Custom Date Field Initial Value Rule

Overview

Enterprise Forms allows you to define custom initial values for date fields by implementing Java classes and configuring them in the repository. Custom date field initial value rules enable you to apply organization-specific date logic to form fields.

For example, the Enterprise Forms demo application includes a "Next Saturday" date rule for the "Date of Birth" field. When this rule is selected, the frontend form automatically sets the date field to the next upcoming Saturday.

Implementing a Custom Date Rule

Enterprise Forms requires that each custom date rule implements the following interface:

package com.onehippo.cms7.eforms.hst.daterules;

import java.util.Calendar;

public interface DateRule {

    Calendar getDate();

}
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The "Next Saturday" rule in the demo application is implemented as follows:

package com.onehippo.cms7.eforms.hst.daterules;

import java.util.Calendar;

public class NextSaturdayDateRule extends AbstractNextDayOfWeekRule {

    @Override
    public Calendar getDate() {
        return getNext(Calendar.SATURDAY);
    }

}
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To create your own rule, implement the getDate() method to return the desired initial date value. When a form field references your custom rule, the form rendering process calls getDate() at runtime to determine the initial value.

For example, you can implement a NextBusinessDay rule that calculates the next business day based on your organization's calendar and business logic.

Configuring a Custom Date Rule

Configure all custom date initial value rules under the following repository path:

/hippo:configuration/hippo:modules/eforms/hippo:moduleconfig/eforms:daterules

The demo application includes this configuration by default:

/eforms:daterules:
  jcr:primaryType: nt:unstructured
  /eforms:daterule:
    jcr:primaryType: nt:unstructured
    eforms:dateruleclass: com.onehippo.cms7.eforms.hst.daterules.NextSaturdayDateRule
    eforms:dateruleid: next-saturday
    eforms:daterulelabel: Next Saturday
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This example defines a single date rule, "Next Saturday."

To add another custom date rule:

1. Create a uniquely named child node under eforms:daterules with the node type hipposys:moduleconfig.
2. Set the eforms:dateruleclass property to the fully qualified class name (FQCN) of your custom implementation.
3. Set the eforms:daterulelabel property to the label you want displayed in the CMS form document editor.

After configuration, your custom date rule appears in the dropdown menu for the date field property editor in the CMS.