Answer Mapping: Overview

You can use answer mapping to populate answer fields in an interview with data retrieved from a database. Workspace can fill answer fields or you can select data yourself. For example, when entering customer details, you can open a list containing the names of all customers. When you select the required name from the list, Workspace enters the answers for the name and any related fields (e.g. customer address, phone number) into the interview.

Answer Mapping in an Interview

The answer mapping appears as a button on an interview dialog:

When you click the button, a list of answers appears in a new Answer Source window.

Creating an Answer Mapping

Workspace retrieves the list of answers provided by an answer mapping from a database and matches it to variables in the HotDocs interview. An XML File defines the relationship between the database fields / HotDocs variables, the connection string to the database, and any queries made to the database.

Administrating an Answer Mapping

You can administer answer mappings in the Mappings section of Workspace. In this section, a Template Administrator can create new answer mappings or update and download existing answer mappings.

• Create Mapping — create a new answer mapping.
• Download — download the XML for an existing mapping.
• Update — update the details of an existing mapping, including Name, the Answer Mapping XML file, and the Groups to which you have allocated the mapping.