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Sequential numbering

P
Badge +3

Hi

 

Can anyone help with a solution for sequential form numbering either via nintex forms or workflow. In order to meet a client specification I'm looking to create multiple sets of sequentially numbered forms within a list.

 

I have a field called "Index name" which is displayed as a drop down on the form , this looks up from another list. I need the form/ list to generate a unique  & sequential ID based upon the selected value in this drop down.

 

Example:

 

"index name" field gives 3 options  "DATA" "SITE" "STAGE".  Each form is to be sequentially numbered based upon its "index name" field value. E.g if 6 forms were submitted selecting the index name in the following order the numbering would be as such.

 

DATA001 , DATA002 , SITE001 , DATA003, STAGE001, SITE002, DATA004

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

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Best answer by philip_maw 5 August 2017, 21:40

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19 replies

C
Badge +16

I don't entirely understand your scenario here but have you seen this post?

‌ by ‌

P
Badge +3

Thanks Cassy Freeman I've had a look over this and other related posts however don't think it solves my problem.

Having carried out a  further trawl of the internet I've found part of a  blog detailing how to achieve this however the whole solution is not offered.  It may at least explain it better than I have:

 

http://blog.bonzai-intranet.com/sequential-numbering-in-nintex-workflow-sharepoint

you are trying to create a document number from a combination of your project number, a material type, a document type, and then the sequential number.

Your End Goal: Numbers Will Look Something Like…
  • 8675309-AA00-SPC-1
  • 8675309-AA00-SPC-2
  • 8675309-AA00-DSC-1
  • 8675309-FF23-LYD-1
  • 8675309-FF23-LYD-2
C
Badge +16

Check it out - the author of that post is on here and she is awesome...!!  ‌ care to help ‌?  I can look at this later tonight if you're not available. 

rhia
Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Haha, yes, that is my blog post and I never got around to doing parts 2 & 3 because I quit that job! I'm a jerk!

I do plan on writing up the whole thing eventually. I promise. I'll read your post and respond separately. 

rhia
Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Hi ‌ -

In the most basic sense, the way this is done is by construction a list with "Type" and "Number". 

For type, you'd have "DATA" or "SITE" or "STAGE".

For each document generated that needs an ID, you'd have a workflow that would query this list, find the applicable "Type", and add the instances together + 1 to get the next sequential number.

You then could do it one of two ways - either add another entry for the Type (Ie - DATA - 1) and another one (DATA - 1) so it would say "oh I see 2 "DATAs" so it knows the next one is 3. 

The other way is to say "find DATA in the Type, and add 1 to the number - so now it says DATA - 2"

Does that make sense? There's just a few ways to do it.

P
Badge +3

‌ & ‌ - Many thanks  for your guidance on this, i'll have a  go at implementing it  later!   

rhia
Userlevel 6
Badge +15

For sure. Let me know if you need more help and I'll post some screenshots and more depth.

rhia
Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Hey ‌ - How'd it work for you? Are you able to mark an answer as correct?

P
Badge +3

Rhia Wieclawek‌ & Cassy Freeman‌. This is the solution I ended up with and so far its working well. The only  problem is that I will have to manually configure this workflow at the  start of each project but that's not a big job.

1) Add a column to the list called "Log index Number"

2)  The WF contains a run if statement for each Index name. Set to run if Item is added with the index name.

3) Each index needs two variables (number)  "Index Name" ID & "Index Name" next item. 

4) Each if statement first queries the list with the filter set to show items only with that index name , this is then sorted in descending order. Store this in the "Index Name" ID variable

5) Pass to a math operation and add one to "Index Name" ID and store the result in "Index Name" next Item.

6) Set field value "Log Index Number" as  "Index Name" next item.

So now I can create list views for all my "Index Names" , all raised items are sequentially numbered which is displayed on the form itself.

Sequential Numbering

M
Badge +5

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was able to take this and do something similar for a single form number situation.

M
Badge +5

This works great up to number 10. Once I reach form 11, it repeats number 10; it won't go past this number. Can you assist?

Thanks.

P
Badge +3

Marnita Beal‌ - It is still working fine for me, would you like to post a snapshot / description of your WF?

M
Badge +5

Here is my workflow. Thanks for looking at this.

Here are the configurations. I apologize that my images are out of sequence.

P
Badge +3

Can I ask a few questions ?

Why are the "Query List" "Do Calculation" & "Set Field" actions not inside the run if statement? (might be the case that i'm familiar with the on premise version and this is displayed differently)

When you query the list why are you not filtering by any values?

M
Badge +5

In taking a closer look at your screen shots, I can see where these actions should be inside the run if statement. I will make that change as well as look at the query list a bit closer.

I'm a newbie at working with some of these actions within workflows and appreciate these tips and your willingness to assist. I'll let you know what happens with these changes.

Thank you.

P
Badge +3

SharePoint provides an "ID" column that will give each entry in the SharePoint list a unique and sequential number.

This workflow enables you to further split the list into categories that each have their own sequential numbering. i.e if your list was called "fruit" and you had  a column in the list called "Fruit type" that gave choices: apple, orange, lemon you can create sequential numbering for each fruit type ( Apple 1 , Apple 2 , Apple 3 etc).

Hope this makes sense.

J

Thank you so much for this solution @philip_maw ! It was just what I needed.


For anyone else who may have run in to any similar issues in implementing.


1. I had originally created the list column as a Single line of text and everything worked fine until it hit 10, then got stuck. I changed the column type to Number and it works as expected.


2. I found that if a user with list permissions set to view only their own items created a new item, the query action would only query their view of the list and would set the wrong ID#. So I put everything in an Action Set and configured that to run as the owner and that did the trick.

M

Good day philip_maw,


I'm very new to this WF....... I'm trying to follow the direction that you show on running the index numbering but I'm stuck on the the Query.  I'm not sure if I'm following it correctly and also at the part where you state on #3, are these 2 columns that are in (number) format in the Log index Number list? My goal is similar to create a sequence counter to different projects on the same list, where each separate project has there own counter.  Any assistance would be very appreciated. Ty.

M
jwatson,
Can you show me what you did to get it to work......... I've been working on my project and getting no where....

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