Create a Foreign Language Template

You can automate templates in languages other than English. There are requirements for doing so, however. Specifically, you must create a LANGUAGE instruction in the template that, in turn, calls a special runtime DLL that lets you format dates and numbers in the template so they appear correctly in the assembled document.

When formatting date and number variables in your template, you must manually enter example formats in the language you have chosen for your template. If you attempt to use English-language formats, your date and number variables will not be processed correctly.

HotDocs supports formatting dates and numbers only in the languages listed below. If you are automating templates in a languages other than these and need specially formatted dates or numbers, you must use Text variables to represent these variables.

To create a template using a foreign language instruction

1. Create your template, using document text in the language you have chosen.
2. Create variables and dialogs, using variable names and prompts in the language you have chosen.
3. When inserting Date and Number variables, type the example format—in the foreign language—in the Format field. For example, if you have a French Date variable, you would type 3 Juin 2000. (Where you assign this format—either at the Date Variable Editor or at the Variable Field dialog box—depends on your project. See Format the Variable for ideas.)
4. Position the cursor in the template where you want the LANGUAGE instruction to take effect.
5. If you are using Microsoft Word, click the HotDocs drop-down menu in the HotDocs toolbar and choose Other Field from the list of options. The Other Field dialog box appears. (WordPerfect users, see step 10.)
6. Click the Field type drop-down button and choose LANGUAGE.
7. Click the Language drop-down button and choose the language you are using for the template. Your options include:

8. Optionally, enter the punctuation character you want to use for the Thousands separator and the Decimal separator in the appropriate fields.
9. Click OK. The instruction is merged in the template.
10. If you are using WordPerfect, copy and paste an existing variable and then replace the text between the chevrons (« ») with the language instruction. For example: «LANGUAGE FRA».

If you want to include a chevron in a HotDocs text template either as a part of your document text or a literal text string, you need to double the opening chevron (but not the closing chevron), so that HotDocs does not interpret the chevrons (and any text between them) as a field. The output is a single chevron, as follows: input: ««some text», output: «some text».

Once the instruction is in the template and the document is assembled, all Date and Number variables after the LANGUAGE instruction are processed in that specific language.

Only the Spanish language DLL recognizes the gender-specific use of the word one. Options for that language include uno, una, and un.

The LANGUAGE instruction only affects date and number formats. You can use the default formats for the other types of variables or create your own. For example, if you want to use a Spanish True/False variable format, type Sí/No in the Format field.