* Welcome to Banker!!! ******************** Overview ********* This manual describes *Banker*. Banker is a program designed to help you keep an accurate track of your bank accounts. Before going any further, if you are reading the file 'banker.doc', I must tell you that there is a much more comfortable to read this documentation : use the Amigaguide format. As you may have noticed, in the same directory is a file 'banker.guide'. If you have an Amigaguide reader (the most powerful is Amigaguide but if you don't have it, see your public domain library for this, there are plenty of them in there!), you will enjoy immensely the ability to browse through this documentation using Hypertext... Banker's main features include : 1. Entries can be entered as you choose it. 'Amount' and 'Dates' are the only fields that are obligatory. You are free to enter the other ones if you wish (*note The New Entry Window::.). 2. Three output formats are available : Display Format, Print Format and Export Format (*note Output Formats::.). You might want to display on your screen only a limited number of information, but may want to print the database fully (on a 132 columns printer for example) and be able to save your file under another form understandable by another program... 3. Full 2.0 graphic user interface using MUI, the Magic User Interface 4. Banker is fully localized (i.e. can speak several languages : French, English, Italian, Dutch, etc... *note Installing Banker::.). 5. Maximum use of the 2.0 OS features : IffParse(), ReadArgs(), amigaguide.library, etc... 6. User-definable autosave. No more data wasted because of an unexpected power loss : Banker will save your file automatically. Banker's legal status ********************** This program is shareware and (C)1992 by Cédric BEUST. You may redistribute it freely provided : 1. No benefits are made on it, and that the price asked doesn't exceed the price of shipping and handling plus the one of the supporting media. 2. The distribution is given with every single file present and unaltered. See the file Banker/FILES for a list of these files. My name and copyright notices must remain intact. 3. If you find this program useful and have been using it for more than a month, you are morally forced (we know what this means...) to send me a reasonable amount of money ($10 seems fine to me, but if you send more you will enter my "privileged users" list). Please send dollars or French francs unless you really can't do otherwise. I can be reached to the following address : Cédric BEUST "Les Ducs de Savoie" 1, rue Roger Martin du Gard 06000 NICE FRANCE email: beust@sa.inria.fr Installing Banker ****************** The operations needed to install Banker are very simple : * From CLI : Copy the files Banker and Banker.info into your favorite directory, and copy the configuration file in your `s:' directory : 1> copy Banker 1> copy Banker.info 1> copy s/.bankerconfig s: * From Workbench : Simply drag the Banker icon into your favorite directory. For the configuration file, it's hardly trickier : 1. Select Window/Show all files from the Workbench menu 2. Open the `s' drawer 3. Double-click on the file `.bankerconfig' and replace `.bankerconfig' with `copy .bankerconfig S:' The graphic interface ********************** Banker uses MUI, the Magic User Interface by Stefan Stuntz for its interface. Thus, you must have the MUI package in order to be able to use Banker. It can be retrieved on aminet, or directly from the author if you have no net access. Read the file "Readme.mui" for more information on MUI. All you have to know of *gadtools* and *MUI* in order to use Banker is the following : * In string gadgets, all the characters are allowed. Hitting *RETURN* will deactivate the string gadgets. Then you can use the shortcuts if any are present (see below) * When you are in a string gadget, hit *TAB* to take the cursor to the following string gadget (*Shift-TAB* will take you to the previous one). When you reach the last one in the window, you are taken back to the first (respectively the first to the last). * When all the gadgets are deactivated (i.e. the cursor doesn't appear in any string gadgets), you are free to use the mouse or the shortcuts. They are indicated by a word with a letter underlined. You can press the underlined letter to obtain the same result as if you had pressed the gadget with the mouse. * In every window, there are shortcuts that are always valid, even though not clearly indicated. These are * *ESC* will make the window disappear (same as selecting the gadget *Cancel* (NB : the name will be different if you chose to use another language) Launching Banker ***************** You can execute Banker either from CLI or from the Workbench. You have the possibility in either case to give arguments that give Banker different directives. From Cli ========= If you launch Banker with a single quotation mark as argument, you will have the following template : 1> banker ? Language/K,File/K,OptionsFile/K: The meaning of these options is : * LANGUAGE : Specify the language you wish to use, in case it is different from the default locale. Note : this option will only work if you're running Workbench 2.1 or higher (*note Notes for 2.1 users::.). * FILE : Specify the file you want to load initially in Banker. * OPTIONSFILE : Specify an alternate name for the default configuration file (default is `s:.bankerconfig') For example, you might call Banker from CLI with the following syntax : 1> banker FILE account.bank LANGUAGE italiano or 1> banker OPTIONSFILE CFG:Banker.cfg From Workbench =============== Specifying arguments for Banker in the Workbench is accomplished through the `info' file. Click once on the Banker icon in order to activate it and then select Icon/Information from the menu (or press Right-Amiga I). A list of tooltypes appears. To add one, simply click on *Add* and type it in the activated string gadget. To modify an existing one, select it and do the same. See your Workbench Manual for more details. The tooltypes understood by Banker are the following : * LANGUAGE= Specify the language you wish to use, in case it is different from the default locale. Note : this option will only work if you're running Workbench 2.1 or higher (*note Notes for 2.1 users::.). * FILE= Specify the file you want to load initially in Banker. * OPTIONSFILE= Specify an alternate name for the default configuration file (default is `s:.bankerconfig' The main window **************** This is the window that allows you to choose among the several features of Banker. It has menus and buttons. Menus ====== The menus are the following 1. The File menu * Open Open a new file. Its name will be indicated in the title bar of the main window. If there is already a file present in memory and if it has been modified, Banker will issue a warning telling you you're about to lose data. If it's not your intention, cancel the Open order, save your file and then you can Open safely. * Save Save current file to disk. If no name had been given yet, a file requester appears. * Save as Save the current file under a name queried through the file requester. * Print Print the current file through a file requester (suggesting `PRT:' by default) using the format specified in the *PrintFormat* variable (*note The Configuration File::.). * Export Export the current database to a format specified in the *ExportFormat* variable (*note The Configuration File::.). * Quit Quit Banker. If there is already a file present in memory and if it has been modified, Banker will issue a warning telling you you're about to lose data. If it's not your intention, cancel the Quit order, save your file and then you can Quit safely. 2. The Preferences menu * Save Will allow you to save the current settings to the configuration file (*note The Configuration File::.), mainly the positions of all the windows. Next time Banker is started, the windows will be automatically positioned at the place where you last moved them. Buttons ======== The buttons perform the following actions : * New Entry If you wish to add an entry to the current database, select this button (*note The New Entry Window::.). * List Entries Will take you to the List window in order to see the contents of the current database, or to edit it (*note The List Window::.). * Automatic credit/debit If you wish to add a new Automatic entry (that is : an entry that will be entered repeatedly and automatically in the database), select this button (*note The Automatic Entry Window::.). * Clear File Will clear the current file, in order to start a new one. The List window **************** This window gives you the full listing of your account until today. The list ======== The appearance of what you see will depend on the variable *DisplayFormat* (*note The Configuration File::.). The only constant thing is the character displayed on the first column, which is one of : * '+' Indicate a line that was generated by an automatic entry (*note The Automatic Entry window::.). * '*' Indicate an entry that has not been validated by your bank. * ' ' When no character is present, this entry was validated by the bank Validate/Edit/Delete ==================== The cycle gadget at the bottom of the window can alternate between three states. Depending on its value, clicking on one of the displayed lines will have a different behavior : * Validate Validate this entry. The 'Validated total' gadget at the bottom will be updated accordingly immediately. * Edit Edit this entry. If you click on a regular entry, you will be taken to the window editing a new entry (*note The New Entry Window::.) but if this entry was generated by an automatic entry, you are actually asking to edit the automatic entry (*note The Automatic Entry Window::.). * Delete Delete this entry. A warning will appear so you can confirm your action. If you select an automatic entry, you're actually asking the automatic entry to be removed, and therefore all the generated entries. Use this option with great care! The total ========= Down on the right are two figures that represent the state of your account. * Validated All the entries that were validated by your bank. After you correctly updated these entries, the figure indicated must match the one your bank is giving you. * Total This is the actual total of what your account is (that is, the validated total plus the new entries that were not validated yet) The New Entry window ********************* This window allows you to enter a new entry. Its use is rather straightforward. The only mandatory fields are "Date" and "Amount". You can fill in the other fields depending on the value of your format variables (*note The Configuration File::.). To specify a debit in your account, enter a negative figure in the "Amount" gadget. The New Automatic Entry window ******************************* This window allows you to enter a new automatic entry. Automatic entries are used when an amount is regularly credited (or debited) to your account. In this window, you can specify : * The amount (may be negative to specify a debit) * The delay between two entries * The fields defining the Reason and the Imputation of the generated entry. You're free not to fill these fields. These automatic entries will generate entries that will be signaled by a '+' in the List Window (*note The list window::.). The configuration file *********************** Banker can be customized in a simple yet flexible way. Output formats *************** There are three output formats controlled by three variables : * listformat Control the entries displayed in the List Window (*note THE LIST WINDOW::.) * printformat Control how the entries are printed (*note Menus::.) * exportformat Control how the entries are exported(*note Menus::.) These three variables must respect a certain syntax. Each string that you wish to include as is must be enclosed in quotation marks ("). Any words not enclosed in quotation marks must be one of the following : * Date, Imputation, Reason, Amount, Transaction * Any valid escape sequence from MUI's font engine In order to have the list of these sequences, read the file font_engine.doc in the Docs/ directory. Example : displayformat "b" date "n | $" amount " | " reason will display the date in bold, followed by a vertical bar, then a dollar, the amount, another bar and the reason field. NOTE: must be replaced with a *real* ESC character Date formats ************* You can ask Banker to display dates in many different formats. Depending on your Workbench version, not all the formats will be available. * Workbench 2.0 * Workbench 2.1 and 3.0 Windows open ************* Here you specify which windows you want to find open when you start Banker. For example : mainwindow 1 automatic 1 list 1 getEntry 0 will display all the windows except the one where you enter a new entry. Autosave ********* Set the autosave interval in minutes. For example : autosave 2 Notes for 2.1 users ******************** Future enhancements ******************** Whereas primarily written for my own use, Banker quickly appeared as a program that might beneficiate from an intensive work and become a very powerful tool. Depending on the level of interest of this first version, next versions of Banker will incorporate the following features : Index ****** * Menu: * Arguments: LAUNCHING BANKER. * Changing the configuration file name: FROM WORKBENCH. * Changing the configuration file name: FROM CLI. * Export: Menus. * File menu: Menus. * gadtools: OVERVIEW. * gadtools: THE GRAPHIC INTERFACE. * Installation: INSTALLING BANKER. * Introduction: OVERVIEW. * Invisible shortcuts: THE GRAPHIC INTERFACE. * Launching from CLI: LAUNCHING BANKER. * Launching from Workbench: LAUNCHING BANKER. * locale: OVERVIEW. * Open: Menus. * Overview: OVERVIEW. * Print: Menus. * Quit: Menus. * Save: Menus. * Save as: Menus. * Shortcuts: THE GRAPHIC INTERFACE. * Specifying an initial file: FROM CLI. * Specifying the language: FROM CLI. * String gadgets: THE GRAPHIC INTERFACE. * TAB: THE GRAPHIC INTERFACE. * Tooltypes: LAUNCHING BANKER.