ASK DIALOG
| PlaceholderA marker in an instruction or expression model that indicates where a value must be substituted. This value must be a literal value or a variable. Instruction and expression models help the developer use the correct syntax in a script. |
Replace With |
| DIALOGIn template development, represents the component in which the developer groups variables and other components. In document assembly, represents the group of questions in the Interview tab of the assembly window where users enter their answers. |
Any dialog in the templateA word processor or form document that has been converted to HotDocs format so that it can be automated. When in template format, changeable text in the template can be replaced with variables. Other instructions can be added as well, such as instructions that create lists, condition text, and insert other templates. |
The ASK DIALOG instructionA command in a script or template that performs a special task, such as inserting a template or asking a dialog at a specific place in the interview. allows you to control the orderThe process of designating the sequence in which form template fields are asked in the tab order. Establishing this order in a form is important for users who directly fill the form document. in which dialogs appear in an interviewA series of dialogs, each containing one or more questions which HotDocs generates from the variables you add to your template. The template's user must answer the questions in the interview before HotDocs can assemble a custom document. You can view the interview by clicking the Interview tab of the assembly window. The left pane of the assembly window displays an outline of the interview. As the user answers questions, the outline tracks the user's progress through the interview.. (See Control When Your Dialogs Appear.)
ASK instructions are also useful when some interview questions should only be asked in certain situations. In the following example, HotDocs only asks the Buyer Information dialog if the userThe customer, client, or person who assembles documents from templates. (See also template developer.) is a first-time buyer:
«IF First Time Buyer»
«ASK Buyer Information»
«END IF»
In general, the ASK instruction tells HotDocs to display a dialog as soon as the instruction is processed. You can insert an ASK instruction directly in the template, or use a Computation variableA type of component that performs calculations or executes other instructions within the template. Computation variable scripts are created using the HotDocs scripting language. to ask several dialogs at once. In fact, you can control the entire interview by using a series of ASK and other instructions in a single computation. (See Define a Custom Interview for details.)