Work with conditional coding templates

In a conditional coding template, the value coded to one item determines which additional items should be coded. As reviewers code each item in a conditional coding template, the colors of the remaining items change to indicate which items must still be coded. The relationship between the value that is coded in one item and the additional items that should be coded is called a condition.

For example, say that you have coding fields for privilege status and privilege type. If a reviewer codes the privilege status field with the value of privileged, you want the reviewer to also code the privilege type, such as attorney-client. To implement this in the application, you create a condition based on the value that is coded for the privilege status field.

Note: The conditions in a conditional coding template help reviewers code the items that you expect them to code, but the conditions do not link to the validation criteria, or coding requirements, that allow documents in an assignment to be cleared. For information about how to set validation criteria, see Configure phase properties.

Administrators and group leaders with permissions can create and manage conditional coding templates. For information about how to grant permissions, see Grant administrative access.

Create conditional coding templates

A conditional coding template provides visual cues that help reviewers know what items they are expected to code based on the values that they have already coded.

To help visualize the conditions in a conditional coding template, draw a flowchart of the coding workflow that you want reviewers to follow. On the flowchart, list the items that you want reviewers to code and the possible values for each item. For each possible value, determine which additional fields you want reviewers to code.

Before you start, create the items that you want to add to the coding template, such as fields, binders, issues, and so on. For information about how to create items that can be coded, see Case Setup. You can also add read-only items to the coding template, for example, to display the search term families that are responsive for a document.

To create a conditional coding template:

On the Case Home page, under Case Setup, click Conditional Templates.

Click Add.

Type a Name for the conditional coding template. Reviewers see this name in the Conditional Coding pane on the Documents page.

Click Save.

Click the name of the conditional coding template.

To add a section to the template, click Section label. Type a name for the section, and then press Enter.

To add an item (also referred to as a coding field) to the conditional coding template, do the following:

Note: Some items are under development and are currently available as read-only fields. 

In the Add field list, select an option, for example, Document.

In the Select a field list, select a field, for example, QC Status.

Next to the Select a field list, click the Add button.

Do any of the following:

To require reviewers to code the item, select the Required check box.

Tip: Include at least one required item in the conditional coding template. After reviewers code all of the fields that are required based on the relevant conditions, a Next button that allows reviewers to navigate to the next document appears directly in the Conditional Coding pane. If a conditional coding template does not include any required items, reviewers must use the Documents arrows on the Documents page toolbar to select the next document to code.

If the item is a pick list, by default, reviewers must expand the list to select a value. To display all possible values in the coding template, select the Expanded check box.

Note: If a list has many possible values, the coding template may take a long time to load when reviewers move from document to document. We recommend that you clear the Expanded check box for lists that have many values.

To prevent reviewers from editing the value of an item, select the Read-only check box. For example, you can display reference information to reviewers. Read-only fields do not change color when you code values to other fields.

Note: You should make fields in the template read-only, unless reviewers will code the fields.

Repeat the previous steps to add additional items to the template.

Note: If you include an item in multiple coding templates, reviewers can code the item from each template. The value that applies is the most recently coded value.

To add conditions to the template, do the following:

Click Condition.

In the When coding field list, select an item. The value that is coded to this item determines the additional items that you want reviewers to code.

In the Is set to area, select a value for the item.

In the Code list, select the additional items that you want reviewers to code.

Click outside the Code list, and then click OK.

Repeat the previous steps to add additional conditions to the template.

To rearrange items, hover over an item, and then drag the handle to move a row up or down.

Tip: To allow users to code a document to a predefined set of values by clicking a single button, you can create coding macros. For information about how to create macros, see Code a document with a predefined set of values: coding macros.

Note: Certain coding fields require additional steps before you can add them to a conditional coding template. For information about how to add a Binders - Custom or Issues - Custom coding field to a conditional coding template, see Add a Binders - Custom or Issues - Custom coding field to a conditional coding template.

Note: If you add a Source/Attachments coding field to a conditional coding template, it is read-only by default. After you add a Source/Attachments coding field to a conditional coding template, in the Conditional Coding pane, the application displays a tree view of the document IDs of all source and attachment documents that are related to the active document. You can click the links for a document ID to open the document in a standalone window.

 

Set security for conditional coding templates

You can set the security for a conditional coding template based on user groups. By default, the security setting for a new conditional coding template is set to Allow for the group in which you create the template.

For information about how to set security for multiple conditional coding templates at the same time, see Work with security for objects.

For information about how to set security for coding macros, see Work with security for features.

To set security for conditional coding templates:

On the Case Home page, under Case Setup, click Conditional Templates.

Click the name of the conditional coding template.

In the navigation pane, click Security.

Depending on which groups you want to set security for, select from the following:

To set security for one user group, hover over the row for the group, and then select an option.

To change the security for all user groups, select an option in the heading row. Then click OK.

The following security settings are available.

Permission	Description
Deny	Denies the group access to the conditional coding template.
Allow	Allows read access to the conditional coding template.

Edit conditional coding templates

To edit a conditional coding template:

On the Case Home page, under Case Setup, click Conditional Templates.

Tip: You can also edit a conditional coding template on the Documents page. To edit the active template, click Manage on the Conditional Coding menu on the Documents page.

Click the name of the conditional coding template.

To edit which items appear on the template, on the Coding fields page, select from the following options:

To add a codable item to the template, in the Add field list, select an item. Then click the Add button.

Note: Some items are under development and are currently available as read-only fields.

To add a condition to the template, do the following:

Click Condition.

In the When coding field list, select an item. The value that is coded to this item determines the additional items that you want reviewers to code.

In the Is set to area, select a value for the item.

In the Code list, select the additional items that you want reviewers to code.

Click outside the Code list, and then click OK.

To add a section, click Section label. Type a name for the section, and then press Enter.

To edit a condition, click the condition. In the Code list, select the items that you want reviewers to code. Clear the items that you do not want reviewers to code. When you are done, click outside the Code list, and then click OK.

To require reviewers to code an item, select the Required check box.

To display all possible values in a pick list, rather than a list that reviewers must expand, select the Expanded check box.

Note: If a list has many possible values, the coding template may take a long time to load when reviewers move from document to document. We recommend that you clear the Expanded check box for lists that have many values.

To prevent reviewers from editing the value of an item, select the Read-only check box.

Note: You should make fields on the template read-only, unless reviewers will code the fields. Read-only fields do not change color when values are coded to other fields.

To edit a section label, click the section name. Type a name for the section, and then press Enter.

To rearrange items, hover over an item, and then drag the handle to move a row up or down.

To delete an item, select the check box next to the item. On the toolbar, click Delete, and then click OK.

Note: If you delete an item that includes a condition, the application removes the condition.

To delete a condition, click the condition. Click Delete, and then click Yes.

To change the name of a conditional coding template, in the navigation pane, click Properties. Type a Name for the template, and then press Enter.

Note: For information about how to to edit a Binders - Custom or Issues - Custom coding field, see Edit a Binders - Custom or Issues - Custom field in a conditional coding template.

Clone conditional coding templates

You can create a copy of a conditional coding template, and then modify the items or conditions on the template or change the group permissions for the template.

To create a copy of an existing conditional coding template:

On the Case Home page, under Case Setup, click Conditional Templates.

Click Clone, and then do the following:

In the Conditional template list, select the conditional coding template that you want to copy.

Type a Name for the new template. Reviewers see this name in the Conditional Coding pane on the Documents page.

Click Save.

To modify the group permissions, the items on the template, or the conditions, click the name of the template. Then edit the details as needed.

Delete conditional coding templates

You can delete a conditional coding template.

When you delete a conditional coding template, any values that are coded to items in the template remain coded.

To delete a conditional coding template:

On the Case Home page, under Case Setup, click Conditional Templates.

Select the check box next to the conditional coding template that you want to delete.

On the toolbar, click Delete, and then click OK.

Add a Binders - Custom or Issues - Custom field to a conditional coding template

Certain coding fields require additional steps before you can add them to a conditional coding template.

To add a Binders - Custom or Issues - Custom coding field to a conditional coding template:

On the Case Home page, under Case Setup, click Conditional Templates.

On the Conditional Templates page, in the Name column, click the link for a template.

On the Coding fields page, In the Add field list, select an option, for example, Document.

In the Select a field list, select Binders - Custom or Issues - Custom.

Next to the Select a field list, click the Add button.

In the Binders - Custom or Issues - Custom dialog box, select one or more binders or issues, and then click Save.

Note: When you select issues in the Issues - Custom dialog box, you can optionally select the Include all sub-issues check box.

The Binders - Custom or Issues - Custom field appears at the bottom of the list of coding fields on the Coding fields page.

Tip: To rearrange items in the template, hover over an item, and then drag the handle to move a row up or down.

Note: You can add only one Binders - Custom or Issues - Custom coding field to a conditional coding template.

To require reviewers to code the item, select the Required check box.

Note: The application sets the Binders - Custom or Issues - Custom coding field to Expanded by default. You cannot select the Read-only check box for the Binders - Custom or Issues - Custom field. 

To add conditions to the template, do the following:

Select the check box next to the Binders - Custom or Issues - Custom coding field.

On the toolbar, click Condition.

In the Add condition dialog box, in the When coding field list, select an item. The value that is coded to this item determines the additional items that you want reviewers to code.

In the Is set to area, select a value for the item.

In the Code list, select the additional items that you want reviewers to code.

Click outside the Code list, and then click OK.

Repeat the previous steps to add additional conditions to the conditional coding template.

Tip: Include at least one required item on the conditional coding template. After reviewers code all of the fields that are required based on the relevant conditions, a Next button that allows reviewers to navigate to the next document appears directly in the Conditional Coding pane. If a conditional coding template does not include any required items, reviewers must use the Documents arrows on the Documents page toolbar to select the next document to code.

Tip: To allow users to code a document to a predefined set of values by clicking a single button, you can create coding macros. For information about how to create macros, see Code a document with a predefined set of values: coding macros.

Edit a Binders - Custom or Issues - Custom field in a conditional coding template

To edit a Binders - Custom or Issues - Custom field in a conditional coding template:

On the Case Home page, under Case Setup, click Conditional Templates.

On the Conditional Templates page, in the Name column, click the link for a conditional coding template.

On the Coding fields page, click the blue link for the Binders - Custom or Issues - Custom coding field.

In the Binders - Custom or Issues - Custom dialog box, adjust the binders or issues, and then click Save.

Add a Notes field

Administrators can add a Notes field to a conditional template, which allows users to work with this field in a coding template in the Conditional Coding pane.

To add a Notes field to a Conditional Template:

On the Case Setup > Conditional Templates > Coding fields page, in the Add field lists, select Document in the first list and Notes in the second list.

Click the Add button (plus symbol).

The Notes field appears in the Coding field table.

Convert a traditional Code template to a conditional coding template

You can convert coding templates created in the Code pane to templates in the Conditional Coding pane. 

Note: If you convert a template, the process cannot be reversed. Converted templates are no longer available in the Code pane.

To convert a traditional Code pane template to a Conditional Coding template:

On the Case Home page, under Case Setup, click Conditional Templates.

Click Convert.

In the Convert dialog box, check the box next to the template you want to convert.

Note: Previously converted templates appear in the list of templates with a dot in the Converted column and are not selectable. 

Click the name of a template to view the list of fields in the template.

Note: Fields marked with red exclamation points do not convert. 

Click OK to complete the conversion.

The template now appears in the list of Conditional Coding templates.