|
Mailing List Databases
October is the time of year I start getting questions about printing mailing labels and envelopes for sending out holiday greeting cards. Well, there are illustrated instructions on my site for doing this with Microsoft Word, Excel, and Works. Here I'll discuss various ways to create a database to help automate the printing of the names and addresses.
A database is basically a program that organizes data so it can be cross-referenced and used in various ways. The DB most of us use is simply a list of friends, relatives, and/or business associates, along with their addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses, etc. Although there are heavy-duty DB programs such as Microsoft Access available, a spreadsheet like Excel works just fine for most mailing list purposes.
Easier yet, MSWorks comes with a database utility built-in.
The Works database is a grid of rows and columns, which are called Records and Fields, respectively. A listing above the fields contains "Headers" (such as First Name, Last Name, Street Address, etc.).
Spreadsheets, on the other hand, have rows (records) listed numerically while columns (fields) are listed alphabetically. Nonetheless, the first row of a spreadsheet (Row 1) is normally used to type in the name/address-type Header items.
Then comes the hard part: typing in all those names and addresses that can subsequently be formatted to print labels or envelopes. You type the data into a horizontal row of "cells" with the intent of printing the names and addresses stacked in a traditional mailing envelope format.
|
More DB stuff
If you're lucky, however, some of the data may have come to you already typed in an email or in a word processing document. This could allow you to highlight a name and/or address, which could then be selectively copied and pasted into your spreadsheet/database cells.
But there is an easier way: drag and drop.
Any word or phrase in a word processing document can be mouse-selected, and then mouse-dragged to another location on the page. However, it can also be dragged onto any other open page of the same or of another document. The same is true for the contents of a spreadsheet or database cell. Furthermore, data can be dragged and dropped from a worksheet cell onto a text document and vice versa.
Beyond all the above, there are instances where images and other objects can be dragged and dropped, much like text can be manipulated. Yes, there are a few exceptions to the rule, but it pays to experiment.
In some cases, grabbing and dragging will "copy" rather than physically move an item. In most cases, however, copying is accomplished by pressing your CTRL key while you drag an item.
Sometimes name and address data may be separated by commas in a line of text. If so, it's possible to copy the whole line of data into the appropriate cells of a worksheet in one fell swoop by using CSV (comma separated values) principles.
© Donald R Edrington - All Rights Reserved
|
