INTRODUCTION

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UnForm is a software product designed to work as a filter between an application and an output device or file, such as a laser printer or a PDF document, or a program like a fax product.  Most applications can be simply configured to print through UnForm, which in turn processes the output from the application, determines if custom processing is necessary, and then applies any enhancements before it is output.

 

UnForm is unique in its ability to analyze report output to determine what, if any, customization to apply.  When a report is detected that requires enhancements, UnForm can add line drawing, images, barcodes, shading, attributes, font control, and text to the form.  UnForm can also handle the processing of multiple copies, multiple output devices, attachments, overlays, and graphic images, and includes support for the complete   programming environment to add true programmed intelligence to any form.

 

The enhanced output can be used to simulate pre-printed forms, or to change the look of plain-paper forms from crude to professional.  UnForm can also be used to enhance reports, such as financial statements or aging reports, raising them from mundane to board room quality.

 

UnForm can produce enhancements on any printer or device that offers the PCL5 printer language or PostScript level 2 or 3.  This includes most HP LaserJet and compatible printers, some inkjet printers, many faxing software packages, and other products.

 

UnForm can also produce virtually identical output in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF), and HTML5, and similar output in Zebra's ZPL II language, supported on many Zebra thermal label printers.  With proper configuration, UnForm can automatically convert its PDF output to any format supported by Ghostscript, including tiff, jpeg, png, and more.  Lastly, UnForm can parse column and row oriented reports and produce formatted HTML output using its legacy HTML driver.

 

While UnForm has traditionally accepted plain text print streams and constructed documents from this basic text, it can also accept PostScript or PDF print streams that contain application-formatted documents.  In conjunction with GhostScript, this pre-formatted data is translated to PostScript, PDF, or PCL5 print streams, with optional enhancements such as images, barcodes, text, and drawing features added by UnForm.  Further, the text elements provided in the input are available to UnForm jobs for designing full-featured document management applications.

 

UnForm can also accept XML data and produce documents based on the content.

 

UnForm can also archive whatever it produces in a powerful and secure document repository, and offers an extensive document management capability, including browser-based browsing, searching, and viewing, REST-based or command line programmatic interface, and scanning and importing of external images and files into the repository.

 

 

A copy of this documentation in PDF format is available from http://unform.com/download/unform90.pdf.