HELP TEXT USING THE VIDEOSOFT SYSTEM THIS PROGRAM IS DEPENDANT ON THE CORRECT DATE BEING ENTERED IN THE COMPUTER. The default password for full access to the private areas is "1957". IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THE FORMAT OF INFORMATION IS AS FOLLOWS :- 1. ALL INFORMATION ENTERED IN CAPITAL LETTERS 2. TELEPHONE NUMBERS,NAMES,MEMBERSHIP NUMBERS,Item NUMBERS AND Item NAMES BE JUSTIFIED TO THE LEFT. 3. CODE NAMES SHOULD BE LEFT JUSTIFIED The Main Menu will have the following commands 1 - CHECK AVAILABILITY OF A ITEM The command will ask for a Number or failing that a Title of a particular Item that you wish to check. If the Item has been taken out already, the program will display the return date. If no Number or Title is entered, the main menu will return. 2 - CHANGE TO WEEKEND RATES This will set the rates for rentals to the weekend rate set up in the Item database. The program will auto- matically set weekend rates on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, however, if the Monday is a holiday it will be necessary to change to weekend rates for the holiday. 3 - CHANGE TO WEEKDAY RATES This will have the reverse effect of command 2 4 - CHECK ITEM RENTERS This command will index the Item database and then prompt the operator for a specific Item number to produce a report for. 5 - WHO'S GOT WHAT This command will prompt the user for the following : 1 - FIND AN INDIVIDUAL ITEM After entering a item number, the program will display information about the status of the item, and if rented, the member number and name. 2 - LIST ALL ITEMS THAT ARE OUT After being asked if a printout is required, The user will be given a complete list of those items registered as being rented and not returned. 3 - RETURN TO MAIN MENU Self explanatory 6 - SALES This command will activate the sales invoice system. After entering a name, the system will prompt for sales ticket numbers. (maximum of six items on each invoice). As the item number is entered, the program will check to see that a valid item has been entered and display the title and price of the item. If the number field is returned blank, the program will prompt for the operator to check to see if the input is correct. If it is not correct, by pressing N the program will return to the main screen. If it is correct, by pressing Enter the program will print an Invoice on 1/2 sheet paper and update the sales item data in the database. 7 - RENTALS This command will initiate the rental invoice system. You will be prompted for a Telephone Number, of a Name, or lastly a Membership ID Number. If none of the fields are filled with any information, the program will return to the main menu. The program will then activate a search based on information provided and display information about the member. If the member cannot be found a message will be displayed to that effect and you will be asked for information again. At the side of the screen you will see some other commands to deal with data displayed. A - Add/Zap This will blank out the memo field and allow the user to enter little pieces of information. The information will display flashing to attract attention. (I.E. Membership Cancelled Do not Rent) C - Continue (Default) This will continue to the next stage of rental E - Edit account This will allow the operator to add or delete money from the account balance. P - To view past rentals This command will bring up the members past rental information and whether the tape was returned late. Q - Quit This command will return you to the main screen S - Continue Search If the information presented does not match the member, it is possible that there are two members with the same search information. In this case, by pressing S the program will look for the next logical file and display that information. After verifying the information on the member, the program will then prompt for the numbers of the items to be rented. (There will be a maximum limit of six items per invoice.) As each number is entered, the program will verify that the title is in the database and then check the rental database to verify that this number has not been rented. After this the reservation database is checked to see if this number has been reserved for another customer. If these tests fail at any point, the program will advise the operator and prompt for another number. If a blank field has been entered,the program will now ask for any extra charges (such as late payments etc.) These will be added on the invoice. The program will then ask for the number of days the items are being rented for. (Defaults to 1 day) At this point, the program does automatic calculation for tax and totalling fields. It also updates the number of times the title has been rented and also the last date of rental. Then the member data is updated with the last rental date field and the amount spent by the member being added to. Lastly, the program will print an invoice on 1/2 paper and return the operator to the main menu. 8 - CHECK ON A MEMBER You will be prompted for a Telephone Number, or a Name, or lastly a Membership ID Number. If none of the fields are filled with any information, the program will return to the main menu. Information on the member will then be displayed in a similar fashion to the rental screens. 9 - COMPANY DATA For this part of the program, you will be required to know a password to allow access to sensitive data. Please note however, that this will not protect you data from individuals bent on destroying information, and that you should always have a reliable backup of your data kept in some other location to protect yourself. After entering the correct password, the operator will be given another screen for manipulating the information. The default password for original startup is "1957 " A - RETURNS After entering this part of the program, the user will be requested for numbers of items being returned to the store. The program will verify that the item had indeed been registered out and if not, display a message to that effect. If the item is late, a date will flash to advise the operator that this item is late. If the item is found in the database, it will attach a return date to the file and prompt the operator for the next item number. (There will be a maximum of 19 Items returned at one time). If the number field is returned blank, the program will return to the main menu. B - CHECK OLD INFORMATION 1 - CHECK A MEMBER This program will prompt the user for a member number to check. If the member is not in the database, the operator will be informed. Then the program will ask if a printout is required. The program will list off the items that the customer had previously rented. 2 - CHECK A ITEM This program will prompt the operator for a item number to check. If the number is not in the database, the operator will be informed. Then the program will ask if a printout is required. The program will list off the members that have previously rented the item. C - LIST RETURNS TODAY After prompting for a printout, this program will list off the items that have been returned today. D - WHAT'S DUE BACK TODAY This program will, after prompting for a printout, automatically print out a list of those items that are due back in today or any previous date. E - WHAT WENT OUT TODAY This program will, after prompting for a printout, give the operator a list of the items that were rented today and a total number of items rented. F - RESERVATIONS 1 - MAKE A RESERVATION This part of the program will ask the user for a telephone number, name or membership number. After identifying the member, information about the member will be displayed as in rental or sales. You will be able to see if the member has any outstanding late charges before continuing. You will then be prompted for a item number or item title. The program will store this information to be called up later. 2 - LIST RESERVATIONS This part of the program will allow the operator to make out a list of reservations for a specific date. It can recall the information to the screen or print out the information. 3 - DELETE RESERVATIONS This program will allow the user to delete past reservation data. The operator will be given all of the reservation dates available for deletion. After entering a specific date, the program will delete all reservations for that date. Q - QUIT PROGRAM At the end of the day the program will automatically remove all returned items from the active files and update the old returns database. The program will print out a sales recap for the day and zero out the totals. At the end of the month, total figures will also be printed if requested and similarly at the end of the year. If the program is being stopped in the middle of the day, the operator will be given the opportunity to quit without removing data or updating databases. COMPANY DATA SCREEN After entering the correct password, the operator will be given access to the company data. The screen will enable the user to edit and or enter data into both the member and title databases. There are four levels of security with each level having an increasing ability to change data. The following commands are available : 1 - ENTER/EDIT ITEM DATA (All levels) 1 - ENTER ITEM DATA Upon entering a number, the program will automatically verify that the number has not already been entered in the records. The operator will then be given a screen to enter data into the database. There are spaces for two different rates. At the end of the entry the program will ask the user to verify the data and then enter the information. 2 - EDIT ITEM DATA After entering a number, the program will verify that the number exists. You will then be provided with all of the information on the number. You will be able to change any of the information and once again be prompted for verification. 3 - RETURN TO COMPANY DATA MENU After entry or edit sessions this will return you to the company data menu. 2 - ITEM DATA REPORTS (No Employee Access) 1 - ITEM LIST BY TITLE This will provide the operator with a complete list of items in the database sorted by title. 2 - ITEM LIST BY NUMBER 1 - COMPLETE LIST This will provide the operator with a complete list of items in the database sorted by number. 2 - SELECTED LIST After proving starting and ending numbers, the program will print out a list for those items. 3 - ITEM LIST BY CATEGORY This will provide the operator with a complete list of items by category. You will asked for a category to print and only those meeting that criteria will be printed. 4 - ITEM RENTAL REPORT After being prompted for a starting item number and an ending moving number, the operator will be provided with data on how well the items have been renting. This is invaluable to keep track of which items are good renters and those that should be removed from the store. 3 - CUSTOMER DATA REPORTS (No Employee Access) 1 - CUSTOMER LIST BY NAME This will provide a complete membership printout by name. It will take up to one hour to print depending on the speed of your printer. Make sure that you can do this without interruption. 2 - CUSTOMER LIST BY NUMBER 1 - COMPLETE LIST This will provide a complete list of members in numerical order. Once again, this could take some time to do without interruption. 2 - SELECTED LIST After entering a start and ending number, the program will provide a list of those members. 4 - ACCOUNTING MODULE (Owner Access Only) The program automatically saves information on the sales and rental totals for tax calculation purposes. You have the ability to view sales figures that have been saved by the following categories 1 - DAILY SALES TOTALS 2 - MONTHLY SALES TOTALS 3 - YEARLY SALES TOTALS 5 - DELETE MEMBERS/ITEMS RECORDS /RESERVS ( No Employee or Assistant Manager Access) This part of the program will enable the user to delete any of the members, items or old data stored in the databases. It is advisable to delete old data that is automatically stored by the program at least once every six months and to go back six months before that. This way you always have at least six month information stored on disk. After the records have been deleted, the databases will be packed and reindexed. This may take up to ten minutes on an XT computer, so make sure there won't be any interruptions when you do it. 6 - PRINT LABELS This part of the program will print labels for member addresses and also for item titles. 1 - MEMBER LABELS 1 - ADDRESS LABELS This will print address labels for blocks of members. The operator will be prompted for a starting member number and also a finishing member number. If only one member label is required, the operator can put in the next highest number and the program will stop after one label. 2 - MEMBERSHIP CARD LABEL This will print out membership card labels for blocks of members. Once again the operator will be prompted for a starting and finishing member number. Information will be formatted for making membership cards. 2 - ITEM LABELS 1 - LABELS FOR TAGS This program will print information for tags. It will include the number, title, category of the item. 2 - LABELS FOR CASSETTES This program will print information for the cassette. It will include the number, title and category of the item. Both of these programs will again prompt the operator for a starting and an ending item number to print. 7 - INFORMATION MODULE (Owner Access Only) This module will identify the store name and address that prints on the invoices. It also stores information on the messages that print on invoices, the passwords to gain access to the data menus, tax rates for federal and provincial or state tax and in cases where an invoice is not required for rentals, the invoice print option. It also controls the type of monitor display and security levels for employees. 8 - BACKUP MENU This program will allow the operator to backup the various databases to removable disks. The only valid drives are A or B. 9 - ENTER/EDIT MEMBERSHIP DATA 1 - ENTER MEMBERSHIP DATA After providing the system with a number, the number will be checked against the database to ensure that there is no other matching number existing already. Then the system will provide an entry screen for data to be placed in the database. At the end of an entry, the system will prompt the operator to ensure that the data is correct. If any of the information is incorrect, the operator can escape from the entry at this point. After this, the system will update the files and indexes for the new member. 2 - EDIT EXISTING MEMBERSHIP DATA After being given a number, the system will check for a match in the database. If there is no match to the number entered, the system will inform the operator. If the number exists, the edit screen will appear with all of the inform- ation on the member. The operator will be allowed to change everything entered except for the membership number. Once again the system will prompt for correctness and then replace all of the old information with new information 3 - RETURN TO PRIVATE MENU This command will return the operator to the private menu screen. A - REMOVE DELETED DATA This will enable the user to remove those records marked for deletion B - REINDEX DATABASE From time to time, it may be necessary to reindex the databases. dBase occasionally loses the index or in the event of a power failure while adding records may lose an index. This will rebuild all of the indexes. C - RETURN TO MAIN MENU