Printing Letters, Spelling Options and Editing layouts
This section has the following topics
 Spell Checking
You need to set up the computer that is going to be doing the letter writing. We have loaded a user dictionary with several thousand medical terms (User.upr on Windows in the FileMaker System folder, and User for Macintosh which goes in the FileMaker Extensions folder. These should be the PracticeMaker CD or on our website!). The spelling system is case-sensitive. Therefore, "cardizem" is incorrect but "Cardiem" is correct.

When you first navigate to the Letters module you may be asked to set your Spelling preferences. If you are not, you will need to do so in order for spell checking to occur during typing. If you are not asked you need to select Spelling Options from the Scripts menu. In either case, you get the Document Preferences dialog on which you need to select "Beep...".




In order to the spell checker to work, you must select the user dictionary you want to use. In order to do this you need to select from the Edit menu as shown below.


Once you make the selection above, you need to select the User dictionary as shown below.


Now that you have selected the User.upr dictionary, you have the ability to edit its contents. To do this make almost the same menu selection under Edit as you did above but select Edit User Dictionary instead (it will now be selectable). When you do you will get the User Dictionary dialog below where you can Add, Remove or Import/Export from a Text File.


Once the spelling system is properly set up, when you click the Later button it take you through the letter body and checks the spelling. The most important button is Learn but be careful, because if the dictionary learns a wring word by mistake, you will need to edit the word our of the dictionary usingthe system outlined above!


Printing One Letter


After you have finished typing in your letter, you need to invoke the built in spell checker. To do this click the Later button as discussed in the previous section. This checks the letter and flags it for later printing (as in a batch).

However, to print this letter now click the Current button above. You will get the the Print Setup dialog first and then the Print dialog. Make sure on the second dialog that Print:Current Record is selected, otherwise every letter in the database could print!





Printing in a batch
This method is the most efficient way of printing letters. To do this just click the All button and confirm your action at the dialog below. You will only get the Print Setup dialog.



After a letter prints it is date-stamped with the date it was printed (or faxed for that matter). The field Printed shows an example where the letter was printed on 9/1/2004, 8/1/2004 and faxed on 7/31/2004. To see more than just the first line in this field you need to click into it. In addition, the status of the letter is changed from Later to Done!



Editing Layouts
Keep in mind that editing layouts is done at your own risk and you should be familiar with basic editing techniques used by FileMaker Pro 5.5. For those familiar with page layout programs, you should find easy work of make changes. Before you do any work you should absolutely sure you have a backup copy of your software!

To switch into layout mode, where you make all the design changes, click where it says Browse in the lower left and change to Layout.


Once you have switched into Layout mode, you need to Show the status area on the left where all the layout tolls are by click on the Toggle Status Area icon.


Once the Status area is visible, you can see all the tools. If you click on the layout name just above the Rolodex you get a drop down list of all the layouts in this module.


You should not attempt to edit the List, Tech800 or NavError layouts unless specifically instructed by you technical support specialist.

Therefore, as you can see, there are nine different layouts that you can change to meet your requirements.
 Letterhead
At the top of each of these screens are your two letterhead fields which are filled in Office Startup on the Syst Prefs tab, as seen below. You can use standard fonts and other editing techniques to change these fields. If you prefer, you can do your text design in a word processor, copy it and then paste it into the correct Letterhead field. Feel free to use the design we give you as a template for your practice.


To the right of these fields is the Graphic field where you can paste a letter head graphic or logo.


last updated 9/15/2004