Email notification setup

The Exact Forms Plus Batch Processor runs in the background. Each run starts when a Quickbase email notification on your table sends the record's Batch Processing Arguments to the Batch Processor. The notification decides when documents are created: for example, when someone selects the Execute EFP Batch button, when a record is added, or when a status field changes. The notification goes to the Batch Processor, not to your users.

The installation wizard doesn't create this notification. You create it once on the table where the Batch Processor is set up. For how the Batch Processor works, see Overview.

Before you start

Set up the Batch Processor with the installation wizard, or add a Batch Processing Arguments formula field yourself. See Two kinds of setup and Parameters.
Make sure you can create an email notification with the Open permission type in your Quickbase app, so it can be sent to an address outside your app. If you can't select Open, or Quickbase won't save a notification to an outside address, submit a technical support case.

Which table the notification goes on

Setup	Table	Trigger field	Button
Single document generation	The master table, where the documents are created	EFP Batch Trigger - Msg Field	Execute EFP Batch
Bulk document generation	The Batch Processing table	Trigger Field	Execute Batch

In both setups, the button writes Batch Execution Requested_ and the date and time to the trigger field, and it's hidden while that field contains Requested.

Create the email notification in Quickbase

In your Quickbase app, create a new email notification on the table from the table above, and enter these settings:

Setting	Value
Permission Type	Open: Emails sent openly to anyone
Notification Name	Any name that makes sense to you, for example `Exact Forms Plus: Create documents`.
Notify Whom	A specific list of email addresses
Email address	`efpbatch@efpbatch.quickbasetools.com`, or `efpbatcheu@efpbatch.quickbasetools.com` if your Quickbase account is in the EU. The wizard also adds this address to your table as the Exact Forms Plus Batch Email field. While you test, you can add your own address to see when the notification fires.
Notify When	The record changes and conditions that should start a run (see Choosing when to notify).
Message Type	Custom Message, Single Record Version. In a single setup where records are also changed with Grid Edit or imports, set up the Multiple Record Version too, so each changed record is sent and gets its own document.
Subject	Any subject. The Batch Processor doesn't use it, so pick one that helps you recognize the notification, for example `Exact Forms Plus Batch Request`.
Custom Message	The Batch Processing Arguments field, and nothing else (see Custom message).

Save the notification.

Custom message

The custom message sends the Batch Processor everything it needs: which template and records to use, where to save the documents, and where to report the result. All of this is in the Batch Processing Arguments formula field, so the message is just that field in square brackets:

[Batch Processing Arguments]

If you set up the Batch Processor with the wizard, the field's value already ends with the type and a configid, so the Batch Processor receives something like this:

clientid=Q1234 appid=bq1a2b3c4 tpdbid=bq5d6e7f8 tpid=1 msid=23 msdb=bq9g8h7i6 faid=51 efpdte=52 docfmt=pdf fn=EFP_Document apptoken= msdbefid=53 type=efpbatch configid=<config key>

In the EU, the type is type=efpbatcheu.

If your setup is older, your formula may not include the type or a configid. Add them after the field, separated by spaces:

[Batch Processing Arguments] type=efpbatch configid=<config key>

configid is the key of your app's Exact Forms Plus batch configuration, shown as the Config Key in the Batch Configuration Portal. See Batch Config Portal overview. If your account requires batch configurations, the Batch Processor only runs when the configid and the arguments match a saved batch configuration. Otherwise it writes an error back and doesn't create documents. See Change the arguments.

To see what your formula already includes, open the Batch Processing Arguments field's formula and look for type= and configid=. Don't add either one twice: a parameter that appears twice stops the run.

Note
Don't add other text to the message. The Batch Processor reads the message as a list of arguments separated by spaces, so extra words are read as arguments and can stop the run.

Choosing when to notify

Use Notify When and the notification's conditions so that a run only starts when it should.

With the button (single or bulk setup). Set the notification to:

Notify when a record is modified and the trigger field (EFP Batch Trigger - Msg Field or Trigger Field) changes.
Add a condition: the trigger field contains Requested.

Without the button (single setup). You can create documents automatically from any change you like. For example:

Notify when a record is added, to create the document as soon as the record is created.
Notify when a record is modified and Status changes, and only when Status is Approved.

Important
Make sure the notification can't fire again because of the run it just started. When a run finishes, the Batch Processor updates the record: the document field, the date field, and the trigger field (to PROCESS COMPLETED_ or ERROR ENCOUNTERED_ and the date and time). Don't notify on changes to those fields without a condition that rules them out, such as the contains Requested condition above, or the Batch Processor can create the same document again and again.

Test it

Open a record (single setup) or a Batch Processing record (bulk setup).
Select Execute EFP Batch or Execute Batch, or make the change that your notification watches for.
Wait a moment, then refresh the record. The trigger field should start with PROCESS COMPLETED_, and the document should be where the arguments say. In a bulk setup, select Refresh until the processing message is gone.

For where results and errors are written, see Check the result.

If nothing happens

What you see	What to check
The trigger field still says `Batch Execution Requested_` and the button is gone	The notification didn't fire, didn't reach the Batch Processor, or the arguments couldn't be read. Check that the notification is on the right table, uses the Open permission type, is sent to the right address for your region, and that its conditions match (trigger field changes and contains `Requested`). Then check the arguments; see If the batch run doesn't work. To get the button back, clear the trigger field.
The trigger field starts with `ERROR ENCOUNTERED_`	The Batch Processor ran but couldn't finish. The message after the date and time says why, for example the arguments don't match your batch configuration. Fix the cause, clear the trigger field if needed, and run it again.
The same document is created more than once	The notification is firing on the fields the Batch Processor updates. Add a condition as described in Choosing when to notify.

Learn more

Overview: how the Batch Processor works, the two kinds of setup, and changing the arguments.
Parameters: what goes in Batch Processing Arguments.
Exact Forms Plus finish: the fields the wizard adds to your table.