I have a form that has contract regulations. For the most part they
remain the same however there are changes. We fill the variable data
portions and use laser formatting.

I am looking for a better way to create the form.

any suggestions?

I hope i am clear on this?

Just how whizzy do you want the form to look?

If standard 10 cpi fixed width printing is adequate, and you are using D3, I
find the output processor does a good job with only a slight learning curve.
Although I have found situations where running data twice through the output
processor does great job for stuff coming out of a database, thanks to the
use of the override character.

Apparently, if you have the inclination, you can do more with variable width
fonts, etc.

Otherwise, you could create a postscript document processor, and pass the
required data and formatting codes into a Pick program and out to a printer.

Another option is look at the possibility of using a PDF that allows you to
fill in the blanks, although this is more for forms than anything else.

hth, Dale


"MVGuru" <theo (AT) violetvortex (DOT) com> wrote

We are using special formatting and laser output and are sending the
special formatting characters to the printer. Our problem is that we
have to change the formatting for changes everytime there are new
requirements.

I now use ms-word for this sort of thing. I make a mail-merge word
template, then from D3 or UV I build a tab-delimited file of the
mail-merge "source" data. I drive word on a client PC using Accuterm-
there are some sample programs on the asent.com site that show how to
do this. You can write the tab-delim mail-merge source file to a
network share from D3 or UV, or use the Accuterm FTD program to put in
on the client PC before firing off word.

Because the "pretty formatting" stuff is now maintained in word, the
end-users (i.e. not me) can maintain or update the main document
themselves.

/Scott Ballinger
Pareto Corporation
Edmonds WA USA
206 713 6006

Pre-empting Tony's email... How about creating the form in html with some
sort of "bookmarks" where you can put the data and then just using internet
explorer to print the form??

Personally we use a third party product called "formdocs" (www.formdocs.com)
to do pretty much the same thing - however, we produce the form in windows
with data grabbed from our jBase database - I guess this could be done, but
I don't know your environment to know if it would work or not...

Regards
Sion
"MVGuru" <theo (AT) violetvortex (DOT) com> wrote

MVGuru wrote:
This sounds like a good application for XSL-FO. There's a steepish
learning curve, but it might well be what you're after. The Apache FOP
project is one free example, written in Java. You'd need to emit an XML
document to feed through an XSL stylesheet using a call to a Java
program, or something similar. The good news is that it can either print
directly or generate any number of other different formats, including
HTML and PDF.

Cheers,
Luke

On 6 Dec 2005 11:08:12 -0800, "Scott Ballinger"
<scott.ballinger (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:

Using Word is an excellent way to go - unless you have a religous
attachment to Open Office :-)

Have a look at http://www.15seconds.com/issue/991125.htm

This shows how to use XMLHTTP to get data to your application, Excel
in this case, but it works very well for Word.

I have developed a number of Word templates, each has Bookmarks
wherever variable data fits, some is filled in through a VBA
controlled form, when the 'Process' button is clicked, the VBA routine
calls a simple ASP page that extracts the data from D3 & returns it to
the client where the routine plugs it into the appropriate spots, very
simple to implement and maintain.

HTH

Dave

Most of the time we print the contracts are single use, one at a time,
instead of mass producing multiple contracts. I know i am being a pain
about this, and your ideas are great. We are sticking with Pick for a
solution however in the future we arent tied to it.

On 7 Dec 2005 06:03:49 -0800, "MVGuru" <theo (AT) violetvortex (DOT) com> wrote:


All the more reason to do the format stuff outside of the MV system !

When/if you move systems, your contract formats stay the same, defined
by the Word template, all you do is change the datasource.

Whether you print one or a thousand at a time, the principle remains
the same.

Dave