Overview

Record List form widgets are added from a form page’s Add Widget menu.

A record list widget is a scrollable table with one row for every record in the dataset. It shows up to 1,000 records at a time. When more records match, the list shows the first 1,000 and asks you to keep typing in the Find field to narrow the results.

You can search by typing a phrase in the Find field on top. Here we’re searching for “sherm” and the record list widget is showing the 5 records that include that phrase in any of the fields that are showing.

Choosing columns

You can choose which fields to show columns for in the record list widget’s Edit dialog. Here we’ve also marked the Country column as editable.

This is what that record list widget looks like when using the form. In this example we’ve changed Abbey Sovey's country to Armenia, and we can either Save or Cancel the change. By making one or more columns Editable, you can make changes to many records quickly.

Columns from linked records

“Add Column” also lists fields from linked datasets, so a record list can show information from related records. For example, a customer list can show each customer's sales and the salespeople who made them.

When a column comes from a dataset where several records link to each row, such as a customer's many sales, choose how to combine their values. “Sum” adds up the sale prices, for example, and “List Unique Values” names each salesperson once.

This is what that record list looks like when using the form.

Columns from linked records are read-only, and you can't sort by them. Searching the list does search a linked column when each row links to only one record for it, such as each sale's customer.

Sorting

When no sorting is set, records are sorted alphabetically by the first column. To set default sorting, choose a sorting option next to one or more columns. When multiple columns have sorting enabled, the widget sorts from left to right—first by the leftmost sorted column, then by the next, and so on.

While viewing a record list, users can click any column header to sort that column. Click once for ascending, twice for descending, and a third time to return to the default sort. A small arrow indicates the current sort direction.

Searching and sorting work together. If you sort a column and then search, the results stay sorted. If you search and then sort, your search stays applied. While you're using the form, the list also keeps your search and sort when you go to another page, such as to edit a record, and then come back.

Action buttons

You can also choose to have action buttons on rows by choosing "Actions Button Text" and assigning a Button Click action. In this example we’ve set the action button text to "Edit Customer", and we’ve set the action to go to the Customer Details page. See the Form Variables, Logic, and Actions article for more information.

Now when we click an Edit Customer button, the form will go to the Customer Details page for that record. It’s very common to use the record list widget like this to choose which record you want to view or edit.

Record filters

You can change which records show in the record list widget by adding a record filter in the widget’s Edit dialog. Here we’re choosing to only show records that were manually added, but you can apply any of the dataset filters that are used throughout Spider Impact, like "Record is Editable".

When we use the form we now only see the records that were manually added. This can be very helpful when using a form to add and manage only a dataset’s supplementary records.

Filtering by form variables

A record filter's value can also come from one of the form's variables. When you add or edit a record filter, click “Add Equation” and choose a variable. The list filters itself again whenever that variable changes. For example, if a page has a Country field for a form variable at the top, the record list below it can show only that country's customers.

If a text variable is blank, the filter looks for blank values. In this example, until someone picks a country, the list shows only customers with no country.