Chapter 6. Managing Your Fax lists

Overview

World Fax supports standard comma-delimited files for the fax lists. These files can be created in a number of ways, depending on which method you find most convenient. You can export data using World Fax Add-Ons.These applications are: ACT!, Goldmine, Maximizer, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Excel. The manuals for the Add-Ons can be found on World Fax Installtion CD in Microsoft Word and pdf format or on World Fax web site http://www.World Fax.com/documentation.html

Standard Fax List Format

Understanding the Fax List format used by World Fax

In order for World Fax to "read" your fax list file, it has to be a plain text file with commas separating the fields for fax number, contact/company name and other information.

Although World Fax supports a total of 16 fields, the only required field is the FAX Number and it must always be the first field.  World Fax will also recognize an e-mail address as a valid first field.

For your reference, here are the fax list field names and the number of characters they can contain:

Position	Field Name	Size	Type
1	{FAX Number}	128	character
2	{Name}	32	character
3	{Company}	50	character
4	{Salutation}	255	character
5	{Different}	255	character
6	{Account Number}	64	character (used to link to contact managers)
7	{USER DEFINED 0}	255	character
8	{USER DEFINED 1}	255	character
9	{USER DEFINED 2}	255	character
10	{USER DEFINED 3}	255	character
11	{USER DEFINED 4}	255	character
12	{USER DEFINED 5}	255	character
13	{USER DEFINED 6}	255	character
14	{USER DEFINED 7}	255	character
15	{USER DEFINED 8}	255	character
16	{USER DEFINED 90}	255	character

For example, you might have a file called "faxlist.txt" which contains your fax numbers as follows:

423-4556,John Smith,ABC Industries
321-7896,Joan Smith,ACME Corp
221-5432,Jim Jones,XYZ Financial Corp
438-4321,Peter Jones,Company Co.
438-1234,Al Peterson,ABC Electronics
etc…

If you do not have such a file, you can easily create one by using the World Fax Fax List Viewer or any text editor such as Windows Notepad.  You can also export your data from another database application. 

Note:  While not required, it is convenient to give your fax list files the extension ".fax" or ".csv" so as to distinguish them from other text (.txt) files on your hard drive.

If you want to include some, but not all fields, you still have to use commas to make sure the fields are in the "right place".

555-5555,,ABC Inc.,,,,"Message 1"
555-1234,,XYZ Corp.,,,,"Message 2"

If you have commas within your fields such as "World Fax..", then you must use quotes around the words.  Otherwise, World Fax will think the comma is a separator for the next field.

555-1234,,"World Fax, Inc."

You can also use a different separator instead of a comma as long as you put it on the first line of the fax list all by itself.

*
555-1234*John Smith*World Fax, Inc.*Mr.
555-5555*Sylvia Johnson*XYZ Corporation*Ms. 

World Fax Fax List Viewer -- Overview

The Fax List Viewer allows you to manage your fax lists.  You can do a lot of useful things with the program including removing duplicates and filtering against a special "do not fax" list.

To open the World Fax Fax List Viewer:

To open the Fax List Viewer from within the Job Setup Wizard

Fax List Viewer toolbar icons

The buttons on the toolbar allow you to do the following:

 

Icon	(Also Knows As)	Function	Description
	"Blank page" button:	New Fax List	This starts a new fax list.  The default name is "untitled.fax" which you should change to something more meaningful when saving the document.
	"Folder" button	Open Fax List	This opens a dialog box so that you can select a fax list.
	"Disk" button:	Save Fax List	This saves the currently open fax list.
	"Red Disk" button:	Save without "Do Not Fax" numbers	This removes the Do Not Fax numbers from the current list.
	"In cardholder" button	Save without duplicates	Removes duplicates from the fax list and saves the fax list. R.
	"Add to" button	Append from File	Combine another fax list into the current list.
	"Folder" button	Add Record	Adds record to the current fax list file.
	"Edit" button	Edit Record	Edits highlighted record.
	"Delete" button	Delete Record	Deletes highlighted record.
	"Binoculars" button	Find Record	Finds record by specified string.
	"Card" button	Set DoNotFax list	Put a path to a fax list that you want to use as DoNotFax. It can be file with any name..
	"Property" button	Set Options	Enables backup of every edited and saved file and /or create fax list with numbers taken out of original fax lists.

Save only selected
Enables to save only selected records in active fax list

Separator
This is the character used to separate the fields in the fax list file.

Entering Numbers and Field Information

World Fax-Fax List Manager -- Creating a Fax List

 

World Fax Fax List Viewer -- Selecting and Saving a Partial List

World Fax Fax List Viewer -- Creating a "Do Not Fax" List

The Fax List Viewer allows you to create and maintain a "Do Not Fax" list.

If and when people request that you remove their fax number from your database, you should type their number in the list.

That way, if you start a new fax list, you can process it against the "Do Not Fax" list so that those people won't accidentally get faxes.

The "Do Not Fax" list has to have the special name donotfax.fax and it must be located in the World Fax Client folder (default location is c:\Program Files\World Fax Client\).

In all other respects, the "Do Not Fax" list is just like every other faxlist -- it follows the same format and is managed using the World Fax FaxList Viewer.

Using Notepad to View Your Fax List

If you select Notepad, you will see your fax list as plain text file with commas separating the fields. You can add/edit/delete the phonebook as desired.

Microsoft Access -- Exporting a Fax List

When you have the table ready in your Access database in a format which should have the Fax Number as the first field (refer to the picture below).   If the fax number is not the first field, create a Query that puts it first.

1. Click on File and select Save As/ Export... (you will get to the following screen)

2. Click on OK

 

3. In the Save Table window, choose “Text Files(*.txt;*csv:,*tab:*.asc)” and choose an appropriate name for the file.

 

4. Press Export

 

 

5. On the nest screen choose “Delimited” and press Next.

 

6. You will then be asked to specify the “delimiter”, World Fax needs a comma delimited file as its phonebook file.

7. Choose “Comma” and press Next

 

8. Under Export to file specify name of the file with a “.fax” extension (for example: C:\BFSHARED\MEJOB.FAX) and press Finish

 

9. If you open the file in Notepad it should look like this: