Quick Start Instructions for Using Postage $aver for Parcels for Mac with Filemaker Pro files

Transcription

1 Quick Start Instructions for Using Postage $aver for Parcels for Mac with Filemaker Pro files Installing the Postage $aver for Parcels Demo When you downloaded the Postage $aver for Parcels demo from our web site, the Postage $aver for Parcels demo installer was saved on your desktop. The installer is called "InstallPostage$averForParcels.dmg". If the installer file doesn't open automatically, double-click it. The installer should then show you the standard Mac installer screen. Follow the instructions on that screen to install the software. The installer also contains the complete Postage $aver for Parcels User Guide. Running a quick demonstration using the Postage $aver for Parcels sample file We suggest you run the sample file before using Postage $aver for Parcels for your own file. You won't have to set anything up and you can see how Postage $aver for Parcels works quickly and easily. 1.) After installing the Postage $aver for Parcels demo, double-click the Postage $aver for Parcels icon (the yellow carton), which should be on your desktop or in your Applications folder. If you are asked for a registration code, click "Run As Demo" to continue your demo without entering a registration code. 2.) In Postage $aver for Parcels, click on the yellow carton to start preparing your mailing. For a quick demo, just click "next" on each screen to use the sample information without making any changes, or you can fill in the actual information for your own mailings. There is a complete help page for each screen. 3.) After the information screens are complete, you will be asked to choose the file you want to sort. Navigate to your Documents folder and choose "Postage $aver for Parcels Sample" (or "Postage $aver for Parcels Sample.xls"). 4.) The next screen will verify that Postage $aver for Parcels can read the file, and will show you how many addresses the file contains. Click Finish to begin sorting the file. 5.) Postage $aver for Parcels will now sort your mailing list and show you its progress. When it has finished, it will give you the option of printing one or more reports. Choose the reports you want to print, or skip printing. Here are the reports that you can print: Postage Statement submitted to USPS with your shipment Mail Preparation Instructions for your use assembling your mailing Price Qualification Report submitted to USPS (except First Class Package Services shipments) Zone Report submitted to USPS (Bound Printed Matter shipments only) Sack Tags used to label each sack 6.) Postage $aver for Parcels will now create and save your shipping labels and will save your tracking numbers and sorting information back into the sample file.

2 7.) Postage $aver for Parcels is now ready to print your shipping labels. For sample purposes, you can just print your labels on any legal-size paper. 8.) After you print your labels, Postage $aver for Parcels is ready to submit your tracking file to USPS. Since you are running a sample, you should not submit the file to USPS. Using Postage $aver with Your Own Files Setting up your Filemaker Pro file to use with Postage $aver: Filemaker Pro saves the data it stores in a private format, so its files cannot be read directly by Postage $aver for Parcels. However, it is easy to send files from Filemaker Pro to Postage $aver for Parcels and back again. 1. First, DEFINE new fields in your Filemaker Pro file as follows. These are fields that Postage $aver for Parcels will fill. Suggested Column Name Purpose Data Type Minimum Size TRACKING USPS tracking number Text 22 MAILSORT Sorting order Number or Text 6 SACK Sack number Number or Text 5 BUNDLE Bundle number (BPM only) Number or Text 5 2. Create a File for Postage $aver for Parcels to Sort: To prepare a Filemaker Pro file to be read by Postage $aver for Parcels: FIND the records you want to include in your mailing. EXPORT the records to a new file, using the Import/Export command from the File menu. Choose "tab-separated" as your export file type. Choose "Don't format output." When the list of fields is displayed, be sure to select (by clicking next to the field) all fields that will be printed on the shipping labels, including name, company name, address, city, state and zip. (For more information on what fields Postage $aver for Parcels can import, please see the section that explains the Column Selection screen. The order of the fields does not matter. 3. Click OK to export the file. Be sure to remember the name of the file that you have created by exporting. Running Postage $aver: 1.) After installing the Postage $aver demo, double-click the Postage $aver icon (the yellow stamp), which should be on your desktop or in your Applications folder. If you are asked for a registration code, click "Run As Pro Demo" (for a barcoded mailing) or "Run As Lite Demo" (for a nonbarcoded mailing) to continue your demo without entering a registration code. 2.) In Postage $aver, click on the blue mailbox to start preparing the mailing. For an actual mailing, you need to fill in the information that applies to your own mailings. There is a complete help page for each screen. 3.) When you get to the screen with the headline "Postage $aver Preferences", go to the first section, "How Postage $aver Savers Your Data.

3 For the first question, "How should Postage $aver save the information for your mailing?", click the second choice, "Save it in a separate file and I'll import it into my file." This will tell Postage $aver to create a file that you will later import back into your Filemaker Pro file. For the next question, you can let Postage $aver name the file "P$sort1.txt", or you can name it each time. In either case, you will need to remember what the file is named, so you can find it later. For the file format, choose Tab-delimited. 4.) After the information screens are complete, you will be asked to choose the file you want to sort. Navigate to the file you exported from Filemaker Pro (not your actual Filemaker Pro file) and select it. 5.) The next screen will verify that Postage $aver can read the file, and will show you how many addresses the file contains. It is also where you tell Postage $aver for Parcels what columns (fields) in your mailing list file have the information that Postage $aver for Parcels needs, and into which columns Postage $aver for Parcels should save tracking and sorting information. Confirming the file that you opened: Postage $aver for Parcels will scan the mailing list file you have selected to determine its format and the number of records. If this does not match what you expect to see, make sure you have selected the correct file. If the screen shows one extra record, that may be because there is a field names record at the top of the file. For example, in Excel, there is usually a row that contains the names of the columns. You should not be concerned about a record count that is off by just one extra record. Record now showing in drop-downs: This section shows which record in your mailing list file is being viewed in the drop-down menus on the screen. You can click down through your mailing list file, record by record, to make sure you are selecting the correct columns in the drop-down menus.

4 At first, the drop-down menus are set to show either the first record in the mailing list, or, if the list has column names, the column names. You can change the view to another record or back again by using the previous record and next record buttons. Column identification lists: Your mailing list file has various pieces of information for each address, such as the zip code, the city, etc. Each piece of information is in a separate column (also called a field ) in your mailing list file. In some files, each column has a name to identify its contents. In other files, only the actual mailing list data is included, without a name for the column. Here is part of an Excel file showing columns with column names and mailing list data. Row 1 has the column names; row 2 and below has the mailing list data. Postage $aver for Parcels needs to know which columns contain the information it needs to prepare your mail. For example, in the file shown above, Postage $aver for Parcels needs to know that the company name is in the first column, the street address is in the second column, etc. Each item that Postage $aver for Parcels uses has a section on the Column Selection screen, so you can tell Postage $aver for Parcels where to find that item in your mailing list file. For example, Postage $aver for Parcels needs to know the zip code for each address, so there is a section where you can tell Postage $aver for Parcels where to find the zip code in your mailing list file. (Note that the whole zip code can either be in a single column, as shown in the Excel file above, or can be split into two columns): In each section, there is a drop-down list (shown by the down arrow) that shows all of the columns in your mailing list file, one address at a time. If your mailing list file has field names, the list will start by showing those. Otherwise, it will start with the first address in the file. (You can use the Record now showing buttons to step through the file to see other addresses.) Here s the drop-down list showing the field names the Postage $aver for Parcels automatically found in the Excel file shown above: Since this Excel file has the entire zip code in one column (rather than splitting it into two columns), you would use the drop-down list next to Complete Zip Code (as shown), and select the Zip column:

5 After you make your selection, it will show in the box at the top of the list: When you open your mailing list file in Postage $aver for Parcels, Postage $aver for Parcels will try to figure out which columns in your file match the information it needs, and will make selections from the lists on this screen for you automatically. If Postage $aver for Parcels has guessed correctly, you can leave it alone. But if Postage $aver for Parcels has left an item it needs blank, or has chosen incorrectly, you should make the correct selection for that item. Some items are optional, such as Sack #s. You are not required to provide a field for those items if you aren't going to use that information. Required items are indicated by an asterisk (*). A column in your data file cannot be assigned to more than one item, since there is no circumstance under which Postage $aver for Parcels would want to read the same field for two different items of information. If a field is assigned to one item, like Entire Zip Code, and you then try to assign it to another item, like First 5 Digits, it will be removed from the first item and that box will become blank. Once you have identified all of the columns you need, click "Finish". 6.) Postage $aver for Parcels will now sort your mailing list and show you its progress. When it has finished, it will give you the option of printing one or more reports. Choose the reports you want to print, or skip printing. Here are the reports that you can print: Postage Statement submitted to USPS with your shipment Mail Preparation Instructions for your use assembling your mailing Price Qualification Report submitted to USPS (except First Class Package Services shipments) Zone Report submitted to USPS (Bound Printed Matter shipments only) Sack Tags used to label each sack 7.) Postage $aver for Parcels will now create your shipping labels, and, depending on the options you have chosen, will now save your tracking and sorting information so that you can import it back into your Filemaker Pro file. Here's how to import that information. a. Without changing the group of found records you used when exporting your file, choose IMPORT records, using the Import/Export command from the File menu in Filemaker Pro. b. Choose the file where Postage $aver for Parcels saved the sorting information. The standard name for this file is P$sort1.txt. You'll find it in your Documents folder. Or, you may have told

6 Postage $aver for Parcels to let you name the file it saved, in which case you should choose the file with that name. c. When the list of fields is displayed, choose "Replace data in current found set" or "Update existing records in found set" (wording depends on your version of Filemaker Pro). d. Align your sorting fields and the tracking number field with the fields in the P$sort.1.txt file. The fields in the P$Sort1.txt file are in the following order: Sack Sequence Bundle Sequence Zip Sequence Tracking Number e. Click OK to import the file. f. Once you have imported the P$sort1.txt file into Filemaker Pro, you can use the SORT command to sort your mailing list in preparation order to match the Postage $aver for Parcels Mail Preparation Instructions. Sort your found records, in ascending order, by the Mailing Piece Sequence order. 8.) Postage $aver for Parcels is now ready to print your shipping labels. If you're ready to print your labels, you can do so. Or, you can print them later by choosing "Print Shipping Labels" from the File menu in Postage $aver for Parcels. Shipping labels can be printed on standard legal-size 4x6 label sheets (4 labels per page), such as Quill product number Postage $aver for Parcels also supports Zebra label printers that are set for 203 ppi resolution, using 4x6 labels. See the Postage $aver for Parcels User Guide for setup details for your Zebra printer. Each set of labels is saved for printing only until you prepare another list. Labels sets are not saved permanently. 9.) After you print your labels, Postage $aver for Parcels is ready to submit your tracking file to USPS. You cannot submit a file until you have turned on the Parcel Data Exchange feature on the USPS Business Customer Gateway, and you cannot submit an actual mailing through the Parcel Data Exchange until you have had a test file and set of test labels approved by USPS. See "Applying for USPS Approval" in the Instructions/Help menu in Postage $aver for Parcels for details of the approval process. When you are ready to submit your file, Postage $aver for Parcels will show the Upload Tracking File screen. After you have uploaded your file, you can track the progress of your mailing on the USPS Business Customer Gateway, by choosing the Shipping Services option, then choosing the Parcel Data Exchange. Need More Help? All of the above information, plus a helpful tutorial on bulk mail, is contained in the Postage $aver for Parcels Help system. You can find it in the Instructions/Help menu when Postage $aver for Parcels is running. If you cannot find what you need in the Help system, please send us your question at our help page and we will respond promptly. Thanks again for trying Postage $aver for Parcels.