How To Topic

Modifying a Conditional Region to Include or Exclude Blocks of Text

You can modify a conditional region to include ELSE, ELSE IF, and additional IF instructions.

You cannot use an IF instruction to condition a table that appears within another table. For example, if you have a table which contains another table within one of its cells, you cannot use a condition to remove the embedded table during assembly. (If you do, HotDocs only removes the text from the table and leaves the empty table in the assembled document.)

To use IF and ELSE instructions to conditionally include a block of content or its alternative

1. Create a conditional region.
2. Highlight the END IF instruction and any following text you want to appear if none of the preceding conditions in the instruction are true.

   You can also add ELSE or ELSE IF instructions when you click on an END IF field and then click Modify or when you place the curser between an existing IF and END IF pair and click Modify a conditional region.

3. Under Field Type, click ELSE.
4. Click Add Field. HotDocs inserts an ELSE instruction before the content you selected and an END IF at the end of the selection.

If the condition in the IF field is not met, the piece of text surrounded by the Else condition appears in the final document instead. You do not need to specify a condition for this section—it will be used whenever all the earlier conditions are false.

To use IF and ELSE IF instructions and variables and computations to conditionally provide differing blocks of content

1. Create a conditional region.
2. Highlight the END IF instruction and any following text you want to appear if the preceding conditions are not met but another set of specific conditions is.

   You can also add ELSE or ELSE IF instructions when you click on an END IF field and then click Modify or when you place the curser between an existing IF and END IF pair and click Modify a conditional region.

3. Under Field Type, click ELSE IF.
4. Under Condition Type, choose a variable type or computation, then set the condition that makes the ELSE IF condition true by clicking in and providing a value for the following (as applicable):
   • Variable or computation name
   • Comparison
   • Value

   When the conditions in an ELSE IF instruction are all True/False variables, you can put them together in a single-selection group in a dialog.

5. Click Add Field. HotDocs inserts an ELSE IF instruction before the content you selected and an END IF at the end of the selection.
6. Repeat this procedure for each section of text you want to be conditional, making sure you select the preceding section’s END IF instruction, along with the new section of text.

To use IF and ELSE IF instructions and expressions to conditionally provide differing blocks of content

1. Create a conditional region.
2. Highlight the END IF instruction and any following text you want to appear if the preceding conditions are not met but another set of specific conditions is.

You can also add ELSE or ELSE IF instructions when you click on an END IF field and then click Modify or when you place the curser between an existing IF and END IF pair and click Modify a conditional region.

3. Under Field Type, click Else If.
4. Under Specify a condition type, click Expression.
5. In the Expression field, type an expression script which, when true, causes HotDocs to display the text you selected.  

   For example, the following is an expression that tests three different conditions: 1) the client must be married, 2) the client must be over age 25, and 3) the client must live in Pennsylvania: Client is Married AND AGE( Client Birth Date ) > 25 AND Client State= "Pennsylvania".

6. Click Add Field. HotDocs inserts an ELSE IF instruction before the content you selected and an END IF at the end of the selection.
7. Repeat this procedure for each section of conditional text, making sure you select the preceding section’s END IF instruction, along with the new section of text.

You can nest one or more IF instructions within another IF instruction.