The Business Master (3rd Edition)

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M A I L M O N S T E R Version 3.4 Requires 512 KB RAM and a Hard Disk System Distributed as SHAREWARE software. If you find this software useful, you are asked to register the software with the author. Thanks for your support. Peter T. Dyer 138 Kuuhale Street Kailua, HI 96734 Phone 808-261-4560 (c) Copyrighted 1986-1992 All Rights Reserved MAIL MONSTER MANUAL Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS ***************** SECTION PAGE I. SETUP ON A FLOPPY DISK SYSTEM ....................... 1 II. SETUP ON A HARD DISK SYSTEM ......................... 1 III. STARTING MAIL MONSTER ............................... 2 IV. CREATING CATEGORIES and CONFIGURING MAIL MONSTER .... 2 V. INDEXING THE DATA FILES ............................. 3 VI. ADDING NAMES TO MAIL MONSTER ........................ 3 VII. CHANGING ENTRIES IN MAIL MONSTER .................... 4 VIII. CHECKING FOR DUPLICATE NAMES ........................ 4 IX. CREATING MAILING LABELS ............................. 5 X. DELETING A SINGLE RECORD ............................ 6 XI. PRINTING A SINGLE RECORD ............................ 6 XII. PRINTING A TELEPHONE DIRECTORY ...................... 6 XIII. MAIL MERGE FILE FORMAT .............................. 7 XIV. BACKING UP DATA FILES................................ 7 XV. VIEWING ENTRIES ON SCREEN............................ 7 XVI. COUNTING CATEGORIES ENTERED.......................... 8 XVII. CREATING ROLODEX CARDS............................... 9 XVIII. CLOSING REMARKS and REGISTRATION..................... 9 APPENDIX A. CONVERSION FROM MAIL MONSTER 2.3 AND BELOW........... 10 APPENDIX B. TROUBLE SHOOTING .................................... 11 APPENDIX C. MAIL MONSTER UTILITY DISK ........................... 12 APPENDIX D. MAIL MONSTER AND LASER PRINTING ..................... 13 MAIL MONSTER MANUAL Page 1 INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING MAIL MONSTER 3.4 MAIL MONSTER is designed to be used without much attention to a manual. However, because some people feel a bit more comfortable with a manual, which explains how a software product works, this manual has been created. If you feel venturesome, the only sections of the manual your might find useful concern SETUP of the MAIL MONSTER software, creating CATEGORIES and initializing INDEX files. If you are a bit reluctant to start without reading a manual, it is here for you to read. I. SETUP ON A FLOPPY DISK SYSTEM MAIL MONSTER runs best on a hard disk system. However, if your mail list is less than 100 names, you can fit it on the working disk, that the SETUP program will create. When you are nearing your limit MAIL MONSTER will warn you by flashing a warning at the top of the MENU screen. First, create a WORKING DISK using the DOS format procedure. Place DOS in drive A and a blank disk in drive B. At the A> enter the following and press the enter key. A> FORMAT B: <enter> Format another blank disk. This will become your DATA disk on which you will copy the MAIL.DBF file. This disk will run in drive B. Next, remove DOS and place your MAIL MONSTER disk in drive A. Copy the files MAIL.ARC, PKXARC.COM, and EXTRACT.BAT to the blank disk in drive B. Switch to drive B. Enter the command EXTRACT. A> B: <enter> B> EXTRACT <enter> Finally, copy the program CONFIG.SYS to your MS DOS or PC DOS BOOT DISK. Restart your computer with this new file on your boot disk. Place the the disk from drive B into drive A. Place the data disk with MAIL.DBF on it in drive B. Enter MAIL to start program. II. SETUP ON A HARD DISK SYSTEM MAIL MONSTER runs best on a hard disk system. Setting up MAIL MONSTER is quite easy on a hard disk. First, create a subdirectory for MAIL MONSTER. I suggest you call it MAIL. At the C> prompt, enter the following commands to create a subdirectory labeled MAIL. C> CD\ C> MD\MAIL C> CD\MAIL Now, place your MAIL MONSTER disk in drive A. Copy all the files on the A> driive to the C> drive by typing COPY A:*.* C:\MAIL <enter>. The files necessary to create a working system of MAIL MONSTER on your hard disk will be copied to the MAIL subdirectory. Run the following command. The program will unarchive your MAIL.EXE file. C> EXTRACT <enter> Finally, copy the program CONFIG.SYS to your MS DOS or PC DOS Root directory. Restart computer with this new file in your root directory. MAIL MONSTER MANUAL Page 2 III. STARTING MAIL MONSTER Starting up MAIL MONSTER is very easy. If you need to use the floppy version, place your BOOT DOS DISK in disk drive A and boot your computer. Now place your WORKING DISK in drive A. Enter MAIL and press [ENTER]. For a hard disk system, after booting, change to the MAIL subdirectory, enter MAIL, and press [ENTER] key. You are first presented with the PTD logo, advising you that the software has been distributed as SHAREWARE. Press the [ENTER] key after reading the message. If you see (Q/A/I), press "I" twice. Then be sure to reconfigure MAIL MONSTER to match your computer setup (i.e, be sure that you REBOOT the compter after copying CONFIG.SYS to root directory of hard disk or to your PC/MS DOS system boot disk. You are now presented with the Main Menu for MAIL MONSTER. It has been designed to be self-explanatory. The first menu item you ought to run, however, is the [C] CREATE CATEGORIES item (see next section), which will do just that and also reconfigure MAIL MONSTER. IV. CREATING CATEGORIES AND CONFIGURING MAIL MONSTER MAIL MONSTER permits you to categorize the people, groups, or the organizations you place in the mailing system. This helps you to keep a variety of names in the mailing list, but only to print those particular names you might wish to "target" in a mailing. You have the freedom to define the categories. Up to twenty-four unique categories may be viewed, but in actuality, you may use the entire alphabet and the numbers 0-9 as category identifiers for a total of 66 categories. Simply keep a sheet with the identifiers tied to the categories defined. At the MAIN MENU press the "C" entry. You will be taken to the Create (or edit) categories screen. Create any categories you may need. You may remove the S = SAMPLE category by just typing over it. What you type in the box will appear on the screen when you ADD new names to your mailing list, when you edit names, and when you produce mailing labels. Here are some samples of categories you might create: R = REPUBLICAN a = ELK MEMBER D = DEMOCRAT b = SEARS EMPLOYEE I = INDEPENDENT # = TOPPER EMPLOYEE S = SENIOR CITIZEN 1 = FACULTY Y = YOUTH GROUP 2 = STAFF The format for the categories is important. The first digit will appear in the data file that you create and is used to sort the file by category. A name can be given several category identifiers, if that makes sense to you. The maximum number of categories a name in your mailing list can be tagged is 10. You can add, delete, or edit categories at any time. Just run the [C] feature. MAIL MONSTER MANUAL Page 3 Once you have finished with the categories you wish to define, you press the [PgDn] key to be taken to the next portion of the setup and configuration routine. You will be asked to choose a Zip Code entry format allowing numbers or both numbers and letters (foreign countries). You will be asked about monitor type (monochrome or color). If using a monochrome monitor, you enter [M]. If using color you enter [C]. For color the text will be a yellow shade. If you prefer white text, enter [M] for color rather than [C]. Now press return. You must next specify whether you are using MAIL MONSTER as a floppy disk system or on a hard disk. Enter [F] for floppy or [H] for hard disk. Indicate if you have a [1] drive or a [2] drive system. Press enter to return to the Main Menu. Configuration is finished. V. INDEXING THE DATA FILES It is often helpful to initialize the index feature of MAIL MONSTER at the same time that you first configure the system. Index files are transferred to your working system when you set up the system. However, you should also be made aware of the fact that occasionally you will need to reindex your data files to be sure MAIL MONSTER will work correctly. Computers have a funny way of ocassionally placing an electronic "glitch" in a file. Running the [I]ndex feature will "reset" the index files that MAIL MONSTER uses and remove those "glitches." VI. ADDING NAMES TO MAIL MONSTER At the Main Menu,choose the Add Names Option [A] and press [Enter]. You will be presented with the first screen for entering names. Enter only last and first name of the person, group, or organization you want to place in the mailing system. MAIL MONSTER will then check to see if the name is already in the system. This prevents you from inadvertently placing the name in the system twice. If it finds the name in the system, it will so advise you. If not it will take you to the next screen. You are now asked to specify the category or categories that you wish to assign to the name you are entering. You'll find a list of categories at the bottom of the screen. It is the list you created when you configured MAIL MONSTER. Choose the single letter or digit identifying the category and place it in the box. If you use more than one category for a name, BE SURE THAT YOU ENTER THE CATEGORIES CONSECUTIVELY. Blanks between categories will cause you grief when sorting and printing labels. When finished, press the [PgDn] key. Finally, you are asked to enter address information and phone number information. Do so and press the [PgDn] key when finished. You next will be asked if you wish to add another record. If you answer [Y] you will be taken back to the screen asking for a name to add. If you answer [N] you will be taken back to the Main Menu. MAIL MONSTER MANUAL Page 4 To move back to a field once entered, use the "Up Arrow" on the numeric keypad. To move down a field, use the "Enter" key. If you make a mistake, you must use the MODIFY feature to correct it, AFTER leaving the ADD feature. VII. CHANGING ENTRIES IN MAIL MONSTER Changing entries made to MAIL MONSTER is about the same as adding entries. From the Main Menu press [M] to Modify Names. You will be presented with a familiar screen, asking for the name to edit. If MAIL MONSTER does not find the name, it will so inform you, so be sure to enter the name exactly as you added it, even if it contains error. The MODIFY feature allows you to correct your entry errors. If the name you enter is found, you will be presented with another familiar screen. This time you can change a name, categories, address data, or phone numbers. Make your corrections; press the [PgDn] key. You will be asked if you to see Previous, Next, or Find another name. Answer [P], [N], or [F] as appropriate. If you answer [F] you will be returned to the name screen. Enter [EX] to return to Main Menu. VIII. CHECKING FOR DUPLICATE NAMES Despite your best efforts at keeping duplicate names out of MAIL MONSTER, in the passage of time you may find duplicate names do get entered. This is caused by the editing process. MAIL MONSTER simply cannot protect you from creating a duplicate name by editing an old name to match another name. Therefore, if not having duplicate labels is important to you, you should run the [D] Duplicates Check feature once in a while. The feature checks for duplicate NAMES or ADDRESSES, for often you will find that people receive duplicate mailings at different addresses based on a slight name difference (e.g., you include middle initial in one name but not the other, so MAIL MONSTER allowed you to add the name). After entering [D] you will be asked to check by [N]ame or by [A]ddress. You check by one and then by the other. MAIL MONSTER will find the duplicates, and give you the option of either marking one of the names for deletion or letting them both stay in the system. Just follow the instructions on the screen that appear when a duplicate record is found. MAIL MONSTER keeps a running count of the names it has checked and the duplicates it has found, so the process doesn't become too boring for you. If you have a large file, this process takes some time to complete. Therefore, MAIL MONSTER beeps at you each time it finds a duplicate. You can leave the system running, while doing other work, only to pay attention to it when you hear it beep at you. MAIL MONSTER MANUAL Page 5 Finding and marking duplicate records is only part of the process. If you wish to actually remove the names from your data files, you must also run the [R]emove feature from the Main Menu. After you have completed the Duplicates feature, you will be returned to the Main Menu. At this point you enter the [R]emove duplicate names feature and MAIL MONSTER will physically remove the marked names from the files and reindex all of the Index files. Again, this takes a bit of time. This two step approach to removing names simply affords you some protection. IX. CREATING MAILING LABELS MAIL MONSTER was created to enable you to produce mailing labels. It does this function well, assuming you have entered the information correctly. First, you must purchase mailing labels. It is recommended that you purchase standard 3 1/2" by 15/16" ONE-UP gummed labels, which work on a tractor feed printer. You'll find the labels won't slip and will print with less problems, if you stick to this label size. BE SURE YOU HAVE FIRST TURNED ON YOUR PRINTER! To print mailing labels, you must run the [P] feature. You will be taken to a menu, presenting you with four choices: [T] TEST LABELS. You run this to be sure that your printer will print labels within the gummed paper label borders. [A] ALL LABELS ALPHABETICALLY. You run this if you want to print all your labels in the system in alphabetical order. [Z] ALL LABELS by ZIP CODE. You run this if you want to print all your labels in the system in ZIP CODE order. [O] OTHER MENU. You run this if you want to print labels by special categories or special Zip Codes. While the first three categories are really self-explanatory, the last category will present you with another menu. You must enter a response to at least one of the categories you will see on the screen. If you do not, you will not print any labels. The first possiblity is to print labels by a zipcode group. You may enter the Zip Code group and leave the rest blank. You may also enter categories (up to five are allowed) of names that you wish to group and print labels. You must then specify whether you wish the labels to be in Zip Code order (which may be redundant) or alphabetical. Press the [Enter] key. MAIL MONSTER MANUAL Page 6 You next are presented a menu which asks whether or not you wish the "OR CURRENT RESIDENT" line to be printed on the label. The default is to NOT have the line printed, so you must enter [Y] if you want it to be printed. Most users do not, but mass mailers often do. Finally, you will be asked whether or not you want to print the labels one-up, two-up, or three-up. Your choice depends on the type of gummed labels you have purchased. One-up and two-up labels will print well on the standard narrow carriage printer. Three-up can be printed on a narrow carriage printer only if using an IBM/EPSON compatible dot matrix printer. Press the [Enter] key. Labels will now be printed. IF YOUR LABELS SHOULD JAM, TAP YOUR PRINTER SELECT BUTTON. MAIL MONSTER WILL HOLD YOUR LABELS. WHEN YOU HAVE FIXED THE PROBLEM WITH YOUR PRINTER, HIT THE RESET BUTTON, AND MAIL MONSTER WILL CONTINUE WITH PRINTING LABELS. YOU MAY ALSO RERUN LABELS, STARTING AT THE POINT THAT YOU JAMMED. X. DELETING A SINGLE RECORD You can delete a name from your mailing list by running the [S] feature. Enter the name exactly as it has been entered into MAIL MONSTER. If the record is in the system, you will be shown the record before deleting it. Follow the instructions on the screen and the record will be deleted. If you are now sure that you want to delete the record, run option [R] to remove all records marked for deletion. XI. PRINTING A SINGLE RECORD You can print a previously entered label by running the [O] feature. Enter the name exactly as it has been entered into MAIL MONSTER. If the record is in the system, you will be shown the record. You can edit the information before printing the label, or you can simply print the label you have identified. Follow the instructions on the screen and the label will be printed as many times as you need it to be printed. XII. PRINTING A TELEPHONE DIRECTORY You can produce a telephone directory in much the same manner that you produce mailing labels. At the Main Menu press the [T] Telephone. You will be presented with a menu with the following choices. [A] Telephone listing of all names in system [C] Telephone listing by categories (choices) [S] Telephone listing by State BE SURE YOU HAVE FIRST TURNED ON YOUR PRINTER! The [A] choice is obvious and will give you names and home and business phone numbers. Press the [Enter] key and your telephone list will be printed. The other two choices have additional items to fill. MAIL MONSTER MANUAL Page 7 The [C] choice will bring up the familar choice screen (see printing mailing labels section above). Simply enter the choice(s) of categories that you wish to produce in telephone listing form, and press the [Enter] key. Your telephone list will be printed. XIII. MAIL MERGE FILE FORMAT You can create a file of name and address data that can be used with word processing programs that have a "mail merge" feature. Enter choice [F] and the file will be created. You will find the output file is called NAME.TXT and will be on your default drive. The fields are in the following order: SALUTE,FIRST_NAME,LAST_NAME,ADDRESS1,ADDRESS2,CITY,STATE,ZIPCODE You must follow the instructions in your mail merge program in order to use this information. If you want to view the NAME.TXT file, simply enter the DOS command: TYPE NAME.TXT and press [Enter]. As with other features of MAIL MONSTER you can also choose to create a mail merge file by category, with as many as five categories grouped into one NAME.TXT file. Simply follow the instructions that appear on the screen. XIV. BACKING UP YOUR MAIL.DBF DATA FILE Be sure you plan a BACKUP routine to save your MAIL.DBF file to a floppy disk or tape drive. You will find a BACKDATA.BAT file on the MAIL MONSTER application disk. Install it in your MAIL subdirectory and place the DOS BACKUP.COM file in the MAIL SUBDIRECTORY as well. To use the BACKDATA.BAT file, simply enter the following at the DOS prompt. C> BACKDATA <RETURN> DOS will prompt you to place a formatted disk in drive A. Do so. DOS will now backup your MAIL.DBF file to one or more floppy disks, as may be required by the size of your MAIL.DBF file. It is a good habit to back up your data file once a week, and rotate disks, so that you have three weeks worth of backup disks, before starting to reuse a set of backup floppies. To RESTORE the MAIL.DBF files to your hard disk, follow the instructions in your MS/PC DOS MANUAL for using the RESTORE command. XV. VIEWING ENTRIES ON THE SCREEN Using a technique called soundex, MAIL MONSTER will search all records you have entered and find the LAST names of people or organ- izations you have entered into the data base. To use this feature press [V] at the Main Menu. A short time will pass while the files MAIL MONSTER MANUAL Page 8 are reindexed. When the entry screen appears, enter the name you are hoping to find. It can be upper case, lower case, or any combination. MAIL MONSTER will search the LAST_NAME field in the data base and then display all names that are like the LAST NAME you entered. If no names are found that come close to what you entered, MAIL MONSTER will report that situation. This feature makes it easier for you to locate a person, when you have forgotten how you spelled the name when you first entered it. XVI. COUNTING CATEGORIES ENTERED Often it is necessary to know how many labels (or organizations) you have in your mailing list. MAIL MONSTER provides you a way to find out that information. Simply enter [G] at the Main Menu. You will be shown a screen that asks you to enter the category code for the type of category you wish to count. Enter the code. MAIL MONSTER will then count the entries having that code and report the number on the screen. If you want to know the count of ALL ENTRIES, you enter "!" in the box. MAIL MONSTER will then report the total number of entries (labels) in the MAIL.DBF data base file. MAIL MONSTER MANUAL Page 9 XVII. CREATING ROLODEX CARDS You can use the data entered for creating mailing labels to make Rolodex type cards. Simply enter [X] at the Main Menu. You will be shown a familiar screen, asking you to enter the name of the person for whom you wish to create a Rolodex card. Enter the name and follow the instructions that appear on the screen. This features assumes that you will be using the pin feed continuous form Rolodex cards that you can purchase at most "forms" stores or mail-order houses. The program uses the standard Rolodex form. XVIII. CLOSING REMARKS and REGISTRATION MAIL MONSTER is a powerful, yet simple to use mailing system. While there are even more sophisticated systems on the market (with a price to match), most users of mailing systems will find that MAIL MONSTER does all they need to do and does it well. MAIL MONSTER is a shareware product. If you use the program you are asked to register as a user, and send a $15 registration fee to the author. Use the address below. You will be provided with the latest copy of MAIL MONSTER, and the author's "thanks" for your support of the shareware concept of software distribution. Add $1.50 if you wish to receive Mail Monster on a 3-1/2" diskette. If you would like a customized version of MAIL MONSTER, send me your requirements, and I'll see what I can do. Most customized versions can be done for a fee of twenty-five dollars. Several owners of MAIL MONSTER have requested minor changes, such as color, a new field, or a new report. Enclose a check for $25 and description of your request to: Peter T. Dyer 138 Kuuhale Street Kailua, HI 96734 PHONE 808-261-4560 If I can accomplish your request I will do so and send you a customized version of MAIL MONSTER. If I cannot, I will return your check to you. If you are going to try to call me, my number is 808 261-4560. It is best to try and reach me between 6:30 and 7:30 am, Hawaiian Time. That would be 2 hours difference on the West coast, and 5 hours difference on the East coast of the United States. MAIL MONSTER MANUAL Page 10 APPENDIX A If you are using a version of MAIL MONSTER numbered 2.3 or below, you will find that this new version will not work properly with your existing MAIL.DBF data file. This is due to the fact that additional data fields were added to MAIL MONSTER beginning with Version 2.4 at the suggestion of several MAIL MONSTER users. If you have less that 50 names, you would probably be best advised to simply rekey the names into the new MAIL MONSTER format. However, if you want to convert your existing MAIL.DBF file to be able to use MAIL MONSTER 3.4 features, you have two choices: (1) You may send your MAIL.DBF file on a disk to me and I will convert it to the new file structure for you. Please enclose $20 per disk to cover the costs involved in the data conversion. Send it to my address listed on previous page. Include your name, address, and phone. If your data file will not fit on one disk, use the DOS BACKUP COMMAND to place your data file on as many disks as is required. When I return the disks to you, I will include a routine to put the data file back on your hard disk. If your data file will fit on one disk, use the DOS COPY command to place the MAIL.DBF file on a disk. (2) You can use dBASE III/PLUS to modify the structure of the file to include the fields that are in the version 2.0 of MAIL MONSTER but not in your version. BE SURE YOU MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF YOUR DATA FILE BEFORE DOING THIS MODIFICATION. To see the structure, run the dBASE III commands as follows: USE MAIL LIST STRU If you want a printed version you can use the following commands: USE MAIL LIST STRU TO PRIN Now use the MODIFY STRUCTURE command to modify the file to reflect the new structure. You will be adding fields SALUTE (C,4), ID (C,5), and COUNTRY (C,20). MAIL MONSTER MANUAL Page 11 APPENDIX B While MAIL MONSTER is designed to run relatively free of "troubles" there are situations which do produce problems and "processing error" messages. Here are hints that you should follow before writing or calling the author for help. If the message that appears on the top of the screen is something like "DOS Error 2 File not found," you probably have not placed the MAIL.DBF, .NTX or .LBL files on your data disk. Be sure these files are on the data disk. Then reconfigure MAIL MONSTER to tell the soft- ware which drive (A, B, or hard disk) holds MAIL.DBF (i.e., one floppy, two floppy, or hard disk system). If the message "(Q/A/I)" appears at the top of the screen, press "I" twice. That should take you to the Main Menu. Press option [I] to reindex the data files. Your problem should not reappear. Again, be sure to check your configuration of MAIL MONSTER (option C) to be certain that MAIL MONSTER is looking at the correct disk or hard disk to find your index files. If the message continues to appear, be sure you have copied the CONFIG.SYS file into your root directory or placed in on your DOS BOOT DISK. Then be sure to do a "warm boot" (restart your computer) in order to reconfigure your computer to accept the new CONFIG.SYS data. The items in your CONFIG.SYS file should be at least FILES=20 and BUFFERS=20. See your DOS manual regarding creating CONFIG.SYS files. If MAIL MONSTER will not load into your computer, but runs on the computer next door, you probably do not have enough memory in your computer. MAIL MONSTER REQUIRES AT LEAST 512 KB OF MEMORY TO WORK. While it is not likely you will ever need to abort MAIL MONSTER, you can do so by holding the [ALT] key and pressing "C" at the same time. The (Q/A/I) message will appear in the top right of the screen. Press "Q" to Quit the operation. You will be returned to the DOS prompt as soon as the software feels it is "safe" to do so (i.e., no files are to be left open). MAIL MONSTER MANUAL Page 12 APPENDIX C MAIL MONSTER UTILITY DISK As a result of several inquiries from users of MAIL MONSTER, I have developed a set of additional utilities to help users carry out occasional editing tasks effecting the entire MAIL.DBF data base file. These tasks include the following: 1. Removing all names fitting a specific category code. 2. Removing a category code from all records having that code. 3. Replacing a category code with a different code for all records having the original code. 4. Removing the "TO:" in the salutation field from all records. (This feature has enjoyed limited interested.) 5. Emptying the data base of all records in order to start with a clean (meaning no records in the MAIL.DBF file) data base. 6. Resetting the index files, should the index routine become corrupted from within Mail Monster. 7. Creating a WordPerfect (4.2 and 5.0) Secondary Merge file from the ASCII NAME.TXT file generated by Mail Monster, permitting use of Mail Monster with merge printing features of WordPerfect. 8. Inserting a SORT CODE for records with no code in the field. This feature insures that your SCAN records choice will properly scan records according to the sorted order you desire. If these utilities are necessary for your use of Mail Monster, you can obtain the program by sending $10 along with your name and address to Peter T. Dyer, 138 Kuuhale Street, Kailua, HI 96734. Specify you want the MAIL MONSTER UTILITY DISK. Add $1.50 if you want a 3-1/2" disk. MAIL MONSTER MANUAL Page 12 APPENDIX D MAIL MONSTER AND LASER PRINTING Beginning with MAIL MONSTER 2.8L the use of the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet and Canon Laser Beam printers are supported. Because of the width of the labels, the laser will print the labels in 16.66 pitch, a size similar to the condensed size that dot matrix printers produce. This size is fine with a laser printer, for it produces a clear and very readable print. With MAIL MONSTER 3.4 the use of two column labels is supported. These labels will print in normal 10 pitch with 7 rows of labels per sheet. Avery labels are available in this format. It is recommended that you purchase special laser printer labels such as those produced by Avery. Catalog number 5160 works best with the page format that is built in to MAIL MONSTER. If you need another format, you will have to request custom work, which can run more than the standard $25 fee (labels on a laser are tricky to align, as the alignment is a function of the type of laser printer paper you are using). Stick to the standard and we'll all be happy. If other laser printers are used, which do not emulate the HP series of laser printers, you may request custom work. You will need to supply the author with the printer codes for page length, top margin, lines per page, symbol set, and compressed (subscript) print. With such information, and a little luck, MAIL MONSTER can be modified to print labels on the laser printer you use.