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     ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN MICROPENDIUM
     P.O. Box 1343  Round Rock TX 78680
     Phone [phone]
     Internet [e-mail]

MICROREIVEW for April 1995 Micropendium
by Charles Good

Mailing List Manager, by Bill Gaslill

Ever since I got my first 99/4A back in
1982 I have been looking for the perfect
mailing list (name address phone number)
software.  I started out years ago with
Personal Record Keeping and have made
extensive use of three other name and
address programs, each a little better
for me than the previous software.  My
quest has been similar to searching for
the holy grail in that I often appear
close to my goal, but never quite get
there.  Features of existing software
just don't quite seem to fit my needs.
Some of the problems I have encountered
over the years with such software
include:
-Kludgy data entry screens and
difficulty in correcting incorrectly
entered data.
-Inability to enter enough data of the
type I desire, such as entering a
"country" and very long phone number for
foreign addresses.
-Limited number of names one can put in
a data file.  This happens if an entire
data file has to be put into memory each
time you use the program.
-Difficulty in deleting a single name
from a large data file.  You'd be
suprised how difficult it is to
accomplish this very basic task with
some existing mail list software.
-No ability to send special codes to my
Gemini 10X printer so it will print mail
lables in dark "emphasized" letters
rather than thin dot matrixy "draft
mode" letters.
-Slow, or no sorting ability.  If
sorting ability exists you sometimes are
forced to sort your list in memory each
time you print sorted mailing lables
since the software can't create a sorted
data file from an unsorted data file.
-etc.

The closest I have come to my perfect
mail list software is  Mailing List
Manager (MLM).  The problem with
switching to a new mail list program is
that youn have to start from the
beginning.  You have to manually type in
all your data into the new program, data
you have already long ago typed into the
old program.  After experimenting with
MLM I was so impressed with MLM's
features that I decided to transfer my
user group membership and newsletter
exchange mailing list from the software
I had been using to MLM.  This means
that I spent 3 hours at the keyboard
typing into MLM and checking over 150
names and associated data.  I consider
this time well spent.  I am very happy
with MLM, and that is why I am devoting
my entire column this month to this one
product.  I only review good software
for Micropendium, but that doesn't mean
that I personally have a use for the
software I review.  Unlike many of the
other software packages I review for
Micropendium, I am now actually using
MLM on a regular basis.

MLM can handle name and address files of
unlimited length, subject only to the
physical limitations of the media where
the file is stored.  Each name and
address data group takes one disk
sector.  Although sorting within MLM is
limited to files with no more than 1000
names, an alternative means of sorting
larger files is provided.  The fully
functional fairware version of MLM comes
on a SSSD disk and will work very nicely
on systems with only one SSSD drive.
You can use a separate SSSD data disk
with up to 358 names.  The program
prompts you to insert the program disk
into a drive whenever that is necessary.
MLM is set up to have its system files
run automatically out of any floppy or
ramdisk drive because it looks for a
volumn name, not a drive number, when it
loads parts of itself into memory.  It
also works with hard drives and allows
you to have up to 23 characters in path
names.  MLM is written in extended
basic, with various assembly CALL LINK's
to speed things up.  Default printer
names, printer control codes, label
spacings, and data file paths can be
changed on the fly from within MLM, and
you can also permanantly change these
defaults by changing the extended basic
program code.

The following data fields are found in
each name and address record: lname,
fname, address, city, state, zipcode,
nation, group code, home phone, work
phone, fax bbs phone, dates, notes 1,
and notes 2.  You can leave any of these
fields blank and update them later.
Group code might be used for user group
affiliation.  Dates might be used to
indicate when a user group membership
expires.  The Date entry is printed on
mailing labels.  I particularly
appreciate the nation field, something
rarely found in mailing list software.
This makes it easier to deal with
airmail mailings to international
locations.

Actually you can put any text you want
into any of these fields.  Thus, you
have room to put lots of notes and
comments into the last seven fields
listed above.  You might, for example,
put XMAS in the Group Code field to
identify those who are on your Chirstmas
card mail list.  It is not necessary,
for example, to put numerical digits in
all three phone number fields.  You can
just as easily enter some text.

When you finish typing your data IN all
the fields for a particular new or
updated name and address and press "C"
to continue, the data are immediately
written to the data file.  There are no
complicated "exit the program"
procedutes required to make sure all
files are closed.  Wherever you are in
MLM just press FCTN/9 (Back) a few times
for a quick exit to the title screen.
All files are safely closed when you do
this so your data is secure.

You can sort an entire data based on any
one of the above data fields.  When a
list is sorted the computer reads the
list into memory, sorts the list, and
creates a new sorted file on disk
leaving the original unsorted file
intact.  Doing all this to a list of
140 names stored on a horizon ramdisk
(sorting an unsorted list by zipcode)
took me only 1 minute 35 seconds.  By
99/4A standards that is quite fast.  An
assembly language sort is used.

You can search a data file using either
one or two keywords in either one or two
data fields.  If you sort by two
keywords you only get a hit if both
words are found.  Searching for only one
keyword requires that you specify the
exact same keyword and data field twice
when asked for the first and second
keyword to be used in the search.  This
takes some getting used to.  Partial
strings can be used in these searches.
For example, if you can't remember if
L.L. Conner is spelled "Connor" or
"Conner" you can search for "CONN".
Data entry is automatically all in upper
case, so you don't have to worry about
what is and is not in upper case when
you do a search.

There are three ways to delete names
form a file.  In each case a new file
is written without the deleted names,
leaving the original file intact.  1-To
delete a single name or a few manually
selected names from a file first display
on screen each name to be deleted and
mark it with a carnet (shift 6) in the
first space of the lname field.  You can
mark any number of names this way.  Then
select Delete names from the main menu
and a new file will be written leaving
out the marked names.  This procedure is
easy, safe (you still have the old
file), and fast.  2-You can also do a
global delete, creating a new file that
has all the records from the old file
except those containing a text string
you specify.  You could, for example,
create a file that omits Christmas list
people.  3-And finally you can create a
new file that only contans records from
the original file that do have a text
string you specify.  This is sort of the
opposite of #2 above.  You can make a
file that contains only Christmas list
people.  In creating subsets of files
based on text strings, you can use
either one or two text strings as
described above for searching by
keyword.

If you can't remember a data file name
you can, from within the program,
display a disk directory. Then you can
optionlly delete any file from the
disk.

Reports can be printed in either of two
formats.  You can also print mailing
lables of the entire file or a single
label of only the name currently
displayed.  It is possible to print
labels or reports of subsets from larger
lists.  To do this the software lets you
create an index file of larger data file
with pointers to specific records in the
larger file.  You can, for example make
an index of all your names you have
marked XMAS in one of the comment
fields.  Later you can select "Print
using an index" to print mailing labels
to your Christmas card list.

You get some unusual software extras
with MLM, all of which can be run within
MLM.
--There are two different free form
mailing label creating editors They let
you compose mailing labels on the fly
and print multiple copies of these onto
fan fold lables.  Examples would be
return address labels or "Do Not Bend"
labels for packages containing floppy
disks.  You can also load in templates
of previously composed labels and print
these.  One of the two label makers also
lets you print disk lables and
automatically advances to the next label
to continue printing if all the disk's
file names won't fit on one label.
--MLM also has a 40 column text editor,
great for writing short letters or
keeping records of your correspondence
with people in your data base.  This
text editor has many features of the TI
Writer editor and is compatible with TI
Writer's text files.  You are limited to
one page of text at a time. There is no
word wrap and no automatic margins.

The software that compares most closely
to MLM is Asgard's (Larry Tippitt's)
Mail Room.  Both products have their own
particular advantages and disadvantages.
I reviewed Mail Room in one of my
earlier MicroReviews columns.  Mail Room
has an 80 column version and allows you
to use a modem to dial any phone number
stored in its data base, features not
found in MLM.  Advantages of MLM
compared to Mail Room include MLM's
"nation" and generous comment fields and
the ease of permanently creating sorted
data files and of deleting names from
MLM data files.  All Mail Room users
should have a look at MLM.

Send me $1 and I will send you MLM on a
DSSD disk (or $2 for two SSSD disks).
The author asks $15 to register your
copy of the program.  Registered owners
will recieve an expanded hard copy of
the instructions and an update with even
more features than those described here
for the fairware version.  You might
consider saving the dollar and
immediately sending Bill his $15 with a
request that he send you the most recent
version of MLM.
---------------------
QUICK SEARCH OF ANY DATA BASE

Lets say you have a data file created
with MLM, TI Base, First Base, PR Base,
PRK, or just about any other data base
software usable on the TI.  If all you
want to do is display a particular name,
address, and phone number (or some other
data within a data file) on screen there
is a quick easy way.  This method is
usually much faster than loading
software such as MLM and using the
software's internal search engine.
Instead of doing that, use an assembly
language "find string" to quickly
display a data file sector with the
desired text you are looking for.

Funnelweb's Disk Review or John
Birdwell's DSKU can be used to do this.
These are programs you probably already
have on your computer's menu system.
From a Disk Review disk directory move
the cursor next to a file you want to
search and press I (for inspect).
Select 2 (File search) and then 1 (ASCII
string).  Press <enter> when the cursor
appears over the first question mark and
enter your search string over the second
group of question marks.  From DSKU
select File Utilities from the first
menu and then select Find String.  Enter
the file name, drive number, A (for
ASCII), and the text you want to find.
If your file is on a horizon ramdisk
such string searches usually take less
than 10 seconds.  MLM and many other
data bases automatically store text only
in upper case, which takes much of the
guesswork out of a string search.
-------------------
ACCESS:

Bill Gaskill, 10 Cypress Court, Grand
Junction Colorado, 81506.

Charles Good, P.O. Box 647, Venedocia
Ohio, 45894.  Evening phone
419-667-3131. Internet email
[e-mail]