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Text File | 1991-05-28 | 24KB | 475 lines

ADDRESSES & LABELS Version 3.0 USER MANUAL Copyright (C) T. R. Clark, 1987-1991 All rights reserved. Atlantis Software, Inc. 25308 S. E. 35th Street Issaquah, WA 98027 S H A R E W A R E V E R S I O N The Shareware version of ADDRESSES & LABELS is completely functional except for the autodial feature, this is reserved for registered users. INTRODUCTION This package represent the third major revision to ADDRESSES & LABELS. The time and effort invested to produce a method of storing an address list, we hope, will provide you with a valuable tool and a good reason to justify owning a computer if one does not already exist. With this version, we have added more fields and more sorting options, we have added the ability to create a phone list that can be read by utilities for auto dialing through your modem. In addition, we have added a substantial user interface to make navigating through the commands as easy and efficient as possible. The user no longer has to respond to menus with numeric commands. The pull down menu system, used extensively by Borland International and Microsoft, allow the users a simple and intuitive method of accessing all the power of this program. What was once just a fast performing program now breaks the sound barrier. All data is stored in files as string data and no numeric processing is performed. Each record is 317 bytes long and the file size is only limited by your computer's memory. It is suggested, however, that each file size be restricted to not more than 1,000 records. This will allow for faster sorts and searches. It is further suggested that separate files be set up for different unrelated categories of names. Business associates, customers, family-friends would best be placed in separate files and called up individually. We have added the ability to "tag" any record in the file for the purpose of limiting action to only those records that have been tagged. We have included the ability to tag all records, untag all records and reverse all tagged records. The purpose of the last feature is to allow the elimination of a few records from action by tagging those few records then running the reverse tag feature. In order for the tagged records to be acted upon, one must activate the tag status by pressing the AltF3 key. The status of this tagged feature is displayed in the ADVISORIES section of the viewing screen. The printer may be configured to either HP LaserJet or Epson compatibility by using the SETUP feature in the pull down menu system. By activating the DOT MATRIX selection, the program is automatically set to the Epson standard. Two additional sort fields have been added. In addition to the primary SORT FIELD, you may also sort by CITY and DATE fields. The purpose for these options is to group your list by geographical area or time. Three text files may be created from either the whole list or the tagged records only. The files consist of an address file listing the names, addresses and phone numbers. A mail merge file designed for word processing mail merge features. This file includes the names and address along with a salutation and amount. The last text file, the phone list, is provided for phone autodialer programs and also a personal listing of phone numbers. You have the option of generating labels from the names and addresses on either a 1 up or 3 up format. These may be printed on a HP compatible laser printer or an Epson compatible dot matrix printer. These labels may be generated for either the current record (any quantity) or multiple records chosen from the active file. Envelopes, like labels, may be printed from either a laser printer (HP LaserJet III with center envelope feed) or dot matrix printer and you have the option of including a return address on the envelope. SHAREWARE ADDRESSES & LABELS is copyrighted software. You may copy ADDRESSES & LABELS for the purpose of letting others evaluate it. Non-profit user groups and BBS operators may make evaluation copies available to their members. Shareware distributors should write for the latest version. ADDRESSES & LABELS is not public domain software. It is not to be sold or distributed in conjunction with any other product. The name ADDRESSES & LABELS is a trademark. You are granted a limited license to use the program for 30 days for the purpose of evaluation. This software is supplied "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. Atlantis Software expressly disclaims any warranty of merchantability or fitness for any purpose. If you want to continue using this software, please register as a user and receive the latest upgrade by sending $29.00 (price good to 12/31/91) to: Atlantis Software, Inc. 25308 S. E. 35th Street Issaquah, WA 98027 REGISTRATION Registered users will receive the latest version of A & L that does not display the registration request and that has an active autodial function. In addition to the software, registered users will receive a printed copy of the documentation. Registered users will also be notified on the availability of upgrades and provided technical support. FILES REQUIRED Following is a list of files required to run A & L: ADDRESS.EXE Main program module ADDMONO.FRM Monochrome adapter form (not necessary with color monitors unless gray scale VGA) ADDRESS.FRM Color adaptor form ADDRESS.QSR Screen Library ADDRESS.DOC Documentation READ.ME Setup documentation GETTING STARTED The proper syntax to run ADDRESSES & LABELS is to enter ADDRESS at the command line. Be sure that you have selected the directory in which A & L was originally installed unless you have included this directory in the PATH in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If you are using a monochrome or an LCD screen and the characters lack contrast, try re-running the program by entering ADDRESS /B. This will force the program to adjust the screen for monochrome viewing. The screen you now see consists of seventeen fields for storage of various information concerning individuals or businesses. This is the one and only screen used for this program. When entering information in most fields, the program automatically capitalizes the first letter of each name or word saving the user keystrokes. The Sorting Date and Amount fields are the only fields restricted to numbers, all others are fairly free-form in allowing you to use them in anyway that meets your particular needs. Enter a DOS structured file name of your choice leaving out the extension. After pressing RETURN, the form is ready to receive your first record. INPUT SCREEN ADDRESS LABEL Name: Two fields of thirty characters each are available for this information. It is urged that the first field always be used and the second left blank if not needed. This space, if unused, will be eliminated during the various print routines. Company: This field is provided for a company name but it is not restricted to that use. Feel free to enter any information here that you may want to appear on an address label or envelope, etc. Street: Thirty character positions have been provided. City: Sixteen character positions have been reserved for this field. This limitation is due to the requirement that the city, state and zip code be printed on one line and in order to provide room on labels, these field length have been shortened. Also be aware that the records may be sorted by this field. State: A two letter code will automatically be capitalized when entered. Canadian Provinces now also use a two letter code. If the addressee is foreign, other than Canada, it is suggested that this field be left blank and the address be spread among the other fields. Keeping in mind that the CITY-STATE-ZIP fields are always printed on one line. Zip: This field will handle the nine digit zip codes being promoted by the US Post Office. When a foreign country is involved, you may use this field to enter the country name. PHONE NUMBERS Residence: The phone numbers may be used as needs demand. We have designated these two fields as residence and bus/other as guidelines. Youmay even make comments in these fields regarding a number. The entries do not have to be numeric. Bus/Other: Intended for us for business numbers, one may enter a FAX number here and the main business number in the Residence field. Since we have allowed 18 character positions in these fields, one could identify the FAX number as follows: [1-800-555-1212 FAX] Autodialing thru your modem is available. In this case, all numbers appearing in the above fields will be dialed. Therefore you may not want to include an extension in the field. The above FAX number would be OK since only numbers are recognized. The following example would not work [1-206-555-1212 ext 304] since the 304 would also be included. To autodial, display the record then press Alt-F8. Respond to the question with either an [R]esidence or [B]usiness/Other to indicate which field you want dialed. Be sure your modem is on. When the dialing is complete and you have picked up the phone, hit any key to release the modem. MISCELLANEOUS Salutation: The primary purpose for this field is to enter a salutation for a letter. When utilizing word processor mail merge features, this information may then be injected into the letter. Proper form would be "Dear Mr. Jones:" or "Dear Dr. Smith" or "Dear Sir or Madam:", etc. Sort Field: This is the second of three sort fields provided in this version. It is presumed that this will be the sort field of choice. Enter the name on which you want this file sorted. Normally one would enter the last name of the individual shown in the first name field but one could also enter the company name or whatever suits your needs. Amount: This field is intended primarily for numeric data which may be referenced in a letter to be mail merged to this list. This field along with the salutation is sent to the Mail Merge Text File feature of this program. RECORD & DATES Record Number: Displays the current record number being displayed and then the last record number of this file. This field is not available for the user to change. Last Activity: The last date that there were any postings to this record, otherwise the date the information was first entered. This field is not available for the user to change. Sorting Date: This is the third field in which these records may be sorted. It can be used for birth dates or, in the case of a prospect list, the date of last contact. The date should be entered in the format YYMMDD, six digits. The first two representing the last two digits of the year followed by a two digit month entry and finally, two digits for the day. May 2, 1989 would entered [890502]. It is not necessary to enter the year in the case of birthdays. Just enter two zeros for the year and the birthdays will sort the records according to when they fall during the year. Tag: This is controlled by the F8 key. And a check mark appears in this field when this record has been tagged for some activity. This tag controls which records will be printed on labels or envelopes or to text files. Note that the tag status (in the ADVISORIES section of the screen) has to be set to active for this feature to work even if an individual record has been tagged. NOTES Two rows of thirty two characters each are provided for general information concerning this individual record. Please use accordingly. ADVISORIES Active File: The name of the file being viewed. Today's Date: If your system clock is correct, so will this date be accurate. Tag Status: This is either active or inactive depending upon the setting entered using the AltF3 key. When active, printing of labels and envelopes along with data sent to text files is controlled by tagging individual records using the F8 key. When a field is tagged, a check mark appears in the tagged field on the screen display. Laser Status: Alternate between HP LaserJet compatibility and Epson compatibility. When it is active, the system will generate HP commands to the printer. Envelope Rt Ad: If active, return addresses will be printed on envelopes. (See SETUP for entry of the return address.) Labels 3-Up: Label stock normally comes in either 1 column (1-Up) primarily for dot matrix printers or 3 column (3-Up) for laser printers. If this section is active, the program assumes you are using 3 column labels for printing. HELP During data entry, pressing the F1 Key will bring up a help message applicable to the particular field being filled. NAVIGATING THE FIELDS Each field may be individually edited without necessity of total reentry. Use the HOME-END-RIGHT-LEFT cursor control keys to move within an individual field. Use DELETE and INSERT to adjust individual characters within a field. The UP and DOWN arrow keys move from one field to the next, PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN jump from the first field, Name to the last field, Notes (2 rows). NAVIGATING THE RECORDS Each time the program is run, or a new file is opened, the user finds himself viewing the first record unless no information has been entered and then the user is looking at the same screen, first empty record. Observing the function key definitions appearing at the bottom of the screen, these are used primarily to cycle through the records contained in the files. F3 always places the user in the first record of the file. F4 likewise brings up the last record in the file. F5 advances from one record to the next and F6 reverses that procedure. ENTERING NEW RECORDS When entering a new name to the file, unless this is a newly opened file, press the F7 key to add a record to the end of the file. The screen will be displayed with empty fields. After you are satisfied that the information is correct, press the F2 key to add this information to the file. A momentary window will indicate that the file has been written. TAGGING RECORDS To tag and untag an individual record, press the F8 key while that record is being displayed on the screen. The tag box should alternately show a check mark. When this mark is displayed, this record is considered to be tagged for printing purposes. Note that the TAG STATUS must be active for tagging to work. Activate TAG STATUS by entering AltF3. SEARCHING RECORDS BY NAME By depressing the ALT key before pressing one of the function keys, an alternate set of function keys are displayed on the bottom line of the screen. The user may search the file for an individual record by entering the first few characters of the SORT FIELD entry of the desired record. Hold down the ALT key and then press the F1 key. You will then be asked to enter a name to be searched. Assuming one does not have too many Jones in the file, entering JONES, or JON will cause the program to search through the records looking at each SORT FIELD that had the beginning characters that you have requested. In the first example, only JONES will be found. The second example will also fine JONSON, JONNACK, etc. Please note that this function searches the SORT FIELD only and not the NAME FIELDS. SEARCHING RECORDS BY NUMBER The ALT F2 key will jump the user to a specified record number. CHANGING TAG STATUS The ALT F3 key alternately turns TAG STATUS on and off. The status of the tag feature is indicated in the ADVISORIES box. The purpose of tagging and setting this tag status is to control which records are to be acted upon by printing and text file creation. DELETING RECORDS Records may be deleted by bringing them to the screen using the navigation procedures discussed earlier. Press the ALT F10 key to erase the record. If you erased a record in error, you may return to that now blank record and press ALT F9 to undo the damage. This is assuming you haven't entered any information to another record. FUNCTION KEY COMMANDS SUMMARY FUNCTION KEYS F1 Help for field data entry F2 Save any changes to a record or a new record F3 Jump to the first record in the current file F4 Jump to the last record in the current file F5 Step back one record F6 Advance one record F7 Open a new record for data entry F8 Tag/Untag the current (displayed) record F9 Quick Print one envelope of the current record (Be sure printer is online before attempting to print) F10 Display the pull down menu system ALT FUNCTION KEYS AltF1 Search SORT FIELD for a name AltF2 Jump to a record number AltF3 Alternate tag status from active to inactive AltF4 Sort records by DATE AltF5 Alternate between laser printer and dot matrix printer AltF6 Alternate between printing an envelope return address AltF7 Alternate between 3-up and 1-up label stock AltF8 Thru your modem, dial a phone number (not available to unregistered users) AltF9 Undo Erase (current record must be one erased) AltF10 Erase current record PULL DOWN MENU SYSTEM By pressing F10, you display the menuing system for creating new files, calling up files, deleting files and exiting the program. The ESC key also works for exiting the program and also this menuing system. The second menu, found by pressing the right arrow key, allows the user to sort the current file by the SORT FIELD, CITY or SORT DATE. It is also from this second menu that the user may control all tags in the file by clearing them, tagging all records or reversing tags in all records. FILE CONTROL Use to create a new file, open an existing file, delete a file or exit the program. ESC may also be used to exit the program. SORT/TAG CONTROL Sort individual files by Sort Field, City or Date. The sort function sorts on one field only. Subsequent version may include compound sort fields. Tag all records or clear all records of any tags. The last selection allows the reversal of all tags in the file. The purpose of this command is to allow the elimination of a few records from some action. Tag the few records you want to exclude from a printout or a disk file and then run the reverse tag command. This will leave the few records untagged. PRINT CONTROL Text Files ADDRESS: This feature generates a text file of the address and phone numbers of each tagged record or all records if the tagged status is inactive. The purpose of this feature is to provide the user's the ability to transfer address book information in a format usable in the user's word processor. With a word processor, the user may format this information for inclusion in an address book. MAIL MERGE: This text file is designed to be used by one's word processor in the creation of similar letters to those names generated here. In addition to the ADDRESS LABEL, mail merge also adds the salutation, amount and both NOTES fields to the text file. Since elements of each record are deliminated by commas and quotation marks, this file may also be imported by most spreadsheets. PHONE LIST: Produces a list of the phone numbers for use by automatic dialing programs such as Borland's Sidekick. Labels & Envelopes (Be sure printer is online before attempting to print) CURRENT: This will print as many copies as you need, up to 999, of the current record displayed. Tag status is ignored. F9 will print one envelope of the current record. MULTIPLE: Prints one of each record or tagged record if tag status is active. COMPLETE FILE: Prints out all the fields and records within the file. SETUP Store return address for envelopes and set startup defaults for Tag Status, Laser Status, Printing return addresses and label stock size (1-up or 3-up). In addition, set the modem baud rate and communication port. The baud rates will normally be 1200 or 2400 and the COM port 1 or 2 but can also be set to 3 or 4. It is important that this port be set the same as your modem, otherwise the program will abort on an error. The return address may include up to five lines of thirty characters each. Printing of the return address will depend upon the status set for printing of the return address. This may be set permanently by setting the defaults section following the return address of the SETUP section. It may also be manually adjusted by entering AltF6. Status defaults may be changed here for startup defaults or may be changed while in the program as follows: Tag Status AltF3 Laser Status AltF5 Envelope Return Address AltF6 Labels 3-Up AltF7 All software and documentation copyrighted by: Atlantis Software, Inc. 25308 S. E. 35th Street Issaquah, Washington 98027 GEnie address: T.Clark11 all rights reserved