Saving Nintex eSign signer data to Salesforce

If you are using Nintex eSign as a delivery option for your DocGen Package, you can save signer data to Salesforce from your Nintex eSign document. Jotblock values that your signer enters in a Nintex eSign document can be written to a Salesforce object used in your DocGen Package. In this way, you can automatically collect signer data to update dates for contracts, customer addresses and personal details, and other project information.

To save signer data to Salesforce from Nintex eSign, you will need to configure both Nintex eSign and your DocGen Package.

  1. In Nintex eSign, specify which Salesforce object and field a Jotblock should write data to.

  2. In your DocGen Package, add the Nintex eSign delivery option and choose the configured Nintex eSign template.

Jump to:

Configure Jotblocks to save signer data back to Salesforce

Signer data can only be saved to a starting object or objects related to a starting object. You cannot save signer data to objects with relationships from other (non-starting) objects, i.e., objects specified in the Relationships from Other Objects section in the lightning designer.

  1. Open the Jotblock configuration pane in Nintex eSign.

  2. Find the Save data back to your business system field.

  3. Enter the API field name of the Salesforce field to which you wish to write data.

Note: You can find the API field name in the Object Manager tab under Setup in Salesforce. The API field name is listed as the field name in the Object Manager.

Save signer data to a starting object in Salesforce

To save signer data to a starting object in Salesforce, use the following naming convention when adding the API field name to the Jotblock configuration: [Object API name].[Field API name].

To find the API field name: 

  1. Click on the Object Manager tab from Setup in Salesforce.

  2. Click on the object your field belongs to.

  3. Click on Field and Relationships and find the Field Label.

  4. Find the Field Name for the Field Label. This is the API field name.

Note: There are also Google Chrome plugins available like the Salesforce inspector that provide the API field name, label, ID, and other information about the object you are viewing in Salesforce.

Be careful not to use the label name of the field. (The label is the name you see in the Salesforce interface.) The API field name is often different from the label name.

Wrong: Opportunity.Stage
Correct: Opportuntity.StageName

Save signer data to an object related to a starting object in Salesforce

To save signer data to an object related to a starting object in Salesforce, use the ID of the related object. Use the following naming convention in your Jotblock configuration: [Object API name].[Linking ID field API name].[Field API name].

Wrong: Opportunity.Owner.Name
Correct: Opportunity.OwnerId.Name

You can also use this approach to drill down multiple levels through related objects from your starting object, e.g., Opportunity.AccountId.OwnerId.Email.

Now when you run your DocGen Package and a signer completes the Nintex eSign document, that Jotblock value will be written back to the Salesforce object specified. Note that the Jotblock value will be written back upon envelope completion, and the Salesforce record will show it was last modified by the Salesforce user who ran the DocGen Package.

As a best practice, avoid having multiple signers writing back to the same object and field in this manner, as the order of updates to Salesforce objects may vary and later signers may override the Salesforce field’s value (data write back happens once at envelope completion).

Note: If you change a field value in Salesforce using this data write back feature, you can also have a Salesforce Flow or workflow rule that is triggered by that field value change. In this way, you can build powerful automations that save time and effort.

Understand field limitations for saving signer data to Salesforce

You can save signer data to Salesforce from most Nintex eSign Jotblock types, as long as the data type of the Jotblock matches the data type of the field you are saving to in Salesforce. (See Troubleshoot data write-back issues for more information.) Also, ensure that the field you are writing to in Salesforce is not read-only.

Nintex eSign Jotblock type Saving signer data enabled?
Dropdown Yes
Fixed Signature No
Fixed Text Yes
Initials No
Multiple Choice Yes
Signature No
Signer Attachment No
Timestamp Yes

When writing data to Salesforce, consider the limitations of certain Salesforce fields to which you are saving signer data. For example, if a Salesforce text field has a character limit, a fixed text Jotblock can only write data to that text field if it is within the character limit.

Salesforce field data type Saving signer data enabled? Notes
Auto-number No Not supported
Checkbox Yes True or false (case insensitive) values will be written back; zeroes and ones will not.​
Currency Yes Salesforce field format restrictions apply.
Date Yes Salesforce field format restrictions apply.
Datetime Yes If attempting to write a Date Jotblock back to a Datetime, the value will default to a time of midnight.​
Decimal Yes Must contain the same number of decimal points as the Salesforce field to which you are writing. ​
Email Yes Written back as a text string. Salesforce length restrictions apply. If the Jotblock value exceeds the Salesforce field's length restriction, the value will not write back to Salesforce.
Encrypted string Yes Written back as a text string. Salesforce length restrictions apply. If the Jotblock value exceeds the Salesforce field's length restriction, the value will not write back to Salesforce.
External Lookup Relationship No Not supported
Formula No Not supported
Geolocation Yes Salesforce field format restrictions apply.
ID Yes Written back as a text string. Salesforce length restrictions apply. If the Jotblock value exceeds the Salesforce field's length restriction, the value will not write back to Salesforce.​
Lookups No Not supported
Lookup Relationship No Not supported
Master-Detail Relationship No Not supported
Number Yes Salesforce field format restrictions apply.
Percent Yes Salesforce field format restrictions apply.
Phone Yes Written back as a text string. Salesforce length restrictions apply. If the Jotblock value exceeds the Salesforce field's length restriction, the value will not write back to Salesforce.
Picklist (multi-select) Yes Salesforce field format restrictions apply.
Picklist (restricted) Yes A Jotblock value will only write back to a Salesforce restricted pick list if the value is an ID of one of the items in the pick list; otherwise, this field will not write back to Salesforce. ​
String Yes Written back as a text string. Salesforce length restrictions apply. If the Jotblock value exceeds the Salesforce field's length restriction, the value will not write back to Salesforce.
Text Yes Written back as a text string. Salesforce length restrictions apply. If the Jotblock value exceeds the Salesforce field's length restriction, the value will not write back to Salesforce.
Text area Yes Written back as a text string. Salesforce length restrictions apply. If the Jotblock value exceeds the Salesforce field's length restriction, the value will not write back to Salesforce.
Text area (long) Yes Written back as a text string. Salesforce length restrictions apply. If the Jotblock value exceeds the Salesforce field's length restriction, the value will not write back to Salesforce.
Text area (rich) Yes Written back as a text string. Salesforce length restrictions apply. If the Jotblock value exceeds the Salesforce field's length restriction, the value will not write back to Salesforce.
Text area (encrypted) Yes Written back as a text string. Salesforce length restrictions apply. If the Jotblock value exceeds the Salesforce field's length restriction, the value will not write back to Salesforce.
Time Yes Time format must be “HH:mm:ss” or “HH:mm” to write back.
URL Yes Written back as a text string. Salesforce length restrictions apply. If the Jotblock value exceeds the Salesforce field's length restriction, the value will not write back to Salesforce.

Sync and re-sync Nintex eSign templates to your DocGen Package

After configuring your Jotblocks in Nintex eSign, add the Nintex eSign Delivery Option to your DocGen Package and choose the template you configured.

If you make any changes to your Nintex eSign template, you can re-sync it by clicking Re-sync with eSign template from the Nintex eSign as Delivery Method section of your DocGen Package. A dialog will prompt you for confirmation if anything you have configured in the DocGen Package delivery option has been removed from the Nintex eSign template since your last re-sync. In this way, any customizations and modifications you have made in your DocGen Package will not be lost when re-syncing your Nintex eSign template.

If there are any potential issues with the Jotblocks that you have configured to write back to Salesforce, you will be notified when syncing or re-syncing your template. An alert dialog will also display if the Nintex eSign template no longer exists or if the connection to Nintex eSign fails.

Troubleshoot data write-back issues

Ensure that the data types of the Jotblock and Salesforce field you are writing to match when saving signer data. If there is a mismatch of data types, the write back will fail. For example, if you attempt to write a text string from a Jotblock back to a date field in Salesforce, or if you attempt to write a time field back to a Salesforce time field with a different time format, the data write back will fail.

If there is a data type mismatch or other validation issue, a validation warning will be delivered at design time or an error notification will be delivered at run time.

Design time validation messages

At design time, when you sync or re-sync a Nintex eSign template, a dialog will display validation messages if you have incorrectly configured your Jotblocks. Some ways you may incorrectly configure your Jotblock's Save data back to your business system field include:

  • if you have a typo

  • if the Salesforce object you are attempting to write data to does not exist

  • if your Jotblock data type is incompatible with the Salesforce field data type

  • if you are attempting to write data back to a read-only field

The messages displayed in the validation dialog will contain information on how to resolve any potential write back issues.

Runtime error messages

At runtime (when a user runs a DocGen Package), any failures to write data to Salesforce will be enumerated in an email sent to the DocGen Package owner. The email will provide details on whether the failure was partial (some, but not all, of the specified signer data was written to Salesforce) or full (all specified signer data was not written to Salesforce). The email will also contain details about how to resolve write back errors and other information about the DocGen Package run.

To ensure visibility for non-package admins, a note is also added to the history of the Nintex eSign envelope in Salesforce whenever data write back succeeds or fails. For more information about Nintex eSign envelope histories in Salesforce, see Nintex eSign Envelopes.

Message Description
The value specified to be written back to Salesforce in "{0}" Jotblock for data capture was in an incorrect format: "{1}" Indicates the format of the data you are attempting to write back does not match the format of the field in Salesforce.
The "{0}" Jotblock is a signature/initial Jotblock which is not supported for data capture in Salesforce. Indicates you are attempting to write data from a signature or initial Jotblock, which is not supported.
The Salesforce "{0}" field on "{1}" is not supported for data capture. Indicates you are attempting to write data to a field in Salesforce that does not support data write back.
The Salesforce "{0}" specified in "{1}" Jotblock is invalid. Indicates the Salesforce object you have specified in your Jotblock is invalid: this may be due to a typo or mislabeled object.
The Salesforce related object "{0}" specified in "{1}" Jotblock is invalid. Indicates the Salesforce related object you have specified in your Jotblock is invalid: this may be due to a typo or mislabeled related object.
The Salesforce "{0}" field on "{1}" specified in "{2}" Jotblock is invalid. Indicates the Salesforce field you have specified in your Jotblock is invalid: this may be due to a typo or mislabeled field.
The data type of the "{0}" field in the Salesforce "{1}" object does not match the data type of the "{2}" Jotblock. Indicates that there is a mismatch in data types between the Jotblock and the field you are attempting to write data to in Salesforce. See Troubleshoot data write-back issues.
The "{0}" field in "{1}" Jotblock is not a valid lookup field. Indicates the Salesforce field related to your starting object is invalid.
The specified "{0}" starting object does not match the "{1}" starting object of the DocGen Package. Indicates the Salesforce starting object you are attempting to write data to from your Jotblock is not the starting object of your DocGen Package.
The "{0}" Jotblock could not write back because the "{1}" field on the "{2}" object is read-only. Indicates that the Salesforce field you are attempting to write data to is a read-only field.
The "{0}" Jotblock could not write back to the "{1}" field on the "{2}" object due to insufficient edit permissions. Indicates that the Salesforce field you are attempting to write data to is not accessible due to insufficient editing permissions.
The value the signer entered in the "{0}" Jotblock could not be converted to match the data type of the "{1}" field in the "{2}" object.

Indicates that there is a mismatch in data types between the Jotblock and the field you are attempting to write data to in Salesforce, and an attempt to convert the data type has failed.
The value that the signer entered for the "{0}" Jotblock exceeds the maximum number of decimal places and could not be written back to the "{1}" field on the "{2}" object. Indicates that the Salesforce field you are attempting to write data to has a precision format restriction on the number of decimal places, which the Jotblock value does not conform to.
The value that the signer entered for the "{0}" Jotblock exceeds the maximum value and could not be written back to the "{1}" field on the "{2}" object. Indicates that the Salesforce field you are attempting to write data to has a scale format restriction on the number of decimal places, which the Jotblock value does not conform to.
The value that the signer entered for the "{0}" Jotblock exceeds the maximum number of characters and could not be written back to the "{1}" field on the "{2}" object. Check the character limits in Salesforce Setup for this object. Indicates that the Salesforce field you are attempting to write data to has a character limit restriction, which the Jotblock value does not conform to.
The time format in the "{0}" Jotblock doesn't match the format in the "{1}" field on the "{2}" object. Indicates the format of the time data you are attempting to write back does not match the format of the corresponding time field in Salesforce.
The value that the signer entered for the "{0}" Jotblock exceeds the maximum number of characters and could not be written back to the "{1}" text field on the "{2}" object. Check the character limits in Salesforce Setup for this object. Indicates that the Salesforce text field you are attempting to write data to has a character limit restriction, which the Jotblock value does not conform to.
The value(s) the signer selected for the "{0}" Jotblock does not exist in the "{1}" restricted picklist on the "{2}" object.

Indicates that the Jotblock value you are attempting to write to a restricted picklist in Salesforce does not match the ID of one of the items in the pick list.