United Public Domain Gold 2/United Public Domain Gold 2.iso/business/pb063.dms/pb063.adf/PayAdvice.Doc

Text File | 1994-10-20 | 44KB | 1,123 lines

                            Pay Advice Analyser V4.2


                        Original idea...     Robert Hart

                        Design...        Richard Smedley
                                           Andy Eskelson

                        Programming...   Richard Smedley


                       Copyright (C) Richard Smedley 1994
                               All Rights Reserved


                              Freely  distributable





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 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 many sleepless nights sitting in front of the computer, I
triumphantly produced a solution...





WHY BOTHER USING THIS PROGRAM?
==============================

Actually, there are a number of reasons for keeping a record of your wage
details on your computer. The most obvious, of course, is that you'll
finally be able to throw out all your old 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 your paying, to make sure that the tax man
(or, worse still, your employer) isn't fiddling you. Of course, when you
want to check your tax, you could always start sifting through boxes upon
boxes of paperwork while you try to locate the required pay slips, but it
is far quicker, easier, and more convenient to simply use the computer to
find those details for you.

Additionally, even if you're only slightly curious about just how large a
slice of your hard earned cash ends up in the hands of the tax man, then
this in itself is a good reason for keeping a computerised record of your
wage details. It might surprise you to see just how all those "little"
deductions start piling up into something far more serious as you get
further into the year...

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.





PAYING THE SHAREWARE FEE
========================

This program is shareware. If you like and/or use it then please register
by sending FIVE (UK) POUNDS STERLING to this address:

                              Richard Smedley
                              257 Stoneyford Road
                              Sutton-In-Ashfield
                              Notts.
                              NG17 3GJ
                              England

Everybody who registers will receive a copy of the complete program, with
the enabled save functions.

Registered users of previous versions can obtain a free update by sending
a blank disk plus suitable stamped addressed envelope to this address.





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

To install this program on a hard drive, simply create a drawer entitled
"PayAdvice" (without the quotes!) in your boot partition, and then use the
mouse to drag the PayAdvice program icon into that drawer.

Next, load your s:Startup-Sequence (or s:User-startup if you're using
Kickstart 2.0 or greater) into a text editor and add the line:

                       Assign PayAdvice: SYS:PayAdvice/

Finally, 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 s:

And that's it - No additional files or libraries are required. But don't
forget to copy your saved data files into the PayAdvice drawer!





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 "PayAdvice:" directory (or make
sure that the program is in your search path) 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.





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

After loading the program, the first thing you'll need to do is enter some
personal information about yourself. If you press the right mouse button
you'll see a number of pull down menu's appear on the title bar. Move the
mouse pointer up to the "Files" menu and select the "Info" option.

You'll see a window appear which is used for both entering and displaying
information about the current file. You should see the following empty
boxes:

                Name
                Clock
                Department
                Employers name & address

Just move the mouse pointer over the first box and then press the left
mouse button. You'll see that the cursor has appeared, now type in the
required information and press the return key.

Simply repeat this with the other boxes, entering the appropriate details
in each one. Obviously, if you don't use a clocking-on system then you can
just leave that box blank.

If you make any mistakes then just re-click in the appropriate box and
change its contents.

After you've entered everything, press the "OK" button at the bottom of the
window to return to the main screen.

Now, the only other thing left to do is change the category titles shown on
the left-hand side of the main screen, so that they match the details of
your wage packet. To do this, simply select "Edit titles" in the "Prefs"
pull down menu...





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

The main screen is split into three distinct sections: Down the left-hand
side of the screen, you'll see the current name of each category of your
wage file, and towards the right, filling most of the screen, is the area
where all your wage details will be displayed.

If required, you can easily change the names of each category by selecting
"Edit titles" from the "Prefs" pull down menu at the top of the screen.

Finally, you'll see a number of buttons near the bottom of the screen. The
"New entry" button is used to enter new pay slips, the "Edit" button to
edit them, and the arrow buttons move you around your file. Together, these
form the main controls of the program, and are fully explained in the next
three sections.

As you enter your wage details into this program, you'll see that it
displays a summary of each wage packet on the screen. The "current" pay
slip, that is to say the one on which all operations will be performed,
will always be highlighted using bold text.





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

To enter a new pay slip, simply press the "New entry" button at the bottom
of the main screen.

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

The edit window will now appear. You'll notice that the name of your first
addition has appeared on the left-hand side.

A simplified calculator should now appear on the screen. When ever this
appears it means that the program wants you to enter a number, in this case
the value of that particular category. 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 been highlighted.





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

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

1)  Pressing the single-arrow buttons at the bottom of the main screen will
    move you back-and-forth through your file one pay slip at a time, and
    the double-arrow buttons will move you an entire screen at a time.

2)  If you prefer using the keyboard then the left/right cursor keys can
    be used to move you one pay slip at a time, just like pressing the
    single-arrow buttons, and the up/down cursor keys will move a screen
    at a time.

3)  You can use the mouse to click directly on a pay slip on the screen,
    which will perform the equivalent of highlighting that pay slip and
    then pressing the "Edit" button.

Additionally, the "Move" pull down menu contains a number of options for
moving around your pay slip file.





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 highlight the required pay slip using the arrow buttons,
and then press the "Edit" button (or the return key). Alternatively, if the
required pay slip is displayed on the screen, then you can click directly
on it (as detailed in the "Moving about your pay slip file" section).

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

To change the value of one of the categories, all you have to do is move
the mouse pointer over the required category and click the left mouse
button. The appropriate category will then be highlighted, and the
calculator will appear for you to enter a new value.

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 be returned to the main screen.





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

Important note: Only the registered version of this program is capable of
saving Pay Advice files. Although it will appear to go through the motions
of saving your file, it won't actually record anything on disk...

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 as".

A file requester will appear for you to select the device, directory and
file name 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.

As you type, you'll notice that a * appears on screen for each character of
the password - this is to prevent anybody from reading your password on the
screen while you're typing it. If you're entering a new password then
you'll be asked to type it a second time just to make sure that you didn't
make any typing errors when you entered it.

Alternatively, simply pressing the return key without typing anything will
save your file without a password.

Your file will (not!) now be saved to disk.





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

If you hold down the right mouse button, you'll notice a menu entitled
"Prefs". By selecting one of the options available here, you can change the
way that certain parts of the program work and set it up to your own
personal liking.

The three options "Program", "Printer" and "Edit titles" are all fully
explained in the next sections.





PROGRAM PREFS
=============

The preferences window will appear, containing 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.

    DEFAULT     Most users of this program will probably load the same pay
         FILE   slip file every time they use this program. If you press
                this button then a file requester will appear for you 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 having to select "Load" and go through
                the file requester every time.

Finally, at the bottom of the window, you'll see the following buttons:

    USE         Temporarily keep the current settings.

    SAVE        Save the current settings to disk.

    CANCEL      Leave everything as it was.





PRINTER PREFS
=============

Unless your printer requires a form feed to be sent after every printed
page then you can safely ignore this section... Otherwise, read on...

The preferences window will appear containing the following 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 press this button and use the file requester
                to enter a file name, and then all printer output will be
                re-directed to that file instead.

Again, at the bottom of the window, you'll see the following buttons:

    USE         Temporarily keep the current settings.

    SAVE        Save the current settings to disk.

    CANCEL      Leave everything as it was.





CHANGING THE USER-DEFINABLE CATEGORY TITLES
===========================================

All wage packets are made up from various additions and deductions to your
earnings, such as basic pay, overtime, and tax. But, despite this, it is
highly unlikely that any two people's wage packets will consist of exactly
the same combination of additions and deductions.

There are a total of thirty separate user-definable categories available in
this program, which have been equally split into fifteen additions and
fifteen deductions.

These user-definable categories are initially defined with the following
titles:

    ADDITIONS
        Basic pay
        Commission
        Overtime
        Special pay
        (The other eleven categories are initially undefined)

    DEDUCTIONS
        National insurance
        Pension
        Tax
        Union fees
        Savings deduction
        (The other ten categories are initially undefined)

The other four categories, namely "Period ending", "Total gross", "Total
deductions" and "Net pay" are all automatically created and dealt with by
the program, so there's no need to worry about them.

If, by some chance, these default titles actually fit the categories on
your wage slip then you can ignore the rest of this section and start using
the program straight away. It's more likely, though, that you'll be needing
to change these titles...

Select "Edit titles" from the "Prefs" pull down menu. You'll see a large
window appear in the centre of the screen, containing separate sections for
additions and deductions. Each box in this window represents the title of
an individual category of your wages. The order, from top to bottom, in
which the titles appear in this window is the same as the order in which
they will appear on the main screen.

To change a title, move the mouse pointer over the required box and then
press the left mouse button. You'll see that the cursor has appeared in
that box. Use the delete key to erase the current title, and then type in a
new title of your own and press the return key.

If you make any mistakes, or if you change your mind, then you can re-click
in any of the boxes and edit their contents.

After you've finished, press the "OK" button at the bottom of the window to
keep the new titles, or hit the "Cancel" button to leave them as they were.

Either way, you'll return to the main screen, where the amended titles will
be displayed in place of the previous ones.



You should realise, though, that whilst you can edit the titles and change
them around after you've created your file, actually changing the titles
won't have any affect on the contents of the categories themselves. So, for
example, if you changed your titles to move your second addition into
fourth place, and your fourth addition into second place, then only the
titles themselves would change: The actual information entered in your file
as the second addition would remain in that position even though the title
itself had moved.

To actually move the information itself you need to use the "Exchange"
function in the "Lines" pull down menu. Select this, and then click on the
two categories that you want to exchange places and press the "OK" button.
All the information entered in those two categories will then swap places
with one another. Please remember, though, that the Exchange function won't
attempt to move any of the category titles themselves, only the actual
information contained within those categories, so the titles will remain as
they were before the function was selected.





MENU FUNCTIONS
==============

The following pull down menu's are available on the main screen:


PROGRAM...

    ABOUT       Displays information about the program and its authors.

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



FILES...

    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 automatically using the last file
                name and password used, thus saving you from having to go
                through the file requester. Only the registered version
                of this program can save Pay Advice files!

    SAVE AS     Saves the file, as already detailed. Briefly, just use
                the file requester to enter the file name, and then type
                in the password. Only the registered version of this
                program can save Pay Advice files!

    SAVE ASCII  Save the current file in ASCII format, so (for example)
                you can load it into a text editor and re-arrange the
                layout before printing it. Just choose which categories
                to save, enter the start & finishing dates, and then use
                the file requester. Remember, though, that ASCII files
                aren't password protected and they can't be loaded back
                into this program. The output will automatically be
                arranged according to one of three possible formats - see
                the "Additional notes" section for more information.

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

    PRINTOUT    Choose which categories you want to print, and then use the
                calendar to enter the start & finishing dates for the
                printout. Make sure that your printer is on line before
                selecting this. The output will automatically be arranged
                according to one of three possible formats - refer to the
                "Additional notes" section for more information.

    INFO        Displays information about the current file. You can edit
                these details (if necessary) by clicking in the appropriate
                boxes.



MOVE...

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

    BOTTOM/FILE Move down to the last pay slip 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...

    INSERT      Inserts a blank pay slip at the current position, moving
                the current pay slip and everything below it along by one
                position, and then brings up the edit window for you to
                enter a new pay slip at that position.

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

    EXCHANGE    This function is mainly intended for use with the "Edit
                titles" function in the "Prefs" menu. If you've used the
                "Edit titles" function to re-arrange your wage categories
                into a different order within the program then you'll find
                that only the titles themselves have changed, and that the
                actual information entered in those categories has stayed
                in the same position as it was before. By selecting this
                function, you can move the actual wage details in your file
                from one place to another within the program to make them
                correspond to the modified titles: Simply click on the two
                categories that you want to change places and then press
                the "OK" button. Note, though, that you can't exchange
                additions with deductions, or vice versa.



OTHER...

    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 pay slip onwards
                and, if it finds an entry for your value, will give you the
                option of either stopping there or continuing the search.

    TOTALS      Enter the start & finishing dates, and then the program
                will calculate and display the totals from between those
                dates. If you click on the "Print" button, then a copy of
                the totals window will be sent to the printer.

    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.



PREFS...

    PROGRAM     Edit the program preferences, as already detailed.

    PRINTER     Edit the printer preferences, as already detailed.

    EDIT TITLES Change the category titles, as already detailed.





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!


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 of cancelling
the input sequence. If you've got the calculator turned on (which it will
be by default) then all you have to do is hit the close gadget. If you've
turned the calculator off, then when prompted to enter a number you should
type "C" (without the quotes!) and press the return key. Either way, the
operation will be cancelled.


A word about memory: This program requires a large chunk of unfragmented
memory in order to work correctly. It'll work OK on machines with 1 meg or
more, so 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.


File names... 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 "FredBloggs1994" for your 1994 records while working for Fred Bloggs (or
whatever). If you do insist on keeping inordinately long files, then this
program will handle files up to 250 pay slips long (if you get paid weekly,
then that's about FIVE YEARS worth!)


File compatibility: Sadly, it is no longer possible to keep this program
compatible with files created or saved using V1.27 of this program, but it
still works fine with files from V2.00 onwards. If you still need to use
files created on V1.27 of this program, then you'll need to convert them
into V2.00/V3.00 format. To do this, you'll need to have either the PD or
registered version of Pay Advice Analyser V3.00: Load your V1.27 file into
this and it'll automatically convert it into V2.00/V3.00 format, and then
all you have to do is save it again. You'll then be able to load it into
this program without any problems.


The program will automatically attempt to arrange printouts and ASCII files
according to one of the following three formats in this order:

1)  If you select a total of ten categories or less (including categories
    such as "Net pay") then your file will be printed with each pay slip
    squeezed onto a single line - handy if you want to fit a full year
    onto a single A4 sheet.

2)  Providing you don't select more than nine additions and more than
    nine deductions (if it's selected then the total addition/deduction
    categories will be counted as one of the nine) then the program will
    attempt to fit each pay slip onto two printed lines, putting additions
    on the first line and deductions on the second, with a blank line to
    separate each pay slip.

3)  Failing the above, it will revert to the V4.0 method of printing the
    pay slips in the same vertical format as they appear on the screen,
    fitting six pay slips across the width of each page.

If the program uses option 1 or 2 then numbers longer than seven characters
will be printed with the left-most digits removed (so "123456.78" would be
printed as "<3456.78")


Remember that you can add new categories to the program at any time by
using the "Edit titles" function in the "Prefs" menu, so if a new addition
or deduction appears on your pay slip part way through the financial year
then all you have to do is use this to add the extra categories! Also, when
you edit pay slips, you'll find that you can click in unused categories and
put numbers in them, so if you get an extra addition/deduction but don't
want to create a category for it then you can still include it in your
file...





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

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


    1)  Why did the vicar walk on his hands?
        Because it was Palm Sunday!


    2)  How many computer programmers does it take to change a light bulb?
        None, because it's a hardware problem!


    3)  Why don't cats shave?
        Because 9 out of 10 owners said their cats prefer whiskers!


    4)  What has one wheel and flies?
        A wheelbarrow full of horse manure!


    5)  How do you stop a rooster from crowing on Monday morning?
        Eat it for Sunday dinner!


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

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





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...

V4.00   Released 24th December 1993

        * A complete re-design of the GUI... The program now conforms far
          more closely to the WB2-standard for user interfaces...

        * The program now supports ten user-definable categories instead
          of just six.

        * Converted the Pay Advice doc file into AmigaGuide format.

        * Incorporated a standard WB2 AmigaDos version string into the
          program.

        * Changed the main Pay Advice screen into a backdrop window, so
          now you can't accidentally lose requesters and such behind the
          main screen...

        * Modified the error handling routines - Now, if something goes
          wrong, the program will give you the option of attempting to
          save the current file before quitting.

        * To keep memory requirements down to a minimum, the maximum
          number of pay slips allowed in each file has been lowered from
          five hundred to two hundred and fifty (the extra categories
          mean that you need more memory to store each individual pay
          slip than in earlier versions)

        * Modified the keyboard controls for moving through a pay slip
          file: The left/right cursor keys now move you one line at a
          time, and the up/down keys move you a screen at a time.

        * Due to technical reasons, this program is no longer compatible
          with files created/saved using V1.27 of this program - but it
          still works fine with files saved from V2.00 onwards.

        * Completely re-wrote the "SAVE AS ASCII" function, and removed the
          "With grid" and "Without grid" options. You can now choose which
          categories you want to save, and can also select the start and
          finishing dates for the save...

        * Unless your printer requires a form feed after every printed
          page, then you can now completely ignore the section about
          setting up the programs internal printer preferences.

        * The program now displays the current file name on the title bar.

        * Added a "Printout" option to the "DISPLAY TOTALS" function.

        * Renamed the "SAVE" function to "SAVE AS", and added a new "SAVE"
          menu function which lets you save the current file automatically
          using the last file name and password used.

        * When editing a pay slip with the calculator turned on, the
          program will no longer remove the value from any category that
          you select in the edit window - Instead the number will now
          stay where it is and the calculator will appear with a blank
          display.

        * Removed the "Do you wish to modify the file format" requester
          from the "Create a new file" routine, and replaced it with an
          "EDIT TITLES" function in the "Prefs" menu. You can now change
          the titles any time you want, and not just exclusively when
          you're creating a new file...

        * Added an "EXCHANGE" function to the "Lines" menu, which lets
          you swap information between categories, mainly for use with
          the "Edit titles" function.

        * When creating a file, or modifying the user-definable category
          titles, the program will no longer automatically erase the
          current contents of a box when you click in it to edit its
          contents.

        * Added a "Cancel" button to the "SEARCH FILE" function.

        * You can now cancel the input sequence for entering a new pay
          slip even if you're not using the calculator: Type "C" (without
          the quotes!) and press return when prompted to enter a number.

        * It appears that the program would let you enter daft numbers
          like "12.34.56" and actually accept them! Corrected this.

        * Centred all the "Details for period ending..." titles in the
          edit and totals windows.

        * Modified the "INSERT LINE" function so that it'll automatically
          bring up the edit window for you to enter a new pay slip.

        * Drastically reduced the delay by which the edit window remains
          on screen after entering a new pay slip.

        * The "SEARCH FILE" function no longer stops at the first entry
          that it finds - A requester will now appear telling you which
          pay slip contains the required value and asking whether or not
          you want to continue the search.

        * Modified the "ICONIFY" routine to include a password option.

        * The "PRINTOUT" routines will now let you specify exactly which
          categories you want to print, and now includes an option to print
          the totals for the selected categories...

        * When you click on an entry to modify it when editing a pay slip,
          simply pressing enter without typing a new number will no longer
          clear the current value of that category.

        * All main buttons in the program will now respond to keyboard
          short-cuts, instead of just those on requesters...

        * The Pay Advice preference files are now loaded and saved to
          AmigaDos path "s:" instead of "SYS:s"

        * Plus other minor enhancements...

V4.2    Released 20th October 1994

        * Incorporated further refinements and improvements to produce a
          more consistent user interface.

        * The program now supports thirty user-definable wage categories,
          equally divided into fifteen additions and fifteen deductions.

        * Pay Advice now runs on an interlaced screen (this was the only
          way to make enough room to display the extra categories!)

        * The "PRINTOUT" and "SAVE AS ASCII" routines now automatically
          attempt to arrange output according to one of three possible
          formats (see the "Additional notes" section for more details!)

        * Removed all the duff-looking "Please wait..." windows, and made
          it so that the program instead uses a proper 2.0 busy pointer to
          indicate when it's busy.

        * Got rid of the roman numerals from the Pay Advice title...

        * Passwords are no longer displayed on the screen - The program
          now uses the traditional method of displaying *'s for every
          character that is typed. This means that if you're entering a
          new password then you'll be asked to enter it a second time to
          make sure you didn't make any mistakes while typing it!

        * The current file name is now displayed at the top of the main
          screen, instead of on the title bar.

        * Improved the colour palette, so now you don't have to squint to
          read the old grey-on-grey pull down menu's any more!

        * Removed the "Do you wish to create/load a file" requester which
          always used to appear when the program was loaded, so now when
          you load Pay Advice it'll take you directly to the main screen.

        * The details that you would normally enter when creating a new
          file (your name, department, and so forth) can now be entered
          or changed using the "INFO" function in the "Files" menu.

        * When saving files, if you just press the return key (without
          typing anything) when asked for the password then your file will
          now be saved without a password. Use this wisely...

        * Re-designed the calculator and put it in a normal window with a
          drag bar and a close gadget, enabling you to move it anywhere
          you want on screen. Pressing the close gadget now cancels the
          input sequence.

        * All windows (except the calculator!) are now opened as backdrop
          windows...

        * Removed the "ICONIFY" function - I honestly don't think anybody
          ever used it!

        * The "Re-direct output" option now re-directs printouts from the
          totals window as well as the main printout function! Also, it
          now appends the output to the end of the existing file instead
          of overwriting it!

        * Menu items now "ghost" themselves to indicate when they can and
          can't be used. Also, the pull down menu's will only appear on the
          main screen itself now!

        * The "DISPLAY TOTALS" function now correctly ignores any unused
          categories.

        * Added a "Cancel" button to the category selection window in the
          "SAVE AS ASCII" and "PRINTOUT" routines. Also, unused categories
          are now switched off by default.

        * If you "SAVE AS ASCII" to an existing file then you'll now be
          asked whether to append or overwrite it.

        * Added a "NEW ENTRY" button to the main screen for entering new
          pay slips.

        * Removed the "Gross pay" and "Deductions" titles from the edit
          window - they looked too much like category names and weren't
          really needed anyway!

        * If you've turned the calendar off then you're no longer forced to
          uses slashes to seperate the numbers, any non-numeric character
          will do.

        * The program no longer crashes if you try to save your file on a
          write-protected disk!





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 merchantability 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, 1994, All Rights
Reserved. Permission is hereby granted for this "save disabled" version of
this software to be freely distributed in its entire form only, providing
all files remain intact and unmodified.

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, that seems to have covered everything.

It just remains for me to say "Hey take it easy"

Auf Wiedersehen,

Richard Smedley