File Format Tips
With the increase in volume that the Bulk Mail Center has experienced,
we find ourselves unable to do some of the manual "fixing" of files that
we have been able to do in the past.
Therefore, we would like to ask you to follow some basic guidelines when
preparing your mailing lists.
1. Consistency! Consistency! Consistency!
We can't stress this enough. Regardless of the format you choose
to put your mailing list in, consistency throughout the file is
what really matters. This means putting the city in the city field every
time, all the time.
Below is a sample plain text address file:
Notice how the "GOOD" file is consistent in terms of number of lines
and the data that goes with each line. Notice how the "BAD" file has
one address with three lines, another with four and another with six.
Also note that the "BAD" file always has the name line first (which is good)
but then has varying information (firm, address, title) for the second
line. That is not good
Each address should have the same number of lines, even if some are blank.
Line Number | GOOD | BAD
Line 1 Name | Bob Szewczyk | Bob Szewczyk
Line 2 Title | | UWEX Bulk Mail
Line 3 Firm | UWEX Bulk Mail | 30 N Murray ST, Rm 128
Line 4 Address 1 | 30 N. Murray St. | Madison, WI 53715
Line 5 Address 2 | Rm 128 |
Line 6 City | Madison | Dan O'Rourke
Line 7 State | WI | 432 N Lake St, Rm 116
Line 8 Zipcode | 53715 | Madison, WI 53706
Line 9 | |
Line 10 | Dan O'Rourke | Carla Patterson
Line 11 | | Supervisor
Line 12 | | UWEX Bulk Mail
Line 13 | 432 N Lake St, Rm 116 | 30 N Murray ST
Line 14 | | Rm 160
Line 15 | Madison | Madison, WI 53715
Line 16 | WI |
Line 17 | 53706 |
Line 18 | |
Line 19 | Carla Patterson |
Line 20 | Supervisior |
Line 21 | UWEX Bulk Mail |
Line 21 | 30 N Murray ST |
Line 21 | Rm 160 |
Line 21 | Madison |
Line 21 | WI |
Line 21 | 53715 |
Another requirement is that plain text address files be in "One-up" format
THREE-UP FORMAT
Bob Szewczyk Dan O'Rourke Carla Patterson
Supervisor
UWEX Bulk Mail UWEX Bulk Mail
30 N Murray St 432 N Lake St 30 N Murray St
Rm 128 Rm 116 Rm 160
Madison Madison Madison
WI WI WI
53715 53706 53715
ONE-UP FORMAT
Bob Szewczyk
UWEX Bulk Mail
30 N Murray St
Rm 128
Madison
WI
53715
Dan O'Rourke
432 N Lake St
Rm 116
Madison
WI
53706
Carla Patterson
Supervisor
UWEX Bulk Mail
30 N Murray ST
Rm 160
Madison
WI
53715
2. Use a database/spreadsheet if possible.
Databases and spreadsheets allow you to define fields that
hold specific data. Databases and spreadsheets also allow
you to "export" your data into other formats such as dBase,
ASCII delimited, or ASCII fixed.
Common file types that we use are:
Microsoft Access (database)
Microsoft Excel (spreadsheet)
Filemaker Pro (database)
Paradox (database)
3. Use ASCII Delimited files.
ASCII delimited files have a "delimiter" after each field(line)
and a different delimeter after each record(address)
For example:
Carla Patterson,Supervisior,UWEX Bulk Mail,30 N Murray St,Rm 160,Madison,WI,53715
Bob Szewczyk,,UWEX Bulk Mail,30 N Murray St,Rm 128,Madison,WI,53715
Dan O'Rourke,,,432 N Lake St,Rm 166,Madison,WI,53706
Notice how the Bob and Dan addresses have blank fields where firm and title are.
In this example, the field delimiter is a comma and the record delimiter
is a carriage return. You may also want to put "quotes" around each field,
which allows you to use commas as part of the address data. For Example:
"Dan O'Rourke","UWEX Bulk Mail","30 N Murray, Rm 128","Madison","WI","53715"
Warning: ASCII Delimited is not recommended if you are typing it in by hand.
If you miss a single comma or quotation mark, your file will be messed up for
all addresses after the omission.
Please contact Bulk Mail Automation at 265-2256 or email postal@bulk.uwex.edu if you have any further questions regarding file formats.
