Category : Files from Magazines
Archive   : VOL7N22.ZIP
Filename : ENVELOPE.DOC

ENVELOPE.COM
Command

Ron Saidikowski
1988 No. 22 (Utilities)

Purpose: A memory-resident utility that captures a name and address field
from the screen and prints it, with an optional return address, on an envelope
fed into a laser printer.

Format: [d:][path]ENVELOPE [/U] /Pxx /Ln [/R]

Remarks: Entered without command line parameters, ENVELOPE defaults to
/PL1 (printer port LPT1:) and /L2 (LaserJet II or compatible printer with
center-feed envelope slot. Other values for xx are L2, L3, C1, C2, C3, or C4
(for LPT2: or 3, or COM1: to COM4:). The /L switch with a value of 1 for n is
used for the older LaserJet or LaserJet+ (or compatibles), whose envelopes feed
at the bottom of a landscape page.

The default Alt-E hotkey initiates the defining/printing process. The
cursor keys are used to position the cursor on the upper-left corner of the
name/address to be printed, and pressing Enter anchors it. The cursor keys are
then used to define (highlight) the recipient's address field, which may be up
to six lines deep and any displayable number of characters in length. Pressing
Enter then presents a choice between envelope sizes (F1 for small envelopes, F2
for large, No. 10 size). F3 toggles a selection highlight for printing or not
printing a return address. Pressing Enter then prints the envelope inserted in
the laser printer's manual feed slot. At any point short of printing, Esc can
be used to exit.

The optional /R command line switch permits storing a return address of
up to three lines of 40 characters. This address may be stored (and updated) as
a permanent part of ENVELOPE.COM, if desired, or it may be used only during a
single session. ENVELOPE.COM is normally installed via the user's AUTOEXEC.BAT
file. If it is the last terminate-stay-resident utility loaded, it can be
uninstalled at the DOS prompt by being invoked with the optional /U switch.
Instructions for changing the hotkey and other defaults are given in the
original article.

Available for downloading from PC MagNet (see the ENVELOPE by Modem
sidebar), ENVELOPE.COM is already compiled and ready to run. ENVELOPE.BAS will
automatically create ENVELOPE.COM when run once in BASIC. To create
ENVELOPE.COM from the ENVELOPE.ASM source code requires use of a macro assembler
(IBM or Microsoft, Version 2 or later) and the following commands:

MASM ENVELOPE;
LINK ENVELOPE;
EXE2BIN ENVELOPE ENVELOPE.COM;