Expressions & data references
As almost anywhere else in variaDoc you can use expressions in nodes below the Form Receiver node. For example, the screenshot below uses an expression with 4 data references in the text.
Two of these references ($[Employees:FirstName] and $[Employees:LastName]) refer to the Employees data source. Since the data source is available at merge time and (possibly) not when the data is submitted to the Form Receiver, these references are already evaluated and replaced at merge time.
The two remaining references ($[FIELD:FullName] and $[FIELD:Address]) are only available when the data is submitted to the Form Receiver. These references are evaluated after the merge.
The rules for evaluation of expressions and data references are as follows:
- All data references originating from nodes above the Form Receiver node are evaluated and replaced at merge time.
- All parameter references are evaluated and replaced at merge time.
- System parameters such as $[PROJECTFOLDER] and $[WEBFOLDER] are evaluated in the Form Receiver.
- All other data references are evaluated in the Form Receiver.
- All VB.NET expressions are evaluated in the Form Receiver.