LinkML formbuilder

© Amsterdam UMC, 2024

This CLI tool converts LinkML models into HTML and PDF forms. It does not check for model validity and thus might crash or show errors when used with an invalid model. Use the official LinkML tools to check whether your model is valid.

This tool was built as part of a larger project by a programmer who is not part of the LinkML development team. Therefore, errors in the interpretation of slots of the modelling language are possible.

Installation

Under the hood, this tool uses the python adaptation of PDFKIT. It requires wkhtmltopdf to be installed on your system.

Installation steps:

1. Install and add wkhtmltopdf to path
   1. Download here
   2. Add the /bin to the path variable in your system's environment variables
2. pip install linkmlformbuilder

Build from source

1. Make sure the working directory contains the pyproject.toml file
2. pip install build
3. python -m build
4. Install the .whl file in the dist folder using pip install

Usage

Basic usage

Without additional arguments, the command linkmlformbuilder [yamlfile] with [yamlfile] being an absolute or relative path to the LinkML yaml resource you want converted, processes the provided LinkML model and creates two files:

1. An HTML file containing code for PDFKIT to use. This HTML file can be viewed, but will look different than the PDF file. This is due to a missing css file that is added during the PDF conversion
2. A PDF form based on the provided LinkML model

Advanced usage

usage: linkmlformbuilder [-h] [-html] [-dir [OUTPUT_DIRECTORY]] [--name [NAME]]
                    yamlfile

positional arguments:
  yamlfile              The LinkML yaml file for which a form should be built

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -html, --html_only    This flag is used when the user only wants an HTML
                        file returned, there will be no PDF export
  -dir [OUTPUT_DIRECTORY], --output_directory [OUTPUT_DIRECTORY]
                        Specify an output directory, the current working
                        directory is used when this value not provided or the
                        flag is missing
  --name [NAME]         Specify an alternative file name, do not specify a
                        file extension. By default, the filename of the
                        yamlfile is used for the HTML and optionally PDF files

Changelog

Version 1.0.0

• UI update for html-only forms

Version 0.1.11

• Add value fields to radio buttons so they show up in FormData
• Fix issue with inline attributes and slots without a name field

Version 0.1.10

• Add name fields to input and textareas

Version 0.1.9

• Missing 'name' field error is now a warning
• Default options for missing 'name' fields

Version 0.1.8

• Throw error when field 'name' is missing from a model element
• Auto close file on error (with statement)

Version 0.1.7

• Apply cardinality to slots

Version 0.1.6

• Overwrite existing output file(s) instead of throwing fileExists errors

Version 0.1.5

• Capitalize visible names, values, and descriptions
• Remove spaces in ids and enum names

Version 0.1.4

• Improve support for inlined enums
• Add support for dynamic enums

Version 0.1.1 - Version 0.1.3

• Fix entry point

Version 0.1.0

• Initial commit