How to save form submissions to a file

You can let the Simfatic Form Processor save the form submissions to a file. The file is saved in csv ( comma separated values) format. The fields in the form are saved in the file separated by comma(,). Individual submissions are separated by a new line.

Example

Suppose our form has three fields: Name, Email and Comments. The CSV file after a few submissions will look like this:

"John","john@hisdomain.com","no comments"

"somebody else","they@their-domain.com","good web site"

"Sara","sara@yahoo.com","your web site need optimization"

Many applications, like Microsoft Excel, can open csv files.

Select 'save to file' option

In the 'Form Processing Options' Page, select 'Save the data from the form submissions to a file in the server' check box

'Configure Form Submission Data File' page

The 'Form to File' page lets you select the fields to be saved to the form submission data file.

The right-side list shows the fields to be saved. By default, all the fields in the form are added to the 'to be saved' list.

Use the add/remove buttons to select the fields to be saved.

You can re-arrange the order of the fields in the file using the Move Up/Move Down buttons.

The field in the top of the list appears left most in the CSV file and other fields follow in the order.

The data file location

While you install the form, Simfatic Forms configures a form data folder. The form data csv file is save in a form data folder.

Viewing the form submissions

After installing the form on the web server, make a few sample submissions in the form. Open the Simfatic Forms' project file (file extension .fwz) for the form.

By default, you will be taken to the Form maintenance page.

You can open the form maintenance page by pressing the toolbar button  as well.

Select the 'View form submissions' option(1). This will display the form submissions in a data viewer.

Downloading the data file

Select the download datafile option (2) to download the CSV file.

You can download the form submission data file from the Form Admin Page as well. Press the Form Admin Page button (3)  to open the Form admin page in the browser. Login to the page and click on the link to download the CSV file.

Forms with file attachments

You can have file upload boxes in your form that lets your visitor upload files along with the form submission. If you have opted to have 'save to file' option for a form that has file upload box, the uploaded files are saved to a sub-folder inside the formdata folder.

The CSV file will contain the name of the file that was submitted and the actual file will be present in the upload folder.

Note: Simfatic form processor prevents overwriting even if files with the same name are submitted.

You can choose to download the attachments while downloading the CSV file.