GEMvelope! the envelope printer Ver. 2.84 Manual This document and all programs are: Copyright ½1990,1992 Roger Richards This program was created to fill a long time need - to print envelopes on a laser printer. Laser (and most other printers) will not feed an envelope in the standard horizontal orientation for printing across it. GEMvelope! allows you to print an envelope, fed the long way, on almost any printer. This includes virtually all laser printers and most dot matrix printers. GEMvelope uses GDOS because it has font rotation built in and there are nice fonts available, especially now that Atari's FSM GDOS is becoming available. GEMvelope features: - Import allows extracting an address from a letter in almost any word processor format (or from the GEM/Atari clipboard). - Load-able and save-able addresses and configuration. - POSTNET bar code printing. (This will save you 2 cents per letter in the near future according to the US Post Office!) - Adjustable positioning for different size envelopes. - Mail merge allows printing many envelopes, each with a different address imported from any database or text file you create. - Database browse feature for pasting one address from any database. - Fully compatible with FSM and bitmapped GDOS fonts. - A desk accessory version. Installation and Setup: ----------------------- You must have some form of GDOS (Atari GDOS 1.1, G+PLUS, FSM-GDOS, or the included FONTGDOS 2.0) a printer driver, and fonts for your printer. If GDOS, a printer driver, and fonts are already installed on your system, no further setup in required to use GEMvelope. Other GDOS programs such as Easy Draw, Timeworks Desktop Publisher, WordUp, and Wordflair come with the drivers and fonts needed for most printers. If your computer is set up to use any of these programs, no further setup is needed for GEMvelope. If GDOS is not installed, GEMvelope now comes with FONTGDOS drivers and fonts to setup GDOS on your system. See the file GDOS.TXT in the FONTGDOS folder for instructions on setting up the included FONTGDOS. At the minimum, your GDOS ASSIGN.SYS file should include: PATH = C:\GDOS.SYS\ ;or C:\GEMSYS\ or other directory with fonts & drivers 21 SLM804.SYS ;or some other printer driver like FX80.SYS ATSS12LS.FNT ;or some other printer font like ATSS12EP.FNT If you are using the PostScript driver from Timeworks DTP, you do not need any font files. The program version of GEMvelope is called GEMVELOP.PRG and requires GEMVELOP.RSC to reside in the same directory. For your convenience (and fun), NeoDesk users can use a custom icon found in GEMVELOP.NIC to represent GEMvelope. I find it handy to put the icon for GEMvelope on the NeoDesk desktop so that it is always a mouse click away. The accessory version of GEMvelope is called GEMVELOP.ACC and does not require the GEMVELOP.RSC file. Copy it to the root (top) directory of your boot up drive to install it. The GEMvelope accessory also runs fine from within MultiDesk (from CodeHead) as a resident or MDX accessory. Running GEMvelope as a MultiDesk MDX is very convenient and takes very little memory. Using the accessory within an application should be tested before routine use. GEMvelope allocates a big chunk of memory when you select it from the desk menu and some applications do not allow this. Each time GEMvelope is opened as an accessory it loads the GDOS printer driver and fonts for that driver, when you exit GEMvelope the memory used is returned back to the system. The accessory should work within any program which leaves enough free memory when it runs. Using GEMvelope!: ----------------- All of the controls for GEMvelope are located in the dialog box you see when you run the program. The horizontal position of both the return and the main address is adjustable in half inch increments. In addition, the main address is also adjustable vertically. There are a set of adjustment buttons with arrows in them and reference lines that show what they adjust. Note that the main address horizontal position is measured in relation to the return address position. This is so that the return address horizontal position may be adjusted to the length of an envelope and the main address is just an offset from the return address. The default position for the return address is 8.5 inches from the right side of the envelope and 0.25 inch from the top of the envelope. This top position may not be changed (if you would like to have it adjustable, let me know!) The main address default is 3 inches offset from the return address and 2 inches from the top of the envelope. Printing the return address is optional. Clicking on the small square box to the left of "Print return address" will toggle it on or off. Two additional settings are "Envelope Size" and "Offset". Envelope Size is only critical if the POSTNET bar code is printed. Offset allows the "top" of the envelope to be shifted. For the SLM804, Offset should be set to 0 since you feed an envelope all the way to the left of the manual feed slot. For the SLM605, and some other laser printers that center a manually fed envelope, the Offset should be set to compensate for how your printer feeds the envelope. To make printing on dot matrix printers easier, an option called "Flip printout" is available that will print the return address starting at the left of an envelope. This allows for easier positioning and for enough of the envelope to remain in the printer carriage to finish printing the envelope. If Flip printout is selected, the "Offset" is set to 4.25 inches automatically which is the typical height of an envelope. This is because the Offset is always measured from the top of the envelope which is now on the right side. This may be adjusted to work best with your printer and the size of the envelope you are printing. The name of the currently selected font is shown in a box underneath the address. To change to another font, click on this box an a font selector dialog is displayed showing all of the fonts available on your system. The font selector supports up to 128 fonts. To the right of the font box is the font size. Three choices are available: 10, 12, and 14 point. The "Info" button displays various information about GDOS, fonts, and page size. This version of GEMvelope includes optional POSTNET bar code printing. Selecting the "Print POSTNET" option box causes the current address to be scanned for nine numbers starting at the end of the address. The first nine numbers (ZIP+4) found will be placed in a box to the right of "Print POSTNET". If nine digits are found, they are placed in the POSTNET box. If not, the digits that are found are displayed in the box but they are "greyed" out. A POSTNET code will not be printed if the numbers in this box are greyed out. The address may be re-scanned for a valid nine digit ZIP at any time by clicking on this box. It is important that the bar code be placed in the right position. The bottom of the barcode should be between 3/16 and 5/16 inch above the bottom if the envelope. GEMvelope uses the "Envelope Size" to locate the barcode but be aware that the "Offset" also affects the position. If you would like further information on envelope printing standards, the US Post Office has a free publication called "A Guide To Business Mail Preparation." The "Load" and "Save" buttons will load or save the current addresses; including the positions, font, and the optional selections, to a disk file. These files will automatically have the .GLP extension added to them. The nine digit number determined by a POSTNET scan is not stored in a GEMvelope file, but each time a GEMvelope file is loaded, a POSTNET scan is done. If you save a file with the name "DEFAULT.GLP" GEMvelope (program version) will automatically load this file when you run the program. (The accessory looks for DEFAULT.GLP in the root of the boot drive.) When ready to print, you may feed an envelope through an SLM804 laser printer like this: ________________________________________________ | __________________ | | | | | ___ | | | | | | | | | | | | | |___| | | | | | | | |_| ^ |___________________________ | | | | | | Feed the envelope in the long way, | | | right side of the envelope first. | | | | | | \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ If you have an SLM804, pull the paper bin drawer out until the red light goes on (this tells the SLM804 GDOS driver to use the manual feed slot) and then click on "Print". When the green light goes on, slide the envelope into the printer holding it against the left edge of the slot. The SLM804 will grab it and do the rest! If you are using a SLM605, you will need to set the "Offset" adjustment so that the manual feed guide which centers the envelope is compensated for. If you are using a DeskJet, set the "Offset" adjustment to 0.375. Do not have "Flip page" selected. Line up the bottom of the envelope, with the center edge of the second feed roller from the right, as your facing the DeskJet. If you are using a dot matrix printer, select the "Flip page" option, feed the envelope the long ways with the bottom of the envelope 4 1/4 inches from the left end of the carriage. After you click on the Print button (and before your printer actually starts printing) you may abort printing by pressing and holding the "shift" or "alternate" key. Extracting and Merging Addresses: --------------------------------- GEMvelope allows several options for taking an address from the files generated by other programs and importing them to the address of an envelope. The "Extract" button allows importing a single address extracted from any file used by a word processor. The "Paste" button allows pasting from the Atari/GEM clipboard. The "Merge" button allows you to print any number of envelopes with the main address merged from a variety of database formats. If your word processor supports the Atari GEM clipboard and if an application has written a SCRAP.TXT file, then clicking on the Paste button will cause it to be pasted to the main address. If the size of the pasted text is larger than the number of lines available for the address, a box then pops up with two options: "Advance" and "OK". Clicking on Advance will move each line of the main address up once and the next line of the scrap file will be placed at the bottom. This allows you to scroll through the scrap file to position the main address if necessary. Click on "OK" when finished. The Extract feature attempts to make up for the lack of a well supported clipboard feature in the ST software market. The Extract button will allow you to open a file created by almost any word processor and allow you to find and extract an address which may be in it. When Extract is selected a file selector will appear. Select any word processing file, like a letter, which contains an address. The first six lines of the file will be placed in the main address and a box pops up with two options: "Advance" and "OK". Clicking on Advance will move each line of the main address up once and the next line of the file will be placed at the bottom. This allows you to scroll through the file until an imbedded address is located and positioned properly in the main address. Since most letters contain the address of the receiver near the beginning, it should be quickly found. Database address merge: ----------------------- GEMvelope supports the most popular formats of data that may be exported from a database. This Standard delimited format (or SDF) is supported in some form by almost every database: Tracker ST (from Step Ahead Software), Cardfile (from GT software), dBASE, dbMAN, DBMaster One, Base Two, SuperBase, etc. GEMvelope comes with configuration files for both Tracker ST and Cardfile. They are named TRACKER.GLP and CARDFILE.GLP. Just load these files and you are ready to Merge from the Tracker ST export file or the Cardfile .DAT file. You may easily set up GEMvelope to work with a wide variety of database files or you may just create one manually, as it is a simple ASCII file. GEMvelope supports both comma and TAB delimited files. Here is an example of a comma delimited file: "Name","Company","Address","City","State","ZIP","Country" "first line","second line","third line","forth line","fifth line" "Roger Richards","754 N. Bolton Ave.","Indianapolis","IN","46219-5902" In the above case, each "quoted" field will be placed on successive lines of the main address. Each record is on a separate line and will be considered a separate address. GEMvelope will also allow you to merge with an SDF file that does not have quotes delimiting the fields: Name,Company,Address,City,State,ZIP Roger Richards,754 N. Bolton Ave.,Indianapolis,IN,46219-5902 Note that you will not be able to have a comma ',' embedded in any field in this type of file, otherwise it would signify the next line of the address. GEMvelope also supports TAB delimited files where the commas in the above example are replaced by tabs. Most databases will have no problem producing either of these file formats; but if your database does not seem to, SDF files may be created by using the report feature and print to disk options. When creating a report, the following options are usually needed: no margins, a page width a minimum of the total width of the fields, no top or header spaces, bottom or footer spaces, a paper height of one line, and no form feeds. If you are using the report feature of a database to create the SDF file, you are free to add the quote delimiter to selected fields as long as they are added in pairs. As you can see, it is also easy to create you own SDF file in a word processor or text editor. Just save the file in ASCII format. There is a sample merge file called MERGE.DAT on the disk. Merge Setup: ------------ You may configure GEMvelope to merge a particular type of database file with the "Setup..." button. This brings up a dialog for setting up the format of the database merge file and also assigns where fields are printed on what address lines. It works like this: Interfield string: + + Field: 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | v v v v v Line 1: 1_ _ 2_ _ 3_ Line 2: 5_ __ __ __ __ Line 3: 6_ __ __ __ __ Line 4: 7_ , 8_ 9_ Line 5: 0_ __ __ __ __ Line 6: 0_ __ __ __ __ The Field editable texts (three per line) assign a particular field in the database to a line (only numbers are allowed). The Interfield strings allow for up to two specified characters in between each field on the same line. In the above example (for a Cardfile .DAT file): the first three fields are "first name", "middle initial", and "last name". Therefore the first field on line 1 has a number 1, the first interfield string has one space, the next field has a 2 (assigning the "middle initial" field), followed by another space, then a number 3 which assigns the "last name" field. The Cardfile database field 4 is data not used in a mailing address so is not used, GEMvelope will skip any fields not assigned. Line 2 has only field 5 assigned which is the "company name" field in Cardfile. Note that if a field is blank it is skipped and not printed. Line 3 contains the "address" field and line 4 contains the "city", "state" and "ZIP" fields with appropriate interfield strings. Another note: the interfield string will not print if the field following it is empty in a particular database record. For instance in the above example, if the "middle initial" field is blank, then the extra space added in an interfield string will not be printed. This merge setup information is saved with every .GLP file. Doing a Database Merge: ----------------------- When you chose the Merge SDF function and select a file, you are asked if you want to print envelopes "One by One", "Continuous", or "Browse". The Browse option will read in the merge file and display a scrolling selector to allow browsing the entire merge file. This feature is very handy for checking to see if you are properly set up to read your database file. Only the first 32 characters of each record is displayed. You may use the scroll bar to search for a specific record which is usually in alphabetical order. Clicking on a particular record will copy that record to the address. Click on the close button in the upper left corner to abort the browse. When opening a database file with Browse, GEMvelope must index the file which may take a bit of time- more the longer the file is- but this reading and indexing of the file may be stopped by pressing and holding the Shift or Alternate keys. Once a database file is opened for browsing, you may open it again and GEMvelope will keep the index of the file just browsed so multiple opening of the same file is very fast. The accessory version of GEMvelope is much slower at indexing a database due to memory limitations. The Merge "One by One" option allows for viewing each merged address before deciding to print. In this mode, the Merge button is used to merge the next address from the SDF file. You must manually click on the Print button to print this envelope. In this mode the Print button is made default so a simple return will print and the Merge button is bolded and will remain so until the last address in the file is merged. To abort this merge mode, click on the Exit button--you will not exit the program. The Merge "Continuous" option will merge and print one address after another automatically. Hold down the "Shift" or "Alternate" keys to abort the printing. If POSTNET printing is enabled, each address merged will be scanned for a nine digit ZIP and, if found, the POSTNET will be printed. Conclusion & Thanks ------------------- Thank you for your purchase of GEMvelope! I believe it can save a lot of time and make some pretty envelopes to boot. If you have not purchased this program, please do. The ST market is small; I waited a long time for a program like this (the PC & Mac market has had several for years), but no one seemed to think there was a big enough market. Please support developers of ST software; the investment in our ST hardware is worth nothing with out the work of dedicated ST developers. GEMvelope is allowed to be used on only one computer at a time. If you are a business, please purchase a copy for each user and computer. To register send $30. to: Roger Richards Synergy Resources 754 N. Bolton Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46219 The latest version of GEMvelope will be mailed immediately. You will be notified of any updates with new features or bug fixes. If you need support, it is best to write or use GEnie EMail. My GEnie EMail address is: R.RICHARDS2 IF if you need immediate help, call me at (317) 356-6946 evenings 5:30 - 11 PM Mon. - Thur. Eastern Standard Time or Central Daylight Time. Please let me know what you would like to see added to GEMvelope in the future. Thank you for your support! ................................clip....................................... GEMvelope order form Send me GEMvelope ($30 + $2 shipping US):_____ Name:_____________________________________________________________ Addr:_____________________________________________________________ City:________________________________ St:____________ ZIP:___________ Phone:_____________________________ Email address (GEnie preferred or CIS):___________________________ Would you order to be shipped by: U.S.Mail:______ or GEnie Email:______ Computer:______________________________________ Memory:____________ Printer:_______________________________________ Do you currently have GDOS and what type:___________________________ Suggestions:_________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________