Concepts and Terminology
Note
When accessing an existing SmartDox document saved from a SmartDox template, knowledge of schemas, mapping, and fields is not entirely necessary. SmartDox has been developed to be as easy to use as possible. However, when creating a new SmartDox template, it is especially important to understand these concepts.
To get and send data using SmartDox, specially prepared Microsoft Excel and Word templates must be used. The documents based on these templates are set up to draw specific data points from the ProLink application and place them in predetermined locations within the document. The process of setting up the connection between a location in the template and the data within the ProLink application is called “mapping.” A location within a template to which a particular data point has been mapped is called a “mapped field.”
A mapped field can work in one of three ways:
SmartDox can get data from the ProLink application and display it in the mapped field of the document. This data cannot be saved back to the ProLink application.
SmartDox can send data from the mapped field of the document to the ProLink application to be saved. This data cannot be retrieved from the application to be displayed.
Data can both be sent to and retrieved from the ProLink application.
To access data in the ProLink application, SmartDox must start with a base record in the ProLink database. This record might represent a single project, business deal, investment, property, or other concept critical to daily business operations. Basic data about the base record can be retrieved into the SmartDox document or sent from the document to the ProLink application. In addition, data for other record types associated with the base record will also be available in the SmartDox document, by virtue of those records’ association with the base record.
For example, if the base record of a document represents a project, data associated with the project that might also be available in the document could include data regarding budgets, milestones, project team members, and reports. The complete collection of data points that can be accessed within a template, including data regarding the base record and all of its associated data, is called a “Schema.”