Frequently asked questions
Why can't Exact Forms Plus be executed when adding a record?
How do I edit an existing Exact Forms Plus! document template?
How can I format a date in the document, other than the standard date format from Quickbase?
When creating a merged PDF file I want to control the file name of each individual file created during the process, how do I do that?
Fields that have hyphens in their names are not showing up in the generated document, why?
How can I display the name of the user when including a User type field in my template?
I'm getting this error, "Sorry, you have exceeded the limit for file uploads," what does it mean and how can I fix this?
Can I include fields in my output documents that are lookup fields from cross-app relationships?
My output document still has tildes, ~field name~, why wasn't this tag replaced with the data from my Quickbase table?
Authorization Error? I am receiving an Authorization Error, why?
How do I set up additional tables to use Exact Forms Plus! in the same app?
How can I set up the title of the generated Exact Forms Plus document streamed to the browser?
What if I receive an HTTP 404 error when selecting EFP Configurator?
Answers
Why can't Exact Forms Plus be executed when adding a record?
Since our extensions do not run on the same servers as Quickbase, the records must be saved and exist in the Quickbase table before we can generate a document. Exact Forms Plus uses the value in the "Record ID#" field (Field Id 3) to know which record to process. That field does not contain a value until the record is saved. When your app is set up, the setup process is designed to display the Exact Forms Plus fields in edit or view mode on the form.
How can I format a date in the document, other than the standard date format from Quickbase?
see the Special Field Types and Functions section of the Document Templates article
How do I edit an existing Exact Forms Plus! document template?
Go to the Document Templates table in your Quickbase app.
Edit/View the Document Template record that you want to modify.
Select the file attachment field link to download the Word document locally so that you can modify it.
Make the desired changes to the downloaded Word document.
Save the Word file to your local drive.
Navigate back to the Quickbase Document Template record that you edited/viewed in step #2.
If you made only cosmetic changes to your template, skip to step 8. If you added new reference tags for Quickbase fields to the template, they need to be included in the clist field for that template. You can type in the field ID of any new field, or select the Exact Forms Plus configurator button to select the fields manually. The EFP Configurator will update the clist field once you save your changes.
Select the browse button next to the file attachment field, and upload the file that you saved to your local drive.
Save the template record.
Screenshot of a sample Document Template Record...
Fields that have hyphens in their names are not showing up in the generated document, why?
There is an AutoCorrect option in Microsoft Word called AutoFormat and by default it is set to convert hyphens to a special "dash" character. This causes problems when trying to find and replace fields because Exact Forms Plus is looking for hyphens since that is how the fields are named in Quickbase. You can see this conversion when typing in Word: type Account - Name and watch the hyphen change to a dash.
To fix this, take one of the following actions:
After Word converts the hyphen to a dash, retype over it, as shown in the example screenshot (green highlight). If your hyphen looks like the dash highlighted in yellow in that screenshot, this fix will not work.
Remove the hyphens from your field names in your Quickbase tables. This is the recommended solution.
Reference the field in the template by its numeric field ID instead of the field name, for example ~12~.
Turn off the AutoCorrect/AutoFormat option in Word by unchecking it, as shown in the following screenshot.
How can I display the name of the user when including a User type field in my template?
Create a separate formula text field and convert the User field to text using the UserToName function, then use that field in the template instead of the User field.
UserToName([Record Owner], "FF")
The same can be done with User List type fields. The following code returns a semi-colon separated list of users' full names
UserListToNames([Project Contacts], "FF")
I'm getting this error, "Sorry, you have exceeded the limit for file uploads," what does it mean and how can I fix this?
EXCEPTION THROWN in MAIN Process: https://xxxxxx.quickbase.com/db/xxxxxxxxx?act=API_EditRecord: Sorry, you have exceeded the limit for file uploads
Client/Appid: Q999/xxxxxxxxx
This error message is being sent back from Quickbase because you have exceeded your file attachment storage limit on your billing plan.
When Exact Forms Plus creates your document it attempts to store it in your file attachment field. This error is returned from Quickbase when you have reached your file attachment limit so we cannot store the file in that field until this situation is corrected.
Here are your options to prevent this error:
Contact Quickbase and increase your file attachment storage limit.
Change the Exact Forms Plus button to NOT store the generated files in Quickbase. Use
faid=instead offaid=999.Upgrade your Exact Forms Plus subscription to store your files in Amazon S3 instead of Quickbase file attachment fields. Learn about upgrading to Amazon S3 storage.
When creating a merged PDF file I want to control the file name of each individual file created during the process, how do I do that?
Multiple record processing: When generating multiple documents in one transaction you can use values from each record as part of the file name by using the following format in the url parameter "fn" (file name):
fn=~7.11:-~|FEB2013
This will use the values from field id 7 and 11, join them together with a "-" and then append the constant text value "FEB2013" to this generated file name.
EX:
if fid 7 value = IntuitQuickbase
if fid 11 value = 1007
If the first document that is generated in the multi record transaction is for record id#7 and a PDF is requested. Here is what the file name would look like for that first record:
IntuitQuickbase-1007FEB2013_7.pdf
Can I include fields in my output documents that are lookup fields from cross-app relationships?
You can include these fields. You must provide our Quickbase user ID with access to all apps that source the data that appears in the generated documents. You can create a role with view-only permissions in the other apps, assign our user ID to that role, and you can include any fields defined as lookup fields within cross-app relationships in the output documents.
My output document still has tildes, ~field name~, why wasn't this replaced with the data from my Quickbase table?
There are multiple reasons why the merged field tags aren't replaced when Exact Forms Plus generates a document:
The field name or field id# referenced between the tildes does not exist in the master table. Maybe you spelled it wrong or maybe you used a field id# that was incorrect. For example, you included the following field tag in the template: ~First Name~. But in the master table the field is actually named First-Name. (Also be careful when using hyphens/dashes in field names. Learn why hyphens can cause this.)
You referenced the field properly in the template but it still isn't working, why? There is a clist field on the Document Template record, that clist field needs to include the field ID for every field that you want to include in the generated document. Using the same example, if the field ID for First Name is 7 and 7 does not appear in the clist field for the template record being used, then ~First Name~ is not replaced. To fix this, add 7 to the clist. The clist must include all field IDs delimited by periods, with no spaces and no extra periods.
The field you referenced in the template is a file attachment field and it is empty. To get around this create a new formula text field and reference this new field in the template instead of the file attachment field itself. To check if the file attachment field has a file or not you can use a formula like this. Assuming the file attachment field name is Logo Uploaded and its field ID is 142, use this formula: If([Logo Uploaded], "~i:142:100~", "")
The role that you assigned our user ID does not have access to the field that you are trying to display in the document. The role that you assign to our user ID needs view access to every field that appears in the output document. If the field you are trying to display is a lookup field from another table, our user ID needs view access to that field as well.
If formula fields are not displaying properly, verify that our role has access to every field referenced in the formula code.
Authorization Error? I am receiving an Authorization Error, why?
If you receive this error or something similar to it:
Quickbase Application - bbbbbbbbb is not authorized to use Exact Forms Plus.
There is no valid authorization record for client id: 999 application id: bbbbbbbbb add-on:
Here are the possible causes:
You copied the code in an Exact Forms Plus formula URL field from one app and added it to a field in a different Quickbase app. Solution: Each Quickbase app that you want to execute Exact Forms Plus in needs to be registered and authorized to use Exact Forms Plus by Quickbase Extensions. To resolve this issue, submit a technical support case.
You made a copy of your app and are trying to run Exact Forms Plus in the copied app. Solution: Same as the previous cause.
My Exact Forms Plus document shows Employment Application as the title in the browser even though I passed the fn parameter, why?
The fn parameter allows you to save the file with that name.
If you want to stream the generated document in the browser with a specific name, you need to add the title to your Word document template.
Open the Word document, and select the first menu item, File.
You can set up the Title property of the document here.
When selecting Add New Documents Subtable from the Document Templates table, I see about:blank#blocked in the browser address and the window doesn't open, why?
To fix this:
Edit the field properties of the Add New Document Subtable formula URL field (the button you select).
Uncheck the checkbox under the display section, Open Target in New Window.
Save.
That's it.
What if I receive an HTTP 404 error when selecting EFP Configurator?
EFP Configurator
All existing clients are upgraded to use our new version of the Exact Forms Plus Configurator utility (EFP Configurator). The old version is no longer supported. Clients still using the old version need to make a few minor changes to their formula URL fields to point to the new version.
How do you know if you are using the old version or the new version?
It's simple: when you select the EFP Configurator button on your Document Templates table, the first page that loads tells you if you are using the old or new version.
If you see a page like this, you are using the old version of the EFP Configurator. If you receive an HTTP 404 error, you are on the old version. If you are on the old version, you need to make some changes to your formula URL fields to point to the new version.
See what needs to be changed if you are using the old version.
If you see a page like this, you are using the new version of the EFP Configurator. You do not need to make changes to your formula code, except to test by changing 1 to 2 for testing.
I'm using the old version, what do I need to change?
If you do not make the 3 changes described here to run the new version of the EFP Configurator, you will likely see the following error message on the day of the TLS upgrade.
To prevent this error, make the following changes:
Document Templates table changes
Update the EFP Configurator field
On your Document Templates table, change the formula URL field named EFP Configurator as follows: change master.aspx? to Master/Index?.
This screenshot shows the old button code on the left and the new button code on the right.
Update the Add New Document Subtable field
On your Document Templates table, change the formula URL field named Add New Document Subtable as follows: change subtable.aspx? to Master/Subtable?.
This screenshot shows the old button code on the left and the new button code on the right.
Document Subtables table changes
Update the Edit Subtable Configuration field
On your Document Subtables table, change the formula URL field named Edit Subtable Configuration as follows: change subtable.aspx? to Master/Subtable?.
This screenshot is the same as the one shown for the previous field.