Forms are the information carrier of the process and almost every process is in the need of transporting and gathering information between the users, the performers and the systems.
To add forms to your process you will need one or more form templates and maybe one or more data objects, the difference of these objects are:
- Form Template - a new empty form for the user to fill,
- Data object - information already added in a form template that can be shown or edited in a later step of the process.
Add forms to a process
- Start by adding a Form Template to a start event, intermediate event or task in your process.
A new Data object will appear in the Asset Browser under the heading Data objects.
- Drag-and-drop the Data object to wanted symbol. If you drag it to a task the object, including the information from when the Form Template was created, will be visible for the person performing the task.
TIP: You can see a difference between Form Templates and Data objects in the object symbol, a Form Templates has an icon in the paper symbol while Data objects are empty.
Data input or Data output
You can set whether a form should be editable or just read-only in a Task by configuring the direction of the arrow between the data object and the task. Default the data objects are editable, data output.
Data input - the form is read-only for the person viewing it in the task
Data output - the form is both readable and editable for the person viewing it in the task
Change the setting by double click on the arrow connecting the task and the data object and select Change direction.
NOTE: You can create dynamic forms that have different visible and editable areas in different tasks of the process, learn more about this in the article View modes.
Optional forms
Form templates can be associated with tasks, not only start objects, and then the user needs to fill in a new form when completing that task. These form templates can be set to optional so that the user can fill in the form if necessary.
This is useful for when you want the user to decide if the form needs to be created and filled out or not, maybe you have multiple forms connected to the task for different usage depending on the instance type.
NOTE: All forms have support for View Modes. Combine features like optional forms, optional, hidden or disabled fields to create dynamic forms customized to the users and performers. Read more about view modes in the article View Modes.
Label the association
Add labels to associations between data objects and flow objects to additionally describe the process and the information relationship. The text you write on an association will also replace the text Create or Edit which is written before forms in the Task View.
Data Object Settings
When performing a task all forms connected can be viewed in the Content Folder, organised directly in the root or in sub folders depending on Sub Processes. Sometimes it can be helpful to rearrange the forms and to organize them in new structures. In the modeler, for all Form Templates and Data Objects, there is a setting called Move Data Object, this allows you to configure how the Data Object should be structured after a specific task has been performed.
How to move data objects in the Content Folder
- Open the setting for the connected Form Template or Data Object of the Task you wish to reorganize the forms for.
- Expand the section Data Object Settings and enable Move Data Object.
- Write your new folder name or browse syntax to move the form template/data object. See examples below.
Create a new folder for the form template/data object
Write a folder name in the input area. This can be done for a newly created form template in order to designate a specific folder for the form to be created in.
Move a form template/data object up in the sub process hierarchy
Write "../" in the input area and the form template/data object will be shown one step up in the hierarchy of processes.
If you are creating settings for a nested sub process, i.e. you have two sub processes, you can write "../../" to move the template/object two steps up.
Combine moving the form template/data object up in the hierarchy and create a new folder
Use both "../" and a new folder name and the template/object will be presented one step up to the sub process master process and in the folder with the name you set.
I.e. "../Order details"