Making Clauses Read-Only in a Template
You can make clauses in your X-Author templates read-only. When you enable the read-only attribute for a clause in a template, that clause becomes uneditable in the generated document. You can mark a clause as read-only to restrict a user from editing the clause after a document is generated. You cannot edit or delete a read-only clause in a generated document unless you have enabled XA_UnlockReadOnlyClause custom permission in Conga CLM.
Read-Only clauses have the following characteristics:
- Any clause can be made read-only.
- A read-only clause cannot be made smart.
- A read-only clause can only be defined in a template.
- A read-only clause shows a content control boundary in the generated contract document.
- A read-only clause cannot be deleted in the generated contract document.
- The value of the read-only clause cannot be edited in the generated contract document.
- When you make a clause read-only, the smart fields or read-only fields inside that clause lose their smartness or read-only property and become plain-text fields.
You can mark entire clauses as read-only when they contain read-only fields within repeat sections or tables, including third-level repeat tables.
Read-only clause characteristics apply to clauses that are marked read-only in a template and do not apply to those clauses that are inserted from the Clause Library after generating the contract.
You cannot insert read-only clauses from the Clause Library or swap them from Doc clauses if they contain repeat sections or tables with read-only fields.
To make a clause read-only in a template
- In Contracts pane, click the Home icon (
) and select Templates.
- The Clauses pane lists all the clauses present in your template. Select a clause
from the list, or check Select All to make changes to multiple clauses, and click the Settings icon (
) next to the clause name.
Your template clause will now have read-only properties. To remove the read-only properties of a clause, toggle the Read-Only Clause switch off (grayed out).
Configuring the Read Only Field Property
If your Administrator has enabled the Retain Field Property configuration setting, then you have the option to enable to disable the Retain Field Property toggle. This option is only available for fields within read-only clauses, allowing original field behaviors (smart or read-only) to be preserved when enabled. This allows you to edit smart fields and custom content controls within read-only clauses when permitted without altering the clause language. The system retains original field properties based on the Retain Field Property setting, supporting both new and existing agreements, and reflects changes in the review screen and agreement record as applicable.
Contract managers can edit smart fields and apply custom content control within read-only clauses, while the clause language remains uneditable to maintain compliance. The APTS_EditableSmartCCInReadonlyClause setting determines whether smart fields in read-only clauses are editable or behave as merge fields, based on the Retain Field Property configuration. Read-only fields remain unaffected and always display as plain text.
| APTS_EditableSmartCCInReadonlyClause | Retain Field Property Behavior |
|---|---|
| TRUE | The "APTS Editable Smart Read Only Clause Properties" setting applies only to smart fields. Read-only fields are unaffected by this setting and always behave as merge or plain text. |
| FALSE |
|
| APTS_EditableSmartCCInReadonlyClause | Retain Field Property Behavior |
|---|---|
| TRUE |
|
| FALSE |
|