M a i l M e r g e
                        -----------------


                         I n   B r i e f 




     Learning to run MailMerge isn't quite as much fun as taking 
your operating system apart -- but just as difficult!  In my 
opinion, that's because it was written about the same time the 
phrase "User Friendly" was coined.  So, instead of using those 
"intimidating computer words," they made up their own.  That way, 
no one can figure out what's going on.  

     That's the worst of it.  Fact is, it's all REAL easy.  (It's 
ONLY an applications program...for God's sake!)  

     Here's all you have to do to print a form letter from a 
mailing list: 

     Name you're Form Letter or Boiler Plate as .MIL type file.  
Your mailing list should be a .LST type file.  Other types 
probably work, but that's the way I learned and I've never tried 
it any other way.  

     Put these Dot Commands at the top of your .MIL file.


     *    .DF B:FORMAT.LST
          .RV COMPANY,ADDRESS,CITYSTATE,ZIP


     The "Inside Address" Is formatted this way:

          &COMPANY/O&
          &ADDRESS/O&
          &CITYSTATE/O& &ZIP/O&


     Your "Greeting" goes like this:
     (Covers all sexes, too)

     Dear &MX/O& &LAST/O&: 


     Then, make up a data file. It should be called format.LST 
(Matching the name specified in the .DF statement you wrote into 
your .MIL file).  It's really a BASIC sequential data file.  But 
all you really need to know is that every item in the file must 
be separated by commas.  

     Two more rules: 

          If you want to skip an item, fill its space with a 
          comma. (ie. skipped names look like  ,,, ) 

          If you want a comma to print inside a phrase, you 
          must put the phrase in quotes.  (ie. "Los Angeles, CA")

               [Values for the variables used in the
                Greeting example are not found in the
                Mailing list (LST) File.               ]  



     Here's how a typical .LST file looks: 


"The Code Works, Inc.",P.O. Box 550,"Goleta, CA", 93116
"Ecosoft, Inc.",P.O. Box 68602,"Indianapolis, IN", 46268
Lifeboat Associates,1651 Third Avenue,"New York, NY",10028
Manx Software Systems,P.O. Box 55,"Shrewsbury, NJ", 07701
Software Toolworks,14478 Glorietta Dr.,"Sherman Oaks,CA",91423 
Supersoft,P.O. Box 1628,"Champaign,IL",61820
tiny-C Associates,P.O. Box 269,Holmdel,NJ,07733
Telcon Systems,1155 Meridian Ave.,"San Jose,CA",95125 
"Whitesmiths,Ltd.","Parkway Towers,'B'",US Route 1 
So.,"Iselin,NJ",08830 
"Dedicated Micro Systems, Inc.",P.O. Box 287,"Yates 
Center,KS",66783


     ** Soft carriage returns are okay, but hard ones aren't.


     By the way, the 'Os' we put into our variables in the .MIL 
file will cover us when we don't have values for our variables.  

     N o w, make sure you have a copy of MAILMRGE.OVR available; 
Call WordStar, and at the No File Menu, just type  M .  

     MailMerge will signon and ask you for the file you wish to 
merge.  Give it your Form, Boiler Plate or .MIL file.  It'll do 
the rest.  
  
                   *  *  *  MORE DOTS  *  *  *

     Here are a few more Dot Commands to master: 
  

     .DF  filename [CHANGE]        Defines the File the data file 
                                   to be used.  CHANGE,  specifies
                                   a disk change.
     .RV variable1, variable2,     Read these Variables: variable1...      

     .RP [n]                       Repeat: 
                                   n times or (default) until data file 
                                   exhausted.  Part of DF statement; 
                                   Needed only if inserted document 
                                   is to be repeated. 


     .AV ["Prompt"], variable, [length] 

                                   Ask Operator for Variable Value.
                                   ie. "get a number from the operator" 
                                   (Computer wants to get high).
                                   Like BASIC's "INPUT" Statement,
                                   but you give length ("Field?").

     .DM [message]                 Could stand for Dead Moose, but             
                                   means Display Message.  Default
                                   is a blank line.
    
     .CS [message]                 Wipe windshield (Clear Screen) 
                                   and display message.

     .FI filename [CHANGE]         Gobble up the FIle filename.
                                   Don't know what the option
                                   is all about.  



     There's also some other stuff about Print-Time formatting 
which I'm sure is real important, but as of this writing, I don't 
have the damnedest idea about.  See Appendix A (A-6 thru A-9) of 
the WordStar Manual for more details.


* -- Dot Commands MUST be written into the FIRST Column in order 
     to be effective.  In the above examples, they have been 
     indented so that they may be seen.  If they had been placed
     in the correct position, they would have caused changes in 
     the runtime behavior of the program, rather than been part
     of this text.  (Of course I could have stayed up all night
     and figured out a way around this, but hey, that's the way 
     MicroPro did it in their manual, too!) 


     If anybody figures out anything else about how this program 
operates, please add it on here.  I'm as curious as the rest.

                                                  6/25/84 db