Custom Repeaters


Custom Repeaters allow you to repeat content controls that are not related to Users or Contacts

A custom repeater can include all types of controls excluding User and Contact controls. It also cannot include Select Paragraphs, Optional Paragraphs or user/contact Repeaters. It is recommended that when using custom repeaters that they are completed on the DocAssist pane.

Group content controls are created with a hash # symbol, The # represents the index that the control belongs to eg Description becomes Property[#]Description and when items are added to a repeater eg 2 properties, the tag for description on each property will be Property1Description, Property2Description.

Creating Custom Repeaters

Adding a Custom Repeater can be done in the same process as Contact and User Repeaters or in a slightly different way, as follows:

Step 1: Create the controls that you want to repeat

  • Using the Add Control button add the controls that you want to include in your custom repeater (tip, create tagnames that do not include the name of the group to be created, e.g. Name, Date, Amount etc)

Step 2: Create a custom group

  • Highlight the section of text (including the content controls created in Step 1 above) that you want to make a repeater.
  • Click Groups on the DocAssist ribbon
  • At Group Type, select Custom group
  • Type the Group Name eg Loans (as plural)
  • Tab to Item Name this should automatically insert the singular of the group name eg Loan
  • Click Create
  • Select Yes on the following message to “Convert currently selected controls?”

NOTE: Writeback is checked by default for the Repeater to auto populate data into the next document with the same repeater.

If the text for the repeater is not selected in the document in Step 2 above. Group content controls can also be added as follows:

  • Click an attribute (control) in the list
  • Click Insert
  • Do this for all the attributes (controls) in the list (except index and ordinal)
  • This is to replace the standard controls previously inserted, with hash[#] content controls
  • Once all the controls have been replaced, click Close

Step 3: Select the content control/s to appear in the DocAssist pane for the repeater

  • All the group content controls now appear in the left hand side window of the Group dialog.
  • Double click on a content control to move that control to the right hand side window (lists all content controls to appear on the DocAssist pane).
  • Click and drag a content control to move up and down in the list to appear on the DocAssist pane.
  • Double click on a control on the right hand window to remove it from the DocAssist pane.
  • Click on the Update button and Close button when finished.

Step 4: Select the hash [#] Content Controls and Create your Repeater

  • Select the hash[#] content controls and the text you want to include in your repeater.
  • Click Blocks or Lists or Tables – see more information here on Lists and Tables repeaters.
  • Add tag, name and placeholder text
  • Click Insert

To change details of the repeater:

  • Select the repeater in your document and click Deconstruct Repeater on the DocAssist ribbon
  • Add the new control
  • Re-select ALL the controls ie including the ones that have already been hashed.
  • Click Groups
  • At Group Type select Custom Group
  • At Group Name, from the dropdown select the group you are editing
  • Click UPDATE, to update the group with the new control
  • Select the new control from the list and click Insert
  • Click Close
  • Re select ALL the hash[#] controls and any text to be included in the repeater, and recreate your repeater by selecting the already created tagname in the dropdown

see DocAssist – Creating Custom Repeaters video

Calculations in Custom Repeaters

Date and money calculations can be included in custom repeaters. They are inserted the same way as calculations in standard date and money controls, at ‘Step 1: Create the controls that you want to repeat‘ before you create your custom group. At the time of inserting the hash [#] content controls, any tags referenced in the calculations will also be hashed [#]

However, if you are including a control in the calculation that references a tag that is outside the repeater, the tag will not be hashed [#]

eg tag outside my custom repeater is [MortgageFee], tag that repeats ie part of the custom group ‘Loans’ is [NoOfFeesPerMortgage] resultant calculation would look as follows

=[MortgageFee]*[Loan[#]NoOfFeesPerMortgage]

See video Calculations

NOTE:

  • If creating a repeater which needs to repeat inside a table cell, create the repeater in the document (outside the table) and drag the repeater into the cell