XpressDox Document Assembly » New in XpressDox

Version 3.0.8 (2010-07-27)

Peter Tuffin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:01:24 +0000

This release is mainly a bug-fix release, but some new features have been added:

A space is not allowed in a data element. The error message when this situation occurs has been improved to help the template author to fix the problem.
A new function has been introduced: CountOf. <> will return the number of occurrences of the character “.” within the data element called IPAddress.
When a block command (i.e. If, Else, ForEach) and its corresponding <> command occur in different paragraphs, the text before the If, Else and ForEach, and the text after the End,cannot contain another block command. The user will be informed of this and given a workaround when the template is run, and the template author can then change the template accordingly.
Some security issues regarding the macro template in Word 2003 on Windows 7 systems have been addressed.
Footing text was being shown even when a field was hidden (i.e. when the condition for a field being shown in the document was not met). This has been fixed.

Version 3.0.7 (2010-07-15)

Peter Tuffin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:49:52 +0000

The Document per Repeated Item feature has been enhanced by the addition of the ability to apply a filter. This is done in conjunction with the new command SetMultipleDocumentFilter.
A bug in the drag-and-drop in the treeview for an interview with repeated items has been fixed.
A new configuration option, AutoSave has been introduced. Read about it in Configuring standard folders.
The IncludeFileData and ChooseFromFile commands will now support a file which is in CSV (“Comma Separated Values”) format.
IncludeFileData will permit the file name to be omitted, in which case the user is presented with a file Explorer when the template is run, and the relevant data file can be chosen at that point.
Caption and Help now take effect on the repeating data elements (which appear in the treeview).
A new toolbar/ribbon function Run This Template will run the template in the active Word document. The template will be saved automatically, if necessary, and the user will only be prompted for a file name if the template has never been saved before.
A bug in released version 3.0.5 which involved templates opened in Word 2010 using BaseTemplate has been fixed.

Version 3.0.5 (2010-06-29)

Peter Tuffin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 08:51:03 +0000

The major introduction with this version is the Command Editor, which gives the template author a much richer experience than the Template Author’s Toolkit. The article The Command Editor gives an introduction to this new feature.
A consequence of the introduction of the Command Editor is that the Template Author’s Toolkit has been retired.
The installs for XpressDox include support for Office 2010, both 32 bit and 64 bit.
The Footing command has been introduced. It is similar to the Heading command and places text below a control on the data capture interview
Multiple Heading commands for the same data element will result in a multi-line Heading. The same applies to the Footing command.
The pipe character | at the start of Heading (or Footing) text will align the heading/footing with the left of the capture control on the interview.
The Comment command enables placing comments within the template.
The SetInitialValue command can be used to set the initial value of a data element in the interview.
CaptureLater command: Permits greater flexibility in defining the sequence in which data elements appear on the interview screen.
Word sub-sections, which are introduced into a document when Word Heading styles are used, have been given a lot of attention. In previous versions, <> commands which excluded parts of sub-sections may have given rise to XpressDox error messages. These situations have now been reduced.
Text surrounding <>...<> and <>...<> used to be disallowed by XpressDox if the start and end commands were on separate paragraphs. This situation is no longer disallowed.
For Office 2003, the .dot file with the macros and key settings is now installed into Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\STARTUP and no longer copied at Word load time into Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP. In addition, this .dot file is digitally signed so that, if the certificate is installed on the host PC, then the warnings regarding macros in this .dot file can be suppressed.
Some bug fixes:

French numbering has a space as the thousands separator.
Custom document properties with a single character value are now handled correctly.
Watermarks consisting of text rather than pictures are handled correctly.
Empty items at the start of the list of choices in Choose… commands are correctly interpreted as meaning “no default value”, rather than being ignored.
ToTitle correctly handles words in parentheses and other non-word characters.
Data bases that use reserved words as column names are now handled without error.
The interaction between InsertDocument and the Document Per Repeated Item feature has been fixed.

‘May Madness’ Limited Special Offer

Chris Pearson — Thu, 20 May 2010 11:31:09 +0000

There has been a great response to our ‘May Madness’ XpressDox license giveaway. Still, we want to give you one last opportunity to cash in on this fantastic offer. But hurry! There are less than 24 hours to go.

We’re giving away up to 10 licenses PER small office or department on a first come, first served basis. This would normally cost up to $1,490 but it could be yours absolutely free!

As many others have already found out, there’s nothing to lose, and a lot to gain! Submit your details before midnight 31 May 2010 to stand in line for up to 10 XpressDox licenses for your small office or department.

Please hurry! We have only a limited number of licenses to give away before midnight 31 May 2010.

Best regards
Chris Pearson

The bad news: Sorry, this Limited Special Offer has expired.
The good news: We will be announcing more Special Offers shortly. Please keep a look out for the notifications.

Version 2.3.1 (2010-03-03)

Peter Tuffin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:04:56 +0000

Captions and Headings can have their style (Bold, Italic, Underline) and colour set by the template author. Please read the article Styling and coloring the Caption and Heading.
A new feature called Document per Repeated Item empowers the template author on the one hand and the template user on the other to produce a merged version of the template for each of any number of different parties. Thus, for instance, a separate form (one per director) providing collateral by each of the directors of a company can be produced by running one template.
The handling of quotes in commands and functions has been rationalised: there are some commands where quotes are not necessary as delimiters of literal strings (e.g. <>). This caused some confusion in the past, especially as an If command testing the value of Gender would require the value tested against to be in quotes (e.g. <>). It is now permissible (but not obligatory) to enclose string literals in commands in quotes, which would mean that the command <> will function in exactly the same way as the first example. This in turn means that you can safely follow the rule “All string literals, except for the names of data elements, are enclosed in quotes”.
The XpressDox-in-Word API has been enhanced. The documentation for this will be found in the Word document XpressDox In Word API Specification.doc which will have been copied into your My Documents\XpressDox folder (or similar but differently named folder for Vista and Windows 7) when you first load Word after installing this version.
There were a few quirks in the Template Painter which have now been ironed out. Some extra functionality was added to highlight superfluous End commands.
The Help feature has been enhanced in that when there is help on a field, the Help area on the data capture dialog will flash on and off and the system will make the “Beep” sound. This will draw the user’s attention to the fact that there are instructions for completing the field. There is a facility to disable this feature – available to each user (by right-clicking in the Help area).
Pressing the and keys (together) when the data capture dialog is displayed will provide information to help with trouble shooting complex nested-If logic.
There are many other changes which will be apparent once the affected features are being used, and are of the nature of making the features more intuitive, so you will probably not even notice them, or be pleasantly surprised when you do.
New commands introduced are:

SetCustomDocumentProperty which enables the template author to set a custom document property in the list of MS Word custom document properties in the merged document.
Debug. This command is used (when recommended by XpressDox in a warning message) to locate floating (superfluous) End and Else commands in the template.

Please don’t miss out

Chris Pearson — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:23:39 +0000

A short note to remind you to upgrade to the latest version of XpressDox; it would be a pity for you to not benefit from its fabulous new features. Download XpressDox v2.3 here.

Just as a memory-jogger: XpressDox now has a Template Painter, a dynamic conditional capture dialog, and verbose Choose commands, among other helpful features.

And of course, if you need to produce 100%-compliant, complex contracts and documents, in seconds, using your data, then the XpressDox API is for you. You can integrate it with your applications, and other systems like Accounting, CRM, and document management. Learn more about the XpressDox API here.

Introducing the XpressDox API

Peter Tuffin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:49:22 +0000

	The XpressDox API 100% compliant documents. By the thousands. In seconds. Simply add your data.

	Learn more

Please don’t miss out

XpressDox v2.3 is ready for you

Chris Pearson — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:45:17 +0000

Hello, I just wanted to let you know we were hard at work over the holiday season! We added a lot of the functionality you requested to XpressDox, and there's still more to come during 2010.

Download XpressDox v2.3 here.

Seth Rowland gave us two ideas for this release: A Template Painter that enables you to add your choice of color to start and end block commands so your template reads more easily (done!), and a dynamic conditional capture dialog which hides merge fields under certain conditions. This gives you an opportunity to make capture dialogs more efficient for users to use (done!). Thanks Seth.

Also, you asked that when using Choose commands you can show entire paragraphs of text in the capture dialog to assist users in making the correct choices. Done!

And, we're officially releasing the XpressDox Server API on Tuesday next week, February 2.

If you've got masses of data you need merged into complex documents, then the XpressDox API is for you. You can integrate it with your applications, and other systems like Accounting, CRM, and document management.

We're offering you an opportunity to download the API for a free trial, before its official release to the market. Download your XpressDox API now.

If you'd like to see which other features have been added to XpressDox you can review them on this site.

Best regards
Chris Pearson

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Version 2.3 (2010-01-28)

Peter Tuffin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:52:48 +0000

A number of substantial new features have been added with this version.

The Conditional Capture feature: this feature will automatically hide merge fields on the data capture dialog when the document assembly logic in the template renders a data element to be irrelevant in a particular situation. For example, in the case of a party being unmarried, the data elements such as date of marriage, marital status, etc., will not be displayed on the data capture dialog. Look at Conditional Capture
The Template Painter feature will now not only apply the font and colour to merge fields, but will apply different colours to the matching start and end of block commands. This means the <> and matching <> merge fields will be colored the same, but differently to the rest of the merge fields. Nested blocks will have their start and end fields colored differently to a nesting level of 5, and what’s more you can select your own colour scheme. Read the article on the Template Author’s Toolkit.
The <> and <> commands will now permit entire paragraphs to be shown to enable users to make the correct choices. Look at this Cookbook article.
The XpressDox Engine API has been released. For more information, go to the developers’ section of this site.

Version 2.2.11 (2009-12-24)

Peter Tuffin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 09:39:06 +0000

This version sees the introduction of the XpressDox in Word API. This will enable developers to include XpressDox within their own applications. See the document XpressDox In Word API Specification.doc in the My Documents\XpressDox folder.