Core Concepts

Templates

A template is the central object in Document Composer. It defines the structure and layout of the document you want to produce — what sections it contains, where data values appear, and how the output should be formatted.

Templates are created and managed in Document Composer Studio. Once saved, a template can be reused across any number of document generation actions.

Templates are identified by name. When you configure a Workflow task, a DocControl action, or a Configurator output to use Document Composer, you select the template by name.

Document Composer Studio

The Studio is the web-based template editor in MinuteView. It provides a visual interface for:

• Creating and managing templates
• Defining document sections and layout
• Configuring field bindings to data sources
• Previewing template output

The Studio is where all template configuration lives. Users who set up document generation processes will spend most of their time here.

Document Composer Engine

The Engine is the back-end service that executes document generation. It:

1. Receives a template reference and a generation context (data from the invoking module)
2. Resolves each field binding against the available data sources
3. Renders the template with the resolved values
4. Produces the final output document

The Engine runs automatically. You do not interact with it directly — it is invoked behind the scenes whenever a workflow step, transmittal action, or configurator action requests document generation.

Tokens

A token represents a data value that the Engine has available at generation time — a workflow variable, a metadata field, an integration output, or any other piece of data passed into the template by the invoking module.

Tokens are the building blocks of a dynamic template. Wherever you place a token in the template, the Engine substitutes the live value from the current run at that position.

The Token Browser

The token browser is how you discover and insert tokens in Studio. Rather than requiring you to manually configure data source connections, Document Composer learns what tokens are available by being run. After each execution, the Engine captures every token that was present in that run and stores them against the template.

The next time you open the template in Studio, the token browser is populated with those captured tokens — organised, browsable, and ready to insert. You click a token in the browser and it is placed at the cursor position in the template.

This means the recommended approach is always: create the template, run it once, then configure it using the token browser. You work with real data from a real run rather than guessing what will be available.

Data Context

The set of tokens available to a template depends on which module invokes it:

Invocation Context	Token Sources
Workflow Engine	Workflow variables, all previous task node outputs, integration data
DocControl Transmittal	Transmittal metadata, document list, recipient and project fields
Configurator	Project fields, configurator output data, iteration values

Output Documents

The output document is the final result of a generation run. It is a fully filled, formatted document ready for use — whether that is being saved to a file system, attached to a transmittal, stored in a repository, or sent downstream in a workflow.

The output format (PDF, Word, etc.) is configured on the template in Studio.

Summary

Concept	What it is
Template	The reusable document design created in Studio
Studio	The web-based template editor in MinuteView
Engine	The back-end service that runs document generation
Token	A data value captured from a real execution and available for insertion into the template
Token Browser	The Studio panel that lists captured tokens and lets you insert them into the template
Data Context	The full set of tokens provided by the invoking module at generation time
Output Document	The final generated document produced by the Engine