled in BAM.

Note: Examples shown here can be found in the MobilePatterns demo from the Welcome Page.

Example: Table with 2 actions opens a common CRUD form

Figure: Model of table to grid form pattern

Model of table form to grid form.

This common mobile pattern can be modeled in BAM by creating a table container form to display the rows and setting a relation to a grid container form for CRUD operations on the individual record selected from the table display.

To see this example model, open the MobilePatterns project from the Welcome Page and open the MobilePatternsAppFlow.4ba file. To run this example, execute MobilePatternsApp to your emulator or device. Select Table Usage > 2 actions on the Table.

On mobile platforms, a table container displays as a list view, not as a grid with columns. As a list view, it only displays the two first columns' content and any associated row image. There is no way to manipulate columns (hide, reorder, resize, or sort).

Depending on the alignment property of the two columns, a row is displayed as either
  • On two lines for each row.
  • On a single line with the first column is left-aligned and the second column is right-aligned. For example, if the first column is a text column (left-aligned) and the second column is a number (right-aligned), they will be rendered on a single line for the row.

If a table is the one and only element in a form, a standard table view displays.

Figure: Running app with table form to grid form pattern

Table form displayed and related grid form displayed on an Android emulator.
  1. The table_2_actions form includes a table that has only the delete action code generated. (The record for this form specifies only canDelete functionality.) The icon or a swipe on the row triggers the delete action.
  2. This table displays rows with two lines on each row. The first column is displayed above the second column. In the table container definition, two display only columns have been added to the table to concatenate the first and last name data in the first position and the address data in the second position. The logic to concatenate the data for these fields has been added as custom code in a POINT. See Finding the right place to customize. For example:
    {<POINT Name="fct.record1_computeFields.user" Status="MODIFIED">}
    LET l_rec_BRComputedFields.recordfield1 = SFMT("%1 %2",
                                            p_br_fields.account_firstname CLIPPED,
                                            p_br_fields.account_lastname CLIPPED)
    LET l_rec_BRComputedFields.recordfield2 = SFMT("%1 - %2 - %3",
                                            p_br_fields.account_addr1 CLIPPED,
                                            p_br_fields.account_city CLIPPED,
                                            p_br_fields.country_codedesc CLIPPED)
{</POINT>}
  3. The user can browse the list, delete a selected row, or tap the row to go to a form populated with the selected record. The doubleclick property on the table specifies the action triggered when the row is selected. In this example the value of the doubleclick action is open_common_form. The code is automatically generated to open the form connected to the table form by a relation in the model.

    See the Using tables on mobile devices topic in the Genero Business Development Language User Guide for more on table rendering and ergonomics in mobile apps.

  4. The form opens and displays the correct record. This is achieved by setting some properties on the relation to the grid form on the BA diagram:
    • Position, Source Field property is set to account.userid.
    • Source UI Settings, Action is set to the open_common_form action.
    • Destination UI Settings, Open Mode is set to DISPLAY.
  5. All CRUD functionality is generated for the grid_common form (search (QBE), read and delete, create, and update). Available actions display in the order the ON ACTION statements appear in this dialog in the code. Only the first few actions appear in the menu bar at the top, depending on mobile device type.
  6. All other available actions appear when the full menu is displayed by the user (by pressing a menu button on a phone, for example).

Example: Single CRUD forms or Common CRUD form

There are two options when modeling CRUD grid forms for mobile. Typically a grid form is used for all CRUD operations. You can model this by creating one common form and managing which operation(s) are available through the relation to the common form.
Figure: Many vs one common form


  1. The table_5_actions_v1 table form calls a different form depending on the action the user triggers. Each form handles a single operation such as (search (QBE), read and delete, create, and update).
  2. The table _5_actions_v2 table form calls just one form, but models four different relations to the common form. Each relation opens the form for a different operation such as (search (QBE), read and delete, create, and update). The Open Mode and Action properties are uniquely set on each of the four relations. For example, one of the four relations has the Action property set to append and the Open Mode property set to ADD. When the user triggers the append action, the common form is opened and ready to accept input. Furthermore, the ADD Behavior properties on the relation overwrite the form defaults and specify to ExitForm when the user accepts or cancels the input. See Overwriting a Form's behavior with a Relation to the Form.