Software Vault: The Diamond Collection/The Diamond Collection (Software Vault)(Digital Impact).ISO/cdr14/bulk_ml.zip/README.DOC

Text File | 1995-03-13 | 17KB | 392 lines

What is this all about?
-----------------------
This file describes how to use software from a variety of sources to
send bulk e-mail via your Wildcat! BBS and UUCP software.  Of course,
it may be adaptable to other purposes, but I leave that as an exercise
for the reader.  The software mentioned herein are:
   File Express:  A shareware database management program for DOS,
                  published by Expressware Corporation.  See text
                  below for details on obtaining the shareware and/or
                  registered version.
   Wildcat!:      A BBS program for DOS, published by Mustang Software,
                  Inc.  If you can't find Wildcat! Test Drive, you're
                  not looking very hard, but you can always get it from
                  UniNova's BBS at [phone].
   Post Master:   A utility for Wildcat! that imports text files into
                  the message database.  This, or a similar utility,
                  is vital to this whole procedure.  You can also find
                  Post Master (shareware) on UniNova's BBS.
   (UUCP):        It is assumed you have software to support a UUCP
                  Internet mail feed, such as wcUUCP or wcGATE with
                  FXUUCICO or equivalent.
   EMFFCUT:       The public domain program I hacked out tonight just
                  for this purpose.  Source code (no guarantees as to
                  quality) should be included with this file.
Of course, all product names, trademarks, etc. are the property of their
respective owners (circular statement?) and are hereby recognized en masse.
You are encouraged to register shareware that you use regularly.

DISCLAIMER:
-----------
The information in this file, and all components of EMFFCUT,
are hereby placed into the public domain and you assume full responsibility
for anything you do to it or it does to you.  I make absolutely no
warranties or guarantees that any of this will work for you; if you can't
handle that responsibility, delete the files now.  Even if you don't,
you're still responsible.  I'm not.  It's been a long night.  And hey,
this is a free program, so it's not like you're losing money if it doesn't
work for you.  And you can improve the code if you'd like.

PLEASE!
-------
I do not advocate unsolicited "junk" e-mail.  Advertising on the
Internet has it's place, but unsolicited e-mail is not that place.  You
__will__ get flamed for it if you try it, and that may be the least of
your worries.  PLEASE!  Do NOT use this program for unsolicited e-mail
advertising.  However, you can certainly maintain a voluntary e-mail
mailing list, where people ask to receive your products, etc.  If you
don't think people will ask to be on that list, UniNova can vouch that
you are wrong!  Consumers do like advertising if they control it.  And,
while I'm mentioning it, if you'd like to be on UniNova's mailing list,
just request it from [e-mail] (if you're in the market for a
particular computer product now and want price quotes, please indicate
your area of interest).

A sense of humor will serve you well as you dig into this...

WARNING:
--------
The following installation may require large amounts of coffee
or your favorite adult beverage.  It is anything but automated, and takes
a fair amount of time to get up and running.  You are responsible for
making sure all the program paths are right, etc.  This document was
intended to be fairly generic, but __you__ are the one who will have to
deal with any problems caused by any lack of attention to detail on
your part or mine.

Once you get things installed and you're comfortable with how to work it
all, it should save you lots of time and make for relatively-easy bulk
e-mail mailings.

I have included as many samples as I could, to show you how to set
this up.  To clearly indicate what is a sample, you will see the
following lines surrounding samples:
=========================] Start Sample [================================
==========================] End Sample [=================================
If you're not sure which comes at the beginning of a sample and which comes
at the end, please do yourself a favor and quit now.

OVERVIEW:
---------
The general procedures you'll need to accomplish, assuming you already
have Wildcat, Post Master, and your UUCP software installed and running
right, are:

1.  Install File Express if you haven't already.  Shareware versions are
    available on UniNova's BBS (509-925-3893) or on the SimTel FTP
    archives at oak.oakland.edu.  You can register it at a discount
    (lower than the author's requested registration fee) through UniNova;
    call UniNova's BBS for details.
2.  Create a File Express database (sample shown below);
3.  Put my EMFFCUT.EXE file in your File Express directory;
4.  Load data into your database;
5.  Create a File Express report that generates a batch file (see sample
    info below);
6.  Create your File Express form letter for mass e-mailing;
7.  Run your form letter to create a file called EMAIL.TXT;
8.  Run your report (using the SAME record selection as you used to
    generate the EMAIL.TXT form letter file) to create the EMAILGEN.BAT
    batch file;
9.  Run the batch file.

Now, for a bit more detail, starting with Step 2 from above:

Step 2:
-------
First of all, create a database in File Express that looks like this:

=========================] Start Sample [================================
File Express Database Format report
-----------------------------------
Database......:C:\FE5\EMAILER
Date..........:03/13/95
Time..........: 3:29 AM
-----------------------------------
#  Field name   type  length  decimals
--- ------------  -      ----      --
  1 ID-Tag        C         5       0
  2 First Name    C        15       0
  3 Last Name     C        15       0
  4 E-Mail Addr.  C        78       0
  5 Keywords      C       200       0
                         ----
Total field lengths       313
Overhead per record         1
                         ----
Total record length       314
==========================] End Sample [=================================
Note that names of fields 1 and 4 are crucial to the form letter example
and the report example below, but other than that you have lots of
flexibility with the database format.  You can link in a database
of accounts receivable if you want to bill people via e-mail, etc.

The keywords can be used to make sure you target the right people; e.g.,
using a record selection that says something like IF F5 CONTAINS "MEATLOAF"
you could send a message to all the people you know of who look to you for
meatloaf recipes.  (I was tempted to say "or who like Meatloaf songs"
but I hate listening to Meatloaf.  If you don't know who I'm talking
about, you're lucky!  Now, Led Zeppelin is another matter, but also
another topic for another time...)


Step 3:
-------
Put the EMFFCUT.EXE file from the archive that contained this README.DOC
file into the same directory as File Express.  Or, if you put it somewhere
else, put it in a directory that is part of the DOS PATH or (at a minimum)
remember where you put it.


Step 4:
-------
Create records for all the people you may want to send bulk e-mail to.

Step 5:
-------
Create a report in File Express.  Use a page length and lines per page
of 1 (this causes a warning when you go to print, but tell it to go ahead
and print the report to disk).  Set the page width as wide as it goes,
or at least 120 characters, since the "report" is actually a batch file
that may have long lines in it.

It might help to see the report format generated by File Express,
although it's pretty short.  In fact, as you're about to see below,
there's only one database field used throughout the whole report,
and most of it is "hard coded" in the Title and Footer blocks (as
indicated in the REM statements in the batch code sample to follow).

=========================] Start Sample [================================
File Express Report Format report
---------------------------------
Database......:C:\FE5\EMAILER
Date..........:03/13/95
Time..........: 3:28 AM
Name..........:BATFILE
Descripton....:Generates the batch file
Filename.ext..:EMAILER.R0
Index Name....:RECORD #
PDF Name......:ASCII
Selection.....:f5 contains cwu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      Field  Screen            from      to     report
 #  Field name   type length length decimals  row col  row col  area
--- ------------  -     ----   ----     --    --- ---  --- ---  ----------
  1 ID-Tag        C        5      5      0      1  26           Detail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
==========================] End Sample [=================================

When you "print" this file, print it to disk with a name like EMAILGEN.BAT
in the same directory as File Express.  Below you'll see a short sample of
the batch file .  It performs the following basic operations:
    1.  Creates a temporary directory on C:\ and copies the large EMAIL.TXT
        file to it, deleting it from it's origin.
    2.  Runs EMFFCUT to create the personal e-mail files from EMAIL.TXT
    3.  Changes to the Wildcat! directory and uses Post Master to import
        the personal e-mail files into the Internet E-Mail conference
    4.  Cleans up the temporary files and deletes the temporary directory
        on the C: drive.

Please take note of the REM statements which were added after the batch file
was created by File Express.  They explain how this batch file relates to
the File Express report that created it.

=========================] Start Sample [================================
REM The following lines are all in the Title block, and no database fields
REM are used:
@echo off
c:
cd\
md email.tmp
cd email.tmp
copy \fe5\email.txt
del \fe5\email.txt
c:\fe5\emffcut
d:
cd \wc30
REM Now, in the report detail block, you put one line that looks like the
REM following (using your program paths, of course):
REM  postmaster /i:c:\email.tmp\ID-TAG.txt /f:your name /c:[conf#] /p /s:Your subject /T:Overridden Below
REM Note that the ONLY database field on that whole line is ID-TAG, the rest
REM is just hard-coded.  The lines this will generate look like:
REM
postmstr /i:c:\email.tmp\CRING.txt /f:Stuart Whitmore /c:50 /p /s:Test Autorun /t:Overridden Below
postmstr /i:c:\email.tmp\Frodo.txt /f:Stuart Whitmore /c:50 /p /s:Test Autorun /t:Overridden Below
postmstr /i:c:\email.tmp\Bilbo.txt /f:Stuart Whitmore /c:50 /p /s:Test Autorun /t:Overridden Below
postmstr /i:c:\email.tmp\DiGrz.txt /f:Stuart Whitmore /c:50 /p /s:Test Autorun /t:Overridden Below
REM That's the end of the detail block.  The remaining lines are all in the
REM Footer block, just as they're shown here.  Again, no database fields
REM are used:
c:
cd\email.tmp
echo Y | del *.*
cd ..
rd email.tmp
REM That's it, it's over.
==========================] End Sample [=================================

Step 6:
-------
Next, create your letter using the Form Letter option of the File
Express report menu.  For example, it might look something like
this.  Note that the [square brackets] show database fields.  It
is VITAL that [ID-Tag] be on the first line, by itself.  Also,
you must put To: [E-Mail Addr.] on the second line, and follow
that with a blank line.  (You can use a pop-up field list in File
Express to insert the database fields if you're worried about
typos.)  As you can see, this uses the TAG1.IMP file in the
Wildcat! message directory (e.g. C:\WC30\MSG) as a signature.  You
don't need to do that, but it's an option.

=========================] Start Sample [================================
[ID-Tag]
To: [E-Mail Addr.]

Hi [First Name],

I'm testing a little routine I created using File Express and a tiny C
program that I wrote to do bulk e-mail from a database of e-mail
addresses.  If you got this, then it works!  Hope you don't mind being
a guine... er, that is, unexpecting beta tester! :)

Good luck with your finals,

<<tag1.imp
==========================] End Sample [=================================

Step 7:
-------
When you run that form letter, it will create all of your messages in
one file.  You should have the output of the letter go into a file called
EMAIL.TXT (this is required by EMFFCUT).  Using the above example, you
might get an EMAIL.TXT file that looks like this:

=========================] Start Sample [================================
CRING
To: [e-mail]

Hi Stuart,

I'm testing a little routine I created using File Express and a tiny C
program that I wrote to do bulk e-mail from a database of e-mail
addresses.  If you got this, then it works!  Hope you don't mind being
a guine... er, that is, unexpecting beta tester! :)

Good luck with your finals,

<<tag1.imp
Frodo
To: [e-mail]

Hi Frodo,

I'm testing a little routine I created using File Express and a tiny C
program that I wrote to do bulk e-mail from a database of e-mail
addresses.  If you got this, then it works!  Hope you don't mind being
a guine... er, that is, unexpecting beta tester! :)

Good luck with your finals,

<<tag1.imp

==========================] End Sample [=================================

For reference, below you will see two of the personal e-mail
files generated by the sample EMAIL.TXT file above.  Note that, if
all goes well, you should never even see these except as messages
in your message base.

=========================] Start Sample [================================
CRING
To: [e-mail]

Hi Stuart,

I'm testing a little routine I created using File Express and a tiny C
program that I wrote to do bulk e-mail from a database of e-mail
addresses.  If you got this, then it works!  Hope you don't mind being
a guine... er, that is, unexpecting beta tester! :)

Good luck with your finals,

<<tag1.imp
==========================] End Sample [=================================

=========================] Start Sample [================================
Frodo
To: [e-mail]

Hi Frodo,

I'm testing a little routine I created using File Express and a tiny C
program that I wrote to do bulk e-mail from a database of e-mail
addresses.  If you got this, then it works!  Hope you don't mind being
a guine... er, that is, unexpecting beta tester! :)

Good luck with your finals,

<<tag1.imp
==========================] End Sample [=================================

Step 8:
-------
Run the report, and make sure that you use the same record selection
as you used with the form letter.  You should now have EMAIL.TXT and
EMAILGEN.BAT in the same directory as File Express.  Once you're to
that stage, it's time to get out of File Express.


Step 9:
-------
Run the EMAILGEN.BAT (or whatever batch file name you used for the
report output).  If you got all the paths right, everything should
work smoothly and things will be cleaned up afterward.


FINAL NOTES:
------------
EMFFCUT will exit with an errorlevel of 1 or higher if there's an error
of some sort.  You could add the line:
      IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO END
in the File Express report Title section after the line that calls
EMFFCUT, and then the line:
      :END
in the report's Footer section as the last line.  That's just one
possible enhancement of many!

For anyone trying to think of something rude for EMFFCUT to mean,
I'll burst your bubble: E-Mail Form Feed CUT (cut an e-mail file
at the form feed character).  Not very original, nor is it rude...

[sigh/yawn]  Once again, I make no guarantees about this process or the
included EMFFCUT program.  You're welcome to modify the code -- that's
what "public domain" means.  If this program helps you save money, or
make more money, and you wish to make a donation to a "starving student"
you may do so by sending contributions of whatever amount you wish to
me at the address:
        Stuart Whitmore
        c/o UniNova Services Corp.
        PO Box 900
        Ellensburg, WA 98926
Things I'd find gratifying in place of money include unique post cards,
in-person meetings with surviving members of Led Zeppelin, unusual
bumper stickers, additions to my button ("pin badge") collection, or
a disk with your own software on it if you're a shareware author.  I'm
always happy to hear from old friends, too, particularly those I was
stationed with overseas.  (48th LGTT, RAF Lakenheath UK, 85-87; 66 LGTT,
Sembach AB GE, 87-89.)

As you can probably tell, I'm affiliated with UniNova Services Corp.
However, this procedure description and the EMFFCUT program are my
own, and should not be construed as a UniNova product.  (UniNova has
standards of quality control that I don't have the patience for tonight!)