Magnum One

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Magnum One / Magnum One (Mid-American Digital) (Disc Manufacturing).iso / d10 / pmis_01.arc / PROG.ARC / INFO.OUT < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1991-04-16 | 71KB | 1,982 lines

- 1 - 1. USER INFORMATION This document contains information for using the features of the PMIS system. It can be viewed on line by selecting the User option on the Misc. screen or a hard copy can be printed by selecting the Print Manual option on the Misc. screen. 2. OVERVIEW The Personal Management Information System (PMIS) is not just another check book program. It is "THE" check book manager that incorporates all the best features of past and present check book programs that have inundated the Personal Computer world. PMIS provides a personal budget system that is fully integrated with the check book database. Also, PMIS includes an Engagements feature that provides a desk calendar and and an appointment manager. A credit card manager is available to record all transactions for a virtually unlimited number of credit cards. Finally, an address book/mailing manager is included that provides a very flexible, user defined personal database that allows categorizing that is limited only by the user's imagination. While PMIS cannot provide all things for all people, it is extremely flexible, its set up screen providing the user the opportunity to customize each individual installation of PMIS. The highlights of the check book managing feature of PMIS are its ability record all check, cash, deposit and service charge transactions, to print checks in any user defined format, to maintain a list of "frequent payees" accessible to the user from an indexed table, to print mailing labels of the "frequent payees" that never include self addressed envelopes, to "post" canceled checks, to search for and edit data in the database, to display or print reports of user selected transactions, to optionally record transactions in user defined budget categories, to provide data backups, to create new databases for new fiscal or calendar years and set up a customized user environment. The highlights of the personal budget feature of PMIS are its ability to define up to 999 budget categories, to record all check book and cash transactions in the selected budget category, to keep records of current expenditures and number of transactions in comparison to budgeted amounts and to print or display user selected information for any or all budget categories. The highlights of the engagement feature are its ability to - 2 - record single or recurring appointments, delete them, and mark them as kept or broken. An itinerary may be generated for a single or a range of dates that either displays or prints a variety of appointment types selected by the user. A calendar function allows the display of the current month's calendar or any year and month between years 100 and 2999. The current month calendar displays appointments pending for that month. The credit card manager is integrated with the checking account feature such that any checks issued against the credit card will reduce its balance accordingly. The user has the ability to record, edit, delete, search, post and display or print credit card reports for any single credit card or all credit cards in the system. The address book/mailing manager has been designed to provide the most flexible database for almost any perceivable user. Up to 25 user defined attributes can be assigned to each entry. The user can define a very extensive set of categories and append the applicable attributes as needed. The output of a search can be displayed on the screen, printed on the printer, or mailing labels generated for them. Attributes can be added or deleted, and the database is updated accordingly. 3. PRODUCT AND USER INFORMATION This section of the document presents information on the product, your responsibilities and privileges as a registered owner and a brief legal statement as follows: 3.1. PRODUCT INFORMATION This version of PMIS is the ShareWare version. It is encouraged to be used, copied and distributed freely. It is requested that all files that make up PMIS be kept intact and not deleted or modified when distributed. The user is granted full use of the program for nine months. If after that time period, the user wishes to continues to use PMIS, registration is requested. To must become a registered owner you must purchase the registered program from the developer. To purchase the program, send a check or money order in the amount of $25.00 (US) payable to the author specifying either 5.25 in. 360K or 3.5 in. 720K disk format. Mail your check to the author at the following address: - 3 - Edwin F. Brenski 911 Woodland Hills Road Batavia, IL 60510 All orders made with personal checks will be held 7 days to allow checks to clear. Checks made on out of state banks will be held 14 days. The benefits of registration are an up to date version of the program and full rights to utilize all features of the program with no limitations of use or copying restrictions. PMIS is an ever evolving program whose feature set is constantly being improved and enriched. As a registered owner, you will have the privelege of obtaining the new versions at a special low upgrade price of $5.00. Registered owners will be notified of the new versions as they become available. Upon receipt of the registered version, the user's current databases can be preserved and copied to the registered version, thereby alleviating any interruption in use or loss of data. To insure that the current data is preserved, the user should execute the FULL backup feature provided on the Housekeeping Main Menu selection. Doing a FULL backup will save all data already recorded, including any user environment set up, so that when the user installs the registered version of PMIS, all of the data and the previous environment is preserved. To copy the data, saved above, to a registered version, the user should first install the registered version, and then use the restore feature of the Update screen to copy the saved data. When asked to insert the backed up disk, use the disk created when the full backup of the ShareWare version was done. 3.2. ENVIRONMENT The complete program requires a minimum of 448K of memory. This memory usage is based on an average user. Very large databases will require more RAM for execution. A printer for hard copy is not required; most dot matrix printers can be used to print the program's reports and checks. Section 4.2.8.1.13 of this manual gives details for setting up the printer mode. This program does not require a graphics monitor. The program works with either Monochrome or Color displays. It will run on any IBM (TM) Personal Computer, including PS/2(TM) models, as well as all 100% compatibles. - 4 - DOS version 2.0 or greater is required for PMIS, with DOS 3.0 or higher preferred. For the user's convenience, the system should be equipped with a clock chip. Dates are key items in PMIS data storage, search and retrieval operations. 3.3. DISK DRIVE REQUIREMENTS PMIS is designed to be used on either a hard drive or in a dual floppy disk configuration. When installed for hard drive operation, all program and data files reside in the specified installation directory. A dual floppy disk installation creates a program disk that contains the program files and the fixed data base files. A data disk is also created. This disk contains the variable database files, those with the prefix 1991, the address book databases, engagement database and credit card data base. Due to the size of the program and the number of database files and templates, the only dual floppy application that is possible is with either 5.25 in. High Density (1.2M) disks or 3.5 in. 720K Double Density or 1.44M High Density disks. 360K 5.25 in. disks cannot be used. Before using PMIS, be sure to set the disk drives to agree with your operating environment. See section 4.2.8.1.8 of this manual for further information. 3.4 RUN TIME ENVIRONMENT PMIS can, at times, have several DOS files open. It is recommended that the number open files be set to 20. In addition, the number of buffers required for Disk I/O operations should be set to 8. Check your CONFIG.SYS file for the following statements: FILES=20 BUFFERS=8 If your values are different, edit the file and change them to agree with the above. Setting the FILES value reserves RAM space for file handles, thereby reducing the amount of RAM available for PMIS. If you ever see the error message "Out of Memory Space", try setting the FILES value to a lower value to regain some RAM space. You may have to experiment a with different values. A too low FILES value will result in an error message "Unable to Open File" in PMIS. Removing memory resident programs may be necessary to free - 5 - up enough RAM for the PMIS program. 3.5. LEGAL NOTICE The program is the property of the developer, and as such, shall not be liable in any event for incidental or consequential damages in connection with, or arising out of, the furnishing, performance or use of the program. 3.6 LICENSING AGREEMENT The author grants unlimited license to the user to copy and distribute the ShareWare version of PMIS with the understanding that no modifications to the program, other than the databases, be made and that all files remain intact when distributed. Violation of these terms may constitute copyright infringement. 4. MENU SCREEN FUNCTIONS The menu screen includes a main menu on the left side of the screen, and a secondary menu on the right side of the screen. The Active menu is highlighted by a double line box display above it. All menus utilize a light bar selection mechanism. Selecting a menu item can be done by either moving the light bar to the selected function and pressing the Enter key, or by entering the first character of the menu item. Moving the light bar is done by using the Up and Down Arrow keys. Upon entry to the menu screen, the main menu is active. Selection of a main menu function activates the secondary menu, displaying the selections for the chosen main menu function. At the bottom of the screen, a description of each of the main and secondary menu functions is displayed corresponding to the currently highlighted function on the Active menu. 4.1. MAIN MENU SCREEN The main menu has nine selections. Each of these categories is explained as follows: 4.1.1 ADDRESS BOOK Entries can be added, deleted, or edited. Searches can be made and their results displayed, printed or mailing labels generated. The canned comment feature allows the user to define up to 25 personal comments to be applied to an address book database entry. - 6 - 4.1.2 BUDGET The user can create a new budget category, edit an existing budget category, delete a budget category, generate budget reports, or record cash transactions in a specified budget category. 4.1.3 CREDIT CARDS The credit cards feature records transactions, allows the user to edit the transactions, delete them, display and modify the account balance, post the entries as they appear on the monthly statement, and generate screen or printed reports on one or all credit card accounts. 4.1.4 DATABASE The user can create a new, additional database for an accounting period, delete an old database, or change the database in use to another accounting period. 4.1.5 ENGAGEMENTS Appointments can be entered, deleted, marked kept or broken. Itineraries can be displayed or printed for a single or range of dates. A calendar feature can display the current or any month illustrating an appointment summary for the whole month. Finally, calendars for any month and year between 100 and 2999 can be displayed. 4.1.6 MISC Information on program registration, viewing the User Manual on screen or printing a copy of the User Manual, checking disk space, checking available free RAM space, and activating the built-in calculator are the functions the user may select. 4.1.7 PERSONAL CHECKING The personal checking feature selects one of four submenus that encompass 18 different checking account functions. The following sections briefly describe the features of each of the four submenus. 4.1.7.1 PAYEE The user can add new payees to the frequent payee list, delete payees, modify payee information or print mailing labels of the frequent payees. - 7 - 4.1.7.2 QUERY The user can display the account balance, search for single or groups of transactions, display the last entry made, display all unposted transactions, or post transactions that have cleared the bank. 4.1.7.3 TRANSACTION The user can issue and print checks, record cash withdrawls, check credit payments, service charges or deposits, in addition to voiding spoiled checks. The Upcoming feature displays and/or prints all checks due for a selected period. 4.1.7.4 UPDATE Editing transactions to correct errors and deleting transactions are the choices available. 4.1.8 HOUSEKEEPING The main menu housekeeping function is provided for the user to set up the environment and perform data backups and restorals. 4.1.9 EXIT The user makes this selection to exit PMIS and return to DOS. 4.2 SECONDARY MENUS The secondary menus select specific actions to be taken by PMIS. This is where the real work to be done is selected by the user. When working on the screens of the secondary menu, and it is desired to return to the secondary menu, there are two ways that are used to return. First, the user is be prompted with the statement "Enter any key to continue...". Secondly, if the user does not enter a key for several seconds, a timer times out and the current function is terminated. The following is a detailed description of the secondary menu selections for each of the currently implemented main menu selections. 4.2.1 Address Book 4.2.1.1 Add Selecting Add creates new address book entries. The user is - 8 - queried for the name, address and phone number. Next, the comment options are presented. The user can select one or several canned comments, add a personal comment, or choose none. The entry is finished by choosing No Comment. The user is finally asked to accept or reject the entry. 4.2.1.2 Canned Comment This choice allows the user to define his own set of predefined comments which are assigned a letter value of A thru Y, a maximum of 25. Typical examples of a canned comment are relative, friend, client, male or female. Not so typical, but useful, are blonde, blue eyed, well mannered, left handed, and unmarried. Use your imagination to create your own personalized database. The canned comments can be edited or deleted. Deleting a canned comment, will delete its presence in all address book records that contain it automatically. 4.2.1.3 Delete Delete allows the user to delete an address book record. The user is prompted for a first, middle (optional), and last name to find the entry. Do not create entries that are identical in all three names. Deletion will find only the first record that matches. Usually this is no hardship since it is rare that two people have all three identical names. 4.2.1.4 Edit The edit selection allows the user to modify any or all fields in an address book entry. The user is queried for the first, middle (optional) and last names to find the entry. The entry is displayed with letters a thru k as prefixes to the fields. Choose the appropriate field to edit and continue until all fields have been modified. The same comment made above for entries with the same name applies to the edit function, also. 4.2.1.5 Search The search feature is the purpose of the address book. It allows the user to select only the subset of entries that are defined by the search criteria. The user is presented with a blank template of an entry. Choose as many or all of the fields to define a search criteria. Once chosen, the database is searched for all records that exactly match the selected criteria. The user has a choice of three outputs, a screen display, a printed report containing all fields in the entries, or a 3 line mailing label. When looking for - 9 - one person's phone number, just enter their name. When looking for a date, you might want to choose a redhead, blue eyed, unmarried, and male or female. Get the idea? 4.2.2 Budget 4.2.2.1 Add A new budget category is to be created. The user inputs the category name, the budgeted amount and the budget period, ie weekly, monthly, or annually. A category number is assigned that is used by the user when assigning check or cash transactions to a desired category. 4.2.2.2 Edit An existing budget category may be edited to change any or all of its attributes, including the cumulative balance for the selected category. The budget number is used to select the category to be edited. 4.2.2.3 Delete Budget categories can be deleted; however, there are side effects. Once a budget category is deleted, it can no longer be used to search for items in this deleted category. It is provided to the user for completeness, but should be used with caution. The deleted budget category number will not be reused when a new budget category is created. 4.2.2.4 Report The user can elect to display or print one of several budget reports. The choices are displayed on a light bar menu. A Single category, all categories, all categories over budget, and all categories under budget are the choices. All reports have the same format. This format first displays the budget category name followed by the budget period, the budgeted amount, number of transactions, date of the last transaction, the cumulative balance, and two calculated budgetary quantities. The first calculated quantity is the Budgeted amount. It is the amount that would have been spent from the beginning of the calendar or fiscal year up to the present date if the budgeted amount was spent every budget period. Comparing the Budgeted amount to the Cumulative Balance tells the user how close the actual expenditures to date are to the budgeted amount to date. A higher Cumulative Balance signifies being over budget. A lower Cumulative Balance - 10 - indicates an under budget condition. The Average expenditure is the average amount actually spent per budget period. It is determined by dividing the Cumulative Balance by the number of budget periods that have elapsed to date. This quantity is the rate at which expenditures are being made in the budget category. Comparing the Average expenditure to the Budget Amount indicates the category performance on a budget period basis. A higher Average expenditure than the Budget Amount indicates an over budget situation, except for budget categories that have annual budget period. These categories may show a higher Average expenditure than the Budget Amount and still not be over budget. If expenditures continue at the present rate, however, this category will be over budget by the end of the calendar or fiscal year. Reports for budget categories that are either under budget or over budget selectively print just the appropriate category that was selected in the same format as the full report. These selections are helpful to quickly spot budget performance problems. 4.2.2.5 Cash If the budget feature is used, there may be times when cash was used as a payment to some budgeted category. This screen allows the user to record cash payments to any budget category. The balance in the checking account is unaffected by these transactions. 4.2.2.6 Quit Return to the Main Menu Screen 4.2.3 Credit Cards 4.2.3.1 Report The report selection allows the user to generate a report for one credit card or for all of the credit cards that are maintained in PMIS. The user is first asked to choose one or all credit cards. If one is chosen, a display is presented to select a credit card from the payee list. The credit card payees are marked with a 'spade' symbol. Next, the user is asked to select a 'Range' of entries, that is All, Date Range, Single, or None. Choosing None terminates the report. Next a 'Qualifier' is requested. Choices are All, Posted, Unposted, or None. None ends the report generation. The 'Type' of transaction is next requested. - 11 - Choose All, Finance Charges, Purchases, Service Charges, or None. Again, selecting None terminates the report. Finally, the user is asked if a printed report is desired. Choose Y or N. The report is generated and displayed or printed. 4.2.3.2 Transaction The transaction selection allows the user to make entries into the database for a specified credit card, display or modify a balance, delete, or edit a previous entry. Adding an entry requires that the user first select a credit card from the list of displayed payees. The date of the transaction is next requested. The current date is displayed. Overwrite it to change the date. The Vendor name is requested next. The type of transaction is requested. Choose either Finance Charge, Service Charge, or Purchase. Finally, enter the amount of the transaction. The record is then entered, and the user is asked if more transactions are to be entered for this same credit card. Answer appropriately. Choosing Balance will display the current balance of a selected credit card and ask the user if the balance should be changed. If Y is chosen, an opportunity is given to enter a new balance. To delete one or more transactions for a credit card, select Delete. The user is first asked to select a credit card from the displayed list of payees. The transaction date is requested next. A search is begun and the first transaction that matches will be displayed. The user is asked if they want to delete it. Answer Y or N as appropriate. Next, the user is asked if the next matching transaction should be retrieved. There may be several transactions on the same date. This query function allows the user to find the one they are looking for. Once the sought after record is found, delete it and answer N to the get next transaction query to exit the delete function. Edit allows the user to modify any or all fields of a credit card transaction. The user selects the credit card name for the payee list displayed and enters a transaction date. The first found record is displayed. The user may find that this is not the record sought, but another one on the same date is desired. In this case select 'q' to quit editing and the program asks if the user wants to get the next record. Continue until the record is found. To edit, select the field letter to edit, make the change and select quit to terminate the edit. To exit, select N when asked to - 12 - get the next record. The Post function is useful to mark credit card records as having been recorded on the monthly statement when it arrives. This posting is similar to the check posting that is done in the checking account feature. To post entries, the user must select a credit card from the displayed list of payees. All records that are unposted are displayed one at a time for the user. The user is asked to post the record. If the record is to be posted, select Y. The user is asked to continue posting. Selecting N terminates the function, selecting Y gets the next unposted record. Continue until all records have been posted, and then exit by selecting N when asked to continue. 4.2.4 Database 4.2.4.1 Add PMIS comes with one set of databases, that is, for the current year. It is quite convenient to separate data for either calendar or fiscal years. This screen allows the creation of a new, complete and empty set of databases for any year as input by the user. Only the checking account balance is brought forward into the new database. This feature allows the easy separation of the user's financial records on an annual basis. This keeps the database sizes manageable, report generation and searching quicker and provides flexibility for the user. When creating a new year, the user is asked to choose whether the new database is for a calendar or fiscal year. Choosing fiscal requires the user to enter a fiscal year starting date, eg 07/01/91. The main menu screen will then either display "Calendar Year" or the "Fiscal Year" and its starting date. The user is asked to carry over the budget categories from the database in current use to the new database, or to start with a new, empty budget category database. Remember, if you choose to carry over, the budget categories defined for the database for the current year are copied over. If the budget carryover feature is selected, a copy of the present year's budget categories is copied over and becomes the starting budget categories for the new year. Only the categories are carried over. All balances from the previous year in the transaction data are set to zero for the new budget. Normally, budget categories do not change drastically from year to year. Any differences can be easily made by adding and deleting from the starting list. - 13 - Since each year may have different budget categories, a data base for each year is created. This provides the most flexibility and the ability to search and report data from previous years based on categories defined for that year. Finally, when a new database is created, a new calendar database is also created. All permanent appointments that occur on the same date of the month will be automatically carried over from the current year. Dual floppy users may be told there is insufficient room to add another year on the present data disk. In this case, replace the current data disk with an empty formatted disk and go on. 4.2.4.2 Change Selecting Change on the secondary menu screen allows the user to change the database in use to any database that was created by the "Add" screen. When PMIS is first brought up, the database for the current year is activated. If no database for the current year exists, the last created database is made active. Activities that require access to other databases require that the new database be activated. This screen provides that function. If a database is selected that does not exist, the user is so informed. Entering a carriage return will return the user to the main menu screen and make the current database in use the active one. 4.2.4.3 Delete Any database set created with the "Add" screen can be deleted using this screen. All records are lost and removed from the system. Caution should be used in using this feature. As a safety measure you must enter an upper case "Y" to delete a selected database. Before deletion, you are queried a second time to effect the deletion, again only an upper case "Y" will be accepted. Once the deletion is completed, control is returned to the main menu screen and the database for the current year is made active. As a safety measure, the current database that is in use cannot be deleted. If it is attempted, a message is displayed stating this fact and control is returned to the main menu screen. If the user wants to delete the current database in use, they must first change the database in use to another one by selecting "Change" on the Data Base secondary menu screen. 4.2.4.4 Summary - 14 - Selecting Summary will display the names of all databases that currently exists in PMIS. Enter any key to exit this screen. 4.2.4.5 Quit Return to the Main Menu Screen 4.2.5 Engagements 4.2.5.1 Appointments The appointments feature allows the user to create a record of appointments. This screen allows the user to "Make" or "Record" appointments. Selecting "Quit" returns the user to main menu screen. Choosing "Make" brings up the Appointment Entry Screen. When making appointments the user inputs the date, time, and appointment details. An opportunity is given to correct errors, and then the user is asked if the appointment is permanent or not. A permanent appointment will be carried over to a new database when a new year is created. The user is next asked if the appointment is "One Time" or "Repetitive". A repetitive appointment can be "Weekly", "Biweekly", "Monthly", or "Arbitrary". A choice other than "Arbitrary" allows the user to specify the repetition as "Same Day of Week" or "Same Day of the Month". If you have an appointment that is scheduled for the alternate Tuesdays of each month, you would select "Same Day of Week". Likewise, for appointments on the 17th of each month, select "Same Day of the Month". Repetitive appointments with no regular period are handled by the "Arbitrary" selection. The user is prompted for repeat dates until all dates have been entered. The user is then asked for the starting date of the regularly repetitive appointments. The choices are the present date or retroactive from a user entered date. Depending on the options chosen, a variable delay will be encountered while the additional appointments are silently created and entered into the database. Choosing "Record" allows the user to choose one of four actions. There are four choices are, "Delete", "Kept", "Broken", "None". Choosing None returns the user to "Make" or "Record" function. Selecting Delete allows the user to delete one or more appointments from the database. If the selected appointment is a repetitive one, the opportunity is given to leave the other occurrences alone, to view all other occurrences and then decide upon deletion, or to delete all of the other occurrences. Choosing Kept allows the user to mark a given appointment as kept in the - 15 - database. Likewise, Broken allows the user to mark an appointment as broken. These features are useful in generating an itinerary for only Pending appointments or for reference purposes. In these cases, the appointments are not deleted from the database. 4.2.5.2 Calendars The calendars feature will display, in traditional style, a calendar for any month for the years 100 through 2999. This is sometimes a useful feature for determining either past or future date occurrences. For example, you might like to know what day of the week Christmas will be on in the year 2001, or on what day of the week your mother was born. If the year selected is the same as the database in use, all appointments for the month selected will be indicated on the calendar. If the selected month is the current month, today's date will be flashing. The user is asked if more detail is wanted. Entering "Y" will then prompt for the day of the month to display. Enter a day as directed by the prompt. An overlay window will appear with the appointment details for the selected date. You can scroll up, down, or quit viewing the information. If the number of appointments is large, all may not fit in one screen buffer. In this case you will be prompted to use the ESC key to obtain more information. 4.2.5.3 Itinerary The Itinerary features provides a user selected set of appointments for display on the screen or printed on the printer, if equipped. The user can select a single or range of dates for the itinerary, as well as a choice of appointment types, "All", "Broken", "Kept", Open", or "Permanent". A typical use of this feature is to print an itinerary for the current week of all Open appointments. 4.2.5.4 This Month The This Month feature is just a special case of the Calendars features described above. The difference is that the user need not enter the month and year to display. The current month and year are automatically displayed. All of the calendar features described above apply to the This Month feature. 4.2.5.5 Quit Return to the Main Menu Screen 4.2.6 Misc. - 16 - 4.2.6.1 User You are now viewing the user information. It is accessed from the secondary menu screen by selecting User. An alternative method is to print a copy of the file named info.out on a line printer using the Print Manual command below. A hard copy is thus provided for easy reference. If there is insufficient RAM to load the user manual into memory, a message will print stating this fact, and recommending that the hard copy of the user manual be used. Machines with the minimum of 448K RAM may see this message. 4.2.6.2 Registration Selecting Registration on the secondary menu will display the registration information of the program owner, including this copy's serial number. The ShareWare version shows the developer as the registered owner. 4.2.6.3 Print Manual A hard copy is printed on your line printer of the User Manual. An opportunity is given to cancel the request since the printing operation takes several minutes once it begins. 4.2.6.4 Determine Disk Space Reports to the user the amount of disk space on the designated data drive. The number is given in bytes. 4.2.6.5 Free Memory Reports the amount of free RAM space that is available for use by database files. The number is given Kbytes. 4.2.6.6 Calculator A built in calculator is made available for simple arithmetic calculations. Add (+), Subtract (-), Multiply (*), Divide (/) and Clear (C) are provided. To exit the calculator, enter a q or Q when in the operator input mode. The calculator is available from the Misc Screen by selecting Calculator, or by depressing the F1 key any time on any screen. The calculator is intended for monetary calculations. All calculated results and user entries are rounded off to two decimal places. User entered data may contain up to eight significant figures with up to two decimal places. Calculations that exceed 8 significant figures will cause - 17 - "Error" to display in the Results window. If the F1 key is depressed when you are about to enter an amount in the case of any Personal Checking transaction or a Budget Cash transaction, the total or last calculation made will be entered into the amount field displayed when the calculator was invoked. In other words, the results of any calculations will be entered directly into the transaction. Invocations of the calculator elsewhere result in the calculations being lost after the Calculator is exited. 4.2.6.7 Quit Return to the Main Menu Screen 4.2.7 PERSONAL CHECKING The personal checking feature in turn displays four separate submenus in the secondary menu display area. Following is a description of each submenu's features. 4.2.7.1 PAYEE 4.2.7.1.1 Add Most users send checks on a weekly or monthly basis to the same creditors. A list of frequent payees can be generated by the user to be accessed by the screen that prints or records checks. This screen allows the user to add payees to the list. As part of the mailing labels function, those payees that require mailing labels can be specified and the mailing address information is requested if so specified. The user is asked if the payee is usually paid the same amount on a regular basis. If yes, the amount is asked for. This amount will be displayed whenever a check is made out for this payee. If no, then selecting this payee will not fill in an amount when using this payee. Next, the user is asked if the payment is periodic. If "Y"is selected, a choice is requested, either Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-Annually, or Annually. Each choice requires additional specific information to be input. Follow the screen directions. Specifying payees as periodic will allow the user to automatically issue checks to these payees on their due date. See "Upcoming" in Section 4.2.7.3.7 for use of this feature. Next, the user is asked if this payee is a credit card. If Y is entered, the account number is requested. The type of credit card is asked for next, such as VISA, American - 18 - Express, etc. Designating a payee as a credit card defines a database for this credit card. Finally, the user is asked if address labels for the payee are required. Select "Y" if you want to be able to print address labels for this payee. Also, the payee address will be printed on the check if check format A is selected by the user. Each time a payee is added to the list, an alphabetical sort is done on the new list, making it easier to find the payees when issuing a check as the payee list grows in size. 4.2.7.1.2 Delete This screen allows the user to delete payees from the frequent payee list. Selecting Delete will display a window with the name and numbers of the current payees. Make the appropriate selection to choose the payee to be deleted, or select None if no payee is to be deleted. Selecting Quit will return the user to the secondary menu screen. 4.2.7.1.3 Edit This screen allows the user to edit any or all information for payees in the frequent payee list. Selecting Edit will display a window with the name and numbers of the current payees. Make the appropriate selection to choose the payee to be edited, or select None if no payee is to be edited. Selecting Quit will return the user to the secondary menu screen. Some fields relating to periodic payments and credit card data cannot be edited. If you wish to change a payment from monthly to quarterly, for example, delete the current payee using the "Delete" feature and reenter it using the "Add" feature. Similarly, if you wish to change the payee's credit card status of Y or N, delete this payee and create a new one with the new credit card status. 4.2.7.1.4 Labels The frequent payee list provides the source information for the mailing labels program. Labels will be printed for all payees that the user requested labels for. You are asked how many sets of labels you wish to print. Choosing 0 prints no labels and control is returned to the main menu screen. A hint to the user. To minimize loading mailing labels into your printer, print several sets at a time and keep them handy for mailing bills. Also, until you are sure how your printer behaves, practice making labels on plain paper to avoid wasting costly labels. - 19 - 4.2.7.1.5 Quit Return to the Personal Checking Secondary Menu 4.2.7.2 QUERY 4.2.7.2.1 Balance This screen displays the present balance in the account. It also provides the opportunity to change its value, if you and the bank disagree on the balance in the account. An alternative is to convince the bank to change their balance to agree with yours. 4.2.7.2.1.1 Today's Balance This feature is very handy if you are like me and issue checks in advance and then mail them as they come due. The balance displayed in this case will add in all checks that have been post dated, ie have dates greater than today's date, thereby telling the user exactly how much cash is available at that instant in time. 4.2.7.2.2 Search This function is perhaps the most useful one in the personal checking feature. It allows you to obtain and optionally print information for almost any or all checks and cash transactions. You can search for one check, a range of checks, cash withdrawls, check credit payments, deposits, and service charges for a given date range, or a range of checks defined by a starting and ending check number. All of the above transactions can be further delineated by tax deductible or not, or by a selected budget category. One extremely useful application is at tax time to print a report of all tax deductible checks and a report of all charitable contributions. 4.2.7.2.3 Last The last entry made into the database is displayed. This feature is very useful in determining where a user left off in recording transactions during the last PMIS session. 4.2.7.2.4 Unposted The unposted entries feature is used primarily for obtaining a current balance for comparison with a bank statement as described above. The user is asked if a printed report is needed. The report then is either printed or displayed on the screen. The total at the conclusion of the report is - 20 - the sum of all unposted outstanding checks and cash withdrawls less any deposits that have not been posted. The bank statement value at the conclusion of the report is the value of your account balance shown on the bank statement if all transactions on the bank statement have been posted. To use this feature effectively, the Post feature described below should be performed for all transactions on the bank statement. 4.2.7.2.5 Post Whenever a bank statement arrives, this feature is used to mark the transactions in the database as having been paid and canceled. Used in conjunction with the listing of unposted entries feature, it allows the user to quickly determine if the bank statement agrees with the balance in the program. The balance in the program added to the total figure in the unposted entries report should be equal to the bank statement balance. This is true because the unposted entries report sums all outstanding checks and cash withdrawls and subtracts all deposits yielding either a positive or negative number to be added to the balance in the account. The bank statement value displayed at the conclusion of the report provides the result of this calculation. 4.2.7.2.6 Quit Return to the Personal Checking Secondary Menu 4.2.7.3 Transaction 4.2.7.3.1 Deposit To enter a deposit into the database, the amount is requested along with the date of the deposit. After entering the information, the balance in the account before and after applying the deposit is displayed. You are given the choice to accept, reject or accept and post the entry. If you choose to accept it, the transaction is recorded and the amount of the deposit is added to the balance. If you choose to reject the entry, no change to the database is made. Choosing accept and post records and posts the transaction. To return to the personal checking menu screen, enter a <CR> when prompted for an amount. 4.2.7.3.2 Payment Some checking accounts have over draft protection, whereby the bank lends you money, usually in $100.00 increments to - 21 - cover the overdraft. When you pay back their loan, you make a check credit payment. This screen allows you to keep a record of these transactions. The amount of the check credit payment is added to the account balance. You are asked to accept the entry or to abandon it. Accepting the entry enters a record in the data base. To return to the personal checking menu screen, enter a <CR> when prompted for an amount. This transaction is marked as posted. 4.2.7.3.3 Check This feature is used for printing and/or recording checks. Checks can be either printed on pin feed check forms or written by the user from their checkbook. When hand written checks are issued, they are recorded here. The menu requires a check number as its first input. A suggestion is that when ordering pin feed checks, the user should request that these check numbers begin with 10,000, thereby allowing many years of use without the handwritten and pin feed check numbers colliding. In the upper right hand corner is displayed the last check number. It will display a check number, dep, ccp, cw, or sc depending on the previous transaction. If a check number is displayed, the user may get the next number in sequence by entering a 0 (zero). If the next sequential number is not desired, enter the desired number. The date is requested next. The current date is shown. Type over the date to change it. Next, the user is requested to choose a payee. A list of payees is brought up. Select the number of the payee desired. Choose the "Other" option if issuing a check to a payee not on the list. Enter the payee name, up to 32 characters and a <CR>. See Section 4.2.7.1.1 for information on creating a frequent payee list. The amount of the check is requested. If the payee has been assigned a fixed amount, its value is displayed, and the user just enters a <CR>, or type over the amount displayed to change it, and then enter a <CR>. If the budget feature is activated, the user is asked to select a budget category to apply the transaction to. When a category is selected, the user is asked if all of the transaction is to be applied to the selected budget category. If yes, the entire transaction amount is applied, otherwise, the user is asked how much should be allocated. Fill in the amount. In a similar manner, up to five budget categories may be selected for a single check transaction, allocating any specified amount to each. This feature is especially useful when recording a Super Market check, where the total expenditure is not just for food, but includes - 22 - other items in separate budget categories, such as entertainment, liquor, household maintenance, etc. The last budget category that was selected is the category that will be assigned to the check transaction in the data base. Multiple budget categories cannot be assigned to a single check transaction. So plan ahead. Make the major portion of the transaction the last budget category selected. You are then asked if the check is tax deductible. Answer yes or no. Next, an opportunity is given to add a short note, eg Electric Bill. You are then given the opportunity to abandon the transaction, if you made an error, accept the transaction, or accept and post the transaction. You are then asked if you want to print the check. If you are are recording a hand written check, answer no. After the check transaction is complete, another transaction can be begun by entering a new check number, 0 (zero) for the next sequential number or to quit enter a <CR>. The balance of the account is decremented by the amount of the check. 4.2.7.3.4 Withdrawl Whenever a cash withdrawl through a "money machine" is made this screen is used to record it. You are first asked to input the amount of the transaction and then the date. The account balance before and after the cash withdrawl transaction is displayed. Next, you are asked if you want to append a note, eg Gambling Debt. If the budget feature is activated, a display of the budget categories is shown. Choose one to record this transaction in the desired category. Up to five budget categories may be selected to allocate any portion of the cash withdrawl as detailed in section 4.2.7.3.3 above. Next, you are asked if this is a tax deductible transaction. Select yes or no. Finally, you are requested to either abandon or accept the entry. If accepted, the balance of the account is decremented by the amount of the cash withdrawl. To exit this screen, enter a <CR> when prompted for an amount. 4.2.7.3.5 Service Charge Service charges incurred by the checking account are entered here. The amount and date of the service charge is requested. You are then asked if you want to append a note, eg, 200 Checks. The balance before and after applying the service charge is displayed. Finally, you are requested to either accept or abandon the entry. If accepted, the balance of the account is decremented by the amount of the service charge. Since recording service charges is usually done when posting the account, the service charge - 23 - transaction is marked as posted, also. To exit this screen, enter a <CR> when prompted for an amount. 4.2.7.3.6 Void Checks that were never issued but spoiled in some way can be recorded as voided. The check number is requested and it is recorded in the database as a voided check. It is useful for keeping track of "missing" checks. This transaction is marked as posted since it will not appear on a bank statement. If you enter a check number that already exists, you are so notified and prompted to try again. To exit this screen, enter a <CR> when prompted for an amount. 4.2.7.3.7 Upcoming Periodic payments that are due can be displayed and checks issued for these payments. The user is given a choice of payment due dates. "Today" searches for any payments due today. "Week" finds all payments due during the current week, beginning on Sunday. "Month" locates all payments due for the current month beginning with the first day. The user is next asked to issue checks for these payments. If "Y" is selected, each payment is displayed and the user is further queried to issue a check. Selecting "Y" begins the check issuing process. Upon completion of the check issue, the next periodic payment is displayed, and so on until all due payments are exhausted. Each check issued decrements the checking account balance appropriately. If the user does not desire checks to be issued, only the payments are displayed on the screen, with no opportunity given to print checks for these payments. 4.2.7.3.8 Quit Return to the Personal Checking Secondary Menu 4.2.7.4 Update 4.2.7.4.1 Edit Occasionally, a check is categorized in the wrong budget category, is incorrectly classified, an incorrect amount is recorded or a note may be incorrect. The edit screen allows the user to change any or all fields in a database record. - 24 - The user can find the record either by specifying the record number or check number. Record numbers are listed in the far most right hand column of all reports. If the amount of the transaction is changed, the account balance is adjusted appropriately. Also, the appropriate budget category will likewise be adjusted accordingly, thereby keeping the budget records correct automatically. If the budget category of the transaction is changed to a new category, PMIS automatically will modify both the old budget category and new budget category. The old budget category will have its balance decremented by the transaction amount, and the new budget category will have its balance incremented by the transaction amount. This has the effect of moving the transaction to the new, appropriate budget category. The old category will have its number of transactions decremented by one, and the new category will be incremented by one, completing the transaction transfer. This feature is the means of correcting all errors in the checking account and is invaluable in getting it in agreement with the bank statement. Selecting Quit exits this screen. 4.2.7.4.2 Delete If an entry is made incorrectly it can be deleted using this screen. The record is found by either specifying the check number or the record number. When deleting deposit, cash withdrawls, check credit payments, or service charges, use their record numbers. When found, the record is displayed. Select Y to delete the record. The balance is appropriately adjusted to reflect the deleted record. The balance is decremented when deleting deposits or check credit payments and incremented for all other transaction types. Selecting Quit exits this screen. If an entry is mistakenly deleted, just re-enter it using the appropriate Transaction screen selection. 4.2.7.4.3 Quit Return to the Personal Checking Secondary Menu 4.2.8 UPDATE 4.2.8.1 Set Up The set up screen is the means used to customize the PMIS environment to suit the user's needs. Note that none of the changes are permanently recorded until the user selects the - 25 - Save Set Up function. So experiment to your heart's content until you find the set up that pleases you and best suits your needs. There are thirteen separate features that are available for customization from the set up menu as follows: 4.2.8.1.1 Use Password A password scheme is available to the user to provide a level of security for PMIS. Prior to entering the main menu screen, a password is requested from the user, if this feature is turned on. Initially, this feature is turned off. To turn it on, respond with a Y. Turning the password feature on, automatically invokes the Change the Password feature described below. When the password feature is turned on, the password screen is presented to the user upon entry to the PMIS. Three chances given to enter the correct password. If none are successful, the program exits and returns to DOS. 4.2.8.1.2 Modify Password If the password feature is turned on, a password must be input to PMIS. The password is requested from the user and displayed back with the reminder to make a record of it, so it is not forgotten. The password must contain at least one character and no more than 18 characters. Any alpha or numeric characters may be used in the password string, both upper and lower case. An empty password string is not allowed. If the the password is lost or forgotten, the user can edit the database file user.dbf using any string or screen editor and look for it there. This file is a hybrid ASCII and binary file, so lots of strange characters will be displayed along with the ASCII text. As the password owner, the user should be able to recognize the "lost" password. If a lost password cannot be found by the above means, the user can re install PMIS using the installation instructions found in the readme.1st file. Doing this, PMIS no longer has password protection and the user can gain access to the system. A note of warning. Re installing PMIS will OVERWRITE ALL DATA FILES. Do a manual backup of all files with the .dbf suffix before attempting a re installation. See Section 4.2.8.2 for some hints on backing up the data files for different installations. The initial value of the password is set to "scheck" in order to keep a new user from locking himself out of the program while initially experimenting with the feature. 4.2.8.1.3 Confirm - 26 - The confirm status feature allows the user to require a carriage return <CR> in order for PMIS to accept an input command. Initially, the confirm status is turned on. To turn it off, enter a N. In turning off the confirm status feature, the user loses the ability to see selections and correct them before they are executed. The only advantage of turning off the confirm status is increased execution speed. A disadvantage is the execution of of unwanted actions due to key entry errors. 4.2.8.1.4 Video Screen Initially, the screen colors are set to blue background, high intensity white text, a white light bar and black light bar text. Monochrome monitors will see shades of gray. To change this setting select monochrome or color as desired. There are two options on the monochrome selection, normal or reverse video. Choose one. The reverse video option is somewhat of a useless option, since the light bars on the menu are unreadable. In this case menu selection must be done by entering the first letter of the menu item. The color selection screen allows four choices. First is the choice of the screen background color followed by the text color. Next is the color of the light bars and finally, the color of the text in the light bars. The available colors are displayed for each choice. Experiment with several combinations until you find a pleasing combination. 4.2.8.1.5 Print Format Selecting the Set Check Print Format feature first requests the user to select a format. Choose one. Its format is displayed. Almost all pin feed checks fall into one of these formats. Choose the one that matches your needs. Once a format is selected, the user is asked if any change of the settings is desired. After the settings are selected, the user is asked if a printout is desired. Answer Y or N as desired. It is recommended that plain paper be used in setting up the check print format and use a strong light to view the trial efforts through blank pin feed checks. This step may require a few iterations until everything lines up. Another hint. Print at least two checks in a row to verify that the succeeding checks are spaced properly. If you have a pin feed check that does not fit the two formats, send a voided check or copy to the author with your order for the registered version. The new format will be incorporated into the program prior to shipment. - 27 - 4.2.8.1.6 Banner All screens have a banner that includes a user selected portion along with the screen name. Initially, this banner is set to "ShareWare Ver. 1.2". Selecting Banner on the Set Up Screen allows the user to change the banner. Any combination of letters or numbers of up to eighteen can be specified. 4.2.8.1.7 Save Saves the current set up. Any changes made on the Set Up Screen are permanently written into the database. Future invocations of the program will use the new parameters. 4.2.8.1.8 Disk Drives Setting the disk drives is used for determining where the program files will reside, where the PMIS user data will reside and where backups will be made. The initial settings are intended for hard drive user with the the program drive set to drive C, the data drive also set to drive C and the backup drive set to drive A. If you are a hard disk user and your drive letters correspond the initial settings, you should leave them unchanged. If you have different drive names, or you are a dual floppy user, make the corresponding disk drive settings prior to using PMIS. Failure to do so will cause errors when entering transactions into the system. A typical hard drive set up is to have the program and data reside on the hard drive, usually drive C, and to perform backups on the floppy drive, usually drive A. A typical set up for a dual floppy user is to have the program reside on drive A, and the data reside on drive B. The backup drive should be set to the same drive name as the data drive, in this case drive B. When changing the disk drive set up, the user is first asked if the set up is for a hard drive or dual floppy drives. Make the choice appropriate for your application. This information is required to insure meaningful configurations for the dual floppy user. 4.2.8.1.9 Auto Back Up If the user would like a data backup to be done each time they exit the program, set the auto backup feature to yes. Initially, this feature is not set. - 28 - 4.2.8.1.10 Incorporate Budget The Incorporate Budget selection allows the user to incorporate the budget feature into the check book program as previously described in Section 4.2.7.3 for Check and Cash Withdrawl transactions. If the user wishes to tie the budget and check book features together set the budget feature to On. Turning off the budget feature stops the queries for choosing a budget category when recording check and cash withdrawl transactions. 4.2.8.1.11 Tones The user has a choice of hearing tones as a confirmation of inputting the correct data and to indicate that an error was made. Both are separately selectable. Follow the directions to set them on or off as desired. 4.2.8.1.12 Format Date Six different date formats can be used in PMIS. Select one from the examples shown. 4.2.8.1.13 Equip Printer The equip printer selection asks the user if their installation is equipped with a printer. Initially, this parameter is set to indicate that a printer is equipped. If your installation does not have a printer available, set this parameter to No. With the printer option set to no, you will not be bothered with queries to print a check or print any of the available reports. A user that has no printer cannot print checks or reports; however, all other PMIS features are still available. If the user has a printer and selects "Y", he or she is then queried to enter a print mode set and reset sequence, to leave the sequence as displayed, or to not enter any printer mode sequence. The current set and reset modes are displayed. The user needs to consult their printer manual to select the escape code sequences to choose the desirable print mode that both sets and resets this mode. All printed output will be in the selected print mode. The default settings that initially are set are the code sequence to set and reset NLQ mode for an IBM (tm) Proprinter II. If the user selects the no print mode option, the printer will print in its default mode. This option allows the user to select a print mode from the printer console if so desired. - 29 - 4.2.8.1.14 Quit Return to the Main Menu Screen. Note that none of the changes made on the Set Up Screen will be permanently recorded unless the Save feature is selected to write the new environment onto the program disk, prior to exiting this screen. 4.2.8.2 Back Up To provide data security, a backup feature is provided. You must insert a floppy disk in the drive designated as the backup drive in the set up screen and enter any key. The user is given the choice of doing a Partial backup, a Full backup or None. Choosing Full will cause all database files for all years to be copied. Choosing Partial will only copy database files touched during the current PMIS session. Upon completion, the user is notified and entering any key returns the user to the Main Menu Screen. 4.2.8.3 Restore The restore feature copies all database files that were previously saved by the backup feature above. All data files on the program drive and data drive are overwritten with the files contained on the backup disk in the backup drive. The saved data floppy disk is inserted in the drive designated as the backup drive, and the restoral is begun by entering any key. Upon completion, you are taken to the main menu screen. Partial restorals, ie restoring only some database files, is not allowed. Manual attempts to copy only some of the .dbf files with DOS commands may result in unpredictable results. The user is cautioned against this practice. The dual floppy user will be prompted to swap disks in the program drive as part of the restoral process. Follow the screen instructions. 4.2.8.4 Quit Return to the Main Menu Screen 5. When All Else Fails While this program has been thoroughly tested, there may come a time when the user totally locks up the program and it will not respond to any key board input. If this unlikely event should occur, use the ALT, CTL, DEL keys to reboot the system. Dual floppy users should first replace the PMIS program disk with a bootable disk. - 30 - The rebooting will not cause loss of the user data. In the worst case, only the current transaction that was being worked on when the hang up occurred will be lost. One final note. If the program prematurely exits to DOS due to some DOS file or memory error, the cursor may be turned off and/or the screen colors may be left in the wrong state. To get the cursor back and to restore the original screen colors, re enter PMIS and then exit. A normal PMIS termination always restores the original screen colors and cursor.