Current Shareware 1994 January/SHAR194.ISO/homecook/garage.zip/GARAGE.HLP

Text File | 1993-07-18 | 10KB | 200 lines

  Garage Sale Manager (GARAGE.EXE) write or updates each
  record to disk as needed.  This means your data is safe
  from accidental loss due to power failure, computer mal-
  function, or children.  Only the transaction in progress
  could possibly be lost from unexpected termination of
  the program.

  THE MENU SYSTEM:

  The Main Menu is a horizontal bar at the top of the main
  window.  The choices on it 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 is
  displayed for confirmation.  Next enter the quantity to
  be sold of this item.  You may not enter more than the
  amount shown as available in the top portion of the win-
  dow.  If there is none of this item available, you will be
  notified and prompted for a different item.  If the item
  displayed is not the correct item, enter a quantity of 0.
  Next, the selling price for the item will appear in an
  editable field.  If you sold the item for the full asking
  price, 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.  Finally, you will be
  asked if you want to print a receipt for your customer, the
  default being NO.  If you want a receipt, press the right
  arrow and press ENTER, otherwise just press ENTER for the
  default selection.  The screen will clear and be ready for
  another customer.  To exit the SELL function, press ESC
  while at the "Sold To:" prompt, then press ENTER.

  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.  You have the option of
      printing price labels one by one as you enter new
      items.  If you choose to print labels at this time,
      make sure labels are mounted on your printer and that
      the printer is ready.  If you decline to print labels
      now, you may print them in a batch later by selecting
      from the PRINT menu.  Each new item number is assigned
      automatically.  You type in the description and the
      asking price.  The next field is the quantity offered
      for sale.  The default for new records is 1.  If this
      is correct, just press ENTER, otherwise type the right
      quantity before pressing ENTER.  Just press ENTER in
      the sold price field to leave it 0.  This field is used
      to determine if an item has been sold and may be edited
      later if necessary.  Follow the sold price is the quan-
      tity remaining for sale.  For new adds, this default to
      1 just like the original quantity.  Be sure to change
      this field to the same as the offered quantity for an
      add.  Next is the owner ID.  This is an integer rep-
      resenting 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.
      Now you will be asked if the labels have already been
      printed for this item.  This defaults to No.  If you do
      not wish to print any labels for this item, now or later,
      change it to Yes.  Finally, if you indicated that you
      wanted to print labels during the item add, and if you
      left the labels printed flag for the item as No, you
      will be asked if you want to print the label(s) for the
      item now.  The default 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 label print
      is offered during the edit function.  If you need to
      reprint labels, use edit to change the labels printed
      flag for the desired items to No, then use the Print
      Menu to select Item Labels.

      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 con-
      tents 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.

      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 des-
      cription, and the asking price.

      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.

      WORKSHEETS:  This prints as many pages of blank work
      sheets as you request.  Use these to record the items
      you want to sell as you tour your attic, basement or
      garage.  Print at least as many worksheets as there
      are persons owning items in the sale.  Use a separate
      worksheet for each person.

  HELP:  Displays an on-line help file similar to this docu-
  mentation.  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.

  Now print worksheets if you choose to use them, and look
  through your trash and treasures for the things you want
  to sell.

  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.   If you wish, you may print
  labels singly as you add items.  This may be helpful if
  you have several people helping organize.  One can enter
  items, another can peel off the labels and apply them to
  the items.

  When your items are all entered, print an item list by
  selecting PRINT from the main menu, then ITEM LIST from
  the sub-menu.

  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 did not
  print them during the add item phase).

  Set up your computer in a convenient location during the
  sale to record your sales and (optionally)print receipts.
  The SELL item is the first (default) item on the main menu.
  You will need to connect your printer if you want the option
  of printing a receipt for your customers.

  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.