Tags and variables

With Eurosign, you can add tags on your document in order to personalize it very quickly. These tags should be added in the content of your document. When you send it via Eurosign, the tags will be converted into fields that can be filled in by your recipients.

Base syntax

The syntax of Eurosign tags is inspired by HTML tags: surrounded by chevrons, an HTML tag includes a name and optional attributes.

Eurosign tags have to be enclosed in double curly braces ({{ and }}, unicode U+007B and U+007D). Each tag contains a name, which refers to a field type (cf. Available fields) and attributes, that specify certain parameters of the field (who it is for, is it required, etc.) (cf. Field attributes).

Basic syntax example — A basic example of the Eurosign tags syntax to create a required text input for the first signer, with a default value.

The created fields will automatically take the location and width of the original tag.

Each tag must be entirely on one line

In your document, the beginning and the end of a tag must be on the same line. Due to technical limitations related to the PDF format, if a tag at the end of a line is cut, it will not be taken into account.

You can use short formats for field names and attributes to make it easier to keep your tags on one line.

Available fields

To meet your needs, Eurosign offers several types of fields.

Short formats are available for each field type. Their use is absolutely not mandatory, it is simply a shorter syntax to achieve the same result. For example, the {{signature ...}} and {{sign ...}} tags will both produce a signature field.

Short formats can be used to reduce the size of your tags, and therefore help you keep them on a single line.

Available tags
Field	Description	Short formats
`checkbox`	A checkbox	`chbx`
`date`	A date field	`dt`
`dropdown`	A dropdown field	`select` `ddwn`
`email`	An email address field	`em` `@`
`file`	An attachment field
`initials`	An initials field	`in`
`number`	A number input	`nb`
`radio`	A radio button	`rd`
`signature`	A field where the recipient will apply his signature	`sign` `sgn`
`stamp`	A field where the recipient will put a stamp	`stp`
`text`	A free text field	`txt`
`textarea`	A text area field	`txta`

Field attributes

The attributes allow to give additional parameters to the field that will be created. Depending on the type of field, some attributes are mandatory. If a mandatory attribute is missing, the concerned tag will not be taken into account by Eurosign.

Attributes for each field

Tag attributes
Field	Attribute	Description	Value type	Default value	Required	Short formats
checkbox	to	The recipient of the field. If not set, the field will not be associated with any recipient (as if it did not exist)	Text	0	No
	name	name of the field	Text		No	`n`
	checked	Whether the field is pre-checked or not	Boolean		No	`chk` `chkd`
	hint	A text that will appear when the recipient hovers the field	Text		No	`hi`
	readonly	Whether the field is read-only for the recipient	Boolean		No	`!`
	required	Whether the checkbox must be checked by the recipient	Boolean		No	`*`
date	to	The recipient of the field. If not set, the field will not be associated with any recipient (as if it did not exist)	Text	0	No
	name	name of the field	Text		No	`n`
	hint	A text that will appear when the recipient hovers the field	Text		No	`hi`
	min	The minimum value of the field	Date		No	`mn`
	max	The maximum value of the field	Date		No	`mx`
	readonly	Whether the field is read-only for the recipient	Boolean		No	`!`
	required	Whether the recipient must fill in the field	Boolean		No	`*`
	value	Default value of the field	Date		No	`val` `v`
	width	Width of the field. Use this attribute if you want to force a width in pixels (72 dpi) instead of letting the field take the width of the tag	Number		No	`w`
dropdown	to	The recipient of the field. If not set, the field will not be associated with any recipient (as if it did not exist)	Text	0	No
	name	name of the field	Text		No	`n`
	required	Whether the recipient must fill in the field	Boolean		No	`*`
	options	Dropdown options in CSV format	Text		Yes	`opt`
email	to	The recipient of the field. If not set, the field will not be associated with any recipient (as if it did not exist)	Text	0	No
	name	name of the field	Text		No	`n`
	hint	A text that will appear when the recipient hovers the field	Text		No	`hi`
	readonly	Whether the field is read-only for the recipient	Boolean		No	`!`
	required	Whether the recipient must fill in the field	Boolean		No	`*`
	value	Default value of the field	Email address		No	`val` `v`
	width	Width of the field. Use this attribute if you want to force a width in pixels (72 dpi) instead of letting the field take the width of the tag	Number		No	`w`
file	to	The recipient of the field. If not set, the field will not be associated with any recipient (as if it did not exist)	Text	0	No
	name	name of the field	Text		No	`n`
	required	Whether the recipient must fill in the field	Boolean		No	`*`
	hint	A text that will appear when the recipient hovers the field	Text		No	`hi`
initials	to	The recipient of the field. If not set, the field will not be associated with any recipient (as if it did not exist)	Text	0	No
number	to	The recipient of the field. If not set, the field will not be associated with any recipient (as if it did not exist)	Text	0	No
	name	name of the field	Text		No	`n`
	hint	A text that will appear when the recipient hovers the field	Text		No	`hi`
	min	The minimum value of the field	Number		No	`mn`
	max	The maximum value of the field	Number		No	`mx`
	readonly	Whether the field is read-only for the recipient	Boolean		No	`!`
	required	Whether the recipient must fill in the field	Boolean		No	`*`
	step	Difference between two possible values, based on the default value if it is defined	Number	1	No
	value	Default value of the field	Text		No	`val` `v`
	width	Width of the field. Use this attribute if you want to force a width in pixels (72 dpi) instead of letting the field take the width of the tag	Number		No	`w`
radio	to	The recipient of the field. If not set, the field will not be associated with any recipient (as if it did not exist)	Text	0	No
	name	The name of the radio group. All radio buttons with the same name are grouped and the recipient can pick only one value from the group	Text		Yes	`n`
	checked	Whether the field is pre-checked or not	Boolean		No	`chk` `chkd`
	hint	A text that will appear when the recipient hovers the field	Text		No	`hi`
	readonly	Whether the field is read-only for the recipient	Boolean		No	`!`
	required	Whether the recipient must choose an option from the group. Only one radio needs to have this attribute to make the group mandatory	Boolean		No	`*`
	value	The value of the radio button	Text		Yes	`val` `v`
signature	to	The recipient of the field. If not set, the field will not be associated with any recipient (as if it did not exist)	Text	0	No
stamp	to	The recipient of the field. If not set, the field will not be associated with any recipient (as if it did not exist)	Text	0	No
	name	name of the field	Text		No	`n`
	hint	A text that will appear when the recipient hovers the field	Text		No	`hi`
	required	Whether the recipient must fill in the field	Boolean		No	`*`
text	to	The recipient of the field. If not set, the field will not be associated with any recipient (as if it did not exist)	Text	0	No
	name	name of the field	Text		No	`n`
	hint	A text that will appear when the recipient hovers the field	Text		No	`hi`
	max	The maximum number of characters that the recipient can enter	Number		No	`mx`
	readonly	Whether the field is read-only for the recipient	Boolean		No	`!`
	required	Whether the recipient must fill in the field	Boolean		No	`*`
	value	Default value of the field	Text		No	`val` `v`
	width	Width of the field. Use this attribute if you want to force a width in pixels (72 dpi) instead of letting the field take the width of the tag	Number		No	`w`
textarea	to	The recipient of the field. If not set, the field will not be associated with any recipient (as if it did not exist)	Text	0	No
	name	name of the field	Text		No	`n`
	height	Height of the field. Use this attribute if you want to force a height in pixels (72 dpi) instead of letting the field take the height of the tag	Number		No	`h`
	hint	A text that will appear when the recipient hovers the field	Text		No	`hi`
	max	The maximum number of characters that the recipient can enter	Number		No	`mx`
	readonly	Whether the field is read-only for the recipient	Boolean		No	`!`
	required	Whether the recipient must fill in the field	Boolean		No	`*`
	value	Default value of the field	Text		No	`val` `v`
	width	Width of the field. Use this attribute if you want to force a width in pixels (72 dpi) instead of letting the field take the width of the tag	Number		No	`w`

Date values must be written with the YYYY-MM-DD format (example with today date (UTC): 2024-04-26)

Boolean attributes do not need a value. For example, the {{text to=signer1 required}} tag means that the field will be required.

Special characters

Values that contain spaces must be enclosed in quotes. You can use either single or double quotes, as long as you use the same ones to open and close an attribute value.

To make it easier to use the Eurosign tag syntax with software such as Word or LibreOffice, Eurosign considers the following characters as quotation marks:

Single quote
Character	Description	Unicode
`'`	`Apostrophe`	`U+0027`
`‘`	`Left single quotation mark`	`U+2018`
`’`	`Right single quotation mark`	`U+2019`

Double quote
Character	Description	Unicode
`"`	`Quotation mark`	`U+0022`
`“`	`Left double quotation mark`	`U+201C`
`”`	`Right double quotation mark`	`U+201D`

Tip: You can check the unicode code of a character by copy-pasting it here.

If you need to put special characters in the value of an attribute, you can escape them with a backslash \. For example: {{text to=signer1 value="The \"yearly\" contract"}} will result in a field with the following default value: The "yearly" contract.

Identify a recipient in a tag

As seen in the Field attributes section, the to attribute is used to associate a tag with a recipient.

The value of the to attribute must be of the form signerX or sX, where X is the signatory number according to the order in which the signatories were added to the signature request. To associate a tag with the first signatory, the value of the to attribute must therefore be signer1 or s1, signer2 or s2 for the second, and so on.

A particular short format is available for the to attribute: it is possible to write directly its value, without preceding it with to=. Thus, in a tag, any value that is not preceded by an attribute name and the character = is automatically implicitly considered as the value of the to attribute. For example:

Assign a tag to a recipient — Three ways to create a text field for the first signer.

If you want to use recipient-related pre-defined variables, you will also need to identify recipients with this syntax. In this case, you may need to target not only a signer, but also an approver, an observer, or even a recipient by their index, regardless of their role.

Thus, similarly to the signatories, you can target :

Approvers with approver1/a1, approver2/a2...
Observers with observer1/o1, observer2/o2...

If you want to target a recipient by their index, whatever their role, you can just use a numeric value : 1 for the first recipient, 2 for the second, etc.

Let's take an example by considering a document with two signatories, two approvers and an observer. This document would first be sent to an observer and a first approver, then to the two signatories, and finally to the second approver. With such a configuration, here are the possible ways to identify each recipient:

Recipient	Numeric identifier	Role-based identifier
Observer	`1`	`observer1` / `o1`
Approver 1	`2`	`approver1` / `a1`
Signer 1	`3`	`signer1` / `s1`
Signer 2	`4`	`signer2` / `s2`
Approver 2	`5`	`approver2` / `a2`

Thus, to create a text field for the second signer, you can use either the role-based identifier ({{text to=signer2}} / {{text to=s2}} / {{text s2}}), or the numeric identifier ({{text to=4}} / {{text 4}}).

Using variables

Variables allow you to dynamically change values in your tags. They are particularly useful when sending via the Eurosign API, to dynamically pre-fill a field.

Syntax

Variables have to be enclosed in single curly braces ({ and }). They can be used as attribute values in tags.

For example, if you want to set a variable for the default value of the first text field we saw here, you will do so as follows:

Variable usage example — An example of using a variable in a tag

The values of the variables must be provided via the API at the time of the signature request creation. If a variable is present in your document but its value has not been provided at signature request creation time, it will be replaced by an empty string (as if the attribute had no value).

The closing of a variable and the closing of the tag must be separated

Be careful when a variable is used just before the tag closes }}, the closing bracket of the variable must not be directly next to the closing brackets of the tag. Consider separating them with a space, or surrounding the variable with single or double quotes.

Variable before tag closing example — Two different ways for dealing with variables at the end of a tag

Predefined variables

Some predefined variables are automatically available for all sent documents. You can use them in your document without having to give them a value beforehand.

Predefined variables are prefixed by a recipient identifier. For example, the variable {signer2.firstname} will be replaced by the firstname of the second recipient. The variable {a1.lastname} will be replaced by the lastname of the first approver. The variable {2.email} will be replaced by the email address of the 2nd recipient, whatever their role (cf. Identify a recipient in a tag).

Available recipient-related predefined variables
Field	Variable	Description	Exemple
`text`	`firstname`	The firstname of the recipient	`{{text s1 value={s1.firstname} }}`
`text`	`lastname`	The lastname of the recipient	`{{text s1 value={s1.lastname} }}`
`text`	`fullname`	The full name (firstname and lastname) of the recipient	`{{text s1 value={s1.fullname} }}`
`text` `email`	`email`	The email address of the recipient	`{{email s1 value={s1.email} }}`
`date`	`viewDate`	The current date the recipient views the document	`{{date s1 value={s1.viewDate} }}`
`text`	`viewTime`	The current time the recipient views the document	`{{text s1 value={s1.viewTime} }}`

Some examples

In order to make all this information more clear, here are some examples of tags that you may need to insert in your documents.

{{signature to="signer2"}} – {{sign to=s2}} – {{sign s2}}: 3 ways to create a signature field for the second signer
{{text to="signer2"}} – {{text to=signer2}} – {{text to=s2}} – {{text s2}}: 4 ways to create a text field for the second signer
{{text s1 required}}: A required text field for the first signer
{{text s1 value="Developer"}}: A text field for the first signer, pre-filled with the value Developer
{{text s1 value="Developer" readonly}}: Same as above, but the field will be read-only (the recipient will not be able to change its value)
{{number s2 min=0 max=1000 required}}: A required number field for the second signer, with 0 as minimum value and 1000 as maximum value (inclusive).
{{stamp s1 required}}: A field where the first signer will have to upload a stamp image
{{email s2 required}}: A field where the second signer will have to write an email address
{{text s1 width=300}}: A text field for the first signer with a fixed width of 300 pixels
{{text s1 value={s1.firstname} }}: A field for the first signer, pre-filled with the firstname of the first signer
{{number s1 min=0 max=1000 required width=200 hint="Enter amount here"}}: A 200 pixels wide required number field where the first recipient will have to write a number between 0 and 1000, and a tooltip containing Enter the amount here that appears when he hovers over the field.
{{radio s1 name="payment_method" value="credit_card"}} {{radio s1 name="payment_method" value="check"}} {{radio s1 name="payment_method" value="transfer"}} Three grouped radio fields that allow the first signer to select a payment method from three choices
{{radio s1 name="payment_method" value="credit_card" required}} {{radio s1 name="payment_method" value="check"}} {{radio s1 name="payment_method" value="transfer"}} Same as above, but the choice is mandatory (the first signer have to select an option)