Preserve form data not connected to SPO field?

Hi ​@brandiwoodson,

Unbound controls (non-connected controls) are stored in a hidden column called NFFormData.
They are stored in XML format.
If a list has a Nintex form and an item has been created using the form, this hidden column is created.
You can access the column from a workflow as it appears in the item properties.
You can use a workflow to update a Multiple Lines of text column with the NFFormData column to see what the contents looks like.
 

By default, most columns are stored using a GUID rather than the column name. The option in the form settings allows users to use the column name rather than a GUID, which is helpful if this data will be used later on as it appears you are.  The issue is that if you turn it on now, it will only affect new forms. Existing forms will still contain GUIDs.  If you will be working with this data, I do not recommend turning the feature off and on as you will end up with two sets of data as the XML nodes will be labeled differently—some with control names and some with GUIDs.

I hope this explanation is helpful to you.

​@brandiwoodson Just to add onto what Simon mentioned, classic/old responsive forms by default used the control name when storing the unbound controls in NFFormdata. In new responsive it uses the GUID of the control by default. So, this option is so you can keep the xml consistent after you upgrade the form. The form should be able to view either GUIDS or the control name correctly for upgraded forms. Some customers do manipulate the xml outside of the Form, so this features helps with those use cases.

SimonMuntz wrote:

Hi ​@brandiwoodson,

Unbound controls (non-connected controls) are stored in a hidden column called NFFormData.
They are stored in XML format.
If a list has a Nintex form and an item has been created using the form, this hidden column is created.
You can access the column from a workflow as it appears in the item properties.
You can use a workflow to update a Multiple Lines of text column with the NFFormData column to see what the contents looks like.
 

By default, most columns are stored using a GUID rather than the column name. The option in the form settings allows users to use the column name rather than a GUID, which is helpful if this data will be used later on as it appears you are.  The issue is that if you turn it on now, it will only affect new forms. Existing forms will still contain GUIDs.  If you will be working with this data, I do not recommend turning the feature off and on as you will end up with two sets of data as the XML nodes will be labeled differently—some with control names and some with GUIDs.

I hope this explanation is helpful to you.

I think I follow, however using NAC, this field is not available. I assume this is only made available for Nintex Workflow for Office 365, correct? I see it in NWO365 application...

I tried using this and “updating the form” by removing the repeating section then adding it back after a few edits and the data is not preserved. I must be doing something wrong. :(

So if you have multiple repeating sections it’s all being dumped into the one hidden field storing several XML codes for repeating sections….interesting. 

Hi ​@brandiwoodson,

The NFFormData column will have a node for each repeating section on the form.
This column also holds values for form variables.
If you have multiple attachment controls on a form, this column will also note which attachment should appear on which control.

This column will also appear in a NAC (now Nintex Workflow) workflow.