Choose the master table fields

Every Exact Forms Plus template is for one table, the master table. A document is created for a record in that table (the master record), and the template's field tokens, such as ~Client Name~, are filled with that record's values. Exact Forms Plus reads only the fields listed in the template record's clist, so every master table field your template uses must be in it. The Master tab of the Exact Forms Plus Configurator sets the master table and builds the clist for you.

When to use it

• After you create a new template record, to choose its master table and fields.

• After you add a field token to the Word template, to add that field to the clist.

• After you remove fields from the Word template, to take them out of the clist. Fields that the template doesn't use do no harm, but a shorter list is easier to manage.

Choose the master table and fields

1. Open the Document Templates record and select EFP Configurator. The configurator opens in a new window on the Master tab, under Master Table Settings.

2. In Select the table from your application, choose the master table, for example Purchase Orders. The list shows the tables in the app. Until you choose one, the field list says No Table is Selected..

3. In the field list, select Is Selected for each field the template uses. The list has three columns:

   • Field ID#: the field's ID in Quickbase.

   • Field Name: the field's name followed by its ID, for example Client Name(7).

   • Is Selected: whether the field is in the clist. Fields already in the clist are listed first.

   Select a column heading to sort the list by that column, and select it again to reverse the order.

4. Check Master Table Clist: below the list. It shows the selected field IDs separated by periods, for example 3.7.9.12.18, and updates as you select fields.

5. Select Apply Changes. The configurator shows Exact Forms Plus Configurator has successfully saved Master Table settings to your QuickBase Application. and saves the table and the clist on the template record.

6. Select Close. The template record refreshes and shows the new Master table dbid and clist.

Tip

Include Record ID# (field ID 3) and any field you use in an embedded report's filter, such as the key field the related records point to. The configurator adds master fields used in a filter for you when you save the embedded report, but it's simplest to have them in the list from the start.

Example

A purchase order template uses these tokens from the Purchase Orders table: ~PO Number~, ~PO Date~, ~Vendor Name~, ~Ship To Address~, and ~Total~. On the Master tab you choose Purchase Orders, select those five fields plus Record ID#, and select Apply Changes. If their field IDs are 3, 6, 7, 9, 11, and 18, the template record's clist becomes 3.6.7.9.11.18.

Change the fields later

Open the template record, select EFP Configurator, select or clear fields, and select Apply Changes. You don't need to attach the Word template again when you only change the field list.

If you leave the window without selecting Apply Changes, your browser warns you that changes may not be saved.

Change the master table

Once a template has a master table, Select the table from your application shows only that table. This protects the template's embedded reports, whose filters refer to the master table's fields. To use a different master table, you have two choices:

• Make a new template record for the other table. This is usually the better choice, because the field tokens and embedded reports are different for each table.

• Reset the existing template. On the template record in Quickbase, clear Master table dbid and clist, save the record, and open the EFP Configurator again. The list then shows every table in the app. Check each of the template's embedded reports afterward, because their filters still refer to the old table.

Things to know

• The clist is only for the master table. Fields in embedded reports are chosen in each report's own Subtable Fields step. See Choose and format columns.

• If a button formula passes its own clist parameter, Exact Forms Plus uses that list for documents made with that button. The buttons the wizard creates leave clist empty, so they use the template's clist and pick up your changes here. See Exact Forms Plus formula URL parameters.

• You can also type the clist into the template record yourself, but the configurator avoids typing mistakes. A clist with anything other than field IDs and periods stops the document from being created.

• A field token in the template for a field that isn't in the clist stays in the document as typed. If you see a token such as ~Vendor Name~ in a created document, add that field here.

Next: Create or change an embedded report. For more about templates and field tokens, see Document templates.

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