Compare Pathagoras to other Document Assembly Programs

     HotDocs® , thinkDocs® and GhostFill® are three popular document creation programs. Other (perhaps two dozen) similar programs exist. Some limit you to their clauses only. All require special working templates, libraries, work sheets, fields and other extensive coding for processing variable data, special databases and special overlays.

     Pathagoras requires none of this. Pathagoras uses plain text. No fields are ever required. Even variables are plain text. But don't think that any power is lost just because the text is not 'special.'   With Pathagoras, you quite literally can begin assembling documents within a half hour of installation. Don't expect that with any of the others. Call us and we will show you how!

     The features and the various  user interface screens of competitors can appear much more 'dramatic' than those of PATHAGORAS. That does not necessarily (and usually does not) translate into ease of use. Ease of use is best defined by comfort and familiarity.

Pathagoras uses your clauses, your directories, your databases, your language. You know where you are at all times, which means that Pathagoras can be implemented and actively used right after it is installed.

     Most other program all require special templates and hidden coding. The documents (whether base or final) frequently cannot be viewed or effectively edited unless the program is running.

     Not so with PATHAGORAS. Pathagoras runs inside of Microsoft® Word using plain Word documents. A source document created for use by PATHAGORAS can be opened and edited on any computer running Word. In this regard, you can feel free to take a project home (whether an entire Pathagoras book, a glossary or an individual document) and edit it there. This is so regardless of whether PATHAGORAS has been installed on your home computer.

     Some programs are "whole document" oriented. You start with, and edit from, a complete document (a 'template') as the base for future documents. You then add variables of varying complexities using a separate variable manager. You typically must insert "If /Then" formulae at strategic points so that designated clauses are added to (or deleted from) the final products. You have to program the fields and SmartTags to handle those conditions and mathematical calculations.

     With some programs, separate tables must be created outside the the document which control how the document is personalized for the client or customer. You must create 'Question and Answer' templates, and assign the clauses that will be inserted (or deleted) if a 'Yes' answer is given and which will be inserted (or deleted) if a 'No' answer is given. You must carefully outline and perform every construction step, and test and fix and retest and fix, etc. And all of this must be done before you can create your first document! Whew!!

    Pathagoras has none of this. If you find (or have already found) that the kind of programming described above is too difficult or time consuming, consider PATHAGORAS as an alternative.

     Creating a 'book' of terms in Pathagoras is simple. Each of your existing folders (the one's where you already store forms and clauses) is already a Pathagoras 'book' with no further action! This should immediately make you more comfortable. Take one of those documents and add a few variables and you are "ready to roll." (Variables are created simply by putting brackets around text. So typing "[Customer Name]" and "[Customer Address]" is all that you need to do in order to create variables. And these variables are automatic variables, meaning that they are sensed by Pathagoras as variables and are automatically presented to you for replacement with customer or client data when they are assembled in a document assembly routine.)

Compare assembly 'methods':

     PATHAGORAS is neither document nor clause oriented. It is "the way you want to work" oriented. In other words, PATHAGORAS works just fine with either whole documents or simple clauses. PATHAGORAS abounds with options to make your transition into document assembly as easy as possible. For example:

• You can assemble documents from the Clause Selection Screen. This screen lists all clauses in a select book. Clauses used by Pathagoras are stored either in a glossary (all terms on a particular subject reside in a single document) or a folder of clauses (where each document in the folder represents a single term). Select just the clauses you want to meet your client or customers need. The selected clauses are assembled 'blink of an eye' fast.

• You can assemble a document one clause at a time. This is a most valuable and powerful (and exclusive) feature. Simply type the name of the clause you need onto the editing screen. Then press the hotkey Alt-G. With nothing more, Pathagoras will quickly locate the desired clause, and insert it right where you want it. Repeat as needed.

• You can tell Pathagoras to list the clauses that reside in a particular book into a DropDown List that resides on your editing screen. You can have up to ten dropdown lists visible and always ready. Need a clause?  Simply drop down one of the lists, point and click. Instant recall. No navigation. 10 separate folders at your beck and call.. Potentially hundreds of pieces of text (or entire documents) instantly available at your fingertips.   Nothing -- absolutely nothing -- is easier than that!
  
  

• You can pre-compose documents (from the most simple to the most complex) by creating 'clause-sets.'. These pre-composed documents are not actually documents, but are collections of pointers to clauses. When assembled, they become a whole document. (Wills, contracts, proposals, bid projects, etc. are good examples of the usefulness of clause sets. The individual clauses can be separately stored and called into a variety of documents. If an individual clause needs to be changed, the change will automatically be reflected in later assembled documents that link to the clause.)
  
• If you are using the preferred prefix/suffix style for naming your clauses, you can list just a series of suffixes down the left-hand margin of the page. After the listing, type the prefix and press Alt-G. Pathagoras will assemble your document with nothing more than that.

There is no preferable method for your document assembly needs. There is no wrong method. What Pathagoras provides that others typically do not is tremendous flexibility in how you might create your documents.

Compare 'single clause insertion' methods:

• Only PATHAGORAS can instantly insert a single term from a library directly from your editing screen. Other programs require multiple, sometimes complex, steps just to call in a single clause. (Some program don't allow 'single clause insertion at all.) The process is accomplished in one of two ways.
  
  • If you have assigned a folder as a 'DropDown' list, you merely have to point and click -- point to the DropDown list containing the term(s) you want and click the specific entry. Nothing is easier. Indeed, nothing could be easier.
    
  • If you have named your clauses using Pathagoras prefix/suffix naming convention, simply type the name of the desired clause at the point you want the clause inserted. Press <Alt-G>. Pathagoras locates the source document using the term's prefix and inserts the term right where you want it. Fast. Fast. Fast. (You theoretically could assemble an entire document this way. And if you did, and you wouldn't even have to open a single overlay screen! Try doing that with any other program!
    
• In other programs, to get to a particular clause at a minimum requires the user to activate the outside program, select the library, and select the type of document you want to create, navigate to the clause and select it. You still have to link it to a particular client and sometimes have to paste the clause in a window and copy and paste it to your working win dow. All this for a single term!!

Compare clause editing methods:

• Unlike any other program, PATHAGORAS can quickly locate and display a particular source term or document for editing. Other programs require complex steps to recall an 'offending' clause in order to correct a typo, add another variable, change the language,etc. At a minimum, to get to a particular clause requires the user to activate the outside program, select the library, and locate the clause you want to edit. With Pathagoras you simply check the clause you want to edit from the checkbox screen, choose the Edit option and then <Next>. Pathagoras instantly locates the term, displays it on your editing screen and highlights the clause you chose.

Compare adding new text your source libraries:

• With Pathagoras, moving individual clauses into your source libraries is simple and intuitive. Just highlight what you want and then press Alt-G. (It doesn't matter where the text came from -- it can be 'freshly typed' text; it can be from an existing document; it can even be text that you copied from the Internet and pasted onto a Word editing screen). After you press <Alt-G>, Pathagoras' 'TermWorks' screen will pop-up. There, give the clause a name and a subject. Select the particular book into which the new clause goes and press <Save>. It is simply not possible to have an easier method for adding text to your clause libraries.

• Like adding text 'one clause at a time' (described above), Pathagoras makes adding text 'in bulk' a simple process:
  
  1. Display a favorite form document onto your editing screen.
     
  2. Type a simple plain text 'marker' at the head of each desired clause. (We typically use the characters "(*)" but anything will do .)
     
  3. Then, click the 'Instant Book' button found in the Clause Creation Tools screen and follow the prompts. Pathagoras will disassemble the master document into its component parts and add the new source clauses as a new book in your library.. As the name implies, 'Instant Book' will provide you a fully functional document assembly resource. You can use it immediately to begin document assembly. (To make this system even more powerful, you should add optional clauses to the book you just created so that you have a larger variety of clauses from which to choose.)

     Due to their pristine simplicity and firm footing in Microsoft Word, PATHAGORAS libraries, books and glossaries can be readily viewed, edited, augmented and understood by their creators. Future users can understand them more easily as well. They are 'cleaner.' And most importantly, they are immediately usable.

     PATHAGORAS does not change document extensions. It does not compress anything into an indecipherable collection of codes. It does not move anything to directories where they weren't originally without your say so.

     You can find, edit and save your final product as a real Word document. That's because the documents created using Pathagoras are in fact Word documents. Documents created by PATHAGORAS are transportable from one computer to another, regardless of whether the other computer uses PATHAGORAS. Want to take a your document home, or on a trip, but don't have Pathagoras on your laptop? Who cares? It's just a Word document. Just do it. Same with the glossary. It doesn't have to be on a 'Pathagoras' machine in order to edit it.

     PATHAGORAS does not require (or 'work better with') a database. If you have a database, great! PATHAGORAS will work with it. If you don't yet use a database, not a problem. PATHAGORAS ships with a very clever, very easy to use 'InstantDatabase.'

     Every document in every folder on every computer on your network is easily and almost automatically a part of the document assembly system. No importing or converting is necessary. Just point one of your books to the folder which contains the clauses and you are ready to go.

Compare plain text variables to any other kind:

     PATHAGORAS uses plain text variables. Typically, these variables are set out in a document with simple square brackets. E;g., [Customer Name] and [number of widgets]. Any kind of 'bracket' is acceptable. Indeed, the brackets aren't even necessary unless you were to use the GotForms? module or other 'scanning' features of the program. (Please understand that by plain text, we mean simple to create. Variables can be formatted --bold, underlined, italics, etc. You do not lose any style elements just because plain text is featured.)

     These variables are easy to create and become fully 'automated' with no further effort on the part of the user. They otherwise sit in the document as 'plain text.'

     Here are the advantages of plain text variables:

• A Pathagorized form is essentially neutral. It is and remains plain text at all times. (HotDocs and other competitive programs change the essence of the form to meet that program's needs. The base form is neither readily viewable or accessible when HotDocs, etc., is not active.)
  

• You need HotDocs, Ghostfill, TimeMatters, etc., to read/use/edit a form created by that program. You don't need Pathagoras to read/use/edit a Pathagorized form. ' Pathagorized' text is plain text. If someone buys a manual of forms marked 'Pathagorized' but doesn't own Pathagoras, it's not a problem whatsoever for the customer to use the forms in their present state. The customer can manually 'search and replace' any text (including bracketed variables) to personalize the document.
  

• Plain text variables are clearly defined and clearly visible at all times. Editing is more accurate and precise.
  

• Plain text variables are simply easier to create. Other than typing an opening and closing bracket, there are no steps to create them. All steps are performed on the editing screen.
  

     Pathagoras doesn't try to mimic its competitors. Rather, it tries hard to be different from them. Plain text, no codes, no programming, and perhaps most unique, Pathagoras' document assembly features can be used right out of the box.

Try it free from 90 days. Let us know what you think.

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