MelisFormCreator

The back-office form builder of MelisPlatform — design fields, groups, rules, statuses, validation workflows, computed formulas and versions. Package melisplatform/melis-form-creator.

Purpose

MelisFormCreator is the admin tool where a developer or content manager designs a form: it drags fields into steps, configures field types, groups, conditional rules, answer statuses, a multi-step approval workflow ("Instruction"), and computed formulas. It writes the resulting definition into MelisFormEngine's tables (melis_forms*) — the engine is responsible for rendering the form to visitors and storing answers. This module owns only two small catalog tables: field-type definitions and formula definitions.

Enable it

Add to config/melis.module.load.php:

return [
    // …
    'MelisFormCreator',
];

Required dependencies (declared in composer.json):

• melisplatform/melis-core ^5.3 — event manager, service manager, BO tool chrome, translations.
• melisplatform/melis-form-engine ^5.3 — owns the form/field/answer tables and the renderer; this module writes into them.
• melisplatform/melis-small-business ^5.3 — the workflow engine behind the Instruction approval process.
• mossadal/math-parser ^1.3 — evaluates formula math expressions.
• jms/serializer + doctrine/instantiator — (de)serialize the formula entity graph.

Key services

Service alias	Role
FormCreatorFormulaService	Resolves a formula's registered view helper (from mff_helper_file) and renders the formula tree; handles JSON ↔ XML conversion and parameter extraction.
FormCreatorFieldTypeTable	Gateway for the mfft_* field-type catalog table.
FormCreatorFormulaTable	Gateway for the mff_* formula definitions table.

Backoffice

Accessed via Marketing → Form Creator (menu key melisformcreator_tool, icon fa fa-th-large). All controllers are reachable under the generic route /MelisFormCreator/[:controller[/:action]].

Catalog tabs

Tab	Controller	Role
Form	FormCreatorFormController	List, create, clone (FormCreatorCloneFormController), open and delete forms.
Fields	FormCreatorFieldController	Reusable fields defined once and shared across all forms.
Field Types	FormCreatorFieldTypesController	System catalog of field types (text, select, checkbox, computation…) — read-mostly.
Groups	FormCreatorGroupsController	Sections that group fields together on a form.
Rules	FormCreatorRulesController	Conditional logic — show/hide a field depending on another field's value, using rule helpers (compare-number, compare-text).
Status	FormCreatorStatusController	Answer statuses a submission can move through (e.g. New, Validated, Rejected).
Instruction	FormCreatorInstruction*Controller (×4)	The validation workflow: Process (stages), Validators (approvers), Reasons (rejection/action reasons), Comments (note templates).
Formulas	FormCreatorFormulasController	Computed expressions derived from other fields; attached to a field of type computation.

Form-edition page tabs (per form)

Tab	Role
Form	Visual builder — drag fields into steps, order them, set labels/translations.
Properties	Form-level settings.
Status Rules	Rules that move an answer between statuses.
Versions	Version timeline (major.minor.maintenance) — every structural change adds a maintenance version automatically.
Instruction	Attach a validation Process to the form.
Entry Parameters	Pre-fill answers from entry parameters.

Database tables

This module owns only two tables. All forms, fields, groups, rules, statuses, versions and answers are stored by MelisFormEngine (melis_forms* tables).

Table model	PK	Holds
MelisFormCreatorFieldTypeTable	mfft_id	The field-type catalog (text, select, checkbox, computation…).
MelisFormCreatorFormulaTable	mff_id	Formula definitions — mff_helper_file, mff_name, mff_description, mff_xml (serialized formula tree).

Events & listeners

Because a form's structure is XML in the engine but its parts (fields, statuses, validators…) are edited separately, Module.php attaches listeners that re-sync every form when a shared part changes.

Listener	Event(s)	Effect
MelisFormCreatorFormVersioningListener	melisformcreator_form_update_start / …_update_end	Snapshots form XML; on change writes a new maintenance version and bumps mf_current_version_maintenance.
MelisFormCreatorUpdateFieldListener	melisformcreator_save_field_end	Rewrites the field's XML inside every form that uses it (including as a secondary field).
MelisFormCreatorDeleteFieldListener	melisformcreator_delete_field_end	Removes the field from every form's XML.
MelisFormCreatorUpdateValidatorListener / …DeleteValidatorListener	melisformcreator_save_validator_end / melisformcreator_delete_validator_end	Sync or remove the validator across form XML.
MelisFormCreatorUpdateProcessListener / …DeleteProcessListener	melisformcreator_save_process_end / melisformcreator_delete_process_end	Sync or remove the process across form XML.
MelisFormCreatorDeleteStatusListener	melisformcreator_delete_status_end	Strip the status from form XML.
MelisFormCreatorDeleteReasonListener	melisformcreator_delete_reason_end	Update affected answer XML via the engine's answers service.
MelisFormCreatorFormulaUpdateFieldListener	melisformcreator_form_field_set_field_config_xml_end, melisformcreator_validate_form_field, melisformcreator_format_post_values	Inject <formula> + parameters into a computation field, validate it, and convert formula JSON→XML on save.
MelisFormFormulaParametersListener	melisformcreator_formula_parameters	Fill formula parameter values from the current answer context.
MelisFormCreatorFlashMessengerListener	…_save_*_end / …_delete_*_end	Back-office flash feedback.

Extending the builder

Listen on the melisformcreator_save_*_end / melisformcreator_delete_*_end events — you receive the saved/deleted entity after the core logic ran, exactly as the built-in sync listeners do.

View helpers

Helper	Use
FormulaHelper	Render the formula tree UI; convert XML ↔ JSON; extract parameters.
FormulaTextLanguageHelper	Multilingual labels for formula nodes.
SecondaryFieldHelper	Pick a "secondary" (referencing) field. Reused by MelisFormTool and MelisDocumentGenerator.
ToolTipTable	Build configurable tooltip tables (groups/validators/reasons). Reused by MelisFormTool and MelisDocumentGenerator.
ValidatorBtnHelper	Validator action buttons in the Instruction UI.

Example

Listen to a post-save event to run custom logic after a field is updated:

// In your module's Module::onBootstrap()
$eventManager = $e->getApplication()->getEventManager();
$eventManager->attach(
    'melisformcreator_save_field_end',
    function ($event) {
        $savedField = $event->getParam('savedField');
        // your custom sync or notification logic here
    }
);

Key files

Concern	Path
Module bootstrap & listeners	vendor/melisplatform/melis-form-creator/src/Module.php
Routing, services, controllers, view helpers	vendor/melisplatform/melis-form-creator/config/module.config.php
Left-menu entry	vendor/melisplatform/melis-form-creator/config/app.interface.php
Catalog tabs + form-edition tabs	vendor/melisplatform/melis-form-creator/config/app.tools.php
Rule helpers (compare-number / compare-text)	vendor/melisplatform/melis-form-creator/config/rulehelper.config.php
Formula / field-type / instruction form schemas	vendor/melisplatform/melis-form-creator/config/app.formula.forms.php
Formula service	vendor/melisplatform/melis-form-creator/src/Service/MelisFormCreatorFormulaService.php
Formula entity graph	vendor/melisplatform/melis-form-creator/src/Entity/
Form-XML sync listeners	vendor/melisplatform/melis-form-creator/src/Listener/
View helpers	vendor/melisplatform/melis-form-creator/src/View/Helper/
Table gateways (field-types, formulas)	vendor/melisplatform/melis-form-creator/src/Model/Tables/

See also: MelisFormEngine, MelisSmallBusiness