Programming/office software nerds - help!!!!

[Tim Cole]

A large portion of my job is driving - several hours per week. I mind this MUCH less than the report writing portion. Report writing makes me want to go find a bridge high enough to be effective to jump off of.

I am finding that the longer I do my work, the more I write them like a robot anyway - always writing the same things worded the same. So I am wanting to build something I can build (from a dedicated software program, to just a simple application) to help take some of the pain and mental block out of the process. More or less, a form writing program with editable fields, and the option to include or exclude numerous sentences in the prog. So since I have a few hours this week, I am wanting to spend some time to get this accomplished. Ideally, I'd like to enter numerous drop down boxes to enter values in pre-written sentences to make it more timely and pain free. For example (this may not make sense) pre-entered will be "XXXX blossoming was present with a twist loss of (enter value) percent in the most affected areas. I'd like to be able to add a click box to decide to include each individual sentence (or bullet point) with adjustable values as shown above.

I realize this isn't going to be easy to accomplish, but would like to spend the time doing it on a few days off instead of hating life a few days a week every time I am busy and doing so. If the deal could export to word, it would be helpful but not completely necessary as most of these will be copied and pasted into the clients online reporting page anyhow.

Help....help! Seems like this portion of work kills me, and I want to begin building a solution to that while avoiding copy and pasting old reports which is not a ton different, but I feel is pushing the line of credibility with my line of work.

Thanks in advance, and PS.....2 days worth of google search and this impossible to find weeding through all the spam, and programs that don't fit the bill.

Freeware is preferable, but willing to spend a decent amount of money on the proper product for my needs.

[iamthebassplayr]

It sounds like what the high school principle would use to right referrals/suspension notes... it was a lot of preexisting lines with a few entry spots.

As to what it is, no idea =D

Couldn't you save a copy of a report as a word doc and use it as a template? Just open the template and edit what is needed?

[Tim Cole]

Originally Posted by Kevin Myers

It sounds like what the high school principle would use to right referrals/suspension notes... it was a lot of preexisting lines with a few entry spots.

As to what it is, no idea =D

Couldn't you save a copy of a report as a word doc and use it as a template? Just open the template and edit what is needed?

Yeah I could, but would rather do it once, the way I described. I work in more or less warranty claims, and would like to make one master list of points to include or not, with adjustable values....one stop shopping. Plus the ability of adding new lines, as I see new stuff daily as well. I guess my whole post could have been summed up by that alone......

Also, it just seems like copy/paste is cheating, while not much different....a report writing program seems a little more legit somehow. If all else fails I may do that, but would really like to put something together as I described.

[jady]

You could set up forms and tables in Access. Not the most elegant solution but I generate CNC Code with an automated Access Module every day and it works great.

[Tim Cole]

Originally Posted by jady

You could set up forms and tables in Access. Not the most elegant solution but I generate CNC Code with an automated Access Module every day and it works great.

Awesome.....will check that out. I will also keep you in mind for my next project since you're cnc savvy.....why my computer cannot communicate with the plotter I've had sitting here for two months

[cdef]

DocBuilder for MS Word looks close to the kind of software you're after. Not free, but at least you can try it out before deciding.

[rcarraher]

Originally Posted by Tim Cole

A large portion of my job is driving - several hours per week. I mind this MUCH less than the report writing portion. Report writing makes me want to go find a bridge high enough to be effective to jump off of.

I am finding that the longer I do my work, the more I write them like a robot anyway - always writing the same things worded the same. So I am wanting to build something I can build (from a dedicated software program, to just a simple application) to help take some of the pain and mental block out of the process. More or less, a form writing program with editable fields, and the option to include or exclude numerous sentences in the prog. So since I have a few hours this week, I am wanting to spend some time to get this accomplished. Ideally, I'd like to enter numerous drop down boxes to enter values in pre-written sentences to make it more timely and pain free. For example (this may not make sense) pre-entered will be "XXXX blossoming was present with a twist loss of (enter value) percent in the most affected areas. I'd like to be able to add a click box to decide to include each individual sentence (or bullet point) with adjustable values as shown above.

I realize this isn't going to be easy to accomplish, but would like to spend the time doing it on a few days off instead of hating life a few days a week every time I am busy and doing so. If the deal could export to word, it would be helpful but not completely necessary as most of these will be copied and pasted into the clients online reporting page anyhow.

Help....help! Seems like this portion of work kills me, and I want to begin building a solution to that while avoiding copy and pasting old reports which is not a ton different, but I feel is pushing the line of credibility with my line of work.

Thanks in advance, and PS.....2 days worth of google search and this impossible to find weeding through all the spam, and programs that don't fit the bill.

Freeware is preferable, but willing to spend a decent amount of money on the proper product for my needs.

Adobe Acrobat has a Forms Designer, which you can enter in drop down boxes, it'll also automatically enter dates etc...course, you need the full version....You could probably accomplish the same thing in Word, but I always use Adobe for forms, so I don't know how to do it in Word off the top of my head.

[Tim Cole]

Awesome, you guys are the best! Keep the suggestions coming, I have a few days I can dedicate to entering the info needed to make this happen, but would like to explore all the options....

[L-A]

A little Filemaker magic could also get you there.

As far as I can personally go, I could whip you out a small swf (flash file) that would output to a .txt file, but I can't say how much (free) time it would take.