In Microsoft Dynamics 365 there lies an ability to change the look and feel of certain fields in forms, for any users using the Mobile, Tablet or PowerApps. This functionality from Dynamics 365 v9.x+ allows you to create user rich forms for tablet and mobile users and can make the end user experience a lot more enjoyable with some rich functionality available that just simply doesn’t exist in the Web Browser version of Dynamics 365.
This blog assumes that the reader has some Dynamics 365 Customisation skills, and will walk you through some of the interesting changes to fields that can be done within an app, show the different examples of fields that can be utilised, and will eventually build out into a use case example for a specific scenario utilising one of our pre built solutions, namely Health and Safety Assessment.
The starting point I would always recommend for anyone that has even a small amount of understanding of Dynamics 365 is to run up a 30 Day Trial of Dynamics 365. Once you have this set up, go in to your instance and “Break:Fix:Repeat". It really is the easiest and best way to learn.
Field Types
The ability to change the behaviour of fields does not exist for all field types, however, you can add different field controls for the following field types:
- Single Line of Text
- Number (Whole, Decimal, Floating and Currency)
- Multiple Lines of Text
- Date and Time
- Option Set
- Multi Select Option Set
- Two Options
We will go through each field type in a later section and see what each of them can do.
Configuring Fields
Once you have created the fields you need to add them to a form canvas:
Select the field in question and go to “Change Properties” on the ribbon and select the “Controls” tab of the Field Properties:
On the Tab, you will then see an option to “Add Control…”:
If you click on this, a new dialog will appear that gives you all of the available custom controls associated with the field type:
If you select one of the custom controls, some guidance around its configuration will appear in the window:
Select “Add” once you have the custom control you require and the custom control functionality will appear in the Controls section:
Change the field values by clicking on the pencil (as standard in Dynamics 365, any * fields are Business Required). Edit the fields and options as necessary and then go back up to the “Control” section of the dialog:
Here is where you define the behaviour of the field. In this example, I want the Custom Controls on the specific field to only apply to the Phone and Tablet App. Select the appropriate radio button and then select OK:
Apply the changes to the form, and the new Custom Control on the field can now be tested either in the app on a mobile phone, tablet or in the Dynamics 365 App from the Microsoft Store on your laptop. This latter one is a very quick and simple way to test changes.
Note that there is a preview option for a mobile or tablet in the form configuration but this has been, in my experience, quite hit and miss around form behaviours.
Once you access the App, go to the form in question and check how your newly configured field looks:
In Part 2 I will go through some of the different field types and their behaviours. All field types will be configured in exactly the same way as above.
