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The Debt Analyzer A Financial Software Tool for Debt Reduction and Debt Elimination Copyright 1992-93 Insight Software Solutions THE DEBT ANALYZER TABLE OF CONTENTS General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 About Insight Software Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Contents of Distribution Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Program Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Getting Started With the Debt Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . 4 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Running The Debt Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Screen Layout In The Debt Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Common Screen Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Menu Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Data Input Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Data View Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Moving Around In The Debt Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Menu System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Moving Field to Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Editing Within a Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Special Fixed Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Special Function Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Debt Entry Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Loan Payment Matrix Inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Loan Consolidation Inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Function Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Effective Rate Calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Print Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Print Report Inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Print Report Function Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 On-line User Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Color Attribute Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Printer Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Report Printing Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Miscellaneous Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Filing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Page 1 THE DEBT ANALYZER General Information Disclaimer Insight Software Solutions makes no warranties or representations of any kind, expressed or implied, including any implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for any particular purpose. Insight Software Solutions shall not be liable for any errors contained herein or for any loss of profit or for incidental or consequential damages or for any other damages. About Insight Software Solutions Insight Software Solutions is located in Bountiful, Utah. Please send any inquiries, questions, suggestions or comments to the following address: INSIGHT SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS P.O. BOX 354 BOUNTIFUL, UT 84011-0354 Tel: (801) 295-1890 Fax: (801) 299-1781 BBS: (801) 963-8721 CIS: [71672,3464] In Canada Contact: US-CAN COMPUTER SERVICES INC. BOX 34146, 1200 37th St. S.W. Calgary, Alberta T3C 3W2 Tel: (403) 243-2393 Fax: (403) 243-2396 Orders Only: 1-800-663-1537 Internet: BARRY.DUFRESNE@T8000.CUC.AB.CA Contents of Distribution Disk The Debt Analyzer diskette contains several files which are needed for optimal performance. Their names and functions are listed below. DEBT.EXE This is the main executable program. DEBT.CFG This contains program configuration information such as screen color and printer selections. This file is automatically created if not found. DEBT.PTR This contains printer definitions for a variety of printers. DEBT.DOC This is the User Manual for The Debt Analyzer. DEBT.BAT This is a start up batch file for hard disks. INSTALL.EXE This copies the program to a hard disk. DEBT.DAT This contains all saved client information. Page 2 THE DEBT ANALYZER Program Support Once registered, you will receive notification of major updates and new products. Registration includes a 90 day support policy where free updates will be provided for major problems. If a problem cannot be resolved, then a refund of money will be made. Insight Software Solutions offers support through the mail, phone, fax, BBS and CIS. Please refer to the address and phone numbers on the previous page. Our official support BBS is the Rocky Mountain Software BBS (RMS). RMS can be reached 24 hours a day at (801) 963-8721 where a conference dedicated to us can be found. Our latest software products and versions, bulletins, news and message system are located on RMS under conference #4. RMS accepts modem baud rates of 1200 to 38400. Insight Software Solutions is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principal works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007.3536. Page 3 THE DEBT ANALYZER Getting Started With the Debt Analyzer System Requirements The Debt Analyzer is almost hardware independent. It will run on most PC systems. The minimum requirements are as follows: IBM type PC, XT, AT, 386, 486 or PS/2 (or compatible) 512K Ram Dos 2.0 or higher any monochrome, color, or composite monitor virtually any printer that supports condensed printing Installation The Debt Analyzer may be run from either a floppy or hard disk. There are no special installation procedures to set up the program. To load the program onto a hard disk, simply copy the contents of the floppy diskette onto the hard disk. We recommend that it be placed into its own subdirectory. An installation program called INSTALL.EXE is provided to assist you in the installation of the program on a hard drive. From the A> prompt, simply type "INSTALL". This will prompt you through the installation process. Running The Debt Analyzer To run The Debt Analyzer, simply type "DEBT". This can be done from the floppy disk or from a hard drive if you used the provided installation procedure. Page 4 THE DEBT ANALYZER Screen Layout In The Debt Analyzer Common Screen Lines There are several common screen lines found in The Debt Analyzer. This includes the first, second, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, and twenty-fifth lines. The first line contains the current date and time as specified by DOS; it also contains the copyright notice of INSIGHT SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS. The second line is part of the box surrounding the user work area; it generally contains a centered title describing the function of the current screen. The twenty- third line is the status line--it shows the status of the Help, Caps, Scroll Lock, Num Lock, and Insert keys. The twenty-fourth line is the prompt line. It indicates what you are supposed to do for a given input field. The twenty-fifth line is the Function Keys Status line. It shows what Function Keys (F1, F2, ...) are available for use and what their particular functions are. Menu Screens Menu Screens appear as a list of numbered items. A movable highlight bar indicates the current menu selection. Data Input Screens Data Input Screens contain fields or areas which can be changed. These fields are generally preceded by a label indicating what type of value is needed for the field. Data View Screens Data View Screens contain scrollable text for your viewing. Where applicable, the text can be scrolled up and down and left and right. Indications of the current location in the text are given on the left side of the status line. Page 5 THE DEBT ANALYZER Moving Around In The Debt Analyzer Menu System Menus appear as a list of numbered options. To select the option desired, press the associated number. An alternate method of selection is to use the arrow keys along with the <Enter> key. One option is always highlighted and indicates the current option. To change the current option, press the UP and DOWN arrow keys to move the highlight bar. Once the desired option is highlighted, press the <Enter> key to make the selection. Moving Field to Field Moving from one field to another field can be accomplished by many different keystrokes. Listed below is a summary of the keystrokes available and the functions they perform. ENTER KEY: Moves the cursor to the next logical field. RIGHT ARROW KEY: If the cursor is on the last editing character of the field, this key moves the cursor to the right of the current field. LEFT ARROW KEY: If the cursor is on the first character of the field, this key moves the cursor to the field to the left of the current field. DOWN ARROW KEY: Moves the cursor to the field below the current field. UP ARROW KEY: Moves the cursor to the field above the current field. PAGE DOWN KEY: Moves the cursor to the last field on the screen. PAGE UP KEY: Moves the cursor to the first field on the screen. TAB KEY: Moves the cursor to the next logical field. TAB LEFT KEY: Moves the cursor to the previous logical field. <CTRL> RIGHT ARROW KEY: Moves the cursor to the field to the right of the current field. <CTRL> LEFT ARROW KEY: Moves the cursor to the field to the left of the current field. Page 6 THE DEBT ANALYZER Editing Within a Field Editing within a field can be accomplished with many different keystrokes. Listed below is a summary of the keystrokes available and the functions they perform. RIGHT ARROW KEY: Moves the cursor one character to the right. LEFT ARROW KEY: Moves the cursor one character to the left. HOME KEY: Moves the cursor to the beginning of the field. END KEY: Moves the cursor to the last character in the field. BACKSPACE KEY: Moves the cursor to the left one character and erases that character and shifts all trailing characters to the left one space. INSERT KEY: Toggles between insert mode and typeover mode. DELETE KEY: Erases the character under the cursor and shifts all trailing characters to the left one space. ALPHA/NUMERIC KEY: Outputs the character where the cursor is and moves the cursor over to the right, one space. If insert mode is on, then all trailing characters are moved to the right, one space. Special Fixed Fields There are certain fields which have fixed values. When the cursor is moved to these fields, a window of choices appears. Each choice has either an associated number or letter next to it. Pressing the associated number or letter automatically makes the desired selection and moves the choice into the input field. Page 7 THE DEBT ANALYZER Special Function Keys There are a number of special function keys which perform a variety of tasks. These keys are as follows. <ESC> KEY: This key always takes you back one level from where ever you are. For example: if you enter a screen from a menu, then the <Esc> key will take you back to that menu. <F1> KEY: This key is the help key. It toggles off and on whether help messages should be shown with each input. <F2>..<F10> KEYS: These other function keys may or may not be active and have different functions in different parts of the program. Brief explanations of what these keys do are displayed on the screen in the Function Key line. Detailed information is given under the documentation of each particular screen as to which Function Keys are active and what their function is. Page 8 THE DEBT ANALYZER Debt Entry Screen Loan Payment Matrix Inputs TITLE: This is a title line printed on the top of the report. This uses a line on the report only if something is entered; therefore, you can fit more of the report on a page if the title is left blank. PRODUCED FOR: This is for personalizing the report. This uses a line on the report only if something is entered; therefore, you can fit more of the report on a page if this is left blank. Please note that if you are saving and restoring client information, that the filer system distinguishes unique cases by this name; therefore, you should specify a name if you wish to save multiple client information. PRODUCED BY: This is for personalizing the report. This uses a line on the report only if something is entered; therefore, you can fit more of the report on a page if this is left blank. START DATE: The first date that you will begin to make payments using the loan payment matrix. DEBT REDUCTION TYPE: Specifies the type of loan reduction method to use. This must be set to "Debt Payoff Matrix" in order to produce a loan payment matrix. USE MINIMUM PAYMENT: If you are currently paying more than the minimum payments on your loan, you make elect to have minimum payments paid on the lower priority loans. The difference between the minimum payment and current payment will be applied to the high priority loans. EXTRA PAYMENT: If you wish to accelerate your loan payments, you may specify the extra amount to be applied to the loans each month here. If you do not wish to make extra payments, then leave this empty. PRIORITY METHOD: This is the priority in which to payoff the debts. You may choose one of 9 predefined priorities or you may enter your own priority by choosing the "User Specified" option. The predefined priority methods are as follows: Highest Rate First--The debts with the highest interest rates are paid off first. Smallest Debt First--The debts with the smallest balance are paid off first. Largest Debt First--The debts with the largest balance are paid Page 9 THE DEBT ANALYZER off first. Smallest Minimum Payment First--The debts with the smallest minimum payment are paid off first. Largest Minimum Payment First--The debts with the largest minimum payment are paid off first. Smallest Current Payment First--The debts with the smallest current payment are paid off first. Largest Current Payment First--The debts with the largest current payment are paid off first. Shortest Term Debt First--Under the current conditions, the program determines how long it will take to payoff each debt given the payment, balance and interest rate. Those debts which will normally take the shortest time to be paid off, are given the highest priority to be paid off first. Longest Term Debt First--Under the current conditions, the program determines how long it will take to payoff each debt given the payment, balance and interest rate. Those debts which will normally take the longest to be paid off, are given the highest priority to be paid off first. The following field names appear as headers on the screen. These fields represent the information regarding a debt. Under each header, up to 20 values may be entered. Each value represents a unique debt. DEBT: The name of the debt. This may be a credit card, a bank loan, a car loan or any type of loan you may have. MINIMUM PAYMENT: The minimum payment required on the loan. CURRENT PAYMENT: The current payment that you are making on the loan. If you are making minimum payments, then enter the minimum payment. CURRENT BALANCE: The current loan balance--it is the amount currently owed on the loan. EFFECTIVE INT. RATE: The annual EFFECTIVE interest rate on the loan. PLEASE NOTE: if the interest rate is 18.00% compounded monthly, then the effective interest rate is 19.5618% and NOT 18.00%. PAYOFF PRIORITY: Specifies the priority of which debt to eliminate first. The lower the priority, the sooner a loan is paid off. Therefor, a priority of 1 will be paid off before a priority of 2. Page 10 THE DEBT ANALYZER Loan Consolidation Inputs The Loan Consolidation feature uses many of the same fields as the loan payment matrix. These fields are the Title, Produced For, Produced By and Start Date. In addition, the debt information fields is a subset of those used in the loan payment matrix. These include the Debt, Current Payment, Current Balance and Effective Int. Rate. If not specified below, please refer to the description of the field under the Loan Payment Matrix Inputs section. START DATE: The first date that you will begin to make payments on the new consolidated loan. DEBT REDUCTION TYPE: Specifies the type of loan reduction method to use. This must be set to "Loan Consolidation" in order to produce a loan consolidation report and schedule. CONSOLIDATE METHOD: When consolidating a loan, you may choose an automatic method or specify either the amount you want to pay on the new loan or the number of months you want to pay on the new loan. In the automatic method, the payment is automatically determined by the total of the payments on all current debts. The term of the loan is then calculated automatically. If you elect to specify the amount, the number of months to pay will automatically be calculated for you. If you elect to specify the number of months, then the amount to be paid will automatically be calculated for you. PAYMENT AMOUNT: This only appears if the consolidate method is selected as Payment--it is the payment you wish to pay on your new consolidated loan. By specifying the payment, the number of months to make the payment will automatically be calculated for you. MONTHS IN LOAN: This only appears if the consolidate method is selected as Term--it is the number of months you wish to pay on you new consolidated loan. By specifying the term, the monthly payment will automatically be calculated for you. NEW EFFECTIVE RATE: This is the new annual effective rate of the loan. Page 11 THE DEBT ANALYZER Function Keys F4 KEY (VIEW/PRINT): This invokes the Print Report Screen. This screen allows for several options on how your report is to appear. Please refer to the Print Report section for more information. F5 KEY (MISC): This invokes a Miscellaneous Options menu. Four items appear on the menu. The are "Effective Rate Calculator", "Clear All Debts", "Remove One Debt" and "Squeeze All Debts". The "Effective Rate Calculator" allows you to play "what if" scenarios with the effect of compounding on an interest rate. See the section on the Effective Rate Calculator. "Clear All Debts" allows you to reset all the debt information back to nothing. This is useful for starting over or for starting on a new client. "Remove One Debt" simply allows you to clear any specified debt from the screen. "Squeeze All Debts" provides a method to squeeze all the debts entered into the first debt entry fields. For example, if you have entered 5 debts and you delete debt #3, you will then have debts 1, 2, 4 and 5 active. By squeezing them, you will move debt #4 into the 3rd position and debt #5 into the 4th position. F6 KEY (FILER): This invokes the saving and retrieving of client information menu. Please refer to the section on the Filer System for more information. F7 KEY (MANUAL): This invokes the user manual. Please refer to the section on the On-line User Manual for more information. F8 KEY (CONFIGURATION): This invokes the configuration menu. Please refer to the section on the Configuration for more information. Page 12 THE DEBT ANALYZER Effective Rate Calculator The effective rate calculator is invoked by either pressing the ALT and E key simultaneously or by selecting option #1 from the miscellaneous menu (F5 Key). The effective rate calculator allows you to determine true interest rates based on a compounding factor. You simply enter the rate, the current compounding mode and the desired compounding mode. Press F2 (Calculate) and the effective interest rate is displayed. The following describes the fields: CURRENT RATE: This is the interest rate you are converting from. It is the interest rate that you know. CURRENT COMPOUND: This is the compound method used to derive the current interest rate. If your current interest rate is compounded on an annual basis, then you would select "Annual". DESIRED COMPOUND: This is the compound method that will be used to derive the effective annual interest rate. For example: if you have a credit card that charges 18.00% a year, but the rate is compounded monthly, you would enter the "Current Rate" as "18", the "Current Compound" as "Annual" and the "Desired Compound" as "Monthly". Press the F2 Key and your effective interest rate shows up as 19.5618% Page 13 THE DEBT ANALYZER Print Report Print Report Inputs The Print Schedule/Summary screen allows for a variety of options which affect the way the reports are to be printed. The fields are listed below with their respective functions. PRINT DESTINATION: This function allows you to specify where the report is to be sent--it can be sent to the screen, printer or an ASCII text file. The report appears on the screen as it will appear when it is printed. When viewing the report on the screen, a function key is available to send the report directly to the printer without having to come back and change the print destination to the printer. FILE NAME TO SAVE: This specifies the name of the file where you want to send the printed report. You may enter any valid path and file combination. An invalid file name will result in a warning at the time you press F4 to print it. This field only appears if the print destination is to a file. YEARLY BASIS: This function allows you to select how the cumulative totals of the schedule are to be displayed. They can be displayed on either a calendar or fiscal year basis. A fiscal year basis displays the totals at exact yearly intervals. For example, a loan paid monthly which starts in March would show totals each March. If a calendar basis is chosen, totals would be shown at the end of each calendar year. For example, a loan which starts in April would show totals each December or end of the year. CUMULATIVE VALUES: This allows you to show each line of values as cumulative totals from all previous years or months in the report. DOLLAR VALUES: This function specifies the use of dollar values in the report. If "no" is selected, cents appear in the figures. You would normally use dollar values if you prefer working with whole numbers or if you are working with a very large debts where the numbers start to merge when showing the cents. DATE FORMAT: This specifies the format in which the dates will appear in a report. For example, a date of October 23, 1992 would appear as follows: MM/DD/YY = 10/23/92 DD/MM/YYYY = 23/10/1992 MM-DD-YY = 10-23-92 DD-MM-YYYY = 23-10-1992 MM.DD.YY = 10.23.92 DD.MM.YYYY = 23.10.1992 Page 14 THE DEBT ANALYZER MM/DD/YYYY = 10/23/1992 YY-MM-DD = 92-10-23 MM-DD-YYYY = 10-23-1992 YY.MM.DD = 92.10.23 MM.DD.YYYY = 10.23.1992 YYYY-MM-DD = 1992-10-23 DD/MM/YY = 23/10/92 YYYY.MM.DD = 1992.10.23 DD-MM-YY = 23-10-92 MMM YYYY = Oct 1992 DD.MM.YY = 23.10.92 DD MMM YY = 23 Oct 92 PAGES TO PRINT: This specifies which pages of the report you wish to print. You can print a summary page, a schedule or both. DATES ON ALL PAGES: This field only appears for the Debt Payoff Matrix option. When there are more than 5 debts to be paid off, the matrix becomes too large to fit on one page. A second page and a possible third page may be needed. These pages can be printed with just the debt information or they can have the payment date and payment amounts in the left column of the page just like the first page. By selecting a "Y" here, the dates and payments will appear on the second and third pages. Print Report Function Keys F4 KEY (START PRINT): This function starts the actual printing of the report. Based on the print destination, it either sends the report to the screen or the printer. Page 15 THE DEBT ANALYZER On-line User Manual The Debt Analyzer provides the capability to review this manual on-line. The manual review is accessed by use of the F7 Manual function key. Once selected, the user manual is loaded into memory and displayed on the screen; you can scroll through at will by use of the arrow keys and PgUp and PgDn keys. The manual can be printed by your printer by pressing the F2 key. The file "DEBT.DOC" contains the user manual--it is in standard ASCII format and can be read in by virtually any editor or word processor. It can be printed by simply using the Dos Print command. (PRINT DEBT.DOC) Page 16 THE DEBT ANALYZER Configuration The configuration section allows you to configure the program to work with the printer of your choice, to work with the colors of your choice, to select default report printing options and to set miscellaneous options. Pressing the F8 Configuration function key brings up this menu. The menu contains four options. The first is to allow you to change the colors used in the program. The second is to select a printer and set up specific printer options. The third is for selecting Report Printing Defaults. The fourth is for setting up miscellaneous functions and data in the program. Color Attribute Selection Selecting the color attribute option brings up a screen with a list of all the different areas where different colors are used and a displayed list of color to choose from. These are listed below with a brief description of what areas are effected by the specified color attribute names. Listed below the attribute names is a list of active Function Keys which can help in setting up your colors. SCREEN ATTRIBUTE: The color that the screen uses everywhere except for the following special areas. This is the most common color. FIELD ATTRIBUTE: The color that input fields appear in while they are not being edited. This distinguishes them from normal text on the screen. EDIT ATTRIBUTE: The color of an input field while it is being edited. This helps identify where you are at on the screen. FKEY ATTRIBUTE: The color that the FKey line appears in at the bottom of the screen. ERROR ATTRIBUTE: The color that error messages pop up in. MENU NORMAL ATTRIBUTE: The color that pop up scrollable selection windows appear in. MENU HIGHLIGHT ATTRIBUTE: The color that the highlighted selection of menus and pop up scrollable selections appear in. STATUS ATTRIBUTE: The color that the screen title appears in. Also the color of the Caps Lock, Num Lock, Insert, Scroll, and Help status. Page 17 THE DEBT ANALYZER F2 KEY (SHOW COLOR): Displays the current color specified in the field where the cursor is located. The color is displayed in a window in the bottom right corner. F3 KEY (OTHER COLORS): There are 256 colors available, but only 128 of them are displayed on the screen at one time. The F3 Key toggles between displaying the different sets of 128 colors. F4 KEY (DEFAULT MONO): Automatically sets all the fields to the default colors selected by Insight Software Solutions for a monochrome monitor. F5 KEY (DEFAULT COLOR): Automatically sets all the fields to the default colors selected by Insight Software Solutions for a color monitor. Printer Selection The printer selection brings up a menu which has several options. The options are to Select A Printer, Delete A Printer, Add A Printer, Modify A Printer, and to Alter Line Spacing and Margins. Below the menu items is a list of the current printer specifications. Selecting a printer brings up a list of printers. Simply use the arrow keys to highlight your printer type and press the <Enter> key. If your printer is not listed, you may try several of the printers listed to see if your printer is compatible with one of those listed. If it is not, then you may enter your own printer definition for your exact printer. Deleting a printer definition should not be used very often. Simply use the arrow keys to select the printer definition to be deleted and press the <Enter> Key. You will be prompted to verify that you really want to delete the printer definition. Adding a printer definition can be difficult if you are not familiar with printer control sequences. Selecting this option brings up a printer input screen; it asks for a printer name along with many different printer control sequences. The printer control sequences need to be entered in hexadecimal notation. If you are unable of performing this task, Insight Software Solutions is willing to set up your printer definition for free if you are a registered user and you send Insight Software Solutions a copy of the control codes out of your printer manual. Modifying a printer definition brings up the same screen as Adding A Printer definition, you may then change any of the Page 18 THE DEBT ANALYZER fields desired. If the printer name is changed, the changed definition will not be overwritten but will appear as a new printer definition--this allows you to create a similar printer definition without rekeying all the control sequences back in. The altering line spacing and margins allows you to specify seven different items. These items are: the top margin, left margin, line spacing, page pausing, IBM graphics characters, Printer Port and printer error bypass. The illustration is automatically centered on the page left to right starting at line one. If you desire a top margin it can be specified. (Note: Laser printers should not normally specify a top margin.) If a larger left margin is desired (for punched holes, etc) then a larger left margin can be specified. The line spacing can be sent to either 6 lines per inch or 8 lines per page if more information per page is desired. "Pause After Each Page" allows you to insert new pieces of paper if your printer does not have continuous form paper. Selecting the IBM graphics characters, tells the program to build the illustration using graphic characters for dashes and double dashes. Using the graphic characters produces a solid line. These characters are used under headings, etc. Some printers do not support these characters. If you select this option and you get strange results on your printout, then you will need to turn this option off. You may select to have your printed output go to either LPT1, LPT2 or LPT3; this is helpful if you have more than one printer connected to your computer. You may select to have the program bypass all printer error checking. There are rare cases where the printer error checking can cause an error message to display even though there really is not an error. Certain hardware like an automatic printer switching box or some software spoolers may cause this. You may turn the error checking off by selecting "Y" here to avoid this rare problem. CAUTION: If your system works with the error checking on, then DO NOT turn it off. If there is a real printer problem, the computer could get hung and require a reboot. Page 19 THE DEBT ANALYZER Report Printing Defaults The Report Printing Defaults section brings up a screen identical to the Print Report screen. In this section, you choose the values you want to use most frequently in the Print Report screen. The values chosen here in the Report Printing Defaults will be those which appear automatically in the Print Report screen when the program is initially run. Please refer to the section on Print Report screen for more specific detail on the fields. Miscellaneous Selection The Miscellaneous Configuration section allows you to adjust the program and the reports and schedules to your preference. There are seven inputs--the first three are for permanent illustration header lines. Typically these lines would be set to your company name and address, but can be set to anything. These lines appear at the top of every illustration before anything else and do not need to be retyped each time the program is run--they are saved and retrieved each time it is used. By selecting the "Turn Sound Off" selection, most sound effects will not occur. If you do not wish to see the startup logo each time you run The Debt Analyzer, then you may select "Bypass Logo at Start". By selecting "Erase Numeric Fields", the program will clear a numeric field of its current value when you type a digit as the first thing you do when editing the field. "Erase Alpha Fields" is identical to the "Erase Numeric Field", but applies to fields that allow normal alphabetic text. Page 20 THE DEBT ANALYZER Filing System The Debt Analyzer provides the capability to save and retrieve all information that has been entered. To invoke this option, press the F6 Filer function key--this will bring up a menu. The menu allows you to load saved client information or save out the existing client information you are working on. Multiple clients are distinguished by the name specified as the client. When saving client information, if a client by that name already exists, you will be prompted to either not save or to overwrite the existing client. Retrieving client information is simple. A list of all saved client names will appear. You can scroll through the client names and by pressing the <Enter> Key, load in the highlighted client. Saved client information can be marked for deletion by pressing the F2 (MARK A CASE) Key. This simply puts a little box to the left of the client name. You can mark as many as desired for deletion. No client information is deleted until the F3 (DELETE MARKED CASES) key is pressed. Pressing the F3 (DELETE MARKED CASES) Key still gives you one more chance to back out before deletion begins. Page 21