Conditional Printing in Q&A Write


The following steps will produce a document consisting of paragraphs chosen 
because of the contents of yes/no fields in a database.

Create a series of documents in Write, each of which contains the paragraph 
associated with a "yes" or a "no" in a field of your database form. If there 
is ever a case where you might want nothing printed you will also need a null 
document. You can create the latter in Write by choosing Clear and then saving 
the resulting screen.

Add a field to your database for each field you wish to use as a basis for 
your final document. Each of these would be a text field. Then, program the 
form to enter the name of the document you have created in step one above in 
the text field associated with the corresponding yes/no field. A typical 
programming statement might look like this:


Option 1:  #33

Option 1 Doc:  #133: If #33 = "yes" then #133 = "Paragrf1.doc" else #133 =
                     "Null.doc"


Create a document in Write which will merge information from your database. 
Some fields in this document might look like any other fields in a form 
letter, for example:

Client Name:  *First Name*, etc.


In the position where you want one of your paragraphs to appear, begin the 
line with something like the following:

*JOIN *Option1 Doc**

When merged with information from the database, this field would be converted
to a command that prints the document named in the Option1 Doc field in your 
database.




Application: This procedure could be used to produce a contract form which 
includes optional paragraphs: 1) an insurance policy with riders or 2) an 
analysis summary and narrative.










Q & A Application Note       Rev. 6/92           #2304     Page 1 of 1