Using template parameters

Template parameters create an interface in CCMS Desktop that enable authors to quickly and accurately enter specific information, such as map metadata, while creating a map from a template.

Maps typically include metadata elements that record information about the map such as the author, copyright year, product version, and more. If these elements are simply included in the map template authors have to enter the information manually, which can be tricky to do and easy to forget to do.

To make it easier (and required!) for authors to enter this information, you can set up your map templates so that these metadata elements and attributes are associated with template parameters that can be filled in via a Template Variables section on the Create Map dialog in CCMS Desktop.

Using template parameters, you can create pick lists of data, require a certain format for data, and make data required for template creation.

When a user creates a map that includes template parameters, there is a new Template Variables section on the Create Map dialog in CCMS Desktop that enables the user to enter the appropriate information while creating the map:

Creating and using template parameters is a two-step process:

  1. Within the map template, add the required metadata elements and attributes and as the value of each, add a custom variable.

    See Add custom variables to a map template for those steps, which create four custom variables corresponding to the parameters shown in the screenshot above.

  2. Create template parameters that correspond to the custom variables in the map template.

    See Configure parameters for a map template for those steps, which create the four template parameters shown in the screenshot above.

A template parameter uses the following syntax:

<parameter name="[name]" label="[display label]" type="[DATE|TEXT|LIST]" regex="___" mandatory="[true|false]"/>
name Required. The template variable the parameter corresponds to. The user's entry in the Template Variables section replaces the corresponding template variable when the map is created.
label Required. What the user sees in the Variable column of the Template Variables section.
type

Required. The type of information to be entered by the user.

  • DATE: Produces a pop-up calendar from which the user can select a date, entered in YYYY-MM-DD format
  • TEXT: Simple text
  • LIST: A pick list of pre-determined items the user can select from
regex Optional. A regular expression that validates the format of the information entered.
mandatory Required. Determines whether or not the user must enter the information. Mandatory parameters appear in red in the Template Variables section. The user cannot create the map until all mandatory parameters are complete.

By following the steps in Configure parameters for a map template, we have created template parameters Author, Copyright year, Product name, and Product version. When we create a map using the template that includes those parameters, this is the result:

In this example, the Author has been entered and is valid. The Copyright year has been entered but is not valid based on the regex specified (the year must begin with 19 or 20). The pick list for the Product name is available. It's hidden behind the Product name pick list, but the Product version has also been entered and is valid.