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THE TALKING CHECKBOOK
By Charles Crawford and Donald Barrett.
Documentation for Version 6.6
THE TALKING CHECKBOOK VERSION 6.6.
What's new?
Well, Don Barrett got the spirit and did all the work on
this new version of the Talking Checkbook. Yeah, Charlie
Crawford (me) did AN ERROR TRAPPING ROUTINE FOR THE BACK-UPS AND
nothing MUCH ELSE but run a few of the options and admire Don's
work. Say, not bad; huh. Also note that we have added a bit of
error trapping to the "F-8" function key and auto backup
routines. Essentially you are not allowed to enter a DOS path or
any string shorter than four characters. This is to prevent the
problem of folks forgetting that they have not entered a path and
a trailing backslash for backing up and end up pressing enter and
blowing away the database.
o There's a new F-8 function key that allows you to go back to
DOS from wherever you are at and save your databases to
wherever you have pre-set them to go or to back them up to a
place you define if you've not pre-set the autoback feature.
o There's a new F-4 function that returns you to the main menu
of the Talking Checkbook from wherever you are. Saves time
if you are deep in a sub-menu and want to go clear back to
the main one.
o Now you can verify certain transactions while you are doing
them. Saves you from having to use the verify menu option.
o Take a look at the new report generation for your checks!
Yup: we have page numbers and digits lined up properly!
o Check out the browse and edit screens for a sleek and more
useful environment.
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o Another bug crawled out from our autopay module and we blew
it away. Now if you enter a change to the amount you
originally placed in the autopay program, you'll get a
proper report of the balance.
What's new in Version 6.5?
* We think we have error trapped all date entries. This
means if you make a mistake entering a date, then the
program will now be smart enough to figure it out and
prompt you to do it again. Not all errors in date
entries are detected since entering something like
01/01/ax or 01/9 would generate a date (incorrect as it
might be), but most likely errors of entering an
incorrect letter like "R" when you meant to type a "T"
would be error corrected. Of course you gotta put up
with my weird sense of humor! Remember little Tempo
the Talking cat?
* Now if you want to add a bunch of checks which were all
written on the same date, you can use the "L" for last
check date written. This means you can have the last
date of your last entry placed in the date field
automatically and save having to enter the date over
and over again!
* If you like to enter a bunch of checks but not print
them, then you'll appreciate the new feature of turning
off the "Print check now" prompt after each check
entry. Say, that saves one big annoyance.
* If you want to Globally verify records by category and
between dates then just run the "V" verify menu option
and get ready for super quick verifying.
* We've fixed a bug where entering a blank date in the
check entry program would screw up the "next highest
number" function in the check numbering section. This
never screwed up anyone's checkbook, but was an
unnecessary annoyance.
* We've added some prompt language to make certain ones
more clear. Also taken the deposit, withdrawals and
savings input programs and placed the date first to
mirror the checks entry program. this should make the
data entries more user friendly.
* We've done a bit more work to make the macros search
more accurate. Only when there is an exact match
between what has been entered and the macros database,
will the macro be used. This will make doing macros
"on the fly" more possible as well.
***
If you rely upon synthetic speech output to access and use a
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personal computer, then you've come to the right place for a
checkbook management program. Everything about this program
relates to speech output while still usable by folks who do not
need speech.
The Talking checkbook was created originally by Charlie
Crawford as a means to have a speech friendly checkbook program.
Don Barrett got hooked on the program and wrote printer routines
and since then has been a co-author of the program.
the program is released to the public domain and nobody
takes any responsibility for anything. How's that for a quick
disclaimer rather than all that stuff you usually read?
FEATURES:
o Pre-authorized payments and transfers. This option
allows you to have amounts deducted or entered
automatically when a given date is detected as being
today or having passed by the checkbook program. This
is great for credit union deductions or whatever. Also
if you are paid electronically with a given amount each
time, then this function will make your life easy!
o Turn on or off hot key prompts. Ever get tired of
having to press the enter key every time you enter a
response to a prompt? Well, the Talking Checkbook now
features an optional single keystroke response when the
information is being requested is a single letter or
number. Say you get a prompt called " So do you want a
million bucks? Y/N: " and you immediately want to say
"N" for no since you like being poor. Well in the past
you would have to press the "N" key an press enter, but
now you just hit the "N" key and the program moves on.
Of course if you enter something other then a "Y" or a
"N" the program will prompt you for the right answer
and wait for a "Y" or an "N". the few times when the
hot key is not set (even when you have them turned on)
happens when the information you are to enter either
potentially requires more than a single letter or
number answer or is information you might want to
correct before going on.
You will be asked at the start of the program if you want
hot keys. The program will record your answer in a memory file
called "Keys.mem" and write that memory file to disk. The
program will then always default to your answer and not ask again
until you erase the "Keys.mem" file where the program will
interpret the lack of a file as a need to check and see if you
want hot keys or not.
o Data entry Macros. So you might be like Charlie
Crawford and sometimes not get around to entering data
for a couple of weeks. Well, often you will pay the
same place a number of checks like the grocery store
and what if the name is "Joe, Frank, George, Jim, Judy,
Ellen, Mary and all their cats and dogs groceries".
Arrrg, that would kill your typing hands in no time!
So a macro database has been created that allows you to
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enter an abbreviation for a particular name and then
when you go to enter the check, all you do is type the
abbreviation and the macro program searches for it. If
the abbreviation is found in the macro database, then
your "pay to the order of" field is automatically
filled out with the name match for the abbreviation and
your comment field is also filled out. Say, lazy but
great!
o Automatic Backup of your databases. If you ever have
experienced loss of data on a hard disk that crashed or
whatever, you'll fall in love the with the automatic
backing up feature of the Talking Checkbook. This
simply allows you to set a path to where you would like
an additional copy of your data sent in order to have
it in case of a problem.
o Security Packing. No, this is not a mission that you
get sent away by the Central Intelligence Agency to do,
but rather a nifty feature that allows you to have the
program check and secure your data each time you return
to the main menu of the program.
o Credit Card and Savings Account tracking. The
checkbook program tracks your savings account and does
some credit card tracking as well. This helps with tax
reporting and keeps you mindful of these accounts.
o Browse editing. If you like to browse through the
checks, deposits and withdrawals using the arrow keys
or page up and page down keys, then you'll love the
browse features for checks, savings, macros and more!
o Tempo the talking cat. Yeah, one of the nice features
of the Talking Checkbook is meeting Tempo the talking
cat in our own adventure game. Here you get to play as
opposed to having to be so serious all the time. The
game even has a casino where you an win or lose, but
have a great time.
o F10 blast back to DOS. Yup, here's the feature that
takes the drudgery out of running through menu after
menu to get out to DOS. This feature lets you press
Function key 10 and boom you are out to DOS with all
your databases packed. Of course auto backups are not
performed with this operation since the goal is to save
your databases where you are an split quickly to DOS.
Getting Started.
The Talking Checkbook usually comes in a zip format where
the files are compressed into a single package. Use the
PKUNZIP.exe program to unzip the files to a subdirectory on your
hard disk or use a floppy. If you use a floppy, then be sure to
check on one of our utilities discussed later on that allows you
to store older checkbook records into separate files to save
space and make the program run faster.
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Once the files are located on your hard drive in a
subdirectory of your choice, simply type "Checks" (the quotes are
only to highlight what you type and so don't use them when
typing) and you are on your way! Simple as that. The Talking
Checkbook will automatically check your computer memory, see if
the databases it needs to use are there and create them if this
is the first use of the program. Folks who have used the Talking
Checkbook in the past will appreciate their databases not being
overwritten by installing a newer versions.
If you get a "not enough memory" message and returned to the
DOS level, then you probably are using a "terminate and stay
Resident" program or programs. These are like communications
packages that allow you to shell to DOS while keeping them in
memory or other types of applications. Be sure that you are only
using DOS, your speech or large print program, and the Talking
Checkbook. Loading on networks is also a problem if the network
takes a bunch of memory. You might consider loading a number of
programs high in DOS which can be done with newer versions of DOS
if you are having a memory use problem. Currently the Talking
Checkbook runs using about 450 K of memory. This is well within
the range of availability for most DOS machines having 640 K of
base memory to start.
Running the Talking Checkbook.
Now we get to the good stuff. what happens and what do you
do. Let's do it.
The first thing that happens when you load the Talking
Checkbook is a memory report. Nice for nerds lie Charlie
Crawford who like to hear how much memory they have when they
start, but has little to do with reality. If you get the
message, then you have enough memory.
Next, the program looks to see if it can find the files it
will use to store data. If it finds them, then it will simply go
on to the next step rather than overwriting the current files of
folks who are upgrading rather than running for the first time.
If it does not find the files it needs, then it will create them
from failsafe files that come with the program. If the failsafe
databases are not found in the subdirectory where the program is
running, it figures it is not a miracle worker and simply crashes
to a lonely death on your hard disk. The moral is to be sure you
copy all the files that come with your talking checkbook to the
same subdirectory. WARNING: Some folks are real nice and like
the checkbook so much that they want to share it with friends.
We suggest sending it to Congress and maybe solve the national
debt, but on the serious side, be sure to erase any files with
the extension ".mem" before sharing the program with friends.
this is because the ".mem" files are information files for the
checkbook program to read an act upon. they include balance
information, where to backup databases and color settings and
more. If you give your friend a copy of the program with the
failsafe databases but have not removed the ".mem" files, then
your friend might start sending you hate letters when they load
the program and get colors they don't like, keep getting an
incorrect balance report or colors that they can't stand. this
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actually happened to a guy out west and so the best advice is to
get a fresh copy of the Talking Checkbook from a BBS or calling
Charlie Crawford to have one mailed.
Now you get asked two questions before entering the main
menu. First, you are asked if you want to see your balance? If
so, then you get an instant balance report and you can either
move on or go back to DOS. This is for those folks who simply
want a balance without the time it would take to enter the
checkbook main menu and get it and then exit. OK, so we've got
some busy folks out there.
The second question asked is whether you want to see your
balance each time you go to the main menu. Well, some people
like that although I (Charlie Crawford) never use it. It slows
down the program especially when lots of data is being accessed.
Up to you, hey we are easy with it.
Next you enter the main menu of the Talking Checkbook. Yay!
Finally there. You get greeting with a message as to what
version you are in and of course a little credit to yours truly
and Don Barrett for having written the thing.
MAIN MENU OPTIONS.
* Please note that the menu options on the main menu of the
actual program are presented in alphabetical order in Version
6.02 and above.
A. The Talking Checkbook Adventure game.
Yeah, here's the main menu option to blast you away from all
that boring checkbook stuff and take you to the land of adventure
where you have to get your money back that has been stolen by X.
The reason we say "X" is because the culprit changes as your
checkbook records grow. The game looks at your data and goes to
the middle of the database and runs a villain from there. Hence
the more records you add, the further down the database it goes
to find the enemy. You'll love this game if you are into
adventure.
B. Edit and browse option.
Your second main menu option is to edit, delete or browse
records within the Talking Checkbook database. This is real
important since sometimes we make mistakes in entering a check or
whatever and want to fix or delete it. No problem, this is the
purpose of the menu option or you can simply use it to browse
through your records.
C. Set up your print coordinate Definitions.
Main menu option C gives you the ability to enter printing
coordinates for your printer to use when writing checks.
Computers are really pretty stupid and need to know exactly where
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to send information like the date and who to pay and so forth.
Here's where you do it and the program gives you a step by step
guide on what to do.
E. Entry data menu.
This old first main menu option takes you to the data entry
menu. This is the critical part of any checkbook program. Once
you access the data entry menu, then you can enter checks,
deposits, withdrawals, credit card information, savings account
information, automatic payment and macro data. Arrg, say that's
a lot of stuff. We will discuss the options later.
F. Check out your fixed bills.
This main menu option takes you right to the world of those bills
you pay every so often for a fixed amount. A mortgage is an
example of this. It helps speed the process of payments and
keeps track of those fixed bills.
G. Generate a text file or print statement of records
between certain dates.
Well, this main menu option is real useful when someone says
they never got paid by you or whenever you need a print or text
file report of your checkbook records between certain dates.
M. Make changes in Screen Colors.
Main menu option M is great for folks who have partial or
full sight. The color contrasts of text to background can be
critical in some cases and so the Talking Checkbook offers a way
to set the colors the way the user wants and to always use them
until a change is requested.
P. Print checks.
Say, this could not be more self explaining huh? Sometimes
you will want to print a check after you have entered it and done
some other things. No problem, here's your menu option to do
just that.
R. Get a balance report.
Well this main menu option is pretty straightforward. Yup,
just calculates your balance an reports it. In addition, you can
run a reconciliation with your bank statement balance from this
option.
S. Sum and display records by category.
Here's a great main menu option to give you information you
Page 7
can think about. It gets the amounts you have paid or deposited
or whatever by category and tells you the number of times you
have done it, and the total amount involved. Check out how much
you spent at the grocery store and then the bowling alley.
Interesting information can be found.
T. Test your Checkbook knowledge!
Well, there are some folks out there who are fanatics about
knowing every little thing about their checkbook and amounts of
money. So main menu option T gives them a place to test their
knowledge. It's fun but the score is likely to be low for most
folks including myself who got a 20 out of 100.
U. Talking Checkbook Utilities Pack.
This main menu option is a good friend to have. It gives
you an array of choices to do important things like get a report
of your last two weeks of deposits and withdrawals, do math
calculations, see a summary listing of your records and more.
Check it out.
V. Verify Transactions.
Well you get your bank statement and cancelled checks and
verify them against your Talking Checkbook data. This is an
option that is real important to keep up. If you do, then you
can always rest assured that a check actually was cashed. Real
helpful when someone thinks that they never got paid or whatever.
Please be advised that some folks have put in start-up deposits
and then not verified them since they figure that this is just a
start up thing and not a real cash deposit. Those folks later
were surprised to see their reconciliation figure twice as high
as the actual amount of money they have. The reason for this is
that folks needs to verify any originating deposits (which is
really the balance they had when starting the Checkbook) and so
the program counts the money twice. If you start up the Talking
Checkbook for the first time and put $X amount in the database as
a starting deposit to get your balance, then please verify it as
a deposit.
Y. Your Security Packer.
This main menu option Y simply allows the user to have the
database checked and secured as often as they wish while the
program is running. It's a good idea to keep the database
constantly monitored to protect against any errors.
F10. Bail out of program.
The F10 function key #10 is a way to get back to DOS in a
hurry. It will work from anywhere in the Talking Checkbook and
will secure the databases and exit quickly to DOS. Don Barrett is
responsible for this nifty feature. Maybe he did not like my
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pretty or witty prose.
X. Exit to DOS.
Main menu option X is to tell the Talking Checkbook that you
want to leave the program. Once pressed, it will take you to
some choices where you can either leave right away, go back to
the main menu or backup your databases to wherever you would like
additional copies sent. We strongly recommend using the backup
feature to avoid lots of tears if one day your data gets blown
away or corrupted by something. Not likely since I've not had
that problem with the checkbook in four years, but better safe
than sorry.RUNNING YOUR MAIN MENU OPTIONS.
Remember a few years ago when you read about main menu
option E? Well, now let's take a look at what happens when you
run the option.
You press "E" at the main menu and get the main data entry
menu. Here you have 8 options from which to choose.
1. Enter a deposit.
Entering a deposit is our favorite activity. Yup, you get
to put money into the thing rather than taking it out. Your
initial balance is a deposit because when you first run the
Talking Checkbook, we hope you had some money with which to
start. You make that a deposit. Then if you ever get any more
money like bank interest, pay checks, dividends or whatever, then
you also use this option to enter those amounts.
2. Enter a check.
Not much use for a Talking Checkbook if you don't have any
checks. Well, here's the place to enter them. You'll be given
two options when you select this function. You can either get
your balance displayed each time you enter a check or not. Some
folks like to see what there balance is before entering checks
and so we put the two options in.
Once you've selected the balance reporting option for the
checks entry menu option, then you will see an automatic display
of what your last check number was. You then be able to select
if you want the program to use the next highest number for the
check you will be entering. If yes, then the program does it, if
no then you have to enter the number yourself. In any event, the
program checks to see if the number has already been used and if
so, warns you.
Next you are given a date option. If you are really on top
of your game then the "T" for today's date is made just for you!
It automatically adds the current date to the date field of the
check, but if you are like me and don't keep up with entries
everyday, then you can either use the "L" for last date of last
check feature or add the actual date of the check yourself.
Warning: be sure to use slashes whenever entering a date into
the Talking Checkbook. An example of this is "12/25/99" for
December 25, 1999 and hope you get good gifts.
Page 9
Next you will be asked for the name of to whoever you are
writing the check. Here you can either type in an abbreviation
macro or the full name of who you are paying. If you have
defined "Joe's Grocery" as "JG" in a macro then typing "JG" here
would later render "Joe's Grocery" in the pay to field. If you
have not done a macro then typing the full name of whoever is
being paid is necessary, or you can enter up to an 8 character
name that you will later define as a macro when the maco search
fails to find it and asks if you want to create a macro. This
new function in version 6.02 will operate on any 8 character or
less entry into the "Pay To" field. Of course if you regularly
pay someone with a less than 9 character name, then don't worry
since you'll be given the option to create a macro or just go on.
Once you type the info in and press enter, the macro database
will be searched for a match and the program will move on after
evaluating the results of the macro search.
Next you need to let the program know how much money the
check is for. If you are paying ten dollars and 5 cents, you
would enter "10.05" and press enter. Warning: this is a numeric
entry. Only numbers and decimal points will be accepted.
Writing in a dollar sign would crash the program. Yeah, we could
write computer code to screen out that error, but we have not
gotten to that yet.
Next there is what we call the personal comment line. This
is important since it provides you with the ability to categorize
your checks, withdraws, deposits, credit cards, savings, fixed
bills and whatever else in meaningful ways. Not to cosmic
proportions, but say you might want to have a personal comment of
"Utility:Gas" which later can be summed and displayed at main
menu option 8 where you can search by personal comment. If for
example, you have a personal comment line of "Utility:Electric"
then you could use the main menu option S to display your total
utility spending and then do it again with the gas utility and
the electric utility and so forth. Nifty way to get good
comparative information. You can also use the personal comment
line for tax related information by establishing personal
comments that could be searched for particular information. If
you plan to use a macro or are going to create one with this
check, then just hit the enter key since the macros fill the
personal comments out automatically or if you are creating a
macro, then you will be asked later for what contents you want in
the personal comment field. The macro option discussed later can
really help here.
At this point in the progress of the Talking Checkbook
checks entry program, you will see the program searching the
macros database if one exists to see if you have used one. If
yes, then it will fill out the fields automatically that you
wanted. If it does not find a macro match, but notices that your
"Pay to" field has a string of characters of 8 or less, then it
assumes you might want to create a macro, and it will ask if you
do. If you do not, then it will simply go on and process the
information you have already given it. If you do, then it will
ask a couple of questions, update the macro database and fill out
your check automatically for the "Pay to" and "Personal Comments"
fields. Nifty, huh?
Page 10
Next you will be presented with a Save or Reddo prompt.
This option will give you the opportunity to save the check entry
you have made or do it over if you made a mistake.
Next you will be given the option to print the check if you
have defined printer coordinates and have a check ready for
printing. If you have not done the initial printer setup
coordinates, then the Talking checkbook will let you know that
you have to do that first and return you to the place you were.
Next you are asked with a prompt if you want to do another
check. Answer "Y" for yes or "N" for no. Any other answer will
bring up the same question. Don't you wish some people were that
direct?
3. Enter a withdrawal.
One thing we all do is take money out of the bank. Yeah, we
can't live on bread alone, but we do need the bread.
This menu option is pretty simple. Like the entering of a
check, you will be asked a series of questions like the date what
you want the comments field to be. If you answer "N" for "no,
I'll write my own" then you'll be asked for what contents you
want in the comment field. Otherwise, a predefined comment line
will be entered. Again, entering the amount of money in your
withdrawal is always just numbers and decimals.
4. through 7. More record entries.
These entries have to do with credit card, savings,fixed
bill and auto pay information. Check them out on your own, but
they are important if you are tracking credit cards, savings,
paying fixed bills and or doing pre-authorized payments. They
have explanations within them to help you.
8. Macro creation.
The macro functions of the Talking Checkbook are critical
for lazy folks like me. If you have not used the "create one"
option in the checks entry operation then entering this option
will allow you to define abbreviations of longer names that you
use as a "pay to" field and to define what the comments are. If
you pay "Save the Children" for example every month, you could
use the fixed bill option or write a macro abbreviation of "STC"
and your checks would automatically have the name and personal
comment fields fully filled out by the macro when doing a check
for them. Just follow the instructions and you'll have macros in
no time.
Don't worry about upper and lower case stuff with the macros
since the program converts it all to upper case and even if you
enter mixed or lower case input when writing a check, the program
will figure that out and deal with it.
Also, the macro manager will check for duplicate macros,
list your macros on screen or in a text file and even do global
replacements of records within your checkbook database if you
Page 11
want. Warning: When you use the global macro program, be sure
that you want the same name in the "Pay to" field with the same
comment line in every record. If you pay Sam Jones often for
differing things, then global replacement could screw up
different comment lines. On the other hand, if you pay Sam Jones
for only two or three different reasons, then write different
abbreviations like "SJ1" and "SJ2" and "SJ3" where the "pay to"
field will always be "Sam Jones" but the comment field will be
different corresponding to the macro name.
0. Back to main menu.
Well can't get more definitive than 0 gets you back to the
main menu.
RUNNING OTHER MAIN MENU OPTIONS.
While all the other main menu options are pretty clear,
there is a need to do a bit of digging into the Utilities option.
They are designed to be of both informational and program
operation assistance. Once you type "U" at the main menu then
you will get the following utilities options:
1. If you want to know the number of your last check written
without having to go an pretend you want to write a check, then
here's the option you need.
2. The second utilities option let's you check out your last
two weeks of entries into the checkbook. Very good to see if
you've already entered something and forgot that you had.
3. Your personal comments line is very important if you want
to track certain kinds of spending. If you are like me, then
you've entered different personal comments for the same folks
you've paid. Bummer, yeah; but there is a way to check on your
personal comments to see if you've done it. Use menu option 3
for this task. A future version of the checkbook will include
global replacements for personal comment lines to help get them
straight without taking all day.
4. If you want info on how much you have paid to who, then
here's the place to find it out. It's surprising how much you
have paid some folks. Take a peek.
5. Here's a listing of all your checkbook transactions in
alphabetical order.
6. The talking checkbook calculator can be real useful if
you need to do some calculations before doing other business. In
fact the results of your calculations are saved so you can use
the results elsewhere in the program. Pretty nice. Much credit
is due Eric Bohlman for helping me to figure out how to keep the
calculator working if someone made an error and enter a letter
instead of a number.
7. This option of archiving older records is a great way to
store information for specific time periods. In fact, this
option can significantly speed up the operation of your Talking
Checkbook simply by reducing the amount of records with which it
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has to cope. If you archive your checkbook once a year like
yours truly, then you can expect reasonably fast operation. If
you just let all your records from time and memorial stay in the
active database, then you will notice slower operations due to
the analysis the checkbook has to do on all those records.
The archival utility option will basically split off your
selected records between the dates you have given the program and
put them in a database that you name. If you want them back,
then you'll need to use this program to recombine them. See how
easy it is!
8. Don Barrett added this option to help folks who were
interested in tracking spending by personal comment line. It
actually takes your personal comment lines and arranges them to
be either printed on paper or to a text file. In any event, if
you want to use the information for tax purposes, then here's a
great way to keep track.
9. Here's the auto backup function. It's a powerful way to
take your databases when you exit the program and store an extra
copy of them to a floppy or somewhere else on your hard disk
other than the same place as the Talking Checkbook. This is to
prevent los of data in the event of a hard disk crash or
whatever. You simply set a path to where you want the databases
sent and when you exit the Talking Checkbook, the files will be
copied there automatically. Once having set this option, it will
remain in place any time you use the checkbook. To get rid of
it, erase the file "autoback.mem" from your directory where you
run the Talking Checkbook. The only time this option is not
executed is when you exit the program using the "F10" blast back
to DOS key. This is because that feature only secures the
databases in your normal Talking Checkbook directory.
There really is not much reason to go through the other
options at the main menu except to ask you to test them out.
combined with the information above, they are pretty self
explanatory and you should not have a problem with them. Future
versions of this documentation may include more on them, but for
now the best way to understand them is to run them.
Questions and Answers.
Q: How much does this program cost to register?
A. Thanks for asking, but it's free! Yup, Don and I wrote
it for our own use and if it works for you then great! If not,
then perhaps other programs will. Of course, we nor anyone nor
anything else takes any responsibility for the consequences of
it's use. If you really feel compelled to pay something then
send a check to your favorite charity.
Q: I like the program, but it takes forever to get
information from it. Why an can anything be done?
A. Yeah, slower machines like the old XT's can take a long
time, but I have no problem with the faster 386 and 486 class
machines. Also you might consider how many records you have in
the checkbook? If you have not used the archiving option in the
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utility pack (main menu "U") then you probably have many records
in your database and could easily increase your speed by storing
older entries to an archived database and keeping only current
ones active. This has an enormous impact upon speed.
Q: I keep getting a "Not enough memory" message when I try
to run the program and go back to DOS. What can I do?
A. See if you have any other programs running at the same
time. Also load programs into upper memory if you can.
Normally, the Talking Checkbook should work unless a lot of stuff
is also taking up memory.
Q: Will the documentation ever cover all commands etc?
A. Someday. Right now the issue is my hands hurt from all
this programming and writing. If anyone who uses the checkbook
would like to write docs, then that would be wonderful. Also the
program was written to be pretty much self documenting.
Q: What is the ultimate meaning of life?
A. 42.
Q: What about multiple accounts?
A. Good question. I've looked at how to make the program
work with a number of checking accounts along with others, and it
would take a good deal of programming to make it work. Hope to
do it at some point, but adding the hot keys took 12 hours.
Q: Eh! I don't like those hot keys. I keep on pressing
enter or typing the wrong thing and have to trace back through
the menus. Can I do anything other than shoot the stupid
keyboard?
A. Yeah, Don Barrett has added the ability to enable or
disable hot keys and the only thing you will need to remember is
to erase the "Keys.mem" file associated with the prompt at the
start of the checkbook if you want to change to or from hot keys.
While I can certainly appreciate the initial frustration from
going to hot keys after always being able to confirm your choice
with the enter key, I think folks will find the hot key option
much more speedy and easy with a bit of practice. Of course,
it's your money and so do it the way that works for you!
Q: Sometimes when I've run the Talking Checkbook in the
past, I've gotten a "proc" something or another error and the
program crashed. Is there anything I can do to avoid this?
a. Sometimes folks will enter a letter when the program is
looking for a number like at the "enter a check" screen asking
for how much you are paying? The computer code cannot handle
this and drops dead. The same sort of thing can happen if you
not enter dates correctly. Entering December 5, 1995 as "120595"
without slashes would crash the program. Hence always enter
numbers for numbers using the decimal point if you need to and
always enter the date with the so called "MM/DD/YY" format as in
"12/05/95". Other times, it's all our fault! Yeah, bugs crop up
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especially when the programming happens late at night and the
initial checks of the code show no errors. We've taken care with
version 6.1 to run as many options as we think should keep the
thing bug free. If you find one, then let us know, but we think
we've gotten all clear now.
Q: I heard that some other checkbook programs will allow
the user to do electronic banking with a modem. Does the Talking
Checkbook do that?
A. Not yet, but that is something that is being looked into.
It will depend upon memory constraints and any standards for
transfer scripts or protocols. One thing that might work is to
create a separate program that would take the checkbook data and
ask a bunch of questions and write a script that could be run
with an on-line service.
Q: Who is "Tempo" the talking cat?
A. A happy little Kitty that exists in the mind of Charlie
Crawford and jumped out into the code of the adventure game. Has
a nice ring to the name, huh?
Q: Eh! I run the program on the most advanced computer
with lots of disk space, expanded memory and more! It still
either freezes during operation or I get strange things
happening. What can I do?
A: You may have an expanded memory conflict. Try adding
(without the quotes) "clipper=E0000" to your autoexec.bat file.
This tells Clipper not to use expanded memory and while you might
lose a few bytes of memory; you'll gain more sleep and a sense of
security.
Q: I got the checkbook from a friend and while the balance
option gives me the right balance; it always reports wrong when
first entering the checkbook?
A. Your friend may have erased all the checkbook databases
that relate to his or her checkbook, but forgot to erase all the
files with the extension of ".mem" to them. Simply erase those
files and you'll be all set. Type "del *.mem" at the DOS command
line while in the checks subdirectory and they will be gone. Of
course if you have set options like where to backup your files
and so forth, then you would have to reset the option from the
checkbook program since those ".mem" files would be also deleted.
Q: Where did you get all the ideas for these constant
improvements?
A: We got friends. Donna Veno, Scott Marshall, Don Breda,
Eric Bohlman and others have given us some great suggestions
along with a headache or two. Other users have left word on
Blink Link or called to suggest various options and we appreciate
the feedback.
Q: Will you ever be doing DOS environment variables?
A. Yes, I've been looking at them for the next version.
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Q: Where can I get upgrades to the Talking Checkbook or
have questions answered?
A. Normally the Checkbook upgrades appear on various
bulletin boards like Blink Link, The NFB BBS and the MCB BBS
always has them first. To reach the MCB BBS current number, call
area (617)-451-5327 dialing at up to 14.4 BPS using 8,N,1
parameters. If you don't have a modem, then send a diskette to:
The Massachusetts Commission for the Blind
88 Kingston Street
Boston, Ma 02111
Attention: Charles Crawford.
Include your return address and we will just copy it off to
you. Of course the Commission for the Blind nor the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts take no responsibility either for the program or
anything that happens as a result of it's use or non-use.
You can call me at area (617)-727-5550 Extension 4503 with
any questions you may have. I may have to call you back since
writing the Talking Checkbook or the calendar or the address book
or the other programs I have written is not my job. Just for
personal use or fun.
A FEW FINAL WORDS FOR NOW.
Writing the code for the Talking Checkbook has been fun and
a challenge for Don Barrett and I. We have poured many hours,
days and weeks of time into developing it and it works well for
us. We sincerely hope that you can get as much out of it as we
have. Please contact me with any suggestions you might have or
questions and we'll do our best to help out.
Charles Crawford: April 4, 1993
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