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This chapter will explain how you can alter the way common documents, like consent and recovery forms, fee notes etc., look when they are printed. To some degree, you can also change the amount and type of information the documents contain. This functionality is provided so that you can customise each document to reflect the image and workflow of your practice.
In many parts of the Premvet 5 system, the program has to identify clients using a range of criteria and then send unique information to each of those clients.
If you are creating Microsoft Word documents for Operation forms please see the separate section for more details.
To explain how Premvet 5 accomplishes this, it's best to draw a conceptual distinction between presentation information and data information. For example, when Premvet 5 is producing invoices it consults a separate file which tells it how an invoice should look - the presentation - and inserts information specific to each client - the data - accordingly.
In Premvet 5 the files which store presentation information are called definition files. They contain the lay-out details of each document, default text to include and 'place-holders' for the data called reserved words. To make a very simple example; when you write a letter to Mr Smith it invariably starts:
If you wanted to send the same letter to hundreds of people it would be tedious to change the name before you print each letter, and less personal to write:
So you need a program that looks through your database of clients and adds each person's name in the appropriate place. But the computer needs to be able to distinguish between text it is supposed to print regardless, and text which should be replaced with data. Wiggly brackets might be one way of doing this:
Premvet 5 uses the ampersand character (&) to decide what is just text and what is a reserved word which should be replaced with appropriate information from the database. Reserved words look like this:
To sum up, Premvet 5 relies on definition files to tell it how to present information. Each definition file contains a mixture of lay-out instructions, standard text and reserved words. When you first run Premvet 5 it will be using the default definition files supplied with the system; so in order to change the way documents look, and customise them to reflect the image of your practice you will need to edit these definition files.
You will also find instructions on identifying the definition file an option is using, and a list of the related reserved words, in each chapter where a document's layout can be altered in this way.
Once you have identified the file you need to change, e.g.
"bill.def" for fee notes, open it using a
text editor.
Examine each definition file carefully before you alter any
of the contents. By examining the document you will have
a better idea of how the definition file works. At the head of
the file you may see various 'Dot' commands, e.g.:
.pl 26These lines are not printed. They are used to control various aspects of the document's behaviour. The code above, for example, controls the length of the printed document in relation to the length of the definition file. We will describe the various 'Dot' commands you can use later in the chapter.
Beneath the 'Dot' commands, you will see the main body of the definition file. It will be a mixture of text and reserved words, for example:
Dear &client , We see from our records that your pet &animal ....When printing Premvet 5 will replace the reserved words with the associated data from a client's details, so the above definition would become:
Dear Mr Sandy Shores, We see from our records that your pet Figgins ....We can change any of the general text without altering the reserved words used, e.g.:
Congratulations &client ! Your pet &animal has won a year's free supply ....Which would output as follows:
Congratulations Mr Sandy Shores! Your pet Figgins has won a year's free supply ....And we can also add and remove reserved words:
Congratulations &client ! You have won the &pname prize draw....Output:
Congratulations Mr Sandy Shores! You have won the Moores Veterinary Surgery prize draw....
Note: We've used the prize draw example because its an easy way of illustrating the relationship between reserved words and general text. If you actually wanted to send a prize draw notification, or any similar marketing letters/newsletters it would be better to use the merge printing option described in the previous chapter.
Example definition file
Look at this sample consent form.
You will notice:
As some of the lines may exceed the capacity of the editor you are using to create the definition file. Lines ending with a back slash (\) will be treated as not complete and the following line will be appended. e.g.
This will be \
treated as \
one \
line.
Reserved Word - Make it look 'nice'
If the reserved word starts with a capital letter then the replacement will also have capital letter e.g.
&animal = fred
&Animal = Fred
Note: Only the 1st letter will be checked.
| &bs / &bf | Bold start/finish |
| &es / &ef | Enlarged start/finish |
| &us / &uf | Underline start/finish |
| &cs / &cf | Condensed start/finish |
| &fs / &ff | Additional font off/on |
| &pa | Form feed |
| For a full list of printer codes please see Table 10. | |
The usage of these codes is as follows:
When you &bs print &bf this sentence, the first 'print' is bold.Output:
When you print this sentence, the first 'print' is bold.
Note: Some of these codes may not be set up on your system. See the section concerning printers in Appendix A for more details on adding or changing these codes.
Remember that the code to turn on one of these print functions takes up three characters on the screen, but when printed will not appear. This can affect your layout if you have not accounted for it.
| .PL | Set the paper length |
| .PA | Take a new page |
| .RM | Set right margin |
| .LM | Set left margin |
| .DP | Printer to send to (Unix only) |
| .CP | Number of copies to print |
| .IF | If/Else option |
| .EL | If/Else option |
| .FI | If/Else finish option |
| .TY what | Sets the format of the printout. |
| .file=[filename] | Include species specific information |
| .Overlay [number] | Add an Overlay document to your forms. |
| .Winfile [filename] | Printing Windows PCL files |
| .filter cmd | Sends the output to the cmd specified. |
| .logo=[filename] | prints your logo |
| .Logfile [filename] | Send the output to 'filename' instead |
| .SA [filename] [text] | Send [text] to [filename] See example |
The set left right margins can only be used once within a document and you should make sure the .PL option is set so the system can determine the size of paper to use.
Species specific information You can include species specific messages on any of your definition files. This is done by inserting a dot command into the definition file which specifies a text file e.g.
.file=species.rclThis tells the system to include at this point the contents of the text file canine.rcl, feline.rcl etc. This allows you to create different species files for different applications. You could use:
species.rcl - Recalls
species.fee - Fee notes
Notes:
Another way of achieving the insertion of species specific information
is by using the If/else option. However, the If/else option is more rudimentary,
and can also be used to examine the values of other reserved words.
An example application might be:
&bs RE: ANNUAL BOOSTER VACCINATIONS AND CHECK-UP &bf
Dear &animal ,
[snipped]
.IF SPECIES=CANINE
The &bs annual booster and check-up &bf will not cost any more
than #35.84 for dogs, (this includes 17.5% VAT), unless you would
like to have any extra tests or treatments. We strongly advise
worming treatment.
.EL SPECIES=FELINE
&bs &animal , good news for cats like you! &bf
We are now using a new 3-in-1 cat vaccine. Feline Leukaemia is now
included with the Flu and Enteritis viruses in one injection. This
means that you can get more complete protection in one injection!
(Less ouch!). Remember that leukaemia is the number one infectious
killer of cats in the U.K.
Please let &client know that your annual check up and a single
booster including Flu, Enteritis and Leukaemia is now only #41.13
inc vat. (If you have not been vaccinated against leukaemia before,
you will need a second leukaemia vaccine 3 weeks later at a cost
of #14.10 inc vat.)
.FI
Please ask &client to telephone for an appointment.
This helps us to reduce any waiting time in the reception room.
In this case, if Premvet 5 was printing the definition file and the species
field of the animal concerned was 'canine', text relating to Canine
vaccinations would be included.
If the species field read 'feline', Feline related information is included
instead.
It works by comparing the word that follows the '.IF' or '.EL' with the known reserved words. You should NOT use the ampersand '&' in front of the word.
The only exception to this rule is reserved words in the @date(n &word) option - here the & has to be included as the '@date...' has to be pre-processed to get the correct value.If the two agree the text following until either .EL or .FI is printed, otherwise the next comparison is made.
In addition to equals (=) you can also use less than (<) e.g.
.IF YEARS < 5
blah blah
.IF YEARS > 7
This animal is sever years of age or older
You can also add a 'catch all', that is something similar to:
.IF species = canine
This is a dog
.EL species = feline
This is a cat
.EL
This is neither a dog nor a cat but a &species
.FI
When using the If/Else option the paper length MUST have been set with the .PL command or the documents must finish with a .PA
gen.def
has 10 lines then only 10 will be printed. There are many cases
where you will want the printer to skip to the top of the
next page. This can be handled easily in two ways:
.pa (Page Break) entry to the LAST line
of your document. This will cause the form feed to be sent to the printer
keeping the paper lined up.
Date functions in definition files
You can also perform basic date functions in your definition files.
The syntax is as follows:
@date(function)The supported options are:
| Enter | Value returned |
|---|---|
| @date(+5) | 5 days from today returned as dd.mm.yyyy |
| @date(-6) | 6 days ago as dd.mm.yyyy |
| @date(w) | Returns the day of the week (for today) e.g. Monday |
| @date(w 15.12.2001) | Returns Saturday (the 15th Dec 2001 is a Sat) |
| @date(w &var0) | Assuming &var0 is a date, will return day of the week. |
| @date(m) | Returns the month and year e.g. January 2001 |
| @date(m 15.12.2001) | Returns December 2001 |
| @date(m &var0) | Assuming &var0 is a date, will return |
| @date(c) | Returns the current month e.g. January |
| @date(c +1) | Returns current month plus 1 e.g. Febuary |
| @date(n 15.12.2001) @date(n &vacc) | Numeric representation of the date, this can be used in IF/ELSE comparisons. |
| @date(t 15.12.2001) @date(t &var0) | Text representation of the date. e.g. Saturday, 15th December 2001 |
| @Full(&date) | Will return today's date spelt out e.g. FIFTEEN DECEMBER TWO THOUSAND ONE |
| @Full(date xx) | Will return full date plus xx days |
Date functions example:
&date
Today is @date(w) the @date()
Month and year is @date(m)
Add 5 days and it will be is @date(w +5) the @date(+5)
Recall will be due around @date(m +365)
Current month @date(c)
Work to be done in @date(c +1)
Work to be done in @date(c +2)
Work to be done in @date(c +3)
Oh I forgot about @date(c -2)
This will generate something similar to:
14.02.2001
Today is Wednesday the 14.02.2001
Month and year is Febuary 2001
Add 5 days and it will be is Monday the 19.02.2001
Recall will be due around Febuary 2002
Current month Febuary
Work to be done in March
Work to be done in April
Work to be done in May
Oh I forgot about December
Normally the .DP (or .PR) is followed by a letter e.g. .DP F to print to printer F. However, this can limit you if you are dynamically altering the printers in use by location. To allow printers to be assigned by location use a number (1-3) this number corresponds to :
so assuming your receipt printer is set to B then .DP 3 will be translated to printer B.
.Overlay
command which is available within all definition file processing.
The other option is to use the General Purpose Form with a link into a Microsoft Word document.
The .Overlay command WILL work on any terminal type.
The format is
.Overlay <number>
This will automatically call the PCL macro <number> and include that with the document you are printing.
Creating the overlay:
C:\> download /s /i:<number> /o:test.prf
C:\> copy test.prf f:
(In this case F: is mapped to /u/vetdata)
lp -o raw -d <printer> test.prf
This only needs to be done once (and again if the printer
is switched off/on).
.Overlay <number>
command is used in a definition
file the overlay will be printed as well. You can have up to
32,000 overlays available but unless you have a lot of memory
in the printer you cannot download them all.
.Overlay <number> <overlay-file>
Make sure the <overlay-file> and <number> agrees, it is a good i dea to standardise on say 100 for one-off files. This will avoid any conflicts with other permanent overlay's.
Note: The above examples use the file
suffix .prf this is purely to
identify the file as a PrinteR Font file you can call them anything.
You may have a Windows document that you want to print from any screen, you can create a dummy definition file that allows any Windows PCL file to be printed. This DOES NOT need to be printed from a Windows PC.
Save the document (use the print to file option within the Windows Print Dialogue Box). Copy the file to the text sub-directory on your Unix machine.
Use .Winfile <name-of-file> this will print the specified file to
the currently selected printer e.g.
.dp G
.Winfile wintest.prn
One example is logging the settings used when X-Rays are taken. Setup either a definition file :
.qu Enter the X-Setting (KV) [Number] .qu Enter the MAS setting [Number] .qu What view was taken .qu Comments .logfile text/xray.csv &date, &time, &ref, &surname, &user, &var0, &var1, "&var2","&var3"
The other way, you may have a def file setup to print the X-ray label, rather than use the example above you could use:
.dp B .qu Enter date X-Rayed [Number] .qu Enter area X-Rayed .sa test.csv &client, &ref, &user, &date, &time,\ &animal, &var0,\ &&var1 &client &animal &species &breed &age &sex &var0 &var1
In this case the label will still be produced as before, except the .sa entry will make an record in the logfile text/text.csv. Note, the use of the '/' to split long lines.
There may be times where you don't what the results to be sent straight to the printer - you may want to pass them 'filter' via another option.
If this is the case you should specify the full command via the .filter option e.g.
.filter groff -mm -t -Tlj4 %% | lp %d
Note: For groff documents use the .TY option below.
The filter command will be checked for some abbreviations:
| Option | What |
|---|---|
| %% | The name of the file to be processed |
| %p | The name of the current default printer |
This allows you to specify the exact command line.
This is very similar to the .overlay command above. You
can specify .logo=filename and the system will
automatically include the logo (or any form) in the current document.
The procedure is very straight forward:
.logo=filename.prn to your definition file.
Notes:
pcloverlay < your-logo-file.prn > call-it-something.
The groff test processing system allows you to produce much higher quality printouts. You can tell the system to use groff automatically with the dot command 'TY'.
There are additional options to the TY command depending on the type of documents you are generating.
| .TY nroff | Generic settings and will handle 99% of your requirements |
|---|---|
| .TY psroff | Incudes support for postscript documents and sends the results as postscript to the printer. |
| .TY PSGS | For sites without postscript printers this option will post process the document and convert to PCL suitable for most Deskjet/LaserJet printers. |
groff -mm -t -Tlj4 %% | lp -c -s -o raw
groff -mm -p -t %% | lp -c -s -o raw
groff -mm -pt %%|gs -q -sDEVICE=laserjet -oOutputFile=- - -c quit|lp -cs -o raw
The current default printer will be appended to the command.
See also:
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