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Question

Question

Can a Form be copied to another process

asked on January 1, 2016

Using Forms 10, I want to use the same form in a couple of processes.  I want to create the complete form in one process and then copy it to another separate process.  Can this be done?

Can I put it in a Sub-process and copy the Sub-process to a new process?

I am assuming that once it is copied any edits will have to be done on both.

 

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Answer

SELECTED ANSWER
replied on October 9, 2019 Show version history

I've had success with following the below steps to manually copy a form from one process to another. Of course that standard caveats apply about making sure to backup and thoroughly test before using in a production environment.

 

Objective:

Manually copy a Laserfiche form from 1 business process to another. (With the Forms UI there's no method to copy forms between business processes.) For the steps below BusinessProcessA will be the target process the form needs copied into and BusinessProcessB will be the source process the form will be copied from.

 

Optional preparation (this isn’t mandatory but does help streamline the other steps)

Prepare an optimized version of the source process (BusinessProcessB - the one the form will be copied out of) by exporting it and importing back in to a copy called BusinessProcessBOptimized

  • Within the new optimized copy
    • remove all objects in the process map except the starting task and an ending task
    • remove all forms except the one that needs to be copied
    • remove all variables except the ones used by the form
  • Use the new BusinessProcessBOptimized process in place of the BusinessProcessB for all steps below

 

Form Copy Steps:

  1. Using the Laserfiche Forms "Manage" tab download the 2 target processes that will need a form copied between
    • The download will produce an XML file for each process
  2. Open both of the XML files in your programming text editor of choice (preferably one that can navigate XML)
  3. In the BusinessProcessB source file:
    • Navigate the XML tree to this node: "/businessprocess/Processes/Process/forms"
    • Once in the "forms" node find the correct form to copy by checking the "Name" node directly under each "form" node
    • Highlight and copy the entire form node; starting with the open tag <form> and ending with the closing tag </form>
  4. In the BusinessProcessA target file:
    • Navigate the XML tree to this node: "/businessprocess/Processes/Process/forms"
    • Once in the "forms" node find the closing forms tag </forms>
    • Right before the closing forms tag paste the copied XML snippet into the file
    • Navigate into the form node that was just copied to check this tag is set to “false” “/businessprocess/Processes/Process/forms/form/isTriggerForm”. This tag identifies the starting form and can conflict if there’s another starting form to begin with. If the form needs to be a starting form, import it first then reset it to the starting form via the UI.
  5. In the BusinessProcessB source file:
    • Navigate the XML tree to this node: "/businessprocess/Processes/Process/variables".
    • Make sure to highlight and copy everything in the “variables” node.
    • Highlight and copy all “variable” nodes under the “variables” parent; everything between the open tag <variables> and the closing tag </variables>
  6. In the BusinessProcessA target file:
    • Navigate the XML tree to this node: "/businessprocess/Processes/Process/variables".
    • Once in the "variables" node find the closing forms tag </variables>
    • Right before the closing variables tag paste the copied XML snippet into the file Note: If the target process has no variables, you may need to create the proper open and closing variables tags
  7. Optionally use the editor's tools to validate the XML structure is correct
  8. Save the BusinessProcessA XML file
  9.  Using the Laserfiche Forms "Manage" tab (or Design tab) upload the edited BusinessProcessA file and step through the import wizard
  10. Once imported the new business process will have the copied form in the forms list
  11. Cleanup and test the form

 

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replied on October 9, 2019

Great work Nathan.

Let's hope Laserfiche add a copy form process to Forms at some stage.

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replied on October 10, 2019

This great work! Thank you.

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Replies

replied on January 5, 2016 Show version history

Currently there's no way to copy forms or process models from one business process into another. As a workaround, you could copy the entire business process from the Processes page and then make changes to the process model.

Another option would be to save the business process you wish to use as a template. That way, any new process you create will start with your existing form or process model. 

To create a custom template:

  1. From the Processes page, select the business process you want to use as a template.
  2. Export the business process by clicking Download in the toolbar. The process will be exported as an XML file and it will be saved in your Downloads folder.
  3. Move the XML file into the following location on the Forms server: C:\Program Files\Laserfiche\Laserfiche Forms\Forms\Template
  4. To use the template you've created, select New Process from the Processes page.
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replied on February 22, 2018 Show version history

Marisa, if you change something in the template, does it change everywhere it is being used or the ones already created keep their original design?

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replied on April 6, 2018

Hi Raul,

The existing processes will not be affected when you change the template. It will only update the template that will be used for new processes. 

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replied on July 12, 2019

I am facing a situation where I have two processes. The first process contains 4 forms and the second process contains 1 form. I want to copy the form in the second process into the first process. How can I achieve this? 

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replied on July 14, 2019

It would appear that you still can't copy a form to another process.  Although in 10.4 you can copy elements within the process; you can't copy the form.  I think you will have to re-create it.

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replied on June 6, 2016

I'd just like to follow up with this request.  Is copying a form into an existing business process something that is in consideration for a feature?  It's probably the number one feature request I get from our clients.  

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replied on October 21, 2020

Are you kidding me!!! a simple and important feature that exist in any ECM or CMS (Clone) and requested by laserfiche clients since 2016 ( Four Years!) not yet available, it's not serious !!!!

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replied on January 3, 2016

We have been asking for this feature for a long time now, but it hasn't made it in yet as far as I'm aware.

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replied on January 5, 2016

Thanks Marisa.

I copied my process and cut it down to basically nothing; just the form and saved it to Templates.

All good.

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replied on November 4, 2022 Show version history

Has anyone seen any negative effects form copying the XML <form></form> block from one process to another? It has been a few years since this post.

 

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