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1992-01-08
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FIDONET ACCOUNTING/BILLING SOFTWARE
"FIDOBILL"
v1.01a 07-Jan-92
-- INTRODUCTION --
I started programming FIDOBILL after I approached Eric Smith
(1:104/513), the treasurer of my network, about it. I was curious
how he went about keeping track of the accounts and how he handled
billing. To my surprise he was essentially doing it by hand using
some combination of a custom program and a Lotus spreadsheet. I
thought the process could be streamlined by a complete software
package that took care of everything.
And so I began programming in late September, 1991. The package
quickly took form and within a week Eric was running the first
version of the software. Compared to the final product that is now
being distributed this version was very limited. Still, it
dramatically decreased the amount of time Eric had to spend on his
duties as treasurer.
Over the course of the next two months I continued to add
features, improve the user interface, and take Eric's suggestions as
to what would be nice to have in the package.
This version of the software is a dramatic advance over the
version Eric originally used. But, as a programmer, I recognize that
a given program is never "done." There is always more you can do
with a program. For that reason I encourage you to send me netmail
with any ideas you have for additional features. Also, the "Reports"
section of the program was built with expandability in mind. If you
have an idea for a report that you'd like to see just send me netmail
and I'll try to get it programmed and f-sent to you ASAP.
I hope you find FIDOBILL easy to use and a helpful tool in
keeping track of billing. If you do, I hope you'll consider
registering the software. Your support will encourage the future
development of this product.
-- Craig Steiner
9959 E. Peakview #C-206
Englewood, CO USA
Fidonet - 1:104/332
Internet - Craig_Steiner@f332.n104.z1.fidonet.org
-- SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS --
o 640k RAM minimum
o DOS 3.30 or above
o 500k base disk storage plus approx. 4k per node in
billing database.
o Processor 80286-8 or above recommended
o Color monitor preferable
o Printer optional
As indicated above, FIDOBILL will require approximately half a
megabyte of disk space and then grow by about 6k for each node that
is in your billing database. Due to some of the number crunching it
is recommended that you use a 286 or better, but this is not a
requirement. A color monitor will also add to the visual
attractiveness of the program but, of course, is not required.
FIDOBILL now supports both the Hudson-style message base (RA,
QBBS) as well as the Fidonet *.MSG message base format.
-- DISCLAIMER --
This software is distributed on an "as-is" basis. The author
assumes absolutely no responsibility for the results of using or
misusing this software. The author will not be responsible for any
loss, financial or otherwise, incurred by the use of this software.
Further, the author makes no guarantees or promises concerning
the fitness of this program for a specific purpose.
The author is under no obligation to provide support or future
enhancements for the product, though he may choose to do so.
By using this software you unconditionally agree to this
disclaimer and understand that you bear the full risk of using this
software.
-- THE TWO PROGRAMS --
Two primary programs make up the FIDOBILL billing system. These
programs are FIDOBILL.EXE and BILLING.EXE. In addition to these two
programs there will be one additional .EXE file for each report that
is being used.
FIDOBILL.EXE is the control software. All of the setup is done
from this program. All editing of node's accounts, input of received
payments, etc. is also done from FIDOBILL.EXE. If you are not sure
which program to use it is most likely FIDOBILL.EXE.
BILLING.EXE, on the other hand, is the program that handles the
actual sending of netmail to individual nodes. This program should
be run once and only once per 24-hour period. Presumably you would
include this file in your nightly maintenance routines.
-- THE SOFTWARE KEY APPROACH --
I have implemented a software key to encourage users to register
the software.
The software key that is included with this program is a
temporary evaluation key that will function through May 30, 1992.
The evaluation key will allow you to use all the features of the
package EXCEPT the functions that tie everything into the net's bank
account. These features will be enabled only with a legitimately
registered key.
Once the temporary evaluation key has expired the BILLING.EXE
program will cease to operate. Essentially this means that you will
be able to track the accounts but the program will not be able to
"communicate with the world" by automatically sending netmail.
I did not want to cripple the software too much, but quite
honestly I DID want to see some registrations. I hope I balanced
these factors well. The software is no less functional without the
bank account features. But those features are definitely a "perk"
for those who register the software.
Please see the section "REGISTERING FIDOBILL" for the procedure
to register this software and to receive a permanent software key.
-- REGISTERING FIDOBILL --
FIDOBILL is a shareware program. You are free to use and test
the program for as long as you wish (subject to the expiration of the
temporary evaluation key) to determine whether or not the program
will suit your needs.
Should you receive the FIDOBILL package at a date approaching
the May 30, 1992 temporary key expiration date please send netmail to
Craig Steiner at 1:104/332 and request a new evaluation key. I'll be
happy to send you a new one to give you plenty of time to evaluate
the software.
If you choose to continue using FIDOBILL I do request that you
register the software by filling out the registration form on the
next page and sending it, along with check, cashier's check, or money
order for $40.00 (U.S.) to the address indicated.
Software keys will be f-sent to you upon your checks successful
clearing of your bank (normally 2-weeks). If I should receive your
registration near the temporary key expiration date a temporary
replacement key will be issued while your check clears. A permanent
key will then be issued when the check clears. Cashier's checks and
money orders will be honored immediately, so if you're in a hurry
this is the way to go.
Sorry, I'm not some major software company (yet?) so I can't
accept credit card orders. Perhaps someday...
Note that when FIDOBILL is registered it is registered to the
NETWORK, not to the individual accountant. Should the accountant
resign, quit, etc. and someone else take his place the software key
will still work and may legitimately be passed along to the new
accountant.
An additional service that I am offering is to convert your
current records into the FIDOBILL database. This will allow you to
get up and running with FIDOBILL immediately and with correct
balances for each node. Should you desire to take advantage of this
service I would PREFER the information be provided via modem rather
than a hardcopy. If you can f-send it to me at 1:104/332 be sure
that the data is in an ASCII TEXT FILE. I cannot convert a Lotus
Spreadsheet, etc. unless you have saved it as an ASCII file.
Alternatively you can enclose a hardcopy of the stats with your
registration. Either way please allow some additional time for the
conversion to be done. The data files will be sent to you with the
software key. The fee I am charging is $25.00 regardless of the
number of nodes in your network.
-- FIDOBILL REGISTRATION --
-- v1.01a --
Network To Register: ______ ______
(Zone) (Net)
Todays Date: _____/_____/_____
Month Day Year
Accountant's Name: ______________________________________
Address: ______________________________________
City: ______________________ State: ________
Zip: ________
Country: ________
Voice Phone: (____) ______ - __________
FidoNet Address To F-Send Key To: ________________
____ Mark here if you are not on FidoNet or would prefer to receive
your key by calling The Vault BBS and downloading your key.
Is your network funding this registration? _______
Where did you find this copy of FIDOBILL? _________________
Where did you first hear of FIDOBILL? _____________________
I have enclosed:
_____ $40.00 (drawn on U.S. bank) for FIDOBILL
registration.
_____ $25.00 (drawn on U.S. bank) for conversion of my
existing records. These records are provided by:
____ Enclosed hardcopy of records
____ F-Sent to 1:104/332 under name of ___________
Date it was F-Sent to 1:104/332: ___________
I understand that by signing below I agree to any and all terms of
usage of FIDOBILL, which include:
1. I will not resell the software key I receive.
2. I will not try to de-compile or reverse engineer FIDOBILL or
attempt to tamper with it's data files without prior written consent
of the author.
3. I will not distribute FIDOBILL in any form other than as the
complete package as I received it.
________________________________________
Signature of Applicant Date
-- INSTALLING FIDOBILL --
Presumably you have already done this. Installing FIDOBILL is a
matter of unzipping the file. I'd recommend you install FIDOBILL in
it's own subdirectory, but that's up to you. But that is all there
is to installing FIDOBILL.
-- CONFIGURING FIDOBILL --
Once FIDOBILL is installed the next step is configuring it. To
get to the "(S)etup/Configuration" section run FIDOBILL.EXE. The "S"
option on the main menu will take you to the Setups screens.
The setups section of the program consists of two screens which
may be accessed by hitting PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN from either screen.
Throughout the program the ESCAPE key will exit you back to the
previous screen. We'll now cover each of the setup fields.
BILLING SYSTEM ADDRESS: This is the network address for the system
that will be running FIDOBILL and mailing out the bills, statements,
etc. I would expect that this would be YOUR (the accountant's)
network address.
PATH TO CURRENT NODELIST: This field must contain the full path to
where you keep your active nodelist. FIDOBILL will look for a valid
St. Louis style nodelist in this directory. I highly recommend that
you include the drive identifier (C:, D:, etc.) as part of the path
to avoid possible confusion.
PATH TO HUDSON/*.MSG FILES: This field must contain the full path to
where you keep your Hudson-style message base files. If you use the
*.MSG message storage method this must contain the full pathname to
where you keep your netmail *.MSG files. When the BILLING program
generates netmail statements, reports, etc. it will look for the
files in this directory. It is of utmost importance that this path
be correct. Again, I recommend that you include the driver
identifier as part of this path.
NETMAIL AREA NUMBER: In this field enter the Hudson area-number (1-
200) for Netmail. For example, if you are using RemoteAccess and
have set-up message area #200 as Netmail, you'd enter 200 into this
field. If you are using the *.MSG message format this field should
either be blank or contain the number "0".
LOCAL SYSOP AREA NUMBER: In this field enter the Hudson-area number
of the echomail area that the sysops in your net use to communicate
with each other. Generally this would be a sysop-only echo for the
sysops of your net. This field is currently not utilized anywhere in
the program but should be entered anyway to allow for future upgrades
to the software.
PRIORITY--WELCOME: This indicates the priority (Normal/Crash) that
you wish to send "welcome messages" (more on this soon) with.
PRIORITY--RECEIPT: This indicates the priority (Normal/Crash) that
you wish to send payment receipts with.
PRIORITY--BILL: This indicates the priority (Normal/Crash) that you
wish to send bills and statements with.
DEFAULTS -- The fields in the "Defaults" section refer to how a brand
new node will be set-up until otherwise specifically modified.
BILLING STATUS: This is a field that will cycle between Non-
Billable/Billable/Exempt/Cancel. If you choose "Non-Billable"
then new nodes, by default, will not be charged any fee until
you manually go in and edit their account. "Non-Billable" is
used to signify nodes that are not being billed because they are
not receiving any services (i.e. backbone echos) that require a
fee. If you default it to "Billable" the node will
automatically be billed when it first appears in the nodelist or
is manually created by you in the node editor. Functionally
"Exempt" operates as "Non-Billable." "Exempt" is usually used
for nodes that are exempt from billing due to being an echo hub
or for some other administrative reason. "Cancel" would be a
bizarre choice to default new nodes to and, quite frankly, I
can't think of ANY reason to do so.
FEE: This is the fee that you wish to charge nodes by default.
BILLING DATE: This is the day of the month (1-31) that you wish
nodes to be billed on. Each node may be billed on a different
date if you desire. This field represents what new nodes will
be defaulted to--you can modify them later if you choose. I do
not recommend billing nodes after the 28th of the month. If you
were to bill on the 31st of each month the program would
actually end up billing systems on the first of the NEXT month
in cases where only 30 days exist in the month (that is, if you
are billing on the 31st of each month then in April there is no
April 31st. So the nodes would end up being billed on May 1st).
BILLING FREQUENCY: This is another field that cycles between
options: Monthly/BiMonthly/Quarterly/Annually. This indicates
how often you wish to bill nodes the above fee. If the fee is
entered as $3.00 and the billing frequency is Monthly then nodes
will, by default, be charged $3.00 per month. Again, you can
change this for each specific node. One node can be billed
Monthly and the next could be billed Annually. This field
represents how a new node is billed until otherwise specified.
SEND WELCOME TO: This field cycles between NONE/ALL NEW/NEW
BILLABLE. When nodes are added to your database they are marked
as "new." You have the option of sending a "welcome message" to
new nodes that appear in the database. If you don't want to
send welcome messages you'd select "None." If you want to send
welcome messages to ALL new nodes (billable or not) you'd set
this to "ALL NEW." This could welcome the node to FidoNet, etc.
If you wanted to send welcome messages only to new systems that
will be paying a monthly fee you'd select "NEW BILLABLE." This
could welcome them to FidoNet and explain the net's billing
procedures, etc.
ACCOUNTANT'S NAME: Sort of self-explanatory, don't ya think?
SEND PAYMENTS TO: These four fields should contain the U.S. Snail
address of where nodes should send their payments. Four fields are
provided so you can enter something along the lines of:
Net 9999 Co-Op
c/o Mr. Accountant
100 W. Anystreet
Anytown, USA 00000
The information you enter here will appear on the bills/statements
that are generated by FIDOBILL.
BILLING SITUATION 1-4: The whole top half of the second page is a
little bit complex and actually is a topic in and of itself. So
leave these alone for now.
SEND LAST x DAYS OF BANK STATEMENT: This requires a registered
software key. When enabled FIDOBILL can be instructed to send the
last x days worth of the FIDOBILL bank account files to specified
nodes. This is great for auditing the accountant by other parties.
So if FIDOBILL was going to send the bank account files on December
31st and this field had a 10 in it it would send all the transactions
that occurred in the 10 days prior to December 31st.
ON THESE DAYS: This field may hold a list of dates, separated by
spaces, that you wish to send the bank statement on. For example, if
the NC wanted a copy of your bank account records on the 1st and 15th
of each month you would enter "1 15" in this field.
FORWARD BANK ACCOUNT RECORDS TO: This field may contain a list of
nodes in your network to forward the bank records to. In the above
example you would enter the node address on your NC into this field.
If you enter more than one address in this list then all the nodes in
this list will be issued copies of the bank statements on the dates
specified above.
BILL DOWN SYSTEMS?: This is a Yes/No toggle. This indicates whether
or not you want to continue to bill a system even if it is marked as
"Down." This is up to each individual network. One could argue that
all systems should be billed unless they are specifically marked as
Non-Billable, Exempt, or Cancelled. One could also argue that if a
system is down then it isn't receiving any services so shouldn't have
to pay for them. In any case, this is how you control that
parameter.
SEND STATEMENTS TO EXEMPT NODES: This is another Yes/No toggle.
Exempt nodes are not going to be billed any dollar amount by
FIDOBILL. You may wish to send statements to the exempt nodes
anyway. If you want to send statements to exempt nodes despite the
fact there is no actual dollar amount being billed then select "Yes."
Otherwise select "No."
-- PROCESSING NODELISTS --
Once FIDOBILL has been fully configured the next step will be to
construct the initial database. This is done by running the
"(P)rocess Nodelist" option from the main menu. You should run this
function whenever you have a new nodelist. This allows FIDOBILL to
keep track of the up/down status of nodes, scan for any new nodes
that have appeared in the nodelist, or any other changes for the
system.
This function will take anywhere from several seconds to several
minutes to run depending on where your network exists within the
nodelist and how many nodes are in your network. DO NOT INTERRUPT
THE SYSTEM DURING THIS PROCESS. The program does some index
building, etc. and it could be potentially harmful to interrupt it in
the middle of processing.
-- EDITING NODES --
Editing node accounts is a very simple, straight-forward matter.
From the main menu select the "(E)dit an Existing network node"
function. A screen will appear with a number of fields for you to
edit.
NETWORK ADDRESS: This is, of course, the node number that you wish to
edit. To bring up a nodes account simply type in the address (simply
entering the node number is sufficient. You need not enter the zone
and net). If the node you enter does not exist all the fields will
be assigned the default values specified in the "Setup/Configuration"
section and you may proceed to enter the data and create a new entry.
SYSTEM NAME: This field will contain the name of the system as it
appears in the nodelist.
BILLING NAME: This field will contain the name of the sysop as it
appears in the nodelist. If the name changes in the nodelist this
field will automatically be updated the next time you (P)rocess the
nodelist.
ADDRESS LINE 1
ADDRESS LINE 2
CITY, STATE, ZIP, VOICE PHONE #: These fields are all completely
optional. The program does not use any of these fields at any time.
They are for your reference only and whether you choose to use them
or not is up to you.
BILLING STATUS: This toggles whether this node is Non-
Billable/Billable/Exempt/Cancelled. A node that is marked as "Non-
Billable" or "Cancelled" will never be billed, nor will any
statements ever be mailed to them. A node that is marked as "Exempt"
will not be assessed any fees, but may be sent a statement depending
on how you configured your "Send statements to Exempt nodes?" in the
Configuration section. "Billable," of course, subjects the node to
standard billing.
SYSTEM STATUS: This is a toggle between Active/Down. When you
process a nodelist this field will be updated automatically. You may
also adjust it manually from the editor. Netmail will never be sent
to systems that are marked as down. Down systems will only be billed
if you have marked "Bill Down Systems?" as "Yes" in the setups
section.
FEE: This is the fee you wish to charge the node.
BILLING FREQUENCY: This field cycles between
Monthly/BiMonthly/Quarterly/SemiAnnually/Annually. This represents
how often the fee should be applied to this account.
BILLING DATE: This field indicates what date of the month the system
should be billed. Values between 1 and 31 are valid, although 1-28
are recommended for the reasons discussed in the "Setups" section
previously.
WRITE-OFF: This is a Yes/No toggle field. The default is always
"No." This field is only used in reports that you may produce. If
you get into a situation where a node owes the network $20 and then
disappears without a trace you will, in all likelihood, assume that
the network will never see the $20.00. In this case you'd want to
flag the account as being "written off" so that this $20.00 wasn't
considered in the reports that report on the current status of the
net.
NETMAIL BILL TO: This field will contain a single network address.
Usually it will be the same address as the NETWORK ADDRESS above.
All correspondence that FIDOBILL generates for this node will be
netmailed to THIS address. For example, if you have a situation
where a single sysop is running two systems with two different
addresses he may request that all billing be sent to ONE of the
addresses. Simply enter the address into this field and all mail
will be sent to this address.
BILL ALTERNATE SYSTEM: This is an interesting (albeit, perhaps not
TOO useful) feature. By entering a network address into this field
all charges that this node incurs will be charged to the alternate
systems account. That is, if you enter "332" into this field then
any charges that would normally be charged to this system would
instead be charged to node 332's account.
Pressing "F1" from the node editor will bring up a screen with
their billing history. Anything involving this node will be recorded
here, including date, description, and amount of the transaction.
The 100 most recent transactions are retained. After 100
transactions have been saved in the history additional transactions
will cause the oldest transaction to "scroll off."
You can scroll through all the transactions with up UP/DOWN
arrow keys and the PAGE UP/PAGE DOWN keys. You may also manually
adjust the balance of the node by hitting the space bar and entering
a new balance. NOTE: When you adjust the balance of a node a netmail
message will be sent to the node you are adjusting stating that you
have adjusted their balance. This prevents the accountant from
modifying a balance "behind the scenes" under the assumption no-one
will notice.
-- RECEIVE NODE(S) PAYMENTS --
When you receive the payment for a node you will select this
option.
A window will open, prompting you to enter a node number. Enter
the node number that you have received a payment from. FIDOBILL will
then tell you the billing name for that node so you can verify you
are talking about the correct node.
You will then be prompted to enter either the check number that
was received or 'CASH' if you have received a cash payment.
Finally, you will be prompted for the amount of payment. Enter
the appropriate dollar amount. Upon hitting enter with a dollar
amount on this field the payment will be applied to the nodes
account.
The program then cycles back to prompting you for another node
number. This allows you to quickly enter many payments.
When you enter a received payment a payment receipt will
automatically be netmailed to the node acknowledging that you have
received the payment.
-- ISSUE STATEMENT TO A SINGLE NODE --
If a node should request that a new statement be netmailed to
him you may simply select the (I)ssue Statement to a single node from
the main menu. You will be prompted for the node number to issue a
statement to and your selection will be verified. A statement will
then be netmailed to them.
Note that this does not imply that they will be billed again but
rather they will get a new copy of their account status to date.
-- BANK ACCOUNT FUNCTIONS --
The bank account functions are options available only on the
registered version. These are powerful functions which will make
FIDOBILL even more useful, but I don't think the lack of them will
take away from the usefulness of the program for those who have not
yet registered.
-- DEPOSIT PAYMENTS IN BANK --
When you have accumulated some deposits (which will have already
been entered into the program via the (R)eceive Node Payments
command) and you are actually ready to go to the bank and deposit
them you will use the "(D)eposit Payments In Bank" command from the
main menu.
If you have any deposits on record you will be shown a summary
of them, like "3 Checks Totalling $35.00, 2 Cash Totalling $25.00."
You then have the choice of either examining the deposit or making
the deposit.
If, based on the numbers, it appears that what the program shows
doesn't match what the true deposit will be (i.e., if FIDOBILL shows
you a $60.00 deposit but you notice you only have $50.00 in your hand
to deposit) you can (E)xamine the deposit. This will display a
breakdown of what makes up the current deposit. The node number,
check number (or 'CASH'), and dollar amount for each node payment
received will be indicated. You can scroll through them to find the
part(s) of the deposit that may have been entered incorrectly.
When you find an error in the deposit you may adjust the dollar
amount by hitting ENTER on the item in question. You will be
prompted for a new dollar amount. Simply enter the correct dollar
amount. NOTE: When you make an adjustment to the deposit a lot
happens that you won't see. First, if you were to adjust the deposit
entry for node "332" and indicated that the deposit was $5.00 less
than originally entered the system would then go out and adjust the
account records for node 332 accordingly. Clearly, if you are only
depositing $10 in the bank but you originally credited them for $15
that would be incorrect. So an adjustment will be made to their
account. Also, a netmail message will be sent to the node in
question stating that an adjustment was made by the accountant and
will state the date and amount of that adjustment.
When you are satisfied that the bank deposit amount reported by
FIDOBILL actually reflects reality you may (M)ake the deposit. You
will be prompted for a brief explanation of the deposit (which
defaults to "NODE PAYMENT DEPOSIT"). The system will make all the
necessary updates and make the deposit in the main bank account
records.
-- WITHDRAWAL FUNDS FROM ACCOUNT --
The time will come when it is time to pay the net's phone bills,
etc. and you will need to inform FIDOBILL that you are withdrawaling
funds from the account. To do this use the "(W)ithdrawal Funds From
Account" function from the main menu.
You will be prompted to enter a brief explanation of the
withdrawal. You will then be prompted for the dollar amount to
withdrawal.
Finally, you will be asked if the withdrawal information is
correct. If it is the withdrawal will be processed and the bank
account records will be updated accordingly.
-- BANK ACCOUNT BALANCE REPORT --
The "(B)ank Account Balance Report" will produce a screen that
looks a lot like a checkbook. The activity in the network's bank
account will be reported here.
The ledger itself is rather self-explanatory. If you know how a
checkbook works you will understand the ledger. If you don't know
how a checkbook works one could argue that perhaps your net should
choose another accountant.
The options you have from the Balance screen are to apply
interest to the account, apply a service charge to the amount, to
make an adjusting entry, and to forward a copy of the bank statement
to a given node.
The "(I)nterest Applied to Account" function is very straight-
forward. You will be prompted for the amount of interest that is to
be applied. After verifying that this is the correct amount to
credit to the account the interest will be added to the bank account
records.
The "(S)ervice Charge Applied To Account" is identical to the
interest function, except it debits the amount from the account.
Again, you will be prompted for the amount of the service charge to
debit and be asked to verify the amounts correctness. That amount
will then be debited from the account.
The "(A)djusting Entry" is exactly what it sounds like. If you
have tried everything possible and you just can't get the bank's
statement to match your records you can make an adjusting entry to
make the two statements match. As with any account this should be a
last resort since agreeing to the bank's statement may actually cost
the net money since it is POSSIBLE the bank DID make a mistake.
When selecting the "(A)djusting Entry" you will be prompted for
a brief explanation of the adjustment. Then you'll be prompted for
the amount of the adjustment. A positive number is treated as a
credit to the account and will INCREASE the balance while a negative
number is treated as a debit and will DECREASE the balance. The
program will then verify that this adjustment is correct and then
proceed to make the adjustment to the account.
Finally, the "(F)orward Copy of Bank Account" allows you to send
a copy of your bank account records to any given node. You will be
prompted for the network address of the node you wish to send the
records to. Enter this in standard address format. After verifying
the address to be the correct address you will be asked how many days
worth you wish to send. That is, if today is December 20th and you
enter 10 into this field the system will send the records of the last
10 days (since December 10th) to the node you specified. Upon
entering the number of days a copy will be netmailed. Note that the
records will not actually be sent until the next time you run the
BILLING program which handles all the mailing.
-- VIEW REPORTS --
The reports section of the program is an area that contain a
number of custom reports concerning the network. The release version
of FIDOBILL supports only one report but additional reports will be
released in the future and I welcome any suggestions concerning
reports you'd like to see.
When you enter the "(V)iew Reports" screen another window will
pop-up listing all the available reports. From this menu you may
either select a report that you wish to view and hit (ENTER) to
execute it.
You also have the option of removing a report that you no longer
use. To delete a report position the highlight bar on the report
that you wish to remove, then hit the (D)elete key. After verifying
that you really want to remove the report it will be removed from
your menu.
If you receive a new report or wish to re-install a report that
you have previously deleted you may (A)dd new reports. The program
will prompt you for the name of this report. This is the name that
will appear on the menu in the future--enter anything you'd like that
will describe the report for you. Next it will ask you to enter the
filename to execute to produce this report. All reports will have a
filename that looks like FBR-####.EXE, where #### is some number
between 0 and 9999. If the report you were installing was named
"FBR-0001.EXE" you'd enter "FBR-0001" into this field.
-- WHEN VIEWING A REPORT --
When you have selected a report and hit (ENTER) on it the
program will execute the report generator and display the report on
the screen. This may take several moments--the exact time will
depend on how many nodes are in your net and what kind of report is
being produced.
Once the report is on the screen you may view the entirety of
the report by scrolling it up/down with the up and down arrow keys as
well as the page up/down keys.
Another option you also have is to "(P)rint Report." As the
name suggests this simply allows you to dump the report to the
printer.
The next option is to "(F)orward Report Via Netmail." Again
this is fairly straight-forward. If you wish to forward this
specific report to someone else in your net you'd select this option.
Simply enter the node address, when prompted, and the report will be
forwarded to that node the next time the BILLING.EXE program is
executed.
The "(S)chedule Report" allows you to have this particular
report produced and forwarded to a specific node on specific,
scheduled days of the month. For example, it might be useful to send
a specific report to your NC on the 10th and 20th of each month. To
do this, select this option. You will then be prompted for node
address of the system you wish to forward the report to. After
verifying the node address is being correct you will need to tell the
program what days of the month you'd like to have this report
generated and sent to the node you entered. Enter the day(s) of the
month, separated by spaces. The report will then be sent to that
node on those dates each month without further need for maintenance.
The "(K)ill Scheduled Reports" allows you to do the opposite of
the Report scheduling just described. This option will allow you to
REMOVE the reporting you have scheduled for this report. Note that
ALL scheduled reports for this report will be killed. That is, if
you've scheduled the report to be sent to two different nodes on
different dates BOTH of them will be removed by this function.
-- AUTOMATIC NODE WARNING/CANCELLATION --
FIDOBILL includes a powerful feature that will automate a lot of
your work, beyond what you've already seen.
Let's explain this by way of example. Perhaps your net is setup
so that if a node gets 6 months behind payment you cancel them. No
problem. But perhaps it would be wise to send some warnings before
you cancel them. Perhaps you'd like to warn the node when they get 3
months delinquent that they are getting close to being cancelled. At
4 months perhaps you'd like to remind the node again. At 5 months
warn the node a final time as well as notify the net's administration
that the node is getting ready to get cancelled. At 6 months,
**BOOM** that's it. Cancel the node and make sure the admin nodes
know about it.
FIDOBILL makes this all a breeze and allows it to be done
automatically.
Go back to your "(S)etups/Configuration" screen from the main
menu, then go to the second page. The whole top half of the screen
relates to this functionality.
We mentioned above that we'd like to warn the node when they get
3 months delinquent. To do this move the highlight bar to "Billing
Situation #1" and enter "-3 NODE" This means that "at -3 Months (3
months delinquent) send the file called NODE1.FBT as a netmail
message to this node." Presumably NODE1.FBT would contain text
warning the node they are approaching the cutoff date. At 4 months
delinquent you wanted to send the node another warning, so in
"Billing Situation #2" you would enter "-4 NODE" Then at 5 months
delinquent you want to send a final warning to the node as well as
notify the administration systems that the node is about ready to be
cancelled. In "Billing Situation #3" you'd enter "-5 NODE ADMIN"
This means that at -5 months you want to send NODE3.FBT to the node
as netmail and include this node on a warning list that will be sent
to all the administration nodes that are listed in the
"Administration Nodes To Warn" field. Finally, at 6 months
delinquent you want to notify the node that they have been cancelled,
notify the admin nodes, and change their status to "Cancelled" in the
accounting records. This would be achieved by entering "-6 NODE
ADMIN CANCEL" into "Billing Situation #4." This would send a final
netmail msg (NODE4.FBT) to the node, put the node on the admin's
warning list, and then cancel the node. It actually isn't necessary
to put both "ADMIN" and "CANCEL" on the line since "CANCELing" a node
automatically generates a detailed message to the administration
nodes.
In the same area of the setups screen are two fields, one is
"Node Notice Priority" and the other is "Admin Warning Priority"
These two fields indicate what priority (Crash/Normal) the
corresponding messages will be sent with.
Finally, the "Administration Nodes To Warn" field is used in
conjunction with the "Billing Situation" fields mentioned above. Any
netmail being sent to "admin nodes" will be sent to all the nodes
listed in this field.
-- THE BILLING.EXE PROGRAM --
The BILLING.EXE program is the second component of FIDOBILL.
BILLING is the program that actually processes the billing, mails
receipts, statements, warnings, etc. to nodes.
The BILLING.EXE program should be run EVERY NIGHT, probably as
part of your nightly maintenance. I'd recommend just prior to ZMH so
that any netmail produced by FIDOBILL can be efficiently sent out
during the ZMH period.
The BILLING program will run unattended so there is no problem
in running it as part of a batch file in the early morning hours.
However, FIDOBILL does accept several command line parameters. By
specifying these parameters you may override the options that the
program defaults to. Note that the parameter includes the minus sign
and the full word spelled out. The colon (:) is not actually part of
the parameter that is passed to the program.
-ANNOUNCE: This option enables global announcements to be sent. The
default is for announcements NOT to be sent. If this option is
enabled the file ANNOUNCE.FBT, if it exists, will be sent as netmail
to all active nodes. Be careful with this one. If you have a file
called ANNOUNCE.FBT lying around and always specify the -ANNOUNCE
parameter the program will send that text file as netmail each and
every time it is run.
-WELCOME: This option enables welcome messages to be sent. The
default is to NOT send welcome messages. If this option is enabled
the program will send the file WELCOME.FBT to all nodes meeting the
criteria in the setups section. That is, it will either send the
welcome to all new nodes that haven't received the welcome message or
it will send the welcome message to all new BILLABLE systems that
haven't received it.
-NOBILLS: This option disables the billing part of the program. The
default is to process billing each time the program is run. If, for
some reason, you do not want to process billing you would specify
this option. Presumably this would only be useful if you were
running the billing program by hand from DOS. One possible use is if
you just created an announcement that you want to send to all nodes
you would, perhaps, execute a BILLING -NOBILLS -ANNOUNCEMENT which
would send the announcement to everyone but wouldn't process billing
at that time.
-NOACK: This option disables the sending of payment receipts to
nodes. The default is to send the receipts each time the program is
run.
-NOBANK: This option disables the sending of bank statements to any
nodes that normally would receive them. Once again I can't think of
too many reasons to use this option, but it is there if you need it.
My recommendation is that the following lines be inserted into your
nightly maintenance batch file:
CD \FIDOBILL
BILLING -WELCOME -ANNOUNCE
Those two lines will cause the program to send welcome messages
to the appropriate people, send a general announcement (ANNOUNCE.FBT)
if it exists, and enables all other standard features such as mailing
payment receipts, processing billing, etc.
Note that it is very important that you change your active
directory to wherever your data files are. It doesn't matter if the
executables or data are in your path or not, you MUST be in the
directory that contains the data files when you execute either
FIDOBILL.EXE or BILLING.EXE.
-- FIDOBILL *.FBT FILES --
All files with the ".FBT" extension are standard ASCII files
used by the BILLING program. "FBT" stands for "FidoBill Text."
These files are files that will be sent as netmail to nodes under
various conditions. You may modify these files so that they contain
whatever you wish to send them in the given conditions. Just use a
standard text editor to create/edit the files. Just follow these
conventions:
The very first line of the text file must contain the subject of
the message as you wish it to appear in the netmail message that is
sent. The subject line, per FidoNet standards, must not exceed 72
characters in length. Strange things may happen if you exceed this
length.
The rest of the file contains, line for line, what you want to
appear in the body of the netmail. It is best to make sure that each
line of this portion of the file does not exceed 80 characters in
length, although this is not a requirement.
The following list names and explains each .FBT file that
Fidobill uses.
WELCOME.FBT - This will contain the welcome message that you want to
send to all new nodes or all new billable nodes, depending on how
your system is configured. A "Hi welcome to the network" or "Hi,
here's how the net conducts billing" is the type of thing I'd expect
to see in this file. Again, remember the first line of the text file
is the subject for the netmail. Also, the WELCOME.FBT file will only
be sent if you specify the -WELCOME parameter when calling
BILLING.EXE.
ANNOUNCE.FBT - This file, if it exists, will be sent to ALL active
nodes. General billing announcements, announcements from the Net
Coordinator, etc. may very easily be sent via this file. The
ANNOUNCE.FBT file will only be sent if you specify the -ANNOUNCE
parameter when calling BILLING.EXE.
NODE1.FBT, NODE2.FBT, NODE3.FBT, NODE4.FBT: These files correspond
with "Billing Situation #1," "Billing Situation #2," etc. in the
"(S)etups/Configuration" setting. For example, if billing situation
#1 includes sending netmail to the node, NODE1.FBT would be sent.
NODE2.FBT would correspond with billing situation #2, etc.
RELINK.FBT - This file will be sent if the node has been cancelled in
the past but sufficient payment has been received and the accountant
has instructed the program to re-establish it's previous billing
status.