Oakland CPM Archive/oakcpm.iso/sigm/vol134/checks.doc

Text File | 1984-04-29 | 19.1 KB | 391 lines

 The CHECKS program was written for my personal use and is
 placed  in  the  public domain for anyone who wants  to  use  it.
 (No business use please) Since it is a 'freeby',  don't  complain
 about  the  organization  of  the  program,  but  if  you  should
 encounter any bugs,  please notify me by letter and I will try to
 fix  them.   Several restrictions are inherent in the program and
 you  must be able to live with them.   If you can't,  then  don't
 bother with the program.

 RESTRICTION #1

 The  maximum  value  which the math  package  can  handle
 without  overflowing  is $83886.07.   Amounts which  exceed  this
 value   will  be displayed as the amount in excess of  $83886.08.
 Overflow will occur if you have more than this amount of money in
 your account at any point in the year,  or if the total value  of
 the  checks  exceed this amount when listing out the  checks.  No
 error  message is printed out if overflow should occur.    If you
 exceed  this  amount,  you  can afford to  buy  something  better
 anyway.

 RESTRICTION # 2

 The  program will only allow 255 different check names in
 any  year's  file.   The  checks program was  translated  from  a
 program I had written for my 6500 system,  and made extensive use
 of  the indexed instruction.    I had a lot of check data that  I
 wanted  to continue using with the Z80 system,  so I  merely  re-
 coded   the   assembly  language  program  and  used   the   same
 organization of the data in the files.

 RESTRICTION # 3

 The  program  requires the user to enter check  names  as
 three  character  mnemonics,  although it keeps in the  file  the
 entire check name for later listing.  For example, when I enter a
 check to Fidelity National Bank, I would use the mnemonic FNB for
 the check name.   You quickly learn how to choose a good mnemonic
 for  the  check name,  and can always get a listing of  mnemonics
 which you have used previously in case you should forget one.

 If  you  feel that you can live with these  restrictions,
 then give the program a try.   The features and operating ease of
 this program will quickly make you ignore these limitations.

 A little more about the program before we get down to the
 nitty-gritty.   Checks  will run on either CP/M 1.4 or  2.2.  The
 program  keeps track of two data files with the name  types  .CHK
 and .NAM.   The filename.CHK file has all the data for the actual
 checks.   Each check entry is packed into eight bytes of code and
 the  distribution  copy  allocates  8 kbytes of  memory  for  the
 checks.   This  gives you the ability to handle 1024 checks in  a
 given year.  The .NAM file contains the name mnemonics and a list
 of  the  corresponding full check names.   Full check  names  are
 limited  to  a 32 character string.


 The  user may specify the disk on which the .CHK and .NAM
 files are located.   If no name is given for the .NAM  file,  the
 program  will  assign the same filename for the .NAM file as  was
 specified  for the .CHK file.   I use the filename 1981  for  the
 check  file  for  year  1981 which  automatically  assigns  files
 1981.CHK and 1981.NAM for use.   Other people who have used  this
 program  find that they normally write checks to the same  people
 year  after  year and do not overflow the 255  name  restriction.
 For  this reason,  you can save a lot of typing by using the same
 name  file  year after year.   To do this,  one might  type  1981
 (space) NAMES which would assign files 1981.CHK and NAMES.NAM  as
 the  files to be used.   Note that the user does not specify  the
 filename  extension because the program does it for you.   If you
 should try it, the program will issue an error message.

 Because  my  wife  and  I both share  the  same  checking
 account,  but  she  has her own checks which might  duplicate  my
 check numbers,  the program allows you to set a 'W' flag to  keep
 to two entries separate.  The program  also has other flags which
 the user can set upon entry,  and yes,  as you might expect,  you
 can get a listing of checks depending on the flag set.  The flags
 which can be set on the distribution copy,  and the meaning which
 I place on them are as follows:

 W  Wife's checks
 R  Returned check
 I  Income tax deductible

 All  three  of the above flags may co-exist in  the  same
 check entry plus one of the following:

 C  Car expenses
 D  Doctor bills
 E  Entertainment expenses
 F  Food
 G  Gasoline
 H  Housing expenses
 M  Medicine
 P  Parts for computer
 S  School expenses
 U  Utility bills

 Five  spare flags are also available,  but have not  been
 defined  during the assembly.   The method of setting or changing
 these flags will be discussed later. A check might have the flags
 IWRS set,  which means an income tax deductible check, written by
 my wife which has returned from the bank for some school  related
 expense.


 The  program  enables you to list all checks  written  to
 some mnemonic name,  to list a monthly balance sheet,  to compute
 the check balance,  to compute the bank balance at the end of the
 month  after  returned checks are entered,  to  list  outstanding
 checks,  to  list checks,  deposits,  and withdrawals  from  your
 account  for  any  month,  or for the year and to  fix  erroneous
 entries for a check,  deposit,  withdrawal,  or change a mnemonic
 name or a full check name.

 Thats  enough about what can be done,  now lets get  down
 how to do it.    Let's assume it is the start of the year, and we
 are opening up a new years record for say 1981.

 A>CHECKS 1981 [NAMES]  [optional entry]

 This  will load CHECKS from the A drive and try to read a
 file  for 1981 from the default drive.   Naturally  nothing  will
 exist,  and  the program will tell you that it could not load the
 check  file,  and will go to the command mode.   The program  has
 assigned  the  names for the .NAM and .CHK files should  data  be
 entered  and  saved.  All  commands begin  with  a  single  alpha
 character  and  will  immediately execute unless an  argument  is
 required.  In this case,  the program waits for the argument  and
 the  carriage return before execution.    If you type a ?  ,  the
 program will display all the command characters,  their  meaning,
 and print the number of names in the current name file.

 The  first thing to enter is the balance in your  account
 at the beginning of the year.   Enter this value as a deposit  by
 hitting the D key.  The program will display the prompts for your
 entry  and  show  you  that this is  deposit  #1.   Deposits  and
 Withdrawals  are  automatically numbered with  255  deposits  and
 withdrawals  permitted in a years record.   If you hit the  space
 bar,  the  cursor is automatically tabbed to the next entry.  The
 month  is  1-12,  the date 1-31,  the amount assumed  in  dollars
 unless a decimal point is entered. Do not specify $ in the amount
 entry.   Legal  check  ,  deposit ,  or withdrawal values are  as
 follows:

     10000
     234.12
     1
     .23

     123.1   is not legal

 For the mnemonic, you might consider STB


 When  you hit the carriage return,  the program  analyzes
 the entry, and looks up STB in the name file to see if it exists.
 Since it does not,  it will ask you if this is a new name.   Type
 'Y'  to  indicate that it is and fill in the full  name  STARTING
 BALANCE when it prompts you for the full name.   When you now hit
 the carriage return,  your first deposit will be entered, and the
 mnemonic  STB and the full name STARTING BALANCE will be  entered
 into the name file.

 Now  hit B.    The program computes the balance by adding
 all  deposits from the beginning of the file and subtracting  the
 value of all checks and withdrawals from the account. Yes you now
 have a balance of the value which you entered.  Now hit  V.  This
 command  is  similar to the balance command except only  returned
 checks  are  subtracted.   The result is the bank  balance  which
 should agree with your bank statement after entering all returned
 checks  at the end of the month.   A check is returned by  typing
 the command R and entering in the check number.  Since no  checks
 have been written,  the bank thinks you have the same amount.

 Suppose  your first check is for cash.   Hit C to enter a
 check.   The check prompt now appears.   Check numbers 1-9999 are
 valid  check numbers.   Fill in the data with the  mnemonic  CAS.
 Use the full name CASH when it comes time to do this.

 Now try the B and V commands again.  Yes, the new balance
 is  the difference between the check and the starting balance but
 the  V command still shows the starting balance.   As far as  the
 program  is concerned,  the check is still outstanding.  You  can
 verify  this by typing the command O,  which shows the  check  to
 still be outstanding.

 Type  the command M and specify CAS when it asks for  the
 check  mnemonic.   The M command lists all checks which Match the
 mnemonic name written during the year.

 Now try to return the check by typing the command R. When
 it  asks  for  the check number,  enter the one  which  you  have
 entered.   Now re-try the B,  V, and O commands.  The check is no
 longer  outstanding  and the bank balance and check book  balance
 now agree.  You can still find the check using the M command.

 When you are typing in any command and make a mistake,  a
 control  X will abort the command and return you to  the  command
 mode.  You  can use backspace (ctrl H) to correct mistakes on any
 entry.

 Since  returning  the check set the R flag,  you can  now
 find  the check using the interrogate command I.  If you  specify
 the R flag, you can now see that a listing of all returned checks
 is possible.   The I command will list all checks which have  the
 specified  flag set.   (a handy way to find income tax deductible
 checks)

Suppose
 I  do,  then  you  can use the W flag in  the  flag  column  when
 entering  the check.   Another way is to precede the check number
 with the letter W.  Thus W123 is wife's check 123 while 123 is my
 check  123.   You can print all your wife's checks by  using  the
 interrogate  command  (I) and telling the program to  use  the  W
 flag.   All other flags may only be specified in the flag column.
 So  to flag all your utility bills for example set the U flag  in
 the flag column when entering the check.

 Withdrawals are amounts automatically deducted from  your
 checking  account  each  month for say a car  payment.    Do  not
 confuse withdrawals with the W flag which is the wife  flag.   To
 enter a withdrawal, hit the command W.  Unlike a check entry, the
 withdrawal  will automatically be deducted from the bank  balance
 at the same time it is  deducted from the check book balance.

 The  A command begins auto-numbering of check entries and
 may  be auto-numbered either with and without the wife  flag.  To
 auto-number wife's checks, type W(check number) when prompted. Do
 not put a space between the W and the check number.   The control
 X command cancels the auto-number mode.

 The  L command is used to list out  checks,  withdrawals,
 deposits,  or  the  names which you have used.   In the  case  of
 checks,  withdrawals,  or  deposits,  the program will ask  which
 month to list.   You can enter a month 1-12 for a specific month,
 or enter a 0 to list the entire year's  activity.

 The  T  command  lists  a monthly balance  sheet  on  the
 console.   The month also is entered as 1-12 or a 0 for a  yearly
 record

 The  P command toggles the output to the printer for  the
 next command.  Thus command P followed by T will list the balance
 sheet  on  the printer.   A command P followed by command M  will
 list on the printer all checks to a specific mnemonic name.   The
 print mode is toggled off at the completion of each command.

 The M command is one of the most valuable commands. In my
 case,  all  my  electric power bills are to AEP  for  Appalachian
 Electric Power.   Thus at the end of the year the command M  with
 the  mnemonic AEP will show the year's total for electric  bills.
 In  a similar fashion,  C&P shows telephone bills,  TEX my Texaco
 gasoline bills, etc. The I command with the G flag will print out
 all gasoline expenses to all companies during the year.


 More  about the L command.   The L command will also  let
 you  list  the mnemonic names and the full names which  you  have
 used.   This is handy in case you forget one.  Type command L and
 specify N for names.  When it asks for the mnemonic name, you can
 hit  an  immediate carriage return to show all the names  in  the
 file.   If  you should just type A followed by a carriage return,
 it will show all mnemonic names starting with the letter A.  In a
 similar  fashion typing CA will show all mnemonics starting  with
 the two letters CA.   It is pretty easy to at least remember  the
 most  logical  first letter of the mnemonic which you might  have
 used for the name.


 Now  it  is time to save the file away after  an  editing
 session.   You can type Q to go to CP/M or S to save the  current
 file  but stay in the checking routine.  The Q command will first
 ask you if you want to save the checks away before  exiting.   If
 you  have  made any changes,  you had better do it or  everything
 which you have added will be lost.   The old file on the disk was
 copied into memory at the beginning of the editing session and is
 still there on the disk.  If you type Y for yes, it will show you
 the  names under which it will be saved.   If you want to  change
 the  names  type N after it asks you if the file names  are  OK?.
 You can use anything like the following


 B:1981  checks and names file on B drive
 B:1981 A:NAMES  checks under name 1981 on B drive
     names under NAMES on the A drive

 One word of warning.   Do not get the checks for one year
 mixed up with the name file for another year.  The program has no
 way  of telling that you have mixed things up and the names  will
 be  all  mixed  up on your check  file.   For  this  reason,  use
 1981.CHK  and  1981.NAM so no possibility exists for this  error.
 Nothing  disastrous  happens if you get them mixed up  until  you
 make a new entry in the file.   Check names are numbered as  they
 are  entered  and  the  check  data  file  only  has  the  number
 corresponding to the check name used.

 The  S command saves the current check and name files  on
 the disk and stays in the checking routine.   This permits you to
 use  the  G  command  which gets a  different  years  record  for
 observation or modification.   You can use the G command to  look
 for  various  years  activities  without  modifying  any  of  the
 contents on the disk.

 To  keep the bank people honest,  at the end of the month
 when my checks return,  I return all the checks enclosed with  my
 statement and hit the V command.   The balance shown should agree
 with  the  bank  as long as no deposits have been made  into  the
 account which do not show in the bank statement.


 Naturally  you  will make some  typing  mistake  sometime
 during  the  use  of the program.   The F command allows  you  to
 retrieve a check, deposit, or withdrawal from the records and fix
 it.  When  you  enter the number of the item  to  be  fixed,  the
 display will show the entry as it has been typed.   The entry may
 be  fixed up as shown on the console display using the control  H
 for backspace,  the control A will add a space at the cursor, and
 the control D will delete the character at the cursor.  A control
 B  will  set  the  cursor to the beginning  of  the  entry  being
 displayed for added convenience.  You may hit the carriage return
 with  the  cursor at any position in the display and  the  entire
 contents  of  the  display will be entered as  shown.  Using  the
 prompts,  you  may change a name mnemonic,  or the full name  for
 typing error.   Suppose you can't remember a mnemonic because you
 used a poor one the first time you entered it.   By changing  the
 mnemonic, all entries in the file will now show the new mnemonic.

 Yes, I can guarantee that sometime or other you will type
 the  same check number in twice for two different  entries.  When
 you try to find the check to return it, only the first entry will
 be  displayed  and the second check with the duplicate entry  can
 not be returned.   And as Mr.  Murphy would have it,  the  second
 entry  had the wrong check number.    The only way to fix this is
 to  fix the number on the first check to some fake  number  which
 has  not been used,  then fix the wrong check and then re-fix the
 first check back to the correct number.  Sorry,  but that is  the
 way it works.  The only way to find this kind of error is to list
 the checks and hunt for that duplicate check number.

  Modifications:

  The  size  of  the check and name files may be  enlarged  by
 changing  the  address   at the equate NFILE.    The  check  file
 starts  loading  at  the address set by the equate at  CFILE  and
 memory  space  is available up to the address  at  NFILE.   Names
 begin at NFILE and the rest of memory up to CCPBAS  is available.
 Each name entry requires 5 bytes of code,  three for the mnemonic
 and two bytes for a pointer to the full name.   Since the maximum
 name  entry is 32 bytes long,  the longest name file possible  is
 9435  bytes.   Be  sure you update CCPBAS to point to  the  first
 location  before  the  base  of your CCP to  insure  you  do  not
 overwrite the CCP.   CCPBAS has been arbitrarily defines as $8000
 in the distribution copy.

  Five  additional  flags may be defined by  replacing  the  %
 characters at the DEFB string at the label CAT:  with the desired
 flag character.  The flag characters N,W,I,R are reserved for use
 in the program and may not be doubly defined.


  Cursor  control  characters  which may vary  with  different
 video  displays  are  defined  at the  beginning  of  the  source
 listing.   The program may be warm started by jumping to 100H  in
 case  you should forget to save the data on the disk and returned
 to  CP/M.   You can do this by executing GO 100 if you are  using
 CCPZ  or by previously saving a zero length file using  the  CP/M
 save command with the name GO and typing GO when you are in CP/M.

  Checks is only a 9k program, and will run in systems with as
 little as 16k of memory. To be safe,  you should  re-assemble
 the  program after redefining CCPBAS to insure the name file does
 not  overflow  the CCP,  and redefine NFILE to 4500H  to  give  a
 little more space for the name file.


 Yes,  the program has its limitations but it works and it
 puts a lot of power at a few keystrokes once you learn how to use
 it.  I am willing to listen to all suggestions how to improve it.

  Ralph Sherman
  15 Hydaway drive
  Forest, Va.
  24551
  (804)-525-3167