Submitting forms

DocuWare Forms are web-based forms that capture data and store it directly in a DocuWare file cabinet.

In the Submission settings you define what happens after the user clicks Submit in a form. Select the storage location, the document type, the confirmation shown to the user, and whether the form link can be reused or pre-filled.

To set the submission options, open DocuWare Configurations and navigate to Capture > Forms > Submission.

Document type

In the section Forms > Submission > Document type you pick the Document type that DocuWare will store after the user clicks Submit.

Two options are available:

• Web Form: The completed form is stored as a PDF. The document mirrors the layout created in the Forms Designer.  

• Merge Form: Select this option when you already have a finished form—such as a contract, application, or government PDF—and only need to insert the user’s data.

  • You choose one or more templates (PDF, Word, TIFF, JPG, etc.), then map each field in the web form to the matching spot on the template.

  • When the user clicks Submit, DocuWare “merges” the data into the template and saves the new, completed document. The original web form itself is not archived; only the merged form documents are stored.

  • If a single web form is connected to multiple templates, DocuWare generates a separate PDF for each template upon submission.

Post Submission Options

Specify what users will see or what should happen right after they submit the form. You can:

• Show button Start a new form

• Show link to the submitted form in DocuWare

• Trigger an automatted action such as redirecting to a specific URL

Pre-fill the Form

With DocuWare version 7.12 and later, DocuWare Forms offers a pre-fill feature to accommodate diverse use cases. Users are able to partially complete a form, save their progress, and return to finalize and submit it at a later time. Additionally, process owners can pre-fill forms and send them to designated users for completion.

The pre-fill feature applies to both private and public form.  

How to enable the Pre-fill feature

To enable the Pre-fill feature, go to DocuWare Configurations > Capture > Forms > Forms configuration xxx > Submission.

Activate the option Allow the form to be pre-filled.

Save an unfinished form

This feature enables employees to save their progress on a form and forward the partially completed form to another user.

1. Enable the option Allow the form to be pre-filled.

2. Enable the option Show “Copy form link” button.

When both options are activated, the form displays a Copy form link button next to the Submit button.

Users can fill out the form. Upon clicking the button Copy form link, the entries made by the user are automatically written into the URL.

Save the form link manually

Users must bookmark this form link themselves, to fill it out later, as DocuWare Forms does not store it automatically.

Note: Data provided in table fields, attachment files, and signature fields cannot be saved with this feature.

Edit the URL to pre-fill a form

When only the option Allow the form to be pre-filled option is enabled, administrators can manually pre-fill the form by editing the link and passing field IDs and values as URL parameters. This serves as a time-saving alternative for experienced users.

To automatically pre-fill the form with data collected during the workflow, enable this option and follow the guidelines below.

How to write a URL

Include every field whose value you want to set—or keep—when the form opens. If a field already contains a predefined value that must stay, even if it is hidden) you also have to list that field in the URL.

A form link always follows the same basic pattern:

Organization Domain/docuware/formsweb/Forms Name?orgID=Org ID

A pre-filled link could look like this:

/DocuWare/FormsWeb/Form-Name?pf=on&SingleLineText=Hello

1. Remove the orgID from the URL and add pf=on&

2. After this parameter, add the field IDs and their respective values.

3. To find a field’s ID, go to the forms designer and open the Field Settings of the respective field.

4. In the field settings hover over the ID icon - see the screenshot below.

   • The field ID will automatically update if the label is changed.

   • You can also manually edit the ID to keep it short, as the URL length limit is 1800 characters.

   • Changing the field ID of a merge form could affect its workflow.
     

   • Use the format FieldID=value and separate each field with an & to write your parameter.
     

5. Due to security reasons, if your private form URL contains the words 'code,' 'state,' 'session_state,' or 'error,' they may be automatically removed, which could result in your parameters not functioning as expected.
   

Form field types supported for pre-filling

Only the following field types can be embedded as parameters in a URL:

• Single-line text & Multi-line text: URL encoded values, normal text can't be directly used in URLs if it includes special characters.

• Number: Use the invariant format—no thousands separator and a dot as the decimal separator, example: e.g., 123456.789.

• Date: Use ISO UTC format, example: 2025-06-29T21:00:00.000Z.

• Dropdown + Radio: Pass the text of the selected option, but encode it for URLs (replace spaces and special characters with their % codes)

• Checkbox: If multiple options are selected, each option must be specified individually, connecting with “&.”
  Here is an example: checkbox=option1&checkbox=option2

The Behavior setting as URL parameter

The Behavior setting in Forms lets you hide a field or make it read-only with a rule. Both behaviors affect how the field must be handled in a pre-fill URL, as explained below.

• Hidden field with a pre-defined value

  • When there's a pre-defined value in a hidden field, you can see this pre-defined value in the URL.

  • If the field is set to reset, you cannot edit the value in the URL.

  • If the field is set to retain, you can edit the value in the URL.

• Hidden field with an input value, but without pre-defined values: That means: A user adds a value and then hides the field.

  • If the field is set to reset, you will not see the field or be able to add a value in the URL.

  • If the field is set to retain, you can see and edit this value in the URL.

• Predefined entry: Add a field with a predefined entry to the URL. Even if the predefined entry is configured in the field settings and must not be changed by the user, it needs to be included in the URL. Otherwise, the predefined value will be removed when the form loads.

• Read-only field:

  • Due to technical restrictions, Read-only state configured via behavior only disables the field UI interaction. Users can still change its value by editing the URL. For a fully read-only field, use a read-only field with predefined values, which is explained below.

• Read-only field with predefined values:

  • To keep a field with a predefined value read-only and uneditable even in the URL, enable the Read-only checkbox in the field settings—even if read-only has already been set via behavior.

  • This checkbox is the only way to guarantee that a read-only field is truly uneditable. Once read-only is enabled for a field, it doesn’t have to be included in the URL.