Xerox Elixir Forms Editor Getting Started Guide

Elixir Forms Editor

Getting Started

Guide

June 1999 Version 4.00

Elixir Technologies Corporation P.O. Box 1559 Ojai, CA 93024

June 1999 Version 4.00 Printed in the United States of America

Xerox®, 2700, 3700, 4030, 4045, 4050, 4075, 4235, 4235, 4650, 4700, 4850, 4890, 8700, 8790, 9700, 9790, XES, UDK, FRM, FSL, and all Xerox products mentioned in this publication are trademarks of Xerox Corporation.

Trademarks and Service Marks/Company: Bitstream/Bitstream, Inc. Elixir/Elixir Technologies, Inc. DEPOT/Overland HP, LaserJet/Hewlett Packard Company IBM, Personal Computer AT, PS/2, and all IBM products mentioned in this publication/International Business Machines MS-DOS, Microsoft Mouse/Windows/Microsoft Corporation Sigma LaserView/MultiMode/Sigma Designs, Inc. Wyse/Wyse Technology

All other product names and trade names used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Copyright protection claimed includes all forms and matters of copyrightable material and information now allowed by statutory or judicial law or hereinafter granted, including without limitation, material generated from the software programs which are displayed on the screen such as icons, screen display looks, etc.

Changes are periodically made to this document. Changes, technical inaccuracies, and typographic errors will be corrected in subsequent editions.

Table of contents

1. Introduction 1-1

Customer support 1-2

Elixir Web site support 1-3 Elixir training 1-3 System requirements 1-4

Hardware 1-4

Software 1-4 Who should use this guide 1-5 Conventions 1-5

Display conventions 1-5

Typographical conventions 1-5

Mouse operations 1-6 On-line Help 1-8 Using Online documentation 1-10

Accessing online guides 1-10

Navigating in online guides 1-11

Word find 1-11 Page scrolling 1-12 Zoom in/out 1-12

Printing online guides 1-13 Organization of this guide 1-13 Starting Elixir applications 1-14 Sub-window menus 1-15 Exiting Elixir applications 1-16

ELIXIR FORMS EDITOR GETTING STARTED GUIDE iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Notes and cautions 1-16

2. Installation 2-1

Before installation 2-1 Release notes 2-2 Product Registration 2-2

Elixir Product Registration screen 2-3 Using the internet 2-3 Registering as a new customer via

the internet 2-4 Downloading via the internet to a

non-Elixir PC 2-5 Contacting Elixir (no internet

connection) 2-6 Soft key customers running Win-

dows for Workgroups 3.1 or 3.11 2-7

Installation 2-7

Installing Elixir applications 2-8 Full installation 2-9 Custom installation 2-10 Adding applications 2-11 Adding newly licensed applications 2-11

3. Desktop basics 3-1

Overview 3-1 Desktop layout 3-2 Icons 3-3

Elixir folder icons 3-4

Forms folder 3-4 Fonts folder 3-4 Graphics folder 3-4 Documents folder 3-4

Jobs folder 3-5 Clipboard icon 3-5 User Files icon 3-5 Application icons 3-5

iv ELIXIR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ElixirForm icon 3-5

User Tools icon 3-5 Diskette icon 3-6 Printers icon 3-6 Scanners icon 3-6 Dispatcher icon 3-6 Converter icon 3-6 Trashbin icon 3-6 Viewer icon 3-7

Using the Desktop 3-7 Accessing DOS 3-7 Basic file management activities 3-8

Selecting files in an Elixir window 3-8 File operations 3-10

Dragging files 3-10

Dropping files 3-10 Deleting files and folders 3-11 Renaming files 3-12 Duplicating files 3-13 Overwriting existing files 3-14

Converting files 3-15

Elixir folder structure 3-15 File conversions 3-18

4. ElixirForm basics 4-1

Overview 4-1

Product variations 4-2

ElixirForm layout 4-3

Toolbox 4-4 Toolbar 4-6 Message area 4-6

Using ElixirForm 4-6 Creating a form 4-7

Using the grid and rulers 4-8

ELIXIR FORMS EDITOR GETTING STARTED GUIDE v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Creating form elements 4-8

Drawing boxes 4-8 Adding text 4-9 Adding images 4-10

Modifying form elements 4-11

Selecting elements 4-12 Moving selected elements 4-12 Copying selected elements 4-13 Deleting elements 4-13 Editing selected form

elements 4-14 Using the undo/redo feature 4-15 Saving your form 4-15 Proof-printing your form 4-17 Loading an existing form 4-17

Glossary GLOSSARY-1

Index INDEX-1

vi ELIXIR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

1. Introduction

This guide provides an overview and describes the basic skills and terminology required to operate the following Elixir applications:

Elixir Desktop, a Windows-based user interface from which you can easily launch the Elixir Forms Editor. The Elixir Desktop also enables quick access to Elixir converters, which convert form, font, and graphics files between Elixir- and other formats. You can edit Eixir-format form files using the Elixir Forms Editor and convert the files back to the original or another format using the Elixir Desktop.

ElixirForm is a Windows-based WYSIWYG forms creation package you can use to create or edit Elixir-format forms. You can then convert them to other format forms using the Elixir Desktop.

You can operate the ElixirFont and ElixirGraphics applications if you have them installed.

Each Elixir application has a user guide that you can refer to for more detailed information.

ELIXIR FORMS EDITOR GETTING STARTED GUIDE 1-1

INTRODUCTION

Customer support

If you have purchased your Elixir product directly from Elixir Technologies then contact the support center for your region at the number listed below.

North and South America:

+1 805 641 5900 ext. 3

Asia Pacific +92 (0) 51 206182

Europe +420 2 2431 13877

The U.S.A. Elixir Customer Support Center provides telephone technical assistance for Elixir users Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

If you have any problems running or using Elixir PrintDriver or associated Elixir applications, contact the support center in your region for help. An Elixir product specialist will answer your call and ask for the following information:

your name, organization, telephone number and address.

the name and version number of the Elixir application.

a complete description of the problem, including any error messages displayed on your monitor or printed at your printer.

You can contact Elixir support by accessing the Elixir World Wide Web page (and selecting [Contact Support]) at http://www.elixir.com. Please complete the question form.

1-2 ELIXIR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Elixir Web site support

The Elixir Web site at http://www.elixir.com offers the following resources:

Raise a question for Elixir Support. Find answers in the list of Frequently Asked

Questions. Review the latest Tips and Techniques for in-

creasing productivity using Elixir software. Download new releases and the latest patches. View Release Notes for the latest available

features. Learn in the user newsgroup how others are us-

ing Elixir products. Sign up for an Elixir Learning Program.

INTRODUCTION

Elixir training

Elixir Technologies Corporation offers training for the complete range of our Windows-based family of software products. For more information, contact:

Elixir Learning

(805) 641-5900 ext. 6

ELIXIR FORMS EDITOR GETTING STARTED GUIDE 1-3

INTRODUCTION

System requirements

This section lists the hardware and software requirements for running the Elixir Desktop and other Elixir applications.

Hardware

Recommended PC configuration: Pentium (or

100% compatible), with at least 133 MHz processor (or the fastest commercially available processor); 32 MB RAM, 500+ MB hard drive, one CD-ROM drive.

Additional hardware requirements:

any monitor with driver software supporting Windows in VGA, SVGA, or Sigma LaserView.

any Windows compatible mouse. any PC-to-mainframe or communications board

that supports binary file transfers (such as IBM PC3270, IRMA FT/3270, or AS/400 PC communications packages).

One or more of the following peripheral devices:

AFP compatible printers. HP LaserJet II or compatible PCL 4 printer. digital scanner and associated software with

ability to create .PCX or .TIF images at 300 or 300 dpi.

Software

Software requirements:

dows 98, or Windows NT 4.0 or later. While we make every effort to ensure the proper op-

eration of our software, some problems cannot be resolved due to differences in the operating systems.

1-4 ELIXIR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Microsoft Windows 95, Win-

Who should use this guide

This guide serves users needing first-time or ongoing reference information about the Elixir Forms Editor Desktop.

Users should already be familiar with Microsoft Windows operations, printer and font management operations and PC peripherals, and have access to reference manuals for related PC software and hardware.

Conventions

Most of the following conventions are the same or similar to Windows conventions.

display conventions typographical conventions mouse operations

INTRODUCTION

Display conventions

The Elixir Desktop, ElixirForm, ElixirFont and ElixirImage all adhere to Microsoft Windows conventions for using menus, menu commands, dialog boxes, command buttons, icons and mouse. See your Windows manual for more information.

Typographical conventions

The following typographical conventions are used throughout this guide and other Elixir product guides.

Keystrokes are shown enclosed in < > (angle brackets). For example:

<Enter>

ELIXIR FORMS EDITOR GETTING STARTED GUIDE 1-5

INTRODUCTION

Key combinations are denoted by a plus sign between keys. For example:

<Shift> + <F1> indicates to simultaneously press the <Shift> and the <F1> keys.

Menu titles are shown in bold. Menu options are enclosed in [ ] (square brackets). For example:

Select [New] from the File menu. Commands, options, actions, and parameters

that require description are shown in bold followed on the next line by the description. For example:

Delete

Deletes the selected files. Steps in a procedure are shown in numbered bold

paragraphs. For example:

1. At the prompt, enter the file name and extension.

Comments relating to a step (such as this paragraph) are shown in regular text following the bold paragraph.

Commands you enter at the DOS prompt are shown in larger text. Within DOS commands, variable names and keys you press are shown in italics. For example:

CD \ELIXIR <Enter>

Mouse operations

You can perform most operations in Elixir applications by using the mouse. The terminology is similar to other Windows based applications.

Mouse operations are performed using the left or right mouse buttons, depending on the specific task.

1-6 ELIXIR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

INTRODUCTION

The following mouse related terms are used in this guide:

click

to momentarily press and release the left mouse button once. A right mouse button click is specified where necessary. For example,

Click on the right mouse button to finish entering text.

double-click

to click the left mouse button twice in rapid succession.

drag

to click and hold the mouse on an item and move the item with the mouse.

drag and drop

to drag an item as above, then release the mouse button, once the item is positioned over a the area. If the selected object is a file and the destination is a directory, the file copies to the directory.

object

a selectable item on the screen.

open

to point and double-click on an icon -- the effect of this operation depends on the icon.

point

to move the mouse to position the screen pointer on an area of the screen.

select

to point to an object and click the mouse -- this usually highlights the object.

<Alt>click

to hold down the <Alt> key while pressing the left mouse button -- this allows you to select a range of files in a window.

ELIXIR FORMS EDITOR GETTING STARTED GUIDE 1-7

INTRODUCTION

On-line Help

<Ctrl>click

to hold down the <Ctrl> key while pressing the left mouse button -- this allows you to select individual files from a group in a window.

<Shift>click

to hold down the <Shift> key while clicking the mouse

-- this allows you to select more than one object at a

time.

Elixir software uses the Microsoft Windows Help program to provide on-line Help for all functions.

For more information about Windows Help, select the [How to Use Help] option in the Help menu, or see your Microsoft Windows documentation.

The Help files included with your Elixir software include graphics created using screen drivers with large fonts. If you use a screen driver with small fonts, the Help file graphics may not display clearly. For optimum graphics display, use a screen driver with large fonts.

You can display on-line Help in the following ways:

Bubble Help

Click on an icon with the right mouse button to view its properties (if applicable) or to display "bubble help." Bubble help is a short description of the icon function that displays in a bubble extending from the icon.

Quick Help

Enable the quick function by selecting the quick help option in the Usage Switches (or Preferences -- for ElixirImage) dialog box. When you move the screen pointer over an icon on the screen, a short description of the icon function displays in the message area of the screen. During certain operations a message about the function you are performing also displays in the message area. To see these operational messages, disable quick help.

1-8 ELIXIR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

INTRODUCTION

Context sensitive Help

To use this function, click on an icon and press <F1>. If available, the appropriate Help topic displays. If no specific topic is available, the Help table of contents displays.

Help menu

Select [Help] from the top pull-down menu and choose one of the displayed topics.

Dialog box Help

Click on the [Help] button in a dialog box to view an associated Help topic. Under Windows 95 and Windows NT, right-click on a dialog box option to display an associated Help topic.

Help pop-ups and jumps

Within Help topic text, words or phrases underlined in green are pop-ups or jumps. When you click on a pop-up topic, a box displays within the current Help topic with additional information. When you click on a jump, a different, associated Help topic displays.

Help hypergraphics

Hypergraphics are special graphics within Help files that contain "hot spots". Hot spots are either pop-up topics or jumps. Hypergraphics in Elixir Help are most commonly dialog boxes with option hot spots (pop-up definitions), toolboxes with tool hot spots (topic jumps), and menus with option hot spots (topic jumps or pop-up definitions).

Move the cursor over a hypergraphic until a hand displays, then click on this hot spot to display a pop-up topic, or a "jump". To close a pop-up topic, click the mouse button. To return to the original Help topic from a jump, click on <Back> in the Help file menu.

ELIXIR FORMS EDITOR GETTING STARTED GUIDE 1-9

INTRODUCTION

Using Online documentation

This section describes how to use PDF online documentation, including navigating through the online guides and printing the guides. Acrobat Reader is provided with the online documentation. Information about using the Acrobat Exchange program is included for users who have licenses for that program.

Accessing online guides

The PDF online documentation is copied to the drive:\Elixir\help\pdf directory during the installation of Elixir Suite for AFP. If you didn't choose to copy the PDF online documentation during the installation, you can view a complete list of the files by clicking on the Windows [Start] button and selecting Programs>Elixir Applications>Elixir Suite for AFP. Once the application is launched, click on the Help menu and select Release Notes. Wordpad displays a current list of supporting documents and the directories where they can be found on CD-ROM.

When the appropriate PDF file is accessed the Acrobat Reader program is launched and the List of Online Guides is displayed. Click on a guide to view its table of contents and jump to individual chapters.

The following list of PDF files and associated document names are installed in the drive:\Elixir\help\pdf directory.

StartAFP.pdf - Getting Started User Guide DeskAFP.pdf - Elixir Desktop and Converters

for AFP User Guide FormAFP.pdf - ElixirForm User Guide FontAFP.pdf - ElixirFont User Guide ImageAFP.pdf - ElixirImage User Guide PdAFP.pdf - Elixir PrintDriver for AFP User

Guide

1-10 ELIXIR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

PdNT.pdf - Elixir PrintDriver for NT User Guide

AppAFP.pdf - Elixir AppBuilder for AFP User Guide

Transfmr.pdf - Elixir Transformer Suite User Guide

Viewer.pdf - ElixirViewer User Guide Elxscan.pdf - ElixiScan User Guide

Navigating in online guides

After loading a PDF document in Acrobat Reader or Exchange program (as described above), you can navigate through the online guide by clicking on the following:

TOC chapter titles - jumps to the beginning of the chapter indicated.

[Next Page] or [Previous Page] in the Toolbar - jumps to the next or previous page of the online guide (alternatively, you can use the <Page Up> and <Page Down> keys).

INTRODUCTION

[Go Back] in the Toolbar - returns to your previous location.

[First Page] in the Toolbar - returns to the opening screen of the online guide.

Word find

This option finds a key word or phrase in the current document.

To use Word Find in a document:

1. Click on the [Find] icon in the Toolbar.

2. Enter the desired search text and click on [Find].

ELIXIR FORMS EDITOR GETTING STARTED GUIDE 1-11

INTRODUCTION

The Acrobat Find dialog box closes and the first occurrence of the text is highlighted.

3. To find more occurrences of the same text, click on the [Find] icon in the Toolbar and then click on [Find Again] in the Find dialog box.

Page scrolling

You can move a document on the screen to view portions of it not visible in the window, or read a document which contains article threads by clicking the mouse to scroll through the document without using the scroll bar.

To move a document on the screen for viewing (functional only when the document displays wider than the document window):

1. Click on the [Hand] icon in the Toolbar.

2. Hold down the mouse button and drag the cursor in the desired direction.

To follow the flow of text in a document that contains article threads (automatic text flows):

1. Click on the [Hand] icon in the Toolbar.

2. If the document contains article threads, a “down” arrow displays on the Hand icon.

3. Position the hand-shaped cursor over a paragraph and click on the paragraph to begin reading.

4. Continue clicking to follow the flow of text.

Zoom in/out

To magnify the size of the page display, click on the Zoom icon in the Toolbar, then click in the Work area. Each click resizes the view by a factor of two.

1-12 ELIXIR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

To reduce the size of the page display, click on the Zoom icon in the Toolbar, then hold down the <Ctrl> key and click in the Work area.

You can also click on the [%] button at the bottom of the screen and select a zoom percentage from the pop-up list.

Printing online guides

You can print individual chapters or an entire book to PostScript or HP printers:

1. Open the file.

2. Select File>Print.

The Print dialog box displays.

3. Select your printing options and click on [OK].

INTRODUCTION

Organization of this guide

Chapter 1, "Introduction," is an overview of Elixir software and documentation; and the display, typographical, and mouse conventions used for Elixir software and documentation. This chapter also provides hardware, software, and memory requirements for installing Elixir software.

Chapter 2, "Installation," describes how to install Elixir software.

Chapter 3, "Desktop basics," provides an overview of the Elixir Desktop and instructions on how to perform basic Desktop operations.

Chapter 4, "ElixirForm basics," provides an overview of ElixirForm and instructions on how to perform basic ElixirForm operations.

ELIXIR FORMS EDITOR GETTING STARTED GUIDE 1-13

INTRODUCTION

Starting Elixir applications

This section assumes you have already installed the Elixir Desktop (see the "Installation" chapter for more information).

This section describes how to start the Elixir Desktop and the Elixir Forms Editor.

To start the Elixir Desktop, open the Elixir icon in the Program Manager Elixir Applications window.

The Elixir Desktop displays.

Figure 1-1. Elixir Desktop window

Note: If you are using a monochrome monitor and have difficulty reading the title bar text, select [Usage Switches] from the System menu. Then, in the Usage Switches dialog box, select [Monochrome Monitor].

To start ElixirForm, double-click on the ElixirForm icon on the Elixir Desktop.

1-14 ELIXIR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Sub-window menus

All Elixir applications offer additional functionality to normal Windows operations by allowing functions such as pull-down menus in sub-windows (or "child" windows).

The following figure displays a sub-window menu selection from the Elixir Desktop.

INTRODUCTION

Figure 1-2. Sub-window menu

ELIXIR FORMS EDITOR GETTING STARTED GUIDE 1-15

INTRODUCTION

Exiting Elixir applications

This section describes how to exit the Elixir Desktop and the Elixir Forms Editor.

To exit the Elixir Desktop or Elixir Forms Editor:

Double-click on the Close button at the top left of any Elixir application.

Press <Alt> + <F4>. Press <Alt> + <X>. From the File menu, select [Exit].

Notes and cautions

Elixir user guides contain a "Notes and cautions" section. Before using an Elixir application, we recommend that you read the "Notes and cautions" section applicable to your application. You can also access this information by viewing the "What's new in this release" section of Elixir on-line help.

1-16 ELIXIR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

2. Installation

This chapter describes procedures for installing the Elixir Desktop for the first time, and for installing the Elixir Desktop over a previous version.

Before installation

Read the notes supplied with the Elixir installation program before installing or reinstalling the Elixir software.

Complete the software licensing process (See the "Product Registration" section).

All Elixir applications described in this guide are installed using the supplied CD-ROM.

First time installation (of a Desktop application) requires at least 26 MB of free space on your hard disk drive. Selecting multiple applications will require additional disk space. Reinstallation requires less disk space as the installation procedure overwrites existing Elixir application files.

Each time you reinstall Elixir software, you overwrite existing program files and utilities with new ones. You should select backup files when reinstalling.

To avoid any possible conflicts, exit all other applications before installing Elixir software.

If you want to abort installation at any time during the process, click on the [Cancel] button from the install screen or press the <Esc> key. You will be prompted to abort.

ELIXIR FORMS EDITOR GETTING STARTED GUIDE 2-1

+ 53 hidden pages