ActiveInk Software has just announced the release version 5 of their Form Design software. I saw a demo of version 5 several weeks ago and the improvements over version 4 are really, really good. In my opinion, the best improvement is the ability to automate the script using VB scripting and automatically port the results of the form to an Access database. Other databases are supported, but autocreation to Access is built-in. That is a major improvement for small businesses and will help a great deal in designing new forms and then data mining them.

The other big improvement is the ability to automatically insert new pages of the form as the form is being filled out.

There are now only two editions of their Form Designer: Professional and Enterprise. Professional is $299 and Enterprise is $499. Here is a link to the product comparison chart

The press release is pasted below:

Active Ink Software has released version 5.0 of their Form Design software for the Tablet PC.  This new version adds several new features that will make filling out a form and sharing it with others much easier.

 

Product Features:

• Expanded Writing Area – The writing area on the form will expand to accommodate the amount of space required to fill out the form.
• Search Capability – Records can be searched for by entering a “keyword” in ink or text
• Recognition Context – Handwriting recognition results can be improved by setting a recognition factoid when defining a field.
• Pen Gesture Support – Check boxes, drop down lists and pop-up windows can be easily invoked using the pen stylus.
• Digital Signature Authentication – A form can be authenticated to ensure that the data entered has not been altered.
• PDF File Support – A filled out form can be saved as a PDF document.
• Document Routing – An Active Ink form can be emailed to others for their review.
• Access Support – The data entered on a form can be saved and retrieved directly from a Microsoft Access database.
• Field Validation – Rules can be created that will validate that the data entered is correct.
• Password Protection – A form can be password protected so that it cannot be accessed.
• VB Script Support – Microsoft’s VB scripting language is supported for automating certain functions.