Form Tasks

Completing Form Tasks

How do I use forms?

Forms are accessible from the workflow task details.  The ‘Complete Form’ task allows end users to open a form.  If the task is still in progress the form is editable – allowing the user to enter and save form data.  Once the task is completed, the form can still be opened, but in a view-only mode.

In the screenshot above:

    1. The button is enabled because the task is still ‘In Progress’.  Selecting this button will open the form in edit mode, allowing the user to enter, update and save data on the form.
    2. After saving form data, selecting the button will complete the form task and advance the workflow.

Note:  If there are no required fields on the form task, it would be possible to the form without first opening it and entering data. Here’s a sample of a form as the user would see it when opening it prior to completing the task:

The form above has two tabs (‘Overview’ and ‘Packaging’).  Because the task is still in-progress, the user can edit and save data.

    • Fields in red containing an asterisk are required
      –  All required fields must contain a value for the form data to be saved
      –  Validation can be configured to occur when the user attempts to switch tabs or when the <save> button is selected.
    • Fields in gray or black are optional
    • Select the  button to reset the form to its original (default) values
    • If the form contains multiple tabs as seen above the user can navigate between tabs by either clicking on the tab itself, or using and <Previous> buttons on the bottom of the screen.
      To complete the task, select the <Save> button. Note: The <Save> button only appears on the last tab of the form

Note: Closing the form window by selecting ‘x’ will not automatically save data entered into the form.

When a Complete Form task has been completed (submitted) the workflow advances to the next step.  If a user opens a form for a completed ‘Complete Form’ task the user will view the form in a view-only mode.

Saving a form as a PDF file

When a form is open for editing or viewing, the user can select the button to generate a PDF of the form and its data. Your browser will prompt you to either open or save the file locally.

Once the PDF file is saved locally it can be distributed to others or even uploaded back into the workflow as a reference document or file to be reviewed / approved downstream in the workflow. The PDF version of the form will look exactly like the online rendering with one exception.  Forms that contain multiple tabs, we be ‘flattened’ to a single page PDF.

Note: ‘Save as PDF’ will create a PDF rendering of the form using the current  (saved) values in the system for Custom Fields contained within the form.

Working with Approval Candidate Forms and Cycles

When a Complete Form task is saved as an approval candidate, whenever a new cycle is created (i.e. due to canceling, redoing, rewind or rejecting the cycle), all of the required and optional form values are copied to the new cycle.

For more information on related topics, visit these links…

To configure Complete Form tasks on the template, see Form Task Nodes more information.

For more information about template task node settings, see Task Node Settings.

For more information about managing forms tasks, see Form Administration.