home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Shareware Overload
/
ShartewareOverload.cdr
/
database
/
datamage.zip
/
DOCS.ZIP
/
MAIL.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1991-02-09
|
9KB
|
174 lines
SALES MAIL MANAGER:
The files POWRMAIL.BAS and MAILLIB.BAS in the \MAGE\DOCS directory are the
BASIC programs that, when compiled with the Microsoft Basic 6.0b
compiler, produced POWRMAIL.EXE. It will not run under your version of I.B.M.
or G.W. BASIC because there are no line numbers on some of the lines. You can
modify it to suit your needs, AND TO PRINT MOST ANY KIND OF REPORT.
The POWRMAIL program is a sales mail manager. Many organizations are involved
in using the mail to market their products, and far more who are not could
benefit from using a mailing campaign to let those in their markets know that
they are in business, and to place before them, on a regular basis, those
matters which may interest them.
Having created a datafile that contains his data, the user can print mailing
labels containing the information recorded in the datafile, in the normal
format required for an address. By inter-acting with the DATAMAGE programs,
POWRMAIL offers to the user the ability to produce labels for one or all
records in the target datafile. POWRMAIL can be used in conjunction with a
program such as WORDSTAR/MAILMERGE ,or a custom printshop, to automate the task
of mass mailings.
If desired, a one character code can be chosen to represent the mailing being
done, and recorded into the records being mailed to. In this way, you can
simply and easily keep track of what has been mailed to whom. For your
convenience, the label also contains the record number associated with the
label, and the code chosen at the time of mailing, if any. If you ask
respondents to include this code with their replies, you can quickly update the
records of the respondents; you have their datafile record number and the
mailing to which they responded at hand.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The basis of the POWRMAIL program is a datafile containing all the necessary
information to mail an item to a potential customer. The datafile used as
target for the program must conform to a per-defined format including the first
eleven data segments. The remainder of the datafile can be declared in any
manner you wish. Therefore, any datafile that contains with the proper
eleven data-segments may be accessed by the POWRMAIL program, for purposes
related/NOT RELATED to sales.
The mandatory segments are:
ORG. NAME STRING 35
CONTACT STRING 35
TITLE STRING 20
ADDRESS STRING 20
CITY STRING 20
STATE STRING 2
ZIP CODE STRING 10
PHONE STRING 17
MAIL CODE 1 STRING 35
MAIL CODE 2 STRING 35
MAIL CODE 3 STRING 35
The DBSEMAKR program will allocate these fields. You may move them around and
place your own fields among them, indexing them any way you please. You may
NOT delete these fields, or change their lengths. If you do the POWER MAIL
program will not access the file.
The use of the POWRMAIL program begins with using the BASE programs to
establish a group of records, representing those individuals or concerns with
whom you wish to communicate by mail. Instead of learning another version of
record entry, updating and sorting you will use the facilities available with
the DATAMAGE.
When you have established a group of records that meet your needs write a
sorting place marker file. POWER MAIL will read this file and print labels for
only the records it contains, or print labels for all records in the datafile.
If you want your labels in order on zip, do a sort before writing the marker.
It should be noted that, to increase processing speed, the marker files
contain the INTERNAL record numbers of the target records. This saves many
sequences of "looking up" the user-assigned record number and relating it to an
internal number (representing the sequential position of the record in the
file) before the record can be loaded.
There is, in this case, a small price to be paid for processing speed. Because
the relationship of user-assigned record numbers and internal numbers can be
changed by deleting records, the sort files are invalid after the first record
is deleted.
If you re-use a sort-file, expect disaster. Instead, record a macro sort, and
produce a fresh sortfile each time. Not only will you avoid disaster, but you
will also pick up any records that have been updated and are now in agreement
with the sorting parameters, and vice-versa.
CODING STRATEGY
If you record a code that connotes the fact that a mailing has been done to a
record, you can do another sort to avoid sending the same thing to the same
person twice. Prepare a list, with a word processor or on paper, that details
the codes you have used and their meanings in terms of what went out.
In any mass mailing system, a number of problems arise due to the fact that
some records are mailed to more than others, causing the code-bearing segments
to fill at different rates for each record. Eventually, the most frequently
mailed-to records' code segment will fill, and it will not be possible to
record another code. What do we do then?
The normal P.C. style keyboard has forty-seven "normal" keys. Including the
capitals of all keys, that's ninety-four possible characters. Since the
program accepts only one character codes, that's all you can use.
The exception to this is the quotation mark. DATAMAGE reserves this character
for it's own, internal use. To understand why read your BASIC manual for FILE
DELIMITERS. The quote is used to mark the beginning and end of a string on
disk. If you are permitted to embed the delimiters in the data the system
falls apart. So, DATAMAGE refuses to accept the quote as data.
There are three mail code data segments. The program will select the next
available storage space within each record, and no code will appear twice in
any record. Since the total storage available is 105 bytes, and the maximum
demand for storage is 94 bytes, you will run out of codes before you run out of
storage.
The program records all codes used, with a user-supplied descriptive string, in
a file called CODESUSD.HTY and checks that there is a code left unassigned
during datafile loading. If all codes have been used, the operator is
informed, and given the option to end the program. The codes previously used
can be printed from the coding menu, or the file can be viewed with the TYPE
command from DOS, copied directly to the printer, or loaded into any word
processor that will accept a pure ascii file for further formatting.
RESTART OPTIONS
O.K., so we've gotten the warning from the program that all the codes have been
used. We've got to do some sort of restart process to empty the code segments,
delete (or re-name) the current CODESUSD.HTY file, and generally prepare the
system to continue.
Instead of a set process to accomplish this, you are faced with many possible
options. You should choose, based on the anticipated frequency of your need to
retrieve historical mailing data and the size of the associated files, one of
the proceeding secnarios, or design your own to suit your need. The DATAMAGE
offers the flexibility to do it your way.
The simplest and most time-efficient way to deal with a reset operation is
simply to backup the datafile to a floppy. Mark the old floppy as mailing
history from a date to a date. Don't copy the old CODESUSD.HTY file onto the
new floppy disk. Then, load the base program and use the write code option
(F9) Use the replace option, and, when prompted for the string to record, press
return. Repeat this process for nine, ten and eleven, and you have cleared the
code segments.
Note, in the above procedure, that the used floppy becomes the history disk.
The new disk will be used for a time, then its' data will be transferred,
again, to a fresh diskette. That way, you avoid dead disks.
Of course, you could opt to print off a listing of all records having the
record name and the three code segments. Place it in a folder with a copy of
the relevant code key sheet, and you have a record of the transactions. Then,
load the base program, and follow the instructions above. Finally, delete or
re-name the CODESUSD.HTY file.
In comparatively rare instances where it is truly beneficial to have access to
all past mailings in a single datafile you can use POWER COPY. Specify the
current datafile as both the source and target datafile, and simply move the
data now in the three current code segments to other string segments of the
same size that were included at the time of datafile design to hold the
information. Re-name your current CODESUSD.HTY file to CODESUSD.001, or
whatever. Mark your code sheet as to the new location of the code segments
relevant to it. Then, load the base program and remove the codes from nine,
ten and eleven. Your restart is complete.