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Amiga MA Magazine 1998 #3
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1992-11-21
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*****************************************************************************
* *
* Addresser Version 2.0 *
* Copyright (C) 1992 Jeff Kelly *
* *
*****************************************************************************
Special thanks go out to:
- All Addresser 2.0 beta testers. Thanks for being nit pickers.
- All registered Addresser 1.0 users, if it weren't for your support
and ideas, 2.0 would not have been a possibility.
- Geoff Summerhayes, Bill Gray, Randy Rossi, Curtis Kelly (no relation),
and the rest of the Algoma Amiga User's Group (my old Amiga club).
- Leo Schwab for his "Iconify" functions.
- Derek Zahn for his pop up menu functions.
- My parents who watched me bang away at my keyboard, not knowing what
the heck I was doing.
And last, but not least
- Janna Veihl, my editor and someone really special to me.
Greetings go out to:
- All the Computer and Mathematical Sciences majors at Lake Superior
State University (Way to go Lakers!!!, 1988 & 1992 NCAA National
hockey champions).
- Don Marks, and all the Waterloo University mathies.
- Everyone who works for Great Lakes Business Forms (my new employers).
and
- All the members of the Western Michigan Amiga Users Association.
(my new Amiga club).
Legal Notices:
Addresser Version 2.0 is copyright (c) 1992 Jeff Kelly.
All Rights Reserved
I hereby grant permission for anyone to freely distribute this program as
long as this documentation file is distributed with it. In no way should the
documentation or the program be modified, or sold for profit. I cannot be
held responsible for damage that occurs as a result of the use/misuse of this
program as I have made every effort to ensure Addresser operates properly.
If you have any problems, suggestions, or would like to send a shareware
donation (suggestion: $15), my address is:
Jeff Kelly
4455-1 Heritage Ct. S.W.
Grandville MI 49418-2634
Phone (616)249-9552
Included with this release of Addresser is a file titled Print.Me. If
you wish, you may print the file and fill out the form. The Print.Me form is
a user profile which will help me out in diagnosing any problems you may have
with Addresser 2.0.
Operating Instructions:
In the development, and further upgrading of Addresser, Ease of use has
been the top priority. Almost all of Addresser's functions have multiple
ways of accessing them. Addresser 2.0 now accepts the return key as a
default button selection. Any button that is framed will be activated when
you press the return key. The Esc key will activate the Cancel button for
all requestors.
System Requirements:
- Amiga computer running AmigaDOS version 1.3 or greater.
- A copy of the ARP.Library version 1.30 or greater in your system's
LIBS: drawer. The ARP.Library is freely distributable and can be
obtained from various sources.
To take advantage of some of Addresser 2.0's features:
- A Hayes compatible modem.
- An AmigaDos preferences supported printer.
- Any of the word processors Addresser supports:
WordPerfect, ProWrite, TransScript, TransWrite, BeckerText,
Professional Page 3.0, or Excellence!
Before starting up: If Addresser V1.0 has been used previously, please
read this section, otherwise, skip to the Starting
Up section.
Because of the major changes that have been made in
revising Addresser from V1.0 to 2.0, the data file
will no longer work. If an attempt to start
Addresser 2.0 in a drawer with an older version of
the Addresser.Names file is made, a requester will
be displayed alerting you of the version differences.
The AdVert program is included to convert between
V1.0 and V2.0 files.
To convert the names list, drag the AdVert and
Addresser 2.0 icons into the same drawer as the old
version of Addresser, and select replace if a system
requester pops up.
Now, double click on the AdVert icon. A window will
pop up displaying the conversion status. AdVert will
copy your original Addresser.Names to a file entitled
Addresser.Bak (this is in case an error occurs while
AdVert is converting Addresser.Names). After the
conversion process is complete, the Addresser setup
may be configured before running Addresser 2.0. For
further information, please refer to the AdVert.DOC
file for more a more detailed discussion on using
AdVert.
Starting Up: Before starting Addresser, make sure the ARP.library
is installed in the LIBS: directory. If Addresser
does not detect the ARP.library, you will be alerted
of this. Addresser requires the ARP.library for it's
file requestor. If AmigaDos V2.0 (or greater) is
currently running the ASL requestor may be
substituted. There are many good freely
distributable utilities (such as UnARP) which will
replace the ARP requestor with the standard Amiga ASL
requestor.
Addresser may be invoked either by the CLI or
Workbench. Note to CLI users: Addresser places the
Addresser.Names file in the current directory. If
you run Addresser in a directory that does not
contain an Addresser.Names file, Addresser will
prompt for file creation.
If the updated version of Addresser.Names is present
or the user elected to create a new names file, the
Addresser window will appear. Addresser's functions
are accessed through this window. It also displays
the current record in the database.
Addresser window:
Address Fields: These fields are basically self-explanatory. They are as
follows:
First: the person's first name
Last: the person's last name
Company: the company person works for
Street: the person's street address
City: the city person lives in
Prov/State: the province or state person lives in
(Also includes counties in the U.K.)
Country: the country person's address is in
PC/Zip: the address's Postal Code or Zip Code
Home #: the person's home phone number
Bus. #: the person's business phone number
Note: the short comment pertaining to person
All of the information placed within these fields is placed
in the address list in alphabetical order according to the
Last name field. If two last name entries are the same,
the First name field is then used for ordering within the
list. If two entries with the exact same name are placed
into the list, the user will be notified that a duplicate
name has been entered. The user will then be given the
choice to add the duplicate entry in or not. If no text is
placed in the First and Last field, it will be placed at
the beginning of the list, and will not be accessible
through the letter buttons. This is important if you just
want to place a company with no particular employee into
the database. A work around is to place the name you want
the record filed under in the Last field.
Marked: The marked button is a flag that you can use to "Filter"
[/] out certain records in the address list. It is used for
printing and merging. When the marked button is pressed,
the mark on the button will toggle on and off. When the
check mark shows, the record has been marked.
Format: This drop down menu lists all the available address
formats. The format name that is shown is the format name
that is currently attached to the record.
Group Buttons:
[1] to [6]
To the right of the Marked and Format buttons are the group
buttons. A checkmark in any of these buttons mean that the
current record is a member of that group. A record can be
a member of none, any, or all groups.
Buttons:
Add: [A] This will probably be one of the first things the user will
want to do.
When the "Add" button is pressed, all previous data shown
will be cleared away and you will be presented with a blank
record for adding a new name. Since the "First" name
string gadget is already activated the new information can
be entered right away. To move on to the next field, press
return. The cursor will jump to the next field in the
window. When all the information has been entered, either
press return when in the "Note" field, or select one of the
buttons at the bottom of the window. The new record has
now been inserted into the list.
Remove: [R] Remove is the exact opposite of "Add." It will remove the
record that is currently being shown from the address list.
When you select "Remove" a confirmation window will pop up
stating:
Remove <person's name>
from your list?
respond by selecting either Yes or No!
Search: [S] When "Search" is selected a window will pop up displaying
the field to search on, which search mode, and the search
string.
The "Search on:" gadget displays the field that will be
compared with the search string. To change the search
field, simply select the button beside the field name (the
one with the arrow pointing to a line). A menu of all the
field selections will appear. Simply click on the field to
be searched, and the gadget will display the new selection.
(Those of you who are unfortunate enough to have to use
Microsoft (MeSsy) Windows will recognize this menu set up,
I felt it would be more useful than the AmigaDos 2.0
"Cycle" button)
The search modes are as follows:
Search: Stop and display the first occurrence of
the search string in the list.
Find & Mark: Run through the entire list, and set the
marker on each record that has an
occurrence of the search string.
Find & Un-Mark: Run through the entire list, and clear
the marker on each record that has an
occurrence of the search string.
The "Search String" is a string gadget in which you enter
the string for which to search. The search will begin
after either pressing return when the string gadget is
selected, or by pressing the "Search" button.
The search method for Addresser 2.0 is greatly improved
over that of Addresser 1.0. A search can now be conducted
anywhere within the selected field for the occurrence of
any set of letters. Wildcard pattern matching is now also
available. The following patterns are supported.
PATTERN MEANING
? Any single character is matched
c* Zero or more occurrences of c
c+ One or more occurrences of c
\? Matches a question mark
\* Matches an asterisk (*)
\+ Matches a plus (+)
The search is not case sensitive.
Print: [P] Print will bring up a window with some selections to be
made before printing:
Full List : Prints a list containing all the
fields
Phone List : Prints a list containing the person's
name, and both the home and business
phone number.
Phone Book : A variation on the phone list, the
listing is formatted similar to what
would be seen in a phone book.
Mailing Labels: Prints the person's name, street, city
province or state, country, and postal
or zip code in the proper format for
a mailing label. The size of the label
can be set in the configure requester.
This setting makes use of the address'
format.
Address Cards : Prints all the fields onto a 3 by 5
inch card.
Envelopes : Prints a complete envelope with the
return address you set and the current
address. This function makes use of
address formatting. Envelope size and
the return address can be set in the
configuration requester.
Draft : Turn on the printer's draft mode.
NLQ : Turn on the printer's NLQ mode.
Pica : Use printer's pica character set.
Elite : Use printer's elite character set.
Condensed : Turn on the printer's Condensed mode.
All : Print all the records in the address
list.
Current : Print only the currently displayed
record. (This selection is disabled
for full list and phone list).
Marked : Print all the marked records in the
address list.
Single Sheet : Will pause between printing mailing
labels, address cards and envelopes so
you can insert a new one.
Tractor Feed : No pausing, use with continuous forms.
Copies : Set the number of copies of each address
to print.
Print to File : Clicking on this check box will allow you
to specify a file path and name to
re-direct the output to. The folder icon
beside the text gadget will bring up the
ARP file requestor which will allow you
to specify the output file path.
Configure : Brings up the printer configuration
requester. See the information on the
Configure menu selection for a complete
description of this requester.
Dial: [D] Dial is used in conjunction with a modem. If the name
that is currently being shown in the addresser window has
the following buttons: home phone number, business phone
number or both numbers, a window will pop up with the
following buttons.
Home : Dial the home number
Business : Dial the business number
The Home and Business numbers are mutually exclusive
(you can't dial both Home and Business phone numbers at
the same time). The person's phone number which you have
selected will be displayed.
Dial : Hang up the modem, then dial the selected
phone number.
Hangup : Hang up the modem (you can also press the
space bar).
Exit : Hang up the modem then exit the Dialer
requester.
Note: I have only tested this on my USRobotics Sportster 2400,
and may not work for all modems, especially those which
are not HAYES compatible, or does not like it when a
phone on the same line is off the hook. I also suggest
that the baud setting in preferences serial section be
the maximum rate your modem can handle. The modem is
hung up by first sending a space character to the modem
(which will stop dialing on most hayes compatible
modems), then it drops the DTR line. If the modem
doesn't hang up with this method, I suggest setting the
modem to recognize the DTR line (consult your modem's
manual for how to set this up).
If your modem will not dial, Look at the serial
preferences setting (refer to the AmigaDOS manual on how
to change your serial preferences settings). Set the
BAUD rate to the maximum speed the modem can handle.
Merge: [M] Merge is used to create "Mail Merge" files or a straight
ASCII text file containing the records in the address
list. When Merge is selected, it will bring up a window
with the following selections:
ASCII Textfile: Dump all the addresser fields into
an ASCII text file, each field will
be on it's own separate line. This
selection can also be used to perform a
merge using a word processor other than
those which are supported by Addresser.
After the file is created it can be
edited to suit the formatting your word
processor requires.
WordPerfect : An Amiga WordPerfect merge file will
be created with the fields set up as
follows:
<F1> - First Name
<F2> - Last Name
<F3> - Company
<F4> - Street
<F5> - City
<F6> - Prov/State
<F7> - Country
<F8> - PC/Zip
<F9> - Home #
<F10> - Bus. #
<F11> - Note
Pro-Write : A merge file formatted for Pro-Write
will be created, the field names are
the same as the field labels on the
addresser window.
TransScript : Merge file format for TransScript and
TransWrite.
PPage 3 : PPage 3 merge genie file format. The
Addresser field names are the names
used in the merge file.
BeckerText : BeckerText merge file format.
Excellence! : Excellence! merge file format.
Merge using:
All : All records will be used to create
the merge file.
Current : Only the current record will be placed
in the merge file.
Marked : Only the records with markers set will be
used to create the merge file.
Destination
File : You can either type the full path and
file name of the file you want
to create, or click on the disk
gadget to bring up the standard ARP
file requester and select the file
name and path from there.
Quick: [U] The quick function is new to Addresser 2.0. Selecting
Quick will pop up a requester with a listing of all the
names in the Addresser database, last name first. A name
with a checkmark beside it has been marked. Double
clicking on a name will mark or un-mark that name. The
name at the bottom of the list is the current name.
Selecting a name and pressing OK will display the full
record for that name.
To make things a little easier, the up and down arrow
keys may also be used (if you are using AmigaDOS 2.0) to
select the name, or even type in the first few characters
of the last name. Pressing the backspace key will set
the current record to the first record in the list.
< and >: The < and > buttons are used to move through the address
[,] and [.] list. The > button moves forwards alphabetically through
the list, while the < button moves backwards alphabetically
through the list.
A-Z and &: Clicking on one of these buttons will bring up the next
record in which the last name starts with that letter.
The "&" button is used for last names that don't start
with alphabetic characters, or simply type the letter on
the keyboard.
Iconify : Just below the window's "to front" gadget is the Iconify
[I] button. When clicked on, the Addresser window will
be shrunk into an icon. When Addresser is iconified, it
will be using up the least amount of processor time, and
also freeing up some workbench space. To return the
Addresser window, double-click on the icon. (AmigaDOS 2.0
supplies a gadget at the top of the window, but to keep
compatibility with AmigaDOS 1.3 and 2.0, I decided to keep
it there.) Thanks to Leo Schwab for providing his iconify
routine to the Amiga programming community.
All but the A-Z and & buttons have menu and keyboard shortcut equivalents
in the menu bar.
Menus:
Addresser:
About Addresser: Brings up a requester giving the version number
[?] and other pertinent information about Addresser.
Addresser Info.: Brings up a requester detailing Addresser's current
[;] directory, number of names currently in database,
amount of memory/disk space used, how many more names
can be added to the Addresser database on the current
disk, and how many names are currently marked.
Configure: The configure menu selection has become a sub
menu containing the following selections:
General [Z] - This requester allows configuration of
the modem initialization and dial
string for the Dial option. It will
also let Addresser start up in an
"Iconified" state.
Along the top right hand corner of the
general configuration requester are
a set of buttons that will allow
to configuration of Printer, Groups,
Clips, and Formats settings. These
buttons bring up the same requesters
selecting the same names from the
configuration sub-menu.
Printer - The printer settings requester is
pretty much self-explanatory. The
Labels: across drop down menu will set
the number of labels horizontally on a
page. The width, height and spacing
values may require some experimentation
to get the best results for your
printer, labels, and envelopes.
The Return Address button will bring
up a quick list requester. From here
you can select the return address that
will be printed on the top right hand
corner on envelopes.
Groups - The groups settings requester will
allow definition of custom labels for
the six group buttons on the addresser
main window. A maximum of 10
characters are allowed for a group
name.
Clips - The clips settings requester controls
what is copied to the clipboard
when you copy is selected in the name
menu (covered later in this file).
Formatted output will use the record's
current format to output the address
to the clipboard.
Unformatted output will send out all
your selected fields to the clipboard.
With each record occupying a single
text line.
Formats - This is probably one of the most
powerful of Addresser's new features.
Since each country has it's own special
and slightly different address formats.
Addresser will now allow you to define
up to 10 formats. These will be used
in printing out addresses to envelopes
and mailing labels.
To set up a format, first select a
format from the drop down menu just
above the OK button. After a format
has been selected, type the names of
the fields you want to be placed on
each line. If you don't want to type
the whole name, the first three
characters of each field name are
recognized. Commas, periods, spaces,
attn:, c/o and re: within a format are
also acceptable.
Here are the recognized field names:
First; First name
Last; Last name
Company; Company name
Street; Street address
City; City name
Prov or State; Province/State
field
Country; Country field
Post or Zip; Postal/Zip code
field
Home; Home phone number
Business; Business number
Note; Note field
attn:, c/o and re: - special text
The format may then be given a unique
name. I would suggest that you name
them for the country in which they are
used (i.e. Canada for Canadian address
formats, etc.).
Here's an example format:
Line 1 First Last
Line 2 Company
Line 3 Street
Line 4 City Prov
Line 5 Post
I use this format for corresponding
with people within Canadian companies.
Beside each text field is a set of
three buttons (B, I, and U). These
buttons, when selected will apply
Boldface, Italic, or Underline
attributes to its corresponding line.
Iconify [I]: Similar to clicking on the Iconify button, see
above for more details.
Write Changes [W]: Save all changes to the Addresser database without
quitting.
Quit [Q]: The same as clicking on the window's close
gadget. When exiting out of Addresser, any
changes that have been made will be saved into
your address list file.
Name: All the selections in the name menu are the same as clicking
on the same buttons on the addresser window. Next and Prior
are the same as clicking on the < and > buttons respectively.
I essentially created this menu to provide keyboard shortcuts
for almost all the addresser functions.
Copy [C]: Copies the current record to the clipboard. Depending
on what the clips configuration is, it can either be
formatted according to the record's format or unformatted.
Paste [P]: This is a little trickier than copying to the clipboard.
To paste a new record into Addresser, it must be formatted
so that the text to be placed into each field occupies one
line in the text editor (before copying it to the
clipboard). Each line must be terminated with a
carriage return character. The lines will be placed into
the fields in the following order:
First
Last
Company
Street
City
Prov/State
Country
PC/Zip
Home #
Bus. #
Note
Markers:
Mark All: This selection will set all the markers in the address
[+] list.
Clear All: This selection will clear all the markers in the address
[-] list.
Mark Group: This selection will set all the markers in the address
[shift-1] list which belong to the selected group.
to
[shift-6]
Group
Marked: This selection will make all marked records members of
the selected group.
Show Only: The Show Only selection toggles, when it is selected,
[O] only those files with a set marker will be shown when
navigating through the list using the < and > buttons.
Bugs:
No real major bugs that I know of. There is a minor quirk that may
bother some people. That quirk happens when the last name field is edited.
If the name is changed, no matter what to, the entry will stay in the same
location, thus possibly throwing the alphabetical ordering out. Fortunately,
if you exit out of Addresser, and re-run it, the names will be re-ordered
alphabetically.
Another small bug for AmigaDOS 1.3 users has popped up. Somehow, the
cursor keys are not recognized by Addresser under AmigaDOS 1.3. All I can
suggest if you really want to use the cursor keys to navigate through the
Addresser names list is that you get AmigaDOS 2.0.
If you feel there are things I can do to improve Addresser, please let me
know, my addresses are up at the beginning of this file. If your favorite
word processor that does mail merging is not supported, send me an example
merge file so I can get the formatting properly, and I'll try to have it
implemented for the next version.
