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1993-02-12
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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.