Set Rules for Handling Answer Overflow

An answer overflows when it takes more space than is available in the answer field of a form document. This often requires that some or all of the answer be sent to the addendum. You can set rules that automatically control what happens when answers overflow.

To control what happens when answers overflow

  1. At the HotDocs library, click the Options button. The HotDocs Options dialog box appears.
  2. Double-click the Form Documents folder. The folder expands to show several subfolders.
  3. Open the Properties for New Fields folder, then select the Overflow Properties subfolder. The window changes to show options that control answer overflow.
  4. Make selections for handling edit field overflow, based on the following options:
    • Select Shrink answer as needed to and then enter the point size in the points field. HotDocs will attempt to reduce the answer to this font size before warning of overflow.
    • Select Send answer to addendum to have HotDocs automatically resolve all overflow by sending answers to the addendum.
    • Select Split multi-line answer between form field and addendum to have HotDocs send only the part of the answer that overflows in a multi-line field to the addendum.
  5. Make selections for handling table overflow, based on the following options:
    • Select Send entire table to send all answers in the table to the addendum.
    • Select Send complete rows to send answers from each row that contains a cell which overflows to the addendum.
    • Select Send individual cells to send answers from individual cells that overflow to the addendum.

The changes you make are not applied to existing fields. The changes won't take effect until you create a new field.

You can customize the reference that appears in the overflowed answer field. This can help you determine where the answer is located in the addendum. (See Specify Addendum References and Labels for Answer Overflow.)

You can remove the rules that automatically handle answer overflow by clearing these options. This will require you to manually resolve each instance of answer overflow.