The Business Master (3rd Edition)

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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ John MacEvoy's $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ C A S H T R A C $$$ $$$ (R) $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ Personal Finance Manager $$$ $$$ Version 6.08 $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ Column One, Inc. $$$ $$$ P.O. Box 2607 $$$ $$$ Gaithersburg, MD 20879 $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ Electronic Mail: 703-941-2386 or $$$ $$$ 703-941-5934 $$$ $$$ (24-Hour User Support) $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ Program Order Line: 301-948-9599 $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ ----====||====---- $$$ $$$ October 1988 $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ Manual written by $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ John MacEvoy $$$ $$$ Lynn Gilley $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ Copyright (c) 1987, 1988 Column One, Inc. All rights reserved. $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [ii] ____________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents ----------------- 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................1 1.1 PLEASE READ THIS! ..................................1 1.1.1 Version 6 Enhancements ......................2 1.1.2 General Program Features ....................2 1.2 LICENSE ............................................3 1.3 WARRANTY AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: ..............4 1.3.1 Program Warranty ............................4 1.3.2 Disk Warranty ..............................5 1.3.3 Limitation of Remedies ......................5 1.4 CUSTOMER SUPPORT ...................................6 1.5 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS ..............................7 2.0 INITIAL OPERATION .......................................8 2.1 CONVENTIONS ........................................8 2.2 GETTING STARTED ....................................8 2.2.1 Making an AUTOEXEC.BAT file .................8 2.2.2 Hard Disk Installation ......................9 2.2.3 Floppy Disk Installation ....................9 2.2.4 Loading Sample Purchase Groups .............10 2.3 SETTING THE DEFAULT CONFIGURATION .................11 2.3.1 Hard Disk Configuration ....................11 2.3.2 Floppy Disk Configuration ..................11 2.3.3 Setting the Default Configuration ..........11 2.3.4 Converting Old CT or PFM Data to New Format 13 2.4 RUNNING THE PROGRAM ...............................14 2.4.1 Starting CashTrac ..........................14 2.4.2 Key Assignments ............................16 2.4.3 Data Entry Considerations ..................17 2.4.4 The CashTrac-6 Program Structure ...........17 2.4.5 Initial Housekeeping .......................19 2.4.6 Menu Screens ...............................20 ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [iii] ____________________________________________________________________ 2.5 THE HELP SCREENS ..................................20 2.6 THE CALCULATOR ....................................21 3.0 THE CHECKING ACCOUNT ...................................22 3.1 ENTERING NEW CHECKS, CASH PURCHASES, ETC. .........22 3.1.1 Checking Transaction Types ................23 3.1.2 Mandatory and Optional Data ...............23 3.1.3 Valid Data Values .........................24 3.1.4 Entering Checking Data, General ...........24 3.1.5 Duplicating Entries .......................24 3.1.6 Entering Memos ............................24 3.1.7 Splitting Entries .........................24 3.1.8 Selecting Checks For Printing .............25 3.1.9 Sending Entries to Other Accounts .........25 3.1.10 Using the Credit Transaction ..............25 3.1.11 On-Screen Balance .........................25 3.1.12 Setting Up Budgets ........................25 3.1.13 Voiding Checks ............................26 3.2 UNPAID BILLS ......................................26 3.2.1 Entering Unpaid Bills ......................26 3.2.2 Paying Unpaid Bills ........................27 3.3 CHANGING ENTRIES ..................................27 3.3.1 Searching for Checking Records .............27 3.3.2 Changing Checking Records ..................28 3.4 DELETING ENTRIES ..................................28 3.4.1 Deleting One Record ........................28 3.4.2 Deleting an Entire Checking Account ........28 3.4.3 Deleting Batches of Checking Records .......29 3.5 PRINTING REPORTS ..................................29 3.5.1 The Check Register Report ..................29 3.5.2 Account Activity Summary Report ............29 3.5.3 Unpaid Bills Report ........................30 3.5.4 Monthly Budget Report ......................30 3.5.5 Yearly Budget Report .......................30 ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [iv] ____________________________________________________________________ 3.6 BALANCING THE CHECKING ACCOUNT ....................31 3.7 CHANGING THE ACTIVE CHECKING ACCOUNT OR NAME ......32 3.8 THE CHECK WRITER ..................................32 3.8.1 Running the Check Writer ...................32 4.0 THE SAVINGS AND INVESTMENT ACCOUNTS ....................33 4.1 ENTERING INVESTMENT DATA ..........................33 4.1.1 Investment Transaction Types ...............33 4.1.2 Mandatory and Optional Data ................34 4.1.3 Valid Data Values ..........................34 4.1.4 Entering Investment Data, General ..........34 4.1.5 Duplicating Entries ........................35 4.2 CHANGING ENTRIES ..................................36 4.3 DELETING ENTRIES ..................................36 4.4 PRINTING INVESTMENT REPORTS .......................36 4.4.1 The Account Statement ......................36 4.4.2 The Account Activity Summary Report ........36 4.4.3 Summary of All Accounts ....................37 5.0 PROGRAM UTILITIES ......................................38 5.1 SORTING FILES BY DATE .............................38 5.1.1 Sorting Checking Files .....................38 5.1.2 Sorting the Investment Files ...............38 5.1.3 Packing the Unpaid Bills File ..............38 5.2 INVESTMENT ACCOUNT AND PURCHASE GROUP NAMES .......39 5.2.1 Adding New Names ...........................39 5.2.2 Changing Names .............................39 5.2.3 Deleting Names .............................39 5.2.4 Inserting Names ............................40 5.2.5 Displaying Names ...........................40 5.2.6 Renumbering Groups/Accounts ................40 5.3 IDENTIFYING THE DATA DISK .........................40 5.4 SET CHECKING ACCOUNT MINIMUM BALANCE WARNING ......41 ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [v] ____________________________________________________________________ 6.0 DOS PORTAL .............................................42 6.1 CHANGE DATA DRIVE .................................42 6.2 CHANGE SYSTEM DRIVE ...............................42 6.3 DATA DISK DIRECTORY ...............................42 6.4 SYSTEM DISK DIRECTORY .............................42 6.5 TEMPORARY EXIT TO DOS .............................43 7.0 IMPORT, EXPORT AND TRANSFER OF DATA ....................44 7.1 IMPORTING DATA ....................................44 7.2 EXPORTING DATA ....................................44 7.3 TRANSFERRING DATA .................................44 8.0 GRAPHING AND UTILITIES PROGRAM .........................45 9.0 TROUBLESHOOTING ........................................46 9.1 REPORTING PROBLEMS ................................46 9.2 LEVELS OF ERROR MESSAGES ..........................46 9.3 SECOND LEVEL ERRORS ...............................47 9.4 THIRD LEVEL ERRORS ................................49 9.5 MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS ............................49 10.0 MISCELLANEOUS .........................................51 10.1 CT6 FILE DESCRIPTIONS ...........................51 10.2 PROGRAM SPEED ...................................52 10.3 EXITING THE PROGRAM .............................52 10.4 KEEPING BACKUPS .................................53 10.5 MAKING ADDITIONAL DATA DISKS ....................53 10.6 A NOTE FROM THE PROGRAM AUTHOR ..................53 11.0 PROGRAM SPECIFICATIONS ................................54 User Registration Form ......................................55 ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [1] ____________________________________________________________________ 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 PLEASE READ THIS! CashTrac, version 6, is a major update of CashTrac version 5.15 and the TELEWARE Personal Finance Manager, and accepts data entered using all prior CashTrac/Personal Finance Manager programs. Paragraph 2.1 contains the necessary information to configure the program properly and begin operation and should be followed closely. Section 2.3.4 of this manual discusses how to convert old data to the new format automatically. The END key now replaces the ENTER key to enter a full screen of data and continue. Error 7 will result from not altering your boot disk to run CashTrac. See section 2.2.1. If your program fails to run properly, we have found that most problems are, in order of frequency, the result of failure to follow the setup instructions, damage in transit, or conflicts with memory resident utility programs. Please refer to Troubleshooting, section 9.0 for assistance or see Customer Support, section 1.4 below for information on how to get new copies of CashTrac from us. The shareware version of CashTrac-6 is the complete main CashTrac program. IT IS NOT A LIMITED DEMO PROGRAM. A companion graphing and utilities program and a fully-indexed printed manual are also available. Please see section 1.4 below for registration information. This manual discusses features of both the main CashTrac program and the companion Graphing and Utilities (G&U) program, which is available to registered users, therefore not every feature described in this manual is present in the shareware program. Version 6.08 accepts data from all earlier versions of CashTrac/Personal Finance Manager. Data from version 6.08 CAN NOT BE READ BY EARLIER VERSIONS, but it is fully compatible with the commercial version of 6.08 and planned future versions 7. Data files used with version 6.08 should not be used later with any older version. Data run with version 6.08 and then any pre-6.08 version may appear to be lost. If so, see Troubleshooting, section 9.0 for the recovery procedure. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [2] ____________________________________________________________________ 1.1.1 Version 6 Enhancements (over version 5.15): - Pop-up calculator (Use Ctrl-F10). - Fast direct screen writing on most screens. - Split Checking entries into an unlimited number of sub- transactions. - The cRedit transaction now is the opposite of a cash Purchase. - New Opening Balance transaction. - Add one-line memos to checking transactions. - Monthly budgets or any-time-period budgets. - Six digit check numbers. - Track investments by dollars and dollars per share. - Four types of investment interest and dividends. - Enhanced record searching features. - Sort routine handles 32,700 records or to the limit of memory. - DOS path support. - Perform DOS commands from CashTrac. - Reports: there are many enhancements. Change form length, lines/page, headings, etc. Print any record type from any account. Printer setup command capability. Budget and Purchase Summary are now one report. Print by check number or date. Expanded investment performance and summary reports. - Online help files. Use Alt-F10. * Six-color monochrome compatible graphing. * Check writer, configurable to any check style. * Spreadsheet/database data export and import feature. Note: features marked with an * are available only to registered users. 1.1.2 General Program Features CashTrac is a flexible personal finance management program designed to keep investment and checking records in a familiar checkbook register format, not in spreadsheet or accounting ledger format. The general features of the program are: - Sixteen separate Checking Accounts to record all checking account transactions including major cash purchases. Checking Accounts may also be assigned to credit cards. - An Unpaid Bills function to store one-time-only, monthly, or yearly recurring bills and nag when they fall due. Bills are automatically entered in the checking file when paid. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [3] ____________________________________________________________________ - An Investment and Savings account program that tracks and reports the performance of up to 255 investment accounts. - Flexible report features including tax-deductible purchase reports for any time period to cope with the IRS. - Monthly or "other" time period budget reports to show how much was spent in any of 255 user-defined budget areas (Purchase Groups) such as food, computers, etc. * Investment and Checking account bar-chart style graphing, in color, compatible with all monitor types, and capable of printing graphs to disk in a format compatible with most word processor text files. * A check printer capable of supporting most common form-feed check styles. * Data interface to send data to and receive data from most spreadsheet and data base programs. (* = registered users only). CashTrac-6 is fully compatible with data files made with past versions. Data entered with pre-version 6 programs must be converted using the Configuration program provided. 1.2 LICENSE CashTrac is available as either a commercial program for sale or a shareware program for trial use before purchase. The commercial program contains the registered user's serial number on the opening logo screen. This license applies to both the CashTrac version 6 shareware and commercial programs. The shareware program comprises the files CASHTRAC.EXE, CONFIG.EXE, CHELP.CT6, and CT6DOC.TXT (CT6DOC.SQZ) or the same files if their names have been changed by users in violation of this license. The shareware version of CASHTRAC.EXE has the words SHAREWARE VERSION on the opening screen. The commercial program comprises the files CASHTRAC.EXE, CONFIG.EXE, CHELP.CT6, CT6.DOC, CTGRAF.EXE, and GHELP.CT6 or the same files if their names have been changed by users in violation of this license. The commercial version of CASHTRAC.EXE has a serial number in the base of the column on the opening screen. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [4] ____________________________________________________________________ CashTrac-6 is copyrighted by Column One, Inc., and is protected by copyright, trademark and trade secret law. Column One hereby grants users limited license to copy the above identified CashTrac-6 shareware program files and give them to third parties for their use, but Column One does not relinquish the right to: a. Modify the programs, documentation, or the file names in any way, b. Sell or trade the program for money or any valuable consideration, except for a nominal charge for postage, handling, and materials, c. Remove reference to the program name, the author or the program trademark in the program or in this documentation. Column One also hereby grants purchasers of the commercial program limited license to make copies for their own use on one computer at any one time. This license does not include the right to make more than one copy for use on more than one machine at any one time unless purchasers abide by the multiple copy agreement. Violation of the above limited license may result in prosecution under Title 17 of the U.S. Code and local trade secret acts. Column One will seek the remedies permitted under the respective statutes. 1.2.3 Trademark CashTrac is a federally registered trademark owned by John MacEvoy and licensed to Column One, Inc. John MacEvoy and Column One, Inc. have been distributing programs under the CashTrac trademark since July 1985. The name closely resembles that of a later program (CashTrack) issued by SubLogic Corp. There is no connection between the companies or the programs. 1.3 WARRANTY AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: 1.3.1 Program Warranty The programs CashTrac-6 SHAREWARE and CashTrac-6 COMMERCIAL are provided AS IS with no warranties express or implied including the warranties of: ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [5] ____________________________________________________________________ M E R C H A N T A B I L I T Y and FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS AND YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER RIGHTS WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE. 1.3.2 Disk Warranty Disks sold by Column One directly to purchasers are warranted to be free of defects for a period of 60 days from receipt of the disks by the purchaser. If the purchaser returns the defective disks to Column One within 60 days, the disk and CashTrac-6 programs on that disk will be replaced free of charge. 1.3.3 Limitation of Remedies Column One's entire liability and the purchaser's exclusive remedy shall be the replacement of any defective diskettes as specified in section 1.3.2, Disk Warranty, above. If Column One is unable to deliver a disk free of material defects, the purchaser is entitled to a refund of the purchase price upon return of the defective materials, including any purchased manuals along with a signed statement that all copies of the program in the purchaser's possession have been destroyed. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS COLUMN ONE, INC., LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, LOST INCOME, OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR FAILURE OF CashTrac-6 PROGRAMS, EVEN IF COLUMN ONE, INC., HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, THEREFORE THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF REMEDIES MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [6] ____________________________________________________________________ 1.4 CUSTOMER SUPPORT "WHAT WILL I GET IF I REGISTER?" CashTrac is not free software. You have already received a program that was very expensive and time consuming to produce, and continues to demand a large effort by the author and staff. If you continue to use CashTrac beyond a reasonable trial period, we trust you will purchase the program. Even though you may have paid a shareware software distributor a small fee for disks and mailing, this does not cover any of our operating costs. We ask you to please register so that we may continue to provide you with user support and high quality program updates. CashTrac purchasers from dealers or directly from Column One who pay for and register their programs according to the registration form at the end of this instruction manual will be provided with: a. The graphing and utilities program which includes graphing for monochrome and graphics monitors, spreadsheet and data base interface, batch transfer and delete options, and check printer. b. Program update notices whenever major program revisions are available. Users not responding to two consecutive mailings may be removed from the mailing list. c. Program updates at a nominal cost (presently $19 with or $10 without a printed manual--subject to price change). d. Replacement programs at $10 for those who either receive bad copies from third parties or somehow damage their only copy. e. A fully-indexed, 8 1/2 x 11, spiral-bound manual complete with detailed examples. (May be purchased separately.) f. Additional access time to the customer support electronic mail system (bulletin board system, or BBS). This is a 24-hour, 7- day-per-week computerized mail and file transfer system based on the TCOMM BBS program written by The CommSoft Group. Callers may send messages to and receive messages from the author or other users. There are also several hundred shareware programs available from the BBS AT THE 703-941-5934 NUMBER ONLY. This is a good ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [7] ____________________________________________________________________ source of inexpensive and hard-to-find software, and is open to all callers. When calling for the first time, registered users should leave a message to Lynn Gilley or John MacEvoy requesting a higher access level. Please also leave your program serial number (located in the base of the column on the CashTrac-6 logo screen). Electronic Mail System Communication Parameters: 300, 1200, or 2400 baud No parity, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit (IBM PC & compatibles) Even parity, 7 data bits, 1 stop bit (Non-compatibles) g. Users may write directly to the program author (John MacEvoy) care of Column One, Inc., P.O. Box 2607, Gaithersburg, MD 20879. We request that non-paying customers include stamped, self-addressed envelopes for replies. h. Registered users may receive customer support over the Column One voice line at 301-948-9599. No support will be provided without a program serial (registration) number. 1.5 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS CashTrac-6 is designed to run on MS DOS computers with at least 256Kb RAM, two double density (362Kb) floppy disk drives, or one floppy disk drive and a hard disk, either a color graphics or monochrome display, and DOS 2.0 or higher. Graphs will print on all types of monitors including monochrome and on printers that support the complete IBM character set. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [8] ____________________________________________________________________ 2.0 INITIAL OPERATION 2.1 CONVENTIONS a. <C/R> means "press the Return or the Enter key." b. F10 key refers to the single key marked F10. c. Alt-F10 means to hold the Alt key and strike the F10 key. Don't hold the F10 key! The same is true for Ctrl-F10. 2.2 GETTING STARTED 2.2.1 Making an AUTOEXEC.BAT file An entry must be made in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file (which either resides or must be created on your boot disk). Your DOS manual explains the purpose of the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If your boot disk or hard disk already has an AUTOEXEC.BAT file, use your word processor or DOS editor (EDLIN) to alter the file to include the following line PRIOR TO ANY LINES THAT LOAD MEMORY RESIDENT PROGRAMS: SET CT6=X (no spaces between the CT6, =, or X) If your boot disk has no AUTOEXEC.BAT file, put your boot disk in the default drive (or change hard disk directories to the root directory) and type: COPY CON AUTOEXEC.BAT <C/R> SET CT6=X <C/R> Ctrl-Z <C/R> (or the F6 key) If all went well, you just copied (COPY) from the console (CON) the line "SET CT6=X" to the file named AUTOEXEC.BAT. This operation simply reserves some scratch space in the DOS environment and will not affect the operation of any other programs. If it is loaded after memory resident programs, or is loaded incorrectly, an "ERROR 7 OUT OF MEMORY" error can occur. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [9] ____________________________________________________________________ 2.2.2 Hard Disk Installation a. If you do not have a subdirectory on your hard disk for the CashTrac-6 program and data, use the MKDIR command (see DOS manual) to create one. If you are already using CashTrac-5.15 or an earlier version of the Personal Finance Manager, you may continue to use the same subdirectory. For example, to make a new subdirectory named FINANCE, type: MKDIR C:\FINANCE <C/R> Note: Do not bury CashTrac-6 data in sub-directories below subdirectories. This slows down data access speeds. b. Copy all files from the distribution diskettes (System Disks) from your A: or B: floppy drive to your selected subdirectory. You may omit the documentation file. If your subdirectory name on the hard disk is FINANCE, then the correct command to copy files from the A: floppy drive to the FINANCE subdirectory is: COPY A:*.* C:\FINANCE Refer to your DOS manual if you need additional instructions regarding file copying. Proceed to paragraph 2.2.4. 2.2.3 Floppy Disk Installation Shareware program users will not have the graphing and utilities program and therefore need only make one system disk, below. a. Format two new diskettes as system disks using the FORMAT /S command. (See your DOS manual for details). Label these disks "SYSTEM DISK 1, MAIN AND CONFIGURATION PROGRAMS" and "SYSTEM DISK 2, GRAPHING AND UTILITIES PROGRAM". b. Format another new diskette as a "data" disk (do not use the /S option with the FORMAT command). Note: The following steps assume that your machine is turned on, has been "booted" from your DOS diskette, and the default drive is the A: drive (i.e., the prompt is currently A>). ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [10] ____________________________________________________________________ c. Put the distribution disk marked SYSTEM DISK 1 in drive A:. Put the newly formatted disk marked SYSTEM DISK 1 (your working disk) in drive B:. d. Copy three files from A: to B: with the commands: COPY A:CASHTRAC.EXE B: <C/R> COPY A:CHELP.CT6 B: <C/R> COPY A:CONFIG.EXE B: <C/R> e. Commercial program users: put the distribution disk marked SYSTEM DISK 2 in drive A:. Put the newly formatted disk marked SYSTEM DISK 2 (your working disk) in drive B:. f. Commercial program users: copy two files from A: to B: with the commands: COPY A:CTGRAF.EXE B: <C/R> COPY A:GHELP.CT6 B: <C/R> COPY A:CHEKFORM.CT6 B: <C/R> *********************************************** * DO NOT WRITE PROTECT YOUR NEW SYSTEM DISKS! * * (Error 54 will result) * *********************************************** 2.2.4 Loading Sample Purchase Groups There are two sample Purchase Group files on your system disk 1 distribution disk. Section 2.4.5 discusses Purchase Groups and these files in more detail. If you would like to use the sample files (they are recommended, and may be altered or removed later if you would like to make your own personal files), then put the SYSTEM DISK 1 distribution disk in drive A: and copy 6GROUP1.DAT and 6GROUP2.DAT to your CashTrac-6 data disk or hard disk CashTrac-6 data subdirectory. Put the CashTrac distribution disks in a safe place. They should not be used unless your newly created working disks become damaged. System disks 1 (and 2) are now your new working disks. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [11] ____________________________________________________________________ 2.3 SETTING THE DEFAULT CONFIGURATION This step sets the default colors (or highlighting for monochrome and composite monitors), tells CashTrac-6 where to find its system and data files, sets the printer port, and specifies the default checking account. 2.3.1 Hard Disk Configuration a. Users with CashTrac or Personal Finance Manager data from versions prior to version 6 should back up their current data on a floppy disk or another subdirectory prior to proceeding. b. Make the C: drive the default drive and the directory containing CashTrac-6 the default subdirectory. If the subdirectory is named FINANCE, the commands would be: C: <C/R> CD \FINANCE <C/R> c. Proceed to paragraph 2.3.3. 2.3.2 Floppy Disk Configuration a. Put System disk 1 in drive A:. b. Put your new blank data disk in drive B:. 2.3.3 Setting the Default Configuration This step runs the configuration program (CONFIG.EXE) to set default colors, drives and paths, accounts, and the desired printer port. a. Type: CONFIG <C/R> The configuration program should load. If it does not, do a directory (DIR) and verify that CONFIG.EXE is on your default disk. If it is not, then repeat the steps from 2.2 to find your mistake. If you receive an error other than BAD COMMAND OR FILE NAME (which means the file does not exist on the default directory) then refer to the troubleshooting guide. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [12] ____________________________________________________________________ b. Select option 1 (use F1, or 1 <C/R>, or 1 End Key. Background color numbers are listed across the top of the color table. Foreground color numbers appear in the table against the background. Monochrome and composite monitors will work well with the default colors. Experiment or press the End key to continue to the next screen. Numbers not in the table are not accepted. Press the End key to continue. c. Suggested defaults: Floppy disks Hard disks System drive\path A: C:\FINANCE Data drive\path B: C:\FINANCE Printer Port 1 1 Checking Account 1 1 The system drive\path is where the following files must be located: CASHTRAC.EXE, CHELP.CT6, CONFIG.EXE, CTGRAF.EXE, GHELP.CT6. (The graphing and utilities program and associated help file, CTGRAF.EXE and GHELP.CT6, are provided only upon registration.) Floppy disk users will not be able to put all these files on one disk, and if the configuration procedure was followed faithfully, the files are separated on two system disks. CashTrac-6 will expect the System drive for floppy disks to be A:. d. Press the End key to save the configuration on System disk 1 or the hard disk. The configuration file is named CONFIG.CT6. It resides on the system floppy disk, or default directory for hard disks. Commercial program floppy disk users must also copy CONFIG.CT6 from System Disk 1 to System disk 2. ************************************************************** * FLOPPY DISK USERS SHOULD NEVER CHANGE SYSTEM DISKS WITHOUT * * EXITING TO DOS UNLESS CashTrac-6 SPECIFICALLY PROMPTS FOR * * A DISK CHANGE. FAILURE TO FOLLOW THIS RULE COULD CAUSE * * DOS TO CLOSE FILES ON THE WRONG DISK OR RUIN THE DIRECTORY.* ************************************************************** ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [13] ____________________________________________________________________ 2.3.4 Converting Old CashTrac or Personal Finance Manager Data to New Format Data stored with versions of Personal Finance Manager or CashTrac prior to version 6 must be converted to the new CashTrac-6 format prior to use in CashTrac-6. This is done with option 3 from the configuration program menu. First time users may skip to section 2.4. All cRedits in the old checking accounts will be converted to Deposits assigned to Purchase Groups. This has no effect on your account balance since both transaction types were performing the same purpose. The function of the cRedit transaction is different in CashTrac-6. Please refer to Checking Account data entry, section 3.0 below, for a detailed explanation. The next check number on the data entry screen will be 2781. Reset it to whatever the correct number should be. All Rollover dividend/Interest transactions in the old Investment File will be converted to Interest (reinvested) transactions in the new file. a. Prior to running this option, make a backup of your existing data. You should always keep data backups during normal operation. Never rely on one floppy or hard disk copy of data whether running CashTrac-6 or any other program. Disks fail and there are some nasty DOS bugs known to eat disk directories. b. Initial conditions: 1. Old CashTrac data exists on any hard disk subdirectory (FINANCE, for example) or floppy disk. Adequate space must exist on the floppy or subdirectory for the new data. New data files will require 1.55 times the space occupied by the old files. Files may be split up among several disks and converted in groups if necessary. 2. CONFIG is running. The A: drive is the default for floppies or C:\FINANCE is the default for hard disks. Again FINANCE is being used for example purposes. Any valid name may be used. c. Floppy users, put the new blank data disk in drive B: and put the backup of the old data in drive A:. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [14] ____________________________________________________________________ d. Select option 3 on the main configuration menu. Select the drive\path containing the old data. This would be A: (floppy disks) or C:\FINANCE (hard disks). Select the drive\path to hold the new data. This would be B: (floppies) or C:\FINANCE (hard disks). Press the End key to begin the process. If errors occur, such as running out of disk space, the process may be repeated as many times as necessary by splitting up data files among more than one disk. Old data is not erased. New files are created having the same names as the old data files but preceded by a 6 (ex., CHECK1.DAT becomes 6CHECK1.DAT). Eventually, you may erase the old data, but not until verifying that the conversion process worked. This completes the configuration. Floppy disk users, remember to put a copy of CONFIG.CT6 on System Disk 2 if you have not yet done so. See paragraph 2.3.3. 2.4 RUNNING THE PROGRAM 2.4.1 Starting CashTrac a. Make sure that System Disk 1 is in drive A: and the new data disk is in drive B: (floppy users), or C:\FINANCE is the default subdirectory (hard disks). Note: CASHTRAC.EXE, CHELP.CT6, CONFIG.EXE, COMMAND.COM, and CONFIG.CT6 must reside on System Disk 1, and CTGRAF.EXE, GHELP.CT6, COMMAND.COM, and CONFIG.CT6 must reside on System Disk 2 for the program to function properly. After the configuration and installation, all these files should be present. COMMAND.COM is a file from your DOS disk that should have been copied to your system disks automatically during the format process. b. If the Configuration program is still running, press Esc to run CashTrac, or exit to DOS and type CASHTRAC. CashTrac-6 uses fast screen printing that bypasses normal DOS screen printing routines. Some "compatible" computers may not be able to cope with the fast printing, in which case the first screen will have a message in the upper left corner ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [15] ____________________________________________________________________ instructing you to press Esc twice and then exit. If this occurs, start CashTrac-6 with the command: CASHTRAC D <C/R> to use the (much slower) standard DOS screen printing. c. If CASHTRAC can not find the configuration file (CONFIG.CT6) it will display a message to that effect. At this point, either enter the location (drive\path) of CONFIG.CT6 (if it exists) or press Esc to install the internal configuration (monochrome, system and data drive\path is the default drive\path). d. The opening screen will present the Column One address and electronic mail number, and will say "SHAREWARE VERSION" below the CashTrac name if it is the shareware version. The commercial version of CashTrac-6 will have a serial number in the base of the column. This number is embedded in the program, cannot be removed by most mortals without damaging the program, and is registered to the legal owner. Press any key to go to the Main Menu. The following paragraph describes cursor controls and general data input information. There are major improvements over prior CashTrac-6/Personal Finance Manager versions that you may wish to learn about by reading further. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [16] ____________________________________________________________________ 2.4.2 Key Assignments a. Keypad Cursor up one field (or right if there's no up to go to). | +------+------+------+ | 7 | 8 | 9 | | Home | (up) | PgUp | --- Page up, reports +------+------+------+ | 4 | 5 | 6 | --- Ctrl-right arrow to jump right by one field |(left)| |(rght)| --- Right arrow to move right by one character +------+------+------+ | 1 | 2 | 3 | | End |(down)| PgDn | --- Page down, reports +------+------+------+ | | | | Cursor down one field (or left if there's no down to go to) | | | AT ANY POINT ON THE SCREEN enters all data and continues to the | next screen. | Left Arrow and Ctrl-left arrow perform the same function as the right arrow and Ctrl-right arrow, but to the left. b. Other Keys The Enter (return) key acts as a cursor down key except on the last field, where it acts as the End key and enters all screen data to be processed. Ins and Del do not function. Alt-F10 calls the context-specific Help screens. Ctrl-F10 calls the calculator. Esc returns to normal operation. Function keys F1-F9 select menu options. Menu options may also be selected by typing the option number and the Enter key ( i.e., 1 <C/R>). Esc escapes from any screen without performing any function. It also moves to the next higher menu. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [17] ____________________________________________________________________ 2.4.3 Data Entry Considerations All numeric entries should be positive. Do not enter negative numbers unless specified by the documentation. Do not use punctuation other than a decimal point in numeric entries. The following examples show valid and invalid entries and the actual data stored by the program: Screen Entry Data as stored 10001.01 10001.01 $10001.01 0.00 10,001.01 10.00 10 1.01 101.01 CashTrac-6 reads to the first invalid character and quits, hence the 0.00 after the $ sign, and the 10 prior to the comma. In the last example, CashTrac-6 puts the two valid amounts together because no invalid character separates them. Data entries are validated when the End key is pressed or when the <C/R> is pressed on the last data field. If an error is discovered, an error message will appear at the bottom of the screen and the cursor will return to the field in error. Any data initially highlighted by the cursor will be taken as data for that field. To correct mistakes, type over existing data or use the space bar to erase data. 2.4.4 The CashTrac-6 Program Structure CashTrac-6 comprises 3 programs, 2 documentation files, 2 help files, and numerous data files. See section 10.1 for information on file names, descriptions, and uses. Please do not attempt to edit these files. When installed, both CashTrac-6 programs (CASHTRAC.EXE and CONFIG.EXE) may be run from the respective main menus of the other programs. Registered users may also run CTGRAF.EXE from the commercial version menu. Put the disk containing the program in the system drive PRIOR to running the menu option. Each program will also run as a stand-alone program by putting the proper disk in the default drive and typing the program name. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [18] ____________________________________________________________________ Note: Make sure there is a configuration file (CONFIG.CT6) on each system disk when running the program from multiple disks or the program will revert to its internal configuration. The Program Menu Structure: MAIN MENU SUBMENU ========= ======= | 1 Enter new data | 2 Change & display data | 3 Delete entries 1 Checking Accounts ----| 4 Print reports | 5 Balance checkbook | 6 Pay bills | 7 Change account or name | 8 Check writer >>> runs CTGRAF.EXE | 9 Program utilities >>> Main Menu, #3 | 1 Enter new data | 2 Change & display data 2 Investment Accounts---| 3 Delete data | 4 Investment reports | 5 Program utilities >>> Main Menu, #3 | 1 Sort checking account | 2 Sort investment account | 1 Add new name | 3 Pack unpaid bills | 2 Change name 3 Program Utilities-----| 4 Purchase group names ----| 3 Delete name | 5 Investment account names-| 4 Insert name | 6 Identify data disk | 5 Display names | 7 Minimum balance flag | 6 Renumber | 8 Recover data ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [19] ____________________________________________________________________ | 1 Graph checking data | 2 Graph investment data | 3 Import data | 4 Export data | 1 Print batch checks 4 Graphing & Utilities--| 5 Transfer data | 2 Print selected cks Runs CTGRAF.EXE | 6 DOS Portal (see 6 below) | 3 Print Test (Registered user | 7 Check writer ------------| 4 Check configur'n version only) | 8 Exit to DOS | 5 Graphing menu | Esc to run CashTrac (goes to main menu) | 1 Set colors, drives, ports, and accounts | 2 Set drives, ports, and accounts only 5 Configuration---------| 3 Convert old data to new format | 4 Exit to DOS | Esc to run CashTrac (goes to main menu) | 1 Change data drive | 2 Change system drive 6 DOS Portal------------| 3 Data disk directory | 4 System disk directory | 5 Temporary exit to DOS | (Type EXIT to return) 7 Program Exit----------| Saves all data, goes to DOS **************************************************************** * Use the Esc key to jump from lower menus to higher menus * * or from the configuration or graph to the main program menu. * **************************************************************** **************************************************************** * Floppy diskers: When going from program to program via menu * * selections, select the option to run the other program, then * * when prompted, put the disk with the other program in drive * * A: and press any key to continue. * **************************************************************** 2.4.5 Initial Housekeeping CashTrac-6 stores checking expenditures in budget or expenditure categories called "Purchase Groups," such as food, clothing, telephone, mortgage, MasterCard, etc. Investments are stored by Investment Account names. Your disk comes with two sets of sample Purchase Groups compliments of Jon Holcombe, an attorney in Syracuse, N.Y. The groups in Checking Account One apply to personal expenses. The groups in Checking Account Two apply to business ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [20] ____________________________________________________________________ accounts and follow Schedule C of IRS form 1040. You may add, change, delete, or insert new groups if you like, or even delete the entire group files or move them to other accounts. See the Purchase Group Names function on the Program Utilities menu, section 5.2. Enter a few Investment Account names prior to saving investment data (through the Program Utilities Menu). When done, press Esc to return to the Utilities menu. If you'd like to add a few investment account (or savings account) names, do so now. While in the Utilities menu, it is helpful to identify the data disk (or directory) on which this data is being stored, so that as directories or data disks are changed the current disk is identified by the kind of data it contains. This name prints on the menu screens. Also, while in the Utilities menu, one additional option worth setting is the checking account minimum balance flag (warning). If the checking account balance falls below the warning level, reports showing the balance will change to the warning color chosen in the configuration. When done, press Esc to return to the main menu. 2.4.6 Menu Screens The menu screens, shown schematically below, contain useful data other than menus. Compare this example with your computer monitor. +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | Data disk/account name Menu Name Clock Date| +---------------------------------------------------------------+ 1 Menu Options 2 . . . . . 3 . . . . . ================================================================= Default Data Drive\Path Error Messages & Prompts Reminders 2.5 THE HELP SCREENS Help is called from anywhere in the program by holding the Alt key and striking the F10 key (Alt-F10). To exit help, press the Esc key. Some help screens consist of more than one page, in which case ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [21] ____________________________________________________________________ pressing a key other than Esc calls the next help page. **A BLANK HELP SCREEN INDICATES THAT THE HELP FILE IS MISSING FROM THE DISK**. The file named CHELP.CT6 must be on the same disk and subdirectory as CASHTRAC.EXE. Registered users should have the file named GHELP.CT6 and CTGRAF.EXE on the same disk\subdirectory. 2.6 THE CALCULATOR CashTrac-6 has a built in four-function calculator with memory, which is called by holding the Ctrl key and pressing the F10 key (Ctrl-F10). The calculator instructions are on its face. It performs chain calculations in the format of most "non-reverse polish" calculators i.e., 1+1=2. When done, press Esc to return to normal operation. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [22] ____________________________________________________________________ 3.0 THE CHECKING ACCOUNT The Checking Account: a. Keeps a running list of all checks, deposits, withdrawals, and interest in your account, as in a customary check register. b. Keeps a record of major cash purchases and budget limits, should you decide to enter them. (Cash purchases are recorded in the Checking Account, but do not affect the account balance. These purchases are available to the Detailed and Summary report programs, and provide an accurate description of what was spent in each Purchase Group.) c. Maintains a list of Unpaid Bills that may be one time only, or which recur monthly or yearly. A warning signals when bills are due, and bills are automatically removed from the Unpaid Bills file and placed in the Checking Account when paid. The due date on monthly and yearly recurring bills is automatic- ally updated and the bill is reentered in the Unpaid Bills file. One-time-only bills are deleted. Sixteen separate Checking Accounts may be operated on one disk or subdirectory. Also, there is no practical limit to the amount of data disks or subdirectories that may be used with the program. The Active Account is selected or renamed from option 7 on the Checking Account menu. ************************************************************ * Once an account is selected ALL TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING * * CHECKING ACCOUNTS APPLY ONLY TO THAT ACCOUNT unless * * specified otherwise. * ************************************************************ EXCEPTION: Most Unpaid Bill Functions. The Active Account is selected and named from the Checking Account menu. 3.1 ENTERING NEW CHECKS, CASH PURCHASES, ETC. Option 1 from the Checking Account menu provides the data input screen for the Checking Account. Listed below are the kinds of transactions that may be entered and when to use them. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [23] ____________________________________________________________________ 3.1.1 Checking Transaction Types a. Budget: There are actually two budget transactions--monthly and yearly. Monthly budgets have no effect on yearly budget reports, and vice versa. b. Checks: Use a Check transaction to record a check written on the account. c. Deposits: Use a Deposit transaction to record a deposit to the account. d. Interest: Use this transaction for interest credited to your account. e. Opening Balance: (Called "OPEN" on the data entry screen). Use this transaction to record the opening balance for an account. f. cash Purchases: Use this transaction for major purchases where a check was not written but a record of the purchase is desired. g. cRedits: The cRedit is the opposite of a cash Purchase and is used to negate the effect of a cash Purchase. h. Skip: When paying bills, use this feature to skip payment of a bill and go on to the next bill. i. Unpaid Bills: Unpaid bills are explained in section 3.2. They are automatic, recurring reminders to pay bills and automatically enter data into the Checking Account. j. Withdrawals: Use this transaction for removing money from the account when no check is written. Automatic payments, service charges, ordinary withdrawals, and automatic teller transactions fall into this category. 3.1.2 Mandatory and Optional Data Each transaction type has mandatory data that must be entered or an error will result, and optional data that may be omitted without causing an error. Data errors are indicated at the bottom of the data entry screen. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [24] ____________________________________________________________________ 3.1.3 Valid Data Values Data in mandatory fields is validated prior to disk storage. Data in optional fields is generally entered as is. Invalid mandatory data results in a data error message. See section 9.0 for details. An invalid entry in the "Send Entry to Account" field results in all account names printing on the bottom half of the checking data entry and change screens so that you can choose an account number. 3.1.4 Entering Checking Data, General To enter a check from the Checking Data Entry screen: a. Type a C after "Entry Type" then press the Enter or End key. b. Enter the desired checking data. The cursor will return to erroneous mandatory fields after the End key is pressed. 3.1.5 Duplicating Entries The "Duplicate?" field at the upper right prevents the screen from clearing between transactions and permits entry of a chain of similar or identical transactions. 3.1.6 Entering Memos A 65-character memo may be entered for every "main" transaction (as opposed to a split, discussed below). Memos print in reports and/or on checks as described on the Help screens. 3.1.7 Splitting Entries Checks, deposits, and withdrawals may be split into an unlimited number (until you run out of disk space) of subentries. This would be used if you have 2 checks to deposit: $100 and $200. You want to make one bank deposit, but want CashTrac-6 to log separately the identity of each check within the single deposit. CashTrac-6 permits the deposit to be entered as two splits and a main entry. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [25] ____________________________________________________________________ 3.1.8 Selecting Checks For Printing The check writer prints checks either as a batch (any checks falling within a range of record numbers), or as selected checks. One way to select a check for printing is to answer Y to the field "Write Check?". See section 3.8 on printing checks for a description of printing selected checks. 3.1.9 Sending Entries to Other Accounts This would be done if you're entering normal checking account data to account 1, but you keep a detailed record of all MasterCard purchases and payments in account 2. A new purchase may be added to account 2 without changing the default account from the Checking Account Menu by putting a 2 in the "Send Entry to Account Field." 3.1.10 Using the Credit Transaction Use the cRedit transaction to credit cash purchases for budget purposes. Credit does not affect the balance of the checking account but it does affect the budget analysis. 3.1.11 On-Screen Balance The Checking Account data entry screen shows the account balance for the current account and is updated following each entry (or the last split entry). The balance is stored on the data disk between sessions. It can be rendered erroneous if you change disks, reboot, or shut off the power without first returning to the main menu and exiting (which properly closes the data file). See the Help screens (Alt-F10) to reset the account balance starting with the first record, should this happen. 3.1.12 Setting Up Budgets Use the Budget transaction to set up conventional budget limits for any Purchase Group. Budget transactions may be Monthly or Yearly. A monthly budget limit prints on Monthly Budget reports and check register reports restricted to one Purchase Group. A yearly budget limit prints on Yearly Budget reports. The yearly budget reports can be set up to print budgets for any period, not necessarily a year. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [26] ____________________________________________________________________ The rules are: a. The Budget transaction takes effect for its Purchase Group on the date indicated on the transaction. Therefore, after entering the transaction, don't forget to sort the account to put the records in order of date. b. The Budget transaction remains in effect until superseded by the entry of a new Budget transaction at a later date. Thus you need enter only one, and that one will print on all subsequent reports. You also may enter as many as you like. c. Budget transactions do not affect the Checking Account balance. They are used only by the budget reports and the graphing program. d. The Budget Reports subtract expenditures from the dollar amount on the last Budget transaction entered prior to the start date of the report. e. Budget transactions occurring AFTER the start date of a Budget Report, but prior to the end date, do not affect the balance in the report. 3.1.13 Voiding Checks Void a check by making its amount $0.00. This can be done from the Change or Balance programs. During data entry CashTrac-6 assumes that a zero entry is a mistake, therefore to avoid the data validation routine, enter the amount as .000001. 3.2 UNPAID BILLS 3.2.1 Entering Unpaid Bills The Unpaid Bills feature allows you to enter a bill when it arrives in the mail, and reminds you when it should be paid. This feature also allows you to enter a monthly or yearly recurring bill once and have CashTrac-6 debit your account automatically when you decide to pay the bill. Unpaid Bills may be either Nonrecurring, Monthly Recurring, or Yearly Recurring. When a bill must be paid at some time in the future, enter the specific information via the Checking Account Data Entry Screen, with a "U" as the Transaction Type. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [27] ____________________________________________________________________ When the bill is paid (see section 3.2.2) the information is retrieved from the Unpaid Bills file and displayed on the Checking Account Data Entry screen for additions, changes, and/or splitting into subentries. The transaction is then automatically entered into the Checking Account without retyping and is deleted from the Unpaid Bills file. If it's a recurring bill, the date will be incremented by one month or one year, and it will be returned to the Unpaid Bills file to wreak havoc upon your financial security another day. Bills may also be selected for automatic check printing when paid. An overdue unpaid bill will nag you with a reminder at the top of the Checking Account menu that bills are overdue. Unpaid bills may also be used for automatic withdrawals, deposits, or even to create more unpaid bills. They are not limited to just checks. Bimonthly, quarterly, and semiannual unpaid bills may be created with combinations of monthly and yearly unpaid bills. 3.2.2 Paying Unpaid Bills Unpaid Bills entered according to the procedure above may be paid from the Checking Account menu. Bills will be selected only for the active account. ********************************************************** * To pay a bill for a given account, you must already be * * in that account. * ********************************************************** Bills may be "paid" as Deposits (to accommodate periodic electronic checking deposits), Withdrawals (for periodic electronic withdrawals), or any other valid transaction. Also, bills may be split when paid, memos written, and if paid as checks, they may be selected for printing. When paying a series of bills, use the Skip transaction on the data entry screen to avoid paying a bill. 3.3 CHANGING ENTRIES 3.3.1 Searching for Checking Records All data entered into the Checking or Unpaid Bills files may be retrieved, displayed, and changed using the Change & Display Data function on the Checking menu. The search screen requests the characteristics of the record being sought. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [28] ____________________________________________________________________ CashTrac-6 will search for records having ALL characteristics specified, but any blank or zero fields are ignored. Since there is no reason why two checks can't have the same number (a certainty if you change banks) or two transaction amounts can't be the same, the search must specify as much information as possible to ensure finding the correct record. 3.3.2 Changing Checking Records Any data in the record may be changed to any other valid value. The same rules that apply to new entries apply to new changes. Dates must be valid; use no negative numbers; some fields may not be left blank. No transaction type may be changed to an Unpaid Bill, nor may an Unpaid Bill be changed to any other transaction type. The same holds true for splits. The dollar amount on a main record, that is, a record having split entries associated with it, may not be changed. Instead, change the amount of each split and the main record will change by a corresponding amount. Use the Esc key to cancel the changes and start over. 3.4 DELETING ENTRIES 3.4.1 Deleting One Record Any record in the Checking or Unpaid Bills files may be searched for, displayed, and deleted using the Delete function on the Checking menu. Use the search method described above. Deleting a split entry automatically corrects the amount of the main entry to which it is attached. Deleting a main entry also deletes its memo and all attached splits. 3.4.2 Deleting an Entire Checking Account If it is necessary to delete an ENTIRE Checking Account, delete the data file (6CHECK#.DAT) for that account from DOS, where # is the number of the account. To erase the Purchase Groups associated with that account, delete the 6GROUP#.DAT file. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [29] ____________________________________________________________________ 3.4.3 Deleting Batches of Checking Records The Transfer function (see section 7.3) in the graphics and utilities program provided to registered users allows deletion of records by date, record number, or Purchase Group. Please refer to the instructions for that feature. The Delete Name function on the Purchase Group Names menu deletes all checking account data in one group. 3.5 PRINTING REPORTS CashTrac-6 prints reports on the screen, printer ports 1,2, or 3, or disk. The print screen (SHIFT-PrtSc) capability will also copy single screens to the printer. Many different reports are available using the options on the report selection screens. The major reports are: 3.5.1 The Check Register Report This report lists all transactions in the Checking file, displays a running balance for each transaction (Cash Purchases, cRedits, and Budget transactions do not affect the balance), and may be limited to the transactions between any two dates (but the balance is calcu- lated from the first entry in the data file). Transactions that lower the balance below the minimum balance level are highlighted (see the section 5.4). Note: A warning will be displayed if records are found to be out of order while printing. Press any key to clear the warning. The report will continue to print, but under some conditions, it may be in error until sorted. 3.5.2 Account Activity Summary Report This report adds up the entries for each record type for the duration of the account and for the time period selected, and prints a one-page summary. This report also reconciles the Checking Account Data Entry screen balance to the actual contents of the account. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [30] ____________________________________________________________________ 3.5.3 Unpaid Bills Report This report prints the contents of the Unpaid Bills file. Many bills have due dates well into the future. This should be considered when selecting starting and ending dates, otherwise it may appear that some bills are missing. 3.5.4 Monthly Budget Report This report shows in four columns from left to right: a. The number and name of each Purchase Group. A final group, called "*** GRAND TOTAL ***," added to the last line shows the totals of the other three columns. b. Dollars budgeted. This number is the last Monthly Budget amount entered prior to the start date of the report. c. Dollars spent: This is the total of all expenditures in each group (checks, cash purchases, and withdrawals) minus all credits and deposits to the groups during the month selected in the start date. If credits and deposits to a group exceed expenditures, then this figure can be negative. d. Dollars remaining: This is the difference of Dollars Spent subtracted from Dollars Budgeted. Again, it can be negative if Dollars Spent exceed Dollars Budgeted. The report START DATE must be the first day of the month to be reported. Only the account number may be changed on the second report selection screen. 3.5.5 Yearly Budget Report This report shows, in five columns from left to right: a. The number and name of each Purchase Group. A final group, called "*** GRAND TOTAL ***," added to the last line shows the totals of the four columns. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [31] ____________________________________________________________________ b. Dollars budgeted. This number is the last Yearly Budget amount entered prior to the start date of the report. c. Dollars spent: This is the total of all expenditures in each group (checks, cash purchases, and withdrawals) minus all credits and deposits to the groups from and including the start day selected, to and including the end day selected, even though it may be more or less than one year. If credits and deposits to a group exceed expenditures, then this figure can be negative. d. Average (dollars) Spent per Month: The amount in the "Dollars Spent" column is divided by the number of months from the selected start and end dates to arrive at an average expenditure. The time period runs from the first DAY selected to the last DAY selected (unlike the monthly budget report), so if the report starts and stops at days other than the beginning and end of a month, the numbers may not be intuitively obvious. The report uses 30.4 days per month, so there could be a very small round off error. e. Dollars remaining: This is the difference of Dollars Spent subtracted from dollars Budgeted. Again, it can be negative if Dollars Spent exceed Dollars Budgeted. Only the account number may be changed on the second report selection screen. 3.6 BALANCING THE CHECKING ACCOUNT Now that all your checking transactions are in the Checking file, CashTrac-6 will help balance your account. (Cash purchases and credit transactions have no effect on the account balance.) Start the Balance program from the Checking Account menu. The date the account was last balanced will be displayed (if it was balanced) followed by a request for the ending balance from the new bank statement. Note: When using data files from an older version of CT/PFM, this date may be incorrect the first time CashTrac-6 balances the account. It will correct itself. After entry of that information, each transaction (except for cash purchases) displays on the screen with a request as to whether this transaction has been reported in the latest bank statement. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [32] ____________________________________________________________________ Answer Y or N as appropriate. The program does the math. Use the End key to go to the next entry or . . . Should you notice a mistake in your data record, cursor down to the field in error and change the entry. The new values will be entered to the account. The report selection screen uses the "Date Last Balanced" as a convenient starting date for printing reports. 3.7 CHANGING THE ACTIVE CHECKING ACCOUNT OR NAME Each account may have its own name, Purchase Groups, data, etc. Also, any CashTrac-6 function that works on a Checking Account record or a Purchase Group record generally only works on the active Checking Account and its own Purchase Groups file unless specified otherwise. The active Checking Account may be changed or renamed using the Change Account or Name option on the Checking Account menu. 3.8 THE CHECK WRITER CashTrac-6 has a built-in check printer that prints checks in practically any format that uses a check or a check and stub. The CashTrac-6 default format is set for the "Deluxe Computer Forms" general purpose check #1004 or equivalent. We are not connected in any way with "Deluxe." By changing the check printing configuration, practically any format check can be accommodated. 3.8.1 Running the Check Writer The Check Writer is located within the Graphing and Utilities program supplied to users upon registration with Column One. The check writer has a built-in configuration function that allows you to use any check style. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [33] ____________________________________________________________________ 4.0 THE INVESTMENT AND SAVINGS ACCOUNTS The Investment Account section of CT6 is a general purpose savings account and investment tracking program that records, analyzes, and reports investments using either dollars or dollars- per-share format. The program manages up to 255 investments on one disk or subdirectory. Enter the name of each investment account via the Investment Account Names function on the Program Utilities menu. 4.1 ENTERING INVESTMENT DATA To use the Investment Accounts program from the Main Menu select Investment Accounts. Option 1 from the Investments menu provides the data input screen for all investments. 4.1.1 Investment Transaction Types a. PURCHASE: Use this transaction whenever money is invested, deposited in a savings or money market account, or is paid for a rental property, etc. b. SALE: Use this transaction whenever an asset is liquefied, stock sold, or money withdrawn from savings or a money market, etc. c. INTEREST (reinvested): Use this transaction for interest earned by the investment, savings, or money market account that is rolled back into the account. d. INTEREST (paid): The same as (c) above, but the interest is paid to you and not retained in the account. e. DIVIDEND (reinvested): This is similar to reinvested interest in (c) above, but for dividends. f. DIVIDEND (paid): This transaction is a dividend that is paid to you in cash or check. g. BROKER FEE: This is money paid out of pocket to a broker for services. This is for use where the fee does not decrease the value of your investment/asset but does reduce the profit earned. h. CHANGE VALUE: This transaction changes the value of all shares of stock existing as of the date on the transaction. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [34] ____________________________________________________________________ Therefore as share values fluctuate periodically, the CHANGE VALUE command adjusts the balance of the CashTrac-6 investment account to reflect that value. It only affects accounts having assets with share values. A CHANGE VALUE transaction is automatically inserted in the file whenever a purchase or sale is made or share dividends are entered, based on the assumption that the latest transac- tion reflects the current value of all shares. This is almost always true. If not, the CHANGE VALUE transaction may be modified or deleted. 4.1.2 Mandatory and Optional Data The Date, Dollar Value per Share, and Account Number are mandatory fields and must be valid or an error message will print on the bottom of the screen and the data will not be accepted. Number of Shares may not be entered for Interest, Fee, and Change Value transactions. 4.1.3 Valid Data Values Date: 1/1/20 to 12/31/99 Memo: Anything goes Values per Share: .0001 to 9,999,999.99 Number of Shares: 0 to 9,999,999.999 Account Number*: 1 to 255 Duplicate? Y or N * The Account Number must be the number of an account that already exists. 4.1.4 Entering Investment Data, General CashTrac-6 expects to see two kinds of investments--those whose values fluctuate based on market pressures (for example, the stock market, or oil paintings), and those whose values go up as interest is earned and never go down unless money is removed by the owner or trustee. Examples of the latter are savings accounts, money markets, and certificates of deposit. a. Initial Purchase: Any investment that may have a fluctuating value, such as a stock, mutual fund, or even a collector's item, should be entered with a number of shares and a value per share. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [35] ____________________________________________________________________ b. Subsequent purchases: If you purchase more shares of stock, enter them as you would an initial purchase. If you purchase shares of a different stock, enter them in another account. Each subsequent purchase automatically inserts a Change Value transaction into the account to alter all share values to the current value. This is almost always a valid assumption, but if not, then change the Change Value transaction or delete it entirely. Entering Change Value transactions to track current market conditions provides the advantage of being able to graph current value over time. c. Interest and Dividends: Interest is interest and dividends are dividends. Statements from your bank, broker, or trustee should indicate which is which. d. Sales: As with the purchase and dividend (reinv) transactions, a sale of shares also automatically inserts a Change Value to update all shares to the sale price. The program will let you sell more shares than you bought. The feature could be useful, so we left it in. If you see negative shares, be warned that you sold more than you had. e. Miscellaneous: Accounts may mix transactions having share values and non- share values. The program will keep them straight. An investment account without shares behaves like a savings account. 4.1.5 Duplicating Entries If the answer to "Duplicate?" is Y, the screen will not clear between entries, permitting a record to be duplicated as many times as desired. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [36] ____________________________________________________________________ 4.2 CHANGING ENTRIES All data entered in the Investment file may be retrieved, displayed, and changed using the Change function on the Investment menu. 4.3 DELETING ENTRIES Any Record in the Investment file may be searched for, displayed, and deleted using the Delete function on the Investment menu. A single investment account, or batches of records by date or record number may be deleted by transferring and deleting. This is done through the Transfer Function in the graphics and Utilities program. A single investment account may be deleted from the Investment Account Names menu, also through the Transfer Function. ALL investment data may be deleted by exiting to DOS and deleting the file named 6INVEST.DAT. 4.4 PRINTING INVESTMENT REPORTS CashTrac-6 prints reports on the screen, printer ports 1, 2, or 3, or disk. The print screen (SHIFT-PrtSc) function will also copy single screens to the printer. The major reports are: 4.4.1 The Account Statement If ALL accounts are selected, the report shows every transaction for every account in one report. If one account is selected, the report shows each transaction for that account and the current value of that account after each transaction. 4.4.2 The Account Activity Summary Report This report summarizes the Purchases, Sales, Fees, etc., in the selected time period and for the entire report and reports gains and potential profits. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [37] ____________________________________________________________________ ******************************************************************** * Do not use the "GAINS DURING TIME" value reported for income tax * * reporting without considering the initial basis of the asset, * * which may fall outside of the reported time frame. * ******************************************************************** 4.4.3 Summary of All Accounts The contents of this report are obvious from the report heading, except for Average Annual Return. This figure is the percent increase in value of the investment, including cash payments, from the first day of the investment to the end day of the report, normalized to an annualized percentage rate. Note that the rate calculation tracks from the FIRST DAY to the REPORT END DAY. The BOTTOM LINE summarizes, for ALL investments, the values shown. The Account Activity Summary report presents similar numbers, but for each account. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [38] ____________________________________________________________________ 5.0 PROGRAM UTILITIES 5.1 SORTING FILES BY DATE The Sort and Pack options take all entries in the respective data files and rearrange them first by date and then by other fields as discussed below. Thus, records may be entered in any order, or disorder actually, and the program will sort them out. a. The sort and pack routines can and should be run often. If no records are out of order, the function automatically terminates in order to save time and displays the message "NO SORT NECESSARY." b. The sort function purges deleted records. Until a file is sorted, the deleted records remain hidden in the file taking up disk and memory space. Deleted records do not normally print on reports, but can be selected for printing from the report selection screen. c. Some reports may give confusing results when records are not in order, therefore all reports, when detecting records out of order, print a "sort warning." Press any key to ignore the warning and continue with the report, then sort when possible. 5.1.1 Sorting Checking Files Select the Sort Checking Account Option from the Program Utilities menu. The sort routine only acts on the active checking account. To sort a different account, return to the Checking Account menu and change the account. 5.1.2 Sorting the Investment Files Select the Sort Investment Account Option from the Program Utilities menu. All investment accounts will be sorted by date. Within any one day, records remain in the order entered. 5.1.3 Packing the Unpaid Bills File Select the Pack Unpaid Bills Option from the Program Utilities menu. This is really a sort, but as the word packing implies, it's more useful to purge out the deleted bills and shrink the file size. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [39] ____________________________________________________________________ 5.2 INVESTMENT ACCOUNT AND PURCHASE GROUP NAMES Use the Purchase Group Names option on the Program Utilities menu for adding, deleting, etc., Group Names. Use the Investment Account Names option on the Program Utilities menu to do equally wonderful things to Account Names. The menus and input screens are essentially self explanatory. Purchase Groups are the same as budget categories, such as food, clothing, insurance, gasoline, etc. Investment Accounts are the names of your investment and savings accounts, such as Beneficial Theft and Trust, or G.F. Mutton. 5.2.1 Adding New Names Select the Add New Names option from the Purchase Group or Investment Accounts menu. You may enter up to 255 different Purchase Groups (for each Checking Account) and 255 Investment Accounts. Purchase Groups are entered only for the active Checking Account. 5.2.2 Changing Names Select the Change Name option from the Purchase Group or Investment Accounts menu. The program will request the number of the Group or Investment Account name to be changed. 5.2.3 Deleting Names Select the Delete Name option from the Purchase Group or Investment Accounts menu. This feature not only deletes the name of a Group or Investment Account in the Group or Account list, IT ALSO DELETES ALL DATA IN THE ACTIVE CHECKING ACCOUNT OR INVESTMENT FILE (depending on the kind of name being deleted) ASSIGNED TO THAT GROUP OR ACCOUNT! Use this feature with care. If the records assigned to the Group or Investment Account are not to be deleted, renumber them to an empty Group or Account prior to deleting the name. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [40] ____________________________________________________________________ 5.2.4 Inserting Names Use the Insert Name option to insert a new group or account name in the group/account names list. This renumbers data assigned to accounts that are moved. NOTE: If you store old data in another file on the same or another disk (see the Transfer function), and you renumber the groups and accounts, you should also renumber the "archive" file to correspond to the changes. It may be necessary to transfer data back to the active file in the future for processing and this will keep the group and account names straight. 5.2.5 Displaying Names Select the Display Names option from the Purchase Group or Investment Accounts menu. The names of the Groups or Accounts, as appropriate, will print on the screen. 5.2.6 Renumbering Groups/Accounts This is another feature to be used with care! The Renumber function changes the Purchase Group/Investment Account number of all checking/investment data assigned to that group/account to a new group or account number. Potential Problem: If you unintentionally renumber data from one group to have the same number as existing data in another group, it is difficult to renumber back again because both sets of data have the same number. 5.3 IDENTIFYING THE DATA DISK Select this option from the Program Utilities menu. The data disk name provided from this option displays at the top left corner of most menus and serves to identify the current data disk being processed. When a menu applies only to a Checking Account function, the data disk name is replaced by the active Checking Account name. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [41] ____________________________________________________________________ ************************************************************* * When changing data disks, ALWAYS return to the main menu * * to close the old data files before using the new disk. * * This closes the old files and prevents the file buffer * * in memory from confusing old and new data. * ************************************************************* 5.4 SET CHECKING ACCOUNT MINIMUM BALANCE WARNING Use the Minimum Balance Flag option on the Utilities menu to select a dollar value that causes your Checking Account reports to shift from normal colors to a warning color when the balance drops below the selected value. Any number greater than zero may be used. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [42] ____________________________________________________________________ 6.0 DOS PORTAL The DOS portal is the program user's interface with DOS. It permits executing DOS commands and changing the drives and paths where CashTrac-6 finds both data and programs. 6.1 CHANGE DATA DRIVE This temporarily changes the drive and/or path where CashTrac-6 looks to find its data files. Examples are shown on the DOS Portal screen. Use only valid path names as defined by your DOS manual. With this command, you may maintain several different sets of data on several different subdirectories. 6.2 CHANGE SYSTEM DRIVE This alters the drive or subdirectory where CashTrac-6 looks to find its help files and associated programs. 6.3 DATA DISK DIRECTORY This executes a DOS DIR /P command on the currently chosen data disk and subdirectory. For it to work, the DOS command processor (COMMAND.COM) must be on the disk in the A: drive (or the "SET COMSPEC=" DOS command must have been used to alter the DOS environment to direct the operating system to look elsewhere). For most floppy disk users, formatting the CashTrac-6 system disk using the DOS FORMAT /S command (as stated in the Installation section of this manual) will ensure COMMAND.COM is where it should be. Hard disk users may cure any problems by putting a DOS disk in drive A: until they sort out the use of the COMSPEC command (see the DOS manual). 6.4 SYSTEM DISK DIRECTORY This is identical to the Data Disk Directory option above, but displays a directory of the chosen CashTrac-6 system disk or subdi- rectory. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [43] ____________________________________________________________________ 6.5 TEMPORARY EXIT TO DOS This allows you to leave CashTrac-6 resident in memory while running DOS commands or other programs (Terminate and Stay Resident--TSR mode). When finished frolicking in DOS, type EXIT <C/R> to instantly return to the CashTrac-6 DOS Portal Menu. If you have trouble with this function, please note that the discussion of COMMAND.COM in section 6.3 above applies equally here. BASIC programs will not run while in the TSR mode. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [44] ____________________________________________________________________ 7.0 IMPORT, EXPORT AND TRANSFER OF DATA These three functions are all executed from the Graphing and Utilities (G&U) program, which may be obtained when you register with Column One. Run the G&U program as a "stand alone" program or as an option from the CashTrac-6 main menu. (If an OUT OF MEMORY error occurs when loading the G&U program from the CashTrac-6 main menu, make sure you installed SET CT6=X <not SET CT6 = X> in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file as required in the Installation section.) 7.1 IMPORTING DATA Use this option to take data created by any other program into a CashTrac-6 data file. Data must exist on a disk (source) file in the below specified format. The source data file may be created by any program, such as a spreadsheet, database manager, word processor, etc. 7.2 EXPORTING DATA This option takes data created by CashTrac-6 and puts it into a disk file in a delimited or undelimited format suitable for being "imported" by most spreadsheet, data base, or other programs. See the instructions for the receiving program to determine if it needs delimited or undelimited data. 7.3 TRANSFERRING DATA This function transfers batches of data among the various CashTrac-6 data files. Data may be transferred from the investment file, or a checking account on a drive\path to any other investment file or checking account on any other drive\path. The transfer options and process for transferring data are identical to those for exporting data. The only difference is that data will go to a CashTrac-6 account rather than an export account. The program will transfer checking data to the investment file and vice versa. The feature can prove handy every now and then, but each record may need to be changed from the change function. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [45] ____________________________________________________________________ 8.0 GRAPHING AND UTILITIES PROGRAM The Graphics and Utilities program is an additional program available only from Column One upon registration. Run the graphing program from the CashTrac main menu or as a stand-alone program (CTGRAF.EXE). Floppy disk users should select the menu option, then put System Disk 2 in drive A: when prompted and press any key to continue. (If an OUT OF MEMORY error occurs when loading the G&U program from the CashTrac-6 main menu, make sure you installed SET CT6=X in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file as required in the Installation section.) Use the graphing program to make bar charts, in 6 colors on color monitors, or black and "white" on monochrome monitors. The graphs consist entirely of text characters, therefore no graphics capability is necessary. Graphs may be printed on the screen, a disk file, or a printer. If printed to a printer, the printer must be able to print the entire MS-DOS character set, sometimes called graphics, but actually special text characters that have nothing to do with MS DOS graphics. If your printer printed the menu screen as suggested in section 1.5, it will print the graphs. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [46] ____________________________________________________________________ 9.0 TROUBLESHOOTING CashTrac-6 was written on an IBM PC-AT and is compatible with the IBM PC/XT/AT series of microcomputers and has proven 100% compatible with a wide range of IBM compatible MS-DOS computers. However, not all MS-DOS computers are 100% IBM compatible, regardless of advertising claims. There are too many different machines and special circuit board combinations to test all of them, therefore program functions and features were selected to be as compatible as possible with a wide range of computers, and so far the program has been successful. No incompatibilities except for the Hyperion are known as of June 1988. We are therefore confident that most problems can be solved using the troubleshooting guide below. 9.1 REPORTING PROBLEMS If you cannot solve your CashTrac problems, please send us a note or call us on the BBS. We'll help resolve the problem. If you experience problems that are not covered by the guidelines below, then they could be caused by memory-resident utility programs such as multitaskers, calculators, calendars, screen blankers, etc. They cause so many unpredictable problems that vary with the particular programs installed, the machine, and its operating system that it's essentially impossible to trace the problem without testing the machine with its software (sorry, we don't do that). To see if memory-resident utility programs are causing problems, they must be removed. Make sure you get those loaded from AUTOEXEC.BAT and those loaded from CONFIG.SYS. Test CashTrac-6 again in a "clean," rebooted machine. If the problem can not be resolved with the information in this section, then please request help from us. Indicate the model of computer, operating system version, and add-on circuit boards such as screen adapters, LANs, etc. 9.2 LEVELS OF ERROR MESSAGES There are three levels of errors, each easily spotted by the form of the error message. The first level consists of data validation errors, indicated at the bottom of the screen by a brief message and the cursor returning to the field in error. See the data entry section for the field in question regarding data specifications. These errors are not discussed here. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [47] ____________________________________________________________________ The second level is heralded by a box in the center of the screen with the words "ERROR MESSAGE" and "ERROR ## in LINE ####" usually followed by a short description of the error. These errors are generated from the operating system, are fairly serious, and require the corrective actions outlined under "Second Level Errors" below. Third level errors are biggies, but are fortunately rarely experienced. These errors can't be intercepted and controlled by the program, and result in the program shutting down after displaying the error message. They are discussed in section 9.4. 9.3 SECOND LEVEL ERRORS These errors are indicated by a box on the screen with the error message listed within. Usually program operation will continue unaffected once the error condition is cleared, or operation will return to a menu to be started over. The most common errors are listed immediately below. ERROR NUMBER CORRECTIVE ACTION 7, 14 Out of memory. First, make sure you've got SET CT6=X as the first line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If yes, then type SET (in DOS) to make sure the line is in place. If the line is not present, then the computer is not using that copy of AUTOEXEC to boot. If all is well with AUTOEXEC.BAT, then either more memory must be added to the computer, data files must be made smaller with the TRANSFER function, or resident utility programs must be removed from memory. 11 An internal math error occurred. Program will continue by itself. Please notify the author. 24, 25 Check the printer. 27 The printer is out of paper. 52 Internal file error. Please notify the author. 53 The program could not find an expected data file. No action necessary. 54 Internal file processing error. System disk is write protected or damaged. Remove write protect tab. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [48] ____________________________________________________________________ 56 The target file in a Transfer operation cannot hold all the records to be transferred. Pick another file or send fewer records. 57 Faulty input or output device (disk or printer). This is a hardware problem. 61 Disk is full. Start a new disk or delete files. 63 Invalid file data. Try again. Report to author. 64 Invalid file name. Refer to your DOS manual. 67 Bad path name or too many files on disk. 68 Device is unavailable. Use another printer port. 70 Remove the write protect tab from the disk. 71 Put a disk in the drive and shut the door. If you have the C: drive selected on your configuration file, and your machine only has two floppy drives, but can accept a C: RAM drive which is currently not loaded, you will find it very difficult to shut a door that doesn't exist. Reboot, erase the configuration file, and make a valid one. 72 Faulty disk or drive. Exit and run CHKDSK (see DOS manual) or reformat the disk, or toss it out and use a good one. 75 Bad path name. Refer to your DOS manual. 76 Path does not exist. Try again. Errors not listed in the table are not expected. If they do occur, please notify us. A detailed description of each error can also be found in your BASIC manual under these same numbers. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [49] ____________________________________________________________________ 9.4 THIRD LEVEL ERRORS Third level errors are those that terminate program operation and return control to the operating system. They are fortunately rare during program operation and most are easily and permanently rectified. The most common are: a. PARITY CHECK 1 or 2: Memory chip failure. See your DOS manual. b. OUT OF MEMORY: If this occurs while attempting to execute one CashTrac-6 program from the menu of another CashTrac-6 program, then the computer is probably not out of memory, but rather the command SET CT6=X was not entered or was improperly entered. See the initial installation instructions. Type SET <C/R> while in DOS to verify the presence of CT6=X. c. STRING SPACE CORRUPT DURING G.C.: Believe it or not, the G.C. stands for garbage collection. This error is the result of CashTrac-6 competing for space with incompatible memory- resident utility programs. 9.5 MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS Data Disappears: . . . after running version 6.08 data with a pre-6.08 CashTrac version. CashTrac 6.08 automatically alters older version data files to a new format that is not compatible with older version programs. In some cases, running the version 6.08 data files with an older version could result in "lost" data, i.e., the data is still there, but NO version of CashTrac will access it. To recover the data, go to DOS, run a directory of data files (DIR *.DAT), and look at the size in bytes of the "lost" checking file. Divide the file size by 62, and subtract 1 from the result. This is the number of records that should be in the file. Go to the Recover Data option on the Utilities menu and follow the steps of selecting the account and resetting the record counter. Cursor Misbehaves: If the cursor goes to a part of the screen where it doesn't belong and won't come back, then your program has probably been damaged by being squeezed or archived prior to arrival. A few popular archive and squeeze programs have bugs and they usually ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [50] ____________________________________________________________________ cause this problem. The solution is to write to us for an undamaged copy of the program (see section 1.4.c.). Help Screens Won't Print: If you call for help (hold the Alt key, and press the F10 key), and the screen comes up blank (but with a border), then the help file for the program is not on the disk selected as the system disk or subdirectory. The file CHELP.CT6 must be on the same disk and subdirectory as CASHTRAC.EXE, and GHELP.CT6 must be with CTGRAF.EXE. Go to the DOS Portal and do a directory of the system drive and see whether the help files are present. If not, copy them from the distribution diskettes. Help screens show a musical note character: The help file has been damaged. Replace it with a copy of the original. Checking Account Names Disappear: The names are stored in a file named ACCOUNT.CT6. If it's not on your data disk\subdirectory then you didn't enter names or somehow erased it. If the program starts to behave erratically on startup, look for problems in the configuration file (CONFIG.CT6) on the system disk subdirectory. Erase it and run the configuration program again or test the program without a configuration file. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [51] ____________________________________________________________________ 10.0 MISCELLANEOUS 10.1 CashTrac-6 FILE DESCRIPTIONS Depending on how many Checking Accounts you use, there could be many different data and program files on your disks. a. Following installation, system disk 1 (or the hard disk system subdirectory) should contain the following files: COMMAND.COM CONFIG.CT6 CASHTRAC.EXE CHELP.CT6 CONFIG.EXE b. Following installation, system disk 2 (or the hard disk system subdirectory) should contain the following files: COMMAND.COM CONFIG.CT6 CTGRAF.EXE GHELP.CT6 CT6PART?.DOC, CT6DOC.TXT or CT6DOC.SQZ c. After you have used CashTrac and entered data, the data disk (or hard disk data subdirectory, which may be the same as the system subdirectory) will contain some or all of the following files based on the number and types of accounts used: 6CHECK?.DAT Checking Account number ? data, where ? is 1-16. 6GROUP?.DAT Checking Account number ? Purchase Group names. 6INVEST.DAT Investment data 6INVCAT.DAT Investment Account Names 6UNPAID.DAT Unpaid Bills file SORT.DAT Temporary sort file; may be erased ERASE.ME Temporary scratch file; may be erased ACCOUNT.CT6 Checking Account name file ********.CTP Any report printed to disk d. Files ending in .DAT are random access data files and will be damaged if they are read into a text editor and then saved. They should only be read and written to by CashTrac-6. If you experiment, do so with a backup copy. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [52] ____________________________________________________________________ Files may be copied into each other, i.e., if you need to duplicate a group file or want to copy all Checking Account #5 data to account #1. Use only the DOS Copy command to manipulate .DAT files. Reading the file into a word processor/editor and writing it into another file will result in a wrecked file! 10.2 PROGRAM SPEED CashTrac-6 depends heavily on disk storage of data, as the memory of most machines can't handle a fraction of the program's data requirements. Unfortunately, floppy disk drives and some hard disk drives are very slow, holding up sorting and report writing. Some hints that will speed up program operation are: a. For a tremendous increase in program speed, use an electronic RAM drive if possible. b. Keep hard disk subdirectories close to the root directory. c. Put the extra files and buffers in your CONFIG.SYS file. d. Beware of memory-resident utility programs that severely retard program speed. Prime examples are the multitasking and windowing programs. For comparisons, run CashTrac-6 with and without resident utilities to see if marked speed differences result. 10.3 EXITING THE PROGRAM ALWAYS use the EXIT routine when leaving CashTrac-6, NEVER quit by rebooting or turning off the power. The reason is that data are stored in buffers prior to being written on the disk file. Buffers accumulate data until they are full and then, when good and ready, they write to the disk. If you exit by removing the disk and turning off the computer or by rebooting, there will be unwritten data in the buffers that will be lost. If you exit by using the Exit routine, the buffers will first be emptied, data will be properly stored, and then the program will quit. ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [53] ____________________________________________________________________ 10.4 KEEPING BACKUPS After a few months you'll have sizable data files. You MUST keep one, and preferably more than one, floppy disk or tape backup of your CashTrac data, as you would any other important data. It's not a question of whether your disk will go bad, but WHEN it will go bad. Once a disk error occurs (error 72), we can't help you recover the data. 10.5 MAKING ADDITIONAL DATA DISKS Any number of data disks or subdirectories may be used with the program. 10.6 A NOTE FROM THE PROGRAM AUTHOR CashTrac-6 represents a lot of work by a lot of people, including those users who took the time to submit suggestions, and especially those who volunteered their time to "beta" test the program. Their help was greatly appreciated. We also appreciate those who support the shareware concept. Shareware is not free software. Without your registration we can't afford to provide user support and program upgrades. Lest you forget, those who register with us will receive the previously described graphing and utilities program, udpdate notices for major program revisions, updates at a reduced price, and user support on the Column One voice line and increased time for access to software on the Column One BBS. A fully indexed, 8 1/2 x 11, spiral-bound manual with detailed examples is available without registration. -John MacEvoy ____________________________________________________________________ 10/17/88 CashTrac 6.08 Page [54] ____________________________________________________________________ 11.0 PROGRAM SPECIFICATIONS a. Minimum Hardware Requirements PC or MS DOS Computer Disk Drives 2 DS DD floppy or 1 DS DD floppy and a hard disk Monitor Monochrome or color/graphics Memory 256 Kb b. Checking Account Capabilities # of Checking Accounts 16 # of Budget Categories per Account 255 # of Records per Account 32,700 Sort Routine Capacity per account 32,700 records Unpaid Bills Functions Yearly Recurring Monthly Recurring Non-Recurring Automatic transfer to check file Check Writer Format Configurable to any check c. Investment Account Capabilities # of Investment Accounts 255 Total # of Investment Records 32,700 Sort Routine Capacity 32,700 records [55] CashTrac 6.08 User Registration and Order Form Use this form to purchase copies of CashTrac commercial version from Column One, Inc. or to register a program purchased from another source. Purchases may also be made directly by calling 301-948-9599 (voice), 703-941-2386 (modem), or 703-941-5934 (modem). Shareware program and short documentation on disk: $10 Commercial program with short documentation on disk: $35 8 1/2 x 11 spiral bound manual with either of the above programs: $10 8 1/2 x 11 spiral bound manual ordered alone: $17 Shipping and handling included. Overnight delivery, add $12. Non-U.S. delivery, add $3 for surface mail, $11 for air mail. Purchasers from dealers, send no money, but enter serial number below. Please make checks payable to: Column One, Inc. at: P.O. Box 2607 Gaithersburg, MD 20879 Purchasers will receive the requested number of programs, including help files, documentation files, and the main, configuration, and graphing & utilities programs, along with printed manuals if requested. ______________________________________________________________________ Number of programs: _______ at $________ per program. Total $_____.__ Number of manuals: _______ at $________ per manual. Total $_____.__ Sales tax (Maryland, 5%, Virginia 4.5%) _____.__ Check, VISA, or MasterCard (CIRCLE ONE). Grand total: $______.__ Card No. |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_| Ex Date: __/__/__ First Name: _______________ Last Name: ___________________________ Company Name (if applicable):_________________________________________ Street: _______________________________________________________ City: ____________________________ State: ___ Zip: __________ Home Phone: ( ) ____-________ Bus. Phone: ( ) ____-________ Where did you get this program? _____________________________________ Serial number (if purchased from dealer): ____________________________ ______________________________________________________________________