Kaleo Forms

Business processes are often form-based and workflow-driven. They start with entered data and progress by sending that data to other people or groups. Then it’s processed in some way (for example, further data is entered or approval is granted), and the process moves on until completion, when each interested party has seen and manipulated the data. To write an app for each of these processes is laborious. It’s much better to have a tool for quickly defining a process to suit each use case. The process architect must define both the data that gets collected and the process the data moves through to reach its final state. To accomplish this, Liferay DXP already includes the Dynamic Data Lists app for defining forms, and the Workflow Designer app for designing workflows. The Kaleo Forms solution combines the features of these apps, letting you use a single UI to design an integrated process for sending forms through a workflow.

Creating Kaleo Forms Process

To start creating a Kaleo Forms Process you need to get to Kaleo Forms Admin:

1. Go to Site Administration (your Site’s menu) → Content & Data → Kaleo Forms Admin. The Kaleo Forms app appears with a list of any defined processes.

2. Click the Add button () to open the New Process Wizard.

3. Give the process a name and a description and click Next.

   

   Figure 1: Add a Kaleo Forms Process to link a form with a workflow definition.

4. Define the fields that can appear in your process’s forms. There are two ways to do this:

   • Use an existing field set. Click the field set’s Actions button () and select Choose.

   • Create a new field set/data definition. Click the Add Field Set button. If you need help with this, see the documentation on creating data definitions. After creating the field set, select it as you would an existing field set.

   Click Next to move to the wizard’s next step.

   

   Figure 2: Define and choose your form's fields.

5. Select a workflow to use for your forms. To do this, click the workflow’s Actions button () and select Choose.

   You can also edit an existing workflow or create a new one:

   • To edit a workflow, click its Actions button () and select Edit.

   • To begin creating a new workflow, click the Add Workflow button.

   In either case, you use the same UI to edit/create the workflow. This UI is called Workflow Designer. It lets you create your workflow graphically instead of via code.

   Once you select a workflow to use with your forms, click Next.

   

   Figure 3: This example workflow has three tasks that happen sequentially.

6. Select or create a form to use for each workflow task. To do this, click each task’s Actions button () and select Assign Form. On the screen that appears, select an existing form or click the Add button () and to create one.

   Click Save when you’re finished. Your process is done and appears in Kaleo Forms Admin’s table.

   

   Figure 4: Assign a form to each task in the workflow, and for the initial state.

Adding Records to a Process

To add records to a process, click it in Kaleo Forms Admin and then click the Add button (). This brings up the form you assigned to the workflow’s initial state. Fill it out and click Save. Once submitting the initial form, the workflow engine then takes over and moves through each task in the workflow. Whatever Users or Roles you assigned to the tasks receive notifications, and the task appears in the Assigned to My Roles section of the My Workflow Tasks app. A notification also appears in the Notifications app. Once in the task, the user views and approves the form or clicks the Edit button. At this point, the workflow task forms you created come into play. Each assigned user fills out the form, saves it, and sends it along in the workflow.