Template syntax

T-pilot templates are ordinary documents with {{ }} tags. This page describes the template language. Templates written for the original tag format ({{List.Field}}) keep working unchanged.

The syntax on this page works in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument (Writer, Calc, Impress), HTML, Markdown, text, XML and JSON templates.

Values

{{Invoice.Number}}
{{ invoice . number }}      same tag: names ignore case and the spaces around dots
{{Lines[0].Description}}    an item of a list (also written Lines.0.Description)

• If a tag has no value, it stays in the document exactly as written, so you can see what didn't fill.
• A name with spaces works as long as it has no operator symbols: {{Due Date}}.
• To write a literal {{, use {{"{{"}}.

Names T-pilot provides:

Name	Value
{{ListName.Field}}	A field of the chosen SharePoint item. The list name keeps only letters, digits and _.
{{ChildList.Field}}	A field of a linked child list. Inside a table row it repeats once per child item.
{{Person_Name}}, {{Person_Email}}	A person field's name and email.
{{Config.Key}}	A custom placeholder from Configuration.
{{System.Today}}, {{System.Now}}	Today's date, and the current date and time, in the organization's culture.

Filters

Use | to send a value through filters, applied left to right. Arguments go after : and are separated by commas.

{{Invoice.Total | currency:"INR"}}
{{Invoice.Date | date:"dd MMM yyyy" | upper}}
{{Customer.Email | default:"—"}}

Filter	Example	Result
upper, lower, trim	{{Name | upper}}	ACME LTD
title, capitalize	{{Name | title}}	Acme Ltd
padLeft:n[,char], padRight	{{No | padLeft:4,"0"}}	0042
substr:start[,length]	{{Code | substr:0,3}}	INV
replace:old,new	{{Ref | replace:"/","-"}}
truncate:n[,suffix]	{{Notes | truncate:40}}	… is added when the text is cut
prepend:text, append:text	{{Pct | append:"%"}}
default:text (also ifEmpty)	{{Phone | default:"n/a"}}	Used when the value is empty or missing
yesno[:yes,no[,empty]]	{{Paid | yesno:"Paid","Due"}}
enum:key,label,…	{{Status | enum:"o","Open","c","Closed"}}
number[:decimals | pattern]	{{Amount | number}}, {{Amount | number:"#,##0.0"}}	1,234.50. With no argument: grouped, 2 decimals.
currency[:code[,decimals]]	{{Total | currency:"EUR"}}	€1,234.50, or 1.234,50 € in de-DE. With no code, the culture's own currency.
percent[:decimals]	{{Rate | percent:1}}	0.456 becomes 45.6%
round[:decimals], abs	{{Qty | round:2}}
add, sub, mul, div	{{Price | mul:Qty | round:2}}	Arguments may be other fields
date[:pattern]	{{Due | date:"dd/MM/yyyy"}}	Patterns d/D/t/g/G are the culture's standard formats. Custom tokens: yyyy yy MMMM MMM MM M dddd ddd dd d HH H hh h mm ss tt. YYYY and DD work too.
addDays, addMonths, addYears, addHours	{{Date | addDays:30 | date}}
startOf:unit, endOf:unit	{{Date | endOf:"month" | date}}	Units: day, week (starts Monday), month, quarter, year
timezone:name	{{Created | timezone:"Asia/Kolkata" | date:"g"}}
count	{{Lines | count}}	Number of items (or characters, for text)
sum, avg, min, max [:field]	{{Lines | sum:"Amount" | currency}}
first, last, reverse	{{Lines | first}}
map:field + join[:separator]	{{Lines | map:"Description" | join:", "}}
where:field,value or where:field,op,value	{{#each Lines | where:"Amount",">",1000}}	Operators: == != > >= < <= in contains
sort[:field[,"desc"]], limit:n[,offset], distinct[:field]	{{#each Lines | sort:"Amount","desc" | limit:5}}
image[:width,height]	Alt text of a picture: {{Logo | image:"4cm"}}	The picture is replaced and its frame size kept (Office formats)

Loops

{{#each Lines}}
  {{@number}}. {{Description}}  {{Amount | currency}}
{{else}}
  No lines.
{{/each}}

• Inside a loop, names are read from the current item first, then from outer loops, then from the top level. So {{Invoice.Currency}} still works inside {{#each Lines}}.
• {{#each Lines as line}}…{{line.Description}}…{{/each}} gives the item a name of its own.
• Loop values:
  • {{@index}}: 0-based position.
  • {{@number}}: 1-based position.
  • {{@first}}, {{@last}}: true on the first and last item.
  • {{@count}}: number of items.
  • {{@key}}: the key, when looping over an object.
• {{@root.Field}} reads from the top level, even when a loop item has a field with the same name.

How much repeats in an office document: the smallest element that holds both {{#each}} and {{/each}}.

• Tags in the same table row repeat the row.
• Tags in different paragraphs repeat the paragraphs between them.
• Tags in one paragraph repeat just that text.
• A paragraph that holds nothing but a block tag is removed.

In text templates, a block tag on a line of its own takes that line with it.

Conditions

{{#if Invoice.Total > 100000 and Customer.Country == "IN"}}
  High-value domestic invoice.
{{else if Invoice.Status in ["Draft", "Proforma"]}}
  Not yet issued.
{{else}}
  …
{{/if}}

{{#unless Invoice.Paid}}Payment due by {{Invoice.DueDate | date}}.{{/unless}}

• Operators: == != > >= < <= in and or not, plus parentheses.
• Empty text, 0, false, empty lists and missing values count as false.
• When both sides are numbers or dates, they are compared as numbers or dates.

Scope and variables

{{#with Customer}}{{Name}}, {{City}}{{/with}}
{{#set subtotal = Lines | sum:"Amount"}}Subtotal: {{subtotal | currency}}

Comments

{{! This never appears in the output }}

Format notes

• Word and PowerPoint:
  • Line breaks in a value start a new line in Word.
  • Blocks follow the rules under Loops. Put {{#each}} and {{/each}} on their own paragraphs to repeat the paragraphs between them, or in two cells of one table row to repeat the row.
  • {{else}} must be alone in its own paragraph.
• Pictures: put the tag in the picture's alt text (in Word or PowerPoint, Format Picture > Alt Text; in LibreOffice, the Description or Title), for example {{Company.Logo}}.
  • The picture is replaced and keeps its size and position.
  • The tag is removed from the alt text.
• Excel:
  • A cell holding just one tag becomes a real number or date, so the cell's own number format applies.
  • A block tag in one cell and its closing tag in a later row repeat those rows, and rows below move down.
  • A block inside one cell repeats text within that cell.
  • Row blocks can't be nested, and {{else}} can't span rows.
  • Naming a range or a table after a child list repeats it too, without any block tags.
• OpenDocument:
  • Extra spaces, line breaks and tabs in values are kept.
  • In Calc, a cell holding one tag becomes a number or date cell.
  • In Impress, a block repeats the frames between its tags.
• HTML and XML: values are escaped (& becomes &, and so on).
• JSON: a tag inside quotes is written as escaped string text. A tag standing alone is written as a JSON value: a number, true/false, null, a list or an object.
• Markdown and text: values are written as they are.