Records

Records

Records/Activities

Records/Addresses

Records/Assets

Records/Comments

Records/ConditionApprovals

Records/Conditions

Records/Contacts

Records/Contacts/CustomTables

Records/Costs

Records/CustomForms

Records/CustomTables

Records/Documents

Records/Fees

Records/Inspections

Records/Invoices

Records/Owners

Records/Parcels

Records/PartTransaction

Records/Payments

Records/Professionals

Records/TrustAccounts

Records/WorkflowTasks

Records/WorkflowTasks/CustomForms

Settings/Records

Overview:

Records

The record object is the main transactional object in Civic Platform. It includes associations to many other system objects.

Agencies define record types via Civic Platform Administration to support the general business practices of the agency and the unique processing requirements for individual records. These record types define groupings of business objects (permits, for example) for which the system applies a common data model and common complex processes, such as the application intake form, permits, workflow, inspection schedules, fees, and so forth.

When you create a record, Civic Platform:

• Creates an instance of a record type and stores information related to a specific user application, case, license, permit, service request, work order, and so forth.

• Acts on the record in accordance with the business processes defined for the record type from which the record was instantiated.

• Creates instances of sub-objects (address, parcel, owner, documents, workflow, fee schedule, and so forth) related to the record.

Depending on the agency's needs and the type of service users apply for, users may be required to fill in custom information when they submit an application. Custom information is stored in custom forms and custom tables, which can also be associated to a record.

When a user submits the completed application intake form, the system creates a new instance of the specified record type and sets its status to the first task of the workflow associated with record type. After end users create the initial application record, record data and component data associated with the record, can be updated or added. This includes such items as workflow status, inspection results, fees, and so forth.

Creating Records

Getting required record attributes:

A record type has specific attributes required by the agency's business rules and processes. When a user submits an application to create a record, your app should indicate to the user which fields are required and provide valid values for dropdown lists, etc. Use Describe Required Record Attributes to determine the required attributes. Additional methods that are useful for gathering the setup required to submit an application are Get All Custom Forms for Record Type and Get All Custom Tables for Record Type.

Two ways to create records with the Accela API:

• Use Create Record.

  Create Record enables you to create a new record within Civic Platform. The Create Record API creates a full record in Accela, similar to submitting a record in the back office. Submitting a record via Create Record will trigger the business rules engine event ApplicationSubmitAfter. Once created, if the user is a citizen user most objects and attributes become read only.

• Use Create Partial Record and Finalize Record in tandem.

  Create Partial Record and Finalize Record are always used together. Creating a partial record creates a temporary record within Civic Platform. A temporary record can be updated as much as needed; for example, an applicant fills out as much of the application as they can but need to gather additional data to finish. Create Partial Record triggers the business rules engine event ApplicationSubmitAfter

  The Create Partial Record will allow the user to save their application and resume it later without having to submit. When the user comes back later and completes the application, then Finalize Record is called to change the temporary record to a full record and officially submit. Finalize Record triggers the business rules engine event ConvertToRealCapAfter.

Both Create Record and Create Partial Record can create records that include APO, Contacts, Professionals, etc. However, Create Record currently does not support the inclusion of custom forms and custom tables. Because of this, use Create Partial Record and Finalize Record in tandem as described above, unless there is a reason otherwise. Between the Create Partial Record and Finalize Record requests, use the Update Record Custom Forms and Update Record Custom Tables.