Fast Field Insertion Tool

The Fast Field Insertion tool is a small popup window that enables you to quickly add a placeholder field for an existing variable to your template.

If you have a group of pre-existing variables you create as you plan your Author template project, you can use the Fast Field Insertion Tool to add placeholder fields that reference these components much more quickly than you can using the HotDocs Field Editor method.

You launch the Fast Field Insertion tool by pressing the keyboard shortcut (default is Ctrl+.) within any of HotDocs Author's editable areas:

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  1. Common Tasks
  2. Tool Elements
  3. Other Behaviors

Common Tasks

The Fast Field Insertion tool enables you to:

Tool Elements

The Fast Field Insertion tool consists of a list of previously created variables topped by a search box, as follows:

Element What it Does
Search box As you type, HotDocs searches for the variables and computations found in the template's component file containing the characters you type.
List of variables Enables you to see a list of the variables and computations found in the template's component file containing the characters you type into the search box. HotDocs also highlights the characters you typed in the search results.
To select an item in the list:
  • Press the tab key—this highlights the variable at the top of the list
  • Press the down arrow key—moves the selection down the list

Once you select the variable you want to insert, press ENTER to insert it.

When you have filtered your search down to one result, you can press Enter to insert it, no need to highlight. 

Other Behaviors

The following behaviors are also worth noting: