These objects are commands that the computer carries out as forms are printed. They are used to advance information to the next data record or file. A command object that sends instructions to "Read Customer File Record," for example, is the reason the customer name and address is different from one mailing label to the next.
In the Command Object dialog box, you have two choices:
- Read next file record: Select this option if you want the system to read the next record in the file. For example, if you are printing W-2s that print more than one employee per form, this command would make the system move to the next employee record. File records are usually entities: customers, employees, vendors. In our predefined forms that we ship, only mailing labels and W-2s use this type of command.
- Read next line item record: Select this option if you want the system to move to the next line item. For example, if you are working with an invoice form, the system would read the next item listed on the invoice. This command object needs to be placed after the fields for each line of the line item distribution. If you have created 10 lines, you need 10 Read Next Line Record command objects to follow each line. Our standard check forms use this command after each line item to update the data for the next line.
In Options, you can choose to display command objects on the Forms Design window. They appear as small red C's within a gray box. 
Command objects cannot be sized in the design area, and they do not appear on a printed form. While you can place or move the icon that represents a command object anywhere, the object's true location is defined by its order number.
The order of command objects is extremely important to get the right information. Because command objects read data files, these objects must be in proper order for your form to make sense. For example, if you are printing a list of line items on an invoice, it is important to insert a Read next line item record command after each line item (a set of data objects), so that
- each line item shows a different transaction line on the invoice
- all the data objects that comprise a line item refer to the same line item
See a listing of file and line records and the order in which they appear in standard forms.