copy user fields across documents

[PWA111]

Hi - Editing - I am looking to create a series of documents that are used to apply for Government services. Each Government ( EU countries ) agency has a slightly different form for the application. However the questions asked are similar. I have taken the Agency PDF and converted to .odt and need to insert> Field > more Fields> user fields > variables - user fields that will be fed from an online questionnaire in my application.

The questionnaire will be identical but the positioning of the field on the .odt will be different. I want to be able to convert the pdf to .odf and then ‘Insert Field’ and not have to enter each field each time. There can be up to 60 data points x 30 documents

I don’t think I can use a super template as I have to convert from .pdf to retain the style of the agency application form. I cant start from a blank super template ( or can I ? )

I am not a super user…any help appreciated.

I cant work out how to delete ‘common’

Did a search but no response - can someone help with copying user fields across multiple documents ? I have to create 30 templates and the user field will have the same name in each one but each document I open doesnt let me see user fields created in a previous document ? Is there a way to copy user fields or have a central location / library on my instance ?

[ajlittoz]

Edit your question (don’t answer) to explain what you mean with “user fields”? Is this “Custom Properties” in Flie>Properties? Or is this for Insert>Field>More Fields (“Variables” tab)?

Are really on the job of creating 30 different templates?

Also, since your question tagets onlt Writer, delete tag common (meaning question is valid for Writer, Calc, Draw, Impress, Base and Math).

[ajlittoz]

If you really intend to have 30 different templates sharing custom styles, fields and other objects, I’d suggest starting with a “super template”. Put into this template all objects in common over all specialised templates, e.g. your user styles.

Once you have created them, you don’t need to keep an inserted instance. They recorded in the dictionary.

To create your specialised templates, File>New>Templates on the “super template” so that these specialised templates are flagged as created from the “super” one. This means that if you modify the “super template”, those modifications will be transferred to the specialised templates when you open them for update.

However, there is a “glitch”: documents created from the specialised templates remain associated with the “super template”, I don’t know why. This can be remedied with extension DocumentTemplateChanger. Immediately after creating a document, use it to rebase the doc on the just used template. Otherwise, modifications on the specialised templates will not be forwarded to dependent documents.

Of course, this is not practical (nor user-friendly) if your templates are intended for non-technical users. You can’t request from them a weird procedure every time they create a new document.

To avoid such problems, study thoroughly the structure of your templates. Are they really different? The styles are likely to be the same over all your “models”. If it is a matter of initial content, think of AutoText. Users could be required to type a keyword (like “bizletter”, “invoice”, “resume”) and press F3 to have the document prefilled.

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EDIT 2020-03-02

From your update, I see there is a vocabulary issue. I understood “template” in the technical sense where it is used in Writer, while you used it as the equivalent for form.

Given that, you only need a single template containing your styles and user variables. This template is then the seed for your forms.

Depending on what you need to keep from the original PDF, it might be possible to template-base a posteriori the converted .odt.

Can you attach an example of a converted form so that I can experiment?