DocAppender will find files but not append

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Heather Rock

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Aug 11, 2019, 5:58:08 PM8/11/19
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I have used DocAppender for a workflow at school for a year without issue. New school year, needed to make new forms with new student names and files. It finds files and populates the question correctly, but will not append to a document. I'm logged in to only one account. I've tried different versions of the form, copying the working form, running a trial with only one question, moving the folder so that it's not nested, and nothing works. I create the student documents using a spreadsheet with class rosters and autocrat. Could that impact it in any way? It's the same way I've always done it... HelP! 

Amanda Smith

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Aug 12, 2019, 11:04:14 AM8/12/19
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Hello Heather,

Thank you for clearly describing your job set-up and what you have tried so far to resolve this issue.

Are you working with files on your drive ( not a team or a shared drive)
The document created with autocrat, how many pages is it starting off as? any formatting or images/tables before the docappender text would land?)

Have you tried changing the format of how docappender would place the text on the doc (ex: bulleted lists, vertical tables etc) Just curious to see if that does anything.

Can you copy and paste your user key on this thread? We can then check the backend to see if any errors are populating.


Thanks!!

Meghan Johnson

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Aug 24, 2019, 4:51:09 PM8/24/19
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I'm having this same issue. I've used docappender for years. It works great on an item I just created today. I can't get it to work on a file I'm helping a school with though, and we have dont this work flow for 5 years now.

It sees my folder, it pulls the file names but nothing gets posted to the files. 
It is in my drive, in a folder I've shared. Are there known issues? Some variables I have, multiple pages in the form and embeded videos.

Amanda Smith

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Aug 28, 2019, 11:32:36 AM8/28/19
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Hi Meghan,

Are the documents you are using also created with Autocrat?

Terea Marcum

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Aug 29, 2019, 7:17:07 PM8/29/19
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Same problem here. 

I have been using doc appender with autocrat for over a year with no issues. 

I created the files using autocrat. I moved them to the folder sorted by classes. 

I populated the form using doc appender. I have around 80 students. It worked fine for all but 3 of my students. So around 77 have their doc filled out and 3 do not. 

I checked to the google form and it was filled out to their name just didn't post to the document.  

Terea Marcum

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Aug 29, 2019, 7:44:14 PM8/29/19
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I tried repopulating the form and resubmitting. I even deleted the original response. I made a copy of the original doc and deleted the old one. That worked for 1 student but did not work for the other two students. 

It works for most of the files. Not sure what is going on with just these random docs. 

This is how I give feedback for my students so that they have a running record all year. 

Please help fast! 

Thank you! 

Rosalinda Garcia

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Sep 2, 2019, 6:03:48 PM9/2/19
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Did you get a fix for this?

Terea Marcum

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Sep 2, 2019, 6:42:34 PM9/2/19
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No. I watched the doc when I filled out the form and it looked like it as trying to append something as it showed the google doc symbol when changes are made. However, it was still blank. 

Amanda Smith

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Sep 3, 2019, 3:31:06 PM9/3/19
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Hi Terea,

Very odd that it is working for most students but just not those few. Good thinking making a copy of the doc and seeing if that helped (I'm surprised that did not prove successful either). Any chance there are two documents with the same name in that folder?

Have you tried changing the format of how docappender would place the text on the doc (ex: bulleted lists, vertical tables etc) Just curious to see if that does anything.

Can you copy and paste your user key on this thread? And if you perform another test filling out the form and watching the document, can you hold down Control+Shift+J" on a PC or "Command+Option+I" on a Mac and when the side window opens, take a screenshot of the error console ( make sure the side window is on the 'console' tab)?
I wonder what could be blocking the data from landing. Thank you for all the details around this error!!

Terea Marcum

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Sep 3, 2019, 7:26:08 PM9/3/19
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There aren't two documents with the same name. 

Please tell me how to find my user key. I'm not sure where to obtain that. 

I am trying to re-upload the names by choosing the folder again. It takes a REALLY long to get the folder connected. It doesn't search as well as it used to. I have to keep opening and closing doc appender until it finally searches correctly. 

I tried changing the format  and it didn't work either. 

Where do I upload the error message of the console?

Terea Marcum

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Sep 4, 2019, 9:45:00 PM9/4/19
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Previously I could also search for the folder very quickly. Now it takes a long time. I have to go to my drive, search for the folder, and open it so it shows up in tab recent tab. 

I did a screencast to show what I mean. Doc Appender Struggle To Find Folder

Amanda Smith

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Sep 5, 2019, 11:23:42 AM9/5/19
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Hello,

You can access the User Key straight from the Docappender Menu (it will be underneath 'Open Sidebar')

Screen Shot 2019-09-05 at 11.13.14 AM.png


And if you take a screenshot of the error console, you can attach it as an image on this thread (using the formatting menu that runs across the top of the post)


I agree with you on the time it takes to load files/folders, there may be a delayed or slow connection to Google Drive. The workaround you are doing is perfect, finding the folder first and then organizing the drive file picker window by 'Recently Opened'.

I will see if I can find more information on this as I understand that extra step can be inconvenient.

Thanks!



Terea Marcum

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Sep 5, 2019, 5:44:53 PM9/5/19
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My user key is: 
AD3W3tP7Ftx+rwf80zM6ZdcZoIKCwejb6O7daOsvc8xlIc1rJzxVnR9m7CpMFTEY0U2VqS+l+rGL

The error console is also attached. 

Screen Shot 2019-09-04 at 7.24.50 AM.png

Amanda Smith

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Sep 6, 2019, 11:50:24 AM9/6/19
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Hi Terea,

Thank you for supplying your user key and image of the error console.

From the error console, I can see some server connection errors listed & it might be helpful to clear the browser cache.

However, the main issue I see on the backend from your user key is a Google Drive Limit error. 
I think this is a quota issue for the entire Doc Appender user base and not related to just your account quota. Docappender runs on a Google time trigger, it looks like Google runs all the time triggers within the first 15 minutes of the hour.

This is going to sound odd but could you do a test and try again appending to these student docs that did not work after the first 30 minutes of the hour but before the start of the next hour (for example: 11:35-11:55am) and see if that works?

I will replay this information to the development team and have them look it over, the developer may have to do some work in terms of acquiring more quota for this add-on.

Thank you Terea for all these details and for hanging in there through all this troubleshooting!!

 

Zach Lebwohl

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Sep 11, 2019, 2:18:32 PM9/11/19
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I am having a similar issue. Another user owns the files and form and shared the folder with me. I added DocAppender to the form. It populates the question, but won't append the response to the document. Do I need to have the owner set it up?

Zach Lebwohl

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Sep 17, 2019, 2:22:20 PM9/17/19
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Still having this issue. It works on my test documents, but not on much production folder. 5 Docs VS 220 Docs.

Is there a limitation that I am running up against?

Thank you.

Amanda Smith

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Sep 19, 2019, 3:22:03 PM9/19/19
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Thank you for setting up a test run and seeing you are able to get the add-on to work.
There could be a limit or it could also be a permission issue with the files

Can you supply your user key from the Docappender menu and we can check to see if any errors are occurring on the backend. Thanks!

Zach Lebwohl

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Sep 19, 2019, 3:54:45 PM9/19/19
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I did finally get it to work. It turns out that the issue was related to another post in the support forum. The original documents were created with Autocrat. Even downloading them as .docx and uploading them again converting back to .gdoc did not fix the problem. I ended up creating the documents I needed with GAM, and then DocAppender was able to write to the documents. Luckily the content I had preloaded in the files was not essential.

Key: AD3W3tOCBAcQO4vU3KK/Fcx3QRsW7UgMZCJsHmUmeQ29TR4sa6iubZ/L4i1QZ47cIlXSDHCWACb3

Terea Marcum

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Sep 19, 2019, 7:56:01 PM9/19/19
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Zach, 
Can you tell me how to create using GAM? I am not familiar with this acronym or app. I also used Autocrat and it worked for some files but not all. I even deleted the original files and created new ones in the folder and that didn't work either. 

Zach Lebwohl

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Sep 19, 2019, 8:09:38 PM9/19/19
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I should test more docs if you found some worked and others didn’t. My folder has 200+ files.

GAM requires GSuite admin access

https://www.amplifiedit.com/gam-master/

https://github.com/jay0lee/GAM/wiki/GoogleDriveManagement

Amanda Smith

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Sep 20, 2019, 1:15:36 PM9/20/19
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Hey Zach,

Thank you for supplying your user key and for sharing the workaround you found.
Apologies that you had to use a different tool but happy to hear that you got your system up and running!

The information from the user key is interesting and may help our developers dig into why this is occurring. 
Just to share what I saw on the key; there are many errors saying that the file could not be found or there was no permission access to the file ( which sometimes happens when the folder is on another drive or has restricted editing settings)
There are other errors around Drive Limit Exceeded; meaning that the number of times a day the add-on can access a Google Drive file has met its quota ( I think this is a quota issue related to the whole add-on user base and not specific to your account. ( I have already relayed this issue to the dev team)

One other error I saw that I have a question around: Is the name of your folder a numerical value? 
(Just curious as I am unable to replicate this issue and wondering if this could possibly be another factor into this bug)

Thanks again for all the details and for helping others with the resolutions you found!!!

Zach Lebwohl

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Sep 20, 2019, 2:06:57 PM9/20/19
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Thank you for the information. The folder was never just a number. It changed a couple of times while troubleshooting, but always words.

-Zach

Terea Marcum

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Sep 24, 2019, 8:51:42 PM9/24/19
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Amanda, 
I just tried it and it did not work. I cleared by browsing data and completed the form around 8:47am. 

It just isn't working. 

Any updates from the developers on this issue? 

Leslie Brophy

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Oct 4, 2023, 8:06:41 AM10/4/23
to NV Doc Appender Add-on
I'm experiencing the same issue. Docs created using AutoCrat (except when we have to add the odd one which we will add manually to the target folder). Form set up to append to files in the folder.....doesn't work. I've tried selecting different append formats and the form information still does not append to the doc?

How can I fix this as we use this to create a running record for our students,.

I've seen that you have requested a user key from previous....where do I find that?
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