Participant Custom Data Merge Fields

Modified on Thu, 29 Jun 2023 at 09:57 AM

If you create custom data elements for Participant Types then these will appear in the merge field list with the prefix "pt_" followed by the participant type and then the field name.

For example if you create a custom data field called "qualifications" for the "Attorney" participant type then the merge field would be created as pt_Attorney_qualifications.
Since the system already knows which participant type this merge field is associated with it is not necessary to add in the pt= options. SO you can simply reference this field in a document using the merge field name alone e.g. [[pt_Attorney_qualifications]].

If you have more than one of these participant types in an matter then you can refer to the specific participants using the row-number (rn) option. For example if you wanted to display the qualifications of the second attorney added to an matter then use [[pt_Attorney_qualifications|rn=2]] (although this would most likely be done inside a repeat block using rn=* under normal circumstances).

NOTE: Actionstep makes a COPY of the values in these fields inside the matter when you add contacts as matter participants. This is to preserve the field value within the matter from subsequent changes to the contact record.

Generating Documents for Specific Parties

If you link a template to a participant type you can generate documents specific to the selected participant. See Actionstep Templates for more details.

There is no need to use the Record Number (rn=) option in this case since the record is selected by default when you click on the specific party in the list.

If you want a generic template that works across all matter participants then you can use the option |pt=selected__participant (double underscore) to identify which participant the user clicked on to generate the document.

Advanced Options

What we have described above is the default behavior, however there are some advanced options that allow you to specify whether you want the participant custom data to come from the matter or the contact record. Furthermore for secondary contact types you can access custom data fields of their primary contact types. This probably sounds confusing so let's explain by way of some examples.

Example 1: Getting the data from the contact record instead of the matter

Use the 'source' option with values 'action' (default) or 'contact_record'.
[[pt_Policeman_Badge_Number|source=contact_base]] will get the Badge Number from the contact record rather than the matter.

Example 2: Accessing a base participant type field.

Let's say that for the base participant type of "Company" you created a custom participant data field called 'ABN' and you want to include a merge field that shows the ABN for a participant type of "Insurer" which is a secondary participant type derived from "Company".
[[pt_Company_ABN|pt=Insurer]] will get the ABN number from the matter participant data.
You can combine the options so if you wanted the ABN from the Insurer's contact record then use
[[pt_Company_ABN|pt=Insurer|source=contact_base|pt=Insurer]]

Troubleshooting

If you get missing merge field indicators in the generated document from participant type custom data merge fields then it is probably caused by the fact that the contact record was added to the matter before you entered the value of this field in the contact record. To correct this situation, either remove the participant from the matter and add it back in, or, edit the value of this field in the matter participant record in the action (hover over the name in the action participant list to edit the values).