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Thread: When does a "Template" become a "Form"
Number of posts in this thread: 5 (In chronological order)
From: Langum, Michael J
Date: Tue, Jan 18 2011 9:33AM
Subject: When does a "Template" become a "Form"
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On occasion, we get request to post WORD files (see example attached) that are intended to be used by end-users to provide information back to our program offices. They are NOT formatted as WORD forms, but simple .doc files.
The thinking is that these WORD files are "Templates" that the end user can use to provide needed information, and are not FORMS.
On the one hand, I'm inclined to say that they are forms, and that therefore they need to be built with FORM tools that provide prompts, and allow tabbing.
But, since I'm the person who would typically need to re-format the files, I'm reluctant to give myself all the extra work.
Any opinions?
-- Mike
From: Sailesh Panchang
Date: Tue, Jan 18 2011 10:45AM
Subject: Re: When does a "Template" become a "Form"
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Michael,
That is certainly your prerogative. But the questions I'd ask myself are:
What do I do with the files after they come back with data? Will
content formatted as a form facilitate data validation or process of
pulling data into a database or other repository? Or are the answers
reviewed and processed manually and their particular format is
unimportant? So if a form format is not going to be useful, then you
can avoid the extra work!
Regards,
Sailesh Panchang
On 1/18/11, Langum, Michael J < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> On occasion, we get request to post WORD files (see example attached) that
> are intended to be used by end-users to provide information back to our
> program offices. They are NOT formatted as WORD forms, but simple .doc
> files.
>
> The thinking is that these WORD files are "Templates" that the end user can
> use to provide needed information, and are not FORMS.
>
> On the one hand, I'm inclined to say that they are forms, and that therefore
> they need to be built with FORM tools that provide prompts, and allow
> tabbing.
>
> But, since I'm the person who would typically need to re-format the files,
> I'm reluctant to give myself all the extra work.
>
> Any opinions?
>
> -- Mike
>
>
From: Birkir Rúnar Gunnarsson
Date: Tue, Jan 18 2011 4:36PM
Subject: Re: When does a "Template" become a "Form"
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And if they are form documents where the data is expected to be in a
certain format e.g. to be put into a databse, xml file or ba script,
wouldn't it be less work in the long run to create these as html
documents with Javascript validation, and put them online?
It does take some work, and it depends on the data and the volume you
deal with, but it is often surprisingly easy to save time by putting
in some development and automate the most boring of tasks, data entry.
I am sure you know all of this though, and have your reasons, but may
be your situation and decissions could be informative to other list
members, so I just brought this up out of curiosity.
Thanks
-B
On 1/18/11, Sailesh Panchang < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Michael,
> That is certainly your prerogative. But the questions I'd ask myself are:
> What do I do with the files after they come back with data? Will
> content formatted as a form facilitate data validation or process of
> pulling data into a database or other repository? Or are the answers
> reviewed and processed manually and their particular format is
> unimportant? So if a form format is not going to be useful, then you
> can avoid the extra work!
> Regards,
> Sailesh Panchang
>
>
>
> On 1/18/11, Langum, Michael J < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>> On occasion, we get request to post WORD files (see example attached) that
>> are intended to be used by end-users to provide information back to our
>> program offices. They are NOT formatted as WORD forms, but simple .doc
>> files.
>>
>> The thinking is that these WORD files are "Templates" that the end user
>> can
>> use to provide needed information, and are not FORMS.
>>
>> On the one hand, I'm inclined to say that they are forms, and that
>> therefore
>> they need to be built with FORM tools that provide prompts, and allow
>> tabbing.
>>
>> But, since I'm the person who would typically need to re-format the files,
>> I'm reluctant to give myself all the extra work.
>>
>> Any opinions?
>>
>> -- Mike
>>
>>
>
From: catherine
Date: Tue, Jan 18 2011 5:27PM
Subject: Re: When does a "Template" become a "Form"
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On 1/18/11, Langum, Michael J < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> On occasion, we get request to post WORD files (see example attached) that
> are intended to be used by end-users to provide information back to our
> program offices. They are NOT formatted as WORD forms, but simple .doc
> files.
>
> The thinking is that these WORD files are "Templates" that the end user can
> use to provide needed information, and are not FORMS.
>
> On the one hand, I'm inclined to say that they are forms, and that
therefore
> they need to be built with FORM tools that provide prompts, and allow
> tabbing.
>
> But, since I'm the person who would typically need to re-format the files,
> I'm reluctant to give myself all the extra work.
>
> Any opinions?
>
> -- Mike
I think you have already answered your own question. The moment the
"template" is presented to the user to be used, to be filled out to
provide information, it becomes a form.
--
Catherine Roy
http://www.catherine-roy.net
From: Sailesh Panchang
Date: Wed, Jan 19 2011 7:06AM
Subject: Re: When does a "Template" become a "Form"
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Birkir,
Right, my choice too would be HTML / PHP etc. But Michael needs to
answer this one. His question specifically relates to a Word doc of
which he is the author.
Sailesh
On 1/18/11, Birkir Rúnar Gunnarsson < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> And if they are form documents where the data is expected to be in a
> certain format e.g. to be put into a databse, xml file or ba script,
> wouldn't it be less work in the long run to create these as html
> documents with Javascript validation, and put them online?
> It does take some work, and it depends on the data and the volume you
> deal with, but it is often surprisingly easy to save time by putting
> in some development and automate the most boring of tasks, data entry.
> I am sure you know all of this though, and have your reasons, but may
> be your situation and decissions could be informative to other list
> members, so I just brought this up out of curiosity.
> Thanks
> -B
>
> On 1/18/11, Sailesh Panchang < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>> Michael,
>> That is certainly your prerogative. But the questions I'd ask myself are:
>> What do I do with the files after they come back with data? Will
>> content formatted as a form facilitate data validation or process of
>> pulling data into a database or other repository? Or are the answers
>> reviewed and processed manually and their particular format is
>> unimportant? So if a form format is not going to be useful, then you
>> can avoid the extra work!
>> Regards,
>> Sailesh Panchang
>>
>>
>>
>> On 1/18/11, Langum, Michael J < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>>> On occasion, we get request to post WORD files (see example attached)
>>> that
>>> are intended to be used by end-users to provide information back to our
>>> program offices. They are NOT formatted as WORD forms, but simple .doc
>>> files.
>>>
>>> The thinking is that these WORD files are "Templates" that the end user
>>> can
>>> use to provide needed information, and are not FORMS.
>>>
>>> On the one hand, I'm inclined to say that they are forms, and that
>>> therefore
>>> they need to be built with FORM tools that provide prompts, and allow
>>> tabbing.
>>>
>>> But, since I'm the person who would typically need to re-format the
>>> files,
>>> I'm reluctant to give myself all the extra work.
>>>
>>> Any opinions?
>>>
>>> -- Mike
>>>
>>>
>>