UnForm integrates with OSAS via a simple modification to the config.bbx file found in
the OSAS progRM directory. After installing UnForm, verify it is operating by
testing the Version option: On Unix, run
uf60c-v; on Windows, run Server Version option
from the Start, UnForm 6.0 Server menu. You should see a screen display
of UnForm version and copyright information.
Config.bbx Changes
Once you have verified that UnForm is operating, then you can modify the OSAS
config.bbx file to add one or more UnForm printers. Detail is available in the
UnForm manual about this, but here are a couple of examples that may be of use:
Unix spooled alias
alias PUNF "|uf60c -f osas61.rul| lp -dhp -oraw 2>/dev/null" "UnForm Printer" CR,SPCOLS=132,SP=1B451B287331362E3636481B266B3247
Windows Laser Printer
alias PUNF PUNF.TXT "UnForm Printer" CR,LOCK=PUNF.LCK,O_CREATE,SPCOLS=132,SP=1B451B287331362E3636481B266B3247,
EXECOFF="uf60c.exe -ix PUNF.TXT -o LPT1 -f osas61.rul"
Windows Print Driver
alias PUNF PUNF.TXT "UnForm Printer" CR,LOCK=PUNF.LCK,O_CREATE,SPCOLS=132, EXECOFF="uf60c.exe
-ix PUNF.TXT -p winpvw -f osas61.rul"
Notes for Windows Installations (UnForm 6 only)
- Install the UnForm server on the server system from that system's
console (not across the network) to a local drive.
If you run Terminal Services or Citrix, be sure to install the server using
Control Panel Add/Remove Programs rather than directly running the setup
executable.
- Install the UnForm client on each workstation that will run UnForm
jobs. This also should not be installed across the network, but rather
to a local drive. This will install the uf60c.exe client in a local
Windows System32 directory, where it can be executed without a full path
from that workstation.
Normally, the clients will be run on different machines than the server.
You must then either (1) specify a -server server name or IP option
on the uf60c command line, or (2) configure the clients to specify a default
server.
- All alias lines that use EXECOFF will simply use an un-pathed 'uf60c.exe'
with arguments like in prior versions of UnForm.
- Note that the rule files are stored in the UnForm server directory, not
on each client.
- Any '-o xxx' argument refers to xxx device names on the server, unless
you specify '-o client:xxx' or are using -p win or -p winpvw. The unform60.pdf
manual fully explains the uf60c.exe command line arguments.
Note that as you add printer aliases, you may need to increase the aliases=n line
as well. Also note that the OSAS Workstation Configuration program doesn't properly handle
UnForm printer aliases, so you need to edit config.bbx directly.
If you will be customizing forms, you may also want to define a printer for cross-hair
pattern output. This is an UnForm option that simply prints the first page of OSAS output
with a grid layout, which you can use to determine the exact locations of form elements.
To define a crosshair printer, just add a -x option to the UnForm command line
in the printer alias.
OSAS Configuration Changes
In order to interface properly with UnForm, you need to ensure that OSAS prints forms
on one of the form types provided in the osas60.rul file. For example, OSAS offers many
versions of the A/R Invoice, each with a somewhat different format. The osas60.rul file
is designed to handle most of the OSAS form styles.
To select the correct form, review the samples page and
choose the form type (Laser, 8.5x11, Standard, etc.). Then go to Resource Manager, Company
Setup, Options and Interfaces. Choose the Share table type, and the appropriate
Application ID that contains the forms desired, and change the form type to the correct
value.
In addition, you will want OSAS to manage form output differently than it does normally.
For example, you don't need OSAS to print test patterns or to prompt for mounting the
correct form.
To change this behavior, go to Resource Manager, System File Maintenance, Form Codes.
For each form type, set the copies to 1, and turn off the prompt to mount forms
and the alignment print option. You can turn on copies within OSAS, but there is
more flexibility in copy management when using UnForm to generate them. If you do
use OSAS for copy generation, be sure to set all pcopies and copies statements in the
rule file to 1.
Multi-company Setup
Most of the OSAS form styles do not include company information. To account for this,
the osas60.rul file allows for the company information to be included within the rule
file itself, in const settings at the top of the file. The drawback to this, of course,
is that the rule file only works for one company. There are a couple of ways to deal
with this in multi-company situations:
Use different rule files for each company
Copy the osas60.rul file to a unique name for each company, and edit the company
name information in each. Then create a unique printer alias line for each company,
referring to the proper rule file with the -f rule-file argument in
the uf60c command line.
Use different substitution files for each company
Like rule files, you can associate a unique substitution file
with a particular printer, and train users to select a particular printer for a given
company. Substitution files are named on the command line with the -s sub-file
option on the uf60c command line. Here are the steps to accomplish this:
- Create as many copies of the subst file as there are companies. Edit these
files as follows:
company=Company Name
address1=Address line 1
address2=Address line 2
phones=Phone/Fax line
logo=logo file name
- Modify the rule file constants to use the substitution file parameters:
const COMP_NAME=@company
const COMP_ADDR1=@address1
const COMP_ADDR2=@address2
const COMP_PHONES=@phones
const COMP_LOGO=@logo
- Create additional alias lines in the OSAS config.bbx file, one per company, adding
the -s substitution-file argument to the UnForm command line.
Use Plain Paper versions of OSAS forms
You can select the "plain" versions of the OSAS forms, which can print
the company name and address. To configure OSAS, go to Resource Manager,
Company Information, Options and Interfaces, and select plain paper form types
and set the option to print company information on plain paper forms to YES.
With this company information, you can customize logos by using code blocks and
modifying the image commands to use variable names. For example, in the plain paper A/R
Statement, you could make changes like those shown in bold below:
prepage {
if trim(get(1,3,40))<>"" then \
comp_name$=trim(get(1,3,40)); \
comp_addr1$=trim(get(1,4,40)); \
comp_addr2$=trim(get(1,5,40)); \
comp_phones$="" \
else \
comp_name$="COMP_NAME";\
comp_addr1$="COMP_ADDR1";\
comp_addr2$="COMP_ADDR2";\
comp_phones$="COMP_PHONES"
pageno$=trim(get(60,3,7))
if trim(get(46,57,20))<>"" then \
payby_date$="To avoid ... pay by "+trim(get(46,57,20))
for i=66 to 4 step -1
text$[i]=text$[i-3]
text$[i-3]=""
next i
logo$=""
if comp_name$="Company 1" then logo$="logofile1"
if comp_name$="Company 2" then logo$="logofile2"
...
}
...
#LOGO_IMAGE 1,1,10,6,COMP_LOGO
image 1,1,10,6,{logo$}
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