Monster Media 1993 #2/Image.iso/personal/billdr21.zip/README.TXT

Text File | 1993-06-12 | 10KB | 218 lines

WELCOME TO THE BILL DRAWER!

This program is designed to help you pay your bills in a timely manner.
Unlike "checkbook" programs, which assume you know what you want to pay,
"The Bill Drawer" helps you organize your bills by their due date,
then gives you powerful features to review, select and write checks for
only the bills you desire.  In addition, there are many features to help
you control and analyze your unpaid bills and expenditures like:

  * Recurring bills
  * Disputed bills
  * Late or discounted payment amounts
  * Cash requirements reporting
  * Multiple expense categories per bill
  * Monthly and yearly statistics for companies and categories
  * Full check register and supporting detail
  * Support for multiple bank accounts
  * Support for multiple preprinted check formats
  * Payment history reporting by company or category
  * 941 tax reporting

Furthermore, The Bill Drawer contains many features to help you control
and reconcile your bank accounts like:

  * Full check register with supporting detail
  * Manual check, deposit and withdrawal entry
  * Control of last check number used
  * Multiple expense categories per check or withdrawal
  * Multiple income categories per deposit
  * Support for voided checks and corrections
  * Monthly and yearly statistics for each bank account
  * Full account reconciliation functions to help balance your statements
  * Tax deductable payment tracking

Finally, recognizing that these are your important financial records,
The Bill Drawer contains a complete security system keyed by user name
and password.  You can fully control who can access any program function,
and whether they can merely look at or update the information presented
by that function.


PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS:
  * Microsoft Windows - The Bill Drawer is a Microsoft Windows
    program, and as such requires Windows version 3.1 or higher.
    This program has been especially optimized for Windows 3.1 and
    will not function with Windows 3.0.

  * MS-DOS version 3.3 or higher is required.

  * A minimum of 3 megabytes of hard disk space is required to install
    and operate the program.

  * SHARE.EXE - The Bill Drawer requires SHARE for both program
    installation and normal operation.  SHARE is a MS-DOS command that
    helps protect the data files from damage if multiple users or
    applications access the files simultaneously.  To load SHARE,
    simply type "SHARE" from the MS-DOS command line BEFORE starting
    Windows.  You can also place the command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

    CAUTION:  IF YOU DO NOT HAVE SHARE LOADED NOW, YOU MUST DO SO
    BEFORE STARTING THE INSTALLATION PROGRAM.


INSTALLATION:
  The Bill Drawer comes with an automated install program, which
  will install the programs, files, and help files required to
  execute the program under Microsoft Windows to your hard disk.

  To execute this install program, follow these steps:

  1. Make sure you have at least 3 megabytes of freespace on your hard
     drive.

  2. Make sure you have SHARE.EXE loaded.

  3. Load Windows and make sure that all extraneous applications
     are closed.

  4. Select the "Run" menu option under "Program Manager File"
     menu.

  5. Run the install program, by entering a command line of
     "A:INSTALL.EXE" or whatever path will point to the install
     program.

  6. View the technical notes by clicking on the "View Tech Notes"
     button.  We suggest you print these notes using the "Print Topic"
     option under the "File" menu.

  7. View the license agreement by clicking on the "View License Info"
     button.

  8. Complete the desired installation options and select "OK".  Use
     the program help, if you don't understand a specific option.


MANUAL INSTALLATION PROCESS:
   Should the automated install program fail for any reason, you
   can try manually installing the program using the following
   steps:

   1. Create a directory on you hard disk for The Bill Drawer.
      For example, "C:\MELSOFT\BILLS".  Off this directory,
      create DATA and BACKUP sub-directories.  For example,
      "C:\MELSOFT\BILLS\DATA" and "C:\MELSOFT\BILLS\BACKUP".

   2. From the DOS command line, run the manual installation procedure
      MANUAL.BAT.  Specify the directory where the distribution files
      reside and the new directory you created as the parameters.
      For example, type "MANUAL A: C:\MELSOFT\BILLS" at the MS-DOS
      command line to copy all the distribution files from "A:" to
      "C:\MELSOFT\BILLS" and "C:\MELSOFT\BILLS\BACKUP".  Note that
      ending back slashes are not entered.

   3. If you did not use the directory name, "C:\MELSOFT\BILLS",
      then you must use the Windows Notepad editor (in the Accessories
      group) to edit the MAP0200.INI file.  This file was copied to
      the directory you specified in step 2.  You will need to change
      the "FileDir=", "BackupDir=" and "ReportDir=" parameters to
      match the directory names you chose.  View the technical notes
      for additional information on these parameters.

   4. Create a new program group and program item, using the
      Windows Program Manager File Menu (New option).  The program
      item should reference the correct path and "MAPMAIN.EXE".
      For example, a command line of "C:\MELSOFT\BILLS\MAPMAIN.EXE"
      would be entered for the new program item.

   5. Double click on the new program item you just created and
      start using The Bill Drawer.  Note that you should not get
      any file missing messages when you start up the program.  If
      you did, then the directory names in the MAP0200.INI file are
      not correctly specified.

   6. It would be greatly appreciated if you would send us a note
      indicating what problems you had with the automatic installation
      program.  Use our registration address and be sure to mention your
      model of computer, amount of memory, MS-DOS Version and MS-Windows
      Version.


REGISTRATION:
In addition to a clear conscious, registration includes the following:

  * The current commercial version of the program and notification of
    new program versions.

  * The Bill Drawer User Guide, a printed manual containing over 130
    pages of information.  It includes information on ordering checks
    and sample check forms.

  * The reporting engine and associated standard reports.  Over fifteen
    different reports are provided to help you get more value out of
    The Bill Drawer.  The reporting engine let's you review these reports
    in a scrollable, re-sizable window, or print them to any Windows
    supported printer.

  * Paradox format files.  The commercial version of The Bill Drawer
    uses Paradox format files.  The Paradox file format is the native
    format of Borland's Paradox database system and is supported by many
    different software products.  Since The Bill Drawer adheres to this
    file format for all it's major files, you can use these products to
    build additional windows, reports or functions specific to your own
    requirements.  For example, you could use Borland's Quattro Pro
    spreadsheet to import bank account, category or company statistics
    and further summarize or graph them.

Note: The commercial version includes a procedure to convert your existing
      shareware Bill Drawer files to the Paradox format.

Per the license agreement, you may use this program for 30 days to evaluate
it's suitability to your needs.  At the end of  this period you must either
register it or delete it from all computer systems where it was installed.
The registration fee is a very reasonable $30 (US) payable to:

  MelissaSoft Systems
  11676 Windcrest Lane
  San Diego, CA 92128

Please use the "REGISTER.TXT" form when registering, you can print it with
Windows Notepad (under the Accessories group).   We have many exciting plans
for future versions of this program, but they will not happen without enough
people telling us they like the program by registering it.


Packing List (Sorted by Extension):
  BNK0200.DAT          Sample data file.
  CAT0200.DAT          Sample data file.
  FRM0200.DAT          Sample data file.
  HST0200.DAT          Sample data file.
  INV0200.DAT          Sample data file.
  RPT0200.DAT          Sample data file.
  SEC0200.DAT          Sample data file.
  VEN0200.DAT          Sample data file.
  MANUAL.BAT           Manual installation procedure.
  LZEXPAND.DLL         Expand installation function.
  MAPIO.DLL            Data file routine.
  MAPUTIL.DLL          Utility functions.
  WBTRCALL.DLL         Data file driver.
  INSTALL.EXE          Installation program.
  MAPMAIN.EXE          The Bill Drawer program.
  MAPHELP.HLP          The Bill Drawer help.
  MAPINST.HLP          Installation help.
  MAP0200.INI          The Bill Drawer configuration file.
  README.TXT           This file.
  REGISTER.TXT         The Bill Drawer registration form.


TRADEMARKS AND COPYRIGHTS:
  The Bill Drawer is (C) Copyright 1993 MelissaSoft Systems.
  All rights reserved.

  Microsoft, MS-DOS, and Windows are either registered trademarks
  or trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.

  All other brand or product names are either registered trademarks
  or trademarks of their respective holders.