Using a Word Processor Table to Display a List

You can insert a list of answers into a word processor table. As the user provides answers during the interview, HotDocs adds information to the table.

To insert a regular REPEAT into a word processor table

  1. Open HotDocs; then create a new text template.
  2. Create a table in your word processor. (See your word processor's documentation for information on creating tables.)
  3. Insert the variable you want to repeat in a cell within the table.
  4. Once you have created your variable, position the cursor before the first variable and select only the text within the cell, not the cell itself. You can tell when you have selected just the text within the cell when the grey highlight looks like the left-hand image below:

  1. Click the REPEAT Field button.
  2. Then click the Dialog drop-down button and select the dialog you want to repeat. (To create a new dialog, click theEdit Component button.)
  3. Select a repeat style for the dialog.
  4. When you have finished, click OK at the REPEAT Field dialog box. HotDocs inserts the REPEAT instruction in the table, like this:

To insert a row REPEAT into a word processor table

  1. Open HotDocs; then create a new text template.
  2. Create a table in your word processor with a single row and a column for each repeating variable. (If you want to use a row for column headings, create a two-row table and put the headings in the first row. See your word processor's documentation for information on creating tables.)
  3. Insert the variables in the table, with one variable per column.
  4. Once you have created your variables, position the cursor in the first table cell—before the first variable, and select the entire row.
  5. Click the REPEAT Field button. The REPEAT Field dialog box appears.
  6. Click the Dialog drop-down button and select the dialog you want to repeat. (To create a new dialog, click the Edit Component button.)
  7. Select a repeat style for the dialog.
  8. When you have finished, click OK at the REPEAT Field dialog box. HotDocs inserts the REPEAT instruction in the table, like this:

Due to the differences in how HotDocs assembles a DOCX template or an RTF template, there are often some differences in table formats. For example, if you choose to enclose the whole table in a repeat instruction rather than using REPEATs within the table, HotDocs does not recommend having any text on the same line as the REPEAT instruction preceding a table. In an RTF template HotDocs merges this text into the first cell of the table after assembly. In a DOCX template that text remains visible above the table; however, the table itself has a gap between each row. These issues can be avoided by placing the REPEAT instruction on a line by itself.