Chapter 5. Document Lists

Overview

The Document List feature of World Fax is a flexible tool that can be used for a variety of purposes:

  • You can make "document packages" -- you only specify one document for the job (e.g. prospect.lsd), but inside that file there can be a list of other documents you want to send (maininfo.tif, orderform.tif, references.tif, etc.).
  • You can  send a different document to each recipient.  As one of the fields inside the fax list, you specify the document (path and filename) that each recipient should get.


Document Packages

Document Packages offer a convenient way to organize your documents.  Consider a sales team that has approximately 20 documents that they routinely send out.  Since the documents do not really change, they have created them as standard TIF files.

maininfo.tif
dealerinfo.tif
orderform.tif
userpricelist.tif
dealerpricelist.tif
prospectletter.tif
dealerprospectletter.tif
etc…

Some of the files are common to all recipients (such as maininfo.tif) and some are specific to a certain group of recipients (such as dealerinfo.tif).  As a convenient way of organizing these files, you can create a simple text file (using NotePad for example) that lists the documents that are part of the group.  When you save the file, give it the extension "*.lsd" (e.g. prospects.lsd).


To Create a List of Documents (LSD) File:

  1. Go to the Start Menu
  2. Select Programs | Accessories | NotePad
  3. In NotePad, type in the filenames of the documents you want to send (use the full pathname):
    C:\Program Files\World Fax Client\maininfo.tif
    C:\Program Files\World Fax Client\dealerinfo.tif
    C:\Program Files\World Fax Client\dealerpricelist.tif
    C:\Program Files\World Fax Client\orderform.tif
  4. When finished, select File | Save
  5. For the location, either make a mental note of the folder in which NotePad saves the file or change the "Save In" folder to a standard place (e.g. C:\Documents).
  6. For the filename, use quotation marks and type in an easy to remember filename such as "dealerpackage.lsd". 

    Note:  If you don't use quotation marks around the filename, NotePad will automatically add the ".txt" extension to the name (e.g. dealerpackage.lsd.txt).  If you forgot to use the quotes, you can also just use a "My Computer" or "Explorer" window to find the file and Rename it manually.  Be careful if Windows is configured to "Hide Filename Extensions" for registered file types (e.g. a Word DOC file such as prospect.doc will be shown as "prospect" without the ".doc" extension).  It is recommended to turn off the "Hide Filename Extensions" feature.  This can be done from the View | Options … dialog of any "My Computer" or "Explorer" window.
  7. Click OK.


To create a job using the Document List:

  1. Start the Job Setup Wizard and type a job name.
  2. On the Select Documents screen, add the LSD file (e.g. dealerpackage.lsd).
  3. On the Select Recipients screen, add the fax list for the job (e.g. dealerprospects.fax).
  4. On the Select Job Parameters screen, make any desired changes (retries, etc…).
  5. On the Finish screen, click the Send Job button.

Different Documents for Each Recipient

Another very powerful feature of World Fax is the ability to send a different document to each recipient.  Inside the fax list for the job, you can specify the document (path and filename) that each recipient should get.  This feature uses a variation of the "List of Documents" technique.  Instead of a simple list of documents, you specify the field within the fax list where World Fax should look to find the filename that should be sent to each recipient.  This special variation of the LSD file is indicated by using the symbol "#" before the regular LSD file extension as in "different.#lsd".


Creating the Fax List

For example, you have 100 customers to whom you want to send invoices.  For this example, we'll assume that your accounting program generates the invoices as individual files numbered inv001.txt, inv002.txt, … inv100.txt.  How can you do this?

First, you need to associate the invoice files with the intended recipient.  This is done by putting the filename of the invoice for each recipient into the fax list.  The 5th field in the fax list is generally used for this purpose.  World Fax refers to the 5th field by the special name "different".


World Fax Format

<fax number>,<name>,<company>,<salutation>,<different>


Example: (e.g. fax list is called invoices.fax)

604-732-8043, Chem Cohen, Rainbow Software, Mr., c:\documents\inv1.txt
555-123-4567, Alex Smith, ABC Company, Mr., c:\documents\inv2.txt
555-555-5555, Jill Johnson, XYZ Inc., Ms., c:\documents\inv3.txt

Notes:

If there are spaces in the pathname for the file, then use quotes around the filename to make sure World Fax sees the pathname properly.

You can use e-mail addresses instead of fax numbers.

ccohen@World Fax.com, Chem Cohen, World Fax Software, Mr., c:\documents\inv1.txt
alexsmith@abc.com, Alex Smith, ABC Company, , c:\documents\inv2.txt
jilljohn@xyz.com, Jill Johnson, XYZ Inc.,Mrs., c:\documents\inv3.txt


Creating the #LSD File

  1. Go to the Start Menu
  2. Select Programs | Accessories | NotePad
  3. In NotePad, type in the word "different" surrounded by curly braces {}.  That is all that is required in this file.

    {different}

  4. When finished, select File | Save
  5. For the location, either make a mental note of the folder in which NotePad saves the file or change the "Save In" folder to a standard place (e.g. C:\Documents).
  6. For the filename, use quotation marks and type in an easy to remember filename such as "different.#lsd".

    Note:  If you don't use quotation marks around the filename, NotePad will automatically add the ".txt" extension to the name (e.g. different.#lsd.txt).  If you forgot to use the quotes, you can also just use a "My Computer" or "Explorer" window to find the file and Rename it manually.  Be careful if Windows is configured to "Hide Filename Extensions" for registered file types (e.g. a Word DOC file such as prospect.doc will be shown as "prospect" without the ".doc" extension).  It is recommended to turn off the "Hide Filename Extensions" feature.  This can be done from the View | Options … dialog of any "My Computer" or "Explorer" window.
  7. Click OK.


To create a job using the Different Documents:

  1. Start the Job Setup Wizard and type a job name.
  2. On the Select Documents screen, add the #LSD file (e.g. different.#lsd).
  3. On the Select Recipients screen, add the fax list for the job (e.g. invoices.fax).
  4. On the Select Job Parameters screen, make any desired changes (retries, etc…).
  5. On the Finish screen, click the Send Job button.

Variations on the "List of Documents" Method

Generating Filenames Automatically

In addition to the field "different" used in for sending a different file to each recipient, you can also use other fields from the fax list such as {fax number}, {name}, {company}, {user defined 0} or other fields.

This could be useful if you have some technique of automatically generating the filenames from another application (e.g. accounting software).

Example:

  1. Let's assume that your accounting application stores invoices in the "C:\documents" folder.  Furthermore, let's also assume that the invoices use the client's name as the filename:

    John Smith.txt
    Nancy Brown.txt
    Jill Johnson.txt
    etc...

  2. Next, let's also assume that the client's name is part of the fax list.
    <fax number>,<name>,<company>,<salutation>
    604-732-8043, John Smith, Rainbow Software, Mr.
    555-123-4567, Nancy Brown, ABC Company, Mr.
    555-555-5555, Jill Johnson, XYZ Inc., Ms.

  3. Now, to create the appropriate #LSD file, you open NotePad as before and type in the following line:

    c:\documents\{name}.txt  

  4. In this way, when World Fax comes across the fax list entry for "John Smith", it knows to send him the "c:\documents\John Smith.txt" invoice.
  5. Note:  The invoices could have just as easily been named by the company name, the fax number, the account number or by any other of the User Defined fields.