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- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Notes for the 1.51 ShareWare Version of the
-
- ST. DRAGON ENTERPRISES MAILING LIST MANAGER
- 15 July 93
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- This is a single-user release the extremely powerful Mailing List Manager,
- from St. Dragon Enterprises.
-
-
- This version of the Mailing List Manager provides you with:
-
- -- Support for over 100 different printers.
- -- Support for many styles of labels.
- -- The ability to define your own label styles.
- -- The ability to print directly to envelopes, as well as to mailing labels.
- -- Rapid lookup of names with in a mailing list.
- -- The ability to print all or part of a mailing list.
- -- User defined fields for each mailing list to make sorting a mailing list
- simpler.
- -- Several pop-up tools, including a Calendar of events, a Calculator, a Memo
- Pad and more.
- -- The ability to maintain an unlimited number of mailing lists.
- -- Return address labels.
- -- Tracking of birthdays.
- -- The ability to keep individual, free form memos on each entry in a mailing
- list.
- -- A letter writer for the creation of library letters that may be merged with
- a mailing list during printing.
- -- The ability to export all or a portion of a mailing list to a names file
- for use by Word Perfect, Microsoft Word and others.
- -- The St. Dragon Utilities, a collection of useful "desktop" tools, such as
- a calendar, a calculator, a note pad, a phone book and more.
- -- The ability to use this program as a general system for tracking friends,
- customers, clients, employees, etc.
- -- An on-line help system.
- -- An automatic screen saver.
- -- Telephone auto dial (with a modem installed on your computer).
- -- Mouse support.
- -- Compatibility with Microsoft Windows.
- -- And (of course) lots more...
-
-
- The newest version (sent to you automatically when you register) additionally
- gives you:
-
- -- Full multi-user capability.
- -- Fully compatibility with all major networks, including Novell, Novell Lite
- (see note about Novell Lite in the "Trouble Shooting Guide"), Microsoft
- Lan Manager, Banyon Vines, PC-NFS, and more.
- -- The ability to share the Calendar and Memo Pad files among many users (on
- a network), and to keep your own private files.
- -- The ability to share the mailing lists among many users (on a network),
- and to keep your own private mailing lists.
- -- The full user's reference manual.
- -- and more...
-
-
-
- Coming in the next version
- (due out before the end of 1993):
- ---------------------------------
-
- -- A Spell Checker
- -- An Improved Word Processor
- -- Complete Layout Support, including placement of graphic logos,
- return address, borders and special text, such as "First Class", or
- "Fragile!", etc.
- -- Ability to print the Calendar and Phone Book to pages compatible with
- many of the popular appointment books currently on the market, so that
- your appointments and telephone numbers, etc, may be easily updated and
- taken with you where ever you go.
- -- A fully revised label printing engine that allows for much more flexibility
- in font selection, types of labels and so forth. MailMan will know about
- many more standard label types, and be able to work with many more fonts.
-
- Registered owners will be notified automatically of updates; updates will be
- available for a nominal fee to existing owners.
-
-
-
- If you would like to register this product and receive the latest version plus
- a copy of the complete owner's manual, send your check or money order for
- $29.95 to:
-
- St. Dragon Enterprises
- PO Box 1937
- Sausalito, CA 94966-1937
-
-
- We can be contacted by phone at (415) 332-0921 between 9 AM and 5 PM PST,
- or by CompuServe at 71650,2154.
-
- The cost of the product is $29.95, per user. Contact us for information about
- site-licensing and quantity pricing.
-
-
-
-
-
- -------------------
- SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
- -------------------
-
- DOS 3.31 or later:
- This program runs on MS-DOS compatible systems running MS-DOS 3.31 or later.
- It has been tested only against MS-DOS, and not against DR-DOS, PC-DOS or any
- of the other DOS clones.
-
-
- 640K of memory:
- It requires 640K of memory in the machine (or more). It can only make use of
- 640K and can not recognize memory above that. It also needs to have about
- 500K of user space available before starting it up, or it will likely run out
- of memory at some time during use and "crash." To find out how much user
- space is available, type in CHKDSK from a DOS prompt. This will spin its
- wheels for a bit then will announce, among other things,
-
- 655360 bytes total memory
- nnnnnn bytes free
-
- It's the bytes free number that is important. It should be close to 500,000
- or more. One can sometimes run with as little as 450,000; it varies from
- system to system, and with how large is the mailing list you are using. If
- you do not have this much memory free before starting MailMan, then you may
- need to re configure your system (eliminate unneeded TSR's and system drivers,
- install a memory manager -- such as QEMM -- and let it do its things, etc.
- MS-DOS 6.0 can also help with memory management problems. Consult your
- local computer specialist for further details on this matter; memory and
- performance optimization on a DOS machine can sometimes be a very complicated,
- frustrating business, but once done, it's done.
-
- MailMan can be run from under Microsoft Windows(r) 3.x, in a DOS window
- (PIF and icon provided). The only warning is the same as above: you must
- have sufficient memory available in the DOS window for MailMan to be able
- to run. See RUNNING FROM WINDOWS for more information.
-
-
- HARD DISK:
- You must have a hard disk to run this software. While it may be possible to
- arrange it on one or two floppies so that it will operate correctly, it is not
- recommended and not supported.
-
- You will need to have around 700K of hard disk space to install this demo.
- One sample mailing list of 50 (bogus) names is included. Data files will
- grow as you add names and create new mailing lists; allow space for them.
- (Our test files include, among others, one mailing list with 7,700 names
- in it; it uses up about 4.5 megabytes of disk space.)
-
-
- OPTIONAL:
- MailMan will use a mouse (any standard mouse, such as Microsoft, Logitech,
- etc.) if one is installed on your system.
-
- You should have some sort of printer with your system. If not, you can print
- labels to a disk file, then take the file (via floppy, say) to a friend (or to
- the office) who does have a printer and print them out there. See PRINTING
- TO FILE for more information on that.
-
-
-
-
- -----------------------------------
- INSTALLING THE MAILING LIST MANAGER
- -----------------------------------
-
- Installation is easy. In this file you should have found, after unzipping:
-
- DOX.TXT <-- this file you are reading
- DRAGON.ZIP <-- the program and data files
- INSTALL.BAT <-- the installer
- README.1ST <-- details you should see right away
- REG.TXT <-- registration information
-
- To install this from drive A: to C:\MAILMAN, then you can do that by simply
- typing in
-
- INSTALL
-
- from the A: drive. If you wish to install it from a sub directory on your
- hard disk to C:\MAILMAN then type in
-
- INSTALL <directory where it is>
-
- and press enter. Finally, to install from anywhere to anywhere type in
-
- INSTALL <where these 3 files are> <target directory>
-
- Examples:
-
- INSTALL (install from A: to C:\DRAGON)
- INSTALL C:\DOWNLOADS C:\REALCOOL
- INSTALL B: C:\UTILS\MAILMAN
-
- Be sure that whatever destination directory you specify either does not
- already exist, or does not have anything in it that you want to keep,
- otherwise the installation may damage existing files in that directory.
-
- If you received this demo version by downloading it from a Bulletin Board
- System (such as CompuServe) then the batch file must be able to find PKUNZIP
- on your system. Be sure it is either in your path or in the same sub directory
- (or on the same floppy) as INSTALL.BAT and DRAGON.ZIP. If you received as
- a directly from St. Dragon Enterprises, then PKUNZIP is on the floppy you
- received and you may ignore this caution.
-
- After installation, you will find three directories have been created.
- Assuming that you have installed it to C:\MAILMAN, then you would find:
-
- C:\MAILMAN
- C:\MAILMAN\TOOLS
- C:\MAILMAN\DATA
-
- and several files in each directory. You will also find a file called
- DRAGON.BAT in the root directory of your C: drive. This is a batch file
- that will run the Mailing List Manager for you; just type in DRAGON and it
- starts up. HOWEVER, if you installed MailMan to some drive other than C:,
- you will need to make one small change to this batch file before it will work.
- Bring the batch file up in an editor (such as EDIT with DOS 5.0 and 6.0);
- the directions are in the batch file. The file may be moved to any
- subdirectory that is in your path, if you wish.
-
- After running the system for the first time, it will create additional files
- in each sub directory. The sample data is contained in the files NAMES*.*
- in the DATA sub directory. TOOLS is where the data files for the pop up tools
- are located. This organization allows you to keep common data and tool file
- areas on a network where they may be shared by many users. For a single
- user, it keeps things more organized.
-
- If you are installing an update over an existing, earlier version of the MailMan,
- all of your existing data will be preserved. Any changes to the mailing lists
- that need to be done will be made automatically by the new version of MailMan.
-
-
-
-
- ------------------------------
- USING THE MAILING LIST MANAGER
- ------------------------------
-
- GETTING STARTED
- ---------------
-
- The Mailing List Manager may be started by typing in DRAGON, to start the
- DRAGON.BAT file that was created by the installation routine. The first time
- you start up MailMan it will do some additional file maintenance that it will
- not ordinarily have to do. This only takes a moment.
-
-
-
-
- GETTING HELP
- ------------
-
- There is no use manual provided with this release, only this file, and the
- help screens in the system (most of them are finished, a few are not). Help
- is available at any time by pressing F1 or by mouse clicking over the ? symbol
- at the lower right hand corner of any window (if that symbol is present).
- This help will say something about that window or function in particular.
- There is also a general help system available by pressing Shift-F1 at any time
- or by mouse-clicking on the "SHIFT-F1" symbol at the upper right corner of the
- desktop.
-
-
-
-
- SAMPLE DATA
- -----------
-
- There is a sample mailing list provided, called NAMES, which contains 50 bogus
- name entries. This is so that you may play with the system and see what it
- does. You can create additional mailing lists by selecting NEW under the FILE
- menu and answering the questions it asks you.
-
-
-
-
- THE MENU OPTIONS
- ----------------
-
- There are several menus shown across the top of the desktop. Listed here is a
- brief description of what each option does.
-
-
- File Menu
- New for creating a new mailing list file
-
- Open for accessing (working with) an existing
- mailing list
-
- Delete for deleting an existing mailing list
- Be very careful about deleting a mailing list.
- Once it is done, it can not be undone.
-
- File Maintenance This is a general maintenance routine that can
- be run when ever you feel that a mailing list
- is not behaving correctly any more, or if you
- would like to try to reduce its size (compact
- it). It will not harm anything to run it,
- though for large files it may take a while to
- complete.
-
- Printer Set Up This allows you to setup MailMan for you
- printer.
-
- Export This is for converting all or part of a
- mailing list to a file that can be used by
- another software system, such as Word Perfect
- or Microsoft Word.
-
- Custom Group Names This is for defining the user-definable fields
- in each mailing list. You may name these
- fields anything you like, up to 10 characters.
-
- About ... This shows you the current version number of
- the software.
-
- Quit This is for exiting from MailMan.
-
-
-
- New Names Menu
- Add New Names This is how you would add new names to the
- current mailing list.
-
-
- Look Up Names Menu
- Search for Names This is for searching for a specific entry in
- the current mailing list
-
- Last Name Order Browse This is for browsing through the entire mailing
- list, sorted by last name
-
- Company Order Browse This is for browsing through the entire mailing
- list, sorted by company name
-
-
- Print Menu
- Mail Labels This is for printing mailing labels from the
- current mailing list.
-
- Return Addr Labels This is for generating any number of return
- address labels.
-
- General Listing This will generate a general listing print
- out of the current mailing list, either all of
- it or part of it as you wish.
-
- Birthday Report This will product a listing of up coming
- birthdays for whatever interval you define
- (within 15 day, within 30 days, within 90
- days...)
-
- Letter Writer This is a small text editor, that allows you to
- create letters and keep on file as standard or
- stock letters that can then be merge printed
- against the current mailing list. See LETTER
- WRITER for more details.
-
-
-
- -----------
- SYSTEM MENU
- -----------
-
- In the upper left hand corner of the desktop, there is a little symbol like a
- square with a couple lines through it. This is the system menu. It can be
- accessed at any time during usage of the program by pressing ALT-SPACEBAR,
- or by mouse clicking on that symbol. This brings up a menu of many useful
- tools and utilities. It is available at any time while you are in MailMan,
- no matter what else you may be doing.
-
-
- Phone Book this brings up a phone book utility that
- shows a listing of names and phone numbers
- based on the currently selected mailing list.
- It will auto dial the phone number for you if
- you have a modem in the system.
-
- Memo Pad This will bring up a memo pad that may be used
- to jot down random notes at any time.
-
- Calculator This is a calculator, that includes a
- printable tape.
-
- Calendar This brings up an events calendar, where
- important days, appointments, holidays, etc.,
- can be recorded.
-
- States This is a reference of the states and
- territories of the US, includes correct postal
- abbreviations, as well some interesting
- information about each one.
-
- Countries This is a reference of the countries of the
- world, similar to the States tool, listed above.
-
- Screen/Video This is for configuring the screen options in
- the system. Including colors, screen size (if
- you have an EGA or VGA display), screen fonts
- (again, for EGA or VGA only) and more.
-
- Screen Saver This sets up the time interval on the screen
- saver, how long will it wait with no keyboard
- activity before it activates. Set this to zero
- to turn it off.
-
- Sound MailMan makes noise. It beeps here and there.
- If you do not want it to do this, then you may
- turn the sound off with this option.
-
- Log Files There are two types of entries that MailMan
- will make in the log file, DRAGON.LOG: error
- messages and activity messages. You can set
- those on or off here. We highly recommend
- leaving the ERROR option ON.
-
- Modem If you have a modem and would like to be able
- to auto dial phone numbers from the Phone Pad
- (see above) then you will need to let
- MailMan know how to use your modem here.
-
- User Information This sets up your personal information and
- preferences.
-
- System Stats This is a screen full of information about
- your system, including how much memory is
- available, what kind of processor you have
- and more.
-
- Story of St. Dragon What's the deal behind the name? An
- entertaining story about the derivation of
- "Saint Dragon."
-
- About... This is a description of the software you are
- running.
-
- Quit Quits out of the system.
-
-
-
-
- ------------
- SCREEN SAVER
- ------------
-
- In the upper right hand corner of the desktop, there is a little symbol like
- a down pointing arrow. Mouse clicking on this will activate the screen saver,
- dropping the desktop down to a small square that moves to a different place on
- the screen from time to time. If you are not using a mouse, there is no way
- to select this function, however, if you have turned on the screen saver
- function (under the system menu, ALT-SPACEBAR), then the screen saver will
- automatically kick in after so many minutes of inactivity. The interval
- until it kicks in is up to you: one minute up to 99 minutes.
-
-
-
-
- ---------------------
- USER DEFINABLE FIELDS
- ---------------------
-
- Another feature that helps with selecting portions of a list for printing is
- the six user definable groups per mailing list. Each name entered in to the
- system can be assigned to any, all or none of these groups. Then when you wish
- to print out labels, you may specify that you want only those names on this
- list that are members of group one, or of group three, or of any combination
- of the six groups. The groups could be given names such as WORK, FRIENDS,
- RELATIVES, THE CLUB, BOYSCOUTS, etc.; whatever is meaningful to you. Each
- mailing list has its own set of groupnames.
-
-
-
-
- --------------
- SHORT CUT KEYS
- --------------
-
- There are a number of short cut keys or hot keys that are available to you
- while running MailMan. Many of them are shown on the menus. They are listed
- below.
-
- F1 Help
- F2 Printer Configuration
- F4 Phone Book
- F5 Memo Pad
- F6 Calculator
- F7 Calendar
- F8 States lookup
- F9 Countries lookup
- Ctrl-Q Quit
- Alt-M Label Print
- Alt-N Add new names to the current mailing list
- Alt-S Search for one particular entry in the current mailing list
- Alt-W Go to the Letter Writer
-
-
-
-
- ------------------------------------
- USER INFORMATION / DEFAULT DATA FILE
- ------------------------------------
-
- Under the System Menu there is an option called User Information that allows
- you to enter such information as your name, address, etc. (useful for
- generating return address labels), and for specifying the location of the
- DATA and TOOLS sub directories and for specifying the Default File Name.
-
- The Default File Name is the name of the mailing list file that you wish
- MailMan to assume on start up. It comes set to the file NAMES since that
- is the only mailing list in the system and contains the sample data. To set
- up your own mailing list, select NEW under the FILE menu to create a new
- mailing; this option will ask you some questions and then create the new
- mailing list file for you. You would then want to go into the USER INFO under
- the SYSTEM MENU and specify the new file as the default.
-
- NOTE: The User Info can not be changed in the demo version; this is one of
- limitations of the demo version.
-
-
-
-
- -------------
- LETTER WRITER
- -------------
-
- The letter writer is a small text editor (not a full powered word processor)
- that allows you to create your own library of letters that can be used to send
- out to names on any of your mailing lists. By inserted codes in the text of
- the letters you create (shown below) MailMan can substitute in the name,
- address, city, or any of the listed information directly into the text of the
- letter as it prints out, thereby creating a "personalized" letter. By
- selecting the entire mailing list or a portion of it you can, in one motion,
- create hundreds of "personalized" letters thereby.
-
- Here are the codes.
-
- &FIRST for the person's first name
- &LAST for the person's last name
- &COMPANY for the company name
- &ADDRESS1 for the first line of the street address
- &ADDRESS2 for the second line of street address
- &CITY for the city
- &STATE for the state
- &ZIP for the zip code
- &HPHONE for the home phone number
- &WPHONE for the work phone number
- &FAX for the fax phone number
- &DATE for today's date
-
-
- Here's an example showing how one might use these codes in a sample letter in
- the Letter Writer.
-
-
- &DATE
-
- &FIRST &LAST
- &COMPANY
- &ADDRESS1
- &ADDRESS2
- &CITY, &STATE &ZIP
-
-
-
- Dear &FIRST,
-
- How are you doing? I tried calling you the other day and apparently
- I have an incorrect phone number for you. I dialed &HPHONE and
- reached President Clinton instead of you. Can you please verify
- for me what your phone number is?
-
- Thanks.
- Sincerely....
-
-
-
- You can use them either as all upper case or as all lower case, but do not
- mix the cases. For example, &FIRST and &first are both OK and will work,
- but &First will not work.
-
-
-
-
- --------
- NETWORKS
- --------
-
- The Mailing List Manager is fully network compatible. It will run on any
- network that supports standard sharing techniques (Novell Netware, 3Com,
- LanMan, Lantastic, etc.). Its network support has been engineered to be as
- generic as possible.
-
- Remember that each user on a network must have his own license (have purchased
- his own copy) to be able to use this product.
-
- Why use this on a network? Users can share printers, so that each person
- need not have his own printer. Also, users can share data files, both mailing
- lists and tool files. (Tool Files are the data files belonging to the popup
- utilities, such as the calendar.) A set of users could all be using the same
- calendar file if they wished. They could share mailing lists from a common
- pool of mailing lists, and have their own private mailing lists as well.
-
- It is recommended that each user set up his copy of MailMan on his local hard
- disk, then, using USER INFORMATION on the System Menu (Alt-Spacebar) direct
- the tool path and data path to the appropriate locations on the network as
- needed. This will allow each user to configure MailMan as (s)he wishes in
- terms of colors, screen size, name, etc., without changing these properties
- on every one's installation. If desired, however, one installation can be
- setup in a central location on a network and be made available to all users.
- Consult your network manuals for details on making one program sharable among
- many users. Be sure that you have adequate licensing for however many people
- you wish to have using the software at one time. Contact St. Dragon
- Enterprises for further details.
-
- NOTE: The network support has been disabled in the demo version of MailMan.
- This is a limitation of the demo version. This version will operate on a
- network, but only for one user at a time; file sharing is fully disabled.
-
-
-
-
- ------------------------------
- RUNNING FROM MICROSOFT WINDOWS
- ------------------------------
-
- MailMan will run fine from within Windows 3.x. Included in this release are a
- PIF and an icon that you may use to set up MailMan for Windows. Follow this
- procedure:
-
- 1) start windows and go to the Program Manager
- 2) select the program group you would like to add MailMan to
- 3) select the FILE menu and NEW
- 4) select PROGRAM ITEM
- 5) this will bring up a dialog box asking for some information. You will
- need to supply a name and a file name. The name can be St. Dragon MailMan.
- The file name must be MAILMAN.PIF, but you should use the BROWSE option to
- locate this file on the hard disk (should be where ever you have installed
- the MailMan system), so that windows knows where this file is located.
- 6) Select CHANGE ICON. It will tell you that this file does not contain any
- icons but that you may select some from program manager. Just select OK.
- 7) Select BROWSE and locate the MAILMAN.ICO file, in the sub directory where
- you installed MailMan. Press OK.
- 8) Press OK. This will add a program manager icon to the program group.
-
- That's it. If everything's gone well, then just double click on the MailMan
- icon and away it will sail. If it does not work, see TROUBLE SHOOTING (below)
- and your Windows documentation.
-
- One note about running under Windows. You will not be able to use any of the
- advanced screen modes or change the screen font if you are running under
- Windows. This is because Windows takes control of the video card away from
- MailMan.
-
-
-
-
- ----------------
- PRINTING TO FILE
- ----------------
-
- Printing to file is easily done; you would simply press F2, select SELECT
- OUTPUT, then select FILE. It will ask you at that point for the name of a
- file (defaults to output.txt). Then whenever you print, what would have
- gone to the printer will go to that file on disk, including any of the printer
- control codes. Because of the control codes, it is important to know what you
- wish to do with this file in the future. If you do not have a printer or wish
- to print on another type of printer that is located elsewhere, then you will
- need to configure MailMan for that type of printer, then do the print to file.
- Take this file to whatever computer has the printer you wish to use, and use
- DOS to send it to the printer. For example, if you have a file called
- OUTPUT.TXT on a floppy in drive a:, then you would use this command to begin
- printing it:
-
- COPY a:output.txt LPT1: /b
-
- This assumes that the printer you wish to use is hooked up to LPT1:. If
- not, substitute the appropriate system code: LPT2:, LPT3: or PRN:. The /b
- tells DOS that this is a "binary" file, meaning that there may be some
- non-text codes in this file and it should send those out to the printer as
- well as the text characters.
-
- If you wish to create a disk file of the "printed" labels that does not have
- any embedded printer control codes in it (that would contain only plain text,
- in other words) then you should first configure MailMan to use the GENERIC
- PRINTER, then print to the file. Press F2, select PRINTER and find GENERIC
- PRINTER on the list.
-
-
-
-
- ----------------------
- PRINTING TO POSTSCRIPT
- ----------------------
-
- MailMan does not directly support printing to a postscript printer at this
- time. However, it can print to a file. If you have a word processing
- program, or some other software, that does work with your postscript printer,
- then what you can do is print your mailing labels to a file, using the desired
- format for the labels (see PRINTING TO FILE), then bring this file in to your
- word processor and print to the postscript printer from there.
-
-
-
-
- -------------------------------------------
- KNOWN DEFICIENCIES/PROBLEMS IN THIS VERSION
- -------------------------------------------
-
- There are a few advanced printer options that are not yet functional. Under
- the F2, printer configuration menu, there are two options listed as "RETURN
- ADDRESS" and "GRAPHICS." None of the options in these menus are functional.
- They are there as place holders (as well as advertisement for Coming
- Attractions).
-
-
-
-
- ----------------
- TROUBLE SHOOTING
- ----------------
-
- Notes:
- 1) MailMan has not been tested against DOS 6.0. We are not anticipating any
- problems, however.
- 2) MailMan has not been tested against DR DOS, or any other DOS clones. We
- do not support those operating systems. It is up to those manufacturers
- to make sure their systems are fully MS-DOS compatible.
- 3) Make sure you have enough free memory when starting up MailMan. (see
- SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS).
- 4) We have not tested against Norton NDOS; NDOS has been known to cause some
- obscure problems from time to time, with software in general, in our
- experience. If you are using NDOS and have an problem going on with
- MailMan, try removing it for the moment and try again.
- 5) We have not tested against Windows NT or Windows for Workgroups, but it
- should work fine in their DOS windows as far as we know right now.
- 6) There is a known problem with Novell Netware Lite, where file/record
- locking does not behave correctly. This is a bug in the Netware Lite and
- a patch is available from Novell. Contact your Novell representative.
- 7) Check the log file: DRAGON.LOG. Information is often squirreled away in
- there that can be useful in tracking down a problem. Newest entries
- appear at the bottom of the log file.
-
-
-
-
-
- ---------------------
- QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
- ---------------------
-
- -- It just crashed! I was working along fine, and suddenly I'm out at DOS
- and no errors or nothing!
-
- This is typically caused by running out of memory suddenly. There actually
- is an error message that displays at the top of the screen, but is cleared on
- the next key press, then the system exits back to DOS (most error messages in
- the system are much friendlier, but when the system runs out of memory we
- don't have a lot of control). For example, if you are typing in a memo on a
- particular name when the system runs out memory, it is likely that you will
- miss the error and find your self at DOS without any explanation. What ever
- you were typing in at that moment will be lost as well. All other work up to
- that point in that session should have been saved automatically by MailMan.
-
- The only solution for this is to free up more of your base ram (the portion
- of memory below 640K). MailMan needs to have AT LEAST 500K of free user
- space when it starts up. Running with less may work, though you may find
- yourself out at DOS suddenly a lot.
-
-
-
- - It crashed during file maintenance (either when I picked File Maintenance
- from the FILE menu or when it was doing it on its own) and now I can't get
- back in or the file is all messed up when I try to BROWSE it.
-
-
- Here's what to do. First find all the INDEX files for this particular mailing
- list. They should be in the \MAILMAN\DATA sub directory. You will need to
- know the name of this mailing list file. For example, if the mailing list is
- called NAMES, then the index files will be called NAMES1.NTX through
- NAMES8.NTX. You will need to delete these files.
-
- DEL NAMES?.NTX
-
- Be very careful that you type this correctly for your mailing list or you'll
- erase the wrong files.
-
- Now try starting MailMan again and browsing this mailing list. MailMan
- will rebuild the index files. If it still crashes or hangs up part way
- through this process, then you will need to erase these files again and
- then type in this command before s
- tarting MailMan:
-
- SET CLIPPER=F31;R60;V20;E000
-
- It is very important that this be typed in correctly. Now try starting
- MailMan and letting it do its file maintenance. If it completes successfully
- this time, then you will need to exit from MailMan and type in the command
-
- SET CLIPPER=
-
- from DOS and then restart MailMan. Everything should be fine now.
-
- If it still failed, then it may be that you have some other problem, such as a
- corrupted data file, or hard disk problems. It would be good idea at this
- point to stop everything and run some hard disk diagnostic tools, such as
- Norton Disk Doctor or PC Tools and find out if there is anything wrong with
- your hard disk.
-
-
-
-
- -- It gave me an error message referring me to the Error Log File
- (DRAGON.LOG), but that file doesn't say anything useful to me. What
- do I do?
-
- You should call our technical support staff and ask for assistance with this
- problem. We will need to know what you were doing when the problem occured
- as well as exactly what the entry in the log file says.
-
-
-
-
- -- The names aren't lining up with the labels correctly when I print.
-
-
- This is usually simply that the labels in the printer weren't aligned
- correctly before you started printing. At this time the MailMan does not
- include a label alignment test (it will in the future). What you need to do
- right now is to simply print one label at a time, and use that as a test of
- the alignment of the labels. Once the labels are aligned correctly, then you
- can print the whole list as you wish.
-
-
-
-
- -- It's not printing the labels correctly! I get garbage on the labels, or
- the formatting of the printing is all messed up.
-
-
- There are two possible causes for this. The most likely cause is that you
- have either selected the wrong printer type for your printer or you have not
- selected any printer type so that MailMan is using the default printer
- settings, which may not work correctly for your printer.
-
- MailMan is familiar with over 100 printers, but you have to tell it which
- printer type it should be using. From the FILE menu, select PRINTER SETUP,
- or press the F2 key, to bring up the printer configuration screens.
-
- If your printer is not on the list, then try to find one that is similar.
-
- The other possible cause for this type of problem is that our printer
- control codes are wrong. We have very carefully taken the control codes
- for each printer from the manufacturer's own documentation, but we can not
- actually test 100 different printers (we don't have them). If we made any
- typos, or if the manufacturer made any typos in his documentation, then
- MailMan may simply not be able to use your printer correctly.
-
-
-
-
- -- When I press Alt-Spacebar to access the system menu it doesn't work
-
-
- We've noticed that sometimes you have to press this key combination twice
- to get it to respond. Be sure, also, that you are holding down the ALT while
- pressing the space bar. Pressing Alt and letting it go then pressing the
- spacebar and letting it go will not work.
-
-
-
-
-
- -- When I press Alt-Spacebar to access the system menu, I get Windows'
- system menu instead.
-
-
- You are running under Windows but you aren't using the PIF we provided you.
- See RUNNING UNDER WINDOWS and try again. (The Alt-Spacebar is a system
- key combination in Windows and must be "reserved" for MailMan's use;
- this is specified in the Advanced section of the PIF file.)
-
-
-
-
-
- -- Every so often the system brings up this nagging dialog box called
- "Registration Reminder." How can I get rid of that?
-
-
- Register the product. Remember, this is shareware and must be paid for
- if you intend to keep using it.
-
-
-
-
- -- When I try to run it from Windows, nothing happens. Windows seems to
- do its thing, something flashes for just a moment then I'm back to windows
- with no explanation.
-
-
- Be sure that you really have enough memory to be running this from Windows.
- Remember, you need to have at least 500K memory available to run well, 480K
- to run in a pinch. The PIF for MailMan tells windows that it must have 480K
- to run, prefers 640K. If you do not have enough memory, windows may not be
- able to successfully launch MailMan and make it run.
-
- Also, be sure that you have told Windows correctly where the PIF is located.
- Double check the procedure for setting this up under RUNNING UNDER WINDOWS.
-
- Beyond that there are a number of situations that can come up with Windows
- itself. Most of these will display some kind of error message. Be sure that
- you are using Dr. Watson (or Dr. Turing, if you are using Windows for
- Workgroups) from Microsoft with your Windows as well; this is a diagnostic
- tool that Microsoft created to help technical support people be able to
- sort out why something misbehaved. See your Windows documentation for more
- details.
-
-
-
-
-
- -- When I try to run it from Windows, I get some ugly error messages as
- it starts to come, then another error across the top of the screen, then
- when I press a key it exits back to windows.
-
-
- Check that the PIF is showing the correct working directory for MailMan.
- If MailMan can not find all of its support files at startup, it's behavior
- will be less than friendly. You will see messages about "Can not open GIF
- file", "sunsay usage...",
- etc. What happens after that is more variable, but the bottom line is that
- MailMan will not run. It expects that the "current" directory is the same
- directory where it and its support files are located.
-
-
-
-
-
- -- I can't get network support to happen. Only one user can work at a time.
-
- The network support is not available version. Upon registering this
- product, you will receive the newest version, which is fully network
- compatible, multi-user capable.
-
-
-
-
-
- -- I can't change the User Information; my return address labels are
- coming out all wrong.
-
- You can not enter your Name and Address information into the product until
- you register it with us.
-
-
-
-
-
- -- There's some other feature that I want, but I don't see it in your system.
- What can I do?
-
-
- Well, we always listen to requests and record them in our wish-list database.
- This is what determines features in future versions of our software.
- Occasionally, special arrangements can be made for customized versions or
- for immediate updates to be produced; but not for single copies of the
- software. Give us your suggestions.
-
-
-
-
-
-
- OTHER PROBLEMS
- --------------
-
- If you are experiencing any other problems, be sure to read whatever error
- messages MailMan is giving you, also look in the DRAGON.LOG file (located
- in the MailMan sub directory). This log file will contain some information
- about the error, whatever MailMan was able to figure out about it. Though
- some times this information will not be useful to you, only to us. So call
- us, and tell us what happened. We're likely to tell you to buy the shipping
- version of the program, but we'd like to talk with you anyway.
-
-
-
-
- ============================================================================
- This document is subject to change without notice. Companies, names, and
- data used in examples herein are fictitious unless otherwise noted and are
- designed solely to document to use of this product.
-
- Copyright (c) 1993 by St. Dragon Enterprises. All rights reserved.
-
- WordPerfect is a registered trademark of the WordPerfect Corporation.
- Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other brand or
- product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
- companies.
- ============================================================================
-