Document Designer Tutorial and Reference Guide

Sage University

Certified course curriculum

Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate

Document Designer

Tutorial and Reference Guide

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10/2015

Document Designer Tutorial and Reference Guide Contents

Contents

Document Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Document Designer Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Create a Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Activity 1—Create a New Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Create a Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Activity 2—Create a New Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Display Information in a Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Insert Fields From Other Database Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Activity 3—Insert Fields From Other Database Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Insert a Table of Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Activity 4—Insert a Table of Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Working With Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Use an Existing Document as a Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Delete a Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Where Template Files Are Stored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Documents Based on Sample Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Contents Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate

Document Designer Tutorial and Reference Guide Document Designer

Document Designer

You can now take advantage of today’s industry-standard word processing program,

Microsoft Word, with your Sage software. Using Document Designer, you can

generate a Word document with your data directly from Sage 300 Construction and

Real Estate, then use the powerful word processing features of Word to format and

refine your document.

NOTE: Document Designer is available in the U.S., Canadian, and Australian editions of

Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate.

In this handout, you will be introduced to Document Designer concepts, including:

 Software requirements.

 How to access and use this feature.

 Creating documents based on templates.

 Designing custom templates.

Document Designer Requirements Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Version 15.1

Document Designer Requirements

In order to use Document Designer, you must have the following installed on your

machine:

 Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate CD version 15.1 and higher.

 Microsoft Word 2010 and higher (32-bit).

Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate

Security

Document Designer is only available in the Enter Commitment window. To use it,

you must have security permissions to:

 JC: Tasks > Commitments or PJ: Contract Control > Commitments.

 Manage Templates and/or Create Documents for Document Designer.

Menu Path—Sage Desktop > Tools Security Administration > Security Permissions by

Type > Tasks

WARNING: Record level and file security does not affect Document Designer. In order to

safeguard sensitive company information, you should carefully consider which users to

grant the permissions to use Document Designer.

Templates

The documents you generate in Document Designer are based on templates. A

template contains text, images, formatting, and placeholders for database fields.

When it is used to generate a document, the placeholders are replaced by actual

values from your data.

Compare the document in Figure 1 to the template in Figure 2 on the next page.

Document Designer Tutorial and Reference Guide Templates

Figure 1—Document

Figure 2—Template

Create a Document Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Version 15.1

Sage provides the following commitment-related sample templates:

 Letter of Intent.docx

 Notice to Proceed.docx

 Purchase Order.docx

 Subcontract Agreement Checklist.docx

 Subcontract.docx.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: See “Documents Based on Sample Templates” on page 22

for examples of documents based on the sample templates.

You can also create custom templates in Document Designer.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: See “Create a Template” on page 9.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: To find out where the template files are stored, see “Where

Template Files Are Stored” on page 21.

Create a Document

NOTE: Only users with the security permissions for Create Documents are allowed to

perform this task. See “Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Security” on page 4.

You create a document for one commitment at a time in the Enter Commitment

window.

Activity 1—Create a New Document

1. Select JC: Tasks > Commitments or PJ: Contract Control > Commitments.

2. Select the commitment for which you want to create a document and press

Enter on your keyboard. You can only print documents for the commitment that

is currently in the Enter Commitment window.

TIP: If it is a new commitment, save it first.

Click Document Designer.

Document Designer Tutorial and Reference Guide Create a Document

Menu Path—JC: Tasks > Commitments or PJ: Contract Control > Commitments

4. When the Document Designer window opens, select a template and click New

Document.

NOTE: The Document Designer window does not display templates that are already

open in Microsoft Word.

Create a Document Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Version 15.1

5. When the New Document window opens:

 Enter the file name for the document (a); the file extension is automatically

*docx.

 By default, the file is saved in your company data folder or the location

specified in File Locations (File > Company Settings) for Attachments.

If you want to save the file elsewhere, click the browse button (b) to specify

the location.

 If you want to access the document through a file link in the Commitment

Attachments window in the future, select the Link as Attachment check

box (c).

 Click Create New Document.

6. The document opens in Microsoft Word and contains information about the

commitment that is currently in the Enter Commitment window. If needed,

you can type additional text or apply formatting to finalize the document.

7. When you are finished with the changes, save the document in Microsoft Word.

TIP: If you did not make any changes to the document, you do not need to save it before

closing Microsoft Word.

WARNING: Unlike Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate reports and inquiries which

restrict the information that a user can access based on record level and file security,

documents created through Document Designer do not. For example, your template

includes bank information from the Cash Management master and transaction files. Even

though the user does not have security permissions to these files, when he uses the

template to create a document, the bank information is included. In order to safeguard

sensitive company information, you should carefully consider which users to grant the

permissions to use Document Designer. See “Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate

Security” on page 4.

Document Designer Tutorial and Reference Guide Create a Template

Create a Template

When you create a template, you define the text, images, database fields as

placeholders, and formatting.

The first time you use Document Designer to open an existing template or create

a new template, you will be prompted to install the Word Document add-in in

Microsoft Word.

Activity 2—Create a New Template

NOTE: Only users with the security permissions for Manage Templates are allowed to

perform this task. See “Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Security” on page 4.

Select JC: Tasks > Commitments or PJ: Contract Control > Commitments.

2. Select a commitment and press Enter on your keyboard.

NOTE: After you create the template, you will be able to use it with any commitment.

Click Document Designer.

4. In the Document Designer window, click New Template.

5. In the New Template window, enter a name for the template. Do not use the

same name as a template that already exists in the Document Designer window.

When you click Create New Template, the software automatically creates a

Microsoft Word document and saves the file (*.docx) to the User Template

folder of where Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate is installed on your

server.

Create a Template Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Version 15.1

FOR MORE INFORMATION: To find out where the template files are stored, see “Where

Template Files Are Stored” on page 21.

The template opens in Microsoft Word.

 You enter text, apply formatting, and insert images in the template content

area (a).

 You use the Document Actions pane (b) to insert database fields as

placeholders in the template content area.

TIP: If the Document Actions pane is not automatically displayed, go to the View tab and

click Document Actions in the toolbar.

Document Designer Tutorial and Reference Guide Create a Template

7. In the Document Actions pane, the fields for a specific database table (a) are

displayed in the list (b). In the example shown below, the list shows fields from

the Commitment table (JCM.Commitment).

8. To add a field to the template content area, select it from the Document Actions

pane and then click Insert Field or double-click. You can only select one field

at a time.

9. Once a field is added to the template content area, it becomes a placeholder

object and is shown with the full database name (table.field) enclosed with curly

braces. For example, Commitment appears as {Commitment.Commitment}.

Notice a border appears around the placeholder object when you select it.

Create a Template Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Version 15.1

As you design your template, make sure you type outside the placeholder object

because any text that is entered inside the border is not shown when you

generate a document.

10. To delete a placeholder field from the template content area, select it and press

Delete on your keyboard.

11. After you finish designing your template, remember to save it in Microsoft

Word.

TIP: As you work on your template design, remember to save the file periodically in

Microsoft Word.

Display Information in a Table

You may want use a table (with or without borders or grid lines) to display or align

information in columns.

After you insert the table (MS Word: Insert (tab) > Table), be sure to insert text or

a space in a table cell before you insert a field in that table cell. Otherwise, when

you use the template to generate a document, the field name will appear instead of

the actual value from your database.

Incorrect

You type the comma inside the placeholder object; the comma will not appear

when you generate a document from the template

Correct

You type the comma outside the placeholder object; the comma will appear when

you generate a document from the template.

Document Designer Tutorial and Reference Guide Create a Template

Insert Fields From Other Database Tables

When you initially open a template, the Document Actions pane only shows fields

from the Commitment table (JCM.Commitment). This may not be enough for your

document; you may also want to show information about the job, vendor, and so on.

Let’s take the document shown in Figure 3 as an example—in addition to the

commitment scope of work (d), you want to show your company name and address

(a), the name of the subcontractor/vendor (b), and the job description (c). The

information for (a) to (c) comes from other database tables.

Figure 3—Sample document

The table below shows the database fields used as placeholders in the document.

Follow the steps in Activity 3 to learn how to insert these database fields in a

template.

Item Database Table Field(s)

a Company Settings Company Name, Address 1, City, State, Zip Code

b Vendor Name

c Job Description

d Commitment Scope of Work

Create a Template Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Version 15.1

Activity 3—Insert Fields From Other Database Tables

1. If you saved and closed the template from the last activity, select it in the

Document Designer window and click Edit Template.

2. When the template initially opens, you only see fields from the Commitment

table (JCM.Commitment) in the Document Actions pane. To switch to

another database table, click the browse button.

3. The Select Database Table window opens, listing tables that are related to the

previous table. In the example shown below: Company Settings, Job

(JCM.Job), Vendor (APM.Vendor), and Bank Account (CMM.Bank

Account) are included because they are related to Commitment

(JCM.Commitment).

WARNING: Users are not affected by file security when creating or editing Document

Designer templates, even if this type of security is activated in Sage 300 Construction and

Real Estate. In order to safeguard sensitive company information, you should carefully

consider which users to grant the permissions to use Document Designer. See “Sage 300

Construction and Real Estate Security” on page 4.

Select Company Settings and click OK.

Document Designer Tutorial and Reference Guide Create a Template

5. Notice the list in the Document Actions pane now displays fields from

Company Settings.

6. Insert fields from the Company Settings table into the template content area as

needed.

7. Next, you use the Vendor table. In the Document Actions pane, click the

browse button, and then select JCM.Commitment and click OK.

8. Click the browse button again, and then select APM.Vendor and click OK.

Create a Template Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Version 15.1

9. The list now shows fields from the Vendor table, the last table added. Insert

fields from this table into the template content area as needed.

10. Next, you use the Job table. When you click the browse button next to

APM.Vendor, notice that the Job table is not shown in the Select Database

Table window. This is because Job is not related to Vendor.

11. Click Cancel to close the Select Database Table window.

12. Click JCM.Commitment to navigate back to the Commitment table. Notice

that APM.Vendor is removed.

13. Click the browse button. Now, JCM. Job is in the Select Database Table

window and you can select it.

14. Insert fields from the Job table into the template content area as needed.

15. To insert fields from the Commitment table, click JCM.Commitment to

navigate back to that table.

Document Designer Tutorial and Reference Guide Create a Template

16. Save and close the template in Microsoft Word.

Insert a Table of Information

You may want to show commitment items in your document. For example, the

quantity and price of all the items in a purchase order. To do so, you add the database

fields in a table format in the template. This is because of the one-to-many

relationship between Commitment and Commitment Items—each commitment can

have many commitment items.

TIP: Remember you can always apply formatting in Microsoft Word and change the border

style and shading in the table.

Follow the steps in Activity 4 to learn how to include commitment items in a

template.

Activity 4—Insert a Table of Information

1. If you saved and closed the template from the last activity, select it in the

Document Designer window and click Edit Template.

2. In the Documents Action pane, click JCM.Commitment to navigate back to

the Commitment table (if there are other database tables shown).

3. Click Insert Table.

Create a Template Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Version 15.1

4. In the Select Database Table window, select JCM.Commitment Item and

click Select Fields.

NOTE: When you click Insert Table, the Select Database Table window displays tables

that have a many-to-one relationship with the last table added in the Document Actions

pane. For example, JCM.Commitment Item has a many-to-one relationship with

JCM.Commitment because there may be several commitment items for each

commitment.

Document Designer Tutorial and Reference Guide Create a Template

5. The Select Fields for Table window opens and you select the fields for the

template content area.

Under Available Fields, double-click the following fields to add them as

Selected Fields: Item Number, Description, Amount.

The fields will appear as columns in the order displayed. Use the up and down

arrows to rearrange the order if needed.

Clear the Include column headings check box if you do not want to show

column headings.

Click OK.

6. The commitment items appear in a table format in the template content area.

7. Apply formatting to the table as needed.

8. Save and close the template in Microsoft Word.

Working With Templates Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Version 15.1

Working With Templates

When you work with templates, do not open the file directly in Microsoft Word.

Instead, open the Document Designer window from the Enter Commitment

window, and then select a template and click Edit Template.

When the template opens in Microsoft Word, it is a version that is integrated with

Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate. Make any edits as needed, and then save

the file. If you save the file with another name, make sure to save it to the proper

location—see “Where Template Files Are Stored” on page 21.

Also, you cannot copy a placeholder database field from one template and paste it

into another template. Although it may appear that the field was copied, documents

created using that template may not generate data for that placeholder.

Use an Existing Document as a Template

If you have an existing document that you want to use as a template, follow these

steps:

1. Create a new template through the Document Designer window. This opens an

instance of Word that is integrated with Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate.

2. Within Word, open your existing document and copy the content.

3. Paste the copied content into your new template.

4. Insert database fields as needed into your new template.

5. Save your new template.

Delete a Template

When you select a template in the Document Designer window and click Delete

Template, it removes the template from the list and deletes the template file.

Document Designer Tutorial and Reference Guide Working With Templates

Where Template Files Are Stored

 The Document Designer window only display templates stored in this location:

\\Servername\ProgramData\SAGE\TIMBERLINE

OFFICE\9.5\ACCOUNTING\WordIntegration\UserTemplate

All sample templates and the custom ones that you create are saved to the

UserTemplate folder by default.

 If you deleted or edited the sample templates and want to restore them to their

original state, you can locate the backup files in this location:

\\Servername\ProgramData\SAGE\TIMBERLINE

OFFICE\9.5\ACCOUNTING\WordIntegration\Backup\UserTemplate

 The file named Sage.LS1.WordDocumentAddinMasterTemplate.docx is

required for the Document Designer feature—do not delete, edit, or move this

file. It is stored in this location.

\\Servername\ProgramData\SAGE\TIMBERLINE

OFFICE\9.5\ACCOUNTING\WordIntegration\MasterTemplate

Documents Based on Sample Templates Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Version 15.1

Documents Based on Sample Templates

Figures 4 to 8 show examples of documents based on the sample templates provided

by your Sage software.

Figure 4—Letter of Intent

Document Designer Tutorial and Reference Guide Documents Based on Sample Templates

Figure 5—Notice to Proceed

Documents Based on Sample Templates Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Version 15.1

Figure 6—Purchase Order

Document Designer Tutorial and Reference Guide Documents Based on Sample Templates

Figure 7—Subcontract Checklist

Documents Based on Sample Templates Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Version 15.1

Figure 8—Subcontract