New Version Of RTG Names
RTG's Web site, www.rtgsoftware.com, has a new version of RTG Names, our name and address program for Windows.
We developed RTG Names to make it easy to do two simple things: (1) Paste a name and address into a document, and (2) look up a telephone number. That's all it does, but these modest goals result in a program which is small, fast, and easy to use.
There is one unique feature of RTG Names which is worth mentioning before we describe the program in more detail: You can get it for free from our Web site.
Finding A Name
In order to find a name quickly, there is a button for each letter of the alphabet. Press H to see the names which begin with H. As you type subsequent letters, you move through the list of H's. At each instant you will see a list of ten names. The first name on the list begins with the letters you have chosen so far. The other names follow it in alphabetical order.
You can also type the letters of the name you want rather than clicking the alphabet buttons with the mouse. Touch typists usually prefer to use the keyboard.
Sorting The Names
How does the program know what order you want the names and addresses to be in? Sometimes you may want to use the last name of a person, but other times you may want to use the name of a business.
RTG Names lets you choose an abbreviation which determines the alphabetical order of the names. So HAL Resource Center can have the abbreviation HAL RESOUR, and William Hall can have the abbreviation HALL, WILL.
When you enter a new name, the program assumes it is a person and tries to identify the last name automatically. Then it makes the abbreviation using the first 10 characters from the format "Last-name, First-name" and displays the result. If the name was actually a company name, not a person's name, you can click the Company button to correct the abbreviation.
Pasting The Address
After a name is selected, you press a large button labeled Copy (or use the keyboard shortcut Alt-C) to copy the name and address to the Windows clipboard. From there you can paste it into any Windows program.
If you always want to copy the name and address into the same program, perhaps WordPerfect or Microsoft Word, you can set up RTG Names to do it automatically. The name and address will appear at the insertion point in the receiving program, just as if you had typed in the information.
After it copies the name and address, RTG Names minimizes itself so it stays out of your way until you need it again.
Using RTG Names With RTG Bills
RTG Bills is our legal time and billing software. Since the billing program has a complete list of your clients' names and addresses, it is useful to have the billing program work together with the name and address program.
In previous versions of RTG Names, if you wanted to store both clients and other people, you could not get changes made in RTG Bills into RTG Names. You could read all the clients from RTG Bills initially and add them to RTG Names. But after that, if you imported the client list from RTG Bills, you had to choose either to add the clients (which would give duplicates of every one) or replace all the names with the imported clients (which would erase the non-clients).
The new version of RTG Names fixes this problem. Now you can synchronize the RTG Names list with the RTG Bills client list. This process copies changes from the RTG Bills database into RTG Names.
The synchronization feature is based on the use of client numbers to identify clients. To synchronize, RTG Names reads every client in RTG Bills. If the client is also found in RTG Names, it copies any changes. If the client is not found, it is a new client so it is added to the RTG Names database.
In a law firm, each attorney and each secretary can have a copy of RTG Names. Each person's database can include their own personal list of names and addresses plus a complete list of the firm's clients. The synchronization feature updates the clients and leaves the personal names and addresses (which have no client number) unchanged.
Importing Names And Addresses
Because RTG Names is a simple program, not a fancy Personal Information Manager (PIM), you may want to keep a master list of names and addresses in a different program and import them into RTG Names. RTG Names can read a text file in a specific format (detailed in the Help file for the program). Word processors and database programs, and other programs with a user-definable export format, can easily write the names, addresses, and telephone numbers to a file which RTG Names can import.
Synchronization works here, too. If client numbers are available, they are used to update the information in RTG Names.
Your Choice: $15 Or Free
If you download RTG Names from our Web site, there is no charge to use it. You can copy it and give it away to your friends.
If you prefer, we can mail you a copy for $15 ($16.24 in California).
Corel WordPerfect Suite 8
The newest version of the WordPerfect word processor is bundled with two other major products: Quattro Pro, a spreadsheet, and Presentations, a presentation graphics program. But the most interesting part of the package may be the new CorelCENTRAL, described as a personal information manager. According to Corel, CorelCENTRAL has two parts. The organizational tools include calendaring and scheduling, an address book, and a card file. The electronic communication tools appear to be the same as Netscape Communicator, which includes Netscape Navigator, e-mail, discussion group support, and multimedia conferencing.
Right now, however, all you get is a license for CorelCENTRAL and a promise that you can order it later (for "additional taxes, shipping, and handling charges").
New RTG Address
RTG is moving. Please note our new address, effective August 15. Our phone number will also change.
RTG Data Systems
3107 Pico Blvd., Ste. L
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 453-0933
RTG Bills and RTG Timer are trademarks of RTG Data Systems. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.
Copyright © 1997 RTG Data Systems