Software Vault: The Diamond Collection

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

/ Software Vault: The Diamond Collection / The Diamond Collection (Software Vault)(Digital Impact).ISO / cdr37 / wcols50.zip / OLSTORE.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1995-04-10 | 30KB | 606 lines

┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ Online Store v 5.0 │ │ Online Point-Of-Sale │ └─────────────────────────────┘ COPYRIGHT (C) 1995 Online Real Estate Consulting Distributed As Shareware ┌──────────┐ │DISCLAIMER│ └──────────┘ THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE AUTHOR WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS PROGRAM. ┌──────────┐ │ READ ME │ └──────────┘ Before we get started with this, I just want to let you know about something that will be included in upcoming releases of this program. As of now, we offer a way for your store owners to perform mass updates to their inventory files via an upload/import of a comma-delimited file. This works well, BUT, we will be releasing an "offline" EXE module that you can distribute to your merchants. This EXE will allow them to perform direct edits of their PRODUCTS.DAT file offline, and simply log in and upload the new file to perform the update. This EXE will also allow the merchant to easily read and print their ORDERS.TXT file, once downloaded. The first version of this program will be written for Windows using Visual Basic For Windows 3.0. It will be available sometime during the month of April 1995. TECHNICAL SUPPORT: With a program as complex as this, technical support is essential. I will be happy to help anyone with a question or problem concerning this program. Most problems originate from improper installation. If you PRINT this DOC file, and read it a time or two before you install the program, you stand a better chance of getting it right the first time. I've worked very hard to make the installation and configuration as easy as possible. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any problems. I strongly suggest that you type any "big problems" and forward them via email to me. This makes it much, much easier to correct any problems we find. You can reach me via email at: MSI HQ BBS - Jeff Tucker My BBS - Jeff Tucker 704-531-7375 ... why register? The SHAREWARE version displays a maximum of ten products per store. The SHAREWARE version also limits credit card processing to one type of credit card, MasterCard. The REGISTERED version will process MasterCard, VISA, Discover, and AMEX. Registering the program will also remove the short shareware delay that appears on exit. Register now, and you'll receive all future updates free of charge. You will receive an update password, which can be used to download updated versions from our support BBS at your convenience. ┌───────────┐ │DESCRIPTION│ └───────────┘ Online point-of-sale. Allow your registered members to become MERCHANTS and advertise their products for sale online. Each ad dislays PRODUCT NAME, DESCRIPTION, PRICE, MERCHANT CONTACT INFO, and CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED BY THIS MERCHANT. Ad creation is "DYNAMIC". Merchants simply answer a few prompts to create attractive, consistent display ads. While displaying product details, callers can place an online order, or send private email to the advertiser with any questions or comments. Online Store will process purchases by calculating total price of the sale (PRICE + TAX (if applicable) + SHIPPING). Callers making online purchases can download a "DYNAMIC" invoice which details the transaction. The caller chooses either CREDIT CARD (MC/VISA/DCVR/AMEX) or CHECK/MONEY ORDER as a method of payment, depending on what that particular MERCHANT is capable of accepting. Online Store checks the validity of credit card numbers by using four types of checks. MOD10 CHECK DIGIT, STRING LENGTH, UNIQUE FIRST DIGIT, and EXPIRATION DATE. While this product has proven extremely reliable in a number of tests, it may be possible that a bad card number could slip through. We accept no liability for any losses due to this type of failure. Check/Money Order purchases are recorded and the caller is told to mail a copy of the invoice, with payment, to the proper merchant. From the main Online Store menu, callers can page or email the sysop. INSTALLATION OVERVIEW Detailed installation instructions are given later in this DOC file. As an overview to the entire setup proceedure, here's a blueprint: 1 - Read this DOC file. 2 - Install all files as directed. 3 - Log in and enter the store. Enter your configuration information. 4 - Negotiate store ownership with new MERCHANTS. 5 - Add new stores to your MERCHANT.DAT file. 6 - Monitor MERCHANT activity (add/edit inventory, download orders) 7 - Communicate with your MERCHANTS to make sure everything is operating properly. THE MAIN MENU You can edit the main menu to your preferences. I will display my main menu here, and explain what each of the commands actually do. OLSMAIN.BBS ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐┌─────────────────────────┐ │ New Stores! ││[B] Browse Stores │ │ XYZ Tapes & CD's Store# 3 ││[S] Search Stores │ │ Online BOOKS! Store# 4 ││[M] E-Mail │ │ Software Unlimited Store# 5 ││[P] Page The Sysop │ │ Computer AMERICA Store# 6 ││[?] Download Information │ │ ││[H] Help!!! │ │ Sale! ││[X] Exit │ │ Save 10% On Everything From Modem-World │├─────────────────────────┤ │ 14,400 BPS Modems Under $75 ││[1] Upload/Edit │ │ Sale Ends March 21, 1995 ││ Inventory Data Files │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────┘├─────────────────────────┤ ┌─ Advertising Info ───────────────────────────┐│[2] Download Orders │ │ Online Real Estate Consulting │├─────────────────────────┤ │ PO Box 560653 ││[3] Add/Edit/Del │ │ Charlotte, NC 28256-0653 ││ Merchant Accounts │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────┘└─────────────────────────┘ B - Allows callers to browse any online store. After selecting this command, the caller is prompted to enter a store number. S - Allows callers to search for a store by entering a text search string. All matching stores will be listed. M - Allows callers to send email in the Local E-Mail conference. P - Allows callers to page the system operator. X - Exit back to the BBS. 1 - Allows MERCHANTS to add/edit/delete products in their inventory file. MERCHANTS can also upload data in a comma- delimited format for mass updates. Uploaded data can either append, or overwrite, the current inventory file. 2 - If any orders are pending, this will allow the MERCHANT to download a text file, ORDERS.TXT. This file will contain a complete listing of all transactions since their last download. 3 - Allows SYSOP to add/edit/delete new or existing MERCHANT accounts. Those with MERCHANT security level have a lesser access to this area that allows them to edit just their merchant profile. STORE DESCRIPTION Each store can have up to 40 different product categories. These can be edited from the STOCK area. After you establish a new store, the MERCHANT must go to their STOCK ROOM and add product categories and inventory. Listed below is a sample display of the category menu. MERCHANTS CAN DO THE FOLLOWING: 1 - Enter their MERCHANT profile, giving all of their contact information. They enter info such as name, company, address, phones, & tax info. This profile also specifies any credit cards they are able to accept for online transactions. Should any of the information change, the MERCHANT is able to edit their profile to reflect the new information. Any product ads already online will display the updated info. 2 - Add/Edit/Delete products in their inventory file. For single product changes, the MERCHANT can edit one product at a time. For mass updates to the inventory file, the MERCHANT can upload data in comma-delimited format. This data, once received, will be automatically imported into the MERCHANT'S inventory file, either appending or overwriting the existing file. Shipping charges are entered for each product in the inventory file. MERCHANTS may enter shipping charges for Standard Ground Shipping, Second-Day Air, and Overnight. Format For Comma-Delimited Files "product","price","desc1","desc2","desc3","vender#","UPC","weight", + "ground shipping","2nd day air shipping","overnight shipping" All fields are ASCII, and have the following limitations: PRODUCT 20 characters PRICE 10 numbers, no dollar signs or decimals (ex. $128.99 should be entered as 12899) DESC1 50 characters DESC2 50 characters DESC3 50 characters VENDER# 8 characters UPC 13 numbers WEIGHT 6 numbers GROUND 4 numbers, no dollar signs or decimals 2ND DAY 4 numbers, no dollar signs or decimals OVERNIGHT 4 numbers, no dollar signs or decimals There is a DBF file included with this program that your merchants can use to maintain their inventory. Before using the data contained in the DBF file to update the PRODUCTS.DAT file, the merchant will need to export the data into comma-delimited format. The exported file can then be uploaded to your system. Once uploaded, Online Store will automatically begin the importing process. MERCHANT can also download a comma-delimited file of the entire inventory. 3 - Download any pending orders from callers. Once downloaded, the old orders information is copied to a backup file. On the next download, the present backup file will be deleted and the present orders will be moved to the backup. ADDING MERCHANTS: MERCHANT profiles are written to a fixed-length data file for a relational reference to products in the inventory file. Two benefits include: 1 - MERCHANTS can easily edit their record in the MERCHANT.DAT with any changes in their merchant information (ie. phone number, credit card). 2 - It will discourage situations where one advertiser might be placing ads for multiple parties. This might increase your system income. When NEW merchant information is added to the MERCHANT.DAT file, a few security measures are taken behind the scenes. Online Store first checks to see that the contact person entered for this new store is actually a valid user name in the Wildcat! user database. Since the callers will be allowed to email the store contact, we want to make sure that the contact actually exists on the system. Next, if the sysop is adding the information, the security level of the new store contact is automatically upgraded to MERCHANT. (If the store contact is adding the information, no upgrade is necessary. This person would not have had access to this area if the security level was not already upgraded to MERCHANT). The store information is placed in the MERCHANT.DAT file. Store number is equal to the record position in this file. From this point, this store is known by its store number. Each store has its own separate working directory, named for its store number, and located just under the OLSTORE\ directory. Example: Store 123 has a working directory of: C:\WILDCAT\OLSTORE\123\ Store 254 has a working directory of: C:\WILDCAT\OLSTORE\254\ These working directories will be created automatically when a store is entered into the MERCHANT.DAT file. Within this directory, you will find a number of files. If the store has an inventory online, you will notice a PRODUCTS.DAT file in the store directory. If there are any pending orders, you will notice an ORDERS.TXT, which is awaiting download by the store contact. If the store owner has downloaded an ORDERS.TXT, you will notice an ORDERS.OLD, which is a backup copy of the last ORDERS.TXT downloaded. Online Store maintains separate stores through the use of this separate working directory structure. Theoretically, you could have 999 stores. ... what happens when someone orders something? After the order is placed, several things will happen: 1 - The caller is allowed to download an invoice of the transaction. 2 - An email notification is sent to the merchant telling them that an order has been placed. This notification will include all relevent info about the purchase. An example of this notification is included below as FIGURE #1. 3 - A private log file, located in the merchant's directory, is appended with the same information sent in the notification. This running log file, ORDERS.TXT, will gather all sales data. It can be downloaded by the merchant by selecting ORDERS from the main menu. As an added convenience, a FORM FEED character will separate each transaction. This way, they simply download and print the log file and they will have hard copies of all transactions. Our soon-to-be-released OFFLINE MODULE will read the ORDERS.TXT and allow the merchant to easily read and/or print the orders. FIGURE #1 - Sample Notification Of Online Purchase Name: John Q Public Company: Public Plumbing Address1: 12312 West Any Street Address2: Suite 100 City: Any Town State: Any State ZIP: 00000 Phone1: (000)000-0000 Phone2: (000)000-0000 Merchant: JO BLO Company: Jo Blo Software Address: 8723 West Abernathy Street City, State ZIP: Gastonia, NC 28045 Payment Type: Credit Card Card Type: MASTERCARD Card Number: 0000000000000000 Card Exp Date: 01/01/97 Name On Card: John Q Public Ordered Item: WILDCAT SINGLE LINE BBS Item Price: $119.00 Shipping: $8.00 Sales Tax: $0.00 Total Charge: $127.00 ... what if the merchant doesn't accept credit cards? Online Store will accept online orders from those who want to send in a check or money order. The same basic order proceedure takes place, with one small difference. The purchaser will download an invoice and then be instructed to mail in payment, along with a copy of the invoice, to the merchant. Typically, no order processing is done until payment is received, so this should work very well. The ad display screen will show which credit cards, if any, the advertiser accepts. An example of the invoice is shown in FIGURE #2. FIGURE #2 - Sample Invoice Downloaded By Purchaser ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Jo Blo Software │ │ 8723 West Abernathy Street │ │ Gastonia, NC 28045 │ │ │ │ (704)855-6565 │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ SOLD TO: John Q Public │ │ Public Plumbing │ │ 12312 West Any Street │ │ Suite 100 │ │ Any Town, Any State 00000 │ │ │ │ (000)000-0000 │ │ (000)000-0000 │ │ │ │ Card Holder: John Q Public Card Type: MASTERCARD │ │ Card Number: 0000000000000000 Card Exp Date: 01/01/97 │ │ │ │ BBS User Name: JOHN PUBLIC │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ DATE: 02/04/95 Payment Type: Credit Card │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Item Price ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ WILDCAT SINGLE LINE BBS $119.00 │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬─────────────┤ Sub Total │ $119.00 │ ├─────────────┤ Sales Tax │ $0.00 │ ├─────────────┤ Shipping │ $8.00 │ ├─────────────┤ TOTAL DUE │ $127.00 │ └─────────────┘ Your main task is to monitor merchant activity and make sure everything is working properly. The Online Store is set up to process and record all transactions for the merchants, allow them to retrieve order logs, and edit inventory files with minimal sysop intervention. ┌─────┐ │FILES│ └─────┘ VILEWOLS.WCX Main Program File (Place in the Wildcat! home directory) MERCHANT.WCX MERCHANT.DAT Maintenance Module PRODUCTS.WCX PRODUCTS.DAT Maintenance Module ORDERS.WCX ORDERS.TXT Download Module OLSTORE.DOC The File You Are Reading OLSMAIN.BBS Main Menu (Edit And Place In The OLSTORE Directory) OLSHELP.BBS Help Display File (Edit And Place In The OLSTORE Directory) VIEWOLS.CFG* Configuration File *(Created Automatically) OLSTORE.NUM* Advertiser Account Number Counter *(Created Automatically) OLSTORE.SEC* Advertiser Information *(Created Automatically) PRODUCTS.DBF dBase IV Database That Can Be Used For Offline Inventory Maintenance Sample Directory Structure: C:\WILDCAT\ ..OLSTORE.CFG * Created Automatically ..BEAMERCH.CFG * Created Automatically C:\WILDCAT\OLSTORE\ ..VIEWOLS.WCX ..MERCHANT.WCX ..PRODUCTS.WCX ..ORDERS.WCX ..BEAMERCH.WCX ..OLSMAIN.BBS ..OLSHELP.BBS ..OLSTORE.NUM * Created Automatically ..OLSTORE.SEC * Created Automatically ┌────────────┐ │INSTALLATION│ Can it really be this simple? YES!!! └────────────┘ 1. Create a separate directory for all of your Online Store files. I suggest C:\WILDCAT\OLSTORE\. Unzip all of the files into this directory. 2. Edit the .BBS screens to your preference. 3. Create a security level called MERCHANT for your merchants. 4. Add VIEWOLS.WCX to your Wildcat menu using MakeMenu. (The other WCX files do not need to be added to your menu. They are called from VIEWOLS.WCX). 5. Log on, and enter the store. On your first trip in, you will be asked for information that will be used to create your CFG files. The first configures the main WCX and consists of the following: Complete DOS Path To Your OLSTORE Directory: Local E-Mail Conference # From MakeWild: Online Store REGISTRATION Number (Or 00000000): Security Levels 1 Through 10. (Only the first is required. The rest may be left blank.) Take a moment now and write your answers on this page. This will give you an easy reference when you get Online Store installed. ┌────────────┐ │TECH SUPPORT│ └────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Questions? Comments? Let us know! │ │ │ │ BBS Phone: 704-531-7375 │ │ │ │ Internet E-Mail: bbs@realty.com │ │ │ │ Mail: Online Real Estate Consulting │ │ PO Box 560653 │ │ Charlotte, NC 28256-0653 │ │ │ │ Voice Phone: 704-532-4201 Reasonable Hours, Please! │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Please submit major issues in written, or typed, format. ┌───────────┐ │ Updates │ └───────────┘ 03/06/95 Major, Major code revision. Not even close to the old version. :) 03/16/95 Online Store now allows each store to break down products into nine different categories. Callers who wish to browse a store will be able to select products by category. 04/10/95 Yes, another major code revision. We've now added support for up to 40 product categories. The category menu is drawn by Online Store automatically using information gathered from a configuration file containing all category names. This file can be edited from the PRODUCTS section of the program. While in any given store, callers can select, or mark, up to ten products for purchase. This allows them to make a list of their purchases and process them all at one time. It also makes it easier to handle shipping charges. Shipping charges are now figured from a CFG file for each product category. This can be edited from the PRODUCTS section. ┌────────────┐ │REGISTRATION│ └────────────┘ This program is distributed as SHAREWARE. Registration is $25.00 US. Registered users are entitled to all future updates to Online Store. Registered version will process MasterCard, VISA, Discover, & AMEX transactions. The registered version removes the 10-items per store limit. Registration also removes the small delay upon exit. You are granted permission to use this program for thirty days for the purpose of evaluating it for your needs. If you continue to use this program after the evaluation period, you must register it by remitting $25.00 US with the following form to the address shown . ┌────────────────┐ │REGISTER ONLINE │ └────────────────┘ You can now register online with your VISA, MASTERCARD, or AMEX! All of our shareware programs are now available for immediate download to those who wish to register online! Call our BBS at 704-531-7375 and have your credit card and Wildcat! registration number ready. You will be able to download the latest version, along with your Online Store registration code while online! Your registrations are greatly appreciated, and encourage me to continue adding new features. For those that register the program during the month of March 1995, I will personally customize the soon-to-be-released OFFLINE EXE MODULE to reflect their BBS name and contact information. ┌───────────────────────────┐ PRODUCT ORDER FORM │Disk Size │ Online Real Estate Consulting ├───────────────────────────┤ PO Box 560653 │Name │ Charlotte, NC 28256-0653 ├───────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────┐ │Internet Address │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │BBS Name │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │Address │ ├───────────────────────────────┬────────────┬───────────────────┤ │City │ST │ZIP │ ├───────────────────────────────┴────────────┴───────────────────┤ │Voice Phone BBS Phone │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────┬────────┬──────────┬──────────┐ │ Product Description │Quantity│Unit Price│ Extended │ ├─────────────────────────────────┼────────┼──────────┼──────────┤ │ Online Store │ │ 25.00 │ │ ├─────────────────────────────────┼────────┼──────────┼──────────┤ │ wcADS │ │ 25.00 │ │ ├─────────────────────────────────┼────────┼──────────┼──────────┤ │ wcARCHIE │ │ 25.00 │ │ ├─────────────────────────────────┼────────┼──────────┼──────────┤ │ wcAUTO │ │ 25.00 │ │ ├─────────────────────────────────┼────────┼──────────┼──────────┤ │ wcDISPLAY │ │ 25.00 │ │ ├─────────────────────────────────┼────────┼──────────┼──────────┤ │ wcEMPLOY │ │ 25.00 │ │ ├─────────────────────────────────┼────────┼──────────┼──────────┤ │ wcPERSONALS │ │ 25.00 │ │ ├─────────────────────────────────┼────────┼──────────┼──────────┤ │ wcRATES │ │ 25.00 │ │ ├─────────────────────────────────┼────────┼──────────┼──────────┤ │ wcREALTY │ │ 25.00 │ │ ├─────────────────────────────────┼────────┼──────────┼──────────┤ │ wcREG │ │ 25.00 │ │ ├─────────────────────────────────┼────────┼──────────┼──────────┤ │ wcROTATE │ │ 10.00 │ │ ├─────────────────────────────────┼────────┼──────────┼──────────┤ │ Online Real Estate Consulting │ Subtotal │ │ │ Is An Authorized Reseller Of │ ├──────────┤ │ Wildcat! BBS Products From MSI │ NC Residents │ │ └─────────────────────────────────┘ Add 6% Tax │ │ ├──────────┤ __ AMEX __ VISA __ M/C __ MO __ Check Shipping And │ FREE │ Handling │ IN USA │ Card# _____________________________ ╞══════════╡ │ │ Name On Card ______________________ Total Due │ │ │ │ Expiration Date __________________ ╘══════════╛ Signature Of Purchaser _________________________________________ (ANY ORDER, CHECK/MO INCLUDED, WITHOUT SIGNATURE WILL BE RETURNED.) Orders Paid By Check Will Be Shipped When Check Clears. Orders Paid By Money Order Will Be Shipped Immediately. Send Cash At Your Own Risk.