ShareWare OnLine 2/ShareWare OnLine Volume 2 (CMS Software)(1993).iso/database/wvh22.zip/WVH.HLP

Text File | 1993-02-12 | 13KB | 216 lines

Tutorial TopicsThis first set of topics (up to Ending the Programme) explains
 concepts to give you an understanding of how WVH works. The topics from File
 on down through Help give you information on how to use a specific item
 on WVH's menus.


Menu UsageThe menu you see near the top of your screen is my informal
 understanding of an SAA- or CUA-compliant menu. It is the same type of menu
 you will find in Windows, Gem, QuickBASIC, and "Mac" computers.~~WVH's menu,
 which is on the second line of your screen, is two-dimensional: there are
 |menu headings| horizontally and under each of these are the actual |menu
 items|. There are two ways to choose a menu item:~~1. Use the right, left,
 up, and down arrows to highlight the item you want then press |─┘Enter|,
 or~~2. Press the highlighted letter of the menu item~~For example, you can
 press |F| then |x| to exit WVH, or highlight |File| then press the down arrow
 and highlight |Exit| then press |─┘Enter|.~~|NOTES|~~To pull-down (|open|) a
 menu just highlight it then press |─┘Enter| or the |down-arrow| key.~~To
 |close| a menu just press the |Esc| key. It is not necessary to close a menu.
 You can use the right/left arrows with the menus opened to browse all of the
 options. Usually the only reason to close a menu is so you can use the
 letters instead of arrows (e.g., if you had the File menu open and wanted to
 use the Help Index you could press Esc to close the File menu then press
 |H|-|I| to jump to the Help Index).


Status LineWVH has a status line at the bottom of the screen which looks
 like this:~~|Vehicles│Div/Dept/Owners│Codes│Maint. Records│01-01-1980|~~From left to
 right the items are:~ 1. Total records in the open file~ 2. Total records
 selected for printing~ 3. Total records bad or excluded from mailings~ 4. The
 word |Pack| if there are entries to be erased~ 5. Index in use (name,
 company, address, or zip)~ 6. To-day's date (so far as the computer knows).


Ending the programme (return to DOS)When you are finished using WVH and
 want to end the programme just select the E|x|it option under the |F|ile
 menu. If all menus are closed, just press |Fx|, or you can highlight the
 File menu then use the down arrow to highlight Exit then press ─┘Enter.

FileIn general, using the File menu is like going over to your paper filing
 cabinet. Under this menu are options to work with the files stored on your
 disk.~~You can select options in one of two ways:~~|| Use the up- and
 down-arrow keys to highlight the item you want then press |═╛Enter|, or~~||
 press the highlighted letter for the item.


Back-upMakes a back-up copy of your data files. You must have a formatted
 floppy disk ready. You can use the same back-up disk over and over again (the
 new copy will over-write the old one), but it may be a good idea to alternate
 at least three back-up copies.~~|NOTES|~~Use a rotating back-up scheme with
 at least three sets of disks or tapes.~~When the work you've done since your
 last back-up becomes too much to lose, it's time to make another
 back-up.~~See Preferences Back-up for information on selecting a back-up
 method. Using compression software for back-ups requires more memory than
 DOS. |Use Help/About| to see your free memory.~~|| ARJ needs at least |242k|
 free while WVH is running~~|| LHARC needs at least |189k| free~~|| PKZip
 needs at least |119k| free


RestoreRestores data files from a back-up copy. This is useful if your data
 files become damaged or are accidentally erased.~~|CAUTION|~~Restoring data
 files |erases| any data files of the same name which exist. If you need to
 restore a single file, do so manually from the DOS prompt.


Format FloppiesWVH first tries to find WFF.EXE in your DOS search path. If
 found, What Floppy Format? is run; otherwise, you will be asked to specify a
 drive and the DOS FORMAT command will be used.~~|CAUTION|~~Formatting
 completely erases any information which may be on a disk.~~|NOTES|~~Your DOS
 |path| must point to |format.com| (which is probably in your DOS directory).
 If it does not you will see 'Bad command or file name' flash on your screen
 and disks will not be formatted.~~No parameters are passed to FORMAT ── your
 drive's highest density will be used.


ExitEnd WVH (which will return you to DOS or your menu). Always exit the
 programme before turning your computer's power off.

Data EntryThese screens let you enter information about the vehicles your
  company has, the divisions or departments in your company, and the types of
  service (usually 3,000 mile service, 6,000 mile service, etc.).  Once you
  have set-up your vehicles, divisions, and service codes, you can use the
  Maintenance option to enter service information.


MaintenanceThis is where you enter the actual service performed on a
 vehicle, including parts used.  The steps in this process are:~~ |1.| Select
 a vehicle~|2.| Select a service code~|3.| Select a date or "new"~|4.| Enter
 the service information.~~Step 4, entering the service information, has three
 windows.  You can |jump| between the windows by pressing the |F6| key.~~If
 you need to change to tax rate or set it to zero just use the |F3| key.  You
 will notice as the function of the F3 key changes the description near the
 bottom of the screen changes as well. See the bottom of your screen for other
 special action keys.


Divisions/OwnersThis portion of the WVH data base is to keep track of the
 owners of each vehicle, or the department or division within your company
 which is reponsible for maintaining each one. WVH uses these Divisions to
 print billing statements, which can also be used to separate the costs of
 maintaining different categories of equipment.~~|EXAMPLES|~~|Within a
 Large Company|~~If your company has a large fleet of vehicles, each owned
 by different departments or divisions within the company, you will want to
 define each department or division. As you enter each vehicle into the
 data base, specify the responsible department/division for the vehicle. At
 regular intervals (monthly, quarterly, or whatever your schedule is), you
 can print billing statements for each division so the accounting
 department knows whose budgets are being used for what and also so each
 department can keep track of what their vehicles are costing them to
 maintain.~~|An Independent Contractor|~~Another example might be if you
 are a contractor performing maintenance for many different companies. In
 this case you would want to use the divisions as "Owner codes." Set up
 each of your customers with a code and then specify that code for each of
 their vehicles. At regular intervals you can then print billings for each
 of your customers~~|A Diverse Company|~~Let's say that you maintain a wide
 range of vehicles, from tractors, to big rigs, to company cars. You might
 want to have separate listings for the maintenance costs for each type of
 vehicle. So you could set up a division code for cars, one for excavation
 equipment, one for tractor/trailers, etc. and then define each vehicle
 with the appropriate code. Then you can print out billing statements
 which would give you a summary of the costs to maintain each type of
 vehicle.


VehiclesUse this to enter & edit information about the vehicles your company
 owns. This screen has two windows:~~|| a code window showing the codes for
 each vehicle defined, and~~|| a data window showing the information for
 that vehicle code.~~You start out in the code window (you will see a
 highlighted code to indicate your position; this is the computer's
 |cursor|). You can move the cursor with the arrow keys and the PgUp and
 PgDn keys on your keyboard. You can also locate codes by pressing a letter
 or number and the window will "jump" to the codes which begin with that
 letter or number.~~|Editing Existing Codes|~~To change information for an
 existing vehicle code just highlight the code (as explained above) and
 press ─┘Enter. The cursor will "jump" to the right-hand window where you
 can modify the information. You can use the arrow keys in the right-hand
 data window just like in the code window. Notice the function keys at the
 bottom of the screen. To save your changes press the |F7| key.~~|Inserting
 New Vehicles|~~Adding new vehicles is done by simply pressing the |Ins|
 (insert) key on your keyboard. WVH will jump to the bottom of the code
 window and wait for you to enter a vehicle code. Your codes can be
 anything that makes sense to you ── a company ID number, the first letter
 of the manufacturer followed by a number, etc. Enter the code and press
 ─┘Enter and the cursor will jump to the data window. Enter whatever is
 needed here and press |F7| to save.~~|Deleting Vehicles|~~Removing a
 vehicle from the data base is simple: Highlight it's code and press the
 |Del| (delete) key. WVH will warn you that the vehicle is about to be
 erased from the data base and ask your permission to continue.


Service CodesThis allows you to enter service codes you will use to identify
 the type of service given to a vehicle (e.g., 3,000 mile service, 6,000 mile
 service, etc.).  Special function keys are displayed at the bottom of the
 screen.


POS/Employee CodesUse to enter a code, hourly rate, and department for each
 Place of Service and/or employee who performs service work. You can press Esc
 to skip defining a department for a code.  When maintenance information is
 entered you will be asked to select a POS/Employee code for the job.


Schedule MaintenanceAllows you to schedule vehicles for maintenance.  Once
  scheduled, you can print a Maintenance Schedule from the Reports menu.  |NOT
  YET FUNCTIONAL|

ReportsThis menu lets you display or print the information on file.  You will
  be asked if you want the report to go to the screen, a printer, or a disk
  file.


Division ListA list of divisions/departments on file.


Vehicle ListA list of vehicles on file.


Service Code ListA list of the service codes on file.


Place of Service/Employee ListA list of Place of Service/Employee codes on
  file.


Maintenance HistoryThis report is a detailed maintenance history for one or
  all vehicles.  You may select a single vehicle or press the F10 key to
  report on all vehicles.


Billing by DivisionThis report is a billing summary for each division/owner.
  A separate page is printed for each division/owner, showing each type of
  service performed with parts & labour totals.


Employee ProductivityThis report shows the work done by an employee or place
 of service over a given period of time.  This report is |not yet functional|.


Tickler (Vehicles Due for Svc)List of vehicles which have not been serviced
  in a given time interval which you specify before printing the report.


Maintenance ScheduleLists the vehicles scheduled for maintenance between two
  dates.  This is useful for printing a list of vehicles due to be services
  today, this week, etc.  This report is |NOT YET FUNCTIONAL|.

PreferencesThis menu lets you change various settings, such as the printer
 you are using, etc.


Back-upThis gives you a menu of choices for backing up your information
 to floppy disk: using the DOS COPY command, using ARJ compression
 software, using LHARC compression software, or PKZIP compression software.
 (copyright trademark patent etc. by the respective owners...)  You must
 have compression software available via your |DOS PATH|.


CountrySet the country who's standards of measurement & expression you
 wish to use.  This setting currently has no function in WVH.  Soon it will
 control the date and numerical formats.


Printer etc.This screen lets you set operating parameters for WVH including
 whether or not to allow entry of a labour rate on the Maintenance Data Entry
 screen and the sales tax rate (if any) to add to the parts cost.~~
 If you do |not| allow labour rate entry (i.e., answer "No"), then the
 labour rate will be set according to the rate set in the mechanic's
 record.  This is to prevent accidental changes to this field in situations
 where rates rarely change.~~The sales tax rate you enter is the default tax
 rate ── the one which will apply to most of your entries.  When you need a
 different tax rate (or zero tax) you can use the F3 toggle shown at the
 bottom of the Maintenance Data Entry screen.

Help ── IndexYou are using the help index. This function gives you brief
 information about each menu item. When you are finished using the Help
 Index just press |Esc|.

Help ── About...This gives general information about the program and shows
 you how much of your computer's RAM (memory) is free as the programme is
 running.