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Reference Data Overview

   MaestroThe UI design product.  |   Form BuilderPlatform Developer  |   17.10 This feature was updated in 17.10.

While building onboarding application forms, you can use various reference data to pre-fill and autocomplete form's fields, as well as validate user input against this data. Reference data is static data that is created and stored in Manager and it is pertinent to an organization, which Maestro forms, belonging to that organization, can access.

Journey Maestro provides the Transact.referenceData function for a form to call to retrieve a set of reference data. Also, you can use the following techniques to access reference data:

Let's compares the features of each technique in the table below:

Feature JavaScript Library Property Pre-fill Dynamic Data Service
Works in Preview mode Yes No No
Version control Managed by form versioning. None Determined by a service
Use When

Form-specific data, infrequent data changes and no sharing required; or static data required work entirely in Maestro

 Sharing required static data need to be overridden at organization, form or user levels.

Filtering required

Sharing required
Manager content validation N/A Yes Determined by code
Supports lazy-loading No No Yes
Share-ability No Yes Yes
Security No No Determined by code
Re-publish required after change Yes No No
No-code implementation No Only for simple data type No
Impact on save/retrieved forms No May break None
Impact on review task forms None May break None
Pros
  • Easy to implement
  • No Manager configuration required
  • Versioned by a form
  • No server calls needed
  • Content maintained in Manager
  • Hierarchical organization, form or user overrides
  • No server calls needed
  • Most flexible
  • Lazy initialization
  • Filterable
  • Secure
Cons
  • Re-publish on change
  • Scope directly to form
  • Can't be shared
  • Static data only
  • Complex setup in Manager
  • Review / retrieved forms code required for object conversion initially, but contaminates form XML
  • Static data only
  • Higher coding requirement
  • Overkill for simple cases
Filterable data source No No Yes, if coded
Data variability Static Static Dynamic
Data type Object String, can be converted to Object in code Object
Data source Embedded in JavaScript code TM Properties Determined by service
Data instance location Global context Form XML Determined by code
Data associated with Form Organization / Form / User Determined by service
Complexity of TM setup Not required Medium Complex

Each of the following guides details how to gain access to reference data using the techniques discussed above. In each case, we populate an initial Data Field with some data. In this example, we use data from motorcycle manufacturers.

You can also use the reference data to build cascading data dropdowns with any of the methods mentioned above. The approach is exactly the same with the only difference is how you initially obtain the reference data.

Generally speaking, there are the following steps you need to complete to be able to use reference data in your application form:

  1. Create reference data in Manager.
  2. Test reference data filters in Manager.
  3. Create the form.
  4. Test the form.

Next, learn how to populate fields lookup with reference data.