New Field Syntax: List()

[ChristianS9906]

This relates to some recent suggestions regarding an InventorEmails field (https://forum.appcoll.com/topic/134/new-field-request-inventoremails?_=1663947413348); it might be a more flexible way to get to the same result that could be extended to other fields.

Some contact fields for a matter are actually lists. These include the inventors, applicant(s), and licensee(s). In each case, the contact record(s) that are listed have their own fields. It is sometimes the case that users want to be able to make a list of the contact(s) for those fields, but break out the data for specific fields for each contact within the list. For example, we have a document that we provide to our foreign associates that lists, for each inventor:

<LAST NAME>, <First name> <Middle name>, Citizenship: <Citizenship>
<StreetAddress>,
<City>, <State> <ZIP>
<Country>
<ForeignNickname>

All of this info is provided (if available) for a given inventor before the next inventor is listed. Right now, our template for this is 7800 characters long since we have to essentially create 20 separate field blocks, one for each InventorX (where X is a number from 1 to 20). The format of these blocks is identical, except that "Matter.Inventor1" in every field within the first block gets changed to "Matter.Inventor2" in the second block, and so forth.

What would be great is if there were a Form letter/email syntax that would let a user define a block of text with fields and then bracket it within some sort of syntax block that causes AppColl to replicate the field data in that block that derives from an item in a list for each item in that list.

For example:

{Matter.Inventors.List({MATTER.INVENTORX.LAST}{+032MATTER.INVENTORX.SUFFIX}{+044+032Matter.InventorX.First}{+032Matter.InventorX.Middle}{+044+032+067+105+116+105+122+101+110+115+104+105+112+058+032Matter.InventorX.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.InventorX.ForeignNickname}{+013+010Matter.InventorX.Address})}

This would cause AppColl to, for each inventor listed for a matter, generate a text block per the above string.

This syntax could be really useful, I think. You could use it to insert emails for all inventors into an email, e.g.:

{Matter.Inventors.List({Matter.InventorX.EmailAddress}+059**)}**

There could even be a variant of this that adds an additional feature of making a punctuated list, e.g., with commas inserted between blocks (if more than two items in the list) and an " and " inserted before the last item (if more than one item in the list). The syntax for this could be like:

Dear {Matter.Inventors.PunctuatedList({Matter.InventorX.Prefix+032}{Matter.InventorX.Last})}

Which might generate a list like:

Dear Mr. Smith, Mrs. Doe, and Dr. Strange,

This would really enhance form letters/emails.