DBP to print invoices

Hello all,

Perhaps this is too much to ask, and I do wish I hadn't lost my copy of 
the DBP handbook, but I want to print my invoices using a database, using 
DBP 8 and Ventura 8. I don't issue many invoices, and I do them in 
CorelDraw! But I want to be able to analyse my invoices (at last!).

However, it's not simple, at least for me, as it's been a long time since 
I fiddled with databases. Can you point me to an internet resource, 
perhaps?

Printing the invoice header is fairly easy. But I don't know how to print 
line items, where the number of items varies between invoices.

I can't manage to put text into frames, which would be an easy way of 
placing text on the page, so everything is positioned with the paragraph 
tag. Which, in turn, means the number of paras (or lines) on the page 
must be constant.

Is there a simple way of dealing with varying line items? I know how to 
do table joins but not how that might apply to line items. I've 
experimented with adding 15 line items to each invoice in Excel but it's 
getting very cumbersome.

btw, I posted a question about the FIELD macro last Friday that still 
hasn't appeared; is that normal? Perhaps I should repost.

Best regards and thanks,

Richard Treadgold

Well, if the data base exists, Ventura works fine to present a polished 
financial document.

I had occasion to produce church receipts from an Excel spreadsheet this 
year, and "the" Allan (Shearer) was kind enough to forward a DBP
recipe 
and a fancy Ventura template as he had just finished issuing several 
hundred church receipts that way.

It was really to adapt to my needs, and use some conditionals to skip 
items etc. The key is to make the data consistent, with exceptional 
conditions already sorted out within the spreadsheet. I did not make any 
reference to the DBP manual, as it was pretty much self explanatory (and 
I had used DBP once before, many years before that.)

Receipt number? -- the page number of course! Just had to be careful 
that pages were never dropped or added as people asked for the names on 
those receipts to be changed (the you know it is going to happen changes 
from Mrs. to Mr and Mrs. or split the donation with separate receipts 
or............. any other almost legal thing to maximize the income tax 
value.

(Most of my data base items for Ventura (thousands!) were in our own 
proprietary data bases (not on PC) from which I could, with virtually no 
effort, bring out full Ventura markup and produce thousands of name 
badges directly without using DBP. I can be very sure that some job will 
come in now that I am "retired" where I will have to get up close and

friendly with DBP.)

Daniel Lauber wrote:
> 
> Just as the folks here repeatedly note, Ventura is great for certain 
> purposes like long structured documents, books, catalogs, even flyers.
> 
> I honestly don't think that invoicing is one of them, although I'm sure 
> it can be done. Still you're best off using something like Quicken Home 
> & Business, Quickbooks, Peachtree Accounting, or any of a dozen
low-cost 
> or freeware invoicing applications (go to http://www.pcworld and select 
> "downloads" - then search for "Invoice"). Or if you
have FileMaker Pro, 
> it's a great database for invoicing and analyzing your invoice records.
> 
> Richard Treadgold wrote:
>> Hello all,
>>
>> Perhaps this is too much to ask, and I do wish I hadn't lost my copy 
>> of the DBP handbook, but I want to print my invoices using a database,

>> using DBP 8 and Ventura 8. I don't issue many invoices, and I do them 
>> in CorelDraw! But I want to be able to analyse my invoices (at last!).
>>
>> However, it's not simple, at least for me, as it's been a long time 
>> since I fiddled with databases. Can you point me to an internet 
>> resource, perhaps?
>>
>> Printing the invoice header is fairly easy. But I don't know how to 
>> print line items, where the number of items varies between invoices.
>>
>> I can't manage to put text into frames, which would be an easy way of 
>> placing text on the page, so everything is positioned with the 
>> paragraph tag. Which, in turn, means the number of paras (or lines) on

>> the page must be constant.
>>
>> Is there a simple way of dealing with varying line items? I know how 
>> to do table joins but not how that might apply to line items. I've 
>> experimented with adding 15 line items to each invoice in Excel but 
>> it's getting very cumbersome.
>>
>> btw, I posted a question about the FIELD macro last Friday that still 
>> hasn't appeared; is that normal? Perhaps I should repost.
>>
>> Best regards and thanks,
>>
>> Richard Treadgold
>>
> 

Just as the folks here repeatedly note, Ventura is great for certain 
purposes like long structured documents, books, catalogs, even flyers.

I honestly don't think that invoicing is one of them, although I'm sure 
it can be done. Still you're best off using something like Quicken Home 
& Business, Quickbooks, Peachtree Accounting, or any of a dozen low-cost 
or freeware invoicing applications (go to http://www.pcworld and select 
"downloads" - then search for "Invoice"). Or if you have
FileMaker Pro, 
it's a great database for invoicing and analyzing your invoice records.

Richard Treadgold wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> Perhaps this is too much to ask, and I do wish I hadn't lost my copy of 
> the DBP handbook, but I want to print my invoices using a database, using 
> DBP 8 and Ventura 8. I don't issue many invoices, and I do them in 
> CorelDraw! But I want to be able to analyse my invoices (at last!).
> 
> However, it's not simple, at least for me, as it's been a long time since 
> I fiddled with databases. Can you point me to an internet resource, 
> perhaps?
> 
> Printing the invoice header is fairly easy. But I don't know how to print 
> line items, where the number of items varies between invoices.
> 
> I can't manage to put text into frames, which would be an easy way of 
> placing text on the page, so everything is positioned with the paragraph 
> tag. Which, in turn, means the number of paras (or lines) on the page 
> must be constant.
> 
> Is there a simple way of dealing with varying line items? I know how to 
> do table joins but not how that might apply to line items. I've 
> experimented with adding 15 line items to each invoice in Excel but it's 
> getting very cumbersome.
> 
> btw, I posted a question about the FIELD macro last Friday that still 
> hasn't appeared; is that normal? Perhaps I should repost.
> 
> Best regards and thanks,
> 
> Richard Treadgold
> 

-- 
Daniel Lauber
Planning/Communications
River Forest, IL

dl@planningcommunications.com

Websites:
http://planningcommunications.com
http://jobfindersonline.com
http://dreamitdoit.net

Daniel Lauber wrote:

> 
> Just as the folks here repeatedly note, Ventura is great for certain 
> purposes like long structured documents, books, catalogs, even flyers.
> 
> I honestly don't think that invoicing is one of them, although I'm
> sure it can be done. Still you're best off using something like
> Quicken Home & Business, Quickbooks, Peachtree Accounting, or any of a
> dozen low-cost or freeware invoicing applications (go to
> http://www.pcworld and select "downloads" - then search for
> "Invoice"). Or if you have FileMaker Pro, it's a great database
for
> invoicing and analyzing your invoice records. 
> 
Right, thanks, Daniel. I appreciate your practical suggestions. A simple 
invoicing app certainly would be easier. However I'm hoping someone may 
have a ready-made solution. That would suit me best, since my needs are 
small and I already have the DB and DTP software just sitting here.

Still, yours is Plan B!

Regards,
Richard.

Paul McGee wrote:

> 
> Well, if the data base exists, Ventura works fine to present a
> polished financial document.
> 
> I had occasion to produce church receipts from an Excel spreadsheet
> this year, and "the" Allan (Shearer) was kind enough to forward a
DBP
> recipe and a fancy Ventura template as he had just finished issuing
> several hundred church receipts that way.
> 

Thanks Paul. I agree with you that Ventura can polish docs. You were 
fortunate to get Allan's help, and let's hope you can use the expertise 
you've gained.

The subtle difference between receipts and invoices, unless I'm mistaken, 
is the presence on invoices of multiple lines, and that's the issue I need 
help with: how to manage those one-to-many relationships.

So if anyone can cast some light on that, I'd be very grateful.

Thanks,
Richard.