subject: PCLABEL.EXE discussion: PCLABEL does a very nice job of producing mailing labels from numerous data sources. Excess spaces and empty lines will automatically be removed. Labels can be produced in the standard 1-up format, or you can produce them multi-up in a side-by-side format. PCLABEL has been provided as a stand-alone program on your PC-Type II Utility Disk. PCLABEL works with all kinds of files. It handles PC-File:dB and PC-File+ databases as well as files in a pure ASCII format, comma-delimited files, and address files created by PC-Type II. It even handles PC-Calc+ files. running: To start PCLABEL, type PCLABEL at the DOS prompt. PCLABEL will start and show you its Main Menu which has five options. We will cover each of them in order. 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 � PC-LABEL+ � � Copyright 1988 by ButtonWare. All rights reserved. � � 袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴 � � � � �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� � � � Select desired option by � � � � moving to field with up or � � � � down arrow keys and then � � � � pressing Enter, or by � � � � pressing the designated � � � � letter key. � � � 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴暠 � � 쿛C-Label Main Menu: � � � 팠袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴孤 � � � (L)oad existing setup� � � � (D)efine/modify setup� � � � (P)rint labels � � � � (S)ave current setup � � � � (Q)uit/Exit PC-Label � � � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 � � Recall previous label setup information � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 270 (L)oad: If you have run PCLABEL previously, you may have already saved a default file of label information. These files contain information about the label definition, label size and data that you want printed on your labels. We will give more information about a saved LBL file later in the chapter. To recall a previously saved label file, press L. PCLABEL will ask for the path to the file. 걸� 1:64 袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴敲 PATH:갰 � 걷袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴 r:1 c:1 袴袴暠 Enter path to Label Example: B: or \mypath (Esc quit) You need to enter the drive and subdirectory where the label file is stored. For example, if your label file is on the C drive in the PCTYPE directory, you would type: C:\PCTYPE PCLABEL will provide you with a list of all LBL files found. Highlight the desired file and press Enter. Alternatively, you can load an existing LBL file when you start PCLABEL by providing the complete file specification (.LBL not required) as a parameter. For example, if the file CARDLIST.LBL exists in the PCTYPE directory on your C drive, you could begin PCLABEL by typing the following at the DOS prompt: C>PCLABEL C:\PCTYPE\CARDLIST CARDLIST.LBL would then be loaded automatically and you would not need to use the L option from the Main Menu. 271 (D)efine: The "(D)efine/modify setup" option allows you to customize PCLABEL to your specific application. You can print on different sizes of labels; you can print your labels in bold, condensed, italic and other typefaces; you can print to your printer or to a disk file. In fact, PCLABEL is flexible enough to do just about any kind of label printing. To access the "(D)efine/modify setup" option, press D and you will see the following screen: �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� 튛abel Source type PC-File:dB � 튛abel Source Location � 튒efine Search ALL � 튟utput destination LPT1 � 튞o. of copies 1 � 튏opies definition By Group � 튏ompress blank lines Yes � 튏entering Yes � 튡ause if truncation Yes � 튓scape code toggle On � 튡rint Escape Code Print codes � � � 튛abel Sheet definition 3 1/2 x 15/16 (1-up) � 튔eed method Continuous � 튔ormfeed None � 튛abel layout User defined � 튩orkspace drive C � 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴暠 An explanation of each menu option follows. 272 Source Type: PCLABEL lets you access many types of data: PC-File:dB This format is the PC-File:dB file format. PCLABEL looks for a file with an HDB extension. PC-File+ The PC-File+ format consists of a DTA file, an HDR file, and an INX file. PC-Calc+ This is ButtonWare's spreadsheet program. PC-Calc+ files have a PCC file extension. Comma-delimited This format consists of data fields separated by commas, with quote marks usually surrounding each character field. The end of each record has a carriage return and an optional line feed. ASCII-C This format consists of one field on each line. Each record is separated by one or more blank lines. Files of label data created via the .LABEL option in PC-Type II's Mail-Merge are in this format. ASCII-L This format consists of fixed length fields with no separators between each field. The end of each record has a carriage return and normally a line feed. To choose the type of data that you want to print, press the Enter key until your option appears in the box. Source Location: PCLABEL needs to know where your data is located. Press the Enter key on this option, and PCLABEL will ask you to enter the path (drive and subdirectory). If your data is in a file on your C drive in a directory called DATA, you would type: C:\DATA PCLABEL will provide you with a list of all files of the selected source type that are found. Highlight the desired file and press the Enter key. NOTE: If you select comma-delimited, ASCII-L or ASCII-C, you will have to first indicate a file extension. For example, if your comma-delimited file has the extension WS, you would type WS when asked. 273 Define Search: You can print all records in the data source or a selected group of records. When you press the Enter key on the "Define Search" option, PCLABEL will show you the following menu: 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 쿝ecord Selection: � 팠袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴孤 � (A)ll � � (S)imple � � (C)omplex � � (X) exit � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 NOTE: If you select the PC-File:dB option, PCLABEL will first ask you to select an index. Likewise, if you select the PC-Calc+ option, you will be required to define the area of the spreadsheet that you wish to access. The search capabilities of PCLABEL are a subset of those available in PC-File. For more information on searching for a specific record, refer to the IMPORT definition in the Configuration section. Output Destination: The output destination allows you to send your label output wherever you wish. The default answer is LPT1. The majority of the time, you are going to want to print to LPT1 (the first parallel port). Most dot matrix printers use LPT1. If you want to print to COM1 (the first serial port), enter a blank extension and then enter COM1 as the filename. If you want to print to a file, press the Enter key on this menu option and type the file extension. PCLABEL will then prompt you for the path. Type the path name and press the Enter key. PCLABEL will then show you a list of your files in a menu. Highlight the desired output file and press the Enter key. NOTE: If the desired output destination is not in the list, move the highlight bar to the first entry in the menu, "New File", and press Enter. Then type the desired filename (with no extension). 274 As an example of printing to disk, assume that you want to print to a file called LABELS.TXT in your DATA subdirectory. Press the Enter key on the "Output destination" option. PCLABEL asks: �袴敲 � � 훤袴� Enter desired file extension and press Enter. Type TXT and press the Enter key. PCLABEL will then prompt you for: � �� 1:64 袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� 캰ATH: � � � 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� r:1 c:1 袴袴� Enter path to output Example: B: or \mypath (Esc quit) Type \DATA and press the Enter key. You will then be shown a list of the available files in the specified directory with the file extension you supplied. Select New File.TXT and press the Enter key. PCLABEL will now ask: �袴袴袴� � � Enter new filename (NO EXTENSION) 훤袴袴暠 Press Esc to quit -- press Enter to accept. Type LABELS and press the Enter key. 275 No. of Copies: You can print up to 99 copies of your labels. Press the Enter key on this option and PCLABEL will prompt you to type the appropriate number. Copies Definition: If you are printing multiple copies of your labels, you can print them in one of two ways. By Group: If you print by group, PCLABEL will print all of the records in order by group: 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � Joe Blow John Smith Ronold Jones � � 1234 Main Street 4758 Thurston 999 99th Ave � � Columbia, MD 21044 Bellevue, WA 98006 La Mesa, CA 92020 � � � � � � � � Joe Blow John Smith Ronold Jones � � 1234 Main Street 4758 Thurston 999 99th Ave � � Columbia, MD 21044 Bellevue, WA 98006 La Mesa, CA 92020 � � � � � � � � Joe Blow John Smith Ronold Jones � � 1234 Main Street 4758 Thurston 999 99th Ave � � Columbia, MD 21044 Bellevue, WA 98006 La Mesa, CA 92020 � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� By Label: If you print by label, PCLABEL will print the first record the desired number of times, then it will print the second record, etc.: 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � Joe Blow Joe Blow Joe Blow � � 1234 Main Street 1234 Main Street 1234 Main Street � � Columbia, MD 21044 Columbia, MD 21044 Columbia, MD 21044� � � � � � � � John Smith John Smith John Smith � � 4758 Thurston 4758 Thurston 4758 Thurston � � Bellevue, WA 98006 Bellevue, WA 98006 Bellevue, WA 98006� � � � � � � � Ronold Jones Ronold Jones Ronold Jones � � 999 99th Ave 999 99th Ave 999 99th Ave � � La Mesa, CA 92020 La Mesa, CA 92020 La Mesa, CA 92020 � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� 276 Compress Blank Lines: You can compress the blank lines in a label. For example, if you are printing five fields, and one of the fields is empty, PCLABEL will not leave a gaping hole in the label. Here are two sample labels. One shows "Compress blank lines" on, the other shows it off. 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � John Smith � � John Smith � � 8989 Main St � � � � Columbia MD 21044 � � 8989 Main St � � � � Columbia MD 21044 � � � � � � � � � � Stanley Smith � � Stanley Smith � � Acme Plumbing � � Acme Plumbing � � 12345 Ronoldo Ave � � 12345 Ronoldo Ave � � San Francisco, CA � � San Francisco, CA � � � � � � � � � � Ronald Smith � � Ronald Smith � � 7878 Hooper � � � � Fayetteville, NC � � 7878 Hooper � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� NOTE: When PCLABEL removes blank lines, the spacing from one label to the next will be the same. Centering: If you select Y to "Centering", PCLABEL will center each record in the label. If you answer N to centering, PCLABEL will start each record at the same position on the left margin. Pause If Truncation: You can ask PCLABEL to alert you if a label is too wide to fit in the space that you've defined. Escape Code Toggle: To toggle the Escape codes ON and OFF, press the Enter key. This feature is used only if you use printer escape codes in your label layout. Otherwise, you don't need to worry about it. The escape code toggle is a good feature if you are printing to disk for it allows you to suppress the escape codes from being saved in your file. 277 Print Escape Code: Pressing the Enter key on the "Print Escape Code" menu option brings up the following window: �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� � ESCAPE CODES � � � � 栢栢栢栢� Setup Code � � ----ON---- ---OFF---- � � {27}G Bold {27}H � � {27}4 Italics {27}5 � � {27}1 Underline {27}0 � � {27}S1 Sub Script {27}T � � {27}S0 Super Script {27}T � � � � F10=done Enter=modify Esc=quit � 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴暠 The first column on this screen is the escape code that turns the print feature ON. For example, if you wanted the first line of your label to print BOLD, you would use the first code in the first column to turn BOLD on. The second column on this screen is the description of the escape code. For example, the third line of the screen shows {27}G. The description tells us that this will cause the printer to print bold type. The third column on this screen is the escape code that turns the print feature OFF. For example, if you wanted just the first line of your label to print bold, but the rest of the label to print regular, you would use the first code in the third column to turn BOLD off. 278 The default printer codes are for Epson dot matrix printers. You can edit all three of these columns. Move to the column that you wish to edit and press the Enter key. If you are editing an escape code, the following screen will appear: �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴뽕袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴 � ESCAPE CODES � � � � Setup Code � � ----ON---- ---OFF---- � � {27}G Bold {27}H � � {27}4 Italics {27}5 � � {27}1 Underline {27}��Bold----ON----袴 1:50 袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� � {27}S1 Sub Script {27}�{27}G � � {27}S0 Super Script {27}훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� r:1 c:1 袴袴� � �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴敲 � F10=� � 훤袴袴� Enter characters with the keyboard and AltNumeric pad: .e.g., ON OFF <2> � � Italics <3> ON OFF <4> � � Underline <5> ON OFF <6> � � Sub Script <7> ON OFF <8> � � (F1=Help) Super Script <9> ON OFF <0> � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� The window in the center is an editor in which you will define how you want your label to look. The size of the editor will vary depending on the size you specified in the "Label Sheet Definition". To define your label format, place field numbers and text where you want them to appear on the printed label. Each field or text entry MUST BE IMMEDIATELY preceded by either the "@" or "?" characters. Other entries will be ignored. Your fields will be numbered and listed at the top of the screen. In the example above, fields 12-15 refer to data not included in your data source. Since the number of fields in different data sources will be different, the field number corresponding to these "special fields" will be different. The escape codes referenced at the bottom of the screen will reflect the names you defined in the Printer Escape code window. No more than 16 escape markers can be used in a label definition, and a maximum of one ON and one OFF marker can be used for a single field or text entry. 282 @: To "FIX" your data in a specific location on the label, precede the data with the "@" symbol. Substituted data will be placed at the @ marker, not where the field number is located. (See the first line of the layout on the preceding page.) ?: Preceding data with "?" allows the data to slide to the left until it encounters a previous data entry, the left margin of the label defined by the "[" symbol, or the left edge of the label. Using this marker causes PCLABEL to remove the extra spaces. (See the third line of the layout on the preceding page.) field number: Place the field number (preceded by @ or ?) on the screen where you would like the data in that field to be printed on the label. (See the first line of the layout on the preceding page.) text: Enter the text (preceded by @ or ?) on the screen where you would like that text to be located on the label. THIS INCLUDES SPACES. You must specify that a space is to exist between two fields. �@4 ?5 - will print as SeattleWA �@4? ?5 - will print as Seattle WA �@4?,?5 - will print as Seattle,WA �@4?, ?5 - will print as Seattle, WA []: These two markers define the limits of the label in which data is to be centered and blank lines compressed. If you choose "centering" on the menu, the entire label will be centered if the "[]" markers are not used. <>: These markers must enclose one of the print marker numbers displayed at the bottom of the menu layout screen. They should follow the "@" or "?" markers. Using the screen displayed on page 295: @<1>9<2> would cause bold to be turned on before printing the data in PRODUCTS, and turned off after printing the data in PRODUCTS. The label line: @<1>4?, ?5<2> would cause "Seattle, WA" to be printed in bold. *Recno: Using the "field" number corresponding to "*Recno" in your label format will print the record number of the 283 record whose data is displayed. 284 *Date: Using the "field" number corresponding to "*Date" will print the current system date on your label. *Time: Using the "field" number corresponding to "*Time" will print the current system time on your label. *Keyin: Using the "field" number corresponding to "*Keyin" will cause PCLABEL to pause when printing so you can type in unique information. After making your entry, press the Enter key to resume printing. You must define the size of the Keyin field by repeating non-blank character after the Keyin "field" number. The size will be determined by the number of characters beginning at the leading marker and ending at the last repeated character. E.g, @15..... would set the Keyin field size to 8. simple example: Using the information from the layout screen depicted earlier, most label layouts would look like: 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� �?1 � �?3 � �?4?, ?5? ?7 � � � � � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� This would produce a label like: � Seattle User Group � 11413 West Addison � Seattle, WA 98004 advanced 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 example �@<1>ButtonWare, Inc.<2> @15...� �@P.O. Box 96058 � �@Bellevue, WA 98009 � � � � � � @To: [?<1>1<2> � � ?3 � � ?4?, ?5? ?7 � � ?6 ]� � � � @rn-@12 � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 The result of this example is shown on the next page. 285 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 쿍uttonWare,Inc. PC-Type� 쿛.O. Box 96058 � 쿍ellevue, WA 98009 � � � � � � To: Seattle User Group � � 14413 West Addison � � Seattle, WA 98004 � � USA � � � � rn-3874 � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 Workspace Drive: Workspace must be available on a disk when processing labels. Indicate the drive where space is available. Normally, 8 bytes of information per record selected must be available. This is used when printing labels by group and to permit backing up to previously selected records. NOTE: The temporary file will be removed from your disk when PCLABEL has finished processing. 286 (P)rint labels: To print your labels, place your cursor on the (P)rint Labels option of the PCLABEL Main Menu and press the Enter key. PCLABEL will prompt you: Position label sheet in printer? Press Y or N If you answer Y, PCLABEL will go through a series of screens that prompt you to position your sheet in the printer. A row of numbers will print across your top label. Type the number that printed at the left edge of the label and press the Enter key. Make any necessary adjustments to your printer. Then PCLABEL will display the record and ask: Do you want to align labels again? Press Y or N. If you press Y, the process will be repeated, otherwise, the print process will continue. Make sure your printer is turned on. PCLABEL will search for a record in your data source which matches the criteria you specified. When it finds one, PCLABEL will ask: Write this label? Press (Y)es (N)o, or (X)= Yes & don't ask Answer appropriately. If you press the Esc key, you are offered three choices: Abort to abort the printing process. Backup to backup to the previous label. Continue continue the printing process. When PCLABEL has finished processing your labels, you will receive a message that indicates the number of records selected, requested and processed. (S)ave: To save your current label setup, highlight the "(S)ave Current Setup" option of the PCLABEL Main Menu and press the Enter key. PCLABEL will prompt you for the path where you want the file to be stored. Type the path and press the Enter key. PCLABEL will show a menu containing your LBL files. Select New File.LBL and press the Enter key. PCLABEL will then prompt you for the new file name. (Q)uit/Exit: To exit PCLABEL, highlight the "Quit/Exit PC-Label" option of the PCLABEL Main Menu, and press the Enter key. 287 DOS Parameters: When initially starting PCLABEL, you can optionally include the following parameters: /GREEN Use this parameter if you have a graphics monitor which does not support color. If you have a standard color or monochrome screen you do not need to do this. FILESPEC You can start PCLABEL with the full path and file specification for a previously saved label file. (The LBL extension is not required). When PCLABEL starts, it will automatically load the data in the file specified and you won't have to load the file after you're inside PCLABEL. example: C>pclabel c:\pctype\client.lbl /green PCLABEL will automatically load the file CLIENT.LBL from the PCTYPE subdirectory on your C drive. The screen colors will be set to black and white. 288