New field: {Matter. InventorFirstNames}

[SadiqA2304]

I'd like to request a new field in Appcoll, that returns a comma separated list of inventor first names.

Currently, the way we have to do it is like this:

Step 1 - template definition:
Hello {Matter.Inventor1.First}, {Matter.Inventor2.First}, {Matter.Inventor3.First}, {Matter.Inventor4.First}, {Matter.Inventor5.First},

Step 2 - form generation based on template (assume this matter has 3 inventors)
Hello John, Tim, Mike, , ,

Step 3 - manual editing
Hello John, Tim, and Mike,
[["and" inserted and extra commas removed]]

My proposal would eliminate step 3.

Proposed step 1 - template definition:
Hello {Matter.InventorFirstNames},

Proposed Step 2 - form generation based on template:
Hello John, Tim, and Mike,
[["and" inserted and extra fields removed by AppColl backend logic]]

A similar proposal is possible for other lists of variable length, such as inventor full names and email addresses. This would eliminate a lot of manual editing on our end and further reduce likelihood of errors.

[gregg_appcoll]

@SadiqA2304 Thanks. We will get this taken care of.

[SadiqA2304]

@gregg_appcoll These fields do not work correctly with two inventors. They populate as:

Inventor1, and Inventor2

There shouldn't be a comma here.

[SadiqA2304]

This post is deleted!

[gregg_appcoll]

@SadiqA2304 We added {Matter.InventorFirstNames} and we added {Matter.InventorNicknames}. Thanks.

[SadiqA2304]

@support_appcoll Great - just to confirm, you'll also implement the {Matter.InventorNicknamesOrFirstNames} field?

[support_appcoll]

Hi Sadiq,

This new field should be available this week.

Thanks.

[SadiqA2304]

@gregg_appcoll Any updates? It is pretty nuts to be honest that such a simple request has been ignored for so long.

[gregg_appcoll]

@SadiqA2304 I have poked engineering to get this moved up the chain further.

[SadiqA2304]

@gregg_appcoll have these been implemented?

[gregg_appcoll]

Not yet. But it's high up on our radar.

[SadiqA2304]

@support_appcoll I may have missed it, but have these been implemented?

[support_appcoll]

Hi Sadiq,

Yes, we'll also implement {Matter.InventorNicknamesOrFirstNames}.

Thanks,

AppColl Support

[SadiqA2304]

@support_appcoll Any update on this?

[SadiqA2304]

Bump for my request to add a {Matter.InventorNicknamesOrFirstNames}. We are so close, let's please bring this home and get this feature implemented.

[SadiqA2304]

@support_appcoll Thank you. Hopefully the nickname option can be incorporated as well, otherwise we're kind of back where we started in situations where inventors go by a nickname.

[support_appcoll]

Hi Sadiq,

We'll go ahead and add {Matter.InventorFirstNames} which does the commas and the "and". We'll post here when it's done.

Thanks,

AppColl Support

[SadiqA2304]

@gregg_appcoll Any update on this one? It's been requested a few times by a few members. One additional request, allow for nicknames as well (similar to the newly added Contact.NicknameOrFirstName field). So the request is the following two fields, both which return a formatted list with commas for 3 or more inventors and an "and" preceding the last inventor:

{Matter.InventorFirstNames}
{Matter.InventorNicknamesOrFirstNames}

[SadiqA2304]

@MarkW5689 IMO this solution has the same problem, which is the need for manual changes to what should be a pretty simple and easy field to be provided to us. For email addresses, your solution works great and I appreciate the info.

[MarkW5689]

One thing you can do (that we do) is this:

Hi {Matter.Inventor1.First}{+044+032Matter.Inventor2.First}{+044+032Matter.Inventor3.First}{+044+032Matter.Inventor4.First}{+044+032Matter.Inventor5.First}{+044+032Matter.Inventor6.First}{+044+032Matter.Inventor7.First}{+044+032Matter.Inventor8.First}{+044+032Matter.Inventor9.First}{+044+032Matter.Inventor10.First}:

That way you don't get the empty commas.

We do this for email addresses:
{Matter.Inventor1.Email}{+059+032Matter.Inventor2.Email}{+059+032Matter.Inventor3.Email}{+059+032Matter.Inventor4.Email}{+059+032Matter.Inventor5.Email}{+059+032Matter.Inventor6.Email}{+059+032Matter.Inventor7.Email}{+059+032Matter.Inventor8.Email}{+059+032Matter.Inventor9.Email}{+059+032Matter.Inventor10.Email}

[MarianaH7108]

@SadiqA2304 I agree! There's plenty of manual editing in templates that I would really like to see improved! More functions in templates would be a big deal for us!

[gregg_appcoll]

Hi Sadiq. Thank you for your suggestion. We have added this as a formal request with engineering for implementation. We do not have an ETA yet. However, we will let you once completed.