How can you get information from repository metadata to show in Form please? Thanks.
Priya
How can you get information from repository metadata to show in Form please? Thanks.
Priya
In the Forms Process there is a Workflow object you can add to your path. This start a specified Workflow. In the Workflow Designer there is 2 objects. Get Business Process Variables, and Set Business Process Variables (Never understood why they are named this since business processes are something entirely different, but they actually get and set the variables in the Forms Process that initiates the workflow)
Just create a workflow that uses Set Business Process Variables to set the values of any variable on your form, and make sure to have Forms "Wait for the workflow to complete" before moving on, where the set values will now be available to Forms.
Use Get Business Process Variables to get values from the form in it's current state that you can use to find the data you need from the repository.
Thanks. After the workflow completes, can I show the same form to the user with data populated?
Priya
Yes, just add a user task and assign any form (the original or a new form) with the fields that workflow populated. You can assign to \initiator in order to automatically assign to the user who started the process.
Thanks. But, I dont want to assign tasks. I would like the form with prepopulated data load automatically.
Priya
Create a start page that just has a continue button, and some instructions / start text for the user. Then call your workflow, followed by a user task assigned to the initiator. In the user task select the option to "open task immediately if the user is the same". This way they will go to a start page, click continue and immediately be shown the form with all your data.
This is the only way I know to do this until they add a repository option to the lookup tab.
Can you be more specific about your use case.
Is the form submitter an internal user or external public user?
Are you showing the same repository information on every form or does it depend on something the form submitter inputs?
What is the information the submitter provides and what are the repository values you are looking up? How do you want those values displayed on the Form?
Hi Priya,
It sounds like you have a pretty interesting use case here. What are you trying to accomplish by having a form load up with repository metadata? Are your users intended to actually submit the form? Or are they just using the form to view data?
Thanks. They are submitting the form. The information for a part of form is coming from repository to prefill the form.
Priya
Hi Jared,
I get this type of request often. One of the most common situations is the need to maintain the same list in both the repository templates and in Forms. They would like to be able to maintain the list only in the repository template, and reference that same list when required for a form.
Another example is the need to access the list of Laserfiche users, for assignment. I have not been able to figure this one out. We always have to do an AD View in SQL.
Also many customers data ONLY resides in the repository, they don't have a SQL database. So if they need Employee Info, it is on an employee template, or if they need approval details, it is on an approval template. All their data is found with a repository search, and this is the same data they sometimes need to use in a form/forms process.
Under the lookup tab it would be great to have a repository option that would allow you to query metadata from the repository, named user accounts, and other useful repository info. Also a way to link to metadata lists already maintained in a template, for use as a list on the form.
Any update on this please?
Priya
There are a couple of good and different requests here:
We will look in to these and add them to the backlog for a later release.
Depending on how you authenticate in Forms (Laserfiche server authentication vs. LFDS authentication, full user licenses or other user license types), the user list in the web client should be the same as it is in Forms.
As for what can be done with Forms currently, the best way to grab metadata values is by using a Workflow service task.
First, create a variable in Forms that starts out blank to store the value. Either at the beginning of the process or when you wish to read the value, add a Workflow service task that kicks of a Workflow. Make sure the Forms process waits for the WF to complete before continuing on. The Workflow should run a search to find the entry you are looking for, then it should set the business process variable that you initially created to whatever field value you are looking for. You may create multiple variables in the first step and set them all here. Once the WF finishes, the Forms process will resume with the variables set to your metadata values.
One way to enhance the above method, pass variables from the Form into Workflow to make the document search specific to the form.