May June 1980 - Commodore Computers

MAY/JUNE. I 1980 198O ISSUE .d. &. COMPUTE. 11
An Introduction to Small Business
Software for the PET*. ll. H.
Can DR. DALEY's offer a better
Mailing List Maintenance System?
You' ve seen them all ! Every softw are sup·
You've seen them all! Every software sup
plier offers a mailing list system off some
sort orr another. Each of them has some ad·
vantages and some disadvantages over the
others.
So when DR. . DALEY's decided 10 to offer
a mailing list we felt that it had to offer
some other advantages over all all of the
others. lhers. We have ooffered—and red-and sold
some-mailing some—mailing listt systems before, but
these offer feww things that makes them
unique.
unique.
SERIOUS BUSINESS
When you wish to purchase a software
system forr any business purpose youu need
to give it serious and thorough considera·
tion. What do you wish to accomplish with
the software? What arc are your needs? How
can a computerr assist you in filling these
needs?
We have asked these questions
numerous us times to 10 people people who do mailings
with lists in the size range off 500 to 15,000
names. The result was unanimous: every·
one has different information on needs. This,
off course, means that everyone who buys a
mailing list system, , or any otherr business
software, must find a program that comes
closest to his needs. This is a time consum·
ing, expensive task. We've talked with
businessmen who have become frustrated
with this process and are ready to throw in
the towel. Another option n is to hire a pro·
grammer cr to write the e software for r you u or to
write writc your own. ThisT can cost more than the
cost of the computer.
The last opiiono ptio n is to find prepackaged
software which each individual ividual user can
easily y configure to his own needs. This
would d allow each business to customize its
s
own computer maintained ned mailing g list files
to, , as closely as is possible, parallel llellhe the cur·
rentr e n~ mailing list operation. o Until now, this
optiono ptIo n has been virtually y impossible to
fulfill, ll , from any software publisher.
IMPLEMENTATION
OurO computerized mailing list system is
designed to be easy for r you, the user, to be
able to easily configure your files to contain
information in much the same way as you
currently are doing. dOing. This means less of the
pain and anguish that frequently accompanies
computerization.
io During the programming the author was
in frequent contact with potential ti end
users. The main thought o during the
development phase p was to make the opera·
tion easy to understand, , yet powerful
enough to handle the job. Give the user as
many options as is feasible, with the flex.
ibility y to make the greatest possible use of
the file information. Finally, y. be sure that
the capaci ty o f the sys tem is sufficient to
the capacity of the system is sufficient to
allow most aany business to make use off it.
The final version will allow records of
1177 USABLE E characters in length with a
maximum of 15 fieldss within each record. It
also allows reasonably large capacityy with
multiple diskette e (maximum off 100 dis·
keltes kettes onn a 32K PET or CBM) files and up
to 1340 records per diskette.
to 1340 records per diskette.
WHAT ABOUT SORTING?
We hear this question most frequently
We hear this question most frequently
fromm you. . This is because sorting is the
operation o n that divides the MAl MAILING LIST
system from anyy mailing list system. Why
sorting? Well it is the way that the user can
do such things as selective mailings 10 to
groups with common characteristics. This
could include regional mailings, mailings to
customers of a particular product, mailings
to purchasers orr to prospective cuslomers,
customers,
etc., etc. Or you might wish to make aany
possible combination of these categories.
Try to do this on most ordinary mailing
list programs. p You simply can'tt do it with
most of the offerings on the market today.
This sorting is done by a "wild card"
type of sort. This means that you can
specify the contents off any portion n off a
field for a match and the computer will take
any match for r the rest ofo f the field. This type
of sort is best illustrated with the following
examples:
A sort key can n be: **R**1 uR"1
Matches with FORT#1
RTHI
and T4R321
and %/R@3l% / R@31
Our system allowsa this type ofo f sorting using
up to three fields within in each record. Thus
you should be able to retrieve rieve almost any
conceivable subset of the files.
.
File organizationo o n is done using g two o of the
fields as sort son keys. This again is user select·
able. You u could, for example, specify that Iha t
you wish the file to 10 be in ZIPZ CODE se·
quence or in alphabetical sequence anda all
records within n the file will be sequenced
with h ihat that field. . There is also a second sort
field which is used to sequence the file
where the first field is the same.
where the first field is the same.
WHAT ABOUT LABELS?
We hear r this oneo almost as often as the
Charge C to
your
MC/VISA
M C / S A
DR. DALEY's Software Soflware
425 Grove Gro\'e Ave., Berrien Springs, MI 49103
Phone (616)471-5514
471·5514
Sun.-Thurs. noon n to 9 p.m., Eastern Time
sorting. We ll , here this is up to you. Yo u
sorting. Well, here this is up to you. You
can, at the lime time you print labels, choose the
la layout of the labels, you can also choose the
number ooff labels per li line. If you wish to
have a fo four line address and printed fo four
records wide you can do it.
WHAT ABOUT EDITING?
Edi tin g is accomplished at several points
Editing is accomplished at several points
in the program. These are at the time of en·
try, before saving the records to the file and
from the disk fi file. You can easilyy modify
any record at any of these points.
This docs does not really cover all ooff the
operations o oonn the fi files. Space simply does
not allow a more completc complete description off
the user oriented approach off the program.
We asked the question: n: Can we offer a
better mailing list system? You bet bel we can! !
It's here now.
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS EMENTS
At Al present this requires a Commodore
PET orr CCBM computer with a dual disk
drive and a printer. It is sct set up to work with
the Commodore printer or with most any
other printer. Walch Watch for these programs to
be introduced for r use with other types off
popular pular microcomputers. The APPLE II
version will be available about June 1,1980.
1980.
Watch for it!
ORDERING
At the present time many Commodore
dealers do not carry our software. Thus you
will most likely need to either persuade
them to ordero for r you or calling us directly
at (616) 471-5514 1·55 14 anytime between n noon
and 9 p.m. Eastern time Sunday through
Thursday. For only o y $99.95 plus'four ur per­
cent tax in the state of o f Michigan, you get
this powerful, , field tested, fully y docud ocu·
mented Illent ed program p packaged in a convenient
three-ringed
three·ringed binder.
INVENTORY
We must add this note. There is too little
space to 10 allow a us to describe the INVEN·
TORY system adequately ualely here. It offers the
same flexibility li as does the MAILING LIST
described above, but we can't , tell you much
more. Write or call for details. It also is
priced at al $99.95.
*Watch ·Walch for r it on the APPLE II.