ENVELOGO COPYRIGHT 1991 JOHN PEDERSEN ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ENVELOGO (Rev. 1.1) =================== John Pedersen CompuServe 76547,357 RR #2, Orangeville, Ontario Canada L9W 2Y9 ========================================================================== NOTE !!! ENVELOGO is a descendant of a program called Laser 'Loper. It has a number of enhancements and uses the Windows Help engine. At the present time, I am not asking for payment for ENVELOGO. Instead, I need feedback on: 1. ANY problems. 2. Installation on your system: easy/hard 3. Your system: printer, Word Processor, etc. 4. Your understanding how it works: easy/hard 5. Degree of usefulness to you: very/not very 6. Any other suggestions? If you get in touch with me, and give me info on ANY or ALL of the 6 questions above, it will be much appreciated, AND I will be able to update you on any bugs that turn up, and enhancements added, or new products that are developed. Send message to John Pedersen, CompuServe 76547,357. ========================================================================== ENVELOGO DOCUMENTATION ====================== Table of Contents ----------------- 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Installing ENVELOGO 2.1 Packing List (in the ZIP file) 2.2 Installation 3.0 Getting Started 3.1 Notes about ENVELOGO 3.2 Starting up ENVELOGO 4.0 The Template(s) 4.1 Overview 4.2 Designing an Envelope 4.3 Using the Windows Control Panel 4.4 Printing to a file 5.0 Using a Word Processor Macro 5.1 Purpose of the macro 5.2 The WinWord Macro ========================================================================= 1.0 Introduction: ------------- With much loading and clicking, Pagemaker (or equivalent) teamed with your Laser printer, can produce an excellent addressed envelope with a fancy-logo return address. But when you just need to kick out an envelope and put a stamp on it, this envelope printer starts printing in seconds. Using template files, it lets you select any of your fancy-artwork/logo envelope types (personal, business, spouse...), and it can paste in the send-to address from the Windows clipboard, or from your word processor. It runs under Windows 3, and needs VBRUN100.DLL. It inhales the envelope within a few seconds after you click the "PRINT" button. It takes care of switching the printer into manual mode (so it waits for you if your envelope is not yet inserted), and landscape, so you can just shove in an envelope, print it up, and go right back to writing your next letter. The program will automatically convert itself to an icon at the bottom of the screen when printing is finished, or exit (terminate itself), or sit there waiting to do another envelope; you choose the mode. The program relies on having a template file on disk that it can quickly dump out to the printer, only inserting the desired address. The user can select from a number of templates, so there can be specific envelopes for yourself personally, and for your dog-washing business, your spouse, and so on. A test template called DEMOPRNT.BIN (intended for the LaserJet Series II printer) is included with this program. The address (destination) to be spliced onto the envelope template can be automatically set up by your word processing program when you typed the letter, or transferred via the clipboard from, for instance, the "Windows Cardfile" program, or, heaven forbid, the address lines can even be typed in by hand. ========================================================================== 2.0 Installing ENVELOGO ------------------- 2.1 Packing List (Files contained in the ZIP file) 1. ENVLGO.EXE Executable file (needs VBRUN100.DLL in Windows directory). 2. ENVLGO.HLP Windows-style help file. 3. ENVDEMO.BIN Example envelope template file for LaserJet II printer. 4. DEMOLETR.DOT WinWord Example Document Template File with fixed AUTONEW MACRO. 5. README.TXT Documentation 2.2 Installation Create a directory on your disk. Copy the zipped file to this directory. Use PKUNZIP to expand the zipped file into its basic file components. (Probably you will already have done this, if you are reading this file.) PKZIP/PKUNZIP is shareware by PKWARE, Inc. of Glendale, WI. If you use program manager: a) put up the program manager window, and select (click on) the group that you will want ENVELOGO to be in. b) Select "File" from the top menu bar, and select "New" from the submenu. c) A "New Program Item" dialog box will appear. Make sure that "Program Item" is selected, and press the "OK" button. d) A "Program Item Properties" dialog box will appear. Type "Envelogo" on the Description line, and enter the full path name of the ENVLGO.EXE file on the Command line. Then click the "OK" button. e) The ENVELOGO icon will now be in the group you selected. You may have to open (maximize) the group window and re-arrange your icons. Note: If you have been using a version of ENVELOGO earlier than Revision 1.1, you should delete the file ENV.INI in your Windows directory, and go through the setup procedure again after installing ENVELOGO. ======================================================================== 3.0 Getting Started --------------- 3.1 Notes about ENVELOGO a) The program expects the envelope template filenames to end with a .BIN extension. b) The program expects the macro output filename to end with a .TXT extension. c) The program places an ENV.INI file in your Windows directory. d) The printer is expected to be connected to, and is accessed by dumping a binary file directly to, LPT1, or LPT2. 3.2 Starting up ENVELOGO The first time you start up ENVELOGO (for instance, by double- clicking on its icon in Program Manager), it will fail to find its initialization file (ENV.INI) in the Windows directory, and it will ask if it should create one. You should reply YES. Then, the next order of business is to tell ENVELOGO where it can find at least one envelope template file. If you have a LaserJet II printer, or compatible, you can try the file ENVDEMO.BIN which was included in the ZIPPED file package. Otherwise, you must now create a template file for your printer, in the manner described in Section 4.0 The Template(s), below. You may then come back and follow the procedure below to print your first envelope. Printing your first envelope: Having started ENVELOGO, and being at the main window, select "FILE" from the menu bar, and "Change Setup" from the submenu. This gives the Files Setup window. Select "Envelope Type" from the menu bar, and "Add New Type" from the submenu. Now you will get a screen to allow you to enter a name for this envelope type, such as "Stupid Demo Envelope", and you will be able to select the drive, directory, and file name of the template file (eg. ENVDEMO.BIN). Return to the main window, and check that the correct Printer Port is selected. If you change your printer port and want ENVELOGO to remember this setting for future sessions, select "File" and "Save Changes" from the menu bar. You should be able to type in an address, and print your first envelope. ======================================================================== 4.0 The Template(s) --------------- 4.1 Overview This is the factor that makes this method very quick, because no manipulation of graphics is required--the entire template file is sitting there, ready to go. However, you DO have to get this file in place to begin with. Basically, before using ENVELOGO, it is necessary that you be able to print an envelope from some desktop publishing or word processing program. This will involve setting paper size, selecting landscape mode, placing graphics, etc., in accordance with the instructions for your desktop publishing program. When everything is satisfactory, and you are pleased with the appearance of your printed envelope, you are ready for the last step. You must print the envelope one more time, except that this time, instead of directing the output to the printer port, you must use the Windows Control Panel, and send the output to a file on disk. 4.2 Designing an envelope These instructions relate to Pagemaker, outputing to an HP LaserJet II, but it should be possible to handle other combinations in a similar manner. Even with the same combination of hardware and software, there are probably many ways to accomplish the same results, but the following worked well for me. 1. Compose an envelope on Pagemaker (importing a logo created with Corel, Designer, or whatever), and get it looking the way you want. On my page setup, I used a custom paper size of 9.5" x 4.125", with orientation set to "Wide". 2. On the envelope, put a destination address of 6 lines, each line being "aaa" (no quotes, just the three lowercase letters). I made sure that the font was one which was built into the printer (Courier 12). 3. Print it out on the LaserJet, to make sure it is exactly what you want. Remember, on the Printer Setup, put "Paper Source" to "Manual", and "Orientation" to "Landscape". 4. After you make sure that it prints out exactly the way you want, go back to the Control Panel in the Windows Program Manager, and change the printer connection from LPT1: to FILE:. (see next section) 4.3 Using the WINDOWS CONTROL PANEL (to set up for printing to a file) Select the Windows "Control Panel" (from Program Manager, if you are using it), then, from the screen that results, select (double-click) "Printers". Now a "Printers" window appears. The printer you have been using will already be selected as the active printer. Select the "Configure" button. A "Printers-Configure" dialog window appears. Take note of the selection in the "Ports" list box (most commonly LPT1:), so that you will be able to restore the setting after this exercise. Scroll down the "Ports" list box until you can select "FILE:". Select it and click the "OK" button. You will return to the "Printers" window, where you must click the "OK" button again. Now, when you print, you will be prompted to provide a file name, and output will go, not to your printer port, but to the file that you specify. 4.4 Printing (an envelope template) to a file To create an envelope template for ENVELOGO, make sure the printer is still set up for "Landscape" mode, and "Manual Feed". Then print the envelope once again. This time you will be prompted to supply a destination file name, and it will print (ie. send a binary file) to the filename that you will specify. Make sure the file name you specify ends with the extension ".BIN". When you first use ENVELOGO, you will have to tell the program the name of the file (using the Files Setup procedure), and that's it. Don't forget to restore your previous printer settings with the Windows Control Panel. ======================================================================== 5.0 Using a Word Processor Macro 5.1 Purpose of the macro To obtain the destination address to print on an envelope, ENVELOGO has the ability to import the contents of a designated simple text (ASCII) file (whose name must end in .TXT). ENVELOGO doesn't care how the text in the file got there; it just expects to find a few address lines and nothing else. This simple method of importing an address is provided to allow an uncomplicated interface, for those who wish to implement it, to a number of word processors, or other programs. 5.2 The WinWord Macro This section is about setting up a macro with WinWord, to write into a "macro output file". No doubt there are many ways, and many word-processing programs that can do the same thing. Although we refer to a WinWord Macro output file (ie a file created by a macro that is set up in Word for Windows), in fact this program will just print whatever address it finds in a certain file, and doesn't care how it got there. It is very handy to create a macro such that every time you write a letter, using a .DOT document template that puts the date and your logo on the letterhead, etc., that the address is automatically written into a certain file, replacing whatever was there previously. This will be the address you can choose to import into the Envelogo program. You don't need to print your envelope right away, or while your word processor is running. The address information will remain until you write another letter. The following will give you an idea on how this macro is set up in WinWord. You open your template file (.DOT extension, MS provides examples with WinWord), presumably in the TMPLATES directory. From the menu, select Macro/Edit, then select Template (not Global), and then select AutoNew from the choices presented. Assuming you use input boxes to get the address from the user, just add a few lines of Basic (WordBasic) to open a file for output, and print the address lines to the file. The file DEMOLETR.DOT, in the ZIPPED package, is an example WinWord Document Template. It is simply an altered copy of an example document template that is provided with WinWord. A few lines have been added in the AUTONEW macro to output the address lines to a text file. If you put this DEMOLETR.DOT file in your Winword /TMPLATES directory, you can try it, by selecting File/New in WinWord, and specifying this template. You can also take a look at the lines added to the macro, by selecting File/Open in WinWord, and selecting DEMOLETR.DOT as the file to edit. Then select Macro/ Edit, and look at the Document macro called AUTONEW. ========================================================================