Workflow form with selection

[itzamna]

Hi all,
I'm looking for some advice on how I can enhance a workflow form in the way that a user has to enter values in at least two textboxes where a button is behind that executes some action with the values and return a result in a new form field.
The use-case to cover is:
In my workflow formular I have a section "Vendor information" that contains 2 textfields, one for country and one for name. The user is able to enter values for both (at least the country should be a dropdown). Then he clicks on a button "Get Vendor ID" near the fields. The action behind the button should call a webscript that return the vendor ids based on the country/name selection via internal search. The result should be returned and displayed+stored in a new property so that it is available for the rest of the workflow. Once the user has filled the vendorId based on his inputs he is able to start the workflow.

I don't know about the best approach and where to start? Should I create my own control and include anything in it? Is there an easier way? Are there any templates (like the packageitems.ftl) and/or available documentations that I can use to achieve the goal? Maybe I can use AIKAU already in some way (I'm using Alfresco 5.1)?

I appreciate any inputs!
Thanks guys.

[ddraper]

I'm in the process of adding a mapping between the existing YUI based Forms Runtime in Share and Aikau (see this blog post). When this is complete it will open up the ability to use the more feature rich and varied Aikau forms in workflow within Share.

At the moment I'm just getting it to the point where there is a basic mapping from the YUI2 controls to Aikau controls, but it will also be possible to provide custom mappings that will allow alternative rendering of forms (the use case being able to make use of the extra configuration options available with Aikau form controls).

If you're not able to wait for this effort to be complete then it is unlikely that you'll be able to make use Aikau, but we are progressing this steadily. It really depends on your specific use case and the timeline that your'e working to.