I am trying to determine the best way to handle creation of a custom document. Most of the document could be created using TextExpander, as the document will include Single Line text fields, Multi Line text fields and pop-up menu selections. Where things get a bit complicated is that I’d like a spreadsheet inserted into the document, and the spreadsheet chosen will be based on the pop-up selection made. The pop-up selection will also drive a few other fields in the document, too.
Does anyone have any ideas as to a tool that might be able to handle something like this? I’ve considered digging into document merge capabilities with either Word or Pages to see what’s doable. As a last resort, I could use our CRM (Salesforce) and pay for a pricey plugin that would do it, but I’ve found that to be a pretty clunky and expensive solution.
What format is the document going to be in? Does the spreadsheet need to calculate stuff or make charts/graphs or do you just need content displayed in a table?
For the former you could do a Markdown table using text expander. The next step up from that would probably be automating Word/Excel or Pages/Numbers using Keyboard Maestro.
This isn’t the easiest solution and may not be what you’re looking for, but in previous life as a lawyer I used a very good document automation tool called TheFormTool. Essentially you automated the creation of a Word document from a Word template document by connecting variable parts to questions and answers. Once this was done it was a case of simply opening the template (.dotx) to create a new document (.docx), filling in a table of answers (text or drop-downs) and hitting run.
The hassle was that they only sold a Windows version (I guess it’s VBA, which doesn’t (didn’t?) run on Mac). It happily ran in Parallels (or - I’m told, but never tested - in CrossOver), but it did mean having a Windows licence and a Windows copy of Microsoft Office; the latter isn’t a problem if you have an Office 365 subscription.
As I said, possibly not what you’re needing, but if anybody knows of a macOS equivalent, I too would like to hear!
Thanks for the suggestions. Ultimate format for doc will be .pdf for client signature, and the spreadsheet just needs to display info. So, it sounds like a Markdown table via TextExpander using PopUp selection might be the simplest way to go to generate the doc.
I took a look, and it still looks like it’s only supported in Windows. I do run Windows on Amazon Workspaces for one program we use that does not have a Mac version, so if I run into a wall with Mac, I’ll take a look at TheFormTool. Thanks for the suggestion.