Customize a Multiple Choice Variable
Multiple Choice variables let users select one or more answers from a list, and the selected option or its corresponding merge text is merged into the assembled document. Merge text can be specified either at a variable field or at the variable editor.
When you create a Multiple Choice variable, you can add a title or prompt to help the user know what information is required. You can also decide how answers are formatted when merged into the assembled document. Finally, you can add a resource or select advanced options that determine how the variable is processed and merged into the document.
Once a variable is created, you can edit it at any time.
To edit the properties of a Multiple Choice variable
- Insert a variable and select Multiple Choice as the variable type.
- At the Variable Field dialog box, click the
Edit Component button to open the Multiple Choice Variable Editor. - In the Option column, enter at least two options for users to choose from. (Do not create an option with the exact text None of the Above or Other. Instead, select None of the Above or Other from the Select option.)
- Optionally, type a prompt for the option in the Prompt column. The prompt (instead of the corresponding Option text) appears for the options during the interview. (If you need more space for the prompt, click the Options tab and type the text there.)
- Optionally, type the text you want merged into the assembled document in the Default Merge Text column. (If you need more space for the merge text, click the Options tab and type the text there.)
- From the Select drop-down list, select either One Only or All That Apply.
- Depending on your selection in Step 6, select Other or None of the Above. (These options allow users to either type an answer not in the list or specify that the answer needed is not available in the list.)
- Choose a display style from the Style drop-down list. The available styles depend on the selection style.
- Make any of these changes:
| To | Do This |
| Add longer prompts and merge text for each option, as well as suggest an answer for the user | Click the Options tab and make your changes. |
| Specify a default format that will be applied to all instances of the variable (except when a field-specific format has been assigned) | Select a format from the Default format drop-down list.
Optionally, to keep the answer from breaking across lines in the document, select Non-breaking. |
| Specify an alternate name for the variable | Enter a title in the Title field.
|
| Provide users with additional information about the variable | Enter a prompt in the Prompt field. This information replaces the Variable name and Variable title when the variable is presented during the interview. |
| Control how the variable is processed during assembly, as well as how its answer appears in the interview and in the assembled document | Click the Advanced tab and select any of the options. (See Control How HotDocs Processes a Variable, and Specify the Width of Answer Fields in the Interview.) |
| Provide users with helpful information that can assist them in providing the correct answer | Click the Resource tab and provide a resource option. |
| View a list of all components that refer to this variable | Click the Used In tab. (See View Relationship Between the Current Component and Other Components.) |
| Enter notes about the component, such as an explanation about why the component was created or how it should function in the interview | Click the Notes tab and enter your comments. |
| Save changes to the variable without closing the variable editor | Click Save. |
You can control whether merge text is a default property of the variable component, or whether it's a field-specific property of a variable field.
Add and delete rows of options by clicking Insert or Delete.
You can use existing option or merge text lists when you create other Multiple Choice variables in the template. To do this, click the Option and Merge Text column headings and choose the group.
You can copy and paste options either to or from the Multiple Choice Variable Editor.
To SET two or more options for a Multiple Choice variable in a computation script, separate each option with a vertical bar (for example, SET MC Variable TO "Option1|Option2|Option3"). (The Multiple Choice variable must have the Select All That Apply property selected.)
Multiple Choice variables to insert gender references, such as pronouns, are common in templates. HotDocs automatically includes common pronoun sets in the Merge Text list. Click the Merge Text column heading and select an option.
You can customize Multiple Choice option prompts and merge text based on answers the user enters in the interview.