Each copy of a form letter conveys the same information, while acknowledging each person individually. The first step in pre-paring a form letter is to create a document file. Prepare a file for the form letter that contains the information as it will appear for all the letters. As you create this master letter, identify the parts that will vary for each copy-such as names and addresses-by substituting each of these variable pieces of information with an ambiguous "keyword" (a special name).
Keywords replace text that will change from one letter to the next when the master form-letter file later prints. MicroPro calls this process "Merge-Printing," which simply means that you use the special print commands embedded in MailMerge instead of the print commands in WordStar.
A keyword can be up to 40 characters long. You can use the same keyword more than once in a document, as long as it represents the same piece of information each time. To identify a keyword in your text, place an ampersand (&) on both sides of the keyword. When the file containing your form letter prints, the variable information you want inserted at that point replaces the ampersand-enclosed keyword.
KEYWORD EXAMPLE: Now is the time for all &TYPE&
people to come to the aid of their party.
&TYPE& varies with each print-ing of the document.
You can hold information to be inserted for keywords in a sepa-rate "data file" or enter it from the keyboard as you print out a document. We will show you how information is supplied for keywords, but first you should prepare a master form-letter file.
Create a file named FORMLET; you should know how to do this by now. Type the form letter, including keywords illustrated in the following example, and don't forget to include the .PA DOT command at the end:
&NAME&
&COMPANY&
&STREET&
&CITYSTATE& &ZIPCODE&
DEAR &NAME&:
We at Our Company are extremely happy to allow you the honor of being one of the first to know about our new product. Only our most endeared customers are privileged enough to partake of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Since &COMPANY& has been such a loyal customer and because our solid business line is so com-petitive, we can afford to make you this offer. Thanks to you, our ability to provide prompt and low-cost service is possible.
Sincerely yours, Bill Owner Title
.PA
This sample illustrates how to prepare a master copy of a form letter. An unlimited number of letters with a personal touch can derive from this one master form.
Once the master copy of the form letter exists, you must aug-ment it with certain strategically placed DOT commands. The CONDITIONAL PAGE DOTcommand, .PA, at the bottom of the form letter is one such command. You may have been surprised when you entered this command because the PAGE BREAK DISPLAY (dotted line) automatically appeared on the next line. The appearance of this dotted page-break line is nor-mal since the .PA command signifies the end of a page. The .PA command makes sure that a new page starts and only one copy of the form letter per sheet of paper prints; meaning the printer advances to the top of the next piece of paper before printing the next form letter.
Other necessary DOT commands tell the computer where
variables-such as names and addresses-will come from when the form-letter file is processed for printing. To work correctly, these DOT commands must be at the beginning of the file. Place the cursor at the beginning of the form-letter file and insert four blank lines by issuing 1\
1m
four times. If necessary, use 1\I.Il
to move the cursor to the top of the file, then insert the follow-ing DOT commands, pressfollow-ing
I
RETURNI
after each one:.. FORMLET Comment identifies file:
.OP
. OF OATAFYL
. RV NAME, COMPANY, STREET, CITYSTATE, ZIPCOOE
The top four lines in your file should look exactly as shown above. The COMMENT DOT command consists of two periods and indicates an unprinted comment. This comment serves as a reminder, naming the file you are working on. The DOTcom-mand .OP turns off the page numbering so a number will not print at the bottom of your letter. For a document longer than one page, you can number each page by using the NUMBER PAGES DOT command, .PN.
The DATA FILE DOT command, .DF, specifies the name of the data file where information to be inserted for the keywords is stored. Our sample form letter includes five keywords repre-senting the name, company, street, city and state, and zip code.
Each time the master form-letter file is processed for printing, MailMerge extracts five values from a data file (explained later) and inserts them in place of the keywords.
The READ VARIABLE DOT command, .RV, lists keywords used in the file, in the same order in which they appear in the text.
The order in which the keywords are listed in the .RV command must also correspond to the order that information is listed in the data file. All of this probably sounds confusing if you have never done any programming, but things will begin to make sense as you work your way through the examples.
Now that you have prepared the form letter, you need to create a data file so that you have something to merge-print. For now, save your document file, FORMLET, using the
"1KI
[[Jcommand.