TUTORIAL GUIDE PART 1: SYSTEM OVERVIEW                      PAGE 1 OF 11

This tutorial assumes you have already installed the Personal Portfolio
Analyzer on your hard disk, or have made working copy diskettes to use.
(See Chapters 1 through 3.)  It will take you through a step-by-step
procedure to acquaint you with the program.

Before starting the program, you should make sure your computer's inter-
nal time-of-day clock is properly set.  Most IBM-compatible computers
have a built-in clock-calendar that does this automatically, but some
8088-based and older machines do not have this feature.  On those mach-
ines, you set the clock-calendar by using the DATE and TIME commands
from DOS (refer to your DOS manual).

Proper setting of the date and time is important, not only for the Per-
sonal Portfolio Analyzer, but also for other programs, for two reasons:

First, the computer "stamps" with the date and time each file that it
writes on disk.  This is to aid in recognition of different versions of
the same data which may have been updated at different times.  Second,
the Personal Portfolio Analyzer may use the current date from DOS as a
default in reports and when calculating holding periods of securities.

TUTORIAL GUIDE PART 1: SYSTEM OVERVIEW                      PAGE 2 OF 11

In this documentation, the notation <Enter> means "press the Enter key".

To start the Personal Portfolio Analyzer from DOS, you must first make
the directory which contains the PROGRAMS the current directory.  On a
floppy-disk system you should see the prompt A> or B>.  On a hard-disk
system you should see a prompt something like C:\> and you will need to
use a DOS command such as CD \PA3PROG <Enter> to get into the required
directory.  This procedure will vary depending on how your computer and
its operating system (DOS) have been set up.

Once you are in the Personal Portfolio Analyzer's PROGRAM directory,
you can start the program from DOS with the command PA3 <Enter>.  You
should see the introductory screen and copyright message.  Press the
Enter key once more to go to the Master Menu screen.

For definitions of some of the terms used in this manual, see the GLOS-
SARIES in the Appendix chapters near the end of the manual.




TUTORIAL GUIDE PART 1: SYSTEM OVERVIEW                      PAGE 3 OF 11

The Personal Portfolio Analyzer consists of several program modules
which perform major functions such as Securities Register or Market
Value.  Each program module has its own menus, which may either appear
at the bottom of the screen, or occupy the whole screen.

Like its restaurant counterpart, a menu offers a choice of selections.
To make a choice, press the letter key corresponding to the desired
function, such as A for Add/delete or M for Market value.  As soon as
the key is pressed, the selection is activated.  The correct program
module is automatically loaded into memory as required, and menu
choices permit switching freely among the various functions.  It makes
no difference whether you use uppercase (CAPITAL) letters or lowercase
letters.

Most menus have a HELP function.  Just type H to get an explanation of
all of the choices offered by that menu.  Each individual HELP function
displays the appropriate user manual chapter on your video screen, one
"page" at a time.  Usually there will be 5 or 10 screen pages.



TUTORIAL GUIDE PART 1: SYSTEM OVERVIEW                      PAGE 4 OF 11

The Esc (Escape) key is always active.  You can almost always press the
Esc key to get out of any situation you don't want to be in.  The only
exception would be if that choice might cause you to lose critical data.
All menus have an EXIT function which can be invoked with the X or Esc
key.  From the Master Menu, press Q (for QUIT) or Esc to terminate the
program and go back to DOS.

Some menu functions will first ask you for confirmation of your choice,
in case you press the wrong key.  Type Y for a Yes response or N for a
No response as appropriate.  If you make an invalid response, an error
message will flash at the bottom of the screen until a correct response
is entered.

The Scroll Lock and Caps Lock keys are not used.  The function keys on
the left-hand side or top of the keyboard (F1, F2, etc.) are not used.

The Num Lock key is needed only once to put the cursor keypad in Numeric
mode.  Most keyboards have an indicator for the Num Lock key, which
lights in numeric mode.  When you press a cursor keypad key, the pro-
grams know by context whether you want "PgUp" or "9", for example.

TUTORIAL GUIDE PART 1: SYSTEM OVERVIEW                      PAGE 5 OF 11

Let's look at some of the data the program uses, step by step: 

1.  Before you can get the Personal Portfolio Analyzer to work, you must
    tell it where your data is.  Near the bottom of the screen you will
    see the name of the active directory where your portfolio data is
    expected.  If this name is incorrect, press P and enter the correct
    drive letter and/or sub-directory name, for example B: or \PA3DATA
    or F:\PERSONAL.

2.  From the Master Menu, type A.  This will take you to the Securities
    Register.  Try using the up-arrow, down-arrow, PgUp, PgDn, Home and
    End keys to move the selector bar.  This allows you to see different
    securities of the SAME type.  Securities of DIFFERENT types are dis-
    played separately; to see DIFFERENT security types you must press
    Ctrl-PgUp or Ctrl-PgDn.  (Hold the Ctrl key down while you press and
    release PgUp or PgDn.)





TUTORIAL GUIDE PART 1: SYSTEM OVERVIEW                      PAGE 6 OF 11

    The two main purposes of the Securities Register are to select a
    security to buy in a portfolio; and to add, delete or make changes
    to data which pertains to securities (the data items you see on the
    screen).

    If there is no data and you see the flashing message saying "File
    CATALOG.POR missing from data disk", the path name may be incorrect.
    Press the Esc key to return to the Master Menu; go back to step 1
    above.

    What you are looking at is the CATALOG (the file named CATALOG.POR
    on your disk); this file contains a list of all securities known to
    the system.  A security must be on this list before it can be bought
    in any portfolio.  But once a security has been added to the list
    (which we will do in Tutorial Part 2), it can be bought any number
    of different times in any number of different portfolios.  (A port-
    folio is any grouping of security purchases.)




TUTORIAL GUIDE PART 1: SYSTEM OVERVIEW                      PAGE 7 OF 11

3.  Notice the menu at the bottom of the screen.  Most menus have a HELP
    function.  To display the chapter that corresponds to that menu,
    type H for HELP.  Here the information is presented one screenfull
    at a time.  Note the screen pages are numbered (2 of 5, for example)
    on the upper right corner; most chapters occupy 5-10 screens.  Press
    Enter to advance to the next screen page, or Esc to cancel and go
    back to the previous display.  (It is not possible to "scroll" one
    line at a time.)

    You have the option of using either the printed user manual or the
    "on-line" context-sensitive HELP screens, or a combination of both.

4.  Try using the up- and down-arrow keys to move the selector bar from
    line to line.  Note you can see only securities of the SAME type;
    the security type is spelled out near the upper left corner of the
    display.  To see DIFFERENT security types, press Ctrl-PgUp or Ctrl-
    PgDn (hold the Ctrl key down while pressing and releasing the PgUp
    or PgDn key; then release the Ctrl key).



TUTORIAL GUIDE PART 1: SYSTEM OVERVIEW                      PAGE 8 OF 11

5.  Try using the left-arrow and right-arrow keys to move the selector
    bar to individual data items.  This allows you to make corrections
    to individual data items, such as updating the annual income after
    a dividend increase.  It can also be used to add data items that
    have never been entered before.  In Tutorial Part 2, we will be
    correcting a data item.  Press Esc now to return to the Master Menu.

6.  Now, let's look at a portfolio.  From the Master Menu, press B to go
    to the Portfolio Select screen.  You should now see a list of port-
    folio names along with corresponding descriptions and comments.
    The purpose of this screen is to select a portfolio to buy into or
    sell out of, or for making corrections.  You can have up to 31
    different portfolios in one data directory.  Note the caption near
    the lower right corner of the display (1/31 full, for example).







TUTORIAL GUIDE PART 1: SYSTEM OVERVIEW                      PAGE 9 OF 11

A portfolio can be any grouping of individual security purchases (tax
lots).  A portfolio can represent securities held by a particular broker
or financial manager, securities intended for a particular investment
objective, or securities held by or for a particular client.  A port-
folio can contain different types of securities (such as stocks, bonds
and cash), or multiple purchases in the same security (as for a dividend
re-investment plan).

7.  There should be a demonstration portfolio called DEMOFILE.  Use the
    up- or down-arrow key to move the selector bar over that name; then
    press the Enter key.  You should now see the Transaction Register.
    If the message "Active portfolio not found" flashes at the bottom of
    the screen, the wrong portfolio may have been selected; press Esc to
    return to the Master Menu and repeat step 6 above.

    You should see portfolio transactions (information about security
    purchases).  Note the Transaction Register contains information per-
    taining to security purchases and sales; the Securities Register
    contains information pertaining to the securities themselves.


TUTORIAL GUIDE PART 1: SYSTEM OVERVIEW                     PAGE 10 OF 11

    Portfolio transactions are stored on your disk in a file named
    XXXXXXXX.POR, where XXXXXXXX is the name of the selected portfolio.

    The purpose of the Transaction Register is to buy AND SELL securi-
    ties.  Note that in the Personal Portfolio Analyzer, a "transaction"
    serves as a record of both the purchase and the sale of a number of
    shares (or other units) purchased on a particular date.  In Tutorial
    Part 2, you will see how to actually buy shares of a security.

    The Transaction Register is also used to process stock splits and
    fund distributions, and to set the income tax rates for this partic-
    ular portfolio.

8.  Try using the up-arrow, down-arrow, PgUp, PgDn, Home and End keys
    to move the selector bar to a particular transaction.  This is how
    a security is selected to buy or sell, or to process a split or
    other distribution.  Note this only selects transactions within the
    SAME security type.  To see securities of DIFFERENT types, you must
    press Ctrl-PgUp or Ctrl-PgDn.  The security type is displayed near
    the upper left corner of the display screen.

TUTORIAL GUIDE PART 1: SYSTEM OVERVIEW                     PAGE 11 OF 11

9.  Try using the left-arrow and right-arrow keys to move the selector
    bar to a particular data item.  This is how a data item is selected
    for making a change or correction.

10. Press the A key; this will take you back to the Securities Register.
    Use the up-arrow or down-arrow key to select any security.  Then
    press the B key to invoke the BUY/SELL function.  Note this takes
    you back to the Transaction Register again!  The program will ask if
    you want to buy that security.  We will do that in Tutorial Part 2.
    For now, press the Esc key to cancel the prompt.  Then press Esc
    again to go back to the Master Menu.

    Note you can go directly back and forth between the Securities Reg-
    ister and the Transaction Register, without going through the Master
    Menu.  Note also you can buy or sell directly from either the Master
    Menu (after selecting a portfolio) or from the Securities Register.

    This concludes Tutorial Part 1.  In Part 2 we will add a security to
    the system and purchase some shares, and we will update the current
    price quotes.  In Part 3 we will examine the different reports.
