Using Microsoft Word to Write Templates

Oracle Argus Dossier supports the use of templates written in Microsoft Word 2000 or higher.

Note:

If you are using Microsoft Word 2007, contact your system administrator to verify that Microsoft Word 2007 is installed on the Report Server.

To begin writing a template:

1. Open a new, blank document in Microsoft Word and save it.
2. Save the document in .DOC or .DOCX format before editing it.
   When writing a template, adhere to the following guidelines:

   • Standardize the Microsoft Word template (Normal.dot).

     Standardize the Normal.dot template for all users designated as owners. This reduces amount of formatting required after the build process. Because the output file from the build process automatically uses the Normal.dot template on the owner's desktop, the output document may not retain formatting used in the original template.

   • Avoid using the cut and paste operations.

     The cut/paste operations introduce unknown formatting objects from the source document. Such formatting objects may cause the file to be rejected during the template upload process.

   • Do not define special formatting styles in the templates.

     Avoid defining any special formatting styles in the templates. Maintain the same styles as defined in Normal.dot.

   • Do not cut and paste a table from another document into the template.

     If a table is required in a template, do not cut/paste the table from another document. Instead, create a new table in the RTF template.

   • Do not generate the TOC until the build process is complete.

     Wait to generate the final table of contents until after the build process is complete. The enables you to include merged documents and updated page numbers in the template.

   • The application creates PDF bookmarks only for heading styles created in the Word document.

     The publish process ignores all other styles-even if they appear in the table of contents in the Word document.

   • Put processing instructions in a <% . . . %> block.

     The application processes instructions embedded in a <% . . . %> block. Each block can contain a set of instructions. To enable the application to process the instructions, embed each instruction in a specific tag.

     In other words, make sure the contents of the <% . . . %> block are tags that Oracle Argus Dossier supports. The system ignores other tags and will output them as a blank string in the report. Any text outside the <% . . . %> block will be replicated in its actual form in the output document.

   • Apply uniform formatting.

     Apply the same formatting to a single block of instructions (i.e., the contents in the <% . . . %> block) in the template.

   • Make sure scripting tags meet XML standards.

     The scripting tags should comply with XML standards. The contents of the <% . . . %> tag should be well-formatted XML.

   • Use lowercase characters for all tags and variable (implicit/explicit).

     Use lowercase character for all tags and variables (implicit and explicit). Explicit variables are case-sensitive.

   • Do not use scripting tags (i.e., <%, %>, \ . . .\, <, >) in any content that needs to appear in the output document.