Re: Mail Merge?
Hallo Chris,
On Thu, 7 Dec 2006 13:52:59 -0600GMT (7-12-2006, 20:52 , where I
live), you wrote:
C> I have a number of text files of the following form:
C> HEADER LINE
C> Students: Name ,
C> Name
C> From: My Name
C> MORE TEXT
Rather odd text files. ;-)
C> Is there an easy way to have The Bat! read these files in, extract the
C> e-mail addresses, place them in the To: field, fill-in a subject, and
C> place the entire contents of the file in the body?
Sure, can be done. No problem whatsoever. But your subject says mail
merge and that's not quite same as what your asking for. A mail merge
(especially one using TB's mass mailing capabilities) would be
difficult/impossible.
C> I'm not scared of regular expressions, but I'm no wizard either.
I'm no wizard either, but here's my solution:
,- [ ]
| %SetPattRegExp='(?is)(.*?)\nStudents:\s(.*?)\nFrom:\s(.*?)\n(.*)'%-
| %RegExpBlindMatch='%Put("C:\Temp\students.txt")'%-
| %To=""%To="%SubPatt='2'"%-
| %Subject="%SubPatt='1'"%-
| %From="%SubPatt='3'"%-
| %SubPatt='4'
`-
In order to test it, I created a file C:\Temp\students.txt with
contents in your format and it worked like a charm.
A few notes.
I used your 'HEADER LINE' as subject, therefore it needs to be a
single line not starting with 'Students: ' as that string is the
separator I use to find where your addressees are listed. You can use
something else as source for the subject, that won't really break the
template.
A possible enhancement would be to make your students' addresses
invisible for each other by placing them in the BCC: header. In order
to do that you have to change the line:
%To=""%To="%SubPatt='2'"%-
into these two lines:
%To=""%To="%SubPatt='3'"%-
%BCC="%SubPatt='2'"%-
That will cause your own address to be placed in the To: header and
all other recipients in the BCC: header.
A definite restriction is that all recipients' addresses (except for
the last) need to be followed by an comma as TB needs that comma to
separate them.
Another restriction is that all addresses with a name with points need
to be enclosed between quotation marks, otherwise it would contain an
illegal dot in the name. Harvey L. Oswald <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> is an
illegal construct in an address header, while "Harvey L. Oswald" <[EMAIL
PROTECTED]>
computes just fine.
I'm CC-ing this answer to tbtech as it's definitely too technical for
tbudl. Follow-ups need to go there too.
--
Groetjes, Roelof
"Windows 95: Making Windows work just like a Mac did 10 years ago!"
http://www.voormijalleen.nl/
The Bat! 3.86.8 ALPHA (beta)
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Re: Updating TB!
MM>>> And when I tried a v. 3.85 MSI install, Windows told me it MM>>> could not do that. DH>> B Gates could be the devil. > Well, the impulse to control/"rule" just everything and yet due to > greediness is a demonic property, yes. Some call them "hungry spirits", Insatiable and born and raised to cheat and lie. > beings of artificial appetite that is impossible to satisfy, so > they are depicted as terribly skinny creatures with huge > balloon-alike stomachs. Sounds like a ghoul. > Manually extracting the files from the MSI archive will most > likely not fix it. You'll still have a corrupt entry in the MS > installer database that needs fixing. >> Mr. Mica said that all I had to do is substitute the old thebat.exe >> file with the new one. > I always was doing this way, including the versions 3 (those in > MSI packages as well), until I gave them up. I think that will work most of the time but it depends on the upgrade. The logical thing to do would be to check with the TB! Tech support Staff. >> I recall that this used to work for most previous TB! uogrades, and >> there was also an ftp access with zip files on the ritlab site. > Yes, those were the exe files only, and mainly compressed with RAR. La > MSI emballage made the things just more complicated, limited, and yet > tinkering quite unnecessarily with OS. Exactly. > There is nothing worse than a software integrated, in any way, > into OS, which is the source then of instability of both the > software and OS. That's why I have my OS's and Applications in different partitions. (Data too). >> Mr. Mica said TB! runs pretty slow on Linux. There were a lot of >> people on tbot using Xandros but they must have unsubscribed. > Only the charming buxom lady Anne, quite experienced Linux user, > used TB and Xandros, to my knowledge, but she unsubscribed, yes, > longish time ago. She was quite happy with this combination. There were others, but I don't have access the files. One of the posters at that time was named Angliss I recall, but I don't remember if he was one of the Xandros group or not. IAC, you're providing an orientation I need on this subject. > I myself was using TB under Xandros (and many other Linuxes, > Vector, Knoppix, Gentoo, Libranet, Gnoppix, Slackware, Debian...), > but basically the performance, in relation to Windows, is same. I > used Xandros to try if Cross Office could do it better than Wine > (although the core of Cross Office is based exactly on the Wine), > but it couldn't. Even the "pure" Wine is a wee bit better (more > clean, lighter on resources and faster). > You could try it yourself and see does this speed match your > working habits, temperament (my best experiences so far are with > Knoppix 5.0.1 and the version of Wine coming with it). Except the > speed and some aesthetic quirks, slight twitches and > peculiarities, everything works, and as usual. Knoppix runs from a CD. I have an older version (3.6) of it. > But if you work a bit longer with it, those twitches have tendency > to assimilate you, like smallpox. > TB under Linux quivers like a pudding. Slightly though and quite > delicately, but quivers. I myself don't like it. With software. I > like firm and defined forms on that score, so when you click on a > button, or "inter-face", nothing shakes nor ripples. > Anyway, developers of Wine obviously advance. Earlier, TB will > simply explode right in your face, if you touch wrong button/area > or you make wrong move, which means actually that we probably will > not need any "portage" to Linux, but will manage quite fine via > Wine. TB! users are not main stream people and IMO, RitLab's targeting main stream windows users at the expense of more resourceful individuals was a mistake. The TB! lists are an important resource but RitLab's tech support is pretty good too. I've always gotten responses and a developer is going to be much more competent than a lot of those insolent fools working at larger corporations. I used Calypso before discovering TB! and had a nightmarish experience with it and especially, with their worse-than-nothing Dallas based tech support staff. And that was before the company failed. Vista is said to be more stable than previous versions of windows and RitLabs has announced that a Vista certified version of Tb! will be released soon. So I think I'll stick with what's working for me at present, and not take risks that could require reinstalling things that are working reasonably well right now, since I've got a lot of commitments with work to do and am short on help here, so I really don't have time to do things over, particularly when it's unnecessary. IOW, if I change over to Vista, I'll upgrade TB! then. The main advantage to using windows is the tremendous amount of third party software, shareware and freeware available. -- Douglas Current version is 3.85.03 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silv
Mail Merge?
I have a number of text files of the following form: HEADER LINE Students: Name , Name From: My Name MORE TEXT Is there an easy way to have The Bat! read these files in, extract the e-mail addresses, place them in the To: field, fill-in a subject, and place the entire contents of the file in the body? I'm not scared of regular expressions, but I'm no wizard either. -- Chris Using The Bat! v3.85.03 on Windows XP 5.1 Build 2600 Service Pack 2. Accessing a POP3 mailbox. To define recursion, we must first define recursion. pgpZxO6XOFBKd.pgp Description: PGP signature Current version is 3.85.03 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: Updating TB!
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA224 ***^\ ."_)~~ ~( __ _"o Was another beautiful day, Wed, 6 Dec 2006, @ @ at 15:28:33 -0600, when Douglas Hinds wrote: >> And when I tried a v. 3.85 MSI install, Windows told me it could not >> do that. > B Gates could be the devil. Well, the impulse to control/"rule" just everything and yet due to greediness is a demonic property, yes. Some call them "hungry spirits", beings of artificial appetite that is impossible to satisfy, so they are depicted as terribly skinny creatures with huge balloon-alike stomachs. Manually extracting the files from the MSI archive will most likely not fix it. You'll still have a corrupt entry in the MS installer database that needs fixing. > Mr. Mica said that all I had to do is substitute the old thebat.exe > file with the new one. I always was doing this way, including the versions 3 (those in MSI packages as well), until I gave them up. > I recall that this used to work for most previous TB! uogrades, and > there was also an ftp access with zip files on the ritlab site. Yes, those were the exe files only, and mainly compressed with RAR. La MSI emballage made the things just more complicated, limited, and yet tinkering quite unnecessarily with OS. There is nothing worse than a software integrated, in any way, into OS, which is the source then of instability of both the software and OS. > Mr. Mica said TB! runs pretty slow on Linux. There were a lot of > people on tbot using Xandros but they must have unsubscribed. Only the charming buxom lady Anne, quite experienced Linux user, used TB and Xandros, to my knowledge, but she unsubscribed, yes, longish time ago. She was quite happy with this combination. I myself was using TB under Xandros (and many other Linuxes, Vector, Knoppix, Gentoo, Libranet, Gnoppix, Slackware, Debian...), but basically the performance, in relation to Windows, is same. I used Xandros to try if Cross Office could do it better than Wine (although the core of Cross Office is based exactly on the Wine), but it couldn't. Even the "pure" Wine is a wee bit better (more clean, lighter on resources and faster). You could try it yourself and see does this speed match your working habits, temperament (my best experiences so far are with Knoppix 5.0.1 and the version of Wine coming with it). Except the speed and some aesthetic quirks, slight twitches and peculiarities, everything works, and as usual. But if you work a bit longer with it, those twitches have tendency to assimilate you, like smallpox. TB under Linux quivers like a pudding. Slightly though and quite delicately, but quivers. I myself don't like it. With software. I like firm and defined forms on that score, so when you click on a button, or "inter-face", nothing shakes nor ripples. Anyway, developers of Wine obviously advance. Earlier, TB will simply explode right in your face, if you touch wrong button/area or you make wrong move, which means actually that we probably will not need any "portage" to Linux, but will manage quite fine via Wine. - -- Mica ~~~ For personal mail please use my address as it is *exactly* given in my "From" field, otherwise it will not reach me. ~~~ GPG keys/docs/software at: http://blueness.port5.com/pgpkeys/ http://tronogi.tripod.com/pgp/pgpkeys/ [Earth LOG: 670 day(s) since v3.0 unleashing] OSs: Windows 98 SE Micro Lite Professional IVa Enterprise Millennium Windows XP(ee) Micro Lite Professional 1.6, Gentoo & Vector ~ Wine -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- iQCZAwUBRXgUKwYWnlFQ1cE7AQthNwQgsOxkjv0aWE+jZm3Frv5tRRlT0KBroCA2 98LtW/sc2Si2GSVpa83QSv6WiPhsSM6stHUQlaWxZ9bmYxjjvy/SykSd98h7zgUc iZJRzE1mftoOZGPlX8zwyPVPLrydI4orDuat4iJ8gwUPb+r/OP38SYyiCxgL6Y6X pVKX8gq88G24DJ5k =yqvt -END PGP SIGNATURE- Current version is 3.85.03 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
