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Create or edit the main form for an entity

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Applies To: Dynamics 365 (online), Dynamics 365 (on-premises), Dynamics CRM 2013, Dynamics CRM 2015, Dynamics CRM Online, Dynamics CRM 2016

When you create a new form for an entity, its form type is Main. When the new form opens, it is identical to the form named Information. You can add or edit fields, sections, tabs, navigation, and properties associated with the form, and then save the form.

This procedure applies to any form with a form type of Main. Each main form is composed of one or more tabs. Each tab can have one or more sections. Each section contains one or more fields or IFRAMES.

If you want to base your new form on an existing one, you can clone a form.

  1. Make sure that you have the System Administrator or System Customizer security role or equivalent permissions. 

    Check your security role

    • Follow the steps in View your user profile.

    • Don’t have the correct permissions? Contact your system administrator.

  2. Go to Settings > Customizations.

  3. Choose Customize the System.

  4. Under Components, expand Entities, expand the entity you want to modify the Main form for, and then click Forms.

  5. To create a new form, on the command bar, click New.

    - OR -

    To edit an existing form, double-click or tap any form with a form type of Main.

  6. Change the form design in any of the following ways, as needed:

    • Add a tab to a form

    • Add a section to a form

    • Add a field to a form

    • Add or edit a form IFRAME

    • Add or edit a sub-grid on a form

    • Add or edit a form web resource

    • Add or edit form navigation for related entities

    • Edit form headers and footers

    • Remove a tab section field or IFRAME

    • Enable or disable the Form Assistant

    For more information, see Customize your Dynamic 365 system.

  7. Edit the properties for parts of the form, as needed:

    • Edit form properties

    • Edit form field properties

    • Edit tab properties

    • Edit section properties

    For more information, see the Customize your Dynamics 365 system.

  8. Add event scripts, as needed.

  9. Determine which security roles will be able to see the form. More information:  Assign security roles to a form

  10. Preview how the main form appears and how events function:

    1. On the Home tab, click Preview, and then select Create Form, Update Form, or Read-Only Form.

    2. To close the Preview form, on the File menu, click Close.

  11. When you finish editing the form, click Save As, enter a name for the form, and then click OK.

  12. When your customizations are complete, publish them:

    • To publish customizations for only the component you are currently editing, under Components, click the entity you have been working on, and then click Publish.

    • To publish customizations for all unpublished components at one time, under Components, click Entities, and then on the command bar, click Publish All Customizations.

Note

  • You cannot apply a requirement level to a field using this form. Requirement level constraints are applied to the attribute.

  • Before deleting a field from a form, make sure the field is not required by other components or custom scripts. For example, the Opportunity form requires the Price List field to determine the pricing to use when adding a product to that opportunity. Removing the Price List field would prevent adding a new product to an opportunity.

  • When you add an option set field on the form, the drop-down list that contains the option set values can only display two values. Users must scroll to see more values in the list. If you want to show more than two values without users having to scroll, add one or more Spacer controls below the option set field on the form. Each Spacer control provides a space for one additional option set value. For example, if you want to display four values in the drop-down list without scrolling, add two Spacer controls below the option set field on the form.

  • Any time you change user interface elements or implement form scripts for an entity, you must publish changes to apply them. Any customizations that change the data schema of Microsoft Dynamics 365, such as custom entities, relationships, or fields, are applied immediately.

  • You cannot use the form editor to modify the visual style of forms, such as the font style, font size, or colors used in the form. Modification of the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) pages in the web application or style properties of the form through scripts is not supported.

  • Installing a solution or publishing customizations can interfere with normal system operation. We recommend that you schedule a solution import when it’s least disruptive to users.

See Also

Create or edit entity fields
Customize your Dynamics 365 system
Create and design forms