Data Form Extensions

To add fields to a data form, you can extend an existing data form with another data form. Data form extensions are secondary data forms with the DataFormExtension element specified. There are two ways to create a data form extension. You can use the SDK to create a data form with the DataFormExtension element specified, or you can create attribute extensions through the user interface.

Attribute extensions also use a DataFormExtension element, but the coding is done by the platform. With attribute extensions, you can add fields for attributes to data forms. With data form extensions created by the SDK, you have more flexibility because there is a separate implementation. For information about attributes and attribute extensions, see Manage Attribute Form Extensions in the Administration Guide that is posted at Blackbaud CRM User Guides.

A data form extension can stand alone as its own data form. For example you can create a task to open the data form extension. When the task is executed, only the data form extension is shown and not the form extended by the extension. However a context record ID  is required by data form extensions. A context record ID must be passed to the form even when it is opened as a stand-alone form.

For information about how to create data form extensions, see Create an Add Data Form Extension.