Contents

General Information

File Menu

Item Menu

Map Menu

Options Menu

Selecting Items

Maintaining the Item List

Maintaining the Store Map

Store Names

Shopping List

"Fridge" List

Store Map

Registration

Getting Started With Window Shopper


General Information

You may use either the keyboard or the mouse to operate most  features.  After initial setup, the mouse may be used for nearly 95% of all operations.

Use the TAB key to shift the focus from field to field on the screen.  Use the space bar to toggle check boxes on and off.  Use the Alt+Down to open and close combination ("windowshade") boxes or just use the arrows to scroll the contents in the single line window.  Use Up, Down (arrows), PgUp, PgDn, Home and End to move thru list boxes.  The ESCape key will perform the same  action as the Finished or Cancel button on most screens.  The  button which is highlighted will always be chosen when the ENTER  key is pressed.  If a command button has a letter underlined, you may select it by using the ALT key plus that letter, i.e. Alt+C for Change.


File Menu

There are no file load or save commands on the File menu.  Window Shopper's files are loaded automatically when the program loads and are automatically saved upon exiting.

The Print choice displays a secondary menu allowing you to print your shopping list, the "fridge" list, a worksheet for mapping the stores, or your master item list.

The two regularly used choices have shortcut function keys to invoke them.  You may press F3 to print your shopping list, or F4 to print the "fridge" list.

The Windows default printer is used exclusively.  If you have multiple printers, make the correct one the default before you  start Window Shopper.  The default or hardware set font of the  printer is used, with no special formatting, so virtually any  printer should work.

You may exit from Window Shopper by picking the File/Exit option with mouse or keyboard, by using the Ctl+X key as a shortcut, or by using the normal Windows control box, either as a menu or by doubleclicking it.


Item Menu

This is the heart of normal Window Shopper operation.  It is here  that you maintain your list of items, select the ones to buy, and  review your choices.  After the initial setup, this is where you  will spend most of your time.

Clear Selections will remove all previously entered buy quantities and coupon information.  This clears the list for a new week of shopping.  You will be asked to confirm that you really want to clear selections to prevent accidental erasure.

Select Items allows you to mark those items you want to buy each week.

Review List scrolls an abbreviated list for you to examine.  It contains all the items that will print when you press F3 or select from the print menu.  Use the keyboard or mouse to scroll the list.  Press or click on the Finished button or press ESCape or ENTER when done.

Maintain Items lets you add, change or delete the items in your file.


Map Menu

Maintain Map allows you to add, change or delete item categories and indicate the relative position of that class of merchandise in each of the five stores.

ReMap Stores will automatically adjust the location fields in each item record to agree with new locations you may have entered in Map Maintenance.  There is no need to treat each item individually.


Options Menu

This is where infrequently used commands are located. It is usually only during initial setup that you will need to change the store names or their tax rates.

Similarly, it is usually only necessary to enter your registration serial number (to remove the "begging" messages) once during setup or when you receive your serial number from the author.


Selecting Items

The heart of the item selection process is the list of items on the right side of the window.  Use the mouse or the cursor arrows to find the item you want.  The left portion of the screen shows the complete information for the highlighted item. If you have not previously selected the item a default quantity of one appears in the quantity box, otherwise the previously entered quantity appears.  The store with the lowest price for the item (or the previously selected store) is pre-selected.  You may change that choice if you wish to buy elsewhere.

Enter the desired quantity in the Quantity box, press Tab or click with the mouse to select a store, then press the OK button.  It you have a coupon for the item, you should enter the amount in the Coupon box before clicking OK.

Shortcuts:  If you are buying only ONE of an item and want to buy from the default (lowest price) store, just press [ENTER] while the item is highlighted.  You may also doubleclick the entry in the item list, or "drag and drop" the item into the grocery basket icon.

Items already selected have a "#" beside the name in the item list.  This is a visual confirmation of where you are in your list, as well as the success of a double-click or drag and drop operation.  This is also a handy reminder that you may have forgotten to clear last week's selections before starting.

To "un-select" an item, simply highlight it, change the quantity to zero, then click the OK button or press [ENTER].


Maintaining the Item List

To add a new item, just enter the information and select the Add button.  The record is added and the screen is cleared for another transaction.

Notice that the Change and Delete buttons are not active until an item has been chosen from the scrolling list. This is to keep you from accidentally deleting the wrong record.

At the heart of Window Shopper's operation is the item category.  This, along with the store Map, allows Window Shopper to sort your list in the correct sequence for the way you like to shop in each store.  Select the appropriate category for each item from the pulldown list.

Each item has five prices, one for each of the five stores that Window Shopper recognizes.  If you do not wish to buy an item at a particular store, leave the price blank or zero. Shopper will never select that store as the default.  At least one store must have a price lower than the rest for the default store selection to operate.


Maintaining the Store Map

Use this function to enter the product categories you will be buying.  The more detailed you make these, the more useful the list sorting feature of Window Shopper will be.

Do not try to enter the locations for these product categories initially.  Just enter the categories and print the store map.  Use this as a worksheet and take a stroll thru each store in the order you like to shop.  Note the sequence in which you pass each category and jot down the relative order on your map.  TIP:  Number in increments of 5 or 10 to make it easier to make changes or correct errors and omissions.  Now you can use the worksheet and fill in the locations on the Map Maintenance function.

Select a category by clicking on the entry in the list box.  The details of that category will display and the Change/Delete buttons will become active.  Make your changes and press the Change button.  The screen will clear and the Change/Delete buttons will be dim once again.  Repeat this cycle until all store locations have been entered.


Store Names

For Window Shopper to be useful, you must tell it the names of the five stores you wish to shop in.  If you do not want to use all five stores, you may leave the unused entries either blank or with the default of "Store N".

Enter the sales tax rate for each store.  This will be used to calculate tax on those items you indicate as being taxable.

When all data has been entered, press or click "Done".


Shopping List

The Shopping List prints all the items you have selected in each of the stores.  No list is printed for a store unless one or more items were chosen to be bought there.  The Shopping List shows the item name, description, quantity to buy, and the unit price and extension.  In addition, any items you entered a coupon amount for will be flagged and show the coupon amount..  At the bottom is a total with coupons deducted and any calculated tax added to help you estimate what you will spend in each store.


Fridge List

So named because most people take a magnet and stick it to the side of the refrigerator, this list is your worksheet to mark off items to buy as they occur to you during the week.  It shows only the item name and a space to check it off.  Printing is in three columns to get the most on one page and reduce the number of pages.


Store Map

The Store Map is really a worksheet to use in determining the way you want your shopping lists sorted.  If you have already entered location numbers for the product categories in a store, they will print.  Any category that has a zero in the location will print a blank for you to write in a location.

NOTE:  These are the relative locations of product categories in the store, not necessarily the stores aisle numbers.  This listing is intended for you to take along on a stroll through the store(s) to jot down relative locations in the order you like to shop.


Registration

There are two options on the Options/Register submenu:  Print Registration Form and Enter Serial Number.  The first will open a dialog box for you to enter your name, address and optionally your phone number, as well as the type of diskette media you need the software on.  Upon finishing this form, it will print on your default printer, ready to mail with your check for $20.  The second option is used after receiving your registered copy to enter the serial number you will receive.

Registering Window Shopper has several benefits:  it removes that ugly reminder from the main menu screen, it insures that you are notified of major upgrades and enhancements, it supports and encourages the concept of shareware and it eases your conscience!

To register this program and help compensate the author for the numerous hours of work it represents, send $20 to:

Norman O. Morgan

313 Lexington Road

Evansville, IN  47710-3724

You will receive a disk with the latest version and a serial number to use with the Register option.


Getting Started with Window Shopper

The first step in using Window Shopper is to use the Options/Store Namefunction to enter the names and tax rates for each of the stores you want the program to recognize.  The next step is to identify the categories of merchandise in your stores.Throughout this document we assume that the program will be used for domestic grocery shopping, but there is no reason it could not be used for other purposes.  Make a list of all the different kinds of products you find in the store.  Be careful that you are neither too specific nor too general in this process.  For example if dairy items are found in two distinct areas in one or more of the stores you shop, break them down.  For those stores where they are all together, you can simply assign the same number to both groups.

Once you have identified the categories of merchandise, enter them in the Map Maintenace function.  Do not attempt to put locations on them yet.  When they have all been entered, print the Store Map.  Now visit each of the stores and take a stroll through it in the order you normally shop.  Jot down the order that you pass each category.  Hint:  Use increments of 5 or 10 rather than 1 to make it easier to adjust later for changes in store arrangement and the inevitable errors and omissions.  When you have surveyed each of the stores, Enter the locations into the Map using the Map Maintenance once again.

Now start making the list of items you buy repeatedly.  Enter each item in the Item Maintenance.  When asked for the product category, you may now select from the map you have already entered.  It will pick up the correct location in each store from the map.  You do not enter locations directly in each item, just the category.

If you change the layout of a store, i.e. change the location numbers, you must use the ReMap Stores command to adjust the locations in existing items.  This is done quickly and without manual intervention.

If you move an individual item from one category to another, the locations are changed during that process and there is no need to ReMap.

So far you have done a lot of typing, but that is almost all behind you.  This is the point where Window Shopper starts to make life easier for you.  Your stores are identified, your categories are determined and your items have been entered.  Now print a Fridge List and put it somewhere handy.  It is so named because most folks stick on the side of the refrigerator with a magnet.  Now, as you think of items during the week that you will need to buy on your next trip to the grocery, check them on the Frdige List.  By Friday evening, you will have most of the work of preparing your shopping list already done!

Just before you make that weekly trek to the grocery...before you join the Saturday Safeway Stampede...sit down at the computer with Fridge List in hand.  Start Window Shopper and pick Item/Clear Selections (F3).  Now pick Item/Select Items (F4).  The list box on the right is in the same sequence as the Fridge List in your hand.  Simply move through the list of items selecting those you have checked.  Remember the Speed Select feature:  If you want to buy just one of an item, want to buy it at the default (lowest price) store, and have no coupon, you may speed select by doubleclicking the item in the list, or by pressing [ENTER] while the item is highlighted, or by dragging and dropping the item into the grocery basket icon.  If you wish to check your work, pick Item/Review List to see the items and quantities you have selected.  You can make changes from the item select screen if needed.  If you accidentally select an item you do not really want to buy,  use the select screen to change the quantity to zero.

When all is correct, pick File/Print/Shopping List (F5) to print your list(s) to use in the store.  While you are at it, hit F6 or pick File/Print/Fridge List to print a blank worksheet for the next cycle of shopping.