JCSM Shareware Collection 1997 February

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GENERAL INVOICE SALES TRACKER - PLUS(+) " GPP " Program Author: Robert F. Keber Jr. Produced By: TypeRight Software 336 SWAIN BOULEVARD LAKE WORTH, FL 33463-3342 USA Telephone 24 Hour Fax (561) 969-3643 (561) 964-0785 ELECTRONIC MAIL ADDRESSES AMERICA ON LINE ID.: TypeRight COMPUSERVE ID......: 73307,2256 INTERNET ADDRESS #1: typeright@aol.com INTERNET ADDRESS #2: 73307.2256@compuserve.com COPYRIGHT (C) - All Rights Reserved DISCLAIMER Use This Software At Your Own Risk The author of this software makes or offers no warranty, either expressed or implied, regarding any of the software programs included with this package. There is no warranty for this software's usefulness, or for it's fitness for any particular purpose. The author will not be liable for any damages arising from the use of (or from the inability to use) this software. The author will not be liable for lost profits, lost savings, lost income, lost time, claims by other parties, or for other incidental or consequential damages arising from the use of (or from the inability to use) this software. Use of this software is entirely at the user's own risk. DICTIONARY DEFINITION: GIST (jist) n. The essence of a matter, as in "Getting the gist of a situation". GIST PLUS(plus) is a "Customer Billing" program. The program name is pronounced "Jist Plus Plus". To improve the readability of this text, we will refer to GIST PLUS(+) from now on, simply as "GPP". GPP is designed for firms who have a need to produce Invoices which contain "Descriptions" about anything. "Names and Serial Numbers" for parts used or for sold or serviced equipment. Instructions, Expiration Dates, Disclaimers or just about anything else can be entered into GPP invoices, as well as the very important numbers which say "Who, When, Where, Why and How Much". GPP is NOT a "General Ledger" style of accounting program. It is a simple to use "GROSS INCOME" program which will provide all of the "Income" information that most Accountants or Bookkeepers require from a small business. In most cases, they will only need some GPP printed reports and your Bank Statement & Check Stubs to maintain your company's books. But, in addition to organizing and preparing your Income Data for your Accountant, GPP will provide "You" (as a Manager) with a great deal of other very useful business information. It breaks down your Income by Sales Categories, computes averages, and can show the "Total Income Produced" by any employee or customer (or your entire operation) for any time period. It will also automate some tedious chores such as keeping track of "Who Paid" and "Who did NOT pay", and producing Acc/Rec "Customer Statements" ready for "Window Envelopes" (or with matching mailing labels). It can also auto-produce copies of "Repetitious Invoices" to the same "Customer Base" for each billing cycle (Lawn & Garden, Pest Control, Pool Maintenance, Service Contracts, Security Firms, Rental Agencies, etc.) And it does all of this (and much more) without most of the usual Mistakes, Short-Cuts, Oversights, Scratch-Outs, Erasers, Scribbles and White Outs that occur when these same tasks are done by an employee with a typewriter. CONDENSED LIST OF PROGRAM FEATURES Customers: - Shows "Last Sale Date" & "Total Amount Spent" For Every Customer. - Prints Customer Phone Directory (2 phones COUNTRY,AREA,PHONE,EXT.). - Prints Two Customer Address Directories (Long & Short Versions). - Prints Customer Mailing Labels (by Name/City/State/Zip/Area/Etc.). - Large "Comment Field" For Special Terms, Ship/Bill To Address, Etc. - Data Fields Designed To Allow Most INTERNATIONAL Address Entries. - Prints Labels/Phone/Address Lists By Territories Or Service Routes. - Sales Tax Code Field - Applies One Of 96 Unique Sets Of Tax Rates. - BROWSE Finds Records By Partial Name Or Customer ID Number. - SEARCH Finds Records By Searching Any Field(s) (City, State, Etc) - UnLimited Customers (Limited Only By 128 MegaByte Max File Size). Invoices: - Use "Hand Written" Or Let GPP Produce & Print Invoices. - Allows Custom Listings Of Descriptions, Part#'s And Work Performed. - May Be Configured To Work With ZERO, ONE, or TWO Sales Tax Fields. - Sales Tax Can Be Configured To Comply With Most Laws & Regulations. - Use 1 Primary Sales Tax And Up To 96 Sets Of Secondary Tax Rates. (Eg: Primary Tax = State Tax 96 Secondary Taxes = County Taxes) - Print Multiple Copies Of Invoices (Customer Copy & File Copies). - Generates Invoice & Customer Numbers Automatically (No Duplicates) - Prints Accounts Receivable Statements With Matching Mailing Labels. - Prints A Ledger Of Invoices For Any "Time Period/Customer/Employee". - Prints A Ledger Of Invoices With Totals For Accounts Receivable. - Provides 12 "ReNameable" Sales Cats Plus 2 ReNameable Sales Taxes. - Provides 10 "ReNameable" Sets Of "Terms & Conditions". - Handles "Partial" Or "Installment" Payments. - Invoice Inventory: Pop-Up Scroll Bar Window With Sorted Inventory. - Double Checks "Calculations" On Hand-Written Employee Invoices. - Allows A Six Line "Heading" For Your Name, Address & Telephone. - Allows A Six Line Invoice Footer For Messages, Disclaimers, Etc.. - Extensive Use Of "Pop Up Windows" For Easy Use & Simplicity. - "Re-Bill" Feature Produces New Copies Of Previous Invoices. - Jump From New Invoice To New Customer (and back) By F5 Hot Key. - UnLimited Invoices (Limited Only By 128 MegaByte Maximum File Size). Income: - Prints/Displays Accounts Receivable Ledger & Customer Statements. - Prints Gross Income Breakdown By Sales Category For Any Time Period. - Prints Income Totals From Any Employee/Customer For Any Time Period. - Prints Ledger Of "Accounts Paid" For Any Time Period. - Shows Sales Tax Charged, Tax Collected & Tax UnCollected For Both Primary And Secondary Sales Taxes (For Up To 97 Taxing Districts). - Displays Or Prints Many Reports & Ledgers And Shows Averages. Estimates: - Produce & Print Multiple Copies Of PROPOSALS, BIDS, ESTIMATES And PURCHASE ORDERS From The Printing Menu. Inventory: Support Program: Provides Ability To Create/Edit Inventory Data File. Holds Up To 735 Items. Automatic "% MarkUp" And "Retail Price" Calculations. Entries Appear In The "Invoice" And "Packing List" Screens In A "Pop-Up" Scroll-Bar-Window For Automatic Data Entry. Packing Lists: Support Program: Provides Ability To Create/Edit Large "Packing Lists" (Up To 675 Items Each) For Inclusion With Each Customer's Invoice. Multiple Packing Lists Can Be Produced For Each Invoice. Program Will Create, Edit, Sort & Print Many Different "Pre-Prepared" Packing Lists Or Can Produce Custom (Use Once) Lists. Accessed Directly From The GPP Invoice Menu. "Pop- Up" Scroll-Bar "Inventory" Window Helps Speed Up These Packing List Creations. General: - ONE Rugged ISAM File Holds ALL Customer & Invoice Data & ALL Indexes - Handles Data Files To 128 MegaBytes (Approx 130,000,000 Characters). - Uses "LZW" File Compression To Produce VERY Compact BackUp Files - Print Everything "NOW or LATER": BIG Time Saver With SLOW Printers. - Word Processing Style Commands For The Majority Of Field Entries. - Use Partial "NAMES or NUMBERS" For Retrieving Records. - Find "Strong & Weak" Sales Areas For Any Or All Of Your Customers. - Find "Strong & Weak" Categories Of Any Employee's Performance. - Find "Strong & Weak" Categories Of Any Product Or Service. - Unique "BROWSE" Mode For Viewing Customer & Invoice Records. - Shows System "DATE & TIME" On "Main Menu". - PASSWORD Option Prevents UnAuthorized Access To Your Business Data. - LABELS: Prints 1 Across On Dot Matrix, & 3 Across Sheets On Lasers. - Assign Up to 20 Text Strings To "ALT+" Keys For Quicker Data Entry. - Export Customer & Invoice Data To "Comma Delineated ASCII Text Files". Then Import Those Files Into Many Well-Known Spreadsheet, Data Base, And Word Processing Applications. Create Your Own Custom Reports, Charts, Labels, Etc., And Share GPP Data With Other Business Software Programs. INTERNATIONAL FEATURES: - International Date Settings: MM/DD/YY DD/MM/YY or YY/MM/DD. - Time Settings: 12 or 24 Hour Clocks. - Internat Currency Symbols: Dollar, Pound, Yen, Frank, None, Etc. - Two International Currency Formats: 1,234.56 or 1.234,56 System Requirements: - PC/XT/AT/286/386/486 - Set "EMM386.EXE" For EMS Memory If Available - MS/DOS VERSION 3.3 OR HIGHER (6.0 or higher recommended) - May Be Run In Windows 3.1 through Windows 95 - RAM: 640k (Minimum: Needs 450k Of FREE LOWER MEMORY Without EMS) - Hard Drive Is Required - Monitor - Mono Or Color - 80 Column - Set "FILES = 25" Or More (See Your MS/DOS Manual: CONFIG.SYS) - PRINTERS - Either (or both) of the following types of printers; LASER PRINTERS: Any Hewlett Packard 'PCL' Print Language Compatible Printer HP LaserJet III, IIID, IIISi,IIIP, 4M, 4Si, 4SiMx, 4L, 4ML, 4P,4MP DOT MATRIX PRINTERS: IBM ProPrinter, Epson FX, Epson RX, Epson LQnnn, Compatible. INSTALLATION NOTES: When GPP is run from an MS/DOS Command line, efforts should be made to free up as much of the lower 640k RAM as possible. GPP requires about 450k of Lower RAM without EMS, and only about 400k with EMS. Though NOT absolutely needed, the best program speed and performance is with EMS (Extended Memory "EMM386") activated. When run from a DOS Command Line, GPP should be run alone, without any other Memory Resident programs (such as Screen Savers). If this is not possible, perform compatibility tests prior to creating "Real" data files. RUNNING IN WINDOWS: ALWAYS use SETUP.EXE to install GPP for Windows. If you wish, you can edit the Properties for both the "d:\GPP\GPP.GRP" and the "d:\GPP\GPP.PIF" files (after GPP SETUP.EXE has been run) for any PATH differences you might wish to create. But don't change ANYTHING in the settings for "Lower RAM and EMS Memory". When running in Windows 3.1, only ONE copy of GPP may be active (loaded into memory) at one time. The reason for this is because the program loads the ISAM File Drivers into a Windows "GPP Protected Memory" address. Attempting to load a second driver into the "same" protected memory address doesn't work too well (this does NOT apply with Windows 95). Any effort to run duplicate copies of GPP AT THE SAME TIME (in Windows 3.1), will result in an error message (usually error 68 - Device Unavailable) when the second copy of GPP attempts to load the ISAM File Drivers. This should not cause any damage to either GPP program, and in fact is a kind of "Safety" feature. BUT... removal of the Windows GPP "Protected Memory" parameters WILL result in corrupt data files in either (or both) of the GPP programs. NETWORK FILE SHARING: GPP is NOT intended for use in a "Shared File" mode of operation. If used in a Network System, install GPP on the primary User's hard drive, NOT on the Network Drive. Make sure ALL the "\GPP" files are accessible to only ONE (1) user at a time. If necessary, use the "PASSWORD" ReConfigure Option to avoid unauthorized "Browsers" or "File Sharers". REGISTRATION: GENERAL INVOICE SALES TRACKER - PLUS (GPP) is a "Shareware" software package. The term "Shareware" means that we provide you with a copy of the program for you to "try out" for a short evaluation time. After a few weeks of use, you are required to either dispose of the program or send us the purchase price for registration. Extended use without proper registration violates our rights under International Treaties and Copyright Laws. WARNING: The "Shareware" versions of this program are, and will remain, fully functional (it will NOT quit functioning at a certain point). But any of several safeguards "may" exist to encourage User Registration and to help detect and expose unauthorized retailing of any Shareware version of this program. User Support (by Phone, Fax or Letter) is available for anyone who needs help or information with any of our products (Registered or Not). Please have the following information whenever you contact us. The name of this program (GPP) and the serial number from the version in your posession (Registered or UnRegistered). All of the above information is shown on the "Main Menu" screen. BONUS - SUPPORT FILES INCLUDED WITH REGISTRATION: All Users who register will receive the Latest, Greatest, Improved and Debugged version of this program. Many times, they will also receive one or more free updates of MAJOR new GPP releases (those with BIG improvements) for up to one year after purchase. They are also kept advised of our other new programs, and many times are offered special discounts toward (and free Demos of) those programs. Registered Users also receive several other "GPP" SUPPORT PROGRAMS. "CONVERT.EXE" (Used with GP 3.00 and newer) to convert the older "GP" data files to new "GPP" files. ISAM FILES: The three (3) included "ISAM*.EXE" files are written by Microsoft. We are licensed to include them with our software. They are accessed from the GPP TOOLS.EXE program, and are used for Repairing, Packing and Exporting GPP Data. "TOOLS.EXE" let's the registered user do several very useful tasks related to manipulating the records in the data file, such as.... #1- EXTRACT Invoices from your data file and create assorted "smaller" data files. This allows "Date Specific" data files to be created which may hold "Yearly, Semi-Annual, Quarterly or Monthly" data. Another benefit of this feature is that it allows the User to keep their "current" data file much smaller in size. Smaller file sizes increase the program's speed during data searches and calculation routines. This routine can also free up a significant amount of hard drive disk space. #2- PACK THE ISAM File. When Records are "deleted", they are only "marked" as being deleted. They are NOT removed from the data file, and are simply over-written when (and if) you add new records. The PACK FILE routine will remove all records marked as deleted, and will readjust the reserved Index Space in the ISAM file. This will usually reduce the file size. #3- CLEAR the "Last Sale Date" & "Total Amount Spent" fields from all the Customer Records. Then Recalculate and insert new values for both of those fields based upon the information found in the Current Invoice file. This routine also offers the option of deleting customer records which have NO matching Invoice Records in the current Invoice file (No Last Sale Date and Zero Total Amount Spent). This usually happens when Invoice Records are either Deleted by an operator, or Extracted to another file. This is an easy and fast method of eliminating old, inactive, customers from your customer mailing list. #4- REPAIR THE DATA FILE. If your data file should become "corrupt", in many cases this routine can "fix" the file and make it functional again. This REPAIR feature alone makes Registration of GPP a smart choice for any person who is serious about keeping accurate business records. #5- EXPORT GPP DATA TO "ASCII TEXT FILES". Converts all of the GPP Customer and Invoice records into two "Comma Delineated, ASCII, Text Files" (one file named CUSTOMER.TXT and another named INVOICE.TXT). This then allows the GPP data to be "Imported" by many other well- known Spreadsheet, Word Processing, and Data Base programs. Through these other applications, you can then create your own custom Reports, Charts, Mailing Labels, Data Sorts, etc., and "Share" your GPP Data with many other business application programs. HOW DO I REGISTER If you wish to order by credit card, we honor VISA, MASTER CARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS, DINERS CLUB and CARTE BLANCH. This is the fastest and easiest way to have your order processed and delivered. We accept credit card orders by Phone, Fax or Mail. Print out (and fill out) the enclosed file named "REGISTER.DOC" with the following Command.... "COPY REGISTER.DOC LPT1:" <...and press 'Enter'>. The printed output will be a Registration Form. The program price will be listed on that Form. As all Prices and Features are subject to periodic changes, you are advised to call or write for the latest version number and price after January, 1996. When you have filled in the Registration Form, Mail it to us with your Payment. Make checks payable to "R. KEBER JR." in United States Funds. For credit card and other pre-paid purchases (USA only), we can ship "Over Night" for a an additional fee (see the Registration Form). Our normal method of shipping a pre-paid order within the United States and Canada is by regular 1st Class Mail. In such cases there are NO SHIPPING CHARGES. Delivery time is usually just a few days. Files included with GPP 10012-1.PKL - Sample Packing List #1 10012-2.PKL - Sample Packing List #2 CNFGPPnn.EXE - "Set-Up" (configure) "GPP" To Individual Needs. DATAFILE.OVL - Data File Template. Sample Invoice/Customer Data. GPP.DOC - This Instruction Manual GPP.EXE - Main Program GPP_2.EXE - Creates/Edits/Sorts "INVNTORY.DAT" Inventory File Also Creates/Edits/Sorts Invoice "Packing Lists" GPP_GRP.BIN - For Windows Operation GPP_PIF.BIN - For Windows Operation GPP.ICO - For Windows Operation REG.DAT - Registration Data - User's Name & Serial Number. REGISTER.DOC - Registration Form - Print This When Registering SCREEN.OVL - GIST PLUS(+) Display Screens (Compressed) SETUP.EXE - UnPacks Compressed GPP Files & Installs GPP On Hard Drive TOOLS.EXE - Data File Utilities and Maintenance. ------- Files Shipped With Registered Versions Only --------- CONVERT.EXE - Convert "Old" Style CUSTOMER.REC and INVOICE.REC Files (from our GIST-PLUS program) Into A GPP ISAM Data File. ISAMREPR.EXE - Microsoft's ISAM File Repair program. ISAMPACK.EXE - Microsoft's ISAM File Packing Program. ISAMIO.EXE - Microsoft's ISAM File Export To ASCII Text Program. ---------- Files which are created when GPP is run --------------- DATA.FIL - "ISAM" Data File (Indexed Sequential Access Method) DATA.LZW - Backup File: Highly Compressed (LZW) Copy Of DATA.FIL INVNTORY.DAT - Inventory Data File - Maximum of 735 Records GPP.CNF - Configuration File For GPP's Custom Program Settings. FILENAME.PKL - Assorted Packing List Files. PRINTER.PRN - "PRINT TO DISK" FILE WHERE PRINTED OUTPUT IS STORED. RUNWHAT.DAT - HELPS DIRECT GPP FILE "SWITCHING" AND "FLOW" CONFIGURING (SETTING UP) GIST PLUS(+) GPP.EXE has been written in such a manner as to make it very adaptable to different Tax Laws, User needs, and hardware abilities. As a result there are many features which can be changed (or "Configured"). Most changes can be made by running the GPP program, and then choosing the "RECONFIGURE" menu selection from the Main Menu. The Reconfigure section of GIST++ has a lot of on screen instructions, explanations and menus. It will create a new disk file called "GPP.CNF" which will contain a list of all the custom changes you may have selected. From then on, when GIST++ is run, it will look for GPP.CNF and (if found) will use the list of "settings" inside the file. CONFIGURABLE GIST PLUS(+) SETTINGS CONFIGURE CATEGORY | DEFAULT SETTING ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Name Of Invoice Secondary Tax Field: "OTHER TAX" And "<Original>" Secondary Tax On Sale Category #1..: Yes Percentage Rate: .01 Secondary Tax On Sale Category #2..: Yes Percentage Rate: .01 Secondary Tax On Sale Category #3..: Yes Percentage Rate: .01 Secondary Tax On Sale Category #5..: Yes Percentage Rate: .01 Secondary Tax On Sale Category #6..: Yes Percentage Rate: .01 Secondary Tax On Sale Category #7..: Yes Percentage Rate: .01 Secondary Tax On Sale Category #8..: Yes Percentage Rate: .01 Secondary Tax On Sale Category #9..: Yes Percentage Rate: .01 Secondary Tax On Sale Category #10.: Yes Percentage Rate: .01 Secondary Tax On Sale Category #11.: Yes Percentage Rate: .01 Secondary Tax On Sale Category #12.: No Percentage Rate: 0 Name Of Invoice Primary Tax Field..: "SALES TAX" Primary Tax On Sale Category #1....: Yes Percentage Rate: .06 Primary Tax On Sale Category #2....: Yes Percentage Rate: .06 Primary Tax On Sale Category #3....: Yes Percentage Rate: .06 Primary Tax On Sale Category #4....: Yes Percentage Rate: .06 Primary Tax On Sale Category #5....: Yes Percentage Rate: .06 Primary Tax On Sale Category #6....: Yes Percentage Rate: .06 Primary Tax On Sale Category #7....: Yes Percentage Rate: .06 Primary Tax On Sale Category #8....: Yes Percentage Rate: .06 Primary Tax On Sale Category #9....: Yes Percentage Rate: .06 Primary Tax On Sale Category #10...: Yes Percentage Rate: .06 Primary Tax On Sale Category #11...: Yes Percentage Rate: .06 Primary Tax On Sale Category #12...: No Percentage Rate: 0 Primary Tax On Secondary Tax.......: No Percentage Rate: 0 Page Headings (Graphics/Text)......: Use Non-Graphic Characters Use GIST PLUS(+) Letterhead........: Yes Use Pre-Printed Stationery.........: No Use "Window" Mailing Envelopes.....: No Center Invoice's 5 COMMENT Lines...: No Last Printed Line Of Invoice.......: "Sales Rep:___ Customer Rep:___" Print Customer Phone On Invoices...: Yes Starting Invoice Number............: 10,000 (Options: 3 to 9,000,000) Starting Customer Number...........: 3 (Options: 3 to 9,000,000) Copies Of Printed Invoices.........: 1 Printed Output Sent To.............: LPT1: (Options: LPT2: or DISK FILES) Sales Category #1 Is Called.......: "Sale Cat #1" Sales Category #2 Is Called.......: "Sale Cat #2" Sales Category #3 Is Called.......: "Sale Cat #3" Sales Category #4 Is Called.......: "Sale Cat #4" Sales Category #5 Is Called.......: "Sale Cat #5" Sales Category #6 Is Called.......: "Sale Cat #6" Sales Category #7 Is Called.......: "Sale Cat #7" Sales Category #8 Is Called.......: "Sale Cat #8" Sales Category #9 Is Called.......: "Sale Cat #9" Sales Category #10 Is Called......: "Sale Cat 10" Sales Category #11 Is Called......: "LABOR CHRGS" Sales Category #12 Is Called......: "SHIPPING" Payment Terms #1 Is Set To........: "PAID - CASH" Payment Terms #2 Is Set To........: "PAID - CHECK" Payment Terms #3 Is Set To........: "PAID - CREDIT CARD" Payment Terms #4 Is Set To........: "PREPAID ORDER" Payment Terms #5 Is Set To........: "COLLECT ON DELIVERY" Payment Terms #6 Is Set To........: "NET CASH - 10 DAYS" Payment Terms #8 Is Set To........: "NET CASH - 30 DAYS" Payment Terms #9 Is Set To........: "DUE ON RECEIPT" Payment Terms #10 Is Set To.......: "SPECIAL PRE-ARRANGEMENT" Heading Text - Line #1............: "YOUR COMPANY'S NAME & ADDRESS" Heading Text - Line #2............: "To Insert Your Own Data" Heading Text - Line #3............: "In These 6 Lines Of Text," Heading Text - Line #4............: "Use The RECONFIGURE Selection" Heading Text - Line #5............: "On The Main Menu. Then On Next" Heading Text - Line #6............: "Menu, Use 'Header Information." Footer Text - Line #1.............: "THANK YOU FOR YOUR BUSINESS" Footer Text - Line #2.............: "To Insert Your Own Data" Footer Text - Line #3.............: "In These 6 Lines Of Text," Footer Text - Line #4.............: "Use The RECONFIGURE Selection" Footer Text - Line #5.............: "On The Main Menu. Then On Next" Footer Text - Line #6.............: "Menu, Use 'Footer Information." International Dates...............: MM/DD/YY (Option: DD/MM/YY YY/MM/DD) International Times...............: 12 Hour Clock (Option: 24 Hour Clock) International Money Symbols.......: $ (Option: Pound,Frank,Yen,None,etc.) International Fraction Designator.: . ("." = 1,234.56 "," = 1.234,56) Any (or all) of the above items (and a few "Sub-Items") may be changed as often as you like. You may use "RECONFIGURE" over and over, as it will simply "Read" and then "Re-Write" the "GPP.CNF" file. PROGRAM SECURITY: It may take some time and experimentation to finally get GPP set up exactly the way you want it to be for all your needs. But other Users can reset and change those same settings without your knowledge. Also, if someone should delete the file called GPP.CNF, all of your settings will be gone, and the program will reset to it's default settings. As a precaution against this, we suggest that you set up the program configuration as "you" want the program to operate. Then make (and keep on file) a printout of the configured settings. There is a menu choice for printing a list of these settings on the ReConfigure Program Menu. You will find those printouts VERY helpful the next time you need to check the settings or reconfigure the program (for an updated version) again. Also, you may wish to activate the GPP ReConfigure "PASSWORD" option from the ReConfigure Menu. This will prevent unauthorized users from looking at your business data, and will prevent unexpected "Sharing" of your GPP files over a network (sharing WILL corrupt your GPP DATA.FIL). As another precaution, make a backup copy of the file named "GPP.CNF" which contains all of your GPP reconfigure settings. SETTING UP GPP ON YOUR HARD DRIVE: All of the GPP files are "matched" to each other by version number. They MUST ALL BE from THE SAME VERSION or the program will not work properly. The best and easiest method (always) to "Set-Up" or "Update" GPP is to run the (Registered Only) GPP Program called "SETUP.EXE". "SETUP.EXE" will NOT erase or delete any of your existing GPP data files, but will replace all of the other GPP files. If installation is on a Hard Drive, "SETUP" will simply check to see if a Sub Directory called "\GPP" already exists on that drive. If it does, it will warn you and then give the option to "Quit" or "Continue" operation. If this is a brand new installation (you have never used this program before) and you get the warning that "\GPP" already exists, then QUIT the SETUP program and find out what files are already in the sub- directory called "\GPP" on your hard drive. You may then have to make adjustments to avoid confliction problems between GPP and whatever files are already present in that sub-directory. In the case of an "Update" installation, "\GPP" WILL already exist from the previous installation, and you will "Be Warned". Enter a "C" to "Continue" Installation. SETUP.EXE will then "peek" into the target Drive and Sub-Directory, and then do whatever is necessary to avoid "over-writing" your existing DATA.FIL, INVNTORY.DAT, PACKLIST.PKL or GPP.CNF files. A very small file named GPP.BAT will be placed in the ROOT Directory. This file is created for those Users who may not know their way around a Hard Drive too well. Simply typing "GPP" from anywhere in the system will automatically switch to the "\GPP" sub directory and run "GPP.EXE" for the operator. SETUP will also check to see if there is a "Boot-Up" file called "CONFIG.SYS" on the target drive. If CONFIG.SYS does NOT already exist, then SETUP will create such a file for the operator. The "CONFIG.SYS" file will only contain one very important command... "FILES=25" If there already is a "CONFIG.SYS" file, then "SETUP.EXE" will examine it's contents. If a "FILES=" command to does NOT exist it will be inserted into the file. If the "FILES=" command DOES EXIST, it will be examined and reset (if necessary) to a minimum of "25" files. This command is what determines the maximum number of disk files that the computer may "Open" (access) at one time. On most systems, the default setting is only for "8" files. It is "VERY IMPORTANT" for the "FILES=25" command to be set to at least 25 or more files or GPP will run into a "Brick Wall" as it tries to create, open or access "one" file too many. GETTING STARTED: Once you have gotten all the GPP files installed, all that is necessary to RUN GPP is to BOOTUP and Enter the command..... GPP <and press enter>. GPP will then load into memory. If this is a brand new installation, there will be no data file ("DATA.FIL") for the program to access. So you will be asked if you wish to use the "SAMPLE" data to try out the program. If you answer "Y" (for yes), GPP will create a data file called "DATA.FIL", and the file will contain SAMPLE Customer & Invoice records. If you answer "N" (for no), GPP will create the same data file (DATA.FIL), but it will contain NO sample records (it will be an EMPTY file). Such a file is ready to start accepting "FOR REAL" data from you, about your real customers and their billing transactions with your firm. Once a data file has been established, GPP will then present you with the "Main Menu" screen. The sample data files have been included to make things a bit easier for you if you just want to "try out" this program. They will save you the trouble of entering your own data just to see just what GPP can do, like printing various reports, performing calculations, and many other things. They also demonstrate many things which might otherwise never occur to you (such as alternative uses for various data fields, features which are NOT immediately obvious, and so on). Use the Sample Data to "Get A Feel" for how the program works. That's the easiest and fastest way to learn (most fun way too). Run through all the different Menus and features, and try everything. Find records, add new records, edit records, delete records. Print out some labels, directories, statements, reports and invoices. Make all of your mistakes with the sample data files and learn while using "them" instead of your "Real" data. Try "Re-Naming" the "Sales Categories" and "Terms & Conditions" to settings which will apply best to your individual type of business. Selecting Sales Category Names is perhaps the most important step in setting up GPP for your own use. A LOT of thought should be given to the Names BEFORE you begin to enter your own "for real" data. REDIRECTING PRINTED OUTPUT: GPP allows you to send any or all of your "Printed Output" to any of three destinations; Line Printer #1 (LPT1:), Line Printer #2 (LPT2:) or to a disk file named "PRINTER.PRN". With this system, you can have a Laser Printer on LPT1: and a Dot Matrix Printer on LPT2: (or vice versa), or you can have one single printer (of either type) connected to either of the two LPTn: printer ports. When set to "Disk File", everything normally sent to your printer will be sent (at top speed) to a disk file named "PRINTER.PRN" instead. You may "ReDirect" the "Printed Output" from either the GPP PRINT MENU or from the RECONFIGURE MENU (the Printed Output selections). If you have a SLOW PRINTER, and don't want to spend a lot of time "waiting around" for your printer to slowly print each and every page, then set the printed output to go to the DISK FILE (named PRINTER.PRN). Or if you have a LOT of information to print (such as ReBilled Invoices or Customer Statements), set GPP for DISK FILE output. When set to DISK FILE, GPP will perform ALL printing operations extremely fast (sometimes so fast that literally, "If you blink..., you'll miss it"). Then, when finished with your GPP work session, press the "F10" Key to exit GPP. Before exiting, GPP will ask if you wish to print "PRINTER.PRN" (the disk file which contains all of your printed output). If you answer "Yes", printing will begin immediately. But before you answer "Yes", make sure that your printer is completely "ready to go". Make sure it is "On Line", has plenty of paper, and is "Electronically" set for the "Top Of Page" position. Once activated, printing will continue non-stop until ALL of the data in PRINTER.PRN has been printed. If you decide to exit GPP without doing the printing, GPP will then ask if you wish to DELETE the PRINTER.PRN file. If you answer "No", the print file will be left unchanged. If "Yes", the file will be deleted. Every time you start up GPP with the "Print To Disk" option in effect, GPP will look for the PRINTER.PRN disk file. If it finds the file on your disk, GPP gives you the option of "Appending" (adding new output to the end of the existing file), or "Over-Writing" the file. Over-Writing the file will KILL all of the old printed output, replacing it with any newer printing you may produce (be VERY careful with this). If you are not sure about what is stored inside of the "PRINTER.PRN" print file, you can "Read" that file using any text editing program (or Word Processor). Or, if you don't have a text editor program, you can read it by entering the MS/DOS Command "TYPE PRINTER.PRN" (but have your "Trigger Finger" on the "Pause" key to keep the text from scrolling out of sight). TIME SAVER: You may use the MS/DOS program named "PRINT.COM" to print PRINTER.PRN (see your MS/DOS manual - PRINT.COM). Using PRINT.COM will print PRINTER.PRN in the "BACKGROUND" (in a Multi- Tasking mode), allowing you to use your computer for other (non printing) tasks at the same time as PRINTER.PRN is being printed. But be aware that PRINT.COM is a "Memory Resident" program, and it stays partially loaded in your RAM Memory after it has been run. As GPP needs an absolute minimum of 425k of FREE RAM to run, you may have to "ReBoot" your computer to get rid of PRINT.COM, freeing up RAM Memory, to run GPP again. If you wish, you may view or edit the "PRINTER.PRN" file with most word processors or text editors, as it is only an ASCII TEXT file with a few Printer Control Codes embedded in the text. But if you edit this file, be cautious about adding or deleting lines or linespaces in the file (unless you delete whole pages of printed data). In general, if you Add a new line on a page, you should also Delete a line from somewhere else on the same page. The number of lines per page should remain constant. Changing the number of printed lines per page can "mess up" the linespacing on ALL of the following pages of print, especially if you are using the "Simulated Formfeed" ReConfigure option. DISCOUNTS & NEGATIVE NUMBERS: To enter a "Discount" (or any other kind of number which is meant to be subtracted), the value must be entered as a NEGATIVE NUMBER... (eg: - 26.54 ...dash + the number). While on this subject of Negative Entries, some of our users have expressed confusion about how to go about eliminating Invoices which were entered in error, or which are "UnCollectable". Some have compounded the error by adding yet another New Invoice (identical to the original), but with ALL Negative Entries, to "off-set" the original Invoice's values. Such a practice will only help to create a large "Can Of Worms" and produce some very confusing printed reports. Instead, if the values on the Invoice in question have not yet appeared in any reports sent to your Bookkeeper, Accountant or Government, then simply DELETE IT (as if it never was entered in the first place). But if it has already been "reported", then print a couple of copies of that invoice, mark them as "VOID", write a brief explanation of "Why They Are Void", and then delete the invoice from GPP. Keep one copy of that invoice in your "Hard Copy" file for future reference, and give the other copy of the void invoice(s) to your accountants. They will then adjust your books and transactions accordingly. PARTIAL PAYMENTS: Partial Payments (or Credits) can be applied to invoices during Invoice Editing when the "Paid In Full" field is left without an entered date. If the "Paid In Full" field is left without an entered date (left UnPaid), you will be offered a chance to enter a "Partial Payment" toward the end of the Invoice Editing process. Partial Payments should be entered as normal (positive) numbers (NOT Negative numbers) as the program will automatically perform all required mathematics. When a "Partial Payment" entry is made, some new figures will be displayed "On Screen" which will show the "Last Payment Amount", the "Last Payment Date", The "Total Amount Of Payments Received" (Credits), and the "UnPaid Balance" due on that invoice. These same "Partial Payment" figures will then appear at many other places throughout the program as this same invoice is accessed by other routines. "Accounts Receivable" screens and printed reports, "Invoice" screens and printouts, printed "Customer Statements", and "Sales Income" screens and reports will all reflect the amounts and the changes made by any and all of the partial payments. If you use the "RE-BILL" routine, then all "Partial Payments" and "UnPaid Balances" will be IGNORED and set to zero as newer invoices are created. In other words, the OLD "Invoice Total" will be the NEW Invoice's Total Due. When the final "Payment" is entered and the "Balance Due" becomes zero (or less than zero - no "Credit Balance"), a window will appear asking if you wish to "Mark This Invoice As Paid In Full". If "YES", then ALL "Partial Payment" and "Balance Due" fields will be reset to zero, and the invoice will be marked as "Paid In Full" using "Today's Date". If you manually enter a date into the "Paid In Full" field when there is still a "Partial Balance Due", another window will appear asking if you wish to "clear" all partial payment entries. If "YES", then ALL "Partial Payment" and "Balance Due" fields will be reset to zero, and the invoice will be marked as "Paid In Full" using the date which you entered. At the current time, GPP will NOT keep track of "Multiple Payments" and payment dates (beyond the last payment). It simply keeps track of the Total Paid, Total UnPaid, and Balance Due for each invoice. Extensive tracking of Multiple Payments (Dates, Amounts and Check Numbers) can be performed manually in a "Hard Copy" (printed on paper) Accounts Receivable File. GETTING RID OF SAMPLE DATA IMPORTANT: When you are ready to erase the "SAMPLE" data files and begin entering "Real" data... DO NOT just "Delete" every sample record inside of each file. To COMPLETELY ERASE THE DATA, select the "RECONFIGURE" selection from the Main Menu. Once "Reconfigure" is loaded, there is a menu selection for ERASING the DATA file on the Configuration Menu which make this task simple and fast. Once you have ERASED the sample data files, when GPP.EXE is run again, it will (once again) ask if you want to use the "SAMPLE" data files. Answer "N" (for NO). By doing this, GPP will create a brand new (and empty) data file for you to begin entering your own "For Real" Invoice & Customer data. After you have erased the Sample Data file, immediately set up your own new starting Invoice and Customer ID Numbers while still in the ReConfigure program. Once one record has been saved to your new data file, the customer ID Number is locked in and it can't be changed (except to a higher number). DATA ENTRY & CURSOR CONTROLS FIELD EDITING -- CURSOR MOVEMENT: The following page or so describes the methods used in GPP to enter data into "Fields". "Field" is just another word for a "Blank Space" to be filled in with information. Example: "NAME:____(field)_______" The following information has been put there to make life (and GPP) easier for you. Some of it will describe "Short-Cut" methods of entering data, while some of the others will answer some questions before you even think to ask them. INSERT KEY: Toggles between "Insert" & "Overwrite" of characters. Cursor changes shape for each mode. DELETE KEY: Deletes character at cursor position. BACKSPACE.: Deletes character to left of cursor position. LEFT ARROW.: Move cursor left one space. RIGHT ARROW: Move cursor right one space. UP ARROW...: Jump To Previous Field. DOWN ARROW.: Jump To Next Field. ENTER KEY..: Jump To Next Field RETURN KEY.: Jump To Next Field TAB KEY....: Jump To Next Field CTRL LEFT..: Move cursor left one word. CTRL RIGHT.: Move cursor right one word. HOME KEY...: Move cursor to beginning of field. END KEY....: Move cursor to end of field entry. PAGE UP....: Jump to top field. PAGE DOWN..: Jump to bottom field. F-1 KEY....: Exit "Current Routine" and return to the previous menu. F-5 KEY....: Varied purposes. Watch Bottom Center of Display Screens. F-10 KEY...: Exit from the GPP program. ALT F1-F10.: Paste Various User's Text Strings Into Text Fields. ALT 1-10...: Paste Various User's Text Strings Into Text Fields. YES/NO QUESTIONS: In the majority of cases, when GPP asks a question to be answered by a "Y" or "N", pressing the "Enter" key is the same as entering a "Y" (for Yes). But there are a few places where the reverse is true (Enter = "N"), and still a few other places where you MUST press a "Y" or "N", and the "Enter" key won't be accepted. It sounds confusing, but (believe it or not) it works well and makes good sense in practice. However, when in doubt, just press the "Y or N" keys. DATE & TIME FIELDS: If you find that the "TIME & DATE" displays are NOT accurate, then the problem is NOT with GPP. The problem is that "YOUR" Computer System's "Clock & Calendar" are not properly set. The "Reconfigure" program has a menu selection to reset your System time and date to current settings. TIMES: The Reconfigure Program offers either "12" or "24" Hour Clocks. DATES: The Default Date format is: MM/DD/YY. Other International Date Formats of DD/MM/YY or YY/MM/DD may be set from the Reconfigure Menu. If you use any Date Format other than the default (USA) setting, GPP will expect you to already have your Computer System's "COUNTRY" setting selected. For example: If you select the United Kingdom's date format of "DD/MM/YY", then GPP expects that you already have a command line of "COUNTRY=044" in your CONFIG.SYS file. See your MS/DOS Manual for more information on setting "COUNTRY" settings. If you DO NOT have the "Country" set correctly you will produce a Warning Error as GPP tries to reset your System Date with a date format different from the one which was set when you Booted Up your machine. In such cases, the System Date & Time WILL NOT be reset, but the Date/Time FORMAT which you selected WILL BE accepted for GPP use. Anywhere in GPP where you enter a date, it will always be checked for validity. If the date is invalid, a "Warning Window" will appear on screen, and the date will not be accepted. INVOICE DATE FIELD: To enter "Today's Date" (your System Date) in this field, just "exit" from this field by ANY method WITHOUT entering any kind of date entry (press ENTER, TAB, UpDn, PgUp/PgDn, F5 Key, etc.). To mark the "Paid Field" as "Paid" using "Today's Date", just press the "F5 Key" (watch the bottom center of the screen). The OLDEST date GPP can handle is January 2, 1950 The NEWEST date GPP can handle is December 31, 2049 The "Missing Day" (Jan. 1, 1950) is reserved for special GPP program use. This effectively gives GPP a 100 year date range. SEARCH KEYS: When GPP asks you to enter some information to search for a particular record, if asking for an ID Number, for the best results try to enter the entire number (not just part of it). If asking for a Customer's Name, for the best results only enter the first few characters of the last name (about 4 or 5 characters). This is usually enough to locate most names easily (first names should NOT be used). However, in some cases it would be easier to type in some extra characters to speed up the customer search. Example: If looking for "SMITHERS" (and you know you have a fair number of "SMITH"s in the file), to avoid wading through ALL of the "Close Match" records you might enter "SMITHE" instead of "SMI" as your search "key". If GPP is unable to find any record which matches the "Search Key" information which you provided, an "on screen" message will appear saying so. You then have the option of trying again. However in some routines, GPP will present the "Next Closest Match" for your inspection, and it will then ask if that record is correct (as in the "Browse" mode). ATTACHING TEXT STRINGS TO "ALT+" KEYS The Reconfigure menu offers a selection called "TEXT ASSIGNED TO KEYS". This feature lets you "Attach" various lines of text (each up to 67 characters long) to up to 20 different keys on your keyboard. Then, by pressing those keys, those same lines of text will magically appear, error free, in any of the GPP Text fields by just pressing two keystrokes. We call these keys "ALT+" keys because they are activated by pressing down your "ALT" key (like a shift key) and then pressing another key at the same time. So pressing your ALT + "1" keys will type whatever text string you attached to the ALT+1 keys in the ReConfigure menu. This routine also provides the ability to print a compact list of what text is assigned to which keys for operator reference during data entry. "CUSTOMER DATA ENTRY" SCREEN "LAST SALE DATE" & "TOTAL AMOUNT SPENT" FIELDS: These two fields are located on the "Customer Data Entry Screen". They are "calculated", "filled in" and "maintained" automatically by GPP. They cannot be changed or edited by an operator. As you enter "New" invoices (or Edit or Delete existing Invoices), these fields will be updated with the new data automatically. You can always determine if you can change a field entry by the color of the text in the field. A "White" field entry MAY NOT be directly edited, while a "Yellow" field entry CAN be easily changed at anytime. The GPP "Support Program" called "TOOLS.EXE" offers the capability of "Clearing & Recalculating" the "Last Sale Date" & "Total Amount Spent" fields in each customer record. The new data placed into these fields will be based upon the Data in the Invoice Records currently in the file. TOOLS.EXE is only provided with "Registered" versions of GPP. Feature also offers an option to DELETE all customers without any invoices. TWO "NAME" FIELDS: GPP provides two "Name" fields for entries. The Last/Business name field contains 30 characters, and the First name field contains 20 characters. Combined together, the two fields total a maximum of 50 characters for names. But only the first 30 characters of the combined two name fields will be printed on many GPP printouts. For this reason, we suggest that you keep all "First Name" field entries as reasonably short as possible. In "Name" situations such "Chain Stores" or Branch Offices, where many different addresses have the same company name, use the following method. For this example, let's say we have 100 branch offices of "BOB's BANK" which we need to enter into GPP. Enter the Branch Office's ID Number (eg: HACK-2047) into the GPP "Last Name" field, and enter "BOB's BANK -" into the GPP "First Name" field. Then mailing labels and invoice/statement addresses will appear as... "BOB'S BANK - HACK-2047" By using this method, customer name searches are done by the "Branch Office ID Number" instead of the business name. This method speeds up data entry, helps avoid billing errors, and eliminates much confusion. After a "Customer" or an "Invoice" have been assigned an "ID number", and the record is saved to a disk file, the ID Numbers and Names are "Keyed" to each other (they are permanently "MATCHED" to each other). Once a customer record is created, you can then produce invoices charged to that customer record. Each Invoice contains a copy of the Customer ID Number and the Customer First & Last Name. If, at a later time, you edit and change the name in the Customer Record (for spelling corrections), only the new invoices will show the changes in the name. Older Invoices will still have the old name, unless you edit and re-save each of the older invoices. CAUTION: Older versions of this program did NOT allow ANY editing of the customer name fields. But due to many requests from our Users, we have eliminated this restraint. But this new ability is meant ONLY for spelling corrections and other minor name changes. Do NOT go changing "SMITH" to "JONES", as the Customer ID Numbers will then be duplicated for BOTH of those accounts on the Invoices. This might cause confusion and errors on some printed lists and Customer Statements. A quick way to know which fields can be edited is to look at the color of the print in the fields. Yellow text CAN be edited, while White text may NOT be edited. Data in the White fields is usually "calculated". The "ATTN OF:" field can be used for "Attention Of" information, or it can be used as part of a two line street address. If this field is left empty, it will NOT be printed as a "blank" line in your printed addresses, as the fields normally printed below this line will move up to fill it's place. For International Users there is a special invisible feature combined into the "City" and "State" fields. If your equivalent abbreviation for "STATE" is MORE than 3 characters then do the following. Try to fit your "STATE" abbreviation into the same field as your City, and enter NOTHING into the "State" field. Example: "City Or Town: KANGAROO TOWN, NSWL" If this is done (and Comma (",") after the "City/Town" line, will ignore the "State" field, and will simply attach your Zip Code to the end of the printed line. Your printed output will look like "KANGAROO TOWN, NSWL 1234". TERRITORY & SERVICE ROUTES: If you have a type of business which assigns specific areas of a County, State or Country to different employees, this field will allow you to print Customer Address Lists, Telephone Lists, and sets of Mailing Labels by the territory number. If you DO NOT use Routes or Territories, then you can either ignore the "Territory" field (and leave it empty), or use it for some other type of "Coding System" for printing "Special" lists which contain only specific groups of customers. Perhaps "WholeSale" verses "Retail" customers, or Large, Medium and Small customers, each of whom may require a different kind of advertising by mail. There are many possibilities, and you may set up anything that suits your needs (special tax areas, etc). These possibilities are even farther enhanced if you use the SAME "Code Number" in your "Employee Number" field. SALES TAX 96 SETS OF SECONDARY TAX CODES & NAMES If you Reconfigure GPP to use TWO Sales Taxes (Reconfigure Menu - Taxes Selection), then two extra fields will appear in the Customer Data Entry Screen; "TAX CODE NUMBER" and "TAX NAME". These two fields are meant to be used ONLY when you have a need to charge some of your customers with MORE than ONE Sales Tax (eg: State and County Taxes, or National and Provincial Taxes, etc.). You will only be able to make an entry in the TAX CODE field, as the TAX NAME field will automatically be filled in for you. This will help you to be certain that you have entered the correct Tax Code for each customer. The DEFAULT Tax Code for ALL customers is "1", even if certain customers are Tax Exempt. This is necessary to keep GPP compatible with some of the "older" versions of this program. To keep from charging tax to a Tax Exempt Customer, just answer "NO" when asked about Sales Tax during INVOICE Data Entry. If you operate where you have NO Sales Taxes (South Pole?), or if you are exempt from collecting any Sales Tax, just set the NUMBER OF TAXES to "0" (Zero) in the ReConfigure Sales Tax Menu Selection. If you only have ONE Primary Sales Tax (and NO Secondary Taxes), then set the NUMBER OF TAXES to "1" (One) in the ReConfigure Tax Menu. For both a Primary AND a Secondary tax, set it for "2" (Two) taxes. If you only have one Primary, and one Secondary Tax, then we suggest that you use Secondary Tax #1 (one) for your Secondary Tax, as that Tax Code Number is the DEFAULT number when entering new customers in the Customer Data Entry Screen. The values for each set of Secondary Taxes (Tax Names and percentage rates for calculations applied to each of your Sales Categories) are set in the ReConfigure Program. GPP can keep track of up to "97" sets of different Sales Taxes for you (1 Primary Sales Tax, and 96 Secondary Sales Taxes). But.., why so many..? There are places where this large of a number may not be large enough for "some" of our Users. Very big states (Texas, California, Florida, Alaska, etc.) have a large number of counties, and in many cases, EACH of those counties has a legal right to collect a LOCAL Sales Tax of their own. And the same is also true for many large cities throughout the world. If you do business in such a place, to cover the whole state you have to collect and keep track of many different sets of Sales Taxes. To get a printed breakdown of the Gross Income, the Total Sales Tax, and the Collected and UnCollected Tax for EACH of the 96 taxing areas, use the "PRINTING MENU - INVOICE LISTS" in the GPP program. In the Invoice Lists Menu there is a selection for printing lists of invoices from any Time Period and for any Tax Code Number. To get a printed breakdown of the "Primary" Sales Tax, use the SALES INCOME menu selection from the GPP Main Menu. THE "TELEPHONE NUMBER" FIELDS GPP includes a seven digit "Country Code" field with each telephone number. The country code is like an "Area Code", and is used when direct dialing most international calls. The "Country Code" field will accept ANY kind of character, and so it may be used for other telephone related purposes as well as Country Codes. But, if the Country Code does NOT contain a NUMERIC VALUE greater than zero, it will NOT be printed on GPP Invoices as part of the telephone number. TELEPHONE CntryCode AreaCode PhoneNumber Extension FIELDS [-------] (---) ---------- ------- Examples: "[011-44-] (075) 233-8888-- England" "[FAX----] (111) 111-1111-- 24 Hour" "[PAGER--] (222) 222-2222-- 1234---" "[Hrs 9-5] (333) 333-3333-- Office-" The Telephone Number fields have a special feature in that seven digit (USA) entries may be made as "123-4567" or as "1234567", and the "-" will be inserted automatically. Also, the USA Telephone field format "(111) 111-1111" does NOT always look normal when used in other countries. So we have added an option in the ReConfigure program ("Printed Output" selection) to turn "ON" or turn "OFF" the printing of the Customer's Telephone Number on printed Invoices. This feature was added because many International Users have expressed that the USA Telephone format is okay for use around their own office, but it is very confusing to their customers when printed on the invoices. "INVOICE DATA ENTRY" SCREEN CATEGORY OF SALES GPP breaks your sales down into 14 different categories of "Income", ALL of which can be renamed by the User by using "RECONFIGURE". Sale Category #1 Sale Category #6 Labor Charges Sale Category #2 Sale Category #7 Shipping Charges Sale Category #3 Sale Category #8 Secondary Sales Tax Charges Sale Category #4 Sale Category #9 Primary Sales Tax Charges Sale Category #5 Misc. CASH REGISTER SALES If you use a Cash Register for sales (as well as employee invoices), reserve one of the "Sales Categories" for "Cash Reg", and make an entry in that "Sales Category" at the end of each day's business. The easiest way to do this is to create a "Customer Record" for your own office by entering your firm's name and address in the customer file, or by creating a customer record with a "Name" of "CASH REGISTER SALES" (or something similar). Then, at the end of each day, create an Invoice for "CASH REGISTER SALES" (or whatever) and enter the amount from the Cash Register. If you have several Cash Registers, issue each Cashier an Employee ID Number, and use the "Employee Number" field on each invoice to keep track of "Who" turned in "How Much" on "Which Day, Week, Month, etc.". INVENTORY ITEMS: When you get to the "Quantity/Description/Price" section of each invoice, you may note that at the bottom, center of the screen a message appears when the curser enters any of the "Description" fields ("F5=INVENTORY"). If you hit the F5 Key, a "Window" will appear inside of which can be listed up to 735 different Inventory items. Each item will have a "Description", a "Retail Price", and a "Sales Category" number. The items "can" also be in "Sorted" order if you wish. When the "Highlighted Bar" covers the item you want, just press the "Enter" Key, and all of that information will be automatically inserted into the proper Invoice fields. To "Exit" without selecting an entry, just press the "ESC" key. To create (or change) your own Inventory List, use Main Menu Selection "R" (Reconfigure). When the Reconfigure Menu appears, select the "Inventory" Menu selection. When creating or editing Inventory Lists, all numeric entries MUST be made using the USA numeric format (1,234.56 - NOT 1.234,56). However, if you Reconfigure GPP to use a comma (",") as a symbol of your numeric fractions, then the various inventory items will appear as you wish in the GPP program itself, and on GPP printouts. But the Inventory List must be prepared using the USA ("1,234.56") format. All Inventory Data is saved in a disk file named "INVNTORY.DAT". If you have a large Inventory list, it would be a good idea to make a Backup of that file, and to keep a "Hard Copy Printout" of the list as well. As "INVNTORY.EXE" is a "support" program for GPP, and is NOT necessary for the "full use" of GPP (descriptions, price & category can always be filled in manually in "UnRegistered" versions). However, this limitation ONLY applies in the GPP program itself. In both the Registered and UnRegistered versions Users may enter all (or up to) 735 Inventory Items if they wish. All the Inventory data will be properly saved in "INVNTORY.DAT" and displayed in GPP. But only the first 25 items will be accessed by GPP in the UnRegistered Versions. PACKING LISTS: "PACKLIST.EXE" may be accessed from within the GPP Invoice Menu Screen by simply pressing a "P" as your menu selection. Most businesses will seldom need to use a large packing list to display sold items, as the invoice itself usually provides enough space for this information on the large majority of sales. But this feature is included for firms (such as building contractors) who need to itemize larger orders, containing scores of different items, parts, parts "Kits", or "Bill Of Materials". It gives you the ability to list hundreds (or even thousands) of different items on a single invoice. The Packing List routine allows you to create large, complicated, sorted, packing lists which you can use over & over for different customers as needed. Or you can simply create unique (use it once) Packing Lists for special orders, and then "Clear" (Erase) your entries when finished. The printed Packing List will show up to 48 sale items per printed page, and will handle up to 675 different entries per packing list. The Packing List routine will automatically adjust the number of printed pages to the number of "Line Item" entries which you make. Multiple copies may be printed. You can create MORE than one Packing List for each invoice, one for each Sales Category if you need to. By doing that, you could list more than 6,750 different sale items per invoice. Each Packing List you create has a numbered ID (Pack List #1, 2, 3, etc.,) which appears in the page headings. When you use a Packing List, enter something like "PACKING LIST ENCLOSED", or "SEE ENCLOSED PACKING LIST #3", in your "Invoice Description" field. Then enter the Total Amount from the printed Packing list in the "Invoice Price" field, and a quantity of "1" in the "Invoice Quantity" field. If you send a packing list with the invoice, it is a good idea to print extra copies of both, and store them in a "Paper Hard Copy" file for future reference. Then delete that Packing List from your disk. By doing this, you will not have countless older packing list files stored on your drive, thereby freeing up valuable disk space. If you wish to use "Multiple Line Descriptions" for some of your Packing List's items, we suggest the following method be used. #1- Enter ALL of your sale items as "Single Line" entries first. In other words, Enter The "Quantity, Description & Price" for each item, but don't enter the extra line descriptions right now. #2- Once ALL of your single line entries are typed in, then go to the Packing List Menu (press Esc) and SORT your new entries. After that, return to the packing list by pressing the EDIT key. #3- Move your cursor to where you wish to insert "blank" lines, or to where you want to insert the "Multiple Line Descriptions", and then press your "ALT + I" keys. A blank line will be inserted just above your cursor position. You can then use those blank lines to either "Set Apart" different groups of sale items, or to enter your multi line descriptions. Once all this has been done, DO NOT SORT this Packing List file again. #4- If you wish to enter a Customer's Name and Address (or "Ship To" address) on the Packing List, "Now" would be the best time to do this. Move the "high-lighted" bar into line #1. Then use the ALT+I keys to insert as many blank lines as you need for this address information. Then enter the Name and Address into the first few "Description" fields (as shown on the sample packing lists). The above method avoids having any multiple line descriptions (or SHIP TO addresses) "scrambled" by the sorting routine, as all records are sorted by the data entered in the "Description" fields. Sorting will also eliminate any blank lines you may have inserted to separate different groups of items. INVOICE SCREEN - AUTOMATIC "QUANTITY" PRICING In the Invoice "LABOR CHGS" & "SHIPPING" fields, you have the ability to calculate "Quantity" math problems such as..... 12.47 Hrs at 14.37 each = ? 33.76 Square Yards at 29.3954 each = ? As soon as you move the cursor into the LABOR field, at the bottom, center of the screen a message saying "F-5 = Quantity" will appear. That simply means that if you have a problem like one of the above, just hit the "F-5" key. When you do, an "On Screen Window" will appear to take your "Quantity" and "Price Each" information. GPP will then automatically insert the correct total into the field, and the "Window" will disappear. THE "SALES TAX" FIELDS: Sales Tax Rates and Laws vary greatly all over the world. As a result, we had to program these fields with this in mind. GPP offers the ability to handle NONE, ONE or TWO different Sales Taxes. This choice is offered to you in the ReConfigure program in the menu selection named SALES TAX SETTINGS. If you choose to use 1 or 2 Sales Taxes, you may assign each of these taxes the appropriate name for the area in which you operate. Those new Tax Names will then appear on all screens and printouts from then on. The "Primary Tax" has the special ability to apply a Tax Charge on the Secondary Sales Tax (commonly referred to as "A tax upon a tax"). The factory (default) settings for the Sales Tax Values are ".01" (1%) for the Secondary Tax (Tax Code 1), and ".06" (6%) for the Primary Tax. Default Taxes are applied to Sales Categories 1 through 11, with NO TAX on Sales Category 12 (Shipping). Any (or all) of those values can be changed from ".0000" through ".9999" (from NO tax to 99.99% tax). As you Enter "New", or Edit "Old" Invoices, when you reach either of the Sales Tax fields, a small window will appear saying "Tax? (Y/N)". If you type a "Y", the Tax WILL be calculated and charged to the Invoice, based upon the Sales Tax Percentage Rates which you set up as Primary Tax values and/or as a Secondary Tax Code value. In situations where you have set Sales Tax rates, but are now entering a "Tax Exempt" invoice (such as for a church), then just type "N" (for NO), and Tax will NOT be applied to ANY Sales Category in the invoice. CLEARING THE DECKS FOR ACTION ***** GETTING RID OF THE SAMPLE DATA RECORDS ***** Go to the Main GPP Menu. Choose the selection for "RECONFIGURATION". On the Configuration Menu there is a selection for "Erasing" the Data files. Use it to erase BOTH of the SAMPLE Customer & SAMPLE Invoice Data files. Then, when GPP is run again, a brand new (and empty) data file will automatically be created for you (answer "NO" when asked by GPP if you wish to use the SAMPLE data files). CUSTOMER NUMBERS: The Configuration Menu also lets you set your "starting" Customer Number and Invoice Number. But this may require a bit of thought first. We designed GPP in such a manner that the Customer "should" never see or know what their customer number is. The number will never appear on any invoice or statement unless YOU intentionally enter it into a Description Field somewhere. So why go out of your way to make your Customer Numbers large and complicated? Why not just start with a "10" instead? Smaller numbers are usually easier to remember. But if you wish, you can set your starting customer number anywhere from 3 to 9,000,000 (auto-generated customer numbers will max-out at 10,000,000). IMPORTANT: Set this number BEFORE entering any records in the Customer file. Once you enter the first customer address record, that record's ID Number becomes the starting point for ALL newer records (that number is incremented by "1" for each new customer record). You CAN NOT set a lower range of Customer ID#s once the 1st customer record has been saved. GPP will never allow any duplicate Invoice or Customer Numbers to exist in the same file at the same time. The default starting "Invoice Number" is "10,000", but you can change that (by using Reconfigure) to any number you wish (except for numbers lower than "3" which are reserved). But, if you sometimes use external (hand written) invoices which are pre- printed and already contain their own Invoice Numbers, then make sure that you set your GPP starting Invoice number 10 to 20 thousand HIGHER than any of the numbers on your pre-printed paper invoices (to avoid "Duplicate Invoice" numbering problems at a later date). Remember to leave yourself room for getting "Re-Prints" of those paper invoices with higher ranges of invoice numbers printed on them, when you run out of your current batch. GPP produces unique Invoice Numbers by starting with the "beginning" Invoice Number which you set, and then finding the next highest unused number in the file. It will "skip over" any "used" numbers. If an Invoice is Erased, Deleted or Removed from the file, it's number WILL BE REUSED. Because of this, Registered Users who use "TOOLS.EXE" to "extract" older records from a large Invoice File, should also RESET their "Starting Invoice Number" to the next NEW Invoice Number generated BEFORE the file extraction routine is used. Otherwise, all the extracted invoices will have their Invoice Numbers made available for re-use on new invoices. You can use your "Backspace" key to erase the automatically generated Invoice Number, and then enter whatever number you wish to use (to use Pre- Printed, Pre-Numbered Invoices for example). But if you try to enter a number which has already been used, a warning window will "Pop-Up" and the Invoice Number will NOT be accepted (NO DUPLICATES ALLOWED). PRINTING MAILING LABELS GPP automatically switch's back and forth to different kinds of gummed labels as you switch back and forth from DOT MATRIX and LASER printers. When printing with a DOT MATRIX printer, use the "ONE ACROSS" box or roll of gummed labels (15/16" deep by at least 3" wide). When printing with a LASER PRINTER, use the "THREE ACROSS" sheets of gummed labels (1" x 2 5/8" size - Example: Avery Dennison #5160). GPP will NOT print in "TWO or THREE ACROSS" mode with a DOT MATRIX printer, and will NOT print in "ONE or TWO ACROSS" mode with a LASER PRINTER. RE-BILL - REPETITIVE INVOICES: Instead of having to manually re-enter each of those invoices by hand every time, they can select "RE-BILL", and then enter a range of dates from which GPP should select invoices for re-billing (like last month for example). GPP will then display each invoice within the date range (in alphabetical order) and ask a "Yes/No" question about whether or not to "Re-Bill" that customer, that amount, again. If "Yes", then a new invoice will be created that is identical to the older one with the following exceptions; It will have a new invoice number, it will have the Invoice Date set to "Today", and it will be marked as a completely "UnPaid" invoice (any Credits or Partial Balances from the old Invoice will be ignored). You are then offered a "YES/NO" option of EDITING that invoice. If "YES", you will be able to change ANY of the invoice fields from "Invoice Date" to the end of the invoice (Invoice Name, Address, ID Numbers and Employee Numbers may NOT be changed). You will then be offered a "YES/NO" opportunity to "PRINT" the new invoice. If "YES", printing will begin immediately. If "NO", we suggest that you make a note of the Invoice Number if you wish to "Edit" the Invoice, and then print it at a later time. Having a list of the Invoice Numbers for editing/printing will speed up that process, and avoid having to "BROWSE" through the entire Invoice File. NOTE: Many firms find that they seldom have to print an invoice which was generated by the "RE-BILL" process. Instead, they just send out "Customer Statements" which lists all the un-paid Invoices by Invoice Number, and then shows the "Total Amount Due" (when "Statement" is used with the Acc/Rec Printing option). For most customers this is adequate, especially when nothing changes on the invoices except the Invoice Number and Date from invoice to invoice. But if you need to print out individual invoices for your customers, in addition to the Customer Statements, you may do so. Either way, GPP will get the job done easily for you. REBILL - HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS: Print a "List Of Invoices" for the same "Date Range" BEFORE you use the "RE- BILL" function. Then print another Invoice List AFTER using "RE-BILL" (but have the ending date in the date range equal to TODAY's date for the second list). By comparing the two Invoice Lists, you can usually spot any errors or omissions which may have happened during the "Re-Bill" process. Also, we suggest that the entire "RE-BILL" session be performed in ONE long session instead of two or more shorter sessions. This can greatly reduce confusion caused by different SYSTEM dates and trying to remember just where you left off in the last session. RECOMMENDED PROGRAM OPERATION & BACKING UP The suggestions given here are meant for routine use only. If your firm produces large numbers of new customer and invoice records each day, then you should make backup copies of your data files more often. In general, never leave GPP "On Screen" while your computer is unattended for extended periods (lunch, meetings, etc.). Always exit with the F-10 key if you will be away from your desk for awhile. Press the F-10 key TWICE for a "Fast, No Nonsense, Get Me Out Of here, Exit". This insures against the possibility of file damage from power outages, or from other people exiting GPP improperly while trying to use your computer. This small, quick action adds a very large measure of security to your data files. It is usually only necessary to "Backup" during your F-10 exits from GPP once or twice a day (usually at the end of each workday). Exceptions would be if you have just entered/edited a large number of invoices or customers. Always back up major amounts of work in the event of problems. Once a week (dependent upon your work load), make your "Insurance Backups" onto removable floppy disks or to Hard Drive Backup Tapes. IMPORTANCE OF MAKING BACKUP FILES: GPP is a very complex program. It was written using a combination of several different programming languages, and contains many very advanced programming routines. During a proper exit (F-10 key) GPP does quite a large number of tasks related to closing all files properly, restoring the RAM memory, and in general, just tidying up after itself. The new ISAM Files used in this program are much more rugged and reliable than some other types of data files we've tried. But they're still NOT "Bullet-Proof". If you, or someone else, intentionally and repeatedly "bypass" those "Tidying Up Tasks" (by just shutting off the computer), you risk doing serious damage to the data files. It's also a good idea to wait at least one minute after you exit from GPP before you Shut Off your computer. This will allow your Disk Cache Program (if present on your system) the time to complete updating your disk files. Many "Caching" programs will only update disk files when the computer is NOT very busy (usually within one minute after your last keystroke). If you "Cut Off" the power before the last file update takes place..., possible lost data. Quick "Power Off" practices are NOT very good for your hard drive either. Any type of improperly closed file can cause "Broken Chains" and "Lost Clusters" to appear on the disk. This can "mess up" your disk's "File Allocation Table" (FAT), and eventually lead to a hard drive crash. That's one of the BIG reasons why "CHKDSK.EXE" is included with MS/DOS, and why Macintosh has all but eliminated the "Off" switch from their machines. Because of this possibility, we can't stress strongly enough the importance of keeping "Backup" copies of your data file. By "Backup" files we don't mean just the compressed backup file that GPP gives you the option of creating upon an exit (DATA.LZW). While that file is usually fine as a "Backup", it is very easy to overwrite it with a badly scrambled or "corrupt" file, leaving you with nothing but useless files on your disk. So by "Backup Files" we mean other "insurance" backup copies of your "DATA.FIL" files kept on other disks or in different Sub-Directories, or in constantly updated "Archives". The "Reconfigure" program has a menu selection called "BackUp Files" which makes creating, copying or converting "Backup Files" very easy. It is in your own interest to make backups very often. If your data files get too big to fit onto one backup disk, you can backup VERY large files (or whole directories) to "multiple" smaller disks by using the DOS files called "BACKUP" and "RESTORE". See your DOS or MS/DOS instruction manual. But a much faster and dependable method is to use a "Tape Backup" about once a week. BATCH FILE BACKUPS (See your DOS/MS-DOS Manual - "Batch Files") "We" use a simple system for making "our" backups. We create another Sub Directory branching off from our GPP directory called "BACKUPS". C:\GPP 'Original Directory Set Up C:\GPP\BACKUPS 'New Directory & Sub-Directory Set Up Then (while in our normal GPP sub directory) we create a "BATCH" file which we call "BKUP.BAT". Here's how it's done from a System Screen Prompt. Substitute another drive letter for "C:" if you are not using drive C:. Help Directions (Not Commands) ECHO OFF ------------------------------- MD C:\GPP\BACKUPS 'Creates "BACKUPS" Sub Dir COPY CON: BKUP.BAT 'Creates "BKUP.BAT" file DEL C:\GPP\BACKUPS\DATA.OLD 'Typed Command in "BKUP.BAT" REN C:\GPP\BACKUPS\DATA.FIL DATA.OLD 'Typed Command in "BKUP.BAT" COPY C:\GPP\DATA.FIL C:\GPP\BACKUPS 'Typed Command in "BKUP.BAT" COPY C:\GPP\GPP.CNF C:\GPP\BACKUPS 'Typed Command in "BKUP.BAT" COPY C:\GPP\MORETAX.DAT C:\GPP\BACKUPS 'Typed Command in "BKUP.BAT" COPY C:\GPP\INVNTORY.DAT C:\GPP\BACKUPS 'Typed Command in "BKUP.BAT" COPY C:\GPP\*.PKL C:\GPP\BACKUPS 'Typed Command in "BKUP.BAT" ^Z 'Hit F6 Key: Close BKUP.BAT BKUP.BAT will make current backups, as well as keep the "Next Older" set of data files at your fingertips. It also backs up the Inventory List, all of the Packing List files, Secondary Tax Settings, and your ReConfigure file. You can also add other command lines to the Batch File to "Freshen" any of several types of Archived, Compressed files, which in turn, can then be copied to a floppy, disk as an "Insurance" backup. Example..... ECHO PUT BACKUP DISK IN DRIVE A: 'Command stored inside "BKUP.BAT" BEEP 'Command stored inside "BKUP.BAT" PAUSE 'Command stored inside "BKUP.BAT" COPY GPP.PIP A: 'Command stored inside "BKUP.BAT" ^Z And all of this can be done every time you exit GPP by just entering the command "BKUP". HARD COPY PAPER BACKUPS In addition to "Disk File" Backup copies, we strongly recommend that you also keep a file of "paper" Backups. Print out fresh copies of your Customer Address/Phone list on a regular and frequent basis. Do the same with Invoice Lists, at least on a monthly basis. Also do this with Accounts Receivable. For extra copies of the actual Invoices, there are several methods. Either use a copy machine to make a "File Copy" of every GPP Invoice, or use "Two Part Carbonless" computer paper to print an original and one "File Copy" at the same time (for dot matrix printers only), or use CNF-GPP.EXE to set GPP to print two or more copies of each invoice. In the event of a disaster (fire, flood, computer theft, System or Hard Drive Crash, etc.), the rusty (but tough) old filing cabinet with it's drawers full of "old fashioned" paper Invoices can still "save the day". WHAT FILES DO I NEED TO BACKUP? When you decide to make "Backup" copies of your records, you really only NEED to make copies of DATA.FIL (or DATA.LZW) and INVNTORY.DAT. Also, if you have created Packing Lists which you want to re-use, you should backup the "*.PKL" (packing list) files which you wish to keep, and delete all the rest of the PKL files. (All this assumes that you are already using a backup of the other GPP programs). Beyond that, if you are using more than one or two sets of Sales Taxes, you might want to backup "MORETAX.DAT" in which the values for each Sales Taxing Authority are stored. HOW TO KEEP YOUR ACCOUNTANT HAPPY Most small businesses have an Accountant or Bookkeeper who handles the Accounting Needs of the firm on a "Monthly" or "Quarterly" basis. To provide your Bookkeeper with accurate information, and to help assure that the "Balance Sheet" does indeed "Balance", will require some "Common Sense" chores and a lot of business information from you. GPP can handle the Business Information, but "you" get stuck with doing the "Chores". To help you with these "Chores", we are including this list of items which, if done properly, will "Simplify" your accountant's task of balancing your books. And "Simplicity is The Mother of all Low Accounting Fees" ($$$)! STEPS TO FOLLOW: #1- Make sure that ALL invoice entries and payments for the given month have been entered (and properly dated) BEFORE doing any printouts for your Accountant. #2- BANKING: Make sure that you deposit ALL money received during a month by the "Last Banking Day" of that month. If you miss making the last monthly deposit in time for the bank statement, then include a note to your bookkeeper showing the undeposited amount in your possession (for the same time period). Do not count any money received for sales from the current (new and incomplete) month. #3- GPP PRINTOUTS: At the close of the last business day of each month (or after the last monthly Mail Delivery), print out the following reports for your bookkeeper. RUN "GPP" AND GO TO... MAIN MENU > SALES MENU > SELECTION #1 - ALL INVOICES IN TIME PERIOD Print the values shown on this screen by pressing your F-5 Key. This printout shows all new business for the given time period (broken down into Sales and Tax Categories. It also shows the PRIMARY SALES TAX Values (charged, collected, taxable, exempt, etc.). If you also collect ONE (1) Secondary Sales Tax, this printout shows the values for that tax too. But if you collect MORE THAN ONE Secondary Sales Tax (for several different tax authorities), this printout will show ALL of the assorted Secondary Sales Tax values, COMBINED TOGETHER and TOTALED. SALES MENU > MENU SELECTION #5 - ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE VALUES This printout shows all of the amount of money owed to you as of "Today". It is NOT possible to get a printout showing Acc/Rec figures for a few weeks ago. So it's very important to try to be as prompt as possible in doing this printout, to avoid having any NEW unpaid amounts from the new (incomplete) month added to the Acc/Rec values from last month. NOW GO TO... MAIN MENU > PRINT MENU > INVOICE LISTS > SELECTION #1 - ALL INVOICES Prints a ledger of ALL invoices produced within the given time period. This list is arranged by Customer Name, Date, Invoice Number, and assorted purchase values. The other list you printed from the Sales Menu contains the same numeric values, but breaks the total income down by Sales Categories as opposed to Invoice by Invoice. INVOICE LISTS > SELECTION #4 - ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE INVOICE LIST Prints a ledger of all UNPAID INVOICES as of TODAY (Right Now!). INVOICE LISTS > SELECTION #6 - INVOICE LISTS BY SECONDARY TAX CODE # You only need to print this list if you collect TWO or MORE Secondary Sales Taxes. This routine will produce Invoice Ledger Sheets for each Secondary Sales Tax Code Number, and will calculate the necessary Sales Tax values for each Tax Code Number (total sales in that tax district, tax charged, collected, exempt sales, etc.). #4- OTHER ITEMS: Along with these printouts, also bring your bookkeeper the following items. *** Your Bank Statement complete with your canceled checks. *** Your Check Book, or at least the check stubs from your check book, for the given time period. *** Any government forms or reports you may have received in the mail during the given time period. *** All receipts for purchases of merchandise or services for business use during the given time period. *** Automobile "Use" Logs showing business mileage. *** A list of all undeposited Cash & Checks in your possession from the associated time period. *** Total amounts of CASH left in "Petty Cash" or as a "Draw" for daily cash register operations. These are the things most bookkeepers usually require. But your particular Bookkeeper or Accountant may require some additional or different information from you. NOTE TO BOOKKEEPERS GPP was designed primarily for use in firms where the great majority of sales are NOT "Installment Payment" sales. But, in spite of this, the program DOES handle Partial Payments, and it DOES keep track of the "Last Payment Date" and "Payment Amount", and "Balance Due", and "Acc/Rec" for "Customer Billing" purposes. But it does NOT show those partial payments as "Income" in the months in which the payments are actually received. Instead, ALL income from each invoice will be shown on various reports as money received on the original Invoice Date. As a result, for "Tax Purposes", it is best to treat each invoice (Paid & Unpaid), as though it were "Cash Received" on the date when the Invoice was originally created. Calculate any Sales Tax and Income Tax based upon Original Invoice Dates and Invoice Totals rather than upon the "Paid In Full" or "Last Payment" dates. <<<<<<<<<<*************************************>>>>>>>>>> TROUBLE SHOOTING - FIXING PROBLEMS GENERAL INVOICE SALES TRACKER(++) Do These Tasks In The Order They Are Written To make sure that problems are NOT being generated by something other than GPP, do a COLD-BOOT (Turn OFF machine, wait a few seconds, turn ON again). Run the DOS file named "CHKDSK /F" (not SCANDISK) to check your hard drive for other problems (Lost Clusters, Broken Chains, Corrupt F.A.T., etc.). Those problems can occur during a "Power Off" with "any" active files on screen. Also check your amount of FREE memory, shown at the bottom of the CHKDSK screen display. If less than 450k of FREE memory, there's NOT enough free memory to run GPP. Remove other unnecessary programs from your memory (see your MS/DOS Manual - CHKDSK.EXE). If you have a 286 or newer computer (with MORE than 1 MEG of RAM), use MS/DOS 6.0 or newer and enter the following command in your CONFIG.SYS file. "DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386 RAM". This command allows GPP (and many other programs) to use more of your System Memory for data storage. NETWORKS: GPP is NOT a "Sharable" program over Computer NetWorks. Even one attempt to use GPP in Shared (multi-user) mode will corrupt the DATA.FIL. To avoid this problem, use the ReConfigure Menu's PassWord Option to avoid unauthorized Sharing or Browsing over the network. Also, always install GPP on the "Primary User's" hard drive, and NOT on a network drive. AUTOMATIC STARTUP: If GPP is being run from some other Menu or Master program, this could be the cause of your problem. If possible, run GPP directly from any MS/DOS command line or in Windows. To have GPP run automatically whenever the computer is turned on, enter the following command line as the LAST LINE in your AUTOEXEC.BAT boot-up file; C:\GPP.BAT When GPP was installed, it created GPP.BAT in the root directory of what ever hard drive GPP was installed on. If you installed GPP on another drive than "C", you will need to copy GPP.BAT from the root directory of that drive to the root directory of drive "C" for the above "Auto-Start" command to work properly. Get your NEWEST copy of GPP and RE-install GPP again just to make sure you don't have a bad copy of any GPP file. Your existing data and GPP settings won't be changed if the re-installation is done using the GPP INSTALL.EXE or SETUP.EXE programs as we intended. But to be safe, make backups first. IF PROBLEMS PERSIST #1- Run the GPP program and choose "R" (ReConfigure) in the Main Menu Screen. When in "ReConfigure", Go to step #3. #2- If GPP will NOT run or load, then run the GPP ReConfigure program directly, with the command "CNFGPP20" (from a DOS Command Line). #3-In the ReConfigure Menu, select #15 "BACKUP DATA FILES". Then chose selection "A" on the next menu "CONVERT LOCAL DATA.LZW FILE TO DATA.FIL". If this routine runs okay proceed to step #4. If you get a "Can't Find File" error message, then you apparently NEVER MADE A BACKUP of your data file when you exited from GPP with the F-10 Key. Proceed to step #5. #4- Press the F-10 Key to return to GPP. If GPP runs okay, your problem is fixed. But your new file may NOT be "Up To Date", as it only contains data up to the last time you "backed up" while exiting from GPP. To find out how old that data is, look in the "C:\GPP\ File Directory", either with the DOS command "DIR C:\GPP" or by using the Windows "FILE MANAGER". Check the TIME & DATE on the file named "DATA.LZW" for "How Old" your data is. If GPP still won't run correctly, you had a corrupt DATA.LZW file too (usually means that you Backed Up the bad file). Proceed to step #5. #5- Run ReConfigure again. Choose Selection #5 (GPP-TOOLS). On the TOOLS Menu choose "F" (File Maintenance). If GPP runs okay your problem is fixed. If not, DATA.FIL file can't be salvaged. Go To Step #6. #6- You must have an "Insurance Backup" on a floppy disk which you made at an earlier date. If you didn't make an "Insurance Backup" of your data, then proceed to step #7. Run ReConfigure again. Choose Selection #15 (Backup Files). Then choose Selection "C" (Convert Insurance Backup From Another Drive). After this routine is finished, if GPP runs okay your problem has been fixed. But your new file may NOT be "Up To Date", as it only contains data up to the last time you "backed up" (or copied) DATA.LZW to your Insurance Disk. To find out how old that data is, look in the Insurance Backup disk's File Directory", either with the DOS command "DIR A:" or by using the Windows "FILE MANAGER". Check the TIME & DATE on the file "DATA.LZW". #7- If you have reached this far in these instructions, without success, then "DATA.FIL" can NOT be saved, and you have lost all of the data which was contained in it. The only way remaining to recover your lost data would be to restore DATA.FIL (or DATA.LZW) from a "Tape Backup" or some other hard drive backup source. To eliminate the current problems being caused by your bad file, delete it (DOS Command: DEL DATA.FIL) and then run GPP again. That will create a new (and empty) DATA.FIL. GPP will then run without problems again. ********************** "Run Time Errors" The term "Run Time Error" refers to any error message which appears on the screen while the program or application is running. They are usually a bit cryptic and blunt, but can provide some valuable debugging information for both "you" and the programmer. Usually, these error messages will look something like.... "error 07 in module GPP1 at address 2388:A8BC" "Hit any key to return to system:" To a programmer, such messages tell exactly what type of problem happened (that's what the "07" code means), and exactly where in the source code the problem occurred (the module reference and address number show where). But NOT all of these error codes mean that there is something wrong with the program. It's very possible (or even probable), that something may not be set properly in your computer or it's hardware, and that's why the error message (and program crash) occurred. The following is a short list of Error Codes (and their meanings) which "you" may be able to "fix" by making some simple adjustments to your computer system or it's attached hardware. "ON SCREEN - RUN TIME ERROR MESSAGES" CODE MEANING or DEFINITION ----- ---------------------------------------------------------------- 07 Out Of Memory (remove other memory resident programs) 24 Device Timeout (Printer/Drive/Modem/Keyboard/etc. "Not Ready") 25 Device Fault (Printer/Drive/Etc. "Not Available") 27 Out Of Paper (No Paper In Printer) 51 Internal Error (MS/DOS 3.3+, 640k Ram, FILES=25+, Remove TSRs) 52 Bad File Name (Restart Machine/ Reinstall GPP/ Run DOS "CHKDSK/F") 53 File NOT Found (Missing or Erased File - Run DOS's "CHKDSK/F") 54 Bad File Mode (run TOOLS.EXE - File Maintenance) 57 Device I/O Error (Monitor/Keyboard/Printer/Modem/Drive/Driver/Etc.) 61 Disk Full (default drive is out of free space) 62 Input Past End (DATA.FIL - Run TOOLS.EXE "File Maintenance") 63 Bad Record Number (DATA.FIL - Run TOOLS.EXE "File Maintenance") 64 Bad File Name (Restart Machine/ Reinstall GPP/ Run DOS "CHKDSK/F") 67 Too Many Files (Set CONFIG.SYS File To "FILES=25" or higher) 68 Device UnAvailable (Drive/Printer/Keyboard/Etc. is NOT "On-Line") 70 Permission Denied (Restart Machine/ Reinstall GPP/ Run "CHKDSK/F") 71 Disk NOT Ready (Removable Disk NOT In Drive, Drive Door Open, Etc.) 72 Disk Media Error (Bad Disk: Run DOS "CHKDSK/F"/ Restart Computer) 81 Invalid Name (Restart Computer/ Reinstall GPP/ Run DOS "CHKDSK/F") 82 Table Not Found (DATA.FIL - Run TOOLS.EXE "File Maintenance") 83 Index Not Found (DATA.FIL - Run TOOLS.EXE "File Maintenance") 84 Invalid Column (DATA.FIL - Run TOOLS.EXE "File Maintenance") 85 No Current Record (DATA.FIL - Run TOOLS.EXE "File Maintenance") 86 Duplicate Value In Unique Index (Run TOOLS.EXE "File Maintenance") 87 Invalid Operation (DATA.FIL - Run TOOLS.EXE "File Maintenance") 88 ISAM File Corrupt (DATA.FIL - Run TOOLS.EXE "File Maintenance") TROUBLES & PROBLEMS Other Things To Check - Make sure that the version of DOS you are using is version 3.3 or higher (or Windows 3.1 or newer). Older versions won't work properly. - Make sure CONFIG.SYS is set as described in the previous pages. - Not enough free RAM memory. Remove all other Memory Resident programs from memory BEFORE running GPP. This program will require about 450k of free RAM to operate when using all of it's features. - Many "Screen Saver" programs can clash with GPP, caution is advised. - Your Printer is "NOT" ready for action, or may be incompatible. On some (very few) computers this problem will simply "Hang Up" the computer UNTIL the printer "IS" ready for action. But on most, a warning "Printer Not Ready" window appears. - Not enough free disk space left. The ISAM data file used by GPP is a bit different than most of the files which you may be accustomed to. To begin with, the file is fairly large in size even when there are NO RECORDS stored in the file (has lots of overhead in the header in the form of INDEXES, each of which would usually be a separate file). It does not slowly grow in size as you add each new record. Instead, it grows in occasional "Chunks" of 32,720 bytes each, reserving disk space for new records BEFORE they are entered. In most cases GPP will give an "On-Screen Warning" when the free disk space begins to get close to critical (before there is a problem). PROBLEMS WITH PRINTED OUTPUT - Make sure that you are using a correct kind of printer for GPP. This program is designed for use with several of the more prominent, more commonly used, printers for MS/DOS PCs. However, that doesn't mean it will work with just about anything you connect to it. The GPP Program is specifically designed for use with the following brands and models of printers. If you don't have one of the brands listed, then it's possible that your brand of printer may be able to "Emulate" one of these listed brands, and therefore qualify as a "Compatible" printer. *** IBM ProPrinter *** Epson RX *** Epson FX *** Epson LQnnn *** All Hewlett Packard (Level III and newer) Laserjet Printers "Daisy Wheel", "Serial Port" or "non-compatible" printers just won't work properly (or some won't work at all) with GPP. Make sure your printer is plugged into your "Parallel Port" #1 or #2. Many computers have more than two Printer Ports. A Printer designed to be plugged into a "Serial Port" will not work with GPP. If you use TWO different printers, then make sure they are both connected to the LPT1: and LPT2: ports on your computer. Many other brands of printers have been reported to work well with GPP if they can be set up to "Emulate" any of the printers listed above. FORMFEEDS: If the Formfeeds do not stop properly at the top of the next page, then run RECONFIGURE (on GPP main menu) and then choose the Reconfigure Menu Selection for "Printed Output". The first item in the "Printed Output" screen is where you tell GPP just what kind of printer you have, and at which parallel port is it connected. GPP will send different sets of printer Escape Codes for lasers and dot matrix printers, so it's important that you have these GPP settings set correctly. On the next menu is a selection for "FORMFEEDS" which will allow you to USE or NOT USE a "Simulated" Formfeed. This option is ONLY for use with "Not So Compatible" or "Not Properly Set Up" dot matrix printers. It will have NO EFFECT if used with a laser printer. If you are using a dot matrix printer with GPP, and the formfeed is either not happening at all, or is moving the paper too far (or not far enough), chances are that either you don't have your printer set up properly for use with GPP, or that it is NOT compatible. A "Standard" dot matrix formfeed is the American Standard Code (ASCII) "012", which is the FormFeed Escape Code used by Epson & IBM Dot Matrix Printers (CHR$(12) in Basic). On compatible printers, sending this code will produce a true formfeed to the top of the next page. The "Simulated" Formfeed is simply a "Repeat Linespace" until the end of the current page is reached. This selection allows you to adjust the number of "Printable" linespaces per page (60 to 66). Hopefully, this adjustable feature will correct most formfeed problems with dot matrix printers. If you still have a formfeed problem, then make sure that your printer controls are set to a linespace size of six lines per inch (66 lines per 11" page). Also, try adjusting or eliminating any Top & Bottom Page Margins, Automatic Skipping Over Page Perforations, Automatic Page Breaks, Auto Page Numbering, etc., which your printer may be set up to auto-insert into each printed page (see your printer instruction manual). We need to have your printer set up in "Very Dumb" mode, where it doesn't add or do much of anything on it's own except to print what GPP tells it to, anywhere on an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper. DOT MATRIX GRAPHICS: Make sure the printer's "SETUP SWITCHES" are properly set to print "EXTENDED IBM/EPSON GRAPHIC" characters (see printer manual). In HP Laser Printers, this is usually the "PC_8" character set. If you find that on some dot matrix printouts you are getting printed lines of full "E's, D's" or other characters in place of solid lines or boxes, then one of two things are happening. Either you don't have your printer set up to print "IBM Extended Graphic" characters (see the Instruction Manual for your printer), or your printer is not capable of printing Graphics. Copyright (C) - Robert F. Keber Jr. Distributed By: TypeRight Software All Rights Reserved The term "IBM" is a registered trademark of the IBM Corp. The term "DOS" is a registered trademark of the IBM Corp. The term "EPSON" is a registered trademark of the Epson Corp. The term "PROPRINTER" is a registered trademark of the IBM Corp. The term "MS-DOS" is a registered trademark of the Microsoft Corp. The term "WINDOWS" is a registered trademark of the Microsoft Corp. Term "HEWLETT PACKARD" is a registered trademark of The Hewlett Packard Corp.