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Getting Started

Using the Dictionary Editor

The
Dictionary Editor
 provides access to a number of features for managing the
Contract Express Author
 Dictionary. To open the
Dictionary Editor
, click on the
Dictionary Editor
 icon from the
Contract Express
 tab.
Dictionary Editor icon
With the
Dictionary Editor
 you can:
  • View all variables defined in the Dictionary
  • Create new variables
  • Edit existing variables
  • Add existing variables to the current template
  • Search for variables
  • Check spelling across the Dictionary
  • Rename variables
  • Find and replace text across the Dictionary
  • Show the relevance of a variable
  • Create and edit questionnaire pages
  • Determine where variables are referenced elsewhere in the Dictionary
  • View relevancy information
  • Check the mark-up of the current template
  • View issues reported in the current template

Docking and undocking the Dictionary Editor to the task pane

When the Dictionary Editor is opened for the first time, it floats over the top of the Word Document in an "undocked" state. This mode works very well if you are using dual monitors as the Dictionary Editor can be opened on one screen with the document open on another screen.
For those users who only have a single screen you may wish to "dock" the Dictionary Editor into a task pane. To do this, click on the Dock icon in the Dictionary Editor toolbar as highlighted below.
Undocked dictionary view
When the Dictionary Editor is docked it will appear in the task pane on the right side of Word. You can undock again by clicking the dock button in the Dictionary Editor Toolbar.
DE docked view in the task pane

Toggling between sections of the Dictionary

The examples below use the sample Non Disclosure Agreement template which is included in every new install or new account in Contract Express.
When the Dictionary Editor loads for the first time you are presented with the Home menu which displays links to All Variables, Questionnaire and Warnings. You can switch between these three areas of the Dictionary by either going home and selecting from the home menu, or selecting from the drop-down menu beneath the toolbar:
Option to toggle between section in DE

Viewing all variables in the Dictionary

Select All Variables from the Dictionary drop-down menu to view all variables within the Dictionary. When undocked, the list of variables will appear in the content area on the left. Selecting a variable from this list will display all of the attributes of that variable on the right. When docked the variable list appears at the top with the variable attributes below.
Viewing all variables in DE

Filtering the list of variables

To apply a filter to the All Variables list, click on the filter icon from the toolbar.
Selecting a variable type from the
Variable Types
 dropdown will filter the list to display only the selected types.
Filtering variables
More Filters
 can be used to filter the entire variable list or for additional filtering on an already filtered list.
You can filter by variable name, computable/not computable, compulsory/not compulsory, key question/not key question, from an external dictionary/not from an external dictionary, and used/not used.
To enable the ‘not’ state, click on the checkbox twice.
Advanced filtering options filtering on an already filtered list
The variable list can also be filtered to display only the variables used within selected text in the document. To use this filter, select the text in the document and filter by
Within selected text
.
The variable list can also be filtered to display only the variables that determine whether the selected span/text is relevant (similar to the Relevance button found in the Mark-up Editor). To use this filter, select the text in the document and filter by
Relevance of selected text
.

Adding a variable to the Dictionary

To add a variable to the Dictionary select the new icon Add icon from the toolbar. Select New Variable from the drop-down menu:
Adding a variable to the Dictionary
This will then display the attributes for the variable, such as prompt, type, guidance and selections. See Editing variables for details on the attributes of a variable.

Inserting existing variables into the current document

You can also quickly insert a field containing a pre-existing variable from the Dictionary Editor. To do this, place the cursor in the location where you would like to insert the field then click the Dictionary Editor in the Ribbon and locate the variable you want to place in the document in either All Variables or Questionnaire. Right click the variable and select the option
Insert to Document
. This will insert a field with the pre-existing variable at the position where the cursor is placed. Alternatively, you can drag and drop the variable to the desired location within the document.
To replace text in the document with a variable, highlight the text within the document then right click the variable in the Dictionary Editor and select the option Insert to Document. The selected text will be replaced by a field containing your chosen variable. A dialog will be displayed asking whether you would like to replace all occurrences of the selected text in the document with the variable. Selecting Yes will run through the document, look for any occurrences of the text that was selected and replace it with the variable. Selecting No will only replace the selected text.

Find a value in the Dictionary

You may search for a value in the Dictionary. To do this, open
Find
 in the Dictionary Editor, enter the value you would like to find in
Find What
, and select where you would like to search for it in
Find Where
. Click
Find Next
 adjacent to Find What to find the next result.
For example, to search for "NDA" in your variables list you should, with all variables displayed, enter "NDA" in
Find What
 and select "Current List" in
Find Where
.
DE find variable option

Find and replace a value in the Dictionary

You may replace a value in the Dictionary. To do this, open
Find
 in the Dictionary Editor, select "Entire Dictionary" in
Find Where
, enter the value you would like to find in
Find What
, and the value you would like to replace it with in
Replace With
. Click
Find Next
, adjacent to Find What, to find the next result; alternatively, click
Replace and Find Next
, adjacent to Replace With, to replace the value in the current result and find the next one.
For example, to replace "purpose" with "Purpose" in your variables list you should select "Entire Dictionary" in
Find Where
, enter "purpose" in
Find What
, and "Purpose" in
Replace With
.
Find and replace values in the Dictionary

Spell check the entire Dictionary

To check the spelling in your Dictionary, click the spell check iconspell check iconin the Dictionary Editor toolbar. This will launch the spell check dialog. Use the Ignore / Add to Dictionary and Change buttons. Clicking on Go To Definition will redirect you to the item that contains the misspelled word.
Spell check window.

Delete a variable

To delete a variable in the Dictionary, right click the variable and select Delete from the actions menu.

Duplicate a variable

To make a copy of a variable, right click the variable and select Duplicate.

Show the relevance of a variable

Contract Express automatically creates questionnaire forms from your Microsoft Word templates when you click on the Test button. These questionnaire forms are dynamic decision trees such that answering one question may lead to further questions becoming enabled. Contract Express uses the location of variables within the template to work out these dependencies. The
relevance
 of a variable is the expression or rule which must be true for that question to be enabled on the questionnaire. The Dictionary Editor allows authors to view what Contract Express determines as the relevancy of a variable.
Locate the Variable in the Dictionary Editor. Select the Usage tab from the variable attributes panel as shown below. Always click Refresh to instruct Contract Express Author to update the relevance information.
Variable usage tab.

Navigate between uses of a variable

Select the Variable you wish to find in the document. Click on the forward and back arrows in the Dictionary Editor taskbar navigation arrow icon to highlight the next/previous uses of the selected variable in the document.

Determine where variables are referenced elsewhere in the Dictionary

Right-click on the variable you are interested in and choose Find in Dictionary. A pop-up dialogue box will detail all the instances of that variable.

Jump to a variable referenced in a computable variable

Computable variables can contain other variables in their definition. For example in the sample Non Disclosure Agreement there exists a computable variable named
UniIn
 which is defined as
DisclosingParty Is "Outside party only"
. The
Go to definition
 icon in the Dictionary Editor toolbar Go to definition icon allows the template author to jump from the current computable variable to the variable selected in the definition. In the following example, the UniIn computable variable is selected in the Dictionary Editor. The Computation tab is selected in the attributes pane and the DisclosingParty variable highlighted in the definition text box. By clicking on the
Go to definition
 button in the toolbar selects the DisclosingParty variable in the Dictionary Editor. Note that the Back button in the Dictionary Editor toolbar Icon to back forth variables will return you to the UniIn variable.

Find a variable from the template in the Dictionary Editor

If you would like to view the definition of a variable that is located in the document, place your cursor on the variable in the document and click the
Go to definition
 icon Go to definition icon which can be found on the Contract Express ribbon or in the Dictionary Editor toolbar. This will jump to the variable definition in the Dictionary Editor.

Check the mark-up of the current document

Click the Usage Check icon in the Dictionary Editor taskbar usage check iconto force Contract Express Author to scan for errors in the current document and refresh the Dictionary. If Contract Express Author finds any issues with the current document it will display the number and type of errors in the footer. Errors are either “serious” (red stop sign) or “non-serious” (amber triangle).
Usage analysis collapsed view
Click on the status bar to open up the status pane to view the issues:
usage analysis expanded view
If the issue is related to mark-up in the document, double clicking the issue will highlight the area in the document. If the issue is related to a variable, double clicking the issue will open that variable in the Dictionary Editor.
See Troubleshooting for more information about error types.

This article applies to:

  • Product: Contract Express