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We have our Intranet on SharePoint. We have requirement wherein user has to fill a form and will optionally add attachments to the form. Once this form is uploaded we have to start an approval process.

I Checked the Default template feature of SharePoint Library. Wherein we can provide Properties as placeholders. Whenever the user clicks on Add new document a copy of template get's downloaded and the user can put values on placeholders. Then user saves this document to Server Library.

Here I found multiple concerns.

The user can enter wrong data. Which we can't validate/

The user can change the format of the document. Which we can't validate While uploading document user can see and make changes (like delete) other documents in that library.

Thus, what is OOTB approach for above requirement with no chance of a mistake?

I have thought of triggering a workflow on upload of the document. This workflow will start the approval process.

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If the requirement is to fill a form and add attachments to the form, then my suggestion is to use a SharePoint list instead of a library. With a list you can have fields for specific data types + validation. You can also enable attachments for the SharePoint list to allow users to add attachments to the form. To prevent users from modifying or deleting other list items, you can update the item-level permissions under Advanced Settings in the list settings.

If for some reason you need to work with Word forms instead, then in your SharePoint library you will have to create the same fields that you have on the Word form which is used as the library template. Then on your library template you need to replace the form fields with library fields - this will enforce users to stick to specific data types. As for deleting other documents in the library, again you have to update the item-level permissions in the library settings to Create items and edit items that were created by the user.

You can indeed start an approval process after a document is uploaded, or after an item is created if you decide to use a SharePoint list.

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