0030 - HIDE/SHOW v. GRAY/UNGRAY

• Explanation •

The HIDE/SHOW and GRAY/UNGRAY instructions are available in HotDocs Pro. Workaround options are available for regular HotDocs users (see Computation #0031: HIDE/SHOW for Regular HotDocs). HIDE/SHOW and GRAY/UNGRAY are used in dialog scripts to determine whether certain variables are shown or asked. They differ in the following ways:

GRAY/UNGRAY instructions have an immediate effect on the displayed dialog. HIDE/SHOW instructions display variables based on conditions that occur BEFORE the dialog is displayed.

For example, a dialog script may specify that a certain variable needs to be answered before another variable will UNGRAY and accept an answer. In this example, both variables are included in the dialog. The grayed variable is visible, though unavailable, and becomes active when the condition above it is true.

GRAY SpouseName
IF MaritalStatus = "Married"
   UNGRAY SpouseName
END IF

Those who don't want variables to be visible, or even included on dialogs except under certain conditions should use the HIDE/SHOW instruction. The conditions on which HIDE/SHOW are based will need to be in a previous dialog. For example --

HIDE SpouseName
IF MaritalStatus = "Married"  //(asked in an earlier dialog)
   SHOW SpouseName
END IF

Also, when creating the "SpouseName" variable, be sure to click the Advanced button and choose the "Don't Warn if Unanswered" attribute. Since this is an optional text variable (depending on the answer to "MaritalStatus"), selecting this attribute will prevent the Unanswered Warning dialog from being displayed at the end of the assembly.

0030 - HIDE/SHOW v. GRAY/UNGRAY

Description:

• Explanation •