Sorcerer Software Users Newsletter Issue 0407 Welcome to our monthly newsletter, covering the latest updates, tips and user questions about our software programs. If you have an issue or question you would like to see addressed in a future newsletter, either by me or by your fellow users, please email me and I'll include it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- July 31, 2004 CONTENTS: 1. The Abacus 2. Envelope Printer 3. If it's July, it must be time for the annual Bulwer-Lytton contest! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Abacus http://www.TheAbacus.biz Sometime things go awry when installing Abacus -- even when just upgrading. When this happens, I usually get emails that just say something like "I tried to install Abacus and it wouldn't install", or other helpful information. But sometimes users write and tell me exactly what happened, like in this email that I received the other day: "I clicked on the Copy Files button and this message was displayed on the screen: The abacus files were NOT installed correctly. Abacus.dot was NOT correctly copied. FAQ htm WAS correctly copied. AbUninstal.exe WAS correctly copied. What do I do now?" This user was trying to install the Word add-in version of Abacus (also known as version 3.0, as opposed to Abacus SE). Her installation actually went smoothly with a single exception: the main Abacus file, "Abacus.dot", was not correctly installed. This is a simple problem that just requires us to manually copy the file "Abacus.dot" into Word's "startup" folder, which is typically located at: c:\program files\microsoft office\office\startup So why would this step fail? There are a few reasons, such as: -- atypical Word/Office installation (like on a network drive); -- corrupt Word installation; -- more than one copy of Word is installed; -- other (unknown, even to Microsoft). In this case, I sent the user (Janis) a copy of the "Abacus.dot" file and had her download it directly to her Word "startup" folder. It took us a matter of minutes and she was then up and running. It's really great when someone tells me what the problem is, right off the bat! So what's the moral of this story? I'm always glad to help when anyone has problems with Abacus. But to paraphrase Jerry McGuire, "Help me to help you." Let me know, in as much detail as you can stomach, exactly what's going wrong, and tell me what version of Abacus, Word and Windows you are using. Pretty please. The current version 3.0 Abacus build is 040621. If you have an earlier build of version 3.0, you may want to download and upgrade to this build. This is the Word "add-in" version. To get your Abacus version and build number, start Abacus and click on the copyright message at the bottom of the main screen. The current Abacus SE build is 040623. If you have an earlier build of Abacus SE, you may want to download and upgrade to this build. This is the freestanding version. To get your build number, start Abacus and click on "Help->About". -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Envelope Printer http://www.sorcerersoftware.com/envelope.htm I recently received this emailed question from an Envelope Printer user: "Can the return address ONLY be printed on an envelope? If so, please tell me the steps." Yes, it can. This feature can be quite useful if you just want to have a stash of envelopes with just your return address, or if you are using mailing labels and just want your return address printed. Here are the steps: 1. Select (or create) the return address you want to use. 2. Leave the address fields (on the program's main screen) blank. All 5 of them. 3. Click on the printer icon or on "Print->Print". In addition, you can print an image (such as a logo) and/or a message along with the return address but without printing an address. To print a message and/or image, go to the Envelope Options screen and select the image and message you want to use. Make sure you check the boxes labeled "Display message" and "Display image", and then click on either the "Use" or "Save" button. And that should do it! The current Envelope Printer build is 040125 of version 7.0. If you have an earlier build or version, you may want to download and upgrade to this build. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest results! Once again we have a treat from the world's great literature. Yes, I'm talking about the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, commemorating the anniversary of the birth of that famous Victorian novelist himself, Edward George Earl Bulwer- Lytton. Regular readers of this newsletter know that we like opening lines of the world's great books, and the contest rules are simple: Write an opening line that would be worthy of Bulwer-Lytton himself. If you are unfamiliar with this contest, you may want to take a look at the web site for the contest which is held each year by the English department at San Jose State University (see below). If this all sounds unfamiliar to you, I have one thing to say: "It was a dark and stormy night." Snoopy didn't write that. Bulwer-Lytton did, in 1830. Need I say more? Although there is an overall winner of the contest, there are also winners in individual categories. One of my favorites, for example, is from the "Miscellaneous Dishonorable Mentions" category, and reprinted here for your amusement: "Maynard Fimble was told that "you can't compare apples and oranges," but, he thought, they are both eatable, grow on trees, are about the same size, are good for you, have a peel, come in many varieties, and are approximately round in shape, thus, to his horror and guilt, he realized that he was comparing them and wondered what punishment awaited him and on whose order." -- Michael Janicki Middleton, WI By the way, this is not your high school English class. This is intended to be comedy. Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest web site: http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/english/2003.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That's all, folks. Look for our next newsletter in about 4 weeks... -- Bill bill@sorcerersoftware.com Sorcerer Software http://www.sorcerersoftware.com To read all the old newsletters, go to: http://www.sorcerersoftware.com/archives.htm To be removed from our mailing list, send me an email with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.