Forms

Introduction

The collector embeds a form editor. The defined forms are used in two different subsystems.

  • The compliance subsytem

    A form can be defined to ease the creation of a json-structure variable value. OpenSVC ships such forms for all compliance objects available through OpenSVC. More can be defined by the users themselves.

  • The workflow subsystem

    In this subsytem, a form is a step in the workflow.

A form is basically a collection of inputs and outputs. Possible outputs include:

  • script execution, using the inputs data as a JSON-formatted argument.

  • GET, POST, DELETE, PUT request on the rest api

  • store as a row in a collector database table

  • store as a raw form data submission for use in form chains, in the workflow subsystem

  • mail the submitted form

Forms are presented to users in a tree view to allow classification.

A user is presented only with the forms pusblished to its groups.

Form creation

Form creation requires the FormManager privilege.

The dedicated view is Admin ‣ Forms.

A newly created form is owned by it’s creator private group (user_n), and is not published to any group.

A form is defined by the following properties:

  • Form name

    An internal name to identify the form.

  • Form folder

    Where in the form tree to publish the form. This property can be left empty for forms used as non-initial workflow steps.

  • Form responsible

    A list of groups of users allowed to edit the form.

  • Form publication

    A list of groups of users allowed to see and use the form.

  • Form definition

    A YAML description of the form.

Form YAML definition

References

A reference is a #<key> or #<key>.<key> word replaced by the value referenced.

References can be used in Function, Args, DefaultFunction, DefaultArgs and Condition input keywords. In those cases, <key> is the value of the Key input keyword, or the value of the Id input keyword if Key is not set, or the value of a key mapped through the Keys input keyword.

References can also be used in Format, Value and Keys input keywords. In those cases, <key> is the value of a key of a candidate dict. If candidates are in « dict of dict » format, the reference can be spelled as #<key>.<key>.

Outputs

Keywords

  • Id

    A string identifying uniquely the output. This id is used to index the hash storing the rest calls resulting data. If no Id is set for a rest output, its resulting data is discarded.

  • Type

    Candidates: json

    The serialization format to use to represent the form submitted data.

  • Format

    Candidates:

    • dict

      A flat key-value representation. Adequate to store data submitted from single-instance multi-inputs forms.

    • list

      A Flat list of values. Adequate to store data submitted from multi-instance single-input forms

    • list of dict

      Adequate to store data submitted from multi-instance, multi-inputs forms

    • dict of dict

      Adequate to store data submitted from multi-instance, multi-inputs forms, where the user benefits from a main index to address each data instance.

  • Key

    If Format is set to dict of dict, this property defines which input values to use as a key for the master dictionnary. Key can be ommitted with other Formats values.

  • Dest

    Candidates:

    • script

      Execute a script pointed by Path with the submitted serialized data as argument.

    • mail

      Send a mail to the addresses defined by the To list-property, with the css-formatted submitted form.

    • workflow

      Save the submitted form data in the forms store. The saved object is linked to its head form and parent form in the workflow, and its parent form is updated to be linked to the newly saved object. These linking relations define form chains, also referred to as workflows.

    • db

      Save the submitted form data in a collector database table. In this mode, each input identifier must be a table column name.

    • rest

      Execute a rest call for each dict with the submitter’s privileges. The call type is defined by the Handler output parameter (POST, DELETE or PUT). The rest path is defined by the Function output parameter (example: /nodes/#nodename/tags). The keys to include in the call data are specified by the Keys output parameter. If Keys is not set, all available keys are included. If Mangle is set to a js function, use the returned data instead of the form data.

  • NextAssignee

    If Dest is set to workflow, this property defines the group or user, as known to the OpenSVC Collector user and group management tables, to assign to next workflow step to.

  • Mangle

    This keyword is considered if the Dest is set to rest. The value is a javascript function definition used to mangle the form data before submitting the rest request. This function takes the form data as first argument and the previously done rest calls resulting data hash as the second argument (see Id). The mangler returns a data structure compatible with the rest handler pointed by Function.

    Avertissement

    Due to yaml syntax limitation, the “<” character is not allowed in the mangle function. Hopefully, in most cases a negated test can workaround this issue.

    Example: Output definition to prepare a pullable service configuration:

    Outputs:
  -
    Id: create_service
    Type: json
    Format: dict
    Dest: rest
    Function: /services
    Handler: POST
    Mangle: |
      function(data, results) {
        var template = `
      [DEFAULT]
      app = $(data.app)
      nodes = $(data.nodes)

      [fs#1]
      type = btrfs
      dev = LABEL=$(data.svcname).fs.1
      mnt = /$(data.svcname)
      `
        ret = {
          "svc_name": data.svcname,
          "svc_envfile": template
        }
      }

  • NextForms

    If Dest is set to workflow, this property defines a list of possible next forms to route the workflow to. Those candidates are proposed to the next assignee in a menu.

  • Table

    If Dest is set to db, this property defines the collector database table to store the form, as a new line, into.

  • WaitResult

    Wait for WaitResult seconds for a non empty resultset as the result of this output. Useful for example to wait for an enqueued action to finish to use its stdout in the following outputs.

  • SkipOnErrors

    A boolean value. Default is False. If set to True, the output is skipped if a previous output returned an error.

  • LogRequestData

    A boolean value. Default is True. In a rest output destination, the request data is logged for use by follow-on outputs, for audit and for workflow steps representation. Some forms containing sensitive data like password may prefer to disable this logging. To do so the LogRequestData can be set to False.

Examples

A script execution output:

Outputs:
  -
    Type: json
    Format: list of dict
    Dest: script
    Path: /tmp/foo.py

A mail output, sending a the submitted form to a specified destination, and to the submitter:

Outputs:
  -
    Type: json
    Format: list of dict
    Dest: mail
    To:
      - admin@opensvc.com
      - __user_email__

A workflow head form output, sending the submitted form to the next assignee with a link to the next forms menu:

Outputs:
  -
    Type: json
    Format: list of dict
    Dest: workflow
    Mail: Yes
    NextAssignee: OpenSVC
    NextForms:
      - done
      - reject
      - ask_info

Pushing data from outputs

Outputs receive a dataset containing all previous outputs results, logs, and results_id and output_id information.

The output code (script, webhook, … under user responsibility) can use this information to push progress information using a dedicated collector api handler:

PUT /form_output_results/<results_id> Body json data structure: {

« result »: {
« log »: [

[0, « i am %(who)s », {« who »: « groot »}], [0, « we are %(who)s », {« who »: « groot »}]

], <other free-form keys>

}, « output_id »: 10

}

Logs are dynamically displayed in the web client that submitted the form, so the user can follow the progress of long-running outputs.

Inputs

Keywords

  • Id

    The form-wide unique identifier of this input. Other inputs can refer to this identifier when defining constraints or triggers as #this_id.

  • Key

    If multiple inputs provide the same dictionary key, the Key parameter can be set to define its value as the dictionary key in addition to the Id key. Thus a script consuming the output can use the predictible Key key, whereas the collector still has the Id key available to redisplay the submitted form. An empty Key value insures the input value is not included in the submitted data.

  • Keys

    If the input has candidates in the « list of dict » format, either staticly defined or fetched from the Rest API, this parameter allows to map selected candidate keys to result dict keys. A typical use case is to embed in the result dict both node_id and nodename fetched from the Rest API. References substitution values are looked up in the result dict, so keys defined with the Keys keyword can be referenced too, like Id or Key. Example mapping:

    Keys:
  - node_id = #svcmon.node_id
  - nodename = #nodes.nodename

  • Constraint

    A constraint is an input value validator. As long as the constraint is not satisfied the form can not be submitted. The constraint syntax is an expression like <operator> <value>, where operator can be either ==, > or match. The value after a match operator is interpreted as a regular expression. The value after a > operator must be numeric.

  • Label

    The label displayed next to the input in form edition mode.

  • DisplayModeLabel

    The label displayed next to the input in form display mode.

  • DisplayInDigest

    If set to Yes, the input value is displayed in digest display mode. This mode is used to present nodes or services customizations. Default is No.

  • LabelCss

    The name of the css class to use to decorate the Label and DisplayModeLabel in the form edition and display modes. The pointed class usually set a 16x16 icon on the left side.

  • Help

    A help message displayed as a html title. It appears on hover over the question mark besides the input element. If not specified, the icon is not displayed.

  • Candidates

    A list of candidate values used as OPTION html elements of the input SELECT html element.

  • StrictCandidates

    If set to yes, add a constraint violation if the free text autocomplete value is not found in the candidates list.

  • Form

    In conjonction with the form input type, this parameter points the encapsulated form by name.

  • Type

    Default: string

    Candidates:

    • string

      The submitted data for this input is stored in the object as a unicode string. The html element used for this type is INPUT or SELECT if Candidates is set.

    • password

      Like string but the user input is obfuscated.

    • text

      The submitted data for this input is stored in the object as a unicode string. The html element used for this type is TEXTAREA.

    • boolean

      The submitted data for this input is stored in the object as a boolean. The html element used for this type is a checkbox-type INPUT.

    • integer

      The submitted data for this input is stored in the object as an integer. The html element used for this type is INPUT or SELECT if Candidates is set.

    • size

      The submitted data for this input is stored in the object as an integer number of bytes, obtained by converting the submitted string formatted as {number}[ ]{0,1}{unit} where unit is one of (case insensitive):

      • k or kb: kilobytes

      • m or mb: megabytes

      • g or gb: gigabytes

      • t or tb: terabytes

      • p or pb: petabytes

      • ki or kib: kibibytes

      • mi or mib: mebibytes

      • gi or gib: gibibytes

      • ti or tib: tebibytes

      • pi or pib: pebibytes

      The html element used for this type is INPUT or SELECT if Candidates is set.

    • date

      The submitted data is for this input is a string. The html element used for this type is INPUT with a date picker.

    • time

      The submitted data is for this input is a string. The html element used for this type is INPUT with a time picker.

    • datetime

      The submitted data is for this input is a string. The html element used for this type is INPUT with a date and time picker.

    • checklist

      The submitted data for this input is a list whose elements are the values of the checked items at submition. Proposed items can be defined through Candidates or through Function and Args. ReadOnly, Mandatory and Constraints are ignored.

    Unknown values will default to the string type.

    • form

      The input value is the dataset produced by another form, pointed by the Form input keyword.

  • Unit

    Target unit used to convert size and integer Type input values. For example a « 10m » value in an input with Unit « k » will result in a « 10240 » value in the resulting data.

  • ReadOnly

    Default: No

    Candidates:

    • Yes

      The html element for this input will be flagged as readonly, so that the content can not be changed by the user. The element will appear greyed-out in the form and the input won’t get the focus. This property is often added to inputs with a trigger attached, that fetches using ajax a value depending on other input values.

    • No

      The html element is not flagged readonly, which is the default behaviour.

  • Mandatory

    Default: No

    Candidates:

    • Yes

      The form highlights those fields if they are left empty, to mark the fact that a value is mandatory for the form submission to succeed.

    • No

  • Placeholder

    The text to display as example values in simple inputs or selects.

  • DisableAutoDefault

    For inputs with candidates and no default value specified, disable the picking of the first candidate as the default value.

  • Default

    A string, numeric or list value used to pre-fill the input element or choose a select option on form load. The default value also accept some predefined keywords:

    • __user_name__

      The submitter first name and last name.

    • __user_email__

      The submitter email address.

    • __user_phone_work__

      The submitter work phone number.

    • __user_primary_group__

      The submitter primary group, as known to the OpenSVC collector authentication tables.

  • Condition

    An expression evaluated by the form javascript to trigger the input visibility. If a condiftion is set, the input is hidden upon form load, and is displayed when the condition is met.

    The expression is expressed in the form #some_input_id == some_value.

    • The supported operators are IN, NOT IN, <, >, == and !=.

    • The supported values are either a free from string cast into the reference input type, or empty. List values for the IN operator are comma-separated.

  • Hidden

    Default: No

    Candidates:

    • Yes

      The input is not displayed.

    • No

  • Format

    The definition used to format a SELECT input options label from the dictionaries of a Rest API resultset. The dictionaries keys are referenced through the dash prefix.

    Avertissement

    If the value starts with a # you have to double quote the string so that the YAML parser doesn’t interpret it as a comment

    Example:

    • The #mac (#intf) format would render a label like 01:02:03:04:05:06 (eth0) from a {"mac": "01:02:03:04:05:06", "intf": "eth0"} dictionary.

  • Value

    The definition used to format a SELECT input options value from the dictionaries of a Rest API resultset. The dictionaries keys are referenced through the dash prefix.

    Avertissement

    If the value starts with a # you have to double quote the string so that the YAML parser doesn’t interpret it as a comment

    Example:

    • The #mac value would set a value of 01:02:03:04:05:06 from a {"mac": "01:02:03:04:05:06", "intf": "eth0"} dictionary.

  • Function

    The function parameter can be used to feed dynamic content in the form input. The collector supports two fetching methods: internal functions exposed as jsonrpc (deprecate), and the Rest API.

    • jsonrpc

      Deprecated.

      A function exported by the OpenSVC collector as a JSON-RPC, called to determine the input value. This keyword can be coupled to the Args keyword to select which form inputs provide the JSON-RPC arguments.

      Available functions:

      • json_node_loc_city

      • json_node_environnement

      • json_node_os_concat

      • json_node_portnames

      • json_service_loc_city

      • json_service_nodes

      • json_service_portnames

    • Rest API

      The URL path parented to /init/rest/api. For example, Function: /nodes fetchs nodes properties.

      References can be used the the path. For example, Function: /nodes/#nodename/disks fetchs disks properties of the node pointed by the input with Id: nodename.

      The #user_id special virtual reference is available to format Function like /users/#user_id/nodes, which limits the returned nodes to those owned by the logged-in user.

  • Args

    As for Function, this parameter supports the jsonrpc and Rest API methods. The method influence the Args parameter syntax as follows.

    • jsonrpc

      Depreacated.

      A list of form input identifiers, specified as #some_input_id, whose value to pass as argument to the JSON-RPC pointed by Function. The order of the list elements is the order of the arguments to submit to the Function.

    • Rest API

      A list of <param> = <value> arguments passed to the Rest API handler pointed by Function. Please refer to the API documentation to find which parameters are supported by each handler.

      Of note,

      • limit = 0 is most important to fetch all candidates, and not be limited to the default 20 first entries.

      • meta = 0 can also be used to spare some bytes on the wire, as the resultset metadata are not used by the form inputs.

      • The query smart query parameter (pydal syntax), or the filters parameter (OpenSVC filter syntax) can be used to filter the entries on pertinent criteria. The filters parameter can be set multiple times, to add cumulative filters.

    References can be used in Args. For example, query = "loc_city = #loc_city" can filter the node list returned by the /nodes handler using the city selected in the input with Id: loc_city or the input setting the loc_city key through its Keys list. "filters = loc_city #loc_city" has the same effect.

  • DefaultFunction

    Same as Function, but the request provides default values of the input instead of candidates.

  • DefaultArgs

    Same as Args, but the request provides default values of the input instead of candidates.

    If DefaultFunction is set and DefaultArgs is not set, Args is used as DefaultFunction arguments.

  • DisplayModeTrim

    The maximum length of the input value representation string in display mode. If the actual value is longer than DisplayModeTrim, only the first DisplayModeTrim // 3 and the last DisplayModeTrim // 3 * 2 characters will be displayed. This parameter is usually set on inputs with very long values, like public keys for example.

  • CheckOnLoad

    With the checklist type, setting CheckOnLoad to « all » tells the renderer to check all checkboxes on load.

  • ResubmitDelay

    To disable the submit button for a specified delay. This prevents users submitting the form multiple times on double clicks.

Examples

A simple string input:

Inputs:
  -
    Id: alias
    Label: Alias
    DisplayModeLabel: alias
    LabelCss: hw16
    Type: string

The same input, display only if the nodename input is not empty:

Inputs:
  -
    Id: alias
    Label: Alias
    DisplayModeLabel: alias
    LabelCss: hw16
    Type: string
    Condition: "#nodename != empty"

A select input, whose options are statically defined:

Inputs:
  -
    Id: alias
    Label: Alias
    DisplayModeLabel: alias
    LabelCss: hw16
    Type: string
    Candidates:
      - alias1
      - alias2

A select input, whose options are fetched from the OpenSVC collector data, depending on the service name input content:

Inputs:
  -
    Id: site
    Label: Site
    DisplayModeLabel: site
    LabelCss: loc16
    Type: string
    Candidates:
    Function: json_service_loc_city
    Args:
      - "svcname = #svcname"

A checklist of a node visible target ports:

Inputs:
  -
  Id: targets
  Label: Targets
  DisplayModeLabel: targets
  LabelCss: db16
  Type: checklist
  Format: "#tgt_id"
  Value: "#tgt_id"
  CheckOnLoad: all
  Function: /nodes/#node_id/targets
  Args:
     - props = stor_zone.tgt_id