Form Technical Reference
The Protocol Form is how you can create questions for your tasks. These could be used to accompany any type of task, like reader studies.
Simple Form JSON
Form Properties
| Property | Description | Value | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| title | The title of the form, not currently shown in the viewer. | String | yes |
| description | The description of the purpose of the from, not currently shown in the viewer. | String | yes |
| defaults | This is an object that is in the format of the answers we expect to get back from the questions, where the field key is a property and the value is the default (starting) state of the answer. The type of primitive the answer is expected to be is inferred from the value. e.g. "" = String, [] = Array, false = boolean | Object of Key/Value pairs | yes |
| fields | The collection of questions to be answered. See Field Properties below. May also contain sections that group fields together. See Form Section Properties below. | Array of Fields and Sections | yes |
Note: defaults does not need to include all of the field key's just the ones that you are expecting values for. Most likely you will skip paragraph and instruction types in your defaults object.
Example Field
Field Properties
| Property | Description | Value | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| key | unique name to map a question the the entered value. Also used as the var identifier for the [JsonLogic](https://jsonlogic.com/) visibility and validity. | String | yes |
| type | this identifies what type of field format will be used to answer the question. | 'checkbox', 'switch', 'radio', 'text', 'text-area', 'date', 'phone', 'select', 'paragraph', 'instruction' | yes |
| label | This is the label used to ask the question. May be null, though a field with no label may look odd. | String or null | yes |
| description | Text displayed under the label. May be null. | String or null | yes |
| placeholder | Placeholder text shown inside the input before the reader enters a value. May be null. | String or null | yes |
| helperText | Text under the field input, often used for example answers. May be null. | String or null | yes |
| errorText | Custom error text for the field. May be null. | String or null | no |
| options | If you have a collection field this where you would make the collection of choices that would be presented. | Array of Value/Label objects \[{"value": "1", "label": "One"}\] | if type is 'select', 'checkbox', or 'radio' |
| visible | The [JsonLogic](https://jsonlogic.com/) rule to determine if the field is visible | Array of JsonLogic RulesLogic or Boolean | no, not specified assumes visible |
| requiredWhenVisible | If the field is visible whether or not it is required to have a valid value. If true this will also show a red asterisk indicator next to the question label. (see above image) | Array of JsonLogic RulesLogic or Boolean | no, not specified assumes not required |
| validation | See Validation Rule Properties below | Array of Validation Rule Objects | no, not specified assumes no validation run |
Every field must include the six required properties — type, label, description, placeholder, key, and helperText — even when the value is null. Adding a property that is not documented here causes the protocol to fail validation on upload.
Validation Rule Properties
| Property | Description | Value | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| logic | The JsonLogic rule to determine if the field value is valid | JsonLogic RulesLogic | yes |
| message | Message to show if the RulesLogic is not met | String | no (but may be hard to understand the validation failure without it) |
As you can see from above a key component of the interactivity in the validation and visibility logic used in a form is handled via an array of JsonLogic rules. For both the visible and requiredWhenVisible rules collection if any of the rules are true then the whole set evaluates to true. The validation collection works slightly different in that if any of the logic evaluates to false it will show the message and that field is consider invalid.
Validation and Visibility Sample Form
When adding logic to your form it is always best to use affirmative based logic like shown above in the Validation and Visibility Sample Form with the use of "===" or "in". Using something like "!==" : [var, "2"] does not take into account empty values or other defaults that may be set. Negative logic also becomes a lot more complex to follow when one starts to add logical conjunctions in the mix.
Note: If requiredWhenVisible is false and the value is empty validation does not run. If you have a use case where you want to conditionally allow empty value based on another field then you would have to make requiredWhenVisible a JsonLogic Rule and add and empty check to your validation.
Logical conjunctions like "and", "or" can be used to string more complex logic together based on multiple values or fields. This logic also becomes necessary for when multiple sub-rules are need as only one top level rule can be used.
Conjunction example
Form Sections
A section groups related fields under a common title. Sections are placed directly in the form's fields array, alongside regular fields. Flywheel identifies an entry as a section because it has no type property. In the viewer, each section is displayed as a collapsible group that readers can expand or collapse. A section expands automatically when the reader moves to a field inside it, and its header shows an error indicator when a field inside it is invalid.
Form Section Properties
| Property | Description | Value | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| key | Unique identifier for the section. | String | yes |
| title | Heading displayed at the top of the section. | String | yes |
| description | Brief explanation of what the section covers. | String or null | no |
| visible | The JsonLogic rule to determine if the section is visible. Uses the same format as the field visible property. | Array of JsonLogic RulesLogic or Boolean | no, not specified assumes visible |
| fields | The fields that belong to the section. See Field Properties above. | Array of Fields | yes |
Keep the following rules in mind when you use sections:
- Sections cannot be nested. A section's
fieldsarray can contain fields only. - When a section is hidden, all of its fields are hidden, even fields whose own
visiblerule evaluates to true. - When a section is visible, each field's own
visiblerule still applies. - Required fields inside a hidden section are not enforced, so they do not block submission.
- When the reader submits the form, answers to fields inside a hidden section are not saved with the form. Until then, those answers are kept, so if the section is hidden and then displayed again, the reader's answers are still there.
- A section has no
requiredWhenVisibleproperty. SetrequiredWhenVisibleon the individual fields instead. - The
keyof a section cannot be used as an adjudication trigger field. Use thekeyof a field inside the section.
Note
Only sections remove hidden answers at submission. If a field outside a section is hidden by its own visible rule, any answer already entered in it is still saved with the form.
Form Section Example
In this example, the Pregnancy Screening section appears only when the reader selects Female. If the reader selects Male, the required lmp field does not block submission, and any answer entered in it is not saved.
Full Text Example Form Look in Viewer
Full Test Example Form JSON
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