Newbie Questions

Re: Autopopulate email subject line

donstephen — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 03:04:22 GMT

Thank you for the additional information. I'm now seeing the cause of the problem. What's happening here is that you are using the TTU ID as part of the File Name. Any changes made to that field will not allow you to overwrite a file because you are changing the File Name. To simply put it, you cannot overwrite a file which does not exist, but instead you will be creating a new file.

Here are my suggestions:

• Remove the TTU ID value from the SaveAs formula
• Populate SaveAs field with a formula which generates a unique value
- Go to Data > Form Load
- Add an Action Rule with a condition that onlye runs if SaveAs is blank
- Sate a field's value
- Select SaveAs for the Field
- Add a formula - Ex. now()
Note: Formula now() will generate date and time: 2013-09-30T10:50:25
If somebody else creates an entry with the exact date and time, it will overwrite the file. If you have multiple users who create new entries, there is a chance that forms will be overwritten.

• Use another field which populates the E-mail Subject (since SaveAs will now create a unique ID for your form)

Use SaveAs for the File Name at the Submit to SharePoint Library Data Connection. Let me know if this helps

Re: Autopopulate email subject line

remigiuszmarian — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 21:38:54 GMT

The TTU ID is a significant number; the TTU ID is a 6 digit number that identifies a computer in the College of Engineering. Every computer has a unique TTU ID. Due to the fact that each computer has a different TTU ID each form will have a different value in the TTU ID field. I created a form in which I had entered a 5 digit TTU ID instead if six and saved it. The form was then saved under the name Attention - 12345. I then opened the saved form and added a 6th digit to the TTU ID field and saved the form using the Save button on top which I had assigned via the form options menu. The form was still listed as Attention - 12345 but the change made on the TTU ID field was saved as 123456. What needs to happen is that if the TTU ID is mis-entered the user can go back and change it and when they save the form after making the change in the TTU ID field the form will be overwritten with updates number in the TTU ID field. I tried this in my SharePoint library and I always ended up with a new form being saved instead of the edited one being overwritten with the updated TTU ID value.

Re: Autopopulate email subject line

donstephen — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 17:13:31 GMT

Hello remigiuszmarian,

I was able to check your form and perform some tests on a SharePoint Library and it was able to overwrite the existing form template. My questions at the moment are:

How unique is the TTU ID data?
Will you have certain forms which will have the same TTU ID content?
Did you change the TTU ID when you re-submitted the form?
Have you tested overwriting on your SharePoint Library using a different form?

Re: Autopopulate email subject line

remigiuszmarian — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 18:15:04 GMT

I looked through my form to make the suggested modifications to the form settings and rules. I am already using the "Save As" field at the SharePoint Library Data Connection. I do not understand as to what I need to do to set up the "TTU ID" as the form name. I guess I am a little confused because if I create a action rule which generates a File Name for the Save As field, and add a condition to the rule that the rule will be run "if Save As does not have any value" then wouldn't that be the same as what I have already setup for the "Save As" field?

I am attaching the form to this e-mail for you to take a look at.

Thanks

Re: Autopopulate email subject line

donstephen — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 02:33:29 GMT

I see. If that's the case then I would suggest promoting the TTU ID field as a column for the Form Name (Go to File > Advanced Form Options > Property Promotion, then select the field). Then, instead of having the TTU ID field populating the Save As field, proceed to Form Load (located under the Data tab) and create an Action Rule which generates a File Name for the field Save As, and add a condition the this rule should only run if Save As does not have any value.

Save As = File Name (use this field at the SharePoint Library Data Connection)
TTU ID = Form Name (promote this field when publishing the form)

Your SharePont Library should now have a column for the File Name and another column for the Form Name. Note that the File Name should not change it's value even if the form has been re-opened, in order for the form to be overwritten when re-submitting. I hope this clears up everything for you, but if not, kindly attach your form so we could have a look.

Re: Autopopulate email subject line

remigiuszmarian — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 17:16:19 GMT

donstephen,

I have tried your suggestion and I am still coming across the same problem. I have the "Submit/Send E-mail" button assigned to a rule which states that the "Save As" field will be populated with the value entered in the "TTU ID" field when the button is clicked. Once that rule goes through, the form is saved with the following name, "Attention - (Value from TTU ID Field)". Once the form is saved I can go back and make changes to it but the "Save As" field still has the previous name under which it was saved. So if the form was saved under "Attention - 12345" and I go back and change the value in the "TTU ID" field to "123456" and click on the "Submit/Send E-mail" button, the form is then saved under a new name, "Attention - 123456" instead of changing the previous save from "Attention - 12345" to "Attention - 123456". This is a problem because if a wrong value is entered into the "TTU ID" field I will need the change that is made in this field to be reflected on the name that the form was saved under. Any other changes that are made to the form can be made without a problem because they are not displayed in the form name. The problem lies in the "TTU ID" field because when it gets changed then the change must be also made to the name that the form was saved under.

Thanks!

Re: Autopopulate email subject line

donstephen — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 00:39:31 GMT

Yes, the SaveAs field will suffice, as long as this field does not create another file name if there is already a file name. You could set that by adding a condition rule which only generates a file name if SaveAs is blank. At the SharePoint Library submit data connection, click the fx button and insert the SaveAs field. Make sure to tick the checkbox for allowing an overwrite. If this does not work, check the File Name. If your form generates a new file name every time a form is re-opened, then it will not overwrite the existing XML file but instead save it as a new file.

Re: Autopopulate email subject line

remigiuszmarian — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 20:05:42 GMT

donstephen,

I actually created a "Save As" field and when I click the "Submit/Send E-mail" button the "Save As" field is populated with the value in the "TTU ID" field. Will the "Save As" field suffice for a field that generates a unique ID for the form name? Is this what you had in mind? If yes, then should I follow the instructions that you have provided me in the pas post or is there something else that I will need to do?

Re: Autopopulate email subject line

donstephen — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 02:55:28 GMT

I re-checked your form and noticed that the form's name is saved under the type of distribution selected. To simply put it, it will not overwrite the XML file on your SharePoint Library if the Form Name changes (distribution type has been changed). In order to have this form overwrite the XML file on your SharePoint Library, you would need to use another Form Name, which is constant. I suggest using or adding another field which generates a unique ID for the form name. Let me know if this helps.

Re: Autopopulate email subject line

remigiuszmarian — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 17:51:18 GMT

Hi donstephen,

I followed your suggestion and made the necessary changes. I saved a test form in the Form Library and then went in and made a few changes in the test form. After the changes were made I hit the submit button. This created a new form name instead of making changes to the existing form. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

Re: Autopopulate email subject line

donstephen — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 00:42:02 GMT

First, you would need to allow overwrite if the file already exists at the Data Connection for your Library. For the second issue, since your form creates a File Name every time it is accessed, you would need to configure each rule which sets the File Name to only run when the field FormName is blank. This should prevent creating form names for your form and should allow you to edit the existing files.

Let me know if this helps.

Re: Autopopulate email subject line

remigiuszmarian — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 16:32:28 GMT

Hi donstephen,

Is there a setting that will prevent a new form from being created when editing an existing one in the SharePoint form library? All I would like for the user to be able to do is after they edit an existing form a new form the changes will be saved to the same form. I do not want a new form to be created each time an existing form is edited.

Thanks,

Re: Autopopulate email subject line

donstephen — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 03:41:44 GMT

Hi remigiuszmarian,

I'm glad that the explanation was able to help you out.

I was able to find a good video tutorial which explains the basics of pulling data onto a Report Form or a Dashboard. This guide shows how select columns, how to filter the data you wish to query, and other techniques. Now this is only a simple view of the submitted data, if you intend to open the submitted forms, I suggest using a hyperlink which was discussed on this thread. Hope this helps.

Re: Autopopulate email subject line

remigiuszmarian — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 18:53:48 GMT

Hi donstephen,

The above explanation helped me a great deal. Thank you!

If I would like to be able to search forms that have been submitted to the SharePoint Library how would I go about setting that up? The forms would need to be searchable by either of these 3 fields: TTU ID, Dell Service Tag, Date that the form was submitted on, and the date that the form was completed on. Also, if I would want to run a report on forms that have been submitted to the SharePoint library would that be possible through SharePoint and how would I go about doing that if possible. If not possible, how would I be able to run a report like this? The report would be created through the selection of date ranges (from date and to date).

Thanks donstephen

Re: Autopopulate email subject line

donstephen — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 02:18:05 GMT

Hi remigiuszmarian,

If you are getting that sandbox solutions message, then it means that the form has code in it. Was the code added intentionally, or did you accidentally hit the "edit form code" button? Once you do this, it adds code to the form and requires publishing through the Sandbox or Central Admin. You may remove this if you wish to publish using the Form Library. Proceed to File > Info > Form Options > Programming > Remove Code.

But if you intend to keep it, you might need to publish it as an Administrator-approved form template. Or, you could try using a SharePoint Designer E-mail workflow.

As for the form name, what you can do is create a field which would contain the form name data and select this field at the SharePoint Library Submit connection (see image below). At the right side is a formula which is generated whenever the submit button has been clicked.

You may use a concat formula similar to this:

concat("Expense Report - ", today(), " - ", name)

Where "Expense Report - " is a text, today() is a formula for the date, and name is a field which means this would change whenever a different data is entered on the particular field. Hope this helps.