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Text File | 1993-03-15 | 22KB | 433 lines

THE SERVICE TRACKER Clark Systems Documentation File INTRODUCTION ============ Welcome to The SERVICE TRACKER, by Clark Systems. The purpose of The SERVICE TRACKER is to provide you with a simple, easy to use method of tracking customers, work orders, and invoices. This is accomplished in an easy to follow format of Lotus-like menu bars, highly intuitive screens and on-line help. The SERVICE TRACKER includes multiple print options, including Work Orders suitable for use by a field technician, and Invoices designed to be used for billing. QUICK START =========== Be sure that your CONFIG.SYS file includes sufficient FILES and BUFFERS. Files should equal at least 30 and Buffers should equal at least 20. Simply type GO (and press <Enter>) to start The SERVICE TRACKER. The first time the program starts it will generate it's own index files, and the sign-on screen will indicate this on the bottom line. After an introductory or sign on screen the operator will be presented with the initial screen, CUSTOMER INFORMATION. Menu options are fairly self explanatory and are explained in detail below. Use the arrow keys to move to a menu option, and <Enter> to select it (or press the first letter of the menu option). The <Esc> key is used to return you to a previous level, and, when at the CUSTOMER INFORMATION screen, will allow you to QUIT the program (as will the QUIT command). For a quick run through of the series of screens & operations in The SERVICE TRACKER review the following outline: CUSTOMER INFORMATION Screen: Maintain basic customer date - select ORDERS from the CUSTOMER INFORMATION menu and jump to the WORK ORDERS Screen: generate and Print Work Orders - select COMPLETED from the WORK ORDERS menu and jump to the COMPLETED WORK ORDERS screen: enter information about work completed off a Work Order, including Parts - select PARTS from the COMPLETED WORK ORDERS menu and jump to the PARTS SCREEN: enter parts used on a Work Order - select INVOICES from the menu and jump to the INVOICE SCREEN: shows the results of a Completed Work Order, including any Parts Used, and from this screen you may Print Invoices. You can see that navigation is comparable to walking down, then back up a ladder. Each menu includes a QUIT command, which allows you to exit The Service Tracker. DISCLAIMER ========== Clark Systems and its agents make no claim of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation, any warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. Clark Systems and its' agents shall not be liable for any damages, whether direct or indirect, special or consequential arising from a failure of this program. In no event shall Clark Systems or its' agents be liable to you for any damages, including lost profits, lost savings or other incidental or consequential damages arising from use or inability to use this product or any claim by any other party. SHAREWARE and REGISTRATION ========================== The SERVICE TRACKER is Shareware, meaning that it is not free but is being made available to you on a trial basis. If you use The SERVICE TRACKER beyond a reasonable trial period you are requested to register your copy with Clark Systems for the minimal fee of $29.00. In return you will receive one free update as the next one becomes available, access to low-cost future updates, the ability to disable the closing commercial, information on other Clark Systems database products and our eternal gratitude which, along with $.75 might buy you a cup of coffee. To register your copy of The SERVICE TRACKER send your check or money order along with your name, address and preferred diskette size to: Clark Systems The SERVICE TRACKER 129 Pitney Road Absecon, N.J. 08201 You may do this most easily by letting the program print out an invoice for you. At the closing commercial (after quitting the program) be sure that your printer is on and ready and simply press 'P'. Complete the invoice, enclose your check and send it off! Clark Systems and the SERVICE TRACKER are not associated in any way with any Shareware distributor, and any fee paid to any such distributor does not constitute registration of The SERVICE TRACKER. Only payment made directly to Clark Systems constitutes registration as discussed above. The SERVICE TRACKER may be copied and distributed so long as no fee is charged beyond minimal shipping and handling costs, and provided that all files listed below are included. FILES YOU SHOULD HAVE ===================== The files you should have recieved with the S_TRACK.ZIP file are: ST.EXE IN_HELP.DBF R_TRACK.DOC IN_HELP.DBT IN_CUST.DBF IN_HELP.TBK IN_JOBS.DBF CUSTOMER.FRM IN_PARTS.DBF INCONFIG.MEM GO.BAT ON LINE HELP ============ Service Tracker On-Line Help is available at any time by pressing the 'F1' key. Navigate through On Line Help by using the <PgUp>, <PgDn> and arrow keys. On-Line Help can be modified by the user. Add to, erase or correct the help screens as you would if you were using any basic word processor, using navigation keys, backspace, <Ins>, <Del> and so forth. IMPORTANT. You must save any changes in the help screens by pressing both the <Ctrl> and 'W' keys simultaneously. Try it out! It's a simple way of making Help more effective for you and your operators. BASIC SYSTEM INFORMATION ======================== All screens in The SERVICE TRACKER operate similarly. Each includes common features: - Horizontal Bounce Bar Menu on line one - Active Screen Section Highlight Boxes A. HORIZONTAL BOUNCE BAR MENUS The Lotus-like bounce bar menus incorporate highlighted menu options which are selected by either of two ways. The operator may: 1. use the arrow keys to move the cursor bar (the highlighted section over one of the menu-bar choices) horizontally along the top line of the screen to the function of choice, then select/activate that function by pressing the <Enter> key, or 2. simply press the first letter of the function desired (if the menu bar has two selections starting with the same letter, the first selection from the left will be activated). In addition, the operator may return to the previous level in the system, or exit the system from the Customer Information screen by pressing the <Esc> key. Think of navigation through the system as a series of steps up and down a ladder: each step taken down the ladder by selecting a command requires a return step back up by pressing the <Esc> key. B. ACTIVE SCREEN SECTION HIGHLIGHT BOXES Each screen beyond the Customer Information screen contains multiple information sections. Each of these sections is outlined with a box. The active section of the screen, that is, the section currently controlled by the menu, is that section which is surrounded by a dominent, thick gray line. The inactive sections are surrounded by a thin gray line. The purpose of this is to provide you with as much on-screen information as possible, while making the active section of the screen immediately apparent. For example, when you log onto the program the first screen you see is the CUSTOMER INFORMATION screen, which is surrounded by a thick grey box. If you then select ORDERS from the CUSTOMER INFORMATION screen the ORDER fields are added to the existing screen and the ACTIVE box now surrounds the ORDERS fields. You can still view the basic CUSTOMER INFORMATION data on screen, but may operate only within the fields surrounded by the Active Screen Section Highlight Box. C. NAVIGATION You may move through the active database by utilizing the Up and Down arrow keys, PgUp and PgDn keys. This will step you 'up' or 'down' through your customer records, accordingly. When you are adding a new or updating an existing record you move through the on-screen fields by utilizing the arrow and <Enter> keys. Backspace may also be used but is not advised since this is a destructive key which will erase data as it moves over it. D. CONFIGURATION SETUP The Configuration Setup Screen is available at any time after the sign-on message clears off the screen. The Configuration Setup is designed to allow you to personalize your invoices and enter a sales tax figure as may be necessary. This is a fairly straight forward operation. Press the 'F10' key to call the Configuration Setup screen. A simple two option menu in the center, lower half of the screen actives the configuration fields or returns you to the SERVICE TRACKER screen which you were on (as does the <Esc> key. Simply type in new or modify the existing information as appropriate, then select OK or Cancel from the confirmation pop-up screen. E. MENU OPTIONS EXPLAINED Basic Menu Options or COMMANDS for the most part are the same from screen to screen with some screens having more options and some less. - Search (and set Index Order) The Search function allows you to quickly find important information in several ways. From the Customer Information Screen, for example, you may search for a customer by Customer Name or by Customer Number. From the Work Orders screen, you may search for a customer's Work Order by Work Order Number, or by the Date Ordered (date the work was ordered). The Customer Name and Customer Number are also know as search 'Keys'. Secondarily, searching resets the order of the database (the Index) to the order by which you searched. When you started up The Service Tracker it was sorted or indexed on the customer's name. If you then decided to search for a customer by customer number, the customer data would thereafter be sorted or indexed by customer number. This can be used simply to reset the order of the database to a preferred sorting scheme, in the event that you have a need or interest in viewing information in a particular order. When Search is selected, a drop down menu appears. Move the Cursor-bar to your choice and press <Enter>. A box will appear into which you must enter the appropriate information, such as a customer's name. If the program cannot find the name, another box will appear and tell you. If this is the case, recheck your typing, spelling, etc. If the search is successful, the new information will appear on screen. You will notice in all but the Customer Information screen that when the Search function is selected four options appear. Of these four, two appear in bright white type and two in grey type. Those appearing in grey are not available as search keys from that screen, and the cursor will simply skip over those choices. - Add Use this function to add a new record to the active screen's database. In the Customer screen, this adds new customers. When you select add, you will be presented with blank data 'fields' on screen into which you enter the new data. When the information in a field is complete, press <Enter> to move to the next field. After leaving the last field, a box will pop up asking you if you want to write the new information to disk, or save the data - this is known as a verification. Respond accordingly. Press <Esc> at any time to cancel the operation, no harm done. - Update The Update function allows you to modify existing information. When selected, the fields are activated much like they are in the Add function (except the existing information is presented for modification). Again, a verification is required to make sure you want to save the changes, and pressing <Esc> at any time cancels the operation, no harm done. Note that when the cursor is on the first letter of a field under Update and you press a key to modify the field, the field will blank out, saving you from having to type over or delete existing information in the field. - Number Number counts the number of records in the current database. In combination with the Query function, this can provide you with some interesting views of your data. For example, how many of my customers live in a certain town? How many have a certain zip code? - Query The Query function is very powerful. It allows you to establish 'conditions' under which only specified data may be viewed and utilized, and is best explained by example. Let's say you want to know how many customers you have in New Jersey. 1. Select Query 2. From the Drop Down Menu select 'Create a New Query'. 3. Move the cursor-bar and select 'STATE'. 4. Select 'Equals' (this box is loaded with 'Operators'. These may vary according to what you're trying to do. 5. The 'Enter the Target Value...' box appears. In this example enter 'NJ'. Capitalization counts! Be careful. 6. The next box contains the 'Logical Connectors' 'AND', 'OR' and 'DONE'. Select 'DONE'. The Query is set. If the record on screen is not a New Jersey customer the program will tell you so then, with your approval, go to the first record meeting your specification. If no records match the specification, in this example STATE = "NJ", the Query is cancelled. Existing Querys can be modified, added to (with the 'AND' logical connector) and cancelled. - Print Print options are available on most menus. When you select the Print function you will be presented with a drop-down menu indictating the available reports. Select the report of your choice. You should always be sure that your printer is ready to print before activating a print option. However, should you forget or should there be some unknown problem with the printer, the program will complain and ask you to correct it. Also, before beginning the actual print process the operator will be asked to verify that he/she wishes to proceed with printing the selected report. - Delete The Delete function is fairly self explanatory: erase the record, work order, invoice, etc. IMPORTANT! The erasure doesn't actually occur at the point when the operator selects 'Delete'. Instead the program marks the record for deletion later, when exiting the particular function, and even then the operator is given a chance to cancel the erasure. When a record is marked for deletion, a <Deleted> indicator appears on the status line (line 24, bottom of screen). To UNmark a record from deletion simple select 'Delete' from the menu once again. The <Deleted> indicator will disappear. If, after doing so you still are asked if you want to remove all records marked for deletion, simply respond with 'Cancel'. - Quit Selecting this option will always be followed by a verification request 'QUIT The SERVICE TRACKER?' to which you must respond 'OK' if you really want to quit, or 'CANCEL' if you change your mind or if you've hit the QUIT key accidentally. You may also QUIT from the CUSTOMER INFORMATION screen by pressing <Esc>. You'll still be asked for the verification to continue with the QUIT. - Other Options Each menu throughout The SERVICE TRACKER is somewhat unique, containing menu options not appearing on any other menu. Select F1 for Help at these screens for more detailed information. SYSTEM ERRORS ============= The Service Tracker includes two error trapping mechanisms which will either control or record all system errors which might cause the program to 'crash'. In the case of print operations, the system will flash an error message on screen if the printer is not ready. For all other errors, hardware or software, the error system will sound a series of tones, pop a message up on screen reporting that an error has occurred and write the specifics of the error to an ACSII file titled 'ERROR.TXT'. This file, incidentally, doesn't come with the SERVICE TRACKER - it is created by the program when needed. You may review the ERROR.TXT file with any word processor or editor capable of opening an ASCII file. Each time such an error occurs it is added to the ERROR.TXT file. Errors include time and date, and are separated from other errors by a dashed line. Should you need to contact us about a recurring system crash which you cannot resolve yourself, have this information available. OTHER PROBLEMS ============== LOST DATA In all cases you should periodically back up your files to avoid loss of data due to unexpected problems like electrical outages, spilled coffee, etc. Simply keep a copy of all original files in a safe place and periodically copy (ie: backup) all (and only) the .DBF, .DBT, and .TBK files to a separate diskette. Do this by using either the DOS copy or xcopy commands, or a reasonably good commercial or shareware backup program. If your files do get clobbered, simply erase all files with the extension .NTX (the index files) and copy the backed up files over the existing ones. When you restart the program, new index files will be created automatically. This should help you avoid having to re-enter a lot of data should a problem arise. CORRUPTED INDEXES The only other serious problem might result from corruption of the indexes. Symptoms of such corruption are the inability to find items (which you KNOW are there somewhere) through the SEARCH function, failure of the program to display or print items which you KNOW should be there, Help screens that don't correspond to the appropriate area, etc. If you suspect such a problem you may correct it easily by (CAREFULLY) erasing all index files, ie: those with the extension .NTX. Do this either individually or with the DOS command 'ERASE *.NTX' (without the quotes). The next time the program starts up it will automatically create the needed index files and the data files will once again be properly indexed. =========================================================================== IN CLOSING... Again, thanks for trying The Service Tracker. We hope you find it useful and that your business prospers.