• Pathagoras uses plain text and plain-vanilla interfaces. Other programs heavily depend upon hidden fields, 'smart fields,' links, separate component files and other 'behind the scenes' coding. Pathagoras requires none of that.
   
• Our use of 'standard' and 'plain text' to describe our approach doesn't mean unformatted text. The text you create can be highly formatted and highly stylized to meet your needs. Plain text only means that no fields, logical expressions, wizards, ancillary files, special formatting or hidden coding is required to enjoy the full benefits of the program.
   
• Pathagoras runs wholly within Word®. It is an 'add-in' for (i.e., augmentation of) Word. When you are in Word, Pathagoras is already loaded and you have its powerful document assembly and management features at your fingertips. Most other products overlay Word. They require you to load them separately in order to begin a document assembly project.

• You are never 'captured' by the system. With some other systems, separate programs control your activity. You are not released to perform other word processing jobs until you close those other programs. Not so with Pathagoras.

• Pathagoras does not require a set pattern that you must follow to assemble or manage your documents. Pathagoras does not limit you in any fashion. It won't interfere with what you use, and what you use won't interfere with Pathagoras.
  
• Other programs tend to have nice, neat and well organized 'interview' screens. Fill them out and the program selects what document or clauses you need. That sounds like a plus. And it is. That is until you realize who has to program the interview. These interview forms are time consuming to create and frustrating to test. And that is where many people give up on the concept of document assembly.
  
  Pathagoras' encourages a simpler, more intuitive, approach. Document selection is accomplished from lists of your documents dynamically generated directly from your existing file folders. We call these folders 'books'. We have concentrated our design efforts on making navigation to and document selection from those books as easy as is humanly possible. No 'interviews' required.
  
  It is our opinion, and our programming model, that properly named documents presented in easy to use lists works just as well as complex Interview forms. Both lead to the very same document. But the Pathagoras design allows this to happen within the first few minutes of installation.
 

Compare to other Document Assembly Programs:

• HotDocs® , ActiveDocs® and GhostFill® are three popular document creation programs. Other (perhaps two dozen) similar programs exist. Some limit you to using their clauses only. All require special working templates, libraries, work sheets, extensive coding, special databases and special overlays. 

  Pathagoras uses: your clauses, your directories, your databases, your language.

  Some of their features and interface screens are more 'dramatic' than those of Pathagoras, but the trade-off is not necessarily ease of use.
  
  Pathagoras uses your clauses, your directories, your databases, your language.

• Because of the special templates and hidden coding that other programs require, the document (base or final) frequently cannot be viewed or edited unless that program is running.
  
  Not so with Pathagoras. A Pathagoras document is a Word document, plain and simple. Whether you are viewing a source library or a final product, everything created by or for use by Pathagoras can be opened and edited on any computer running Word®, regardless of whether Pathagoras is running on that particular computer.

• Some other programs are "whole document" oriented. You start with, and edit from, a complete document as the base for future documents. "If /Then" formulae are inserted at strategic points throughout the document (typically in hidden fields) so that clauses are added to (or deleted from) the final product depending upon certain conditions. Separate tables are then created outside the document which control how the document is personalized for the client or customer. If you  find (or found) such setups and document programming needlessly complex and time consuming, consider Pathagoras as an alternative.

• Pathagoras is neither document nor clause oriented.  It is "the way you want to work" oriented. It works just fine with either whole documents or simple clauses. You are not limited as to how your documents can be assembled.

--You can assemble documents from the Clause Selection screen, or you can assemble a document one clause at a time using dropdown lists. (This 'one clause at a time' method is particularly useful when a lot of notes or dictation accompanies the inclusion of a particular clause, or when you want to add that 'one last clause.')
 

--You can pre-compose documents (i.e., 'templates') and using Optional text markers (also plain text) pare away parts of the document that do not belong in the document being assembled for the particular client or customer.
 

--You can link to a database, or not. You can use Pathagoras' Instant Database feature, or not. You can even use both features. There is no preferable method. There is no wrong method.

• Unlike any other program, Pathagoras can instantly insert a single term from a library directly from your editing screen. Other programs allow you insert a library term, but require multiple, sometimes complex steps, just to call in a single clause. Some program don't allow 'single clause insertion at all.
  
  • With Pathagoras you simply type the clause name onto your editing screen and press <Alt-G>.  (See Mouseless assembly and SuperFolders for more information on these remarkable time saving tools.)
    
    
  • Alternatively, you can select a term from one of Pathagoras' always-on always visible DropDown Lists.
    
    
  • Indeed, you can assemble an entire document using one or both of these techniques, and you don't even have to open a single overlay screen. Try doing that with any other program!

• Moving clauses into your source libraries is just as simple and intuitive. To add text to your 'clause library,' just highlight what your want it (it doesn't matter the source -- it can be 'freshly typed' text or text that you want to cull from an existing document, or from the Internet) and them press <Alt-G>. A simple screen pops-up. There, give the clause a name, select the library which will house the new clause and press <Save>.  It is not possible to have a simpler method to build your clause libraries.

• Pathagoras libraries, books and glossaries can be readily viewed, edited and understood by their creators. But, and probably more importantly, future users who have no familiarity with Pathagoras can understand them too. They are 'cleaner.' They are immediately usable.

• Pathagoras does not change document extensions. Pathagoras does not change your document's name.

• Pathagoras 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 totally transportable from one computer to another, regardless of whether the other computer uses Pathagoras. That's because, as stated in the previous bullet, they are plain Word documents.  Want to take a your document home, or on a trip, but don't have Pathagoras on your laptop or home desktop? No problem. You never have to be on a 'Pathagoras' machine in order to edit a 'Pathagorized' document.

• Pathagoras ships with a very clever, very easy to use 'InstantDatabase.'  This quite simply is the world's easiest to use database. Document variables can be instantly displayed onto a worksheet where you can complete then with personal values and save them for reuse with other documents. All of this is done without requiring any programming skills or knowledge of database structure on your part.

• Every document in every folder on every computer on your network is easily and almost automatically a part of the Pathagoras document assembly system. You do not have to move, import or convert anything. Just point one of your books or DropDown Lists to any folder which already contains documents and/or clauses, and you are ready to go.

Plain text 'automated' variables vs. any other kind

• Pathagoras uses plain keyboard entered text to create automated variables. Typically, these variables are set out in a document with simple square brackets. E.g.., [Customer Name] and [number of widgets]. (Any other kind of 'bracket' is acceptable, as well.)
  
  These variables are easy to create, easy to understand in terms of purpose, and become fully 'automated' with no further effort on the part of the user. 
  
  Here are the advantages of plain text variables:

1. A Pathagorized document with plain text variables is essentially neutral. HotDocs and other competitive programs change the essence of the form to meet that program's needs. The variables in the base form are converted to fields, and they become neither readily viewable or editable (and sometimes not even accessible) when the parent program is not active.

2. You need HotDocs, Ghostfill, TimeMatters, etc., to read/use/edit a source form created by that program. You don't need Pathagoras to read/use/edit a Pathagorized form.
   
   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.

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

4. 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 right on the editing screen.

• An author who wishes to market forms does not have to create a two set of forms to sell to the target audience, one for the 'automated' market and the other for the non-automated' user. A 'Pathagorized' document containing regular and multiple choice variables such as:

  "Please send to me [quantity] [dozen/gross] [red/blue/olive green/sunrise yellow] widgets"

  makes just as much sense to a non-automated user as it does to the fully conversant Pathagoras user. Therefore, the market for an author who has created plain text forms is infinitely larger. (If someone buys a forms manual marked "HotDocs compatible," but doesn't own HotDocs, that user is out of luck.)

Compare to Word 2007 'Building Blocks':

• Beginning with Word 2007, Microsoft added a clause management tool which it has named 'Building Blocks.' This tool allows you to highlight and add text blocks to a 'Building Blocks' library, and then recall individual terms from that library. As a practical matter, it is but an advanced version of Word's AutoText feature (a comparison to which is made below).
While Microsoft touts 'Building Blocks' as a document assembly tool, it is not. Read on.


• You cannot 'assemble' building blocks in the fashion contemplated by Pathagoras (i.e., display all available clauses and select potentially dozens of individual clauses in a desired order and build a document . With 'Building Blocks,' you must select one block at a time.
  
  
• You cannot create 'clause-sets' with Word 2007 Building Blocks.
   
  
  • With Pathagoras, you can generate 'sets' of individual clauses which, when selected, will create a specified document (or type of document) from the designated component clauses.
  
  
  
  • With 'Building Blocks,' you must select one block at a time.
  
  
  
  • Click this link to read more about Pathagoras' Clause-Sets
    
    
• You cannot directly edit 'Building Blocks.'  To change an existing block, you must edit from the original and re-add.
   
• Pathagoras stores component text ('building blocks', as it were) as regular Word documents. They are easily located and easily edited using techniques you already know.
  
  
• (Indeed, you cannot even directly 'see' your Word 2007 'Building Blocks.' The 'blocks' are initially stored in a template called 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\Document Parts\1033\Building Blocks.dotx'. But if you navigate to and display that template, you will see nothing but a blank page.)
  
  
• You cannot instantly call in a desired 'Building Block' from your keyboard. With Pathagoras, you can assign a folder or glossary containing your building blocks to a 'Super' status. Then, by simply type the name of the clause you desire followed by <Alt-G>, Pathagoras will instantly locate and insert the clause into your document.
See this section of the Manual to learn more about the SuperFolder.


• Word 2007 'Building Blocks' work only if Word 2007 is loaded. While this is one of those 'duh' comparisons, it is important to know that Pathagoras has been doing the kind of document assembly that 'Building Block' is now beginning to mimic since Word 97 was introduced. Unlike 'Building Blocks, however, Pathagoras is not Word-version dependant. All clauses created in any version of Word can be easily and readily used by any Pathagoras user regardless of the version of Word being used.

Compare to other Document Management Programs:

• Pathagoras' disk navigation tools are built into the program. Locating documents or clauses for assembly or editing is easy. Saving a new document to a proper location is a snap. (See the PathSmart and SaveSmart pages on this site.)



• Pathagoras disk navigation tools are in fact Word/Windows functions. All Word folders and functions remain the same. Pathagoras tries its best to maintain the environment with which you are familiar. It doesn't block access to features which conflict with the program. Nothing conflicts with Pathagoras, and conflicts with nothing. (Exception: The PathSmart module of Pathagoras may not be compatible with some disk management programs such as Worldox®. These programs frequently store documents using their own (sometimes artificial) directory structures. In those cases, you can only use their programs to save and to locate the documents in their directories. (It's not that Pathagoras conflicts with them -- it is the artificial nature of their folder assignments, and the interruptions forced by these programs, which require you to use their programs to accomplish a document 'save' or 'retrieve'.)
  
  We fully recognize that the 'other guys' can provide indexing/search capabilities that Pathagoras/PathSmart cannot begin to approach. (That is simply not where we have gone with our 'document manager'.) But, with many of these programs, you have to give up 'normal' names and 'straight' saves. You simply have to decide how much you are willing to forego in order to obtain the indexing and desktop search capabilities that these other document managers can provide.
  
  Our recommendation -- if you have not already adopted a third party document manager (or are not happy with what you have), but need the kind of search power that a document manager can provide, try out PathSmart/SaveSmart to set up your file saving structure. Use it for daily file save and retrievals. When you are faced with a more complex search (e.g., "I know that I wrote a brief last year on the statute of limitations for contracts under seal, but where is it?"), use Google Desktop or one of the other desktop search tools such as Copernic®, Blinkx®, Locate32®,  and X1®. Some are free, some are quite expensive (but you can cross networks with the more powerful ones). All allow you to continue to use PathSmart and normal Word Find and Save windows. These alternatives quite literally gives you the best of both worlds.

• Pathagoras can display a filtered listing of all of the files in a selected directory right on the face of the PathSmart screen. This improvement on Word's ability to filter and display files is unmatched by any other program.

For example, if you have stored all client work in a single folder, you may have thousands of files. (Typically, that is not a good file management technique, but Pathagoras will work well with you nevertheless.) If you want to see all of the 'Thompson' files, just type in the first few characters of the name (e.g., "Thom'" and Pathagoras will immediately filter the display for you in a split second (not the four or five or twenty seconds required by Word just to display the unsorted folder).

You then can scroll the available choices and select the appropriate document.

If you need to check other SmartPaths folders to locate the file, just click another of the 12  buttons on the screen. That way you can quickly rotate through all of your SmartPaths. The filter remains intact without additional intervention. You have got to see this to believe it.

Compares to MSWord's "AutoCorrect" and "AutoText" feature:

    Pathagoras has the speed of AutoText and AutoCorrect but Pathagoras provides much more versatility for document assembly purposes.

    AutoCorrect and AutoText just were not designed for document assembly. For example, you cannot save all formatted text, or database fields, in an AutoCorrect library. By contrast, any text, with full formatting and database links, pictures, etc., can be saved for use with Pathagoras.

How Pathagoras compares to Windows' "My Places" feature:

   It is possible in Window's (XP and later) to assign folder's down the left edge of a document folder which greatly speeds up navigation from folder to folder. The idea is similar to what Pathagoras has done (but Pathagoras has done it since 1998). To set a MSWord 'My Places' folder, navigate to the desired folder (highlight the folder from the parent folder, but do not enter into it), click on the Tools drop down toolbar at the top of the folders display, and click "Add to 'My Places." The differences are these:

• While both have unlimited capacity to store SmartPaths (or its MSWord equivalent), there is a practical limit as to the latter's display.  Only the first few are visible on the screen.

• Pathagoras groups folders into convenient profiles which can be user or subject matter oriented. Word does not. All of Word's MyPlaces display all the time. (See above entry.)

• Pathagoras' SmartPaths are Word-centric. Only Word document folders are mapped. Word's favorite places are set at computer level and, assuming that you have set My Places for each program you run, all such folders will be displayed. (See above entry.)

• Pathagoras filters before the display.  Word (including My Places) displays the entirety of the folders contents first. Only then can you filter.

• Pathagoras allows mouseless access to any folder. No way with My Places.

• Pathagoras allows the user to quickly move (copy to new location and delete from old location) in a single step.

• Pathagoras allows 'active document' deletes.  If the current document is trash, then delete it without having to close it, then relocate it, then delete it.

Web-based document assembly

    There is little question that more and more processes are becoming 'web-based.' That is not in our future. The very nature of document assembly of the type contemplated by Pathagoras, with its automatic scanning for document variables and automatic creation of interview templates, "highlight & add" technique for adding new clauses, instant recall of text and forms, etc., requires speed and local control.

    We fully provide for using forms and data wherever they are stored -- locally on your computer, locally across a small office network, VPNs or WANs.  But when you begin placing your data, your forms, your access points, etc., all on the web, you lose assembly speed and program functionality. You no longer can easily correct forms or your intake sheets. Other aspect of system creation and maintenance are much degraded when you are operating 'in the cloud.'

   Plus, check out the costs. A newcomer to the field of web-based document assembly charges $150 per user per month!! Ouch.

How we treat you as a customer

    We like to think that nobody does it better. Our customers seem to support us in this. We won't repeat here what they have said, but we proudly invite you to our 'kudos' page to read what many have written about us.

How we treat you as a potential customer

    We treat our potential customers the same as we treat our customers. See above comments.

    But there is one more 'thing' we want to point out.  We treat you, and your privacy, with respect and common courtesy.  We treat your visit to our website as an honor, not an opportunity to mine information from you.

• When you download our program, all we ask for is your name and an email address.  We don't ask you for your life's history.
  
  
• If you want to see one of our demo videos, you don't have to sign up or 'register'. We have no artificially contrived 'unlock code' or 'super secret' password that you have to apply for. The only reason why other firms do so is to collect demographic information about you to be used for a sales call.  We don't ask for it because we don't intend to call you (unless you ask us for such a call) to push a sale.
  
  
• Our prices are plainly posted. You don't have to talk with us to get the information that really does not require a live person to provide.
  
  
• Your privacy is always respected and protected.
  
  
• But if you do want to talk to us for an answer to a question, or for a live demonstration of the program, shoot us over your phone number and we will call you promptly. See our 'kudos' page for a description of how you will be treated.
  

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Even with all of its features, PATHAGORAS has made the learning curve to move from program installation to initial document production very short. In effect, PATHAGORAS has taken document assembly to a new level -- to that of the typical user.