TopForm Software, Inc. 330 Research Court Suite 200 Norcross, GA 30092
December 2004     

This month in TopForm® Times...

...:: TopForm® Image Library ::...

...:: Alternate Order Confirmation Page ::...

...:: Sales Analysis Reports ::...

...:: IBSA ::...

...:: FYI ::...

...:: Holiday Schedule ::...

...:: TopForm Personals ::...

 

 



November TopGun Winner

Congratulations to Richard Wolfe of Resource Print Management, our November TopGun winner. He correctly answered the question,

“Which of the following is the newest Web.ec Feature? “

  1. On-line Credit Card Authorization and Processing
  2. On-line Account Administration
  3. Purchase Approval Processing
  4. Credit Hold Feature
  5. Automatic Reorder Notices 
  6. Multiple Product Images

Answer: All of the above are current Web.ec features with the Credit Hold Feature (d) being the newest.

Here is the subject for the next TopForm® TopGun Challenge.
Which TopForm documents currently Support an InfoSeal format?

Send your answers to Jean Dudek. 

Remember that all correct answers are being entered into the grand prize drawing at our Spring 2005 Users Conference.


What is TopForm® Image Library?

The TopForm® Image Library is used to digitally store all of the documents and images typically needed in a distributor’s business and to conveniently index these documents to the associated transactions. This provides a way to put these documents “at your fingertips” instead of having to track down file folders in cabinets or on someone’s desk. 

All of the documents produced by TopForm® as well as all of the Accounting Journals and Audit Reports are captured automatically. Documents received, such as vendor invoices, customer signed delivery tickets, etc, can be scanned with TopForm’s easy to use interface that links them to the corresponding accounting documents in TopForm®.

As you probably already know, all new TopForm® modules are discounted 25% during the first sixty days following their release. This early release price of $3,975 will expire December 31.

Free Scanner Offer Extended through December 31, 2004!

Order before December 31 and we’ll even throw in a FREE HP compatible scanner with a automatic document feeder. This entry level scanner, scan at speeds up to eight pages per minute.
Or upgrade to a more compact high performance duplex scanner with scan speeds of up to 40 pages per minute for just $500 more. 

For more information call sales Toll Free at 800-448-1484.


There is now the ability to set an alternate order confirmation page for email purposes by buyer.  This field is located in the buyers set up under the “other” tab.

This field should remain blank unless you wish the buyer to receive the email confirmation in a different format than what is set in Web.ec to be the order confirmation output.  The entry in this field must be a valid file name, and must be located in the directory with all the other Web.ec pages.

This may be desirable for special situations, where the buyer is not  interacting directly with Web.ec, for example XML orders with Four51. Or you may have a buyer that would rather receive the order confirmation in a text format versus an html format.

This field is located in the buyers set up under the “other” tab.

The email suffix from the server record is used, this must be set correctly.  The corresponding email server is also used, therefore the Base Page Ref and CGI Command fields must be set to match that of the "regular" server.

 


There is now a new option to print all of the Sales Analysis reports in PDF format.  Due to the width of the reports they must be printed landscape on legal paper.  

This new options allows you to:

  • View reports in PDF format directly on the operator's PC (if using Windx)

  • Archive the report on your server for historical reporting

  • Publish the report for Internet access Email the report

  • Easier Remote printing

  • All the features of the Adobe Reader become a part of your TopForm Reporting

For instance, the operator can advance directly to the end of the report to view report totals or use the search features to find specific data. The page can be saved, printed, or emailed easily. (Of course, for this to function, the Adobe Reader, downloadable from www.adobe.com, must be installed on the PC.)

In the output options the appropriate printer is selected and the report prints like normal. If the PDF is to be shown, the Adobe Reader will pop up at the end of the report and show the results. If the file is not shown, then the file will be generated and the operator will be returned to the menu.

The printer is setup in ZZX-C4.

For Example:
This will require a new printer to be setup in the Printer Setup Menu. For the device name, choose a printer device that has not been used.
This printer will need to be setup as the following for the output command field. The PAGE_W, PAGE_L, and LEAD_S fields are the controlling factors to make this happen.

The Device type is 2 for printer, the printer type should be NOHEX, Device Printer Type - Should be set to NOHEX 

DeviceName/Command (name/cmd in CHUI) should be /tmp

Device Driver should be set to tf_topdf.

Samba Printer box should be checked. In CHUI, Samba/HTML Printer should be Y (Note on older releases this will only say Samba, not Samba/HTML).

The Queue Path will be the file name where the PDF report is generated. If the report is to be shown on the operator's PC then the [WDX] prefix is used to cause the file to be generated on their PC. In that case the path name specified should be the path to someplace on their PC. Note: The file is not removed when the report is done. If the report is not going to be viewed immediately then the path can be any logical folder where the file should be stored for future access.

The file name should end in .pdf or .PDF so that other applications can correctly identify the pdf file type. This is required for the SHOW option to work as it relies on Windows to determine the correct application to process the file based on the extension of the file.

The Output Command is used to pass options to the PDF driver. These are options to be applied to ALL data printed through the print driver.

The Job Card on the Output Options screen is used to pass options to the PDF driver for SPECIFIC printings. This allows for options that vary from one report to another or on different selections of the same report.


Are you a member of the IBSA?  In order to assist our customers with the requirements necessitated by the Novation Contract, as well as possible future IBSA contracts, TopForm has developed a new module.  This modules provides for the following functionality.

Based upon your parameters, TopForm will automatically export invoice data for specified customers as a by-product of your Sales Journal Update.  Parameters specify the path for this file to be located and archived.

A Maintenance program has been developed to map your customer code to the IBSA specified customer codes.  This may be necessary for multiple reasons

  • First, you need a method to specify which customers maintained in your system are subject to this requirement.
  • Second, as you may already be doing business with these companies, and, as a result already have a customer master file established, you will need the facility to enter  the IBSA specified code to use. 
  • Also, as you may know, TopForm supports up to a ten character customer code.  If you are divisional, you are probably using all ten characters.  The Xetec software used by the IBSA corporate office only supports a maximum of seven characters.
A Maintenance program has been developed to map your current vendor codes to the IBSA specified supplier code.  This may be necessary for the following reasons.

  • As in the case of the Customer Code, you may already be doing business with these same vendors and as such have them set up in your system.  The IBSA needs to collect the data using a common Vendor Code.
  • Your TopForm system supports up to a ten character Vendor code.  The Xetec software has a maximum of six.

Maintenance program to map your current Product Codes to the IBSA specified Product Codes.   This enables you to continue to use your existing Product Codes, while providing the IBSA the reporting categories they need for consolidation.

For a limited time, this module is being offered for the deeply discounted price of $200.  For more information or to schedule installation,  please contact Jean Dudek at 800-448-1484.

FYI

If you are taking advantage of the new Web.ec feature to automatically combine orders to a vendor, you will need to have your electronic forms changed.  The electronic purchase orders will need to have the pdf number next to each description field, currently one field prints per purchase order.  For more information please call Jean Dudek at 770-239-5334.


We will be closed December 23rd & 24th and December 31st. From all of us, to all of you, our best wishes for a very happy holiday season.


Please help us recognize an outstanding employee by congratulating Theresa Anderson on her 25th anniversary with TopForm Software.
At a celebration in Theresa's honor, Warren Zindler, founder and retired former President of TopForm, recounted Theresa's early days with the company. He said that when Theresa began her employment with TopForm, then known as Computer Software Inc., she did so in the capacity as the company's receptionist.  Throughout those early years, she exhibited the very characteristics that make up success stories.  While filing some of the program listings and support documentation, she began to study the programming language.  Soon after, she began taking the initiative of answering some of the support requests herself.  Today, Theresa's role is as TopForm's Senior Support Programmer, and one of the most sought after resources by TopForm Customers.


Congratulations and Thank You Theresa!


Jose Rodriquez our Senior Programmer will be celebrating 2 years this month.