Forum Discussion
How to set up templates that will inherit file properties from document sets
Hello!
I have a SharePoint library in which I have created document sets that inherit metadata from a SharePoint list. It works as expected. I have several templates that are also generated as part of the document set. This also works great. I would like to include these custom document properties in the templates. For example, if the document template is for a sales contract, a property of the document set might be "company name". If I create the document inside the document set, I can just insert Quick Parts and select "company name". However, how can a create a master template that is then created when the document set is created and include the "company name" property?
Hope that made sense. Thanks for your help!
It makes a lot of sense to me! However I do not have SharePoint.
SharePoint has been reported in several forums having trouble using Word templates as templates. I am simply passing that on.
First, these are not truly "Document Properties" but Content Controls mapped to XML parts that bear some resemblance/connection to traditional document properties. I am using the term "document properties" as parts that show up in vba under the built-in or custom document properties collections.
Greg Maxey wrote an application and explains quite a lot about the structure of these. Enhanced Document Properties AddIn I attempted to explore them a while back and posted this discussion: XML location of Document Properties in Quick Parts list - Expand / modify that list - Sharepoint.
Here is a video on mapping content controls in Word in general.
Repeat Text in MS Word by Mapping Content Controls with the XML Pane
You could save such Content Controls as building blocks in the same template in a custom gallery and add a drop-down for that gallery to the QAT or a custom ribbon. They would need to be used in documents based on the template. I know that the mapped property would not work in a global template.
I experimented by creating a template with three mapped controls.
I saved them as building blocks in the Quick Parts gallery and when they are used in documents created from that template, they work as mapped controls.
Here is a temporary link to that template.
I added a button to the QAT in the template. If you were to save these in a custom gallery, you could put a button for just that gallery on the QAT.
Build & Deploy Custom Building Block Galleries by Greg Maxey
I hope I've given you something to chew on and possible workarounds. I hope that someone with more SharePoint experience can point you to a simpler method.
content incorporated in first post
- Thank you very much Charles_Kenyon. I will review the links to material that you posted above. Hopefully, I'll have an opportunity to play with this concept a little this weekend to see if I can make it work. It is definitely more complicated than I had hoped it would be - but, that seems to be the case for a lot of things. 🙂 I really appreciate the detailed response and links to information.
