The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his010/conanall.exe/CONAN104.EXE/HELP.TXT

Text File | 1991-06-24 | 12KB | 377 lines

This is the starting menu. Always return to this from data entry when
pausing for more than a few minutes to be sure data is saved.

 Select menu item by pressing the first letter of the desired menu item,
 or by moving the cursor to the item and pressing <ENTER>.


 MENU ITEMS, STARTING MENU:

 ENTER DATA - Opens data entry window to allow input or modification
 of information about consignors or items for sale.

 AFTER SALE INFORMATION - allows you to enter sales of items, the sale
 price and date of sale, as well as sales tax. If this information has
 already been entered by printing a receipt at the point of sale, this
 option is not necessary.

 RECEIPT - At point of sale, enters items as they are sold,views items,
 allows review and modification, and prints a receipt. Items sold are
 marked as sold, with the actual sale price,any sales tax, and the date sold.

 PRINT REPORTS - Prints, from a menu,inventory, activities for a day or
 time period, or consignor statements. Activity reports can be summary
 or detailed.

 DELETE ITEMS - A quick delete for items. Items are displayed by consignor,
 with the unsold items shown first for each consignor. They are displayed
 in a tabular format which makes it easy to find the desired record. One
 simple command deletes the selected item. Undeletes are possible

 CONSIGNOR POST PAYMENT - Allows semiautomatic filling in of the date
 a consignor was paid for a particular item, with manual overview to
 prevent errors. All items sold on or prior to a given date for the specified
 consignor will have the paid date filled in with the specified date

SETUP - Allows entry of sales tax rate, the company name,
and the starting rate for consignments, which are used by
the program. The first time the program is run, SETUP is run automatically.
Sales tax data may be modified at the time the receipts or after sale
information is entered.  That modification is only for the duration of
that particular module use. Setup may be invoked anytime by pressing <F9>.























 MENU ITEMS, DATA ENTRY, CONSIGNOR OR ITEM WINDOWS :

     Add - Adds a new record, then goes into edit mode to allow info entry

     Copy - makes an exact copy of record on the screen, then
     goes into edit mode to allow changing selected fields - very useful,
     really saves keystrokes for repetitive data.

     Edit - Allows modification of data.

     Delete - self explanatory - BE CAREFUL WITH THIS

     View - lets you find and display a different record.

     Zoom (when available) - Moves to a more detailed database.

     Unzoom (when available) - The opposite of Zoom

     Starting Menu - Go back to original menu shown at startup for selection
     of another function. TO AVOID LOSS OF DATA, ALWAYS GO TO THIS MENU WHEN
     PAUSING FOR MORE THAN A FEW MINUTES. This saves all work to disk.

     List - Quickly browse through the records which are displayed in a
     tabular form.

     Maintanence - Has three options, PACK and INDEX are the most important.
     Pack permanently deletes those records that have been DELETED.
     (Deleting a record only removes it from sight for purposes of
     editing, copying, or printing a report - See DELETE help). A build
     up of deleted records slows down operations and makes the database
     files larger than they need to be. Packing permenantly removes them.
     Indexing rebuilds index files that may have become damaged.
HELP WITH EDIT/ADD/COPY MODES:

 Go from field to field with arrow keys. <Enter> goes from field to field
 only in the downward direction. Use <Esc> to abort.

 To save and leave edit mode hold down both <Ctrl> and <End>.

 Within a field, to go to the end of the field press <End>. To go to the
 beginning, press <Home>. To delete all after the cursor, hold down both
 <Ctrl> and <End>. When done at the beginning this deletes the entire con-
 tents of the field.












HELP WITH THE AFTER SALE OPTION:

The AFTER SALE option allows modifying records to indicate that they
have been sold, for how much, what the sales tax, if any is.  The sales
tax will then be displayed and an opportunity given to modify it.
Next you will be asked for the item number. Enter it. If no record by
that number exists you will be informed and given a chance to select
another item number.  If a valid number exists, the record will appear
on the screen.  You will be asked if this is the correct record. If so,
press "Y".  You will then be allowed to fill in the sales date and price
and if the item is taxable. Press <Enter> to move from field to field.
When finished you have the option of selecting another record displaying
a list of records or going to the main menu.
























HELP WITH THE CONSIGNOR OPTION:

This option allows the posting of the pay date to the records
for those items belonging to a consignor which have been sold AND
FOR WHICH THE CONSIGNOR HAS BEEN PAID. Since the program allows the
printing of statements for unpaid items, it is important that all
items for which the consignor has been paid be so marked (to avoid
paying the consignor twice for the same item)!

To do this as quickly as possible, the computer prompts for the
entry of the consignor's name, and the date paid. (NOTE: All unpaid
items which were sold PRIOR to the date paid will be displayed for
marking.) However to avoid marking incorrect records it will not
mark records before the user is consulted. As the computer finds
each appropriate record it pauses, displays the record, and asks
if the record should be marked paid. If the answer is yes, the date
paid will be inserted in the date paid field.

The consignor's name entered may be a partial, but the first
letters of the name, as they appear in the customer file, must
be correct.  Enough letters should be chosen to make the name
unique.  For example, if there are 2 Smiths in the file, Mary and
Jane, simply entering "Smith" would mix the records of both.
"Smith, M" would be enough, however, to select only Mary Smith's
records.

When entering dates, ALWAYS use 8 digits. April 4th, 1991 should
be entered as "04/04/91". If the leading zeros are not entered,
strange results may occur.


























HELP WITH DELETE OPTION:

This enables quick locating and deletion of records. It is designed
to be used when the consignor is known, and is typically used when
consigned items that are unsold are returned to their owner. The
prompts for the consignor,s name.  Enter this and press enter. The
records belonging to the consignor are displayed in a row and column
table which can be quickly browsed, using the up and down arrow keys
and <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys.

To make it easier to find the desired item, the unsold items are
displayed first in order of record number.  All records, including
deleted ones are displayed. (REMEMBER, deleted records should be
periodically purged by Packing them). Most parts of the program will
not display or use deleted records. Only this module displays them, and
gives the user a chance to recover accidently deleted records. Packed
records can never be recovered.

Deleted records will be indicated by displaying a message, at the
bottom of the screen, indicating this, when the cursor is on the record.

Move the cursor to a record to be deleted. Press "D". A full screen
display of the record is displayed. Press "Y" to delete, "N" if
this record is not to be deleted. The display goes back to the table
format. Pressing "R" allows a deleted record to be recovered.
Press <Esc> to leave the Delete option and return to the Starting Menu.






















HELP WITH REPORTS:

There are 3 basic types of reports, each of which can generate
a variety of specific reports: INVENTORY, ACTIVITY, and STATEMENTS.

Inventory - reports can print inventory purchased over a period of time,
or unsold inventory purchased over a period of time.  This can be useful
in preparing accounting journals, doing physical inventories, or checking
expenditures.  The user is prompted for a start and an end date.

Activity reports - print Items Purchased or Received, Items Sold, or
Consignors Paid for a day or a given period. The Items Sold option is the
most useful and always prints when the Activity option is chosen.  It uses
a technique called "indexing" to give extremely fast look-ups of the data
for the period requested. On large databases the other two options are
slow because they are not indexed to save hard disk space. Unless needed
they should not be asked for.  If the user requests activity for the DAY,
it means the current system day in the computer. If any other single day
period is wanted, simply specify the same starting and ending date.  This
is simple since the initial ending date in the system is the same as the
starting date.  This can be overwritten by the user.

Statements - Both Store Copy and statements given to the consignor may
be printed.  The former has more information on it which the consignor
does not need to know.  The consignor may be picked from a Pick List
(answer "Y" to the question do you wish to see a list of consignors).
Otherwise the name may be typed in. Choose which ever is most convenient.
Current statements to a consignor should be unsold items only, otherwise
ALL items, including THOSE PREVIOUSLY PAID FOR would be included in the
total.  ALL items should be chosen only for information of the user.























HELP WITH LIST:
List provides  a quick way to browse through the database.

Move the cursor with the arrow keys. <PgDn>, and <PgUp> keys.
The screen will scroll up, down, or sideways as required, automatically.
When you have the cursor on a record you would like to select for
viewing, editing, etc., press <Esc> or <Enter> to leave the table format
and go to full screen mode. If you are beyond the allowable range, for
example in records of a different consignor when viewing items, you
will be notified, and you will be returned to the original record.



























HELP WITH RECEIPTS:

This option allows you to "ring up" sales at the computer in a
similar manner to that of a cash register. Items will be totaled,
sales tax added if the item was taxable, and one or any number of
receipts printed.

You will first be shown the sales tax percent entered in the system setup.
This may be modified, for this session, at this time.
the system setup at any time by pressing <F1>). Next you will be asked for
the item number. If the item number you type is in the system, a screen
will pop up to enable you to enter the date, amount sold for, and if the
item is taxable. Do not enter date consignor is paid. Pressing <Enter>
will exit each field. Any item you enter will have the record changed
to reflect the sale.

You will then be asked if you wish to view the receipt. If you answer "y"
you will be shown the items in tabular form, and have the option of
deleteing any record to accomodate customer changing mind, and mistakes
in entering the item. Records will be modified to reflect the fact that
the item has not been sold.

You then will be asked if you want to enter another item.
If you answer "n" the program will ask how many copies you want. If you
enter zero, no copies will be printed, but the records will remain altered
to indicate that the items have been sold.