After the standard Authorization and Application information steps, the wizard shows the PDF Merger Setup step. The wizard page is titled PDF Merger Set-up. The steps on the left are Authorization, Application Information, PDF Merger Setup (this step), Application Token, and Finish.
On this step you choose the table and field where PDF Merger saves the merged file, and which files it merges.
The PDF Merger Setup step
The controls, from top to bottom:
Select the Destination Table (required). A drop-down list of your app's tables; it starts at Select a Table. This is the table PDF Merger runs from, and where it saves the merged file. The wizard adds its fields to this table.
Select a Destination File Attachment Field (required). Available after you choose a table. It starts at Select a File Attachment Field and lists the table's file attachment fields. This is the field where PDF Merger saves the merged file. To have the wizard add a new field instead, choose Create a Field (the last item in the list).
Name of File Attachment (required). Appears only when you choose Create a Field. Enter the name of the new file attachment field.
Select a Merger Setup Type. How PDF Merger decides which files to merge:
Configuration Setup (selected by default). Merges files from specific records that you name. See Configuration Setup.
Query Setup. Merges files from the records that a query returns, usually the child records of the record you run PDF Merger from. See Query Setup.
The rest of the step depends on the setup type you choose.
Merger setup types
Configuration Setup
Use this setup when you know exactly which records hold the files you want to merge, or when the record you run PDF Merger from holds them.
Each file to merge has its own tab. The step starts with one tab, First File. Select Add Another File (to the right of the tabs) to add the next tab: Second File, Third File, Fourth File, and Fifth File. The wizard sets up to five files. PDF Merger merges them in tab order.
Each tab has:
Select a Table to Merge From. The table that holds the file.
Record ID of File to Merge. Available after you choose a table. The Record ID# of the record that holds the file.
Select a File Attachment to Merge. The file attachment field that holds the file.
Use Destination Record ID# (checkbox). Shown only when the table in Select a Table to Merge From is the destination table. Check it to take the file from the record you run PDF Merger from, instead of a fixed record. Checking it turns off Record ID of File to Merge.
Every tab except First File has a remove icon (a red X) that deletes that file from the list.
To merge more than five files, edit the Configuration parameter in the PDF Merger Parameters field after the wizard is done. See Formula Text field parameters.
Example: an employee welcome package
Say you have an Employees table, and you want to build a welcome package for each employee by merging three files, in this order:
A cover page, stored in the Template File field of record 12 in the Document Templates table.
The employee's own documentation, stored in the File Attachment field of the employee's record in Employees.
A closing page, stored in the Template File field of record 15 in Document Templates.
Set up the step like this:
Select the Destination Table: Employees.
Select a Destination File Attachment Field: Create a Field, with Name of File Attachment set to Employee Welcome Package File.
Select a Merger Setup Type: Configuration Setup.
Then select Add Another File twice, so there are three tabs, and fill them in:
Tab | Select a Table to Merge From | Record ID of File to Merge | Select a File Attachment to Merge |
|---|---|---|---|
First File | Document Templates | 12 | Template File |
Second File | Employees | Left blank: Use Destination Record ID# is checked | File Attachment |
Third File | Document Templates | 15 | Template File |
The Second File tab can use Use Destination Record ID# because its table, Employees, is the destination table. When you run PDF Merger from an employee's record, it merges the cover page, that employee's documentation, and the closing page, in that order, and saves the result to Employee Welcome Package File on the same record.
Query Setup
Use this setup to merge the files of related records, for example all the child records of the record you run PDF Merger from, or any set of records a query returns.
Select the Query Table. The table PDF Merger takes the files from. It lists every table in the app except the destination table.
Build a Query. A query builder that picks the records whose files are merged. If the query table is related to the destination table, the wizard fills in the relationship for you, for example Related Project is equal to the value in the field Record ID# (destination). Fields from the destination table are marked (destination), so the query can match the record you run PDF Merger from. Use the plus and minus controls to add or remove conditions.
File tabs, below the query. The step starts with First File. Select Add Another File to add Second File and Third File. The wizard sets up to three file attachment fields. Each tab has one control, Select the File Attachment: a file attachment field on the query table.
For example, to merge every job's timesheet into one file on a project: choose Projects as the destination table, create a field named Project Timesheet File, choose Query Setup, choose Jobs as the query table, keep the pre-filled query Related Project is equal to Record ID# (destination), and choose Job Timesheet on the First File tab.
Moving on
Select Next to go to the Application Token step. Select Previous to go back to Application information.
If something is missing, the wizard stays on this step and shows one of these messages:
Message | What to do |
|---|---|
Please select a destination table to merge into. | Choose a table in Select the Destination Table. |
The usertoken selected does not have permissions to create fields in the <table> table. PDF Merger needs permissions to create fields in order to continue the setup. | Use a user token that can create fields on the destination table, or ask your app administrator for that permission. |
Please select a file attachment field for the destination file. | Choose a field in Select a Destination File Attachment Field. |
Please enter a name for the new destination file attachment field. | Fill in Name of File Attachment. |
<File> - Selected table was empty. | On that tab, choose a table in Select a Table to Merge From. |
<File> - No record ID given. | On that tab, enter a Record ID of File to Merge, or check Use Destination Record ID#. |
<File> - No file attachment given. | On that tab, choose a field in Select a File Attachment to Merge. |
Query-mode selected, but query is blank. Please fill in a query. | Add at least one condition in Build a Query. |
<File> has no file attachment selected. Please select a file attachment field. | On that tab, choose a field in Select the File Attachment. |
<File> has a previously selected field. Please select a file attachment field that was not previously selected. | Each Query Setup tab needs a different file attachment field. Change the field on that tab. |
<File> is the name of the tab, for example Second File.
The Application Token step
PDF Merger always ends with the Application Token step, just before Finish. It has one field:
Application Token (optional). Enter an application token for your app if the app requires application tokens.
The step explains: The Add-On you are setting up may require an Application Token to run if your application is configured to require Application Tokens. Please supply the Application Token and press Next/Finish. If your application requires a token and you didn't provide one, you'll need to add it in the specified fields.
The wizard doesn't check the token. It adds it to the Execute PDF Merger button, which needs it to update the record in apps that require application tokens. If your app doesn't require them, leave the field blank. See Application Token step.
Select Finish to install PDF Merger. Select Previous to go back to PDF Merger Setup.
Next
See PDF Merger finish for what the wizard creates and what you need to do afterward.