Text Variable Editor

A Text variable gathers a text value as an answer from a template user; such values include names or descriptions. A Text variable also accepts numbers that are never used in calculations, such as telephone numbers, U.S. Social Security numbers, and times of day.

To access the Text variable Editor, you can:

In Component Studio, click New > Text variable to create a new Text variable
Click on an existing Text variable in from the components list in Component Studio
Open a Text variable in a pop-up editor by clicking the Edit Component button in the Field Editor

image

Common Tasks

Component Toolbar

Basic component actions appear in the component toolbar, above the component properties.

Button	What it Does
Test	Displays the selected component in the HotDocs Test Browser.
Rename	Displays the Rename Component dialog box that enables you to rename your component and perform other rename-related options. The Rename button is not available from the pop-up editor (the editor invoked from the Field Editor).
Duplicate	Displays the Duplicate Components dialog box that enables you to create a copy of this component in the component file.
Tools	Shows or hides the Tools pane on the right.
Delete	Displays the Delete Component dialog box that enables you to delete the component. You can also view a list of templates or components that currently reference the selected component and you may have to fix after deletion.

Component Identity Property

Enables you, in text boxes located at the top of the editor, to define how the variable is identified, and what answer type it has when authoring a template:

Property Name

What it Does

Name

Enables you to view and edit the name of your variable. You can easily this property if your no other components or templates reference the variable; otherwise, this property becomes read-only.

It is not advisable to rename variables once another component or template references them, since this can cause major answer mismatches during document assembly.

If read-only, you can rename your variable using the Rename button on the toolbar.

Component names must be unique within the template and component file.

Answer Type

Settable only for Single Select or Multi Select variables; indicates the value type of the answer the variable can gather in the interview. The answer type for each of the four primitive variables corresponds to their variable names (Text, Number, Date, True/False). The answer type for a Table variable is Record. Choices for selection variables include all of the foregoing, as well as a list of values of each of the foregoing types, e.g. Text List, Date List, etc.

Display Tab

The Display tab enables you to define how the variable appears to the template user during the interview:

Property Name	What it Does
Prompt	Enables you to provide the interview question text to help a user answer a question during an interview. If you do not provide any prompt text, then the Title property text will display as the interview question text. If there is no Title property text, the variable name will display as the interview question text.
Style on regular dialogs	A subgroup of properties for setting the style of the text variable's answer text box when the Text variable is displayed in an interview using a regular (non-repeated or series) dialog: Single line – limits, to a single line, the text box that template users type their answer in during an interview Input mask – enables you to ensure your template user provides an answer in the correct form when answering a Text variable in an interview. For more information, see Input Masks Overview. Single line with answer suggestions – enables you to suggest answers (that you define) to the template user when they are answering an interview question based on the current Text variable: Option source – enables you to designate any option source already existing in the component file to act as the source of the answer suggestions you want to provide to your template users Suggestion text – enables you (once you have selected a source) to designate any column of data from the Option Source to display as possible answers to your template users in the interview; if you do not do this, the suggested text comes from the column you marked as a key in the option source Style – enables you to select the visual style of the answer suggestions that are displayed in the interview: Drop-down list – a control that attaches a drop-down button (arrow) to the right of the answer text box, that when clicked, displays (drops down) your answer suggestions as a list contained in a box. When the template user selects an answer, the display reverts to its inactive state, only displaying the selected answer in the answer text box. Buttons (single column) – presents the answer suggestions as a single column list of radio buttons—circular holes that can contain white space (for unselected) or a dot (for selected). Each button is accompanied by a label describing the choice that the radio button represents. Buttons (multi column) – presents the answer suggestions as a multiple column list of radio buttons—circular holes that can contain white space (for unselected) or a dot (for selected). Each button is accompanied by a label describing the choice that the radio button represents. The buttons in a multi column style are populated in the following manner: HotDocs first considers the total number of options. If there are two to eight options, HotDocs will split the options evenly into two columns (with the first half of the options being in the left column and the second half in the right column). If there are more than eight options, HotDocs will split the options evenly into three columns (with the first third of the options being in the left column, the second third in the middle column, and the last third in the right column). Multi line – enables you to increase, beyond a single line, the size of the text box that template users type their answers in during an interview and to control the paragraph behavior Answer text box height – enables you to set the number of lines that the answer text box displays at during the interview Multi paragraph – enables you to control what happens when a template user presses the enter key when typing into an answer text box. When selected, the enter key inserts a new paragraph mark, when not selected, enter inserts a line break.
Width on regular dialogs	Provides you with options for setting the width of the Text variable's answer text box when the Text variable is displayed in an interview using a regular (non-repeated or series) dialog: Automatic – sets the width of the answer text box to the HotDocs default for Text variables. HotDocs calculates the default by first looking at the Length (characters maximum) and Input mask properties. If no maximum length or Input mask is set, HotDocs defaults to approximately fifty characters. If a maximum length or input mask is set, the HotDocs defaults to a width that appropriately scales according to that value. Full – sets the width of the answer text box to the full space available in the interview Exactly – sets the width of the answer text box to the exact number of units you specify (each unit is about equal to the width of the character 5) The selection you make for this property does not affect how many characters your template user can type into the answer text box, it only affects the width of the answer text box itself.
Width on spreadsheet dialogs	Provides you with options for setting the width of the Text variable's answer text box when the Text variable is used in a spreadsheet dialog: Automatic – sets the width of the answer text box to the HotDocs default At least – sets the width of the answer text box to the number of units you specify or larger as needed (each unit is about equal to the width of the character 5)
Length (characters maximum)	Enables you to control the number of characters HotDocs allows the template user to type in the answer text box. Selecting a length of zero removes any limits the length of answers.
Title	Enables you to give your component a title that appears in the interview outline and in the dialog title bar. If the component appears in a custom dialog, the title only appears when you don't provide text in the Prompt property.

Behavior Tab

The Behavior tab provides you with options that enable you to change how a component behaves during the interview and assembly:

Property Name	What it Does
Ask automatically	Causes HotDocs to ask the variable in an interview as long as the following conditions are also true: The answer for the variable is used within the template (for example, tested in an IF instruction or referenced in a field that places a template user's answer into the text of the final document during assembly) The variable has been asked before in the interview If you previously linked the variable to a dialog, Ask automatically also causes HotDocs to ask that dialog within the interview. When you clear this option, HotDocs prevents the variable question from appearing in an interview unless the variable is used in a dialog that is specifically asked.
Warn when unanswered	Enables you to have HotDocs display a warning message if a template user attempts to finish the interview without answering one or more questions. If you clear this option, the End of Interview dialog still reports the question as unanswered; however, HotDocs does not display a warning message.
Save answer	Enables you to cause HotDocs to store the answer in the answer file. You can uncheck this box when you only need the answer to provide a value to a local variable and do not want HotDocs to store it for later reuse.
If answer is irrelevant	Enables you to specify whether HotDocs shows, hides, or disables variables that a template user's choices cause to be irrelevant within an interview. Default – causes the variable to use the default setting, which you define at the Template Properties dialog box Interview Behavior tab Gray – causes the variable to appear grayed out if the template user does not include it in the document (this is the default option for all variables) Hide – causes HotDocs to hide the variable if the template user does not include it in the document. If the template user changes the answer file and the variable is now needed, HotDocs shows the variable in the dialog. Show – causes the variable to always appear in the dialog, regardless of whether it's used or not Any selection you make here will override the selection of the Automatically disable irrelevant variables and dialogs template property. true?
Default format	Enables you to set the format for every placeholder field that references this component throughout the template. Setting a format enables you to define the pattern HotDocs uses to format answers or other values in assembled documents; for example, you can use the 'LIKE THIS' text format to capitalize all letters in a name, the 'nine' number format to spell out a numeral, or the pattern 'dd/mm/yyyy' to format a date answer as text. Setting a default format does not override any formats you have already (or will) set for an individual placeholder field using the HotDocs Field Editor.
Default unanswered text	Enables you to specify what text you want HotDocs to place into the final document when a template user leaves the variable unanswered. This text overrides the Unanswered variable placeholder you can select in the Template Properties dialog box Assembly Behavior Tab.
Pad answer to fixed number of characters	Enables you to change how answers are displayed in the assembled document by altering the padding of the answer according to the characteristics you specify using the following properties: Padded Width – enables you to specify, by selecting a fixed number of characters, the width of the area in the assembled document that contains an answer Answer alignment – enables you to specify the alignment of the answer in the area of the assembled document that contains an answer: Left – the answer appears first, followed by the appropriate amount of pad characters Right – the appropriate amount of pad characters appear first, followed by the answer Pad character – Enables you to specify which character HotDocs uses to pad any spaces left over if the answer doesn't use all the width you specify in the Padded width property. If the answer is shorter than the padded width, HotDocs inserts the necessary number of pad characters. The default fill character is a space.

Notes Tab

To provide you a quick way to know if this tab contains any content, you can see a + symbol on the tab if there is a note.

As you create components, you may want to include notes to remind yourself of decisions you made when creating the component. For example, maybe you need to remember information about restrictions you applied to a Number variable, or remind yourself of the purpose of the component in the template.

The notes tab enables you to type any notes you want about the component and its role in the template.

This information is not visible in the interview; it is for the author’s reference only.

Additional Information Expander

The Additional information expander, located at the bottom of the component editor, enables you to open the additional information pane so you can edit the additional information property:

Property Name

Explanation

Additional information

Enables you to provide supplemental help text (or an external URL) to help your template users better understand how to answer a question in an interview. Template users access this information by viewing the additional information pane in the interview interface.

Text – enables you to type helpful information in the text box which is displayed in the additional information pane in the interview

You can use HTML and CSS in the text box to format the text that displays in the additional information pane in the interview. As such, if you want to preserve angle brackets in your text (for example, <Your Name>) you must use the codes < and > to insert the brackets (for example, <Your Name>).

URL – enables you to type a URL for a website in the text box (be sure to include the http:// protocol in your link). This link is displayed in the additional information pane in the interview.

To provide you a quick way to know if this pane contains any content, the content (if any) is summarized to the right of the pane's label.

Tools Pane

On the right side of the component editor you can view a tools pane containing various (Components, Models, Used in, or Field Editor) tabs for this component.

You can use the Tools button on the Component toolbar to show or hide the tools pane.

Info Tab

When you select a component in the Components column of Component Studio, you can look at the Info tab on the far right of the component editor to see the type of the currently selected component, as well as a list of other components or templates (if there are any) that use the component you select.

Element	What it Does
Type	Displays the type of the component you selected in the Components column.
Used in	Displays a list of other components or templates (if there are any) that use the component you select. Double-clicking an item in the Used In section opens that item for editing, and places focus on the first reference to the component you selected in the Components column.

Field Editor Tab

When you select a text-based component property that can contain fields, such as a prompt for a variable or a cell in a Fixed Table, the Field Editor tab appears in the Tools panel. Any HotDocs fields you add to the text that appear in an interview. When a template user provides an answer for that placeholder field in the interview, the answer appears in the component's interview display text.

The Field Editor works in this context just as it does in a DOCX template or in HotDocs Composer.

If you use a placeholder field in a component's interview display text, you must ensure the template user provides an answer for that placeholder before the interview displays the component containing the placeholder field.