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# Creating System Text Boxes

System text boxes are special types of text boxes that are used for predefined text you cannot edit. You can display either page numbers or form properties in system text boxes. Because they are text boxes, text boxes must be activated in order to create system text boxes.

Note:

The Form Property option is available for XTemplate forms only. Page numbering can be used for both SFX and XTemplate forms.

Note:

System text boxes are not available in 5.1. compatibility mode.

To create a system text box

1. Make sure text boxes are activated.

2. Click on the button on the tool bar. The mouse pointer will change to .

3. Place the + of the mouse pointer at the place where you want to begin drawing your system text box.

4. Hold the left mouse button down and drag the mouse to create the system text box:

To draw a square system text box, press while you draw the box.

5. When the system text box is the size you want, release the mouse button. The page number will appear in the box by default:

## Applying page numbering

The Page Numbering option displays the page number automatically. You can choose from Number Only or Number and Total. When you add and delete pages, the page numbering will automatically update. It will also update if you change the page order of your form.

To apply page numbering to system text boxes

1. On the Object property page, click on the Type value field to activate the .

2. Click the to open the list box and select Page Numbering. The Format property will appear:

3. Click the in the Format value field to display the list box:

4. You can select one of two options from the Format list box:

- Number Only displays the page number:

- Number and Total displays the page number and the total number of pages:

## Form properties

The Form Property option allows you to retrieve predefined form information and display it in a system text box. This option can be used for XTemplate forms only. It is generally used to create taglines for forms in the Expere environment, but you may use it anywhere you want in the form. The form information is defined in the Form Properties dialog. You can set up the document identifiers, publishers, and rights associated with your form. This information is stored in the XTemplate file and can be retrieved and displayed in a system text box.

When you apply the form property option to a system text box, you enter the XPath to the property value you want to retrieve. The retrieved value is displayed in the system text box.

To enter form properties

1. In your XTemplate form, select Properties from the File menu. The Form Properties dialog will appear:

2. Type the form title in the Title field. You can allow the title to wrap if you want it to appear as a single line or you can enter a multi-line title by pressing + to start a new line. If you do not want a title, leave the field blank.

3. Select the document identifier type from the Type drop-down list. You may store up to 3 different types of identifiers:

- If you do not want to use identifiers, leave the fields blank.

- To remove an identifier, select the blank option at the bottom of the list.

4. Enter the identifier in the Value field. The values for VMP and BSI types require a specific format that consists of the form identifier and release date:

- The VMP type requires the form identifier to start with “VMP”:

- Both require the date in a specific format:

Type | Date Format | Examples
VMP | (YYMM) | (0209) (0511)
BSI | M/D/YYYY | 1/6/2004 11/12/2006

If your values are not entered in the correct format, you will see an error flag next to the Value field. Place your mouse on the error flag to read the error:

The error flag will disappear once you enter the value in the correct format.

5. Select the Publishers for your form by checking the check boxes. You can also enter a custom publisher name:

If you select Custom, enter the publisher name in the text box.

6. Select one of the Rights options for your form:

- If you choose Copyright Wolters Kluwer Financial Services ©, you must enter at least one copyright year. The years must be entered as four digits:

If the copyright years are not entered in the correct format, you will receive an error message:

- If you choose Custom, enter the rights information in the text box.

- If you do not want to enter rights information, select None.

7. After you finish entering the form properties, click to close the dialog box.

8. Save your XTemplate form.

## Entering the XPath

1. Expand the width of your property pane. Then do the following to make the Value column wider so you have more room to enter the value:

- Place your mouse pointer on the line that separates the Property and Value columns.

- Hold the mouse button down and drag it to the left about an inch:

2. Click on the Type value field to activate the .

3. Click the and select Form Property from the list. The XPath value field will appear:

4. Enter the XPath value for the information you want to reference with the system text box:

Property | XPath
Title | string(/wkm:Metadata/wkm:DC/dc:title/text())
Document identifiers | string(/wkm:Metadata/wkm:DC/dc:identifier[2]/text()) Since you can have up to three identifiers, you need to specify which one you want to reference by entering the corresponding number in the brackets. The above XPath references the second identifier.
Publishers | string(/wkm:Metadata/wkm:DC/dc:publisher[1]/text()) Since you can have up to three publishers, you need to specify which one you want to reference by entering the corresponding number in the brackets. The above XPath references the first publisher.
Rights | string(/wkm:Metadata/wkm:DC/dc:rights/text())

Once you enter the XPaths, the form information will appear in your system text boxes:

Hint:

You can shorten your XPath entry by simply entering the subpath to the property you want to retrieve instead of the full path:

string(//dc:title)

The “//” tells the program to search all subtrees for the subpath that follows. Here are a couple more examples:

string(//dc:identifier[2])

string(//dc:rights)

The full path retrieves data more quickly because it is absolute and may be desirable under some circumstances. In most cases, however, using the subpath should not cause retrieval to be noticeably slower.

## Combining form properties

In most cases, you will want to use separate system text boxes for each property. However, if you are comfortable entering XPaths and want to combine two or more properties in a single text box, you can concatenate the properties when you retrieve them:

A concatenation is simply two or more strings strung together:

- The strings are separated from each other with commas:

(Property1, Property2, Property3)

- In most cases you will also need to place literals, such as spaces or commas, in your string as separators. Literals are placed in single quotes:

(Property1, ' ', Property2, ' , ',Property3)

Literals are strings so they must be separated from your other strings with commas.

To enter a concatenated XPath

1. Enter the XPath value starting with “concat” instead of “string”. The rest of the XPath stays the same:

concat(/wkm:Metadata/wkm:DC/dc:publisher[1]/text()

2. Place a comma at the end of the string, followed by the literal string you want to use as a separator:

concat(/wkm:Metadata/wkm:DC/dc:identifier[1]/text(), ' ',

3. Add XPaths to the concatenation for the other properties you want to include. Enter a literal between each of the items you are concatenating:

concat(/wkm:Metadata/wkm:DC/dc:identifier[1]/text(), ' ',/wkm:Metadata/wkm:DC/dc:publisher[2]/text()

4. Place the closing parenthesis at the end of the concatenation:

concat(/wkm:Metadata/wkm:DC/dc:identifier[1]/text(), ' ',/wkm:Metadata/wkm:DC/dc:publisher[2]/text())

The above concatenation would retrieve the information for the first identifier and the second publisher:

If your XPath is too long for the property field, it will wrap to the next line. This is perfectly OK. When you click on a field with a wrapped line, a will appear in the field. To view the entire XPath, click the . Each time you click, the next line will appear:

Important:

Do not enter line feeds in your XPath, as the entire XPath should be on one logical line.

Note:

For more information on XPaths and their use in the Expere environment, consult your Expere Authoring Guide.