Question

Populating Form Fields from Choices on another Form

Laserfiche Forms Version 9

Updated July 30, 2014

asked on July 30, 2014

I have a Service Request form where choices are made using radio buttons that bring up drop-down list choices based on which radio button is pressed. That form then gets sent to a service provider with just the drop-down list choices showing up on his version of the form which he will use for follow-up reports.

I can get the service provider's form to show only the drop-down list choices by using the Field Rules [the rules include a lot of "hide (this one) if ANY of the other choices are NOT blank", repeated over and over until all of the choices are covered by this rule].

But I'd also like to have the email notification show that one choice in the body of the email, so he doesn't have to actually open up the form in order to see what service is being requested. How can I do that without putting all the field choices' variables in the email?

Here's what I currently have in the email:

"Click here to view the Service Request.

Details:

Requested by: {/dataset/Requesters_Name}
Requesting:
At: {/dataset/Location_of_Incident_or_Issue}"

How can I program this (in the email or in the follow-up form) so that this email can have the final choice showing up here after "Requesting: ..."

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replied on July 30, 2014

have you tried assigning the choices for the dropdown values? I think that should do it.

As a side note, are you saying that you are using "hide" rules on the form you are sending a copy of to an outside participant in this process? If their is potentially any sensitive information, you may want to create a TIFF or PDF version of the form instead so that they cannot ever see the other options or content of that form. Hide rules are not a secure method of restricting information access, it only makes it appear as though that information is restricted as it is not immediately apparent on the screen.

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replied on July 30, 2014

Ken, the only thing I can think of that might work in the way of "assigning values to choices" would be if it would be placing the choice actually picked to a different field (that different field being the one that would end up in the follow-up form). I couldn't see how I could set that up, though. Do you know a way to do that?

Thanks for the comment on the hide rules. In this case, hiding is used only to facilitate faster comprehension of what is needed, not because the info is sensitive and restricted, but I will keep your comments in mind in case I end up needing to hide info in a form for those reasons. :)

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replied on July 30, 2014

Hey Connie,

If I'm understanding the situation correctly, you can have several branches in your business process modeler after the initial submission (before it goes to the service provider). The criteria would be something along the lines of:

-When "Radio Button 1" is selected, send an email with the "Dropdown 1" variable

-When "Radio Button 2" is selected, send an email with the "Dropdown 2" variable etc...

This way you can send a different set of variables based on which dropdown field was available from the form submission.

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View 5 previous replies

replied on July 30, 2014

Rob, I'm mulling over your suggestion. How would you set the instructions for that up? Would it be on the actual form, or in the Process Modeller? I can't see where to do it on the form and I currently have this in the process modeller, instructing it to send an email based on choices made:

The email is sent based on the choice made, but I can't see how to get only the variable for the choice made to populate in the body of the email. It's not a big deal, as they can still access the form, from the email, to see the results showing on the actual form. I just know the guys would rather not have to open the form (it's an extra step) before acting on the request.

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replied on July 30, 2014

How is the dropdown set up?

Have you tried just using the variable for the road request and seeing what appears?

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replied on July 30, 2014

Original Form:

AND ON FOLLOW UP FORM:

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replied on July 30, 2014 • Show version history

i meant, in the dropdown, when you select that field and select "edit" do you have values assigned for each item in the list?

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replied on July 30, 2014

No, nothing. It is my understanding that the value in the right hand side (in your printscreen) would replace the choice that was picked from the values in the left hand list. That wouldn't accomplish what I need, at all. It would, if I could tell it to place the new value in a completely different field (the one that would be in the follow-up form). That would be perfect!

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replied on July 30, 2014

if the follow-up form is in the same forms process, then it shouldnt be an issue to use the same field and not have it display the value. If you are using javascript to send that value, then yes, you are indeed correct not to use that option.

Best idea that comes to mind is use javascript to hide a field that you also insert the option from the dropdown field into, so you have 1 variable with whatever the value is, while not having any other possible results.

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replied on July 30, 2014

Hello again Connie!

It looks like the rules that you set up should work, although it would have been much easier to set it up by choosing the radio button and not the dropdown values. You definitely were on the right track!

You're able to create multiple service tasks to send emails (one before each "Person is notified" task). Each email can be customized individually to replace the values.

So for example, let's say its a road request. Your outflow path rules that you had in your screenshot will direct the form to the "Randy" branch. The Randy branch will include a service task to send an email (which only contains the "Type of Road Request" variable).

Another example, let's say its a Bridge Request, and we need to notify John. The outflow conditions will follow the "John" path and hit a service task to send an email (which only contains the "Type of Bridge Request" variable).

Just to be clear, these service tasks for John and Randy are different. There will be one service task per outflow path. Since you can set up different emails that only are sent when that path is followed, you can modify the contents of each email so that the Bridge variable is used in John's email and the Road variable is used in Randy's email.

Hopefully that adds a bit more clarification regarding my previous post.

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replied on July 30, 2014

I have no experience with JavaScript, unfortunately.

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Populating Form Fields from Choices on another Form

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