In This Article
How to display a subform in your document template
Example of customizing a subform layout in Docs
How to Display Subforms
When you download a document template for a form that includes a subform, Array automatically inserts the correct form markers under the “Tables and Subforms” section.
Subform Marker Format:
${element-123456} ${element-123456_firstname} ${element-123456_lastname} ${/element-123456}${element-123456}begins the subform section.${/element-123456}ends the subform section.Any form fields inside the subform will be listed with their unique markers (e.g.,
${element-123456_description}).
Optional: Show or Hide Based on Subform Answers
If you only want to show the subform in the output when it has answers, make sure the opening (${element-xxxxxx}) and closing (${/element-xxxxxx}) markers wrap around the subform content. If no entries are submitted, nothing between these markers will appear in the final document.
Example:
Form Submission: No entries in subform
Template Output:
Start Subform: End Subform:
Result: Nothing between these lines will be displayed.
Example: Customizing a Subform
Let’s look at how to structure a subform with three fields:
Description
First Name
Last Name
Step 1: Form Submission (with 2 rows submitted)
Description | First Name | Last Name |
Inspection A | John | Smith |
Inspection B | Jane | Doe |
Step 2: Customizing the Template
You can arrange the markers into a table format like this:
${element-1299699} | ${element-1299699_description} | ${element-1299699_firstname} | ${element-1299699_lastname} | ${/element-1299699}Step 3: Download Result
Each row from the subform will repeat within the table automatically:
Description | First Name | Last Name |
Inspection A | John | Smith |
Inspection B | Jane | Doe |
Important Notes
Always place the
${element-xxxxxx}and${/element-xxxxxx}markers around the content you want to repeat for each subform row.If you wrap the entire table with these markers, the entire table structure will repeat for each row. This may result in multiple full tables instead of repeated rows.
Example: Repeating the Whole Table per Row (Not Recommended)
${element-1299699} | ${element-1299699_description} | ${element-1299699_firstname} | ${element-1299699_lastname} | ${/element-1299699}Result: One table for each row of the subform.
Best Practice: Wrap only the row portion inside the markers.
Final Tip
Subforms are flexible—just like Tables in Docs. You can fully customize the layout to match your branding or reporting needs. Be sure to test the document with a sample submission to confirm the output appears exactly as expected.