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TM S C B A T R A K I N S T R U C T I O N M A N U A L Version: 2.21 Dec. 28, 1993 Copyright 1993 Raymond A.J. Pesek All Rights Reserved This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at: 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. You can also reach the ASP via a FAX machine at (616) 788-2765. Written by: Raymond A.J. Pesek 4706 Cottonwood Lane Brunswick, Ohio 44212-2412 CompuServe Mail: 72270,650 TABLE OF CONTENTS ---------------------- End User License And Warranty Disclaimer Agreement ... Page 3 Equipment Requirements ............................... Page 4 Installation ......................................... Page 5 Introduction ......................................... Page 7 General Information Applicable To The Entire Program . Page 8 Dialog Boxes ......................................... Page 8 Key Combinations ..................................... Page 8 Field Characteristics ................................ Page 8 General Screen Navigation ............................ Page 10 Using The List Boxes ................................. Page 11 General Menu Operation ............................... Page 12 Fast Quit Option ..................................... Page 13 Shell To DOS ......................................... Page 13 Air Bottle / Back Pack / Mask / PASS Unit Menu Layouts ......................................... Page 14 Field Descriptions (alphabetical) .................... Page 17 Explanation Of Main Menu Selections .................. Page 28 Fill Log Instructions ................................ Page 32 Air Bottle Report Descriptions and Instructions ...... Page 35 PASS Unit Report Descriptions and Instructions ....... Page 39 Back Pack Report Descriptions and Instructions ....... Page 41 SCBA Mask Report Descriptions and Instructions ....... Page 43 Miscellaneous Information ............................ Page 46 Error Handling ....................................... Page 48 Registration ......................................... Page 48 Page 2 END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT: --------------------------- Raymond A.J. Pesek will be referred to as LICENSOR. You or your organization will be referred to as the LICENSEE. The SCBA Trak computer program will be referred to as the SOFTWARE. This SOFTWARE remains my property. Upon registration, you are NOT purchasing this SOFTWARE, but are purchasing a license to USE this intellectual property. Registered LICENSEES are granted a license to USE the SOFTWARE for perpetuity on only one computer at a time, although the SOFTWARE may be INSTALLED on as many computers as needed. Multiple licenses are available to registered users at a discount. Please see the registration form for details. Each license will have a separate and distinct serial number. LICENSEES of the unregistered version are granted a thirty (30) day license for evaluation purposes only. The LICENSEE is prohibited from reverse engineering, decompiling, or otherwise disassembling this SOFTWARE. You may not lease or rent this SOFTWARE to other users. WARRANTY DISCLAIMER: ------------------- LICENSOR HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO THIS SOFTWARE, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. LICENSOR WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT OR SIMILAR DAMAGES DUE TO LOSS OF DATA OR FOR ANY OTHER REASON, EVEN IF LICENSOR OR AN AGENT OF LICENSOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT SHALL LICENSORS LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES EVER EXCEED THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENSE TO USE THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE CLAIM. THE PERSON USING THE SOFTWARE BEARS ALL RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE. IF THE DISCLAIMER OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES IS NOT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE HEREBY LIMITED IN DURATION TO THIRTY (30) DAYS FROM THE DATE YOU RECEIVED DELIVERY. THIS SOFTWARE IS OFFERED "AS IS" ONLY ! Some states do not allow the exclusion or the limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the above limitations may not apply to you. (continued on next page) Page 3 This agreement shall be governed by the laws of The State of Ohio and shall inure to the benefit of Raymond A.J. Pesek and any successors, administrators, heirs, and assigns. Any action or proceeding brought by either party against the other arising out of or related to this agreement shall be brought only in a STATE or FEDERAL COURT of competent jurisdiction located in Medina County or Summit County, Ohio. The parties hereby consent to in personam jurisdiction of said courts. If any provision of this agreement is held void or unenforceable, the remainder shall remain valid and enforceable according to its' terms. YOUR USE OF THIS SOFTWARE CONSTITUTES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS. EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS ---------------------- This program will run on any IBM-compatible computer with at least one 1.2M or 1.4M floppy drive. A hard drive is not required, but highly recommended. The program makes use of temporary files during its' operation, and running it from a floppy disk will produce very slow operation. A color monitor is also recommended, but not required. DOS version 3.3 or later is required. Approximately 460K of available RAM memory is required. A hard drive cache will noticeably speed things up. If expanded memory is available, SCBA Trak will use it for storing data and program code to achieve faster operation. Upon startup, 512K of expanded memory is allocated for use. This amount of memory can be changed by the user, if desired. A command line switch, //E:xxx , where the xxx's are replaced by a number, effects this change. EXAMPLE: Starting the program with the command SCBATRAK //E:0 <enter> will disable all use of expanded memory. Starting the program with the command SCBATRAK //E:1024 <enter> will allocate one megabyte of expanded memory for use by the program. You might want to allocate more memory if you have several hundred or thousand items in at least one of the inventory files. SCBA Trak only uses extended memory for the DOS shell function, if available. IBM is a registered trademark of IBM Corporation Page 4 INSTALLATION ------------ An automatic installation program is provided with some of the shareware versions and all of the registered versions, except for those supplied on 360K diskettes. Change to the floppy drive where the SCBA Trak disk is inserted, type INSTALL and press Enter (INSTALL /M if you don't have a color monitor). If you have absolutely no idea what the instructions on the screen are telling you, just keep pressing the Enter key or answering Y to the questions and the program will be installed. To run the program, change to the directory where SCBA Trak is installed, type SCBATRAK at the DOS prompt and press the Enter key. If you received the program in an archived format (usually from a computer bulletin board or on program copies supplied on a 360K diskette size), the file README.1ST has the instructions on installing the program. If you're reading this manual, you already know how to extract the files from the archive. If you are a REGISTERED user of my program SCBABOTL, you can use your current data files with SCBA Trak. You have two options: 1. Change the installation program default directory from \SCBATRAK to the one used by SCBABOTL, or ; 2. Install the program into the new directory and then manually copy the following data files from the SCBABOTL directory to the new SCBATRAK directory: DEPTNAME.DAT SCBABOTL.DBF SCBABOTL.DBT FILL_LOG.DBF If you are using SCBABOTL version 1.3 or later, also copy these two files: PASSUNIT.DBF PASSUNIT.DBT When SCBA Trak starts for the first time, it will detect the presence of the SCBABOTL-style data files. You will be asked if you want the data files converted. If you have already copied the SCBABOTL data files to a floppy disk for backup purposes, just follow the directions on the screen. If you elect to proceed with the conversion and have not backed up the files, you run the risk of losing all of your data if the conversion should be interrupted by a power failure, etc. If you are an unregistered user of SCBABOTL, the files will NOT be converted and you'll have to manually reenter all of your data (or register). Page 5 Each time the program starts up, it tests for the existence of the required data files. If they cannot be found in the current directory, the program will automatically create new ones. These data files are: 1. SCBABOTL.DBF the air bottle inventory file 2. SCBABOTL.DBT the "maintenance notes" file for the air bottle inventory 3. FILL_LOG.DBF the fill log file 4. SCBATRAK.DAT the file which holds the "F" key programming and other program configuration information 5. PASSUNIT.DBF the PASS unit inventory file 6. PASSUNIT.DBT the "maintenance notes" file for the PASS units 7. SCBAMASK.DBF the mask inventory file 8. SCBAMASK.DBT the "maintenance notes" file for the mask inventory 9. BACKPACK.DBF the back pack inventory file 10. BACKPACK.DBT the "maintenance notes" file for the back pack inventory 11. EXPIRED.DBF the file which holds the maintenance expiration dates of all the equipment 12. NAMELIST.DAT the file that holds the list of names used to speed up entries of apparatus designations When the program starts for the first time, "index" files are created. These file names have an extension of .NSX and are used to keep track of where the information in each (.DBF) file is stored, for quicker access. These index files are critical. If one or more of the index files are accidentally or deliberately deleted, new ones will be created the next time the program is used. If the program is acting weird, like it can't find an item you "know" is entered, one of the index files may have been damaged. Simply delete all of the files with an extension of .NSX and restart the program. DO NOT copy the (*.DB*) data files via DOS to another computer. SCBA Trak maintains internal counters regarding the storage of your data in the SCBATRAK.DAT file. This file also contains program and computer configuration information. If you use the main menu "COPY . . ." and "RESTORE . . ." functions to transfer data between computers, everything will remain in sync. Because of the temporary files used in this program, your CONFIG.SYS file should have a FILES=xx statement, where the xx is replaced by a number of 20 or higher, or the program may not run. The installation program can check this for you. Page 6 INTRODUCTION ------------ This program was written to allow easy record keeping of your Self Contained Breathing Apparatus and PASS (Personal Alert Safety System) units. It is comprised of five distinct modules, one for keeping track of air bottles you own, one for keeping records of all bottles you fill, whether for your organization or for someone else, one for keeping track of your PASS units, one for keeping track of your SCBA masks, and one for keeping track of your back packs. Because most departments have more than one mask per back pack (either spares or masks assigned to individuals) I have broken the masks away from the back packs for record keeping. Information you enter in the "fill log" relating to when one of your air bottles was filled and where the bottle is physically located will be transferred automatically into your air bottle inventory file to keep your records up to date. Air bottle hydrostatic test dates, fill dates, and ultimate life dates (if applicable) are tracked to help assure your bottles are safe to use. A "visual inspection" date can also be used if you perform these types of inspections. Visuals can be for the external or internal condition of a bottle. Masks and back packs are assigned a "certification date" used to keep track of repetitive maintenance requirements, such as bench or flow tests. A "visual inspection" date can also be used to track the routine checks of the equipment. Visual inspections are normally accomplished at the beginning of each shift on full-time departments, but may not be done for as long as a month on part-time or volunteer departments. As an alternative, you can use the visual inspection date as the date when the mask fit checks are performed. If you're using the battery powered amplified mask mouthpieces (speakers), I suggest you change the batteries at the same time you perform your annual certification or maintenance. PASS units are tracked to assure their batteries are not older than a user-specified age. Generally, PASS unit batteries are changed every twelve months, but you can set any interval you need. Functional tests are normally accomplished at the beginning of each shift on full-time departments, but may not be done for as long as a month on part-time or volunteer departments. When the program first starts, a special file containing all of the maintenance due dates is scanned. If anything is almost due or overdue, a screen will pop up giving you a summary report. You can print either the summary or a complete list of equipment. Page 7 GENERAL INFORMATION APPLICABLE TO THE ENTIRE PROGRAM ==================================================== THIS SECTION IS IMPORTANT ! If you don't read anything else, read the next few sections. DIALOG BOXES ------------ Dialog boxes are simply pop-up boxes that ask you to either enter information or make a selection from those presented in the box. Pressing the Esc key will cancel the box. If you are asked to make a selection from those presented, you can do so by using the "up arrow" and "down arrow" keys to position the cursor bar over the desired item and pressing Enter, or by tapping the first letter of the desired item. KEY COMBINATIONS ---------------- Throughout this manual you'll see references to "key combinations." It'll be shown as (for example) Alt+X . This means you should hold down the Alt key, tap the X key, then release the Alt key to get the desired function to work. FIELD CHARACTERISTICS --------------------- The collection of information relating to a particular item is known as a "record." Example: If you have two hundred bottles in your inventory, you have two hundred records, one per bottle. Data is entered into a record by a "fill in the blanks" method. These "blanks" are known as "fields." The fields share certain behavior characteristics. If the field allows you to enter both upper case (capitalized) and lower case (uncapitalized) letters, the extreme left-hand character is automatically capitalized for you. You don't have to hold down the "shift" key. An example of this type of field is the "Manufacturer:" field. Page 8 If a field requires all of the characters to be capitalized, there is no way you can force it to accept uncapitalized characters. An example of this type of field is the "Serial Number:" field. If a field is generally required to be all numbers, it may or may not allow you to enter letters. If it does, the cursor will not leave the field until all of the characters are of the proper type. An example of this type of field is the "Duration In Minutes:" field in the air bottle inventory. This field will accept either numbers (e.g. 60 for a sixty minute duration bottle) or the letters N/A to indicate a cascade or bank bottle. If you try to enter an invalid sequence, like 6/0 , the characters will display on the screen, but the cursor will not advance to the next field until you correctly enter the duration. A very few fields are "required entry" fields. This means you cannot leave these fields blank. An example of one of these is the "Last Filled:" date field in the fill log. Obviously, if you are logging the filling of bottles, you cannot leave the date that you filled it blank. If the cursor will not leave a field, it's because you have tried to leave a "required entry" field blank or because you have entered obviously incorrect data, like a date of 14/31/92. All dates are entered in a MM/DD/YY format or a MM/YY format. Since there are only twelve months, the example shown is obviously incorrect. If you change the extreme left-hand character of a field that already has data entered in it, the rest of the field will be erased. Example: if you want to erase the "Manufacturer:" field, you would move the cursor to the beginning of that field and tap the space bar. All of the previously entered characters in the field will be immediately erased. If you are just correcting a typo that is not the extreme left hand character, no other characters will be affected. If you have inadvertently changed the data in a field, you can press the Esc key WHILE THE CURSOR IS STILL IN THAT FIELD and the old data will be restored. If you have moved the cursor out of that field, you will have to go back and reenter all of the previous data. Note: Pressing the Esc key, while restoring the previous data, will also take you back to the menu. Note #2: The bit about tapping the space bar does not work on certain fields, like the "Certified Every xx Months". For these fields, you must use the "Delete" (Del) key to erase the characters. The very first field on each data entry screen, the Serial Number field, will not have all of it's characters erased simply by tapping the space bar. If you accidentally touch a key while browsing through the inventory, you'd most likely erase the serial number by accident otherwise. Page 9 GENERAL SCREEN NAVIGATION ------------------------- The little blinking line or box is known as a "cursor." It shows you where the characters you type will appear on the screen. The cursor has two modes (shapes): a "single underline" known as "overstrike mode" and a "small box" known as "insert mode." The cursor mode is changed by pressing the key labeled "Insert" or "Ins." When the cursor is in the "overstrike" mode, any characters you type will replace the one currently above the cursor. When the cursor is in the "insert" mode, the characters you type will be "inserted" just before the character that the cursor is on, with the characters to the right of the new character being shoved to the right one position. Try it, you'll see what I mean. To move the cursor around the screen, you use the "up" and "down" arrow keys. The "up arrow" will take you backwards to the previous item while the "down arrow" will take you to the next item. This holds true even if the next or previous item is on the same line. You cannot use the "left/right" arrow keys to move around the screen. When adding NEW records into an inventory, pressing the PgUp or PgDn keys will take you from any item on the data entry screen back to the menu. Pressing the Esc key will do the same BUT if you have entered new information into a particular field, and the cursor is still in that field, pressing the Esc key will cause the new information to be erased and the old information restored (if any), before it returns you to the menu you started the entries from. When browsing EXISTING records, the PgUp key will take you "backwards" in the inventory to the previous record. The PgDn key will take you "forward" to the next record. Pressing the Esc key will return you to the menu you started the browse from. There is a message at the top of the screen showing you which record number you are on and the total number of records to be browsed. If, for some reason, either of these numbers should be incorrect, you can reset the counters by copying all of the data files to a floppy disk (via the main menu "Copy . . .") function, and then immediately restoring all of the data files (via the main menu "Restore . . .") function. During the "restore", all of the record counters are reinitialized to the proper value. Page 10 If you have either added a new record or changed the information in an existing record, a dialog box will appear as you leave the record. The dialog box will ask you if you want to print a new maintenance history report for the record you just added or changed. Tapping the Y key or the Enter key will print the report; tapping the PgUp, PgDn, or Esc keys will skip the printing. The program has been written to minimize the number of times the Enter key needs to be hit. If an entry accepts a certain number of characters and you type that many characters, the cursor automatically advances to the next item. Example: the WORKING PRESSURE entry accepts four digits. When you type the fourth digit the cursor moves to the next item. If you type less than four digits, you must press the Enter key to continue with the entries. When viewing the listings of different items, you can press the Ctrl+PgUp key combination to be taken to the top of the list, or the Ctrl+PgDn key combination to go to the bottom of the list. USING THE LIST BOXES -------------------- SCBA Trak also makes use of "list boxes" to ease data entry. A list box operates like a menu. When the cursor enters certain blank fields a list box will appear, giving you different selections to choose from. If you like one of the selections, move the cursor bar over the desired one using the "up arrow" and/or "down arrow" keys, and press Enter. Optionally, you can just tap the first letter of the selection you want and the cursor bar will be positioned there automatically. Example: Items in the list boxes are shown alphabetically. You want the name Truck-7 . Instead of repeatedly tapping the "down arrow" key or using the "PgDn" key to get to the bottom of the list, you could just tap the T key. The cursor bar will jump to the first item beginning with the letter T . Repeatedly tapping the T key will cycle the cursor bar among all items starting with the letter T . When the cursor bar is on the item you want, press the Enter key and the data will be entered into the field for you. List boxes are used in three places: When entering mask sizes into the mask inventory, when entering "air bottle types" into the air bottle inventory, and when entering the apparatus designation or personnel names into the "Last Known To Be On:" or the "Assigned To:" fields. Page 11 All sections of the program have a "Last Known To Be On:" or an "Assigned To:" field. Both are used to record the last known location (either on a truck or assigned to an individual) of the particular item. This list box is not pre-programmed, but adds new selections as you enter them into the program. The list of names used in the "Last Known To Be On:" and "Assigned To:" fields are stored in a file named "NAMELIST.DAT." If this file is not present in the current directory when SCBA Trak first starts up, the air bottle inventory will be scanned and a new list box generated from the air bottle records. Only the air bottle inventory is scanned since you shouldn't have a back pack where there isn't also a bottle. SCBABOTL USERS NOTE - SCBABOTL did not allow lower case entries at all. If you like to see lower case entries in the list box, you must go back into each record and manually change each field. Then get back to the main menu and use the key combination Alt+N (hold down the Alt key, tap the N key, then release the Alt key) and a new list box with mixed case names will be made. Use this same procedure if you have different variations of the same name that you want eliminated from the list box. GENERAL MENU OPERATION ---------------------- To make a selection from a menu, tap the space bar, the "up arrow" or "down arrow" keys to move the cursor bar over the desired item and press Enter. Optionally, you can just type the very first letter of the desired item and the selection will be made for you. Example: You want the "Erase selected items from the data files" item from the main menu. You could either tap the cursor arrow key until this selection was highlighted and then press Enter, or you could simply tap the E key. If there is more than one item on a given menu beginning with the same letter, you can only select the first item this way. The second item can only be selected by manually moving the cursor bar with the arrow keys and then pressing Enter. Since all of the module menus are pretty much identical, you can use some shortcuts. Example: You want to add new bottles into the fill log. You start the program and from the main menu you tap the F key to get to the fill log menu. From the fill log menu, you tap the A key to add new entries. With just two keystrokes, you're ready to get to work. If you were adding new PASS units, from the main menu you would tap the P key to get into the PASS unit module. From the PASS unit menu you would tap the A key to add new PASS units into the inventory. Page 12 Pressing the Esc key from a menu will take you back to the menu you just came from. If you are at the main menu and press the Esc key, a dialog up box will ask if you want to quit the program. Press the Esc key, the Enter key or the Y key to quit the program. Pressing the N key or moving the cursor bar over the NO block and then pressing Enter will cancel the program termination. FAST QUIT OPTION ---------------- Available from all menus and most places in the program is a "fast quit" option. Instead of hitting the Esc key or the Q key repeatedly to quit the program, you can use the key combinations Alt+X or Alt+F4 . These will save all of your data and immediately quit the program. If this function doesn't work, it's because you're in a part of the program where it isn't safe to use it. SHELL TO DOS ------------ The key combinations Alt+S or Shift+F9 will shell you to DOS from all menus and data entry screens. This function actually swaps the SCBA Trak program out of conventional memory and stores it in either extended memory, expanded memory, or, as a last resort, as a temporary file on the disk. Thus, you will have all but around 8K of your total memory available. The temporary file is about 600K in size and is marked with a READ ONLY attribute to prevent accidental erasure while in the shell. If you have sufficient extended or expanded memory, the swap takes less than one second. If the swap file must be stored on the disk, it can take several seconds. To return to the program, type EXIT and press the Enter key, just like the prompt says. NOTE: If you're running the program from a floppy, this function probably will not work unless you have sufficient extended or expanded memory. NEVER, EVER LOAD A TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) PROGRAM FROM THE DOS SHELL ! TSR's occupy a section of memory even when not in use so they're ready for instant recall. Examples of common TSR's are the DOS Print printer spooler, memory managers, pop-up calculators and menu programs. If you load such a program from the DOS Shell, and then return to SCBA Trak, the TSR cannot be unloaded unless the computer is rebooted, and significant amounts of memory may be made unavailable for use by other programs. Page 13 AIR BOTTLE / BACK PACK / MASK / PASS UNIT MENU LAYOUTS ====================================================== The menu general layout for the air bottles, back packs, PASS units, and SCBA mask modules are the same. The menu layout for the fill log will be described under the section FILL LOG INSTRUCTIONS. REPORTS ------- This menu selection takes you to a new menu where the various reporting functions are available. The reports particular to each module will be described later. ADD NEW (whatever) TO THE INVENTORY ----------------------------------- This menu selection allows you to enter new data into each inventory. Each record MUST have a either a SERIAL NUMBER or an I.D. NUMBER or the entry will be cancelled. See the later section titled FIELD DESCRIPTIONS on how to use each field. After entering a new item, a dialog box will appear asking if you want the maintenance history report printed. These maintenance reports are normally kept in a notebook where changes can be written in by hand, with the SCBA Trak program being updated at a later time. BROWSE/EDIT ALL (whatever) INVENTORY RECORDS -------------------------------------------- This selection allows you to look through each inventory item by item. Pressing the Esc key will return you to the menu. Use the PgUp, PgDn, and arrow keys to scroll through the list to find the item you are looking for. Usually the first two columns are locked in place so you can use the right arrow key to review additional information that is not able to be seen when you first select this function without losing track of which item you were looking at. You can also use the key combination Ctrl+PgUp to jump to the very top of the list or the key combination Ctrl+PgDn to jump to the very bottom of the list. Page 14 When you first select this function, SCBA Trak will look for items that need immediate attention. The following conditions are checked for: Air bottle inventory - any bottle that is either currently overdue for hydrostatic testing AND the very first character in the "Last Known To Be On:" field is not the star ( * ) OR has a life limit (like the fifteen year ultimate life limit on composite bottles) that has passed ; Back pack inventory - any back pack that is currently overdue for certification AND both the "Last Certified:" and the "Certified Every xx Months" fields are filled in AND the very first character in the "Last Known To Be On:" field is not the star ( * ) ; Mask inventory - any mask that is currently overdue for certification AND both the "Last Certified:" and "Certified Every xx Months" fields are filled in AND the very first character in the "Assigned To:" field is not the star ( * ) ; PASS unit inventory - any PASS unit that is currently overdue for a battery replacement AND both the "Last Battery Changed:" and "Battery Changed Every xx Months" fields are filled in AND the very first character in the "Assigned To:" field is not the star ( * ) ; If there are any items meeting these criteria, the relevant date will show up in blinking red (blinking black on a monochrome monitor) and a new blinking line will appear at the bottom of the display to warn you that there is something you need to look at. This new line will alert you even if none of the items currently on the screen are overdue for attention. If SCBA Trak is unable to calculate a critical date, such as the "Next Certification Due", because the "Last Certification" date or the "Certified Every xx Months" fields were left blank, the word MISSING will display in yellow to alert you that something is missing from that record. If any item is not yet overdue, but is within the "lead time" as set on the "Options" screen, that date will show up in solid yellow. If you have disabled the warning by setting the lead time to 999 days, the date will show in black on white unless it's currently overdue, and then it'll be shown in blinking red. Page 15 When the list is on the screen, use the "up arrow", "down arrow", of "PgUp" and "PgDn" keys to find the item you want more detail on. Place the cursor anywhere on the row of the desired item and press the Enter key to bring up all the details on that item. The LINES OF NOTES: field will be blank if no notes have been entered. Press the F2 key to enter or review any maintenance notes. If you want to examine other items, you can use the PgUp and PgDn keys to browse the rest of the inventory from where you started. Pressing the Esc key will return you to the menu where the browse was started. There is a message at the top of the screen showing you which record number you are on and the total number of records to be browsed. If, for some reason, either of these numbers should be incorrect, you can reset the counters by copying all of the data files to a floppy disk (via the main menu "Copy . . .") function, and then immediately restoring all of the data files (via the main menu "Restore . . .") function. During the "restore", all of the record counters are reinitialized to the proper value. Upon leaving a record, if you have added or changed existing information, you will be given a dialog box with the option of printing a new maintenance history report. SEARCH FOR/EDIT A (whatever) INVENTORY ENTRY BY SERIAL NO. OR I.D. NO. -------------------------------------------------------------- This selection allows you to type in any portion of the SERIAL NUMBER or I.D. NUMBER and the program will search for that sequence of characters. If more than one match is found, a list of all items matching the search criteria will be displayed. Use the "up arrow", "down arrow", or the "PgUp" and "PgDn" keys to highlight the item you want from the list, and press Enter. If you type in the entire serial or ID number, the search is several times faster than if you only type part of the number. QUIT BACK TO THE MAIN MENU -------------------------- This selection, or the Esc key, will take you back to the main menu. Page 16 PROGRAM DIFFERENT BOTTLE TYPES TO THE LIST BOX ---------------------------------------------- This selection only appears on the air bottle menu. It allows you to customize the different bottle types that will appear in the BOTTLE TYPE list box. Right now, there are three different hydro test intervals; 3, 5, and 10 years. Only composite bottles have an "ultimate life", which is fifteen years. Because new technologies will undoubtedly appear that may change these figures, I have made the list box programmable (so I didn't have to write a change to the program and so you didn't have to upgrade). The "Bottle Type:" field is just to describe the construction of the bottle. The "Hydro Test Interval In Years:" field allows you to enter in any number (up to twenty years) for the particular bottle type. The "Ultimate Life In Years:" field allows you to specify if a bottle must be condemned after a specified period. I understand at least one manufacturer is planning on introducing a "no hydro-ten year life" bottle. Anyway you look at it, you should be covered for all of the forthcoming changes. FIELD DESCRIPTIONS ================== This section describes each of the fields used throughout the program and how they are used. Not all fields are used in all sections. The fields are listed here alphabetically. Some of the fields may have a module name before it, which is not shown. Example: the actual field may be MASK SERIAL NUMBER, but it is shown here under just SERIAL NUMBER. ASSIGNED TO ----------- This field is identical in function to the "Last Known To Be On" field, but is used in the PASS unit and Mask modules to differentiate that these items could be assigned to an individual as well as to a truck. This field uses the same list box to aid in entry, and you can still enter names manually, if necessary. If there are more names in the pick list than can be displayed at one time, two small vertical arrows will appear along the left border of the list box to notify you of this condition. Page 17 If you want to enter a name not in the list box, press the Esc key to remove the list box, and type the new name into the field. Manually entered names will NOT be added to the pick list. Since masks and PASS units are commonly assigned to individuals, I did not want personnel names or badge numbers cluttering up the list box needlessly. The ASSIGNED TO entry has another purpose. It can be used to exclude an item from the "needs some kind of attention" series of reports. If you have a missing PASS unit, for example, simply enter the phrase *Missing in this field. If the very first character is the "star" ( * ), that PASS unit will be excluded from the "needs a new battery" report, while still showing up on the inventory listing. This also works on the mask inventory. BATTERY CHANGED BY ------------------ This field is used to record the initials or badge number of the person changing a PASS unit battery. It is for reference use only, and can be left blank if desired. BATTERY CHANGED EVERY (blank) MONTHS ------------------------------------ This field is used to calculate when a PASS unit is due for a battery change. It is added to the LAST BATTERY CHANGE date to come up with the due date. If this field is left blank, a warning box will appear. SCBA Trak cannot calculate when the next battery change is due if it doesn't know how often you want to change them. BOTTLE TYPE ----------- This field uses a list box. When the cursor enters a blank field, you are given a choice of bottle types. The defaults are: Composite 3 year hydro 15 year ultimate life Aluminum 5 year hydro no ultimate life Steel 5 year hydro no ultimate life Steel 10 year hydro no ultimate life Other: Page 18 If the bottle you are entering fits one of these categories, move the cursor bar over the item and press Enter. If the bottle does not fit one of the selections, position the cursor bar over the "OTHER:" category and press Enter. You will now enter the bottle type, hydro test interval in years, and ultimate life in years, (if applicable). Leave the ultimate life field blank if the bottle is not life-limited. The bottle type is displayed one of two ways: (type) 3/15 or; (type) 5 yr If the bottle has an ultimate life, the digit(s) before the slash character are the hydro test interval in years, while the digits after the slash character is the ultimate life in years. If the bottle has an ultimate life, but you have not entered an "Original Hydro Date," you will be prompted to do so. Otherwise, the program cannot calculate the end-of-life date. Some manufacturers specify the "Date of manufacture" on the label instead of an original hydro. Same difference. If the bottle does not have an ultimate life, only the hydro test interval is displayed. (second example) If you need to change the information in this field, move the cursor to the beginning of the field, tap the space bar to blank out the bottle type (the numbers will remain in view) and then tap the Enter key. The list box will now appear. CERTIFICATION BY ---------------- This field is used to record the name of the individual or company performing the last mask or back pack certification. It is for reference use only, and can be left blank if desired. CERTIFIED EVERY (blank) MONTHS ------------------------------ This field establishes the repetitive maintenance interval for masks and back packs. If this field is left blank, a warning box will appear. SCBA Trak cannot calculate when the next certification is due if it doesn't know how often you want the certification done. Page 19 DATE FILLED ----------- This field is used to record the date an air bottle was filled. It is used to as an indicator as to whether you think a bottle should be emptied and refilled before the next use. DATE OF ENTRY ------------- This field is used to record the date a particular entry was made into the program. It is used as a cross check to assure that items are being updated as necessary. It will automatically use the date as reported from the computer's internal calendar, but you can change it if necessary. DATE OUT OF SERVICE ------------------- This field is used only in the PASS unit inventory. It is used to record when a PASS unit was taken out of service for whatever reason. It is for reference use only, and can be left blank if desired. DURATION IN MINUTES ------------------- This field is used in the air bottle inventory to record the anticipated duration of a bottle in minutes. It can be used by the program to exclude bottles from the "needs refilled" report. If the duration is not applicable, as in cascade or bank bottles, or the old 1800 psi bottles being used only for air bags or air tools, you can enter N/A in the field. It helps differentiate between the different types of high pressure bottles when you have to find one. Page 20 ENTER NOTES (Y/N) ----------------- This field only appears when initially adding an item into an inventory. If you answer Y for "yes", you will get a pop-up window where you can enter maintenance notes or any other type of information you desire. Just follow the directions on top of the window. Pressing the F1 key from inside the window will give you a list of editing keys you can use. These notes will be shown on the maintenance history printouts. It is suggested that you enter your notes with the date, such as: 08/20/93 -------- (type the notes here) This will give you a more readable format. ENTRY BY -------- This field is used to record the initials or badge number of the person making the actual computer entry. It is used in case a question should arise about some of the entered information. The entry is stored in "temporary memory" and will be displayed automatically for other entries, to eliminate redundant typing. It is for reference use only, and can be left blank if desired. FILLED BY --------- This field is used to record the initials or badge number of the individual who filled the air bottle being entered. It is for reference use only, and can be left blank if desired. HYDRO TEST COST --------------- This field is used to record the cost of the last hydro test. It is used by the program in calculating an average cost for the budget report. It can be left blank if desired. Page 21 HYDRO TESTED BY --------------- This field is used to record the name of the individual or company performing the last hydrostatic test. It is for reference use only, and can be left blank if desired. I.D. NUMBER ----------- This field allows you to enter an department assigned designator for each item. This could be a stick-on property tag or any other type of designator. It can be left blank if not used, as long as a Serial Number has been entered. Each item must have a Serial Number or an I.D. Number, or both, or the program will automatically erase the record. LAST BATTERY CHANGE ------------------- This field is used to record the date a PASS unit's battery was changed. It is used by the program to calculate when a battery change is due. If this field is left blank, a warning box will appear. SCBA Trak cannot calculate when the next battery change is due if it doesn't know when the last one was installed. LAST CERTIFICATION ------------------ This field is used only in the mask and back pack inventories. It is used by the program to calculate whether an item is coming due for a repetitive maintenance item, such as a flow test or bench test. If this field is left blank, a warning box will appear. SCBA Trak cannot calculate when the next certification is due if it doesn't know when the last one was performed. Page 22 LAST HYDRO TEST DATE -------------------- This field is applicable to bottles only. It is entered in the standard MM/YY format. It allows tracking of bottles coming due for hydro testing. This is a "required entry" field and cannot be left blank. LAST KNOWN TO BE ON ------------------- This field is used to record the last place where an item was located. It is used as an aid in locating an item that needs maintenance. This field uses a list box that grows dynamically. Example: If you have added an air bottle, a back pack, or one of your bottles to the fill log, whatever you type into the "Last Known To Be On:" field will automatically be added to the list box, if not already present. Let's say the first bottle was stored on Engine-1. When you make the next entry, a list box will pop up with Engine-1 listed. If you want to use Engine-1 , just tap the Enter key. If you want something else, press the Esc key to remove the list box, type Engine-2 (or whatever) into the field, and that name will be added to the list box for use the next time. If there are more names in the list box than can be displayed at one time, two small vertical arrows will appear along the left border of the pick list to notify you of this condition. Be aware that the list box is very specific: It thinks "Engine-1" is different from "Engine 1" is different from "ENGINE-1" etc. The LAST KNOWN TO BE ON field has another purpose. It can be used to exclude an item from the "needs some kind of attention" series of reports. If you have a missing bottle, for example, simply enter the phrase *Missing in this field. If the very first character is the "star" ( * ) , that bottle will be excluded from these reports, while still showing up on the inventory listing. This also works on the back pack inventory. Page 23 LAST REPAIRED ------------- This field is used to record the date a unit was last repaired. It is strictly for reference use only, as in determining if a repair should be covered under warranty. It can be left blank if not used. LAST TESTED ----------- This field is used to record the date of the last functional test of a PASS unit. It can be left blank if not used. LAST VISUAL ----------- This field is used to record the date of the last visual check of an item, if necessary. The visual check can be for external condition or internal condition, like in the air bottle annual internal visual inspections some organizations perform. It can be left blank if not used. It can also be used to record when the last mask fit test was done. MANUFACTURER ------------ This field is used to record the actual manufacturer of a particular item. Be aware that the actual manufacturer of an air bottle is probably not be the same as the manufacturer of the back pack. It can be left blank if desired. Page 24 MASK SIZE --------- This field is used to record the size of an SCBA mask. The mask sizes shown in the list box are pre-programmed and cannot be changed. If you want to manually enter a different size, press the Esc key to get rid of the list box and you can then enter your own size. Your manually entered size will never be added to the list box. Note: If you do have a size not shown in the list box, please let me know and I'll add it to the next version of SCBA Trak. MODEL NAME / NUMBER ------------------- This field is used to record the actual model name or model number of an item. Useful in the event of a recall. NOTE: This field is used by some of the modules (like PASS units) to determine the ordering of the printouts. It can be left blank, but try not to do so. NUMBER OF TIMES FILLED ---------------------- This field is only used in the air bottle inventory. Each time you fill one of your bottles and enter it in the fill log, the number shown in this field of the air bottle inventory will increase by one. This number is only printed on the air bottle maintenance history report. If you don't reliably record your bottle fills in the fill log, this number will be meaningless. It's most usefull if you have new bottles and also record all fills in the fill log. ORIGINAL HYDRO DATE ------------------- This field is used to record the date of the original hydro or the date of manufacture of air bottles. It is used by the program to calculate the ultimate life for composite bottles. Otherwise, it is used for reference only. Page 25 OWNER ----- This field is used only in the fill log. You will enter the name of the owner of the air bottle you have filled,in order to differentiate your bottles from others you may have filled. You must enter a name here even if you only fill your bottles. You can program up to ten names to the "F" keys for faster entry. Your departments' name must be programmed to the F1 key, as described in the fill log instructions. PURCHASE COST ------------- This field is used to record the actual cost of an item. It might be useful when calculating value for an insurance or hazmat claim. It is for reference use only, and can be left blank if desired. PURCHASE DATE ------------- This field is used to record the date an item was acquired. It can be used to determine if an item is still in warranty. It is for reference use only, and can be left blank if desired. PURCHASED FROM -------------- This field is used to record where the unit was originally purchased. It is for reference use only, and can be left blank if desired. REPAIR COST ----------- This field is used to record the cost of the last repair. It is for reference use only, and can be left blank if desired. The info in this field is NOT totalled anywhere, and is not saved when new cost data is entered. If you want to retain the cost data for each repair, you must enter it in the Notes window. Page 26 REPAIRED BY ----------- This field is used to record the name of the person or company who last repaired this unit. It is for reference use only, and can be left blank if desired. SERIAL NUMBER ------------- The serial number of the item is entered here. If there is no serial number, (as with most SCBA masks), leave the field blank. If this field is blank, you must enter an I.D. number or the record will be automatically erased. (You can't track something if you can't differentiate it from the others.) The back pack inventory section has spaces for two serial numbers, in case you have units with both pressure reducers and mask-mounted regulators. If your units do not have mask-mounted regulators, leave that field blank. SERIAL NO. OR I.D. # -------------------- This field is used only in the fill log. If you are entering one of your bottles, you can enter either the serial number or the i.d. number and the program will retrieve the remaining information from the inventory file. TESTED BY --------- This field is used to record the initials or badge number of the individual performing the last functional test of a PASS unit. It is for reference use only and can be left if desired. TESTED EVERY (blank) DAYS ------------------------- If functional tests of PASS units are recorded, this field establishes the maximum interval between checks. The program will add this figure (in days) to the LAST TESTED date to determine if a PASS unit is overdue for a functional test. This field cannot be left blank, even if the "Last Tested" field is not being used. You must either enter a retest interval of 0 to 999 days or N/A , as desired. Page 27 VISUAL BY --------- This field is used to record the initials or badge number of the individual performing the visual inspection of a unit. It can be left blank if not used. VISUAL EVERY (blank) DAYS ------------------------- If visual checks are recorded, this field establishes the maximum interval between checks. The program will add this figure (in days) to the LAST VISUAL date to determine if a unit is overdue for a visual inspection. This field cannot be left blank, even if you are not using the "Last Visual" field. You must either enter in a visual test interval of 0 to 999 days or N/A as desired. WORKING PRESSURE ---------------- This field is used to enter the working pressure of an air bottle or back pack. This number is not used in any calculations. EXPLANATION OF THE MAIN MENU SELECTIONS ======================================= Several of the menu items require entry of a password for access. If a selection is password protected, you are given two chances to enter the correct password. The very first time you use one of these menu selections, you will be given instructions on entering a password. Lost passwords cannot be retrieved, but they can be erased. If you have forgotten your password, use the key combination Ctrl+Backspace to erase the current password. You will than have to enter a new password. Because many people consider passwords a nuisance, you will be given a dialog box the first time you successfully enter a password. It will ask you if you want to disable password checking for the remainder of the session. If you answer NO or press the Escape key, you will have to enter the password for each of the protected menu selections. If you answer YES, no further password entry will be required, except for access to the record erasing menu, which always requires a password entry. Page 28 LICENSE ------- This is a screen that displays the conditions under which you may use the program. By using the program, you acknowledge that you have read and explicitly agreed to these conditions. This is an ABBREVIATED license; the full license and disclaimer is contained at the beginning of this manual. I had to add this item to the menu in case you had received a copy of the shareware version without a copy of this manual. FILL LOG RECORDS ---------------- This selection takes you to the program module where you will record information about all air bottles you have filled for either your department or someone else. MASK INVENTORY AND MAINTENANCE RECORDS -------------------------------------- This selection takes you to the program module where information about all SCBA masks you own will be entered. All maintenance information for masks is recorded in this section. It is password protected. AIR BOTTLE INVENTORY AND MAINTENANCE RECORDS -------------------------------------------- This selection takes you to the program module where information about all air bottles you own will be entered. All maintenance information for bottles is recorded in this section. It is password protected. BACK PACK INVENTORY AND MAINTENANCE RECORDS ------------------------------------------- This selection takes you to the program module where information about all back packs you own will be entered. All maintenance information for back packs is recorded in this section. It is password protected. Page 29 PASS UNIT INVENTORY AND MAINTENANCE RECORDS ------------------------------------------- This selection takes you to the program module where information about all PASS units you own will be entered. All maintenance information for PASS units is recorded in this section. It is password protected. COPY DATA FILES TO A FLOPPY DISK FOR BACKUP ------------------------------------------- This selection allows you to copy all of your data files to a floppy disk for back up purposes. You should make a back up copy at the end of each session where you have entered new data or changed existing information. If you fail to make backups of your data, a computer failure could cause you to lose all of your information. The back up disk allows you to save a copy in another location to minimize this possibility. Before the data files are copied to a floppy, the program first checks to make sure the disk and drive are ready. If there is a problem, or if there is insufficient space to hold all of the data files, the program will warn you and then abort the copy procedure. ERASE SELECTED ITEMS FROM THE DATA FILES ---------------------------------------- This selection allows you to erase some or all of the items in any of your data files. From this menu you can either erase an entire data file or just selected items. Most items are selected by serial number (or I.D. number for the masks), while bottles in the fill log are selectively deleted by specifying the starting and ending dates. Before the actual erasure occurs, you will be given one last chance to cancel the procedure. Directions are given on the screen. It is always password protected. RESTORE DATA FILES FROM A FLOPPY DISK ------------------------------------- This selection copies the data files from the aforementioned backup disk and replaces the files in your current directory with the backup files. After restoring the files, they will be reindexed and the data in the EXPIRED.DBF maintenance dates file will be updated. This selection is destructive; if you inadvertently restore old data, your new data will be lost. Page 30 Because of this, a dialog box will appear before the actual restore asking you if you want backup copies made first. If you answer YES, your existing data files will be copied to new files as shown: SCBABOTL.DBF -> BOTL_DBF.BAK SCBABOTL.DBT -> BOTL_DBT.BAK FILL_LOG.DBF -> FILL_DBF.BAK PASSUNIT.DBF -> PASS_DBF.BAK PASSUNIT.DBT -> PASS_DBT.BAK SCBAMASK.DBF -> MASK_DBF.BAK SCBAMASK.DBT -> MASK_DBT.BAK BACKPACK.DBF -> PACK_DBF.BAK BACKPACK.DBT -> PACK_DBT.BAK Before beginning the restore process, the program will check the backup disk and drive to assure the needed files are present. If there is a problem, the program will issue a warning and abort the restore procedure. DUE LIST -------- This selection scans the maintenance due date file, EXPIRED.DBF, and checks for any equipment within it's lead time or now overdue. If anything is found, a summary screen pops up showing the quantity found for each category. Pressing the P key will give you a vertical menu allowing you to print either the summary (which is what you're seeing on the screen) or a detailed list, which gives you the serial and I.D. number of each item which the scan has found. OPTIONS ------- You can set program options from this selection. Questions are answered by pressing the Y key for "yes" or the N key for "no." "Do you have a color monitor ?" <self-explanatory> "Do you prefer having items listed in order by I.D. Number rather than by Serial Number ?" <Some departments have their own identification system in use, and do not use the serial numbers. Answering Y to this question will cause new index files to be created with items listed in order by the I.D. number rather than the Serial Number.> Page 31 "Do you want to check for "maintenance due" items at program start ?" <On the lower half of the "Options" screen, you can set up lead times for the various maintenance items. These lead times give you an early warning of any upcoming or overdue maintenance items each time you start the program. If anything is found, a screen will pop up giving you a summary of what's coming up. You can disable this screen by answering N to this question. Any individual warning item can be disabled by setting the lead time to 999 days. NOTE: These lead times are used by some of the reports, so they should not be set to 0. "Do you want the inventory listing printouts grouped according to the "Last Known To Be On" or "Assigned To" fields ?" <Some departments are very strict about what equipment is on what apparatus. They do a yearly inventory to assure they still have all of their equipment and it is where it's supposed to be. This option rearranges the inventory printout so it groups all of the equipment on one piece of apparatus together, so they do not have to hunt around a sequential list. This is one of the reasons I provided the list box; to assure them they would not have ten different variations of a single apparatus name listed.> If you have a CGA monitor, an extra question will appear asking if you are seeing "electronic snow" on your monitor. If you are seeing snow, answer Y and it will disappear. If you don't know what "electronic snow" is, you don't have it. This selection is password protected. FILL LOG INSTRUCTIONS ===================== This section of the program allows you to enter the information about when each air bottle was filled. The information is entered into a file separate from the file containing your inventory information. The use of separate files allows you to keep track of all bottles you fill for other organizations as well as your own. If you have entered any of your own bottles, the information in the "fill log" file is automatically matched against your inventory file. If the SERIAL NUMBER or I.D. NUMBER of a new entry EXACTLY matches a bottle that had been previously entered into your inventory, the new LAST FILLED DATE, FILLED BY, ENTRY BY, DATE OF ENTRY, and LAST KNOWN TO BE ON data is transferred into your inventory file to update your records automatically. Page 32 ADD INFORMATION ABOUT NEWLY FILLED BOTTLES TO THE FILL LOG ---------------------------------------------------------- This is where you enter the information about all bottles your organization has filled for anybody, including your own bottles. When you are entering information about bottles owned by another organization, the operation is similar to the entering data into the inventory sections. After entering the data, the air bottle inventory is searched for an exact match on the pressure and serial number. If a match is found, the I.D. numbers are checked. If the fill log I.D. number is blank or exactly matches the air bottle inventory record I.D. number, you'll be given the option of updating the inventory record with the "last filled" information from the fill log. This is useful if you have bottles in the inventory file that you maintain and fill, but do not own. When entering information about bottles you own, a "short cut" data entry function is used. When you press the F1 key (which has your organization's name programmed to it), the data entry screen changes slightly. Because the Working Pressure, Serial Number, I.D. Number (if any) and Last Hydro Test Date are already stored in the inventory file, all you have to do is enter either the Serial Number or the I.D. number plus the information on when the bottle was filled. After you fill in the "Entry By" field, the program will go into the inventory file and search for an exact match between the characters you typed on the "Serial No. or I.D.#:" line. If it finds an exact match, the Pressure, Serial Number, I.D. Number and Last Hydro Test Date are automatically filled in for you. If the bottle is currently overdue for hydrostatic testing or is life-limited and the ultimate life date has passed, a warning box will appear. Remember, SCBA Trak is basing these warnings on the information in the air bottle inventory. If a hydro test had been performed but the inventory record was not updated to reflect this, the warning will be issued. After you verify the information is correct, press any key except Esc to accept the entry. If there was an error, press the Esc key and the entry will be erased. If no match can be found for either the I.D. Number or Serial Number, the program will beep once, and flash a message on the screen informing you that you will need to enter the remaining info manually. Page 33 Although this might seem confusing, it is actually quite easy to use. The main advantage is that organizations using I.D. Numbers to track their bottles can use them to enter the fill information without having to resort to "I.D. NUMBER TO SERIAL NUMBER" cross reference sheets. It has the advantage of reducing the number of total keystrokes needed to enter the data for all users. It also allows you to review some of the information in the inventory file. If you see that your newly filled bottle has a later hydro date than what the program shows, you know the inventory file needs updated. The first time you fill in the "Entry By:" field with your initials, they are temporarily stored in the computer's memory. They will then "pop up" on all subsequent entries, similar to how the "Entry Date:" field automatically "pops up" the current date. This eliminates even more redundant typing. After you have completely entered each bottle, the program automatically brings up a new blank data entry screen. This is because you will normally be entering more than one bottle. After you have entered the last bottle, and are at a blank data entry screen, press the Esc key to return to the menu. Any time you press Esc from this screen, the entry is canceled, even if you had filled everything in and wanted to keep it. BROWSE ALL FILL LOG RECORDS, STARTING WITH THE LATEST RECORD ------------------------------------------------------------ This selection allows you to review all the records in the fill log file. When you first make this selection, you get a dialog box asking if you want the list sorted by the date of filling or by the owner's name. If you select the date of filling option, it starts at the most recent "last filled" date. If you select the organization name option, the listing will group all bottles belonging to each organization together, still in ascending order by the date of filling. You have to use the "up arrow" or "PgUp" keys to get to older records. It will probably be used mainly to find records which need corrected, like the one you just put in. PROGRAM BOTTLE OWNER OR ORGANIZATION NAMES TO THE FUNCTION KEYS --------------------------------------------------------------- This selection allows you to enter the names of the different organizations whose bottles you fill. The names are assigned to one of the "F" keys. When you need to enter their name, just push the appropriate "F" key, and VOILA! The program requires that your organization's name be programmed to the F1 key, or the short cut entry function for adding bottles to the fill log will not work properly. Page 34 REPORT ON BOTTLES FILLED FOR ONE ORGANIZATION, BETWEEN SPECIFIED DATES ------------------------------------------------------ This selection allows you to enter a name of an organization, a starting and ending date, and the program will display and/or print out the list. Useful for billing purposes, or to justify your time, etc. Organizations without their own compressors appreciate a year-end report showing which bottles you have filled for them. The name you enter here must match the name the bottle was entered with EXACTLY. SUMMARY REPORT OF BOTTLES FILLED BETWEEN TWO SPECIFIED DATES ------------------------------------------------------------ This report shows only the total number of bottles filled for each organization on and between the two specified dates. The program can handle up to nineteen different names. If you have used more names than that, the remainder will be lumped together under the "OTHER:" heading. This is a particularly useful activity summary since it is not cluttered up with serial numbers, etc. Our department fills bottles for eight other fire departments on a fairly regular basis. We were able to use this report to successfully lobby for approval to buy a better compressor. LISTING OF BOTTLES FILLED BETWEEN SPECIFIED DATES ------------------------------------------------- This selection allows you to enter a starting and ending date, and the program will display and/or print a list of every such bottle. Useful for monthly reports & convincing the Chief you really do need a larger and faster compressor. AIR BOTTLE REPORTS ================== INVENTORY SUMMARY REPORT BY BOTTLE TYPE --------------------------------------- This report scans your inventory picking out each different combination of pressure and duration, and then totals them. For example, the report will show how many 4500 psi/30 minute bottles you have, how many 4500 psi/45 minute bottles you have, etc. Up to nineteen different combinations of pressure/ duration can be displayed. If you have more than that, the remainder will be lumped together under "OTHER:" . Page 35 MAINTENANCE HISTORY PRINTOUT OF EACH BOTTLE ------------------------------------------- This selection prints out a separate page for each air bottle. The printout has all of your "maintenance notes" shown. Normally, you use this only once, after you had entered all of your bottles into the program. You would then place the printouts in a notebook, adding the maintenance notes by hand. After a bottle had some handwritten notes written on it's page, you could go into the program and enter the notes. PRINT OUT A LISTING OF THE ENTIRE BOTTLE INVENTORY -------------------------------------------------- This report is simply a listing of every bottle you have in your inventory. The program displays a guesstimate of how many pages will be printed, as a progress indicator. Pressing Esc any time during the printing will give you the option of aborting the printout. Normally, this report would be printed rather infrequently, just when you have made major additions to or deletions from your inventory. The bottles are listed in this order: 1. Pressure, from lowest to highest. 2. Duration, from lowest to highest. 3. Serial number or I.D. number, from lowest to highest (picked by the OPTIONS main menu selection) Example: 4500 psi/30 minute bottles are always listed before 4500 psi/60 minute bottles, and the first 4500 psi/30 minute bottle on the list will be the 4500 psi/30 minute bottle with the lowest serial or i.d. number. The number appearing immediately after the "Next Hydro:" date is the hydrostatic test interval in years. If you have answered Y to the "group on . . ." question on the main menu Options selection, the bottles will be listed in groups, using the "Last Known To Be On:" field as the header. Page 36 FIND ALL BOTTLES DUE OR ALMOST DUE FOR HYDRO TEST OR REFILLING -------------------------------------------------------------- This selection searches your inventory bottles for 3 conditions: 1. The Next Hydro Due Date has passed or is within the lead time as set on the "Options" screen. 2. The LAST FILLED DATE was more than the lead time as set on the "Options" screen and the DURATION is not set to N/A . 3. If there are any life-limited bottles, and their life has already expired or will expire within the lead time as set on the "Options" screen, they will be shown on this report regardless of their hydro or last filled date status. Any bottle meeting at least one of these conditions will be displayed on the screen. Use the "arrow" or "PgUp" and "PgDn" keys to scroll through the listing. Pressing the Enter key will give you the option of printing the list. The number immediately after the printed "Next Hydro:" date is the hydrostatic test interval in years. If the very first character of the "Last Known To Be On:" field is the "star" ( * ) character, that bottle will be excluded from the report (unless it's life is or will be expired). REPORT ON BOTTLES DUE OR ALMOST DUE FOR HYDRO OR VISUAL INSP. ------------------------------------------------------------- This selection searches your inventory bottles for 3 conditions: 1. The Next Hydro Due Date has passed or is within the lead time as specified on the "Options" screen. 2. The Next Visual Inspection date has passed or is within the lead time as specified on the "Options" screen. Both the "Last Visual:" and the "Visual Every xxx Days:" fields must be filled in or this condition cannot be checked. 3. If there are any life-limited bottles, and their life has already expired or will expire within the lead time as specified on the "Options" screen, they will be shown on this report regardless of their hydro or last visual date status. Page 37 Any bottle meeting at least one of these conditions will be displayed on the screen. Use the "arrow" or "PgUp" and "PgDn" keys to scroll through the listing. Pressing the Enter key will give you the option of printing the list. The number immediately after the printed "Next Hydro:" date is the hydrostatic test interval in years. If the very first character of the "Last Known To Be On:" field is the "star" ( * ) character, that bottle will be excluded from the report (unless it's life is or will be expired). BUDGET REPORT ON BOTTLES NEEDING A HYDRO TEST BETWEEN SELECTED DATES -------------------------------------------------------------- This report allows you to get some information for budget purposes. You enter a starting and ending date, and then decide if you want to use the stored "LAST HYDRO COST" data to generate the estimated cost. Only the costs from the bottles needing tested between your selected dates will be used in the averaging. If you want to enter your own guesstimate of how much it costs to test/overhaul one bottle, answer N to the question and you can then enter your own price. If you answered Y to the question and the program finds that none of the bottles have stored LAST HYDRO COST data, a warning will be issued and you will be returned to the reports menu. The program scans the inventory for all bottles that will need a hydro test within the specified time period. A summary list of each combination of pressure/duration will be displayed, as well as an estimate of the total cost. The program can handle up to nineteen different combinations of pressure/duration, with anything over that displayed under the "OTHER:" heading. Several vendors charge different prices dependent upon the pressure or capacity of the bottle, so this makes a good summary report. Pressing the P key will print this summary. Pressing the Enter key will display the actual list of bottles. Pressing the Enter key again will give you a dialog box with the option of printing the entire list of bottles. The program makes the assumption that a bottle that was last tested in February (for example) will be retested in February again, not in January. The program will NOT report on any bottle that will need a hydro before or after the specified dates, even if the bottle is currently "out of date." If the very first character of the "Last Known To Be On:" field is the "star" ( * ) character, that bottle will be excluded from the report. Page 38 LIST OF BOTTLES REQUIRING A HYDRO OR VISUAL THROUGH A SELECTED DATE --------------------------------------------------------------- This report allows you to enter any date and the program will search your inventory for all bottles needing a hydrostatic test or visual inspection on and before the specified date. Pressing the Enter key gives you the option of printing the list. Bottles entered where the very first character of the "Last Known To Be On:" field is an asterisk or "star" ( * ) will be excluded from this report. SINGLE PRINTOUT OF ONE BOTTLE'S MAINTENANCE HISTORY --------------------------------------------------- This selection allows you to pick one bottle by it's serial number or I.D. number and print out the pages with it's maintenance history. PASS UNIT REPORTS ================= INVENTORY SUMMARY REPORT BY PASS UNIT MODEL ------------------------------------------- This report scans the PASS unit inventory and gives you a summary listing of how many PASS units of each model you own. Pressing the P key from this screen will print the summary. PRINT OUT A LISTING OF THE ENTIRE PASS UNIT INVENTORY ----------------------------------------------------- Like it says. If you have set the "group on . . .' option on the main menu to yes, the PASS units will be grouped under the "Assigned To:" field. Page 39 LIST OF PASS UNIT'S NEEDING A BATTERY CHANGE THROUGH A SPECIFIED DATE ------------------------------------------------------ This selection allows the user to enter a date and the program will display a list of all PASS units that will need a battery change on or before that date. Pressing the Enter key from this screen gives you the option of printing this list. PASS units having the "star" ( * ) as the very first character in the "Assigned To:" field will be excluded from the report. REPORT ON PASS UNITS ALMOST DUE/OVERDUE FOR A BATTERY OR TESTING -------------------------------------------------------- This selection displays a list of all PASS units that are overdue for a new battery or are within the lead time as specified on the "Options" screen. It also displays all PASS units which are overdue for a functional test or are within the lead time as specified on the "Options" screen.. Pressing the Enter key from this screen gives you the option of printing this list. PASS units having the "star" ( * ) as the very first character in the "Assigned To:" field will be excluded from the report. If the "Tested Every xxx Days" field is blank, the program will not list that PASS unit unless it needs a battery. If the "Tested Every xxx Days:" field is blank, the "Last Tested:" date for that PASS unit will not be in red if overdue. SINGLE PRINTOUT OF ONE PASS UNIT'S MAINTENANCE HISTORY ------------------------------------------------------ This selection allows you to pick one unit by it's serial number or I.D. number and print out the pages with it's maintenance history. MAINTENANCE HISTORY PRINTOUT OF EACH PASS UNIT ---------------------------------------------- This selection prints out a separate page for each PASS unit. The printout has all of your "maintenance notes" shown. Normally, you use this only once, after you had entered all of your units into the program. You would then place the printouts in a notebook, adding the maintenance notes by hand. After a unit had some handwritten notes written on it's page, you could go into the program and enter the notes. Page 40 BACK PACK REPORTS ================= INVENTORY SUMMARY REPORT BY BACK PACK MODEL ------------------------------------------- This report scans the back pack inventory and gives you a summary listing of how many back packs of each model and working pressure you own. Pressing the P key from this screen will print the summary. MAINTENANCE HISTORY PRINTOUT OF EACH BACK PACK ---------------------------------------------- This selection will print out a maintenance history report for each back pack you own, one per page. PRINT OUT A LISTING OF THE ENTIRE BACK PACK INVENTORY ----------------------------------------------------- This selection will print a listing of all back packs you have in inventory. If you answered Y to the "Group on..." question on the main menu OPTIONS selection, the back packs will be grouped together, with all back packs on a single apparatus shown together. The "Last Known To Be On" field is used to determine the grouping. Otherwise, they are listed sequentially, grouped according to the Manufacturer, Model, Pressure, and Serial Number or I.D. Number. Page 41 REPORT ON BACK PACKS ALMOST DUE/OVERDUE FOR VISUAL OR CERTIFICATION ----------------------------------------------------- This selection displays a list of all back packs that are overdue for certification or are within the lead time as specified on the "Options" screen. It also displays all back packs which are overdue for a visual inspection or are within the lead time as specified on the "Options" screen. Pressing the Enter key from this screen gives you the option of printing this list. Back packs having the "star" ( * ) as the very first character in the "Last Known To Be On:" field will be excluded from the report. If the "Visual Every xxx Days" field is N/A , that pack will not be listed unless it needs certification, and the visual date will be shown as two dashes. BUDGET REPORT ON PACKS REQUIRING CERTIFICATION BETWEEN SELECTED DATES ------------------------------------------------------ This report allows you to get some information for budget purposes. You enter a starting and ending date, and then decide if you want to use the stored "LAST CERTIFICATION COST" data to generate the estimated cost. Only the costs from the back packs needing certified between your selected dates will be used in the averaging. If you want to enter your own guesstimate of how much it costs to certify one back pack, answer N to the question and you can then enter your own price. If you answered Y to the question and the program finds that none of the back packs have stored LAST CERTIFICATION COST data, a warning will be issued and you will be returned to the reports menu. The program scans the inventory for all back packs that will need certification within the specified time period. A summary list of each combination of model/pressure will be displayed, as well as an estimate of the total cost. The program can handle up to nineteen different combinations of model/pressure, with anything over that displayed under the "OTHER:" heading. Several vendors charge different prices dependent upon the pressure of the back pack, so this makes a good summary report. Pressing the P key will print this summary. Pressing the Enter key will display the actual list of back packs. Pressing the Enter key again will give you a dialog box with the option of printing the list of back packs. Page 42 The program makes the assumption that a back pack that was last certified in February (for example) will be recertified in February again, not in January. The program will NOT report on any back pack that will need certification before or after the specified dates, even if the back pack is currently "out of date." If the very first character of the "Last Known To Be On:" field is the "star" ( * ) character, that back pack will be excluded from the report. LIST OF BACK PACKS REQUIRING CERTIFICATION THROUGH A SPECIFIED DATE -------------------------------------------------------------- This selection allows the user to enter a date and the program will display a list of all back packs that will need certification on or before that date. Pressing the Enter key from this screen gives you the option of printing this list. Back packs having the "star" ( * ) as the very first character in the "Last Known To Be On" field will be excluded from the report. SINGLE PRINTOUT OF ONE BACK PACK'S MAINTENANCE HISTORY ------------------------------------------------------ This selection allows you to pick one back pack by the serial number of it's pressure reducer or I.D. number and print out the pages with it's maintenance history. SCBA MASK REPORTS ================= INVENTORY SUMMARY REPORT BY MASK MODEL AND SIZE ----------------------------------------------- This report scans the mask inventory and gives you summary listing of how many masks of each model and size you own. Pressing the P key from this screen will print the summary. MAINTENANCE HISTORY PRINTOUT OF EACH SCBA MASK ---------------------------------------------- This selection will print out a maintenance history report for each mask you own, one per page. Page 43 PRINT OUT A LISTING OF THE ENTIRE MASK INVENTORY ------------------------------------------------ This selection will print a listing of all masks you have in inventory. If you answered Y to the "Group on..." question on the main menu OPTIONS selection, the masks will be grouped together, with all back packs on a single apparatus (or person) shown together. The "Assigned To" field is used to determine the grouping. Otherwise, they are listed sequentially grouped according to the Manufacturer, Model, Size, and Serial Number or I.D. Number. REPORT ON MASKS ALMOST DUE/OVERDUE FOR VISUAL OR CERTIFICATION -------------------------------------------------------------- This selection displays a list of all masks that are overdue for certification or are within the lead time as specified on the "Options" screen. It also displays all masks which are overdue for a visual inspection or are within the lead time as specified on the "Options" screen. Pressing the Enter key from this screen gives you the option of printing this list. Masks having the "star" ( * ) as the very first character in the "Assigned To:" field will be excluded from the report. If the "Visual Every xxx Days" field is N/A , the mask will not be listed unless it needs certification, and the date will not be shown in red. BUDGET REPORT ON MASKS REQUIRING CERTIFICATION BETWEEN SELECTED DATES ------------------------------------------------------ This report allows you to get some information for budget purposes. You enter a starting and ending date, and then decide if you want to use the stored "LAST CERTIFICATION COST" data to generate the estimated cost. Only the costs from the masks needing certified between your selected dates will be used in the averaging. If you want to enter your own guesstimate of how much it costs to certify one mask, answer N to the question and you can then enter your own price. If you answered Y to the question and the program finds that none of the masks have stored LAST CERTIFICATION COST data, a warning will be issued and you will be returned to the reports menu. Page 44 The program scans the inventory for all masks that will need certification within the specified time period. A summary list of each combination of model/size will be displayed, as well as an estimate of the total cost. The program can handle up to nineteen different combinations of model/size, with anything over that displayed under the "OTHER:" heading. Pressing the P key will print this summary. Pressing the Enter key will display the actual list of masks. Pressing the Enter key again will give you a dialog box with the option of printing the list of masks. The program makes the assumption that a mask that was last certified in February (for example) will be recertified in February again, not in January. The program will NOT report on any mask that will need certification before or after the specified dates, even if the mask is currently "out of date." If the very first character of the "Last Known To Be On:" field is the "star" ( * ) character, that mask will be excluded from the report. LIST OF MASKS REQUIRING CERTIFICATION THROUGH A SPECIFIED DATE --------------------------------------------------------- This selection allows the user to enter a date and the program will display a list of all masks that will need certification on or before that date. Pressing the Enter key from this screen gives you the option of printing this list. Masks having the "star" ( * ) as the very first character in the "Assigned To" field will be excluded from the report. SINGLE PRINTOUT OF ONE MASK'S MAINTENANCE HISTORY ------------------------------------------------- This selection allows you to pick one mask by it's serial number or I.D. number and print out the pages with it's maintenance history. Page 45 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION ------------------------- 1. The file FILL_LOG.FRM is a basic form you can use to log the filling of air bottles, if you don't already have one. The layout is in the same order as you will enter information into the SCBA Trak program. If your printer supports IBM graphics, you can print it by typing at the DOS prompt: COPY FILL_LOG.FRM PRN and pressing Enter . If you have an older Epson printer (for example), all of the lines and borders will have italicized letters instead of single and double lines. This is because the printer does not support IBM graphics. Not too much you can do except make up your own form or use a different printer. IBM is a registered trademark of IBM Corporation Epson is a registered trademark of Epson Corporation 2. This file, MANUAL.DOC , can be printed with the same type of command: COPY MANUAL.DOC PRN and press Enter. The file has embedded form feeds so that the pages will be printed properly. NOTE: If you view this file using certain types of file viewers, and then save the file to disk from within the viewer, the pages may not print properly later. The codes for assuring the pages are sixty lines long are automatically removed by some file viewers. Even just attempting to print the file from within these types of file viewers will cause the pages to print improperly. The DOS Edit.com editor and the Windows Note Pad are two I know of with this characteristic. 3. Since all dates are entered in a "mm/dd/yy" format, you might be wondering how the upcoming turn of the century will affect the program. Fear not, it won't. SCBA Trak does use a one hundred year cycle to allow you to enter the dates with just the last two digits of the year, but the cycle runs from the year 1940 through the year 2039. If you enter a date of 01/01/40, SCBA Trak assumes the year is 1940. If you enter a date of 12/31/39, SCBA Trak assumes the year is 2039. Precisely at midnight on December 31, 2009, the cycle will change from 1940 through 2039 to 1960 through 2059. If you are still using any seventy year old bottles at that time, you should think about upgrading your equipment. And what happens after 2059 ? No problem, I'll be long dead. Page 46 4. NETWORK USE - Since this program is not one that will generally be in continuous use throughout the day, I have chosen to open all files "exclusive", for the sake of speed. If you attempt to open a file that is locked by another user, a dialog box will appear giving you the option of retrying or returning to the menu. Some of the functions, like backing up to a floppy, restoring the data files from a floppy, and all reindexing operations require exclusive use of all the data files. No one else can be using the program during these operations. SCBA Trak will issue a warning if it detects another user before it tries these functions. The only exception to this is the file EXPIRED.DBF, which is opened SHARED so it can be used by everyone. Be aware that using the Erasure Menu selection and erasing ALL of the records from a file will require the EXCLUSIVE use of this file so it can be updated. The program will warn you if it cannot open the EXPIRED.DBF file in the EXCLUSIVE mode for these types of operations. Erasing specific items as selected by the serial or I.D. number will not require EXCLUSIVE use. Only the files needed for the specific module are opened. If you're at the main menu (blue screen), all of the inventory files are closed. While you're using the mask section, for example, another user could go into the back pack section and all "should" work OK. The only exception is when adding new bottles into the fill log. Because the fill log entries automatically update the air bottle inventory records, the air bottle file will be opened exclusive when adding fill log records. If someone else is already using the air bottle file, you won't be able to add any bottles to the fill log. If you are experiencing slow printing on the network, you probably have a non-dedicated server. These servers usually print only when a program is "idle," waiting for a keypress, etc. However, SCBA Trak is rarely idle. During these times it is busy cleaning up files, defragmenting memory, etc. To speed up the printing, you'll have to disable these idle time tasks. Start SCBA Trak with the command SCBATRAK //NOIDLE <enter> . Your printing should speed up considerably, but at the expense of slower operation of SCBA Trak, since it'll now have to complete these tasks during foreground operation. If you cannot run more than one copy of SCBATRAK.EXE because of file or sharing errors, you may have to reset the file attribute of SCBATRAK.EXE to READ ONLY. This is a known peculiarity of certain brands of networks. If you have a later version of DOS, you can do this by going into the SCBA Trak directory and typing the command: ATTRIB +R SCBATRAK.EXE and pressing the Enter key. If you then copy this file to a disk, etc, the new copy will NOT have the READ ONLY attribute. Page 47 ERROR HANDLING -------------- Any serious errors in the program will cause a pop-up warning box to be displayed giving technical details on the problem. These errors include missing or corrupted files, screw ups when I wrote the routine, etc. If you can, use Print Screen to capture this data. A file with the name of CLIP?.ERR will also be written to your disk with this information. The "?" will be replaced by a number, starting with "zero." Each time a new CLIP?.ERR file is written to the disk, the "?" is increased by "one." Example: CLIP0.ERR CLIP1.ERR CLIP2.ERR Please be sure to send this information along with a description of how the problem was encountered when you complain. REGISTRATION ------------ This program is "user-supported" software, a.k.a. shareware. That means I will strive to continue to improve it and offer it as long as I know people out there are using it and supporting my efforts. I hate software manufacturers who offer low initial prices, then zing you for upgrades every six months or so. When you register this program, you will receive instructions for deactivating the shareware commercial at program start up, and your name will appear on top of the reports. This means you can receive all the benefits of future improvements and new features for just the price of one copy. So, folks, please take the time to evaluate the program and offer any suggestions or criticisms. In this way, we both can profit. To print out the registration form, press the P key when the "commercial" screen is being displayed, when the program first starts up. If you have a registered version, you can print an order form from the main menu by using the key combination Alt+O ("O" for "order", get it?) (continued on the next page) Page 48 I would appreciate a check sent with the registration. If you're a corporate or government user and must use a purchase order, that's fine. I'll invoice you when I send the disk. Personal checks are OK also; if you were going to "stiff" me, you wouldn't bounce a check, you just wouldn't register. If you're registering from outside the U.S.A., PLEASE use postal money orders or have the funds drawn on a US bank. The US banks charge a $ 20.00 fee if I try to deposit a foreign money order, EuroCheque, etc. to "process" it through their currency exchange departments. The installation program used by SCBA Trak was written by Lincoln Beach Software and is entitled FIRST IMPRESSION. Lincoln Beach Software reserves all copyright protection worldwide. For further information they may be reached at: Lincoln Beach Software P.O. Box 1554 Ballwin, MO 63022 (314) 227-2431 The author, Harold Holmes, may also be reached on CompuServe at 70700,630. Page 49