PDF Reports

The PDF Reports feature automatically populates fillable PDF forms with survey data, eliminating manual data entry and ensuring consistent, professional documentation. You can also fill Word documents; see Word Reports.

Use Cases

• Field Service Reports - Technicians complete surveys, system generates client-facing reports
• Compliance Documentation - Survey data populates standardised regulatory forms
• Multi-Format Output - Same survey data generates different reports for different audiences

Key Concepts

Concept	Description
PDF Template	A fillable PDF form (AcroForm) uploaded to the system
Mapping	Configuration connecting survey fields to PDF form fields
Report	A generated PDF with survey data populated into form fields

Workflow Overview

1. Upload PDF Template    →  System extracts form field names
2. Create Mapping         →  Connect survey fields to PDF fields
3. Complete Survey        →  User fills out survey (existing flow)
4. Generate Report        →  One click generates populated PDF

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Uploading PDF Templates

Requirements

• PDF must be a fillable form (AcroForm) with named fields
• Regular PDFs without form fields cannot be used
• Field names should be descriptive (not "Text1" or "Field_42")

Steps

1. Navigate to Survey Templates → PDF Templates
2. Click Upload Template
3. Drag and drop a fillable PDF or click to browse
4. Enter a name and optional description
5. Click Upload

What Happens

• PDF is uploaded to secure storage
• System extracts all form field names
• Template appears in the list with extracted field count

Viewing Template Details

• Click on a template row to open the details sheet
• View all extracted form fields with their types (text, checkbox, dropdown)
• View PDF button opens the original PDF

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Creating Field Mappings

Mappings define how survey data flows into PDF form fields.

Access

From the PDF template list → dropdown menu → Configure Mapping

Steps

1. Click New Mapping
2. Enter a mapping name (e.g., "Standard Inspection Report")
3. Select the survey template to map from
4. For each PDF field, configure the data source
5. Check Set as default for the primary mapping
6. Click Save Mapping

Mapping Interface

• Left panel - PDF preview with field highlighting
• Right panel - Mapping configuration table
• Progress indicator - Shows "X/Y fields mapped"

Not all fields need to be mapped — unmapped fields remain empty in the generated PDF.

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Source Types

When mapping a PDF field, choose how to populate it:

Survey Field

Map directly from a survey field value. This is the most common option.

Static Value

Fixed text that never changes:

• Company name: "ACME Corp"
• Form version: "Form Rev 2.1"
• Default values: "N/A"

Survey Metadata

Information about the survey:

Option	Value
Survey Title	Title of the survey
Assignee Name	Name of the assigned technician
Completed At	Date/time when survey was completed
Template Name	Name of the survey template

Concatenation

Combine multiple survey fields:

1. Click field badges to select which fields to combine
2. Enter a separator (e.g., ", " or " - " or newline)
3. Fields are joined in order

Example: First Name + Last Name with separator " " = "John Smith"

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Transformations

Transform values before inserting into the PDF. Click the gear icon on a mapping row.

Date Format

Format date values:

Format	Example Output
DD/MM/YYYY	06/12/2025
MM/DD/YYYY	12/06/2025
YYYY-MM-DD	2025-12-06
D MMMM YYYY	6 December 2025

Custom format strings are also supported.

Number Format

Option	Description
Decimal places	0-4 decimals
Prefix	Text before number (e.g., "$")
Suffix	Text after number (e.g., " kg")
Thousands separator	Add commas

Example: 1234.5 → "$1,234.50"

Case Conversion

Option	Result
Upper	ALL CAPS
Lower	all lowercase
Title	Each Word Capitalised

Boolean to Text

Convert true/false values:

• True text: "Yes" (customisable)
• False text: "No" (customisable)

Value Map

Map specific input values to output values. Useful for converting voice-friendly survey options to PDF symbols:

From (Survey)	To (PDF)
Degrees C	°C
Degrees F	°F
Less than	<
Greater than	>

Set an optional default value when no mapping matches.

Custom Template

Use {value} placeholder in a template string:

• Template: Reading: {value} PSI
• Input: 42
• Output: Reading: 42 PSI

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Conditional Logic

Apply different values based on conditions. Click the branch icon on a mapping row.

Structure

IF [survey field] [operator] [value]
THEN use [true value]
ELSE use [false value]

Operators

Operator	Description
Equals	Exact match
Not Equals	Does not match
Contains	Contains substring
Is Empty	Field has no value
Is Not Empty	Field has a value

Example

IF equipment_status equals "Failed"
THEN "REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ATTENTION"
ELSE "Equipment operating normally"

True/false values can be:

• Static text
• Survey field value
• Survey metadata

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Generating Reports

Prerequisites

• Survey must be Completed
• At least one mapping must exist for the survey's template

Steps

1. Open a completed survey
2. Scroll to PDF Reports section in the Actions card
3. Click Generate Report
4. Select a mapping from the dropdown (if multiple exist)
5. Click Generate
6. Wait for generation to complete
7. Click Open PDF to view or download

Generated Reports List

The section shows all previously generated reports:

• Mapping name used
• Generation date
• File size
• Who generated it

Click the download icon to get any report.

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PDF Field Types

The system handles different PDF form field types:

Field Type	How It's Populated
Text	Value inserted as text
Checkbox	Checked if value is truthy ("true", "yes", "1")
Dropdown	Selects matching option from list
Radio	Selects matching option from group

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Word Reports

Word reports fill a Word document (.docx or .doc) with survey data. Use them when the client wants an editable report, or when the layout needs tables that grow with the survey. The workflow matches PDF: upload a template, map its tags to survey fields, then generate from a completed survey.

Uploading a Word Template

1. Open the Word Templates page.
2. Click Upload Template.
3. Choose the Survey Template the report is for.
4. Drop a Word document in the box or click to browse. Files must be .docx or .doc, up to 20 MB.
5. Check the Template Name. It starts as the file name.
6. Click Upload & Insert Tags.

The system looks for the places where survey data belongs and inserts a {tag} for each one. This can take 30-60 seconds. When it finishes, you see how many tags were inserted. Any tags it couldn't place appear under Fields not placed automatically. Download the tagged document, type each tag (including the braces) where the value should appear, then upload it again with Replace Tagged Document.

If your document already has {fieldName} placeholders, tick Document already has {tags} — skip AI tagging before you upload. The button then reads Upload Pre-tagged Document, and the system reads your tags instead of inserting new ones.

If the survey template was built from a Word document, you may see Use this document or Create instantly. These save you the upload.

Click a template row, or use its menu, to open View Details. You can see the tags, download the tagged document, replace it, or open the mapping. Only people who can edit the page see Delete.

Tags

A tag is a name in braces, such as {client_name}. In the generated report, each tag is replaced by its value. Tag names use letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores.

Tag type	What it does
Text	Replaced by the value
Checkbox	Shows ☑ for a true value ("true", "yes", "1", "on") and ☐ otherwise
Table row	Repeats a table row once for each instance of a repeatable group
Table column	Fills numbered tags such as {rating_0}, {rating_1}

Mapping Tags to Survey Fields

1. On the Word Templates list, open a template's menu and click Configure Mapping.
2. Enter a mapping name and pick the survey template. The system drafts the mapping by matching tag names to survey fields.
3. Check each tag and change its source where needed.
4. Tick Set as default mapping for this survey/Word template combination if this is the main one.
5. Click Save Mapping.

Sources, transformations and conditional logic work as described above for PDF reports: survey field, static value, survey metadata and concatenation.

Repeating Rows

Put the tags for one row of a Word table in that row, with a shared prefix: {items_name} and {items_rating}. Map each tag to a field in the same repeatable group. The report adds one row for each instance of the group. A group with no instances leaves its tags unfilled.

Use numbered tags ({rating_0}, {rating_1}) when the table rows already exist and you want to fill one column. Numbering starts at 0.

Generating a Word Report

1. Open a completed survey.
2. In the Actions card, click Generate Word Report. The button appears only when the survey template has a Word mapping.
3. Choose a mapping under Select Word Template. The default is marked (default).
4. Click Generate.
5. Click Download.

The result shows Fields mapped, Fields skipped and any warnings. Reports you generated before are listed under Generated Reports, where you can download or delete them.

Limits

• Signature and pin fields can't appear as text. Their tags are left blank.
• A table row or column tag must map to a field inside a repeatable group.
• Table column tags take their values from survey fields only, not static values or metadata.

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Best Practices

PDF Template Design

• Use descriptive field names in your PDF forms
• Group related fields logically
• Test the PDF form manually before uploading

Mapping Configuration

• Create mappings for specific use cases
• Use meaningful mapping names ("Client Summary Report", "Internal Audit Form")
• Set a default mapping for the most common use case

Value Maps for Voice Surveys

When surveys are completed via voice, users speak natural language that may need conversion for PDF output:

Spoken	PDF Symbol
"Degrees Celsius"	°C
"Greater than or equal to"	≥
"Approximately"	~

Create value map transformations to handle these automatically.

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Troubleshooting

"0 fields extracted" from PDF

• Ensure the PDF is a fillable form (AcroForm)
• Try opening in Adobe Acrobat to verify form fields exist
• Regular scanned PDFs without form fields cannot be used

Field not populating in generated PDF

• Verify a mapping exists for that field
• Check the survey field has data in the survey
• For dropdowns/radios, ensure the value matches an available option

Transformation not applying

• Verify the transformation is configured (gear icon should be filled)
• Check input format matches expected type (e.g., date string for date format)

Conditional logic not working

• Verify the condition field has data
• Check operator and comparison value are correct
• Test with "is_empty" / "is_not_empty" to debug