How to have another program star the process of a form?

asked on June 8, 2017

Hello,

I currently have a form that is to be filled out by departments to request network access for new employees. I have been posed a question to see if the on boarding program(Not Laserfiche) where new hire information is, will start my forms process that will pre- populate some of the new-hire info in my current form, then the form is routed to an HR staff member to enter other relevant information, then onto the Manager to approve. Once that mgr approves and submits the form, that is when my business process starts.

So, in other words will this new hire program spawn off my form? Will I need to include workflow?

I hope I'm clear, but if not I will give more information.

Any help is appreciated.

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replied on June 8, 2017

I'm not sure if this is the best or only option, but, if you are on a recent version of Workflow and Forms, you might be able pull this off using the Workflow Web Service.

Create a workflow that can initiate your Forms process (Invoke Business Process)
Configure inputs for all of the fields you need to populate
Use the REST API for Workflow Web to start the workflow with the appropriate inputs

However, like Miruna said, it really depends on the capabilities of your other application. It also depends on if you just need the form populated, or if you want it to actually be submitted. URL parameters will populate it, but you would probably need Workflow Web or Connector to auto-submit.

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replied on June 8, 2017

Thank you for the information! I really just need certain fields populated and then a HR staff member will enter more data that cannot come from the other program. The workflow web process may just help.

Thanks

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replied on June 8, 2017 • Show version history

The big question(s) you want to answer is:

Precisely when and where should the HR staff member come into the process? Will the "pre-population" happen with or without the HR staff member there to immediately finish and submit the form?

If the HR staff member will be sitting at the computer ready to add the rest of the information when the form is populated, then Miruna's suggestion of using URL parameters or LF Connector is the easier/ideal solution.

If the HR staff member will/might not work on the form immediately, if it needs to be available to multiple people in HR because a variety of people can complete it, etc. then you might want to look into Workflow Web.

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replied on June 8, 2017

Thank you very much. I will take those suggestions to my team and hopefully one of those options will work for us!!

Thanks again

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replied on June 13, 2017

My team has now received the capabilities of the outside program of which we were wanting to take data from to pre-populate the form. A nice price tag came with their service and we declined.

Now we have come up with a process to extract specific field data in csv format, then they would like for WF to trigger the form by having the specific data in that file pre-populate the form, then HR would be notified there is a task assigned.

In WF designer can you give me and idea of which activities I may need to select?

Just trying to keep it simple:)

Thanks

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replied on June 13, 2017 • Show version history

You are extracting data from the external application, and want to send that data over to Laserfiche (Forms)?

If so, triggering the Form process using Workflow is simple enough with Invoke Business Process. However, reading data from varying CSV files, and deciding what initiates the Workflow are going to be a lot more challenging.

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replied on June 14, 2017

You are correct, I was thinking the WF activity was Invoke business process. I see your point with the varying data. Again, something else I will mention to my team.

Thank you for taking the time to share with me. Im still somewhat new to LF, but I am getting it!!

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How to have another program star the process of a form?

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