Business Shareware/Business Shareware.iso/start/database/bbmail41/versions

Text File | 1992-05-28 | 19KB | 358 lines

     B&B SYSTEMS  PO Box 171   627 Madison  Waukesha, Wisconsin 53188
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     UPGRADES:
     -------------------------------------------------------------------------
     You can now safely copy ALL files from an upgraded version of B&B Mail to
     your disk.  All file renaming and updating will be handled automatically
     as soon as you enter 'MAIL'.

     B&B Mail will automatically upgrade to the newest file version whenever it
     detects an older version AND the existence of the upgrade files.  Data
     from existing files requiring an upgrade will be moved into these files,
     the old file will be deleted, and the upgrade file will be renamed.
     PLEASE MAKE BACKUP COPIES PRIOR TO UPGRADING!

     STEPS TO UPGRADE:
     1. If you haven't Backed up in a while, do it now.
     2. Put New B&B Mail files on a disk in A:
     3. Change directory to location of B&B MAIL (CD\MAIL)
        AND copy all files to this directory (eg. C:\MAIL> COPY A:*.*)


     B&B MAIL Version 2.4 changes
     =========================================================================

     1. Allowed more than 9 lines (now up to 99 vertical lines) between labels.

     2. When encountering a record with a blank city value, B&B Mail will
        print a blank line without a comma.  Previously a comma would appear
        alone on a blank line.

     3. Flexi-SELECT option now appears when deleting records, allowing
        Deletions 'en masse' by selecting deletion criteria.

     4. Records marked for deletion can be recalled (un-deleted).

     5. Prior to printing labels, you will be prompted to skip X number of
        records. (Useful if printing is interrupted, and you want to continue
        where you left off later).

     6. Screen displays current count of # of labels printed.

     7. The original .dbf file was called mail.dbf.  B&B Mail will convert
        the data from mail.dbf to customer.dbf.




          B&B MAIL Version 2.5 changes
     =========================================================================

     1. The addition of FLEXI-REPORT and FLEXI-SORT features.  FLEXI-SORT
        allows sorting the file based on ANY field(s) of data in the file
        before printing labels or reports.  Thus, you can sort on customer
        number within zip within name, or name within zip within state, etc.

        FLEXI-REPORT allows listing to the printer or screen, ANY field(s) of
        data in the file.  These two features give you complete control over
        WHAT DATA you see AND in WHAT SORT ORDER.

     2. When printing labels, you can elect to use the Nth sampling technique.
        This technique allows you to print every 10th (skip 9), or every 20th
        (skip 19) label for sampling purposes.

     B&B MAIL Version 2.6 changes
     =========================================================================

     1. A new data base file called STATES.DBF has been added, along with an
        index file called STATES.NDX.  This file is used to 1. Verify that you
        used the correct state abbreviation, and 2. allows printing of the
        full state name on labels. COPY these two files to your disk/directory.
        You will notice a new option from the maintenance menu, allowing you
        to maintain this file.

     2. Improved editing features.

     3. Ability to print message, information or greeting on labels.

     4. A Duplicate checking option has been added which compares records
        either phonetically or on exact spelling.  A report is produced of
        possible duplicates based on last, first and city names.  If the
        report appears to have accurately identified your duplicates, you can
        re-run the process to have B&B Mail automatically delete all
        duplicates.

     B&B MAIL Version 2.7 changes
     =========================================================================

     1.  When printing multiple copies of labels, a page eject was
         automatically sent between copies.  Now, when selecting multiple
         copies, you will be prompted if you want the page eject.  For example,
         answer [N]o if you are printing multiple copies of only one label so
         that a full page of labels is not wasted for one label.

     2.  More Fields are listed on the report when checking for duplicates.

     3.  Zip code expanded to 10 characters for those who want the ZIP+4 dash.

     4.  FLEXI-SELECT feature added which will allow you to select certain
         records when printing reports or labels.  You will be prompted to
         select any of the fields in the data base, and then place a condition
         on it (eg. Last Name='Smith').  You can select multiple conditions at
         one time, and each Selection will be saved for possible future use.
     B&B MAIL Version 2.7B changes                                     4-18-88
     =========================================================================
     1.  Re-indexing problem fixed.

     2.  The upgrading process was simplified. You can safely copy ALL files
         from an upgrade version to your disk (without fear of overwriting
         existing data base files, and your data).  This was accomplished by
         naming most upgrade files: upgrade?.  B&B Mail renames them for you
         automatically.

     B&B MAIL Version 2.8 changes                                      4-30-88
     =========================================================================
     1.  On some monochrome systems, the FLEXI-SELECT screen wasn't displayed.


     B&B MAIL Version 2.9 changes                                      6-28-88
     =========================================================================
     1.  LABELS- The Nth sampling process was made more consistent in both
         label production and Zipgroups report.

     2.  Improved control over vertical spacing of labels - allowing closer
         spacing, down to zero lines between labels.

     3.  Faster label printing speed.

     4.  Default to Zip Code Sort more consistent.

     5.  'PAUSE PAGE' message no longer prints on label stock.

     6.  Added features such as: Ability to print three lines of text above
         label, and indent the label name/address/city information.  This
         feature was incorporated not just for labels, but can be used to
         produce self-mailers/postcards by using the three text lines for the
         return address.

     7.  Export/Import Capability now includes Lotus 1-2-3 WKS files.

     8.  The Sales $ field is now totaled properly when using Flexi-Report.

     9.  Automatic recovery for certain types of errors.  For example, if
         Index files are corrupted, Error #32, Re-indexing will automatically
         occur.
     B&B MAIL Version 3.0 changes                                      12-1-88
     =========================================================================
     1.  More Menubars for ease of use.  For example, when using FLEXI-SORT,
         FLEXI-REPORT, or FLEXI-SELECT, you will choose which fields you want
         to SORT on, REPORT on or SELECT on, from a menubar list of fields.

     2.  More extensive use of Memory files (*.MEM), and separate
         'MAILSORT.MEM', 'MAILSELE.MEM' and 'MAILRPT.MEM' files which will be
         automatically created and used to save your different sorts, record
         selections and report definitions without having to re-define them
         each time.

     3.  Duplicate checking has been improved to print 'multiple' duplicates
         (ie. triplicates, etc.) continuously on the printed list.

     4.  A 'QUICK LABEL' feature has been added to allow printing of single
         labels by entering 'L' or 'ctrl-L' while in the EDITING mode.

     5.  A new field has been added for long addresses, ADDRESS OVERFLOW.

     6.  Ability to RUN dBaseIII type LABEL & REPORT files from with B&B MAIL.

     7.  Ability to send REPORT OR LABEL output to the Screen, Printer,
         or a Disk File for manipulation by other software packages.

     8.  Exporting a file: you can now Flexi-SORT your file, Flexi-SELECT
         certain records, and even select the individual fields (and their
         order) that will be exported, in the export process.  Also, export
         Ventura Publishing type files (for address book type files).

     9.  The Biggest Change is the introduction of:FLEXI-LABEL.  Choosing
         this option will present you with a theoretical label 20 lines long
         which allows you to enter ANY FIELDS or ANY TEXT in ANY POSITION
         or ORDER.  You will still be able to print up to 4 across labels,
         using any starting position, and any vertical/horizontal spacing.
         ALSO, you have the capability to enter Printer Control codes ON ANY
         label line, allowing you to underline, change fonts, whatever.

    10.  When choosing to ADD while in the Edit mode, the new record will
         contain data from the record currently marked by the cursor.  Handy
         when a new label is desired very similar to an existing label.

    11.  When in the EDIT mode, in addition to searching for Specific records
         based on Last Name or Record # (Quickest way),  you can elect to
         use a GENERAL Search by entering data in ANY of the other fields,
         and B&B Mail will search for the first matching record.  If can
         also search for data contained anywhere in the field by preceding
         the search data with a ? (eg. ?xx).

    12.  A handy Printer utility has been added in the Maintenance Menu.
         You can select from a variety of predefined printer control codes
         to send to your printer.  The defaults are Epson Compatible codes,
         but they can be modified for use with YOUR printer.

    13.  The use of color codes is now automatically dependent on the computer
         being used, so re-installation is not required if moving from
         monochrome to color. In order for this to be controlled automatically,
         you must ERASE config.mem and re-install version 3.0.
    14.  Mail.exe files dated after 2-8-89 will allow you to FORCE the use
         of monochrome screen definitions for those systems (ie. laptops with
         flat screens) that are considered color, but do not provide the best
         resolution. Just type 'MAIL MONO' at DOS.


     B&B MAIL Version 3.1 changes                                      5-1-89
     =========================================================================

     1.  Flexi-Label has been improved to properly space label lines
         when a value is missing.  If you are printing a Company Name
         on labels, and the value is missing for one label, the subsequent
         lines are 'brought up' to avoid blank lines.

     2.  Vertical Spacing between labels has been corrected.


     B&B MAIL Version 3.2 changes                                      6-15-89
     =========================================================================

     1.  When Deleting in Edit Mode, the current record marker is now reset
         to the prior selection.

     2.  When Adding in Edit Mode, screen clearly indicates which fields need
         to be blank in order to exit Add mode.

     3.  Field titles in Freport are reset to blank values when the page width
         is exceeded.  The title for the "Customer#" field is properly spaced.

     4.  Record counts include deleted records.


     B&B MAIL Version 3.3 changes                                      8-1-89
     =========================================================================
     1.  You can select which fields are used for "duplicate checking"
         (other than Last/First/City names) by entering a # of a pre-existing
         Sort option.  The duplicate checking will then be based on the fields
         identified in that Sort option. Soundex duplicate check now evaluates
         each field separatly, instead of one long string of data.

     2.  In the Edit/Display records mode, you can choose to display just
         a select group of records by entering "S" for Flexi-SELECT.  You can
         also enter "O" to Flexi-SORT the records you see.  "R" will allow you
         to SEARCH/REPLACE, Search for records having a particular value, and
         you will be prompted to enter a value on any field to be Replaced in
         ALL of the selected records.

     3.  4 Data Base files (and related index files) were added, CUSTNO.DBF,
         CODE.DBF, CODEB.DBF, and ZIP.DBF.  The data from these file can be
         displayed and data can be automatically inserted in the Adding or
         Editing mode (Use F1-Help key).  In addition, the zip file can insert
         city, state, and country from selecting just the zip.

     4.  Ability to modify the Field Names that are displayed on screen.

     5.  Search/Replace feature added allowing mass replacment of data in
         data fields.

     6.  An error in the use of "?" in the edit/search function has been
         corrected.

     7.  Added Import/Export capability for DIF and SYLK (Multiplan
         spreadsheet) type files.

     8. Back by popular demand, the main file has been renamed MAIL.DBF,
        making most of the files easy to identify.

     9. After defining fields in Flexi-Select, Sort or Report, you can now
        edit this data.  This is useful for minor changes (instead of
        deleting, then re-defining most of the same fields).  This is most
        useful if you wish to use more complex Boolean logic for Selecting
        records.  By incorporating parentheses, your selections can be more
        finite. For example:
            ZIP='5444' .or. ZIP='5443' .and. NAME='SMITH' is different than
           (ZIP='5444' .or. ZIP='5443') .and. NAME='SMITH'

    10. You will be prompted for the file name in Import/Export so that you
        can access the main file, MAIL.DBF, or say, the ZIP.DBF file to
        import zip codes for an additional state.

    11. When producing the ZIP GROUPS report, for preparing bulk mailings,
        you can specify that you only want the printed listing to contain
        groups of zip codes that exceed 5,10,20, etc.

    12. An error when file sorting using Date type fields was corrected.

    13. Ability to get count in Flexi-Label before printing labels.

    14. For international Mailers, a field for Country has been added.
        The City field has been expanded to 20 characters.

    15. The size of Mail.EXE in v3.3 is now too large to fit on one 360k
        floppy.

    16. For very infrequently accessed files, you can now select a MAIN
        file other than mail.dbf.

    17. Because 3.3 uses more files, change your CONFIG.SYS file statement
        FILES=30, and re-boot your system for this new command to take effect.

    18. Added more extensive use of 'ESC' key to quit functions, in addition
        to F10 key.
    19. In the EDIT and ADD screens, several fields are "linked" to other
        .dbf files for reference purposes (eg. Zip, States, Codes, Cust#).
        When editing and entering data in these fields, you can control
        whether an INVALID (based on the existence of the value in the
        "linked" file) OR BLANK value is allowed.  See Options in Maintenance
        Menu.

     B&B MAIL Version 3.4 changes                                      5-9-90
     =========================================================================
     1. Faster Screen writes.

     2. Fixed error of not performing deletion when performing maintenance.

     3. Your .NDX files will now be created if missing.  If you experience
        indexing problems, erase your index file.

     B&B MAIL Version 3.5 changes                                     10-1-90
     =========================================================================
     1. Fixed "Continue" which didn't work when searching for character
        strings, in any fields, with "?" option.
     2. Expanded Sales field from 8 digits/0 decimals, to 9 digits/2 decimals
     3. ORDER field (controls Browse Screen) in "????FLDS.DBF" was expanded
        to 4 characters
     4. Ability to add 'EXTRANOTES', or variable text for each record.
     B&B MAIL Version 3.6 changes                                     8-1-91
     =========================================================================
     1. Added FILES.DBF to recreate missing .ndx files, check system files.
     2. Reduced RAM required.

     B&B MAIL Version 3.7 changes                                     9-10-91
     =========================================================================
     1. Phone dialing wasn't always working properly.

     B&B MAIL Version 3.8 changes                                    10-20-91
     =========================================================================
     1. Improved editing of All-In-One screen to allow more 'Y N ' variations

     B&B MAIL Version 3.9 changes                                    01-10-92
     =========================================================================
     1. Corrected undefined field error.

     B&B MAIL Version 4.0 changes                                    3-29-92
     =========================================================================
     1. Improved Label production accuracy for "multiple across" labels,
     when printing, or sending data to a file.

     2. Added Export functions for WordPerfect Merge files, other Word Process.

     B&B MAIL Version 5.0 changes                                    4-10-92
     =========================================================================
     1. New graphical interface, Added Mouse support

     2. Added Bar Code capability