The Business Master (3rd Edition)/The Business Master (3rd Edition).iso/files/datation/wmlist/wml.hlp

Text File | 1993-01-06 | 23.6 KB | 414 lines

Tutorial TopicsThis first set of topics (up to Ending the Programme)
 explains concepts to give you an understanding of how WML works. The
 topics from File on down through Preferences & Help give you information
 on how to use a specific item on WML's menus.


Status LinesWML has two status lines, at the top & bottom of the
 screen. At the top is the title of the programme and the WML file you
 have open (if any). At the bottom of the screen is a bar which looks like
 this:~~|Total│Selected│Bad/Omit│Pack│Index│01-01-1980|~~ From left
 to right the items are:~
 1. Total records in the open file~
 2. Total records selected for printing~
 3. Total records bad or excluded from mailings~
 4. The word |Pack| if there are entries to be erased~
 5. Index in use (name, company, address, or zip)~
 6. To-day's date (so far as the computer knows). If you have a filter
 chosen, this will be replaced with "|Filter|" followed by "|Sel|" for
 Selected records only, "|Del|" for Deleted records only, or "|SelDel|"
 for both.  If the filter message is |bright| the selection is
 unchanged, otherwise changes have occured.  For example, you have set
 the filter to Selected Only then cleared the selection status of a
 record.  The filter message would change to dim since the filter is no
 longer accurate.


Order of Printing & ViewingTo control the order in which entries are printed
 or viewed use the Index menu. You will see a mark next to the index which
 is currently in use. Also see the Indexing section below.


Menu UsageThe menu you see near the top of your screen is my informal
 understanding of an SAA- or CUA-compliant menu. It is the same type of
 menu you will find in Windows, Gem, QuickBASIC, and "Mac"
 computers.~~WJS's menu, which is on the second line of your screen, is
 two-dimensional: there are |menu headings| horizontally and under each
 of these are the actual |menu items|. There are two ways to choose a
 menu item:~~1. Use the right, left, up, and down arrows to highlight
 the item you want then press |─┘Enter|, or~~2. Press the highlighted
 letter of the menu item~~For example, you can press |F| then |x| to
 exit WJS, or highlight |File| then press the down arrow and highlight
 |Exit| then press |─┘Enter|.~~|NOTES|~~To pull-down (|open|) a menu just
 highlight it then press |─┘Enter| or the |down-arrow| key.~~To |close|
 a menu just press the |Esc| key. It is not necessary to close a menu.
 You can use the right/left arrows with the menus opened to browse all
 of the options. Usually the only reason to close a menu is so you can
 use the letters instead of arrows (e.g., if you had the File menu open
 and wanted to use the Help Index you could press Esc to close the File
 menu then press |H|-|I| to jump to the Help Index).


Laser Printer FontsFonts are different styles of type your printer can
 produce (e.g., Helvetica and Roman are two common fonts). Your laser
 printer has one or more of the following types of fonts:~~∙ Resident fonts~∙
 Cartridge fonts~∙ Soft fonts~~|Resident fonts| are permanently stored in
 your printer's memory to be used at any time. |Cartridge fonts| are also a
 type of memory, available for use at any time. |Soft fonts| are stored on
 disk and downloaded (sent) to the printer as needed.~~|NOTES|~~Envelopes use
 |landscape| fonts (soft fonts ending in .SFL), everything else uses
 |portrait| fonts (soft fonts ending in .SFP).~~Soft fonts |must| end in SFL
 or SFP. If you have PCL soft fonts with different extensions (such as USP),
 just rename them to SFP or SFL as appropriate. SFP and SFL are the most
 common extensions, meaning |S|oft |F|ont |P|ortrait and |S|oft |F|ont
 |L|andscape.


Postal Bar CodesPostal bar codes are printed automatically at the bottom of
 every envelope which has a zip code if WML finds the font |MAILCODE.SFL| in
 its directory. This font is provided with registration. The public domain
 font MAILCODE.SFP can be converted to SFL and used with WML.~~|NOTES|~~The
 font must have characters |0| through |9| defined plus the |>| (greater-than)
 and |<| (less-than) sign for the beginning and end code, respectively.


What Does 'Selected' Mean?Your mailing list has entries in it, and each
 entry has a |Selected for printing| toggle switch, which you can see on
 the right side of the Data Entry/Names screen. If there is a check-mark
 in the box it means that the entry is Selected; otherwise, it is not.~~
 The general idea here is that you |select| the records that you want to
 do something with (you could also call it 'marking' or 'flagging' or even
 'picking' entries). Normally you will print the records which are selected,
 but you can also group, delete, and perform other actions on the seleted
 entries as well.~~As an example, if you want to move records from one file
 to another you can do it by Selecting them then importing or exporting
 (import & export both allow you to operate on all entries or just the
 Selected entries).~~|How To Select Entries|~~There are two ways you can
 select entries:~|1|. One by one on the Data Entry/Names screen, or~
 |2|. Using the File/Select-Query option, which gives you complete
 flexibility to select entries one-by-one, in groups, or the whole
 mailing list.


Ending the programme (return to DOS)When you are finished using WML and want
 to end the programme just select the E|x|it option under the |F|ile menu.
 If all menus are closed, just press |Fx|, or you can highlight the File
 menu then use the down arrow to highlight Exit then press ─┘Enter.

FileIn general, using the File menu is like going over to your paper
 filing cabinet. Under this menu are options to work with the files stored
 on your disk.~~Use the up- and down-arrow keys to highlight the item you
 want then press |═╛Enter| or press the highlighted letter for the
 item.~~Your mailing lists will be stored in one or more files. You must
 specify a file to use before you can enter any information. Think of it
 this way: you have to go get a file out of your filing cabinet before you
 can look at what's there or add anything to it, and if you don't have any
 files you have to set one up.


NewCreates a new mailing list file (like labelling a new paper file
 folder). When you choose this option you are asked for a name. You can
 enter up to eight numbers and/or letters for the name, but the name
 you type must be unique: you can't make two files with the same name
 (the computer would never know which one you wanted).


OpenOpens an existing file (i.e., one which you have previously created).
 After you choose this option you will be shown a menu of files from which
 to choose. Highlight your choice and press ─┘Enter.~~You must have a
 file open before you can work with entries. If you have not yet created
 any files then use the |New| option to create and open your first file.
 ~~When you open a file it stays open until you close it (see File/Close),
 create a new file (see File/New), open another file, or exit WML.


CloseCloses the file currently in use. This is useful if you want to
 erase the file which is currently open (which you cannot do; an opened
 file cannot be erased). Also, if you will be leaving the computer unattended
 for a long while you can use Close to save any information which may be
 sitting in a RAM (memory) buffer.~~|NOTES|~~File
 headers are written only when files are closed. If your computer loses
 power while a file is open, it would be something like dropping a bunch
 of papers on the floor: the information is all there, just a little out
 of order, so just use the Re-index option to sort things out again.


DeletePermanently erase a file from disk. This function is equivalent to
 the DOS |del| or |erase| commands. Erasing a file frees up disk
 space.~~|NOTES|~~If you accidentally erase a file, you |may| be able to
 recover it with QU or some other 'undelete' utility. For the most part,
 however, once a file is erased it's gone.


Back-upMakes a back-up copy of your data files. You must have a formatted
 floppy disk ready. You can use the same back-up disk over and over again (the
 new copy will over-write the old one), but it may be a good idea to alternate
 at least three back-up copies.~~|NOTES|~~Use a rotating back-up scheme.~~When
 the work you've done since your last back-up becomes too much to lose, it's
 time to make another back-up.~~See Preferences Back-up for information on
 selecting a back-up method.


RestoreRestores data files from a back-up copy. This is useful if your data
 files become damaged or are accidentally erased.~~|CAUTION|~~Restoring data
 files |erases| any data files of the same name which exist. If you need to
 restore a single file, do so manually from the DOS prompt.


Format FloppiesWML first tries to find WFF.EXE in your DOS search path. If
 found, What Floppy Format? is run; otherwise, you will be asked to specify a
 drive and the DOS FORMAT command will be used.~~|CAUTION|~~Formatting
 completely erases any information which may be on a disk.~~|NOTES|~~Your DOS
 |path| must point to |format.com| (which is probably in your DOS directory).
 If it does not you will see 'Bad command or file name' flash on your screen
 and disks will not be formatted.~~No parameters are passed to FORMAT -- your
 drive's highest density will be used.


Re-indexRebuilds index files when they are damaged, such as after a power
 outage. If some of your entries mysteriously disappear or are displaying
 out of order, try re-indexing.


PackThe Pack option removes records from the file which have been marked for
 deletion. Until a file is packed, "deleted" entries remain on file (which
 allows you to change your mind about deleting them, if necessary).


ImportAllows files from other software to be read into a WML mailing
 list. Imported information is added to the open mail file.

ASCII FilesThis is a text file, such as created by editors like |edlin|
 or |qedit|.~~To import an ASCII file into What Mailing List? it must be in
 the following format:~~|√| One record per line~|√| Fields separated by
 commas~~|√| 8 fields: First, Last, Company, Address_1, Address_2, City,
 State, and Zip.

WML 1.x FilesYou can import records from files created with version 1.x
 of What Mailing List?  Once you choose this, you will be presented with a
 list of DBF files in the current directory and then have the option of
 importing all records or just the records selected for printing.

WML 2.x FilesYou can import records from other WML files, in effect
 consolidating two files into one. You will be presented with a list of
 files in the current directory from which to choose.

Other dBase FilesYou can import records from other dBase DBF files. Once
 you choose this and enter the name of the file, you will see a list of
 fields in the file so that you can define how it will be
 imported.~~|NOTES|~~|This feature doesn't work yet.| Soon, though...


ExportAllows information from WML to be saved in a different file format so
 that it may be accessed by other programmes.

ASCII FileAn ASCII text file is usable by most word processors, text editors
 (including edlin), etc. If you aren't sure what format another person will
 need, use ASCII.~~ASCII files are read and written in the following
 format:~~|√| One record per line~|√| Fields separated by commas

WordPerfectAllows What Mailing List? information to be used with
 WordPerfect's merge function. An ASCII file will be created which contains
 the necessary WordPerfect control codes.~~|NOTES|~~From within WordPerfect
 press |«Ctrl»-«F5» T R| (DOS |T|ext File |R|etrieve CR/LF to [HRt]).

Microsoft WordCreates a mail merge file of your What Mailing List? data for
 use with Microsoft's Word word processor. An ASCII file will be created which
 contains the header information necessary for Word.

Ventura Publisher ASCIICreates an ASCII file with one field per line and a
 blank line between fields. Each line contains a tag name preceding the field.
 For example, an entry might look like this:~~|@NAME = Acme Tools,
 Inc.|~|@ADDRESS = 123 Anywhere Street|~|@ADDRESS = Suite 140|~|@CITY =
 Sometown|~(etc.)


Select / QueryThe Select option brings up a second pull-down menu under the
 main menu ── use it the same way. Records must be selected to be included in
 any print-out. |Only selected records will print.| You can select or clear all
 records, records by group, status, or individually. This menu also has an
 option to perform actions on the selected records, such as define groups and
 flag for deletion.

(Select or Clear)Most of the Select Menu's main options have two
 sub-options ── Select records for printing and Clear records (don't
 print).~~|Select| marks each record to be included in any print-outs.
 Records which you Select are |added| to those already selected. For
 example, you could clear all records, then mark records in your Christmas
 List group then mark records in your Friends group.~~|Clear| is the
 opposite of 'Select.' Clearing a record means that it will no longer be
 included in any print-outs (until it is Selected again).

AllSelect or Clear all of the entries on file.

GroupSelect or Clear entries according to group definitions. The Group
 window will open so you can select the group(s) you would like to select.

DateSelect or Clear any entries which have never been printed (Times
 Mailed is zero) or entries which were mailed on a particular date.

CitySelect or clear records based on the City of the addressee.

StateSelect or clear records based on the State or Province of the
 addressee.

ZipSelect or clear records based on the Zip/Postal code of the addressee.

PhraseSelect or clear records based on a phrase in the comments.

IndividualSelect or Clear records on an individual basis. Under this menu
 are three options ── Entire list, Only selected entries, and Only deleted
 entries. "Entire List" will let you choose from all records in the mailing
 list. "Only Selected" will present only those records which are currently
 selected. "Only Deleted" will let you review the records marked for deletion.
 After you choose one of these options a window will open showing the records.
 You can move throught the list using arrow keys, PgUp/PgDn, etc. and press
 ─┘Enter to toggle the records selection on and off.

ActionsThis menu lets you perform actions on the entries which are selected
 for printing.~~Note on Deleting ═ Records marked for deletion will |not| be
 removed from the file until it is packed (see |File/Pack| above).


PrintThis is where you print labels, envelopes, or a group list.

Group ListPrint a list of the groups defined on blank paper.~~ The groups you
 define are common to all mailing lists.

Phone BookPrint a phone book containing the selected entries. The phone book
 can be printed on a laser or dot matrix printer. You will be asked for two
 font selections ── one for titles (the header and footer of each page) and a
 second font for the entries.~~Fonts should be no more than 10cpi or 12 points;
 12 to 17cpi mono-spaced (fixed) fonts are recommended.~~Use of proportional
 fonts will cause the index at the top of each page to "float."

Laser EnvelopesPrint selected records on envelopes on your laser
 printer.~~|NOTES|~Records must be Selected before they can be printed.~~If
 the MailCode.SFL soft font is in the WML directory it will automatically be
 used to print a postal bar code at the bottom of the envelope.

Laser LabelsPrint selected records on laser labels (8½x11-inch sheet of
 labels). A window will open for you to define the size of the labels.

Continuous LabelsPrint selected records on the type of label shown on the
 menu. The label types you wish to print upon are chosen on the
 Preferences/Labels screen.~~|═| Records must be selected before they will
 print.


ExitEnd WML (which will return you to DOS or your menu). Always exit the
 programme before turning your computer's power off.

Data EntryThis menu provides the means for you to enter and change information
 in your mailing lists and group list.


NamesUse this to add new entries to a mailing list file or to change existing
 entries. Each screen contains one entry (like a single Rolodex
 card).~~|SPECIAL FUNCTIONS|~~At any point pressing |F2| will display a list of
 entries on file. You can scroll through this list and choose an entry. ~~At
 any point pressing |F3| will display the list of Groups you have defined,
 showing the ones to which the current entry belongs (if any). You may then
 select & clear groups as apply to the entry. Notice that the word |Group|
 under the F3 key (near the bottom of the screen) shows up dim (grey) if there
 are no groups defined for the displayed entry and bright (yellow or bright
 white) if groups are defined.~~While on the State/Province field pressing |F1|
 will display a list of States & Provinces from which you may choose and the
 mailing abbreviation for that state will be inserted into the record.~~When
 you enter a zip or postal code the State/Province for that code will
 automatically be inserted.~~Abbreviations may be used in the City and Comments
 fields.~~At any time pressing the |«Alt»| key will bring up the list of
 toggles (displayed at the top right of the window). Choosing an item will
 toggle it on & off. Alternately you may use a mouse to click on the
 toggles.~~|NOTES|~~You don't have to set the Number of Times Mailed or Last
 Mail Date fields ── these are automatically maintained by the computer, but
 you can change them if necessary.~~Phone numbers and comments appear only on
 screen, |not| on labels or envelopes.


GroupsYou can add or change up to 255 group descriptions that apply to your
 mailing lists. Once you define groups you can use the «F3» key while on the
 Names screen to identify the groups to which an entry belongs.


AbbreviationsThis screen lets you define abbreviations which you can use
 while entering mailing information. For example, if you have a lot of entries
 which had the comment, 'Credit Rating: xx' you could set an abbreviation of
 CRG (or whatever) to expand to 'Credit Rating: '. Then you just type 'CRG
 B+'. Abbreviations are used in the City and Comment fields.

IndexingThis menu lets you choose how you would like the mailing list to be
 ordered for displaying and printing. There are four index options and two
 filter options, separated by a solid line. The setting you choose on this
 menu is shown at the bottom of the screen (next to the date on the status
 line) and affects all output to screen or printer.~~|OPTIONS|~~ |N|ame
 sorts the list alphabetically according to Surname plus First Name plus a
 portion of the Company name~~|C|ompany sorts the list alphabetically
 according to Company name plus Surname~~|A|ddress sorts according to the
 first address line part of the name~~|Z|ip sorts according to the
 Zip/Postal code plus part of the name~~|FILTERS|~~|Selected| displays only
 the records selected for printing (like a dBase SET FILTER TO)~~|Deleted|
 displays only the records marked for deletion (set filter to
 deleted())~~Selecing both filters will give you Selected |and| Deleted
 records.


FiltersThis is a bit like a filter on a camera in that it affects what
 you see. You can filter selected or deleted records or both.~~|Selected
 filter| will show you those records which are selected for printing,
 filtering those which are not~~|Deleted filter| will show you those
 records which are marked for deletion, filtering those which are not

PreferencesThis menu determines the overall operation of WML. ~~√ Use
 |Address| to set your return address.~√ Use |Printers| to define your
 printers~√ Use |Labels| to define the types of labels you will be using
 ~~|═ You will not be able to print anything until you define at least
 one printer.|


AddressAllows you to set up to two return addresses for printing on
 envelopes.


Back-upAllows you to set the method you would like to use when backing-up
 your data files. You can simply use DOS' COPY or you can use ARJ, LHArc,
 or PKZip compression, providing you have the compression software available
 in your DOS path.~~Compression software will typically pack 2-10 times the
 information in the same space.  So even when you have a megabyte of data for
 WML, it will still fit on a single 360k floppy disk.~~|NOTES|~~ARJ requires a
 large amount of free RAM to run under WML, however, only ARJ allows you to
 use more than one disk for back-up which makes it an otherwise ideal
 choice...


CountryThis defines the countries for which you will be entering addresses.

U.S.Use this setting if your mailings will |only| be to U.S. addresses. This
 setting...~√ Displays date in mm/dd/yy format~√ Uses 2 capital letters for
 state~√ Uses (###) ###-#### for phone no.~√ Uses #####-#### zip codes~~You may
 change this setting at any time ── it will only change the way information is
 entered and displayed.

CanadaUse this setting for Canadian addresses. This setting...~~√ Displays
 date in dd-mm-yy format~√ Allows 15 spaces for Province~√ Uses (###) ###-####
 for phone no.~√ Allows 7 spaces for postal codes~~You may change this setting
 at any time ── it will only change the way information is entered and
 displayed.

Canada & U.S.Use this setting for Canadian and/or U.S. addresses. This
 setting...~~√ Displays date in dd-mm-yy format~√ Allows 15 spaces for
 Province/State~√ Uses (###) ###-#### for phone no.~√ Allows 10 spaces for
 postal/zip codes~~You may change this setting at any time ── it will only
 change the way information is entered and displayed.

InternationalThis setting gives the greatest flexibility in entering data but
 does the least formatting for you. ~~√ Displays date in yyyy-mm-dd format~√
 Allows 15 spaces for Province/State~√ Allows 14 spaces for telephone numbers~√
 Allows 10 spaces for postal/zip codes~~You may change this setting at any time
 ── it will only change the way information is entered and displayed.


Envelope SizeThis screen let's you define the size of envelope on which you
 will be printing. A standard #10 business envelope is 9½ inches wide by 4-1/8
 inches long.~~The Left Offset lets you adjust the position of the
 return address for best results. The left margin setting can be a
 negative number in order to move the return address further to the left.


PrintersDefine the laser and/or dot matrix printers you will use with WML,
 including soft font directory and certain font definitions. Use the up
 and down arrows to move between the fields, and press the |F1| key to
 open a window of choices.

Printer PortThis is the "channel" WML will use to access each of your
 printers ── LPT1, LPT2, or LPT3. If you have a switch box you can set both
 printers to the same port. If you only have one printer it is probably
 connected to LPT1.


Duplicate CheckingWhen you see a dot to the left of any of these three
 options it means that it is turned ON; otherwise it is OFF.~~When a dup
 checking option is turned ON you will be told each time a potential
 duplicate is detected.~~|√| Your duplicate checking selection applies to
 entering new records from the keyboard as well as importing from other
 files~~|√| Address option checks the file for duplicate Address-line-1
 only; line 2 of address is |not| checked for duplicates

Help ── IndexYou are using the help index. This function gives you brief
 information about each menu item. When you are finished using the Help
 Index just press |Esc|.

Help ── About...This gives general information about the program and shows
 you how much of your computer's RAM (memory) is free as the programme is
 running.