Forms Item: Essay
Important
Information and features vary according to the roles to which you belong and the permissions associated with those roles. For more information, contact your module manager or your campus support team.
The Essay question type allows form completers to enter multi-line, open-ended responses. Use this field when you need narrative responses, detailed explanations, or feedback. An essay field supports:
Multi-line text entry
Optional character limits
Rules that respond to what the form completer enters
LookUps that populate other fields based on the text provided
The following options are available in Campus Portal Forms, but handled differently or aren't available with J1 Web Forms.
Campus Portal Forms | J1 Web Forms |
|---|---|
Definition | |
Text Position | Unavailable in J1 Web. |
Grid | Unavailable in J1 Web. |
Grid Function | Unavailable in J1 Web. |
Settings | |
Include in Report Grid | Unavailable in J1 Web. |
Map to Payment Field | Unavailable in J1 Web. |
Help Info Text | Unavailable in J1 Web. |
Map to J1 Web Event Field | Unavailable in J1 Web. |
Options | |
Static Options | Unavailable in J1 Web. |
Dynamic Options | Unavailable in J1 Web. |
Randomize options | Unavailable in J1 Web. |
Rules | |
Alert: Show Message | Associate with a workflow that includes an automation plan with a notification interaction. |
Email: Cancel | Associate with a workflow that includes an automation plan with a cancel email interaction. |
Email: Send | Associate with a workflow that includes an automation plan with a send email interaction, |
Form: Print | Unavailable at this time. Workaround: Reviewer can print a copy of the submission PDF. |
Form: Quit | Unavailable at this time. |
Form: Save | Unavailable at this time. |
Grid: Add | Unavailable in J1 Web. |
Payment: Clear Profile | Unavailable in J1 Web. |
Payment: Override Balance | Unavailable in J1 Web. |
Payment: Use Profile | Unavailable in J1 Web. |
Workflow: Add to track queue | J1 Workflow: Add Workflow for Submission |
Workflow: Remove from track queue | J1 Workflow: Remove Workflow for Submission |
Workflow: Set track | N/A |
How To
Access the Connect, Forms, Manage Forms page.
Find the form you're updating and from the Actions menu, select Edit form.
From the Build step, select the tab where you want to add the essay.
Click Add Item. The New Item pop-up window appears.
Enter a Unique ID for the essay question.
Select Essay from the Type drop-down.
Select the appropriate label display option: Display on the form or Screen reader only.
In the Text field, enter and format the label you want to use to describe the essay field.
If you are adding this checkbox to a group, enter the name in the Group field. Each item in the group must use the same group name.
Click Save changes.
Select the Settings tab.
Use the Alignment options to move the question to the center or right.
Enter the Width and Height you want the question to be.
Note
You can use percentages (e.g., 50%) or pixel/point values (e.g., 50px).
Configure attributes:
Required : completers must select at least one option.
Read Only: visible but not editable.
Show Only in Report: visible only in report view.
Select the checkboxes of where the button should appear: Mobile, Tablet, Desktop.
Enter a Default Value if you want a specific selection when the form completer accesses the essay question.
In the Max Length field, enter the maximum number of characters allowed.
Select the Rules tab to define what happens when the form completer enters particular information.
Click Add.
In the first drop-down, select the If answer value is condition and in the corresponding effect field, enter *..
Note
Every rule sequence must begin with this condition.
Because essays do not collect values, so the answer value should always be *.
In the second drop-down, select the action to perform. For example, to show or hide other options.
If needed, click Add to add another rule.
Else if answer value is executes the action if the answer value matches.
Else executes the action if no previous conditions were met.
And executes the action in addition to the previous action.
Select the Look Up tab.
From the Look Up Data Source drop-down, select the data source to use. The table columns associated with the data source appear with corresponding drop-downs.
Note
You can select from Data Dictionaries data sets classified as Form Lookup.
Configure the attributes:
Execute on Load executes the lookup immediately when the form is accessed.
Trigger Next Set allows populated fields to trigger their own events.
Preserve User Input retains text manually entered by the form completer.
If a default value is present (e.g., @@LastName), it is also preserved.
If not selected, LookUp results overwrite user-entered text.
From the drop-downs, map the selected table's columns to the Unique IDs of fields you want to auto-populate.
Click Update.
Access the Core, Campus-wide Definitions, Data Sets page.
From the Queries for drop-down, select Data Dictionaries.
Click Create data set.
From the Classification drop-down, select Form LookUp.
From the Select Modules Allowed Access to Data Set, select the modules you want to be able to access the data set. Anyone in a role with access to a selected module can see and use the data set when working in J1 Web.
From the Type drop-down, select InfoMaker or SQL File.
If you select InfoMaker:
From the PBL drop-down, select the InfoMaker PBL file you want to select a query from.
From the Query drop-down, select the query you want to use to create a data set in J1 Web.
If you select SQL file:
Note
SQL files cannot be edited in J1 Web. Once the file is uploaded, the query fields cannot be changed; however, you can download the query syntax, make changes, and then upload it as a new data set.
Tip
Sample SQL is a name lookup:
select * from J1FormattedNames where ID_NUM = @LookUpValue
Test the query in SQL Server Management Studio before uploading to ensure performance is optimized. A query shouldn’t take more than 4-5 seconds to run. Poorly performing queries will impact J1 Web system performance.
Click Choose File.
Browse your computer or network to find the appropriate SQL file and select it. The system evaluates the file for issues. If none are found, the Create data set button is enabled.
Click Create data set. The Create Data Set window closes, and the data set is listed on the Data Sets page.