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_____________________ / \ / DDFile \______________________________ | | |_________________________________________________________| | | | | | DOCTOR DATA File (TM) v6.03 | | | | Released July 1992 | | | | (C) Copyright 1987-1992 | | | | All Rights Reserved | | | | | | | | DOCTOR DATA SOFTWARE | | | | P.O. Box 11368 | | | | Phoenix, AZ 85061-1368 | | | | (602) 246-8907 | | | |_________________________________________________________| TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 Introduction ............................. 4 Some of DOCTOR DATA File's Features ............ 5 Order Form ..................................... 7 Disclaimer ..................................... 8 System Requirements ............................ 8 Running DOCTOR DATA File ....................... 8 CHAPTER 2 Getting Started .......................... 10 Select or Close a Database ..................... 10 CHAPTER 3 Editing and Adding Records ............... 12 Add a New Record to Database ................... 14 GoTo Specified Record(s) ....................... 15 Mark Specified Record(s) ....................... 16 Unmark Specified Record(s) ..................... 17 Delete All Marked Records ...................... 17 Seek/Search Field Data ......................... 17 Dial Phone Number on Modem ..................... 18 View Records in Browse Mode .................... 18 Carry-Over from Prior Record ................... 19 Print Letters/Labels/Lists ..................... 19 Edit Memo Fields ............................... 19 Notepad ........................................ 20 US Abbreviations ............................... 21 Zippy : ON/OFF/NOT PRESENT .................... 21 Filter : ON/OFF/NOT PRESENT .................... 21 Index : # ..................................... 21 Marked : ON/OFF / xxx .......................... 22 Return to Edit/Add Records ..................... 22 CHAPTER 4 Creating a Filter ........................ 23 CHAPTER 5 Creating and Selecting Index Files ....... 27 CHAPTER 6 Printing ................................. 30 Printing Labels, Letters and Lists ............. 30 Template : Template Name ................... 30 Edit/Add/Delete Templates .................. 30 Select Template Type ....................... 31 Select Printer ............................. 31 Labels across .............................. 31 Spaces between labels ...................... 32 Label width in spaces ...................... 32 Lines per label ............................ 32 Lines per record ........................... 33 TABLE OF CONTENTS Sheet Feeder? .............................. 33 Skip lines top of page ..................... 33 Labels per page ............................ 33 Records per page ........................... 33 1 or X for each record ..................... 34 Print Labels/Letters/Lists ................. 34 Print Multiples of Template ................ 34 Start Printing ............................. 34 Go to top? ................................. 35 Print every Nth record ..................... 35 Pause every Nth record ..................... 35 Print job X times .......................... 35 Display count? ............................. 35 Set Printer ................................ 36 Bar Code Printer Emulation ................. 36 Zip Bulk Labels ............................ 36 Zip+4 Bulk Labels .......................... 37 Carrier Route Bulk Labels .................. 37 Printing Reports ............................... 45 CHAPTER 7 Searching for Duplicates ................. 47 CHAPTER 8 Importing and Exporting .................. 48 CHAPTER 9 File Management .......................... 55 CHAPTER 10 Miscellaneous Utilities ................. 57 CHAPTER 11 Creating or Modifying a Database ........ 61 CHAPTER 12 Designing the Screen .................... 64 CHAPTER 13 General Setup ........................... 67 APPENDIX ........................................... 70 GLOSSARY ........................................... 71 Page 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- CHAPTER 1 Introduction ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to DOCTOR DATA File, a comprehensive, professional and user-friendly data manager for mailing lists, sales management, hobbies, or anything else. Up to 1 BILLION records can be stored in a single database file up to the capacity of your drive. We encourage and welcome you to evaluate this program to see if it will meet your database management needs. This version of DOCTOR DATA File is Shareware, meaning that you may share copies with others for their evaluation. However, this program is NOT FREE SOFTWARE! If you paid a Shareware distributor for this program you paid for the cost of distribution - not for the program itself. As you find this program useful we ask that you register by completing and returning the order form in this manual or call (602) 246-8907. Since August of 1987 we've been developing DOCTOR DATA Label (DDLabel), a highly rated mailing list manager. Through the years we have been praised for the mailing list management features in DDLabel but have often been asked if the database can be modified to include another phone number field, date field, etc.. The answer sadly was always no... until now! DOCTOR DATA File (DDFile) is an update from DDLabel and is now MUCH more than just a mailing list manager. With the introduction of DDFile, mailing list management has been greatly enhanced PLUS you have complete control in creating and modifying dBASE III files with user-friendly menu selections. No matter what your database management need may be, from a Christmas list to mass mailings, from recipes to coin or stamp collections, DDFile can handle the job. If you have questions as to whether something can be done with DDFile, or if you have any suggestions on the program or this manual, we want to hear from you. We ask that you call instead of write, if possible, so that we may better understand your needs. Thank you Page 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Some of DOCTOR DATA File's Features ------------------------------------------------------------------- * Perhaps the one most important feature in a database manager is the ability to easily edit, add, delete, and locate records. This is one of DDFile's most powerful features carried over from DDLabel. * Use one of the database files provided or custom design one to fit your particular needs. You are not required to use any fields you don't want. * Choose from over 430 printers from our master printer driver file for custom printouts (available with registration). * For all you sales people, our Tickler feature allows you to easily locate records of customers who need to be contacted. * Easily imports and exports most other lists. (dBASE III, ASCII Delimited, or ASCII SDF). * Any label you have will work with DDFile, even if a completely new one were to come out tomorrow. You can fully customize the data to print on any size labels (up to 9 across), postcards, Rolodex cards, any size forms, stationary or anything else that will go through your printer. * Save 20% to 27% on postage costs using zip + 4 POSTNET bar codes. Requires HP Laserjet II, HP Deskjet, Epson (9 or 24 pin), IBM Proprinter (9 or 24 pin), Toshiba (24 pin), Okidata Microline Standard or any other printer that will emulate any of these. * DDFile can print bulk and carrier route reports to accompany your mailings. * Use our built-in editor to create form letters and master lists/reports or easily import your own. * Duplicate records can be looked for either before or after they are entered or imported. The search is quickly done on up to 5 fields at a time. * Duplicate records can either be automatically or manually deleted. * Filter a file to create a sub-set of records based on field content such as all Smith's in zip code 12345 or individually select them as needed. Page 6 * Create up to 15 index files per database to sort your records any way you like. These files are updated and selected automatically each time you select a database. * DDFile uses dBASE III compatible files which means they may be accessed by dBASE III and the many dBASE III utilities on the market. * DDFile can automatically enter the city, state and area code into your records for you using Zippy(TM), our optional 49,000+ record database. Simply enter the zip code and the rest is done for you. If you enter a zip code with more than one city name, you will be allowed to select the city name to use. If you enter a zip code that belongs exclusively to a Post Office Box, "P.O. Box" will automatically be inserted into the street address field that you assign. Zippy saves about 25 keystrokes per record; paying for itself in time saved. You can also cross-reference Zippy to look up data on an area code, city or state. Requires 2.8 to 5 MB hard disk space. Zippy is available upon registration. It doesn't end here. You're going to find many more features and benefits in DDFile that will be hard to find in any other program. Through research, you will find that you will need to spend many times the price of DDFile to find a comparable program. This is our goal and ambition. Thank you for your interest in DDFile. DOCTOR DATA File v6.03 ORDER FORM DOCTOR DATA SOFTWARE / P.O. Box 11368 / Phoenix, AZ 85061-1368 Phone orders please call (602) 246-8907. ( ) DOCTOR DATA File Registration includes: 1) the cur- rent registered version (w/o registration reminders) 2) the registered users manual, 3) 1 year FREE phone support, 4) over 430 printer drivers, and 5) future updates at discount ..................... $49 x ____ = $ ______ ( ) Zippy, a 49,000+ record database saves approximately 25 keystrokes per record. Upon entering the zip code Zippy automatically inserts the city, state and area code. Zippy can pay for itself in time saved and as- sures correct spelling. You can also cross reference to look up zip codes, area codes, etc. Requires hard drive with 2.8 to 5 MB free disk space. Zippy is a- vailable only with above registration ... $25 x ____ = $ ______ Arizona residents add 6.7% sales tax $ ______ UPS or US Mail ground Shipping & Handling $ 3.00 UPS 2nd DAY AIR in U.S. (lower 48) add $3 $ ______ Foreign orders add $10 Shipping & Handling $ ______ Total U.S. funds drawn on U.S. bank $ ______ Payment by: ( ) Check ( ) M.O. ( ) Master Card ( ) Visa Credit Card # ____________________________ Expiration Date ___/___ Signature of Card Holder __________________________________________ Ship to: Name ___________________________________________________ Company ________________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________ City, St, Zip __________________________________________ Disk format: ( ) 5 1/4 or ( ) 3 1/2 A/C & Phone (___) ____-______ Computer type: PC/XT AT 386 486 Hard drive? Y N Size: ___MB Floppy drive: (qty) ___360Kb ___720Kb ___1.2MB ___1.44MB Printer(s): 1 _______________ 2 _______________ 3 _______________ IMPORTANT: This registration is for use on only one (1) computer at a time. If purchasing more than one registration, photocopy this form. The registered version of DOCTOR DATA File and Zippy are not shareware and therefore may not be copied and distributed freely. Page 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer ------------------------------------------------------------------- DOCTOR DATA SOFTWARE has taken great care in the writing of this manual and DOCTOR DATA File. In no event whatsoever will DOCTOR DATA SOFTWARE be liable for damages of any kind, incidental or consequential, in regard to or arising out of the performance or form of the material in this manual and in DOCTOR DATA File. DOCTOR DATA SOFTWARE makes NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, BY STATUTE OR OTHERWISE, REGARDING THE DISKS AND RELATED MATERIALS, THEIR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE, THEIR QUALITY, THEIR MERCHANTABIL- ITY, OR OTHERWISE. ------------------------------------------------------------------- System Requirements ------------------------------------------------------------------- DOCTOR DATA File v6.0 requires an IBM PC\XT\AT (286\386\486) or compatible computer with at least 512K RAM and DOS v2.1 or later and two floppy drives. A hard drive is not needed (except for Zippy) however, is recommended because of it's higher speed and larger capacity. DOS version 3.30 or higher is also recommended. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Running DOCTOR DATA File ------------------------------------------------------------------- The following files are distributed with DDFile. The only one needed to run DDFile is DDFILE.EXE. The other DDFILE files are created if not already existing. DDFILE.EXE - This is the DOCTOR DATA File program. DDFILE.DBF - Template Database used for printing labels, letters and lists. DDFILE.DBT - Part of DDFILE.DBF (memo field). DDFILE.DEF - Default definition file. MANUAL - Shareware Documentation. STATES.TXT - State name and abbreviation file used by DDFILE.EXE. The SAMPLE files consist of the four types of files created each time you create a database. The DBT file will be created and needed only if the database contains a memo field. The following four files are important if you are new to computers or simply want to be able to start using DDFile without first creating and setting up a database of your own. SAMPLE.DBF - Sample database (same as DOCTOR DATA Label v5.1 database) SAMPLE.DBT - Part of SAMPLE.DBF (memo field). SAMPLE.DF1 - Definition file for SAMPLE.DBF database. SAMPLE.DF2 - Definition database file for field placement for SAMPLE.DBF database. Page 9 Installing DOCTOR DATA File --------------------------------------- To install, simply insert disk into a floppy drive and make that drive the default by typing the drive letter, a colon (:) and then <Enter>. At this time your system prompt should say "A:\>" or "B:\>". Next, insert the DDFile disk, type GO and press <Enter>. Instructions are then given on the screen for installation. Using a Dual Floppy System ---------------------------------------- After installation, your "Program" disk will contain the DDFile program. Your "Data" (work) disk is where your database and index files will be created and maintained. IMPORTANT: After selecting a database with the "Select/Close Database File" command be sure not to remove the data disk from the data disk drive until you either close the file or quit the program. Removing the disk before it has been properly closed may cause unpredictable errors on your "Data" disk. Using a Single 720k or Larger Floppy Disk ------------------------- DOCTOR DATA File can run on a single 720 KB or larger floppy disk. The program and data are both stored on one disk. If you receive the disk from us, there will be no installation to do. Using a Hard Drive System ----------------------------------------- A hard drive is recommended for running DOCTOR DATA File because of its increased speed and capacity. Page 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- CHAPTER 2 Getting Started ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- Throughout this program you will be prompted to make a selection in either a menu of commands or a directory of files. In either case a window will open allowing a selection to take place. This is done by highlighting the command or file with the up and down arrow keys and after highlighting the command or file you want to select, press the <Enter> key. Commands and files may also be selected by pressing the first letter or number of the command or file. To save space and redundancy in this manual, these instructions will not be given each time a selection is to be made. This will simply be referred to as making a "selection". Also, be sure your "brightness" and "contrast" controls on your monitor are set so that you will be able to differentiate between high and low intensity. This is important for some commands. See the "Select Screen Colors" command in "General Setup" (chapter 13). The main menu consists of 13 commands. Selecting any of these may open other windows containing other commands. Pressing <Esc> from the main menu will prompt you with "Are you sure you want to Quit?" for quitting DDFile. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Select or Close a Database ------------------------------------------------------------------- The first command you will most always want to select upon entering DDFile is the "Select/Close Database File" command. Therefore, this command is executed automatically upon entering the program. If your CONFIG.SYS file can not be found or the FILES statement (located in the CONFIG.SYS file) isn't set to 20 or greater, you will not be able to select a database. You can edit the CONFIG.SYS file from within DDFile using the "Copy/Rename/Delete/Edit Files" command from the main menu. See the Appendix for more on the CONFIG.SYS file and the FILES statement. Before selecting a database you are asked to enter the drive and directory in which to look for a database file. The current drive and directory will display by default. Pressing <Enter> will display any database (DBF) files found. If there are no files available you will be so informed and will need to first create a database file or specify another drive and/or directory. To create a database, see "Creating or Modifying a Database" (chapter 11). Page 11 After selecting a database file, any index files that were in use when the database was last used will be re-selected automatically unless either the index file(s) or the database file has been modified in any way since its last usage in DDFile. For more on index files see "Creating and Selecting Index Files" (chapter 5). If you're a sales person who needs to make call-backs, DDFile will allow you to check your call-back records upon database selection. If you assigned a Tickler field, you will be asked if you want to want run the Tickler. If so, you will be asked to enter a "Plus or Minus" number. A "Plus or Minus" number of 2, for example, will locate all records with a Tickler date of 2 days prior to the current date to 2 days following the current date. A "Plus or Minus" number of 0 will locate only records with a Tickler date matching the current date. After entering a "Plus or Minus" number, the search is made. If any records are found, you be asked if you want to tally them. Whether you tally the records or not, the record pointer will be positioned to the first record that meets the Tickler date. Upon entering the "Edid/Add Records" command, you will see the first record meeting the Tickler date. To go to any other records meeting the Tickler date, press <F3> then No. This may be repeated until there are no more records meeting the Tickler date. To view them again, press <F3> then "F" to go to the First record in the database then start over with <F3> then No. See the GoTo command in the "Edit and Add Records" section later in this chapter. Page 12 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- CHAPTER 3 Editing and Adding Records ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- Before you can edit and/or add records to a database you must: 1) Select a database if one has not already been selected. See "Select or Close a Database" (chapter 2). 2) Design the field input screen if it has not already been designed. See "Designing the Screen" (chapter 12). Once a database has been selected and the field input screen has been designed, you may edit and/or add records to the database with the "Edit/Add Records" command. This is the first command in the main menu. This is also where you will probably spend most of your time in DDFile. If you do not first design the field input screen, you will automatically go into "Browse" mode. You can not edit or add records in browse mode . Browse will be discussed later in this chapter. If the database is new, you will be notified that the database is empty. Pressing any key will add a blank record to the database. At the top right of your screen you will see "Ins" displayed. This means that your Insert key is turned ON and that anything typed will push over any text that is to the right of the cursor. To turn it OFF, press the <Ins> key. When the Insert key is OFF, anything typed will write over any text to the right of the cursor. On the 4th line from the top of the screen is: F1=Commands Record Unmarked: xxxx of yyyy Database: nnnnnn.dbf Pressing <F1> will display the commands available while in this screen. "Unmarked" may be "Marked" depending on whether the current record is marked or not. Marked records will be explained later in this section. The xxxx represents the current record number. The yyyy represents the total number of records in the database file. The nnnnnn.dbf represents the name of the selected database file. Field Editing Keys The following commands are used for editing text in all fields except the Notes field which will be explained later. The ^ is the <Ctrl> key. Page 13 Up arrow or ^E = Move up one field Down arrow or ^X = Move down one field Left arrow or ^S = Move left one character Right arrow or ^D = Move right one character ^A = Move left one word ^right arrow or ^F = Move right one word ^left arrow or HOME = Beginning of current field END = End of text in current field ^HOME = Beginning of the record ^END = End of the record PgUp = Previous record PgDn = Next record ^Y = Delete the current line ^T = Delete word right Ins = Toggle insert/replace on/off Esc = Exit to sub-menu Commands The commands available from this screen are listed below. They are executed by pressing the function key or key sequence in parenthesis following the command. They may also be executed by pressing <F1> then pressing <A> through <P> or highlighting the command and pressing <Enter>. Pressing a key command in parenthesis while displaying this menu will not execute the command. You must first exit the menu to use the commands in parenthesis. A) Add a New Record to Database (F2) B) GoTo Specified Record(s) (F3) C) Mark Specified Record(s) (F4) D) Unmark Specified Record(s) (F5) E) Delete All Marked Records (F6) F) Seek/Search Field Data (F7) G) Dial Phone Number on Modem (F8) H) View Records in Browse Mode (F9) I) Carry-Over from Prior Record (F10) K) Print Letters/Labels/Lists (Alt-P) K) Edit Memo Fields (Alt-E) L) Notepad (Alt-N) M) US Abbreviations (Alt-U) N) Zippy : ON/OFF/NOT PRESENT (Alt-Z) O) Filter : ON/OFF/NOT PRESENT (Alt-F) P) Index : # (Alt-I) Q) Marked : ON/OFF / xxx (Alt-M) R) Return to Edit/Add Records Page 14 These commands will now be explained from A) to R). A) Add a New Record to Database (F2) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command adds a new record to the database. New records are always added to the end of a database and are saved automatically. A "hard" save will be performed after every 10 records are added or upon returning to the main menu. This is not done each time a record is added because of the 1 to 2 seconds it takes to perform. Duplicate Checking on Record Entry -------------------------------- If an index file is active you will be prompted to enter the field data on which the database was indexed. See "Creating and Selecting Index Files" (chapter 5) for instruction on indexing. Upon completion you will be informed of how many, if any, possible duplicate records were found and asked if you want to see them. Answering Yes will take you to the first record that appeared to be a duplicate. Pressing <PgDn> will display any others. Answering No will add a blank record to the database and allow you to complete the added record. Duplicate record checking on record entry prevents duplicate records from being entered into the database. Duplicate records can also be checked for after they have been added. See "Searching for Duplicates" (chapter 7). Zippy ------------------------------------------------------------- Zippy is an optional city, state, area code, and zip code database that automatically inserts the city, state, and area code into your records for you saving approximately 25 to 30 keystrokes per record. Upon registering DDFile, you will be given the opportunity to purchase Zippy for an additional cost. A hard drive with at least 2.8 MB of free disk space is needed. Zippy automatically inserts the city, state and area code for you based upon the zip code you enter into the record. If you enter a zip code that belongs exclusively to a post office, "P.O. Box" or any other string you define, will also be inserted into the street address field. If there is more than one city for the zip code entered, a window will open allowing you to select the city name of choice to insert into the city field. The first city in the list is the Main Post Office city name. The cities following will be the Branch Post Office city name, Community Post Office city name, or the Place Name in that order. Page 15 For Zippy to work, you must have assigned fields to the street address, city, state, area code, and zip code. See "General Setup" (chapter 13) for instruction on field assignment. You will also have to turn Zippy ON. This is done by pressing <Alt-Z>. After installing Zippy and entering DDFile, a message will display "Creating zippy database..." then "Indexing zippy database...". This will happen only once after installing Zippy. B) GoTo Specified Record(s) (F3) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will position the record pointer to the "First" record, "Last" record, "Record#", "Next" record specified in a Search, "Prior" record, the next "Marked" record, or to "Skip" a given number of records. To do this, press <F3> then the first letter of the command to execute. The following are descriptions of these commands, their usage, and examples: Pressing "F" will position the record pointer to the First record in the database. If the database is not indexed this will be record #1. If an index is active the first record could be any record because the records are in order of the index file. See "Creating and Selecting Index Files" (chapter 5). Pressing "L" will position the record pointer to the last record in the database. Like the above explanation, the last record will vary depending on whether or not an index file is active. Pressing "R" will prompt you for the record number to go to. After entering the record number, press <Enter> to position the record pointer to the number entered. Pressing "N" will position the record pointer to the Next record meeting a Search requirement or Tickler date. A Search is done with the <F7> command. The index order must be set to 0 for this to work, otherwise a Seek will take place. See "Creating and Selecting Index Files" (chapter 5) and the <F7> command later in this chapter. A Tickler Date is a date that you enter into a date field. The date field used must be assigned as the Tickler Date field. See "General Setup" (chapter 13) for instruction on field assignment. After a Tickler field is setup, upon selecting a database, you be asked if you want to run Tickler. See "Select or Close a Database" (chapter 2) for instruction on running Tickler. Page 16 Pressing <F3> then "N" will position the record pointer to the Next record meeting the Search requirement or Tickler date. This can be done repeatedly until there are no more records meeting the Search requirement or Tickler date. To review again, press <F3>, then "F" to go to the First record then start over using the "Next" command. Pressing "P" will position the record pointer to the record displayed prior to the current record. For example, if you are at record #100 and you press <F3> then "R" then enter 200 and press <Enter> the prior record is #100. If you now press <F3> then "P" you will go back to record #100. Pressing "M" will position the record pointer to the next Marked record in the database. This command will NOT work if Marked records are turned OFF. This can be checked at the bottom of the commands menu. Pressing "S" will allow you to skip through the database the number of records specified. When prompted to enter a number, you may specify a positive number to skip forward or a negative number to skip backwards. A negative number is entered using the minus (-) sign i.e. -30 will skip back 30 records. C) Mark Specified Record(s) (F4) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will Mark all records "Prior" to the current record, the "Current" record, the "Rest" of the records, "All" of the records, or individual records other than the currently displayed record. To do this press the first letter of the command to execute. The following are descriptions of these commands and their usage: Pressing "P" will Mark all records Prior to the current record displayed on the screen. Pressing "C" will Mark the Current record displayed on the screen. Pressing "R" will Mark the Rest of the records in the database or all records after the current record displayed on the screen. Pressing "A" will Mark All the records in the database. Pressing "Alt-R" will prompt you for a record number and then upon pressing <Enter> will go to the record number entered and Mark it. Page 17 When using the Prior or Rest commands on an indexed database it is important to remember that the database is NOT in natural order and that any records Marked will be those according to the index. If a database is filtered and the filter is turned ON, only the records in the filter are marked. There can be several reasons for marking records. The most common of which is to remove records permanently from the database. This is done using the <F6> command. The <F6> command is explained later in this chapter. Another use for marking records is if you wanted to single out selected records for any particular purpose by Marking them and then setting a Filter to Marked records. See "Creating a Filter" (chapter 4) for more on filtering. D) Unmark Specified Record(s) (F5) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will Unmark records. To do this press the first letter of the command to execute. This command has the same options as the Mark command. This command will not work if Marked records are turned OFF. E) Delete All Marked Records (F6) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will permanently remove all Marked records from the database. If there are any Marked records in the database, pressing <F6> will prompt you with "Are you sure you want to PERMANENTLY REMOVE xxx RECORDS from the database (Y/N)?" where xxx is the number of Marked records in the database. If you answer Yes, all Marked records will be permanently removed. IMPORTANT: It is always good practice to keep a backup of your database files in case of corruption or accidental deletion of records. F) Seek/Search Field Data (F7) ------------------------------------------------------------------- If an index is active, this command will first prompt you for the index file to use for the seek. After selecting the index, you will be prompted, in the key index field, for the data to seek. If, for example, the selected index file is indexed on the zip code and last name, you will be prompted for the zip code to seek since that is the primary index field. After entering the field content to seek and pressing <Enter> the record position will be moved to the Page 18 first record meeting the requirement unless no records could be found. Pressing <PgDn> will display any subsequent records with the same key index field content. If an index is not active, this command will open a scrollable window, containing the fields in the database, allowing you to select one in which to Search. Upon selecting a field, another sub-menu will appear allowing you to Search for data... 1) from beginning of field ------------------------------------ This selection will cause the search to be performed starting from the beginning of the field. 2) from within the field -------------------------------------- This selection will cause the search to be performed from anywhere within the field. This could, for example, be used for locating all records that have an address on "Elm" street. This command is available for use only on "character" fields. G) Dial Phone Number on Modem (F8) ------------------------------------------------------------------- See "General Setup" (chapter 13) to set up the modem and assign fields to the area code and phone number before using this command. This command can dial the area code and phone number in the current record displayed on the screen. You have a choice of one of two prefix's plus the a/c and phone, 1 plus the a/c and phone or just phone, or the phone number only. Pressing 1 through 4 will select and then dial the number on your modem. After the modem dials the number, pick up the receiver and press any key on the keyboard to disconnect the modem. H) View Records in Browse Mode (F9) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will automatically be executed upon entering the "Edit/Add Records" command if the fields have not yet been placed on the screen for data entry. See "Designing the Screen" (chapter 12). You can not edit or add records from this command. You can only browse through them. This allows you to view several records at a time but not always the whole record, depending on the size of the record. The following are the keys used to navigate through the records and fields: Page 19 Up arrow = Up one row Down arrow = Down one row Left arrow = Column left Right arrow = Column right Ctrl-Left arrow = Pan left one column Ctrl-Right arrow = Pan right one column Home = Left most current screen column End = Right most current screen column Ctrl-Home = Left most column Ctrl-End = Right most column PgUp = Previous screen PgDn = Next screen Ctrl-PgUp = First row of current column Ctrl-PgDn = Last row of current column Esc = Exit I) Carry-Over from Prior Record (F10) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command carries over data from the corresponding field in the prior record after adding a new record to the database. This eliminates the need to enter repetitious data from one record to the next. J) Print Letters/Labels/Lists (Alt-P) ------------------------------------------------------------------- See "Printing Labels, Letters and Lists" (chapter 6) for instruction in using this command. K) Edit Memo Fields (Alt-E) ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have any memo fields in your database, executing this command will allow you to edit them. If you have more than one memo field, a window will open allowing you to select the memo field you wish to edit. The key commands below are used for editing memo fields. Up to 64,000 characters of any kind may be stored in a memo field. The actual data that is entered into a memo field is not stored in the DBF file itself but is instead stored in an accompanying DBT file by the same name. If the name of the database is SAMPLE.DBF, the .DBT file is named SAMPLE.DBT. Many times you may want to copy data from any of the regular fields into the memo field. This is done very easily by pressing <Alt-F> while editing a memo field. This will open a scrollable window of fields names from which you may select. The data will be copied to the location the cursor was at the time you pressed <Alt-F>. Page 20 Memo Field Editing Keys The ^ equals the <Ctrl> key. Up arrow or ^E = Move up one line Down arrow or ^X = Move down one line Left arrow or ^S = Move left one character Right arrow or ^D = Move right one character ^left arrow or ^A = Move left one word ^right arrow or ^F = Move right one word HOME = Beginning of current line END = End of current line ^HOME = Beginning of the memo ^END = End of the memo PgUp = Next edit window up PgDn = Next edit window down ^PgUp = Beginning of current window ^PgDn = End of current window ^W = Save and exit ^Y = Delete the current line ^T = Delete word right ^B = Reformat memo in edit window Ins or Alt-I = Toggle insert/replace on/off Alt-W = Word Wrap Alt-S = Scroll Alt-L = Specify Line Length Alt-X or Esc = Exit The status line at the bottom of the screen will display from left to right: the name of the notes field, "Insert" if insert is ON, "Scroll" if scroll is ON, "Wrap" if wrap is ON, the cursor line number and the cursor column number. The <Alt-L> command listed above will prompt you for a number to use for the line length. In order for a line length change to take affect you must exit the memo field and then re-enter. At that time the current data will be re-formatted to the line length. To exit a memo field press <Esc> or <Alt-X>. If the record has been modified you will be asked at the bottom of the screen if you want to abort. Press "Y" to abort, "N" to not abort or "S" to save and exit. L) Notepad (Alt-N) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will allow you to edit the Notepad. The Notepad is for the purpose of being able to keep on hand miscellaneous information Page 21 such as codes, dates of mailings, etc.. The editing commands are the same as for memo fields. However, the Notepad is not a memo field and is not part of the database. It is a text file on disk called NOTEPAD.TXT. The file capacity is 64K (64,000 characters). M) State Abbreviations (Alt-S) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command displays all 50 states and their abbreviations from a text file on disk called STATES.TXT. N) Zippy : ON/OFF/NOT PRESENT (Alt-Z) ------------------------------------------------------------------- See "General Setup" (chapter 13) to assign fields to the street address, city, state, zip code and area code before using this command. This command will toggle Zippy ON or OFF if present. See Zippy under "Add a New Record to Database" (earlier in this chapter) for a description of Zippy. The city, state and area code can be inserted into the appropriate fields of an already existing database by pressing <Ctrl-Z>, entering the zip code and then pressing <Enter>. O) Filter : ON/OFF/NOT PRESENT (Alt-F) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will allow you to create or set a filter the same as if executed from the "Filter Create/Select" command in the main menu. The Filter Status (located at the bottom of the commands menu) will display one of the following: 1) If no filter has been created the display will be "NOT PRESENT". 2) If a filter has been created and is OFF, the display will be "OFF". 3) If a filter has been created and is ON, the display will be "ON" followed by the number of records in the Filter. See "Creating a Filter" (chapter 4) for complete instruction on creating and setting a Filter. P) Index : # (Alt-I) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will allow you to create or select index files the same as the "Index Create/Select" command in the main menu. This command is available from both locations as is printing and filtering to make them all more convenient to use. Page 22 The # (hash or pound) sign represents the index order. The index order is the number of the currently active (controlling) index file. If, for example, you selected three index files to use with the database and if the second one was selected as the controlling index, then the index order would be 2. If no index file is activated or selected, the Index order would be 0 which is natural record order. Natural order is the order in which the records were entered into the database i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.. See "Creating and Selecting Index Files" (chapter 5). Q) Marked : ON/OFF : xxx (Alt-M) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will toggle marked records ON or OFF. If marked records are ON, they can be displayed. If marked records are OFF, they can not be displayed and will be hidden from printouts, reports, etc. See the <F4> and <F5> commands (earlier in this chapter) for more on marking and unmarking records. The xxx represents the number of marked records in the database. R) Return to Edit/Add Records ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command or <Esc> will exit the command menu. Page 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- CHAPTER 4 Creating a Filter ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- The filter sub-menu can be accessed from either the "Filter Create/Select" command in the main menu or while editing records by pressing <Alt-F>. Either way, the filter sub-menu is the same. The purpose of a filter is to "hide" all records not meeting the requirements that you specify for a given field. This will allow you to edit, view or print only the sub-set of records you select. If the message; "Field to be used with Filter has not been assigned." appears: 1) You will first need to assign a logical field to the Filter. This is done with the "Field Assignment" command. See "General Setup" (chapter 13). 2) If you do not have any logical fields in your database, you will need to modify the database to include one. To do this, you will first need to close the database, then modify it with the "Create/Modify Database Files" command. See "Creating or Modifying a Database" (chapter 11). If the message; "Index set to natural record order to create filter." appears, it is because an index file was active and is now inactivated. This is done to speed up the filtering process. The Filter sub-menu contains the following commands: A) Create New Filter ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will allow you to create a new filter for the current database. "Use previously set filter?" will display if a filter existed upon the last use of the database file. If you answer Yes, the last filter will be set and you will exit. Otherwise a sub-menu will open containing the following commands: A) Marked Records --------------------------------------------- Selecting this command will set a Filter to Marked records. If Marked records are turned off, they will be turned back on. Page 24 B) Field Data ------------------------------------------------- Selecting this command will allow you to specify requirements on selected fields for which a filter will be set. There are three steps for each requirement you want to specify in the filter. In the first step you will need to select a field from the scrollable box. Next, you will need to select a method of search. There are nine methods of search available for character, memo and numeric fields, six for date fields and three for logical fields. The following are the available operators. "1) Search from BEGINNING of field only on CURRENTLY selected records." This method of search will set a Filter to the records that equal the requirement you are about to specify for the field. Each time this method of search is selected, the requirement is searched for within the records meeting the last requirement specified. This will narrow down the number of records in the Filter. "2) Search from BEGINNING of field looking at ALL records in database." This method of search will allow two or more EQUAL requirements to be specified for any one field. Each time this method of search is selected, the requirement is searched for throughout the entire database and any records meeting the specified requirement are then added to the Filter. "3) Search from BEGINNING of field EXCLUDING those meeting specification." This method of search will exclude all records from the Filter or database that do not meet the specified requirement. "4) Search for RANGE in field only on CURRENTLY selected records." This method of search will set a Filter to the records that meet the specified MINIMUM and MAXIMUM range. "5) Search for RANGE in field looking at All records in database." This method of search will allow two or more RANGE requirements to be specified for any one field. Each time this is done, all records in the database meeting the range requirements will be included in the Filter. "6) Search for RANGE in field EXCLUDING those meeting specification." This method of search will exclude all records from the Filter or database that do not meet the specified requirement. Page 25 "7) Search from WITHIN field only on CURRENTLY selected records." This method of search will set a filter to all records that contain the requirement anywhere WITHIN the selected field. For example, you could set a Filter to all records that have a Street Address name of Elm which would be WITHIN the Street Address field. "8) Search from WITHIN field looking at All records in database." This method of search will allow two or more WITHIN requirements to be specified for any one field. Each time this method of search is chosen, the entire database is searched for the specified requirement WITHIN the selected field. All records meeting the requirement will be included in the filter. "9) Search from WITHIN field EXCLUDING those meeting specification." This method of search will exclude all records from the Filter or database that do not meet the specified requirement. "Ignore case structure?" After selecting a method of search, you will be asked if you want to ignore the case structure. If you answer Yes, upper and lower case letters will be recognized as the same. If there are no records in the database that meet the specifications entered, no Filter will be set and a message will appear saying there are no records available matching the requirements specified. "Tally Records in filter?" After each requirement is specified you will be prompted to tally the records in the filter up to that point. The tally is optional because of the time it takes to count. A non-optional tally is made once the filter is completed. "Select another field?" Next, you will be asked if you want to select another field. If so, this three step process will be repeated. In using the first three methods of search, note that the field content specified does not have to match, in length, the actual content of the field. For example, if "We" were specified in the "Last Name" field, the search would include all records with a Last name field content that start with "We" which would include "Webber", "Webster", "Wealler", and so on. Blank fields may be checked by using the first method of search and pressing <Enter>, not specifying a requirement for the field. Page 26 Example Filter: To set a filter to all records in the states of Arizona (AZ), California (CA), Nevada (NV), and Utah (UT): First, select the "State" field. Next, select the second method of search. Then specify "AZ" for the field content. Do the same for the other three states. Each time the filter will increase in size assuming you have records from those states. To continue the above example Filter, include only the records from those states who have a last name in the RANGE of "A" to "L". First, select the "Last name" field. Next, select the fourth method of search. Do not select the fifth since we do not want to search the entire database. Enter "A" for the START OF RANGE then "L" for the END OF RANGE. At this time if the steps above were followed correctly your filter includes all records that have a Last name field initial in the range of "A" to "L" and are from the states AZ, CA, NV, and UT. B) Set Filter ON/OFF ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will not appear unless a filter has already been created. This command will toggle the Filter ON or OFF. When the filter is turned ON, ONLY the records within the Filter may be edited, viewed, and printed. In order to edit, view, or print all records in the database the Filter must be turned OFF. C) Continue Filter ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will not appear unless a filter has already been created on any fields in the database. This will allow you to continue the filter by specifying more requirements on field content without creating a new filter. Selecting this command will display the same screen as when creating a new filter. Page 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- CHAPTER 5 Creating and Selecting Index Files ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- The index sub-menu can be accessed from either the "Index Create/Select" command in the main menu or while editing records by pressing <Alt-I>. Either way, the index sub-menu is the same. When an index file is active it causes records in the database to appear in the order in which they were indexed. The key index field is the first field selected when creating an index file. Records with a blank key index field appear first, numbers are second, then lower case and upper case characters. This order may be seen when paging up and down through the database from the "Edit/Add Records" command or when printing labels, letters or a master list. For example, if you created an index on the zip code field, records with a blank zip code field will appear first, U.S. zip codes would appear second (starting on the east coast and working west) and Canadian zip codes would appear last. An index is most often used for printing labels in zip code order by selecting the zip code as your key (1st) index field. DDFile also uses index files for duplicate record searching and seeking. If an index is active when exporting records, the records will be copied to the new database in index order. This is commonly known as a sort. The index order of the old (current) database is the natural order of the new (exported) database. See "Importing and Exporting" (chapter 8). A) Create New Index ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will allow you to create an index file for the current database. Up to 15 index files are allowed per database. Index files have a .NTX filename extention. Index files cause the records in a database to appear in the index order of the field(s) the index was created on. If the key index field is a date field, the index order would be chronological. If the key index field is a character field, the index order would be alphabetical. This index order is only active when the index file is selected as the controlling index. The controlling index is selected with the next command in this sub-menu. Page 28 If 15 index files already exist for the selected database, you will have to inactivate one or more of the active index files in order to create others. To inactivate an index, select the "Select Index Files" command in this sub-menu. Then, select only the index files that you want to use. The unwanted index files may then be deleted with the "File Management (Copy/Rename/Delete/Edit)" command. See "File Management" (chapter 9). If less than 15 index files currently exist for the selected database, the fields in the database will be displayed in a scrollable window. You can select up to five fields to index on. If you select a character field, you will be prompted to specify how many characters of the field to include in the index. If, for example, you are creating an index on the zip code and the zip code field is 10 characters long (zip+4) you would only want to index on the first 5 characters, especially if your secondary index field is the carrier route sort field. NOTE: Logical and memo fields can not be indexed. After selecting the fields to index on, you are asked to enter a name to call the database. Type a name up to 8 characters long and press <Enter>. The index file will then be created. The new index file is automatically added on to the end of the list of selected index files as long as there are less than 15 index files active. B) Set Controlling Index ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will allow you to select the controlling index file. This can only be done if one or more index files have been selected with the "Select Index Files" command. From within this command you may select one of the current index files or press <Esc> to select natural record order. Upon selecting an index file, the list of index fields will be displayed in a box followed by a description of the field in parenthesis. The description will be either C, N or D representing Character, Numeric or Date field respectively. If the field is a character field and the index was created on a portion of the field the "C" will be followed by the number of characters that were included in the index such as (C-10). Page 29 C) Select Index Files ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will allow you to select the index files you wish to use with the selected database. If you select an index that was created for another database where the field names or types do not match the currently selected database you will be informed so and will not be able to select it. Once you have selected the index files you may execute the prior command; "Set Index Order" to select the active (controlling) index file. Index files selected with this command will be updated to insure record integrity. These index files will be re-selected automatically upon re-selecting the database as long as they have not been used by any other database. Page 30 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- CHAPTER 6 Printing ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- Printing Labels, Letters, and Lists ------------------------------------------------------------------- In order to print, you must first have selected a database. See "Select or Close a Database" (chapter 2). You may also want to set a Filter and/or Index. See "Creating a Filter" (chapter 4) and "Creating and Selecting Index Files" (chapter 5) . To start, select the "Print Labels/Letters/Lists" command from the main menu. A sub-menu will then appear with selections A through N. Some selections are not always available and will be blank. A) Template : Template Name X/X ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will allow you to edit the name of the template. The first X in X/X represents the current template number. The second X represents the total number of templates. To move from one template to another press <PgUp>, <PgDn> or <Alt-L>. What's a Template? Templates allow you to custom design your printout. Field macros are placed in templates to represent field data when printing. A template can contain your own text such as "See inside for special offer!", macros such as {LAST} for "last name" which represents field content from your record(s), printer macros for enhancing text and special macros for other purposes. These macros are sometimes referred to as merge codes. Macros are explained in more detail later in this chapter. B) Edit/Add/Delete Templates ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will present another sub-menu allowing you to select "Edit", "Add", "Delete", or "Import". A) Edit ------------------------------------------------------- This command will edit the current template. The editing commands are the same as for memo fields. See the "Edit Memo Fields" command in "Edit and Add Records" (chapter 3). Instruction for "Filling in a Template" will follow later in this chapter. Page 31 B) Add -------------------------------------------------------- This command will add a blank template record. A template record consists of the template settings and the template itself. C) Delete ----------------------------------------------------- This command will delete the current template. Before deleting, you will be asked "Are you sure?" to safe-guard against accidental erasure. D) Import ----------------------------------------------------- This command will present a list of files from the current directory. They are sorted on file name extension. Selecting any file will replace the current template with the file. The selected file must be less than 64,000 bytes in size, not currently in use, and can not contain any hidden characters such as those found in documents from word processors. If you are upgrading from DDLabel, you can import the LBL (label), LTR (letter), and LST (master list) files (templates) eliminating the need to retype them into the new templates. C) Select Template Type: XXXXXX ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command allows you to select the type of template you wish it to be. The three choices are Letter, Label, or List. Selections "E" through "L" will change depending on the type of template you select. D) Select Printer ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will allow you to select a printer from the installed list of printer drivers. To install printer drivers, see the "Install printer(s)" command located under the "General Setup" command in the main menu (chapter 13). These printer drivers are provided to those who register their copy of DDFile. E) Labels across ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will appear only for Label templates. You can answer 1 to 9 to print up to 9 labels across. Page 32 F) Spaces between labels ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will appear only for Label templates if printing more than 1 label across. This defines the number of spaces between each label. The actual width in inches will depend on the pitch your printer is set at i.e. if your printer is set to pica (10 cpi) you will be printing 10 characters per inch. G) Label width in spaces ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will appear only for Label templates. This defines the width in spaces of the labels being used. The label width is going to vary depending on the pitch or cpi (characters per inch) used. If the label being used is 3 1/2 inches wide, the label width in spaces will be as follows: USING THIS PITCH CHARACTERS PER 3.5 INCHES Pica (10 cpi) 10 X 3.5 = 35 Elite (12 cpi) 12 X 3.5 = 42 Condensed (17 cpi) 17 X 3.5 = 59.5 (60) H) Lines per label ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will appear only for Label templates. This defines the number of lines to make each label. Example: If you are using 1" or 15/16" high labels, this should be set to 6 regardless of how many printable lines are in the template. This is assuming that your printer is set to printing 6 lines per inch which is the default setting for most printers. If you specify a number less than the number of printable lines in the template file you will be notified that this setting "Must be at least ----> X", where X is the number of printable lines in the template. This does not include the non-printable lines in the beginning of the template that are preceded with the "*" character or are left blank. IMPORTANT: Laser labels are NOT the same as copier labels. Laser labels have a top and bottom margin of approximately 1/2". This is because laser printers can only print 10" on a page. Copy labels use the full 11" on a page. Page 33 The maximum allowable number of printable lines in a label template is 20 if printing 2 or more labels across. This should impose no problem since a label over 20 lines is rare. To go over 20 lines per label, print only 1 across. H) Lines per record ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will appear only for List templates and works the same as it does for labels. I) Sheet Feeder? (Y/N) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will appear only for Label and List templates. If you are using a single sheet feed printer such as a laser printer as apposed to a continuous forms printer, select Yes for this option. You can use this feature on continuous paper if you would like to customize your printout. J) Skip lines top of page ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will appear only if answering Yes to "I) Sheet Feeder?". One purpose of this would be to properly align a sheet of labels to start printing on the right line. K) Labels per page ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will appear only for Label templates and only if answering Yes to "I) Sheet Feeder?". This command is needed to properly eject the page after printing the specified number of labels. If you are using, for example, 2-across by 10 down labels (20 labels per page) then this number should be set to 20 to use all 20 labels on the page. K) Records per page ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will appear only for List templates and only if answering Yes to "I) Sheet Feeder?". If, for example, your master list template uses three lines per record and your paper is 8 1/2" x 11" (66 lines) then this could be set to 20 and still have 3 lines at the top and bottom of each page. Page 34 L) 1 or X for each record ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will appear only for Label templates and only if printing more than 1 label across. The X is the number of labels being printed across. This command will print one row of labels from the same record with the next row of labels from the next record and so on with each row of labels (up to 9-across) all being the same record. M) Print Labels/Letters/Lists ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will print the database from the current record. If the record pointer is not at the first record in the database (indexed or not) you will be notified and given a chance to go to the first record before printing. Prior to printing labels with this command, the next command should be used first to assure proper alignment of the labels before printing the database. A good test would be to print three (3) rows of labels. If, for example, you are printing 3-across labels, you would print a quantity of 9 labels with the "One or more with" command (3 across x 3 down = 9). N) Print Multiples of Template ------------------------------------------------------------------- Selecting this command will allow you to print more than 1 label, letter, or list entry for any one record. Enter the "Quantity to print" and press <Enter>. Before the printing begins, another sub-menu will appear with the following commands: A) Start Printing ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will do just as it says and start printing. If you want to print Bulk labels, refer to the last three commands in this sub-menu. Select this command after first setting any of the commands following it from B to H. Page 35 B) Go to top? (Y/N) ------------------------------------------------------------------- You will be allowed to execute this command if printing with the "Print Labels/Letters/Lists" command, and if the record pointer is not at the beginning of the file. If No, the printing will begin with the current record and work forward to the end of the database. If Yes, the printing will begin with the first logical record in the database. If this is changed to Yes, the record pointer will be located to the top of the file (first logical record in database) and will not be able to be moved back without going back into the "Edit/Add Records" command. C) Print every Nth record ------------------------------------------------------------------- You will be allowed to execute this command if printing with the "Print Labels/Letters/Lists" command. This will allow you to print every 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. record in a database thereby testing the market before doing a complete mailing. D) Pause every Nth record ------------------------------------------------------------------- This will pause the printing process after every Nth record is printed. After pausing, simply press any key to continue. This is repeated until all records in the database have been printed. E) Print job X times ------------------------------------------------------------------- Entering a number greater than one will repeat the printing process automatically X number of times, pausing for a key to be pressed between each job. F) Display count? (Y/N) ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you answer Yes, "Printing xxx of yyy" will be displayed on the screen where xxx is the number of records printed and yyy is the total to be printed. This will keep you informed of where you are in the printing process. It is optional in case you don't want the program to take the time to count the records. If you are sending the output to a text file, there is no way of knowing where you are in the printing process without using this feature. Page 36 G) Set Printer ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command works only in the registered version of DDFile. Upon registering, you will receive a 430+ printer driver file which will allow you to use this command to send printer codes to your printer before printing letters, labels or lists. The same printer codes could be put in the template itself, however this is not recommended for some codes. For example, the code for setting the printer to landscape mode (laser printers only) would only need to be set once. Unless the printing type or style needs to be changed from one line to the next, it is recommended to use this command to set the printer instead of putting printer macros in the template. H) Bar Code Printer Emulation ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will allow you to select the printer to emulate for printing bar codes. First, select your printer or one that your printer can emulate. Next, you can test your printer. Your printer manual should tell you which printers your printer can emulate. To print barcodes, the barcode macro must be placed in your template and the zipcode must be either 9 or 11 digits. I) Zip Bulk Labels ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will appear only for Label templates if the database is indexed on the zip code as the primary index key and "L) 1 or X for each record" is set to 1. If you have a field assigned as the carrier route field and the secondary index field is the carrier route field, you will be asked if you want to include qualifying carrier route records and/or non-qualifying carrier route records in the mailing. Also, if your zip code field length is greater than 5, you will be asked if you want to include records with a 9-digit zip code (zip+4). Qualifying 5-digit pieces are printed first. These are comprised of 10 or more records from any 5-digit zip code. The "|" character will be printed on the right margin of the first three lines of a label whenever zip code changes. After all qualifying 5-digit pieces are printed, qualifying 3-digit pieces are printed. These are comprised of all the records that did not qualify as 10 or more of any 5-digit zip code but do qualify as 10 or more of any 3-digit zip code (first 3 digits of the zip code are the same). For these labels, the "*" is printed at the right margin of the first three lines of the label whenever the first 3 digits of the zip code changes. Page 37 After all qualifying 3-digit pieces are printed, qualifying State pieces are printed. These are comprised of all the records that did not qualify as 10 or more of any 5-digit or 3-digit zip code but do qualify as 10 or more from any State. For these labels, the "#" is printed at the right margin of the first three lines of the label whenever the State changes. After all qualifying State pieces are printed, Mixed State pieces are printed. These are comprised of all the records that did not qualify as 10 or more of any 5-digit, 3-digit, or State. No character is printed in the right margin of these labels. The "right margin" mentioned above is the label width i.e. if the label width in spaces is set to 35, then the zip code change character (|, *, or #) will be printed in the 35th space on the label. Below is a sample with the "|" printed in the 35th column. _________________________________________ | | | Mrs. Jane Smith | | | 123 Main Street | | | Anytown, ST 77777 | | |_________________________________________| The quantities of labels for each zip code is given in the Zip Code Report along with totals on 3-digit zip codes and states. J) Zip+4 Bulk Labels ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command works the same as the "Zip Bulk Labels" above except that only records with a zip+4 zip code will be printed. The assigned zip code field will need to be 10 characters in length. If you have a field assigned as the carrier route field and the secondary index field is the assigned carrier route field, you will be asked if you want to include qualifying carrier route records and/or non-qualifying carrier route records in the mailing. K) Carrier Route Bulk Labels ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command is different from the Zip and Zip+4 Bulk Labels commands in that only records with a carrier route are included. The secondary index field must be the assigned carrier route field. You will be asked if you want to include non-qualifying carrier route records in the mailing. Page 38 Qualifying carrier route pieces are printed first. These are comprised of 10 or more records from any zip code with the same carrier route. The "|" character will be printed on the right margin of the 2nd and 3rd lines of a label whenever route changes. After all qualifying carrier route pieces are printed, non-qualifying pieces are printed based on the first 3 digits of the zip code. For these labels, the "*" is printed at the right margin of the 2nd and 3rd lines of the label whenever the first 3 digits of the zip code changes. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Printing Postcards and Envelopes on a Laser Printer There are three settings needed to print postcards and envelopes besides answering Yes to the Sheet Feeder option: 1) "Labels per page" must be set to 1. 2) "Skip lines top of page" should be set to about 22. The special macro, {@SKIPxx}, set at 22 may instead be used in the template. 3) {@MARGINxx} should be set to about 50 for a legal size envelope and 70 for a 3 1/2" x 5" postcard. These settings depend on the envelope(s) or postcard(s) being fed length-wise into the printer, centered, and the printer is in landscape mode. Also, if you are printing more envelopes or postcards than your laser will take at one time, you will want to use the "Pause every Nth records" command to reload your laser. Direct output to: ------------------------------------------------- To direct output to the default printer port LPT1 or PRN you can leave this blank and press <Enter>. To send the output to printer port LPT2, LPT3, COM1, COM2, COM3 or COM4, type the appropriate port. If going to a COM port, you may need to first initialize the COM port with the DOS MODE command. This is done at the DOS prompt by typing MODE COMx=9600,N,8,1,P <Enter>. The x after COM is the COM port number. The MODE command is also used to redirect standard PRN or LPT1 output to a serial COM port. See your DOS manual for more on the MODE command. Page 39 To send output to a text file, type a filename without extension and press <Enter>. A filename extension of PRN will automatically be assigned to the filename. This feature is useful for: 1) Sending the output PRN text file via modem to a remote location. 2) Creating ASCII SDF or ASCII Delimited files 3) Assisting in the creation of merge files for word processors. BE SURE PRINTER IS ON-LINE AND READY: If the printer is NOT on- line and ready when you try to print, a message will appear at the top of the screen prompting you for a Yes or No to continue. Ready your printer and answer Yes to print or No to exit DDFile and close the current database. Filling in a Template --------------------------------------------- Provided with DDFile is a sample template. You can look at it by selecting the "Edit/Add/Delete Templates" command and then the "Edit" command. You will notice that all the field names are bound by the left ({) and right (}) curly braces. These are referred to as Field Macros. They must be spelled correctly or you will get an error message saying that the macro is not valid. Macros may be entered in either UPPER or lower case. The macros in this template match the fields in the SAMPLE.DBF database file. If the field content of a Field Macro is empty then the Field Macro will also be empty. If a macro is empty and the line that the macro is on is empty (doesn't have anything else on it) then that line will be ignored in the printout. This eliminates blank lines in labels. If the field content is empty and the Field Macro is not on a line by itself, only the Field Macro will be ignored. The rest of the line will be printed. Field Macros ------------------------------------------------- Field macros are the names of the fields enclosed in the left ({) and right (}) curly braces. The names of the fields may be displayed by pressing <Alt-F>. Selecting any field in the scrollable window will type out the field enclosed in the left and right curly braces at the current cursor location. Page 40 Most of your fields will have extra spaces at the end of the field. If you want these spaces truncated (cut-off), place an asterisk (*) after the left curly brace i.e. {*FIRST}. Special Macros ----------------------------------------------- Special macros are described below. They may be displayed on the screen by pressing <Alt-S>. Selecting any macro in the scrollable window will type out the macro enclosed in the left and right curly braces at the current cursor location. The last macro in this list, {>MACRO}, is not included in the displayable list of special macros. {@RECORD#} ... Record number of the current record. {@LDATE} ..... Today's LONG date, example: November 19, 1986 {@SDATE} ..... Today's SHORT date, example: 11/19/86 {@EJECT} ..... Sends a form feed to the printer. {@PAUSE} ..... Pauses printing until any key is pressed. {@MARGINxx} .. Sets printer margin to xx spaces. {@SKIPxx} .... Skips xx lines. (Use for single envelopes, postcards, top margins, etc.) {@WAITxx} .... This determines how fast to print. By default there is a 1 second pause after every 10 records printed to look for <Alt-Q>. <Alt-Q> is used to interrupt printing. Using this macro will allow you to change this setting this print much faster. This macro is dissabled in this Shareware version. {@IF} ........ This macro is explained in the sample form letter. {@ELSE} ...... This macro works ONLY in conjunction with the {IF} macro. Page 41 {@STATE} ..... To use this macro, a 2-character field will need to be assigned as the "State". See "General Setup" (chapter 13). This macro will print the name of the state represented by it's 2-character acronym i.e. AZ is Arizona. {@CR} ........ To use this macro, a field will need to be assigned as the "Carrier Route". See "General Setup" (chapter 13). This macro will print two stars and then the carrier route against the right margin of the label i.e. "** CR 22". {@BARCODE} ... This macro will print a 9 digit POSTNET bar code from the zip code. A field must be assigned as the "Zip Code" for this macro to work. See "General Setup" (chapter 13). Note that if using a laser jet compatible printer, the barcode takes 2 lines instead of only one. If you place this macro above the label, leave a blank line under it. If you place this macro under the label, allow for one additional line in the "Lines per label" setting than is actually in the template. {>MACRO} ..... The word "MACRO" needs to be replaced by one of the "field" macros. This will cause the field data to be printed flush against the right margin of the label. The right margin is the label width in spaces. Printer Macros ----------------------------------------------- Printer macros may be displayed on the screen by pressing <Alt-P>. Selecting any macro in the scrollable window will type out the macro enclosed in the left and right curly braces at the current cursor location. If you have not installed a printer driver and selected a printer you will first need to do this with the "General Setup" command in the main menu. Note: This feature is not supported with this shareware version. Page 42 The first line(s) of a template can contain notes and comments useful in keeping a record of the date mailed, quantity mailed, what the filter was set to, etc.. See the sample "Form Letter" template below. These notes and comments may appear only in the beginning of a template and must be preceded with a "*" as the first character on the line. Any blank lines in the beginning of a template will also be ignored. To skip lines, use the {@SKIPx} special macro. The top left corner of the template should be placed at the top left corner of the screen following any comment lines. There should be no left margin in the template. A left margin can be set with the {@MARGINxx} macro. It is important that the {@EJECT} macro is placed on the last line of a form letter template in order to be sure the next page is properly started. Sometimes when printing Form Letters, the 2nd letter and others following it will NOT start printing in the same place the first letter was started. To prevent this, advance the paper manually to the top of the page and then reset the printer by turning it off and then back on. You could also do a form feed from the top of the next page. Page 43 SAMPLE "Form Letter" TEMPLATE: ------------------------------------------------------------- | * (First line in letter file) | * DATE : FILTER : | * # MAILED : INDEX : | * (The following line will be ignored because it is in the | * beginning of the letter and blank.) | * START OF LETTER (The following line will also be ignored.) | * Printer margin is set to 10 and Top margin is set to 5. | | {@MARGIN10}{@SKIP5} {@LDATE} | | {FIRST} {LAST} | {*COMPANY} | {*ADD1} | {*ADD2} | {CITY} {ST} {ZIP} | | {@IF}Dear {*FIRST}, | {@ELSE}To whom it may concern, | | This is the body of the letter. The above {@IF} and {@ELSE} | macros work in that if the macro immediately following the | {@IF} macro is NOT empty then that line is used and the next | line with the {@ELSE} macro is ignored. In other words, the | {FIRST} macro is valid and used ONLY if the "first name" | field is NOT empty. If the "first name" field is empty then | the {FIRST} macro is empty and therefore the entire line | will be ignored and the next line with the {@ELSE} macro will | be used instead. | | Macros may be used within the body to further personalize | the letter such as: | | Welcome {@STATE} friends... | | Sincerely, | {@EJECT} SAMPLE "Label" TEMPLATE: ------------------------------------------------------------- | CAR-RT SORT ***** {@CR} | {*FIRST} {*LAST} {ACCOUNT} | {*ADD1} | {*ADD2} | {CITY} {ST} {ZIP} | {TITLE} Page 44 The first line of the above template is an example of how to use a Carrier Route Sort field. Notice that "CAR-RT SORT *****" is not a macro. Other text can be inserted into templates such as "See inside for special offer!" and even printer macros to enhance text. SAMPLE "Master List" TEMPLATE: ------------------------------------------------------------- | {@RECORD#} {FIRST} {LAST} {COMPANY} | {ADD1} {ADD2} {CITY} {STATE} {ZIP} | Master lists are usually printed and used for looking up records without accessing the database. Usually you would index it on company name, zip code or last name. Page 45 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Printing Reports ------------------------------------------------------------------- The reports available at this time are Zip Bulk Report, Zip+4 Bulk Report and Carrier Route Bulk Report. They are executed from the Print Reports command in the Main Menu. After selecting a report, you are given the opportunity to direct output to a port other than the default printer port or to a text file. Then, you are prompted with "Print every Nth record:" which allows you to do a test mailing report for every 10th, 20th, etc. up to every 99th record. The default number displayed is the "Print every Nth record" from the current label/letter/list template. Zip Bulk Report ------------------------------------------------------------------- This report will print the quantities of all 5-digit, 3-digit, State and Mixed State pieces in that order. The minimum requirement for this report is that all records have a 5-digit zip code. An index file indexed on the assigned "Zip Code" field is needed to print all reports. If the secondary index field is the assigned "Carrier Route" field, you will be asked if you want to include qualifying and/or non-qualifying carrier route records. If the assigned "Zip Code" field is greater than 5 characters in length, you will be asked if you want to include zip+4 records. These same questions are asked when printing bulk labels. The report is preceded with today's date, the name of the database, the total records in the report, whether or not Zip+4 records were included, whether or not qualifying CAR-RT records were included and whether or not non-qualifying CAR-RT records were included. The report is followed by the total number of zip codes in the report. All records included in the report are sorted by category. The first category is all records with 10 or more from any 5-digit zip code. The second category is all remaining records with 10 or more from any 3-digit zip code. The third category is all remaining records with 10 more from any one state. The fourth and last category is any remaining pieces from 2 or more states. Further explanation of mail sorting is provided by your main post office. The following are example entries from this report: 01450 36 = 36 pcs from 5-digit zip code 01450 006 **** 20 = 20 pcs from 3-digit zip code 006 STATE MA 52 = 52 pcs from state of MA MS TOTAL 25 = 25 pcs from mixed states Page 46 Zip+4 Bulk Report ------------------------------------------------------------------- This report is the same as the Zip Bulk Report above except that the minimum requirement is that the zip code field contain a zip+4 zip code. Records without a zip+4 zip code are automatically excluded. If the secondary index field is the assigned carrier route field, you will be asked if you want to include qualifying and/or non-qualifying carrier route records. These same questions are asked when printing zip+4 bulk labels. Carrier Route Bulk Report ------------------------------------------------------------------- This report will print the quantities of all qualifying and/or non-qualifying carrier route records. The minimum requirement for this report is that all records have a 5-digit zip code and carrier route. An index file indexed on the assigned "Zip Code" field and assigned "Carrier Route" field is needed to print this report. You will only be asked if you want to include non-qualifying carrier route records. This same question is asked when printing bulk labels. This report is followed by the total qualifying routes and the total qualifying pieces. A qualified carrier route record is one of a group of 10 or more from any carrier route within the same zip code. Non-qualified carrier route pieces are grouped by the first 3 digits of the zip code. The following are example entries from this report: 01450 RR04 36 = 36 pcs from zip code 10450 and route RR04 006 *** 8 = 8 pcs from 3-digit zip code 006 Page 47 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- CHAPTER 7 Searching for Duplicates ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- To search for duplicate records, select the "Duplicate Records Search" command in the main menu. If the message; "An index must be active to check for duplicates." appears, you will first need to select an index file. See "Creating and Selecting Index Files" (chapter 5). Duplicates will be looked for on the index field(s). If, for example, your index file is on LAST NAME, FIRST NAME, and ZIP CODE. Duplicates will be any two or more records with the same content in all three fields. If only a portion of the index fields were used in the index file, then only that portion will be looked at when checking for duplicates. If the message "Field to be used for Duplicate Search has not been assigned." appears: 1) If you do not have a logical field in your database that can be used exclusively for this purpose, you will need to modify the database to include one. To do this, you will first need to close the database, then modify it with the "Create/Modify Database Files" command. See "Creating or Modifying a Database" (chapter 11). 2) Once you have added the logical field, you will need to assign it as the duplicate search field. Refer to the "Field Assignment" command. See "General Setup" (chapter 13). You will be allowed to either automatically delete duplicates or view them and then delete only selected records. If you choose not to automatically delete duplicates, a filter will be set to the records that appear to be duplicates. Simply enter the "Edit/Add Records" command to view them and then Mark the records that you want to delete and when finished, delete them. This is done with the <F4> and <F6> keys from within the "Edit/Add Records" command. If you choose to automatically delete duplicate records and there are currently any Marked records in the database, you will be informed that they also will be deleted. If you want to first unmark all marked records, execute the "Edit/Add Records" command in the main menu and then unmark with the <F5> function key. See "Edit and Add Records" (chapter 3). When the duplicate record search is finished you will be given the option of deleting the duplicates at this time or you may view the records using the "Edit/Add Records" command and then delete them with the <F6> function key. Page 48 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- CHAPTER 8 Importing and Exporting ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- To import or export records, select the "Import/Export dB3/ASCII Files" command from the main menu. A sub-menu will appear allowing three selections for importing and three for exporting records. They are dBASE III, ASCII SDF, and ASCII Delimited. What are dBASE III, ASCII SDF and ASCII DELIMITED files? dBASE III files contain any of up to five different types of fields. They are Character, Numeric, Date, Logical and Memo. Each field has it's own specific purpose. Character fields are the most common and are used to store addresses, cities, states, zip codes, names, etc. Numeric fields are used exclusively for numbers such as dollar figures. Date fields are used exclusively for dates in the MM/DD/YY or DD/MM/YY format. Logical fields are either T (true) or F (false). Memo fields do not appear in the DBF file at all except for a 10 byte marker. The contents of a memo field is contained in a DBT file which accompanies the DBF file. Both filenames are the same, only the extensions are different. dBASE III files are quite different from ASCII files. The above description of dBASE III fields do not at all resemble the fields in an ASCII file. ASCII files are primarily used to transfer data (records, fields, etc) from one software program to another or from one type of computer to another. An ASCII file is not very useful to most systems until it is imported into a software program like DDFile. The fields in an ASCII file are not of any specific type of field as they are in dBASE III files. ASCII fields can be actually thought of as "character" fields until they are imported. Then they become the type of field that they were imported into such as Character, Date, Numeric, Logical or Memo. ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) is an international method of representing information in computers. ASCII is pronounced "ask-key". Both ASCII SDF and ASCII DELIMITED files contain only the characters found on the keyboard. They both have only one record (set of fields such as first name, last name, address, city, state and zip code) per line. If the file contains 10,000 lines then there are 10,000 records in the file. They only differ in the way the fields are represented in the records. ASCII SDF fields and records are all the same length. They all start and stop at the same column in the file. Here is a sample 3 record, 6 field ASCII SDF file: Page 49 Jones Mary 123 Main Street, Apt B New York NY12345 Smith Jerry 1964 Jones Avenue Miami FL78901 Peterson Paul 985 East Polk Los Angeles CA23456 Notice also that many times fields will touch each other as in the above state and zip code fields. ASCII DELIMITED fields and records on the other hand vary in length because blank spaces at the end of a field are truncated. This means that they must be separated with a comma. Most ASCII DELIMITED files also contain a quote (") before and after many of the fields. In dBASE III terms these fields are called "character" fields. When a dBASE III file is exported in ASCII DELIMITED format the character fields are bound by quotes. It is best that the character fields are bound by quotes in case there are any commas imbedded in any character fields. Otherwise a field could be split when importing. For example the address field is a "character" field that will sometimes use a comma to separate an address from the Apartment # as in the first ASCII DELIMITED record below. "Jones","Mary","123 Main Street, Apt B","New York","NY","12345" "Smith","Jerry","1964 Jones Avenue","Miami","FL","78901" "Peterson","Paul","985 East Polk","Los Angeles","CA","23456" Getting Started Upon selecting any of these you will be allowed to enter a path in which to either look for files to import or export files. Enter only the path and not the name of the file to import from or export to. An example path might be C:\DDFILE where C: is the hard drive and \DDFILE is a sub-directory where you would have files pertaining to DDFile. Another example might be A:\ if you wanted to import a file from the A: drive. The default (initial) path is the current drive and directory. Import... --------------------------------------------------------- A) dBASE III ------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon entering a path, a scrollable window will open allowing you to select a database file to import. If no files can be found you will be allowed to enter another path. The correct filename extension for dBASE III files is DBF. dBASE III files will always have a DBF file name extension. The selected file is checked to be sure it is actually a dBASE III file and not just a file with a DBF extension. Page 50 If the selected dBASE III file has a Memo field but no accompanying DBT file you will be informed so and given a chance to back out and return to the main menu. If you continue you will not be able to import the Memo field. The DBT file is where the data for the Memo field(s) is stored. Next, your disk space is checked and if not adequate, the amount available and the amount needed is displayed. Import is aborted if this message appears. Next, the fields of the import file are displayed in a window at the lower right of the screen. If there are 10 or more fields, the number of fields is displayed at the bottom of the window. The window can display only 10 fields at a time. To scroll through the others use the up and down arrow and PgUp and PgDn keys. After selecting a field to import, another window will appear to the left with a list of fields from the current file in use. Select the field that you want the import field to go into. Repeat these two steps until you have matched up the fields that you want to import. Fields can only be selected once. And some field types can not be imported into others. As mentioned earlier all dBASE III fields have a "type". The types of fields that do not match are Numeric to Date, Logical to Date, Date to Numeric, Logical to Numeric and Date to Logical. For example, using the first one mentioned; Numeric to Date, if you select a Numeric field from the Import File and then select a Date field from the Current File, you will get a message saying that it can not be done and will allow you to make another selection. To exit press <Esc> then Yes to Import the file or No to abort. Next, if the current database is not empty you will be asked if you want to import the records as NEW records into the database. If you answer Yes, then the fields selected in the import file will be imported into New records added to the current database in use. Otherwise if you answer No, the data will be imported into the fields of the already existing records starting with the current record. No new records will be added to the database. Under very few instances would you want to answer No to this question. And, of course as always, keep a backup of your data in case of any unforeseen mistake or accident occurs. If the current database is a new database with no records then this prompt will not appear. If you answer No to the above prompt the current database is checked to see if there are enough records to hold all the records from the import database. For example if you have 500 records in Page 51 the current database and you are currently on record number 400, you will only be able to import 100 records from an import database because there are only 100 records remaining from the current record position to the end of the database. If the import can not be done, the current record number along with the number of records to the end of file and the number of records in the import file will be displayed. At this time the Import will take place and upon completion a message will appear saying the file was imported successfully. B) ASCII SDF ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command allows the selection of a ASCII SDF file for importing. After selecting a file (mentioned earlier) to import, your disk space is checked and if not adequate, the amount available and the amount needed is displayed. Import is aborted if this message appears. Next, the first record (line) of the selected ASCII SDF file is displayed on one line that is scrollable to the right if longer than what will fit on the screen. If the record displayed is similar in format to the following sample ASCII SDF record then you may proceed. Jones Mary 123 Main Street, Apt B New York NY12345 Otherwise the file is not an ASCII SDF file. If the record displayed is similar in format to the following sample ASCII Delimited record then exit and import using the ASCII Delimited command. "Jones","Mary","123 Main Street, Apt B","New York","NY","12345" In this step you will specify where to divide the records into fields using the @ character. Move the cursor using the left and right arrow keys and type a @ character over the 1st character of each field (the @ character is typed by holding down the <Shift> key and then pressing the 2 key located towards the top left of the keyboard). The @ characters will be used to divide the records into fields. For example the above sample ASCII SDF record would be changed to: @ones @ary @23 Main Street, Apt B @ew York @Y@2345 Page 52 The <Ins> key is automatically disabled so that when typing the @ character, the line will not shift to the right. Use only the left and right arrow and @ keys. DO NOT MODIFY THE LINE IN ANY OTHER WAY. Press <Enter> when finished. If there were no @ characters entered or the line was modified in some way other than with the @ character you will be informed so and allowed to try again. Next, the record is divided into fields and displayed in a window in the lower half of the screen for verification. If the fields were properly divided and you wish to continue press <Enter> or press <Esc> to try again. Next, the fields of the import file are displayed in a scrollable window at the lower right of the screen. This differs from the dBASE III procedure in that the fields here are the actual field content and not just the name of the field. Only the first 10 characters of the field are displayed in the window. After selecting a field to import, another window will appear to the left with a list of fields from the current file in use. Select the field that you want the import field to go into. Fields can only be selected once. Repeat these two steps until you have matched up the fields that you want to import. The fields in the Import File record do not have "types" as do dBASE III fields (discussed earlier). This means that you may match a field in the Import File record with any field in the Current File record. However, this does not necessarily mean that everything will import properly as described next. When you are finished press <Esc> to exit then Yes to Import the file or No to abort. Importing into Numeric Fields ------------------------------------- Alpha characters are not recognized by numeric fields. You will still be able to import, however because dBASE III numeric fields recognize only numbers, the fields will be blank after importing. Also be aware that when importing a field of numbers into a numeric field, that the numeric field is large enough to take the Import field. If the import field is too large, a zero (0) will be put in it's place. For example if the dBASE III numeric field has a length of 10 and a decimal place of 2 then the largest number that will fit is 9999999.99 (10 places). If the import field has more decimal places than the dBASE III numeric field then the import number will be rounded. For example, if 99.999 is imported into a Page 53 dBASE III Numeric field with a decimal place of 2 then 99.999 will be rounded off to 100.00. As long as the import field number is smaller and has the same number of decimal places or less then it will import properly. Importing into Logical Fields ------------------------------------- When importing into a Logical field T, t, .T., .t., TRUE, true, ON, on, YES, yes and 1 will be imported as .T. and anything else is imported as .F.. Importing into Date Fields ---------------------------------------- You can import either of two date formats into DDFile. They are YYYYMMDD and MM/DD/YY. The YYYYMMDD format is first converted to MM/DD/YY automatically before importing. The date January 27, 1991 could appear as either 19910127 (YYYYMMDD) or 01/27/91 (MM/DD/YY). Note also that invalid dates can not be imported. Next, if the current database is not empty you will be asked if you want to import the records as NEW records into the database. If you answer Yes, the fields selected in the import file will be imported into new records added to the current database in use. Otherwise if you answer No, the data will be imported into the fields of the already existing records starting with the current record. No new records will be added to the database. Under very few instances would you want to answer No to this question. And, of course as always, keep a backup of your data in case of any unforeseen mistake or accident occurs. If the current database is a new database with no records then this prompt will not appear. If you answer No to the above prompt the current database is checked to see if there are enough records to hold all the records from the import database. For example if you have 500 records in the current database and you are currently on record number 400, you will only be able to import 100 records because there are only 100 records remaining from the current record position to the end of the database. If the import can not be done, the current record # along with the number of records to end of file and the number of records in the import file will be displayed. At this time the Import will take place and upon completion a message will appear saying the file was imported successfully. Page 54 C) ASCII Delimited ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command allows the selection of a ASCII Delimited file for importing. This works the same as the "ASCII SDF" command just covered except that the "@" symbol is not used to separate the fields. Please refer to the "ASCII SDF" command for instruction. Export... --------------------------------------------------------- The three commands used for exporting will export in the format stated in the command. All fields are exported. If a Filter is set, only the records in the Filter are exported. If Marked records are turned OFF, Marked records will not be exported. When exporting in dBASE III format, the current .DF1 and .DF2 files are also copied to new .DF1 and .DF2 files for the exported database. Page 55 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- CHAPTER 9 File Management ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- To copy, rename, delete or edit files, select the "File Management (Copy/Rename/Delete/Edit)" command from the main menu. First, you'll be asked to enter a path in which to look for files to display. Enter only the drive and/or directory. Next, you'll need to select a skeleton which will specify what kind of files should be displayed. A) Database (*.DBF) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This selection will display all dBASE III files. Make this selection if you want to copy, rename, or delete a database file. Any procedure performed on a database file will also be performed on any accompanying DBT, DF1, and DF2 files. B) Index (*.NTX) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This selection will display all index files. Make this selection if you want to copy, rename, or delete an index file. C) All Files ( *.* ) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This selection will display all files. Make this selection if you want to copy, rename, delete, or edit a file other than database files. Only text files no larger than 64,000 bytes can be edited. Upon making any of the above selections, a display of the appropriate files will appear in a window with files size (in bytes) and the date of the file appearing to the right. Select a file that you wish to either copy, rename, delete, or edit. After selecting a file, you can press either C, R, D, or E. Copy --------------------------------------------------------------- This selection will copy a file to another drive and/or directory. Simply enter the target path and press enter. The target path is only the drive and directory in which to copy the file. Next, you are allowed to specify a new name for the file. If the directory specified does not exist it will be created. If the file already exists you will be asked if you Page 56 want to copy over it. If insufficient disk space is available on the target drive and directory you will be informed so and will not be able to copy the file(s). Rename --------------------------------------------------------------- This selection will allow you to rename a file(s). Do not change DBF, DBT, DEF, DF1, or DF2 filename extensions. It is important that these extensions remain the same if you expect to use them for their original intended use. Delete --------------------------------------------------------------- This selection will allow you to delete a file(s) from the directory. Before the file(s) are deleted, you will be asked "Are you sure?" to safeguard against accidental erasure. Edit --------------------------------------------------------------- This selection will allow you to edit a text file as long as it is less than 64,000 bytes in size. This is useful for editing your AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS files located in the root directory of your hard drive. Page 57 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- CHAPTER 10 Miscellaneous Utilities ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- There are currently six miscellaneous utilities available under the "Miscellaneous Utilities" command in the main menu. More will be added as needed. They will allow you to: 1) copy a database file structure, 2) get your system information, 3) exchange data in your fields, 4) convert data in fields to all upper or upper/lower case, 5) modify the field arrangement of a database, or 6) query the zippy database. Number 6 requires registration and the optional Zippy database. A) Copy Database Structure ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will copy the database file structure of the currently selected database to another file. The structure of a database file is the fields and their definitions without any data in the fields. This will also copy the DF1 and DF2 files so that you won't have to redesign and place the fields on the screen. In other words, what you end up with is a duplicate of the current database file with a different name and no records. B) System Information ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will display information about the FILES statement in your CONFIG.SYS file and your DOS version. The FILES statement in your CONFIG.SYS file must be set to 20 or graeter. This will allow you to select a database and any of it's accompanying files. DDFile will not be able to access any more files than specified by the FILES statement. The following files and files handles are needed by DDFile: 1) The template file for printing labels, letters, and lists uses 2 file handles 2) If you are using Zippy, 2 more file handles are needed. 3) When you select a database, 2 file handles are used and if you have any memo fields in the database another file handle will be used for the DBT file. 4) If you select any index files, 1 file handle will be needed for each index file selected. Up to 15 index files may be selected for a database at any one time. Page 58 5) Your DOS operating system automatically uses 5 file handles before you even enter DDFile. As you can see, up to a total of 27 file handles may be needed at any one time. It is suggested that your FILES statement be set to 30 or higher. If you are running a DOS version earlier than 3.30, the maximum number of files that DOS will recognize is 20. If you are running DOS version 3.30 or later, the maximum number of files DOS will recognize is 255. You may edit your CONFIG.SYS file from within DDFile using the "Copy/Rename/Delete/Edit Files" command from the main menu. The FILES statement is placed on a line by itself towards the top of the file. Simply type FILES=30 then save and exit the file. You will need to quit DDFile and reboot your machine in order for DOS to read the updated CONFIG.SYS and setup your system accordingly. If you try to access more files than is defined by the FILES statement, you will get a run-time open_error() that will exit you from the program. This should cause no harm to your data. However you will need to increase the of files your system can use. Upon executing the "System Information" command, if the FILES statement can be found, the FILES setting will be displayed. Otherwise, you will be informed that it could not be found. Next, your DOS version will be displayed. Next, if your FILES statement could be found and you are running DOS version 3.30 or later, you will be informed that the handles was set to the FILES setting. If your version of DOS is earlier than 3.30 and your FILES statement is found, file handles is set to the FILES statement as long as it is not greater than 20. Next, the total number of files currently in use will be displayed. This includes the 5 that DOS uses. C) Exchange Field Data ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will allow you to exchange the data in a field for new data that you specify. This will work on all the records in the Page 59 entire database file. This prevents you from having to do it all manually from the "Edit/Add Records" command. You simply select the field you want to exchange data in. Then, enter the field content you want DDFile to look for and exchange. Then, enter the new data to be exchanged with the old. When finished, the total number of records with the new field content is displayed. D) Convert UPPER/lower Case ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will allow you to convert data in a field to all upper case or upper/lower (upper case first character of each word and lower case rest). This will work on all the records in the database file and prevents you from having to do it all manually from the Edit/Add Records" command. You simply select the field you want to exchange data in. Then, select either "UPPER/lower" or "All UPPER" from the sub-menu. E) Modify Field Arrangement ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will allow you modify the field arrangement of the currently selected database. The changes will not take place in the current file. It is only used as a model to create a new file with the new field order. The records in the currently selected database can be put into the new database field order using the following 2-step process: 1) When finished with this procedure, select the newly created database with the new field order. 2) Import the records from the prior database into the new database using the "Import/Export dB3/ASCII Files" command in the main menu. Import in dBASE III format. Refer to that command for complete instruction. Upon selecting this command, a scrollable window will open allowing you to select the first field. All fields must be selected. After a field is selected, the order number of that field is placed behind it. The fields may be selected in any order you wish. When all fields have been selected, a new empty database will be created with the new field order. Page 60 F) Search Zippy Database ------------------------------------------------------------------- Zippy is an optional database of all the cities, states, area codes and zip codes in the united states. Zippy is available for an additional fee when registering DDFile. You will need a hard drive with at least 2.8 MB of free disk space. Once you have zippy installed you will be able to use this command. A sub-menu will open allowing you to search for a City, State, Zip Code, or Area Code. To look up a zip code for a particular city, for example, select City and then enter the city name. Next, all the cities in the united states by that name will appear in a scrollable window with their corresponding state, area code, and zip code. This database can be cross-referenced to look up any data on any of the four selections. Page 61 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- CHAPTER 11 Creating or Modifying a Database ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- Provided with DDFile is a sample database that is already set up the same as the database structure used in version 5.0 and 5.1 of DDLabel. This comes already set up in case you do not want to design and create a database, then design the screen and position the fields on the screen. This was done to allow easier transition from DDLabel. To create a new database or modify an existing database, select the "Create/Modify Database Files" command from the main menu. You will first be asked to enter the path in which to create or modify a database file. Enter only the drive and directory. Do not enter a file name. Next, a sub-menu will appear allowing you to choose from the two following commands: A) Create a New Database --------------------------------------------------------------- This command will create a new empty database file structure. Enter only the name of the new file you want to create without a file name extension. The extension will automatically be DBF. B) Modify an Existing Database --------------------------------------------------------------- This command will allow you to modify an existing database. If any files are available in the drive and/or directory you specified, you will be able to select one from a scrollable window. Plan Your Database ------------------------------------------------ Next, a window will open allowing you to create or modify a database file. Before you go on, you may want to list on paper the different fields that you want in your database in the order in which you want to edit them. You will be glad that you planned ahead when later we paint the screen and place the fields on the screen for data entry. If new fields are added to an existing database they can be placed between other existing fields by changing the order. This is done with the "E) Modify Field Arrangement" command located in the "Miscellaneous Utilities" command in the main menu. For now they will be added to the end of the field list. Each time a field is added to a database, the field window is cleared and the new field is presented at the top of the field window. The other fields can be redisplayed by pressing the up arrow or <PgUp> keys. Page 62 Building A Database ----------------------------------------------- There are four criteria that must be defined for every field in a database file. They are name, type, length and decimals. Instruction for defining these is on screen. You will have to enter a name and type for every field. However you will not need to enter a length for date, logical and memo fields since they are set for you. And, of course, you will only need to specify a decimal value for numeric types. An example list of fields might be: Field Name Type Length Decimals Description CARRT C 4 0 Carrier Route FIRST_NAME C 13 0 First name LAST_NAME C 15 0 Last name COMPANY C 35 0 Company name ADDRESS_1 C 35 0 Address line 1 ADDRESS_2 C 35 0 Address line 2 CITY C 21 0 City name STATE C 2 0 State abbreviation ZIP_CODE C 10 0 Zip code (zip+4) AREA_CODE C 3 0 Area code PHONE C 8 0 Phone number DATE_ENTRY D 8 0 Date record was added DATE_EXP D 8 0 Date membership expires AMOUNT N 7 2 Amount of sale TYPE C 4 0 Code field 1 SOURCE C 4 0 Code field 2 COMMENTS M 10 0 Memo field 1 This is a total if 17 fields. You may want more, such as PREFIX (Mr., Mrs., Dr., etc.) or MIDDLE (middle initial). These, of course, would be placed before and after FIRST_NAME respectively. The types of these fields would all be the most common type which is "C" (character) except DATE_ENTRY and DATE_EXP which would be type "D" (date) and AMOUNT which would be type "N" (numeric) and COMMENTS which would be type "M" (memo). The uses for most of the fields are self explanatory. However the last five fields in the example database are perhaps not as well understood. For example TYPE could be used for the type of customer such as "P" (paying customer) or "I" (inquiry) and SOURCE could be used for the source from which you attained the lead such as "M" (magazine ad) or "W" (walk-in). The COMMENTS field is type "M" (memo) and can store up to 64,000 bytes (64K) for each record. This field could be used for miscellaneous notes on the customer. Page 63 You do not have to be exact with the field lengths at this time. They can be changed later to suit your purposes. However the field names and types can not later be changed without losing any data that has been entered into the changed fields. When finished, press <Esc> to exit. You will be asked if you want Abort or Save the database file structure. Answer Yes, No or Save. Page 64 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- CHAPTER 12 Designing the Screen ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- Before you can design the field input screen you must select a database. See "Select or Close a Database" (chapter 2). Before a database can be displayed on the screen for data entry, at least one field must be positioned on the screen. This is done with the "Design Field Input Screen" command in the main menu. This is a two step process. Step 1 is for typing field descriptions on the screen and is not mandatory. Step 2 is for positioning the field(s) on the screen and is mandatory that at least one field is positioned on the screen before you can edit or add records to the selected database file. Step 1 ------------------------------------------------------------ First, select the "Design Field Input Screen" from the main menu then the "Design Screen" command. When executing this command you will see that you have 19 rows and 78 columns to use for field descriptions or anything else you wish to type on the screen. It is easiest to use a piece of graph paper that is already divided into rows and columns. Worksheets are provided for database creation and screen design with the registered version. Below is the best we can do with shareware documentation. This chart has only 11 rows and 66 columns. This is only one way in which to design a screen. You can do it any way you like. This example uses the sample database created earlier. 1 2 3 4 5 6 123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456 1 First/Last Name [_____________/_______________] Rec [__/__/__] 2 3 Company [___________________________________] Exp [__/__/__] 4 5 Address 1 [___________________________________] Amt [_____.__] 6 7 Address 2 [___________________________________] Customer [____] 8 9 Cty/ST/Zip [_____________________/__/__________] Source [____] 0 1 AC/Phone (___) [___-____] Notice that the COMMENTS memo field is not placed on the screen. This is because it is accessed by pressing <Alt-E> when editing records. This will be covered later. Page 65 Step 2 ------------------------------------------------------------ The second step is positioning the fields on the screen. Select the "Design Field Input Screen" command from the main menu then the "Position Fields" commands. There are four steps for the placement of each field. 1) First you will be asked to select a field from a scrollable window. 2) Next, you are given the option of defining a "Pre Picture" for the field. This can be skipped and added later if you like. At the top of the screen is the field name, type, etc. that was selected and just below that is the currently selected "Pre Picture" and the "Pre Picture" selected prior to executing this command. The "Pre Picture" causes the data that is typed into the field to behave in a certain way. It affects the entire field. Later, a "Picture" can be defined to affect positions within the field. The following will explain selections A) through H). A) This selection will cause a "Pre Picture" to not be used. B) This selection will allow only alpha (a-z) characters to be entered into the field. C) This selection will cause any character entered to be converted to upper case. D) This selection will cause numeric fields to display data left justified versus the standard right justification. E) This selection will cause date fields to display in American format. F) This selection will cause date fields to display in British format i.e. the month and day are switched. G) If the length of a field is greater than the distance from the screen position to the right border of the screen then horizontal scrolling can be used. In other words, if a field length is 50 and the field is placed in column 60, it has only 18 spaces to the right border of the screen so instead of wrapping to the next line, horizontal scrolling is used. This selection allows you to set horizontal scrolling to a value less than what would be mandatory i.e. if you have a field with a length of 50 it would fit on the screen if it Page 66 were placed at column 28 or less, however you could specify a horizontal scrolling value of 20 and then place the field up to column 58 thereby saving room on the screen. H) This selection will save the selection and exit. 3) Next, position the field on the screen using the arrow keys. 4) Next, you are prompted to enter a "Picture" for the field. This can be skipped and added later if you like. This is different from the previously explained "Pre Picture" in that the "Picture" can affect any character position in the field. The following are the various characters that have special meaning for the "Picture". A = Displays only alphabetic characters N = Displays only alphabetic and numeric characters X = Displays any character 9 = Displays digits for any data type including sign for numeric types # = Displays digits, signs and spaces for any data type L = Displays logical type as "T" or "F" Y = Allows only Yes or No ! = Converts an alphabetic character to upper case $ = Displays a dollar sign in place of leading spaces in a numeric type * = Displays an asterisk in place of a leading space in a numeric type . = Specifies a decimal point position , = Specifies a comma position An example city field could have a "Picture" of "!XXXXXXXXXXXXX" which would automatically convert the first character to upper case and allow any characters to be entered into the remainder of the field. If specifying a "Picture", the entire field must be filled. Any blank spaceswill be skipped over when editing the field data. The above four steps are repeated for each of the fields that you wish to place on the screen. Page 67 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- CHAPTER 13 General Setup ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- To setup screen colors, modem parameters, field assignments or printer drivers, select the "General Setup" command in the main menu. A) Select Screen Colors ------------------------------------------------------------------- There are two choices to be made for screen colors. The first is the color of the boxes used for menus and frames. The second is the color to be used for the light bars in the menus and field input. In both cases you are asked to enter the number of an example. You will also be allowed to adjust your brightness and contrast controls on your monitor using a sample high intensity and low intensity output on the screen. This is important for some areas in the program. B) Set Modem Parameters ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will allow you to define Prefix #1, Prefix #2, COM Port and Calling Card #. These are used by the <F8> command while editing records. The Prefix #1 and #2 are for dial commands. The dial command will be dialed prior to the area code and phone number located in the record. If the area code is empty, it will be ignored. The Calling Card #, if defined, will be added to the end of the phone number. The following are three prefix codes and their use with a Hayes compatible modem: "," = PAUSE: When placing a call from an office with the phone connected to a PBX, it is necessary to dial an access code, usually the number 9, to get an outside line. This is done by dialing a "9," prefix code. The "9" accesses an outside line and the "," pause for another dial tone. Multiple commas may be used for a longer pause time. "P" = PULSE and "T" = TONE: By default the modem will dial in Tone mode. If you need to dial in Pulse mode simply insert the "P" into the Prefix code. The "P" and "T" can be inserted anywhere within the code, dialing part in Tone and part in Pulse. Page 68 Some long distance calling companies have codes for long distance collect calls and other types of codes that may also be used in the prefix codes. The COM Port can be any existing COM Port on your machine. If the COM Port does not exist, nothing will happen when dialing a number. C) Field Assignment ------------------------------------------------------------------- This command will allow you to assign fields in the database to any of the field uses listed in this sub-menu. Upon making a selection, a scrollable window of the records fields will open allowing you to select a field. Some of the following require the field to be a certain type and length. For more on field types and lengths, see "Creating or Modifying a Database" (chapter 11). Carrier Route --------------------------------------------------------------- This is needed to do carrier route reports and labels. This must be a character type field. Street Address --------------------------------------------------------------- This is needed by Zippy to automatically insert "P.O. Box" into if the zip code entered belongs exclusively to a post office. After selecting the field to use, you will be allowed to edit "P.O. Box" to say "Post Office Box" or anything else. City --------------------------------------------------------------- This is needed by Zippy to automatically insert the city name based upon the zip code entered. State --------------------------------------------------------------- This is needed by Zippy to automatically insert the 2-character state abbreviation based upon the zip code entered and also for printing bulk reports/labels. This must be a character type field with a length of 2. Zip Code --------------------------------------------------------------- This is needed by Zippy to automatically insert the city, state, and area code and also used for printing bulk reports/labels. This must be a character type field with a length of either 5 or 10 (zip+4). Page 69 Area Code --------------------------------------------------------------- This is needed by Zippy to automatically insert the area code based upon the zip code entered and also by the <F8> command while editing records to dial a phone number on your modem. Phone --------------------------------------------------------------- This is needed by the <F8> command while editing records to dial a number on the modem. Record Date --------------------------------------------------------------- Assigning a date field to be the Record Date will cause today's date to be automatically inserted into this date field whenever a new record is added to the database. Tickler Date --------------------------------------------------------------- This is needed by the Tickler. The Tickler may be run after first selecting a database if a date field has been assigned as the Tickler Date field. For more on running Tickler, see "Select or Close a Database" (chapter 2). Filter --------------------------------------------------------------- This is needed in order to create a Filter. This field must be a logical field and can be added to any database with the "Create/Modify Database Files" command located in the main menu. See "Creating or Modifying a Database" (chapter 11). Duplicate --------------------------------------------------------------- This is needed in order to check for duplicate records. This field must be a logical field and can be added to any database with the "Create/Modify Database Files" command located in the main menu. See "Creating or Modifying a Database" (chapter 11). D) Install Printer(s) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Printer drivers are not mandatory to print labels, letters, or master lists. However, they will allow you to customize the output using the printer macros available for your printer. To install a printer driver(s), you will need the master printer driver file. This master printer driver file of over 430 printers is available to registered users at no additional charge. Page 70 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- APPENDIX ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- The CONFIG.SYS File ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you are using a floppy system, you should have a CONFIG.SYS file on your boot-up DOS disk. If you are using a hard drive, your CONFIG.SYS file is located in your root directory. If you do not have this file, you will need to create it with a text editor or word processor in DOS text mode. This file needs to contain the following two statements on separate lines by themselves: FILES=20 BUFFERS=8 If you are using DOS version 3.30 or later, set the FILES statement to 30 instead of 20. To check the FILES statement, select the "Miscellaneous Utilities" command in the main menu then the "System Information" command in the sub-menu. If your CONFIG.SYS file can not be found or the FILES statement (located in the CONFIG.SYS file) isn't set to 20 or greater, you will not be able to select a database. You can edit the CONFIG.SYS file from within DDFile using the "File Management (Copy/Rename/Delete/Edit)" command from the main menu. See "File Management" (chapter 9). The FILES statement is placed on a line by itself towards the top of the file. Simply type FILES=20 or FILES=30 then save and exit the file. You will need to quit DDFile and then reboot your machine in order for DOS to read the updated CONFIG.SYS file to set your system up accordingly. Page 71 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- GLOSSARY ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- ASCII ------------------------------------------------------------------- This stands for the American Standard Code for Information Interchange, an international method of representing information in computers. ASCII is pronounced "ask-key". ASCII DELIMITED FILES ------------------------------------------------------------------- ASCII DELIMITED files consist of records in which the fields are surrounded by quotation marks and are separated from other fields by commas. Each record is on a line by itself. Trailing spaces are truncated. Date fields are written in the form YYYYMMDD. Example ASCII DELIMITED format: "Jones","Mary","123 Main Street","Georgia" "Smith","Jerry","1964 Jones Avenue","Florida" "Peterson","Paul","985 East Polk","California" Because most other database management programs export database files in ASCII DELIMITED format and because DDFile can import ASCII DELIMITED files, any data can be used with DDFile without reentering each record. ASCII SDF (System Data Format) FILES ------------------------------------------------------------------- ASCII SDF files, like DELIMITED files, store each record on an individual line. However, the fields and records maintain a preset width. SDF files are sometimes referred to as FLAT files. Example ASCII SDF format: Jones Mary 123 Main Street Georgia Smith Jerry 1964 Jones Avenue Florida Peterson Paul 985 East Polk California DATA ------------------------------------------------------------------- A piece of information. Normally useless as an independent item. Can be useful when combined or used with other data. For example, a Page 72 phone number is useless until it is conveyed in conjunction with other data such as a name. DATABASE ------------------------------------------------------------------- A repository of stored information organized in such a way that information is easily retrieved. An example of a computerized database is a collection of RECORDS, each record having the same template for input. An example of a non-computer database is the phone book. FIELD ------------------------------------------------------------------- An item of information stored as part of a RECORD. Normally several fields are used for DATA storage in a DATABASE RECORD. Each field is used for a particular piece of DATA. For example, a date would be stored in a date field (__/__/__), last name would be stored in a field for the last name. INDEX FILE ------------------------------------------------------------------- An INDEX FILE consists of at least one field from a database. The field is sorted alphabetically, numerically, or chronologically, and with each entry in the field is the corresponding record number from the database. The record number is used to reference the proper record in the database. An index file is, in effect, a virtual sort of a database, since none of the records in the database are sorted. The "index file to database file" relation is much the same as the index in a book to the location in the text. PROMPT ------------------------------------------------------------------- Blinking cursor or highlighted menu command. RAM ------------------------------------------------------------------- An acronym for Random Access Memory. This is normally the computer's main memory. RECORD ------------------------------------------------------------------- An integral unit of data items (FIELDS) that, when combined with other records, makes up a database. Page 73 RECORD POINTER ------------------------------------------------------------------- The current record position within a database file. TRUNCATE ------------------------------------------------------------------- To cut off or trim the content of a field. END OF MANUAL