Which program is best to use for this task?

[Corkey]

Can someone suggest what the best program/process would be to complete the
following task?
I need to create a form that can be emailed to others to complete and send
back with attachments. I have tried using Adobe and Pilot Maker but I do not
have access to those programs at work and at home it would be personal time
not work time. I only have access to Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, Visio,
Outlook, PowerPoint, and Project. I do not have any administrative rights
though so I can’t get change any defaults or anything within the programs.
The process would go as follows:

The form would be sent for the vendor to fill out all the information. If
possible, I need to have a way to not allow them to email it back if
information is missing or the form is incomplete. (But that could be a later
adjustment).

The vendor must fill out the form and attach copies of canceled check and
bank letter – Which I would assume would be in PDF format or maybe scanned as
a jpeg or tiff file.

We could open and print the form and attachments.

Again, “ideally†it would be great if there was a way to track them all in
some sort of database or something that would allow us some sort of tracking
of the ones we sent and those who replied.

I am sure this is all possible but I am not capable of figuring it out
myself. Any ideas or input would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide.

 

[Yves Dhondt]

Personally, I would create a webpage for that kind of stuff.

1)Input verification before submission is pretty easy that way.
2)Files can be uploaded easily, and you can put restrictions on the type of
files you want to accept (e.g. pdf and jpeg but not xps).
3)You can make your website communicate with your database so everything
ends up in there directly.

Then all you would have to do is send out an email to the vendors with a
link.

So basically, I wouldn't use Microsoft Office for this kind of thing.

Yves

 

[Gordon Bentley-Mix on news.microsoft.com]

Agreed.

But if all you have to work with is Office then I would suggest the following:

Use Word to create the form as a template. A macro in the template could be
designed to enforce any "mandatory data" requirements and to validate the
data entered and to flag any incomplete forms as such. This macro could also
support automation of the return of the completed form back to you and at
least prompt for the inclusion of the additional information.

Use Access to create a database for tracking the status of forms.

However, several caveats apply:

First, creating the macro is not a simply task if you do not have VBA
programming experience. In addition, you may struggle with convincing the
recipients of the form to allow the macro to run.

Second, the macro may not be completely successful in supporting email
return of the completed form if the recipient does not use Outlook, and it
would be a big ask to expect the macro to verify that all of the requested
information is provided before allowing the email to be sent.

Third, it's not a simple task to automate the tracking process with the
Access database. Most likely this would need to be a manual process - at
least initially.

Finally, assuming that you have the necessary programming and Access skills,
without admin rights this task may still be beyond your capabilities. My
recommendation would be to follow Yves's suggestion and use a web-based
approach. In either case, it's probably not the kind of project that an
"average" user would care to undertake; a professional developer will be much
more cost effective in the long run.
--
Cheers!

Gordon Bentley-Mix
Word MVP

Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup.

Read the original version of this post in the Office Discussion Groups - no
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[Corkey]

Thank you Gordan. You were actually the one who tried to assist me before. I
know this is a task. Problem with having a web based deal is that we deal a
lot with government contracts and what it would be used for requires banking
information so I am sure they would not allow anything out of the network.
Thank you again for your detailed explaination and I guess I will have to
keep searching.

I guess ideally it would work like I asked but the main thing is to offer
something that the vendor can fill on on the computer instead of having to
print it out and save it for later. They tend to forget about it that way so
I was hoping to find a way to automate it. Thanks again.