What Vehicle History? Service History Tracking, Reporting, and Billing of ground-based mechanical devices for MS-DOS computers Shareware Edition User's Guide Written by Angel Babudro P.O. Box 132 Paonia, CO 81428 (c) 1991-1995 by Angel Babudro All rights reserved. What Vehicle History? _____________________ CONTENTS I. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 II. COPYRIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 III. LICENSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 IV. TECHNICAL SUPPORT (HOW TO REACH ME) . . . . . . . . . . 2 Official Distribution Bulletin Boards . . . . . . . . . 3 V. ORDERING METHODS AND REGISTRATION FEES . . . . . . . . 4 A. Benefits of Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 B. How To Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 C. Pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 INVOICE & REGISTRATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 VI. WHAT DOES THIS SOFTWARE DO? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 VII. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 A. Storage Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 B. Using on a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 C. Using with MS Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 D. Using with 4DOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 VIII. FILES WHICH MAKE UP THE PACKAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 IX. RUNNING What Vehicle History? FOR THE FIRST TIME . . 10 A. Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 B. Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 C. Using the Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 X. MANAGING FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 A. Making Back-up Copies of Your Files . . . . . . . 11 B. Restoring Files from a Back-up Copy . . . . . . . 12 C. Formatting Floppy Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 D. Re-Indexing Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 E. Packing Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 XI. DATA ENTRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 A. Service Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 B. Departments, Mechanics, Service Types, and Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 XII. REPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 -i- What Vehicle History? _____________________ XIII. PREFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 A. Operating Choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 1. Back-up & Restore Method (17) ________________________ 2. Country setting (17) _______________ 3. Directory Display Format (17) ________________________ 4. Alert Tone (17) __________ B. Defining your Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 1. Laser Printer Soft Fonts (18) ________________________ 2. Scalable Fonts (18) ______________ 3. Lines per Page (19) ______________ 4. Left Margin (19) ___________ C. Sales Tax Rate and Labour Rate Entry . . . . . . . 19 XIV. HELP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 XV. ERROR MESSAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 -ii- What Vehicle History? _____________________ I. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY WVH IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THOSE CONCERNING MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NEITHER ANGEL BABUDRO NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF THIS SOFTWARE SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS SOFTWARE EVEN IF ANGEL BABUDRO HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR CLAIMS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR'S LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES EVER EXCEED THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENSE TO USE THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF CLAIM. THE PERSON USING THE SOFTWARE BEARS ALL RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE. Some States do not allow the exclusion of the limit of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the above limitation may not apply to you. This agreement shall be governed by the State of Colorado and shall inure to the benefit of Angel Babudro and any successors, administrators, heirs and assigns. Any action or proceeding brought by either party against the other arising out of or related to this agreement shall be brought only in a State or Federal Court of competent jurisdiction located in Delta County, Colorado. The parties hereby consent to in personam jurisdiction of said courts. II. COPYRIGHT WVH is owned and copyright (c) 1991-1995 by Angel Babudro, all rights reserved. You may only use and/or distribute WVH under the License terms below. III. LICENSE The following terms and conditions apply to the use and/or distribution of What Vehicle History?: _____________________ 1. WVH is being distributed as Shareware; it is not free. You are granted a limited license to use WVH for an evaluation period of up to 60 days, to determine if it suits your needs. Any other use of WVH or use past this period requires registration. 2. You may keep as many back-up copies of WVH as you wish. The Registered Edition is limited to simultaneous use on the -1- What Vehicle History? _____________________ number of computers indicated on the Use License. The Unregistered Edition may be used on any number of computers for the purpose of evaluation as specified in paragraph (1). 3. All files originally distributed as part of the package (including this notice) must be included without modification. The complete list of files can be found in the PACKING.LST file which is part of this package. The Registered Edition CONFIG.WVH file is NOT to be distributed. 4. Individual users may freely copy this disk and share it with friends, family, and acquaintances. Non-profit groups (including user groups and BBSs) may distribute copies of this disk. A fee of no more than $5 may be charged to cover disk copying costs. If the files on this disk have dates more than a year old please contact the author for a free update to the current version. 5. Disk distributors and dealers must have written permission before selling copies of this software. When you contact me you will receive a free copy of the latest version and you will be placed on my mailing list to receive updates as they are released. Disk distributors may charge no more than $10 per disk for copies of this software. If, as a distributor, you supply copies to other resellers, the end price to the user may not exceed $10. 6. You must obtain written permission prior to distribution as part of any "bundled" packages (e.g., CD-ROM, placing on new computer systems, etc.). Such permission is often granted; the author is a nice guy - please write to him with your ideas. 7. If the software is packaged for retail sale the packaging must explain that the software is Shareware, that the purchaser is receiving a trial version, and that use beyond the trial period requires registration with the author. 8. You must immediately stop selling/distributing copies of this software upon notice from the author. IV. TECHNICAL SUPPORT (HOW TO REACH ME) If you have questions or need help, just send a note to me through the mail or a BBS listed below. Registered users, those intending to register within 30 days, vendors, and sysops may contact me via telephone as well. Sysops and shareware vendors please see VENDOR.DOC for distribution information. -2- What Vehicle History? _____________________ Mail Angel Babudro, "Organic Computer Wizardry", PO Box 132, Paonia, CO 81428 USA Phone (303) 527-6756 Tue-Fri 10am-6pm Mountain Time I am normally available by phone during the hours stated above. If you get the answering machine please leave a message. Unregistered users: please try again later; I am happy to answer your questions but I cannot afford to pay for the call. Official Distribution Bulletin Boards My software packages are "free" downloads on the BBSs listed below - you need not subscribe to download my shareware (although other files or functions may require subscription). I use the first name "Angelo" on BBSs since it avoids gender confusion (I'm used to both names anyway). Scan for the file name WVH*.* to locate the latest version. West Coast Researcher's BBS (CA) USR Dual (805) 949-8151 Enter "J;136" to join the OrganicSftwr conference before downloading, browsing for topics of interest, or leaving messages to me. This board is huge, by the way; anything you want is here. One of their specialties is extensive WordPerfect support. Messages can be sent to me via FidoNet 1:102/1310. Expanding Horizons (CO) 14.4k V.32 (303) 241-2847 This is my local BBS so it is the one I most often update and check for messages. Log on to this board with the name "OC WIZ" and the password "WHAT" - this will bypass the usual questionnaire so you can begin downloading right away. If you log on using your own name enter "J;3" to join conference #3, then type "F" to view the list of my software. Midwest Rusty 'n Edie's BBS (Ohio), six phone numbers: HST 16.8 (216) 726-1804 Hayes 28.8 (216) 726-3642 Hayes V-series (216) 726-3610 2400/V32/ZyXEL 19.2 (216) 726-2620 USR HST Turbo 21 (216) 726-3628 CompuCom Speed (216) 726-3584 East Coast Excalibur (Central NY) USR Dual (315) 736-3792 FREQ (File REQuest) from this board via RBBS address A:954/401, FIDO address 1:26501, or ICN address 91:315/101. -3- What Vehicle History? _____________________ WhiTech BBS (NC) ZyXEL 14.4 V32b/V42b (910) 944-1165 File Request (FREQ) via Fido address 1:3636/2. V. ORDERING METHODS AND REGISTRATION FEES WVH has been under constant development since 1991 in the hopes that many people will be willing to pay for a small part of the development. If you use this software past the 60- day trial period you are asked to pay the registration fee. There are many benefits to registering WVH, as explained in the following section. A. Benefits of Registration The Shareware (unregistered) version of WVH is fully functional so that you may try all of its features and know exactly for what you are paying. Past the 60-day evaluation period WVH will display reminders to register your copy or discontinue use of the software, but it will always continue to be fully functional. When you register you have the following benefits: - You get the latest version with the latest features and enhancements direct from the author. - You get a complete introductory course in using computers for business which includes sections on hardware, DOS, Windows, and WVH. - Telephone support - you can talk to the software author who can help you right away and is committed to making the software work well for you. - Updates are free - get them from a local BBS or vendor. As new features are added, WVH's price is sometimes adjusted to reflect the dramatic increase in its value to users. By registering now, you pay the current (low) price and are entitled to the higher-priced features. - You can subscribe to receive updates & upgrades as soon as they are released so you will always have the latest features & enhancements. - The Shareware License display and Unregistered Edition delay go away. - It rewards the author for thousands of hours of software development done without pay and from which you are deriving benefit. It's the right thing to do and will surely come back to you in blessings & good karma. -4- What Vehicle History? _____________________ B. How To Order Send cash, check, or money order in U.S. funds; Canadian cheques or foreign cash are also acceptable. No Purchase Orders please; instead use the invoice (below) and, since you are (and have been) using the Unregistered Edition, consider it the case that you are paying for already delivered merchandise. If you prefer to use a credit card, you can order WVH from Public (software) Library with your MC, Visa, AmEx, or Discover card by calling 800-242-4PsL (from overseas: 713-524-6394) or by FAX to 713-524-6398 or by CompuServe to 71355,470. THESE NUMBERS ARE FOR ORDERING ONLY. I CANNOT be reached at those numbers. To contact me for information about dealer pricing, volume discounts, site licensing, the status of shipment of the product, the latest version number, or for technical information, call 303-527-6756 or write me at PO Box 132, Paonia, CO USA 81428. The idea behind Shareware is that you try it before buying and, therefore, product returns are not allowed. When ordering from PsL ask for product #11518. C. Pricing Use License with Disk, Manual, and Computer Course -- $159. License to use one copy of WVH along with the latest Registered Edition on disk with automated installation, the latest version of this documentation on disk, notification of major updates, and a printed 3-ring-bound manual. The manual contains an introductory course in computers plus a complete guide to using WVH. The course covers computer components (hardware), DOS & software basics, Windows, etc. Companion course disks are also provided. This course is for the newcomer and covers all the topics necessary to understand and maintain your computer. Manuals are printed on tree-free paper (50% hemp/50% cereal straw). Wholesale & OEM -- If you want to resell WVH or bundle it with your product or service please write me with your idea. Site License -- If your firm has multiple computers on which WVH will be installed you may opt to purchase a Use License (above) plus a site license. With a site license you are provided with a disk for each computer but just one printed manual which may be photo-copied (although additional copies may be purchased). Discounts range from 30% to 80%. Please write for a copy of the agreement. -5- What Vehicle History? _____________________ Free Updates -- When you register I will send you a "key" which will allow future releases to work as Registered Editions. You can download from a BBS or otherwise obtain an updated copy and it will recognize your registration key.1 Updates Through The Mail -- An update disk with the latest versions of all my shareware costs $7.00 (plus the normal shipping outside the continental U.S.). Update Subscription -- I will send important updates as they are released. In return you will be expected to send $7 plus foreign shipping, if any, to me within 15 days or return the disk to cancel this service. There is no time commitment and this subscription can be cancelled by either party at any time with written notice. Prices and specifications are subject to change without notice. Vendors and sysops see VENDOR.DOC and SYSOP.DOC. Angel Babudro "Organic Computer Wizardry" Box 132, Paonia, CO 81428-0132 USA (303) 527-6756 Tue-Fri 10am-6pm Mountain Time Register the Shareware you use. ____________________ 1 When you share copies with BBSs and others be sure to delete your CONFIG.* file from those copies. Not only does it contain all the settings on your system and certain pieces of your data, but it also contains your registration key and your name. -6- What Vehicle History? _____________________ INVOICE & REGISTRATION Credit card orders see "How To Order" above REMIT TO: FROM: Angel Babudro Name___________________________ "Organic Computer Wizardry" PO Box 132 Company________________________ Paonia, CO 81428 USA Address________________________ _______________________________ Phone__________________________ Use License Registration, disk, & manual ($159) _______ Shipping & Continental U.S. - add $3 Handling Canada, AK, HI, VI, PR - add $5 Outside U.S.A. & Canada - add $9 _______ *** T O T A L = $_______ Update Do you want to receive updates in the YES [__] Subscription mail every 2 to 4 months? Updates are $4 plus shipping; you'll have 15 days NO [__] to pay or return the disk to cancel. Disk size [__] 5¬" [__] 3«" Drive density [__] Low (DD) required [__] High (HD) okay FDFORMAT/FDREAD [__] FDFORMAT extended densities okay Printer make(s) & model(s)______________________________________ Which version are you using now?________________________________ I got it from ________________BBS ________________Vendor __Other I saw a review in_______________________________________________ Upon receipt of this paid invoice the latest Registered Edition disk and any options ordered above will be sent. Mail with your cash, check, or money order in U.S. funds (Canadian cheques and foreign cash are okay). Put comments on back. Allow 1-4 weeks for delivery. Thank you for registering! -7- What Vehicle History? _____________________ VI. WHAT DOES THIS SOFTWARE DO? What Vehicle History? (WVH) was originally designed in _____________________ October 1991 to track maintenance records for construction equipment. Over the years it has been expanded to track the maintenance history of just about any ground-based mechanical devices - cars, trucks, tractors, motorcycles, big rigs, power generators, or anything else that is tracked by miles or hours. (An aviation version is being researched - please write if you are interested in this.) Each "vehicle" has an owner, division, or department identified with it, which makes WVH perfect for companies who own many vehicles or shops who maintain other people's vehicles. WVH will track parts, labour, and comments pertaining to each service incident for a vehicle. In addition, you may enter your parts inventory and WVH will track stock levels and sales history (including profit margin) on parts. VII. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS You will need: * An 8088 or faster PC (a 286 or faster is recommended) * At least one disk drive with at least 720k storage capacity (a hard disk is recommended) * MS/PC-DOS 3.1 or higher (v3.3, 5, or 6.x recommended) * At least 400k free RAM * A dot matrix or laser printer if you wish to print reports A. Storage Requirements Although the system is capable of handling 5.5 millions entries per file, you would need a super-computer or a lot of time to manage it. Here are some practical guidelines for your computer system: PC/XT (8088 or 8086) - perhaps 10 vehicles 80286 - 10 to 20 vehicles 80386 - 20 to 50 vehicles 80486 - Over 50 vehicles These are just recommendations, though. You can track a thousand vehicles on a 4MHz XT if you want to; it'll just make molasses look fast... -8- What Vehicle History? _____________________ B. Using on a Network With version 2.2 of WVH I have installed network file locks for networks that use the DOS SHARE.EXE file sharing method. I only have one computer so I am unable to test how WVH will work on a network, so if you have a network and experience problems (such as error 70), please give me your input. I will gladly send a free update in return for useful information. C. Using with MS Windows WVH can be run as a DOS application under Windows 3.1 although it is not a Windows application (in other words, it runs the same in DOS or Windows). If you don't use Windows or use it only occasionally (as I do), then use WVH from DOS since it will work faster without Windows' overhead. If you normally have Windows loaded, however, then go ahead and set up an icon for WVH. To do this, highlight or create a group, then use File/New to create a program item and define it as C:\WVH\WVH.EXE (or whatever directory you are using) and set the data directory to C:\WVH or some other, as you desire. D. Using with 4DOS WVH has been successfully tested on 4DOS versions 4.0 and 5.0 - there are no special considerations or procedures necessary. VIII. FILES WHICH MAKE UP THE PACKAGE What Vehicle History? consists of the following files: _____________________ WVH.EXE Main programme WVH.HLP Help file WVH.SCN Screen definitions WVH.TXT * The ASCII text file of this document WVH.WP * The WordPerfect file of this document (so you can format it for your printer) PRINTER.DAT Printer definitions FKEY.LST Function key definitions READ.ME * A file containing late-breaking news ORDER.FRM Order form for all of my software FILE_ID.DIZ * BBS description file DESC.SDI * BBS description file SYSOP.DOC * Information for BBS sysops VENDOR.DOC * Information for Shareware vendors -9- What Vehicle History? _____________________ These are the files which make up WVH. If you distribute evaluation copies to friends and bulletin boards please be sure to include all of these files. However, additional files will be created by WVH which contain your data and should not be distributed (unless you intend to share your data files). The files marked with an asterisk (*) can be deleted if disk space is a premium. Registered users: Be sure to delete the file CONFIG.WVH from copies you share with others since it contains your registration stamp, serial number, your name, and some historical information pertaining to your data. IX. RUNNING What Vehicle History? FOR THE FIRST TIME A. Quick Start To get started in a hurry just type "WVH" from the DOS prompt and set each of the Preferences screens. Most importantly set the Sales Tax and Inventory preferences. All Preference information can be changed as needed. B. Installation Before you can use WVH you will have to install it on your hard disk or create a working floppy disk. Since almost no business uses dual floppy disk systems anymore I won't bother to explain the procedure here. If you have a lap-top computer with dual floppy disks simply place the necessary files (as listed above) on one disk and use the other one for data files. The full Printed Manual contains details on this. Contact me if you need help with this in order to evaluate WVH before registering. If you received your copy of WVH on floppy disk it came with an INSTALL programme. If INSTALL.EXE or any other of the files which make up the software are not on your disk please contact me so I can make the distributor aware of the problem. To use the automated installation programme, go to the DOS prompt (usually "C:\>" or something similar), and type "d:INSTALL" where "d:" is the letter of the floppy disk drive with the WVH disk (e.g., "A:INSTALL" to install from floppy A:). You will be asked to supply the destination drive and directory. If you have an existing version of the software on disk you will be informed that it will be updated with the new disk. -10- What Vehicle History? _____________________ After INSTALL is finished you will see some helpful information for setting up your computer well, and directions on how to run WVH. A batch file called WVH.BAT is created in your root directory if you so permit, and your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files are not touched at all, not one little bit -- I wouldn't invade your system that way. While in the root directory you just type "WVH" to start the programme. WVH is a batch file which merely changes to the proper drive & directory then runs WVH. You can delete this file if you are using a menu or would rather type the commands yourself. C. Using the Menus WVH uses the familiar pull-down menus which are common to QuickBASIC, Windows, and Macintosh applications. Basically, there is a horizontal menu of choices -- File, Data Entry, etc. Under each of the horizontal choices is a menu of functions pertaining to that item -- it is a two-dimensional menu, in other words. There are two ways to select an item from the main menu: 1. Press the letter which is highlighted in the option description 2. Use the Up/Down/Right/Left arrows to highlight the option you want then press ENTER (a.k.a. RETURN or CR). Some menus do not have highlighted options. On these menus you must use the arrow keys to highlight your choice then press ENTER. If you want to cancel an operation you selected, just press the Esc ("Escape") key. X. MANAGING FILES The choices under the File menu have to do with your system set-up, file management, and ending the programme. A. Making Back-up Copies of Your Files Your computer is a machine and one day it will probably break down. File/Back-up protects your information by making a copy of it on another disk. -11- What Vehicle History? _____________________ You must have a formatted disk ready. You can use the same back-up disk over and over again (the new copy will over-write the old one), but it is a good idea to alternate at least three back-up copies just in case you have a problem while creating a back-up, in which case you have two copies on which you may rely. When the work you've done since your last back-up would be heart- breaking to lose, it's time to make another back-up. Using compression software packs more information in less space (so you can use fewer floppy disks) but requires more memory (RAM). The compression software WVH is programmed to use and their memory requirements are as follows: ARJ 2.41 needs at least 300k free LHARC 2.13 needs at least 189k free PKZip 2.04g needs at least 157k free After you select File/Back-up a summary window pops open and a menu of methods will be presented, starting with "DOS Copy" and including each compression technique for which you have enough free memory. Once you choose a method you are asked to enter the back-up destination (which is typically a floppy disk drive, such as A:, but you may decide to back-up to another hard disk, a network drive, etc.). All WVH data files will then be backed-up to the destination disk and directory using the method shown in the window. B. Restoring Files from a Back-up Copy If you ever need to recover data files from a floppy disk you made using the File/Back-up command (above), just place the floppy disk in its drive and select File/Restore. The first thing you will be asked is to specify the disk drive from which to restore files. Once you highlight a drive and press ENTER the list of files on that disk will be shown - individual data files as well as any compressed archives. Highlight each file you wish to restore and press the SpaceBar key; you will see an arrow appear next to each file as it is selected. If you change your mind, just press the SpaceBar again and the arrow will go away, indicating that the file will not be restored. Alternately, you may use the mouse and click the left button instead of using the arrow keys and SpaceBar. Once you have selected all the files you wish to restore press the ENTER key or click on the "Ok" button with a mouse. -12- What Vehicle History? _____________________ Each file will be copied into the current data directory.2 Any compressed archives being restored will automatically be expanded. C. Formatting Floppy Disks This option is for those times when you have decided to make a back-up copy of your data but don't have a formatted disk handy. File/Format Floppies lets you format a floppy disk to your computer's standard density without exiting WVH. If you have a high density drive you can only format high density disks (in other words, WVH doesn't pass any parameters to DOS FORMAT). If you have What Floppy Format? (WFF.EXE) available somewhere in your search path WVH will automatically access it for formatting floppy disks (so you can do whatever you want). You will receive a complimentary copy of the latest version of WFF with your WVH registration. D. Re-Indexing Files If you ever notice that information is missing or appears in any way wrong, it is probably because something has damaged an index file. WVH will automatically catch and fix most index problems (like if power goes out in the middle of the programme), but there are times when only you will know that the file indices need to be re-built. One common example would be if you restored files from a back-up disk. When you make a back-up (using WVH's File/Back-up option) you are only storing the data files. This saves space on your back-up disk. However, it means that if you restore from a back-up the index files may be mis-matched to the files. So you would use the File/Re-Index option. If you have large files (thousands of records) re-indexing can take a minute or more, depending on your computer's speed. Aside from that, though, it is harmless to re-index as often as you like. ____________________ 2 The directory from which WVH is started is considered the data directory - it is where the data files are stored. For example, if you are in the C:\WVH\DATA directory and you run WVH from there, then files will be created in, backed-up from, and restored to this directory. -13- What Vehicle History? _____________________ E. Packing Files Whenever you delete information from the files WVH marks the "slot" (record) in the files as being "available" so that the next new piece of information will use that slot. If you delete a lot of information (for example, if you delete a vehicle that had a lot of service history & parts information) there may be a lot of disk space being used to store old information. This is where pack comes in handy. Packing makes a new copy of all of your files which does not include deleted records. For every deleted record between 128 and 512 bytes of disk space will be freed. XI. DATA ENTRY This menu of What Vehicle History? lets you enter vehicles, _____________________ mechanics and other information into the data base. The Data Entry menu is split into three sections: 1. Regular data entry for vehicle service information 2. One-time data entry for vehicles, mechanics, departments, and service codes 3. Rarely needed data entry (schedule next maintenance) -- this function is run automatically after you enter service for a vehicle, so you would normally not need to access the function directly. This option is not yet completed. All data entry screens use the same method of asking you to choose a code (vehicle, service type, etc.). There are two windows on the screen: the left-hand one showing the codes and the right-hand one showing the details. As you move through the codes in the left-hand window, WVH shows you the details for the code which is highlighted. You move with the arrow keys, PgUp and PgDn keys, or by pressing the letter or number of a code. For example, if you press the "G" key WVH will jump to codes beginning with the letter "G". If there are no codes that begin with "G" the next code after "G" will be highlighted. You can back-up one step (cancel an operation) by pressing the Esc key. Otherwise, just press ENTER to select the code which is highlighted and continue with an operation. -14- service information. Once you select this option you will see the menu of vehicle choices. To quit just press the Esc (Escape) key, have set up your vehicles, owners, etc. you can enter the actual This is normally the most used function in WVH. After you What Vehicle History? _____________________ A. Service Information otherwise highlight a vehicle and press ENTER. enter and press the ENTER key. Next you will see the menu of service types. Choose a service type which describes the information you are going to vehicle then you will see a menu of dates. The first item in the menu is "New date." Highlight your choice and press ENTER. If there is already some service information for that Finally you are on the service entry screen. There are three windows here: One for parts, one for comments, and one for save it. When you exit the service screen you are back at the When you are finished entering information press the F7 key to (Jump) key. Within a window use the arrow keys to move around. everything else. You can jump between the windows using the F6 vehicle menu (as above) and the cycle starts over. Just press the Esc key to stop entering service information. B. Departments, Mechanics, Service Types, and Vehicles right which has the details about the highlighted code. These data entry windows all work similarly. You will see two windows: One on the left which has codes, and one on the Highlight a code and press ENTER to edit it's information and "AG05" are both valid codes, though "AG05" has room for 100 numbers, or symbols. Only upper-case letters are used. "AG-5" variations while "AG-5" has room for 10 variations. It's a good (insert) key. To delete (erase) a code press the Del (delete) (in the right-hand window). To enter a new code press the Ins key. The codes you define can contain up to five letters, idea to give some thought to your coding system before entering all of your data! -15- What Vehicle History? _____________________ WVH sorts codes in typical ASCII fashion. One character at a time is compared, going left to right. For example, here is a list of codes in ASCII order: 1A A001 It is best to pad your numbers A002 with zeroes (like these three examples) A015 so they come out in order. A1 A100 A1000 A2 B001 Service Types examples: Use whatever works for you. If you have an existing system, just use those same numbers or letters. Perhaps you have abbreviations you use on invoices. You can use "BR" for "Brakes", or you might just have service type "1" for all types of service if you don't care to separate the service history by service types. Avoid getting too detailed because you will have to enter a separate service record for each type of service you want to track. This might mean splitting one service into two entries - perhaps you replaced a radiator and replaced brake pads at the same time. If you want to print a report in the future which shows just the brake work (or whatever), then make a service type for it. XII. REPORTS Highlight the report you want and follow the instructions on the screen. For reports which ask for dates - enter the date in month-day-year order, entering just the numbers and using a 4- digit year. You can choose to print a report on the screen, on your printer, or to a disk file. If your print to a disk file you will be asked for a file name (which may include the drive and path, if necessary) and the file will be created using the codes for your printer. If you want a "raw" ASCII file without printer codes then define your printer to be a "Generic/Daisy-wheel" printer. -16- What Vehicle History? _____________________ XIII. PREFERENCES The Preferences menu contains options which help you customize the operation of WVH and set necessary parameters, such as the type of printer you have. Please check each Preferences screen before making full use of WVH, otherwise something might seem wrong with the software whereas it is due to the set of conditions under which WVH is operating. A. Operating Choices 1. Back-up & Restore Method ________________________ Under the File menu are options which allow you to back-up and restore your data to/from other disks for safety. These operations will use the DOS COPY command unless you use this option to change it. You will see a menu of four choices of methods to use when backing-up and restoring: DOS COPY (the default), ARJ, LHARC, or PKZIP. In order to use ARJ, LHARC, or PKZIP compression software you must have the compression programme available in your DOS PATH. In addition, you will also need enough free memory (RAM) to run both WVH and the compression software. 2. Country setting _______________ This setting is not currently used. I plan to use it in the future to determine whether to use english or metric measurements. 3. Directory Display Format ________________________ This option is not yet used and can be set to anything. For now, it is included to maintain a standard "look and feel" of my packages. 4. Alert Tone __________ When some type of error or warning message is displayed on the screen, you reach the end of a field, press a wrong letter in a menu, etc., WVH can alert you with one of three sounds or you may select "No sound" for silent operation. -17- What Vehicle History? _____________________ B. Defining your Printers WVH lets you use a laser or dot matrix printer, but you must first define it and the fonts you want to use for printing. Until you define your printer and fonts there will be a flashing message at the bottom of the screen and you will not be able to print anything. The Preferences/Printer window shows the current settings. Use the arrow keys to move around, and press the F3 key to change anything. For example, to set your Title Font move the cursor to that line then press F3 and a menu of choices will appear. Highlight a font to use and press . When you are finished, highlight the "Ok" button and press . Alternately, you can use a mouse (click on "Ok") or press F7 to save the screen and exit. 1. Laser Printer Soft Fonts ________________________ You will need portrait (SFP) fonts for reports. Once you define your font choices on this screen WVH will automatically use them for all reports. Example: Highlight the "Titles Font" line and press the key - a window of font choices will appear.3 You may choose any of the built-in fonts or a soft font. If you choose "Select a soft font," a window will pop open in which you may enter a drive and/or path which contains the soft font files (whatever you enter here becomes the default response for next time). Next you will be shown a list of the soft font files (*.SFP) in that directory. Use the arrow keys and PgUp/PgDn keys to move around, highlight the one you want, and press . The soft font file name will now be shown on the screen. 2. Scalable Fonts ______________ A scalable font is a single font (e.g., CG Times, Univers, etc.) which can be printed in practically any size. PCL 5 printers like the H-P LaserJet III and IV have scalable fonts built in. This means you can pick a font and print in practically any size you want. When you select a scalable font WVH will prompt you for the pitch (cpi) or the point size, depending on whether it ____________________ 3 You must define the printer before you can set any fonts. -18- What Vehicle History? _____________________ is a fixed-pitch or proportionally-spaced font. In general numbers between 8 and 14 work best. My favourite font for both my laser and dot matrix is a Helvetica-Univers-Swiss- etc. (sans serif) font at 12cpi or 12 points. 3. Lines per Page ______________ Enter the number of lines which may be printed on a page in your printer. Most of the time you will be working with 66 lines total (11-inches of paper printed at 6 lines per inch). On laser printers the total number of lines of often 60 due to half-inch top & bottom margins. I recommend that you set this to 55 lines, which is a common setting leaving an inch margin at the top & bottom of each page. 4. Left Margin ___________ This setting is the same as it would be for a typewriter - it is the distance from the left margin, in inches, at which printing will begin. If you would like to leave space at the left edge (e.g., to 3-hole punch the pages) then set this as you wish. If you use a 10 cpi font (or 12 points for lasers) there will be no room for a left margin on most reports. However, a 12 cpi (or 10 point) font, such as Prestige Elite, will give you room to set a one-inch margin or so. Experiment to find what works best for you. C. Sales Tax Rate and Labour Rate Entry This window lets you set two important items: The sales tax rate for your area and whether or not you want to enter the labour hourly rate on the Maintenance Data Entry screen. If you do not need to track sales tax, just enter zero for this. Otherwise, enter your sales tax rate as a percentage (i.e., 7.50 for 7.5%). When you are entering service information for a vehicle you are asked to indicate the mechanic or place of service which, in turn, indicates the hourly rate for labour. If you wish you can enter the labour rate on the service data entry screen, which allows you to over-ride the rate set for the mechanic or place of service. This can be handy if you don't want to track mechanics, only the service done. -19- What Vehicle History? _____________________ In this case you could set up a single mechanic and enter the hourly rate as it pertains to each incident of service. XIV. HELP The Help menu has two options: About and Index. Help/About gives some information about the programme, free memory, and file usage. Help/Index presents a menu of help topics. Use the up and down arrow keys to highlight a topic then press ENTER and a window of information about that topic will pop open. It's a handy (albeit brief) on-line manual. XV. ERROR MESSAGES WVH has three types of errors which you may experience: 1. Logical error - this is a minor problem, not really an error at all. An example of this type of error is if you try to enter a duplicate vehicle code. These "errors" will appear in a window and, once you press ENTER or click on "Ok" WVH will continue its operation. 2. File error - these problems cause an error screen to appear which suggests a possible solution to the problem and, if you can't fix it, my address and phone number is shown so you can mail me the error or call me. A common reason for this error is that an index file contains a bad entry (perhaps due to a power outage). The most common solution to these problems is to re-index your files (File/re-Index). 3. Programme error - this is a mistake of mine and will cause the programme to abruptly end with a one-line error message and a message like "Press any key to return to system." Report these errors to me right away, please. WVH is thousands of lines long, so the bigger it gets the more likely it is that a few bugs will creep in there somewhere. These errors get top priority and are usually fixed and a new version released within a day. If anything happens that you don't understand, or if you can't get WVH to do what you want, I would appreciate knowing -20- What Vehicle History? _____________________ about this so I can fix the software or update the documentation as necessary. Thank you for your help and support! :) -21-