Workflow Application: EFORMASPX usage

Development Workflow Applications
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The EFORMASPX workflow application lets you display and fill out the different fields of your electronic forms through a web form. A web form is the ASP.NET equivalent of a Microsoft Windows form and has similar programming characteristics.

For complete instructions on how to use EFORMASPX, including how to use additional parameters to initialize fields and retrieve field values, see the EFORMASPX Workflow Application section in the WorkflowGen Administration Guide.

Note: As of WorkflowGen version 7.15.0, TEXT process data no longer have a 4000-character limit for MS SQL Server database.

Required parameters

Parameter Type Direction Description
FORM_DATA FILE INOUT Contains the form data: the dataset in .NET to store the data to/from the WorkflowGen XML file

WorkflowGen generates this file at every form submit and no default value needs to be defined. WorkflowGen will create and update this file automatically.
FORM_URL TEXT IN Used to display the ASP.NET form that users complete during process execution or whose fields are populated with default values defined during process design

It should contain the path/location of the blank form that can be stored in the process data or associated directly to this parameter, and can be an absolute or relative path.

Examples

Empty FORM_DATA file

An XML file called formData.xml containing:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>  
<NewDataSet>  
    <Table1 />  
</NewDataSet>

FORM_URL

/wfgen/WfApps/WebForms/MyFirstWebForm/v1/Form.aspx

Additional parameters to change form field properties

You can control the required, read-only, and hidden ASPX form field properties through the action parameters without developing any .NET code. The value of the parameter has to be set to a list of fields to set (or not) separated by a comma or a semicolon. This list supports the generic wildcard character * (asterisk) and the exclusion character ^ (caret). A standardized field naming convention makes it easy to set the various field properties per action.

Parameter Type Direction Description
FORM_FIELDS_READONLY TEXT IN List of read-only fields
FORM_FIELDS_REQUIRED TEXT IN List of required fields
FORM_FIELDS_HIDDEN TEXT IN List of hidden fields

Examples

  • Rule: The fields EMP_NAME and EMP_DATE are required

  • Method: FORM_FIELDS_REQUIRED = EMP_NAME, EMP_DATE

  • Rule: All the fields are set to read-only except the fields with a name that begins with EMP_

  • Method: FORM_FIELDS_READONLY = *, ^EMP_*

  • Rule: All the fields are set to visible except the DATE field and the fields with a name that begins with SUP_ and ends with _APP

  • Method: FORM_FIELDS_HIDDEN = ^*, DATE, SUP_*_APP

The FORM_ARCHIVE additional parameter

The FORM_ARCHIVE parameter is a way to have a static copy of the form, so that the copy can be viewed, printed, or sent by email without having to create any additional web form code. This is a way to have a static copy of the form, so that the copy can be viewed, printed, or sent by email without having to create any additional web form code.

When the web form is submitted by the end-user, the EFORMASPX application will create a static copy of the form and store it within the WorkflowGen directory. WorkflowGen will then be able to link this static copy to the FORM_ARCHIVE parameter.

Parameter Type Direction Description
FORM_ARCHIVE FILE OUT HTML static copy of the ASP.NET form


The value of the filename has to be set in the initial XML file: <FORM_ARCHIVE>form_archive.htm</FORM_ARCHIVE>.

As well, the dataset must have a field named FORM_ARCHIVE. WorkflowGen handles this, so no extra work by the process or form designers is needed.