Appendix 1: Variable Properties

Following is a list of the different variable types, followed by the properties you can assign to each variable type:

Text Variables
Patterns	HotDocs allows you to assign a pattern to a text variable. The two most common patterns are telephone number patterns and Social Security number patterns. These patterns format users’ answers correctly both in the interview and in the assembled document.
Answer field height	Each variable in a template is asked in an answer-gathering dialog during the interview. You can control how tall (up to 12 lines) the answer field is in the dialog.
Maximum	The maximum number of characters allowed in a text answer is 15,000. If an answer requires a specific number less than this, you can specify it.

Number Variables
Maximum and minimum values	You can specify limits for how large or small a number can be. For example, if new employees are allowed between 10 and 15 paid vacation days, you can specify these limits so that users don’t inadvertently specify more vacation days than they are allowed.
Decimal places	You can indicate the number of decimal places (up to 7) that should be allowed in a number.
Currency symbol	You can designate whether a currency symbol should be used for a monetary amount. Predefined options include $, £, DM, and €, but you can enter your own. (Patterns have a 3-character limit).

Multiple Choice Variables
Multiple Choice options, prompts, and merge text	Multiple Choice variables allow users to choose an answer from a list of predefined options. If the options you specify aren't descriptive enough, you can define a prompt for each option. Additionally, you can specify different text for each option that will be merged in the completed document. For example, say you need to merge gender-specific pronouns (like he/she or his/hers) in the document. To do this, you would create a Multiple Choice variable (Gender) with two options—Male and Female—and then specify merge text that will merge the correct pronoun (he or she), based on the user’s gender.
Selection options and styles	You can allow users to select only one option or select multiple options. You can also designate whether the options appear as buttons or as lists. By default, all new Multiple Choice variables are set to Select One Only.

Computation Variables
Scripts	Computation variables tell HotDocs to perform a particular task during assembly, such as insert one template into another or perform some action based on an answer the user provides. Similarly, they are used to calculate monetary amounts or other figures, or find the number of years between two given dates, and so forth.