The data interface can be used via the Formulare (Forms) function.

This function is not available in "classic" templates.

As an alternative for "classic" templates, contact data can be accessed via the Address interfaces. For more information about the different template versions, go here.

Purpose and use

Via the data interface, data of different types can be loaded from different data sources as well as entered manually. Via a Schema the data types can be described and provided as Object or ObjectCollection for the document generation.

Schema

The Schema defines the structure of the data type. This schema can contain different elements that can collect or display information. The same types are supported as in the Forms function (Text, Date, YesNo, Choice), with the exception that grouping is not supported.

Summary

Basically, all Text and Choice schema elements for the display of an Object are used comma-separated in the search result list or in the selection list.
However, if you want to display only certain fields in the list view, you can configure the displayed fields via Summary:

      <Schema>
        <Text Id="CompanyName" Label="Company name" />
        <Text Id="Street" Label="Street" />
        <Text Id="PostalCode" Label="Zip" />
        <Text Id="City" Label="City" />
        <Text Id="Country" Label="Country" />
      </Schema>
      <Summary>
        <Field Id="CompanyName" />
        <Field Id="City" />
      </Summary>

The Field must refer to a field of the Schema via the Id.

Objects and ObjectCollections

An Object describes an object that is defined by a Schema. In addition to the Schema, the object has an Id and a (translatable) Label. An example for an object is e.g., the recipient of a letter - on the document exactly one recipient is named and this can be described by such an object.

An ObjectCollection on the other hand is a list of objects. The list of objects is also defined by a Schema and contains an Id and a (translatable) Label. An example of such a list of objects would be invoice items from a CRM. On one invoice, with one recipient, several invoice items appear. The ObjectCollection allows to store several objects of the same type.

NOTE
If you want to allow one recipient in a template, use Objects. If you want to allow multiple recipients (e.g. in a protocol), use an ObjectCollection.

DataProviders

To load data from other sources, DataProviders can be defined. For each Object or ObjectCollection one or more DataProvider can be defined.

Each DataProvider has the following configuration options:

DisplayName: Serves as name for the DataProvider.

SearchParameters: A search mask must be configured for the appropriate DataProvider. As syntax the same elements are used as in the Forms function (Text, Date, YesNo, Choice).

Mapping: To map the received data to the Schema , the Mapping syntax is used.
Each DataProvider can offer further, specific, configuration options.

List of DataProviders

The following DataProvider are available:

Name	Description	Link
`CsvDataProvider`	Access to .csv files	CsvDataProvider
`ExcelDataProvider`	Access to Excel files	ExcelDataProvider
`HttpDataProvider`	Access to HTTP/HTTPs APIs (REST/Web APIs)	HttpDataProvider
`SqlDataProvider`	Access to SQL databases	SqlDataProvider

Example

<ObjectCollection Id="RecipientAddressData" Label="Recipient addresses">
  <Schema>
    <Text Id="CompanyName" Label="Company name" />
    <Text Id="Street" Label="Street" />
    <Text Id="PostalCode" Label="Zip" />
    <Text Id="City" Label="City" />
    <Text Id="Country" Label="Country" />
  </Schema>
  <Summary>
    <Field Id="CompanyName" />
    <Field Id="City" />
  </Summary>
  <DataProviders>
    <CsvDataProvider DisplayName="Customer addresses">
      <Options>
        <FilePath>\\fileshare\addressdata.csv</FilePath>
        <HasHeaders>true</HasHeaders>
        <Delimiter>,</Delimiter>
      </Options>
      <SearchParameters>
        <Text Id="CompanyName" Label="Company name" />
        <Text Id="Ort" Label="City" />
      </SearchParameters>
      <Mapping>
        <Map Source="Firma" Target="CompanyName" />
        <Map Source="Strasse" Target="Street" />
        <Map Source="PLZ" Target="PostalCode" />
        <Map Source="Ort" Target="City" />
        <Map Source="Land" Target="Country" />
      </Mapping>
    </CsvDataProvider>
    <HttpDataProvider DisplayName="TelSearch">
      <SearchParameters>
        <Text Id="What" Label="Search term" />
      </SearchParameters>
      <Configuration>
        <Step>
          <Request Method="Get">
            <Url><![CDATA[https://tel.search.ch/api/?was={What}&key=[...]&maxnum=100]]></Url>
          </Request>
          <Response>
            <Data XPath="*[local-name()='feed']/*[local-name()='entry']">
              <Mapping>
                <Map Source="*[local-name()='name']" Target="CompanyName" />
                <Map Target="Street">
                  <Map.SourceExpression><![CDATA[
                        function main()
                        {
                          const street = source("*[local-name()='street']");
                          const streetno = source("*[local-name()='streetno']");
                          return street + " " + streetno; 
                        }
                      ]]></Map.SourceExpression>
                </Map>
                <Map Source="*[local-name()='zip']" Target="PostalCode" />
                <Map Source="*[local-name()='city']" Target="City" />
                <Map SourceValue="CH" Target="Country" />
              </Mapping>
            </Data>
          </Response>
        </Step>
      </Configuration>
    </HttpDataProvider>
  </DataProviders>
</ObjectCollection>

Data interface