Using Meta Information
Additional information about instances can be helpful in overviews, for example if you want to know when an instance was created or last changed - and by which user. Each instance contains a set of meta information, corresponding fields are automatically provided in the container.
You can use the instance's meta information, for example to display additional information in an overview or to preset form fields.
Meta Information of an Instance
An instance contains the following meta information:
Meta information are not changeable. If you would like to display meta information in a form field you always need to activate read-only characteristic for the relevant fields. If the field remains editable and changes are made to the meta information, those entries will not be saved!
Key | Information |
|---|---|
meta.createdBy | User who created the instance (login name is displayed). |
meta.changedBy | User who last saved the instance (login name is displayed). |
meta.createdAt | Date on which the instance was created (timestamp). |
meta.changedAt | Date on which the instance was last saved (timestamp). |
meta.currentStep.processStepName | Process step in which the instance is currently located (name of the Function element is displayed). |
meta.parallelBranches.currentStep.processStepName | Process steps in which the instance is currently located during parallel execution (name of the Function elements is displayed. For more information see chapter AND Branching. |
In the instance table of an overview, meta information can be configured as follows:
Use meta.createdBy as Field Name in Container, select column type text.
Use meta.changedBy as Field Name in Container, select column type text.
use meta.createdAt as Field Name in Container, select column type date. In addition, the output format can be adjusted under Options for Column Type.
Use meta.changedAt as Field Name in Container, select column type date. In addition, the output format can be adjusted under Options for Column Type
To display the current step, it is not necessary to specify a Field Name in Container. Only select the column type step.
Output during execution of the overview:
meta.createdBy is filled with the login name of the instance's creator.
meta.changedBy is filled with the login name of the user who last saved the instance.
meta.createdAt is filled with the date on which the instance was created.
meta.changedAt is filled with the date on which the instance was last saved.
The column Current Process Step with the column type step is filled with the name of the process step in which the instance is currently located. These can be several (parallel) steps in an app with parallel execution.
Meta Information in Scheer PAS Mobile App
Meta information can also be used in Mobile Forms. Meta information are only created once the data has been saved in the database. They are therefore only available in Scheer PASMobile App after the instance synchronization!
Example: Inserting Creator and Creation Date
Two input fields are added to the Customer Address form:
The Created by field is to display the meta information meta.createdBy.
The meta information meta.createdAt is to be used in the Created at field. As the user should see the date in a readable format, the element Date Picker is used.
The two fields containing meta information are also added to the configuration of the corresponding overview:
If the user opens the form on his mobile device, the fields Created by and Created at are empty, because the metadata is not available at this time:
After the instance has been synchronized, the meta information can be displayed in the overview...
... as well as in the mobile form when the user opens it again:
