I have installed Umbraco Forms for the first time today. Its working pretty well and has a lot of potential for sure. There are a couple of issues I found though but maybe I'm just not using this plugin properly yet. I hope someone will be able to answer my questions.
I'm using Umbraco 7.2.6.
I have a separate database with business data that I want to keep using to store my form data.
I have setup a Datasource to that database and table and successfully created a form based on some of the fields. I have run into two issues now:
1) When I submit my form the data in stored in the Umbraco database (table: UFRecordDataString) instead of my custom database and table. Why would that be? I was under the impression it would store the data based on the Datasource I setup. Am I missing a step or is it a bug?
2) When I click on the "Entries" icon I was hoping to see my data that I already have in the database table. Also, based on the Datasource I have specified. Again, is it a bug or am I missing a step?
thanks for your response and answering question #2. It would be a great option if Umbraco Form could fetch that data from that datasource. Maybe an enhancement for the future?
So with regards to question #1, based on your response it sounds like the form is supposed to submit data to the datasource hence that separate database table. Because currently it is not doing that. It is just submitting data to UFRecordDataString rather then my table.
If you could clarify that for me that would be great.
any more advice on issue #1 or if a fix is in the works? I'm about to start with my project and would like to know if I can use Umbraco Forms for that capacity with regards to custom data sources.
Paul Sterling from HQ answered my question through a support email. Very helpful. FYI, for others with the same question:
=============================
That is by design. Umbraco Forms will always store the data in the same database as you are using for umbraco and will always use the specific UF* tables and record structure.
Just to add another option here. If what you really want is very fine-grained control over where a form is submitted and precisely what happens with the form data, what may be best suited to that task is a custom surface controller.
Umbraco Forms is a great way to setup forms without coding, and with a little code you can do some great stuff, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't consider your own forms when appropriate.
Thanks Paul. Great tip! I have developed several forms using the surface controller logic and it definitely gives you a lot of control over a specific form needs you may need to fulfil. But I must say that the extensibility options of Umbraco Forms is phenomenal. It's really soo easy and the documentation is great. You guys did a great job! It's exactly what I was looking for and gives my clients great control over the form itself.
Form based on datasource not working correctly
Hi,
I have installed Umbraco Forms for the first time today. Its working pretty well and has a lot of potential for sure. There are a couple of issues I found though but maybe I'm just not using this plugin properly yet. I hope someone will be able to answer my questions.
I'm using Umbraco 7.2.6.
I have a separate database with business data that I want to keep using to store my form data.
I have setup a Datasource to that database and table and successfully created a form based on some of the fields. I have run into two issues now:
1) When I submit my form the data in stored in the Umbraco database (table: UFRecordDataString) instead of my custom database and table. Why would that be? I was under the impression it would store the data based on the Datasource I setup. Am I missing a step or is it a bug?
2) When I click on the "Entries" icon I was hoping to see my data that I already have in the database table. Also, based on the Datasource I have specified. Again, is it a bug or am I missing a step?
Thanks everyone. Your help is appreciated.
Comment author was deleted
Hi Hannes,
Nope it's not a bug, the entries viewer won't fetch data from your data source, it will only list the records submitted with Forms.
SO a datasource will only allow you to design a form based on a source and submit to it
Hi Tim,
thanks for your response and answering question #2. It would be a great option if Umbraco Form could fetch that data from that datasource. Maybe an enhancement for the future?
So with regards to question #1, based on your response it sounds like the form is supposed to submit data to the datasource hence that separate database table. Because currently it is not doing that. It is just submitting data to UFRecordDataString rather then my table.
If you could clarify that for me that would be great.
Hi Tim,
If you submit to a different data source, is it possible to avoid submitting to the table created by Contour? https://our.umbraco.org/forum/umbraco-pro/contour/67442-possible-to-avoid-storing-data-for-umbraco-forms-entries
Hi Tim,
any more advice on issue #1 or if a fix is in the works? I'm about to start with my project and would like to know if I can use Umbraco Forms for that capacity with regards to custom data sources.
Thank you.
Paul Sterling from HQ answered my question through a support email. Very helpful. FYI, for others with the same question:
=============================
That is by design. Umbraco Forms will always store the data in the same database as you are using for umbraco and will always use the specific UF* tables and record structure.
If you wanted to store data in a different location/format you can do that by adding a custom workflow type where you'll execute your custom storage logic. Forms will still store the records in the UF* tables. Have a look at the docs here https://our.umbraco.org/documentation/Add-ons/UmbracoForms/Developer/Extending/Adding-a-Workflowtype
Just to add another option here. If what you really want is very fine-grained control over where a form is submitted and precisely what happens with the form data, what may be best suited to that task is a custom surface controller.
Have a look at this example for how to create a multi-step form using a surface controller http://umbraco.com/follow-us/blog-archive/2015/2/13/creating-multi-step-forms-using-a-surfacecontroller
Umbraco Forms is a great way to setup forms without coding, and with a little code you can do some great stuff, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't consider your own forms when appropriate.
Thanks Paul. Great tip! I have developed several forms using the surface controller logic and it definitely gives you a lot of control over a specific form needs you may need to fulfil. But I must say that the extensibility options of Umbraco Forms is phenomenal. It's really soo easy and the documentation is great. You guys did a great job! It's exactly what I was looking for and gives my clients great control over the form itself.
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