Layout Management Overview

In the past, customers with multiple variations of the same form needed to create completely new layouts for each variation, resulting in repetitive work. Once those layouts were created, there was no straightforward way to organize and find in the Layouts table. Then, when it was time to create a release, the versioning of each of these separate layouts could cause confusion about which versions should be included.

We created our Layout Management feature to address these concerns.

In particular:

• You can add variations to a Structured layout, eliminating the need to create a new layout and draw bounding boxes for forms that are very similar to ones you've already created layouts for.
• The system will group all variations of a Structured layout together as a single layout, making it easier to find and organize your layouts on the Layouts page.
• All fields created across a Structured layout's variations will be added to the layout's shared field list. When creating new variations, this list will be available to you in the Layout Editor.
• You can customize certain field settings, like Data Type and Supervision, for individual releases by creating field customizations.
• With the introduction of "working versions," you no longer need to create a draft for a Structured or Semi-structured layout you would like to edit. This change helps to streamline the layout-editing process and simplify versioning.
• We've introduced change-management features to help you understand who has made changes to your layout and how those changes affect layout variations and field customizations.

Content of a layout

Layouts can now have the following components.

Layout variations

Each layout now consists of at least one layout variation. If you have many forms for the same purpose that are very similar (e.g., HCFAs, tax forms) but would ordinarily require separate layouts, you can create a single Structured layout with multiple variations. After you create an initial layout with one of the forms, you can then add a variation for each instance of the form you want to process in Hyperscience. When creating a variation, all of the layout's fields and their metadata appear in the field list, and you have the option of copying bounding boxes from an existing variation.

For more information, see Adding a Variation to a Layout.

Shared field list

The shared field list for a Structured layout consists of all the fields that appear in at least one of the layout's variations. This list is available in the layout editor and can also be accessed from the layout details page. If you want to change a field's settings across a layout's variations, you can make those edits in the shared field list.

Field customizations

If you want to change a field's settings for a specific release, you can create a field customization that captures those changes. You can then include that customization when creating the release, and your customization will be applied to all instances of that field in the release's layout variations.

To learn more, see Creating Field Customizations.

Features by layout type

The features available in each type of layout are as follows:

| | Layout Variations | Working Version | Shared Field List | Field Customizations | | Structured | At least 1, can add more | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Semi-structured | Only 1 | Yes | No | No | | Additional | Only 1 | No | No | No |

Other changes in Layout Management

Layout Library

In the Layout Library, Structured layouts that have at least one committed version will have a drop-down list of the variations included in the layout.

Clicking on a variation name opens a read-only instance of the Layout Editor, allowing you to view more information about the variation and its fields. To make changes to the variation, you need to click on the variation's name on the layout details pages.

Layout details page

Clicking on a layout's name in the Layout Library opens the layout details page for the layout.

We've reorganized the layout details page:

• The "General Information" section now appears in the right-hand sidebar.
• We've added Layout Variations and Version History tabs:
  • Clicking the Layout Variations tab takes you to the layout details page, which contains a list of the layout's variations.
  • The Version History tab has a list of all the committed versions of the layout and provides details about each one.

Each Structured layout has an additional tab called Fields and Customizations. This tab contains the layout's shared field list, along with any field customizations that have been created for the layout.

Versioning

We've replaced "drafts" with "working versions." There is always one working version for each layout that's ready for you to make changes to. You no longer need to create a new version of the layout if you want to edit the layout. Before you make changes to it, the "working version" matches the most recently committed version of the layout.

Versioning happens at the layout level. Even if a committed change affects only one layout variation, it will still be saved as a version of the layout.

To learn more about layout versions, see What is a Layout Version?, Editing and Finalizing a Layout Version, and Archiving and Restoring Layouts.

Change management

"Committing changes" has replaced "locking" as the way to finalize changes to a version and make it available for use in a release. The "Currently Editing” card gives details about the changes to the working version that haven't been committed yet. You can see who else has made changes to the working version, the number of affected layout variations, the number of affected field customizations, and when the last change was made. You also have the option of committing the changes or discarding the changes.

If you commit the changes, the working version will become the latest committed version and a new working version will be created automatically. Before committing your changes, you'll be asked to name the version and add any comments about it. You will also be shown which variations will be affected when you commit your changes.

If you discard your changes, the working version will revert to match the latest committed version. If you have not yet committed any changes to the layout variation, you will not have a committed version to revert back to, and you will not be able to discard your changes.

Retrieving exported layouts

Layout exports are now asynchronous. When you export a release, you will receive a notification when your file is ready. To download the file, click Notifications then click the Download link for the release.

All exported layouts will be in a ZIP file, even if a layout has only one variation. To learn more about how exported layout files have changed, see Exporting and Importing Layout Versions.

Creating releases

Releases consist of committed versions of layouts. When creating releases, you can choose to include all variations of a layout, or you can select individual layout variations within that layout. If you've created field customizations for a layout, you can apply one of them to the release.