THE MESSAGE BELOW IS FROM ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES,
VOL. 16, #12  (Sept. 15, 1995).


READERS EXCHANGE

USING WORDPERFECT MACROS FOR GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS PROCESSING

by Robin A. King and Jacqueline F. Johnson
Indiana University Southeast Library

        In June of 1994, the Government Documents Collections was
inspected by Joseph P. Paskoski, Depository Library Inspector.  During
his review of the Bibliographic Control portion of the inspection, he
requested that our use of WordPerfect 5.1 (DOS version) for processing be
made available to other documents librarians through Administrative
Notes.  The generation of labels for our documents is made possible by a
little known feature of WordPerfect: macros.

        We set up macros in WordPerfect for each item number we receive.
We then use these macros to create the secondary merge file.  The macros
were set up by dropping all non-essential material (such as the 0 at the
beginning of the number and the dashes) from the item number.  For
example: the macro for item 0806-A-15 would be named 806A15.  The macro
for each item number consists of the item number in one field and the
SuDocs stem and a pause in the second field.  This pause allows you to
type in the SuDocs stem later.

        The macro feature allows you to record your keystrokes and play
them back exactly as they were recorded.  The computer records your
keystrokes the way a tape recorder records your voice.  The computer
stores your keystrokes and when you tell it to, it plays back your
keystrokes the same way a tape recorder plays back your voice when you
press play.  While defining a macro, you can insert a pause that will
stop the macro momentarily and allow you to enter the text while the
macro is running.  When you hit the enter key, the macro will resume running.

        You define a macro in WordPerfect 5.1 by pressing {ctrl} {F10}.
This tells the computer to start recording.  You then enter the name of
the macro, and press {Enter}.  (Note: the macro name must be composed of
letters and/or numbers and can only be eight characters long.)  You are
then asked to enter a brief description of the macro or to press {Enter}
to begin recording the macro without a definition.  (This description can
be up to 39 characters long but it is not necessary to enter a
description for the macro.) You are then returned to the regular editing
screen and "macro Def" is displayed in the bottom left hand of your
screen.  After you have entered the keystrokes you want to record, you
press {Ctrl-F10} again to stop recording.

        Example: To create the macro for item 0806-A-15 you press {Ctrl}
{F10} to begin recording.  You then type in the name of the macro, in
this case, 806A15 and press {Enter}.  In the description field you can
type the complete item number 0806-A-15 or you can hit enter and skip the
description.  You then type in the item number, {End Field}, the Sudocs
stem, and {Enter}.  (The sort program will not run properly if the dashes
are left in the item numbers, therefore they have been replaced by
spaces.)  You then insert a pause by pressing {Ctrl PgUp} 1.  After
inserting the pause, press {Enter} and then finish the record by entering
an {End Field} and an {End Record}.  To do this you press {Alt} {F9} and
{Shift} {F9} 2.  Finally, you press {Ctrl} {F10} to tell WordPerfect to
stop recording the macro.


Macro: Action
        File            806A15.WPM
        Description     0806 A 15


        0806 A 15{END FIELD}
        LC 19.11/3-2:{Enter}
        {Pause}{END FIELD}
        {Merge Codes}2



Ctrl-PgUp for Macro Commands; Press Exit when done


        When you want to run the macro you've recorded, you press {Alt}
{F 10} and the name of the macro {806A15} and the computer will 'play
back' the keystrokes you recorded.     In this case, the computer would
type in the item number, an end field, and the Sudocs stem.  It will then
pause so that you can type in the suffix.  When you hit the enter key, it
will type an end field, and an end record:

                0806 A 15{END FIELD}
                LC 19.11/3-2:
                93-2{END FIELD}
                {END RECORD}


        This creates a secondary merge file that contains the item number
and the complete SuDocs number.  This file can be merged with a primary
merge file that contains your label dimensions, the correct font, and the
words Gov. Doc.   When the merge is completed the labels will look
something like this:

                Gov. Doc.
                LC 19.11/3-2
                93-2

        For more information on merging see the WordPerfect Version 5.1
for DOS manual (WordPerfect Corporation, 1989) pgs. 460-471.

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