Limiting the number of form fields

Applies to version: 2020.1.x and above; author: Piotr Poniedziałek

Introduction

WEBCON BPS introduces a lot of new functionalities which allow for creating more complicated processes. In some cases, developing the process is related to an increase in the number of form fields used, although this is not always necessary. For more information see: WEBCON BPS  – limits of form fields and columns.

This article describes how to limit the number of form fields in WEBCON BPS 2020 and presents good practices in planning and configuring process – so that these limits are not reached.

All of the following limitations result directly from the WFElements (for form fields) and WFElementsDetails (for the item list) SQL table structures.

Limit tables

Global form fields

The limit of global form fields applies to the entire system configuration. Regardless of the number of processes, workflows and their form fields, there can be only as many global fields as specified in the table below:

Form fields

The following table presents the limits of a single process. The number of workflows in the process does not affect the limits of each field type:

* Survey fields share limits with other types of form fields because they are only a representation of these types of form fields. If there are already 30 integer numbers in the process, it is not possible to add a survey field (rating scale). The same applies to the picker fields and survey fields (choice list).

Item list columns

Although the number of the item lists on the form is not limited, each type of item list column also has a limit. In this case, the number of column types is further limited by adding the text columns to the choice columns. However, such a connection leaves the possibility of deciding which columns should be more in the configurable list of items.

* In the case of the item list, the text fields and choice fields are stored in columns of the same type (DET_AttX) under one data type – varchar.

Good practices

Below there is a list of techniques that allows for such planning and configuring the processes so as not to reach the form field limits.

1. Using the global fields – if some fields appear in many processes and perform a similar function, you can consider converting the individual form fields into global fields. A good example of using a global field is the “Contractor” fields, which is usually selected in many processes, but has the same data set. In addition, global field settings can be overwritten within any process.
2. When the form fields have only the informational function (e.g. displaying the data from other workflows), they should be replaced by data row or data table form fields. These form fields do not have the limitations and can reduce the time of loading the form.
3. If the main system workflow is complicated and is supported by several dependent sub-workflows, they can be separated into two individual but still related processes.
4. Make sure that creating the fields that are used only for calculating other form fields or controlling the actions (e.g. technical fields) is justified. In most cases, the value from this field (if it is not used in many places) can be directly downloaded and saved in the business rules.
5. Instead of the data table, you can use the item list which will replace several form fields with columns. However, using this method regularly and adding multiple item lists to bypass the limits, can increase the time it takes to load the form and make it more difficult to perform other system functions.

General notes on the above tips and limits

Although the item lists and data tables do not have any limitations, using them in excess can increase the time it takes to load the form and performance reduction. Especially if the item list has many rows and the data table calls up a complicated query.

The group of form fields and panels with tabs do not have to affect the on restrictions of form fields.

The operation mode choice field sub-type does not affect the limit.

Summary

There are many techniques and abilities to minimize the number of form fields in the individual processes. Appropriate planning of the system and the separation of their logical components between dependent processes is also of great importance. Following the recommendations above, current form field limits should be sufficient even for the most complex and complicated processes.