When you move a form entry to another form in the same family, infoodle compares the two forms and shows you what will happen to the answers before anything changes. That comparison is the What happens to each field summary, and it appears in the Redirect form entry window as soon as you choose a form in Redirect to form.
The summary sorts the fields that carry answers between the two forms into four lists, each with a count, and offers a read-only preview of what the person originally sent in. Nothing has moved at this point. The entry only changes when you click Redirect entry.
Where you see the summary
The summary is part of the Redirect form entry window, which you open with the Redirect Form button on an entry that is still waiting for approval. For how to get there and how to finish the move, see Redirecting a Form Entry to Another Form.
The lists are rebuilt every time you choose a different form, so you can compare two possible forms before you decide.
Reading the summary is safe. Choosing a form only builds the preview. Click Cancel to close the window and leave the entry exactly where it is.
What happens to each field
Each list has a count beside it. A list with nothing in it shows a count of 0 and reads None.
The summary compares the two forms, not the answers the person gave. Fields turn up under Will be lost and New fields to complete mainly when one of the forms has been changed since the entry was submitted. Read the counts each time rather than expecting a particular result.
Carry over cleanly
These fields are on both forms and hold the same kind of answer, so the answers move to the new form unchanged.
There is nothing for you to do about this list.
Re-check lookups — value cleared
These are fields that pick from a list of choices, such as Campaign, Gift Aid? or a List field. The field is on both forms, but the two forms offer different choices, so the answer the person picked may not be available on the new form.
infoodle empties each of these fields, so you choose again on the new form. This is why a campaign or a session reads as blank straight after a redirect. The person's original choice is not gone: it is still there in the read-only list of original values.
What to do: after the redirect, pick a value for each field in this list, then click Save Entry Changes.
Will be lost
These fields are on the form the entry is on now, and the form you have chosen has no matching field, so those answers do not appear on the new form. The answers are not deleted.
Straight after the redirect you can read them on the entry, in the yellow This entry was redirected from another form panel. infoodle also records the field names in the note it writes when it moves the entry, as "Fields not carried over:" followed by the field names.
What to do: check this list before you commit. If you still need one of those answers, copy it into a field on the new form or record it in a note on the entry before you approve.
New fields to complete
These fields are on the form you have chosen and have no matching field on the form the entry is on now, so nobody has answered them. They arrive empty for you to fill in. Any that are set as mandatory on the new form are marked (required).
What to do: fill these in on the new form, then approve the entry.
View original submitted values
At the foot of the window is View original submitted values. Click it to open a read-only table of what the person sent in, with the Form entry ID at the top and one row for each answer. Fields the person left empty are not listed.
Use it to check an answer before you commit, particularly anything in the Will be lost list. The same table stays on the entry after the redirect, in the yellow This entry was redirected from another form panel, alongside the buttons that re-send the emails. See Re-triggering Notification and Response Emails After a Redirect.
How infoodle matches fields
Three things decide what goes in which list.
- Fields are matched by which field they are, not by their labels. A child form is built from its parent form, so a field on the child and the field it came from on the parent are the same field, even when the child renames it or offers different choices. Two fields that only happen to share a label, but were added to each form separately, are not a match.
- The two fields also have to be the same type of field. If the same field has been changed to a different type of field on the other form, infoodle treats it as two separate fields, so you will see that field name in both Will be lost and New fields to complete.
- The lists cover the fields that carry answers between the two forms. Headings, blocks of text, dividers, images and totals are not listed, and a few field types are not listed either.
When payment data blocks the redirect
If the entry holds payment details and the form you have chosen has no payment field to hold them, infoodle stops the redirect and shows a red message in the window:
This entry has payment data and the selected form has no matching payment field, so it cannot be redirected.
Redirect entry stays inactive while that message is showing. Moving the entry would leave the payment with nowhere to sit on the new form, so infoodle keeps the entry and its payment record together.
The payment field appears in the Will be lost list, which tells you which field the new form is missing. Choose another form in the family that collects the same payment, or leave the entry where it is.
When the form you have chosen does collect the same payment, the redirect goes ahead: the payment record stays with the entry, the entry keeps its original reference, and no payment is taken again.
Common questions
Why is the campaign field blank after a redirect?
The two forms offer different campaigns, so infoodle cleared the answer rather than keep a campaign the new form does not offer. The field is listed under Re-check lookups in the summary before you commit. Pick a campaign on the new form, then click Save Entry Changes.
Where do the answers under Will be lost go?
They stay on the entry. Straight after the redirect you can read them in the yellow This entry was redirected from another form panel, and the field names are repeated in the note infoodle writes when it moves the entry. They are not shown as answers on the new form, because the new form has no matching field for them.
Which fields does the summary list?
The four lists cover the fields that carry answers between the two forms. Headings, blocks of text, dividers, images and totals are not listed, and a few field types are not listed either. A field that is missing from the summary has not been put in Will be lost: the summary is simply not reporting on it.
Why is the same field name in two lists?
That field is a different type of field on each form, so infoodle counts it as two separate fields: one that does not carry across, and one that arrives empty. Fill it in again on the new form.
Do the counts change if I choose a different form?
Yes. The summary is rebuilt for whichever form is chosen in Redirect to form, so a different form in the same family can give you different lists and different counts. Read the summary again after each change.
Why is the Redirect entry button greyed out?
The most common reasons are that you have not chosen a form yet, or that the entry holds payment details the form you chose cannot take, in which case the red payment message is showing above the summary. The button is also inactive for the moment while infoodle works out how the fields map across.
Does opening the summary change the entry?
No. The summary is a preview. The entry stays on its current form until you click Redirect entry.
Next steps
Once you have read the summary and committed the move:
- Fill in each field that was listed under New fields to complete.
- Pick a value for each field that was listed under Re-check lookups.
- Check anything that was listed under Will be lost against the read-only panel of original values.
- Click Save Entry Changes.
- Approve the entry as you normally would.