Dynamic Lookups Overview

There are two types of Dynamic Lookups:

• Data Lookups: Used to dynamically populate existing form elements with data
• Element Lookups: Used to dynamically generate form elements

 

Dynamic Lookups can be configured across your environments, allowing for added versioning control across your apps. 

 

Data Lookup  

The Data Lookup feature allows form elements to be populated with form elements dynamically based on the values of specific elements.

 

For example, you want to search on a list of playgrounds and find the corresponding location and suburb. If you already have this information available then you can create your own data lookup to automatically populate the location and suburb based on the Playground name.

 

When the lookup button is clicked the form submission data is sent to the Lookup Source which dynamically populates the other configured form elements.

 

 

 

Element Lookup

The Element Lookup feature allows the form to be populated dynamically with elements based on the value of specific elements.

 

For example, to do a stocktake of a warehouse where you have a list of items that you want to check and locate in the warehouse, but the list of items is different for each warehouse. When the lookup button is clicked, the form submission data is sent to the Lookup Source, which dynamically populates the form with the configured elements.

 

In doing this you can dynamically show the list of items based on the specific warehouse ID. Warehouse 123 has a very different list of items from Warehouse 124.

 

Element lookups can also be used to generate form pages and elements across that page. Check out our GitHub example.

 

Custom URL vs. Hosted API vs. Built-In

 

Custom URL

When creating a Lookup, you can choose to use a Custom URL. When choosing a Custom URL, you will be asked to provide the URL for the specific API endpoint that you want the form data to be pushed to.

 

Hosted API

Alternatively, you can use our API Hosting service to create your own custom-hosted APIs for your Lookups to point to. When selecting Hosted API, you will be asked to select an API and a route for each of your available Environments. For more on our API Hosting service check out Github API CLI.

 

Built-In

We also have the option to use Built-in data as the source of our lookup. Essentially, we capture the logged-in users' information and use that as a data source for our lookup.

 

The following element names work with Built-In lookups:

 

Element Name	Description
email	returns the logged-in user's email address
firstName	returns the logged-in user's first name
lastName	returns the logged-in user's last name
fullName	returns the logged-in user's full name
username	returns the logged-in username
userId	returns the logged-in user's ID
providerType	returns the logged-in user's provider
providerUserId	returns the logged-in user's providers ID
isSAMLUser	returns whether the user is a SAML user (true | false)
supervisorFullName	returns the logged-in user's Supervisor's full name
supervisorEmail	returns the logged-in user's Supervisor's email address
supervisorProviderUserId	returns the logged-in user's Supervisor providers ID
picture	returns the logged-in user's picture as a URL
phoneNumber	returns the logged-in user's office or mobile number (depending on the claim)

 

 

Automatic Lookups

Lookups can be run automatically. If a lookup includes default or pre-populated data, the lookup will automatically run when the form initially loads. This can be used to populate forms immediately on load or create entirely dynamic forms.

 

Customize Error Messages

You are also able to add your own unique error messages. These are configured in the API.

 

Offline 

Due to the lookup calling an external endpoint, this functionality will only work while online.

 

Example Lookup API

For information on creating your own lookup API, check out our Server CLI examples.

 

Supporting Articles

• Create & Manage Dynamic Lookups