Docusign: Assign Specific form fields to Signers - docusignapi

Question

I'm able to explore most of the methods explained in the SOAP API document and Thanks alot for detailing each of the method.
I've a query on assigning specific form fields to each recipient as part of createandSendEnvelope request. for e.g., as shown in below image I know the form fields for each signer.
Recipient 1 fields: S1_Company, S1_Location, S1_SignHere, S1_PrintHere & S1_DateHere
Recipient 2 fields: S2_Company, S2_Location, S2_SignHere, S2_PrintHere & S2_DateHere
I tried anchor tags but wasn't able to use the form fields mentioned above. The logic I'm looking at is All the forms fields for a form which has to be assigned to a recipient for inputting data to signer is driven based on the static data loaded in Database and upon envelope completion I should be able to read the data inputted in each field assigned to each recipient should be retrievable. i.e., The basic benefit I'm looking at is by using RequestEnvelopeWithDocumentFields I should be able to read the values inputted by recipients in S1_Company, S1_Location etc form fields can be stored in my Database too for Audit purpose and to be in sync with Docusign Data.
Your help in this regard in greatly Appreciated!! let me know if you need any additional information for this query
Attached Payload for
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16" ?>
<arrayofcompositetemplate xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<compositetemplate>
<inlinetemplates xmlns="http://www.docusign.net/API/3.0">
<inlinetemplate>
<sequence>1</sequence>
<envelope>
<accountid>4af47e96-b342-45f2-9fcb-ab3c031780f1</accountid>
<recipients>
<recipient>
<id>1</id>
<username>Signer 1</username>
<email>*******#*****.com</email>
<type>Signer</type>
<accesscode xsi:nil="true" />
</recipient>
</recipients>
<tabs>
<tab>
<recipientid>1</recipientid>
<type>DateSigned</type>
<tablabel>Client1_DocuSignDateSigned</tablabel>
</tab>
<tab>
<recipientid>1</recipientid>
<type>SignHere</type>
<tablabel>Client1_DocuSignSignHere</tablabel>
</tab>
<tab>
<recipientid>1</recipientid>
<type>FullName</type>
<tablabel>Client1_DocuSignFullName</tablabel>
</tab>
</tabs>
</envelope>
</inlinetemplate>
</inlinetemplates>
<document xmlns="http://www.docusign.net/API/3.0">
<id>1</id>
<name>DocumentOne</name>
<pdfbytes>JVBERi0x</pdfbytes>
<fileextension>.pdf</fileextension>
</document>
</compositetemplate>
</arrayofcompositetemplate>

Answer 1

PDF form transformation is much more efficient than using anchors. To take advantage of this feature you must use either CreateEnvelopeFromTemplates or CreateEnvelopeFromTemplatesAndForms. The first is legacy and is limited to assigning all fields ("Tabs" in our API) to one recipient. CreateEnvelopeFromTemplatesAndForms (CEFTAF) is built around composite templates. I strongly recommend building all solutions around composite template composition, both in SOAP and REST. It gives you full API capabilities so you can expand your integration without totally redesigning the envelope assembly.
CompositeTemplates are themselves not templates, but rather, "units of contribution" to the envelope construction process. They can contain one or more templates, usually server templates (stored in DocuSign) and inline templates (contributed via code). They also support PDF Form Transformation along with wild-card Tab matching.
Here is an example:
<CompositeTemplate>
<Document>
<ID>1</ID>
<Name>Application form</Name>
<PDFBytes>JVBERi0xLjYNJeL...(snipped)</PDFBytes>
<TransformPdfFields>true</TransformPdfFields>
<FileExtension>pdf</FileExtension>
</Document>
<InlineTemplates>
<InlineTemplate>
<Sequence>1</Sequence>
<Envelope>
<AccountId>87312c39-f11d-4cdf-a7de-905cfbe774e6</AccountId>
<Recipients>
<!-- the "S1" recipient -->
<Recipient>
<ID>1</ID>
<UserName>Iwana Getthat</UserName>
<Email>iwana#example.com</Email>
<Type>Signer</Type>
<RoutingOrder>1</RoutingOrder>
<RoleName>S1</RoleName>
<!-- (option)<DefaultRecipient>true</DefaultRecipient> -->
</Recipient>
<!-- the "S2" recipient -->
<Recipient>
<ID>2</ID>
<UserName>Ice Screen</UserName>
<Email>ice#example.com</Email>
<Type>Signer</Type>
<RoutingOrder>2</RoutingOrder>
<RoleName>Approver</RoleName>
</Recipient>
</Recipients>
<Tabs>
<!-- Tabs for Recipient 1 -->
<Tab>
<RecipientID>1</RecipientID>
<TabLabel>S1_\*</TabLabel>
<Type>SignHere</Type>
</Tab>
<Tab>
<RecipientID>1</RecipientID>
<TabLabel>S1_\*</TabLabel>
<Type>DateSigned</Type>
</Tab>
<Tab>
<RecipientID>1</RecipientID>
<TabLabel>S1_FullName\*</TabLabel>
<Type>FullName</Type>
</Tab>
<Tab>
<RecipientID>1</RecipientID>
<TabLabel>S1_Email\*</TabLabel>
<Type>Custom</Type>
<CustomTabValidationPattern>^\w+#[a-zA-Z_]+?\.[a-zA-Z]{2,3}$</CustomTabValidationPattern>
<CustomTabRequired>true</CustomTabRequired>
</Tab>
<Tab>
<!-- Catch all for all other CustomTab types not covered above -->
<RecipientID>1</RecipientID>
<TabLabel>S1_\*</TabLabel>
<Type>Custom</Type>
<CustomTabRequired>true</CustomTabRequired>
</Tab>
<!-- Tabs for Recipient 2 -->
<Tab>
<RecipientID>2</RecipientID>
<TabLabel>S2_\*</TabLabel>
<Type>SignHere</Type>
</Tab>
<Tab>
<RecipientID>2</RecipientID>
<TabLabel>S2_\*</TabLabel>
<Type>DateSigned</Type>
</Tab>
</Tabs>
</Envelope>
</InlineTemplate>
</InlineTemplates>
</CompositeTemplate>
Notice the convenient use of "*" as a wildcard, matching the Form Field name of S1_{anything} that resulted in a Tab with TabLabel of S1_{anything} to assign to the "S1" related recipient.