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db/MLM Data-Base Mailing List Manager Version 2.0 Copyright 1989 Southwest Specialty Micro Systems 2601 Wyoming Blvd. N.E. Suite H-1/Box 109 Albuquerque, NM 87112 (505) 299-3903 LICENSE This version of db/MLM is NOT public domain or free software, but is being distributed as "shareware". The idea behind shareware is that users are allowed to try software before they end up paying for something that is not suitable for them. However, that does not relieve people who do use the product from an obligation to pay for it. After all, you get to test-drive a car. Non-registered users of this software are granted a limited license to make an evaluation copy for trial use on a private, non-commercial basis, for the express purpose of determining whether db/MLM is suitable for their needs. At the end of this trial period, you should either register your copy or discontinue using db/MLM. All users are granted a limited license to copy db/MLM only for the trial use of others and subject to the above limitations. This license does NOT include distribution or copying of this software package: 1. In connection with any other product or service. 2. For general use within a company or institution. 3. For any consideration or 'disk fee'. 4. Distribution in modified form, i.e., the file containing this license information MUST be included, along with the full db/MLM documentation. Operators of electronic bulletin board systems (Sysops) are encouraged to post db/MLM for downloading by their users, as long as the above conditions are met. ORDERING INFORMATION Registration of db/MLM has the following benefits: 1. License to use the software, under conditions similar to those given by Borland for its products; you may use the software anywhere you like, move it from machine to machine, and you may make backup copies for archival purposes, but you should treat it like a book; only one person at a time may use it. 2. An expanded manual, with more extensive coverage of the features in the MLM, laser-printed and loose-leaf bound. 3. Automatic upgrade to an enhanced version of the MLM, when release. These are some of the improvements planned: 1. Support of up to 20,000 records per mailing list. 2. Increased speed; for one thing, the enhanced version will not use overlays. 3. An improved user interface. 4. Limited telephone support. To register, please send $34.95 to: Southwest Specialty Micro Systems 2601 Wyoming Blvd. N.E. Suite H-1/Box 109 Albuquerque, NM 87112 or, you may call us at (505) 299-3903. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright 1986, 87, 88, 89 by Southwest Specialty Micro Systems. All Rights Reserved. DISCLAIMER Southwest Specialty Micro Systems makes no representations or warranties with respect to the contents of this manual or the accompanying software and specifically disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. Southwest Specialty Micro Systems reserves the right to make changes to the manual and software without obligation to notify any person or organization of such changes. POLICY It is the policy of Southwest Specialty Micro Systems to provide customer support. IF YOU ARE A REGISTERED USER, during the first six (6) months following your receipt of this software product, any reported errors will be corrected and supplied to the user at no charge. After that period of time, any errors will be reported and new software may be acquired for a handling and shipping charge. Users will be notified of program enhancements and added features, including the charge for upgrading to the new release, version, or package. TABLE OF CONTENTS DB/MLM INTRODUCTION WHAT IS "DB/MLM"? SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE DB/MLM Multiple lists B-Tree indexing Duplicate record checking Powerful query function Multiple selection fields WHAT CAN I DO WITH THE DB/MLM? Make Mailing Labels Query the Mailing List (Get Custom Output) Set Up "Mail-Merge" Files Maintain Your Mailing List WHAT DOES A "MAILING LIST" CONTAIN? "Mailing List" Defined Two Different Record Types The Data In the Records GETTING STARTED FILES ON THE MLM DISTRIBUTION DISKETTES SETTING UP YOUR WORKING DISKETTE Modifying the CONFIG.SYS File Finishing the Setup Creating the MLM Directory Copy the MLM Files To the Hard Disk USER INTERACTIONS Bringing the MLM "Up" Starting the MLM Creating a New Mailing List The MLM Menu System The Main Menu "Letter" Menus Other Responses/Inputs Data Editing on Input Forms Record Segments Screen Appearance and Navigation Data Entry Control Codes USING the DB/MLM VIEW/MAINTAIN MAILING LIST Add a Record Personal Record Institutional Record Edit a Record View a Record Delete a Record Quit MAKE MAILING LABELS Select By ZIP Code(s) Select By Selection Code Selection By ID Code/Number Multiple Copies Of Selected Labels Selection By Special Qualification MAKE A QUERY Making a Query Selecting Your Query Output Data from a Data Field Name/Address/Telephone Number Count of Qualifying Records Query Output Rules, Tips, and Notes. Rules Tips Notes PRINT MAILING LIST RECORDS CHANGE MAILING LISTS MLM INDEX FILE REBUILDER WHY AN INDEX REBUILDER? SETTING UP THE REBUILDER Preparing to Re-index USING THE REBUILDER APPENDICES DATA DICTIONARY DB/MLM INTRODUCTION WHAT IS "DB/MLM"? db/MLM is a data-base (db) structured mailing list manager (MLM) and database query system. Its primary purpose is to provide an efficient and easily used way to create mailing labels, mail-merge lists, and custom sub-lists from the mailing lists maintained by the system. From now on, we'll refer to the program as the "MLM". SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE DB/MLM 1. Multiple independent mailing lists supported. 2. B-tree indexing for speedy access to information. 3. Duplicate record checking to eliminate wasted labels and disk space. 4. Very powerful and flexible query capability for customized output. 5. Multiple selection fields for categorizing list entries. WHAT CAN I DO WITH THE DB/MLM? Make Mailing Labels The main purpose of the MLM is to provide a fast and easy way to make mailing labels. You can make the labels from one to four across the page, and have them come out in ZIP-code order (alphabetized within each ZIP-code), or unsorted (for a fast, short run of labels). For added flexibility, you may have labels go to the printer, or the screen (for a preview), or to a file on a hard- or floppy disk. This is especially handy when you wish to make several copies of the same set of labels. An example of this is given later. Query the Mailing List (Get Custom Output) Since the MLM is a database program in disguise, you may extract any information from an address list that you like, and you may do so for only those records that interest you. That is, you may 'query' the database. To do this you must type in a 'qualification' statement that the program will use to select records from which to produce your output. Next, you use a menu to select the type of output you want. Then you tell the program where you want the output to go (screen, printer, or file) and lean back and watch it zip through your mailing list, producing your data. Set Up "Mail-Merge" Files One especially useful feature of the MLM aids in the generation of personalized form letters. The query feature, discussed in the previous paragraph, will produce output which may be used by a word-processing package that has a "mail-merge" feature. Of course, then the MLM can produce the labels for your customized form letters. The MLM produces the "merge" file in the format required by MicroPro's Mail Merge (which works with their WordStar word processing program). Maintain Your Mailing List Simple maintenance of the mailing list is sometimes overlooked. The MLM allows easy maintenance, with automatic updating of the index files to keep the access speedy and up-to-date. You may (of course) add a record, delete a record, edit any field of an existing record, find and view a record, and print all or a portion of the list. As with other outputs, a "printout" may go to the printer, the screen, or a file. WHAT DOES A "MAILING LIST" CONTAIN? "Mailing List" Defined (and a few other words, as well) A "mailing list" is a collection of "records", gathered together, in our case, in a file on your computer. A "record" is a collection of pieces of information, all related in some fashion. In this case, all the pieces in each record are related by the person or institution (or business) to which they refer. Each separate piece of information in a record is called a "field". For instance, in our mailing lists, the family name is one field, and the street address is another field. The fields used in MLM records are described below, and a complete, formal list of the fields used in each record is given in the Data Dictionary at the end of this document. The MLM comes with a 'test' mailing list named "MLTEST". You may use this file to experiment with the program. Two Different Record Types Actually, there are two different types of records that may be found in any mailing list used here: "personal" and "institutional". By different types, we mean that the fields used in the records are different; they have different names, and different contents. However, they're enough alike that we can keep them in the same file. When you are performing maintenance, you must choose which type of record to use. When making standard labels, you may choose to include one or both types, and when you specify a special selection, only one type of record may be used at a time. The Data In the Records As mentioned above, the record types are much alike. In fact, with the exception of the "name" data, they're just alike. The first few fields in a "personal" record are: Title (Mr., Mrs., Mr./Mrs., Dr., ...) First name & middle initial Family name whereas an "institutional" record has these fields: Title/Person (individual addressee) Institution name (business, publication ...) The remaining data for both record types include: Street Address Street Address, 2nd line City, State, ZIP Telephone number (including area code) Add-date Comment (40 characters) Selection code Customer code. Selection code and customer code are intended just to provide an extra level of selectability, either for personal or for institutional records. They have no predefined meaning. GETTING STARTED Getting started with the MLM is pretty simple; there are only one or two things to do, with a couple of simple variations, before you're ready to start using the program. FILES IN THE MLM DISTRIBUTION SET Files with an asterisk (*) are required for operation of the MLM. MLM.000 Program file * MLM.001 Program file * MLM.002 Program file * MLM.COM Program file * DDMLM.TDF Data Dictionary (DD) file * DDMLMNM.INX DD index file * DDMLMFBR.INX DD index file * MLTEST.TDF Test/sample mailing list MLTEST.NMX Name index for test mailing list MLTEST.FRX ZIP+name index for test mailing list RBMLMIND.COM Index rebuilder for MLM MLM.DOC Documentation for the MLM SETTING UP YOUR SYSTEM Modifying the CONFIG.SYS File The file \CONFIG.SYS (note the backwards slash; CONFIG.SYS must be in your root directory) should have the following statements in it for the MLM to work efficiently: FILES=20 BUFFERS=12 The number of buffers can be greater than 12, but it should not be less. If you do not have such a file, you should make one. Just these two lines in the file are a good start. For any changes to the file to take effect, you must reboot your machine. This is a fact of life with DOS. For more information on the CONFIG.SYS file, see a DOS reference. Creating the MLM Directory If you are working on a hard disk, you will probably want to create a directory for the MLM program, its associated files, and your mailing list files. Creating a separate directory helps prevent the confusion which can result from having a huge number of utilities, applications, and data files all in the top level directory of your hard disk. If you're familiar with the process, make your directory and skip ahead to 'Copy The MLM Files To The MLM Directory'. Otherwise, here are the steps to take 1. Make sure the current drive is your hard disk; i.e., if your current drive is a floppy drive, type : 'C:<return>' (assuming 'C' is the designation of your hard disk). 2. Type: 'MD \MLM<return>'. This creates the directory named 'MLM' one level down from your root directory. 3. Type: 'CD \MLM<return>'. This makes the 'MLM' directory your current directory, giving you access to all the files in that directory. Copy The MLM Files To The MLM Directory If you have de-archived the MLM archive set and were not in an empty directory when you did so, then of course you will have to copy the files to the new directory one by one and delete the copies left where you de-archived them. Or, you might just delete the files (except for MLM.ARC), move just that one file to your new directory, and de-archive it there. This file set was compressed using PKARC 3.5. USER INTERACTIONS Bringing the MLM "Up" Starting the MLM Two simple steps: 1) make the drive and directory in which you have the MLM your current drive and directory, and 2) type: 'MLM<return>'. After a bit of disk activity, the opening screen will appear, like this: ************************************************************* ╔══════════════════════════════════ db/MLM ════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Mailing List Manager ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Copyright 1985,86,87,88,89. Southwest Specialty Micro Systems │ │ Technical Assistance: (505) 299-9303 │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ The system date is: 02/09/89 Is this the correct date? (Y/N): ************************************************************* Either accept the date shown on the screen by typing 'Y' (no return necessary), or enter a different date by answering 'N' and then entering the date when prompted. The date should be either in the form 'mmddyy' or 'mm/dd/yy'. In the latter form, initial zeroes aren't necessary; 1/1/89 is acceptable. Either date format is accepted throughout the MLM, wherever a date is requested. The next prompt will ask for the name of a mailing list (file). If you wish to work with a current mailing list, enter just the first part of the file name (not the .TDF extension). If the file is on another diskette, you must include the drive designator, such as 'B:XMAS'. The next prompt will ask if the index files are on the same drive. For this version, which supports a maximum of 200 entries per file, the answer will almost invariably be 'Y'. However, if they ARE on a different drive, answer 'N' and enter the drive letter for the index files when prompted to do so. Creating a New Mailing List If you have chosen not to work with an existing file, you just enter the name you choose for the new file when prompted for the name of the mailing list. The program will respond that you either misspelled the name, or that it doesn't exist, and then ask if you'd like to create a new file. If you respond to this question with 'Y', the MLM will automatically create the new file and its index files. If, however, you would not like to create the file, the MLM will respond with: 'Problem with files. Do you wish to Q)uit or T)ry again?' If you respond with 'T', the MLM will return to prompting you for the mailing list name. Otherwise (for a 'Q' response), the MLM will quit immediately. The MLM Menu System The MLM menu system is the way you, the user, control the actions of the MLM. Through two types of menus, you tell the MLM what to do, and sometimes how to do it. The Main Menu Once you are finished with the questions on the opening screen, you are presented with the main menu. This is a 'point and shoot' type menu, where all you need do is move the highlight bar to the selection you wish, then press <return> to execute that selection. ************************************************************* ╔══════════════════════════════════ db/MLM ════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ║ ╚════════════════════════════════╡XMAS87.TDF╞══════════════════════════════════╝ 1 View/Maintain Mailing List 2 Make mailing labels 3 Make a query from Mailing List 4 Print Mailing List records 5 Change Mailing Lists 0 Done. Leave the MLM. Pls select no. of desired action:: 1 ************************************************************* To move the highlight bar, the right-arrow and down-arrow cursor keys, as well as the space bar, will move the bar down, and the left-arrow and up-arrow keys will move the bar up. Also, each selection is numbered, and you may use that number to directly highlight a selection instead of using the cursor keys. "Letter" Menus The second type of menu in the MLM is the "letter" menu, and it differs from the main menu in two ways. First, the selections are all on the same line. Second, the way you make a selection is by typing one of the capitalized keys, set off by parentheses. For example: SELECT: A)dd, E)dit, V)iew, D)elete record, or Q)uit In this case, 'A', 'E', 'V', 'D', and 'Q' are valid responses. For any letter not allowable, the menu will just beep at you. Other Responses/Inputs Yes/No Questions If you are asked a question that can be answered with a Yes or No, at the end of the line will be '(Y/N)', and only a 'Y' or 'N' (uppercase is allowed) will be accepted. Numeric Questions In some situations you will be asked to provide a numeric response. Usually there is an indication of the range of valid responses allowed. If your response is not in the 'valid' range, the MLM will display an advisory message and have you re-enter a response. Date Inputs As mentioned above, either the form 'mmddyy' or 'mm/dd/yy' is acceptable any place you are prompted for a date. 'mm' is the month, 'dd' is the day, and 'yy' is the year. If you choose the mmddyy form, you must enter two digits for month, day, and year; April 1, 1989 would be '040189'. However, in mm/dd/yy format, both 4/1/89 and 04/01/89 are acceptable. Character Inputs Many of the fields in the MLM are 'character' fields, to allow for the maximum flexibility in the information stored. A character field will accept just about anything you can enter at the keyboard, and store it just as you entered it; there is very little error checking for these entries. Other Types of Input/Response Almost everything the MLM might ask you for is covered above, and those responses that don't fit into the above categories will be explained on the screen when they are requested. Any such inputs are checked for validity. Data Editing on Input Forms In all cases of data entry in the MLM, where more than one character is required, several keys are active in addition to the normal character keys. The cursor keys may be used to move about the entry, and several 'control' keys are used for different actions, including cursor movement and entry termination. The word 'field' is used quite a bit in this section, and refers to a location on the screen, into which you usually enter data. Since these 'screen fields' correspond to separate 'fields' in records, there shouldn't be too much confusion over the use of the word. Record Segments The Personal and Institutional records are broken up into two segments, or blocks of fields, for input or editing. You work with a segment at a time. It is possible when adding records to move back to a segment you have already completed. Normally, you will fill all the fields in a segment, or at least all you have data for. When you have finished the last field, the program will ask you to confirm your data. If you spot an error you can go back to correct it. However, you may also jump out of the middle of entry, indicating to the program that you are either finished with entry for that segment and it should be saved, or that you are quitting entry of that segment and that it should be abandoned. Control Codes NOTE: Since entering data into a data form might be considered "initial editing", all references below editing apply equally to the initial entry of data. ^V, <Ins> Toggles the 'insert' mode of entry. You start out in 'overwrite' mode. ^H, <Backspace> Destructive backspace; this moves the cursor to the left, if not already in the first character position, and deletes the character that was there. If the cursor is already at the beginning of a screen field, it moves to the FIRST character of the previous screen field. If there is no previous screen field, the MLM either beeps when adding a new record, or asks for confirmation when editing. <space> Does just what you might expect it to do. Remember that a space IS a character, and in overwrite mode, it will cover up another letter. <return> Indicates "end-of-field"; you must press <return> to move on from one field to the next, even if you have completely filled the field. ^A This moves the cursor to the beginning of the current screen field ^S, <left arrow> Non-destructive backspace; the cursor moves as described for ^H, above, but only cursor moves; none of the character are affected. ^D, <right arrow> Moves the cursor to the right one character. If the cursor is already at the end of the screen field, or if there are no more characters in the screen field, the cursor will not move, but the computer will beep. ^F Moves the cursor to the end of the screen field or to the end of the user entry in that field. ^G, <Del> Deletes the character at the cursor, and drags all characters beyond the cursor left one position. Just like usages of the 'delete' key. ^U Causes immediate exit from editing a segment. You will be asked to confirm your data, and then the next segment (if applicable) will be presented. ^W Causes immediate exit from editing a segment, and indicates that you are through with the entire record, so that no further segmemts of that record are presented. ^K, <Esc> Abandons changes made to a record when editing, or abandons a new record altogether when adding. Before abandoning, you will be asked "CANCEL this input? (Y/N)". ^E, <up arrow> Moves the cursor up a line ONLY if the screen field is more one 80-character line long. The only instance of this is when you are typing in a special qualification statement. ^X, <down arrow> Moves the cursor down in the same context that ^E moves the cursor up. USING the DB/MLM VIEW/MAINTAIN MAILING LIST As soon as you make this selection from the main menu, you are presented with the letter menu: SELECT: A)dd, E)dit, V)iew, D)elete record or Q)uit: These options are described below. Add a Record This option allows you to add new records to the mailing list you are working on. Recall that there are two different types of records, either of which may be added at any time. Personal Records As mentioned before, the first few fields in personal records differ in content from those in institutional records. The Family Name is required, since that field is the first information used in the index entry for a record. Everything else in the record is optional, although it won't do you much good if you only enter a family name. The first segment contains Family Name, Title(s), First Name & MI, Address lines, City, State, ZIP, Telephone Number, Date Added, and a field for Comment. When finished with this segment, you will be presented with the second segment, which contains only the Selection Code and the ID Code/Number. These fields are intended to allow you to categorize records for special label runs. Since they are character fields, you may put anything in them you like. Institutional Records The primary difference between these and personal records, as mentioned before, is the contents of the first two fields. Instead of Family Name, Title(s), and First Name & MI, the institutional records have two fields for Title/Person and Institution/Business Name. The rest of the first segment is the same, and the second segment in an institutional record is identical. In either case, if the information you have entered matches a record that is already in the mailing list, the MLM will display that record on the screen and ask you if it is indeed a duplicate of what you just entered. If you reply 'N', it will happily store the record you just entered and continue. However, if you replied 'Y', the adding of your new record will be abandoned and a message to that effect will be displayed. This helps prevent wasted space, labels, and time. Edit a Record When editing a record, the first thing that must be determined is the type of record you wish to edit. You are asked: 'Find a personal record ("N" = Institutional rec)? (Y/N):' When you have made the appropriate response, you are asked for either the family name and first initial, or the institutional name. The program will take what you have entered and display the name and address for the entry in the mailing list that is either the same as what you entered, or the first one following it in alphabetic order. The complete name is NOT necessary in either case; just the first letter will be good enough to let the program find something close to what you want. (In fact, if you just hit <return>, the program will produce the first record in the file of the proper type, since anything follows a blank in alphabetic ordering.) Screen will look something like this: ************************************************************* ╔══════════════════════════════════ db/MLM ════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Recs In Use: 12 ║ ╚════════════════════════════════╡MLTEST.TDF╞══════════════════════════════════╝ Find a personal record ("N" = Institutional rec)? (Y/N):Y Please enter Family Name:Church First initial?: Churchmouse, Janet B. 1202 N. B Street Minot, ND 50523 SELECT: C)orrect record, go to N)ext or P)rev. record, Q)uit: ************************************************************* Again, you have a letter menu, and either 'P' or 'N' will result in a different record displaying on the screen. If you run out of records at the beginning or end of the file, then you will be advised of that, and returned to the maintenance letter menu. When you have found the one you want, 'C' indicates that and allows you to continue. When you have chosen a record, it will be displayed on the screen for editing, and you may change any of the fields that you wish. The index files will be automatically updated if you change the name or ZIP code fields. View a Record Very simple; 1) find a record as described above, and 2) when you're tired of looking at the record, press a key (as prompted at the bottom of the screen), and you are returned to the maintenance letter menu. Delete a Record Also very simple; 1) find the record as described above, and 2) answer 'Y' when the MLM asks you 'Are you SURE you want to DELETE this Record? (Y/N)'. WARNING: There is no un-delete facility in the MLM; if you delete a record, it really is gone. Quit This option will take you back to the main menu. MAKE MAILING LABELS NOTE: The MLM assumes a standard-sized mailing label of 15/16" high by 3-1/2" wide. The first thing you are asked when choosing to make mailing labels is whether to make selections by ZIP code, Selection Code, Customer Number (ID Code/Number mentioned before), or by Special Qualification. After selecting any of these, you will be asked whether to make labels for personal, institutional, or both record types. Respond accordingly, and proceed with entering the information for the selection criteria. Finally, you will be asked about the index to use and the destination to which the labels should be sent. At that point, the MLM produces your labels. Selection By ZIP Code(s) You have the option of using a single ZIP code or a range of ZIP codes. If you choose a single ZIP code, merely enter it when asked for, and continue along. If you choose a range of ZIP codes, you are first prompted for the lower ZIP code, and then the higher ZIP code. The order here is important, because if the higher ZIP code is entered first, no records will be output. Keep in mind that the ZIP code is a character field, so that, for instance, Canadian postal codes may also be used, but to select a range, the first code entered must alphabetically precede the second code entered. Selection By Selection Code Like the ZIP codes, you may enter a single Selection Code or a range of codes, and like the ZIP codes, the alphabetic order of the codes selected is important when using a range of Selection codes. Selection By ID Code/Number Once again, a single code or a range of codes is allowed. Selection By Special Qualification To make a selection by special qualification, the user must enter a 'qualification statement', which establishes a condition which all selected records will meet. This is what the entry screen for a qualification statement looks like: ************************************************************* ╔══════════════════════════════════ db/MLM ═══════════════════════════Overwrite╗ ║ ║ ╚════════════════════════════════╡MLTEST.TDF╞══════════════════════════════════╝ ───────────────────────────────────Personal───────────────────────────────────── MLFAMNAME MLTITLE MLFSTNMMI MLADDR MLADRL2 MLCITY MLST MLZIP MLTELNR MLADDDATE MLCOMMENT MSELNCODE MIDCODE ─────────────────────────────────Institutional────────────────────────────────── ITITLPERS INAME INADDR INADRL2 INCITY INST INZIP INTELNR INADDDATE INCOMMENT INSELNCODE INIDCODE ────────────────────────────────────Format────────────────────────────────────── Data-field-name <relop> comparison-value (Allowable "data-field-names" are listed above in all caps.) Please enter your record-qualification statement below- : : ************************************************************* This is the most complex method of selection of records, and gives you the most control. To use this option, you must type in a string that describes relationships between data in the actual records and data that you want to compare them with. The string comprises a 'logical expression', so that every record for which the string can be considered true will be selected. The string is composed of simple expressions that describe a relationship. Several of these expressions may be tied together to either more closely or more loosely specify the 'qualification' criteria. Simple expressions have three parts: a data field name, a relational operator, and a comparison value and are in either of the following formats: data-field-name <relop> comparison-value comparison-value <relop> data-field-name A data field name is the name used internally by the system for the data field in the mailing list records. All the names used are displayed on the screen while entering the qualification screen, for easy reference. Also, each data field name and a description of the contents of that field are listed in the Data Dictionary. A relational operator indicates how the data field name relates to the comparison value. Relational operators are: = equals <> does not equal < is less than > is greater than <= is less than or equal to =< (same) >= is greater than or equal to => (same) in is contained IN. This is a special case for strings; it says that the value on the left is contained in the value on the right, as a substring. A comparison value is completely up to you. There are a few rules, though. Fields of a given type must be compared to information of the same type; a character field must be compared to a character string. Since all the fields in the MLM are currently of this type, then all comparison values are string values. The primary rule about string values is that they must be enclosed in quotes, either double or single (" or '). Dates are stored as 6-character strings in mmddyy format. Simple expressions may be tied together using the words "AND", "OR", and "NOT". Parentheses may be used to group simple expressions, in order to provide control over the way expressions are evaluated. Example: ('90000' > MLZIP AND MLZIP > '79999') OR 'NZ' IN MLFAMNAME This would specify that selected records should have a ZIP code in the 80000's ( > 90000 AND > 79999), or that the family name contain the letters 'NZ', regardless of ZIP code. Index Choice After you have specified the selection criteria for your labels, you are asked: 'Process List: U)nindexed, or with N)ame, or Z)ip-name index?' This specifies the order in which the labels are printed. Unindexed means that they will be printed out in the order in which they were entered, name-indexed means that they will be printed out in order by Family and/or Institutional name, and ZIP-name indexed means that the order will be by ZIP-code, and name within a given ZIP-code. This last choice can be important if you have a sufficient quantity of mail to warrant bulk-mailing rates, when ZIP-code sorting is required. Destination Choice The system will give you the choice of sending the output to either the printer, the screen, or a file on the disk. Printer For this option, you are asked how many labels are across the page; this controls how may labels are printed in one row. On a wide carriage printer, you may have as many as 4 labels of the standard size on one row, and the MLM will handle that. You will also be asked whether your printer is set for P)ica (10 characters per inch), or E)lite (12 characters per inch). If you have not specifically set your printer otherwise, it is probably printing at 10 cpi - Pica. Screen Output to the screen is similar to output to the printer, except that you can only choose 1 or 2 labels across the page, since only two will fit across the screen, and you don't have to choose between Pica and Elite; they're irrelevant on the screen. File This is almost the same as printing to the printer, except that the first thing you are asked for is the name of the file to store the output in. If you do not supply the extension for the file name, '.DTA' will be used. Multiple Copies Of Selected Labels On occasion, or for certain groups of labels, you may wish to make more than one set of a group of labels. The easiest way to do this is to select a file as the output destination, and then just copy that file to the printer each time you want another set of that group of labels. MAKE A QUERY General Idea To make a custom query of the mailing list database, there are three steps. First, you must enter a selection string as described above. Second, you must select you query output, and third, you must select the output destination. Selecting Your Query Output After you have entered your qualification statement, you are presented with combination letter/number menu. You may enter one of the numbers, or 'D' to indicate that you have done all the selection of output you want, or 'A' to abandon the query altogether. You have three options for the type of output from the query. Data from a Data Field This option allows you to pick and choose the fields to be output. You may select this option multiple times, and every time you do, you are prompted for the data field name to be output. These are the same names as those used in the qualification statement. Remember that you may only use one record type in a query, so if you specified institutional field names in the qualification string, you must use institutional field names here. When you have chosen this option for all the fields you want, type 'D' (for 'done') at the prompt. Name/Address/Telephone Number This option automatically selects the fields out of the mailing list records for output. When you choose this, the screen may appear as if nothing has happened (to be fixed in a future release), but the selection has been made, and you should then type 'D' for 'done'. Count of Qualifying Records This option will not print out any information from the mailing list records themselves. Instead, it will print the count of the records for which the qualifying statement is true. This is useful for previewing the size of a label or query run. Query Output As with most output in the MLM, you are given the option of printing to the printer, a file, or the screen. If output is sent to either the printer or the screen, the first thing printed is the qualification statement, followed by a list of fields to be output, followed by the record output. A file contains only the record output. PRINT MAILING LIST RECORDS This option prints out all the records in the database (mailing list). The only option for output selection is the starting point of the list. After you have selected the output destination and the order of processing, you are asked whether to start at the beginning or to 'restart'. If you choose to 'restart', you will have to choose the record to start with, exactly as you chose a record to edit, view, or delete. When you have chosen the starting record, the MLM will output all information for each record from there to the end of the file to the output destination you have chosen. The output format has been chosen to be more compact than screen entry, yet very readable. CHANGE MAILING LISTS You may switch mailing lists at any time without leaving the MLM by choosing this option from the main menu. The MLM will close all the files you have been working with to that point and ask you for the name of the new mailing list file. From that point, it is just as if you had just started the MLM. MLM INDEX FILE REBUILDER WHY AN INDEX REBUILDER? Well, much as we might like to think that things will always work right, and people never make mistakes, experience has shown that it doesn't always work like that. Lightning can strike right outside, a car knock down a power pole, or other misfortune occur. If you have been backing up your files as you go, then you shouldn't get hurt too badly - just restore from your backups and continue. Occasionally, however, the damage isn't immediately apparent and you don't realize there is a problem until the program complains about a corrupted index, or things just don't work right. The MLM index file rebuilder is provided to bail you out when the system isn't working right because there is something wrong with the index files. It's not a panacea, but if the index files get clobbered, it will rebuild them for you. If a mailing list gets clobbered, however, you'll need a backup. You can make a backup of your mailing lists by using the DOS COPY (or DISKCOPY) functions. Do this as often you like, but at least once every two to four hours of adding/editing your mailing list(s). Preparing to Re-index If you are operating from floppy diskettes, you might want to do some initial preparation before doing the index rebuilding. If your mailing list is large enough that you have its index files on a separate diskette with the MLM program, you probably want to do the following. Move the rebuilder program to a formatted diskette (using COPY). Use this diskette in drive A: with the mailing list in drive B:. When, during start-up of the rebuilder, you are asked for the mailing list file name, be sure to include the drive letter in the name. For instance, if you were re-indexing a list called CUSTOMER, you would respond B:CUSTOMER. Also be sure to indicate that the new index files should go on drive A: (see Start-up, below). After you have created the new index files, use COPY to copy the new files to the diskette where the index files normally reside - the new copies will overwrite the old. USING THE REBUILDER To start up the index file rebuilder, you Type: RBMLMIND<return> At this point, you will see a screen very much like the opening screen of the MLM. Respond with the date and the name of the mailing list to be re-indexed. If the mailing list isn't on the same diskette as the rebuilder program, be sure to include the drive letter in the file name. Now, you will see: Create new Index files on same drive? (Y/N): If there is room on the same diskette with the mailing list, respond Y; otherwise respond N. You will be asked: Drive letter, please - A) to F): Type: <drive letter><return> of the drive where you want the new index files created. At this point, you have done all there is to do. If there are existing index files of the same name on the indicated diskette, they will be erased, and new ones created. The rebuilder will go to work and re-index your mailing list. As it works, it will give a running count of the number of records processed so far. When it's done, it reports how many records were actually indexed. During processing it might report "Non-zero status on record NNN". This simply means that there is a record not currently in use, due to a record having been deleted during mailing list maintenance. This accounts for any disparity between records processed and records indexed. Your final screen will look something like: ************************************************************* ╔════════════════════════ DB/MLM Index File Rebuilder ═════════════════════════╗ ║ ║ ╚════════════════════════════════╡MLTEST.TDF╞══════════════════════════════════╝ Records processed: 12 Nr records indexed: 12 Leaving Rebuilder. Closing files. ************************************************************* DATA DICTIONARY This appendix is organized according to the record types within which the data fields described occur. The column headings are: NAME: Name of the data field. You would use this name in building a query involving this datum. TYPE: The datum type contained in this field. "S" String of characters. Any number, letter, or special character may be entered in a string field "C" Single character. "D" Date. A special form of string field, six characters long which contains the digits of a date. The form is "mmddyy" where "yy" is the two-digit year (e.g., 89, "mm" is the two-digit month ("09"), and "dd" is the two-digit day of the month ("02"). The example date would be the characters 860902 (Sept. 9, 1986). LENGTH: The actual, allowed, length of strings. DESCRIPTION: A brief description of the contents of the data field. PERSONAL RECORD NAME TYPE LEN DESCRIPTION Segment 1 MLFAMNAME S 25 Family name for this record MLTITLE S 10 Title(s) to use in name line of label MLFSTNMMI S 20 First name and (optional) middle initial MLADDR S 30 Line 1 of street address - number & street MLADRL2 S 15 (Optional) Line 2 of address - Apt #, suite, etc. MLCITY S 20 City of addressee MLST S 2 (Postal Service) 2-character state code MLZIP S 10 ZIP code; 5-character or "ZIP + 4" (nnnnn-nnnn) MLTELNR S 12 Telephone number; aaa nnn-nnnn MLADDDATE D 6 Date record was added; internally, 6-char. long MLCOMMENT S 40 Comments; anything useful to you. Segment 2 MSELNCODE S 5 Selection code; establish your own coding MIDCODE S 6 ID or customer code or number INSTITUTIONAL RECORD Segment 1 ITITLPERS S 26 Title, position, or person addressed INAME S 30 Institution or business addressed INADDR S 30 Line 1 of street address - number & street INADRL2 S 15 (Optional) Line 2 of address - Apt #, suite, etc. INCITY S 20 City of addressee INST S 2 (Postal Service) 2-character state code INZIP S 10 ZIP code; 5-character or "ZIP + 4" (nnnnn-nnnn) INTELNR S 12 Telephone number; aaa nnn-nnnn INADDDATE D 6 Date record was added; internally, 6-char. long INCOMMENT S 40 Comments; anything useful to you. Segment 2 ISELNCODE S 5 Selection code; establish your own coding INIDCODE S 6 ID or customer code or number ----------------------------------------------------------------------- END OF DOCUMENTATION.