Get Started with HAP
This article introduces how to build an application named Recruitment Management, helping you learn more about product basics and how to build an application.
I. What is HAP?
HAP is an innovative hyper application platform that helps users build core business applications such as sales, HR, purchasing, etc. with no code, bridging the internal data of the organization. HAP is also equipped with a hyper-automation engine to fully automate complex and repetitive business processes. With HAP's integration center and complete API interfacing capabilities, users can easily integrate HAP with external systems. In addition, HAP is highly composable, supporting multiple languages and cloud-native architecture, which enables multi-cloud deployment. Through the plug-in architecture, HAP is gradually building a robust implementation and development ecosystem.
The business system built in HAP is called Application. An application can serve for one or the whole business process. Whether it's a ticket management application or ERP application, HAP gets it all done.
In HAP, the application building relies on a combination of 7 encapsulated functional modules, namely Worksheet, View, Role and Permission, Workflow, Chart, Custom Page and External Portal.
- Worksheet: Collect and store business data. Whenever you want to enter any data, a worksheet is a must, such as employee worksheet, customer worksheet, order worksheet, etc.
- View: Display the filtered data according to different business scenarios or roles.
- Role and Permission: Configure permissions for members to add, delete, modify or query business data.
- Workflow: Support automated processing and flow of business data.
- Chart: Facilitate your decisions with visualized analysis of multi-dimensional data.
- Custom Page: Set shortcut buttons, charts, views, etc. It is usually used to build a dashboard or launch pad.
- External Portal: Invite external users to join, connecting internal and external users.
Now, a simple application building experience begins.
II. Pre-building
Here are things to consider before starting:
- What business processes and automation processes do you need?
- What business data will occur in the processes?
- What roles will be involved, as well as their operation permissions?
In the following, we'll take the application Recruitment Management as an example, to introduce the basic steps and required functional modules of application building.
1. Business Process
- Generally, recruitment business requires the following key points:
- Job applicants submit their resumes directly
- The recruiting supervisor manages the information of all applicants
- The recruiting supervisor arranges the interviews
- 15 minutes before an interview, a reminder is sent to the interview supervisor for preparation (Rely on the workflow)
- The hiring supervisor modifies the interview results
- The results need to be synced to the resume page (Rely on the workflow)
- There is a dashboard for the hiring supervisor to follow the progress and status of each applicant
2. Business Data
The main data managed here is applicants’ information (i.e. their CVs), and the details of the interview schedules.
3. Roles Involved
The roles involved in the application are job applicants, HR and the hiring supervisor.
4. Solutions
HAP responses to the requirements mentioned above with the following.
| Requirements | Solutions in HAP |
|---|---|
| Submit resume information directly | Create a worksheetApplicantto collect applicants’ information and keep it visible to public |
| Manage the information of all applicants | Create several views to display applicants of different statuses |
| Arrange interviews | Create a worksheet Interview |
| Remind the interview supervisor 15 mins before an interview | Create a workflow to monitor the interview when to start |
| Update the results, whether to hire or not | Set a role of hiring supervisor and configure modification permissions for it |
| Sync the results to the resume page | Create a workflow that help automatically modify and copy the data |
| A dashboard to follow the progress | Use custom pages to display various charts |
III. Application Building
1. Create Application
After logged in, you can create an application named Recruitment Management, similar to a file in Excel, in which several sheets can be created for data input and management.
This step represents the foundation of an application. Later, you will enrich and complete it with the help of Worksheet, View, Role and Permission, Chart, Custom Page and Workflow.
2. Create Worksheet
Worksheet is the most fundamental as well as the core module in an application, which is similar to Excel. Business objects are stored and managed here; the fields in the worksheet correspond to the attributes of these objects. For example, customers, employees, and job applicants are typical business objects; accordingly, customers’ location, order number, name and mobile of job applicants are attributes of these objects.
Thus, considering the business data involved, you need to create two worksheets, Applicant and Interview,respectively.
2.1 Create Worksheet-Applicant
First, as shown in the figure below, a sheet for job applicants in Excel covers the key items such as name, birth date, gender,email, and applied position, etc.
| Name | Gender | Birth Date | Applied Position | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lucy | Female | 2020/12/1 | Lucy@mega.com | Reception | |
| Frank | Male | 2020/12/2 | Frank@mega.com | Consultant | Company Website |
| Bob | Male | 2020/12/3 | Bob@mega.com | Market Operation | Referral |
| Ada | Female | 2020/12/4 | Ada@mega.com | Reception | Job Board |
| Allen | Male | 2020/12/5 | Allen@mega.com | Market Operation | |
| Jerry | Male | 2020/12/6 | Jerry@mega.com | Consultant | Career Fair |
| Tom | Male | 2020/12/7 | Tom@mega.com | Front-end Engineer |
Next, create a corresponding worksheet for the information.
Worksheet:
Click [Create from Blank], then it jumps to the design page.
Select the appropriate controls from the left area, and modify the key attributes like name, width, required or not, etc.
The completed worksheet Applicant is shown below.
| Required Field | Control |
|---|---|
| Name | Text |
| Gender | Single select |
| Applied Position | Single select |
| CV Source | Single select |
| Status | Single select |
| Upload CV | file |
1) Enter Information
To do this, you can add each piece of data manually, or import the Excel file directly. For better display effects, we use the latter way.
After importing, the worksheet Applicant with multiple rows of data is shown below.
2) Single Record
Click on any record to enter the details page of it, where you can modify, share,copy, discuss, print, delete,favorite, etc.
3) Bulk Edit
4) Public Release
If the worksheet is visible to all job applicants and can be submitted directly, this option requires less involvement from HR. Go to [Edit Form] > [Public Release] > [Activate], and then this requirment is well fulfilled.
In addition, the interface for public data collection can also be customized, such as uploading a logo, setting a background color, adding a description, or setting fields that can be filled in publicly. After this process, you can share the QR code or link with others.
The QR code or link can be shared on the official website or other channels. Job applicants do not need to log in, instead, they can scan the code or click the link directly to submit personal information.
5) Other Features
- Business Rule： If the value of field A matches, the other fields will be hidden or displayed, or will not be editable.
- Custom Action: It is also possible to add buttons that, when clicked, will bring up a pop-up window for filling in the specified fields, which will be more scenario-oriented.
- Printing Template: You can edit the printing template in Word, then upload it as a custom template.
2.2 Create Worksheet-Interview
When arranging interviews, it is necessary to know some key information such as the applicant, gender, applied position, resume, interviewer, start time, end time, comments, results, etc. In this case, the worksheet Interview is as follows.
Since there is no need to consider comments or results when scheduling, you can check [Hide when create].
Then, try to set an interview for Ada from 10:00 to 10:30 tomorrow morning.
2.3 Associate Worksheets
When completing the worksheet Interview, you may have realized that Ada’s basic information already exists in the worksheet Applicant. You may also be wondering is it still available in Interview, without repeated data entry? The answer is yes, and it is also a reasonable way to da that.
1) [Relationship]
In the editing page of Interview, select [Relationship] in the left control area, and associate the current worksheet to Applicant.
2) [Associated Quantity]
Associated Quantity determines if multiple applicants can be associated with one interview. In the current case, there should be only one applicant for each interview. Thus, here check [Single Row], which means you can associate up to one applicant if necessary.
But on the contrary, when to associate Interview in the editing page of Applicant, the associated quantity should be [Multiple Row], that is a job applicant can be scheduled for more than one interviews.
Or you can directly check [Bi-directional association].
At this point, the text field of the applicant is no longer necessary, just delete it.
Now, try again to set an interview record for Ada, as shown in the following figure, which can be selected directly.
When associating worksheets, whether to select [Single Row] or [Multiple Row] depends on the association between business objects. Later you can check the content to learn more on these three kinds of associations in the help documentation.
3) [Foreign]
Previously we have associated Interview to Applicant, and the field of job applicants can be directly selected from the existing data. For convenience, if you also want to select other information such as gender, position, or resume directly, turn to [Foreign] in the control area, which literally means that the contents in other worksheets can be displayed in your current worksheet.
Details are represented in the figure below.
Select the control [Foreign] in the left column, and configure in details on the right.
- Field Name: Applied Position
- Relationship: Associated to Applicant
- Display Fields: Applied Position
- Type: Display Only for viewing the latest data; Storage Data for further operation like searching, filtering, etc.
Similarly, Gender (Storage Data) and CV (Display Only) can also be displayed in this worksheet, and save it.
4) Set Title Field
The title field is usually identifiable and unique, identifying the main content. Without it, the form cannot be saved.
In Applicant, the title can be the name, telephone, or email, but usually name is much preferred. In Interview, the title can also be the name or the applied position. Name plus Position is more recommended here, like Ada + Sales.
Select the advanced control [Concat] from the left, then complete the settings.
The fields set in Interview are shown as below.
| Field | Control | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Concat | Name-Gender-Position |
| Applicant | Relationship | Single Row |
| Gender | Foreign | Storage Data |
| Applied Position | Foreign | Storage Data |
| Interviewer | Members | |
| Start Time | Date | |
| End Time | Date | |
| CV | Foreign | Display Only |
| Comment | Text | |
| Result | Choice |
Here is the improved effect.
3. Create View
Facing business data, sometimes you need to view a certain status of data. For example, for large numbers of job applicants, some have finished interviews, some are still waiting for interviews, in which case it is possible to view specific job applicants based on their different status. As for interview schedules, applicants only need to check the interviews they attend and there is certain time for each interview. It is more convenient and clearer to show them in a calendar. Views in HAP are used to cater for the above scenarios.
In details, views serve for specific data presentation. There are six types of views in HAP, namely Grid, Board, Calendar, Gallery, Org Chart and Gantt Chart. When creating, you can set the data filter, display order and data field. By default, there is a grid view named [All] in each worksheet, displaying all the data.
3.1 Manage Applicants Based on Processing Status
1) Create Grid View
You can create several grid views to display and manage applicants of different status, for example, a view named New Applicant only for the newly-discovered applicants, sorted by the time created.
As shown in the following figure.
The same, views for applicants of other statuses can be created as well.
2) Create Board View
All applicants’ information, instead of the filtered data, can be displayed on a board and grouped according to statuses.
3.2 Create Calendar View for Interview Schedules
Generally, there will be a certain start time or end time for each interview, which is consistent with the concept of schedule. A calendar view serves for these needs. What you need to do is to choose a calendar view, and set the start time and end time of each interview, then all the interviews will be displayed in a calendar.
It is noted that the interviewer only needs to follow the interview he attends, thus, a data filter in the configuring page [when the interviewer equals to the current user] needs to be added, after this, whoever check this view, it will only show the interviews related to him.
As you can see, a complete calendar view will significantly contribute to the work and time management of HR and interviewers.
See the corresponding article in Help Center to learn more about other views.
4. Role and Permission
Once the application is built, you can invite your colleagues to join and use it. The roles in an application are divided into APP Admin and Custom Role.
- APP Admin: Build and adjust the structure and functionality of the application, and add roles and permissions for members. Admin’s permissions cannot be modified.
- Custom Role: Use the application and perform within their permissions on business data. We usually configure custom roles.
In Recruitment Management, job applicants can only submit information through the public released worksheet Application. There is no need to configure relevant roles for them. The HR supervisor is the builder and manager of the application, and is the Admin. We only need to configure roles for the hiring supervisor.
4.1 Invite Colleagues
You can invite colleagues to join your organization via email or phone number.
4.2 Assign Roles and Permissions
1) Configure Role for Hiring Supervisor
Each application will be pre-configured with two roles, Member and Read only. Here you can modify Member directly. If creating a new role, the operation is the same.
Follow the 6 steps shown as below to configure permissions of the role.
In step 4 and 5, check [View] and [Edit] for the view My Interview in the worksheet Interview.
We have not configured permissions for the hiring supervisor to view [All] in Applicant and Interview, so the supervisor cannot see these views.
2) Add User to Member
Since different departments have hiring supervisors, it is more appropriate to search and select the designated person directly.
3) Member’s View
Based on permissions, only data in the view of My Interview can be displayed.
4) Modify Interview Results
After the interview, click on the record, add comments, modify results, and save it.
The configured permissions are valid both for rows of data and for the fields(columns).
5. Cerate Workflow
What is a workflow? It consists of a trigger and several automated task nodes. A trigger condition is set, and when a change in data meets the condition, one or a series of tasks are automatically executed. The whole process is an automated workflow.
Business processes with certain rules can be completed automatically through workflow, reducing manual operations.
We previously have known this application needs two automated processes:
- 15 minutes before an interview, a reminder is sent to the interview supervisor for preparation
- The results need to be synced to the resume page
Create the corresponding workflows respectively.
5.1 Workflow-Notify Interviewer 15 Minutes Before Interview
1) Create Workflow-Date Trigger
There are 5 trigger modes in workflows.
- Trigger from Worksheet: Triggered when creating or updating records in worksheets, including adding, modifying, deleting, etc.
- Timed Trigger: Triggered on a given time.
- Date Trigger: Specify a date field to trigger the process.
- Triggered by Webhook: Data from other information systems can be pushed to HAP. Once receiving, the process will be triggered for data integration.
- Button Trigger: Click the button to trigger the workflow.
According to the requirements, you should choose the date trigger.
2) Set Trigger
Select the worksheetInterview to monitor, date field is the start time of interview, the time triggered is 15 mins before each interview, and save it.
It will extract start time of all interviews in Interview. Every start time that matches will trigger the workflow.
3) Send Notification
Add a node [CC], set up the notice content and the notifier.
- Content of the notice: select the field content or enter fixed content
- Notifier: Select the field of interviewer
4) Publish Workflow
5) Notification
5.2 Workflow-Sync Interview Results
There are interview results in the interview record, pass, fail or pending, which also exist in applicant records. After modifying the results, it will be better if the results can be automatically synced to the applicants’ information page.
The process is that when the interview result is pass, the processing status should be updated to background check; if the result is fail, the status should be rejected; if it is pending, the result is not synced for now.
The flow chart is as follows.
1) Create Workflow-Trigger from Worksheet
2) Set Trigger
Select to monitor the worksheetInterview,check [Only when updating records] and select the field of interview results, and save it
3) Add Branches
The interview results are different and require different processes. Therefore, a branch node needs to be added.
The configured branch node is shown below.
4) Obtain Applicants Records
If the result is pass, the processing status should be updated to background check. Before this, you should get the applicants records first.
Go to [Get single piece of data] > [Get from associated field].
Since the worksheet Interview has been associated to Applicant, the applicants’ records can be obtained through the association.
Add node to get single piece of data
Set node to get single piece of data Select the node object and field of association type as below.
5) Update Data
Add node [Update Records], choose the object to update, and set the update data field.
6) Set Branch-If Fail
The set-up is similar, details are as shown in the figure below.
7) Edit Name and Publish
8) Test
Click on an interview record, modify the results to pass, and save it.
You can see the status in applicant record is automatically updated to background check.
Many complex processes can rely on workflows. See articles in Help Center to learn more about other nodes and scenarios.
6. Create Chart
Analyzing on multi-dimensional business data is an indispensable requirement in business process. HAP supports 9 kinds of visualized charts, which are bar chart, line chart, pie chart, number chart, biaxial chart, radar chart, funnel chart, pivot chart, and administrative division.
In Recruitment Management, you can create charts to count and present the number of resumes to be processed, the number of applicants to be interviewed in a week, the number of applicants hired, or the applicants of different status. We’ll take the chart counting applicants to be interviewed as an example.
6.1 Entrance
The chart should be created under worksheet Interview.
6.2 Configure Chart
The following are general steps for configuring a chart:
- Set the data source
- Select a chart
- Decide statistical dimensions (Drag or add fields from the left)
- Edit chart name
- Save
A complete chart shows as below:
See the corresponding article in Help Center to learn more about other charts.
7. Custom Page
In a system, we usually need a home page to display frequently-used data, frequently visited applications or various charts. We can create a custom page as a dashboard or launch pad. Shortcut buttons, charts, rich text or embedded URL can be added to a custom page.
In Recruitment Management, we create a custom page for a visualized display of various charts, such as counting the number of applicants to be interviewed and so on.
7.1 Create a Custom Page named Home
7.2 Add Charts
Select [Chart], set up the chart and save it.
The same, several charts can be added.
7.3 Adjust Charts
Drag and drop to adjust size of each chart.
See the corresponding article in Help Center to learn more about other components
7.4 Save
8. Summary
With these six functional modules, we built a simple application Recruitment Management that meets our needs. It supports data analysis, data management and automated business processes. You can also assign operation permissions to members. No matter how complex the application is, it depends on these functional modules and can be built in a zero-code way.
Now try to build applications you really need.
IV. Other Features
In addition to the basic core functions of application building, there are also other necessary features.
1. Organization Management
Organization Admin can further customize the HAP organization, manage users within the organization and conduct some other management settings.
2. Interfacing and Integration
In an enterprise's digital operation, data transfer and information sharing between different business systems are required to realize more efficient business processes and improve user experience. At this point, it is important to integrate applications with external systems. HAP can integrate applications with external systems in three ways, API integration, data integration, and platform integration.
API
Create API connections and authorizations to external systems in Integration Center, which can be reused in worksheets and workflows.
Connections to external systems can be created in workflows via the [Send API Request] node.
Data Integration
In Integration Center, data integration is the way to connect to external databases, synchronize external databases with HAP, and perform ETL processing on the data with graphical and interface configurations. With the data integration module, users can not only synchronize the integration between HAP and external databases, but also take HAP as an intermediate tool to synchronize data between two external databases.
Third-Party Platform Integration
HAP supports integration with Third-Party Platform, realizing account integration, one-click login to HAP, unified management of contacts and message synchronization.
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