% USER MANUAL in Plain TeX \input formlett.sty % FONTS \font\hbold=cmbx10 at 17.28pt \font\lbold=cmbx10 at 14.4pt \font\bbold=cmbx10 at 12pt \font\small=cmr8 \font\tiny=cmr5 \font\stt=cmtt9 \catcode`\@=11\relax % % % % OTHER MACROS % \catcode`\~=11\relax \def\t{{\tt ~}} \catcode`\~=\active\relax \catcode`\!=0\relax !catcode`!\=11!relax !def!esc{\}!def!escs{\! } !catcode`!\=0!relax \catcode`\!=12\relax \def\rqs{\rq\ } \def\LaTeX{{\rm L\kern-.36em\raise.3ex\hbox{\font\sc=cmcsc10\sc a}\kern-.15em T\kern-.1667em\lower.7ex\hbox{E}\kern-.125emX}} % makeshift macro \catcode`\^^M=13\relax% \def\setraw{\bgroup\rm@ligature\set@space\set@tab% \set@cr\stt\raw@chars[11][13][13][13][13]\def^^M{\strut\par}\setraw@@}% \edef\temp@macro{% \noexpand\long\noexpand\def\noexpand\setraw@@\noexpand##1^^M##2% \esc@ unsetraw{##1##2\noexpand\egroup}}\temp@macro % \catcode`\^^M=5\relax% \font\ninerm=cmr9 \font\eightrm=cmr8 \font\ninei=cmmi9 \font\eighti=cmmi8 \font\ninesy=cmsy9 \font\eightsy=cmsy8 \font\ninebf=cmbx9 \font\eightbf=cmbx8 \font\ninett=cmtt9 \font\eighttt=cmtt8 \font\nineit=cmti9 \font\eightit=cmti8 \font\ninesl=cmsl9 \font\eightsl=cmsl8 \font\sixrm=cmr6 \font\sixi=cmmi6 \font\sixsy=cmsy6 \font\sixbf=cmbx6 \skewchar\ninei='177 \skewchar\eighti='177 \skewchar\sixi='177 \skewchar\ninesy='60 \skewchar\eightsy='60 \skewchar\sixsy='60 \hyphenchar\ninett=-1 \hyphenchar\eighttt=-1 \hyphenchar\tentt=-1 \font\tentex=cmtex10 \font\inchhigh=cminch \font\titlefont=cmssdc10 at 40pt % titles in chapter openings \font\eightss=cmssq8 % quotations in chapter closings \font\eightssi=cmssqi8 % ditto, slanted \font\tenu=cmu10 % unslanted te~t italic \font\manual=manfnt % METAFONT logo and special symbols \font\magnifiedfiverm=cmr5 at 10pt % to demonstrate magnification \newskip\ttglue \def\eightpoint{\def\rm{\fam0\eightrm}% switch to 8-point type \textfont0=\eightrm \scriptfont0=\sixrm \scriptscriptfont0=\fiverm \textfont1=\eighti \scriptfont1=\sixi \scriptscriptfont1=\fivei \textfont2=\eightsy \scriptfont2=\sixsy \scriptscriptfont2=\fivesy \textfont3=\tenex \scriptfont3=\tenex \scriptscriptfont3=\tenex \textfont\itfam=\eightit \def\it{\fam\itfam\eightit}% \textfont\slfam=\eightsl \def\sl{\fam\slfam\eightsl}% \textfont\ttfam=\eighttt \def\tt{\fam\ttfam\eighttt}% \textfont\bffam=\eightbf \scriptfont\bffam=\sixbf \scriptscriptfont\bffam=\fivebf \def\bf{\fam\bffam\eightbf}%, \tt \ttglue=.5em plus.25em minus.15em \normalbaselineskip=9pt \setbox\strutbox=\hbox{\vrule height7pt depth2pt width0pt}% \let\sc=\sixrm \let\big=\eightbig \normalbaselines\rm} %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % % END OF EXTRA MACROS AND FONTS % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% \catcode`\@=11\relax \PAGENO=1 \voffset=-0.3in \ifx\pageno\undefined \errmessage{Please run TeX if you want this article on how to use to be processed as well!} \fi \parindent=0pt \hsize=469.75499pt % the default \vsize=9.6in %8.83in \def\makefootline{\baselineskip=24pt \line{\the\footline}} \footline={\lower5pt \hbox to \hsize {{\tenrm Jiang Z ~~~{\tensl Mail merge with the use of formlett.sty} \hss \folio}}} \leftline{\hbold Mail merge with the use of formlett.sty} \bigskip {\advance\leftskip by13mm \overfullrule=0pt \advance\rightskip by 20mm %28mm \sl \noindent Zhuhan JIANG\par \noindent School of Computing and Information Technology, University of Western Sydney, Victoria Road, Parramatta NSW 2150, Australia. {\sl ~~Email}:~z.jiang@uws.edu.au\par \medskip \rm\smooth \noindent (Last updated on 26 May 2003)\par \medskip \noindent In this article, the author explains how to use a form-letter or mail merge style {\tt formlett.sty}, designed for plain \TeX\space and \LaTeX\space or \LaTeX2e. {\tt formlett.sty} supports different parameter input methods, parameter naming and defaulting mechanism, as well as facilities for previewing parameter positions and printing labels. It is written for the purpose of being powerful, robust and above all easy to use.\par } \begincolumns {\lbold Introduction} \smallskip Our purpose here is to describe a comprehensive implementation of a macro system, handling form letters or mail merge under plain \TeX\space or \LaTeX\space2.09 or \LaTeX2e. The main objective is to provide an easy way to output many form letters with their own parameters, with or without the use of multiple files. There will be a coherent and simple format for putting parameters inside a form letter, with a number of helping facilities for such as naming parameters and previewing their positions. A minimum support for printing mailing labels is also provided. \medskip The concept of macros [1] for form letters is not new: there already exist macros in this connection such as {\tt merge}, {\tt textmerg} and {\tt address} to name a few, see [2,3] for further details. Our stress here is therefore laid on the ease to use, along with the power and the robustness of the macros. \bigskip {\lbold Basic format} %%%%%%%%%%%% % letter top %%%%%%%%%%%% \beginletter \sl \hsize=3.1in\relax \medskip \paranames % optional \tt<>;% \tt<>;% \tt<>;% \tt<>;% \tt<>;% \tt<>! \loaddefaultparas % optional \NOPAGENUMBERS\parindent=0pt\overfullrule=0pt \paras[1]\par\paras[2]\par\paras[3]\par\medskip Dear \paras[4], \smallskip We have been looking for \paras[5] for quite a while without any luck, could you help us out? If so, please ring \paras[6]. \par\medskip Cheers!\hfill Michael\par %\vfill\eject \medskip \endletter %%%%%%%%%%%% % letter end %%%%%%%%%%%% Suppose we would like to write a form letter for mail merge in the following form \showparas where the text inside the double arrow brackets are to be replaced by the parameters specific to each individual letter. If we number these parameters one by one in a single group, then the letter template will be organised as \preview and we need just 6 parameters to personalise an individual letter. A simplest example of supplying a set or a {\sl cluster} of these parameters to output a merged form letter is to use \setraw \moreletter Mrs L Stenson;\#1-20 Sunset Street;% Hills, Norway;Louise;a Bible;220-8888! \unsetraw For more letters to be merged this way, just use again the command {\tt\string\moreletter} in the above format, in which each parameter is separated by a semicolon `{\tt ;}' and the whole parameter cluster is ended by an exclamation mark `{\tt !}'. The actual code in \LaTeX\space for making the above form letter, along with an extra merged letter, may read as follows \edef\setrawcount{\stt\noexpand \beginrawlist[][][4][][][3.3in]{\esc@ unsetraw}} \linecount=1\relax \setrawcount \documentstyle[formlett]{article} \begin{document} \beginletter \NOPAGENUMBERS\parindent=0pt \paras[1]\par\paras[2]\par \paras[3]\par\medskip Dear \paras[4], \par\medskip We have been looking for \paras[5] for quite a while without any luck, could you help us out? If so, please ring \paras[6]. \par\medskip Cheers!\hfill Michael\vfill\eject \endletter \moreletter % letter one Mrs L Stenson;\#1-20 Sunset Street;% Hills, Norway;Louise;a Bible;220-8888! \moreletter % letter two S Wales;UMIST;Manchester;Sir or Madam;% a \TeX\ package{+}manual;225-9905! \end{document} \unsetraw \rm The line numbers in the above and later on are for quick reference only: they are not a part of the program code. The letter template in lines 4-13 is defined by the {\tt\string\beginletter} and {\tt\string\endletter} pair in line 3 and line 14, with each use of {\tt\string\moreletter} generating a new merged letter. We note that command {\tt \string\paras[{\it m}]} represents the $m^{th}$ merged parameter (of the first group, see later), and the command {\tt\string\NOPAGENUMBERS} will remove the page numbering for both \LaTeX\space and plain \TeX. We also note that if one replaces lines 1-2 by {\tt\string\input\space formlett.sty}, then the program will be compilable under plain \TeX\space as well. \medskip Although the mail merge mechanism in the above will be sufficient for most simple applications, {\tt formlett} provides in fact many more features. We shall thus in the followings introduce the main features one by one, from the most useful to the less likely encountered. \medskip To start with, we notice that in the above example there are exactly two parameters to be used for the address. This is inconvenient to say the least, even if we allocate say three more extra parameters for the purpose. This naturally calls for the separation of the whole {\sl cluster} of parameters into several {\sl groups}, so that the numbering of the parameters in every group will be resynchronised. We thus use {\tt\string\paras[{\it m}][{\it n}]} to denote the $m^{th}$ parameter of the $n^{th}$ group of a whole cluster of merging parameters. In fact we may use {\tt\string\blockparas[{\it m}][{\it n}][{\it pre}][{\it post}]} to represent parameters in the $n^{th}$ group, from the $m^{th}$ to the last parameter of that group, where the tokens denoted by {\it pre} and {\it post} are those to be added in front and behind respectively each of the legitimate parameters. The defaults for {\it pre} and {\it post} are {\tt\string\noindent} and {\tt\string\par} respectively. It is therefore more sensible to specify the merging parameters of the earlier example via %%%%%%%%%%%% % letter top %%%%%%%%%%%% \beginletter \sl \hsize=3.1in\relax \medskip \paranames % optional \tt<>\hfill \tiny\fillzeros[4]\linecount\global\advance\linecount1\relax\par;% \tt<>\hfill \tiny\fillzeros[4]\linecount\global\advance\linecount1\relax\par;% +\tt<>;% \tt<>;% \tt<>! \loaddefaultparas % optional \NOPAGENUMBERS\parindent=0pt\overfullrule=0pt \noindent{\it\paras[1]}\par \blockparas[2]\par\medskip Dear \paras[1][2], \smallskip We have been looking for \paras[2][2] for quite a while without any luck, could you help us out? If so, please ring \paras[3][2]. \par\medskip Cheers!\hfill Michael\par %\vfill\eject \medskip \endletter %%%%%%%%%%%% % letter end %%%%%%%%%%%% \showparas where {\tt <>} will be produced by {\tt\string\blockparas[2][1]}, i.e. all the parameters of the first group, starting from the 2nd parameter. We note that the missing square-bracketed macro parameters for {\tt\string\blockparas} are automatically provided: in fact macro parameters in {\tt formlett} are systematically defaulted. Hence for example, {\tt \string\paras[1][1]} is equivalent to any of the following commands \setraw \paras, \paras[1], \paras[][1], \paras[1][], \paras[][] \unsetraw As for the more precise position of the merging parameters, they can always be viewed via the command {\tt\string\preview}, which in this case gives the following positioning \preview This way, the mail merge for the above letter template can also be done (in plain \TeX) in the following more flexible way \setrawcount \input formlett.sty \beginletter \NOPAGENUMBERS\parindent=0pt \noindent{\it\paras[1]}\par \blockparas[2]\par\bigskip Dear \paras[1][2],\par\medskip We have been looking for \paras[2][2] for quite a while without any luck, could you help us out? If so, please ring \paras[3][2]. \par\medskip Cheers!\hfill Michael\vfill\eject \endletter \preview \beginpilemode Mrs L Stenson;\#1-20 Sunset Street Hills, Norway+Louise;a Bible;220-8888! S Wales;UMIST;Manchester+% Sir or Madam;a \TeX\space package{+}manual;225-9905! \endpilemode \end \unsetraw \rm We note that by default we used plus sign `{\tt +}' to separate different groups inside a cluster of parameters, and each cluster inside a {\tt\string\beginpilemode} and {\tt\string\endpilemode} pair will output a merged letter, as if it were produced by command {\tt\string\moreletter} followed by that cluster of parameters. The output of the first merged letter in fact reads \moreletter Mrs L Stenson;\#1-20 Sunset Street Hills, Norway+Louise;a Bible;220-8888! \medskip It is often desirable to supply parameters line by line, i.e. one line as one parameter. Hence the two merged letters produced by lines 25-47 can also be made by replacing the content included in the {\tt\string\beginpilemode} and {\tt\string\endpilemode} pair (lines 39-46) by the following new code \setrawcount \blockmarks \beginblockmode Mrs L Stenson \#1-20 Sunset Street Hills, Norway ----- Louise a Bible 220-8888 ====== S Wales UMIST Manchester ---- Sir or Madam a \TeX\ package+manual 225-9905 ==== \endblockmode \defaultmarks \unsetraw \rm where obviously we have used lines with `{\tt----}' to separate groups and used lines with `{\tt====}' to end a cluster of parameters. This was done by the use of {\tt\string\blockmarks} which changes the group delimiter `{\tt +}' and cluster delimiter `{\tt !}' into the above two new ones, with the {\tt\string\defaultmarks} at the end setting them back. If the whole cluster of parameters are categorised into a single (first) group, then we may even use a block of consecutive nonempty lines to provide the merging parameters. This is done by the use of command pair {\tt\string\beginlinemode} and {\tt\string\endlinemode}. Hence we may also conduct the above mail merge in for instance \LaTeX2e by \setrawcount \documentclass{article} \usepackage{formlett} \begin{document} \beginletter \NOPAGENUMBERS\parindent=0pt \paras[4]\par\blockparas[5] \par\medskip Dear \paras[1], \par\medskip We have been looking for \paras[2] for quite a while without any luck, could you help us out? If so, please ring \paras[3]. \par\medskip Cheers!\hfill Michael\vfill\eject \endletter \beginlinemode Louise a Bible 220-8888 Mrs L Stenson \#1-20 Sunset Street Hills, Norway Sir or Madam a \TeX\ package+manual 225-9905 S Wales UMIST Manchester \endlinemode \end{document} \unsetraw \rm Notice that we have changed the numbering order of the parameters so that the number of address lines output by {\tt\string\blockparas} is more flexible. \bigskip {\lbold Advanced features} The advanced features to be discussed below are mainly for the purpose of (i) writing {\sl long} form letter; (ii) making {\sl many} different form letters; (iii) reading mail merge parameters that are in {\sl crude} ASCII form; and (iv) generating mail labels. \medskip It is in general better to keep the letter template, i.e. the content between {\tt\string\beginletter} and {\tt\string\endletter} like those in lines 4-13, in a separate file, say {\tt myletter.let}, and use {\tt\string\inputletter$\{$myletter.let$\}$} to load in the letter template. The advantage of this over the previously used method is that the letter template can now be arbitrarily large without any risks of causing computer memory problem. \medskip Suppose we have a collection of letter templates, we may wish to remind ourselves what each parameter represents. For this purpose, we may add at the top of the letter template a command {\tt\string\paranames} {\it cluster}{\tt !}, where {\it cluster} is a cluster of parameters each giving a name to the corresponding parameter. Command {\tt\string\paranames} takes its macro parameters in the same way {\tt\string\moreletter} does. After a letter template is read in, command {\tt\string\showparas} will output a form letter with its parameters replaced by the corresponding names. The mainly italic passage containing lines 23-24, for instance, is the output of {\tt\string\showparas} for the letter template in lines 102-109 given explicitly later on. \medskip We may also use {\tt\string\paradefaults} {\it cluster}{\tt !} to provide default parameters, i.e. the parameters to replace the empty or not entered ones, and use {\tt\string \loaddefaultparas} inside letter template to activate the parameter defaulting. We note that in general commands {\tt\string\paranames} and {\tt\string\loaddefaultparas}, if present, should be at the top of the letter template, with {\tt\string\loaddefaultparas} below the command {\tt\string\paranames}. Hence for our previous mail merge, we may re-do it via \setrawcount \input formlett.sty \beginletter \paranames % optional \tt<>;\tt<>;% +\tt<>;\tt<>;% \tt<>! \loaddefaultparas % optional \unsetraw \ \ \ {\it $\{$letter details given in lines 27-36$\}$} \hfill{\tiny\fillzeros[4]\linecount\global\advance\linecount1\relax} \setrawcount \endletter \preview \showparas \paradefaults % optional To whom this may concern +Sir or Madam;something;% 061-225-9905! \blockmarks \beginrawblockmode{} Mrs L Stenson #1-20 Sunset Street Hills, Norway ------ Louise a Bible 220-8888 ========= ...... Above empty line active \endrawblockmode \defaultmarks \end{document} \unsetraw \rm We note that in {\sl blockmode} with {\tt\string\blockmarks}, a line with `{\tt ....}' marks the immediate start of a parameter block, whether or not the lines immediately following it are empty or not. Also that in {\it rawblockmode} enclosed by {\tt\string \beginrawblockmode} and {\tt\string\endrawblockmode}, all characters are input in their original ASCII form. In other words, the special characters for \TeX\space will be ignored here. \medskip If the merging parameters are given by exactly $m$ lines per cluster, as is often the case when they are produced by a database utility, then we may use the {\tt\string\begindatamode} and {\tt\string\enddatamode} pair to mark the beginning and the end of the merging parameters. For more details, see the Appendix at the end. \medskip We may keep the letter template and the merging parameters in two separate files. For instance, if we save lines 103-108 to file {\tt myletter.let}, lines 39-46 or lines 48-68 to file {\tt myletter.adr}, then we can produce via \LaTeX\ the mail merge by \setrawcount \documentstyle[formlett]{article} \begin{document} \inputletter{myletter.let} \showparas \preview % utility demo \paradefaults To whom it may concern! \inputfile{myletter.adr} \beginlabels % 1st group as address \inputfile{myletter.adr} % for labels \endlabels \end{document} \unsetraw \rm where the lines 140-142 will generate the address labels using the first group (as is intended here) of parameters. More precise format of {\tt\string\beginlabels} and etc can be found in the Appendix. \medskip Another way of making labels, if no separate files for the parameters are present, is to re-read the document itself and make labels instead of merged form letters in the second reading. We may thus use {\tt \string\input \ formlett.sty \string\initstyle\ [{\it styles}]$\{${\tt article}$\}\{${\it preamble}$\}$} to replace {\tt \string\documentstyle\ [formlett, {\it styles}]$\{$article$\}$ {\it preamble} \string\begin$\{$document$\}$}, which will be valid for \LaTeX\ but ignored for \TeX\ , and will enable one to use {\tt \string\labelsquit} at the end to read in the current document again with all the letters there converted into the corresponding labels. Though {\tt\string\initstyle} is valid for plain \TeX, \LaTeX2.09 as well as \LaTeX2e, {\tt\string\initclass} will generate {\tt\string\documentclass} instead of {\tt\string\documentstyle} when \LaTeX2e is the processing environment. If you only want to execute certain commands the first time round (i.e. before {\tt \string\labelsquit} re-reads the file again), use {\tt \string\firstread$\{${\it commands}$\}$} for this purpose. For more detailed use and examples, read the {\sl programmer's document} attached to the style file {\tt formlett.sty} and the example files it generates. In fact, many details and extra features that are not contained in this article may be found there. \medskip We already noted that if a form letter is large, we have to use {\tt\string\inputletter} to load in the template. However, it is often still desirable to keep everything inside a single file, while allowing it to make new (scratch) files when it is being compiled. We may thus use for example \setraw \beginfile{myletter.let} \unsetraw \ \ \ {\it $\{$letter template of lines 103-108$\}$} \setraw \endfile \unsetraw \rm to create a letter template file {\tt myletter.let}. Likewise, the merging parameters can be saved to another run-time created file {\tt myletter.adr}. \medskip We have so far only used the default delimiters `{\tt ;}', `{\tt +}' and `{\tt !}' to separate single, group and cluster of parameters, with temporary change via {\tt\string\blockmarks} to `{\tt ....}', `{\tt ----}' and `{\tt ====}' respectively. However we may change the delimiters to any characters by {\tt \string\delimiters$\{S\}\{G\}\{C\}$}, where $S$, $G$ and $C$ are the tokens to delimit single, group and cluster of parameters respectively, and change the delimiters back to the default by {\tt\string\defaultmarks} or equivalently by {\tt\string\delimiters$\{$;$\}\{$+$\}\{$!$\}$}. \medskip To conclude this section, let us finally look below at an `ideal' and `finished' mail merge application code,. It is currently in a form compilable under \LaTeX2e, and is also valid for plain \TeX\space if the first three lines (lines 144-146) are removed. \setrawcount \documentclass{article} \usepackage{formlett} % LaTeX2e \begin{document} %%%% MAKE file scr@tch@.let \beginfile{scr@tch@.let} % letter content \paranames <>;<
>+<>! \loaddefaultparas \parindent=0pt\blockparas\bigskip\bigskip Dear \paras, \par\bigskip This part is typically the letter content. It now displays all the items in the 2nd parameter group. They are \par \blockparas[][2] \vfill\eject \endfile %%%% MAKE file scr@tch@.adr \beginfile{scr@tch@.adr} % address file \blockmarks \beginblockmode T Teng UMIST Manchester M60 1QD ===== Z Jiang UNE Armidale NSW 2351 Australia ------ Email: zhuhan@neumann.une.edu.au ===== \endblockmode \defaultmarks \endfile % MAIN BODY \paradefaults To Whom It May Concern +No further info available{!}! \inputletter{scr@tch@.let} \inputfile{scr@tch@.adr}% for letters \beginlabels \inputfile{scr@tch@.adr}% for labels \endlabels \end{document} \unsetraw \rm We note that if we replace lines 144-146 by {\tt\string\input\space formlett.sty \string\initstyle$\{\}\{\}$}, then the mail merge can be processed by either plain \TeX\space or \LaTeX\space (including \LaTeX2e). It is likewise if {\tt\string\initstyle} in the replaced line is replaced furthermore by {\tt\string\initclass}, except that now the native \LaTeX2e environment is preserved, when applicable, rather than turning it into the compatibility mode of \LaTeX2.09. \bigskip {\lbold Programmer's tips} \smallskip First we note that all the macro parameters that are to appear inside square brackets of {\tt formlett}'s commands are defaulted, just like how {\tt\string\paras[$m$][$n$]} is defaulted earlier on. The actual default values can be found in the Appendix. \medskip For those wizard users who want to do everything their own way, we point out that if for instance the 3rd letter parameter of the 2nd group of a cluster is given as {\tt}, then {\tt \string\LET2*3\t} will contain {\tt \string\b@group \string\relax {\tt}\string\e@group} right after a cluster is read in. {\tt \string\DEF2*3\string~}, on the other hand, contains the corresponding default parameter in the same fashion. Furthermore, the command {\tt\string\checkparas[$m$][$n$]$\{$LET$\}$} will copy the content of {\tt\string\paras[$m$][$n$]}, minus the `wrapping' extra tokens {\tt\string\b@group\string\relax} and {\tt\string\e@group}, to {\tt\string\cachedata} and set {\tt\string\ifemptyparas} to true or false depending on whether the content is empty or not. This way, a user may even change the characteristics of his letter template by first testing the content of the supplied individual parameters. However, we note that if {\tt\string \loaddefaultparas} is executed, then the {\tt LET} array, when some of its elements are not supplied, will contain the corresponding elements of the {\tt DEF} array. Hence care must be exercised under such circumstances, when interpreting the {\tt\string\cachedata} generated by {\tt\string\checkparas[$m$][$n$]$\{$LET$\}$}. If necessary, we may use {\tt\string\delparadefaults} to delete current default parameter array {\tt DEF} so as to conduct {\tt\string\checkparas$\{$LET$\}$} more precisely. \medskip There are also a number of generic macro utilities in {\tt formlett}, including a user stack and a multi-dimensional array mechanism. \medskip {\tt formlett} was written for all \TeX\space dialects, its format is thus more close to that of plain \TeX. In fact, we deliberately avoided mixing up {\tt formlett} with the standard letter environment of \LaTeX. This is largely due to the fact that the limited facilities of \LaTeX\space letter environment are easy to come by anyway, and are not really worth writing buckled code to make {\tt formlett} a type of extension of the environment. Nevertheless, one can still use the letter environment of \LaTeX\space inside the form letter template. Besides, the applicability of {\tt formlett} is not restricted for making form {\sl letters}; it can also be used to merge other type of articles or passages. \bigskip {\lbold References} \smallskip {\parindent=2em \item{[1].} Knuth D E, {\sl The \TeX book}, Reading, Mass., Addison-Wesley, 1992. \par \item{[2].} Piff M, Text merges in \TeX\ and \LaTeX, {\sl TUGboad}, 13(4):518, 1993. \par \item{[3].} Damrau J and Wester M, Form letters with 3-across labels capacity, {\sl TUGboat}, 13(4):510, 1991. \par } \penalty -50\bigskip {\lbold Appendix} \smallskip In the followings, we give a brief summary of the main commands given by {\tt formlett} version 2.1. \medskip Let $m$ and $n$ be numbers, $p$, $q$ and $r$ be dimensions, $A$, $B$, $S$, $G$, $C$ and $T$ be tokens, and $X$ be a box. Furthermore, we shall denote by $R$ a full set of letter parameters ended by \lq{\tt !}\rq, with \lq{\tt;}\rqs separating parameters inside a same group and \lq{\tt+}\rqs separating different parameter groups. We moreover denote $R$ by $F$, when \lq{\tt ; + !}\rqs there can be replaced by \lq$S$ $G$ $C$\rqs respectively if {\tt \string\delimiters$\{S\}\{G\}\{C\}$} is issued. In the commands tabulated below, the macro parameters contained in squared brackets support default. In particular, the defaults are $m$={\tt 1}, $n$={\tt 1}, $p$={\tt 8truecm}, $q$={\tt 1.5em}, $r$={\tt 3pt}, $A$={\tt\string\noindent} and $B$={\tt\string\par}. \newdimen\tempdimone \newdimen\tempdimtwo \tempdimone=\hsize \advance\tempdimone by-0.2pt \tempdimtwo=\hsize \advance\tempdimtwo by-1.8in \def\hruler{\hrule width \tempdimone} \long\def\entry#1#2{% \par\hbox to \tempdimone{\noindent \vrule~\textbox[1.7in]{#1}~\hss \vrule~\textbox[\tempdimtwo]{\raggedright#2}~\vrule}% \par} \long\def\longentry#1#2#3{% \par\hbox to \tempdimone{\noindent \vrule~\textbox[3in]{#1}~\hss~\vrule}\par {\kern-8pt \advance\tempdimtwo0.10in \vrule width1.7in height0pt \vrule width\tempdimtwo height 0.4pt \par \kern-3pt} \entry{#2}{#3}} \long\def\Longentry#1#2#3{% \par\hbox to \tempdimone{\noindent \vrule~\textbox[3in]{#1}~\hss~\vrule}\par {\advance\tempdimtwo0.08in\kern-1pt \vrule~\hfill\vrule width \tempdimtwo height 0.4pt \vrule\par \kern-2.5pt}% \entry{#2}{#3}} \bigskip %\bigskip \penalty-1000 \vskip 0pt plus4in {\eightpoint \nointerlineskip\parskip=0pt \hruler \entry{{\tt\string\paras[$m$][$n$]}}% {$m^{th}$ parameter of $n^{th}$ group }% \entry{{\tt\string\blockparas[$m$][$n$][$A$][$B$]}}% {$m^{th}$ to the last parameter of $n^{th}$ group, each preceded by $A$ and followed by $B$, wrapped by $\{$\penalty 1000$\}$ if $B$={\tt\string\relax}} \entry{{\tt\string\addressparas[$m$][$n$][$p$][$q$]}}% {$m^{th}$ to the last parameter of $n^{th}$ group, each put into a box of width $p$ with indent $q$ for wrapped portions} \entry{{\tt\string\loaddefaultparas}}% {fill empty parameters with defaults} %\hruler \penalty-1000 \hruler \entry{{\tt\string\checkparas[$m$][$n$]$\{T\}$}}% {$m^{th}$ parameter of $n^{th}$ group copied to {\tt\string\cachedata}; {\tt\string\ifemptyparas} is true if element is empty; $T$ is often {\tt LET} or {\tt DEF}}% \hruler \entry{{\tt\string\moreletter\ $F$}}% {use parameters $F$ to output a new letter} \entry{{\tt\string\paranames\ $R$}}% {use $R$ as parameter names} \entry{{\tt\string\paradefaults\ $R$}}% {use $R$ as default parameters} \entry{{\tt\string\delparadefaults}}% {delete default parameters} \hruler \entry{{\tt\string\delimiters$\{S\}\{G\}\{C\}$}}% {use $S$, $G$, $C$ as delimiters} \entry{{\tt\string\defaultmarks}}% {use \lq{\tt ; + !}\rqs as delimiters} \entry{{\tt\string\blockmarks}}% {use \lq{\tt ....}\rq, \lq{\tt ----}\rq, \lq{\tt ====}\rqs as delimiters} %\hruler \penalty -1000 \hruler \entry{{\tt\string\preview}}% {highlight parameter positions} \entry{{\tt\string\showparas}}% {display parameter names, if any} \hruler \entry{% $\left\{\matrix{ \hbox{\tt\string\beginfile[$T$]$\{{\it file.ext}\}$}\cr \hbox{\tt\string\endfile\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ }\cr}\right.$\par \ \ \ {\tiny }}% {write text verbatim to file {\it file.ext} (empty implies {\tt scr@tch@.tex}), nonempty $T$ replaces {\tt \string\endfile} to mark last full line} \entry{{\tt\string\inputletter$\{file.ext\}$}}% {input letter content} \entry{{\tt\string\inputfile$\{file.ext\}$}}% {input $file.ext$} \hruler \penalty -5000 %\vskip0pt plus 1cm \hruler \entry{% $\left\{\matrix{ \hbox{\tt\string\beginletter}\cr \hbox{\tt\string\endletter~~}\cr}\right.$ }% {delimiters for letter content (template)} \entry{% $\left\{\matrix{ \hbox{\tt\string\beginpilemode}\cr \hbox{\tt\string\endpilemode~~}\cr}\right.$ }% {normal letter parameters cluster-wise} \entry{% $\left\{\matrix{ \hbox{\tt\string\beginblockmode}\cr \hbox{\tt\string\endblockmode~~}\cr}\right.$ }% {for line-by-line blocks of parameters, empty lines active within each cluster} \entry{% $\left\{\matrix{ \hbox{\tt\string\beginlinemode}\cr \hbox{\tt\string\endlinemode~~}\cr}\right.$ }% {for line-by-line parameters, empty lines delimit clusters} \hruler \penalty-1000 %\hruler \entry{% $\left\{\matrix{ \hbox{\tt\string\beginrawblockmode$\{T\}$}\cr \hbox{\tt\string\endrawblockmode\ \ \ \ \ }\cr}\right.$ }% {raw text mode; nonempty $T$ replaces {\tt\string\endrawblockmode} to mark end} \entry{% $\left\{\matrix{ \hbox{\tt\string\beginrawlinemode$\{T\}$}\cr \hbox{\tt\string\endrawlinemode\ \ \ \ \ \ }\cr}\right.$ }% {raw text parameters and active spaces etc} \entry{% $\left\{\matrix{ \hbox{\tt\string\begindatamode[$T$]$\{m\}$}\cr \hbox{\tt\string\enddatamode\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ }\cr}\right.$ }% {$m$ raw text lines for one form letter} %\hruler \penalty-2000 \hruler \entry{{\tt\string\PAGENO=1}}% {page number reset to 1} \entry{{\tt\string\NOPAGENUMBERS}}% {no page numbers} \entry{{\tt\string\textbox[$p$]$\{text\}$}}% {$text$ into box of width $p$} \entry{{\tt\string\boxmore[$r$]$\{X\}$}}% {add borderline to box $X$ at a distance $r$} \entry{{\tt\string\addressbox[$p$][$q$]$\{text\}$}}% {$text$ into box of width $p$, with wrapped options indented by $q$} \hruler \Longentry{% $\left\{\matrix{ \hbox{\tt\string\beginlabels [$a$][$b$][$c$][$d$][$e$][$f$]}\cr \hbox{\tt\string\endlabels\hskip3cm}\cr}\right.$ }% {\strut\par{\sl defaults:}\everypar={\hbox{\ \ \ }}\par\par $a$={\tt 20pt}, \par $b$={\tt\string\tt\string\raggedright}, \par $c$={\tt1}, $d$={\tt1}, \par $e$={\tt2.6in}, $f$={\tt2em}}% {form letters become labels: address taken from $c^{th}$ to last parameter of $d^{th}$ group, with width $e$, indent $f$, borderspace $a$ and font toks $b$} \hruler \entry{{\tt\string\firstread$\{T\}$}}% {toks $T$ will not be read if the file is re-read via {\tt \string\labelsquit}} \entry{{\tt\string\initstyle[$a$]$\{b\}\{c\}$}}% {initiation for {\tt\string\labelsquit},with styles $a$, documentstyle $b$ and preamble $c$} \entry{{\tt\string\initclass[$a$][$o$]$\{b\}\{c\}$}}% {similar to {\tt\string\initstyle} ($o$ is \LaTeX2e options), but retains native \LaTeX2e when applicable} \hruler \vskip0.5pt \Longentry{% $\matrix{\hbox{\tt \string\labelsquit [$a$][$b$][$c$][$d$][$e$][$f$]$\{$\it file.ext$\}$}\cr \hbox{}\cr}$}% {\strut\par{\sl defaults:}\everypar={\hbox{\ \ \ }}\par\par see that for {\tt\string\beginlabels}} {quit after converting letters to labels by reading the current document or {\it file.ext}} \hruler } \footline={\lower5pt \hbox to \hsize {{\rm Jiang Z ~~~{\sl Mail merge with the use of formlett.sty} \hss {\sl $\bullet$End of Document$\bullet$} \hss \folio}}} \vrule height2.9in width0pt depth0pt \endcolumns \vfill\eject \end{document}