Open topic with navigation

Forms

This chapter contains the following topics:

Introduction to Forms

Form Definitions

Entering Forms

Displaying a Form

Printing a Forms List

Introduction to Forms

This selection allows you to tailor Customer Order to work with your invoice forms or formats.

You can print the format along with a file that contains the form design.

When you print invoices, using the Billing (Print invoices) selection, you must specify a form ID to be used. The format for the form must exist.

One predefined format is included for four form types. You must restore the file using customer orders file utilities. See the PBS Administration doc for instructions on using the file utilities. The file is in either a zip format for Windows or tar format for UNIX/Linux. It is called COFRMF00.zip/.tar and is located in the top-level PBS folder. After you restore it, print the list of predefined forms, use the Reports, other (Forms) selection. See Printing a Forms List.

If the predefined format is different than want you need, you may make a copy of an already existing form and modify the copy. You may also design your form from scratch.

An unlimited number of forms can be defined with this selection. Forms allows you to print almost any information field in the C/O Header and Line Items.

Form Definitions

Described below are definitions for certain terms used in this selection and in this chapter.

Each form consists of three information groups: header, line items, and totals.

Header

is the top part of the form and typically includes information that relates to the order in general (for example, the order number, order date, customer’s name and address). Header information always prints before Line Item and Totals information.

Line Items group

is the middle part of the form, and typically includes information on each line item on the order (such as the item number and description, quantity ordered, and price). Line Item information always prints after Header information and before Totals information.

Totals

is the bottom part of the form, and typically includes the order total, order discount percent, and total weight. Totals information always prints after Header and Line Item information.

Pagination

A form is either paginated or not paginated. A paginated form is one that may have multiple pages, where each page is the same length. Pre-printed forms and forms that are separated from one another by perforations are examples of paginated forms. A form that is not paginated has no specific length. Continuous paper on a roll, such as that used on a calculator, is an example of a non-paginated form.

Typically, invoices are paginated.

Lines and Columns

The length of a paginated form is defined by the number of lines on the form, from the top of the form to the bottom. If printing is done at 6 lines per inch, an 11 inch form has 66 lines.

When defining a paginated form, you specify the starting line number of the Header information, the starting and ending line numbers of the Line Item information, and the starting line number of the Totals information.

When defining each data field to be printed on a paginated form, you specify the group of the field (Header, Line Item, or Totals), its line number within the group, and the starting column number where it is to print.

Line number of a field

is its print line number starting at the first line of that group. For example, if you specified that the Line Item information starts on line 10 of your form and ends on line 40, you are allowing for 31 lines of Line Item information. The line number of a Line Item field must be between 1 and 31.

Column number of a field

is simply the number of spaces to the right of the left margin of the form, beginning at 1.

Entering Forms

An unlimited number of forms can be defined with this selection. Forms allows you to print almost any information field in the C/O Header and Line Item files.

Select

Forms from the Master Information menu.

The following screen displays:

On this screen, you identify the form with an ID, type, and description, You also define its general appearance.

From this screen, you can work with both new and existing forms. If a form exists for the form ID and type you specify, that form appears and is available for changes or deletion.

Enter the following information:

1. Form ID

Options 

Enter the ID for this form, or use the options:

2. Type

Enter the character that designates the type of order for which this form will be used. The types are listed below:

Options 

You may also use the options:

Usually, you would define all types for each new form ID. The predefined forms provided with C/O include all five types.

If the type you specify already exists for the form ID, the information for that form type displays and may be changed or deleted as usual. You also may use one of these options:

3. Description

Enter the description of this form type.

Print using graphic image?

Answer Y to use a graphic image form file to merge with the data or N to print without an image file.

If you answer Y, then you will be prompted to enter the name of the file.

If you are using a graphical image file, then you must select Windows printer or a Company information PDF printer when you print C/O forms.

Windows printer is only available when running PBS on Windows or Thin Client, but the Company information PDF printer is available for printing forms on all the supported PBS systems.

See the Form File Use and Design section in the More on PBS Printing chapter In the PBS Administration documentation to learn more about modifying the PBS graphical file examples or creating your own from scratch.

File name:

You must make an entry in this field if you select Y to Print using graphic image?

Enter the name of the file that will merge with the forms data. This file must be of a JPEG or Bitmap file format only. The file must be present in the top-level PBS folder called IMAGES and must be spelled exactly as the file name with the proper extension.

4. Width

(max = 132)

Enter the number of columns that may be printed on a form. Your entry here is determined by the width of your form, as well as the setting on your printer for characters per inch (or pitch).

5. Paginated ?

Answer Y if the form has a specific length that does not change, regardless of the information to be printed on it. Answer N if the length of the form varies, depending upon the amount of information printed.

If you answer Y to Paginated ?, the fields 7-12 appear.

6. Length

Enter the number of lines on each form. Your entry here should represent the entire length of one form, including any area at the top and bottom of the form that you wish to leave blank.

Besides the length of the form, the number of lines you enter here is determined by the setting on your printer for the number of lines per inch.

7. First line for headers

Enter the first line number on which header information is to print.

8. Headers 1st page only ?

Answer Y to print header information on only the first page of the form. Answer N to print it at the top of every page of the form.

9. First line for line items

Enter the line number on which the first line item is to print. Your entry must be higher than the line number specified for First line for headers (field # 7).

10. Last line for line items

Enter the line number on which the last line item is to print. Your entry must be higher than the line number specified for First line for line items (field # 9).

11. First line for totals

Enter the first line number on which totals information is to print. Your entry must be higher than the line number specified for Last line for line items (field # 10), and less than the number of lines specified for Length (field # 6).

Field number to change ?

Make changes as usual. For an existing form, you are then asked View/change form layout ?. Answer Y if you wish to review or work with any of the fields to be printed on the form.

When defining a new form, or if you specified to view the layout of an existing form, the screen appears as follows:

On this screen, you describe each field to be printed on the form. Up to 200 fields may be selected to print on each form.

Refer to the Form Fields appendix for a description of each Header/Total and Line Item field.

For each field, enter the information as follows:

1. Field group

Enter H if the field is part of the Header group, L for the Line Item group, or T for the Totals group.

Options 

You may also use one of the options:

2. Line number

Enter the line number on which this field is to print, or press <F1> to the display the next field on file within this group.

For a paginated form, enter the line number within the group on which this field is to print. For example, if you specified that the first line for headers is 4 and the first line for line items is 10, there are 6 lines available for the header group. This means that line numbers 1 through 6 would be valid entries here.

For a non-paginated form, any line number from 1 to 999 is valid.

3. Column

Options 

Enter the starting column in which to print this field, or use the Option

Your entry may not be greater than the width of the form.

Selecting Fields

At Field number, a window displays at the bottom of the screen which looks like this:

This window shows the first group of fields available for printing in the Header and Totals area of your form. (Your screen may appear slightly different.) There are several more windows showing additional Header and Totals fields that you may select to print.

To see the additional windows, press <PgDn>. To return to a previous window, press <PgUp>. Here is the second set of fields after selecting <PgDn>:

If you had previously selected any of these fields to print on this form, an asterisk appears next to the field number.

If you specify a Field group of Line Items, different windows display, showing only Line Item fields.

Refer to the Form Fields appendix for a description of each Header/Total and Line Item field.

Continue entering the information as below:

4. Field number

Options 

Enter the number of the field that you wish to select, or use one of the options:

5. Conditional print ?

Answer Y if this field is to print only when some field (to be specified next) meets a specific condition. Answer N if this field should always print.

If you answer Y, these additional fields appear:

When Field-# 999

When the field selection window appears, enter the number of the field upon which printing is dependent. Use the <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys to view additional windows.

Enter the conditions that this field must meet in order for the field being defined to print.

First, enter one of the following abbreviations:

Then enter the value that the dependent field must contain to complete the condition. Press <Enter> to indicate a value of zero (for a numeric or date field) or spaces (for an alphanumeric field).

Printing a Field

If you need to print a field when either one condition or another is met, define the field specifying the first condition as described above. Then redefine the field, using the same line number, column number, and field number.

After entering the field number, a message informs you that the field is already defined and you are asked if you wish to define a duplicate. Answer Y and complete the definition, specifying the other condition under which the field is to print.

This allows printing under one condition or the other. There is no way to request printing when both conditions are true.

Alphanumeric, Numeric, Date, and Literal Fields

The remaining fields control the appearance of data on the form. The fields requested depend on the type of field you selected in Field number (field number 4). There are four different types:

Alphanumeric fields

These may contain any combination of letters, digits, and special symbols.

Numeric fields

Numeric fields only contain digits, along with any decimal points, minus signs or parentheses (for negative numbers), and commas.

Date fields

Date fields only contain dates.

Literal fields

Literal fields contain text that you type. Most literal fields are defined by pressing <Enter> at Field number, rather than specifying a field number.

Alphanumeric Fields

The following two fields display for each alphanumeric field:

6. Length

Enter the number of characters you want to print in this field, up to the maximum number shown, or press <Enter> for the maximum length of the field.

7. Justify

Enter R to right-justify the characters, or press <Enter> for no justification, to print the characters as entered

If you specify right-justify, the characters will be aligned with the right-hand margin of the space for this field.

Numeric Fields

The following five fields display for each numeric field:

6. Integer digits

Enter the number of integers (digits to the left of the decimal point) you want to print in this field, up to the maximum shown, or press <Enter> for the maximum shown.

7. Decimal digits

(If the field has no decimal places, (Not applicable) displays here.)

Enter the number of decimal places you want to print, up to the maximum shown, or press <Enter> for the maximum shown.

8. Commas ?

If the field has less than 4 integer digits, (Not applicable) displays here.

Answer Y to use commas when printing this field.

9. Leading zeros ?

If you specified to use commas, (Not applicable) displays here.

Answer Y to include any beginning zeros when printing this field.

10. Negatives ?

(If the field cannot be negative, (Not applicable) displays here.)

Enter the letter that designates how negative numbers are printed, as follows:

When you complete entry of a numeric field, the print format of the field as you have defined it is displayed on the screen.

Date Fields

The following field displays for each date or time field:

6. Format

For a date field, select the format to use when printing this field, as follows:

When you complete entry, the print format of the date or time as you have defined it is displayed on the screen.

Literal Fields

The following three fields display for each literal field:

6. Length (max = 80)

Enter the number of characters to be used when printing this field, up to the maximum shown, or press <Enter> for the maximum shown.

A total of 1000 characters is available for printing all literal fields on a form, with a maximum of 80 characters for each. (A message displays when less than 150 characters are available.)

7. Text

Enter the exact text to be printed, up to the length specified in field # 6.

8. Print on 1 character

Enter L to print the literal text only for line items that are not component items of kits. Enter C to print the text only for component items. Enter B to print the text for both line items and component items.

Options 

Use the following options:

Displaying a Form

While entering a form, you can press <F2> to see what the form looks like so far. Follow the screen instructions.

If one field overlaps another field, either question marks or asterisks appear in the area of overlap.

Question marks display if none of the overlapping fields are conditionally printed, in which case you probably need to change the position of a field.

Asterisks display if at least one of the overlapping fields is conditionally printed. In this case, you may wish to review the definitions of the overlapping fields to ensure that they do not print under the same conditions.

Displaying a form will not merge the form file.

Testing Forms

A test form can be printed that substitutes X’s or 9’s for each field that you have selected to print. You can print the test on the actual form you intend to use, or on plain paper. (When using Invoices (Print), you can also print a test alignment form.)

To test your form, at the first Forms screen, display the form you wish to test and press <F5>.

When the printers defined in the Company file display, select the printer on which this form is to be printed.

If you are on Windows or Thin client and you have selected to merge data with a form file, then the form file will print with the test form.

Copying Forms

You can rapidly produce a new form by copying an existing form that is similar to the new one. After copying the form, tailor the new form by changing the form and field information as necessary.

To copy a form, at the first Forms screen

Display the existing form that you wish to copy and press <F6>.

A window displays for you to enter the following information:

Copy to form ID

Enter the ID of the new form. The form ID will be automatically created during the copy process if it does not already exist.

Copy to type

Enter the character that designates the type of order for which this new form will be used. The types are:

Options 

You may also use the Option

If the type you specify already exists for the new form ID, the form cannot be copied and an error message is displayed.

After the copy process is complete, you may change the new form as needed.

Printing a Forms List

This selection prints a report that lists the forms you have defined. You may select to print a specific form type or all form types for the forms.

For each form type on the list, you are shown general information (description, form width, if form is paginated, etc.). The field definitions for each form type may also be optionally printed.

Select

Forms from the Report, other menu.

This is the screen you see:

On the screen that appears, enter the following:

1. Starting form ID

2. Ending form ID

Enter the range of form ID’s for which to print the list. Follow the screen instructions.

Options 

You may also use the following option:

3. Type to print

Enter the form type to print for the forms, as shown on the screen.

Options 

You may also use the following option:

4. Print fields ?

Answer Y to print the information defined for each field on a form. If you answer N, only the general information about a form is printed.