How to Generate Document/PDF
Understand how to generate document/PDF every time a request is submitted.
Step 1: Go to "Generate document/PDF only" mode
In Configuration menu, by default you will see “Create approval workflow only” mode.
To change mode, click on “Select another mode“:
Next, you will see “Select a Mode” section where you can select the mode you want to use. In this case, let’s select “Generate document/PDF only“.
After that, the Configuration menu will shift to “Generate document/PDF only” where you can start setting up this flow.
Step 2: Create a Google Docs template
Supposed that you have already setup questions on your Google Forms (you should do it now if you haven’t), it is time to create a Google Docs template.
Go to Google Docs and start a new document:
Every Google Docs template has 2 types of fields: Standard Fields & Matching Question Fields.
Standard Fields include 3 default fields: <<Form Name>>, <<Request Number>>, and <<Timestamp>>
- <<Form Name>> is the name of your Google Forms (e.g. Leave Request).
- <<Request Number>> is the number of a request.
- <<Timestamp>> is the date & time when a request is sent.
For example, we have Google Forms named “Leave Request” with questions like below:
As you can see, there are 4 questions on this form: Employee Name, Reason to Leave, Start Date, and End Date.
This means you have 4 respective Matching Question Fields: <<Employee Name>>, <<Reason to Leave>>, <<Start Date>>, and <<End Date>>. Now, let’s add these fields onto our Google Docs template:
Step 3: Select Google Docs template on the add-on
After adding fields to your Google Docs template, return to your Google Forms. Then, click on “Select template” to open a Google’s popup where you can select your Google Docs template.
In this case we select a template called “PerformFlow Template“.
Now, you should check the “Document Fields” section to make sure all Matching Question Fields on your Google Docs template matches your questions on Google Forms.
If both Standard Field section and Matching Question Field are checked with green check-mark, it means your template is now ready.
Finally, you can scroll down to the bottom to Document Naming section where you can set file naming rule. You can use Standard Field including <<Form Name>>, <<Request Number>>, and <<Timestamp>> to name your file (e.g. <<Form Name>> #<<Request Number>>). Check out this video for more details on naming document:
