Link an Existing Answer Source to Other Dialogs

You can use an answer source with a dialog other than the one it was created for. You must know the answer source file name (and location) as well as the names of the variables referenced in it.

To use an existing answer source

1. Edit the dialog you want to link to the answer source. (This dialog can be in any template.) (See Edit a Custom Dialog.)
2. Click the Options tab. The window changes to show several custom options.
3. In the Answer source field, enter the answer source file name. (If the answer source is saved in a location other than the HotDocs Answers folder or the current template's folder, enter a full folder path along with the file name.)
4. If the variable names in the current dialog match those in the answer source, click OK. If not, continue this process.
5. If the variable names in the current dialog don't match those in the answer source, click Map Variables. The HotDocs Variable Mapping dialog box appears. The variable names in the current dialog are listed in the Variable Name column.
6. In the Map To column, click the drop-down button corresponding to the first variable whose answer you want to come from the answer source. (The drop-down list contains the variables in the answer source that are the same type as the variables in the dialog.)
7. From the list, select the variable you want to map to the variable in the current dialog.
8. Continue selecting corresponding variables for each variable in the dialog you want to map.