Screen Modifier — Frequently Asked Questions

I changed a Screen Modifier and saved it, but the screen looks the same. Why?

Saving a Screen Modifier records your instructions — it does not rebuild the screens. Screens are built and cached separately, so after saving you must regenerate them:

• Run Regenerate GUI For Applicable Types Only to rebuild just the screens this modifier targets (the quick, safe choice), or
• Run Regenerate Screens to rebuild every screen with the system defaults and all active user modifiers.

Then reopen the screen to see your change. See Making your changes take effect for the full picture.

How can I control the fields displayed in the discussions block?

Example: I want to remove references or attachments from the discussions section in the "Sales Invoice" screen.

You can control the fields shown inside the discussions block for any screen via a Screen Modifier:

• Open (or create) the Screen Modifier for the type you want (e.g. SalesInvoice).
• Go to the field group named Edit Discussion Fields.
• You'll find seven options you can switch on as needed:
  • Remove discussion field
  • Remove attachment 1
  • Remove attachment 2
  • Remove attachment 3
  • Remove attachment 4
  • Remove reference 1
  • Remove reference 2
• Switch on the options you want to hide.
• Save the modifier.
• Then run one of:
  • Regenerate Screens to rebuild all screens, or
  • Regenerate GUI For Applicable Types Only to update only the types you modified.

The references, attachments or discussion field are then hidden according to your choices.

How do I apply the same change to several screens at once?

Set Applicable For to EntityType List and list every type in For Type List. The modifier's instructions are then applied to all of them. For a change that should hit every screen of a kind, use the Master Files, Documents or All Screens scopes instead.

What's the difference between Modify and Copy?

Modify changes the screen users already open. Copy leaves the original untouched and produces a separate, named layout (you give it a code in Layout Id) — use it to offer an alternative version of a screen alongside the standard one. See Modify or Copy.

Two modifiers touch the same screen. Which one wins?

Modifiers run in Priority order, so priority decides the outcome when two of them change the same part of a screen. Adjust the priorities to control which change is applied last. Only activated modifiers run at all.

How do I override the system's default screen for the whole database, or for one company?

Save your layout under the code dbdefault to override the system default database-wide, or under legalentitycodedefault (using a company's real code) to give that company its own default. Always make sure the code/path matches the new code you're using. See Layout codes.

How do I show a reference's code, name or image as its own column?

Append .code, .name or .image to the column's field id — for example lines.account.code, lines.account.name, lines.account.image. This works for list columns, search columns and grid columns. See Reference columns.

Is there an easier way than filling all those collections by hand?

Yes — use the Visual Layout Editor. Open it with Open In Editor (or Open Screen Modifier from a list view) and redesign the screen on a canvas; it writes your changes back into the modifier for you.

How do I get a screen back to its out-of-the-box design?

Run Reset To System Defaults to discard user customizations and rebuild from the system defaults. To clean up layout records nothing points at any more, run Delete Unused Layouts.