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REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION: DYNAMIC VERSIONED FORM MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Document Version: 1.0
Date: February 11, 2026
Prepared by: Deepa Ganesh
Project: AI-Enabled Dynamic Form Management Platform

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This document specifies requirements for a dynamic, version-controlled form management system supporting complex data structures with automatic versioning, schema evolution, and backward compatibility. The system uses a 3-tier architecture with JSON-based immutable data storage.

2. SYSTEM OVERVIEW

2.1 Architecture

Three-tier architecture:

  • Presentation Layer: Dynamic form renderer supporting multiple field types
  • Service Layer: Business logic, version management, validation, and data transformation
  • Data Layer: JSON-based immutable data store with versioning

2.2 Core Use Case

Order management system where users create and modify orders containing:

  • Basic order information (Order ID, Status)
  • Multiple delivery locations
  • Delivery company details (nested field group)
  • Line items table (multiple rows with item details)
  • Automatic versioning of all changes

3. FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS

3.1 Dynamic Form Capabilities

FR-1: Multi-valued Fields

  • Support fields with multiple values (e.g., delivery locations: Location A, Location B)
  • Users can add/remove values dynamically

FR-2: Nested Field Groups

  • Support sub-forms with their own field sets (e.g., Delivery Company with name, contact, address)
  • Maintain parent-child relationships in data model

FR-3: Inline Tables

  • Support table widgets within forms for repeating data structures
  • Each row contains multiple columns (e.g., Item Number, Name, Quantity, Price)
  • Users can add/remove rows dynamically

FR-4: Standard Input Fields

  • Single-value text, numeric, date, dropdown, and checkbox fields
  • Field-level validation rules

3.2 Data Model Requirements

FR-5: JSON Document Structure Core fields in every document:

  • formVersionId: Schema version identifier
  • orderId: Business key
  • orderVersionNumber: Version sequence number
  • orderStatus: Workflow state (Draft, Submitted, Approved, etc.)
  • userName: User who created/modified
  • timestamp: ISO 8601 timestamp
  • data: Dynamic JSON object containing all form field values

FR-6: Composite Primary Key

  • Combination of orderId + orderVersionNumber uniquely identifies each record
  • Enables querying all versions of a specific order

FR-7: Immutable Data Model

  • INSERT-ONLY operations (no UPDATE or DELETE)
  • Every save operation creates a new version
  • Preserves complete audit trail

FR-8: Auto-versioning

  • Automatic version increment on every save (manual or auto-save)
  • Version number sequence: 1, 2, 3, ...
  • Auto-save creates new versions with status "Work In Progress"

3.3 Schema Evolution & Backward Compatibility

FR-9: Form Schema Versioning

  • Each form schema version has unique formVersionId
  • Schema changes (add/remove fields) create new form version
  • Old data remains associated with old schema version

FR-10: Backward Compatibility

  • System renders old data using its original form schema
  • Users viewing historical versions see original field layout
  • New form versions don't require data migration

FR-11: Schema Registry

  • Maintain repository of all form schema versions
  • Schema includes field definitions, types, validation rules, UI layout
  • Service layer retrieves appropriate schema based on formVersionId

3.4 Version Management

FR-12: Version Status Tracking

  • Distinguish between "Work In Progress" (auto-saved) and "Committed" versions
  • Only committed versions are permanent
  • WIP versions are candidates for purging

FR-13: End-of-Day Purge

  • Automated batch job runs daily (e.g., midnight)
  • Deletes all WIP versions for each order EXCEPT the most recent
  • Preserves all committed versions indefinitely
  • Purge logic: DELETE WHERE orderStatus = 'WIP' AND orderVersionNumber < MAX(version) GROUP BY orderId

FR-14: Version History Viewing

  • Users can view all committed versions of an order
  • Side-by-side comparison of versions
  • Highlight fields that changed between versions

3.5 Integration with Dimensional Tables

FR-15: Data Population from Existing Systems

  • Service layer queries dimensional tables (e.g., Customer, Product, Location)
  • Transforms relational data into JSON format
  • Populates form with existing data for editing

FR-16: Denormalization Strategy

  • JSON document contains denormalized snapshots (e.g., customer name, address at time of order)
  • Preserves historical accuracy even if master data changes
  • Service layer refreshes lookups when creating new versions

4. NON-FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS

NFR-1: Performance

  • Form load time < 2 seconds
  • Save operation < 1 second
  • Version history retrieval < 3 seconds

NFR-2: Scalability

  • Support 10,000+ concurrent users
  • Handle 1 million+ order versions per day

NFR-3: Data Retention

  • Retain all committed versions indefinitely
  • Archive older versions (>2 years) to cold storage

NFR-4: Audit & Compliance

  • Complete audit trail via immutable versioning
  • Track who changed what and when
  • Support regulatory compliance (SOX, etc.)

5. SERVICE LAYER GAPS & ADDITIONAL DATA STRUCTURES

5.1 Service Layer Requirements

Gap-1: Schema Management Service

  • CRUD operations for form schemas
  • Schema validation and versioning
  • API: GET /schemas/{formVersionId}, POST /schemas

Gap-2: Version Orchestration Service

  • Determine next version number
  • Manage version status transitions (WIP → Committed)
  • Handle concurrent save conflicts

Gap-3: Data Transformation Service

  • Convert dimensional table data to JSON format
  • Apply business rules during transformation
  • Reverse transformation (JSON → dimensional tables if needed)

Gap-4: Purge Service

  • Batch job scheduler
  • Purge logic execution with safety checks
  • Logging and monitoring

Gap-5: Validation Service

  • Field-level validation (data type, format, range)
  • Cross-field validation (business rules)
  • Schema-driven validation based on form version

5.2 Additional Data Structures Required

DS-1: Form Schema Repository

{
  "formVersionId": "v2.3.1",
  "formName": "OrderForm",
  "createdDate": "2026-02-01",
  "fields": [
    {
      "fieldId": "orderId",
      "type": "text",
      "label": "Order ID",
      "required": true
    },
    ...
  ]
}

DS-2: Version Metadata Index

  • Separate collection for fast version queries
  • Contains: orderId, orderVersionNumber, status, timestamp, userName
  • Enables efficient "get latest version" queries without scanning JSON documents

DS-3: Purge Audit Log

  • Records all purge operations
  • Contains: purgeDate, ordersProcessed, versionsDeleted
  • Enables compliance reporting

DS-4: Field Mapping Registry

  • Maps dimensional table columns to JSON field paths
  • Example: customers.name → data.deliveryCompany.name
  • Enables dynamic data population

6. EXAMPLE DATA MODEL

{
  "orderId": "ORD-12345",
  "orderVersionNumber": 5,
  "formVersionId": "v1.0",
  "orderStatus": "Committed",
  "userName": "admin@example.com",
  "timestamp": "2026-02-11T09:45:00Z",
  "data": {
    "deliveryLocations": ["Location A", "Location B"],
    "deliveryCompany": {
      "name": "FastShip Logistics",
      "contactPerson": "John Doe",
      "phone": "+1-555-0100"
    },
    "items": [
      {
        "itemNumber": "ITEM-001",
        "itemName": "Widget A",
        "quantity": 10,
        "price": 25.50
      },
      {
        "itemNumber": "ITEM-002",
        "itemName": "Widget B",
        "quantity": 5,
        "price": 45.00
      }
    ]
  }
}

7. ARCHITECTURE OVERVIEW

Component Architecture:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         PRESENTATION LAYER                   │
│  - Dynamic Form Renderer                     │
│  - Version History Viewer                    │
│  - Schema-driven UI Generation               │
└──────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
               │ REST API
┌──────────────▼──────────────────────────────┐
│         SERVICE LAYER                        │
│  - Version Orchestration Service             │
│  - Schema Management Service                 │
│  - Validation Service                        │
│  - Data Transformation Service               │
│  - Purge Service                             │
└──────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
               │
      ┌────────┴────────┐
      │                 │
┌─────▼─────┐   ┌──────▼──────┐
│ JSON DB   │   │ Dimensional │
│ (Orders)  │   │   Tables    │
│ NoSQL     │   │  (Legacy)   │
└───────────┘   └─────────────┘

Data Flow:

  1. User submits form → Service Layer
  2. Service validates against current schema
  3. Service determines next version number
  4. Service inserts new JSON document (immutable)
  5. Service returns confirmation to UI

Backward Compatibility Flow:

  1. User requests historical version (e.g., version 3)
  2. Service retrieves JSON document with orderVersionNumber = 3
  3. Service retrieves schema formVersionId from document
  4. Service retrieves schema definition from Schema Repository
  5. UI renders using historical schema layout

8. SUCCESS CRITERIA

  • Support 10+ field types (text, multi-value, tables, sub-forms)
  • Zero data loss with complete audit trail
  • Seamless schema evolution without data migration
  • <5 minute form schema deployment time
  • 100% backward compatibility with historical data