Box is a cloud storage service provided by Box Inc. and now offers “Box Sign” as a new Box service. This article describes Questetra’s automated process that works with Box Sign.

1. About Box Sign

Box Sign is a service that adds digital signatures to files stored in Box. A request email is sent to the recipient by specifying the file to be signed and the email address of the person whose signature is to be requested. The recipient of the email accesses the file on Box and signs it. When all signatories have signed the file, a PDF file showing the signed file and the proof of the signature will be created in the specified folder in Box.

Box Documentation: Introducing Box Sign

Box Sign Activation

Box Sign is a service that is available to all users with Box accounts, but is disabled by default; it requires prior arrangements such as Box Sign functionality being enabled by a user with an administrator account on the Box platform and permissions being granted to the user or group.
Also, the Questetra automated process described in this article will not work with the individual service user accounts (Individual, Personal Pro, Business Starter).

Box Documentation: Enabling Box Sign

2. Questetra’s Automated Processes

Questetra has added a built-in automated process to perform the above Box Sign signature request. (Available in Ver. 14.1, Advanced Edition and above)

By using this newly added automatic process, [Box Sign: Create Sign Request], Box will automatically send a signature request e-mail after specifying files and signatories in the Questetra application.

Box Sign: Create Sign Request

Prepare the information required to send a request in Data Items and specify the input values in the respective configuration fields.

• The Box registered email address of the authenticated user in [C1: OAuth2 Setting] will be the sender of the request email.
• If the value of the Data Item specified in [C4: Email Addresses of the signers] is empty or exceeds 35, it will result in an error
• If a password is used (a String-type Data Item is specified in [C5: Password for each signer]) and the number of values does not match the number of signer email addresses (e.g. it is empty), it will result in an error
• If the target file is watermarked, it will result in an error (as of 2022-10-28)
• The signing order is not configurable
• An expiration date for the request cannot be set
• A Box template cannot be used

3. Box and Questetra Integration Settings

Configure authentication settings for integration with Box.
For specific instructions, please refer to the article Using Box to Send Files to People Outside the Company.

4. Sample App

When a file is registered in the Human Task ‘Specify File/Signer’, the file will be uploaded to the specified folder in Box. An email requesting a signature for the uploaded file will be sent to the email address registered at the ‘Specify File/Signer’ Step. The recipient of the email will access the file from the incoming email and sign it.

Workflow App Settings

Data Items

Data Item Name	Data Type	Field Name	Required	Specify File/Signer step	Description
Title	–	―	–	Editable	Process title
File	File Type	q_file	○	Editable	Register files to be uploaded/signed
Folder ID	String-type (single line)	q_folder_id	–	No display	Specify the folder where the file will be uploaded / Box folder ID where the PDF file for signature will be saved (use default value) (*1)
File ID	String-type (single line)	q_file_id	–	No display	The ID of the target file in the Box is saved (*2)
Signatory Address	String-type (multiple lines)	q_address	○	Editable	Enter the email address to which the request email will be sent When entering multiple entries, a new line is inserted for each entry (*3)
Password	String-type (multiple lines)	q_password	○	Editable	Enter the password required when the recipient signs the request (*4) If it does not match the number of email addresses, an error will occur (*3)
Email Subject	String-type (single line)	q_subject	–	Editable	This will be the subject line of the request email If no input is provided, the Box defaults will be used
Email Body	String-type (multiple lines)	q_body	–	Editable	This will be the body of the request email If no input is provided, the Box defaults will be used

‘File Upload’ Step

Item Name	Required	Description
C1: OAuth2 Settings*	○	Specify OAuth2 settings to be used for connection to Box. The OAuth2 setting to be specified requires a token to be obtained in advance (see “Box and Questetra Integration Settings”)
C2: File type data item whose attached files will be uploaded *	○	Specify the Data Item containing the file to be uploaded, in this case “File”
C3: Folder ID that files will be uploaded (Root folder if blank)	–	Specify the ID of the folder where the uploaded file will be saved In this case, specify “#{#q_folder_id}”, which is the field name of the Data Item “Folder ID”.
C4: String type data item that will save uploaded file ids	–	Specify the Data Item to which the ID of the uploaded file is to be saved
C5: String type data item that will save uploaded file urls	–	Specify the Data Item to which the URL of the uploaded file will be saved. Not used in this case.

‘Request Signature’ Step

Item Name	Required	Description
C1: OAuth2 Settings	○	Specify OAuth2 settings to be used for connection to Box. The OAuth2 settings you specify must have a token obtained in advance (see “Box and Questetra Integration Settings”).
C2: Source File ID to create a signing document from	○	Specify the Data Item “File ID” to which the ID of the uploaded file will be saved.
C3: Folder ID to save the signing document (Root cannot be used)	–	Specify the ID of the Box folder where the signed PDF file and certificate PDF will be stored This time, specify the Data Item “Folder ID”
C4: Email Addresses of the signers (Write one per line)	○	Specify the Data Item “Signer Address” in which the signer’s email address is entered
C5: Password for each signer (please start a new line for each case)	–	Specify the Data Item “Password” in which the password is to be entered If you do not want to use the password, specify “blank” at the top of the drop-down and delete the “Password” Data Item
C6: Email Subject (Default subject if blank)	–	Specify “#{#q_subject}” that refers to the data item “Email Subject” in which the string that will become the subject of the email to be sent is entered
C7: Message to include in the email (Default message if blank)	–	Specifies “#{#q_body}” that refers to the Data Item “Email Body” in which the string that will become the body of the email to be sent is entered

Workflow App Operation

Enter the information required for the first Human Task “Specify File/Signer”. If the signer and folder are the same every time, you can set the address and folder ID in [Initial Value] so that the input can be completed by simply selecting the file.

In the following automatic step “File Upload,” the file is uploaded to the folder in the Box specified in the “Folder ID” Data Item, and the file ID in Box is obtained and saved in the “File ID” Data Item.

In the “Request Signature” step, the values of the specified Data Items are passed to Box, and Box will send a signature request email based on this information. The sender’s information will be the information registered in Box by the User who has set up OAuth2 authentication.

The sample Apps introduced here are simple enough to check the operation of Box Sign, but Questetra provides many other automated processes that work with Box, so please challenge yourself to develop more convenient workflow Apps that use a combination of these processes.

Reference：
Utilising Box From Your Workflow
Process Start Triggered by a File Upload to Box