You can import changes to client names, addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses into RTG Bills from another program. Although this capability is not included in RTG Bills, we are providing a separate program to accomplish this.

RTG Update Clients reads the client information from a text file and compares it to the information already stored in RTG Bills for that client. If there have been changes, the information in RTG Bills is updated to incorporate them.

If the imported information contains a new client, the program creates a new client (and, optionally, a new matter) in RTG Bills.

Note:
RTG Bills uses a different program to import contacts from Microsoft Outlook. See Import Contacts Into RTG Bills.

The key to synchronizing the data between RTG Bills and another program is to use the same client numbers in both programs.

When RTG Update Clients reads data, it looks up the client number in the RTG Bills database.

• If it finds a client with that number, it checks if there have been changes in the information for that client. If necessary, the RTG Bills database is modified to reflect the changes.
  
  
• If the client number is not found, it creates a new client with that number. It can also create a new matter (with case number 1) for that client. The Standard Matter in RTG Bills is used to supply information for the new matter.
  
  
• If the client number is zero, the client is ignored. This makes it possible to have entries in the other program which do not correspond to RTG Bills clients.

RTG Update Clients always reads the file Names.txt.

Note: Prior to Version 2.07, RTG Update Clients read the file Clients.txt. Only the filename has been changed, not the format of the data.

This program uses the same data format as RTG Names. A sample entry might look like this:

!SMITH,J
James Smith
Smith Development Company
123 Montana St.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
]310-453-0001
%310-453-0002
;33
@jsmith@smithdev.com
))

The client abbreviation comes first, preceded by the ! character. The next line is the client name. It is followed by the client address, which may take several lines. The phone number follows the ] character and the fax number follows the % character. The client number follows the ; character. The e-mail address comes after the @ character. The client information ends with two right parens, )).

If the input does not include a client abbreviation, RTG Update Clients will create one.

If the client number is missing or zero, the client is ignored.

The name of the program is updclt.exe. You must save it in the same folder as the RTG Bills program, usually C:\Program Files\Rtgbills for Version 2 or C:\Rtgbills if you originally installed Version 1.

Note: This program only works with RTG Bills Version 2.07 through RTG Bills Version 2.16. Contact RTG if you need a later version.

Click here to download the RTG Bills Update Clients program

Be sure to Save the file on your hard disk, in the folder where RTG Bills is installed. Do not Run it or Open it. The exact wording of the choices you are offered will vary with different browsers.

Start RTG Bills and choose File > Tools from the menu. Find Update Clients in the list and click on it to select it. Click OK to start RTG Update Clients.

Note: If you do not see Update Clients in the Tools list, you did not save the program in the same folder as RTG Bills.

As an alternative, you can double-click the program to start it. The icon is a yellow arrow, pointing upward.

Note: If you get an "Error opening database" message, you did not save the program in the same folder as RTG Bills.

When you start the program, you will see that it has two options. The first option allows you to create a new matter for each new client. Uncheck the box if you do not want to create matters.

The second option determines the matter name for each new matter. There are two possible ways to assign a matter name: use the client name as the matter name, or take the matter name from the Standard Matter. However if you have not selected a Standard Matter in RTG Bills, the second option will be disabled.

For example, if you want a matter named General for each new client, choose a Standard Matter in RTG Bills that has that matter name. Choose Same matter name as standard matter before you update the clients.

Choose File > Update Clients from the menu. Click OK to proceed.

The program will read the file, update RTG Bills, and display the results in the Status frame.

Choose File > Exit to exit from the program.

If you store client names and addresses in a program other than RTG Bills, and you want to enter changes into that other program, you can use RTG Update Clients to bring the RTG Bills client information up to date.

Corel* Address Book
RTG Update Clients was originally developed for use with the Corel Address Book. A custom field was used to store the client number. A form document was created in Corel WordPerfect to write the Address Book entries in the format described above.

Periodically, the form document is merged with the Address Book entries to create the Names.txt file. RTG Update Clients reads the file and updates RTG Bills.

Microsoft Access*
If you store names and addresses in a database program, such as Microsoft Access, you can create a report to output the client information in the format needed by RTG Update Clients.