Submitted by Julian Egelstaff on Thu, 06/17/2010 - 10:51am.
Hello, thanks for the post. Sorry for the delay, we've been hip deep in the version 4 release.
In Formulize 3.12 (and 4), you can point it at a single database table, and get a nice list view of the records in the table, and it's searchable and sortable, and you can save views of the records so you can quickly get back to that search/sort/whatever later.
But you cannot currently edit the entries and save the changes. There needs to be new code for that, not a lot, but a little. I can certainly point anyone who's interested in adding it, to exactly where in the code the changes need to happen.
So the straight DB integration was setup for reporting purposes only, not full managing of data.
The primary use of Formulize is to create data entry forms that users can use to submit data, and other users can review the data, create reports, and a webmaster can even use Formulize to create workflows for different users to interact with the data in different ways over time (approve, mark as "shipped", etc).
When you do that with Formulize, it creates tables in the database, and handles all the DB level interaction and querying for you. So you can essentially create "a database" inside Formulize, that is actually a bunch of tables in MySQL with joins between them, etc, etc. But Formulize makes the management of the fields, tables, etc, transparent to you. For example, you just make a "department profile" form, and an "issue tracking" form. And you specify a one to many relationship between a department and issues, and Formulize gives you some default interfaces for filling in the form (table) and seeing a list of entries in the form (querying).
In terms of Drupal integration...there is a Drupal module in the SVN repository right now. It's not quite polished enough for me to want to release it, but it is available. It synchs the users between Drupal and Formulize, so it behaves like one system. There is also synching between organic groups and Formulize. We need to add in synching between roles and Formulize, which should be simple, but hasn't been done yet.
I hope this information is helpful. If you can describe what you're planning on doing, I could comment more about what the best use of Formulize might be for you, if any.
Freeform Solutions is proudly supported by a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, which builds healthy and vibrant communities in this great province. The Ontario Trillium Foundation is an agency of the Government of Ontario.
Comments
Maybe
Hello, thanks for the post. Sorry for the delay, we've been hip deep in the version 4 release.
In Formulize 3.12 (and 4), you can point it at a single database table, and get a nice list view of the records in the table, and it's searchable and sortable, and you can save views of the records so you can quickly get back to that search/sort/whatever later.
But you cannot currently edit the entries and save the changes. There needs to be new code for that, not a lot, but a little. I can certainly point anyone who's interested in adding it, to exactly where in the code the changes need to happen.
So the straight DB integration was setup for reporting purposes only, not full managing of data.
The primary use of Formulize is to create data entry forms that users can use to submit data, and other users can review the data, create reports, and a webmaster can even use Formulize to create workflows for different users to interact with the data in different ways over time (approve, mark as "shipped", etc).
When you do that with Formulize, it creates tables in the database, and handles all the DB level interaction and querying for you. So you can essentially create "a database" inside Formulize, that is actually a bunch of tables in MySQL with joins between them, etc, etc. But Formulize makes the management of the fields, tables, etc, transparent to you. For example, you just make a "department profile" form, and an "issue tracking" form. And you specify a one to many relationship between a department and issues, and Formulize gives you some default interfaces for filling in the form (table) and seeing a list of entries in the form (querying).
In terms of Drupal integration...there is a Drupal module in the SVN repository right now. It's not quite polished enough for me to want to release it, but it is available. It synchs the users between Drupal and Formulize, so it behaves like one system. There is also synching between organic groups and Formulize. We need to add in synching between roles and Formulize, which should be simple, but hasn't been done yet.
I hope this information is helpful. If you can describe what you're planning on doing, I could comment more about what the best use of Formulize might be for you, if any.
Thanks,
--Julian