There are two types of Dynamic Lookups:

Data Lookups: Used to dynamically populate existing form elements with data
Element Lookups: Used to dynamically generate form elements

Dynamic Lookups can be configured across your environments, allowing for added versioning control across your apps.

Data Lookup

The Data Lookup feature allows form elements to be populated with form elements dynamically based on the values of specific elements.

For example, you want to search on a list of playgrounds and find the corresponding location and suburb. If you already have this information available then you can create your own data lookup to automatically populate the location and suburb based on the Playground name.

When the lookup button is clicked the form submission data is sent to the Lookup Source which dynamically populates the other configured form elements.

Lookup example on a form.

Element Lookup

The Element Lookup feature allows the form to be populated dynamically with elements based on the value of specific elements.

For example, to do a stocktake of a warehouse where you have a list of items that you want to check and locate in the warehouse, but the list of items is different for each warehouse. When the lookup button is clicked, the form submission data is sent to the Lookup Source, which dynamically populates the form with the configured elements.

In doing this, you can dynamically show the list of items based on the specific warehouse {{glossary.ID}}. Warehouse 123 has a very different list of items from Warehouse 124.

Element lookups can also be used to generate form pages and elements across that page. Check out our GitHub example.

Custom URL and Hosted API and Built-In Compared

Lookups source buttons.

Custom URL

When creating a Lookup, you can choose to use a Custom {{glossary.URL}}. When choosing a Custom URL, you will be asked to provide the URL for the specific {{glossary.API}} endpoint that you want the form data to be pushed to.

Hosted API

Alternatively, you can use our API Hosting service to create your own custom-hosted APIs for your Lookups to point to. When selecting Hosted API, you will be asked to select an API and a route for each of your available Environments. For more on our API Hosting service check out the Github API CLI (Command Line Interface).

Built-In

We also have the option to use Built-in data as the source of our lookup. Essentially, we capture the logged-in users' information and use that as a data source for our lookup.

The following element names work with Built-In lookups:

Element Name	Description
fullName	The current user's full name
firstName	The current user's given name
middleName	The current user's middle name
lastName	The current user's surname
address	The current user's address
picture	A {{glossary.URL}} for a picture of the current user
email	The current user's email address
phoneNumber	The current user's phone number
role	The current user's role or job title
supervisorProviderUserId	The current user's supervisor's user identifier
supervisorEmail	The current user's supervisor's email address
supervisorFullName	The current user's supervisor's full name
areaCode	The current user's area code
city	The current user's city
state	The current user's state
country	The current user's country
countryCallingCode	The current user's country calling code
department	The current user's department
division	The current user's division
bargain	The current user's bargain
employeeNumber	The current user's employee number
departmentHeadFullName	The current user's department head's full name
departmentHeadEmail	The current user's department head's email address
username	Returns the logged-in username
userId	Returns the logged-in user's {{glossary.ID}}
providerType	Returns the logged-in user's provider
providerUserId	Returns the logged-in user's provider ID
isSAMLUser	Returns whether the user is a {{glossary.SAML}} user (true \| false)
emailVerified	Returns if the email has been verified (true \| false)
phoneNumberVerified	Returns if the phone number is verified (true \| false)
groups	A comma-separated string containing groups used to grant the current user access to approvals
zipCode	The current user's zip code
postalCode	The current user's postal code

Automatic Lookups

Lookups can be run automatically. If a lookup includes default or pre-populated data, the lookup will automatically run when the form initially loads. This can be used to populate forms immediately on load or create entirely dynamic forms.

Customize Error Messages

You are also able to add your own unique error messages. These are configured in the {{glossary.API}}.

Offline

Due to the lookup calling an external endpoint, this functionality will only work while online.

Example Lookup API

For information on creating your own lookup {{glossary.API}}, check out our Server CLI examples.

Dynamic Look-Up Training