The RISC Form Letters Module

A large part of RISC is the Form Letters Module. This product integrates seamlessly with the Microsoft Word 2000 (or later) word processor and mail merge facility specifically built to produce high-quality form letters using data contained in the RISC database.  Compared to earlier versions of RISC, the new Form Letters Module (based on MS-Word) is not only much more powerful, but it is even easier to use.  What's more, creating a form letter using MS-Word with RISC is actually much easier than creating a form letter using MS-Word alone!

Please NOTE: If you used form letters created with an earlier version of RISC and wish to keep those form letters, they will need to be converted to MS-Word format.  This is a manual process and is detailed on the Convert Form Letters page.

A handful of sample form letters is supplied with RISC which can either be used as supplied or modified as necessary. Up to 200 of your own form letters can be stored in the Form Letters module and each can have a brief description so locating the appropriate form letter is an easy task.  Additional sample form letters are available for download from the Marillion Designs website in the Form Letters Market section of the Newsletter pages.  Extra MS-Word format form letters will be added over time.

The contents of any or all data fields in RISC can be merged into any custom form letter as well as the data contained in additional fields extracted from your school administration system during the student data import routine. After selecting and producing a form letter for a student, the contact record for the student is automatically updated to reflect that "Form Letter XYZ" was issued on that date (where XYZ is the description of the form letter).

The RISC Form Letters module has numerous uses in everyday school activities, for producing anything from late notes, to letters to parents regarding detentions or other matters of importance.

There are two main options displayed on the main RISC screen for use with form letters. One creates or modifies a form letter and the other selects a form letter for merging with RISC data and printing. As well as these two options, a report is included to produce tallies for each customized form letter printed. You can also search on all students that have received a particular form letter if desired.  The new Mail Merge Wizard in RISC v7 is detailed in a separate section found by using the MailMerge link button at the right.

Defining a Form Letter: Defining a new form letter or modifying an existing one in RISC is a simple task. From the main RISC screen, select: "Create/Modify A Form Letter" from the Form Letters menu. This option is password protected, requiring the RISC Administrator password to be entered before access is granted. This is to stop teachers from creating or modifying form letter masks without approval. The screen shown at the left will be displayed (sample form letters shown may be different).

Click once on a form letter then click the Add/Edit button to load that form letter, or just double-click the desired form letter. If you choose a form letter with a description, the contents of that form letter will be shown. If you choose a letter marked "<Empty RISC Form Letter>", a blank screen will be shown allowing you to define a form letter from scratch (you can modify the RISC Master Form Letter file to include your school letterhead if you like.  That way, whenever you open a new letter, your school's letterhead will be shown as a starting point.)

Before the form letter is shown, you will be given an opportunity to provide or change the description for the form letter you are about to work on. This new description will be displayed next time you call up the list.  After entering or accepting the existing description by clicking the OK button, the RISC Form Letters module will be loaded as shown below. In this example, a sample file has been loaded. As you can see from the screen dump on the next page, the RISC Form Letters module looks exactly like MS-Word, because it is!  But there is one main difference, the RISC Toolbox which always stays on top of the screen, containing all of the RISC fields which can be entered as well as buttons for saving the form letter and closing the Form Letters Module.  Some of the features of the system are as follows:

• True WYSIWYG display using all available printer and screen fonts

• User selected combinations of font attributes (bold, italic, underline, superscript & subscript etc.)

• Full print control with printer selection

• Ability to set page margins and differing left and right margins throughout the document

• Professional tab settings controls

• Columns and Tables

• Different coloured fonts

• Paragraph formatting and alignment (left, right, centred, justified)

• Search and Replace function

• Programmable macros

• Windows clipboard support for cut & paste

• Optional display of control characters (spaces, tabs, word wrap, page-breaks, carriage returns)

• Special memory management that allows virtually unlimited document size

• Mail merge facilities using RISC data fields

• Date insertion facility using a perpetual calendar

• Spelling and grammar checking

• Text  and image imports and export in numerous format

• Headers and Footers

• Print Preview, Undo feature, Professional toolbar

NOTE: This Help Desk section for the RISC system will not attempt to explain word processing. It is assumed that the user has an understanding of word processing concepts (particularly using Windows word processors). A brief description of the RISC-MS Word Toolbox is in this section.

Inserting RISC Data Fields into the Form Letter:

You can insert the contents of no less than 27 RISC data fields into any form letter and you can insert as many of each field as you like. The data is taken from the currently displayed student contact. Using the RISC MailMerge Wizard, you can produce multiple form letters (i.e. for different students) in one go using the same form letter masks. 

To place a RISC Data field into the form letter, position the cursor where you would like the field inserted, then double-click the desired field from the RISC-MS-Word Toolbox.  To insert more fields, place the cursor at the desired location and repeat the above process.  The data fields (as they will appear in the form letter) are described below:

If you insert a field by accident, simply highlight and delete it from the document.  It's just a text string.

Formatting RISC Data Fields:

You are able to format the RISC form letter as desired, including the individual RISC fields (fonts, spacing, colour, size, pagination, graphics etc.) until you are ready to save the file.  For example, if you'd like to include the Contact Description field in a form letter, but would like it to be in italics and set to the Times New Roman font instead of Arial as the rest of the letter, simply apply those formats to the {Contact Description} field.  When the letter is selected and merged in the future, the data will be merged in from RISC and the text attributes applied to the field will apply to the merged data.

Inserting Student Photos into a Form Letter:

With RISC v8 and later, it is possible to "mail merge" the student's photo into a form letter. This is performed by inserting the {Student Photo} tag into the desired location in your form letter.  For best control of the location of the photo when merged, you should insert a one-row by one-column TABLE into the form letter, size the box appropriately, then insert the {Student Photo} merge field into that box. You can move that box anywhere onto the page before saving the form letter mask.

You should perform some test merges to verify that the photo merges as you require it to. You can change the form letter mask as needed.

Saving the New/Modified RISC Form Letter:

When you have completed the form letter, you should save it using the Save Doc button on the RISC Toolbox.  You can use the File...Save option in Word as well, however the Save Doc button is easier (and bigger). RISC will automatically supply a file name in the form of 'RISCFLxx.DOC' (where xx is the number of the form letter in the range 00-J9). You should accept this filename in all circumstances where you are defining or modifying form letters. You may be asked if you wish to overwrite the existing file. If you wish to save your changes, click on Yes.

As is the normal practice when using a computer, it is recommended that you do not wait until you have finished your form letter before you save it. You can save as often as you like using the Save Doc button. You also do not need to finalise a form letter in the one session either. You can save it then exit and continue at a later time if desired. 

NOTE: Ensure that you DO NOT change the name of the file from that offered.

Exiting the RISC Form Letters Module:

To close the RISC Form Letters Module, simply click the Close Word button on the RISC Toolbox.  This will correctly shut down Word and restore the RISC form to the screen.  It is possible to close Word separately using the X in the top-right corner, but this will not restore RISC and will leave the RISC Toolbox on the screen.  If you have done this, just click Close Word and RISC will be restored.  Please get used to using the RISC - Word Toolbox.

Suggestions When Creating RISC Form Letters:

RISC is supplied with a few sample form letters, the contents of which have been kindly supplied by some of our users. You may use these as they are supplied, however it is most likely that you will want to tailor them to some degree. Their format however will give you a good idea of how you should build your own custom form letters.

Some suggestions you should note when building form letters are listed below:

• Always include a Reference No. in each form letter which is set to the RISC Contact Number. This quickly points to the specific Student Contact being referred to.  You may want to set a smaller font for this field.

• Do not use words that will restrict the generic nature of the form letters. For example, don't use words like "your son, {StudPrefName}", simply use "{StudPrefName}" - (unless you have a single-sex school)

• Think about how the wording of your form letters will work with different possible values in the RISC Data fields.

• You can set different fonts for any or all RISC Data fields. Simply "click-and-drag" across the field then set the font attributes as desired. When data is merged into the form letter, the data will take on the field's attributes.

• If you find you have to delete a RISC Data field from a form letter, drag across the field until it is highlighted and then press the Delete key on your keyboard.

• If you are using the {ContactDescription} or {ContactAction} fields in your form letters, always remember to use proper English (rather than abbreviated English) when you enter data in the RISC record. This is because the whole content of the field(s) will be incorporated into the letter.

• You can edit the contents of a RISC Data Field in a form letter, so if you find a spelling mistake, you can fix it without having to fix it in the RISC database.

• Use the Spell and Grammar check tools in MS-Word!

• Visit the RISC Website and find the RISC Form Letters Marketplace – a place to download and share form letters.  Why re-invent the wheel?  The Marketplace can be found in the Newsletter section.

The RISC Master Form Letter File:

There is a file installed in the RISC Form Letters path (\FORMLTRS under the RISC Data path), called RISCMAST.DOC. This file contains the default settings for any new RISC Form Letter created. The default settings for this file are A4 page, with 2 centimetre margins all round and metric measurements.

If you wish to set a default "look" for all of the new form letters you create (eg. include a letterhead graphic or school logo), you can Open the RISCMAST.DOC file using MS-Word and modify it so it is set to the basis your school would like for all letters. Save the file when complete and all NEW RISC Form Letters will start off with this base format.

If you wish to do this, you should do so before too many form letter masks have been created, otherwise you will need to redo the settings in each of the existing form letters.

Printing the Form Letter Mask:

Select File...Print or click the Print icon on the Toolbar if you wish to print the mask you have created.

Selecting a Form Letter to Print:

You can automatically merge RISC data into a desired form letter mask by first calling up a student contact record from which to produce a form letter. With the desired contact on the RISC screen, choose "Select a Form Letter" from the Form Letters menu. The list of available form letters will be displayed.  Click once on the desired form letter then click Select.  You can double-click the desired letter.

NOTES:

1. You can only select a form letter if there is a saved contact displayed on the RISC screen - ie. there is a Contact Number allocated.

2. You cannot select an Empty RISC Form Letter to merge/print.

When you click Select, the RISC Form Letters module (MS-Word) will be loaded and the selected Form Letter will be opened. All RISC Data fields used in the form letter mask will automatically be updated to show the data from the chosen student contact (you will see the screen flashing as this occurs - this is normal).  The RISC-MS Word Controls Toolbox will also be displayed, but it only contains three necessary functions as shown, keeping the process very simple.

At this point, the form letter can either be further customised, or printed.  NOTE: Any changes you make to the merged form letter will NOT be saved to the form letter mask. All changes are temporary only and are for the purpose of producing the desired form letter content.  If you wish to save an electronic copy of form letters sent to parents and have them relate to the specific contact number, just click the option "Save This Letter".  This will automatically take a copy of the currently merged letter, name it according to the contact number and save it in the RISC\DATA\FORMLTRS\SAVEDLETTERS folder for future reference. You should always use the RISC Controls Toolbox to Print the RISC Form Letter and Close MS Word and Return to RISC, rather than use those controls within MS Word.  If you choose to print the form letter, the student contact chosen in the RISC screen will have its Contact Action field updated automatically to show that "RISC FLxx - (Form Letter Description) sent (Today's Date)".

When you exit the RISC Form Letters module by clicking the Close MS Word & Return to RISC button, you will be alerted that the Contact form has been changed and you will be requested to save the updated contact by clicking the Save Updated Form button. If you do not successfully print the form letter, the Contact Action field is not updated.

Exiting the RISC FLM After Printing:

Regardless of any changes made to a merged form letter, you will not be prompted to save the changes when using the RISC Controls buttons. All form letters selected for merging are temporary only, unless you choose to save specific letters using the Save This Letter button. RISC does not save every merged form letter, as this is unnecessary and wasteful. If you wish to keep a paper copy of all correspondence produced by RISC, you should photocopy letters before they are sent and store them in the student's file or in a correspondence file.

Tally By Form Letter Report:

A report is included to allow for a tally of all RISC Form Letters produced by the system. The option in the Reports menu calculates the total number of times each form letter has been produced by the RISC Form Letters module. A report is exported to MS Excel showing the description of all form letters that have been produced at least once.

Additional Notes on the RISC Form Letters Module:

If running on a network, it should be noted that:

• Only one person can Create/Modify a particular form letter at any one time

• Multiple people can be Creating/Modifying different form letters at the same time

• Multiple people can Select the same form letter for printing at the same time

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The Register of Individual Student Contact (RISC) is developed & distributed
by Marillion Designs.

Copyright © 1995-2010 Marillion Designs. All rights reserved.
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
Other products and companies referred to herein are trademarks
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