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User-Supported Software User-supported software is an experiment in distributing computer programs, based on three principles: First, that the value and utility of software is best assessed by the user on his/her own system. Only after using a program can one really determine whether it serves personal applications, needs, and tastes. Second, that the creation of independent personal computer software can and should be supported by the computing community. Finally, that copying and networking of programs should be encouraged, rather than restricted. The ease with which software can be distributed outside traditional commercial channels reflects the strength, rather than the weakness, of electronic information. The user-supported concept: Anyone may request a copy of a user-supported program by sending a blank, formatted disk to the author of the program. An addressed, postage-paid return mailer must accompany the disk (no exceptions, please). A copy of the program, with documentation on disk, will be sent by return mail. The program will carry a notice suggesting a payment to the program's author. Making a payment is a completely voluntary on the part of the user. Regardless of whether a payment is made, the user is encouraged to copy and share the program with others. Payment for use is discretionary on the part of each subsequent user. This is an experiment in economics more than altruism. Free distribution of software and voluntary payment for its use would eliminate the need for money to be spent on marketing, advertising, and copy protection schemes. Users could obtain quality software at reduced cost, while still supporting program authors. And the most useful programs would survive, based purely on their usefulness. Please join the experiment. MagiCheck (C) 1984 Ronald Schulman, is distributed as "User Supported Software", which means that you do not have to pay for it. If, however, you find that this program is useful, you are invited to make a payment of $25 to the author. Making a payment is a completely voluntary on the part of the user. The payment will be cause the user to be registered and entitle the user to product support, notice of updates and access to updates free of charge. The author is Ronald Schulman, 2710 W. Country Club Road, Philadelphia, PA 19131. Before running this program, please read the following section very carefully, as it governs your rights and responsibilities with regard to MagiCheck. USER'S RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES Many freeware authors, the undersigned included, have been driven half to distraction by people reselling our programs for a profit. Many of us have considered ceasing to share our programs as freeware as a result, and some of us have done so. One assumption that is often made is that freeware authors will not bother to pursue copyright violators. This is not so. Such people tend to violate the copyrights of many freeware authors at once, and we are starting to get smart and band together to pursue these infringers. When it comes to my attention that someone has listed MagiCheck for sale in a catalog, offered it for sale at a show, or made a profit off it in any other fashion, I refer the matter immediately to my attorney.è The above is not intended to frighten legitimate users of MagiCheck. The following will tell you exactly what you can and cannot do with the program. MagiCheck is a copyrighted work of Ronald Schulman and is not in the public domain. The author grants permission to users of this program to make as many copies of the program and its documentation as they wish and to give these copies to others. MagiCheck may also be uploaded to and downloaded from free, public Bulletin Board Systems. MagiCheck may be uploaded to commercial systems such as Compuserve and The Source for downloading by subscribers so long as the only charge paid by the subscriber is for on-line time and there is no charge for the program. Those copying, sharing, and/or electronically transmitting the program are strongly requested not to delete the copyright and restrictive notices from the program or documentation; anyone doing so may be regarded in a proper case as a contributory copyright violator. MagiCheck and its documentation may not be modified by users. The program and documentation may not be separated from one another. No-one may charge any fee, price or contribution for MagiCheck or for the media on which it is stored, nor may MagiCheck be distributed as a promotion for any commercial venture or as an inducement for the user to pay for any program, product or service without express written authorization from the author. Special terms apply to educational institutions, clubs and not-for-profit organizations. Many freeware authors formerly permitted these to distribute their programs for a fee not to exceed $7.00; however, this has become impracticable because of the widespread incidence of commercial ventures passing themselves off as clubs. Thus it is regrettably necessary to limit the sale of MagiCheck by institutions, clubs and organizations to those who have sought and been granted the prior written consent of the undersigned. Entities wishing to distribute MagiCheck should write to me at the address given above. The letter should be signed by a responsible officer of the entity, should set forth the entity's willingness to respect the terms set forth herein including a maximum price of $7.00, and should state that the program will be sold only to members of the entity (or students and faculty, in the case of an educational institution). In addition, reasonable proof should be attached of the status claimed by the entity. Proof acceptable to the author may include: the signed charter or by-laws of a club; the catalog of courses of an educational institution; the Internal Revenue Service document granting not-for-profit status. Please take note that no organization will be eligible to distribute MagiCheck as a not for profit organization which has not received I.R.S. confirmation of such status (except for those which have petitioned the I.R.S. for such status and are awaiting a ruling). An organization not eligible to distribute MagiCheck as a not-for-profit entity may, of course, still be eligible to do so as a club. The right of any such entity to distribute MagiCheck commences upon its receipt of a letter from the undersigned granting such a right. My silence does NOT constitute consent and if I do not respond to your letter, please write me again. DISCLAIMER MagiCheck COMES WITH NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. MagiCheck IS AVAILABLE AS IS. IN NO EVENT WILL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANYè DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS OR INCIDENTAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. The author would like to know of problems that users have with the program but makes no promise or guarantee that any such problem will be fixed. Please don't feel, however, that a donation is necessary to report a problem or make a suggestion. I hope you enjoy MagiCheck and find it useful. Best Regards, Ronald Schulman GETTING STARTED (SUMMARY) 1) BACKUP your Master MagiCheck disk. 2) Make a working program disk from the Backup Master you just created. 3) Type in HELPBILD. 4) Name your account(s) using option 6 of the HELPBILD menu. 5) Set the current account using option 7 of the HELPBILD menu. 6) FORMAT your data disk(s). 7) Include DEVICE=ANSI.SYS in CONFIG.SYS 8) Run CHECKS INITIAL DATA ENTRY (SUMMARY) 1) Enter your LEDGER Accounts. 2) Enter the initial balance in the CHECKBOOK. 3) You are ready for everyday operation. GENERAL CONVENTIONS SUMMARY <E> to exit from main (graphics) menus <END> to exit elsewhere gets the previous record in the file during editing <N> gets the next record in the file during editing <^> to abort a screen listing HELP.DAT is a data file which contains information necessary to use MagiCheck. It contains the ANSI control codes necessary to clear your screen although you can modify the codes in HELPBILD. It will probably be nessary to include ANSI.SYS (which should be provided with your MS/DOS 2.x) in your CONFIG.SYS file to implement the control codes for clear screen and reverse video. (ANSI.SYS is implemented in the CONFIG file with DEVICE=ANSI.SYS.) MAGICHECK PROGRAM SUMMARIES The basic modules of the MagiCheck system are listed below. 1) CHECKS. This is the Main Menu which allows you to access the other programs of the system. It also allows you to redefine where the files will be located as you add storage capacity to your hardware. 2) LEDGER. This program allows you to set up as many as 199 ledger accounts. You specify a name for the account, such as "Advertising" and a code to be used when entering checks or seeking information about the account, such as "ADV". Codes may be up to 4 characters long (letters and numbers). For each account you may assign an "account type" which allows an income statement to be generated from the checking account. You can also define groups of expense accounts to be reported together such as Utilities or Cost of Goods Sold. 3) CHECKBOOK. This program allows you to enter checks, deposits, withdrawals, service charges and phone payments for those banks that `ave them. It provides for revision of entries if errors are discovered. The program provides reconciliation of bank statements by simply entering the transactions listed on the statement. You do not have to do any calculations to reconcile the account. When youè begin another fiscal year, the Check Splitting program allows you to clear out all entries from the previous year that have been reconciled. After all entries are reconciled they may all be cleared out. The old entries are kept on a separate disk with its own indices and ledger accounts to provide complete reporting for that year. The checking account may be listed or printed in its entirety. 4) CHECK REPORTING. This program features printing (and listing) summaries of all accounts, all transactions within a certain account and all transactions by ledger account. Other reports that can be produced are: An income statement which ignores categories that do not relate to income or expenses; A listing of depreciable capital items; Listings by payee and customer account. 5) COMPLETE and PARTIAL RECONSTRUCTION. If problems have arisen by power outage, voltage spikes or other mysterious means, it is possible to recover the system using the rebuild function as long as the checkbook is intact. If you discover problems have arisen with the indices or the ledger or the account balances, it is possible to reconstruct that information selectively using the partial reconstruction feature. 6) SPLIT THE CHECKBOOK. This program allows you to take the current account and split it into two accounts: an old account containing all checks entered in a year you specify, and a current account containing the checks from the current year. GENERAL CONVENTIONS A word on notation. Letters surrounded by the less than (<) and greater than (>) symbols indicate something to be typed on the keyboard. A group of letters indicates one key if there is a key that contains those letters. <ENTER> refers to the enter key. <E><N><T><E><R> refers to sequentially depressing the keys E, N, T, E and R. <END> refers to sequentially entering the keys E, N and D since there is no END key on the keyboard. All MagiComp systems are menu driven. There is a main system menu 1ith all of the programs available in the system and there are program menus listing individual features for each of the programs. All of the main and program menus will have some kind of logo, usually starting with the letters "MagiC", in this case "MagiCheck". In these menus with the "MagiCheck" logo the program is continually scanning the keyboard for the entry of one character, either a number representing the number of the choice you are selecting or the character <E> to exit. The <E> will return you to the previous menu level or out of the system entirely if you enter it at the main menu level. For example, if a "logo" menu presented the following choices: 1. ADD A RECORD 2. EDIT A RECORD 3. LIST A RECORD. If you press <1> you will access a feature that is designed to let you add a record. If you enter a <2> you will be prompted to locate the record you are looking for and then how to edit it. If you enter a <3> you will be able to list a record to find out what is in it. If you enter <E> you will be returned to the previous menu level. In general, to exit from any part of the system (other than a "logo" menu), answer the first question on the screen with <END>. When a program requests a yes or no response it expects to find a one-character answer of either <Y> or <N>. Requests that you choose from among listed, numbered actions require you to enter the number of the action only. In sections that allow you to edit data, responding to the ENTERè LINE TO CHANGE prompt with a gets the previous record in the file. Responding with <N> gets the next record in the file. Note, however, that these responses CANCEL all changes made to the current record. There are many places in the system where you are able to list information on the screen. When you list the information on the screen, after each screenful, you will be prompted to "ENTER TO CONTINUE". You can abort the listing by pressing a left bracket <^> and then <ENTER>. To blank a field that already has something in it, you should enter two quote symbols <""> and <ENTER>. CUSTOMIZING YOUR SYSTEM DISK Your MagiCheck system has been provided on a disk without the MS-DOS operating system. Thus your Master disk is essentially a data disk whose files can be copied onto a disk which contains MS-DOS. It may be necessary to remove some files that came on your working disk (with the ERASE command) in order to best fit the MagiCheck system if you have a single-sided drive. The MagiCheck programs and data files must be on your system drive because MS-DOS will not look for them elsewhere. The MagiCheck programs that can be removed for day-to-day operation are listed in the Appendix. GETTING STARTED The first step is to make a backup of your Master disk using the command DISKCOPY B: A:. Remove your MS-DOS from drive A: and put in a blank disk before responding to the prompt from DISKCOPY. The next step is to make a working program disk from your Backup Master of MagiCheck which you just created. With at least two double-sided drives: 1) Place your MS/DOS system disk in drive A and your MagiCheck Master in drive B. 2) Type COPY B:*.* A: and your disk in drive A is ready to use. Among other files, that will copy BASRUN.EXE. BASRUN.EXE is copyrighted by MICROSOFT. It is the sole property of MICROSOFT and under NO circumstances may it be distributed by you in any way. Portions (C) Microsoft Corp., 1982. All rights reserved. NAMING YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNTS The first time you use MagiCheck you must start with HELPBILD. Select Menu option 6 by pressing <6><ENTER>. You will see numbers on the left of the screen and "NOT INITIALIZED" about halfway across the screen. You will then be asked whach line you want to Add or Delete& Press <1><ENTER>. You will be prompted for the change. Enter the name you want to use for your checking account (up to 7 characters) followed by <ENTER>. The system will then be set up to use this account. This name must include only letters and numbers. The use of any other characters will cause unpredictable results and serious problems are likely. When the screen is redisplayed, you will see the name of your checking account next to the number 1. The prompt for a line number will be displayed again. If you have a second checking account to set up, press <2><ENTER> and type in the name of the account. If not, type <END><ENTER> and you will return to the HELPBILD Menu. SETTING THE CURRENT ACCOUNT At the HELPBILD Menu type <7> and <ENTER>. The CURRENT checking account will be displayed as all blanks. Type the name of the checking account you want to work with and <ENTER>. You cannot specify an account as current until you have added it following theè instructions for NAMING YOUR ACCOUNTS. To exit to the HELPBILD menu when the screen is redisplayed, type <END> and <ENTER>. To exit the HELPBILD program, type in <E> again. You are now ready to start using MagiCheck. INITIALIZATION To run MagiCheck just type CHECKS at the operating system level. MagiCheck will know whether the curreft checking account has ever been used. The first time you run MagiCheck using a new current checking account, it will automatically take you to an initialization program. The initialization program will ask you on which disk you want to place your MagiCheck data files. You can assign them to any disk you like (preferrably not drive A). Just enter the number(s) of the drive(s) on which you want your data stored. The data files are divided into three groups: 1) the Checkbook, 2) the Ledger and index files, and 3) the Old Checkbook (explained later). After you tell MagiCheck where you want these groups of data files stored, MagiCheck will prepare your data disk(s) and return you to the Main Menu. WARNING If you intend to use MagiCheck for more than one checking account you MUST be sure you have the correct account CURRENT. When you enter the MagiCheck Main Menu by typing CHECKS, the Current account will be listed on the Main Menu along with the number of Checks and Ledger accounts. If you don't use the correct account your data will be a mess. Remember, you change the Current account by using HELPBILD or option <7> in the Main CHECKS Menu. INITIAL DATA ENTRY - FIRST THINGS FIRST If you plan to use ledger accounts to create income statements the first entry you must make is in the LEDGER program to set up ledger categories before entering checks. The CHECKBOOK program will not be able to enter the transactions in the appropriate ledger accounts unless they have first been set up. After entering the ledger accounts you are ready to proceed to the checkbook program to enter your checking transactions. The first entry you should make in the CHECKBOOK program is the initial balance. If you do not want this amount to appear on an income statement, do not specify a ledger account for this item or specify a ledger account with the code LN (see Ledger). The initial balance is not a special type of entry; it is just a deposit <D> type which reflects the balance you are starting with. After entering the initial balance, you can use any of the programs. When your initial balance is an amount that agrees with the bank (see CHECKBOOK instructions) enter this item in the Reconcile section of the CHECKBOOK program. CHECKS 1. CHECKBOOK 2. CHECK REPORT 3. LEDGER 4. REBUILD - PARTIAL AND COMPLETE 5. ALLOCATE DISK SPACE 6. SPLIT THE CHECKBOOK 7. CHANGE THE CURRENT ACCOUNT These are the program choices available in the Main Menu. To display this menu, type in CHECKS and <ENTER> from MS-DOS. Toè select an option, type the NUMBER next to the program you want to access. All menu selections throughout the system work the same way. You enter the number next to the function you want to perform. Each of these programs and their function menus are explained in the following pages. NOTE: ALWAYS return to a menu level before turning the machine off. If you do not, you will prevent MagiCheck from properly calculating the end of file sizes. LEDGER 1. CREATE NEW CATEGORY 2. EDIT/DELETE OLD CATEGORY 3. LIST LEDGER FILE 4. CREATE EXPENSE GROUP 5. EDIT EXPENSE GROUP 6. LIST EXPENSE GROUPS 1) CREATE NEW CATEGORY You may set up any number of ledger accounts up to 199 per checking account to keep the kind of information you want. The first prompt is: 4 LETTER CODE. You may enter any code you want. The code may be less than 4 characters and can include numbers and letters in any combination you desire. For example you might use ADV for advertising expenses or CHCR for child care. No two codes can be the same. Be careful in assigning codes not to introduce ambiguity by using three character codes that match the first three characters of another code. For example, if you have CAP and CAP1, the system will search for a match to CAP when you use it but since it is only looking for 3 characters, it may find CAP(1) first. The second prompt is for a DESCRIPTION of the account. You may consider it an account name. If the code were CHCR, the description might be "CHILD CARE EXPENSE". The description is limited to 20 characters. The third prompt is for the ACCOUNT TYPE. This is a 2 letter code which describes how the account should be treated for tax accounting purposes. The following are the valid account types: DP Code given to deposits which reflect receipts or income. IN Code given to checks paid which do not represent expenses such as payments to partners representing profit. These checks will be ignored in the profit-and-loss accounting. EX Direct expenses (do not include capital items). These expenses will be listed under "Other" on the Income Statement (see Ledger Groups below). C1-C4 Capital - depreciable items. These account types will be reflected on the income statement in the form of depreciation. C1 items are property with a 3 year life. C2 are items with a 5 year life, C3 are 10 year and C4 are 15 year items. LN Loans and other non-income items of deposit. MagiCheck treats these transactions as deposits for the checking account balance but they are not included on the income statement because they are not actually income for tax purposes. TX If the checking account is used for personal accounts, transactions that are tax deductable itemized expenses should be coded as TX ledger accounts. These are treated as expenses but may be listed separately. Those are the program defined valid codes. You may enter other codes for expenses only. They will still be treated as expenses but will be grouped by category on the income statement (Ledger Groups). DOè NOT start a group code with a C or it will be treated as capital. 2) EDIT/DELETE OLD CATEGORY. To edit ledger accounts you will first be asked for the code of the account and then the information you entered will be listed on the screen with the account balance. There will be 5 lines displayed. Line 3 will appear as "3. <RESERVED>". You should NEVER attempt to do anything to this line (in other words do not enter <3> in response to ENTER LINE TO CHANGE?). To change any other line enter the number of the line and you will receive the prompt ENTER CHANGE. Enter the new information you want and it will replace the previous information. You probably would not want to change the account balance, but the option is available if you should have a reason to do so. To write the changes to the disk file enter <END> in response to the ENTER LINE TO CHANGE prompt. To exit this section enter <END> in response to the ENTER CODE prompt. You can also use this edit section to DELETE Ledger accounts if you find they are unnecessary. Instead of entering a line number to edit, enter <DE>. 3) LIST LEDGER FILE. This option lists all 4-character Ledger codes alphabetically and shows their descriptions and the account balances. 4) CREATE EXPENSE GROUP. Allows you to define an expense group category other than the standard EX expense category described under option 1 above. You could specify <UT> for utilities, <GS> for cost of goods sold or <OH> for overhead items. All items with a specific code will be listed under the ledger group category in the Income Statement in the Check Reporting Program. 5) EDIT EXPENSE GROUP. Allows you to redefine categories. You can also use this option to DELETE expense groups by entering <DE> in response to the prompt for Line Number To Edit. 6) LIST EXPENSE GROUPS. Allows you to list the expense groups you have defined, either on the screen or the printer. CHEKBOOK 1. ENTER NEW TRANSACTIONS 2. EDIT TRANSACTIONS 3. CALCULATE ACCOUNT BALANCE 4. LIST ACCOUNT 5. LIST ACCOUNT TO PRINTER 6. RECONCILE BANK STATEMENT 7. LIST RECONCILED TRANSACTIONS BY MONTH 8. LIST TRANSACTIONS BY MONTH 1) ENTERING TRANSACTIONS. When you ask to enter new transactions, you will be asked a few questions before being given the opportunity to enter them. You will be asked if you want instructions and will receive them if you enter <Y>. Then you are asked if you want to print the checks. Again, <Y> will print all checks (not other transactions). The last question is "IS THIS A MERGE?" If you answer "Y" MagiCheck will look for a file named "MERGE.TXT" on the same drive as your checks file. It will then add the transactions in the MERGE file one at a time, printing checks if you requested it, and adding the transactions to the appropriate Ledgers as well as to the checking account. This feature can be used to allow the automatic addition of the same transactions every month or to append the file created by aè secondary check split (described in another section). You will have to modify the check numbers and dates before you merge the file each month. You can write your own BASIC program to create and modify the file. Here is the file layout: Field Contents Field length 1 Transaction Type 2 2 Check Number 5 3 Date (MMDDYR) 6 4 Payee 20 5 Amount (Double Precision) 8 6 Ledger Code 4 7 Description 30 8 Month reconciled 2 9 <RESERVED> DO NOT USE 2 10 User defined (anything you want) 6 Use the following to OPEN and FIELD the file. 100 OPEN "R",1,"MERGE.TXT",85 110 FIELD 1,2 AS A$(1),5 AS A$(2),6 AS A$(3),20 AS A$(4),8 AS A$(5) 120 FIELD 1,41 AS X$,4 AS A$(6),30 AS A$(7) 130 FIELD 1,75 AS X$,2 AS A$(8),2 AS A$(9),6 AS A$(10) When you select option <1> the program will request that you enter basic information about the transaction. There are several types of transactions which can be entered. The valid responses are 1) <C> = checks 2) <D> = deposit 3) <S> = service charge (this can also be used for any kind of charge to the account such as charge for printing checks) 4) <W> = withdrawal 5) = telephone transaction 6) <G> = ghost transaction 7) <E> = exit. The ghost transaction is not really a check. It allows you to report expenses that were not paid by check. You enter <G> for the transaction type and enter the rest of the information as if you had made the payment by check. The item will NOT be included in the checking account itself but it WILL be included in the account you enter in response to the prompt requesting EXPENSE CODE. The fifth option is for banks which handle transactions by phone and assumes that ALL TRANSACTIONS WHICH SHARE THE SAME NUMBER MUST FOLLOW EACH OTHER IN ONE GROUP. Such banks usually give one transaction number to all individual items paid by phone that day. You may find it useful to pretend that a check is a phone transaction to allow you to split a check into numerous ledger accounts. The third prompt requests DATE. It is required for deposits, withdrawals and service charges in order for the system to locate them later. The correct syntax for responding to the prompt is six digits in the form <MMDDYY> representing two digits for month, two for day of the month and two for the last two digits of the year. Zeroes must be included to complete the six digits or the system may not be able to locate the transaction. The form for May 6, 1981 would be <050681>. The fourth prompt asks PAYEE. Any characters entered in response to this prompt over 20 will be ignored when written to the disk file. The fifth prompt asks for AMOUNT. Do not enter a dollar sign. A decimal point is required if the number of cents is not zero. The sixth prompt asks for the EXPENSE CODE. This is a code you assign of up to 4 characters. The last prompt in the entry section is CUSTOMER NUMBER?. This field allows reporting on checks by customer number so you can determineè what costs you expended to complete work for an individual client and pass them on to the client. Actually, you can use this field for any purpose you want. You can search based on the contents of the field in the Check Reporting program. After you <ENTER> the CUSTOMER NUMBER information, all the information you have entered for the last transaction will be displayed on the screen with a prompt ENTER LINE TO CHANGE. The method of changing information is described in the EDITING TRANSACTIONS section below. This allows you to correct any errors before the transaction is written out to the disk file. Do not attempt to change the two items displayed that you did not enter. To complete the correction phase respond <END> to the ENTER LINE TO CHANGE prompt. After entering the first transaction you may respond to the first six prompts EXCEPT CHECK # by simply <ENTER>ing and the screen will display the same information you entered in that category for the previous transaction. In the case of phone transactions the check number remains the same also so <ENTER>ing will record the previous check number. When you want to stop entering new transactions, respond to the TRANSACTION TYPE prompt with <E> and you will be returned to the Menu. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you start to enter information and realize that the information is wrong or you didn't want to continue, you can get back to the TRANSACTION TYPE prompt by entering an left bracket <^> followed by <ENTER>. Then enter <E> in response to TRANSACTION TYPE and you will exit the entry section. 2) EDITING TRANSACTIONS. After the transactions have been entered, be careful about editing a Phone Transaction number or type. Based on that assumption only one entry is made in the phone index. That entry points to the FIRST item for that day. The other items can be found by using <N> or described below. If the initial entry were changed in the index, none of the subsequent items under that number could ever be found. Making changes is simple. When you enter <2> in response to the Menu you will be asked TRANSACTION TYPE?. The valid codes are listed above. If the entry was a ghost, check or phone transaction you will be prompted CHECK NUMBER? to which you respond with the transaction number for the check or phone transaction you are looking for. Other transaction types will ask you for the DATE of the transaction since they are located by date and transaction type. For these transactions the system returns the first match for date and transaction type listed in the index. If you make two deposits in one day, there will be two entries in the index. If the system returns the wrong one use the <N> option described below to find the correct one. When the system finds the transaction it will display the information indicated in the ENTRY section. You NEVER want to change the expense pointer. To change any items, respond to the LINE TO CHANGE? prompt with the line number next to the item you want to change. Then answer the prompt ENTER CHANGE? by inserting the change. You may continue to make changes in this fashion until you are satisfied with the information. At that point, in response to ENTER LINE TO CHANGE? enter <END>. Based on the information you change, the system may have to change several other files so you may have to wait before entering the next transaction. If you make a mistakeè entering changes simply change the change. Changing the Month Checked Off will not directly affect the reconcile balance. But it may affect it later. If you change it from something to nothing or nothing to something the transaction may not be handled properly in calculation of the reconcile balance. <N> and There are two other specialized responses to the ENTER LINE TO CHANGE? prompt in addition to <END>. If you enter <N> the system will find the next transaction in the check file. You can use this to look through the file a record at a time starting at the beginning of the file if you know the transaction number. It is especially useful for checking phone transactions. The system will find the first entry for that transaction number. If you need to change another entry keep responding <N> until the correct entry is displayed. If you accidently skip over the transaction you were looking for, respond and the last previous transaction in the file will be displayed. <N> and CANCEL all changes made to the current record. The only way to save the changes is with <END>. 3) DISPLAY ACCOUNT BALANCE. Entering <3> will cause the account and reconciled balances to be displayed on the screen. The reconciled balance should match the balance at the bottom of your last bank statement. 4) LIST ACCOUNT. Option <4> lists information about all transactions in the file to the screen. 5) LIST ACCOUNT TO PRINTER. Option <5> lists information about all transactions in the file to the printer. 6) RECONCILE BANK STATEMENT. After selecting this option <6> you will be asked STATEMENT MONTH. Enter two digits representing the month (for example 01 January). The reconciliation works by calculating a balance based on all transactions you tell it have been entered on a bank statement. Since it uses only the transactions the bank has used, the totals should always match unless you or the bank have missed an item or entered an item (amount) incorrectly. If you attempt to enter an item that is on the bank statement and the reconcile section cannot locate it, look through all your transactions to make sure it is there. If it is, (it shouldn't be there if the system can't find it), you can enter the month in the Month Checked Off field by using the EDIT option (2) in the menu and running the partial reconstruction program to recalculate the account balances. You may be unable to find a deposit, withdrawal or service charge because the bank statement has a date that differs slightly from yours. You should check that possibility if such an item is not found. The actual process of entering reconcile items is relatively simple. You are first asked TRANSACTION TYPE. The valid responses are the same as shown on above. Again, for checks and phone transactions you will be asked the check #. For other transactions you will be asked the date. For checks it is possible to enter a range of checks. For example responding to the prompt CHECK NUMBER(S) with <517-521> will cause processing of ALL checks 517 through 521. If the system is unable to find all the checks it will display a message on the screen. When entering a range of checks do not enter any spaces or the system will treat the space as part of the check numbers and probably won'tè find any of them. It is only necessary to enter the number of a phone transaction once. The system will locate all items under that transaction number and process them PROVIDED they are all one after another. It is not necessary for you to perform any calculations to reconcile since transactions not listed on bank statements are not used in calculating the reconcile balance. When you enter a date for a deposit transaction ALL deposits for that date will be reconciled. The assumption is that anything you put in the bank the same day will appear on the same statement. This allows you to break one actual deposit into sub-categories. You can divide it by category of income to track different sources of income or by client to maintain a record of payments. All of these deposit entries will be reconciled at the same time as long as they have the same date. The screen will indicate if it cannot locate a transaction. Otherwise it will again ask "Transaction type". Continue until you have entered all transactions and then enter <END>. The system will then display the reconciled balance and ask you to <ENTER> in order to exit from this section. 7) LIST RECONCILED TRANSACTIONS BY MONTH. Select option <7> and in response to the prompt ENTER MONTH? enter one or two digits representing the statement month you want to see. You will also be asked if you want the information "Output to <1> Screen or <2> Printer." Enter <1> to display the transactions on the screen and <2> to send it to the printer. After the transactions are printed or displayed, you will receive the ENTER MONTH prompt until you enter <END> to return to the menu. 8) LIST CHECKS BY MONTH. This works the same as <7> except it lists the items by the month they were issued rather than the month they were reconciled. This option is useful to display a range of checks rather than having to search through the entire account to see them. CHECK REPORTS 1. LIST SUMMARY OF ACCOUNTS 2. LIST ALL TRANSACTIONS FOR ONE ACCOUNT 3. LIST ALL TRANSACTIONS BY ACCOUNT 4. PRINT INCOME STATEMENT 5. LIST ITEMIZED DEDUCTION STATEMENT 6. LIST TRANSACTIONS FOR ONE PAYEE 7. REPORT ONE CUSTOMER ACCOUNT 1) LIST SUMMARY OF ACCOUNTS Option <1> will list the names of all ledger accounts alphabetically with their totals. You are prompted "Output to <1> Screen or <2> Printer." 2) LIST ALL TRANSACTIONS FOR ONE ACCOUNT Option <2> will list all transactions for any ledger account you select. You may continue to specify accounts until you enter <END> in response to the prompt for the CODE. Again you may list to screen or printer. 3) LIST ALL TRANSACTIONS BY ACCOUNT Option <3> lists all transactions by ledger account for all accounts, eliminating the need for individual account codes as in option <2>. 4) PRINT INCOME STATEMENT Option <4> creates an income statement summarizing: A) all incomeè items, B) listing, grouping and summarizing all expense categories and C) specifying a net based on these figures. You may get an income statement for a particular month of a particular year. MagiCheck totals only the transactions that occurred in the month requested. For this statement, the first year depreciation and the investment credit are not included. If the year you ask for is more than one year away from the year you entered when you ran CHECKS, your request will be ignored and MagiCheck will ask you for the year again. 5) LIST ITEMIZED DEDUCTION STATEMENT Option <5> lists the totals of all accounts you indicated could be taken as itemized deductions for your Federal Income Tax Return. 6) LIST TRANSACTIONS FOR ONE PAYEE Option <6> lists transactions by payee. You may select only transactions from a specific ledger account for that payee. A common use for this function would be to select an independent contractor as the payee and specify PYRL (payroll) or whatever code you use for contractors. The result will be the amount you should list on that payee's I.R.S. Form 1099. If you do not enter a code, all transactions to that payee will be listed. 7. REPORT ONE CUSTOMER ACCOUNT Option <7> lists transactions by customer account number. This is useful for determining how much was spent on behalf of a particular client so that those costs can be passed on to the customer. If you have specified deposits based on payments from this customer they will also appear on the listing. Pressing <E> at the Check Report menu prompt will return you to the Main MENU program. REBUILD - PARTIAL AND COMPLETE 1. CREATE CHECK, PHONE & DEPOSIT INDICES 2. SET LEDGER POINTERS & TOTALS 3. CALCULATE ACCOUNT & RECONCILE BALANCES 4. RESET LEDGER INDEX 5. COMPLETE REBUILD 6. RESET END-OF-FILE POINTERS WHAT IS REBUILDING AND WHY REBUILD? MagiCheck contains several types of cross-referencing. It also contains various indices into the main files. Occasionally things happen to disks. Power failures, normal wear and hardware problems can all cause files to be damaged. Rebuilding is a way of reconstructing subsidiary files such as indices and reconstructing cross-referencing. There are actually several types of rebuilding involved. Options <1>, <2> and <4> rebuild indices. Option <3> recalculates the account balances. Option <5> does <1>, <2> and <3>. Option <6> was necessitated by the nature of the compiler. It does not have any routine built in to keep track of how big the files are even though the operating system keeps that information. So MagiCheck must keep track of the file sizes itself. This option not only allows recalculating the file sizes in case of error, but can be useful if you make a mistake using multiple checking accounts. In order for REBUILD to work there must be two files: Cname.TXT and Lname.TXT. The entries in C(hecks) must be substantially valid or none of the related files will be meaningful. The L(edger) fields of CODE and EXPENSE TYPE must be correct. If these conditions are met, running the appropriate sections of REBUILD will cross-reference the checkbook with the ledger, and the checkbook with the indices asè well as recalculating the balances of the checkbook and all ledger accounts. WHEN DO YOU REBUILD? 1) CREATE CHECK, PHONE & DEPOSIT INDICES Option <1> will probably correct the following problems without the necessity of resetting everything else: A) If you can get reports on the ledger accounts and have the correct balance in the checking account BUT are having trouble locating individual items; or B) if you cannot find items when reconciling. 2) SET LEDGER POINTERS & TOTALS Select option <2> if you can find individual entries and the checkbook balances are correct, BUT the ledger information is incorrect. 3) CALCULATE ACCOUNT & RECONCILE BALANCES Select <3> if you can find the individual entries and ledger accounts BUT the account balances are wrong. 4) RESET LEDGER INDEX Select <4> if you ask for one ledger account and get another or get a "bad record number" error when looking for a ledger account. There is no utility for recovering a damaged LEDGER file. You must ERASE it and start over. Run CHEKINIT with a fresh data disk. Then copy Lname.TXT to your original data disk. Unless you have an enormous number of ledger accounts it should not take long to recreate this file in its entirety. 5) COMPLETE REBUILD Use option <5> to do a complete REBUILD if you have more than one problem. 6. RESET END-OF-FILE POINTERS Use option <6> before a complete rebuild whether to recover from damage to data or to set up a disk for a separate year. ARCHIVE DISKS REBUILD is also used to create cross-referencing on a disk that contains an old checkbook. You must have the Check and Ledger files on the disk for REBUILD to work. See Splitting the Checkbook and Disk Allocation for an explanation of how to set up the old checkbook for REBUILDing. You need to use option <6> BEFORE <5> when you have split the checkbook or your indices will contain garbage. If you need to use this option under any other circumstances, you are probably in trouble and may want to call us before you try to reconstruct what is left of your data. Also note that if you have deleted Ledger Accounts, option <6> will not work properly. You will need to set the end of file for the Ledger file manually with HELPBILD using main menu option <1> and sub-menu option <1> (EDIT). SPLITTING THE CHECKBOOK 1. FIRST SPLIT FOR THE YEAR 2. SECONDARY SPLIT FOR THE YEAR NOTE: You can avoid splitting the checkbook by starting a new checkbook on another disk for each year. That also means you don't have to worry about how full the disk can be to still allow the splitting operation. Use option <1> the first time you split the checkbook into two years. This option sets up a new checking account fully usable by all programs. It will not remove items which have not yet been reconciled. Option <2> is used after option <1> has already been run. This creates checking account entries which can be appended to the end ofè the old checking account but which could not be used as a separate account. It is used primarily to remove to the old account, checks which were not reconciled at the time of the first move. Splitting the checkbook is simple. Just enter that option (6) from the Main Menu. Preparation for splitting is not that simple. Nor is use of the old checkbook. Most of these problems are detailed in the section describing Disk Allocation. If you use double density double-sided 40 track drives you will have 360K per disk. You can enter approximately 2100 transactions and still have space to split the file and keep the indices on the same disk. That way you won't have to reset the Disk Allocation to run the old checks. You can then put index files on the same disk as the old checkbook. When splitting the checkbook the system looks through the checkbook and removes all reconciled items for the year you specify for an old checkbook. It also removes all the other items to a new checkbook so the three files between them take twice the space of the original file. It then ERASEs the original file and renames the new file to Cname.TXT, the name of the original file (in place of the "name" will be the name you gave the checking account). Now you have plenty of space, but all of the indices are meaningless because they point to a file which doesn't exist any longer. That is why you must run REBUILD to reset all of the cross references. Don't ERASE anything. REBUILD will take care of that for you. Don't forget to run option <6> in the REBUILD menu first. The system has to know how big the files are before it can reconstruct the cross-referencing. Similarly, you must run REBUILD on the disk which contains the old checkbook. In order for the system to work on that disk you must also copy Lname.TXT, Lname.NDX, Lname.GRP and HELP.DAT to that disk. Lname.NDX contains the 4 letter codes you created and a pointer to where the actual LEDGER entry is located. Don't worry that you have the same LEDGER file on two separate disks cross-referencing two separate checkbooks. You don't. REBUILD sets up the necessary cross-referencing on each disk and the two LEDGER files are quite different. Actually you must copy all other .NDX files (except the new checkbggk) in order to run REBUILD because, as indicated in the section on REBUILD, the check, deposit and phone indices must be present in order for REBUILD to work. If the indices for the checkbook and old checkbook are not on the same drive number and you try to run the wrong configuration, the program will abort when it cannot find the file. Actually, Split does not move all items from the year you requested. It does not move them if they have not been reconciled. Unreconciled transactions remain in the current account. When all these items have been reconciled, rerun Split using option <2> and append the old checkbook just created to the Cname.TXT file on the separate disk for the old checkbook. You may have to COPY Oname.TXT to that disk before appending. Append refers to adding the new file onto the end of the old file. The syntax is COPY Cname.TXT+Cname/B. The /B tells MS-DOS that these are not just ASCII text files. You will have to rerun REBUILD after appending the old checks. You will also have to run REBUILD on the current account since the Split will have made the cross-referencing meaningless. You can avoid Rebuilding the old account by using the MERGE option in the Checkbook after renaming the partial checks file you have just created: RENAME Oname.TXT MERGE.TXT. HELPBILD The main menu of HELPBILD presents the following options:è 1. Process END-OF-FILE FILE Information 2. Set/Reset INITIALIZE TOGGLE: 3. ALLOCATE Files to DRIVES 4. Edit DEPRECIATION Percentages 5. Edit INVESTMENT CREDIT Percentages 6. Add/Delete Checking Accounts 7. Set/Reset CURRENT Checking Account 8. Enter/Edit/Display CHECK Printing FORMAT 9. Set Clear Screen and Backspace Codes. 2) Reset INITIALIZE TOGGLE The screen will display: CURRENT STATE OF THE TOGGLE IS: followed by either INITIALIZED or NOT INITIALIZED. It will ask if you wish to SET IT TO: 1 = INITIALIZED 0 = NOT". After you enter either <1> or <0> the program will ask IS TOGGLE OKAY? and you respond <Y>es, <N>o or <END> to return to the menu. 3) ALLOCATE Files to DRIVES The screen will display "** DRIVE SPECIFICATIONS **" followed by the numbers 2 through 4, each indicating the drive allocated to the files represented by drivespecs 2 through 4. The format is 2 ==> B, indicating that the files allocated to drivespec 2 are located on physical drive B of your system. You are then prompted to "ENTER SPECIFICATION NUMBER TO CHANGE". You enter the number of the drivespec you want to edit. Then you are requested to "ENTER DRIVE NUMBER" and you enter the number of the drive. To change the drive for drivespec 2 you would enter <2> in response to the request for the specification number and <C> (or whatever drive you want) to allocate physical drive C to those files that make up drivespec 2. Enter <END> to return to the menu. 4) Edit DEPRECIATION Percentages MagiCheck has information stored about the current method of depreciation mandated by IRS. For 3 year property you must take 25% the first year. For 5 year property it is 15%, for 10 year property it is 8% and for 15 year property it is 4%. The maximum investment credit you can take on 3 year property is 60% of 10%. For other property you can take the full 10% -- today that is. When the rules change, you can update these percentages through MagiCheck. The screen will indicate that you are working on "** 1st Year Depreciation Percentages **". You will then be asked "WHICH VALUE DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE". That refers to the number of the line you want to change. The values are displayed across from the line numbers. Then you are asked to "ENTER VALUE" and you enter the percentage in the form 2500 for 25 percent. To return to the menu, respond to the first prompt for which value to change with <END>. 5) Edit INVESTMENT CREDIT Percentages For newly purchased capital items you are allowed an investment credit based on the useful life of the item. You start with 10% and based on whether the life is 3 years or 5 years you can take a portion of that 10%. These are represented in the form .667 for 66.7% (2/3) or 0001 for 100%. The screen tells you that you are working on the Allowable percentage for Investment Credit. You are asked "WHICH VALUE DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE". You enter the line number and are asked to "ENTER VALUE". You enter the percentage in the form shown above. Respond to the prompt for which value with <END> to return to the Menu. 6) Add/Delete Checking Accounts The screen displays 8 numbers across from up to 8 account names in the middle of the screen and either "Initialized" or "NOTè Initialized" on the right. You will be asked to "Enter Line # to Add/Delete". After you enter the line number you are asked to "Enter Account Name (up to 7 characters)". This name must include only letters and numbers. The use of any other characters will cause unpredictable results and serious problems are likely. If you start with no account name and enter one, you are ADDing it. If you start with an account name and enter nothing ("") you are deleting the account. If you start with an account name and enter another, you will delete the first and NOT add the second. You must delete an account before adding one in its place. In order to prevent you from inadvertantly deleting an account, you will be asked "Does this mean you want to delete this account." You must answer <Y> in order to delete it. You can't use the same name for different accounts or you will be told, "This account ALREADY EXISTS; you can't use that name again." You can use numbers to differentiate between account such as GIRARD1 and GIRARD2. Enter <END> to return to the HELPBILD menu. 7) Set/Reset CURRENT Checking Account You can only work on one checing account at a time. MagiCheck must know which one you are working on. That account is known as the CURRENT account. The CHECKS menu shows the name of the CURRENT account along with the size of the Check and Ledger files. This option allows you to change the current account . It shows "ACCOUNT CURRENTLY IN USE ==>," and asks you to enter "New Current Account or <END>". You can only make current an account if you have ADDed it with option 6. Otherwise, MagiCheck couldn't find any evidence of its existence. You will be told "That account has not been set up yet. You must ADD the account before making it CURRENT." Enter <END> to return to the HELPBILD menu. 8) Enter/Edit/Display CHECK Printing FORMAT This option lets you define the format of your check so that MagiCheck can print them for you. Without such an option you would be forced to buy a specific check layout in order to print checks. You can print the following fields on a check: Check number, Date,Payee,Amount,Ledger Account Description,Account. You have to define where each item is to be printed. You also have to tell MagiCheck how many lines comprise the check. The standard printer will print six lines to the inch so a 3 1/2 inch check will have 21 lines. You can define up to 7 items and positions on the check. In addition, an 8th item is predefined as the written form for the amount of the check. The screen will display "Line #", "Column" and "What to Print". Line # refers to the print line of the check. The first line is the very top of the check and will almost certainly not contain any printing. You must also specify the column in which the printing is to start. Column 1 is the leftmost print position of the check. Remember that Pica prints 10 characters per inch and Elite prints 12 per inch. To add, delete or edit the print format, you are prompted to "Edit <L>ine <C>olumn <W>hat to Print rint a sample check <N>umber of Lines or <END>." You enter either <L>, <C>, <W> or <N> to tell MagiCheck what you want to edit. Then you are asked to "Enter line NUMBER to edit." This refers to the line numbers on the left of the screen and NOT to the line numbers on which to print information. After selecting what you want to edit, you are asked to enter the value you want. In the case of Line or Column you enter the number of the line or column you want. In the case of What to print, the options will be displayed on the screen in the form "Date=1". Enterè the number corresponding to the feature you want printed in the position you have selected. If you enter in response to the what to edit prompt, a sample check will be printed in the format currently stored in the HELP.DAT file. MagiCheck comes with a configuration built in. Line # Column What to Print 1. 7 60 Date 2. 10 10 Payee 3. 10 66 Amount 4. 15 5 Description 5. 0 0 6. 0 0 7. 0 0 8. 12 Typed amount of check It will help to understand how check formatting works to understand what this supplied format means. Item #1 indicates that the date will appear on line 7 of the check and start in column 60. Item #2 shows that the payee will appear on line 10 and start at the 10th character position on that line. Item #3 specifies that the numerical amount (e.g. $10.25) will appear on line 10 and start at character position 66. Item #4 specifies that the description of the nature of the transaction will be on line 15 starting at position 5. Item #8 specifies that on line 12 at position 4, the amount will be printed in typed form (e.g. Ten and 25/100 dollars). The other items (lines) are not used. 1) Process END-OF-FILE Information This option takes you to another menu which has the following options: 1. EDIT end-of-file file information 2. LIST end-of-file file information 3. REPAIR 1st & Last EOF parameters The end-of-file information is kept in the HELP file. It corresponds to information kept in the disk directory. It is important because it keeps track of how large the Check and Ledger files are (end of file, number of records). It also keeps a pointer to free space in the file, something with which you should not have to contend. Use option <2> to list the information. The information will look like this when displayed: REC # FILE BUF EOF FREE LRL MOD DATE AVAILABILITY 22 LEDGER 2 45 0 6 5/26/83 NOT Available 23 CHECKS 1 275 0 85 7/17/83 NOT Available 24 JOURNAL 0 0 0 0 00/00/00 NOT Available 25 ASSETS 0 0 0 0 00/00/00 NOT Available Any files you are using will appear as NOT available. You can modify the end of file should it become necessary. Let me give an example of the type of situation in which it will be necessary. You are using the CHECKS file and your disk directory says it has 290 entries. You notice that the menu says that there are 275 entries. If you do not correct the end-of-file file information, the next check you enter will be put in slot 276 destroying whatever was there. How does this disagreement occur? One definite cause is if you turn off the machine without first returning to a menu. The end-of-file file is updated upon return to menus. If this process is interrupted, the old information remains there. This may be detected when you have more entries in the index files than in the checks file. You can save the information you entered by updating the end of file counter.è Use option <1> to Edit the end-of-file information. It will appear on the screen in the format: 1. FILE NAME: 2. BUFFER #: 3. END OF FILE: 4. FREE RECORD POINTER: 5. AVAILABILITY: 6. <RESERVED> 7. LRL: 8. MOD DATE: You will be asked to "ENTER LINE # TO EDIT." Type the line number followed by <ENTER>. Then you are asked for the new information with "ENTER NEW LINE." Type the information and <ENTER> to return to the line number prompt. Type <END><ENTER> to return to the menu. Type <END><ENTER> again to return the main menu of HELPBILD. Option <3> of the end-of-file submenu is included to correct certain errors that are extremely unlikely to occur. Using it will not hurt anything but it should not be used unless you call MagiComp. 9) Set Clear Screen and Backspace Codes. Upon entry of <9> the screen will display the current information: Length of Clear Screen is 4 Clear Screen Codes are: 27 91 50 74 The Backspace Character Code is: 8 Edit <C>lear Screen, ackspace or <E>xit If you enter <C> you will be asked, "How many characters should there be (1 to 4)?" After you enter the number of characters in the code you will be asked for each, "Character 1 ?" Just enter the number. If you have to hunt for your codes you may want to try one character at a time. If you specify you will be asked "What is the Backspace Code?". Just enter 8 (or whatever it is on your computer). Press the <E> key to return to the HELPBILD menu. For MS-DOS the ANSI codes have been used and are installed when you get MagiCheck. You should not have to make any changes although you are able to should a problem arise. The ANSI codes will not work with MS-DOS 1.x. You may have to experiment to find a combination of codes to clear the screen. You may also see some random characters in your menu display when MagiCheck attempts to use reverse video. A P P E N D I X BACKUP BACKUP of a disk The MS-DOS program for backing up a disk is called DISKCOPY. To backup the disk in drive A to the disk in drive B simply type: DISKCOPY A: B: IF YOU RUN LOW ON DISK SPACE MagiCheck has programs that you will use frequently and some that you will use less frequently. If you are pressed for space on your operating disk, you can remove CHKSPLIT.EXE (used once a year), CHEKINIT.EXE (used only to set up a new checking account) and CHKRESET.EXE (used to fix problems). Copy them (or one of them) back only when you need them. Then you can remove them until needed again. HELPFUL HINTS There are two different kinds of capital items -- new purchases and payments for items purchased in previous years. When you account for a capital purchase, you depreciate based upon the original price and the actual amount you may pay in subsequent years is irrelevant inè terms of your accounting. You take the depreciation. Therefore you probably won't want these payments listed with the income statement. There is a simple way to suppress it. Designate the expense type as IN. It will not be treated as anything on the income statement although you can get information on the account for other purposes. If you only designate NEW purchases as CP, only those will be listed at the end of the income statement. Although there is currently no ability to split the checkbook for a fiscal year other than the calendar year, you can obtain the same result by starting a new disk for each fiscal year. When you start the new disk, run CHEKINIT and then copy L(system name).TXT (the ledger file), L(system name).NDX and L(system name).GRP from your other disk to avoid having to reenter them. Then follow the same procedure for start up as you followed for your first checkbook. You can create more room on your working program disk by removing HELPBILD.EXE, CHKSPLIT.EXE and CHEKINIT.EXE. They are not needed for day to day operation of the system. You will need them only when you want to add or delete a checking account. Of course you should keep them on another disk for when you need them. You may also remove CHKRESET.EXE. It is needed only when you want to perform one of the rebuilding functions. If you try to call any program you ERASE, you will get an error message "FILE NOT FOUND." Some of the suggestions contained in other parts of the documentation have come from other users. Please send any ideas for using the system to me. I will provide those suggestions for registered users along with update information. COMMOM PROBLEMS & THEIR SOLUTIONS Our support line has recognized some common problems and we present them here to make your use of MagiCheck easier. PROBLEM: L was not found! There is something seriously wrong. SOLUTION: You have not set up a current account. MagiCheck therefore thinks that the current account name is " ". Go back to the Getting Started section and follow the instructions for naming accounts and setting up the current account. PROBLEM: Abort. These checks can only be read by a protected system. SOLUTION: The files are not on the disk where MagiCheck expects them. You may have changed the current account without changing the drive allocations when necessary (we have). You may simply have the wrong disk in your data drive. Make sure that the files needed for your current account are on the disk in your data drive and that MagiCheck is set up to find them on the correct drive. PROBLEM: BAD FILE NAME AT . . . SOLUTION: Most likely you have allocated files to a non-existant drive. Often it is blank. While CHECKS.TXT is a valid filespec, :CHECKS.TXT may generate a bad file name. Make sure you have the drives allocated properly. PROBLEM: Too Many Files at . . . SOLUTION: This really means the disk is full. If the disk is not full, the same message is generated when there are no empty directory slots to add new files (so the disk is, in effect, full). Or, the drive doesn't exist. Check the drive allocations. We have inadvertantly used a HELP.DAT which was allocated to the hard disk on systems that didn't have a hard disk. So MagiCheck instructs the system to look for drive C and the system says it can't open the file on drive C. The error message is not too descriptive but these things are what to look for.è PRODUCT SUPPORT Considerable effort has gone into the preparation of the MagiCheck package. That alone does not assure its indestructability. Should any errors be found, corrections will be supplied to Registered owners at no charge if they return the Master disk, a mailer and postage for return mailing. Should a user find an error anywhere in the package, every effort will be made to immediately correct it and notice of the corrections will be sent to all registered owners. Additionally, updates are not only planned but in progress. We assume no liability whatsoever with regard to the reliability and/or fitness of the Magicheck system for any application. All data created and operated upon by the system are the sole responsibility of the user and under no circumstances will We be held liable for the loss of Time, Data or any other loss occasioned by use of the system. We will accept phone calls regarding operation of the system, errors contained within the system, or problems you are having with the system (in this case only after you have read the documentation). If you destroy the ability of your system to read the files, We will attempt to arrange with you to repair the files. We do NOT accept collect calls. We will also not answer any questions if We do not have your registration so send it in as soon as possible. Send registrations to the address listed below. MagiComp, Inc. 2710 W. Country Club Rd. Phila., Pa. 19131 215-473-6599 REGISTRATION: Support and updates will be facilitated by returning this form to the address listed in the documentation. Please complete it fully as all information is necessary to keep proper records of your registration and payment. -------------------------------- Purchaser Name -------------------------------- Address -------------------------------- City, State & Zip Registration Number: -------------------------- The code and concepts contained in the system are the sole property of Ronald Schulman who shall incur no liability whatsoever with regard to the reliability and/or fitness of the MagiCheck system for any application. He shall not be held liable for loss of Time, Data or any other loss occasioned by use of the system. All data created or operated upon by the system are the sole responsibility of the registrant. DISCLAIMER MagiCheck COMES WITH NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. MagiCheck IS AVAILABLE AS IS. IN NO EVENT WILL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS OR INCIDENTAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.