The fDocs Designer Add-in connects with the fSeries server and allows users to create document templates to define how you want a generated output to appear, allowing you to use all of Word’s layout options to create the most effective and professional output documents.

Using fData, you are able to build a DSD (Data Set Definition) to determine the data you wish to show when generating a document for the client. After beginning a new template from the fSeries server and using the fDocs Designer to lay out the format of the generated document, the contents can be modified automatically, in accordance with conditions you specify.

This document focuses on the Designer from the perspective of using Word to maintain templates from which fDocs generates outputs.

The method of inserting your data is done by placing the data fields into the document as required. These are referred to throughout this guide as Tags.

Glossary:

• Template - The word document you design with the tag fields
• Output - Document generated from a template design
• Tags - The data fields which are placed into the template

A template is started on the fSeries server. Here you decide the name of the template, its alias, and which DSD the template relates to. You can have many different templates that all use one DSD for its data. When starting a new template, you may choose a new blank document to start from scratch or you may use an existing document with content that you want to include in your template.

Once you begin designing your template, it is made available to download/open in Word for working on.

Select the fDocs Designer tab from the Word ribbon. Once you have a template open, all the usual functionality of Word is available. You can create tables, paragraphs, use indentation, colours and styles, images, just as you would do usually. The functions of the fDocs Designer are available via a special ribbon within Word. Click on the ribbon to see its various functions, described below.

Once installed, the Designer options are always available in MS Word from the fDocs Designer tab in the Office ribbon at the top of the screen. This allows you to make conditional changes to your document, insert charts or images from the data held in the DSD, and insert fields of data (known as Tags) from a Tag List.

Once you have finished making changes to your template, you can use the Designer to preview how your document looks to end users, and upload it to the server. Similar to other areas of fSeries, you can publish your template to make it Live, which makes it available to end users either via direct links, or through menus created using the Menu Designer.

Adding data to your document is the most important part of fDocs. This is possible using the Tag List. To access this, click the Tag List button from the Designer ribbon. Click here to see more information about tagging your document.

By using the Tags In Use button you are able to navigate your template and quickly see what fields of data and formatting instructions exist. Click here to see more information on the Tags In Use navigator.

There are other important tags within your document. These are called Special Tags and perform a variety of functions, such as changing images or charts, adding comments, specifying that areas of your document should only be shown conditionally and more. When reviewing your document, special tags appear in green (data tags appear in blue). Click here for more information on the Special Tags available in fDocs Designer.

You can preview your template at any time by clicking the Preview button. This will open a dialogue box in which you will need to upload your document to the fSeries server, and then you may need to enter a piece of sample data to search on to use for the preview – these are the user entries, specified in the DSD.

If you just want to check the data behind the DSD attached to the template you are building, click the Test Data button in the ribbon. This will take you to the fSeries server and run an fTest of the DSD attached to your template. Click here for more information on using fTest.

When you are ready to publish your templates for other users to access, click the Upload button. A dialogue box will appear where you have a choice whether to save the template, publish it immediately, or create a backup point.

If another user has opened the template and made changes while you have been working on it (i.e. while you have it locked), you are given the option to override here and do a forced upload of your template.

While you are working on a template it is locked on the server so that no-one else can make changes to it. If you would like to release the template so it can be worked on by other administrators, click the Release button in the Designer ribbon. You can also mark a template as released when uploading it.

If you would like to roll back your template to an earlier version, it can be achieved by using the Rollback button, again on the Designer ribbon.

To check properties of the template, click the Open Template Properties button on the ribbon to be taken to the relevant template management page on the fSeries website.