Forms

What are Forms?

At a fundamental level, a form is any structured request for data.

In the Form.io Platform, forms are the fundamental user element. Forms collect, validate, and structure data. The same structure automatically defines a backend API to manage and access submitted data.

Overview of Forms

Building Forms

Forms are built with a drag-and-drop Form Builder.

Form Building

Types of Forms

Forms may be created as web forms, wizards, or fillable PDFs.

Form Types

Form Lifecycle

The typical workflow of a form in the Form.io Platform.

Form Lifecycle

Embedding a Form

How a form is used within an application.

Embedding a Form

Form Settings

Configure and customize a form.

Form Settings

Form Revisions

Track changes to a form.

Form Revisions

Using Forms

How end users interact with a form.

Submissions

Form JSON

Understanding Form JSON

Form JSON

Form Lifecycle

The typical Form creation process and life cycle can look like the following:

1. Form Creation

2. Adding Form Components

3. Adding Actions

4. Setting Up Roles and Permissions

5. Managing Submission Data

Form Builder in Action

A live demo of the Form.io Form Builder is available at https://formio.github.io/formio.js/app/builder

This provides a glimpse into how the Form.io Platform uses components to create a Form and the JSON schema that defines it.

Click Here for an in-depth explanation of how Forms and Resources work.

Form Embedding

Embedding places the live form in an application. This makes it accessible to the end user.

The Form JSON is rendered by the form renderer, which is built into the application. As a result, embedded a form is as simple as providing the hosted Form JSON to the Form Renderer.

For detailed information about embedding a form, refer to the Embedding a Formsection of the Forms topic in the User Guide.

Using A Form

When a form is completed by the end user, it creates a Submission. This submission records the data entered into the form, as well as some metadata about the user submitting the form.

For detailed information about submissions, refer to the Submissions section of the User Guide.