Exact Forms Plus installation wizard—setup type
The Setup Type step is the first extension-specific step of the Exact Forms Plus wizard. It comes after Authorization and Application information. If you start the wizard with Setup Table on an app that's already authorized, the wizard uses the token on file and opens at this step.
The wizard window is titled Exact Forms Plus Set-up. The steps are listed on the left: Authorization, Application Information, Setup Type (this step), Exact Forms Plus Setup, and Finish. When your choices need them, the wizard adds optional steps before Finish, such as Application Token for bulk document generation.
The step has two rows of radio buttons, in this order:
Document Creation Using—the kind of template the documents are built from:
Exact Forms Plus Template (selected by default)—a Microsoft Word template that you configure for Exact Forms Plus. This option gives you the full feature set, including related-data subtables, merging documents, and saving to Amazon S3, Dropbox, or Egnyte.
Quickbase Native Document Template—a template built with the Quickbase document template builder and managed in the table the document is generated from. Exact Forms Plus generates the document and saves it directly to a file attachment field. When you choose this option, the Select the Setup Type row and its descriptions are hidden, and the setup is always single document generation. To compare the two kinds of template, see Use Exact Forms Plus with Quickbase Document Creation templates.
Select the Setup Type (Exact Forms Plus Template only):
Single Document Generation (selected by default)
Bulk Document Generation—also adds the Application Token step before Finish. If you switch back to Single Document Generation, the step is removed.
Below the choices, select Single Document Generation + or Bulk Document Generation + to expand a short description of each option. The options are described below. This step has no required fields. Select Next to continue, or Previous to go back.
Single document generation
Use this to create a document from a record. The wizard installs Exact Forms Plus on your "master" table—the table whose records the documents are for—with buttons that open a new tab or pop-up and can show the document in your browser after it's created. This is typically used to create one document at a time. However, with the &msqry parameter you can create up to 50 documents with one button click; see Formula URL parameters.
Note
This setup also lets you create documents automatically, with no button click—for example, when a record is saved. The wizard adds the Batch Processing Arguments, EFP Batch Trigger - Msg Field, and Execute EFP Batch fields to your table. To use them, create an email notification that "triggers" document creation; see Email notification setup.
Bulk document generation
Use this to create many documents at once—more than 50. This setup creates three new tables:
Batch Processing—a "control" table that drives document creation for records in another table in the app. For example, to create project documents for all projects, you start one run from a control record instead of creating each project's document separately.
Batch Processing Logs—a log with the status of each document creation run.
Batch Processing Errors—the errors from each run, if any.
Note
This setup uses the Batch Processing Arguments field and an email notification to "trigger" document creation. See Email notification setup.
Next: Exact Forms Plus setup.