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MergeDataSheetTemplate
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Data Sheets
In XpressDox, a Data Sheet is a document that contains a table with a list of data elements and values.
Why a data sheet?
A data sheet is useful in the case where, for example, a lengthy and complex document is produced by a template, and the list of answers provided in the interview needs to be looked over by a senior staff member. Examining the data sheet for the values of the data elements captured for that template will typically not be as time consuming as searching through the (long) assembled document for the occurrences of the inserted data element values.
For example, a Mortgage Bond document is typically of the order of 20-50 pages long, but the important pieces of information are few: i.e. the names and personal details of the mortgagor(s), and the amount of the loan (and a few other items). In this case the data sheet would not be longer than a page.
There are 2 elements to setting up a data sheet; the configuration, and the instruction on the template to print the data sheet.
Configuration
XpressDox will create a data sheet automatically for every template in a folder, as controlled by the configuration for that folder. Here is a screen shot of the first page of a configuration screen showing how the data sheet creation option has been selected:
- Note that the “Document to be used as a sample” can be left empty. XpressDox will then use its standard data sheet sample to create the data sheet template.
- The sample data sheet must conform to the format of the standard data sheet sample. This sample can be found in the Program Files (or Program Files (x86)) where XpressDox is installed. For instance, for the 32 bit version of Word, the sample data sheet will be found at
C:\Program Files (x86)\o2Smart\XpressDox\WordAddin\SampleDataSheet.docx. (This assumes that your programs are installed on the C: drive). (If you have the 64 bit version of Word, or your Windows version is a 32 bit version, then look the the Program Files folder (without the x86)).
If you have neither the 32 or 64 bit version (the installer was consolidated into 1 in v12.3) then the path will likely be C:\Program Files\XpressDox\WordAddin\SampleDataSheet.docx. - Optional: You can control the Word styles of your data sheets by setting up your own data sheet sample document somewhere, with you own fonts, etc, and refer to it in the configuration field referred to here.
- The data sheet template will be created when the template is saved using the XpressDox Explorer “save” button. It will be created in the same folder as the source template, and will have a name looking like <TemplateName>_DataSheet_A.xdtpx. The <TemplateName> will have the same of the original template file name (without the extension). The “_A” at the end of the template file name indicates “Automatic”. You can create your own data sheet for any specific template by copying, modifying and saving the automatic template with “_M” in the name, instead of “_A”. XpressDox will then use your _M template when merging the data sheet.
Template
In order to have the data sheet merged, the original template must have the fillpoint «MergeDataSheetTemplate()
» included in it. This is treated just like a MergeTemplate command, except that XpressDox knows that it must use the data sheet template created for the originating template, and so the name of the data sheet template does not need to be supplied.
If you include a data element name in an XpressDox Tab command, that data element name will appear in the generated data sheet. That makes sense unless the data element never appears in the template (maybe you inadvertantly spelled it incorrectly), in which case it will appear in the data sheet but not in the interview.