Creating your own template

Introduction

You can create your Process Definition Document template from scratch and use it in Task Capture. This enables you to specify the data to be transferred from the Task Capture project into the output result and adjust the design and structure of the document according to your company branding and needs.

You can easily create the template document in Microsoft Word and add text, logo images, and styling, such as headers and footers, change the font family, font size, and add colors.

Placeholders

Task Capture uses placeholders to transfer data from the Task Capture project and display it in the output document. A placeholder is a symbolic name that refers to a particular piece of data. During export, Task Capture replaces the placeholder with the data documented. See the illustration below for an example.

Format

In the Process Definition Document template placeholders are put between curly brackets. For example {Title}.

Note: Make sure that you use the exact name of the placeholder. Otherwise, the placeholder will be displayed as text in the output document.

Available placeholders

Below is an overview of all placeholders that you can use to create your template. Make sure that you only use the loops/cycles you need to have in your exported PDD.

You can copy-paste the needed placeholders from the below list.

{TITLE} - title of the document
{DESCRIPTION} - description of the document
{AUTHOR} - author of the document
{PROCESS_DATE}
{PROCESS_EXECUTION_TIME}
{TOTAL_APPLICATIONS_COUNT}
{TOTAL_WINDOWS_COUNT}
{TOTAL_ACTIONS_COUNT}
{TOTAL_CLICKS}
{TOTAL_HOTKEYS}
{TOTAL_TEXT_ENTRIES}
{TOTAL_KEYS_PRESSED}
{TOTAL_TIME} 
{#APPLICATIONS}
    {NAME}
    {TOTAL_ACTIONS_COUNT}
    {TOTAL_CLICKS}
    {TOTAL_HOTKEYS}
    {TOTAL_TEXT_ENTRIES}
    {TOTAL_KEYS_PRESSED}
    {TOTAL_TIME}
    {#WINDOWS}
        {NAME}
        {TOTAL_ACTIONS_COUNT}
        {TOTAL_CLICKS}
        {TOTAL_HOTKEYS}
        {TOTAL_TEXT_ENTRIES}
        {TOTAL_KEYS_PRESSED}
        {TOTAL_TIME}
    {/WINDOWS}
{/APPLICATIONS}
   
{#WINDOWS}
    {NAME}
    {TOTAL_ACTIONS_COUNT}
    {TOTAL_CLICKS}
    {TOTAL_HOTKEYS}
    {TOTAL_TEXT_ENTRIES}
    {TOTAL_KEYS_PRESSED}
    {TOTAL_TIME}
{/WINDOWS}
{%DIAGRAM} -  process diagram image
{#SEQUENCELAYOUT}
    {SEQUENCETITLE}
    {SEQUENCEDESCRIPTION}
    {SEQUENCE_EXECUTION_TIME}
    {#ACTIONLAYOUT}
        {ACTIONTITLE}
        {ACTIONDESCRIPTION}
        {%ACTIONIMAGE} - action image
        {ACTION_EXECUTION_TIME}
        {#ACTION_METADATA}
            {ACTION_TYPE}
            {KEY_MODIFIERS}
            {KEY_LOG}
            {KEY}
            {IS_MOUSE}
            {IS_KEYBOARD_INPUT}
            {IS_KEYBOARD_SPECIAL}
            {MOUSE_BUTTON}
        {/ACTION_METADATA}
    {/ACTIONLAYOUT}
{/SEQUENCELAYOUT} 
{#EXCEPTIONS}
    {#EXCEPTION_STEPS}
        {TITLE}
        {DESCRIPTION}
        {EXECUTION_TIME}
        {#ACTIONS}
            {ACTIONTITLE}
            {ACTIONDESCRIPTION} 
            {ACTION_EXECUTION_TIME} 
            {%ACTIONIMAGE} 
            {#ACTION_METADATA} 
               {ACTION_TYPE} 
            {/ACTION_METADATA}
        {/ACTIONS} 
    {/EXCEPTION_STEPS}
{/EXCEPTIONS}Make sure you save the entire loops/cycles structure as the included placeholders do not work outside the designed loops/cycles. For example, the {NAME} placeholder does not work outside the below loop/cycle.
{#APPLICATIONS}
    {NAME}
    {TOTAL_ACTIONS_COUNT}
    {TOTAL_CLICKS}
    {TOTAL_HOTKEYS}
    {TOTAL_TEXT_ENTRIES}
    {TOTAL_KEYS_PRESSED}
    {TOTAL_TIME}
    {#WINDOWS}
        {NAME}
        {TOTAL_ACTIONS_COUNT}
        {TOTAL_CLICKS}
        {TOTAL_HOTKEYS}
        {TOTAL_TEXT_ENTRIES}
        {TOTAL_KEYS_PRESSED}
        {TOTAL_TIME}
    {/WINDOWS}
{/APPLICATIONS}

The following placeholders are boolean (true/false) values:

• {IS_MOUSE}
• {IS_KEYBOARD_INPUT}

• {IS_KEYBOARD_SPECIAL}

  This means that they are not replaced by specific data. The content inside the placeholder is shown, depending on its value, as true or false.

For example:

If you want to add the text This is a mouse event when an action type is a mouse event, the placeholder should be used like this:

{#IS_MOUSE} This is a mouse event {/IS_MOUSE} Meaning that when the value of {IS_MOUSE} placeholder is true the desired text is added.

If you want to add text This is NOT a mouse event when an action type is not a mouse event, the placeholder should be used like this:

{^IS_MOUSE} This is NOT a mouse event {/IS_MOUSE} Meaning that when the value of {is_mouse} placeholder is false the desired text will be added.

The same logic applies for both {IS_KEYBOARD_INPUT} and {IS_KEYBOARD_SPECIAL} placeholders.

Exceptions placeholders

If there are exceptions in the diagram but the template doesn't include placeholders, a warning pop-up window occurs before the export.

To correct the template, add the exceptions placeholders in your custom template:

{#EXCEPTIONS}
    {#EXCEPTION_STEPS}
        {TITLE}
        {DESCRIPTION}
        {EXECUTION_TIME}
        {#ACTIONS}
            {ACTIONTITLE}
            {ACTIONDESCRIPTION} 
            {ACTION_EXECUTION_TIME} 
            {%ACTIONIMAGE} 
            {#ACTION_METADATA} 
               {ACTION_TYPE} 
            {/ACTION_METADATA}
        {/ACTIONS} 
    {/EXCEPTION_STEPS}
{/EXCEPTIONS}

Creating a new template from Microsoft Word

To create a new template from scratch, follow the below steps:

1. Open Microsoft Word and create a new Blank document. See the illustration below.

   
   

   

   
   
2. Enter the text and apply the desired styling to the template document.

3. Add placeholders to the document as needed. See the illustration below for an example.

   
   

   

   
   

4. After all the necessary changes are made, save the changes to your Word template. In Microsoft Word, click on File > Save. See the illustration below.

   
   

   

   
   

Next steps

See Managing Word templates for more information on how to add the template and use it in Task Capture.