# HFE: Conditions should have a pointer for the form\_field it was created through

**URL:** <https://talk.openmrs.org/t/hfe-conditions-should-have-a-pointer-for-the-form-field-it-was-created-through/29110>\
**Category:** Development\
**Tags:** html-form-entry\
**Created:** [June 22, 2020, 2:14pm UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/hfe-conditions-should-have-a-pointer-for-the-form-field-it-was-created-through/29110 "2020-06-22T14:14:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 14\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![mogoodrich](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/mogoodrich/32/3324_2.png) [@mogoodrich](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/mogoodrich)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 4:36pm UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/hfe-conditions-should-have-a-pointer-for-the-form-field-it-was-created-through/29110/61 "2021-09-03T16:36:50Z")

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Resurrecting this one as I’m working on [https://issues.openmrs.org/browse/HTML-788](https://issues.openmrs.org/browse/HTML-788) to bring this long-needed support of using a form path with Obs elements on HTML Forms.

I ran into a bit an issue when handling form paths with obs groups. I believe we came up with the following approach:

```auto
<obsgroup conceptId="CIEL:Blood Pressure" formPath="blood_pressure">
       <obs conceptId="CIEL:Systolic" formPath="systolic"/>
       <obs conceptId="CIEL:Diastolic" formPath="diastolic"/>
</obsgroup>

```

```auto
HtmlFormEntry^Vitals.1.0/blood_pressure-0
HtmlFormEntry^Vitals.1.0/blood_pressure^systolic-0
HtmlFormEntry^Vitals.1.0/blood_pressure^diastolic-0

```

However, trying to set this path results in a Core exception because the “^” is not allowed because it is the separator between the form namespace and the path.

Digging deeper, it does seem like the correct pattern should actually be:

```auto
HtmlFormEntry^Vitals.1.0/blood_pressure-0
HtmlFormEntry^Vitals.1.0/blood_pressure/systolic-0
HtmlFormEntry^Vitals.1.0/blood_pressure/diastolic-0

```

So, probably my mistake in the design, but does this work for people? Does it clash with Bahmni at all? @mksd@angshuonline@ibacher @mseaton ?

---

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**Author:** ![mksd](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/mksd/32/11729_2.png) [@mksd](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/mksd)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 11:19am UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/hfe-conditions-should-have-a-pointer-for-the-form-field-it-was-created-through/29110/62 "2021-09-22T11:19:48Z")

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@mogoodrich I think that you are suggesting that obs group members can be identified through looking at their form field path. For example

```bash
HtmlFormEntry^Vitals.1.0/blood_pressure/diastolic-0

```

would signify that ‘diastolic’ is in fact a first level obs group _member_ inside the blood pressure encompassing group. My question would be to figure out if we need/want that, or if it is enough to just have unique field coordinates for a given piece of data? In which case this would suffice:

```bash
HtmlFormEntry^Vitals.1.0/blood_pressure_diastolic-0

```

In other terms we would just defer to the implementer to figure out unique field paths, full stop.

If we want that then sure we need to find a mechanism to describe nested fields, such as more and more forward slashes that describe that we dive in a nested structure deeper and deeper. But I’m fearing this is overcomplicating things and will make the interpretation of the field path complex and sometimes ambiguous.

@burke @ibacher @jdick?

---

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**Author:** ![ibacher](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/ibacher/32/19751_2.png) [@ibacher](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/ibacher)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/hfe-conditions-should-have-a-pointer-for-the-form-field-it-was-created-through/29110/63 "2021-09-22T14:35:03Z")

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@mksd I started re-reading the thread to remind myself how things work. Isn’t Mark’s proposal essentially equivalent to what [Bahmni already does](https://github.com/Bahmni/form-controls/blob/2560620a5366e5764784c338f08245cfcdb3753c/src/helpers/formNamespace.js#L5), e.g. using `parentFormFieldPath` (if any) to define form id.

In terms of Mark’s examples, I think this looks something like this:

```auto
HtmlFormEntry^Vitals.1.0/blood_pressure-0
HtmlFormEntry^Vitals.1.0/blood_pressure-0/systolic-0
HtmlFormEntry^Vitals.1.0/blood_pressure-0/diastolic-0

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mogoodrich](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/mogoodrich/32/3324_2.png) [@mogoodrich](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/mogoodrich)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/hfe-conditions-should-have-a-pointer-for-the-form-field-it-was-created-through/29110/64 "2021-09-22T17:32:56Z")

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Oh, very interesting @ibacher … @angshuonline can you confirm this?

I was going to say in response to @mksd that maybe I was making things overly complicated and we don’t need nested support for now (it would make the coding easier, at least), but if Bahmni already supports nesting, I’d be inclined to support it (following the same format as Bahmni).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mksd](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/mksd/32/11729_2.png) [@mksd](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/mksd)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/hfe-conditions-should-have-a-pointer-for-the-form-field-it-was-created-through/29110/65 "2021-09-22T17:54:45Z")

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Indeed if there is a precedent in Bahmni let’s follow it 👍

@mogoodrich is it ok to get this in as part of HTML-788 or the nesting aspect creates a lot of overhead?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mogoodrich](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/mogoodrich/32/3324_2.png) [@mogoodrich](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/mogoodrich)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 6:22pm UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/hfe-conditions-should-have-a-pointer-for-the-form-field-it-was-created-through/29110/66 "2021-09-22T18:22:42Z")

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I’ve been including the nested work in HTML-788, so definitely fine to include it. Though, for what it’s worth, I had to put that ticket on hold for a bit but hope to get back to it in the coming few weeks.

---

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**Author:** ![samuel34](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/samuel34/32/17813_2.png) [@samuel34](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/samuel34)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 7:49pm UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/hfe-conditions-should-have-a-pointer-for-the-form-field-it-was-created-through/29110/67 "2021-09-22T19:49:37Z")

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Maybe out of context 🙏 , this reminded me that some work needs to be done on WS/REST module to support those fields ie. `formFieldNamespace` and `formFieldPath`.

Such a payload would fail with an NPE, this is because the WS module tries to dynamically load getters and setters for those props using reflection yet support was added by an interface and not a pure POJO

Has anyone tried this out? @dkayiwa @ibacher

```auto
  "person": "68ed6d7f-7f58-416d-b51b-c45490dd03bc",
  "obsDatetime": "2021-09-09T21:06:05.999Z",
  "concept": "159427AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA",
  "location": {
    "uuid": "ba685651-ed3b-4e63-9b35-78893060758a",
    "display": "Inpatient Ward"
  },
  "order": null,
  "groupMembers": [],
  "voided": false,
  "formFieldNamespace": "ohri-forms",
  "formFieldPath": "some-path",
  "value": "664AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
}

```

Error log: [\<!doctype html\>\<html lang="en"\>\<head\> \<title\>HTTP Status 500 – Internal - Pastebin.com](https://pastebin.com/weM5P5QM)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ibacher](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/ibacher/32/19751_2.png) [@ibacher](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/ibacher)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 8:09pm UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/hfe-conditions-should-have-a-pointer-for-the-form-field-it-was-created-through/29110/68 "2021-09-22T20:09:01Z")

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> [@samuel34](#):
>
> yet support was added by an interface and not a pure POJO

I think the problem is quite a bit simpler than that: there are no setters for `formFieldNamespace` and `formFieldPath`, instead there is a setter for `formField` that takes both arguments. Interestingly, you’re pointing to the bug as arising from using an Obs where the same methods were added in 1.11, so apparently this bug has existed for a while?

We should definitely fix that. Is anyone aware of how we’ve handled similar cases (if any) previously?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dkayiwa](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/dkayiwa/32/179_2.png) [@dkayiwa](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/dkayiwa)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 11:29pm UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/hfe-conditions-should-have-a-pointer-for-the-form-field-it-was-created-through/29110/69 "2021-09-22T23:29:14Z")

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I have addressed this here [[RESTWS-849] Add setters for formFieldNamespace and formFieldPath - OpenMRS Issues](https://issues.openmrs.org/browse/RESTWS-849) and attached, on the ticket, a compiled module with the fix.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![angshuonline](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/angshuonline/32/4925_2.png) [@angshuonline](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/angshuonline)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 6:24am UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/hfe-conditions-should-have-a-pointer-for-the-form-field-it-was-created-through/29110/70 "2021-09-23T06:24:33Z")

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We use the formfield path to store the path of the control in a form. Note, Bahmni’s forms can have “add-more” (the same control can be used multiple times in a form) and the path stores the details. Also the path can store even the parent container details.

@binduak can you provide some more examples?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mogoodrich](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/mogoodrich/32/3324_2.png) [@mogoodrich](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/mogoodrich)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/hfe-conditions-should-have-a-pointer-for-the-form-field-it-was-created-through/29110/71 "2021-09-23T16:02:55Z")

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Thanks @angshuonline so, just to confirm, if you had a obsgroup with nested obs it would store form field paths something like the following?

> [@ibacher](#):
>
> @mksd I started re-reading the thread to remind myself how things work. Isn’t Mark’s proposal essentially equivalent to what [Bahmni already does](https://github.com/Bahmni/form-controls/blob/2560620a5366e5764784c338f08245cfcdb3753c/src/helpers/formNamespace.js#L5), e.g. using `parentFormFieldPath` (if any) to define form id.
> 
> In terms of Mark’s examples, I think this looks something like this:
> 
> ```auto
> HtmlFormEntry^Vitals.1.0/blood_pressure-0
> HtmlFormEntry^Vitals.1.0/blood_pressure-0/systolic-0
> HtmlFormEntry^Vitals.1.0/blood_pressure-0/diastolic-0
> 
> ```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![angshuonline](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/angshuonline/32/4925_2.png) [@angshuonline](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/angshuonline)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 1:48pm UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/hfe-conditions-should-have-a-pointer-for-the-form-field-it-was-created-through/29110/72 "2021-09-24T13:48:57Z")

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@mogoodrich

We do not nest the parent info, as much as I know … @binduak can you correct?

Bahmni^[FormName].[version]/[control-id]-[repeat]

so, assuming I had a simple obsgroup “BP” with 3 members (systolic, diastolic, posture) … in obs when we save the form - it is saved as

```
Bahmni^VitalsForm.1/1-0
Bahmni^VitalsForm.1/2-0
Bahmni^VitalsForm.1/3-0
Bahmni^VitalsForm.1/4-0
```

@binduak can you elaborate on the “container controls” like section, table etc?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mksd](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/mksd/32/11729_2.png) [@mksd](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/mksd)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 8:53am UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/hfe-conditions-should-have-a-pointer-for-the-form-field-it-was-created-through/29110/73 "2021-09-25T08:53:12Z")

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@angshuonline @binduak the code that @ibacher pointed to suggests that nesting is supported, see: [HFE: Conditions should have a pointer for the form\_field it was created through - #63 by ibacher](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/hfe-conditions-should-have-a-pointer-for-the-form-field-it-was-created-through/29110/63)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![angshuonline](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/angshuonline/32/4925_2.png) [@angshuonline](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/angshuonline)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 6:57am UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/hfe-conditions-should-have-a-pointer-for-the-form-field-it-was-created-through/29110/74 "2021-09-28T06:57:19Z")

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I think thats done only in case of a container control (section, table, obsgroup) - that can have multiple entries for the same concept/group. @binduak can you elaborate on this?

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