User manual NUANCE OMNIFORM 4

OmniForm User's Manual CAERE CORPORATION 100 Cooper Court Los Gatos, California 95032-3321 USA Caere GmbH Innere Wiener Strasse 5 81667 München, Germany Caere UK Information Centre 3 Catherine Place Westminster, London SW1E 6DX Centre d'informations Caere 72, rue Baratte-Cholet 94100 Saint-Maur, France Please Note In order to use this application, you should know how to work in the Microsoft Windows environment. Please refer to Windows documentation if you have questions about how to use menu commands, dialog boxes, scroll bars, edit boxes, and so on. OmniForm Version 4.0 for Windows 95, 98 and NT Copyright© 1999 by Caere Corporation. All rights reserved. CAERE, Logical Form Recognition, and OmniForm are registered trademarks of Caere Corporation. 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. ii 800-1310-030B Table of Contents Welcome Getting Online Help..............................................................................................................2 Help menu.......................................................................................................................3 OmniForm Tutorials ......................................................................................................3 Context-Sensitive Help..................................................................................................4 Product Support ....................................................................................................................4 Chapter 1 Installation and Setup System Requirements ...........................................................................................................8 Installing OmniForm and OmniForm Filler......................................................................8 Registering OmniForm .........................................................................................................9 Starting OmniForm .............................................................................................................10 Chapter 2 Form Usage Using Form Assistant..........................................................................................................14 Opening Form Assistant .............................................................................................14 Form Assistant Options...............................................................................................15 Form Usage Options ...........................................................................................................16 Choosing a Form Usage Option.................................................................................16 Where to Select Form Usage Options........................................................................17 Changing Form Usage.................................................................................................18 International Settings ..........................................................................................................19 To Select a Language for Your Form:........................................................................19 How OmniForm Uses Language Selections.............................................................20 The Allow Multiple Languages Option ........................................................................22 Chapter 3 OmniForm Procedures Scanning a Paper Form.......................................................................................................26 Importing an Image File .....................................................................................................30 Proofing a Form ...................................................................................................................32 The Proofing Toolbar...................................................................................................33 Filling a Form .......................................................................................................................34 iii Printing a Form....................................................................................................................34 Before you Print Your Form .......................................................................................34 Importing an Existing Electronic Form.....................................................................36 Printing Your Form as a Macro..................................................................................37 Searching a Form.................................................................................................................38 Creating a New Form .........................................................................................................39 Opening a Form...................................................................................................................39 Mailing a Form ....................................................................................................................40 Adding a Routing Slip.................................................................................................43 Saving a Form ......................................................................................................................43 Publishing a Form to the Web ...........................................................................................49 The Web Toolbar ..........................................................................................................52 OmniForm Internet Filler............................................................................................52 Chapter 4 Designing a Form The Design Process .............................................................................................................56 The Design View Window.................................................................................................57 The Design View Toolbars.................................................................................................58 Customizing Toolbars .................................................................................................58 The Design Toolbar......................................................................................................61 The Font/Text Toolbar................................................................................................62 The Drawing Toolbar ..................................................................................................62 The Arrange Toolbar ...................................................................................................63 Creating Objects on a Form ...............................................................................................64 General Creation Guidelines ......................................................................................64 Creating a Text Object .................................................................................................65 Creating a Line Object .................................................................................................65 Creating an Oval Object ..............................................................................................65 Creating a Rectangle Object........................................................................................66 Adding Graphics to Your Form .................................................................................66 Creating a Fill Text Object ..........................................................................................69 Creating a Comb Object ..............................................................................................70 Creating a Check Box Object ......................................................................................70 Creating a Circle Text Object......................................................................................71 Creating a Table Object ...............................................................................................71 Creating a Fill Graphic Object ....................................................................................72 Defining Objects on a Form ...............................................................................................72 Defining a Graphic Object ..........................................................................................73 Defining a Fill Text Object ..........................................................................................73 Defining a Comb Object..............................................................................................78 Defining a Comb Element Object ..............................................................................80 Defining a Check Box Object ......................................................................................81 Defining a Circle Text Object .....................................................................................82 Defining a Table Object ...............................................................................................83 Defining a Table Cell ...................................................................................................84 iv Defining a Fill Graphic Object....................................................................................84 Setting Serial Numbers................................................................................................85 Changing Object Appearance on a Form.........................................................................86 Adding Color to a Form .....................................................................................................92 Adjusting Colors..................................................................................................................94 Editing a Form .....................................................................................................................95 Selecting an Object .......................................................................................................95 Moving an Object .........................................................................................................96 Resizing an Object ........................................................................................................96 Deleting an Object ........................................................................................................97 Formatting Text ............................................................................................................97 Merging Text.................................................................................................................99 Formatting a Table .......................................................................................................99 Breaking a Table Apart..............................................................................................100 Aligning Objects on a Form ......................................................................................101 Sending Objects Front or Back .................................................................................102 Changing Tab Order on a Form ...............................................................................103 Placing Objects in Table Cells...................................................................................106 Converting an Object to Another Type of Object ..................................................107 Chapter 5 Advanced Features Setting up a Form for Automated Data Entry...............................................................110 Creating a New AutoFill List ...................................................................................110 Create or Use an AutoFill List From Another Source...........................................113 Automatically Fill Fields on a Form ........................................................................119 Creating an AutoFill List and Automatically Fill Fields ......................................126 Replacing Data Entered in a Field With New Data...............................................131 Creating AutoFills for Tables ...................................................................................132 Setting Attributes for a Form ...........................................................................................134 Setting Up a Shared Form .........................................................................................134 Setting Summary Information..................................................................................135 Setting Submission Information...............................................................................136 Adding Security to Your Forms ......................................................................................137 Creating a User Database..........................................................................................137 Creating Signature Fields..........................................................................................140 Filling/Signing Signature Fields..............................................................................141 Verifying Signature Fields ........................................................................................142 Adding Hyperlinks to Your Forms.................................................................................143 Using the Scrapbook .........................................................................................................144 What Is the Scrapbook? .............................................................................................144 Inserting OLE Objects in a Form .....................................................................................148 Linking and Embedding ...........................................................................................148 How to Insert OLE Objects .......................................................................................149 Creating a New OLE Object .....................................................................................150 Creating an OLE Object From a File........................................................................151 v Pasting a Linked OLE Object....................................................................................151 Setting Up Linking Options......................................................................................152 Using the Object Commands ....................................................................................153 Chapter 6 Filling a Form The Fill View Window......................................................................................................158 The Fill Toolbar ..........................................................................................................159 Moving Through Fields....................................................................................................160 Filling Fields.......................................................................................................................161 Type Ahead.................................................................................................................161 Shrink Text to Fit Fields ............................................................................................162 Fill Text ........................................................................................................................162 Comb............................................................................................................................162 Check Box....................................................................................................................162 Circle Text ...................................................................................................................163 Table.............................................................................................................................163 Fill Graphic .................................................................................................................164 List Fields ....................................................................................................................167 Fields Defined by a Calculation ...............................................................................167 Field Validation ..........................................................................................................168 Spell Checking ...................................................................................................................168 To Check the Current Form Language Selection: ...................................................168 Spell Checking Multiple Languages .......................................................................169 Dictionaries for Spell Checking ...............................................................................169 Spell Checking Your Form........................................................................................170 Saving in Fill View ............................................................................................................171 Chapter 7 Managing an OmniForm Database What Is a Database? ..........................................................................................................174 Managing Database Records ...........................................................................................175 Creating New Records ..............................................................................................175 Duplicating Records ..................................................................................................177 Moving Through a Database ....................................................................................178 Searching Records for Information .........................................................................179 Sorting Records ..........................................................................................................183 Recalculating Records ...............................................................................................184 Deleting Records ........................................................................................................186 Refreshing Records ....................................................................................................187 Saving Records ...........................................................................................................187 Exporting Information...............................................................................................188 Using OmniForm Data Files.....................................................................................192 Importing Information ..............................................................................................193 vi Protecting Your Database.................................................................................................197 Protecting Data ...........................................................................................................197 Protecting the Form ...................................................................................................198 OmniForm Filler.........................................................................................................199 Chapter 8 Using Calculations Calculation Overview .......................................................................................................202 Creating a Calculation ...............................................................................................202 Using the Recalculate... Command ...........................................................................207 Calculation Guidelines ..............................................................................................207 Usage Conventions ....................................................................................................209 Operators ............................................................................................................................209 Operator Buttons ........................................................................................................210 Operators -- Quick Reference..................................................................................211 Functions ............................................................................................................................212 Functions -- Quick Reference ..................................................................................213 Functions Sorted by Type .........................................................................................216 Chapter 9 Technical Information General Troubleshooting Solutions ................................................................................218 Solutions to Try First .................................................................................................218 OmniForm Setup Issues ...................................................................................................219 Memory and Installation...........................................................................................219 Installing OmniForm 4.0 over Older Versions.......................................................219 Uninstalling OmniForm ...................................................................................................219 Scanning and Recognition................................................................................................220 System Hang During Scan ........................................................................................220 System Hang During Auto Form Design ...............................................................220 Scanner Compatibility ...............................................................................................221 Operation ............................................................................................................................221 OmniForm Limits.......................................................................................................221 Low Memory ..............................................................................................................222 Low Disk Space ..........................................................................................................223 Right Mouse Button Functions.................................................................................223 Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) Automation Support .............................223 Improving Performance ...................................................................................................224 Document Quality......................................................................................................224 Scanning Angle...........................................................................................................224 Scanner Glass Clarity.................................................................................................224 Paper Transparency ...................................................................................................225 OmniForm Compatibility.................................................................................................225 Glossary vii viii Welcome Welcome to OmniForm, and thank you for using our software! OmniForm is the easiest way to convert your paper forms to electronic forms. Use OmniForm to edit, design, and fill forms, manage information databases, and print and mail forms among other functions. The following documentation has been provided to help you learn about OmniForm. This User's Manual This manual introduces you to the basics of using OmniForm. It includes installation and setup instructions, an introduction to OmniForm, ways to help you design and fill in forms, how to manage databases and use calculations, and technical information. OmniForm Online Help OmniForm's online help contains information on features, settings, and procedures. The online help conforms to Windows online help conventions and has been designed for quick and easy information retrieval. Please see page 2 for information on using the online help. Readme File The Readme file contains last-minute information about the software. Please read it before using OmniForm. To open this text file, click Start in the Windows taskbar and choose Programs Caere Applications OmniForm Readme after OmniForm has been installed. Scanner Setup Notes The Scanner Setup Notes contains information about supported scanners and related issues. To open this PDF file, click Start in the Windows taskbar and choose Programs Caere Applications Caere Documents Scanner Setup Notes after OmniForm has been installed. 1 Getting Online Help Using This Manual This manual is written with the assumption that you know how to work in the Windows environment. Please refer to your Windows documentation if you have questions about how to use dialog boxes, menu commands, scroll bars, drag and drop functionality, shortcut menus, and so on. The following conventions are used in this manual. Convention Italicized text Purpose · Emphasizes menu commands, dialog box options, and labeled buttons For example: "Choose Open... in the File menu." · Emphasizes new terms the first time they are used · Emphasizes important words in a sentence Note symbol Introduces a tip or an item of note Introduces important information Warning symbol Getting Online Help In addition to using this manual, you can use OmniForm's online help topics to learn about features and procedures. Online help is available after you install OmniForm. OmniForm's online help follows the conventions of Microsoft Windows 95 Help. Choose How to Use Help in OmniForm's Help menu to get information on using Help. 2 Getting Online Help Help menu Use the commands in the Help menu to find information about OmniForm topics. OmniForm Help is the first command in the Help menu. Use it to get contents and index listings for all Help topics. Select OmniForm Help to obtain OmniForm's main Help topics. Select Getting Started to begin OmniForm's tutorials. Select How to Use Help to get Microsoft Windows Help topics that explain how to use and customize Help. Select Product Support to find out how to get product support services for OmniForm. Select Tip of the Day... (if a form is open) to obtain tips to help you use OmniForm. Select About OmniForm to get information about your version of OmniForm. OmniForm Tutorials OmniForm has four online tutorials to step you through the basics. If you have never used OmniForm before or you need to review some of the procedures, please go through these tutorials. · In the first tutorial, Load and Fill a Form, you will scan (or import) and fill a Sample form (included in the OmniForm package) by using the Form Assistant. · In the second tutorial, Edit and Design a Form, you will scan or import the Sample form into OmniForm again and learn to use the basic buttons and menu commands, verify and correct OCR, and modify the form. · In the third tutorial, Design Your Own Form, you will create a form and learn how to create objects, define calculations, customize the form, set the tab order, and add a graphic. · In the fourth tutorial, The OmniForm Database, you will use the form that you created in the third tutorial and learn some basics about OmniForm's database as well as how to create and manipulate database records. Welcome 3 Product Support Context-Sensitive Help You can get on-the spot information about a particular OmniForm command, toolbar button, or dialog box option in the following ways: · Click the Help button in the OmniForm design/fill 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. · Click the question-mark button in the upper-right corner of a dialog box and then click an item in the dialog box to get a popup explanation for that item. · Some dialog boxes have a Help button. Click Help to get information about that dialog box. Product Support For the fastest and easiest way to get help, please look for solutions in this manual or in the online Help. See "General Troubleshooting Solutions" on page 218 for troubleshooting tips. If you need additional help, please use the following resources: · Caere's World Wide Web site Go to Caere's World Wide Web site for common questions and answers, updates, patches, troubleshooting procedures, and product information. Caere's Web site address: http://www.caere.com Alternatively, you can go directly to Caere's product support Web site: http://support.caere.com · OmniForm Readme file Read the OmniForm Readme file for last-minute information about the software. This is available after installing OmniForm. To open the file, click Start in the Windows taskbar and choose Programs Caere Applications Caere Documents OmniForm Readme. · Scanner Setup Notes Read the Scanner Setup Notes document to learn about supported scanners and related issues. This document has been provided to you as an electronic document in PDF format. To open this document, click Start in the Windows taskbar and choose Programs Caere Applications Caere Documents Scanner Setup Notes. 4 Product Support · Caere Product Support document Read the Caere Product Support document to get a list of support telephone numbers, including ones for international product support. This document has been provided to you as an electronic document in PDF format. To open this document, click Start in the Windows taskbar and choose Programs Caere Applications Caere Documents Product Support. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.01 or greater installed if you want to read the Caere Product Support and Scanner Setup Notes PDF documents. To install the Reader, click Start in the Windows taskbar and choose Programs Caere Applications Caere Documents Acrobat Reader. Welcome 5 Product Support 6 Chapter 1 Installation and Setup This chapter describes how to install OmniForm and begin using it. For technical and troubleshooting information, please see Chapter 9, "Technical Information." This chapter contains the following sections: · · · · System Requirements Installing OmniForm and OmniForm Filler Registering OmniForm Starting OmniForm 7 System Requirements System Requirements To install and run OmniForm, you need the following setup: · · · · · · · Computer with an 80486 or higher processor VGA or SVGA monitor (24-bit display adapter recommended for color forms) Windows-compatible mouse CD-ROM drive A minimum of 25MB hard disk space for OmniForm and up to a maximum of 45MB A minimum of 10MB hard disk space for OmniForm Filler and up to a maximum of 20MB A compatible scanner if you plan to scan documents Please see Scanner Setup Notes, which are included on your OmniForm CD-ROM, for a list of tested scanners Total system memory of at least 16MB RAM (32MB recommended) for Windows 95 or 98, and Windows NT 4.0. · OmniForm 4.0 for Windows 95 or 98 and Windows NT 4.0 is a 32-bit application and will not run on earlier versions of Windows. Installing OmniForm and OmniForm Filler This section describes how to install OmniForm and OmniForm Filler on Windows 95 or 98 and on Windows NT 4.0. If you have an older version of OmniForm, you might want to uninstall it before you install the latest version. Close all applications -- including screen savers, virus checkers, and mail applications -- before installing OmniForm. To install OmniForm and OmniForm Filler: 1 2 Start Windows. Insert OmniForm's CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive. The Setup program should start automatically. If it does not, click Start in the Taskbar and choose Settings Control Panel. The Control Panel appears. 8 Chapter 1 Registering OmniForm · · · 3 4 Double-click Add/Remove Programs. The Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box appears. Click Install... in the Install/Uninstall tab. Click Next> and then Finish. The OmniForm install screen appears. Select OmniForm 4.0. Follow all the instructions in the dialog boxes that appear. During installation, you will be prompted to enter a serial number. You can find the serial number on the label of the CDROM. OmniForm installs by default to the location c:\Program Files\Caere\OmniForm. You can select another location if you wish. To install OmniForm Filler, repeat the preceding instructions, but select OmniForm Filler when the install screen appears instead of OmniForm 4.0. 5 Registering OmniForm Register your copy of OmniForm with Caere Corporation to receive notification of special offers and the best prices on product upgrades. Some versions of OmniForm will only launch 25 times if you do not register it. If you purchased your product directly from Caere or if you were previously registered, you may not need to register again. If your version of OmniForm does not display a Register menu, then you do not need to register. To register OmniForm: 1 2 3 Click the Register menu to open the Register dialog box. Click Register Now. Fill out the information requested on the screen and then click Next>. Installation and Setup 9 Starting OmniForm 4 Follow the instructions on the screen. OmniForm will decide on the best method of registration according to your country and computer system. It may try using modem, FTP, or HTTP (Internet) connections to transmit your registration information directly. Or, it may prompt you to call a phone number or print out and mail in your registration information. After registration is complete, you will be given a registration number. Be sure to write that number down and keep it handy in case you need to use it for reinstallation. If you reinstall OmniForm using your registration number on the same computer, you will not have to go through the entire registration process again to reregister it. To reregister OmniForm after reinstallation: 1 2 Click the Register menu to open the Register dialog box. Click Reregister. Starting OmniForm This section describes how to launch OmniForm after it is installed. Install your scanner and test it in Windows before using it with OmniForm. Consult your scanner documentation or the scanner manufacturer to resolve any scanner problems that may occur. To start OmniForm: 1 Click Start in the taskbar and choose Programs Caere Applications OmniForm 4.0. 10 Chapter 1 Starting OmniForm The Form Assistant dialog box appears. It contains six options. Each is a basic OmniForm procedure. 2 Select an option and click Next>. Proceed to Chapter 3, "OmniForm Procedures," for detailed information on the basic OmniForm procedures. Or, if you are new to OmniForm try the online tutorials. Click Getting Started in the Help menu to access the tutorials. Click Cancel to close Form Assistant if you do not want to choose a particular option. Installation and Setup 11 Starting OmniForm 12 Chapter 1