Object Tags

Object Tags are additional, seldom-used, attributes that can be added to DOM objects in Design. This is done using the Format > Object Tags... command in Design. Object Tags can also be set in Merge using the DOM Script function domObj.setTag.

AutoEmail Message Text

(Applies to the older "_email_" fragment, not the newer "_email_5_" fragment)

The AutoEmailConvert option is used on the Message object (usually a Label) within an AutoEmail page. This flag controls whether the message text is actually already in HTML, or is in normal DocOrigin RTF and must be converted to HTML.

AutoEmailConvert Y (the default) will convert normal DocOrigin formatted text from RTF to HTML.

AutoEmailConvert N assumes the text message is already in HTML so RTF formatting is ignored.

Barcode Overrides

There are a number of Barcode options specified in the configuration files (.prt). These include default display options such as
Barcode39Text, Barcode39DerivedText, etc.; default bar widths or ratios between wide and narrow bars, special options like QRCodeCharacterSet, etc. These options can also be set on an individual barcode label or field within Design by setting the corresponding object tag. So, for example, setting tag Barcode39Text to value 'N' would suppress the default display of human-readable text below the barcode for a specific Label or Field.

Ellipsis

Set the value to the hex Unicode code for the character to be used on the particular Field when a text-overflow condition occurs. Normally, when field text overflows its defined size in Merge, the text is truncated and the current ellipsis character (defaulted to ...) is added at the end. This Object Tag allows you to override the default ellipsis character for a specific field. Note that you can set ellipsis to 00 to indicate that the text is truncated, but no character is appended to the text. See the Merge command-line option -ellipsis for globally resetting the ellipsis character.

HTML Images as URL References

Normally, the Merge HTML driver will embed any document images directly into the output html file. If you already have the image available somewhere on the internet, you can specify that the driver simply references that URL rather than embedding the image. To do this, set the Image object (static or Field) tag ImageURL to the web URL for the image. Note:  The Tag Name URL is also supported.

PDF/UA

A number of object tags are available to enable the designer to specify PDF/UA accessibility properties. These tag names generally begin with "Tag", such as TagAlt, TagAs, TagSuppress, TagTitle, etc.

Note that TagAuthor, TagKeywords, TagSubject, and TagTitle can be set for any PDF document. These values are written to the PDF /Info dictionary and appear as document properties in PDF viewers such as Adobe Acrobat.

The remaining tags are used only when explicitly generating PDF/UA documents.

ReadOut

(As of version 3.3.011.01)

The ReadOut tag is used only when generating PDF/UA documents. It generates custom Alternate Text (TagAlt) by allowing embedded syntax to reference values from the current document.

The following substitution tokens are supported:

This feature simplifies creating descriptive accessibility text. For example, a ReadOut tag with the following value:

[FirstName], the [*pv] for your [FormNameLbl] is [*v], due by [DueDate]

would produce the following readout:

"John, the Total Amount Due for your Phone Bill is $43.34, due by April 30, 2026."

In most PDF/UA authoring tools, Alternate Text (TagAlt) is intended primarily for images and figures, such as logos, charts, and other graphics. Its purpose is to provide a textual description of visual content for assistive technologies. DocOrigin extends this capability by supporting Alternate Text for both graphical and text objects. The ReadOut feature further enhances accessibility by allowing designers to provide additional context that may otherwise be difficult for screen reader users to infer. For example, when reading a table, a user may hear only a value without remembering the associated column heading. ReadOut allows that contextual information to be included in the spoken output.

TagSuppress

(As of version 3.3.011.02)

The TagSuppress tag is used only when generating PDF/UA documents. It allows an object to be excluded from the PDF accessibility tag tree. As a result, the object is ignored by assistive technologies during navigation and reading.

The primary purpose of TagSuppress is to prevent redundant information from being read. For example, in the ReadOut example above, the caption "Total Amount Due:" could be assigned TagSuppress=Yes, since that information is already included in the generated ReadOut text.

Graphics and figures—including charts, graphs, and images—are automatically assigned TagSuppress=Yes. If TagSuppress=No is specified for one of these objects, it is ignored. This behavior is intentional because the graphical content itself is not read directly. Instead, accessibility for these objects is provided through Alternate Text (TagAlt).

RadioButton and CheckBox Options

DocOrigin RadioButtons and CheckBoxes have certain Size and Shape settings defined in the configuration file (.prt). These can be overridden on a specific object by setting the corresponding Object tag. The setting for CheckboxShape, CheckboxStyle, RadioButtonShape, and RadioButtonStyle can be overridden this way.

Direct Data Binding

(As of version 3.2.001.01)

Direct data binding allows you to specify that a single occuring Field value or Text Label value can be fetched directly from the data file by name, rather than using the usual data merging mechanism of DocOrigin Merge. To do this, you set the Field or Label's BindData tag to the name of the field in the data DOM. The name can be either a dotted data DOM expression or just the leaf name if the data name is unique in the data file. You can also set BindData to an asterisk to indicate that the data node's name is the same as the Field or Label's name.

It is rather important to know that DataBinding happens on Form DOM (not Document DOM) at the beginning of each document, so before any data-merging even starts. The use case is intended for directly accessing information in the data DOM without using implicit data mapping in the form DOM. Common use cases are:

• when a field occurs in the data DOM but appears in another area of the form DOM

• a shared field name is unique only by its parent node. For example:

  • you want to pull Customer Bill To Name in the Remit Tear-off of an Invoice

  • the data contains two CustomerName fields

  • fields are unique only by their parent nodes - <ShipTo> and <BillTo>

  • the Ship To Company Name can be directly bound with the following:
    Tag name: bindData
Tag Value: CustomerInfo.ShipTo.CompanyName

  • the Bill To Company Name can be directly bound with the following:
    Tag name: bindData 
    Tag Value: CustomerInfo.BillTo.CompanyName

If you want to use the Customer Bill To Name throughout the form using the Global Field setting, create a new unique form field Name such as BillToCompanyName and set it to Global.

<CustomerInfo>
	<ShipTo>
		<CompanyName>Pretend Printers</CompanyName>
		<Address1>100 Some Street</Address1>
		<Address2>Moline, Illinois</Address2>
		<Address3>USA 61265</Address3>
		<Address4>Tel: 800-555-9999  Fax: 888-555-9999</Address4>
	</ShipTo>
	<BillTo>
		<CompanyName>Head Office, Pretend Printers</CompanyName>
		<Address1>100 Any Avenue</Address1>
		<Address2>Chicago, Illinois</Address2>
		<Address3>USA  60611</Address3>
		<Address4>Tel: 800-555-5555  Fax: 312-222-2222</Address4>
	</BillTo>
</CustomerInfo> ...

Use an Asterisk for Unique Fields

If you want to quickly map a single-occurring field to the form, you can match the form field name to the data field name and enter an asterisk in the value. Try this

• Start a new form

• Open the Sample_Invoice.xml in the Data Explorer

• Drag the field ShippingMethod onto a new form

• Add the following tag:

  Tag name: bindData

  Tag Value: *

• Run a PDF Preview with the Sample_Invoice.xml

• You should see UPS on your test PDF

To acquire the exact data field name, try Copy Data Path To Clipboard

RetainWhenBlank

(As of 3.2.001.01) Typically, when you place a new label object onto your form design, if there is no value assigned to the label, it will be automatically removed. The RetainWhenBlank tag avoids this automatic removal of empty labels.

See also the Automatic and Embedded Fields description of [!Data name]

MandatoryMatch

(As of 3.2.001.11)

Use this tag on Pane or Group objects to require participation in implicit data mapping. Default value is "No".  When “Yes”, the tagged object is required to participate in matching.

ForceNewColumn

(As of 3.3.009.01)

In a multi-column context, this tag can be applied to a Pane to have it start at the top of the next column.