Shareware Overload/ShartewareOverload.cdr/busi/maillist.zip/MAILLIST.DOC

Text File | 1988-12-25 | 20KB | 403 lines

               MAILING LIST MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

           by Rosemary West and Robert H. Merriman
                     Copyright (c) 1988

             Information, Registration, Support:
                    R.K. West Consulting
            P.O. Box 8044, Mission Hills, CA 91346
               THIS IS A USER-SUPPORTED PROGRAM

LIMITATIONS ON USAGE: Since we offer the source code as a courtesy
to registered users, we request that you please not hack out
the credit and copyright lines. They are the main satisfaction
that we receive for the many hours that went into writing the
program. You may modify the code as much as you like for your
personal use, but you may not distribute the original source code,
modified source code or compiled program made from the modified
soruce code to others.  Of course, any suggestions for improvement
or additional options which you might like to see offered to all
users would be greatly appreciated. We are constantly upgrading
this program. For registration information see the end of this
document or the opening screen of the program.

Mr. Merriman's original program was written primarily to offer
WordPerfect users a dBase III mailing list manager. We have both
tried various word processors and find WordPerfect by far the best.
If only it used a standard mail merge format life would have been
so simple! Ms. West modified the code to take advantage of Clipper's
added features, such as light bar menus, and to further customize
the various options of the program, thus developing a very complete
and flexible mailing list management system.


                             SET UP

Running MAILLIST.EXE:  Please make a backup copy of your
distribution diskette before you begin (see the DISKCOPY command
in your DOS manual). Put the original in a safe place and use the
backup for all work.

We feel that the current version of MAILLIST works best with a
hard disk, but you can use it on a floppy disk in the A drive, and
specify the B drive as the default drive for data files. The
number and size of your mailing lists will be limited by the space
available on the disk.

At the DOS prompt, enter the command MAILLIST. If this is the first
time you are using the program, you will see a message asking you
if it's okay to create some files. If you answer "Y" for yes, the
program will go through a short installation routine. This routine
will not change your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files. It adds
files only to the directory which contains MAILLIST.EXE.
The opening logo screen gives you information and copyright and
registration. After reading this, press <ENTER>, and you will see
the Main Menu. Remember that you need to select a mailing list to
work with before you can do any other work. If this is your first
time using the program, a mailing list will be created automatically
for you when you choose number 1 on the Main Menu. The program is
entirely menu driven and so simple that little documentation is
needed. If you need help while using it, press <F1> for context-
sensitive help.

Registered Users: The source code must be compiled under the Summer
'87 release of Clipper, and linked with the appropriate versions of
CLIPPER.LIB and EXTEND.LIB, using the PLINK86 linker, to create a an
executable file named "MAILLIST.EXE". (To reduce the amount of RAM used
in the execution of the program, we have divided the code into separate
files to create overlays. The filed MAILLIST.LNK is provided to arrange
the overlays correctly. When linking, your command line should be:
PLINK86 @MAILLIST) Execute as "MAILLIST". (As of this writing, we have
not heard of plans for a new release of Clipper. Presumably, should such
a release happen, this code would work with it as well, or could be
easily modified to do so.) Make a backup of the original source code and
put the original in a safe place. That way, if you have problems with
you modifications, you can return to the original.


                         USING MAILLIST

This program uses "light bar" style menus. You can use the up and
down arrow keys on your keyboard to highlight the various menu
items. As you do so, a little message appears at the bottom of the
screen, telling you something about the highlighted item. When you
are highlighting the item you want, just press <ENTER>. If you
don't want to bother with all these keystrokes, just press the
number of the item you want (it doesn't have to be highlighted),
and it will be executed.

During program execution, you can press the <F1> key for context
sensitive help. If you are bothered by the sound of the occasional
warning tones you hear, press <F2> to turn the sound off. (You can
press <F2> again to turn the sound back on.)


                CREATING AND USING MAILING LISTS

Up to 99 mailing lists can be managed, limited only by the amount
of space available on your disk. You can have one list for good
customers, one for not so good customers, one for your Christmas
card list, etc. If you really need more than 99 lists, you can put
another copy of the program in a separate directory and create
another 99 lists there. As you create lists, just remember that
the program automatically names and numbers them sequentially and
will assign the extension of DBF. Each mailing list has its own
index file with the extension NTX, and a memo file with the extension
DBT. You can add a file description up to 65 characters long to let
you know what each mailing list is for.

To create a new list just select that option from the main menu. All
lists will be formatted the same way. Since the program expects to find
lists numbered sequentially (LIST01, LIST02, etc.), do not delete old
mailing lists, as this will throw them out of sequence and cause errors
in the program. If you have no more use for a particular list, go to the
Special Options menu and empty the list. That will delete all the
records, and then you can use the list for something else. However,
it is safe to delete the last numbered list if you want to, since this
will not break the numbering sequence. Deleting the last list is now
available as a choice on the File Utilities menu.

                    ADDING OR EDITING RECORDS

When you add new records to a list, you are asked to choose whether
automatic duplication checking should be on. When duplication checking
is on, the program compares the last name field of each entry with
other last names on file. If it finds the same last name, it checks
to see if the first name, address, or phone number matches. If so,
it is considered a possible duplicate. Note that entries without last
names are not checked for duplication.

During data entry, the program will test several fields for
validity: Prefix, First Name, and State. If you entry to the field is
"invalid", you will not be able to move on until you correct it.

For the Prefix field the program will accept Mr., Mrs., Ms., Mr. &
Mrs., Dr., Prof., etc., most military ranks, like Lt. Cmdr., and a
number of other titles (try the ones you need to see if they are
accepted), as well as the special prefixes Mr./Esq., Ms./Esq.,
Dr./Phd., etc. The significance of these special prefixes will be
explained in the section on "Mail Merge". You can also leave the
prefix blank.

The State field will be checked to see that it is a valid two letter
state code (or a blank).

The extra fields (Fld 1, Fld 2, etc.) are just there for you to
use to code and classify your records any way you like.

The date field is automatically filled in with today's date. You can
change it to any date you like. That new date then becomes the default
as you continue to enter records until you change it again.

If you simply press <PgDn> without entering any data into any of
the fields, the program assumes you don't want to enter any more
records, and returns you to the Main menu.

When Editing existing records, you can add comments to each record.
Press the <F3> key and you will see a little notepad on screen.
Type any comments you like. (For editing and cursor command, press
<F1> for help.) You are not limited to the size of the window on
screen, but can scroll down for several pages if you need to. To
save the comments, press <F3> again. Whenever you view that record,
you can view and edit the notes by pressing <F3>. To abort without
saving your changes, press <ESC>. Note that when adding new records,
you cannot add <F3> notes to a record until after you have saved the
record.
                           MAIL MERGE

The WordPerfect secondary mail merge file generator creates two
fields:

^F1^ = Name & Address ^F2^ = Salutation

The ^F1^ field will contain: Prefix, First Name, MI, Last Name Job
Title Organization Address Line 1 Address Line 2 City, State Zip

Example: Mr. Robert H. Merriman Head Honcho The All American Chicken
Ranch Chicken Welfare Division P. O. Box 3137 Laurel, MD 20708

Please note that the program automatically inserts a period after
the middle initial, if present, and a comma after the City.

If any line is blank, that line will be closed up. Therefore, it
easily accommodates multi-line addresses without leaving holes in your
inside address. (The same applies to labels.)

The actual form of the ^F2^ field depends on what is available in
the database. The first choice for a formal salutation is "Dear Mr.
Merriman:". If the Prefix or Last Name field is blank then the program
will try to form a "Dear Robert H. Merriman:" or Dear whatever is on
the first line in the database. If that entire line is blank then
the default of "Gentlemen:" is used. (I you think "gentlemen" is sexist
or unfriendly, put the word "Friends" in the last name space, and that
will be used instead.) This is to accommodate a situation where some of
your listings are of company names only with no personal name attached
to the listing. Every attempt has been made to avoid a situation where
a letter would be addressed to "Dear Mr. :" or "Dear All American
Chicken Ranch:". The one exception to the above is with the special
prefixes, Mr./Esq., Mrs./Esq. and Ms./Esq. With these special prefixes,
the first line of the ^F1^ field will be in the format of Perry R.
Mason, Esquire. The ^F2^ field will be in the form of "Dear Mr.
Mason:". This is the proper form to address an attorney. A similar
pattern is used with Ms./Phd to address a professor.

If you choose casual salutation instead of formal, the first name
will be used. If there is no first name, the casual salutation is
"Hello!"

With this in mind, the appropriate format for your WordPerfect
primary file is:

     ********************************************
      August 1, 1992



     ^F1^

        Re: New Plump and Juicy Chickens

     ^F2^

     TEXT
    ********************************************

If you are using Word Perfect 4.2, the secondary merge file created
by MAILLIST can be used exactly as it is. If you are using Word
Perfect 5.0, you must first convert the secondary merge file to
Word Perfect 5.0 format. No other changes in the file are necessary.


                     SELECTION PARAMETERS

You can choose the parameters for the records you want to view or
print. Only the records that fit your selection will be displayed
when you view the list. If nothing is entered on the parameters
screen then everything is selected. In fields where you are offered
a "from" and a "to" option, if you select a "from" but not a "to"
then whatever you have selected will begin from that point and
continue to the end of the file. If you select a "to" but not a
"from", then you have selected everything from the beginning of
the file up to and including that point. In fields where there is
only one option, the program will select only those records that
are an exact match to whatever you enter.

Example: Let's say you select LAST NAME from "MERRIMAN" to
"WILLIAMS", then you have selected everything alphabetically from
Merriman to Williams. If you had selected only the name "MERRIMAN"
in the "from" field, with nothing in the "to" field, then you would
have specified everything from Merriman to ZZZZZ (or whatever the
last name is in the list). If you want only people named West, then
you must enter "WEST" in both the "from" and the "to" fields.

                            COMMENTS

Sometimes you need a way to keep extra notes and comments on
the names in your mailing list. You can do this with the comment
feature, new in version 3.0. When you are looking at the record
you want to comment, just press the <F3> key. A little notepad
appears on the screen, like a paste-on note. You can type your
comments on this note. You are not limited to the size of the
on-screen "window", but can keep scrolling down. The comment
feature will accept very large documents if needed. Cursor movement
is pretty simple - use the arrow keys, backspace, etc. If you need
help editing your comments, press <F1>. To save the comment, just
press <F3>. Later, when you are viewing your mailing list, the
records with comments will have a little reminder on screen so
you'll know to check by pressing <F3>.

You can also make general comments on an entire mailing list (new
in version 3.3.) When you have selected a list and are at the
main menu, just press <F4> and a notepad will appear. <F3> is
still the key to save your notes, as it is with individual comments.
All editing commands are the same (press <F1> while editing notes
to see a listing of cursor and editing commands).

                      SPECIAL OPTIONS MENU

Most of these choices are pretty straightforward and easy to
understand.

If you choose to print the mailing list, you will be shown a menu
that lets you choose exactly how much information to include in the
printout.

It may sometimes be convenient to have the list indexed by something
other than last name. For example, if you are doing a big mailing
you may want the records in order by zip code. You can create a
temporary index that will put the records in order for you.

You may want to change the file description which helps you identify
each mailing list.

You can copy records from one list to another, using the selection
parameters to copy all or a few records. (The copied records are
not deleted from the first list.)

You can compare two lists. If MAILLIST finds a record which seems
to be a duplicate, you have the option to deleting it from the
secondary list.

You can use selection parameters to delete a group of records from
the current mailing list.

If you have been deleting individual records, you should run the
"purge and reindex" option to make your list run at optimum speed.

"Empty this mailing list" deletes all the records in the list, but
saves the list name for future use.
              EVEN MORE OPTIONS (FILE UTILITIES)

You can change screen colors to make the program more comfortable
for your use.

Changing the default drive lets you designate a different disk as
the place where the mailing lists will be stored. (This is useful
also if you have many different mailing lists and want to organize
them on separate disks, or if your mailing lists are so large you
can keep only one on a floppy disk.)

If you delete comments, all the comments for all the people in the
current mailing list will be deleted.

                           DOS COMMANDS

Although this is not a true shell to DOS, it does allow you to
exercise some simple functions without exiting MAILLIST. You
can change the system date and time, read the directory of any
disk, and read or edit (but not create) small DOS text files.
The editing screen for these files is similar to the notepad
screen for comments on a record and uses the same set of editing
commands.

                            AND SO ON

Everything else is so simple that you will figure it out the first
time you fire up the system. If not, don't hesitate to write to me.
If you are a registered user, you may call (Business hours are 9:30
AM to 6:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Friday --
please respect these limits.), but if the problem isn't too urgent I
suggest you save yourself the long distance charges (and the risk
of getting the answering machine) and just drop me a note, since I
answer all my mail very promptly, and it is extremely difficult to
debug over the phone.

Please send in your suggestions, comments, and bug reports. Your
feedback is important to the continuing improvement and support of
this software. We'd like to hear your comments, even if you haven't
yet registered.

                          Rosemary West
                      R.K. West Consulting
                          P.O. Box 8044
                     Mission Hills, CA 91346

If you are reporting a bug or other problem, please mention the
type of hardware you are using, DOS version, resident programs,
and other relevant information. If you see an error message, write
down the exact wording of the message (a print-screen is even
better). If you believe you have found a serious bug (something
that keeps the program from running properly), please send us the
original distribution diskette so that we can find the source of
the problem, and, if possible, a print-screen showing the error
as it happened to you.
                      USER SUPPORTED SOFTWARE:

MAILLIST.EXE and all related files and documentation, are written
by Rosemary West and Robert H. Merriman, and are copyright (c) 1988.
The authors reserve the exclusive right to distribute these materials,
in whole or in part, for profit. You may freely copy and distribute
the compiled version of MAILLIST as long as (a) you have not made any
modifications in any of the files, (b) you charge no fee, except
a small copying fee, (c) you do not rename or change any of the files
or documentation, and (d) MAILLIST is not distributed on the same disk
with other mailing list or database programs (unless you receive our
written permission to do so), (e) you do not distribute the original or
modified source code, or a compiled program made from the modified
source code. All distribution copies must contain the authors' copyright
notice, instruction manual, and all the original modules. If you use
this software, become a registered user. The registration fee is $29.00.
Your financial support is important to the improvement of this program
and the development of new programs. Registered users are automatically
entitled to receive the most current upgrade at the time of
registration, source code and mail support, and will be eligible for
future upgrade service and other special offers. By the way, please
mention where you got your original copy of the program.

We market several other shareware programs, some of which are quite
unusual, and will be happy to send a catalog to anyone who asks.

                             DISCLAIMER

MAILLIST, consisting of all related software, instruction manual,
and reference materials, is sold "as is", without warranty as to
its performance, merchantability or fitness for any particular
purpose. The entire risk as to the results and performance of
this program is assumed by the User. In no event will the Authors
be liable for any damages, including lost profits, lost savings,
or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of or inability to use these programs, even if the Authors
have been advised of the possibility of such damages, or for any
claim by any other party.

MAILLIST USER MANUAL UPDATED 12/25/88.