Admin Manual - Document Assembly
From PikaDocs
| Table of contents |
Overview of Document Assembly
To set up Pika's document assembly, first create the form letters that will be used, then copy the form letter files to the “forms” directory on the Pika server.
Creating Form Letters
Pika form letters are regular word processor files. To be compatible with Pika, they must be saved as RTF (Rich Text Format). All popular word processors, including Word Perfect and Microsoft Word support this file format.
Adding Template Codes
Pika uses a list of “template codes” to determine where to insert
information from the Pika database into a form letter. A template
code is simply a code word, enclosed on each side by two percent
signs and a bracket. For example, the template code to show the
case number is %%[number]%%. To add a template code to a form
letter, simply type it into the document, placing it where you want the
information from the database to appear.
Here is an example that will display the client's name, address and primary phone number:
%%[first_name]%% %%[middle_name]%% %%[last_name]%% %%[extra_name]%%
%%[full_address]%%
(%%[area_code]%%) %%[phone]%%
Please refer to Document Generation Tags for a complete list of the available template tags.
Copy to the Server
When the form letter is ready for use, save it and copy it to the directory P:\sitename\forms. Once in this directory, the form letter will automatically be available the next time the Pika document assembly system is used.
Using Document Assembly
To generate a form letter in Pika, first open the case for which the document is being created. Go to the “Documents” tab, you should see a section labeled “Form Letters”. Choose which form letter you wish to use from the menu labeled “Available Forms”. The other menus allow you to choose to whom the letter should be addressed, and which client, opposing party and opposing counsel should be used to fill in the form (this is useful if a case has more than one client, opposing party or opposing counsel.) Click the “Make New Doc” button, and the document will be generated and sent to your web browser. Depending on how your computer is configured, the document might open in your word processor application, it might be displayed in your browser window, or you might be prompted to save the document on your hard drive. To change this behavior, see your browser's manual.
