Palm Utilities/Palm_Utilities_CD-ROM_2001_2001.iso/files/misc/Handy Quote 1.0/hqsetup.exe/{app}/hq.txt

Text File | 2000-07-25 | 10.5 KB | 234 lines

Handy Quote

Version 1.4
Copyright (c) 2000, ComputAssist
Omaha, Nebraska
http://computassist.hypermart.net/

Handy Quote (HQ) is an order estimating / pricing application for
Palm OS devices, including Palm Pilots, IIIs, Vs and VIIs, and
Handspring Visors.  Write up quotes for your customers on the trade
show floor, in the hotel lobby, on the phone or face-to-face.  You
can give them an instant price quote for any order, no matter how
complex.

HQ stores hundreds of products and their prices (including
multi-level price breaks for quantity orders!)  Every quote you
write can be saved as a memo in the Memo Pad, or exported as a .csv
file to any spreadsheet or database application on your PC.  You can
write as many quotes as your PDA has room to store, and store
multiple catalogs for different vendors or product lines.

If you have the trial version of HQ, you are allowed to add a
maximum of three line items to a quote.  All other capabilities are
complete and fully functional, so you can see how HQ will work with
your catalog.  If you find HQ meets your needs, you are encouraged
to register to get the full version, capable of storing up to 99
line items per quote.  If HQ is missing a feature you need, please
contact ComputAssist about future plans for HQ, or to get a
customized version.


Installation

Refer to the readme.txt file for all program installation
instructions.  Be sure you Hotsync once before you try to install a
catalog using the HQdesktop program!


Data Preparation

The HQdesktop program loads your catalog from a comma-separated
values (.csv) file into a CASL database, ready for Hotsyncing to
your PDA.  Most spreadsheet and database programs are capable of
saving to this type of file.  Each HQ catalog can store up to 500
products for you.  The structure of the .csv file must be as
follows:

TYPE        FIELD       DESCRIPTION
Character   Citemno     Product or catalog number; must be unique,
                        max. 20 characters

Character   Cdesc       Item description; max. 30 characters

Character   Cdept       Optional dept code; "A" through "H" used to
                        narrow list, max. 1 character

Numeric     Nprc        Unit price; default price per item

Numeric     Lmultilevel Optional multilevel price flag; 0 = default
                        price, 1 = multi-level pricing

Numeric     Mlqty1      Quantity break; first price break level

Numeric     Mlqty2...10 Nine more fields, ascending list of price
                        break levels 2 thru 10

Numeric     Mlprc1      Multi-level price; price for first quantity
                        level given in Mlqty1

Numeric     Mlprc2...10 Nine more prices for each quantity level
                        given in Mlqty2 thru 10

A note about department codes:  some users have catalogs that go
deep.  Finding the item you want out of your entire catalog can
involve far too much paging up and down, unless you use department
codes to filter out the type of product you want.  Departments vary
from company to company, so HQ provides a simple breakdown by a
letter code, which you can assign to your own departments however
you see fit.  If you use department values from "A" through "H", HQ
will filter out the groups of products for each department in the
Add screen.  Whether or not you want to use departments, you must
include the field in the .csv file.

Example of three items, the first two assigned to depts, the third
not assigned:

"LM257-24D","8-bit A/D converter (8 ch. mp)","B",2.95,0
"002-2343-110","PNP power transistor","G",1.09,0
"150949","20x4 LCD module"," ",89.95,0

Multi-level pricing (MLP) is a feature of HQ not found in other
write-up programs.  It's optional, so if all your pricing is
standard per-unit amount, you don't have to use MLP at all (nor do
you need to include the MLP fields in the .csv file.)  If you would
like to take advantage of MLP, include the extra pricing information
in the .csv file that you build for HQ.  Set the Lmultilevel flag to
1, and follow it in the same line of the .csv. with ten quantity
break values, and ten multi-level prices.  If you don't have breaks
out to the tenth level, just fill in the remaining levels with
zeros.

Example of two items using multi-level pricing:
"001-51-847","LED flasher/oscillator","B",4.95,1,1,6,12,25,50,100, ( 200,500,1000,5000,4.95,4.49,3.95,3.69,3.49,3.34,3.22,3.05,2.99,2.89
"001-4040-432","Switching Regulator","B",1.95,1,1,10,100,0,0,0,0,0,0, ( 0,1.95,1.75,1.49,0.00,0.00,0.00,0.00,0.00,0.00,0.00

A sample .csv file is included with HQ to demonstrate department
codes and multi-level pricing.  Open Hqsample.csv with a text editor
or spreadsheet program to view the details.

So, you have your data exported from your catalog database and
you're ready to get it into your Palm.  Let's get going!

Run the HQdesktop program that you installed earlier.  It's a
simple, one-form program that's easy to use.  If you have Hotsynced
since installing the CASL conduit, HQdesktop will find your CASL
database folder for you.  If you haven't installed the conduit yet,
or if you have but haven't Hotsynced once since doing so, exit the
HQdesktop and take care of those details first.  If you've installed
the conduit and hotsynced, but HQdesktop doesn't find your CASL
database folder, you can browse for it yourself.  Look in your Palm
user folder (probably C:\Palm\your_user_name) for a folder called
CASL.

Once your CASL database folder is located, just open the .csv data
file you prepared earlier, or enter its location into the source
file box, and click Import.  HQdesktop will import the data and
format it for syncing with your Palm.  Perform one more Hotsync to
load the catalog and you're ready to go!


Palm program interface

On startup, HQ allows you to choose the catalog you want to use.  A
word of explanation about the files you see listed:  there are two
data files associated with each catalog.  One has the name you saved
it with on the desktop, the other has the same name followed by
"ml".  This second file contains the multilevel pricing information
for the catalog.  When you select a catalog, always be sure to
select the main file which has the shorter name (without the "ml"
suffix.)  Also, you may see other files listed if you are running
other CASL applications.  If you choose an incorrect file by
mistake, HQ will notify you and let you try again.

HQ then loads the catalog you selected.  The program will load a
maximum of 500 items from your catalog.  If there are more than 500
items, the remaining ones will not be loaded.  A count of the number
of items in each dept will be tallied.  A new, blank quote will be
displayed, ready to add items. The quote starts out with all depts
selected, and the quote date set to today's date.

The screen objects

Customer - You can enter the customer name now or at any later time
during the editing of this quote.  Just tap in the text area and
enter the name.  Graffiti works just fine here -- although the
Graffiti state indicator is hidden, you can use caps strokes,
punctuation, and other Graffiti features for entry.

Quote Date - Tap the date to bring up the date picker, and choose
the date from the Palm calendar.  If you cancel the date picker, the
quote date will remain unchanged.

Item list - Displays the quote line items entered so far.  You can
tap a line item here to select it before choosing Edit or Delete.

New button - This button asks you if you want to start a new quote,
and optionally load a different catalog.  Choosing New starts a new
quote, destroying any unsaved information.  Tapping Load takes you
back to the opening form, where you can choose a catalog to use, and
then starts a new quote.  You are given a chance to cancel the
operation.

Save button - Saves quote information to your choice of memo format:
a formatted memo with a header of "Handy Quote: " followed by the
company name, quote date, line items, and total; or a
comma-separated values file with the same information.  The .csv
file can be copied from your Palm desktop program and pasted into
your spreadsheet app, saved as a file and opened directly from your
spreadsheet, or imported into a database.  Consult your other
application's documentation for the methods required.

If the customer name is empty when you choose to save, a message
will ask you to confirm that you want to save without a name (saving
with no name may make it difficult for you to recall the customer
information later.)  Tap cancel to go back to the quote and enter a
name.

Add button - The Add button takes you to the Add / Edit form.  If
you're at the line item count limit, you will see a message, "No
more items can be added."  Otherwise, you will see the Add screen.

Edit button - Allows you to edit a previously entered line item.
Tap the Save button after you have made your changes, or Quit to
cancel your changes.

Del button  - After a confirming message is answered, deletes the
selected line item from the quote and recalculates the quote total
amount.

The Add screen objects

The Add screen helps you find the product you want to quote,
displays details regarding the products listed, and allows you to
add or edit line items.  The interface includes a department
selector bar across the top, a catalog list, a product info area on
the right side, quantity fields, and Add and Quit buttons.

Department Selector - You may set a filter on the catalog by using
the department selector bar across the top of the Add screen.  When
you do, the currently selected department will be displayed, and the
count of items in  that department will be shown in the upper right
of the product info area.

PgUp / PgDn buttons - Use these to scroll up and down through the
catalog.

Quantity - Enter the quantity here.  HQ will show you the unit price
for the selected item.  If it's a multi-level price, it will look up
the price from the MLP price table and price the line based on the
number you have entered.

Any time you have selected a product and entered a quantity, HQ
recalculates the item total.  If it's an MLP item, an 'M' flag will
appear beside the unit price to notify you of the fact.

Add (Save) button - Adds the entered quantity of the selected
product to the quote.  If you haven't selected a product or the
quantity is blank, an error message will ask you to go back and
correct the missing information.

Quit button - Closes the Add screen and returns you to the main
screen.