Tab Group

Tab group fields organize the fields on a record editing page into tabbed sections. Each tab group field starts a new tab, and the fields that follow it in the field list appear on that tab. This page covers how tabs are laid out and the options available when editing a tab group field in the Field Editor.

Tab groups store no data and don’t create a database column. They don’t appear in viewer search results, list page columns, or generated viewer code.

How tabs work

Tab placement is determined by field order in the Database Editor:

• The first tab group field in the list starts the tab area: a row of tab headings followed by the tab panels.
• Each tab group field starts a tab containing every field after it, up to the next tab group field or the end of the field list.
• Fields above the first tab group appear normally, before the tabs.
• There is no closing marker: once the first tab group appears, all remaining fields belong to tabs, and the last tab extends to the end of the field list.

The first tab is selected by default, and clicking a tab heading switches tabs. Tabs appear on both the record edit page and the record view page.

All tabs are part of the same form, so saving submits and validates fields on every tab, not just the visible one. Validation errors are reported for fields on unselected tabs as well.

Basic options

Field label

The text displayed in the tab heading. A tab group with no label shows an empty tab heading.

Database Field

The name the program uses to refer to the field in the schema. No database column is created. If left blank, a name such as __tabGroup001__ is assigned automatically. Unlike data fields, tab group names may start with an underscore.

Field type

The type of input the field accepts. Each field type has different options.

Help Tooltip

Displays a help icon after the tab heading with this tooltip message.

Visibility

Show for

Limits who can see the tab: Everyone, Editors and admins, Admins only, or Nobody. When a user can’t see a tab group, its tab heading is removed and the fields that followed it appear on the preceding tab instead.

Show if

Shows or hides the tab based on another field’s value. Pick a field, an operator, and a value. Operators are equals, does not equal, contains, starts with, and ends with (is checked / is not checked for checkbox fields). Use | between values to match any of several (e.g. draft|pending); for multi-value fields, any matching value counts.

Select Custom expression for AND conditions and multi-field rules, using =, !=, *= (contains), ^= (starts with), and $= (ends with) as operators, e.g. type=article AND status!=draft|pending. AND binds tighter than OR, field= matches empty or unchecked, and field!= matches any value.

The condition hides both the tab heading and its panel. Unlike regular fields, tabs appear and disappear instantly, without animation.

Field options

Tab groups have no field options; this section shows “There are no options for this field type.”

Advanced options

System field

System fields cannot be edited and have no modify or erase link unless “System Field Editing” is enabled (under Advanced Commands on the field list page). This prevents accidental changes to fields the program relies on.

In viewers

Tab groups are layout-only: they store no data and create no database column, so they never appear in getRecords() results or generated viewer code.