Sometimes the best replacement for a variable is not a name or a quantity or a color.

   Sometimes the best replacement for a variable is a complete document.

   Pathagoras can handle this need with elegance and remarkable ease.

  How to:

   After you have pressed Alt-D  (or otherwise displayed the Instant Database screen), complete the variables as you ordinarily would. When you encounter a variable that you wish to be replaced with an entire document, here are the steps:

   Manually (type by hand):

   If you know the full name of the document you want to be inserted in place of the variable, you can simply manually type it into the field. You must enclose the name within "<<" and ">>" markers (This is not 'code.' These are simply doubled  'lesser than' and 'greater than' characters found above the comma and  period on your keyboard.).

   For example:

  <<N:\data\property descriptions\123 Main Street.doc>>

 

   Navigate to file or folder:

   You can also navigate to the file, or to the folder containing a number of possible file choices. To start this more automated process, Shift-click inside of the 'value' field to the right of the variable. When you Shift-click, a menu like the below will appear:

 

   Choose the appropriate selection. "Folder" if you want Pathagoras to display all files in the target folder or "Single file" if you want to select a specific file. Navigate to the file or folder (if 'folder,' navigate inside of the folder and select a single file, it matters not which one --its just to lock in the folder selection.  Press OK.

   The file or the folder will appear in the IDB screen. If you selected "Folder" all of the files in the target folder are shown in a drop down list.

 

 

Uses:

   A real estate agent or property manager might link to a folder containing the lengthy descriptions of properties under contract.

   A technical writer might link to long attachments that need to be appended or inserted at strategic locations.

   An architect might link to drawings and tables and charts. (the target information need not be text. It can be can be charts or images contained within the target document).

   A doctor might link to an appropriate medical pamphlet or brochure that can be inserted as an appendix to a letter to a patient.

   A psychologist might link to a folder containing detail information about a particular test or protocol.

 

   This tool can also be used to assemble a document (or portions thereof) when the various portions come from different folders. (Document assembly is dependent upon all clauses being within a single folder or glossary. Here, you can assemble a document pulling distinct chapters out of separate folders.)

Query: So how does inserting text using a variable and the Instant Database differ from inserting the file via a DropDown List? Don't both offer me the opportunity to choose a file from a designated folder?

       Answer: They are similar, to be sure. However, a DropDown List requires you to navigate to the location in your document to select the location into which you want to add the text of the target document. With the Variable=Document feature described above, the variable location is pre-set in the source document. Because the variable is in a set location that will be found when variable replacements are being made, you don't have to worry about finding it yourself. Plus (and this is a big plus), if the content of the target file is needed in multiple locations in the document under construction, Pathagoras will automatically replace all instances of the variable with the target file when the Instant Database routine is run.

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