Minimizing Groups in a Form.

[mcarterlgk]

I am creating a large form.  The goal of the form means I am unable to break it down into smaller forms as there is a great deal of interaction between all levels of the form.  

One of my first fields is a multi-value field (Foundation Type) with four options  (None, Slab, Piers, Wall).   Three of those options have a group of fields lower in the form with between 1 and 5 fields.  

(Multi:Value Option: Example of fields specific to that option)

Slab: Thickness, Edge Depth, Edge Width

Piers:  Diameter, Depth.Offset

Wall:  Footing (T/F), Depth, Width,   

 I currently disable all of the groups of fields that are not part of the active option in the primary multi-value field throught the (Enabling Paramter Name) option with a rule.   This keeps the user from entering values that affect a Foundation Type that is not currently active, but the disabled fields take up a lot of room on my form and may confuse end user less familer with the system,

The group function in the form has a minimize toggle next to the group name, but the Form Editor does not show any options to manipulate this toggle.    Is there a way to automatically toggle this minimize/maximize function through a rule or other means)?  Or are there any other means of hiding form fields that are not currently enabled?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[pcrawley]

I've created quite a few forms like this where there are hundreds of interrelated fields and enabling parameters - and it sure would be nice to minimise a group using code!  I'll be watching this thread in case someone else has a solution.

Of the forms I have done, one became as large as the working area of Inventor which made it pretty intimidating to use (not to mention you couldn't see the model!).  In the end, I looked at the sequence of inputs I wanted from the user, broke them down into logical steps, and built "Tab Groups" which walked the user through the whole process.  (You can add enabling parameters to the tabs too.)  This worked really really nicely - and didn't overrun the whole screen!

The only other trick I can think of is something you've already said you don't really want: Sub-forms.  Is there really no way to get "bite-sized" pieces of user input through a sub-form?  I initially struggled with passing data from one form to another - but that works well when you figure it out.

Good luck which ever way you go!

[mcarterlgk]

pcrawley

I am really hoping to avoide seperate forms if at all possible.  I will sacrifice size of form for number of forms in this case.  The end goal is for this form to be customer facing as a sales tool in one of a number of different forms.   This end of the project is likely months or years away, but it is something I have been asked to consider in my design.  

While I trust my department (for the most part) to be able to navigate seperate forms, I do not trust the sales department to be able to do so or to explain to a customer.

There are probably configurator tools available that could make multiple forms into one outside of Inventor, but this is not currently part of my project and I would like to do what I can to make this as simple as possible from the start for the end user no matter how they are working with my form.