Sheets

From the Main Menu, select Setup | Sheets.

This framework is very general and powerful.  It allows customization and archival of printouts.  It includes use of images, static text, output text, input fields, freehand drawing, lines, rectangles, and checkboxes.  The drawing with a stylus or mouse can be used to check boxes on a form, circle teeth, sign, etc. The sheets framework is currently being used for Labels, Referral Slips, and Prescriptions.

This page describes how to setup sheets (SheetDefs). To actually create a sheet based on one of the SheetDefs, see one of the sections above.

There is already an internal sheet of each type.  You can double click to view, but cannot edit.  To edit, you must create your own sheet, either by copying an existing sheet using the button in the middle, or by creating a new blank sheet by using the button at the lower left.

Click the Edit Properties button at the upper right.

Fields

Each sheet has multiple fields on it.  There are different types of fields available.

Output Text: These fields are generated later from the database. Depending on the sheet type, the user might have the option of editing the text after it's generated.

Static Text: The text will be exactly what you type in during setup.  The user might still be able to edit it.

Input Field: Not used very much yet.  In future versions this type of field will allow the person filling out the sheet to have the data funnel directly into the database. The most obvious example of this use would be patient Registration Forms.

Image: Can be used for an entire background based on a scanned form.  Can also be used to place any smaller desired graphics on the sheet.

Line, Rectangle: Fixed objects used for the background.  Not needed if the background is a scanned image.

Checkbox: Allows the user filling out the sheet to click on a defined area to toggle an X on and off.  There is no rectangle around the checkbox, making it useful with scanned backgrounds.  If there is no scanned background, then a rectangle can be used as a visual indicator for the user.

Drawing: Freehand drawing on the sheet with a stylus or mouse.  This is not a field type that's added during setup. The user filling out the form can arbitrarily draw anywhere on the sheet.  When drawing freehand on sheets, there is one quirk to be aware of.  Because of limitations in Windows, the drawing is presented to the user as a layer on top of an image.  If you put an image on your sheet, it must be large enough to write on, probably covering the entire background.  If you have no image at all, then we automatically put a white dummy image on the screen that you won't see, and that is what is drawn upon.  So this limitation will be a problem if you put a small image on your sheet.  It might inadvertently disable drawing on the rest of the sheet.  You can solve it by making your image larger, or by adding a second larger image that covers the area that needs to be enabled for drawing.

Editing
Fields can be dragged with the mouse.  Multiple fields can be selected by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking. Fields can also be selected using the list at the right.  Once fields are selected, they can also be moved by using the arrows on the keyboard.  Holding down the Shift key while using the arrows will move the fields in large increments. To edit the field, double click on it or on the list to the right.  Images can only be edited by double clicking on the list to the right.

Within some of the field edit windows is a setting for growth behavior.  Down Local is usually used for the address because it is not known ahead of time if the address will be one line or two. So if it grows to two lines, then it will bump down any other fields that are immediately below it, such as CityStateZip.  DownGlobal would push down all the fields on the entire sheet which are below the one that's growing.  This might be useful for table style data.

Filling out Sheets
This feature is currently only active for Referral Slips.  This is when you create an actual referral slip for a patient and are allowed to edit before printing.  All the text is editable, including static text.  But if there are any input fields, then it means that user input is expected, so the background will be light yellow.

This is also where freehand drawing may be done.  If the user makes a mistake while drawing, they can use the eraser tool, the checkbox at the right.  Once the box is checked, the pointer changes to an eraser and clicking and dragging will erase drawings. A drawing is defined as a continuous curved line without lifting the pen.  So the eraser will erase continouse lines as single objects.  Uncheck the box to turn the eraser off.

When printing from the fill sheet window, the Print/Email button lets you perform both actions simultaneously.  For email, the sheets gets converted to a PDF and attached to the outgoing email.  The sheet is also archived in the database for later reference whether it's printed or emailed.  Sheets can be viewed at the bottom of the Account module, or in the Chart module.