PDA Software Library/pdasoftwarelib.iso/PSION/MISC/SCBANK/SCBANK.TXT

Text File | 1994-12-15 | 12.2 KB | 346 lines

SCBank
------

Installation
------------
scbank.opa in any \app\ directory, then install.
This is the main application.
sys$sch.opo {optional} in any \opo\ directory.
This is the help system manager.
scbank.hlp {optional} in any \opd\ directory.
This is the help text.

For the S3classic only
scbank.fon {optional} in any \opd\ directory. This is a tiny but
usable font.

The account files will be created in a \bank\ directory. They will
have a .bnk suffix. If you create a repeats file, it will have the
same name as the account file with a .stm suffix.

You can also store an optional currency.dbf file in a \bank\
directory. This can be used to store any currency information you
might want to use. It can be edited in the Data application. An
example file should be with the copy of Scbank that you got.

For the memory conscious among you :-
On a S3a
The application scbank.opa takes 45k on disc and about 39k in total
while running.
On a S3classic
The application scbank.opa takes 40k on disc and about 26k in total
while running.
For both
A typical account of about 100 transactions takes about 6k on disc.
The optional help program takes 3k and help file takes 6k

Copying
-------
This program is freeware. It can be distributed freely. It should not
be sold. I'm not making any money from it, why should you? If you like
the program why not let me know, with any ideas that you have for
improving it. I am more than happy to include any good ideas. Although
I have included the source, please do not distribute any altered
versions. If you put this program on a distribution site or in a PD
library, let me know, so I can make sure the latest version is being
distributed.

Starting
--------
When a new account is started, you are presented with single carried
forward (c/f) line. If this is not a new account, use the edit option
to change these details. Then start using your account ...

Menu Options
------------
General Options
New File
Create a new Scbank file, quiting the current one.

Open File
Open an existng Scbank file, quiting the current one.

Spend type On/Off
Toggles the display of the spend type information in brackets in the
description column. The default can be changed from the Set
Preferences option.

Info
Bring up info window with details of little me and version number of
Scbank.

Exit
Leave Scbank program.

Zoom In/Out
Change to larger or smaller fonts. The default font can be changed
from the Set Preferences option.

Main Screen
Add
Add a new transaction to the account. The date is for your own
reference, it is not used for ordering, etc. It is used when
generating statistics though. The Transaction Type and Spend Type are
one of the lists provided in the Set Preferences option. If you want
to enter something that is not in the list, use the text type. This
brings up a sub dialog to enter free text.
If the auto cheque numbering option is on and the transaction type is
set to chq, then a dialog box with the next free cheque number will
pop up.
If the currency is set to anything other than default then a dialog
pops up with the exhange rate details. They can be changed later from
the edit transaction option. You only need specify one of Rate and
Amount in default. The other will be calculated from it.

Edit
To change one of the transactions in the account. The options are the
same as for Add. The message "Do a recalc to be safe" appears to
indicate you should choose the recalc option in order to be sure that
the account totals are correct. This is only needed if the total is
changed. If you don't do this the totals may be confusing, but can
always be corrected at any later time.

Delete
Deletes the transaction that the cursor is on. Does not recalculate
for all transactions after this, so a recalc will need to be done to
bring the totals up to date.

Transfer
The option is efectively the same as add, but you can specify another
Scbank file which will have the same transaction but with the negative
amount added to it.

Check
Check the transaction against one on your statement. An 'x' will
appear next to the transaction. Do the checks against statement in the
order they appear on your statement. This means that when you are in
statement mode, the display should the same as that on your bank
statement.

Check Off
Remove the transaction from the statement. A recalc may be needed to
bring all the totals back into agreement.

Move
Move transaction to another place in the account.

Mark
Assign a text string to a transaction. This can be used in Mark Totals
to check off groups of transactions.

Find
Enter a string to be searched for. The account is searched from the
next row to the start or end of the file, depending wether the search
is backwards or forwards. Everything is treated as a string, so the
search string will try to match everything in the file (e.g. numbers
etc.)

Find again
Looks for next match of the find string.

Filter On
Specify a string so that only transactions containing that string are
displayed. Not all menu items are available in the filter view mode.
Compress
Gets rid of any junk left in file from deletion or editing operations.

Archive
Saves and or deletes everything on the statement up to the current
transaction. The archived transactions can be saved in native bank
format or as a text file with a specified delimiter. If the archived
file has been save in native bank format, it will need to have a
recalc done before it can be used. This will be done automatically
when it is first loaded up.

Merge
The transactions from the merged in file are added to the end of the
current file.

Recalc
Recalculates all of the total fields for statement and checkbook view.
Will also try to correct the file if the indexes have become corrupt.

Process Repeats
Process any pending repeats. This is done automatically when Scbank is
started.

Statistics On
Bring up a summary of the account taking into account what is
specified in the dialog box. If the statistics are not ordered
straight away, they can be sorted in the statistics view itself.

Set Preferences
Set attributes for each account. These are wether to display spend
types, the default font, the size of the status window, wether to
collapse Mark Totals in the Statement view, and two comma separated
lists for the defaults for transaction types and spend types. Note
each list should contain a ",text" item in order to bring up a sub
dialog to enter arbitrary text.

Mark Totals On
Bring up Mark Totals Window to allow checking of Mark Totals groups.

Repeats On
Bring up the repeats window to allow editing of the repeats file.

Reorder
Toggles the display of either the statement or chequebook view.
Equivalent to pressing the diamond key.

Repeats View
Add
Add a new repeat transaction to the account. The Statement date is for
your own reference, it is not used for ordering, etc. The Processing
date is the date that this repeat will appear on the account. If a
date is near an end of month it is intelligently moved to fit in with
different length months. The Transaction Type and Spend Type are the
same as for add transaction, but are entered as free text. If forever
is set to "No" the repeat will be removed when the processing date
comes after the Repeat Until date.

Edit
To change one of the repeats in the account. The options are the same
as for Add. When a repeat is changed is goes to the end of the file.
There is no order in the repeat file. A Process Repeats may be needed
to make any changes take effect.

Delete
Deletes the repeat transaction that the cursor is on.

Repeats Off
Return to the main screen.

Mark Totals View
Check
Check on the group of transactions that have this mark. The same as
doing a Check On for each transaction that is in this group on the
Main Screen. Returns to the main screen when finished. Only allows
Mark Total groups that are not already on the statement to be checked
on.

Mark Totals Off
Return to the main screen.

Move View
Place
Place the transaction that was selected to move where the line of
arrows is pointing. Returns to main screen when finished.

Quit Moving
Quit the moving operation and return to the main screen.

Statistics View
Order
Reorder the summary, first by spend type, then by month, then by year.

Save stats as
Save the statistics in a number of different text formats.

Statistics Off
Return to the main screen.

Special Keys
Use up/down cursor keys to move through the account.
Use Psion up/down to move page up/down.
Use Psion left/right to move to start/end of account.
Use Ctrl-Psion up/down to move to start/end of account.
Enter is the same as Psion-A if this is valid in the current mode.
Delete is the same as Psion-D if this is valid in the current mode.
Space Bar to jump to last place something was done.
Diamond toggles between ChequeBook and Statement view.

Differences Between S3a and S3 version
--------------------------------------
The program was originally developed on a S3, then when I got a S3a I
enhanced it for that.
The S3 version is functionally identical to the S3a version. The only
real differences are  in the display, some of the menus and dialog
boxes are split and the display is obviously more cramped, and the
memory management is not quite as efficient.

Why
---
Yes it is yet another bank account manager program. One big difference
is that this one is free and you can have the source for free too. Why
did I write this program. Well in all my time of using many different
computers I have never seen a bank account program that allowed me to
manage my accounts in the way that I always did with a pen and paper.

Philosophy
----------
The idea is that there are two different views to be taken on your
account. One is the one you use every day, every time you make a
transaction you note it, and this gives the balance that you work to,
for how much money you have left. It is not the amount that you
actually have in your account.If all the transactions would have
worked through, it is the amount that you would have left. Using this
total to work to means that it is very difficult to go accidently
overdrawn. The other view is the view that the bank has and is the
view that is shown on your statement. It shows the order that
transactions were presented to the bank.

Hints
-----
Don't put the account file on a flash card. Although I have tried to
write the program so that it is flash friendly, having to do a reorder
on the file will eat your flash for breakfast, leaving a lot of wasted
space on the flash card. A reorder needs to be done after archiving.
You might be wondering what Mark totals are for. Because I put all
transactions, including credit card, etc., straight in my account as
soon as they happen, they will not match up with my bank account
statement. So I reconcile the credit card statement by putting a mark
next to the transaction. I reconcile with the bank account statement
by checking on the mark total with the cheque that was used to pay the
credit card amount in full. All a bit complicated I know, but it is
the way that I work.

Possible Improvements
---------------------
These are some of my ideas of things that I am thinking of doing to
improve the program.

Rewrite in C. I have just splashed out on the C compiler. So I should
have a C version coming along soon.
Improve this help file.

Like I said, I am open to any suggestions for improvement. A lot of
the ideas are tailored to the way that I do things, so a different
perspective would be useful.

History
-------
Version 2.3
Added abilty to report on spend type statistics by month, year and type.
Added Biweekly option to repeats
Added foreign currency
Added New file and Open file menu options
Added auto cheque numbering
Added merging of two account files
Added transfers between account files
Added checks to checking n in Mark Total view
Added filter option to main view
Added option to collapse mark totals in statement view
Made archive delimiter options more standard
Added space bar jump
Added Ctrl-Psion up/down as alternative to home/end
Fixed display redraw bugs

Version 2.2
Added S3 Classic support
Reduced system memory requirements by rewriting display code
Improved handling of repeats at end of months
Fixed bug in delete that sometimes corrupted index
Delete key now does Psion-D (ie a delete)
Fixed small bug in Archive option
Fixed display bug when moving

Version 2.1
First public release.

Susan Carter,
16 Markwell Wood,
Harlow,
Essex,
CM19 5QY.
[e-mail]