Templates

The Designer is a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) tool to create templates. This topic gets you started. It explains how to create a template, what is found in a template file, and how output can be generated.

Creating a template

In the Welcome screen that appears after startup, get off to a flying start choosing New, at the left. Then select the output channel that will be prevalent in your template.

You can either select a Template Wizard or scroll down to Online resources to download a ready-made file with existing demo content as a starter for your file.

The Template Wizards can also be accessed from the menu: click File, click New, expand the Template folder, and then expand one of the templates folders.

There are Wizards for each output channel, or contexts as they are called in the Designer: Email, Print and Web.

See:

Tip: The quickest way to create a Print template based on a PDF file is to right-click the PDF file in the Windows Explorer and select Enhance with Connect.

After creating a template you can add the other contexts (see Context), as well as extra sections (see Sections), to the template.
It is, however, not possible to use a Template Wizard when adding a context or section to an existing template.

Tip: When you add an Email context to an existing template you get a 'basic action email'. This is one of the 4 types of email that you can choose from when you start a template with an Email Template Wizard; see Creating an Email template with a Wizard.

Opening a template

To open a template from the Welcome screen, select Open.

Tip: Click the Home icon Home icon at the top right to reopen the Welcome screen.

To open a template from the menu, select File > Open.
Then select the template file. A template file has the extension .OL-template.

The most recently opened templates, data mapping configurations and print presets are listed on the Welcome screen and in the menu: File > Open Recent.
To clear these lists, select Window > Clear Recent Files Lists.

Caution: A template created in an older version of the software can be opened in a newer version. However, opening and saving it in a newer version of the software will convert the template to the newest file format. The converted template can't be opened in older versions of the software.

Opening a package file

Templates can also be stored in a package file (see Creating package files). To open a package file, switch the file type to Package files (*.OL-package) in the Open File dialog. If the package contains Print Presets, you will be asked if you want to import them into the proper repositories.

Saving a template

A Designer template file has the extension .OL-template. It is a zip file that includes up to 3 contexts, all the related resources and scripts, and (optionally) a link to a data mapping configuration.

To save a template, select File > Save or press Ctrl+S. The first time you'll have to give the template a name. File > Save as allows you to save the template with a different name. The Save as dialog also appears when saving a template that is read-only.

Tip: To quickly copy the name of any other file, set Save as type to Any file (*.*) in the Save dialog. Select a file to put its name in the File name field. Then set Save as type to Template files (*.OL-template) and save the template.

When more than one resource is open and the Designer software is closed, the Save Resources dialog appears. This dialog displays a list of all open resources with their names and file location. Selected resources will be saved, deselected resources will have all their changes since they were last saved dismissed.

Saving older templates

Saving a template in a newer version of the software will convert the template to the newest file format. This makes it unreadable to older versions of the software.
The warning message that is displayed in this case can be disabled.
To re-enable this message (and all other warning dialogs), go to Window > Preferences > General, and click the Reset All Warning Dialogs button at the bottom.

Read-only templates

A lock icon displayed next to the file name indicates that the file is read-only. Saving a read-only file opens the Save as dialog, allowing you to save the file under a different name. The new file is then opened and can be edited in the Designer.

Associated data file or data mapping configuration

When you save a template, any data file or mapping configuration that is currently open will be associated with the template by saving the path to the data file or data mapping configuration in the template file.
The next time you open the template the Designer will attempt to reopen the data file or data mapping configuration as well.

To change which data file or data mapping configuration is linked to the template, open both the template and the data file or data mapping configuration that should be linked to it; then save the template.

Auto Save

After a template has been saved for the first time, Connect Designer can auto save the template with a regular interval. To configure Auto Save:

Select the menu option Window > Preferences > Save.
Under Auto save, check the option Enable to activate the Auto Save function.
Change how often it saves the template by typing a number of minutes.

Auto Backup

Connect Designer can automatically create a backup file when you manually save a template. To configure Auto Backup:

Select the menu option Window > Preferences > Save.
Under Auto backup, check the option Enable to activate the Auto Backup function.
Type the number of revisions to keep.
Select the directory in which the backups should be stored.

Backup files have the same name as the original template with two underscores and a progressive number (without leading zeros) at the end: originalname__1.OL-template, originalname__2.OL-template, etc.

Note: The Auto Save function does not cause backup files to be created.

File properties

On the menu, select File > Properties to view and complement the file properties. See File Properties dialog.

File properties can be used in a template in two ways:

Via a Handlebars expression. For example: {{@properties.Company}} inserts the value of the Company name property in the template. See also: Variable data in text: expressions and Handlebars expressions.
In scripts, via the template object; see the Designer API: template. If you are not familiar with writing scripts, refer to Writing your own scripts.

Saving a copy / down-saving a template

The Connect software is backwards compatible: templates that were made with an older version of Connect can always be opened with the newest version of the software.
But newer templates cannot be opened with an older version of the software.
Connect, however, allows you to save a template in the format of a previous version of the software, so that you may restore a template that was accidentally opened and saved in a newer version, or share a template with users of a previous version of Connect.
Note that it may not always be possible to down-save a template. If a template uses a feature that did not exist in a certain older version, it won't be possible to down-save it to that older version.

To down-save a template, select File > Save a Copy, from the menu. Select the software version and click OK. Next you can select a location and give the template a name, as usual.

To save a copy, follow the same procedure without selecting a previous version of the software.

Creating package files

A package file (*.OL-package) contains one or more templates, data mapping configurations and Print Presets.

A data mapping configuration file contains the information needed to extract data from a certain type of data file. For more information see Data mapping configurations.

Print Presets make it possible to do such things as filtering and sorting records, grouping documents and splitting the print jobs into smaller print jobs, as well as the more standard selection of printing options, such as binding, OMR markings and the like. See Print Presets for more details.

Package files can be opened by other Connect users. They can also be imported into Workflow and sent to the Connect Server.

To open the Package dialog, select File > Package.... For an explanation of the options in the Package dialog, see Package dialog.

Generating output from the Designer

Output can be generated directly from the Designer, through Workflow, or by means of the Connect Server REST API; see Generating Print output, Generating Email output and Generating Web output.

To test a template first, select Context > Preflight. Preflights execute the template without actually producing output and it displays any issues once it's done (see also: Testing scripts).

Sending files to Workflow

Workflow can generate output from a template in automated processes. For this, the template has to be sent to Workflow. Alternatively you may create a Package file (see Creating package files) and import that into Workflow.

The Send to Workflow dialog sends templates, data mapping configurations and Print Presets to the Workflow server.
A data mapping configuration file contains the information necessary for data mapping: the settings to read the source file (Delimiter and Boundary settings), the data mapping workflow with its extraction instructions ('Steps'), the Data Model and any imported data samples. For more information see Data mapping configurations.
Print Presets make it possible to do such things as filtering and sorting records, grouping documents and splitting the print jobs into smaller print jobs, as well as the more standard selection of printing options, such as binding, OMR markings and the like. See Job Preset and Output Presets for more details.

To open the dialog, select File > Send to Workflow. For an explanation of the options in it, see Send to Workflow dialog.

Sending files to Connect Server or to another server

When OL Connect plugins in a Workflow process need templates and other configuration files, Workflow sends the necessary resources to the Connect Server. The Send files to Server dialog provides a way to send templates, data mapping configurations and print presets to the Connect Server directly, or to another server. This removes the need to upload them via the REST API in a Run Script plugin in Workflow, or via a tool like the Postman app, in case the OL Connect plugins are not used or when you are using a different automation tool like Node-RED.

To open the dialog, select File > Send to Server. For an explanation of the options in it, see Send to Server dialog.

Exporting a template report

A template report can be used for archiving purposes or to provide information about the template to people who do not have access to Connect. Such a report can be exported in PDF or XML format. By default it contains a summary of the template with an overview of all the settings and resources that are used in the template: media, master pages, contexts, sections, images, scripts, runtime parameters, etc. The file properties are included as well (see File Properties dialog).

To open the Export Template Report wizard, select File > Export Report. For a description of all options, see Export Template Report wizard.

Creating a custom template report

The Export Template Report wizard also offers the possibility to export custom template reports (in PDF format only). A custom template report could contain another selection of information and present that differently, e.g. with the logo of your company.

To create a custom template report, you need two files: A template design with the desired layout and variable data. This .OL-template file has to be made in the Designer. A data mapping configuration provides the variable data. You could use the data mapping configuration made for the standard template report, or create another one in the DataMapper module, using the standard XML template report as data sample. The DataMapper is included only in OL Connect Professional and OL Connect Enterprise. Data mapping configurations have the extension .OL-datamapper. The following zip file contains both the template and data mapping configuration that are used to generate the standard template report: report-template.zip.