Compiling a name and address list

This example shows how you can enter any type of information such as a library catalogue, a book index or bibliography, or a name and address list into the Cambridge Z88 using PipeDream.

You will learn how to:

• Enter information

• Find any particular information you want

• Organise the information

• Print out all, or a selection, of the information in an orderly table

Preparing the document

Because you are going to enter lists of information, rather than a block of text for formatting into a document, you should first alter the Wrap option on the Options Page so that words do not wrap around onto the next line when they reach the right-hand margin.

Select the Options Page by typing

O. You will see a display showing the different options you can select for your document, and information about the document.

Move the cursor down to the wrap option by pressing

until the cursor is opposite the word Wrap. Then type N to change the option value from Y (Yes) to N (No) to stop wrapping altogether:

Finally press the 

 key to return to the document.

Setting up headings

Before entering information into PipeDream, it is good practice to set up headings to specify how the information will be arranged. Since you are going to create a name and address list, the headings will simply correspond to the name and address, with one reserved for additional information.

When you start a new sheet in PipeDream you are given six columns, each 12 characters wide. Although you can enter lines of text much wider than this in each column, it will make working with the name and address information simpler if, at this point, you make each of the columns in the document wider. You do this with the Width command in the LAYOUT menu.

Press the 

 key until the LAYOUT menu is displayed. The Width command may already be highlighted as it is the first item on the menu; otherwise use the cursor keys to highlight it. Then press 

 to select it. In reply to the prompt

New width

type

24

and press 

 to carry out the change. (You can ignore the other prompt - Specify column.)

The width of the column containing the cursor, column A, will increase to 24 characters.

Now move the cursor into column B by pressing the 

 key, and repeat the procedure to set the width of column B to 24 also. You can, if you wish, select the Width command directly without going through the LAYOUT menu, by typing

W.

Continue until you have set each of the columns A to F to a width of 24 characters. Notice that when you press the 

 key to get from column C to column D, the document moves to the left on the screen so that columns D and E come into view without the cursor position changing.

Then move the cursor back to the left-hand side of column A by typing 

.

Type the following headings, pressing the 

 key between each heading to move the cursor to the beginning of the next column.

Notice that when you type the word Town and press the 

 key, the document scrolls to the left so that the column headed 'D' comes clearly into view:

So, although you can only see three of the six columns in your document at any one time, it is a simple matter to move about and find the information you want.

Although it should be quite obvious what you will be using each of the first five headings for, you may be wondering what the purpose of the last heading Info might be. You can use this to record additional information about all of the people in your address list, such as whether you sent them a Christmas card last year, when their birthday is, or any other information you would like to be able to recall. In the following examples the field will contain the person's age.

Entering some information

Move the cursor back to the left-hand side of column A by typing 

. Press the 

 key to move the cursor to row 2.

You can now type the first name into slot A2.

Bell , A

Press the 

 key when you have finished typing the name to move the cursor across to the address column, column B. Type in the address, remembering to press the 

 key between each item:

Enter the other names and addresses given below on lines 3, 4, 5, and 6 of your document in exactly the same way. Of course, if you prefer, you can compile your own list. If part of an address is too long to fit within one column, just keep typing; although you will not be able to see all the information in that column, it will be retained and you will be able to refer to it later.

Also, be sure to keep to the headings at the top of the document. For example, if a particular address does not have anything corresponding to a county, leave that column blank so that you put the postcode under the correct heading. This will enable you to search for a particular postcode, as described later.

Complete the table as follows:

Name        Address        Town        County   Postcode  Info
Bell, A     2 Ringway       Tring       Herts    TE1 2LM   24
Long, C     9 Knott Close  Farnham     Surrey   WAY 2G0   27
Rover, A    4 Chase Mews   Kenilworth  Warw.    K9 WUF    12
Bird, J     27 Wood Lane   Bath        Avon     CB1 L23   14
Hill, Max   10 Upper Street Steep       Hants    UP 21T    43