Skip to content

Text and input controls

Three controls collect typed input: Textbox, Textarea, and Hidden. They store one value each, so the same binding and validation rules apply.

Textbox

One line of free text: a name, a code, or a reference. The width on the canvas is not a character limit; use a validation rule if the value has to fit a pattern.

Textarea

The same as Textbox, with several lines and a resizable box. Use it for comments and descriptions. The stored value keeps the line breaks.

Hidden

A Hidden control stores a value the user never sees. Use it for data the form must carry without asking: an identifier, a value calculated in a previous step, or a constant the process needs later.

A Hidden control is not security: the value is in the page and the case like any other, so do not put anything in it that the user must not know.

In a case

  • The label is shown to the user; the variable is what the case stores.
  • A required field blocks the form until it has a value.
  • The placeholder disappears as soon as the user types.
  • Values survive navigation between steps, and are visible in the change log when they change.

In a condition

Read as Use it for
@@Field Comparing text, including numbers used as codes
@%Field Whole numbers, such as a quantity
@#Field Decimals, such as an amount

An empty Textbox evaluates as an empty string, which is false. If a condition depends on "not empty", write the comparison explicitly instead of relying on the bare variable.