Cream of the Crop 1/Cream of the Crop 1.iso/BUSINESS/ARCH_C41.ARJ/PREFACE.TXT

Text File | 1991-12-23 | 8KB | 160 lines

                         Preface to the Tutorials

At  the  heart of this program is an automatic tickler  file  that  relates
activities  to clients.   This program will summarize dollars spent for any
activity or group of activities,  for any client,  for any period of  time.
Thus  it is ideal for tracking revenue or expense data on a client,  but it
can  also be used to summarize collections,  subscriptions,  or any  monies
received for any one person or group of persons.

Before entering an activity record,  you must first create one main  record
in the Client file.   From this record will be related all activities about
that  client.   Stated another way,  you cannot enter an activity into  the
Activity file unless you first have an entry in the Client file.   There is
one  exception,  though.  If someone is using the program in your  absence,
such  as  a  secretary,  the  program will allow him or  her  to  enter  an
unlimited  number of activities for a client called 'NEW'.   This exception
is  intended  to be used intermittently in your absence and allows  you  to
identify those activities that were recorded while you were gone.

                        Definition of 'Company Name':

           In the Client file you will observe these three fields:

    First Name :                          Last Name :
    Full Company name of Client :

   Let's  say  that you are making an entry for 'John Doe' and he  has  no
   company name.  Make these two entries:

    First Name :John   <====enter this    Last Name :Doe  <=====enter this
    Full  Company  name of Client :         <====leave this line blank.

If you enter a first and last name for someone who has no company name, the
program will create a company name on the screen for you of:

                           first name + last name.


               Observing how the program shows appointments:

Bring up the program (PROGRAM.EXE) the first time with this command:
                                     GO

This  will take you through the system installation process and  will  then
present  you  with  the Main Program Menu.   Once you see  this,  exit  the
program with an 'X'.


After you have left the program ,  set the system date to January 2,  1986,
with the following command:

                C>DATE  <====== enter this command
                Current date is Mon 12-01-1986
                Enter new date: 1-02-1986 <==== enter this date

A  number  of  appointment  records  are in  the  Test  Data  that  reflect
appointments made during the 2 weeks following January 2, 1986.  Now invoke
the Client Tracking System by entering: GO.  The program will then give you
an  analysis  of  the  appointments  for  that  day,  as  well  a  graphics
presentation of all appointments for the next two weeks.   (It does this if
you have at least one appointment for today.)

           A Preview of the options that customize this system:
                       Accessing the Custom Options:

Let's  say  that you don't want the program to show  you  the  appointments
every  time you bring up the program.  Once you arrive at the Main  Program
Menu,  you  will  observe Option 5,  Other Options.   Enter a '5'  (without
quotes), and you will then be at the Other Options Menu.  At this menu, you
have a number of options.  Later you can come back to this part and explore
the meaning of the various options by reading through the 'Help' file.  For
now, enter 'C' to access:

                  C)  Customize this system to your needs

You  will  then  see  the Custom Options  Menu.    For  now,  we  are  only
interested in option 4,

            4)  Toggle initial graphics image for Appointments

Before selecting option 4,  let's go to the Help file to understand exactly
what this option does.  Do this by entering an 'H' for Help.  Once you have
done this, you will be in the Help file for the Custom Options Menu.  Using
the Up and Down arrows on your keyboard, scroll through the Help file until
you come to the explanation for Option 4.

After  you  have   understood what Option 4 will do  for  you,  select  the
'ESCAPE'  key  to exit from the Help file.  You will then be  back  at  the
Custom Options Menu.   For now,  enter '4' once and watch the screen.   The
message  to  the right of Option 4 will change from [now on] to [now  off].
After you have observed this change, select '4' once more so that [now off]
becomes [now on],  thereby restoring the original setting.   Later on, when
you  become  more  proficient with the program,  come back  to  the  Custom
Options Menu and experiment with the various options available to you. (You
can,  for example, change the name used throughout the program for Expenses
to Collections or Revenues.   Many of the names and titles used  throughout
this program can be modified through the Custom Options menu.)

For the time being,  return to the Main Program Menu by entering 'R' twice.
Then exit the Main Program Menu by entering an 'X'.  Once you have returned
to  your default drive,  change the DATE back to the true current date with
the DATE command.

                               "Light bars"

Each selection on any menu is highlighted  with a light bar.  As you scroll
up  or down the light bar,  explanatory text appears on the bottom line  of
the  screen,  explaining the highlighted option.   Each light bar selection
has different explanatory text.

                              Simplified Logic
                 of accessing records in the Activity file:

The tutorials describe the process of adding records into the activity file
from the Activity file menu, Add screen, and will help you in understanding
the flow of logic in the program.   Over time,  however, some new functions
have  been added into the program that make access into the  activity  file
much more streamlined.

From the Client file, Get option, you will observe these 3 functions:

                               S for search
                              F6 for Act Now
                            F7 for Flash Report

The  'S'  option gives you the ability to look at the Client file in  any
one of six 'views' or search criteria:
                     "1)  Search by Company Name"
                     "2)  Search by First Name"
                     "3)  Search by Last Name"
                     "4)  Search by Phone Number"
                     "5)  View or search by Zip Code"
                     "6)  View or search by Category"

Once  you  select your 'view,' then all records are stacked or  ordered  in
that sequence.   If,  for example,  you select the last name  'view',  then
after  you search and locate one record,  all records before and after that
one will be ordered alphabetically by last name.

After  you have identified and isolated your single record in the  Client
file using this 'S' option,  then enter the 'F7' function key.    In a  few
seconds  Flash  Report will appear and will display to you  all  associated
activity  records  for the person.   The most recent activity  will  appear
first.     If,  for example, you have entered 50 activities for that person
over  the  last  three  years,  then you will be looking at  all  of  those
activities, and can scroll up or down to see the entire listing of comments
that you had entered at the time you originally created the activity.

At that point,  you enter function key 'F6' for Act Now,  or Activity  Now.
This  single  function  key sets up a blank record in  the  activity  file,
partly filled out with that person's information but waiting on you for any
comment specific to that activity as well as any future commitment date.

If you enter a commitment or callback date,  then in a few seconds a window
appears  and  displays to you all associated activities on that  date.   In
this way,  you can level your work load without leaving the record or while
still on the phone.