Need to update audit in table while clicking a!safelink

Question

We are using a!safelink to provide provision to download a file using presigned URL. The requirement is we need to store which user clicked on the link and when in audit table, but 
 as in the safelink there are no saveinto parameter . I tried multiple other ways but all in vain. 
 I am unable to find a solution, where on a single click user able to navigate using presigned url as well as in backed it writes to audit. 
 please advise what to do that in this case and any work around we can do to achieve the requirement. 
 Thank you in advance

Mike Schmitt · Accepted Answer

This is how SafeLink works, and has always worked. 
 The best supported solution will simply involve 2 user clicks, in a large variety of possibilities. One click will persist whatever data you want to the DB, and the other click will be the user opening their link. I would suggest that you require the user to first click a button (for instance) to "generate link" or "show link" where it both un-hides the existing link but then also persists your log data (and anything else you like).

Harsha Sharma · Answer

It is not possible to download and write to audit in single click. You can however have a process with start form. User can click on the download link in the start form and close the form using submit button. In process you can use pp!initiator to write the data in audit.

Shubham Aware · Answer

Since a!safeLink doesn't support saveInto, we implement a two-step download process - first click logs the audit, second click downloads the file. Have a look at sample code for your reference: a!localVariables(
 /* Track whether the initial link has been clicked */
 local!linkClicked: false,
 local!presignedUrl: "www.google.com",
 {
 a!linkField(
 links: {
 /* STEP 1: Initial link that triggers audit logging */
 a!dynamicLink(
 label: "Click to Download",
 value: true,
 saveInto: {
 /* Set flag to show the actual download link */
 local!linkClicked,
 /* Write audit record using a!writeRecords */
 /*a!writeRecords(records: {}, onSuccess: {}, onError: {})*/
 },
 showWhen: not(local!linkClicked)
 ),
 /* STEP 2: Actual download link shown after audit is logged */
 a!safeLink(
 label: "Download Now",
 uri: local!presignedUrl,
 /* Only show after the first link is clicked and audit is logged */
 showWhen: local!linkClicked,
 openLinkIn: "NEW_TAB"
 )
 }
 )
 }
)

Mike Schmitt · Answer

Anvesh Shetty said: Will look forward for Appian to introduce this feature 
 Honestly I'm not sure how technologically feasible it is - just due to the nature of how standard web-links work. As far as I can tell they might be stuck completely separating (functionally) links that actually open a web link, from other styles of link that intiate any sort of interface-side and/or appian-side data processing, etc.

Mike Schmitt · Answer

Shubham Aware said: as per my understanding, it will remain so in the future 
 Agreed - Appian most likely has overriding factors preventing them from doing this even if it were technically possible to hack it in - things like web security or data safety or other things we as devs might find kinda arbitrary when faced with a use case that would even be 10x easier if only they'd cram the feature in. Meanwhile there are lists of dozens of feature completeness and QoL updates they could EASILY add, with MINIMAL code refactoring or bespoke code required, that STILL get consistently overlooked ("we just don't have time, we're too busy implementing new stuff nobody is asking for..." ), so I wouldn't count on anything like this getting approved and out of their backlog anytime soon...

Shubham Aware · Answer

Yeah, makes sense - seems like a limitation we’ll have to work around for now. Hopefully Appian prioritizes more practical QoL features in the future.
Thinking of setting up a public community portal where devs can post and vote on must-have Appian features might be a good way to show Appian what improvements matter the most to us.

Harsha Sharma · Answer

An issue with this design is that user details will be added to log even before they downloaded! If user generates the link but doesn&rsquo;t download then log has an invalid/inaccurate entry. Writing to logs after download is more integral though might need additional click as suggested in my earlier response!

Mike Schmitt · Answer

Except your solution (while also good) has a similar, if reversed, weakness - namely, you can't force a user to click "submit" on a process start form, so some users will merely click away / close the browser window / etc, meaning they'd never get a log entry generated. 
 In my solution above, the caveat that the customers would need to understand and accept would be "these logged instances are where a user was SHOWN the external link / download link". While some exceptions might exist where the user "generated" the link but never clicked it, there would at least be zero link clicks without a log entry. (Also even in your Start Form solution, some users could still click into the start form and hit "submit" without clicking on the external / download link, leaving us with the same logging disparity anyway.)

Need to update audit in table while clicking a!safelink

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