Form Letters

Form Letters

You can create a form letter for any purpose you may have. The letter can include tags that are replaced with data fields from the chosen record (Candidate or PHS). This is similar to MS Word's mail merge functionality. The basic steps are as follows:

  1. Create your form letter template directly in MS Word, inserting appropriate tags as needed (see tag reference)
  2. Upload the template to the Form Letter Template section of the Organization Setup form (must have Manager privileges)
  3. When uploading the form letter template, select MS Word Document as the Type and select the appropriate context (Candidate, Case, or Residence)

What is context?
Context is simply a matter of whether the form letter template will be available from the context of the Candidate, the PHS (Case), or a specific Residence. Here's why it matters. In the database, a Candidate is one table and the PHS is a child related table to the Candidate. Residences are child table related to the PHS. If you are viewing a Candidate record, all candidate data is in context but not any PHS data. Since there can be multiple PHS records, no specific PHS can be in context at this point so no PHS data is available. When you are viewing a PHS record, all PHS data is in context and by reference, all related Candidate data can be referenced since the PHS is related to one specific Candidate.

Creating tags
A tag is inserted between two sets of angles such as <<tag here>>. The tag has to reference the exact name of the database field as it is known by the database. Therefore, when creating a form letter template, you will have to refer to the Tag Reference to look up this exact database name. Note that the tag references are case-sensitive and must be entered into your template exactly as stated in the tag reference, and always between the double angles <<>>. Note also that using the right context is critical. If your form letter contains a correct database field but uses the wrong context, the tag will be replaced with nothing. When your generated form letter contains blanks where you have placed a tag, then either there is no data in the record or you have misapplied the tag in some way. A typical tag looks like this:

Candidate's full name: <<Candidate.FullName>>
Candidate's home address: <<Candidate.HomeAddress>> <<Candidate.CityStateZip>>

In the form letter, this will appear as:

Candidate's full name: John Edward Smith
Candidate's home address: 100 East Main Street Schenectady, NY 12309


Generating Form Letters

Form letters can be generated in three places: on the Candidate form, on the PHS launch panel, and from the results on the Search panel (access the Search Panel by selecting "Search" at the top of the main screen. When generating from the Candidate form, you can only select form letter templates that are in Candidate context and when generating from the PHS launch panel, you can only select form letter templates that are in PHS context. It's the same on the search panel where you can search on Candidate or PHS. Note that when generating a form letter from the Search Panel, only one Candidate or PHS can be selected at a time.

Updating a Form Letter Template
To update an existing form letter template, edit the selected template and press the View icon to download it. The edit the downloaded template as desired and upload it back to the template. This overwrites the previous template and replaces it with your update.

Tag Reference
Use this link to view the tag reference for all available tags.


Setting up a form letter requires precision and may be complicated for many users. Please feel free to contact support at support@pobits.com if you need assistance.

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