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 Conditional Output

Use

With this function, you can define conditions that must be fulfilled before a specific text section can be output.

Integration

In blank compression , the system checks only for empty values; in conditional output, it checks for the values you specify.

Features

You define a conditional output around the section that is to be output if the condition is fulfilled. The section can contain any type of object, such as Microsoft Word texts, graphics, symbols, and phrases.

You can define a number of conditions that must be fulfilled before a section is output. You can link the conditions with AND or OR, that is you can specify whether all conditions or at least one of the conditions must be fulfilled before the section can be output.

You can define an alternative for the output, that is an alternative section that is output if the condition is not fulfilled.

The condition consists of the following parts:

  • Symbol whose content must fulfill the condition

  • Comparison operator, such as Equal To (EQ), Greater Than (GT), or Text Comparison (LK)

  • Comparison value, that is a value or string against which the system checks

    You can also enter a symbol as a comparison value. The system then compares the content of this symbol with the content of the symbol that must fulfill the condition.

The control symbol for the conditional output has the report symbol type 15. You will find an example of the syntax under Example: Conditional Output with Alternative .

Note the following when defining the condition:

  • The comparison of ranges is not possible, meaning the symbol and comparison value must not contain a range.

  • When comparing strings, the system does not distinguish between uppercase and lowercase, that is abcd and ABCD are interpreted as being the same.

  • The system compares user-defined texts as normal strings. If a document is specified in a user-defined text, only the document key is compared.

  • When comparing numeric values, the system first converts the value from a characteristic to the base unit of the characteristic and then performs the comparison.

  • The system takes characteristics with multiple values into account only in comparisons of two characteristics, that is only when a symbol of a characteristic is entered as the comparison value. Only the operators Equal To (EQ) and Not Equal To (NE) are then possible here. If you enter a different operator, or if a comparison of a multiple-value characteristic is performed with a predefined value or a predefined string, this leads to an error in report generation.

  • When comparing two multiple-value characteristics, the system also takes into account the sequence of the value assignments, that is it compares the first value assignment with the first value assignment, the second with the second, and so on. Only if all value assignments match and if the number of value assignments is the same is the condition fulfilled.

  • If you enter a number of symbols in the condition, these must all have the same expansion time. If you require a conditional output that is dependent on symbols with different expansion times, you have to nest a number of conditional outputs.

Activities

To define a conditional output in a document template, proceed as follows:

  1. In the template, select the data around which you want to define the conditional output, that is the texts, graphics, symbols, and phrases that should be output only if the condition is fulfilled. If the template does not yet contain this data, insert it and then select it.

  2. Choose the Condit. Output tab page.

  3. In the symbol tree, select the symbol that must fulfill the condition and on the Condit. Output tab page, choose with the quick info text Insert Symbol from Tree below the table.

    The system inserts a table row for the condition and enters the symbol for the chosen condition in this row.

  4. If you still want to edit the symbol, for example, if you want to change the specified identification type or identification category in a condition for identifiers, choose with the quick info text Edit Symbol from Table , enter the required data for the symbol, and confirm your entries.

  5. Define the required conditions in the table, and if you have more than one condition, specify whether these are to be logically linked with AND or OR. Note the following when entering the comparison value:

    • If the comparison value is a number, enter it without any other characters.

    • If the comparison value is a text for a text comparison (operator LK), enter the text in double quotation marks.

    • If the comparison value is a symbol, enter the string S: in front of the symbol.

  6. If you want to define an alternative, set the With Alternative indicator.

  7. Choose with the quick info text Insert WWI Object in Template above the tab pages.

    The system inserts the symbols for the conditional output around the selected section. If you set the With Alternative indicator, an additional line is inserted in the template for the alternative, introduced by the hidden characters <15CIF .

  8. If you set the With Alternative indicator, place the cursor at the end of the line for the alternative and define the data that the system should output if the condition is not fulfilled.

  9. Check and save the template.