Magnum One/Magnum One (Mid-American Digital) (Disc Manufacturing).iso/d3/pc_names.arc/MANUAL.DOC

Text File | 1990-01-05 | 10KB | 223 lines

Introduction

Welcome to PC-Names (TM).  This program is a combination address
book and mailing list manager.  It will store an unlimited number
of names, depending only on the amount of disk storage you have
available.  The program prints mailing labels (including laser
labels), rotary card files, envelope addresses, custom size
labels, and a variety of "page size" reports.  An address book
can be printed in many sizes from quite small to full page, with
options to print on both sides of a printer page, just like a
real book.  There is also duplicate name search, file import,
file export, sort by name and Zip Code, and "hot key" printing
for individual labels and envelopes.  Best of all, the program is
easy to use.  It is "menu-driven" so choices are made from a list
of options.  In addition, the bottom of each display window lists
the commands and function keys that can be used.

Setting Up Disk Files

If you have a hard drive, you can use the INSTALL procedure to
create a directory \PCN on your C: drive, and then copy PC-Names
to it (other names or drives are fine, but you'll have to do it
"by hand").  To use INSTALL, put the PC-Names diskette in your A:
drive, type A:INSTALL, and press <Enter>.

Floppy users should format a new diskette (FORMAT B:) with at
least 720K, as the 360K floppies do not have enough room for your
name data.  Then use DOS to copy the PC-Names (TM) diskette to
the newly formatted diskette in drive B: (COPY A:*.* B:).

Main Menu

Type PCN to start the program and see the main menu.  The main
menu is a list of things you can do with the program.  You can
select menu items by pressing their first letter, which moves the
highlight to that item, and then <Enter>.  You can also use the
cursor left and right arrow keys to move the highlight until the
item you want is highlighted, and then press <Enter>.

Overview

When you select "Names" on the main menu, you will see a list of
the names in your file.  If your file doesn't have any names in
it yet, then instead of a list, you will see a window that lets
you add the first name.  The "Name" record holds the name,
address, phone numbers, etc., for a person or business.

When you select "Categories" you see a list of the categories you
have defined.  A category is a sub-group for your "name" records.
The "Views" option lets you look at the names in one category.
Choose "Print" to select outputs for your printer.  The
"Initialize" option lets you choose the category to "View" or
"Print," as well as the title for reports.  Choose "Setup" to
tell PC-Names about your printer type, modem, report, etc.

Adding Information

Adding either names or categories is done the same way.  First
choose the list you wish to update.  For example, choose "Names"
to see a list of the names on your file.  To add to the list,
press the <Ins> key to transfer to the "add" window ("Ins" is the
abbreviation for "insert").  Once you have entered all the name
and address data, hold down the <Shift> key and press the <Enter>
key.  This will update your file with the new record.

Changing Records

First choose the list you wish to update.  For example, choose
"Names" on the main menu to see the names on your file.  To
change an item, first position the highlight bar on the item to
be revised, then press <Enter>.  You can use the down arrow key
to move the highlight bar, and the <PgDn> key to see a new "page"
on a long list.

You can also type in the first few characters of a name to move
down a long list.  For example, to get to "Smith" on a list with
thousands of names, begin by typing the first few letters of
"Smith."  Stop typing when the name "Smith" appears.

Deleting Records

To remove a name from your file, position the highlight bar over
the item, and press the <Del> key (the "delete" key).  You will
see the details for the selected item, along with the message
"Press Enter to confirm delete."  If you press <Enter>, the item
is removed from your file.  Press any other key to keep it.

Names

The "Names" option is used to list, and then add, change or
delete information about a person or business.  If a record is
for a business, leave the "Title" and "First Name" areas blank.

If the name record is for a person, couple, or family, then the
"Title" is used for "Mr." or "Mr. and Mrs." etc.  But "Title" is
optional for these records.  The "First Name(s)" area can be used
for the first name and/or initials of one or more persons.  When
printing address labels, the program will not show the "and" or
"&" (and what follows it) from the "First Name(s)" field, if you
put something in the "Title" field.  This lets you put "John and
Sally" in First Name, and still get address labels that print
"Mr. and Mrs. John Jones".

If this sounds confusing, there is a program feature that will
help by showing you the result of formatting rules.  Just press
the F7 function key after entering the name, and the name appears
the way it will be on address labels.

You can leave any of the address area lines blank, and PC-Names
will discard the blank lines when printing address labels.  The
F7 key will display the final address format.  However, you must
use the Zip code if you want labels sorted in that order.

The "Categories" field is used to put a name into one or more of
the category groups you have defined.  When adding names, you can
use the F6 "Categories" function key to define a new category or
see a list of categories you have already defined.

The "Salutation" field is used with the mail merge function.  If
you leave "Salutation" empty, the program will create one for
mail merge.  Use the F7 function key to see the salutation format
that will be used for a particular name.

The "Notes" area can be used for miscellaneous comments, extra
phone numbers, etc.  The arrows underneath the Notes line show
where "Book" printing will divide the line.

Sometimes, when you are entering data, you will want to skip over
some of the fields.  For example, you may be entering names that
don't have phone numbers.  In this case, after keying the last
name, use the F5 Skip key instead of <Enter>.  This will cause
you to skip the phone fields and move directly to the address
information.  In general, use F5 Skip to move quickly through the
name fields.

Setup

The setup function is used to define your computer environment
and personal preferences.  Here you specify the type of printer
you use, various size information for printing, your modem (if
you have one), and how mail merge salutations should be handled.
These Setup values can be changed at any time.

Initialize

The Initialize function is used to specify the category to PRINT
on a report or VIEW on your monitor, as well as the title for
reports.  The category and title are easy to change.  For
example, if you're about to print a report from the "Print" menu,
the category and title will be displayed.  If you wish to change
them, press F9 to bring up the Initialize "window," key in the
new category and title, and press <Enter> to return.

Views

Choose "Views" to see the names in a single category.  The
"Views" name list is similar to the "Names" list, except that you
can choose to see only the names in one category.  Use the F9
Initialize key to select the category.  Once the names are
displayed, you can key the first few letters of a name into
"Find" to locate a particular name.  You can also move down
through the list with the down arrow and PgDn keys.  Hold down
<Ctrl> and press PgUp to return to the start of the list.

You can use the F8 Change Order function key to change the
sequence from alphabetical by name, to Zip Code sequence.  When
you press F8 the words "Zip Order" appear at the screen top and
the names appear in Zip Code sequence.  In the "Zip Order" you
can key in the first part of a Zip Code to locate names on the
list.  In the "Zip Order" names are shown alphabetically only if
they have the same Zip Code.  Press F8 again to return to the
alphabetical by name sequence.

Print

Choose "Print" on the main menu to see a list of report, book,
label, envelope, and rolodex printing options.  Use the F9
"Initialize" key to change the "Title" and "Category" from the
PRINT window.  The "Title" prints at the top of each page on
reports, or on the first address label.  If you enter a
"Category" it will limit the printing to just names in that
category (a description of the category prints at the top of each
page).  If the "Category" is left blank, then all the names on
your file will be printed.

To begin printing, use the arrow keys to highlight the desired
output on the "Print" menu, and press <Enter>.  While the printer
is running, you can press <Esc> to suspend the printing, and then
decide whether to resume or quit that output.

Allign continuous form (pin feed) labels for printing by using
the F3 "Print Label" function on the name list window.  Just
choose "Names" on the main menu, then highlight any name and
press the F3 function key to print a label for the highlighted
name.  Repeat this process until the labels are correctly
alligned.

Utilities

This option allows you to export and import standard DOS files,
or create a file for mail merge.  The "Category" value will limit
the processing output to a single category, but has no effect on
the "Import" function.  Use the F9 "Initialize" key to change the
category.  If the category is left blank, then all names are put
on the output file.

For each selected name record, the "Export" function creates a
"comma delimited ASCII" file record.  The file is created with
the name EXPORT.FIL.  The "Import" function loads a file of names
into PC-Names.  The name must be IMPORT.FIL, and the format is
identical to the "Export" file described above.

The "Mail Merge" selection creates an ASCII file with the name
MERGE.FIL.  Each name will have five lines of name and address
information, and an optional 6th salutation line.

Phone Dialing

You can automatically dial the phone numbers of names on your
file.  Just highlight the name on the NAMES or VIEWS list, and
press the F10 Dial function key.  You can also dial from the name
record itself.  After pressing F10, press "H" for home phone, or
"W" for work phone.