This article outlines what is needed by us in Omnidocs before we begin to implement a new Documotor solution. Preparation is key! Every client is unique of course and so the importance of different aspects below can differ. So the information here should be seen as a guideline not a definitive list of everything needed. We are of course happy to help guide you on any of the below points.
Templates
The output from Documotor of course will be a Word document, a PowerPoint presentation or a PDF and therefore requires a template. These will be created from a template Documotor has access to, typically from your own tenant or from Templafy.
Our teams of Word and PowerPoint experts and designers are happy to assist you in the creation of these templates of course but if you would prefer to use your own templates we can use these as well. In either case, providing as many examples of desired outputs and any variations on these as possible will mean the Omnidocs team can tailor the output exactly as needed.
Template Storage
Templates created can uploaded directly to and be accessed directly from Documotor. You do not need any additional systems! However, it is also possible for Documotor to access templates from Templafy and display information based not only on data sent from your own integration, but also from data sources within Templafy.
The Omnidocs team can help with the creation and management of templates and data sources within Templafy if this is required. If these already exist, we will just need to know from you which resources need to be used and where they need to be used.
Data
Documotor is driven by data. From the system that we are integrating with we need samples of the raw data that you wish to insert into your templates. The more examples we can have, the better of course! For us to make the best use of these samples they need to be as complete as possible, i.e. not with empty data points and showing as many variations as possible. Additionally, we need to account for the users or systems selections that impact the structure of the data. E.g.
- If a data point is empty, do you send over a null value, an empty field or something else? How should we handle these empty data points.
- If an array is empty, what should we do?
These considerations are important as they impact the way we can transform the data in the best way possible.
The overview
Now that we know what data we are going to receive and what the intended output is going to be, we need an overview of where the data that we receive needs to be inserted into the templates. This overview must consist of:
- The data that we receive from the system, and where this information should be inserted into the document. For example, you could show this by using the review function in MS Office and add comments into the relevant sections.
- Visibility? Are there any element in the templates that should be hidden depending on a selection on your system? If so, kindly highlight these conditions.
- Logic: Is there any logic should we implement? For example, sections that need to be repeated, different types of content that should be shown depending on the data, graph data explanations etc.
- Example document: From the data you will be handing over, kindly manually populate an example document from the template in use to show exactly what the expected output from an automated document should be.
Below we have added a screenshot of the overview for our CV template to provide an example of what you could hand over.
