Re: replace multi-part invoice form

Future3 is the EDI/shipping document package that we use but it does
invoices, both printed and electronic.  Their overlay solution is to do
overlays with forms designed with Adobe designer.  If I recall correctly,
under the covers it generates a normal spool file, copies it to a database
file, and then generates another spool file with the overlay.  It's kind of
a roundabout way of doing it but it works.  It does have the advantage that
you can if you have the Designer product you can specify fields in the
overlay form that you can reference from their configurable interface code.
That might be handy if you do a lot of EDI-related forms printing.  If not,
it's probably just a lot of extra work.

Personally, if you've got a simple RPG invoice program, either in-house or
a package, I would recommend creating an overlay and specifying it in an
AFPDS printer file.  It's pretty easy to design an overlay in Microsoft
Word (or your favorite PC application), print it to a file using IBM's free
AFP printer driver, upload it to the system, and create the overlay from
that.  The hard part is getting everyone to agree that it's OK to print
multiple copies instead of using mult-part forms.


Dave Parnin
--
Nishikawa Standard Company
324 Morrow Street
Topeka, IN  46571
260-593-2156  ext. 621
daparnin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx





                                                                                
                                                          
                      Darrell A Martin                                          
                                                          
                      <DMartin@xxxxxxxxxxx        To:       Midrange Systems 
Technical Discussion <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>               
                      om>                         cc:                           
                                                          
                      Sent by:                    Subject:  Re: replace 
multi-part invoice form                                           
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                      idrange.com                                               
                                                          
                                                                                
                                                          
                                                                                
                                                          
                      11/15/2006 08:32 AM                                       
                                                          
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Dave:

We are moving in exactly the direction you did. It wasn't a case of
scrapping our two 4234s; one has died outright and the other has ...
coughing fits ... at times. However, we need another "layer" of printer
control like Bullwinkle needs a hat rack.

How easy -- really! -- is it to set up, use, and maintain the Future3
program? Is spooled/queued output managed only on the iS/400 or are there
also other print queues to deal with? In anticipation of your answer, I
will wander off to the 'Net.

Darrell

Darrell A. Martin  -  630-754-2187
Manager, Computer Operations
dmartin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote on 11/14/2006 02:47:11 PM:

We scrapped a txinax dot-matrix printer earlier this year that was used

for

invoices.  (No more twinax--YEA!!!)  Our invoices print out of Future3

from

Infor which generates a spool file and merges it with an Adobe overlay.

In

a former life I did bills-of-lading that had been multi-part but were
switched to multiple copies of overlays on plain paper.  The truck

drivers

just signed each one.  In both cases it was nice because you didn't have
the expense of multi-part forms or the worry of running out.


Dave Parnin

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