Working With Words
Protext

1 These two lines tell Protext the name of the file containing the merge data, which is from a club membership database, and then instruct the program to read the fields for name, address and telephone number.

2When the print merge begins, these lines ensure that printing is paused while the program asks the user to input the current date. This could have been set using the Sys_Date variable when using a battery-backed clock.

3This format tells Protext to print the name and address on each letter, reading them off the mergefile as it goes.

4 The If statement is a powerful conditional mail merging tool which, in this case, checks that the member in question has a phone number, in which case the paragraph referring to a phone call is printed.

5 The El (else) line only comes into play if the current member has no entry in his or her telephone field, and prints a request that the member write with suggestions rather than phone.