I've recently implemented a simple dynamic forms engine that uses dynamically loaded ASP.NET controls in concert with an EAV schema to handle the variable nature of the data model. The business was sufficiently satisfied with the end product for a time, but is now clamoring for much more complex dynamic forms:
- Field visibility is tied to the values of other form fields
- List of drop down possible values tied to the state of other form fields
- Enforcement of various business rules across the form: i.e. Value of FieldA must be no greater than FieldX + 30 days, assuming FieldX is not null, blah blah
- Other complex inter-field dependencies and business rules
As you might imagine, I'm looking for an off the shelf solution since rolling such an engine from scratch seems tedious, time consuming and not really part of our core business. Ideally, I want complete ASP.NET framework (MVC or WebForms) that encompasses all layers (Business Logic, Presentation Layer and Persistence). Beggars can't be choosers, however, so I'd make do with a framework that only dealt with Business Rule definition and evaluation. Furthermore, I'm looking for a strictly server-side solution since my hands are tied by a strict policy that disallows any dependence on client side plug-ins.
XForms seems like a perfect fit, but the only mature implementations I've found are based on Java (Orbeon) or Django (Chiba). The other XForms implementations I've found have some kind of dependence on client-side plug-ins.
I'm open to using Orbeon if I can figure out a way to integrate it with an ASP.NET application, but I've see no actual examples of such a hybrid implementation.
I looked briefly at Microsoft Office InfoPath, but it doesn't seem nearly robust enough to handle the kind of complex scenarios I need to implement.
All ideas welcome!