Display Inputs and Calculate Immediately Outputs

While running an automated process, there may arise a need for the user to get some assistance on providing its input(s) or may need some minor calculation's result to be displayed immediately. For this reason SheetKraft web UI has two types of parameters namely display inputs and calculate immediately outputs.

Working

These two parameters are similar in principle, which is, when an input field of a procedure is changed these parameters get evaluated at the same time. The only difference is where they are shown; one is an non editable input while other is an output that is shown on the page where inputs are provided.

Use Cases

1. Display Inputs

An example of a use case for display input would be a situation where one needs to display the details of an entity which is selected from a picker. For instance, when the user selects an account number from a picker, the display input can show the details of that account in a tabular format.

An advanced application of display inputs can be a complex picker wherein a list of suggestions may be needed to be displayed beyond just subtext e.g. a RegEx. The first input would be a regular input containing a text value; the user can write the RegEx here. Second input is a display input which would filter relevant results based on the RegEx.

2. Calculate Immediately Outputs

Similarly, a use case for calculate immediately output would be a scenario such as interest calculation, which is less calculation intensive where the actual output is calculation heavy and requires a full run. Assuming the inputs are the principal, rate of interest and time period, the immediately calculated output would be the interest at the end of that period; the advantage being the user won't have to run the activity each time just to find the final figure.

Note: Calculate immediately outputs are in the process of being replaced by display inputs and thus being phased out. Once SheetKraft has a few more capabilities on the inputs, there won't be any use case left for calculate immediately outputs.