NOBLE VACATION MANAGER V4.0 (C)COPYRIGHT 1990 NOBLE SOFTWARE CO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED NOBLE SOFTWARE CO 11903 PYTHIAN CAVE RD YREKA, CA 96097 DISCLAIMER Noble Software Co. presents this software package "as is" and makes no representation or warranties with respect to the contents hereof and specifically disclaims any implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. Further, Noble Software Co. reserves the right to revise this publication and to make changes in the contents hereof without obligation of Noble Software Co. to notify any persons or organization of such revisions or changes. Noble Software Co. shall have no liability or responsibility to customer or any other person or entity with respect to any liability, loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by computer programs sold by Noble Software Co. SINGLE USER LICENSE The Single User license limits the use of this software package to one person/computer at a time. COPYRIGHT Copyright (C) 1989 by Noble Software Co. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, in any form or by any means, for any purpose without the express written permission of Noble Software Co. TABLE OF CONTENTS GETTING STARTED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1-1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1-2 Installing the program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2-1 Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2-2 Co(N)figuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 THE SPREADSHEET. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3-1 (V)iew/change information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3-2 Moving around in the Spreadsheet. . . . . . . . . . . 9 3-3 Spreadsheet operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 3-4 Adding Names. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 3-5 Adding/changing Earned Hours. . . . . . . . . . . . 11 3-6 Auto Accrue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 3-7 Display/Modify log file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 3-8 (S)ave. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 3-9 (R)etrieve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 3-10 (C)lear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 PRINTING & MISCELLANEOUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 4-1 (P)rint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 4-2 Printer Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 4-3 Merge Letter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 4-3 Sort. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 4-4 (G)et configuration from another file . . . . . . . 23 GETTING STARTED 1-1 Introduction NOBLE VACATION MANAGER (NVM) is very similar to sheets of paper on your desk. On one sheet of paper there are rows of names and columns of information for each name, this will be referred to as the spreadsheet. The columns contain the employee's name, address, phone number, social security number, the amount of earned vacation time, amount of earned sick leave, amount of earned personal necessity, accrual rate and maximum time allowed for vacation, sick leave and personal necessity. For each employee there would be another sheet that would contain a log of any changes to the employee's vacation, sick leave or personal necessity. At the beginning the first sheet would be filled out by entering each employee and their related information. Once the employee is entered any changes to the earned vacation, sick leave or personal necessity is automatically recorded in the log file. The log file can be changed (corrected), viewed or printed at any time. The advantage of NVM over the sheets of paper on your desk is that you can: 1) Easily maintain records for 200 employees with a total or 15,000 log records. 2) Automatically accrue vacation, sick leave or personal necessity at any period in time and the NVM will update the earned time and log the changes in the log file. 3) You can print group or individual reports. 4) You can merge any of the employee's information with a form letter creating a personal letter for each employee. 5) You can easily change, add or delete employees or modify any of the other data at any time. The following notes will make the instructions easier to follow: - Parentheses are used for comments and explanations. - Boldface is used for characters or words that appear on the screen. - "Keyboard in" means type on the keyboard. Occasionally, periods will be left off of the end of sentences. This is done on purpose so that the period will not be used as part of the command. When you are working in the Noble Vacation Manager spreadsheet, there may be two highlighted areas, one which is always on the name column and the other which is movable. The file "DEMO" used in this documentation is included on the NOBLE VACATION MANAGER (NVM) disk. When using the sample file, be careful not to save it when exiting or loading new files, as this may change the data. 1-2 Installing the program Make a working copy of the master disk. Store the original disk in a safe place and use the copy as your program disk. One Disk Drive System: 1. Boot DOS or copy NVM.EXE & DEMO.NVM onto a DOS Disk (see your DOS manual) and 2. Load the program by typing NVM and pressing return. 3. Leave the program disk in drive A: and use it as a data disk also. 4. Or, remove the program disk and place a formatted data disk in drive A: Two Disk Drive System: 1. Boot DOS or copy NVM.EXE & DEMO.NVM onto a DOS Disk (see your DOS manual) and 2. Place the program disk in drive A: and a formatted data disk in drive B: 3. Change to drive B: (type B: and press return) 4. Load the program by typing A:NVM and press return 5. Or, use step 3 in One Disk Drive System Hard drive system: 1. Create a subdirectory for NVM data (see your DOS manual). 2. Copy NVM.EXE & DEMO.NVM to the subdirectory or copy NVM.EXE to where application programs reside and copy DEMO.NVM to the NVM data subdirectory and 3. Load the program while in the data subdirectory. 2-1 Main Menu In this section we will discuss the options in the Main Menu which is shown below. 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � command: _ � � � � � � *** Main Menu *** � � � � (V)iew/change information (G)et configuration from � � (S)ave another file � � (R)etrieve (C)lear information � � (P)rint Co(N)figuration � � (D)isplay one Print Order (F)orm � � (Q)uit � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� (V)iew/change information This option sends you to the spreadsheet where the employee's data is entered, viewed or changed. (S)ave Allows one to save the current data being processed. (R)etrieve Allows one to retrieve data from a file that was created with the (S)ave option. (P)rint Allows various print options for the current data. (D)isplay one Allows viewing the spreadsheet as with the (V)iew/change information option except only one employee is displayed. The up and down arrow keys can be used to change from employee to employee. Co(N)figuration Allows entry of company name and period information. Printer configuration can also be defined with this option. (G)et configuration from another file Allows the configuration from a disk file to be transferred to the current active file. (C)lear information Allows all or part of the current data to be removed. Print Order (F)orm Prints an order form for ordering products from Noble Software Co. (Q)uit Allows one to exit the program. Each option may be selected by typing in the letter in the parentheses. 2-2 Co(N)figuration In this section we will discuss the first part of the Co(N)figuration option. Configuration allow one to assign a company name, time period, Personal Necessity status and printer configuration to the current file. Select the Co(N)figuration option typing 'N' at the main menu and the following screen will appear. If you are just starting with NVM please enter only the information in the first three boxes. The Printer Setup will be covered later in the print section. 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � Name Period � � �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴敲 �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴敲 � � � � � � � � 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� � � Personal Necessity from sick leave (Y or N) � � �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴敲 � � � � � � 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� � � --------------------------------------------------------------------------- � � Printer Setup � � Set up string Reset string � � �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴敲 �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴敲 � � � � � � � � 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� � � Maximum number of columns Maximum number of rows � � �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴敲 �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� � � �80 � �60 � � � 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴暠 � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� Keyboard in the appropriate information in each box. Pressing 'return' will move to the next box, or the Up arrow and Down arrow keys may be used to move from box to box. After entering the data in the first three boxes, press the 'Esc' key you will be returned to the Main Menu. If there is an error in a box, return to the box and use the backspace key to delete the mistake and retype the entry. Name: Enter the Company name (up to 30 characters). Period: Enter a time period description (up to 29 characters). Example: 1987-1988 Personal Necessity from Sick Leave (Y or N): If personal necessity time is also deducted from Sick Leave then enter 'Y', otherwise enter 'N'. When Personal Necessity is deducted from the sick time the capital letter 'P' will appear in the log file and on the various display screens. If the Personal Necessity is NOT deducted from sick time a lower case 'p' will appear. THE SPREADSHEET 3-1 (V)iew/change information To view or change the spreadsheet, type V while in the Main Menu and the spreadsheet will appear. 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � Command or data: _ F1=Help Row 1 C� � Filename: Printer Flag: 0/ 80 Log File: 0/1 � Last First M K F Vacation Sick PerNec Vacation Va� � Name Name i e l earned earned earned accrue � � y g hours hours hours rate � � � � � � 栢栢栢栢栢栢栢栢栢� � � � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� The top two rows contain information about the current data file: Command or data: When data is entered into the spreadsheet the information first appears following this prompt. When the return key is pressed the information is then transferred to the area which is highlighted (assuming the data is valid for the highlighted area). In the above screen this would be in the Last Name column. F1=Help By pressing the 'F1' key a help screen will appear. Row Col This will display the row and column that the highlighted area is presently in. Filename: The current filename will appear following this prompt. In the above screen a filename has not been assigned therefore no name appears. Printer Flag: This displays the number of characters selected and the maximum number of characters allowed for a print operation. This item is discussed further in the print section. Log File: This displays the number of log records used and the maximum allowed. The following table shows each of the column headings: 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 � Column Number Description � � � � 1 Last Name � � 2 First Name � � 3 Mi (Middle initial) � � 4 Key � � 5 Flg (Employee Flag) � � 6 Vacation earned hours � � 7 Sick earned hours � � 8 PerNec earned hours (Personal Necessity) � � 9 Vacation accrue rate � � 10 Vacation accrue 1-time � � 11 Vacation max hours � � 12 Sick accrue rate � � 13 Sick accrue 1-time � � 14 Sick max hours � � 15 PerNec accrue rate � � 16 PerNec accrue 1-time � � 17 PerNec max hours � � 18 Street � � 19 City � � 20 State � � 21 Zip � � 22 Phone � � 23 I.D. � � � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴캑 Columns 1-3, Last, First and Mi: Contain the employee's name. Column 4, Key: The Key allows a way to group employees for special operations such as printing, auto accruing, etc.. The Key is user defined and can be any character desired. An upper case letter is a different Key than the same letter in lower case. Some examples of Keys would be: A - Administration F - Faculty C - Classified S - Confidential (secret) Column 5, Flg: The Flg (flag) allows one to select employees for special operations in the same manner as the Key except any employee may be selected using the Flg. Column 6, Vacation earned hours: This column displays the number of vacation hours each employee has accumulated at this time. Column 7, Sick earned hours: This column displays the number of sick hours each employee has accumulated at this time. Column 8, PerNec earned hours: This column displays the number of Personal Necessity hours each employee has accumulated at this time. Column 9, Vacation accrue rate: This column displays the number of hours that will be added to each employee's Vacation earned hours when the auto accrue operation is performed. The hours shown in this column will not be used if there is an entry in the following column: Vacation accrue 1-time. Note: the hours will only be accrued for employees selected during the auto accrue procedure. If an employee is selected for auto accure and this field is blank, the employee will NOT be processed. If this field contains a '0', the employee will be processed and a log record will be created with 0 hours. Column 10, Vacation accrue 1-time: This column displays the number of hours that will be added to each employee's Vacation earned hours for one time only. If a value is entered here that value will be used during the next auto accrue operation in place of the value in the Vacation accrue rate column. After the value is used it will be cleared. For example: An employee earns 10 hours per month vacation time. The value of '10' would be entered in the Vacation accrue rate column. However, say this employee takes half a month off without pay therefore, for one month he/she is only entitled to 5 hours vacation time. The 5 hours would be entered in the Vacation accrue 1-time column. During the next auto accrue operation for this employee the 5 hour value would be used and then cleared, so the next auto accrue operation would again use the 10 hours in the Vacation accrue rate column (unless another value is entered in the Vacation accrue 1-time column). Column 11, Vacation max hours: This column displays the maximum number of vacation hours that an employee may accumulate. When performing an auto accrue operation the Vacation earned hours will never exceed the value in this column. The hours accrued will be adjusted to prevent an overage. This field should be left blank if there is no limit to the Vacation earned hours. Column 12, Sick accrue rate: This column displays the number of hours that will be added to each employee's Sick earned hours when the auto accrue operation is performed. The hours shown in this column will not be used if there is an entry in the following column: Sick accrue 1-time. Note: the hours will only be accrued for employees selected during the auto accrue procedure. If an employee is selected for auto accure and this field is blank, the employee will NOT be processed. If this field contains a '0', the employee will be processed and a log record will be created with 0 hours. Column 13, Sick accrue 1-time: This column displays the number of hours that will be added to each employee's Sick earned hours for one time only. If a value is entered here that value will be used during the next auto accrue operation in place of the value in the Sick accrue rate column. After the value is used it will be cleared. For example: An employee earns 10 hours per month sick time. The value of '10' would be entered in the Sick accrue rate column. However, say this employee takes half a month off without pay therefore, for one month he/she is only entitled to 5 hours sick time. The 5 hours would be entered in the Sick accrue 1-time column. During the next auto accrue operation for this employee the 5 hour value would be used and then cleared, so the next auto accrue operation would again use the 10 hours in the Sick accrue rate column (unless another value is entered in the Sick accrue 1-time column). Column 14, Sick max hours: This column displays the maximum number of sick hours that an employee may accumulate. When performing an auto accrue operation the Sick earned hours will never exceed the value in this column. The hours accrued will be adjusted to prevent an overage. This field should be left blank if there is no limit to the Sick earned hours. Column 15, PerNec accrue rate: This column displays the number of hours that will be added to each employee's PerNec earned hours when the auto accrue operation is performed. The hours shown in this column will not be used if there is an entry in the following column: PerNec accrue 1-time. Note: the hours will only be accrued for employees selected during the auto accrue procedure. If an employee is selected for auto accure and this field is blank, the employee will NOT be processed. If this field contains a '0', the employee will be precessed and a log record will be created with 0 hours. Column 16, PerNec accrue 1-time: This column displays the number of hours that will be added to each employee's PerNec earned hours for one time only. If a value is entered here that value will be used during the next auto accrue operation in place of the value in the PerNec accrue rate column. After the value is used it will be cleared. For example: An employee earns 10 hours per month personal necessity time. The value of '10' would be entered in the PerNec accrue rate column. However, say this employee takes half a month off without pay therefore, for one month he/she is only entitled to 5 hours personal necessity time. The 5 hours would be entered in the PerNec accrue 1-time column. During the next auto accrue operation for this employee the 5 hour value would be used and then cleared, so the next auto accrue operation would again use the 10 hours in the PerNec accrue rate column (unless another value is entered in the PerNec accrue 1-time column). Column 17, PerNec max hours: This column displays the maximum number of personal necessity hours that an employee may accumulate. When performing an auto accrue operation the PerNec earned hours will never exceed the value in this column. The hours accrued will be adjusted to prevent an overage. This field should be left blank if there is no limit to the PerNec earned hours. Column 18 - 21, Street, City, State, Zip: These columns should contain the address for each employee. This information can be used during a letter merge operation which is explained in the print section. Column 22, Phone: This column should contain the phone number for each employee. This information can be used during a letter merge operation which is explained in the print section. Column 23, I.D.: This column should contain the employee's I.D. (Social Security Number, etc.) number. This information can be used during a letter merge operation which is explained in the print section. THE SPREADSHEET 3-2 Moving around in the Spreadsheet The following table shows the key strokes which can be used to move the highlighted area around on the screen and do some special operations. This same information is available by pressing the 'F1' key while viewing the spreadsheet. Keystroke Action Esc Returns to the Main Menu F2 Displays Function key definitions Ins In name column: Inserts new row above the highlighted name Del In name column: Deletes the highlighted name Ctrl-Home Moves cursor to top row Ctrl-End Moves cursor to last row PgUp/PgDn Moves cursor up one screen/down one screen Home Moves cursor area to name column End Moves cursor to last column (I.D.) Cntrl -> Moves cursor one screen to right Cntrl <- Moves cursor one screen to left Space, return Removes highlighted entry (press space bar once & then 'return') /?...return Find the name beginning with ?... Enter a '/' followed by the last name desired & press return / return repeats the above operation and finds the next person with the same name THE SPREADSHEET 3-3 Spreadsheet operations The operations that are possible while in the spreadsheet are shown in the following screen display. This display of the function key operations is available by pressing 'F2' while Viewing the spreadsheet. 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � � � 旼컴컴컫컴컴컴� � � � � � � � Help � F1 � F2 � This � � � � � Screen � � 쳐컴컴컵컴컴컴� � � � � � � � Sort � F3 � F4 � Auto � � � � � Accrue � � 쳐컴컴컵컴컴컴� � � � � � Clear � � Printer � F5 � F6 � Employee � � Flag � � � Flags � � 쳐컴컴컵컴컴컴� � � � � � � � Print � F7 � F8 � Display � � � � � Log � � 쳐컴컴컵컴컴컴� � � Increase � � � Decrease � � Earned � F9 � F10 � Earned � � Hours � � � Hours � � 읕컴컴컨컴컴컴� � � � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� F1 - Help Displays the help screen discussed in the previous section. F2 - This Screen Displays the screen shown above. F3 - Sort Sorts the spreadsheet based on the column the highlight is in. For example, if the highlight is in the Key column, the spreadsheet would be sorted in either ascending or descending order (user selected) based on the Key. Within the Key sort the employees are sorted by name. For example, if we have 10 employees with a key of 'A' they would be grouped together and within that group they would be in alphabetical order. F4 - Auto Accrue This key allows automatic accrue of vacation time, sick time or personal necessity, and displays the options selected for the last 21 auto accure operations. It is explained in detail is section 3.6. F5 - Printer Flag This key selects or un-selects columns to be printed when using the printer flag option of the print command (F7). F6 - Clear Employee Flags This key will remove all employee Flg by setting them to blanks. F7 - Print This key will display the print screen and allow you to select the print operations desired. F8 - Display log This key will display the log file for the highlighted employee. While in the log display any log record may be edited. To edit a record, first select (highlight) the desired record and press 'return'. The record is then displayed in an edit window where it can be changed. F9 - Increase Log Hours This key displays a window which allows the employee's earned (vacation, sick leave, or personal necessity) hours to be increased. F10 - Decrease Log Hours This key displays a window which allows the employee's earned (vacation, sick leave, or personal necessity) hours to be decreased. THE SPREADSHEET 3-4 Adding Names Add your employee's names by typing 'V' at the Main Menu and then enter each employee's first name, last name and middle initial. At this time you might also enter the employee's address, phone and I.D. It is recommended that you enter the name in upper and lower case format so that in any print or letter merge operation the name will appear in correct format. Keyboard in the names and press return (or the appropriate arrow key). If a name is entered that needs to be changed, move the highlighted bar back to that name and retype that name and press enter. A message will be displayed below the command line: Replace 'xxxxxxx ' with 'xxxxxxxxxxx ' confirm (y or n) press y to confirm the replacement of the name. If a name is entered which should be removed, highlight the name and press the Del key. The message Delete employee: xxxxxxx, confirm (y or n) will be displayed below the command line. Press y to confirm. If a name needs to be inserted, place the cursor in the name column where you want the name inserted. Press the Ins key. This will open a row for a new name. THE SPREADSHEET 3-5 Adding/changing Earned Hours Once an employee is entered his/her earned hours (vacation, sick, personal necessity) can be enter/changed in four way. When an employee is first entered it is best to use option 1. Also if the question 'Personal Necessity from sick leave (Y or N)' was answered with a 'Y' and the 'PerNec hours earned' column is blank any hours entered for 'PerNec hours earned' will not change the 'Sick hours earned'. Once the 'PerNec hours earned' column has a value in it then the 'Sick hours earned' column will be changed any time there is a change the 'PerNec hours earned'. 1. If the appropriate column has no data in it, the column may be highlighted and the number of hours may be typed in. When the hours are entered the following screen will appear with the appropriate character under the V/S/P heading: (V for vacation, S for Sick, or P for personal necessity), and the number of hours under the Hours heading. Enter the date for this entry. The date might be the starting date, the beginning of the year/month, etc. The date may be entered in the format of mm/dd/yy or mmddyy. Upon pressing 'return' to the Date the cursor will move to the Save column, if the data is correct press 'Y' or 'y' to save. If you wish to exit without saving you can always press 'Esc' at any time. When the data is saved a log entry is created for this employee which contains the date, V/S/P and number of hours. The log records may be displayed by press 'F8' while viewing the spreadsheet. Once a Date is entered, that date will will appear along with V/S/P and the Hours for any data entries that may follow. If you are entering Personal Necessity hours, remember that a capital letter 'P' will appear when the Personal Necessity is also being deducted from Sick leave or a lower case 'p' will appear if Personal Necessity is not being deducted from Sick leave. 旼컴컴횵ncrease Earned Hours컴컴커 � Date V/S/P Hours Save � 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴캑 � � � � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 2. The earned hours may be increased by pressing 'F9' while viewing the spreadsheet. The same window as above will appear without any data appearing. Enter in the Date (mm/dd/yy or mmddyy), V/S/P, Hours and press 'Y' or 'y' to the save question. Remember the 'Esc' key will exit without saving. When the data is saved a log entry will be created. 3. The earned hours may be decreased by pressing 'F10' while viewing the spreadsheet. The following window will appear without any data appearing. Enter in the Date (mm/dd/yy or mmddyy), V/S/P, Hours and press 'Y' or 'y' to the save question. Remember the 'Esc' key will exit without saving. When the data is saved a log entry will be created. 旼컴컴횯ecrease Earned Hours컴컴커 � Date V/S/P Hours Save � 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴캑 � � � � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 4. The earned hours may be increased by performing an 'Auto Accrue' (F4) operation while viewing the spreadsheet.The auto accrue is explained in the next section. THE SPREADSHEET 3-6 Auto Accrue Auto accrue is the process in which the hours entered in the 'Vacation accrue rate', 'Sick accrue rate' or 'PerNec accrue rate' columns (or 1-time column) are automatically added to the appropriate 'Earned hours' column. The operation is started by pressing 'F4' while viewing the spreadsheet. When the 'F4' key is pressed two windows will appear. The window on the right of the screen will display the options selected for the last 21 auto accure operations and the window on the left, as shown below, will be created as the responses are entered. 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � Vacation Sick PerNec � � Last Data: xx/xx/xx xx/xx/xx xx/xx/xx � � � � Auto accrue code (v, s, p): � � Date: � � All, Flagged or Key (a, f, k): � � � � Confirm (y or n): � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� The top two rows show the date at which the last auto accrue operation was performed for each category. First enter the type of auto accrue desired: 'v' for vacation, 's' for sick time or 'p' for personal necessity. Enter the date associated with the auto accrue. This could be the first day of the month, the last day of the month, the beginning of the year, etc. Next enter whether the auto accrue is to be performed on all employees (a), only employees that are flagged with the employee Flg (f), or only employees with a given Key (k). When the 'f' option is selected then only employees with any type of entry in the Flg column of the spreadsheet will processed. When the 'k' option is selected the question 'Key:' will appear before the Confirm (y or n): prompt. Enter in the key desired and remember that a upper case key is a different key than a lower case letter. When using the 'k' option only employees with a matching key will be processed. Whenever an Auto accrue operation is performed a log record is created for each employee processed. When the log record is displayed (F8) a letter 'A' will appear next to the v/s/p code. This indicates that the entry was created with the auto accrue operation. THE SPREADSHEET 3-7 Display/Modify log file To display the log file for any employee you first place the highlight in the row for the desired employee (note: the highlight may be in any column). Next press 'F8' and the log file will appear in a window on the right side of the screen. The up/down arrow and PgUp/PgDn keys will allow one to scroll up and down through the log file records. To modify any record just highlight the desired record and press 'return'. Upon pressing the 'return' key an edit window will open similar to the one shown below. 旼컴컴컴컫컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � Change � Date V/S/P Hours Save � 쳐컴컴컴컵컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � From � 07/31/89 v 8.00 � � To � 07/31/89_ v 8.00 � 읕컴컴컴컨컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� The row entitled 'From' shows the log file data as it is now, and the row entitled 'To' shows the same data, but allows one to change any item in the same manner as when it was first entered. A response of 'y' or 'Y' needs to be entered to the Save column for any changes to be saved. The 'Esc' key will allow you to exit without making any changes. Any changes will automatically update the appropriate earned hours fields. Upon leaving the edit screen shown above, you will return to the log display screen with the highlight area on the record shown in the 'From' row if no changes are made to the date. Otherwise you will be return to the log file display with the highlight on the record with the new (changed) date. THE SPREADSHEET 3-8 (S)ave The (S)ave option in the Main Menu is used to save the current spreadsheet (and log file) to a disk file. The first time a spreadsheet is saved, there will be a prompt for a name Spreadsheet name: _ Use DOS filename specifications for the path and filename. Improper filenames will return an error report. DO NOT use an extension on the filename. The program adds the extension .NVM to the saved file name. After a spreadsheet has been saved once, the program "remembers" the filename. When saving a spreadsheet that has already been named, the program will offer the filename when choosing the (S)ave option from the Main Menu. To save with that filename, press return. A safety prompt will appear: File already exists, overwrite (y or n) _ Answer y to save over the old file (n will return you to the Main Menu and the file will NOT have been saved). If you wish to change the filename, choose (S)ave and edit the filename by using the back space key. Even though your file is saved to disk there is always the chance that your file may become damaged. Damage may occur by human error, power failure, hardware failure, etc. For this reason it is recommended that you backup your data files as often as possible. Backing up may be done by simply copying your data files to a floppy disk and storing the disk in a safe place. The data files always have an .NVM extension. If you gave a file name of 'file90' then the DOS file name would be 'file90.nvm.' Be safe and backup up your files. THE SPREADSHEET 3-9 (R)etrieve The (R)etrieve option is used to load any files that were previously saved with the (S)ave option. If there is an active spreadsheet, you will be offered the option to save it. When selecting the (R)etrieve options, there will be a prompt for a spreadsheet name and a list of spreadsheets on the current disk drive will be offered. An Example would be: 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� 쿑ile name: _ � � � 쿗isting of NVM files � � � � FILE1 FILE2 FILE3 DEMO � � � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� Type the filename in upper or lower case and press return. THE SPREADSHEET 3-10 (C)lear Choose (C)lear from the Main Menu to clear the current spreadsheet and start a new spreadsheet file or to clear the log file for starting a new year. The two options presented are: Clear all data or Clear log file With either option you will be presented with the 'Save current spreadsheet' question. This will allow you to save the current active file before either clear option. The Clear all data option will remove the current spreadsheet from memory and allow one to start a new spreadsheet from the beginning. This option will not remove any files from the disk. Any existing files will remain. The Clear log file option will remove all log file records for every employee and then create one log record for each employee with an entry in the Vacation earned hours column, and one log record for each employee with an entry in the Sick earned hours and also one log record for the PerNec earned hours column. This is like creating a new spreadsheet with the employees already added and beginning balances for each employee. PRINTING & MISCELLANEOUS 4-1 (P)rint The print menu may be accessed by typing 'P' from the Main Menu or by typing 'F7' while in the spreadsheet. Before attempting to print, be certain that the printer is connected and on line. A device (printer) failure will return a DOS error Abort, Retry, Ignore (or Abort, retry, Ignore, Fail). If you receive this message ready the printer and press 'R'. Responding to the DOS error with Abort or Fail will cause the program to abort. If you are experiencing printer problems always save the current spreadsheet before attempting to print. When the print option is chosen the following screen will appear: 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� �1 Print Name & Earned hours � �2 Print Name & address � �3 Print using 'PRINT' Flag' � �4 Print Log only � �5 Print using Merge Letter � 쿐nter option (1-5): � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� Option 1 will print the employee's name and the amount of vacation, sick leave, and personal necessity he/she currently has earned. Option 2 will print the employee's name and his/her street, city, state and zip. Option 3 will print only the columns that are flagged with the in the spreadsheet. This option allows one to print only selected columns. The columns are selected while viewing the spreadsheet by placing the highlight in the desired column and pressing 'F5'. The selected columns are indicated by a series of '+' signs in the row. The total number of characters selected are displayed in the second row from the top following the heading Printer Flag:. The first number is the number of characters selected and the second is the number of characters (columns) specified in the Co(N)figuration option of the Main Menu. The Co(N)figuration option will be explained in detail later on. Option 4 will print the employee's name and his/her log file. Option 5 will print selected employee information on a form letter. If this option is selected a prompt will be given for a merge file name. This option is explained in detail in the Merge Letter section. After choosing one of the above options, a second window is displayed which looks as follows: 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 � 1 Employee: Sanders Shirley D � � 2 All Employees � � 3 Only Flagged employees � � 4 Selected Key � � Enter option (1-5): � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 Option 1 will only print the employee that is currently highlighted in the spreadsheet. Option 2 will print all employees. Option 3 will only print employees that have an entry in the employee flag (Flg) column of the spreadsheet. Option 4 will only print employees with particular a Employee-Key. The Employee-Key is a method of defining groups of employees and this option allows one to print only employees of a certain group. If this option is selected a prompt for the Key will be given. When selecting the Employee-Key desired remember that a lower case letter is a different Employee-Key than the same letter in upper case. Based on the above selected option all or part of the following screen will appear: 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 � 1 Separate page/employee � � 2 Multi employees/page � � Enter option (1-2): � � Pause between pages (y or n): � � Default or Configuration print options (d or c) � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 The first three lines will appear when more than one employee is selected for printing. Option 1 will place each employee on a separate sheet of paper, where option 2 will place as many employees as possible on each sheet of paper. The response to the fourth line (Pause between pages) would be 'n' if your printer has continuous feed forms or a printer which automatically feeds paper. The response would be 'y' if you must insert a sheet of paper for each page being printed. The 'Default or Configuration print options' questions allows one to print with the default print settings of 60 lines/page and 80 characters/row (commonly used print options) or the printer options defined in the Co(N)figuration option of the Main Menu. The Co(N)figuration option is explained in the section 'Printer Configuration'. After all the above selection have been made, the prompt 'Ready printer and press any key' will be given. At this time be sure your printer is ready and press any key. PRINTING & MISCELLANEOUS 4-2 Printer Configuration The first three boxes of the configuration screen were explained in the Co(N)figuration section at the beginning of this manual. In this section the Printer Setup section will be covered. The configuration screen looks as follows: 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � Name Period � � �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴敲 �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴敲 � � � � � � � � 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� � � Personal Necessity from sick leave (Y or N) � � �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴敲 � � � � � � 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� � � --------------------------------------------------------------------------- � � Printer Setup � � Set up string Reset string � � �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴敲 �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴敲 � � � � � � � � 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� � � Maximum number of columns Maximum number of rows � � �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴敲 �袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� � � �80 � �60 � � � 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴暠 � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� Printer Setup Set up string: Many printers allow special print options, such as condensed or sideways printing, through the use of escape sequence set up strings. This field allows one to specify the set up strings which will be sent to your printer prior to printing any spreadsheet. The escape sequence usually consists of an escape character followed by additional characters. The escape character would be entered as \027 and an example of a character 4 would be \004. The following shows a couple examples of set up strings: Most Dot Matrix printers in condense mode \027B\003 HP LaserJet in condense, sideways & 8 lines/inch mode \027E\027&l1ol8D\027&k2S Reset string: If the printer is sent a set up string it is usually appropriate to send a reset command after the printing has finished. This field allows one to specify a reset escape sequence if it is needed. Examples of such commands would be: Most Dot Matrix printers \027B\001 HP LaserJet \027E Maximum number of columns: This field specifies the maximum number of characters per line that your printer is capable of printing. The default value is 80 and may be changed for any printer width or in conjunction with any condense printing. When changing this value be sure to allow room for left and right margins. Examples would be: Most Dot Matrix printer in condense mode on 8 1/2 inch wide paper 116 HP LaserJet in condense mode on 11 inch wide paper 166 Maximum number of rows: This field specifies the maximum number of rows (lines) than can be printed on a page. If you change this value be sure to allow for top and bottom margins. Examples would be: Most Dot Matrix printers at 6 lines/inch on 11 inch paper 60 HP LaserJet at 8 lines/inch on 8 1/2 inch paper 64 Once the printer configuration is specified then one can select the 'Configuration print' option when performing a print operation. PRINTING & MISCELLANEOUS 4-3 Merge Letter This option allows one to merge any of the information in the spreadsheet with a DOS text file. An example where this would be used is to produce a letter for each employee stating the amount of vacation, sick leave and personal necessity that they have earned at the present time. An example of such a letter is shown at the end of this section. A DOS text file is a file created with either a text editor or with a wordprocesser that has a text save/retrieve option. Most word processing programs (Word Star, WordPerfect, etc.) do have a text save/retrieve option. The DOS text file can contain any text you desire and may have any data from the spreadsheet inserted at any location. The location of the spreadsheet data is defined in the DOS text file by the number of the column, enclosed within the characters '<>'. For example, the last name would be defined as '<1>'. The page following the sample merge letter shows the DOS text file that produced the sample letter. You will notice that each field is defined within the '<>' and that the actual spreadsheet data replaces the field definitions when the letter is printed. Be aware that the when the replacement takes place the number of characters of data will usually be more than the number of characters for the code. For example the code '<1>' takes only three characters, however the replacement for this code is the last name which could takes 17 characters. Therefore it may be necessary to adjust your merge file to obtain the correct spacing. Notice the entries under 'Accrue Rate' in the sample merge file. Each column in the spreadsheet is numbered in sequential order and the numbers are defined in the table in section 3-1 (V)iew/change information. The merge letter option can also insert the current date and time within the letter by placing or