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Format() External Templates

Pch.
When I began following
Paul
⁠
on Patreon, one of the very first
Coda Tricks
⁠
he shared was using Format() External Templates (vs. the “classical” ones) and it just blew out my mind 🤯 🤩 !
Following the very first
Coda Doctorate
⁠
and the reviews I received for my
Capstone Project
⁠
, it seems like some members of the cohort didn’t know about this awesome trick 😁.
So here is a sample doc concerning this technique I never ceased to use since I discovered it, thanks to Paul 😁 !

External templates 🤔 ?

Yes 😁!
As you should know
Format()
⁠
uses 2 parts : some text value acting as a template with placeholders ({x}) for the text you want to substitute and the value(s) the placeholders will take.
Externalizing Format() templates just consist in storing them in a helper table and @-ref the specific row of the template you wish to use in your Format() .
When I say @-ref, I literally mean typing @ + theRow’s “Name” (which is what you put in your display column) exactly like mentioning someone in your doc 😊 (See
this post from the Community
⁠
).

Creating and using external templates 💡

Step 1 : Create a helper table

With 3 text fields
Handle (or whatever you want to name it) : the display column used to store the name of your template
Template used to store the Format() template
Description for the description of what placeholders do in the template.

Step 2 : Create external templates

Give a name (”Handle”) to your template in the Handle column... something easy to remember, something that makes sense for when you’ll write your Format()
Write your template in the column Template exactly like you would normally do when using Format()
Add a short description for the placeholders in your templates

Step 3 : Use external templates in Format()

Write your Format() formula where you need it to be and use your external template in the template part by @-referencing the row containing the appropriate template (i.e.: @Handle_of_the_template.Template).
The rest of the Format() formula works like it always did 😊.

Advantages 😁

As the template is now stored in a helper table, it means it’s easy to correct or modify (no need to modify directly the formula). And if you need more templates, just add rows to the Templates table 😉.
The
Templates
⁠
table can also be used to store some text you would want to Concatenate() somewhere in your doc 😊.

Examples 😊

Here 👇 is an example of Format() using the template
@User
⁠
from the table
Templates
⁠
😊
⁠
👋 Welcome to this doc
@Anonymous User
⁠
😁 !
⁠
⁠
Here 👉 ... is an example of Format() using the template
@CurrentUser
⁠
from the table
Templates
⁠
😊
⁠
⁠
Hey
@Anonymous User
⁠
😁 !
I hope you’re having an amazing day 🌻 !
⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠
Templates
Handle
Template
Description
1
User
👋{1}Welcome to this doc {2} 😁 !
Character(9)
User()
2
CurrentUser
⁠
Hey {1} 😁 !
I hope you’re having an amazing day 🌻 !
⁠
User()
There are no rows in this table
⁠

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