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************************************************************** Distributor Networking System (DNS) (Amway(R) Version 2.0) (Evaluation Copy) By Victor Nguyen and Bill Palmer Copyright (c) 1993-95 by PC DataNet All Rights Reserved ************************************************************** Distributor Networking System MANUAL.DOC Page 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ----------------- Using the Program............................................3 A Note About Disk Caching....................................4 Main Menu....................................................5 Customer Menu................................................5 Order Menu...................................................6 Phone Menu...................................................8 Reports Menu................................................11 Calendar/Expenses Menu......................................12 Prospects Menu..............................................13 Inventory Menu..............................................13 Utilities Menu..............................................14 Registered Trademarks.......................................15 Distributor Networking System MANUAL.DOC Page 3 USING THE PROGRAM ----------------- After you've installed DNS from the distribution disk(s) and rebooted your system, you're ready to take it for a spin. Change to the DNS directory by typing: C:\> CD DNS Normally, you will start the program by typing: C:\DNS> DNS There are two "switches" that you can specify from the DOS command line when you start DNS, to influence the program's behavior. To use either or both of these switches, simply add the letter(s), in either upper or lower case, after the command. If you use both, they should be entered with no space between them. Each switch is described below: M (Monochrome): -------------- C:\DNS> DNS M If your system has a color adapter card installed, all the displays will be generated for a color monitor, even if your monitor is actually monochrome. If you are using a monochrome monitor, add the "M" switch to the command line when you start the program: R (Reindex): ----------- C:\DNS> DNS R If you suspect that one or more of the index files may be cor- rupted, use this option to bring up the Database Maintenance menu. From this menu, you may reindex, pack or zap database files you select from a list. Index files may become corrupted if a power failure or other problem causes a system crash when one or more files are open and they didn't get closed properly. A corrupted index file could cause wrong data, or even incoherent jibberish, to be displayed as you view the database records. Each time you start the DNS program, the database files that are used most frequently are reindexed automatically. But it would be a good idea to reindex all the databases perhaps once a week or so, depending on how frequently you use the program. Distributor Networking System MANUAL.DOC Page 4 After the welcome screen, a "time" screen displays the current date and time of your computer system and allows you to reset either or both. Several DNS system and data files are date and/or time sensi- tive, so before you start working from the menu, verify that your computer's system date and time are correct. If they are correct as shown on the "time" screen, press <Enter> to pro- ceed to the Main menu. If either is not correct, use the arrow keys to place the cursor on the one you need to change, then press <Enter>. Increment or decrement the window contents using the arrow keys until the correct value is shown, then press <Enter> again. The first time you run DNS, you will need to fill in some information about yourself as the system owner before you can proceed. Select the "Owner Info" option on the Main Menu to bring up the data entry screens. Fill in the information requested, being especially careful to enter your ADA number correctly (then double-check it). Your ADA number is possibly the most important single item of information in the system, since almost everything else that follows is dependent upon it. It helps to have all the necessary information together before you start. A Note About Disk Caching: ------------------------- If you use a disk caching program, you must be careful not to stop the DNS program or shut down the computer too quickly. Here's why: when a caching program is running, it saves data which is supposed to be written to the disk, in a memory buffer. When a certain per centage of the buffer is filled, or when a certain number of seconds has elapsed, it "flushes" the contents of the buffer and writes it to the hard disk. If you save your changes to a customer record, for example, you may notice a delay of several seconds before the hard disk access light goes on. If you turn off the computer before the buffer has been flushed, your changes will not be saved on the hard disk. Back to the Program: ------------------- To select an option from a menu, place the highlight bar over the desired option and press the <Enter> key. A chevron char- acter next to an option indicates that another menu will be displayed, or that you may enter additional information. Pressing the <Esc> key will abort the current action. Help is available at the menu level by pressing <F1>. You may edit the help screens and change the wording, if you wish. Distributor Networking System MANUAL.DOC Page 5 Main Menu --------- The Main Menu serves as the starting and ending points. Each option takes you to another menu where the real work is done. An explanatory message for the highlighted option is displayed at the bottom of the screen on this and most other menus. The calculator can be popped up at any time for quick comp- utations. Press <Alt-F10> to enable it, <Esc> to disable it when you're finished. Customer Menu ------------- There are three "pages" on the customer screen to display information about your customers. Press <F2> to increment the page number; when the last page is reached, the number will wrap around to the first. Press <PgDn> or <PgUp> to go to the next or previous customer record. You may edit most of the information on Pages 1 and 3, but the data on Page 2 is maintained by the program and is for display only. Some of the information is repeated across pages for convenience. Page 1 shows general information such as address, phone number, date joined, tax rate, etc. Page 2 shows business activity over the last quarter, plus the current month's PV, BV and bonus figures. Page 3 shows total orders, PV, BV, payments. Customer Menu options: --------------------- Add - Add a new distributor or retail customer. Retail customers are automatically assigned a "level" of zero in your network. You assign the level of all wholesale customers (distributors). Add your first level distributor, then the second level under the first, third level under the second, etc. A list of possible sponsors is presented for you to choose from when you add a distributor whose level is greater than one Edit - Modify information for the currently selected custo- mer. You cannot modify the Ada number, since this is a key field Delete - Mark a customer's record for deletion. Any downline under this distributor is moved up one level. If you change your mind and "Undelete" a customer record (select Delete again), he or she will be reinserted at the same level as before, but with no downline Distributor Networking System MANUAL.DOC Page 6 Find - Look up a customer in the database by last name. The name does not have to be capitalized; upper, lower or mixed case may be entered List - Browse a list of your customers using the up and down arrows and the <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys. Memo - Enter comments about the currently selected cus- tomer. Press <Ctrl-W> to save, <Esc> to exit with- out saving Sponsor - Move up one level in your network tree and display the same page for the sponsor of the currently sel- ected distributor. The system owner is at the top of the tree and it branches down from there Network - Display a box containing a list of the first level distributors for the highlighted distributor. Move up and down your network tree using the <F9> and <F10> keys. Pressing <F6> causes a network tree to be generated for the currently selected distrib- utor; you may then view, print or save it to a file Orders - Go to the Order Menu Exit - Return to the previous menu Order Menu: ---------- Order Menu Options: ------------------ Add - Add a new order for the currently selected customer. New order numbers are assigned automatically by the program Submenu Options: --------------- Edit - Modify different sections of the order form Status - The order's status can be one of the following: - New Order: created in your system but not yet sent to your upline distributor - Open: Sent to your upline distributor to be filled - Problem: Item(s) discontinued or delayed; you should contact the customer Distributor Networking System MANUAL.DOC Page 7 - Filled: Items delivered (or cancelled), order has been paid in full - Cancelled: The entire order was cancelled Totals - Enter payments or adjustments CloseOrder - When all items are delivered and there are no problems with the order RefNumber - Customer's reference order number and an optional comment to help identify the order Items - Modify quantity ordered, and/or delivered; adjust the PV, BV for individual items on this order Exit - Return to the previous menu AddItems - Use one or more of the five different methods of selecting items from the inventory database QuickSearch - Select the Stock Number, Description or Common Name column. As you type, the cursor will move toward the item you're looking for. You can also use the up and down arrows, or the <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys Partial Description - Type just a part of the item's description, then press <Enter>. Three or four char- acters may be enough to locate the correct item; use more if necessary Browse - You can limit the search to a particular section and category, or a combination. Within the selected subset, use the navigation keys to locate the item of interest. Press <Enter> to see a full page view of the item, including PV, BV, Cost and suggested retail price for each available size Select the desired size, then press the up and down arrow keys to increment or decrement the number of items to add to the order Memo - Add a memo about the order to explain adjust- ments, special instructions, etc. Print - View or print the current order, or save it to a disk file. This "version" of the order contains more information than the one you see while editing; for example, the line of sponsorship from the system owner down to the current customer is shown, as well as the date and time of the last update and any memos you made about the order Distributor Networking System MANUAL.DOC Page 8 Save - If you exit without making any changes, the order will not be saved. This option forces a save of the order in its current state Exit - Return to the previous menu. If this is a new order or if any changes have been made to the exist- ing order since the last save, you will be asked if you want to save Edit - This option is the same as the Add option, except that you first select an existing order from a list before modifying it. The submenu options are the same as for Add Merge - Select two or more orders to merge into one. Only orders with a status of "New Order" can be selected for merging. Combined orders (orders which contain other orders) cannot themselves be merged Modem Orders - Process orders which were sent in from your downline via modem Customer - Select a customer from a list. This pick list is repeated here for convenience so you don't have to go back to the Customer Menu to change the current customer Purge - Delete old or unwanted orders. You may pick a sin- gle order by number, delete all orders older than a date you specify, or select one or more orders from a list Quick Order - Pick from a list of items that you use all the time (you control the list) Compare - Compare the cost per use of any Brand X item to the Amway(R) equivalent Exit - Return to the previous menu Phone Menu ---------- Although some options are tailored to the Amway distributor- ship business, this part of the DNS program is actually a full-powered general communications program in itself. You can use it to connect, via modem, with anyone else in the country who has a computer and modem. After you become familiar with the features in the communica- tions portion of the DNS program, you may want to use what we call "SpeedKeys" to quickly perform particular functions. Press <Alt-F1> to bring up the SpeedKeys help screen. You can press the SpeedKey combinations while you're viewing the menu list and it will perform the indicated action; or, you may use them anywhere in the terminal mode. Until you get familiar with the program, just use the regular menu. Bring it up by pressing <Alt-Z> or the <`> key. Distributor Networking System MANUAL.DOC Page 9 Phone: ----- Use Dial Directory - This is a small database (100 records) of people you may want to connect with via modem and transfer files, or communicate with through your computer Options on the Dial Directory ----------------------------- Esc - Return to the Phone Menu Enter - Dial the highlighted number F2 - Type a phone number, press <Enter> to dial F3 - Edit a memo about the highlighted person F4 - Edit the highlited entry F5 - Add a new entry to the database F6 - Delete the highlighted entry Setup Host Network - Select this option to set your computer up as a "host" in a mini-Bulletin Board System. Others can dial your number and upload and download files, read your group newsletter, check the status of their orders, chat with you online, etc. Options on the Host Screen -------------------------- F2: Chat Mode. If a remote user requests the chat option, it will cause your computer to beep for a few seconds. If you want to chat, press <F2>; if you are away, or don't want to chat, the caller will see a message stating that the system operator (sysop) is not available. F3: DOS Shell. If you need to perform several tasks at the DOS prompt, you can temporarily suspend the DNS program while you view directories, copy or del- ete files, etc. When you're finished, type "EXIT" to return to the same place in DNS. F4: NewsLetter. Select this option to view or edit a group newsletter F5: MsgLog. View any messages left on your system by others. Each message is date- and time-stamped F6: Change Limit. If a remote user wants or needs more connect time on your system, you can allocate any number of minutes, up to 999 Distributor Networking System MANUAL.DOC Page 10 F7: Warn User. If you want to terminate a session, pressing this key will send a warning message for the user to log off F8: Logoff User. If the remote user didn't heed your warning, use this key to terminate the session F9: Exit Host session and return to the Phone Menu Go to Chat Screen - The screen splits into two parts; both you and the remote user can see both sides of the "conversation" as the characters are entered, including mistakes. If you make a mistake, use the backspace key to correct it and continue; the person on the other end will see that, too. Hang Up Telephone - Terminate the logon session Shell out to DOS - Same as F3 under the Host Screen; useful when you need to enter several commands from the DOS operating system prompt Enter a DOS Command - Use this option to enter a single DOS command; the DNS program is not suspended Send: ---- Upload a File - Send a file from your system to the computer at the other end. The file can be of any type (text, binary, etc.) Send an Order - Send an order which was created in your system to your upline distributor for processing Receive: ------- Download a File - Prepare your computer to receive a file from the computer at the other end Receive an Order - This is the "interactive" mode of receiving an order from a downline customer Browse: ------ Edit a File - This is a small text editor, useful for making quick changes to a text file View an Order - Browse the current version of an order you select from a list Read BBS Messages - Same as on the Host Screen; view messages that others left on your system Edit a Newsletter - Same as on the Host Screen; create or modify a group newsletter Distributor Networking System MANUAL.DOC Page 11 ComSys: ------ Set Modem Controls - Set full- or half-duplex, echo on or off, autoanswer mode, etc. Edit Modem Parameters - Set the baud rate, parity, word size and number of stop bits to match those of a computer at the other end Setup Port IRQ & I/O - Set interrupt request and Input/Output addresses Restore Port IRQ & I/O - Restore interrupt request and Input/Output addresses to their default settings Reports Menu ------------ Group Orders: ------------ Select the first level groups whose orders you want to see. All orders created during the date range you specify will be listed, by group Individual Orders: ----------------- List all open orders, with any undelivered items, for a selected individual Bonuses: ------- PV, BV, Bracket and Bonus are shown for the last three months and the current month. Distributors: ------------ All distributors in your downline network are listed alphabetically with level, sponsor and date-joined information. Groups: ------ Distributors are listed, broken into your first level groups. Exit: ---- Return to the previous menu. Distributor Networking System MANUAL.DOC Page 12 Calendar/Expenses Menu ---------------------- There are more sophisticated calendar programs on the market, but this one is simple and easy to use, yet effective. Use the arrow keys to navigate within the current month; left and right move the cursor one day at a time, up and down move it one week at a time. Press <F10> to bring up a help screen listing the navigation keys. The ones you will use most are: <PgDn> - Next month <PgUp> - Previous month <Home> - First day of the month <End> - Last day of the month <Ctrl-Home> - January of the current year <Ctrl-End> - December of the current year The box near the bottom lists the function keys which apply to both the schedule and expenses portions. Function Keys: ------------- F2: Schedule. Make the schedule portion active F3: Expenses. Make the expenses portion active F4: Browse. View long entries that won't fit in one window F5: Edit. Edit the entry for the currently highlighted date F6: Print. Print a hard copy of the entry for the highlighted date F7: Report. Generate a report of either your schedule or expenses (whichever is active) for a time period you select. The report can be viewed on screen, printed or saved to a file * Current Week: The current calendar week (not the week where the cursor is located) * Current Month: The current calendar month * Date Range: You specify the beginning and ending dates you want the report to cover F8: Delete. Delete the entry for the date where the cursor is located Distributor Networking System MANUAL.DOC Page 13 Prospects Menu -------------- Add - Add a new prospect record Edit - Modify the currently displayed prospect record Memo - Add or edit a note about the currently displayed prospect Find - Search for a prospect by last name Next - Move to the next record in sequence Previous - Move to the previous record in sequence List - Select from a list of prospects Delete - Mark the current record for deletion Convert - Create a record in the customer database for the current prospect Print - Print a hard copy of the current record Exit - Return to the previous menu Inventory Menu -------------- Add - Add a new inventory item to the database Edit - Modify the current inventory record Delete - Mark the current record for deletion Recover - "Undelete" the current record. All records which have been marked for deletion will be physically removed from the database when the inventory database is re- indexed Find - Look up an inventory item by stock number Next - Move to the next record in sequence Previous - Move to the previous record in sequence List - Select a record from a list Footnotes - View, add or edit the footnotes database Exit - Return to the previous menu Distributor Networking System MANUAL.DOC Page 14 Utilities Menu -------------- Backup: ------ Copy the current data files to a backup medium. You may select the day-to-day working files group, or the group of files supplied with the distribution disk, which typically doesn't change frequently Restore: ------- Copy a previous backup to the working directory. The files are restored by groups, as described for Backup Labels: ------ Generate mailing labels for selected levels of your customers. Select the label size and the desired group of customers. Then, either print directly to the printer, with samples for alignment, or generate a temporary file containing the label information. If you generate a temporary file, you can save it to disk for editing or later printing. Files: ----- Perform general file maintenance. A menu across the top of the window contains the following options: Look: View the contents of the file currently highlighted Copy: Copy the highlighted file to another disk or directory Rename: Change the name of the highlighted file Erase: Delete the highlighted file Edit: Modify the highlighted file, up to a size of 64KB New: Create a new file. Save using <Ctrl-W> Print: Print the highlighted file Dir: Change to another directory Database: -------- Perform database maintenance. This screen can be selected from the Utilities Menu, or by using the /R switch when you start DNS from the DOS command line. Zap: Empty all records from the database. Be careful, since you can't recover the records once they have been zapped Distributor Networking System MANUAL.DOC Page 15 Pack: Remove all records which have been marked for deletion (but are still physically in the database) Reindex: Reconstruct the index file(s) associated with the database file(s) you select. Databases may have zero, one or more index files. If they become corrupted due to power fluctuations or other problems, it is a simple matter to rebuild them, as long as the associated database is still intact. DOS: --- Execute a single DOS (Disk Operating System) command without leaving the DNS program Shell: ----- Temporarily suspend the DNS program while you execute a series of DOS commands. To return to DNS, type EXIT at the DOS prompt REGISTERED TRADEMARKS --------------------- Amway(R) is a registered trademark of Amway Corporation IBM(R) is a registered trademark of International Business Machines, Inc.