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------------------------------------------------------------------ CheckMate (tm) -- Introductory User's Guide Version 1.70A Released July 28, 1988 Copyright (c) 1986,87,88 by Custom Technologies All Rights Reserved 1-800-541-6234 (Orders Only, 24 hrs/day) (719) 282-0402 (Questions and Support) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Custom Technologies is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals ------------------------------------------------------------------ The CheckMate software is property of Custom Technologies. You are granted a limited license to use this software on an evaluation basis. CheckMate is provided AS IS, with no warranty expressed or implied. Custom Technologies specifically disclaims any and all warranties including but not limited to fitness for a particular purpose. CONTENTS 1. Introduction.................................................2 1.1 Greetings 1.2 Features 1.3 Support 1.4 Other Products 2. Things You Need to Know......................................5 2.1 The Bottom Line 2.2 The Pull-Down Menu System 2.3 The Help System 2.4 Date Formats 2.5 Editing in CheckMate 3. Installing CheckMate.........................................7 3.1 Hardware Requirements 3.2 File Paths 4. Running CheckMate............................................8 4.1 Setting Up Accounts 4.2 Entering and Editing Transactions 4.3 Generating Reports 4.4 Financial Calculator 4.5 Setup 5. Final Thoughts..............................................17 Appendix A.....................................................18 CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 1 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Greetings Greetings! Welcome to CheckMate, a full-featured, interactive home financial program. CheckMate is designed to help you keep an accurate track of your personal financial activity... no more will you have to "guess" at your balance, or labor furiously to make your checkbook match your bank statement. CheckMate will record and maintain your transactions, with full editing capabilities at your fingertips. It will sort and print reports, search for selected items, help you reconcile your statements, and even print your checks for you. Your balances are automatically updated and reported, and your records are accurate to the penny... guaranteed! 1.2 Features - Uses intuitive pull-down menu system - Supports up to eight accounts simultaneously (total number of accounts is limited only by disk space) - Supports Checking and Savings accounts - Up to 32,767 transactions may be active per account - Prints reports in standard format or in Borland Intl's Traveling SideKick (tm) format - Reports and Checks may be printed in PICA, ELITE or CONDENSED print - Transactions may be edited or printed and search criteria may be specified on ANY field in the transaction - Check printer supports continuous feed AND standard checks (YOU define the check printing in the Check Set-Up form and can use your own checks!) - Allows 100 predefined transactions that can be called up at a keystroke (such as mortgage payments, utility bills, etc) - Provides a financial calculator for quick figures on loans, regular deposit accounts, and compounding - Helps you reconcile your accounts when your statements arrive, and prints a complete report of outstanding transactions - Includes extensive, context sensitive on-line help CheckMate is very intuitive, and you should be able to evaluate it effectively with this user's guide and the built-in context sensitive HELP. We suggest that you make good use of the HELP system by pressing the <F1> key (note that some help screens have multiple pages, use <PgUp> and <PgDn> to move back and forth through the message). Additional documentation is available, however, and may be obtained by registering. The complete manual is much more detailed than this introductory guide, and includes a CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 2 "quick start tutorial" as well as a "commonly asked questions" appendix. We hope you enjoy CheckMate! Tim Bougan President, Custom Technologies 1.3 Support CheckMate, like many other fine "shareware" products, has been released by its authors to the public for evaluation. We allow and encourage free copying and distribution of the program (in its un-altered original form). We are committed to supporting and improving CheckMate, as well as developing additional products. If you find CheckMate useful, you should register your copy. The shareware concept is meant to provide a full working copy to the user for evaluation, and NOT to give away the author's hard work. If you choose not to register, then erase or pass your copy on to someone else. You can register by sending $29.95 (plus $3 shipping and handling). When you register, you will be placed on our mailing list and will receive a new disk and a complete, 112-page illustrated User's Guide. The User's Guide is 5.5"x8.5", glossy covered, typeset, offset press printed, and saddle stitched. You will also receive the latest version of CheckMate on disk and be eligible for telephone support. We also offer low cost upgrades and discounts on future products to registered users. We accept checks, money orders, CODs, MasterCard, and VISA. Make checks payable to Custom Technologies. Colorado residents please add 3% sales tax. Send your registration and all other correspondence to: Custom Technologies PO Box 62118 Colorado Springs, CO 80962-2118 (719) 282-0402 You may also order our products (charge cards or COD) by calling TOLL FREE: 1-800-541-6234 (Orders Only) If you are outside the United States and can't call toll free, you may reach our order line at: (719) 597-8389 (Orders Only) This line is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you have CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 3 questions, want to make a quantity or dealer purchase, or if you need support, call: (719) 282-0402 Thank you for your support! 1.4 Other Products We also have released CheckMate-GL, a fully functional, multiple- entry general ledger (accounting) package that integrates with CheckMate. If you need a more detailed break-down of your expenses and revenues, or if you run a business, then CheckMate-GL is for you. -- CheckMate-GL Features: - Uses intuitive pull-down and pop-up menu system - Fully implemeted "classical" general ledger system for both home and business use - Integrates with CheckMate (tm) Personal Financial Software - Supports up to 256 accounts simultaneously - Powerful search and filter routines available for all databases and reports - Unique "Quick-Look" reports (including pre-posting) - Flexible pre-defined reports with output flow control - Unique and powerful "custom" report command language for the power user with automatic generation for the novice - Fully editable journal entries allowing pen and ink corrections (no reverse entries!) prior to posting - Allows 50 predefined journal transactions that can be called up at a keystroke - Pop-up chart of accounts for quick reference - Pop-up accountant's calculator with rolling tape - Includes extensive, context sensitive on-line help You can order CheckMate-GL by sending $39.95 plus $3 shipping and handling. CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 4 2. THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW This section discusses some of the "basics" of CheckMate's operation. 2.1 The Bottom Line As you run CheckMate, the bottom line of the screen summerizes the functions that are available to you. It is always present, and should speed your use of the program as you become familiar with its many capabilities. Most of CheckMate's functions are activated by the PC's function keys. The bottom line identifies the operation of these keys (and others). 2.2 The Pull-Down Menu System CheckMate uses the popular "pull-down" menu system as its primary user interface. After your start CheckMate, you will see a row of five "choices" for you to choose from. You may select any of the choices in one of two ways: first, by moving the high-lighted bar to the item of your choice (using the left or right arrow keys) and then pressing "return" (which we will also refer to as <CR>), or, by pressing the starting letter of your choosing. Either method will instantly produce a secondary menu (with a bar that moves up and down instead of left to right). Select individual functions in the same manner. 2.3 The Help System As mentioned earlier, CheckMate includes built in on-line help. Just press <F1> at any time while running CheckMate for instant help. Some help screens have multiple pages, so use <PgDn> and <PgUp> to move through the message. The help screens are contained in the file "CM.HLP" and this file must be present in the program file path at runtime. The program file path is set with CMINST.COM. 2.4 Date Formats One of the most annoying aspects of many programs is rigid data entry, especially DATES. Our goal is to make life (computing, at least) a little bit easier, so we built a "free-format" date entry into CheckMate. Whenever CheckMate calls for a date to be entered, you can key it in almost any fashion you choose. Dates like 7-12-84, 3/5/86, 12 Sept 82, and so forth are all valid. So long as you include some delimiter between the month, the day, and the year CheckMate should figure out what you mean. A delimiter can be a space, a dash, a slash, or virtually any non-number or CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 5 non-letter. You can even leave all or part of the date out, and CheckMate will use defaults (the DOS date). 2.5 Editing within CheckMate All data entry fields within CheckMate are fully "editable." The following control-key combinations are defined within CheckMate: Control Key Alternate Key Function ----------- ------------- ----------------------- Control-D right-arrow move one character right Control-S left-arrow move one character left Control-F move one word right Control-A move one word left Control-E up-arrow move up one field Control-X down-arrow move down one field Control-G DEL delete character at cursor Control-T delete word right Control-K delete field right Control-Y delete entire field Control-H BACKSPACE delete character left INS toggle INSERT/OVERWRITE Notice that the control sequences closely resemble those of MicroPro's WordStar (tm). We chose these combinations because of WordStar's popularity. For your convenience we have also implemented the PC's standard editing keys as alternatives. CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 6 3. INSTALLING CHECKMATE 3.1 Hardware Requirements CheckMate will run on an IBM PC/XT/AT/jr/PS2 (or compatible) with at least 256K of memory and 1 DSDD floppy disk drive (2 recommended). It supports all IBM compatible displays. 3.2 File Paths You can specify the files paths for which CheckMate will look for its overlay and data files with CMINST.COM. If you are using a hard disk, you can put CheckMate's program and overlay files in one directory and its data files in another. If you include the program file path in a DOS "PATH", you can run CheckMate from any drive or directory. If you are using a floppy disk system, you should put you data files on drive B and your program files on drive A. (You can use CheckMate on a single drive system, but you will have limited space for data files. You should remove all unnecessary files from your working disk, like CMINST.COM and perhaps even CM.HLP). If you are using floppies but have a good sized RAM disk, CheckMate's performance will increase significantly if you copy its program files to the RAM disk. Run CMINST (make sure that CM.COM is in the default directory first) and set up your paths. CMINST will first display the current default paths and then prompt you to enter new ones. In order to save disk space, CMINST is a simple program and does not include CheckMate's editing features. Note that entering only a <CR> at the prompts will cause CMINST to clear the file paths (and CheckMate will use the default directories when run). Before you do run CheckMate, make sure that the paths you selected are valid (you may need to create them). CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 7 4. RUNNING CHECKMATE 4.1 Setting Up Accounts The first pull-down menu includes five functions associated with setting up and maintaining accounts. They are described below. 1) Enter Accounts -- Here is where you set up your accounts. The first field holds the full name of the account. The next field is for a shorter name that will appear on the menu. The account type can be either Checking or Savings, with checking the default. (You will find that virtually any type of account can fit in one of these two general categories). Enter your account number and the opening balance. If the account is checking, you can enter the number of the next check that you will write. When you are satisfied with your entries, press <F10> to save the account. You can create up to eight accounts. 2) Edit Account -- You can modify account data with this function. The <F3> key will pop-up a menu with all your accounts listed. Choose the account you want to change and proceed as you did when you created it. Use <F10> to save your changes. If you modify the opening balance, CheckMate will automatically update the entire data file. 3) Delete Account -- This is a drastic step. The data and index files for the account are gone forever. Use the <F4> key to delete. For safety, you will be prompted to confirm your intention. 4) Select Default Account -- Use this function to select the account you wish to use for transaction entry and for the reports. Note that the first account that you enter will automatically be selected at start-up, so enter your most active account first. 5) Rebuild Account Files -- There are two reasons that you may want to use this function. The first one is to condense the data file after a significant number of deletions (ie after purging old transactions). Deleted records will be reused automatically, but you may want to use this function anyway to make back-up files smaller. Another reason for using this function is to repair corrupted files. Abnormal shutdown (such as a power loss) can cause files to be improperly closed. Other problems can occur for a variety of reasons. If your files seem CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 8 improper or CheckMate reports an error, try this function. It should fix most problems. A <CR> will start the process, <ESC> will abort the function. 4.2 Entering and Editing Transactions The next pull-down menu list the four functions associated with maintaining the transactions within the accounts. 1) Enter Transactions -- When you select this function, you will immediately see another menu asking for the type of transaction you wish to make. Select the type, and press <CR>. The screen that appears next is based on the type of transaction that you are making and the type of account you are using. Fill in the blanks accordingly. The "Account Number" field is not for the account you are using, but rather a reference for the transaction (such as your VISA credit card number if you are writing a check to VISA). You can direct the check printer to print this number anywhere on your check (more on this later). The "Tax Flag" is simply a boolean value you can use to mark checks that are tax deductible. "Printed" and "Cleared" are used by CheckMate and will automatically be updated as appropriate. You should set the "Printed" field yourself if you are not going to use your printer to print your checks or if you are entering old transactions. You can mix use of your printer and writing by hand to your heart's desire (Personally, I hate writing checks!). The "Cleared" field is to help reconcile your accounts. Mark this field ONLY if your the transaction already appears on your bank statement. The "Expensed" flag in used to indicate whether or not the transaction has been "merged" into CheckMate-GL (our full-fledged general ledger complement to CheckMate). At any time while entering transactions, you can bring up a menu of frequent transactions by pressing <F2>. You set these frequent transactions up in the Set-Up menu. This is a powerful timesaver, and one that you will really appreciate. The <F3> key brings up the Transaction Type menu so that you can change types (as you enter multiple transactions). The <F10> key will add the transaction. If the transaction is entered out of sequence, the transaction file will be updated to reflect the change. Transactions are always stored chronologically. For writing checks, the check number is incremented after each transaction. You can change the number and write CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 9 them out of sequence, but keep a close eye on the check number since CheckMate has no way of knowing what you are doing. 2) Editing Transactions One of CheckMate's most powerful features is your ability to edit any transaction quickly and without reverse entries. Selecting the Edit Transactions function will take you to the last transaction that was entered. You can edit this transaction or move from transaction to transaction with the <F7> and <F8> keys. You can make changes to any field, and you can even pop- up your frequent transactions menu just as you can while entering transactions. You save your changes to disk with <F10> (CheckMate will prompt you first for confirmation). As always, CheckMate will update the entire file to reflect the alterations. To help you quickly find a particular transaction, we have provided a robust "search" utility. Press <F5> to activate the search window. Here you can specify criteria that must match any transactions to be edited. Of particular use is the EXACT MATCH versus the ANY MATCH function. With ANY MATCH you can look for key words within any field. For instance, you may enter the word "gulf" in the Payto field and hit the <F6> key. You would match entries like "Gulf Power", "Gulf Coast Community College", or "Dr. Gulfman." CheckMate looks for any occurance of the string "gulf" (regardless of case). You can use <F7> and <F8> to move through the different transactions that match your search specifications. You can also specify the type of transactions to search for using the <F3> key. The default is "All Types." SPECIAL NOTE: Since CheckMate's files are keyed ISAM, specifying the starting and ending dates can significantly increase search performance. CheckMate maintains an index file based on dates, and limiting your search dates will decrease the file accesses that CheckMate has to make. 3) Deleting Transactions -- Select this function when you wish to remove individual transactions. This function is identical to Editing Transactions. When you want to delete an entry, simply press <F4>. CheckMate will prompt you for confirmation before proceeding, and then it will update the transaction file. 4) Purging Transactions -- You will use this function to remove multiple transactions, probably as you close out a year and start CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 10 a new one. If you want to keep a backup, do it before you purge, as purged transactions CANNOT be recovered. You may want to rebuild your account files (as described above) to reclaim the released space. 4.3 Generating Reports The Reports menu has four options (for very different functions). They are described below, but first there are a few common features that should be discussed. All of the reports may be printed in any of three "pitches", which are PICA, ELITE, or CONDENSED. To use these pitches, your printer must be capable of supporting them. You must enter the control codes to configure your printer in the Printer Setup function (discussed later). You may specify a separate pitch for your checks and reports. With the exception of printing the checks, you can choose from two different "types" for you reports. The "Standard Type" is for 8.5x11 inch paper in a three ring binder. The alternate type is "Traveling SideKick." (Traveling SideKick is a trademark of Borland International). Selecting this option will generate reports in a style suited for inclusion in the Traveling SideKick binder. Borland International has been a breath of fresh air to the microcomputing world, and many of their products served as inspiration for CheckMate. Some of the reports offer a choice of format as well. The short format gives a one line, quick glance at the data. This is the default. The long format gives a comprehensive view of all available data (and consumes much more paper!). In addition to the above options, you may also specify where you wish the reports to go. You may channel them to the printer (default), to a disk file, or to the screen. If you specify a disk file, then you must enter a valid file name for the report to be written to. If you choose the screen or the printer, then you may choose between continuous printing or have it pause between pages. You may abort any report at any time by pressing the <ESC> key. You may also supply an optional title to be printed at the top of your reports. 1) Transaction Register -- Here is where you generate lists of all your transactions. You may set any of the above options before you start. You may also "selectively" print transactions by invoking the same "search" window that was described in the Editing Transactions function. Only the transactions that match your pattern will be printed. Press <F5> to bring up the search window, and CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 11 either <F5> again to find exact matches, or <F6> for the more powerful "any match" search. The short report format will generate one line for each transaction, while the long report includes all of the data. At the end of the transaction report, CheckMate will list totals for the transactions printed. 2) Print Checks -- Now for the best part -- printing the checks. With CheckMate, you can let your printer write your checks and you DO NOT have to buy expensive, computer form checks (unless you want to). Virtually any checks will work, and almost any printer. See the Check Setup function in the Setup menu. When you first invoke this function, you will see a search window appear. You must specify the starting and stopping dates for printing. The defaults are the beginning and end of the file, and it could be slow if the computer always has to start at the beginning to look for unprinted checks. Pressing the <TAB> key in the search window will bring up the DOS date. Press <F5> after you have specified the dates, and you will be ready to print. If you are using continuous form checks, you can print them all at once. If not, the computer will prompt you one at a time. As checks are printed, CheckMate will automatically update the "Printed" field in the transaction. The <F7> and <F8> keys will move you back and forth through the available checks. When all the checks are printed, CheckMate will display a message and return to the menu. 3) Reconcile Account -- At the end of each month there is a day of reckoning. Its here that CheckMate can really help. When you enter this function, press <F4> to start the reconciliation process. CheckMate will prompt you, transaction by transaction, for all entries that have cleared on your current bank statement (you should have the statement in front of you). When you have marked all of the transactions, you generate the report with the <F10> key. (Remember to select your format and print options first). CheckMate will print a report listing all remaining outstanding transactions, your actual balance, your outstanding balance, and what your statement balance should be. If there are no mistakes, this figure will match the one on your statement. Most of the time they will match perfectly. If not, you can use CheckMate's report and editing features to find and correct the mishap. 4) Account Report -- Use this function to print general reports of all defined accounts. Again, you can select format, type and print options before you proceed. The long report CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 12 format generates a report similar to the one generated in the Reconcile Accounts function. 4.4 Financial Calculator The Calc menu includes three popular functions that we believe you will find useful. Although they have no bearing or effect on CheckMate's data files, they provide helpful information to assist you making financial decisions. The functions are robust in that you can calculate any one variable by providing the others. For instance, you can calculate the interest rate on a loan by providing the monthly payment, the amount borrowed, the length of the loan, and the number of payments per year. Simple set the interest rate to zero and press <F4>. 1) Loans -- Calculate loans based on APR (annual percentage rate). This is the most popular and widely used method. To reemphasize, you may calculate ANY of the variables that you wish, but you can set only ONE variable to zero at a time. 2) Regular Deposits -- These are savings accounts, IRAs, etc. The method for calculating interest varies from bank to bank, so these values may be slightly different from the ones your bank generates. 3) Compounding -- This function is not widely used, but basically shows how a fixed sum of money will grow if left unused. 4.5 Setup Perhaps CheckMate's strongest point is its flexibility. The following paragraphs describe the how you can configure CheckMate to suit your particular needs. 1) File Directories -- By selecting this function, you can view the file paths that CheckMate searches while looking for its program and data files. For logistical reasons, we chose to make manipulation of these paths available through a separate installation program (CMINST.COM). CheckMate fully supports the DOS 2.0 (and above) directory struc ture. 2) Edit PayTos -- In this section you can pre-define checks that you write often (such as monthly bills). When first invoked, a menu appears. This menu lists previously defined PayTos. Note that although only ten items are CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 13 displayed, there are FIFTY that are available. The <PgDn> and <PgUp> keys will scroll through the five available pages. You may select any one to edit (if you select a blank entry, you are essentially adding a new PayTo). You can enter as many fields as you like, and they will be automatically inserted in your check when you select the item off the menu while entering transactions. This can be a tremendous timesaver. The <F10> key will save your changes to disk, while the <F4> key deletes an entry. SPECIAL NOTE: On some items, the amount of the check will change from month to month (like your power bill). In these cases leave the amount blank, and the cursor will automatically jump to it when you select the item from the menu. 3) Edit Reasons -- This function is identical to Editing PayTos except that "Reasons" are used for deposits, withdrawals, debits, and credits instead of checks. You may, for instance, make an entry for your paycheck or an automatic IRA deposit. 4) Printer Setup -- The Printer Setup function allows you to select four options and designate six printer control strings. It is important to note that any changes made here are temporary unless you use <F10> to write the changes to disk. Saving the changes requires the presence of CM.COM on the program file path, and you must not change the name of the file! The first option is for the type of printer that you are using. You have two choices (IBM or generic). The only place where this choice will make a difference is in printing Traveling SideKick style reports. If you select IBM, the reports will use IBM block graphics for borders. The <F3> key brings up the menu. (Traveling SideKick is a trademark of Borland Int'l, IBM is a trademark of International Business Machines). The next option that you have is for the type of reports that you will print. You may select the standard style or the Traveling SideKick style (which is suitable for inclusion in the Traveling SideKick binder). Pressing <F4> will pop-up the appropriate menu. The third option sets the pitch for printing reports. You have PICA (10 cpi), ELITE (12 cpi), or CONDENSED (17 cpi). To use this option you must specify the appropriate control codes in the Printer Setup strings (discussed below). The <F5> key brings up a menu for selecting the report pitch. CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 14 The last option allows you to specify the pitch that you want your checks to be printed with. This is independent of the report pitch but just as above you must specify correct printer control codes in the Printer Setup strings. Press <F6> for the menu. The printer control codes can be found in your printer manual. You have six available strings that you can enter. The format for entry is \<decimal code>\<decimal code>\.... The back-slashes delimit the codes. Below is an example: \27\85 This string represents an <ESC> 'U'. (That's an escape- capital-U). This is a popular means of defining printer codes. CheckMate comes pre-installed for an IBM graphics printer. The Half-Line Feed String should advance the carriage one half line. If your printer supports this feature, enter the correct string here. This will enable CheckMate to print your checks on half-lines (this is sometimes necessary to be able to effectively print single feed checks). If you want to print on whole-lines only, then leave this field blank. The PICA, ELITE, and CONDENSED Pitch strings should configure your printer to the correct pitch. The Printer Setup and Exit strings are optional and provided for your convenience. 5) Check Setup -- When you create an account, CheckMate will automatically configure your check setup for NEBS COMPUTER FORMS continuous feed checks. You may use this setup if you wish, or you may erase the entries (by pressing <F9>) and enter your own definition. If you want to use NEBS checks, then call NEBS directly at: 1-800-225-9550 Tell the operator that you want check samples for "Custom Technologies' CheckMate", and give them code number "95024". They should then send you an order form and check samples suitable for CheckMate. The NEBS product number is 9029-1. CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 15 If you want to define your own layout, then press <F9> to clear the definition that CheckMate created. The Check Setup form allows 22 entries. Each entry has 4 parts, a Line Number, a Variable Number, a Column Number, and a Length. The Line and Column Numbers refer to the lines and columns on your checks. You will need to print out a template to determine these locations. Use the Print Template option on the SetUp menu to print out your template. The Variable Numbers are defined within CheckMate, and their definitions are listed in appendix A. In each entry, enter the line number of the variable, the variable number, the column number, and the maximum length that each variable can have. Note that you have the option of printing checks in several different pitches, and that these values will differ with the different pitches. Also note that line numbers are in increments of 1/2, so that the line numbers 1.5, 3.5, etc are valid. In fact, you will most probably need to define some variables on the check on these half-line boundries (if so, you MUST define a valid half line feed string as described above). It is a good idea to experiment with some blank sheets of paper until you are satisfied with your check layout. You also need to indicate whether you are using continuous form checks or not, and you must indicate the length in lines of each check (regardless of whether or not they are continuous). The variable definitions are in Appendix A. Note that you may maintain a separate check definition for each checking account that you have. Pressing <F10> saves the definition to disk (in your account data file, NOT in CM.COM!). 6) Print Template -- Use this function to print a template on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper (or continuous paper). You can then use the template to help you define your checks. The template will be printed out in the pitch that you selected to print your checks in, and you will insert your checks into the printer in the same manner that you inserted your template. CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 16 5. FINAL THOUGHTS We sincerely hope that you find CheckMate to be work-saving, friendly, and helpful. Please pass it along to your friends. Remember that you can help us improve CheckMate with your support (by registering) and with your comments and ideas. If you find any bugs or need assistance, do not hesitate to write to us. We try to answer all our correspondence and are committed to making CheckMate everything that it can and should be. Happy computing! CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 17 APPENDIX A -- CheckMate Variable Definitions: Variable # Variable Format Example 0 Date MMM DD, YYYY May 4, 1986 1 Date MMM DD May 4 2 Date YYYY 1986 3 Date MMM May 4 Date DD 04 5 Date YY 86 6 Date MM 05 7 Date MM/DD/YY 05/04/86 8 Date MM/DD 05/04 20 Amount DD,DDD,DDD.CC 1,184,877.76 21 Amount DDDDDDDD.CC 1184877.76 22 Amount DD,DDD,DDD 1,184,877 23 Amount DDDDDDDD 1184877 24 Amount CC 76 25 Amount .CC .76 30 Amount DD,DDD,DDD.CC ***1,184,877.76 31 Amount DDDDDDDD.CC *****1184877.76 32 Amount DD,DDD,DDD ******1,184,877 33 Amount DDDDDDDD ********1184877 40 Balance DD,DDD,DDD.CC 1,184,877.76 41 Balance DDDDDDDD.CC 1184877.76 42 Balance DD,DDD,DDD 1,184,877 43 Balance DDDDDDDD 1184877 44 Balance CC 76 45 Balance .CC .76 60 Amount String (spelled out amount) 65 PayTo 66 For 67 Account Number (to be printed on check) 68 Comments 69 Addr1 (Address Line #1) 70 Addr1 (Address Line #1) 71 Addr1 (Address Line #1) 80 Tax Flag 'Tax Ded' 90 Check Number NNNNNNNN 1546 100 '.' 101 ',' 102 '$' 103 '(' 104 ')' 105 '*' 106 '-' CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 18 107 '+' 108 'L' (British Pound Sign) - 120 Bank Account Name 121 Bank Account Number 130 'Date:' 131 'Check Number:' 132 'Payto:' 133 'Amount:' 134 'Balance:' 135 'For:' 136 'Comments:' 137 'Account Number:' 138 'Address:' 139 'Dollars' CheckMate (tm) Introductory User's Guide 19