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Greetings!
We want to help you get the most out of FormSprint. That's why we've
put together this email newsletter. We hope you will find the
information it contains useful. Furthermore, if there is some topic you
would like to see us cover, please let us know. And if you have a tip
or cool application of your own, we would like to hear about it so we
can share it with our other users.
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| Intelligent Mail ® Not An Oxymoron
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The US Postal Service is phasing out the POSTNET™ barcode and replacing it with the Intelligent Mail ® barcode, formerly known as the 4-State barcode. The idea is to incorporate all services - address change/correction, sorting, tracking - into one barcode. The USPS states that they are "promoting the use of the Intelligent Barcode because it expands the ability to track individual mailpieces and provide its customers with greater visibility into the mailstream."
Discounts are availble to USPS customers that barcode their mail and meet certain other criteria such as including a zip code and a customer identifier field populated with a Business Entity ID. Current plans are to require use of the Intelligent Mail barcode in 2009 to qualify for automation discounts.
FormSprint already contains the Intelligent Mail barcode in its family of barcodes. John Meleky with Voice Retrieval has already taken advantage of FormSprint's Intelligent Mail barcode to save significant time and money on his mass mailings (so far this year 3.5 million and counting). Use of the Intelligent Mail barcode allowed the USPS to provide 22,000 address changes electronically on a mailing of 750,000 pieces. John was able to update his data base simply and quickly. It would have been a near-impossibility to update that many records manually. Address changes that previously might cost $.92-$1.56 were reduced to a few cents each.
FormSprint can easily add the Intelligent Mail barcode or any other common barcode and even sort your mail in zip code order.
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| Choosing A Printer
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 From time to time FormSprint users ask for a printer recommendation. Since FormSprint uses HP's Printer Command Language (PCL), the de facto standard for laser printer languages, just about any laser printer that supports PCL will work. That means you are free to choose the printer that meets your speed and paper-handling requirements.
Some time ago HP introduced a new printer language called PCL6. It is designed to closely match Microsoft Windows graphical direct interface commands (GDI). This supposedly improves performance for users printing from WYSIWYG packages. It allows them to regain control of their PC faster because PCL6 allows the printer driver to translate GDI to PCL6 faster.
PCL6 uses a different page description language called PCL XL. PCL XL may not produce the same output as PCL5e and in our experience generally does not. Normally the printer recognizes which language is being used and switches accordingly but it is important to determine whether or not the printer will do this before selecting it for use with FormSprint.
Some for our users have also experienced problems with low-end laser printers. These printers use host-based processing. Host-based processing works by converting Windows GDI commands generated by the application to the dot pattern to be created on the page. This reduces the memory requirements of the printer and thus the price. FormSprint output rarely requires more than the standard memory from the printer but the printer does have to have some smarts. When considering a printer, particularly one priced at the low end, look for "host-based printing" in the printer specs rather than a listing of the supported printer languages.
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Making Memories
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 Memory can be something we're a bit short on (especially as the years go by), but FormSprint remembers! Whenever you write something to a buffer it is also stored in memory until the buffer gets rewritten. So, if there is data on the first page of a spool file that you would like to see repeated on sugsequent pages, but the application does not repeat the data, all you need to do is load that data to buffers. Then, you would check to see if the working page is a first page. If the page is a first, the buffers would be rewritten with the data from the new spool file page. If the page is not a first, memory is carried forward and written to the buffers instead. Memory is designated with an input page M on the Spool Mapper. |
Other Stuff
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- Did you ever need to change a graphic file, and you wondered which forms were affected by the change? Check out program ICSPROG/FMSTGDIR. With this program you can list a specific form, group of forms (NAME*), or all forms (*ALL). The resulting file will list the name of the form, the description, the last modification date and USER, the security owner of the form and what graphic files it uses, if any.
ICS has written a QDN
Conversion Utility which eliminates the
need for using preprinted invoice forms to print QDN Invoices for food distributors subcontracting for QDN.
With the current process used
by QDN clients, invoices are sent to distributor PC's by modem and then impact
printed using preprinted forms. The process is trouble-prone and disliked by
most distributors.
QDN
consultants are working to implement ftp invoice transmission from QDN and eliminate use of
a modem for this purpose. Once this is accomplished, they plan to write
some PC software to automate the currently manual process of moving the QDN invoice files to the
IFS Root folder \INVQDN\Invoices where the FormSprint process takes over to
automate laser printing of the invoices. They plan to provide this software without cost to their clients. - Need a symbol or a wingding? A keyboard map showing what keyboard characters produce what symbols or wingdings is available here.
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We hope you've found something useful here and please forward this to other System i users you think might benefit from FormSprint. We're always on the lookout for new customers.
Sincerely,
Betsy Andrews
Integrated Custom Software, Inc.
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From the Help Desk
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 Much of my traveling has taken me to visit clients all over the country to assist in implementing their form requirements. Several years back I started traveling for a very different reason - to assist in the rebuilding of areas affected by natural disasters. Nowhere have I seen such devastation as I have witnessed in several trips over the past year to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. The picture you see above is of the Grand Casino, Biloxi, MS. Imagine the force of this storm that lifted this barge building up out of the water, across Hwy 90 and smashed it down again. The sign says it all - "Rest in Pieces." | |
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