You are viewing limited content. For full access, please sign in.

Discussion

Discussion

A Forms Process for Forms Process Change Requests

posted on March 1, 2021 Show version history

I spent the last year becoming The Laserfiche Guy in my organization and I find myself getting more and more change requests. Some of these requests require approvals. I just finished setting up a Forms Process, Process Change Request, which I think will streamline things.

Core Parts
- The Process Change Request Forms Process (xml download provided)
- An External Lookup Table to store approver data and process IDs for applicable processes

Extra Parts Improve streamlining
- Links to the Process Change Request Form from other forms
- JavaScript file to make link building easier/more consistent (js download provided)


Importing the Process (Core Parts)
You can use the attached Forms BP - Process Change Request.xml to upload the Business Process to Forms. When you do this, it'll fail to match the dependent data sources and the import wizard will ask you which servers/databases/users/tables to use. The expected external data are:
1. APPROVER - this table has: Process Names, Process IDs, Approvers    
2. USERNAME (optional) - We use this to lookup a username from an email, improves reliability of task assignments

Improving Streamlining (Extra Parts)
You can link to your form from other processes, making it easier for users to submit change requests.

I like to supply URL query parameters for streamlining and ensuring I know exactly the details I need to (like what field name they need changed)

 

If you use the JavaScript file I include, it'll make building these links super easy. Once the JavaScript file is in place, all you'll need to do is
1. IMPORT the JavaScript file (yellow highlight)
2. WRITE HTML links as placeholders for the JavaScript file to target (orange highlight)

To Setup the JavaScript file, place it at:  
[Forms Server]\Program Files\Laserfiche\Laserfiche Forms\Forms\js\custom
Or wherever, but you'll need to update the <script src="..."> path to reflect your change.

Happy maintenance!

P.S. answers.laserfiche doesn't permit .xml or .js extensions, so strip off those fake .txt ones I put on there.

3 0
replied on March 2, 2021

This is excellent!  I think this could help with change management efforts as new forms are deployed; capturing feedback for future changes.

 

Do you queue up your requests and batch the changes?  How frequently do you make changes?

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

0 0
replied on March 2, 2021

Haven't gotten a lot of use out of it yet, but I anticipate performing the requests quickly upon receiving them. One feature I built into here and didn't highlight very much in the main post is convenience links.

In the email notification I receive when I get the task (and on the form itself), there's a link to take me straight to the edit page.

Which is the reason for maintain Process IDs in the database I'm using to keep track of approvers; it allows me to build these convenience links:

 

Large changes that require more direct communication I think will continue to happen via direct communication, and then I just stick it in my notes/to-do lists.

0 0
replied on March 1, 2021

This looks great! If you're taking requests, I would love to see under the hood of the autocomplete text box. 

0 0
replied on March 1, 2021

That's a built-in one, you just need to know where to look:
Single Line Fields (laserfiche.com) - Near the bottom:

10. To configure advanced options, click the Advanced tab.

  • ...
  • Under Auto suggestions, enter any suggestions that should appear as users fill in this field. Click the number next to a suggestion to make it the default value for the field.
0 0
You are not allowed to follow up in this post.

Sign in to reply to this post.