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Document generation

Screen guide7 minPractitioner

Before you start

Document generation holds your document templatesTemplate (document)A Word, Excel or PDF layout with placeholders (${field}, ${list.field}).Open glossary ↗: quotes, contracts, purchase orders and reports that a workflowWorkflowAn automation: trigger plus steps, run per module; also called "flow" on the home page.Open glossary ↗ fills in from a record and attaches to it. Open it from Document generation in the Designer’s left rail. The browser tab says Document Templates.

What does the template library show?

Section titled “What does the template library show?”

The page is headed Document templates. It says: “Quotes, contracts and reports that your workflows fill in from a record and attach to it. Start from a Word or Excel file, or design a PDF.”

The Document templates library: a search box and filters above a grid of template cards, each with its type, module and a status line.
    New template starts a new one.
    Search templates matches the name and the description.
    All, Word, Excel and PDF filter by type. All modules filters by module.
    Each card shows the type, the module and a status.

The status at the bottom of a card tells you if the template is usable:

StatusWhat it means
No moduleChoose the template’s module
No file attachedA Word or Excel template with no file. Upload one
File attachedA Word or Excel template with its file
ReadyA PDF template

Click a card to open it. The dots on a card give Open and Delete.

Which type should I choose?

Section titled “Which type should I choose?”
TypeYou write it inA workflow produces
WordWord, then upload the .docxA .docx attached to the record
ExcelExcel, then upload the .xlsxAn .xlsx attached to the record
PDFThe Design view in BeezrA PDF attached to the record

Choose Word when people will edit the result. Choose Excel for tables and totals. Choose PDF when the document is final and you want to lay it out inside Beezr. Upload files .

How do I create a template?

Section titled “How do I create a template?”
  1. Click New template. The New document template dialog opens.
  2. Pick the type: Word, Excel or PDF.
  3. Type the Name, for example Purchase order. Choose a name people will recognise in the workflow designer.
  4. Choose the Module the document is made from, for example Purchase Orders.
  5. Add a Description if it helps, then click Continue.

Beezr then opens the editor. For a Word or Excel template, upload your file and click Save. For PDF, design the page and click Save. The module’s fields become the placeholders you can insert.

What is in the editor?

Section titled “What is in the editor?”
  • Fields lists the module’s fields. For Word and Excel, click a field to copy its placeholder. For PDF, click to insert it where your cursor is.
  • Details holds Name, Description, Module and Format. It says where the template is used.

For Word and Excel, the page shows the Template file, the Placeholders found and a short guide. The pages Generate Word documents, Generate Excel files and Design a PDF template go through each.

To produce a different format, create a new template of that type.

How does a workflow use a template?

Section titled “How does a workflow use a template?”

A template does nothing alone. Add a Smart document step to a workflow on the same module, choose the template, and fill in each placeholder with data or a Smart Script. The step then attaches the file to the record that started the workflow. See Smart document.

What happens when I delete a template?

Section titled “What happens when I delete a template?”

Beezr first checks which workflows use it and lists them. Pick another template in the Smart document step of those workflows. If none use it, it says “No workflow uses it.” and, for a Word or Excel template, “Its file is deleted too.”

Check yourself

Nour creates a template for purchase orders. What must she choose so the template is ready to use?
Show the answer

The Module, for example Purchase Orders. Choose the module for every template. The module tells the template which record's data to fill in.

Which template type is designed inside Beezr, without uploading a file?
Show the answer

PDF. A PDF template is written in the page, in a Design view, and Beezr turns it into a PDF. Word and Excel templates are files you upload.

What's next

Generate Word documents from recordsWrite a Word file with placeholders, upload it as a template and let a workflow fill it from a purchase order or any other record.Design a PDF templateDesign a document inside Beezr with fields and a repeating table, preview it as a PDF and use it from a workflow.

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