In HotDocs there are a some features which, while working as expected, may at first seem counter intuitive. The following is a list of common confusions and known issues:
Using a SET instruction in a repeated dialog script can result in unanswered repetitions in the assembled document In a dialog script, if you SET a variable to an answer in a repeated dialog script
without using a condition on the SET instruction, HotDocs sets that variable every
time you create a new iteration of the dialog. As a result, your answer file may
contain more answers than what you intended. (This is especially true if the variable
in the SET instruction is hidden on the dialog.) Although you may not see that repetition
in the interview, it exists in the answer file.
During a desktop assembly, HotDocs keeps track of how many repetitions of the dialog
are visible and then uses that information when assembling the document to prevent
seemingly unanswered repetitions from appearing in your document. However, if you
perform the assembly silently (without showing the assembly window), or you perform
the assembly using HotDocs Server, HotDocs does not track the number of repetitions
shown in the interview and must assemble the document based only on what is available
in the answer file.
You can avoid the situation where these extra, unanswered repetitions appear in your
assembled document by adding an IF instruction to the dialog script so that the script
only SETs the variable if some other variable in the repetition is answered. Likewise,
you can add a FILTER on the REPEAT instruction in your template to filter out any
unwanted repetitions in which the only answered values are the ones that are hidden.
The following is an example of a dialog script that only SETs a variable if you answer another variable:
HIDE Repeat Variable
IF ANSWERED(Test2)
SET Repeat Variable TO “AutomaticallySetValue”
ELSE
SET Repeat Variable TO UNANSWERED
END IF
'/', '\', and '?' cannot be included in the template name when you are creating a template package for use in a HotDocs Cloud Services direct interview.