Contact Plus Personal
Frequently Asked Questions

1. Do you have international versions?
2. How can I be reminded of my things to do for the day?
3. How do I list my contacts at the same company in order? I have several contacts at the same company but with different last names.
4. How do I print an address book?
5. How do I open a new database?
6. How do I print my calendar for today?
7. How do I move contacts between databases?
8. How can I place an icon for Contact Plus on my Windows desktop?
9. How comes it takes so long to start Contact Plus each day?
10. How do I perform a spell check?
11. How do I filter on my calendar/events?
12. Why can't I use Corel WordPerfect or Microsoft Word mail merge codes?
13. How do I print a sheet of labels for the same contact?
14. How do I print a profile report?
15. What is the difference between a form template and a generated letter
16. How do I move my form letters?
17. How do I move my generated letters?
18. How do I rename my generated letters?
19. How can I be 100% sure that my backup was successful?
20. What are special phone prefixes/suffixes for?
21. What exactly is a filter?
22. How come my Filter list says "Modified in Database"?
23. What is the BDE? What is it used for?
24. When I run a third party program like Clean Sweep it says that the BDE is not being used by any program? Is is safe to delete it?
25. How do I transfer data files from one computer to another?
26. Can I use my own email client with Contact Plus?
27. How can I set up Outlook to be the default email client?
28. How can I set up Eudora to be the default mail client?
29. How do I move not done events to today?
30. What does Index out of Date mean? What does Record Key Deleted mean? What should I do?
31. Why should I run repair? Which databases should I repair?
32. Can I transfer a text field to a number field?

1. Do you have international versions?
   Contact Plus for Windows has several features that allow international users to customize the product. By going to the Setup Menu/International, you can rename some of the main data entry fields. Also, Contact Plus uses your Windows international settings for decimal places, currency characters, and time/date settings. At this time, there are no versions of Contact Plus for Windows that have been translated into other languages.
2. How can I be reminded of my things to do for the day?
   Use the alarm feature to notify you of meetings and appointments. In Setup F7, Alarm Settings, make sure the alarms are enabled to use this function. Make sure to specify the amount of lead time before the event that an alarm should notify you. When making an appointment with the Schedule Events F5, make sure that the alarm box is checked. In Personal you can change the sound the alarm makes and whether the sound is continuous (perfect for having an alarm notify you while you're working in other programs) with the Setup F7 Alarm Settings.
3. How do I list my contacts at the same company in order? I have several contacts at the same company but with different last names.
   Contact Plus will sort your contacts on as many fields as you want. Create an F9 Index using "Company name" as the first field and then "Last name" as the secondary field on which to sort. This way, all of the contacts at Acme Incorporated will appear in order.
4. How do I print an address book?
   Click Reports F1 on the alternate button bar. Select the Contact Report. Select the detail level and font. Select the destination as printer. Click OK. Select a filter if desired. Click OK.
5. How do I open a new database?
   Select File|Open database. Select the database and click OK. Or you can double click on the Database name box in the status area.
6. How do I print my calendar for today?
   There are two ways to print calendars. Calendars F2 is used to print not done events for today. View Events F4 prints a list of events (done, not done) for any time period, including a range of days. To have your schedule print automatically see the Event Plus Plug-In module.
7. How do I move contacts between databases?
   You can copy or move contacts one at a time between databases using the Transfer Contact F2 button. To move groups of contacts you can use Database Utilities, Transfer Contacts. Click File|Database Utilities.
8. How can I place an icon for Contact Plus on my desktop?
   Right-click on the desktop. A popup menu should appear. Choose New|Shortcut from that popup menu. Locate the cplus.exe file, typcically located in the \cpwin97 folder. Click on "Next". In the "Name of the Shortcut" window, type "Contact Plus" or whatever you want to call it. Click on "Finish".
9. How comes it takes longer to start at the beginning of the day?
   When you start up Contact Plus Personal, the Safe Mode is envoked. Safe Mode is used once each day by to make a copy of all database information. The directory is \DATA\SAFE. This is only done the first time you start up Contact Plus for the day.
   Depending upon the amount of data in the program and your computer's speed , this may take several minutes. Note this method of making a backup should not be used the only method of backing up important data files. It is imperative to make a backup using the backup program on a regular basis.
10. How do I perform a spell check?
    Spell checking is available in Notes F7, in the Description Tab, and on messages in Email F10. To use spell check display the item to check and right-click on it. A Spell Check window will appear and will start to check the spelling. If a word is not found it will stop and display the word in a list. Then you can choose the options Replace, and choose a list from the suggestions, Add to add the found word to the Spell Check dictionary, Skip Once, to skip the word once time, or Skip Always to not stop on the found word any more.
11. How do I create a calendar/event filter?
    To create an event filter you must be using Reports F1 and you've chosen a calendar-based report. The types of reports which are chosen are listed in the "type" column on the Reports window. Calendar based reports include the Events by Date Report.
    
    You can also view a list of Events from View Events F4 and choosing the correct days for which you wish to view. To choose only a certain type of event such as phone calls, click on the Calls Tab.
12. Why can't I use Corel WordPerfect or Microsoft Word mail merge codes?
    Contact Plus for Windows uses its own merge codes that appear within brackets like {{FirstName}}. If there is a reason you must use Corel WordPerfect or Microsoft Word to do a merge outside of Contact Plus, you can go to the File menu in Contact Plus and use the Export function to create a WordPerfect Secondary File or a comma-delimited export file for Microsoft Word.
13. How do I print a sheet of labels for the same contact?
    On the alternate button bar click the Labels F4. Select the label size. Click Sheet.
14. How do I print a profile report?
    On the Main Screen, click the Print button in the lower right, next to the Mark/Unmark button. Check the items you want to print, then click OK.
15. What is the difference between a form template and a generated letter?
    A form template is the boiler plate from which future letters will be created. It appears in the list of form templates when F6 is presed. It contains the mail merge codes such as {{FirstName}} where information for each contact is inserted.
    A generated letter is a letter that has already been merged with a contact record. The
    
16. How do I move my form letters from one folder to another?
    Use Windows Explorer to move the Forms directory to the new desired location. In Contact Plus, go to the Setup Menu/Form Letter Locations and set the Form Letter Directory to match the new path, like C:\CPWIN97\DATA\FORMS - then click ok.
    
    In Contact Plus Personal choose Mail/Merge. Click on Add/Delete/Edit. Click Rebuild to recreate the list of Forms in the new location.
    
17. How do I move my generated letters from one folder to another?
    Use Windows Explorer to move the Letters directory to the new desired location. In Contact Plus, go to the Setup Menu/Form Letter Locations and set the Generated Letter Directory to match the new folder, like C:\CPWIN97\LETTERS and - then click ok.
18. How do I rename my generated letters?
    You shouldn't rename your generated letters. Contact Plus remembers their names in the contact's history so you can access them later if you want to. If they are renamed, this function will not work properly. However, you can change the way Contact Plus generates letter names in the future, by going to the Setup Menu/Word Processor and click on the Letter Naming tab.
19. How can I be 100% sure that my backup was successful?
    Assuming you used Contact Plus Backup & Restore, there are a few ways to confirm the quality of your backup. If you have WinZip , you can directly open the zip file that Backup & Restore creates on the disk. Looking inside the file, you can confirm the dates on the .DB files within are recent. We suggest backing up to multiple sets removable media (zip drives, diskettes) for data integrity. For example, you might have sets of media labeled "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wed", etc, and each night back up to a different set. That way, if last night's backup was corrupted for whatever reason or maybe the dog chewed it, you have the older backup set. At the very least keep two sets, for odd and even days. Periodically, you should put your backup media in storage and start over with fresh ones. After all, disks are cheap, your data is not. In addition if you're on a network you can also make a backup and copy the resulting zip files to other computers on the network for safekeeping.
20. What are special phone prefixes/suffixes for?
    The Long Distance Prefix is dialed before a phone number that is outside your local area code. The Long Distance Suffix is dialed after a phone number that is outside your area code. For example, in the Long Distance Prefix, you might have a 1, a credit card number, or perhaps a carrier code. Some carrier codes go after the number, therefore there is the suffix field too. The Local Area Prefix and Local Area Suffix are the same concept, but they are always dialed before/after numbers that are in the same area code as you are. If someone is in the same area code you are in, but is a long distance number, you enter their "exchange" in the Exchanges tab for the special dialing on the "Special" tab in the Phone Dialer setup window. For example, in the phone number "AAA-BBB-CCCC", BBB represents the exchange. You could tell Contact Plus to dial BBB numbers as long distance, even though it's the same area code.
21. What exactly is a filter?
    A useful way to handle working with a subset of the database is to create filters to locate records within a database that match certain criteria. Criteria includes "like" conditions among records, such as "all records in category H." Filters can be very simple or complex by using a combination of statements. It is handy to create a filter to include certain records in a mail merge or report.
22. How come my Filter list says "Modified in Database"?
    Filters that use User, Numeric, Money, Date fields or Categories are database specific. These fields may be different from database to database. For example, Categories in my "Sales" database may be different from Categories in my "Leads" database. The "Modified in Database" column lets you know which database the filter was last modified in. If your filters are things like "Everyone in the State of Florida", they will still have a "Modified in Database" but they will work identically in all your databases.
23. What is BDE? What is it used for?
    The BDE  is the Borland Database Engine that Contact Plus uses to access the data files. Making changes to this folder or parameters in the program. greatly affect Contact Plus. It is imperative that the folder is not moved or deleted.
24. When I run a third party program like Clean Sweep it says that the BDE is not being used by any program? Is is safe to delete it?
    NO! Making changes or deleting the BDE program will affect the Contact Plus program greatly. It is imperative that the Borland folder not be moved or deleted.
25. How do I transfer data files from one computer to another?
    If you want to transfer data from one machine to another, run the Backup procedure on the first computer and then run the Restore program on the second computer. IMPORTANT Note that ALL databases on the second computer will be overwritten in this process. To synchronize data from one computer to another you can upgrade to Contact Plus Professional and Smart Merge.
26. Can I use my own email client with Contact Plus?
    Whatever email program is registered with the operating system as the default MAPI email is the one that is launched from Contact Plus. The Windows operating system typically comes with some type of email client, at the very least the Inbox icon on the Windows desktop. This program is MAPI compliant and can be used for your email with Contact Plus.
27. How can I set up my Outlook to be the default email client?
    Follow these steps:
    Outlook Express 4.x and Windows 98
    On the Outlook Tools menu, click Options. On the General tab, click the Make Outlook Express my default Simple MAPI client check box to select it. Click Yes when you are prompted to set Outlook Express as your default Simple MAPI client. Quit Outlook Express, and then restart your computer.
    
    Outlook Express 5
    On the Tools menu, click Options. On the General tab, click Make Default next to This application is the default mail handler. Click OK.
28. How can I set up Eudora Pro to be the default email client?
    To make Eudora Pro the default mail program in the Tools menu of Eudora, choose Options. Choose the option "MAPI". Change "Use Eudora MAPI Server" to Always. Click OK.
29. How do I move not done events to today?
    The easiest way to move a group of events in Contact Plus for Windows is to use the Month view. You can click on individual items in the window at the bottom, and drag them to other days. You can move multiple events by checking them with the ctrl key held down.
30. What does Index out of Date mean? What does Record Key Deleted mean? What should I do?
    Run the Database Repair program and repair the database. If you are using Contact Plus Personal and the error specified a specific database like the EVENT.DB file, you can select that file to repair. Also, if you are having problems with the EVENT.DB, it is a good idea to do a Normalize after the rebuild to make certain there are no corrupt dates or times. If "Index Out of Date" or "Record Key Deleted" continues to appear, check the Updates Page to confirm you have the latest version of Contact Plus Personal for Windows.
31. Why should I run a database repair? Which databases should I repair?
    If you encounter problems viewing, creating, or changing events, repair the EVENT.DB file. If you are encountering problems that seem to occur when you go from one contact to the next, try repairing CONTACT.DB. Also, running Normalize on the EVENT.DB is useful for making sure there are no invalid dates or times.
32. Can I transfer a text field to a number field?
    Yes, a text field can be transferred to a numeric field, but the information must be numbers only (0-9) and must not contain any alpha characters. Use Database Utilities, Global Update to perform this procedure.