Inserting placeholders
Introduced in 2025.2
Use the Select Placeholder dialog to insert dynamic values into macros, HTML e-mail notification templates - including Self Service Portal e-mail templates - and preview templates.
When Alloy Navigator Express displays or sends the resulting content, it replaces each placeholder with the corresponding object field, macro, or workflow parameter value.
Selecting a placeholder
The Select Placeholder window consists of three panes:
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Category lists the available placeholder categories
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Item lists the items in the selected category
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Subitem lists the values available for the selected item. Some entries can be expanded to show related values.
When you select a value, its placeholder appears in the Placeholder field at the bottom of the dialog. The Description area provides information about the selected value, including its data type when applicable.
To insert a placeholder:
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Select a category.
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Select an item.
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In the Subitem pane, expand entries as needed and select a value.
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Review the placeholder and its description.
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Click OK.
Depending on where you are going to insert a placeholder, the Category pane can display the following categories:
Object Fields category
The Object Fields category contains a hierarchical tree of all object fields and the fields of the objects related to the current object. In some cases, the Subitem pane displays only the relevant fields of these objects: for example, if you are building a condition that would involve comparing two fields, the Subitem pane for the second field shows only fields of the same type as that of the first field. In addition, various calculated fields may be available in this category.
If you want to retrieve the original value that the field had before the change, select Object Fields > Old Values.
NOTE: Placeholders for values of database object fields have the DBF prefix.
System Macros category
The System Macros category is always available and shows the system macros. For details, see System macros.
NOTE: Placeholders for system macros have the SYS prefix.
User Macros category
The User Macros category contains user macros available for the current object class. Text macros are always available.
The category appears once there is at least one user macro available for the object class. For details, see Managing user macros.
NOTE: Placeholders for user macros have the USR prefix.
Workflow Parameters category
The Workflow Parameters category contains parameters available in the current context. These parameters are configured in the Desktop App and then used in Workflow and Business Logic > Workflow Configuration to fine-tune your business logic (for details, see Customizing your workflow configuration).