Display Options

DocAssist provides initial options to preset how and when instructional content or content controls should be displayed.

These settings relate to two separate features:

  • Content Controls that are allow for a value or default value to be added
  • Optional, Select Paragraphs and Repeaters – questions, title text, the size of the rich content control containing that automation and placeholder text.

The Settings.xml file shows the initial display options (which can be changed) but those options can also be customised on an individual content control per document.

Note: If the initial options in the Settings.xml file are suitable for all your DocAssist documents, there is no need to adjust these settings at a document level.

For Content Controls the Settings.xml file has the following settings:

<KeepTags>True</KeepTags>

<ClearOnInvalid>False</ClearOnInvalid>

For Optional, Select Paragraphs and Repeaters, the Settings xml file has the following settings: 

<OptionalParagraphShowOption>True</OptionalParagraphShowOption>

<SelectParagraphShowAllOption>True</SelectParagraphShowAllOption>

'Auto-hide' <HideEmptyParagraphs>True</HideEmptyParagraphs>

'Hide placeholder text' <OptionalParagraphInsertSpace>True</OptionalParagraphInsertSpace>


What are Display Options?

Display options allow the DocAssist Editor to show or hide instructional text for DocAssist automation where the user is required to select whether to insert that automation or part of that automation. It also allows for showing or hiding of tagnames (of content controls) or content of a value/default value if that value/default value is not fully completed.

Types of Display Options

Text Content Control & Combo Content Control – Default Value & Value

  • Clear on invalid – will clear all content controls if one or more of the content controls in a Default Value or Value is not completed ie the value or the default value is not valid, leaving only the originating content control.
  • Keep tags – will retain the tagnames in brackets of content controls ie [CourtName] (this is display text only, not the content control itself) set up in either the Default Value or Value if they are not completed ie have no value.

Note – Keep tags check box is only visible if the Clear on Invalid checkbox is not True.

Optional Paragraphs

  • Show Unanswered option – if Yes, the Optional Paragraph will display the title, and any question text (if added), ending with text to define the end of the optional paragraph. If No, only the placeholder text for the optional paragraph is visible.
  • Auto hide – only relates to the selection of No result for an optional paragraph. If Yes, the optional paragraph will be reduced to 1pt font (the Word style of DocAssist_Hide).
  • Hide placeholder text – only relates to the selection of No result for an optional paragraph. If Yes the placeholder text will be removed but the content control for the optional paragraph is retained.

Select Paragraphs – Multi-select only

Display Options are only available for Select Paragraphs – Multi select because only Multi select allows for a user to not select any options for the Select Paragraph (in this scenario it may be appropriate to hide the select paragraph on the document).

  • Auto hide – If Yes, the Select Paragraph will be reduced to 1pt font (the Word style of DocAssist_Hide).
  • Hide placeholder text – If Yes the placeholder text will be removed but the content control for the optional paragraph is retained.

Repeater Blocks/Lists and Tables

Auto hide – If True, the Repeater will be reduced to 1pt font (the Word style of DocAssist_Hide).

Checkbox toggle Display Options

All the Display Options provide a checkbox that is set up in tri-state. A tri-state checkbox has 3 options:

  1. Checked – tick in box – the setting is turned on ie True or Yes
  2. Preset– dash in box – the setting is returning the initial setting in the settings.xml file this could be true or false or Yes or No depending on how those setting are stored in the Settings.xml file.
  3. UnChecked – empty box – the setting is turned off ie False or No