Line Items

DocsAutomator has powerful features for adding groups of data / line items to your documents

Line items are groups of data which vary in length. Think of line items on invoices, a list of attendees at a conference, the ingredients needed in a recipe, etc. We can't define the length of these lists in the template as we don't know how many items will be added. This is where DocsAutomator's Line Items feature enters the game!

Line Items = Groups of data / lists of things

You declare line items as a line item row in your templates. Here is an example:

Line Item Row

Starting a row with {{line_items_$num}} tells DocsAutomator to expect a list of things. The variables after that line item key word belong to that set of line items. To learn more about creating Google Doc templates, go here: Google Doc Template Guide

Here is a printed result with two options:

Line items in DocsAutomator — printed

Mapping Data by Data Source

Mapping your data depends on your data source. Here are the different options including links to learn more:

Data Source	Mapping
Airtable	In automation interface (learn more: 6. Map fields + (optionally) line items)
ClickUp	Line items not available currently
Glide	In Glide: Adding line items
Noloco	In Noloco: Adding Line Items
Zapier	In Zapier: Working with line items
API	Passed as an array of objects: GET /createDocument

Multiple Line Items

You can add as many line items as you need. Just increment the number and make sure they are declared in the right order ({{line_items_1}}, {{line_items_2}}, ...). Example with two line items:

Multiple line items

You can mix variables and static text in line items (see static text "pieces" in the line items 1 example above) and cells can also span multiple lines

You can add as many rows above or below a line items row (for headers, footers, ...)

Variables have to be unique per line item row

Line items have to be declared as an entire row and not partially (for instance the last three columns of a 5 column row)

Adding Images

You can add images inside of line items. Image placeholders are declared in the same way as regular image placeholders, with the image_ prefix: {{image_name}}. You can then map a single image or a list of images for that image placeholder.

Grouping

Line items can be grouped by any line item variable / placeholder (except images). For more, see Line Items Grouping + Calculations

Conditionally Show / Hide Rows

DocsAutomator allows you to conditionally show / hide rows depending on certain criteria. You set this via the options / gear icon on each line item variable:

Variable Option Icon

Once clicked, you can set show / hide conditions based on values for that placeholder.

Show / hide conditions

To learn more, go here: Conditional Show / Hide

Conditional Styling of Text / Rows

DocsAutomator allows for styling text and rows conditionally. You find this on the via options next to each variable. On there, you'll be able to set styles for certain conditions:

Set styles conditionally

There are many options for text styles as well as defining the row background color dynamically.

Styles for even / odd rows

A special styling option is applying style depending on even or odd rows. This allows for alternating the background color of rows, which is common for many line item situations.

Setting styles basesd on even or odd row

FAQs

How are line items sorted?

For most data sources, line items are printed as passed. In the case of Airtable, you can select a view and items will be sorted according to that view. For Noloco, there is a special option to sort in the Noloco interface.

Is there a limit to how many items I can pass?

No. There are users passing hundreds to thousands of items.

Are nested line items possible?

Nested data (line items having line items) is not possible yet, but soon.