NorthStar CCM Template Editor

Getting Started

Overview

The Template Editor (or Online Editor) was developed to allow your organization to manage document templates from your NorthStar CCM Projects. Document Templates are .epr files, describing the visual look & feel, as well as the business rules that apply when producing a document dynamically from data.

Accessing Online Editor

The Online Editor can be accessed either by creating a new document template from the Projects module or by opening the edit mode from the Template Preview page.

To create a new document template:

1. Starting from the home screen, access Projects;
2. Click the New button in the toolbar, and choose Document Template;
3. Enter a relevant name for your template. You will then be redirected to the Online Editor.

To access template edit mode:

1. Starting from the Project Details page, select the document template (the .epr file format) you want to edit;
2. Click the down arrow icon, and choose Edit Online;
3. You will be redirected to the Online Editor.

Understanding the Online Editor Layout

Before you get started editing your document templates in the Online Editor, it is important to take some time to familiarize yourself with the interface and terminologies used to describe what options are available.

Within the Online Editor, you will be able to find the following units:

• Design Surface: the dedicated region in the Online Editor that you will use to add and remove content. This is the central and largest region of the screen and it will display what your document template will look like as you design it.

• Sidebar: positioned on the left side of the screen, provides access to all the online components, content library, styles, data source, languages and other settings.

• Navigation Bar: positioned on the left-bottom side of the screen, allows you to select specific components in order to modify their properties accordingly.

• Toolbar Options: at the editing time, it might be necessary to consider the following options:

  • Save: Use the Save ( ) button to save changes made to the current document template.
  • Undo: Use the Undo ( ) button to move one step back in the undo chain.
  • Redo: Use the Redo ( ) button to move one step forward.
  • Zoom: Select the 100% button to zoom in or zoom out the document preview.
  • Preview: Select the Preview button to see a preview of the document template. You can see the preview as PDF, Word or HTML5. Optionally, select Settings and choose the document language you want to use for the preview. Also here, you can provide values for the existing parameters.
  • Save as: Use the Save as button from the More ( ) menu to save the document template in a new location within the workspace.
  • Go to Folder: Use the Go to Folder button from the More ( ) menu to go back to the folder where this template is located.
  • Share: Use the Share button from the More ( ) menu to generate a public link, that can be copied and send to other NorthStar CCM users with which you may want to share it. This option allows you to make the document template public.
  • Download: Use the Download button from the More ( ) menu to download the document template on your local machine.
  • Versions: Use the Versions button from the More ( ) menu to view a list with all the different template versions created. You will also be able to view and modify comments for each version or upload a new one.
  • Dependencies: Use the Dependencies button from the More ( ) menu to view all the directly-connected files with the document template and also the files where it is used, in a separate tab.
  • Request Review and Approval: Use the Request Review and Approval button from the More ( ) menu to create a review task and assign it to other user for reviewing your document template. Note that the option is visible only when the Review and Approval is enabled on your workspace.
  • Copy: Use the Copy button from the More ( ) menu to copy the document template to a different folder within the workspace.
  • Move: Use the Move button from the More ( ) menu to move the document template to a different folder within the workspace.
  • Delete: Use the Delete button from the More ( ) menu to delete the document template all together, but not until your confirmation of deletion.
  • Rename: Use the Rename button from the More ( ) menu to provide a new name for your template.

Online Editor

The Online Editor proposes a set of tabs that can be accessed to configure different types of settings when editing a template. In the Template Editor, there are six available tabs that can be accessed directly from the left sidebar, each one with a different purpose:

• Components - populating the document template with several components.
• Content Library - selecting from already ready-made fragments as pieces of the master template.
• Styles - styling the components inserted in your document template.
• Data - assigning a data source to insert dynamic fields into the template.
• Languages - setting up multiple language translations.
• Settings - configuring settings related to pages, sections, fonts or parameters used within the template.

Components

The NorthStar CCM Platform provides various components that can help you create and design your templates to meet your organization's needs.

Components Table

To find out more information on each component select one from the table below:

Paragraph	Table	Image	List	Conditional Paragraph
Repeating Paragraph	Page Break	Fragment	Field	Hyperlink
Signature	Page Number	Page Count

Adding New Components

There are two ways for adding new components to your document template from Online Editor:

• In the Online Editor, select the Components tab from the Sidebar. Within the Components section, select the component you want to add to your document template, then drag and drop it into the design surface.
• In the design surface of the Online Editor, select the area on which you want to add a new component. Once selected, select the + sign, visible in the top-left side, then select the component you want to add from the contextual menu.

Editing a Template Component

Follow the steps below to edit a component:

• Select the component you want to edit in the Editor design surface;
• Notice in the Sidebar that the Styles tab has been opened. Here you can access various options related to the component selected.
• When the modifications are finished, the updates are done automatically, and also they can be easily observed in your template.

Content Library

Another feature that this editor possesses is the possibility to add important elements from ready-made component such as pre-headers, footers, or other fragments from the Content Library.

The Content Library (Library) houses all of the content fragments found within a given workspace. The content library will be visible within template online editor, below the Components tab.

Adding New Content Fragments

If there are no Content Fragments listed you can create new fragments directly from Library, by following the steps below:

1. Starting from the Online Editor, go to the Content Library tab in the Sidebar.
2. Select the + button, next to Library.
3. Within the Add Content Fragment window:
   • Enter a name for your Content Fragment;
   • Set up the folder in which the fragment will be saved. By default, the folder will be set up in the location of the opened template.
   • Select an existing category or create a new one. Categories help you to easily find fragments within Library.
   • In the Content box, add the content you want for the fragment. You can use the options available to format and structure the content.
4. Once you're ready, click OK.

Editing Content Fragments

Follow the steps below if you want to edit a content fragment listed in the library:

1. Starting from the Online Editor, go to the Content Library tab in the Sidebar.
2. Select the Settings ( ) button, next to a content fragment you want to edit.
3. Update the properties that you want to change in the Edit Content Fragment dialog.
   • If the content is too complex for inline editing, you can select the Open button below the preview box. You will be redirected to the Content Fragment Preview page where you can proceed to freely edit as an individual template.
4. Once you're ready, select OK.

Styles

For configuring components' properties within the template, Style Menu from the Sidebar is the first choice. There you will find properties related to the selected component, from the row it belongs or styles of headings, to paragraphs of the template body.

To view all the available properties for each one of the component inserted in a document template, access the Component Styles section.

Data

Since the NorthStar CCM Platform allows you to create both, static and dynamic document templates, assigning and working with a data source is essential to your design process. The Data tab from the Sidebar allows you to add different types of input useful in template creation. The data source file types supported are : XML Data and Schema Files (.xml, .xsd), Modeler Diagram Files (.edx), Form Files (.efd) or Spreadsheet Files (.csv, .xlsx). Follow the steps below to add a data source file to your document template.

Assigning a Data Source

Follow the steps below to assign a data source to your template:

• In the Online Editor, select the Data tab from the Sidebar.
• Select the Browse (the three dots) button inside the Source field;
• Choose the data source file for the template which you are going to design. You can also select the Upload File and import files from your local machine if needed
• Your data source will be added on the Sidebar and you can start adding fields into your template.

Languages

For NorthStar CCM templates you can set up multiple language translations, meaning that during the rendering process, a specific translation can be applied and all of the static text in your document will be replaced using the translation you set up.

Adding New Languages

Follow the steps below to add and set up a language translation to your document template.

• In the Online Editor, select the Languages tab from the Sidebar.
• Under the Languages section, click on the + button, then choose the language in which you want to translate your document template, from the contextual menu.
• Notice that the language has been added in the Sidebar and is available for further formatting.
• Once a new language is added, you need to add its translations manually. Select the language to open the Language Properties dialog.
• Language Properties displays two columns: a column containing all the Original Text presented in your document template, and a second column containing the Translation text.
• To add a translation, simply add the corresponding translated text inside the Translation column.
• Optionally, you can set a language as default. Being a default language, it will be considered first at the rendering time.
• To remove a language from your document template, select Delete Language from the Language Properties dialog.

Template Settings

The Settings tab in the sidebar encloses four categories of settings: Pages, Sections, Fonts and Parameters - all of these related to and dependent on a template. The settings configured here will take a step ahead in terms of priority, when other modifications are made at editor's level. Find out below what each of these settings might offer.

Pages

A page is a layout for one type of document pages, that controls the structure of the content you want to design. From Pages you can define overall layout concepts such as page size, orientation or margins for your document template.

Adding New Pages

Follow the steps below to learn how to add and edit a page in the online editor.

• To create a new page, starting from the Online Editor, access Settings\Pages from the Sidebar. Within Pages, select the + button, then choose a size from the contextual menu.
• To edit a page, select it from the Sidebar. Use the new options displayed in the Sidebar to edit your page, such as:
  • Select Edit ( ) to provide a new name for your page;
  • Select Size to set up a new format for your page. The available options are: Letter(612pt x 792pt), A3(842pt x 1190pt), A4(595pt x 842pt) or A5(420pt x 595pt).
  • Select Orientation to set up a viewing type for your page. The available options are: Portrait or Orientation.
  • Select Margins to set up the dimensions of the page margins. The available options are: Normal(50pt H 50pt V), Narrow(36pt H 36pt V), Moderate(54pt H 72pt V) or Wide(144pt H 72pt V).

Sections

A section is formed by a page or a group of pages that succeed each-other in the order chosen by the user from the Sidebar.

Adding New Sections

Follow the steps below to learn how to add and edit a section in the online editor.

• To add a new section, starting from the Online Editor, access Settings\Sections from the Sidebar. Within Sections, select the + button, then choose the page you want to include from the contextual menu.
• To edit a section, select it from the Sidebar. Use the new options displayed in the Sidebar to edit your section, such as:
  • Select Edit ( ) to provide a new name for your section;
  • Select Pagination, to choose another page.
  • Check the Printing option you want to specify for your template. The available options are: Duplex or Monochrome.
  • By default, each new section is a static section. If your document template has a data source assigned, you can configure a conditional or repeating behavior for your section, by selecting the fx button. From the opened Dynamic Section dialog, you can set up:
    • A dynamic condition to display your section only when the condition is met.
    • A repeating context to repeat the section in the output for each repeating node existing in the data source.

Fonts

When creating a template for NorthStar CCM Platform, besides usual font files, you can also have the ability to insert external fonts to personalize your document.

Adding New Fonts

Follow the steps below to learn how to add and edit a font file in the online editor.

• To add a new external font file, starting from the Online Editor, access Settings > Fonts from the Sidebar. You can also upload a font file from your computer by selecting Upload File. In the Add Font dialog, provide a name for the font and the path where you want to store the file, then select the OK to save the change.
• To edit a font file, select it from the Sidebar. In the Edit Font dialog, you can provide a new name and a new path for the selected font file, then click OK to update the changes

Parameters

When you design your template, you can add parameters with values that will be set from outside the document at rendering time. Parameters can be used for content fragments as well. When embedding a content fragment in a document template, these parameters will be parsed to the document too.

Adding New Parameters

Follow the steps below to learn how to add and edit a parameter in the online editor.

• To add a new parameter, starting from the Online Editor, access the Settings > Parameters from the Sidebar.
• Select the Add ( ) button.
• Provide the Name and its corresponding Value for the new parameter, then click OK. You can repeat the previous steps, until you finish adding all the necessary parameters.
• To edit a parameter, select it from the Sidebar. Use the options displayed in the contextual menu after you have accessed the Settings ( ) button next to the selected parameter:
  • Click Edit ( ) to modify the name or the value of your parameter.
  • Click Remove ( ) to delete the parameter.

Once you're ready configuring all the parameters you need for the template, you can later use them when configuring an advanced expression, under the Parameters tab of the Insert Field dialog.

Template Properties

There is a variety of document template properties that can be used to edit information about an existing template. These properties are associated to a style that is associated to a component inside a template.

Component Styles

In this section, you can explore all the components available in a document template, together with all their corresponding properties. Everything that you need to change to an element in the template has a style attached.

You can think of a style as a set of predefined formatting instructions that you can make use of throughout the template. For example, let's assume that each paragraph in a document must be justified and italic. For not having to go through a repeated process of styling each one of the paragraphs in the template, you can apply a style to the paragraph - that includes all elements of type paragraphs inside the document.

Paragraph

A paragraph defines a section in a template. NorthStar CCM templates are usually created by one or multiple paragraphs. All other elements used to create a template, such as static text, tables, images, etc., are included in paragraphs. The table below lists the properties available for a Paragraph element.

Paragraph Format	Alignment	Indentation	Bullets	Numbering
Multilevel List	Background Color	Borders	Break

Table

Tables can be helpful when designing your templates for either positioning information on the page or placing content in rows for display information in individual cells. When adding a new table component, you will be prompted to configure the number of rows and columns your table will contains. Optionally you can check Header or Footer to add it to your table.

Tables can be either static or dynamic. By default, a new table is static. To convert it to dynamic, under the Insert Table dialog click on the Dynamic Table option. You will be prompted to select one or multiple node(s) from your data source tree that will represent the dynamic context for your table. The table below lists the properties available for a Table element.

Table	Insert Header Row	Insert Footer Row	Fill	Borders	Color
Table Column	Switch Columns	Insert Columns	Fill	Width
Table Row	Switch Rows	Insert Rows	Convert To Dynamic	Fill	Height
Table Cell	Merge	Split	Fill	Align	Borders	Color

Image

Using images for your business templates is worth a thousand words. One of the key components to designing a powerful piece of communication is having the capability to integrate images into your documents. When adding a new image component, you will be prompted to either select an existing image from your environment, or upload a new one. The table below lists the properties available for an Image element.

Content	Width	Height	Aspect Ratio

List

Lists are useful when you create business documents as this help you structure your data in a concise and well-organized way. The table below lists the properties available for a List element.

Start new list	Continue from previous list	Restart list numbering

Conditional Paragraph

Conditional Paragraphs allow you to include entire paragraphs of content, both static and dynamic, into your output, entirely dependent upon your data source. When adding a new paragraph, you will be prompted to set up a condition for your paragraph. Within the Insert Conditional Paragraph dialog, you will have to set your initial condition by: * Selecting the field from your data source which you want to base your condition on. * Selecting an operator. * Based on the operator selected, you might need to add a value for your expression. * To create more advanced expressions, click the Advanced button. The new dialog we provide you various functions, operators or parameters you can use within your complex expressions. The table below lists the properties available for a Condition element.

New Condition	Edit Condition	Delete Condition

Repeating Paragraph

Repeating Paragraphs are an excellent way to display repeating content from your data source when you do not want this presented in a table format.When adding a new repeating paragraph, you will be prompted to select a node after which you want to repeat your paragraph from the Data Source Tree.

Edit Repeating	Delete Repeating

Page Break

A page break helps users to split the content in a document template. The page break will split your template content to the next page.

Fragment

Content Fragments or Fragments help you split large documents into smaller and more manageable pieces. Once you've created a content fragment, you can use it on multiple document templates, and more importantly, when you need to change something within that section, you will only need to change the content fragment and automatically all the templates that contain it, will be updated.

When adding a new fragment to your template, you will be prompted to either select a fragment from your environment or upload a new one. After the fragment is inserted, you need to select how the fragments should be displayed in the template (as a paragraph or inline, included in an existing paragraph), or specify the context in which the content fragments to be displayed.

Field

A Field is a placeholder in your template that is used at runtime to retrieve the information from your data source and insert into the document when rendered. Fields will show up in the Editor Design Surface by default, with a gray background and an XPath expression (the location of the information in your data source).

When adding a new field to your template, you will be prompted to select the node you want to insert from the Data Source Tree. Note that a data source needs to be assigned to your document template.

To apply a format to your field:

NorthStar CCM provides predefined formatting options to help you easily change the structure of your data source field to be presented the way you intend in the output.

1. Select the field you want to edit in the Editor design surface.
2. Click the Format drop down and select the type of formatting you wish to apply to your field. Available options include Number, Percentage, Currency or Date\Time.
3. To create more custom formatting, select the Custom option, then add the formatting type you want in the empty box. A new formatting type is created by using the # symbol to extract characters from the input string. For example, to format a Social Security Number (SSN), use ###-##-####. 123456789 will become 123-45-6789.

Hyperlink

Within NorthStar CCM templates, you can add hyperlinks to easily reference external contents. When adding a new hyperlink to your template, you will be prompted to enter the text you want to display in your output, and the URL address to the external resource.

Signature

Signatures allow you to give originality to your templates and these can be inserted into the document for demonstrating the authenticity of a message within. The table below lists the properties available for a Signature element.

Value	Signature Tag	Aspect Ratio

Page Number

The most common elements of header or footer area in a template are page numbers. Page Number can be used when you want to get the current number out of the total number of pages included in the template. The table below lists the properties available for a Page Number element.

Value	Format

Page Count

Page Count can be used when you want to get a total number of pages included in the template. The table below lists the properties available for a Page Count element.

Value	Format

Style Properties

Components' properties are listed below with a brief description for each.

Font Family

Use the font family drop-down to specify the font for your editor component.

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Font Size

Use the font size drop-down to specify the font size for your editor component.

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Bold

Configure your text to be displayed as a thick text, resulting in text like this.

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Italic

Configure the font style of your text to be italic, resulting in text like this.

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Underline

Set up your text to be displayed with a horizontal line in the bottom.

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Strikethrough

Set up your text to be displayed with a horizontal line through their center.

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Font Color

Specify a default color in which to render text.

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Hyperlink

The text inserted in this field will be displayed as a hyperlink's caption.

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Split Paragraph

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Clear Formatting

Remove all the formatting of the text.

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Signature Tag

Every signature needs a tag representing a text displayed on the signature line.

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Insert Element

Add an object to the specified paragraph.

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Format

Set a predefined format to a numbered field.

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Paragraph Format

Represent all the formatting for a paragraph.

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Alignment

Set a constant (Align Left, Center, Align Right, Justify) that represents the alignment for the selected paragraph.

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Indentation

Set a constant (Left indent or Right indent) for the selected paragraph formatting.

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Bullets

Add a bullet object for the selected paragraph.

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Numbering

Add a number formatting for the selected paragraph.

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Multilevel List

Add a new level for a list by positioning the cursor at the end of a list item.

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Start New List

The list starts at 1 again at the beginning of the specified paragraph.

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Continue from previous list

The list numbering is modified to continue from where the last list item was counted.

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Restart list numbering

The list starts at a input value again at the beginning of the specified paragraph.

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Background Color

Specify the component's background color.

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Borders

Add borders to an object within the template.

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Break

Insert page, column and line breaks.

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Value

The source field of the element from where it extracts its value.

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Insert Header Row

Add a row on top of the table.

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Insert Footer Row

Add a row on bottom of the table.

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Fill

Set the color that is used to fill the table of the specified paragraph.

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Switch Columns

Shift the content of the table so that the columns and rows are interchanged.

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Switch Rows

Shift the content of the table so that the rows and columns are interchanged.

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Insert Columns

Add a column where your cursor is located in the table.

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Insert Rows

Add a row where your cursor is located in the table.

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Width

Set the width value of an element.

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Height

Set the height value of an element.

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Convert to Dynamic Row

Convert the table row into a dynamic row.

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Merge

Merge cells together either vertically or horizontally from the currently selected cell. The cells will be merged one cell at a time.

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Split

Split cells horizontally or vertically from the currently selected cell. The cells will be split one cell at a time.

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Image Content

Insert a generated content as an image in the specified paragraph.

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Aspect Ratio

Ensure the image to maintain its proportional relationship between width and height. Click the lock ( ) button to set a uniform aspect ratio. Otherwise, click the unlock ( ) button to set a nonuniform aspect ratio.

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New Condition

Create a new condition to be applied for the dynamic content.

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Edit Condition

Edit the condition setup applicable for the dynamic content.

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Delete Condition

Erase the condition applicable for the dynamic content entirely.

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Edit Repeating

Make modifications to your Repeating Paragraph after inserting.

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Delete Repeating

Erase your Repeating Paragraph after inserting and all active conditions.

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