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DCHECK Checking Account Program Release Version 1.0 (C)COPYRIGHT 1986,87 by Hudson Computer Bureau, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED This document describes the release version of DCHECK, which was created by Hudson Computer Bureau, Inc. in December of 1986. INTRODUCTION DCHECK is the copyrighted property of Hudson Computer Bureau, Inc. You are granted a limited license to use DCHECK, and to copy it and distribute it, provided that the following conditions are met: 1) No fee may be charged for such copying and distribution. 2) DCHECK may ONLY be distributed in its original, unmodified state. 3) DCHECK may not be distributed, in whole or in part, as part of any commercial product or service without the express written permission of Hudson Computer Bureau. Contributions for the use of this program will be appreciated, and should be sent to: Hudson Computer Bureau, Inc. 43 Lawton Avenue, Cliffside Park, NJ 07010 DCHECK is user supported software. This means that you may copy it freely and give the copies away to anyone you wish, at no cost. They are in turn requested to send in a contribution if they decide to use it. The user supported software concept (often referred to as shareware) is an attempt to provide software at low cost. The cost of offering a new product by conventional means is staggering, and hence dissuades many independent authors and small companies from developing and promoting their ideas. User supported software is an attempt to develop a new marketing channel, where products can be introduced at low cost. This version of DCHECK is the original release version and it does not contain many of the features present in the commercial version. Nevertheless this program is fully operational and will perform without any limitations in the amount of data stored in its files. You may not use this release version in a commercial environment or a governmental organization without paying a license fee of $30. Site licenses and commercial distribution licenses are available. See the order form enclosed with this manual for more details. You may obtain a commercial release for $40 which includes a program disk and user's documentation. Page - 3 SHAREWARE If user supported software works, then everyone will benefit. The user will benefit by receiving quality products at low cost, and by being able to "test drive" software thoroughly before purchasing it. The author benefits by being able to enter the commercial software arena without first needing large sources of venture capital. But it can only work with your support. We're not just talking about DCHECK here, but about all user supported software. If you obtain a user supported program from a friend or colleague, and are still using it after a couple of weeks, then it is obviously worth something to you, and a contribution should be sent. This release version of DCHECK is intended to give the user a preview of the program's capabilities. We believe that once its usefulness is realized the user will attempt to obtain the commercial release of DCHECK. Among the new features in the commercial release are the following: 1. Handling of multiple accounts. 2. Ability to print checks 3. Tax Record keeping (Items can be flagged for tax purposes.) 4. Standard monthly payments can be stored and set aside for each monthly cycle (Batch payment records in groups). 5. Electronic Calculator - with memory. 6. Report Facility - All types of status reports. 7. DCHECK Utilities - Backup, Restore, Index, etc... 8. Ability to create your own account(s) portfolio. 9. Help Screens are available from all the screens. 10. Conversion of data files from/to Lotus 123 & Multiplan 11. Conversion of data files to other database packages. ** A Networking version is soon to be released. Page - 4 What is DCHECK ? DCHECK is a program used to create and maintain personal checking accounts. It will let you store checks and deposits made to your bank account. In the same manner it will let you balance your checking account and report any discrepancies. Keeping an accurate record of your checking accounts, and trying to balance it against your bank's monthly statement, is one of the most time consuming and tedious chores you have to deal with month after month. DCHECK will minimize the amount of time you take in keeping track of your accounts and will accurately calculate your balances. It also provides a variety of other functions and reports that will assist you through this dreary but indispensable task. DCHECK is distributed in archive form, and contains several program and data files which are essential in the operation of the program. Of special importance are the files which have the extension *.DBF, since these are the files that will contain your account data. The DCHECK.ARC file should contain the following files: * DCHECK .EXE.....The DCHECK program. * ACCLST .DBF.....Account Basic Information * ACCOUNT .DBF.....Your Account Data File. * TEMP .DBF.....Temporary Data File. * ACCOUNT .NTX.....Index by Check No. * DACCOUNT.NTX.....Index by Date. * DCHECK .TXT.....DCHECK Documentation in ASCII format. * DCHECK .DOC.....DCHECK Documentation in MS WORD format. * EPLQ .STY.....MS WORD Style Sheet for Epson Printer. Page - 5 USING DCHECK DCHECK is a menu driven application, and that means that all of its program options are displayed in a menu like screen from which the user will be able to select the one that is required. In choosing certain options, the program sometimes displays other menus, which disclose more options. This means that the system has been fashioned in a tree structure, where menus may contain sub-menus. Example: MAIN MENU | .------------------------------------------. | | | | | | | | Sub-Menu.1 Sub-Menu.2 Sub-Menu.3 .... | | .------------------. | | Menu.2.1 Menu.2.2 Menu.2.3 This menu driven structure makes it easy for the user to travel through the program without having to remember any specific commands. When DCHECK starts, it displays the following menu: CHECK ACCOUNT SYSTEM 0. EXIT - Checking Account System 1. Enter Personal Account Database 2. Create Personal Account 3. Change Personal Account PLEASE SELECT OPTION:__ Page - 6 CREATING YOUR PERSONAL ACCOUNT (Cont.): Before you start entering checks and deposits into your account, you have to create one. This is done by selecting option '2' from the main menu. All the information the system needs, is your account name, account number, and bank name. Only after you have completed this step, will you be able to proceed on into the Check Register Menu screen. Page - 7 CHECK REGISTER OPTIONS Selecting option '1' from the main menu will display the following menu: CHECK REGISTER MENU 0. EXIT - To Main Menu 1. Enter - Checks or Deposits 2. Edit - Checks or Deposits 3. Delete - Checks or Deposits 4. List - Checks & Deposits 5. Determine Current Balance 6. Balance - Bank Statement 7. Print - General Report 8. Remove - Records Marked for Deletion 9. Reindex - The Account File PLEASE ENTER SELECTION:__ As you may observe the menu options are self explanatory and don't require any further clarification. The user will also notice, that the screens displayed for the first three options are the same and only the function and color of the screens differentiate them from one another. In time, the user will recognize the function just by its color alone. This may not be the case if you are running the program in a monochrome monitor. Page - 8 ADDING CHECKS: To add a check or deposit the program will display a screen with a small option menu at the bottom of the screen. Basically all the system needs to know is whether you'd like to add a check or a deposit. If you need to add a check just press 'C' and the system will provide a card where you will enter the following information: Check Number : ___ Check Paid to : ________________ Amount of Check : ________ Date of check : __/__/__ Comments : ________________________ The comments field is used to enter any other information that pertains to the item you just added (i.e Car Insurance Payment). When adding a check the system will conduct a systematic validation that will prevent the creation of duplicate check numbers. If the check number already exists the system will suggest the use of a different number. ADDING DEPOSITS: To add a deposit just press 'D' and the system will display a card requiring the following information: Amount of Deposit: ________ Date of Deposit : __/__/__ Comments : ________________________ To exit the ADD function just press 'X' which will return command to the Check Register Menu. Page - 9 EDITING CHECKS: TO edit a check, you will have to specify the check number. As soon as you enter the information, the system will conduct a search of such number. If the check number is found, the system will display the check to be edited; otherwise it displays an error message. All the fields except the check number field can be edited. This is done for the purpose of avoiding the creation of duplicate records. EDITING DEPOSITS: To edit a deposit the system needs to know the record number of the deposit. This record number can be obtained by listing all the items in the account (Item 4 in the check register menu). When entering the record number the system will verify that in fact such record is a deposit. If the record is not a deposit or just doesn't exist, the system will inform the user with an error message and will return command to the edit screen menu. To exit the EDIT function just press 'X' which will return command to the Check Register Menu. DELETING CHECKS & DEPOSITS: The DELETE function will allow the user to indicate which checks and which deposits should be deleted from the current account. At this point the record is only marked for deletion but it will continue to exist as part of the file. To completely remove all records marked for deletion select option '8' from the Check Register Menu. DETERMINING CURRENT BALANCE: To determine the current balance of your present account just press '5' from the Check Register Menu and let DCHECK do the rest. When the balance is calculated the system will display the following: Previous Account Balance : $______ Total Debits in the Account: $______ Total Deposits in the Acct.: $______ Checking Account Balance : $______ as of 00/00/00 Page - 10 BALANCING YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT Balancing your checking account so that it matches your bank report is the most important process of the entire monthly cycle. It is at this point in time when you will determine the accuracy of your records as well as that of the Bank's. Therefore it remains critical that this process is performed correctly. To balance the account first select option '6' from the Check Register Menu. This in turn will display another menu which contain the following options: BANK STATEMENT BALANCE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 0. EXIT - To Check Register Menu 1. Clear - Checks & Deposits 2. Enter - Bank Charges 3. Print - Cleared Items 4. Print - Not Cleared Items 5. Balance Account (0) Chossing this option will take you back to the Check Register Menu. (1) The first function to be performed is that of clearing all the items reported in your bank's monthly statement. At this point the system will display each item and will ask the user if the item has a match in the bank statement. As soon as this question is answered the system will proceed to display the next item and will continue to do so in this manner until it reaches the end of the file. (2) The next step in this process is to enter all bank charges your account has incurred during the current cycle. All the charges should be added and entered as a $ingle amount. Only after you have cleared all the account items and entered all account charges, will you be able to properly balance your account. (3) At this time, a printed report of all cleared items, will prove to be very helpful in clearing up any discrepancies in your account. It is strongly recommended, that you print a general report before you attempt to balance your checking account. (4) You can also print a list of all the items that were not cleared. Page - 11 Balancing Your Checking Account (Cont.): (5) By selecting this option the system will attempt to balance your account. This is done by adding all the cleared deposits to the previous account balance and then subtracting all the cleared checks. The calculated result should match the balance total of your monthly bank statement. If the balances do not match, it will mean that one or more items are missing or perhaps overstated in either your personal account file or the bank statement report. Page - 12 SYSTEM UTILITIES There are other functions which the system needs in order to maintain the proper order of your account files. Only two of these functions are present in your release version of DCHECK. These are displayed as options '8' and '9' from the Check Register Menu. REMOVING RECORDS MARKED FOR DELETION: Even though a record (check or deposit) may be marked for deletion it will continue to appear as part of your account file until its finally removed from the system with the REMOVE command option '8' in the Check Register Menu). This is mainly done to protect your account file against erroneous deletions. Once you choose this option the system will ask you to confirm such an action. At this point it will only accept a 'Y' or 'N' answer. In removing or deleting records from the account file the system will also take the opportunity to rearrange the file. This is a process that will take about 30 seconds at most. REINDEXING THE ACCOUNT FILE: There may be times when data in your files may get out of order or may get damaged due to hardware breakdowns of malfunctions in the software or the Operating System. In most cases a damaged file can be fixed by simply reindexing the file. This is a process which only takes a little while to execute. If the malfunction persists it may be necessary to perform more surgery to the damaged file. This could be done with the aid of other utilities, such as the Norton Utilities, or by restoring a back up file. In either case you may sustain a possible partial loss of data. The commercial version of DCHECK provides a variety of tools that allow the user to repair damaged files with minimum effort. Page - 13 PROGRAM HISTORY DCHECK was written by one of our former consultants back in 1986 as a small utility for his wife, who was in charge of maintaining the family checking account. He later introduced the program to us and we have been using it ever since. In fact, the program became so popular in our company that we decided to buy the program's code and the software rights to it. Since then, we have made some major modifications and enhancements to the program to make it what it is today. This release version, with some minor modifications, is a close variation of the original. So now you will see why we got so euphoric about this little program. DCHECK was written and developed in dBASE III. For those of you who don't know, dBASE III is a database management program that comes equipped with its own query language or programming code. This query language feature, provides the user with extensive and sophisticated programing capabilities. The commercial version of DCHECK was created with dBASE III Plus, which is the latest version of the dBASE series. The code was then compiled with Clipper, from Nantucket, which is a dBASE code compiler. The compiled program still uses data files in the dBASE format and only the index files differ from dbASE III index files. ____________________________________________________________ Page - 14 CREDITS If we have achieved tremendous success in creating useful software, its because we were able to match the innovating idea of one individual with the great development effort of our technical staff. Nothing is created unto itself, and DCHECK is no exception. Therefore, we would like to give credit to the following people, without whose efforts DCHECK could not exist: ____________________________________________________________ Caesar Padilla, former computer consultant of Hudson Computer Bureau, and author of the original version of DCHECK. Caesar has remained a constant and valuable contributor in this endeavor. James D. McAndrew and Alex Freed, who developed and implemented all the major enhancements on the commercial version of DCHECK. Their technical contributions are greatly appreciated. Michael Welch, who assisted in the compiling of the program code, and who introduced features we did not think were possible in dBASE. Ginny Orozco, who contributed valuable marketing research information. Ashton & Tate - They provided outstanding technical assistance during the programing phase of the project. We are also thankful for the support and appreciation we have received from many users of DCHECK. We hope that you find this program of use. Page - 15 BULLETIN BOARDS DCHECK is distributed mainly through shareware channels. Among other things, this means that DCHECK is available from many bulletin board systems. MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS Registered users of DCHECK receive 60 days of telephone support at no extra charge. If you wish, you can extend this by purchasing a maintenance contract. A maintenance contract costs $80 per year and entitles you to unlimited telephone support SITE LICENSES Corporate users may wish to obtain a site license for the use of DCHECK. Please use the order form in this manual to order a site license. Site licenses are granted as sonn as we receive your payment. License fees vary depending on the number of computers on which DCHECK will be used, as follows: 1 to 9 machines $40 each 10 to 24 machines $30 each 25 to 49 machines $25 each 50 to 99 machines $20 each over 99 machines $2000 one time fee Enclosed is a site license agreement, which should be signed and sent with your payment when ordering a commercial site license. A commercial site license does not include additional copies of the DCHECK program disk and the DCHECK manual. Instead, you make your own copies of the disk and manual as you need them. If you wish, you can order additional program disks and manuals from us. Additional program disks cost $20 each. Additional manuals cost $25 each. If you wish, you can order program sets for $40 each. A "program set" is a program disk and manual enclosed in a vinyl binder. There is a $40 minimum on all orders. Page - 16 SITE LICENSE APPLICATION The use of DCHECK in a commercial environment or government organization is granted under the following terms: 1. Payment of the license fee must be made to Hudson Computer Bureau, Inc. The fee is based on the number of computers which will be used to run DCHECK, as follows: 1 to 9 machines $40 each 10 to 24 machines $30 each 25 to 49 machines $25 each 50 to 99 machines $20 each over 99 machines $2000 one time fee 2. You may use DCHECK on the number of computers included in the license fee. If you have paid the fee for over 99 machines, then you may use DCHECK on any number of computers within your organization. 3. You may make copies of the program and documentation, in their original, unmodified form, without restriction. You may distribute these copies without restriction. 4. You may use all future versions of DCHECK under this license. 5. You may not modify the program or charge a fee for copying or distributing the program or its documentation. 6. It is your responsibility to make the necessary copies and to deliver them to the computers which they will be used on. If you wish, you can order additional DCHECK program disks and manuals. DISCLAIMER Hudson Computer Bureau shall not be held liable for any damage incurred by the user to hardware, software, & peripheral devices while running DCHECK. All resposibilty lies with the user. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I agree to abide by the terms and conditions of this license. _______________________________ ____________________________ Signature Date _______________________________ ____________________________ Name (please print or type) Title ____________________________ Company ORDER FORM Check which items you wish to purchase: [] Noncommercial license for the use of DCHECK. ____ [] Commercial license for the use of DCHECK on ___ computers (see attached price schedule and terms). [] Program disk and documentation (only on orders of $50 or more, not counting maintenance contracts). ____ [] additional program disks at $15 per disk. ____ [] additional manuals at $20 per manual ____ [] additional program sets (disk, manual, and binder) at $40 per program set. ____ [] One year maintenance agreement at $60 per year. ____ [] Payment of $ is enclosed (check or money order). _________________________________ Signature: _______________________________________________ Name _______________________________________________ Address ______________________ ________ ____________ City State Zip Send the completed form to: Hudson Computer Bureau, Inc. 43 Lawton Avenue, Cliffside Park, NJ 07010 For program disk orders outside the U.S., please add an additional $5, and enclose an international money order payable in U.S. currency. For commercial site license orders, please enclose a signed copy of the site license agreement.