This relates to earlier posts I made: (https://forum.appcoll.com/topic/137/new-field-syntax-list?_=1773350339170) and https://forum.appcoll.com/topic/169/more-streamlined-form-letter-field-syntax?_=1773350545712
Having just had to update our Inventor/Applicant sheet, which is 9600 characters long and, in essence, just lists the first, last, and middle name, citizenship, address, and foreign nickname for the first 20 inventors, I thought it worth re-elevating this request. I wanted to add, for each inventor, their TaxID number (if they have one listed). It is a painful document to edit. Here's what it looks like in raw form for the first 3 inventors:
{MATTER.INVENTOR1.LAST}{+032MATTER.INVENTOR1.SUFFIX}{+044+032Matter.Inventor1.First}{+032Matter.Inventor1.Middle}{+044+032+067+105+116+105+122+101+110+115+104+105+112+058+032Matter.Inventor1.CitizenshipFull}{+013+010+067+104+105+110+101+115+101+032+067+104+097+114+097+099+116+101+114+032+078+097+109+101+058+032Matter.Inventor1.ForeignNickname}{+013+010Matter.Inventor1.Address}{+013+010MATTER.INVENTOR2.LAST}{+032MATTER.INVENTOR2.SUFFIX}{+044+032Matter.Inventor2.First}{+032Matter.Inventor2.Middle}{+044+032+067+105+116+105+122+101+110+115+104+105+112+058+032Matter.Inventor2.CitizenshipFull}{+013+010+067+104+105+110+101+115+101+032+067+104+097+114+097+099+116+101+114+032+078+097+109+101+058+032Matter.Inventor2.ForeignNickname}{+013+010Matter.Inventor2.Address}{+013+010MATTER.INVENTOR3.LAST}{+032MATTER.INVENTOR3.SUFFIX}{+044+032Matter.Inventor3.First}{+032Matter.Inventor3.Middle}{+044+032+067+105+116+105+122+101+110+115+104+105+112+058+032Matter.Inventor3.CitizenshipFull}{+013+010+067+104+105+110+101+115+101+032+067+104+097+114+097+099+116+101+114+032+078+097+109+101+058+032Matter.Inventor3.ForeignNickname}{+013+010Matter.Inventor3.Address}
The syntax for working with form fields leaves a lot to be desired. Things that would make it so much better/user-friendly include:
a) Ability to specify, in plain English, what the preamble/postamble for a given field will be. This business of spelling out, character-by-character, what the preamble/postamble should be using a + symbol and the 3-digit ASCII code for each character makes it impossible look at a form letter template document and understand how the document will look once populated with data. It also dramatically shortens the "usable" MailTo link content that can be passed to an email from an email template. Allowing use of plain English, e.g., with delimiters, would address both issues.
b) Ability to use "lists" in templates, e.g., if you have the same set of fields that you want to output for each member of a list, there should be a way to do that via a list field and one instance of the set of fields that you want to output, as opposed to having to specify the same set of fields 20 times with only an index number changing for each instance.
Separately from the above, it appears that the Address form field inserts a double carriage return at the end of it, thereby forcing a blank new line after it. This causes issues when Address is used in a block of other field data, like in the above example--each field in the block of field data has a +013+010 preamble that causes that field to start on a new line if data is present. If the field has no data, however, the new line doesn't get inserted, thereby avoiding a blank line. The Address field, however, doesn't seem to play well with this convention--I had to list it last for each block since it seemed it was always introducing an unwanted gap line in between itself and an immediately following field line. If users want a gap line after the Address field, they do always have the option of specifying one in the field postamble, of course.
Any chance that the above could be implemented?
Cheers,
Christian
