Error while using WFFM save action Send Email Campaign Message

Last time while I was playing with EXM and WFFM I have experienced strange issue. I am using Sitecore 8.1 Update-2, EXM 3.2.1 and WFFM 8.1 Update-2. I have added Send Email Campaign Message Save Action to my form, set up message and destination e-mail.

After form submit I got an error:

 5276 15:43:58 INFO  AUDIT (extranet\Anonymous): [WFFM] Form {B9C58542-7A02-4191-94B1-186C87EC74D9} is saving to db   5276 15:43:58 WARN  [WFFM] Object reference not set to an instance of an object.   Exception: System.NullReferenceException   Message: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.   Source: Sitecore.Forms.Custom      at Sitecore.Form.Submit.SendStandardMessage.Send(AdaptedResultList fields)      at Sitecore.Forms.Core.Dependencies.DefaultImplActionExecutor.ExecuteSaving(ID formID, ControlResult[] fields, IActionDefinition[] actionDefinitions, Boolean simpleAdapt, ID sessionID)   5276 15:43:58 WARN  [WFFM] The 'Send Email Campaign Message[id={EB59E095-5B61-4C04-8286-9469DAFD9A13}]' save action failed: We experienced a technical difficulty while processing your request. Your data may not have been correctly saved.   5276 15:43:58 WARN  [WFFM] Web Forms for Marketers: an exception: We experienced a technical difficulty while processing your request. Your data may not have been correctly saved. has occured while trying to execute an action.

NullReferenceException was rather strange for me, so I started deep investigation. I have decompiled some WFFM and EXM classes and I found the problem. Some missing checks caused that issue.

The main cause of that situation is the EXM Message is being in state other than Active. Sitecore Support provided me with package, that solves this glitch.

Public reference number is 120449.

To resolve the issue, I had to:

1. Put the Sitecore.Support.120449.dll into bin folder
2. Navigate to the /sitecore/system/Modules/Web Forms for Marketers/Settings/Actions/Save Actions/Send Email Campaign Message item and perform the following changes with its fields:

• Assembly -> Sitecore.Support.120449
• Class -> Sitecore.Support.Form.Submit.SendStandardMessage

         3. Publish the changes

After that it worked for me. Hope that post will be helpful :)

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Error in event item:saved when migrating old WFFM items by Razl

Last time when I was upgrading another website from version 6.5 to 8.1, I have faced the problem with WFFM forms. I was transferring all content from old database to new one, using Razl. Almost everything went OK, but WFFM Form items.

The error I got, was rather misterious:

18684 11:12:39 ERROR One or more exceptions occurred while processing the subscribers to the 'item:saved' event.
Exception[1]: System.FormatException
Message[1]: Unrecognized Guid format.
Source[1]: mscorlib
   at System.Guid.GuidResult.SetFailure(ParseFailureKind failure, String failureMessageID, Object failureMessageFormatArgument, String failureArgumentName, Exception innerException)
   at System.Guid.TryParseGuid(String g, GuidStyles flags, GuidResult& result)
   at System.Guid..ctor(String g)
   at Sitecore.Analytics.Data.TrackingField.<>c__DisplayClass21.b__20(XElement e)
   at System.Linq.Enumerable.WhereSelectEnumerableIterator`2.MoveNext()
   at Sitecore.Analytics.Data.TrackingField.ValidateLinks(LinksValidationResult result)
   at Sitecore.Links.ItemLinks.AddLinks(Field field, List`1 links, ItemLinkState linkState)
   at Sitecore.Links.ItemLinks.GetLinks(ItemLinkState linkState, Boolean allVersions, Boolean includeStandardValuesLinks)
   at Sitecore.Links.SqlLinkDatabase.UpdateItemVersionReferences(Item item)
   at Sitecore.Links.ItemEventHandler.OnItemSaved(Object sender, EventArgs args)
   at Sitecore.Events.Event.EventSubscribers.RaiseEvent(String eventName, Object[] parameters, EventResult result)


18684 11:12:39 ERROR Razl service error
Exception: System.AggregateException
Message: One or more exceptions occurred while processing the subscribers to the 'item:saved' event.
Source: Sitecore.Kernel
   at Sitecore.Events.Event.EventSubscribers.RaiseEvent(String eventName, Object[] parameters, EventResult result)
   at Sitecore.Events.Event.RaiseEvent(String eventName, Object[] parameters)
   at Sitecore.Events.Event.RaiseItemSaved(Object sender, ItemSavedEventArgs args)
   at System.EventHandler`1.Invoke(Object sender, TEventArgs e)
   at Sitecore.Data.Engines.EngineCommand`2.RaiseEvent[TArgs](EventHandler`1 handlers, Func`2 argsCreator)
   at Sitecore.Data.Engines.EngineCommand`2.Execute()
   at Sitecore.Data.Engines.DataEngine.SaveItem(Item item)
   at Sitecore.Data.Managers.ItemProvider.SaveItem(Item item)
   at Sitecore.Data.Managers.PipelineBasedItemProvider.ExecuteAndReturnResult[TArgs,TResult](String pipelineName, String pipelineDomain, Func`1 pipelineArgsCreator, Func`1 fallbackResult)
   at Sitecore.Data.Managers.PipelineBasedItemProvider.SaveItem(Item item)
   at Sitecore.Data.Items.ItemEditing.AcceptChanges(Boolean updateStatistics, Boolean silent)
   at Sitecore.Data.Items.EditContext.Dispose()
   at HedgehogDevelopment.Razl.Service.RazlService.SetItemDetails(Guid accessGuid, String database, Guid itemId, ItemDetails itemDetails)

It was really confusing for me. Later, I realized that it was caused by value of field Tracking in Personalization section. In my old database the value was:

<tracking>
     <event name="Field Changed" />
     <event name="Field Completed" />
     <event name="Field Not Completed" />
     <event name="Field Out of Boundary" />
     <event name="Invalid Field Syntax" />
</tracking>

In new version those events need an id parameter, not only name.

I decided to prepare that items by hand and put them in Sitecore package. I really wanted to make it all automated, but on the other hand, that solution wasn't really bad.

So I prepared that field in a way like this (Tracking field in 8.1 is in Advanced section):

<tracking>
    <event id="{AA3AE715-E87D-4B4D-80C7-4290546F770F}" name="Field changed" />
    <event id="{F0113A93-570A-4F69-8C7C-BA08037D1E34}" name="Field Completed" />
    <event id="{7E86B2F5-ACEC-4C60-8922-4EB5AE5D9874}" name="Field Not Completed" />
    <event id="{F3D7B20C-675C-4707-84CC-5E5B4481B0EE}" name="Field Out of Boundary" />
    <event id="{844BBD40-91F6-42CE-8823-5EA4D089ECA2}" name="Invalid Field Syntax" />
</tracking>

And it works :)

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WFFM - Creating custom hidden field with Context Item ID

Last time I was creating article comment functionality using Web Forms For Marketers. I have designed it that all comments was saved as Sitecore items and put into bucket in specified location. One of the problems was to put some information about article we are commenting.

I have chose Sitecore ID to be put inside that comment item. Unfortunately I wasn't able to do it out-of the-box. I needed to write some custom code and I thought that custom WFFM field would be the best idea.

WFFM version I was using was 8.1 rev. 151217 (Update-1). It's code changes very frequently so tutorials found in internet was a bit of outdated (very probably that mine will be soon too ;)).

I decided that the best and pretty easy way, will be create control that will put hidden html field and populate it with context item ID. I was told that the best way to achieve it will be create derivative from SingleLineText field. Tools like ILSpy or dotPeek was very helpful to take a look at the code inside. The value of Sitecore.Context.Item.ID is taken in OnLoad() method. To make it more flexible I have added field that made it switchable.

Here is the code:

using Sitecore.Form.Core.Attributes;
using Sitecore.Form.Web.UI.Controls;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.ComponentModel.Design;
 
namespace SitecoreCoffee.WFFM.CustomFields
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Hidden Id Field
    /// </summary>
    [Designer("System.Windows.Forms.Design.ParentControlDesigner, System.Design", typeof(IDesigner))]
    public class HiddenIdField : SingleLineText
    {
        private bool _isHidden = true;
 
        /// <summary>
        /// Used to switch hidden/visible
        /// </summary>
        [VisualCategory("Configuration")]
        [VisualFieldType(typeof(Sitecore.Form.Core.Visual.BooleanField))]
        [VisualProperty("Is Hidden?", 10), DefaultValue("Yes")]
        public string IsHidden
        {
            get
            {
                return _isHidden ? "Yes" : "No";
            }
 
            set
            {
                _isHidden = value == "Yes";
            }
        }
 
        protected override void OnLoad(System.EventArgs e)
        {
            Text = Sitecore.Context.Item.ID.ToString();
 
            if (_isHidden)
            {
                Attributes["style"] = "display: none";
            }
        }
    }
} 

If you are using MVC you should also create ViewModel for that field:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;
using System.Linq;
 
namespace SitecoreCoffee.WFFM.CustomFields
{
    /// <summary>
    /// View Model for Hidden Id Field
    /// </summary>
    public class HiddenIdFieldViewModel : Sitecore.Forms.Mvc.ViewModels.Fields.SingleLineTextField
    {
        [DataType(DataType.Text)]
        public override string Value { get; set; }
 
        /// <summary>
        /// Initializes field
        /// </summary>
        public override void Initialize()
        {
            KeyValuePair<string, string> isHidden = Parameters.FirstOrDefault(x => x.Key.ToUpper() == "ISHIDDEN");
 
            if (isHidden.Value.ToUpper() != "NO")
            {
                if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(CssClass))
                {
                    CssClass += " hidden";
                }
 
                else
                {
                    CssClass = "hidden";
                }
            }
 
            ShowTitle = false;
 
            Value = Sitecore.Context.Item.ID.ToString();
        }
    }
}

The last part is to create Sitecore item. It should be added below /sitecore/system/Modules/Web Forms for Marketers/Settings/Field Types. This item should be based on template /sitecore/templates/Web Forms for Marketers/Field Type and be populated with:

• Assembly - file name of code assembly
• Class - class name of field type with full namespace
• MVC Type - class name of field type view model with full namespace and its assembly name (after comma)

And it can be used in form:

Hope it will be helpful :)

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