Calculation
 
To perform a currency conversion, simply activate the display associated to the desired input currency (e.g. NLG) and type the amount you want to convert (e.g. 1354.50):

Then press Return or Enter to convert and display the result (e.g. 614.65 EUR).

Let's now describe in detail how this result is obtained. We'll consider 3 different situations: national currency to euro conversion, euro to national currency conversion and national currency to national currency conversion.

National Currency to Euro Conversion
 
The Euro Assistant Pro window lists two currencies, a national currency (i.e. an EMU national currency or a non-EMU currency) and euro. The national currency's display is active and contains the amount you want to convert. After you press Return or Enter, Euro Assistant Pro:

• rounds the input value according to the current rounding amount for the input currency;
• divides the obtained value by the input currency's euro conversion or exchange rate;
• rounds the obtained value according to the current euro rounding amount;
• writes the result in the euro display.

Euro to National Currency Conversion
 
The Euro Assistant Pro window lists two currencies, a national currency (i.e. an EMU national currency or a non-EMU currency) and euro. The euro display is active and contains the amount you want to convert. After you press Return or Enter, Euro Assistant Pro:

• rounds the euro input value according to the current euro rounding amount;
• multiplies the obtained value by the national currency's euro conversion or exchange rate;
• rounds the obtained value according to the current rounding amount for the national currency;
• writes the result in the national currency's display.

National Currency to National Currency Conversion
 
The Euro Assistant Pro window lists two national currencies (i.e. EMU national currencies or non-EMU currencies). The active display contains the amount you want to convert. After you press Return or Enter, Euro Assistant Pro:

• rounds the input value according to the current rounding amount for the input currency;
• divides the obtained value by the input currency's euro conversion or exchange rate;
• multiplies the obtained value by the output currency's euro conversion or exchange rate;
• rounds the obtained value according to the current rounding amount for the output currency;
• writes the result in the ouput currency's display.

Notice that when you convert a national currency to another national currency (e.g. DEM to BEF), Euro Assistant Pro effectively performs a double conversion (triangulation): from the input national currency to euro (e.g. from DEM to EUR) and from euro to the output national currency (e.g. from EUR to BEF). This triangulation has always sense when the two national currencies are EMU currencies or when one of them is an EMU currency, because euro conversion rates are fixed. The triangulation's result is on the contrary just indicative when both currencies are non-EMU currencies and their euro exchange rates (which float) refer to two different moments.

Rounding
 
Euro Assistant Pro provides a wide range of roundings to fit all your needs. Minimum rounding is 1/10000 of a currency's value, while maximum rounding is 1000 times the currency's value. 15 other intermediate roundings are available. Different roundings can be specified for different currencies.

To change the active currency's rounding, use the Rounding popup button in the Euro Assistant Pro window. Roundings can also be edited by choosing the Currencies command in the File menu. The Currencies dialog box is brought up: select the currency whose rounding you want to change and click Edit to open the Edit Currency dialog box. Specify a new rounding and click OK.

The active currency's rounding is always displayed in the Rounding popup button in the Euro Assistant Pro window. This indication is bracketed when the currency's rounding is temporarily greater than the one you specified. This temporary rounding is automatically applied each time your rounding would exceed the calculation precision of Euro Assistant Pro.

Reconversion Errors
 
If you perform a conversion from a currency with a rounding amount of low intrinsic value to a currency with a rounding amount of high intrinsic value and then convert the result back to the original currency, a reconversion error may occur, that is the final result may slightly differ from the input value.

Let's consider for instance a conversion from ITL to EUR, with ITL rounded to 1 ITL and EUR rounded to 0.01 EUR. The ITL rounding amount has a lower intrinsic value than the EUR rounding amonut (1 ITL ≈ 0.0005 EUR < 0.01 EUR). Therefore if you convert an ITL amount to EUR and then back to ITL, the final amount may differ from the initial amount.

                                                                                   325,000 ITL = 325,000 / 1,936.27 EUR =
                                                                                   167.8484922... EUR ≈ 167.85 EUR

 

       167.85 EUR = 167.85 * 1.936.27 ITL =
       325,002.9195 ITL ≈ 325,003 ITL

Conversely, if you perform a conversion from a currency with an high intrinsic value rounding amount to a currency with a low intrinsic value rounding amount and then convert the result back to the original currency, no reconversion error occurs. Considering this time the EUR to ITL conversion, we have for instance:

          250.00 EUR = 250.00 * 1,936.27 ITL = 484,067.5 ITL ≈ 484,068 ITL
          484,068 ITL = 484,068 / 1,936.27 EUR = 250.0002582... EUR ≈ 250.00 EUR

Reconversion errors may occur when you switch to another display after having performed a conversion. This happens because Euro Assistant Pro always considers the active display as input display: when you activate a new display, Euro Assistant Pro automatically performs a new conversion with the new active display's content as input amount.

Let's consider the following example: convert 30,000 ITL to ATS, DEM and EUR, then click the DEM display to activate it. Euro Assistant Pro performs a second conversion with 30.30 DEM as input amount. A reconversion error occurs (29,997 ITL ≠ 30,000 ITL) and the ATS amount slightly changes, because now it is the result of the conversion of 30.30 DEM. The EUR amount is unaffected, because the EUR rounding amount (0.01 EUR) is the one with the highest intrinsic value.

Calculating and Converting Expressions
 
It is not unusual that you have to convert the result of a calculation - typically a sum or a percentage. Euro Assistant Pro gives you the possibility to enter an algebraic expressions into the active display, calculate its result and convert this result.

To tell Euro Assistant Pro you are about to enter an expression, type Equals ('='). Then enter your expression. Euro Assistant Pro supports the 4 algebraic operators ('+', '-', '*', '/') and parentheses ('(', ')').

Press Return or Enter to end your entry. Euro Assistant Pro first checks the expression's syntax. In case of incorrect syntax it beeps and waits for you to correct the mistake. In case of correct syntax it calculates the expression's result. If the result exceeds Euro Assistant Pro's calculation range (the input amount must range from -100,000,000,000 to 100,000,000,000) or is invalid (e.g. your expression contains a division by zero), Euro Assistant Pro writes 'E r r o r' in the active display and zeroes its content.
In case of correct syntax and valid result Euro Assistant Pro writes the rounded result in the active display and converts this amount to all other listed currencies.

Notice that Euro Assistant Pro is "freezed" during the introduction of an expression: most menu commands are dimmed, the three buttons in the Euro Assistant Pro window (the Iconize button, the Rate button and the Rounding button) are dimmed and you can't switch to another display or to another currency. Similarly, if you set the Iconize on application switch preference, Euro Assistant Pro won't be iconized if you switch to another application. 

Algebraic expressions can also be pasted from the clipboard to the active display. In this case '=' can be omitted. If the syntax of the clipboard content is incorrect, then zero is pasted. If the result of the clipboard expression is invalid or exceeds Euro Assistant Pro's calculation range, then 'E r r o r' is displayed in the active display and zero is pasted.

In case of correct syntax and valid result Euro Assistant Pro pastes the rounded result in the active display and converts it to all other listed currencies.

Calculating Series Conversions: Importation
 
It may happen that you have to convert a series of amounts (a price list or a monthly sales report for instance). Euro Assistant Pro offers you the possibility to import these amounts listed in a text file or clipping and to automatically perform all conversions. At the end of the importation the Euro Assistant Pro window will display the last calculated conversion and the Tape window will store all performed conversions.

To import a series of amounts you can either:

• store all amounts in a text file, with subsequent amounts separated by a return, a tab, a comma (if the comma is not decimal separator) or a space. Then import the file by choosing the Import command in the File menu. In the Import dialog box specify the desired input currency.

• store all amounts in a text file, with subsequent amounts separated by a return, a tab, a comma (if the comma is not decimal separator) or a space. Then drag the file icon on the desired input currency's ISO code in the Euro Assistant Pro window.

• drag a clipping containing the amounts you want to convert on the desired input currency's ISO code in the Euro Assistant Pro window.

Notice that Euro Assistant Pro also imports algebraic expressions and inserts a zero input value in case of an out of range or invalid value.

Copying the Result of your Conversion: Copy Special
 
Once you have calculated a conversion you can copy its result to the clipboard by activating the corresponding display and by choosing the Copy command in the Edit menu.

The Copy command copies the active display's amount by omitting its thousands separators, so that the amount can be recognized as a number (and not as text) when it is pasted into a spreadsheet cell or a database field.

If the amount is to be pasted on the contrary into a word processor document, then the inclusion of thousands separators can make your result more readable and the addition of the ISO code corresponding to the amount you're copying can make you spare time. More generally the possibility to insert the active display's amount (and its ISO code) into a frequently used text string and copy this string into the clipboard can be quite useful.
All this can be done be acting on the Copy Special submenu of the Edit menu.

The default Copy Special submenu commands are:

• Add ISO Code
Lets you copy the active display's content together with its ISO code to the clipboard. Thousands separators are included when the Include Thousands Separators option, also in the Copy Special submenu, is checked.

• Configure...
Brings up the Copy Special dialog box and lets you add, edit or delete custom Copy Special commands.

• Include Thousands Separators
Check this option, if you want that thousands separators are included when a Copy Special command is performed.

Let's see now how to define a new custom Copy Special command. We'll suppose that your invoices usually contain the text entries:

                                               "Total Net Payment (FRF): "
                                               "Total Net Payment (EUR): "

each followed by the corresponding amount. We'll therefore define a new Copy Special command that copies the active display's amount preceded by "Total Net Payment", the corresponding ISO code (in brackets) and a colon.

Choose the Configure command in the Copy Special submenu to bring up the Copy Special dialog box. Then click Add to open the Add Command dialog box.

Type the command's name and the text you want to copy to the clipboard into the corresponding boxes. To insert the ISO code's placeholder "<iso>", click the ISO Code button, whereas to insert the amount's placeholder "<x>", click the Amount button. Then click OK to add your custom command to the Copy Special submenu.

Every time you'll choose the Total Net Payment command, Euro Assistant Pro will replace the ISO code placeholder "<iso>" and the amount placeholder "<x>" in "Total Net Payment (<iso>): <x>" respectively by the active display's ISO code and amount and copy the obtained text into the clipboard.
Thousands separators will be included or omitted depending on whether the Include Thousands Separators option is checked or not. 

To edit a Copy Special command, choose Configure from the Copy Special submenu to bring up the Copy Special dialog box. Select the command and click Edit or double-click it. Edit the command and click OK to confirm.

To delete a Copy Special command finally, choose Configure from the Copy Special submenu. Select the command in the Copy Special dialog box and click Delete.

Calculation Range
 
Euro Assistant Pro accepts input amounts whose absolute value ranges from 0 and 100,000,000,000.