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Question

How to Save Instance ID

Forms
Updated May 31, 2022
asked on June 14, 2016

I would like to save the InstanceID, without creating a 2nd form that requires an action. Is there any way that i can save the instanceid so that i can later use the instanceid as a token/variable later in the process.

I created a copy of the form that the user would submit and add a field for instance id then pull it from the dataset but the variable is always blank.

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Answer

SELECTED ANSWER
replied on June 15, 2016

To get it to show, select the canvas of the workflow in Workflow. Then at the bottom of the properties pane, click on the link that says "View workflow properties". A window will popup and on the general tab select the checkbox at the bottom that says "Started by Laserfiche Forms". Now if you look at your tokens there should be one named BP Instance ID. That is the instance ID from Forms.

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Replies

replied on June 14, 2016

The instance ID is a variable that is available to use as a field's default value. The value does not exist until the form is submitted for the first time. After the first submission, it populates the field and can be used.

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View 3 previous replies
replied on February 2, 2018

If I could click "This is helpful" a million times, I would. Maybe there is a good reason for this, but the steps for this very essential operation look to be absurdly opaque and marginally documented. I also added a Assign Token task, and then, like you stated, you get access to all of the variables, including BP ID, a.k.a. Instance ID. 

 

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replied on September 10, 2020 • Show version history

Hello Bill,

Thank you for posting your image!  Extremely helpful!  I was also able to add some identifying letters and hyphens to the starting Variable Values in Workflow so that when the workflow sent  "Request_Number" info back to forms it plugged that extra into the Request Number (in addition to the Instance ID). 

From my "Get Instance ID" workflow (created based on this series of posts).

 

So it appears like this when brought back into the Form:

Here is a snippet from my process design (created based on your post).

 

You have made my day!

Thanks again,

Christine

Thanks also to Sherilee and Blake for their posts as well!

 

 

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replied on September 11, 2020

Happy to help - you have added some useful and valuable points as well!

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replied on September 21, 2020

Hello again,
Hoping for some words of wisdom.  I am able to get Forms and Workflow to talk to each other in order to get the instance id into the form, however only if I use our internal link to the form.  If I try to initiate the process from a link obtained from our externally accessible DMZ server, the process suspends, and I get a LF 502 (sometimes 404) error.  I can click retry in Forms and the process will complete (as long as I click retry from our internal server).

I have seen some posts about the 502 and 404 errors, and have so far tried unchecking, saving and re-selecting the settings below, to no avail.

 

We need to have the instance ID populate the form, and not have the process suspend (when using the link from the DMZ server).

Any help would be great.

1.  Form is submitted:

2.  Process does not complete.  When I check the Monitor tab:

3. 

Retrying from the DMZ server:

Retrying from the DMZ server - same error message and process is suspended.
If I open the internal server "Forms" and retry it from there, it goes.

The issue with this being we are wanting this Form to be available without logging in to the internal server for Forms.

Any help would be great!

Thanks!

Christine

 

 

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replied on September 21, 2020

Hi Christine-

My guess is that it has to do with how Forms is configured for the DMZ. Is there only one server, hosted on the DMZ?

Check out the whitepaper on Hosting Forms in a Perimeter Network. Specifically, the first section on Two Forms Servers, One SQL Server. Basically, the DMZ version will just be the web front-end, and the underlying processing will be handed off to the internal Forms server. Internal Forms will likely have an easier time communicating with Workflow.

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replied on September 22, 2020

Thank you for the information Pieter.
This is all helpful in giving me an understanding of what is going on.  (I know enough to be dangerous).  I have phone meeting with our VAR in a couple of days, and will update this post after that. 

He is also very helpful.

Kind Regards,

Christine

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replied on June 15, 2016

Hi Blake, thank you.

In my process, it is started by a form submittal, my next step in the business process is to save the submittal to the repository. For the save to repository step, i use a different form as the form to be saved (this is a copy of the starting form with an extra field to pull the instanceid generated from the initial submittal) this way, the form being saved will have the instanceid as a variable saved on the form. However, after the process completes and i check the variables for the instance in Forms 10 under metrics, the instanceid variable that i was trying to capture in a field, is blank.

 

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View 2 previous replies
replied on June 15, 2016

If you are needing the instance id for Workflow, it is available as part of the Retrieve Forms Fields activity as a token, so you do not need to pass it in a field.

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replied on June 15, 2016

Blake,

If you are referring to the Retrieve Business Process Variables activity, I am only able to select fields from a specific form/s, which the instance id is not one of these options unless I try to explicitly save it on the form. Otherwise, if i try to use the Retrieve Field Values activity, the workflow errors out on the Retrieve Field Values since it uses the field value source as Starting Entry (which Forms call the workflow, so technically no starting entry).

If you are referring to something else, please point me in the exact direction how to get there, I've tried everything i know to do to get this instance id.

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SELECTED ANSWER
replied on June 15, 2016

To get it to show, select the canvas of the workflow in Workflow. Then at the bottom of the properties pane, click on the link that says "View workflow properties". A window will popup and on the general tab select the checkbox at the bottom that says "Started by Laserfiche Forms". Now if you look at your tokens there should be one named BP Instance ID. That is the instance ID from Forms.

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replied on June 15, 2016

Wow, works like a charm! Thank you

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replied on May 31, 2022

Wow thanks Blake. This saved my life.

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