Expertsystemen

 

Document Assembly

Many people use xxllnc Expertsystemen to create documents, a process which is called document automation. In the following sections, we will explain how you can create your own documents. These documents can be anything from simple reports stating a few facts to complex legal contracts.

Before we go into the practical and technical details, we provide a brief outline of the process below. If this is the first time you’re using xxllnc Expertsystemen for document automation, we highty recommend taking the Guided Tour first.

The basics

At the very least, you’ll need both a Word document and a xxllnc Expertsystemen model. Please make sure that you put both in the same folder, as shown in the image below. The Word document will function as template for the document automation, which is why we call it a (Word) template. You then add a link between the model and the template. From that moment on, you can put pieces of text, called text fragments, from the Studio into your template. After you have done so, a download link to the generated document can be presented to the user.

Example folder with a xxllnc Expertsystemen model and Word template
Example folder with a xxllnc Expertsystemen model and Word template

xxllnc Expertsystemen model

In your xxllnc Expertsystemen model, three important things are present. First of all, the link between the Word template and the model itself is added. Next, throughout the model you can add text fragments: pieces of text that will be put into the Word template. Last, the download link is added to the model so that the user can access the document.

The Template

xxllnc Expertsystemen can work with Microsoft Word (.docx), Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx) and plain text files (.txt). Since the vast majority of our customers use Word files, the documentation focusses on Word.

A Word template consists of both ‘normal’ text and references. The references are small pieces of code that will be overwritten with text from your model. Don’t worry: you don’t have to write this code yourself: xxllnc Expertsystemen will generate the references for you!

Example template with references
Example template with references

A big advantage of working xxllnc Expertsystemen and a template is that you can keep content and layout seperated. The layout is almost completely done in Word, while the more complicated text generation is done within the model. This gives users a better overview of what is happening where.