Contents
Address Book

About Address Book

Installing Address Book

Address Book's Main Window

Adding A New Name

Modifying An Existing Name

Removing A Name From The List

Printing A List

Quitting Address Book

Importing Data

Exporting Data


About Address Book

Address Book is a simple application for keeping track of a small number of names, addresses, and telephone numbers. It grew out of a desire to have something much simpler than the PIMs that are on the market: all I personally wanted was an easy way to store and refer to names and phone numbers!

Address Book does not contain a calendar, appointment book, scheduler, or any of the things that make up a PIM. It does provide a quick, easy way to keep track of names, addresses, and telephone numbers. You can quickly and easily enter the above information for any number of people.

Address Book also encourages you to identify those people who are personal contacts (such as family and friends) from those who are business or professional contacts (i.e. coworkers, vendors, clients, etc.). Since Address Book is mainly intended for use in a personal setting, the default setting when entering a new name is Personal, rather than Professional.

As far as output goes, it allows you to print a simple list in a tasteful format, letting you choose which phone numbers to print, and print all names and addresses, or just the personal ones, or just professional contacts. Those choices are saved in the INI file (ADDRESS.INI), so you don't have to reselect your desired print options every time you print.

In keeping with the philosophy behind the design of Address Book as a small, fast application, all the information is read from the disk (from the file ADDRESS.ADR) when the program starts, stays in memory while the program is active, and written to disk again when you close the main window. There are obviously drawbacks in this method, the main one being that if you should do something to make Windows crash, any changes you have made in Address Book will not be saved to disk. However, the file will still contain everything you did prior to your last usage. The advantage to doing things, this way is that the program is quick to start and very responsive in use. It doesn't use any of the latest, whiz-bang technologies like ODBC or OLE, meaning it will run on most any Windows-capable PC. No special installation technique is required, and Address Book will always look in its own directory for its data and INI files.

Suggestions and comments regarding Address Book are welcomed as well. I would like to it to be as useful as possible for as many people as possible, so functional improvements that fit the philosophy behind the program are certainly possible. You can reach me via US mail at:

Phil Jurgenson

164 Rita Road

Mankato, MN  56001

If you prefer electronic communication (it's quicker!):

CompuServe: 75060,222

Internet: jurgie@ic.mankato.mn.us


MAINCLOSE
Quitting Address Book

Clicking the Close button on the main Address Book window causes the program to write the name and address information to the file ADDRESS.ADR and then exit. All changes you made during the session will be saved at this time.


Main Dialog
Address Book's Main Window

The main window of Address Book is simply a normal Windows dialog box. It displays your list of names and telephone numbers (empty the first time you use it, of course!), and allows you to select which group of names you want to display.

There are also buttons on the bottom of the dialog for adding a new name, changing an existing one, removing a name from the list, and printing a list.

Move the mouse cursor over the various areas on the picture, and when the cursor changes to a pointing finger you can get more information about the area.


MAINLIST
Address Book's List of Names

The listbox shown here displays names and telephone numbers for the people you have entered into Address Book. The list is sorted alphabetically by last name, and displays both home and work numbers. If you have selected a name in the list (by clicking on a list item with the mouse and highlighting it), you can either change or remove that name. In addition, double-clicking on a name in the list has the same effect as clicking once and then clicking the Change button.


MAINALL
Displaying All Names

Selecting the "All" radio button tells Address Book to display all names in your list.


MAINPERSONAL
Display Only Personal Contacts

Selecting the "Personal" radio button tells Address Book to display only those names you designated as Personal when you added them.


MAINPROFESSIONAL
Display Only Professional

Selecting the "Professional" radio button tells Address Book to display only the names you designated as Professional when you added them.


MAINHELP
Main Dialog: Getting Help

Click on the "Help" button to get help on the initial dialog box. It will bring up this help file.


Adding A New Name
Adding a New Name, or Changing an Existing Name

When you click on the "New" or "Change" button on the main dialog for Address Book, the dialog box shown below appears. You'll use this screen for adding new information, as well as making changes to a name in the list (people do move and change phone numbers, after all!).

It's a simple, straightforward data-entry dialog, but more information is available by moving the mouse cursor over the various areas on the picture, and clicking when the cursor changes to a pointing finger.


ADDFIRST
Add/Modify First Name

Type in the person's first name in this field. Up to 30 characters are allowed.


ADDLAST
Add/Modify Last Name

Type in the person's last name in this field. Up to 30 characters are allowed.


ADDADD1
Add/Modify First Address Line

Type in the first line of this person's address. Up to 30 characters are allowed.


ADDADD2
Add/Modify Second Address Line

Type in the second line of this person's address, if applicable. Up to 30 characters are allowed.


ADDSTATE
Add/Modify State

Type in the 2-character abbreviation for the state in which this person lives. Note that the characters will automatically be in upper-case (e.g. Minnesota = MN, Iowa = IA, etc).


ADDCITY
Add/Modify City Name

Enter the name of the city in which this person lives. Up to 30 characters are allowed.


ADDHPHONE
Add/Modify Home Telephone Number

Enter the home number of this person. You may enter up to 12 characters, including area code. The only characters that are allowed are the digits (1-9) and the dash (-).


Add E-Mail
Add an E-Mail Address

Enter an E-Mail Address in this field (i.e. CompuServe ID, Internet address, etc.)


ADDWPHONE
Add/Modify Work Telephone Number

Enter the work number of this person, if you desire. You may enter up to 12 characters, including area code. The only characters that are allowed are the digits (1-9) and the dash (-).


ADDCPHONE
Add/Modify Cellular Telephone Number

Enter the cellular phone number of this person, if you desire. You may enter up to 12 characters, including area code. The only characters that are allowed are the digits (1-9) and the dash (-).


ADDFPHONE
Add/Modify FAX Number

Enter the FAX number of this person, if you desire. You may enter up to 12 characters, including area code. The only characters that are allowed are the digits (1-9) and the dash (-).


ADDPERSONAL
Designate this name as Personal

Select the Personal radio button to indicate that this person is considered a personal contact. It will be displayed and printed only if you indicate you want to display All or Personal names. This is the default entry for adding new names to the list.


ADDPROFESSIONAL
Designate this name as Professional

Select the Professional radio button to indicate that this person is considered a professional contact. It will be displayed and printed only if you indicate you want to display All or Professional names.


ADDHELP
Getting Help on Adding/Changing a Name

Click the "Help" button on the Add/Modify dialog to bring up the help screen for that dialog.


ADDOK
Accepting the Information as Entered

Click the "Ok" button to accept the information you have entered. It will then become part of your overall list.


ADDCANCEL
Changing Your Mind about an Entry

If you have made changes, or entered a new name, and decide you don't want to keep that information, click the "Cancel" button. The new or changed information will be discarded.


ADDZIP
Add/Modify Zip Code

Enter the appropriate Zip Code here. You can enter the Zip+ 4 code, and only digits (1 - 9) and the dash ( - ) are allowed.


MAINREMOVE
Removing a Name From the List

Clicking the "Remove" button on the initial Address Book dialog will allow you to delete the name that is highlighted in the list box. If there is no name selected, nothing will happen, other than a message that says you haven't selected anything to remove. If you have selected a name to remove, you will be given a chance to change your mind about deleting that name.


MAINPRINT
Printing An Address List

You can print a simple, easy-to-read list of names, addresses, and phone numbers by clicking the "Print" button on Address Book's main window. A new dialog box will appear, allowing you to specify which names and phone numbers you want on the printed list.

The selections you make in this dialog will be saved, so you don't have to re-select your choices every time you want to print a list. (The first time you run Address Book, all phone number checkboxes will be checked, and the "All" radio button will be selected.)

You can get more information about the various printing options by moving the mouse cursor over the picture below, and clicking the mouse button when the cursor changes into a pointing finger.


PRINTHOME
Print Home Telephone Numbers

Check this box if you wish to print the home telephone numbers in your list.


PRINTWORK
Print Work Telephone Numbers

Check this box if you wish to print the work telephone numbers in your list.


PRINTCEL
Print Cellular Telephone Numbers

Check this box if you wish to print the cellular telephone numbers in your list.


PRINTFAX
Print FAX Numbers

Check this box if you wish to print the FAX numbers in your list.


PRINTALL
Print All Names in the List

Select the "All" radio button if you wish to print every name in your list.


PRINTPERSONAL
Print Only Personal Contacts

Select the "Personal" radio button if you wish to print only those names you designated as "Personal" when you entered the information.


PRINTPROFESSIONAL
Print Only Professional Contacts

Select the "Professional" radio button if you wish to print only those names you designated as "Professional" when you entered the information.


PRINTHELP
Help for the Print Selections Dialog

Click the "Help" button when the Print Selections dialog is on the screen for information about the choices.


PRINTOK
Accepting Your Printing Choices

Click the "Ok" button to accept the entries you selected. The list will then be printed.


PRINTCANCEL
Changing Your Mind About Printing

Click the "Cancel" button if you change your mind about printing. The options will revert to their previous state, and nothing will be printed.


PRINTEMAIL
Print E-Mail Addresses

Check this box if you want your printout to contain the E-mail addresses you've entered into Address Book.


Installing Address Book

Installation of Address Book is very simple. There are only three files associated with the program: ADDRESS.EXE (the program itself), ADDRESS.HLP (this help file), and CTL3DV2.DLL.

All that is needed is to put ADDRESS.EXE and ADDRESS.HLP into your desired directory, or make a new directory for it, and add Address Book to your Program Manager (by using the File/New/New Item) selection, and then either browsing to select ADDRESS.EXE, or by typing the full path name of the program file (e.g. "C:\ADDRESS\ADDRESS.EXE" if you have made a new directory on your C: drive called ADDRESS). In addition, the file CTL3DV2.DLL must be placed in your WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. This DLL file provides the nice-looking 3-D look to the controls in Address Book.

And that's all there is to it!


Export Data
Export Data from Address Book

Clicking the "Export" button on the main dialog allows you to export your address information from Address Book to a DBF file, or a "comma-separated values" (CSV) text file. This will allow you to use the information you have entered into Address Book in other programs.

For example, you could export the data to a CSV file for use as a mail-merge file for a bulk mailing. The program you use for mail-merge (i.e. Microsoft Word for Windows) would then be able to use your name and address information to do a form letter, or print mailing labels, or whatever. Or you could read the DBF file into a database program that can use that file format and use it there.

For more information on the actual format these exported files will have, see the Help topic about importing data.


EXPORTDBF
Export to a DBF File

Click the "DBF File" button to export Address Book's data to a DBF file.


EXPORTCSV
Export to a CSV File

Click the "CSV File" button to export Address Book's data to a CSV file.


EXPORTCANCEL
Cancel the Export

Click the "Cancel" button to stop the export function.


Import Data Into Address Book
Importing Into Address Book

(NOTE: import works only with a registered copy of Address Book)

You may import data from another source into Address Book, in 2 different ways.

The first way data can be imported into Address Book is from a DBF file. The fields of the DBF file must be:

First Name   : 30 characters

Last Name    : 30 characters

Address 1    : 30 characters

Address 2    : 30 characters

City         : 30 characters

State        : 2 characters

Zip code     : 10 characters

Home Phone   : 12 characters

Work Phone   : 12 characters

Cel Phone    : 12 characters

Fax          : 12 characters

E-Mail 1     : 30 characters

E-Mail 2     : 30 characters

E-Mail 3     : 30 characters

E-Mail 4     : 30 characters

Personal     : Logical

The Logical (Personal) field above will contain one of "T/t, Y/y, F/f, N/n". Again, a T/t or Y/y will indicate that it is a Personal designation, and a F/f or N/n will indicate a Professional designation.

The second way is from what is called a "comma-separated values" (CSV) file. For Address Book, a record in a CSV file would look like this:

F  = First Name

L  = Last Name

A1 = Address 1

A2 = Address 2

C  = City

S  = State

Z  = Zip code

H  = Home Phone

W  = Work Phone

CP = Cel Phone

FX = Fax

E1 = E-Mail 1

E2 = E-Mail 2

E3 = E-Mail 3

E4 = E-Mail 4

PP = Personal (1) or Professional (0)

"F","L","A1","A2","C","S","Z","H","W","CP","Fx","E1","E","E","E4","PP"

Any of the fields in the above record can be empty, but even if empty, the quotes must be there. The last field, for indicating Personal or Professional, is simply a logical field, where 1 = Personal and 0 = Professional.

There isn't a lot of flexibility in the importing routines...the fields must exist as shown above!


CSV
Comma-Separated Values

In this file format, each individual field of a record is surrounded by quotes (ASCII value 34 decimal), and each field is separated from the next with a comma.


DBF
DBF File Format

The DBF file format is a popular one in personal computing. It originated with dBase, and is nearly a "lingua franca" among PC databases. The most-used format is the one that dBase III uses, and that's what Address Book deals with.


IMPORTDBF
Import a DBF File

Click the "DBF File" button to select a DBF file to import into Address Book.


IMPORTCSV
Import a CSV file

Click the "CSV File" button to select a CSV file to import into Address Book.


IMPORTCANCEL
Cancel the Import

Click the "Cancel" button to stop the Import function.