How form validation works
When someone fills in a form during a performance review, a one-to-one or another process, Learnient checks their answers at two moments: when they save and when they submit. Most checks wait until they submit. This article covers what each moment checks, who has to answer a required field, how repeating sections are checked, and what people see when something is missing.
Saving and submitting
Section titled “Saving and submitting”People filling in a form have two buttons, Save and close and Submit. They check different things.
| Check | Save and close | Submit |
|---|---|---|
| Required fields are answered | No | Yes |
| A repeating section has at least its Minimum rows | No | Yes |
| A Link / URL field holds a valid web address | Yes | Yes |
| A Currency field holds a valid amount | Yes | Yes |
| A Goal score has a note with it | Yes | Yes |
Someone can save a half-finished form as often as they like. Nothing about missing answers stops them until they submit.
Choosing Submit saves their answers first. If that save fails, the form is not submitted.
Who has to answer a required field
Section titled “Who has to answer a required field”Required applies only to the people who can edit that field at their step of the process. Someone who can only view a required field, or cannot see it at all, can submit without it.
One form can hold required questions for different people. In a review where the employee answers one section and their manager answers another, the employee can submit their part while the manager’s required questions are still blank. The manager has to answer them when they submit.
The exception is a form someone opens from a link without logging in. When they submit, every required field on the form has to be answered.
What counts as an answer
Section titled “What counts as an answer”A field is unanswered when it is empty, holds only spaces, or has nothing chosen. A number 0 is an answer.
Repeating sections
Section titled “Repeating sections”Required fields in a repeating section are checked on every row, and the message names the row, such as “Please complete Goal title in Row 2”.
A repeating section with no rows passes the required check, however many required fields it has. If people must add at least one row, fill in Minimum rows in Section settings.
Minimum rows only applies to people who can edit at least one field in that section.
Some repeating sections list a person’s existing goals and also let them add new ones. A field you ask only on new goals is not required on their existing goals, and a field you ask only on existing goals is not required on new ones. You choose this with Ask this on in Field settings.
Goal scores
Section titled “Goal scores”When someone enters a goal score, they also have to add a note saying what has changed. This is checked when they save as well as when they submit, so Save and close does not work until the note is there.
What people see
Section titled “What people see”When someone chooses Submit, missing and invalid answers are highlighted before anything is sent. They see a message such as Fix the highlighted field before submitting, and the form moves to the first problem.
The messages they can see are:
| Message | What it means |
|---|---|
| Please complete required fields: field | A required field they can edit is empty |
| Please complete field in row | The same, on one row of a repeating section |
| Please add at least number row(s) to section | The section has fewer rows than Minimum rows |
| field must be a valid URL | A Link / URL field does not hold a web address |
| field must be a valid amount | A Currency field does not hold a number |
| Add a note to field saying what has changed | A goal score was entered without a note |
Changing a form people are filling in
Section titled “Changing a form people are filling in”Answers are checked against the form as it is when they submit, not as it was when they started. If you make a field required while people are part-way through, they have to answer it before they can submit.
What this means for your setup
Section titled “What this means for your setup”Decide who has to answer each question through the field’s Permissions. Required on its own does not make anyone answer a field they can only view.
Use Minimum rows when a repeating section must not be left empty. Required fields inside the section do not do that by themselves.
If a form has goal scores, tell the people filling it in that every score needs a note. Otherwise their first attempt to save fails without them knowing why.