How to adjust the visibility of smart fields

About this article

This article will explain how to adjust the visibility of smart fields based on specific conditions so they can be visible, hidden or deleted when generating the template.

• How to adjust the visibility of smart fields
• Create a visibility binding with the Expression builder
• Create a visibility binding manually with Custom visibility
• Visibility expression examples

 

Prerequisites

Library and at least one Dynamics module enabled Templafy Desktop and Office VSTO add-in installed Tenant admin/owner access or Space owner access

 

Please note that the Template tab is only available in Word and PowerPoint, injecting information into a spreadsheet for Excel can be done through the Header Footer in the Advanced tab using the binding syntax.

 

How to adjust the visibility of smart fields

Often, when building smart templates some elements might require to be visible, hidden, or deleted based on specific conditions. The Visibility option on the smart field level can be utilized for that purpose and requires the use of the binding syntax. Adding a Visibility expression can be achieved following the steps below.

 

Create a visibility binding with the Expression builder

1. Create the necessary smart field.
   
   
2. Open the Advanced section.
   
   
3. Select Expression builder in the Visibility dropdown.
   
   
4. Create the desired binding in the Visibility condition field to adjust the smart field visibility, by adding values to the IF, THEN and ELSE fields:
   
   
   
   

   In the IF field you can type a binding like Form.Title or {{Form.Title}} (if you type curly brackets they will be removed when the field is saved), or you can type a string like "Introduction" in the example. In case of a string you need to include the double quotes. Field of type Checkbox is not supported in the Expression builder. The Expression builder can be used to quickly create a simple binding. After the binding is created you (optionally) can switch the view to Custom visibility and manually create a more advanced binding by modifying the binding that is shown in the Visibility expression field.

    

    

Create a visibility binding manually with Custom visibility

1. Create the necessary smart field.
   
   
2. Open the Advanced section.
   
   
3. Select Custom visibility  in the Visibility dropdown.
   
   
4. Type in the desired binding in the Visibility expression to adjust the smart field visibility.

Note that using VisibilityType.Delete will prevent Allow updates option to work as it will delete the content control on document generation which will effectively disable the document content updater for this group. VisibilityType.Delete is not supported in PowerPoint. After a content control is deleted with VisibilityType.Delete nothing will be shown anymore (so also no placeholder with 'Click or tap here to enter text').

 

In Word, the Group smart field can be used to group several elements together and adjust their visibility.

 

 

Visibility expression examples

Show or hide the smart field based on the value of a checkbox in the response form

Using the IfElse() function with checkbox to determine visibility of a binding based on the value of Form.Introduction.

Binding	{{IfElse(Form.Introduction, VisibilityType.Visible,VisibilityType.Hidden)}}
Input	Checkbox is checked	Checkbox is not checked
Condition	True	False
Output	VisibilityType.Visible	VisibilityType.Hidden

 

Show or hide the smart field based on the value of a question in the response form

Using the IfElse() function to set visibility of a binding based on the value of Form.Subject.

Binding	{{IfElse(Equals(Form.Subject, "Introduction"), VisibilityType.Visible, VisibilityType.Hidden)}}
Input	Form.Subject = "Introduction"	Form.Subject = "Product"
Condition	True	False
Output	VisibilityType.Visible	VisibilityType.Hidden

 

Show or hide the smart field based on the value of a dropdown question in the response form

Using the IfElse() function to set visibility of a binding based on a dropdown.

Binding	{{IfElse(Equals(Form.Confidentiality.Name, "Public"), VisibilityType.Visible, VisibilityType.Hidden)}}
Input	Form.Confidentiality.Name = "Public"	Form.Confidentiality.Name = "Confidential"
Condition	True	False
Output	VisibilityType.Visible	VisibilityType.Hidden

 

Show or delete the smart field based on the value of a dropdown question in the response form

Using the IfElse() function to set visibility of a binding based on a dropdown.

Binding	{{IfElse(Equals(Form.Confidentiality.Name, "Public"), VisibilityType.Visible, VisibilityType.Delete)}}
Input	Form.Confidentiality.Name = "Public"	Form.Confidentiality.Name = "Confidential"
Condition	True	False
Output	VisibilityType.Visible	VisibilityType.Delete

 

Show or hide the smart field based on the value of a dropdown question originating from the user profile

Using the IfElse() function together with Contains() to display or hide some text based on the value of the "Office.Name" originating from the user profile.

• If the "Office.Name" is "Copenhagen" or "Berlin", the text should be hidden.
• If the "Office.Name" is anything else, the text should be shown.

Binding	{{IfElse(Contains("Copenhagen, Berlin", UserProfile.Office.Name), VisibilityType.Hidden, VisibilityType.Visible)}}
Input	UserProfile.Office.Name = "Berlin"	UserProfile.Office.Name = "Copenhagen"	UserProfile.Office.Name = "Eindhoven"
Output	Hidden text	Hidden text	Visible text

 

 

Related articles

How to provide an output based on a condition using IfElse() How to group elements and adjust their visibility in a document What is the binding syntax used in smart templates? What are smart fields? How to get an overview of the smart fields created in the template What are functions, conditions, and operators?