Input Controls

Input controls allow users to enter data (text, dates, numbers, etc.) into your form and automatically prevent them from entering the wrong data types. For example, if users enter letters into a number control, your form will display an error message and form submission is prevented until valid data is supplied. This validation happens automatically; you do not have to do anything special. The purpose of each input control is described below.

To validate the content in each input control,  assigns a default XML schema data type to each control.  The table below shows the default data types for each input control.

The explanations below describe the controls generically—before you edit them to impose additional restrictions or define behavior specific to the form you’re creating.  

Input controls have a two new properties: Decorator and Placeholder. Refer to Setting Properties for the information.

Text 

Allows users to type any text and is intended for short, one-line entries. Placeholder and decorator properties have been added to the text properties pane in . See Setting Properties for the details.

TextArea

Lets users type any text and is intended for longer, multi-line submissions. When users enter data, scroll bars appear as needed to accommodate the text. This control has a # of Rows property that controls the default number of lines visible in the input area.

In HTML there is no way to set a maxLength on a textarea control which is why the textarea control does not have the maxlength property like the text control. If you need a maxlength, it's best to either choose the text control, or this can be accomplished via a business rule. See the Business Rule for Textarea Max Length.

Since users typically enter multi-line text into textarea controls this can pose a challenge if you want to display that text in an html page. For example you may want to display the entered text in your form's Doc Action display message, in an html formatted email or in on a web page such as your Confluence wiki. The challenge is caused by the fact that line breaks entered into a web form text area are represented by a single newline character \n while line breaks in an html context are represented by the html break characters:

<\br>

In order to display the text in a html context you need to replace the \n with the html break characters. See the business rules chapter textarea newline vs break for a working example.

A new Placeholder property has been added to the textarea properties pane. The Textarea control is the only input control that does not have a decorator.

Do not select a Textarea field as a Searchable Field if the amount of text stored in the field is greater than 32k.

Date, Time, Date/Time

The date control can be used in a form as a date, time or date plus time control. The Control Type property lets you select from a dropdown of choices: date, time or date/time. The designer can choose from a variety of formats for each type. Rules can be applied to the Date/Time control in all variations. See the Rules Examples chapter containing numerous examples and code samples.

You can specify whether or not you want to display the date picker via a checkbox on the Style Properties tab. If checked, you will see the date picker inside the the date control and the date portion of the date/time input control. The date picker brings up a calendar that can be used to enter a date.

The Time control is used to denote the time of the day. This means it has no dependencies on time zones or offsets. It will not shift based on whether or not Daylight Savings Time is observed in a time zone.

The Date/Time control relies on the timezone of the browser. The time portion will be calculated based on the date and whether or not Daylight Savings Time is observed in that time zone.

The Date control is used to denote a day and has no dependencies on time zone.

For example, A time of 5:00 PM is entered into a Time control and a date of 2/5/2014 plus 5:00 PM into a Date/Time control by a user located in the America/New_York (Eastern Standard Time). When the submission is viewed in the EST time zone, the Time Control displays 5:00 PM. This value will not change. The time portion of the Date/Time control also displays 5:00 PM, because it takes on the timezone of the browser (EST) and it is not further adjusted because Daylight Savings Time is not observed in EST on February 5th.

If the submission is viewed in the Tijuana (Pacific Standard Time), the Time Control will display 5:00 PM as it did in EST but the Time portion of the Date/Time control will show 2:00 PM as it will be adjusted by the browser timezone, PST. 

Time Zones

In general, form data is displayed in the browser’s time zone and saved in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in the submission document. The form’s time zone is inferred automatically from the browser’s time zone. The time zone, once set, cannot be changed for that form instance. An example can be seen when you click on the Test icon in the  designer. The form URL will have the &_formTz=<tz> parameter with the value of the browser's timezone appended to it. The URL for a form being tested in the Eastern DayLight Time (EDT) timezone would be:

http://localhost:8082/frevvo/web/tn/rap.com/user/rap/app/_w-eeENIYEeGYrP3vLLbERA/formtype/_CXKywNIaEeGYrP3vLLbERA/popupform?embed=true&_extId=0.04202334303408861&_formTz=America/New_York

The browser’s time zone can be overridden by appending the &_formTz=<tz> parameter to the form URL. Modern Time Zone Strings must be used with the &_formTz parameter. Other time zone formats are not supported. The time zone strings can be found here.

Here is an example: A Product Order form running in the PST timezone displays all the time and date/time control data in the America/Tijuana timezone if the &_formTz=<tz> is appended to the URL as shown below. 

http://localhost:8082/frevvo/web/tn/qa.com/user/rap1/app/_cm8JIGR7EeG4D7_jeDNSHQ/formtype/_XyC2wGbsEeG2-p_Sm3q9pA/popupform?locale=&_formTz=America/Tijuana

When users enter data into a form, the &_formTz=<tz> parameter is not required. You may notice that URLs for the following  functions will contain the  _formTz parameter appended to them:

• Edit form/flow
• Test form/flow
• Initialize submission
• Access form/flow/tasklist (outside space)
• Access form/flow/tasklist (from space)

Time data is no longer converted from the browser's timezone to a valid UTC format when posted in the form XML document in the submissions database. Refer to Viewing XML Documents for more information. Business Rules execute in the form time zone. 

Email

Requires users to enter a valid EMail address. The address must conform to the following syntax: <name>@<name>.<string>

Money

Allows users to enter U.S. currency. Users may type commas and a decimal point but will not add them to the data automatically. The form also will round all entries to two decimal places. For example, if the user enters 4000, it will display as 4000.00 when the user exits the field.

Phone

Used for entering a phone number and allows any of the following formats: ##########,###-###-####, ###.###.####, ###-####, ###.####.  If you want to enforce one of the 10-digit formats (to require an area code), you can edit the control’s Pattern.

Quantity

Used for entering quantities or any whole numbers (integers). The form displays an error message if users enter decimal points, commas, or anything other than an integer.

Number

Used for entering decimal numbers. Users may enter any number of digits after the decimal place.

Selection Controls

 supports 5 types of Selection controls. Selection controls let users choose from a list of options instead of having to enter text.  

• Dropdown
• Radio
• Checkbox
• ComboBox
• T/F

Dynamic Options

Options for the Dropdown, Radio and Checkbox controls can be populated using 2 methods:

• Method 1 - Designers enter the options at design time by typing them in the Options property for the chosen selection control. Options entered in this way are static - they will not change at runtime. The controls are discussed below:
• Method 2 - Designers can dynamically populate options at runtime from an external RESTful web service source. This can be accomplished with a business rule or if your preference is not to write JavaScript you can use the Dynamic Option feature. This method eliminates the need for a business rules.

Refer to the Dynamic Options topic for the details.

Dropdown

This adds a dropdown list to your form. By default the first choice in the dropdown list will be blank; you define the other choices by editing the control’s Options properties. Keyboard selection of an option is not currently supported but is planned for a future release. Users can type-ahead. For example, select a dropdown control and type "S" and it jumps you to options that start with "S". This is extremely useful for dropdown controls that have a long list of options. This control is a standard HTML dropdown so it does not allow using backspace to clear selected options. The Comment property can be used to provide a text box for additional information when the last option in the selection control is chosen. 

ComboBox

The ComboBox control supports three types of data retrieval: frevvoUsers, frevvoRoles and Web Service. The source for the options is selected from the Options Src property. Information about how to set up Options for the ComboBox control is discussed under the Dynamic Options feature topic.

You can use the Combobox to retrieve values from a database and enable a list of possible partial matches.

LDAP customers often use the ComboBox control if they have many users/roles configured on their LDAP server. What if the designer wants to pull a list of users or roles from their LDAP server into a form or flow for user selection? Using a traditional dropdown control is not ideal especially when you have thousands of users to pick from. The ComboBox control allows users to type characters in the ComboBox control that filter the choices to the entered characters and display those that match. You can also type a value that is not in the list.

Drag/drop the ComboBox from the Palette or import it from schema. When you dnd the ComboBox from the Palette, it does not have a Control Type property. You cannot change the ComboBox to a different control by changing the value in the Control Type dropdown. You must delete the ComboBox and then add the control that you want. 

Existing forms/flows that contain the ComboBox control will have the value of the Options URL property in the Options Src field after upgrading.

ComboBox from Schema

You can change the Options Src for Combobox controls that are added to your form/flow when you upload a schema.  Notice this control does not have a display as property so you cannot change the appearance of the control using this property.

Information about how to set up Options for the ComboBox control is discussed under the Dynamic Options feature topic.

Radio

This adds mutually exclusive radio buttons. You define the number of radio buttons and the specific choices by editing the control’s Options properties. Note: If you select a radio option as the default and later decide you do not want an option selected by default, you must remove that option from the control and tab out of the options property so that it is removed from the control. Then add the option back to the control's option list. Now that option is no longer a selected default.

A  Comment property can be used to  provide a text box for additional information when the last option in the selection control is chosen. 

Checkbox

This adds a set of checkboxes so users can check one or more. As with the other selection controls, you edit the control’s Options properties to define the number of checkboxes and the specific choices. A Comment property can be used to  provide a text box for additional information when the last option in the selection control is chosen. 

T/F

Use a T/F (Boolean) control in your form for situations where the values will only be Yes or No. For Example: The image shows a T/F control in the Preferences section of a company Travel Request. The label for this field has been changed to Non-Smoking Hotel Room. The employee filling out the request checks the box if they prefer a Non Smoking room.

The control options default to "true=Yes" and "false=No". When you drag the control from the palette, only the "Yes" option will be visible. You can change the option labels from Yes and No to whatever you want. It is important to note changes to the label for false are irrelevant as it will never be visible on the form. The option values cannot be changed and will always stay as true and false. Blank labels for options are not allowed. Checking the “Yes” checkbox of the Boolean control results in a true value in the XML document.

Leaving it unchecked will translate to a false value( no value will show in the XML document).

Notice the Required (false) property on the T/F Properties pane. This property is unchecked by default. If checked, the XML entry shows a false value even when the T/F value is not selected.

A T/F control, added to a table, will hide the "Yes" option label. A Boolean checkbox should be used only if there are two states: Y/N. The column header label in the table can help make the choice obvious. For Example, you could create a column header - Non-Smoking Room in the table and if the user checks the box the value will be true and if the box remains unchecked, the value will be false.

Use another selection control if the choices are not restricted to Y/N. An example would be a gender control where the possibilities are male or female.

Value Property of T/F in Business Rules

The value property behaves differently for a T/F control  depending on whether it is from schema or not.

• From schema, when checked: control.value === true
• From scratch, when checked: control.value[0] === true

If you use the Visual Rule Builder to build a rule with the T/F control , the resulting rule covers both value states so the designer will not have to make further changes.

Upload Control

Use this to allow the user to upload and submit attachments with your forms. You can attach photos from your device photos library or take a new photo with the device camera. The Upload control is decorated with an image that cannot be changed. When you click on the Upload control in use mode, the button text is underlined.

The upload control contains special properties to control the max attachment size allowed (in bytes), the min and max number of attachments to accept per form submission and to allow the form designer to specify restrictions on the types of files allowed to be uploaded to the control/form. When a user uploads content to an upload control with a content filter applied,  will check the upload against the filter and if there is no match, reject the upload with an error message.

Attachments are viewable in the Submissions Repository. You can configure your form's Doc Action property to send attachments to a URL endpoint (ex: servlet) that can save the attachments locally within your company. For more details see handling attachments.

The File Name property allows designers to specify a naming convention for the attachment in the form/flow submission.

Min/Max Number of Attachments

You can specify the minimum and maximum number of attachments that can be uploaded to your form using the Min # and the Max # properties. Setting the min and max values to 0 or if the maximum # field is left empty means an unlimited number of files can be uploaded. Setting the min # to a value greater than zero makes the field required. Set the min # to 1 to ensure that the user uploads at least one attachment to your form. Use the max # for the maximum attachments allowed. Clicking on Add Files will not display the upload lightbox when the maximum # of attachments have been uploaded. No further uploads will be allowed. Setting the Max # to 1 disables the multi-select feature. See below for more information.

Setting Min/Max Properties with a Business Rule

The min and max properties can be changed with a business rule using the properties, minFiles and maxFiles. The values for minFiles and maxFiles can be read and changed at runtime if required. Check out this very simple example.

Restricted Content Types and Other Mime/Ext

Use the Restricted Content Types field on the Upload Control Property pane to restrict the content type of the files uploaded to your form. This property lets the designer specify one or more types which restricts the content to those types. Uploads can be restricted by using MIME Types (limited set supported) or File Extensions or both.

Select the content types you want to allow by checking the associated check box in the Restricted Content Types field. The choices are: pdf, MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, MS Access, gif, jpeg, png, tiff, rtf, tar, zip, gzip, xml and bmp.  will map the content types that you choose to one or more mime types. Content type filtering will be enabled for the extensions selected. For example, the image shows an upload control in a form that will only allow files with .jpeg, .pdf and .png extensions. This list can be expanded for customers using in-house by modifying the context parameter: frevvo.upload.file.types in the web.xml file. See Installation Tasks for the details.

An easier way to add extensions or other mime types for filtering can be accomplished via the Other Mime/Ext field. You can use this field to restrict uploads to a mime type or file extension that is not included in the subset of the most common file content types provided by . Enter one or more extensions (of any length) or mime types, separated by a space, to enable extension and additional mime type filtering. An upload matches on an extension if it's name ends in a period followed by one of the extensions.  The comparison is case insensitive.  Likewise, an upload matches on mime type if it's mime type matches one of the additional mime types entered. For example, the extensions, txt and htm, shown in the Other Mime/Ext field in the image above, restricts uploaded files to ones that have .jpeg, .png, .pdf, .txt and .htm extensions.

The mime utility now uses the Apache Tika toolkit for improved mime detection. Files with .xls, .xlsx, ppt  and .docx extensions are now correctly described when uploaded in use mode.

Error Messages 

The user will see error messages if upload filtering is applied and the uploaded content types do not match. The error message, shown below, will be displayed if content type only filtering or both content type and extension/mime filtering has been applied and the uploaded content does not match either restriction. For instance, uploading a file with a .jpeg extension will not match the selected content type choices or the .docx file extension listed in the Other Mime/Ext field as shown in the Upload Control Property Pane image:

When extension and additional mime type filtering only has been specified and the uploaded content does not match, the error message below will display:

Multi-select

The user can select more than a one file (during a single file browse) to be uploaded by holding down the control/command key then click on each file you want to select. The multi-select feature support has been added in HTML 5 with a multiple attribute. Multi-select of files for the Upload control is supported in newer versions of browsers. For example, multi-selection of files works in Safari, Chrome and Firefox.

The multi-select of files in the browser is dependent upon the max files property of the upload control. Multi-select is disabled by setting the max # files to 1. It is possible to select too many files . For example, turn on multi-select by setting the max # to 2. Multi-select 3 files. This will show an error and none of the 3 will be uploaded.

Max Size

Max size is the upper limit for each attachment uploaded to Upload controls in your forms/flow. The internal upper limit is controlled by a configuration parameter - frevvo.attachment.maxsize. In the  cloud. It is set to 10 Mb. If you enter a value into the control's max attachment size property greater than  internal upper limit, you will see an error message displayed on the upload control.

In-house, customers can control the  internal upper limit via the frevvo.attachment.maxsize property in the <frevvo-home>\tomcat\conf\frevvo-config.properties file. Initially, this value is set to 10485760 bytes. You can also set the max attachment size per user by editing the user's profile as the admin user and editing the Configuration field shown below:

The value in the user profile takes precedence over the configuration parameter. The value in the Max Size property for an Upload control takes precedence over the value in the Max Attachment Size field.  All values must be entered in bytes and cannot exceed the max size configured on the server level. Refer to the Maximum Size for Attachments topic for more information.

Changing the file name of an uploaded attachment in the form/flow submission

The File Name property allows designers to set up an attachment name that applies to all files uploaded with an upload control. Attachments with configured file names will be seen when viewing the attachment section of a submission.

This property only affects the name of the file, not the extension which will be automatically appended. The file name can be a:

• Fixed name - The attachment name of the file is entered and is used without change.
• Dynamic - The attachment name can be configured to be dynamic. It can be any combination of static text, form control templates and/or a template representing the name of the upload file as derived from the local file system - {$FILENAME}

The default setting of the File Name property is: "{$FILENAME}". This special template names the attachment using the file name as derived from the local file system. Leaving the File Name property empty is synonymous to setting it to "{$FILENAME}".

Expand the File Name field by clicking/dragging the three diagonal lines in the bottom right corner.

The image displays the file names for attachments visible in the form/flow submission detail when:

• the File Name property uses a control template from the form/flow (the custInfo field) and the default template {$FILENAME}
• the File Name property is empty or uses the default template {$FILENAME}
• the File Name property uses a fixed name (My Filename)

File Name Property Behavior in Use Mode

When a user uploads an attachment to the Upload control, the file name will be the name of the file from the local file system.

• Hovering over the file link in your form/flow shows a tooltip that displays: "<filename> uploaded as <attachment_name>". The attachment will be stored in the form/flow submission with the attachment name mentioned in the hover message.

If the same attachment is uploaded more than once in a form/flow,  "_#" is appended to the subsequent attachment file names where "#" is a number starting at 1.

• filename.pdf
• filename_1.pdf
• filename_2.pdf

View Attachments in Submissions

Once the designer has configured the File Name property and submissions have been created, attachments named with the specified criteria are viewed in the attachment section of a submission. Follow these steps to view them:

1. Click on the Submissions icon.
2. Double click on a submission for the Submission Details.
3. Submission attachments are listed in the Attachment section of the Data tab.

File Names for Downloaded Attachments

The following is true when downloading attachments:

• If the filename contains a space it will be replaced with a  '+' in the downloaded filename. For example, if the filename is "My File.pdf" the downloaded file is named "My+File.pdf"
• If the filename contains special characters than the encoded value of the special character is included in the downloaded filename. For example, if the filename is "My Name@@" then it changes to "My+Name%40%40.txt "
• When downloading an attachment from the View Submission Details lightbox, the link to edit a submission or from Test Mode:

• • The filename of the downloaded attachment will be the original filename if the File Name property is empty or set  to {$FILENAME}.
    The filename of the downloaded attachment will use the configured filename if the File Name property is set to a fixed name i.e. MyFile.

    The original filename will be used as the download name when downloading attachments from upgraded submissions.
    

Enable Camera

The"Enable Camera" property for the upload control refers to the camera in your mobile device .It is enabled by default. Here is how it works:

• Checking this property has no effect in a desktop browser
• If maxFiles=1, you will be able to take a picture with the camera and upload it. You will see a prompt similar to the image below when you tap "Choose Files".
• If maxFiles=0 or if maxFiles > 1, on mobile iOS, you can enable or disable the camera. If enabled, you can take a picture with the camera and upload it but cannot upload multiple files at a time. If disabled, you can upload multiple files at a time but the user will not be presented with the option to take a picture from the camera for uploading.
• IOS Safari decides access to the camera on the iPhone or iPad. Unchecking the "Enable Camera" checkbox does not disable the camera because it is not possible. If you check it, it will disable the multi-select (multiple attribute) of files to upload, even when max # is > 1.

Mapping an Upload Control 

You can take a picture with your iPad or iPhone and map the photo into a generated pdf. Image types supported are: gif, png, jpg/jpeg and bmp. Tiff is not supported. Non image file types uploaded are ignored. The designer should be aware of the following when mapping the Upload control:

• The Upload control can be only be mapped to text fields in the pdf acroform.  

• Only a single file will be mapped per control. Mapping takes the first found image file in the case of an upload control with multiple files.  

• The image will resize to the dimensions of the acrofield.

The image shows an upload control in a form where jpg files for a koala bear and a jellyfish have been uploaded.  Drag the Upload control from the Mapping Form Outline and drop it on the text field in your acroform. Viewing the pdf via the Form Viewer control, shows the koala bear image in the pdf.

Message Control

Message controls are most often used to add static text to your form or flow. Form titles and helpful instructions for your users are just a few ways to use the Message control, It can also be used in the following not so obvious situations:

• Adding custom client-side JavaScript to your form/flow.
• You can use the Message control to center images uploaded to your form. Click here for the details.
• Message controls can also be used to display a message to the user if a form/flow contains invalid controls and cannot be submitted. Refer to the Invalid Form Notification for Users to see how to implement this feature.

Type the text of your message into the textarea in the Message control properties pane. You can add HTML to format your message in this property as well or invoke the Rich Text Editor   which will create the HTML for you.

Rich Text Editor

The message control supports rich text input in design mode via the Rich Text Editor. The editor simplifies the creation of your message content eliminating the need for the designer to provide HTML code . It is a simple way to format message content such as different font sizes, test and background colors, bolding, bullet and numbered lists along with many other features. You provide the text and then choose from the many menu options to customize your message. You can even include a Google Map or an image if desired.

For example, an Instruction section for users that has a bullet list, bolded text and an image can be quickly and easily created by adding the Message control to the section and applying the text stying and image features available in the Rich Text Editor.

Using the Rich Text Editor

Drag a Message control from the palette and drop it into your form/flow then click on it, Notice the property panel to the right. The toggle switch just above the textarea message property turns the Rich Text Editor on/off. When you slide it to the on position, the message control transforms to an in-place rich text editor. The mode of the Rich Text Editor will be remembered - so if it was turned on when your saved your form/flow, it will be turned on the next time the form/flow is opened for editing.

The editor consists of an editing area for entering text and an icon in the top left that shows/hides the editor toolbar and menus.

Click the icon to display the editor menus. When the menus are displayed, click the icon to hide them.

Rich Text Editor Toolbar

The rich text editor has a variety of menus/buttons for enhancing entered text. Most of these are self explanatory. If you are unsure of a particular function, hover the cursor over the button for a helpful tooltip. Many of the menus have dropdowns to select other text stying/formatting options

Entering Text

There are two ways to apply text styling features;

1. Select the feature from the toolbar first, then type your text. For example, to write in bold, click the button on the toolbar then type your text. Bolded characters display as you type.
2. Select a portion or all of the text in the Editing area with your mouse then select the feature from the toolbar.

Adding Custom Fonts to the Rich Text Editor

Custom fonts can be added to the list of fonts displayed in the Font dropdown of the Rich Text Editor. Refer to Using Custom Fonts in the Message Control for implementation details.

Exiting the Rich Text Editor

To exit the Rich Text editor in the designer, click the icon. Turn it off by sliding the toggle switch to the off position. remembers the Rich Text Editor mode when your form/flow was saved and it display it in that mode the next time the form/flow is opened for editing.

Using Templates in a Message Control

Controls in your forms/flows that are dynamically populated can be included in the message text by using templates. The templates in the Message control are replaced with the values in these controls at runtime. For example, let's say you have a Product Order form with controls for the customer to select the product, color, size and select the option to include a gift card. When the order is complete, you want to display a message to the customer recapping the order. The image shows the control templates in the message text in the designer and the form at runtime. A business rule hides the Message control until the order is complete.