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HOW TO USE FORMSFILE -------------------- Table of Contents Section Page A. USING ON-LINE INSTRUCTIONS . . . . . . . 1 B. FORMSFILE IN ACTION . . . . . . . . . . 2 Starting the Program . . . . . . . . . 3 Getting Around . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Exiting the Program . . . . . . . . . . 8 C. WORKING WITH FORMSFILE . . . . . . . . . 8 Setting Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Getting a Form . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Printing a Form . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Editing Forms and Templates . . . . . . 16 Saving a Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Removing Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Working with Form Libraries . . . . . . 23 D. PRINTING PROBLEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Copyright 1986, 1987 Channelmark Corporation A. USING ON-LINE INSTRUCTIONS Be sure to read the material in the Read Me First card packaged with your diskettes. And be sure you have followed the instructions that appear on your screen when you type INSTALL at the DOS prompt. These instructions are contained on a series of screens you can view at any time while using FormsFile. Press F2, and the Table of Contents for the instructions will appear on your screen. Use the PgUp and PgDn keys to page through the instructions (PgDn takes you to the next page; PgUp takes you to the previous page). To return to the Table of Contents, press Home. To leave the instructions and return to FormsFile, press F10. To print these instructions, press F3 while the instructions are on the screen. Check that your printer is on-line and loaded with paper. Use continuous-form paper; the program doesn't pause during printing. The printed instructions are 15 pages long. B. FORMSFILE IN ACTION FormsFile gives you immediate access to hundreds of forms. Just choose from the menu of ready-made business forms, and then print. FormsFile saves you time: no more drawing forms from scratch or inconvenient trips to an office supply store. With its huge selection and easy text editing features, FormsFile always gives you the form you want. (All the lines have already been drawn--with so many variations, you'll easily find one to suit your needs.) Forms are grouped by categories called libraries: Accounting, Sales, Personnel/Payroll, and more. If you want a Purchase Order, an Application for Employment, a Daily Planner, a Performance Appraisal, a Service Call Report, an Absentee Report, or just a Routing Slip, you'll find it easily. Just select a library, and then choose the form you want. You can print it "as is" or change the text before printing (and save the resulting new design as your own). Libraries designated by a bracketed asterisk [*] contain form templates. Form templates are generic forms that can be used in a variety of ways once they are edited. Browse through the template libraries, and you'll find dozens of templates to replace the hand-ruled forms you're using now. Simply edit text in the row, column, and title fields to suit your needs, and you'll have a new custom form. Several bonus features give your forms a professional appearance. Four sizes of type make your forms more dramatic. "Sideways" printing along the length of the paper accommodates forms wider than 8 1/2 inches. You can also personalize each form with your company name and address, and change any of the text on any form. Page 1 FormsFile is like an electronic supply cabinet: the cabinet is always full of forms, and your forms always fit your needs. STARTING THE PROGRAM Running FormsFile is easy: type FORM at the DOS prompt, and then press Enter. The first time you run the program, you will see instructions for the Change Defaults screen. After responding to the Change Defaults prompts (see Setting Defaults, below), the FormsFile Main Menu appears. Each subsequent time you run the program, you will go directly to the Main Menu. BACKING UP THE DISKS: Make a working copy of the Program and Data Disks, and then save the original diskettes as backups. Use the working copies when running FormsFile. If you have a hard disk system, install the program and its data in its own subdirectory. Here's how to proceed. FLOPPY-DISK USERS: First, format two blank diskettes. Next, copy the FormsFile Program and Data Disks to the formatted diskettes. To begin, place the Program Disk in drive A and a blank, formatted disk in drive B and type the following command: COPY A:*.* B: Follow the same procedure for backing up the Data Disk. (Consult your DOS manual if you are uncertain about the DOS commands for formatting and copying.) Store the original FormsFile Program and Data Disks in a safe place. While running FormsFile, keep the Program Disk in drive A and the Data Disk in drive B. HARD-DISK USERS: To run the program from a hard disk, you must first have copied it using the DOS COPY command. We suggest you create a directory on your hard disk called \FORMS and use it for both the program and data files. Consult your DOS manual if you are unsure about the DOS commands for creating subdirectories and for copying files. Here is an example for installing FormsFile in a subdirectory called FORMS. Press Enter at the end of each line. To begin, put the FormsFile Program Disk in drive A, and then type: C: CD C:\ MD FORMS CD FORMS COPY A:*.* C:\FORMS Page 2 When the copying is complete, place the Data Disk in drive A and again, type the following command: COPY A:*.* C:\FORMS The contents of the Data Disk will be copied to the directory, FORMS, on the hard disk. You will need to use the Change Defaults option (if you haven't already done so) to tell FormsFile to look for the data on the hard disk (see Setting Defaults, below). Store the original FormsFile disks in a safe place. GETTING AROUND FormsFile is so easy to use, you'll get good work from it the first time you run it. Active function keys are always displayed at the bottom of your screen; when the program requires a response from you, a prompt appears. Here are the other keys that help you get around: Up/Down arrows Move the highlight bar, so that you can select libraries and forms. Page keys Move the highlight bar in large (PgUp, PgDn, Home, End) jumps. F10 Accepts the current screen entries and moves ahead one screen in the program. Esc Moves to the previous screen in the program without accepting the current screen entries. Enter Accepts the current entry and moves the cursor to the next item. Ins Alternates between insert (block cursor) and overwrite (underscore cursor) modes. Del Deletes the character at the cursor position. GETTING HELP If you need help while using FormsFile, press F1. A help screen will appear, with a brief explanation of the screen currently displayed. For a more detailed explanation, press F2, and these on-line instructions will appear on your screen. Page 3 EXITING THE PROGRAM To exit to DOS from FormsFile, press E while the Main Menu is displayed and then press Enter. This brings up the message: "Exit to DOS (Y/N)?" Type Y (yes) or N (no). When you enter Y, you exit FormsFile and the DOS prompt appears; N returns you to FormsFile. If you try to exit without saving the work currently in memory, FormsFile warns you and gives you the opportunity to return to the Main Menu and save your work. C. WORKING WITH FORMSFILE These instructions occasionally use the term "field." By this we mean any place on a form where text appears: Name, Address, City, Zip Code, etc. All fields on all forms can be edited: you might, for example, change a field that reads "Employee name" to read "Student name;" or erase the word "Department" from a form altogether, if your company is not divided into departments. The following sections explain each of the Main Menu options. FormsFile is very easy to master and use, but reading all the instructions before working with the program makes things even easier. SETTING DEFAULTS To set the program up for your business and for your system, choose the Change Defaults option from the Main Menu. This option (which runs automatically the first time you use the program) lets you enter and save your company name and address for custom forms, and record the drive you'll be using for data. At the Main Menu, type 9, Change Defaults, and then press Enter. The Change Defaults screen will appear. DATA PATHNAME: This prompt tells the program the name of the drive and directory where your form libraries will be located. The default entry is drive B. Keep this entry if you are using a double floppy disk drive system. When you run FormsFile, keep the data disk in the B drive, and the program will automatically look there for your forms. If you have installed FormsFile on a hard disk, you can store your forms with it. Type the pathname that leads to the directory where you have saved your forms (C:\FORMS, for example). COMPANY HEADING: This information personalizes your forms. Nearly all the forms include space for your company name and address (on some of the 1/2 and 1/4 page forms, there is room for only the company name). FormsFile prints the information in a predetermined spot on each form. Words on the company- name line are always printed in larger type than the type Page 4 used for address lines. Company names can be up to 26 characters long; the address lines hold 31 characters each. You can include or exclude the information each time you print a form, and you needn't limit yourself to a company name and address: use the Company Heading prompts to enter anything else you'd like to see printed on your forms. You can also temporarily substitute different information without affecting the default information you've saved (see below). At the Company Heading prompts, type your company name and address (or other information); then press F10. The program asks, "Do you want to save the defaults?" Type Y (yes) to save them. You can now print the information in the designated location on your forms--see "Printing," below. USING TEMPORARY DEFAULTS: You may occasionally want to work with forms from a different disk, or use a different company name or other information. FormsFile lets you change your defaults for the current session, without disturbing the original defaults. To temporarily change your defaults, choose option 9, Change Defaults, from the Main Menu. Type a new data pathname or company name and address; then press F10 to continue. When the program asks, "Do you want to save the defaults?" type N (no); this tells FormsFile to use the new information for the current session only--that is, the new information will now be used, but will not be saved when you exit the program. The next time you start FormsFile, the information you have previously saved by typing Y (yes) in response to the "save defaults" question will be restored. To restore the previously saved information during the current session--that is, without first exiting and then restarting the program--select the Change Defaults option from the Main Menu and then press F3, Restore Defaults. The temporary information will be replaced by the previously saved information. GETTING A FORM Before you can print or edit a form, you must first load it into memory. Select 1, Get Form, from the Main Menu, and the library window will appear. Libraries contain forms according to category; libraries beginning with [*] contain form templates (see below). Small arrows appear at the left when there are more libraries on the list than will fit in the alphabetized window; use the page keys to see these additional names. Using the up and down arrow keys and page keys, highlight the name of a form library, and then press Enter. Page 5 A library-contents window will be superimposed on the library window. It shows an alphabetized list of the forms contained in the library you selected. Choose a form the same way you selected the library itself. Again, small arrows appear at the left when there are more names than will fit in the window; use the page keys to see them. When you select a form, FormsFile loads a copy into memory and returns to the Main Menu. PRINTING A FORM Once you have loaded a form into memory, you can print it (either individually, or along with every other form in the same library--see the "Number of Copies" prompt, below). Select item 2, Print Form, from the Main Menu. The Print Form screen will appear, with the library and form you selected displayed at the top of the screen. Before you can start printing, you must respond to several prompts. Respond to each in turn, pressing the tab and Shift- tab keys to move between prompts. To accept default entries, just leave them as they are. Here's how to respond to each prompt: PRINTER SELECTION: From the displayed list, enter the number that matches your printer. PAUSE BETWEEN PAGES: Type Y for yes, N for no. Answer yes for single sheets, no for continuous-form paper. NUMBER OF COPIES: Type a number, 1-99; or type A (for "all") to print a single copy of each form in the library. (Your printer will be running in graphics mode, which is slower than text mode, so you'll probably prefer to use a copy machine when you're making many copies.) PRINT TO: Type the name of the port your printer is connected to. Valid entries include LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, COM1, COM2, and PRN. Try LPT1 first if you are uncertain. INCLUDE DEFAULT COMPANY HEADING? Type Y (yes) if you want the company heading to appear on the form when you print it. (See "Setting Defaults, above.) Type N (no) if you want the company heading left blank. Note: If you have a company logo, try printing the form without the company name and address; then paste the logo on the printed form and use it as a master on your copy machine. OUTPUT STYLE: You can print your form in any of three styles. Select the style you want by typing F (final), B (blank), or N (numbered). Here's what each option does: FINAL. Use this option for a final draft of your form, with all fields printed as designed. Also use it the first time Page 6 you print a form; it lets you see a form as originally designed and can help you plan your editing when you are creating a custom version of a preconfigured form. BLANK. Choose this option to print just the lines on the form, without the text that appears when you choose option F. (The company heading will appear, however, if you selected it, above). This option is useful when you want to design a form from scratch and you have found an existing form with suitable line placement. NUMBERED. When you select this option, FormsFile prints the form with a number in each field--instead of text. The number appears with a line of periods, indicating the number of characters that will fit in the field. The location of the number (left, center, right) indicates the current text alignment. The size of the number indicates the type height for the field. Numbered printouts help you customize the preconfigured designs: matching numbers appear on the Edit Form screen, so you always know where you are as you work with text (see "Editing," below). As a reminder, the name of the form and library are also printed with the form. Finally, check that your printer is on-line, with paper in position, and then press F10 to begin printing. EDITING FORMS AND TEMPLATES FormsFile lets you change the text in any field on any form. For example, you might want the "Employee I.D." field on a time sheet to say "Clock Number" instead; or the "Date Hired" field on an employee record to read "Last Review." By first printing a form, it is easy to decide which fields you want to edit. Then, with a few quick changes you can have a form which is customized for your company or department. Don't overlook how easy it is to create an original form "from scratch" by editing a template. You might load a 25 Row template, for example, and create a Price Sheet by replacing the row headings with product names. With FormsFile, these edits are simple. (See "Form Templates," below, for further suggestions.) First, use the Get Form option to load a form into memory. Next, print a Final and a Numbered copy of the form; these make it easy to review the fields and plan your editing. Finally, with the form still in memory, select item 3, Edit Form, from the Main Menu. The Edit Form screen will appear, with the name of your chosen form at the top of the screen. A large window displays the contents of each field (text-entry area) on the form. Beneath the window a block cursor shows the current column position Page 7 along a ruler graphic, and a status line displays the line number, current text alignment, text size, and field width of the highlighted field. LINE NUMBERS. On your screen, each line is numbered. The numbers are identical to those that appear on the form when you choose number format when printing (see above). These numbers link the screen presentation with the printed output and make editing easy. CHANGING TEXT. Use the cursor and page keys to move the highlight bar to the fields you want to edit. The width of the highlight bar changes to indicate the maximum width of each field. Type your new text in the chosen fields. Use the space bar and backspace keys to erase undesired characters. Use the Ins (Insert) and Del (Delete) keys to insert and delete characters at the cursor position. To create "check-off" boxes, type adjacent square brackets, []; FormsFile will print the brackets as a small square box. Arrows appear on the bar that divides the field numbers from the field contents; the arrows let you know when there are more fields that don't fit on the current display. Use the cursor and page keys to bring these additional fields into view. Use the Home and End keys to go to the first and last fields in the form. CLEARING AND RESTORING TEXT FIELDS. Press F3 to clear the current field. If you clear a field by mistake, you can restore it by pressing F4, but only if the highlight bar remains on the field. Once you have moved to a new field, you cannot restore a previously cleared field (except by retyping it, or by reloading the original form from disk). To clear all text from the form, press Shift-F3. You will be prompted to confirm the operation. Press Y (yes) to clear all the text; press N (no) to abandon the command and let the text remain. Use this command if you find it easier to edit a blank form (using a numbered output form as your guide), than to type over the existing field text. TEXT ALIGNMENT. Use the F5 key to change the alignment of text in the current field. First press F5. Then select left, center or right alignment by typing L, C, or R. Use the Shift-F5 key to realign all text fields in the form at once. First press Shift-F5, then type L, C, or R, as just described. The status box always indicates the current alignment (which will be saved with the form). The position of the text doesn't change on the edit screen, however, so be sure to note the alignment setting. TEXT SIZE. The text size for each field is preset and cannot be changed. There are four text sizes, each with its own number of characters per inch (CPI): small (about 12 CPI), Page 8 medium (about 9 CPI), large (about 8 CPI; this is the one used for company names), and jumbo (about 5.5 CPI). FIELD WIDTH. The maximum width for each field on the form is shown in the status box. In many cases, the text provided in the field is shorter than the maximum width allowed: in such cases you can add extra text. FORM TEMPLATES. A principal benefit of FormsFile is the ability to load a template--a general-purpose form consisting of lines with labeled fields--and quickly convert it into a custom form. There are over one hundred templates to choose from: whether you want 4 Column Accountant paper, a 5 Day Weekly Appointment sheet, or a 35 Row and 6 Column ruled format, you can easily find it. When you want to create a form from scratch, consider starting with a template. Six template libraries are found at the end of the library list and are marked with an asterisk in brackets: [*]. Each library has a descriptive name. For example, the library named "[*] 35 Row Templates" tells you that each form in the library has 35 rows. Press Enter with this library highlighted and you will see that each form in it has a different number of columns. It's a simple matter to find one to suit your purpose. The form titled "3 Column" has 35 rows and three wide columns; the one called "3 Column + Ref" is similar, but it includes an extra "reference" column at the left. Templates marked <WIDE> print "sideways;" the finished form is 11" wide by 8 1/2" deep. To see how useful a template can be, select the "[*] Group Comparison Templates" library, then load and print Final versions of the forms "SAMPLE EDIT" and "<WIDE> 4 Groups; 2 Columns/Group". Note how the former is based on the latter. In this case, we have used a group comparison template (these templates group varying numbers of columns under single headings) and used it as the basis for a report that compares forecast sales with actual sales. You may find that many of your most useful forms will be created from templates. Take time to inspect each template library and print a few of its forms. The Group Comparison and Time Management libraries are especially useful: be sure to have a look at them. WRAPPING UP YOUR WORK. When your editing is done, press F10 to return to the Main Menu. Save the form (see below), being careful to use a new name; don't overwrite a preconfigured form. Then print the form and see how it looks. If further work is needed, the form is still in memory, so just repeat the editing sequence. Page 9 SAVING A FORM To save the form currently in memory, choose item 4, Save Form, from the Main Menu, and then press Enter. The library window will appear. Use the up and down arrow keys to place the highlight bar over the name of the library in which you want to save the edited form. Press Enter, and the contents window will appear, listing alphabetically the forms already in the selected library. Use the PgDn and PgUp keys to see additional names in the form window. At the bottom of your screen, the name of the form currently in memory is displayed. To save the edited form as a new form, press Home, and then type a new form name over the old one. (To see the original form name again, press F9.) Press F10 to save the form to the selected library. Its name is inserted in the alphabetized list. To replace the original form with the one you just edited, press F10 without changing the name. A warning screen will appear, telling you that you are about to overwrite the existing form. Press F10 to save your new design and overwrite the existing form; press Esc to return to the previous screen to type a new name for your form (choose one that does not already exist in the current library). Press F10 to save the new form. REMOVING FORMS To remove either a single form or all forms from a library, choose item 5, Remove Form, from the Main Menu, and then press Enter. The library window will appear. Use the up and down arrow keys to highlight the name of the library that contains the form or forms you want to remove. Press Enter, and the contents window will appear, listing the forms in the selected library. To remove a single form, highlight its name, and then press Enter. To remove all forms, press F3. The next screen asks you to confirm the action. Press F10 to remove the form, or forms; press Esc to abandon the operation and return to the previous screen. WORKING WITH FORM LIBRARIES Special features let you add, copy, and remove forms libraries. You'll want to use these features to set up your own libraries, share libraries with associates, and remove outdated libraries. ADD LIBRARY: Use this feature when you want to set up a new, empty library to which you will add forms. You might want such a library for custom-edited forms or a collection of Page 10 commonly used forms from several libraries. Select item 6, Add Library, from the Main Menu. The library window will appear, displaying the alphabetized names of the current libraries; below, you are prompted for the name of the new library. Type a new name (one that isn't in the current library list), press F10, and the new library will be inserted in the list. Remember, as yet there is nothing in the new library you've just created: you have set it up, and now it's ready for forms. If you type a name that already exists and press F10, a screen will appear to warn you that the new, empty library will overwrite the old one, and you will lose the forms in the old library. Press Esc to go back and type a different name. COPY LIBRARY: This function lets you copy entire libraries, with all their forms, from one disk to another, and it lets you merge two libraries into one. Thus you can share, duplicate, and combine libraries. Select item 7, Copy Library, from the Main Menu. When you press Enter, the Copy Library menu appears. Each of its three options is explained below. NOTE: You'll use the first two options (Copy Library to Disk and Copy Library from Disk) only if you need to copy form libraries from one computer equipped with FormsFile to another. (For example, you might need to share standardized forms among departments.) If you are not working with multiple computers, skip the next two sections and go on to the Merge Two Libraries function, below. COPY LIBRARY TO DISK: Lets you copy a forms library to a disk for distribution to other computers equipped with FormsFile. You might choose to do this if you have created a library of forms which you want used throughout your organization, or if you want to use the same forms at home as at work. (Once you have copied a library to disk, you will need to use the Copy Library from Disk option, below, for that library to be read by the second computer running FormsFile.) Select item 1, Copy Library to Disk, from the Copy Library menu. When you press Enter, the library window appears, and you are prompted to select a library. Highlight the library name you want, and then press F10. The next screen displays a directory listing for the disk and directory containing FormsFile. At the Save As prompt, backspace over the current entry and type a new drive (and path, if appropriate) and a new DOS filename for the library you have selected. Press F10, and the library is saved to Page 11 the disk, directory, and filename you have specified. For example, to copy the Sales forms library to a diskette in drive B, first highlight Sales in the library window. Then type the drive and filename at the Save As prompt (B:SALES.LIB, for example), and press F10. When you copy a library to a DOS file, use a filename you'll recognize quickly in a directory listing. We recommend always using the .LIB extension. COPY LIBRARY FROM DISK: Lets you copy a library file from a disk where it was saved using the Copy Library to Disk function, above. Use this option when you wish to add to your library list, a library which was created and saved at another computer running FormsFile. Select item 2, Copy Library from Disk, from the Copy Library menu. When you press Enter, the directory listing for the FormsFile disk and directory appears. To see a directory listing of the disk you are importing from, type its drive (and pathname, if needed) at the Name of File to Get prompt (backspace over the existing entry, if necessary), and then press Enter. If you (and your colleagues) have followed the file-naming advice above, all library files will have distinctive filenames--names ending in .LIB, for example. Type the DOS filename from the displayed list for the library file you want, and again press Enter. When you press Enter, the library window appears, listing the currently available libraries. The name of the library you are importing appears below. Compare the name of the library you are importing with the names in the window. If the library name duplicates one in the library window, and if you import the new library, you are warned that all forms in the existing library will be overwritten by the forms in the new library. However, if you give the new library a different name, you can add it to the list without over- writing the old one. Press F10 to accept the original name and add the library to your data disk. To change the name of the library you are importing, press Home, and then type a new library name. When you press F10, the library is added to FormsFile. MERGE TWO LIBRARIES: Lets you combine two libraries into one by choosing a library to copy from and a library to copy to. The first library (the source library) remains intact, while a copy of it is appended to the second (destination) library. Use this option any time you want to consolidate libraries. Select item 3, Merge Two Libraries, from the Copy Library menu. When you press Enter, the library window appears, and you are prompted to select a source library to copy. Page 12 Highlight the library name you want, and then press F10. The library window appears again, but this time you are prompted to select a destination library to copy to. Highlight the name you want, and again press F10. The next screen warns you that you are about to copy one library into another. Since forms in the source library may overwrite forms of the same name in the destination library, you are asked what action to take if duplicates are found. At the Replace Duplicate Forms prompt, type Y (yes) and FormsFile will replace forms in the destination library with any forms of the same name it finds in the source library. Type N (no, the default setting), and the program will not import forms of the same name; instead, the original forms will remain in the destination library. REMOVE LIBRARY: Deletes empty libraries from disk and from the library window. To use this function, you must first have deleted all forms from the library you are removing. (See "Removing Forms" above.) Select item 8, Remove Library, from the Main Menu. The library window will appear, displaying the names of the current libraries. Highlight the name of an empty library to remove, and then press F10. If the library is empty, it will be removed and the Main Menu will appear. D. PRINTING PROBLEMS If you have a printing problem when working with FormsFile, check the items in the list that follows. Always begin with your equipment, then analyze your printout. Here are some possible problems and their solutions: PRINTER REFUSES TO PRINT If your printer refuses to print, check the following, then turn your printer and computer off for a minute and try again: 1 Make sure your printer cable is tightly plugged into both the computer and the printer and that the printer is on- line and is not out of paper or ribbon. 2 Make sure you've specified the right printer selection and that your printer has any required options. 3 Make sure that all printer switches are properly set to print graphics (see your printer manual for details). 4 If you are using a serial printer, make sure the COM port has been properly configured with the DOS MODE command. (See your DOS manual for details.) Page 13 FORM IS ENLARGED, CONDENSED, BROKEN, OR PRINTER PRINTS "GARBAGE" Turn the printer off, wait a moment, and then turn it on. Try printing again. If you have an Okidata printer, try selecting the IBM option when you specify your printer on the Print Form screen. --- End of Instructions --- Page 14