Newbie Questions

Re: Difference between using SUBMIT button with Actions vs SUBMIT Options.

rpacdn — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 17:51:00 GMT

Hi Hilary,

Regarding the issue with the email send, since have created the InfoPath form from a Sharepoint List it seems that I can not have the function to send email notification.

I get the error that "Domain trust form templates cannot be sent as email attachments. To fix this problem, modify the form options to change the Security level of the form template to Restricted"

I am not sure if there is a way to set the Security level to Restricted, becuase since the form is linked to a SP List, I dont even have the File-->Form Options--> Security and Trust option available.

So is there another method that I can use to allow the Form to send an email while also sending the data to the SP List?

Even if there is a way to send a PDF copy of the form along with a link to the actual data in SP List for further approval of the data would be good.

Meanwhile, I will try the method you specified to create a "Manager View" and try to send that as an email as well, in the meantime.

Re: Difference between using SUBMIT button with Actions vs SUBMIT Options.

Hilary Stoupa — Mon, 06 Apr 2020 20:29:43 GMT

Interesting - on my SharePoint server, the view switches and the email sends with whatever the view is prior to sending the email. So - switching views and sending always sends the current view. You could also try having a section on the default view of your form that shows / hides when you email, but I'm not sure if that will work for you either. The submit button is using actions and rules. It is not going to "compete" with the submit options. Save in the InfoPath ribbon just saves the form. Submit on the InfoPath ribbon submits using the submit option. This article is from 2010, but may help you. https://support.office.com/en-us/article/submit-and-save-form-data-ae82ee07-8acb-4636-8a98-0a7bf664a998

Re: Difference between using SUBMIT button with Actions vs SUBMIT Options.

rpacdn — Sun, 05 Apr 2020 16:45:59 GMT

Yes I did. I published the form to a Sharepoint library and opened using the "Create New" document button in SP. Then it opens in the browser. This time it send the email, but with the default view in the body of the text. I did make sure that the view switch happens before the email is send out. It seems that it would almost need a time lag for the switch to happen before sending the email. It would've been better if we had the option to select the View in the "Email Data Connection" setup screen. I will test this further on Monday. I don't have access to work network over the weekend as they are updating systems to meet the Covid-19 related online access demand.

On the form I noticed that you are using Actions on the Button and then you also have the "Submit Options" enabled. Is that how it is supposed to be used. Would that not compete each other? (See attached) Or is it that if I use the Sbumit button, the Action attached to the Button is activated, but if I press the Send or Save on the Infopath ribbon menu (browser), then it would apply the the Actions on the Submit Actions panel?

Re: Difference between using SUBMIT button with Actions vs SUBMIT Options.

Hilary Stoupa — Fri, 03 Apr 2020 17:50:04 GMT

Did you test in the browser, like I mentioned? As I said in my post, in InfoPath preview, you'll get a blank email with the view switching technique.

Re: Difference between using SUBMIT button with Actions vs SUBMIT Options.

rpacdn — Fri, 03 Apr 2020 17:14:51 GMT

Okay I get the idea now. I can see that the View switches to Email before Sending. But for some reason, when I submit all I see is a blank email with nothing in the body.

I tried to mimic what you did in your sample form on a form that I created (attached), but the results are the same. Blank email. The text that is supposed to be on the email body appears on the screen in InfoPath, ensuring that it is switching views but not getting it in to the email!! I do get the email, but blank!

Re: Difference between using SUBMIT button with Actions vs SUBMIT Options.

Hilary Stoupa — Fri, 03 Apr 2020 15:36:37 GMT

I don't usually include all the form info in the email. Just a little info and a link for the user to click to open it. Here's a sample. You should publish this to a test library, because switching views to send email only works in the browser - in preview you'll get a blank email. Usually, there would also be a rule to close the form after the email submit, but I didn't bother adding that in this sample. Save the attached file locally. Right click and select Design. Publish to your SharePoint site to a test library. Open the form in the browser. Follow the instructions in the form.

Re: Difference between using SUBMIT button with Actions vs SUBMIT Options.

rpacdn — Fri, 03 Apr 2020 01:02:42 GMT

I didn't quite understand your recommendation (Sorry, I am a newbie with InfoPath). I created a Email View and essentially copied everything from the Default view in to the Email view because I have a lot of fields in the form.

So I have essentially duplicated the view, which I am sure is not what you are proposing. :-)

"Set up the email connection to jsut send the current view."... that also if you can show with an example, that woudl be great. I will try to attach a sample file (although I dont have the option to attach anything in this view now)

Re: Difference between using SUBMIT button with Actions vs SUBMIT Options.

Hilary Stoupa — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 23:06:02 GMT

Create a view called "Email". On the button that you are using for submit, change views to the new Email view, then send your email to the manager. Set up the email connection to just send the current view. I usually use a helper field for the link, and can try to find a sample for you tomorrow, but for right now, you could even just use a calculated value in your email view that includes the ID as part of the URL.

Re: Difference between using SUBMIT button with Actions vs SUBMIT Options.

rpacdn — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 22:26:54 GMT

When the email recipient open the XML, it will open as long as they have access to the SharePoint list. I have enabled the sharepoint access to "Everyone" which should presumably ensure that anyone within our domain will be able to open the XML file.

Now, your statement about switching views prior to sending the email and just sending the current view sounds intriguing, but I have not tried anything like that and so if I can get some help or a simple sample file that you may have in your possession, if any, would be very helpful.

I can send my form to you if that helps as well, but it has a main link to my SP which you wont be able to change.

Re: Difference between using SUBMIT button with Actions vs SUBMIT Options.

Hilary Stoupa — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 21:00:37 GMT

What happens when the email recipient tries to open the XML? At any rate, I think the best thing to do is not to send an XML, but a link to the form instead. Since this is a browser form, you should be able to switch views prior to sending the email and just send the current view - allowing you to have an email view that includes things like the link to the form. You'll have the ID from the ID field, you can get the link by opening an existing item to edit. It is better, in my opinion, to use a rules and action button with a label that says "Submit" so that you can control everything that happens. Save will just save to the list. As to the final issue - you really may need to check with your SharePoint admin and see if there are any issues in the logs.

Re: Difference between using SUBMIT button with Actions vs SUBMIT Options.

rpacdn — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 19:33:48 GMT

Thanks for the reply Hilary. What I have done is that I created a new form using the InfoPath SharePoint List option, and then I added a number of additional fields, customized the form and published it.

You are correct.. I am not really sending the form as an email. The User will get the link to the form. BUT after they fill it out and when they hit SUBMIT, an email goes out to the Manager with the filled out Form.xml as an attachment to the email. Let's say the entry of the user has the ID 20 .

Perhaps I don't need to send the Manager the .xml file as an attachement, if I could just simply send an email with the link to the list entry for ID #20 to the Manager. Then the Manager can click on the link, it opens line item ID #20, make the changes, approves it and when they Submit the updates will saved in the SP list. And I can continue that process for any number of Approvers.

So that is the first part of the confusion? What is the best way to circulate this information so that it will go around and gather signatures and approvals as required.

Secondly coming back to my original question regarding a Submit Button versus using the Save feature on the ribbon of the form. What I gather you are saying is that it is better to use the Submit BUTTON at the bottom of the page with Actions/Rules attached to it.

And that is what I did, but it seems that only the one Action seems to be working each time the User press the Submit button. The action that is working is the Send data to SP List using Main Connection. But the email ones are not working anymore. It used to seperately but when I combine them in to one button click along with send data to SP List it is not working anymore.

Re: Difference between using SUBMIT button with Actions vs SUBMIT Options.

Hilary Stoupa — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 19:06:36 GMT

To begin with - with a list form, I don't think your users are going to be able to open an attachment in an email and then make changes and have it submit back to the list - have you tested this? Usually for something like a list item (or other browser based InfoPath form) I email a link to the item so it opens in the browser.... I almost always hide Save. I think using a button set as a submit button, then using submit rules to add additional actions should be equivalent to using a rules and actions button with a submit step. But I would test just the email action on a button first, to verify all that is working as you anticipate.

Difference between using SUBMIT button with Actions vs SUBMIT Options.

rpacdn — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 05:37:01 GMT

I am bit bit confused between these two ways to Submit data. I am creating a form based on a SharePoint List. The Users will be given access to the list and they wiill be abel to fill out the form. But when they submit the form it will go to Approval. The folks at Approval will be receiving the completed form as an attachment. So they will open the attachement, make changes and Submit.

So I started by creating a SUBMIT BUTTON at the bottom of the form and added a number of Actions.

1. Send the Form to SharePoint list using Main Data Connection.

2. Send an email to Manager with the form as an Attachment.

3. Send a copy of the Form to the User who submitted the Application.

The problem is that only step 1 is workign all the time. The form wont continue to send the email to Manager or the User. Am I doing this right?

Secondly, I also noticed that there is another method to Sumit data, that is using SUBMIT ACTIONS and creating actions there. I tried that method, but same results (I still had that Submit Buttons sitting in the background).
In this case also, now this time using the "Save" button at the top ribbbon of the form, it will send the data to the SP LIst, but it won't send the emails.

So my question here is which is the right or better method to use? SUBMIT BUTTON or use SUBMIT ACTIONS and use the SAVE button on the form ribbon?

Also, is there a way to link these two functions?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.