📚 Part of the series Application Building Phase II: The Slate-hosted Application
Application logic, including hard and soft fails, ensure applicants enter all necessary data prior to submitting an application.
Try a Slate example 💼
Use Suitcase to import the example in this article (and others in this section) into your institution's database. These examples are also featured in the Clean Slate Showcase environment.
Using testing queries
Before you commit to using the application logic records, try a testing query by importing the Suitcase link in the second tab. These queries recreate the application logic records, taking advantage of the Query Builder's Preview Results function to ensure the records that should be receiving the hard or soft fails appear. If you only use the application logic records, you'll only see the number of records affected.
Application logic Suitcase ID (hard fail library)
082d8112-e41b-4fc5-aef5-9c7beef46969:slate-admissions-showcaseTesting queries Suitcase ID
a04770f5-349d-4e95-a9c0-0c5d0b1ba3b0:slate-examplesRequire a custom field
This example hard fail prevents the submission of an applicant when missing an application-scoped academic program or major, but could also be repurposed to search for Entry Term, student type, or any application-scoped field.
⭐ Best practice
Be specific: sometimes multiple fields can be combined and referred to in a single submission requirement on the application without confusing applicants. However, when combining many items on a page with many fields, it is often helpful to specify particular missing fields.
Type: Submission Requirement
Section: Select the application page that includes the custom field.
Name: Provide the text that will display when the applicant is missing information.
Warning: Hard Fail
Base: Configurable Joins: Application
Filters: Create a Subquery Filter (Aggregate: Exists) for each field that should have a value saved.
Require program deadlines
Prevent the application submission if the applicant selected a program for which its special deadline has passed.
In this example, Biology applicants accessing the Review page after 01/05/2021 at 11:59:59 PM will receive a message that reads, "The deadline for this program as passed."
Type: Submission Requirement
Section: Select the page that displays the custom application field.
Name: Provide the text that will display when the applicant is missing information.
Warning: Hard Fail
Base: Configurable Joins: Application
Filters: Select a date using the Current Date filter in combination with each field that should have a value saved.
Best practices
Use the deadline on your application rounds whenever possible. If only some of your programs have different deadlines, you may decide to make submission requirements to accomplish this.
Be sure to include all program-specific deadline information in your application instructions, so applicants know which programs are available.
Program-specific deadlines should never occur after the application round deadline. The deadline on the round restricts all external access to the application after that date.
