The following are answers to some frequently asked questions.
What if Designer doesn't seem able to communicate with SERVER and CENTRAL?
If you cannot publish to CENTRAL, it is possible that your SERVER and CENTRAL sites are not configured in Designer. To do this in Designer:
Can I used InfoPath 2010 Form filler to create my form?
If the form will be part of a workflow (.svn or .xsn), you cannot use InfoPath 2010 and must use InfoPath 2007 Form filler. In Winshuttle Workflow Solutions (.sln), you can use InfoPath 2007 or InfoPath 2010.
My process has some ON CHANGE events, but values are not updating. Why aren't they updating?
If a field change triggers a web service, but that web service relies on data from another web service, ensure that the web services are run in the correct order. In Designer, click the Tools menu, and then click Manage Field Mappings. Use the Form Field list to reorder the fields as needed. In addition, use ordinals to order web service execution in Winshuttle’s SAP Web Service infopath control.
What if email notifications are not being delivered?
Check the Error column in the SVService table. If the error is something like this:
System.IO.FileNotFoundException: The Web application at http://www.acme.com could not be found. Verify that you have typed the URL correctly. If the URL should be serving existing content, the system administrator may need to add a new request URL mapping to the intended application. at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPSite..ctor(SPFarm farm, Uri requestUri, Boolean contextSite, SPUserToken userToken) at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPSite..ctor(String requestUrl) at ShareVis.SVCore.SVConfigurationContext..ctor(String theUrl) at ShareVis.Service.ServiceMain.Main(String[] args)
Then check the following:
What is a dangling process? What do I do about it?
A SharePoint workflow can run against one and only one SharePoint list item. SharePoint provides numerous operations that could result in the deletion of one or more list items that have workflows running against them. For example, a user with adequate permissions can directly delete the list item, the list in which the item resides, the site in which the list resides, or the site collection in which the site resides. When an item is deleted while a workflow is running, this is called a dangling process. The system can handle dangling processes correctly; however, having them can negatively impact performance when displaying Web Parts or other data. The SVAdm utility contains an operation called markinactiveprocesses that will find and mark items in this condition so that they can be ignored.
Can I use the "Move" function to move documents from one document library to another?
No. You can only use the Move function to move documents to different folders within a single document library.
Can I approve or reject a task via email?
Yes. Task assignment notification emails contain two links, one for Approval and another for Rejection. When one is selected, an email is launched as the corresponding action (approve or reject). The body of the email is used to record comments. When a task is approved or rejected via email, it is removed from the Winshuttle Task List. See Working with Forms for more information about setting up email approval/rejection.
Do all FormEx users need access to InfoPath?
No. FormEx users are presented with a Winshuttle Designer-generated Web form that is accessible via a Web browser. InfoPath is only required for designing forms.
Can workflows be assigned to SharePoint "Custom List"?
Yes. All SharePoint list items become workflow-enabled after Winshuttle Designer is installed. Users must manually assign and start predefined routes or create ad-hoc ones for custom list items. You can also set up an Auto Launched workflow for the list items.
Why do I get an error when I try to upload a blank document?
This is an issue with SharePoint. Winshuttle Designer works within the SharePoint framework and we cannot do anything about this error. We recommend that you enter text (such as "Blank Document"), save, and try to upload again.
Why does SharePoint list pending and rejected documents even though I have configured my list view to not show them?
SharePoint views supersede "Columns" view specifications. If your SharePoint System Administrator has "Include Pending" or "Include Rejected" turned on, all of those items will display, regardless of whether you have configured your list view to show them or not. Contact your SharePoint System Administrator so they can adjust the SharePoint view and columns settings.
When working with a form, do I need to log out and then log on to Winshuttle Designer to see data set modifications in selected items managed from a SQL database?
No. Winshuttle Designer supports live data look-up of external databases. Any changes in a data source are immediately reflected in the form.
I selected the Get Records Count Only field and the Record Count field. Why was only Get Records Count Only used?
When you create a web service from QUERY, keep in mind that Get Records Count Only field always overrides Record Count field. It is best practice to map Get Records Count Only as a check box and then create an InfoPath rule that hides Record Count when Get Records Count Only is selected in the form.
Can I make the attachment of a document a requirement, prior to starting a process?
Yes. DocEx requires that a document be attached/uploaded in order to initiate a process. In FormEx, you can create a form using InfoPath that requires that a document be attached before initiating a process.
Can an approver reassign their task to someone else, even if it is part of a group assignment?
Yes. Task assignees can reassign their task to another user or member of the group. Winshuttle Designer also includes an Out of Office feature that allows you to automatically reassign your task to someone else while you are away. Please note that reassignment is a property of a task. The task in the process must be designated as reassignable in order for assignees to use this feature. See Administration for more information about Out of Office delegations.
Does Winshuttle Designer keep track of document and process metadata?
Yes. Winshuttle Designer keeps track of all metadata associated with documents, including process approval/rejection information. All metadata is stored as part of the document lifecycle process and is available to users when they check out a document. Metadata attributes can also be edited and changed by users with the required permissions.
Can I designate where a copy of a document is stored once the approval process is completed?
Yes. You can add a plug-in to your process that deposits a copy of the document to a specific library within a SharePoint site.
How does Winshuttle Designer handle the re-approval and archiving of a previously approved document?
All documents managed by a Winshuttle Process Controlled Library have to go through an approval cycle every time they are revised. The revised document becomes available in your document repository (defined via a plug-in in the process), along with an archive of the previous version, once it successfully completes the approval cycle.
Why can't I see the view I created in InfoPath?
If you are using Winsuhttle Designer in Solution for Forms mode, views should only be deleted or created from Designer. Views that are created or deleted in InfoPath are not reflected in the corresponding Workflow Solution. When working in Non-Solution mode, views created in infopath are viewable.
What data types are supported in TRANSACTION web services?
Beginning with version 10.4, web services support string and date fields from TRANSACTION.
Skip field indicator: In scripts for web services, it is particularly important to use the skip field indicator "\" because empty fields are uploaded to SAP as blanks and are not skipped.
Dates: To skip a date field, type in 1/1/1700. If you leave the date field empty, it uploads to SAP as a blank.
How can I pad zeros for data being uploaded into SAP?
It is not possible in InfoPath to pad zeros. However, you can create a script that, when published with the InfoPath form, adds the zeros.
Copy the following into NotePad or some other text program, follow the instructions that appear before the script text, and save the file as a .js file:
/*
* This file contains a function for padding a field with leading zeroes.
* It must be customized before it can be used, see the section below labeled:
* "BEGIN CUSTOMIZE HERE"
* For each field you want to pad there should be an 'if' block that matches
* the field name. When a match is found a call to myZeroPadField is made with the
* second parameter indicating the final length of the padded string.
*/
==ShareVisBeginScript==function SVFormXmlNodeChanged(theXmlNode, theChangedFormElementId){ if (theXmlNode != null) { var theXPath = "//*[@SVFormElementId='" + theChangedFormElementId + "']"; var theChangedNode = theXmlNode.selectSingleNode(theXPath); var theChangedNodeName = theChangedNode.getNodeName(); // *** BEGIN CUSTOMIZE HERE **** if (theChangedNodeName == "my:field1") { myZeroPadField(theChangedNode, 10) } else if (theChangedNodeName == "my:field2") { myZeroPadField(theChangedNode, 5) } // *** END CUSTOMIZE HERE **** }}function myZeroPad(number, length) { var str = '' + number; while (str.length < length) { str = '0' + str; } return str;}function myZeroPadField(theXmlNode, FinalSize){ var theOldText = theXmlNode.getValue(); if (theOldText != "") { var theNewText = myZeroPad(theOldText, FinalSize); if (theNewText != theOldText) { theXmlNode.setValue(theNewText); } } }==ShareVisEndScript==