Input Masks Overview
An Input Mask is a text pattern you can use to ensure your template user provides an answer in the correct form when answering a Text variable in the interview. For example, if you want your template user to provide a U.S. Social Security number, you could choose the following input mask (using the Input Mask property on the Display tab of the Text Variable Editor): 999-99-9999, or if you want someone to properly enter a time, you could choose the 99:99 a.m. input mask.
Overview
Whenever you need to ensure that you are gathering textual data in the correct form, you want to use an input mask. There are a list of input masks that HotDocs provides on the My Formats tab of the HotDocs Options Dialog Box. You can add or delete from this list as you want. The values that appear on the My Formats tab are the values that you can choose from the Input Mask property's drop-down list on the Display tab of the Text Variable Editor. When you want to create a template using a language that HotDocs does not naturally support input masks can help format your answers correctly.
Common Tasks
Among others, input masks enables you to perform the following common tasks:
- Create an input mask
- Gather date and number values using a Text variable
Workflow
A display property that controls the type and order of characters a user can enter into the interview for a specific Text variable. You can access input masks in:
Input Masks Included with Author
The following input masks are included with Author:
| Input Mask | Template User's (Attempted) Answer | How Answer is Displayed in the Interview and the Document After Assembly |
| 999-99-9999 | 222-22-2222 | 222-22-2222 |
| (999)-99-9999 | 222-222-222 | (222)-22-2222 |
|
99:99 am |
800 AM | 8:00 am |
|
99:99 a.m. |
800 PM | 8:00 p.m. |
|
99:99 |
1230 pm | 12:30 |
When your users enter a time, they must enter a valid time appropriate to the input mask. For example, if the input mask is 99:99, numbers associated with a 24 hour clock are acceptable:
- Between 00 and 23 hours
- Between 00 and 59 minutes
Users can use numeric characters from a 12 hour clock if the input mask has an am or pm suffix:
- Between 01 and 12 hours
- Between 00 and 59 minutes
Use Codes to Customize an Input Mask
In addition to being able to create your own input masks, HotDocs also enables you to use codes to customize the specific characters in the input masks you create. You can use the following codes, along with hyphens, periods, static text, etc. to customize any input masks you create:
| Code | What HotDocs Will Require in the Interview |
| X | Any character |
| 9 | Any numeric character |
| A | Any alphabetic character |
| U | Uppercase alphabetic character |
| L | Lowercase alphabetic character |
| N | Alphanumeric character (9 and A) |
| H | Hexadecimal character (0-9, A-F, a-f) |
If you need a character in your input mask that HotDocs may interpret as a code, such as the letter X, you can force the character to appear as part of the input mask by typing a forward slash (/) and then the character.
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