Custom Template Placeholders

CLM template placeholder capabilities

The Appian Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) solution comes with the capability to have template placeholders automatically populated with input data during contract creation. The solution supports 12 placeholders out of the box.

Placeholder	Data Field
###Contract Name###	Contract Name
###Third Party Organization Name###	Third Party Organization Name
###Third Party Organization Address###	Third Party Organization Address
###Third Party Organization Street Address 1###	Third Party Organization Street Address 1
###Third Party Organization Street Address 2###	Third Party Organization Street Address 2
###Third Party Organization City###	Third Party Organization City
###Third Party Organization State###	Third Party Organization State
###Third Party Organization Postal Code###	Third Party Organization Postal Code
###Third Party Organization Country###	Third Party Organization Country
###Original Contract Name###	Original Contract Name1
###Original Contract Fully Executed On Date###	Original Contract Fully Executed On Date1
###Clauses###	Pre-determined clauses to be included from the clause template library2

¹Values from the original contract will be inserted for these placeholders when creating an amendment to an existing contract.

²Clauses are only inserted into a contract template when the runtime template includes the ###Clauses### placeholder and the feature toggle is ON.

This page provides instructions for an Appian Designer and Privileged Business User to modify the CLM solution to support additional placeholders.

Update runtime templates

Runtime templates are uploaded and managed in the Templates page of Control Panel. The following steps should be performed by a privileged business user with access to Control Panel to define placeholders that can be automatically populated with input data on contract creation in Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM).

1. Sign in to the Contract Lifecycle Management solution.
2. Navigate to the Control Panel site using the site menu.
3. Select the Templates page.
4. Download and update each template to include placeholders wherever input data provided in the Create Contract form is expected to be automatically populated.
   • Placeholders will be recognized by the CLM solution as any text wrapped in three (3) pound (#) symbols in the primary and runtime templates. For example, ###Contract Name###.
   • It is important to ensure that your primary and runtime templates use the same font throughout each template document for the CLM solution to successfully automatically populate the placeholder with input data.
   • Formatting is supported such that you can bold, italicize, underline, highlight, color placeholder text and the formatting will be maintained as the placeholder text is replaced with input data. For example, ###Contract Name### will be automatically populated with the contract's name and retain the bold and highlighting formatting resulting in an output like MNDA with Socium Corporation.
   • Placeholders are case sensitive. If a placeholder in your primary template uses title case, then the placeholder must also use title case in any runtime templates that include it for the placeholder to be automatically populated with input data on contract creation.
5. Upload each updated runtime template to the appropriate template record.

Update the primary template

A primary template maintains all possible placeholders that are supported for use in runtime templates uploaded in the Templates page of Control Panel. While the primary template defines all supported placeholders, each runtime template can use all, none, or some of the supported placeholders as needed.

Download the current primary template

The following steps must be completed in Appian Designer by an Appian Developer.

1. Select the CLM Contract Lifecycle Management Base application.
2. Select the Build page.
3. Search for and select the primary template document named Supported Data Fields for Template Placeholders.
4. Select Download file.

Add new placeholders to the primary template

Complete the following steps in a word processing tool to define new placeholders:

1. Add additional placeholders to the document as needed.
   • Placeholders will be recognized by the CLM solution as any text wrapped in three (3) pound (#) symbols in the primary and runtime templates. For example, ###Contract Name###.
   • It is important to ensure that your primary and runtime templates use the same font throughout each template document for the CLM solution to successfully automatically populate the placeholder with input data.
   • Formatting is supported such that you can bold, italicize, underline, highlight, color placeholder text and the formatting will be maintained as the placeholder text is replaced with input data. For example, ###Contract Name### will be automatically populated with the contract's name and retain the bold and highlighting formatting resulting in an output like MNDA with Socium Corporation.
   • Placeholders are case sensitive. If a placeholder in your primary template uses title case, then the placeholder must also use title case in any runtime templates that include it for the placeholder to be automatically populated with input data on contract creation.
2. Save the new primary template in .DOCX format.

Upload the new primary template version

The following steps must be completed in Appian Designer by an Appian Developer.

1. Locate the primary template document following steps 1-3 in Download the current primary template.
2. Select the checkbox for the primary template document named Supported Data Fields for Template Placeholders.

3. Select MORE, then New Version.

   

4. Upload the new primary template version containing new placeholders.
5. Select UPLOAD.

Configure custom data fields and intake forms

In order for new placeholders to be populated on contract creation, it is necessary to define the data fields that will collect the information and update the contract intake forms in Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM).

Create custom data fields

Before you begin creating custom data fields, it is necessary to determine the appropriate level of availability for each custom data field to users of the CLM solution. Data fields can be defined at three levels:

• Contracts - Data fields configured at the Contracts level are available to be used for any contract type.
• Category - Data fields configured at the Category level are available to be used for any contract type assigned to that category.
• Contract Type - Data fields configured at the Contract Type level are available to be users only on that contract type.

The following steps should be completed by a privileged business user in Control Panel.

1. Navigate to the Control Panel site using the site menu.
2. Using the sidebar navigation, select the appropriate level (Contracts, a category, or a contract type) where a data field should be created.
3. Select the Data tab.
4. Create a data field.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 as needed for additional custom data fields.

Update intake forms

Now that custom data fields are defined, intake forms can be updated to include the data fields so that the information captured in the new data fields during contract creation can automatically populate template placeholders.

The following steps should be completed by a privileged business user in Control Panel.

1. Navigate to the Control Panel site using the site menu.
2. Using the sidebar navigation, select the appropriate level (Contracts, a category, or a contract type) where the intake form should be updated to include a new data field.
3. Select the Interfaces tab.
4. Select the appropriate Create-type form, such as the Intake Form or Amendment Intake Form.
5. Update the intake form to include custom data fields.
6. Repeat steps 2-5 as needed for additional intake forms requiring update.

Map new placeholders

Once the primary template is updated with additional placeholders, the placeholders need to be mapped to record fields so that the Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) solution can automatically insert input data into runtime templates on contract creation using the new placeholders.

The following steps must be completed in Appian Designer by an Appian Developer.

1. Select the CLM Contract Lifecycle Management Base application.
2. Select the Build page.
3. Search for and select the process model named CLM_Contract_HandleInitialContractDoc.

4. Double-click on the node named Auto-populate placeholders to access its properties.

   

5. Select Setup.
6. Select Re-scan Template. The new primary template will be evaluated to identify all placeholders.
   • Existing placeholders will retain their existing mapping to record fields.
   • New placeholders will be listed and require a record field to be defined that in the Replace with field.

   

7. Input a record field as the value for each Replace with field for each new placeholder.
8. Select OK.
9. Select Start Process for Debugging to save and validate changes.

Test each updated template to confirm that placeholders are automatically populating with input data as expected on contract creation.

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