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What is a route back?
What are the two options for routeback?
When should you reset or keep all variable values?
Limitations
What is a route back?
A route back in Checkbox refers to an App design where the end user is redirected back to a previous page that has been travelled through before. You can create a route back in the App Studio by connecting one block to a previous block. Route backs can be recognised by a dotted line. Please see the screenshot below.
Toggle options for route backs
When creating a route back in the Studio, there are a number of settings to control what data is retained and what data is shown in widgets on route back.
- Remove All Previous Values
When routing back, all blocks that are skipped over as part of the route back will have their values wiped. This data will also be wiped from widgets.
- Keep all previous values (hide in widgets excluding current page)
When routing back, the FORM values are retained so the end users can see what was previously entered into the FORM fields. This option is suitable for Apps where you want a route back, but want to retain the previously entered values for convenience.
Widget Data is also removed for the blocks that were routed back over. With this option, widget data is retained for the block that is routed back to.
- Keep all previous values (hide in widgets including current page)
When routing back, the FORM values are retained so the end users can see what was previously entered into the FORM fields. This option is suitable for Apps where you want a route back, but want to retain the previously entered values for convenience.
Widget Data is also removed for the blocks that were routed back over. With this option, widget data for the page that is routed back to is also removed.
- Keep all previous values
When the variable values of the route back path need to be updated at a later stage and/or the route back path is preferred to be recorded in the transcript, the toggle should be turned on to preserve all variable values. Note that this setting also means that this data will be retained and shown in widgets.
Auditing and compliance use cases are common in this case. For example, in a compliance App, end users may need to submit their responses to the legal team for review. If the legal team requires the end user to amend their responses, they will assign the Assessment back to the end user through a route back for resubmission.
In this case, the initial responses (variable values) may need to be preserved to show a record of the path travelled by the end user in the route back and any relevant comments attached by the legal team. Preserving these variable values also allows the end user to not lose their initial responses, especially if they are only making minor amendments before resubmitting their responses.
Limitations:
- Route backs are not designed to route back to a function page (i.e. MERGE, COMP, FILTER, LOOP, EMAIL) if the toggle to preserve variable values are turned off
- You cannot route back to the following blocks: END, TRANSCRIPT, VIEW DOC, PARALLEL, SEQUENCE
- You cannot route back to or from a page inside a LOOP
- You cannot route back to a page that has NOT been travelled before
- You cannot route back to a page that belongs on separate paths