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───────────────────────────────────────── ───────────────────────────────────────── LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 Version 3.00 ───────────────────────────────────────── ───────────────────────────────────────── Copyright (c) 1990, Chris Laforet Software Copyright (c) 1987-1989, Chris Laforet April 1990 _________________________________________________________________ Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Introductory Material Introductory Material _________________________________________________________________ LOG is a program which was created to handle the time logging and billing requirements of a small consulting firm. LOG is now in its third generation, having started as a humble program which kept track of my billing back in 1987. Throughout the years there have been a myriad of changes and additions to the basic program. Some of the features of this new version of LOG are: ■ "Unlimited" (64,535) clients and/or projects are supported. ■ Each client and/or project can be billed at a different rate. ■ Expenses can be billed to any client. ■ Full-screen user interface with configurable colors. ■ Essential command line parameters are supported for batch files. ■ DOS version now has a TSR version to enable logging at any time. ■ User defined message will print on bills. ■ User may define an invoice number for each bill. _________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Licensing Agreement Licensing Agreement _________________________________________________________________ LOG is a shareware product, that is to say, you are granted a limited license to use it to determine if it will meet your needs. While it is impossible to ensure your honesty, I urge you to register LOG if you find that you use it for more than 1 month. Doing so will place you on our update mailing list (updates within the same major version number are normally free of charge, updates from one major version to another are offered at a nominal charge), allow you access to Chris Laforet Software to provide bug reports and/or suggestions, provide you with the data structures of the program, and will remove the annoying message and beep when you start LOG!! While there is no way to compel you to register LOG, you really will be hurting the shareware concept by not doing so. LOG is one of the many fine programs which are developed by programmers on a try-before-you-buy basis. If you do not pay for these products (pirate them), you only prompt these software developers to stop providing software on these terms. What will remain will be commercial software packages which will be: ■ more expensive because of the increased marketing costs. ■ inaccessible because you wouldn't be able to try them first. It is therefore my hope that you will register this and other shareware products so that you will keep the Shareware ideal alive and well. Permission is granted for the transfer of the LOG package by any means under the condition that the programs, this document, and the Licensing document are together on the transfer medium. What this means is that you are granted permission to transfer this program as long as it is accompanied by this documention and the Licensing document to electronic bulletin boards (BBS's), commercial communications services, shareware libraries, CD-ROM libraries, or to your friends. You are not permitted, however, to make any changes to any of the documentation or programs contained in the original LOG package. You are also not permitted to charge money for the LOG program except for a LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 2 Page 2 nominal charge to cover distribution materials (e.g. diskettes) which may not exceed the sum of $5 (US funds). Should you have acquired LOG through purchase from any source other than Chris Laforet Software, then you are required to register your copy and pay the specified registration fee. LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 3 Page 3 _________________________________________________________________ Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Registration of LOG Registration of LOG _________________________________________________________________ In order to register LOG, please print and fill out the accompanying file REGISTER.DOC and enclose your payment ($25 (US funds) for each copy that you are registering) payable by check or money order to Chris Laforet Software. Residents of North Carolina must add a 5% sales tax ($1.25) to this amount. Remit your payment and registration information to: Chris Laforet Software 511-D Poplar St Graham, NC 27253 Once your payment has been received and processed, you will be sent a new diskette containing a serialized copy of LOG. In order to facilitate processing of your order, please write your address information legibly. LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 4 Page 4 _________________________________________________________________ Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Other Legalistic Mumbo-Jumbo Other Legalistic Mumbo-Jumbo _________________________________________________________________ LOG (v 3.xx) is copyright (c) 1990 by Chris Laforet Software. All rights are reserved by the copyright owner. This documentation is copyright (c) 1990 by Chris Laforet Software. All rights are reserved on this documentation by the copyright holder. No part of LOG or this documentation may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic mechanical, photographic, magnetic, or otherwise except in accordance with the Licensing Agreement contained in this document, or without the express written consent of Chris Laforet Software. LOG is provided on an "AS IS" basis. What this means is that if you decide to use LOG, it is at your own risk. In plain English, this means that if you use LOG and your machine blows up, the developers and distributors of LOG are not responsible in any fashion. If you use LOG and it loses all of your billing information, once again the developers and distributors of LOG are not to be held accountable. While these scenarios are rather extreme in nature, they serve to indicate that Chris Laforet Software does not warrant, guarantee, or make any other representations regarding the use, or results of use, of LOG or its documentation in terms of accuracy, reliability, correctness, currentness, or otherwise. Chris Laforet Software will not be held responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages including, but not limited to, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or otherwise arising from the use or inability to use LOG, even if Chris Laforet Software has been advised of the possibility of such damages. LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 5 Page 5 _________________________________________________________________ Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Installing and Using LOG Installing and Using LOG _________________________________________________________________ The following sections describe the process of using the LOG program. Please note that there are two distinct versions of LOG, one of MS-DOS and one for OS/2. Previous versions of LOG were "bound" so that the same executable file worked in DOS and OS/2. This is no longer the case. Also, bear in mind that the DOS version of LOG has a TSR utility (RLOG) to facilitate logging in and out while using other programs. The OS/2 version does not since OS/2 is multitasking and it is a simple matter to switch to another session to run LOG. 5.1-Installing LOG 5.1-Installing LOG _________________________________________________________________ LOG consists of a program called LOG.EXE which must be installed somewhere along your system path so that DOS or OS/2 can find and load it when you type LOG at the command line. Many folks have their systems with a special directory for their executable files, one which is on the path. If this is the case with your machine, then merely copy LOG.EXE into this directory. On my system, my special executable directory is E:\BIN in DOS and C:\BIN2 in OS/2. Hence, the DOS-mode copy of LOG.EXE ended up in the E:\BIN directory and the OS/2-mode copy of LOG.EXE ended up in my C:\BIN2 directory. Notice also in the DOS-mode LOG, you have the TSR (Memory resident) program called RLOG.EXE. If you want to use this program, then copy it into the same directory as LOG.EXE. Notice for OS/2 Users: If you used the bound version of LOG Notice for OS/2 Users: ______ ___ ____ ______ and had it in a common subdirectory for access by DOS and OS/2 (e.g. on my system I have a common subdirectory on DOS' and OS/2's paths called c:\BBIN where bound executables are kept), you need to delete it or rename it so that it doesn't conflict with the new version of LOG. LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 6 Page 6 Once you have done this, please check your AUTOEXEC.BAT file (for DOS) or your CONFIG.SYS (for OS/2) to make sure that the directory that you copied the executables to is on the path. If there is no path statement in the files, then using a text editor (or non-document mode on your word processor), add the following line to the respective file: PATH drive:\directory where drive is the letter of the drive containing LOG.EXE and directory is the directory on that drive where LOG.EXE resides. In my case above, I have the following line in my AUTOEXEC.BAT for DOS: PATH E:\BIN and in my CONFIG.SYS for OS/2 it reads: PATH C:\BIN2 so that my system can find and load LOG (and RLOG if I am in DOS) without me having to be in its directory. The next thing that you have to do is to set up a directory for LOG to use as its working directory. This is the place where LOG will keep its files, and should be a special directory used for nothing else. On my system I have a directory called C:\LOG which is used for these files. Bear in mind if you use LOG under DOS and OS/2 that even though the executable files are different, they can utilize the same data files (does it make sense to do it in any other way?). Once you have created this directory, copy the LOG.HLP file into it. This file contains the help information for LOG, information which is provided when you press Alt-H. Also, you should set the environment variable LOGPATH to point at this directory so that LOG knows where its files are. To do this, edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT (in DOS) or your CONFIG.SYS (in OS/2) and include the following line: SET LOGPATH=drive:\directory where drive is the letter of the drive containing the special log directory and directory is the actual directory name. Please notice that there are no spaces between LOGPATH, =, and the drive letter. This is important! On my system, the line looks like this: SET LOGPATH=C:\LOG so that all of the special files will be located in that directory. LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 7 Page 7 Once all of these steps have been completed, you must reboot your computer so that the changes will take effect. 5.2-Updating LOG Version 2.xx Files to Version 3.xx 5.2-Updating LOG Version 2.xx Files to Version 3.xx _________________________________________________________________ If this is the first version of LOG that you have used, then please skip this section. Otherwise, read on! If you are using LOG version 2.00 through 2.06 and wish to convert your files, then you need to use the program provided with this version of LOG called CONV2TO3.EXE. It is not advisable to copy the program to your hard drive since you only need to use it once. The conversion program (CONV2TO3.EXE) uses the LOGPATH environment variable in order to know where to create the new files. It also uses the old LOG 2.xx LOG environment variable to locate the old log file, so do not remove this variable from your AUTOEXEC.BAT (for DOS) or CONFIG.SYS (for OS/2) until you have finished the conversion! Please Note: The CONV2TO3 program will overwrite any files Please Note: ______ _____ in the new log directory. It should be run prior to ever using LOG, and should never be run again! To convert your version 2.xx log file over to version 3.xx log files, invoke the CONV2TO3 program by typeing the following at the command prompt: C:> drive:\directory\CONV2TO3 where drive is the letter of the drive where the CONV2TO3.EXE program is located and directory is the actual directory where it is located. For example: C:> A:\DOWNLOAD\CONV2TO3 will start the program if it is on A: in a directory called DOWNLOAD. LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 8 Page 8 The CONV2TO3 program will then sign on with some information about what it will and will not do and then prompt you if it should continue. If you press "Y", the program will convert all of your version 2.xx logs to version 3.xx format. Once this has been done, you are ready to run the new LOG program. You may also take the opportunity to remove the set LOG= and set LOGFLAGS= information from your AUTOEXEC.BAT (in DOS) and your CONFIG.SYS (in OS/2) and follow this with a reboot. 5.3-Using LOG.EXE 5.3-Using LOG.EXE _________________________________________________________________ LOG.EXE has been written in such a manner to permit access to its functions using a menu as well as direct access to its functions using command line flags. The only difference between the two is that when you use the command line flags, you will only access the functions you explicitly requested and will exit the program once you have finished with those functions. Hence, what is described in this section as pertaining to the menu interface will also pertain to the command line interface. To start LOG, type LOG at the command line and press Enter. LOG will load and you should be presented with the following menu (if you haven't registered LOG, you will be prompted to press a key after a message appears indicating that the program is unregistered): ╒ LOG (v 3.00ß): Main Menu═════════╕ │ │ │ 1. Log In or Out │ │ 2. Edit a Logged Entry │ │ 3. Add a New Client │ │ 4. Edit a Client │ │ 5. Edit Self/Company Info │ │ 6. Bill an Expense │ │ 7. Show Current Billing │ │ 8. Print Current Billing │ │ 9. Export Billing Logs │ │ 0. Import Billing Logs │ │ C. Configure Colors │ │ X. Exit this Program │ │ │ ╘══════════════════════════════════╛ Figure 5.1: LOG's Main Menu Figure 5.1 LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 9 Page 9 To select any of the choices you may either move the "light bar" up and down using the up and down arrow keys until it highlights your desired choice and then press Enter, or you may press the number or letter which corresponds to the desired choice. Take, for example, the choice to Add a New Client. You may either move the light bar to highlight the choice and press Enter, or you may go directly into it by pressing the number 3. Once you are in the desired choice, you may return to the main menu by pressing the [Esc] key. The command line interface works essentially as a shortcut means of achieving a specific choice. If you wish to see the command line options, merely type LOG /? at the command line and press Enter. The following help screen should be shown: ╒ LOG (v 3.00ß): Command Line ═══════════╕ │ │ │ Command Line Options: │ │ │ │ -B Print Current Billing │ │ -E Edit Client Information │ │ -F Edit (Fix) a Logged Entry │ │ -I Import Log Entries from File │ │ -L Log in/Log out │ │ -P Bill an Expense │ │ -S Show Current Billing │ │ -X Export Log Entries to File │ │ -? or -H Show Option List │ │ │ ╘ Press any key to continue ═════════════╛ Figure 5.2: Command Line Help Screen Figure 5.2 To invoke any of these options from the command line, type LOG - option or LOG /option and press Enter. For example, if you wish to Log In/Out with a client, type the following at the command line and press Enter: C:> LOG -L This will take you directly to the login/logout screen. You may string any number of commands on the line and they will be executed in order. If you wish to log out from the current job and then look at the current billing, you would type: C:> LOG -L -S which will execute the logout first and then take you to the show billing screen! LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 10 Page 10 5.4-Keystrokes 5.4-Keystrokes _________________________________________________________________ The toughest part of using the new LOG will be in learning the keystrokes used. While some of these will be obvious, some will not. Should you find yourself in trouble, pressing [Alt][H] will summon forth a help screen with the keystroke commands that are active for the current field. Let us start with the obvious keystrokes. When you are in an editing field, the [Left Arrow] moves you left by one character position and the [Right Arrow] moves you right by one character position. The [Backspace] key will delete the character to the left of the cursor position and the [Del] key will delete the character under the cursor. The [Ins] key toggles insert mode off (cursor becomes an underline) and on (cursor becomes a block). The [Enter] key signals that you are satisfied with the input on the current field and advances you to the next field. The [Esc] key aborts the current action and returns you to the previous menu level ([Alt][Q] is the same as [Esc]). The [Tab] key moves you to the next field but does not save the changes on the current field. The [Shift][Tab] keystroke combination takes you to the previous key and does not save the changes on the current field. Now for some of the not-so-obvious keystrokes. To clear a field completely, use the [Alt][C] combination. To jump to the end of a field, press [Ctrl][Right Arrow]. The converse operation, [Ctrl][Left Arrow] will take you to the beginning of a field. To save changes to a screen and exit, press [Alt][X] or [Ctrl][End]. Please note that you MUST press [Enter] after the LAST field that you change before pressing [Alt][X] (or [Ctrl][End]) or else the changes that you made on that field will be lost! This might be a bit tricky at first, but it is insurance against you making unwanted changes to a field. On some screens, you are instructed to use the [PgUp] and [PgDn] keys to scroll through different items. The [PgUp] key scrolls backwards through the list and the [PgDn] key scrolls forwards through the items. LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 11 Page 11 5.5-Using RLOG 5.5-Using RLOG _________________________________________________________________ MS-DOS and PC-DOS users can now utilize a TSR utility called RLOG.EXE which permits them to do a few major operations on LOG files. RLOG is a program which will go resident and take about 40K of memory. If this is too much and you are using Quarterdeck's QEMM-386, you may load it into high memory using LOADHI. This will reduce the memory constraints somewhat. Since RLOG is a TSR program, it may conflict with other TSR utilities in memory. Many steps have been taken to ensure that RLOG is a well-behaved application. Here are a few of its limitations and caveats: ■ RLOG will not pop up over a graphics screen. ■ RLOG will not uninstall itself if it detects that other routines which have loaded above it have changed interrupt vectors that it owns. ■ RLOG will not pop-up during DOS's non-reentrant moments or during disk accesses. It monitors the DOS busy flag and if it cannot pop up, it makes a noise to show it cannot pop-up at that time. ■ RLOG will attempt to detect if LOG is active and if it is, it will refuse to pop-up to prevent the LOG files from being damaged. It is * wise to not depend too heavily on this feature! ■ LOG and RLOG utilize the Intra-Application Communications Area to know about each others existence. This might stomp on other applications, but under DOS it is the price one must pay. LOG will _________________________________________________________________ * Of course, the program could have avoided this by using _ file sharing, but this would open another can of worms. Everyone using RLOG would have to have DOS 3.0 or greater and would have to ensure that SHARE is running, yet another program to reduce active memory in DOS! LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 12 Page 12 always return the IAC to its original state when it exits to minimize the chances that it will stomp on another application's use of this area. ■ RLOG will keep servicing the Int 28h interrupt while sitting idle. This will make it more amenable to other pop-up routines and thus avoid "hogging" the spotlight! To run RLOG, merely type RLOG at the prompt and press Enter (this implies that you have installed RLOG along the path as was described above). RLOG will sign on and then you will be led back to the command prompt. To pop-up RLOG, press [Ctrl][Alt][L]. If RLOG does not find itself in a situation under which it cannot pop-up, it will show a menu similar to the following: ╒ RLOG: Main Menu ════════════════╕ │ │ │ 1. Log In/Log Out │ │ 2. Add a New Client │ │ 3. Edit a Client │ │ X. Exit RLOG │ │ R. Remove Program from Memory │ │ │ ╘═════════════════════════════════╛ Figure 5.3: RLOG's Main Menu Figure 5.3 Each of the options behave exactly as the ones in LOG.EXE. The only option that needs some explanation is the one entitled Remove Program from Memory. Selection of this option will make ______ _______ ____ ______ RLOG attempt to uninstall itself from memory and return its memory to DOS. This operation will be successful unless either of the following conditions is met: ■ another TSR is has been installed after RLOG, ■ RLOG is popped-up over a program which captures interrupt vectors. If this is the case, RLOG will open an error box and report that it cannot uninstall at that time. Otherwise, RLOG will remove itself from memory as commanded. LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 13 Page 13 _________________________________________________________________ Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Using LOG's Options Using LOG's Options _________________________________________________________________ The following sections describe how to use some of the options in LOG. Any of the options which are common to both LOG and RLOG will work in an identical fashion. 6.1-Logging In 6.1-Logging In _________________________________________________________________ To log in with a client, select the Log In/Log Out option from ___ ______ ___ the main menu. You will be presented with a log in screen. On this screen you may select the client that you wish to log in with by using your [PgUp] and [PgDn] keys. You will also need to fill in a description of the project. You may also change the log in date and time, although these default to the current date and time which is most likely the desired login time. Once the screen has been finished, it should look similar to the following: ╒ Log In With Client ══════════════════════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Name: Chris Laforet Software_____ <--- Page through │ │ Address: Internal Billing Account___ clients using your │ │ 511-D Poplar St__________ PgUp and PgDn keys │ │ City: Graham_______ State: NC Zip: 27253-____ │ │ Phone: ___-___-____ │ │ │ │ Project: Internal Projects_____________ │ │ │ │ Descrip: Preparing Documentation For LOG________________ │ │ In Date: 04/29/90 Time: 01:53 │ │ │ ╘ Press Alt-H for Help ════════════════════════════════════╛ Figure 6.1: Filled-in Log In Screen Figure 6.1 Once you have completed this screen to your satisfaction, you can go ahead and log in by pressing [Alt][X] or [Ctrl][End]. If you wish to abort the log in, press [Esc]. LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 14 Page 14 6.2-Logging Out 6.2-Logging Out _________________________________________________________________ Once you have logged in, you can log out by selecting the Log ___ In/Log Out option again. You may change the log out date and ______ ___ time, even though it defaults to the current date and time. You will have a screen similar to the following: ╒ Log Out With Client ═════════════════════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Name: Chris Laforet Software_____________ │ │ Address: Internal Billing Account______ │ │ 511-D Poplar St_______________ │ │ City: Graham_________ State: NC Zip: 27253-____ │ │ Phone: ___-___-____ │ │ Project: Internal Projects_____________ │ │ │ │ Login: 04/29/90 Time: 01:53 │ │ Logout: 04/29/90 Time: 01:54 Total: ___0:01 │ │ Descrip: Preparing Documentation For LOG________________ │ │ │ ╘ Press Alt-H for Help ════════════════════════════════════╛ Figure 6.2: Filled-out Log Out Screen Figure 6.2 You may then go ahead and log out by pressing [Alt][X] or [Ctrl][End], or you may abort the operation by pressing [Esc] or [Alt][Q]. 6.3-Edit a Logged Entry 6.3-Edit a Logged Entry _________________________________________________________________ Sometimes you might discover that you made a mistake in logging in or out with a client. The most common mistake is in forgetting to log out at the end of a day, a mistake which is discovered the next time you decide to log in with a client! The simplest solution is to correct the time and date information before logging out, but sometimes the hand is quicker than the eye. Hence, you can edit the log entry and correct the date and time information manually. Select the Edit a Logged Entry option from the main menu and use ____ _ ______ _____ your [PgUp] and [PgDn] keys to select the entry which you wish to edit. Once it is on the screen, you can then edit the log-in LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 15 Page 15 date and time and/or the log-out date and time as you wish. You may then save the corrections by pressing [Alt][X] or [Ctrl][End] or abort the changes by pressing [Esc] or [Alt][Q]. 6.4-Add a New Client 6.4-Add a New Client _________________________________________________________________ Before you can log in with any clients, you need to add clients. To do so, choose the Add a New Client option from the menu. Fill ___ _ ___ ______ in the necessary fields and it should look similar to the following screen: ╒ Add a New Client ═══════════════════════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Name: Chris Laforet Software_____________ │ │ Address: 511-D Poplar St_______________ │ │ ______________________________ │ │ City: Graham_________ State: NC Zip: 27253-____ │ │ Phone: ___-___-____ │ │ │ │ Project: Internal Projects_____________ │ │ │ │ Rate/Hr: ___0.00 │ │ │ ╘ Press Alt-H for Help ═══════════════════════════════════╛ Figure 6.3: Add a Client Screen Figure 6.3 You may save the record by pressing [Alt][X] or [Ctrl][End]. If you don't want to save it, press [Esc] or [Alt][Q]. 6.5-Edit a Client 6.5-Edit a Client _________________________________________________________________ The Edit a Client option permits you to correct any information ____ _ ______ about a client that you have previously entered. To use this option, use the [PgUp] and [PgDn] to select the client that you want to edit. You may then make the required changes to the record and save it by pressing [Alt][X] or [Ctrl][End]. You may abort changes by pressing [Esc] or [Alt][Q]. LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 16 Page 16 6.6-Edit Self/Company Info 6.6-Edit Self/Company Info _________________________________________________________________ Prior to printing out bills, you must provide some information about yourself or your company, information which will be printed at the top of the bills. To add this information you must select the Edit Self/Company Info option from the main menu. ____ ____________ ____ Fill in the name and address information. If you provide your telephone number and Social Security Number (required by some companies), these will be printed on the bill also. You may also include a special message which will be printed next to the total on the bill. After you have finished, it should look something like the following: ╒ Edit Self/Company Information ═══════════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Name: Chris Laforet Software_____________ │ │ Address: 511-D Poplar St_______________ │ │ ______________________________ │ │ City: Graham_________ State: NC Zip: 27253-____ │ │ Phone: ___-___-____ │ │ SSN: 999-99-9999 <--- included on bill if provided │ │ │ │ Billing Message (included next to total on bill): │ │ Please pay this amount promptly. Thank You --=>_____ │ │ │ ╘ Press Alt-H for Help ════════════════════════════════════╛ Figure 6.4: Edit Self/Company Info Screen Figure 6.4 You may then go ahead and save it by pressing [Alt][X] or [Ctrl][End], or you may abort the operation by pressing [Esc] or [Alt][Q]. 6.7-Bill an Expense 6.7-Bill an Expense _________________________________________________________________ In order to bill a non-time expense to a client, you may select the Bill an Expense option from the main menu. You merely need ____ __ _______ to select the client to bill the expense to by using your [PgUp] and [PgDn] keys, type in the description of the expense, and the amount of the expense. You may also change the date that the LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 17 Page 17 expense was incurred even though it defaults to the current date. When you are finished, the screen should look somewhat like the following: ╒ Enter An Expense For Client ═════════════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Name: Chris Laforet Software_______ <--- Page through │ │ Address: Internal Billing Account___ clients using your │ │ 511-D Poplar St____________ PgUp and PgDn keys │ │ City: Graham_________ State: NC Zip: 27253-____ │ │ Phone: ___-___-____ │ │ │ │ Project: Internal Projects_____________ │ │ │ │ Expense: Version 3.00 Of Log Program____________________ │ │ Date: 04/29/90 Cost: ___26.25 │ │ │ ╘ Press Alt-H for Help ════════════════════════════════════╛ Figure 6.5: Expense Entry Screen Figure 6.5 Once you have completed this screen, press [Alt][X] or [Ctrl][End] to save the record or press [Esc] or [Alt][Q] to abort it. 6.8-Show Current Billing 6.8-Show Current Billing _________________________________________________________________ At any time you may take a look at the state of the current billing for any of your clients by selecting the Show Current ____ _______ Billing option from the main menu. You must select the _______ client/project for which you wish to see the billing by using your [PgUp] and [PgDn] keys. Once you select the one that you want to see, press [Enter], [Alt][X], or [Ctrl][End] to see the billing. 6.9-Print Current Billing 6.9-Print Current Billing _________________________________________________________________ When you are ready to print bills, select the Print Current _____ _______ Billing option from the main menu. You may use your [PgUp] and _______ LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 18 Page 18 [PgDn] keys to select the client to bill (or to bill all clients). You may also select where to print the bills. If you select to print to a file, you must specify the filename to print to. You may also select to delete the log entries after printing the bills. You will most likely want to delete entries to avoid multiple billing to your clients, however you might need to pull multiple copies for your records. You may also select you own invoice number even though it defaults to YYYYMMDD (YYYY is year, MM is month, and DD is day). Each bill will add the record number of the client to the base invoice number. 6.10-Export Billing Logs 6.10-Export Billing Logs _________________________________________________________________ You can use the Export Billing Logs option to export log records ______ _______ ____ to a file in order to transfer them to another computer. This option is useful for consultants who work on multiple machines, or for people who use a portable computer. All you have to do is select the client that you want to export log entries for, enter the filename that you want to export to, and select if you want to delete the entries once they have been exported. Once you have done these things, press [Alt][X] or [Ctrl][End] to export the log entries. Pressing [Esc] or [Alt][Q] will cancel this option. 6.11-Import Billing Logs 6.11-Import Billing Logs _________________________________________________________________ Once billing logs have been exported, you may import them into a log file by selecting the Import Billing Logs option from the ______ _______ ____ main menu. To use this option, you must provide the filename for the file containing the exported information. When you press [Enter] the program opens the file and shows you the source client and project. You may then use your [PgUp] and [PgDn] to select the client/project to which you want to import the logs. Once you have set everything up to your liking, press [Alt][X] or [Ctrl][End] to import the logs into your log files. LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 19 Page 19 6.12-The HISTORY.LOG File 6.12-The HISTORY.LOG File _________________________________________________________________ Any transactions which remove information from the log database (Billing or Export) create entries in a audit file called HISTORY.LOG. This file is located in the default LOG directory. It is in ASCII format and has a copy of all billing information which has been deleted after bill printing or exportation. Should you need a copy of any information that has been billed and deleted, you can use a text editor to cut the relevant section out of HISTORY.LOG and to paste it into your desired file. LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 20 Page 20 _________________________________________________________________ Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Bug Reports and Suggestions Bug Reports and Suggestions _________________________________________________________________ If you encounter bugs in your use of the LOG program, please report them to any of the following sources. If you have suggestions, feel free to send them to Chris Laforet Software via any of the following means. They are rated according to desirability: The Programmer's Oasis BBS 919/226-6984 HST,2400,1200,300-N-8-1 Fidonet Mail Chris Laforet at 1:151/402 Compuserve Email CIS ID: 76120,110 Chris Laforet Software 511-D Poplar St Graham, NC 27253. BIX Email ID: laforet GEnie Email ID: XTX74591 LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's LOG: A Time Logging and Billing Utility Version 3.00 User's Manual Manual Page 21 Page 21 ____________________________________________________________ Table of Contents Table of Contents ____________________________________________________________ Chapter 1 Introductory Material 1 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Licensing Agreement 2 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Registration of LOG 4 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Other Legalistic Mumbo-Jumbo 5 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Installing and Using LOG 6 Chapter 5 5.1 Installing LOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5.1 5.2 Updating LOG Version 2.xx Files to Version 5.2 3.xx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 5.3 Using LOG.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5.3 5.4 Keystrokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 5.4 5.5 Using RLOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 5.5 Chapter 6 Using LOG's Options 14 Chapter 6 6.1 Logging In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 6.1 6.2 Logging Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 6.2 6.3 Edit a Logged Entry . . . . . . . . . . . 15 6.3 6.4 Add a New Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 6.4 6.5 Edit a Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 6.5 6.6 Edit Self/Company Info . . . . . . . . . . 17 6.6 6.7 Bill an Expense . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 6.7 6.8 Show Current Billing . . . . . . . . . . . 18 6.8 6.9 Print Current Billing . . . . . . . . . . 18 6.9 6.10 Export Billing Logs . . . . . . . . . . . 19 6.10 6.11 Import Billing Logs . . . . . . . . . . . 19 6.11 6.12 The HISTORY.LOG File . . . . . . . . . . 20 6.12 Chapter 7 Bug Reports and Suggestions 21 Chapter 7 i ____________________________________________________________ Figures Figures ____________________________________________________________ Figure 5.1: LOG's Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Figure 5.1: Figure 5.2: Command Line Help Screen . . . . . . . .10 Figure 5.2: Figure 5.3: RLOG's Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Figure 5.3: Figure 6.1: Filled-in Log In Screen . . . . . . . .14 Figure 6.1: Figure 6.2: Filled-out Log Out Screen . . . . . . .15 Figure 6.2: Figure 6.3: Add a Client Screen . . . . . . . . . .16 Figure 6.3: Figure 6.4: Edit Self/Company Info Screen . . . . .17 Figure 6.4: Figure 6.5: Expense Entry Screen . . . . . . . . . .18 Figure 6.5: ii