Creating PerfectForms™ Connections

PerfectForms™ Help Guide > Administering and Integrating PerfectForms™ > Administering Connections and Integration >

Connections can be used for:

•	Background Lookup

•	Pop-up Lookups

•	Creating a new instance of a different form and passing data into that new instance

•	Updating data in an existing instance of a different form

•	Writing to database tables

•	Calling stored procedures

•	Passing data from the form to a Web Service

Video Tutorial: Connections

Learn how to integrate forms with other systems including how to read data from a database.

Note: If you are setting up a database connection, a directory services connection or a connection into a text or CSV file, you will need to have installed the connection agent. See Installing the Connection Agent for more information.

Connections must be created on the Connections Dashboard by a PerfectForms™ administrator. For each connection, one or more actions (including insert, select and other common calls) should be created. To open a connection and use its actions, a Connect or Connect and Search behavior command must be assigned to a form event. The connect commands will open the connection, run the selected action associated with that connection and pass or receive data as specified in the behavior properties.

1.	Go to the Connections Dashboard.

2.	Click the New button then select the type of connection you want to create. The details area displays empty fields for a new connection.

Connections Dashboard New Option

Note: Detailed descriptions of the various connection types are included in subsequent topics. You may also import a connection saved as a .PF file on your local drive (see Migrating and Importing a Connection).

3.	Click Apply Changes to save the new connection. The screen changes to show two new buttons: New Action and Delete.

4.	Click the New Action button to define a specific action. PerfectForms™ displays a new empty connection action.

5.	Enter the action parameters and save your changes.

Note: See the Defining Connection Actions topic for additional detail.

6.	Now load the form that should initiate this connection in the Form Designer. Select the form event or object event that should initiate the connection. Assign a Connect behavior command or Connect and Search behavior command.

Note: See the Calling the Connection from a Form topic for information on how to perform lookups and other integration types of actions from within a form.

Updated: 17/04/2012 Page url: http://www.perfectforms.com/Documentation/manual/html/?defining_a_perfectforms_connec.htm
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