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1993-07-18
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GARAGE SALE MANAGER
Version 2.0
July 18, 1993
"It handles all the details."
Copyright 1993 Norman O. Morgan
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SUBJECT PAGE
------- ----
WHY GARAGE SALE MANAGER .............................. 1
WHAT DOES IT DO? ..................................... 1
INSTALLATION ......................................... 1
RUNNING THE PROGRAM .................................. 2
KEYSTROKE CONVENTIONS ................................ 2
RUNNING UNDER WINDOWS ................................ 3
THE MENU SYSTEM ...................................... 3
MAIN MENU ........................................ 3
SELL ......................................... 3
ITEMS ........................................ 3
ADD ITEM ................................. 3
EDIT ITEM ................................ 4
DELETE ITEM .............................. 4
VIEW ITEMS ............................... 4
OWNERS ....................................... 4
ADD OWNER ................................ 4
EDIT OWNER ............................... 4
PRINT ........................................ 4
ITEM LIST ................................ 4
ITEM LABELS .............................. 5
SALES REPORT ............................. 5
WORKSHEETS ............................... 5
HELP ......................................... 5
QUIT ......................................... 5
USING THE PROGRAM .................................... 5
LEGAL STUFF .......................................... 7
WARRANTIES ........................................... 7
i
WHY GARAGE SALE MANAGER?
Welcome to GARAGE SALE MANAGER. This program came about when we
started to have a sale and wanted a better way to manage all the
details: what items we had, which family member owned the item,
how much we were asking for each, which ones sold, how much money
was due each person who had items in the sale, and finally, to
print legible price labels for each item. I searched my favorite
shareware sources and found exactly nothing. So it was time for
a bit of intense programming.
There are not any frills in the program. It was designed to do
its job with minimum fuss and to run on the humblest of PCs.
(You really don't want to set your 486 hot rod out under a tree
to print receipts, do you? Better to get one last dance from
that old XT cluttering your closet.) It will work with any kind
of printer since it uses no special formatting, just plain lower
ASCII characters in the universal default 10-pitch font. I have
tested it on both laser and dot matrix printers and it works well
with both. The only "control" character your printer must recognize
is the Form Feed (ASCII 12). NOTE: You will need a printer capable
of using continuous form if you want to print item labels. The
program is designed to use Avery 4410 (or equivalent) labels.
These are the ubiquitous 3-1/2" x 15/16" 1-wide fanfold labels you
can buy almost anywhere.
WHAT DOES IT DO?
1. It prints worksheets to use as you gather the items you
will sell.
2. It catalogs the items you want to sell. File capacity is
limited only by your disk space.
3. It keeps track of who owns which items in the sale, up to 50
sellers for multi-family sales.
4. It prints price labels for each item with the item number, a
description (30 characters), and the asking price.
5. It prints a master list of items with a count of items and a
dollar total on asking price.
6. It records the sale of each item, including the price it
actually sold for, and optionally prints a receipt for each
transaction (up to 100 line items on a receipt).
7. It prints an overall sales report with totals, plus an
individual report for each person who had items in the sale,
with the total amount due each seller.
Operation is completely menu-driven using only the keyboard. On-
line help is available, as well as field-sensitive user prompts.
There is no mouse support at this time.
INSTALLATION
Put the distribution disk in your floppy drive, change to that
drive and type INSTALL
-1-
This will install the program and related files in the default
directory C:\GARAGE.
You may install it manually by simply copying all the files from
the diskette to a directory of your choice. The program expects
to find its data files in the current directory, so be sure to
change to that directory when running the program.
You should also be able to run the program from diskette,
although it will be much slower to start and end.
NOTES ON RUNNING THE PROGRAM
The program writes each newly added or updated record to disk
immeditely. There should be little if any way to lose data in
the event of premature termination of the program through power
loss, accidental rebooting, kids, or other minor catastrophies.
This means a lot of disk activity, so it is recommended that you
operate the program from a hard disk, though it should run OK
from floppy if you are patient.
Be sure your printer is loaded with the proper form and is online
and ready before making a menu choice the prints. I attempted to
put a printer-ready check in the program and three different
printers reacted three different ways. There are simply to many
variable factors to guarantee success here. Just be careful!
There is a pause to remind you to check the printer at each point
in the program where printing may occur.
KEYSTROKE CONVENTIONS
Horizontal bar menus respond to the left and right arrow keys for
changing the selection, and the ENTER key to execute your
selected command. Pull-down menus use the up and down arrow keys
to highlight the desired selection and the ENTER key to execute
it. Pull-down menus may be cancelled by the ESCape key.
Data entry fields are fully editable. They default to overstrike
mode, but you may use the INSert key to toggle insert mode. The
DELete key will delete characters to the right of the cursor, the
Backspace key will delete characters to the left of the cursor.
The ESCape key acts as a field erase when used in an editable
field. The left and right arrow keys may also be used in
editing.
Scrolling display screens, the view item, help display, etc., use
the up and down arrows to scroll one line at a time, the PageUp
and PageDown keys to scroll one screen page at a time, and the
Home and End keys to zip to the beginning or end of the list
being displayed. The ESCape key ends a scrolling display.
The ENTER key selects from a scrolling pick list.
-2-
USING THE PROGRAM WITH WINDOWS
Although Garage Sale Manager is not a Windows program, it is
well-behaved when running under Windows. It may even be run in a
resizeable window with fonts of your choice. .PIF and .ICO files
are included for those who wish to run the program under Windows.
The .PIF file is set for full screen operation, but you may use
the Windows PIF editor to change it to windowed operation.
THE MENU SYSTEM
The Main Menu choices are SELL ITEMS OWNER PRINT HELP and QUIT.
The first choice on a menu is always the default, so we have
tried to place the most frequently used options first on all
menus.
SELL: This is the choice you will use during the garage sale
itself to record the sale of items and print receipts for your
customers. You may enter the customer's name, but that is not
required. It defaults to "Cash." The sales window displays a
running total of the order in the uppper-right corner of the
screen. Enter the item number of the item from the label on the
item. The item description will be displayed for confirmation.
Next it will ask for the quantity. The program allows for more
than one of an item and keeps track of how many remain to sell.
The quantity defaults to 1, so in most cases you may just press
ENTER. Next, the asking price will appear in a editable field.
If you got full price for the item, just press ENTER, otherwise
enter the actual selling price and press ENTER. That item will
be recorded and the program will ask you if you have more items
to add, with the default being yes. Continue adding items to the
order until finished. When the order is complete, the program
will show you the total and ask for the amount tendered by your
customer. It will then calculate the change due and ask if you
are ready to print the invoice. If you reply "No", the order is
cancelled and no sale is recorded. Say "Yes" and the items are
marked as sold, the actual selling price being captured for each
item, and (optionally) a receipt is printed for your customer.
ITEMS: This choice invokes a sub-menu with the following options:
ADD ITEM, EDIT ITEM, DELETE ITEM, VIEW ITEMS.
ADD ITEM: This allows you to add one or more items to your
list of things for sale. As you enter this function, you
will be asked if you want to print item labels as you go.
If you answer yes, make sure you have labels in the printer
and the printer is ready. The item number is assigned
automatically. You type in the description and the asking
price. Now enter the quantity originally available for
sale. Press enter and the cursor moves to the sold price
field. This is used to record the actual selling price of
the item (average price for items with more than one piece
for sale.) Just press ENTER in the sold price field to leave
it zero. It may be edited later if necessary. The next
field is the quantity remaining for sale. For an add, this
-3-
should be the same as the original quantity field. Both
quantity fields default to 1 during an add. The next
field is the owner ID. This is an integer representing the
corresponding owner record. Type it in and press ENTER if
you know it. If you do not remember the number, just press
ENTER and a pop-up window will let you select from a
scrolling list of owner names. Finally, you will be asked if
labels have already been printed. Since we are adding, the
default is No. In most cases you will just press enter. If
you do not want to print any labels for this item, now or
later, change it to Y for yes. If you said you want to print
labels as you go, you will now be asked if you want to print
a label for this item. The default answer is Yes.
EDIT ITEM: This works identically to the ADD ITEM choice,
except that you must enter the item number rather than
having a new one assigned. No "as you go" label printing
is done during edit. If you need to reprint labels, change
the "label printed" field to No and select the batch label
print from the Print menu.
DELETE ITEM: This choice prompts for an item number,
displays that item, and asks if it is OK to delete. It does
not actually delete the record...to do so would disrupt the
item numbering. Instead it clears all fields associated
with that record to zeros or spaces. Use this choice with
care. It would be much better to use the EDIT ITEM choice
to replace the contents of a record with another item than
to leave an "empty" record in the middle of your file.
VIEW ITEMS: This builds a temporary file of your items in a
format edited for display, then scrolls that file in a
pop-up window. Standard, intuitive keys scroll the window,
up and down arrows, page up, page down, home and end. Use
the ESCape key to end the display.
OWNERS: This choice invokes a sub-menu with the following
options: ADD OWNER, EDIT OWNER.
ADD OWNER: Use this choice to add the name of a person
owning items offered in your garage sale. The only data
required is their name and initials. The owner number is
assigned by the program.
EDIT OWNER: Like the EDIT ITEM, this choice prompts you for
the record number, then displays the data for change on a
screen identical to the ADD screen.
PRINT: This displays a sub menu offering a choice of print
options: ITEM LIST, ITEM LABELS, SALES REPORTS, WORKSHEETS.
ITEM LIST: This is a complete list of items in your file,
including the owner initials, asking price, and status of
the item (unsold, sold for $$$). It provides a count of
items and a total on the asking prices of them.
-4-
ITEM LABELS: Prints item labels in a batch for the entire
file. The program uses Avery 4410 or equivalent labels.
These are the common 3 1/2" x 15/16" 1-wide fan-fold labels
you can find anywhere. Each label has the item number, the
initials of the owner, the description, and the asking
price. You may also print labels as you go during the item
add process. See the ADD function under the ITEM menu for
more information.
SALES REPORTS: This prints two sales reports. The first
lists only sold items. It is an overall report with totals.
The second report is actually a series of reports. One is
printed for each person in the owner file, showing ALL of
their items sold or unsold, along with the selling price of
the items that sold. It has totals for each owner, so you
know how much of the sale proceeds are due each owner.
WORKSHEET: This prints a worksheet to use in deciding which
treasures from your attic, basement or garage you will part
with during the sale. There are 26 lines per page and you
may ask for as many pages as you wish. You may ask for more
worksheets at any time.
HELP: Displays an on-line help file similar to this document.
Use the up and down arrows, page up, page down, home and end keys
to scroll the file. Press ESCape to end the help display.
QUIT: Terminates the program. It displays a confirmation menu to
ask if you really do want to quit. If you say "No" the program
returns to the main menu. If you say "Yes," all loaded data is
saved and the program ends.
USING THE PROGRAM
The first step is to add the owner records. These will be needed
when adding items. Select ITEM from the main menu, then ADD
OWNER from the sub-menu. You may add multiple records without
having to select the ADD function from the menu each time.
Now print some worksheets to record the trash and treasures you
want to offer for sale. Use the WORKSHEET function on the PRINT
menu to print as many sheets as you think you will need. Then
its off to the attic or basement to take inventory!
Next, add your items. Select ITEM from the main menu, then ADD
ITEM from the sub-menu. Each item is assigned the next number is
sequence. As with the owners, you may add multiple items without
needing to select the function each time. You have the choice of
printing labels as you enter items, or printing them all in a batch
later. IF YOU WILL NOT BE USING COMPUTER-PRINTED LABELS, BE SURE
TO WRITE DOWN THE ASSIGNED ITEM NUMBER TO TAG EACH ITEM. WHEN YOU
RECORD THE SALE, THE NUMBER IS YOUR ONLY MEANS OF CALLING UP THE
CORRECT ITEM.
When your items are all entered, print an item list by selecting
PRINT from the main menu, then ITEM LIST from the sub-menu.
-5-
Check over your data entry for accuracy. When you are satisfied,
print the labels for your sale items by picking ITEM LABELS from
the PRINT menu (if you didn't print them as you entered the items).
Now, set up your computer in a convenient location during the
sale to record your sales and print receipts. The SELL item is
the first (default) item on the main menu. You will want your
printer connected to provide each customer with a receipt.
When the garage sale is over, use the SALES REPORT option on the
PRINT menu to tally your sales and divide the proceeds between
the participants in the sale.
-6-
LEGAL STUFF
Garage Sale Manager is a shareware program. It is not free and
it is not in the public domain. It is the intellectual property
of the author, Norman O. Morgan, who reserves all rights to the
work except those specifically noted below.
You are granted a temporary license to evaluate this program and
determine its suitability for your use. You may use it for this
purpose for a period not to exceed 30 days. If, at the end of
that period, you continue to use the program, you must pay the
author the $20 license fee. Upon payment, you will be granted a
limited use license and will be given a key file which will
remove the annoying registration reminder screens at the open and
close of the program and will remove the advertisement for the
program from the bottom of each receipt you print. You may make
copies of the key file for your own backup purposes, but you may
not distribute the key file to anyone else under any
circumstance. YOU MAY DISTRIBUTE UNREGISTERED COPIES OF THE
PROGRAM FREELY AND ARE ENCOURAGED TO DO SO.
Registered users receive upgrades at sharply reduced prices and
free telephone support (you pay for the call).
Garage Sale Manager is written with Microsoft QuickBASIC, version
4.5 and incorporates user interface routines written by Daniel
Berry and Traveler Software.
WARRANTIES
NONE. Although I have written this program carefully and tested
it under a variety of conditions, there are too many varieties of
personal computers and too many possible configurations to
guarantee that it will operate correctly for you. There should
be no way that this program can damage your machine, or cause
loss of unrelated data, but because of the many unknowns
involved, the author cannot and will not be repsonsible for any
incidental or consequential damages.
By using this program, you agree to accept these terms and
conditions. If you do not agree, don't run the program.
-7-