How to Configure Variables?
How to Configure Variables?
Go to: Setup > Codes > Variables
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Variable Name | This is the name of the variable and the identifier that is sent to the word processor. Avoid renaming variables, for it will cause errors on all documents using that variable unless they are all updated to reflect the new variable name |
| Variable Type | All variable types are described later in this chapter |
| Column | Each type has multiple columns. In general, variables that return a single record have columns that match the tables in STAC while the variables that return multiple records return a preformatted list |
| Code Type | The code or codes used to identify the record being merged: Event Type, Relationship, Diversion, etc. |
| Code Sub Type | The subcode used to identify the record being merged, for example, hearing subtypes when looking for a specific hearing type |
| Witness Category | For the relationships lists, this allows selecting witnesses based on the Witness category field the relationship: A, B, C, etc |
| Victim Category | For the relationships lists, this allows selecting relationships flagged as victims using the Victim Flag field |
| Defense Attorney | For SAO that uses different relationships for defense attorneys, this flag indicates the variable should use the most recent relationship flagged as a defense attorney (in the relationship code table) as the current defense attorney |
| Confidential | When checked, this indicates the system will print confidential addresses. A confidential address can be set either in the relationship or address tables |
| Match All Criteria | When checked the system will combine all definitions to select a relationship. If not checked, the system selects relationships based on any of the defined arguments |
| Offset | Number of days from the date of an event. For example, a variable to print 40 days after the arrest date, could be defined as using the ARREST date and the offset could be set to 40 |
| Skip Weekend | When checked, if the event date is a Saturday, it changes to the previous Friday. If the date is Sunday, it changes to the following Monday |
| List Connector | This is how lists are connected. CR - Carriage Return formats the records as a list. AND or OR will return the items formatted as a paragraph, including combinations of carriage returns, TAB, and other special characters to facilitate formatting different lists. Keep reading to learn what each list connector does |
| Format | This option converts the date to upper case, lower case, sentence case, etc. There is a code table called Capitalization Exception that allows including words that should be excluded for being converted like Jr, Sr, II, III, etc. It is important to notice it is very difficult to properly capitalize all names, and it is our recommendation the data is keyed in the correct format, without forcing uppercase |
| Date Format | How a date will be formatted. There are multiple options, and these options apply to fields that return date as well as lists that include dates among other columns |
| Return Description | When checked returns the description of code instead of the actual code. |
| Default Value | If the variable returns no data, it will print the value defined in this field |
| Apply to All | As long as the variables are configured to read the same code, the apply to all indicates that the list of events will show one time and the selected date applies to all variables. It also applies to relationship selected variables |
| Default Select All | For selection lists, this setting makes all items checked by the default |
| Instructions | The content of this field is displayed during the merge to the end users |
| Input Required | If an Input is required for this variable. |
| Syntax | This field is used exclusively for the Write Your Own variable |
| Phone Type | Used to indicate which phone type should be pulled for the Phone variables |
| Inactive |
List Connectors
This is how lists are connected to facilitate formatting different lists. Below is the breakdown of what each list connector does:
(~n = go to next line/carriage return)
| List Connector | List Connector Value |
|---|---|
| AND | and |
| ANDCR | and~n |
| ANDCRCR | and~n~n |
| ANDOR | and/or |
| ANDORCR | and/or~n |
| ANDORCRCR | and/or~n~n |
| COMMA | , |
| COMMAAND | , and |
| COMMACR | ,~n |
| COMMACRCR | ,~n~n |
| COMMAOR | , or |
| CR | Carriage return=~n |
| CRCR | ~n~n |
| CRORCR | ~nor~n |
| CRTAB | ~n~t |
| CRTABTAB | ~n~t~t |
| OR | or |
| ORCR | or~n |
| ORCRCR | or~n~n |
| SC | ; |
| SCCR | ;~n |
| SCCRCR | ;~n~n |
| SPACE | Equivalent to hitting the Space bar once |
Related Articles
How to configure the Document Maintenance?
Introduction Merging documents is without a question one of the most powerful functions in the system. Agencies can design and create their own documents pulling data from STAC. There are variables available to retrieve dates, names, charges, ...How to configure Discovery?
How to configure Discovery? There are 2 main code tables that are associated to configuring the Discovery: Image Options Exchange Image Options Code Table for Discovery configuration: To access these configurations, go to Setup > Codes > Image ...How to configure the Summary Tab?
Summary tab The concept of the Summary tab is to provide a place where the STAC Administrator can display data from multiple areas of STAC in a single place. The Summary tab allows the creation of multiple pages, allowing for different users to see ...What are Merge Document Variables?
Merge Documents Variables Merging documents is one of the most important functions in STAC, and the variables are the engine that powers the merge. There are hundreds of variables available in STAC that list virtually any field stored in the ...How to setup E-service?
How to configure Documents to be E-serviced? To setup an e-service document, the admin will need to fill out the information in the Document maintenance such as the Categories and variables for the document. The important setup that differentiates ...