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Basic CMDB Forms Specification

Simple, efficient form layouts for the Basic CMDB Schema's three object types. Forms are designed to be completed in under 2 minutes each, minimizing friction while capturing essential data.

📖 12 min read 📝 Forms v1.0 🆓 Free Tier

Form Design Guidelines

Design Principles

  • Required fields only where truly necessary
  • Clear help text on every field
  • Logical field ordering
  • Fast keyboard navigation

Visual Indicators

Indicator Meaning
Red asterisk (*) Required field
Gray help icon (?) Hover for field description
Green checkmark Field validated successfully
Red border Validation error

Field Width Standards

Width Use For
100% Text areas, single important fields
50% Paired fields (e.g., Email + Role)
33% Grouped fields (e.g., City + State + Zip)

Form 1: New Person

Create a new person record for IT team members and application owners.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  NEW PERSON                                                 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│  Full Name *                                                │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                                                     │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│  Full name as it appears in company directory               │
│                                                             │
│  Email *                           Department               │
│  ┌────────────────────────┐  ┌────────────────────────┐    │
│  │                        │  │                        │    │
│  └────────────────────────┘  └────────────────────────┘    │
│  Work email address             Team or department name     │
│                                                             │
│  Active *                                                   │
│  ┌────────────────────────┐                                │
│  │ Active            ▼    │                                │
│  └────────────────────────┘                                │
│  Active or Inactive                                         │
│                                                             │
│              ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐                    │
│              │  Cancel  │  │  Create  │                    │
│              └──────────┘  └──────────┘                    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Field Specifications

Field Type Width Required Default Help Text
Full Name Text 100% Yes - Full name as it appears in company directory
Email Text 50% Yes - Work email address
Department Text 50% No - Team or department name
Active Select 50% Yes Active Active or Inactive

Form 2: New Server

Create a new server record for physical servers, VMs, or cloud instances.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  NEW SERVER                                                 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│  Hostname *                                                 │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                                                     │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│  Server hostname (e.g., web-prod-01)                        │
│                                                             │
│  IP Address                        Server Type *            │
│  ┌────────────────────────┐  ┌────────────────────────┐    │
│  │                        │  │ Physical           ▼   │    │
│  └────────────────────────┘  └────────────────────────┘    │
│  e.g., 192.168.1.100            Physical, Virtual, Cloud    │
│                                                             │
│  Operating System                  Environment *            │
│  ┌────────────────────────┐  ┌────────────────────────┐    │
│  │                        │  │ Production         ▼   │    │
│  └────────────────────────┘  └────────────────────────┘    │
│  e.g., Ubuntu 22.04 LTS         Production, Test, Dev       │
│                                                             │
│  Status *                          Managed By               │
│  ┌────────────────────────┐  ┌────────────────────────┐    │
│  │ Operational        ▼   │  │ Select person...   ▼   │    │
│  └────────────────────────┘  └────────────────────────┘    │
│  Operational, Non-Op, Maint     Person responsible          │
│                                                             │
│              ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐                    │
│              │  Cancel  │  │  Create  │                    │
│              └──────────┘  └──────────┘                    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Field Specifications

Field Type Width Required Default
Hostname Text 100% Yes -
IP Address Text 50% No -
Server Type Select 50% Yes Virtual
Operating System Text 50% No -
Environment Select 50% Yes -
Status Select 50% Yes Operational
Managed By Object Picker 50% No -

Object Picker Configuration

Managed By Field:

  • Object Type: Person
  • Filter: Active = "Active"
  • Display: Full Name (Email)
  • Search: Full Name, Email

Form 3: New Application

Create a new application record for business applications.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  NEW APPLICATION                                            │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│  Application Name *                                         │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                                                     │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│  Business-friendly name (e.g., Customer Portal)             │
│                                                             │
│  Version                           Environment *            │
│  ┌────────────────────────┐  ┌────────────────────────┐    │
│  │                        │  │ Production         ▼   │    │
│  └────────────────────────┘  └────────────────────────┘    │
│  Current version number         Production, Test, Dev       │
│                                                             │
│  Status *                          Managed By               │
│  ┌────────────────────────┐  ┌────────────────────────┐    │
│  │ Operational        ▼   │  │ Select person...   ▼   │    │
│  └────────────────────────┘  └────────────────────────┘    │
│  Operational or Non-Op          Business owner              │
│                                                             │
│  Runs On                                                    │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │ Select server(s)...                             ▼   │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│  Server(s) where app runs                                   │
│                                                             │
│              ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐                    │
│              │  Cancel  │  │  Create  │                    │
│              └──────────┘  └──────────┘                    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Field Specifications

Field Type Width Required Default
Application Name Text 100% Yes -
Version Text 50% No -
Environment Select 50% Yes -
Status Select 50% Yes Operational
Managed By Object Picker 50% No -
Runs On Object Picker (Multi) 100% No -

Object Picker Configuration

Runs On Field:

  • Object Type: Server
  • Filter: Status = "Operational"
  • Display: Hostname (Environment)
  • Search: Hostname, IP Address
  • Multi-select: Yes

Form Validation Patterns

Hostname Validation

^[a-z0-9]([a-z0-9-]{0,61}[a-z0-9])?$

Valid examples: web-prod-01, db-east-primary, app1

Invalid examples: Web-Prod-01 (uppercase), -server (starts with hyphen), my_server (underscore)

IP Address Validation

^((25[0-5]|(2[0-4]|1\d|[1-9]|)\d)\.?\b){4}$

Valid examples: 192.168.1.100, 10.0.0.1, 172.16.0.50

Invalid examples: 256.1.1.1 (out of range), 192.168.1 (incomplete)

Email Validation

^[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}$

Valid examples: user@company.com, first.last@subdomain.company.org

Invalid examples: user@company (no TLD), @company.com (no local part)

Error Messages

Validation Errors

Field Error Message
Name Empty Please enter the person's full name
Email Empty Please enter a work email address
Email Invalid format Please enter a valid email address
Email Duplicate A person with this email already exists
Hostname Empty Please enter a hostname
Hostname Invalid format Hostname must be lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens
IP Address Invalid format Please enter a valid IP address (e.g., 192.168.1.100)

Warning Messages

Scenario Message
Production server without owner Consider assigning an owner for production servers
Production app without owner Consider assigning an owner for production applications
Production app without server Consider linking this application to its hosting server
Setting person to Inactive This person owns X servers and Y applications. Reassign before deactivating.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut Action
Tab Move to next field
Shift+Tab Move to previous field
Enter Submit form (when on button)
Escape Cancel/close form
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