Suzy B Software 2/Suzy B Software CD-ROM 2 (1994).iso/finances/microchk/microchk.txt

Text File | 1995-04-25 | 24KB | 515 lines

                          MicroCheck ST
                        by Clayton Walnum
                 Copyright 1989 by Clayton Walnum



GETTING STARTED
---------------

To run MicroCheck ST from the desktop, double-click on the file
MICROCHK.PRG. (Make sure the file MICROCHK.RSC is in the same
directory.) When the program has loaded, most of the screen will
be filled with a window, and it is here that your check data will
be displayed. Across the top of the screen is the menu bar.
MicroCheck ST's various functions can be accessed by selecting
them from this menu or by pressing the equivalent keystroke
commands. (The keystroke required is shown next to each item in
the menu. Hold down Control and press the appropriate key.)

Across the bottom of the screen are six boxes which contain
various information about your account. From left to right they
are the account balance; the number of transactions, the number
of checks and the number of deposits in the currently opened
month; the month you're working on; and the date. Before an
account is opened, most of these boxes will contain zeroes.

The window contains scroll bars and arrows that will allow you to
see information that doesn't fit in the window. You use these in
the normal GEM fashion, clicking or dragging them with the mouse
pointer. Scrolling the window to the right will allow you to see
the dates on the checks. All other information fits in the
window. Vertically, the window will hold 16 checks. If the window
is fully opened by clicking on the full-box in the upper right
corner of the window, you can fit 20 checks, but you won't be
able to see the information boxes at the bottom of the screen. If
you have more than this number of checks in the current month's
data, you can view them by moving the appropriate scroll bar or
by clicking on the arrows.

SETTING THE DATE
----------------

MicroCheck ST uses the date shown in the date box for printing on
reports. When the program is first run, it gets this date from
the computer's system clock, so at the beginning of a MicroCheck
ST session, you should make sure that the date shown in the date
box is correct. If your ST has a battery-backed-up clock, or if
you've already set the ST's date from the desktop, the date shown
in the date box should be okay. Otherwise, you'll need to set it
yourself.

To set the date, select the Date option from the Utilities
drop-down menu or press Control-D on your keyboard. A small
dialog box will appear. Enter the new date in the form mm/dd/yy,
and then click on the OK button to install the new date.

If, after selecting the Date function, you decide not to change
the date, you may cancel the operation by clicking on the dialog
box's CANCEL button.

STARTING A NEW ACCOUNT
----------------------

The first thing you must do to use MicroCheck ST is create a new
account. This procedure creates all of the files the program
needs to keep track of your checking activity. You need to
perform this process only once for each account you want to
start.

Most of you will have only one account on your data disk;
however, you can have as many accounts on your disk as will fit.
Keep in mind, though, that as you add transactions to an account,
its files will get larger. Make sure you have enough room on the
disk. An average home checking account needs about 50K of data
space, plus an additional 72K for the MicroCheck ST program and
resource files.

To create an account, select New from the File drop-down menu or
press Control-N. A dialog box will appear, prompting you for the
personal information the program requires. Fill in your name and
address (this information will appear on the check-entry dialog
box, simulating the appearance of an actual check) and the
starting balance for your account. Note that you don't have to
enter a full nine-digit zip code; the program will be perfectly
happy with only the first five digits. Move between the dialog
box's fields using the up and down arrows on the keyboard. (The
Tab key will move you forward one field.) When you've entered all
the information properly, click on the OK button to proceed. At
any time, you may click on the CANCEL button to discontinue the
creation of a new account.

When you click on the OK button, another dialog box will appear,
asking for the account's "base filename." The program will use
this filename as the starting point for creating all the files
needed for your account. For example, I might want to name my
account "WALNUM." When I enter this filename, MicroCheck ST will
create a file for each month, named WALNUM1.DAT, WALNUM2.DAT,
WALNUM3.DAT, etc. The program will also create a file named
WALNUM.MCK, which will contain the information that I entered in
the new-account dialog box.

Enter your account's base filename (you're limited to six
characters), and then click on the OK button to finalize your
entry. If you wish to discontinue the new-account process, click
on the CANCEL button.

When you click the OK button, the program will create your on-
disk account. After this process is completed, the program will
display yet another dialog box, prompting you for the month you
wish to open. Select the month by clicking on the appropriate
button and then on OK.

Because your newly created account contains no data, an alert box
will appear informing you that the current month file is empty.
Click on the YES button if you want to start entering
transactions into your new account. Click on the NO button to
leave the new account as it is.

If you have been using the 8-bit version of MicroCheck (published
in the February and March 1985 issues of ANALOG COMPUTING), it is
possible to port the data for your account over to the ST
version. For information on how to do this, see the section below
titled "Porting 8-bit Files."

OPENING AN ACCOUNT
------------------

The account creation process described above need only be done
once for each account you wish to use. However, every time you
run MicroCheck ST, you must open the account on which you want to
work.

To open an account, click on the Open selection of the File menu
or press Control-O. A GEM file selector will appear. Double-
click on the .MCK file for the account you wish to open. You will
then be presented with the month-selection dialog box. Click on
the appropriate button; then click on OK to continue--or CANCEL
to abort the Open function.

If the month you open contains no data, you will be asked if you
wish to start a new month. Click on the YES button to open the
month or on the NO button to cancel the function. If you click on
YES, the new month will be opened, and any automatic transactions
you have in your .AUT file will be added to the new month's data.
(See the section titled "Automatic Transactions" for more
information.)

When a account is first opened, MicroCheck ST is in the edit mode
as indicated in the window's title bar. In the edit mode you may
enter transactions or modify transactions that have been
previously entered.

ENTERING CHECKS
---------------

Once you have an account opened, you'll probably want to begin
entering checks. To do this, click on the Enter entry of the
Checks menu or press Control-E. The check-entry form will appear.

The check-entry form contains fields for all of your check's
data, plus three buttons across the bottom. You can move between
the check fields by using the up and down arrow keys. The Tab key
will also work, moving the cursor forward one field at a time. To
jump quickly to a specific field, click on the field with the
mouse.

The check number is, of course, the number of your check. This
field will automatically advance by one each time you enter a
check; so if you're processing your checks in order, you won't
have to type anything in this field after the first check has
been recorded. Note, however, that there are two reserved check
numbers that you may not use for your normal checks: 0000 and
9999.

You should use a check number of 0000 for any transaction (other
than a deposit) that was performed without a written check. For
example, you might withdraw money from your checking account
using an ATM (automatic teller machine). Even though you haven't
actually written a check, you must nonetheless record this
transaction.

The check number 9999 is reserved for deposits. Any time a
transaction credits your account, this check number signals
MicroCheck ST to add the amount of the transaction to your
balance rather than subtracting it. Don't enter anything in the
Payee field of a deposit (it won't hurt anything if you do, but
you'll be wasting your time). MicroCheck ST automatically places
the word "DEPOSIT" in this field when the checks are displayed in
the check window. (Nothing will appear in the check-entry dialog
box's payee field when you first enter the check.) If the credit
comes from something other than an actual deposit (for instance,
an interest payment), use the Memo field to note it.

When all of the information for a check has been entered, you
must click one of the buttons along the bottom of the check
form--or simply press Return to enter the current check and set
up the form for the next. Clicking on the NEXT button has the
same effect as pressing Return. Clicking on the DONE button
enters the current check, then closes the check-entry form.
Clicking on CANCEL closes the check-entry form without entering
the current check.

EDITING A CHECK
---------------

If you find that you must edit a previously entered check, use
the mouse to click on the check's entry in the window, and the
check-edit form will appear. This form looks almost identical to
the check-entry form, the only difference being that the NEXT
button is no longer functional, and the DONE button is now the
default (the button that will be selected if you press Return).
When the form appears, make whatever changes you wish to the
check's data, and then press Return or click on the form's DONE
button. If you click on the CANCEL button, the check entry will
remain unchanged, even if you changed some of the fields in the
check-edit form.

If you make any changes to the amount of the check, your balance
will, of course, be updated to reflect those changes.

SEARCHING CHECKS
----------------

If you need to locate a check or group of checks, you can use
MicroCheck ST's search feature. To access this function, click on
the Search option of the Checks drop-down menu or press
Control-S. The search parameter-entry form will then appear. When
the form appears, each of the search parameter fields will
contain default values. If you were to use all of the default
values, you would be searching for every check in your account.

Fill in the parameters for the search, using the arrow keys, Tab
key, or mouse to move between the form's various fields. When
you've filled in your search parameters, press Return to begin
the search, or click on the OK button.

During a search, the parameters you entered are compared to the
data found in each entry of your account. If the transaction
matches every criterion in the search, it is added to the check
list. Note that both of the text fields in the search parameters,
Payee and Memo, will allow partial matches--that is, a payee
search parameter of "Ta" will match checks with such payees as
"Tammy Brooks," "Tabitha White," and "Tadbury Lumber." To find
every check with a payee field beginning with "G," just enter "G"
as the payee parameter. Also note that the search function in not
case sensitive. To MicroCheck ST the letters "G" and "g" are the
same value.

A search is limited to a check list of no more than 1000 entries.
If the number of matches exceeds this limit (highly unlikely), an
alert box will appear, informing you that the search window will
hold no more checks.

When the search is complete, a dialog box will appear showing the
totals for the search. Click on the OK button or press Return to
remove this dialog box, and the checks that matched your search
criterion will appear in the check window. You are now in
MicroCheck ST's search mode, in which you may not edit or enter
transactions. To exit the search mode and return to the edit
mode, click on the Close entry of the File drop-down menu, press
Control-C on your keyboard, or click on the window's "close box,"
located in the upper-left corner of the window.

SELECTING A NEW MONTH
---------------------

Many times when entering transactions, you may have to move from
one month to another. To close the current month and move to
another, click on the New Month entry of the File menu or press
Control-M. The new-month dialog box will then appear. To select a
new month, click on the appropriate month button and then click
on OK. To exit the dialog box without selecting a new month,
click on the CANCEL button.

PRINTING CHECK DATA
-------------------

MicroCheck ST provides two methods of creating hard copies of
your checking account. In the Print drop-down menu, you will find
the selections Window and Register. The former is used to print
only those checks in the current window; the latter prints the
entire account. Click on the appropriate menu selection, or press
Control-W or Control-G, respectively.

CANCELLING CHECKS
-----------------

When you receive your statement from the bank each month, you
must go through your account and mark those transactions that the
bank has processed. This is the first step in "reconciling" your
account, a process that ensures that your figures match those of
the bank.

To enter MicroCheck ST's cancel mode, click on the Cancel entry
of the Checks drop-down window or press Control-P on your
keyboard. A dialog box similar to the one shown for selecting a
new month will appear. Click on the month on which you want to
work, and then select the OK button; the mode displayed in the
window's title bar will then change from "edit" to "cancel.".

In the cancel mode, whenever you click on a check displayed in
the window, instead of bringing up the check-edit form,
MicroCheck ST will place an asterisk next to the entry,
indicating that the bank has processed that transaction. To
"uncancel" and entry, click on it a second time. The asterisk
will be removed.

When you're finished cancelling transactions, return to the edit
mode by clicking on the Close selection of the File menu, press
Control-C, or click on the window's close box.

RECONCILING YOUR ACCOUNT
------------------------

Once you've gone through your statement and cancelled all the
appropriate transactions, you may reconcile your account. Click
on the Reconcile entry of the Checks drop-down menu or press
Control-R on your keyboard. A dialog box will appear, requesting
your account's ending balance as shown on your bank statement.
Once you've entered this amount, press Return, and MicroCheck ST
will read through all your check files and, after making the
appropriate calculations, display a final report. If the amount
shown at the bottom of this report is zero, then your figures
agree with the bank's (always a great feeling). Otherwise, either
you or your bank made a mistake.

Press Return to exit from the reconcile-report dialog box.

ADJUSTING YOUR BALANCE
----------------------

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you simply cannot get your
account to agree with your bank statement. Usually this means
that you've made a mistake somewhere in your account--maybe a
check is made out for a different amount than what you recorded--
that you have not been able to find. Although you should always
try to reconcile your account properly, there may be times when
you have to give up. In those cases, the best you can do is
adjust your account's balance to agree with the one on your
statement.

To perform this adjustment, enter a dummy check or deposit
transaction for an amount that will change your balance to the
proper amount. When entering a dummy check, use the number 0000.
These dummy transactions should be cancelled, just as if they had
appeared on your statement.

AUTOMATIC TRANSACTIONS
----------------------

Many banks can, at your request, set up your checking account so
that it will automatically pay out checks at specified times each
month. This type of service works out well for all the parties
involved. It's convenient for you not to have to remember to
write a check every month, and the payee (maybe an insurance
company or a telecommunications service) can be reasonably sure
it will get its payment regularly and on time.

Of course, if your checking files are going to be accurate, these
transactions need to be entered into those files just like any
other. Fortunately, MicroCheck ST provides you with a method of
handling automatic transactions, both debits and credits. You
need enter this type of transaction only once, into a special
file, after which time it will automatically be added to your
account's data every time you start a new month.

To set up an automatic transaction, click on the Auto selection
of the Checks drop-down menu or press Control-A. The check-entry
form will appear with the memo field already filled in as "AUTO."
Fill out the check data as normal. When the form has been
completed, and you press the OK button, the check will be added
to your auto file (the file with the .AUT extension). Every time
you open a new month (one whose file contains no check data), the
transactions in the .AUT file will be automatically added to that
month's data.

If you've never entered an automatic transaction into your
account, there will be no .AUT file on your disk. When you
attempt to add your first AUTO check to the account, you'll be
asked if you want to start a new AUTO file. Click on the YES
button, and the file will be created for you.

If you should ever want to discontinue the use of the automatic
transactions, simply delete the .AUT file from your data disk.

CLOSING YOUR ACCOUNT
--------------------

When you're ready to conclude a checking session, it's important
that you close your account. FAILURE TO CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNT
PROPERLY MAY RESULT IN LOST CHECK DATA!

To close your account, click on the Close entry of the File
drop-down menu, press Control-C, or click on the window's close
button. You may close your account only when in the edit mode.

QUITTING
--------

You may return to the GEM desktop by selecting the Quit entry of
the File drop-down menu or by pressing Control-Q. The Quit
selection is also a safe way of closing your account. All of your
data files will be properly updated before the program
terminates.

STARTING A NEW YEAR
-------------------

MicroCheck ST's calendar runs from January to December. That
means that, come January 1, you must clear out the old files and
start anew. BEFORE YOU DO THIS MAKE SURE YOU HAVE BACKED UP YOUR
MICROCHECK ST DATA DISK! If you fail to do this back-up, you will
have no way to refer to the previous year's files.

Before you can set up a new year, you must close the account you
have open (if any). Then click on the New Year entry of the
Utilities drop-down menu or press Control-Y. You will be asked if
you really want to create a new year. If you click on the YES
button, you will be asked again, just to make sure--REMEMBER,
THIS FUNCTION WILL DESTROY EXISTING MICROCHECK ST FILES ON YOUR
DATA DISK. Finally, a file-selector box will appear. Click on the
.MCK file for the account you wish to set up for the new year.

MicroCheck ST will go through your entire account, deleting all
cancelled transactions and moving uncancelled transactions into a
special file named "Month 0." The Month 0 file can be manipulated
just like any other month's file and is simply a place where
unprocessed transactions from the previous year can be stored
until your bank statement shows that they have been processed.
When you get your bank statement, you should go through Month 0,
cancelling checks the same way you would for any other month.

When the New Year process has been completed, your account will
contain check data only in Month 0 (and only then if you had
uncancelled transactions in your account, which is likely); all
other months will be cleared. (You made that back-up, right?)
Automatic transactions, however, are unaffected by the New Year
process and will still function properly with the new year's
files.

PORTING 8-BIT MICROCHECK FILES
------------------------------

For those of you who have been using the 8-bit version of
MicroCheck, the ST version provides a function that will convert
the old checking files for use on the ST.

The first step in this process is to move the files from the 5
1/4-inch disk to a 3 1/2-inch disk. There are two ways to do
this. The first method requires a "null-modem" cable. A null-
modem cable allows two computers running telecommunications
programs to directly transfer files between them and may be
purchased at most Atari computer dealers. To use the cable,
connect one end to your ST's modem and the other end to your 8-
bit computer's modem. Then run a telecommunications program on
each computer. Set your ST to receive X-Modem, then do an X-
Modem send of all the MicroCheck monthly files from your 8-bit
computer.

Another way to do the transfer is to use your 8-bit computer to
upload the MicroCheck data files to a BBS system or into your
workspace on a commercial online system such as DELPHI, GEnie, or
CompuServe, and then download your files onto your ST. (If you
use a BBS for this transfer, you'll need to make special
arrangements with the SYSOPs. You don't want to find all your
checking files in a public download area!)

Whichever method you use, make sure that you make the X-Modem
transfer in the binary mode rather than in the text mode. And
note that the only files that you need to transfer are the
monthly data files. On your 5 1/4-inch disk, these files are
named MONTH00.DAT, MONTH01.DAT, MONTH02.DAT, and so on. Further,
note that empty months need not be transferred. When you run
MicroCheck ST's Import function, it'll create new month files for
any 8-bit data files that are missing.

Once you have the files transferred, place them in the same
directory as the MicroCheck ST program, and then run MicroCheck
ST. Create a new account as described in the section "Starting a
New Account" above. For the account's balance you should use the
balance shown in your 8-bit MicroCheck account. When the new
account is ready, click on the Import selection of the Utilities
drop-down menu. An alert box will appear, asking if your 8-bit
MicroCheck files are in the same directory as the MicroCheck ST
program. If you're ready to continue, click on the YES button or
press Return. A file-selector box will then appear. Select the
.MCK file for the new account you just created, and MicroCheck ST
will then transfer your 8-bit checking data into that account.

If you had any automatic transactions in your 8-bit account, you
will need to reenter them using the method described in the
section "Automatic Transactions" above.

CONCLUSION
----------

This program has been in the works--off and on--for over two
years, and I have to admit that it is with great relief that I
release it to the Atari community. Although I suppose it's too
much to hope that MicroCheck ST will be as popular as it's
8-bit predecessor (according to some unwritten law of the
universe, an author usually is allowed only one mega-hit per
lifetime), I'm confident that you will find it a useful addition
to your applications software library. Use it in good health--and
may your account always balance.

----------------------------------------------------------------
The author would like to thank Jim Gross for his relentless
efforts in beta-testing this program and for his helpful
suggestions. Jim's uncanny ability to crash even the most solid
of programs has made this the best product it can be.
----------------------------------------------------------------