Welcome to the XpressDox “Getting Started” Tutorial

Welcome to the XpressDox “Getting Started” Tutorial
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In this 20 minute tutorial you will learn how to:
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Insert a variable (data element)
Insert today’s date
Load the Command Editor
Save a template
Run a Template
Edit a Template
Insert a lookup list
Convert numbers or currency amounts to words
In order to run XpressDox you will need Microsoft® Word 2003 or later. Also ensure that you have
downloaded the correct version of XpressDox for your version of Microsoft® Word – 2003, 2007,
or 2010. This tutorial also assumes that you understand the basics of Microsoft® Word.
If you are using Word 2003, you will need to install the Microsoft® Office Compatibility Pack from
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=3.
Remember that there is always extensive help available in the “HELP” tab on the website.
(www.xpressdox.com)
In this tutorial, the  symbol indicates a text exercise that you should type into your own
document. Text to be typed is shown in blue.

To begin, open up a blank document on Microsoft® Word.
Begin by typing the following: «Addressee» then press
Congratulations! You have just entered your first variable. Now let’s add more.
On the next line, type in «Street_Address» followed by
 Note that variable names cannot contain spaces, and are case sensitive.
Now add «City» followed by
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and «Zip_Code» followed by
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Your template should now look like this:
«Addressee»
«Street_Address»
«City»
«Zip_Code»
Now move down a couple of lines, and type the following:

Attention: «Attention»
Press
and then type in Dear «Dear» followed by
Your template should now look like this:
«Addressee»
«Street_Address»
«City»
«Zip_Code»
Attention: «Attention»
Dear «Dear»
Up to this point, we have been typing in variables manually using the keyboard. However, you can also add
variables using the XpressDox ribbon which is on the Microsoft® Word menu. To load the XpressDox ribbon, click
on the XpressDox tab.
The XpressDox ribbon is now displayed.
We will now add a variable for the subject line of your letter, but this time we will use the XpressDox ribbon to do
this. Note that you can enter variables manually or via the
option.
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Click on the
on the XpressDox ribbon.
The following will be displayed in your document:

Now type in the word Subject and you will see the following in your document: «Subject»
Note how the variable name is shown in blue. If you require the subject line to be in bold and italic (for example),
simply make the variable name, including the angle brackets bold/italic, like this: «Subject»
Your document should now look like this:
«Addressee»
«Street_Address»
«City»
«Zip_Code»
Attention: «Attention»
Dear «Dear»
«Subject»
Now move down a few lines to add a salutation, like this:

Yours sincerely,
Press
We will now add a list of possible signatories using the ChooseFromList command in the Commands editor.
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Once you have clicked on the Commands button, you will see a list of all of the
commands available in XpressDox. Commands can be listed either alphabetically,
or grouped in categories.
Locate the command ChooseFromList and then double click on it.
The following dialog box will appear:
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
Now type Signatory to replace the data element name (variable) “Province”, then press the tab key or click
on the “List of choices” box, and type in the following. (Each line is separated by
)
Michael Mouse
Donald Duck
Minnie Mouse
Dippy Dawg (Goofy)
Now press
Then, below the last line, type in «Signatory». This is because the ChooseFromList command only chooses
the item from the list – it doesn’t add it to your document.
Note that although variable names such as Street_Address may not contain spaces, the list of entries you have just
typed may contain spaces. This is because each option, for example “Minnie Mouse” is a piece of text, rather than
a variable name, and will be inserted into your document exactly as it has been typed here.
Your template should now look like this:
«Addressee»
«Street_Address»
«City»
«Zip_Code»
Attention: «Attention»
Dear «Dear»
«Subject»
Yours sincerely,
«ChooseFromList(Signatory,Michael Mouse,Donald Duck,Minnie Mouse,Dippy Dawg (Goofy))»
«Signatory»
You will notice that the commands that were manually inserted are all in black text, whereas the commands that
were inserted via the system menu are in blue. To paint all variables in blue, click on the Common Tools button and
then click on Paint Template.
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Your template will now look like this:
«Addressee»
«Street_Address»
«City»
«Zip_Code»
Attention: «Attention»
Dear «Dear»
«Subject»
Yours sincerely,
«ChooseFromList(Signatory,Michael Mouse,Donald Duck,Minnie Mouse,Dippy Dawg (Goofy))»
«Signatory»
When looking over a template, it is useful to see the variables in your template in a different color to the standard
text as they can be quickly identified.
You should now save your template by clicking on the
button in the XpressDox ribbon.
The following dialog box will appear:
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
Type in a File Name of Basic Letter and then press the
button..
That’s all there is to it! Now that you’ve created your first template, you can Run it to merge information.
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To run your template:
To run your template, click on the
button in the XpressDox ribbon.
The following dialog box will appear:
Place a tick in the block next to Basic Letter.xdtpx, and click Run. Note that XpressDox always lists the file you used
most recently on the top of your file list.
The following interview will appear:
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You should now fill in the information that will merge with your template. Use the tab key to move between fields;
you may also use Shift Tab to move upwards in the interview screen. When you reach the Signatory field, click on
to choose your signatory. When you have filled in all of the fields, your interview dialog should look something
like this:
Now press
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If the “Save Merged Document” option was ticked, you will now be prompted to save the document somewhere
on your computer. If you are prompted for a file save location, press Cancel for now.
XpressDox has merged the information you captured in the interview with your template, and your completed
document should now look something like this:
MX Corporation
99566 Carroll Court
Cincinnati
OH 45140
Attention: Mr S Bloggs
Dear Seymour
REQUEST FOR QUOTATION
Yours sincerely,
Donald Duck
Now close the completed Word document (Ctrl + W). You should once again have the original template in front of
you. If not, click on
in the XpressDox ribbon and select Basic Letter.xdtpx again.
Once you have the Basic Letter template in front of you, insert a few lines at the top of your template, and position
your cursor on the very first line, so that we can add the Today command to the template.
To insert the Today command, click on the Commands icon in the XpressDox menu.
Double click on the Today command in the list and the following dialog will appear:
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Press
The following command will be inserted into your template: «Today('d MMMM, yyyy','')» and your template
should now look like this:
«Today('d MMMM, yyyy','')»
«Addressee»
«Street_Address»
«City»
«Zip_Code»
Attention: «Attention»
Dear «Dear»
«Subject»
Yours sincerely,
«ChooseFromList(Signatory,Michael Mouse,Donald Duck,Minnie Mouse,Dippy Dawg (Goofy))»
«Signatory»
Another way of inserting the date is through the Common Tools button on the XpressDox ribbon. Click on Common
Tools, and Insert Today’s Date, and the same dialog as before will appear.
Finally, when we run the letter, we want the cursor to position itself correctly in the document, where it would
enable you to immediately begin typing your letter without having to move your cursor elsewhere in the
document. To do that, we use the ComeHereAfterRun command. Insert a few lines in between «Subject» and Yours
sincerely, and place your cursor in the middle.
Then, on the XpressDox ribbon, click on the Commands editor once again (if it’s not already open).
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Now locate the ComeHereAfterRun command, and double click on it. This will insert the following command into
your template: «ComeHereAfterRun()»
Your template should now look like this:
«Today('d MMMM, yyyy','')»
«Addressee»
«Street_Address»
«City»
«Zip_Code»
Attention: «Attention»
Dear «Dear»
«Subject»
«ComeHereAfterRun()»
Yours sincerely,
«ChooseFromList(Signatory,Michael Mouse,Donald Duck,Minnie Mouse,Dippy Dawg (Goofy))»
«Signatory»
Now let’s save the template again, using the
button in the XpressDox menu.
Without typing anything, click on the
button. Since you are saving an existing template, and not a new
one, you may also use the Word Save function (Ctrl + S).
This time, click on the drop down arrow below “Run Template” and choose “Run this Template”. As long as your
Basic Letter template is still open on your screen, that template will be run without you having to choose it in the
“Run Template” dialog box.
Once you have clicked on “Run this Template” the same interview as before will appear. Rather than re-typing all
the information, simply click on
and, provided you have not closed Word since the last time you
ran this template, the fields will be populated with your previous information.
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Click on
to merge your data into the template.
Note that you can also click on
to save the data you have typed for re-use at a later stage.
You can even re-use this data for other templates provided the variable names are the same. Variables may be
repeated as many times as you wish in a template; the variable name called “Addressee” will have the same value
no matter how many times you use it in the template. Note, however, that the variable name “Addressee” will
have a different value to “addressee” since variables are case sensitive.
There are many other powerful commands in the Commands menu, and you should experiment with each one to
see what it does. If you get stuck you should refer to the help section on the XpressDox website, or you can press
the F1 key on your keyboard within the Commands list.
Convert Numbers and Currency to Words
One of the utilities in XpressDox converts a number or currency amount to words in your document. XpressDox
can do this programmatically, but for this exercise, we will use this function in manual mode.
Create a new Word document, and in the XpressDox ribbon, click on Number to Words.
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The following dialog will appear:
You may change the defaults if you wish, or simply press
to insert those values into your document.
There are a number of options which can be set for this utility, and you should experiment with the settings to see
what they do. Note that your settings are saved for future use.
Congratulations on completing this tutorial. You are now well on your
way to becoming a template authoring expert!
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