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Home → Using LincDoc 3.1+ → eForm Administration → LincDoc Markup - Microsoft Word/OpenOffice Source Files

7.3. LincDoc Markup - Microsoft Word/OpenOffice Source Files

This topic describes the syntax that must be used to define fields when marking up a Microsoft Word or OpenOffice source document for use in LincDoc

About Fields Identification

A field is identified by two "less than" symbols ( << ) followed by the field name followed by two "greater than" symbols ( >> ). For example: <<firstName>>.

The following rules apply to field names:

• Can only be composed of letters, numbers, and underscores
• Must start with a letter or underscore
• Must be 63 characters or less

About Hidden Fields

You can define hidden fields in your Word document. These fields never display in a generated document, but they will be part of the data entry process.

This field type is specified using the hidden option.

For example: <<firstName[hidden]>>

About Codelists

Both types of codelists available in LincDoc (codelists and codelist-custom) use drop-down list controls.

The value displayed from the drop-down list in your form is based on the "code" value of the underlying codelist. If you want to display the label, instead of the code value, you can use the CodeListLabel function via a Generation calculation.

Using Multi-value Fields Inside Tables

Sometimes a form needs to query the user to input multiple values (also known as multi-row values in LincDoc) for a particular set of fields that are to go into a table in the final document, and the number of values required is only known when executing the eForm. LincDoc will recognize this situation when any source document contains a simple two row table with the first row being a header row and the second row containing a template which describes what values are to be gathered at data entry time.

An example of this type of table is shown below:

First Name	Middle Initial	Last Name
<<fname#>>	<<minitial#>>	<<lname#>>

Notice how the field references end with a pound sign (#), which tells the LincDoc system that these fields are to contain multiple values. At data entry time the user will have the capability to enter as many rows of values as necessary. 

About Multi-value Tables

This technique does not work for PDF source documents. You must either use Microsoft Word files (.doc and .docx) or OpenOffice files (.odt).

• The first row of the table is a header row, if and only if the table has 2 rows. In other words, the header row is optional (in which case you would have a table with just one row).

• The first cell in the second row of the table must contain at least one field reference, and that reference must be the type that ends in a pound sign as demonstrated above.

• The table must be a simple table with no split or merged cells.

• The field names in the table must not end with a digit.
  For example, the following names are not supported:
  

  First Name	Middle Initial	Last Name
  <<fname1#>>	<<minitial1#>>	<<lname1#>>

• Similarly, you must not create a field that ends with a digit, and the prefix of the field name matches another field inside a multi-value table.
  Using the above example, you would not want to create a field (external to the table) named fname1.
• It is acceptable to embed multiple pound fields inside a single cell. For example:
  

  Name	Age	Address
  <<name#>>	<<age#>>	Street: <<street#>> City: <<city#>> State: <<state#>> Zip code: <<zip#>>

Preventing Multi-value Tables from Automatically Expanding

In the advanced case of having a repeating source document where it is desired to not have a multi-value table in that document expand out,  you can use the no_multirow_expand option in that source document's field definitions to prevent the expansion of multi-value tables.

For example: <<product#[no_multirow_expand]>>

Note: You can use the hidden option, described above, in conjunction with the no_multirow_expand option, as long as the options are separated by a comma within the square brackets (for example: <<product#[hidden, no_multirow_expand]>>)

About Conditional Text

Conditional text allows you to dynamically include paragraphs or text in your completed documents. This functionality is only available with Document Packages. For more information, see Document Package Markup.

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