Overview

Mapping a document is always worth your time since it gives you better collaboration, project management, and reporting features than choosing to complete a project in Word or Excel (documents typically take between 30 and 60 minutes to map, but can take longer).

However, sometimes the system does not support the format you are working with, so we have listed common mapping limitations and their alternatives to help you get the most out of our application.

This article provides tips and tricks for importing and mapping files. For help formatting your content, see Formatting Tips.

Select the applicable tab for your edition of Responsive.

• LookUp as an Alternative to Mapping

  Note: LookUp is an add-on feature and must be enabled prior to use. Contact the Customer Success Team, or customersuccess@responsive.io, to enable it.

  LookUp can be useful for answering documents in their native source file, in portals, or more. It allows your organization to use content stored in Responsive in a wide variety of applications without accessing Responsive. By keeping your curated content in one central location, you can streamline your responses without sacrificing accuracy. Consider using LookUp when your document contains many of the mapping limitations listed below.

  See Getting Started with Responsive LookUp and the LookUp course in Responsive Academy for more information.

  Mapping Limitations

  Checkboxes

  Checkboxes only work in Word tables. If checkboxes are present in Word outside of a table they will not import properly.

  • Normally, we still recommend importing the questions; you will need to clean them up after export but the answers will be available without having to copy and paste them.
    Note: You can also use Answer Type templates to provide uniformity to your checkboxes and limit your responders to only those options. See Working with Answer Type Templates for more information.
  • However, if your checkbox options vary from question to question, have no uniformity that can easily be addressed with Answer Type templates, and you still want to limit your responders to those checkbox options, we recommend answering outside of Responsive. As a best practice in this case we suggest authors of the project open the RFx in another tab so they can view the list of available options and clean up the export.

  See Mapping Checkboxes in Microsoft Word Documents for more information.

  Questions and Answers in the Same Cell

  If your Word document has tables, and a question and its answer go in the same cell, you can use the Split function to identify the question(s) within the cell. This function divides content in table cells (or blocks of text) into sections, questions, and answers.
  Note: If you want to mark an entire Word table as an answer, or mark rows and columns of a Word table or Excel spreadsheet as answers, see Marking Tables as Answer Types.

  • Do not select the whole cell as a question; the application will not export the answer.
  • When you use the Split function to identify questions, the answers are placed underneath the questions so you will have some cleanup to do after export.
  • If you use the Split function to identify answers, they can be accidentally overridden if you use backspace in the Response field, so be aware of this when using this method.

  See Import Mapping Options for more information.

  Answers in a Designated Box

  If you are working with a Word document without tables, and the answer to a question is supposed to go into a designated box (like a text box or content control), the application will not export the answer into that box. Instead, it will be exported between the question and the box. 

  • Normally, we still recommend importing the answers; you will need to clean them up after export but they will be available without having to copy and paste them.
  • However, if the document is large, LookUp may be better solution since it allows you to target the answer directly into the box.

  Conditional Logic and Hidden Cells

  When working with Excel documents with conditional logic and hidden cells you may notice that when you respond to a question with a certain answer, another question appears in a new cell. Unfortunately, if you have loaded all questions into the application, you will not know that new questions appeared until after export.
  Note: Conditional logic does work for SIG files.

  • To mitigate this, we recommend that you read all RFP instructions and test any suspected Excel files before loading them into Responsive (you can periodically export as authors are responding to questions).
  • If new questions appear, use the Update Source File feature to load the new questions into the application.

  Content Control and Macros

  Responsive does not recognize content control/developer console contents or macros.

  • The purpose of the content control in a Word document dictates whether or not you can proceed with mapping. For example, if you need to interact with the content control to provide the response, chances are you will not be able to map the document into the application. You may be able to get around this by saving the file differently (see article below).
  • When working with an Excel spreadsheet with macros you may be able to map it, but upon export the macros may be overridden. You may still benefit from mapping the questions (by taking advantage of other tools the system offers), but check the export - you may need to copy and paste answers into the source document to keep the macros intact.

  See Fixing the Invalid File Type Error When Importing Word Documents for more information.

  Multiple Questions in the Same Row

  If there are multiple questions in the same row of your Excel spreadsheet, Responsive will not identify more than the first question.

  You could identify them as sub-questions, but that may not be appropriate for your file. Using LookUp may be easier in this situation.

  Answers in Different Rows

  You may have an Excel spreadsheet where the question is on one row and the possible answers are each on different rows.

   

  

   

  For these questions, you can select one cell to export the answer into, manipulate the answer type after importing the file, and then adjust the file after export to appear correctly. You can also handle the question manually.

  Questions in Different Row than Answer Cell

  When mapping Excel spreadsheets where the question is in a different row than the answer cell, you can get a correct export by manually selecting the cell where the question will go and the cell where the answer will go (as opposed to mapping the whole column).

  This can be tricky as the application may identify other answer types and you will have to manually delete them. Depending on the size of the file, manually mapping it may take too long and negate the benefit of responding in the project.

  Questions with Images

  If a question includes an image, the image cannot be brought into Responsive. We suggest importing the question text first, then attaching the image to the Q&A pair once the import is finished. Leave a comment on the Q&A pair letting the author know they need to review the attached image.

  Alternatively, you can import the question text and leave a comment, but instead of attaching the image just direct the author to review the RFP for more information.

• Essentials features are subscription-based and may not be available for all users. Contact the Customer Success Team, or customersuccess@responsive.io, for more details.

  LookUp as an Alternative to Mapping

  Note: LookUp is an add-on feature and must be enabled prior to use. Contact the Customer Success Team, or customersuccess@responsive.io, to enable it.

  LookUp can be useful for answering documents in their native source file, in portals, or more. It allows your organization to use content stored in Responsive in a wide variety of applications without accessing Responsive. By keeping your curated content in one central location, you can streamline your responses without sacrificing accuracy. Consider using LookUp when your document contains many of the mapping limitations listed below.

  See Getting Started with Responsive LookUp and the LookUp course in Responsive Academy for more information.

  Mapping Limitations

  Checkboxes

  Checkboxes only work in Word tables. If checkboxes are present in Word outside of a table they will not import properly.

  • Normally, we still recommend importing the questions; you will need to clean them up after export but the answers will be available without having to copy and paste them.
    Note: You can also use Answer Type templates to provide uniformity to your checkboxes and limit your responders to only those options. See Working with Answer Type Templates for more information.
  • However, if your checkbox options vary from question to question, have no uniformity that can easily be addressed with Answer Type templates, and you still want to limit your responders to those checkbox options, we recommend answering outside of Responsive. As a best practice in this case we suggest authors of the project open the RFx in another tab so they can view the list of available options and clean up the export.

  See Mapping Checkboxes in Microsoft Word Documents for more information.

  Questions and Answers in the Same Cell

  If your Word document has tables, and a question and its answer go in the same cell, you can use the Split function to identify the question(s) within the cell. This function divides content in table cells (or blocks of text) into sections, questions, and answers.
  Note: If you want to mark an entire Word table as an answer, or mark rows and columns of a Word table or Excel spreadsheet as answers, see Marking Tables as Answer Types.

  • Do not select the whole cell as a question; the application will not export the answer.
  • When you use the Split function to identify questions, the answers are placed underneath the questions so you will have some cleanup to do after export.
  • If you use the Split function to identify answers, they can be accidentally overridden if you use backspace in the Response field, so be aware of this when using this method.

  See Import Mapping Options for more information.

  Answers in a Designated Box

  If you are working with a Word document without tables, and the answer to a question is supposed to go into a designated box (like a text box or content control), the application will not export the answer into that box. Instead, it will be exported between the question and the box. 

  • Normally, we still recommend importing the answers; you will need to clean them up after export but they will be available without having to copy and paste them.
  • However, if the document is large, LookUp may be better solution since it allows you to target the answer directly into the box.

  Conditional Logic and Hidden Cells

  When working with Excel documents with conditional logic and hidden cells you may notice that when you respond to a question with a certain answer, another question appears in a new cell. Unfortunately, if you have loaded all questions into the application, you will not know that new questions appeared until after export.
  Note: Conditional logic does work for SIG files.

  • To mitigate this, we recommend that you read all RFP instructions and test any suspected Excel files before loading them into Responsive (you can periodically export as authors are responding to questions).
  • If new questions appear, use the Update Source File feature to load the new questions into the application.

  Content Control and Macros

  Responsive does not recognize content control/developer console contents or macros.

  • The purpose of the content control in a Word document dictates whether or not you can proceed with mapping. For example, if you need to interact with the content control to provide the response, chances are you will not be able to map the document into the application. You may be able to get around this by saving the file differently (see article below).
  • When working with an Excel spreadsheet with macros you may be able to map it, but upon export the macros may be overridden. You may still benefit from mapping the questions (by taking advantage of other tools the system offers), but check the export - you may need to copy and paste answers into the source document to keep the macros intact.

  See How do I fix the Invalid file type error when importing a Word document? for more information.

  Multiple Questions in the Same Row

  If there are multiple questions in the same row of your Excel spreadsheet, Responsive will not identify more than the first question.

  You could identify them as sub-questions, but that may not be appropriate for your file. Using LookUp may be easier in this situation.

  Answers in Different Rows

  You may have an Excel spreadsheet where the question is on one row and the possible answers are each on different rows.

   

  

   

  For these questions, you can select one cell to export the answer into, manipulate the answer type after importing the file, and then adjust the file after export to appear correctly. You can also handle the question manually.

  Questions in Different Row than Answer Cell

  When mapping Excel spreadsheets where the question is in a different row than the answer cell, you can get a correct export by manually selecting the cell where the question will go and the cell where the answer will go (as opposed to mapping the whole column).

  This can be tricky as the application may identify other answer types and you will have to manually delete them. Depending on the size of the file, manually mapping it may take too long and negate the benefit of responding in the project.

  Questions with Images

  If a question includes an image, the image cannot be brought into Responsive. We suggest importing the question text first, then attaching the image to the Q&A pair once the import is finished. Leave a comment on the Q&A pair letting the author know they need to review the attached image.

  Alternatively, you can import the question text and leave a comment, but instead of attaching the image just direct the author to review the RFP for more information.