API V2.1 - Machine readable tags or IDs

srtalbot commented 1 month ago

Problem

How might we limit the amount of work a developer needs to do when a form that has an API integration needs to be updated / republished?

Key user needs As a developer I need to limit the number of updates that I need to do When a form is updated So that I only have to change the parts of the integration that have updated on the form, rather than every single form question

As a form builder I need to work with an infra developer to determine which form questions will (almost) never change So that when a form is updated the questions that are stable do not change in the API integration

Actions on a question to consider

Reordering a question (e.g., moving "name" from 3 to 7)
Deleting and retyping a question
Fixing a typo on a question
changing the type of a question (e.g., from radio to checkbox)

Scope

Identify how we might prevent integrations from breaking - client devs suggested looking at "machine readable tags or IDs"
Identify what actions are destructive
Identify where we can prevent an integration from breaking or provide a warning for destructive actions.

connorscarolyns commented 1 month ago

@thiessenp-cds @timarney we'll definitely need to talk this one through together to better understand the problems we are trying to solve. Do you think we should include one of our prototype partners who expressed this need to get a better idea of their needs?

Abi-Nada commented 3 weeks ago

Connect with @bryan-robitaille and @craigzour first on ideas to get the ball rolling

connorscarolyns commented 3 weeks ago

Proposed approach:

Phase 1 - Made sure current question IDs are static and consistent when forms are downloaded and re-uploaded

Phase 2- Create a custom editable tag that users can add to their questions to enable consistency between different forms that use the same field types, like "Name"

@srtalbot @timarney @bryan-robitaille @Abi-Nada

connorscarolyns commented 3 weeks ago

@samsadasivan will be consulted on design when interface changes are ready.

connorscarolyns commented 2 weeks ago

@Abi-Nada should we split this into two tickets? one for the static ID work and one for the editable tags?

timarney commented 2 weeks ago

I think we should look at the editable tags first as that might help guide the path for the static ID work.

Looking to outline both before we make schema updates.

cc: @samsadasivan @connorscarolyns

anikbrazeau commented 2 weeks ago

Figma: https://www.figma.com/design/zlh8BVQyDczHvXo4xXUrb6/GC-Forms-API-interface?node-id=4766-37281&t=vowAaPR0FqR7LOHp-4

timarney commented 6 days ago

[ ] update element more menu to allow tag input (default to uuid)
[ ] update template store to include tag / uuid
[ ] Ensure data gets saved to the API
[ ] Confirm if we need to add the ID to the vault record

[ ] update increment id to store "next id"
[ ] update template store to use "next id"

[ ] test with repeating sets
[ ] test with address complete

cds-snc / platform-forms-client