How to set the proofing language of a template

Updated August 23, 2024 11:40

About this article

This article will explain what the proofing language setting is and provide examples of how it can be utilized with the binding syntax in smart templates.

What is the proofing language setting?
Limitations in PowerPoint
How to set the proofing language setting in a smart template
Proofing language examples

Prerequisites

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

What is the proofing language setting?

The proofing language sets the language for the Spelling and Grammar review feature from Office. The proofing language can be set statically or dynamically by utilizing the binding syntax.

The proofing language setting is only supported with files that will be stored in the Template Libraries (Documents and Presentations Libraries). Assets (Text elements, Email elements, Slides, and Slide elements Libraries) will inherit from the setting upon insertion.

The proofing language setting is not available in Excel.

Limitations in PowerPoint

By default in PowerPoint it's not possible to set the proofing language for an entire presentation. What is possible is to set it for the elements (shapes) in the presentation. To do this, select a shape. Then on the Review tab click the Language button, then Set Proofing Language.... In the Language dialog select the language you want to use for the shape and click OK:

However there's a solution to the limitation mentioned above when the proofing language in Templafy is set to {{DocumentLanguage}} or {{UserProfile.DocumentLanguage.Language}}. The user can click Update Presentation after a presentation has been created, because that flow is able to set the proofing language for the entire presentation.
When a blank presentation (uploaded to Library configuration) uses a binding like {{DocumentLanguage}} or {{UserProfile.DocumentLanguage.Language}} for the proofing language then this is the behavior: when the blank presentation is started, the proofing language for example is en-US. If you click Update Presentation and select another user profile that has the language set to nl-NL, then not only the proofing language of current presentation becomes nl-NL, but also of new presentations that are created. This is because the blank presentation is cached during your usage. So even after restarting PowerPoint, the proofing language remains nl-NL. If you want it to be en-US again, you have to click Update Presentation and change the (user profile) language to en-US.

How to set the proofing language setting in a smart template

When building the template settings and properties, the Proofing Language setting can be utilized to set the language for the smart template. Setting the Proofing Language setting can be achieved by following these steps:

In the Template Designer, navigate to the Advanced tab
Click Add property
Select Proofing Language in the Type dropdown
Enter the required binding in Language
Optionally, set an additional option to the setting
- Disable updates: Disallow the setting from being updated after its generation when edited by the user through the document content updater. This option will not be visible if the document content updater is not enabled on the smart template.
Click Add to document
- The Proofing language setting will be added to the smart template

Once the setting has been created, it can be edited or deleted.

Proofing language examples

Example 1

Using the Proofing Language setting to always set the proofing language of the document to English(US).

Binding	en-US

Use the valueen-USwithout quotes. Using"en-US" is not supported, unless it's part of a binding like{{IfElse(Equals(Form.Language, "French"), "fr-FR", "en-US")}}.
Only 4 letter codes likeen-USorfr-FRare supported, 2 letter codes likeenorfrare not supported.

Example 2

Using the Proofing Language setting to set the proofing language of the document based on the DocumentLanguage field originating from the user profile.

Binding	{{UserProfile.DocumentLanguage.Language}}
Input	UserProfile.DocumentLanguage.Language = "de-DE"	UserProfile.DocumentLanguage.Language = "da-DK"
Output	German (Germany)	Danish (Denmark)

If the language field in the user profile is called DocumentLanguage, the binding {{DocumentLanguage}} can also be used.

Please note that referring to the Name column of the Languages data source will not be supported, the Language column should always be used. For example the binding {{UserProfile.DocumentLanguage.Name}} is not supported.

Example 3

Using the Proofing Language setting to set the proofing language of the document based on the "Language" dropdown question originating from the response form.

Binding	{{Form.Language.Language}}
Input	Form.Language.Language = "de-DE"	Form.Language.Language = "da-DK"
Output	English (United Kingdom)	English (United States)

Related to

language templates dynamics document language smart fields

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