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Question

Adding flowcharts to Forms

asked on April 3

Hi all

Has anyone added flowcharts to Forms using css/tables - we have a use case where customer wants to create flowchart as part of information provided on the Form for end users. 

They want to see if this is possible without creating flowcharts elsewhere and adding its image to Forms

Thanks

Priyanka

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Answer

SELECTED ANSWER
replied on April 5

I think finding a process that can create the flowchart based on the input on your form fields, might be very difficult.  But if your users are willing to use a process for clicking or drag-dropping to create the flowchat, then there appears to be a lot of options available out there from a Google search for "JQuery Flowchart".  You could potentially include one of those on your form (it'll have to be Classic Designer to make use of JQuery code).  I can't speak to any of these individual tools, I haven't used any of them.

The tricky part will be getting it to persist beyond submission.  One way to do that, is to export the base64 code of the image and store it in a multi-line field before submission.  Later on, you can reload the base64 to display what happened on prior submissions.  This is fairly easy to do if you are using the canvas object as it has built-in functions for working with the base64 code.  Note at that point though, it is a static image, the edits made previously are part of the image.  This kind of thing I have done several times.  This post is an example of some code that I wrote that works with the canvas and includes storing it as base64 and reloading it later from the base64.  This code is actually for the modern designer rather than the classic designer (which was more complicated to set up than it would be in the classic designer - the classic designer could work with a single canvas, but in the modern designer, I had to use two, a hidden one and a visible one and sync the changes between them).  This code just puts an X on the image where you click, it doesn't include functionality for other shapes or to drag/move shapes you already have on the image, but I think it's a decent demonstration of a few concepts (such as drawing on the canvas, saving the canvas to base64, and loading that base64 back into the canvas later).

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Replies

replied on April 4

So you are wanting a process that generates a flowchart image automatically as part of the form, based on values populated on the form?  Do I have that right?

If that is what you are looking for, I would say that something like that is almost certainly possible in the Classic Designer via custom Javascript.  I’ve done things in Forms before with simple Javascript generated images as part of the form.   But…  Unless you have an existing Javascript or JQuery library/code that someone created to generate flowchart images, it is likely going to be extremely complicated to create.

replied on April 4

This is a difficult question to answer without more information. How complex is the flow chart you want to display? How does it relate to the table you refer to in your question?

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replied on April 4

 

Hi Zachary, they are typical flowcharts showing high level process flow in most cases. Tables are typically unrelated to information shown in flowcharts - they can be created successfully using the LaserFiche Forms Designer. 

I think there are samples online for using css to create flowcharts so we may look into that - it is complex for end users with limited html/css experience so we may set up a few template forms for them possibly and go from there

Kind regards

Priyanka

 

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SELECTED ANSWER
replied on April 5

I think finding a process that can create the flowchart based on the input on your form fields, might be very difficult.  But if your users are willing to use a process for clicking or drag-dropping to create the flowchat, then there appears to be a lot of options available out there from a Google search for "JQuery Flowchart".  You could potentially include one of those on your form (it'll have to be Classic Designer to make use of JQuery code).  I can't speak to any of these individual tools, I haven't used any of them.

The tricky part will be getting it to persist beyond submission.  One way to do that, is to export the base64 code of the image and store it in a multi-line field before submission.  Later on, you can reload the base64 to display what happened on prior submissions.  This is fairly easy to do if you are using the canvas object as it has built-in functions for working with the base64 code.  Note at that point though, it is a static image, the edits made previously are part of the image.  This kind of thing I have done several times.  This post is an example of some code that I wrote that works with the canvas and includes storing it as base64 and reloading it later from the base64.  This code is actually for the modern designer rather than the classic designer (which was more complicated to set up than it would be in the classic designer - the classic designer could work with a single canvas, but in the modern designer, I had to use two, a hidden one and a visible one and sync the changes between them).  This code just puts an X on the image where you click, it doesn't include functionality for other shapes or to drag/move shapes you already have on the image, but I think it's a decent demonstration of a few concepts (such as drawing on the canvas, saving the canvas to base64, and loading that base64 back into the canvas later).

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replied on April 8

Thanks @████████, they will be static flow charts e.g. to describe a procedure to be followed so maybe an image is the best way to display them. Marking your response as answer because i think using jquery and classic designer will be the other option if they don't want to create flowcharts elsewhere to generate images to be displayed within a form
Cheers
Priyanka

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