From the August 1993 Bits of Blue

Secretary’s Report
MINUTES OF 7/14/93 MEETING and PERSONAL COMMENTS

By: Jim Clark

He’s Back!! Yes, our illustrious Prez, Harvey Bruneau, is back and chaired our meeting. While Harvey seemed glad to be back in the saddle again, the timing of our meeting was again not the most opportune for him and Marylee. It was their 10th wedding anniversary. Notwithstanding, they shared some of their precious time with us on this special day for them. And after presenting Marylee with a dozen lovely roses, Harvey proceeded with our meeting, announcing that he had every intention of having a short meeting and then taking his lovely spouse to a special place in celebration of the special occasion. (Check the time of adjournment to see how successful Harvey was at meeting his timing objective.) Harvey then launched into the meeting in our regular format.

INDUSTRY/CLUB NEWS

A member of our group had told Harvey in the past they would be willing to lead a special interest group (SIG) on OS2. Several at the meeting indicated they would like to participate in an OS2 special interest group. Harvey announced that he would try to arrange a SIG to begin at 5:30 on our regular meeting night in September. Further details will be provided at our next meeting and in the next newsletter.

Software presentation objectives for the next few months are:

• August - Word Perfect 6.0 (DOS)
• September - Windows NT (If released by that time)
• October - CorelDraw 4.0
• Not-too-distant future - BM 0S2, Ver. 2.1

Harvey had read several reports of problems being encountered with CorelDraw 4.0. An interim maintenance release should be available in a couple of weeks. To obtain one, call CorelDraw at 1-800-836-3729.

Harvey related briefly some of his experiences at Comdex in Atlanta. He noted that the Comdex in Atlanta is considerably smaller than the Las Vegas Comdex, but that it is still a very worthwhile gathering to attend, and one will see at both more computer related hardware and software innovations than can be seen at any other location in the world. Harvey recommend attending either if you can, giving priority to the large Comdex at Las Vegas if a choice is available.

Microsoft has announced their intention to make MS Visual Basic the macro language of MS Word, MS Access, and Excel; one could expect that it will end up as the macro language in all of MS software products.

MS Access 1.1 maintenance upgrade is out. It can be purchased from MS directly for $19.95, or call MS for a coupon which will allow purchase from local retailers for $14.95.

It was reported that anyone interested in Superbase, a high-end database program reviewed just a couple of months ago in this newsletter, could be obtained from Software Publishing Corp. for $99 IF you mention one of its competitors.

Harvey informed all that a program he recently acquired, called Romaterial, I believe, is a neat fun kind of utility ROM. It includes about 500 icons and a calculator with voice answers in any one of 5 different voices. Plus several other features, all for a street price of $17.

PRESENTATION JetForm 3.1

The JetForm Corporation was kind enough to make their Regional Sales Manager, Randy Hippe, available for a presentation on their software program, JetForm 3.1 for Windows. Randy related a shaggy dog story of how the twain shall never meet, the result being that the material he had expected to have for all present about their program was not available; it was floating around the UPS system and/or several hotels. In introducing the program, Randy noted that they have versions for DOS, Windows, Macintosh, and were working on OS2

This program is much different than I had expected. I have used a forms program with which one could create a variety of custom forms. Well, JetForm does that, from the simplest to the most complex, quickly and easily. But it does so much more, and it is this part where the program really shines, and which makes this program so much different from the forms program I had used.

JetForm is a very powerful forms program. It really comes in two packages: JetForm Filler, which is principally a filler program, and JetForm Design, which includes JetForm Filler and Design as well. JetForm is clearly designed to meet the needs of businesses/organizations that deal with many different people and/or things. Randy showed and informed us about so much I could not keep up with my notes, but I was impressed that it could create just about any form one would need (invoice, order, etc.) and then fill them in with speed and intelligence. Some of the many features include:

•  Import directly from just about any major software; you need only tell the program once where to get the desired data. And, it can import data from several sources for the same form. JetForm also includes a database capability of its own.
• The version demonstrated had an excellent graphical interface, complete with button bar and a huge number of icons (macros) with which to customize to suit individual needs.
• Easily built-in intelligence in the forms to perform whatever calculations may be needed automatically.
• Built-in automatic address book.
• Allows creation of forms in JetForm from scanned images which can be quickly converted to JetForm forms, complete with intelligence, etc.
• Capability to transmit output via paper or electronic means, such as email, another step toward a “paperless” world.

The requirements for JetForm are minimal. The DOS version requires only that you have 640K of RAM, for example. There appear to be no requirements peculiar to JetForm. If you use the Windows version, if you have the capability to run Windows, you have the capability to run JetForm. Unfortunately, Randy didn’t mention how much disk space was required for the program, and since no literature was available at the meeting, that kind of information is not available to us at this time.

JetForm Filler lists for $129, and JetForm Design lists for $495; street prices (usually special order) run about $93 and $328, respectively. Why buy the filler without the design capability, one might ask. Several reasons are possible: You have need for several filler programs, but need only one design package, is one. Another is JetForm offers form design services as well as on-site consultation services, and training if needed.

Randy covered many aspects of the program beyond this brief accounting. I can’t cover them all here. It is clearly a very powerful and useful program for those needing that kind of capability. And, for those that do, it would appear that JetForm is a program worthy of further investigation.

A BIG thanks to JetForm and Randy Hippe for a fine presentation on an excellent program and for the copy donated for our use.

AND THE WINNER IS

Thanks to the generosity of JetForm Corporation, Lotus Corporation, Borland and Sunrise Computer (who donated several maintenance items), along with the 50/50 cash drawing there were some very nice raffle prizes. Those among us to have the good fortune to win are as follows:

• Roger Waters - JetForm Design 3.1
• W.F. LaMartin - Lotus Organizer
• Russ Stepp - Object Vision 2.0
• Preston Goossen - OS2 Book
• Russ Stepp - Sunrise Mx Package
• Preston Goossen - 50/50 ($48)

The meeting adjourned at close to 9 PM; good work, Harvey. u