Like sections, groups are a kind of layout field used to collect other fields together and organize your forms.
Once fields are added to a group, you can move, copy or delete them together, and apply settings like display logic to those fields as a whole.
Repeatable groups take this a step further by allowing respondents to generate additional sets of the group's constituent fields, so they can provide multiple answers.
Some field, logic, and piping options are not available to groups. See group limitations for more information about what you can and cannot do with groups.
Office use only groups
Office use only groups are a special kind of group used to let reviewers complete form fields as part of the review process. These work exactly the same way as standard and repeatable groups (they come in standard and repeatable types, too), but are actioned as part of a response workflow.
For more information on how to use office use only groups, see Add data to responses after they're submitted with office use only groups.
Standard groups
Standard groups work by simply collecting fields together so you can move, copy, or delete those fields as a whole. You can apply field settings like display logic, required flags and other settings to all the fields in a standard group at once.
Add a standard group to a form
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Create or edit a form
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Select Layout > Group
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Select Standard Group
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Select Add
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Add fields to your group by dragging them into the group from the ‘basic’ or ‘advanced’ toolbox, or from elsewhere in your form.
Standard group settings
To apply field settings like display logic, hover your cursor over a standard group and select the cog icon, then apply your desired settings.
Break a standard group
You can break apart a standard group by hovering your cursor over the group and selecting the break icon. This will split the group into its constituent fields.
Any settings applied to that group as a whole will not be applied to the individual fields. (You’ll have to apply those settings again individually).
Repeatable groups
Repeatable groups work by collecting fields together and automatically creating repetitions of those fields as needed by respondents. This lets you collect multiple sets of answers to the same question without creating the same fields over and over.
These groups can be a very powerful tool for quickly creating forms dealing with repetitive data like contacts and expenses.
Add a repeatable group to a form
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Create or edit a form
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Select Layout > Group
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Select Repeatable group
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Select Add
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Add fields to your group by dragging them into the group from the ‘basic’ or ‘advanced’ toolbox, or from elsewhere in your form
Repeatable group settings
To apply field settings like the minimum and maximum number of repeats, error messages, and display logic to a repeatable group, hover your cursor over the group and select the cog icon, then apply your desired settings.
It’s a good idea to apply settings to a repeatable group as soon as you create it, because items like minimum/maximum repeats are essential to how repeatable groups operate.
Break a repeatable group
OpenForms doesn’t currently support breaking apart repeatable groups, or moving fields out of repeatable groups once they've been added to that group.
You can still delete repeatable groups as a whole, or mark them as ‘hidden’ in display logic.
Group limitations
Some functions are not available for groups, or work differently. The following restrictions apply to standard and repeatable groups, respectively:
See Add data to responses after they're submitted with office use only groups for limitations specific to office use only groups.
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Standard groups |
Repeatable groups |
| Restricted fields (cannot be added) |
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| Smart logic |
- Smart logic can be applied to standard groups just like any other field
- Smart logic can reference any individual field in a group
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- Smart logic can be applied to entire repeatable groups just like any other field
- Smart logic can only reference individual fields in a repeatable group if those fields are number or calculation fields.
When this is done, smart logic will reference the sum of every repetition of that individual field.
(For example, you might use smart logic to show an additional authorization field if the sum of an employee's numerical "expense" entries in a repeatable group exceed a particular amount.)
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| Answer piping |
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| Calculations |
- Calculation fields within standard groups work as normal
- Calculations on fields within standard groups work as normal
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- Calculation fields within repeatable groups work as normal
- Calculations on fields within repeatable groups use the sum of every repetition of that field (unless the calculation field is within the same repeatable group as the field(s) referenced)
Some calculations require at least two values. This means it is not currently possible to calculate the average, maximum, or minimum of every repetition of an individual field within a repeatable group.
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| Data connections |
- Individual fields within standard groups can be sent and received as normal
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| OpenForms API |
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- Individual fields within a repeatable group can be sent with updated field syntax and behaviour.
Go to Integrations > Web API > API Documentation for more information.
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Examples
When you're ready to start adding repeatable groups to your own forms, check out the repeatable group examples in our form template library to get some hands-on experience.
What’s next?