Form Fill-In

Purpose

Form Records is a term used to refer to forms that have been filled in and saved. Users create form records by filling in a Form Template, accessible by navigating to the Form Library or by using a URL provided on a Web page or email hyperlink. This topic covers the creation of Form Records including the process of filling in and editing form data, options for viewing the data contained in a form record, and how to establish relationships between form records and documents.

Form Records

My Open Forms

My Open Forms is a menu item under the Forms menu located at the top of the page. This will display a list of forms that a user has created. Forms remain visible until they are closed. Users can view forms and determine the status of the workflow from the Form ID screen.

Changing Form Status

Forms can be edited by users who have permission until the form is closed. Forms also remain visible in a user's My Open Forms list until they are closed. Once a Form ID is closed, it can be reopened.

To close a form, add the Close column into the Form Dashboard and then select the Close Link.

Editing a Form

Forms can be edited in one of two ways:

Dashboard

To edit a form through a dashboard complete the following steps:

1. Navigate to the Form Data Dashboard for the form to be edited.
2. Search for the form record.
3. If the user has editor rights, select the Edit link in the Edit column. If the user has viewer rights, this column will not be visible.

My Open Forms

To edit a form from My Open Forms complete the following steps:

1. Navigate to the My Open Forms menu.
2. Select the plus ( + ) sign next to the Form to be edited.
3. Locate the Form ID in the Form Name column and select the Edit link.

Form Tabs

The Form Tabs represent each record of a form that has been filled in. Basic information about the form record, as well as more robust information, can be found by cycling between the different tabs located at the top of the form, explained in more detail below.

Most tabs will not be available to select the first time a form is filled in. These tabs will become selectable upon saving the form record for the first time.

• Form - The primary tab of the form instance. Displays the form template design and allows users to enter any necessary information.
• Change Log - Displays any changes made to the form instance fields and revisions.
• Documents - Shows all Document relationships to the form and allows relationships to be modified by qualified users.
• Projects - Shows all Project relationships to the form and allows relationships to be modified by qualified users.
• Forms - Shows all other Form relationships to the current form and allows relationships to be modified by qualified users.
• Revisions - Displays information about the form revision history.
• History - Displays information about the form history, such as actions and modification dates.

Form Locking

Form Locking refers to the mechanisms inside of VisualVault that prevent the editing of a form while it is being edited by another user. A form enters the locked state when a user selects the Edit link on a form dashboard, selects a form in the task list on the My Vault page, or when a user selects options from the context menu. While the form is locked, if other users try to edit the same form, they will be shown a read-only version of the form. A status message will appear in red indicating who has the form locked at that time.

Form Locked View

Forms are unlocked when the editing user selects the close link or the window close button. If a form is not unlocked through this mechanism, users can access the forms in one of two ways. First, users with owner rights can unlock a Form ID by adding the Lock column into a form data dashboard and selecting the Un-Lock link. Forms will also become available for access after a time-out period. The default time-out period is 20 minutes. At the end of 20 minutes, when a different user accesses a previously locked form, the lock will be transferred from the previous user to the new user accessing the form.

Un-Lock Link View on the Form Dashboard

Administrators should use extreme caution when unlocking forms. They should communicate with users to ensure they have saved their data prior to manually unlock the form. If an administrator unlocks a form while another user is editing a form, the original editing user may lose the data they have entered, or they will be notified that they cannot save their form. This is a safeguard to ensure that editing users are aware when someone manually decided to override the locking mechanism.

How to Delete Form Data

In order to delete form data, the owner must select the Enable Delete option to delete the data when setting up the dashboard. Upon checking the box, marked in red in the image below, the Delete button and selection boxes (also marked in red) will appear. The owner of the data is the only user that can delete the data unless the user belongs to the VaultAccess group. If the user is an owner, they will be presented with the bottom portion of the following screen when viewing a dashboard that is configured appropriately:

Form Dashboard View

To delete one to multiple records, select the Delete check box next to the record then select Delete.

Warning: All data will be lost and will not be placed in the Recycle Bin when it is deleted.

Form Fill-In

How to Fill-In a Form

To find a form template for entering data, select Forms - Form Library - (select appropriate form template) - Fill-In.

Form Library View

After completing the form data entry select Save in the top left of the screen or select a save button designed into the form. The tabs along the top will not become available until after the user Saves the form. If users return to the Form Library without saving their data entry, the form will not be saved, and the user will be prompted if they want to save the form. 

• Save - Saves data entry and allows additional data entry changes by the user that filled in the form or other authorized users. The form viewer will check for required fields during the save process; if data is missing, a red exclamation point is displayed next to the applicable fields.
• Change Log - Shows what fields have changed at each revision of a Form record.
• Documents - Will provide a list of any available documents and allows the user to upload documents to associate with the Form record.
• Projects - Allows the record of this Form record to be associated with an open project.
• Forms - Associate exiting Form records with this Form record.
• Revisions - Shows information for a given revision (Visible to Owners and Editors).
• History - Shows history for the Form record.

Email a Form Fill-In Link

Users can send an Email link to Public users or other registered users of VisualVault:

1. Navigate to Forms - Form Library.
2. Select the Email icon () next to the form to be sent.

This will create a new email containing a link to the form using either the VisualVault email browser (if configured in the server settings) or the user's choice of email editor. Simply send the link to an eligible user's email address to give them access to fill in the form.

Form Print Preview and Printing

Forms can be printed by individuals who have access to view the form. Users select the Print Preview link to preview or print a form and its data. If the fields are not aligned as expected, or data overlap, there are several actions that can be done to align the output:

1. When designing the form, give it a width that is appropriate for a portrait or landscape printout.
2. Adjust the margins for the printer.
3. When printing to PDF, work with the output settings to adjust the layout. Usually, this means reducing some of the dpi or modifying the margins.

Printer Friendly view places the fields in the order they appear on the form. Multiple pages will be printed in the order they appear from the Printer Friendly view. If fields on the form contain text that scrolls beyond the field visibility, then that information will all be printed on the printer-friendly view of the form. In some circumstances, this will cause a single page form designed for one page to print on two pages. If a field does not contain data, the label will print out on the form, but the field may not take up as much space as designed on the form.

Business Logic to Check Business Rules

Business Logic refers to code that can be written to enforce business rules when users fill in a form. 

As an example, let's say that only a certain combination of data can appear in certain fields. If this happens then code updates an additional field on the form with a value pulled from a database. If the data values do not meet the combination, then the code can either notify the user or do nothing. To support this example, you can write script in VisualVault or a web service that can check for information that VisualVault does not check for out of the box. You can then integrate this web service through the Web Service Administration tool. Then configure the form, buttons, or workflow to utilize the Web Service or Outside Process.

Form Record Tabs

Change Log

The change log provides users with visibility into how a form has progressed over time. Every time a form record is modified, saved, and exited, a new revision will be created, and an entry will be made into the change log. A previous and current version will be recorded for every field that was changed during data entry. The User who made the change will also be documented in the change log. 

Change Log View

Warning: All fields, including fields that are hidden or secured through Groups and Conditions, will be visible in the Change Log. We strongly recommend removing this tab from the form tab layout by using custom tabs when using the security mechanisms of Groups and Conditions.

Documents Tab

The documents tab allows users to associate new or existing documents to a form. Users with Editor or higher status to the document library and the form template will be allowed to upload a new document and associate it from the form. Any existing documents the user has access to can also be associated with the form. See the sections Associate Documents to a Form and Modify Document to Forms Relationships below for more details. 

Documents Tab View

Form History

The Form History tab provides an audit trail of what has happened on the specific form. Information about the action, user, and date of the action are recorded.

Form History View  

Projects Tab

The projects tab allows users to associate new or existing projects to a form record. Users with Editor or higher status will only be able to associate existing projects they have permission to view but will be able to create a new project to associate to the form. See the section Relating Projects to Forms below for more details. 

Projects Tab View 

Related Forms Tab

This form tab shows a list of all the forms that are related to the current form record. Users will only see the forms they have permission to view, and all other forms will be hidden. Multiple form tabs can be configured on a given form by changing the custom layout of the forms on the form template.

In order to relate to other forms, refer to the topic Relating Forms to Forms below.

Forms Tab View

Revisions

The Revisions tab of the Form ID Card or any filled-in form will show how the form appeared each time it was revised or opened in edit mode. Editors or higher have access to this tab. Selecting the View link will show you the form as it existed at that revision.

Form Revisions View

Form Relationships

Associate Documents to a Form

Adding a document to a Form means either uploading a new document and associating it with a form or associating an existing document in the Document Library with a form. There are three ways to add documents to a form:

When Creating a Form:

While filling in a new form record from the Form Library, select the Documents tab after saving the form. Select New Documents from the third level menu and follow the wizard steps to add a document or select Modify Relationships to associate an existing document with the form data.

When Editing Existing Form:

1. Navigate to Form Data and select the Dashboard for the form to associate with a document.
2. Edit or view the particular Form record where a document is to be uploaded.
3. Select the Documents tab after the Form record loads.
4. Select New Documents from the third level menu and follow the wizard steps to upload a document or select Modify Relationships to associate an existing file with the Form record.

From a Document ID Card:

1. Find a Document ID to associate with a form.
2. Select the Forms tab.
3. Select the Modify Related button.
4. Select the form template.
5. Search for the form to associate.
6. Associate the selected form and return to the Document ID Card.

Refer to How to Add a New Document for help on uploading new documents.

Refer to Modify Document to Forms Relationships below for more help on relating existing documents to forms.

Add Document to Form View

Modify Document to Forms Relationships

Modifying document relationships to a Form ID gives the capability of relating or removing pertinent documents. An example might be associating a quote with a purchase request. See the following sections for more information on relating a document to a Form ID or removing a document relationship.

Relating a Document to a Form record:

1. Navigate to the desired Form record through Form Data and the appropriate dashboard, or when entering data to an existing form template.
2. Select the Documents Tab, then select Modify Relationship. A new window will appear.
3. Utilizing the search conditions at the top of the window, select the appropriate search criteria and the appropriate string to search (Can be partial strings or can use wildcard characters when doing a full-text search). Select the Search button to begin.
4. Once the search is complete, find the document to associate and select it in the left-hand pane (Select multiple items in the left-hand pane using the Shift or Ctrl keys).
5. Use thebutton to assign the document.
6. Select the Finish button when complete.

You may click on Clear Search and key in a new string to assign multiple documents from multiple folders to the Form ID.

Removing a Related Document:

1. Navigate to the desired Form record through Form Data and the appropriate dashboard, or when entering data to an existing form template.
2. Select the Documents Tab, then select Modify Relationship. A new window will appear.
3. Find the document(s) to be removed in the right-hand pane and select the item(s).
4. Use thebutton to remove the document.
5. Select the Finish button when complete.

Users may assign and remove documents while the Relate Document screen is open.

Relating Forms to Forms

When working with a form record, users have the capability of relating a form to another form. In order to relate a form, access is needed to the form that the user wants to relate. 

In order to create the relationship between the forms complete the following steps:

1. From a Form ID Card or Form, navigate to the Forms tab.
2. Select the Modify Related Forms button. A new window will appear.
3. From the Available Forms drop-down list, select the form template to use.
4. Search for the form based on the search fields at the top of the form if needed.
5. Once the Form shows up in the Available forms list, select the form, then select thebutton.
6. Select the Finish button when complete.

Modify Related Forms View

Modify Document Relationship to Form View

Relating Projects to Forms

When working with a form, users have the capability of associating a form with a project. In order to create this association, they need to have permission to the project. 

Once permissions are granted, complete the following steps:

1. Navigate to the Projects Tab and select Modify Related Projects.
2. Search for the project to relate in the left-hand pane.
3. Select the project in the left-hand pane.
4. Assign the project to the Related Projects panel by selecting thebutton.
5. Select Close.

Modify Related Project View

Users also have the capability of creating a new project from the Project Tab view.

In order to do this, complete the following steps:

1. Select New Project button.
2. Key in the name of the Project.
3. Key in the Description of the Project.
4. Select the Project Security Mode.
5. Select a project to copy from if it is desired to copy the setup of another project.
6. Select Save.

The project will now be created and associated with this form. 

Add New Project View