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S.L.E.P.
(Standard Letter Editing and Printing)

S.L.E.P. - General outline

S.L.E.P. is a wordprocessing aid designed for people who are continually sending the same basic letter to clients, but with different dates and names on each. It allows you to create a master letter into which you insert the details of each individual on the mailing list, and then store the master letter tor future reference. S.L.E.P. saves time, money and effort.

INSTRUCTIONS

To use S.L.E.P., first turn on the P250 and press the mode key. The words "insert item" should now appear on the screen and you must type "SLEP" and press the EXEcute key. The word "SLEP" should now be present in the main menu. Position the cursor over the "S" of "SLEP" and press EXEcute.

To leave the title screen press any key. You will be required to enter a file name. This file name will either create and index file, or open an index file - if the file is not an index file you will be requested to try again.

When you have completed this stage, you will be In the S.L.E.P. main menu.

IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT S.L.E.P.

1. S.L.E.P. cannot be used without an index file, so even if you will not be using one you must either open one or create one when you first enter S.L.E.P..
2. There are three main files that are used with S.L.E.P.. These are:
   1. The index file
   2. The letter file
   3. The address file

   Attempting to open a file which is none of the above will result in the message "*FILE NOT VALID*" being displayed, and you must enter a file of the correct type.

3. Pressing ON/CLEAR while in the main menu will allow you to view the index.

   At any other time. ON/CLEAR will take you back to the previous function.

4. When editing or entering text. you may press MODE to access a choice of characters not available through the keyboard.

SLEP MAIN MENU

SEARCH will make S.L.E.P. scan through the current index for a combination of characters specified by the user. Once in the search routine you are asked to enter the set of characters you wish to search for. Press EXEcute to enter another set of characters, or press EXEcute on its own to start the search.

Choose between searching from start of the file or from the current position by selecting either "Y"es or "N"o. The search will then proceed until the criteria are located. If they are found, the record in which they appear will be displayed along the bottom of the screen. Pressing EXEcute will continue the search until the end of the file is reached.

GOTO will allow you to jump to a specified record. You will be asked to enter the record number when you choose GOTO and providing that record exists, it will be displayed on the bottom line of the screen. Pressing EXEcute after the record is found will return you to the main menu.

SORT will arrange the current index into ascending alphabetical order.

CREATE allows you to create a sub-file from a master letter file, i.e., the file that contains the inserts. Firstly you will be asked to enter the file name of the document to be created, and then to enter the filename of the master file. S.L.E.P. will then search through the master file for the inserts, and as each is found it will be displayed on the bottom line of the screen. Pressing the EXEcute key will allow you to enter new text, and pressing EXEcute again will save the insert to the new letter. This will then continue until the end of the file is reached.

EDIT MENU

USE allows you to open or create a file and edit its contents. After first entering the file name the file will be opened if it exists, or created if it does not. If the file has to be created you should choose which type of file you require by pressing the MODE key, before you create it. Once the file is opened, its contents can be changed or removed. Press the UP and DOWN arrows to move through the records, and use LEFT and RIGHT to view the current record. Use the EXEcute key to toggle between all of the record attributes. Pressing MODE will allow you to create one of the following options:

1. ADD allows you to add a new record to the file. You will start being able to add to the last record before you add a new one.
2. EDIT allows you to edit the current record and make any necessary changes.
3. Find will cause S.L.E.P. to search through the current file for a user specified group at characters, either from the start of the file or from the current record.
4. KILL will delete the current record from the file being used.
5. MOVE will move the current record to a position specified by the user.

DIRECT will display all the files on the current pack, which you change by pressing MODE. Press the EXEcute key when you have chosen the correct pack, and press execute again to view all the files on that pack. If you wish to edit the current file being viewed press the MODE key which will check and open the file.

MERGE will allow you to join two files of the same type under a new name.

COPY will copy a file from one pack to another, either under the same or a different name.

RENAME will change the name of any file of any pack.

KILL will erase a file from any pack.

QUIT will take you back to the main menu.

OFF turns the P250 off.

SEND MENU

TIME will call the P250's clock function, which will allow you to set the current time and date.

COMMS option will allow you to set the external communications link setting. Using the UP, DOWN, LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys, you can set the comms link configuration. Press EXEcute when you have finished.

PRINT will send a letter or index file to the printer. Sending a letter to the printer will not only send a letter file but also two addresses and a date. The first address that you enter will be printed on the right hand side of the page, and the second address will be printed on the left. You can also enter a date, or press EXEcute to print the current date. Finally, you must load the actual letter which contains the wording. To print an index file, simply enter its name.

Then you are required to choose the printer options, these are:

1. BLANK LINES (0 to 9) specifies the number of blank lines between each paragraph.
2. LEFT MARGIN (0 to 10) specifies the point at which the text will be printed from.
3. PRINT WIDTH (40 to 200) specifies the length of each line.
4. JUSTIFY (ON or OFF) defines whether or not the right margin will be justified.
5. PRINTER (PRESET, EPSON, or PSION) sets up the correct printer configuration.

TRANSMIT will send a file to a computer via the comma link. You are firstly asked for the file name on the P250, and then the name you wish it to be saved as on the computer.

RECEIVE will receive a file from the computer, whether it was originally create on S.L.E.P. or not. First enter the name you wish the file to be called on the P250, followed by the name of the file on the computer.

QUIT will take you back to the main menu.

OFF turns the Organiser off.

THE INDEX

To view the index press ON/CLEAR from the main menu. Using the UP and DOWN arrow keys, you can move through the records, and using the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys you can view the current record. Pressing MODE will allow you to open a new index file, and ON/CLEAR will return you to the main menu.

INDEX FILES

Index files are made up of two major parts:

1. The file name; this is the name of the file and which device it is on.
2. The details; this is a small description about the file, which is optional.

ADDRESS FILES

Address files contain only text, which each paragraph being 30 characters long. These files are used to store the names and addresses of clients.

LETTER FILES

A letter file contains three main parts:

1. The paragraph type; i.e. whether the paragraph will be inserted or a normal paragraph.
2. The text type; i.e. justified or centered.
3. The text; i.e. the wording for the specified letter.

AN EXAMPLE TO WORK THROUGH

To create an Address File, and Master Letter File, select EDIT from the Main Menu. This takes you to the EDIT Menu.

USE DIRECT MERGE COPY RENAME KILL QUIT OFF

Select USE:

FILE A:   * FILE NAME *

Enter the name of your file e.g. 'ADD', and press EXEcute.

FILE A:ADD   *FILE NOT FOUND*

TYPE:ADDRESS   * CREATE Y/N *

Use MODE to change 'Address' to 'Letter' or 'Index', and then press 'Y' to select. In this case 'ADD' will be an Address File.

After pressing 'Y',

RECORD NO: 1  

The first record number is displayed. Use MODE to select OPTION: ADD, EDIT, FIND, KILL, or MOVE. In this case, we want to ADD a record, so with ADD displayed, press EXEcute.

RECORD NO: 1  

In this Address file, we will enter the Company Address: At each Record No: prompt, enter a line of the Address and press EXEcute.

We don't want to add any more, so press ON/CLEAR twice to return to the EDIT Menu.

Select USE again:

FILE A:ADD   * FILE NAME *

Press ON/CLEAR and enter the name of the Address file for the Addressee.

FILE A:ADRS   *FILE NOT FOUND*

Press 'Y' when asked if you want to create an Address file, and enter the name of the addresses as in the last example, and when completed, press ON/CLEAR twice to return to the EDIT Menu.

To create a Master Letter File, select USE from the EDIT Menu, press ON/CLEAR to delete the previous file name and type in the name of your Letter File. E.g. 'LETTER'.

Use MODE to change the TYPE from ADDRESS to LETTER and press 'Y' to create the file.

Use MODE to select the ADD option as before and the screen should show:

RECORD NO: 1   TYPE : NORMAL

Using MODE toggles between NORMAL and INSERT. Normal is the text which will be the same in every letter; Insert is the text which differs, e.g. the name of the person the letter is being sent to. The first part at the letter will be standard to all copies so press EXEcute. The bottom line changes, and the screen now shows:

RECORD NO: 1   TYPE : NORMAL

MODE toggles between NORMAL and CENTRE, in most cases text will be Normal.

Press EXEcute.

RECORD NO: 1 is displayed on the top line and you are ready to start typing in your letter.

RECORD NO: 1 will simply contain the word 'DEAR' as the name which follows will be different on each letter.

Type in 'DEAR' and press EXEcute.

The Record No, (2), and type will be shown. Use MODE to select INSERT as the TYPE and press EXEcute. (All TEXT in this example will be NORMAL, and not centred.)

After selecting the type and text, the bottom line of the screen will be left blank for you to enter a prompt to be displayed when entering the Inserts later. To remind you to enter the name of the person you are writing to here, type in 'NAME' and press EXEcute.

The next record will be left blank to show that the next sentence starts a new paragraph, so select 'Normal' for type and text and instead of typing in the record, press EXEcute to leave it blank.

Record No 3 is the next part of the letter which is standard to all, so select Normal and enter:

'Thank you for your letter of'

- the date will differ so press EXEcute and the next record type will be an Insert. Enter 'DATE' as a prompt and press EXEcute.

Continue the rest of the letter in the same way and when finished press ON/CLEAR twice to return to the EDIT Menu.

To add to an index the same method may be used. Each record is made up of the file name and details about that file. From the Main Menu, select CREATE to create the file containing the Inserts for the main letter file. Enter the word or words to be inserted at the prompt, pressing EXEcute before and after each entry.
E.g. The prompt

RECORD NO: 2   NAME

is displayed. Press EXEcute, type in the name of the addressee, and press EXEcute again.

When all inserts are completed you are returned to the Main Menu.

You may now print out the letter, select SEND from the main menu, the PRINT. You are new asked to enter two index file names, a date and a letter file name. Enter the appropriate file names and press EXEcute. After you have then selected the options for the printer the letter, with addresses will be printed out.