Tech Arsenal 1/Tech Arsenal (Arsenal Computer).ISO/tek-09/mailca12.zip/MAILCALL.HLP

Text File | 1991-01-07 | 20KB | 375 lines

INTRODUCTION
 Welcome to MAIL CALL.  (c) Richard Dower 1991   All rights reserved.

 Unregistered use for any purpose, other than a 30 day evaluation,
 is strictly prohibited.  If you use it please register!

 To register send $20.00 per copy to:
       Richard Dower
       13943 West 113th St
       Lenexa, Ks.  66215-4832

 Select Help from the main menu to browse through the various features
 of MAIL CALL or simply press F1 from anywhere in the program where
 you need help.  The help is context sensitive so you will get different
 help screens by pressing F1 at different locations in the program.

 You will only see this screen when MAIL CALL was not previously using
 a file.  After the first use, MAIL CALL will postition you back in the
 file you were last using, at the last record you were viewing.
MAIL CALL
 This program includes:

     Mailing List Management
         Print by Name, Company, ZIP Code, or User Defined Key
         Choose fields to print and label sizes
         Print barcode on each label
     Custom, free form labels (with custom print codes)
         Disk Labels
         Video Tape Labels
     Phone Books
     Rotary Card Listings ( 2 sizes )

 Single Registration:  $ 20.00

 Send to: Richard Dower
          13943 West 113th St
          Lenexa, Ks.  66215
 more..

 Up Arrow   Previous record   PgUp  Back 10 records
 Down Arrow Next record       PgDn  Forward 10 records
                              End   End of file
 F1  HELP                     Home  Beginning of file
 F9  Select output fields
 F10 Display sample label

 Whenever you use MAIL CALL you will be positioned exactly
 where you were when you last used last used the program.
 This allows you to quickly resume an interrupted session
 with the least amount of work.
EDITING
    Home        Beginning of line
    End         End of line
    Ins         Insert/Overwrite toggle
    Ctrl+End    Delete to end of field

    Tab
    Down Arrow  Next field
    Shift Tab
    Up Arrow    Previous field
    Esc         Quit without saving
    F2          Save
FIND
 You may locate a record by Last Name, Company/Department,
 ZIP Code, or the User Defined Key.  If an exact match is not found,
 you will be placed at the closest next match.  Whenever you search by
 one of the above fields, the file ordering is changed to that index.
 If you search by Company, after the search the file will be in
 alphabetical order by company name.  If you search by User Defined Key,
 the file will be in order by the User Defined Key field.  The active
 index is displayed on the line above the current record.  This is also
 the ordering used when printing, so make sure you have the correct index
 active before you start printing.
OPEN A MAIL CALL DATABASE
 Use Up Arrow, Down Arrow to select the file you wish to use. If there
 are more than one page worth of files, use PgUp and PgDn to move between
 pages.  When the desired file is highlighted, press Enter to open that
 file for use. You can move quickly to a filename on the list by typing
 the first letter of the name.  MAIL CALL will go to the next file
 down whose first letter matches the one you pressed.

 All the MAIL CALL databases displayed during the OPEN operation
 are located in either your PRIVATE directory or the PUBLIC directory.
 Refer to the documentation for setting these up.  If you haven't set
 PUBLIC or PRIVATE directories, you will open and create files in the
 directory where you installed MAIL CALL.

 Press Esc if you wish to create a new file.    All newly created
 databases will be written to the PRIVATE directory, if it is defined,
 or the directory where MAIL CALL was installed.
PRINT LABELS
 If you choose to print the entire database, the labels will be ordered
 by the currently selected index order.  If the current index order is by
 Company/Department, the labels will be ordered alphabetically by
 Company/Department.  If the index is User Defined Key, the labels will
 be printed in order by User Defined Key.  You may start printing with the
 currently displayed record.  This allows for easy re-starts if there is
 a printer problem.  Simply Find the record where the problem occured
 and start printing again.

 You may print all the records for one Company/Department, one ZIP code,
 or one User Defined Key.  These options require an exact match to be
 included in the printing.  The Company/Department field is matched on the
 first 15 characters only, not the full 30 characters in the field.
CUSTOM LABELS
 Custom labels allow you to print labels with any text on any line.  It
 also allows for custom print codes on each individual line.  This is
 great for video tape labels, disk labels, 3 x 5 cars, etc.   The size of
 the custom label is determined initially by the label design settings
 under Design on the Main Menu.  You can change these from the Custom
 Label Menu if you wish.  You can make several different size free form
 labels and not effect the size of the labels you normally print from the
 main database.

 You may add up to 8 different printer codes to each line of your custom
 label.  The first line may be compressed, the second double strike, the
 third expanded, italics, underline, emphasized, the fourth subscript,
 etc.  Simply enter the number of the code you wish to use for that line.
 The print codes are preset to the most common Epson print codes.  To
 modify the print codes select, Codes from the menu.  Now you can
 customize or change the codes displayed.  You will need to consult your
 printer manual.  The custom codes allow you to combine several codes or
 add things such as tiny line spacing.  To input a code, use [ for
 Escape and ^ for Control.  These are the most common ways that
 printers accept their codes.  This will be clear once you look at your
 printer manual and see that most codes are preceeded with Escape.

 When you Save a Custom Label, all the print codes as well as the
 lines/label and label width are retained with the saved label.  You
 can save several templates or commonly used labels for reuse latter.
 After retrieving a previously saved Custom Label, you may edit
 the contents and print out different versions.  As long as you don't
 save it again under the same name, the originally saved format is
 not effected.

 When you Retrieve a Custom Label, its original print codes,
 lines/label, and width are also restored.  Once retrieved, you
 may edit it and print out different versions without effecting
 the originally saved format.  You may also save the edited
 version under another name.  This allows you to quickly build
 several templates for video tapes, recipe cards, disk labels,
 meeting badges, etc.
DESIGN OF LABELS
 You may have from 1 to 18 lines/label, 1 to 3 labels across, and
 a label width of from 2 1/2 inches to 5 inches.

 F2 saves the sizes so that the next time the file is opened, these
 values will automatically take effect.  If you leave the Design screen
 by pressing Esc the changes to the sizes will be in effect only for
 the current session.

 The label formats chosen (width, labels across, lines/label, and output
 fields) are stored with the individual file.  This allows you to have
 custom label formats for each file, if you wish.  You may wish to keep
 a separate Rotary Card file, for example, as well as one for mailing
 labels.

 more..

 The 2" x 4" Rotary card format is 12 lines/label and 4" wide.
 The 3" x 5" Rotary card format is 18 lines/label and 5" wide.

 The Advertising Line is a line of text that you may have printed on
 the top of each label.  You enter under the Design screen but you
 must select the Advertising Line field under Field Selection to
 make it print on the label.  The Advertising Line will print on
 the top line of the label except when User Defined Key is chosen.
 User Defined Key always prints on the top line if it is selected.

 If you choose a label width that is too narrow for some fields, those
 fields will be truncated to fit on the label.  If you choose 6 fields to
 print but select a 5 line label, only the top 5 fields chosen will be
 printed.  If you select 3 fields to print and choose a 5 line label,
 the bottom two lines will be left blank.

 You may change the comment describing the curren file.  Comments allow
 you to give a description of the contents of the file instead of relying
 on just the 8 character file name.
LINE TERMINATOR
 Some printers require the program to send both a carriage return and
 a line feed after each line.  For those printers, if you don't send
 both these codes, each line of the label will start where the last
 one left off but on the line below.  Select just Carriage Return for
 most printers.  Simply run Test off the Print menu to see if you
 need a line feed with you carriage return.  The Diablo 630 in certain
 modes, for example, needs both carriage return and line feed.
FIELD SELECTION FOR LABELS
 To select/deselect a field for printing, use the space bar.  Use F10 to
 display a sample label.  The sample will show you exactly how the label
 will be printed.  In this way you can tell which fields may be truncated
 and if all the fields will fit on the format you have selected. If you
 select User Defined Key, it will appear as the top field on the label.
 If Advertising Line is selected, it will also appear as the top line
 except when it is selected with User Defined Key.  In that case, User
 Defined Key will be on top and Advertising Line will be second.  If you
 select Bar Code, a barcode that is readable by U S Postal Service
 equipment will be placed on the label.  The barcode can be placed on the
 very top line or below the address.  If you want the barcode placed below
 the label, the label must be at least 3 1/2" wide and there needs to be
 at least 3 free lines at the bottom of the label.  If there aren't enough
 lines available or a smaller label size is chosen, the barcode won't be
 printed.  Check with the Postal Service for information on where the
 barcode needs to be positioned on the letter and for postage savings on
 barcoded mail.  Enter or Esc ends the field selection process.
EXPORT OF MAIL CALL FILES
 The exported files are stored in SDF format.  That is, one record per
 line, with all the fields written in a continuous stream.  The field
 sizes and field order follow.  This is only needed if you are exporting
 all the fields.
                    Field Name    Length  Offset
                    ----------------------------
                    LAST NAME       16        1
                    USER DEFINE KEY  7       17
                    FIRST NAME      11       24
                    COMPANY         31       35
                    ADDRESS #1      26       66
                    ADDRESS #2      26       92
                    CITY            21      118
                    STATE            3      139
                    ZIP CODE        11      148
                    PHONE #2        15      153
                    EXTENSION        5      168
                    PHONE #1        15      173
                    NOTES           41      188

 Each line should be 228 characters long with a carriage return,
 line feed at the end.  Short fields will be padded with spaces
 to fill out the Length.

 EXAMPLE:
 This is how the first part of an exported file should look if you were
 to TYPE it to the screen or look at it with a text editor.  The
 heading shows the name of each field.  The last field, NOTES, is
 out to the right at the very end of the line.  Each line is 228
 characters long.

 <------16------><--7--><---11----><---------31------------------><-
 LAST NAME       KEY    FIRST      COMPANY                        AD
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
 Dower           1204   Richard    Midwest Solutions              13
 Smith           402    C.                                        10
 Williams        1237   John       IBM                            12
 Jones           1501   Robert     Digital Equipment Corporation  12
PARTIAL EXPORT
  You can export selected fields.  When you export, you are prompted to
  use all the fields or only the currently selected output fields.  If
  you export just the currently selected output fields, the export file
  will only contain those fields, not all the fields.
  The field orders and lengths follow:
  Output Field        Includes                 Length
  ---------------------------------------------------
  Name                LAST NAME+FIRST NAME       27  (16 + 11)
  Company                                        31
  Primary Address                                26
  Secondary Address                              26
  City,State,ZIP      CITY+STATE+ZIP             35  (21 + 3 + 11)
  City,State          CITY+STATE                 24  (21 + 3)
  ZIP CODE                                       11
  Phone 1             PHONE 1 + EXTEN            20  (15+5)
  Phone 2                                        15
  Notes                                          41
  USER DEFINED KEY                                7

 EXAMPLE:
  To export Name and Company, you should have selected only Name and
  Company from the Field Selection under the Design menu option.
  The file should look like this:
  <------16------><---11----><---------31------------------>
  Dower           Richard    Midwest Solutions
  Smith           C.
  Williams        John       IBM
  Jones           Robert     Digital Equipment Corporation
  Penney          Bud        Hallmark Cards
  <------16------><---11----><---------31------------------>
IMPORT
    File Type               Extension     Source
    -----------------------------------------------------------------
    Mail Call                 SDF         Exported from Mail Call
    ASCII                     TXT         Text editor, Other programs
    dBASE                     DBF         dBASE, FoxBase, DBXL, etc.

  You will be shown a list of all the files that match the type you
  select.

  When importing from a dBASE type file, first, position the cursor on
  the Mail Call field you wish to fill.  Next, press F3 to move
  to the window with the list of the fields in the currently selected
  dBASE file.  Move the cursor to the field you wish imported and press
  Enter.  The field length and offset will be filled in for you.  Simply
  move back and forth between the Mail Call form and the dBASE field
  list and select all the fields you need.   Experiment a few times and
  you will see how easy it is.
 more...

  Mail Call files will be checked for correct record lengths before
  importing.  For ASCII files, you will need to enter the length of
  each field and the offset of the field in each line of the file.
  In this manner, you can skip information that is of no use to you.
  The field lengths don't need to match the field lengths in the
  Mail Call file.  Mail Call will check the file to be
  sure all the lines are of the same length.

  EXAMPLE:
      LAST        FIRST                    ADDRESS 1      PHONE 1
  <----  15  ---><--9 --->               <---- 13 ----><--- 13 ---->

  DOWER          RICHARD  #####  *&^*%$  13943 W 113   [phone]
  Penney         Bud      garbage        12 School St
  Jones          Robert   ********-22222               [phone]

  123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456
          10        20        30        40        50        60

  On the import file structure form for the example above, you would
  fill in only LAST, FIRST, ADDRESS 1, and PHONE 1.
                 Length   Offset
                 ---------------
  LAST             15       1
  FIRST             9      16
  ADDRESS 1        13      40
  PHONE 1          13      54
PHONE BOOK
 You have the option of printing a phone book in Last Name order or in
 Company/Department order.  The Last Name phone book prints the last name
 first, followed by the first name, notes, and finally the Phone #1 field.
 If there is a second phone number, it is printed below the first.

 The Company/Department phone book has the Company/Department field first,
 followed by the last name, first name, and phone number.  If the Company
 name repeats, it is only listed once with all the names of the people in
 that Company/Department listed below.  Again, if there is more than one
 phone number for any one person, it is listed below the first one.

 In either type phone book, you are prompted for two heading lines and a
 Common Phone Prefix.  You may enter anything you wish for the headings.
 The Common Phone Prefix is optional.   If you enter one, whenever that
 prefix is found in one of the phone numbers, it is not printed.  The
 book shows just the 4 digits of the number that are unique.  This is
 especially good for books where almost all the numbers have the same
 3 digit prefix.
ZIP+4 SERVICE
 The U S Postal Service offers a free service that will add ZIP+4
 information to a mailing list.  The service will also standardize the
 address and add the Postal Carrier Route information if desired.  These
 changes to a mailing list can lead to considerable savings in postage if
 the required discounts are applied for at the Post Office.

 To take advantage of this service, you must submit a file in a standard
 format and also supply the locations of the fields within the file.  The
 Postal Coding selection on the Print menu will print a sheet with all
 the required information.  Simply export the file, which will give it a
 SDF extension, and copy it to a floppy disk.  Submit the disk with the
 information sheet to the Post Office.  When you get the processed disk
 back, copy it back over the old file with the SDF extension and import
 it into a new file name.  Refer to the sections on Import and Export for
 more information.
TINY TYPE
 Under Custom Labels, you can select Tiny Type.  This option sets the
 print style to compressed, subscript and changes from 6 lines per inch
 to 12 lines per inch.  This allows twice as many lines on a label and
 also allows for half again as many characters on a line.  Selecting
 Tiny Type off the menu again will switch back to normal mode.  When
 you are in Tiny Type mode, you aren't allowed to enter any other
 print codes for that label (the code window is even available).

 On a 5 line label that is 3 inches wide, you could enter 10 lines of
 information and have 45 characters on each line instead of the normal
 30.  This is especially valuable for making disk labels or VCR tape
 labels.

 If you save a label while Tiny Type is in effect, it will be saved
 in Tiny Type format.  If you select Load off the menu while in
 Tiny Type, only the labels saved under Tiny Type will be displayed.
END