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Custom JavaScript Examples

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Former user (Deleted)
Last updated: Apr 06, 2016
14 min read

Customizing can be done in several different ways. It is important to consider all the alternatives available when deciding on a method to accomplish form customization.

Although JavaScript will accomplish the task, it is important to note that your scripts are not subjected to formal testing by the frevvo quality assurance team. Choosing an approach that is part of the product like Business Rules is a better choice than adding JavaScript since released versions undergo rigorous quality assurance testing. Customizations using JavaScript should only be used under special situations and if there is no other way to customize the form to the requirements.

If you choose to add JavaScript, we strongly recommend that you are familiar with a JavaScript debugger / web development tool such as the Firebug extension for Firefox.

Here  are some real world situations where custom JavaScript can be used in a form. The custom JavaScript can be added to the form using the message control or the include.js file in the frevvo.war. Refer to Customizing Behavior for more information.

On This Page:

Automatically format SSN

Your form has a text control requiring a Social Security number. The JavaScript below will automatically add the hyphens while the user is entering the SSN.  Add SSN to the CSS Class property of the control to enable this JavaScript. 
 

   var CustomEventHandlers = {
       setup: function (el) {
           if (CustomView.hasClass(el, 'SSN')) {
               FEvent.observe(el, 'keydown', this.formatSSN.bindAsObserver(this, el));
               FEvent.observe(el, 'keyup', this.formatSSN.bindAsObserver(this, el));
           }
       },
       formatSSN: function (event, element) {
           if (event.keyCode != 46 && event.keyCode != 8) {
               fldVal = $(element).value;
               var nom = fldVal.charAt(fldVal.length - 1);
               if (isNaN(nom) && nom != "-") {
                   $(element).value = fldVal.substring(0, fldVal.length - 1);
               } else {
                   if ((fldVal.length == 3) || (fldVal.length == 6)) {
                       $(element).value = fldVal + "-";
                   }
                   if (fldVal.length >= 11) {
                       $(element).value = fldVal.substring(0, fldVal.length - 1);
                   }
               }
           }
       }
   }

Correct the case of any text

Your form has a text field or a text area where you would like to automatically correct the case of any text entered in it. For example, if you would like to change "I LOVE TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS" to " I Love To Type In All Caps"  while the user is entering it, the JavaScript for this would be written as:

var CustomEventHandlers = {
   setup: function (el) {
       if (CustomView.hasClass(el, 'CorrectCase')) {
           FEvent.observe(el, 'input', this.doCorrectCase.bindAsObserver(this, el));
       }
   },
   doCorrectCase: function (event, element) {
       var val = $(element).value;
       var str = val.toLowerCase();
       var spl = str.split(" ");
       var upstring = "";
       for (var i = 0; i < spl.length; i++) {
           try { //onkeypress will cause an error on first keypress
               upstring += spl[i][0].toUpperCase();
           } catch (err) {}
           upstring += spl[i].substring(1, spl[i].length);
           upstring += " ";
       }
       $(element).value = upstring.substring(0, upstring.length - 1);
   }
}

Add CorrectCase to the CSS Class property of the control to enable this JavaScript.  

Scroll to Top

A Tab control with many fields in each tab, may require a long scroll to switch from one tab to another. You can use a trigger control at the bottom of the first tab with a business rule to navigate the user to the second tab when the trigger is clicked. For example, when you click on the Next Tab trigger control on the Personal Information tab in the Application for Employment form shown a business rule will navigate the user to the Employment History tab. 

You can use the following JavaScript to force the page to be scrolled to the top after switching to the second tab: 

var CustomEventHandlers = {
   setup: function (el) {
       if (CustomView.hasClass(el, 'my-scroll')) {
           FEvent.observe(el, 'click', this.scrollTop.bindAsObserver(this, el));
       }
   },
   scrollTop: function (event, element) {
       document.getElementById("wrapper").scrollIntoView();
   }
}

Add my-scroll to the CSS Class property of the Trigger control which navigates the user to the second tab. 

Allow only PDF attachments

You have an upload control in your form and you want to limit the type of documents allowed to PDF only.  Use the following JavaScript to validate if the uploaded document has a .pdf extension, and remove it if it doesn't. Add onlyPDF to the CSS Class property of your Upload control to enable this JavaScript.   

var CustomEventHandlers = {
   uploadEl: null,
   setup: function (el) {
       if (CustomView.hasClass(el, 'onlyPDF')) {
           this.uploadEl = el;
       }
       window.setTimeout('CustomEventHandlers.checkFile()', 3000); // set the initial timer
   },
   checkFile: function () {
       for (var i = 0; i < this.uploadEl.parentNode.childrenWithClassName('f-file-upload-file-name').length; i++) {
           if (!(/^.*\.(pdf|PDF)$/.test(this.uploadEl.parentNode.childrenWithClassName('f-file-upload-file-name')[i].getAttribute('title')))) {
               alert("Invalid file '" + this.uploadEl.parentNode.childrenWithClassName('f-file-upload-file-name')[i].getAttribute('title') + "' will be removed.");
               this.uploadEl.parentNode.childrenWithClassName('f-upload-file-list-delete')[i].click();
           }
       }
       window.setTimeout('CustomEventHandlers.checkFile()', 3000);
   }
}

Automatically submit a form

You have a new customer registration Form A that is normally forwarded to Forms B and C to complete registration for a new user. Returning Users skip Form B and go directly to form C.  A  workflow with a precondition that skips a step or a templatized value of a control to decide where the user should be forwarded using Business Rules are recommended approaches and should be considered. This JavaScript allows the user to bypass a form when it is not required and can be used if the recommended approaches are not possible. It will automatically submit a form if a certain control has some specific value (say “not-new”) in it. 

var CustomEventHandlers = {
   submitEl: null,
   setup: function (el) {
       if (CustomView.hasClass(el, 'conditional-submit')) {
           window.setTimeout('CustomEventHandlers.conditionalSubmit()', 2000);
           this.submitEl = el;
       }
   },
   conditionalSubmit: function () {
       var isValue = "not-new";
       if (this.submitEl.value == isValue) {
           SubmitView.doSubmit("Submit");
       }
   },
}

Add conditional-submit to the CSS Class property of the control whose value is to be compared.

Extra Submit button

By default, each form has a submit button located at the end of the form. The forms designer lets you easily add additonal submit buttons  in a special area at the end of a form only. You can use the following JavaScript to create an extra submit button. Add a trigger control to your form and set auto-submit in the CSS Class property. Now you can use this trigger control as your Submit button and place it anywhere on your form.

var CustomEventHandlers = {
   submitEl: null,
   setup: function (el) {
       if (CustomView.hasClass(el, 'auto-submit')) {
           FEvent.observe(el, 'click', this.autoSubmit.bindAsObserver(this, el));
       }
   },
   autoSubmit: function (evt, el) {
       window.setTimeout('CustomEventHandlers.doAutoSubmit()', 2000);
   },
   doAutoSubmit: function () {
       SubmitView.doSubmit("Submit");
   }
}

 Users expect the submit and cancel buttons to be located at the bottom of a form. Moving the location of the Submit control is not recommended.

Submit on Enter Key Press

This JavaScript example will submit the form upon the user pressing the Enter key.

if (document.layers) {
   document.captureEvents(Event.KEYPRESS);
}

document.onkeypress = function (evt) {
   var keyCode = evt ? evt.which : event.keyCode;
   if (keyCode == 13) {
      SubmitView.doSubmit("Submit");
   } else { 
      return true;
   }
};

Hide the Submit and Cancel buttons

This Javascript example will hide the submit and cancel buttons for all forms in the application in the designer and in use mode. This might be useful for customers who want to embed   into their own application. Simply upload the file containing the Javascript via the Script tab or add the code snippet to your existing one. 

// frevvo custom JavaScript
var CustomEventHandlers = {    
    setup: function (el) {      
        if (CustomView.hasClass(el, 's-submit'))        
            el.parentNode.parentNode.style.visibility='hidden';
        else if (CustomView.hasClass(el, 's-cancel'))        
            el.parentNode.parentNode.style.visibility='hidden';    
    }
}

Continue/Finish button on top of the flow

It is useful to have the Continue/Finish buttons at the top and bottom of lengthy forms in a  workflow. The JavaScript below will display a Continue/Finish button on the top of your flow. Add a trigger control at the top of your form and set the CSS Class property to extra-submit.  Now this trigger control will act as a Continue/Finish button also. 

var CustomEventHandlers = {
   setup: function (el) {
       if (CustomView.hasClass(el, 'extra-submit')) {
           FEvent.observe(el, 'click', this.autoSubmit.bindAsObserver(this, el));
       }
   },
   autoSubmit: function (evt, el) {
       FlowView.getFlowButton().onclick();
   }
}

 

Prevent Session Timeout

Sometimes you may need the session timeout for a particular form to be a lot longer than the default session timeout that makes sense for your entire tenant. Imagine your /wiki/spaces/frevvo52/pages/683376648 timeout in  is set to 30 minutes. One of your forms takes a long time to fill out. You want to allow idle periods greater than 30 minutes for that form only.

This JavaScript will change the session timeout for this form to 10 hours. Change the variable sessionInterval in the script to the desired time period, for example, a 4 hour session timeout would be:  var sessionInterval = 1000 * 60 * 4; 

var sessionInterval = 1000 * 60 * 10; // milliseconds to minutes
var sessionRefreshURL = "/frevvo/web/login";

refreshFrevvoSession = function () {

   // make the request
   var xmlhttp;
   if (window.XMLHttpRequest) xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest(); // IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
   else xmlhttp = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); // code for IE6, IE5
   xmlhttp.open("GET", sessionRefreshURL + "?sessionRefresh=" + new Date().getTime(), true);
   xmlhttp.send();

   // set the timer to run again
   setTimeout(refreshFrevvoSession, sessionInterval);
}
setTimeout(refreshFrevvoSession, sessionInterval); // set the initial timer

Auto Control Validation

 has built-in validation that will instantaneously display an error message, the control background color will turn yellow and you will see a warning icon on the right side of the control when invalid values are entered. For Example, the Quantity control allows only whole numbers. An error message and a warning icon will display and the background color of the control will change to yellow if a number with a decimal point is entered. The forms designer can restrict users from entering a value with a decimal point using JavaScript. The script below will automatically remove a decimal point from the field and the error message will not display. Similar logic can be used to implement instant validation on other control types as well.

var CustomEventHandlers = {
        setup: function (el) {
            if (CustomView.hasClass(el, 'onlyDigits')) {
                FEvent.observe(el, 'keydown', this.allowOnlyDigits.bindAsObserver(this, el));
                FEvent.observe(el, 'keyup', this.allowOnlyDigits.bindAsObserver(this, el));
            }
        },
        allowOnlyDigits: function (event, element) {
            fldVal = $(element).value;
            for (var i = 0; i < fldVal.length; i++) {
                var nom = fldVal.charAt(i);
                if (isNaN(nom)) {
                    $(element).value = fldVal.substring(0, i) + fldVal.substring(i + 1, fldVal.length);
                }
            }
        }
    }

Add onlyDigits in the CSS Class property of the Quantity control. 

Detect Browser Information

You can use JavaScript to detect information about the browser you are using. For Example: Wet signatures are not supported in older versions of some browsers. You might want to hide a section in your form that has a wet signature if the browser does not support it. To get details about the browser where your form is loaded, add a text control to your form with its CSS Class property set to detectbrowser and use the following custom JavaScript:

var CustomEventHandlers = {
  setup: function (el) {
	 if (CustomView.hasClass(el, 'detectbrowser')) {
	    el.value = navigator.userAgent
            UberController.valueChangeObserver({target:document.getElementsByName('Browser')[0]}, document.getElementsByName('Browser')[0].parentNode.parentNode);             
	 }
  }
}

Replace the name Browser in the above JavaScript with the name of the text field you are using.

Use the browser information populated in your text control to decide if the section of your form that contains the wet signature should be displayed or not.

Save Screen Flow to Task List

If two sequential workflow steps are assigned to the same person, this creates a screen flow. Screen flows immediately navigate a user to the next screen (activity/step) in the flow when they click the continue button. Sometimes you don't want a user to automatically navigate to the next screen, for example the next activity/step might be something you want the user to perform days after the first step rather then immediately. 

This custom JavaScript will save the flow to the user's task list instead of displaying that next step to the user immediately. The user can then go back to their task list at a future time to resume their task. This JavaScript is effectively clicking the Save button when flow moves to second step. This will create a task in that users task list and then navigate that user to his home page.

saveTask = function () {
    if(document.getElementsByName('temp')[0].value == 0) {
       document.getElementsByName('temp')[0].value = "saved";
                
UberController.valueChangeObserver({target:document.getElementsByName('temp')[0]},
    document.getElementsByName('temp')[0].parentNode.parentNode); 
    FlowView.getSaveButton().click();
    alert ("Task added to task list");
    window.open("<yourhttps:// frevvo server host:port>/frevvo/web/tn/<your tenant>/user/"
    + document.getElementsByName('username')[0].value + "/app", "_top");
    }
}
setTimeout(saveTask, 500); // set the initial timer

 In order to use this solution you will also need to:

  1. Add a text control named 'temp' to your form and uncheck the visible property to make it hidden.
  2. Add a text control named 'username' to your form and uncheck the visible property to make it hidden.
  3. Add the following business rule to your form.
if (form.load) { 
  username.value = _data.getParameter('subject.id');
}

Phone Dash

This custom JavaScript automatically inserts dashes as the user enters a phone number into a Phone control. Characters other than the dash entered into the control are deleted. Add PhoneInsert to the CSS Class property of the Phone control to enable this JavaScript. 

var CustomEventHandlers = {
    setup: function(el) {
        if (CustomView.hasClass(el, 'PhoneInsert')) {
            FEvent.observe(el, 'keydown', this.formatPHONE.bindAsObserver(this, el));
            FEvent.observe(el, 'keyup', this.formatPHONE.bindAsObserver(this, el));
        }
    },
    formatPHONE: function(event, element) {
        if (event.keyCode != 46 && event.keyCode != 8) {
            fldVal = $(element).value;
            var nom = fldVal.charAt(fldVal.length - 1);
            if (isNaN(nom) && nom != "-") {
                $(element).value = fldVal.substring(0, fldVal.length - 1);
            } else {
                if ((fldVal.length == 3) || (fldVal.length == 7)) {
                    $(element).value = fldVal + "-";
                }
                if (fldVal.length > 12) {
                    $(element).value = fldVal.substring(0, fldVal.length - 1);
                }
            }
        }
    }
}