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1993-07-06
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Reservation Assistant (C), Version 1.01
Guia International Corporation
731 Edgewater place
Kennesaw, Georgia 30144
(404)926-6085
Table of contents~
-----------------
Introduction .............................................. 1
Reservation Assistant Features ............................ 1
Equipment needed .......................................... 2
Installation .............................................. 2
Menus ..................................................... 3
The Sign-on Menu .......................................... 3
Time to practice .......................................... 4
The Manager's Menu ........................................ 4
The Main Menu ............................................. 7
The Report Menu ........................................... 9
Setting up a new Department ............................... 9
Practical Resource considerations ........................ 11
Messages about Dates ..................................... 12
File corruption (Error 88) ............................... 12
Registration Fee ......................................... 13
Technical Support ........................................ 13
Program License Agreement ................................ 13
Introduction~
------------
When a Person or Thing needs to be granted time on a
Resource, we call it a Reservation.
If there is only a single Resource and the time increments
are not to short, reservation not to many and changes not to
frequent, one does not need a computer. A simple book with
dates and times will do just fine.
Beyond that, things get difficult. Changes become confusing
and it is embarrassing to the administrator when more then
one User tries to compete for the same Resource at the same
Time.
The RESERVATION ASSISTANT will not only help the
administrator to prevent the above but also be able to inform
the User when and where time is reserved and for how long and
by whom or what. If the User wants to make changes, this can
be done quickly and a record is kept for later review if
needed. Although, you may select generic names for Users and
Resources, for the purpose of clarity we will refer to Users
and Resources in this manual.
Reservation Assistant features~
------------------------------
There are two ways to make a reservation;
* Look for an open break on a Resource graph.
* Search for the available time and make a selection.
When searching for reservation time, you may choose;
* Search between two dates.
* Search between hours of days.
* Exclude special days (Weekends, Holidays etc.)
* Search on the above with based on Resource
features
When specifying features, and searching for reservation
time, you have these options;
* Ignore the features.
* Match any of the features.
* Match all the features.
30 Minutes is the smallest increment for which a reservation
can be made.
Reservations may be made from one to 36 months. Months do not
have to be consecutive and may cover many years if used less
then 12 in a given year. Departments may number up to 99.
In each Department;
* Users may number from 1 to 65,000.
* Recourses may number 1 to 100.
Reports summarize reservations by User or by Resource.
* List Users for a Date and by Resource.
* List Users alphabetically with the Resources
they are scheduled on.
Equipment needed~
----------------
You will need;
* An IBM or compatible 286 or higher PC with at least one
Diskette and one Harddrive.
* 384 K of memory.
* DOS 3.00 or later.
* A Color or Monochrome Monitor, VGA color is preferred.
* An IBM, Epson or HP compatible printer if you need reports.
Installation~
------------
Before installing the Programs and Data files, back up the
installation Diskette. Since the program is not copy
protected, you may use the DOS Command DISKCOPY or COPY *.*.
Place the diskette in Diskdrive A: or B: and set the default
drive to that drive. Type INSTALL for the installation on
Harddrive C: or use INSTALL D: for installation on Drive D:
etc.
A Directory named RESERVE, and the "Example Department" will
be created on the Harddrive of your choice and the program
will automatically start. In addition, Random reservation
data will be created based on the current DOS Date for
practice. You will be informed of the progress as these
files are installed. Later after some practice, these file
may be erased using the Sign-on Menu. From now on you may
start the Program from the RESERVE or from the Root Directory
by typing RES. A RES.BAT file is installed for that purpose
in both Directories.
The following files should be present in the Directory
RESERVE on the selected Disk Drive:
RES.BAT
RESORG.DAT
PROISAM.EXE
RESERVE.EXE
RESHELP.DOC
RESHELP.IND
USEREX.DAT
RESMGR.DAT
RESUNIT.DAT
A subdirectory RE1DIR is created off the RESERVE Directory,
it should contain these files after the automatic file
generation process is completed:
RESUSER.DAT
HIST.DAT
RESUNIT.DAT
RESMGR.DAT
RESMONTH.DAT
RE199xxx.DAT
RE199xxx.DAT
This completes the installation process.
Menus~
-----
A window will ask you to verify the current DOS Date and
Time. Since some activities in the application are based on
Date and Time, it is important that this information is
correct before we start. Press F10 and the Sign-on Menu will
appear.
The Sign-on Menu~
----------------
On this menu you may select such items as Color, Printer
type, Currency and Date formats. Press F1 and see how Help
works. Go through the Menu items one by one, pop-up windows
will direct you and options are explained on the bottom of
every screen. After installation. you should find the
"Example Department" selection. Using the up and down arrow
keys, move the bounce bar up and down. This is the most
common way to make a Menu selection. Select the "Example
Department ", press the Enter key and the Main Menu will"
appear.
Its time to Practice!~
---------------------
Exit the program and type RES from the Root or from the
RESERVE Directory. Select "Example Department" to the Main
Menu.
Go ahead and practice making, changing, deleting and
searching for reservations using the outline below.
The Escape (Esc) key will let you exit from almost all
screens. Instruction are displayed on each screen and window.
Press F1 if you need more help.
The Manager's Menu~
------------------
On the Main Menu, one selection is the Manager's Menu. Move
the bar over to the Manager's Menu or you can type the
character M.
The manager's Menu contains the basic functions that are
normally reserved for a Manager. First lets look at item;
5 - Set up Department Profiles.
On this screen, all the basic information for a Department is
entered. Press function key F1 if you need help. Enter;
* The generic name of the Resource to be reserved.
* The generic name of the User that needs the reservation.
* The User identification choice.
The next ten items are the features that you may assign to a
Resource. For example: If your resources are classrooms at an
institution, feature would include the number of students
this classroom is allowed to contain. In addition you may
designate the presents of an overhead projector or if this
classroom has air-conditioning. Later when we do searches for
available classrooms, we can specify the features to look
for.
The last two items that you need to fill in are the default
operational hours. Later when you may search for classroom
availability within specified hours. Although before a
search, you may change this, the times on this screen will be
the defaults. Press F10 and the screen will be saved.
Select;
1 - Add a new Resource to inventory
(Notice that the word Resource is substituted for the name
you entered in the Department Profiles).
* Enter the name of the Resource such as a number, if
the generic Resource name was a Classroom, the number
would indicate the Classroom number. Entering 212
would mean Classroom 212. If the Resource is a
person, enter the person's name.
Note:
In some cases, there are multiple Users for the same
Resource. A flight simulator may need;
a Captain
a Co - pilot
an Instructor
In those cases, use;
Resource 1, DC9 Captain Seat
,, 2, DC9 Co-pilot Seat
,, 3, DC9 Instructor
* Enter the Resource location if the location is
fixed. Example; Second floor or Building 3, Dallas.
* If the Resource has costs attached to it, enter the
hourly rate.
The remaining items are the features. Based on the features
that you entered in the Department Profiles, mark the
features as they apply the this Resource. Go ahead and make
an entry.
Select;
2 - Review a Resource description.
A window will open and you may specify the starting
characters of the Resource or press Enter and all resources
will be listed. By moving the bar and then pressing the Enter
key, the selection is completed and the selected Resource
information is displayed. I you make a incorrect entry, an
error massage will advise you.
To delete a Resource, select the Resource, you will be asked
for confirmation before the Resource is deleted.
Select;
7 - Add or review a month for daily availability.
Reservation are made month by month, with a maximum of 36.
During the installation, two months were created based on the
current DOS date. Select the top month that is on the screen.
The bars and day line are on the screen. The purpose of this
screen is to allow the program User to exclude any number of
days from searches. You may not be operating on Weekends and
Holidays. By putting the character N in the appropriate day,
that day will be excluded for searches. The days are marked
by their name in abbreviated form. The number of days offered
are the total number of days for the month displayed for that
year. In the future, when a month has past, it will be a good
idea to delete that month and install a new one, this will
prevent unnecessary searchtime.
Select;
A - Alter the current Resource rotational order.
For the program user's convenience, this option is offered to
allow searches to take place with a different priority
sequence. You may place any item on the list by moving the
cursor behind the item to be changed, then place the number
on that line you wish to see that item list and press Enter.
Other options are explained on the bottom of the screen, such
as the sorting by name etc. By pressing F10, all the changes
are saved. On the Manager's menu, only in the "Example
Department ", you will find on the bottom of that menu a"
special line to create random reservation files based on the
Current DOS Date.
Select;
R - Write Random Reservation files (For Practice!).
The Working window will keep you informed on the progress
while the Program creates two months of random reservations
data starting with the current Month, the process will take a
minute or so, the reservation are also logged.
These reservation are made without regard to duplicate
reservations for a single User.
Select;
4 - Display reservation transactions log for a User.
Select a User by typing in the starting characters of a Users
last name and selecting the name from the window. The screen
that will be displayed will show a log of the reservations
that were made during the random writing of reservations.
When a transaction takes place, this screen will be updated.
Currently all the activity codes are "New", future activities
can also be "Change" or "Delete". Note that on the screen
bottom, you may sort the log by reservation Date or Resource
name. From time to time, you may want to clear out some of
the log data, this will conserve disk space. The next item on
the Menu, will do this, all you have to do is provide the
date prior to which all log entries must be deleted.
Now lets make and look at some reservations. Select;
Esc Return to the Main Menu.
The Main Menu~
-------------
Select;
1 - Add, review or update a reservation by Resource.
The listing is for one Resource for one month. If the months
that are offered do not include the month you want, press
function key F2 and you may enter a new month. After the
Resource selection, the days and Dates are displayed on the
left and you may use the PageUp and PageDown Keys to page
through the entire month. Non-schedule days will have a
horizontal bar across the Editor. These days are set up when
you install or review an installed month in the Manager's
Menu. By moving the cursor up and down or across the screen;
* On the solid portion of the bar, the User that
holds the current reservation will show on the
bottom of the screen. By pressing the Enter
Key, you can alter or delete the current
reservation for that User.
* Insert the cursor between the open areas left
and right of the bars, you can insert a new
reservations by pressing the Enter Key.
Place the cursor in an open area. Press the Enter key and
the Reservation screen will be shown. A new reservation will
initially start with one half hour. On the Change field
line, the two outside pointers indicate the time period that
this reservation can be made in. The bar between the arrows
is the current reservation. By using the arrow keys and the
Ctrl/arrow keys, you may adjust the reserved time. The
reservation will be completed but first we need the name of
the User. You may select the User or if the User is not on
file, a new User may be entered without starting all over.
Select;
2 - Add, review or update a reservation by date.
If the month for the Date that was entered had not been
installed, the program will offer to install that month.
Enter the month number (from 1 to 12) and the year (from
1990-2036), fill in the unscheduled days and the month will
be installed and the Editor will appear.
Non-scheduled days are indicated with a horizontal bar of
dashes. These days are marked in the Manager's menu when
installed or updated.
By holding down the Control (Ctrl) and pressing the right or
left arrow keys, you may page between days within a month
without returning to the Menu. Place the cursor on top of
the reservation bar and press Enter. This time the User is
known, and will be displayed. Place the cursor on a bar and
press the ENTER key. You will now see:
* The Date and available time for this reservation.
* The current User for this reservation.
* The Resource and its location.
* Charges if used.
* The change field.
This screen is the screen that makes new, alters current and
deletes reservations. On the Change field line, the two
outside pointers indicate the time period that this
reservation can be made in. The bar between the arrows is the
current reservation. To make the reservation, use the left
and right arrow keys. To increase or decrease the time, hold
down the Control key (Ctrl) and press the arrow keys.
To delete a reservation, reduce the bar until it has
disappeared and the current reservation will be deleted.
Pressing F10, will complete the reservation and is verified
when the previous screen reappears.
Select;
3 - Search for available time to reserve.
This screen will prompt you for;
* The amount of open time to search for.
* Search one or all Resources.
* Between what Hours to search.
* Between what Dates to search.
If you specify a search on all Resources, you may also
specify the features to look for. When specifying these
features, you may search on;
* Match all features
* Match any feature
* Ignore the features when searching
If no features were specified, the program will bypass this
window. If blocks of the requested time are available, this
will be shown in the screen up to a maximum of 50 available
slots. By pressing the Escape key you may halt the search
and the result will immediately be show. The window will show
how many blocks of requested time has been found. You may
sort the available blocks by reservation Date or by Resource
name. By moving the bar over a selection and pressing Enter
you may select a acceptable reservation slot and again the
final screen is displayed. If you change your mind, press the
Escape key and you may make another selection. You may move
the reservation between the pointers and by pressing the F10
key the reservation will be completed after the User name has
been entered.
Select;
4 - Display the current reservation for a User.
The purpose of this screen is to make a quick inquiry about
the current reservations in place for a User. By selecting
the User name, up to 200 reservations are displayed. The
window will inform you of the progress and the Escape key
will halt the search and show the results immediately. The
results may quickly be sorted by reservation Date or Resource
number.
The rest of the Main Menu, allows the entry, change or delete
of a User. Select;
P - Report Menu.
The Report Menu~
---------------
Two reports are offered. Both Reports require the capability
of condensed printing. By selecting a printer in the Sign-on
Menu except for "Other", that will be the case. To make sure
that the printer is cleared of previous settings, a message
will appear with the directions to prepare the printer.
Printing can be stopped or abandoned by pressing the space
bar, a choice will be offered. Select;
1 - Print the Resource reservations for a Date.
This option prints the current reservation for the requested
Date with the Users for each Resource for that Date.
2 - Print the User reservations for a date
This option will print a sorted by User report for up to 1000
current reservation for a selected Date. For multiple
Resources, they will be listed in a row behind the User.
Setting up a new Department~
---------------------------
Before we can make reservations, we must complete some
important items;
Menu
* Set up a Department name Sign-on Menu
* Set up Department Profiles. Manager's Menu
* Install one or more Months. Manager's Menu
* Enter a list of Resources. Manager's Menu
* Optionally enter a list if Users. Main Menu
Up to 99 Departments may be initiated. From the Main Menu,
select;
R - Return to the Sign-on Menu.
If you feel comfortable to delete the "Example Department",
Select;
R - Remove a Department.
You will be asked to type Delete followed by the Department
name, before any Department is removed. This is to prevent
accidental loss of data.
Now we are ready to set up a new Department. Select;
N - Set up a new Department.
Next, you will be asked the new Department name. A new
Directory will be created from the current Directory.
Type in the full Department name;
Printing Department
School of Business
University of Georgia
Aviation Scheduling
On the Manager's Menu, select;
5 - Department Profiles.
Enter the name of the Resource to be reserved (Classroom,
Conference room etc.) Provide the generic name of the User
that needs the Resource (Instructor, Pilot, Employee etc.)
Under the Global feature names enter all the features that
are significant to the Resource. You may choose to enter just
a few and later on add to the list. The features that you
specify will be offered for a Yes/No presents as you enter
the particular data on each of the Resources. Next, enter the
standard operating hours, use between 00:00 and 24:00. If you
make an error, you will be advised. Press F10 and this page
will be entered. Select;
7 - Add or review a Month for daily availability.
Enter the number of the first Month that you wish to start
reservations, normally that is the current Month. Enter the
year on the prompt line. Press F10 and you will see the
monthly availability chart. Mark all the days that you do not
wish to be operational with a character N. Only the days
marked with a character Y will be included in the search for
available time. Press F10 and this screen is completed. You
may install additional Months, up to a total of six.
Select;
1 - Add a new Resource to inventory.
Enter the name of the Resource. You may just assign a number
like 1 or 2, or One, Two, or any other designation that would
clearly identify this Resource. Enter the Resource location
and the hourly user rate if applicable. Mark the presents or
non-presents of the appropriate features with a Yes or No.
Press F10 and this Resource is now entered. Repeat this
operation for all the Resources, you may enter up to 100
Resources. Now we are ready to take reservations!
Practical Resource considerations~
---------------------------------
There are many ways to set up this application.
The Reservation Assistant is very flexible in its set-up and
will adjust to most situations. The following examples will
guide you when considering a new use for the Program.
The first consideration should be the resource. If your
resources are physicians, you are either targeting a specific
doctor or a pool of doctors with specialties that are set up
as features.
If all inquiries are "I need an appointment with doctor
Carter" verses "I need an appointment with a dermatologist".
In the first instant, no features would have to be assigned,
in the second case however all physicians would have their
specialty listed as features. In the above example, you
would call your generic resource in the Profiles of the
manager's Menu "Doctor", the individual resource would have
the doctor name (John Carter, MD). Since most physicians take
a day off in the middle of the week, enter the physician as a
user also and reserve time for him or herself.
The same is true for a classroom or conferenceroom.
If the question is "I need a classroom as soon as possible
that holds at least 50 people and must have a video monitor"
then the resource would have the room capacity and equipment
assigned as features. There is no harm in assigning features,
even if you do not use them!
Sometimes, you may have to break resources down to
components. In a flight simulator, though a single resource,
the participants are as many as four or five people.
Break down that resource by:
DC9 Captain
DC9 Co - pilot
DC9 Flight engineer
DC9 Instructor
L1011 Captain
L1011 Co - pilot
L1011 Instructor
List the resources sequentially and you may look at the
Editor graph and see who is scheduled, what openings are
available or do a search for available time.
Enter "Maintenance" as a User if scheduled maintenance is
needed, then reserve maintenance time.
Messages about Dates~
--------------------
Any of the following examples of dates entered are acceptable
to the Reservation Assistant, all dates are 01-02-1993
10293
01021993
01-02-93, or 01/02/93
01-02-1993 or 01/02/1993
01-2-93, or 01/2/93
1-02-93, or 1/02/93
1-2-1993, or 1/2/1993
1-2-93, or 1/2/93
The alternate Date format of DD-MM-YYYY is used outside
the United States. The input format for Months and Days
is reversed.
File corruption (Error 88)~
--------------------------
If an Error 88 occurs, one of two ISAM files has been
corrupted.
This happens most likely with a power failure during the
writing to disk process. A file (ISAMREPR.EXE) on your
program disk will fix these files.
Only two files need to be repaired in Directories RE1DIR,
RE2DIR etc. The files are RESUSER.DAT and HIST.DAT.
Place your program disk in drive A:, set drive to A:
Type ISAMREPR Drive\RESERVE\RE1DIR\RESUSER.DAT
Type ISAMREPR Drive\RESERVE\RE1DIR\HIST.DAT
Messages will be posted with regard to progress.
Registration Fee~
----------------
The registration fee is $49.00 in US currency.
Registrations will be acknowledged by mail and confirms the
authorized use of the program.
Technical Support~
-----------------
After the registration has been received by Guia
International, the User is entitled to free telephone or
written support for a period of 90 Days. Any extended support
may be negotiated thereafter but shall at minimum be in
conformance with the regulations of the Association of
Shareware Professionals (ASP).
Program License Agreement~
-------------------------
Read the following terms and conditions before using the
program. By using or accepting this program, you indicate
that you accept the terms and conditions set forth bellow.
Guia International Corp. provides this program and licenses
its use. You assume responsibility for the selection of these
programs to achieve your intended results, and for the
installation, use and results obtained from the programs.
Limited warranty
The programs are provided without warranty either expressed
or implied, including but not limited to the implied
warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular
purpose. In no event, will Guia International Corp. be liable
to you for any damages, including any lost profits, lost
savings or other lost incidental or consequential damages
arising out of the use or inability to use such programs even
if Guia International Corp. or any of its agents or dealers
had been advised of the possibility of such damages.
When you start using the program as a production tool, the
Opening Window fee is due to Guia International for each
system the program is installed on. The acknowledgement
returned to you will serve as your license for authorized
usage. You are free to duplicate the application and make
distributions providing that no alterations are made with the
exception of compression to facilitate electronic
transmission. You acknowledge that you have read this
agreement, understand it and agree to be bound by its terms
and conditions.
<END OF FILE>
Revised 7-6-1993