Ed. Note: In Preparation for 'our big move', this is a slightly abbreviated issue. We'll be back next time with a the first tutorial in a series on Forms Management in SAFE/SQL.

We're Movin' On Up!
After Eight Years In Our Current Location, We're Pulling Stumps...
Actually, we're not moving at all, just branching out. The Mansion in Queen Anne is just not big enough any more, so our administration is heading down the road just a few blocks to have more space.

The bad news is that although it's only about 3/10ths of a mile, it is in a completely different phone central office so we have to change phone numbers as well. So, we know it's a lot but..

Effective October 1, 2004 our official contact points will be as follows

Please note that the old info is still good for at least the next six months. After that? Who can say! So please update your records now if you would be so kind.

Thanks!
 

I-10 And Ivan: Best Wishes!
Our prayers and condolences go out to all of you along I-10 who have been hit by Ivan. It's been a tough month for several of our customers who have suffered through not one, not two, but three major storms. Of course, if there is anything we can do to help during this difficult time, please let us know.

FYI To All Our Customers: We can provide emergency backup/restore for all RSS customers to help insure you'll be able to get back on your feet in just such circumstances. If you'd like to sign up for regular backups just e-mail for more info.
 

Save $200 On PDFxtensions Now!
Have we gone insane? . Our TransLog SAFEextension is now on sale for $495 until October 18, 2004. To refresh your memory: PDFxtensions is a SAFExtension which allows you to print any report or form directly to an Adobe Acrobat document.

HOW IT WORKS
PDFxtensions is completely transparent. After installation it adds a PDF button to the Print Preview on all reports. To generate a PDF, simply press the button!

E-MAIL
Additionally, you can use PDFxtensions to e-mail forms to customers, vendors and contacts. For example, let's say you have a batch of purchase orders. Instead of printing them to paper, you can instead, e-mail them to their respective vendors, using the e-mail addresses you have set up in their Vendor Masters. With PDFxtensions, SAFE will generate a separate PDF for each PO, then attach that PDF to each e-mail. Your recipients get a clear, totally legible purchase order (no worries about readability as with faxes) and you get an audit trail of what was sent (your e-mail outbox).

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
When you e-mail PDFs of forms, you can also attach other files such as graphics. So when you e-mail a PO for a given product, you not only attach the PDF, but also any artwork files you have already linked to the product in SAFE (remember how we did that in our last issue?) You now have a fool proof way to ensure that your vendor gets all the materials he needs to print your job; every time.

THE OLLIE CONNECTION: PDF FORMS
And if that wasn't enough, if you are accepting templated orders from customers on-line (using Ollie) these templated PDFs can automatically be attached to your POs as well. So your vendor gets not only the PO, but also the artwork (which your customer automagically created in Ollie!) and all you had to do was press the [Print] button!

This works great not only for POs, but also for customer statements (if you've ever received an electronic statement from us that's how it's done.), RFQs, invoices, forms management reports and in fact almost any document generated from SAFE. SAFE will route it to the proper e-mail address intelligently.

And you can get even more creative: for example, we use PDFs for our training contracts. We e-mail the PDF contract to customers and attach that PDF to the sales order so that we can always refer back to the original (there's that Linked Image idea again!) Maybe your company has forms or contracts that you can do the same with?

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
PDFxtensions is by far our most popular SAFExtension. Hopefully now you can see why. So order PDFxtensions today here or by calling us today at (206)-241-4859. You won't know how SAFE is really being used without it!

Ciaran's Corner: Taking A Break...
Ed. Note: Ciarān is off this time taking a much needed rest. He'll be back next issue with more suggestions, answers and general computing rants designed only to make your IT life easier.