Frozen Fish 1: Amiga/FrozenFish-Apr94.iso/bbs/alib/d9xx/d950/payadvice.lha/PayAdvice/PayAdvice.Doc

Text File | 1993-12-20 | 31KB | 894 lines

      *****************************************************************
      *                                                               *
      * PROGRAM:      Pay Advice Analyser V3.00                       *
      *                                                               *
      * AUTHORS:      Richard Smedley, Andy Eskelson, Robert Hart.    *
      *                                                               *
      * DESCRIPTION:  Easy-to-use database for pay slips.             *
      *                                                               *
      * FILES:        PayAdvice             97876 bytes               *
      *               PayAdvice.info          466 bytes               *
      *               PayAdvice.Doc         31048 bytes               *
      *               PayAdvice.Doc.info      470 bytes               *
      *                                                               *
      * STATUS:       Copyrighted, but freely distributable providing *
      *               all files remain intact and unmodified. Please  *
      *               refer to the disclaimer for more information.   *
      *                                                               *
      *****************************************************************





INTRODUCTION
============

A friend of mine once explained to me about how much he hated having to
keep several old cardboard boxes in the bottom of his wardrobe, each of
which he was slowly-but-surely filling with the Pay Advice slips that he
receives in his weekly wage packet.

He asked me if I knew of any way to transfer all his wage details onto his
trusty Amiga, thus allowing him to throw out his dusty collection of pay
slips and yet retain a permanent record of all his earnings. Much to his
disappointment, I explained to him that unless he wanted to try using a
spreadsheet then there wasn't really any realistic solution.

Sadly this idea just didn't work out. My friend had been thinking more
along the lines of a simple, easy-to-use database program on which he could
enter all his wage details without any awkward setting up or fiddling about.

After spending several sleepless nights sitting in front of the computer, I
triumphantly produced a solution...





WHY BOTHER?
===========

Actually, there are a number of reasons for keeping a record of your wage
details on your computer. The most obvious, of course, if that you'll
finally be able to throw out all your pay slips and yet still retain a
permanent record of their contents.

More importantly than this, though, it is advisable to keep a regular check
on your wages and how much tax you're paying, to ensure that the tax man
or, worse still, your employer, isn't diddling you. Of course it is still
possible to do this by sifting through boxes upon boxes of paperwork, but
it is far easier, quicker, and more convenient to simply glance at a column
of numbers on your computer screen.

And, as an extra bonus, there is the added advantage that all your wage
details will be securely locked away on the computer where prying eyes and
inquisitive fingers can't get at them.





SHAREWARE FEE
=============

You'll probably notice that, not only has the "Arrange into date order"
function been disabled, but this program also contains a number of highly
irritating shareware reminders that keep popping up with excruciating
regularity...

Everybody who registers by sending FIVE (UK) POUNDS STERLING to the address
below will not only receive a copy of the complete program, which features
none of these irritations, but will also be entitled to free updates to
this program as and when they become available.

To register, send your cash to:

                    RICHARD SMEDLEY,
                    257 STONEYFORD ROAD,
                    SUTTON-IN-ASHFIELD,
                    NOTTS.
                    NG17 3GJ
                    ENGLAND





HARD DRIVE INSTALLATION
=======================

To install this program on a hard drive, simply create a suitable drawer in
your SYS: partition (if necessary), and drag the Pay Advice icon across
into the window where you'd like to keep it.

Next, load your Startup-Sequence (or User-startup for Kickstart 2.0+) into
a text editor and add the line:

    Assign PayAdvice: SYS:xxx

Where SYS:xxx is the FULL AmigaDos path to the drawer where you've put the
program.

If you've saved any program and/or printer preferences from within the Pay
Advice program then open the Shell window, insert your Pay Advice disk into
drive DF0 (the internal one) and type:

    copy df0:s/payadvice#? to SYS:s

No additional files or libraries are required.





LOADING THE PROGRAM
===================

To load the program from Workbench, simply double-click on the Pay Advice
icon.

If you prefer using CLI, simply CD to the required device/directory, and
then type "PayAdvice" at the CLI prompt. Note, though, that this program
isn't self-detaching.

Whichever way you load the program, the Pay Advice screen will appear after
a brief pause.





A requester should appear in the middle of the screen, asking you whether
you want to create or load a file.

As with all similar-looking requesters in the program, you can make your
choice by either using the mouse to press the appropriate on-screen button,
or, if you prefer, you can type the first letter of your choice on the
keyboard (so, in this case, you could press "C" to choose "Create", or "L"
for "Load")

If you're using this program for the first time then you'll be needing to
create a new file, so choose "Create"...





CREATING A NEW FILE
===================

A large window will appear on the screen, containing three empty boxes
labelled:

        Your name

        Department

        Your employers name & address

Move the mouse pointer over one of the boxes and press the left mouse
button. You'll see that the cursor has appeared in the appropriate box: Now
type in the required details and press the return key.

Don't worry if you make a mistake, you can always re-click in one of the
boxes to clear its contents and let you re-type the necessary information.

After you've entered everything, press the "Accept" button in the
bottom-right corner of the window.



A requester will now appear asking whether or not you use a clocking-on
system. If you do, select "Yes" and type your clock number in the box,
otherwise choose "No".



Another requester will now appear, this time asking you if you would like
to modify the file structure...

Obviously, all wage packets are made up from various additions and
deductions to your wages, such as basic pay, overtime and tax, but it is
highly unlikely that any two people will have exactly the same combination
of additions and deductions.

If you were to press "No" on the requester, the program would give you a
standard file set-up, consisting of two additions and four deductions:

    ADDITIONS
        Basic pay
        Extra pay

    DEDUCTIONS
        PAYE
        NICS (In)
        NICS (Out)
        Other deductions

If this happens to fit YOUR particular requirements, then you can press
"No" and skip over the rest of this section. It is more likely, though,
that you'll be selecting "Yes"...



As you can see from the standard set-up, above, there are a total of six
categories available for use, any number of which can be allocated as
either additions or deductions to your wages.

The first thing that you will be asked is how many of these categories you
would like to use as additions to your wages. Type in the required number,
and whatever is left of the six categories will be automatically assigned
as deductions.

A large window will now appear containing ten boxes. Four of these will
already contain titles which are vital elements of any wage packet, none of
which can be changed:

        Period ending

        Total gross

        Total deductions

        Net pay

The other six boxes, however, are for you to enter the new titles for each
category.

Like before, when you were entering your name and the other details into
the program, all you have to do is click in each box in turn and type the
required information. Please note, though, that here each box consists of
two lines of seven characters, so you'll need to press return at the end of
each individual line.

Again, if you change your mind, or if you make any mistakes, all you have
to do is re-click in a box to change its contents.

When everything is finished, press the "Accept" button at the bottom of the
window.

After a short pause, the main screen will appear...





THE MAIN SCREEN
===============

Notice that, at the top of the screen, the program has displayed the name
of each category of your wages.

In a window at the bottom of the screen you'll see a row of five buttons,
four of which have got arrows on them. These form the main controls of the
program, and are fully explained in the following two sections.

Finally, in the middle of the screen you'll see a long grey box. This box
represents the position of the current pay slip, on which all operations
will be performed.

If you're following this as a tutorial, most of the screen, including the
grey box, will be blank.





ENTERING A PAY SLIP
===================

The "Edit" button, at the bottom of the main screen, is used for entering
and editing pay slips.

To enter a new pay slip, make sure that the grey box is on a blank line,
and then press the "Edit" button, or if you prefer, hit the return key on
the keyboard.

A calendar will now appear, asking you to enter the date for the new pay
slip. Simply click on the appropriate on-screen buttons to change the date,
and then press the "Accept" button.

The edit window will now appear. You'll notice that the title "Additions"
has appeared, and just below that you'll see the name of your first
addition.

Towards the right of the screen, you should see something which looks like
a simplified calculator. Whenever this appears, it means that the program
wants you to enter a number. You can use the calculator with either the
keyboard or the mouse, whichever you prefer.

Enter the value of your first addition, and then press return/enter. The
number will now appear in the edit window.

One by one, this will be repeated for every addition and deduction to your
wages until everything has been entered, when your net pay will be
displayed. After a short pause you'll return to the main screen, where
you'll see that a summary of the new pay slip has appeared in the grey box.





MOVING AROUND YOUR PAY SLIP FILE
================================

There are three main methods for moving back-and-forth through your pay
slip file.

First of all, the arrow buttons in the window at the bottom of the main
screen: Pressing the single-arrow buttons will move you up/down through the
file one line at a time. The double-arrow buttons move through the file at
an entire screen at a time.

The second method: For people who prefer using the keyboard, pressing the
up and down cursor keys will move up/down the pay slip file one line at a
time.

Finally, if there is a specific line that you want to move to, and if you
can see that particular line on the screen, then you can move the mouse
pointer over that line and press the left mouse button. This will perform
the equivalent of moving that line into the grey box and pressing the
"Edit" button.





EDITING A PAY SLIP
==================

Sooner or later, whether its because you've made a mistake or whatever,
you're going to want to edit one of your pay slips.

To do this, simply move the required pay slip into the grey box, and then
press the "Edit" button (or the return key). Alternatively, if the required
line is displayed on the screen, then you can click directly on it (as
detailed above).

The edit window will re-appear showing all the details for that particular
pay slip.

To change the value of one of the numbers, all you have to do is move the
mouse pointer over whatever category you want to modify and press the left
mouse button. The calculator will appear, with the display now containing
the current value for that particular category. Press the "C" key to clear
this, type in a new number, and then press return/enter.

You can change as many numbers as you wish, and then when you've finished
press the "OK" button to keep the changes, or "Cancel" to leave everything
as it was. Either way, you'll now be returned to the main screen.





SAVING YOUR PAY SLIP FILE
=========================

Obviously, one way or another, you're going to need to save your pay slip
file onto disk. If you hold down the right mouse button, you'll notice a
number of menu's appear on the title bar. Move up to the "Files" menu and
select "Save", or alternatively use the keyboard short-cut of pressing
RightAmiga-S.

A file requester will appear for you to select the device, directory and
filename to save your file under. Press the "Save" button when you've
selected everything.

A window will now appear asking you to enter a password. Because all wage
details are highly confidential, this program saves its files using a
special encryption technique which makes it impossible to load a pay slip
file without first entering the correct password.

You can enter anything that you want for the password, up to ten characters
long, but remember that passwords ARE case sensitive and, if you forget
what your password is then you've lost your pay slip file.

If you've already entered a password, say while you were loading your file,
or because you've already saved it once and are re-saving it for some
reason, then you can simply press return without typing anything to keep
the same password as before.

Your file will now be saved to disk.





CUSTOMIZING THE PROGRAM
=======================

If you hold down the right mouse button, you'll notice a menu entitled
"Prefs". This contains two entries, "Program" and "Printer", which you can
use to set the program up to your personal liking.

Both of the prefs windows work basically the same, with rolo-style gadgets
used for making your selections.

You'll see three buttons at the bottom of the prefs window:

    USE     Temporarily keep the current settings.

    SAVE    Save the current settings to disk.

    CANCEL  Leave everything as it was.

Now I'll explain how all the settings work...


PROGRAM PREFS
-------------

There are three gadgets:

    CALCULATOR  Lets you turn the calculator on/off. If you turn it off,
                then the cursor will appear in the edit window for you to
                type numbers from the keyboard. This can be much faster
                and more convenient if you never intend to use the mouse
                for operating the calculator.

    CALENDAR    Turns the calendar on/off. If you turn it off, then you can
                choose whether you'd rather type dates using the DD/MM/YY
                or MM/DD/YY format. Either way, you must use the slashes!

    DEFAULT     Most users of this program will probably load the same pay
         FILE   slip file every time they use this program. So, if you turn
                this on, you can press the "Select" button and use the file
                requester to choose a file to load automatically whenever
                you use the program. You'll still need to type the password
                in, but it'll save you from pressing "Load" and then going
                through the file requester every time.


PRINTER PREFS
-------------

Again, there are three gadgets, all of which must be correctly set IN
ADDITION TO the standard Workbench printer preferences:

    LINES/PAGE  Click in the box and type the maximum number of lines that
                your printer can fit on a sheet of paper.

    FORM FEED   Some printers, mostly laser printers, need you to send a
                form feed command after every sheet of paper. If your
                printer needs a form feed command then turn this on, else
                leave it off.

    RE-DIRECT   If you want to re-direct printer output to a file for some
         OUTPUT reason, then turn this on and press the "Select" button to
                bring a file requester up. All printer output will then be
                sent to the required file instead.





OTHER FUNCTIONS
===============

Because this program has been specifically designed to be easy to use, most
of its functions don't really need a detailed description like those given
above.

Anyway, here is a brief description of how to use each menu function in the
program:


PROGRAM menu

    ABOUT       Displays information about the program and its authors.

    ICONIFY     Iconify's the program, shutting down the Pay Advice screen
                to free up 80-90K graphics memory.

    QUIT        Quit the program. Requesters will inform you if you have
                any unsaved information in your file.


FILES menu

    LOAD        Load a new file. Use the file requester to select the
                appropriate file, and then enter the required password.

    SAVE        Save the current file, as already detailed.

    SAVE ASCII  Let's you save your pay slip file as a standard ASCII text
                file, so that you can load it into a word processor and
                re-arrange its layout before printing it. There are two
                options, "With grid" and "Without grid", try them and
                you'll see the difference. Remember, though, that ASCII
                files aren't password protected, and they CAN'T be loaded
                back into this program.

    DELETE      Use the file requester to erase a file from disk. Remember
                that you can't undelete a file!

    PRINTOUT    Use the calendar to select the start and finishing dates
                for the printout, and then it'll be sent to the printer.
                Make sure that your printer is on line before selecting
                this. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING SECTION BEFORE USING THIS.

    INFO        Displays information about the current file.


MOVE menu

    TOP/FILE    Moves up to the first line of the current file.

    BOTTOM/FILE Move down to the last line of the current file.

    GOTO %      Type a number into the box, and then you'll be moved to
                that percentage of the way down the file.


LINES menu

    INSERT      Inserts a blank line at the current position, moving the
                current line and everything below it down by one line.

    DELETE      Erases the current line, moving everything below it up by
                one line to fill the gap.


OTHER menu

    SEARCH      Press the appropriate button to choose which category you
                want to search, and then enter the required value. The
                program will then search from the current line downwards.
                If it finds an entry for your value, then that will become
                the current line.

    TOTALS      Enter the start and finishing dates, and then the program
                will calculate and display the totals from between those
                dates.

    DATE ORDER  Re-arrange the current file into date order. Be warned,
                though, if you are working with a large file then this
                might take a couple of minutes. THIS FUNCTION IS ONLY
                AVAILABLE TO REGISTERED USERS.


PREFS menu

    PROGRAM     Edit program preferences, as already detailed.

    PRINTER     Edit printer preferences, as already detailed.





INSTALLING YOUR PRINTER DRIVERS
===============================

Due to legal reasons, it is impossible to include the Workbench printer
drivers or preference programs on this disk. Luckily, all Amiga computers
come supplied with these files on their Workbench disks anyway, so only a
small amount of setting up is required.

HARD DRIVE OWNERS: If you've installed this program on your hard drive then
you can skip over this section because the required files will already be
installed on your system.

If you're unsure about how to copy the necessary files onto your Pay Advice
disk, then please boot up your computer using your standard Workbench disk,
open the Shell window, and then type the following:

    resident c/copy             (Don't worry if this gives you an error!)
    makedir ram:printers
    copy sys:devs/printers/#? to ram:printers

Remove your Workbench disk and place the Pay Advice disk into DF0 (the
internal drive). Now type:

    copy ram:printers/#? to df0:devs/printers

Next, double-click on the Pay Advice disk icon to open its window, and drag
the Preferences drawer icon from the Workbench window to the Pay Advice
disk window. Finally, re-boot the computer from your Pay Advice disk, open
the Preferences drawer, and click on the Printer icon to set up your
printer.

Please note that your printer must be set up using BOTH the Workbench
preferences program and the Pay Advice program's internal printer prefs.





ADDITIONAL NOTES
================

This program makes the assumption that time started on 1st January 1950,
and that it runs out on 31st December 2049. Somehow I can't see this
causing any problems because hardly anybody will want to catalogue any pay
slips that they might have lying around from before 1950, and, frankly, by
the year 2049 we'll all have upgraded to something a little more powerful
than the Amiga...

This program is unable to handle numbers any larger than nine characters in
length. To be honest, I don't think that anybody who has numbers longer
than nine characters on their pay slip will be actively involved in using
PD & shareware programs anyway, so I can't imagine this being a problem!
Seriously, though, you'll notice that if you're lucky enough to be using
numbers larger than seven characters, then they'll be displayed on screen
and appear on printouts with the left-most characters removed: For example,
the number "123456.78" would become "<456.78". Don't worry about this,
though, the numbers are still held correctly in memory, and will still show
up properly in edit windows, it's just that the columns on the main screen
and on printouts aren't wide enough to display numbers this big!

If you accidentally tell the program that you want to enter a new pay slip,
when in actual fact you didn't want to, then there is a way out of the
input sequence providing you've got the calculator turned on. All you have
to do is press the "C" button twice, and the operation will be cancelled.

A word about memory: This program requires a huge chunk of unfragmented
memory in order to work correctly. It'll work OK on machines with 1 meg or
more, if you have less than this then I'd recommend booting your computer
and running this program without loading anything else in between. This
should cure most problems.

Filenames... It is officially recommended that you start a new pay slip
file for each financial year, and that you save your files with names such
as "FredBloggs1993" for your 1993 records working for Fred Bloggs (or
whatever). If you do insist on keeping inordinately long files, then this
program will handle files up to 500 pay slips long (that's about TEN YEARS
worth!)





THE TRADITIONAL JOKES
=====================

Yes, that's right, it's time once again for more of my favourite duff
jokes...



        1)  Why did the golfer wear two pairs of trousers?

            In case he got a hole in one!



        2)  Why should you walk quietly past the medicine box?

            So you don't wake the sleeping pills!



        3)  Why did the dinosaur cross the road?

            Because there wasn't any chickens in those days!



        4)  What do frogs find at the end of a rainbow?

            A croak of gold!



        5)  On which side does a chicken have the most feathers?

            On the outside!



Ha ha ha ha ha... Ahem...

Er, perhaps that's enough bad jokes for now...





CREDITS
=======

                        Pay Advice Analyser V3.00


                Original idea...             ROBERT HART

                Design...                RICHARD SMEDLEY
                                           ANDY ESKELSON

                Programming...           RICHARD SMEDLEY


                Programmed using compiled GFABasic V3.51





VERSION HISTORY
===============

V1.27   Released 14th January 1993

        The first public release of this program. After much consultation
        with Andy Eskelson, the program has a half-decent user interface,
        and, more importantly, it actually works...



V2.00   Released 19th July 1993

        * A complete re-write of the user interface.

        * Re-organised the pull down menu's into a sensible order.

        * Added keyboard short-cuts for commonly used menu items.

        * Completely re-wrote the LOAD and SAVE routines to incorporate
          complete file encryption, instead of just partial encryption
          as used in previous versions.

        * Added a calendar, pre-set from the system clock, for entering
          dates into the program.

        * Incorporated a simple calculator for entering numbers.

        * Improved number handling - Decimal places are automatically
          checked, and all numbers are now right-justified.

        * Wrote a "SAVE AS ASCII" function, enabling you to load your
          Pay Advice files into a word processor or text editor to
          re-arrange the layout before printing them.

        * Modified the screen display, so now the program uses the entire
          screen to display your file instead of just the bottom few
          lines.

        * Added a "DELETE FILE" function to the pull down menu's.

        * Modified the colour palette: You can actually read the file
          requesters now!

        * The program will now warn you if you try to quit when there's
          unsaved information in the current file.

        * Added some new printer preferences routines and completely
          re-wrote the printout function.

        * Wrote a way, through the calculator, to cancel the input
          sequence for entering a new pay slip (press "C" twice)

        * Improved the screen update and button-handling routines.

        * Plus numerous bug removals (too many to list!) and more...



V2.10   Released 5th August 1993 (EXCLUSIVE TO REGISTERED USERS)

        * It turned out that my new printout routines had a slight bug
          in them which affected the last page of a printout. Corrected.

        * Added an ICONIFY routine.

        * Plus a few minor enhancements and modifications here and
          there...



V3.00   Released 11th October 1993

        * Er, don't know how to say this, but the "DELETE FILE" function
          never actually worked! Corrected this, plus a number of other
          bugs.

        * Looks like there was a problem with the "SAVE AS ASCII" routines
          used in V2.10 - the columns of numbers didn't line up properly!
          Corrected this as well.

        * Incorporated some program preferences routines...

        * User now has the option of whether or not to use the calculator.

        * The calendar can now be disabled, and if so, the user can choose
          whether to type dates using the DD/MM/YY or MM/DD/YY format.

        * Added an option to automatically load a pay advice file by
          default.

        * Drastically improved the screen update speed.

        * Completely re-wrote the "ARRANGE INTO DATE ORDER" function, so
          now it'll re-arrange any size file in a couple of minutes or
          so, instead of taking up to ten times longer than this! Also,
          this routine will now automatically remove any blank lines from
          the current file.

        * Added some error handling routines - Now, if something goes
          wrong, the program will tell you what happened instead of just
          quitting with a meaningless error code.

        * Wrote some nice single-button requesters, so you don't get any
          more daft requesters appearing with two "Cancel" buttons beside
          one another.

        * When saving files, when asked to enter a password you can now
          press return without typing anything to keep the last password
          that you entered.

        * If you've customized the file layout, the program will no longer
          ask you to enter a number for any category which doesn't have a
          name (you can still put numbers in these categories by editing
          the pay slip in the usual manner)

        * File loading and saving is now directed towards the AmigaDos path
          PayAdvice: instead of the program guessing (often wrongly!) what
          the current device and directory are likely to be.

        * A minor cosmetic change: Designed a nice, 2.0-style icon to
          replace the old Pay Advice program icon.

        * Plus more...





DISCLAIMER
==========

This software is supplied "AS IS" without any warranty of any kind, either
expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties
of mechantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as
to the results and performance of this software is assumed by the user.
Should the software prove defective, the user (and not the author or
anybody associated therewith) assume the entire cost of all necessary
servicing, repair or correction. Further, the author does not warrant,
guarantee or make any representations regarding the use of, or the results
of the use of, this software in terms of correctness, accuracy,
reliability, currentness, or otherwise; and you rely on this software and
the results entirely at your own risk. In no event will the author be
liable for direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages resulting
from the use of this software even if advised of the possibility of such
damages.

The author reserves the right to make changes to this software at any time
without obligation to notify any person or entity of such revisions or
changes.

This program, and all associated software, files, programs and text, is the
exclusive copyright of Richard Smedley 1992, 1993, All Rights Reserved. The
four (4) files listed below represent the shareware version of this program
which may be freely distributed by any means, with the restriction that all
four files must be included in all distributions, and providing all four
files remain intact and unmodified:

        PayAdvice               97876 bytes
        PayAdvice.info            466 bytes
        PayAdvice.Doc           31048 bytes
        PayAdvice.Doc.info        470 bytes

This disclaimer shall supersede any verbal or written statement to the
contrary.

Your use of this software indicates your acceptance of this disclaimer.





FINAL WORDS
===========

Well, I think that I've just about covered eveything...

Always remember: Du musst Ambose oder Hammer sein.

Auf Wiedersehen,

Richard Smedley