Generate a PDF Document and Merge it With PDFs from DRUID Storage

This section describes how to use the Document Builder to generate a PDF document using a specific document template (Word or Excel), then merge it with other PDF files stored in DRUID storage, Documents.

Step 1. Create the document template

Prerequisite

• Before creating templates, you need to define the entities from which the Document_Generator connector will merge entity-sourced dynamic data. If you want to dynamic generate a table, which contains records from a collection, make sure that on your parent entity there is a field of type Entity List, which references a collection entity.

Which type of document template should you be using?

If you need a document, which returns records from a collection and perform calculations based on specific formulas, than the Excel template is the right answer; otherwise, use Word templates.

How document generation works

When the virtual assistant executes a flows step that has the action defined by the bot author for document generation, the Document_Generator connector app fills in the document template mentioned in the integration task with entity-sourced dynamic data and returns the output in the format/extension provided the integration task (either Word (doc, docx), Excel (xls, xlsx) or user-friendly PDF).

How to create a document template

On your local computer, create the document template (word or excel) that best suits your needs following the appropriate instructions: Creating Word Document Templates or Creating Excel Templates.

Step 2. Upload documents

In the DRUID Portal, you need to add to DRUID storage the document template you created on your local computer and the PDF files you want to merge with the PDF file that will be generated from the document template. Select the bot and the solution, from the solution main menu, click Documents, then follow the procedure below:

At the top-right corner of the page, click the Create New Template button. The Create or update document page appears. Click on General.

Enter a Name and Category for the file to upload, then browse for the document template (either Word or Excel) and select it.

Click Save.

Step 3. Generate merged PDF file

On the desired flow step, in the PostAction section, add a connection action and provide the following details:

Parameter	Description
Name	The name of the action. The field is mandatory.
Description	A brief description of the action that might be useful for other tenant admins. The field is mandatory.
Category	Define on the spot when creating the action. Useful to easily find the actions in the Integrations list. The field is mandatory.
Icon	Select the icon that best describes the integration. It helps you easily identify the integration action in the list of integrations. If no icon is selected, DRUID will show default icon.
Request Entity Name	The entity used by the chatbot to send data to the external app via the current action.
Response Entity Name	The entity used by the chatbot to receive data from the external app via the current action.
Is Active	Tick to activate the connector action.

Click Save.

Add a Document Generator specific task that suits your document template (Word or Excel).

Click on the integration task and in the right-side editor provide the details described in the table below.

Field	Description
Description	Enter a brief description for the task. E.g., Invoice Generation.
Use Dynamic Template Name	Use dynamic template to specify the document template to be used from a DRUID entity field, instead of a fixed template, e.g., [[Employee]].TemplateName. If you tap on this option, the DocTemplateName will be replaced by the Dynamic Template Name field. For more information, see Generate Documents with Dynamic Templates.
Document Template Name	Select the template you uploaded to Documents.
Generated Extension	Select PDF.
Password Protected	Tick on PasswordProtected to password protect a pdf output document. On the flow that generates the PDF document, before calling the DocumentGenerator connector, make sure to set the password value in field [[ChatUser]].PasswordForProtectedFiles in the Set Variables section. Important!  If you're using [[ChatUser]] as request and response entity on the connector, the password will be saved in clear in the conversation history.
Merge PDF templates	Tap on Merge PDF templates.
PDFs to be merged	Note:  This field is available only if you tap on Merge PDF templates. If the filename of the PDF file you want to merge is stored in an entity field of type string, provide the entity name field here (e.g., [[Account]].Appendix). If you want to merge multiple PDF files with the PDF file generated from the selected document template, then in this field provide as string the name of the PDF files you uploaded in Documents (the names as their appear in Documents, including the filename extension) separated by comma. E.g., "Appendix1.pdf,Appendix2.pdf,Appendix3.pdf" Hint:  The connector will merge the PDFs in the order they appear in the string you provide in the PDFs to be merged field.
Dynamic File Name	Specify the file name of the generated document either hard coded (e.g., "Invoice April") or as a value from the context: an entity field (e.g., [[Employee]].Name) or a local variable. If the field is empty, DRUID will use the template file name as file name of the generated document.
ProjectResultToEntityPath	Select the entity field (a field of type file created on the request entity) that will store the generated document.

Click the Save icon (), then the Publish icon () at the top of the right-side editor.