Use p9 or wp9?

[DLDavis]

I'm trying to figure out how to accomplish a task that may invove Paradox, Word Perfect, or a combination of both. I need to create a document that will ultimately be produced in Word Perfect, complete with the appropriate fonts and completed tables. I need to set it up so that I can do something like this:
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<client name> came to the office <early; on time; a little late; too late> for <her; his> appointment. <He/She was dressed <neatly; shabbily> and <his;her> hygiene was <excellent;good;fair;poor>.
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You get the picture. Now...I'd like the software to prompt me for the variables...and fill in the rest of the text. Actually...to make the job simpler...I suppose I could have one file for females and one for males so I woudn't have to worry about "his/her" all the way through the report. Anyway...I don't know enough about the intracacies of Paradox and Word Perfect to know if it would be better to create a small database and produce the document by embedding fields into a report...and letting Paradox write it up & export it to Word Perfect...or by creating a template in Word Perfect and making it a merge task (Templates and merges are two features I've never had the need to investigate, so I'm not up to speed on either.). Either way, I'd like the computer to prompt me for the information that needs to go into each field variable. I think once I have something like that created...I can then just fill in (or check off) the variables on paper, hand it to my secretary, and let her produce the report with about a tenth of the labor the task currently requires. I have even thought it would be nice to have a tablet pc with a touch sensitive screen so, as I work with clients...I could just select the variables as I interview them...and export the text to a file. That would be the most efficient way to cut down on my work load (and shorten my timelines), but I don't even know if that's possible.

Can anyone advise me as to the best way to go about this task? Is there a method I haven't yet presented (or thought of) that could accomplish what I need to get done in a better way?

Thanks in advance...

Daniel

 

[Lewy]

Daniel,

I would have thought for ease, a simple table for all the variables would be best. For instance for gender a simple his/her field maybe a look up field. Appearance likewise. You could then set up a simple form which you could input all the information you require. A report could then be generated in which all the field values are automatically filled in for you.

This is the way I would approach it as it is probably the simplest, I am sure some of our more seasoned contributors will have far better ideas, but at least you can get started. Don't forget the old acronym, KISS: Keep it simple stupid!!

Hope this helps,

Regards, Lewy