Use the Assembly Queue

The assembly queue shows a list of templates—some that may be waiting to be assembled and some that may have recently been assembled. Using the assembly queue, you can start and stop assemblies, change the assembly order, and change how assemblies are started. In addition, the assembly queue status box (which is located in the status bar of the template library window and assembly window) also shows when templates are queued for assembly.

The assembly queue provides two methods for starting assemblies: auto mode and manual mode. These methods are controlled by the Auto Start button in the assembly queue toolbar. When assembling multiple templates and Auto Start is selected, HotDocs automatically starts each assembly, following the order in which the templates are added to the queue. When assembling multiple templates and Auto Start is not selected, HotDocs starts the first assembly, but then waits for you to start each subsequent assembly by clicking the Assemble button on the assembly queue toolbar.

As templates are added to the assembly queue, they are assigned a status, which helps you identify each template's stage in the assembly process. (For a description of template statuses, click here.)

To add Items to the assembly queue

HotDocs will allow you to assemble only one document at a time. If you are currently assembling a document and you attempt to assemble another one, HotDocs will add it to the assembly queue and it won't be assembled until the current assembly is complete. If there are multiple templates in the queue, HotDocs will assemble them in the order they are added.

  1. At the End of Interview dialog select the option to assemble the template.
  2. If another template is currently being assembled, the Multiple Assemblies dialog box will appear.
  3. Click Yes to add the template to the Assembly Queue.
  4. You can also tick the check box at the bottom of this dialog, Don't warn me about multiple assemblies again, to keep this dialog box from appearing. The next time you attempt to assemble a document when HotDocs is already busy assembling, the template will be added to the queue.

To work with templates in the assembly queue

  1. At the HotDocs library window, click the Assembly Queue button. The Assembly Queue dialog box appears. (You can also select Assembly Queue (Tools menu) or double-click the assembly queue status box in the status bar of the template library window.)
  2. At the library window, select multiple templates and click Assemble. Entries for each template appear in the assembly queue. Then the Answer File dialog box appears. (See Assemble Multiple Documents.)
  3. At the Answer File dialog box, select an answer file and click OK. (See Select an Answer File for Assembly.) The first dialog appears in the assembly window.
  4. Throughout the interview process, perform any of the following tasks using the following commands in the Assembly Queue:
To Do This
Change the order in which pending or confirmed templates are assembled Select the item in the assembly list and click either the Up button or the Down button. (Templates that are currently assembling cannot be moved in the queue.)
Remove a confirmed assembly Select the item in the assembly list and click the Delete button. (Templates that are currently assembling cannot be removed from the queue.)
Change whether assemblies start automatically or manually Click the Auto Start button. When Auto Start is turned off, clicking the Assemble button at the HotDocs library only starts the first assembly. To begin subsequent assemblies, you must also select an entry in the assembly queue and click the Assemble button there.
Manually start an assembly Click the Assemble button.
Remove the entries for all completed assemblies from the Assembly Queue Click the Clean Up button.

When HotDocs closes, it remembers the assembly queue display setting. If you close HotDocs while the queue is showing, the queue will automatically be displayed the next time you open HotDocs.

You can have completed assemblies automatically removed from the assembly queue. See Include List of Completed Assemblies in Assembly Queue for details.