Support for Form Fields

[vbaker]

Does this product support MS-Word-like forms entry, consisting of "protected" fields (where users cannot type) and data entry regions (text boxes, check boxes, etc.) where users can enter text?

Can a very brief overview of using this be provided?

Thanks,
Van Baker

[Administrator]

Hi Van,

Currently we do not support creating or filling form fields. Could you please provide more information on your requirements or a possible usage scenario?

Thanks,

Stephen.

[vbaker]

Hi Stephan,

Here is a usage scenario:

An application that supports over 200 sales associates permits them to input sales information into predefined fields (date, department, region, amounts, etc.) of an electronic Transaction Document while obtaining other information (customer name, address, etc.) from a database. Certain "boilerplate" text and graphics (logo, copyright, disclaimer, etc.) are also present in the document but are read-only and cannot be overwritten by the program or the user.

Once the information has been entered for a sale, the Transaction Document can be saved, distributed and emailed to other recipients within the company. Many of the sales associates do not have Microsoft Word installed on their workstations and the business owner does not want to obtain it for these users.

This is a fairly common scenario.

The feature summary for Essential DocIO mentions that it supports template-based document generation, and can "dynamically fill data into the template." I find it disappointing that DocIO does not support viewing and editing, as well as creating, these Word-compatible documents. Why would one want to create documents in one application but have to view and edit them in another?

The feature summary also specifically says that DocIO "can be used by systems that do not have Microsoft Word installed", yet fails to point out that an external viewer _is_ required in order for a user to actually see the doc.

Maybe I just misunderstood the purpose of DocIO. Perhaps you can provide me with a usage scenario of what types of activities it was designed to support.

I do believe, however, that an integrated, interactive document formatter/editor/viewer is something developers really want and need-- including form-based data input as supported by Word and Acrobat. You might want to consider adding this capability for a near-future release.

Regards,
Van Baker

>Hi Van,
>
>Currently we do not support creating or filling form fields. Could you please provide more information on your requirements or a possible usage scenario?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Stephen.

[Administrator]

Hi Van,

Sorry for the confusion. The main problem that DocIO intends to solve is that it can be used as a replacement for Office automation in desktop and web applications. MS Word was not designed to be a report generation library, so it has several disadvantages compared to DocIO. Here is a list of some of the problems in using MS Word as a reporting component

1)Microsoft, themselves do not recommend using Word as a report generation server side component. The reasons are clearly explained in this Knowledge Base article from Microsoft http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q257757#kb2.
Here is a quote from the article "Microsoft does not currently recommend, and does not support, Automation of Microsoft Office applications from any unattended, non-interactive client application or component (including ASP, DCOM, and NT Services), because Office may exhibit unstable behavior and/or deadlock when run in this environment."

2) Speed: Word automation is several times slower than Essential DocIO while generating reports.

3) Cost: Licensing DocIO is much cheaper than MS Word licensing options. Here is a link to a Knowlege Base article from Microsoft http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q243006#kb2

Here are some typical usage scenarios for Essential DocIO

1) Customer is given an option to download an invoice in MS Word format. In this scenario, the web server need not have MS Word installed and the end user also does not need to have MS Word installed, instead they can download the free MS Word viewer from there http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=95e24c87-8732-48d5-8689-ab826e7b8fdf&DisplayLang=en

2) A desktop addressbook application that can generate mailing labels in MS Word format for everyone in the list.

Please let me know if you need further clarification.

Thanks,

Stephen.

>Hi Stephan,
>
>Here is a usage scenario:
>
>An application that supports over 200 sales associates permits them to input sales information into predefined fields (date, department, region, amounts, etc.) of an electronic Transaction Document while obtaining other information (customer name, address, etc.) from a database. Certain "boilerplate" text and graphics (logo, copyright, disclaimer, etc.) are also present in the document but are read-only and cannot be overwritten by the program or the user.
>
>Once the information has been entered for a sale, the Transaction Document can be saved, distributed and emailed to other recipients within the company. Many of the sales associates do not have Microsoft Word installed on their workstations and the business owner does not want to obtain it for these users.
>
>This is a fairly common scenario.
>
>The feature summary for Essential DocIO mentions that it supports template-based document generation, and can "dynamically fill data into the template." I find it disappointing that DocIO does not support viewing and editing, as well as creating, these Word-compatible documents. Why would one want to create documents in one application but have to view and edit them in another?
>
>The feature summary also specifically says that DocIO "can be used by systems that do not have Microsoft Word installed", yet fails to point out that an external viewer _is_ required in order for a user to actually see the doc.
>
>Maybe I just misunderstood the purpose of DocIO. Perhaps you can provide me with a usage scenario of what types of activities it was designed to support.
>
>I do believe, however, that an integrated, interactive document formatter/editor/viewer is something developers really want and need-- including form-based data input as supported by Word and Acrobat. You might want to consider adding this capability for a near-future release.
>
>Regards,
>Van Baker
>
>>Hi Van,
>>
>>Currently we do not support creating or filling form fields. Could you please provide more information on your requirements or a possible usage scenario?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>Stephen.

[Roderick Prince]

Do you have a sample of #2 below? Here are some typical usage scenarios for Essential DocIO 1) Customer is given an option to download an invoice in MS Word format. In this scenario, the web server need not have MS Word installed and the end user also does not need to have MS Word installed, instead they can download the free MS Word viewer from there http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=95e24c87-8732-48d5-8689-ab826e7b8fdf&DisplayLang=en 2) A desktop addressbook application that can generate mailing labels in MS Word format for everyone in the list. Please let me know if you need further clarification. Thanks, Stephen.