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D M A I L 5.1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Professional Mailing List manager ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ K. EGGER, ADELAIDE P.O. BOX 423, 36 ADELAIDE ST. EAST, TORONTO, CANADA M5C 2J5 (416)862-3430 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FEATURES OF DMAIL DMAIL is an advanced mailing list system for all MS-DOS microcomputers. It has the following features: -> Uses pull-down menus and pop-up windows to maximize ease-of-use. -> Includes a built-in help system. Press the F1 key at any time for help. -> Includes user-defined fields that can be used for searches and sorts. -> Maintains any number of lists - limited only by disk space. -> Classifies addresses with key words or your own coding system. -> Sorts addresses on any of nine sort keys. -> Copies selected addresses from one list to another. -> Creates mailmerge data files for Wordperfect, Microsoft Word and Wordstar. -> Displays data in record view or table view. -> Prints addresses on labels or directly on envelopes. -> Prints with any impact printer and HP LaserJet II or workalike. -> Prints U.S. Postal Service Postnet bar codes on envelopes (HP LaserJet II). -> Sends any printer output to a text file. -> Automatically records mailing date when addresses are printed. -> Prints two types of quick reference lists. -> Includes a built-in backup and restore feature that makes backups easy. -> Performs duplicate checking. -> Uses dBASE compatible data files. -> Provides full support for color monitors. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS -> IBM-PC, PS/2, or compatible. -> A hard disk drive. -> 640 KB of memory. -> Any impact printer -> Optional - HP LaserJet II or work-alike laser printer. If your laser printer is not an HP LaserJet II, look at your printer's manual to see if it has an HP emulation mode. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ OFFICE SUPPLY REQUIREMENTS -> Any of three standard tractor feed label sizes: - Three and a half by fifteen sixteenths (one up) Avery #M56151A - Four by one and seven sixteenths (one up) Avery #M64231A - Four by fifteen sixteenths (two up) Avery #M64152A -> Either of two laser printer label sizes: - Four inch by one inch (two up) Avery #5161, AL110 in Canada - Four inch by one and one third (two up) Avery #5162, AL125 in Canada -> Standard business size envelopes (COM10). -> Three by five inch tractor feed Rolodex cards. INSTALLING DMAIL DMAIL is supplied as an archive file called "DMAIL51.ZIP". It contains all the files you need. Follow these steps to get a functioning system onto your hard drive: 1 - At the "C:>" prompt create a new directory on your hard drive: MD DMAIL <press enter> 2 - Using an archive un-packing utility, unpack the contents of DMAIL51.ZIP into the new directory. 3 - Check for a file called "CONFIG.SYS" in the root directory of the startup drive. If it is there it should contain the following statements with the minimum values shown: FILES = 20 BUFFERS = 8 You can see the contents of the file just by typing: TYPE CONFIG.SYS <press enter> If these statements are absent you can use any text editor to insert them. If the file does not exist, you can easily create one with the following steps: 1 - Go to the root directory: CD\ <press enter> 2 - Create a file called CONFIG.SYS and put the two lines in it: COPY CON CONFIG.SYS <press enter> FILES = 20 <press enter> BUFFERS = 8 <press enter> 3 - Close the file: <press F6 then press enter> Thats all! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FILES SUPPLIED WITH DMAIL DMAIL51.EXE The executable program DMAIL51.DBF A sample mailing list file 1 DMAIL51.DBT A sample mailing list File 2 DMAIL51.DOC The documentation DMHELP .DBF A Help system file DMHELP .DBT Another Help system file STARTING DMAIL To start DMAIL go to the directory where it is found and enter "DMAIL51" at the DOS prompt: CD\DMAIL <press enter> DMAIL51 <press enter> When DMAIL is started you will see the main menu. To help you explore the system, DMAIL has been pre-loaded with sample data. You can delete the sample data when you are ready to enter your own addresses. At the bottom of the screen is a descriptive line about the highlighted menu item. You can move around the menus using the following keys: -> Press the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to select a command on a pull-down menu. At the bottom of the screen the descriptive line that changes according to the highlighted command. -> Press ENTER to execute the highlighted command. -> Press the RIGHT and LEFT ARROW keys to move from one pull-down menu to another. -> Press ESCAPE to clear a pull-down menu and ENTER to make it appear again. You can also select commands from the menus by pressing the first letter of the command you want. This method executes the command without waiting for you to press ENTER. EXPLORING THE MENUS Each of the Main Menu choices has a pull-down menu that provides access to a group of related commands. When the program starts the Edit menu is already pulled down. This manual has a section for each of the six Main Menu choices. It will describe each menu item in turn, going from left to right across the screen. As you explore, you can press F1 at any time for help. In most cases you can press ESCAPE to abort a command and return to the main menu. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EDIT MENU COMMAND 1 -> ADD This command brings up the screen where you can enter new a new address into your mailing list. The screen is divided into upper and lower sections by the NOTES line. Type the address information in the appropriate fields that appear above the NOTES line. Use the ENTER key or the UP/DOWN ARROW keys to move from one field to another. As each field is highlighted you can press F1 (Help) for an explanation of what it should contain. Press F10 when you are finished entering data. You will then see a new set of options at the bottom of the screen. F1Help F4Edit F9Notes F10Exit -> F1 - Help - get help with what you see on the screen. -> F4 - Edit - resume entering information or change something you have already entered. -> F9 - Notes - enter notes about the addressee that are useful to you. This field will store hundreds of lines of text so don't worry about running out of space.Press F1 while you are in the Notes field for help with the editing keys. If you press ESCAPE while in the Notes field the following message appears at the top of the screen: "Abort Edit (Y/N)". Press "Y" to abandon the entry or "N" to resume editing. -> F10- Exit - this pops up a box where you can tell DMAIL to save or discard the new record. In order for a record to be saved it must contain something. Blank records will not be saved. EDIT MENU COMMAND 2 -> FIND Use this command to locate any address which is already in the mailing list. When you select it, a menu pops up with the following choices: -> Last Name - Use this to find an address by last name. If you are not sure of the name you can enter the first few characters of the name. This will display the first record found where the last name starts with those characters. You can then use the UP & DOWN ARROW keys to scan for the one you want. -> Company Name - Use this to find an address by company. If you are not sure of the company name you can enter the first few characters. This will display the first record found where the company name starts with those characters. You can then use the UP & DOWN ARROW keys to scan for the one you want. -> Word Match - Use this to find all addresses that contain a given word in a given field. A menu appears with the following field names: - Title - Use this to find a word in the Title field. For example, if you wish to find all addresses that contain the word "Manager" in the title, enter "Manager" at the prompt. - City - Use this to find all addresses in a given city. - Zip Code - Use this to find all addresses that contain a given postal code. You can enter as few or as many characters as you like. The more you enter the more selective the search will be. - UDF - Use this to locate all addresses with a given word or set of characters in the User Defined Field. - Notes - Use this to locate all addresses with a given word or set of characters in the Notes. When a search begins it will display the first record found that satisfies the search target. The target word or characters will be highlighted on the screen. At the bottom of the screen you will see F3 Next, which will be flashing. Press F3 if you want to see the next ocurrence of the search target. -> Top Of List or End Of List - Use one of these to go to the first or last address in your mailing list. -> Quit - Use this to return to the Main Menu. Pressing ESCAPE will do the same. THE EDIT WINDOW Once an address has been located it is displayed in the Edit Window. A set of command options is now shown across the bottom of the screen: -> F1 - Help - use this to get help with what you see on the screen. -> F2 - View - change the display from single record view to a scrolling table view. -> F3 - Find - find another address by last name or by company name. -> F4- Print - print the current address. You will be asked if you want to print the address on an envelope or all data. If you choose the latter it will give you a hard copy page of everything in this record including the Notes. -> F5 - Dele - delete or undelete an address. When an address is deleted it is not removed from the mailing list until the next time the list is indexed. Press F5 again to undelete the address. -> F6 - Edit - edit the fields that appear above the NOTES. Use the ENTER key or the UP/DOWN ARROW keys to move from one field to another. As each field is highlighted you can press F1 (Help) for an explanation of what the field should contain. -> F7 - Mark - mark or unmark the address. Mark addresses to identify the ones you want included in printing jobs or for copying addresses from one list to another. -> F9 - Notes - enter or edit notes about the address that are useful to you. This field will store hundreds of lines of text so don't worry about running out of space. Press F1 while you are in the text field for help with the editing keys. If you press ESCAPE while in the Notes field the following message appears at the top of the screen: "Abort Edit (Y/N)". Press "Y" to abandon your changes or "N" to return to the text field. -> F10 - Exit - Return to the main menu. -> DOWN ARROW - skip to the next address. -> UP ARROW - skip to the previous address MAILING LIST MENU COMMAND 3 -> BROWSE The Browse command shows your mailing list in tabular format. You can use this window to scan and edit all the data in your list. -> Use the following keys to move around the screen and scroll the columns: RIGHT ARROW, LEFT ARROW, UP ARROW, DOWN ARROW, CTRL-RIGHT ARROW, CTRL-LEFT ARROW, PAGEUP, PAGEDOWN, CTRL-PAGEUP, CTRL-PAGEDOWN, HOME, END, CTRL-HOME, CTRL-END -> To edit your data, move the highlight to any field and start typing. This replaces what is already in the field unless the Insert key is on, in which case it inserts characters at the begining of the field. -> To add to the end of a field move the highlight to the field, press ENTER to get a cursor, then use the END key or the ARROW keys to position the cursor. -> Press ENTER again to accept the changes or press ESCAPE to restore the previous contents. -> If you press DOWN ARROW or UP ARROW instead of ENTER after typing something in a field then your changes in the current field are saved and the highlight moves to the next row. -> F1 - Help - use this to get help with what is on the screen. -> F2 - View - to change the display to single record view. -> F4- Print - print the current address. You will be asked if you want to print the address on an envelope or all data. If you choose the latter it will give you a hard copy page of everything in the record. -> F5 - Dele - to delete the current address. It will not be removed from the list until the next time the records are indexed. Press F5 again to undelete the address. -> F6 - Lock - to lock the first 2 columns in place when you scroll the columns to the right. Press F6 again to unlock the frozen columns. -> F7 - Mark - mark or unmark the address. You can mark addresses to identify the ones you want included in printing jobs and for copying addresses from one list to another. -> F9 - Notes - enter or edit notes about the address that are useful to you. This field will store hundreds of lines of text so don't worry about running out of space. Press F1 while you are in the text field for help with the editing keys. If you press ESCAPE while in the text field the following message appears at the top of the screen: "Abort Edit (Y/N)". Press "Y" to abandon your changes or "N" to return to the text field. -> F10 - Exit - to return to the main menu. MAILING LIST MENU COMMAND 4 -> MARK When To Use Mark The Mark Command: You can include some or all of the addresss in your mailing list when printing, copying or deleting addresses. If the Mark for an address is set to "Y" the address is included. If the Mark is set to "N" it is excluded. Use the Marks command to set the Mark field for all addresss to "Y" or "N". (Yes or No). Your options are to Mark all addresses, Un-mark all addresses, or Choose Search Targets. The first option sets all Marks to Y (Yes), the second option sets all Marks to N (No) and the third allows you to selectively Mark addresses using a search target. The third option leads to another menu from which you can choose the field you want to use to target addresses. -> Name - Use this to split up a list alphabetically. For example, to create a separate list of all addresses with a last name begining with "A" enter only an "A" when prompted for a name. Then use the Copy command to copy all marked addresses to a new list. -> Company - Use this to split up a list alphabetically by company name. For example, to create a separate list of all companies begining with "A" enter only an upper case "A" when prompted for a company name. Again you can use the Copy command to copy all marked addresses to a new list. -> Title - You may enter any string of characters. If the string is found within the Title field of any address then it will be marked. This allows you to select addresses in a list that contain similar but not identical Title fields. You can enter a few characters, a word, or several words. For example, if you want to mark all addresses with the words "Personell Manager" or "Director Of Personell" then enter "Personell" as the search target. -> City - Select this to mark all addresses in a given city. -> State / Province - Select this to mark all addresses in a given State or Province. DMAIL uses only the abbreviated forms of these names. A list of the correct abbreviations is found in Appendix A of this manual. -> Postal/Zip - When marking by postal codes you may enter from 1 to 10 characters as the target code. When using either American or Canadian codes, the more characters you enter the fewer addresses will be marked. The search looks for characters from left to right. If you enter "9000" DMAIL will mark only the addresses that start with "9000" It would ignore a code like 99000. -> Last Mailing Date - Each address has a field labeled "Last Mailing". It contains the date on which you last printed the address onto a label or an envelope. If you choose to mark by "Last Mailing Date" you will be asked if you want to mark addresses with mailing dates occurring before, after or right on the target date. You can then enter the target date itself. DMAIL will then mark the addresses with a "Last Mailing" either before, after or on the specified date. Use this to remove stale addresses from a mailing list. Just use this option to mark addresses with a Last Mailing date that occurs before any date in the past. Then use the Delete command to remove them from the list. -> Key Word In Notes - This search uses the Notes field, which can be used to contain any information about the addressee that you may find useful. Use it to mark all addresses that contain a given word or characters in the Notes field. -> Key Word In UDF - This search uses the User Defined Field (UDF), which can also be used to contain any information about the addressees that you may find useful. For example, it can contain your own coding system to classify addresses by type. MAILING LIST MENU COMMAND 5 -> DELETE Use this command to delete all the Marked addresses from a mailing list. DMAIL will display the number of marked addresses and give you a chance to cancel the command. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LOOKUP MENU COMMAND 1 -> NAME The Lookup command allows you pop up a window showing the name and phone numbers of the people in your mailing list. This window serves two functions: 1 - As a quick lookup to find a phone number: The list is sorted alphabetically. You can move up and down the list using the UP & DOWN ARROW keys and PAGEUP and PAGEDOWN. To move quickly to the name you are looking for you can press the fist letter of the last name twice. This will scroll the list to the names that start with that letter. You can now press the PAGEDOWN key till you see the name you want. To clear the Lookup window press ESCAPE. 2 - As an alternative means to find a record: Once you have located the name you are looking up, move the highlight to it with the ARROW keys then press ENTER. The address will now be displayed in the usual manner. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LOOKUP MENU COMMAND 2 -> COMPANY This command works the same as the one above except that the company name is displayed instead of the person's name. FILES MENU COMMAND 1 -> SELECT Use this command to switch from one list to another. A window appears showing all the possible mailing list files. -> Press the UP/DOWN ARROW keys or PAGEUP/PAGEDOWN to highlight the file you want to load. -> Once you have invoked this command you must choose one of the files shown. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FILES MENU COMMAND 2 -> NEW Use this command to create a new mailing list. A window appears where you can enter the name of the new list. Type up to seven characters (the eighth is reserved for use by DMAIL). Do not enter a file extention (the period plus three letters). The file extension ".DBF" will be supplied automatically. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FILES MENU COMMAND 3 -> COPY The "Copy" command allows you to create new lists by mixing addresses from several lists or by distilling a large list down into a smaller one. First you will be prompted for a source filename and a destination filename. Enter filenames only, no file extension or drive specification is needed. If you specify a destination file that does not exist then it will be created. You are then asked if you wish to copy or move the addresses. The difference is that "copying" leaves the source file unchanged while "moving" deletes the target addresses from the source file. If moving addresses leaves the source file empty then you will have an opportunity to delete it. The next choice you make is whether to target all addresses or only the Marked addresses. See the Marks command under the Edit menu for information on how to selectively target addresses. Please Note: When addresses are moved or copied to another list their Marks are set to "Y" (Yes). If you wish to have them re-set to "N" (No) use the "Mark" command on the main menu. FILES MENU COMMAND 4 -> EXPORT The Export command will write all Marked addresses into a file that can be used with word processors for creating form letters. Four types of file compatibilities are possible - WordPerfect 5.1, Microsoft Word, Wordstar and a generic tab-delimited format. When you are prompted for an output file name just enter a filename of up to eight characters. Do not enter a file extension or a drive specification. A file extension will automatically be supplied depending on your choice of output file. The following is a list of file extensions used for the various formats: -> WordPerfect 5.1 .SEC -> Microsoft Word .DTA -> Wordstar .ADD -> Tab Delimited .TAB Chances are you will only need one of the above file formats, but having access to all of them may make it easier for you to supply address lists to clients and associates who use different word processors. Wordstar Users : The following should appear at the top of your Wordstar form letters: .DF filename ADD (filename is the name of the file you created with the Export command) .RV* &FIRSTNAME/O& &LASTNAME/O& &TITLE/O& &COMPANY/O& &STREET/O& &CITY/O& , &STATE/O& &ZIP/O& Dear &SALUTATION& &LNAME&, This arrangement can handle an address of three to six lines and no blanks will be left where you have a blank field in the address file. You can also merge print the contents of the User Defined Field (UDF) by inserting &UDF& in the letter. A similar format for Microsoft Word is: <<DATA filename.DTA>> (filename is the name of the file you created withthe Export command) <<FIRSTNAME>> <<LASTNAME>>, <<TITLE>>, <<COMPANY>>, <<STREET>>, <<CITY>>, <<STATE>> <<ZIP>> Dear <<SALUTATION>> <<LASTNAME>>, And for WordPerfect it will look something like this: ^F2^ ^F3^, ^F4?^, ^F5?^, ^F6^, ^F7^, ^F8^ ^F9^ Dear ^F1^ ^F3^, The question marks in the last example tell WordPerfect not to leave any blank lines where you have not entered a title or organization name. IMPORTANT: There is considerable flexibility in the use of these formats. If you are new to mail-merging, read the relevant chapter in your word processing manual and try a little experimenting to get the results you want before tackling a big printing job with a deadline. PRINT MENU COMMAND 1 -> LABELS DMAIL prints on the most common label sizes. See the section called Office Supply Requirements for details. Amenu appears from which you can select the label size you are going to use. The contents of the menu varies according to the printer type you have selected in the Setup window (standard or HP LaserJet II). Please note that in either case you must use the large labels in order to print the contents of the User Defined Field on the labels. In the next step you can tell DMAIL how many copies of each label to print (up to 99). Some people find it convenient to print multiple copies and keep the extas in the client's file folder. If you then need a label quickly you can get one without having to run DMAIL and feeding label stock into your printer. If you are using a standard printer another menu appears with three options: -> Test Pattern - This prints a test pattern on your label stock. Use it to check and adjust the position of the labels in your printer to make sure the addresses print squarely on each one. -> Print Labels - Once you have chosen the label size and tested the position of the labels in the printer you are ready to start. Use this option to start the print run. Please note that only those addresses with the Mark set to "Y" (Yes) will be printed. If for any reason you need to interupt the printer just press ESCAPE. The printer may not stop until it has printed a few more labels. This is because most printers have a "buffer" that holds a small amount of output from your computer and will keep on printing until this buffer is empty. -> Quit - Select this to return to the Main Menu. PRINT MENU COMMAND 2 -> ENVELOPES With this option DMAIL will send all Marked addresses to the printer one at a time. You will be prompted to insert the next envelope between each address. Press ESCAPE if you want to stop printing at any time. If the print run has to be interupted you can re-start it later and DMAIL will pick up where it left off (as long as the Marks have not been changed). You may get a "paper empty" error with some standard printers. This is because the mechanism that detects the presence of paper is placed before the carriage roller and it fails to detect a standard business envelope. If this happens check your printer manual for instructions on how to temporarily disable the paper detector. Please note that not all printers can correctly handle a single envelope. Ask the supplier about this when shopping for a printer. NOTE: Another way to print on envelopes is to use the F4 (Print) key when displaying addresses on the screen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PRINT MENU COMMAND 3 -> ROLODEX This option sends the contents of all Marked records to the printer in a format that will fit on rolodex cards. The addressee's name will always appear first unless the sort order is by company, in which case the company name appears first. Before you begin you will be given an opportunity to send a test pattern to the printer to check the position of the cards. If you have never used this method of creating a rolodex card file ask your office supplies store for 3 by 5 inch tractor feed rolodex cards. These can be loaded into a standard printer in the same way as labels. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PRINT MENU COMMAND 4 -> PHONE LIST This option sends a short reference list to the printer. The list will contain only the name, company and phone number. The data will be printed in whichever sorting order you have chosen. The addressee's name will always appear first unless the sort order is by company, in which case the company name appears first. Please note that it prints only the Marked addresses. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PRINT MENU COMMAND 5 -> ALL DATA This option sends a hard copy of your list to the printer. It prints every field in the record. Please note that it prints only the Marked addresses and only the first six lines of the NOTES field. If you need to print more lines please use the F4 (Print) key when viewing your list. UTILITY MENU COMMAND 1 -> INDEXES This command pops up a menu where you choose the sort order used in display and printing of your data. You can change the order at any time to suit your needs. Tha following choices appear on the screen: -> Name - Select this to sort the list by name. -> Company - - Select this to sort the list by company name. -> Title - Select this to sort by Title. -> Zip Code - Select this to sort by postal zip code. -> State/Province and City - Select this to sort by State or Province. -> Work Phone Number - Select this to sort by area code and exchange of the company phone number. -> Home Phone Number - Select this to sort by the individual's home number. -> Last Mailing Date - Select this to sort by the date that mail was last sent to an address (ascending date order). -> User Defined Field - Select this to sort by the UDF. This is a free form field that holds anything you choose. -> Re-Build Index Files - Use this to re-build a damaged index file. DMAIL creates a number of index files for each address list. They allow you to select the current sorting order and to find names quickly. In any database system it can happen that index files become damaged because they are constantly being read and modified. This not common but if it does happen the damaged file must be rebuilt. The symptom of a damaged index file is that you cannot find a record you know is in the database. If this happens then select the Re-build Index Files command and the problem will clear up. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ UTILITY MENU COMMAND 2 -> SETUP This option lets you view your system status and make some changes in the setup. -> Press 1 to toggle between STANDARD and HP LASER printer. -> Press 2 to toggle the laser printer envelope feed between LEFT SIDE and CENTER. This is provided for those whose laser printer does not have an envelope guide on the center of the paper tray. -> Press 3 to toggle printing of the U.S Postal Service Postnet bar codes. This applies only when printing directly on envelopes with a Hewlett Packard LaserJet II or 100% workalike. Bar codes are only printed if the address contains a 9 number U.S. extended Zip code (99999-9999). -> Press 4 to toggle printing of the User Defined Field on labels or envelopes. Please note that this only applies to envelopes and LARGE size labels since small labels do not have enough space to include it. This option is useful if you need to put any address coding or messages on you envelopes or labels. -> Press 5 to re-direct all the printer output to a disk file. You will be asked to supply the name of the file. The default is REPORTS.TXT. You can accept this by pressing ENTER or you can change it by typing a new name. Please note that only the filename can be changed. The file extension (.TXT) is automatically supplied. As long as output is being re-directed, the name of the text file appears in the bottom right corner of the screen. All printer output will be sent to this file until you come back to this window and press 3 again. It is possible to keep writing to this file until it becomes quite large, so watch your disk space. -> Press 6 to toggle your screen display between monochrome and color. UTILITY MENU COMMAND 3 -> BACKUP This allows you to make backup copies of your inventory files to floppy diskettes. First you will be asked to select the floppy drive you want to copy to (A: or B: only). Then you can select the address list which you want to back up. The diskette you put into the floppy drive will be assessed for available space. If there is not enough space you will be shown a list of the files on that diskette and given a opportunity to delete some. Use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to scroll the list. Highlight a file you want to delete and press ENTER. You will also see a display of the space needed and the space available as you delete files. The backup will proceed to the next step as soon as there is enough space on the diskette. If you do not want to delete any files just press ESCAPE to terminate the backup. The easiest way to manage your backups is to create a separate diskette to hold a backup for each master mailing list. Label each diskette with the name of the list and reserve it for that backup only. Some people like to keep several backups and rotate them. This allows you to roll back the list data to a previous date if necessary. Please do not neglect the backup command. Use it frequently and you will never have cause for regret when your hard drive breaks down. If you have an employee who runs DMAIL for you, or have a situation where more than one person modifies your data, be sure that backups are part of the daily office routine for a designated person. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ UTILITY MENU COMMAND 4 -> RESTORE One hopes disaster will never strike and files are never lost. If it does happen, and you have been making backups, then this command easily restores the lost files. Place the diskette with the mailing list in a floppy drive. The first window that appears then asks you to identify the drive where you put the diskette. The second window asks you to identify the specific list you want to restore. The restore command has another use. If you keep a set of rotating backups, say one for each of the last three sessions with DMAIL, then you will always be able to roll back the data to a previous session. This ability comes in handy if you or one of your employees does something that is hard to undo, like deleting fifty addresses then realizing they were the wrong fifty. Everyone who works with computers (bar none) has moments like that, and an easy way out saves much heartache. UTILITY MENU COMMAND 5 -> DUPLICATE Use this command to look for name and address duplications in your mailing lists. There are two options when this command is used. -> Automatic Deletion - This will locate the addresses that have identical name and address fields and automatically deletes one. Use this for fast, unattended duplicate checking. It can be canceled by pressing ESCAPE. -> Selective Deletion - DMAIL locates duplication of names only and displays them. When a duplicate is found you will see both addresses, and at the bottom of the screen you will see a light bar menu with the following choices: -> Leave As Is - Select this to ignore the duplication and continue with the search. -> Bottom - Select this to delete the second address and continue with the search. -> Top - Select this to delete the first address and continue with the search. -> Quit - Select this to return to the Main Menu. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ EXIT MENU COMMAND 1 -> YES Select this to terminate DMAIL. EXIT MENU COMMAND 1 -> NO Select this to return to the Main Menu. EXIT MENU COMMAND 3 -> DOS This command gives you temporary access to DOS without terminating DMAIL. Since DMAIL is still in memory you may not be able to run large applications in this manner but you will be able to do routine DOS tasks such as formatting diskettes and moving files around. When you want to return to DMAIL type EXIT at the DOS prompt after making sure you have returned to the DMAIL home directory, otherwise you may get a DOS error 2 (file not found) when you start working with your mailing list again. You should also have a statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file showing the path to COMMAND.COM (i.e. "PATH = C:\"). GENERAL PROGRAM NOTES If you are a dBASE or FoxBase user you can load your address records into one of those programs and perform all the functions that they allow. The data file structure used by DMAIL is as follows: FLD# NAME TYPE WIDTH DESCRIPTION 1 PR L 1 - Mark 2 PRE C 3 - Salutation 3 FNAME C 9 - First name 4 LNAME C 16 - Last name 5 TITLE C 29 - Title 6 COMPANY C 30 - Company name 7 ADDR C 30 - Street address 8 CITY C 15 - City 9 PROV C 4 - State or province 10 PCODE C 10 - Postal zip code 11 CO C 9 - Country 12 PHONE C 13 - Work phone - pict "(XXX)XXX-XXXX" 13 EXT C 4 - Extension - pict "XXXX" 14 LMAIL D 8 - Last mailing 15 NOTES M 10 - Notes memo field (holds 64KB of text) 16 FAX C 13 - Fax phone number 17 HOME C 13 - Home phone number 18 UDF C 28 - User defined field You can extract addresses and phone numbers from your existing dBASE records and load them into DMAIL but the above structure must be observed. If you are an experienced dBASE user it will not take long to write a routine that reads any dBASE file and writes the appropriate fields to a DMAIL address file with the above structure. ALWAYS MAKE SURE TO HAVE BACKUP COPIES OF ALL YOUR ADDRESS LISTS. SOME DAY YOU MAY BE VERY GLAD THAT YOU DO. DMAIL is distributed as Shareware so you can try it before you buy it. As a registered DMAIL user you will receive the latest version (without the on- screen registration notice), printed documentation and unlimited telephone support. Please use the order form supplied to place your order. APPENDIX A Abbreviations of American States and Territories ALASKA --------------- AK NEBRASKA ------------- NE ALABAMA -------------- AL NEVADA --------------- NV AMERICAN SAMOA ------- AS NEW HAMPSHIRE -------- NH ARIZONA -------------- AZ NEW JERSEY ----------- NJ ARKANSAS ------------- AR NEW MEXICO ----------- NM CALIFORNIA ----------- CA NEW YORK ------------- NY COLORADO ------------- CO NORTHERN MANANA ISLA - CM CONNECTICUT ---------- CT NORTH CAROLINA ------- NC DELAWARE ------------- DE NORTH DAKOTA --------- ND DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA - DC OHIO ----------------- OH FLORIDA -------------- FL OKLAHOMA ------------- OK GEORGIA -------------- GA OREGON --------------- OR GUAM ----------------- GU PENNSYLVANIA --------- PA HAWAII --------------- HI PUERTO RICO ---------- PR IDAHO ---------------- ID RHODE ISLAND --------- RI ILLINOIS ------------- IL SOUTH CAROLINA ------- SC INDIANA -------------- IN SOUTH DAKOTA --------- SD IOWA ----------------- IA TENNESSEE ------------ TN KANSAS --------------- KS TEXAS ---------------- TX KENTUCKY ------------- KY TRUST TERRITORY ------ TT LOUISIANA ------------ LA UTAH ----------------- UT MAINE ---------------- ME VERMONT -------------- VT MARYLAND ------------- MD VIRGINIA ------------- VA MASSACHUSETTS -------- MA VIRGIN ISLANDS ------- VI MICHIGAN ------------- MI WASHINGTON ----------- WA MINNESOTA ------------ MN WEST VIRGINIA -------- WV MISSOURI ------------- MO WISCONSIN ------------ WI MISSISSIPPI ---------- MS WYOMING -------------- WY MONTANA -------------- MT Abbreviations of Canadian Provinces and Territories ALBERTA -------------- AB NOVA SCOTIA ---------- NS BRITISH COLUMBIA ----- BC ONTARIO -------------- ON LABRADOR ------------- LB PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND - PE MANITOBA ------------- MB QUEBEC --------------- PQ NEW BRUNSWICK -------- NB SASKATCHEWAN --------- SK NEWFOUNDLAND --------- NF YUKON TERRITORY ------ YT NORTH WEST TERRITORY - NT ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- DMAIL SOFTWARE ORDER FORM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- K. EGGER, ADELAIDE P.O. BOX 423, 36 ADELAIDE ST. EAST, TORONTO CANADA M5C 2J5 (416)862-3430 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you order DMAIL you will receive a new version of the software (without the on-screen reminders), unlimited telephone support, and a typeset manual with screen graphics. Note that each registration entitles you to use DMAIL on two computers. Please purchase additional registrations as you require. Sold To:____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________ PHONE _________________________ QTY ITEM PRICE TOTAL ___ DMAIL registration(s) 35.00 _______ ___ DMAIL bound manual with screen graphics. (Order this only if you need to see more elaborate documentation before making a descision to buy.) 10.00 _______ ___ Demo version of our retail sales and inventory software system. 10.00 _______ ___ Shipping and handling by first class mail 5.00 _______ ___ Send it by Federal Express 35.00 _______ TOTAL (Cheque or money order) _______ Check one: [ ] 5.25 inch diskette [ ] 3.5 inch diskette