VCalc V1.1 Help and Information

General Information

Adding, Selecting, & Deleting Vehicles

Setup

Advanced Setup

Adjusting Column Widths

Entering Data

Sorting Tables

Statistics

Graphs

Trouble-Shooting & Technical Support

Registration

Distribution


General Information:

VCalc, (for "Vehicle Calculator"), stores, calculates, and analyzes the cost and efficiency of up to 500 vehicles.  It's been designed to be as simple as possible to use, while being sophisticated in features.

Hansen Software

155 E. "C" St., Suite "D"

Upland, CA  91786

CompuServe #74721,3027

Copyright (c) 1995 Hansen Software.  All rights reserved.

VCalc2?...

Credits...

Version 1.1 improvements...


 Selecting, Adding, & Deleting Vehicles:

To add a new vehicle to VCalc, press "Add" from the "Vehicle Selection" form.  In the "New Vehicle" form, enter a short description of the vehicle, the vehicle's license plate, and the date and mileage that the vehicle's records will begin within VCalc.  Press "Enter New Vehicle" to complete the addition.

To select a vehicle which has already been added to VCalc, open up the "Vehicle Selection" form, then highlight the vehicle to select (single-click with the left mouse button), then press "Select".  The vehicle should then be displayed in the line at the top of the form.

To remove a vehicle from VCalc, open up the "Vehicle Selection" form, highlight the vehicle to remove, then press "Remove".  The vehicle should then be deleted from VCalc, but it's associated data files will still exist on your hard disk.  To delete the data files, open up File Manager (or one of many other methods of managing files), and delete all of the files which begin with the deleted vehicle's license plate.  At most, there will be six files, one ending in "1DT", one in "2DT", one in "3DT".... up to "6DT".  For example, if the license plate were "LPLATE1", then one of the data files would be named "LPLATE1.1DT".

To adjust the column widths in the vehicle select form:  With some screen resolutions, the column widths of the vehicle select form may need to be adjusted for proper alignment with the titles.  To do this, press Ctrl, then move the mouse pointer over the column line to be moved.  The mouse pointer should change to a double arrow.  Press the left mouse button to "grab" the line, drag it to where it should be, then release both the mouse button and the Ctrl button.  Press the "Select" button to save these column positions as the default.


VCalc Setup:

This form allows the user to decide what will be displayed each time that VCalc starts up.  If  "Last `Save Data'" is chosen for either the mode or vehicle, then each time that "Save Data" is pressed, VCalc will save the current vehicle and/or mode as the default.

When "Save" is pressed on the Setup form, not only are the current settings saved, but also column layout, window size, window state, and window location.


VCalc Advanced Setup:

These settings have been called "Advanced", because careless settings here can cause problems with VCalc.

Maximum number of rows in each table:

Before registration, VCalc limits data input to 6 rows.  After registration, the number may be anywhere from 6 to 2000.  It may be desirable to set the number to less than 2000, because unless there are nearly 2000 rows of data entered, then the vertical scroll bar will operate better.  But be careful when setting this.  If this is set to a number which is less than the number of rows of data which have already been entered, then the excess data will be lost.

Printer and screen fonts:

Experimentation is the best way to find the best results.  Some settings will produce a real mess on the screen or printer, so, if it looks hopeless, then just press the "Restore `Factory' Defaults" button, to bring back the settings which seem to work well on most computer systems.


Adjusting Column Widths:

To Adjust Column Widths:

1)  Press and hold the Ctrl key.

2)  Move the mouse cursor over the vertical line to move.  The cursor will change to a double arrow.

3)  Press and hold the left mouse button.

4)  Move the line.

5)  Release the mouse button and the Ctrl key.

6)  To save the column configuration as the default layout, open the Setup form ("File > Setup"), and press "Save".


Entering Data into the Tables:

As a general note, don't leave any blank or incomplete lines among other data, as this may cause undesirable results when statistics or graphs are displayed.

Gasoline:  Fill in the left six columns, and the right three columns are automatically calculated by VCalc.

Maintenance:  One thing worth noting here:  Some expenses, like a service contract, which basically pays for all repairs over a long period, should be entered into the maintenance table as a monthly expense, rather than as a large, one-time expense.  Doing this will produce more accurate statistics and graphs, when analyzing monthly expenses.  "Future" expenses (as with a service contract, when it's first purchased) may be entered freely, as the statistics and graphs will automatically adjust so that future expenses are not included in the calculations.

Insurance, DMV, Purchase, and "Other" Expenses:  As was described for maintenance, all of these expenses should be divided up into "per month" expenses, in order to produce more meaningful statistics and graphs.  To help with this task, a feature called "Table Filler" has been included which takes an expense, divides it up into any number of months, then enters the monthly expenses into the table.


VCalc2?:

Features being considered for VCalc2:

*  Increased speed

*  Decreased size

*  More sophisticated handling of purchase expenses, including depreciation.

*  Designed to take advantage of the filing system in Windows 4 (a.k.a. Windows Chicago, a.k.a. Windows `95,... or whatever they eventually call it).

*  A version for OS/2?

*  "Search", to find a particular vehicle (when a long list of vehicles has been entered).

*  Modification of appearance?

*  Foreign language version(s)?

*  User definable "modes".

*  designed for the entry of other types of vehicles (boats, planes,...)

*  Stats, stats, and more stats...


Credits:

Special thanks to Jim Sylvester, masters in computer programming, for his testing and evaluating of VCalc.


Version 1.1 Improvements:

Version 1.1 solves two problems within version 1.0:

1)  If a new vehicle was entered with a starting mileage greater than 1,000 miles, then the statistics and graphs would produce erroneous results (it was only using the digits to the left of the comma).

2)  If a vehicle was deleted from the vehicle form, then the starting date and starting mileage would be deleted from every vehicle on the list.

Apologies to any and all who were inconvenienced by these problems.  Hansen Software is dedicated and determined to produce software of excellence.


 Table Sorter:

The Table Sorter reorganizes the currently selected table, based on the criteria which is chosen.

Sorting by Text Columns:

While this may seem ridiculous at first, it can be useful, depending on how it's used.  For example, while in the maintenance section, if the table were sorted by "Mechanic", then all services done by a particular mechanic/service shop/dealer/... would be grouped together.  Another example would be if "Trailer" were entered into the Gasoline section every time that a trailer were pulled.  Sorting the table on this column would then be helpful in analyzing the effect that pulling a trailer has on cost and efficiency.


 Statistics:

At the top of the Stats form is the start date, end date, start mileage, and end mileage.  The start date and start mileage reflect what was entered when the vehicle was first entered into VCalc.  The end date reflects the current date, as returned from the computer's internal clock.  The end mileage reflects the highest mileage entered into the Gasoline table.  It may be necessary to adjust these values in order to produce more accurate statistics.  In other cases, you may want to adjust these in order to view the statistics from a different perspective.  In any case, press "Recalculate" after adjusting them to update the stats.

Along the left side of two of the statistics areas are a column of check boxes.  "Un-checking" one of these will eliminate that row from the sum-total at the bottom.


 Graphs:

When "Graphs" is selected from the "Analyze" menu, the VCalc Graphing program is started up.  This is actually a complete, stand-alone program, though it is designed to function seamlessly with VCalc.  It was written as a separate program in order to improve the speed of VCalc.  When it is started up from VCalc, the current vehicle and screen colors are automatically transferred into the graphing program.

As with most all graphs, they aren't very useful until a significant amount of data has been entered.  After a few years of entering data into VCalc, these graphs will become more and more informative about the vehicle's cost and efficiency.

At the top of the Graph Selection form is the Starting Date, Ending Date, Starting Mileage, and Ending Mileage, of the vehicle.  These may be adjusted as necessary, or as desired.  See Statistics for more info. on this.

Note:  When printing out the graphs, don't choose color printing unless a color printer is selected (and is set for color printing), or else whole lot of black ink will be wasted.


Trouble-Shooting & Technical Support:

If you experience a problem with VCalc, first try to determine that the problem is actually with VCalc.  Basically, if a similar problem happens with other programs, then the problem probably isn't with VCalc.

If serious problems occur, which cause VCalc to terminate, try deleting all of VCalc's files, and then reload it from your original.   It may be that one or more of the files have gotten corrupted for one reason or another.

Less serious problems should display a detailed error message, describing what went wrong.  If the problem relates to one of the preference/setup files, then try deleting all of the files ending in "DAT" (which are within VCalc's directory).  If the problem relates to the loading of a particular vehicle's data, then try deleting that vehicle's data file.  The vehicle data files are named like this:

<Vehicle's license plate>.XDT  (where X is a number from 1-6)

Before deleting a vehicle's data file, first try to print out the data you've entered (otherwise, it will be lost forever).  If you can't print it out within VCalc, then try opening the file using any text editor or word processor (like Notepad or Write), and then print it out from there.

For technical support for VCalc, contact Hansen Software, at:

Hansen Software

155 E. "C" St., Suite "D"

Upland, CA  91786

CompuServe #74721,3027

Please include your name, address, and password with all correspondence.

Limited support is available before registration, though there may be a delay, as registered users are helped first.

Due to time constraints, assistance will not be available for questions relating to the basic operation of the "Windows" environment.


Registration:

Before registration, VCalc limits data entry to 6 rows.  After registration, the limit is 2000 rows (which, unless vehicles start lasting a lot longer than they do now, then 2000 should be plenty).

VCalc represents hundreds of hours of hard work, and a considerable amount in associated expenses.  The only way that this will have been worthwhile, is if the program is registered by all who use it (including family and friends...).

To register VCalc:

1)  Open up VCalc's registration form (File > Registration).

2)  Fill in the "Registrant Information" section.

3)  Print out the information.  If a printer isn't available, then merely write down the "Registrant Information", including the "Copy Number", on an 8-1/2" x 11" sheet of paper.

4)  Mail the printout, along with a check for the requested fee, to Hansen Software.

5)  Within two weeks, you will receive the password which will provide the full, unlimited use of this program, and full technical support.  You also will receive thanks for your patronage, and thanks for being a productive part of the shareware market.

Hansen Software

155 E. "C" St., Suite "D"

Upland, CA  91786

CompuServe # 74721,3027


Distribution:

If  VCalc is distributed to others, and it's hoped that it will be, then please follow these directions:

1)  By far the best and easiest way to distribute VCalc is in the original "ZIP" file that  it came in (assuming that it was received it in it's proper, unregistered form).

2)  If the original "ZIP" file isn't available, then first, and most importantly, un-register the copy that will be distributed.  The way to do this is to not distribute the file, "VCALC1RF.DAT".  This is the file which contains all of the registration information.

3)  Please distribute these files only:

VCALC1.EXE  (VCalc program)

VCALC1.HLP  (Help file for VCalc)

VCALCG1.EXE  (VCalc's graphing program)

GSW.EXE  (A background program which handles the details of graphing)

THREED.VBX  (A companion file)

TRUEGRID.VBX  (A companion file)

CMDIALOG.VBX  (A companion file)

GRAPH.VBX (A companion file to GSW.EXE)

MSAFINX.DLL  (A companion file)

COMMDLG.DLL  (A companion file)

GSWDLL.DLL (A companion file to GSW.EXE)

INSTALLV.WRI  (A "Write" file to aid in installation.  1408 bytes, 1/19/95, 10:04:20PM)

4)  While the file "VBRUN300.DLL" is required by VCalc, it does not need to be included when uploading to BBSs, as this file is usually available separately on most systems.  When distributing VCalc using a floppy disk, you may want to include this file, just in case the person receiving it doesn't already have it.

Thank you for distributing VCalc.