The Form Preview Window is displayed by pressing the Preview button on the Form Layout tab of the Forms Writer window.

Each line of the form is shown along with its line number. X's represent an alphanumeric character from a Tabs3 data field and 9's represent a numeric character from a Tabs3 Data field. Dates are shown as mm/dd/yyyy. Text items print the text entered for the item.

This window is helpful for making adjustments to your form definition before printing the form. It will also display any error messages that may be generated by the items you have already defined. The following is a list of these error messages, what causes the error messages and how they can be resolved.

XXXXXX Red text indicates information that will be truncated or wrapped because it exceeds the maximum form width.
Overlap An Overlap is caused when you have multiple items printing in the same space. For example, if you defined two items as being on line #5 beginning in Tab position 1, an overlap occurs. An Overlap indicator will be displayed in the Overlap column. If a form is printed that has an Overlap in it, the Report Writer will print the item that overlaps on the following line.
Page Overrun A Page Overrun occurs when you have more lines to print than are allowed by the Lines Per Form specified on the Main tab. For example, if the Lines Per Form is 6 and you have defined all 6 lines and the sixth line will wrap, it is possible to have seven or more lines on the form. This situation will cause a Page Overrun. If you had configured the second line to wrap instead of the sixth line, you would have both an Overlap and a Page Overrun. Page Overruns are indicated by the line number being printed in red.

Tip: You can use the Preview button after adding or modifying a Tabs3 Form Definition to check for possible error messages.

Note: If you print forms that have a Page Overrun, the excess portion of the form will print on the following form. After the excess portion prints, the next client will begin printing at the beginning of the next form.