Help - Documents - Creation

Create Word Document

The first step is to create the shell of the new document. It is typically easiest to base the new document on an existing document (including letterhead, etc.). You should delete any merge fields in the new document. If you do not, and the merge field is not chosen for the new document, errors will result.

Add Document to Database

Once the document shell has been created, go to Admin - Documents. On the Document Search screen, choose the type of document you are adding (e.g. Foreclosure, Bankruptcy, etc.). Enter the name of the new document (as you want it to appear to end users) and click add. The name you choose here does not have to be precisely the same as the file name of the document, but they should be similar. For example, a "Letter to Client.doc" file might be named "Letter to Client" in this screen.

Choose Processes, Tasks, Fields & Functions for Document

There are potentially thousands of fields available in each file. It is unlikely that any document will need all of them. In the Document Search screen, search for the document you are working on and click on the document name to edit this entry. (Note that if you just added the document, it will already appear on the document search screen; you do not need to search again.)

Once editing this document entry, the default screen will be Tasks & Fields. You may choose any field and click add to include the field as a merge field for this document. It is okay to include fields in this list that you will not use in the document; however, you may not use fields in the document which do not appear on this list. Every document will have available to it the File Number, File Parties, and other customized fields (such as your firm's address).

You may choose to add a task, making the task start and stop dates, cost and pricing info (if applicable) available as merge fields. In addition, every field in the task will be added to the list of fields available as merge fields in this document. This is a matter of convenience; you may not need all of these fields.

Complete Document Information

From the Document Menu, choose Select. The Document Information screen includes two vital fields: the document label (as it appears to end users), and the URL to the document. The document label (discussed above) should make sense to the end users, and typically will be very similar to the file name of the actual Word document.

The URL is the path to the word document. This path must be a valid path for all users who need to generate this document! Read that again. This path must be a valid path for all users who need to generate this document!

If this path is mistyped, the system will open a default template file from the workflow.aspengrove.net web site. If the path is correct and works on one machine but not another (or for one user on a machine but not for another user on the same machine), it is most likely a permissions problem on the share.

Edit Document Template

Now you are ready to do the real work. From the Document Menu, choose Edit Template. You will be prompted for a sample Matter number, which will provide the sample data for the document. You should use a matter which you know to be "good" (e.g. has plenty of valid data).

Once you enter the matter number and click OK, the system will deliver a web page which then opens the Word template document and sets the data source to the data for the matter you chose. You may now insert merge fields wherever you need.

Upon completing your document editing, you should clear the data source before saving and closing the document. The macro ClearDSN is used for doing this. A document which has a data source attached may result in errors for upgraded versions of Aspen Workflow. Once you successfully cleared the data source, this toolbar will disappear. At this point, you may save and close the document. If you fail to clear the data source, end users may see errors when generating this document.

Add Document to Related Processes and Tasks

Now that you have a working document available in the system, you must associate it with one or more tasks. Until a document is associated with a task or a process, it will not be available for users to generate.

To associate a document with a task, choose Tasks and click GO. An appropriate task is one which contains a substantial amount of information used in the document. For example, and general Letter to Client document might be assoiciated with a Matter Received task. On the other hand, a VA Appraisal Letter to Appraiser would be more appropriately associated with a VA Appraisal task.

Edit the Task, and select Documents from the Task Menu. In the Task Documents screen, select your new document and click add. Now, any files which have this task included will have your new document available from the File Document screen.

Test Document Template

From the Document Menu, choose Test template and click Go. This will perform a merge just as if the user had generated the document from the matter.