Dynamic building blocks

Dynamic forms allow you to create QUESTION and ANSWER screens (forms) that are shown when the template is run with Communications Manager ComposerUI. The answers provided are stored in the fields. Dynamic forms are created and maintained with the Form Editor. This is a WYSIWYG editor with which the forms developers can easily create forms without knowing all the ITP keywords. To insert these dynamic forms in the master template the template developer should use the FORM keyword.

Text Blocks are created and maintained with the Text Block editor. These Text Block can use variable fields. To insert a Text Block in a master template, refer to the instructions in the following section: TEXTBLOCK statement.

Content Wizards serve two purposes: on the one hand they offer an easy interface to the content developer to create pieces of content consisting of Text Blocks, document rules, and Forms. On the other hand, if needed, Content Wizard can bring forward a form where end user can select optional document sections and Text Blocks. To use a Content Wizard in a master template, the template developer should use the WIZARD keyword.

Documents created with Template scripting language usually use data from a data source. Data Backbones are used to describe the data in such a way that they can conveniently be used in documents. Data Backbones define the Field Sets and Fields that you can use in the content. Content Wizards can be created using the structure of the data (including repeating data).

Field Sets are the interface from dynamic form to content. Field Sets contain fields. In case of a form fields from a Field Set are used to store the user's answer in. These fields can then be used in the master template, for example to print the answer the user has given in the result document.

In case of a Text Blocks fields from a Field Set can be used as variable fields. The fields can be used by the text block editor to insert variable data in the text. The template developer is responsible for assigning a value to the fields in the Field Set that is used in a Text Block.

The Field Set needs to be declared to use the fields from the Field Set. For more information, refer to the following section: FIELDSET.

Text Block Lists are used in a form to present the user a question that run the template with a listing of Text Blocks. The user can select one of these Text Blocks to answer the question. Combining the VIEW keyword with the MULTISELECT keyword allows the user to select more than one Text Block. These Text Blocks question can be added to the existing keyword FORM with the keyword VIEW. A View question can also be added with the Form Editor (Text Block question).