Objective

To assign controls from a form in a Microsoft Word template to a field in the ELO metadata.

Requirements

To do so, you need to enable the Developer tab in Microsoft Word: Ribbon > File > Options > Customize the Ribbon.

To connect the content of the metadata to the Word form fields, in the Metadata > General in the configuration, check the box next to Link the content of the controls from Word to the metadata.

Step by step

1. Create multiple controls in a document template in Microsoft Word, for example a content control for selecting the date or a drop-down list content control for the project name.

2. File the document to ELO and choose the metadata form with the fields you want to link to controls later on. In our example, we select the Report form with fields Project, Author, Meeting date, Location, and Topic.

3. Select the filed document in ELO, then click Check out and edit in the Document group on the toolbar.

The document is opened for editing in Microsoft Word.

4. Switch to the Desktop work area.

5. In the Word template, select the control you want to assign to a field in the metadata form.

6. In the ribbon, click Assign control in the Administration group.

The Assign field dialog box opens with the name of the metadata form.

7. Choose the field that you want to assign to the selected control from the drop-down menu. In our example, we select the Project field.

Optional: Clicking Refresh selection refreshes the selection in Microsoft Word if you have made any changes in the meantime.

8. Click OK.

The control has been assigned to a field.

9. Repeat this step for the other controls in your document template.

Optional: In the toolbar, click Overview of controls in the Administration group to check which fields are linked.

Result

The controls are now linked to fields in the ELO metadata.

You can now create a report with the document template by pressing the Document from template button. When opening the document template, the Metadata dialog box opens. All information provided within the mapped fields is automatically transferred to the document's form fields.

Once the document has been created and checked back in, the values of the mapped fields are automatically checked and the content of the metadata form automatically adjusted.

Overview of controls

The Overview of controls shows which metadata form is assigned to the document and which controls have been assigned to fields.

Select in overview: The active control in Microsoft Word is brought into focus in the overview.

Assign field: Assign the active control in Microsoft Word to a field. The Assign field dialog box opens.

Refresh: The controls in Microsoft Word are reloaded.

You can view the overview either in list or table format. By clicking Filter, you can sort, group, and filter to narrow down the list. The search field next to the magnifying glass icon also allows you to narrow down the results with its search-as-you-type function.

You can show the control assigned to each list entry by clicking the arrow button.

You can change the existing assignment by clicking the chain icon. The Assign field dialog box opens.

An error message is displayed in the following cases:

• No assignment available
• Field was assigned multiple times
• No corresponding field in the metadata form