System variables basically contain the metadata that has been introduced in the system: Dates, Names, Roles, etc.
Variables are added to the Template you upload when creating a Document Type.
Documents that are created based on that Document Type will pull the corresponding details from the system and fill out the variables in your Documents.
By adding variables to the template of your Document Type, you can preconfigure the information that Documents based on that particular Document Type will include and in which order the variables will be shown.
There are variables for various Modules in Scilife:
- Document Control
- Events
- CAPAs
- Change Control
- Trainings
- CV
Module variables can be used independently by Module, for example when setting up a Trainings Report that only includes variables from the Training Module.
Variables can also be combined across Modules, this could be the case for a Document Type for Event Reports. This Document Type could include variables from various Modules at the same time such as Events, CAPAs, Change Control, and Document Control.
Document Control Variables
You will find all the variables related to Document Control by following these steps:
- Go to Documents > Document Types.
- Click on the New + icon.
The Supported Variables in Document Templates are to be found on the right-hand side of the Document Type Details Form:
- You will see the links to the variables of the Modules that are activated in your System.
- By clicking on the links you will access the list of variables for that particular Module.
The list of variables of the corresponding Module will appear:
Adding Variables to your Document Template
From the List of Variables, you can copy the variables you wish to add to your Document Template. Simply select the variable, copy the variable and paste it into the Document Template, in the place where you want it to appear.
Add all the variables you need to your Template and save it.
Upload the Template as a Document Type.
Documents that are created based on this Document Type will include all the variables that you have added to the Template.
The variables will be populated with the corresponding information introduced in the system (Author(s), Reviewers(s), Date(s), Id(s), etc.
The result will be similar to what is shown in this header:
- Variables only work with docx, xlsx and pptx files.
- In the Document Viewer, the variables will be filled out if the corresponding information is available in the system. When you do Live Edit and for instance edit a Document in Word, the variables will not be auto-filled, you will just see the variable.
- If a variable is used with the _N/A suffix, then if a variable is empty, N/A will be printed instead of an empty string e.g. using ${groups_N/A} instead of ${groups} will print N/A, in the case that the groups variable is empty.
