If required item not complete on form edit, all data disappears

[boyjah]

We have a bi-lingual form (one in English one in Japanese) that write to the same data table. When someone edits the form and fails to provide information for a required item and clicks the Submit button, they get the error message "Some items have not been properly filled in.", BUT, all data fields are now empty and there is no indication of what was missing. The data has not been deleted because if they click on the form edit link again the form still contains the previously input data.

Each form (English and Japanese) does have a redirect plugin that is triggered "On Edit", but both forms have Content Reset set to No. (Also, I tried disabling these plugins but the problem persisted...)

Does anyone have some idea of where I should investigate to make this issue go away? It is driving our customers (and support staff) insane.

We have another bilingual form on the site that does not have this problem. I have looked at every possible aspect of each to try to find some difference, but I find nothing.

 

[juuser]

Any javascript errors on browser console?

No more form plugins except the "redirect"?

 

[boyjah]

No javascript errors. And there are some email plugins associated with each form.

 

[troester]

Email plugins should be triggered only after submit, but disable them for testing.

Some form [Form process] settings? (e.g. Save part-edited...)
List access settings?

 

[boyjah]

I disabled all plugins for both forms (English and Japanese) and the result was the same (fail).

Form process settings are the same for both forms:



List access settings are the same for both forms:



The URL for English forms is:
index.php?option=com_fabrik&view=form&formid=4&Itemid=3277&lang=en

And Japanese form is:
index.php?option=com_fabrik&view=form&formid=32&Itemid=1590&lang=jp

Each of these menu items has the following Fabrik Form Options:

 

[troester]

Are you logged in while filling both forms?
And why do you need "Save part-edited records"?

BTW: why do you have Spoofcheck=no (Security!!)

 

[boyjah]

Yes, logged in when filling forms (otherwise previously saved data would not show up in the form edit)

Don't need "Save part-edited records". Only activated it recently to see if it would help retain data in our current situation. Have checked the outcome with all different settings for this and it does not change the result (data disappearing)

Spoofcheck=no is just another test to see if I could fix the problem. I only changed it recently from Spoofcheck=Yes. It did not fix the problem. But is it necessary for a form that is only accessible to registered logged-in users?

 

[troester]

Save part-edit should be no (if you don't need it), and Spoof check = yes.

Which exact Fabrik version?
Do you have any other plugins, especially jUser?

 

[boyjah]

Save part-edit should be no (if you don't need it), and Spoof check = yes.

Which exact Fabrik version?
Do you have any other plugins, especially jUser?

Save part-edit = no
Spoof check = yes
Fabrik version 3.10
Joomla 3.10.2
Not using jUser, but we do use Community Builder
However, we do have another bilingual form on the site that does not have this problem

 

[juuser]

Also check that you don't have any code in element validations / javascript or form_xx.js that could break things.

 

[boyjah]

Also check that you don't have any code in element validations / javascript or form_xx.js that could break things.

As a test I unpublished all elements from the form except for 2. Both elements were check boxes and the only validation was that they not be empty (required items). There is no additional code added to the validations. I also disabled all plug-ins for the form.

I got the same result. If I unchecked one of the elements and clicked submit I was shown the error message: "Some items have not been properly filled in." and the data for the other item which WAS checked was cleared.

I also tried the same experiment with 2 field elements that are required. Only validation is that they not be empty. Same result: if I cleared one of the fields and clicked submit, data from the other field was cleared and "Some items have not been properly filled in." error message.

 

[juuser]

This seems almost like something is "broken". It's really hard to tell without actually "playing" with the real site.

One more thing you could try. Go to the menu settings of the working form and select the "broken" one. Save and see if this makes any difference.

 

[boyjah]

This seems almost like something is "broken". It's really hard to tell without actually "playing" with the real site.

One more thing you could try. Go to the menu settings of the working form and select the "broken" one. Save and see if this makes any difference.

Thank you for your suggestion. I tried it but there was no difference. Yes, something is broken. I have analyzed every aspect of the working form in comparison to the broken form and tried to make all settings the same for both forms. I have looked at every setting for every element to make sure that they match. I am at a loss to find the cause.

 

[juuser]

If nothing else works, you could always make a new copy of the working form.

 

[boyjah]

If nothing else works, you could always make a new copy of the working form.

I guess I could try that, although they have very different content and elements as they are for different purposes and different types of users. Also, I don't see the option to copy a form like there is for lists. What would be the best way to make a copy of the working form?

 

[juuser]

This is the last resort of course.

I guess I could try that, although they have very different content and elements as they are for different purposes and different types of users.

Best way is to copy the list with forms/groups/elements in the backend lists view (by selecting the list and clicking the "Copy" button).

What would be the best way to make a copy of the working form?

 

[troester]

Out of interest: is it the same behavior if you don't use the menu item with id=-1 but edit the record coming form the list (in backend).

 

[boyjah]

Out of interest: is it the same behavior if you don't use the menu item with id=-1 but edit the record coming form the list (in backend).

Editing in the backend does not exhibit this issue, however all elements with validation are marked as "In = Front End", if that makes any difference...

 

[boyjah]

The problem form contains 7 groups and a total of 84 elements. In an effort to identify what might be causing the problem I unpublished all groups and all elements and then one by one activated a group and then one by one published each item in that group. Before publishing I verified the settings to ensure that they all made sense and matched the settings of the other elements in that group (Access settings, etc.). If an element included javascript plugins (I only use them to show or hide other fields or groups based on selection options), I unpublished all of them and then published them one by one after running a test to determine if attempting to save the form without providing required items would result in existing information disappearing from the form. I did not encounter the problem until I activated the group that contains a repeatable database join. After activating it, when I try to save the form without filling in all required items, all elements above the database join group were retained, but all elements below that group disappeared. So I can see that it is the database join that is causing the problem.

But what can I do? What information about the join is needed for someone knowledgeable to assist me with a fix?

Fabrik 3.10
Joomla 3.10.2

 

[boyjah]

For reference, List settings are:

Under the Data tab -
Primary key = id
Auto increment = Yes
Order by is not set to anything

Under the Group by tab -
Group by is not set to anything
Access = Public

Under the Pre-filter tab -
There are no prefilters set
Overriden by menu/modules = No
Pre-filter query is blank

Under the Joins tab -
Join type = LEFT
From column = id (from the original form)
To column = parent_id (from the repeatable joined table)
Repeatable = Yes
Display mode = Merge rows and reduce data
Delete joined data = No

Under the Related data tab -
Show related Add = No
Show related data link = No
My Related Data = No other lists link here