TABLE OF CONTENTS

File Menu
Control Invoice Printer
Control Report Printer
Exit

Clerk Menu
Point of Sale
Maintain Customer
Maintain Inventory
Reservations
Pop Cash Drawer

Manager Menu
Maintain Price Codes
Maintain Preferences
Maintain Users
Void Invoice

Reports Menu
Current reports
Reset Current Reports

Window Menu
Window Task List

Getting Started
Getting Started Guide


EXITING VIDEO PLUS

To exit Video Plus, choose File|Exit from the main menu.

Be aware that if your computer is powered down prior to exiting Windows, severe data corruption may result.


VOIDING INVOICES

This feature allows the manager to void any invoice. Any rentals that were checked out on the invoice will be marked as being checked in.  Use of this feature is discouraged, as it eliminates any trace of the transaction. If reports have been printed which take into account the invoice you delete (period summaries, etc.), those reports are essentially invalid - printing them again, if possible, will yield a different set of values due to this missing invoice.

Suggested alternative

Rather than voiding an invoice, it is recommended that you simply issue another invoice, returning any items and refund any payments. This method will prevent "holes" in the paper-trail.


CONTROL INVOICE/REPORT PRINTER

If you have printers attached to this station, this feature allows you to suspend printing of any waiting print jobs that are to be sent to the attached invoice or report printer.

Note that if you are on a network and are capturing the printer port , this feature cannot control print jobs that have already been sent to your network's print queue.


POP CASH DRAWER

If you have configured Video Plus to use a cash drawer, this feature, available under Clerk|Pop Cash Drawer from the main menu , will allow the drawer to be opened manually. Under ordinary circumstances, the drawer opens automatically when an invoice in posted.

For information on setting up the cash drawer, see Maintain Preferences.


TASK LIST

Video Plus makes it possible to have multiple concurrent transactions on each station. There is no need to clear one sale in order to complete another - simply open another POS window or switch to one that is currently unused. This is all made possible by the task list located under the  Window menu. Each POS window that is open is displayed and shows the clerk who is logged in to that window (if any) and the customer selected.

Like the POS window, most features in Video Plus may be used concurrently. As a new window is opened, the title of that window is added to the task list. While Video Plus places no limits on how many windows may be open at a time, your system resources may limit their number in practice.


POS Login
POS LOGIN PROCEDURE

Before it is possible to use the POS window, you must sign-on using your assigned clerk code. This is used to track which clerk performed which transaction with a given customer, and to provide some level of security. After the posting of each transaction, the clerk will once again need to log-in. On a single machine, it is possible to have multiple clerks using multiple POS windows. See Task List for more information. To setup clerk codes, see Maintain Users for instructions.

See Getting Started for initial clerk codes.


Point of Sale Functions
POINT OF SALE (POS)

Opening Point of Sale Window(s)

The POS window is typically opened automatically at start-up. To open additional POS windows, select Point of Sale from the Clerk menu.

Entering Clerk Code

See POS Login

NOTE: Customers that wish to rent items in your inventory must first be entered into the system. See  Maintain Customers for customer entry instructions.  Cash customers need not be entered. Simply press ENTER at the Customer # prompt without entering a customer ID. It is not possible to rent to a cash customer, due to the tracking requirements of rented inventory.

Renting and Selling, or Returning Inventory:

 Read this note about scanning.

1. Provide customer #

2. Provide inventory item(s)

3. Finish and print invoice.

Shortcut for Returning Inventory:

1. Type a hyphen "-" (without the quotes) in the customer # field, followed by the inventory # of any returning item. The customer returning the item will be loaded automatically, and that item will be entered into the Inventory # field.

2. Enter any additional inventory item(s)

3. Finish and print invoice.

Look-Up Feature Basics

Both the customer # and inventory # fields have look-up capability. The Look-Up command button to the right of these fields activates the look-up feature.

When activated, the list uses any characters that are present in the active field to narrow the list. If there are no records fitting that criteria, the list will appear blank. Simply press BACKSPACE to widen the scope of the list.

To make a selection, highlight it using the mouse or ARROW keys then press ENTER or DBL-CLICK on the selection. To abandon the look-up, click on the active field.

Looking Up Customers

If the customer does not know thier customer #, they can be found by name or by one of the following numeric fields: Phone #, Driver's license, or SSN.

BY NAME
Type the first few letters of the customers last name, then click on the Look-Up button to display a list of customers beginning with the letters you typed. To reduce the list even more, type additional letters. Highlight the desired name, then press ENTER or DBL-CLICK on the name.

BY PHONE, DRIVER'S LICENSE OR SSN
NOTE: Video Plus will look in the numeric field specified in Manager|Maintain Preferences|POS Settings.

Type the first few numbers of the customers phone, drivers license, or SSN, then click on the Look-Up button to display a list of customers that have matching information in their customer record. To reduce the list even more, type additional numbers. Highlight the desired name, then press ENTER or DBL-CLICK on the name. If no customers are found to match the specifed critera, the list will be blank.

Looking Up Inventory

Since inventory item is required to have an inventory #, use of this feature will be minimal. Functionally, it is the same as looking up a customer by name, except a list of inventory is displayed sorted by description.

BY DESCRIPTION
Type the first few letters of the inventory description, then click on the Look-Up button to display a list of items beginning with the letters you typed. To reduce the list even more, type additional letters. Highlight the desired item, then press ENTER or DBL-CLICK on the item. If no inventory items are found to match the critera, the list will be blank.

Refunding Sale Items

If you wish to refund a sale item, enter a negative value for the quantity. For example, to refund a single item, enter a quantity of -1.

Refunding Money

A negative payment represents a refund amount.

Deleting Line Items

Highlight the line item to be deleted, then press DELETE.


MAINTAIN PREFERENCES

Use the Maintain Preferences menu to select the desired panel.

Point of Sale Panel

Enable Price Editing  - Check this box if clerks may edit the price of every item entered. Does not apply to rental items returned early or late.

Enable Late Fee Editing  - Check this box if clerks may edit late fees.

Enable Early Credit Editing  -  Check this box if clerks may edit credit amounts for early returns.

Load POS at Startup  - If checked, the point of sale window will load automatically when Video Plus is first started.

Pop Up Notes  -  Check here to automatically pop-up notes about a customer or inventory item when entered.  Notes about customers and inventory are entered in Maintain Customers and Maintain Inventory, respectively.

Tax Late Returns  - Check this box to apply rental tax on late fees.

Sales & Rental Tax Rates  - Enter the rates (in percent) for rental and sales tax, if any. For example, a 7.5% rental tax would be entered as 7.5 (not 0.075 or 7.5%).

Extra Day After  -  If a time is specified, items returned after that time will cause the clerk to be notified of their late status and provided with the opportunity to charge the equivalent of 1 extra day. Note that the time entered here must be in 24 Hr format (military time) - 7:00 AM = 07:00, 7:00 PM = 19:00, etc.

Numeric Customer Look Up  - When using the customer look-up list, it is possible to type the first few letters of the last name to narrow the list. One may also look-up by telephone number, drivers license number or SSN, provided that the "number"  begins with a numeral (0-9). Video Plus will look for the number that is contained in the specified field.

Custom Field Titles

Customer and Inventory  - When entering information into customer records, Video Plus allows up to four custom fields for miscellaneous information. Though the function of the custom field remains as that of a miscellaneous data field, it can be useful for recording certain facts in an orderly manner.

Member Types  - Up to 5 distinct member types are allowed. Internally, and on some reports, the types are referred to as type A through type E. You may, however, provide a descriptive name to the member type. This name will appear 1) on all invoices, and 2) in the form of a legend at the bottom of any report which includes the member type.

Invoice Setup Panel

Rental Agreement Text  - Text entered here will appear at the bottom of every invoice above the signature line.

Registration

Store Name; Address; City, State & Zip Code; Phone Number  - This is required information. When you order Video Plus, you must provide these facts which are used to generate a unique registration code.  The information entered will be printed on all invoices and reports.

Registration Code  - This code will be provided to you when you purchase Video Plus. It is required for full operation.

Printers

See also: Specifying Station Numbers, ASCII Conversion Chart

Location of printer(s)  - If you intend to print to a locally attached printer, and you are not sharing this printer on a network, select  PRINT LOCALLY. If you are on a network, see Network and Remote Printing.

Attached Printer Ports  - These settings are for attached printers only.  To print locally, or to receive print jobs from other stations, a port must be specified. Typically, this will be set to LPT1 or PRN.

Decimal Printer Codes  - These settings are for attached printers only. Codes are comma delimited, and specified in decimal. Valid codes are printer-specific, however each code must be between 0 and 255. A Maximum of 29 codes per field is allowed. For example, on an Epson LQ-850, you could reverse line feed 2 lines before printing each invoice:

Pre-Print:	 27,106,30,27,106,30

 Cash Drawer Setup

Drawers connected via serial port

From the Manager menu, choose Maintain Preferences, then Local|Cash Drawer from the Preferences menu. Enter the decimal codes suggested by the cash drawer manufacturer and specify on which port the drawer is connected.

Drawers connected to the printer  port

From the Manager menu, choose Maintain Preferences, then Local|Printers from the Preferences menu. Enter the decimal codes suggested by the cash drawer manufacturer in the pre-print codes field for the invoice printer. If there are presently codes in this field, you should place the cash drawer codes prior to the existing printer control codes.

 Cash Drawer Codes  - For serial port activated cash drawers, enter the decimal codes here. Codes are comma delimited, and specified in decimal. Valid codes are device-specific, however each code must be between 0 and 255. A Maximum of 29 codes per field is allowed.

Port  - The serial port to which the cash drawer is attached.

Port Baud Rate  - The baud rate required for your cash drawer. See your drawer documentation for additional information.


NETWORKS AND REMOTE PRINTING

When a Windows application prints, the text you see on the screen is converted into dots which are then sent to the printer as a graphic print job. This is why the printed output so closely resembles what is viewed on the screen when you print a document. Though it looks pretty, this is a very slow process. Point of sale applications must provide speedy printing. People waiting in line to check out a video could quickly lose patience waiting for a fancy invoice to print. For this reason, Video Plus bypasses the Windows printer driver and sends the text of your invoice directly to the printer - the result  is a 100:1 improvement in printing speed. There are however, some limitations to this approach, mainly in the area of networking.

If you are using Windows' built-in networking for printer redirection..

Since Video Plus bypasses the Windows print driver, it's printing is much like that of a DOS application and printer redirection must be performed prior to loading windows. If you are using a flavor of Windows that offers built-in networking, redirection in this manner is typically not an option and must be done with an underlying network such as Netware or Lantastic.  For systems where an underlying network is not installed, Video Plus has a built-in print queue and printer sharing feature.  To use this feature, take the following steps:

1) On each station, specify the station number on the command line which starts Video Plus or provide it at start-up. For example, in Windows 3.1 Program Manager, highlight the Video Plus icon. From the File menu, choose Properties. In the Command Line field, after VPLUS.EXE, place /STA=n  where n equals an arbitrary and unique station number between 0 and 255.

2) On each station, run Video Plus. The title bar should indicate the correct station number. Choose Manager|Maintain Preferences then select the Printer pane by choosing Local|Printers. Indicate for both reports and invoices which station you want to receive the print jobs.

3) On the station(s) that will be receiving print jobs for invoices and/or reports, specify the local ports to which printers are attached. Also specify any pre-print, post-print and condensed print codes you want sent with each print job.

Since this method is internal to Video Plus, it is important that Video Plus be running on the station which is to be receiving the print jobs. Otherwise, jobs sent to that station will not be printed until Video Plus is up and running.

If you have a network installed other than Windows' networking services..

On all stations, "Capture" the printer port output and send it to the remote printer. Set all stations to print to the locally captured port. On ALL stations, provide any pre-print, post-print or condensed print codes you may need.


ASCII Conversion Chart

SYMBOL	VALUE

NUL	0

SOH	1

STX	2

ETX	3

EOT	4

ENQ	5

ACK	6

BEL	7

BS	8

HT	9

LF	10

VT	11

FF	12

CR	13

SO	14

SI	15

DLE	16

DC1	17

DC2	18

DC3	19

DC4	20

NAK	21

SYN	22

ETB	23

CAN	24

EM	25

SUB	26

ESC	27

FS	28

GS	29

RS	30

US	31

SPACE	32

!	33

"	34

#	35

$	36

%	37

&	38

'	39

(	40

)	41

*	42

+	43

, (comma)	44

- (dash)	45

. (period)	46

/	47

0 (zero)	48

1	49

2	50

3	51

4	52

5	53

6	54

7	55

8	56

9	57

: (colon)	58

; (semi-colon)	59

<	60

=	61

>	62

?	63

@	64

A	65

B	66

C	67

D	68

E	69

F	70

G	71

H	72

I	73

J	74

K	75

L	76

M	77

N	78

O	79

P	80

Q	81

R	82

S	83

T	84

U	85

V	86

W	87

X	88

Y	89

Z	90

[	91

\	92

]	93

^	94

_ (underscore)	95

`	96

a	97

b	98

c	99

d	100

e	101

f	102

g	103

h	104

I	105

j	106

k	107

l	108

m	109

n	110

o	111

p	112

q	113

r	114

s	115

t	116

u	117

v	118

w	119

x	120

y	121

z	122

{	123

|	124

}	125

~	126


Printers: Defining 'Attached'
Attached Printers Defined

For the purposes of setting up this program, an attached printer is one that is either physically attached to a local port, or one that has been locally redirected (a.k.a. captured) with the underlying network operating system.


Station Numbers
Specifying Station Numbers

When on a network, you must specify a unique station number for each running copy of Video Plus. Valid station numbers are 0 through 255. Specify this number by placing the following switch on your VPLUS.EXE command line:

/STA=N  	where n  equals the station number.


Inventory Numbers

Inventory numbers may be up to 10 characters long. They may contain the letters A-Z and numbers 0-9, but no spaces, punctuation, or special characters are allowed.


MAINTAIN CUSTOMER

Adding  New Customers

Open the Maintain Customers window by choosing Clerk|Maintain Customers from the main menu. Click on the New button.  A new record will be displayed ready for editing. If you have set default values, they  will be automatically entered at this time.  When finished entering new customer information, click on Save to update the database.

Editing Existing Customer Records

Open the Maintain Customers window by choosing Clerk|Maintain Customers from the main menu. Enter the customer ID in the field provided or use the Look-Up button to display a list of current customers.  Click on the Edit button to load the customer record for editing. All information in the customer record may be edited, except for the ID which remains permanent.  When finished editing, click on Save to update the database.

Setting Defaults for Faster Data Entry

Entering new customers can be made easier and faster by setting default values for certain fields. For example, you may want to have the City, State and Postal Code fields automatically filled in on new records. To set default values:

1)  Open the Maintain Customers window by choosing Clerk|Maintain Customers from the main menu. Enter DEFAULT in the field provided for the customer ID. DEFAULT is a special customer record which holds the default values. If there is no record called DEFAULT, create one just as you would create a new customer. NOTE: the DEFAULT record will not display in the customer pick-lists - you must type it in manually.

2)  Enter the values you would like to have automatically set in new customer records. This not only includes fields, but also check-boxes such as Tax-Exempt and option buttons like Member Type.

3)  Click on the Save button to update the default values.

Now, with each new record, these values will be entered automatically.


MAINTAIN INVENTORY

Adding  New Inventory

Open the Maintain Inventory window by choosing Clerk|Maintain Inventory from the main menu. Click on the New button.  A new record will be displayed ready for editing. If you have set default values, they  will be automatically entered at this time.  When finished entering new inventory information, you may do one of two things:

1) Click on Save to update the database and close the edit panel, or;

2) Click on the Duplicate button to enter another identical record. The Duplicate feature saves the current record, but leaves the fields filled-in just as they are. This is very useful where you have a certain quantity of the same description - You need only enter the ID for each additional unit, saving on the bulk of data entry for multiple rental items.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Duplicate feature is intended to be used on RENTAL items. For inventory not marked as rental, the Quantity field will be available. Rental items may not use the quantity field due to the need to have individual ID numbers for each item. Without individual ID numbers, it would not be possible to track the whereabouts of a given item.

Editing Existing Inventory Records

Open the Maintain Inventory window by choosing Clerk|Maintain Inventory from the main menu. Enter the inventory ID in the field provided or use the Look-Up button to display a list of current inventory.  Click on the Edit button to load the inventory record for editing. All information in the inventory record may be edited, except for the ID which remains permanent.  When finished editing, click on Save to update the database.

Setting Defaults for Faster Data Entry

Entering new inventory can be made easier and faster by setting default values for certain fields. For example, you may want to have the Category and Price Code fields automatically filled in on new records. To set default values:

1)  Open the Maintain Inventory window by choosing Clerk|Maintain Inventory from the main menu. Enter DEFAULT in the field provided for the inventory ID. DEFAULT is a special record which holds the default values. If there is no record called DEFAULT, create one just as you would create a new inventory record. NOTE: the DEFAULT record will not display in the inventory pick-lists - you must type it in manually.

2)  Enter the values you would like to have automatically set in new inventory records. This not only includes fields, but also check-boxes such as Rental Yes/No.

3)  Click on the Save button to update the default values.

Now, with each new record, these values will be entered automatically.

Price Override Field

If a non-zero value is entered into this filed, the price code specified (if any) will be ignored and the price entered will be the daily or quantity-one charge depending on whether it is a sale or rental item.


MAINTAIN PRICE CODES

What are Price Codes?

Video Plus allows you to define pricing that is common to a group of items in a Price Code record. The price code contains information about how to handle late fees, early returns, daily pricing, and member pricing for any item rented that specifies that price code. For example, you might want to create a NewRel price code for new releases, a 3DAY price code for promoting older movies, and so on. Price codes save you from having to enter detailed pricing information in each inventory record.

Adding  New Price Codes

Open the Maintain Price Codes window by choosing Manager|Maintain Price Codes from the main menu. Click on the New button.  A new record will be displayed ready for editing.  When finished entering new price code information click on Save to update the database. The new price code will now be available for use in any inventory record.

 Editing Existing Price Codes

Open the Maintain Price Codes window by choosing Manager|Maintain Price Codes from the main menu. Select the price code ID in the list provided.  Click on the Edit button to load the price code record for editing. All information in the price code record may be edited, except for the ID which remains permanent.  When finished editing, click on Save to update the database.

Deleting Price Codes

Price codes may be deleted while editing. Note that if any inventory item uses the price code you intend to delete, Video Plus will prevent the action from taking place.


MAINTAIN USERS

Adding  New Users

Open the Maintain Users window by choosing Manager|Maintain Users from the main menu. Click on the New button.  A new record will be displayed ready for editing.  When finished entering user information click on Save to update the database. The new user will now have access to any POS window.

 Editing Existing Users

Open the Maintain Users window by choosing Manager|Maintain Users from the main menu. Select a user from the list, then Click on the Edit button. The user record will be displayed ready for editing.  When finished entering user information click on Save to update the database.

Deleting Users

Users may be deleted while editing the user record.

Manager Check-Box

Check the Manager check-box if this user is a manager.  Users designated as manager will be allowed to edit pricing on a case-by-case basis, regardless of any restriction placed on price editing in the Maintain Preferences  window (Point Of Sale panel).

User Initials

Initials will be printed on invoices and will appear at the top of the POS window when signed-on.

User Name

For reference only at this time.

User Code

The code to be entered when signing-on to a POS window. This code must be unique (no two users may have the same code).


Scanning Barcodes
Bar-code Scanning

Depending on the configuration of your bar-code scanner, scanned inventory or customer numbers may require that you press ENTER to proceed after each scan.


CURRENT REPORTS

A Word About Current Reports

Current reports are designed to report data by the shift. Typically, at the end of every shift, current reports are printed and then reset for the next shift. Note that, if not cleared, it is possible for current reports to contain data spanning a period of days or months. It is advised that you reset current reports periodically regardless of whether they are used.

How Video Plus Determines what is "Current"

Every transaction that takes place in the Video Plus system is marked internally at that time as being current. All reports that list or summarize current data are limited in scope to transactions marked as being current.

Resetting Current Reports

Once all desired "current" reports have been printed, transactions marked as current may have their  current status reset. This is accomplished by choosing Reports|Reset Current Reports from the main menu. Be aware that this action is irreversible - be certain that all current reports have been printed before taking this action.


 RESERVATIONS

A  Word About Reservations

Reservations are not made against a specific item. Instead, reservations are made against the item description. This makes it easier to manage reservations, since, in the case of multiple items with a common description, the clerk will need only to pull a certain number of those items from the shelf, instead of being concerned about exactly which item numbers have been reserved.

When maintaining reservations, there may seem to be many more reservations than were entered. This is because Video Plus creates a reservation each time an item is rented. When the item is returned, the reservation is deleted automatically.

Reservations entered manually must be deleted manually.

Reservations for items which have not been rented by the pick-up date specified, are deleted each time Video Plus is started.

Adding  New Reservations

Open the Reservations window by choosing Clerk|Reservations from the main menu. Click on the New button.  A new record will be displayed ready for editing.  When finished entering the reservation, click on Save to update the database. The reservation is now in place system-wide.

Deleting Reservations

Open the Reservations window by choosing Clerk|Reservations from the main menu. Select a reservation from the list. Click on the Delete button to delete the selected reservation.  System-generated reservations (created when an item is checked-out) may not be deleted using this method - Instead, they are deleted automatically when the item is returned.


Quick Start
 GETTING STARTED

Initial POS Login Codes

Video Plus is distributed with two pre-defined clerk codes. They are:

CODE	INITIALS	NAME	MANAGER

1	BMB	Beetle M. Bailey	No

123	SIR	Sergeant	Yes

See Maintain Users for information on adding or removing users from Video Plus.

Manager Functions

As distributed, no System Manager password has been defined. If a System Manager password is defined, the options under the Manager menu will be disabled until the System Manager logs in.

Setting up printers

Video plus is distributed with invoice and report printer ports set to LPT1. This option may be changed in Maintain Preferences.

The invoice and report print queues are automatically disabled if a printer error occurs and the user chooses not to proceed. The queue may be re-enabled by selecting File|Control Invoice/Report Printer from the main menu. This feature is prevents continual errors from occuring while the printer is being maintained. For more information see Control Printer.

Station Numbers and Networks

When Video Plus is run, it may ask for a unique station number before allowing you to continue. If you will be running only one copy of Video Plus, provide a station number of 0 (Zero) which is the default. If there are several stations connected via  the network, each station number specified must be unique. To permanantly set the station number, see Networks and Remote Printing or Station Numbers for more information.


 SHARE.EXE OR VSHARE.386 REQUIRED

Video Plus uses the Microsoft Access database engine which requires the presence of either SHARE.EXE or VSHARE.386. SHARE.EXE is included with MS-DOS and Video Plus includes a copy of VSHARE.386. While both methods will work, VSHARE.386 is preferred.

To install VSHARE.386, follow these steps:

1) Locate a copy of  VSHARE.386 and copy it to your Windows' SYSTEM directory. A copy of VSHARE.386 was placed in the Video Plus install directory, usually C:\VIDPLUS.

2) Run Notepad or similar text-only editor.

3) Load the file C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI into the editor, replacing C:\WINDOWS with your actual Windows directory if different.

4) Find the [386Enh] section, and enter a new line as follows:

device=vshare.386

5) Save the file, exit Windows, then re-boot your computer.

To install SHARE.EXE, follow these steps:

1) Run Notepad or similar text-only editor.

2) Load the file C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT into the editor.

3) Insert a new line at the top of the file as follows, replacing C:\DOS with your actual MS-DOS directory if different:

C:\DOS\SHARE  /L:500

4) Save the file, exit Windows, then reboot your computer.