for DOS Version 3.5 USER'S GUIDE COPYRIGHT NOTICE This software package and user's guide are produced by and are the intellectual property of SBS. All rights reserved. ServiceMANAGER is shareware, and may be freely distributed. No part of this publication may be modified, or translated into any language by any means without the express written permission of SBS. DISCLAIMER This software is provided as-is, without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall SBS be held liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, or other damages. ServiceMANAGER version 3.5 30/11/1994 Epson is a registered trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation. Excel, MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Dbase is a registered trademark of Borland International. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. GroupWise is a registered trademark of Novell Corporation. Lotus 1-2-3 is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. WordPerfect, DataPerfect, Office, Shell are registered trademarks of WordPerfect Corporation. þSBS Spindrift Business Services Box 31421 - 6155 North Street Halifax, Nova Scotia B3K 5Z1 CANADA Internet (E-Mail): ac146@cfn.cs.dal.ca Printed in CANADA TABLE of CONTENTS COPYRIGHT NOTICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i DISCLAIMER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i TABLE of CONTENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 GETTING STARTED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Loading ServiceMANAGER:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Configuring your printer (DPPRINT):. . . . . . . . . . . 3 Starting ServiceMANAGER - command mode . . . . . . . . . 4 Starting ServiceMANAGER - batch file . . . . . . . . . . 4 Changing the Screen Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 PASSWORDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 PROGRAM LAYOUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 MENUS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Main Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Misc Panel Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Report Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Analysis Report Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 List/Detail Report Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Misc Reports Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Export Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Merge Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 DATA PANELS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Client Information Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Contract Information Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Service Information Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Service Detail Information Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Time/Counter Information Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 DATA CHECKING PANELS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Client Account Status Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Client Prov/State Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Client Type Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Part Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Problem Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Product Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Service Source Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Service Type Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Serviceperson Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Other Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 REPORTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Select a Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Dpprint Printer Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Add a New Report/Change an Existing Report . . . . . . . 27 REPORTS - ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Contract MCBF & MTBF Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Contract Cost by Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Contract Service History Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Contract #Records by Problem per Month Report. . . . . . 29 #Service Records by Product per Month Report . . . . . . 30 #Service Records by Problem per Month Report . . . . . . 31 #Service Records by Problem and Contract Report. . . . . 32 #Service Records by Problem and Product Report . . . . . 32 Service Record Status Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Serviceperson Hourly Reconciliation Report . . . . . . . 34 Serviceperson Cost by Problem Report . . . . . . . . . . 35 REPORTS - LIST/DETAIL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Client List Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Contract List Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Service List & Service Detail Report . . . . . . . . . . 41 Time/Counter List Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 REPORTS - OTHER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Covering Letter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Mailing Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Shipping Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 EXPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 MERGE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 HOW TO USE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Inventory - Balance Forward. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Inventory - Adjustments/Goods Received . . . . . . . . . 48 APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 List of Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Indexes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 System Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 INTRODUCTION Welcome to ServiceMANAGER. ServiceMANAGER is an easy to use, and maintain, service management information system. It allows the user to easily track and analyze client/machine service histories. The service/maintenance industry is a multi-billion dollar business providing product and equipment servicing, at the manufacturer through to retail level. The size of a service provider can range from a small local shop to large national corporations with hundreds of servicepersons. Most service providers are NOT automated, and do not analyze their business activities on a ongoing basis. But ServiceMANAGER can. ServiceMANAGER was conceived and designed as a computerized centralized dispatch system. Information collected over the telephone from clients, can be used to dispatch servicepersons, and track work in progress. ServiceMANAGER can also analyze your clients, show patterns in equipment breakdowns, calculate costs, determine your most cost effective serviceperson, reconcile your labour costs, and even calculate MTBF and MTBC for all your clients - easily and quickly. ServiceMANAGER will provide end user's that all important "edge" needed in todays business environment. ServiceMANAGER is menu driven, it's intuitive windowed interface allows even the novice user to easily enter and manipulate data, produce reports, or analyze data, while providing the manager with timely analysis and the information necessary to improve the bottom line. ServiceMANAGER is ideal for any service provider, whether for third party maintenance/ in-house servicing/ government tracking/ or at the manufacturer level. ServiceMANAGER works with WordPerfect Corporation's DataPerfect database. You must have DataPerfect vers 2.3 or later for ServiceMANAGER to operate properly. ServiceMANAGER is multi-userable, it can handle up to 99 users simultaneously. ServiceMANAGER can be easily modified, reports added or changed, please see your DataPerfect manual for details. As database theory/design/ maintenance and DataPerfect terminology are detailed in your DataPerfect manual, no attempt will be made here to restate them. Please see your DataPerfect manual for details. GETTING STARTED This section will describe how to load ServiceMANAGER onto your computer's hard drive, where to place the program, and how to start and exit the program. Please see the APPENDIX for hardware suggestions. ServiceMANAGER works with WordPerfect Corporation's DataPerfect database program. You must have DataPerfect loaded and operating properly before ServiceMANAGER is loaded. If DataPerfect is not yet loaded please do so now, see the DataPerfect manual for details. Loading ServiceMANAGER:  Create a subdirectory to hold ServiceMANAGER. At the DOS prompt type MD C:\SERVICE Then press [ENTER]  Copy the empty ServiceMANAGER data files to the ServiceMANAGER subdirectory. Insert the original ServiceMANAGER diskette into drive A. At the DOS prompt typeCOPY A:*.* C:\SERVICE Then press [ENTER] As each file is copied it is listed to the screen. When all of the files have been copied the disk drive's light will go out, at this point you may remove the original diskette from the disk drive. Configuring your printer (DPPRINT):  It is preferable to start ServiceMANAGER with the memory resident printing program DPPRINT loaded (see the section Reports for details). If your printer was not selected for DPPRINT when DataPerfect was installed, you must do it now. Go to DataPerfect's subdirectory. (Assume it's DP) At the DOS prompt typeCD C:\DP press [ENTER] Configure DPPRINT. At the DOS prompt typeDPPRINT /C press [ENTER] Follow the procedures outlined in your DataPerfect manual to select a printer. You are now ready to start ServiceMANAGER. Starting ServiceMANAGER - command mode  To start ServiceMANAGER from the DOS prompt. Go to the ServiceMANAGER's subdirectory. At the DOS prompt typeCD C:\SERVICE press [ENTER] Then start the program. This assumes that you have loaded the DataPerfect program as detailed in the DataPerfect manual, and that PATH knows the location of the DataPerfect program files. At the DOS prompt typeDPPRINT press [ENTER] At the DOS prompt typeDP SERVICE press [ENTER] If PATH does not know the location of the DataPerfect program files (ie: the above command returns a "Bad Command or Filename" error message, you must type out the full command. (This assumes DataPerfect is located in the DP sub-directory as mentioned in the DataPerfect manual). If you have installed DataPerfect in a different subdirectory, then you must substitute your subdirectory name for the 1st DP in the following command. At the DOS prompt typeC:\DP\DPRINT press [ENTER] At the DOS prompt typeC:\DP\DP SERVICE press [ENTER] You will now be presented with ServiceMANAGER's opening screen. To leave the program press the [F7] key. þStarting ServiceMANAGER - batch file  As shown above, to start ServiceMANAGER you must execute four commands. If you don't wish to start ServiceMANAGER manually, you can by batch file. A batch file is a DOS text file that contains a list of commands, which are executed one command at a time in order. Using a batch file saves having to type 4 commands to start ServiceMANAGER, you type only 1. This is the preferred method to start ServiceMANAGER.  The batch file [RUN.BAT] was on your ServiceMANAGER diskette. At the DOS prompt typeRUN press [ENTER] To work properly, DataPerfect must be in the DP subdirectory, and be in DOS' PATH. If not, then RUN.BAT must be edited. See your DOS manual for details on changing a batch file and/or changing DOS's PATH. As detailed above, ServiceMANAGER and DataPerfect can be started from the DOS prompt. However, it is far better (easier still) to start both programs, or just about any other program for that matter, from WordPerfect Corporation's Shell program. Shell must be purchased separately from your local computer retailer, is NOT expensive, and features user defined macros, clipboard, and much easier program startup. Shell (or WordPerfect Office/Novell Groupwise) also allows the user to automate certain routine/repetitive procedures, such as batch data input. (For example: entering data for service calls from number of clients. Each call having the same basic information; date, time, problem, parts used ..... .) By using shell, the user can dramatically reduce the number of keystrokes necessary to maintain (keep current) an information system. Please see the Shell section of your DataPerfect manual for details. Changing the Screen Size DataPerfect is a character based application that runs in strictly in 80 column text mode. Because of this, if DataPerfect/ServiceMANAGER is running on a computer with a video card which supports extended DOS text modes (some EGA/VGA cards), you can change the screen size. The screen size can be changed only in height (number of lines), not width. DataPerfect can only run in 80 column mode, ie:80x30, 80x43, 80x60. Running in 132 column mode will cause an unreadable display. No matter which size is selected. DataPerfect will use the top 25 lines. Any additional lines can be used by a user installed text file. ServiceMANAGER comes with a text file which can display function key information, in lines 26-30, at the bottom of the screen. The text information is included in the RUN.BAT file (see pg 4), to do this. To use this extended screen support, your display must be set to 80x30. Please see your video card's documentation to see how to do this. Normally setting a display to an extended size involves typing a DOS command. If so, the RUN.BAT file may be edited to change the screen size "automatically" for you. If you don't change the screen size then you will see the function key template (that would be displayed at the bottom of a 80x30 screen), appear before DataPerfect starts, then disappear. Running in normal DOS text mode has NO effect on the operation of ServiceMANAGER except you won't see the template at the bottom of the screen. It is important to thoroughly read and understand the information in this guide and the DataPerfect manual/workbook before data is entered in ServiceMANAGER. The HOW-TO-USE section contains valuable information on the setting up of the program. Read this section BEFORE data is entered. PASSWORDS ServiceMANAGER supports three passwords levels: source code (definer - programmer), supervisory, and user. ServiceMANAGER will restrict access to the program by requesting the user to enter their USER ID and PASSWORD at program start-up. Passwords act like a key to a door, allowing only those with the correct one, access to what is on the inside. The information about each authorized user is maintained in the User ID panel. Initially, this panel has only one entry, called QUICK ENTRY. Quick Entry has NO information for either the User ID or password. This allows the user to initially start the program without a password. When ServiceMANAGER is started, the user will be presented with the Login/Password screen. At the initial start-up, the first time the program is started, when the user is requested to type in their User ID and then Password, the user should press the [ENTER] key at each request. The user will then see the Main Menu. At this point, the SUPERVISOR (the person with the Supervisor password), should enter the authorized users. Please see the section DATA CHECKING PANELS: User Panel, for further information. If User passwords are NOT required, then do not enter any information in the User ID panel. The supervisor, can also de-select the User ID panel so users are not presented with the Login Name/Password screen at start-up. See your DataPerfect manual for details. IT IS STRONGLY SUGGESTED THAT INDIVIDUAL LOGIN NAMES AND PASSWORDS BE USED. The Definer and Supervisor passwords are located on the registration card, below the registration number, which accompanies registered copies of ServiceMANAGER. Without these passwords, ServiceMANAGER cannot be changed, data can't be imported, users added, bulk deletes performed, or the index file re-created in the event of any corruption, ........ . Keep your registration in a safe place (not where it might be accessed by non- authorized persons). If you change the Definer and Supervisor passwords, make note of them, and keep that record safe. IF THE DEFINER PASSWORD IS CHANGED, THEN LOST, THERE IS NO WAY TO UNLOCK THE PROGRAM, OR SUBSEQUENTLY CHANGE THOSE PASSWORDS! PROGRAM LAYOUT The ServiceMANAGER database is menu driven. The user enters and leaves ServiceMANAGER via the Main Menu. Through the Main Menu the user can access the main data entry panels (Client, Contract, Service, Service Detail, and Time/Counter panels), the Misc Panel Menu (a collection of less frequently used data entry panels), the Report Menu through which the 3rd level menus: Analysis, List/Detail, or Other can be entered), and the Export and Merge Menus. Once in a second or third level menu (ie: the Report Menu is a second level menu, the Analysis Report Menu is a third level menu), pressing the [F7] key, as detailed at the bottom of each of these screens will take you back to the previous menu. EXAMPLE: To move from the Analysis Report Menu to the Main Menu. Notice in the above flow chart, that the Analysis Report Menu is a third level menu. Press [F7] Press [F7] The user is now at the Main Menu. MENUS There are eight menus in ServiceMANAGER, they are: the Main Menu, Other Panels Menu, Report Menu, Analysis Report Menu, List/Detail Report Menu, Misc Report Menu, Export Menu, and the Merge Menu. A menu enables the user to quickly and easily perform operations and commands, that have been grouped together for convenience on one screen. To use a menu, the database user chooses an operation to perform, by entering the operation's key number shown to the left of each operation. EXAMPLE: To select the Client Panel from the Main Menu Notice the number shown to the left of Client (in the shaded box - Fig 2), this is the operation key. This key/number must be entered to start the Client Panel. Press 1 Then [ENTER] The user will now be in the Client Panel. Note, any operation keys that are numeric (ie: 1,2,3....) require a two step process to execute. Once the number is entered, the [ENTER] key must be pressed to execute that operation. However, if an operation key is not numeric (ie: F7), then it is a single step operation. Just that key has to be pressed to execute that operation. EXAMPLE: To EXIT the Main Menu and leave the ServiceMANAGER program. Notice the operation key to the left of EXIT PROGRAM. Press [F7] The user will have left the ServiceMANAGER program. There are two operations that can be performed from the Main Menu, that are not shown on the Main Menu. These are the Panel and Report Lists. These can be accessed by entering 99 or 98 respectively then [ENTER] while in the Main Menu. You will then be prompted for the definer password before you can proceed. See the DataPerfect manual for information on the Panel and Report Lists. EXAMPLE: To access the Panel List from the Main Menu. Press [99] Then [ENTER] After entering the password, the user will see the Panel List. Main Menu: The Main Menu, shown below, is the first screen seen by the user after the ServiceMANAGER database starts (see Getting Started for details on starting ServiceMANAGER). Through the Main Menu, the database user can access the main data panels and add/change/delete/or inquire data, enter the Misc Panel Menu to access panels used less often, enter the REPORT Menu and run one or more of the pre-defined reports, enter the Export or Merge Menus and export (move) data to other application programs or create a WordPerfect secondary merge file for use in mail merge, or leave the ServiceMANAGER database. Misc Panel Menu: The Misc Panel Menu is a collection of less frequently used data information panels. Information entered through any of those panels provides for data checking. For example, by maintaining a list of valid problem codes, and allowing only those valid problem codes to be used and entered, and being consistent in the use of the codes, provides for accurate data, and would permit the user at some future date, to analyze service calls by problem code. As the data entered is consistent Report Menu: The report menu, is a second level menu, that the user enters from the Main Menu. Once entering, the user can select, the Analysis Report Menu, List/Detail Report Menu, and Other Report Menu. Once the user makes the appropriate choice one of the three third level menus is displayed on the screen. Analysis Report Menu: The Analysis Report Menu is a third level menu, entered by the user from the Report Menu. The Analysis Report Menu allows the user to easily analyze the data. Included are reports such as MCBF & MTBF analysis, analysis by problem code, serviceperson problem analysis ...... List/Detail Report Menu List/Detail Report Menu is also a third level menu, however unlike the Analysis Report Menu, it provides no analysis function, but acts as a means of printing selected data. Misc Reports Menu The final third level menu is the Misc Reports Menu. Misc Reports are reports that don't fit into the previous report categories; analysis, or list/detail. Misc Reports Menu includes reports for producing a covering letter, mailing labels, or shipping sheet/bill of lading. Export Menu The export menu provides an easy avenue for the user to move (export) data to other application programs, such as Lotus 1-2-3, Excel, Dbase. The automated export of the following information has been provided for; client, contract, service, service detail, and time/counter information. Merge Menu The final menu is the Merge Menu. It provides for easily exporting in the WordPerfect secondary merge format, of the client and service transaction (service/service detail/and time counter) files. Files created in this format are used by word processors, when performing a mail merge. DATA PANELS Every data file in ServiceMANAGER has its own panel. A panel is used as a means of displaying on the screen, the information that is contained in a particular data file. For example, the Client Information panel will display information (name, address, phone number ....) for each client, on the screen, one client at a time. As shown in Fig 4 Page 13, there are five main data files; Client, Contract, Service, Service Detail, and Time/Counter Information. There are also a series of smaller data files, that are related to the main files. These smaller files are used for data checking. For example, the Prov/State data file contains a list of standard abbreviations for provinces/states, which are used to check the accuracy of the information entered by the user. A data checking field is indicated by a [] to the left of a field. For example, the Client Information panel has 3 data checking fields (account status, client type, and province/state). Please see Fig 5 - page 14. The main data files are linked, the user can move from one to another. The link symbol is indicated by a [±]. The user could select a client in the client panel, move down to the contract panel which contains individual products to be serviced, select one, then view it's service history in the service panel(date, problem, who serviced it, and what was done). The information that is displayed, one screen at a time is called a record, while one particular piece of this data is called a field. For example, if the Client Information panel was displayed on the screen for the client FRED SMITH (see Fig 5), then all of the information shown makes up FRED SMITH's record, while the city shown would make up FRED SMITH's city field. Data can be changed, deleted or created through a data panel. When a new client is added, a new client record is created, including a name field, address field, city field ...... . Should at some time the user wish to modify or change a particular record, ie: enter a new address, then the corresponding address field would be edited. At anytime, while in a panel, the [F3] key may be pressed for additional information. Number of times F3 pressed Result Once Specific help for that field Twice General help Three Function Key list Four Function & Formula Help If you have any questions regarding the use of, or how to move about in data panels, please refer to the sections Navigating a Database, Entering Data, and Using Links in your DataPerfect Workbook. Panels cont: Client Information Panel The 1st main data panel is the Client Information Panel. It is probably the most used panel in ServiceMANAGER. It is used whenever a new client is created, or changed/deleted, as well as a convenient means of accessing related contract and service information (without having to know Contract ID's, and Service ID's). As shown above, in Fig 5, the Client Information Panel, maintains the most commonly used client information (Name, Address City ....), as well as listing the last 4 contracts created for that client. The number in the upper right corner is the Client ID. This number is unique for each client. As clients are created they are automatically assigned their own number. You cannot change any information in this field, but you can in other fields in the Client Information panel. The street field is a variable length text field. This field will hold more than the two lines displayed, however only the top two lines can be printed. You must use [TAB] to leave the street field if any text has been entered, pressing [ENTER] will just add extra lines to the address field. Additional lines added but not displayed, will be indicated by the [] character appearing at the bottom right of the street field. The Client Information panel has 3 data checking fields (Account Status, Client Type, and Province/State). Please see Fig 6 - page 11. These ensure that the data entered is accurate. There are times when you may need to defeat the data checking. For example, the Province/State field provides data checking of the prov/state abbreviations entered by the user. But those abbreviations only apply to clients from the US and CANADA. A client from France or Poland, for example, would not have a prov/state code. To get around the data checking - once in the data checking field, press the [SPACE BAR] to erase any information displayed, then [ENTER] to accept no entry. You will then be reminded that what is now in the field (no entry) does not match any entry in the data checking file, if that is correct, press [0] to proceed. The information in the Phone and Fax fields can be used to dial a phone/fax number, if a modem is attached to the computer running ServiceMANAGER. See the DataPerfect manual for details. The comment field allows the user to enter any comments for a particular client, up to 50 characters per client is permitted. The Comment field can also be used to further analyze clients, if the Comment field contains only data of the same type and format. For example, if the user wished to determine the tax status of clients, a code could be entered in the Comment field. ie: TAXABLE, TAX CITY TAX ONLY, TAX EXEMPT ..... a report could then be constructed to analyze the data in the Comment field. The only requirement to do this, would be that any information entered must always be entered the same way. ie: TAX EXEMPT is not the same as TAX Exempt or Exempt (While we can see that they are the same, a computer can't). The lower right of the Client Information panel displays contract information that is related to a particular client. This window can show the last 5 records; their contract number, product ID, and serial number. Panels cont: Contract Information Panel The second main data file, is the Contract Information panel. The Contract Information panel contains the information of the product(s) each client has that is to be serviced. While there will only be one client record for each client, there can be more than one contract for each client. For example, FRED SMITH the client shown in Fig 5 - Client Panel, is a unique client - only one client record has been created for him. However, he could have servicing performed on more than one piece of equipment that he owns. Say he owns a business, and that he has 2 photocopiers of the same model. Each photocopier would be assigned a separate contract. This way the service history of each is separate, we can determine how each performs relative to others that are serviced. Are they breaking down more often, are the problems unique, is there a pattern to the breakdowns, how efficiently are they being serviced? When a new contract is created, the contract is assigned a unique Contract ID, this is the number located in the upper right of the screen - see Fig 6, the Contract Information Panel. Then the address, phone, and contact information is automatically copied from the client file to the contract record. If the information is not correct then it must be changed. ie: the client information may reflect a central billing address, but the actual contract locations - the location where the equipment is located and where the serviceperson will have to be sent to service the equipment is different. The Contract Information panel also has fields for Product, Serial Number, Dates Created/Effective/and Cancelled, and Counter Start. The Product and Serial Number fields allow the user to relate one contract to another. For example, compare all of one particular product, locate contracts which have a particular product with a serial number range (product recall?), or perhaps determine which service contracts began on a particular week. The Contract Information data file uses 1 data panel for data checking, the Product data file. Date Created and Date Effective must be valid dates. Date Effective cannot be before the Date Created. Some equipment uses an internal counter to track work done (see Time Counter Information panel). If the product serviced has an internal counter, and you wish to use the MCBF & MTBF Analysis report, you must enter the counter start number in the Counter Start field. See Fig 11. The bottom left of the panel contains the link to the Service Information panel. Beside the link is descriptive text that tells the user how to access the next panel. For example, in Fig 6, to go to the Service Information panel, the user would place the cursor on the link, and press the [] key. This contract has only two service calls (records) for this contract. The detail window can show up to 5 lines of service calls - the last 5 calls. Panels cont: Service Information Panel The next main data file, is the Service Information Panel. Like the others, it's ID number is located in the upper right corner, and it shows - at the lower right - information that is related to it. In this case, parts used, elapsed travel and work time (hrs) and travel distances (kms). See Fig 7, Service Information Panel. The Service Information panel is used to create/track the service records (service calls) for each contract. Each time a product is to be serviced (ie: a client calls in that a product is to be serviced), the user would create a service record for that call. The Service Information Panel uses 4 related data files for data checking. These are the Service Type, Service Source, Problem, and Serviceperson fields. It also has fields for Called In Date/Time, Dispatched Date/Time, Finished Date/Time, Problem, Serviceperson, and Status. The Date/Time fields allow for the tracking of service pending calls (called awaiting), and service dispatched calls (calls not yet completed). Dispatched Date/Time must be equal to or after Called In Date/Time (if not, the Dispatched fields will automatically erase). The Finished Date/Time is automatically copied from the Time/Counter panel when information is entered there. Also automatically determined is a service call's status. This is determined by the information in the Called In/Dispatched/Finished fields. This status is also displayed in the Contract Panel - see Fig 6. The window at the lower right, lists selected information that relate to a particular Service record. This information, parts used, labour and travel time, and travel distance; is automatically updated as information is added or changed in the Service Detail Panel (parts used) and the Time/Counter Panel (hours and distance travelled). There are two links in the Service Information panel. The 1st link is to the Service Detail Information panel, where the work detail (work performed - parts used) is entered. The 2nd link is to the Time/Counter Information panel. This panel tracks the hours, distance travelled, and any counter information for each service record. Panels cont: Service Detail Information Panel The Service Detail Panel records the parts used for each service record. As each panel records a single part used, there may be more than one Service Detail panel that relates to a particular Service record. Please see Fig 8, Service Detail Information Panel. The Service Detail Information panel records the parts used for each service record. Each different part used should be recorded on a separate record. The information entered here (parts used), together with the parts per unit cost entered in the Part Information panel, is used by the analysis reports (see Fig 11a & Fig 18) to calculate a contract's cost to service and a serviceperson's relative efficiency. The ID number for the panel is in the upper right hand corner, and cannot be edited by the user. This number is created automatically as new records are added. Enteries in the Quantity field are subtracted from the amount in the Quantity-On-Hand field in the Parts panel. The result of that calculation is then written to the Parts Panel. This running total maintains a inventory balance for each part. Note that the quantity, in Fig 8, has a plus sign. Quantities default to a plus, you do not have to enter the plus sign. However, should you wish to enter a negative quantity, then you must use that sign. When entering the negative sign, you may enter it either in front of, or behind the number; ServiceMANAGER will then, for consistency purposes, format the number with a trailing negative sign. Panels cont: Time/Counter Information Panel The Time/Counter Panel records the travel distance and time, work time, and any counter information. As each panel records a single record, there may be more than one Time/Counter panel that relates to a particular Service record. For example, a serviceperson might travel to a client's location, begin service only to discover that a particular part is needed, and returned later to complete the service. Two Time/Counter records would be completed, each with it's own hours/travel distance/and counter information. The information from the records would be added together at the bottom of the Service panel. The user must enter, the travel distance and time, work start and finish, and the counter information. The Start Date/Time must be after the dispatched Date/Time, if not the Start Date/Time will automatically erase. So must the Finished Date/Time be after the Start Date/Time. The Start Time is also checked that it is after the sum of the Dispatched Time and any Travel Time. The TTL Work Time is the simple difference between the Start and Finished times. This will be satisfactory in most cases, if not this field may be changed by the user. Some equipment (ie: laser printers, photocopiers, printing presses ...), track usage by an internal counter. By noting and using this feature, the user can calculate the average breakdown per usage (work done), or MCBF (Mean Counter Between Failure) - see Analysis Reports. This provides a useful means of comparing the breakdowns of equipment with differing usages. For example, two machines A & B; machine A might have three times the number of breakdowns, but if the work it did (the change in the counter) was four times greater ...... then it is a more reliable machine, it's MCBF is higher. Panels cont: DATA CHECKING PANELS ServiceMANAGER uses 11 data checking files to check the accuracy of information entered by the user. The codes contained in these data checking files are also used as 'pointers' to analyze the data. For example, by using a consistent coding for problems, the user can analyze the service data and determine the patterns of those problems. See Fig 16. The panels used to display the data checking information in ServiceMANAGER are: Client Account Status Panel The Client Account Status Panel, one of the Client panel's data checking files, is used to maintain a list of account status codes. Codes such as; CASH, C.O.D, HOLD, Net30, are possibilities. Probably the easiest to remember would be the codes that are currently used by your accounting program. Client Prov/State Panel The Client Prov/State Panel, the second Client Panel data checking file, contains generally accepted abbreviations for provinces and states. Client Type Panel This panel, maintains the list of allowable client types. Suggested types could be; INDV = individual, GOVT = federal government, MUNI = municipal government ....... Part Panel This panel, maintains a standard list of parts, part costs, and quuantity-on- hand. The part cost permits analysis of service calls to determine total service cost, or least/average cost. Quantity-on-hand is the sum of all inventory movement in the service detail panel. Problem Panel The problem panel maintains a standard list of problem codes. Codes like; NOISE, SHAKE, DIRTY ..... Product Panel This data files is used by the Contract Panel, to maintain a standard list of product to be serviced. Service Source Panel Used by the Service Panel, this file maintains a list of sources of where the service records originated. Such as CARRY = carry in. Service Type Panel Used by the Service panel, this file maintains a list of service types. Such as WARR = warranty, RECAL = product recall, REG = regular .... Serviceperson Panel This panel maintains a list of servicepeople. Other Panel This panel maintains a series of fields that are used by some of the analysis reports. These fields include, the name field - the name to appear at the beginning of the analysis report, and the cost fields. The cost fields provide the labour cost/hour and travel cost per distance figures. User Panel This panel contains the information (Login ID, Password, Name, Location) about the users, the users who are authorized to use ServiceMANAGER. Entry to this panel is restricted. To gain entry, the supervisor password must be entered. See your ServiceMANAGER registration card for the Supervisor password. Initially there is only one entry, Quick Entry, in this panel. Quick Entry allows initial access to ServiceMANAGER, before passwords are created for the users. AFTER the user's information has been created, delete the Quick Entry record. AT NO TIME, delete the Quick Entry without setting up additional passwords - subsequent access to ServiceMANAGER may be impossible. While the use of Login ID's and passwords is highly recommended, this feature can be disabled if desired. To disable user password checking: þ From the Main Menu, use command 99 to select the Panel List. Enter the definer password when prompted, to gain access to the Panel List. þ With the Panel List displayed, select System Operations press [SHIFT-F9]. þ Enter the definer password, see the registration card. þ Select option [B], User ID panel. þ The currently selected User ID panel name will be highlighted, press [F1] to cancel, then press [F7] to save. REPORTS The report functions in ServiceMANAGER are both powerful and versatile. Using reports, the user can print data (to the screen, printer, or file). There are 29 different pre-defined reports in ServiceMANAGER, more can be added. Select a Report To select a report to print, the user first chooses Report Menu on the Main Menu, then selects a report type (Analysis, List, or Other) on the Report Menu, then selects the desired report. The Report Screen is then displayed. The Report Screen, shows the user the default settings for the selected report, where the report is to be printed (screen/printer/file), any search conditions, sort directions, ......... . For most instances the default settings will be correct. If desired however, the settings can be temporarily changed by the user. When the information displayed is satisfactory, the user, would press [SHIFT-F7] to begin the report. When the report begins, the Report Selected OK screen is displayed. This screen shows the user which report will be printed, and gives the user a chance to cancel if desired. For some reports, the user is also presented with a ID range to select (to narrow down the amount of data to print). The starting ID should always be less than the ending ID. For example: a valid ID range would be, 1 to 100, A to Z, 10 to 10, C to D ....... but 12 to 10 would be an invalid range. If an invalid range is selected, the report will print (just the report header), but without any data. The ID range request has built in logic. þ If nothing is entered for starting and ending ID's: For numeric ID's a range of 1 to 999999999 is assumed. For text ID's a range of A to Z is assumed. For example, the Problem ID is a text ID. Pressing [ENTER] for both the starting and ending ID's in Fig 10b, got the range shown in Fig 10c. If however, an ID had been created with a leading number (ie: 1NOISE), then it would not be picked up by the range A to Z. DataPerfect sorts numbers before letters. If you have text ID's which start with a number, use the starting range of 1 (ie: 1 to Z). þ If an entry is made for either the starting or ending ID, but not both: It is assumed that the user wants the starting and ID's to be the same, ie: select only one record for printing. For example, in the report shown in Fig 10a-c, if the user wished to select only those records which contained the problem, NOISE. Then typing NOISE in either the starting or ending ID fields, and pressing just the [ENTER] key for the other field, will select the range, from NOISE to NOISE. Or, in other words, select only the records that contained the problem NOISE. þ Of course, the user can also manually enter the starting and ending ID range as well. Once the ID range is entered, the user is presented with the ID Range OK screen. This shows the user the ID range selected, and gives the user the opportunity to stop or accept the report. The report will then print. Dpprint Printer Program All the reports (except mailing labels) in ServiceMANAGER, should be printed with DPPRINT running. DPPRINT is a memory resident printer program included with DataPerfect. DPPRINT includes printer definitions for specific printers, and allows ServiceMANAGER to print with bolding and underlining. DPPRINT also handles form feeds at the end of a print job. If DPPRINT is not loaded, when a report is run, the user will have to press [FORM FEED] at the end of a print job, to advance to the top of the next page, and on laser printers, to print the remaining information held in the printer's memory. See your DataPerfect manual for details on loading DPPRINT. If ServiceMANAGER is being run on a network, then DPPRINT must be loaded before starting DataPerfect. As soon as report is begun in ServiceMANAGER/DataPerfect, a print header is sent to the printer. From that point, until the job is finished (which can take minutes for large/long print jobs - or where there is a large amount of data to sort) the printer is tied up. The printer would be considered IN USE by the network, even though it might be printing only a small percentage of the time. During this time the printer will be unavailable to the rest of the network. Not very efficient. To get around this, DPPRINT acts as a print spooler. Taking the output for a print job, storing the information, then sending it to the printer when the report is finished. If however, you are printing mailing labels on a dot matrix printer, then it might be advisable not to load DPPRINT. Some dot matrix printers are not reliable when printing labels, they jam, or the labels can go askew. As DPPRINT stores the entire print job, then sends it to the printer, any interruption in the print job, say to un-jam a printer, will cause DPPRINT to immediately re-send the job, from the beginning, as soon as the printer is turned back on-line, or if the computer was restarted as soon as DPPRINT is run again. Add a New Report/Change an Existing Report While ServiceMANAGER comes with a selection of reports, there are instances where the user might wish to create a new report, or change an existing one. See your DataPerfect Manual for complete details, a outline follows. To add a report (or change an existing one). You must use the definer password shown on your ServiceMANAGER registration card. To add a report: þ From the Main Menu, use command 99 to select the Panel List. Enter the definer password when prompted, to gain access to the Panel List. þ With the Panel List displayed, select the panel, you wish to base the report on. þ With the selected panel displayed, select Print/Export, press [SHIFT-F7]. þ Move the cursor to Built-In Reports, press [INSERT]. þ Follow the procedures in your DataPerfect Manual and Work Book, to create a new report. þ If you wish the new report to be displayed on a menu, the menu system must be changed. See your DataPerfect manual for details. To change an existing report: þ From the Main Menu, use command 98 to select the Report List. Enter the definer password when prompted, to gain access to the Report List. þ With the Report List displayed, select the report, you wish to change. þ Follow the procedures in your DataPerfect Manual and Work Book, to change an existing report. þ The menu system must be changed to recognise any changes made to a report. See the DataPerfect manual for details. REPORTS - ANALYSIS The Analysis Report Menu is one of three third level report menus, through which the user can select a analytical report. Please see Fig 10. Contract MCBF & MTBF Report This report calculates the MCBF & MTBF (Mean Counter Between Failures and Mean Time Between Failures) for a particular contract. Requiring no input from the user, once the report is selected from the Analysis Report Menu the report begins. The report lists each contract in order, together with each's total number of calls, the change in the machine's counter, the total of that counter change used in service, the change in dates since 1st serviced, and the MCBF and MTBF calculations. The total number of calls, in this case, is all service records for a particular contract. Including all those that are awaiting, and dispatched, in addition to those that are finished. By including all calls, (ie: awaiting and dispatched calls which might include calls that once checked are found not to be of a valid service nature) will produce a more conservative calculation. Once a contract has a number of service records, any effect of a few service calls not finished will be small anyway. It should be noted, that as this report does not request any information from the user (to narrow down the data), that this report calculates the data on all data entered. If the user wishes to narrow down the selection, to a particular time period, contract ..... then the user must change the search settings. For instructions on changing the search settings, please see your DataPerfect manual for details. Contract Cost by Problem This report calculates the number of service calls, parts cost, labour cost, travel labour cost, travel distance cost, and the total cost (sum of the costs mentioned) for each problem code in the contract range entered by the user. To calculate costs, cost information must be entered for Labour and Travel Cost (Other panel - Misc Panels menu), and Part Cost (Parts panel - Misc Panels menu). The report requests the user to enter the starting and ending Contract ID, so the user should have those IDs handy when the report is run. See Fig 11a. Contract Service History Report This report prints the entire service history, including service records of all statuses, in order by date, with dates, serviceperson, and problem code for a particular contract. The report requests the user to enter the Contract ID, so the user should have that ID handy when the report is run. This report does not print the work performed, the Service Detail Report would need to be printed to see that. See Fig 12. Contract #Records by Problem per Month Report This report prints the number of service records for each problem code by month for a contract range. This report uses the Called In date for month calculations. The report requests the user to enter the starting and ending Contract ID, so the user should have those IDs handy when the report is run. This report, see Fig 13, prints the number of service records in columns, by month. The report prints the quantity of records, for the current month, and previous months in specific columns (ie: June's service records would be under the heading JUN, the current month's records would be under CURRENT). The current month is always printed in the right most column, with the preceding months to the left, in descending order. If you have more than one year of service records entered, and want only the current year printed, then you must change the search conditions, so the report will look only for a specific range of Called In dates. For instructions on changing the search settings, please see your DataPerfect manual for details. #Service Records by Product per Month Report This report prints the number of service records for a range of machines (product serviced) by month. This report uses the Called In date for month calculations. See the report Contract #Records by Problem Code per Month, for details on how the data is formatted and caution for databases over one year in length. The report requests the user to enter the starting and ending Product ID, so the user should have those IDs handy when the report is run. #Service Records by Problem per Month Report This report prints the number of service records for each problem by month. This report uses the Called In date for month calculations. calculations. See the report Contract #Records by Problem per Month, for details on how the data is formatted and caution for databases over one year in length. The report requests the user to enter the starting and ending Problem ID, so the user should have those IDs handy when the report is run. #Service Records by Problem and Contract Report This report, summarizes the number of service records by contracts per month for the range of problem codes that the user enters. This report uses the Called In date for month calculations. The report requests the user to enter the starting and ending Problem ID, so the user should have those IDs handy when the report is run. See the report Contract #Records by Problem per Month, for details on how the data is formatted and caution for databases over one year in length. #Service Records by Problem and Product Report This report, the last of five analysis reports that summarizes the number of service records by month, prints the number of records by problem. The report requests the user to enter a Problem ID range, so the user should have those IDs handy when the report is run. This report uses the Called In date for month calculations. See the report Contract #Records by Problem per Month, for details on how the data is formatted and caution for databases over one year in length. Service Record Status Report This report prints out service records, in order, for the status range that the user enters. The report requests the user to enter the starting and ending Status ID, so the user should have those IDs handy when the report is run. For example, if the user wished to know what service records were still outstanding (ie: not finished, but awaiting or dispatched), the user would enter A for the starting Status ID, and D for the ending Status ID. The report would then print out all those records whose status was between A or D. To further narrow down the selection, say to pick only those records whose Called In Date matched a particular date, the user would change the search conditions. For instructions on changing the search settings, please see your DataPerfect manual for details. Serviceperson Hourly Reconciliation Report This report allows the user to compare the serviceperson's reported hours versus some known outside information, ie:payroll time card. The Total Hours reported - work and travel from this report should equal the hours requested to be paid on a time card, an easy comparison, any discrepancies could then be reconciled. The report is also an easy accuracy check - that the data reported or entered into ServiceMANAGER is correct. The report requests the user to enter the starting and ending Finished Date, so the user should have those dates handy when the report is run. Serviceperson Cost by Problem Report This report provides a cost comparison for each problem code a serviceperson has handled. Uses the hourly labour cost and travel cost figures entered in the Other panel (pg 23)., and the part cost from the Part panel. Using these costs, the service calls are costed and extended. The report requests the user to enter the Serviceperson ID range, so the user should have the IDs handy when the report is run. This report allows the user to compare the cost of service from one problem to another (ie: is one problem more expensive to repair than any other), and to compare one serviceperson's costs vs other servicepeople. For example, if one person does may more service calls than other servicepeople, but uses very few parts - his cost will be very low. But is it realistic. Perhaps fewer parts used, is the underlying reason so many service calls must be completed. The effect of many service calls (unhappy clients) might cost you many times more in lost business later, than the low parts cost now. REPORTS - LIST/DETAIL The List/Detail Report Menu is the second of three third level report menus, through which the user can select a list or detail report. Unlike the Analysis Report Menu, the list/detail reports provide no analysis function, but act as a means of printing selected data. Please see Fig 19. To narrow down the data (to search through and print), these reports prompt the user for an ID range. For example, when printing the Client List report, the report prompts the user for the starting and ending Client ID's to print. As the report requests the user to enter an ID range, the user should have those IDs handy when the report is run. Of course, as in the Analysis reports, the user may further narrow the data by changing the search conditions. For example, if the user wished to print the Client List report but only wanted the clients printed who resided in a particular Prov/State, let's say British Columbia (which has a code of BC) . Then the user would change the search conditions, to look only for a range starting from BC and ending with BC. For further details on changing the search conditions, please see the DataPerfect manual. As all of these reports have the same basic format, perhaps the easiest/best way to describe (what ID the reports request?, what is the result of running each of the List/Detail reports?) is to present this information in a tabular format, then go into more depth on a few of these reports. Please see the table, on the next page. REPORT ID REQUESTED RESULT Client Client Lists clients Client by Type Type Lists clients by type Client Account Status Acc Status Lists acc status codes Client Prov/Sate Prov/State Lists prov/state codes Client Type Type Lists client type codes Contract Contract Lists contracts Part Part Lists part codes Problem Problem Lists problem codes Product Product Lists product codes Service Service Lists service records Service Detail Service Lists serv rec w/detail Service Source Source Lists source codes Service Type Type Lists type codes Serviceperson S.Person Lists s.person codes Time/Counter Service Lists time/counterTable 1:List/Detail Reports As seen above, these reports cover both the main data files (Client, Client by Type, Contract, Service, Service Detail, and Time/Counter) and the smaller data checking data files (Client Account Status, Client Prov/State, Client Type, Part, Problem, Product, Service Source, Service Detail, Service Type, and Serviceperson). Client List Report The Client List Report shows the client's name, address, account status, and date entered/effective. Please see Fig 20. This report requests the user to enter the starting and ending Client ID, so the user should have those IDs handy when the report is run. Of course, as in the analysis reports, the user may further narrow the data by changing the search conditions. For example, if the user wished to print the Client List report but only wanted the clients printed who resided in a particular prov/state, let's say British Columbia (which has a code of BC) . Then the user would change the search conditions, to look only for a range starting from BC and ending with BC. For further details on changing the search conditions, please see the DataPerfect manual. Contract List Report The Contract List Report shows the client's name, address, product to be serviced, and the dates created/effective or cancelled. This report requests the user to enter the starting and ending Contract ID, so the user should have those IDs handy when the report is run. Service List & Service Detail Report The Service List and Service Detail reports both request that the user to enter the starting and ending Service ID, and both provide similar information - however the detail report does provide the detail on the work performed. (parts used, labour and travel hours and distance travelled). Time/Counter List Report The Time/Counter report, prompts the user for the starting and ending service record number. The report lists travel time and distance, start and finished date/times and counter information. The Time/Counter List report is the last report on a main data file, the remaining reports are on the smaller data checking files. As the format of the data checking files' reports are the same we will only look at one, the Part List report. Part List Report The Part List report is a simple column report (like all the other data checking file reports). The report prompts the user for the starting and ending Part ID, so the user should have those IDs handy when the report is run. Like all other reports, the data can be further narrowed down by changing the search conditions. See your DataPerfect manual for details. ServiceMANAGER keeps tracks of parts used. Any time a part is entered in the Service Detail panel (part used), the quantity is subtracted from the running totals kept for each part in the Part panel. The Part List report shows the running total kept for each part. Comparing the total kept by ServiceMANAGER against a periodic inventory is a good check of data accuracy. See the section HOW TO USE for suggestions on creating entries; for Balance Forwards, Goods Received, and Adjustments. REPORTS - OTHER The Other Report Menu is the final of three third level report menus, through which the user can select a report. Other reports, are reports that don't quite fit into the previous two report categories, analysis, or list/detail. Please see Fig 26. There are three other reports the user can choose from. They are; covering letter, mailing labels, and shipping sheet (bill of lading). Covering Letter The covering letter allows the user to send to a client, a standard "canned" letter that details the work done (parts used) on a particular service record. Before the letter is used the first time, the text of the letter must be edited. While the covering letter format is complete, the text of the letter is just a series of x's (ie: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX....). To change the user will have to enter the Report List from the Main Menu (use selection 98 to do this), enter the definer password, select Covering Letter from the list of reports, choose option 8 (to edit the report), press the [INSERT] key to turn on the typeover mode (to type over the text XXXX's that are in the report), then enter the text that is desired. Press [F7] when complete. Any change made will not be seen if you try to access the revised report from the Other Report Menu. To have the Covering Letter selection on the Other Report Menu select the revised report, the menu item must be edited. For more information on editing a report and a menu item, see your DataPerfect manual for details. The report when run will prompt the user for the starting and ending Service ID, so the IDs should be handy when the report is run. Like all other reports, the data may be further narrowed down by changing the search conditions. Mailing Labels The mailing label report prints out client information (name, street, city ....) in a format suitable for continuous form labels (ie:labels printed on a dot matrix printer). The report has been set up for a label of 4" (or 40 characters) wide by 1" (or 6 lines) high; (1" height is calculated as: 1" from the top of one label to the top of the next label). If your labels are different then you will have to modify the format. Please see your DataPerfect manual, for details on label report printing. It is best not to have the DPPRINT memory resident program loaded when mailing labels are printed. Please see the section REPORTS for a discussion of this. Shipping Sheet The final report, the Shipping Sheet allows the user to easily produce a report suitable for enclosing with a shipment (ie: a bill of lading), or for audit purposes (a paper trail of the movement of inventory). The report will ask the user for the Service ID range, so this will need to be handy. EXPORT The export reports, selected through the Export Menu, allow for easy movement of data to other programs. These reports, will export all of the main data files (Client, Contract, Service, Service Detail, and Time/Counter), in delimited text format, to the directory where the data files are located. The user cannot select a range to export, all data is exported. Data file to Export Export filename Client Client.fil Contract Contract.fil Service TRX-Info.fil Service Detail TRX-Det.fil Time/Counter Time.fil It should be noted that as the export uses the delimited text format (using commas to separate the fields), if any of the data contains commas then problems will result. If you are unsure about your data, you should check it. Any easy way would be to use the panel search feature (press [F2] when in a panel), and using the formula option, look for a comma. MERGE The merge reports, selected through the Merge Menu, allow for an easy creation of merge files, in WordPerfect's secondary merge format. These files are used by word processors when performing a mail merge. Two merge reports can be run, one containing client information, the other service and service detail information. Either one will create a merge file in the directory where the data files are located. Data to merge Merge filename Client Client.mrg Transactions (Service & TRX.mrg Service Detail) It should be noted, that the user cannot select a range to merge, all data is merged. HOW TO USE 1 Determine the codes needed for the data checking files. The sample data checking data files already have the codes listed on page 22 entered, these can be changed as required. To access these data files, select Misc Panel Menu from the Main Menu, then choose the desired panel from the list provided. 2 Enter any additional data checking codes needed. In most cases the sample data entered in these files will be all that is required. However you will probably need to enter part, serviceperson, and cost (in the Other Panel) information before you proceed. Any information that is in the Client, Contract, Service, or Service Detail panels must be deleted. Delete any sample data ckecking data that you do not want (do this only after deleting any information in the main data panels). 3 At this point, ServiceMANAGER is ready for operation. Before requests are entered, make a copy of the data files on your hard disk. Label the diskette, ServiceMANAGER - ready for operation. 4 Inventory - Balance Forward ServiceMANAGER, among other things, can track inventory. Before client service records are entered for the first time, any beginning inventories should be entered. Inventory totals are kept by the Parts Panel. The Parts List (List/Detail Report Menu) will give a inventory quantity-on-hand balance for each part. No detail reports have been designed to list all movements in inventories - however that can be easily done. See your DataPerfect manual for details. If you do not know if you wish to track inventories, skip this section. This may be performed later. From the Main Menu, choose the client panel. Use lookup ([F8] or []) to select client ADMINISTRATION, which is already created and included with the sample data. TAB to the link at the bottom of the client panel. This is the link to the Contract panel. As no contracts have been entered for this "client", you must press [F5] to move to the next panel and create an entry. You are now in the Contract panel, in CREATE mode (see top right of screen). TAB to the link at the bottom of the screen. This is the link to the Service Information panel. We wish to create a record, as no records have yet to be created for this contract, press [F5] to move to the next panel and create an entry. Now you are in the Service Information panel. Note that the upper right corner of the screen says CREATE, you are in create mode, and that the number below it, the Service ID, is 00000000X. Service Type use lookup to choose BALANCE FORWARD, TAB past Service Source. Today's date has been entered for the Called In date, press [ENTER] to accept this, enter the same date for the Shipped date. Note that the service detail window at the bottom of the screen is empty. We have yet to create the adjusting lines. Press [F5] to save the information just entered, and move to the detail panel and create a new detail record. You are now in the detail panel and in CREATE mode. Enter each product and it's quantity. Note when entering the quantity, enter it as a negative quantity. Any information entered in the quantity field of the Service Detail panel, is subtracted from the running total kept in the Parts panel. As we want a positive effect on the running total we must enter any number which might increase an inventory as a negative. (Remember from your high school math that a negative negative = a positive, while a negative positive = a negative). Press [F9] between each product to create a new detail record. When all records have been entered press [F7] to exit back to the Service Information panel. Note that the window now has service detail information. Inventory - Adjustments/Goods Received The same procedure would be performed to enter an adjustment to inventory (except Service Type = ADJUSTMENT) if for example after a periodic inventory reconciliation a variance was found, or to receive parts from a supplier (except Service Type = RECEIPT). Just remember, that anything that you want to have a positive effect on an inventory (ie: increase a inventory balance in ServiceMANAGER from 100 to 150), must be entered as a negative. ServiceMANAGER subtracts any parts movement in the Service Detail panel from the Quantity-On- Hand balance. Because it is already subtracting, a number must be entered as a negative to increase a balance. To use the above example: to increase a inventory from 100 to 150, a 50- (a negative) must be entered in the Service Detail panel. 5 Begin entering client requests. 6 Backup data daily. Use the backup command included with DataPerfect. See your DataPerfect manual for details. Keep backup disks in a safe place. 7 Regularly spot check data for accuracy. A good check is to compare an actual inventory physical count versus the total kept by the program for a few parts. Do this monthly. A rule of thumb: if inventory is checked monthly, each part should be checked twice during the year. Therefore, take the number of parts that will be tracked by ServiceMANAGER, divide that number by 6, the result is the number of part inventories that should be checked (compared to ServiceMANAGER) each month. Any differences should be reconciled, and adjustment/corrections made. If a inventory error is found, but the error can't be attributed to particular record or client then use the same procedure for creating a balance forward entry to create an adjusting entry (see previous page). However, for service type choose ADJUSTMENT not balance forward. This regimen ensures a high degree of data accuracy. 8 Analyze the data. APPENDIX List of Files Filename Information or Function Service.001 Client Service.002 Client Type Service.003 Product Service.004 Prov/State Service.005 Service Service.006 Service Detail Service.007 Client Account Status Service.008 Service Type Service.009 Service Source Service.011 Contract Service.012 Problem Service.013 Serviceperson Service.014 Time/Counter Service.016 Other Service.017 Part Service.018 User Service.IND Indexes for all data files. Service.STR ServiceMANAGER program structure. Service.TXX Text from the street and address fields in the Client and Contract data files. Indexes DataPerfect uses a index file to keep track of all of the indexes for all of the data files. An index is a sorted list of data. Among other things, a index can help data lookup provide more meaningful information. For example, while in the Client panel, and positioned on the city field, the user pressed the lookup key [], to see which clients were located in the same city - it probably would be helpful if that information when displayed, was sorted by city. By using indexes it can. Each of the data files in ServiceMANAGER is provided with only one or two indexes. A index is not provided for each of the fields, for all 15 data files, as the disk space required could be very large. (We don't know how large your hard drive is, or how many records you might have.) If you find that you use lookup frequently, on a few fields, it probably would make sense to create a index for those fields. However, be aware that disk space can be used quickly, if you have a large number of records, and/or want a number of indexes. Also as file size increases, access time slows down. An easy calculation of space used by an index is to multiply the number of records times the number of indexes, times 10 (DataPerfect's number, we have found 11.5 to be closer). If you are getting short on disk space, or find that the screen updating is taking a bit too long, then be wary of increasing the number of indexes. System Requirements ServiceMANAGER will run on all IBM/MS-DOS compatible computers, just as DataPerfect will, however the faster the computer and the bigger and faster the hard drive the better it will run. In other words, ServiceMANAGER and DataPerfect will run on a XT or a 286 computer with a 20Mb hard drive, but you won't like the performance. System recommendation  IBM or IBM compatible computer  80386 processor or higher, 486 or Pentium recommended.  DataPerfect 2.3 or later  DOS 5.0 or later  2Mb RAM (4Mb+ even better) with expanded memory driver loaded  fast hard disk; the bigger, the faster, the better (any of the modern 200Mb+ caching IDE hard drive is fine, a VLB enhanced IDE or SCSI-2 caching hard drive is ideal).  VGA recommended, colour suggested  internal modem, if you plan to use the program phone dialing feature.  Epson compatible dot matrix printer for printing mailing labels.