Advanced Fields | Online Help | Qntrl

Advanced Fields

Lookups

Lookups are fields used to obtain a subset of options from available values in fields, tables, webhook API responses, or database query responses. Existing data available in the organization can be reused using lookups. Lookups usually return multiple options that are displayed to the end-user using Dropdown or Multi Select fields.
 
Lookups help organizations maintain consistent data through all modules. As lookups reuse data that is already available, it eases the task of mapping and managing data in the organization.
 

Benefits of lookups

  1. Compile and reuse data from various modules
  2. Maintain consistency in available data
  3. Populate values dynamically
  4. Improve data entry
  5. Reduce storage space
 

Types of lookups in Qntrl

Qntrl currently supports 4 types of lookups.
  1. Field Lookup
  2. API Lookup
  3. Table Lookup
  4. Database Lookup

Field lookup compiles a particular field’s value from different cards in a form and populates the compiled data in a dropdown or multi select field.
 
API lookup generates webhook responses and filters the responses using a data path. The result data obtained is displayed in a dropdown or multi select field.

Table lookup fetches an entire column’s data from a selected table and populates the data in a dropdown or multi select field.

Database lookup fetched data from remote databases and lists them in Qntrl.  

A total of five lookups and relation fields can be used per Organization. 

Field Lookup  

Field Lookup can be used to populate field values from different cards in a form into a dropdown or multi select field. For example, every time a new employee joins the company, a card is created in the Employee Onboarding Form, that records employee details like Name, Position, Experience, and so on. Every such value available in different cards can be compiled and listed as a common dropdown or multi select field using Field Lookup. 

  1. Navigate to  Boards, hover over any specific board in the left panel and click     to choose  Manage Board. (or)
  2. Navigate to  to select a board. Learn more. 
    1. You will land in Step 1: Create Form.  
  3. Drag and drop Field Lookup from the New Fields tray onto the right panel.  
  4. Enter a Field Title. This field is mandatory. 
  5. To display additional information about the field, click the Add Info checkbox and type the text in the ensuing box. Info will be displayed as a tool tip. You can Preview how the info will be displayed in the form.  
  6. Configure the lookup details:
    1. Board: Select a board to list its fields.
    2. Field: Select a field to populate lookup values.
      1. Note that all users are allowed to view the selected field’s values even if they do not have the required permission.
    3. Display Type: You can choose to display lookup values in either a dropdown or multi select field format.
  7. Set the field-level validations:  
    1. Mandatory: Toggle YES to make the field mandatory.
    2. Visibility: Toggle YES to make the field visible while creating cards.







  • A maximum of ten Field lookup, API lookup, and Relation fields can be created.

  • Field lookup options are updated whenever new cards with different field values are created.

  • If the field linked to a field lookup has no value, the lookup options will be rendered empty.

  • On modifying either the form or field in field lookup properties, the field lookup values already selected in existing cards will not change. However, you can change these manually with the newly populated lookup values.

  • Only Single-Line, Dropdown, User Dropdown, Date & Time, Decimal, Integer, and Email Address fields can be configured for field lookup.

Check out the detailed business case on 'Field Lookup'.

API Lookup 

API lookup enables you to look for specific information among a bulk of API response data. Using API lookup, you can run an existing webhook, obtain the response data in your preferred format of JSON/XML/Text, and filter the response using a data path to fetch only the required result data.
 
For example, if you have a webhook configured to fetch the real-time weather details from a third-party website, the API response data will comprise many parameters, such as date, time, place, weather in Celsius, and weather in Fahrenheit. Among all these details, if you want to fetch a single detail— say, weather in Celsius— it can be filtered using the data path and listed as a dropdown or multi select field to the end-users using API lookup.

  1. Navigate to  Boards, hover over any specific board in the left panel and click     to choose  Manage Board. (or)
  2. Navigate to  to select a board. Learn more. 
    1. You will land in Step 1: Create Form.  
  3. Drag and drop  API Lookup  from the  New Fields  tray onto the right panel.  
  4. Enter a Field Title. This field is mandatory and must be unique in each form. 
  5. To display additional information about the field, click the Add Info checkbox and type the text in the ensuing box. Info will be displayed as a tool tip. You can Preview how the info will be displayed in the form.  
  6. Configure the lookup details:
    1. Webhook: Select an existing webhook from the dropdown.
    2. Response Data Format: Select a repose format from the available options— JSON, XML or Text—and click Apply.
    3. Data Path: Enter the data path to filter the response, then click Check . This is applicable only for JSON and XML response formats. Learn in detail about the data path to be entered.
    4. Result Data: This field will be auto-populated with the filtered data once we check the data path. Choose the result data from the dropdown.
    5. Display Type: You can choose to display lookup values in either a dropdown or multi select field format.
      1. On choosing dropdown, each option will be trimmed to display only 200 characters.
  7. Set the field-level validations:  
    1. Mandatory: Toggle YES to make the field mandatory
    2. Visibility: Toggle YES to make the field visible while creating cards.
  8. Click Ok.




  1. Only 10 Field lookup, API lookup, and relation fields can be created.
  2. If a webhook associated with API lookup is deleted or disabled, the lookup will not render any value. 

Configure data path in API lookup

When the response obtained from webhooks are of JSON or XML formats, the data path must be included to filter the obtained response data. Data path helps to identify and group similar values in the result dropdown.
 
Generic data path format
For JSON response: $.<JSONArrayName>[].<JSONObejctName>.key
For XML response: /RootElement/Element/@Attribute/Type
 
Examples
We’ve compiled a set of sample responses and their corresponding data paths below.

JSON response 1 


{
    "id": 1,
    "name": "Leanne Graham",
    "username": "Bret",
    "email": "Sincere@april.biz",
    "address": {
       "city": "Gwenborough"
    },
    "phone": "1-770-736-8031",
    "website": "hildegard.org"

    }

Data path
Here ‘$’ represents overall (root) response
 
To fetch the name: $.name
Result data: Leanne Graham
 
To fetch the city: $.address.city
Result data: Gwenborough
 
To fetch the address: $.address (Returns a string)
Result data: { "city" : "Gwenborough" }
 
JSON response 2 


[
  {
    "userId": 1,
    "name": "Leanne",
    "title": "quidem molestiae enim"
  },
  {
    "userId": 2,
    "name": "Ervin",
    "title": "sunt qui excepturi placeat culpa"
  },
  {
    "userId": 3,
    "name": "Clementine",
    "title": "omnis laborum odio"
  },
 {
    "userId": 4,
    "name": "Patricia",
    "title": "eaque aut omnis a"

     }
   

  
  
  

   ]

Data path
Here ‘$[*]’ represents overall (root) response and index starts from 0.
 
To fetch all the names: $[*].name 
Result data: [Leanne , Ervin , Clementine, Patricia]
 
To fetch the second name: $[1].name 
Result data: Ervin
 
To fetch the first 3 users: $[0-2].name or $[-2].name
Result data: [Leanne , Ervin , Clementine]
 
To fetch last 3 users: $[1-].name
Result data: [Ervin , Clementine, Patricia]

XML response
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<employees>
 
    <employee id="1">
        <firstName>Lokesh</firstName>
        <lastName>Gupta</lastName>
        <department>
            <id>101</id>
            <name>IT</name>
        </department>
    </employee>
 
    <employee id="2">
        <firstName>Brian</firstName>
        <lastName>Schultz</lastName>
        <department>
            <id>102</id>
            <name>HR</name>
        </department>
    </employee>
 
    <employee id="3">
        <firstName>Alex</firstName>
        <lastName>Kolenchisky</lastName>
        <department>
            <id>103</id>
            <name>FINANCE</name>
        </department>
    </employee>
 
    <employee id="4">
        <firstName>Amit</firstName>
        <lastName>Jain</lastName>
        <department>
            <id>104</id>
            <name>HR</name>
        </department>
    </employee>
 
    <employee id="5">
        <firstName>David</firstName>
        <lastName>Beckham</lastName>
        <department>
            <id>105</id>
            <name>DEVOPS</name>
        </department>
    </employee>
 
</employees>

Data path
To fetch all employee names: /employees/employee/firstName/text()
Result data:[Lokesh, Brian, Alex, Amit, David]
 
To fetch all employee IDs: /employees/employee/@id
Result data: [1,2,3,4,5]
 

Troubleshooting steps

  1. Check if you are able to generate the webhook response by clicking Apply.
  2. Check if your data path displays result data by clicking Check.
  3. Check if data path complements the response data and its format.

Table Lookup

Qntrl's tables store and organize data in an easy-to-interpret tabular format. Table lookup fetches data from a table’s column and populates it in a dropdown or multi select field for the end-user.
 
For example, if you have a table to store your employee details, each column will contain details like employee ID, employee name, age, salary, and other information. If you want to fetch a list of all your employee names, you can use table lookup and get all the entire column details.

  1. Navigate to  Boards  , hover over any specific board in the left panel and click     to choose  Manage Board. (or)
  2. Navigate to  to select a board. Learn more. 
    1. You will land in  Step 1:  Create Form.  
  3. Drag and drop Table Lookup from the New Fields tray onto the right panel.  
  4. Enter a Field Title. This field is mandatory and must be unique in each form.  
  5. To display additional information about the field, click the Add Info checkbox and type the text in the ensuing box. Info will be displayed as a tool tip. You can Preview how the info will be displayed in the form.  
  6. Configure the lookup details:
    1. Table: Select a table to lookup data.
    2. Column: Choose a column from the table.
    3. Display Type: You can choose to display lookup values in either a dropdown or multi select field format.
      1. On choosing dropdown, each option will be trimmed to display only 200 characters.
  7. Set the field-level validations:  
    1. Mandatory: Toggle YES to make the field mandatory.
    2. Visibility: Toggle YES to make the field visible while creating cards.



Note:
  1. Only five lookup and relation fields can be created.
  2. If the table associated with lookup is deleted, the lookup will not render any value. 

DB Lookup

Database Lookup allows organizations to fetch data from their remote databases and list them in Qntrl. DB lookup uses Bridge and Connectors to establish a secure connection with external databases and queries for response.
 
DB lookup can only be used to READ external databases. Other actions like update or delete are not allowed. This ensures that the customer’s external database is secure and intact at all times.
 
For example, the customer might maintain a remote database to store all the vendor details. If the customer wants to populate this data in Qntrl, without having to replicate the data again, DB lookup can be used. DB lookup connects with the customer’s database, queries the database, and lists the response in a dropdown or multi select field in Qntrl.

  1. Navigate to  Boards  , hover over any specific board in the left panel and click     to choose  Manage Board. (or)
  2. Navigate to  to select a board. Learn more. 
    1. You will land in  Step 1:  Create Form.  
  3. Drag and drop  DB Lookup  from the New Fields tray onto the right panel. 
  4. Enter a Field Title . This field is mandatory and must be unique in each form.
  5. To display additional information about the field, click the Add Info checkbox and type the text in the ensuing box. Info will be displayed as a tool tip. You can Preview how the info will be displayed in the form.  
  6. Configure the lookup details:
    1. Connector: Select an existing connector or create a new one for the database.
    2. Bridge: Select an existing bridge or create a new one.
    3. Bridge/Cluster: Select a bridge or a load-balancing cluster from the dropdown.
    4. Display Type: You can choose to display lookup values in either a dropdown or multi select field format.
      1. On choosing dropdown, each option will be trimmed to display only 200 characters.
    5. Database Query: Type the command to query the database.
      1. If no limit is specified in the query, only 20 results will be listed.
  7. Set the field-level validations: 
    1. Mandatory: Toggle YES to make the field mandatory.
    2. Visibility: Toggle YES to make the field visible while creating cards.



Note:
DB lookup lists only 20 results at a time if no limit is specified in the database query. 


Relation Fields 

Relation fields can be used to establish connections between cards of same or different board in Qntrl.

While linking cards of different blueprints, the relationship can be: 
  1. Dependent cards - One workflow leads to another to complete the process.
  2. Linked cards - Brings in information from one workflow to another making cards more intelligent.
  3. Parent-child cards -  The main workflow is distributed into sub-flows and these sub-flows, in turn, go back to the main workflow for the process to be completed.

To create a new relation field,
  1. Navigate to  Boards  , hover over any specific board in the left panel and click     to choose  Manage Board. (or)
  2. Navigate to  to select a board. Learn more. 
    1. You will land in Step 1:  Create Form .  
  3. Drag and drop the Relation field from the New Fields tray onto the right panel.  
  4. Enter a Field Title . This field is mandatory and must be unique in each form.  
  5. ​To display additional information about the field, click the Add Info checkbox and type the text in the ensuing box. Info will be displayed as a tool tip. You can Preview how the info will be displayed in the form.  
  6. Set the relation details:
    1. Form: Select a form to list its cards.
    2. Relation title: Enter a title for the relation.
    3. Display Type: You can choose to display the cards in either a dropdown or multi select field format.
  7. Configure the field-level validations:  
    1. Mandatory: Toggle YES to make the field mandatory.
    2. Visibility: Toggle YES to make the field visible while creating cards.




Create a new card in the above used board. Select cards in the relation field to establish a relation.




Now, visit the selected cards to view the related cards table. You can also click on the card name right from the relation field, in the card details page, to navigate to the related card. 


  • A maximum of ten Field lookup, API lookup, and Relation fields can be created.

  • Cards connected using relation fields can be viewed under Related Cards .

  • Once a form is deleted, relation field mapping with other forms will also be deleted. 

  • Relation field is not supported in Qntrl's mobile app yet. 


Cards connected using relation fields are displayed under Related Cards.  

     

Notes Field

Display read-only notes in your form that provides instruction or message snippets to users when they fill-out the form. You can add plain text or rich text with formats, links, or HTML code to the notes. 
  1. Navigate to  Boards  , hover over any specific board in the left panel and click     to choose  Manage Board. (or)
  2. Navigate to  to select a board. Learn more. 
    1. You will land in Step 1:  Create Form.  
  3. Drag and drop the Notes field from the New Fields tray onto the right panel.  
  4. Enter a Field Title. This field is mandatory and must be unique in each form.  
  5. Tick the checkbox to Display the Field Title along with the note in the Card.
  6. Enter the note in the text box. You can enter up to 10,000 characters.
  7. Configure the field-level validations: 
    1. Visibility: Toggle No to make the field invisible to users while creating cards.


Note: Only five notes field can be created.

Smart Parse

Files and documents are an integral part of how organizations catalogue data, form contacts, generate invoices, and circulate company-wide policies within the workforce. Such files, sheets, or bills might carry useful details that can be extracted to be used in workflows.
 
Smart Parse extracts data from files directly into form fields, capturing valuable information into the workflow, without the need for any manual intervention. Smart Parse uses AI extraction techniques to parse that data from files into fields dynamically. You can prompt references on the data to be extracted from the file and choose the exact fields in which they need to be placed.
 

Use cases for Smart Parse

  1. Fetch details from an invoice and auto-fill them in a reimbursement card.
  2. Extract applicant details from a cover letter and fill them in a recruitment card.
  3. Find outflow from an expense table and fill the details in an audit card.
Notes
  1. Only five Smart Parse fields can be created in a board.
  2. Supported field type for Smart Parse include: Single-Line, Multi-Line, Email, Integer, Decimal, Date, Date & Time, Phone number, Currency, Checkbox, Dropdown, User dropdown, Multi Select, Multi User, Link, Radio button, and Line Items.
  3. Please ensure the data mapped from your files match the appropriate field type. For example, an integer field can only be mapped with integer values from the file, or a dropdown field must be mapped to list multiple values from the file.
 

How to add a Smart Parse field to a form 

  1. Navigate to Boards, hover over any specific board in the left panel and click ... to choose Manage Board. (or)
  2. Navigate to Settings to select a board. Learn more
    1. You will land on Step 1: Create Form.  
  3. Drag and drop the Smart Parse field from the New Fields tray onto the right panel.  
  4. Enter a Field Title. This field is mandatory and must be unique in each form.  
  5. To display additional information about the field, click the Add Info checkbox and type the text in the ensuing box. Info will be displayed as a tool tip. You can Preview how the info will be displayed in the form.

  6. Click Add Mapping to configure the fields to be extracted from the file.
  7. Select the supported form fields listed in the left panel.
  8. Enter mapping details to each field to fetch the data from the file accurately. For example, if the outflow details are listed under the column ‘quarterly outflow’ in an expense table, enter the reference name ‘quarterly outflow’ to map it to the field.
  9. Set the field-level validations: 
    1. Mandatory: Toggle YES to make the field mandatory.
    2. Visibility: Toggle YES to make the field visible while creating cards.


After the field is added to the form, click Save and Next. Proceed to design the blueprint and publish the board.
 

How to add a Smart Parse field to blueprint

Smart Parse fields can be added as a part of During section in Transitions.
  1. Navigate to Step 2: Design Blueprint in your board.
  2. Select a transition in which you want to configure a Smart Parse field.
  3. Navigate to the During section in the transition and click +Field and Line Items.
  4. Associate existing fields or create new fields to map them with Smart Parse.
  5. Create either a new Smart Parse field by clicking New or associate an existing Smart Parse field from the dropdown.
  6. Enter a Field Title. This field is mandatory and must be unique in each form.  
  7. To display additional information about the field, click the Add Info checkbox and type the text in the ensuing box. Info will be displayed as a tool tip. You can Preview how the info will be displayed in the form.

  8. Click Add Mapping to configure the fields to be extracted from the file.
    1. Other fields associated with this transition are listed here. If there are no fields in this transition, you can create one.
  9. Select the supported form fields listed in the left panel.
  10. Enter mapping details to each field to fetch the data from the file accurately.
  11. Set the field-level validations: 
    1. Mandatory: Toggle YES to make the field mandatory.
  12. Click OK.
  13. Save and Validate the blueprint.
  14. Publish the board.

 
The Smart Parse field will be added to the transition and will popup when the transition gets executed in the card.
 

How to add file to Smart Parse fields in cards

Smart Parse fields added to published boards will show up when a new card is created, an existing card is updated, or when a transition is executed in a card.
Notes
Supported file types:
Documents: .doc, .docx, .pdf, .pptx, .xlsx, .odt, .msg
Text & Markup: .txt, .md, .html, .htm
Images: .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .bmp, .gif, .tiff, .webp
 
To add Smart Parse file to a new card:
  1. Navigate to the board and click New Card.
  2. Click Upload File in the Smart Parse field.
  3. Drag and drop a file or browse your computer to select a file.
  4. Once the file is selected, click Smart Parse.
  5. Proceed to fill the other card details and click Save.
You will receive a success message when the file is parsed successfully. The parsed values from the file will be auto-filled to the card fields. Users can verify and save the field values to the card.
 
To add Smart Parse file to an existing card:
  1. Navigate to the board and select an existing card.
  2. Click the Edit button in the Smart Parse field.
  3. Drag and drop a file or browse your computer to select a file.
  4. Once the file is selected, click Smart Parse.
You will receive a success message when the file is parsed successfully. The parsed values from the file will be auto-filled to the card fields.
 
To add Smart Parse file during a transition:
  1. Navigate to the board and select a card.
  2. Perform transitions associated to the Smart Parse field.
  3. Click Upload File in the Smart Parse field.
  4. Drag and drop a file or browse your computer to select a file.
  5. Once the file is selected, click Smart Parse.
    1. You will receive a success message when the file is parsed successfully.
    2. The parsed values from the file will be auto-filled to the card fields.
  6. Click Save.

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