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Chicago ACT! USER GROUP
Meeting Notes
Meeting: February 14. 1995
Tips and Techniques from Open Forum.
During our monthly open forum we discussed editing the
layout of the ACT! for Windows contact screen, changing the order of items in an ACT! for
Windows popup list, and the use of ACT! add-ons.
If you are using ACT! for Windows you can change the layout
of the contact screen with Symantec's layout editor program. By using the layout editor,
you are no longer limited to the standard contact screens provided by Symantec. You can
place fields wherever you'd like thereby designing your own contact screen.
The layout editor is available through Symantec. You may
download it from the Symantec Bulletin Board or order it on disc from the manufacturer.
While we're on the topic of contact screens, you can choose
from a variety of "stock" layouts using the (Windows) command: VIEW, LAYOUT. The
only trick is that this command alters the flip side of the contact screen - not the
screen in view when the command is invoked. If this all gets a bit confusing, remember
that you can restore things to their original state using the commands: VIEW, LAYOUT,
CONTACT 2, then VIEW, LAYOUT, CONTACT 1.
Popups are a great time-saver for entering general
information in any contact field. (You can create your own popups using the command: EDIT,
FIELD ATTRIBUTES then selecting the appropriate field and checking the popup box.)
When multiple entries are made in a popup box, they are
automatically arranged alphabetically. (Note that you can add entries to a popup by using
the EDIT, ADD command once the popup is open.) Suppose you had a popup, though, for day of
the week and wanted the days to be listed in calendar order (rather than in alphabetical
order). How would this be done?
The trick is to check off the "code field" box in
the field attributes menu. (Use the EDIT, FIELD ATTRIBUTES command.) This creates a second
field in the popup. To enter days of the week so that they appear in calendar order, type
"1, 2, 3, etc." in the popup entry field and the corresponding day of the week
(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) in the code field. Again, use the EDIT, ADD command once the
popup is open.
A number of add-on programs for ACT! exist which give ACT!
added features and flexibility. Examples of such programs are ACT PAC and ACT TREE. Such
programs allow you to organize (and edit) ACT! contact records in a spreadsheet format,
move entries easily from one field to another, or use other word processing programs with
ACT!.
While these add-on programs may seem appealing at first,
they add another layer of complexity. When difficulties occur it can be difficult to track
down the true cause of a problem. This is why we suggest that PC users remove aftermarket
screen savers and other "unnecessary" programs.
Meeting Topic: Boolean Lookups.
Lookups are among ACT!'s more powerful features. Simple
lookups permit you to identify all contacts in a given state, zip code, or those with a
particular ID Status. These quick lookups are readily accessed from ACT!'s pull-down
"Lookup" menu. Keyword lookups search all fields, notes, and history for a
specific word of your choosing. Keyword lookups are the only lookups that search notes and
history. However, keyword lookups are slow.
Boolean lookups are a class of lookups that involve two or
more parameters. An example of a Boolean lookup might be "everyone on Milwaukee
Avenue/Blvd./Street who is a customer". Two criteria need to be satisfied in order
for a contact to be selected by this lookup. The contact street address has to be
Milwaukee (Ave., Blvd., or Street) and the contact has to be a customer. (The ID Status
field should contain the designation: "customer".)
Such a lookup can be executed using the command: LOOKUP,
OTHER. The next step is to clear all fields. This can be done using the command: EDIT,
CLEAR. Next, type "*Milwaukee*" in the address field and "Customer" in
the ID Status field. The asterisks (*) as "wildcards" and instruct ACT! not
to differentiate between Milwaukee Street, Milwaukee Avenue, or 123 Milwaukee Blvd. Click
on the OK boxes to run the lookup.
To select those contacts who are located on Milwaukee
Avenue, Street, etc. or who are customers requires a different approach. One way to do
this is to follow the steps in the previous paragraph but to execute the command: QUERY,
CONVERT TO SMARTQUERY after entering the information in the contact fields. Then change
the Boolean operator "AND" to "OR". Alternatively, you could type out
the query in the smartquery window.
While there is a specific order of operations for Boolean
logic, the best insurance against unanticipated results is to use parentheses around those
operations that should be performed first. For example, using parentheses in the following
query guarantees that only customers who are located either on Elston or Milwaukee will be
selected.
((Address_1 CONTAINS "Milwaukee") OR (Address_1
CONTAINS "Elston")) AND (ID Status=Customer)
Finally, you may find it helpful to construct a small dummy
database to test your query. Make sure to include contacts who parameters lie just inside
and just outside the search criteria as this is where errors typically occur.
© Copyright 1995 by Alan M. Lee, all rights reserved.
Other nonprofit computer user's groups may reprint this material providing credit is given
the author and C.C.S. Future rights for publication reserved by Alan M. Lee. ACT! is a
registered trademark of Symantec Corporation.
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