Share Content Between Forms (Subforms and Phrases)

Add a Subform

To add a subform, follow the steps below:

1. In the output, select the objects you want to add to the subform. Right-click the selected objects, and then select New Subform on the context menu.

   Note: Only absolute (not conditional) objects can be added to a subform. Addtionally, make sure that those objects have the same values for their Absolute and Relative to position settings.

   

2. With the Subform dialog displayed, specify a subform type (Global or Local) and a subform name.

   

3. Click the OK button to confirm, and then a subform is added and shown in the output.

   

If you want to create a new subform from scratch, or select an already created one, click Subform on the Developer toolbar.

You can add the global or local subforms to your output. To do this, follow the steps listed below:

1. Click the down-pointed arrow next to Subform.

2. Select Insert Global Subform or Insert Local Subform.

   

3. After you have chosen a subform type, the mouse cursor changes its view. Click anywhere in the output to insert the subform.

4. Afterwards, use the Subform dialog that appears to add a subform.

It is also possible to add and manage subforms via the Subforms tab of Lasernet Developer.

Edit a Subform

To edit a subform, follow these steps:

• Do one of the following:

  • Double-click the subform tab.

    

  • Right-click the form, and then click Edit.

    

As a result, the subform editor opens.

Note

The subform editor only features tools designed for creating and manipulating absolute objects and not patterns with conditional rearranges.

To locate a subform in the same position as the objects added to the subform, select the Static subform check box on the toolbar of the subform editor. The position of the static subform is then locked in the output. Subforms marked as not static do not take the paper format into account.

The rearrange in the upper left corner is calculated internally with an off-set set to X= 0 and Y = 0, and other objects on the page are relative to that rearrange.

Subform Instance Properties

Subform instances have specific properties which are similar to those of rearranges. For more details about the rearrange properties, see Edit Rearrange Properties.

To open a dialog showing a list of subform instance properties, double-click a subform or right-click it, and then select the required command on the context menu.

Adding a Subform

To add a subform to XML, EDI or JSON format output, follow the steps listed below:

1. In the output, right-click a top node of the structure you want to add to the subform. On the context menu that appears, select New Subform. As a result, this node as well as all its child node(s), rearranges and patterns added to them are copied/moved to this subform.

   

2. With the Subform dialog displayed, specify a subform type (Global or Local) and a subform name.

   

3. Click the OK button to confirm. As a result, the subform is added and shown in the output.

   

Note

A local subform is added within the current form. It becomes available for each sheet of the form possessing the same output type.

Note

A global subform which is added becomes available of all the forms of the same input/output formats within the current configuration.

If you want to create a new subform from scratch, or select an already created one, use the Subform tool on the Developer toolbar.

You can add the following subform types to your output: global or local. To do this, follow the steps listed below:

1. Click the down-pointed arrow next to the Subform tool.

2. On the menu that appears, click a command of your choice: Insert Global Subform or Insert Local Subform.

   

3. After you have chosen a subform type, the mouse cursor changes its view. Click anywhere in the output to insert the subform.

4. Afterwards, use the Subform dialog that appears to add a subform.

It is also possible to add and manage subforms via the Subforms tab of the Lasernet Developer.

Editing a Subform

To edit a subform, do one of the following actions:

• Double-click the subform tab.

  

• Right-click the form, and then click Edit Subform.

  

As a result, the subform editor opens.

Add Rearranges and Patterns to Subform Structure

Working with subforms, you have the following ways of adding rearranges and patterns:

• By editing the subform itself using the subform editor (for more information, see Editing a Subform).

• By adding rearranges and patterns directly to a subform in the output.

It depends on the purpose of using the subform functionality.

In the former case, you are supposed to create several different output files based on one input file which contains the same fragment(s). Patterns and rearranges are then added to the subform itself using the subform editor. Afterwards, you add the edited subform to those documents.

In the latter case, you are supposed to have different input files with different structures, and as a result, get different output files possessing the same fragment(s). To this end, you can create a subform in an output document and add patterns and rearranges directly to this subform structure by moving them from the input.

You can use both cases described above at the same time.

Subform Instance Properties

Subform instances have specific properties which are similar to those of rearranges of the XML file.

To open a dialog showing a list of subform instance properties, double-click a subform or right-click it, and then select the required command on the context menu.

There is a property that is specific for a subform created for XML, EDI or JSON output formats. It is the Behaviour property. This property is available on the XML tab of the Edit XML Subform dialog. You can use the property to define a behaviour for a subform being edited, and then apply that subform to a definite node, which you can select from the list on the XML tab.

Move a Subform

You have a possibility to change a subform order relatively to another subform. The subforms, for which you want to change the order, must possess the same Behaviour and Insert location values. Otherwise, the functionality is disabled.

To change the order of a subform, right-click or double-click it, and then select Move Before or Move After depending on your need.

Add a Phrase

You can add the following phrase types to your output: global or inline. To do this, click the down arrow next to the Phrase tool. On the menu, select either Insert Global Phrase or Insert Inline Phrase.

Afterwards, use the Phrase dialog that appears to add a phrase. By default, the dialog opens with the General tab.

You can select a phrase from the list or add a new phrase.

To add a phrase from the list to the output, select it and then click the OK button.

To add a new phrase, follow the steps listed below:

1. On the General tab of the Phrase dialog, click Add.

2. With the Phrase Properties dialog displayed, specify the phrase name and description and then click OK.

   

3. Add the phrase content in the phrase editor window.

   

From here you can add required fields (see the "Add required fields to the output" step in the Add Fields to Rich-Text-Based DOCX, PDF, and XHTML Output section of Add Input Data to a Sheet) by dragging them from the input or adding a static text, table or the other elements using the available tools.

1. Once you are done, click the Save button on the toolbar and then close the phrase editor.

2. The phrase is then available (and automatically selected) from the list on the Phrase dialog. To add it to the output, just click the OK button.

In addition, you can use the following controls available from the Phrase window.

Controls on the General Tab (Phrase window)

Controls on the Criteria Tab (Phrase window)

Manage Phrases

After a phrase has been added to the output, it can be managed by right-clicking on it and using the available commands from the context menu:

• Edit: Opens the phrase in the editor so you can make adjustments as required. You can also double-click the phrase to edit it.

• Properties: The Phrase dialog opens with the General tab where properties can be edited of the phrase instance which is available in the current document. Those changes are not applied to the phrase itself that appears in several documents at a time.

• Duplicate: The phrase instance is duplicated for the current output.

• Add DataSet Criterion: Use the command to add DataSet criteria to a phrase.

To access a list of all phrases added to the output, click Sheet > Phrases.

Global phrases can be managed via the Phrase tab of the Lasernet Developer.