Previous Topic
Group Variables in Dialogs
If you plan to assemble HotDocs Models using HotDocs, you may find that you want variables to be grouped together during the interview. For example, you may want variables asking for information about the client (such as name, gender, birth date, and so forth) to be asked in the same group, rather than asked individually.
To group variables into dialogs, you must create a Dialogs table in the HotDocs Model. This table lists each dialog you want to use. For each dialog, you list the variables you want to include in the dialog as well as other properties you want defined for the dialog. For example, a typical Dialogs table may look like this:
DIALOGS
| Name | Title | Contents | Resource | Additional |
| DependentData | Dependent Information | DependentExplained ChildName ChildBirthDate | Please list children in birth order, from oldest to youngest | style=repeated |
| ClientData | Client Information | ClientName ClientGender ClientBirthDate | ||
| PropertyData | Property Information | PropertyDescription PropertyLocation PropertyValue | style=repeated |
Sometimes you may need to add standalone text to a dialog to help the user better understand the questions that are being asked. You can do this either by typing the text directly in the Contents column (surrounding it in quotation marks) or by creating a dialog text variable.
Just as you assign properties to variables, you can assign properties to a dialog. For example, you can define a title for the dialog as well as choose a style for the dialog if it must be repeated. The following table describes these properties:
| Property Name | Description | Value |
| name (required) | Specifies the name of the dialog. | Any valid variable name. (See Mark Variable Text for rules on naming variables.) |
| contents (required) | Lists the variables and dialogs that are to be included in the dialog. (The order in which you list the contents will be the order they appear in the dialog.) | Variable1/ Variable2/ Variable 3 Variables can be separated either by hard returns or by a forward slash. |
| title | Specifies the title of the dialog. The title is what the user will see during the interview.
If you do not specify a title, HotDocs will attempt to generate a title, based on the dialog name. It does this by inserting a space wherever it finds a capital letter. So, for example, the dialog name ClientInformation would generate the title Client Information. |
Any text |
| resource | Provides additional help text for answering all of the questions in the dialog. This text appears in the resource pane of the HotDocs assembly window. | Any text |
| style | Specifies whether the dialog is asked once, as a series of dialogs, as a spreadsheet, or as a spreadsheet embedded on the parent dialog. | (regular)
repeated spreadsheet ssonparent |
| group | Lets you group True/False variables so they can appear either as option buttons (which let the user choose one of the options) or check boxes (which let the user choose multiple options). | (none)
single multiple |
| none | Provides users with a "none of the above" option when True/False fields in the dialog are grouped. | (no)
yes |
| label | Lets you assign a label to a dialog that is repeated as a series. The label is used to identify the top node of the repeated dialog in the interview outline. | Any text |
| prompt | Specifies the text that will be used to identify a child dialog on its parent. | Any text |
| rows | Defines the visible number of rows in a dialog that is repeated as a spreadsheet. | Any number |
| ask | Causes the dialog to be asked automatically in the interview. | (yes)
no |
| irrelevant | Defines how a dialog that isn't required in the interview should be treated. For example, if a dialog contains variables that aren't used in the interview, this setting will determine whether the dialog is hidden (because it isn't necessary) or shown. | (hide)
show |
You can control the order dialogs are asked in the interview. See Define the Order of Dialogs in the Interview for details.