Nintex - Form

Use the Nintex - Form start event An event that triggers a workflow to run when it occurs. An example is Box - New file, which triggers the workflow to run when a new file is uploaded to the specified folder. to start your workflow when a user submits a form that you have designed. You can choose to make the form available in a web page, Nintex Mobile, and My Nintex > Forms page.

See Create forms for more information on and links to add form controls A form control that allow users to select from a drop-down list that has values sourced from a third-party service., configure controls, manage control references The internal name for a particular form control. For example, two email form controls might be referenced as "RecipientEmail" and "CcEmail.", set up form rules to dynamically define form behavior and appearance, and design the form style.

Workflows with a Nintex - Form start event can be manually started by workflow designers via the Workflows option menu and by Business owners via My Nintex. For more information, see Manually start a workflow and Start workflows with a SharePoint Online or Nintex - Form start event.

Important: User data collected from all form fields in the start form are displayed in the Instance start data section of the instance details page.

Before you begin: 

Jump to:

Configure the Nintex - Form start event

Caution: After you have selected and configured your start event and you begin designing the workflow and using start event variables in any of your actions, you can no longer change Start from and Event.

In the Start event configuration panel, you can choose who can access the form and whether the form is available as a web form and/ or a Nintex Mobile form.

  1. Open the Workflow designer. For more information, see Open the Workflow designer.

  2. If the Start event configuration panel does not automatically open, click Start event. For more information, see Start event configuration panel.

    Important: 

    If invalid variables are detected, a message is displayed at the top of the Start event configuration panel. It can be due to changes that have been made to the start event, such as:

    • The start event configuration may have been changed.

    • The start event may have been changed completely. For example, the start event connector changed to a new connector or changed from a connector to a Nintex event.

    • The source configured in the start event configuration may have been changed or deleted. For example, after a workflow is configured to start when a new item is added to a SharePoint list, a column in the SharePoint list is deleted or the list is deleted.

    If you see this message it is recommended that you update the variables. You can update the variables or delete them as required in the Variables panel.

    If there are invalid references they will be deleted when the workflow is published. Deleting variables may result in unconfigured actions and you will have to update the configuration of the impacted actions.

  3. In Start from, select Nintex Form.

    Caution: After you have selected and configured your start event and you begin designing the workflow and using start event variables in any of your actions, you can no longer change Start from.

    A warning message appears when one or more start event variables are referenced by actions within the workflow. The connector cannot be changed until the variables are no longer referenced within the workflow.

  4. Select an option for Give form access to.

    Important: The Give form access to setting is available in the form configuration only when Allow only authenticated users to access forms check box is not selected in Form settings.

    • Authenticated users in this tenant: To access a web-based form using its URL, users must log in with their Nintex Workflow username and password. To find the URL of your form, see Find a form URL or snippet. By default, this allows all authenticated users in the tenant to access the form. To restrict access to specific users and groups you choose, publish the workflow and use the Form access setting in the workflow options menu to select the users and groups that can have access to the form.

      Note: If you select Authenticated users in this tenant, you cannot embed the form.

    • Anyone with the form URL: Anyone who has the form URL can access and submit the form, and does not need to log in with a Nintex Workflow user name and password. This enables anonymous form access and submission. To find the URL of your form, see Find a form URL or snippet.
  5. Select options for This form is available as:
    • URL: To find the URL of your form, see Find a form URL or snippet.
    • Nintex Mobile and My Nintex: to access the form in Nintex Mobile, users must log into the app with their Nintex Workflow username and password. Choosing this option also enables designers to manage participants' forms availability in the My Nintex > Forms page. For more information, see Submit a form.

      • Note: The Nintex Mobile and My Nintex option is enabled only if you select Authenticated users in this tenant.

  6. Click Design form.

    7. The Form designer appears. For detailed information on how to design a form, see Create forms.

View start event variables

Start event variables A variable associated with the start event. Often referenced by actions in the workflow. For example, a start event variable might capture input in a form field. are automatically added to the workflow. They are passed as parameters in the HTTP call to start the workflow.

At the top of the Start event configuration panel, click Show variables. The list of start event variables is populated.

Alternatively, click Hide variables to hide them.

The start event variables are contained in an object called Workflow initiator. This object corresponds to the authenticated user and has the following structure:

  • Workflow initiator (Object)
    • First name variable (Text)
    • Last name variable (Text)
    • Email variable (Text)

The Workflow initiator object is not available for variable selection in subsequent actions when the Anyone with the form URL form access option is selected.

Add start event variables to a form control

For Nintex - Form, start event variables are automatically generated for every user-input form field you add to the form. You can add start event variables to form controls A form part corresponding to a user-input field (such as a text field) or display-only item (such as a heading). that accept user input.

  1. Open the Workflow designer. For more information, see Open the Workflow designer.

  2. If the Start event configuration panel does not automatically open, click Start event. For more information, see Start event configuration panel.

  3. In Start from, select Nintex Form.

  4. Click Design form to open the Form designer. For detailed information on how to design a form, see Create forms.

  5. Drag the control that you want onto the canvas. The control must accept user input for a start event variable to be generated.

  6. To change the internal reference name for the control: 
    1. Click the control to open its configuration panel.
    2. In the configuration panel, update the value for the following fields:

      • Title

      • Name. Prior to updating the Name, toggle on Customize.

    3. Close the configuration panel and Form designer.

      A start event variable is listed corresponding to the added control. Its name (Name) reflects the internal reference name set up in the control configuration.

Cancel a start event variable from being added to a workflow

If you want to cancel a start event variable that corresponds to a form field from being added to the workflow, follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Form designer. For more information, see Create forms.

  2. Remove the related form control from the form.

  3. Open the Start event configuration panel. For more information, see Start event configuration panel.

    Variables for deleted controls with workflow references are highlighted.

  4. Click Show variables.

  5. In the Start event tab, click the name of the variable indicated with (warning flag).
  6. Click and then click Resolve.
  7. In the dialog box that appears:
    • To remove all workflow references to the deleted control, click Remove all.
    • To update workflow references to point to another control, click Replace all and then select the variable associated with the control you want to use instead. Variables available for replacement are limited to those of the same type.