Form Design Tutorial
You may want to look at an existing form first. Click on the
down arrow by the Project name drop down box to display a list of
your projects. Select Demoform and then click on Preview (under
Menu). As you scroll through the pages, notice the different page
design options. Finish the form or close the file when you are
ready to write your own form.
Note: If no projects appear in the Project name
drop down box SurveyWin may be accessing the wrong directory. To
change the directory that SurveyWin is accessing select Project |
Open and select the directory that you want to use.
- Create a new project by selecting Project | New from the
menu, and type in a new name, MYFORM. Click on OK.
- Select the defaults in the project setup window by
clicking on OK again.
- The new project is now active in SURVEYWin. To work on
this form, select Form Design from the project window.
Choose Electronic or Paper.
- You will see a blank window with a white background
representing the page. The Compose Question window floats
on it. When you start, it will have the words Type
here in it.
- Click in the window and type What is your favorite
color? to create a new question.
- Select Question Type from the menu, then select the
Multiple choice question type. From the list on the
right, select Colors, one of the default question types
available in each form. Click on the OK button, then
select Apply from the menu. When the crosshair (+)
appears, position it to where you want the question to
appear and click OK.
- You will see handles surrounding the question. To
reposition the question click the mouse in the middle of
the area bordered by the handles, and drag the question
to the desired spot. The handles will enclose a larger
area than the text. To resize the question, click and
drag any of the black squares that make up the handles.
For responses, click and reposition them in the same way.
(Responses are resized with Response | Modify response
from the menu; try this later.)
- If you want to change the font color for this question,
click on the question to choose it and the handles will
appear. Then choose Font from the menu to customize the
appearance of this question. Make whatever changes you
wish, then click on OK to accept the font.
- Next, you can create a new write-in question. Select
Question | Create new question on the menu and the Edit
Question window will appear. Type in a new question,
What is your name? In this type of question
you want people to type in their answers.
- Select Question Type from the menu and click on Write-in
text. A dialog box will pop up to let you customize the
question. Set the maximum length to 30, and select Text
single line. Click on OK in both dialog boxes. In
beginner mode, a fieldname will be created automatically.
If a Question Properties dialog box pops up and asks you
for a fieldname, accept the default by clicking on OK.
- The question is now in the Compose Question window, which
is a working edit box. One way to resize the question is
by clicking and dragging on the edges of the window. The
preferred way to resize the text is on the page itself.
To place this question on the page, select Apply from the
Compose Question window. You will want to position the
question where you want it by clicking within the handles
that appeared and dragging the question. You may then
resize by adjusting the handles, clicking and dragging on
any of the black squares.
- Next, put a ToolFrame button on your page for data entry
guidance. (ToolFrame buttons are only available on
electronic forms). Select Page | ToolFrame buttons and
choose Next from the list. Drag the new Next button to
where you want. (Always add a Save button to the last
page of your form.)
- You now have a working page with two questions on it.
Save the page by selecting Page | Save page on the menu.
A dialog box will pop up, letting you name your page. You
may use up to 40 characters for the name, including
spaces. Click on OK or press ENTER to accept the default
name.
- Select File | Save to save your changes. There are
several ways to preview your page:
- Click on Page | List of Pages from the menu, and click on
New Page to drop down the page list. Select Page 1 from
the list. Select Next to look at the next page.
- Click on the script button from the toolbar and click on
the Preview form button. You can use this window to
rearrange the order in which pages are played back.
- Close this window by selecting File | Close. Then, in the
menu box, click on Form Preview. If you instead click on
Data Entry, you will be able to store information in an
actual database.
- Go back to form design and play around with creating
questions. Try all the buttons on the toolbar to see what
they do, and select Help from the menu for more detailed
descriptions. There are several ways to design forms
between the Compose question window, the page menu, and
the object lists (from the toolbar icons on the side).
Whenever you want to save your changes, select File |
Save in the form design window. If you want to abandon
your changes, close the form designer (select File |
Close from the menu and request that your changes not be
saved.
- A database will automatically be created to match your
form whenever you add or change questions.