Templates: Frequently asked questions

Do I need a template to edit a document?

No. Templates are used for creating new documents and to store layout information. Unless you want to create a new document, you do not need to define a template.

epcEdit tells me that the styles have changed and asks me if I want to save the template. What does this mean?

epcEdit stores layout information in the template for a document type. If you make alterations to the layout of a document, epcEdit will save this information in the associated template. If a template already exists, epcEdit will ask you if you want to update the information in this template. Answering yes to this question will store the current layout information in the template. Be aware that this will automatically apply the layout changes to all other documents that are opened with this template.

If you have not defined a template for the type of doucment that you are editing, epcEdit will create a template on the fly and store the layout information in this new template.

When do I have to create a template?

You will need to create a template when you want to create new documents with epcEdit and if no template for that document type has been installed yet.

How do I create a new template?

There are three ways of creating a template for epcEdit:

1. You can create a template from scratch with the template wizard.
2. If you already have a document of the type for which you want to create the template, then you can simply derive a template from the existing document.
3. Finally, epcEdit will implicitly create a document template if you modify the style settings for a document for which no template yet exists.

Can I have more than one template for a document type?

Yes, you can define as many templates as you wish for a single document type. If epcEdit opens a document and finds more than one template that matches the document, it will display a list of matching templates and ask you to select the desired one.

How can I switch from one document layout to another?

if you have defined more than a single template for a document type, you can switch to another template by selecting Document > Open template. epcEdit will display a file selection box where you can choose another template.

How can I merge layout information?

You can import the layout information from another template by selecting Document > Import Styles. epcEdit will display a file selection dialog where you can choose another template. epcEdit will then read the layout-specific information from this template and incorporate it into the current layout.

What is the difference between opening a template and importing styles?

If you open a new template, the newly selected template will become the current template. All currently active layout information will be purged and replaced by the information from the new template. All further changes to the layout specifications will be saved in the current template.

If you import the styles from another template, the current template is not changed. All information from the other template is added to the current template (possibly overwriting existing layout information that is already there).