A template in ContactsLaw is comprised of:
- A template document (usually in DOTX/OFT format) containing static portions of the document as well as placeholders for formatted data from ContactsLaw to be inserted; in most host applications, these are called merge fields.
- A template definition which includes a name, document type, default configuration and instructions that tell ContactsLaw where to retrieve the data that will be dynamically inserted into the document during document building.
Document template editor
Templates are created and managed using the template editor. Once the template file is uploaded to the system, ContactsLaw determines the names of the field placeholders and presents the user with the ability to map data onto these. The list of available fields (determined by the document type and the selected set of
workgroups) is displayed on the side of the screen as a hierarchical tree. For fields that you map onto a placeholder within a template, you can apply
formatting rules to manipulate the data into the format that you want to see in the finished document. You can also create composite mappings, consisting of several ContactsLaw fields.
Controlled templates
Marking a template as 'controlled' will cause the system to use that template for a predefined purpose (usually involving automation); for example, right-clicking on a
contact and selecting to build an e-mail will cause the document creation
activity to be started and the controlled e-mail template to be selected from the list.
Some controlled types of templates will expose additional fields that you can use to build particular types of documents; for example, a
bill of costs. These types of documents must be generated from their designated area within the program, so that sufficient context can be provided.
Fragments
Main article: Document fragment
Fragments allow you to define content which can be inserted into other templates; they are effectively templates within templates. You can use fragments for e-mail signatures, enclosure lists, static paragraphs and more. They help to avoid repetition and make it easier to update templates when content or styles change.
Supported formats
Presently, ContactsLaw supports Microsoft Word (DOT/DOTX), Microsoft Outlook (OFT) and Microsoft Excel (XLT/XLTX) template files. Portable Document Format (PDF) files containing interactive forms can also be used as templates.
Microsoft Word templates use the built-in merge field construct to mark placeholders for data from ContactsLaw. Word documents containing form fields are also supported.
Microsoft Outlook and Excel do not have a built-in mechanism for inserting placeholder fields; thus, the right-and-left double angle bracket characters (« and ») are reserved for this purpose. In Outlook, both HTML and plain-text e-mail formats are supported, but not RTF.
Summary of features
| Word 97-2003 (.dot) |
Merge fields |
|
|
✓ |
|
| Word (.dotx) |
Merge fields
Form fields* |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
| Outlook (.oft) |
«Delimited» |
|
|
✓ |
✓ |
| Excel (.xlt, .xltx) |
«Delimited» |
✓ |
|
|
|
| Portable Document Format (.pdf) |
Form fields† |
|
|
|
|
| SMS (.cl-smst) |
«Delimited» |
|
|
|
|
* Form fields with no name will be ignored.
† AcroForm/XFA only. Some field types may not be supported.
See also