The File Attachments widget lets your users include up to ten files with any form they submit. Forms can be delivered securely behind a login.

In version 8.4 we have also made Real-time sync less sensitive to network errors, and it now re-connects automatically when connectivity is restored.

For the first time, we also demonstrate our next-generation interactive charting engine with new line/column combination charts.

This update is free to all version 8 users – just download and install the latest version of the program. If you are using version 7 or earlier, you must first upgrade to the latest version.

The File Attachments widget

Introduction

The File Attachments widget enables your visitors to include documents, charts, images, videos or any other kinds of files with their form submission. Job applicants can include their CV, and expense reports can include scanned copies of receipts. Users may even use their phone to take a picture and include this with the form.

Any form that you create with SpreadsheetConverter can have file attachments. In the spreadsheet, you insert the widget in a cell that should be wide enough to function well with drag-and-drop.

Screenshot of the File Attachment widget in a web page

As the user selects files to include with the form, they are automatically uploaded. The widget shows a list of the files and allows already uploaded files to be removed.

Screenshot of the File Attachment widget when a file has been completely uploaded

When the form is submitted, the file attachments normally appear as attachments to the e-mail with the form contents.

Screenshot of a file attachment in the e-mail from Advanced Submit

In the Advanced server, the file attachments appear as links from the submitted form.

Screenshot of a file attachment in the Advanced Submit Server

Limitations

  • The File Attachments widget is only supported in the Professional edition of SpreadsheetConverter. Upgrade to the Professional edition to use this powerful widget, lots of new chart types, more Excel functions and many other advanced features.
  • The File Attachments widget requires the Advanced Submit Service.  Upgrade to the Advanced Submit Service to use this powerful widget and Secure Delivery. The e-mail looks exactly like the form did when the user entered data into it, including graphics and charts. Save incoming web forms in a hosted database. Filter, sort and download saved forms whenever you like.
  • You can insert File Attachments widgets in up to ten places in a spreadsheet.
  • Your users can attach up to ten files for each File Attachments widget in the web form.
  • Each file that a user attaches to a web form can be up to four megabytes in size.
  • You cannot add files to the File Attachments widget while you’re offline. File attachments are supported by Offline Forms but only if you attach the files while you’re online.
  • After files have been attached to a form, the form must be submitted within seven days. Uploaded files that don’t belong to a submitted form are removed after seven days. Uploaded files that belong to a submitted form are retained forever.

Learn more

There is an online Help page for the File Attachments widget.

Secure delivery

Introduction

Both our Free and Advanced Submit Service can forward form submissions to you using e-mail. E-mail is an insecure transport and the contents of the forms you receive can be intercepted by a third party along the way.

When you use file attachments with your web forms, the resulting compound e-mail including all the file attachments can become so large that it fails to get through all the e-mail servers along the way.

With Secure Delivery, the e-mail you get for each form no longer contains any sensitive form contents or the file attachments. It just contains a link to the Advanced Submit Server where you can login to access the form and its attachments securely.

Activation

Secure Delivery is activated for the form with a checkbox on the Workbook > Configure Submit page. You can only select Secure Delivery for forms that are processed by the Advanced service. After you’ve changed this setting, you must convert the spreadsheet for the new setting to be activated.

Screenshot of the Secure Delivery option in Configure Submit

The contents of the secure e-mail

With Secure Delivery, the e-mail consists solely of a link to our hosted Advanced Submit Server where you can login to access the form and its attachments.

Click on the link in the e-mail to login to the server using the e-mail address you used, and the password you received, when you signed up for the Advanced Submit Service.

 

Screenshot of the e-mail from the Advanced Submit Service that contains just a link thanks to Secure Delivery

Limitations

  • Secure Delivery is only supported with the Advanced Submit Service. Upgrade to the Advanced Submit Service to use the powerful File Attachment widget and Secure Delivery. The e-mail looks exactly like the form did when the user entered data into it, including graphics and charts. Save incoming web forms in a hosted database. Filter, sort and download saved forms whenever you like.

Learn more

Read more about the Submit settings in the help page about configuring the submit options.

Auto reconnect for Real-time Sync

Introduction

Real-time Sync allows you to save an online form on a server just by giving it a secret key.

If you are the only user of the form, you can use the secret key to return to the form in the exact same state as you last left it. If you give the secret key to other users, they can also see the contents of the saved form and also update it. This way, many users can collaborate on a shared form.

Before version 8.4, if you were connected to a sharing session with Real-time Sync, and the connection was dropped, you risked losing data. This was because the edits you were making to your local copy of the form no longer were saved in the server, since you were no longer connected to it. When the connection was re-established and you reconnected to the shared session, the form was refreshed with the current contents from the server, which overwrote any modifications you had made.

Activation

With version 8.4, all forms in use with Real-time Sync are automatically protected during a connection loss. You now get a warning that the form is offline and that you shouldn’t make any changes. The auto reconnect feature is always active and there’s nothing you need to do to enable it.

When the connection is restored, the auto reconnect feature fetches the current state of the form from the server and updates it on the screen. Any changes you have made since the connection dropped are still overwritten, but at least you were warned that this would happen.

Leaving the Real-time Sync session to save data

If you really need to continue editing the form while offline, you can leave the Real-time Sync session to avoid the automatic reconnect that is pending. By pressing the Disconnect button you turn off the auto reconnect feature and your form is now open for editing again.

Once connectivity is restored, we suggest you save the form in its new state by creating a new Real-time Sync session with a different key. If you need to merge the old session with the new you have to do this manually, copying and pasting data between two browser windows.

New interactive charting engine

Version 8.4 marks the introduction of our new interactive charting engine. It is a major step for us and we will be carefully phasing it in, replacing the old charts as we go along.

In this first incarnation, the new engine supports combined line/column charts, a type of chart that we haven’t supported before.

Screenshot of a simple chart with four series

The new charting engine has some interactivity that is really fun to play with. As an example, you can highlight one of the series just by hovering your mouse above its label.

In the screenshot below, we just held the mouse pointer above the Revenue series’ label. As you can see, the other three series faded out to let you focus on the highlighted series.

Screenshot of a simple chart with four series, one highlighted

If you find some of the series distracting, just click on the series labels and they will be hidden. In the chart below, we simple clicked on the Industry average revenue and Industry Average Profit labels to hide them. Click on the label again to make the series visible.

Screenshot of a simple chart with four series, two hidden

If you want to try this for yourself, create a Combo chart in Excel. In Excel 2016, it is at the bottom of the All charts tab.

Screenshot of the Change Chart Type window in Excel 2016, with Combo charts selected

The initial implementation is very limited and only intended for demonstration purposes. More and more features will be added in the forthcoming releases.

Test an example of the new charts

Download the example spreadsheet

Limitations

  • Initially, the new charting engine is only supported in the Professional edition of SpreadsheetConverter. Upgrade to the Professional edition to use the powerful File Attachments widget, lots of new chart types and the new interactive charting engine, more Excel functions and many other advanced features.
  • You can only use numbers and text for the axis, not dates or other complex data types.
  • Combo charts will only be supported with the new charting engine.

Other enhancements in version 8.4

  1. The internal web server always uses a free port number. If you restart the development environment, and the port number or IP address changes, old links and QR codes will not work anymore. Use the History list to get current links or QR codes, or adjust the IP address and port number manually.
  2. You can translate or edit the messages that are issued during form submissions, e.g. “The form was successfully submitted.” Read more in the help for Submit.

How can I use these new features?

This update is free to all version 8 users – just download and install the latest version of the program. If you are using version 7 or earlier, you must first upgrade to the latest version.