AUTOMATIC HYPHENATION
16 LIST PROCESSING
The Sort/Select command (CODE-f7(COMMANDS) ••• S), the Merge command (CODE-f7(COMMANDS) ••• G) and the Merge to a Document command (CODE-f7(COMMANDS) ••• 0) perform list processing opera-tions. Sort/Select, Merge, and Merge to a Docu-ment are all options on the Commands menu.
One of the most common uses for list processing is the production of personalized form letters, where a form letter is merged with a mailing list.
However, you can use list processing to select, sort, or merge into a form document any type of information that can be formulated as a list of records.
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o
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Sort/Select
Merge
Merge to a Document
Sorts records alphabetically and/or numerically and/or selects specific records from a records file.
Merges one or more records files with a form document and prints the results. Files may be sorted or selected before they are merged.
Works the same as Merge except merged' text is written to a document, rather than printed.
Section 18, "Commands and Options" discusses how to use the command form for each of these commands.
DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR LIST PROCESSING
To print a personalized form letter using list processing, a file containing records of the names and addresses to be used must be created. If the records to be processed,: need to be selected from the file, the file must first be processed using the Sort/Select command, then merged with the form document using the Merge command.
The List Processing commands all require a records file. Merge and Merge to Document, in addition, require a form document, into which the records
RECORDS FILES
A records file is a text document containing a list· of records. Each record represents a group of related items, each of which appears as a
single field. The record format for each records file is defined by a template record (see below).
An example of a records file might be a mailing list within which each record is an address. For each record the fields of the record might be name, street address, city, state, and zip code.
Figure 16-1 shown in the subsection IIExample of a Records filell, below, shows the contents of a records file.
Records
Within the records file each record is delimited (separated) from any other record by a special character called a record start character. When the Word Processor is reading a records file during a sort, selection, or merge, the record start character tells i t that until i t encounters a new record start character, all the characters i t reads are part of one record.
Similarly, within each record, each field is delimi ted by a field start character. When the Word Processor iBreading a records file the field start character' tells i t that until i t encounters a new field start character or a new record start character, all the characters i t reads are part of one field.
~ ~ ~ any character you ~ for ~ record start or field start character, except ~ paragraph sYitibOl-,-page break, £!: ~ space. (Tabs, for in-stance, can be used as a field start character.) Wi thin one records file there can be only one character used as a record start character and one character used as a field start character, and the two characters must be different from each other.
A record can contain zero or more fields.
For example:
l/Record field l/Pield 2/Field 3 l/New Record field l/Field 2/Field 3
Template Record
The first record of any records file must be a template record that defines the record format for that file.
A template record begins with the record start character and the field start character you have chosen to use for this records file.
Each field of the template record contains the keyword that is to be used to represent the name for that field. This name is used to specify which fields of a record to sort by, select by, or to merge into a form document.
A records "file can contain any number of keywords.
(When the records file is merged with a form document, not all keywords that occur in the records file must be used. The form document can also contain keywords that are not found in the records file.)
The order in which the fields of the template record occur establishes the order in which the fields of each record in the records file appear.
An example of a template record:
!/FirstName/lnitial/LastName /Address
/City/State/Zip
There are certain restrictions for keyword names used in the template record. These restrictions do not apply to the information included in the actual record for the field described by the keyword.
o Keywords can characters.
be any "length up to 20 o Embedded blank spaces (inserted when you press the spacebar) cannot be included in the keyword. For example:
"FirstNamell not "First Namell
o Commas, line break symbols, paragraph symbols, forced page symbols, and forced column symbols cannot be placed within a keyword.
If you want a field to be a numeric value only, and you want to sort on that field numerically, precede the keyword name by a pound sign (#). For example:
!/NormalKeyword/#NumericKeyword Including Comments in a Records File
Any text between the record start character and the first field start character are treated by the Word Processor as a comment for that record. The comment text is ignored during Merge and Sort/Select.
An entire record is treated as a comment if i t contains no field start character. However, since this form of comment is not associated with any specific record, the Sort operation places all such comments at the top of the resultant records file.
Formatting a Records File
Special characters such as line break symbols, paragraph symbols, page break symbols, and column break symbols, are ignored unless they are embedded within the text of a field.
This means that when you are creating a records file you can enter the records text as you would any other text.
However, you must remember not to use these special characters within a ke~rd in a template record.
You can assign formatting to records if you want to. Whatever formatting is assigned to each record is carried over when the records file is merged with a form document. For example, a boldface record remains boldface when i t is added to a form document. If the keyword that appears in the form docume'nt also carries formatting, the text from the records file takes on that formatting in addition to the formatting i t already carries. Thus, a boldface record appears as boldface and underlined if the keyword is underlined in the form document.