Field labels to use in template files
The Document Assembly Line framework can help you automate templates that use any
field (or variable) names that you choose. However, you should use the names
that we list below for full compatibility.
Example documents
As a supplement to reading these documents, you can use a Custom GPT to apply the information they contain:
The Custom GPTs have instructions to help you come up with a label for any field in your document that follows the rules.
AI can make mistakes! Always double-check the information it gives you.
The basics
Fields, labels, and variables
A blank space on a paper form is usually called a form field, or field for
short. We call adding unique names that refer to those blank spaces labeling
them.
When you access the labeled field in your Docassemble code, it is usually called
a variable.
General rules for labels
You should always use the specific labels from this page when they match the concepts in your form. But if you cannot find a matching label, use the general rules below to add as many custom labels as you need.
Labels should be valid Python variable names that start with a letter
PDF and DOCX labels should also work as valid Python variable
names. The basic rule is that Python variable names
need to start with a letter and can only contain letters, digits, and the _
underscore character. Some variable names are
reserved and have a special meaning inside
AssemblyLine interviews. You should not use a variable name on the
reserved list. Doing so can lead to
hard to track bugs.
Variable names are case sensitive - make them all lowercase
Field names are case sensitive. The convention is to never re-use variable names with different capitalizations to store different things. Stick with all lower case names for fields when possible.
Use the Python snake_case format for field labels
In PDFs, labels should be all one word, lowercase, with multiple words separated
by an underscore, the _ character. This convention is called snake_case. Do
not use a . symbol or [] inside a PDF field's label.
In a DOCX file, you can use the . symbol as well as brackets [] but they
have a special meaning. The . separates an object from its attribute, and
the [] indicates that you are referencing a list of items. Beginners should
avoid these symbols except when instructed to do so for one of the variable
names below.
Use short but descriptive labels
Use variable names that are descriptive but also short. Avoid using abbreviations. A good rule of thumb is to spell out acronyms and initialisms for clarity, but to freely remove words other than nouns and verbs to keep the names short. Use a name you would still understand if you read it in a year.
About 30 characters is a good limit to the length of a variable name. It's unusual to need more than that. If your variable name is shorter than 5 characters, it might not be descriptive enough.
Some suggestions for coming up with custom labels
There are no hard and fast rules other than the ones listed above, but here are some conventions that may help you:
- Drop words from the variable name that don't add specific meaning. Filler words like "a", "the", etc. are almost never needed. Stick with nouns and verbs.
- Yes/no variables (also called
boolean) commonly start with a form of the verb "to be" or "to have", paired with a noun. E.g.,is_attorneyorhas_notice_to_quit. You can also use other verbs--writes_docassembleorsaved_statusorwants_copies_returned. - Do not include the type of variable in the variable name itself. It is
usually redundant and is not a common Python style. Exception: you might add
something like
_listor_datethat is both a type and is descriptive of the variable's real world contents. - There are now a number of samples of interviews built with the Assembly Line framework that you can find online. You can get ideas for variable names to use in your interview that match if they apply to the same concepts.
When you're stuck, feel free to ask for help! It's a good idea to get a second opinion the first few times you label a document. A fellow programmer may have some good ideas to make your variable names shorter, clearer, or more closely follow programming conventions.
How the Assembly Line labels work
We have identified common fields that exist in most paper court forms:
- names of people
- addresses
- information that identifies the court
- signatures
- dates
- currency figures
- a pair of yes/no checkboxes
- docket numbers or court filing numbers
We came up with a convention to identify the roles that people may play in relation to your form:
- The "user" of the form: the person who the form is being filed for, making a request or response to the court
- The "other_party" of the form: the person who the user is responding to or suing
We have also identified some common names for people that appear across many forms.
By using the labels for fields that we selected, you will be able to use the questions that we have vetted and pre-written without needing to write them from scratch. You still have the option to customize those questions later.
For those with programming experience, we turn most of the field labels that we
recognize into objects. Learn more about the Individual
object in the Docassemble
documentation.
Special names for special roles: users and other_parties
Where possible, you should use the label users for the person who the
interview is benefiting and other_parties for the person that is on the other
side of their dispute. Sometimes this is not known. In that situation, you
can use the labels plaintiffs and defendants or petitioners and respondents.
The term users does not always mean the person sitting in front of the screen.
We use the term "user" to mean the person who the form is for. I.e.,
it should usually not be used to identify an attorney or advocate filling
in a form for someone else. In a court case, the user should normally
be a party to the case.
People are "plural" by default
We made the choice to make all variables representing people plural by default. This allows us to use consistent terms across the many forms that do allow multiple parties in different roles.
Special situation for names of people in PDFs
In PDF forms, you can identify a single person's name like this:
users1, users2. This is due to a limit in how PDF labels work.
When the form is automated in the Weaver, the field name becomes part of a list:
users. There is also a special syntax that lets you indicate which item in the
list you are accessing, with the first item starting at 0: users[0] represents
the first user, users[1] the second, and so on.
The Docassemble and DOCX variable name users[0] is the equivalent of users
or users1 in a PDF label. users[1] is the equivalent of user2.
Names are not transformed at all when you work in a DOCX template. You need to use the Docassemble syntax from the beginning if you are identifying a specific person in a list.
Labels for people, places, and things
Labels for people's names
users(Always use this for the person benefiting from the form)other_parties(Always use this for the opposing party)plaintiffsdefendantspetitionersrespondentschildrenspousesparentscaregiversattorneystranslatorsdebt_collectorscreditorswitnessesguardians_ad_litemguardiansdecedentsinterested_parties
When the Assembly Line Project first began, we used singular names for
people that were then automatically turned into plural names. Like: user
became users. This feature still works but is confusing now that we automate
both PDF forms and DOCX templates. We do not recommend using it any longer.
Custom names
You can add your own custom names for people to represent concepts that are not
listed above. Just use them in a way that matches specific information about the person
below--like custom_name, custom_name_first, etc. and the Weaver tool will
prompt you to decide if they should be treated as like people in the automation process.
Different forms of someone's name
Substitute the name users with any of the names listed above.
| PDF variation | Docassemble / DOCX form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
users1_name or users1_name_full | users[0] or users[0].name.full() | Full name |
users1_name_first | users[0].name.first or users[0].familiar() | First name only |
users1_name_middle | users[0].name.middle | Middle name only |
users1_name_middle_initial | users[0].name.middle_initial() | First letter of middle name |
users1_name_last | users[0].name.last | Last name only |
users1_name_suffix | users[0].name.suffix | Suffix of user's name only |
If the form has only one "user", "plaintiff", etc., it is not necessary to use a digit.
You can just write users_name, for example.
Listing all parties at once
In a DOCX file, writing out users will list all of the users
added to the form, separated by a comma. Writing users.familiar()
will list all of the first names of each user separated by a comma.
This works for any Docassemble list.
Demographic data for people
Substitute any name for a person for users below.
| PDF variation | Docassemble / DOCX form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
users1_birthdate | users[0].birthdate | Birthdate (formatted like January 1, 2021 by default) |
users1_age | users[0].age_in_years() | Calculated age (based on birthdate) |
users1_gender | users[0].gender | Gender |
users1_gender_female | users[0].gender_female | User is female (for checkbox field) |
users1_gender_male | users[0].gender_male | User is male (for checkbox field) |
users1_gender_other | users[0].gender_other | User is not male or female (for checkbox field) |
users1_gender_nonbinary | users[0].gender_nonbinary | User identifies as nonbinary (for checkbox field) |
users1_gender_undisclosed | users[0].gender_undisclosed | User chose not to disclose gender (for checkbox field) |
users1_gender_self_described | users[0].gender_self_described | User chose to self-describe gender (for checkbox field) |
user_needs_interpreter | user_needs_interpreter | User needs an interpreter (for checkbox field) |
user_preferred_language | user_preferred_language | User's preferred language |
Addresses
Substitute any name for a person for users below.
| PDF variation | Docassemble / DOCX form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
users1_address_block | users[0].address.block() | Full address, on multiple lines |
users1_address_on_one_line | users[0].address.on_one_line() | Full address on one line |
users1_address_line_one | users[0].address.line_one() | Line one of the address, including unit or apartment number |
users1_address_line_two | users[0].address.line_two() | Line two of the address, usually city, state, and Zip/postal code |
users1_address_address | users[0].address.address | Street address |
users1_address_unit | users[0].address.unit | Apartment, unit, or suite |
users1_address_city | users[0].address.city | City or town |
users1_address_state | users[0].address.state | State, province, or sub-locality (dependent on country) |
users1_address_zip | users[0].address.zip | Zip or postal code |
users1_address_county | users[0].address.county | County or parish |
users1_address_country | users[0].address.country | Country |
The Assembly Line framework also supports mailing addresses. Replace address with mailing_address
to ask a separate question about the user's mailing address.
Other contact information
Substitute any name for a person for users below.
| PDF variation | Docassemble / DOCX form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
users1_phone_number | users[0].phone_number | Phone number |
users1_mobile_number | users[0].mobile_number | A phone number explicitly labeled as the "mobile" number |
users1_phones | users[0].phone_numbers() | A list of both mobile and other phone numbers |
users1_email | users[0].email |
Signatures
Substitute any name for a person for users below.
| PDF variation | Docassemble / DOCX form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
users1_signature | users[0].signature | Signature |
signature_date | signature_date | Date the form is completed (automatically filled in by default) |
Information about court and court processes
| PDF variation | Docassemble / DOCX form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
trial_court | trial_court | Court's full name, like: "Eastern Housing Court" |
trial_court_county | trial_court.address.county | County where court is located |
trial_court_division | trial_court.division | Division of court (e.g., "Eastern") |
trial_court_department | trial_court.department | Department of court (e.g., "Housing Court") |
docket_number | docket_number | Case or docket number |
docket_numbers | docket_numbers | A comma-separated list of docket numbers (rare but used in some family law cases) |
Special endings to mark data types
Usually, it is not recommended to mark the type of fields in Docassemble. There are a few exceptions that both mark type and carry a separate meaning that the Weaver will recognize.
Indicating paired yes/no checkboxes
The Weaver turns paired yes/no checkboxes into a single Docassemble variable.
Use any valid keyword to replace is_minor in the example below.
| PDF variation | Docassemble / DOCX form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
is_minor_yes, is_minor_no | is_minor | Indicates the user is a minor |
Marking dates
Marking dates is optional. If you do mark a field with the _date suffix,
the Weaver will automatically recognize it as a date.
Replace firm_founding with any valid keyword in the example below.
| PDF variation | Docassemble / DOCX form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
firm_founding_date | firm_founding_date | Will be recognized as a date field by the Weaver. |
Marking currency figures
Marking currency values is optional. If you do mark a field with _amount or _value,
the Weaver will automatically recognize it as a currency amount.
Replace expense_rent or house with any valid keyword in the example below.
| PDF variation | Docassemble / DOCX form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
expense_rent_amount | expense_rent_amount | Will be recognized as a currency value by the Weaver. |
house_value | house_value | Will be recognized as a currency value by the Weaver. |
Dealing with PDF limitations - adding the same field twice
Docassemble does not work with PDF forms that use the same label for a field twice.
To work around this issue, annotate the second or third field with two
underscores and any digit, like this: __1.
Replace users1_name with any other valid field name in the example below.
| PDF variation | Docassemble / DOCX form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
users1_name__1 | users[0] | Allows you to label two fields in the PDF to contain the user's name. |
user1_name__2 | users[0] | Same as above |
DOCX files do not have any limit on using the same variable name twice. This special syntax only applies to PDF templates.
Docassemble does not do anything with the digit. Feel free to use __1, __99 or any
other series of digits, in any order.
Remember, you will always have a chance to fix things later
Do your best to get your template right before running it through the Weaver. Getting things right at the beginning can save you a lot of time and effort.
However, you can always edit your template later. When you make changes to your template, you do not need to run it through the Weaver again. You can upload your edited template directly to the Docassemble playground's templates folder.