Re: Merge Document and Fill in Form (Word 2000)

OK, I can only really makle a few more points and ask a few more questions.
e.g.

I think you need to be sure that your approach will in fact be more secure
than a more paper-based one. I can imagine that is OK for one of the people
involved if each user has a well-protected set of personal folders on your
network, but it's not so simple if two people have to sign, unless perhaps
they carry their signature files on removable devices. How forgeable might
these signatures, be, etc. Not my area, but either you already know how to
do all that stuff or you need to talk to someone who understands the
security and legal implications of using such signatures.

It still isn't completely clear to me how the process will actually work.
Will there be a single Excel file with the employee data relevant to each
manager? In which case, is the manager going to do one merge at a time,
selecting an employee, then going through the report with the employee at
hand to agree and sign? Or is there one Excel file per employee? Why not
pre-merge all the employee reports and just leave the manager with a
form-filling exercise? Or do they need to be able to modify the text of the
report? Wha privacy issues might there be?

Although you don't actually say so, I get the impression that you are
thinking of using an "online" form (i.e. using Word Form fields) for the
form-filling part. But if you are generating that from a Merge, you need to
consider how to do it, because form fields are not correctly preserved.
There is sample code in the MS KB, or it might be that the form resides in a
separate Word doc. and you piece together the report from the form+a file
generated from the merge. However, my inclination would be to use a VBA
userform on the grounds that
a. you will get much more control
b. it will be easier to do things such as let the manager specify an
employee name or an EWxcel data source, or both, and do correct validation
on the data
c. it would probably also be easier to do stuff such as locate a signature,
display a preview in the userform, and so on

Just my 2 cents' worth,

Peter Jamieson
"T0kein" <T0kein@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:B76255B8-BA71-4247-8D1E-B73E3CCCC93F@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Peter,
> Thanks for your valuable suggestions.
>
> The current Performance Eval template doc in WD2000 needs to be modified
> so
> that we can encourage Managers and employees to fill it out online and
> preferably sign it online as well. Currently, the HR Dept gives a CD to
> each
> manager containing their employee evaluation files in separate documents
> and
> the managers have to print out the form to fill and sign before returing
> hard
> copy to HR.
>
> We are trying to change this process to make it more secure, expeditious
> and
> paperless.
>
> The data source with the employee data is in Excel. After the mail merge
> we
> want to have a Word document that prompts or asks the manager or employee
> for
> answers as they tab or go from field to field. They have a space for
> signature at the bottom of the document. We want them to sign the
> document
> electronically by importing their signature to that field
> programmatically.
> After they are done filling out the form, and importing their signature,
> the
> wizard should prompt them to click on Finish and the file is then saved
> using
> as the "Employee Name" as the name of the saved file. The "Employee Name"
> coming from the field at the top of the document. Also, we want the
> document
> to be locked when saved.
>
> That is what we want to do here. Any additional help would be very much
> appreciated. I will seach for Doug Robbins splitter and see if I can
> modify
> the VBA code.
>
> t0kein
>
>
>
> "Peter Jamieson" wrote:
>
>> For point (1), can you please tell us more about how you see the process
>> working
>> - what is being produced?
>> - at what point in the process do you envisage the manager and employee
>> signing something?
>> - what sort of electronic signature are you thinking of?
>>
>> For point (2), if the Employee name is coming from your mail merge data
>> source, you should be able to insert an additional copy of the {
>> MERGEFIELD
>> "Employee Name" } field in the header/footer, at least if the merge is a
>> "Letter" type merge. If the name is being provided by a FILLIN, you can
>> try
>> - changing the FILLIN to an ASK. In an ASK field you specify a bookmark
>> name for the result of the ASK, then use a REF field such as { REF
>> employee_name } to insert the results.
>> - or nesting the FILLIN inside a SET, e.g.
>>
>> { SET employee_name "{ FILLIN "whatever" }" }
>>
>> and using { REF employee_name } to insert the results.
>>
>> If you want to name the output file using the employee name you will
>> probably need to use some VBA - if you go to Google groups and search
>> this
>> newsgroup for Doug Robbins splitter you should find some VBA code that
>> will
>> help.
>>
>> Peter Jamieson
>> "t0kein" <anonymous@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:00cb01c53950$88a0be90$a601280a@xxxxxxxxxx
>> >
>> > We are trying to modify a Performance Evaluation template
>> > form in Word 2000. The employee data is merged into the
>> > form from an excel spread***. The mail merge process
>> > works fine but we are wondering if there is a way to do
>> > the following:
>> >
>> > 1. How do we make it possible for Manager and Employee to
>> > fill and sign the form electronically without having to
>> > print it out. This would minimize chances of it falling
>> > into the wrong hands.
>> >
>> > 2. Is it possible to make the text in the Employee Name:
>> > field either repeat in the footer of the document, or be
>> > automatically filled in as the name of the document. This
>> > is so as to distinguish the document from others.
>> >
>> > At this point we are unable to proceed without a solution
>> > to these issues. I appreciate any insights you may have.
>> >
>> > Thanks
>> >
>> > T0kein
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>


.