Contracts implement the principles of object-oriented programming on our low-code platform. You can create a Contract and add several apps from different workspaces into it. These apps will become the contract’s sources. You will be able to work with their app items right on a contract’s page. In other words, contracts allow you to work with apps from different solutions and workspaces in a single interface.
Consider the following example. You can create a contract and name it Employee documentation, then add the Resumes and Employment agreements from different workspaces as its sources. App items of both apps will be displayed in one list on the contract’s page. You will be able to view item pages and edit them.
When you have configured a business process associated with a workspace that includes a contract, you can run instances of the process with items from each source app.
Features of a contract
- A contract is created and used the same way as other apps. You can configure access permissions to a contract and its items.
- You can add an unlimited number of source apps to a contract. They can be included in different workspaces and solutions.
- Items of a contract are items of source apps. They will be displayed on the contract’s page. On it, you can view source app item pages, as well as search by parameters, and save custom filters for searches.
- When you create an item in a source app, the new entry is automatically displayed in the contract. You can also create an item from the contract page by selecting one of the source apps added to the contract.
- Source app forms are used in the contract. You can only customize them by going to the corresponding source app.
- You cannot create a business process associated with a contract. If you want to use a contract in a process, it is recommended to associate such processes with the workspace the contract is created in.
- You can add a button that starts a business process to the form of each source app and to the contract’s page.
- In a business process that includes a contract, the default app specified in the contract’s settings is used for the Manage Status and Create App Item activities. You can only change the status and create items within a process in this source.
- It is recommended to export contracts as part of a workspace or a solution.
Read more about working with contracts in the following articles:
- Create a contract
- Contract settings
- Add a source app
- Work with contract fields
- Business processes involving contract items
- Contract page