Exact Synergy Enterprise

How-to: Creating a prefilled request using a hyperlink

How-to: Creating Prefilled Requests Using Hyperlinks

Introduction

You can insert a hyperlink in a document that will create a request when clicked. In this hyperlink, you can pass several parameters that specify the type of request to be created as well as prefill some information in the new request.

This method is especially useful in several situations such as:

To enable web visitors who are not familiar with Exact Synergy Enterprise to create specific requests in your company website such as enquiries or registration of interest
To make it easy for employees reading a policy document to create requests with proper information such as for meeting room reservation or purchase requisition, and
To collect feedback from readers using requests linked to the specific document, project, and item.

By prefilling a request, you can also reduce the errors associated with users selecting incorrect information such as wrong projects or items.

Note: This document assumes you are familiar with URL and web hyperlinks, as well as Exact Synergy Enterprise requests and documents.

Topics in this document:

Building the hyperlink
Request parameters
Finding the GUID or ID
Prefilling fields in a multiple or week request

Building the hyperlink

In order to create requests with prefilled information using a hyperlink, you need to first build the URL for the hyperlink. In this URL, you can specify the relevant parameters and values. The basic URL is in the following form:

scheme://authority/path/docs/WflRequest.aspx?BCAction=0&query

where:

scheme is "http" or "https" depending on your server configuration
authority is normally the domain name of your Exact Synergy Enterprise server
path is where Exact Synergy Enterprise is accessible in your server, and
query contains the parameters and values to pass to the request form.

Notice that the first parameter, "BCAction", is included in the URL as it is a mandatory parameter. The parameter and value pairs are to be separated by ampersands ("&"). For simplicity, the following basic URL will be used in examples throughout this document:

https://exactsynergy.com/synergy/docs/WflRequest.aspx?BCAction=0

Request parameters

You can use only parameters relevant to the request type being created. If a specified parameter is not used by the request type, the parameter and value will be ignored. Whenever a parameter or value is not specified, the field will be left blank or prefilled with the default value defined in the field definition of the request where applicable.

Basic parameters to create requests

The following table lists the parameters to create a request using a hyperlink:

Parameter	Value	Result	Explanation
BCAction	0	Creates a request	This parameter is mandatory and the value specified must be "0" in order to create a request.
Type	Request type ID	Selects the request type	This parameter specifies the request type to create. The expected value is a number that corresponds to the ID of the request type in the system. If "Type" is not specified, the Task request type will be used if it is active.

For example, the following URL will create a Web support request when the hyperlink is clicked:

http://exactsynergy.com/synergy/docs/WflRequest.aspx?BCAction=0&Type=51

Standard parameters to prefill request fields

The following table lists the standard parameters to prefill certain fields in the new request.

Parameter	Value	Result	Explanation
EmployeeID	Resource ID	Prefills the Person field	This parameter prefills the Person field in the new request. The employment ID number specified must be valid (1 to 999999999) and corresponds to an employee with the Active status. If the number is valid but there is no active employee with the specified ID, the Person field will be left blank.
StartDate	Short date	Prefills the Start date field	This parameter prefills the Start date field in the new request. The value should be in one of the short date format of "dd/mm/yyyy", "mm/dd/yyyy", or "yyyy/dd/mm". You can substitute "/" with "." or "-" as date separators. Note: The date that will be prefilled in the Start date field depends on the date format setting of the user who clicked the hyperlink. For example, if the date specified in the parameter is "12/11/2008" and the user's date format setting is mm/dd/yyyy, the system will enter it following the user's date format setting, regardless of your intended date format. However, if the date specified is "13/12/2008" for example, the system will detect that "13" is not a valid month and convert the date correctly. Due to this ambiguity, the usage of this parameter is advisable only in situations where the user's date format setting is based on the system date format setting, such as for web visitors, and Exact Synergy Enterprise implementation where the system date format setting is set as mandatory to all users. For more information, see the explanations on the General and Corporate (Settings) tabs in Customizing Exact Synergy Enterprise.
EndDate	Short date	Prefills the End date field	This parameter prefills the End date field in the new request. The date format is similar to the "StartDate" parameter and the explanation in Note of "StartDate" is applicable.
ItemCode	Item code	Prefills the Item field	This parameter prefills the Item field in the new request. If there is no active item with the specified item code, the Item field will be left blank. In the field definition, this corresponds to the Item 1 field.
ItemNumberID	GUIDi	Prefills the Serial number field	This parameter prefills the Serial number field in the new request. The value is the GUID of the serial number. See the procedure after this table on how to locate the GUID of a serial number. If the GUID is not valid, the default serial number specified in the Serial number 1 field definition of the request will be used. Note: If the Serial number 1 field in the request type is defined with dependency on the Account, Person, or Item 1 fields, the GUID must be of a serial number that fulfills the dependency relationship or it will be considered invalid.
ItemCount	Number	Prefills the Quantity (Planned) field	This parameter prefills the Quantity (Planned) field in the new request. The number specified will be rounded to two decimal places using the common method (Symmetric Arithmetic Rounding). If the quantity specified is not valid, the default quantity specified in the Quantity 1 field definition of the request will be used.
ItemCode_2	Item code	Prefills the Item 2 field	This parameter prefills the Item 2 field in the new request. If there is no active item with the specified item code, the Item 2 field will be left blank. In the field definition, this corresponds to the Item 2 field.
ItemNumberID_2	GUIDi	Prefills the Serial number 2 field	This parameter prefills the Serial number 2 field in the new request. The value is the GUID of the serial number. See the procedure after this table on how to locate the GUID of a serial number. If the GUID is not valid, the default serial number specified in the Serial number 2 field definition of the request will be used. Note: If the Serial number 2 field in the request type is defined with dependency on the Account, Person, or Item 2 fields, the GUID must be of a serial number that fulfills the dependency relationship or it will be considered invalid.
ItemCount_2	Number	Prefills the Quantity 2 field	This parameter prefills the Quantity 2 field in the new request. The number specified will be rounded to two decimal places using the common method (Symmetric Arithmetic Rounding). If the quantity specified is not valid, the default quantity specified in the Quantity 2 field definition of the request will be used.
CustomerID	GUIDi	Prefills the Account field	This parameter prefills the Account field in the new request. The value is the GUID of the account. See the procedure after this table on how to locate the GUID of an account. If the GUID is not valid, the default account specified in the Account field definition of the request will be used. Note: If the Account field in the request type is defined with dependency on the Item 1, Item 2, Project, or Person fields, the GUID must be of an account that fulfills the dependency relationship or it will be considered invalid.
CustomerContactID	GUIDi	Prefills the Contact field	This parameter prefills the Contact field in the new request. The value is the GUID of the contact. See the procedure after this table on how to locate the GUID of a contact. If the GUID is not valid, the default contact specified in the Contact field definition of the request will be used. Note: If the Contact field in the request type is defined with dependency on the Account field, the GUID must be of a contact that fulfills the dependency relationship or it will be considered invalid.
DocID	GUIDi	Prefills the Document field	This parameter prefills the Document field in the new request. The value is the GUID of the document (not the document number). See the procedure after this table on how to locate the GUID of a document. If the GUID is not valid, the default document specified in the Document field definition of the request will be used. Note: If the Document field in the request type is defined with dependency on the Account, Item 1, Item 2, Project, Person, Serial number 1, or Serial number 2 fields, the GUID must be of a document that fulfills the dependency relationship or it will be considered invalid.
Priority	1 to 5	Prefills the Priority field	This parameter prefills the Priority field in the new request. The value is a number from one to five. If the value is not a valid number, a value of 1 will be used.
ProjectNumber	URL-encodedii project code	Prefills the Project field	This parameter prefills the Project field in the new request. If the project code specified is not valid, the Project field will be left blank. For project codes containing spaces and special characters, you must specify the project code in URL-encoded format. For example, replace spaces with "+" and ampersands (&) with "%26". Note: As long as the URL-encoded project code specified is valid, the Project field will be prefilled with the specified project code, regardless of the dependency relationship. Due to this, if the Project field in the request type is defined with dependency on the Account, Item 1, Item 2, or Person fields, you should manually ensure the URL-encoded project code fulfills the dependency relationship to allow the request to be submitted.
FinancialEntryKey	GUIDi	Prefills the Entry field	This parameter prefills the Entry field in the new request. The value is the GUID of the financial entry. See the procedure after this table on how to locate the GUID of a financial entry. If the GUID is not valid, the Entry field will be left blank.
Description	URL-encodedii text	Prefills the Description field	This parameter prefills the Description field in the new request. If this parameter is not specified, the default description specified in the Description field definition of the request will be used. For text containing spaces and special characters, you must specify the description in a URL-encoded format. For example, replace spaces with "+" and ampersands (&) with "%26".
OpportunityID	Opportunity card ID	Prefills the Opportunity field	This parameter prefills the Opportunity field in the new request. The value is the ID of the opportunity card (not the opportunity code). See the procedure after this table on how to locate the ID of an opportunity card. If the opportunity card ID specified is not valid, the Opportunity field will be left blank. Note: As long as the opportunity card ID specified is valid, the Opportunity field will be prefilled with the specified opportunity code, regardless of the dependency relationship. Due to this, if the Opportunity field in the request type is defined with dependency on the Account field, you should manually ensure the opportunity card ID fulfills the dependency relationship to allow the request to be submitted.
RequestComments	URL-encodedii text	Prefills the Remarks: Request field	This parameter prefills the Remarks: Request field in the new request. For text containing spaces and special characters, you must specify the remarks in a URL-encoded format. For example, replace spaces with "+" and ampersands (&) with "%26".
SecurityLevel	0 to 4 or 10 to 101	Prefills the Security level field	This parameter prefills the Security level field in the new request. The value should be a valid security level number from "0" to "4" and "10" to "101". If you specify an integer from "5" to "9", security level "10" will be used. If you specify an integer higher than "101", security level "99" will be used. In case you specify a real number, the number will be rounded to an integer using the round-to-eveniii method. For more information on security levels, see Details on security levels. Note: If the value is not a valid number or integer, security level "0" will be used. Due to this, ensure that the value specified is valid to avoid unnecessary security risks.

Extended parameters for free fields

The following table lists the extended parameters to prefill certain free fields in the new request. Replace "XX" at the end of each parameter with the relevant numbers specified in the XX column. Each "XX" corresponds to the relevant free field. For example, "FreeGuidField_06" corresponds to the Free :GUID*6 field in the new request (this corresponds to Free: GUID 6 in the request definition).

Parameter	XX	Value	Result	Explanation
FreeBoolField_XX	01 to 05	0 or 1	Pre-sets the Free: Yes/No field	This parameter pre-sets the corresponding Free: Yes/No field in the new request. The value must be either "0" to clear the field, or "1" to select the field. If the value specified is not a valid number, the field will be cleared. If this parameter is absent, the default selection state of the corresponding Free: Yes/No field definition of the request type will be used. Note: If the value specified is more than "1", the field may be selected or the system may return an error, depending on the number used. Due to this, avoid using a number other than "0" or "1".
FreeDateField_XX	01 to 05	Short date	Prefills the Free: Date field	This parameter prefills the corresponding Free: Date field in the new request. The date format is similar to the "StartDate" parameter and the explanation in Note of "StartDate" is applicable. For more information, see previous table.
FreeGuidField_XX	01 to 10	GUIDi	Prefills the Free :GUID* field	This parameter prefills the corresponding Free :GUID* field in the new request. Note: Since a Free: GUID field can refer to Requests, Documents, Accounts, Contacts, Transactions, or Items as specified in the Selection section of the field definition, be careful to specify the GUID of the correct entry meant for the corresponding Free: GUID field.
FreeIntField_XX	01 to 05	Integer	Prefills the Free: Number field	This parameter prefills the corresponding Free: Number field in the new request. You can specify an integer or a real number. In case you specify a real number, the number will be rounded to an integer using the round-to-eveniii method.
FreeNumberField_XX	01 to 05	Number	Prefills the Free: Amount field	This parameter prefills the corresponding Free: Amount field in the new request. The number you specify will be rounded to two decimal places using the common method (Symmetric Arithmetic Rounding).
FreeTextField_XX	01 to 15	URL-encoded textii	Prefills the Free: Text field	This parameter prefills the corresponding Free: Text field in the new request. You can specify a string of text up to 60 characters including spaces. If this parameter is not specified, the default text specified in the corresponding Free: Text field definition of the request will be used. For text containing spaces and special characters, you must specify the remarks in a URL-encoded format. For example, replace spaces with "+" and ampersands (&) with "%26".

Table notes

GUID: Globally Unique Identifier. See the procedure in Finding the GUID or ID below on how to obtain the relevant GUID.
To help you URL-encode the text, there are several websites available such as https://www.urlencoder.org/. Type the normal text in the box and click Encode. You can then copy and use the URL-encoded result as the relevant parameter value.
Also known as Bankers' Rounding or Statistician's Rounding where the last digit to keep is rounded up if the next digit is "6" or more, or "5" followed by non-zero digits. If the next digit is "4" or less, the last digit to keep is not changed. If the next digit is "5" with trailing zeroes, the last digit to keep is rounded up if it is an odd number, or kept as it is if it is an even number.

Finding the GUID or ID

The following method can be used to find the GUID of a serial number, account, contact, document, or financial entry; or the ID of an opportunity card:

Open the document or card of the relevant entry for viewing. One of the ways to access the document or relevant card is by searching:
- For serial numbers, search at Modules ? Logistics ? Reports ? Search ? Serial numbers, and then open the relevant serial number.
- For accounts, search at Modules ? Customers ? Reports ? Accounts ? Search, and then open the relevant account.
- For contacts, go to Modules ? Customers ? Reports ? Accounts ? Search, and then click Contact. Search for the contact and open the contact card by clicking the relevant hyperlink in the Contact: Last name column.
- For documents, search at Modules ? Documents ? Reports ? Documents ? Search, and then open the relevant document.
- For financial entries, search at Modules ? Financial ? Reports ? Search ? Search, and then open the transaction by clicking the relevant hyperlink in the Number column. Then, in the Report: Transaction screen, click the hyperlink next to Entry no. under the General section.
- For opportunities, search at Modules ? Customers ? Reports ? Opportunity management ? Search, and then open the relevant opportunity card.
Right-click anywhere on the document or card (except on hyperlinks) and select Properties. The following is a sample Properties screen of a contact card.
The GUID or ID is the value in the following parameter of the URL next to Address: (URL):
- For the opportunity card, serial number, or account, the value is in the ID parameter.
- For the contact, the value is in the ContactID parameter.
- For the document, the value is in the DocumentID parameter.
- For the financial entry, the value is in the EntryGuid parameter.

If the GUID or ID is not fully visible in the Properties screen due to the length of the URL, you can copy the URL and paste it in a plain text editor for a better view.

Note: For users migrating from Exact Synergy, GUIDs obtained with this method in Exact Synergy Enterprise are already in URL-encoded format and you should not URL-encode the GUID manually anymore as in Exact Synergy.

Prefilling fields in a multiple or week request

Apart from creating and prefilling single requests, you can also create and prefill multiple or week requests. You will need to specify the following parameters besides the basic, standard, and extended parameters:

Parameter

Value

Result

Explanation

EntryType

1 or 2

Creates a multiple or week request

This parameter is required to create a multiple or week request. To create a multiple request, specify the value as "1" and to create a week request, specify the value as "2".

Note: Whether a multiple or week request can be created depends on whether the request type supports the creation of multiple or week request entries.

Rows

Integer

Specify the number of multiple entries

This parameter specifies the number of multiple entries in the new request, subject to the number of maximum rows allowed for the particular request type.

ColX

Specify that the field is enabled for multiple entries

This parameter specifies the fields to include in the multiple entries where "ColX" is the ID of the specific multiple-entry field. See the following table for a list of "ColX" codes.

For example, the IDs of Person, Description, and Project fields are "Col1", "Col2", and "Col16" respectively. To include these fields for multiple entries, specify "&Col1=1&Col2=1&Col16=1" in the hyperlink.

In a multiple entry, you can also specify the value of the first entry using the standard and extended parameters. See Standard parameters to prefill request fields and Extended parameters for free fields topics in this document for more explanation.

IDs of multiple-entry fields

The following table lists the "ColX" of multiple-entry fields. The Corresponding parameter column lists the parameters you can use to prefill the first value of the multiple-entry fields.

ColX	Field	Corresponding parameter	Remarks
Col1	Person	EmployeeID
Col2	Description	Description
Col3	Priority	Priority
Col4	Private
Col5	Security level
Col6	Start date	StartDate	This is not available in a week request. For a week request, specify the start of the week instead using the "WeekStart=yyyy.mm.dd" parameter. Replace "yyyy", "mm", and "dd" with the year, month, and day values respectively.
Col7	Start time		This is not available in a week request. For a week request, use "Value7" instead.
Col8	End date	EndDate	This is not available in a week request. The end date will be automatically calculated based on the "WeekStart" parameter.
Col9	End time		This is not available in a week request. For a week request, use "Value9" instead.
Col10	Duration		This is not available in a week request. For a week request, use "Value10" instead.
Col16	Project	ProjectNumber
Col17	Your ref.
Col18	Sales order number
Col19	Purchase order number
Col20	Item	ItemCode	In a field definition, this corresponds to the Item 1 field.
Col21	Release		In a field definition, this corresponds to the Release 1 field.
Col22	Quantity (Planned)	ItemCount	This is not available in a week request. For a week request, use "Value22" instead. In a field definition, this corresponds to the Quantity 1 field.
Col24	Serial number	ItemNumberID	In a field definition, this corresponds to the Serial number 1 field.
Col25	Item 2	ItemCode_2
Col26	Release 2
Col27	Quantity 2	ItemCount_2	This is not available in a week request. For a week request, use "Value27" instead.
Col29	Serial number 2	ItemNumberID_2
Col30	Account	CustomerID
Col31	Contact	CustomerContactID
Col32	Invoice		This must be enabled together with Invoice: Division ("Col89").
Col33	Document	DocID
Col34	Amount (Planned)		In a field definition, this corresponds to the Amount field.
Col38	Our ref.
Col40	Payment type
Col41	Documents received
Col42 to Col51	Free: Text 1 to Free: Text 10	FreeTextField_01 to FreeTextField_10	For Free: Text 11 to Free: Text 15, use "Col84" to "Col88".
Col52 to Col56	Free: Date 1 to Free: Date 5	FreeDateField_01 to FreeDateField_05
Col57 to Col61	Free: Yes/No 1 to Free: Yes/No 5	FreeBoolField_01 to FreeBoolField_05
Col62 to Col66	Free: Amount 1 to Free: Amount 5	FreeNumberField_01 to FreeNumberField_05
Col67 to Col71	Free: Number 1 to Free: Number 5	FreeIntField_01 to FreeIntField_05
Col72 to Col81	*Free :GUID1 to Free :GUID10*	FreeGuidField_01 to FreeGuidField_10	In a field definition, these correspond to the Free: GUID 1 to Free: GUID 10 fields.
Col82	Remarks: Request	RequestComments
Col83	Remarks: Workflow
Col84 to Col88	Free: Text 11 to Free: Text 15	FreeTextField_11 to FreeTextField_15	For Free: Text 1 to Free: Text 10, use "Col42" to "Col51".
Col89	Invoice: Division		This must be enabled together with Invoice ("Col32").
Col90	Related (Request)
Col91	Opportunity	OpportunityID

For example, the following hyperlink creates a multiple Checked task request with the Person, Description, and Document fields enabled in the five rows of multiple entries and prefills the first Person field:

https://exactsynergy.com/synergy/docs/WflRequest.aspx?BCAction=0
&EntryType=1&Type=1&Rows=5&Col1=1&Col2=1&Col33=1
&EmployeeID=117562