Pragmatic XL Com Edition Help

The Contents lists Help topics available for Pragmatic XL Com.  Use the scroll bar to see entries not currently visible in the Help window.  To learn how to use Help, press F1 or choose Using Help from the Help menu.  Be sure to visit our Internet Web site at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pragmatic

Pragmatic XL Com Basics:

Introduction

How to use Pragmatic XL Com Edition

Using Pragmatic XL Com on a Server (LAN/WAN)

Special Considerations for Non-USA Users

Tips and Tricks

Having Problems?  Look here for common resolutions

How to purchase a copy of Pragmatic XL Com

Menu Commands:

File Menu

Edit Menu

Labels Menu

Envelopes Menu

Reports Menu

View Menu

Sort Menu

Tools Menu

Help Menu


Introduction

Pragmatic XL Com is an extremely powerful electronic name and address book that is specifically designed to handle a large number of names and addresses.  Pragmatic XL Com is ideal for home or office use.  Since it is a Windows program, it is simple to use.

Features of Pragmatic XL Com

Hardware Required

Installing Pragmatic XL Com

Upgrading to Pragmatic XL Com

How to purchase a copy of Pragmatic XL Com


How to use Pragmatic XL Com

The main screen for Pragmatic XL Com contains a Summary List at the top of the screen which gives you a preview of the names and phone numbers in Pragmatic XL Com.   Each time you click on a name in the Summary List, the detailed information is displayed on the lower half of the screen.   The total number of names is displayed along with the total number of names that have been deleted but not purged.

Opening a File

Find a Name

Apply Changes to an Existing Record

Adding Names

Deleting Names

Adding Notes to a Name

Creating a Holiday List

Intelligent Postal Code

Intelligent Phone Numbers

Intelligent Capitalization

Dialing a Phone Number

Shortcuts (CTRL + Letter)


Using Pragmatic XL Com on a server (LAN/WAN)

Pragmatic XL Com can be used on a server as well as stand-alone.    This is very useful because it allows you to install one copy of the software on the server allowing everyone in your organization to use it.    You can configure it so that everyone has access to your corporate phone book on the server and also allow it to keep their personal phone book on their own PC.   This can be done with only one copy of Pragmatic XL Com installed.    Additionally, you can make the corporate phone book READ ONLY as to allow each user to view the corporate directory while still allowing them to READ and WRITE to their own phone book which resides on their PC.

Site licenses are required for server installation.   Pragmatic XL Com is licensed per user.   The first user is $74.99 and each additional user is $45.

  For example, a 100 user license is:

        74.99     (1st copy)

+ 4455.00     (next 99 copies)

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

   4529.99      (this includes 100 User Guides)

Another site license that is available is the "Unlimited User" license.   For a flat fee of $15,000  all users of one corporation can use Pragmatic XL Com.    For this price, you receive 1 networking copy and an electronic User's Guide for each PC.

Pragmatic XL Com has been stress tested with 40,000 names and is very quick and efficient.    For more information about site licenses or server configuration, contact Pragmatic Software Canada at 514-721-1317.


Special Considerations for Non-USA Users

If you are using Pragmatic XL Com outside of the United States, there are a couple of considerations you should know.  First, if you require a different format for the City/Province/Postal code line of mailing labels, envelopes and reports, you may specify how the line should be formatted.  For example, if you enter a Canadian address, you may want the City/Province/Postal code line to be formatted with Postal code first, then a space, then the city, then a comma and space, then the Province.  You can specify the requirements for each country by clicking EDIT / DROP DOWN LISTS or pressing CTRL + L.  Click the City/Province/Postal Line tab and add a line with your requirements.

Last, you may add your own list of valid Postal codes via the  EDIT / DROP DOWN LISTS screen or  import a file containing a list of valid city, Province (or province,etc), postal codes.  The import file must be in comma-delimited format and  must contain the Postal code, followed by a comma, city, followed by a comma and then Province.  For example:

75023,Plano,TX
A8C C9C,My City,My State


File Menu

The File Menu in Pragmatic XL Com allows you to create new files, open existing files, rename a file, delete a file, import a file, export a file, convert an Address Database standard version file to Pragmatic XL Com,  and exit Pragmatic XL Com.   Additionally, it displays the last 7 files you have opened.

New (Create a new file)

Open (Open an existing file)

Rename (Rename an existing file)

Delete (Delete an existing file)

Import (Importing a file into Pragmatic XL Com)

Export (Exporting a file for other applications)

Merge(Merge files together)

Printer Setup

Convert Standard Address Database file to Pragmatic XL Com

Exit (Exit Pragmatic XL Com)

See also:

Import File from MS Excel

Export file for mail merging with MS Word


Edit Menu

The Edit Menu in Pragmatic XL Com allows you to copy a field, copy all information (name, address, etc.), paste a copied field, find a particular name, undelete a previously deleted name, purge the deleted names.

Undo

Copy Field (Copy information to Clipboard)

Copy All Information (Copy Name/Address,Etc.)

Paste (Paste information from Clipboard)

Find (Find a particular name)

Replace (Find and replace values)

Undelete (Recover deleted information)

Purge Deletes (Get Rid of Undeletes)

Purge Deletes on Exit

Drop Down Lists, Etc.

Preferences


Labels Menu

The Labels Menu in Pragmatic XL Com allows you to specify the type of labels you will be using, obtain mailing label instructions, print mailing labels, and print file folder labels.

Label Characteristics

Mailing Label Instructions

Print Mailing Labels

File Folder Instructions

Clear Quick Labels


Reports Menu

The Reports Menu in Pragmatic XL Com allows you to print a phone list, address books, a holiday list of names and addresses,  report of stored notes and custom reports that you can design to display  any fields you wish.

Print Phone List

Print Address Book

Print Address Book (Compressed)

Print Address Book with Notes

Print Holiday List

Print To Do List

Custom Reports

Choose a Report


View Menu

The View Menu in Pragmatic XL Com allows you to view all names in the currently displayed file or filter the display so that only certain names appear based on selection criteria.

All (View all names in currently opened file)

Filter (View particular names based on selection criteria)


Tools Menu

The Tools Menu in Pragmatic XL Com allows you to display a to-do list, see a list of available products sold by Pragmatic Software Canada, maintain Postal codes, maintain user-defined fields, send the author suggestions, and purchase Pragmatic XL Com (if you are not a registered customer).

To Do List

Calendar

Instructions for Importing Postal Codes

Other Available Products

Suggestion Box

Purchase Pragmatic XL Com


Help Menu

The Help Menu in Pragmatic XL Com allows you to display this help text and display information about Pragmatic XL Com and it's author.

Access Users Guide - Used to browse and print the Users Guide.

Contents - Main entry point of the help system. Shows the contents of the help guide.

Search for Help on - Allows you to enter search phrases within the help guide.

Having Problems? - Describes the steps necessary to report problems.  Shows common problems/resolutions.

How to get the Latest Release - Describes where you can download the latest release.

History of Modifications - Lists all changes, new functionality and bug fixes made to Pragmatic XL Com along with the date and release number in which they were issued.

Tips and Tricks - Lists tips and tricks that allow you to become more productive using the software.


Features of Pragmatic XL Com

Pragmatic XL Com allows you to:

1. Store all your names and addresses.

2. Store and print notes about each person in your address book; If you have previously stored notes for a person, the notes button contains the file name next to it to alert you of the stored notes.

3. Change and delete information in your address book; Quickly find a particular person in your address book.

4. Undelete (restore) names previously deleted;  once you are sure you will never need them, you may purge your undeleted names.

5. Maintain a list of people you generally send holiday cards and gifts to;  print a report of the holiday list.

6. Print a phone list or address book of names in the address book; customize the report by choosing the font size, font characteristics,  gridlines, how many lines to skip between names and the page size.

7. Print an address book of the names; print them on standard or any sized paper such as Day-Timer, Day-Runner and Franklin.

8. Print a report named  "Address Book with Notes".  This report prints an address book that contains all the notes stored for each person.  You can choose to print only those names that have stored notes or all names in your address book.

9. Print a compressed Address Book Report.  This is a small-font report that lists all names and addresses in a two-line per record format.

10. Print mailing labels of people you choose; print multiple copies.

11. Keep a list of your file folders;  print file folder labels.

12. Copy a single field and paste it to another field; or copy all information for a person and paste it into another application (such as Notepad, Write,  MS Word, etc.).

13. Filter your address book by category (based on their category or any other criteria).  You may specify wild cards when filtering on this criteria.

14. Keep a  "To Do List" and Calendar to help you get more organized.

15. Create and memorize custom reports.  You choose the fields you wish to appear on the report, sort order, report font size, and name of the new report.  You can memorize it for later use.

16. Import names and address from other applications.

17. Export names and address from Pragmatic XL Com to other applications (for mail merge, etc.).

18. Convert alphabetic phone numbers to numeric.  For example, it will convert 800-94steve to 800-947-8383.

19. Customize the mailing labels to use any type of labels. You simply tell Pragmatic XL Com the characteristics of your labels and it handles the rest.

20. Automatically dial any of the numbers in your phone book by simply clicking a button.

21. Send Pragmatic Software Canada suggestions for future releases.

22. Access frequently used files by clicking on the file name under the File Menu.

23. Automatically retrieve any valid City, Province and Postal Codes when a Postal code is entered.   This functionality can be turned on or off at any time.  Allows you to look up any City, Province and Postal Code.  Allows you to add, change, and delete the list of valid City, Province and Postal Codes.

24. Define 10 fields per file to be named anything you like.  Since you can define 10 per file, they can be different for your Home vs. your Office files.

25. Name the 4 phone fields anything you like.  They can be different for each file.  For example, one file can have phones of "Home", "Business", "Beeper" and "Car" while another file can have phones of "Home", "Work", "Sky Pager", and "Cellular".   The 5th phone is always "Fax.

26. Use long file names.  For example,  now you can name your file  "Business Contacts" rather than  "BUSINESS.ADB".

27. Use the database in any application that supports Microsoft Access files.

28. Sort mailing labels by person's name, city, Province or Postal code.  Sorting them by Postal code will allow you to obtain a postage discount.

29. Define which fields appear on mailing labels.

30. Specify whether to allow duplicate names, warn upon entering duplicate names, or to not allow duplicate names. Specify whether to warn upon entering duplicate phone numbers.

31. Print Preview; Customizable reports.

32. Storing of filter information.


New features of Pragmatic XL Com; Features of Pragmatic XL Com;
New Features in Pragmatic XL Com 2.0

Thanks for selecting the latest version of Pragmatic XL Com, version 2.0.  The new release provides many new features.  Below is a description of each:

1. Adding and changing records are now different.  To add a new name, click New.  Then enter the first and last name and click enter.  The name will then be added and will allow you to enter the rest of the information.  To change a name, simply change the contents and move to another name.  Each time you move to a new name, changes to the prior name are saved.

2. Added the ability to handle different formats of the city, Province, Postal code address line. Many non-USA countries use a different format, so now you may specify the format based on your country.  Also added the ability to automatically format USA phone numbers by detecting which country was attached to the address.  If not a USA address, the phone will not be automatically formatted to USA standards.

3. Added print preview and many new options to formatting reports.  You may now specify the fonts, colors and logos to appear on each report.  You may also attached stored filters to a report.  You can now print to day-timer and other odd-sized reports by simply entering the size of the paper.

4. Added shortcuts to allow quick data entry. For example, you can set up a shortcut of =Amex and tell it to  translate it to American Express when entered into a field.  Likewise, you may set up shortcuts to bring back the current date and time in many different formats.

5. Allow a copy function to copy an existing name to a new name.

6. Allow merging of files into existing file.

7. Upon entering a new Postal code, city and Province, it will automatically add it to the City/Province/Postal file if it is not presently there.

8. Automatically upgrade your database version if necessary.

9. Custom Reports - Add subtotals, allow printing of subtotals only.  Allow printing of reports by date (by month, day or year).

10. Totally redesigned filter screen that allows storing of filters and enhanced filtering capabilities.  You may now choose from a list of values and many new conditions.

11. Added the ability to create choice lists for categories, shortcuts, user defined fields, states and countries.

12. Enhanced To Do list that is now displayed in grid format.  You may attach priorities to items, enter start and end dates, hide completed tasks, purge completed tasks and print the To Do list.

13. New progress bars on all screens.

14. Fresh new Windows 95 look and feel.  New tab dialogs in many screens.

15. Right mouse enabled for most common functions.

16. Added ability to define the Holiday List as anything you like.  For example, you could call it the Candidate List.

17. Added the ability to specify which text editor you wish to use for storing notes.

18. Added the ability to add different prefixes for long distance and local calls.

19. Added search and replace functionality.


Hardware Required

Pragmatic XL Com is designed to work with:

1.	IBM 386 or higher compatible computer running Microsoft Windows version 3.0 or higher

2.	A monochrome or color EGA, VGA, or better monitor

3.	A hard disk with 5 Megabytes of available disk space

4.	4 Megabytes of memory

5.	Any type of printer

6.	Windows Notepad (installed)


Installing Pragmatic XL Com

To install Pragmatic XL Com, simply run SETUP.EXE from the installation diskette.  This automatically creates a program group in Program Manager.  If you would like for Pragmatic XL Com to be automatically run each time Windows is started, drag the Address to your Startup group.


Upgrading to Pragmatic XL Com

If you have a previous version of Address Database (standard version) installed and would like to install Pragmatic XL Com, simply run the SETUP.EXE program.   Then copy all text (*.TXT) and Address Database (*.ADB) files from your old Pragmatic XL Com directory into the new Pragmatic XL Com directory.  Then you must convert each of the standard version files to Pragmatic XL Com database format.

To do this, click FILE / Convert Standard ADB File to XL COM from the main Pragmatic XL Com file menu.   It will present you with all files ending with an extension of ".ADB".   Choose the file you wish to convert and click  "OK".

Enter the new name and click  "OK".   Remember, you can enter up to 35 characters for the file name so make the name descriptive.  If you decide later that you would like to change the name, you can do so by renaming it.

Once you click  "OK", the file will be converted.  If it is a large file (over 100 - 800 records), it may take a few minutes to complete.  It will display the number of records processed and the percent complete.   Once converted, it will display a message stating that the conversion was successful.  Once you press  "OK" from the message, the File Information screen is displayed.

From the File Information screen, you can specify the name of each of the 10 user-defined fields, the name of 4 types of phone numbers, and a default category to be used when none is entered.   This feature is extremely powerful because it allows you to name the fields anything you like.  For example, if you just converted a file named  "Business Contacts", you may want to keep track of the person's spouse, hobbies, office hours, Date of Last Call, Total Purchases, and Last Purchase Date.  You do this by simply entering the fields names in User defined fields 1 through 6:

Field 1: Spouse Name	Field 4: Last Call Date

Field 2: Hobbies	Field 5: Tot Purchases

Field 3: Office Hours	Field 6: Purchase Date

Additionally, you could change any of the phone number names and enter a default category to be used when none is entered.   Once this is done, click  "Open File" and the main Pragmatic XL Com screen is displayed.  Once displayed, notice that the user-defined fields have the name you entered on the File Information screen!


How to purchase a copy of Pragmatic XL Com
Purchase a copy of Pragmatic XL Com

There are 3 ways to purchase Pragmatic XL Com:

1.    Visa, Mastercard, Check, cash, cashiers check or money order - Send $74.99 to:

Pragmatic Software Canada
Attn: Stephane Grosso
7329, 6th Avenue
Montreal, Quebec H2A 3E8

2.    American Express / Optima - Call 514-721-1317 (available 24 hours) and leave a message stating your name (as it appears on the American Express card), address, phone number, American Express card number and expiration date.   Or, email this information to EXCOM@ODYSSEE.NET.  Or, mail this information to:

Pragmatic Software Canada Co.
Attn: Stephane Grosso
7329, 6th Avenue
Montreal, Quebec H2A 3E8

3.   By Phone or email: Place your order by calling 514-721-1317 or email it to EXCOM@ODYSSEE.NET

Be sure to visit our Internet Web site at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pragmatic


Having Problems?; Resolutions to Common Problems;  Common Problems and Resolutions; Technical Support; Import Errors
Having Problems?

Download the Latest Version:

Prior to calling for support, make sure you have the most current version of Pragmatic XL Com.  You can download the latest version from the following places:

1. America Online - Click Go To, Find, and choose Search Software Libraries.  Then enter a search word of SMILLER257.  Choose the file for Pragmatic XLCom (XLCOM20.ZIP).

2. CompuServe - GO ZENITH.  Search for file name of XLCOM20.ZIP.

3. Web Site - You can always get the latest version of our programs from: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pragmatic

If you have the most current version and your question is not answered above, send us an email at EXCOM@ODYSSEE.NET explaining the problem and the exact error messages and circumstances you have encountered.   From CompuServe, send the email to INTERNET:EXCOM@ODYSSEE.NET.   If you do not have email, you may call Technical Support at 514-721-1317.

Common Problems and Resolutions:

Below are some common problems and resolutions to those problems.

1. SHARE.EXE Not Loaded - Pragmatic XL Com requires SHARE.EXE to be loaded prior to running.  To load, add this line to your C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file as the first line in the file:  (This is not required for Windows for Workgroups or Windows 95)

C:\DOS\SHARE.EXE   /L:500   /F:5100

Save your C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file and reboot.

2. Incorrect DOS version - This is generally displayed when running SHARE.EXE from your C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT.  If you are using Windows for Workgroups or Windows 95, take the C:\DOS\SHARE.EXE  /L:500  /F:5100 parameter out of your C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file.  Windows for Workgroups uses it's own share.exe, so it is not required.   If this does not work, change the parameter to be C:\WINDOWS\SHARE.EXE  /L:500  /F:5100.

3. Import only imports 1 record - This is usually caused by one of three problems:

A.  When using the Import screen, did you choose the fields in the exact order as they appear on the import file?  Are the number of fields exactly the number in the import file?   If not, correctly specify the fields.

B.  Do fields in your import file contain commas inside the field?   For example, do you have a name such as IBM, Inc.?  Since it contains a comma, Pragmatic XL Com thinks that Inc. is the next field.  To fix this, take out the commas or enclosed all fields by double quotes.  For example:  "IBM Inc.", "972-419-4444"

C. Do fields in your import file contain a single or double quote inside the field?  For example, do you have a name such as Steve's Home Phone?  Since it contains a  single quote, Pragmatic XL Com thinks that it is delimiting the next field.  To fix this, take out the offending quotes.  For example:  Steves Home Phone, 972-419-4444

4. No Postal Codes are pre-stored - When you register your copy of Pragmatic XL Com, you will receive all Canadian United States city, provinces and Postal Codes.

5. Only allows me to enter  25 records - When you register your copy of Pragmatic XL Com, the 25 record maximum will eliminated.  You will be able to enter as many records as you wish.

6. Reports and Labels will print preview but will not print - If using Windows 95, make sure you have captured the port LPT1.  It uses this port for printing, so click Start, Settings, Printers.  Click on your printer, right mouse button then select properties. Click Display, Capture Printer Port.


Opening a File

To open an existing Pragmatic XL Com file, click FILE / OPEN or press CTRL + O.  It will display the File Information screen which shows all files and their user-defined fields.  Double click on the file name you wish to open.  Click  "Open File" to select the file or click the  "Cancel" button to cancel the operation.

When you initially start Pragmatic XL Com, it automatically remembers the last file you had open, and will open that file.


Finding a Name

To find a name in the Pragmatic XL Com, click EDIT / FIND or press CTRL + F.  The cursor will be placed on the  "Find this Name" field on the screen.  Enter the last name and press TAB or ENTER.  The Summary List will show the first name that matches the name entered.  If no match is found, it displays the name that is greater than the one entered.


Applying Changes to an Existing Record

To change information for a person, bring up the person by clicking on the person in the Summary List.  Then enter the new information and scroll to a new name.  The information will automatically be saved.

Quick Tip!

If you are entering a business name in the "Last Name" field, you can have the "First Name" appear on a separate line of the mailing label if you begin the First Name with "Attn".   For example, if you enter a "Last Name" of  "Pragmatic Software Canada" and a "First Name" of "Attn: Stephane Grosso", the label will be displayed like this:

Pragmatic Software Canada

Attn: Stephane Grosso

7329, 6th Avenue

Montreal, Quebec  H2A 3E8

This is especially useful if you need to use both address lines.


Adding New Names

To add a new person, click on the  "New" button.  Enter the last and/or first name and click OK.  The name will be added and will allow you to enter the remaining information.

Quick Tip!

If you are entering a business name in the "Last Name" field, you can have the "First Name" appear on a separate line of the mailing label if you begin the First Name with "Attn".   For example, if you enter a "Last Name" of  "Pragmatic Software Canada" and a "First Name" of "Attn: Stephane Grosso", the label will be displayed like this:

Pragmatic Software Canada

Attn: Stephane Grosso

7329, 6th Avenue

Montreal, Quebec  H2A 3E8

This is especially useful if you need to use both address lines.

Quick Tip!

When entering new names into your address book, you can specify whether to allow duplicate names, or warn upon entering duplicate names, or to not allow duplicate names.   See EDIT / PREFERENCES for more information.


Deleting Names

To delete an existing person,  bring up the person by clicking on the person in the Summary List.  Then click the  "Delete" button.  It will ask you if you really want to delete this person.  Press  "Yes" to delete or  "No" to cancel.    If you would like to bypass the confirmation process, make sure that the Warn when deleting a name check box is not checked from the EDIT / PREFERENCES screen.


Adding Notes to a Name

To add notes for a person, bring up the person by clicking on the person in the Summary List.   Then click the  "Notes" button.  Enter notes in the Notepad and exit when done.  Each time you press  "Notes" for this person, the notes that were stored will appear.  Notice that if no notes are stored for the person, the button displays  "Notes".  If there are notes stored, the button displays  "Notes: filename.txt" (where filename.txt is the name of the notepad file in which the notes are stored).  This is done to alert you as to the people you have notes stored.

Quick Tip!

You may print an Address Book that contains the notes of each person you have stored.  To do this, simply select  REPORTS / PRINT ADDRESS BOOK WITH NOTES from the menu.

Quick Tip!

You may change the editor used when storing notes by changing your text editor preference from the EDIT / PREFERENCES screen.


Creating a Holiday List

To have a person appear on the Holiday List report, bring up the person by clicking on the person in the Summary List.  Then click the  "Holiday List" checkbox.  Click  "Change" to save the changes.

Quick Tip!

You may print the Holiday List. To do this, simply select  REPORTS / PRINT HOLIDAY LIST from the menu.

You may also change the name of the Holiday List to anything you like.  Click EDIT / PREFERENCES and enter what you would like to call this field.


Intelligent Zip Code
Intelligent Postal Code

Pragmatic XL Com contains an  "Intelligent Postal Code" which automatically enters the city and Province if the Postal code is the same as any of those stored in the Postal code.  Because of this, you will notice that the cursor appears in the Postal code field prior to going to the city field.

Quick Tip!

You can turn Intelligent Postal Code off by clicking on the  "Automatic City / Province Look Up" check box on the EDIT / PREFERENCES screen.  If this check box contains an  "X", Intelligent Postal Code is turned on; otherwise, Intelligent Postal Code is turned off.


Intelligent Phone Numbers

Pragmatic XL Com contains  "Intelligent Phone Numbers" which automatically reformats the phone number you enter to the format 111-111-1111 x1111.  It will also convert alphabetic to numeric (i.e. 800-94PHONE is converted to 800-947-4663).   Note: If you enter an extension number, always enter the phone number (without the extension), then a space followed by an X, then the extension number.   For example: 514-721-1317 x445.   This ensures that it does not convert the 'x' to a number.

Quick Tip!

If the country in the address is not Canada or United States, it will bypass the Intelligent Phone feature.


Intelligent Capitalization

Pragmatic XL Com contains  "Intelligent Capitalization" which automatically capitalizes the first character of each word.  For example, if you enter a last name of miller and a city of plano, it will change them to Miller and Plano.  It also understands that certain words should not be capitalized (such as le, de or la).  For example, bella de la rosa would be capitalized as Bella de la Rosa.


Dialing a Phone Number

You can have Pragmatic XL Com dial a phone number for you by simply clicking the  "Dial" button next to the phone number in the Detailed Information section of the screen.  Once this is clicked, it will display the number it is dialing.  Simply pick up the phone and press the  "OK" button.

Notice that Pragmatic XL Com will prefix the phone number if a prefix is specified in the EDIT / PREFERENCES screen.  You can specify the long distance and local number prefixes from EDIT / PREFERENCES.


Shortcuts (CTRL + Letter)

Pragmatic XL Com allows you to use the following keys as shortcuts.  By pressing these keys, the function is automatically executed.  (CTRL + LETTER means to hold down the CTRL key and press the letter.)

1.	File New	CTRL + N

2.	File Open	CTRL + O

3.	Copy Field	CTRL + C

4.	Paste	CTRL + V

5.	Find Name	CTRL + F

6.	Undelete	CTRL + U

7.	Print Mailing Labels	CTRL + M

8.	View All Names	CTRL + A

9.	Filter Names	CTRL + I

10.	To Do List	CTRL + T

11.	Choose a Report	CTRL + R

12.	Print Envelope	CTRL + E

13.	Drop Down Lists	CTRL + L

14.	Help	F1

15.	Undo	CTRL + Z


New (Create a new file)

To create a new Pragmatic XL Com file, click FILE / NEW or press CTRL + N.  It will prompt you for a file name.  Enter the name of a file that is not currently being used.  The file name can be up to 35 characters (so be descriptive).    Press  "OK" to create a new file or click the  "Cancel" button to cancel the operation.   Once the file is created, it displays a message stating that the File Information screen will be shown to allow you to customize the fields names.

From this screen, you can specify the name of each of the 10 user-defined fields, the name of 4 types of phone numbers, and a default category to be used when none is entered.   This feature is extremely powerful because it allows you to name the fields anything you like.  For example, if in you just converted a file named  "Business Contacts", you may want to keep track of the person's spouse, hobbies, office hours, Date of Last Call, Total Purchases, and Last Purchase Date.  You do this by simply entering the fields names in User defined fields 1 through 6:

Field 1: Spouse Name	Field 4: Last Call Date

Field 2: Hobbies	Field 5: Tot Purchases

Field 3: Office Hours	Field 6: Purchase Date

Additionally, you could change any of the phone number names and enter a default category to be used when none is entered.  Once this is done, click  "Open File" and the main Pragmatic XL Com screen is displayed.  Once displayed, notice that the user-defined fields have the name you entered on the File Information screen!


Open (Open an existing file)

To open an existing Pragmatic XL Com file, click FILE / OPEN or press CTRL + O.  It will display the File Information screen which lists all files (see the prior topic,  "Create a new file",  for a layout of the File Information screen).  Double click on the file name you wish to open or click on  "Open File".   To cancel, click  "Cancel".


Rename (Rename the file as a new name)
Rename (Rename an existing file)

To rename an existing Pragmatic XL Com file, click FILE / RENAME.  Enter the name of a file that is not currently being used.  The file name can be up to 35 characters (so be descriptive).  Click on  "OK" to rename the file or  "Cancel"  to quit.

Note:  The rename function is also available from the File Information screen.


Delete (Delete an existing file)

To delete an existing Pragmatic XL Com file, click FILE / DELETE.   You will be asked if you really want to delete the file.   If you choose  "Yes", this file will be permanently deleted and can not be  "undeleted".   Click  "No" if you wish to abandon the deletion.

Deleting a file may take a few minutes.   The title bar of Pragmatic XL Com will display the progress of the delete process.   Once the file is deleted, a message will appear that informs you that it was successful.   Once you click  "OK", you will be sent to the File Information screen so that you can open a new file.  Double click on the file you wish to open.

Note:  The delete function is also available from the File Information screen.


Import (Import a file into Pragmatic XL Com)
Import (Importing a file into Pragmatic XL Com)

To import a file into  Pragmatic XL Com, click FILE / IMPORT.   A screen will be displayed that allows you to let Pragmatic XL Com know the layout of the import file.  This screen also has a list of instructions at the top of the screen.  To cancel the import, click the  "Cancel" button.    Notice that FILE/IMPORT does not check for duplicate names because it assumes that if your current database has duplicate names, this is how you would like Pragmatic XL Com to function.

To import a file you must do the following:

1. Create the import file in comma-delimited format.

2. Enter the  "Import File Name" and  "File to Create".  You can click on  "Find File" to choose the Import File Name.   The File to Create can be up to 35 characters, so be descriptive.

3. Choose the fields that appear on the Import file in the order in which they appear on the file.  Do this by clicking each field name in the order as it appears on the file.  Once you click it, you will see it move to the box on the right.  If a field name is on the Import file but not in the list, click on one of the User Defined field names.

Quick Tip!

If you are importing a file that was previously exported using Pragmatic XL Com, simply click on the  "Select All" button.  It will automatically select the fields in the proper order.

If you make a mistake,  click the  "Reset" button.

4. Click the  "Import Now" button to begin the Import.  Once imported, a record count will be displayed and the imported file will be automatically opened.   If only 1 record was imported but you expected more, below are the possible problems:

A. When using the Import screen, did you choose the fields in the exact order as they appear on the import file?  Are the number of fields exactly the number in the import file?   If not, correctly specify the fields.

B. Do fields in your import file contain commas inside the field?   For example, do you have a name such as IBM, Inc.?  Since it contains a comma, Pragmatic XL Com thinks that Inc. is the next field.  To fix this, take out the commas or enclosed all fields by double quotes.  For example:  "IBM Inc.", "972-419-4444"

C. Do fields in your import file contain a single or double quote inside the field?  For example, do you have a name such as Steve's Home Phone?  Since it contains a  single quote, Pragmatic XL Com thinks that it is delimiting the next field.  To fix this, take out the offending quotes.  For example:  Steves Home Phone, 972-419-4444


Import File from MS Excel

You may currently have your name and address book stored in Excel.  If you would like to import that file into Pragmatic XL Com, do the following:

1.	Access MS Excel and open the file you would like to import.

2.	Click  FILE / SAVE AS and save the file as a CSV (delimites each record by a comma).  To do this, click on File Type of  CSV (Scroll box at the bottom of the screen) and save the file (C:\XLCOM\IMPORT.TXT)

3.	Follow the directions in the previous topic for importing the records into Pragmatic XL Com.


Export (Exporting a file for other applications)

To export a file from Pragmatic XL Com, click FILE / EXPORT.  It will prompt you for a file name.  Enter the name of a file that is not currently being used.  Press  "OK" to create a new file or press the  "Cancel" button to cancel the operation.   If you choose a file that already exists, it will ask you if you would like to replace the file.

Once the file is exported, it will ask you if you would like a report showing the layout of the exported file.  The report contains the file name exported, the number of records, and a record layout of the exported file.  Press  "Yes" to print the report or  "No" to exit.  The exported file is created in comma-delimited format.


Export file for mail merging with MS Word

To export a file from Pragmatic XL Com, open the file you wish to export by clicking  FILE / OPEN.

Once opened, click  FILE / EXPORT.  A dialog box will appear asking you for a file name to create.  Enter EXPORT.TXT and press  "OK".

It then displays the total number of records exported.  It asks you if you would like a report showing the layout of the exported file.  Turn your printer on and click "Yes".  Once this is done, access MS Word for Windows by clicking on the Icon in Program Manager.

Create a new Word Document by clicking  FILE / NEW - NORMAL.  Create a sample mail-merge document.  For example, enter this as the letter:

  	John Doe and Associates
  	123 Main Street
Plano, TX

Dear Sirs:

Please buy our Widgets, thank you.

Sincerely,

John Doe

To make this a mail-merge document, click  FILE / PRINT MERGE.  Then click  ATTACH DATA FILE.  Enter C:\XLCOM\EXPORT.TXT as the file name.

Then put your cursor just before  "Dear Sirs:" and click  INSERT MERGE FIELD  (located on the tool bar).  Highlight FIRST NAME and press  "OK.  Enter a space and Click  INSERT MERGE FIELD again.  Highlight LAST NAME and press  "OK".

Press Enter for a new line.  Click  INSERT MERGE FIELD again.   Highlight Address 1 and press "OK".

Press Enter for a new line.  Click  INSERT MERGE FIELD again.  Highlight CITY and press  "OK". Enter a comma and a space after the City.  Click  INSERT MERGE FIELD again.  Highlight PROVINCE and press  "OK".

You have now set up the fields you would like to merge (you could have entered other fields such as Postal code, etc.).  Now you are ready to merge and print the form letter.

Click  FILE / PRINT MERGE again.  Click  MERGE.  From here you can click on  MERGE TO PRINTER to get printed results or  MERGE TO NEW DOCUMENT to see your results first.  Select  MERGE TO PRINTER and press  "OK" to get a printout.

This information assumes you have MS Word for Windows, version 2.0.  For further instructions, see your Word for Windows manual.   To export into other word processors, see your word processor manual.


Merge (Merge files together)

To merge one or more files together, click FILE / MERGE.  Enter the name of a file that you wish to create by the merge process.  This can actually be the name of an existing file as to allow you to merge files into an existing one.  The file name can be up to 35 characters (so be descriptive).  On the bottom of the screen, there are 2 list boxes.  The first list box displays all files in the database.  Click each file you wish to merge together.  Notice that each time you click a file, it moves to the second list box on the right.  Once you have chosen all the files you would like to merge, click Merge Files Now….  Click Reset if you make a mistake or  "Cancel"  to quit.


Printer Setup; Change Printer; Select Printer
Printer Setup

To choose a new printer, click FILE / PRINTER SETUP.


Convert Standard Address Database File to Pragmatic XL Com
Convert Standard Pragmatic XL Com File to Pragmatic XL Com

To convert a standard Pragmatic XL Com file to Pragmatic XL Com database format. click FILE / Convert Standard ADB File to ADB Pro from the main Pragmatic XL Com file menu.   It will present you with all files ending with an extension of ".ADB".   Choose the file you wish to convert and click  "OK".

Enter the new name and click  "OK".   Remember, you can enter up to 35 characters for the file name so make the name descriptive.  If you decide later that you would like to change the name, you can do so by renaming it.

Once you click  "OK",  the file will be converted.  If it is a large file (over 100 - 800 records), it may take a few minutes to complete.  It will display the number of records processed and the percent complete.   Once converted, it will display a message stating that the conversion was successful.  Once you press  "OK" from the message, the File Information screen is displayed.

From the File Information screen, you can specify the name of each of the 10 user-defined fields, the name of 4 types of phone numbers, and a default category to be used when none is entered.   This feature is extremely powerful because it allows you to name the fields anything you like.  For example, if in you just converted a file named  "Business Contacts", you may want to keep track of the person's spouse, hobbies, office hours, Date of Last Call, Total Purchases, and Last Purchase Date.  You do this by simply entering the fields names in User defined fields 1 through 6:

Field 1: Spouse Name	Field 4: Last Call Date

Field 2: Hobbies	Field 5: Tot Purchases

Field 3: Office Hours	Field 6: Purchase Date

Additionally, you could change any of the phone number names and enter a default category to be used when none is entered.  Once this is done, click  "Open File" and the main Pragmatic XL Com screen is displayed.  Once displayed, notice that the user-defined fields have the name you entered on the File Information screen!


Exit (Exit Pragmatic XL Com)

To exit Pragmatic XL Com, click FILE / EXIT.


Undo

To cancel the changes you have made to the currently displayed record, click EDIT / UNDO or press CTRL + Z.


Copy Field (Copy information to Clipboard)

To copy a field on the screen, put the cursor on the field and click EDIT / COPY FIELD or press CTRL + C.  The contents of the field will be copied and placed into the Windows Clipboard.  You can now paste this information into any Windows application.


Copy all Information (Copy Name/Address,Etc.)

To copy the name and address of the person currently displayed, click EDIT / COPY ALL INFORMATION.  The information will be copied and placed into the Windows Clipboard.  The copied text is formatted so that it can be pasted into a word-processor or text-editor.  Below is an example:

Pragmatic Software Canada
7329, 6th Avenue
Montreal, Quebec  H2A 3E8


Paste (Past information from clipboard)
Paste (Paste information from Clipboard)

To paste a copied piece of information, put the cursor on the receiving field and click EDIT / PASTE or press CTRL + V.  The contents of the field will be pasted into the field.


Find (Find a particular name)

To find a name in the Pragmatic XL Com, click EDIT / FIND or press CTRL + F.  The cursor will be placed on the  "Find this Name" field on the screen.  Enter the last name and press the TAB or ENTER key.  The Summary List will show the name that matches the name entered.  If no match is found, it displays the name that is greater than the one entered.      Notice that you can also supply the Last and First Name for the find command by using this format:    Last Name, First Name.    (Example: Miller, Steve)


Replace all occurrences of a string; Find and replace
 Replace (Global replace of information)

To replace information globally throughout your database for any field, click EDIT / REPLACE.   Once clicked, a screen appears that allows you to choose the file you wish to make global changes to.  Choose a field from the drop down list, enter the information you would like to search and the information you would like it to be replaced with.  Then click Find Now….  Once clicked, a list appears that shows all candidate records to be changed.  To change each record, you must mark them (or click Mark All to mark all records).  To mark a record manually, move the mouse cursor to the left most margin of the grid until a check mark appears, then click the left mouse button.  To deselect all records, click Clear All.

Once all records are marked that you wish to process, click Replace Now or Cancel to quit.

Quick Tip!

Another way to manually change records is to tab to the field and make the change once the candidate records are shown.


Undelete (Recover deleted information)

To undelete a previously deleted name in the Pragmatic XL Com, click EDIT / UNDELETE or press CTRL + U.   It will display all names that are available to be undeleted.  Double click the name(s) to undelete.

Once double clicked, <<UNDELETE>> appears next to the record.  Double click again to turn off <<UNDELETE>>.   To turn off all <<UNDELETE>>, press the  "Reset" button.  To undelete the items marked <<UNDELETE>>, click the  "OK" button.   Click on  "Cancel" to cancel the operation without undeleting any names.


Purge Deletes (Get rid of Undeletes)

To purge the deleted names in the Pragmatic XL Com, click EDIT / PURGE DELETES.   It will physically delete from the file all records marked as deletes.  Notice that the new  "Delete Count "is zero.  Once this is done, an Undelete can no longer be done on those names that were purged.


Purge Deletes on Exit

To purge the deleted names in the Pragmatic XL Com every time you open a new file or exit Pragmatic XL Com, click EDIT / PURGE DELETES ON EXIT.   It will physically delete from the file all records marked as deletes each time you open each new file or you exit Pragmatic XL Com.


Choice lists; Drop down lists; Categories; User Defined Fields; Shortcuts; States; Countries; City/State/Zip Line;
 Drop Down Lists, Etc.

Drop down lists are used to allow you to choose from a list of values.  In Pragmatic XL Com, you may set up drop down lists for many of the items.  This screen allows you to setup drop down lists for various items.  Each item is separated by a tab.  Choose the tab you wish to update by simply clicking on the tab.  For example, to update the Categories drop down lists, click the Categories tab.  Notice that each tab has these common functions:

1. Add - To add a new row, click New.  Once clicked, enter the information and move to another record to save.

2. Delete - To delete a new item, highlight the item you wish to delete and click Delete.

3. Sort - To resort the list, click Sort Now.

4. Change - To change an item, simply over type the information and move to another record to save.

Below is an explanation of each tab:

1. Shortcuts - Shortcuts are used to speed up data entry.  For example, you can enter a shortcut of =Amex and have it translate to American Express.  Once this is set up, you can enter =Amex in a field and it will automatically be translated to American Express.   Pragmatic XL Com has 7 standard shortcuts that you can setup to insert the current date and/or time in various formats.  These can be chosen by clicking the drop down list box under Translates to.   For example, you can enter a shortcut named =D that translates to the current date in MM/DD/YY format.  Each time you enter =D from the main screen, the current date will be entered in MM/DD/YY format.  Shortcuts must be prefixed by an equal sign.

2. Categories - Categories are used to categorize the names in your address book.  For example, we use a category of Pragmatic XL Com Standard, Pragmatic XL Com, Perpetual Calendar and  BMP Randomizer to denote each of our product names.  To allow you to choose these categories from the main screen, you need to set them up here.

3. User Defined Fields - User defined fields are used to allow you to name your own fields.  For example, we use them to describe Payment Method, Sales Date, Sales Amount, BBS Name and Email Address.  This allows us to track specific information for each person that purchases our products.   Each file can have different user defined fields.  Once each user defined field is created, you can supply the choice lists.  For example, we set up a user defined field named Payment Method and entered drop down lists of American Express, Visa, Mastercard, Cash, Check, and Money Order to allow us to easily choose the payment method.  There are 10 user defined fields.  To set one up, choose the file you wish to do this for, then choose User Defined 1 as the Field.  Then enter the new field name (such as Payment Method) in Field Name.  Then click New to add choice lists such as American Express, etc.  If you wish the field to be a date field, click the checkbox labeled Date Field.  This will ensure that as you type in a date, it is formatted properly.  To specify the date format you wish to use, click EDIT / PREFERENCES, click the Screen tab and choose the date format from the Default Date Format field.

4. States - To provide a choice list of States on the main screen, enter them here.

5. Postal Codes - From the main screen, the cursor tabs to the Postal code field prior to tabbing to the city and Province.  This is done to allow quick entry.  If a Postal code is entered that is setup on this screen, the city and Province is automatically retrieved.  The valid City/Province/Postal codes are entered here.  Since there will likely be many Postal codes in your database, there are 3 fields above the grid to allow you to search for a particular one.  To search, enter the city and/or Province and/or Postal code and click Find Now.  You can search using wildcards.  For example, you can search with a city of Donalsonv* and it will find all occurrences of cities that begin with Donalsonv.  To copy a Postal code, city and Province to the address currently displayed on the main screen, click the Postal code you wish to copy and click Grab Postal.  Another feature is the ability to import Postal codes from a comma-delimited file.  The file must contain the Postal code, city and Province.  For example:
75023, Plano, TX
90210, Beverly Hills, CA
Registered users receive a file named POSTAL CODES.TXT which contains all USA city, Province and Postal codes.  This file contains about 47,000 Postal codes.  To import it, click Import.  Then choose the file POSTAL CODES.TXT and choose OK.  This process takes about 3.5 hours for 47,000 Postal codes using a Pentium 50mh PC.  You can not perform other tasks will doing this, so it is smart to do this at night when you are not using your PC.

6. Countries - To provide a choice list of Countries on the main screen, enter them here.

7. City/Province/Postal Line - To provide the ability to customize the way the City/Province/Postal line appears on labels, envelopes and reports, you can specify the particular specifications here for each country.  For example, the United States uses city followed by a comma, then the Province followed by a space, then the Postal code.  Canada uses the Postal code followed by a space, then the city followed by a comma then the Province.


Preferences

To specify preferences within Pragmatic XL Com, click EDIT / PREFERENCES.

1.	Screen Preferences - Enter the following preferences:

A. Automatic city / Province look up:  Check this box if you want Pragmatic XL Com to automatically find the city and Province when a new Postal code is entered.

B. Intelligent Capitalization: Check this box if you want the first letter of each field to be capitalized.  This is done to speed data entry.

C. Hide phone dial buttons: Check this box if you do not want the Dial buttons to appear to the right of each phone number on the main screen.

D. Warn of duplicate phone numbers: Check this box if you want Pragmatic XL Com to warn you when you enter a phone number that is identical to a phone number already stored in your address book.   It will display the person that is assigned this phone number.

E. Warn when deleting a name: Check this box if you want Pragmatic XL Com to warn you when you delete a name.  It clicked, it will ask you if you are sure you want to delete the name.

F. Prompt to save filter if not saved: Check this box if you want Pragmatic XL Com to prompt you to save the filter each time you enter a new filter from the Filter screen.

G. Default date format: This offers different formats for dates.  The date entered here affects the format of the date if shortcuts are used to automatically retrieve the current date.

H. Preferred text editor: Enter your preferred text editor.  The default is notepad.  This will be the text editor used to store notes for each name.

I.  Allow duplicate first/last names?: This offers 3 choices concerning duplicate names.   You can choose to not allow duplicates, allow duplicates with a warning, or allow duplicates without a warning.

J. Customizable list name: The default for this is Holiday List.  This allows you to use the Holiday List checkbox as any description you like.  For example, you may want to use this to denote that it is a Contributor to your project.  Hence, you may call this Contributor List.  The name you supply here will display on the main screen and the reports.

K. Screen Colors  (List Boxes)- Choose the colors that you wish list boxes and grids to be.  Click Set to Default to specify the default colors.

2.	Dialing - Enter the long distance call prefix, local call prefix and communications port.  These are used to determine what to dial when the Dial button is pressed from the main screen.

3.	About You -  Enter your name, address, country, phone, email address and the place you downloaded the product.  Your name is used on reports, your country is used to determine how to format the date fields, your phone area code is used to determine what is a local call vs. a long distance call, and all this information is used on the registration form.

4.	Mailing Label Setup -  See  "Label Characteristics" topic under the Labels Menu Section of this Help Guide.

5.	Drop Down Lists -  See  "Drop Down Lists, etc." topic under the Edit Menu Section of this Help Guide.


Adjust Label Alignment
Label Characteristics

To tell Pragmatic XL Com what type of labels you are using click on LABELS / LABEL CHARACTERISTICS.

From here, choose the label type from the drop down list box, font characteristics, and sort sequence.  If you would like to print each line of the label closer together or further apart, adjust the Line Spacing percentage.  100% represents single spacing, 75% represents three-quarter spacing, 200% represents double spacing.  You may set this value to anything you like.

If your particular label type is not found in the drop down list box, click the Define Label Type tab.  If you would like to specify which fields (and the order) appear on each line of the label, click the Define Fields for Label tab.

Quick Tip!

You can combine up to three fields into one line by using the "Combine Fields" option at the bottom of the screen.  For example, let's say that you want the following to appear on your labels and envelopes:

Example

Line 1:	First and Last Name	John Doe

Line 2:	Address 1	101 Main Street

Line 3:	Address 2	Suite 101

Line 4: 	City, Province	Montreal, Quebec

Line 5: 	Postal Code     Country	H2A 3E8     Canada

To do this:

1. Click RESET.

2. Under Available Fields, click First and Last Name.

3. Under Available Fields, click Address 1.

4. Under Available Fields, click Address 2.

5. Under Combine Fields, click

Field 1: City

Separator: ,  (comma followed by one space)

Field 3: Province

     Click OK or ALT+ K.

6.  Under Combine Fields, click

Field 1: Postal Code

Separator:      (5 blank spaces)

Field 3: Country

     Click OK or ALT + K.

7. Click OK or ALT + 0.


Envelopes

Pragmatic XL Com can print envelopes for names within your address book.   To print envelopes, do the following:

1. Filter the list so that it displays only the names you wish to create envelopes for.  Hint: Use VIEW / FILTER or press CTRL + I.  To print a single name multiple times, VIEW / FILTER the name(s) to print, and enter the total number of copies.  Note also that you can use Quick Labels to filter the names you wish to print envelopes.

2. Click ENVELOPES / PRINT ENVELOPES or press CTRL + E.

Once this is done, a screen will be displayed that will allow you to tailor your envelope printing.  Below are the options:

1. Return Address - Enter your address here.

2. Also Display this Message - Enter a message to display to the left of the recipient address.

3. Preferences:

A. Page Break between Envelopes - If clicked, it will put each envelope on a new page.  This is customary unless you are using a dot matrix printer that has multiple tractor feed envelopes per page.
B. Manually feed the Envelopes - If clicked, it will prompt you to manually feed each envelope prior to printing.
C. Orientation - Landscape or Portrait.
D. Font Information - Choose the font name, size, bold or italics.
E. Line Spacing - Enter 100 for single spacing, 50 for half-spacing, 200 for double spacing.  Any value may be used to control the line spacing.

4. Print Quick Labels, Print Filtered Names, Print All Names - This determines how many names will be printed based on the criteria.  Choose the appropriate criteria.

5. Number of Copies - If you would like to print multiple copies of these envelopes, enter the number of copies.

If the spacing is not correct, you may change it by clicking the Spacing Tab.  Note that you may specify the top, side and recipient margins as well as the distance between the sender and recipient address and the distance between envelopes when dot-matrix envelopes are used.   The top of the screen displays pictorially the meaning of each parameter.

Quick Tip!

If you would like to quickly print envelopes for a couple of people in your address book, click the checkbox labeled QL in the Summary List for each name you wish to envelopes.  Then click ENVELOPES / PRINT ENVELOPES (or CTRL + E).  You will then be prompted for the number of copies to print.   To clear the Quick Labels, click the Clear Quick Label toolbar  item or click LABELS / CLEAR QUICK LABELS.


Define Label Type

If you do not find your particular label type in the drop down list box, you may set up your own label type by clicking the "Define Label Types" tab.  The top of the screen gives you a visual indication of the information necessary to set up the label parameters.  To enter a new label type, click New.  Then enter the information about your labels which can usually be found in the documentation for your labels:

1. Label Type - Describe your label.  Enter the name brand and model of your labels. For example: Avery 6590.

2. Number Across - Enter the number of labels horizontally across the page (usually 1 to 3).  Example:

1 Label Across	  2 Labels Across	    	   3 Labels Across

=	=  = 	=  =  =

=	=  = 	=  =  =

=	=  = 	=  =  =

=	=  = 	=  =  =

=	=  = 	=  =  =

3. Number Down - Enter the number of labels down the page.  In most cases this is 10 or 12, but may be between 1 and 50.

3 Rows	7 Rows	5 Rows

Row 1:	 =  =  =	  	=  =  =	 	=  =  =

Row 2:	 =  =  =	  	=  =  =	  	=  =  =

Row 3:	 =  =  =	 	 	=  =  =	 	=  =  =

Row 4:	  	  	=  =  =	  	=  =  =

Row 5:	 	  	=  =  =	 	 	=  =  =

Row 6:	 	  	  	=  =  =

Row 7:	  	   	  	=  =  =

4. Top Margin - Enter the number of inches at the top of the page prior to the first label on the page.

5. Side Margins - Enter the number of inches at the left margin of the page prior to the start of the labels.

6. Vertical Pitch - Enter the number of inches from the top of the first label to the top of the label directly under the first label.

7. Horizontal Pitch - Enter the number of inches from the left side of the first label to the left side of the label to the right of it.

If you would like to change the parameters for a particular label, click on the label type you wish to change, enter the correct parameters and move to another record.  If you would like to delete a particular label type, click on the label type and press  the Delete key.


Define Fields for Label

Click this option to define which fields will appear on the mailing labels.  When selected, a screen is displayed which displays the fields currently set up to be printed on the mailing label.  To change this, click RESET.  Notice that all the fields are now displayed under the Available Fields listing.    Click each field in the order you wish it to appear on the mailing label.   Notice that as you click a field, it is displayed in the adjacent listing.   It displays which line each field will appear.    You can define up to 6 lines of fields.


Instructions for printing Mailing Labels; Mailing Label Instructions
Mailing Label Instructions

To see instructions for creating mailing labels, click LABELS / MAILING LABEL INSTRUCTIONS.

This describes how to print mailing labels:

1. Choose the type of label to use.  See the  "Label Characteristics" topic under the Labels Menu section of this Help Guide for more details.

2. Put address label paper in printer.

3. Filter the list so that it displays only the names you wish to create labels for.  Hint: Use VIEW / FILTER or press CTRL + I.  To print a single label multiple times, VIEW / FILTER the label to print, and enter the total number of labels on the page to print a full page of labels for this name.

4. Use the LABELS / PRINT MAILING LABELS command, or press CTRL + M, to begin printing.

Once this is done, you will be prompted for the number of copies to print.  It will also display the number of records to print.  If you have selected some quick labels or filtered your names, it will display the number of records for these and will give you the option of printing quick labels, filtered records or all records.


Print Mailing Labels; Mailing Label Printing; Label Printing
Print Mailing Labels

To print mailing labels, click LABELS / PRINT MAILING LABELS.

This describes how to print mailing labels:

1. Choose the type of label to use.  See the  "Label Characteristics" topic under the Labels Menu section of this Help Guide  for more details.

2. Put address label paper in printer.

3. Filter the list so that it displays only the names you wish to create labels for.  Hint: Use VIEW / FILTER or press CTRL + I.  To print a single label multiple times, VIEW / FILTER the label to print, and enter the total number of labels on the page to print a full page of labels for this name.

4. Use the LABELS / PRINT MAILING LABELS command, or press CTRL + M, to begin printing.

Once this is done, you will be prompted for the number of copies to print.  It will also display the number of records to print.  If you have selected some quick labels or filtered your names, it will display the number of records for these and will give you the option of printing quick labels, filtered records or all records.

Quick Tip!

If you would like to quickly print mailing labels for a couple of people in your address book, click the checkbox labeled QL in the Summary List for each name you wish to print quick labels.  Then click the Print Quick Label toolbar  item (it has a printer icon with a QL over it).  You will then be prompted for the number of copies to print.   To clear the Quick Labels, click the Clear Quick Label toolbar  item or click LABELS / CLEAR QUICK LABELS.

Also, if you have a partially printed sheet of labels, you can tell Pragmatic XL Com to skip over the ones that have already been used before printing the labels.  To do this, enter the number of labels to skip in the field named For partial sheet of labels, number of labels to skip.


Instructions for printing file folders; File Folder Instructions
File Folder Instructions

This describes how to print file folder labels.  Notice that when these are printed, up to four fields are printed on the file folder label (last name, first name, address1 and address2).  To print file folders:

1.  Choose the type of label to use.   See the  "Label Characteristics" topic under the Labels Menu section of this Help Guide for more details.

2.  Put address label paper in printer.

3.  Filter the list so that it displays only the names with a category of FILEFOLDER.  Hint: Use VIEW / FILTER or press CTRL + I.  More simply, click  "Yes" at the prompt and it will automatically filter them for you.

4.  Use the LABELS / PRINT MAILING LABELS command, or press CTRL + M, to begin printing.


Clearing the Quick Labels
Clear Quick Labels

To clear the Quick Labels, click the Clear Quick Label toolbar  item or click LABELS / CLEAR QUICK LABELS.


Print Phone List; Phone List; Report of Phone List
Print Phone List

Click on this to create a phone list of all names currently displayed.  Notice that you can print a phone list of selected names by first  "Filtering" the list and then printing this report.  Once done, the total number of names printed is displayed.


Print Address Book

Click on this to create an address book of all names currently displayed.  Notice that you can print an address book of selected names by first  "Filtering" the list and then printing this report.  Once done, the total number of names printed is displayed.


Print Address Book (Compressed)

Click on this to create an address book of all names currently displayed.  Notice that you can print an address book of selected names by first  "Filtering" the list and then printing this report.  Once done, the total number of names printed is displayed.  The only difference between this report and the Address Book report is that this report has compressed font which allows you to print a maximum of 2 lines per name/address.


Print Address Book with Notes

Click on this to create an address book of all names currently displayed, followed by all the notes stored for each name.  If you would like to see only the people that have notes, click the check box labeled Include Only Names that Have Notes.  Notice that you can print an address book of selected names by first  "Filtering" the list and then printing this report.  Once done, the total number of names printed is displayed.

Quick Tip!

When storing notes for each name using Windows Notepad, press the ENTER key after each line of text.  If this is done, this report will display the information in a cleaner format.


Print Holiday List

Click on this to create an address book of all names that have the Holiday List field clicked.

To have a person appear on the Holiday List report, bring up the person by clicking on the person's name in the Summary List.  Then click the  "Holiday List" checkbox.


Print To Do List, To Do List
To Do List

Click on this to print a list of items on your To Do List.  You have option of printing all items or just items that are incomplete.


Custom Reports

Custom Reports allow you create a report that meets your particular needs.  You can choose what data is displayed on the report, the font size, the sort sequence, and the name of the report.

To access the Custom Reports screen, click  REPORTS / CUSTOM REPORTS... from the menu.    Each memorized report is listed on the left side of the screen.  Each time you click on a different memorized report name, the Report Layout information  is displayed on the right side of the screen.

Change the Report Layout

Create a new Custom Report

Delete a Custom Report

Rename a Custom Report

Exit Custom Reports


Choose a report to print; Print reports; Print Preview; Fonts; Colors; Logos
Choose a Report

To choose a report to print or print preview, click REPORTS / CHOOSE A REPORT or click the reports icon on the toolbar.  Pragmatic XL Com is very flexible in allowing you to change the format and look of the report.  You can also attach particular filters to a report. To choose a report, click the Reports drop down list box and choose one.  If you would like to apply a filter to the report, choose one from the Filter drop down list box.  To print preview, click Preview. To change printers, click Printer Setup.

Quick Tip!

If you would like to print a report for a different sized paper than 8.5 x 11, simply enter the page size in the paper size fields.  For example, for a day-timer junior, you may enter 5 by 7.  This will automatically resize the fonts for you.

Below are the details of each tab on this screen:

1. General - From here you can choose the printer orientation, choose if you would like to begin each new alphabet on a new page, determine whether to double space between names, choose whether to print gridlines, choose whether to also print the user defined fields and whether to print the notes stored with each name.

2. Fonts - From here you can choose the header and body font size, name, bold/italics, and color.  Notice that you can preview the font in the bottom section of the screen.

3. Header / Footer - From here you can choose what appears in the header and footer of the report.  You can enter plain text or you can click one of the icons to enter a special field.  The first icon enters the page number, the second icon enters the current date, the third icon enters the time and the last icon enters the file name.

4. Margins - From here you specify the margins you wish to apply to the report.

5. Logo - From here you can choose a custom logo to appear on your reports.  For best results, size your logo to fit within the preview window that is provided.  You can use MS Paint to resize your logo.


Change the Report Layout

To change the Report Layout, click the name of the report you wish to change.   Once clicked, the report layout information is displayed on the right side of the screen.  Click the fields you wish to include on the report (those with an 'X' will be included), click on the sort sequence (you can have up to 3 sort sequences), and enter the font size in points.

If you print the report and the columns are too wide (you would like to be able to get more information on one line), simply change the field size of each field to be smaller.  The spacing is measured in inches.  For example, if you generally store CATEGORIES that are will fit within an inch of printable space, enter 1 in the field size of CATEGORY.  It will then display 1 inch of information and wrap anything that is larger.  Do the same for other fields you may shorten.

Want totals on the report?  If you store numeric information in any of the user-defined fields, you can get report totals by clicking the "Totals" check box next to the field name.   For example, we store 2 user-defined fields in my address book: the date a person registered the program and the registration amount.  We created a custom report that displays the registration date and amount and totals by registration amount.    When totals are printed, it prints a sum of the numeric values, an average, and the total number of numeric occurrences it found.   If it encounters a non-numeric value in the field, it ignores it.

Want subtotals on the report?  If you store numeric information in any of the user-defined fields, you can get report subtotals by clicking the "Subtotals" check box. If you would like a summary report, you can click Print only the subtotals and the detail will be hide.    If the primary sort field is a date, you may also tell it to summarize by month, day or year.  You specify date fields for each user defined field via the Drop Down List screen (CTRL + L).

Quick Tip!

If the  "Deleted Names" field has an 'X' next to it, only names that have been deleted will appear on the report.   If no 'X' appears next to this, all actively filtered names will appear on the report.


Create a new Custom Report

To create a new custom report, click the  "New Report" button.   It will prompt you for a 35 character report name.  Click  "OK" to create the report or  "Cancel" to cancel the new report process.   Notice that a default report layout is displayed.  To change the report layout, click the fields you wish to include on the report (those with an 'X' will be included), click on the sort sequence (you can have up to 3 sort sequences), and enter the font size in points.

Quick Tip!

When naming a report, it may be wise to include the file name as part of the report name.  Since fields can be named differently for each file, this allows you to create custom reports for each file, or general reports that are not file specific.  For example, if you have a file named  "Friends and Family" that contains user defined fields of  "Anniversary" and  "Birth Date", you may want a report that lists every name, address, anniversary and birth date.  You may name the report  "Friends - Anniversary and Birth Dates".

Likewise, you may have another file named  "Business Contacts" whose user defined fields are named  "Pymt Method",  "Pymt Date", and  "Pymt Amount".   You may name the report  "Business - Payment Information".

Finally, you may create reports that are general to all files.  For example, you may want a general report that lists all names, addresses, sorted by Province and city.   You may name the report  "General - Names by Province, City".

As you create many reports, all the report names particular to each file will appear next to each other in the Custom Reports list.

Quick Tip!

If any of your user-defined fields contain information that you would like to see totaled on the report, click the  "Totals" checkbox next to the name of the field you wish to have totaled.   The total amount, number of occurrences and average will be displayed at the end of the report.


Delete a Custom Report; Custom Reports
Delete a Custom Report

To delete a custom report, click the name of the report you wish to delete.   Once clicked, press  the  "Delete" button.  It will ask you if you really want to delete the report.  Click  "Yes" to process the delete or  "No" to cancel.  Once the report is deleted, a message will appear that states that the report was successfully deleted.


Rename a Custom Report; Custom Reports
Rename a Custom Report

To rename an existing custom report, click the name of the report you wish to rename.   It will prompt you for a new 35 character report name.  Click  "OK" to rename the report or  "Cancel" to cancel.


Exit Custom Reports; Custom Reports
Exit Custom Reports

To exit Custom Reports, click  "OK".


All (View all names in currently opened file)

Click on this to take off all filters.  This will display all names in the opened file.


Filter (View particular names based on selection criteria)
Filter (View names based on selection criteria)

To display only the names that meet specific rules, click VIEW / FILTER or press CTRL + I or press the  "Filter" button from the main screen.   When clicked, it displays a screen that allows you to enter the information to filter by.  Additionally, you may save your filter for later use by clicking New, entering a filter name at the top and specifying your filter criteria.   To cancel, click the "Cancel" button.

Choose Filter Criteria:

To choose filter criteria, click the field name you wish to filter by, click a condition, enter a value to filter by, and click OK.  To enter more criteria, enter an and/or command then enter more filter information as described above.

Conditions:

Most of the conditions are self-explanatory like equals, greater than, less than, greater than or equal, less than or equal and not equal.  However, some of the other conditions may need further explanation:

1. Begins with - This is useful for filtering for everyone that begins with a specific set of letters.  For example, filtering on a last name beginning with JACK will return Jack, Jackson, Jackie, etc.

2. Ends with - Very similar to begins with but for the end of the name.  For example, filtering on a last name ending with SON will return Jackson, Dickson, Simpson, etc.

3. Contains - This is useful to search within a string.  For example, you may want to search on any category containing AID.  This will return Aids activist, Medicaid, Abend Aid, etc.

4. Between Range - This is useful to search for ranges of information.  For example, you may want to search for everyone that has a last name between A and B.  Enter A as the first range and B as the second range.

5. Choose from List = - This is a very powerful condition that allows you to see all the distinct values for a field.  To activate the list of values, you must click Get Choice List Now.  For example, you may want to choose from a list of categories you have entered.  Click category as the field name, click Choose from List =, click Get Choice List Now and put a check mark next to each item you wish to include.

6. Choose from list <> - Very similar to the prior item, this will exclude all items you put a check mark next to.

Once all information is entered for your first criteria, click OK.  Notice that the information is moved to the bottom of the screen.  To choose the next criteria, choose the and/or condition and the rest of the values as you did before.  If you would like to edit or delete conditions from the bottom of the screen, you can do so there. Once done, click Filter Now.

Quick Tip!

Notice that each time you click OK, the total number of records that match the selected criteria appear at the bottom of the screen.

Note to experienced programmers:  The filter logic uses SQL so any valid SQL statement can be used by editing the contents at the bottom.  For example, you could set up a query that always brought back names that have a user defined date field equal to the current date.  In this example, let's assume that your User Defined 1 field is named "Order Date" and has been set as a date field via the Edit, Drop Down Lists screen.  It is stored in mm/dd/yy format as defined on the Edit, Preferences screen.  You could choose the field User Defined 1, click a condition of = and enter a value of format$(now(),"mm/dd/yy").  Once you click OK, you must click Edit Line and remove the single quotations around the Format String so that it does not take this as a literal.   Once edited, the line should look like this:

(( UserDefined1 = format$(now(),"mm/dd/yy") ))

This will cause the filter to display all names that had an order date of that the same as the date you run the filter.

Final Note: To save the filter, enter a name in the filter name drop down list at the top of the screen.  Then you can quickly filter your records from the main Pragmatic XL Com screen by simply choosing the saved filter from the main screen.


Sort Summary List by a different field
Sort

To sort the Summary List by any field within the database, click SORT and highlight the field you wish to sort by.  Notice that a check mark appears next to the field in the Sort menu item once chosen.   Once chosen, the information in the Summary List is then sorted by the new criteria.  The fourth column in the Summary List is changed from FAX to the new field.  Notice that it is now sorted by that field.  If you wish to move that column to appear as the first column, simply click the header of that field and drag it to the first columns position.  You can move columns in the Summary List as you desire.


Importing postal codes; Postal code import
Instructions for Importing Postal Codes

Pragmatic XL Com allows importing of Postal codes from a comma-delimited file.  The file must contain the Postal code, city and Province.  For example:

75023, Plano, TX
90210, Beverly Hills, CA

Registered users receive files named PCODES.TXT and ZIPCODES.TXT which contains all Canadian and USA City, Province and Postal codes. To import it, follow these steps below:

1. Click Edit, Drop Down Lists, etc. or press CTRL + L

2. Click the PostalCodes tab or press ALT + Z

3. Click Import or press ALT + I

4. Choose ZIPCODES.TXT or PCODES.TXT and click OK.  This process takes about 3.5 hours for 47,000 zip codes using a Pentium 50mh PC.  You can not perform other tasks will doing this, so it is smart to do this at night when you are not using your PC.


To Do List

To open a To Do List, click  TOOLS / TO DO LIST or press CTRL + T.   When clicked, it displays a screen with a calendar and a grid for entering tasks to do.

Calendar:

To go to a specific month/day/year, enter the date in mm/dd/yy format and press enter.  Notice that the new month will be displayed with the day highlighted in red.

To Do List:

The to do list allows you to enter tasks and prioritize those tasks.  The first field is a check box that is used to mark a task complete.  The second field is the priority of the task. Use a priority of 01 for high priority items, a 02 for medium priorities and 03 for low priorities.  The priority field can be used anyway you like, this is just a suggestion.  The next field is the start date of the task.  If none is entered, the current day will be displayed.  The next field is the end date.  This is automatically stamped as the current date when the task is marked complete.  The last field is the description of the task you are entering.  Notice that it drops down for full view when it has focus.   To add a new task, click New, enter the information and move to a new record to save it.

To resort the To Do List in order of Complete/Incomplete Status, Priority, and Start Date,click Sort Now.  To delete a task, highlight the task and click Delete.  To show only the incomplete items, click Hide Completed Tasks.  To print the To Do list, click Print To Do List.  To purge the completed tasks as of a specific date, click Purge Completed Tasks and enter the date to purge through.   To exit the To Do list screen, click OK.


Other Available Products

Pragmatic Software Canada
7329, 6th Avenue Montreal, Quebec H2A 3E8

Email: EXCOM@ODYSSEE.NET      Phone: 514-721-1317
Internet Web Site: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pragmatic

Pragmatic XL Com

Address Database Standard

Address Database Professional

BMP Randomizer

Perpetual Calendar


Products - Pragmatic XL Com
Pragmatic XL Com

Designed specifically for office use, Pragmatic XL Com has all the features of Address Database Standard edition (see below) and more!  It is backed by a relational database that is designed to handle a large number of names/addresses with the utmost of speed.   In addition to the standard Pragmatic XL Com functionality, it contains 10 user-defined fields, a calendar, new reports, prints envelopes and labels, prints quick labels, custom reports, and all USA city, Province and Postal codes.  It also converts your files created using the standard version of Address Database to the database format needed by Pragmatic XL Com.  The latest version features print preview of reports, file merging, search/replace, new Windows 95 look and feel, storing of filter information, creation of choice lists for most fields, easier way to print reports on day-timer or day-runner paper, to-do list grid with calendar and much more!

If upgrading from Address Database Standard, price is $35.00 plus $5 shipping/handling.  If you are not a registered Pragmatic XL Com user, price is $74.99. May be used standalone or on a network.  Can use multiple databases as to allow your company to set up a  read only database containing the names and addresses of all company employees (which may reside on the network) while also using a read/write database for each individual employee (which may reside on the employee's PC hard drive).  Site license is $74.99 for the first copy and $45 for additional copies.  There is a ceiling price of $15,000.  So if you use it for your entire corporation and the price for the number of users exceeds $15,000, the maximum you must pay is $15,000.


Products - Address Database Standard
Address Database Standard Edition

An easy way to keep track of all your personal and Business contacts.  Address Database not only stores basic information like names and addresses, but also has room for unlimited notes such as birthday, anniversary, spouse's or childrens names, etc.  It prints a variety of handy rosters, including a phone list, address book, compressed address book, address book with notes and holiday list.  Reports can be printed on standard, Day Timer, Day Runner or any other sized paper.  In addition, it prints mailing and file-folder labels (supports any type of labels).  It has an automatic phone dialer and allows you to import or export information from other programs in comma-delimited format - no need to re-type!  Additionally, it has 2 fields that you can personalize.  Price is $34.99 plus $5 shipping/handling.  Site license is $34.99 plus $5 shipping / handling for the first copy and $20 plus $3 shipping / handling for additional copies.


Products - Address Database Professional
Address Database Professional

Very similar to Pragmatic XL Com, Address Database Professional is designed to be used in the United States.  It is designed specifically for office use, Address Database Pro has all the features of Address Database Standard edition and more!  It is backed by a relational database that is designed to handle a large number of names/addresses with the utmost of speed.   In addition to the standard Address Database functionality, it contains 10 user-defined fields, a calendar, new reports, prints envelopes and labels, prints quick labels, custom reports, and all USA city, Province and Postal codes.  It also converts your files created using the standard version of Address Database to the database format needed by Address Database Professional.  The latest version features print preview of reports, file merging, search/replace, new Windows 95 look and feel, storing of filter information, creation of choice lists for most fields, easier way to print reports on day-timer or day-runner paper, to-do list grid with calendar and much more!

If upgrading from Address Database Standard, price is $20.00 plus $5 shipping/handling.  If you are not a registered Address Database user, price is $54.99 plus $5 shipping / handling.  May be used standalone or on a network.  Can use multiple databases as to allow your company to set up a  read only database containing the names and addresses of all company employees (which may reside on the network) while also using a read/write database for each individual employee (which may reside on the employee's PC hard drive).  Site license is $59.99 for the first copy and $43 for additional copies.  There is a ceiling price of $15,000.  So if you use it for your entire corporation and the price for the number of users exceeds $15,000, the maximum you must pay is $15,000.


Products - BMP Randomizer
BMP Randomizer

A utility that automatically changes your Windows background (wallpaper) each time you log into Windows.  It randomly selects the next background to be displayed. Price is $15.00.


Products - Perpetual Calendar
Perpetual Calendar

A small calendar that can be accessed by a hot key.  Allows you to print a calendar of the current month or an entire year. Contains a Julian Date converter, determines the number of days between 2 dates, adds / subtracts any number of periods from a date (days, weeks, months, quarters, and years). Price is $15.00.


Suggestion Box

To send us a suggestion or to register a problem, click TOOLS / SUGGESTION BOX.   When clicked, it creates a letter in Notepad named SUGGEST.TXT.

Enter your suggestions for new releases.  You may also use this to identify problems you find with Pragmatic XL Com.  Print the letter and send it to the address listed.  Letters will be given prompt attention.


Context Sensitive Help

Press  to receive help on any topic.  It is context sensitive which means that when F1 is pressed, the appropriate help topic is displayed based on where you are positioned on the screen.  For example,  if you would like help learning how to change a record, place the cursor on the Change button and press F1.


Access Users Guide

This option displays the Users Guide in Write format (if using Windows 3.x) and Wordpad format if using Windows 95 or higher.  The Users Guide may be browsed on-line or may be printed.


About Pragmatic XL Com

Click HELP / ABOUT PRAGMATIC XL COM to display the name of the software, the version, copyright information, address for purchasing and the purchase price.


Tips and Tricks

General Tips

Custom Report Tips

Filtering Tips


General Tips
General Tips:

1. When entering names of people that work for a company, it is wise to enter the name of the company in the Last Name field and the individuals name in the First Name field preceded by Attn: or C/O:.   If this is done, it will print the company name as the first line of labels and envelopes and will print the persons names preceded by Attn: or C/O: on the second line of the label or envelope.  For example:   Last Name of Pragmatic Software Canada and First Name of Attn: Stephane Grosso will print on labels and envelopes as:
Pragmatic Software Canada

Attn: Stephane Grosso
7329, 6th Avenue
Montreal, Quebec H2A 3E8

2. When entering new names into your address book, you can specify whether to allow duplicate names, warn upon entering duplicate names, or to not allow duplicate names.   Click EDIT / PREFERENCES  to set this preference.

3. You may print an Address Book that contains the notes of each person you have stored.  To do this, simply select  REPORTS / PRINT ADDRESS BOOK WITH NOTES from the menu.   To further customize this, click the checkbox labeled Include Only Names that have notes to print only the names that have notes stored.  To print all names and the notes for those that have them, leave this checkbox unchecked.

4. You may change the editor used when storing notes by changing your text editor preference from the EDIT / PREFERENCES screen.  By default, it uses Windows Notepad.  However, you could change this to use Wordpad, Word for Windows or any other editor.

5. You may print a list of names and addresses of people that you routinely send holiday cards.  To do this, click the checkbox labeled Holiday List on the main Pragmatic XL Com screen for each name you wish to send a card.  Once done, you may print the Holiday List. To do this, simply select  REPORTS / PRINT HOLIDAY LIST from the menu.   To further customize this, you can change the wording of this Holiday List to anything you like.  For example, lets assume that you would rather use this checkbox to track those people in your address book that are potential customers.  You could name this checkbox Prospect List.  To do this, click EDIT / PREFERENCES.  Enter Prospect List in the field named Customizable List Name and press OK.  Once you return to the main screen, notice that the Holiday list checkbox has been changed to the Prospect List checkbox.  Also notice that the Holiday List report has been changed to the Prospect List report.

6.  The Intelligent Postal Code feature is used to automatically retrieve the city and Province for Postal codes that are stored in the Postal code file.  If you do not like this feature, you can turn it off by clicking on the  "Automatic City / Province Look Up" checkbox on the EDIT / PREFERENCES screen.  If this check box contains an  "X", Intelligent Postal Code is turned on; otherwise, Intelligent Postal Code is turned off.

7. Notice that if you enter a country of United States in the country field, it will automatically convert phone numbers to USA standards (111-111-1111).  If the country is not United States, it allows you to enter free-form phone numbers.

8. You can quickly do analysis on a particular field by using the EDIT / REPLACE feature.  From here, you can search a field on a file for a given string.  It will list all records that match the criteria.  You can also perform mass replacements using this method, but if you click CANCEL, it will not perform the replacements.  Use the CANCEL method to do quick analysis of fields without actually replacing the contents of the field.

9. When storing notes for each name using Windows Notepad (or your favorite editor), press the ENTER key after each line of text.  If this is done, this report will display the information in a cleaner format and will prevent word wrap.

10. If you would like to print a report for a different sized paper than 8.5 x 11, simply enter the page size in the paper size fields from the REPORTS / CHOOSE REPORT screen (CTRL + R).  For example, for  Day-Timer junior, you may enter 5 by 7.  This will automatically resize the fonts for you.  This is great for printing Day-Timer, Day-Runner, Franklin and other popular formats.

11. Use shortcuts to ease data entry.  Shortcuts can be entered by clicking EDIT / DROP DOWN LISTS, ETC and choosing the Shortcuts tab.   For example, you can enter a shortcut of "=Amex" and have it translate to "American Express".  Once this is set up, you can enter =Amex in a field and it will automatically be translated to American Express.   Pragmatic XL Com has 7 standard shortcuts that you can setup to insert the current date and/or time in various formats.  These can be chosen by clicking the drop down list box under "Translates to".   For example, you can enter a shortcut  named =D that translates to the current date in MM/DD/YY format.  Each time you enter =D from the main screen, the current date will be entered in MM/DD/YY format.  Shortcuts must be prefixed by an equal sign.

12. Use drop down lists to ease data entry of categories. Categories are used to categorize the names in your address book.  For example, we use a category of "Pragmatic XL Com Standard", "Pragmatic XL Com", "Perpetual Calendar" and " BMP Randomizer" to denote each of our product names.  To allow you to choose these categories from the main screen, click EDIT / DROP DOWN LISTS, ETC and choose the Categories tab.  Press New to enter a new category, or delete to delete one.

13. Customize Pragmatic XL Com by naming your own fields.  For example, you may want to track EMAIL address or BUSINESS ADDRESS 1, BUSINESS ADDRESS 2, and BUSINESS ADDRESS 3.   You can do this very easily by setting these up as user defined fields.  To do this, click EDIT / DROP DOWN LISTS, ETC and choose the User Defined Fields tab.  You name the fields by choosing the appropriate user defined field number from the drop down list and entering a name in the field labeled Field Name.  For example, you could click on the Sample file, User Defined Field 1 and enter a field name of Email.  You could then select User Defined field 2 from the drop down list and enter a field name of Bus Addr1.  Click OK and return to the main Pragmatic XL Com screen.  Notice that the fields have been renamed to meet your requirements.  They will also appear on reports with the name you used.  To take this a step further, you can also assign drop down lists to these fields.  For example, lets assume you wish to name User Defined field 5 as Payment Method.  You would access the EDIT / DROP DOWN LISTS, ETC screen again and click the User Defined Fields tab.  Click User Defined 5 and enter a field name of Pymt Method.  Let assume that you accept Visa, Mastercard and American Express.  Click New and enter Visa.  Click New again and enter American Express.  Click new again and enter Mastercard.  Click OK.  When you return to the main Pragmatic XL Com screen, tab to the field named Pymt Method and notice that a drop down list appears containing Visa, Mastercard and American Express!

14. Navigate more quickly through Pragmatic XL Com by using the Toolbar located at the top of the main Pragmatic XL Com screen.  You can use these to quickly create new files, open existing files, copy, paste, print  mailing labels and envelopes, print and clear quick labels, access a To-Do list, Filter names, access the reports screen and access help.  Place your cursor on top of a toolbar item and a tool tip will appear.

15.  Quickly print mailing labels and/or envelopes for selected people in your address book by using the Quick Labels functionality.  To use this, simply find the name in the Summary List and click last field on the Summary list (labeled QL).  When a check mark appears, it means that this name is set to print as a quick label.  Set all the names you wish to print and press CTRL+M to print mailing labels or CTRL+E to print envelopes.  Once completed, click the Clear Quick Label icon on the toolbar to clear the quick labels.

16.  Access frequently used items by pressing the right mouse button when on the main Pragmatic XL Com screen.  The right mouse button is also useful from the To-Do list screen.

17. Backup your database daily as to prevent  accidental loss of data.  The best way to do this is to enter a copy command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file which will copy the entire contents of your Pragmatic XL Com directory to a backup directory.    For example, prior to doing this go to DOS and create a backup directory:

 	MKDIR C:\XLCBKUP

Then edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT file (from DOS enter EDIT C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT).  Enter the following command as the first line of your file:

COPY C:\XLCOM\*.* C:\XLCBKUP

This will copy files to your backup directory each time you log onto your PC.

18. Quickly filter the names in your address book by accessing a filter you have previously saved.  To do this from the main Pragmatic XL Com screen, simply choose a filter from the drop down list labeled Apply this filter in the Summary List.  To view all records, click VIEW / ALL.

19. Quickly copy and paste an address to your favorite editor by bringing up the person in the Summary list and clicking EDIT / COPY ALL INFORMATION.  Then go to your favorite editor and press PASTE (CTRL+V).  Notice that the name and address is copied.

20. Rearrange the Summary List by clicking the title of a column in the grid and moving it to another location.  For example, click the title of the Summary List labeled Home.  Hold the cursor down and drag the Home field to the left of Name.  It automatically moves the information in the Summary List grid.

21. Sort the Summary list by a different criteria than Last Name.  To do this, click SORT and choose a field to sort by.  Notice that the Summary List is resorted.  This can be useful for doing quick analysis.

22. Find the day of the week in which you were born.  Click TOOLS / CALENDAR.   Located under the calendar is a field labeled Go To.  Enter your birth date here and press enter.  Notice that the calendar changes to that month and highlights your birth date.

23. Get organized by using the To Do list.  Click TOOLS / TO DO LIST.  You may also print the To Do list.

24. Change the default names of the phone numbers.  For example, change the phone number names from Home, Business, Beeper, and Car to Home, Office 1, Office 2, Mobile by clicking FILE / OPEN.  Then click the file in which you wish to change and enter the phone names in the lower right portion of the screen.  You may also specify the default category to be used by entering that information here.

25.  Analyze your address book by using a spreadsheet or database product such as MS Excel or MS Access.  To do this, click FILE / EXPORT.  This will export your names in comma separated value.  Run your spreadsheet program and click File, Open.  When prompted for the name of the file, open it as a CSV (or comma separated file).  Notice that the name of each field will appear as the first record in the file.   If you filter the names prior to performing the FILE / EXPORT, only the filtered names will be exported.

26. Quickly access frequently used files by clicking FILE and locating the frequently used file at the bottom of the File menu.  Choose a file to open it.

27. If you would like horizontal grid lines to appear in the Summary List, edit the C:\WINDOWS\XLCOM.INI file and change the parameter Summary List Grid Lines=N to Summary List Grid Lines=Y.

28. If you would like to automatically capitalize all letters of your addresses, edit the C:\WINDOWS\XLCOM.INI file and change the parameter Capitalize Address?=N to Capitalize Address?=Y.

29. When large databases are used, it does not load all names in the Summary List.  In fact, it only loads the number of records for a particular letter of the alphabet in the Summary List.  For example, if there are people with last names beginning with A, it will only load those names in the Summary List if the database is large.  If you click on a new letter (like B), it will load all names that have a last name beginning with B.  This is done to drastically enhance response time.   A large database is 2,500 or more records.  You can change this default by editing the C:\WINDOWS\XLCOM.INI file and changing the following parameter from Number of records considered as Large Database= 2500 to Number of records considered as Large Database= 1000, if you would prefer this to be 1,000 names.  You can play with this value to help speed up access to your database.

30. Backup all records in a particular file to floppy disk.  From the main Pragmatic XL Com screen, click FILE / EXPORT.  Then enter a file name of A:EXPORT (or any meaningful name).  If you ever need to restore, simply click FILE / IMPORT, enter the file name thats on the floppy (A:EXPORT), enter the file name you wish to save it as in Pragmatic XL Com, click SELECT ALL (this chooses the fields in the exact same order as was exported), and click IMPORT NOW…

31. Pragmatic Software Canada generally releases a new major release of Pragmatic XL Com once a year, usually around December or January.  However, minor bug fixes and enhancements are made throughout the year.   To obtain the latest version at any time, download the latest version from our BBS ast 514-721-1317,,,#99,#99,#99,#99  (the commas and #99s are needed to recognize you as a modem).  If your version is earlier than version 2.0 (you can obtain your version number by clicking HELP / ABOUT), download XLCOM20.ZIP.  This will take about 45 to 60 minutes using a 14.4 modem.  If you already have version 4.0, you can download an abbreviated version named XL20EXE.ZIP that contains the latest executable, help file and Users Guide.  Once downloaded, unPostal the files and copy them to your Pragmatic XL Com directory (probably c:\XLCOM).  This download will take less than 10 minutes using a 14.4 modem.

32. When entering dates, always enter the preceding zero.  For example, April 1 should be entered 04/01/96, not 4/1/96.  Otherwise, it will not recognize it as a date.

33. Pragmatic XL Com can automatically enter the category and values into the 10 user defined fields upon entering a new record.  To use this, click File, Open.  Select the file you wish to apply this to and enter the following information in the Default Category Field:
LOOKUP,Category,UD1,UD2,UD3,UD4,UD5,UD6,UD7,UD8,UD9,UD10
For example, suppose you would like a category of HOME, a User Defined Field 2 value of 5 and a User Defined Field 5 value of the current date automatically entered upon adding a new record.  Set the default category as follows:
LOOKUP,Home, , 5, , , =d
Then each time you add a new record, Home will be automatically entered into the Category field, 5 in the User Defined 2 field and the current date in the User Defined 5 field.


Custom Report Tips
Custom Report Tips:

1. When naming a report, it may be wise to include the file name as part of the report name.  Since fields can be named differently for each file, this allows you to create custom reports for each file, or general reports that are not file specific.  For example, if you have a file named  "Friends and Family" that contains user defined fields of  "Anniversary" and  "Birth Date", you may want a report that lists every name, address, anniversary and birth date.  You may name the report  "Friends - Anniversary and Birth Dates".

2. You can create a custom report of all names that have been deleted but not purged by putting an X in the  "Deleted Names" field.  If no 'X' appears next to this, all actively filtered names will appear on the report.

3. If any of your user-defined fields contain information that you would like to see totaled on the report, click the  "Totals checkbox next to the name of the field you wish to have totaled.   The total amount, number of occurrences and average will be displayed at the end of the report.   This is great for User Defined fields that you are using to track amounts (such as sales, etc.).

4. Want subtotals on the report?  If you store numeric information in any of the user-defined fields, you can get report subtotals by clicking the "Subtotals" check box. If you would like a summary report, you can click "Print only the subtotals" and the detail will be hidden.    If the primary sort field is a date, you may also tell it to summarize by month, day or year.  You specify date fields for each user defined field via the EDIT / DROP DOWN LISTS, ETC screen (CTRL + L).

A great application of this is a report to list all your sales by year and month.  To do this, set up a user defined field as a date field.  Lets assume this is user defined field 1.  To make this a date field, click EDIT / DROP DOWN LISTS, ETC.  Then choose the User Defined Fields tab.  Choose the file and user defined field 1.  Name the field Order Date and click the checkbox labeled Date Field.   Then click on user defined field 2 and name it Order Amt.  Now tell Pragmatic XL Com what format you wish to store the dates in: Click EDIT / PREFERENCES and enter MM/DD/YY in default date format; click OK.

Now enter some valid dates and amounts for some of your names in your address book.  Then create a custom report to show you sales, subtotaled by year and month.  To do this, click REPORTS / CUSTOM REPORTS.  Click New Report and enter the name Sales Detail by Year and Month and click OK.  Then click the field labeled Order Date and the field labeled Order Amt.  Click the Totals checkbox next to Order Amt.   Then choose Sort by 1 of  Order Date, Sort by 2 of Name and Sort by 3 of Name.  Click the Subtotals checkbox.  Notice that the area labeled Primary Sort is a date field is automatically enabled.  Click OK.

If you run the report, it will show you each person that had orders, sorted and subtotaled by year and month.  If you wish to hide the detail and show just a summary, set up an identical report with the name Sales Summary by Year and Month, but this time click the checkbox labeled Print only the subtotals.


Filtering Tips
Filtering Tips:

1. When entering filter criteria, you can quickly determine how many records meet the selection criteria.  Notice that each time you click "OK", the total number of records that match the selected criteria appear at the bottom of the screen.

2. The filter logic uses SQL so any valid SQL statement can be used by editing the contents at the bottom of the screen (click Edit Line).  For example, you could set up a query that always brought back names that have a user defined date field equal to the current date.  In this example, let's assume that your User Defined 1 field is named "Order Date" and has been set as a date field via the EDIT / DROP DOWN LISTS, ETC screen.  It is stored in  mm/dd/yy format as defined on the EDIT / PREFERENCES screen.  You could choose the field User Defined 1, click a condition of Match Exactly = and enter a value of format$(now(),"mm/dd/yy").  Once you click OK, you must click Edit Line and remove the single quotations around the format string so that it does not take this as a literal.   Once edited, the line should look like this:

(( UserDefined1 = format$(now(),"mm/dd/yy") ))

This will cause the filter to display all names that had an order date of that the same as the date you run the filter.

3. To save the filter, enter a name in the filter name drop down list at the top of the screen.  Then you can quickly filter your records from the main Pragmatic XL Com screen by simply choosing the saved filter from the Apply this filter drop down list box.   If you would like Pragmatic XL Com to prompt you each time you enter a query for a query name, you can set this preference by clicking EDIT / PREFERENCES.  Click the checkbox labeled Prompt to save filter if not saved.

4. If you would like to enter multiple query criteria, use the AND / OR field.  For example, lets assume you would like to create a filter of everyone that has a last name of Miller and lives in Plano, TX.  To do this, click VIEW / FILTER.  Then click field name Last Name, Condition Exactly Matches =, enter a value of Miller, and click OK.  Then choose AND from the AND / OR drop down list (located directly under Field Name), click field name City, Condition Exactly Matches =, enter a value of Plano and click OK.   Last, choose AND from the AND / OR drop down list, click field name State, Condition Exactly Matches =, enter a value of TX, and click OK.  If you wish to save this filter for future use, enter a filter name in the drop down box labeled Filter: at the top of the screen.  Click Filter Now…

5. If you would like to filter based on the values stored in a particular field, click the field name, choos a condition of Choose from list = or Choose from list <>, and click Get Choice List Now…  This will query your database and show you a list of all distinct values stored in the field.  To select the value(s), simply click the checkbox to the left of the value for each value you wish to filter by.   The Choose from list = means to filter the record if the field values match any of the chosen values clicked.  The Choose from list <> means to filter the record if the field values DO NOT match any of the values clicked.


History of Pragmatic XL Com Changes

Below is a history of all changes made to Pragmatic XL Com.  It lists the date of the change, the revision number, and a description.

Modifications to Version 2.0:

10/15/96 - Version 2.0.06

1. Fixed Intelligent capitalization feature when eliminating spaces between numbers and characters.

9/11/96 - Version 2.0.05

1. Corrected record count when merging files.  Changed area code from 214 to 972.  Corrected colors on the toolbar.  Fixed Province field to allow up to 25 characters.   Allow the user to specify the colors of the application by pressing Edit, Preferences.

8/27/96 - Version 2.0.04

1. Added logic to determine latest year for copyright.  Changed theme colors from blue to green.

8/16/96 - Version 2.0.03

1. Compressed and polished.

7/22/96 - Version 2.0.02

1. Corrected problem with network version.  It was automatically reverting to standalone version upon running the program.

7/10/96 - Version 2.0.01

1. Ignore error code 13.  Initial release to shareware distribution.

7/1/96 - Version 2.0.00b

1. Added ability to combine multiple fields (up to 3) on one line of a label or envelope line.

6/29/96 - Version 2.0.00a

1. Changed README.TXT, PRODUCTS.TXT, and REGISTER.TXT to reference the correct currency for each product.
2.  Added CMDIALOG.VBX to our installation routine.
3.  Fixed Windows 3.1 problem with it not creating a program group item on installation.
4.  Corrected product amount on reminder screen.

6/9/96 - Version 2.0.00

1. Changed splash screen and About box to a more contemporary look (displays a city with blue/black background).
2. Changed state to province, zip code to postal code, name of product to Pragmatic XL Com, pricing information, address and phone numbers to Pragmatic Software Canada.
3. Allow auto lookup on postal code based on the first 6 characters of the postal code (including the embedded space).
4. Change Canadian postal code if entered as H2B3A8 to H2B 3A8 (put in missing space).
5. Made Canada the default country.  Made dd/mm/yy the default date format.
6. Added a new field to File, Open screen.  If you are an administrator, it allows you to generate userid and passwords for any file.  Added a checkbox to this screen to allow you to determine whether userid and passwords should be automatically generated.
7. Added logic to automatically store the userid and password upon entering a new record or copying an existing record.  Also added logic for when a person is deleted from the database.  When this happens and you purge the deletes, it will reuse the deleted license for another person.
8. Added ability to mark all postal codes for deletion.  Once marked, they can all be deleted.  This is done to quickly delete all postal codes.
9. Changed reminder screen, registration screen, products screen for Pragmatic Software Canada.
10. Tailored SAMPLE files to Canada.

Still left to do:
1. Add ability to print registration labels at the same time as printing address labels.  This will be done by printing labels in the normal fashion, but it will give you an additional checkbox labeled Registration Labels.  If checked, it will print the persons address label and registration label.
2. Create a report that analyzes the licenses.  It will show you how many licenses you have, have many youve used and any missing licenses (if applicable).
3. Create a setup program that will allow you to install Pragmatic XL Com.
4. Update the help text.
5. Add a feature to allow you to import a file directly into an existing file.  This will allow you to send me an export file daily that contains all the records of people you sold for the day.  I can use the feature to quickly import those names into my database.   Likewise, you can use it for the same thing.