Jump to main content

# Creating and Using External Page Files

Page files can be exported from any form that you create or open in I-32 Forms Design. You can add the exported pages to a form instead of having to create the pages from scratch.

## Exporting pages

Regardless of whether the form itself is an SFX form or an XTemplate form, you can export a page in either format:

- To use the page in an I-32 environment, you export it as a UFF file. UFF files are single-page files that are used to build forms in I-32 applications. If you have used I-32 Forms Design 5 or 5.1 or earlier versions of I-32 Featuring Editor, you are already familiar with these files. SFX files are also built from UFF files, but the UFFs are embedded in the SFX file instead of being referenced externally.

- To use a page in an XTemplate environment, you export it as a composition file. Composition files contain the information about the page composition that is embedded in the XTemplate form. They can be saved with either an .xcomp or.xml extension. The .xcomp extension makes it easier to identify the files as composition files. If you primarily use these files with the I-32 Forms Design environment, you may prefer to use this extension. However, not all applications where you may want to use the pages accept the .xcomp extension. So, if you require more universal acceptance, you may want to use .xml.

The exported pages can be added to any form in I-32 Forms Design. Exported page files can also be used in any compatible application that can load the saved file format.

To export a page

1. Right-click on the page name in the FormView tree to display the context menu:

2. Select Export File from the context menu. The Export file dialog will appear:

3. Select the file type from the Save as type drop-down list:

- UFF File (*.uff)

or

- Composition File (*.xcomp)

or

- Composition File (*.xml)

4. Navigate to the folder where you want to save your page.

5. The default file name is the page name. You may change it to something else if you prefer. You do not need to add an extension, as it will be added automatically.

6. Click to export the file and close the dialog box. A completion message will appear:

7. Click to clear the message.

To export more than one page at once

1. Hold down and select the pages you want to export.

2. Right-click to display the context menu:

3. Select Export File from the context menu to display the Export file dialog. You will see the name of the first page you selected in the File Name field.

4. Save the first page and click . You will receive a completion message.

5. Click to clear the message and the Export file dialog will reappear. The dialog will be displayed for each of the remaining pages you are exporting:

- When the dialog appears, change the file name if necessary and click . Then click to clear the completion message.

- If no dialog appears after the completion message clears, all your pages have been exported.

## Adding pages to your forms

When you add a page to a form, you import a copy of that file into the form. When you save the file, the page is embedded in the file. The external page file is not affected, even if you edit the page in I-32 Forms Design.

To add page files to your forms

1. Right-click on the form name to display the context menu:

2. Select Add Page from the context menu. The Add Page File dialog will appear:

3. Select the file type of the page you want to add from the Files of type drop-down list:

- UFF File (*.uff)

or

- Composition File (*.xcomp, *.xml)

4. Navigate to the folder where the file for the page you want to add is stored.

5. Double-click on the file name. The page will be added to your form.

Note:

To add more than one page at once, hold down and click on each of the pages you want to add. Then click . The pages will be added in the order they are displayed in the directory.

Hint:

If you have a page in another form file that is similar to the page you want to create, you can export it to a file and add it to your new form. Then you can make whatever changes are necessary to create the new page.