ApplyYourself Hack to Mass Update Choice Group Values

How annoying is it that there is no easy way to mass update choice group values in ApplyYourself? All mass updates have to be sent to an account manager, who then uses some magical tool to make the changes that should've taken 1 minute for an administrator to complete.

For a change that I needed to make immediately, outside of business hours, I had to come up with an alternative: ChoiceGroupUpdateHack.js

When this script (making sure the code is prefixed with javascript:) is entered into the address bar and executed, a small textarea element is created at the top of the page along with an Update Values button.

To use the hack UI, all one has to do is paste new values directly from Excel into the textarea element and then click the button!

The Excel spreadsheet should be formatted as it is exported from ApplyYourself. The spreadsheet should include the following columns, in order:

• Choice Value
• Choice Code
• Choice Order
• Header: "Yes" or blank
• Related Value
• Inactive Date: MM/DD/YYYY

Although this hack took 3 hours to develop, the ability to mass update choice groups on demand autonomously is priceless to me.

Note: If ApplyYourself starts throwing bizarre errors that don't make sense, another hack may be necessary to clear the choice group before loading the new values: ChoiceGroupClearHack.js

This hack was validated in Safari 5.1.2 and in Google Chrome 16.0 on Mac OS X Lion.

ApplyYourself Hack to Use Free-form Text Filters for Choice Group Fields

I discovered an interesting bug in ApplyYourself that makes it possible to do something that should've been standard functionality: Setup normal text filters using the Contains operator with Choice Group fields.

Imagine trying to get a list of all records that have Program value containing the word "Bachelor" when your Program field is setup as a Choice Group with over 100 options. The standard query interface forces you to use the following filter:

• Program In this List ... (manually selecting every singe value using the tiny 3-line picklist)

Or, you may have smartly added "Bachelor" as an extra value to the associated Choice Group so that you can select that single value when using the Contains operator.

However, both of these methods are annoyances. What if I wanted to query something on the fly with a value that I haven't predicted to need before?

The hack workaround or solution is simpler than both alternatives:

1. Setup the filter with the desired field and the Contains operator with any value at all.

2. Click save and run.
3. Click the Back button in your browser, not in ApplyYourself. The picklist will have now magically turned into a free-form text field!

JavaScript Hack to Disable Fields for Internal WebCenter Users

In ApplyYourself, it may sometimes be desirable for some application fields to be editable by the applicant and then locked down for internal WebCenter users after the application is submitted. One example may be the term to which the applicant originally applied, before a decision or subsequent deferral occurs.

In order to accomplish this, the following JavaScript hack may be used.

<script type="text/javascript">
function isViewedInWebCenter() {
  return document.domain == "webcenter.applyyourself.com";
} // function isViewedInWebCenter()

if (isViewedInWebCenter()) {
  var inputElement =
      document.getElementById(inputElementId);
  inputElement.disabled = true;
} // if (isViewedInWebCenter())
</script>

Adding this bit of code to the bottom of a section's HTML should do the trick.

JavaScript Hack to Add All Fields to Export Template

Faced with the daunting task of creating an export template in ApplyYourself that included all available fields, I decided to try my luck at using JavaScript to do the job for me (with greater accuracy).

The end result is the following hack, which adds all exposed nodes to the template.

javascript:

/* Grab the fields frame. */

var fieldsFrame =
    document.getElementsByName(
        "frameQuestionsTree")[0];
var fieldsWindow = fieldsFrame.contentWindow;
var fieldsDocument = fieldsWindow.document;

/* Grab the actions frame. */

var actionsFrame =
    document.getElementsByName(
        "frameActions")[0];
var actionsWindow = actionsFrame.contentWindow;
var actionsDocument = actionsWindow.document;

/* Find the exposed nodes to add. */

var fieldsATags = fieldsDocument.getElementsByTagName("a");
alert(fieldsATags.length + " A tags found in fields window.");

var nodeIdPattern = /Nod[0-9]+/;
var nodeATags = new Array();
for (var i = 0; i < fieldsATags.length; i++) {
  var fieldsAElem = fieldsATags[i];
  var fieldsAIdAttr = fieldsAElem.attributes["id"];
  if (fieldsAIdAttr) {
    if (fieldsAIdAttr.value.match(nodeIdPattern)) {
      var nodeNumText = fieldsAIdAttr.value.slice(3);
      fieldsWindow.setSelectedNode(parseInt(nodeNumText));
      actionsWindow.BtnAddField_onclick();
    }
  }
}

This hack was tested in...

• Chrome 11 on Windows 7
• Internet Explorer 9 on Windows 7