About data-binding and auto-populating

Inform includes a data-binding feature that connects to the B2W Operational Suite. The data-binding feature can be used when creating templates in which you want to include data from the B2W Operational Suite.

The following components can be used for data-binding:

• Auto Populate
• Dropdown component
• Dropdown within a Table component.
• Signature

Data collected in forms can be used to make reports in the Reports area of Inform.

Note: If you make changes to a data-bound component (deleting, modifying, etc.), that other data-bound components depend on, a warning message will appear asking you if you want to continue. If you continue, the databinding and filtering configuration on the dependent data-bound components will be cleared.

B2W Operational Suite data used by components

Data-bound components can pull specific data from the B2W Operational Suite database from the following data tables:

• Account
• Business Unit
• Category
• Contact
• Employee
• Employee Certification
• Equipment
• Equipment Rate Class
• Equipment Type
• Job
• Job Project Manager
• Labor Rate Class
• Labor Type
• Location
• Material
• Miscellaneous
• Organization
• Subcategory
• Unit of Measure

Cascading filters and data-binding

Cascading filters allow Template Creators and Editors to pull general and specific data from the B2W Operational Suite database for use in data-bound components.

Example

Let's say you want to create an accident report template that includes an area where the Form Filler can select their Employee ID and once they do, a field for their first and their last name will automatically populate on the form. This will require using data-bound components to build the template.

Steps

1. Create a new template. For Templates help, see Create New Template.
2. On the template editor page, drag the Dropdown component to the canvas.
3. Hover your cursor over the component and click Properties .
4. In the Dropdown Properties dialog, click the button to the right of the Data Source field, then click Edit .
5. In the Select Data Source box select the following information from the menus:
   • Data Source The database you want to pull information from – Select your B2W Operational Suite database. Note that data sources are typically set up by your B2W Implementation Specialist.
   • Record Type The table in the database you want to pull information from. – Select Employee
   • Field The field within the table of your B2W Operational Suite database you want to pull information from. – Select Employee ID.
6. Drag the Auto Populate component to the canvas.
7. Open the component's properties and click Edit next to the Auto Populate Data field.
8. In the Auto Populate Data box select the following information from the menus:
   • Select Component Select a component from the template to auto populate data with. – Select the dropdown component.
   • Field Select a field from the component you chose to pull data from. – Select First Name.
9. Click Save.
10. Repeat steps 6-9, choosing Last Name for the Field choice.
11. Click Publish to publish the template as a form.

Test the form

Now that your template is a form, you can test out the data-bound components on the form as a Form Filler.

1. Navigate to the form to fill it out. For Forms help, see Forms.
2. Using the Employee ID dropdown, select an employee ID. Once you select an employee ID, the first and last name fields will automatically populate with the first and last name associated with that employee ID.

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