Sonia: Additional Form Fields

Further information about Calculation, Masked Single-line Text, and Verification field types on Sonia forms

Aug 3, 2026
Knowledge

Titel

Answer

Sonia Forms: Additional Field Types

This article gives more information about the following field types for Sonia forms:

Calculation
Masked Single-line text
Verification

Using Calculation Fields

Calculation field are read-only numeric fields that have a default value that is calculated based on fields on the form or somewhere else in Sonia.

To create a calculation field, add a field and select “Calculation” as its type (1).
Then, edit the “default” value (2) – this is where the mathematical expression is edited (3). In the screen below, a cell on a table contains a calculation field that is meant to show the average of the cells above it.

To do a “column average”, click the AVG COL button. It displays this formula: AVG(‘CalcTable’,COL(2,1:N)).
This means average, in the table called “CalcTable”, column 2, rows 1 through the row above the calculation field. If row 1 is a header row, consider editing the “1” to 2 and then the N to be the number of the last row needed in the calculation. In the example below, that would be 6. So the edited formula would be AVG(‘CalcTable’,COL(2,2:6))

Calculation fields can also reference values held in Sonia numeric fields, including custom fields

If doing an average outside a table, simply select the fields to add together from the “form fields” section of the pop-up window above, and then divide by the number of fields.

It is also important to note that the field names included in the formula must not contain periods. As periods separate parts of the form, having them in a field name can confuse Sonia.

As you enter numbers on a form with a calculation field, you won’t see the results of the calculation until the Save Draft or Submit action button is pressed. This is because the calculations are done on the Sonia server, potentially retrieving data from other fields in Sonia.

Input Mask Design for Single Line Textbox Fields

Mask Element	MaskPart class	Description
a	FreeMaskPart	Accepts any character. If this position is blank in the mask, it is rendered as a prompt character.
Any other characters	LiteralPart	All non-mask elements appear as themselves. Literals alwaysoccupy a static position in the mask at run time, and cannot be moved or deleted by the user.
#	DigitMaskPart	Digit or space (optional). If this position is blank in the mask, it is rendered as a prompt character.
\	N/A	Escape character, allowing the following character to act as literal text. For example "\a" is the character "a" rather than including a free mask part. "\\" is the literal back slash character.
l	LowerMaskPart	Lowercase letter (required). Restricts input to the ASCII letters a-z.
<n...m>	LongRangeMaskPart	Restricts the user to an integer in the declared numeric range. For the internal representation of the value is used Int64(Long) type.
<n..m>	NumericRangeMaskPart	Restricts the user to an integer in the declared numeric range. Numeric range mask parts can occupy multiple positions.
<Option1\|Option2\|Option3>	EnumerationPart	Restricts the user to one of a fixed set of options. The pipe("\|") serves as a separator between the option values.
L	UpperMaskPart	Uppercase letter (required). Restricts input to the ASCII letters A-Z.
*	LiteralPart	When adding * character to the Mask it appears as literal. In case it is added to the DisplayMask the * symbol appears on blur.

The Verification Field

The verification field is a very specialised control that links to two external providers:

The Document Verification Service (www.dvs.gov.au) an Australian Federal Government service for checking the validity of documents such as birth certificates and drivers licences
The National Police Checking Service run by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (www.acic.gov.au)

Note that these services are provided only for Australian jurisdictions. To work in other countries will require new Sonia External Providers to be developed.

Both of these services incur charges for each transaction processed. For more information, please contact us by filling out this Sonia Support Form from community.lumivero.com

Example form showing Validation field and student entering details of a drivers licence