HotDocs expert but XpressDox newbie?
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Document Automation 
Insights

Docugility | July 14th, 2021

If you’re familiar with HotDocs but are new starting out with XpressDox, it can be a bit tricky getting used to the new way of doing things. But on the other hand, since you are familiar with the HotDocs way of doing things, you’re off to a good start. Consequently, there will be many concepts that cross over between the two systems that will be familiar to you.

Luckily, there are a number of resources that you can make use of to help you along:

XpressDox Documentation

The documentation provided by XpressDox is a useful resource. You can have a look on their website and go to their help center:

XpressDox menu

You will find many helpful articles and documents here. For instance, the video tutorials provide a good intro to people who are new to the XpressDox system and would like to get an idea of what the system looks like.

The list of all the XpressDox commands is also useful, and is something that our document automation specialists refer to when building new templates. In addition, you can view these commands either by category or alphabetically.

When getting used to coding for XpressDox, it can be useful to browse the commands list by category and see which commands are related to each other. For example, if you are working with strings, you will find yourself at home with the strings category as many of the possible options you can use are presented there.

Built-in Converter

The XpressDox team has built an automatic HotDocs-to-XpressDox converter which does a great job of getting you started at the start of a conversion process. For instance, it locates commands and functions that can be interchanged with one another between the two languages, and creates it as best as possible in the XpressDox way.

They have provided detailed instructions on how to make use of this converter on their website. There is not always a one-to-one correlation of terms and this means that going from one language to the other may require a bit more help. The converter looks like this:

Document Automation Specialists

On the other hand, instead of working on XpressDox yourself, you may want to hand the process over to people who can get it done efficiently and quickly. At Docugility, our consulting team has lawyers, paralegals and businesss analysts with many years of experience in both HotDocs and XpressDox. Consequently, this means that they are very well suited to advise you on any issues that you may come across.

Outsourcing your template development is an excellent way to get your templates built quickly while using best practice standards throughout. In addition, your system will be designed in a way that makes template maintenance as easy as possible. In short, this means that your documents will output perfectly every time, with the right formatting, and with the right data.

Our Handy Cheat Sheet

If you are a seasoned user of HotDocs, we have built something just for you in your XpressDox journey. Our document automation specialists have compiled a handy glossary of XpressDox commands and their HotDocs equivalents.

This is a helpful PDF which you can use as a reference tool as you work. You can download this for free below. The commands covered look at a range of the most common items that you will need to use.

Most importantly, the command categories cover the following programmatic areas which you will be familiar with from your HotDocs experience:

  • Interview Commands
  • Repeating Commands
  • Variables
  • Conditional Commands
  • Templates
  • Formatting Strings
  • Formatting Dates
  • Formatting Numbers
  • Data and Data Sources

Have a look!

Get your free copy of the Cheat Sheet

Designed so you can browse for the HotDocs term you are looking for and you will see the equivalent available in XpressDox.

 Our experts can set you up for success from the very beginning.

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