Editing Default Print Templates

Sara Juel

Updated March 05, 2020 20:25

In order to print Ares documents used in the course of processing Reserves requests, Ares uses a combination of document templates (Word documents) and output data files (.xls files). During each print process, the data files and the document templates are merged together to create a new document to be printed.

The Word templates can be edited to suit your needs. Editing may include changing the size of the document to print on media other than 8.5 x 11 size, changing the number of Items that print per page, or adding/removing field tags that represent the data that is imported during the "merge" process, etc.

Beginning with version 4.7, the following information is no longer needed to successfully print from Microsoft Word 2013.

If you are using Microsoft Word 2013, the default options will not allow printer templates to open properly. To fix this problem, open MS Word and click on File - Options. Uncheck the box that says Open email attachments and other uneditable files in reading view.

All Word templates are stored in the C:\Program Files\Ares\Print\ directory by default. The .xlsx files contain data fields from the database tables and are the link between the printed Word document and the database. They are stored by default under the local My Documents folder at Ares\Print\. You can open an .xlsx file to see a list of the fields that can be exported to a print document. See Ares Default Print Templates for a list of default templates, data sources, and customization keys.

Associating a Document Data Source

Use the following steps to change a document template's data source.

To change a document's data source, open the Word document you wish to change.
Go to the Mailings menu and select Start Mail Merge.
Then select Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard. The Mail Merge Wizard opens on the right side of the Word window.
To change the data file being used, under the Select Recipients heading, choose to Use an existing list.
Under the Use an existing list heading, click browse. The Select DataSource window opens.
Navigate to My Documents\Ares\Print\, and select the .xls data file.

Adding New Merge Fields

You can add any Ares field related to the current record by clicking the Mailings Menu and choosing the Insert Merge Field drop-down box. A list of all available database fields appears. Clicking a field name in the list will add the record to the mail merge document and show a merge tag within the template.

Editing the Date Format in a Mergefield

You can easily edit the date formats of mergefields such as TransactionDate and ItemDate using date/time format switches. This allows you to change a date field from the default format of MM/dd/yyyy (4/4/2010) to, for example, MMMM dd, yyyy (April 4, 2010). To change the date format in a mergefield, open the Word template and follow the directions below:

First, find the date field that you want to reformat, for example, <<TransactionDate>>.
To view the field as it will appear when printed, open the Mailings tab and click the Preview Results button. The default <<TransactionDate>> field appears in the format 4/4/2010.
After locating and viewing the field you want to edit, click the Preview Results button again to return to the field view.
Right-click the field you want to edit and select Toggle Field Codes from the edit menu. The Mergefield data appears:
```
Date: { MERGEFIELD TransactionDate }
```

Add the switch to the end of the mergefield.

Date: { MERGEFIELD TransactionDate \@MMMM dd, yyyy }

Click Preview Results again to view the date field as it will now display on your printed document:
```
Date: April 4, 2010 
```
Click Preview Results once more to return to the field view, and click Save to save the changes to your template.

Hidden Field Codes

There is also hidden code in each label that allows Ares to change what is displayed based on information in the record. Click the Microsoft Office icon, and then click Word Options. In the Word Options left-hand menu, click Advanced. Under Show document content, clear the Show field codes instead of their values checkbox. The field codes hide the Word Fields that allow the system to change the label based on the information in the record.

For example, if your label has an ALLOWPHOTO field, it checks this field in the database to see if the value is No, and if so, DO NOT PHOTOCOPY will appear on the label.

Adding If/Then Statements

To add an IF Statement:

Choose Rules from the Mailings Menu.
From that menu choose If... Then... Else.
When the screen appears fill out the fields appropriately.
Click OK to add the If Statement to the document.
If you cannot see the text within the Word Field, right click at the cursor and choose Toggle Field Codes.

Once you have finished making changes to the labels, mark the file as read-only so that the users won't be able to accidentally change the file. Usually, the files should be saved to your Ares share on the server within a print subfolder.