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The Filesystem Connector saves  submissions to local or remote file systems (Windows, Linux). You can:

  • Save each submission to it’s own folder
  • Save all submissions to the same folder
  • Choose to keep file names or generate a file name
  • Generate metadata for import into your Enterprise Content Management system.

Submission form/workflow XML document(s), attachments that are added by the user and the PDF snapshot of your form/workflow can be saved in the configured submissions directory.

Note
Signatures are not saved as they are a different content type than attachments.

Using the Filesystem Connector to save submissions to a shared directory might be an alternative if your forms/workflows contain sensitive/secure information that you would rather not send via email or if you want to import the submissions into your Enterprise Content Management system.  

Submissions from  are posted to the Filesystem Connector using the Doc Action Save to File System wizard.

The Filesystem Connector is available for cloud and in-house  customers.

Info

frevvo only supports/certifies the Filesystem Connector running in the Apache Tomcat container.

Generation of a metadata file for each submission can imported into a document management system. This is possible with the Save to Filesystem wizard and a descriptor file that provides the instructions in freemarker language.  Once the metadata file is generated, it is the customer's responsibility to import it into the document management system. 

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  1. If you use the frevvo Cloud hosted server,  you must ensure that the connector is accessible from the frevvo servers. This is done by opening up one of the following ports in your firewall:

    • HTTP Ports: 80 or 19080

    • HTTPs Ports: 443 or 19443

    Code Block
    We recommend that you use https and not http. Https is a secure channel.
  2. Customers that use firewall white-listing, should make sure the frevvo cloud outgoing server IP 54.86.85.105 (host outgoing.frevvo.com) is added to the list.
  3. If you want to install the Filesystem Connector in the frevvo In-House tomcat bundle, follow these easy steps: (You don't have to use the  application from this bundle).
    1. Review the Supported Platforms list.
    2. Download and install the certified version of the Java Development Kit (JDK) and set the JAVA_HOME environment variable as described here. 
    3. Download the frevvo tomcat bundle
    4. Unzip the frevvo zip file into a location of your choice: e.g. c:\frevvo.   We'll refer to this directory below as <frevvo-home>.
    5. Install the Filesystem connector inside that same tomcat. 
      1. Download the filesystem zipflile 
      2. Extract the filesystem.war to <frevvo-home>\tomcat\webapps directory.
      3. Delete <frevvo-home>\tomcat\webapps\frevvo.war
      4. Configure the Filesystem Connector

  4. Start by clicking on the startup.(bat,sh) file for your operating system in the <frevvo-home> directory. It is also possible to configure frevvo as a Windows service

In-house Customers with an existing tomcat bundle installation

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  1. Modify the File Connector settings section of the frevvo-config.properties file.

    1. the frevvo.filesystem.connector.url - The location of the Filesystem connector is set for the installation with this property. It defaults to http://localhost:8082/filesystem. Change the <localhost:8082> in the default URL to the <server:port> where you installed the Filesystem connector in your environment.

    2. Uncomment the property by deleting the # that precedes it.

      Code Block
      # File Connector settings
frevvo.filesystem.connector.url=http://localhost:8082/filesystem

  2. Add these properties to the <frevvo-home>\tomcat\conf\frevvo-config.properties file. You can add them to the existing File Connector settings section or make a new section with a comment as shown in the example below. Refer to the table for a description of the configurable properties:

    Configuration ParameterDescription
    connector.file.root.dirThis is the location in your file system where the submission docs will be saved.  Set the submissions directory field in the Save to Filesystem wizard as a relative path from the root directory specified by the connector.file.root.dir in the connector deployment configuration. It's value can contain one or more control template strings. For example, if the configuration file contains C:\ for the connector.file.root.dir parameter, enter the name of the directory where you want to save the submissions in the Submissions field in the Save to Filesystem wizard. This will save the submissions in C:\<DIRECTORY NAME>. If not explicitly configured, it defaults to the user home directory. Change the value to reflect the location for your file system.
    connector.file.name.keepThis parameter determines whether the original files names will be retained. If this is set to true, then you either have to make sure that all your files have unique names or else save the documents of each submission under a separate uniquely named folder. If this parameter is not included, or is set to false, submission files will be named with a generated identifier as the prefix suffixed by '_' and a sequence number to make the file name unique. The original filename extension is retained. This is the default behavior. Ex: e454fa08-9a6e-4c54-9743-18f4ba0ad0b4_1.xml instead of form.xml.
    connector.file.dir.submission   This parameter allows you to create a unique new sub-folder for documents of every submission if true.
    connector.file.descriptor.suffixThe metadata descriptor filename is a generic GUID filename, followed by a configurable suffix. The default suffix is '.xml'. Use this parameter to change the suffix.The suffix can make identifying the metadata file easier, particularly if you save the files from all submissions into the same folder.
    Ex: 432e0d1f-d084-4cd4-8bbe-50f6e9bd5ee6_desc.txt
    connector.file.metadata.subdirThis directory must be a child of the root directory i.e. a relative path. When provided, and the directory exists, all metadata files will be created here. The metadata files are uniquely named, so there will be no conflict.

    Here is an example of the Filesystem Connector properties added to the File Connector settings section of the frevvo-config.properties file. When executed, submissions will be:

    • Saved on the local drive in a directory specified in the wizard that is located under the root directory configured here. Ex: C:\Submissions.
    • Individual file names will be retained.
    • Attachments in the submission will be saved.

    • Add the suffix "_desc.txt" to the metadata file for each submission.

      Warning

      In a properties file, a backslash is considered as a continuation character when splitting across lines. Escape it with another backslash i.e. C:\\ or use the forward slash i.e. C:/ when specifying the connector.file.root.dir property.

      Code Block
      # File Connector settings
frevvo.filesystem.connector.url=http://localhost:8082/filesystem
connector.file.root.dir=C:/
connector.file.name.keep=true 
connector.file.descriptor.suffix=_desc.txt
connector.file.metadata.subdir=metadataFile/


  3. Start the Insight server first, then start .  

  4. Make sure the directory where you plan to save the submissions is created and and has the appropriate access for the OS you are using. For example:

    1. If you are using Windows, you can map a drive to a server directory (not recommended because Windows mapped drives cannot be reliably accessed from java), or you could use the UNC path i.e. //host-name

    2. If you are using a Unix operating system you could mount a remote filesystem as a directory and use it as your destination directory

      Warning

      To ensure interoperability across file systems, it is recommended that you follow a good naming standard such as POSIX when creating files and folders. For example, folder names can't contain slashes so a folder named '1/2/15' would not be valid.

  5. Browse http://<your server:port>/filesystem/health (replace <your server:port> with your frevvo server:port) to check the status of the connector. If the connector is up and running, you will see { "status" : "UP" }

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Excerpt

Saving files to a local or remote location is easily done with the Save to File System wizard if generating metadata is not required.
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Let's begin with a very simple example. Here are the requirements:

  1. You have created a small form that has a Name, Address, City, State and Zip Code fields. A mapped W - 4 PDF is included in the form. The Save PDF property is selected and the PDF Name property is configured with the template {Name}.

  2. You want to store the submission files for this form in a directory on your local machine named Submissions. 
  3. You want to create a sub directory for each submission under the Submissions directory. The name of the sub directory is created from the value entered into the Name field on the form
  4. You want to save the form/workflow PDF, any mapped PDFs associated with the form, an xml file and any attachments uploaded to the form in the subdirectory. 

Follow these steps to fulfill the requirements by using the doc action Send to Filesystem wizard

    1. Log into your tenant as a designer user.
    2. Open your form/workflow.
    3. Going the the Settings mode in the Guided Designer navigation toolbar.
    4. Click the Document Actions tab. Select Send to Filesystem on the Send Documents tab.

    5. To fulfill the requirements listed above, we only need to fill in the URL, Submission Directory and File sections of the wizard. Here is an explanation of the fields:

      1. The URL: this is the URL to the location where you installed the Filesystem Connector. Be sure to include the /filesystem/submission in the URL after you change the server and port.

        1. In-house: The location of the Filesystem connector is set for the installation using the frevvo.filesystem.connector.url parameter in the <frevvo-home>\tomcat\conf\frevvo-config.properties file. It defaults to http://localhost:8082/filesystem in the tomcat build. The <localhost:8082> in the default URL can be changed to the <server:port> where you installed the Filesystem connector in your environment. This is a required field. The value entered here overrides the value in the frevvo-config.properties file.

        2. Cloud customers will see the placeholder http(s)://host:port/filesystem/submission - enter the https url to the location where you installed your  Filesystem Connector.
      2. Submissions Directory - Enter a relative path from the root directory specified by the connector.file.root.dir parameter in the configuration file created above. Control templates are allowed in this field. You can use a control template to store submissions in subdirectories. The template, {Name}, will populate the Template field. Copy the template from the Template field and add it to the Submissions Directory path after the forward or backward slash. Note the forward or backward slash can be used to create subfolders.
      3. Examples
        1. If the value of the connector.file.root.dir parameter in the configuration file is "c:\" then entering Submissions in the Submission Directory field in the wizard saves the files in the local directory c:\Submissions.
        2. File Section - One or more types of submission content can be specified by checking the Send Snapshot, Files, Gen Forms and Data checkboxes:
          1. Select the snapshot format to be sent by selecting a choice form the Send Snapshot dropdown. The format choices are PDF, PNG or JPEG.
            1. Check the Attachments checkbox to send any file attachments uploaded to the form.
            2. Check the Gen Forms(PDF) checkbox to send the mapped W - 4 PDF.
            3. Check the Data checkbox to send the form XML document for the form.
    6. Save the form.
    7. Create some submissions by testing the form ( Save and Test), filling in the form and clicking submit.
    8. The results of 3 submissions are shown in the image.

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  1. The Name column is to used to represent a unique entry on its own or within a Group. The following entry will cause a md.name=Tray Jenkins parameter to be sent to the connector.

    Name
    Value
    name
    Tray Jenkins

  2. The Group column is used to group name-value pairs. To represent a metadata entry with attributes you would use the Group column to indicate the entry name. The following entires will cause a md.EMPLOYMENTDATE={"type":"Date","value":"2014-04-03","culture":"en-US","format":"yyyy-MM-dd"} parameter to be sent to the connector.


    		ValueGroup
    typeDateEMPLOYMENTDATE
    value2014-04-03EMPLOYMENTDATE
    cultureen-USEMPLOYMENTDATE
    formatyyyy-MM-ddEMPLOYMENTDATE
  3. The Value column can contain one or more control template strings. To create a template string, type an open curly brace { and the first few letters of the control name, then select the control from the dropdown that appears. 

  4. To include values from repeating controls in your form/workflow, the value should be a template string that resolves to multiple values. The recommended approach is to create a template that results in a JSON array using the built-in separator 'json' i.e. {json|controlname}. This special separator resolves to JSON format. The same result can be accomplished by specifying the JSON format i.e. ["{","|controlname}"]. 
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  5. To include the comment values from selection controls with a comment enabled in your form/workflow, the value should be a template string that resolves to multiple values. The recommended approach is to use the syntax
    ["{,|controlname.commentValue}"].

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