The idea of a template, generally, is to separate formatting from content. Pure HTML gives us even more control over the formatting, but it brings up an interesting problem.

I've got a whole bunch of items (over 300) for which the description varies very little. All of them need to be described in the same format, with differing values for size, length, and finish and other fields. I'd like to show the description in a table. The table's formatting and therefore belongs in the template. If I ever modify the design, I'll really be grumbling if I had to change the formatting on 300 descriptions.

There aren't enough User Defined Fields to do the job.

The problem, as I see it, is that the Description field is a single chunk. I could put the table formatting in each inventory record description, but as I said, formatting should be in the template. You can probably see where I'm headed.

What I need is subfields or variables in the Description field.

Here's a possible implementation to show what I'm talking about.

In the inventory record Description field:
#Size=6
#OAL=1 1/16
#Finish=Bright

In the template:
... blah blah blah...
<TABLE>
<TR><TD>Wire Gauge Size</TD><TD><#Description.Size></TD></TR>
<TR><TD>Overall Length</TD><TD><#Description.OAL>"</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>Finish</TD><TD><#Description.Finish></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
...more blah blah blah...

Particulars of the implementation are up for debate. A different syntax could allow multi-line text values.

To recap, what I'd like is to be able to put named pieces of the Description field in my template.

But first, does anyone have a way of doing this with what we've got now?

Ned