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Import/Export Flexibility
Imagine having to refuse a job because you can’t process lists submitted in a specific file
format, or asking a client for extra time so you can manipulate “accepted” data that
your system has made unstructured and unusable.
Flexible importing/file conversion capabilities are critical to an effective mailing solution,
and no software offers greater importing flexibility than Mail Manager 2010. The software can easily
import data from a variety of file formats, including:
- All versions of dBase or FoxPro
- Microsoft Access and Excel
- Comma delimited (CSV) and other delimited files, fixed length, or 1- to 4-up label image text data
- USPS Computerized Delivery Sequence (CDS) files
- SQL
- All formats supported by Microsoft ADO
Additionally, Mail Manager 2010 can usually automatically detect which format is being used —
freeing operators from having to know that detail. The software can also handle poorly structured files
that may have inconsistent or “floating” fields, and can easily parse or join fields when desired.
For example, client files frequently have city, state and ZIP Code data or a person's full name combined
into a single field. Efficient mail processing requires that these components be separated. Mail Manager
2010 will do that in a snap, while converting and parsing names such as “Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Public Jr”
or “Smith, Dr. Robert J.” The software also includes powerful filtering capabilities that can clean a
file of the unwanted or unprintable characters all too common in older data files.
Exporting is equally flexible: you can return cleansed or updated lists to clients in
whatever format they need.
Data Entry/Editing
Surprisingly, not all software packages can add, change, or delete individual records, and when they do,
the process can be awkward and cumbersome. This flaw is based on the assumption that list maintenance will
be handled by another piece of software — but what database program can understand the nature of address
formatting as well as one specifically designed for mailing? List maintenance is best done within your mailing
software, and being able to key entire lists or modify individual imported records is a value-added element that
can set you apart from the competition.
You’ll find powerful data entry and maintenance capabilities built right into Mail Manager 2010.
Mailers can copy data — everything from individual fields to an entire record — from one record to
another, automatically or manually. If consecutive entries are for the same City / State / ZIP, you only have to
type that data once for the software to copy that information to subsequent entries. And BCC was the first software
provider to permit interactive ZIP + 4 encoding: Mail Manager 2010 can automatically look up a ZIP + 4 Code and
standardize the address as records are added or edited.
Mail Manager 2010 makes it easy to modify address list records.
Advanced search capabilities make it easy to locate specific names, near sound-alike matches or exact matches,
or other data. You can create an unlimited number of user-defined search indexes for even faster, automated data
access. Mail Manager 2010 even provides a word-processing search function that you can set to scan a file for a
specific character sequence and replace it with any sequence you designate. All with the speed and efficiency you
need to complete jobs fast, and with top economy and precision.
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