Change Component File Properties

You can change certain template and component file properties at the component file level. Component file properties allow you to, among other things:

  • Specify default titles and descriptions for the template.
  • Define the interview for the template.
  • Control which parts of the assembly window (such as the interview outline and End of Interview dialog) appear for a given template.
  • Enable answer-editing at the Document Preview tab.
  • Choose which hidden data can be removed from an assembled document.
  • Define properties for how the interview will be displayed in a Web browser.

When you change component file properties, those changes usually affect a single template. However, if you are sharing component files (see Use One Component File for Multiple Templates), some properties may be applied to the shared file while others may be applied to the pointed component file. (See Specify Whether Component File Properties are Shared.)

To change component file properties

  1. Open Component Manager. (See Open and Close Component Manager.)
  2. Click the Component File Properties button. The Component File Properties dialog box appears. There are multiple tabs in the Component File Properties dialog box, for a more detailed description of each tab follow the links below:
    • At the General tab you are able to edit the template title, template description, the format of the component file and assign a shared component file.
    • At the Interview tab you can set options relating to the HotDocs interviews created by this template including using a default or custom interview, hiding the end of interview dialog, combining default dialogs, or generating default titles.
    • At the Assembly tab you can decide how HotDocs will assemble the finished document, including setting the processing stack depth, choosing the placeholder for any unanswered variables and setting a product title.
    • At the Hidden Data tab you can decide which pieces of hidden data are removed from the document.
    • At the HotDocs Server tab you can enable the template to work with HotDocs Server and set options for HotDocs Server interviews.
    • At the Answer Upload tab you can set the upload URL, friendly name and whether you would like answer files to be uploaded automatically.

Since the release of HotDocs 11.1, HotDocs no longer supports converting component files to pre-2009/10 formats.