Ames Electronic Forms System General Information
The following table demonstrates why electronic forms have replaced paper forms at Ames Research Center:
| Criteria
| Paper Forms
| Electronic Forms
|
| Cost
| - Costs include form creation,
printing, and warehousing.
| - No printing or warehousing
costs
|
| Version control
| - Normally, you don't know if
you're using the latest version of a form. There's no easy way to eliminate
outdated copies of forms once they've been issued.
| - Current version is always
available. When you open a form that has been updated, you're notified and
given the option of using the new version.
|
| Filling out forms
| - You have to catch your own
errors and omissions.
- If you make errors or omit information, the recipient may
return the form to you and ask you to resubmit it.
| - Entries are often validated to
improve accuracy.
- You can make corrections easily.
- You can duplicate the data from a form you filled out
previously and use it to fill out a new copy of the form.
|
| Submitting forms
| - Forms are routed via
interoffice mail or a fax machine.
| - Forms are routed using e-mail.
|
| Storing form data
| - The only way to store form
data is to make photocopies of forms. That means more paper to keep
organized.
| - You can store the data from
forms you've submitted on your workstation.
|
| Retrieving form
| - If you've made photocopies of
all of the forms you've submitted and received, you can search through the
photocopies to find what you're looking for.
| - You can create online reports
containing information from the forms you submitted or received.
|
| Accessing forms
| - You have to hope a copy of the
form you want to use is available. There's no guarantee the supply of it
hasn't been used up.
| - You can download and launch
forms from a Web site.
|
Go to top.
AEFS has all of the most commonly used ARC forms, as well as a
few other miscellaneous forms. These forms appear on the AEFS
Form List, which you can access from
the AEFS Home Page.
Go to top.
AEFS relies on commercial software packages to provide electronic
forms capabilities.
- Informed Filler - Filler is the main software tool
and the one that AEFS users interact with most. This software
package provides the interface for filling out, submitting, archiving,
and tracking electronic forms. Electronic forms are created in
a format that Filler can display on your screen.
- Eudora - Filler, in turn, relies on Eudora as the service
for routing forms to recipients.
- Electronic signature software - In the future, electronic
signature software will be available to sign forms electronically.
(Currently, electronic signature software is in pilot testing.
It is expected to be available in late Spring of 1997.)
- KeyAccess - Informed Filler is a KeyServed application and each user must be connected to the Ames KeyServer to launch the application. This is the same KeyServer used to distribute copies of Microsoft products.
Go to top.
Informed Filler 2.0 builds on the useful features provided in
Informed Manager 1.4, which was the predecessor to Filler. The
new features in Filler include the following:
General Improvements
- PC version - Filler is available in both PC and Macintosh
versions. The PC version of works identically to the Macintosh
version and has the same user interface. More importantly, Filler
is a true cross-platform application, meaning that PC users can
open forms sent from Macintosh users and vice versa.
- Separation of form data from the form template - In
previous versions of Informed, the template (i.e., input blanks,
check boxes, and other form elements) and the data entered were
kept together. Now the data and template are kept in separate
files. The data file has the extension .IFM and the template file
has the extension .ITP. To use a form, you need to have both a
data file and its related template file on your hard disk.
- Ability to download forms from the Web - The new version
of Informed allows different methods for distributing forms. AEFS
provides a Form List on the Web that
lets you download forms to your workstation with just
a mouse click. Previously, you had to connect to a server and
manually copy forms to your workstation. The AEFS Form List provides
a far easier way to obtain forms.
New Features Available for All Forms
- Attachments - You can attach files to form records.
For example, you could attach a manuscript to a Printing/Quick
Copy Work Order (ARC 388) and send both to Reproduction Services.
To attach a file to a form, choose File->Attach….
- Memorize feature - This feature is a time-saver. It
lets you assign a value to a field and have it automatically inserted
when you open another instance of the form. For example, you could
memorize your name for the Requester field on the Printing/Quick
Copy Work Order (ARC 388). Then, every time you open a new instance
of the form, your name would automatically appear in the Requester
field. To memorize the value for a cell, enter the value in the
cell and choose Cell->Memorize.
- Spell-checking - This feature is especially useful
for forms that require you to enter paragraphs of text. Choose
Edit->Spelling to start spell-checking.
- Ability to save Record List report formats - The Record
List feature is a mini-report generator for listing information
from form records. It's available by choosing Window->Show
Record List. What's new is that now you can save the format
of reports and use them again. The format includes the columns
chosen and whether totals are displayed. To save the format for
the Record List report, choose List->Formats->Save Formats….
- Record tags - This feature is used with the Record
List feature. It's used to identify and select a subset of the
records for a form. For example, you could assign a record tag
to all Service Requests related to a particular chargeback service.
Once you've assigned a record tag to these records, you could
omit the other records from the Record List and choose to see
totals for just these records. To assign record tags, choose Database->Tags->Tag
Records….
- Set Value feature - This feature lets you assign a
value to a cell. Mostly, it's useful for assigning a value to
all cells in the column of a table. For example, on a Service
Request (ARC 73) you could use the Set Value feature to automatically
enter 1 for each cell in the Quantity column. To set a value for
a cell, choose Cell->Set Value….
New Features Available in Some Forms
- Scrolling through rows in tables - With the new version,
you're not limited to the number of rows in a table. For example,
if you fill up all the lines displayed on a Service Request, you
can add more lines by pressing the Tab key. Then, you can use
the scroll bar that's next to the table to scroll through the
lines.
- Expanding rows in tables - Filler lets you enter carriage
returns to start new lines in a cell. It also has word-wrap.
- Ability to edit choice lists - For cells that have
predefined choices, you can add more choices. For example, if
the choice list for an Org Code cell on a form doesn't list your
organization code, you can add your org to the list. To add choices
to a choice list, choose Cell->Extra Choices….
|
