Reference Guide
Detailed explanations of every feature and function in NutshellDate/Time Field
The Date/Time component allows you to capture any combination of Date and/or Time information in the following formats:
- Date only
- Time only
- Date & Time combined
Date/Time components can be used to collect Date, Time or Date & Time combined
Required Fields
If a date/time field in your form is mandatory, Nutshell can automatically validate that an end-user has not left it blank. Just set the field to be a required field, and Nutshell will do the rest.
Default Content
Normally, if your form is just capturing data, the date/time field will be empty by default. Sometimes, it’s helpful to auto-populate fields with either current time/date or with dynamic values. What do we mean by dynamic? Dynamic data is content that changeable based on something your end-user does.
You can decide how the component should be pre-populated when it appears on-screen
You can set the default value of your date/time field to:
- The current date/time (i.e. the exact time or date the end-users fills in the form)
- The content of a date/time field on another screen (it must be a screen that the end-user will have already passed before reaching the current one)
- The content of a date/time field within a database record (you’ll be able to set the search criteria to determine exactly which record)
- The content of a Variable (you’ll be able to choose which one)
Use the familiar lightning bolt button next to the Default Content field to select the data-source.
Read-only
Sometimes, you’ll need to display data – for example, in an edit form – which should not be edited. When you set a date/time field to be read-only, your data will be displayed but will not be editable by the end-user.
Resizing a Date/Time Field
To resize a date/time component, click and drag on a corner of its bounding box. A date/time field can only be resized horizontally. The height of a date/time field is adjusted by changing the text-size, padding and margins.
Date/Time Field Properties
When a Date/Time field component is selected on the Canvas, the following settings are available in the Properties panel:
| Basic Settings | |
|---|---|
| Reference | A unique identifier for the field. This is critical, as it allows you to reference the field directly when mapping to and from a Data component, or inserting data into emails and documents. |
| Capture | What kind of data you’d like to capture with this field: Date only, Time only or Date & Time combined. |
| Default Value | If your field should already have a value in it when the screen loads, you can specify it here. A default value can either be set in the properties panel to the current date/time, and arbitrary date/time, or dynamically populated using a data-source. Use the lightning bolt button to specify the source. |
| Read-only | If this option is turned on, the field will not be editable. This is useful when editing records where some information is allowed to change, and other information should not change. |
| Validation Settings | |
|---|---|
| Required Field | If enabled, Nutshell will not allow the end-user to progress along the workflow until this field has a value. |
| Styling | |
|---|---|
| Various |
A host of options to style your date/time field, that should be pretty familiar if you’ve ever used a basic document editor like Microsoft Word. Note that it is not possible to change the calendar or clock icons that appear within the field, but you can change their colour. |
Just getting started? Try the Tutorials section for handy quick-start guides.
Prefer to watch the action? Try our series of short video tutorials.
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