Can I assign an external file to a FileUpload control during submission of a web form?

Background

A file may not be uploaded via any FileUpload control but the file needs to be associated to the FileUpload control. It is applicable to WorkflowGenFileUpload control in SimpleMode only. Standard .NET FileUpload control does not have the ability to display uploaded file. Also this can only be done during submission of a web form.

Solution

Since the WorkflowGenPage engine will NOT create a new node in the FormData xml file if there is no file uploaded via a FileUpload Control, manual intervention is required to associate a file to the control. This procedure must be done AFTER the call of SubmitToWorkflow().

Assuming there is a WorkflowGenFileUpload control with an ID “REQUEST_ATTACH”: 

//--- trigger SubmitToWorkflow to get ready for the closure of an action
SubmitToWorkflow(this.FormData);

//---- associate file to the file upload control after SubmitToWorkflow()---
//---- upload FormData with all the form field controls
SaveFieldsData(this.FormData);

//---- make sure the FileUpload control is available in FormData
if (!this.FormData.Tables[0].Columns.Contains("REQUEST_ATTACH"))
{     this.FormData.Tables[0].Columns.Add("REQUEST_ATTACH");              }


//----- copy file from source to the UPLOAD/REQUEST_ATTACH folder
string CopiedFileName = "[your file name]";
string destFolder = StoragePath + "\\UPLOAD\\REQUEST_ATTACH\\";
string destFile = Path.Combine(destFolder, CopiedFileName);

//---- make sure the destination folder is ready ---
if (!Directory.Exists(destFolder))
{      Directory.CreateDirectory(destFolder);           }

//---- copy the file destination folder
string sourceFile = "[the source of your file]";
File.Copy(sourceFile, destFile, true);

//--- update the node for REQUEST_ATTACH ---
this.FormData.Tables[0].Rows[0]["REQUEST_ATTACH"] = "UPLOAD\\REQUEST_ATTACH\\" + CopiedFileName;

//--- call SaveFormData to update the FormData Xml file without adding the schema information
SaveFormData(this.FormData, false);             

//--- trigger SubmitToWorkflow to get ready for the closure of an action
SubmitToWorkflow(this.FormData);

//---- associate file to the file upload control after SubmitToWorkflow()---
//---- upload FormData with all the form field controls
SaveFieldsData(this.FormData);

//---- make sure the FileUpload control is available in FormData
if (!this.FormData.Tables[0].Columns.Contains("REQUEST_ATTACH"))
{     this.FormData.Tables[0].Columns.Add("REQUEST_ATTACH");              }


//----- copy file from source to the UPLOAD/REQUEST_ATTACH folder
string CopiedFileName = "[your file name]";
string destFolder = StoragePath + "\\UPLOAD\\REQUEST_ATTACH\\";
string destFile = Path.Combine(destFolder, CopiedFileName);

//---- make sure the destination folder is ready ---
if (!Directory.Exists(destFolder))
{      Directory.CreateDirectory(destFolder);           }

//---- copy the file destination folder
string sourceFile = "[the source of your file]";
File.Copy(sourceFile, destFile, true);

//--- update the node for REQUEST_ATTACH ---
this.FormData.Tables[0].Rows[0]["REQUEST_ATTACH"] = "UPLOAD\\REQUEST_ATTACH\\" + CopiedFileName;

//--- call SaveFormData to update the FormData Xml file without adding the schema information
SaveFormData(this.FormData, false);            

How do I trigger WorkflowGen SubmitToWorkflow from a user control?

Solution

To trigger the WorkflowGen SubmitToWorkflow from a user control you will need to set up delegate and event declaration to associate the button in your user control to communicate with the SubmitToWorkflow method in the main webform. Assuming there is a user control “UserCtrl1” (with and instance ID “uc1” used on the main aspx page) and inside the user control there is a button called "btnSubmit"

In your UserControl ascx.cs page:

public partial class UserCtrl1 : System.Web.UI.UserControl
{
    // Delegate declaration
    public delegate void OnSubmitButtonClick(string strValue);

    // Event declaration
    public event OnSubmitButtonClick btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler;

    /// <summary>
    /// in case of the submit button in user control is clicked,
    /// trigger the SubmitButtonClick event that reference to
    /// UserCtrl1_btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler event on the main page
    /// </summary>
    protected void btnSubmit_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        //---- call the event handler     
        if (btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler != null)
        { btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler(string.Empty); }
    }

}

 In the main aspx.cs page, under Page_load:   

//----- this is to add an event handler that allow user to call SubmitToWorkflow();        uc1.btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler += new UserCtrl1.OnSubmitButtonClick(uc1_btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler);

 Under the partial class of the main aspx.cs page, add the handler: 

void uc1_btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler(string strValue)
{        SubmitToWorkflow();    } 

 In short, the sequence is as follows:

• uc1.btnSubmit is clicked
• btnSubmit_Clicked is triggered
• trigger btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler event handler
• relay event type btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler to uc1_btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler
• call SubmitToWorkflow()

My webform is submitted even if I have not provided input for required fields.

Solution

There are 2 possible causes for this issue.

1. If you use your own submit button with a custom ID (e.g. btnSubmit) instead of the default WorkflowGen submit button ID (SubmitButton), you need to provide the following attribute: “ValidationGroup = “WFGENPage”. For more details click here.
2. You have included custom validation using JavaScript and the code breaks at some point.

For example:

function YOUR_JAVASCRIPT_FUNCTION(source, arguments)
{
    var ValidateResult = true;
    
    // ---- your javascript code to set the ValudateResult ---- //

    arguments.IsValid = ValidateResult;
}  

If there is an error in your JavaScript code that is not being trapped properly, the JavaScript code will break and end the execution of the WorkflowGen validation process and allow WorkflowGen to submit without considering the form invalid.

To make sure your custom code functions correctly for debugging, you can do the following:

•  
  • Add a regular .NET button with an ID not equal to “SubmitButton” and with ValidationGroup=”WFGENPage”. It will just perform a post back of your web form without submitting it to WorkflowGen while it will still trigger WorkflowGen form validation process.
  • Add a JavaScript alert() function to show your custom validation result. If the alert is not triggered this may signify that a line of code breaks. You can consider using some external debugger like FireBug to trace which line causes the error.

Why do I receive the following error “Error during the process workflow - Transaction failed. The server response was: Relay access denied”?

Solution

This error is related to the SMTP setting in WorkflowGen. WorkflowGen is not able to trigger the notification at the beginning of the first action. Make sure the SMTP server in WorkflowGen configuration panel is valid.

How to add a file attachment to my WorkflowGen email notification?

Solution

WorkflowGen version 5.3 and newer allows process data of type 'File' to be included in WorkflowGen email notifications as file attachments.

While system default templates can be modified to include attachments it is never recommeded to modify them as these templates are used system wide and changes may impact processes with undesirable results.

Instead, it is recommend to create custom templates when you want to use an email notification with file attachments. Custom templates are specific to a process and will not affect other processes. For more information on custom template, click here.

In your custom template include the following tag:

<WF_PROCESS_INST_RELDATA_FILE.DATANAME>

where 'DATANAME' is the name of the process data containing the file you wish to add as an attachment. WorkflowGen will parse the template and replace the tag with a file attachment. It is not important where the tag is placed with the exception of the first line of the file. This line is reserved for the email subject (if used). If you are using an HTML email we recommend placing the tag somewhere within the tag.

How to compose a WorkflowGen hyperlink to a process data of type 'File'.

Solution

The proposed solution below applies to WorkflowGen Version 5.2 and previous. WorkflowGen 5.3 and above includes out-of-the-box functionality that allows for file attachments in WFG email notifications. Click here to see more details.

In order to compose a hyperlink to a process data of type File in WorkflowGen you must first query the database to retrieve information relating to the actual file. The following SQL query will extract the necessary information to build the hyperlink.

The hyperlink created will respect both WorkflowGen and process data security

Query 

select w.id_process , wir.id_reldata, wir.id_dataset
from wfprocess_inst_reldata wir left join wfreldata w on wir.id_reldata=w.id_reldata
join wfdataset_value wv on wir.id_dataset=wv.id_dataset join wfprocess_inst wi on wir.id_process_inst=wi.id_process_inst
where w.name='[DataElementName]' and wir.id_process_inst=[requestID]   

Query Parameters

[DataElementName] = WFG data name (e.g. FORM_ARCHIVE)

[requested] = WFG request number

Result

The SQL query will return 3 column values:

id_process = WFG process ID

id_reldata = Related data ID for the target process data

id_dataset = ID of the process data

URL 

Once we obtain these 3 values we can compose the URL for the file download link:

http://[your server name]/wfgen/show.aspx?QUERY=DATASET_FILE_DOWNLOAD&ID_PROCESS=[id_process]&ID_RELDATA=[id_reldata]&ID_DATASET=[id_dataset]&NUM_VALUE=1&ATTACHMENT=[SaveDocumentPopup]

[SaveDocumentPopup] = N=open document in browser, Y=open save document

Solution

One or more sub-process process data declared as IN parameter does not exist in the WorkflowGen Context object.