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Equivalency Function |
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Equivalency Function |
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Equivalency Function
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Equivalency Function |
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Equivalency Function |
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A user wrote:
"We use the variable '[OurClient]' to produce documents and letters to or concerning our client. But for documents prepared in the course of litigation, 'Our Client' is sometimes the '[Plaintiff]' and sometimes the '[Defendant]'. But our client is always '[OurClient].' It sure would be nice to have a way to quickly equate the data recorded next to [OurClient] to either the [Plaintiff] or the [Defendant] value field in the IDB mask without risking a typo."
Pathagoras can handle that. You can set the value of one variable to automatically be equal to the value of another variable. Simply put in the following equivalency function: "=[variablename]" (no quotes) in the right column of the IDB screen next to any other variable. See the below screen shot where the variable [Plaintiff] is equal to the value of [ClientName].
The variable[ClientName] found in position #1 of the variable list was inserted in the third line,
with an '=' sign added to create the equivalency.
When Pathagoras detects the '=' sign adjacent to a bracketed variable at the 'right', it displays a red button between the two columns.
When you click on the button, "=Client Name" will become "John Q. Doe".
If you click the red button again, the 'equation' is restored. That is in case you need to edit the formula or (if a multiple choice selection is supplied) choose another item from the list.
The role of 'Executor' of a Will is frequently filled by a 'Beneficiary' who has been named elsewhere in the Instant Database. In a litigation case, the 'Client' is either the 'Plaintiff' or the 'Defendant'. No sense in typing the same name twice, is there? Pathagoras encourages you to assign a series of 'Equivalencies' to a MultiChoice *List*. The *List* could store all possible equivalencies. That way, the end user can just point-and-click in the dual role played by the same actor. Click here to read more about MultiChoice *Lists*. Example: In an Estate Planning setting, the Executor may be a person who has previously been identified as the spouse or a child. The MultiChoice *List* might look something like this: Alias Name: "Equivalents" Elements: "=[Our Client]/=[Spouse Name]/=[Child@1 Name]/=[Child@2 Name]/=[Child@3 Name]" (etc) Document Variables: "[Executor:*Equivalents*]" ; "[AltExecutor:*Equivalents*]
Click here to read more about Titled Variables. (Note: 'Our Client' could not likely be the Executor of his will, but is in the *List* because the list should be comprehensive. 'Our Client' could be the Trustee in a trust instrument, and you want that option available for that circumstance.) |
Concatenation: You can combine two, three or four variables to create a new variable. Just include an ampersand ('&') to indicate the concatenation. So, if you have the variables [First Name] and [Last Name] in your Instant Database mask, but have the variable [FullName] in the document, you need not change it. Just provide in the Instant Database mask the name of the target variable (ie., "[FullName]") at the left and the equivalency "=[First Name]& [Last Name]" at the right. |
In-line concatenation: The above can be also accomplished 'in-line' (no need for the mask). Let's assume that [Firstname] and [Lastname] reside in the document. You now want to reference the concatenated value of those two variables elsewhere. Here is the formula that would reside in the actual document. [#Concat#Fullname=[FirstName]& [Lastname]] |
The document variable could be simple "Equivalency" and the form will properly process. But the end user will not know what value is being sought, hence the need to title the term with the target 'Trustee'.