What is a Merge Block?
A Merge Block is the most important element to understand when you are mapping data to a form.
Think of a Merge Block as a pre-set bunch of related data.
When you Add a Merge Block to your Document, you can then pick data fields from the bunch of data that has been made available in that particular Merge Block.
Merge Blocks are also repeatable.
This means a Merge Block will repeat for however many variations of that data are in your application data.
eg A PersonApplicants Merge Block will repeat for every Person Applicant in your application.
Or A CreditCards Merge Block will repeat for every credit card that is owned by your applicant/s.
Insert Merge Block
To add a new Merge Block to your Document, you need to make sure you are in draft, and Edit mode:
When you click Insert Merge Block, you are presented with either:
if you are at Root Table level of the Master Table - all the available Merge Blocks, in alphabetical order
if you have already 'drilled down' to a particular Block in the Select Master Table - all the available sub-Merge Blocks in the Block you have already chosen.
eg - if you have already chosen CompanyApplicants, you will now see all the available Merge Blocks related to CompanyApplicants:
When you click on a particular Merge Block to add it, you will get a popup that shows you the 'bunch' of data fields that have been made available as part of that Merge Block. Note that the 'bunch' you are shown may not be the full available data fields that are actually 'related' to that Merge Block.
If you are toggled to Simplify Source, you will only get a few data fields - just enough to be able to establish the Merge Block.
To see the full set of data available in the Merge Block, you need to be toggled to Full Source.
Here I have selected the "allFinancialYearsAddbacks" which is a sub-Merge Block of the Company Applicant Merge Block:
This will present me with a popup with the data that I can choose to add to my Merge Block. Remember, what is presented in this popup may not be the full data fields available for that related 'bunch' of data.
I will select and add the data that I want to work with in my Merge Block:
Select Plain Paragraph for the easiest way to work with your data when it is inserted. When you click OK, the selected data elements will be added to your document (it will be inserted where-ever you had your cursor on the page:
When you click on this new data, the new Merge Block will become highlighted. Here I am now 'inside' the Addbacks Merge Block:
Format the Merge Block
You can then work 'inside' the Merge Block to format/design how the data will look on your page. To do this, you have to ensure you are working 'inside' your merge block (otherwise, the 'relationships' of the data will be lost). Put your cursor on any space in the merge block, and create more space by clicking enter a few times:
You can design whatever you like. A good way to get great structure on your document is to use Tables. To do this, go back to the editing panel and click Insert Tab - Insert Table
This will insert a table into the Merge Block:
You can then work on the properties of the table via Table Layout to add your desired design:
When you have got your table design right:
You can then copy and paste each of your data elements into the correct field on the table:
Note that you can't 'cut' and paste - you will need to then remove the original fields via the Delete Field button.
When you are done deleting the original data elements, your Addbacks section will be ready. If you want to work on the format of any of the fields, use Field Properties. (In this example, I have set the $#,###,##0.00 format for the Amounts fields):
Remember that a Merge Block is repeatable. This means that this Addbacks block will repeat for however many addbacks are in the data for the Company Applicant
Working example of how this will appear on the Document
The following data is captured in Loanapp:
The Addbacks Merge Block will repeat for each of the Addback Types that have values:
Note that if there a NO Addbacks in your data, the Merge Block will not be created when you generate your form (it will simply not appear on your Document).
A Merge Block can be added to the design of your Document, but will only be added to your Document when needed.