Faxing from within A5

[AL@ALCO-SALES.COM]

Well here we go again. Is there any hope at all of getting an add-in or a script or something in A5V5 to directly fax out of alpha.
This is a sorely needed addition to me more than the ability to send e-mails from within.
I know this has been discussed way back but it is time to adreess this problem at THIS TIME.
Thanks,
Al

[Marc King - A5solutions]

Hi Al,

Take a look at the vol. 1 issue 11 Newsletter. There is an article "Faxing from Alpha Five Version 5 using Winfax and DDE
by Russ Boehle"

http://www.imakenews.com/alphasoftware/index000024511.cfm


- in the Code Archive Forum the function is posted - its near the bottom of the page.



Marc
www.a5solutions.com

[Tom Cone Jr]

Al,

I'm curious why this is a priority? There are several inexpensive fax print drivers available which can be used with Alpha Five. Why is it important for Alpha Five to be able to create the fax image and manage the transmissions itself ? How much extra would you be willing to pay if Alpha were to add this feature ?

-- tom

[russ Boehle]

Here is a function for faxing from A5. Hope this helps.

'Date Created: 17-Jul-2003 09:53:14 AM
'Last Updated: 22-Jul-2003 08:23:54 AM
'Created By :
'Updated By :
FUNCTION Fax_DDE_Fn AS C (vfaxno AS C, vname AS C, vfax_Y_N AS C, vreport_name AS C )

'The following 4 variables must be set externally before running this function
'dim vfaxno as c ' fax number, will dial as entered
'dim vname as c 'recipient name
'dim vfax_y_n as c 'use cover Y, no cover N
'dim vreport_name as c 'report name
if var->vfaxno = ""
ui_msg_box("Value Needed","You must specify a FAX number",UI_OK)
goto fin
end if
if var->vname = ""
ui_msg_box("Value Needed","You must specify a NAME",UI_OK)
goto fin
end if
if var->vfax_Y_N = ""
var->vfax_Y_N = "Y"
end if
if var->vreport_name = ""
ui_msg_box("Value Needed","There is no report specified, see the administrator",UI_OK)
goto fin
end if
'Put in the path to the winfax program
sys_shell(var->Co_Inf_WinFax_Path)
sleep(1)

vfaxno = remspecial(vfaxno)
channel = dde_initiate("FAXMNG32", "CONTROL")

'The goidle command stops Winfax from doing anything while you are trying
'to send it a fax job.

dde_execute(channel, "GoIdle")
dde_terminate(channel)

channel = dde_initiate("FAXMNG", "TRANSMIT")

'Below is the input for faxno and recipient name

dde_poke(channel, "SendFax", "recipient(\""+var->vfaxno+"\",,,\""+var->vname+"\")")

'Code below sets the coverpage, you must enter the full path or can
'use a listbox for user selection.
if .not.file.exists(var->Co_Inf_Fax_Cover_Path)
ui_msg_box("Cover Page","There is no cover page at the path specified, please notify administrator",UI_ATTENTION_SYMBOL)
goto fin
end if

if vfax_y_n = "Y"
'coverpage path comes from copany_info table
dde_poke(channel, "Sendfax", "setcoverpage(\""+var->Co_Inf_Fax_Cover_Path+"\")")
end if
'This was not tested but I assume options are 0 or 1 to show or not show.
dde_poke(channel, "Sendfax", "showsendscreen(\""+"0"+"\")")
'This also not tested but will set resolution to HIGH or LOW
dde_poke(channel, "Sendfax", "resolution(\""+"HIGH"+"\")")

print_report(vreport_name)

'print_letter(letter_name )

dde_terminate(channel)

'Active Mode - Winfax controller will start if not already running
'Sends the fax and terminates DDE
channel = dde_initiate("FAXMNG", "CONTROL")
dde_execute(channel, "GoActive")
dde_terminate(channel)

fin:
END FUNCTION

BTW, the path to winfax is set by the autoexec script to a variable so it is available in the program but each user can have a different path.

Russ

[Tom Cone Jr]

Russ, I don't think Al is interested in using a 3rd party faxing engine. I think he wants to be able to do it directly from within Alpha Five. This is now an option using Alpha Four, but the company charges $40 more for it.

-- tom

[russ Boehle]

Tom,
That very well may be the case but probably isn't going to happen soon. The Winfax DDE works well and allows use of 2 networked modems (on one server). I'd like it built in also but since it isn't, I use Winfax. (We had already been using Winfax)

This is pretty easy to set up and works more or less as if it were part of Alpha. If cost is an issue, Winfax 10.05 can be purchased for about $10.00 per license.

Russ

[Tom Cone Jr]

Russ,

Yes, this is why I'm curious about why this is a priority for him.

-- tom

[AL@ALCO-SALES.COM]

Thanks for all the discussion on faxing.
I'll try to explain:
Tom
>I'm curious why this is a priority? There are several inexpensive fax print drivers available which can be used with Alpha Five.Why is it important for Alpha Five to be able to create the fax image and manage the transmissions itself ? How much extra would you be willing to pay if Alpha were to add this feature ?

[russ Boehle]

Al,
You set variables to the parameters then run the function from a button on a form.
You can grab the fax number off of the form (easiest) or from anther table.
Put this fn on a buttom and study it. It's really not that hard.

Ask if you get hung up.

Russ

Just want to add my 2 cents.
I am a manufacturers rep. I represent approx. 40 different manufacturers. I designed an order entry system for my orders. In my application I have a menu item called order processing. When a user clicks on the button a new window opens up. It is a browse which includes all my orders for the week that have not been faxed. I dbl row click on the form. This automatically sends the orders to the winfax print driver, which opens winfax to the address book. I choose the address and away it goes.When I finish faxing all of my orders I close the window. This marks all of the recently faxed orders with a transmission date. Only unfaxed orders show up the next time.
It is very fast and easy. I have been faxing my orders this way since Winfax Dos. Works great. If you need more help, let me know.

[Dennis Mathias]

Weeeeelllll...now I have to put my 2 cents in since I've been doing this very thing (Faxing) from Alpha for two years now flawlessly. It's no big deal. Just set up a button to run a report and tie the report to a specific printer. That printer of course is a fax driver. I use MightyFax since it's nice and small and tidy. I don't work for them but they seem to have a nice driver. They have a 30 day trial.

This may NOT exactly be faxing from within Alpha but it sometimes seems..well, seamless.

I'd rather see A5 NOT get bloated with duplicate builtin applications when an off the shelf solution will do the trick.

[Ed Barley]

Hi Russ,

Was wondering if this is WINFAX PRO, that you are refering to, or another program?

I was interested in a low cost program, that would fit the bill, that could be used on maybe 10 machines, with networking. Just having the modem or modems on a server machine.

Thanks Ed

[russ Boehle]

Yes, Winfax Pro. Make sure it is version 10.02. 10.0 is buggy and won't work correctly. It will run 2 modems on a server to which you can connect I think as many clients as you want. There may be a limit but I forget.
Anyway the interface to Alpha isn't bad once you understand what it's doing. I use DDE. Selwyn has said OLE is better but I coundn't get that to work properly and DDE does what I want so I didn't pursue it further.

Russ

[Ed Barley]

Hi Russ,

Just wanted to make sure I was on the right path. Thanks for your comments.


Ed

[russ Boehle]

By the way Ed, you can get WinFax for about $10.00 at sites like pricewatch. Also, don't expect any support from Symantec, as far as I can tell they have stopped development on it since faxing is built into win2k and up. It is better than the built in one though and of course can be used for network faxing. Also If you look a the cover page editor you can do some neat things and have alpha call your custom cover page when you want one.

Russ

[Ed Barley]

Hi Russ,

Thanks for the tips.

Ed