Ohio Educational Computer Network System (OECN)
UDMS Beginning Training Guide

Appendix A
Generating Mailing Labels

A.1 Overview of the Lesson

This is an additional lesson to illustrate the LABEL (LBL) option of UDMS. In this lesson you will use the Demo Data files supplied by Interactive Software, Inc. and the Personnel View. This option allows you to create mailing labels with one, two, or three accross a page. It will also allow you to make sorts and selections on the data before generating the labels.

For the Labels option you will do the following:

Use the data base, DEMO - UDMS Demo/Practice Dictionary (as provided by Interactive Software Systems, Inc.)
Use the LABELS option at the UDMS Main menu.
Use the PRSMST (Personnel Demo File) view of the data base.
Create a Labels Descriptor including the length and width of the label.
Select the fields to be used on the label.
Define the sorting fields.
Format the label by placing the fields at the correct location.
Generate the labels including deciding the number of labels in a row.
Catalog to save the label definiitions.

A.1.1 Bring Up UDMS and the Database

Use the Menu System and select the OECN option.

Next select the UDMS option. You are first shown a list of the available databases. Use up and down arrows to highlight the desired selection, and then press the [Return] key. For this exercise select the "DEMO UDMS Demo/Practice Dictionary" option.

You will bring up the text based version of UDMS and see the following main menu:

Select LABELS Option and PRSMST Data Definition

At the Main UDMS menu select the LABELS option. You should see a Data Definition screen similar to the following:

Type in the word, PRSMST, to select the Personnel Demo view, and press the [Return] key.

A.1.2 The LABEL Descriptor

Next, you will see a screen similar to the following where you are to define the LABEL Descriptor.

Notice that this descriptor is similar to the Report Descriptor for RPW, except that it contains entries for the width and the length of the label. The width is the total number of print columns on the label. While the length is the total number of print lines on the label.

For this lesson use the following values. Use the name, LABELSXX (where XX are your initials), describe it as "Personnel Mailing Labels", set the width at 30, and the length at 5. Then accept the defaults for the remaining fields.

A.1.3 Select the Label Fields

After defining the label descriptor, the LABEL FIELD SELECTION menu, similar to the following screen will automatically appear.

Choose the "SELECTED" fields option, and a screen similar to the following will appear.

You will need to select all of the fields that might be used on the labels. Be sure to include any sort and qualifying fields, whether or not the field is to appear on the label.

The selected fields will simply show at the top of this screen as a list with one field per line. This is NOT how they will appear on the label. To create the actual placement on the label, you will use the "Format Label" option at a later stage.

Use the Down Arrow or the [PF1] key to highlight the desired field and then press the [Return] key to select it for the label. Select the fields: LASTNAME, FIRSTNAME, ADDR1, CITY, STATE, ZIP. You should see a screen similar to the following:

When you are finished press the [PF4] key. You should see a screen similar to the following:

Press the [PF4] key again to return to the [TOP] LABEL Menu as shown next.

Notice that the options at the bottom of this screen are similar to those on the [TOP] RPW Menu, and perform similar functions for the LABELS option.

A.1.4 Select the Sort Fields

Highlight and select the "SORT Label Data" option. Select USER-DEFINED Sorts. Then define LASTNAME as the primary sort field and FIRSTNAME as the secondary sort field. The screen should look similar to the following when you are finished.

Press the [PF4] key to return to the [TOP] LABELS Menu.

A.1.5 Select FORMAT the Label Option

This is the most difficult part of creating the labels. You will have to manually place the fields at the correct positions on the label. This is similar to creating a report group header, except that there is no default label layout.

Select the option to "FORMAT this Label". Your screen should look similar to the following.

Notice that a Ruler appears with length equal to the width of the label as chosen in the LABEL Descriptor. Accept the USER-DEFINED option. A screen similar to the following should appear.

______________________________________________________________________________ | | | Lbl: LABELSHD LABEL DEFINITION Rcrd: PRSMST | |....:...10....:...20....:...30 | | | | | | | | | | | | Label Fields: 6 LABEL FORMATTING | | Field Mask Line Justify Column | | | | 1 ___________... | | | | | | | | DEFINE <PF1> select <PF2> help <PF4> finished | |____________________________________________________________________________|

Select FIRSTNAME for the first field on the label. You can either type in the field name or use the [PF1] key to select it. The screen should look similar to the following.

______________________________________________________________________________ | | | Lbl: LABELSHD LABEL DEFINITION Rcrd: PRSMST | |....:...10....:...20....:...30 | | | | | | | | | | | | Label Fields: 6 LABEL FORMATTING | | Field Mask Line Justify Column | | | | 1 FIRSTNAME ________________ 1 LFT 1 | | | | | | | | DEFINE <PF1> select <PF2> help <PF4> finished | |____________________________________________________________________________|

Enter 10 X's for the Mask and accept the defaults for the Line, Justification, and Column. The result should be similar to the following.

Contents

Ohio Educational Computer Network System (OECN)UDMS Beginning Training Guide

Appendix AGenerating Mailing Labels