ATLAS FormBuilder - Text Merge Fields

Supported in many locations across the settings of a form, text merge fields are special bits of text that can be placed inside a text field, and at runtime will automatically replace themselves with a specific piece of data related to the form.

Text merge fields can fulfill many form needs, like exposing information about the current form responder, displaying the answers given to questions, inserting data from a form response into an email, or even auto-assigning the recipient of an email.

Text merge fields can be inserted into any text across a form's settings where the Text Merge Options menu is available.

On some settings pages, this menu is hidden, but can be revealed by clicking a dark blue button labeled Merge Fields.

A form's text merge fields can also be used as options for conditional statements across the various FormBuilder settings that make use of conditional statement entry fields. For more information, visit ATLAS FormBuilder - Building a Conditional Statement.

The data that text merge fields provide can be further customized in several ways -- such as changing the format of a list, or even basing the appearance of the text ouput on whether or not a question has a value -- using special modifiers called "text merge formatters". For more information on using text merge formatters, visit ATLAS FormBuilder - Text Merge Formatting (Advanced Users) and ATLAS FormBuilder - Text Merge Formatting Cheat Sheet.

Sorted by category, FormBuilder's available text merge options are as follows:

Response Submitter

Provides identifying information about the first user to submit or save the current form response, also known as the "associated user" or "response submitter".

The source of the information will be slightly different depending on the type of user that becomes the response submitter. If the user has logged in using a Campus account, data for this category will be pulled from their University of Illinois system profile. If the user has logged in using a local FormBuilder account, data from this section will be pulled from said local account, and some merge fields will be empty. If the user was logged out while accessing the form, all of this category's data will be empty.

• Username: The Campus username (aka. NetID) of the response submitter. This field is empty if the response submitter did not log in with a Campus account.
• Email Address: The response submitter's registered email address.
• Display Name: The registered display name of the response submitter. May be different from their registered first and last names.
• First Name: The response submitter's registered first name.
• Last Name: The response submitter's registered last name.
• UIN: The University Identification Number associated with the response submitter. This field is empty if the response submitter did not log in with a Campus account.

If the form has enabled any person attributes, they will appear as additional options in this category.

Last Modifying User

Provides identifying information about the most recent user to submit or save the current form response.

The source of the information will be slightly different depending on the type of user to last modify the form. If the user has logged in using a Campus account, data for this category will be pulled from their University of Illinois system profile. If the user has logged in using a local FormBuilder account, data from this section will be pulled from said local account, and some merge fields will be empty. If the user was logged out while accessing the form, all merge fields in this category -- save for Last Modified By IP Address -- will be empty.

• Username: The Campus username (aka. NetID) of the last modifying user. This field is empty if the user did not log in with a Campus account.
• Email Address: The last modifying user's registered email address.
• Display Name: The registered display name of the last modifying user. May be different from their registered first and last names.
• First Name: The last modifying user's registered first name.
• Last Name: The last modifying user's registered last name.
• UIN: The University Identification Number associated with the last modifying user. This field is empty if the response submitter did not log in with a Campus account.
• Last Modified By IP Address: The IP address of the last modifying user.

If the form has enabled any person attributes, they will appear as additional options in this category.

Form Information

• Response Identifier: The primary form-level identifier assigned to the current form response. Can be used as a registration code for child form responses.
• Response Survey Url: The URL of the current form response.
• Survey Index Url: The URL of the form's survey index page.
• New Survey Url: The URL of a new response to the form. Has the same effect as clicking the "New Form" button on the form's survey index page.
• Period Name: The name of the form's current period.
• Period Description: The description of the form's current period (if applicable).
• Period Start Date: The start date of the form's current period (if applicable).
• Period End Date: The end date of the form's current period (if applicable).
• Phase Name: The name of the phase that the current form response is presently inhabiting.
• Submit Date: The date at which the current form response was first submitted or saved.
• Create Date: The date at which the current form response was initially saved.
• Submitted By IP Address: The IP address of the user who first submitted or saved the current form response.
• Last Modification Date: The date at which the current form response was most recently submitted or saved.
• Current Date (Central): The current date and time in Central Time (CT).
• Current Date (UTC): The current date and time in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
• Created By IP Address: The IP address of the user who initially saved the current form response.
• Raw Response Identifier: A unique code assigned to the current form response, for use with the internal FormBuilder webservice.
• Code for the current term: The Term Code associated with the current campus term.
• Description for the current term: The description (or name) of the current campus term.
• Campus for the current term: The campus associated with the current campus term.
• Start date for the current term: The official start date of the current campus term.
• End date for the current term: The official end date of the current campus term.

Questions

Provides information about the current form response's answers to the form's questions.

This category contains sub-categories corresponding to each of the form's sections that possess at least one question. Each sub-category provides text merge options related to the questions in their associated form section.

Questions of all types will provide a text merge option called Answer Value, which behaves differently depending on the question type:

• Question types that accept text input from the user (Single Line Text, Number, etc.) will display the text entered.
• Date/Time questions will display the entered date or time.
• Campus Person questions will display the Campus email address of the entered NetID or UIN.
• Single Checkbox questions will display either "true" or "false" depending on whether or not the box has been selected.
• Multiple-choice question types that allow for a single answer (Drop Down, Radio Buttons) will display the internal answer value for the selected choice.
• Multiple-choice question types that allow for multiple answers (Check Boxes, Select List) will display the internal answer values for all choices selected in a list format separated by commas and spaces.
• File Upload questions will display a unique text string identifier for the uploaded file.
• Stamp questions (Time Stamp, User Stamp, Person Attribute) display the current value held.
• Signature questions will display "false" for an unsigned value, and display the text string "Signed by [Display name of signer] on [Date of signature]" for a signed value.
• A composite question (the question type "Multiple Questions") will display its answer values as an array; a comma-separated list of the question's "rows", each containing a comma-separated list of the row's answers.
  • A sub-question of a composite question will display all its entered answers as a comma-separated list.
• Course CRN questions will display the subject code, course number, section number, and campus term of the entered course.
• Guest questions of the "Count of Guests Only" type will display nothing, while Guest questions of the "Count of Guests with Additional Guest Details" type will display its answer values as an array; a comma-separated list of the question's rows, each containing a comma-separated list of the row's answers.
• Event Session questions will display a unique text string identifier for the selected session.

Depending on their type, some questions may also provide additional text merge options.

Multiple-choice question types (such as Radio Buttons or Check Boxes) will provide an option called Selected Choice Display Text, which displays the text name(s) of the question's selected choice(s), rather than their internal answer values.

The following question types provide unique text merge options:

• Campus Person
  
  
  • Display Name: The registered display name of the entered person.
  • Email Address: The registered email address of the entered person.
  • First Name: The registered first name of the entered person.
  • Last Name: The registered last name of the entered person.
  • UIN: The University Identification Number associated with the entered person.

• File Upload
  
  
  • File Download Url: The URL of a page that can be used to download the uploaded file.
  • File Download Link: A clickable hyperlink to a page that can be used to download the uploaded file.

• User Stamp
  
  
  • Display Name: The registered display name of the saved user.
  • Email Address: The registered email address of the saved user.
  • First Name: The registered first name of the saved user.
  • Last Name: The registered last name of the saved user.
  • UIN: The University Identification Number associated with the saved user. This field is empty if the user did not log in with a Campus account.

• Signature
  
  
  • Display Name: The registered display name of the signer.
  • Email Address: The registered email address of the signer.
  • First Name: The registered first name of the signer.
  • Last Name: The registered last name of signer.
  • UIN: The University Identification Number associated with the signer. This field is empty if the signer did not log in with a Campus account.
  • Signature Date/Time of [question field name]: The date and time at which the question was signed.
  • Signature Signed status of [question field name]: Displays "signed" if the question's checkbox is selected, and "not signed" if the checkbox is left blank.

• Multiple Questions (aka. composite question)
  
  
  • Number of Answers: The number of "rows", or distinct answers given to the composite question.
    
    
  • The text merge options of the composite question's individual sub-questions are also available, separate from the parent question.

• Course CRN
  
  
  • Term Code: The academic term code associated with the entered course.
  • Term Description: The name of the term associated with the entered course.
  • CRN: The CRN of the entered course.
  • Course Subject Code: The subject code of the entered course.
  • Course Subject Description: The subject name of the entered course.
  • Course Number: The course number of the entered course.
  • Course Title: The title of the entered course.
  • Section Number: The section number of the entered course.
  • Section Maximum Enrollment Count: The maximum enrollment number of the entered course.
  • Current Section Enrollment Count: The current enrollment count of the entered course.
  • Section Seats Available Count: The current number of seats available for the entered course.

• Guest (only available in event registration forms)
  
  
  • If the Guest question's type is set to "Count of Guests with Additional Guest Details", the following options will be available:
    
    
    • Number of Answers: The count of guests, and the number of distinct "rows" of answers given to the question's sub-questions.
      
      
    • The text merge options of the Guest question's associated sub-questions will be also be available, separate from the parent question.

• Event Session (only available in event registration forms)
  
  
  • Event Session Title: The title of the selected event session.
  • Event Session Field Name: The field name of the selected event session.

Security Groups

• Group Member Email Addresses of: Allows for selection from security group in the form group, as well as the form group's list of administrators (Form Group Administrators). Provides the registered email addresses of the selected security group's members as a comma-separated list.
  
  
• Group Member Display Names of: Allows for selection from security group in the form group, as well as the form group's list of administrators (Form Group Administrators). Provides the registered display names of the selected security group's members as a comma-separated list.

Registration

• Claim Available Registration Slot Url: The URL of the current response's "Claim Registration Slot" page. Can only be accessed if the response is waitlisted and currently being offered a registration slot.

Payment

Provides information about the current form response's payment(s). This category is only available if payments are enabled for the current form, and it contains the following sub-categories:

• Payment
  
  
  • Status: The form response's overall payment status. Displays "Not Paid" if no payments have been successfully made, and displays "Paid" if at least one payment has been made.
  • Type: The type of payment used for the form response. Displays "IPay" if a credit card payment has been made through IPay. Displays "Check" if a check payment has been promised and marked as paid by an administrator. If payments of multiple types have been confirmed, they will displayed as a comma-separated list.
  • Total Amount: The sum payment amount charged for the form response.
  • Itemized Successful Payments: Displays a bulleted list of the form response's successful payments; listing the type, date, and amount of each payment. Check payments will only appear if they have been promised and marked as paid by an administrator.
  • Amount Paid: The current amount paid for the form response.
  • Amount Due: The current unpaid amount remaining for the form response.
  • Reference Number: The unique numerical identifier associated with the form response's payments.
  • Itemized Totals: Displays the description and amount for each of the form response's charged payment line items as a bulleted list.
    
    
• Transaction
  
  
  • Amount: The form response's individual transaction amounts.
  • Status: The payment statuses of the form response's individual transactions. Failed or canceled transactions display as "Failure", and successful transactions display as "Success". Transactions promised via check display as "Promised".
  • Date: The date and time of the form response's individual transactions.
  • Method: The payment method of the form response's individual transactions. Card payments display as "IPay", and check payments display as "Check".
  • Credit Card Used: The brand of credit card used for any of the form response's credit card transactions.
  • Reconciled Amount: The reconciled amounts of the form response's transactions. If a check payment has been promised but not yet reconciled, it will display as a "-".
  • Itemized: Displays a bulleted list of the form response's transactions; listing the type, date and time, amount, and status of each payment.
• IPay
  
  
  • Token: The official IPay Token(s) associated with the form response's credit card transaction(s).
  • Transaction ID: The official IPay Transaction ID(s) associated with the form response's credit card transaction(s).

If the form possesses any payment line items, this category will also contain extra sub-categories pertaining to each line item. Each of these extra sub-categories will contain the following text merge options:

• Name: The name of the payment line item.
• Total: The total calculated cost of the payment line item for the current form response.
• Name and Total: The name of the payment line item, followed by its calculated cost for the current form response.

Form Owner

Provides information about the form owner.

• Username: The Campus username (aka. NetID) of the form owner.
• Email Address: The form owner's registered email address.
• Display Name: The registered display name of the form owner. May be different from their registered first and last names.
• First Name: The form owner's registered first name.
• Last Name: The form owner's registered last name.
• UIN: The University Identification Number associated with the form owner.

For more instructional documentation on ATLAS FormBuilder, visit FormBuilder - Homepage.