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JCSM Shareware Collection 1993 November
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JCSM Shareware Collection - 1993-11.iso
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wvh23b.lzh
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WVH23B.EXE
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WVH.TXT
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1993-08-28
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What Vehicle History? _____________________
CONTENTS
I. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
II. COPYRIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
III. LICENSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
IV. TECHNICAL SUPPORT (HOW TO REACH ME) . . . . . . . . . . 2
Official Distribution Bulletin Boards . . . . . . . . . 2
V. ORDERING METHODS AND REGISTRATION FEES . . . . . . . . 2
A. How To Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
B. Pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
VI. WHAT DOES THIS SOFTWARE DO? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
VII. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
A. Storage Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
B. Using on a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
VIII. FILES WHICH MAKE UP THE PACKAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
IX. RUNNING What Vehicle History? FOR THE FIRST TIME . . . 9
A. Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
B. Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
C. Using the Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
X. MANAGING FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
A. Making Back-up Copies of Your Files . . . . . . . 11
B. Restoring Files from a Back-up Copy . . . . . . . 11
C. Formatting Floppy Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
D. Re-Indexing Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
E. Packing Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
XI. DATA ENTRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
A. Service Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
B. Departments, Mechanics, Service Types, and
Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
XII. REPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
XIII. PREFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
A. Operating Choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1. Back-up & Restore Method (16)
-i-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
2. Country setting (16)
3. Directory Display Format (16)
4. Error Tone (16)
B. Defining your Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1. Laser Printer Soft Fonts (17) ________________________
2. Scalable Fonts (17) ______________
3. Lines per Page (17) ______________
4. Left Margin (18) ___________
C. Sales Tax Rate and Labour Rate Entry . . . . . . . 18
XIV. HELP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
XV. ERROR MESSAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
-ii-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
I. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY
By using this software and documentation ("WVH") you must
accept this disclaimer of warranty:
WVH is provided "as is" without any warranties or
conditions, expressed or implied, including, but not limited to,
those concerning merchantability and fitness for a particular
purpose. By using WVH, you are expressly releasing the author,
Angel Babudro, from any liability resulting from the use of this
software and documentation. You must assume the entire risk of
using WVH. Please test and supervise WVH thoroughly before
relying on it.
II. COPYRIGHT
WVH is owned and copyright (c) 1989-1993 by Angel Babudro,
all rights reserved. You may only use and/or distribute WVH
under the License terms below.
III. LICENSE
1. WVH is being distributed as Shareware; it is not free.
WVH is licensed for individual personal use and evaluation for an
unlimited time. Use and evaluation by businesses, corporations
or individuals in a commercial venture is limited to 60 days,
after which time the REGISTERED Edition of WVH must be purchased
or the use of Unregistered Edition of WVH must be discontinued.
2. You may keep as many backup copies of WVH as you wish.
The Registered Edition is limited to simultaneous use on the
number of computers indicated by your registration level. The
Unregistered Edition may be used on any number of computers. You
may share WVH with others in complete and unmodified form.
REGISTERED USERS may NOT distribute the separate file CONFIG.WVH.
3. You MUST NOT charge any fee or receive any consideration
for WVH and you MUST NOT include WVH with another business
transaction (e.g., a hardware sale) unless you have express
written consent from the copyright holder, Angel Babudro. Only
the author can sell the software. You MAY charge a fee of not
more than US$6 (six dollars) for the disk and/or service of
distribution.
-1-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
IV. TECHNICAL SUPPORT (HOW TO REACH ME)
If you have questions or need help, just send a note to me
through the mail or a BBS listed below. Registered users (or
those in the process of registering), vendors, and sysops may
contact me via telephone as well. Sysops and shareware vendors
please see VENDOR.DOC for distribution information.
Mail Angel Babudro, "Organic Computer Wizardry",
Suite 329, 4 South San Francisco Street,
Flagstaff, AZ USA 86001
Phone (602) 774-0340 9am - 5pm Mountain Time, Mon-Fri
Official Distribution Bulletin Boards
On bulletin boards I use the first name "Angelo" - it
avoids gender confusion and I am used to either name. Scan for
the file name WVH*.* to locate the latest version. All six of my
software packages are free downloads on both systems:
East Coast Excalibur, Central NY (315) 736-3792 USR Dual
My software can be FREQed from this board via RBBS
Net address A:954/401, FIDO Net address 1:26501, or
ICN Net 91:315/101.
West Coast Researcher's BBS, So Cal (805) 949-8151 USR Dual
Conference #136 is OrganicSftwr - enter "J;136"
before downloading, browsing for topics of interest,
and/or leaving messages to me.
My software can also be found on national bulletin boards
such as Exec-PC (Wisconsin) and Channel 1 (Mass.).
V. ORDERING METHODS AND REGISTRATION FEES
If you use WVH past the 60-day trial period you must pay a
registration fee. Here are some incentives to register:
- The shareware license & pause at start-up will go away.
- You get the latest version direct from the author.
- You may order a printed and 3-ring-bound manual which
contains more details than the manual on disk.
- You will receive the next two major updates without
charge (see below). Send me your suggestions - you have
an experienced programmer at your disposal for little to
no charge, why not take advantage?
-2-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
- You can sign up to receive automatic updates so you will
always have the latest features and enhancements.
- You can talk to a real person who is fully knowledgeable
about WVH and can help you right away. I have been
known to fix problems the same day and download updates
to my customers via modem. I am committed to making my
software work well for you.
- It's the right thing to do.
A. How To Order
U.S. customers please send cash, check, or money order.
Canadian customers please send cash or Canadian International
Money Order (CIMO). Customers in other countries please send
U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank. If you send cash use a
"security" no-see-through envelope and you may want to send it
via Registered mail, too.
B. Pricing
When you register, please fill in the Invoice (below)
completely, including the name you see at the top of your screen
so I can reward the person who distributed your copy of WVH with
a free update.
Registration with Disk -- A single copy costs $69. You will
receive the latest Registered Edition of What Vehicle ____________
History? with automated installation, the latest version of ________
this documentation on disk, two free updates, and
notification of further updates. See below for detailed
manuals on paper or disk.
Multiple Copies -- If you would like to resell What Vehicle ____________
History? or have multiple locations at which you want to ________
use it, you may receive a discount on the price of WVH as
follows:
- 2-4 copies on the same order 40%
- 5 or more copies on the same order 50%
Resellers may receive a 40% discount on quantity one: just
include your resale certificate number with your order.
Site License -- use WVH on as many computers or network stations
as necessary at a single location of a single business.
Pay for your registration & disk (see above) and add the
appropriate site license fee below to accommodate as many
computers as you need:
Up to 4 computers/network stations $30.00 per site
-3-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
Up to 10 computers/network stations $70.00 per site
Up to 20 computers/network stations $125.00 per site
Any number of computers $400.00 per site
Manuals -- printed on my laser printer and bound in a flexible 3-
ring binder, these manuals contain pictures & detailed
descriptions of each screen, some basic computer & data
base lingo, and an index. I want people to have and use
these manuals, but I am very concerned about deforestation.
Experienced users will probably have no need for a manual.
- One manual $8.00
- 2 or more on same order $6.00 each
Updates Through The Mail -- Following the two free releases you
will receive notices of major updates in the mail. Minor
updates are published every month; you can send for an
update any time, actually. When you request an update,
please share your ideas with me on making WVH better.
The cost of an update is $7 plus foreign shipping cost, if
any. If you send me a disk & return postage, you may
deduct $2 from the update cost.
Update Subscription -- I like to be flexible and fast with
suggestions from users, but it can be time-consuming to
keep up with a product's evolution via BBSs. So I came up
with this idea: After the two free updates you can
subscribe to automatically receive updates. I will send
new updates as they are released (skipping the really minor ______
ones, but any "fixes" or significant enhancements will be
sent to you). In return you will be expected to send $7
plus foreign shipping, if any, to me within seven days or
return the disk to cancel this service.
Complimentary Registered Editions - I will trade a complimentary
registration for some marketing help as outlined below:
1. Write a review of one of my packages and post it on five
bulletin boards, then send me a copy showing the full
message (with the BBS's header). Your review will be
most helpful if it mentions your best & worst-liked
features and any ideas you have for improvement. If you
have experience with any competing software please
include your opinion of how they compare to each other.
2. Upload a package to at least five public ("open") BBSs.
It's nice if you upload to time-share systems, private
-4-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
("closed") BBSs, or part-time BBS, but please do not use
these to apply for a complimentary registered edition.
3. If you are a consultant or other type of computer
professional and your recommendation leads to one or
more of your clients purchasing WVH, just send me a note
with your client's registration or have them mention
your name when they register. I will send a
complimentary registered edition or an update for every
registration you get for me. This is in lieu of a
multiple copy discount; I intend it for consultants who
choose not to deal with sales tax.
Please send $2 for shipping expenses. One complimentary
registration per person or company. Offer valid until Dec. 31,
1993. With a comp. registration you may order a site license or
printed manual. I normally do not send notices or free updates
to comp. reg. holders, but I will provide updates as outlined
above.
COMPLIMENTARY REGISTRATION APPLICATION
Date____________________
Please also fill in the Invoice on the following page (put
$0 for the disk). Include $2.00 for shipping within the U.S. or
the amount indicated on the invoice for addresses outside the
U.S. Remember to order printed manual(s) if you so desire.
(__) Review posted on (BBS name & number)_______________________
Include a copy of the review, please.
(__) I posted a review of _______________ (name and version,
like "WVH 2.3") on the five 24-hour public BBSs below.
(__) I uploaded (archive name, like WVH23.ARJ)__________________
to the five 24-hour public ("open") BBSs below.
BBS Name Phone Number/Modem Type Sysop Name ________ _______________________ __________
1_______________________ ________________________ _______________
2_______________________ ________________________ _______________
3_______________________ ________________________ _______________
4_______________________ ________________________ _______________
5_______________________ ________________________ _______________
-5-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
Please indicate the modem speed (e.g., 2400, 9600, 14400) and
put a "U" if it's a US Robotics modem. So, "U96" or "U14" or
just "14,400" are fine entries. I use 14,400 modems.
Offers are subject to withdrawal or change at any time without
notice. Prices are subject to change without notice. Vendors
and sysops please see VENDOR.DOC; BBS sysops look at SYSOP.DOC
too.
Angel Babudro "Organic Computer Wizardry"
4 South San Francisco Street #329 Flagstaff, AZ USA 86001
(602) 774-0340 Mon-Fri 9-5 Mountain Time
Please register the Shareware you keep.
-6-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
INVOICE & REGISTRATION FORM
REMIT TO: FROM:
Name___________________________
Angel Babudro
"Organic Computer Wizardry" Company________________________
Suite 329
4 South San Francisco St. Address________________________
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
USA _______________________________
Registration License & disk: Qty ____ x $69 $_______
Multiple/ 2-4 disks -- deduct 40%
Wholesale 5 or more -- deduct 50% (_______)
Site License Up to 4 CPUs add $30; Up to 10 add $70
(add to above) Up to 20 add $125; Unlimited add $400 _______
Printed One copy is $8, 2 or more are $6 ea.
Manuals Qty ____ @ $______ = _______
Shipping Canada, AK, HI, VI, PR add $3
Expense Other countries add $9 per copy _______
** T O T A L ** _______
_____(Yes/No) After my two free updates, please continue to send
new updates about every other month and bill me $7 plus foreign
shipping, if any. I will send payment within seven days or
return the disk and cancel this service.
Disk size & quantity [__] 5¼" [__] 3½"
Drive density [__] Low (DD) required [__] High (HD) okay
FDFORMAT/FDREAD [__] FDFORMAT extended densities okay
Printer make(s) & model(s)______________________________________
Which version are you using now?________________________________
Where did you get it (BBS name)?________________________________
WVH has been delivered to and accepted by customer. Upon
receipt of this paid invoice the latest Registered Edition disk
with bonus shareware, license, and any options chosen above will
be sent. Remit cash, check, money order in U.S. funds; Canadians
send Cdn$ or CIMO. AZ residents add sales tax. Mail to Angel
Babudro, Suite 329, 4 South San Francisco Street, Flagstaff, NY
USA 86001. Allow 1-3 weeks for the latest version to land on
your doorstep. Thank you for your order!
-7-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
VI. WHAT DOES THIS SOFTWARE DO?
What Vehicle History? (WVH) was originally designed in ______________________
October 1991 to track construction equipment service, and has
been expanded to track the service history of any mechanical
devices - cars, trucks, tractors, motorcycles, big rigs, power
generators, or anything else that is tracked by miles or hours.
Each vehicle has an owner, division, or department identified
with it, which makes WVH perfect for companies who own many
vehicles or for contractors who maintain other people's vehicles.
WVH employs the standard 2-dimensional pull-down menu
system which is familiar to most PC and Macintosh users. All you
need to do is highlight your choice and press ENTER or just press
the highlighted letter of your choice. What could be simpler?
Please feel free to contact me with comments, questions,
etc. I am available as a consultant and programmer if you would
like custom modifications to my software or if you don't have a
local "computer person." I may be a good answer man to call
before you pull your hair out. :)
VII. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
In a nutshell, a 286 or better is recommended, a hard disk
is highly recommended, MS/PC-DOS 3.3 or later, and at least 350k
free RAM. WVH has been tested on MS-DOS 3.3 and 5.0. It should
work properly under PC-DOS or MS-DOS version 3.1 or later. You
will need about 400k of disk space for WVH and its necessary
files plus disk space for the files you will create. Just about
any dot matrix or PCL laser printer should work fine.
A. Storage Requirements
Although the system is capable of handling 5.5 millions
entries per file, you would need a supercomputer or a lot of time
to manage it. Here are some practical guidelines:
PC/XT (8088 or 8086) - perhaps 20 vehicles
80386 - 20-50 vehicles
80486 - Over 50 vehicles
These are just recommendations, though. You can track a
thousand vehicles on a 4MHz XT if you want to; it'll just make
molasses look fast...
-8-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
B. Using on a Network
With version 2.2 of WVH I have installed network file locks
for networks that use the DOS SHARE.EXE file sharing method. I
only have one computer so I am unable to test how WVH will work
on a network, so I would sure appreciate any feedback you could
provide. I will gladly send a free update for any help I can get
in making WVH work well on a network.
VIII. FILES WHICH MAKE UP THE PACKAGE
What Vehicle History? consists of the following files: _____________________
WVH.EXE The executable file
WVH.HLP The help file
WVH.TXT The ASCII text file of this document [*]
WVH.WP The WordPerfect file of this document (so you
can format it for your printer) [*]
READ.ME A file containing late-breaking news [*]
ORDER.FRM Order form for all of my software
PRINTER.DAT Printer definitions
These are the files which make up WVH. If you distribute
evaluation copies to friends and bulletin boards please be sure
to include all of these files. Additional files will be created
in the same directory as you use the software. The files marked
with [*] can be deleted if disk space is a premium, but I ask
that you please keep ORDER.FRM on disk until you decide whether
or not to register.
Registered users -- please keep the file CONFIG.WVH only for
yourself as it contains your registration stamp. Share only
those files listed above. Thank you for your help!
IX. RUNNING What Vehicle History? FOR THE FIRST TIME
A. Quick Start
Type "WVH" from the DOS prompt and set each of the
Preferences screens.
-9-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
B. Installation
Before you can use WVH you will have to install it on your
hard disk or create a working floppy disk. Since almost no
business uses dual floppy disk systems anymore I won't bother to
explain the procedure here. Contact me if would like my input on
this.
If you received your copy of WVH on floppy disk it should
have come with an INSTALL programme. If INSTALL.EXE or any other
of the files which make up the software are not on your disk
please contact me so I can make sure the distributor you got it
from is aware that their copies are missing files.
Go to the DOS prompt (usually "C:\>" or some such variant),
and type "d:INSTALL" where "d:" is the letter of the floppy disk
drive with the WVH disk (e.g., "A:INSTALL" to install from floppy
A:). You will be asked to supply the destination drive and
directory. If you have an existing version of the software on
disk you will be informed that it will be updated with the new
disk.
After INSTALL is finished you will see some helpful
information for setting up your computer well, and directions on
how to run WVH. A batch file called WVH.BAT is created in your
root directory if you so permit, and your CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT files are not touched at all, not one little bit -- I
wouldn't invade your system that way.
While in the root directory you just type "WVH" to start
the programme. WVH is a batch file which merely changes to the
proper drive & directory then runs WVH. You can delete this file
if you are using a menu or would rather type the commands
yourself.
C. Using the Menus
WVH uses the common pull-down menus which are common to
QuickBASIC, Windows, and Macintosh applications. Basically,
there is a horizontal menu of choices -- File, Data Entry, etc.
Under each of the horizontal choices is a menu of functions
pertaining to that item -- it is a two-dimensional menu, in other
words.
-10-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
There are two ways to select an item from the main menu:
1. Press the letter which is highlighted in the option
description
2. Use the Up/Down/Right/Left arrows to highlight the
option you want then press ENTER (a.k.a. RETURN or CR).
Some menus do not have highlighted options. On these menus
you must use the arrow keys to highlight your choice then press
ENTER.
If you want to cancel an operation you selected, just press
the Esc ("Escape") key.
X. MANAGING FILES
The choices under the File menu have to do with your system
set-up, file management, and ending the programme.
A. Making Back-up Copies of Your Files
File/Back-up protects your information by allowing you to
copy it to another disk. Version 2.1 of WVH will have a
Preferences menu, under which you will be able to choose how you
want to perform a back-up -- using the DOS COPY command or ARJ,
LHARC, or PKZIP compressors. After you select this option you
will see a summary of the files to be backed-up. If you have
more than one floppy disk drive you will be asked to select one.
All WVH data files will then be backed-up to the floppy disk.
B. Restoring Files from a Back-up Copy
If you ever need to recover data files from a floppy disk
you made using the Back-up command (above), just place the floppy
disk in its drive and select File/Restore. If you have more than
one floppy disk drive you will be asked to select one, then the
data files will be copied from the floppy disk onto your hard
disk.
C. Formatting Floppy Disks
This option is for those times when you have decided to
make a back-up copy of your data but don't have a formatted disk
handy. File/Format Floppies lets you format a floppy disk to
your computer's standard density without exiting WVH. If you
-11-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
have a high density drive you can only format high density disks
(in other words, WVH doesn't pass any parameters to DOS FORMAT).
If you have What Floppy Format? (WFF.EXE) available
somewhere in your search path WVH will automatically access it
for formatting floppy disks (so you can do whatever you want).
You will receive a complimentary copy of the latest version of
WFF with your WVH registration.
D. Re-Indexing Files
If you ever notice that information is missing or appears
in any way wrong, it is probably because something has damaged an
index file. WVH will automatically catch and fix most index
problems (like if power goes out in the middle of the programme),
but there are times when only you will know that the file indices
need to be re-built.
One common example would be if you restored files from a
back-up disk. When you make a back-up (using WVH's File/Back-up
option) you are only storing the data files. This saves space on
your back-up disk. However, it means that if you restore from a
back-up the index files may be mis-matched to the files. So you
would use the File/Re-Index option.
If you have large files (thousands of records) re-indexing
can take a minute or more, depending on your computer's speed.
Aside from that, though, it is harmless to re-index as often as
you like.
E. Packing Files
Whenever you delete information from the files WVH marks
the "slot" (record) in the files as being "available" so that the
next new piece of information will use that slot. If you delete
a lot of information (for example, if you delete a vehicle that
had a lot of service history & parts information) there may be a
lot of disk space being used to store old information. This is
where pack comes in handy.
Packing makes a new copy of all of your files which does
not include deleted records. For every deleted record between
128 and 512 bytes of disk space will be freed.
-12-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
XI. DATA ENTRY
This menu of What Vehicle History? lets you enter vehicles, _____________________
mechanics and other information into the data base. The Data
Entry menu is split into three sections:
1. Regular data entry for vehicle service information
2. One-time data entry for vehicles, mechanics,
departments, and service codes
3. Rarely needed data entry (schedule next maintenance) --
this function is run automatically after you enter service for a
vehicle, so you would normally not need to access the function
directly. This option is not yet completed.
All data entry screens use the same method of asking you to
choose a code (vehicle, service type, etc.). There are two
windows on the screen: the left-hand one showing the codes and
the right-hand one showing the details.
As you move through the codes in the left-hand window, WVH
shows you the details for the code which is highlighted. You
move with the arrow keys, PgUp and PgDn keys, or by pressing the
letter or number of a code. For example, if you press the "G"
key WVH will jump to codes beginning with the letter "G". If
there are no codes that begin with "G" the next code after "G"
will be highlighted.
You can back-up one step (cancel an operation) by pressing
the Esc key. Otherwise, just press ENTER to select the code
which is highlighted and continue with an operation.
A. Service Information
This is normally the most used function in WVH. After you
have set up your vehicles, owners, etc. you can enter the actual
service information.
Once you select this option you will see the menu of
vehicle choices. To quit just press the Esc (Escape) key,
otherwise highlight a vehicle and press ENTER.
Next you will see the menu of service types. Choose a
service type which describes the information you are going to
enter and press the ENTER key.
-13-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
If there is already some service information for that
vehicle then you will see a menu of dates. The first item in the
menu is "New date." Highlight your choice and press ENTER.
Finally you are on the service entry screen. There are
three windows here: One for parts, one for comments, and one for
everything else. You can jump between the windows using the F6
(Jump) key. Within a window use the arrow keys to move around.
When you are finished entering information press the F7 key to
save it.
When you exit the service screen you are back at the
vehicle menu (as above) and the cycle starts over. Just press
the Esc key to stop entering service information.
B. Departments, Mechanics, Service Types, and Vehicles
These data entry windows all work similarly. You will see
two windows: One on the left which has codes, and one on the
right which has the details about the highlighted code.
Highlight a code and press ENTER to edit it's information
(in the right-hand window). To enter a new code press the Ins
(insert) key. To delete (erase) a code press the Del (delete)
key.
The codes you define can contain up to five letters,
numbers, or symbols. Only upper-case letters are used. "AG-5"
and "AG05" are both valid codes, though "AG05" has room for 100
variations while "AG-5" has room for 10 variations. It's a good
idea to give some thought to your coding system before entering
all of your data!
WVH sorts codes in typical ASCII fashion. One character at
a time is compared, going left to right. For example, here is a
list of codes in ASCII order:
1A
A001 It is best to pad your numbers
A002 with zeroes (like these three examples)
A015 so they come out in order.
A1
A100
A1000
A2
B001
-14-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
Service Types examples: Use whatever works for you. If
you have an existing system, just use those same numbers or
letters. Perhaps you have abbreviations you use on invoices.
You can use "BR" for "Brakes", or you might just have service
type "1" for all types of service if you don't care to separate
the service history by service types. Avoid getting too detailed
because you will have to enter a separate service record for each
type of service you want to track. This might mean splitting one
service into two entries - perhaps you replaced a radiator and
replaced brake pads at the same time. If you want to print a
report in the future which shows just the brake work (or
whatever), then make a service type for it.
XII. REPORTS
Highlight the report you want and follow the instructions
on the screen. For reports which ask for dates - enter the date
in month-day-year order, entering just the numbers and using a 4-
digit year.
You can choose to print a report on the screen, on your
printer, or to a disk file. If your print to a disk file you
will be asked for a file name (which may include the drive and
path, if necessary) and the file will be created using the codes
for your printer. If you want a "raw" ASCII file without printer
codes then define your printer to be a "Generic/Daisy-wheel"
printer.
XIII. PREFERENCES
The Preferences menu contains options which help you
customize the operation of WVH and set necessary parameters, such
as the type of printer you have.
Please check each Preferences screen before making full use
of WVH, otherwise something might seem wrong with the software
whereas it is due to the set of conditions under which WVH is
operating.
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What Vehicle History? _____________________
A. Operating Choices
1. Back-up & Restore Method
Under the File menu are options which allow you to
back-up and restore your data to/from other disks for
safety. These operations will use the DOS COPY command
unless you use this option to change it.
You will see a menu of four choices of methods to use
when backing-up and restoring: DOS COPY (the default),
ARJ, LHARC, or PKZIP. In order to use ARJ, LHARC, or PKZIP
compression software you must have the compression
programme available in your DOS PATH. In addition, you
will also need enough free memory (RAM) to run both WML and
the compression software.
2. Country setting
This setting is not currently used. I plan to use it
in the future to determine whether to use english or metric
measurements.
3. Directory Display Format
This option is not yet used and can be set to anything.
For now, it is included to maintain a standard "look and
feel" of my packages.
4. Error Tone
When some type of error or warning message is displayed
on the screen, you reach the end of a field, press a wrong
letter in a menu, etc., WVH can alert you with one of three
sounds or you may select "No sound" for silent operation.
B. Defining your Printers
WVH lets you use a laser or dot matrix printer, but you
must first define it and the fonts you want to use for printing.
Until you define your printer and fonts there will be a flashing
message at the bottom of the screen and you will not be able to
print anything.
The Preferences/Printer window shows the current settings.
Use the arrow keys to move around, and press the F3 key to change
anything. For example, to set your Title Font move the cursor to
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What Vehicle History? _____________________
that line then press F3 and a menu of choices will appear.
Highlight a font to use and press <Enter>. When you are
finished, highlight the "Ok" button and press <Enter>.
Alternately, you can use a mouse (click on "Ok") or press F7 to
save the screen and exit.
1. Laser Printer Soft Fonts ________________________
You will need portrait (SFP) fonts for reports. Once
you define your font choices on this screen WVH will
automatically use them for all reports.
Example: Highlight the "Titles Font" line and press the
<F3> key - a window of font choices will appear.1 You may
choose any of the built-in fonts or a soft font. If you
choose "Select a soft font," a window will pop open in
which you may enter a drive and/or path which contains the
soft font files (whatever you enter here becomes the
default response for next time). Next you will be shown a
list of the soft font files (*.SFP) in that directory. Use
the arrow keys and PgUp/PgDn keys to move around, highlight
the one you want, and press <Enter>. The soft font file
name will now be shown on the screen.
2. Scalable Fonts ______________
A scalable font is a single font (e.g., CG Times,
Univers, etc.) which can be printed in practically any
size. PCL 5 printers like the H-P LaserJet III and IV have
scalable fonts built in. This means you can pick a font
and print in practically any size you want.
When you select a scalable font WVH will prompt you for
the pitch (cpi) or the point size, depending on whether it
is a fixed-pitch or proportionally-spaced font. In general
numbers between 8 and 14 work best. My favourite font for
both my laser and dot matrix is a Helvetica-Univers-Swiss-
etc. (sans serif) font at 12cpi or 12 points.
3. Lines per Page ______________
Enter the number of lines which may be printed on a
page in your printer. Most of the time you will be working
with 66 lines total (11-inches of paper printed at 6 lines
____________________
1 You must define the printer before you can set any fonts.
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What Vehicle History? _____________________
per inch). On laser printers the total number of lines of
often 60 due to half-inch top & bottom margins.
I recommend that you set this to 55 lines, which is a
common setting leaving an inch margin at the top & bottom
of each page.
4. Left Margin ___________
This setting is the same as it would be for a
typewriter - it is the distance from the left margin, in
inches, at which printing will begin. If you would like to
leave space at the left edge (e.g., to 3-hole punch the
pages) then set this as you wish. If you use a 10 cpi font
(or 12 points for lasers) there will be no room for a left
margin on most reports. However, a 12 cpi (or 10 point)
font, such as Prestige Elite, will give you room to set a
one-inch margin or so. Experiment to find what works best
for you.
C. Sales Tax Rate and Labour Rate Entry
This window lets you set two important items: The
sales tax rate for your area and whether or not you want to
enter the labour hourly rate on the Maintenance Data Entry
screen.
If you do not need to track sales tax, just enter zero
for this. Otherwise, enter your sales tax rate as a
percentage (i.e., 7.50 for 7.5%).
When you are entering service information for a vehicle
you are asked to indicate the mechanic or place of service
which, in turn, indicates the hourly rate for labour. If
you wish you can enter the labour rate on the service data
entry screen, which allows you to over-ride the rate set
for the mechanic or place of service. This can be handy if
you don't want to track mechanics, only the service done.
In this case you could set up a single mechanic and enter
the hourly rate as it pertains to each incident of service.
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What Vehicle History? _____________________
XIV. HELP
The Help menu has two options: About and Index.
Help/About gives some information about the programme, free
memory, and file usage.
Help/Index presents a menu of help topics. Use the up and
down arrow keys to highlight a topic then press ENTER and a
window of information about that topic will pop open. It's a
handy (albeit brief) on-line manual.
XV. ERROR MESSAGES
WVH has three types of errors which you may experience:
1. Logical error - this is a minor problem, not really an
error at all. An example of this type of error is if
you try to enter a duplicate vehicle code. These
"errors" will appear in a window and, once you press
ENTER or click on "Ok" WVH will continue its operation.
2. File error - these problems cause an error screen to
appear which suggests a possible solution to the
problem and, if you can't fix it, my address and phone
number is shown so you can mail me the error or call
me. A common reason for this error is that an index
file contains a bad entry (perhaps due to a power
outage). The most common solution to these problems is
to re-index your files (File/re-Index).
3. Programme error - this is a mistake of mine and will
cause the programme to abruptly end with a one-line
error message and a message like "Press any key to
return to system." Report these errors to me right
away, please. WVH is thousands of lines long, so the
bigger it gets the more likely it is that a few bugs
will creep in there somewhere. These errors get top
priority and are usually fixed and a new version
released within a day.
If anything happens that you don't understand, or if you
can't get WVH to do what you want, I would appreciate knowing
about this so I can fix the software or update the documentation
as necessary. Thank you for your help and support! :)
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