Extract. User s Guide. Version 2.16 August With the Extract utility, you can extract smaller ZIP+4 directories from the National directory

Transcription

1 Extract User s Guide Version 2.16 August 2002 With the Extract utility, you can extract smaller ZIP+4 directories from the National directory Introduction to the Extract utility... 2 Specifying the area of your custom directory... 3 ACE users... 5 Postalsoft DeskTop and Business Edition users... 7 Table of ZIP ranges per state... 9 Contact information Phone U.S., Canada ; elsewhere Web customer@firstlogic.com Mail 100 Harborview Plaza La Crosse WI In your correspondence, include your name, company name, telephone number, and customer ID number. Technical support is available weekdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. central time Firstlogic, Inc. All rights reserved. This publication and accompanying software are protected by U.S. copyright law and international treaties. No part of this publication or accompanying software may be copied, transferred, or distributed to any person without the express written permission of Firstlogic, Inc.

2 Introduction to the Extract utility Save disk space, improve performance Extract is free to Windows users who receive the national ZIP+4 directory on CD. If you re a local, statewide, or regional mailer, you may be using only a fraction of the national ZIP+4 directory. Yet that directory takes up half a gigabyte of disk space. Because you use only a fraction of the directory, a lot of disk space may be wasted. Or perhaps you don t even have that much disk space available, so you have to access the national ZIP+4 directory directly from the CD. This approach works, but it can make your software run below its full potential speed during the assignment process. Also, it ties up your CD drive, at least during assignment. Either way, Extract may be able to help you. You can use Extract to create a smaller regional, state, or local ZIP+4 directory. Extract is especially beneficial if your mailing list is mostly local, statewide, or regional. Extract may not be beneficial if your mailing addresses are spread all over the country. How it works Suppose most of your mailing list is in Hawaii. You can use Extract to create a custom ZIP+4 directory covering only Hawaii. Install that file on your hard disk, taking up less than two megabytes of disk space. You can also keep access to the national ZIP+4 directory on CD-ROM. Your software looks up each address in the Hawaiian directory first. If it doesn t find the address there, it tries another lookup in the national directory. The first lookup is very fast much faster than it would be on CD. For the very best performance, you could set up your computer to keep the smaller ZIP+4 directory, as well as the City and ZCF directories, in a RAM drive. If you use ACE, see our System Administrator s Guide for instructions on setting up a RAM drive. What you have to do Running Extract takes only a few minutes each time you receive a directory update. You have a small setup task to do just once, before running Extract the first time you. The rest of this booklet explains the steps to follow: 1. Specify the range of ZIP Codes, the area that your customer directory will cover. This is a one-time task. 2. Install and run Extract to create your custom directory. Repeat this step each time you receive a CD update. 3. Set up your address-assignment software to work with both your custom directory and the national ZIP+4 directory. 2 Extract User s Guide

3 Specifying the area of your custom directory Creating a ZIP list file Before you can run Extract, you must specify the area to be extracted by ZIP Code range. You ll create a file containing ZIP codes, which we call the ZIP list file. Follow these rules: Use a text editor. Use any text editor, such as DOS Edit or Windows Notepad. You can use a word processor, but be sure to save the file as plain text. Specify a range. On each line, type a single ZIP Code or, to specify a range, a pair of ZIP Codes separated by a single space. For example, both of the lists below will produce the same result: List 1 List Enter range lowest to highest. It is not necessary to list ZIP Codes or ranges in numerical order. However, you must type ranges from lowest to highest for example, type , not Do not use any Punctuation. Use five digits. To specify an entire 3-digit ZIP Code area, specify a range of 5-digit numbers. For example, type: , not 546. Ensure first ZIP is valid. Be sure the very first ZIP in your list is a valid ZIP found in the ZIP+4 directory. Otherwise, Extract will fail and return an error message. Other than the very first ZIP in the list, Extract does not check ZIPs. If you set a range a little too broadly and it happens to cover some unused ZIPs, that won t cause an error. Follow the file-naming conventions. When you name the file, use the same base name that you will give to your custom directory, and be sure to use the file extension LST. For example, if you re going to extract a Hawaii directory, we recommend naming your file zip4hi.lst. Then your directory itself should be named zip4hi.dir. Store your ZIP list file. You ll need your ZIP list file each time you receive a CD update. ACE users should store it in the pw\adm directory. Postalsoft DeskTop and Business Edition users should store the file in C:\ Firstlogic\Postalsoft\Extract. Specifying the area of your custom directory 3

4 List of ZIP Code ranges With Extract, we deliver a file named read.me, which contains the ZIP Code ranges for each state. A table of ZIP ranges also appears on page 9, for your convenience. However, the information is subject to change. For current ZIP ranges, please rely on the read.me file. 4 Extract User s Guide

5 ACE users Installing Extract Extract is on the CD along with the postal directories. Before you can run Extract, you must install it to hard disk. You need to do this with each directory update. On the CD, the Extract files are located in a directory named Extract. Copy all files from the Extract directory on the CD to the pw\adm directory on your hard disk. Running Extract To extract directories from a particular CD, you must use the Extract software that came on that CD. If you use an older version of Extract, then the Extract process might fail or produce unintended results. 1. Choose Start Programs Command Prompt. 2. Go to the directory where the Extract files are located. To do this, type cd, a space, and then the path to the directory. For example, type: cd \pw\adm 3. Type the Extract command (extraw32), followed by four file names. If any of the four files are not located in the current directory (adm), you must type the full path for the file. extraw32 ziplist.lst zip4us.dir file.dir comm.cfg For example, to make a Hawaiian directory, type: extraw32 zip4hi.lst d:\zip4us.dir zip4hi.dir comm.cfg Name of file ziplist.lst zip4us.dir file.dir comm.cfg Description Your ZIP-list file (see page 3). The national ZIP+4 directory. Your custom extracted directory. Use the extension.dir. A configuration file provided by Firstlogic. Do not alter or move it. 4. After Extract finishes, type exit to close the Command Prompt window. The time it takes to extract depends on the amount of data extracted. ACE users 5

6 Setting up ACE to use your custom ZIP+4 directory In ACE, set the ZIP+4 directories in the Auxiliary Files section of each job. Specify your custom ZIP+4 directory in the ZIP+4 Directory 1 box and our national zip4us.dir directory in the ZIP+4 Directory 2 box. Tip: For the very best performance, you can set up your computer to keep the smaller ZIP+4 directory, as well as the City and ZCF directories, in a RAM drive. See your System Administrator s Guide for instructions on setting up a RAM drive. 6 Extract User s Guide

7 Postalsoft DeskTop and Business Edition users Installing Extract Extract is located on the Postalsoft Diversified Directories CD along with the national directories. Before you can run Extract, you must install it to hard disk. You need to do this with each directory update. To install: 1. Insert the Postalsoft Diversified Directories CD into your CD-ROM drive. 2. Open Windows Explorer, and select your CD-ROM drive. 3. Select the Extract folder, and choose Edit Copy. 4. Navigate to your Postalsoft installation directory (C:\Firstlogic\ Postalsoft), and choose Edit Paste. Running Extract To extract directories from a particular CD, you must use the Extract software that came on that CD. If you use an older version of Extract, then the Extract process might fail or produce unintended results. 1. Choose Start Programs Command Prompt. 2. Go to the directory where the Extract files are located. To do this, type cd, a space, and then the path to the directory. For example, type: cd Firstlogic\Postalsoft\Extract 3. Type the Extract command (extraw32), followed by four file names. If any of the four files are not located in the current directory (Extract), you must type the full path for the file. extraw32 ziplist.lst zip4us.dir file.dir comm.cfg For example, to make a Hawaiian directory, type: extraw32 zip4hi.lst d:\zip4us.dir zip4hi.dir comm.cfg Name of file ziplist.lst zip4us.dir file.dir comm.cfg Description Your ZIP-list file (see page 3). The national ZIP+4 directory. Your custom extracted directory. Use the extension.dir. A configuration file provided by Firstlogic. Do not alter or move it. 4. After Extract finishes, type exit to close the Command Prompt window. The time it takes to extract depends on the amount of data extracted. Postalsoft DeskTop and Business Edition users 7

8 Setting up Postalsoft to use your custom ZIP+4 directory You need to tell Postalsoft where to look to find your national and custom ZIP+4 directories. To do this: 1. Choose Tools Options, and click the Address Correction File Locations button. 2. Type the location and name of your custom ZIP+4 directory in the ZIP4US box and the location and name of our national zip4us.dir directory in the ZIP4US #2 box: When you run your job, Postalsoft warns you that the ZIP4US directory is not the default zip4us.dir file. This warning is normal when you use a custom directory. To process addresses with your custom directory, click Yes. 8 Extract User s Guide

9 Table of ZIP ranges per state This information is for your convenience. For current ZIP ranges, check the read.me file. Name Abbr. ZIP range(s) Armed Forces America AA Armed Forces Europe AE Alaska AK Alabama AL Armed Forces Pacific AP Arkansas AR American Samoa AS Arizona AZ California CA Colorado CO Connecticut CT District of Columbia DC Delaware DE Florida FL Federated States of Micronesia FM Georgia GA Guam GU Hawaii HI Iowa IA Idaho ID Illinois IL Indiana IN Kansas KS Kentucky KY Louisiana LA Table of ZIP ranges per state 9

10 Name Abbr. ZIP range(s) Massachusetts MA Maryland MD Maine ME Marshall Islands MH Michigan MI Minnesota MN Missouri MO Northern Mariana Islands MP Mississippi MS Montana MT North Carolina NC North Dakota ND Nebraska NE New Hampshire NH New Jersey NJ New Mexico NM Nevada NV New York NY Ohio OH Oklahoma OK Oregon OR Pennsylvania PA Puerto Rico PR Palau PW Rhode Island RI South Carolina SC South Dakota SD Extract User s Guide

11 Name Abbr. ZIP range(s) Tennessee TN Texas TX Utah UT Virginia VA Virgin Islands VI Vermont VT Washington WA Wisconsin WI West Virginia WV Wyoming WY Table of ZIP ranges per state 11

12 12 Extract User s Guide