Customize Mailware
With the built in commands and any HTML editor you can add your own pages to the Mailware interface. Create tutorials for new employees, your own wizards or a launch screen for frequently used reports, Mailware screens or even external programs.

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Instructions
You will need an html editor like FrontPage, Macromedia or Hot Dog. There are free editors on the web too (e.g., html-kit and AceHTML).

Mailware Version 2
In version 2 you can select from a list of interface types. The custom versions correspond to these, but begin with the word "custom" and reside in the custom folder. They are named as follows:

Small Icons

  • CustomTables01.htm
  • CustomActions01.htm

Large Icons

  • CustomTables02.htm
  • CustomActions02.htm

Category View

  • CustomTables03.htm
  • CustomActions03.htm

In Version 2, do not change any of the screens or files in the html folder. These will be regularly overwritten by updates and your work may be lost.

 

Mailware Version 1 and Home Office
Copy any pages you wish to use from the html folder located below your Mailware install directory (including images, *.htm files etc.) to the custom folder located under it (default is c:\mailw15\html\custom).

The default names for the Tables and Actions tabs in Mailware version 1 and Mailware Home Office are:

  • Tables.htm
  • Actions.htm

Make any changes you wish to the files you moved under the custom folder then copy them to the html folder to use them.

Note: If you use the Update function in Mailware (highly recommended) you may lose your changes. Simply copy them from the custom folder into the html folder to restore them.

 

All Versions
When you create your pages you will probably want to add commands that open Mailware screens, menu items and reports. You can use the following syntax to do this. HTML editors vary, but all let you specify a hyperlink. Be sure to enter the link exactly as shown below. When you click it, the appropriate item will open in Mailware. Use these commands to create tutorials and procedures, report sets and more.

For all commands, the command itself (SHOWFORM:, INSERTFORM:, etc.) is not case sensitive. The parameters may be, see below.

FORMS - Open Mailware forms (e.g., Customer) directly from your page. The following commands are added as hyperlinks.

  1. SHOWFORM:formname (show the form)
  2. INSERTFORM:formname (show the form and insert a new record)
  3. FINDFORM:formname (show the form and open the search dialog, if applicable)

formname = The exact name as displayed on the Tables or Actions title bar. For example, Suppliers are shown as Product Supply Vendors.

Example: SHOWFORM:Product Supply Vendors.

Form names ARE case sensitive.

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MENU ITEMS - Open Mailware menu items (e.g., About) directly from your page. The following commands are added as hyperlinks.

  1. MAINMENU:menuname (run a menu item)
  2. Mailware Queries (located under the Tools menu) can be run just as if they were regular menu items.

menuname = The menu caption on the main menu. You do not have to add the "..." at the end, though it will still work if it is included.

Example: MAINMENU:About

Menu names are not case sensitive.

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REPORTS - Open Mailware reports (e.g., Invoice) directly from your page. The following commands are added as hyperlinks.

  1. PRINTREPORT:reportname
  2. PREVIEWREPORT:reportname
  3. EDITREPORT:reportname
  4. NEWREPORT:reportname

reportname = The actual file name of the report including the extension SRW.

Example: PREVIEWREPORT:R2500 Ad Source Keys-All.srw

Report names are not case sensitive.

Note: Some reports may not work properly when opened from your page because data may be missing or temporary tables may not be created (for example, the R5100 This Invoice report uses a temporary table that is created when you print an invoice from the order screen. You can run the R5110 Invoice for Date Range.srw instead. Just enter a date range in mm/dd/yy format or click Cancel for today's invoices.)

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EXTERNAL PROGRAMS (.exe's) - Run any .exe from within the wizard. You can use this for standard programs like the Windows calculator, notepad etc., or for custom programs you create. Tip: You can also add exe's to the Tools menu in Mailware.

  1. LAUNCH:filename;parameter

parameter = A command line argument

Example: LAUNCH:Notepad

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Help Files - You can create your own help files and add icons to your interface to call them. To open them in the Help window use the following command structure:

  1. HelpWin:/help/NameOfYourHelpFile.htm
     
    HelpWin: opens the help window with the file name following it. The default path is your Mailware install directory/html (e.g., c:\mailw15\html. Most of the included help files are stored in the /help subdirectory as noted in the command sample above.
     
  2. Some forms in Mailware Version 2 have a special Help button. Clicking it opens an html file in the Help Window. You can change the html window that opens by editing the contexthelp.ini file and substituting your own files. Note: This file may be overwritten by html updates so keep a copy if you wish to edit it and mark the file read only.
     
  3. You can create your own wizards and tutorials too. Use the format as in the following example: 

    Tutwin:/help/tutQT001.htm;Quick Tour;362;286;60;10
    Tutwin: - This calls the tutorial window
    /help/tutQT001.htm; - Specify the path to the html file you wish to
      use
    Quick Tour; - This name is placed in the title bar
    362; - The window width
    286; - The window height
    60; - Placement of window from the left (in %)
    10; - Placement of window from the top (in %)