| Reform is designed to be extremely flexible,
Reform has to be, with all the different operating platforms and form application
systems. Reform does not interact with your
application that is generating the outputted report or form, it receives
the information, it does not send any information back to your application
system, Reform is a one-way street. Reform comes with many different ways
to capture the information seamlessly from your application system, making
it invisible to the user.
The main Reform system processes off a data stream
or text file. Reform includes utility to capture or create these data streams
or text files seamlessly, hidden from the users.
Reform product can be setup up for two different
types of setups:
1.) Reform Server (Recommended)-
This is where Reform is installed on one machine, this machine can
be a Windows 95/98 or NT (Server or Workstation). This one machine will
monitor a shared directory that Reform is constantly monitoring for a Data
Stream or text file to be generated from any user on the network. The Server
also has Bar-coding built-in.
2.) Reform Single - This is where each
user has Reform installed on their workstation. This is not as recommend
as the server but sometime necessary. The reason this method is not always
the best solution is because it not always transparent to the user as the
server is.
Advantages of Server:
Less administration to coordinate, at the server
the administrator can creating and changes forms, and also change printer
locations. If it is at all possible use the server, it is recommend in
all network locations. In most situations the users should just be concerned
about their own jobs functions and not their computer system. Using the
server keeps the user unconcerned about their print job reaching their
destinations, this can all be coordinated at the Reform server. In all
cases the server can be setup to send print job, faxes and e-mails for
every workstation on the network.
Advantages of Single:
Users has usually more control over output devices,
some user like to have control on deciding when to send a form to different
output device. Some application can control the destination from within
the application, so have Reform control the destination would be repetitive.
To allow the user to personalized a form sent
to the destination by fax or e-mail, Reform can automatically fax from
information obtained for your application system. In cases were there are
client server based fax system and each client has a fax program location
on their workstation Reform needs to be running on the workstation in order
to send to the client fax system. The same applies to client e-mail systems.
Disadvantage of Single:
More administration to tend with, if the user
turns off the Reform program it will not print & Reform will be running
in more places then on just one machine. Changing the Reform template and
printer locations can become an addition effort. |
