Oracle RDBMS and Tools Services - Word based Survey Form

The Problem

The client needed to be able to design a Word Document template to use as a survey form. The forms were printed for inspectors to use in the field to record their findings. The findings were then keyed into an Oracle Forms system. The reports would then be viewed in a Word Document in the same format as the template but with the inputted results populated the document, with the option of editing the document further and saving the results. Access control was also required, swithcing the documents to read only they had gone through the review process.

The Solution Outline

• The most obvious solution was to use the MS Mail Merge facility, but this proved not to be as dynamic as required.
• A data model and supporting systems had already been built to enable the users to dynamically build the forms and store the information.
• Our solution was to have the users produce a normal Word template with fields and codes within the fields to represent inputs.
• The templates were stored in the database.
• Oracle PLSQL was used to perform an enhance Mail Merge, merging the template (stored as a CLOB) with survey data from the database.
• Results were saved in RTF format in the database and available for users to print and process.