Generating Documents for the Intelligent Intake System

Introduction

This paper is not an overview of the Intelligent Intake System (IntakeS). Rather it is a review of how to construct custom documents that are generated by the IntakeS. The Intelligent Intake System (IntakeS) has the ability to generate custom documents based upon the answers given by clients during the intake process. The document that is generated can change in appearance and content based upon the answers given by the client. In order to generate a document using the IntakeS, three things are necessary. You must have:

1. An interview of the client upon which to base the document.
2. Instructions (entered by an administrator) as to what to do in the document in response to the content of the answers given by the client.
3. A template that loops though the interview’s answers and applies the instructions to put content into the resulting document.

You do not need to be a programmer to set up these documents. However, like new functions on your cell phone, you have to commit some time to learn how to use the system and add information to generate your documents.

Examining How a Document Gets Content

The document gets content using the utilities provided the administrator on the form titled “Intelligent Intake Script Administration”. There is a button on the Ribbon bar under Admin called Intake System that opens this form. The section we are concerned with is titled Documents.

a. The Help with Codes Button

The system uses abbreviations to make setting up things easier. Click on the Code Help button to reference what these codes mean. This also displays the actions that can be taken under questions and documents.

b. Add Document

The Add Document button first opens up a ‘cover’ page to describe the document you are creating. You enter:

i. Who is creating it

ii. What set of questions (fixed group) does it apply to

iii. What type of document is it

iv. What is the short name for the document

v. What template is used

vi. What is the starting question number of the fixed group (list of questions) that it is based on.

c. Once this is done you click the Begin the Document button.

i. You then choose the question you want to build an action for. With a new document, you should begin on the first question and work through to the last.

ii. You then choose what action you want to take based upon the answer

1. If the answer is Yes do 1, else do 2. (There are variations on this where the answer is a date, dollar figure, etc.)

2. Do nothing

3. Always do 1

iii. The next step is setting what the Actions are. You can:

1. Add a Paragraph

2. Add the client’s answer in a paragraph or by itself

iv. Putting [v] embeds the client’s answer in the paragraph, for example if the client’s answer was, “I am sick,” a paragraph saying this: The client said, “[v]”.

Would result in a paragraph in your document that said this.

The client said, “I am sick”.

v. You would then click the Save/New Action button to set the action for the next question.

vi. The For Reference section shows the question you are working on and the actions that occur depending on the client’s answer.

vii. The treatment of Lists

Because an answer that uses Lists to choose from is more complicated, setting the action to take is also more complicated. Here we have a list of counties from a different fixed group (set of questions). We can set what happens in the letter based upon what selection in the list was made. In the example below, selecting:

Cabell

Results in a paragraph added that says.

“You told us you live in Cabell”

A list can only have one action, which is to include the paragraph entered. Of course you could choose to do nothing as mentioned above.

viii. Resulting Document

Here is a selection from the resulting letter. Remember, what is said here could easily be changed by editing the actions in the above setup. It will also change dependent upon the client’s answers to the questions. For example, if the property was not in Tennessee, the letter would have only a single paragraph saying: Since the property isn’t in the state, we can’t help you. Check for legal aid in the other state.

Example Templates

This section looks at two templates provided with the system. The first is general letter and the second is a VERY simple pleading.

The templates have certain things in common

i. Each is an Access Report. This gives us the ability to loop through the data while also generating a document the content of which is dependent on the client’s answers. It also means that it can be exported to a Word document.

ii. Because of the complexity of the code behind the template, it is probably best to modify an existing template to fit your needs rather than to try and start from scratch and build a new one.

iii. The contents put into the document can come from several sources:

1. The setup of the document as done by the Administrator using the tools provided under the Administrative Menu. This is reviewed above.

2. It can be placed on the document directly, such as by adding fixed paragraphs, labels, graphics, etc.

3. It can get values from the record source of the document. For example, the client’s gender could be used if the document had the ClientsW table in its record source (as either a part of a query or just as a table).

4. The document can prompt you for particular pieces of information.

The Letter Template

i. This uses the letterhead from your form letters in Prime. Many of the fields are also identical.

ii. It addresses the letter based upon the contents of the client’s intake. For example, if sex is ‘M’, it uses Mr. as the client’s title, otherwise it uses Ms.

iii. Sincerely is a label. To change it, you can click in the box and put in ‘Yours Truly’ instead.

iv. The red fields are invisible and used to set the values in the letter.

The Pleading Template

i. By putting a phrase inside a pair of brackets, the user is prompted for the value to put in the pleading. In this template the user is prompted for “What County Court?” and also for “What is the Nature of the Action”. The user’s responses are included in the document.

ii. The red fields are invisible and used to put the answers in the document.

iii. Here is the resulting document.

2. Documents can be generated at the end of doing an interview or afterwards by reopening the intake.

a. End of the Interview

b. Reopening the Intake

Code behind the forms

The code behind the templates is quite complicated because it must provide for seven different types of answers (memo, letter, date, yes/no, etc.). It also has to take into account the client’s actual answer, e.g., did the user answer more than the set amount of money used as a criteria or less than or equal to the amount, etc.?