

                        GENERAL PHASAR CONVENTIONS

    Welcome to PHASAR. Listed below are general conventions used throughout.

       F1   - Just as you pressed F1 to get this help message, strike F1
            anytime you need help. Most help messages will be in the form
            of pop-up menus. Right-hand mouse button will also get you help.

       F2   - This will bring up a one-line calculator at the bottom of
            the screen.

       Esc  - Use this key to end whatever function you are currently
            performing. There are some places where it makes no sense to
            stop (e.g. in the middle of entering a transaction) and the
            program will request that you finish before exiting. Function
            key F10 is completely equivalent to Esc.

       Tab  - This key will generally cause the program to back up to the
            previous prompt.

       Caps - You may use upper- or lower-case characters anywhere; when the
            program is comparing text, the case of the characters is ignored.


    EDIT MODES: There are three edit modes used by the program. 1) Text
presented in normal video with the first letter highlighted. Strike <Enter> to
accept the text as it is (this is used when the program makes a guess about
what your answer will be). 2) Character-edit mode is shown by reverse video
text with one letter highlighted. Move the cursor (highlighted letter) to any
position in the text and type new letters to insert them, also deleting
letters is permitted. You can move from the first mode to this mode by
striking the right cursor key. 3) An entire word or string of words is
presented in reverse video with no letter highlighted. You'll see this when
editing transactions etc. To enter character-edit mode (number 2 above) strike
the <Enter> key. If you accidentally begin to edit an item striking the <Esc>
key will restore it to its original value.


    SAVE REGISTER FILE: Normally, all changes and additions to the register
file are saved when you quit the program. Because of this you do not have to
explicitly save the register file but you must be sure that you quit the
program and wait for all disk activity to finish before turning off the
computer. Doing an explicit "save register file" is a safety measure in case
you forget to quit the program before turning off the computer or in case
the computer crashes while you are in PHASAR. It's a good idea to use this
selection occasionaly if you are entering a lot of transactions at once.


    VALIDATE REGISTER FILE: Should you ever have a power glitch, this function
will help PHASAR get its bearings and straighten out any mistakes or oversights
in computing category or account summaries. All transactions are "replayed" and
new category sums are computed. New account balances and unconfirmed
transactions summaries are generated. You will also be presented with a summary
showing the number of transactions and comments used each month.


REMEMBER to ask for HELP (<F1> or <Help> or right mouse button) when in doubt.
