PDA Software Library/pdasoftwarelib.iso/PSION/MISC/SNAINV/SNAINV0.TXT

Text File | 1996-09-30 | 6.9 KB | 145 lines

INVESTMENT TRACKER V1.0 (Siena)

Following the success of my Home Accounts  program for
the S3A & S3C, S3ABANK,  a number of people suggested
that I issue some of the optional modules as standalone
programs.  This was the first of these modules.  (The others
are a fuel consumption tracker, S3AFUELx.ZIP, a Home
Inventory program, S3AHOMEx.ZIP, an Expense Account
Manager, S3AEXPx.ZIP, and a Financial Planner,
S3APLANx.ZIP, where 'x' is the version number). This
program is the Siena version of S3AINVEST and allows
you to keep track of the value of your  investments (Shares,
Stocks, Bonds etc) but, in addition, it also allows you to
keep a history file of their performance, which can be
displayed graphically.

To Install the program :

1.    Put SNAINV0.APP in your \APP\ directory

2.     If you want to use the optional On-Line Help
(Highly recommended) put the file SNAINVH.OVL into an
\APP\SNAINV\ directory.

3.    If you want to use the optional Print option put the
file SNAINVP.OVL into the \APP\SNAINV\ directory and
the file SNAPRINT.DYL into an \OPD\ directory.  Note
that this file is common to all my programs, so if you have
more than one of them you only need one copy of this file.

4.    Install (PSION-I)

To start the program highlight the 'Invest' under the Icon.
You can either use this as a Group name, in which case just
press <Enter>, or use <PSION-N> to select your own
name.

Now go into the program.  The 'nag' screen can be removed
by registering the program, which will also allow you 50
entries.  The unregistered version allows you just 3 entries,
to see the capabilities of the program. Working through the
MENU commands will show you the capabilities of the
program.    The usual File Handling Commands are
available for building and deleting groups, as well as the
Password option.  The Edit Menu provides Enter, Update,
and Delete options, plus a 'Move' option if you wish to
manually reorder the entries, and an 'Update All' option
<PSION-L>.  I use this once a week to update every
investment at once.  (See later for Currencies).  The
æPrintÆ menu (only visible if you have the Print Module
loaded) allows you to output the details, the 'Sort' menu
allows you to quickly re-order the entries based on any of
the fields, and the 'Special' menu allows you to configure the
program, look at the full details for an entry, look at the
Total History screen (see later), use a separate memopad (as
in Agenda) and select the size of font.

The 'Set Preferences' menu allows you to specify the type of
font, the date format, whether you wish to be prompted to
include any updates in the History file, how many decimal
places you wish  for each  column, configure the printer,
(if the print module is loaded) and decide if you want to stay
in the 'Set Preferences' menu while setting up the program
(instead of having to keep re-selecting it).

Finally, there is a diamond menu to show the ways of
viewing the long-term performance of an investment.  Note
that, provided you load the optional overlay file, the <Help>
key will show similar information to that contained in these
instructions.

To demonstrate the program, enter an investment <PSION-
E>, specifying the start date, Company, how many shares
and the present price.  Now update the entry  using
<PSION-U>, or <PSION-L>, or <TAB>.  When it has been
entered say 'Yes' to  the 'Update History' question.  (This
can be bypassed if a flag is set from the 'Set Preferences'
menu) Now update it twice more, to generate a decent
history.  Now select the share and press  the Diamond key
(or <PSION-SHIFT-H>) and you will see the history
display.  While you are in this screen, you can amend the
History file if you require, delete the file and Export the
history (see later).   Pressing the Diamond key, or <PSION-
SHIFT-G> will display the same information in graphical
format.  In this screen you can set the Date X-Scale Factor
<PSION-A> to 'Auto' or to the number of pixels/day, and
the Price Y-Scale factor <PSION-P>, to the max/min values
of price or an automatic scaling).  In this mode, you can
also define the gain/loss figure, and the number of decimal
places to be used for the display.

If you have more than one share, you can select them by
either using the cursor keys or pressing the first letter of the
title.  In the History views, you can switch shares quickly
using <PSION-S> (unfortunately, because of the limitations
of the Psion, only the first 31 entries can be switched this
way) or use the right/left arrows to cycle through.  Also, as
usual, <Fn-Menu> switches the Info Window on and off.

If you want to use multiple groups of investments, simply
use the <PSION-N> command to generate multiple groups.

If you want to use the foreign currency option in any of the
Groups, select the 'Currencies' option from the Menu, and
enter a symbol for the primary currency (i.e. US$) and for
the second currency, and then the exchange rate.  The
Group will now show the primary currency in the top right.
If you now want to use the secondary currency option,
select 'Enable on' in the same dialog. The secondary
currency will now be shown in brackets after the primary
currency and when you Enter or Update entries, you will
offered the option of using either currency.  (The currency
will default to the one you used last time)

Every time you do an update, the total value of your
portfolio is stored, and the history of this can also be viewed
using <PSION-T> from the menu.  However, a word of
warning.  When you first start setting up your investments,
the program will begin the total calculation from the value
of the first investment entered.   Therefore, if you enter 4
investments immediately, the program will think you have
made a massive gain !!  To sort that problem out, once you
have initially entered ALL your investments, just go into the
Total History screen, and delete the earlier lines, so that the
first line represents a true starting value for your portfolio.

Finally, the History details can be exported in a <Tab>
delimited format which can be imported in the built-in Sheet
application.  To use this option, press <PSION-O>, and just
specify the location of the output file (it defaults to \WRD\
SNAINV.TXT).    Now load that file into the Word
application, highlight it all and then use the Bring function
from within a spreadsheet to import the information.

If you find the program useful and wish to register it, please
see the file REGISTER.TXT for up-to-date instructions on
how to register.  Apart from giving you a 'warm' feeling,
allowing  you  50 entries, and getting rid of the 'nag'
screens, registering will give you access to full support and
access to regular, free, updates.   If anyone has any useful
suggestions for improvements, I will always try and include
them in the next version.

Al Richey