For developers building and extending desktop, server and browser based applications; we supply a wide range of components, which allow you to incorporate powerful eForm and eDocument handling.

When this component is added to your desktop application project, all of the features of eForms and eDocuments can be controlled using simple code. Although simple, the code has a wealth of power with hundreds of programming methods, events and properties at your programmers’ disposal.

Blank form templates are designed using our ‘what you see is what you get’ forms design package – we have an experienced team who can replicate any paper form or design new forms based on information given.

With a library of blank form templates, you can then draw upon different software elements, depending on your requirements:

eForm Components for Developers

This component allows your code to open blank forms populate them with data, handle user form viewing, filling, validating, data extraction and high quality printing. The component is supplied as an ActiveX component.

When this component is added to your desktop application project, all of the features of eForms and eDocuments can be controlled using simple code. Although simple, the code has masses of power with literally hundreds of programming methods, events and properties at your programmers disposal.

With eForms under the control of your application, programmers can build your own viewer/filler applications to meet exactly your application’s needs. We also supply a ready-made viewer / filler application which can be used as your application.

The core ActiveX component is also used on server applications, for opening and manipulating form files. It can be used for batch printing document sets.

The package component is used in conjunction with a desktop application.

The packager component allows filled forms to be packaged together into a single file. This file can then be sent to remote locations or returned to base by email, ftp or http transfer. Users of your desktop application can therefore send and receive packages of forms and documents, to be stored, viewed, printed, etc. The advantage of the packager adds key benefits:

  • Files are encrypted and password protected. Even if sent across the open internet, they remain secure from prying eyes.
  • Form packages can contain many different forms and documents, and also additional attachments, such as photos, word documents, etc
  • Form packages can be created by a server “on the fly”.
Form templates are opened within an unmodified browser. The browser eForm component presents an API, which you can control using browser scripting.

If you wish you can write your own viewer/filler application to control the form, alternatively, we supply a pre-written viewer/filler, which is also supplied as our internet forms product.

This software presents users with a signing window, when they click into a signature field in an eForm. It captures their signature as they write on a signing pad, encodes it in data, and embeds the encoded image in the document.
Our form data is produced in a simple, open XML format, which can easily be read and manipulated by your own code. However, if your application requires form data to be formatted according to a complex XML schema, writing the code to do this manually is very time-consuming.

Our XML Toolkit is a software add-on which dramatically cuts development time:

  1. Import a XML schema document into our system – you can use third-party XML editing tool such as XML Spy to view, create and edit these.
  2. Open the form design file with our design software, and add the XML element tags to data fields – this maps form data to the XML document.
  3. Where necessary, additional functions can be called to define how form data is handled during the conversion to XML (specifying date format, specifying attributes of an element, etc).
  4. When your application receives form data, your code can then invoke the XML generation software – it converts it into complex XML format as defined by the imported schema.
Our PDF output converter is an ActiveX object which works as an add-on to the Core eForm component. It converts forms and data in our own format into industry standard PDF; flat and fill-able. It works with desktop applications, and running as an unattended server process.

For internet applications that require PDF document generation that uses the PDF Output Component, we supply a ready-made solution – the PDF Document Server.

PDF Document Server

PDF Document server package includes both the server software and the Forms Graphics Designer.

Using the ‘what you see is what you get’ forms graphic designer, you can design blank templates for your forms and document library. Placing empty data fields on the form, which you later want to be populated with data, creates blank templates which are then on your server.

When your internet application wants to generate a PDF, use one line of code from within your application to initiate our PDF server. Your code specifies which blank form or document template is to be used and what data is to be placed in the form.

Our PDF server then does the rest. It opens the appropriate blank form template in memory, populates it with data, and generates a PDF, which is returned to your application.

Need to make amendments to document design? Simply use graphics designer to make the changes you want and update the template library with the new design.

As well as running in a server environment, the PDF server may also be installed on client PCs. Desktop applications can then be used to populate form and document templates and then generate PDF output.

Users open the multi-page document where they can view and print it, just like the PDF reader.

Highlights of the PDF server:

  • Automatically handles data field font type, sizing, colour, positioning, and formatting (the filled document looks just how you designed it).
  • Uses ActiveX technology to allow multi threaded use. The PDF server can generate PDFs as a super-quick, reliable service.
  • Generated PDFs can be interactive – the user can edit data fields on the PDF, using normal Adobe PDF readers.
  • Set a wide range of PDF properties for outputted file including meta-tags, security policy, font handling and compression levels.
  • Embed images in the generated PDF file.
  • PDF server may also be used for generating documents in alternative formats: TIFF, PCL, JPEG and GIF

Weightless Document Server

Although the PDF (Portable Document Format) is a widely used standard, PDF viewing software often needs to be installed, which can prevent end users from viewing or printing their PDF documents.

Victoria Forms has created the WDF (Weightless Document Format) to overcome the weaknesses of the PDF format. WDF forms and documents, work in browsers without modification – Users do not have to preinstall any additional reader software.

Weightless Document Server allows application developers to present their users with populated forms and documents, which can be viewed, filled, and printed, by virtually 100% of user setups.

Using the ‘what you see is what you get’ forms graphic designer, you can design blank templates for your forms and document library. Placing empty data fields on the form, which you later want to be populated with data, creates blank templates which are then on your server.

When your internet application wants to generate a filled document for the user to view, print and save, use one line of code from with your application to create a filled document on the server.

Your code specifies which blank form or document template is to be used and what data is to be placed in the form. Just as with our PDF server, our Weightless Document Server then does the rest – it generates the form template, places data within the template, and presents it to the user within a viewer application, running within the web-browser.

Highlights of the WDF server:

  • User does not require any preinstalled software: NO PDF reader required, NO Flash Player plugin required, NO Java VM plugin required, NO Word Processor required, NO ActiveX plugins required and NO printing browser extensions required.

  • Once on screen multi-page documents work fully offline, for 100% reliability.
  • Users have zoom option to adjust the size of the document on screen to suit their preferences.
  • Automatically handles data field font type, sizing, colour, positioning, and formatting (the filled document looks just how you designed it).
  • Overrides browsers own printing facility, to generate high quality, and consistent document printing – the output is virtually indistinguishable from printed PDF or Word documents.
  • Users can adjust the scale of the printed image to suit their printer and paper size.
  • Automatically adjusts page orientation when printed for landscape and portrait modes.
  • Users can be given the option to save a full version of the form in a single file, for later viewing and printing.
  • Viewer style can be customised to suit corporate branding.
  • Users can be given a “convert to PDF” option – clicking on the button will initiate the server to generate an identical PDF version of the document.
  • Accessibility: Documents can be viewed in special Text only viewer, suitable for users with a visual impairment, and additional features are enabled for blind users of screen readers.

Form Print Server

Does your application require forms and documents to be populated with data and printed on laser printers in high volumes?

Conventional form printing software cannot cope when print batches exceed a few hundred pages, particularly when document output uses many different blank templates.

Result: Printing gets slower and slower, the operator loses track of where print jobs have got to, print jobs go unfinished, and form packages are incomplete.

RAKIS Document Control and Production System

RAKIS is a state-of-the-art print server designed to efficiently expedite the printing of form documents. Targeted to high-volume document production, RAKIS takes advantage of XML, ODBC and ActiveX technology to retrieve data and forms from multiple sources on your network and incorporate them into printable document packages. Centralised document selection logic provides maintenance and control.

For Application Builders

Create form templates designed with our forms design software. Your application can populate these with data for printing with our software.

For Hundreds of Pages: Our core E-Form component is used for batch printing of filled forms, from both desktop and server applications. The core eForm component is suitable for print runs of hundreds of pages of documents.

For Thousands of Pages: The Rakis Print Server product is designed for handling print runs of thousands of pages of form documents. If your application requires high volume printing, Rakis is the product to meet your needs.

Key Benefits include:

  • Receive XML data as a stream or a file.
  • Pull data from multiple ODBC-compliant data sources.
  • Store forms for your entire operation in a central forms library (or in several locations if you prefer).
  • Create predefined packages to make printing the correct forms almost fool proof.
  • Set up different requirements for different business units using business rules applicable to that unit.
  • Archive data and forms from each transaction so it can be reprinted at a later date.
  • Batch print forms automatically on a preset schedule with the AutoScheduler feature.
  • Monitor the status of print jobs and review the queued documents online in ‘what you see is what you get’ format.
  • Create special formulas for the calculation or formatting of any data element.

  • RAKIS can be set up to work with any XML data source or ODBC/SQL-compliant data source on your network and is completely user-definable. RAKIS uses information you provide to:

  •  Determine which forms and data are required for any defined package in your system.
  •  Retrieve the data from your data source(s) and the forms from your forms library(s).
  •  Integrate the data with the forms.
  •  Format the forms and send the package to any Windows compatible output device.