Field (\)

The field merge code describes data to be obtained from the eCandidus™ database.  The easiest way to obtain a field merge code is to view the field in an entry (Case, thing to do, etc) and , and then pasting the field definition into the document or form.

Syntax:  [\<field>@<option1>@<option2>...]

The portion before the @ symbol is the field definition, which is the code for the field to be merged.  Each field has a code, and there are literally thousands of fields.  Rather than having to learn and remember these code, eCandidus™ Desktop provides an easy way to get the code for each field.   Simply view the entry which contains the field, and click on the option icon, selecting the "Copy Field Definition to Clipboard" entry.  Now switch to the document or form, and paste (Ctrl-V) the definition in the appropriate place.

A sample field definition looks like:

   [\Plaintiff#0\Name#1]

Lets break down the definition and explain its components:

FieldIndexMeaning
Plaintiff 0 Get the plaintiff record, if there are more than one plaintiffs ask which plaintiff to use.
Name 1 Get the name.  If there are more than name, use the first found.

 

Index Variations

As you see in the example, the index tells the system which value to use.  You can also tell the system to use a range of values as shown in this example:

[\Plaintiff#>\Name#1]

This tells the system to return a single column table of names for plaintiffs, returning all plaintiff names from 1 to 10.

You can tell the system the limits to return:

[\Plaintiff#>2,5\Name#1]

This returns the names for plaintiffs 2 to 5.  You can also return the reverse list by:

[\Plaintiff#<1,8\Name#1]

Returns the plaintiffs 8 to 1 in that order.

Note that the options for table are available for this type of indexing so:

[\Plaintiff#>\Name#1@A]

Returns the list of plaintiff names, separated by ", ", so it would look like:

John Smith, Jane Doe, Mike Rooney

 

Options

Options are used to modify the value to be merge, providing for a simple way to format the value.

 

How options are used

Let's say that we are working with field Amt:

[\Amt@fc] - Takes the value of the amount field and formats it like currency, so if the original value was 5678.6, it will be transformed into $5,678.60

[\Amt@T] - Takes the amount field and translates into text, so in the example of 5678, it will return five thousand six hundred and seventy eight.

[\Amt@T@SU] - You can stack options to combine their effect, here we tak the same as the example above and convert the result to uppercase, so the resulting text will be FIVE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED AND SEVENTY EIGHT

 

   Options available for all fields:

  •  J<type><Size> - Justifies the text of the field according to the type:

        R - Right
        L - Left
        C - Center

    and the size is the number of characters in the field.

  •  S<type> - Changes the casing of the string according to the type:

        U - Upper case
        L - Lower case
        C - Capitalize each word

  •  F<format> - Formats the numeric value of the field according to the format:

        C - Currency
        D - Decimal
        E - Scientific
        F - Fixed point
        P - Percent
        X - Hexadecimal
       
    Also a picture format:

        # - Digit placeholder
        0 - Zero placeholder
        . - Decimal point
        , - Thousands separator
     

  •  T - Converts the numeric value of the field into text: 523 <-> Five Hundred and Twenty Three.

  •  SUBSTR:<start>:<end> - Returns the string from the starting position to the end. If the starting position is not given, the start of the string is assumed. If the end position is not given, the end of the sting is assumed.

  •  X<chars> - Remove given characters from string.  If no characters are given, the system will remove all non alphanumeric characters.

  •  <<text> - If the text value of the field is not empty, the text given will be used as a prefix to the value.

  •  ><text> - If the text value of the field is not empty, the text given will be used as a suffix to the value.

  •  $<match1>$<rep1>$<match2>$<rep2>... $<def rep> - The text value of the field will be compared to each match value, and the replacement will be used if the match is found.  Otherwise the default replacement is used (if any).  Note that if <rep> starts with \, the field is evaluated.

  •  \<field> - If the previous field definition returns empty, use this definition instead.

  •  =<extensionname> - Sets the extension field to the current value.

  • #<index><del> - Picks the Nth item from the list delimited by del.

  •  # - Sets the current value to empty string.

  •  ##<value> - If the string is empty, return the value.

  • CB - Returns X if the string is the same as Y.

  • NCB - Returns X if the string is not the same as Y.

  • SCB - Returns X if the string has a value (is not empty).

  • NSCB - Returns X if the string has no value (is empty).

 

   Conversion Options:

  • AsName - Capitalizes the value as a proper name

  • AsDate - Formstas the value as a date

  • AsTime - Formats the value as time

  • AsDateTime - Formats the value as a date and time

  • AsPhone - Formats the value as a phone number

  • AsZIP - Formats the value as a ZIPCode

  • AsSS - Formats the value as a Social Security

 

   Options available for name fields:

  •  FirstName - Extracts the first name portion of the value

  •  LastName - Extracts the last name portion of the value

  •  MiddleName - Extracts the middle name portion of the value

  •  MiddleInitial - Extracts the middle initial portion of the value

  •  Suffix - Extracts the suffix (jr, sr, etc.) portion of the value

  •  Sort - Returns a sortable representation of the value

 

   Options available for date and time fields:

  •  Month - Returns the month portion of the date

  •  Day - Returns the day portion of the date

  •  Year - Returns the year portion of the date

  •  Minute - Returns the minute portion of the date

  •  Sortable - Returns a sortable representation of the date

  •  DayOrdinal - Returns the ordinal value of the day portion of the date

  •  MonthName - Returns the month portion of the date as a month name

  •  DayOfWeek - Returns the days of the week name of the pay portion of the date

  •  MonthAbbrev - Returns the month portion of the date as a three character month name

  •  FormalDate - Returns the date in a month, ordinal day and year format

  •  FullDate - Returns the date preceded by the date of the week

  •  LegalDate - Returns the date as "DateOrdinal day of MonthName, Year" eg: 2nd day Of October, 2008

  •  BusinessDay - Adjusts the date to be the closest business day

  •  PreviousBusinessDay - Adjusts the date to be the previous business day if not so already

  • +/-<number>d/w/m/y - Adds/Subtracts the number of periods (days, weeks, months or years)

 

   Options available for table fields:

  • B<onoff> - Displays the grid lines if onoff is set to 1.

  • C<colname1>:<colname2>:...:<colnamen> - Selects which columns to display.

  • J<just1>:<just2>: ... :<justn> - Sets the justification for each column. Each justification definitions is defined as <Type><Size>, where the type is one of the following:

        R - Right
        L - Left
        C - Center

    Note that the width is given as inches and zero width leaves column unchanged.

  •  W<width1>:<width2>: ... :<widthn> - Sets the width of each column.  Note that the width is given as inches and zero width leaves column unchanged.

  •  A<delimiter>:<colname>:<row1>: .. :<rown> - Returns the column as a delimited list.  If the delimiter is omitted, a comma and space will be used.  If no rows are defined, all the rows will be used. Options will be applied to each row in the array before they are concatenated.

  • L<delimiter>:<row>:<colname1>: .. : <colnamen> - Returns the row as a delimited list.  If the delimiter is omitted, a comma and space will be used.  If no columns are defined, all the columns will be used. Options will be applied to each column in the array before they are concatenated.

  • sort:<col # or name><a or d>:... : Sorts the table on the given column or columns. You can specify either a column name or number, followed by a for ascending or d for descending. If no direction is given, ascending is assumed.

 

   Options available for image fields:

  • W<size> - Width of image.

  • H<size> - Height of image.

 

   Special options:

  • lawcode - Returns the text associated with the law code.

 

Work Product Fields

There are a set of fields that are available when merging from a work product (case, property, etc.).

Syntax: [\WP\<Code>]

CodeMeaning

ActivityCodesReturns an array of work product codes and units. This comes from the History
ActivityCodesTotalRetuns the total of units. This comes from the History

 

Global Fields

There are a set of fields that are available at all times:

Group Code Sub Meaning
System Today   Today's date
  CurrentAddressBlock   The last address block displayed.
  CurrentDocumentName   The document name being used.
  Clipboard   The contents of the clipboard.
  Organization Name Your organization's name
    Address ... address.
    Suite ... suite.
    City ... city.
    County ... county.
    State ... state.
    ZIP ... zip.
    Phone ... phone.
    Fax ... fax.
  UserDefined1   User defined field #1.
  UserDefined2   User defined field #2.
  UserDefined3   User defined field #3.
  Associate Signature Your signature.
    Nickname Your nickname.
    ContactInfo Your contact info.
    SigningFor The associate that you sign for.
    SigningForTitle The title of the associate that you sign for.
    SignatureBlock A text represenrtation of your signature. This field cannot be used in forms.
    SignatureImage A graphic represenrtation of your signature. This field cannot be used in forms.

An example is [\System\Today@FormalDate] which will return the current date in a format similar to Jan 12, 2008.