Dr. Business/DR_BUSINESS.BIN/CG15.DOC

Text File | 1993-11-04 | 21KB | 534 lines

                           Chapter 15 - User Settings


       User  settings are either  values that  are subject to  change, such as
   the long term holding period, or  values that customize Capital Gainz for a
   particular user, such as reinvesting distributions.

       To change the user settings, you fill in  the User Settings Form.  This
   form is  called up by selecting  User Settings from the  Main Menu. When  a
   field  requires a  YES  or NO  value, then  you'll  see the  current  value
   followed by the valid choices. Thus, if a field is set to YES, you'll see:

     Field:YES  YES NO

   To pick YES or NO, highlight one and hit Enter, or hit the Y or N key.

       Function keys at the bottom of the screen are:

   o Form Accept - accept form, the same as hitting Enter on each field.

   o Form Reject - exit immediately, the same as hitting Esc to back out.

   o F2:Set Screen Colors - change the screen group colors.

   o F3:User Settings Report - print the User Settings Report.

   o F4:Set Report Header - define a custom header for reports.

   o F9:Set Report Parameters - set parameters related to printing reports.


   15.1  Operational Settings


   15.1.1  Long Term Holding Period in Days

       The holding  period entry is  the number of days  shares must be  owned
   before they are classified as  long term holdings. Depending on the current
   tax codes,  long term gains may be  taxed less than  short term gains. Open
   shares are long term if the current date exceeds the purchase  date by more
   than  the holding  period; otherwise open  shares are short  term. Gains or
   losses  from selling shares are long term if the  date of the sale exceeded
   the purchase date by  more than the holding period at the time of the sale;
   otherwise gains or losses from selling shares  are short term. The  default
   holding period is 365 days.

   ===>>> When  you sell shares,  long/short term status is  determined by the
   current value of the  holding period, and recorded  in the record. Changing
   the holding period does  not affect shares that are already closed, as  the
   holding  period can  change from year  to year.  To change  long/short term
   status for closed shares,  change the records or execute the Apply  Holding
   Period function from the Closed Shares Log.



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   15.1.2  Confirm Adds/Confirm Updates/Confirm Deletes

       You can request that Capital  Gainz ask for confirmation before adding,
   changing,  or  deleting records.  When a  requested operation  affects many
   records, such  as a  stock split  or a  sale, confirmation  will always  be
   requested, regardless of the confirmation settings.

       If confirmation  is requested,  then before the  operation is  executed
   the  Confirm Form  pops  up. If  you  select  YES,  then the  operation  is
   performed.  If you select NO or hit the Esc key,  then the operation is not
   performed. Even if you  don't care much for confirmations, it still may  be
   wise to leave them on for deletions.

       The defaults are NO for Add and Change, and YES for Delete.

   15.1.3  Reinvest Distributions

       You  can have  Capital Gainz  bring  up the  Buy  Shares Form  to enter
   reinvestment information  after recording  a distribution.  This is  useful
   for mutual funds that automatically  reinvest distributions. The default is
   YES.

   15.1.4  Redistribute Proceeds

       You  can  have  Capital   Gainz  bring  up  the  Buy  Shares  Form   to
   redistribute  proceeds  after   recording  a  sale.  This  is  useful   for
   transferring funds into and out of a money market fund. The default is NO.

   15.1.5  Use Short Sales

       If you never use short sales, leave this  value set to NO, which is the
   default. Even if  you expect to use short sales,  leave it set to NO  until
   your first short sale, which will automatically set it to YES.

       You get  slightly better  performance when recording  purchases if  you
   don't need short selling, as closed shares records are not searched.

   15.1.6  Backup Command

       You enter  the DOS  command used  to backup  data  files. The  internal
   backup procedure should suffice  in most cases, but you can specify a  file
   compression  utility,  such as  PKZIP,  or even  your  own  batch file.  By
   default,   this   field   is   initially   blank,   causing  the   internal
   backup/restore procedure to be used.

       The file specification  for the compression utility used should include
   *.DAT and *.K01  files (zero, not O),  and you'll need to use  subdirectory
   recursion to include the Portfolio History files. Using PKZIP:

     C:>PKZIP -upr A:CGDATA.ZIP *.DAT *.K01

   The '-upr' option specifies  to update the ZIP file, retain pathnames,  and
   recurse through subdirectories.

   ===>>> The  simple backup and  restore batch  files from early  versions of

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   Capital Gainz, CAPGNZBU.BAT and  CAPGNZRS.BAT, are still  available. If you
   want to backup to drive A from the DOS prompt:

     C:>CAPGNZBU A

   15.1.7  Use Volume on Price Update

       If you don't  want or  need to record  volume, you can  either set  the
   Volume  field to 0 on price  entries, or set  Use Volume on Price Update to
   NO so the Volume field is skipped. The default is YES.

   15.1.8  Price File Read at Startup

       You  can  automatically  have  Capital  Gainz  read  a  file  to update
   security prices  at  startup. If  you update  your security  prices in  the
   PRICES.UPD file, then enter the following in this field:

        PRICES.UPD

   It's not a problem if the same file  is read in twice, as  existing entries
   are overwritten. This field  can also be used  to read in a  file of  price
   limits, for checking upper and  lower price/volume breakouts. See Chapter 8
   for the format of the price update file.

   ===>>> You can maintain  separate update and alert  files, and read both of
   them in at startup.  To do this, separate the  two file names with a comma.
   If they are  not in  the base  directory, you  can just  specify the  first
   file's  path,  and the  second  file uses  the same  path. Thus,  to update
   prices  from  PRICES.UPD, then  check  for  upper  and  lower limits  using
   PRICES.ALE, set the price file field to:

        PRICES.UPD,PRICES.ALE

   15.1.9  Delete Price File After Successful Processing

       When you  update prices from  a file, at start up or  from the Local or
   Global Security Table,  you can have Capital Gainz delete the file if it is
   successfully processed.  Regardless  of  this  setting,  the  file  is  not
   removed if there are any errors. The default is NO.

   15.2  Appearance Settings


   15.2.1  Include Commission in Basis for Gain/Loss%

       By default, the gain/loss calculations  in Capital Gainz do not include
   commissions in the basis.  Thus, you can actually have greater than a  100%
   loss. The  motivation for  this decision is  that the commission  amount is
   never actually used to  purchase shares. Set  this value to YES  to include
   commissions  in the  basis, resulting in  slightly lower  absolute gain and
   loss  percentages.  The gain/loss  amounts  are  the  same  whether or  not
   commissions are included in the basis. The default is NO.




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   15.2.2  Form Accept and Form Reject Keys

       You may  want to  change the  Capital Gainz  Form Accept  key from  the
   default Ctrl-Enter  value, or  the Form Reject  key from the  default Ctrl-
   Esc. A range of  other values is available. Just erase the displayed  value
   and hit Enter to pop up the Keys Table, described below.

       Ctrl-Esc conflicts with DOS  5.0 (and later), which uses it to  suspend
   programs and swap  them out to memory, and  with Windows, which  uses it to
   bring  up the Task List. The DOS or Windows keys  can be remapped, but it's
   easier to change the Capital Gainz key.

   15.2.2.1  Keys Table


       The  Keys Table displays  a range  of values that  can be used  for the
   Form Accept or Form Reject keys. Highlight your choice and hit Enter.

   15.2.3  Change Prompt on Shell to DOS

       This setting specifies  whether to prepend a  message to the DOS prompt
   when you are shelled out of Capital Gainz.  Some users' prompts may be  too
   long to be modified. The default is YES.

   15.2.4  Show All Values/Totals on Tables

       This setting lets you opt for faster table  displays at the expense  of
   some data  being omitted.  For instance,  if it  is NO  then totals  aren't
   calculated on  the Local  Security Table,  and prices  and  yields are  not
   retrieved for the Global Security Table. The default is YES.

   15.2.5  Show Gain/Loss Values in Green/Red

       You  can  tell Capital  Gainz to  make  gain/loss  values stand  out in
   tables  by showing  them  in  green and  red.  This applies  to  the  Local
   Security Table, Portfolio Table, and Open/Close  Logs, but not to  reports.
   The default is YES.

   15.2.6  Flag Records with Comments in Tables

       This  setting  tells  Capital  Gainz  to  mark Local  Security,  Global
   Security, and Broker/Investment Company  records that have comments with an
   *  in tables.  This  lets  you use  the  comment fields  as reminders.  The
   default is NO.

   15.3  Set Report Parameters


   ===>>> The  Set Report Parameters key brings up the Report Settings Form to
   set various printer related values. This form is also available  from a key
   on the Report Menu, and can be called up  prior to printing a report from a
   table by  using the  Setup, the  Print option.  When called  from the  User
   Settings Form, any values  set in the Report Settings Form are not  written
   to disk until  the User Settings  Form is  accepted. When  called prior  to
   printing a report, the  entered values are written  to disk when the Report

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   Settings Form is completed.

       Function keys at the bottom of the screen are:

   o Form Accept - accept form, the same as hitting Enter on each field.

   o Form Reject - exit immediately, the same as hitting Esc to back out.

   o F2:Select Date Range - limit the report to a range of dates.


   15.3.1  Brief Formats

       Many  reports offer  brief  and long  formats, including  the Portfolio
   Detail  Report,  the  Activity  Detail  Report,  and  the  Activity Summary
   Report. The default is NO.

   15.3.2  Show Subtotals

       Several reports can  generate subtotals, including the Portfolio Detail
   Report and the Broker/Investment Company Report. The default is NO.

   15.3.3  Show Inactive

       If you  frequently sell  all shares  of securities,  you end up  with a
   number  of inactive securities in the Local Security Table. These should be
   kept around until the  tax reports are  generated at  the end of the  year,
   but you may  want to omit them from other reports. If Show  Inactive is set
   to NO,  inactive securities  are bypassed  in reports  other  than the  tax
   reports. The default is YES.

   15.3.4  Combine Portfolios

       The Combine  Portfolios setting allows  you to  combine all  portfolios
   for  a report,  if  all portfolios  are selected.  Thus,  you  can generate
   Schedule B  and  Schedule D-1  Reports, Allocation  Reports, and  Portfolio
   Detail Reports where two or more  portfolios are effectively combined  into
   a single portfolio. The default is NO.

   15.3.5  Calculate Time in Performance

       The  Calculate Time  in Performance  setting  specifies whether  or not
   adjustments to  performance are made in  the Activity  Summary Report based
   on how  long individual  purchases are  held. The  Activity Summary  Report
   executes  faster  without  these adjustments,  and  some  users may  prefer
   unadjusted performance percentages. The default is YES.

   15.3.6  Include Inactive in Performance

       The  Include   Inactive  in   Performance  setting  specifies   whether
   adjustments to performance are made in  the Activity Summary Report  during
   initial  and  final periods  that  no shares  of a  security are  held. For
   instance,  if  this setting  is  NO and  you  request  performance for  1/1
   through 12/31 of  the year, but the security  was not purchased  until 3/1,
   then the period  from 1/1 to 2/28 is  not adjusted for.  In effect, you get

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   performance from  3/1 to  12/31. Otherwise,  all holdings  are consistently
   adjusted for time to determine performance. The default is YES.

   15.3.7  Subtract Reinvested

       The   Subtract   Reinvested   setting   specifies  whether   reinvested
   distributions are subtracted from cost on  the Portfolio Detail Report  and
   the Portfolio Summary  Report. If they are,  these reports are slower,  and
   the  figures  can  be misleading  in  assessing  security performance.  The
   default is NO.

   15.3.8  Printer Port

       The Printer Port setting  allows you to print to a different  parallel,
   or serial, port. The default is LPT1.

   15.3.9  Append Reports

       You  can choose  to either  append  or overwrite  files when  you  send
   reports to a DOS file. If you choose not  to append reports, existing files
   will be overwritten without warning. The default is YES.

   15.3.10  Lines Per Page

       You can specify the  number of report  lines printed on each  page. The
   default setting of 58  should work with most printers. For most dot  matrix
   printers, you can save some paper by setting this value higher.

       This value  must be between 50 and  66, or be equal to 0. Setting lines
   per  page to 0 saves paper by not inserting  page breaks, and only printing
   the page header on the first page.

   15.3.11  Line Draw Chars

   ===>>>  By default,  Capital Gainz  uses  the  extended ASCII  line drawing
   characters for borders and separators in  reports. Most printers can  print
   these characters, but sometimes you  have to flip a dip  switch in your dot
   matrix  printer  or load  the  appropriate  font  for  your laser  printer.
   Otherwise, you'll see garbage or nothing  where separator lines should  be.
   If you  don't want  to change  your printer's  settings, select NO  for the
   Line Draw  Chars field.  This substitutes the  - and =  characters for  the
   similar line drawing characters.

   15.3.12  Initial Formfeed, Final Formfeed

       The Initial  Formfeed setting  determines if  you want  to advance  the
   paper on  your  printer  to the  top of  the  next page  before printing  a
   report.

       The Final Formfeed setting determines  if you want to advance the paper
   on your printer to the top of the page after printing a report.

       If you have a  laser printer, you should leave Initial Formfeed set  to
   NO and Final Formfeed set to  YES. For dot matrix printers, setting Initial
   Formfeed to  YES and  Final Formfeed  to NO  is about  the same as  leaving

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   Initial Formfeed set to NO and Final Formfeed set to YES.

   15.3.13  Destination First

       If  you change Destination  First to YES, you are  asked if you want to
   direct a report to the SCREEN,  PRINTER, or a FILE before  it is generated.
   By default, reports are automatically sent to the screen first.

   15.3.14  Printer Setup Codes

       Printer Setup Codes  let you specify up to 8 codes (decimal) to send to
   your printer prior to printing. You can  switch fonts, print in  compressed
   format, or any  other option supported  by your printer.  For instance,  to
   print in condensed mode on an Epson FX dot matrix printer:

        27   15

   This sends  the Esc  code  followed by  the  condensed  print code  to  the
   printer. If  you print  in condensed  mode, you  probably want  to set  the
   Lines Per Page higher (or to 0).

   15.4  Set Screen Colors


       You get  to the Select Screen Colors screen from a  function key on the
   User Settings Form. You can customize colors by screen group:

   o Portfolio Screens, such as the Portfolio Table and Form.

   o Global Security Screens, such as the Global Security Table and Form.

   o Broker/Investment Company Screens, such as the Broker/Investment Company
     Table and Form.

   o Local Security Screens, such as the Local Security Table and Form.

   o General Activity Screens, such as the Activity Menu.

   o Buy Activity  Screens, such as the  Buy Shares Form and  the Open Shares
     Log.

   o Sell Activity  Screens, such  as the  Sell Shares  Form and  the  Closed
     Shares Log.

   o Distr Activity Screens,  such as  the Record Distribution  Form and  the
     Distribution Log.

   o Other Screens, such as the User Settings Form.

   These screen types are further divided into screen kinds:

   o Forms, such as the Local Security Form.

   o Tables, such as the Open Shares Log.


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   o Other, such as the Activity Menu.

       This screen  and the Pick Foreground  and Background  Colors screen are
   always white  on black, except  where actual color settings  are shown. The
   matrix on the Select  Screen Colors screen shows Form, Table, and Other  in
   the currently selected background/foreground  colors for each  screen type.
   To change the colors  for a screen type/kind,  position the pointer and hit
   Enter.  This  will bring  up  the  Pick  Foreground  and Background  Colors
   screen.

       When you exit from  the Select Screen Colors screen, you are asked  for
   confirmation if you changed the colors.

       Function keys at the bottom of the screen are:

   o Form Accept - accept form, the same as hitting Enter on each field.

   o Form Reject - exit immediately, the same as hitting Esc to back out.

       The Utility and Graphics Programs use the Other screen colors.

   15.5  Pick Foreground and Background Colors


       The  Pick Foreground  and Background  Colors  screen  is brought  up by
   hitting Enter  for a screen  type/kind on the Select  Screen Colors screen.
   At the  top of the screen is  an example of  the currently selected colors.
   Two  rows  of  color  blocks  show  the  colors  available.  To select  the
   foreground or  background color,  position the  pointer  under the  desired
   color in the  row and hit Enter.  The example at the  top of the  screen is
   updated  to  show what  the color  combination  looks like.  To accept  the
   colors, enter YES to Accept Colors. Otherwise, enter NO.

       Function keys at the bottom of the screen are:

   o Form Accept - accept form, the same as hitting Enter on each field.

   o Form Reject - exit immediately, the same as hitting Esc to back out.


   15.6  Example - Change User Settings

       Say you want to change Line Draw  Chars to NO, and the Form Accept/Form
   Reject Keys to F11/F12.

   o Bring up the User Settings Form.

   o Use  Set Report Parameters  to bring up  the report  settings, hit Enter
     down to the Line Draw Chars field, change it to NO, and hit Form Accept.

   o Back at the  User Settings Form,  hit Enter down to the Form Accept/Form
     Reject Keys field, change them to F11/F12, and hit Form  Accept to write
     the new settings record.



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   15.7  User Settings Report

       The User Settings report is described in Chapter 14.

   15.8  Set Report Header


       You can  define up to  4 lines of 80 characters each  that will show up
   on  all report  headers. This lets  brokers and  financial planners include
   their name  and  phone number  information  for  clients. Blank  lines  are
   ignored.













































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