A Document template is a plain text or an RTF file containing standard text and replacement fields. OfficeTalk comes supplied with standard document templates. These include:
Standard Letter (RTF)
Standard Letter (Text)
Standard Fax (RTF)
Standard Fax (Text)
You can create your own document templates in the following way:
Select Document Templates from the Edit menu. The Document Templates dialog box is displayed.
Press the New button. The Document Template dialog box is displayed.
Enter a description for the template and select whether the template will contain rich text formatting or plain text formatting. Note that if you select Rich Text you must have a word processor capable of supporting RTF (Rich Text Format) that is associated with the .RTF extension.
Select whether the template is public to all users in the workgroup or whether it is personal to you. Finally, press the Design… button. This will start your word processor, showing a new document
Lay out the document, using any of the replacement fields listed below. When you create a document, OfficeTalk uses the document template and substitutes any replacement fields with the appropriate text.
| Replacement Field | Description |
| <@Company> | The selected company name and address1 field. |
| <@Company.Name> | The selected company name. |
| <@Company.Description> | The selected company name and address1. |
| <@Company.Creation Date> | The date when the company record was created (short date format) |
| <@Company.Creation Time> | The date and time when the company record was created. |
| <@Company.Address> | The company full address. Any blank fields are removed. |
| <@Company.Address 1> | The company address1 field. |
| <@Company.Address 2> | The company address2 field. |
| <@Company.Address 3> | The company address3 field. |
| <@Company.Town/City> | The company town/city field. |
| <@Company.County> | The company county. |
| <@Company.Postcode> | The company postcode. |
| <@Company.Country> | The company country. |
| <@Company.Phone 1> | The company phone1 field. |
| <@Company.Phone 2> | The company phone2 field. |
| <@Company.Fax> | The company fax field. |
| <@Contact> | The selected contact name. |
| <@Contact.Name> | The selected contact name. |
| <@Contact.Title> | The selected contact title. |
| <@Contact.First Names> | The selected contact first names. |
| <@Contact.Last Name> | The selected contact last name. |
| <@Contact.Creation Date> | The date when the contact record was created (short date format) |
| <@Contact.Creation Time> | The date and time when the contact record was created |
| <@Contact.Address> | The contact full home address field. Valid only if a contact is selected. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Address 1> | The contact home address 1 field. Valid only if a contact is selected. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Address 2> | The contact home address 2 field. Valid only if a contact is selected. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Address 3> | The contact home address 3 field. Valid only if a contact is selected. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Town/City> | The contact home town/city field. Valid only if a contact is selected. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.County> | The contact home country. Valid only if a contact is not selected. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Postcode> | The contact home postcode field. Valid only if a contact is selected. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Country> | The contact home country. Valid only if a contact is not selected. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Phone 1> | The contact home phone 1 field. Valid only if a contact is selected. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Phone 2> | The contact home phone 2 field. Valid only if a contact is selected. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Fax> | The contact home fax field. Valid only if a contact is selected. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Company Address> | The contact's company address field. Valid only if the contact is associated with a company. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Company Address 1> | The contact's company address 1 field. Valid only if the contact is associated with a company. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Company Address 2> | The contact's company address 2 field. Valid only if the contact is associated with a company. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Company Address 3> | The contact's company address 3 field. Valid only if the contact is associated with a company. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Company Town/City> | The contact's company town/city field. Valid only if the contact is associated with a company. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Company County> | The contact's company county field. Valid only if the contact is associated with a company. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Company Postcode> | The contact's company postcode field. Valid only if the contact is associated with a company. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Company Country> | The contact's company country field. Valid only if the contact is associated with a company. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Company Phone 1> | The contact's company phone 1 field. Valid only if the contact is associated with a company. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Company Phone 2> | The contact's company phone 2 field. Valid only if the contact is associated with a company. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Company Fax> | The contact's company fax field. Valid only if the contact is associated with a company. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Position> | The contact's position. Valid only if a contact is selected. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@Contact.Department> | The contact's department. Valid only if a contact is selected. Blanked otherwise. |
| <@User> | Your full name. |
| <@User.Name> | Your full name. |
| <@User.Last Name> | Your last name. |
| <@User.First Names> | Your first names. |
| <@User.Creation Date> | The date when your user record was created (short date format) |
| <@User.Creation Time> | The date and time when your user record was created |
| <@Date> | The current date. The format of the date is taken from the long date format of the regional settings specified for your computer. |
| <@Short Date> | The current date. The format of the date is taken from the short date format of the regional settings specified for your computer. |
| <@Year> | The current year in long format, e.g. '1998'. |
| <@Short Year> | The current year in short format, e.g. '98'. |
| <@Month> | The current month in long format, e.g. 'January'. |
| <@Short Month> | The current month in short format, e.g. 'Jan'. |
| <@Month Number> | The current month represented as a number from 1 to 12. |
| <@Day> | The current day number from 1 to 31. |
| <@Day Of Week> | The current day of the week in long format, e.g. 'Monday'. |
| <@Short Day Of Week> | The current day of the week in short format, e.g. 'Mon'. |
| <@Day Of Week Number> | The current day of the week represented as a number from 0 to 6. 0 is a Sunday. |
| <@Time> | The current time in 24 hour format. |
| <@Time 12> | The current time in 12 hour format. |
| <@Workgroup> | The workgroup's name. |
| <@Subject> | The document's subject which was entered when the document was made. |
OfficeTalk lets you safeguard against such incidents by providing you with a way of supplying a default replacement. For example, you might be mailing a set of companies, some of whom have contacts that may be addressed as Dear '<@Contact.First Names>' and others which do not have contacts that should be addressed 'Dear Sir/Madam'.
OfficeTalk lets you provide default replacements by entering a ';' or ':', followed by your default text, immediately before the closing field delimiter '>'. Taking the above example, any text after a ':' character will be used as the default replacement if the contact object exists but the relevant field is empty. Any text after a ';' character will be used as the default replacement if the contact object does not exist, for instance, if the document was written to a company and no contact was selected.
To achieve the result in the above example, the greeting in the Document template would be as follows:
Dear <@Contact.First Name:Sir/Madam;Sir/Madam>
It is also possible to include replacement fields in the default text, for example:
Dear <@Contact.First Name:Sir/Madam;employee of <@Company>>
An example of a document template is as follows:
Sareen Software Plc
Northgate House
72 Northolt Road
South Harrow
Middx HA2 0DW
<@Day> <@Month> <@Year>
<@Contact.Company Address:<@Company.Address>;<@Contact.Address>>
Dear <@Contact.First Names:Sir/Madam;Sir/Madam>,
If you would like to receive information via our mailing list then please write to us at the above address.
Yours Sincerely,
<@User.First Names> <@User.Last Name>
<@Workgroup>
The above example uses the fields Dear <@Contact.First Names:Sir/Madam;Sir/Madam>. The combination of these fields handles the following cases:
Writing a document to a company with no contact selected. In such a case the default is taken from the text after the ';' character.
Writing a document to a contact whose first name is blank. In such a case the default is taken from the text after the ':' character.
Writing a document to a contact whose first name is filled out.
The above example also uses the fields <@Contact.Company Address:<@Company.Address>;<@Contact.Address>> for displaying a receiver address. The combination of these fields handles the following cases:
Writing a document to a company with no contact selected.
Writing a document to a contact whose company address is blank, in which case the contact's home address is used.
Writing a document to a contact who belongs to a company whose address fields are filled out.
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