********** PC Check Book version 1.00 ********** I. INTRODUCTION PC Check Book version 1.00 provides a way for the user to manage checking account transactions. There are three basic types of transactions: Check transaction, Deposit transaction, and Withdrawal transaction. The system is in charge of managing these three types of transactions. There are also features to support archived transactions. In addition, there are utilities to: set the date, set the time, and a calculator. PC Check book also contains a real-time clock in the upper-right corner, and it supports the MicroSoft mouse standard. II. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS In order to run PC Check Book, you must have a CGA, EGA, or VGA color monitor. In addition, you need 256K of free conventional computer memory in order to run PC Check Book. You also need a blank diskette or a hard drive to store PC Check Book transactions and the system files. A mouse is optional. A dot-matrix printer is optional; it must support condensed mode printing. III. SYSTEM FILES These are the files that are used by PC Check Book version 1.00: CHECK.EXE - The system executable file PASSWORD.CHK - The encrypted password file CHECKS.CHK - The current transactions BALANCE.CHK - The current checking account balance 01-93.CHK - Archived transactions for the month of January, 1993 4. THE PASSWORD SCREEN The opening screen is the password screen. The shareware version of PC Check Book supports the password: cats. Case is significant. This password can be changed using the menu item "Change Password." For now, type : cats If you misspell the password, a 30 second siren will sound alerting all the people around that you have unsuccessfully tried to enter the system. The letters typed in are replaced by the '*' character. If you make a mistake typing in letters use the BackSpace, Del, or Ctrl-Y keys. 5. THE MAIN SCREEN (SCREEN1) Screen One of PC Check Book version 1.00 contains 8 basic commands. Use the function keys F1..F7 or Alt-S to select a basic function. You will notice the mouse cursor in the upper-left corner of the screen if you have a mouse driver running on your computer. You can also use the mouse by placing the mouse cursor over the desired function's button and then depressing the left mouse key. 6. THE CHECK INPUT SCREEN By pressing button [F1], you will reach the check input screen. If you are using a mouse, the cursor will disappear if you try to place the mouse cursor over the check box. The left mouse key can be used in place of the [Enter] key and the right mouse key can be used in place of the [Esc] key during any input editing session. Enter the appropriate information and as soon as you enter Memo field 2, the check will be saved in CHECKS.CHK. You can press the [Esc] key at any moment to return to the MAIN SCREEN without saving the check. The check input box features automatic date suggestion and it writes out the amount of the check in the "Dollars" field. The system will only print-out the correct "Dollars" amount for amounts less than $99999.99. You can edit the "Dollars" field for amounts greater than this limit. 7. THE BALANCE OPTION By pressing [F2] from the MAIN SCREEN, you will call up a box that contains the current balance for the checking account. Press any key or the right mouse key to make the balance box disappear. If the file BALANCE.CHK does NOT exist, then the system will display a balance of $0.00. 8. THE PRINT-OUT OPTION By pressing [F3] from the MAIN SCREEN, you will call up a two-item menu box that allows you to print the transactions in the file CHECKS.CHK either to the screen or to the printer. In order to print to a printer, the printer must support condensed mode printing via the Ctrl-O control character. If the print-out does NOT appear correct, then your printer does not support this protocol. If the printer is not ready or isn't connected, then you will get a warning box. Press [Esc] to go back to the two-item menu or press the right mouse key. To print out to the screen, select the 'Screen' menu option. You will see all your current transactions displayed (17 at a time) on the screen. Notice the TRANS number on the left hand side. You will use this to enter the transaction you wish to view in detail or use it to determine which transaction to delete (see DELETE A TRANSACTION) below. Enter 0 and you will see the first transaction in detail. Press [PgDn] and you will see the next 17 transactions. Press [PgUp] to see the previous 17 transactions. Enter [Esc] to go back to the two-item menu. Press [Esc] again to return to the MAIN SCREEN. 9. DEPOSIT/INTEREST PAYMENT/TRANSFER Press [F4] from the MAIN SCREEN to get the D/I/T box. It will ask you for the amount and you can enter two lines of text as a memo/reminder. The amount entered will be added to your balance. Press [Esc] or the right mouse button at any time to make the D/I/T box disappear. The D/I/T box automatically suggests the computer date as the date which the transaction took place. Use this option only when you deposit money or when you receive interest or transfer money to the checking account. 10. ATM WITHDRAWAL/SERVICE CHARGE Press [F5] from the MAIN SCREEN to get the W/S box. It will ask you for the amount and you can enter two lines of text as a memo/reminder. The amount entereld will be subtracted from your balance. Press [Esc] or the right mouse button at any time to make the W/S box disappear. The W/S box automatically suggests the computer date as the date which the transaction took place. Use this option only when you withdraw money from your checking account or when a service charge is imposed on the account. 11. DELETE A TRANSACTION Press [F6] from the MAIN SCREEN to get the "delete a transaction" screen. You can then enter a number at the input box and a transaction will appear. If you wish to delete the transaction, then press [Enter]; otherwise, press the [Esc] key. You will see the corresponding button depress and the transaction will disappear. You can also select the action to be taken by positioning the mouse cursor over the appropriate button and pressing the left mouse button. If the transaction deleted was a check, a withdrawal or service charge, the amount will be added to the balance. If the transaction was a deposit, the amount will be subtracted from the balance. Select the /Clean Database to remove the deleted transaction from the CHECKS.CHK file. Once deleted, a transaction cannot be recalled. Press [Esc] or the right mouse button to return to the MAIN SCREEN. 12. QUIT Press [F7] from the MAIN SCREEN to exit to the MS-DOS prompt. 13. ALT-S Press [Alt]+[S] to bring up the SPECIAL FUNCTIONS menu. Press [Esc] or the right mouse button to return to the MAIN SCREEN. Press [Enter] or the left mouse key to select the highlighted option. XX. \Clean Database This option removes deleted transactions from the CHECKS.CHK file. It displays the blinking word "working..." while it cleans the file. The diskette should NOT be write-protected. In addition, there must be sufficient space for the utility to work correctly. XX. \Archive This option brings up a dialog box asking for the month and the year of the transactions you wish to archive. The corresponding transactions are removed from the CHECKS.CHK file and placed in the file MM-YY.CHK. For example, suppose January just ended and you are now in February. You wish to remove January transactions from CHECKS.CHK, but you want to save them somewhere. You enter 1 for the month and 93 for the year in the dialog box. The transactions for January, 1993 are placed in the file 01-93.CHK and removed from the file CHECKS.CHK. You can use the other archive options to access the January, 1993 archived transactions. XX. \Print Archive This option brings up a dialog box. It asks for the month and year of the archived transactions you wish to print. You can exit from this dialog box by pressing [Esc] or the right mouse key. If the archive is not found, then another dialog box will appear alerting you of the fault. If the printer is not connected or not functioning properly, you will see a box pop-up telling you to press [Esc] or the right mouse key. If all went well, you should see the printer printing out the archive. XX. \View Archive This option allows you to view an archive on the screen. The output is the same as [F3]\Screen. You must tell the dialog box which month and year archive you wish to view. You can enter [Esc] to return to the menu. XX. \Delete Archive Suppose you no longer need an archive. You can delete it from the DOS prompt by using: C> del MM-YY.CHK You can also delete it from within the system by using this option. Simply enter the month and year of the archive you wish to delete. If found, a dialog box will appear alerting you that the archive was deleted. Press the appropriate button or mouse key to return to menu. XX. \About ... The "About..." box simply states the PC Check Book version and a copyright notice. Press any key to return to the menu. You can also exit from this dialog box by positioning the mouse over the button and pressing the left mouse button. In either case, you will see the button depress and then the "About..." box will disappear. XXI. About the author Jose A. Duarte 7922 Ledon Way Midway City, CA 92655-1528 PC Check Book is Copyright 1993, Creative Computer Programming (C) 1993, Jose A. Duarte If you like it, send a donation to the above address. Suggestions are also welcome. How can I improve the application? Let me know!!!