PerfectApps™ Help Guide

Goodbye PerfectForms, Hello PerfectApps: New Name, Same Great Tool

As the business world and technology evolve, so has our company. And while we still offer web forms and workflow apps, we’ve also become a robust no-code platform.

Learn more about why we have decided to make this change here.

	We're introducing a new logo and new website to go along with our new name.
	Visit our new website here.

Throughout the website and this help guide, we have updated our terminology from Forms to Apps. This terminology change is also visible in the application, which has also seen a few minor branding changes and updates to make it even more user-friendly.

Some action might be required if you have a firewall.

•If you have a firewall, please whitelist perfectapps.com to ensure you continue to receive our email communications and leave perfectforms.com whitelisted as well.

•There is no impact on the functionality of your existing forms and reports created on the platform.

•You do not need to republish any of your existing forms or reports, and the links remain the same.

•No IP address or mail server changes are required.

Google Web Fonts

We have added thirty popular Google Fonts in the app and report designer list.

These thirty fonts will automatically be available to use in the app and report designer and when a user views an app or report, in both versions of the application. The designer or user does not need to have these fonts downloaded or installed on their local machine.

The fonts will also be seen in PDF copies of an app or report in the PerfectApps On-Demand version.

For the PerfectApps On-Premise version it will be necessary for the fonts to be installed on the PerfectApps server. For details see Google Fonts.

Fields list will hold its last state

When a multi-element object, such as a table or drop-down, is referenced in the ‘Select a field’ dialogue box and a drill-down is necessary to make a selection, the system will remember the drill-down state of the object on any subsequent selections. This enhancement will make it easier for designers to work with these object types when designing behavior.

Resources - Sample, Example & Template Apps

We have included several sample, example, and template apps in this help guide. Sample apps demonstrate common techniques, and example apps demonstrate common features that are more involved. Template apps are often fully working apps. All apps can be tried from the help guide and are available to download.

Some template apps might need a small amount of modification before fully functioning in your system; typically, this might include linking roles to specific individuals or other minor changes. Templates apps are packaged with a guide explaining key features of the app and any changes you might need to make them fully working apps.

To find these apps see Resources

Server-Side Requirements (On-Premise Versions)

Support is included for Windows Server 2022 and SQL Server 2022 for PerfectApps On-Premise version.

For more information on server-side requirements see Server-Side System Requirements

REST Web Service

Certain popular REST Web Service connections are tested for each new version of PerfectApps and regularly after that.

Changes made by the service providers are out of our control and could affect existing connections. We will endeavor to resolve any difficulties promptly after discovery.

Connections to REST Web Services outside the supported list will also be available but not tested.

For more information on supported REST Web Service connections see Supported REST Web Services

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Reporting on data from a table drop-down column

We have enhanced the reporting system to permit reporting on the data from both the Caption and Value of a table drop-down column.

This feature will apply to any new apps built from this version onwards.

The following steps will be necessary to report on this data in apps already built.

•Open the app

•Save the app as a new version

•Publish the app

•Open the report

•Open the data source and click the refresh button

•Select the new elements in the data source

REST Web Service

Connections to external REST based endpoints will now return a "Status" code. A status code will help confirm successful connections to your third-party services and troubleshoot connectivity issues.

Support for RESTful Web Service Integration

We have included Support for RESTful API Web Services with this release.

This new Web Service configuration exists alongside the Web Service for SOAP API integration.

For more information see: REST Web Services Connections

Enable Design Recovery

This new feature allows temporary versions of an app or report to be saved automatically. Suppose the design session expires or the user closes the browser without first saving the app or report. In that case, the temporary version will remain available and can be accessed when the user next opens the app or report in design mode or chooses to publish the app or report. The user may access the last fully saved version too.

It's possible to disable the feature or modify the auto save interval in the Settings / Account Details section.

For more details see: Settings

Search for objects with behaviors only

In the app designer navigation panel it's possible to see all objects or only those with behaviors attached listed below.

For more information see: App Designer Navigation Panel

Search for objects by name

In the app designer it's possible to search for objects by their name in the navigation panel.

For more information see: App Designer Navigation Panel

Connection Actions can be viewed and accessed from the connections screen

The connections screen has been re-designed to make any actions linked to that connection visible and accessed directly from that screen.

Improved print quality of picture assets

The quality of pictures in a PDF version of the app has been improved.

Importing a Connection over an existing one

An existing connection may now be updated by importing a new one over the top of it.

Any permissions applied to the existing connection and actions will remain unchanged after the update.

For more information on this see Migrating Connections

Applying Connection Permissions to Actions

When access permissions for a connection are applied, or changed, you will be provided with the option to apply those permissions to any existing actions too.

For more information see Connection and Action Permissions

Using Custom Fonts

This feature has been enhanced to allow locally installed fonts to be used in app or report design. In the settings dashboard it's possible to specify fonts that will be listed as available in the app or report objects properties, or these can be entered manually. For more information see Settings

On-Premise Server Side System Requirements

.NET Framework 4.8 or above is required for this version.

To see server side system requirements in more detail Server Side System Requirements

Mobile Design

The Mobile Design feature is used to optimize an app so that it's suitable for viewing on a mobile device.

A mobile app consists of pages that contain one or more sections. A section is a grouping of app objects that can be positioned, and moved, as a single entity. App objects may also be re-positioned within a section.

You can optimize the Mobile Design for viewing on a phone in portrait mode (One Column), phone in landscape mode (Two Columns), or a tablet (Two Columns).

The Mobile App Wizard is triggered the first time that the mobile icon () is clicked or if it's clicked after a new object has been added to the app. At other times the Mobile App Layout mode will be opened directly.

For more information see:

Mobile Design, Mobile App Wizard or Mobile App Layout

Memory Requirements

The minimum and recommended free memory requirements for users in Designer Mode have been updated.

See Browser Requirements for more details.