WU-02: Forms Creators Comparative Review: ------------------ We compared four forms management programs: EZ-Forms Executive, FormGen, Inform-Z, and Form Master. In addition, we tried out FormFill, which is a form filling companion program for FormGen. Creating a simple form normally consists of several steps. The first is to move around the screen typing in the captions, then you can draw lines and boxes for the data. Next, for on-line form-filling, you create the data-entry fields and any date or math fields. Finally, you can go back and add special printing touches to fancy-up the form. Because creating a form is something that you probably don't do every day, our testing put a premium on intuitive operation and ease of use. In line with this thinking, EZF and FormGen have most of their documentation on-line. Inform-Z has a 130k DOC file which we scanned and used for reference, the way we believe most people would do with programs intended for occasional use. We did the same with Form Master's 77k doc file. Finally, EZF and Inform-Z are "shareware" versions that do not function exactly the same as the "registered" versions. FormGen/FormFill is a fully functioning set of programs, but there are more advanced versions also available. PsL's policy is to only report on features actually in the the "shareware" versions, since that is all the user will get to try. Entering Captions ----------------- In starting EZF, you have to sit through not one, but three "shareware screens" and watch a counter tick down to zero before going on to the next. When we finally got to the form-design, we had a little trouble understanding EZF's modus operandi. We finally backed out to the main menu screen and read the on-line manual. It turns out that EZF's strategy is that any blank spaces on a form are places that you want to enter data, including the spaces between words in a caption. So you should first type all of your captions, then press F3, which fills the screen with tilde characters, than move around and blank out the spaces where you want data input to be done. The tilde characters do not show when you print the form or fill it in on-line. FormGen and Form Master have easy and intuitive interfaces. You just move around the screen with the cursor keys and type at will with full-screen editing. Form Master is the only one that allows forms wider than 80 columns. Inform-Z's method of entering captions confused us at first, but turned out to have some advantages. In short, you can move around the screen at will like any full-screen editor, but once you start typing, it turns into a "field editor" stretching from the cursor position to the next non-blank character. This means that you can, for example, delete characters and only the characters in the field will be shifted to the left. In the other programs, when you are entering a caption, if you delete a character, all the text on the same line (to the right of the cursor) will be shifted left, just like in any text editor or word processor. This destroys any line drawings or captions you already had in place. Drawing Lines ------------- EZ-Foms and FormGen use "intelligent line drawing". You toggle the line drawing mode on and use the cursor keys to draw lines. It automatically adds the line merging ASCII characters when two lines meet/cross. EZF has a "graphics patch" that can scan a form and tie up any loose ends in your line drawings. In Inform-Z, when you begin a line, the starting point blinks and nothing else happens while you move the cursor. When you get to the ending point and press Enter, it draws the line, including inserting appropriate line-merging characters. While this method of line drawing works all right, it is not as easy (particularly for patching a line in one spot) as the method used by FormGen and EZF. Form Master does line drawing in a manner similar to Inform-Z, although in a less complicated manner. FM surmises from your keystrokes whether the line you want is supposed to be horizontal, vertical or a box. Inform-Z requires you to specify each of these things. Defining Fields --------------- In EZF, you define fields by clearing spaces in the screen full of tilde characters, as already explained. In the other three, you simply mark off the spots you want the fields to be. EZF and Form Master have auto-fill options: a sequence number, the current date, and the current time. FormGen has never had an on-line form-filling function, meaning that it has never been more than a small text editor optimized for forms creation, which in our opinion is only marginally better than using something like WordPerfect to create forms. However, a companion program, FormFill, can be used for filling in forms created with FormGen or a text editor. First you have to convert your FormGen file for use with FormFill by defining the fields. Again, FormGen (FormFill, actually) is the easiest and most efficient at defining fields. You simply move to where you want the field to start and press a key. You can specify your choice of many different numeric formats, including dollar formats and date format. You can also select automatic entry of the current date, as well as default text and number entries. One serious shortcoming in FormFill is the lack of a self-incrementing sequence number. Many (if not most) forms need such a number - purchase orders, for example. Keeping track of such numbers is what computers are best at. Surprisingly, Inform-Z does not offer this feature either. Inform-Z has an auto-date feature with your choice of three date formats, but its only other input screening or formatting feature is to force numeric input instead of text. It will not allow a one-character input field, which is a surprising and possibly serious limitation. Formulas -------- Entering formulas in FormFill is very easy. FormFill displays numbers for each of the fields on the screen and you simply use the field numbers in your formula. Inform-Z is more complicated. We had to exit the program and read a relatively lengthy section of the documentation to figure it out. You can create formulas by pointing to the fields, but you have to point to the beginning and the end of each field and go through some other gyrations. In addition, you can only add numbers down; you cannot add a column of numbers across the page, which we consider a significant limitation. It does not allow complex formulas, but gets around that by letting you assign more than one formula to a cell - each formula building on the last. EZF has the least convenient method of entering formulas. You have to write down the starting line and column numbers and width for each field you want to put in the formula before you start. However, EZF has range-addition, which simplifies some formulas. Form Master allows the number of formulas you can describe with 8 lines of 72 characters. You can place multiple formulas on a line if you separate them with one or more spaces. In contrast, EZF and Inform-Z each allow 100 formulas and FormGen/FormFill appears to have no limit. Printing -------- The "shareware" version of EZF makes you sit through the same three "shareware screens" countdown again. When we first tried it, we could not get it to accept any printer other than "generic", but we later got it to work after talking to the publisher. Form Master comes set up for Epson LX printers, but lets you enter control codes for other printers and easily insert codes into your form for printing in bold, italics, compressed, elite, super- and subscript, underline, pica and expanded, and for printing upper-ASCII line-drawing characters. FormGen/FormFill supports the IBM Graphics, Epson Pica, Epson Elite and HP LaserJet, but offers no way of dressing up forms with shading, italics, etc. Inform-Z promises shaded printing and a lot of other fancy touches, but we could not get it to work on our Epson emulating printer. The Bottom Line --------------- FormGen/FormFill is the easiest and most straight-forward of the programs to use and Inform-Z has some very useful and unique features, but neither one of these has a "form numbering" option in the on-screen form filling, which is a significant drawback. We might have recommended EZ-Forms for those who want to fill in forms on screen, except for its irritating "reminders". For overall use (filling in on-screen or simply printing blank forms), we suggest trying Form Master first. If you can live without sequencing numbers on your forms, we would go with Form-Gen/FormFill because of its ease of use and superior data formatting options, although Form Master runs a close second. If your interest is primarily in creating forms to print out and not to fill in on-line, it's a toss-up: FormGen is easier to use, Inform-Z has more print enhancement options, if it will work on your printer, and its caption-field editing is nice, and Form Master allows forms wider than 80 characters. In addition, Form Master is the only one of the four that hasn't had features held back for a "registered" or "more advanced" version, and it is also the least expensive - two factors that makes it deserving of every consideration. We might add that all of these programs are, in general, very well written, easy to use, bug-free, and blessed with lots of on-line help. You can't go too far wrong with any of them. The Programs: ------------ EZ-Forms Executive 4.0 EZX Corporation $129 #27071/1499 in addition to the above described features, directory navigation is available, and a Fill-Out-Only mode is included so users can't alter pre-designed master forms. Forms can be up to 999 lines long or 254 columns wide. A simple pick menu is provided for installing over 500 common printer types, and laser support is provided. Forms can be saved to disk. Form Master CastleSoft $25 #27071/2452 Inform-Z Smetana, Rob W. and Pro~Formance $53 #27071/1931 (formerly P~F Form. This can be used with Mail Call, a mailing list management program.) Inform-Z Forms Collection Smetana, Rob W. $0 #3963 is a collection of predesigned forms for sales/retail, home and office to use with Inform-Z. There are over 140 forms. FormFill FormGen Corporation ASP $25-$35 #27371/2451 Formgen FormGen Corporation ASP $129 #27371/645 Other Forms Managers: -------------------- EZ-Forms First 1.11 EZX Publishing $39 #27370/2498 is a basic forms creation and fill-in program. It lacks many of the features (such as line-drawing and formulas) of the other forms programs in PsL, but has the advantage of being free (no shareware registration fee). It also comes with a very useful set of 14 predefined forms which you can load, make minor changes to, and use. EZ-Forms Plus E31 EZX Corporation $71 #27370/305 lets you create, fill in, and print forms. It supports HP LaserJet and Epson printers including LQ 24-pin printer support. Forms are stored in compressed form to save disk space. Forms can be up to 126 lines and 255 columns. Lotus-style menus are used. Bold print and underline can be used in forms. Auto-date and -time insertion into forms is possible, along with auto- numbering. Other features include an annotated forms directory; integrated Laser printer support; directory navigation and annotation; bolding and underlining; 90+ basic forms template/style sheet pack; four function math; and basic laser fonts. EZ-Forms' Database 4.02c EZX Corporation $195 #27370/2450 is a data management and forms processing program. It can also be used as an inexpensive fill-only module for EZ-FORMS. It will let you create a database from an existing form. Features include automatic indexing, multiple indexes, merge/append additional files, keyboard macros, repeat keys, on-line manual, quick reports, labels, query, seek, find, and browse modes, unlimited relational look-ups, and field calculations. Other features include an integrated EZFX form editor; the ability to export with selectable fields; maximum form dimensions of up to 396 lines and 256 columns; database and form fields of up to 1000; and a lockout feature to prevent unauthorized users from creating/modifying forms and database structures. Requires a hard disk. EZX Pre-Designed Form Packs EZX Publishing $14-$69 per package #20060 [4 disks] contains over 600 general business forms for use with EZ-Forms Plus, EZ-Forms Executive, and EZ-Forms Database. FormGen: Business Forms $0 FormGen Corporation ASP #27371/2662 [2 disks] is a collection of over 70 predesigned business forms including Purchase Orders, Invoices, Expense Forms, Accounting Forms, Inventory, Applications, and Work Orders. You can use them as-is or quickly customize them to your own specific needs with FormGen (disk #0645). You can also use FormFill (#2451) to fill in the forms on-line. FormGen: Home Forms FormGen Corporation ASP $0 #27371/2663 is a collection of 50 forms designed for home use including score sheets, floor plans, maps, schedules, calendars, and tax planning. FormGen Medical Forms FormGen Corporation ASP $0 #4211 is a collection of over 30 commonly used medical forms for use with FormGen II and FormFill. Included are standard insurance, operating schedule, temperature chart, on-call doctor log forms, as well as lab test forms. MorForm MorSoft $40 #27491/3267 [2 disks] is a forms management system with which you can create customized forms with automatic box and line drawing and special character insertion. Fill them out with full data entry capabilities including automatic computations, multiple choice selections for repetitive information, customized field help, automatic date and time stamping, and incremental numbering. Each form may be from 1 to 30 pages in length. Requires 640K and a hard disk. PCForm 3.03a CareWare ASP $25-$30 #27491/3964 (10-93 CD) makes it easy to create professional looking forms. You maintain forms in a manner to fit your needs. Features include easy to use word processing like entry and editing, easy line and box drawing, comprehensive file management, auto-tab and block editing, multiple pages, and mouse and printer support Better Business McMData Systems $20 #4876 prints out a variety of business letters. There are 40 letters topics such as past-due payments, bad absentee record, laying off an employee, canceling an order, replying to credit queries, billing errors, complaints, thank-you notes and more. Letters can be printed and filled in by hand or filled in on screen using a text editor. F & L 1.0 Grand Universal ASP $33-$40 #12181 are pre-formatted templates for writing business/legal forms and letters. Templates are provided in WinWord, WordPerfect, Works and ASCII formats that can be modified to fit your needs. Forms are included for Agreement to Sell Business, Bill of Sale, Business Lease, Car Bill of Sale, Contract/Agreement, Contractor's Estimate Sheet, Debt Compromise, General Power of Attorney, General Release, Installment Note, Loan Purpose Affidavit, Release of Lien, Simple Partnership Agreement, Trade Name Affidavit, UCC Security Agreement and Will. Letters are included for After an Appointment, Asking for Credit, Business Service, Collection Letters and Notice, Commercial Credit Request, Delayed Shipment, Employee Warning, Firm Offer to Buy, Follow-up Sales Letter, Interest in a Project, New Business Announcement, New Client, Order Acknowledgment, Price Increase, Referral Request, Response to Info Request, Sales Inquiry Response, Referral Request, and Why Aren't You Buying?. Legal Eagle 2.0 McMData Systems $30 #4701 allows you to print out a variety of legal forms, including promissary notes, power of attorney, wills, bill of sale, leases, stocks, loans, goods and services, employment, meetings, trusts, and much more. Forms can be printed and filled in by hand or filled in on screen using a text editor. A dictionary of legal terms is included. Requires 512k RAM, 600k of disk space. ]]]]]