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Mass Appeal - Mailing List Manager (c) 1987, Steve Hughes 1422 Applegate Drive Alabaster, AL 35007 THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE APPLIED WAR- RANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS, FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU, (NOT STEVE HUGHES, OR A DISTRIBU- TOR) ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. IN NO EVENT WILL STEVE HUGHES BY LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS, SAVINGS, OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARIS- ING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE SUCH PROGRAM. Mass Appeal Documentation 1 Introduction 1.1 Purpose Mass Appeal is a general purpose mailing list management program de- signed for PC's and compatibles. Basic information is entered into the program like a last name, first name, salutation, company name, address (two address lines are support- ed), city, state, zip code, phone numbers (both work, and home phone), a date field, a category (which is simply a code identifier; each entry can have as many as nine identifiers), and a small comment. You are then allowed to generate reports, address envelopes, create mailing labels, print rotary cards, and create interface files (which are used in conjunction with most word processing programs to create form letters). 1.2 Requirements Mass Appeal requires 320K of available RAM, and operates best on a hard disk, although dual floppy drive machines can just as easily operate this program. 1.3 Features Listed below are just some of the basic features in Mass Appeal. As you use the program more and more, you will soon learn additional features too numerous to mention here. 1.3.1 Label Generation Mailing labels can be generated in several different formats. It supports the standard labels, in the following sizes: 3 1/2 x 15/16 4 x 1 7/16 3 2/10 x 11/12 (Cheshire) Mass Appeal also allows each of the above mentioned sizes to be printed in up to 4 up form. More than likely, you will use the one across (often called one up) more than any other form. 1.3.2 Criteria selection By selection criteria, we mean the ability to get a report of en- tries based on certain conditions. For example, you may want to receive a report of all the entries in the state of Alabama. This is easily accomplished with Mass Appeal. Mass Appeal even goes one step further, and allows you to receive a report based on any of the following fields: Page 1 Mass Appeal Documentation City, state, salutation, zip code range, category field, date field range, home phone area code, work phone area code, company name keyword, and comment field keyword. And, not only can you select entries based on any of the informa- tion, you can mix and match the above listed in any way you wish. For example, Mass Appeal can easily give you all the entries that are in the state of Alabama, that were entered between January 1, 1987 and January 31, 1987. Need even more complex selecting capabilities? Mass Appeal will more than likely handle even your wildest selection criteria. 1.3.3 "Infinite" Entries Well, it's not quite infinite, but Mass Appeal will allow 1.6 bil- lion (or is it 1.6 million) entries in a single data base file. Whether it allows 1.6 billion, or 1.6 million, you should be able to live with either of the two. 1.3.4 Full Screen Editing Moving from field to field is as simple as using the cursor arrows, located on the right side of your keyboard. 1.3.5 Searching Finding a record in a data file will take less than three seconds. You are allowed to search on two fields: the last name and company name. Both searches are extremely fast, and Mass Appeal will be able to locate your record extremely quickly. Don't remember the entire last name? No problem. Simply type in the first few letters of the last name, and see if Mass Appeal can find a match! 1.3.6 Ease Of Use Mass Appeal has a logical operating pattern that even the computer novice can follow. Power users, we haven't forgotten you. Although Mass Appeal is extremely easy to use, it will expand to meet your needs as your complexity increases. 1.3.7 Sorting Mass Appeal doesn't make you sit and wait for sorting to occur (like a lot of mailing list programs do). It automatically keeps your file sorted on the last name, company name and zip code (of course). 2 Installation Mass Appeal comes with batch files that automatically install the correct files on either your hard disk, or floppy disk. Page 2 Mass Appeal Documentation 2.1 CONFIG.SYS Mass Appeal will automatically add the following two lines to your CONFIG.SYS file on your boot disk (If you are using a hard disk): FILES=20 BUFFERS=20 If this conflicts with other software, feel free to change the values, but please do not make them smaller; as Mass Appeal will not function (AT ALL!). 2.2 Floppy Disk For installation, you will need two diskettes. One disk, you should label Program Diskette, the other you should label Data Diskette. Insert your Mass Appeal diskette in drive A:, and enter the following from the A> DOS prompt (Make sure drive A: is the default drive): FLOPPY This batch file will walk you through each step. You will insert your diskette labeled Program Diskette in drive B:, remove it, and then insert your Data Diskette in drive B:, and in a few minutes installa- tion will be finished. Once you have completed this installation process, starting the program is easy. After booting DOS, remove your DOS diskette, and insert your disk labeled Program Disk in drive A:. Then, from the A> of DOS, enter the following and press return: MA After several seconds, the very first screen of Mass Appeal will appear. When this screen is completed with the initial Mass Appeal "logo", you will be asked to insert your Data Diskette in drive A:, and press return. Simply remove your Program Diskette from drive A:, insert your Data Diskette in drive A:, press return, and you're off. The next screen you see will be the Main Menu of Mass Appeal. 2.3 Hard Disk First, change your default drive to drive A:, by entering A: and then pressing return. From the DOS prompt of A>, enter HARDDISK and press return. Page 3 Mass Appeal Documentation NOTE: Mass Appeal installs on drive C:, if you need installation on a drive other than C:, you may modify the contents of HARDDISK.BAT to fit your particular needs. After installation has been completed, you merely need to enter the following commands from the C> prompt of DOS: CD\ DOS will then return with the normal DOS prompt of C>, and you should then enter the following and press return: MA After several seconds, the very first screen of Mass Appeal will appear. When this screen is completed with the initial Mass Appeal "logo", you will be asked to insert your Data Diskette in drive A:, and press return. This does not concern you, since you have a hard disk, and cannot remove it (Without a major effort!). The next screen you see will be the main menu of Mass Appeal. 2.4 Documentation Documentation for this program is on the diskette in an ASCII file. It can be printed easily by entering DOC. NOTE: On a floppy disk system, you need your Program Diskette in drive A: prior to performing this operation. The documentation is quite lengthy, complete and easy to follow. After installing the program, you may only want to browse quickly through the documentation to get you going. Mass Appeal is easy to use, and has help at numerous locations throughout the program. 2.5 Terminology During the use of Mass Appeal, we will use terms like record, data base, active data base, and others. A brief explanation will more than likely help you fully understand the use and benefits of Mass Appeal. Data base - A data base is simply a name you give a data file to store your entries (Often called records) in. For example, from the main menu, you see that the currently "active" data base is MAILER.DBF. By "active", this simply means that a file called MAILER.DBF, located on your disk (Whether it be a hard disk or a floppy disk) will be the data base you are currently working with. So, if you produce a report, the entries on the report will come from the file called MAILER.DBF. Mass Appeal, unlike other mailing list managers, allows you to create as many differently named data bases as you need. You can have one data base called BUYERS which holds all the entries for previous purchasers, Page 4 Mass Appeal Documentation and you can also have one called FRIENDS, which keeps information concerning your friends. You can even have one called ENEMY, which holds ... Record - A single entry in a active data base. Even more basic, a record is one screen full of information. If you enter the add or edit routine, you will be looking at a single record. A group of records make up a data base, while a record is constructed of fields. Fields - Those individual pieces of information that, when collected, form a record. In Mass Appeal, the last name, first name, and company name are examples of fields. There are a total of 14 fields that make up a record in Mass Appeal. Let's review: Fields are small pieces of information (Like the last name, first name, etc..) that together, form a record. A collection of records, on the other hand, form a data base. That's all there is to it! 3 Fields A brief discussion of each field involved in Mass Appeal would be benefi- cial, and will allow you to fully utilize the program. In Mass Appeal, 14 fields make up one record. Listed below is a detailed explanation of each field, its purpose in life, and how it can be used by Mass Appeal. They are mentioned in the order they appear on the add and edit routines. 3.1 Last Name The field labeled last name holds the last name of the person. If you are not concerned with entering the last name, you can skip this field. NOTE: In the edit routine, Mass Appeal allows you to search for a record by the last name, as well as the company name. 3.2 First Name The field first name is used to hold the initials, or the first name of the entry you are making. 3.3 Salutation This field holds greetings, titles, and other pieces of information. Usually, it will be something like Mr., Mrs., or Dr. When labels are printed, this field is placed first, then the first name, and then the last name. Your label might look like: Mr. John Doe. Page 5 Mass Appeal Documentation 3.4 Company The field labeled company holds the name of the company for this entry. If there is no company (For example, if you're using Mass Appeal to keep track of your Christmas list) you can skip this field. If this field is blank when labels are printed, Mass Appeal does not leave a gaping hole. It compacts the label, and removes all blank fields that might otherwise make the label somewhat ugly. Do not use this line as an address line! Places addressed in their correct place. This field is strictly for business use (HA-HA)! NOTE: In the edit routine, Mass Appeal allows you to search for a record by the company name, as well as the last name. 3.5 Address 1 Address 1 holds the first address line. If the line is not long enough, you may have to abbreviate, or use the second address line. Remember to utilize the function keys to print out pre defined phrases like Avenue, Street and P.O. Box. 3.6 Address 2 Address 2 holds the second address line. If the line is not long enough, you may have to abbreviate. Usually, this line contains infor- mation like the suite #, apartment #, and other information that will not fit into the first address line. Remember to utilize the function keys to print out pre defined phrases like Avenue, Street and P.O. Box. 3.7 City This field contains the city for the record. Hopefully, this field is long enough for the cities you will be entering. Mass Appeal allows you to generate reports, mailing labels, etc.. based on the contents of this field. For example, you can easily request all the entries for the city of Mobile. 3.8 State The two (2) letter abbreviation for each state goes in the field la- beled state. Notice that as you enter the state, Mass Appeal automati- cally converts your state into upper case. Mass Appeal does not (In this release) check to see if the entry you made was a valid state abbreviation. In a later version, this will more than likely be implemented. Page 6 Mass Appeal Documentation Mass Appeal allows you to generate reports, mailing labels, etc.. based on the contents of this field. For example, you can easily request all the entries for the state of California. 3.9 Zip Code As the name implies, this field is where you enter the zip code. Mass Appeal allows you to enter the "new" ten (10) digit zip codes currently being used by the post office. If you do not have the last four numbers of the zip code, simply press return after you have entered the first five digits. Mass Appeal allows you to generate reports, mailing labels, etc.. based on a range of this field. For example, you can easily request all the entries between the zip codes of 36000 and 36999. 3.10 Home Phone The first phone number, labeled home phone, allows you to enter the area code, and the rest of the phone number. When entering this field, you are only allowed to enter numbers. Mass Appeal will automatically skip over the parenthesis that represent the area code once you have entered it. Mass Appeal allows you to generate reports, mailing labels, etc.. based on the area code of this field. For example, you can easily request all the entries where home phone the area code is 205. 3.11 Work Phone The second phone number, labeled work phone, allows you to enter the area code, and the rest of the phone number of the work phone for the entry. When entering this field, you are only allowed to enter numbers. Mass Appeal will automatically skip over the parenthesis that represent the area code once you have entered it. Mass Appeal allows you to generate reports, mailing labels, etc.. based on the area code of this field. For example, you can easily request all the entries where the work phone area code is 205. 3.12 Date This field is initially set to the date set in your computer. If this is the date you want this field to have, simply press return, and move on to the next field. Page 7 Mass Appeal Documentation This field has many uses. You can alter the date displayed to any valid date you can think of. You may want to use this field to represent a call back date. Mass Appeal allows you to easily generate a report of all the entries between a range of dates. 3.13 Category Without using the category field, you are not utilizing Mass Appeal to it's fullest. Notice that the category field has nine (9) places for a two (2) character category. Each two (2) character identifier will represent, in more detail, the characteristics of the entry. For example, if the person you are cur- rently entering is a lawyer, you may want to designate the two (2) character code LW to represent a lawyer. Remember, a single entry can be in up to nine (9) different categories. Mass Appeal allows you to generate reports, mailing labels, etc.. based on a two (2) character identifier match. For example, you can easily ask Mass Appeal for a report of all the entries that have the code LW in the category field. Mass Appeal will then give you all the entries where the code LW is in the category field, REGARDLESS OF THE LOCATION. This means that LW could be the fourth (4Th.) code for that person, but Mass Appeal would still find that entry, because the code LW was con- tained somewhere in the category field. 3.14 Comments In the comment field, you are allowed to enter small phrases concerning the entry. Mass Appeal allows you to generate reports, mailing labels, etc.. based on key words in this field. For example, you can easily ask for a report where the word 'raise' appears in the comment field. 4 Main Menu Once you have inserted your disk (If you are using a floppy based system), the next screen you are presented with what is called the Main Menu of Mass Appeal. This is called the main menu because all operations, like adding and editing, are accessed through this screen. Each of the options on the main menu are now explained in detail. 4.1 Add Records By using option one (1) from the main menu, you are allowed to enter records into the active data base. Page 8 Mass Appeal Documentation Look towards the bottom of the screen, and notice a message that says Press <Ctrl-W> For Menu. And, notice that Ctrl-W is a different inten- sity than the other text on that line. This lower area of the screen is what we call the lower window. Throughout Mass Appeal, messages will be displayed, and options accept- ed in this area. Notice that the cursor is in the Last Name field. Simply enter the last name of the person you are entering, for example, Jones. If there is no last name, you can simply press return, and skip the last name. Once you have entered the last name, you want to go to the next field, which is the persons first name. By pressing return, you will be moved from the last name field to the first name field. Always remember pressing return will move you to the next field, while pressing the arrow keys will move you in the indicated direction. Once you have completed an entry and pressed Ctrl-W, a menu in the lower window appears. It will display the following message: ADD: More Re-Edit Help Return and the cursor sits patiently after the word Return. Notice that the letters M, E, H and R are highlighted. By pressing one of these letters, you tell Mass Appeal what action you want to take next. Listed below is a detailed explanation of each option: 4.1.1 More By pressing the letter M, you inform Mass Appeal you have more entries to make. Once you have done this, several things will hap- pen. First, the entry just made will be cleared out. Don't panic, it will be added to your active data file. The record number, displayed in the upper left hand corner will increment by one (1), and the menu in the lower window will now read Press <Ctrl-W> For Menu. You are now ready to repeat the steps listed above, and enter anoth- er record. 4.1.2 Re-Edit If you notice a mistake has been made in the entry currently dis- played on the screen, you can make changes now. By pressing the letter E, you are taken to the first field, last name, and are allowed to make changes as you see fit. You can Re-Edit an entry as many times as necessary to correct any mistakes. Page 9 Mass Appeal Documentation 4.1.3 Help By pressing the letter H, a series of help screen will appear. These screens are a brief over view of the options available in the add routine of Mass Appeal. Once a help screen has been displayed, you are asked to press N for the next page of help, or press R, which will return you to the add routine menu. 4.1.4 Return By pressing the letter R, your entries are added to the active data base, and you are then returned to the main menu. NOTE: Please return to the main menu every 15 or 20 entries. Mass Appeal does not add the records to the active data base file until you exit the add routine and return to the main menu. 4.1.5 * Once an entry has been made through the add routine, the information in most of the fields can easily be brought forward without having to retype that particular piece of information. For example, let's say you were entering a lot of entries from Walla Walla. Once the first entry was made, you can simply place an aster- ick (*) in the city field, and after pressing Ctrl-W, Mass Appeal will automatically bring Walla Walla from the previous entry and place it in your new entry. 4.2 Editing By using option 2 from the main menu, you are allowed to make changes, look at the entries, find someone, and many other operations. Notice that there are several options available from this menu. More on those later. You will notice that the record displayed is the very first entry in the data base, in respect to the persons last name. In the lower window, you notice that there are a total of 10 options that can be performed. Here is a detailed explanation of each of those options: 4.2.1 Del Every entry in your data base is either marked for deletion, or it is not. This is called a toggle switch, because it is either on or off. Page 10 Mass Appeal Documentation If you do not want an entry to appear in output (Like reports, mailing labels, etc..) you should mark that record for deletion. If you want to permanently remove that entry from the data base, you need to mark that record for deletion. To mark/unmark a record for deletion, simply press the letter D. If the message read No before pressing the letter D, then it will now read Yes. If the message read Yes before pressing the letter D, then it will now read No. Even though a record has been marked for deletion, it still remains in the data base, until option three (3) from the main menu is executed. 4.2.2 Edit If you notice an error in the record currently displayed, pressing the letter E will allows you to make changes. After pressing the letter E, the cursor will be placed in the first field, last name. You are then free to move from field to field and make changes as necessary. 4.2.3 Find Notice the intensity of the labels next to Last Name and Company. Whichever of these two is different from the rest of the labels is the field you will be searching on. For example, if the field Last Name is a different intensity, you will be asked for the last name of someone to find. On the other hand, if the label Company is a different intensity from the rest of the labels, after pressing the letter F, you will be asked for the name of a company to find. Once you have pressed the letter F, you will be asked for either the last name or company name to find. If you simply press return and do not ask Mass Appeal to find an entry, the editing menu is once again displayed in the lower window. Enter the last name or company for Mass Appeal to find. If Mass Appeal can find a last name or company name, that record will be displayed. Otherwise, if a record could not be found, a message stating that no one could be found is displayed. You will then be asked to press return. Another nice feature about Mass Appeal is that you do not have to enter the entire last name or company to find. For example, if you have an entry in your data base for Summerhalem, you can press F for find, enter Summerh, press return, and Mass Appeal will find the closest match. Page 11 Mass Appeal Documentation 4.2.4 Goto If you need to Goto the top, bottom, or to a specific record number in the data base, you can use the Goto option. First, press the letter G, for Goto. Once you have done so, you are then presented with another menu, which has four (4) options. The details concerning each option are discussed in detail in the fol- lowing sections. NOTE: The Goto options (Except the Record# option) are executed in conjunction with the setting of the Order option. 4.2.4.1 Top Pressing the letter T will take you to the very first entry in the data base, based on the setting of the Order option. 4.2.4.2 Bottom Pressing the letter B will take you to the very last entry in the data base, based on the setting of the Order option. 4.2.4.3 Record# If you know the exact record number you want to go to, press the pound sign, (#). You will then be asked for the record number to go to. Simply enter the record number, and press return. The record you have requested will then be displayed. 4.2.4.4 Return If you accidentally got to the Goto options, pressing the letter R will return you to the editing options. This is simply one of the many safe guards built into Mass Appeal. 4.2.5 Prev Prev is the abbreviation for previous. If you want to go to the previous record, based on the setting of the Order option, pressing the letter P, for previous, will accom- plish this. The new record will be displayed, and you will once again be pre- sented with the editing options in the lower window. If you are at the very first entry, based on the setting of the Order option, and attempt to use the previous command, an error message will be displayed. Page 12 Mass Appeal Documentation 4.2.6 Next The Next option is the opposite of the previous (Prev) option. This option takes you to the next record in the data base, based on the setting of the Order option. The new record will be displayed, and you will once again be pre- sented with the editing options in the lower window. If you are at the very last entry, based on the setting of the Order option, and attempt to use the next command, an error message will be displayed. 4.2.7 Help If you need help, pressing the letter H will take you through a series of help screens concerning the editing options available. 4.2.8 Specific One powerful feature of Mass Appeal is the ability (While in the edit routine) to look at only entries that meet a specific condi- tion. For information on how to specify which records from a data base should be selected, please see Appendix XXX. Once you have specified your condition, Mass Appeal will locate the very first entry in the data base that meets the condition you specified. If there are no entries in the data base that meet the condition you specified, an error message will be displayed. You will then be asked to press return. Once an entry has been found, it is displayed. You are then free to use any of the editing options displayed in the lower window. NOTE: When using the Specific command, options like Next and Prev may operate much slower than normal. This is because it is taking into account the condition you specified. If you want to clear out a condition, and be able to look at all the entries in your data base, press the letter S once again, and then press the letter F for finished. This will make all entries "visi- ble" again. 4.2.9 Order The order option allows you to tell Mass Appeal which order you want your data to appear in. The order option setting has a lot to do with the editing features of Mass Appeal. Options like Next, Prev, and Find all look to the order option for guidance. Page 13 Mass Appeal Documentation Look at the labels last name and company. Whichever label is a different intensity than the other labels is the order in which the current data base is being displayed. To change the order, simply press the letter O. You will then be asked in what order you would like your data base. Press the letter C to have the data base in company name order. Press the letter L to have the data base ordered by the last name. 4.2.10 Return Once you have finished making changes to your data base, or simply want to call it a day, pressing the letter R will return you to the Main Menu. 4.3 Pack Once a record has been marked for deletion, it still remains in the data base, although records marked for deletion do not appear on any type of output. If you ever want to permanently remove all records marked for deletion from the active data base file, option three (3) is the process you need to follow. After invoking option three (3) from the main menu, you are presented with an initial warning, informing you that ALL records marked for deletion will be permanently removed form the active data base. If you are sure this is what you want to do, press the letter Y. If you are not really sure this is what you want to do, press the letter N. If you press the letter N, you will be returned to the main menu. Pressing the letter Y invokes a second warning, asking, once again, are you really sure this is what you want to do. Once again, you have to decide. Pressing the letter N will return you to the main menu. Pressing the letter Y will (Finally) begin the process of removing all records marked for deletion from the active data base. NOTE: This process can be slow if you have a lot of entries. The more entries in your active data base, the more time it will take. You must also be sure there is enough disk space for Mass Appeal to work with. This version of Mass Appeal does not check to see if there is enough disk space. A future version of Mass Appeal will check to see if enough disk space exists prior to packing the data base. 4.4 Generate Some Output Mass Appeal allows you to create a report (In four (4) different for- mats, depending on the type of printer you have), address individual Page 14 Mass Appeal Documentation envelopes, print out rotary cards, generate mailing labels (In four (4) different formats, each format up to four (4) wide), and create an interface file. After you have selected option four (4) from the main menu, you are presented with another menu. This menu asks you what specific output you would like to generate. The following is a detailed explanation of each option: 4.4.1 Generate A Report The first option listed is having the ability to generate a report. A report in Mass Appeal is a simple, easy to read column report that lists most of the information concerning each entry. After selecting option one (1), you are asked what records should appear in the report you are fixing to generate? For detailed infor- mation on how to tell Mass Appeal to print out only certain records, please see Appendix XXX. Once you have selected which records are to appear in the report, Mass Appeal asks you where the report should be sent. Your options are to the screen, printer, or quit. If you want the report to appear on the screen, then press the letter S. In a few seconds, your report will begin displaying on the screen. When the report has finished, you will be asked to press any key. Press any key, and you will then be returned to the main menu. If you want your output to be sent to the printer, then press the letter P. Once you have done so, you are asked to verify that your printer is connected properly, and is ready to print. Once you have made sure your printer is ready to go, press the letter C. If your printer is out of commission, or you simply just don't want the report sent to the printer, then press the letter Q. You will be returned to the main menu. If you do not want the report at all, pressing the letter Q will return you to the main menu. This is another fail safe of Mass Appeal. 4.4.2 Generate Envelopes Mass Appeal has the capability to address envelopes, one at a time, as you feed them into your printer. When you generate envelopes, your output automatically is sent to the printer. After selecting option two (2), you are asked what records should you generate envelopes for? For detailed information on how to tell Mass Appeal to "look at" out only certain records, please see Ap- pendix XXX. Page 15 Mass Appeal Documentation Once you have informed Mass Appeal what records are to be used, Mass Appeal needs to know how many spaces it should skip before the name and address information is printed on the envelope. After you have entered the number of spaces to skip, the very first record meeting the conditions you specified is displayed in the upper window. Notice all blank lines have been automatically re- moved! You are now prompted in the lower window with three (3) options. Your options are P, to print the envelope currently displayed, S to skip the entry displayed, or Q to quit. Once all entries have been completed, you are automatically returned to the main menu of Mass Appeal. 4.4.2.1 Print Pressing the letter P will cause Mass Appeal to print the entry currently displayed on the envelope loaded into the printer. Once the envelope has finished printing, Mass Appeal sends a form feed character to your printer, and the envelope should then be removed from the printer. 4.4.2.2 Skip If you do not want to address an envelope for the entry displayed on the screen, you can press the letter S, and that entry will be skipped. Mass Appeal will then look for the next entry, based on the condi- tions you specified, and display that record. 4.4.2.3 Quit If you have addressed enough envelopes, or for some reason want to call it quits for the day, pressing the letter Q will return you to the main menu. 4.4.3 Generate Rotary Cards Mass Appeal has the ability to generate those small rotary cards for you automatically, without any hassles! After selecting option three (3), you are asked what records should be included when you create these rotary cards? For detailed infor- mation on how to tell Mass Appeal to print out only certain records, please see Appendix XXX. Once you have selected which records are to appear when you create the rotary cards, Mass Appeal asks you where the rotary card output should be sent. Your options are to the screen, printer, or quit. Page 16 Mass Appeal Documentation If you want the rotary cards to appear on the screen, then press the letter S. In a few seconds, your rotary cards will begin displaying on the screen. When they have finished, you will be asked to press any key. Press any key, and you will be returned to the main menu. If you want your rotary cards to be sent to the printer, then press the letter P. Once you have done so, you are asked to verify that your printer is connected properly, and is ready to print. Once you have made sure your printer is ready to go, press the letter C. If your printer is out of commission, or you simply just don't want the rotary cards listed on the printer, press the letter Q. You will return to the main menu. If you do not want the rotary cards at all, pressing the letter Q will return you to the main menu. 4.4.4 Generate Mailing Labels When mass Appeal generates mailing labels, it automatically removes all blank lines, thus creating a perfect looking mailing label. After selecting option four (4), you are asked what records should be included when you generate the mailing labels? For detailed in- formation on how to tell Mass Appeal to print out only certain records, please see Appendix XXX. Once you have selected which records are to appear when the mailing labels are generated, Mass Appeal asks you where the output should be sent. Your options are to the screen, printer, or quit. If you want the mailing labels to appear on the screen, press the letter S. In a few seconds, your mailing labels will begin dis- playing on the screen. When they have finished, you will be asked to press any key. Press any key, and you will then be returned to the main menu. If you want your mailing labels to be sent to the printer, then press the letter P. Once you have done so, you are asked to verify that your printer is connected properly, and is ready to print. Once you have made sure your printer is ready to go, press the letter C. If your printer is out of commission, or you simply just don't want the mailing labels printed, press the letter Q. You will return to the main menu. If you do not want the mailing labels at all, pressing the letter Q will return you to the main menu. 4.4.5 Generate An Interface File Mass Appeal has the ability to generate a file that can be used with word processing programs to create form letters, invoices, or what- ever. Page 17 Mass Appeal Documentation After selecting option five (5), you are asked what records should be included when you create the interface file? For detailed infor- mation on how to tell Mass Appeal to include only certain records, please see Appendix XXX. This file that Mass Appeal creates in called an interface file. Actually, the file is an ASCII text file, each field enclosed in quotes ("). This is often called a comma delimited file. If your word processor accepts comma delimited files, you can quickly and easily create form letters with the interface file cre- ated by Mass Appeal. See your word processing documentation for further details. The format for the interface file is: Last name, first name, salutation, company, address line 1, address line 2, city, state, zip code and comment field. Once you have told Mass Appeal what records you want placed in the interface file, you are then asked for the name of the interface file. Notice that there is enough room to include an alternate drive and/or path name. If you want to abandon the interface file, simply press return when asked for the interface file name, and you will be returned to the main menu. Once you have entered the name of the interface file, one of two things will happen. If the file name you entered already exists, you will be warned that the contents of that file will be over written. You are then asked to confirm this is what you want to do. Press the letter Y to over write the contents of that file. The interface file will then be created. If you do not want the contents of the file over written, press N. You will once again be asked for the name of the interface file. If the file does not exist, the file will then be created. You will be asked to wait while it is being created. 4.4.6 Exit Options, Return To Menu If you accidentally got to the output option, you can return to the main menu simply be pressing the number six (6). Once you have pressed the number six (6), the screen will clear, and you will once again be presented with the main menu. You can then make your proper selection. 4.5 Group Delete Or Recovery Mass Appeal has the ability to delete/undelete a group of records that meet a certain condition at one time. Page 18 Mass Appeal Documentation For example, let's say you want to send a mailing to all the entries in your data file, except those in the state of XX (Yes, XX is a state that will remain unnamed). Remember, all entries that are marked for deletion will not appear in your output. So, the quickest way to perform the above mentioned act would be to use option five (5), which will allow you to delete all the entries in the state XX. Then, when you generate your mailing labels, report and other output, all entries in the state XX will not appear. Once you have finished your mailing, you may then want to unmark (Un- delete) all those entries in the state XX. This is accomplished by the same option. After you have selected option five (5), you will be asked whether you want to delete (Mark for deletion) or recover (Unmark entries already marked for deletion) entries in the data base. You have two (2) op- tions. Pressing the letter D will delete all entries in the data base you specify. Pressing the letter R will unmark entries marked for deletion meeting your conditions. Once you have selected whether you are to delete or recover entries, you are then asked what specific records in the data base should be deleted or recovered. For detailed information on how to tell Mass Appeal to delete or recover only certain records, please see Appendix XXX. NOTE: You will NOT be able to delete or recover ALL the entries at one time. Mass Appeal will not let you make that mistake. Finally, you will be given a warning, stating that all the records you specified will be deleted/recovered. You will then be asked to confirm this is what you are wanting to do. If so, press Y, and the process of deleting/recovering the specified will begin. Otherwise, if you made some type of mistake, pressing the letter N will return you to the main menu 4.6 Change Active Data Base File When you start Mass Appeal, the file that is displayed is MAILER.DBF, which is called the default data file. Once you have decided to create another data file, and enter informa- tion into another data file, you should choose option six (6) from the main menu. Once you have invoked option six (6), you will be asked for the name of the new data file. NOTE: You only have seven letters for the data file name. Page 19 Mass Appeal Documentation If you decide you do not want your information in separate files, pressing return when asked for the new data file name will return you to the main menu. Once you have entered the new name of the file, press return. At this point, one of two things will happen. First off, if the file exists, that file will then become the active data base file until you exit the program, or select another active data file. Until you change the active data file again, all operations (Like adding, reporting, etc...) will be done on the data file you requested. If the file you wanted as the new active data file does not already exists, a warning message will be displayed. You will then be asked if you want to create that data file. Pressing the letter Y will create the data file, and that will now be you active data base file. Pressing the letter N will return you to the main menu. 4.7 Access The Maintenance Routines In the maintenance routines, you can tell mass appeal to display in color if you have a color monitor, you can change the number of labels across, you can set up default values so that when you enter the add routine, certain fields are already filled in, and many other opera- tions. Many of these "simple" (Yet, powerful) operations are put in a mainte- nance routine, and are usually not part of the main menu. These rou- tines are often called house cleaning routines. Listed below is a detailed discussion of each option in the maintenance menu. 4.7.1 Default City If you are entering records that all belong to a specific city, you can have Mass Appeal automatically fill in the city field so you do not have to type out the name of the city each time. By selecting option one (1) from the maintenance menu, you will be shown the current default value for the city, and asked to enter a new default city. To change the default city, simply enter the city you want to appear in the city field when you enter the add routine, and press return. 4.7.2 Default State If you are entering records that all belong to a specific state, you can have Mass Appeal automatically fill in the state field so you do not have to type out the state each time. Page 20 Mass Appeal Documentation By selecting option two (2) from the maintenance menu, you will be shown the current default value for the state, and asked to enter a new default state. To change the default state, simply enter the state you want to appear in the state field when you enter the add routine, and press return. 4.7.3 Default Zip Code If you are entering records that all belong to a specific zip code, you can have Mass Appeal automatically fill in the zip code field so you do not have to enter the zip code each time. By selecting option three (3) from the maintenance menu, you will be shown the current default value for the zip code, and asked to enter a new default zip code. To change the default zip code, simply enter the zip code you want to appear in the zip code field when you enter the add routine, and press return. 4.7.4 Default Category If you are entering records that all belong to a specific category, you can have Mass Appeal automatically fill in the category field so you do not have to enter the category each time. By selecting option four (4) from the maintenance menu, you will be shown the current default value for the category, and asked to enter a new default category. To change the default category, simply enter the category or cate- gories you want to appear in the category field when you enter the add routine, and press return. 4.7.5 Default Salutation If you are entering records that all belong to a specific saluta- tion, you can have Mass Appeal automatically fill in the salutation field so you do not have to type out the salutation each time. By selecting option five (5) from the maintenance menu, you will be shown the current default value for the salutation, and asked to enter a new default salutation. To change the default salutation, simply enter the salutation you want to appear in the salutation field when you enter the add rou- tine, and press return. Page 21 Mass Appeal Documentation 4.7.6 Default Home Phone If you are entering records that all belong to a specific home phone, you can have Mass Appeal automatically fill in the home phone field so you do not have enter the home phone each time. By selecting option six (6) from the maintenance menu, you will be shown the current default value for the home phone, and asked to enter a new default home phone. To change the default home phone, simply enter the home phone you want to appear in the home phone field when you enter the add routine, and press return. 4.7.7 Default Work Phone If you are entering records that all belong to a specific work phone, you can have Mass Appeal automatically fill in the work phone field so you do not have enter the work phone each time. By selecting option seven (7) from the maintenance menu, you will be shown the current default value for the work phone, and asked to enter a new default work phone. To change the default work phone, simply enter the work phone you want to appear in the work phone field when you enter the add routine, and press return. 4.7.8 Default Comment Field If you are entering records that all have the same contents in the comment field, you can have Mass Appeal automatically fill in the comment field field so you do not have enter it each time. By selecting option eight (8) from the maintenance menu, you will be shown the current default value for the comment field, and asked to enter a new default comment field. To change the default comment field, simply enter the comment field you want to appear in the comment field field when you enter the add routine, and press return. 4.7.9 Change Monitor Type By selecting option nine (9), Mass Appeal will show the current type of monitor selected. You then have several choices. If you have a color monitor, press the letter C. You should also use the color option if you have an EGA monitor. If you have a monochrome monitor, press the letter M. If you have any other type monitor, press the letter B. NOTE: You will have to exit the entire program, and then restart Mass Appeal for these changes to take effect! Page 22 Mass Appeal Documentation 4.7.10 Change Output Order The order in which all you output is generated is determined by the setting of option ten (10) from the maintenance menu. Once you have selected this option, you are informed of the current setting. You are then allowed to change the order to the desired order. Pressing the letter C will force all output to be in the order of the company name. Pressing the letter L will force all output to be in the order of the last name. Finally, pressing the letter Z will force all output to be in zip code order. 4.7.11 Change Printer Type Currently, Mass Appeal will support ALL 80 and 132 column printers. But, to perform compressed print on your 80 column printer, you must have a printer that has a compression code of CHR$(15). Once you have selected option eleven (11) from the maintenance menu, you see four options displayed. The current setting of the printer type is a different intensity than the others. You are then allowed to change the printer type that best described your printer. 4.7.12 Report Of Saved Criteria Appendix XXX informs you how to select records from a data base based on the contents of specific fields. You can also save these specifications for future use. By selecting option twelve (12) from the maintenance menu, you are asking Mass Appeal for a report of previously saved criteria. You are then given three options, screen, printer, or quit. Each option is self explanatory. Pressing the letter S will send the output to the screen. Pressing the letter P will send the output to the printer. Pressing the letter Q will abandon the report, and re display the maintenance menu. 4.7.13 Reset Data File Pointers If your reports are not being printed in exactly the order they were intended, you may need to reset the file pointers of Mass Appeal. While this operation may never have to be done, it is available. Simple invoke option thirteen (13), and Mass Appeal does the rest. This operation may take a while, the time it takes is directly related to the number of records in your active data base. Page 23 Mass Appeal Documentation 4.7.14 Change Dimension Of Labels Mass Appeal supports several different label formats. After invoking option fourteen (14) from the maintenance menu, you are presented with the four sizes of labels Mass Appeal works with. The label that is a different intensity is the currently selected label size. To select another size, simply press the corresponding number. 4.7.15 Change Number Of Labels Across Mass Appeal will also print your label in up to four (4) across form. By selecting option fifteen (15) from the maintenance menu, you are informed of the current setting. You are then allowed to change the number of labels across by simply pressing the corresponding number. 4.7.16 Define Printer Compression Code You can easily define a printer compression code. This is only necessary when generating report between the numbers 25 and 32. Look at your printer manual. It will show you how to compress your printer using BASIC. It may say something like: LPRINT CHR$(15) Take whatever is displayed, remove the LPRINT, and all dollar signs, and then enter the string into Mass Appeal. Future versions of Mass Appeal will automatically determine what your code is based on what type printer you have. 4.8 Exit Mass Appeal, Return To DOS When you are ready to exit Mass Appeal, and call it a day, simply press the number eight (8), and you will be returned to DOS. 5 Appendix A Mass Appeal is distributed through the ShareWare concept. I have spent numerous hours working on Mass Appeal to make it an easy to use, powerful program. If I had enough money (Let's say 8 - 10 thousand dollars) I could have had the manual prepared by a technical writer, a fancy manual produced by a local printing firm, and hired someone (Probably my wife, who helped with the program) to perform technical support. I could have then spent several thousands of dollars on advertising, showing all the neat features of Mass Appeal. Then, I would (Because of all the investment) have to charge about $175.00 for each copy of Mass Appeal to recover my investment. Page 24 Mass Appeal Documentation But, I decided to by pass that means of distribution (Because I personally don't have that much money) and decided to distribute this program through the ShareWare concept. ShareWare work something like this: An author releases his product to anyone and everyone, and allows them to use it, no strings attached. If the person uses the program on a regular basis, the user you is asked to send a specified donation to the author of the program. Well, with about $100.00, I mailed out copies of Mass Appeal to several companies who maintain libraries of ShareWare products and distribute them for a small duplicating fee. I have also uploaded the program to numerous bulletin boards across the country (You think your phone bill is high? I'll be GLAD to trade with you)! Please share this program with your friends, co workers, parents, chil- dren, pets, and anyone else you may feel might have a need for this program. NOTE: Please make sure all 38 files are on the copy you give to someone. If any of the files are missing, the program will not operate properly. If you would like to register your copy of Mass Appeal, simply send $35.00 (Personal check, cashiers check or money order) to the address on the next page. The following page is a registration form for Mass Appeal. Page 25 Mass Appeal Documentation ******* Mass Appeal Registration Form ******* Ship To: ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ What disk format: [ ] 5 1/4 [ ] 3 1/2 Where did you obtain Mass Appeal: _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Mail To: Steve Hughes 1422 Applegate Drive Alabaster, AL 35007 Page 26 Mass Appeal Documentation 6 Appendix XXX You were told it would be Appendix XXX, so here it is. This is where you learn how to tell Mass Appeal to place only records that meet specific conditions on a report, mailing labels, etc... Whenever you produce a report, mailing labels, rotary cards, etc... you are asked what records should be included. Notice that you can narrow your data file down by ten (10) fields. Also notice in a window immediately above the bottom window, the words CRITERIA: All entries appears. This is telling you that right now, all entries in the active data file will be selected by Mass Appeal. Let's walk through a scenario that allows us to look at all the entries in the state of Alabama where the date field is between 01/01/87 and 06/01/87. As you will soon see, this is easily accomplished by Mass Appeal. In the lower window, you notice you have four (4) options. They are: More-Criteria Save-Criteria Retrieve-Criteria and Finished. Since the window says All entries, we obviously want more criteria, since we want all entries in the state of Alabama between two specific dates. Let's start out by pressing the letter M, for more criteria. Once you have done so, in the top window, you are now asked to enter what you want to narrow your output down by. You must choose a number between one (1) and ten (10). Looking at the menu, we notice that the state field is number two (2). So, enter the number two (2) and press return. In the middle window, a message appears that asks you to enter the state the output should be narrowed down by. Simply enter the two letter abbre- viation for Alabama (AL). Now, you will notice the phrase All Entries has now bee replaced with the criteria we just selected. It now informs us all entries where the state is equal to 'AL' will be in out output. If we only wanted the entries for the state of Alabama, we could stop here by pressing the letter F (For Finished). Then, out output would contain only those entries in the active data file for the state of Alabama. We are now ready to select our next set of criteria. So, once again, we need to select the letter M, for more criteria. Once we have pressed the letter M, we are asked, (In the small, middle window) whether the previous criteria (The state equals 'AL') and the one we are going to set up should be joined with And or Or conjunctions. Well, we want all records where BOTH conditions are true (The state fields equals 'AL' AND the date field is between 01/01/87 and 06/01/87). We should then select the letter A, for And. Page 27 Mass Appeal Documentation We are then presented, once again, with the selection of narrowing our data down by what field. Notice option six (6) is the date field. Simply press six (6) and press return. You are then asked to enter the starting date, and ending date for this field. Simply enter 010187 and 060187 (Mass Appeal will automatically format the field correctly for you). Once you have done so, you will notice that the criteria in the large bottom window now includes the entry we just made. Although this process was easy, Mass Appeal makes it even easier for you to perform the exact criteria again. For example, let's say you are cur- rently generating a report for the boss. The boss says "Make some labels based on this report"! You can easily Retrieve the specifications you just entered if you Save them first. That way, you do not have to duplicate your efforts again. To SAVE your criteria, press the letter S. You will then be asked for a short name for the criteria. Enter a name and press return. You will then be asked for a more detailed and longer explanation of the criteria you just defined. After that, your criteria is saved. Once you have saved your criteria, you can retrieve it by pressing the letter R. You will then be asked for the short name of the criteria. Simply enter the short name, and your specifications will be retrieved. Anyway, once you have defined your criteria, you can press the letter F, and Mass Appeal will "see" only those records that meet the condition you specified. Thanks again for using Mass Appeal. Enjoy! Page 28 Mass Appeal Documentation Table of Contents 1 Introduction .................................................... 1 1.1 Purpose .................................................... 1 1.2 Requirements ............................................... 1 1.3 Features ................................................... 1 1.3.1 Label Generation ....................................... 1 1.3.2 Criteria selection ..................................... 1 1.3.3 "Infinite" Entries ..................................... 2 1.3.4 Full Screen Editing .................................... 2 1.3.5 Searching .............................................. 2 1.3.6 Ease Of Use ............................................ 2 1.3.7 Sorting ................................................ 2 2 Installation .................................................... 2 2.1 CONFIG.SYS ................................................. 3 2.2 Floppy Disk ................................................ 3 2.3 Hard Disk .................................................. 3 2.4 Documentation .............................................. 4 2.5 Terminology ................................................ 4 3 Fields .......................................................... 5 3.1 Last Name .................................................. 5 3.2 First Name ................................................. 5 3.3 Salutation ................................................. 5 3.4 Company .................................................... 6 3.5 Address 1 .................................................. 6 3.6 Address 2 .................................................. 6 3.7 City ....................................................... 6 3.8 State ...................................................... 6 3.9 Zip Code ................................................... 7 3.10 Home Phone ................................................ 7 3.11 Work Phone ................................................ 7 3.12 Date ...................................................... 7 3.13 Category .................................................. 8 3.14 Comments .................................................. 8 4 Main Menu ....................................................... 8 4.1 Add Records ................................................ 8 4.1.1 More ................................................... 9 4.1.2 Re-Edit ................................................ 9 4.1.3 Help ................................................... 10 4.1.4 Return ................................................. 10 4.1.5 * ...................................................... 10 4.2 Editing .................................................... 10 4.2.1 Del .................................................... 10 4.2.2 Edit ................................................... 11 4.2.3 Find ................................................... 11 4.2.4 Goto ................................................... 12 4.2.4.1 Top ............................................... 12 4.2.4.2 Bottom ............................................ 12 4.2.4.3 Record# ........................................... 12 4.2.4.4 Return ............................................ 12 4.2.5 Prev ................................................... 12 Page i Mass Appeal Documentation 4.2.6 Next ................................................... 13 4.2.7 Help ................................................... 13 4.2.8 Specific ............................................... 13 4.2.9 Order .................................................. 13 4.2.10 Return ................................................ 14 4.3 Pack ....................................................... 14 4.4 Generate Some Output ....................................... 14 4.4.1 Generate A Report ...................................... 15 4.4.2 Generate Envelopes ..................................... 15 4.4.2.1 Print ............................................. 16 4.4.2.2 Skip .............................................. 16 4.4.2.3 Quit .............................................. 16 4.4.3 Generate Rotary Cards .................................. 16 4.4.4 Generate Mailing Labels ................................ 17 4.4.5 Generate An Interface File ............................. 17 4.4.6 Exit Options, Return To Menu ........................... 18 4.5 Group Delete Or Recovery ................................... 18 4.6 Change Active Data Base File ............................... 19 4.7 Access The Maintenance Routines ............................ 20 4.7.1 Default City ........................................... 20 4.7.2 Default State .......................................... 20 4.7.3 Default Zip Code ....................................... 21 4.7.4 Default Category ....................................... 21 4.7.5 Default Salutation ..................................... 21 4.7.6 Default Home Phone ..................................... 22 4.7.7 Default Work Phone ..................................... 22 4.7.8 Default Comment Field .................................. 22 4.7.9 Change Monitor Type .................................... 22 4.7.10 Change Output Order ................................... 23 4.7.11 Change Printer Type ................................... 23 4.7.12 Report Of Saved Criteria .............................. 23 4.7.13 Reset Data File Pointers .............................. 23 4.7.14 Change Dimension Of Labels ............................ 24 4.7.15 Change Number Of Labels Across ........................ 24 4.7.16 Define Printer Compression Code ....................... 24 4.8 Exit Mass Appeal, Return To DOS ............................ 24 5 Appendix A ...................................................... 24 6 Appendix XXX .................................................... 27 Page ii