Forms

Forms

• Updated on Nov 15, 2023

• Published on Jan 5, 2023

• 3 minute(s) read

Many organizations have the business need to have simple data collected in the field by field users such as service technicians or even sales users. With the proliferation of handheld devices with sensors such as location and proximity, network connectivity such as WIFI and Cellular, and rich media support such as a camera, video and audio recording, it becomes even easier to capture data in the field by the enterprise "Mobile Force". However, enterprise systems of record do not provide easy structuring of this data and interfaces to store this data. To solve this problem, Mobileforce FSM allows an Admin to create simple forms, which can then be used by the "Mobile Force" users in applications with user input/submissions via a plethora of handheld devices. These submissions are easily stored in the Mobileforce FSM database, and synced with other enterprise systems as necessary.

The intended user of the form is a "Mobile Force" field user: i.e., an end user who is viewing and filling out the requested data in the simple forms. Typically, this user accesses the form once, fills out input as needed, and at the end, submits the form, thus completing their activity. Upon submission, the end user typically gets an acknowledgement either via email or directly on the submission screen.

Mobileforce Forms allows Admins and field users alike to easily create, preview, and access a simple database-backed forms, which has the following features:

• Built-in versioning
• Automatic creation and updating of database tables and schema in a customer-specific instance or even a customer system of record.
• Fully mobile enabled forms that allow for offline submission in limited internet bandwidth/connection locations.

Note:
These simple forms are distinct from the Advanced Multi-Screen Forms, typically used with Mobileforce CPQ applications.

The following sections provide the tools and tips necessary to easily create and manage Mobileforce FSM forms.

Simple Forms

Forms are typically created by users in a Business Analysis or other business role who are tasked with designing simple forms for Mobileforce FSM. Typically, such users are not software developers nor have an IT role, so the process of creation, modification, and publication of Simple Forms is kept simple, making use of a WYSIWYG tool with a browser-based UI.

Actions that might otherwise require coding are made simple in this interface. These simple forms are implicitly laid out, as there is no user ability to specify or control the layout of the forms. This is in contrast to explicit layouts that Mobileforce also supports; however, the user must explicitly specify the row and column for each field in the form. This provides the user more control on how the form is displayed but requires much more time and effort by the Admin to design and layout the forms.

Simple forms consist of two elements:

1. the form element that represents a single form. It contains a list of input elements.
2. the input element which describes a single field in a form.

All forms (simple as well as explicitly laid out forms) comprise the following elements:

• form: specifies the actions to perform when the form is submitted. Typically, forms consist of (a) a data element (b) (optionally) a type element and (c) (optionally) a formsection element.
• data: an optional component of a form, which if present, encapsulates one or more prop keys that specify the layout of the form.
• prop: represents a single key/value pair, one or more for each data element. Prop keys represent UI/UX elements of a form, such as color, font, layout, fields etc.
• formsection: represents a collection of related input fields, that are typically laid out in a specific manner. Formsection layouts include a tab, an accordion section, a grid of icons, or a sequence of separate screens.
• row: a single row of fields in a form section. Rows typically don't have attributes, but if they do, these attributes specify the layout, scope, and visibility of rows.
• col: a single column in a row of fields in a form section. Column attributes also include layout and scope, but in addition, also specify actions such as add, edit, download, etc that apply to the column.
• input: a single input field: this is the most fundamental form element, and captures the type, visibility, default value, and whether required, when filling the form.

To learn more, or for help configuring forms, please contact your Mobileforce Customer Success Team.