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MultiList 3.0
Program Documentation
OVERVIEW
MultiList is a mail list program originally developed in 1990 to
organize and process thousands of applications for water rights.
It later evolved to meet the needs of secretaries responsible for
maintaining multiple name, address, and phone lists for several
organizations. MultiList as you now see it is a powerful list-
organizer and management program which is truly easy to use.
MultiList has proven to be useful for managing lists of
addresses, phone numbers, dates, and notes with 20 to 10,000
records. It is capable of managing an unlimited number of
separate database files each having up to one billion records.
MultiList's features include:
- Whole-Name Data Entry: Enter names the way you want them,
without any first name, middle initial, or last name
restrictions. Alphabetization is automatic. The entire
database is easily re-alphabetized to give priority to
either company names or individuals' surnames.
- ASCII File Parsing: Address lists in DOS TEXT (ASCII) format
are read and intelligently parsed to put information in the
proper fields; i.e. the name in the name field, the postal
code in the ZIP field, phone numbers in the phone and fax
fields, etc. This is useful for converting address lists
developed with spreadsheets and work processor programs.
- List-Building and List Management: Each record is given a
"Main List" which says why the record is in your database.
The Main Lists can be selected individually as a database
filter, or used to build additional lists within the
database. Lists can also be built or constructed using
multiple filters and text searches.
- Advanced Filters: Record sets can be selected by a
combination of main lists, secondary lists, dates, addresses
(country, city, or ZIP code), and record input/edit history.
If, for example, you should want a list of clients that you
promised to contact in the next two months and that live in
some particular city or country, this is easy to do. A
plain-language message is included on menu screens to remind
you what filter or list you are using.
- Record Text Search: Complete records (names, addresses,
notes, phone, etc.) are searched for text strings or
fragments. If you can remember anything at all about a
record you need, you will find it quickly.
i
- Duplicate Record Checking: The program will automatically
delete records which are exact duplicates of other records.
Possible duplicates are displayed for your decision about
whether one needs to be deleted and, if so, which one.
- Useful Outputs: MultiList outputs include stick-on labels, a
notepad with address, phone, and date information, a
telephone directory, a calendar of dates to remember,
database summaries, and files to be used with word processor
programs.
- Label Saver Output: MultiList is thrifty with your label
paper. Standard compressed (line printer) font is used to
put as much legible information as possible on 1" high
labels. Partially-used label sheets are reclaimed by
specifying the number of missing or used labels to skip
before printing.
- Network, Windows, and Word Processor Compatible: MultiList
provides for simultaneous database access by multiple users
on a local area network, and runs in both Windows and DOS.
Simple word processor macros described in the MultiList
users' guide let you retrieve address information into word
processor documents as fast or faster than the address books
provided with other software packages.
MultiList may be freely distributed as shareware for program
evaluation by users. There are no restrictions on program use by
unregistered users. However, persons who find the program to be
useful are asked to register their use by purchasing a "KEY" file
which will personalize program output. The single-user
registration fee is $14 in the USA and Canada, and $19 in other
countries. Multiple KEY files for networks are available for the
single-user registration fee plus an additional $5 for each
workstation/user name.
User comments, suggestions for improvement, and distributor
inquiries are all welcomed at the following address:
Bill Rozeboom
21442 130th Ave S.E.
Kent, WA 98031
U.S.A.
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
OVERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
MULTILIST MENU SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1. ADD new names and addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. BROWSE records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. FIND a particular record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4. SELECT list (filter records) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5. PRINT mail labels or lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6. OPTIONS: lists, defaults & more! . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
6.1 ADD and BUILD Yes/No lists . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
6.2 OVERHAUL file (remove deleted records) . . . . . . 10
6.3 RE-ALPHABETIZE records (by name or company) . . . . 10
6.4 Check for DUPLICATE records . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
6.5 DEFAULT settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
6.6 Get (import) records from an ASCII text file . . . 11
6.7 Make a COPY of MultiList for someone else . . . . . 12
7. UTILITIES: File management and printers . . . . . . . . 12
7.1 Copy records to TRANSFER MultiList file . . . . . . 12
7.2 IMPORT records from MultiList transfer file . . . . 13
7.3 Select or create NEW MultiList file . . . . . . . . 13
7.4 RENAME selected MultiList file . . . . . . . . . . 14
7.5 DELETE other (non-selected) MultiList file . . . . 14
7.6 Select and define PRINTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
7.7 SHELL to DOS operating system . . . . . . . . . . . 15
APPENDIX A: Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
A.1 DOS Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
A.2 Windows Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
A.3 Network Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
APPENDIX B: Using MultiList with Other Programs . . . . . . . 18
B.1 Word Processors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
B.2 Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
iii
MULTILIST MENU SYSTEM
Information presented here on the MultiList Menu System does not
duplicate the information and instructions provided by the
program itself. Instead, it describes how best to use the
various options, and provides practical suggestions for managing
your MultiList files.
1. ADD new names and addresses
The add records option is used to enter name/address/phone/etc
information into your computer. Other ways of adding records to
a MultiList file are introduced briefly at the end of this
section.
Tips for entering records are:
- Use upper/lower case letters (it looks better than all
upper-case).
- Put the information in the correct fields. Although mailing
labels will come out just fine no matter what fields you
use, MultiList needs information in the proper fields for
certain filter options and duplicate record checking to work
properly. The only time you should put information in the
"wrong" field is when you want a particular record to always
be alphabetized on the company name, and never be
alphabetized on the individual's name. In this case only,
enter the name of the individual in the TITLE field and
leave the NAME field blank.
- Be consistent in how you enter company names. For example,
if you have a lot of government contacts with the State of
Washington Department of Transportation, try to consistently
enter "Department of Transportation" in the DEPARTMENT field
and enter "State of Washington" in the AGENCY field. Avoid
doing something different each time; i.e. Washington DOT,
WSDOT, Transportation Dept, etc. It doesn't matter what
convention you use to enter company names, so long as you
are consistent. This will keep your outputs properly sorted
and will let MultiList give you a telephone book which lists
companies in a multiple-level tabbed format showing
departments and individuals within those departments. Note,
however, that the alphabetization method must be set for
company names (Section 6.3) for outputs to be sorted and
alphabetized by company.
COUNTRY: A country name automatically appears when you are adding
a new record. The country shown is a default entry which you can
change from the Options - Default Settings menu (Section 6.5).
The default country should be set to be the country where you
live and mail your letters from.
1
TELEPHONE: Several fields are provided for telephone numbers.
The first field is for the international telephone prefix.
MultiList skips over this field if you don't need it; i.e. if the
address given is for your home (default) country. The single-
character field after each phone number is used to flag what each
phone number is for. You should use "b" or "w" to indicate a
business or work number, "f" to indicate a fax machine, and "h"
or "r" to indicate a home or residence phone number.
DATE TO REMEMBER: The date field is entered in month-day-year
format. It is not necessary to enter either a day or year.
Subsequent processing of date-to-remember information ignores the
year, and uses but does not require the day. It is set up this
way because many of us like to remember people's birthdays but
don't know how old those people are. Also, it allows a reminder
flag to call someone in a certain month without needing to pick a
particular day.
NOTE: The note field is a good place to add additional phone
numbers, "e-mail" addresses, and additional keywords which can be
used for future record retrieval. If you are adding records
given to you by someone else, you should enter the name (or
initials) of that person into the note field. Keywords
(including people's initials) can be entered into the note field
and should be marked by putting a "#" character before each
keyword. For example, if Edward D. Monden asked you to enter a
record, you would include the keyword "#EDM" in the note field.
In this example, the "#" character will let MultiList later find
and build a list with all of Edward's records, without also
including everyone named Edmonds and all Edmonton addresses.
SALUTATION: The salutation field is there for entering an
appropriate personalized salutation so that you can send out form
letters which don't look like computer-generated form letters.
It is used by MultiList when producing word processor merge files
and also when printing single-record information to a file (which
is then imported to a word processing document).
Three other ways to add records to a MultiList file are described
in other parts of this document. Section 6.6 describes how to
add name/address/phone records which are in DOS TEXT (ASCII)
format from a word processor or spreadsheet program. Section 7.2
describes how to import records from another MultiList file, and
how to share all or parts of your MultiList files with other
people. Appendix B.2 introduces technical details about
MultiList which will allow persons with rudimentary database
programming skills to directly access and manipulate MultiList
files using other database software, and to convert data files
developed with other database programs.
The add records command is linked to the browse records command
described in the next section. Pressing the PAGE UP key while in
the add records mode will put you into the browse mode starting
with the last record in the database and ignoring any filters
which may be set at the time.
2
2. BROWSE records
The browse records option is used to look through the records in
your MultiList file to locate specific records you want to see,
edit, delete, restore, or print. If you have selected a filter,
browse will display only those records meeting the filter
conditions.
The browse records option is similar to the find records option:
both are used to look through the database and locate records.
The browse option is the fastest way to locate a record if you
know its approximate alphabetic or numeric location in an
unfiltered database. Browse takes you directly to the record
which most closely matches the alphabetic index or record number
you specify, and lets you start browsing the database from there.
Once a filter has been set, browse loses its ability to jump
directly to a specific record and instead starts at the beginning
of the database to identify all records that meet the filter
conditions.
Records displayed by browse and find will show you the mail label
as it will be printed, telephone and date information, the entire
note text, and information on the lists associated with each
record. The lower portion of the display screen provides
additional information depending on how the record was located.
When browsing alphabetically, the lower portion of the screen
shows the alphabetic index and the date on which the record was
last edited. When browsing numerically or when locating records
with the find option, the lower portion of the screen shows the
record number and the dates on which the record was first entered
and last edited.
Records located with either the browse or find options can be
edited, deleted, restored, or printed.
EDIT: This brings back the same screen used for adding
records.
DELETE: This will flag a record for deletion but will not
actually erase it from your computer. Records flagged
for deletion are not physically removed from the
MultiList file (and your computer) until you run
"Overhaul" from the Options Menu.
RESTORE: This option appears if a record is flagged for
deletion. It lets you change your mind about deleting
the record. However, to save (restore) a record, you
must do so before overhauling the database.
PRINT: Single-record output from the browse and find screens
will print the mailing address and, when printing to a
file, the salutation. If you need to print the entire
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contents of the record, including notes and phone
numbers, use the main print menu instead.
- Printing to a file produces a text file which can
be imported into a word processing program. If
you entered a salutation as part of your MultiList
record, you won't have to retype it each time you
send each person a letter. See Appendix B.1 for
more information on using MultiList with word
processing programs.
- Printing to a printer will generate a single
stick-on address label. If you have a page-feed
printer (such as a laser printer) PLEASE read the
introduction screens to make sure you specify the
correct type of 3-column label paper. The proper
paper type must be specified for the label to be
properly centered. If the output is wrongly
shifted up or down by about 1/2 inch, you have
probably selected the wrong type of paper.
- MultiList has the capability to print single-
record labels directly to envelopes using the
nicest font available for your printer. However,
you will need to set this up yourself by editing
the printer definition. We gave up on providing
full support for this option because too many of
the printers we tested had problems feeding
envelopes, even though the printer manuals claimed
this would work. If you set up your printer
definition (Section 7.6) to support envelope print
jobs, the option to do so will appear on your
single-record print menu.
There is one "hidden" option available from the browse and find
screens: the F10 key. Pressing the F10 key while a record is
being displayed will let you see and edit the alphabetic index
for that record. The F10 key is a "hidden" command key (not
described by the on-screen instructions) because you should not
need to manually alphabetize your records.
3. FIND a particular record
The find records option is used to search through the records in
your MultiList file to locate specific records based on full or
partial names, keywords, addresses, phone numbers, etc. This is
the best way to locate a record if, for example, you need Julie's
last name (which you have forgotten), or if you want to see who
you know with a "872-" telephone prefix. Searches are case-
insensitive, meaning that "A" and "a" are treated as being the
same letter and that searches for "Can" will find everyone named
Candice as well as all addresses in CANADA.
4
The find records option is similar to the browse records option:
it is a way of locating records in your database which you can
then view, edit, delete, restore, and print. Single-record edit,
delete, restore, and print commands are identical to those
described in Section 2, browse records.
Pressing the ESC key while MultiList is searching for records
will interrupt and cancel the search.
The find records option can also be accessed from the Options -
Add Yes/No Lists menu and used to save search results as a pre-
defined list. Section 6.1 describes how to build and save lists
using text searches and other techniques.
4. SELECT list (filter records)
The MultiList Filter Selection Menu is used to screen (or filter)
the database and select specific sets of records. Once a filter
has been set from this menu, other MultiList operations (Browse,
Find, Print, Export to transfer file, etc.) will use only those
records meeting the filter criteria. A plain-language message is
given at the bottom of the menu screens to remind you what filter
you are using and how many records are in the active list.
Filter selection is based on the "AND" logical operator. You can
set from one to five conditions which are linked using this
operator. If, for example, you set three conditions from the
filter selection menu, MultiList will screen the database to give
you those only records meeting all three conditions; i.e.
condition 1 AND condition 2 AND condition 3.
Five types of filters are available from the filter selection
menu.
1) MAIN LIST filters are the reasons you gave for adding the
records to the database: family, clients, etc.
2) PREDEFINED LIST filters are the lists you saw when entering
records, or which you defined and built from the Options
menu. The predefined lists also include "Deleted Records"
and "Dates to Remember." The "Deleted Records" list is
useful if you want to take a last look at (or save) records
which you have marked for deletion but haven't yet removed
from your database using Options-Overhaul. The "Dates to
Remember" list selects all records for which you have
entered a date to remember. If you choose the "Dates to
Remember" list here, your calendar listing of names and
dates (from the print menu) will be printed using January 1
as the start date.
3) ADDRESS filters are available for several levels of address
information including the country, state or province, city,
starting digits for zip (postal) code, or complete postal
code.
5
4) DATES TO REMEMBER filters will select records which have a
date to remember AND which have a date within the time frame
you specify: today, this week, or up to 12 months starting
from the current month. When you print a date calendar
using this filter, your list will start at the current day
or month. If you want to print a full-year calendar listing
starting with January 1, select "Dates to Remember" from the
PREDEFINED LIST filters instead.
5) INPUT/EDIT DATE filters are provided for two reasons.
First, the input date lets you separate old from new clients
and contacts. Second, the edit date (the last time you
edited the record) can help you identify and remove outdated
records from your database. People move, and there is a
good chance that records which haven't been edited for
several years are no longer accurate. Record input and edit
dates are given at the bottom of the screen when you view
records using browse and find.
Filter selection is very easy. To get a Christmas card list,
press 2 for pre-defined lists, scroll down to highlight the
Christmas card list, and press the enter key. If you only want
those people who are on your Christmas card list and who live in
Australia, then also press 3 for Address codes, enter "Country"
and then enter "Australia". After you have selected whatever it
is you want, press the "9" or "S" keys to save your filter
selection and return to the main menu.
REVERSING THE FILTER: If you want a list of all records that are
NOT on your Christmas card list, first select Christmas cards
from the predefined lists, and then press the F10 key. If you
want a list of all records that are NOT in the U.S.A., set the
address-country filter for "U.S.A." and then press the F10 key.
A message will appear to indicate that the filter has been
reversed. Pressing the F10 key again will toggle the "NOT"
condition on and off. All single and multiple-condition filters
can be reversed (toggled) using the F10 key.
COMPLEX FILTERS: Complex filters can be set using the standard
filter options presented here in conjunction with the Add/Build
List choices described in Section 6.1. If you are performing
very complex filter operations on large databases, it may help to
write subsets of the database to transfer files (each time saving
a filtered record set), and then to combine the transfer files
for final filter operations. File manipulations, including
creating and importing transfer files, are performed from the
UTILITIES menu described in Section 7.
5. PRINT mail labels or lists
Print options begin with a decision on whether to print to a
printer or to a file. Printing to a printer will give you hard-
copy output. Printing to a file produces a DOS TEXT (ASCII) file
which can be read by word processor and text editor programs.
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The choices available from the print menu depend on whether you
are printing to a printer or a file, what kind of printer (page
or tractor feed) you are using, and the kind of output you have
selected. Available selections change according to the choices
you have made.
The print menu provides five basic options.
1) WHAT to print gives you up to ten output formats. The
"Address, Phone, & Date Notepad" format is at the top of the
list for printer outputs because it is one of the most
useful hard-copy formats. The "Postal (ZIP) Code Summary"
near the bottom of the list is less-frequently used, but is
helpful in identifying address errors in large databases,
and for doing postal (ZIP) code counts for bulk mail
operations.
If you are printing to a page-feed printer, such as a laser
printer which always feeds one complete sheet at a time, you
will have two choices for printing 3-column labels: "Plain
Paper" or "Laser-Printer" formats. These formats correspond
to two different kinds of 3-column label paper described
below.
"Plain paper" 3-column label sheets are available from
office supply stores as photocopier supplies. They have 33
labels per page on 8.5 by 11 inch sheets with no margins;
the top and bottom labels go all the way to edge of the
sheet. "Plain paper" photocopier label sheets work just
fine with the laser and ink-jet printers we have tested, and
they are generally less expensive than the "computer-
printer" label sheets carried by computer stores. The only
disadvantage to the plain paper label sheets is that most
printers are physically unable to fully use the top and
bottom rows of labels. MultiList uses the printable portion
of the top row of labels to provide header information, but
the lower row of labels is wasted.
"Laser-printer" 3-column labels encompass a number of 3-
column label sheets formats available for laser printers,
ink-jet printers, desk-jet printers, etc. These label
sheets all have 30 labels per page on 8.5 by 11 inch sheets
with a 1/2 inch margin at the top and bottom of the sheet.
The labels often come with rounded corners and optional
clear paper. If you want to print to any of these kinds of
label paper (they all have 30 labels per sheet), select
"Laser-printer 3-column labels" regardless of the kind of
page-feed printer you have. Header information is not
available when you are using this kind of label paper.
2) SORT records lets you sort your output alphabetically, by
mailing address, or by the last edit date.
3) COPIES lets you specify the number of duplicate copies to
print of each label.
7
4) HEADER information toggles whether or not header information
is included with your output. Header information includes
the name of the database, the sorting method used, the date
and time of the print job, and a page number. The header
for the "File for Word Processor Merge" also includes
instructions for converting special MultiList output codes
into the secondary merge file codes used by your word
processor.
5) LABELSAVER provides two label-saving features. The first
feature lets you specify how many missing or used labels to
skip before printing to a sheet of 3-column labels, thus
making full use of your label sheets. The second feature
lets you specify a record number to resume a print job which
for some reason stopped before your full list was printed.
Reasons a print job may have stopped part-way through
include running out of paper, a power failure, and pressing
the ESC key.
You can abort or cancel a print job in progress by pressing the
ESC (Escape) key. MultiList will immediately stop sending
information to your printer (or file) when you press the ESC key,
but the printer will continue to print the information already
sent to the print buffer before the ESC key was pressed.
6. OPTIONS: lists, defaults & more!
6.1 ADD and BUILD Yes/No lists
When you add your first records using MultiList, two Yes/No (Pre-
defined) Lists will be available: "Christmas Cards" and "Notify
if we move." With the options available here, you can describe
and build up to nine Yes/No lists. Yes/No lists are used to keep
track of multiple pre-defined lists within a single master
database.
The Yes/No lists are used to maintain record sets which cannot be
created by the standard filter options. Christmas card lists are
Yes/No lists because they include many types of contacts (Main
Lists) and addresses (Countries, Cities, etc.) You should use
the Yes/No lists to identify the things you need to send people,
such as Christmas Cards, Meeting Notices, Annual Reports, Party
Invitations, Fundraiser Appeals, and so on.
The first screen presented from the "ADD and BUILD Yes/No lists"
option shows the nine available lists, how each has been named,
and how many records are currently in each list. If you select a
list which has not yet been named, the program will let you enter
a name, and will then go directly to a menu which lets you build
or construct the list. If you select a list which has already
has a name, you will have a number of choices including access to
the menu to build or construct the Yes/No list.
8
The Yes/No list edit options are:
1) RENAME the list: the name you enter here to describe the
list will be presented on the screen when you add and edit
records. Renaming the list does not change the contents of
that list. For example, if List 2 had 12 records while
named "Notify if we move" and you renamed that list to be
"Annual Report," then those same 12 records would be
included in the "Annual Report" list.
2) BUILD the list: this brings up the same menu screen which
appears automatically when you name a list for the first
time. Lists can be built in three ways: from the Filter,
from the Main Lists, or by conducting a Text Search.
When you use the list-building options, all records meeting
the specified condition(s) are ADDED to the list which
existed before you ran the option.
- Add all records in FILTER to list. If you have a
filter set (see Section 4, Select List), all records
meeting the filter condition(s) will be added to the
Yes/No list. This is useful if you want to produce a
list with multiple conditions not available from the
standard Select List options.
If, for example, if you wanted a list of contacts in
the cities of both Vancouver and Portland, you would
first set a filter for the City of Vancouver, then add
these records to a new Yes/No list. Next, you would
set a filter for the City of Portland and add those
records to the same Yes/No list. Finally, you would
set the filter to be the Yes/No list you just built.
- Build list from MAIN lists. This brings up a scrolling
display of all the MAIN lists available in your
database. Each main list you select will be added to
the Yes/No list.
- Use text SEARCH to build list. This option builds the
Yes/No list using the same record-finding methods
described in Section 3. It is an quick way of building
a list based on names (of people, companies, streets,
cities, countries) or on keywords which you added to
the note field.
3) WIPE out list: this command eliminates all references to the
selected Yes/No list, and is used to clear (erase) a list so
that it can be reused for a new or different purpose. When
this command is run, MultiList locates every record in the
database which was on the selected list and changes the "Y"
flag for that list to a "N" flag. There is no easy way to
undo this command. If you have important and hard-to-
construct Yes/No lists, you should consider keeping backup
copies of those lists in separate MultiList files.
9
6.2 OVERHAUL file (remove deleted records)
The overhaul file option is used to erase and eliminate all
records which you have marked for deletion. It is also used to
reconstruct the files associated with each MultiList database.
If you experience problems with MultiList crashing or hanging up
your computer, try running the overhaul file option to correct
the problem. If you use any program other than MultiList to edit
your MultiList files, it is essential that you run the overhaul
file option on the edited database before doing any other
MultiList operations.
6.3 RE-ALPHABETIZE records (by name or company)
Early in MultiList's development, it became apparent that there
is no consensus on how a mail list should be alphabetized. The
re-alphabetization option lets you switch back and forth between
using either company names or individuals' surnames as the basis
for alphabetizing the database. The setting you specify here is
saved as the default setting for alphabetizing of new and edited
records.
6.4 Check for DUPLICATE records
The duplicate record-checking option goes through the entire
database and automatically deletes records which are exact
duplicates of other records. To be an exact duplicate, all
information including the lists for the record must be duplicated
by another record.
The procedure also identifies records which are possible
duplicates, and displays these records for your decision about
which one to delete. Your decision is required because the
program does not know, for example, which of two records has the
correct phone number or the correct spelling of a person's name.
6.5 DEFAULT settings
Five default settings may be specified.
1) INFORMATION screens on startup: specify whether or not the
new-user information screens are automatically displayed
each time MultiList is run. The information screens can
also be displayed directly from this menu.
2) COLORS for menu screens: choose a color scheme. From the
color palate, "exterior colors" means those colors which
appear outside of the menu boxes, and "interior colors"
means those colors which appear inside the menu boxes.
Pressing the ESC key from this menu will restore the default
colors.
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3) ALPHABETIZATION query: specify whether you want to verify
MultiList's automatic alphabetization for some or all names.
If you want to check or change the alphabetization for a
particular record, the easiest way to do this is not by
changing this default setting, but rather to locate the
record using the browse or find options and to then press
the F10 key. Use the Re-Alphabetization command (Section
6.3) to specify whether you want the default alphabetization
to be by company names or by the surnames of individuals.
4) SOUND signals: specify whether or not MultiList makes
noises. A sample sound can be heard directly from this
menu.
5) HOME country: specify the country where you live and from
where you mail your letters.
6.6 Get (import) records from an ASCII text file
Many computer users create their first address list using a word
processor or spreadsheet program. MultiList can read the DOS
TEXT (ASCII) files produced by such programs and translate the
information into a MultiList file. During the translation
process, MultiList identifies names, titles, phone numbers,
postal codes, countries, etc. from each record and puts the
information into the proper database fields.
To convert an address list from a word processing or spreadsheet
program, the information must be written by that program to a
text file using the single-column format described in this
section. Methods commonly used by other programs to write
information to a text file include the commands "Print to File"
and "Save As ... DOS TEXT" after which you specify a file name.
We recommend using an easy-to-remember file name such as \ML.TXT.
In this case, the backslash at the start of the filename will put
the file in the root directory of your active disk drive. You
will need to remember the name of this file (to tell MultiList),
including the path specification.
ASCII (DOS TEXT) files you want to import to a MultiList file
need to be in a single-column format. The "rules" are: 1) there
should be no more than six lines of address information; 2) there
should be no more than two lines of phone number information; and
3) blank lines are used to separate records. If phone numbers
are included, they must be on lines immediately following after
the address information, without any intervening blank lines.
Address line
Address line
Address line
Phone (optional)
(one or more blank lines separate records)
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Address line
Address line
Address line
Phone (optional)
(continue with additional records)
If a record has too many lines, or if any lines are longer than
will fit into the available field, MultiList will import that
record to the extent possible, and will write a copy of that
record to a file named TOOLONG.TXT. The file named TOOLONG.TXT
will contain a list of all the records which MultiList was not
able to convert successfully.
6.7 Make a COPY of MultiList for someone else
MultiList depends on its users for program distribution. If you
know someone who might find the program useful, use this option
to make them a FREE copy. We hope that they (and you) will like
the program enough to support its development by purchasing a
MultiList "KEY" file. The file "ORDER_ML.DOC" provides an order
form for the "KEY" file.
7. UTILITIES: File management and printers
7.1 Copy records to TRANSFER MultiList file
The transfer file command is used to copy records from the active
MultiList file to a new MultiList file. Only those records
meeting your filter settings will be copied to the transfer file.
Transfer files allow you to make backup copies of your database
and to share selected (filtered) portions of your database with
other people.
When you make a transfer file which you write to your computer's
hard drive, two files are created. The two created files use the
name you specify (fname) plus the extensions .MLF and .MEM.
The file named "fname.MLF" contains all the address, phone, note,
date, and other information you gave for each record: it is the
main MultiList file. The file named "fname.MEM" contains the
names you used to describe each of the Yes/No lists.
When you make a transfer file which you write to a removable
(floppy) disk in your computer's "A:" or "B:" drives, MultiList
will write the transfer file over multiple disks it is too big to
fit on a single disk. A file named "fname.ID" will be written to
each disk with information on the disk sequence number.
MultiList files can also be backed up and transferred using
standard DOS copy commands and/or file compression software. If
you transferring or backing up files this way, be sure to copy
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both the ".MLF" and ".MEM" files. MultiList can recreate
everything else it needs from the information in these two files.
7.2 IMPORT records from MultiList transfer file
The import records command is used to add records from one
MultiList file (i.e. a backup or transfer file) to whatever
MultiList file you are currently using. It is used to combine
files: all records from the backup or transfer file will be added
(appended) to the current file.
It is not necessary to use the import command to use a MultiList
transfer file. You can instead use the "Select or create NEW
MultiList file" command (Section 7.3) to access that file
directly.
When you are importing records into a MultiList database which
already has records, a message will appear asking whether you
want to reset the overlay (pre-defined) lists for the appended
records. This message appears because the person who created the
transfer file may be using different list definitions than you,
or may not share your views on who should be on a Christmas Card
list. Unless you are importing records from your own backup
file, it is usually best to let MultiList reset the pre-defined
(Yes/No) lists for the appended records. After importing new
records to an existing database, you should check the resultant
database for duplicate records (Section 6.4).
7.3 Select or create NEW MultiList file
You can have as many separate MultiList files as you like.
However, we recommend keeping a single master file which you
update and edit to keep information current. Separate files
should only be used for:
- Backup copies of information, such as to save recipient
lists from past mailings before the lists or addresses were
updated.
- Transfer files received from others who will provide you
with updated files in the future.
Try to give sensible names to your MultiList files. For example,
archive files should include a date designation and might (in
year 1995) be named "1995_ALL" for the entire database or
"XMAS_95" for the Christmas Card list only.
All temporary files should be named "JUNK"; i.e. JUNK1, JUNK2,
JUNKY, etc. This naming convention for temporary files lets you
easily recognize them in the future as files which you can safely
delete. As a safety precaution, MultiList will let you delete
files only if they are very small or are named JUNK.
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7.4 RENAME selected MultiList file
The current file can be renamed as desired. As above, try to
give sensible names to your files.
7.5 DELETE other (non-selected) MultiList file
One of two conditions must be met before MultiList will let you
delete a MultiList database file. Either the database must be
very small (with fewer than 10 records) or it must be named
"JUNK___". These conditions were established to prevent the
accidental erasure of large database files.
If you decide to delete a file which is not already named "JUNK",
a four step-process is required. First, select the file (Section
7.3) that you want to delete. Second, rename that file (Section
7.4) so that the name begins with "JUNK". Third, select some
other file to be the active MultiList file. The file you wanted
to delete will now appear on the list of files which MultiList
will allow you to delete.
When MultiList deletes a database file, all files associated with
that database are also deleted.
7.6 Select and define PRINTERS
The printer selection menu lets you tell MultiList what kind of
printer you have, and where it is plugged in to your computer.
The menu also lets you edit the commands sent to your printer.
1) Select new (other) printer: this brings up a list of some
common printers. If you do not find the name of your
printer, try selecting one which might use similar commands.
Other options in the printer menu let you edit the printer
commands and define new printer drivers.
2) Edit definition of selected printer: this gives you access
to the commands which are being sent to the printer as part
of a MultiList print job. The commands tell the printer to
use compressed non-proportional font (16.67 or 17 characters
per inch), printing at eight lines per inch, and to set the
line width and page margins accordingly. This font and line
spacing is available on most printers without the need for
any external software or cartridges.
For tractor feed printers only, you can define an optional
font for printing single-column labels. An elite (12 cpi)
pitch font works nicely and we recommend this if it is
available on your printer.
The second of the two print screens is for an optional set
of commands for printing single-record labels directly to
envelopes or other forms.
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3) Define new printer: use this option if you want to
experiment with the commands being sent to your printer.
When defining a new printer, you are asked to pick a printer
which is already defined so that you can use that printer's
commands as a template.
4) Printer port: the printer port refers to the place where
your printer is plugged into your computer. Unless you are
on a network or have multiple printers, your printer is most
likely plugged into your computer's first parallel port,
which is called LPT1.
7.7 SHELL to DOS operating system
The shell command takes you out of MultiList and into DOS.
Return to MultiList by typing "EXIT" at the DOS prompt. If you
entered MultiList by running the \ML.BAT file, the DOS prompt
will include a message to remind you that you are in the shell
mode.
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APPENDIX A: Installation
A.1 DOS Installation
MultiList is distributed as a self-extracting "ZIP" file which
will verify whether you have an authentic (uncorrupted) copy of
the program. It requires DOS Version 3.1 or higher. The program
should be installed in its own C:\MULTILST directory. The
"INSTALL.BAT" file provided with MultiList will create this
directory and install the program.
There are four steps for manually installing MultiList. First,
create a directory named C:\MULTILST. Second, copy the program
MLSETUP.EXE to the C:\MULTILST directory. Third, run MLSETUP to
extract and uncompress MULTILST.EXE and other required files.
Finally, run MULTILST and read the on-screen instructions.
When MultiList is first run, it will check the settings in your
CONFIG.SYS file and, with your permission, will edit that file if
necessary to increase the number of files and buffers for optimal
performance.
MultiList will create a batch file in the root directory of your
C: drive called ML.BAT. Assuming that C:\ is in your path
structure, MultiList can be run from any directory by typing ML
and then pressing the enter key.
A.2 Windows Installation
MultiList will run in Windows under a DOS shell. Installation in
Windows requires first that you go to a DOS shell (click on the
DOS icon) and follow the instructions given above for DOS
installation. Then, type EXIT to return to Windows.
The following instructions for Windows Installation assume that
you have Microsoft Windows Version 3.1 or higher, and that you
have already installed the program (see DOS instructions above)
onto your computer's hard drive.
1. Open (click on) File Manager.
2. In File Manager, go to and open the directory where
MultiList has been installed; i.e. C:\MULTILST.
3. Set the screen (use sizing arrows at upper right of window)
so that you can see both the "File Manager" window and the
"Main" window at the same time.
4. In File Manager, find the file named MULTILST.EXE. Click on
this file one time and hold down the mouse button.
5. While still holding down the mouse button, drag the file
over to the "Main" window (a plus arrow will appear in the
icon) and release the mouse button.
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* MultiList is now installed in Windows. The remaining
instructions are used to change the MultiList icon to
something nicer than the default "DOS" icon.
6. Go to the Main Window and click one time on the new MS-DOS
MultiList icon.
7. Click on "File" from the choices listed at the top of the
Main Window, then choose "Properties" from the choices which
appear.
8. Click on "Change Icon" from the choices which appear, then
say OK to choose an icon from the Program Manager.
9. Pick (click on) an icon you like (I like the one with the
envelopes), then say OK to Program Item Properties. That's
it: MultiList is installed in Windows and is ready to go!
MultiList may run slowly in Windows if it is sharing your
computer's resources with a lot of other active programs. If you
are working with large databases, you should either work directly
in DOS (without Windows) or use the Windows PIF Editor advanced
options to give MultiList more foreground priority.
A.3 Network Installation
If installed on a server, MultiList will allow multiple users to
simultaneously access the database files on the file server. The
file MULTILST.EXE will likely need to be marked read-only: use
the program RO.EXE provided with MultiList to toggle the read-
only attribute on and off by entering:
RO MULTILST.EXE
In a multi-user environment, default settings files and temporary
working files are written to each user's C: drive. A directory
named C:\MULTILST should be created for each user, and each
user's individual KEY file should be located in their own
C:\MULTILST directory with the file name of "MULTILST.KEY".
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APPENDIX B: Using MultiList with Other Programs
B.1 Word Processors
MultiList produces two types of output specifically intended for
use with your word processor: mail merge output and single record
output.
Mail merge output is produced from the main print menu. Output
consists of an ASCII file with special characters (delimiters) to
mark fields containing address, phone, note, date, salutation,
and other information which can be used in used in the merge
operation. Field descriptions and instructions for converting
the ASCII file delimiters into word processor merge codes are
included in the header information in the mail merge output file
produced by MultiList. You must import (open) the MultiList
output file into your word processor program before it can be
used as a merge file by your word processor. Please refer to
your work processor manual for instructions on mail merge
operations.
Single record output is produced from the print option under the
browse and find screen menus when you look at individual records.
If you print single-record output from more than one record, the
output file will contain information from all the records you
asked to be printed. We strongly recommend that you use the
default file name of C:\ML_XFER.TMP when printing single-record
output. This will allow you to set up a simple macro in your
word processor to automate retrieval of MultiList output.
Examples for inserting MultiList single record output into word
processor documents under DOS and Windows are given below. In
both cases, we assume that you have already found the record(s)
you want in MultiList and have printed these to the file
C:\ML_XFER.TMP. When you figure out the command sequence that
works best for you, you should enter save sequence as a macro for
your word processor. If you give this macro the name "ML" (for
MultiList), it should be easy to remember.
DOS-Based Word Processing
Example 1:
- Open the letter document you want to write, and place the
cursor at the location where you want the address to be
inserted.
- Run List Files or Text In/Out command.
- Enter (type) C:\ML_XFER.TMP as the name of the file to
retrieve.
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Example 2:
- Open the letter document you want to write, and place the
cursor at the location where you want the address to be
inserted.
- Switch to a second (empty) document.
- Run List Files or Text In/Out command.
- Enter (type) C:\ML_XFER.TMP as the name of the file to
retrieve as the second document.
- Block off the entire second document file, and run the copy
command.
- Exit the second document without saving it.
- Switch back to the first document.
- Retrieve the text from the copy command.
Windows-Based Word Processing
- Open a (first) window with the letter document you want to
write. Place the cursor at the location where you want the
address to be inserted.
- Open a new (second) window.
- Run "File Open" and enter (type) C:\ML_XFER.TMP as the name
of the file to open in the second window.
- Block off the entire second document, and run "Edit Cut."
- Close the second window (exit without saving the
C:\ML_XFER.TMP document); this should return you
automatically to the first window with your letter document.
- Run "Edit Paste" to insert the address information in the
letter document.
If you set up a macro to perform the retrieval procedure outlined
above, you will find that MultiList brings address information
into your documents as fast or faster than the address books
provided with word processing software packages. An added
advantage in using MultiList is that salutations are also brought
into the word processing document and don't need to be retyped.
If you are running in Windows, you can switch from your word
processing window into a MultiList window to find and print the
desired addresses, and then switch back to the word processing
window to retrieve the address information using your retrieval
macro. Note, however, that your word processor will not
recognize changes made to file C:\ML_XFER.TMP while that file is
open in a word processor window. If you are not seeing any
changes to the MultiList output file, first close (exit without
saving) and then re-open the word processing window with the
MultiList output file.
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B.2 Databases
MultiList was written in Clipper (version 5.2) using a dBASE III
compatible driver. Most personal computer database software
programs, as well as many spreadsheet and some word processing
programs, are able to read and write to files in dBASE III
format. If you have a software program able to access or
translate dBASE III files, you can use that program to directly
manipulate the data in your MultiList files and to convert
between MultiList and other database formats. However, this
should only be done by persons familiar with database
programming and who have appropriate database software.
Direct manipulations of your MultiList file(s) should be made
with a backup copy of the file. Use the DOS (or Windows file
manager) copy command to copy the MultiList "fname.MLF" file to a
new file named fname.DBF. The ".DBF" extension is necessary for
some programs to recognize the dBASE file structure used by
MultiList, and will help you distinguish between your working
copy and the original MultiList file. Limit your changes to data
manipulations within the fields defined by MultiList: do not add
or delete any fields, and do not edit the field names or other
field attributes. Note that the edited file must be renamed to
have a ".MLF" extension before MultiList will attempt to read it.
A Warning! Some non-database programs have difficulty
interpreting logical fields, and may be unable to read the .MLF /
.DBF file or may change the field specification when converting
back to .DBF / .MLF format. If you get a "Data type error"
message when trying to read the file back into MultiList, an
improper field specification is the most likely source of the
problem. You can get around this by deleting (while in your
other program) the logical fields used by MultiList: LIST1
through LIST9, DUPLICATES, and HASDATE. However, you will lose
the information in the pre-defined lists, and MultiList will be
unable to directly process the shortened file. To use a file
which has been modified in this way, you must use the import
command (Section 7.2) to convert back to MultiList format.
Information from databases in other formats can be converted to
MultiList files using ".DBF" files as the means of translation.
Get the MultiList field structure from a ".MLF" file, and then
rename the fields in your other database, as appropriate, to the
appropriate MultiList field names. It is not necessary that your
working file contain all of the MultiList fields, but MultiList
will only import information from fields with names it
recognizes. To import a file which you have converted this way
(and then have saved in dBASE III format and have given a ".MLF"
extension even though it is not a true MultiList file), you must
use the import command (Section 7.2) to complete the conversion.
After you have concluded any external file manipulations,
OVERHAUL the revised file (Section 6.2) before attempting any
other MultiList operations with that file.
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