Field Editor: Repeated Region

You use the Field Editor to designate a repeated region in your template. This creates a REPEAT instruction field at the beginning of the repeated region and a END REPEAT instruction field at the end of the repeated region. It also enables you to designate a repeated dialog so that HotDocs can gather multiple answers for each question the dialog presents to your template users in the interview. During document assembly, HotDocs then adds these answers as a list it creates at the location you designated as a repeated region.

To view the options for a repeated region, in the Field Editor select Create a repeated region.

Common Tasks

Field Type

The Field Type element of the HotDocs Field Editor declares whether the currently selected HotDocs Field is a placeholder field or an instruction field.

Field Properties

Element	What it Does
Repeated Dialog Name	Enables you to select a repeated dialog to use for this repeated region. You can use the drop-down list to select an existing dialog or type in a new one. Click the edit button to use the pop-up dialog editor and access the same component properties you see in the Dialog Editor in Component Studio. The dialog should contain the variables within the repeated region.
Dialog Contents	Displays a list of the variables on the selected dialog. Use the ... button to drag the list down to make it longer.
List Format	Enables you to choose a list format for the list of answers the repeated dialog gathers in the interview. This list format tells HotDocs how to format that list of answers when assembling a document.

Advanced Properties

Select the Advanced Properties expander to see further options for the repeated region:

Property Name	What it Does
Sort repetitions by this variable	Enables you to select the variable you want to use to sort the list. You can use the drop-down list to select an existing variable or type in a new one. Click the edit button to use the pop-up variable editor and access the same component properties you see in component studio. You can then choose how the list is sorted: Sort ascending (A-Z) – orders from lowest value at the top to highest at the bottom (or alphabetically from the top down) using the variable you selected Sort descending (Z-A) – orders from highest value at the top to lowest at the bottom (or alphabetically from the bottom up) using the variable you selected
Then sort repetitions by this variable	(Only appears when you select a variable from the Sort answers by this variable drop-down) Enables you to select the variable you want to use to sort within the already sorted list. You can use the drop-down list to select an existing variable or type in a new one. Click the edit button to use the pop-up variable editor and access the same component properties you see in component studio. You can then choose how the list is sorted: Sort ascending (A-Z) – orders from lowest value at the top to highest at the bottom (or alphabetically from the top down) using the variable you selected Sort descending (Z-A) – orders from highest value at the top to lowest at the bottom (or alphabetically from the bottom up) using the variable you selected
Repetition filter computation	Enables you to select a computation that returns a true/false value that HotDocs uses to filter answers out of the list that don't meet the criteria. You can use the drop-down list to select an existing computation or type in a new one. Click the edit button to use the pop-up editor and access the same component properties you see in component studio. You can then choose when HotDocs uses the filter: Sort repetitions; then apply filter – HotDocs performs any sorting instructions first and then filters the list according to the selected computation Apply filter; then sort remaining repetitions – HotDocs first filters the list according to the computation and then performs any sorting instructions
Preserve empty paragraph	Enables you to force HotDocs to keep an empty paragraph left behind when HotDocs removes a HotDocs field when assembling a document.
Comment	You can use this to add notes about the field. A field with a comment attached displays a grey C next to the field name on the template.

Field Toolbar

At the bottom of the HotDocs Field Editor, you have access to the following actions:

Buttons	What it Does
Add Field	Adds the placeholder field to the template in the selected location.
Navigation	When a placeholder field is selected, navigation buttons show. Use < and > to navigate to the next HotDocs field. When a conditional instruction is selected, such as ELSE IF, navigation buttons help you to match the corresponding instructions, such as END IF.
Delete Field Button [X]	Selecting anywhere in a HotDocs field causes the Delete field button to appear. If you select outside a HotDocs field, or include anything besides a single HotDocs field, the button disappears (if it was previously visible), or else does not appear. Clicking the Delete field button removes the selected field completely. Clicking Microsoft Word's Undo button restores the field completely. The Delete field button exists to solve a particular problem: In Microsoft Word, you can delete a HotDocs field by clicking in the field, then clicking the field's handle, and then pressing the DELETE key on the keyboard. However, if you select the field using only the keyboard, Word does not easily enable you to delete the field. You can do so by deleting all the content of the field and then pressing the DELETE key again, or if your cursor is just to the right of the field, you can press the Backspace button once to select the field's content, a second time to delete the content, then a third time removes the field. HotDocs provides the Delete field button to simplify this process.