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- ║ { MONEY & BANKS } tm ║
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- ║ (C) Copyright MCMXCII - MCMXCVI RCCO Research Associates ║
- ║ All Rights Reserved under International Conventions ║
- ║ D ║
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- { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation
- ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
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- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 2
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- Table of Contents
- ────────────────── page
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- Quick Start ............................................................. 3
-
- Easy batch file ideas ................................................... 4
-
- Moving around ........................................................... 5
-
- Practice with SAMPLE.BNK ................................................ 6
-
- The opening screen: Main Menu .......................................... 8
-
- Transactions Module ..................................................... 9
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- Table View of Account Tables ............................................ 12
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- Editing, Adding to the Payee/Payor Table ................................ 13
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- Editing, Adding to the Allocation Table ................................. 14
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- Split Transactions ...................................................... 16
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- Dual PCodes? ............................................................ 17
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- Viewing/Editing the Archive table ....................................... 18
-
- Reconcile your Bank Statement ........................................... 19
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- Adding a New Account .................................................... 20
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- The Check Printer ....................................................... 22
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- The Report Writer ....................................................... 23
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- View Tables ............................................................. 26
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- The Utilities Menu ...................................................... 27
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- Printer Support for Reports, Checks and Labels Printing ................. 30
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- Technical Matters ....................................................... 31
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- APPENDIX A (additional check-printing setup & information).............. 33
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- APPENDIX B (licensing & registration information) ...................... 35
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- APPENDIX C (commonly asked questions & some answers) ................... 38
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- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 3
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-
- ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ To read this documentation on-line anywhere in the program, simply press │
- │ the <Alt-M> (for "manual") key combination. │
- └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
-
-
-
- Quick Start:
- ─────────────
- If you did *NOT* use INSTALL.EXE, or are moving files:
-
- Place all the program files in a directory on your hard disk called
-
- \MONEY
-
- Only one type of accounts, such as "personal accounts" (usually your bank or
- money market accounts, as many as desired), should be created/maintained in
- this one directory. (If you are using the program ONLY for a small business
- location, obviously your business banking will be done in the main \MONEY
- directory; the point is, do not commingle personal and business accounts in
- the same directory.)
-
- ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ If you went through the normal Install process using INSTALL.EXE the │
- │ above directory was created and all files properly installed. │
- └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
-
- The following few paragraphs are applicable only if you are setting up addit-
- ional directories for business accounts that are not to be commingled with
- data from your personal accounts:
-
- If business or institutional account(s) are to be used, create a subdirectory
- directly below \MONEY, ie:
-
- \MONEY\BUSINESS
-
- When you require directories in addition to the original \MONEY directory you
- *MUST* add the \MONEY directory to the path statement in your autoexec.bat
- file. (You need not alter the path statement if only the one directory,
- \MONEY, will be used.)
-
- Also, in your \MONEY\BUSINESS directory make sure you have copies of the fol-
- lowing files:
-
- PNAMES.DBF, ALLOCATE.DBF, SECUR.DBF, CARDS.DBF, _ADMIN.PCX, and
- ARCHIVE.DBF (any needed .NTX index files will be built by the program)
-
- (Whenever you create a new data directory other than the original \MONEY
- directory, please ascertain the above files are present in the directory.
- DO NOT PLACE DUPLICATES OF ANY OTHER FILES IN THE SECONDARY DIRECTORIES!)
-
- Most of these files will eventually be different from those in your personal
- directory; for example, Payees/Payors/Allocations will vary. The sample en-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 4
-
-
- tries in the PAYEE/PAYOR table and the ALLOCATION table may eventually be
- changed/deleted by you after you see how they are set up for your own needs.
-
- The Archive table (ARCHIVE.DBF) for each directory must start with a clean
- (empty) copy; all the bank accounts (*.BNK files) that will be created in
- each directory will depend on the one Archive table.
-
- You may delete previous or samples entries made in the Archive table before
- any new, "real" data is entered during transactions. There is more infor-
- mation on deletions in the Archive table in the documentation under the head-
- ing, "Practice with SAMPLE.BNK."
-
- Remember, do not tamper with or delete any file that begins with an under-
- score, as the program will not work properly.
-
- Do not create banking directories other than one level immediately under the
- main \MONEY directory. That is, do not create something like
-
- \MONEY\BUSINESS\BUS2
-
- Rather, if a second business directory is needed, use
-
- \MONEY\BUS2
-
- There may be as many subdirectories off \MONEY as you would like, and you may
- add as many bank account tables as you would like in each directory.
-
- (For Windows 3.1 or 95 installations, see the end of Appendix C for help.)
-
-
- Easy batch file ideas...
- ─────────────────────────
- You may wish to create two batch files for your batch directory:
- ┌──────────┐
- │ BANK.BAT │ (for personal accounts only)
- └──────────┘
- @ECHO OFF
- C: (or whatever drive you use)
- CD \MONEY
- MONEY
-
-
- and the other one for business accounts:
- ┌───────────┐
- │ BANKB.BAT │ (for business accounts, if needed)
- └───────────┘
- @ECHO OFF
- C:
- CD \MONEY\BUSINESS
- MONEY ( \MONEY must be in the path statement)
-
-
- Please consult your DOS manual if you are unfamiliar with creating batch
- files and altering your path statement. The above batch files will make op-
- eration of { MONEY & BANKS } easier for you.
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 5
-
-
-
- If you have not yet created your batch files and simply want to get right in-
- to the program, change to the \MONEY directory and type:
-
- MONEY <Enter>
- to begin the { MONEY & BANKS } program.
-
-
- And then...
- ────────────
- One of the first things you may wish to do in { MONEY & BANKS } is set up at
- least one account for your own bank. There is an option on the Utilities Menu
- that will guide you through this. There is also a sample bank table, called
- SAMPLE.BNK, that is for your practice; there is further info on this in the
- section of the documentation called "Practice with SAMPLE.BNK."
-
- Using the sample table will keep you from entering data incorrectly in your
- own "real" tables while you are learning the program; a few minutes using the
- sample table will save you a great deal of time later on.
-
-
- Moving around...
- ─────────────────
- In general, the <Esc> key or <RightMouse> will back you up to the previous
- screen or menu; exceptions are noted on certain screens, but in general <Esc>
- or <RightMouse> are the exit keys. <LeftMouse> is the same as the <Enter>
- key. Scroll with the mouse or arrow keys up/down tables, menus, on-screen
- reports, and when reading this reference material on-line.
-
- In most data tables, when accessing them in 'Table View' (similar to a
- spreadsheet image), there are some special key combinations called Quick-
- Jumps. QuickJumps allow you to move around to the four corners of a table
- instantly, avoiding lengthy scrolling with arrow keys or the mouse. The
- QuickJump keys are: <Ctrl-PgDn> <Ctrl-PgUp> <Ctrl-End> and
- <Ctrl-Home>. (Also, <Ctrl-RightArrow> and <Crtl-LeftArrow> may be used for
- panning to the right and left.) Once you observe their function, you will
- most likely always use them. Often their availability is indicated with
- reminders at the bottom of many table view screens; their existence and use
- is available in almost all table views throughout the program, whether indi-
- cated or not. Pressing <Esc> or <RightMouse> while in table view saves any
- changes that may have been made and returns you to the previous level.
-
- To enter edit mode while in Table View, position the highlight on a cell
- for entry or edit, press the <Enter> key if you wish to edit current cell
- contents (use <RightArrow> or <LeftArrow> to position the text cursor as
- needed), or simply begin typing if the cell is empty (to enter new material)
- or to overwrite current cell content. In Table View, a blinking cursor
- inside of a cell indicates that you are in edit mode. To end edit mode of a
- cell and retain any changes, press <Enter>. To discard current cell edits,
- press <Esc> while still in edit mode.
-
- To answer one question you will have: the little "pushbuttons" appearing at
- the top of the menus are cosmetic only, they do nothing (except make you won-
- der what they are for). You cannot address them with the mouse.
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 6
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-
- ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ Almost everywhere in the program, pressing <F1> for Help will bring up │
- │ context-sensitive Help. The center button on three-button mice, alias │
- │ <MiddleMouse>, will provide the same function as the <F1> Help key. │
- └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
- To read this documentation online anywhere in the program, simply press the
- <Alt-M> (for "manual") key combination. There are text search and print-
- marking facilities available online.
-
- Don't forget to try the pop-up Calculator with the <Alt-K> combination in any
- module, anywhere in the program; <Esc> or <RightMouse> exits the calculator.
- Also, anywhere in the program <Alt-L> will bring up a pop-up Calendar; <Esc>
- or <RightMouse> exits the calendar.
-
- <Alt-S> calls up the new { MONEY & BANKS } Appointments Scheduler, a useful
- and intuitive pop-up facility for both business and personal scheduling. This
- utility creates and maintains its own data tables to reference your appoint-
- ments; therefore, be advised that appointment tables in a business directory
- will be different from those in a personal banking directory. (When you are
- working IN your business directory, <Alt-S> will access the appointments
- table in that directory; if you change to your personal banking directory,
- then <Alt-S> will bring up a different set of appointment records existing in
- that directory.) Pressing <Esc> or choosing <R>eturn on the Scheduler Menu
- will return you to what you were doing prior to accessing the Scheduler.
-
-
- ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
- ║ ║
- ║ Summary of hot-key facilities (pop-ups): ║
- ║ ║
- ║ <Alt-M> <M>anual (on-line documentation) ║
- ║ <Alt-K> <K>alculator ║
- ║ <Alt-L> ca<L>endar ║
- ║ <Alt-S> appointments <S>cheduler ║
- ║ ║
- ║ <F1> or <MiddleMouse> Help ║
- ║ ║
- ║ <Esc> exits any of the above ║
- ║ ║
- ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
-
-
-
-
-
- Practice with SAMPLE.BNK...
- ────────────────────────────
- Before you start entering your transactions in any newly created bank account
- tables, you may want to experiment with the the practice account table called
- SAMPLE.BNK included with the files in this package. (For information on how
- to make transaction entries in SAMPLE Bank or other account tables, see the
- section on the Transactions module in the documentation.)
-
- Practice entering all types of transactions in SAMPLE Bank: deposits,
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 7
-
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- checks, ATM withdrawals, etc. Initially, make yourself a generous deposit so
- that you will have some "mad money" to play with. Manipulate and spend lots
- of it. You may experiment with printing "checks" (use blank pieces of paper
- or discardable checks), as well as mailing labels. Before you leave your
- practice sessions, make sure you try entering a few "split" transactions --
- both checks and deposits -- that are mentioned in the documentation under the
- heading, "Split Transactions." Most of all, try to get comfortable with the
- interface and feel of the Transactions module and all that must be recorded
- there, observing/using the various options, "hot-keys," and pop-up screens.
-
- Time spent practicing with SAMPLE Bank will pay off in lessening the tedi-
- ous editing/removal in your "real" account tables of erroneous or misunder-
- stood data entry.
-
- Remember, however, any "transactions" you make in this practice account will
- be automatically entered into the existing Archive table as well, and will
- need to be deleted before doing any "real" transactions in your own accounts.
-
- After practicing, to delete SAMPLE Bank's entries from the Archive table,
- choose View Tables from the Main Menu, then select Other (*.DBF). From the
- resulting scrolling list, select ARCHIVE.DBF and carefully follow these ins-
- tructions for deleting records (rows) in the Archive table:
-
- Place the cursor on any entries that have in the column "ICODE" (which shows
- the different institutions, or accounts, in your system) the entry called
- "SAMPLE;" these are the practice entries that result after you have made
- sample transactions. If you have not made other "transactions" than those
- with SAMPLE Bank you will see only "SAMPLE" in the ICODE column. Simply
- press the <Del> key on your keyboard on each row as you move down the table
- searching for SAMPLE Bank's entries.
-
- Please be aware that when you delete (with the <Del> key) a record (or "row,"
- if you are used to spreadsheet terms), it is first "marked" for deletion
- (you will see a caption, <Deleted> at the top of the screen). The actual
- deletion does NOT OCCUR until you EXIT the table view screen. Also note that
- the <Del> key is a "toggle;" that is, if you press <Del> a second time on a
- record already marked for deletion you will "undelete" the record.
-
- Any undeletes must be performed prior to exiting the table view screen. As
- you exit, any records marked for deletion are permanently removed from the
- table. Exercise extra caution when performing record deletes on any archival
- tables, which are in essence permanent history tables and any deleted records
- are irretrievably lost.
-
- Pressing <Esc> or <RightMouse> saves any changes that may have been made and
- returns you to the previous level. When you next again view the Archive
- table, the records you "marked" for deletion are gone.
-
- Also, when practicing with SAMPLE.BNK, any changes you make in the Payee/
- Payor table (PNames.dbf) or the Allocation table (Allocate.dbf) will remain
- but are easily edited or deleted at any time. You may use the View Tables
- selection on the Main Menu to access these tables for editing. The on-screen
- help reminders in View Tables show you the editing/access keys from the dif-
- ferent screens.
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 8
-
-
- You may also edit tables from within the Transactions module; there is more
- information in the documentation under the headings "Editing, Adding to the
- Payee/Payor Table," "Editing, Adding to the Allocation Table" and "Viewing/
- Editing the Archive Table."
-
- You may eventually wish to delete the SAMPLE.BNK practice table from the
- directory, after you begin entering "real" transactions in your own account
- tables.
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- The opening screen is the Main Menu
- ────────────────────────────────────
- Upon loading the program, the Main Menu appears, presenting a screen similar
- to the following:
-
-
-
- ╔═══════════════════════════════════╗
- ║ ■ │ { MONEY & BANKS } │ │ ║█
- ║───┘───────────────────────└───┴───║█
- ║ ║█
- ║ ║█
- ║ ┌────────────────────────┐ ║█
- ║ │ │ ║█
- ║ │ Transactions │ ║█
- ║ │ Check Printer │ ║█
- ║ │ Report Writer │ ║█
- ║ │ View Tables │ ║█
- ║ │ Utilities │ ║█
- ║ │ Shell to DOS │ ║█
- ║ │ Quit to System │ ║█
- ║ │ │ ║█
- ║ └────────────────────────┘ ║█
- ║ ║█
- ║ ║█
- ╚═══════════════════════════════════╝█
- ████████████████████████████████████
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- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 9
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- Move up and down menu items with your mouse or the arrow keys. Make a menu
- selection with either the <Enter> key or <LeftMouse>.
-
- The first item on the Main Menu, "Transactions," is where most of your active
- banking business takes place; it will be the only module requiring a bit of
- your time to learn. All other sections, or "modules," of {MONEY & BANKS }
- are easy to use and rather self-explanatory. See the detailed information
- on the Transactions module in the documentation.
-
- The second selection on the Main Menu, "Check Printer," is also automatically
- available within the Transactions module. It is additionally presented here
- for times that you wish to utilize the facility separately from making new
- transactions. For example, perhaps you had created several checking transac-
- tions in one or more accounts using the Transactions module and had chosen to
- defer the printing of checks and/or labels to a more convenient time; you
- may then elect to print the checks from the selection on the Main Menu as
- long as you had answered "Yes" to the prompt "Include in Batch Check Print-
- ing?" when you were making out your transactions in the Transactions module.
-
- There is more information in the documentation under the heading "Check
- Printer," as well as in Appendix A which describes how to use regular bank
- checks with this program.
-
- The third item on the Main Menu, is the "Report Writer." Much of the power
- and utility of the program { MONEY & BANKS } will be realized with this
- module, although its importance will not be great until you have made several
- months' worth of transactions, possibly using many different accounts. See
- the section on "The Report Writer" below for further information.
-
- The next selection, "View Tables," is the fourth choice on the Main Menu. It
- is a versatile way to immediately view data not only in your ".BNK" tables
- but other data tables (*.DBF) as well. You may also manually edit tables to
- correct errors that may have crept in during transactions entry. Most of the
- important tables are available for view/edit in the Transactions module as
- well, via "hot-keys." The View Tables heading in the documentation provides
- detailed information.
-
- The Utilities Menu is called from a selection on the Main Menu. Here you
- will select from a choice of Printers, or change directories, perform back-
- ups, find system information and current time, create a new bank account
- table, as well as other choices. See the documentation information for the
- Utilities Menu. The sixth menu choice is a quick shell out to DOS.
-
- The program { MONEY & BANKS } may be exited by choosing the final item on
- the Main Menu, or by simply pressing <Esc> or <RightMouse>. Never turn off
- the computer or reboot without properly exiting; data loss may well occur.
-
-
-
- Transactions Module
- ────────────────────
- After selecting "Transactions" on the { MONEY & BANKS } main menu, you are
- presented with a menu of choices for available accounts in the current direc-
- tory. Select the account desired with the mouse or arrow keys. The next
-
-
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- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 10
-
-
- screen is the main transaction module; all checks, deposits, and other cred-
- its/debits are entered here. The transaction date default is the current
- date; change it if necessary (for interest payments, etc.), or accept the
- default.
-
- The next item, "Writing Check?," is very important; answer "N" or no to ANY-
- THING OTHER THAN a check: obviously a deposit would receive an "N" answer,
- but so do DEBITS OTHER THAN CHECKS. Cash withdrawals, service charges, ATM
- withdrawals and related charges, check charges, interest credited to an ac-
- count, are all transactions OTHER THAN "Writing [a] Check," so always answer
- "N" if it involves something other than an actual check. This action keeps
- the check-numbering scheme in effect to agree with your printed check num-
- bers. (After checks have been entered and dated IN any new year, you will not
- be allowed to back-date subsequent CHECKS to the previous year.)
-
- Answer "Y" to "Writing Check?" if you are entering a check transaction and
- either printing out the check or not. An example would be if you wrote a
- check out manually in a merchant's store; when you are again at the computer,
- you will answer "Y" to "Writing [a] Check?," but "N" later on down this
- screen when asked "Include in Batch Check Printing?" One does not need to
- print a check already written by other means and delivered to the payee. (The
- check-printing module (should you choose to use it) will only print checks
- for which you answered "Y" when you were asked "Include in Batch Check Print-
- ing?")
-
- If you choose "Y" to "Writing Check," the next available check number will be
- used and so indicated on the screen. If you said "N," the check number will
- be a zero (0) for ALL other sorts of transactions.
-
- At any time, you may exit the Transactions module by pressing <F7>; there is
- a reminder for this at the bottom of the screen after you move to the PCode
- cell (described next). You may, if needed, View/Edit the current account
- table in Table View mode by pressing <F8>; refer to that part of the documen-
- tation under the heading "Table View of Account Tables."
-
- Next the cursor will be in the "PCode" cell. A PCode identifies either a
- Payee or a Payor that is listed in the Payee/Payor table (PNames.dbf). At
- this point, you may use a "hot-key" to access your Payee/Payor table and add
- or edit PCodes; use the <F9> key to bring up this table. Before attempting
- to enter a transaction, you must have in the Payee/Payor table a PCode entry
- for the Payee/Payor referenced in your transaction.
-
- Setting up the PCodes (and somewhat the AlloCodes) will be the most time-
- consuming part of setting up { MONEY & BANKS } in the initial stages, but
- we assure you that after a couple of months the automatic usage of these
- features will be so effortless and incredibly quick, you shall never again
- go back to your paper bankbook and handwritten entries and erasors or White-
- Out or crossed-out entries and math errors!
-
- Also, the only time you may access the Reconcile module to reconcile your
- bank statement is when the cursor is in the PCode cell; press <F6> at this
- point if you wish to reconcile your account (see the information for "Recon-
- cile your Bank Statement," below).
-
- If the PCode has already been entered into the Payee/Payor table, all you
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 11
-
-
- need do on the Transactions screen is either type in the PCode, or much
- better yet, simply press the <Enter> key in the empty cell and a pop-up Pick-
- List appears with all available PCodes and a reference to what they stand
- for. Just scroll down and select the one you need, press <Enter> and it ap-
- pears in the PCode cell for the current transaction. After you confirm the
- PCode choice with another <Enter> press, the full name of the Payee/Payor
- appears under the PCode on the screen. (If you have accessed the PickList
- and find that a needed PCode does not exist and must be created, exit the
- PickList with <Esc>, then press <F9> to access the Payee/Payor table; press
- <Alt-N> to add a new PCode.)
-
- Next, you will be prompted for an amount for the transaction. Enter the
- amount, and after reviewing that is indeed the correct amount you want, press
- <Enter> to continue.
-
- You are now prompted for a budget allocation code, called an AlloCode. Again,
- these must be set up by you in a table called the Allocation table
- (Allocate.dbf), which you may access at this point by pressing <F10>. An al-
- location is where you indicate that for which a transaction is designated.
- For example, one of the sample entries in the Allocation table is "AUTOP"
- which indicates an Expense item (rather than an Income item) with a budget
- allocation named "Automobile - personal." Usage of the AlloCodes in associa-
- tion with the PCodes will be most important when preparing your reports and
- end-of-year tax information, especially across several bank accounts over the
- period of one or more years.
-
- It will take some time (not very much) and some thought for you to set up the
- AlloCodes for your own business and/or personal lifestyle, but once it is
- done it is done for as long as you continue to use { MONEY & BANKS }. Main-
- tenance, changes, and additions become nothing more than minimal effort.
- There is more information later on about using the Payee/Payor and Allocation
- tables for entry of new code items and editing existing ones.
-
- After you know that an AlloCode exists that you wish to use, you may use the
- default AlloCode corresponding to the one you set up in the Payee/Payor table
- for the PCode you have entered for this transaction. If you wish to change
- the default AlloCode for this transaction, just delete the default with the
- <Del> key and press <Enter> in the empty cell to bring up a PickList with all
- the available AlloCodes. Make your selection and confirm it with <Enter> to
- move on. (If you have accessed the PickList and find that a needed AlloCode
- does not exist and must be created, exit the PickList with <Esc>, then press
- <F10> to access the Allocation table; press <Alt-N> to add a new AlloCode.)
-
- If you are doing a check transaction, you will be prompted for whether or not
- you wish to include the check for processing in the check-printing module
- (which follows after you complete all desired transactions; all checks are
- printed in a "batch," hence the curious part of the prompt "Include in BATCH
- Check Printing?"). If you will not be printing out the check on your printer,
- select "N" or no.
-
- If the transaction was a deposit or other credit, you will be prompted for an
- optional memorandum. This is for your own convenience only as a reminder
- memo; entry, or lack of it, will have no bearing on performance or reports.
- You may leave this blank by simply pressing <Enter>.
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 12
-
-
- The next prompt will ask if you wish to do another transaction in this ac-
- count at this time. Simply reply "Y" or "N," as needed.
-
- Answer "N" when you have entered your final transaction for the session and
- you will then leave the Transactions module. You are next asked if you would
- like to enter the Check Printing module; you answer "Y" here if you intend to
- use the check-printing facility of { MONEY & BANKS }. Check-printing is
- provided as an option for your use: the program may be profitably used with-
- out the check printing feature. (For more information, see the item on Check
- Printing as well as Appendix A in the documentation.)
-
- You may also defer the printing of checks for this session to a more con-
- venient time as the check transactions will remain marked "to be printed" if
- you answered "Y" to "Include in Batch Check Printing?" You may subsequently
- print checks in your next session in the Transactions module or use the sep-
- arate Check Printer selection on the Main Menu.
-
- After you have elected whether or not to print checks for this session, there
- is next a prompt asking if you would like to print mailing labels. Answering
- "Y" will enter the Mailing Labels module; information on this module is pro-
- vided under the appropriate heading in the documentation.
-
- You may also print mailing labels at any time via a selection on the Main
- Menu entitled Label Writer.
-
- You are now returned to the Main Menu.
-
-
-
-
- Table View of Account tables
- ─────────────────────────────
- Pressing <F8> while in the Transactions module brings up the current account
- table in table view format. The same may be accessed from the Main Menu by
- selecting View Tables and then choosing .BNK Account Tables.
-
- The account tables are presented in table view format. You may also wish to
- refer to those parts of the main documentation that describe Editing/Adding
- To/Viewing the Payee/Payor, Allocation, and Archive tables.
-
- When browsing tables in table view, you may use the arrow keys or the mouse
- for scrolling, and the QuickJump keys are available: <Ctrl-PgDn>
- <Ctrl-PgUp> <Ctrl-End> <Ctrl-Home> (Also, <Ctrl-RightArrow>
- and <Crtl-LeftArrow> may be used for panning to the right and left.).
-
- Follow the on-line prompts for other needed keys. Please be aware that when
- you delete (with the <Del> key) a record (or "row" in spreadsheet terms), it
- is first "marked" for deletion (you will see a caption, <Deleted> at the top
- of the screen). The actual deletion does not occur until you exit the table
- view screen. Also note that the <Del> key is a "toggle;" that is, if you
- press <Del> a second time on a record already marked for deletion you will
- "undelete" the record. The undelete must be performed prior to exiting the
- screen; as you exit, any records marked for deletion are permanently removed
- from the table.
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 13
-
-
- It is suggested that you edit, change, or adjust erroneous entries in account
- tables rather than deleting entire records (rows).
-
- Be aware that should you ever delete a record (row, or complete entry) from
- an account table (.BNK), or otherwise make changes in any of the monetary
- amount cells, that there is NO automatic mathematical adjustment to the Bal-
- ance column (as you might expect to occur in a spreadsheet program, for exam-
- ple). If you feel you really must delete an entire entry, make sure you edit
- and change the Balance cell not only in that record but also in the last
- record of the account table. (Suggestion: use the on-line Calculator, by
- pressing <Alt-K>, for quick math chores.) Please ascertain that the final
- record's Balance cell has been ACCURATELY adjusted; { MONEY & BANKS } relies
- on a correct Balance amount in the very bottom (last) record to accurately
- continue its future updating of your banking records and amounts.
-
- Pressing <Esc> or <RightMouse> saves any changes and returns you to where you
- began.
-
-
-
- Editing, Adding to the Payee/Payor Table...
- ────────────────────────────────────────────
- While in the Transactions module, pressing the <F9> key brings up the Payee/
- Payor table in the current directory. At this point, you may view existing
- entries in a format similar to that of a spreadsheet. It is here you add en-
- tries of your own, edit any existing ones (including the sample entries), and
- delete any that you do not wish in the table. The Payee/Payor table is also
- available for viewing/editing from the Main Menu selection, "View Tables."
-
- At the outset, do not be too hasty to delete the sample entries that have
- been provided: of course they will bear little relation to your own data
- requirements, but exist for reference as to format and ideas. Please read
- the information in the documentation under the headings "Split Transactions"
- and "Dual PCodes" before making any permanent deletions.
-
- The on-line editing commands are shown at the bottom of the table view
- screen. Additionally, the QuickJumps feature you may have used in other
- table views are available in this table's view as well (even though they may
- not always be indicated on the screen). The QuickJump keys are: <Ctrl-PgDn>
- <Ctrl-PgUp> <Ctrl-End> <Ctrl-Home>. (Also, <Ctrl-RightArrow>
- and <Crtl-LeftArrow> may be used for panning to the right and left.)
-
- Although you may add and/or edit records (entries) in the table view format,
- two special hot-keys provide "form view" editing and adding. <Alt-N> will
- bring up a blank "form" containing entry cells for all the information in a
- single new record, in easy-to-fill-out format. Similarly, the <Alt-E> key
- combination will bring up a form view to Edit the item, or record, that you
- have positioned the cursor on. Make your new entries or editing changes in
- form view, then press <F10> to Save or <Esc> to reject the changes.
-
- It is suggested that you follow the capitalization style of the sample en-
- tries. Although not required for functioning of the program, the differences
- in using All Caps or Mixed Case will show nicely later on in your reports and
- on-screen queries. It also helps you distinguish between a payee or payor in
- the process of entering data in transactions.
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 14
-
-
-
- Do not ever use an exact duplicate of a PCode for more than one Payee/Payor.
- Vary the codes at least slightly. ALWAYS set a default AlloCode as well.
-
- The small cell called "PAYOR" is very important; it is a "logical-type" cell
- indicating whether the PName is a payee or a payor. The only entries you may
- place in this cell are either "T" (true, or yes) or "F" (false, or no).
- Simply ask yourself this question for each payee/payor: Is this party a
- payor? If yes, you must enter "T" in the Payor cell; if the answer is no,
- you enter "F" to indicate this is not a payor (it therefore defaults to
- being a payee). The default entry for the "Payor" cell is "F."
-
- The AlloCode cell appearing in the Payee/Payor table must contain a default
- allocation code. This default AlloCode indicates the normal budget alloca-
- tion for this payee/payor. It will appear on the Transactions screens and
- may be changed temporarily for any transaction where the default is inappro-
- priate. There must be an exactly matching AlloCode entry in the Allocation
- table as well (refer to "Editing, Adding to the Allocation Table" in the
- documentation).
-
- By filling out the address cells for each Payee, you will provide information
- for the Label Writer utility to properly print mailing labels, as well as
- providing permanent records of information. Entry here is not mandatory.
-
- The "memo" field in each Payee/Payor record is for you to put in a merchant's
- account number, or your phone or SSN, or other identifying line that will be
- printed at the top right portion of printed checks (if you wish to use the
- optional checkprinting facility of this program). Entry here is optional.
-
- Pressing <Esc> or <RightMouse> saves any changes and returns you to what you
- were doing before accessing table view.
-
-
-
- Editing, Adding to the Allocation Table...
- ───────────────────────────────────────────
- Editing or adding new records to the Allocation table (Allocate.dbf) is
- identical to the process used in making changes to the Payee/Payor table. You
- may access the Allocation table from the Transactions module by pressing the
- <F10> key. The Allocation table is also available for viewing and editing
- from the Main Menu selection, "View Tables."
-
- You must be sure that you have a matching AlloCode entry in the Allocation
- table corresponding to the default AlloCodes you assign in the Payee/Payor
- table. For example, if you have a PCode called "SHELL" (for your Shell Oil
- Co. credit card) and you have indicated in the Payee/Payor table that the
- default AlloCode for "SHELL" is "AUTOP" (Auto - personal), you must then
- ascertain there is truly a corresponding entry called "AUTOP" in the Alloca-
- tion table in the column titled 'AlloCode' that is identical in spelling and
- case.
-
- Do not ever use an exact duplicate of an AlloCode for more than one alloca-
- tion in the allocation table. Vary the codes at least slightly.
-
- In the beginning stages of working with this program, observe the sample en-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 15
-
-
- tries and add to them in similar style, deleting the sample entries later on
- that will not be used in your own system. Please read the section on "Split
- Transactions" in the documentation before deleting any entries in either the
- Allocation table or the Payee/Payor table.
-
- When adding new entries to your Allocation table, note there are two cells
- called "ATYPE" and "TAXCAT," respectively. In the AType cell, simply indi-
- cate either "E" for an Expense item (all Debits, whether or not they are con-
- sidered tax-deductible) or "I" to indicate an Income item (all Credits). The
- TaxCat cell may be used to identify which part of your income tax form that
- might show a tax-related event (ie, you might wish to indicate Schedule C for
- business-related items). Many personal AlloCodes will simply have the entry
- "None" in the TaxCat cell. The ATYPE entry is mandatory; TAXCAT is optional.
-
- Mention must also be made about special transactions that are simply called
- "transfers." When moving money from a checking account to a savings or in-
- vestment account, or vice-versa, these become special transactions that do
- not fall under either category of expense or income, yet they occur and must
- be accounted for. You will note some sample AlloCodes we have provided in
- the Allocation table that begin with the letters "TRANS-" -- such as TRANSIN,
- TRANSSA, and TRANSCA. We have included them all as either 'E' (expense) or
- 'I' (income) items (in their AType cells), primarily for differentiation and
- certainly not for tax or traditional budget allocation purposes; this has
- been done to keep the program as simple as possible to operate; you might
- prefer to think of them as simply 'credits' or 'debits,' 'in to' or 'out of'
- an account.
-
- TRANSIN would be an AlloCode for a 'transfer in to' an account; an example
- might simply be money you are transfering from a savings account INTO the
- account table you are currently working with. It is an 'I' item in the Allo-
- cation table's AType cell but not a taxable income item (as you will have al-
- ready accounted for it at the time of deposit into that other account).
-
- We have used TRANSSA to indicate a transfer TO a savings or investment ac-
- count, an 'E' item certainly, but not necessarily a taxable event or a normal
- budget allocation. The sample AlloCode called TRANSCA, an 'E' item in its
- AType cell, is used in accounts such as money market funds or money market
- bank accounts for which you have set up a .BNK account table in { MONEY &
- BANKS }. It simply indicates a transfer from such an account to a checking
- account. Its use is primarily for differentiation. You may devise and add
- other "TRANS-" category AlloCodes as you may like for your own system.
-
- Use of these special transfer-type AlloCodes will allow you to make the dis-
- tinction in your interrim and end-year reports.
-
- Please note that if you have a business directory separate from a personal
- banking directory, you will likely have differing expense and income alloca-
- tions. For example, automotive expense for a business is usually a tax-
- related deduction item, whereas a similar item in a personal account is not.
- Therefore, you should plan to set up different Payee/Payor and Allocation
- tables for business and personal use. Simply having different data director-
- ies will nicely accomplish this while using the same executable program and
- master files (see the Quick Start section in the documentation for more in-
- formation).
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 16
-
-
- The on-line editing commands are shown at the bottom of the table view
- screen. Additionally, the QuickJumps feature you may have used in other
- table views are available in this table's view as well (even though they may
- not always be indicated on the screen). The QuickJump keys are: <Ctrl-PgDn>
- <Ctrl-PgUp> <Ctrl-End> <Ctrl-Home>, as well as <Ctrl-Right-
- Arrow> <Ctrl-LeftArrow>.
-
- Although you may add and/or edit records (entries) in the table view format,
- two special hot-keys provide "form view" editing and adding. <Alt-N> will
- bring up a blank "form" containing entry cells for all the information in a
- single new record, in easy-to-fill-out format on one screen. Similarly, the
- <Alt-E> key combination will bring up a form view to Edit the item, or rec-
- ord, that you have positioned the cursor on. Make your new entries or edit-
- ing changes in form view, then press <F10> to Save or <Esc> to reject the
- changes.
-
- It is suggested that you follow the capitalization style of the sample en-
- tries. Although not required for functioning of the program, the differences
- in using All Caps or Mixed Case will show nicely later on in your printed
- reports and on-screen queries.
-
- Pressing <Esc> or <RightMouse> saves any changes and returns you to what you
- were doing before accessing table view.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Split Transactions
- ───────────────────
- ┌──────────────────────────┐
- │ PLEASE TAKE SPECIAL NOTE │
- └──────────────────────────┘
- Do not change/delete the PCode entry in the PAYEE/PAYOR table called "DEPS,"
- and in the ALLOCATIONS table two AlloCode items called "SPLIT" and "SPLITD."
- They are needed when one transaction covers credits or debits over different
- allocations.
-
- For example, one check written to pay your American Express statement may
- cover several different actual charge transactions with different alloca-
- tions. Your default AlloCode for American Express should be set up by you as
- "SPLIT," or changed to reflect that during transaction entry.
-
- Or, when making a deposit, you might have several checks from different
- sources. Instead of listing separate PCodes for each source, simply use the
- one PCode called "DEPS" to show you have multiple entries in your bank de-
- posit. The PCode "DEPS" will default to an AlloCode called "SPLITD."
-
- Such transactions will automatically present a pop-up edit screen for the
- Archive table (ARCHIVE.DBF) so that you may manually edit the "splits."
- Pressing <Ins> will give you a duplicate record of the transaction so that
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 17
-
-
- you may divide the one "split" transaction into as many individual alloca-
- tions as you may require, all referencing the same check number or deposit.
- Edit the CREDIT/DEBIT cells as needed, as well as the ALLOCODE and PCODE ad-
- justments. Do not leave any AlloCode cells blank.
-
- Please note that this special area of the program has "locks" on the cells
- that appear in table view. The locks are there to prevent unintentional
- changes or deletions to the Archive table. To edit or close-edit a cell, you
- must each time press the <Enter> key in the cell before attempting any
- changes, even when the cell might be empty. For example, to enter a valid
- AlloCode in its proper cell, place the highlight on that cell, press <Enter>
- to open it for editing, and press <F10> to call up a PickList for your
- allocation codes and make a selection with the <Enter> key. To change a
- monetary amount, press <Enter> to open the cell, make the adjustment in the
- amount, and press <Enter> again to close the cell. Do not edit any cells
- that are not indicated at the bottom of the screen.
-
- The American Express check transaction mentioned above should retain the
- PCode for that Payee (usually, you might call it "AMEX") in the split trans-
- actions. The AlloCodes are changed to reflect the proper allocations, and
- the DEBIT cells are manually edited to match the allocations.
-
- The split deposit entry should have its PCode entries edited to reflect the
- source (Payors) of each item; a pop-up PickList is available for your use in
- selecting previously set PCodes. Edit the CREDIT and AlloCode cells as well.
- You will note the AlloCode cell changes to the default item for the PCode you
- just selected; you may retain the default or select another from an available
- pop-up PickList. Do not ever leave any AlloCode cell blank!
-
- The split-transactions operation will become obvious and simple after you
- have tried it a few times, rather than just reading about it. (Easier done
- than said.)
-
- As mentioned above, pop-up PickLists are available for AlloCodes and PCodes
- in the split-transactions editing table; follow the on-line instructions at
- the bottom of the screens for the "hot-keys," etc.
-
- Pressing <Esc> after your final adjustment saves the changes and returns you
- to the Transactions module so that you may continue.
-
- If your monetary adjustments are out of agreement, you will be so informed
- and presented with an opportunity to make further adjustments. Again, ob-
- serve carefully the on-line instructions.
-
-
-
-
- Dual PCodes?
- ─────────────
- Some entries in your PAYEE/PAYOR table will appear to be the same; for exam-
- ple, two of the sample entries PCodes "FNB" and "FNBI" are both for a similar
- PName "First National Bank." However, the difference is in the logical
- ("yes" or "no" / "true" or "false") cell called "PAYOR;" this PAYEE/PAYOR may
- have two different types of transactions with different AlloCodes: "INT"
- means a payment of Interest TO your account, which is an Income transaction
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 18
-
-
- ("I" in the PType cell). This is designated in the example by the PCode
- "FNBI." The logical cell PAYOR is set to "T" (true), meaning yes it is true
- that this is indeed a payor (rather than a payee).
-
- First National Bank may also be a PAYEE, entered in the example in all upper-
- case letters (for your differentiation only; it has no bearing on perfor-
- mance). For example, if there are service charges or check-printing charges,
- you would need to enter "FNB" which is a PAYEE, and the type of transaction
- is "E" -- an expense, rather than income. The logical cell PAYOR in the
- PNAMES table is set to "F" (false), that is, NOT a payor (and therefore,
- defaults to being a payee). The default AlloCode for "FNB" you will see is
- "BNKCHG," for the allocation Bank Charges.
-
- It appears desirable to enter all Payees in uppercase letters in the PNAME
- cell, and mixed case for Payors. The visual distinction becomes especially
- important in reports. The important entry for the program is that the logi-
- cal cell PAYOR (the "yes" or "no" -- "true" or "false" idea) be correctly en-
- tered by you when you set up a new PCode entry. If this entry is incorrect,
- some data in your tables will be unusable.
-
- The concept of PCodes and AlloCodes may be confusing initially; after you
- get used to using them with your own data, their logical use will be auto-
- matic with a great saving in future time for your financial recordkeeping.
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Viewing/Editing the Archive Table...
- ─────────────────────────────────────
- The cumulative reporting data from all your bank account tables in one direc-
- tory is found in the Archive table (Archive.dbf). You may access this data
- in table view from the Transactions module simply by pressing the key combin-
- ation <Alt-A>. The Archive table is also available for viewing and editing
- from the Main Menu selection, "View Tables," then selecting "Other Data
- Tables (*.dbf)."
-
- Be especially careful before deciding to delete a record or item in an Arch-
- ive table. This table is meant to be a permanent history of all your trans-
- actions in all your accounts in the current directory. If you delete an en-
- tire item from a history table such as your current or annual archive tables,
- it is of course irretrievably lost; simply make sure that is what you intend.
-
- You may edit individual cells to correct erroneous entries you may have made,
- or any needed adjustments. Such is the main purpose of being able to easily
- access your Archive table(s). Simply observe logical caution as future
- reports and queries are based upon Archive tables, and reporting/querying
- accuracy depends entirely upon correct data entry and integrity. Make sure
- that all AlloCode cells have an entry; there must be no empty AlloCode cells.
-
- Follow the on-line information at the bottom of the view table screen for
- editing the Archive table. The usual QuickJump keys are: <Ctrl-PgDn>
- <Ctrl-PgUp> <Ctrl-End> <Ctrl-Home>. (Also, <Ctrl-RightArrow>
- and <Crtl-LeftArrow> may be used for panning to the right and left.)
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 19
-
-
-
- Pressing <Esc> or <RightMouse> saves any changes and returns you to what you
- were doing before accessing table view.
-
- Please note that once a year, usually in January or February after all end-
- ing-year transactions have cleared, reconciliations of statements have been
- made, and all reports printed, the Archive table needs to be purged of the
- ending-year's data for maximum efficiency of the system. The purged data is
- removed to another, permanent archival table bearing an identifying mark of
- the ending-year; the permanent archival table is then to be removed by you
- from the current directory to diskettes or other storage media for lock-away
- safekeeping and future reference.
-
- There is a complete, very efficient utility for purging and permanent archiv-
- al found on the Utilities Menu (in the registered copy version). Simply ac-
- cess that utility selection when you are ready to use it. You may access
- those moved archival tables later on by first using the Change Directory
- utility on the Utilities Menu to access the drive and directory where you
- have stored the archival copies; then select the View Tables item on the
- Main Menu for viewing or for quick printouts, choose on the Report Writer
- Menu the item for producing Plain, Generic listings (to the screen or to the
- printer).
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Reconcile your Bank Statement...
- ─────────────────────────────────
- Please note that the ONLY time you may reconcile your bank statement is while
- you are in the Transactions module, and the cursor is in the PCode cell
- awaiting entry. You will see a reference to a hot-key, <F6>, at the bottom
- of the screen, ONLY when you are in the PCode cell (it disappears after you
- leave the PCode cell). Pressing <F6> will bring up the special Reconcile
- module, which is easy to use and prompts you along the way.
-
- Before accessing the Reconcile module to reconcile your bank statement, make
- sure you have entered all bank-generated items on the statement, such as
- interest credited to your account, or service/check charges deducted, as NEW
- transactions in your account following the method described for deposit and
- check transactions. Accurately enter the dates the bank has indicated the
- transactions for interest and debits occurred; do not use the default trans-
- action date that automatically appears. Simply overtype the particular date
- numbers you wish to change. Obviously, answer "N" when you are asked "Writ-
- ing [a] Check?"
-
- After entering the "new" transactions (interest, etc.) from the bank state-
- ment, begin yet another "transaction," which may be exited after reconcilia-
- tion. Accept the default transaction date, answer "N" to "Writing [a]
- Check?" with the intent of simply moving to the PCode cell. When you reach
- the PCode cell, you may then press <F6> and do your reconciliation.
-
- In the Reconcile module, have your bank statement available and follow the
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 20
-
-
- on-line prompts, entering information as requested. If for some reason you
- choose not to continue, pressing <Esc> on the initial screen of the Reconcile
- module exits back to the Transactions module.
-
- Simply enter the bank's idea of your current balance, the statement date, and
- then, when prompted, answer "Y" or "N" to whether or not items have
- "cleared" (that is, appear on the statement). It is that easy.
-
- If your reconciliation is out of balance, you will be so informed and return-
- ed to the Transactions module. You may then use the Table View <F8> to see
- where discrepancies might occur. After you have determined the cause of the
- discrepancy and made any necessary adjustments, return to the Transactions
- module and, when in the empty PCode cell, try again to reconcile your account
- with the <F6> Reconcile module.
-
- When your account is successfully reconciled and you are returned to the
- Transactions module, you may press <F7> to exit the Transactions module, if
- you wish. Your account will be marked with the cleared items and you may
- file your bank statement away.
-
- The ease of use of the { MONEY & BANKS } Reconcile module should alone be
- worth the purchase price of this software: never again will you struggle
- with a calculator or scratch paper and flipping your bank statement from
- front to back, trying to follow some idiotic accounting instructions for re-
- conciling your account. Multiply this feature by the number of accounts you
- are going to use with this software, and you will have multiple worth of the
- purchase price for easing a truly bothersome burden of adult life: reconcil-
- ing bank statements. If you like this feature, please tell your friends and
- associates to consider purchasing a copy of { MONEY & BANKS }.
-
-
-
-
- Adding a New Account
- ─────────────────────
- (A menu selection item on the Utilities Menu.)
-
- A bank data table covers one account at an institution; you may have as many
- accounts as you wish at one or more institutions but each account must have a
- (slightly) different name. For example, if you have both a checking and a
- money market account at, say, First National Bank, you might call the check-
- ing account simply "FNB" (the program attaches .BNK as a suffix to all ac-
- count names). You might then call the money market account something like
- "FNBMM" or anything you like up to six characters (letters or numerals, but
- always beginning with a letter). Remember to create any business accounts in
- the directory which will hold such business information separately from that
- of personal banking.
-
- The reason that you may only use up to six characters in the account descrip-
- tion is that { MONEY & BANKS } will append a two-digit "year" when it is time
- to permanently archive and purge a previous year's data (a selection on the
- Utilities Menu). For example, in January or February of each new year, after
- all transactions have been cleared and accounts reconciled, you will most
- likely want to move the ending year's data from the current tables and perm-
- anently archive them on diskettes for safekeeping.
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 21
-
-
-
- At that time, { MONEY & BANKS } will append to the example "FNBMM.BNK" ac-
- count an ending year identifier, such as "96" (if the ending year is 1996,
- for example), so that only 1996 transactions will be archived into a table
- called "FNBMM96.BNK" that you may move to diskette or other storage media and
- always have available for reference and safekeeping.
-
- It is suggested that you begin each "new" account at the very end of the
- previous year. For example, if you are beginning to use { MONEY & BANKS }
- sometime in the year 1996, you may wish to begin your accounts on 12/31/95,
- the last day of the then "previous" year. In this way your reports and other
- data information are accurately portrayed for the entire new calendar year.
-
- Even though this action may intially require somewhat extra data input by you
- at the outset, the result will be accurate and complete reporting, a primary
- objective for using a banking management system such as { MONEY & BANKS }.
- As well, your overall record-keeping and maintenance shall be efficient and
- up-to-date. Do not forget that in subsequent years you may need to call upon
- records and reports for information detail you have long since forgotten or
- for which you no longer have paper records; accurate data input and time
- spent in the initial setup phase of your accounts will provide the basis for
- such recordkeeping.
-
- You will be prompted for the last check number used on or just prior to the
- beginning date. { MONEY & BANKS } will use this last check number for con-
- secutive check transactions after the beginning date. For new accounts just
- opened at a bank, make the check number one before your first printed check;
- ie, if the first printed check is '101' enter '100' at this prompt.
-
- The next prompt is for an ACCURATE balance in the account as of the beginning
- date. Please ascertain that this figure is indeed correct to the penny.
-
- You shall then select the size of checks you are using for this account;
- either <P>ersonal or <B>usiness size checks are the only selections availa-
- ble, based upon current standardized bank-printed checks. This information
- will be used if you should choose to utilize the optional check-printing
- facilities of { MONEY & BANKS }.
-
- After the account is created and you have exited from the Utilities Menu, you
- will be returned to the Main Menu where you may select "Transactions" and
- find your new account ready for use. You may create and maintain as many
- .BNK bank account tables as are needed.
-
- Footnote: Unlike some other commercial financial software, { MONEY &
- BANKS } places no practical limit on the number of tables or quantity of
- data entries in each account. The actual limit and usability is based upon
- your hard disk space and available virtual memory (if any); the theoretical
- limit is a billion transactions per account. Execution speed, however, will
- be affected as account tables grow into very large (10,000+ transactions)
- size. An annual archiving and purging of ending-year data *must* be done to
- maintain maximum efficiency in the running of the program and preparing
- reports/queries. Reports are limited to 4096 different PCodes and/or 4096
- different AlloCodes, which of course are unlikely reachable limits.
-
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 22
-
-
- The Check Printer
- ──────────────────
- If you have made previous transactions for which you have deferred the print-
- ing of checks, you may access the Check Printer from a selection on the Main
- Menu. You are presented with a scrolling list of available accounts; choose
- the account for which you would like to now print any unprinted checks.
-
- (The Check Printing option comes up automatically in the Transactions module
- after you have entered your final transaction in an account. Selecting "Y"
- or Yes to the check printing prompt will access the Check Printer module.)
-
- You are presented with a listing of checks marked for batch printing, that
- is, to be printed all in sequence at one time. Review the listing and pre-
- pare your blank checks in proper numerical order for insertion into the prin-
- ter when prompted (see Appendix A in the documentation for detailed check
- printing operation).
-
- Press <Esc> when you are ready to continue; you will have an exit option on
- the next screen should you decide not to print checks at this time.
-
- You will than be asked if the printer is ready and the first check has been
- inserted and properly aligned. (There is also a message on the screen indi-
- cating the currently selected printer; if this does not match your printer or
- one of its emulations, exit this module and select the proper printer in the
- Utilities Menu.) If you are ready to print, answer "Y" and the first check
- will immediately print. After the first check has printed and been ejected,
- there is a pause for you to prepare the next blank check in sequence and in-
- sert it into the printer (refer to Appendix A in the documentation). When
- the next check is indeed ready, press the <Space> bar and the check will be
- immediately printed. The process is repeated until the last check in the
- batch has been printed.
-
- You are next prompted whether or not you wish to print mailing labels. Ans-
- wer "Y" or "N" as desired. Information on label printing is contained in the
- section "The Label Writer," in the documentation.
-
- Reprinting a check...
- ─────────────────────
- Should a check ever be improperly printed, possibly because of misalign-
- ment or jamming in the printer, it is possible (and easy) to reprint the
- check. You will need to edit the bank account table; from the Main Menu,
- select View Tables, then Bank Account (*.BNK) Tables, and then the appropri-
- ate account. Locate the record, or row, containing the check number of the
- improperly printed check, making sure the highlight indicator is on that
- row. With the <RightArrow> key, move the highlight to the cell in the
- column entitled "PR" -- a logical-type cell that indicates "T" (true, or yes,
- the check is to be printed) or "F" (false, or no, the check is not to be
- printed). The "PR" cell will indicate "F." Press the <Enter> key in this
- cell to activate the Edit mode, and change the "F" to "T." Mark any other
- check transaction records that need to be reprinted in the same way. When
- finished, press <Esc> to save any changes and exit the table view screen.
-
- You may now reprint the check(s) by selecting the Check Printer module on the
- Main Menu. The checks that were marked "T" in their "PR" cells will appear
- as checks to be printed; you may wish to use replacement checks from the very
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 23
-
-
- end of your inventory of imprinted checks, crossing out the printed check
- numbers and writing in the corresponding check numbers for the reprinted
- transactions. This action will allow your current sequence of check numbers
- to remain in agreement with those in the account table.
-
- We must add that you might be tempted to change the Check Number ("CKNO")
- cell itself, thinking that you will just use the next imprinted check in
- your checkbook and, in effect, void out the improperly printed transaction.
- We somewhat advise against such a procedure for two reasons: first, this
- introduces sloppy and improper recordkeeping into your system. Future re-
- ports and queries will make no mention of the voided check number, and there
- is no permanent record of what happened to the "missing" check; although it
- will be easy to remember what you did for the time being, the passage of
- months or even years may surely bring up questions about curious or seemingly
- missing transactions or check numbers.
-
- Second, any such change of a check number will also have to be done manually
- in the Archive table (which also relies on a correct sequence of check num-
- bers for all your accounts), a *required* action all too easy to overlook
- at times, no matter how attentive you are to detail.
-
- For your information, please note also that the check-numbering scheme in the
- Transactions module relies on a correct "last" check number (other than one
- with a zero "0") at the end (bottom) of an account table. The next new
- checking transaction will be that check number, plus one.
-
-
- The Report Writer
- ──────────────────
- Upon selecting the Main Menu item entitled Report Writer, you are presented
- with a menu screen similar to the following:
-
- ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
- ║ ■ │ { MONEY & BANKS } REPORT WRITER │ │ ║
- ║───┘──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────└───┴───║
- ║ ║
- ║ ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ║
- ║ │ │ ║
- ║ │ │ ║
- ║ │ Archives, by Year, sorted by Institution & Date │ ║
- ║ │ Archives, by Year, sorted by Allocations │ ║
- ║ │ Archives, by Year, sorted by Payee/Payor │ ║
- ║ │ Summary, by Account, by Year, in date order │ ║
- ║ │ Listing of Uncleared Transactions in an Account │ ║
- ║ │ Listing of currently assigned PCodes │ ║
- ║ │ Listing of currently assigned AlloCodes │ ║
- ║ │ Listing of active CD's / BONDS / PORTFOLIO │ ║
- ║ │ Listing of the Credit Cards Minder │ ║
- ║ │ Plain, generic listings for any other Data Tables │ ║
- ║ │ Return to Main Menu │ ║
- ║ │ │ ║
- ║ │ │ ║
- ║ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ║
- ║ ║
- ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 24
-
-
-
-
- All reports and listings are first shown on the screen in wide-access format;
- that is, reports wider than 80 characters may be scrolled out to the right
- for you to view all contained information. Simply use the arrow keys or
- mouse. After viewing your data on the screen, you will be presented with an
- option to print the report; wide reports are printed in compressed mode on
- the default printer on printer port LPT1.
-
- All reports shown on the screen will have a resulting text file left in the
- current directory; these text files, in standard ASCII format, have the ex-
- tension .RPT as report identifiers. The prefix part of the file name will
- refer briefly to the report selection you had made; these files are overwrit-
- ten each time you specify a new version of the report. The main use of these
- .RPT files is for users who have desktop publishing programs and/or Microsoft
- Windows(R) who would like to print out their reports from { MONEY & BANKS }
- with the unique font and formatting capabilities contained in those programs.
- Simply read or import the .RPT files as standard ASCII text files. For exam-
- ple, in Microsoft Windows(R) Notepad, you may simply open the file by speci-
- fying the file name (ie, "AC.RPT") and view/prepare your report as desired.
- In Ventura Publisher(tm), Windows(R) Write, or Microsoft Word for Win-
- dows(tm), you would import the file as standard ASCII text and make your
- printed presentations from within those programs. Refer to those programs'
- documentation for information on formatting columnar text or tables.
-
- If you have no use whatsover for the resulting .RPT files left in your cur-
- rent directory, you may safely delete them or leave them there, as desired.
- They will recur each time you use the Report Writer module, and existing .RPT
- files will be overwritten by any new updates. You may also retain .RPT files
- by renaming the prefix part of the file name and storing them in the direc-
- tory or on diskette.
-
- The first selection on the Report Writer Menu presents a formatted report
- based on your Archive table for the year-to-date, sorted by the different
- accounts in the current directory as well as the date. This combination
- report and query may be run often even though there may be no need to print
- out such a report: viewing your data on-screen in this format will yield an
- important grand-view concept of your banking management system. Its impor-
- tance will become evident after you have entered several months' worth of
- transaction data, especially if you use more than one bank account table.
- After viewing on-screen, you may press <Esc> to continue; you are presented
- with an option to send the report to the printer. Answer yes or no as you
- may desire.
-
- A progress gauge will monitor the on-screen report preparation.
-
- The second selection is very similar to the first report, except for the sort
- order and summary information you will find therein. It presents your Arch-
- ive table data sorted by budget allocation categories spanning all your vari-
- ous accounts. Again, the importance of this information will become greatly
- enhanced after several months' worth of data entry. You will now be able to
- visualize what all that time-consuming effort was about setting up all those
- curious AlloCodes and PCodes.
-
- A progress gauge monitors the on-screen report preparation.
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 25
-
-
-
- The third report is again similar, presenting the Archive table sorted by
- Payee/Payor. In this order, the report is grouped and totaled by Payee/Payor
- from all the accounts as combined in the Archive table. With a large Archive
- table, this report will probably take more time to prepare and show on the
- screen than the other reports, due to its complexity. This is a most useful
- report, particularly at year-end, showing how much you have paid to, or re-
- ceived from, each Payee/Payor, respectively. A progress gauge is provided.
-
- The fourth item presented in the Report Writer, is an opportunity to view
- and/or print formatted reports of your individual account tables. When you
- had the opportunity to peruse account tables in table view mode, you saw en-
- tries in raw data format: PCodes referring to Payee/Payors you could not re-
- member, the same with all those AlloCodes. Here, in a formatted report, you
- will see the correlation to the actual names of your payees and payors, along
- with your allocations in plain English. The reports/queries here are pre-
- sented in order of transaction date and you may choose the separate account
- tables to view. As with all the selections in the Report Writer, you are
- given a choice to print the formatted reports on your printer. This listing
- is a fast, efficient report to produce.
-
- Fifth, a report listing outstanding, or uncleared, transactions in any of the
- account tables provides the means for you to observe which items have not yet
- been marked as "CL" (a logical-type cell for "cleared"). Transactions are
- automatically marked "cleared" as you check them off from your bank statement
- in the Reconcile module. This quick and efficient report may be viewed and/
- or printed frequently.
-
- The sixth and seventh items are primarily for your deskside reference: they
- are simple listings in alphabetical order of your current Payee/Payor table
- codes and Allocation table codes, respectively.
-
- The eighth option on the menu covers a data table that is included on the
- Utilities Menu, "CD's / BONDS / PORTFOLIO," an extra storage table for opt-
- ional entry of your various certificates of deposit, savings accounts/plans,
- bonds and/or other securities. The report includes only items in that table
- that you have marked as "Active;" that is, are currently maintained in your
- portfolio (inactive items are kept in the table for long term recordkeeping
- purposes).
-
- The ninth selection, "Listing of the Credit Cards Minder," is a simple report
- showing the current items in the Credit Card Minder (on the Utilities Menu).
- The listing is presented in alphabetical order by card name.
-
- The final report item for Plain, Generic listings is not truly what might be
- called a report. It presents raw table data from any account table, current
- or archival, or any other data table for which you might need a printout.
- Please realize these are basic, unformatted listings without screen scrolling
- but are invaluable when you need to retrieve stored data not available with
- the other menu choices. The selection of the tables is similar to the View
- Tables selection on the Main Menu. If you are retrieving data from other
- drives or directories, use the "Change Directory" selection on the Utilities
- Menu prior to running your report request.
-
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 26
-
-
- The final option on the Report Writer menu returns you to the Main Menu, or
- you may simply press <Esc> or <RightMouse> when you wish to exit the Report
- Writer.
-
-
-
-
- View Tables
- ────────────
- The Main Menu has a selection called View Tables; when you choose it, you are
- presented with a small options screen similar to the following:
-
-
-
-
-
-
- ┌SELECT TYPE OF TABLE TO VIEW:┐
- │Bank Account (*.BNK) Tables │
- │Other Data (*.DBF) Tables │
- │Quit: return to Main Menu │
- └─────────────────────────────┘
-
-
-
-
-
- There are two types of data tables in { MONEY & BANKS }: the account tab-
- les, which have a filename extension of .BNK and all other data tables, which
- all have an extension of .DBF. Both types of tables may be viewed and/or
- edited with this module.
-
- The tables are presented in table-view format, similar to that found in the
- Transactions module. The operation and function is nearly identical. You
- may wish to refer to those parts of the documentation that describes Editing/
- Adding To/Viewing the Payee/Payor, Allocation, and Archive tables.
-
- When browsing tables in table view, you may use the arrow keys or the mouse
- for scrolling, and the QuickJump keys are available: <Ctrl-PgDn> <Ctrl-
- PgUp> <Ctrl-End> <Ctrl-Home>. (Also, <Ctrl-RightArrow> and
- <Crtl-LeftArrow> may be used for panning to the right and left.)
-
- Follow the on-line prompts for other needed keys. Please be aware that when
- you delete (with the <Del> key) a record (or "row" in spreadsheet terms), it
- is first "marked" for deletion (you will see a caption, <Deleted> at the top
- of the screen). The actual deletion does not occur until you exit the table
- view screen. Also note that the <Del> key is a "toggle;" that is, if you
- press <Del> a second time on a record already marked for deletion you will
- "undelete" the record. The undelete must be performed prior to exiting the
- screen; as you exit, any records marked for deletion are permanently removed
- from the table. Exercise extra caution when performing record deletes on any
- archival tables, which are in essence history tables and a deleted record is
- irretrievably lost.
-
- Although you may add and/or edit records (entries) in the table-view format,
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 27
-
-
- two special hot-keys provide "form view" editing and adding for .DBF tables
- (hot-keys not available when viewing .BNK tables). <Alt-N> will bring up a
- blank "form" containing entry cells for all the information in a single new
- record, in easy-to-fill-out format. Similarly, the <Alt-E> key combination
- will bring up a form view to Edit the item, or record, that you have posit-
- ioned the cursor on. Make your new entries or editing changes in form view,
- then press <F10> to save, or <Esc> to reject, the changes.
-
- Pressing <Esc> or <RightMouse> in table view saves any changes and returns
- you level by level to where you began.
-
-
-
- The Utilities Menu
- ───────────────────
- Upon selecting the Main Menu item for the Utilities Menu, you are presented
- with a menu screen similar to the following:
-
-
- ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
- ║ ■ │ { MONEY & BANKS } UTILITIES MENU │ │ ║
- ║───┘──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────└───┴───║
- ║ ║
- ║ ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ║
- ║ │ │ ║
- ║ │ │ ║
- ║ │ CD's / BONDS / PORTFOLIO Records │ ║
- ║ │ Credit Cards Minder │ ║
- ║ │ Backup Data Tables to Diskette │ ║
- ║ │ Change to a Different Directory │ ║
- ║ │ Add a New Bank Account │ ║
- ║ │ Label Writer │ ║
- ║ │ Select a Different Printer │ ║
- ║ │ Archive & Purge Ending-Year Data │ ║
- ║ │ About │ ║
- ║ │ Return to Main Menu │ ║
- ║ │ │ ║
- ║ │ │ ║
- ║ │ │ ║
- ║ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ║
- ║ ║
- ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- The first Utility option, "CD's / BONDS / PORTFOLIO Records," is a simple
- recordkeeping table which is outside the functional boundry of the main pro-
- gram, and is there for your optional use and convenience. Therein you may
- list and keep records of active and formerly active certificates of deposit,
- savings accounts, bonds and/or portfolio items, or other items of value.
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 28
-
-
- After you have had some practice dealing with the other data tables in
- { MONEY & BANKS }, you will find entry and maintenance of this table quite
- familiar and simple. View the sample entries to start, add your own, and
- delete the samples later on. You might make note of the "Active" cell in
- this table; it is a "logical" type entry expecting either "T" (true) or "F"
- (false) to indicate yes or no this item is active or it is not. Only items
- marked "T" (true they are active) are included in the reporting option on the
- Report Writer Menu. The entries in this table are not sorted in order of
- date or name; they are simply maintained in the order you choose to enter
- them.
-
-
- The second item, "Credit Cards Minder," is another optional data table very
- similar to the "CD's / BONDS / PORTFOLIO Records" table. Therein you may
- keep records about the credit cards belonging to a family or business, in-
- cluding the card names, account numbers, phone numbers to report lost or
- stolen cards, cardholder name(s) appearing on the cards, and other pertinent
- information. The records will be maintained by the program in alphabetical
- order by card name. The use or non-use of this facility has no effect on the
- operation of the main components of { MONEY & BANKS }; it is provided for
- your convenience if you wish to keep such records in a single place. There
- is a listing option on the Report Writer menu to view or print information
- from this table.
-
-
- The third Utility selection, "Backup Data Tables to Diskette," is a very
- useful backup facility for users of DOS 5.0 and greater. It transfers fully
- usable (not compressed) DOS copies of all data tables that have been changed
- or added since you last did such a backup. You are presented with a choice
- of using either the A: or B: drive; initially, insert a formatted diskette
- and all tables are copied to that diskette. Differential type backups are
- then performed daily as you use the program and elect to use this utility.
-
- You might consider using two alternate-day diskettes for extra failsafe
- security of your financial backups. Please note that the utility relies on
- the DOS 5.0 (and greater) command REPLACE.EXE, which must be available in
- your path. You will have to run this utility in each directory in which you
- have active data tables for the program { MONEY & BANKS }; use a different
- diskette for each directory. If you are using a version of DOS less than
- 5.0, please use a reliable backup utility after you exit { MONEY & BANKS }.
-
-
- The fourth menu item, "Change to a Different Directory," allows you to change
- Drives and/or Directories to access variously stored data tables. The util-
- ity is simple to use and is self-explanatory; simply follow the on-screen
- prompts. If you type in a non-existent or misspelled directory, you will
- remain in the current directory, which will be indicated on the screen.
-
-
- The fifth selection on the Utilities Menu, "Add a New Bank Account," not only
- is obvious as to its function but carefully prompts you for required infor-
- mation for whenever you wish to add a new "bank" account table to your bank-
- ing information system. For further information on this selection, see the
- section "Adding a New Account," in the documentation.
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 29
-
-
-
- You may access the Label Writer from a selection on the Utilities Menu, or in
- response to the final prompt in the Transactions module.
-
- The Label Writer module is a simple utility allowing you to print up to six-
- teen labels at one time based upon names and addresses you have entered into
- the Payee/Payor table. The mailing labels are intended for use on your own
- envelopes to send checks to payees for which you have no preprinted return
- envelopes. You might wish to manually select letter-quality mode on your
- printer before printing labels. Labels are printed in 10-cpi size print
- mode.
-
- The Label Writer is set up for standard 1" x 3.5" labels, such as the widely
- available Avery #4145 adhesive pin-feed printer labels. Labels may also be
- "printed" to (displayed on) the screen.
-
- In the Label Writer module itself, you are presented with empty PCode cells,
- one at a time up to sixteen in number. You may type directly into the cell
- the PCode desired, or better yet, press <Enter> in the empty cell and choose
- a PCode from a PickList that pops-up.
-
- After you have chosen and confirmed with the <Enter> key one or more PCodes
- for labels you wish to print, simply press <Esc> in the next empty cell to
- move on to the actual printing prompt screen. You will then have an election
- to print to the <P>rinter, send to the <S>creen, or <Q>uit. Make your selec-
- tion by pressing the appropriate letter key ("P" "S" or "Q").
-
- If you choose <P>rinter, you will see a prompt asking if the printer is ready
- and loaded with 1 x 3.5 labels. Pressing "Y" begins the printing of your
- labels. There will be three printed lines on each label, provided you
- properly entered the information for each entry when setting up your PCodes
- in the Payee/Payor table. The left print margin is 4 characters.
-
- If you choose to "print" to the Screen, you will see the selections shown in
- label format on the screen.
-
- Choosing the <Q>uit option will leave the Label Writer utility.
-
-
- The seventh item on the Utilities Menu allows you to select the proper
- printer driver for your brand of printer. For more information on this
- process, see the section in the documentation called "Printer Support for
- Reports, Checks and Labels Printing."
-
-
- The Archive & Purge Ending Year's Data selection will be available in your
- registered copy of { MONEY & BANKS }, if you should decide to purchase it.
- It was felt that the trial period of this software would not extend into
- another year of data and therefore, best left to be available on registered
- copies. The utility maintains maximum efficiency of year-to-year data tables
- and offers a permanent archival facility for your past financial records.
- Please consider this very important feature when determining whether or not
- you will become a registered user of { MONEY & BANKS }. We have decided to
- keep the purchase price very reasonable in order to further encourage legal,
- registered copies of this software.
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 30
-
-
-
-
- The "About" option on the Utilities Menu offers important system information
- about the computer on which { MONEY & BANKS } is installed. It includes a
- constantly updated on-screen clock. The "About" screen also bears the offic-
- ially affixed notice of copyright for the software.
-
-
- The final option on the Utilities Menu returns you to the Main Menu, or you
- may simply press <Esc> or <RightMouse> when you wish to exit the Utilities
- Menu.
-
-
-
- Printer Support for Reports, Checks and Labels Printing
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- There is printer support for a variety of printers; select a compatible
- printer from the "Select a Different Printer" item on the Utilities Menu to
- replace the default printer. If your exact brand and model of printer is not
- listed, there should be at least one selection that is a compatible emulation
- for your printer; check your own printer's manual for emulation guidelines.
-
- You may wish to manually select letter-quality print style on the printer it-
- self for the printing of checks and mailing labels. You should use draft-
- quality for most reports simply because of the printing speed, especially if
- reports are lengthy.
-
- If you elect to use the selection for "Generic Printer", please note that
- print size codes will not be sent to your printer. You should then select
- manually on the printer itself the compressed mode option for the printing of
- reports. Select 10-cpi mode for the printing of labels and, especially,
- checks.
-
- The PRINTER.DBF table contains all the printer models and codes, and is edit-
- able by the end user by using the View Tables selection on the Main Menu, but
- is only available for editing when working in the main \MONEY directory. If
- you are in your \MONEY\BUSINESS subdirectory, for example, you will need to
- change directories (see the option for this on the Utilities Menu) or exit
- the program and restart it in the main \MONEY directory in order for the
- PRINTER.DBF table to appear on the <View Tables> <Other *.dbf> selection
- menu.
-
- ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ Most users will not ever need to edit the PRINTER.DBF codes. │
- └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
- If you do plan to edit the PRINTER.DBF, please note that printer codes are
- entered in Lotus-style format; see your own printer's manual for printer
- codes. Currently, { MONEY & BANKS } only uses 10-cpi size and Compressed
- size for its printing requirements.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 31
-
-
- Technical Matters
- ──────────────────
- { MONEY & BANKS } will run on DOS-compatible computers with 512k of
- memory. All display modes are supported; although the video was designed on
- and primarily intended for VGA display, the program was simultaneously tested
- on, and modified as needed for, monochrome displays as well as laptop B/W
- displays in order that contrasts and prompts be present and visible to all
- possible users. Special features that are VGA-only are compensated for in
- the other displays, with no adverse effect on program execution.
-
- { MONEY & BANKS } must be installed on a hard drive. Do not attempt to ins-
- tall to, or run the program on, a floppy drive.
-
- DOS 3.1 or higher is required, and DOS 5.0 or greater is not only suggested,
- but required for one utility on the Utilities Menu: the backup facility.
- Mouse support is provided, but a mouse is not required for use of the pro-
- gram.
-
- In your config.sys file, you *must* have the FILES= statement set at 30 or
- greater (i.e., FILES=30).
-
- A disk cache utility used on your system will provide great benefit to run-
- ning { MONEY & BANKS }, resulting in marked improvement in speed and ef-
- ficiency throughout the program.
-
- { MONEY & BANKS } will use expanded memory if it is available on the system,
- even if it is only present in a small amount. The presence of expanded mem-
- ory, particularly on a 386 or greater computer, significantly enhances the
- performance and efficiency of this software.
-
- A variety of printers is supported via a selection on the Utilities Menu.
- Popular printers and emulations are provided to the best of our knowledge,
- and are subject to revision and additions in future versions; if there is
- difficulty with any of the printer choice settings, kindly send us a note
- regarding this and any possible corrections/additions you may have found, if
- any.
-
- The optional use of the check-printing facility is intended for use on dot-
- matrix printers which allow printing of single sheets. Laser printer support
- is included, but is intended primarily for the printing of reports. The
- printer must be connected to LPT1, or you must use a utility (we suggest
- something like PC Magazine's LPTPORT.COM) that will direct LPT1 calls to an
- alternate address.
-
-
- Corrupted files
- ────────────────
- It is possible (but unlikely) that certain files, particularly index files
- (*.NTX) can, at some point, become corrupted and you see an error message
- pointing to index files. This would likely only occur if you had been work-
- ing in the program and those files were being updated when there was a power
- outage. Simply change to the directory where this occurred, and while in
- DOS, type:
-
- DEL *.NTX
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 32
-
-
-
- to delete all the index files; the next time you run { MONEY & BANKS } the
- index files will be rebuilt. Do not take the backup .NTX files you may have
- stored on your backup diskettes; they may or may not match the data tables if
- you were doing updating when the corruption occurred.
-
- If you have data tables that become unusable, copy them from your backup
- diskettes, along with their associated index files (bank account tables and
- archive tables do not have index files). Should other files become corrup-
- ted, particularly the "_admin.*," you will have to secure valid copies from
- the original distribution files that you got when you received this program.
- You might wish to keep a set of all the original uncompressed files on a
- separate diskette in case one or more is needed, avoiding the install process
- and uncompressing files. Also, data tables (.dbf) can appear to be corrup-
- ted to some users, but usually the problem is with indexes (.ntx) that no
- longer match or are not current with the associated .dbf table. Try deleting
- the .ntx files as described above before deciding the .dbf tables are bad.
-
- It is possible that after having used the "Change Directory" facility on the
- Utilities Menu, { MONEY & BANKS } may leave behind a temporary swap file in
- the directory that was changed "from." You may see such files in directory
- listings after normally exiting { MONEY & BANKS }; they are identified by
- unique file names containing a random sequence of numbers and letters with no
- file extension, perhaps something like "73C0193C" (no extension). Only AFTER
- you have normally exited { MONEY & BANKS } for any session, may you safely
- delete such files from the directory, if they are found. Ordinarily, the
- program "cleans up" any temporary swap and/or virtual-memory files it
- creates; however, if the directory is changed and the program is then exited,
- a previously created temporary file may be left behind in the previous direc-
- tory. If you are using { MONEY & BANKS } along with a task-switching facil-
- ity or multi-tasking program, or access the DOS prompt from within { MONEY &
- BANKS }, and observe such temporary files, DO NOT DELETE them; only after
- properly exiting a session with { MONEY & BANKS } may you safely delete any
- remaining temporary files that are found.
-
-
- An M&B.ICO icon file is available in the \MONEY directory for those users
- who add { MONEY & BANKS } to their Windows(R) environment.
-
-
- Technical support is provided to registered users; at the time this document
- was written, technical support questions should be sent in written form to
- us by mail, or for fastest service by E-mail (our E-mail addresses are
- provided to registered users along with their order). Please include your
- phone and fax (if any) numbers as well as your mailing address (and
- CompuServe number / Internet address, if any) on ALL written communications.
- Kindly indicate the program name and version number. Please include detailed
- information about your system, including version number of DOS, as well as
- the exact problem(s) experienced (not just "this or that doesn't work").
-
-
-
-
- [ End of main documentation ]
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 33
-
-
- APPENDIX A:
- ────────────
-
- { MONEY & BANKS } Check-printing module for dot-matrix printers.
- ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
- Take a sheet of regular 8.5 x 11" paper, preferably of heavy stock, and make
- a "carrier" for your personal or business size checks. Cut a three-sided
- slot, about 3 inches in length in the upper left of the sheet of paper:
-
-
- 8.5"
- ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ │
- │ │
- │ Cut a 3-sided │
- │ slot with knife │
- │ ______________________ to hold a check │
- │ / \ <-- │
- │ │
- │ │
- 11" │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- (Continued on next page)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 34
-
-
- Each individual check will be inserted into that slot (just to hold it easily
- in proper position for printing consistently from check to check):
-
- 8.5"
- ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │╔══════════════════════════════╗ │
- │║ ───────── ║ Your │
- │║ ──────────────────── ──── ║ regular │
- │║ ─────────────────────── ║ bank check │
- │║ ───────────── ║ fits here │
- │║ ______________________ ║ <-- │
- │╚═══/ \═══╝ │
- │ and "rides" │
- │ into your │
- │ dot-matrix │
- │ printer on │
- 11" │ the sheet of │
- │ paper. │
- │ │
- │ After print- │
- │ ing one │
- │ check, load │
- │ next one the │
- │ same way, │
- │ pressing │
- │ <space> to │
- │ print each. │
- └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
- (If your dot-matrix printer feeds single sheets from the rear of the machine,
- you may wish to add a second, inversely-cut "slot" to hold down the top of
- your check as you load it from the rear.)
-
- Not fancy, and certainly time-consuming if printing a lot of checks at once,
- but for small accounts it does the job without purchasing specially printed
- form-feed checks. For doing one, two, or a few checks at a time, this is
- often easier than working with form-feed checks that require placement and
- movement of the pin-feed rollers in your printer.
-
- Practice with blank pieces of paper that are translucent and cut to the size
- of your printed checks. After printing a "blank," place it over a bank check
- and hold them up to the light so that you may observe where the lines print
- and how to position and manipulate in YOUR printer the actual printed checks
- for proper alignment of the printed words and numbers with the lines on the
- checks.
-
- The "memo," usually a merchant's account number or other info, is printed at
- the top above the date to identify your remittance to the person(s) you are
- sending the check. The pre-printed memo area (usually at the bottom left) on
- your checks is not used.
-
- Once this is set up (after practicing a few times), you will find that almost
- all checks will print properly, or very close to it, with the default set-
- tings for generic checks. Remember, use of the check-printing facility is
- optional and most certainly not required for beneficial use of the program.
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 35
-
-
-
- APPENDIX B
- ───────────
-
- Licensing Information
- ----------------------
- { MONEY & BANKS } is licensed and supplied as is, without any warranty. To
- the extent permitted under applicable law, RCCO Research Associates disclaims
- all warranties, either expressed or implied, with respect to this software
- program, its quality, performance, merchantability, or fitness for any par-
- ticular purpose.
-
- In particular, this software program is not guaranteed to prevent or detect
- damage to your data or programs. In no event shall RCCO Research Associates
- be liable for any claims for lost profits or any damage, including, but not
- limited to, special, incidental, consequential or other damage (including,
- without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interrup-
- tion, loss of business information, or other pecuniary loss) arising out of
- the use of or inability to use this RCCO Research Associates product, even if
- RCCO Research Associates has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
- Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or conse-
- quential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you.
- In no case shall RCCO Research Associates's liability exceed the license fees
- paid for the right to use the licensed version of the software. The license
- agreement and warranty shall be construed, interpreted and governed by the
- laws of the state of Tennessee.
-
- This software program, { MONEY & BANKS }tm, is protected under the Copyright
- Laws of the United States of America and all applicable International Copy-
- right Conventions. Makers and/or users of illegal or unauthorized copies of
- the registered version are subject to prosecution under these laws.
-
- The name { MONEY & BANKS } is a trademark (tm) of RCCO Research Associates.
- Windows(R) is a reg. trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Other trade names
- referenced herein are either trademarks or registered trademarks of their
- respective companies.
-
- The registration fee will license one copy for use on any one computer at any
- one time. The user may not:
- a. Transfer or rent the registered version of the program or use,
- copy or modify the program, in whole or in part, except as
- expressly permitted in the agreement.
- b. Decompile, reverse assemble or otherwise reverse engineer the
- program.
- c. Reproduce, distribute or revise the registered version program
- documentation.
-
- You are encouraged to pass a copy of the unregistered version of { MONEY &
- BANKS } along to your friends and associates for evaluation.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 36
-
-
-
- Registration Information
- -------------------------
- If you find this program useful and find that you would like to continue
- using { MONEY & BANKS } after a reasonable trial period of ninety days, you
- should purchase a registered copy.
-
- Registration will obtain a copy of the most recent authorized version and
- provide legal authorization for continued use of the program after the
- ninety-day (90-day) evaluation period.
-
- To obtain a registered copy, you should mail an advance-payment registration
- fee of U.S. $24.95 + $2.55 shipping/handling ($7.05 non-U.S. shipping/
- handling, $4.05 for Canada) directly to RCCO Research at P. O. Box 196,
- Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (U.S.A.). Additional users in businesses are $12.00 per
- user. Payment is to be made by check or money order only, please. We require
- payment with order so that prices and fees may be kept as reasonable as pos-
- sible; this policy has worked well for us in recent years, as we observe
- increased registration on products that are reasonably priced. For credit
- card and telephone orders, see the Additional Ordering Options note below.
-
- An invoice will be included with your order, showing the registered serial
- number(s) applicable to the purchase. We can provide a pro forma invoice to
- those corporations or institutions that require same before payment can be
- issued; shipment will be made promptly upon receipt of payment. Prices and/
- or registration and/or license fees are subject to change without notice.
-
- Tennessee clients please include the required 8.5% sales tax on both the
- product amount and shipping/handling as mandated by the state.
-
- International clients must pay by check or money order in U.S. dollars, drawn
- on a U.S. bank or the U.S. branch of an international bank. Please realize
- that international postal money orders are considerably delayed through the
- postal systems and may not be the most expedient way of relaying payment. An
- often-used form of payment consists of obtaining a dollar-denominated money
- order from the local American Express office which you may then airmail to us
- along with your order. International orders are dispatched promptly when
- using a credit card order as outlined below, under Additional Ordering
- Options.
-
- Please indicate program name and current version number on your order; you
- may use the Order.frm file provided with the package or simply send a note or
- letter with your name, organization name, address, program name & version,
- number of users being licensed, and remittance. Your comments on our
- programs are welcomed.
-
- *Please* indicate disk size desired (3.5" or 5.25").
-
- All registered users will receive an authorized copy of the latest version of
- { MONEY & BANKS } along with any updated documentation on the disk size of
- their choice. Any future upgrade versions will be offered to registered
- users at special upgrade prices.
-
-
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 37
-
-
-
- ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ Please consider how unusally low the registration price is for a full, │
- │ legal, registered copy of software you may use for many years. │
- │ │
- │ If one uses the program beyond the liberal trial period, or attempts to │
- │ continue using it without purchasing a registered copy, it must be │
- │ considered unauthorized use of proprietary authorship and material. │
- └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Additional Ordering Options:
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- CREDIT CARD ORDERS ONLY -
- You may order a registered copy of this RCCO Research program
- with MasterCard, Visa, Amex, or Discover from PsL, Public (software)
- Library of Houston, Texas by calling 800-242-4775 or 713-524-6394,
- or by FAX to 713-524-6398, or by CompuServe E-mail to 71355,470;
- Internet address: 71355.470@compuserve.com. PsL's office hours are
- 7:00am to 6:00pm CST Monday-Thursday and 7:00am to 12:30pm CST on
- Fridays. You may also mail credit card orders to PsL at P.O. Box
- 35705, Houston, TX 77235-5705 (U.S.A). Please include the cardholder
- name exactly as it appears on the credit card plus the billing
- address for the card.
-
- PsL's item/product number for { MONEY & BANKS } is #11774.
-
- THE ABOVE NUMBERS ARE FOR ORDERS ONLY.
- Any questions about the status of the shipment of the order,
- registration options, product details, technical support, volume
- discounts, dealer pricing, site licenses, etc. must be directed in
- writing to RCCO Research, P.O. Box 196, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. To
- ensure that you get the fastest possible delivery of your registered
- copy, PsL will notify us the day of your order and we will promptly
- ship the materials directly to you. There are no additional fees
- for ordering by credit card.
-
- Your credit card number is *not* transmitted to RCCO Research, but
- rather is processed by PsL as part of their worldwid software
- registration service.
-
- The above service is made available as a convenience to client
- individuals who wish the security and expediency of ordering by
- telephone and/or with a credit card. Established business concerns
- may prefer to order directly from RCCO Research with the company's
- own business check.
-
- The PsL staff cannot answer non-order inquiries.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 38
-
-
- Additional Information
- -----------------------
- If you have any comments or questions regarding this program after (or with)
- registration, please send them to:
-
- RCCO Research Associates
- P. O. Box 196
- Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (U.S.A.)
-
- Please include your phone (day & evening) and fax (if any) numbers as well
- as your mailing address (and CompuServe number / Internet address, if any)
- on ALL written communications. Please indicate the serial number from your
- registered copy of the program as well as your CustID number. Our E-mail
- addresses are provided to registered users along with the invoice.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- APPENDIX C
- ───────────
- Commonly asked questions and some answers:
-
- Q. If I only want to write a one-time quick check to a party that will prob-
- ably never receive one again from me, why do I have to set up a new PCode
- for such a transaction?
-
- A. The reports and querying modules rely on certain items of information
- being available; without provided detail on a payee's name, payee/payor
- status and an AlloCode, your future reports and queries would come up
- blank for such one-time transactions, as would your permanent archival
- records. More than one table relates to the Payee/Payor table and
- requires/compiles information from it; without a PCode entry, you would
- have to retype the payee's name and allocation several times for the
- program to be able to handle your transaction properly. Therefore, please
- realize it does not take more time to set up a one-use PCode to handle
- your data, but actually much less time, and affords accurate and detailed
- recordkeeping for your future queries and reports. When setting up a one-
- use PCode, you may save time by omitting the address, city, phone, etc.;
- always, however, enter a unique PCode, the full PName, a logical "T" or
- "F" in the "Payor" cell, and a default AlloCode. If the existence of that
- one-use PCode is truly bothersome, then after all annual reports are
- printed and permanent archives set aside (usually in January of a new
- year), you may delete the record from the Payee/Payor table (PNames.dbf).
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 39
-
-
- Q. Sometimes I add an entry to the Payee/Payor or Allocations table by Quick-
- Jumping to the bottom of the table and pressing <DownArrow> to provide a
- new, blank record (rather than using <Alt-N> for form view entry). After
- filling in the information in the different cells, I think the table
- should appear in alphabetical order showing my new entry in its proper
- place. Why does it stay at the bottom?
-
- A. Because this is not the preferred method for making a new entry to a
- table (we advise using <Alt-N> form view), the alphabetical sort needs a
- screen "refresh" to show the new entry in its proper position. Returning
- from <Alt-N> or <Alt-E> form view automatically provides a refresh of the
- table view. To refresh table view while it is on-screen and after you
- finish editing your new entry, try pressing <PgUp> once to rewrite the
- screen; your new entry should appear in its proper position. Also, when
- you <Esc> from table view back to the previous module or menu and then
- again enter table view, you will see the screen refreshed and your new
- entry saved in its proper place in the table. Please note that if you
- enter a PCode (or AlloCode) not in "all caps," the sort order will place
- it after all the capitalized PCodes (or AlloCodes); make sure you use "all
- caps" for the PCode (and AlloCode) cells.
-
-
- Q. I find the concept of "split transactions" difficult and time-consuming;
- is there a way I can just avoid using them? (I prefer to sort my tax-
- related deductions and income at year-end with cancelled checks, receipts,
- W-2's, and forms 1099, anyway.)
-
- A. There is enough flexibility in { MONEY & BANKS } to allow you to figure
- out your own expedient way of doing transactions. If the absence of
- detail in your deposit and check transactions covering multiple alloca-
- tion categories does not bother you, we see no functional reason why it
- cannot be done to suit you; it certainly will not adversely effect the
- mathematical calculations of your data. The queries and reports will have
- more generalized reporting detail that will not be as informative to you.
- We do maintain that within a few days' worth of practice with "splits,"
- their concept, importance, and ease of use will become second nature to
- you in your data entry. If you must avoid the feature, simply never
- allowing "SPLIT" or "SPLITD" as an AlloCode in any transaction will
- prevent the split transaction screen from popping up. You will have to
- create broad, generalized allocation codes to handle such transactions.
-
-
- Q. I do not care to print checks on my printer -- I find it tedious, need-
- lessly time-consuming, and not all that important to have computer-
- generated checks. Am I missing out on a primary use of your program?
-
- A. Not at all. Check printing is certainly not an important functional
- feature of { MONEY & BANKS }. Your efficient and accurate recordkeeping
- details are the primary reason for using this program. Many users will
- not want to utilize computer-printed checks. However, the facility is
- provided if you wish to use it and if it works with your own dot-matrix
- printer and bank-printed checks. What the check-printing module lacks in
- elegance and flexibility is compensated for only by the fact that we do
- not require you to order specially-printed pin-feed checks (as do other
- banking program publishers).
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 40
-
-
-
-
- Q. Aren't there several home and business budgeting, retirement, mortgage,
- investment, and loan-related features available in other commercial bank-
- ing software that are absent in your program?
-
- A. There are, certainly. Time and time again, we found that most people
- rarely, or never, use such parts of CPA-designed programs. Such modules
- add layers of extra code and overlays to the executable file, slowing
- learning time and the execution of the task at hand: doing your banking
- quickly, easily, and efficiently. We find that people enjoy using their
- computers in their small business, professional, and home offices, and
- that financial operations must not only be accurate, but cleanly and
- swiftly executed in an attractive, visual environment with equipment and
- knowledge they already possess. In our pre-development research, we found
- no single other financial program (at any price) to offer these
- requisites. We trust many will discover these unique features in { MONEY
- & BANKS }.
-
-
-
- Q. I dread the changeover into a new calendar year; I used another financial
- program that made this an absolute nightmare, although the program worked
- well during the rest of the year. May I continue doing transactions dur-
- ing the first portion of the calendar year without hindrance from your
- program if all items are not cleared and archived from the previous year?
-
- A. Yes. In one widely-available commercial program, the user is aggravated
- incessantly during the new year with daily reminders that it is now a dif-
- ferent year and constant messages to "clean out" and permanently archive
- the ending-year data and reports while trying to perform normal transac-
- tions on or after January 1st. As most people know, rarely do all checks
- and deposits clear immediately, the bank statements arrival dates differ,
- and we may just not yet be ready to devote time to archival and final re-
- porting. Carry this over more than thirty days and you are in real
- trouble. We don't need to hear about this over and over and over with
- beeps and bright red/white warning screens and time-consuming "temporary"
- archivals as we attempt to perform our normal banking transactions during
- the start of the new year. { MONEY & BANKS } quietly works with YOUR
- schedule and at your pace. Continue your banking in the new year; after
- all statements have been received, all ended-year items cleared, and all
- needed reports printed and filed, proceed with the permanent archival of
- your data. Exercise due caution when entering dates to make sure they are
- indeed the correct ones needed. Also, after you have entered CHECKS dated
- IN the new year, you may not then back-date subsequent CHECKS to the ended
- year; end-year transactions other than checks may continue to be entered.
-
-
-
- Q. I had a check that was prepared and entered in your program, and sent to
- the payee. It got lost in the mail, and a couple of months later I had to
- pay the debt in person with cash. How can I void the original check
- transaction?
-
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 41
-
-
- A. You may go into the account table and the archive table and delete the
- rows containing the transaction you wish to void. You MUST then adjust
- the Balance cell at the very end (bottom) row of the account table, as
- there is no automatic mathematical adjustment when working in a table view
- and an amount is deleted or changed. Alternately, to retain a record of
- the transaction as being voided, we suggest you create two special Allo-
- Codes called "VOIDD" (void debit) and "VOIDC" (void credit). Rather than
- delete the record, simply change the Debit or Credit cell to "0.00" and
- change the AlloCode cell to "VOIDx," where x is the indication of the type
- of void. Adjust the Balance cell at the bottom of the account table for
- the amount you voided out. In this manner the record of the transaction
- will show in queries, reports and your recordkeeping, but with the special
- allocations called "VOIDx" to remind you of what was done. You will also
- have to indicate the transaction as "cleared" when it appears next in the
- Reconcile module.
-
-
- Q. Please explain more about the needed settings in my CONFIG.SYS file. I
- understand your program fairly well, but I am not a technically-oriented
- computer user.
-
- A. CONFIG.SYS FILE INFORMATION: In the documentation of { MONEY & BANKS },
- under the heading "Technical Matters" we inform the user that the
- computer's CONFIG.SYS file must have a line (the FILES= statement) indi-
- cating the number of file handles that DOS is to open in order to use
- programs like { MONEY & BANKS }. However, we did not stress how important
- this setting is. In order to successfully run { MONEY & BANKS } on most
- PC's, the FILES= statement *must* be set at the number 30 or greater;
- ie, FILES=30 (note: NO spaces on either side of the equals sign).
-
- If your computer does not have this many file handles available for DOS to
- utilize, { MONEY & BANKS } may load properly and run for a while. As you
- get involved in your banking operations, the program is setting up
- complex relations between various data tables and other components used by
- the program and the version of DOS you are using. If DOS runs out of
- available file handles to use, you may be forced to abruptly end your work
- at an inconvenient time and be returned to DOS. Computers particularly
- susceptible to this are those that have several memory-resident programs
- (TSR's) installed or have a DOS "shell" (PC Tools, Norton Desktop, Norton
- Commander, or the shell program that comes with DOS 5.0+, etc.).
-
- For those users who are not familiar with what the CONFIG.SYS file is, we
- shall herewith attempt to provide a little information. The CONFIG.SYS
- file is an optional user-created text file located in the root directory
- of your boot drive, usually the C: hard drive; its purpose is to provide
- instructions to DOS regarding your system configuration. Your computer
- may, or may not, have come with such a file already created for you; if
- the file does NOT exist on your machine, DOS will use a certain preset
- default set of parameters to operate your system. In many instances, these
- default parameters are adequate to serve many of the average computer
- user's needs, as long is he/she is not running very complex programs or
- environments such as Microsoft Windows. These default settings are *NOT*
- adequate to operate { MONEY & BANKS }. The absolute minimum you must do
- is assure that you have a Config.sys file and modify it, or create it from
- scratch to hold simply one item: a simple statement to DOS about how many
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 42
-
-
- files DOS may have open at any one time ("files" will include bank tables,
- archive tables, other tables, their associated index files, the executable
- portions of { MONEY & BANKS }, plus any other of your own files: batch
- files, the TSR's mentioned above, etc).
-
- To determine whether or not you have an existing Config.sys file, at the
- DOS prompt type:
- C:<enter>
- CD \<enter>
- DIR CONFIG.SYS<enter>
-
-
- This will give you a directory listing showing the existence of a
- Config.sys file, or else a message stating the file was not found. If NOT
- found, next type the following while in the root directory of your C:
- drive:
- COPY CON CONFIG.SYS<enter>
- FILES=30<enter> (Note: NO spaces on either side of equals sign)
- <Ctrl-Z><enter> (Press & hold Control key, press "Z", release
- both, which creates a symbol that looks like the
- rooftop-shaped control character in front of a
- letter Z. Then press the <enter> key.)
-
- That's it; that's all you have to do (for now). There are many other
- settings that you can put into your Config.sys file, and it would be wise
- to learn of them as you become more familiar with DOS and its workings.
- But for now, that one simple FILES=30 statement will allow your computer
- to successfully run { MONEY & BANKS }.
-
- If your computer does already have a Config.sys file, you may examine its
- contents while you are in the root directory of your C: drive by typing
- the following:
- TYPE CONFIG.SYS<enter> ("TYPE" is a DOS command)
-
- Look for a line anywhere in the file that says FILES=x, where x is a
- number stating the file handles DOS will have available for its opera-
- tions. If the line does NOT exist, or contains a number less than 30, you
- will need to modify your existing Config.sys in order to run { MONEY &
- BANKS }. You will need to use a plain text editor (NOT, we repeat and
- emphasize *NOT* a regular word processing program that you may have on
- your computer, unless it also can create or edit plain ASCII text files).
- DOS 5.0 or greater comes with a plain text editor called EDIT. To use that
- particular text editor, which is not a word processor, you simply type (if
- you are in the root directory of your C: drive):
- EDIT CONFIG.SYS<enter>
-
- You may then edit the lines of your Config.sys much as if you were indeed
- using a word processor (you must not use a regular word processor as they
- most often insert invisible proprietary formatting codes into text,
- rendering a configuration or batch file useless). If you presently find a
- line that appears to be FILES= with a number after, change that number to
- at least 30; ie,
- FILES=30 (Note: NO spaces on either side of equals sign)
-
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 43
-
-
- If there are other lines already in the Config.sys file, we suggest you
- place the FILES= statement at, or near the top of the file; each command
- statement in this file must be on a separate line. Make sure you have
- entered no other characters or extra blank lines in the file, and then
- choose File Save from the menu (other text editors will have their ap-
- propriate manner for saving the file). That's it.
-
- After you have created or modified your Config.sys file, you *must* then
- reboot your computer for these changes to take effect. To reboot your
- computer, press and hold the Control key, then press and hold the Alt key,
- then press the Delete key. Your computer will do what is known as a warm
- reboot; the changes in your Config.sys file will then be available to DOS.
- { MONEY & BANKS } will love it.
-
-
- Q. I added a second directory to handle my business accounts and believe it
- to be set up properly. Everything works, except as I now press <Alt-M>
- (to bring up the manual) when working in the new directory, there is an
- error message telling me that "Money.doc" cannot be found. I know for
- certain that I put a copy of Money.doc in the new directory. What is
- wrong?
-
- A. You should not have that extra copy of Money.doc in a secondary directory.
- Money.doc (and certain other files) must exist only in the primary, or
- parent, directory (usually named \MONEY). If you review the instructions
- in the Quick Start section of the documentation, you will see we are very
- specific as to which files must go in any new directories you set up (they
- are: PNAMES.DBF, ALLOCATE.DBF, SECUR.DBF, CARDS.DBF, _ADMIN.PCX, and
- ARCHIVE.DBF). Also, there is a statement in that section that reads "Do
- NOT place duplicates of any other files in the secondary directories."
- Simply delete any files not on the required list and the program will work
- properly in secondary directories. (Do not, of course, delete any .BNK
- tables you may have created.) The PATH statement in your Autoexec.bat
- file *must* include the primary \MONEY directory as part of the PATH in
- order to use one or more secondary directories.
-
-
- Q. I see the file ORDER.FRM [order form] in my \MONEY directory. How may
- I print it out on my printer?
-
- A. To print the registered copy order form, make sure your printer is on and
- ready with at least 2 sheets of paper, change to the \MONEY directory and
- at the DOS prompt, type the following:
-
- COPY ORDER.FRM PRN<enter>
-
-
-
- Q. How may I add { MONEY & BANKS } to my Windows environment?
-
- A. Windows 3.1:
- ------------
- To set up Money & Banks to run from Windows(R) 3.1 Program Manager, first
- install the program normally from DOS or within a full DOS window.
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 44
-
-
- Next, make the desired Program Group in which you wish to place M&B the
- current group (that is, click on the Title Bar of the group to highlight
- it as the current one).
-
- From the File Menu, select New. Then select Program Item. Choose OK.
- Type in "Money & Banks" as the Description line. For the Command Line,
- enter the drive, directory, and name of the M&B executable filename; i.e.,
-
- C:\MONEY\MONEY.EXE
-
- if you have installed to the C: drive and in the default directory name
- suggested by the M&B Installation program.
-
- For the Working Directory, indicate the above directory:
-
- C:\MONEY
-
- (Additional directories that you may set up for Money & Banks should have
- their own individual program items created so that you may specify the
- different directories as the appropriate Working Directory.)
-
- You may skip the Shortcut Key designation and the Run Minimized check box.
-
- Click on the Change Icon button. You may receive a message that no icon
- is available; if so, click on OK and when the Change Icon dialog box
- appears, click on Browse. Select the drive (i.e., C: indicated above) on
- which you installed Money & Banks, select the appropriate directory (i.e.,
- \MONEY in the example above), and select:
-
- M&B.ICO
-
- as the icon file desired. Click on OK. In the Change Icon box, click on
- OK. In the original Program Item Properties box, click on OK.
-
- The Program Group item for M&B will be created. To launch the program
- from Windows, you need only double-click on the M&B icon. (Make sure you
- are running M&B in a FULL MS-DOS screen; it will not run in an MS-DOS
- window.)
-
-
- Windows 95:
- -----------
- Money & Banks has been fully tested by RCCO Research to run under Windows
- 95. Many users will note immediate benefits in terms of the program's
- execution speed and smoothness of the video screens, particularly if you
- are running Windows 95 on a Pentium (or 80486) system.
-
- To set up Money & Banks to run in Windows 95, first install the program
- normally from a full MS-DOS window. (See the Readme.txt file for
- instructions in running Install.exe from MS-DOS.) You must observe MS-DOS
- filenaming conventions when naming a directory (folder) in which M&B will
- be installed (most users will accept the suggested default, C:\MONEY);
- that is, the directory/folder name must be eight characters or less with
- no spaces or other characters not allowable under traditional MS-DOS
- naming conventions. Please note that when you begin naming your bank
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 45
-
-
- account tables in the program itself, this naming convention must be
- followed with those filenames as well. When reading the M&B online
- documentation, you may wish to mentally substitute the word "folder"
- whenever "directory" is mentioned.
-
- In Windows 95, to add this program to your Start Menu:
- 1. Click on Start.
- 2. Move the mouse pointer up to Settings.
- 3. Click on Taskbar...
- 4. Select the 'Start Menu Programs' tab.
- 5. Click on Add.
- 6. Click on Browse, then navigate to the application's executable
- file, MONEY.EXE, by first double-clicking to the folder or
- sub-folder in which it exists. Select MONEY.EXE. Click on Open.
- 7. Now the Command line shows the path to the MONEY
- executable file. Click on Next.
- 8. Choose a folder in which the shortcut to the program will
- appear (or select New Folder if one is desired).
- 9. Click on Next.
- 10. At the prompt 'Select a name for the shortcut,' type in
- "Money and Banks." Choose an appropriate icon.
- 11. Click on Finish. This returns you to the Taskbar Properties
- window.
- 12. Under the Advanced Settings you will have to specify that this
- program is to run in a FULL MS-DOS SCREEN. Money & Banks will
- not run in an MS-DOS window.
-
- Advanced Settings (on the Taskbar Properties window):
- A. Click on Advanced.
- B. Click on the plus sign to open the Programs folder.
- C. Click on the folder containing the new shortcut to
- Money & Banks.
- D. RIGHT-click on the shortcut itself. Select Properties.
- Click on the Program tab, then click on the "Close on exit"
- box to place a check mark there. Click on the Screen tab.
- Click on Full-Screen under Usage. Click on Apply at the
- bottom of the window. Click on OK.
- E. Close out the Exploring window.
-
- 13. When you return to the Taskbar Properties window for the final time,
- click on OK.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 46
-
-
- ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
-
-
-
-
- { MONEY & BANKS } tm
-
-
- Software and Documentation
- (C) Copyright MCMXCII - MCMXCVI RCCO Research Associates
- All Rights Reserved under International Conventions
-
- RCCO Research Associates
- (Technical Publishers, Est. 1965)
- Post Office Box 196
- Gatlinburg, Tennessee
- 37738
- (U.S.A.)
-
-
-
- ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Please consult your favorite user-supported software source for other
- programs from RCCO Research.
-
-