Reusable Forms & Fields

What Are Reusable Forms and Fields?

Beyond the form and field components you place on a page, UnifyApps provides two centrally managed libraries for sharing components across apps:

• The Forms library — "Create and manage reusable forms to use across your applications."

• The Fields library — "Create and manage reusable fields to use across your forms."

Build a standard form (such as a customer record) or a standard field (such as a phone number with the right validation) once, then drop it into many apps and forms so they stay consistent. Updates to the central definition propagate to every place it's used.

Note: Where to find them: Applications → Forms / Fields

The Fields Library

The Fields library is a table of reusable field definitions. Each field has a Field Name, Field Type, and Description. Fields are versioned — you publish a new version to release changes to all consumers.

Supported Field Types

A reusable field can be one of 25 types:

Creating a Reusable Field

1. Navigate to Applications → Fields.

2. Click Create Field.

3. Enter a Field Name, Description, and select a Field Type.

4. Click Open in Builder to configure the field's details — label, placeholder, default value, validation rules, and any type-specific options.

5. Publish the field when ready. It becomes available to drop into any form across your applications.

Field Versioning

Each field has an Overview and a Versions tab so you can track changes over time. When you update a field:

• Open the field in the builder and make your changes.

• Publish a new version to release the changes.

• All forms using this field will reflect the updated version.

Tip: Use versioning carefully — publishing a new version of a field updates it everywhere it's used. If you need a breaking change in one place only, consider creating a new field rather than updating the existing one.

The Forms Library

The Forms library is a table of reusable form definitions. Each form has a Form Name and Description. A reusable form can be placed into multiple applications.

Creating a Reusable Form

1. Navigate to Applications → Forms.

2. Click Create Form.

3. Enter a Form Name and Description.

4. Build the form using the form builder — add fields (including reusable fields from the Fields library), configure layout, validation, and events.

5. Save the form. It is now available to place in any application page.

Using a Reusable Form in an Application

1. In the page builder, open the component palette.

2. Find your reusable form by name and drag it onto the canvas.

3. The form instance inherits all the configuration from the central definition.

4. To update the form for all instances, edit it in the Forms library.

Managing the Libraries

Search and Filter

Both libraries are tables with search by name. Use the search box to find a specific form or field by name when you have many entries.

Editing and Deleting

Each row in the library has actions:

• Edit — rename or change the description of a form or field.

• Delete — remove a form or field from the library. Take care: deleting a reusable component may break applications that use it.

Empty State

When no fields exist yet, the library shows a "No Fields Yet" prompt — "Create reusable fields and use them across your forms." Click the create button to get started.

Reusable vs. In-Page Components

Best Practices

Tip: Standardize common fields first. Identify fields that appear in many places — phone numbers, addresses, status dropdowns — and build them as reusable fields with consistent validation before building your forms.

Tip: Use descriptive names. Name your reusable fields and forms clearly so others on your team can find and understand them without opening each one. Include the context in the name — e.g. "Customer Phone Number" rather than just "Phone".

Warning: Plan versioning carefully. Because publishing a new field version updates all consumers, avoid breaking changes. If you need to change a field significantly, create a new version or a new field entirely, and migrate consumers gradually.

Tip: Use descriptions. Both forms and fields have a Description field. Use it to document what the form/field is for, who uses it, and any constraints or special behaviors.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I create a reusable field vs. a reusable form?

Create a reusable field when a single input needs to be shared and kept consistent across many forms — for example, a phone number field with specific validation. Create a reusable form when an entire form structure (multiple fields, layout, and submit logic) needs to appear identically in multiple places, like a standard contact form used in several pages. Start with reusable fields; wrap them in a reusable form only when the whole structure is repeated.

What happens to existing pages if I update a reusable field in the library?

Updates to the library field create a new version. Existing usages continue to run on the version they were last set to — they do not update automatically. You must explicitly go to each form that uses the field and choose to upgrade to the new version. This prevents unexpected changes in production but means you need to actively propagate updates.

Can I override a reusable field's properties for a specific form?

No — reusable fields are used as-is. Their label, validation, type, and options come from the library definition. If you need a field that is mostly the same but has a different label or slightly different validation for one form, duplicate the library field and create a variant, or consider an in-page field for that form instead.

Is there a limit on how many fields a reusable form can contain?

There is no documented hard limit, but large reusable forms (20+ fields) can become harder to maintain because every change affects all instances. For complex forms, consider splitting into logical reusable sub-forms or using reusable fields within in-page forms to retain more flexibility.

Step-by-Step Examples

Create a Reusable "Phone Number" Field

1. Navigate to Applications → Fields.

2. Click Create Field. Enter Name: "Customer Phone Number", Type: "Phone Number".

3. Click Open in Builder. Set Label: "Phone Number", make it required (Is Optional: off), and add a validity condition for format.

4. Publish the field.

5. In any form that needs a phone number, add a field and select this reusable field from the library instead of recreating it.

Create a Reusable "New Customer" Form

1. Navigate to Applications → Forms.

2. Click Create Form. Enter Name: "New Customer Form".

3. In the form builder, add fields: First Name (Text), Last Name (Text), Email (Email), Phone (reusable Phone Number field), Company (Text).

4. Configure validation, layout, and submit behavior.

5. Save the form.

6. In any application that needs customer creation, drop the "New Customer Form" component onto the page instead of rebuilding the form.

Update a Reusable Field Across All Uses

1. Navigate to Applications → Fields and find the field to update.

2. Click Open in Builder and make your changes (e.g., add a new validation rule).

3. Publish the new version.

4. All forms using this field now reflect the updated validation rule automatically.