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- █ MAIN MENU
- ▒ ═════════
- ▒
- ░ The MAIN MENU is the point of departure for all funct-
- ░ ions of ALPHAQUOTE. Enter the selection number for
- ░ the desired function to use.
- ░ The functions and a brief descripton:
- ░
- ░ Setup Contains the hourly rates, penalty
- ░ factors, credit factors, and the data
- ░ necessary to print a report.
- ░
- ░ Estimate/ The major function for pricing and
- ░ Copyfit pagination.
- ░
- ░ Print Prints a formatted report to a line
- █ printer
- █
- ░ View Status Displays a window that shows current
- ░ calculation with an optional summary.
- ▒
- ▒ Reset Status Initializes the STATUS display to zero
- ░
- ░ Disk Saves, retrieves or displays a directory
- ░ of the estimates. Note: The setup rates
- ░ are saved with the estimate.
- ░
- ░ Help Help text files. They may be accessed
- ░ anywhere in the program by pressing F1
- ░
- ░ Calculator A pop-up calculator featuring, addition,
- ░ subtraction, multiplication and division
- ░ as well as conversion of picas & points
- █ to inches and inches to picas & points.
- █
- ░ Quit Close the program and return to DOS
- ░
- ░
- ░ STRATEGIES
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- ▒
- ░ ALPHAQUOTE can be used to estimate many different
- ░ types of publications such as magazines, newspapers,
- ░ newsletters and books. There are two basic estimat-
- ░ ing strategies to use with ALPHAQUOTE, one for a
- ░ consistent layout and another for an inconsistent
- ░ layout.
- ░
- ░ For example, books and technical documents are
- ░ consistent. Page after page is virtually the same
- █ with an occasional chapter drop or piece of spot art.
- █ For these projects ALPHAQUOTE is quite straight-
- ░ forward, answer the questions from the various menus
- ░ as they are presented. When finished press 'V' from
- ░ the MAIN MENU to see the results.
- ░
- ░ Magazines are an example of an inconsistent layout.
- ░ The first pages may be two columns and the second
- ▒ three columns. The typeface and point size may vary
- ▒ and some pages may be more complex than others.
- ░ The best approach to an inconsistent layout is to
- ░ estimate each page separately.
- ░
- ░ ALPHAQUOTE allows input based on the number of
- ░ characters or number of pages to describe the
- ░ length of the document to be estimated. For
- ░ an inconsistent layout, answer the Number of
- █ Characters question with zero (0) and the Number
- █ of Pages with 1. Answer all of the other questions
- ░ appropriately. Press 'V' from the MAIN MENU to see
- ░ the results for page 1. Select 'E' from the MAIN
- ░ MENU. Using the PGDN, PGUP and CURSOR keys,
- ░ navigate to the items that change for page 2.
- ░
- ░ For example, page 1 is a 2 column page, but
- ░ page 2 is 3 columns. Navigate to the columns
- ░ question change the 2 to a 3 then press F2 for the
- ▒ result. ALPHAQUOTE will quickly recalculated using
- ▒ the new information. Go through the entire job
- ░ looking for exceptions make just those changes
- ░ then press f2 for immediate results. Magazines tend
- ░ to have sections that are the same. Lumping like
- ░ sections together will speed the estimating process.
- ░
- █ Unfortunately, version 2.0 of ALPHAQUOTE does not
- █ keep track of the individual pages when estimating
- ░ an inconsistent layout. Keep track of each page
- ░ then add them together for a total.
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