A powerful feature that enables multiple things, including bulk generation of pdf documents populated from Quickbase records (like a simpler version of Exact Forms/Plus with batch generation), and attaching the pdfs (or sending them somewhere else with script or Pipelines). You can also auto-generate pdfs on records created or edited in your native QB app, the records don’t have to have been created by a Form Engine form.
It also solves a need when you want EOTI/anonymous users to be able to Add records in QB and want the pdf generated and stored in your target table, but don’t want to enable View/Modify all records for the EOTI role, even for 1 minute.
Follow the simple steps below to create a GeneratePDF API webhook using the Form Engine wizard. Once the webook is in place for a form, if you have an Upload field specified for the form, and the output format (pdf, ppt, jpg) like here, the webhook will auto-generate the file specified and attach it in the Upload field in the record whenever a new Quickbase record is Added (this is the default for the webhook, and is modifiable):
From your Template in Form Engine, navigate to “Publish to Quickbase” and click on the “Generate PDF Trigger” from the dropdown menu which will open a dialog box.
In the dialog box provide the following information,
If you want the Webhook Label to be different than the default name that FE calls it, you can change it.
Provide a User Token.
You can access your User Tokens from FE by clicking on the blue “Manage Quickbase User Tokens” located under the text box. This will direct you to “My User Tokens” in your Quickbase realm via a new browser tab.
If you have not previously done so, create a User Token for your Realm and assign it to the app you are working with.
If you have already created a User Token, make sure your app is assigned to it. Copy the Token and place it in the text box.
For more on User Tokens as prescribed by QB click HERE.
Choose the Table that the Form is associated with.
Leave the default Record ID# in the last field unless you are doing some advanced cross-table document generation.
Click the blue Create button when done. The wizard will then create a webhook for you.
Once the webhook is created, the dialog box below will appear. From here, you can click on the Green Button to open the webhook and make any necessary changes such as when it triggers and/ or add any criteria for triggering.
A few things worth mentioning:
The generated files will be attached in the Upload Field that is linked to the template. If you did not specify an Upload Field for the form, the webhook will not generate a pdf/ppt/jpg because you haven’t specified where to put it.
Webhooks can take a few minutes to run, so you may need to refresh your browser a time or two before the Generated pdf/ pptx/ jpg appears for the record.
The GenPDF webhook defaults to trigger when a new record is created. You can change this to include when a record is modified or only when a record is modified based on your use case.
WARNING : IF you change your webhook so that it triggers when a record is modified, you MUST include additional criteria (filters). Failure to do so will result in a runaway webhook that creates an FE Transaction everytime it triggers. The webhook will just sit on repeat, generating hundreds of pdfs and storing them in your record.
So for example, if your webhook works on Record Modified, add another field that is one that will also change when you want to trigger the webhook (just not the file attachment field itself).
The GeneratePDF API with webhooks is a very powerful feature, with more advanced uses for skilled developers as well.