CP/M/CPM_CDROM.iso/mbug/mbug056.arc/CHECKS.DOC

Text File | 1979-12-31 | 19KB | 386 lines

The CHECKS program was written for my personal use and is
placed in the public domain for anyone who wants to use it.
(No business use please) Since it is a 'freeby', don't complain
about the organization of the program, but if you should
encounter any bugs, please notify me by letter and I will try to
fix them. Several restrictions are inherent in the program and
you must be able to live with them. If you can't, then don't
bother with the program.

RESTRICTION #1

The maximum value which the math package can handle
without overflowing is $83886.07. Amounts which exceed this
value will be displayed as the amount in excess of $83886.08.
Overflow will occur if you have more than this amount of money in
your account at any point in the year, or if the total value of
the checks exceed this amount when listing out the checks. No
error message is printed out if overflow should occur. If you
exceed this amount, you can afford to buy something better
anyway.

RESTRICTION # 2

The program will only allow 255 different check names in
any year's file. The checks program was translated from a
program I had written for my 6500 system, and made extensive use
of the indexed instruction. I had a lot of check data that I
wanted to continue using with the Z80 system, so I merely re-
coded the assembly language program and used the same
organization of the data in the files.

RESTRICTION # 3

The program requires the user to enter check names as
three character mnemonics, although it keeps in the file the
entire check name for later listing. For example, when I enter a
check to Fidelity National Bank, I would use the mnemonic FNB for
the check name. You quickly learn how to choose a good mnemonic
for the check name, and can always get a listing of mnemonics
which you have used previously in case you should forget one.

If you feel that you can live with these restrictions,
then give the program a try. The features and operating ease of
this program will quickly make you ignore these limitations.

A little more about the program before we get down to the
nitty-gritty. Checks will run on either CP/M 1.4 or 2.2. The
program keeps track of two data files with the name types .CHK
and .NAM. The filename.CHK file has all the data for the actual
checks. Each check entry is packed into eight bytes of code and
the distribution copy allocates 8 kbytes of memory for the
checks. This gives you the ability to handle 1024 checks in a
given year. The .NAM file contains the name mnemonics and a list
of the corresponding full check names. Full check names are
limited to a 32 character string.


The user may specify the disk on which the .CHK and .NAM
files are located. If no name is given for the .NAM file, the
program will assign the same filename for the .NAM file as was
specified for the .CHK file. I use the filename 1981 for the
check file for year 1981 which automatically assigns files
1981.CHK and 1981.NAM for use. Other people who have used this
program find that they normally write checks to the same people
year after year and do not overflow the 255 name restriction.
For this reason, you can save a lot of typing by using the same
name file year after year. To do this, one might type 1981
(space) NAMES which would assign files 1981.CHK and NAMES.NAM as
the files to be used. Note that the user does not specify the
filename extension because the program does it for you. If you
should try it, the program will issue an error message.

Because my wife and I both share the same checking
account, but she has her own checks which might duplicate my
check numbers, the program allows you to set a 'W' flag to keep
to two entries separate. The program also has other flags which
the user can set upon entry, and yes, as you might expect, you
can get a listing of checks depending on the flag set. The flags
which can be set on the distribution copy, and the meaning which
I place on them are as follows:

W Wife's checks
R Returned check
I Income tax deductible

All three of the above flags may co-exist in the same
check entry plus one of the following:

C Car expenses
D Doctor bills
E Entertainment expenses
F Food
G Gasoline
H Housing expenses
M Medicine
P Parts for computer
S School expenses
U Utility bills

Five spare flags are also available, but have not been
defined during the assembly. The method of setting or changing
these flags will be discussed later. A check might have the flags
IWRS set, which means an income tax deductible check, written by
my wife which has returned from the bank for some school related
expense.


The program enables you to list all checks written to
some mnemonic name, to list a monthly balance sheet, to compute
the check balance, to compute the bank balance at the end of the
month after returned checks are entered, to list outstanding
checks, to list checks, deposits, and withdrawals from your
account for any month, or for the year and to fix erroneous
entries for a check, deposit, withdrawal, or change a mnemonic
name or a full check name.

Thats enough about what can be done, now lets get down
how to do it. Let's assume it is the start of the year, and we
are opening up a new years record for say 1981.

A>CHECKS 1981 [NAMES] [optional entry]

This will load CHECKS from the A drive and try to read a
file for 1981 from the default drive. Naturally nothing will
exist, and the program will tell you that it could not load the
check file, and will go to the command mode. The program has
assigned the names for the .NAM and .CHK files should data be
entered and saved. All commands begin with a single alpha
character and will immediately execute unless an argument is
required. In this case, the program waits for the argument and
the carriage return before execution. If you type a ? , the
program will display all the command characters, their meaning,
and print the number of names in the current name file.

The first thing to enter is the balance in your account
at the beginning of the year. Enter this value as a deposit by
hitting the D key. The program will display the prompts for your
entry and show you that this is deposit #1. Deposits and
Withdrawals are automatically numbered with 255 deposits and
withdrawals permitted in a years record. If you hit the space
bar, the cursor is automatically tabbed to the next entry. The
month is 1-12, the date 1-31, the amount assumed in dollars
unless a decimal point is entered. Do not specify $ in the amount
entry. Legal check , deposit , or withdrawal values are as
follows:

 10000
 234.12
 1
 .23

 123.1 is not legal

For the mnemonic, you might consider STB


When you hit the carriage return, the program analyzes
the entry, and looks up STB in the name file to see if it exists.
Since it does not, it will ask you if this is a new name. Type
'Y' to indicate that it is and fill in the full name STARTING
BALANCE when it prompts you for the full name. When you now hit
the carriage return, your first deposit will be entered, and the
mnemonic STB and the full name STARTING BALANCE will be entered
into the name file.

Now hit B. The program computes the balance by adding
all deposits from the beginning of the file and subtracting the
value of all checks and withdrawals from the account. Yes you now
have a balance of the value which you entered. Now hit V. This
command is similar to the balance command except only returned
checks are subtracted. The result is the bank balance which
should agree with your bank statement after entering all returned
checks at the end of the month. A check is returned by typing
the command R and entering in the check number. Since no checks
have been written, the bank thinks you have the same amount.

Suppose your first check is for cash. Hit C to enter a
check. The check prompt now appears. Check numbers 1-9999 are
valid check numbers. Fill in the data with the mnemonic CAS.
Use the full name CASH when it comes time to do this.

Now try the B and V commands again. Yes, the new balance
is the difference between the check and the starting balance but
the V command still shows the starting balance. As far as the
program is concerned, the check is still outstanding. You can
verify this by typing the command O, which shows the check to
still be outstanding.

Type the command M and specify CAS when it asks for the
check mnemonic. The M command lists all checks which Match the
mnemonic name written during the year.

Now try to return the check by typing the command R. When
it asks for the check number, enter the one which you have
entered. Now re-try the B, V, and O commands. The check is no
longer outstanding and the bank balance and check book balance
now agree. You can still find the check using the M command.

When you are typing in any command and make a mistake, a
control X will abort the command and return you to the command
mode. You can use backspace (ctrl H) to correct mistakes on any
entry.

Since returning the check set the R flag, you can now
find the check using the interrogate command I. If you specify
the R flag, you can now see that a listing of all returned checks
is possible. The I command will list all checks which have the
specified flag set. (a handy way to find income tax deductible
checks)

Suppose I do, then you can use the W flag in the flag column when
entering the check. Another way is to precede the check number
with the letter W. Thus W123 is wife's check 123 while 123 is my
check 123. You can print all your wife's checks by using the
interrogate command (I) and telling the program to use the W
flag. All other flags may only be specified in the flag column.
So to flag all your utility bills for example set the U flag in
the flag column when entering the check.

Withdrawals are amounts automatically deducted from your
checking account each month for say a car payment. Do not
confuse withdrawals with the W flag which is the wife flag. To
enter a withdrawal, hit the command W. Unlike a check entry, the
withdrawal will automatically be deducted from the bank balance
at the same time it is deducted from the check book balance.

The A command begins auto-numbering of check entries and
may be auto-numbered either with and without the wife flag. To
auto-number wife's checks, type W(check number) when prompted. Do
not put a space between the W and the check number. The control
X command cancels the auto-number mode.

The L command is used to list out checks, withdrawals,
deposits, or the names which you have used. In the case of
checks, withdrawals, or deposits, the program will ask which
month to list. You can enter a month 1-12 for a specific month,
or enter a 0 to list the entire year's activity.

The T command lists a monthly balance sheet on the
console. The month also is entered as 1-12 or a 0 for a yearly
record

The P command toggles the output to the printer for the
next command. Thus command P followed by T will list the balance
sheet on the printer. A command P followed by command M will
list on the printer all checks to a specific mnemonic name. The
print mode is toggled off at the completion of each command.

The M command is one of the most valuable commands. In my
case, all my electric power bills are to AEP for Appalachian
Electric Power. Thus at the end of the year the command M with
the mnemonic AEP will show the year's total for electric bills.
In a similar fashion, C&P shows telephone bills, TEX my Texaco
gasoline bills, etc. The I command with the G flag will print out
all gasoline expenses to all companies during the year.


More about the L command. The L command will also let
you list the mnemonic names and the full names which you have
used. This is handy in case you forget one. Type command L and
specify N for names. When it asks for the mnemonic name, you can
hit an immediate carriage return to show all the names in the
file. If you should just type A followed by a carriage return,
it will show all mnemonic names starting with the letter A. In a
similar fashion typing CA will show all mnemonics starting with
the two letters CA. It is pretty easy to at least remember the
most logical first letter of the mnemonic which you might have
used for the name.


Now it is time to save the file away after an editing
session. You can type Q to go to CP/M or S to save the current
file but stay in the checking routine. The Q command will first
ask you if you want to save the checks away before exiting. If
you have made any changes, you had better do it or everything
which you have added will be lost. The old file on the disk was
copied into memory at the beginning of the editing session and is
still there on the disk. If you type Y for yes, it will show you
the names under which it will be saved. If you want to change
the names type N after it asks you if the file names are OK?.
You can use anything like the following


B:1981 checks and names file on B drive
B:1981 A:NAMES checks under name 1981 on B drive
 names under NAMES on the A drive

One word of warning. Do not get the checks for one year
mixed up with the name file for another year. The program has no
way of telling that you have mixed things up and the names will
be all mixed up on your check file. For this reason, use
1981.CHK and 1981.NAM so no possibility exists for this error.
Nothing disastrous happens if you get them mixed up until you
make a new entry in the file. Check names are numbered as they
are entered and the check data file only has the number
corresponding to the check name used.

The S command saves the current check and name files on
the disk and stays in the checking routine. This permits you to
use the G command which gets a different years record for
observation or modification. You can use the G command to look
for various years activities without modifying any of the
contents on the disk.

To keep the bank people honest, at the end of the month
when my checks return, I return all the checks enclosed with my
statement and hit the V command. The balance shown should agree
with the bank as long as no deposits have been made into the
account which do not show in the bank statement.


Naturally you will make some typing mistake sometime
during the use of the program. The F command allows you to
retrieve a check, deposit, or withdrawal from the records and fix
it. When you enter the number of the item to be fixed, the
display will show the entry as it has been typed. The entry may
be fixed up as shown on the console display using the control H
for backspace, the control A will add a space at the cursor, and
the control D will delete the character at the cursor. A control
B will set the cursor to the beginning of the entry being
displayed for added convenience. You may hit the carriage return
with the cursor at any position in the display and the entire
contents of the display will be entered as shown. Using the
prompts, you may change a name mnemonic, or the full name for
typing error. Suppose you can't remember a mnemonic because you
used a poor one the first time you entered it. By changing the
mnemonic, all entries in the file will now show the new mnemonic.

Yes, I can guarantee that sometime or other you will type
the same check number in twice for two different entries. When
you try to find the check to return it, only the first entry will
be displayed and the second check with the duplicate entry can
not be returned. And as Mr. Murphy would have it, the second
entry had the wrong check number. The only way to fix this is
to fix the number on the first check to some fake number which
has not been used, then fix the wrong check and then re-fix the
first check back to the correct number. Sorry, but that is the
way it works. The only way to find this kind of error is to list
the checks and hunt for that duplicate check number.

Modifications:

The size of the check and name files may be enlarged by
changing the address at the equate NFILE. The check file
starts loading at the address set by the equate at CFILE and
memory space is available up to the address at NFILE. Names
begin at NFILE and the rest of memory up to CCPBAS is available.
Each name entry requires 5 bytes of code, three for the mnemonic
and two bytes for a pointer to the full name. Since the maximum
name entry is 32 bytes long, the longest name file possible is
9435 bytes. Be sure you update CCPBAS to point to the first
location before the base of your CCP to insure you do not
overwrite the CCP. CCPBAS has been arbitrarily defines as $8000
in the distribution copy.

Five additional flags may be defined by replacing the %
characters at the DEFB string at the label CAT: with the desired
flag character. The flag characters N,W,I,R are reserved for use
in the program and may not be doubly defined.


Cursor control characters which may vary with different
video displays are defined at the beginning of the source
listing. The program may be warm started by jumping to 100H in
case you should forget to save the data on the disk and returned
to CP/M. You can do this by executing GO 100 if you are using
CCPZ or by previously saving a zero length file using the CP/M
save command with the name GO and typing GO when you are in CP/M.

Checks is only a 9k program, and will run in systems with as
little as 16k of memory. To be safe, you should re-assemble
the program after redefining CCPBAS to insure the name file does
not overflow the CCP, and redefine NFILE to 4500H to give a
little more space for the name file.

Yes, the program has its limitations but it works and it
puts a lot of power at a few keystrokes once you learn how to use
it. I am willing to listen to all suggestions how to improve it.

Ralph Sherman
15 Hydaway drive
Forest, Va.
24551
(804)-525-3167