Variables for use in email templates and elsewhere

All variables in the Data dictionary, for data stored about the question to which this email refers, can be used in the email templates, and print templates. 

Variables are found in the “Column/Variable name” of the Data dictionary screens, and for easy reference, the ones used in each Request forms are shown in the Display mode of that Request form detail screen. 

Surround the variable name with curly brackets (e.g. {question_no}) and RefTracker will replace the variable and brackets with the current value for that variable for the current request (e.g. RT1234).

The master email and print templates already contain all of the variables about a question that are relevant to that particular email.  Even if your system does not use all of the variables, leaving them in the template will ensure that, should you decide to use more fields in your system at a later time, the templates will automatically display information about that extra data.

The client templates even include header, footer, and signoff variables that mean you can make changes to the header, footer, and signoff, without having to create customised templates.

The email templates provide hyperlinks to various client interface and staff interface screens.  Here are some link variables that might be helpful when creating email templates:

Client interface function links

{link_Check}  –   provides a hyperlink to the Manage my questions client interface screen for the question number referred to in the email containing this variable.

{link_MoreInfo}  –   provides a hyperlink to the Reopen client interface screen so the user can request more information about the answer they received in relation to the question number referred to in the email containing this variable.

{link_New}  –   provides a hyperlink to the Ask a new question client interface screen so the user can pick a form to use for their new question.

{link_Comment}  –   provides a hyperlink to the Comment Request form with the question number referred to in the email containing this variable already inserted in the Question field to relate the comment to the question the comment is being made about.

{link_evaluation}  –   inserts a five star rating block similar to the following, where the labels are controlled by the label in the Evaluation rating code table, and links to the evaluation rating functionality by the presenting the Evaluation page where the client can change their rating and add a comment if they wish to.

{link_evaluationPage}  –   provides a hyperlink to the Evaluation page where the client can provide a rating and optionally a comment.  The client cannot provide a comment without providing a rating.  Customers who are creating highly customised email templates may want to include this link instead of the five star rating block shown above as it takes less space , or can be associated with an image.  Of course it does not advertise the opportunity to provide a rating as well as the 5 star rating block above and will result in reduced numbers of responses if this is not addressed via your formatting.

{link_Query}  –   provides a hyperlink to the client interface screen that allows clients to respond to a Query to client in relation to the question number referred to in the email containing this variable.

{link_clientQuestions}  –   provides a hyperlink to the View all my questions client interface screen for the client with the email address that received the email containing this variable.

{link_thisemail}  –   provides a hyperlink to a copy of this email in a web page.  Customers who are creating highly customised email templates may want to include this sort of a link to allow end users of old email clients to view the email with all its formatting.

Here is an example of this link in use:
<a href=”{link_thisemail}”>Click here</a> if you are having trouble viewing this email

Here is what the resulting link looks like in the email, and the web page version of the email template that shows when the link is clicked:

Staff interface function links

{link_Answer}  –    provides a hyperlink to the Answer tab of the Answer screen for the question number referred to in the email containing this variable.

{link_Details}  –   provides a hyperlink to the Details tab of the Summary screen for the question number referred to in the email containing this variable.

{link_History}  –   provides a hyperlink to the Correspondence tab of the Summary screen for the question number referred to in the email containing this variable.

{link_Search}  –   provides a hyperlink to the Advanced search screen so the user can search for an appropriate existing request.

{link_Reallocate}  –    provides a hyperlink to the Reallocation screen for the question number referred to in the email containing this variable.

{link_Change}  –    provides a hyperlink to the Change screen for the question number referred to in the email containing this variable.

{link_QuickClose}  –    provides a hyperlink to the Answer without client contact screen for the question number referred to in the email containing this variable.  This variable will have no value if the current status of the question is “Reopen requested by. . .”  because the question is already closed when in that status, so use the $rvb$ and $rve$ tags with this variable.

{link_Parent}  –    where a question is an Internal task, this link provides a hyperlink to this internal task’s primary question (so staff can easily work on the primary given the information they just received in response to that internal task.  Always use the $rvb$ and $rve$ tags with this variable.

{link_Refer}  –    provides a hyperlink to the Send to third party page where the staff member can choose any of the (Refer, Redirect, ILL) third party correspondence options relevant to that question. Use Refer to third party to respond to third party updates.

{link_answerreview}   –   provides a hyperlink to the Answer review screen for the question number referred to in the email containing this variable (as used to check question that has been updated with an email applied as an answer).

{link_Reopen}   –   provides a hyperlink to the Reopen screen for the question number referred to in the email containing this variable.

{link_ManageReopen}  –   provides a hyperlink to the Manage reopen request screen so the staff member can use that screen to reopen that request, deny reopen, create a new question from the reopen request, or handle it as an evaluation.

{link_Reject}   –   provides a hyperlink to the Reject screen for the question number referred to in the email containing this variable.

{link_HomeStaff}  –    provides a hyperlink to the Staff Home screen.

{link_ConcurrentUsers}  –    provides a hyperlink to the View concurrent users screen where the Home screen is calculated as the staff member’s most recently used Home or open questions screen.

Other variables that are used in the distribution email templates

If you want to change the way questions are referred to in your system, get your Altarama support representative to change the Data dictionary table name for the Question code table to your preferred terminology e.g. Request.   (The change is made in Code tables>System>Database tables.) 
{question} is used to refer to the question throughout RefTracker, and will be replaced by the new name of this code table, and will be capitalised if it is the first thing in a sentence.

If you want to change the way end users are referred to in your system, get your Altarama support representative to change the Data dictionary table name for the Client Code table to your preferred terminology e.g. Requester.  (The change is made in Code tables>System>Database tables.)
{client} is used to refer to the client throughout RefTracker, and will be replaced by the new name of this code table, and will be capitalised if it is the first thing in a sentence.

{emailheader} – inserts the body of the header.htm file into the email instead of having to copy and paste the same code into each template.  It means that changes to any standard header portion of an email template can be done in one place (the header.htm file in the email template /common directory) instead of having to be done in every template.  This variable is included at the top of every client template, but the body of the distribution header.htm file is empty so nothing is included until you put something in the body of the header.htm file in the email templates common directory.
When emails are generated, the system will check the header.htm in the email template /common folder and if the body of that file has any content (content between the <body></body> tags), that content will be inserted at the top of the template where this variable has been placed.

{emailfooter} – inserts the body of the footer.htm file into the email instead of having to copy and paste the same code into each template.  It means that changes to any standard footer portion of an email template can be done in one place (the footer.htm file in the email template /common directory) instead of having to be done in every template.  This variable is included at the bottom of every client template (after the disclaimer statement), but the body of the distribution footer.htm file is empty so nothing is included until you put something in the body of the footer.htm file in the email templates common directory.

When emails are generated, the system will check the footer.htm in the email template /common folder and if the body of that file has any content (content between the <body></body> tags), that content will be inserted at the bottom of the template where this variable has been placed.

{emailsignoff} – inserts the body of the signoff.htm file into the email.  It is used to change the signoff used in all emails to clients.  Make the change in the signoff.htm file in the Common templates directory and the body of the signoff file will be reflected in all client emails at the point where this variable is used.  See the next page for more details about how to use this variable.

{misc_disclaimer} – inserts the contents of the disclaimer.htm file into the email.  It is used to add disclaimer information to the end of client interface emails if parameter 4.1 is set to Yes.  The text inserted is controlled by the disclaimer.htm text file.

{misc_whiteboard} – inserts the contents of the file specified in parameter 4.10, at the point where this variable is used in the template, but only if “Requester emails” is selected at parameter 4.11.

Here are the variables for inserting information about attachments in email templates, Qprint templates, and elsewhere in RefTracker:
{questionAttachments}      inserts a hyperlinked list of the question attachment names
{answerAttachments}        inserts a hyperlinked list of the answer attachment names
{noteAttachments}            inserts a hyperlinked list of the update or note attachment names
{thirdpartyAttachments}    inserts a hyperlinked list of the question attachment names in third party email templates
{AlertAttachments}            inserts a summary of the added attachments, or a hyperlinked list of attachments if the attachments are too large to add as traditional attachments (as controlled by parameters 8.5 and 8.6) 

Other data dictionary variables may also be available for use in templates.  Click here for information about using variables for changing terminology and utilising values stored in RefTracker.

See the next page for more details/examples.