Creating Spreadsheet Forms

This page covers how to create and configure spreadsheet-style forms — from initial setup to publishing.

Prerequisites

Before creating a Spreadsheet Form, ensure you have:

• Administrator or form creator permissions
• A clear list of cells that users should fill in
• Field names and labels for each input cell
• Dropdown option lists, if the form needs controlled choices
• Any formulas or calculations simplified enough to test inside OSPROV

note

If you are converting an existing Excel file, use it as a visual reference. The current builder does not import .xlsx files directly.

Step 1: Basic Form Setup

1. Navigate to Forms in the sidebar menu
2. Click Create New Form
3. Fill in the form details:

Field	Required	Description
Name	Yes	Descriptive name, such as "Travel Claim Form"
Prefix	Yes	Prefix used for submission IDs, such as CLM-
Theme	No	Visual theme for the form
Type	Yes	Select Spreadsheet Form from the dropdown

After selecting Spreadsheet Form, the spreadsheet launchpad appears. Click Open Builder to open the full-screen builder.

tip

The Open Builder button is disabled until the required form metadata is complete. The launchpad message explains which value is missing.

Basic Build Workflow

1. Lay out the spreadsheet: Type headings, instructions, formulas, and static labels into the grid.
2. Create sheets if needed: Use the sheet controls to add, rename, and delete sheets.
3. Select a cell for each form input: Click the cell that the user should fill.
4. Create a named cell binding: Enter the field name, label, type, and required setting.
5. Apply the binding: Click Apply to save the selected cell as a form field.
6. Add dropdown options if the field type is Dropdown.
7. Apply formatting: Use cell formats and the allowed native toolbar items to make the form readable.
8. Review named cells: Use Jump to field to confirm every input cell is bound correctly.
9. Save the form: Click Save as Draft, Save, or Create New Version, depending on the form status.
10. Publish the form from the Forms list when it is ready for workflow use.

Step 2: Lay Out the Spreadsheet

New spreadsheet forms start with:

• One sheet named Sheet1
• A 50 by 50 grid
• Default text columns
• Left-aligned cells
• A scrollable grid area

Additional sheets also start as 50 by 50 grids.

Use the grid to type headings, labels, instructions, formulas, and static values. You can also add sheets, rename sheets, resize rows and columns, and use supported cell formatting.

Step 3: Bind Input Cells

In a standard OSPROV form, every input component is already a form field. When you add a Text Field, Number, Date, Select, or Checkbox component, that component carries its own field key, label, field type, validation rules, and storage behavior. OSPROV knows it is an input because the component itself is the field.

A spreadsheet is different. Most cells are just grid cells. A cell might be a title, instruction, table header, formula, calculated total, visual spacing, or user input. OSPROV cannot safely assume that every edited spreadsheet cell should become structured submission data.

That is why Spreadsheet Forms use cell bindings, also called named cells. A cell becomes an OSPROV form field only after you bind it as a named cell.

A cell binding tells OSPROV:

• Which exact cell is a field, such as Sheet1!B3
• What field name to store, such as requested_amount
• What label to show in validation messages and submission columns
• What field type to use: Text, Number, Date, or Dropdown
• Whether the cell is required
• Which options are allowed, if the field type is Dropdown

Without a binding, OSPROV still saves the cell in the full visual spreadsheet snapshot, but it does not treat that cell as structured form data. This separation keeps layout cells, instruction cells, formula cells, and input cells from being mixed together.

Named Cells vs Standard Form Fields

Standard Form	Spreadsheet Form
A dragged component is automatically a field	A cell becomes a field only after you apply a binding
The field key belongs to the component	The field name belongs to the selected cell binding
The label appears on the component	The label is metadata for validation messages and reporting
The field type is part of the component configuration	The field type is set in the binding toolbar
Validation applies to the component	Validation applies only to bound cells
Submission data is built from input components	Submission data is extracted from bound cells only
Layout components are separate from input components	Static layout cells and input cells can live in the same grid

Example

Cell	Purpose	Binding
A1	Title: Travel Claim Form	Do not bind
A3	Label: Requested Amount	Usually do not bind
B3	User enters amount	Bind as requested_amount, label Requested Amount, type Number
B4	Formula: =B3*0.08	Bind only if the calculated value is needed as named submission data

Cell bindings are not the same as Excel named ranges. They are OSPROV metadata for extracting and validating one spreadsheet cell as a form field.

Binding Toolbar

Select a cell, then configure its binding in the toolbar.

Control	Description
field_name	Internal field name used in submissions, reports, queries, and integrations
Label	User-facing label used in validation messages and column headings
Type	Field type: Text, Number, Date, or Dropdown
Required	Requires the submitter to fill this cell before final submission
Apply	Saves or updates the binding for the selected cell
Clear	Removes the binding from the selected cell without clearing the cell value
Dropdown options	Appears only for Dropdown fields; enter one option per line

Field names must be unique across all sheets in the same spreadsheet form. Field names are normalized to lowercase letters, numbers, and underscores.

Field Types

Text

Best for: Names, descriptions, references, remarks, or other free-form values.

Validation:

• Required check, if enabled
• Export safety for values beginning with =, +, or @

Number

Best for: Amounts, quantities, scores, and numeric calculations.

Validation:

• Required check, if enabled
• Must be numeric after removing commas
• Exports as a numeric value
• Works best with Number, Currency, or Percentage display formats

Date

Best for: Dates selected by the user.

Validation:

• Required check, if enabled
• Must parse as a valid date
• Displays as DD/MM/YYYY
• Stores canonical values as YYYY-MM-DD
• Exports as an Excel date

Dropdown

Best for: Controlled choices such as department, status, category, or yes/no selections.

Validation:

• Required check, if enabled
• Must match one of the configured dropdown options exactly
• Options are defined one per line in the builder

note

Checkbox is not currently exposed as a Spreadsheet Form field type. Use Dropdown with options such as Yes and No when a single-cell choice is needed.

Formatting Cells

OSPROV supports two kinds of formatting:

• Native spreadsheet style — fill color, text color, font size, bold, alignment, supported borders, merged cells, and related grid styles
• OSPROV display format — General, Text, Number, Currency (RM), Percentage, and Date

Format	Description
General	Displays the raw cell value without special formatting
Text	Treats the value as text for display and export
Number	Displays and exports compatible values as numbers
Currency (RM)	Displays numeric values with RM formatting and exports compatible Excel currency values
Percentage (%)	Displays numeric values as percentages
Date (DD/MM/YYYY)	Displays compatible date values as DD/MM/YYYY

Formatting does not change the canonical value stored for a bound field. For example, a currency cell may display RM 1,234.00, but OSPROV stores and validates the underlying number.

Working with Sheets

Control	Description
Sheet name input	Renames the active sheet
+	Adds a new sheet
x	Deletes the active sheet; disabled when there is only one sheet
Sheet tabs	Switch between sheets

Each sheet has its own grid layout and bound fields. The same cell address can exist on multiple sheets because OSPROV stores the sheet context with the field.

Supported Grid Actions

The builder supports:

• Selecting cells and ranges
• Typing static text and values
• Typing formulas where the spreadsheet engine supports them
• Copying and pasting spreadsheet data
• Resizing rows and columns
• Inserting and deleting rows and columns
• Merging cells where the grid UI provides merge behavior
• Scrolling large sheets horizontally and vertically

caution

If you insert or delete rows or columns after creating bindings, review all named cells before saving. Cell bindings may shift with the layout.

Saving and Publishing

1. Build the spreadsheet layout
2. Bind each input cell that should become submission data
3. Add dropdown options, if needed
4. Apply formatting for readability
5. Use Jump to field to review every named cell
6. Click Save as Draft, Save, or Create New Version, depending on the form status
7. Publish the form from the Forms list when it is ready for workflow use

Pre-Publish Checklist

• Form name and prefix are complete
• Spreadsheet layout is readable
• Every input cell has the correct binding
• Field names are clear and unique
• Labels are understandable to users
• Required fields are marked only where needed
• Dropdown options are complete
• Date fields use the Date type
• Number fields use the Number type
• Formulas are tested in OSPROV, not only in Excel
• Named cells are reviewed after row or column changes
• A test workflow submission has been completed
• XLSX export has been checked for complex forms