home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
-
- The Checkbook Accountant Main Screen is where all
- functions available to checkbooks and budget lists are
- selected.
-
- The major portion of this Main Screen is occupied by the
- transaction list, a scrollable list of the currently
- viewable transactions (See View under the Preferences
- Menu for more information). Transactions entered into
- the checkbook are shown here. Any viewable transaction
- can be edited by double-clicking its entry in the
- transaction list.
-
- The lower-right of the screen displays the three types of
- balances:
- RUNNING BALANCE,
- CHECKBOOK BALANCE, and
- STATEMENT BALANCE.
- The running balance is the checkbook balance as a result
- of each transaction. The checkbook balance is the
- result of all the checkbook's transactions, or equally,
- the running balance after the last-entered transaction.
- The statement balance is the result of all the cleared
- transactions, calculated though the Reconcile function.
- As a visual aid, negative balances are shown in RED and
- positive balances in BLACK.
-
- The lower-center of the screen displays a column of
- gadgets, mimicking the functions available from the
- Project Menu. This is here for convenience only.
-
- The lower-right of the screen is currently unused by the
- program.
-
- The upper-right of the screen is used by the Show
- indicators (under the Preferences Menu).
-
- ----------------------------------------------------
-
- The following lists, by menu, the operations possible
- from the Main Screen along with their keyboard
- equivalents. Some of the functions, mainly from the
- Project Menu, have equivalent gadgets, selected with
- the mouse. If you forget the keyboard equivalents, each
- gadget (except one) has a black underscored letter which
- is the key to press with the RIGHT-AMIGA key. The one
- exception is the About function. You can select this
- with the mouse by choosing the menu item, clicking on the
- "Checkbook Accountant 0.9" box in the upper-left corner
- of the display, or pressing the keyboard equivalent
- RIGHT-AMIGA ?.
-
-
- FUNCTION SELECTED BY
- -------- -----------
-
- Project Menu
- ------------
-
- New RIGHT-AMIGA N
-
- Prompts for information to record a new checkbook.
- If a checkbook is current being worked on, the user
- will be prompted to save any changes made to it
- before starting a new checkbook. If no changes
- were made to the checkbook, the program will
- immediately ask for the new checkbook's
- information. A default budget list can be loaded
- at the same time by selecting the Default Budgets
- gadget (For more information, consult the Budget
- Help Screen).
-
- Open RIGHT-AMIGA O
-
- Retrieves from disk an existing checkbook as the
- current checkbook. If a checkbook is currently
- being worked on, the user will be prompted to save
- any changes made to it before the new checkbook is
- loaded. If no changes were made to the current
- checkbook, the new checkbook is loaded immediately.
-
- Save RIGHT-AMIGA S
-
- Stores to disk the current checkbook under the
- current filename. If the checkbook has never been
- saved, the user is prompted for a filename to
- identify the current checkbook.
-
- Save As RIGHT-AMIGA W
-
- Saves the current checkbook under a new name,
- whether the checkbook has been previously saved or
- not.
-
- Reconcile RIGHT-AMIGA R
-
- Performs the statement reconciliation process, or
- in other words, checkbook balancing. The statement
- balance will appear in the STATEMENT BALANCE box at
- the lower-left side of the main screen.
-
- Print RIGHT-AMIGA P
-
- Outputs to the printer the transactions described
- in the current View selection. For more
- information, consult the View Help Screen.
-
- Information RIGHT-AMIGA I
-
- Shows the current checkbook's information, such as
- Account Number, Starting Check Number, and Initial
- Deposit. For more information, consult the
- Information Help Screen either after selecting New
- or Information.
-
- About RIGHT-AMIGA ?
-
- Shows the version number of this copy of Checkbook
- Accountant along with the amount of available
- memory (chip, fast, and total).
-
- Quit RIGHT-AMIGA Q
-
- Terminates execution of the current session. If
- the current checkbook has been modified, the user
- is prompted to save any changes before exiting.
-
-
-
- Edit Menu
- ---------
-
- Checks RIGHT-AMIGA C
-
- Allows the user to enter a new check into the
- current checkbook, void the current check (enters
- it but marks it as "** VOIDED **", or delete the
- current check (not entered into the checkbook).
-
- Other Debits RIGHT-AMIGA -
-
- Allows the user to enter a new debit into the
- current checkbook or delete the debit (not entered
- into the checkbook).
-
- Deposit RIGHT-AMIGA D
-
- Allows the user to enter a new deposit into the
- current checkbook or delete the deposit (not
- entered into the checkbook).
-
- Other Credits RIGHT-AMIGA +
-
- Allows the user to enter a new credit into the
- current checkbook or delete the credit (not entered
- into the checkbook).
-
- Batch Mode RIGHT-AMIGA ~
-
- Toggle the status (ON or OFF) of Batch Mode. This
- allows the user to repeatedly and successively enter
- a particular type of transaction (check, deposit,
- etc.) into the checkbook. For more information,
- consult the Transaction Help Screen.
-
-
- Budgets Menu
- ------------
-
- Edit RIGHT-AMIGA B
-
- Allows the user to edit (Add, Delete, Load, Save,
- Save As Default, and Clear) budget lists. For more
- information, consult the Budget Help Screen.
-
-
- Preferences Menu
- ----------------
-
- View
- ----
-
- ALL RIGHT-AMIGA A
-
- Display ALL the transaction in the checkbook.
-
- Select Group RIGHT-AMIGA G
-
- Allows the user to display select groups of
- transactions (Checks, Deposits, etc.), types of
- transactions (Cleared, Tax-Deductible, etc.),
- and range of transaction dates.
-
- Show
- ----
-
- Batch Mode Indicator RIGHT-AMIGA @
-
- Toggle the display (SHOW or HIDE) of the Batch
- Mode indicator ('B'). If SHOW, a 'B' will
- appear at the top of the screen if Batch Mode is
- ON; if OFF nothing will appear. If HIDE,
- nothing will appear no matter which state Batch
- Mode is in.
-
- Transaction Count RIGHT-AMIGA #
-
- Toggle the display of the number of viewable
- (selected by View) and total transactions.
- If SHOW, the top of the screen will show these
- two values (viewable / total). If HIDE, nothing
- will appear.
-
- Initial Deposit RIGHT-AMIGA $
-
- Toggle the display of the initial deposit
- amount, as defined in Information. If SHOW, the
- amount will be shown just above the amount
- column of the transaction list. If HIDE,
- nothing will appear.
-
- Icon Creation
- -------------
-
- Checkbook RIGHT-AMIGA (
-
- Toggle the ability to save an icon with
- checkbook files.
-
- Budgets RIGHT-AMIGA )
-
- Toggle the ability to save an icon with budget
- list files.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------
-
- A FEW NOTES ABOUT NAVIGATING THROUGH CHECKBOOK ACCOUNTANT:
-
- Checkbook Accountant was designed to be as useful from
- either the keyboard or the mouse. Almost all operations
- can be performed from either device. For example, you
- can move through any of the scrolling lists (transaction,
- budget, help screens) by either dragging the slider
- gadget or using the cursor keys (along with the SHIFT or
- ALT keys or by itself). As explained above, almost all
- gadgets have corresponding menu selections and keyboard
- shortcuts. The letter to press with the RIGHT-AMIGA key
- is designated by either checking its appearance in the
- menu bar or, easier, by looking for an underscored letter
- in or next to the gadget, which are both the same.
-
- The only occurrences where menus do not accompany gadgets
- is during the cases when the program has to verify an
- action (OKAY or CANCEL response) or give you a message
- (OKAY response). These gadgets have the same underscored
- letters as their menu-attached counterparts, but they
- are selected from the keyboard by just pressing that key.
- They do not need the RIGHT-AMIGA key pressed at the same
- time, although doing so will not affect it (it is simply
- ignored).
-
- Also, if you try to press the HELP key when the cursor is
- in any string gadget, you will not get the requested help
- screen. Programming the ability to check if the user
- pressed the HELP key in this case would be too much extra
- work without real gain in functionality. So, if you need
- HELP for a requester, and you are not being asked a
- question or being notified by the program, be sure to
- click in the window anywhere other than in a string
- gadget and then press the HELP key.
-
- -- END OF MAIN SCREEN HELP --
-