Visual form designer

Abstract

A visual form designer is disclosed. A target user interface is configured to display a particular form. A design user interface is used to design the target user interface. The target user interface includes an instance of an interface widget. A customizable widget property of the interface widget is a set of selectable values for the interface widget. As an example, the interface widget may be a dropdown menu for accepting one of a set of selectable values. The design user interface displays multiple existing data sources. Each data source specifies a limited set of selectable values. The design user interface receives user input selecting one of the data sources. The instance of the interface widget is configured to accept a value from the limited set of selectable values specified by the selected data source. Hence, the instance of the interface widget is integrated with the selected data source.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more hardware processors, causes performance of operations comprising:
 concurrently displaying a widget-selection section, a form-design section, and a widget-properties section;   displaying available interface widgets, for designing a particular form, in the widget-selection section;   responsive at least to receiving a first user input dragging a first interface widget from the widget-selection section to the form-design section:
 concurrently displaying (a) an instance of the first interface widget in the form-design section and (b) a set of customizable widget properties corresponding to the instance of the first interface widget in the widget-properties section, 
 wherein the instance of the first interface widget is associable with at least one of a plurality of existing data sources, wherein each of the plurality of existing data sources specifies a respective set of values; 
   displaying a list comprising the plurality of existing data sources;   responsive to receiving a second user input that (a) is received via the widget-properties section, (b) selects at least one of the plurality of existing data sources, and (c) is in relation to the instance of the first interface widget:
 configuring the instance of the first interface widget for accepting a value from the set of values specified by the selected existing data source. 
   
     
     
         2 . The medium of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprising:
 responsive to receiving a third user input selecting a particular destination for the first interface widget:
 mapping the data submission, received via the first interface widget, to storage at the particular destination. 
   
     
     
         3 . The medium of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving a third user input selecting a sequence of users for approving a request submitted via the particular form;   subsequent to receiving a first request from a first user via the particular form:
 selecting a second user for approving the first request from the selected sequence of users; and 
 displaying the first request to the second user. 
   
     
     
         4 . The medium of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving a third user input selecting a subset of users that have permission to submit a request via the particular form;   subsequent to receiving a first request from a first user to display the particular form:
 responsive to determining that the first user is not included in the selected subset of users, refraining from displaying the particular form to the first user. 
   
     
     
         5 . The medium of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving a third user input selecting a subset of users that do not have permission to submit a request via the particular form;   subsequent to receiving a first request from a first user to display the particular form:
 responsive to determining that the first user is included in the selected subset of users, refraining from displaying the particular form to the first user. 
   
     
     
         6 . The medium of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving a third user input selecting a subset of users that have permission to submit a request via the particular form;   receiving a fourth user input selecting a sequence of users for approving a request submitted via the particular form;   subsequent to receiving a first request from a first user to display the particular form:
 responsive to determining that the first user is included in the selected subset of users, displaying the particular form to the first user: 
 selecting a second user for approving the first request from the selected sequence of users; and 
 displaying the first request to the second user. 
   
     
     
         7 . The medium of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving a third user input selecting a particular landing page for displaying an icon representing the particular form;   subsequent to receiving a first request from a first user to display the particular landing page:
 responsive to determining that the particular landing page is selected for displaying the icon representing the particular form based on the third user input, displaying the icon representing the particular form on the particular landing page. 
   
     
     
         8 . The medium of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the selected existing data source is organized according to a schema associated with a set of data fields; and   a particular data field, of the set of data fields, stores the set of values.   
     
     
         9 . The medium of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 subsequent to receiving a first request from a first user to display the particular form:
 identifying the set of values currently stored by the selected existing data source; 
 displaying the set of values currently stored by the selected existing data source; and 
 accepting user input selecting one of the set of values currently stored by the selected existing data source. 
   
     
     
         10 . A system, comprising:
 at least one device including a hardware processor; and   the system configured to perform operations comprising:
 concurrently displaying a widget-selection section, a form-design section, and a widget-properties section; 
 displaying available interface widgets, for designing a particular form, in the widget-selection section; 
 responsive at least to receiving a first user input dragging a first interface widget from the widget-selection section to the form-design section:
 concurrently displaying (a) an instance of the first interface widget in the form-design section and (b) a set of customizable widget properties corresponding to the instance of the first interface widget in the widget-properties section, 
 wherein the instance of the first interface widget is associable with at least one of a plurality of existing data sources, wherein each of the plurality of existing data sources specifies a respective set of values; 
 
 displaying a list comprising the plurality of existing data sources; 
 responsive to receiving a second user input that (a) is received via the widget-properties section, (b) selects at least one of the plurality of existing data sources, and (c) is in relation to the instance of the first interface widget:
 configuring the instance of the first interface widget for accepting a value from the set of values specified by the selected existing data source. 
 
   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprising:
 responsive to receiving a third user input selecting a particular destination for the first interface widget:
 mapping the data submission, received via the first interface widget, to storage at the particular destination. 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving a third user input selecting a sequence of users for approving a request submitted via the particular form;   subsequent to receiving a first request from a first user via the particular form:
 selecting a second user for approving the first request from the selected sequence of users; and 
 displaying the first request to the second user. 
   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving a third user input selecting a subset of users that have permission to submit a request via the particular form;   subsequent to receiving a first request from a first user to display the particular form:
 responsive to determining that the first user is not included in the selected subset of users, refraining from displaying the particular form to the first user. 
   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving a third user input selecting a subset of users that do not have permission to submit a request via the particular form;   subsequent to receiving a first request from a first user to display the particular form:
 responsive to determining that the first user is included in the selected subset of users, refraining from displaying the particular form to the first user. 
   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving a third user input selecting a subset of users that have permission to submit a request via the particular form;   receiving a fourth user input selecting a sequence of users for approving a request submitted via the particular form;   subsequent to receiving a first request from a first user to display the particular form:
 responsive to determining that the first user is included in the selected subset of users, displaying the particular form to the first user: 
 selecting a second user for approving the first request from the selected sequence of users; and 
 displaying the first request to the second user. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving a third user input selecting a particular landing page for displaying an icon representing the particular form;   subsequent to receiving a first request from a first user to display the particular landing page:
 responsive to determining that the particular landing page is selected for displaying the icon representing the particular form based on the third user input, displaying the icon representing the particular form on the particular landing page. 
   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein:
 the selected existing data source is organized according to a schema associated with a set of data fields; and   a particular data field, of the set of data fields, stores the set of values.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 subsequent to receiving a first request from a first user to display the particular form:
 identifying the set of values currently stored by the selected existing data source; 
 displaying the set of values currently stored by the selected existing data source; and 
 accepting user input selecting one of the set of values currently stored by the selected existing data source. 
   
     
     
         19 . A method, comprising:
 concurrently displaying a widget-selection section, a form-design section, and a widget-properties section;   displaying available interface widgets, for designing a particular form, in the widget-selection section;   responsive at least to receiving a first user input dragging a first interface widget from the widget-selection section to the form-design section:
 concurrently displaying (a) an instance of the first interface widget in the form-design section and (b) a set of customizable widget properties corresponding to the instance of the first interface widget in the widget-properties section, 
 wherein the instance of the first interface widget is associable with at least one of a plurality of existing data sources, wherein each of the plurality of existing data sources specifies a respective set of values; 
   displaying a list comprising the plurality of existing data sources;   responsive to receiving a second user input that (a) is received via the widget-properties section, (b) selects at least one of the plurality of existing data sources, and (c) is in relation to the instance of the first interface widget:
 configuring the instance of the first interface widget for accepting a value from the set of values specified by the selected existing data source; 
   wherein the method is performed by a device including a hardware processor.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 responsive to receiving a third user input selecting a particular destination for the first interface widget:
 mapping the data submission, received via the first interface widget, to storage at the particular destination.