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CHEQIN - Copyright (c) 1992, 1993 by David Geffen ------------------------------------------------- Two versions of CHEQIN are contained in this distribution: one for DOS and one for the HP95LX (and HP100LX). The DOS version of CHEQIN looks identical to the HP System Manager version, but contains some extra features (e.g. color settings) that aren't implementable on the HP 95LX/100LX. It also runs on most other DOS-based, handheld computers (e.g. SHARP). CHEQIN has been designed to be easy-to-use, requiring the minimum of keystrokes for any particular function. It is however, extremely powerful and may be configured to suit practically any billing requirements for hour/day based projects. Introduction ------------ If you're still writing down what time you started work on the back of your hand and copying this to a yellow sticky note when you get home and if you frantically try to remember at the end of the month what you did and where and for which project so that you can get the bill out as soon as possible, then it's high time you used CHEQIN. If you're a consultant, for example, then you probably work one day on one project and another day on a different one. If you're using pen and paper (or worse, your memory) to note down your daily hours then you're spending a lot of time finding the right page, checking the date, adding it all up at the end of the month and preparing the monthly bill. Some companies even require a log containing daily information on time started, time ended, work done etc. CHEQIN provides an easy-to-use mechanism to keep track of just these details. A German version of CHEQIN is also available (not shareware). Please contact me for details. Distribution ------------ HP95LX: The following files are included in the HP95LX distribution: CHEQIN.EXM - The executable program file. May be in any directory. CHEQIN.HLP - The help file required for on-line help. Must be in C:\_DAT CH.INI - The initialization file which contains all the default start-up values. This file should be initialized to suit your requirements. Must be in C:\_DAT CHBILL.PRJ - This is a sample file that you may use as a template to prepare your bills. DOS: The following files are included in the DOS distribution: CHEQIN.EXE - The executable program file. May be in any directory. CHEQIN.HLP - The help file required for on-line help. Must be in the same place as CHEQIN.EXE. CH.INI - The initialization file which contains all the default start-up values. This file should be initialized to suit your requirements. May be anywhere. CHBILL.PRJ - This is a sample file that you may use as a template to prepare your bills. HP95 Installation ----------------- Installing CHEQIN consists of copying the abovementioned files to the specified directories, editing APNAME.LST and setting up the default values to suit your needs. In order to run a program under the System Manager, you need to register it in a file called APNAME.LST. Manual ------ If you placed CHEQIN on your C: drive then you'll need to make the following changes to C:\_DAT\APNAME.LST. If CHEQIN is to be run from your A: drive then A:\APNAME.LST is the file you'll need to edit. Add this line to apname.lst: A:\CHEQIN.EXM, B300, CHEQIN if you copied CHEQIN to the root directory on A: or C:\PROGS\CHEQIN.EXM, B300, CHEQIN if CHEQIN is in the progs directory on your C: drive. This will enable you to call CHEQIN by pressing ALT-APPT (i.e. The Alt key together with the APPT key). If you'd like to use another hot-key for CHEQIN, then replace the B300 value with something else. A list of hot-keys may be found in the HP 95LX documentation. Automatic --------- Transfer CHEQIN.EXM to the directory of your choice. CHEQIN.HLP and CH.INI must be copied to C:\_DAT on the HP 95LX. Transfer APINST.EXE to the HP95LX and call it. APINST scans all known drives for files with a .EXM extension. When it finds one, it asks if you'd like to add it to the APNAME.LST initialisation file. You may tell APINST which hotkey should be used to start the application by simply pressing the required key combination. Using APINST, you won't have to edit APNAME.LST by hand any more. APINST.EXE may be called by: * entering Filer, * placing the cursor over APINST.EXE * pressing F4 to run or * call DOS * type APINST followed by <ENTER> at the command prompt APINST.EXE presumes that no APNAME.LST files exist or that they are empty. Don't forget to re-boot your machine after making changes to APNAME.LST to allow the System Manager to register the new programs. Note: You may find it easier to edit CH.INI and CHBILL.PRJ on your PC before copying so that you can use your favorite editor. DOS Installation ---------------- Installing CHEQIN consists of setting an environment variable called CHEQIN to contain the full path of the initialisation file (usually CH.INI). Add the following line to your AUTOEXEC.BAT or enter it at the command prompt: SET CHEQIN=[drive][path]filename Example: SET CHEQIN=c:\cheqin\CH.INI if your initialisation file is called CH.INI and resides on drive C: in the directory called CHEQIN. Customizing CH.INI ------------------ CH.INI contains all the start-up values for CHEQIN. Start-up values are of the form: Parameter name=String Certain parameters describe global values to CHEQIN. For example, whether CHEQIN makes a backup of your data file or not. Other parameters are project-specific. CHEQIN manages up to 8 projects at a time. Each project is described by its name, the amount of money earned per hour, the amount of sales tax due, the date and time forms and other parameters. For example, you may charge $100/hr for some projects and $20/hr for others. Some projects require every minute to be counted and others only every half-hour. CH.INI is divided into sections. The first section describes global parameters. Following sections describe project-specific parameters and start with the line: Project=name All parameters following this line describe that project. Section names are enclosed in square brackets as in: [General] and precede the list of parameters for that section. Sections -------- CH.INI contains the following sections: General, SaveState and Projects The parameter names are case-independent. General ------- Hilite = 0x5e (DOS only) defines the colors CHEQIN uses to hilight text. This example uses yellow on purple. Normal = 0x1f (DOS only) defines the colors CHEQIN uses for normal text. This example uses white on blue. Shadow = 0x70 (DOS only) defines the colors CHEQIN uses for the shadow around the main screen. This is used mainly to make the main screen more visible. This example places a gray shadow around the CHEQIN screen. Center = 1 (DOS only) This parameter tells CHEQIN whether to display in the center of the screen or whether to use the upper left corner. The value may be 0 (use upper left corner) or 1 (place CHEQIN in the center of the screen). Use 0 when CHEQIN is running on virtual screens (the 80 by 25 DOS screen on the HP95LX is a virtual screen). If 1 is used then CHEQIN displays a frame and shadow, otherwise not. Backup = 1 1 means backup the data file (CHDATA.prj) every time CHEQIN is started. 0 means don't backup. SaveState --------- LastProject = 0 This value will be set by CHEQIN to save the number of the last project that was active, so that the same project will be active when restarting CHEQIN. Projects -------- The following parameters may be used for the Projects section: Project = Name Names the project. The name may not be longer than three letters. Shorter name will be expanded with $ signs. The project name is used as a file extension for all files used by CHEQIN concerning that project. e.g. Project = A will result in a project called A$$. CHEQIN creates a data file for each project called CHDATA.prj where 'prj' is the name of the project. Other files used by CHEQIN are CHBILL.prj which is used as a template for your bills for that project and CHREP.prj which is a report which CHEQIN may generate for that project. Owner = Name Specifies the name of the person working on the project. For example, John Smith may work on project ABC and use the same HP95LX as Bill Jones who is working on project DEF. e.g. owner=John Smith specifies John Smith to be working on the current project. Prefix = Currency Determines the prefix to use. Maximum three characters. Default is $. e.g. Prefix = DM would be used in Germany. Wage = dollars.cents This represents the amount of money earned per hour. e.g. Wage = 62.50 means $62.50 per hour. Tax = percent Known as VAT in England (or sales tax in the U.S.A.), Sales tax varies from state to state and job to job. The sales tax may be specified in tenths. e.g. Tax=7.5 means 7.5% sales tax is to be considered for the current project. Default is 0%. Time_Form = hours.minutes Some companies require times to be converted to decimal units so that 12.50 represents 30 minutes past 12. You may set the time form to be either decimal or minutes. Time_Form = hh.mm - decimal Time_Form = hh:mm - minutes. No other strings will be accepted. Date_Form = day,month,year You may set the date form to be used in the data file (CHDATA.prj) to one of: Date_Form = dd/mm/yy Date_Form = dd/mm/yyyy Date_Form = dd-mmm-yy Date_Form = dd-mmm-yyyy No other forms will be accepted. Note: You may still produce bills or reports with American type dates (i.e. month before day) whatever date form you use for the data file. Report_Form = String You might want to produce reports containing daily information (e.g. Time started, total time for a day, etc.) then you must fill out this parameter. Whatever the string contains will be used to format a single line of the report. You may use any of CHEQINs variables in the string to fill in daily information. The variables are all of the form: .c. i.e. a single case-dependent letter delimited on both sides by a dot. If, for example, you need to produce a monthly report of the form: 01/01/93 08.00 00.50 17.50 Design 02/01/93 08.50 00.50 18.50 Sketches 03/01/93 08.00 00.50 18.00 Slides 04/01/93 08.00 01.00 17.50 Presentation then fill in the parameter like this: Report_Form = .T. .1. .2. .3. .4. Note: See the section below on Variables for a complete description of all CHEQIN variables. Pause = minutes This parameter allows you to set the default amount of time you usually take for a lunch break. e.g. Pause = 30 Note: You can still change the pause time when you enter the actual times for any particular day. Granularity = minutes Most people like to enter start, pause, end and total times in rounded figures. If you started work at 9 minutes past 8, for example, then you might like to round this up to 08:15 (or 08.25). Some employers even require this as it makes the monthly bookkeeping so much easier. Set the minimum time unit with this parameter. e.g. Granularity=30 tells CHEQIN to round up anything more than 15 minutes and to round down anything below. Path = path You may tell CHEQIN where to save project-specific files. The files for each project may be saved to a different directory, if you wish. Fill out this parameter for each project. e.g. Path = a:\projects\abc\ tells CHEQIN to save the data file (CHDATA.prj), backup file, report file and bill files to the A: drive in directory projects\abc. Note: The specified path must exist otherwise CHEQIN will not be able to read or write information pertaining to that project. Using CHEQIN ------------ The CHEQIN workplace consists of three distinct areas: Menu The menu displays the functions that are currently available Workplace This is where fields are edited and data displayed. Status Line The status line displays error messages and prompts. Running CHEQIN -------------- After calling CHEQIN (by pressing the hot-key on the HP95 or by typing in CHEQIN followed by <ENTER> under DOS), the Main Menu appears on the top lines offering the following functions: Record Total Search Delete Project rEport Help Quit Select a function by either pressing a capital letter corresponding to the function you want or by moving the cursor to the desired function and pressing ENTER. Record ------ The current month is displayed in calendar form. The current day blinks. Press ENTER to record a time for the current day or use the arrow keys, PGUP, PGDN, PLUS or MINUS to select a different date and then press ENTER. Four fields appear. These correspond to Start, Pause, End and Description. Use the PLUS and MINUS keys to change the times according to the GRANULARITY you specified in CH.INI (a granularity of 15, for example, means change the time in 15 minute increments). The UP and DOWN arrow keys bring you to the next/previous field. Press ENTER when you've finished or ESC to cancel any changes to that entry. If a complete entry already exists then CHEQIN will display that entry and inquire whether you'd like to edit it. In order to enable you to make multiple entries for the same day, CHEQIN then inquires: Create another entry ([n]/y) ? Press 'y' to add an entry for the same date. Total ----- Prompts for a search string and totals all entries containing it. The results will be displayed on the screen and the Total Menu becomes available: Bill Return You may then prepare a bill by pressing Bill on the menu line if CHEQIN finds your CHBILL.PRJ file. CHEQIN looks for a file named CHBILL.PRJ in the path specified in CH.INI. The output file will be placed in the same path and will be called CHstring.prj where 'string' is the first six letters of the search string which you specified and prj is the project name. e.g. If you selected Total and then specified "/04/93" as the search string then your billing file will be called ch0493.prj. If Total results in more than one bill being displayed (see Data File below) then only the last bill is named according to this convention. Previous bills are named chp001.prj, chp002.prj, etc. Search ------ Prompts for a search string and then requests an action to be performed on all found entries. You may press ENTER without a string if you'd like to process all the entries for that project. e.g. enter "/04/93" to scan all the entries for April, 1993 or "21/04/93" to find all the entries for the 21st March, 1993. You may even type in a short sentence like, "slide show" to find all the days you worked on "slide show". After you've pressed ENTER, CHEQIN offers you the main menu again (without the QUIT option) so that you can tell CHEQIN what to do with the entries it finds. e.g. Select Delete to remove all the found entries or Total to total them. Note: Don't be scared to select any particular option, CHEQIN always asks before deleting or changing data. Delete ------ Selects a date through the calendar and requests verification before deleting an entry, if it exists. CHEQIN displays the complete entry and inquires: Delete record ([n]/y) ? Press ESC or ENTER or 'n' if you don't want to delete the entry. Press 'y' to delete. Project ------- Displays the list of projects (which you specified in CH.INI) on the menu line. Select one to be the current project. Any project parameters which have not been specified will be replaced by CHEQIN default parameters. The last project that you activated will be active whenever you restart CHEQIN. Form ---- If you specified a Report_Form string in CH.INI then you'll be able to generate a report file according to this meta command. Fill in the 'Find' string (e.g. "/04/93" to generate a report for all entries from April, 1993 or "presentation" to prepare a report containing all the days you worked on "presentation"). The month and day for each entry found is shown shortly. CHEQIN creates a file called CHREP.PRJ in the directory you specified in the Path parameter in CH.INI Help ---- Allows you to enter a topic on which you need help. Any help containing the string you enter is displayed. If you don't enter a help topic, then all available help will be presented, one topic at a time. The Help menu becomes available: Topic Next occurrence Return Press 'n'(ext occurrence) to view more help screens on the topic you selected or 't'(opic) to get help on another one. When done press 'r' to return to CHEQINs main menu. Quit ---- Returns to the system. CHEQIN Variables ---------------- Use the following variables intermixed with text in your Report_Form parameter and in the CHBILL.PRJ file: Use these in both the Report_Form command and in CHBILL.PRJ: .d. - total days .D. - current day (1 - 31) .g. - grand total (in dollars) .m. - current month (1 - 12) .M. - current month - full name .o. - owner (as in CH.INI) .p. - project name .s. - sum total (hourly fee * hours) .S. - total number of hours .v. - sales tax in % .V. - sales tax in dollars .w. - hourly wage .Y. - current year Use these exclusively for the Report_Form parameter in CH.INI: .T. - date being currently processed .1. - 1st field (start time) .2. - 2nd field (pause) .3. - 3rd field (end time) .4. - 4th field (total for the day) .5. - 5th field (description) Data File --------- The CHEQIN data file is named CHDATA.prj where prj is the name of the project. This is an ASCII file. Two kinds of information are contained: Daily entries and entry qualifiers. Daily entries are on one line and are of the form: Date<TAB>Start<TAB>Pause<TAB>End<TAB>Description e.g. 01/02/93 08.50 01.00 17.50 Basic design meaning that work on "Basic design" commenced on the 1st February, 1993 at 8:30am and ended at 6pm. A 1 hour lunch break took place. Qualifiers may be used to change the default parameter values in CH.INI and are valid from that point on until a new qualifier is seen. Note: If the billing period crosses qualifiers then multiple bills will be prepared - one bill for each valid set of data. If, for example, you worked for $50/hr for the first two weeks of March and for $60 the second two weeks of March and let CHEQIN prepare the bill, then one bill will be made for the first two weeks at $50/hr and another for the second two weeks at $60/hr. The first bill will be named chp001.prj and the second ch0393.prj Example : wage=120.00 01/02/93 08.50 01.00 17.50 Logo design 02/02/93 08.50 01.00 17.50 Logo design wage=70.00 03/02/93 08.50 01.00 17.50 Presentation wage=50.00 04/02/93 08.50 01.00 17.50 DTP layout : would mean that work on the "Logo design" on the 1st and 2nd of February is charged at $120 an hour. The "Presentation" costs $70 an hour and the "DTP layout" is $50.00 an hour. Qualifiers must be manually added to the data file in this version of CHEQIN. Sample CH.INI ------------- The following sample file sets up two projects, PRJ and ABC. Use this as a template for your own initialization. [General] hilite = 0x5e normal = 0x1f shadow = 0x70 center = 1 backup = 1 [SaveState] LastProject = 1 [Projects] Project = PRJ Owner = John Smith Report_Form = .T. .1. .2. .3. .5. Time_Form = hh.mm Date_Form = dd/mm/yy Pause = 30 Granularity = 15 Tax = 14.0 Wage = 67.00 Prefix = $ Path = c:\_dat\ Project = ABC Owner = Bill Jones Report_Form = .T. .1. .2. .3. .5. Time_Form = hh:mm Date_Form = dd/mm/yyyy Pause = 15 Granularity = 15 Tax = 10.0 Wage = 120.00 Prefix = $ Path = c:\_dat\ Sample CHBILL.PRJ ----------------- Use this as a sample template for your billing files. .o. 20, Your Street Your Zip, State, etc. .m./.D./.Y. Company Address A C C O U N T For services rendered during the month of .M.: .S. hours at $ .w. $ .s. .v.% Sales Tax $ .V. Total $ .g. Payable within 30 days. Yours faithfully, .o.. REGISTRATION Please register CHEQIN if you really use it so that I can send you documentation and updates and give you help, if you need. If you have any suggestions, questions or comments then you may contact me at: David Geffen 20, Flur Str., 85540 Haar/Munich, Germany Tel: ++49 (89) 460 3747 Fax: ++49 (89) 460 3703 Compuserve: 100065,1654