Requirement: WiFi or Data Connection
Prerequisite: Workflow a Form Entry Between Users (Process Steps)
If you're looking for an alternative to saving forms on a local device or would like to give your users an option to start a form on one device and complete it on another, then a recommended approach is to implement an Infinite Loop Workflow. Essentially, this is a "Save-to-Cloud" alternative.
Saving to the cloud protects data from being lost if a device is misplaced, damaged or stolen, or if a user password was changed before their locally-saved drafts could be submitted (passwords are used in the encryption algorithm for data on the app). Further, if a user wants to begin a draft on one device and continue/complete it on another, this is only possible to do if the draft is saved to the cloud.
Before continuing, you should first have a working knowledge of Process Step Workflows. Please see this article for more information: Workflow a Form Entry Between Users (Process Steps)
With an Infinite Loop Workflow, a form will be saved to the cloud so that the user can later revisit it to add/edit data. The form can be sent back and forth between steps in an infinite loop until the user decides it is ready and they no longer need to add to it or make changes.
To save the form to the cloud for future completion, the workflow should be designed to send the form back to the same user in the second process step. The user will then receive a task to complete the form; this can be done at any time, with the data remaining safely in the cloud in the meantime. To direct the task to the user, first create a hidden field with a dynamic value of USEREMAIL(); then reference the data name of this hidden field in the "SEND FORM TO" property of the step field ({{email}} in the example image below).
Please note that a strong data or WiFi connection is required for this functionality, as data must be able to upload to the cloud online. Otherwise, once the user saves the data by sending it in a process step per the above, the saved data will remain on the device and will not be accessible again until the device can connect with the server.
To end the infinite loop, use a separate interaction button (see the orange "Complete" button in the screenshots here) to either:
- Completely end the workflow by leaving "NEXT PROCESS STEP" blank, OR
- Name another Process Step in the workflow other than these two steps (i.e., outside the loop)
Harnessing the process step workflow in this way allows collected form data to be saved on the platform as a task as many times as desired, better protecting the data from accidental loss and making it accessible to multiple devices for the same user.
Please see the attached example form of an Infinite Loop workflow. Feel free to adapt this into your own forms or import it as a stand-alone Data Entry Form and build your form around it.
