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Text File | 1994-01-15 | 26KB | 743 lines

Shopper's Assistant Version 4.0 A program to make your weekly shopping trips easier, faster and less expensive. Copyright 1993 by Norman O. Morgan Table of Contents ----------------- What is Shopper's Assistant?.................................. 2 A bit of history.............................................. 2 What is included?............................................. 2 Installing Shopper's Assistant................................ 3 Screens & Functions........................................... 4 File Menu................................................ 5 Item Menu................................................ 5 Map Menu................................................. 6 Options Menu............................................. 7 Help Menu................................................ 7 Reports & Listings............................................ 8 Shopping List............................................ 8 'Fridge' List............................................ 8 Store Map................................................ 8 Legal Stuff................................................... 9 Warranties.................................................... 9 How To Use Shopper's Assistant............................... 10 Registration Form............................................ 12 ______________________________________________________________________ Shopper's Assistant, version 4.0 -1- December 28, 1993 What is Shopper's Assistant? How many times has this happened to you at the grocery? You're almost through...just picked up the bread and tomatoes and there it is at the bottom of your list...Toothbrush! Now you must go all the way back to the other side of the store and pick up the misplaced item. You can waste a lot of time and steps this way. Shopper's Assistant is designed to eliminate the frustration of a jumbled list, saving you time and money. Money? Yes! Because Shopper allows you to comparison shop between up to five stores and automatically selects the lowest price. It will save you time, not only in the store but also while preparing your shopping list. It would be almost impossible to hand write a shopping list as fast as you can prepare one with Shopper's Assistant. A bit of history... Shopper's Assistant has been around as a DOS program for several years. It has been upgraded and refined many times. A little over a year ago, it was joined by Windows Shopper in response to the many requests for a Windows version of the program. The two programs were similar in concept, but Window Shopper offered some advanced features that were not possible in the DOS program... until now. Now we have brought all of the enhanced functions of Window Shopper to our DOS version. The two programs use the same file structures, and have idenetical features except where the inherent differences between DOS and Windows themselves dictate otherwise. What is included... The distribution disk or archive file should contain the following: README.1ST A plain text file describing last minute changes, a brief explanation of the installation procedure, and how to view or print this documentation file. SHOP4DOC.TXT The file you are reading right now. This is a plain text file and may be viewed with LIST or any ASCII editor or printed by simply copying it to the printer. SHOPPER.EXE The executable file for Shopper. SHOPPER.HLP The on-line help file for Shopper. SETUP.EXE The installation program for Shopper. SHOPPER.PIF and SHOPPER.ICO files are included for those who use the program under Microsoft Windows. We suggest that Windows fans try our other program, Window Shopper, for a true Windows version of this program. ______________________________________________________________________ Shopper's Assistant, version 4.0 -2- December 28, 1993 INSTALLING SHOPPER'S ASSISTANT 1. Change to the drive containing the installation diskette and type SETUP. 2. The rest is automatic. The install program will create a directory for the files and copy the files to it. 3. To run the program, change to the newly created directory, type SHOPPER and press ENTER. ** If you acquired this program by modem from a bulletin board system (BBS) or other online service, you may uncompress it to a diskette for installation, or install from a working directory on your hard disk. ______________________________________________________________________ Shopper's Assistant, version 4.0 -3- December 28, 1993 SCREENS AND FUNCTIONS The main screen for Shopper has a hierarchical pull-down menu. From it you select all other actions. Each of the choices on the menu bar opens a list of from 2 to 4 secondary items. (By the way...I'll bet you hate that ugly registration reminder. So do I. And for a mere 20 bucks I'll make it go away!) Here is an outline form of the menus and items on them: File Print Shopping List F5 Fridge List F6 Store Map Master List Exit Ctrl+X Item Clear Selections F3 Select Items F4 Review List Maintain Items Map Maintain Map Re-Map Stores Options Store Names Register Enter Serial Number Print Registration Form Help Contents F1 Search Using Help About Shopper's Assistant ______________________________________________________________________ Shopper's Assistant, version 4.0 -4- December 28, 1993 FILE MENU The File menu contains only two choices, Print and Exit. There are no Open and Save commands as found in typical programs. This is because Shopper opens the files it needs automatically when it begins and saves them when it terminates. The Print choice gives a list of four different reports that may be printed. The first two, Shopping List and Fridge List, are used each week and have shortcut keys available. We will describe each of the reports in detail later in this document. The Exit choice also has a shortcut key, Ctrl+X. You may also exit by using the standard Windows control box, either as a menu or by double-clicking. In any case, Window Shopper saves your work before exiting. In fact, the only way you could possibly not save your work is to lose power or reboot the computer in mid-session. ITEM MENU The first choice on the Item Menu is Clear Selections. This is used each week to clear the previous choices and begin a shopping cycle. You will be asked to confirm that you really want to clear the selections to prevent accidental erasures. Because this is a frequently used option, it has been assigned the F3 key as a shortcut. (Notice the sequence of the shortcut keys. After the initial setup period, a normal session of using Shopper can be accom- plished by using only the function key shortcuts. F3 to clear the list. F4 to select the items to buy. F5 to print the list. F6 to print the "fridge" list or worksheet for the next cycle.) The second choice is Select Items. To select an item you want to buy, find it in the listing on the right side. This is a scrolling list (scroll bars will appear when the list grows beyond 11 items). Full information for the highlighted item is shown on the left of the form. The store with the lowest price is automatically selected. You may override this choice if you wish. To keep an item from being suggested for a particular store, leave the price at zero in that store. Tab from the item list to the Quantity box or click in the box with the mouse. Enter the quantity to buy. Tab again to the store selection. If you agree with the selected store, tab once more, otherwise use the arrow keys or mouse to select the store. If you want to use a coupon for this item (the list will be flagged to remind you to check for coupon specific requirements and the coupon amount will be deducted from the total), tab to the coupon box and enter the value of the coupon. Press or click OK to add the item to your list. Items you have already selected will have a "#" beside them in the list. This is useful in several ways. When beginning a new week's list, it will remind you if you have forgotten to clear ______________________________________________________________________ Shopper's Assistant, version 4.0 -5- December 28, 1993 last week's choices. It also "keeps your place" if you get interrupted while making your list. Finally, it is a visual confirmation of the success of a speed selection operation. Speed selection! If you want to buy one of an item, accept the default store and have no coupon, you may speed select by double-clicking the item in the item list box. You may also just press ENTER while the item is highlighted. When all items have been selected, press or click the Finished button to return to the main menu. You may use the Review List option from the Item menu to see the items you have selected and get a rough total for each store as well as a grand total. These total do not take coupons and taxes into account. The Review List operates like a normal scrolling list. Use the Up and Down arrows, Page Up, Page Down, Home and End keys to maneuver in it. Press Enter, or Esc or click Finished to return to the main menu. The final choice on the Item menu is to Maintain your items. As in the item selection, begin by picking an item from the list on the right. Notice that the Change and Delete buttons are not active until you select an item. The edit boxes will fill with the information for that item and you may change it as needed. When all edits have been made, press or click Change to write the changes to the file. To add an item, simply start entering the information and then press or click Add. The item will be added and the screen will clear for the next operation. Note that the item category is a pull-down list. Click on the arrow to the right of the box to open the list. Click on an entry to select it and close the list. With the keyboard, use the Alt+Down to open the list, select an entry by using the down arrow to highlight, then Alt+Down again to close the list. When all edits have been made, press or click Cancel to return to the main menu. You may also press Esc to close this screen. MAP MENU The first choice on the Map menu is Maintain Map. As with the item selection and item maintenance screens, you begin by selecting a category from the list on the right. Click on the entry and the data will appear in the edit boxes. Make changes as needed and click Change. You must press or click Change to write the changes back to the file. To add a new category, enter the data and press or click Add. The record is added to the file and the screen clears for the next operation. Press or click Cancel to return to the main menu. ______________________________________________________________________ Shopper's Assistant, version 4.0 -6- December 28, 1993 The Re-Map Stores option on the Map menu will be discussed in the "How to Use Shopper's Assistant" section. OPTIONS MENU The first choice on the Options menu is Store Names. This is normally used only during initial set up to enter the names of the stores you shop in and the local sales tax rates. There is a separate tax rate for each store. This is handy for people who shop in two different tax jurisdictions, perhaps across a county or state border. Simply tab to each field and enter the appropriate information. Press or click Done when all data is correct. The Register menu choice is used to insert your registration serial number and get rid of that nasty reminder on the main menu. You will only use this option one time. After your serial number is validated and accepted, the choice is dimmed on the menu and may not be selected. You may also fill out and print your registration form from this menu choice. HELP MENU The Help menu offers the choices of eaxmining the help file table of contents, searching for help on a particular topic, or getting information on using the help system itself. About Shopper displays a small screen with the version and copyright information. Also included is my name and address so you can reach me for comments, questions, etc. long after you have misplaced all the documentation for the program! ______________________________________________________________________ Shopper's Assistant, version 4.0 -7- December 28, 1993 REPORTS AND LISTINGS There are four reports available from Shopper: the Shopping List(s), the "Fridge" list, the Store Map worksheet, and the item Master List. The Shopping List: Shopping List for Schnucks 10/4/92 6:03:01 AM Qty. Item Description Price Extn Cpn Loc. ----------------------------------------------------------- 2 *Peas, Canned Green Giant 0.89 1.78 -0.35 10 1 Eggs, Fresh Grade AA Lg, 1 doz. 0.81 0.81 50 1 Cokes, Diet 24 - 12 oz. cans 5.99 5.99 Total for Schnucks 8.58 less coupons -0.35 ----------- Net Total 8.23 Notice the * to the left of the first item. This is present because you indicated you had a coupon for this item. It is a reminder to check the requirements of the coupon, i.e. size, quantity, brand, type, etc. The "Fridge" list: We call it the Fridge List because most folks take a magnet and hang this on the side of the refrigerator to use as a handy checklist during the week. As soon as you realize you will need something on your next trip to the grocery, check it here. The list contains only the item names and a box to check. It is presented in 3 columns to get the most items in the least space. The list is in alphabetic sequence of the item name. Here is a small sample: 'Fridge' List for Schnucks 10/4/92 7:13:24 AM ---------------------------------------------------------- [ ] Apples, Red [ ] Fish, Frozen [ ] Peas, Canned [ ] Bread, Rye [ ] Milk, 2% [ ] Potatos [ ] Bread, White [ ] Milk, Buttermilk [ ] Tomatos The Store Map: The third report is used as a worksheet to enter the store layouts into the system so Window Shopper can sort your shopping lists in order of the way you like to shop in each store. More about this concept in "How to Use Shopper" later in this document. Here is a sample of the report: Store Map 10/4/92 9:07:25 AM Product Category Schnucks Wesselman Buy-Low Great Scot Sam's ---------------------------------------------------------------- Baby Products _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ Bakery _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ Coffee, Tea _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ ______________________________________________________________________ Shopper's Assistant, version 4.0 -8- December 28, 1993 The actual report is double spaced to make it easier to write on. If the location is left at zero in a store, the map prints a blank for you to enter an number, otherwise it prints the number found in the file. The final report is a master list of your items. It shows the item name, desription, product category, taxable status, and the price in each of the 5 stores. It is used mostly to check your entry work for errors. LEGAL STUFF Shopper's Assistant is a copyrighted work. It is not free and it is not in the public domain. Except as specifically noted, all rights to this work are retained by the author, Norman O. Morgan. You are granted the right to install Shopper's Assistant on your system and use it for a reasonable period to determine whether it meets your needs. A reasonable period for this purpose is deemed to be 30 days. If, after that period, you continue to use the program, you are obligated to make payment directly to the author. Upon payment, you will receive a registration serial number. Use the Register function on the Options menu to insert this number in the program and remove the registration reminder from the main menu screen. Registration brings the added benefit of notification of updates and telephone support. New versions are offered to registered users first and offered at a substantial discount. You are encouraged to give copies of Shopper's Assistant to your friends, to upload it to computer bulletin boards, etc. Under no circumstance may you reveal to another person your registration serial number. WARRANTIES None. Although I have written this program carefully and tested it thoroughly, I cannot guarantee that it will work on your system. Since it follows all standards and does nothing tricky, it should work. It is up to you to determine if it works before paying for it. There should be absolutely no way Shopper's Assistant can interfere with or damage anything else on your system, but under no circumstances will the author be responsible for any incidental or consequental damages to your system or data. Use it at your own risk. ______________________________________________________________________ Shopper's Assistant, version 4.0 -9- December 28, 1993 How to Use Shopper's Assistant The first step in using Shopper's Assistant is to use the Options/Store Name function to enter the names and tax rates for each of the stores you want the program to recognize. The next step is to identify the categories of merchandise in your stores. Throughout this document we assume that the program will be used for domestic grocery shopping, but there is no reason it could not be used for other purposes. Make a list of all the different kinds of products you find in the store. Be careful that you are neither too specific nor too general in this process. For example if dairy items are found in two distinct areas in one or more of the stores you shop, break them down. For those stores where they are all together, you can simply assign the same number to both groups. Once you have identified the categories of merchandise, enter them in the Map Maitenace function. Do not attempt to put locations on them yet. When they have all been entered, print the Store Map. Now visit each of the stores and take a stroll through it in the order you normally shop. Jot down the order that you pass each category. Hint: Use increments of 5 or 10 rather than 1 to make it easier to adjust later for changes in store arrangement and the inevitable errors and omissions. When you have surveyed each of the stores, Enter the locations into the Map using the Map Maintenance once again. Now start making the list of items you buy repeatedly. Enter each item in the Item Maintenance. When asked for the product category, you may now select from the map you have already entered. It will pick up the correct location in each store from the map. You do not enter locations directly in each item, just the category. If you change the layout of a store, i.e. change the location numbers, you must use the Re-Map Stores command to adjust the locations in existing items. This is done quickly and without manual intervention. If you move an individual item from one category to another, the locations are changed during that process and there is no need to Re-Map. So far you have done a lot of typing, but that is almost all behind you. This is the point where Shopper's Assistant starts to make life easier for you. Your stores are identified, your categories are determined and your items have been entered. Now print a Fridge List and put it somewhere handy. It is so named because most folks stick on the side of the refrigerator with a magnet. Now, as you think of items during the week that you will need to buy on your next trip to the grocery, check them on the Frdige List. By Friday evening, you will have most of the work of preparing your shopping list already done! ______________________________________________________________________ Shopper's Assistant, version 4.0 -10- December 28, 1993 Just before you make that weekly trek to the grocery...before you join the Saturday Safeway Stampede...sit down at the computer with Fridge List in hand. Start Shopper's Assistant and pick Item/Clear Selections (F3). Now pick Item/Select Items (F4). The list box on the right is in the same sequence as the Fridge List in your hand. Simply move through the list of items selecting those you have checked. Remember the Speed Select feature: If you want to buy just one of an item, want to buy it at the default (lowest price) store, and have no coupon, you may speed select by double-clicking the item in the list, by pressed ENTER while the item is highlighted. If you wish to check your work, pick Item/Review List to see the items and quantities you have selected. You can make changes from the item select screen if needed. If you accidentally select an item you do not really want to buy, use the select screen to change the quantity to zero. When all is correct, pick File/Print/Shopping List (F5) to print your list(s) to use in the store. While you are at it, hit F6 or pick File/Print/Fridge List to print a blank worksheet for the next cycle of shopping. ______________________________________________________________________ Shopper's Assistant, version 4.0 -11- December 28, 1993 Registration Form Shopper's Assistant Version 4.0 Please register me as a licensee of Shopper's Assistant. Here is my check or money order for $20 (U.S. funds) plus $2 for shipping and handling ($4 S & H outside the U.S.). Please send me a copy of the latest version on diskette, along with my registration serial number. I need the software supplied on: [ ] 3.5" diskette [ ] 720K [ ] 1.44M [ ] 5.25" diskette [--] 360K* [ ] 1.2M (* Not available on 5.25" DD) Name: ______________________________________________ Address: ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ City, State, Zip:___________________________________ Phone: (_____) _____ - ___________ I got my copy of Shopper from ______________________ Mail completed form and payment to: Norman O. Morgan 313 Lexington Road Evansville, IN 47710-3724