User manual NUANCE OMNIFORM 2 REFERENCE FOR MACINTOSH

OmniForm Reference ® Version 2 for Macintosh CAERE CORPORATION 100 Cooper Court Los Gatos, California 95030-3321 European Offices: Caere GmbH Innere Wiener Strasse 5 81667 Munich Germany Caere UK Information Centre Abbey House, 4 Abbey Orchard Street Westminster, London SW1P2JJ, U.K. Please Note To use this program, you should know how to work in the Macintosh environment. Please refer to your Macintosh documentation if you have questions about how to use menu commands, dialog boxes, scroll bars, and so on. OmniForm Reference Version 2.01 for Macintosh Copyright© 1997 Caere Corporation. All rights reserved. CAERE®, Logical Form Recognition, and OmniForm® are trademarks of Caere Corporation. Formonix is a trademark of Formonix, Inc. Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Such designations appearing in this manual have been printed in initial caps. Product Serial Number: _______________________________________________ ii Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction OmniForm Features ........................................................................................................................ 1-2 Using the Documentation .............................................................................................................. 1-3 Online Help............................................................................................................................... 1-3 Formatting.................................................................................................................................1-3 Symbols......................................................................................................................................1-4 Chapter 2 Installation and Setup System Requirements ..................................................................................................................... 2-2 Registering OmniForm ...................................................................................................................2-2 Installing OmniForm ...................................................................................................................... 2-3 Starting OmniForm .........................................................................................................................2-4 Chapter 3 Tutorials Tutorial 1 -- Load and Fill a Form................................................................................................ 3-2 Launch OmniForm...................................................................................................................3-2 Scan the Sample Form ............................................................................................................. 3-3 Fax the Sample Form ............................................................................................................... 3-6 Import an Image File................................................................................................................ 3-6 Filling in the Form..................................................................................................................3-10 Design View ............................................................................................................................3-13 Tutorial 2 -- Edit Text and Add a Graphic ...............................................................................3-15 Scan or Import the Sample Form .........................................................................................3-15 Verifying OCR ........................................................................................................................3-17 Tutorial 3 -- Design Your Own Form ........................................................................................3-21 Pre-Organization ....................................................................................................................3-22 Open a New, Blank Form......................................................................................................3-22 Create the Text Objects..........................................................................................................3-23 Create the Fill Text Objects ...................................................................................................3-23 Create the Comb Objects.......................................................................................................3-27 Create the Check Box Objects...............................................................................................3-29 Create the Table Object..........................................................................................................3-31 Create the Graphic Objects ...................................................................................................3-36 iii Define the Calculations ........................................................................................................ . 3-37 Customize the Form .............................................................................................................. 3-41 Test the Form in Fill View..................................................................................................... 3-44 Tutorial 4 -- The OmniForm Database...................................................................................... 3-46 Duplicating a Database Record............................................................................................ 3-46 Creating New Records .......................................................................................................... 3-47 Search the Database Records................................................................................................ 3-48 Sort the Database Records .................................................................................................... 3-49 Database Changes .................................................................................................................. 3-50 Deleting Records .................................................................................................................... 3-51 Chapter 4 Views and Form Usage Using Form Assistant ..................................................................................................................... 4-2 Opening Form Assistant ......................................................................................................... 4-2 The Form Assistant Options................................................................................................... 4-3 Setting the Form Assistant Startup Option .......................................................................... 4-4 The Design View Window............................................................................................................. 4-5 The Fill View Window.................................................................................................................... 4-6 Form Usage Options ....................................................................................................................... 4-7 Choosing a Form Usage Option............................................................................................. 4-7 Where to Select Form Usage Options ................................................................................... 4-8 Changing Form Usage............................................................................................................. 4-9 Chapter 5 OmniForm Procedures Scanning a Paper Form................................................................................................................... 5-2 Scanning With Form Assistant............................................................................................... 5-2 Using the Scan Form... Command .......................................................................................... 5-4 Importing an Image File........................................................................................................ ......... 5-8 Importing With Form Assistant............................................................................................. 5-8 Using the Scan Form... Command to Import ...................................................................... 5-10 Filling a Form................................................................................................................. ................ 5-13 Filling Fields With Form Assistant...................................................................................... 5-13 Using the Fill Command ....................................................................................................... 5-13 Printing or Faxing a Form ............................................................................................................ 5-14 Printing/Faxing With Form Assistant ................................................................................ 5-14 Using the Print... Command ................................................................................................. 5-15 Searching a Form........................................................................................................................... 5-17 Searching With Form Assistant ........................................................................................... 5-17 Using the Search... Command............................................................................................... 5-18 Opening a Form to Design....................................................................................................... .... 5-19 Opening a Form in Design View With Form Assistant.................................................... 5-19 Using the Design Command ................................................................................................. 5-19 iv Creating a New Form ...................................................................................................................5-20 Creating a New Form With Form Assistant.......................................................................5-20 Using the New Command .....................................................................................................5-20 Opening a Form.............................................................................................................................5-21 International Settings ....................................................................................................................5-22 Selecting a Language for Your Form(s) ..............................................................................5-22 How OmniForm Uses Language Selections.......................................................................5-23 The Allow Multiple Languages Option ..................................................................................5-25 Menu Shortcuts..............................................................................................................................5-26 Chapter 6 Designing a Form The Design Process .........................................................................................................................6-2 The Design View Toolbars ............................................................................................................. 6-3 The Standard Toolbar .............................................................................................................. 6-3 The Font/Text Toolbar ............................................................................................................ 6-4 The Arrange Toolbar ............................................................................................................... 6-4 The Drawing Toolbar .............................................................................................................. 6-5 Creating Objects............................................................................................................................... 6-6 General Creation Guidelines ..................................................................................................6-6 Creating a Text Object ............................................................................................................. 6-7 Creating a Line Object ............................................................................................................. 6-7 Creating an Oval Object .......................................................................................................... 6-8 Creating a Rectangle Object....................................................................................................6-8 Creating a Graphic Object....................................................................................................... 6-8 Creating a Fill Text Object.....................................................................................................6-13 Creating a Comb Object ........................................................................................................6-13 Creating a Check Box Object ................................................................................................6-14 Creating a Circle Text Object................................................................................................6-14 Creating a Table Object .........................................................................................................6-14 Creating a Fill Graphic Object ..............................................................................................6-15 Defining Objects ............................................................................................................................6-16 Defining a Graphic Object.....................................................................................................6-16 Defining a Fill Text Object ....................................................................................................6-17 Defining a Comb Object ........................................................................................................6-21 Defining a Comb Element Object ........................................................................................6-23 Defining a Check Box Object ................................................................................................6-24 Defining a Circle Text Object................................................................................................6-26 Defining a Table Object .........................................................................................................6-26 Defining a Table Cell .............................................................................................................6-27 Defining a Fill Graphic Object..............................................................................................6-27 Changing Object Appearance......................................................................................................6-29 Redesigning Your Form ...............................................................................................................6-33 Selecting an Object .................................................................................................................6-33 v Moving an Object ................................................................................................................... 6-34 Resizing an Object.................................................................................................................. 6-34 Deleting an Object.................................................................................................................. 6-35 Formatting Text...................................................................................................................... 6-35 Redesigning a Table............................................................................................................... 6-38 Aligning Objects..................................................................................................................... 6-39 Sending Objects Front or Back ............................................................................................. 6-40 Changing Tab Order.............................................................................................................. 6-41 Placing Objects in Table Cells .............................................................................................. 6-42 Converting an Object............................................................................................................. 6-43 Using the Scrap Album ................................................................................................................ 6-44 What is the Scrap Album? .................................................................................................... 6-44 Opening a Scrap Album........................................................................................................ 6-44 Copying Objects to the Scrap Album.................................................................................. 6-45 Placing Scraps in a Form....................................................................................................... 6-45 Renaming a Scrap .................................................................................................................. 6-45 Deleting a Scrap...................................................................................................................... 6-46 Creating a New Scrap Album .............................................................................................. 6-46 Renaming a Scrap Album ..................................................................................................... 6-46 Deleting a Scrap Album ........................................................................................................ 6-47 Changing the Scrap Album View ........................................................................................ 6-47 Chapter 7 Filling a Form The Fill View Window.................................................................................................................... 7-2 The Standard Toolbar.............................................................................................................. 7-2 Filling Fields..................................................................................................................................... 7-3 Fill Text ...................................................................................................................................... 7-3 Comb.......................................................................................................................................... 7-3 Check Box.................................................................................................................................. 7-4 Circle Text ................................................................................................................................. 7-4 Table........................................................................................................................................... 7-4 Fill Graphic ............................................................................................................................... 7-5 List Fields .................................................................................................................................. 7-7 Fields Defined by a Calculation ............................................................................................. 7-8 Field Validation ........................................................................................................................ 7-8 Spell Checking ................................................................................................................................. 7-9 Checking the Current Form Language Selection .................................................................. 7-9 Changing the Language Selection ....................................................................................... 7-10 Multiple Languages ............................................................................................................... 7-10 Dictionaries ............................................................................................................................. 7-10 Spell Checking Your Form.................................................................................................... 7-11 Moving Through Fields................................................................................................................ 7-12 Saving in Fill View ........................................................................................................................ 7-12 vi Chapter 8 Managing an OmniForm Database What is a Database? ........................................................................................................................ 8-2 Managing Database Records ......................................................................................................... 8-3 Creating New Records ............................................................................................................ 8-3 Duplicating Records ................................................................................................................ 8-5 Moving Through a Database ..................................................................................................8-6 Searching Records for Information........................................................................................ 8-7 Sorting Records.......................................................................................................................8-12 Recalculating Records............................................................................................................8-13 Deleting Records ....................................................................................................................8-15 Exporting Information...........................................................................................................8-16 Exported Data and Shared Forms........................................................................................8-20 Importing Information ..........................................................................................................8-21 Protecting Your Database.............................................................................................................8-26 OmniForm Filler ............................................................................................................................8-27 Chapter 9 Using Calculations Calculation Overview ..................................................................................................................... 9-2 Creating a Calculation ............................................................................................................. 9-2 Using the Recalculate... Command ......................................................................................... 9-7 Calculation Guidelines ............................................................................................................ 9-7 Usage Conventions .................................................................................................................. 9-8 Operators ..........................................................................................................................................9-9 Operator Buttons ...................................................................................................................... 9-9 Operators -- Quick Reference..............................................................................................9-10 Functions ........................................................................................................................................9-11 Abs (Absolute Value).............................................................................................................9-11 Avg (Average) ........................................................................................................................9-12 Date (Current Date) ...............................................................................................................9-12 DayName.................................................................................................................................9-13 DayOfMonth ...........................................................................................................................9-13 DayOfWeek.............................................................................................................................9-14 DayOfYear...............................................................................................................................9-14 Exp (Exponentiation) .............................................................................................................9-15 FV (Future Value)...................................................................................................................9-15 Hour .........................................................................................................................................9-16 If ................................................................................................................................................9-16 Int (Integer) .............................................................................................................................9-17 Left............................................................................................................................................9-17 Length ......................................................................................................................................9-18 Ln (Natural Logarithm).........................................................................................................9-18 Log (Base 10 Logarithm) .......................................................................................................9-19 vii Lower .......................................................................................................................... ............. 9-19 Max (Maximum) .................................................................................................................. .. 9-20 Middle...................................................................................................................................... 9-20 Min (Minimum)...................................................................................................................... 9-21 Minute...................................................................................................................................... 9-21 Mod (Modulus (Remainder)) ............................................................................................... 9-22 Month....................................................................................................................................... 9-22 MonthName............................................................................................................................ 9-23 Pi ............................................................................................................................................... 9-23 PMT (Payment) ...................................................................................................................... 9-24 Position .................................................................................................................................... 9-24 Proper ...................................................................................................................................... 9-25 PV (Present Value) ................................................................................................................. 9-25 RecordCount........................................................................................................................... 9-26 Replace..................................................................................................................................... 9-26 Replicate .................................................................................................................................. 9-27 Right......................................................................................................................................... 9-27 Round ...................................................................................................................................... 9-28 Second...................................................................................................................................... 9-28 Sign........................................................................................................................................... 9-29 Sqrt (Square Root) .................................................................................................................. 9-29 Sum .......................................................................................................................................... 9-30 Time ......................................................................................................................................... 9-30 Trim.......................................................................................................................................... 9-31 Trunc (Truncate)..................................................................................................................... 9-31 Upper ....................................................................................................................................... 9-32 Year .......................................................................................................................................... 9-32 Functions -- Quick Reference .............................................................................................. 9-33 Functions Sorted by Type ..................................................................................................... 9-36 Chapter 10 Technical Information Before You Begin ........................................................................................................................... 10-2 Try this First............................................................................................................................ 10-2 System Setup Checklist ......................................................................................................... 10-2 OmniForm Setup Issues ............................................................................................................... 10-3 Memory and Installation....................................................................................................... 10-3 Linking OmniForm with Visioneer PaperPortTM .............................................................. 10-3 Uninstalling OmniForm........................................................................................................ 10 -3 Scanning and Recognition ........................................................................................................... 10-4 System Hang During Scan.................................................................................................... 10-4 Scanner Compatibility........................................................................................................... 10-4 Operation........................................................................................................................................ 10-5 Low Memory .......................................................................................................................... 10-5 viii Low Disk Space ......................................................................................................................10-6 OmniForm Limits...................................................................................................................10-6 Improving Performance ...............................................................................................................10-7 Document Quality..................................................................................................................10-7 Scanning Angle.......................................................................................................................10-7 Scanner Glass Cleanliness.....................................................................................................10-8 Paper Transparency ...............................................................................................................10-8 HP AccuPage ..........................................................................................................................10-8 OmniForm Compatibility.............................................................................................................10-9 Error Messages............................................................................................................................. 10-10 Low Memory or Disk Space Errors ...................................................................................10-10 Scanner Errors....................................................................................................................... 10-10 Other Error Messages .......................................................................................................... 10-10 Caere Product Support ...............................................................................................................10-13 World Wide Web.................................................................................................................. 10-13 Product Support Information............................................................................................. 10-13 Information We Need From You ....................................................................................... 10-13 ix x Chapter 1 Introduction OmniForm is the easy way to convert your paper forms to electronic forms. Use OmniForm to edit, design, and fill forms, manage information databases, and print or fax mail forms among other functions. This chapter gives an overview of the form creation and information management capabilities OmniForm provides, as well as an explanation of how to use the documentation. This chapter contains the following sections: · OmniForm Features · Using the Documentation Introduction 1-1 OmniForm Features OmniForm Features OmniForm, an easy-to-use environment for working with forms, is more than just form-recognition software. OmniForm includes the following features: Form Input OmniForm uses Logical Form RecognitionTM to convert your scanned paper forms or imported image files into electronic, editable forms. Fill View Use OmniForm's Fill View to fill a form with the information you need. Information entered can easily be searched and sorted. Design View Use OmniForm's Design View to design your own forms or edit existing forms. A variety of toolbars make formatting easy and convenient. Use the Scrap Album to store or copy form objects. OmniForm Database All information you enter into a form is stored as a part of an OmniForm database. You can create, duplicate, sort, and search records, and import and export database information. Field Validation You can set up OmniForm to validate a fillable field automatically. OmniForm displays a prompt if you enter incorrect information. Field Calculations OmniForm's built-in operators and functions let you define calculations that display the correct value as you fill the appropriate field(s) in a form. This automates data entry and reduces the possibility of errors. Form Printing and Faxing You can print or fax forms from OmniForm. You have a choice of printing or faxing just the form, just the data entered in a form, or both the form and its information. 1-2 Introduction Using the Documentation Using the Documentation This section explains the various instructional and formatting conventions used in this manual. Online Help OmniForm has both online help and context-sensitive help. Use the commands in the Help menu to find information on OmniForm topics and on using Help itself. Click the Help button in the OmniForm standard toolbar to turn your cursor into a question mark icon. Click any command, button, or portion of the window to open context-sensitive help for that topic. Formatting Two formatting conventions are used throughout the manual. Italicized Text · Labeled buttons, menu commands, dialog box text, and any text in an onscreen form are italicized; for example, "Choose Open in the File menu." Menu titles, icon names, dialog box names, and unlabeled buttons are not italicized. · A new term may be italicized the first time it is used; for example, "This is a fill text field." · Variable entries are italicized; for example, "The entry n must be between 4 and 18." Courier font · The Courier font indicates text that you are supposed to enter; for example, "Type Sample1 in the File Name text box and click OK." · The Courier font is also used to distinguish file locations and file and folder names from the rest of the text; for example, "Locate the Sample form in the OmniForm folder." Introduction 1-3 Using the Documentation Symbols Two symbols are used in this manual to highlight text. This symbol means Note. It introduces a tip or an item of note. This symbol means Warning. It introduces cautionary text. 1-4 Introduction Chapter 2 Installation and Setup This chapter describes how to install OmniForm and begin using it. It contains the following sections: · System Requirements · Registering OmniForm · Installing OmniForm · Starting OmniForm Installation and Setup 2-1 System Requirements System Requirements To install and run OmniForm, you need the following setup: · Macintosh 68040 or higher processor, a Power Macintosh, or a Macintosh compatible of either of these versions. · System 7.1 or higher. · Free system memory of at least 12MB RAM. · Minimum of 10MB of free hard disk space. · CD-ROM drive and internal hard disk. Additional, but optional requirements include: · A monitor capable of displaying 256, thousands, or millions of colors. · If you plan to scan forms, you need a scanner with a Pixel Translations ISIS scanner driver. Registering OmniForm Registering your copy of OmniForm entitles you to technical support, notification of special offers and upgrades, and the lowest price offered on the next OmniForm upgrade. Please complete and send in the registration card included in your OmniForm package. See "Caere Product Support" on page 10-13 for information on technical support. 2-2 Installation and Setup Installing OmniForm Installing OmniForm This section describes how to install OmniForm. CD-ROM extensions must be loaded to use the CD-ROM drive. 1 2 3 4 5 6 With all extensions off (see the previous paragraph), insert the OmniForm CD in your computer's CD-ROM drive. Double-click to open the CD if it does not open automatically. Double-click the Installer icon. Follow installation instructions. Enter the serial number found on the CD-ROM case when prompted. Restart your computer. Installation and Setup 2-3 Starting OmniForm Starting OmniForm This section describes how to launch OmniForm. Before you install OmniForm, please test your scanner to make sure it is running correctly with your computer system using the manufacturer's scanning utility or imaging software. To start OmniForm: 1 Double-click the OmniForm icon in the OmniForm folder on your hard drive. Form Assistant appears. It contains six options. Each is a basic OmniForm procedure. 2 Select an option and click Next>. Click Cancel to close Form Assistant if you do not want to use Form Assistant and want to go directly to OmniForm. See Chapter 5, OmniForm Procedures, for detailed information on the basic OmniForm procedures. 2-4 Installation and Setup Chapter 3 Tutorials These tutorials guide you through some of the main features of OmniForm. There are four sections in this chapter: · Tutorial 1 -- Load and Fill a Form · Tutorial 2 -- Edit Text and Add a Graphic · Tutorial 3 -- Design Your Own Form · Tutorial 4 -- The OmniForm Database Perform these exercises in order if you are new to OmniForm. Each new exercise builds upon skills learned in the previous one. Choose the tutorial you want to practice if you already know the basics of scanning, designing, and using forms. The tutorials cross-reference sections in this manual for additional information on each subject. Read the other chapters in the manual to learn about OmniForm features not discussed here. Tutorials 3-1 Tutorial 1 -- Load and Fill a Form Tutorial 1 -- Load and Fill a Form You will load the Sample form in this exercise in one of three ways: · Scan in the Sample form with a scanner if you have one. The form is supplied inside this manual. · Fax the Sample form to your computer's fax modem if you have no scanner, use your fax software to save it as a PICT or TIFF file, and open it in OmniForm. The form is inside this manual. · Locate and open the Sample file if you have no scanner and no fax modem. It was placed in your OmniForm:Sample Forms folder during installation. Decide which method you want to use. You can try all three methods eventually if you own both a scanner and a fax modem. After you have loaded the form into OmniForm, you will practice various features of the program. Launch OmniForm Double-click the OmniForm icon in the OmniForm folder. The Form Assistant dialog box appears. If you accidentally close the Form Assistant dialog box, choose Form Assistant in the File menu to reopen it. 3-2 Tutorials