Skip to main content
Share / Export

Configuring VA Form Properties

VA Form Properties is a finder: locate a Vista form and open its Form Properties. Double-click a row to view or edit that form’s properties. Editing happens on Form Properties (VPMenu), not on the finder itself.

Form Properties customizes the application look, associates reports with forms, and resets form and field overrides (F3 settings) for the current user and/or system-wide.

Trimble: About the VA Form Properties Form; About the Form Properties Form; field defs titled Field Definitions: VPMenu Form Properties Form. Security detail: VA Form Security Form.

How to open Form Properties​

  • Select the form in the Main Menu Items pane → Form Properties (Items menu or right-click), or
  • Open the form → Form Properties from Tools, or right-click any gray area.

Before you start​

  • Without Form Administrator on VA User Profile, you only get the User tab.
  • For VA Form Security: at least one person per company needs access. Keep at least one user with Global (All Company) access; assign Global to someone else before removing it from the last Global user. If Global or a company is missing, you were not granted permission to administer form security for those companies.
  • VP forms: Companies must be Global (VP settings are global).
  • Read group vs user security interaction before assigning.

User tab​

Resets the current user’s overrides from Field Properties (F3) User Overrides only (one option, several, or all). Also sets/resets User’s Default Tab (tab shown when the form opens). Put the cursor on a reset option and press F1 for that field’s help. Other users are not affected.

Common reset groups: field defaults and skip input; form/grid display and labels; required input; Search on Enter or Tab (with paging: wait for Enter/Tab vs filter as you type). User’s Default Tab: 0 = Grid, 1 = Info only (other tabs cannot be default). User’s Default Attachment Type (F4) overrides the system default if both are set. Paging: Enabled + Page Size; site default is VA Site Settings → Page Size; users can still toggle paging from the form header.

Checking All Form & Field Overrides selects the listed override groups. Reset confirms, reloads, discards pending changes, closes Form Properties, and takes effect immediately.

System Wide tab​

Resets System Overrides (F3) only (one, several, or all). Affects system-wide overrides for all users and all occurrences of the form. User-tab overrides stay.

Also includes Delete Custom Group Boxes; Restore Standard Field Input Order (all users); Restore Standard Field Lookups; System Default Attachment Type. Field-def notes conflict on some “User Overrides” vs “System Overrides” wording and on whether Delete Custom Group Boxes is current-user only while sitting under System Wide — treat System Wide as company/system impact unless you confirmed otherwise.

Images tab​

Form icon and progress clip for all users. Menu Icon via Display Icons / Icon Viewer. Progress Clip via Display Clips (disabled on Setup forms). Reset warns the form will reload and pending changes will be lost; Yes restores defaults for all users.

Tab Pages​

  • Reorder with up/down; Add (title; added as last tab); Edit (rename a custom tab, or point a custom tab at a query or UD table; More → VA Custom Form Tabs); Delete (user-defined tabs only — cannot delete standard tabs).
  • Reset deletes all user-defined tabs, reloads the form, drops pending changes, closes Form Properties, and returns you to the main menu or the selected form. Effective immediately. Field defs may reuse Images “image assignments” wording on this reset — the About page says tabs go back to standard settings.

Fields tab​

Display-only grid of field metadata. Cannot add, change, or delete fields. Double-click a row for Field Properties; the grid updates after you leave Field Properties and close the form. Click a column heading to sort.

Security tab​

Display-only for the current user’s add/update/delete. Unchecked = cannot perform that function. Permissions are defined in VA Form Security.

Security Link (header/detail forms): detail security follows the header until you check “Allow security for this form…” to maintain each form separately. That change writes an audit row in Viewpoint Log Viewer (Help → System → View Logs).

Sets form/tab access plus record and attachment permissions for security groups and users. Filters: Companies (Global = all companies, including ones added later); Modules (All; VP still needs Global); Select By = Group #, Group Name, User, or Form. Search is case-sensitive. See Set Form Security / Apply Form Security Settings / Apply Tab Security Settings procedures on Trimble.

Hard rules​

  • Form Administrator gate: non-admins → User tab only.
  • User reset ≠ system-wide reset.
  • Tab Reset removes every user-defined tab; standard tabs cannot be deleted.
  • Fields grid is not an editor.
  • Do not strip the last Global user from VA Form Security without assigning another.

Notes​

  • Related: Field Properties (F3); VA User Profile (Form Administrator); VA Custom Form Tabs; VA Form Security; VA Security Groups; VA Site Settings (Page Size); Viewpoint Log Viewer; Attachment Detail; RP Reports by Form / by Module.