Using document compare on a form

[JPCPA]

I want to create a form that would have a large amount of information in it,
most of it in text boxes. This form is going to be carried over from year to
year, and occassionally may need new fields inserted. Is there a way to use
compare documents to update a form for new fields? I have tried this without
success. My simple completed form looks like this:
Checkbox 1

This is our first entry field
One more time ought to do it

Entry Field #2
does this really work?

Check box #2

I am trying to insert a field in between field #1 and #2
When I compare to my "New" form it adds the field in the correct place, but
it wants to delete all of the information in my fields. I know that I cna
manually accept/reject the changes, but we're talking about a 30-40 page
document x 5,000 times....

 

[Jezebel]

I'd suggest that this is entirely the wrong approach. Step back a bit,
forget about forms and documents for the moment, and think about what you're
actually trying to achieve. As currently described (unless you've left a lot
out) you are building a disaster: "30-40 page document x 5,000 times" is not
a happy future, either technically or for your users. By the sounds of it,
you want a database, not a form.

 

[JPCPA]

Each form has to reside in an individual client's file. Hence the form
approach. Most of the fields are going to be paragraph length descriptions.
we also want something that can be given to the client to help complete parts
of the form. In the future, this may be done with sharepoint and infopath,
but without sharepoint, infopath is not an ideal solution either.

 

[Jezebel]

Why would a client's file need updating 5000 times?

 

[JPCPA]

5000 clients, each with their own document, each file stored in a separate
folder, potentially on a different server. Each client is provided service
once per year, and when required, this document may need added details
(additional fields). I am trying to automate an update process so that if
the form changes slightly, people can run, say a macro to compare to the new
form that's out there rather than starting over.

 

[Jezebel]

OK, I can understand why you've come to this proposed solution; but I stand
by the original objection. What you propose is a very messy IT approach; and
with 5000 clients you can't afford to be so amateurish.

 

[JPCPA]

So then how do I make Access work for this? if my client's don't have MS
Access, then they can't assist in filling it out, each client form would, in
effect have to be it's own access database if I want to be able to launch it
from within the fileroom software we're using...?

 

[Jezebel]

Why did Access suddenly poke its head in? -- that's very unlikely to be the
answer you want. Stop thinking about solutions and define your problem
properly (or, given the obvious commercial importance of what you're doing,
pay some to do it for you). State your commercial objectives, then write a
functional specification for what the software has to achieve.