This README file is a straight ASCII file.  It contains 
the following information:

1) A warning that must be read before installation;

2) Something to be aware of when running duplicate detection;

3) An explanation of a workaround for recovering records
   marked for deletion by the duplicate detection process;

4) A note on exporting lists;

5) A note on packing your database;

6) An applications note describing the use of a word
   processor to implement a merge function; and

7) Printing instructions that immediately follow.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

PRINTING INSTRUCTIONS

        The following instructions assume that you have a printer connected
        to your system designated as LPT1, that it has power turned on,
        and that is placed on-line and that the file to be printed is in
        the current directory.

        To print out this file, type the following line at the DOS prompt:
                COPY README LPT1

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

INSTALLATION WARNING

        If you have installed the previous version of LetterShop into the
default path and you wish to keep this version, you should
change the setup of the new version.  To do this, run the install program.
Select the Setup option and change the path to a directory different from
the old version of LetterShop.  Proceed to install LetterShop.

        Note Well:  If you install LetterShop into a different directory,
you will have to change the directory to open a list in the old LetterShop
directory.  To do this, use the following procedure:
        Select Switch from the Lists menu;
        Press the <F3> key (change directory);
        When prompted, enter the directory to which you want to switch
                (in this case, the old LetterShop directory);
        You can now select from the Lists in that directory.

A NOTE WHEN RUNNING DUPLICATE DETECTION

        Please be aware, that when running duplicate detection any blank
fields will match.  This means that if there are two matching fields and
a blank field, that record would be marked as a duplicate.  For example,
if you are matching records based on ADDRESS, COMPANY, and NAME fields,
and you do NOT have a name entered for two or more records for the same
company and address, all these records would be detected as duplicates
and thus marked for deletion.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

RECOVERING RECORDS MARKED FOR DELETION AFTER DUPLICATE DETECTION

        After performing duplicate detection, records deemed to be
duplicates are automatically marked for deletion.  You may not want all
of these marked records deleted.  The following procedure will recover
deleted records by exporting them and then importing them into the same
list.

To recover records marked for deletion, do the following procedure:

Select Utilities from the Lists pulldown menu.
Select choice #4 "4. Export a list" from the utilities menu.
Select choice #2 "3. Advanced Record Selection" from the record
                        selection menu.
Enter "Delete_Mark = Y", then press <Enter>
Select choice #5 "5. DBase III-IV" from the export format menu??
Enter a filename (ex. DupeRecs)
Select choice #1 "1. Export All Fields"
When prompted to continue, enter "Y"

At this point you have exported all of the Deleted records to a file
which can now be imported into the active list.

Select Utilities from the Lists pulldown menu.
Select choice #3 "3. Import a list"
Select choice #5 "DBase III-IV"
Enter the same filename as in step 1 (DupeRecs)
Match Field names (the fields should be in the same order
                        after the first 2 in the import file)
When prompted to continue, enter "Y"

A NOTE ON EXPORTING LISTS

        When exporting an address list, all associated files are carried
along EXCEPT the envelope definition files.  If desired, these files
(of the form <listname>.EN?) need to be copied manually.


A NOTE ON PACKING YOUR DATABASE
        
        PERFORMING THIS TASK REQUIRES DIRECT MANIPULATION OF YOUR ADDRESS
LIST FILES.  DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS UNLESS YOU KNOW YOUR ADDRESS LISTS AND
ALL ASSOCIATED FILES ARE BACKED UP.

        If you perform many add, delete, and purge operations, you may
notice that the size of your database continually grows.  To get your
database to its minimum size you must PACK your database.
        
        The first thing to do is to temporarily save the envelope
definition files for the list you will be packing.  If this list is 
named CUSTLIST, this step can be done by copying files using DOS, 
for example COPY CUSTLIST.EN? TEMPQQQ.EN?. Now you can proceed with
packing your list.  To do this, select the list you wish to pack
and export that list.  Specifically, do the following:

Select Utilities from the Lists pulldown menu.
Select choice #4 "4. Export a list" from the utilities menu.
Select choice #4 "4. LetterShop" from the export format menu??
Enter a filename (ex. PCKDLIST)
Select choice #1 "1. Export All Fields"
When prompted to continue, enter "Y"

At this point you have exported all records to a file (PCKDLIST).
This file (PCKDLIST) is now packed.  To use this file and regain
disk space taken up by the original unpacked file you must do several
operations that delete files.  Again, do not attempt this unless you 
are absolutely sure that your address list and associated files are
backed up.

At this point make the newly exported list (PCKDLIST) the active list.
Now select Delete from the Lists pulldown menu and delete the original
list (CUSTLIST).  Now select Rename from the Lists pulldown menu and enter
the original list name (CUSTLIST).  This renames the active list (PCKDLIST)
to CUSTLIST.  

Finally, restore your envelope definition files from the temporary files  
you created at the start of this process.  This can be done using the DOS
rename command. If we had stored the files as above, for example,
we could restore them by typing REN TEMPQQQ.EN? CUSTLIST.EN?.

Your original file (CUSTLIST) is now packed and ready to use.


USING YOUR WORD PROCESSOR TO IMPLEMENT MERGE

        This section contains instructions on using Microsoft Word,
WordPerfect, and DisplayWrite 5 for implementing the merge function.
These instructions assume you are familiar with the word processor being
discussed. 

Have you ever wanted to postal code a mailing list and then use your word
processor to do a mail merge with the cleansed mail list?  If you answered
yes, keep reading.  This article gives you detailed information about how
to transfer your address list from WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, or
DisplayWrite 5 into LetterShop.  Then it describes how to export the list
back into a format your word processor can use to perform the mail merge.
Refer to your word processor's user manual for details on how mail merge
works.

The procedure for transferring the list is basically the same for many
word processors with a few minor variations.  First, you must convert your
list into a format which can be imported by LetterShop.  This will be
comma delimited or fixed length ASCII.  After you import your list to
LetterShop, postal code it as you normally would.  Export the cleansed
list in comma delimited or fixed length ASCII.  Then use your word
processor to perform the mail merge.  It's important that the street,
city, state, zip, and zip+4  information be stored as separate fields
within your word processor's address file.  If some of this data is
combined into a single field, you must find a way to separate the
information, otherwise, LetterShop won't be able to postal code your list.
With these general guidelines in mind, let's begin by describing exactly
how to do this with WordPerfect.

WordPerfect
When performing a mail merge with WordPerfect, you work with two files.  A
secondary file, which contains your address information, and a primary
file which contains fixed text and instructions on where to place fields
from your address file.  WordPerfect can work with two types of secondary
files.  One type uses special WordPerfect codes to define names for your
fields and to show where one field ends and another begins.  The other
type is simply a comma delimited ASCII file.  If your secondary file is
already a comma delimited ASCII file (fields separated by commas), your
life just got a little easier.  You can move right along and import it
into LetterShop.  If not, remain calm.  You can easily create another
secondary file that is in comma delimited ASCII format.

Creating a Comma Delimited ASCII file
To do this, you must first make a primary file that merges each field in
your mail list and separate the fields with commas.  A sample primary file
to accomplish this is shown below:

{PAGEOFF}"{FIELD}NAME","{FIELD}STREET","{FIELD}CITY","{FIELD}STATE",
"{FIELD}ZIP","{FIELD}ZIP4"

The first command is a "page off" command.  This tells WordPerfect not to
place any hard page breaks between addresses when it does the merge.  To
enter this command don't type the characters, but rather press Merge Codes
(Shift-F9) twice.  This will present a box from which you can select the
"page off" command using the arrow keys.  Now press the double quote key
and then enter a field code by pressing Merge Codes (Shift-F9) and
selecting the {FIELD} command from the menu.  Enter the name of the field
you want to insert.  Then complete the field by pressing the double quote
key and the comma key.  When you've placed all your fields, perform a mail
merge using this new primary file.  It should produce a copy of your mail
list file in comma delimited ASCII format (make sure you send your output
to a disk file and not to the printer).  If you've done everything
correctly, the output of your merge should look like this:

"John Doe","123 Main St.","Centerville","TX","12345","6789"
"Mary Smith","44 Oak St.","New York","CT","98765","4321"
        .
        .
        .
Importing to LetterShop
Now, start LetterShop and create a new mail list containing a field for
each field in your primary (address) file as well as an error code field.
When creating the layout for this mail list, place a single field on each
line in the order you wish them to be in when you return back to the word
processor.  For example, the fields in the sample above are in the order,
name, street, city, state, zip, zip4.  So your list layout would look like
this



name
street
city
state
zip
zip4
error_code

Now import your comma delimited ASCII address list into LetterShop.
Postal code it as you normally would and make all manual corrections
necessary.  When you're satisfied with the list you can export it for use
by the word processor.

Exporting back to the Word Processor
You'll export CR/LF ASCII Delimited and use the comma as your delimiter.
When you're asked what fields you wish to export, select "2. Export
Selected Fields".  Mark only the fields you want exported back to your
word processor, leaving out such things as record, delete_mark,
error_code, etc.  The file exported by LetterShop can be used by the word
Processor to perform the mail merge.

Merging with WordPerfect
The file you exported from LetterShop now becomes your secondary mail
merge file.  Create your primary file as you normally would.  However,
because your secondary file is now in comma delimited format, you must use
only field numbers in your primary file to refer to the fields in your
secondary address file.  You can perform the merge using WordPerfect.
Refer to your WordPerfect user manual for more information.


Microsoft Word
Since Microsoft Word's data document (address file) format is already
comma delimited, it's a little easier to work with than WordPerfect.  In
Word, your data document should look something like this:

name,street,city,st,zip,zip4
John Doe,123 Main St.,Centerville,TX,12345,6789
Mary Smith,44 Oak St.,New York,CT,98765,4321

The first line provides field name identifiers and the remaining lines
provide the address information.  Follow the instructions for importing to
LetterShop under WordPerfect.  Then postal code the mail list and follow
the instructions for exporting back to the word processor under
WordPerfect.  You should now be able to use the cleansed file as you
normally would for your mail merge as described in the Microsoft Word user
manual.

DisplayWrite 5
DisplayWrite 5 is slightly different in that it uses fixed length ASCII
instead of comma delimited.  While in DisplayWrite 5 simply save your data
(address) file as a "Fixed Length ASCII" file.  Follow the instructions
for importing to LetterShop above.  However, instead of importing a comma
delimited ASCII file you'll be importing "CR/LF ASCII fixed field".  Then
postal code the mail list and follow the instructions above for exporting
back to the word processor, but again use "CR/LF ASCII fixed field".  Now
just do your normal DisplayWrite 5 mail merge with your cleansed address
file.  Refer to the DisplayWrite 5 manual for more information.

Summary
As you can see, the process is similar no matter which word processor you
own.  If your word processor doesn't use comma delimited or fixed length
ASCII, the trick is to find a way to convert the file to either of those
formats so that LetterShop can import it.  If you can't find a way to do
that, as we did with WordPerfect, you may wish to purchase a copy of Data
Junction from Tools & Techniques.  This software enables you to convert
between dozens of word processor, spreadsheet, and data base formats.  You
can even modify the data somewhat during the conversion.
