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userinfo.doc
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1987-03-02
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YOUR USER INFORMATION FILE CONTAINS, FOREMOST, YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS. It also
contains the starting month of your fiscal year, the location of your GL data
files, and the command codes your printer may require in order to switch
between PICA and COMPRESSED print. This file is created automatically.
When you start GL, you give the name of your intended user information file,
whether it actually exists or not. You may type GL<return> at your DOS
prompt, without any command line arguments, to see a brief discussion of
syntax, system requirements, and recommendations. But the "normal" command is
something like this:
C>GL COMPANY.INF<return>
In addition to the fields mentioned above, your user information file also
stores a version signature and a datestamp. This hidden signature is used
throughout the other GL data files to maintain system and data integrity. The
odds against some other file having a GL signature in the expected location
are astronomical. If you ever get a file integrity error, you will be
prompted to restore from backup.
Backup
------
If you ever get the RESTORE FROM BACKUP message, be well advised: GL is not
kidding!
You have no choice but to get your backup and restore the files. After you
restore the files, IMMEDIATELY run the Print Journal report to ensure that you
have not inadvertently backed up bad data onto one of your backup sets. If
the Print Journal report runs to completion, your newly restored files are ok.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A BACKUP, see the special instructions at the very end of
this file.
Backup is important because everything dies sooner or later. You must have a
reserve copy of your data when it happens. Preferably more than one reserve
copy. If you are young and bright and happy, you do not believe in your bones
that this is true. You will learn. And I will laugh at you.
There are any number of excellent backup programs, or tape archive systems,
which back up your hard disk rapidly, accurately, and conveniently. There is
no excuse not to have a rotating series of from 3 to 7 backup sets, one of
which (the oldest) is always stored off the premises.
I recommend that you use a system which backs up your hard disk ONTO FLOPPIES,
and that the program you select be GENERIC -- that is, make sure the backup
program will run on any MS-DOS computer system, not just on IBM's, or just on
Epson's, etc. There is no telling what kind of computer or hard disk system
you may have to buy two or three years from now, when your present computer
finally croaks.
You ignore backup at your peril. Losing your computer is nothing! You or
your insurance company can always buy another one. But losing your data is
disaster.
Screen Colors:
--------------
Your default screen colors are also stored in the user information file. You
may alter these from the Main Menu, and you will be prompted whether you wish
to save the revised screen colors.
Printer Commands:
-----------------
The default 80-column and 132-column printer commands are for the Epson series
of dot-matrix printers. Enter the DECIMAL numbers, separated by commas or
spaces, WHICH YOUR OWN PRINTER MANUAL defines for your own particular printer.
The Epson command "27 80", which is ESC P, selects 80-column PICA text. The
Epson command "27 15", which is ESC SI, selects 132-column COMPRESSED text.
Whenever GL prints a report, you will be notified whether the report requires
normal 9½ x 11 white bond paper, or wide paper. Simply put, tractor feed is
the usual way to do anybody's computerized GL report, so GL expects you will
have a tractor feed. No provision is made for single sheet feed during
printing. All pages are assumed to be 11" deep (66 lines).
IF YOU BLANK OUT the printer command lines, NO printer command bytes are sent
to the printer before printing reports. If you select print width by a switch
on your printer, you may prefer this method. If you actually do use wide
paper when wide paper is required, you may safely ignore the distinction
between 80-column and 132-column printer setup commands.
GL does not error-check the printer command bytes which you enter. There is
no way to predict what your printer may require, so anything is potentially
correct.
The GL print routines interpret only the NUMBERS in these command lines --
anything else, if present, will be ignored as a comment. If you must send a
NULL byte to your printer, enter "00" as the value. ASCII ZERO, on the other
hand, is "48". THE NUMBERS ARE IN YOUR PRINTER MANUAL, and nowhere else. The
default Epson values will be correct for a number of printers, including many
Panasonic and IBM printers; but not for Okidata and not for many others.
Compatibility
-------------
The DEFAULT information, which is shown if you start GL without a user
information file name, is designed to print correctly on ALL IBM clones.
The actual GL program needs a greater degree of compatibility than that --
especially a 100% identical IBM standard screen RAM video map. This excludes
a few popular, but older, non-IBM, non-clone systems.
Any "shell" program which attempts to take control of the IBM video screen MAY
interfere with even the DEFAULT screen output. GL assumes it is running on
an IBM-PC under DOS 2.1 as defined by IBM, not by someone else.
Where to put the User Information file
--------------------------------------
ALL GARDEN-VARIETY USER INFORMATION FILES belong in the same subdirectory as
your GL.EXE program. The first example in the default GL syntax is the usual
way to start GL General Ledger. While you MAY specify a user information file
with a pathname, as in "A>GL c:\gl\mygl.inf", this is not recommended unless
you have a compelling personal reason for it.
If you specify MORE THAN ONE user information file, GL processes each file in
turn, one after the other. This is one way to support MULTIPLE COMPANIES IN A
SINGLE SESSION. It's not likely you'll do it this way, but you may if you
prefer.
GL makes no assumptions about the path and filename you supply on the DOS
command line; GL simply tries to find a user file by that name, and tries to
read it. If the file does not exist, GL will create it. After (and if!) GL
successfully creates the file, you may enter your user information by hitting
the F5 function key from the Main Menu.
Note that the "GL working subdirectory" pathname in the user information is
independent of the user information file's OWN pathname. If you are confused
about the implications, simply DO NOT SUPPLY a path when you start the GL
program, and DO NOT CHANGE the "GL working subdirectory" field.
That is, for best results use the garden-variety style: A>GL INFOFILE.INF
GL working subdirectory
-----------------------
If you do not wish to have your GL data files in the same subdirectory as your
GL.EXE and USERNAME.INF files, you may change this field. It is not required
that you do.
Once your GL.CHT file has been created (almost immediately), you will find
that you cannot edit the working subdirectory pathname, except as discussed
below.
If the pathname you enter does not exist, GL will try to create a subdirectory
by that name. If GL would have to create TWO or more subdirectories to make
the path valid, the attempt will fail. If this happens, create the full
pathname in steps. See the Help documentation for a more complete example.
"Hidden" F9 Command
-------------------
If you MUST change your GL files' pathname after it has been established, you
can press the F9 key while in User Information. This alternately opens and
closes the "gate" that lets you into the pathname. There is no message to
inform you of the fact, but you will hear a siren if the gate is open, or a
bleep if the gate is closed.
Special Instructions For People Who Did Not Back Up Their