CODEWITHSUNDEEP
docusignapi
Kathy Lori
Kathy Lori

Reputation: 497

When to use a Docusign TemplateRole versus a Signer

I am trying to see under which circumstances it is better to use a TemplateRole versus a Signer. For my application, we have things structured to have a one to one between document and template. We will have recipients like Buyer1 and Seller1 and we will use anchor tags to have our signing tabs autoplace. I see one difference between signers and TemplateRoles in that a signer can have a private note. I just want to use the correct type of recipient for my particular circumstance.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 471

Answers (2)

WTP
WTP

Reputation: 700

"Signer" is a type of Recipient. A TemplateRole is a placeholder for a Recipient in a Template. The TemplateRole (as a surogate for a future Recipient) has any of the Recipient attributes except it can leave out the Recipient Name and Recipient Email. When creating an an actual envelope, you will need to specify a Recipient. You map your Recipient to the TemplateRole in order to replace the template's role with an actual Recipient.

So for example, your Template may have multiple Recipients that you want to dynamically assign to people at the time of envelope creation. You add the roles to the template, using all the usual Recipient attributes to specify workflow (such as routingOrder to sequence Recipients), assign actions (Tabs) to Signer-type Recipients, etc. At envelope creation time, your API call specifies the Recipients and then uses them to fulfill the TemplateRoles.

Upvotes: 1

Larry K
Larry K

Reputation: 49104

Using a template enables your admins to update the template (by using the webtool) without you needing to update your code.

Eg if you want to add another text field, it could be done via the template with no changed to your code.

Think of a template as programming instructions for the document(s) including tab locations and settings. Its easier to add the "program" via the webtool rather than specifying everything through the API. Though the results are the same for either case.

I believe that you can include a private email message for recipients where you are also supplying a roleName field. Why do you think you can't?

Remember that you can "overwrite" template values/template programming by compositing templates in your Envelopes: create call.

Upvotes: 1

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