Controls

You can use controls on views and forms to display or capture data, and to interact with the view or form, such as executing a rule when a control is clicked. Use controls to perform actions such as add attachments, type text, select an item from a drop-down list or display a URL. You can also use button controls to execute rules that you create in the Rule Designer. For example when you click a button, then open another view or form, save data to one or more SmartObjects, or save a screenshot to PDF.

When you generate a view, you have the option to automatically bind controls to SmartObject properties, and different controls are used for each data type. You can also bind controls to capture or display data from another, non-primary SmartObject, for example a drop-down list control that shows a list of Regions. You can change the control type, set its properties at design time and at runtime, configure validation patterns and expressions, and respond to control events by using rules. You can also apply formatting and styling, such as decimal formatting and a bold font to controls. There are over 40 controls available in the Toolbox as shown in the table below, grouped by category.

The animation below is an example of a view with different types of controls, and it also shows how to drag and drop controls to a view and then configure controls:

The following categories are used to group the available controls:

  • Display: Controls that you can use for displaying data, such as labels and pictures.
  • Input: The category with the most controls, you use these to capture data in your form.
  • Action: Controls to action the form, such as buttons and timers.
  • Attachment: Controls you can use to upload or display files
  • Layout: Use the table control for the layout of your view
  • Export: Generate a PDF snapshot of the view or form
  • Information: Use the Location Services control to capture GPS location data on supported devices.
  • Reports: Use controls to create reports using workflow data.
  • Worklist: An interactive control containing work items for the current user, allowing you to see and action tasks.

List of Controls

The following is a complete list of the controls available.

You can sort the table contents by clicking any of the column headings. You can also search a database of all how-to articles and tutorials.
Category Control Description View Form
Display Content An iFrame (Inline Frame) used to embed another view or form, or to display a URL Y Y
Display Label Used to display text Y Y
Display Picture Used to display an image Y Y
Input AutoComplete Provides suggestions while you type Y
Input Barcode Allows you to capture barcodes in a form when using the K2 Workspace (Mobile) app (on supported devices) Y Y
Input Calendar Allows you to specify a date using a calendar Y Y
Input Check Box Allows you to set true/false, yes/no, on/off options Y Y
Input Check Box List A check box group for choosing multiple items from a list of related options Y
Input Choice Allows you to select a value from a drop down list of values, which can be static of from a SmartObject list Y
Input Data Label A label typically bound to a SmartObject property that you can apply validation to in order to capture a single value Y Y
Input Drop-Down List Allows you to select a single item from a drop-down list Y
Input Hyperlink Displays an HTML link to a URL that opens in the default browser Y Y
Input Image Annotation Allows you to annotate images using the K2 Workspace (Mobile) app Y Y
Input List Box A single column multi-select control, allows you to select one or more items from a list Y
Input List Display Displays and allows you to choose from a list, typically used for displaying data from an associated SmartObject Y
Input Lookup Displays and allows you to choose from a lookup list based on SmartObject data Y
Input Multi-Select A two column control that allows you to select from a list of available items, with selected items on the right Y
Input Picker A searchable drop-down that also provides resolution of data, such as a list of users Y
Input Radio Button A single option button that you can use by itself or when part of a radio button group control to provide a list of options. Y Y
Input Radio Button Group Used to group radio button controls to form a list of options. Not visible at runtime Y Y
Input Radio Button List Provides a pre-configured option button list with a border Y
Input Rating Allows you to rate from one to five stars Y Y
Input Rich Text Allows you to insert formatted text and graphics. Y Y
Input SharePoint Hyperlink Allows you to insert a link to a URL, specify the link text, and test the link. Y Y
Input Slider Allows you to select from a range of values by moving a thumb control along a track. At design time you specify minimum and maximum values Y Y
Input Text Area A multi-line text box Y Y
Input Text Box A single line text box Y Y
Input Tree Allows you to display a hierarchical list of information. Y
Action Button Allows you to click to take an action configured at design time using rules Y Y
Action Toolbar Button Adds a button to the toolbar in the view, and can include an icon Y
Action Timer Allows you to execute a rule after a configurable period of time Y Y
Attachment File Attachment Allows you to attach a file and displays a progress bar during upload Y
Attachment Image Attachment Allows you to attach an image and displays a progress bar during upload Y
Layout Table Use a table to control the layout of labels and controls Y Y
Export Save as PDF Generate a PDF snapshot of the view or form Y Y
Worklist Worklist An interactive control containing work items for the current user, allowing you to see and action tasks. Y Y
Information Location Services Allows you to capture location and time information from GPS on mobile devices when using the K2 Workspace (Mobile) app Y Y
Reports Activity Instances Chart Graphic display of workflow activities based on configurable filter criteria, displayed as an aggregated view of the activity. Y Y
Reports Activity Instances Grid Lists all activity instances of a workflow based on configurable filter criteria, displayed as a list with detailed information, sorting, and paging. Y Y
Reports Report Header An dashboard control allowing you to view different types of workflow reports. Contains common properties used to filter other charts or grids on the view. Y Y
Reports User Performance Chart Graphic display of users who have participated activity based on configurable filter criteria, and displayed as an aggregated view of instances per user. Y Y
Reports User Performance Grid Lists users who have participated in the activity based on configurable filter criteria, and includes activity data. Y Y
Reports Workflow Data Grid Lists all data fields of a workflow instance based on configurable filter criteria. Y Y
Reports Workflow Duration Chart Graphic display of the average duration of workflow instances over time, based on configurable filter criteria. Y Y
Reports Workflow Instances Chart Graphic display of workflows based on configurable filter criteria. Y Y
Reports Workflow Instances Grid Lists all workflow instances based on configurable filter criteria. The data is displayed as detailed information related to a workflow instance or instances. Y Y
Reports Workflow References Grid Lists all workflow item references of a workflow instance based on configurable filter criteria. Allows you to expand the references to view detailed information. Y Y

Important Considerations

  • See the Control Bindings topic for information on binding and unbinding controls.
  • When you configure a form for anonymous access, you cannot upload or download files with the File Attachment control. You should carefully consider the impact of allowing file uploads and downloads with anonymous access forms, since doing so may be considered a security vulnerability. User credentials and authentication are not required for anonymous forms and therefore any files uploaded or downloaded with these forms can be performed by anyone that can access the form, without having to provide credentials . To allow file uploads and downloads on anonymous access forms, you must request a change to a configuration setting on the Tenant infrastructure from the Nintex Customer Central team. Note that this configuration applies to the site as a whole and all anonymous access forms, and it is not possible to configure security for the File Attachment control for individual forms.
  • When you configure a form for anonymous access, you cannot upload or download files with the File Attachment, Image Attachment and Picture controls. You should carefully consider and evaluate the impact of allowing file uploads and downloads with anonymous access forms, since doing so may be considered a security vulnerability. User credentials and authentication are not required for anonymous access forms and therefore any files uploaded or downloaded with such forms can be performed by anyone that can access the form, without having to provide credentials.
    To allow file uploads and downloads for anonymous access forms, log a support ticket with Nintex Customer Central portal to adjust the Forms.Controls.File.AllowAnonymousAccess and Forms.Controls.Image.AllowAnonymousAccess settings to true for your environment.
    You must set the values to true to allow the controls to function when you access them through anonymous access forms. If you do not add this setting or if you set it to false, the controls do not work on anonymous access forms, namely errors occur when uploading or downloading files, and image thumbnails may not display. This configuration applies to the entire site and all anonymous access forms. It is not possible to configure security for the File Attachment, Image, and Picker controls for individual anonymous forms.
  • When you use a validation pattern on a control, you must add a rule to execute the validation. See the Validation and Views topic for more information.
  • You can apply formatting and conditional formatting to all controls except the Table control. When you apply a style to a control, the display value of that control changes to the specific format specified. When you apply a conditional style to a control, the styling applies when a certain condition validates to True. You can also apply themes to forms.
  • You can use style profiles to add color to your controls, views, and forms.