PDF Butler – Fill KeyValue DataSources from Flow

Before you begin, read this article to understand the configuration process. You can also watch the accompanying video tutorial for a visual walkthrough of each step.

#

PDF Butler supports Key-Value Data Sources, allowing you to populate data dynamically from a Salesforce Flow before generating a document.

This feature is useful when your document requires:

• Complex calculations
• Advanced validations
• Custom lookups
• Data assembled from multiple sources
• Information that is not easily retrieved through standard PDF Butler Data Sources

Previously, this type of functionality required Apex. With Key-Value Data Sources, you can now prepare and pass data directly from a Flow.

PDF Butler supports two types of Key-Value Data Sources:

• Single Key-Value Data Source – Passes a single record to PDF Butler.
• List Key-Value Data Source – Passes multiple records to PDF Butler.

The data is prepared inside the Flow and supplied to PDF Butler during document generation.

How It Works #

Because Salesforce Flow actions cannot currently pass complex objects directly to Apex, the data must be formatted as structured text.

Each record is represented as a string following this format:

DataSourceIdentifier|Field1:Value1;Field2:Value2;Field3:Value3

PDF Butler parses this string and populates the configured Key-Value Data Source.

Understanding the Data Format #

Each record consists of three parts:

DataSourceIdentifier
|
FieldName:Value
;
FieldName:Value
;
FieldName:Value

Components #

Example:

CustomerDataSourceId|name:John Smith;city:Antwerp;street:Main Street

You can identify the target Data Source using either:

• Salesforce Record ID
• Customer Data Source ID

Although both are supported, using the Customer Data Source ID is recommended because it remains consistent across Sandbox and Production environments.

Salesforce Record IDs differ between environments, while Customer Data Source IDs remain unique across all orgs.

Creating a Single Key-Value Data Source #

For a single record:

1. Create a Text Collection Variable in your Flow.
2. Create a Formula Resource that builds the structured string.
3. Add the formula output to the collection variable.
4. Pass the collection to the PDF Butler Flow Action.

Example:

CustomerDataSourceId|
name:John Smith;
city:Antwerp;
street:Main Street

This creates a single record containing three fields.

Creating a List Key-Value Data Source #

To populate multiple records:

1. Retrieve the records you want to include.
2. Loop through the collection.
3. During each loop iteration:
   • Build the structured string.
   • Add it to the Text Collection Variable.
4. Pass the completed collection to PDF Butler.

For example, when generating a document from an Account, you might:

• Retrieve all related Opportunities.
• Loop through each Opportunity.
• Create one structured string for each Opportunity.
• Add every string to the collection.

Each entry uses the same Data Source Identifier, allowing PDF Butler to recognize that all records belong to the same List Key-Value Data Source.

Example:

CustomerDataSourceId|name:Opportunity A;amount:25000
CustomerDataSourceId|name:Opportunity B;amount:18000
CustomerDataSourceId|name:Opportunity C;amount:50000

PDF Butler automatically converts these entries into a list of records.

Passing the Data to PDF Butler #

The PDF Butler Flow Action includes a parameter specifically for Key-Value Data Sources.

Pass the Text Collection Variable containing all of the formatted records into this parameter.

During document generation, PDF Butler reads each entry and populates the corresponding Key-Value Data Sources before processing the template.

Configure the Key-Value Data Source #

Unlike standard Data Sources, PDF Butler cannot automatically determine the available fields because they are defined dynamically inside the Flow.

Therefore, after creating the Key-Value Data Source, you must manually add every field in the configuration.

For example, if your Flow sends:

name
city
street

you must manually create these fields in the Data Source configuration.

Example configuration:

The field names configured in PDF Butler must exactly match the field names used in the Flow.