INFO: Zetafax supported address books.
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ZTN1014
ID: ZTN1014
This Zetafax technical note applies to:
Summary
Zetafax address books are used to store recipient details (name, organisation, fax number etc). Each user has access to two main address books in Zetafax: a private address book just for their numbers, and the network address book which is shared by all users.
Zetafax can also read fax recipient details stored in a number of other format databases. This includes external databases (which support the ODBC standard, including SQL server and MS Access), text files (including CSV and tab delimited files), and MAPI compliant mail address books. These databases can be used in place of the Zetafax address books for general use, or for specific purposes (e.g. for fax shots), but the important point is that Zetafax gets the details direct from the database when it is needed, rather than being imported periodically.
This document describes how to use the various format databases, to supplement the information in the Zetafax Software Guide.
If you have an e-mail system configured, you can also use the e-mail address books in the same way as when you are addressing a mail message.
Adding or modifying e-mail address book entries must be done using the normal e-mail client program - these options are disabled in Zetafax while the e-mail address book is selected.
Zetafax can link to an external data source via an ODBC link. This allows data to be set up in, for example, an Access database and used from within Zetafax.
More information
Zetafax address books
The Zetafax client has the ability to add, edit, remove and search items in the main address book. The Zetafax address book is split into two areas, private addresses and network addresses. Each user can freely add, remove and change records in their private address book. Private address books cannot be accessed by other Zetafax users. The network address book is system wide; meaning anyone using a particular Zetafax server can share this address book. Limitations can be placed on the network address book to determine whether users are allowed to edit, remove or add entries to it.
The Zetafax Configuration program is used to set address book permissions. Run the Zetafax configuration program and select " Users and user groups" . Permissions can be set on a per user basis by editing each user by clicking on the 'Permissions' button. These settings should be altered by your Zetafax/network administrator only.
Records can be added in two ways into the Zetafax address book - via the Zetafax client or using the address book utility program ADBUTIL.EXE. ADBUTIL is used for adding a CSV (comma delimited) list of addresses in one go.
To add new entries into the address book select the " New entry..." option from the Addressing menu (On the Server tab, Address Book menu for Zetafax 2011 onwards) in the Zetafax workstation.
Enter the addressee details you want into the available boxes. Make sure that you choose the correct address book for your new entry to live in - Network or Private address book.
The " Unique name" field is used by the system to distinguish similar entries. You may have a number of entries with almost identical details (the same company and/or names). A unique name will be generated for you if you do not specify one yourself.
Further details can be entered for each addressee by clicking on the " More" button to access the second page of the address book editor. The second page of the address book editor will list defaults calculated from the first page.
Further details can be entered here. Some of the fields will be filled in for you automatically, however you can alter these if required. You will often find that it is not necessary to alter or even visit the " more details" dialog.
The " Also called" field is used to help recall the addressee, i.e. if Mr Samuel Smith is known by his friends as Sam, then you can enter ‘Sam’ in the “Also called” field. When recalling Sam Smith you would only need to type in 'Sam' in the Zetafax addressing dialog box.
The " Send to" options allow you to add a special entry into the address book for another Zetafax user. To do this choose “LAN” then enter their Zetafax username in the " Number of Parameters" field.
When you have finished making any changes click the OK button to return to the first address book editor screen.
If you are satisfied with the information you have provided click on the " Add" button. Confirmation that the new entry has been accepted will appear and the address book editor cleared ready for a new entry. If you do not need to add any more address book records click " Quit" to return to the Zetafax workstation.
The address book can be searched when sending a fax or for reference/maintenance purposes from the Zetafax workstation. To search from the workstation simply select " Search..." from the " Addresses" menu.
You can choose whether you wish to search the private, network or both address books by selecting the appropriate data source.
Address book entries can be searched by Name, Organisation or Group. Use the " Search by" option to choose the information you wish to search by.
Enter the name you are looking for into box 1. Anything matching your name will be displayed in box 2. If you select an entry from box 2 you are given the option of editing or deleting it. Note that you may not have permissions to do this and these options may be greyed out.
You can also add new entries into the Zetafax address book by clicking on the " New..." button. The address book editor screen will then be displayed. When you have finished searching your address book, click on the " Close" button. When sending a fax you can again search the address book by clicking on the large " Address book..." button.
When you display the address book search dialog from the addressing dialog, the " Data source" option here allows you use an ODBC data source or import from a CSV (Comma delimited) text file – see below. Any items that you select will be placed in the " List of recipients" dialog box. If you wish you can also tell Zetafax to " Add all" addressees in the currently selected data source to the list of recipients for sending.
Existing entries can be edited or created from this dialog screen. Address book entries cannot be deleted from here, you must use the method above for doing this.
When you have selected the addressees you want to send a fax to (they will be listed in the box labelled " List of recipients" ) click on the OK button to continue or Cancel to abort.
Note that if you have previously used an ODBC or text file data source the last 10 of these will also be listed on the data source dropdown list. This saves you time if you use the same ODBC or text files regularly.
ODBC compliant external databases and CSV files
Zetafax can link to an external data source via an ODBC link. This allows data to be set up in, for example, an Access database and used from within Zetafax.
The following steps describe how to set up an ODBC link. Some database applications may have different criteria for their set to what is shown here. Please check that the database has been set up correctly before proceeding.
Prepare the fax you wish to send and print to a Zetafax printer driver. When the Addressing dialogue box appears, select the " Address Book..." button.
From this screen select the " ODBC-compliant database..." option from the " Data source" drop-down list.
The next dialog screen will appear. Select the " Machine Data Source" tag. All the configured ODBC data sources on your machine will be displayed.
Select the data source you require. If you intend to use an Access 97 database then you should highlight " MS Access 97 Database" and click OK. You can also add other data sources, however this can be complicated - contact your network administrator or contact your local Zetafax distributor for assistance.
Once you have selected the required data source you will be asked to select the database filename. Find the required database and click OK.
Zetafax will now ask you to match up 3 columns in your ODBC table to the Zetafax addressing fields Full name, Organisation and Fax number. Simply attach the required table field to the relevant Zetafax one. Click OK once all 3 fields have been matched.
You will now be taken back to the Zetafax Address book dialog screen. Your ODBC compliant database records will be listed and can be searched and selected in the same way as recipients in the Zetafax address book.
NOTE: Selected recipients will be automatically split into groups of 50. Each message line in your Zetafax workstation will represent each group of 50 recipients.
Using MAPI compliant e-mail address books
As described above, Zetafax has its address books: a network one shared by all users, and a private one for each user. If you have an e-mail system configured, you can also use the e-mail address books in the same way as when you are addressing a mail message.
The choice of whether to use the Zetafax or e-mail address books is made by a checkbox on the message options dialog box (displayed by the “Options | Message” menu choice on the workstation). If you select the e-mail address books, any address book searches (by either entering a name without a fax number, or clicking SEARCH on the addressing dialog box) will look in the e-mail address books.
Adding or modifying e-mail address book entries must be done using the normal e-mail client program - these options are disabled in Zetafax while the e-mail address book is selected.
Fax entries in the e-mail address book should be given a type of “Fax” or “Zetafax”. The parameter should be set to the fax number.
The default settings for the recipient’s name and organisation are the entry name and blank respectively. They can be set explicitly by adding \name=... \organisation=... to the end of the fax number (replacing the ... with the required name and organisation). You can abbreviate “\organisation” to “\org” if preferred.
Note that the syntax uses a backward oblique (‘\) rather than the more usual forward one (‘/’).
Address book formats that include fields for the name and organisation (such as Microsoft’s At Work fax format) are supported directly by Zetafax, without the need for the syntax above.
The recipients specified when sending must be individual entries, rather than group entries, to allow Zetafax to get the fax number and other details from the mail address book. However, most e-mail packages will allow you to list the group members individually using their addressing dialog (displayed by clicking SEARCH on the Zetafax addressing dialog instead of entering a name directly in the TO field). With Microsoft Mail, for example, you edit the group to display a list of the members, select all the entries in the list then click ADD.
All the usual Zetafax features, such as coversheets, file attachments or delayed send can be used as for any other fax. By electing to use the e-mail address book as described above, all address book entries can be stored together, for both e-mail and fax recipients.
References
For additional information on Zetafax addressing, please see the following Zetafax technical notes:
ZTN1056-HOWTO Using ADBUTIL the Zetafax address book utility program.
ZTN1028-PRB: ODBC SQL error 3700 when importing data with Zetafax.
Last updated 16th May 2011 (GC/GW/LD/MW)