Add rules to an Adaptive Form Core Components adaptive-forms-rule-editor

This article contains the latest Rule Editor features of Adaptive Forms Core Components which are:

The Rule Editor feature facilitates forms business users and developers to write rules on Adaptive Form objects. These rules define actions to trigger on form objects based on the preset conditions, user inputs, and user actions on the form. It helps further streamline the form filling experience ensuring accuracy and speed.

The rule editor provides an intuitive and simplified user interface to write rules. Rule editor offers a visual editor for all the users. Some of the key actions that you perform on Adaptive Form objects using Rules are:

Users added to the forms-power-users group can create the scripts and edit the existing ones. Users in the forms-users group can use the scripts but not create or edit the scripts.

Understanding a rule understanding-a-rule

A rule is a combination of actions and conditions. In rule editor, actions include activities such as hide, show, enable, disable, or compute the value of an object in a form. Conditions are Boolean expressions that are evaluated by performing checks and operations on the state, value, or property of a form object. Actions are performed based on the value ( True or False) returned by evaluating a condition.

The rule editor provides a set of predefined rule types, such as When, Show, Hide, Enable, Disable, Set Value Of, and Validate, to help you write rules. Each rule type lets you define conditions and actions in a rule. The document further explains each rule type in detail.

A rule typically follows one of the following constructs:

Condition-Action In this construct, a rule first defines a condition followed by an action to trigger. The construct is comparable to if-then statement in the programming languages.

In rule editor, the When rule type enforces the condition-action construct.

Action-Condition In this construct, a rule first defines an action to trigger followed by conditions for evaluation. Another variation of this construct is action-condition-alternate action, which also defines an alternate action to trigger if the condition returns False.

The Show, Hide, Enable, Disable, Set Value Of, and Validate rule types in the Rule Editor enforce the action-condition rule construct. By default, the alternate action for Show is Hide and for Enable is Disable, and the opposite way. You cannot change the default alternate action.

For more information about rule types available in the rule editor, see Available rule types in rule editor.

Guidelines for choosing a rule construct guidelines-for-choosing-a-rule-construct

While you can achieve most of the use cases by using any rule construct, here are some guidelines to choose one construct over another. For more information about the available rules in rule editor, see Available rule types in rule editor.

Available operator types and events in rule editor available-operator-types-and-events-in-rule-editor

The rule editor provides the following logical operators and events using which you can create rules.

Available rule types in rule editor available-rule-types-in-rule-editor

The rule editor provides a set of predefined rule types that you can use to write rules. Let’s look at each rule type in detail. For more information about writing rules in rule editor, see Write rules.

When whenruletype

The When rule type follows the condition-action-alternate action rule construct, or sometimes, just the condition-action construct. In this rule type, you first specify a condition for evaluation followed by an action to trigger if the condition is satisfied ( True). While using the When rule type, you can use multiple AND and OR operators to create nested expressions.

Using the When rule type, you can evaluate a condition on a form object and perform actions on one or more objects.

In plain words, a typical When rule is structured as follows:

When on Object A:

(Condition 1 AND Condition 2 OR Condition 3) is TRUE;

Then, do the following:

Action 2 on Object B;
AND
Action 3 on Object C;

Else, do the following:

Action 2 on Object C;
_

When you have a multi-value component, such as radio buttons or list, while creating a rule for that component the options are automatically retrieved and made available to the rule creator. You need not type the option values again.

For example, a list has four options: Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow. While creating the rule, the options (radio buttons) are automatically retrieved and made available to the rule creator as following:

While writing a When rule, you can trigger the Clear Value Of action. Clear Value Of action clears the value of the specified object. Having Clear Value of as an option in the When statement lets you create complex conditions with multiple fields. You can add the Else statement to add further conditions.

Allowed Multiple fields in When allowed-multiple-fields

In the When condition, you have the option to add other fields apart from the field to which the rule is applied.

For example, using the When rule type, you can evaluate a condition on different form objects and perform the action:

When:

(Object A Condition 1)

AND/OR

(Object B Condtion 2)

Then, do the following:

Action 1 on Object A

_

Considerations while using Allowed Multiple fields in When condition feature

If the allowed multiple fields in the When condition feature encounter any issues, follow the troubleshooting steps as:

Hide Hides the specified object.

Show Shows the specified object.

Enable Enables the specified object.

Disable Disables the specified object.

Invoke service Invokes a service configured in a form data model (FDM). When you choose the Invoke Service operation, a field appears. On tapping the field, it displays all services configured in all form data model (FDM) on your Experience Manager instance. On choosing a Form Data Model service, more fields appear where you can map form objects with input and output parameters for the specified service. See example rule for invoking Form Data Model (FDM) services.

In addition to Form Data Model service, you can specify a direct WSDL URL to invoke a web service. However, a Form Data Model service has many benefits and the recommended approach to invoke a service.

For more information about configuring services in form data model (FDM), see Experience Manager Forms Data Integration.

Set value of Computes and sets the value of the specified object. You can set the object value to a string, the value of another object, the computed value using mathematical expression or function, the value of a property of an object, or the output value from a configured Form Data Model service. When you choose the web service option, it displays all services configured in all form data model (FDM) on your Experience Manager instance. On choosing a Form Data Model service, more fields appear where you can map form objects with input and output parameters for the specified service.

For more information about configuring services in form data model (FDM), see Experience Manager Forms Data Integration.

The Set Property rule type lets you set the value of a property of the specified object based on a condition action. You can set property to one of the following:

For example, it enables you to define rules to show textbox when a button is clicked. You can use custom function, a form object, object property, or an service output to define a rule.

To define a rule based on a custom function, select Function Output from the drop-down list, and drag-and-drop a custom function from the Functions tab. If the condition action is met, the text input box gets visible.

To define a rule based on a form object, select Form Object from the drop-down list, and drag-and-drop a form object from the Form Objects tab. If the condition action is met, the text input box gets visible in the Adaptive Form.

A Set Property rule based on an object property lets you to make the text input box visible in an Adaptive Form based on another object property that is included in the Adaptive Form.

The following figure depicts an example of dynamically enabling the checkbox based on the hiding or showing of textbox in an Adaptive Form:

Clear Value Of Clears the value of the specified object.

Set Focus Sets focus on the specified object.

Submit Form Submits the form.

Reset Resets the form or specified object.

Validate Validates the form or specified object.

Add Instance Adds an instance of the specified repeatable panel or table row.

Remove Instance Removes an instance of the specified repeatable panel or table row.

Function Output Defines a rule based on predefined functions or custom functions.

Navigate to Navigates to other Adaptive Forms, other assets such as images or document fragments, or an external URL.

Dispatch Event Triggers the specific actions or behaviors based on predefined conditions or events.

Set Value of set-value-of

The Set Value of rule type lets you set the value of a form object depending on whether the specified condition is satisfied or not. The value can be set to a value of another object, a literal string, a value derived from a mathematical expression or a function, a value of a property of another object, or the output of a Form Data Model service. Similarly, you can check for a condition on a component, string, property, or values derived from a function or mathematical expression.

The Set Value Of rule type is not available for all form objects, such as panels and toolbar buttons. A standard Set Value Of rule has the following structure:

Set value of Object A to:

(string ABC) OR
(object property X of Object C) OR
(value from a function) OR
(value from a mathematical expression) OR
(output value of a data model service);

When (optional):

(Condition 1 AND Condition 2 AND Condition 3) is TRUE;

Following example selects the value of Question2 as True and sets the value of Result as correct.

Example of Set Value rule using Form Data Model service.

Show show

Using the Show rule type, you can write a rule to show or hide a form object based on whether a condition is satisfied or not. The Show rule type also triggers the Hide action in case the condition is not satisfied or returns False.

A typical Show rule is structured as follows:

Show Object A;

When:

(Condition 1 OR Condition 2 OR Condition 3) is TRUE;

Else:

Hide Object A;

Hide hide

Similar to the Show rule type, you can use the Hide rule type to show or hide a form object based on whether a condition is satisfied or not. The Hide rule type also triggers the Show action in case the condition is not satisfied or returns False.

A typical Hide rule is structured as follows:

Hide Object A;

When:

(Condition 1 AND Condition 2 AND Condition 3) is TRUE;

Else:

Show Object A;

Enable enable

The Enable rule type lets you enable or disable a form object based on whether a condition is satisfied or not. The Enable rule type also triggers the Disable action in case the condition is not satisfied or returns False.

A typical Enable rule is structured as follows:

Enable Object A;

When:

(Condition 1 AND Condition 2 AND Condition 3) is TRUE;

Else:

Disable Object A;

Disable disable

Similar to the Enable rule type, the Disable rule type lets you enable or disable a form object based on whether a condition is satisfied or not. The Disable rule type also triggers the Enable action in case the condition is not satisfied or returns False.

A typical Disable rule is structured as follows:

Disable Object A;

When:

(Condition 1 OR Condition 2 OR Condition 3) is TRUE;

Else:

Enable Object A;

Validate validate

The Validate rule type validates the value in a field using an expression. For example, you can write an expression to check that the text box for specifying name does not contain special characters or numbers.

A typical Validate rule is structured as follows:

Validate Object A;

Using:

(Expression 1 AND Expression 2 AND Expression 3) is TRUE;

Understanding the rule editor user interface understanding-the-rule-editor-user-interface

Rule editor provides a comprehensive yet simple user interface to write and manage rules. You can launch the rule editor user interface from within an Adaptive Form in authoring mode.

To launch the rule editor user interface:

Let’s look at each component of the rule editor UI in detail.

A. Component-rule display a-component-rule-display

Displays the title of the Adaptive Form object through which you launched the rule editor and the rule type currently selected. In the above example, the rule editor is launched from an Adaptive Form object titled Question 1 and the rule type selected is When.

B. Form objects and functions b-form-objects-and-functions-br

The pane on the left in the rule editor user interface includes two tabs — Forms Objects and Functions.

The Form Objects tab shows a hierarchical view of all objects contained in the Adaptive Form. It displays the title and type of the objects. When writing a rule, you can drag-drop form objects onto the rule editor. While creating or editing a rule when you drag-and-drop an object or function into a placeholder, the placeholder automatically takes the appropriate value type.

The form objects that have one or more valid rules applied are marked with a Green dot. If any of the rules applied to a form object are invalid, the form object is marked with a Yellow dot.

The Functions tab includes a set of built-in functions, such as Sum Of, Min Of, Max Of, Average Of, Number Of, and Validate Form. You can use these functions to compute values in repeatable panels and table rows and use them in action and condition statements when writing rules. You can, however, create custom functions too.

Some of the list of functions are displayed in the figure:

In the left tree of the form objects, you can select the form objects to display the rules applied to each of the objects. Not only you can navigate through the rules of the various form objects, you can also copy-paste rules between the form objects. For more information, see Copy-paste rules.

C. Form objects and functions toggle c-form-objects-and-functions-toggle-br

The toggle button, when tapped, toggles the form objects and functions pane.

D. Visual rule editor visual-rule-editor

Visual rule editor is the area in the visual editor mode of the rule editor user interface where you write rules. It lets you select a rule type and accordingly define conditions and actions. When defining conditions and actions in a rule, you can drag-drop form objects and functions from the Form Objects and Functions pane.

For more information about using visual rule editor, see Write rules.

E. Done and cancel buttons done-and-cancel-buttons

The Done button is used to save a rule. You can save an incomplete rule. However, incomplete are invalid and do not run. Saved rules on a form object are listed when you launch the rule editor next time from the same form object. You can manage existing rules in that view. For more information, see Manage rules.

The Cancel button discards any changes you made to a rule and closes the rule editor.

Write rules write-rules

You can write rules using the visual rule editor

Let’s first look at how to write rules using visual editor.

Using visual editor using-visual-editor

Let’s understand how to create a rule in visual editor using the following example form.

The Loan Requirements section in the example loan application form requires applicants to specify their marital status, salary, and if married, their spouse’s salary. Based on the user inputs, the rule computes the loan eligibility amount and displays in the Loan Eligibility field. Apply the following rules to implement the scenario:

To write rules, perform the following steps:

Alternatively, you can use the Set Value Of rule to compute the loan eligibility in the When rule that you created to show-hide the Spouse Salary field. The resultant combined rule when Marital Status is Single appears as follows in the rule editor.

You can write a combined rule to control visibility of the Spouse Salary field and compute loan eligibility when the Marital Status is Married using the Else condition.

Custom functions in rule editor custom-functions

Apart from the out-of-the-box functions like Sum of that are listed under Functions Output, you can also use custom functions in your rule editor. Rule editor supports JavaScript ECMAScript 2019 syntax for scripts and custom functions. For instructions on creating custom functions, refer to the article Custom Functions in Adaptive Forms

Manage rules manage-rules

Any existing rules on a form object are listed when you select the object and select . You can view the title and a preview the rule summary. Furthermore, the UI lets you expand and view the complete rule summary, change the order of rules, edit rules, and delete rules.

You can perform the following actions on rules:

Copy-paste rules copy-paste-rules

You can copy-paste a rule from one field to other similar fields to save time.

To copy-paste rules, do the following:

Nested expressions nestedexpressions

Rule editor lets you use multiple AND and OR operators to create nested rules. You can mix multiple AND and OR operators in rules.

Following is an example of a nested rule that displays a message to the user about eligibility for a child’s custody when the required conditions are met.

You can also drag-and-drop conditions within a rule to edit it. Select and hover over the handle ( ) before a condition. Once the pointer turns into the hand symbol as shown below, drag and drop the condition anywhere within the rule. The rule structure changes.

Date expression conditions dateexpression

Rule editor lets you use date comparisons to create conditions.

Following is an example condition that displays a static text object if the mortgage on the house is already taken, which the user signifies by filling up the date field.

When the date of mortgage of the property as filled in by the user is in the past, the Adaptive Form displays a note about the income calculation. The following rule compares the date filled in by the user with the current date and if the date filled in by the user is earlier than the current date, the form displays the text message (named Income).

When filled date is earlier than the current date, the form displays the text message (Income) as following:

Number comparison conditions number-comparison-conditions

Rule editor lets you create conditions that compare two numbers.

Following is an example condition that displays a static text object if the number of months an applicant is staying at current address is less than 36.

When the user signifies living at the present residential address for less than 36 months, the form displays a notification that more proof of residence can be requested.

Example rules example

Invoke Form Data Model service invoke

Consider a web service GetInterestRates that takes loan amount, tenure, and applicant’s credit score as input and returns a loan plan including EMI amount and rate of interest. You create a Form Data Model (FDM) using the web service as a data source. You add data model objects and a get service to the form model. The service appears in the Services tab of the form data model (FDM). Then, create an Adaptive Form that includes fields from data model objects to capture user inputs for loan amount, tenure, and credit score. Add a button that triggers the web service to fetch plan details. The output is populated in appropriate fields.

The following rule shows how you configure the Invoke service action to accomplish the example scenario.

Triggering multiple actions using the When rule triggering-multiple-actions-using-the-when-rule

In a loan application form, you want to capture whether the loan applicant is an existing customer or not. Based on the information user provides, the customer ID field should show or hide. Also, you want to set focus on the customer ID field if the user is an existing customer. The loan application form has the following components:

When you write a When rule on the radio button to implement this behavior, the rule appears as follows in the visual rule editor.

Rule in the visual editor

In the example rule, the statement in the When section is the condition, which when returns True, executes the actions specified in the Then section.

Using a function output in a rule using-a-function-output-in-a-rule

In a purchase order form, you have the following table, in which users fill in their orders. In this table:

A. Row1 B. Quantity C. Total Quantity

Now, you want to add specified quantities in the Product Quantity column for all products and display the sum in the Total Quantity cell. You can achieve this sum by writing a Set Value Of rule on the Total Quantity cell as shown below.

Rule in the visual editor

Validating a field value using expression validating-a-field-value-using-expression

In the purchase order form explained in the previous example, you want to restrict user from ordering more than one quantity of any product that is priced more that 10000. To do this validation, you can write a Validate rule as shown below.

Rule in the visual editor