Loadstar 245/245.d81/t.tea

Text File | 2022-08-26 | 8KB | 269 lines

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        THE ENVELOPE ADDRESSOR
           by Lenard Roach


    "Necessity is the mother of
invention" - or in this case, pain
was. With the chore of addressing
about 30 envelopes a month for club
mailings, my envelope #15 discomfort
began to set in on my right wrist.
Then it was brought to my attention:
If a Commodore can create and print a
newsletter, then it should be able to
print on the face of an envelope the
From and To addresses. That's what
began the process which led to the
program you are about to explore.


    "The Envelope Addressor," or TEA
for short, is a Commodore 64 program
that allows you to create, edit, save,
and print the information usually
found on the front of a #10 size
envelope. This little 47 block
creation can be a big asset to your
club or business when it comes to
quick addressing of envelopes for
large mailings.

    You will want to use Copy It to
move TEA to your Envelope Disc. As
with all LOADSTAR programs, the "B."
prefix indicates the file you LOAD and
RUN. In this case,

            LOAD"B.TEA",dv

and RUN. After a cutesy introduction,
TEA's main menu offers eight options,
most of which are self explanitory -

  (1) The "From" Address Maker - This
      option puts you in the position
      to make the address that goes in
      the upper left hand corner of
      the envelope. Follow the
      prompts, then SAVE the
      information to a name of your
      choosing in a 1 block SEQuential
      file.

  (2) The "To" Address Maker -
      Functioning similiar to the
      "From" Address Maker, this
      option creates the address that
      resides in the center of the
      envelope.

  (3) Call An Address Off Disc - This
      option is the only one in TEA
      that takes you to a sub menu:

     1) Call the "From" Address -
        Choosing this option will
        allow you to call the From
        address into the buffer, all
        ready to print onto the
        envelope face.

     2) Call the "To" Address -
        Just like in Option 1, here
        the data from a To address is
        placed in the computer's
        buffer, ready for printing.

     3) Go Back To Main Menu -
        A shortcut option to take you
        back to the main menu.

     4) Get Outta Here Altogether -
        This option shortcut takes
        you to the credits screen,
        finally returning you to
        LOADSTAR or dropping you into
        BASIC mode.

  (4) Preview Envelope - A handy
      little option that gives you an
      opportunity to examine your
      selections from Option 3 and see
      it in an envelope style setting
      before you go on to print it. A
      YES/NO option appears after the
      visual to give you a chance to
      continue or reload a different
      envelope before going on to
      Option 5.

  (5) Print Envelope Face - This
      option takes the information
      chosen in Option 3 and prints
      them onto the face of your
      envelope. Just insert a #10 size
      envelope into your printer and
      press RETURN to begin the
      printing process.

      This function is also good for
      making a hardcopy mailing list
      of your current club or business
      clientele on your TEA data disc.

  (6) Delete An Address Off Disc -
      With clientele changing almost
      on a monthly basis, this option
      allows you to completely
      eradicate either the From or To
      address entered into the input
      line off your TEA data disc.

  (7) The "To" Address Editor - Within
      this option you can change the
      information already saved in a
      To file and then resave that
      file to either the same file
      name for a different one after
      your changes are made.

      There are several options
      available within this selection,
      all of which are self
      explanitory on the screen.

  (8) Get Outta Here - Like Sub Option
      4 within Option 3, this
      selection will take you to the
      credits screen, then on to
      LOADSTAR or BASIC.

    Like most programs, there are a
few little items of interest that, if
known, will make TEA run a little
smoother -

    First and foremost, there are few
null strings ("") in the program. This
means that whatever goes on or is
called off the TEA data disc will
remain in the computer's buffer until
something new is inputted or summoned.

    I purposely did this for the
fluency of data to be read and printed
onto the envelope.

    Secondly, as I'm sure you've
noticed, there is no "From" address
editor. Unless you're a person who
moves a lot, I didn't see the
necessity of having this data edited.
If you ever need to change any of the
information in a "From" address file,
simply delete that file using Option
6, then re-enter all the data
including any changes, using the
"From" Address Maker using Option 1.

    Third, if a FILE NOT FOUND error
message appears, TEA will read the
previous file accessed and display
that information on the screen. To
exit, just press "N" at the prompt and
re-enter the file name.

    If TEA repeats the FILE NOT FOUND
message again, press "N", then at the
opening prompt type LIST and check
your directory for the proper spelling
of the file you wish to access.

    Fourth, sometimes you may not need
an "Attn:" message in your "To"
address or a "Special Message" in your
"From" address. When it comes to enter
these inputs, you can either press
RETURN in the case of the "Special
Message" or type "Same" in the case of
the "Attn:" line.

    Lastly, please note the directory
reader embedded within TEA. At the
beginning of any data input type LIST
and press RETURN. This puts you into
the directory reader, showing you the
contents of drive 8.

    Press any key, then RETURN, to
exit the subroutine. A menu similiar
to the main menu will appear so you
can go wherever you wish from there.

    When listing the directory please
look for the opening marker of either
"F/" or "T/" indicating the file as a
From or To address. You do not need to
enter either prefix to access your TEA
data files.

    "The Envelope Addressor" has saved
me hours of annoying, repetitious work
each month preparing club mailings as
well as a lot of unnecessary
discomfort. As it has helped me, I
pray that it will assist you in your
club or business mailings as well.


    Thank you for using this program.
If you have any questions, bug
problems, comments, observations, or
suggestions on how to make this
program better or more efficient,
please feel free to let me know by
writing to the following address:

    Gabe's Computer Rescue
    Attn: "Pops"
    6025 Corona Avenue - East Room
    Kansas City, Kansas 66102-1339

Or email me at:

          [e-mail]

 LR

[DAVE'S AFTER THOUGHT:] TEA is a great
example of what a fellow can do when
he has an idea and a C-64! The only
editing I had to do was make it work
with any disk drive (a Fender Tucker
LOADSTAR mandate!), add the Return to
LOADSTAR feature, and merge the
opening screen to the main program.

The code of the main BASIC program --
ENV.ADDR -- is exceptionally readable
and neatly laid out. This is a place
to look for good programming style --
which is why I did not mess with it or
try to pack the program. And while I
might do things differently, the fact
remains that there is no ONE WAY. TEA
works. That is all that matters.

If you are bitten by the code-bug,
look at Lenard's work -- and take a
look at the DotBASIC Tutorial on this
issue.

Lenard has shown us that the power is
in our hands. YOU can make your C-64
do your every beck and call, too!

 DMM