Setting Form Properties

How to set form properties that contain meta information related to App forms

This tutorial will take you through how to write the <form_name>.properties.json file.

The <form_name>.properties.json file allows you to add logic that ensures that the right action appears for the right contacts (people and places). For instance, an assessment form for children under-5 will only appear for person contacts on the CHT whose age is less than 5.

You will be adding meta-data and context to an assessment workflow that allows Community Health Workers to conduct a health assessment for children under the age of 5.

Brief Overview of Key Concepts

Form context defines when and where the form should be available in the app.

Required Resources

You should have a functioning CHT instance with cht-conf installed locally, completed a project folder setup, and an assessment form.

Implementation Steps

Create a new file in the same folder as your assessment.xlsx file and name it assessment.properties.json.

1. Define the Form’s Title

Edit the assessment.properties.json file and add a title key with the value corresponding to the desired file title.

{
  "title": "Assessment"
}

2. Define the Form’s Icon

Add a resources folder in your project folder and put your preferred icon for assessment in it. Name the icon file icon-healthcare-assessment.png if it is a png file or icon-healthcare-assessment.svg if it is an svg file.

Create a resources.json file in your project folder and add key/value pairs for your icon resources.

{
  "icon-healthcare-assessment": "icon-healthcare-assessment.png"
}

See Also: Icon Library

Add an icon key in the assessment.properties.json file. Pick the key of the icon you require from the resources.json file and add it as the icon value.

{
  "title": "Assessment",
  "icon": "icon-healthcare-assessment"
}

3. Define the Form’s Context

First, add a context key in the assessment.properties.json file. Next, add an object with person, place and expression keys. Then, add the boolean value true for the person key, the boolean value false for the place key and the expression ageInYears(contact) < 5 for the expression key.

{
  "title": "Assessment",
  "icon": "icon-healthcare-assessment",
  "context": {
        "person": true,
        "place": false,
        "expression": "ageInYears(contact) < 5"
    }
}

4. Upload resources and the `<form_name>.properties.json` File

Run the following command from the root folder to upload the resources folder and resources.json file:

cht --url=https://<username>:<password>@localhost --accept-self-signed-certs upload-resources

Run the following command from the root folder to upload the assessment.properties.json file:

cht --url=https://<username>:<password>@localhost --accept-self-signed-certs upload-app-forms -- assessment

Note

Be sure to replace the values <username> and <password> with the actual username and password of your test instance.

Once you successfully upload the assessment.properties.json file, ‘Assessment’ will appear as an action only for person contacts who are less that 5 years old. Additionally, the icon-healthcare-assessment icon will now show alongside the action name.