ATTENTION: Upgrade Nintex Drawloop to Avoid Flash End of Life Impact

  • 18 September 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 72 views

Update 2020-Nov-06: Drawloop DocGen v17.0 is now available on the AppExchange.

V17.0+ has support for connecting data such as Salesforce Reports, or Excel templates (fka as Excel as Middleware), you can now manage your DocGen Package templates without the need for Adobe Flash. 

What is changing?  

 In 2017, Adobe announced the End of Life plans for Adobe Flash. Multiple web browsers have announced that at the end of 2020 they will be removing support for Adobe Flash (Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge , Safari).  You will need to upgrade to the latest version of Nintex Drawloop DocGen to maintain full functionality. 

What happens after support for Flash is removed?  

Once support for Flash is removed from web browsers, the plugin will no longer load, preventing you from interacting with previously available web experiences that made use of the Flash technology.   You may already experience something similar now when using Chrome where it prompts you to Allow access.

What does the removal of Flash support mean for Nintex Drawloop?  

Flash is utilized when navigating to Drawloop in Salesforce Classic, where it is used only for the management of Document Package templates including features for: 

  • Add, Remove templates from multiple sources (Salesforce Document, Content, Reports, Visualforce pages, and Microsoft SharePoint/Office 365). 
  • Configure the Page Ranges of template files to be included in the final generated documents. 
  • Configuration of inclusion settings, setting templates to be Required, Optional, or Conditionally included. 
  • Whether a Word file is to be used for an email body, attachment, or both, for email delivery options. 
  • Connecting Data, such as Runtime CSV/Excel Files, Salesforce Reports, and Excel as Middleware. 

 

All other Legacy UI features related to the management of DocGen Packages, such as Delivery Options, Relationships, accessing the Field Tagger, are not dependent on Flash and will still be available. Generating documents will NOT be impacted, as Flash is only used for the configuration of DocGen Packages.   

What should you do?

 Please upgrade  to the latest version of Nintex Drawloop DocGen to maintain the ability to manage DocGen package templates. The  Drawloop team has been working on a new and improved interface for Salesforce Lightning, named Lightning Experience DocGen Package Designer (LEDD) that does not rely on the use of Flash for template management.   

 

We recommend that you upgrade in a Sandbox, or other non-production org, as soon as possible, to give your team the time necessary to get familiar with the the experience before, and test any other package changes before scheduling your Production upgrade. If you encounter any issues during testing, please reach out to the Nintex Support team for assistance.   

 

We currently have version 16.6 published to the Salesforce AppExchange. If during your testing we release a new version, but you wish to upgrade only to the version you have been testing, please reach out to our Support team and we can provide the appropriate link to install your tested version.     

What else can you tell me about LEDD? 

The LEDD interface was first released in Nov 2017 in Drawloop DocGen version 15.0 and is available only in Salesforce Lightning. LEDD is a User Interface (UI) and Experience (UX) refresh, every effort has been made to not alter the underlying data model and configurations of DocGen Packages. 

 

The LEDD interface needs to be enabled before you can view it in Salesforce Lightning. If you have already installed Drawloop DocGen v15.0+ higher, or plan to upgrade, instructions for enabling LEDD can be found at the link below.  

Enable the Lightning Experience DocGen Designer  

 

In early November, 2020 we will go GA when we releasing another version with added support for managing template Data Sources, such as selecting CSV/Excel files at run time, Salesforce Reports, or Named Ranges in Excel (formerly known as Excel as Middleware).  

 

What will Partners need to do? 

We are sending notifications to all Customers and Partners regarding the End of Life for Flash.  We recommend you follow-up with your Nintex Drawloop customers and upgrade them to the latest version in your or your customer’s Sandbox or non-Production org as soon as possible to test any Drawloop implementations. After thorough testing, you will want to work with your customers on a rollout plan to upgrade their Production Orgs. 

 

How can I get more information? 

Nintex Community Post with the introduction of, and additional information for, LEDD: 

https://community.nintex.com/t5/Nintex-for-Salesforce/Lightning-Experience-DocGen-Designer-Beta-Details/td-p/87306 

 

Nintex Community: OH LETS BREAK IT DOWN - Document Designer: Data 

https://community.nintex.com/t5/Nintex-for-Salesforce/OH-LETS-BREAK-IT-DOWN-Document-Designer-Data/m-p/95544 

 

Nintex Help Documentation for Drawloop DocGen, updated with information for LEDD 

https://rebrand.ly/intro-to-ledd

 

Help Documentation: Enable the Lightning Experience DocGen Designer 

https://help.nintex.com/en-US/docgensf/Installation/EnableDocGenForEndUsers.htm 

 

Release Notes 

For the last three (3) Package and DocGen Engine version, see the link below: 

https://community.nintex.com/t5/Release-Notes/Nintex-Drawloop-DocGen-for-Salesforce-Release-Notes/ta-p/87897 

Versions older than the last three (3) and after v14.10.3 

https://community.nintex.com/t5/Nintex-for-Salesforce/Nintex-Drawloop-DocGen-for-Salesforce-Archived-Release-Notes/td-p/83425 

Versions 14.10.3 and older 

https://help.nintex.com/en-US/docgen/docservices/#ProductHelpLanding/ReleaseNotes.htm 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Will the removal of Flash impact generating documents?

No, Flash is only used for DocGen Package management, specifically with your templates.

 

What does LEDD currently support?

  • Create, view, edit, and delete record-based DocGen Packages. Scheduled and form-based DocGen Packages are currently not supported.
  • Management of all Relationship types
  • Add, view, edit, remove, or sort DocGen Package Templates.
  • Enable/Disable of Ad Hoc files during the docgen process (formerly Allow and/or Requirement Attachments)
  • Templates can be included from Salesforce Documents, Salesforce Libraries, Visualforce pages, Salesforce Reports and Office 365/Sharepoint. 
  • Download, Send via Salesforce Email, Start Nintex Workflow, Nintex Sign/Adobe Sign, and Attach back to Record delivery options.

 

How do I manage other features not available in LEDD?

Unfortunately you will have switch back to our Legacy UI. You can do this by Disabling the LEDD interface on the DocGen Admin page in Lightning or Classic, or switch back to Salesforce Classic.

 

When will Feature X be released for the Lightning Experience DocGen Designer?

We plan to release a new version of Nintex Drawloop DocGen for Salesforce every month with increased feature support to match our Legacy UI management system. 

 

When will LEDD go GA?

We're targeting for the first week in November 2020 when we release supported for data sources.

 

Do I have to move all my users to Lightning?

No! LEDD applies only to the administration of DocGen Packages, there is no required to deploy or have all your users move to Lightning. 

 

Why are my relationships shown as Broken?

A relationship may appear as Broken if we can't determine how it connects to the rest of your data, this typically happens in Parent-Child relationships when the Parent has been deleted. You can resolve this by reviewing the configuration of the Broken relationship, then re-create new appropriate relationships to get to the same data you need. 

 

When I edit a relationship, it gives me an error regarding my Alias, why is this?

To avoid conflicts that arose in our Legacy UI, we implemented Validation Rules for valid Alias names, review the details further below. There is no immediate need to change your relationships as changes may require updates to your tags, however we do recommend you work with your teams to review your relationships. In the event changes are required, we advice you budget for extra time in case other changes are are required to address any Alias validation warnings.

We have implemented validation rules and visual indicators when creating relationships that can be aliased, these rules will help prevent issues in the docgen process that can occur with tags and data fill conflicts. The following are now enforced when working with Relationships:

  • An Alias is required when two Relationships refer to the same object
  • Aliases can only contain underscores and alphanumeric characters. Aliases must be unique, begin with a letter, not start or end with an underscore, and not contain consecutive underscores.
  • Aliases can not match Object API Names, which mostly applies to Salesforce Standard Objects. Examples of Salesforce Standard Objects are, but not limited to, the following: Account, ActionPlan, Address, Case, Contact, Contract, Leads, Opportunity, User.
  • Aliases must be unique, you cannot use the same alias for multiple relationships within a DocGen Package.
  • Relationship Alias names will now be validated against all Standard and Custom Object API names. This means for a Custom Object with an API Name of "ACME__c", we will now validate and prevent using the alias of "ACME". This also applied to Objects from any managed package.
  • In cases where a DocGen Package contains a relationship with an existing Alias that matches a newly enabled Salesforce Object, Designers will see now a validation warning navigating to that DocGen Package, prompting them to update their Alias.

 

Why am I getting errors about access to X Apex Class?

From time to time new security controls are rolled about by Salesforce which may restrict or change which users can access Apex classes, even those in managed packages such a Nintex Drawloop DocGen. We maintain two permissions sets that we continually update to ensure access to Apex classes are given to the appropriate Admins or Users, however from time to time we may miss a class during testing. We're currently working on a new version that provides Admins and Users access to all Apex classes, due out within the last week of Sept. In the meantime, if you are experiencing these errors, you can workaround this by updating your profile or permissions to provide access to all of the Apex classes found on the Setup > Search for "Installed Packages" > Nintex Drawloop DocGen > View Components page

 

Why am I getting Salesforce Component errors when navigating to my DocGen Package?

You may have unsupported Relationship configurations, which is causing issues displaying your Relationships on the Data tab. The team is currently working on a better way to review these relationships due for release in early Nov, until then you can learn more about unsupported relationships by following the links below:

 

Why am I getting errors saying my Templates have been deleted or missing permissions, or have been removed?

In some cases the source of your DocGen Package template may be missing, such as the actual Document or Salesforce Files record being deleted, or permissions may have changed such that you no longer have access to those files. To resolve this issue, you will need to determine if you can regain access to the file, recover/undelete the Document or Files record, or upload another copy of the file to your Salesforce to added back as a new template.

These message may appear if the source of your Connected Data is no longer available, such as a deleted Salesforce Report or Excel file. Additionally, you may see this error if you remove the Excel DocGen Package Template that you have connected to another template. 


4 replies

Will the "Forms" function be supported in the new Lightning designer?

@SamSysum  Hello! Just getting familiar with this change. Hoping you answer this for me, please.


I switched to "Enable Lightning Designer" in our sandbox and now receive the "Component error for Unsupported Relationships" message. Will our DocGen packages cease to work correctly at some point because we have unsupported relationships? 


Our documents are currently populating correctly (without "Enable Lightning Designer" enabled). If, in theory, we never had to make any changes to our DocGen package, can we expect them to continue working fine until changes needed to be made?


Does that make sense?

@roberte1  - Yes, eventually we will have support for managing forms in the Lightning Designer, however not in the latest release that will address the end of life for Flash. Up next on our roadmap will be addressing the Field Tagger and Component Groups, Forms will come sometime later next Calendar year. Before we release support, you can still use the Classic UI. 


 


@akuharich - We are making no immediate changes to impact Unsupported Relationships, so they should work for near and medium term. We are flagging these relationships as unsupported because they are not explicitly supported by our DocGen Engine for technical reasons, though they may just happen to work in some cases such as yours.


I would advise to review your relationships, Unsupported messaging typically shows up if you have a Lookup off another Lookup, or you have a Child relationship 4+ levels down. If you have questions, you can reach out to Support and we can provide some guidance. Again, no immediate need to make any changes, something you will want to look into for long term. 

@SamSysum 


Re: ..We are making no immediate changes to impact Unsupported Relationships, so they should work for near and medium term...


 


I am currently migrating Docgen Packages , and need to use Unsupported relationships( just 1 additional Lookup in most cases from a different object other than the starting object. 


Are there any changes planned in the near future I should aware of proceeding as such?

Reply