Integrated Components
Integrated Components provide a mechanism to pull in data from external sources into an XForms question, sometimes in an interactive manner depending upon the number of user input elements that make up the Integrated Component. Some examples include:
- Pulling in a set of options for a dropdown menu of all records in an external database managed by another system e.g. all of a particular resource managed from within your Jadu CMS e.g. all published Events information, or all University courses from an internal database.
- Pre-filling a value from a global object e.g. pre-filling the user’s forename from their authenticated and signed in user account.
- Free text input, followed by data retrieval and user selection to provide a verified user response e.g. Address lookup via ZIP code search.
Once an Integrated Component has been developed (see the Jadu Developer Guide for how to build new Integrated Components) and registered within your implementation, it will appear in the Component dropdown list with a asterisk (*) next to the component name, for form designers to include within their forms.
Integrated Components displayed within the Component options
These are more interactive in that they can communicate with an external data source to pull in and display data for the end user. A typical example would be an Address search facility which begins with a ZIP code lookup, whereby the end user simply enters a ZIP code into a simple text component (with appropriate validation applied), but then clicks a Lookup button (automatically added by Jadu XFP), after which the page refreshes and data that has been collected from the data source (e.g. either by a database connection or via a webservice call) is then displayed back into a second form component.
In this example, a list of properties might be rendered in a dropdown menu for the user to pick their address, therefore minimizing manual data input errors/inaccuracies and allowing additional data to be gathered that the end user may not have otherwise known, in this case the UPRN (Unique Property Reference Number), for example.
Address Lookup - ZIP code search Integrated Components displayed to end user
Integrated Components can be written by developers in a generic way, and then offer the form's designer some additional configuration options as part of the question setup process. The options that could be provided would be the decision of the Integrated Component developer(s). Where options are available to be set, they will appear in the Integrated Component Setup area when setting up your question.
Integrated Component options displayed in the question setup area
The development of these Integrated Components is a technical task for either internal developers to undertake or Jadu Professional Services, and is beyond the scope of this document. Please refer to the Jadu Developer Guide or your Jadu Account Manager if further information is required.
Managing Integrated Component Error Messages
To edit an existing Integrated Component’s error message you must first select the Integrated Components option in the main XForms Pro module menu.
Integrated Component Control
Select the Integrated Component that you wish to manage the error messages for. The page will then refresh to list the current error message(s) configured for each of the elements that make up the chosen Integrated Component.
Predefined error messages for the Verified Address - Postcode Search Integrated Component
To add a new message, possibly due to adding support for additional languages to your implementation, click the New Message button. This will give you a new row to select the Language to which the message will apply, as well as inserting the translated version of the error Message text.
New row added for inserting Polish language version of Error message
Once you are happy with the message click the Save button to add the message to the system. This message will now be used if a form is set up in the Polish language, and the end user has an error in their input for this element of the Integrated Component used within that form.
To edit an existing error message, load the Integrated Component through the dropdown list, make your changes and click the Update button to the right of the message that you wish to update.
To delete an error message click the Delete button to the right of the error message you wish to delete.