You have the choice of using the eCandidus™ Desktop Writer to create documents that can merge data from anywhere in the system, however sometimes the Writer does not have that special feature that you love in Microsoft Word or Word Perfect.  Or maybe you already have a nice directory structure with your documents and would like to keep using it.

For those situations, you can use the External settings in System:Settings to link eCandidus™ Desktop  to your favorite word processor, or to any external program.

Here is a copy of the settings:

When the ExternalDirectory entry is not blank, eCandidus™ Desktop behavior changes in three places:

 

Change#1 - Cross References - The cross reference screen will include one extra entry External, which displays the files stored in the External Directory:

The external directory is defines at the ExternalDirectory entry in the System:Setting plus the value stored in the external directory field for the item being displayed:

This field is located in different places according to the system being used.  In the example above the directory is S:\Shared\Documents\16-ESIS (from JHS)\1012 - Benitez, Porfirio.

Like any other entry in the Cross Reference listing, double-click on any entry to display the entry.

 

Change#2 - Merged Documents - You can easily transfer merged documents to the ExternalDirectory by clicking on the Open with External Word Processor button . 

 

Change#3 - Time Billing - When a work product (case, property etc.) is open, eCandidus™ Desktop will keep track of changes in the ExternalDirectory.  If the internal Time Billing options are turned on, the system will automatically create a History entry when a change in any file is detected in the ExternalDirectory.

 

Tools - The entries for ExpernalProgram1..5 are used to define calls to external programs.  These are displayed as part of the command bar.  This is what displays from the entries shown above:

Key	Use
ExternalProgram<n>	The displayed title of the program
ExternalExe<n>	The executable name
ExternalParams<n>	The parameters to be used.  The syntax is as follows: <filename>;<opt1>;...;<optn>

Filename - The filename is the full name of the file to be used, or the text [EXTERNAL] followed by one of:

Key	Use
filename	The name of the file.  A new copy of the file is created from the TemplatesDirectory if it is defined there.
*	Lists the contents of the ExternalDirectory, using the options as the possible file types
?	Lists the display of the TemplatesDirectory, using the options as the file types.  If none is selected, the system will display the contents of the ExternalDirectory.

 

Using MS Word or WordPerfect to Merge

Setting the MergeRTF option to true allows you to use merge codes in files stored in the TemplatesDirectory.    These files must be stored in the Rich Text Format (RTF), which can be generated by both MS Word and WordPerfect from your existing documents.  Setting this option also shows an extra icon as part of the command bar:

The Merge Document External button will display all the RTF files in the templates directory:

Select the file that you want, and the system will copy it to the case (work product) external directory. and merge any data from the case:

Similarly, in WordPerfect:

Note that the original (template) document, contains the same merge codes as would a Writer documents, with the exception that they are limited to Field (\), Pick First (|), Address (@) and Ask (?):

 

Logging Word Processing work into History

You can have the eCandidus™ Desktop track work done in the external directory of each open case.  Simply set the TrackExternalDirectory to true.  Any change in the directory will create a History entry:

Note that the file is automatically attached to the entry.  Also the Associate can use this entry to bill for the work done.

Since the Desktop tracks any change saved, multiple History entries are possible.  To minimize the Desktop from doing so, set ReleaseTrackAfter to the number of minutes that  the associate can work on a file before a new entry is generated.