Update on Version 3.0 progress

04-24-2014
I know I should post more often but I just have too many different things going on in life.  It seems like there is always something else to do, and quite frankly I would rather be programming than posting a blog update.  However, I believe it is important to try and do updates on progress from time to time and will try to do so once a month.

Lots of progress has been made.  I am now ready to unveil the "overall" main screen for Envelope Printer 3.0

Here it is:


Since I am already taking the time to post, I guess I will outline some of the basic features of the screen and how the program works.

For example:

The tree gadget sorting is based on one of three indexes.  The Standard index which is highlighted here, will consist of each record being indexed on the Name Line, City, State.  Thus if I were to have multiple addresses for say Aetna with one in Anchorage AK, Fairbanks AK and another in Dallas TX, the indexing would be Aetna with the Anchorage AK address listed first, the Fairbanks AK address listed second and finally the Dallas TX address last.  You will not actually see the City, State in the Tree Listing, just Aetna, Aetna, and Aetna.   Of course you could change the Indexed As field to read "Aetna (Anchorage)", "Aetna (Fairbanks)" and "Aetna (Dallas)".  In which case you would now see the "City" portion in the tree listing.  The Indexed as field is free-form.  Similarly, Alt 1 and Alt 2 work the same way.  These two alternative indexes would be "Activated" by simply checking the approptedly named check-box "Alt 1" or "Alt 2".

While these three Indexes allow you to view the information in the address book tree, they do not limit the information seen.  In other words, all addresses associated with the UserSet will be displayed in the address book tree.  In order, to narrow down which addresses are being listed in the address book tree, to make it easier to find a specific address an address can be assigned to multiple categories.  There are a total of ten (10) categories.  The first three categories are system defined as "ALL", "Personal" and "Business".  The remaining seven (7) categories are user defined under Tools->Options->Categories.  You could have a Category of "Bills" for example.  Every address that was associated with a monthly bill that you paid would be assigned to the "Bills" category.  To do this, you would simply edit each address and check the box labeled as "Bills" (in the example below there are no user defined categories at this time so you will have to use your imagination). The drop down located above the address book tree labeled "Addresses to display" would allow you to select the specific category that would be used to filter the address book tree. So, if in the "Addresses to display" drop down you had selected "Bills", then only the addresses that had the check-box associated with "Bills" under the "List in Categories" section would be listed in the address book tree.


In my prior post I alluded to UserSets.  The UserSet being used will be displayed in the upper right hand corner of the screen
(Highlighted here is placeholder text).

Again, the UserSet will include return address information, a bitmap/jpeg logo that will display/print to the left of the Return address, default font's to be used, default printer, envelope paper size, etc.  Each address in the address book will be associated to a UserSet.  Therefore, you could think of each UserSet as being it's own address book within the address book.  However, one address entered under one UserSet will not be available for printing under a different UserSet.  The address would have to be entered into each UserSet in order to be present in that UserSet's list of addresses.  I am thinking about providing an option that will allow the use of "independent" address books by UserSet to be turned on and off.  If turned off, then all addresses will be associated with all UserSets and the UserSet would not be used as another filtering mechanism.  If turned on, then the UserSet is just another filtering mechanism associating a specific return address to specific entries in the address book.

Anyway, I hope this provides y'all with a little glimpse into the progress being made towards Version 3.0.  At the pace I am moving I am still expecting Beta testing to begin in June/July.  I have not encountered too many major problems that would push this back, but then again, tomorrow is another day and anything could happen between now and then.   I will also try to post each month at least one update.   Most of the programming now, is "behind the scenes" type stuff so will not include too many screen shots.

Take care and enjoy life,

Kevin



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