You need to SET the value of a variable, but want users to be able to edit the value even after it is SET. HotDocs will GRAY a variable (prohibiting editing) if the SET command is processed on the dialog, and DEFAULT will not overwrite a variable’s value.
A “regular” script to SET a variable to a value (based upon a Multiple Choice variable) probably looks something like this:
IF ANSWERED ( Var_MC )
IF Var_MC = “1”
SET Var1_TE TO “red”
ELSE
SET Var1_TE TO “blue”
END IF
END IF
As soon as Var_MC is answered, Var_TE will acquire an appropriate value, and subsequently GRAYed out – because it is processed dynamically by the dialog script, and whilever those conditions are met, the variable will not be editable.
We need to avoid HotDocs GRAYIng the variable. The solution? A button that calls a computation.
Lets say we create a variable called Var1_CO – this is the variable that will be called by the button on our dialog. The content of this computation will be exactly the same as the script above. We don’t wish to do anything different, we just wish to shift the source of the SET command.
In our dialog additional text section, we type
@COMPUTE:Var1_CO: Populate
@COMPUTE is the command to tell HotDocs we want a button to call a computation. Var1_CO is the name of the computation variable we are calling. Populate is the button text which will be displayed. When we click this button, the value is SET (provided all conditions have been made), and the variable is editable.