Michael_Evans_S-E-Banken@QZCOM.MAILNET (08/27/86)
As part of an office automation experiment, we intend to replace
stocks of about 35 different preprinted forms at 10 offices with
electronic forms.
Each location will be equipped with a PC-AT under MS-DOS 3.1 or later
and a laser printer (type as yet undecided). The user will run an
application on the AT to collect the variable information which is to
be printed on the forms. Printing an 11x8 form should of course take
no longer than it would take to type the variable information on a
pre-printed form.
We are looking for software (public domain or commercial) which will
merge a text file containing the variable information with the form
definition.
The forms are today designed on an old stand-alone Compugraphic
photosetter. They contain many boxes and explanations in small type.
We intend to define them centrally once for all offices either by
scanning them in (how?) or defining them using a special program. As
these forms are sent outside our organisation (to customers or
authorities) we require fairly tidy output.
The variable information for a document could be as little as a date,
name and a tick in one of four boxes or as much as half a page of
prose plus three names and addresses etc. This information need not be
printed with such high quality as the form itself. We think that the
application will output a file containing something like:
Doc_date = 1986-08-26
Name = Joe E. Doe
Box_4 = X
Street = 45 West Main Street
where the variables Doc_date, Name etc refer to particular areas on
the predefined form.
Does anyone have suggestions as to what software (and printer) we
could attach to our ATs when this system begins running in November ?
As we are new to small laser printers, we would be grateful for all
help and suggestions from the net.
Mailnet: Michael_Evans_S-E-Banken%QZCOM.MAILNET@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA