Pre-filled Form Creation

Pre-filled Form Creation

This feature is intended to allow funeral homes and crematories the ability to create their own pre-filled forms for the sole use of their location(s). Please make sure that there is not an existing and acceptable form in the Forms Library before you add a new form.

You may create forms that can pre-fill with the most commonly required information for user created forms. It is not intended to cover every possible data item that could be used on a form.  When forms and documents are generated, the values in the Field Name column in the table listed in the document called Available Field Names for User Created Forms will be used to display the data for the selected decedent and/or your location. You can create Adobe PDF documents or Word documents to pre-fill with data. For PDF documents use the EXACT value in the “Field Name” column as the field’s name- remember, these values are case sensitive! For Word (.rtf) documents use the EXACT value in the “Field Name” column and you MUST also wrap the field name in double percent symbols, e.g. %%Last%%.

You may also add custom fields just for your use via Admin > Screen Customization and have these fields fill with data on your forms.  If you have added custom fields you can find the proper field names to use on your forms in the document for User Added Field Names for User Created Forms.

In order to create a form, you will create your PDF or Word document. If you are adding a Pre-filled form, add the field names where you would like the data to appear. For PDFs you must use Adobe Acrobat to create a text FIELD and use the form field name as the name of the text field. The system does not support the use of radio buttons in forms, however, you can use checkboxes in them. If you upload a form with radio buttons you will receive an error message when trying to run the form.

The data will be displayed as you have entered it in the system unless there is additional information in the Example Output column in the form field documents (see links above). When you are finished with the form creation just upload the form to the forms library and set it to be visible.

Word documents must be saved and uploaded as .rtf files in order for them to pre-fill with data. You may upload .doc or .docx files if you do not need them to pre-fill with data.

Troubleshooting Pre-filled Form Creation Problems

If you need assistance with creating Word or PDF documents please consult your local technical support or online resources. We do not offer general Word or PDF document creation help beyond what is contained in our help resources.

If you have added a PDF or .rtf form and it is not populating with data it is usually due to one of two problems.

1) The most common is a typographical error in your form name.

2) The other problem is only seen with .rtf forms. If your data field name is correctly entered in your .rtf but your data field is not populating it could be due to hidden internal file formatting which is preventing our program from locating the name of the data field within your document and replacing the text with the data from your database. Try placing your cursor before the first percent and using the backspace key to delete any leading, hidden and unnecessary formatting then do the same thing after the last percent sign by clicking the delete key. If this does not work, copy a field name that is working properly and paste it in the location of the problem data field. Then replace the field name text between the double percent signs.

Please note that there is a file size limit on the files you may upload. Typically the issue only comes up with .rtf files that have embedded images. One way to decrease the file size is to make sure your images are resized to the actual size needed by your document before you insert them so you are not adding unnecessary size to your file. You may edit your image using any image editor and then add it to your document.

3) Font problem with PDF-fill forms: Use a Base font like Helvetica, Times New Roman, or Arial within the form field so that all PDF readers will recognize it. It should default to one of these fonts, but if you are editing a form that has adjusted form fields, you can adjust in the Appearance tab of each form field. We recommend setting the text size to "Auto" which will adjust the sizing based on the amount of text.