PDA Software Library/pdasoftwarelib.iso/PSION/1997/922.ZIP/BANKPLUS.TXT

Text File | 1997-02-13 | 12.9 KB | 377 lines

                          "BankPlus" by Pete Sipple
            Written for the Psion Series 3a and 3c  (February 1997)



BankPlus is a shortish procedure which allows the user to create up to eight
accounts, which can be either BANK or CREDIT CARD accounts. It will
automatically pay standing orders, arrange inter-account transfers, and
lets you print a statement to screen or printer. It allows the user to
verify bank statements, and comes with a basic password facility, to
prevent casual prying.






Installation of BankPlus
========================


BankPlus runs on a Series 3a or 3c only
(Versions are available for the Series 3 and Siena)



To Install:

1. Create a directory called \APP\ on either A:, B:, or M:

2. Copy BANKPLUS.OPA , BANKPLUS.PRG and BANKPLUS.HLP into the \APP\ directory.
   If you are upgrading from v1.x to v2.x, then BANKPLUS.UPG needs to be
   in this directory too.

3. From the system screen, select 'Install' from the 'Apps' menu, and
   move to BankPlus using the cursor keys.



*Note to upgraders*

If you are upgrading from BANK - delete BANK3.OPA , BANK3A.OPA , BANK.PRG
which will be located in the \APP\ and \BNK\ directories. All datafiles
are compatible.

If you are upgrading from BankPlus v1.x, delete BANKPLUS.EXT and BANKPLUS.ADN
which will be located in the \APP\ and \BNK\ directories. Note that the file
structure has changed. When you run BankPlus v2.0 for the first time, you
will be prompted to update your files. The file BANKPLUS.UPG will need to
be in your \APP\ directory together with the BANKPLUS.OPA file. Once the
upgrade has been completed, the files BANKPLUS.UPG , BANK.INI and
BANKDEF.ODB will no longer be required.


v2.0 incorporates significant changes to file structure as well as file
names. An upgrade file BANKPLUS.UPG is supplied. This will be run once if
required when v2.0 is run for the first time.

V1.3.1 Includes a revised help file structure. The file BANKPLUS.HLP contains
the help data required.

v1.2.3 incorporates some changes to the file structure, notably the addition
of a 'Category' option. BankPlus detects the upgrade, and makes appropriate
file structure changes. As a safety measure, a backup copy of each datafile
is taken (OLDBNKx.ODB). These files can be deleted once the upgrade has
been safely completed.





Files included with this release
================================
BANKPLUS.OPA - Application file
BANKPLUS.PRG - The program file
BANKPLUS.HLP - The help file (optional)
BANKPLUS.UPG - Upgrade file for 1.x to 2.x file structure.

BankPlus will create a datafile for each account specified. They will be
placed in a directory called \BNK\ on whichever drive has been specified
in the Settings menu.

A small file called BANK.SET will be created in M:\OPD\ . Do not
delete this file - it contains data vital to the operation of BankPlus.



============================================================


BASIC OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS:
=============================

When you first run the program, you will be presented with a menu called
SPECIAL, from which you can specify a password if required, but more
importantly, to setup each bank account. Select 'Setup Accounts', and you
will be asked for a name for up to eight accounts. Type in a name, ie CURRENT,
ACCESS, etc. Once the entries are completed, press [enter] to proceed to the
next screen and select the type of account - either a BANK or CREDIT CARD
account.

Once you've set up your accounts, you get the main system menu, which is
the business end of the program. Press the [Menu] key to access the menu
if it isn't displayed.




Menu Options
============

The 'Account' Menu Card presents a list of the accounts that you have
set up - Select an account to use.

Find - Search the selected account for an individual item - press [enter]
to scroll
New Item- To Enter a new item
Transfer - Transfer funds between accounts
Std Orders - Setup or edit standing orders

View - View a list of transactions/balances in date order (Bank statement)
Check - To match BankPlus data with your bank statement
Balances - Today's balance on all accounts (press menu for other commands)
Categories - For an overview of category spend
Print - Print a list of transactions/balances in date order (Bank statement)

Tidy - Tidy entries older than specified date (entries are deleted)
Archive - Copy data from all accounts into a seperate file for archiving
Export - Export as comma delimited (for spreadsheets)
Currency Converter - Set currency conversion defaults, plus a conversion
calculator
Information - Bank Account number, sort code, phone number and notes
Display Graph - A visual representation of a month's balances

Setup Accounts - Change / setup bank account information
Settings - To set basic defaults
International - Setup currency details and number formats.
Category names - Up to 15 categories are allowed. Enter names here.
Password - change password (a blank field will disable password facility)



Explanation of "Clearing" & "Stmt"
==================================

By default, new entries are marked as "uncleared", which means that they
haven't appeared on your monthly statement from your bank.

The Balance shown on the main menu screen shows "Balance" (which includes
all transactions, cleared or not, as of today's date)

The 'Cleared' total shows the amount shown on your latest bank statement.

To adjust "cleared", use the "check" option from the statement menu. Press
[C] to confirm that an item is cleared, ie. has appeared on your statement.

Note that items with a transaction date greater than today's date will not
affect the current balance, until that date is reached.



Standing Orders
===============
There is no limit to the amount of standing orders that can be setup. Every seven days
BankPlus automatically checks and pays any standing orders that are due
in the current month, or next month by default. This can be expanded from the
settings menu option if required.

Standing orders can be set to all months, or to specific months, to
accomodate non specific standing orders.


Printing via PsiWin
===================
Psion have not released a way of accessing the "Psion Print" command
from OPL at this time, which means that it is not possible to print
from BankPlus to a printer via PsiWin. The official workaround is to use
the RPRINT.EXE file supplied on Disk One of the PsiWin set of disks. This
is a DOS executable program.



Explanation of Credit Card accounts
===================================
Some users have expressed confusion over how "credit card" account types
work. Here is a summary of how they should be used.

Definition - If you have a credit card account, it should be set up as such
under the Setup Accounts option. Bank makes a 'Credit card' card works in an
opposite way to a "Bank' account, in that debits are added to the balance,
rather than deduced. This is why the balance on the statement issued by your
credit card company shows a positive balance and payments are deduced from
the outstanding balance. This means that when you enter a transaction into
Bank, you will enter it as a "debit", whereas payments are "credits"

Balances - If an account is correctly set as a 'Credit card' account, the
fact that your 'credit card' balance is money that you owe, is reflected in
the Balances total. If you were to owe $100 to Visa/Mastercard, the
"Balances" option would show a "debit" and reduce your total balance
accordingly.

Transfers - If you wish to make an inter account transfer to show that you
have made a payment to your credit card company, you would select "Transfer",
and set the "From Account" to be the bank account, and the "To Account" to
be the credit card account. The "Transfer amount" should not be a negative
amount.




Categories
==========
This option is for users who wish to keep a record of transcation types, for
example,  cash, cheque, payment, petrol, etc. transactions. The names of the
transaction types are entered (max of 15) in the 'Category names' screen,
and the Category function is enabled in the Settings menu. When new items
are entered, you have the option to select that category.
Reports / Find / View can then search or list by category.




=========================================================================


BankPlus for Siena
==================

A version of BankPlus is now available for the Psion Siena. This is
available from usual sources. Contact the author for more details.


Bank (Series 3)
===============

Bank is still available for Series 3 users, but only has provision for five
accounts, as well as a few other minor limitations.

Bank and Bankplus are available as Shareware. The registration fee of 8 UK
pounds covers BANK and BANKPLUS.

==========================================================================




Registering BankPlus
====================

BankPlus is Shareware, and if you find this program useful, you are asked to
register it. The current price is 8.00 UK pounds.

Cheques, made payable, to P.Sipple should be sent to the following address:

Pete Sipple
Flat 4, 17 Devereux Road
Southend-on-Sea,
Essex
SS1 1DR
England


To register outside the UK, any of the following are acceptable:

1. Send a cheque drawn on a UK bank for 8ukp, made payable to "Pete Sipple"
2. Compuserve users can register online using SWREG - see below
3. Send a cheque drawn from your local bank, but payable in sterling, to "Pete Sipple"
4. Make payment by credit card (see below)
5. Contact a friend in the UK and ask them to forward payment in ukp.

If requested, you will be sent the most current version of BankPlus by email.
Please remember to include your email address (if appropriate), current
version number, and desired compression format (ie. ZIP, ARC). Files sent
by email will be UUencoded if sent over Internet.

If you cannot accept UUencoded email, or have no email account, a disk of
the latest version can be posted out to you, but please add 1.00ukp for disk
cost plus postage.


CompuServe
==========
Users of CompuServe can register using the Compuserve SWREG service. Type
SWREG at the GO prompt, and quote 7101 as the registration ID. A charge of
$15 will be applied to your CIS account, and you will receive your
registration number by email. If requested, you can have upgrades sent to
your account, providing that you accept that any mail charges levied by
CompuServe for file transfer. The author can be contacted via Compuserve
at 100333,3266



Credit Card
===========
Payment can be made by Access or Visa. Please add a ú0.50 handling charge.
For security reasons it is advised that credit card details are sent via
post rather than in email. Please quote card name, number and expiry date.
Please make sure that the amount (ú8.50) is quoted in sterling.


As well as supporting the Shareware concept, registration brings additional
benefits:

1. The latest versions of BankPlus will be emailed to you as soon as they
are available, if requested.

2. You will be sent a registration number to remove the startup "nag" screen.

3. Wherever possible, your suggestions will be considered for future
releases.



=========================================================================

Latest Version:
===============

The latest version of BankPlus can be obtained by any of the following
methods:

1. Downloaded direct from the BankPlus homepage
   http://members.aol.com.petesipple/bankplus.htm
2. By email. Mail [e-mail] for details
3. From the Palmtop A forum on Compuserve
4. From the Psion conference on CiX
5. From other shareware sources, inc the main FTP sites and 3lib
6. By sending a disk and stamped addressed envelope to the author

=========================================================================


Contacting the author
=====================

Comments, queries and bug reports are welcomed. I can be reached by email
at:

[e-mail]
or 100333.3266 (CompuServe)

(please remember to state the version number that you are using!)

* PLEASE NOTE THAT TELEPHONE SUPPORT IS NOT AVAILABLE *



Finally:
========


Thanks to William Nightingale and Martin Packer for their help with
designing the BankPlus icon.

A big thanks also to many beta testers - Without your help, the program
wouldn't be what it is today!






Disclaimers, etc
================
Although this procedure appears stable, I cannot accept any liability for
loss, or damage, as a result of using this procedure.


The procedures included with releases of BankPlus remain copyright of
Pete Sipple.
You may freely distribute the files to other users, but please make sure
that ALL files including this documentation are kept together. Distribution
of reverse-translated source code is not permitted.


Written by: Pete Sipple
            12th Feb 1997