topic Re: Custom form Type error - unknown type 'textarea' in Alfresco Archive

Custom form Type error - unknown type 'textarea'

bbarani — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 23:08:54 GMT

Hi,I created a custom form type and added the class to the applicationcontext.xml file but for some reason I am getting the below error.Please find below my implementation details (reference: book-form example).Implementing a custom text area form field UI using Vaadinpublic class TextAreaFormPrope

Re: Custom form Type error - unknown type 'textarea'

frederikherema1 — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:18:24 GMT

How does your BPMN xml look like?

Re: Custom form Type error - unknown type 'textarea'

bbarani — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:38:53 GMT

How does your BPMN xml look like?

Hi,

Please find below my BPMN XML….I have the form-property id - instructions of type 'textarea'…. but this throws the error..


 <process id="CustomFormType" name="Testing Approval process">
  <startEvent id="theStart" activiti:initiator="initiator" />
  <sequenceFlow id="flow1" sourceRef="theStart" targetRef="needsApprovalTask" />
  <serviceTask id="needsApprovalTask" name="Needs approval"
   activiti:class="com.picturerequest.NeedsApprovalDelegate" />

  <sequenceFlow id="flow2" sourceRef="needsApprovalTask"
   targetRef="gateway" />

  <exclusiveGateway id="gateway" name="Needs approval?" />

  <sequenceFlow id="flow3" sourceRef="gateway" targetRef="confirmApproval">
   <conditionExpression xsi:type="tFormalExpression">
    ${needsApproval}
   </conditionExpression>
  </sequenceFlow>

  <sequenceFlow id="flow4" sourceRef="gateway" targetRef="Email">
   <conditionExpression xsi:type="tFormalExpression">
    ${!needsApproval}
   </conditionExpression>
  </sequenceFlow>

  <userTask id="confirmApproval" name="Approve the picture request"
   activiti:candidateUsers="${user}" activiti:assignee="${user}">
   <extensionElements>

    <activiti:formProperty id="initiator" name="Initiator:"
     readable="true" type="string" />

    <activiti:formProperty id="description" name="Description:"
     readable="true" type="string" />

    <activiti:formProperty id="user" name="User:"
     readable="true" type="string" />

    <activiti:formProperty id="imageName" name="Image:"
     readable="true" type="string" />

    <activiti:formProperty id="instructions" name="Instructions"
     type="textarea" />

    <activiti:formProperty id="approvalConfirmed"
     name="approvalConfirmed" type="enum" required="true">
     <activiti:value id="true" name="Yes"></activiti:value>
     <activiti:value id="false" name="No"></activiti:value>
    </activiti:formProperty>
   </extensionElements>
  </userTask>


  <sequenceFlow id="flow5" sourceRef="confirmApproval"
   targetRef="gateway2" />

  <exclusiveGateway id="gateway2" name="Is approval confirmed?" />

  <sequenceFlow id="flow6" sourceRef="gateway2" targetRef="chargeAccount">
   <conditionExpression xsi:type="tFormalExpression"><![CDATA[${approvalConfirmed == 'true'}]]></conditionExpression>
  </sequenceFlow>

  <sequenceFlow id="flow7" sourceRef="gateway2" targetRef="ArchiveTask">
   <conditionExpression xsi:type="tFormalExpression"><![CDATA[${approvalConfirmed == 'false'}]]></conditionExpression>
  </sequenceFlow>



  <serviceTask id="Email" name="Email Service"
   activiti:class="com.picturerequest.ChargeDelegate">
   <extensionElements>
    <activiti:field name="wsdl"
     expression="http://localhost:8521/mailService?wsdl" />
    <activiti:field name="operation" expression="chargeAccount" />
    <activiti:field name="parameters" expression="${user}, ${imageName}" />
    <activiti:field name="returnValue" expression="myReturn" />
   </extensionElements>
  </serviceTask>



  <serviceTask id="chargeAccount" name="Charge account"
   activiti:class="com.picturerequest.ChargeDelegate">
   <extensionElements>
    <activiti:field name="wsdl"
     expression="http://localhost:8291/chargeService?wsdl" />
    <activiti:field name="operation" expression="chargeAccount" />
    <activiti:field name="parameters" expression="${user}, ${imageName}" />
    <activiti:field name="returnValue" expression="myReturn" />
   </extensionElements>
  </serviceTask>

  <sequenceFlow id="flow10" sourceRef="chargeAccount"
   targetRef="ArchiveTask" />

  <sequenceFlow id="flow13" sourceRef="Email" targetRef="theEnd" />

  <serviceTask id="ArchiveTask" name="serviceTask"
   activiti:class="com.picturerequest.ArchiveTask">
  </serviceTask>


  <sequenceFlow id="flow8" sourceRef="ArchiveTask"
   targetRef="theEnd" />

  <endEvent id="theEnd" />

 </proc

ess>
</definitions>

Re: Custom form Type error - unknown type 'textarea'

frederikherema1 — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 10:01:13 GMT

That's strange. And you get this error when deploying through the Explorer UI?

Re: Custom form Type error - unknown type 'textarea'

bbarani — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 13:47:12 GMT

That's strange. And you get this error when deploying through the Explorer UI?

Yes..I have placed the custom type class(jar) under lib folder of both activiti-rest and activiti-explorer folder but even then I am getting this error whenever I try to deploy using explorer ui..

Re: Custom form Type error - unknown type 'textarea'

frederikherema1 — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 13:57:04 GMT

Is there a way you can debug the explorer application in the class ProcessEngineConfigurationImpl:1021


 protected void initFormTypes() {
    if (formTypes==null) {
      formTypes = new FormTypes();
      formTypes.addFormType(new StringFormType());
      formTypes.addFormType(new LongFormType());
      formTypes.addFormType(new DateFormType("dd/MM/yyyy"));
      formTypes.addFormType(new BooleanFormType());
    }
    if (customFormTypes!=null) {
      for (AbstractFormType customFormType: customFormTypes) {
        formTypes.addFormType(customFormType);
      }
    }
  }

End perhaps also, if you see your custom properties being added, on line 1327:


 public FormTypes getFormTypes() {
    return formTypes;
  }

Re: Custom form Type error - unknown type 'textarea'

javedafroz — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 09:36:13 GMT

I am also facing same issue and I have checked in activiti 5.12 and 5.11. I hav eto show a demo to a potential client and I am stuck :x . Plzz help..

Thanks in advance.

Re: Custom form Type error - unknown type 'textarea'

jbarrez — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 09:55:42 GMT

I've recently written down the steps I needed to do to get it working: http://www.jorambarrez.be/blog/2013/03/13/creating-a-new-form-property-in-activiti/

Hope that you can find the differences with your environment there.

Re: Custom form Type error - unknown type 'textarea'

javedafroz — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 06:37:20 GMT

I have already tried all those steps. The problem is that system is not even recognizing the pre-existing custom types - user and processDefinition. It is always throwing same errors for them - "unknown type "user" approver". I don't know where am I getting it wrong. Following is the code I am using for generating text area.

TextAreaFormType.java


package org.activiti.explorer.form;

import org.activiti.engine.impl.form.AbstractFormType;



public class TextAreaFormType extends AbstractFormType {

 public static final String TYPE_NAME = "textarea";

 public String getName() {
  return TYPE_NAME;
 }

 @Override
 public Object convertFormValueToModelValue(String propertyValue) {
  return propertyValue;
 }

 @Override
 public String convertModelValueToFormValue(Object modelValue) {
  return (String) modelValue;
 }
}

TextAreaFormPropertyRenderer.java


package org.activiti.explorer.ui.form;

import org.activiti.engine.form.FormProperty;
import org.activiti.explorer.Messages;
import org.activiti.explorer.form.TextAreaFormType;
import org.activiti.explorer.ui.form.AbstractFormPropertyRenderer;

import com.vaadin.ui.Field;
import com.vaadin.ui.TextArea;

public class TextAreaFormPropertyRenderer extends AbstractFormPropertyRenderer {

 public TextAreaFormPropertyRenderer() {
  super(TextAreaFormType.class);
 }

 @Override
 public Field getPropertyField(FormProperty formProperty) {
  TextArea textArea = new TextArea(getPropertyLabel(formProperty));
  textArea.setRequired(formProperty.isRequired());
  textArea.setEnabled(formProperty.isWritable());
  textArea.setRows(10);
  textArea.setColumns(50);
  textArea.setRequiredError(getMessage(Messages.FORM_FIELD_REQUIRED,
    getPropertyLabel(formProperty)));

  if (formProperty.getValue() != null) {
   textArea.setValue(formProperty.getValue());
  }

  return textArea;
 }

}

activiti-standalone-context.xml


 <bean id="processEngineConfiguration" class="org.activiti.spring.SpringProcessEngineConfiguration">
   <property name="dataSource" ref="dataSource" />
   <property name="transactionManager" ref="transactionManager" />
   <property name="databaseSchemaUpdate" value="true" />
   <property name="jobExecutorActivate" value="true" />
    <property name="customFormTypes">
      <list>
        <bean class="org.activiti.explorer.form.UserFormType"/>
  <bean class="org.activiti.explorer.form.TextAreaFormType"/>
      </list>
    </property>
  </bean>

activiti-ui-context.xml


<bean id="formPropertyRendererManager" class="org.activiti.explorer.ui.form.FormPropertyRendererManager" lazy-init="true">
    <!– Default renderer –>
    <property name="noTypePropertyRenderer">
      <bean class="org.activiti.explorer.ui.form.StringFormPropertyRenderer" />
    </property>
    <!– Renderers by property type –>
    <property name="propertyRenderers">
      <list>
        <bean class="org.activiti.explorer.ui.form.StringFormPropertyRenderer" />
        <bean class="org.activiti.explorer.ui.form.EnumFormPropertyRenderer" />
        <bean class="org.activiti.explorer.ui.form.LongFormPropertyRenderer" />
        <bean class="org.activiti.explorer.ui.form.DateFormPropertyRenderer" />
        <bean class="org.activiti.explorer.ui.form.UserFormPropertyRenderer" />
        <bean class="org.activiti.explorer.ui.form.BooleanFormPropertyRenderer" />
 <bean class="org.activiti.explorer.ui.form.TextAreaFormPropertyRenderer" />
      </list>
    </property>
  </bean>

Please help.

Re: Custom form Type error - unknown type 'textarea'

frederikherema1 — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:43:08 GMT

How are you actually modifying and deploying the explorer-app?

Re: Custom form Type error - unknown type 'textarea'

javedafroz — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:02:46 GMT

I am finally able to solve it. It was my activiti.cfg.xml file which was overriding "processEngineConfiguration" bean. I have removed this configuration from activiti.cfg.xml and it is working perfectly fine. 8-)

Re: Custom form Type error - unknown type 'textarea'

udoderk — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:41:38 GMT

I am finally able to solve it. It was my activiti.cfg.xml file which was overriding "processEngineConfiguration" bean. I have removed this configuration from activiti.cfg.xml and it is working perfectly fine. 8-)

what version of activi and activiti explorer are you use?
That is very strange, that activiti.cfg.xml was used, because that file is only for standalone realisation of activiti should be needed.

The activiti explorer and activiti REST use the spring configoration, that shoud be overwrite the standalone configuration.

I have realized the custom types and vaadin GUIs yet with versions 5.9, 5.10, 5.11 of activiti and activiti explorer and had not such troubles.

Re: Custom form Type error - unknown type 'textarea'

javedafroz — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 09:18:18 GMT

I am using 5.12. I have also noticed that errors that I was getting for pre existing custom types like "user" and "processDefinition" was due to missing jar and missing xml entries in activiti-rest.war. Here is what you need to do to fix this:

1. Copy activiti-explorer jar from activiti-explorer.war to activiti-rest.war
2. Replace "processEngineConfiguration" bean in activiti-rest.war's activiti-context.xml with the same bean in activiti-standalone-context.xml
3. Restart activiti.

Re: Custom form Type error - unknown type 'textarea'

udoderk — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:42:10 GMT

I am using 5.12. I have also noticed that errors that I was getting for pre existing custom types like "user" and "processDefinition" was due to missing jar and missing xml entries in activiti-rest.war. Here is what you need to do to fix this:

1. Copy activiti-explorer jar from activiti-explorer.war to activiti-rest.war
2. Replace "processEngineConfiguration" bean in activiti-rest.war's activiti-context.xml with the same bean in activiti-standalone-context.xml
3. Restart activiti.

But why activiti.cfg.xml was used in your case??? I have checked out the 5.12 release. The activiti.cfg.xml not exist :evil: Do you create this activiti.cfg.xml manually?

Re: Custom form Type error - unknown type 'textarea'

javedafroz — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 07:44:50 GMT

I had used activiti.cfg.xml in my process deployment to override the existing configuration. for example you can override your SMTP setting using this file in your process jar. It doesn't comes with activiti default deployment.

Re: Custom form Type error - unknown type 'textarea'

mengqhai — Sun, 12 May 2013 09:55:42 GMT

I encountered the same issue with activiti-rest application when I configured it to use a datasource which is shared with a activit-explorer app. And if I switch activiti-reset app to use h2 in memory db, there's no such issue.
I think this maybe caused by my early deployment using activiti-explorer. The process definition stored in the DB could contain some activiti-explorer specific information (e.g, the customFormTypes like org.activiti.explorer.form.UserFormType).
So by adding the following property in the processEngineConfiguration bean, and copy activiti-explorer.jar which contains the customFormTypes classes, the issue is fixed:
    <!– To fix the "unknown type 'user' approver" –>
    <property name="customFormTypes">
      <list>
        <bean class="org.activiti.explorer.form.UserFormType"/>
        <bean class="org.activiti.explorer.form.ProcessDefinitionFormType"/>
        <bean class="org.activiti.explorer.form.MonthFormType"/>
      </list>
    </property>