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Information about “CK SYSTEM”
Use this personal and household financial mangement program to keep a
close eye on income and expenses. You worked hard to get it -- know
what you're doing with it!
CK tracks your cashflow and financial obligations in checkbook form and
prints checks and many types of reports. Repeating checks can be
printed each month by changing the check number and date and re-printing
the checks. Keep an orderly and accurate check register/deposit record.
Prepare a month-by-month year-end summary of all your income and
expenses for up to nine separate accounts. Draw up bar charts on
income/expenses. Detailed documentation is provided for the new user.
CK.DOC
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CK A Program To Report On Your Income And Expenses
CK Program and Manual Copyright 1985, 1987 by
David M. Alexander
NO WARRANTY
THERE ARE NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND ON CK, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS AND NO WARRANTY OF
MERCHANTABILITY. WHEN YOU USE CK, YOU USE IT AT YOUR OWN
RISK. IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG, YOUR NUMBERS DON'T COME OUT
RIGHT OR WHATEVER, IT IS YOUR RISK NOT MINE. IF YOU DON'T
AGREE TO TAKE THIS RISK AND RELIEVE ME OF ANY LIABILITY, THEN
DON'T USE CK. THIS PROGRAM "AS IS". AT THIS PRICE, IF ANYTHING
GOES WRONG, THE RISK IS YOURS. IF ANY PART OF THE PROGRAM IS
DEFECTIVE YOU, NOT I, ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF SERVICING
OR REPAIR.
No one has ever told me that CK did anything
"bad" or gave the wrong numbers, but I don't want there to be
a first time at my expense. -- David M. Alexander
print by telling your word processor to
print the file CK.DOC or by typing
A>COPY CK.DOC LPT1: [return]
CK is a Trade Mark of David M. Alexander
MS DOS is a Trade Mark of Microsoft, Inc.
This manual is copyrighted by David M. Alexander 1985, 1987, 1988
All of the programs beginning with the letters CK and
referred to in this manual are copyrighted by David M. Alexander
1983. No part of this manual or these programs may be copied
without the written permission of David M. Alexander.
CK tm owned and written by David M. Alexander
2600 El Camino Real #506
Palo Alto, CA 94306
415-857-9233
NO WARRANTY -- There is no warranty of merchantibilty, fit-
ness or any other warranty with this program. By using the
programs, user assumes all risks of use. In short, if your
numbers come out wrong, only you and not Alexander
are at risk. Registration Fee: $25.00
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS --- PAGE NUMBERS
SECTION I -- BASIC INFORMATION * * * * * 1 - 6
(A) Overview Of The Program; (1 - 2)
(B) Hardware Requirements; (3)
(C) Why I Wrote This Program; (4 - 6)
SECTION II -- GETTING READY TO RUN CK * * 7 - 16
(A) General Rules; ( 7 - 10)
(B) Copying The Programs Onto Your Disks; (11 - 14)
(C) All About The Main Menu; (15 - 16)
---- Shareware CK.DOC ends here ---
SECTION III -- RUNNING CK THE 1ST TIME * 17 - 28
(A) Setting Up Your Income & Expense Codes; (17 - 19)
Sample Set Up Session; (20 - 24)
(B) Listing Your Checking Accounts; (25)
Sample Listing Session; (26 - 28)
SECTION IV -- EVERYDAY USE OF CK * * * * 29 - 81
(A) Entering Your Check Stubs & Deposits; (29 - 45)
Printed Audit Trail --------------- 29
Which Account To Use -------------- 29
Biggest & Smallest Check Numbers -- 30
Add Data To New Or Old Report? ---- 30
Name Of File To Hold Data --------- 30
Beginning & Ending Dates ---------- 31
Erasing An Entry ------------------ 38
Data Entry Summary ---------------- 38
Reconciling With Bank Statement --- 38-45
Sample Entry Session; (46 - 52)
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
(B) Looking At Entries & Correcting Typos; (53)
Sample Correcting Session; (54 - 58)
(C) Creating Your Reports; (59 - 64)
& Printing Checks
Sample Report Creation Session; (65 - 68)
(D) Year To Date Report Of Income & Expenses; (69 - 71)
Sample Year To Date Session; (72 - 75)
(E) How To Print Your Reports; (76 - 78)
(F) Adding Several Files Together; (79)
Sample Adding Session; (80 - 81)
SECTION V -- PROGRAM DETAILS * * * * * * 82 - 89
(A) How CK Works; (82 - 85)
(B) How To Break The Program; (86 - 89)
iii
READ THIS FIRST
Before you do anything else, PRINT this manual.
Next, before you do anything else, READ the manual.
To use the program you: first, have to set up your income
categories; second, you have to set up your checking account
list; third, you have to enter income and expense data;
fourth, you have to create your reports and fifth you have
to print your reports.
Codes for deposits always end in a slash, e.g. fees/ or
salary/ or int/ for fee, salary or interest deposits. Codes for
debits never end in a slash. Thus, RENT may be the code for
rent you pay and RENT/ can be the code for rent you receive.
The best way to print your reports is by telling your
word processor to print the CK report disk file. Another way
to print your reports is to type A>copy 1-89.cat LPT1
to print the file 1-89.cat.
If you have a hard disk, put the CK programs in their
own subdirectory and run the program from the hard disk.
When entering data, if you are asked for a check number
for an entry for which you have no real check number, e.g. a
bank charge, bank interest, deposits (if your deposit slips
are not numbered) just make up a number---9000, 9001, whatever.
!! IMPORTANT !!
If you don't already have one, you MUST create a
file called CONFIG.SYS on your boot disk. Here's how:
C:\> COPY CON: CONFIG.SYS
FILES=20
BUFFERS=20
^Z [CONTROL Z THEN RETURN]
one file(s) copied
C:\>
Now, REBOOT (press Control And ALT and DEL keys all at once)
your system so that DOS can read the CONFIG.SYS file.
If your screen cannot be read, you may be using a Leading Edge
with a monochrome screen or you may have a monochrome screen
attached to a color monitor. Go to the section of the manual
dealing with color setup and set the colors to Bright White (15)
on Black (0).
iv
WHAT'S NEW
Starting with Version 3.13 I am including a sample income
and expense code file called SAMPLE. If you want, you can
press C on the main menu then D on the Checking Accounts menu
to Display the Sample Checking Accounts. Next you can press
E on the Main Menu and D on the Expense Code Menu to display
the income and expense file named SAMPLE. You can modify
and use this file if you like. If you want to rename it,
be sure that you rename every file on the disk with the
word SAMPLE as part of the file name.
Beginning with Ver. 3.14, CK will display your income and
expense codes while you enter your check and deposit data. Now,
if you have a code PHONE for telephone expenses and if you type:
45 phne, that is you make a typo, CK will notice the typo, will
tell you that it did not find your code 'PHNE', and then it will
print a list of your income and expense codes starting with the
first code beginning with the letter "P".
You can press return to cycle screen by screen through all
of your codes or you can press escape (esc on most keyboards) to
return to data entry. If you enter a code 20 YYY and you have no
codes beginning with the letter "Y", CK will display your codes from
the beginning.
If your list of codes which appear in the input module when you
enter an unknown code are not in alphabetical order, then you need to
cause CK to create a new .ABV file.
Here is how you do that: Press "E" on the main menu to
display your Expense codes. When that module comes up on screen,
press "D" to display your codes. Enter your expense code name,
EXP or whatever. Your codes will appear on screen. Now, press
"C" to change a code. Enter a number between 1 and 70, it is not
important which one. "1" is fine. Press Return. Next, press "Q"
to quit the module. CK will automatically create a new .ABV file.
From now on your codes will appear alphabetically on the screen if
you enter an unknown code in the enter checking account data module.
Beginning with Ver. 3.17 I have added several features/changes.
In the Enter Data Module (D on the Main Menu) I have simplified the
mechanism to change an entry. Previously, if at the Name? line, the
user would type /1 to go back to the first field, the check number.
Now the user does not need to type a slash. You need only type 1
followed by a return and you will be given the chance to change
the check number.
If you type LOOK in the Data Entry module to look at a previous
entry, you can additionally change the account number as well as
all the other attributes.
v
The reconsile module now works a little differently. If you
have broken a check or a deposit into several entries, for
example 1500.1, 1500.2 and 1500.3 for three entries on deposit
slip 1500, the reconsile module now adds all three up auto-
matically, displays the total, and gives you the opportunity
to individually review each of the three entries for accuracy.
All of the menus have been modified for greater clarity.
The menus listed in the body of the manual may no longer match
the screen displays. For example, "X" is only used now to exit
to DOS. Everywhere else, "Q" is used to Quit a portion of a
module. Thus, you Q to Quit the reconsile menu and only X to
Exit directly to DOS.
Starting with Version 3.13 I am including a sample income
and expense code file called SAMPLE. If you want, you can
press C on the main menu then D on the Checking Accounts menu
to Display the Sample Checking Accounts. Next you can press
E on the Main Menu and D on the Expense Code Menu to display
the income and expense file named SAMPLE. You can modify
and use this file if you like. If you want to rename it,
be sure that you rename every file on the disk with the
word SAMPLE as part of the file name.
Beginning with version 3.18 you can browse through your checks
in the Look module. Press "L" at the main menu. Display some
checks. Press "C" to change a check. Give the check number to change.
When the check is displayed, a space bar will display the next check
in your file. A "P" for Previous will display the previous check
in your file.
Also starting with Version 3.18, the reconsile portion of the
Data Entry module will show you if you have listed the check
as Cleared or Uncleared. Thus, you can "browse" through your list
of checks indicating whether a check has cleared or not cleared, and
you will be able to see how you answered that question the last time
it was asked.
Ver. 3.19 has several major improvements:
(1) Entries with decimal points: If your last check was
was 2000 and you press ENTER at the Check Number question, CK will
automatically enter 2001 as the current check number. Sometimes you
will break a check into pieces, for example, one check may cover
principal, interest, taxes and insurance and you will want to break
it into four different entries, say 2010.1, 2010.2, etc.
If you have manually entered check number 2010.1, then the
next time you get to the check number question, ENTER will
automatically bring up 2010.2. If you are at 2010.9, ENTER will
automatically bring up 2011.1.
vi
(2) Copying the amount and code: At most questions, pressing
ENTER or RETURN will automatically copy the entry from the last
check into this one. This does not happen at the Check Amount &
Code question. If you want to duplicate your Check Amount & Code
entry, you can now do so by pressing a "Control C" (C for Copy)
while at the "Amount & Code" question. A "heart" symbol will
appear on the screen. Press ENTER and the amount and code from
your most recent entry will be copied into the current entry.
(3) Tagging Entries: You may want to "tag" certain checks
and deposits for copying to a separate file. For example, you may
use the Group entry to classify all your checks or deposits as
taxable, non-taxable, deductable and non-deductable. But, at the end
of the year, you might want to create a separate file of all of your
auto related expenses. To do this, you can type "D" at the Main
Menu, call up the file of checks you wish to work with, and use
the LOOK function to browse through the file of checks. Each time
you see an auto related check, for example, insurance, gasoline,
repairs, tires, etc., you can "Tag" that check to be copied
to a separate file where it can be sorted into detailed reports.
You "tag" an entry by calling up the Group question dealing
with that check or deposit. You can go back to the Group question
by typing "LOOK" then entering a check number (e.g. 2010). That
check will be displayed and can be changed. Press "4" for the Group
entry. Now press a Control T (T for Tag). A "paragraph" symbol
will appear on screen. Press ENTER. The Group entry will now appear
in inverse video. To untag, repeat the process. Use the space
bar and "P" to browse forward and backward through your file, tagging
checks and deposits as you go.
When you quit the program, you will be asked for a file
name to write the tagged entries to. If you press ENTER without
giving a file name, tagged entries will be written to a file called
"JUNK". If you give the name of an existing file, you will be
prompted to add these tagged entries to the end of that old file.
The file of tagged items which you create can be dealt with
like any other CK file. It can be sorted, added, edited, etc.
just like any other CK file which you created.
When you quit the "Data Entry" module, all tags are
automatically removed from your original file.
LISTING OF SELECTED ERROR MESSAGES
Error #7: Out of Memory. Your file was too big to fit into
the memory in your machine. Remove some memory resident programs
and/or add more memory to your computer.
Error #9: This may occur if a record in your CK data
file has been "trashed" by your system. If strange garbage
vii
values get entered into one of the fields in the trashed record
they can be out of range of what the program expects to see and
thus may generate this error. If this happens go to your backup
copy of your .CKD data file.
Error #14: Similar to Error #7 above.
Error #24: Device Time-out. Your computer has tried to send
data to a printer port and did not receive an acknowledgement within
the specified time. Try setting the DOS MODE command to ignore
time-out errors. ( Example C:\DOS> MODE LPT1: 132,,P ).
Error #25 or #27: Device Fault. This usually means that your
printer ran out of paper or out of ribbon or was turned off.
Essentially, it means that the printer told the computer that it
could not continue to function.
Error #57: Device I/O error. Again, a hardware problem has
occurred usually in connection with communication with either a
disk drive or a printer.
Error #61: Disk full. Delete some files to make more room
on the disk.
Error #63: This error occurs when some of your data in a disk
file has been trashed by your machine. The program expects to find
a particular value in a file and the value is instead a zero
because the record was damaged. This zero is unacceptable to the
program and it generates a "bad record number" error. Use the
back-up copy of your file.
Error #67: Too many files open. Again, this will occur
if you do not create a CONFIG.SYS file in the root directory
which file contains FILES=20 and BUFFERS=20.
Error #68: Hardware is unavailable. E.G., you tried to write
to a printer on LPT2 and you don't have an LPT2.
Error #71: Disk drive not ready. The drive door is open
or there is no disk in the drive
Error #72: Disk error. Something is wrong with the disk.
It may have bad sectors or not be formatted or the like.
Error 74: You have given the wrong disk drive letter for
the location of your CK files. For example, if you have only
drives A, B and C and you gave CK the letter D as the drive where
your CK files would be stored, you would get this error. Solution:
erase your file DISKDRVE. Then, when asked, give CK the proper
disk drive letter.
viii
CREATING A SUBDIRECTORY ON YOUR HARD DISK
RUNNING CK
A>C: [return]
C>cd \ [return]
C>prompt $p$g [return]
C:\>md ck [return]
C:\>cd ck [return]
C:\CK>copy a:*.* [return] [copies all ck files on ck prog disk]
C:\CK>ck [return] [runs the ck program]
Disk Drive To Store Your CK Files?
C [return]
ix
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SECTION 1
WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?
(A) OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAM
WHAT CK tm DOES
Ck keeps track of all of the money that you receive and
all of the money that you spend.
You tell CK the money you spent and received, the category
of expense, the date you spent it, who you paid it to, the check
number, if you want, a narrative description of what it was
for and a cross reference group, like "tax deductable".
CK will prepare a report telling you
(1) how much you spent on each item in your list of
expenses and how much you received in every category of income.
(2) how much you paid any person during any given
month or quarter or year.
(3) how much you spent and received on any given
date;
(4) what your balance was on every day during the
period;
(5) how much you spent all year on everything and
how much you received all year from everyone.
(6) how much you spent for any group of expenses
like tax deductable automobile or all tax deductable expenses.
CK prepares written reports arranging your income and
expenses by
check number
date
payee name
amount
category of income and expense
cross reference group
year to date summary
stacked bar chart of income and expenses
1
Sec. 1 A Overview -- What CK Does
CK can print checks directly on the printer.
Each report can keep track of up to nine different
checking accounts.
Each report subtotals all the the checks and deposits in
each category.
If you want, you can add your monthly checks and deposits
together into one big quarterly or annual file and can sort that
file by payee name, expense category, amount, check number,
cross reference or date, thus producing a complete, detailed
breakdown of each check and each deposit for the entire year.
CK labels each report entry to show which checking
account, (e.g. General, Trust, Personal, etc) each check was
written on.
CK will prepare a "bar" chart of your income and expenses
with dollars along the vertical axis and categories along the
horizontal axis. These charts can be manipulated to produce an
annual chart with dollars along the vertical axis and months
along the horizontal axis.
Each check takes up 53 bytes and each narrative descrip-
tion takes up 64 bytes.
2
Sec. 1 A Overview -- What CK Does
(B) HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
MS-DOS Operating System and two disk drives.
256 K RAM
If all of the CK programs are saved on one disk, they take
up about 276,000 bytes of disk storage. Because of the room
taken up by the CK.DOC file, you may need to delete CK.DOC
from your working disk in order to run the program from a
floppy disk.
Most of the modules are .TBC, Turbo Basic Chain modules and
are called by typing CK which loads the CK.EXE file.
CK consists of 16 separate programs called from the Main
Menu.
3
Sec. 1 B Overview -- Hardware Required
SPECIAL REQUEST
Please, PLEASE, learn how to use your computer. I get calls
from people who don't know how to copy files; who don't know what
a subdirectory is, leasewise how to use one; who fill up their disks
and then wonder why the program won't work when the disk is full;
who don't know the difference between DOS, CK and WordPerfect;
essentially, who don't know the first thing about how to use their
computer except how to turn on the power. And they think that they
have a right to expect to be able to use the machine with that
level of knowledge!!! They do not. You do not. Your computer is not
a toaster. It takes training to understand it.
If you are going to use your computer for business it is your
obligation, your duty, to learn how to use it. If you call me with
a problem which turns out to be that you don't understand how to
copy a file or how what the difference is between the root
directory and the CK subdirectory, you will get no sympathy from
me. It is your JOB to know these things. So, bite the bullet and
buy a book; buy a VCR Tape; go to a class; hire a kid from the
computer store to train you, but learn the basics of DOS!!!
PAGES 5 & 6 INTENTIONALLY BLANK
4
Sec. 2 A Getting Started -- General Rules
SECTION 2
GETTING STARTED
(A) BASIC ASSUMPTIONS MADE IN THIS MANUAL
GENERAL RULES FOR USING YOUR COMPUTER WITH THIS PROGRAM
It is probably a good idea to make clear some basic
assumptions about how your computer works. I will put all of
them here so that I don't have to repeat them in each chapter
and so you don't have to re-read them in each chapter.
First: CK doesn't care if you type in UPPER CASE or lower
case. Except for the "Special Description" lines, CK automati-
cally translates lower case entries to upper case. Therefore,
all your file names, your disk drive designations, Y's and N's
for YES and NO, category codes, payee names, everything except
special descriptions, are always converted to upper case. If it
is easier for you to type everything in lower case, please feel
free to do so.
Second: Throughout the manual I will tell you to press
certain keys and I will give examples of things to type. I will
give you these instructions by printing that letter within quotes.
For example, if I want you to press a "P" I will say Press "P".
Don't type the quotes, just the P.
Third: The control key is usually at the lower left of
the keyboard and is often labeled "CTRL". The control key is
similar to a "shift" key. If you press a key on a typewriter,
it will print a lower case letter. If you hold the shift key
down and at the same time press a key, it will type an upper
case letter.
The control key works the same way. If you hold it down
and at the same time press another key, the keyboard will send a
special code to the computer. If I want you to hold down the
control key and at the same time press a P, I will say: Type a
control "P".
MS-DOS uses certain conventions with control keys.
If you are typing an entry and you make a mistake, press the
backspace key and it will move the cursor backwards and erase.
7
Sec. 2 A Getting Started -- General Rules
If you are in the middle of a program and you want to get
back to the operating system right away, you can type Control-
ALT-Delete or a Control-Break BUT this is NOT a good idea. You
could lose data. Only do this in an emergency!! The better
practice is to press the menu entry that allows you to exit the
program, usually X at the menu. To get to the menu, answer
questions by pressing ENTER. Each ENTER usually "returns" you to
the previous question.
If you don't have a word processing program and
you want to print your reports, you can copy the file to
your printer. For example, C:\CK>COPY 1-87.CAT LPT1:
will cause the file 1-87.cat to be printer on your printer.
Fourth: To be "in DOS" means that the operating system
is ready to take your commands. You know it is ready because
you will see the letter of the drive your computer is using and
a pointy bracket called a "prompt" on the screen. If you see:
A> or B> or C> or the like, then your operating system is ready
for you to give it a program name, like CK [Return] or copy.
If you have a hard disk, use the PROMPT command to be able
to see what subdirectory you are in. For example:
C>PROMPT $P$G [return]
C\>
If you have a hard disk, create a subdirectory called CK
and put all your check files into it. At the C:\> type:
C:\>MD CK [return]
C:\>CD \CK
C:\CK>
C:\CK>copy a:*.* [return]
NOTE: if you will run CK from a floppy disk, copy the program
disk to another floppy, and DELETE CK.DOC from the working copy.
This is necessary to make room on the working disk.
8
Sec. 2 A Getting Started -- General Rules
Fifth: Every place in the program where you have to
answer a question and your answer will always one character long
like a Y or an N those are entered by just typing them. You
don't have to press ENTER.
Sometimes, the number of characters you will type cannot
be known in advance by the program. For example, if you are
asked for a file name, that name could be anywhere from one to
eight characters long. In that case, you will have to type your
answer and then press ENTER to let the program know that you
have completed your entry and that it can now proceed.
Sixth: Filenames: CK allows you to pick your own file
names for your data files. It is usually helpful to pick a name
that describes your data. If you have a file of checks for the
month of April 1987, then a good file name would be 4-87 or
APRIL87. If these checks are only for your trust account then a
good name would be TR4-87.
The file name CANNOT be more than eight characters long
(ABCDEFGH) and it CANNOT have a decimal point in it. For
example ABC.DEF is not a legal file name in CK. You can't do
this because CK automatically puts the extension .CKD after the
name of every file of checks.
Your file names CANNOT have slashes or backslashes in
them because DOS uses these characters. If you include a slash
in your file name, DOS you will generate an error. Also, Your
file name CANNOT have SPACES in it!
Seventh: CK sees all money spent, that is all checks, as
positive numbers and all money received, that is all deposits,
as negative numbers. If you ever see a negative number as a
check amount, that means that CK is treating that entry as a
deposit. Codes for Deposits ALWAYS end in a slash, e.g., SL/ for
salary received.
Last: If you want to sort a file but can't remember your
file name, type in a garbage name in response to the
file name question and CK will display your list of files. If the
file you want is not on the list, Press ENTER. When in doubt,
press ENTER. In most of the modules, a return to a question
will "return" you to the previous question or to a menu which will
allow you to leave the module.
9
Sec. 2 A Getting Started -- General Rules
BLANK
10
Sec. 2 A Getting Started -- General Rules
(B) TURNING ON YOUR MACHINE AND COPYING THE CK PROGRAMS
For Floppy Disk Computers:
(Hard Disk people skip this part)
Take a blank disk from your box of disks and "format" it
with the DOS FORMAT command. This means you must run the
"format" program which came with DOS like this:
A>FORMAT B: [return] DON'T leave out the B: to format the disk
on drive B or you may end up formatting your DOS disk on drive A.
Format two disks. When done, copy the DOS file,
COMMAND.COM onto each of these disks.
Now, put the CK disk into the A: an a new formatted disk
in drive B. Type
COPY *.TBC B:[return] then COPY *.EXE B: Then copy CKS B:
The second disk you just formatted will be will be your data
disk to hold your data files. Most floppy users will put the data
disk into drive B.
Label the program disk(s) as "CK PROGRAM DISK --DRIVE
A" and in our example, the data disk as "CK DATA DISK--DRIVE B".
Note: your program disk does not have to go into drive A. You
can put your programs on any disk. Also, your data disk does
not have to go in drive B. You can choose any drive as your
data disk drive.
For Hard Disk Computers
If you have a hard disk, make a CK subdirectory, go to it,
and type C:\CK>COPY A:*.* [RETURN] [That's all!]
In our example, we have the program disk in A and the data
disk in B. To begin Type A>CK [Return]. CK will begin with the
Main Menu. It will immediately
13
Sec. 2 B - Getting Started -- Copying The Program
notice that it cannot find a file containing the letter of the
drive which will hold your data disk. It will immediately
ask you for the drive where you want to put your data disk.
You may pick any letter from A to L.
In our example, we would answer B for floppy disk
computers or C for hard disk computers.
WARNING: Always keep a backup of your data disk. Disks
do have a habit of dying. If yours gets its directory damaged
it may not be salvageable. Every two or three months, it would
be a good idea to copy your data disk onto your backup disk.
You will now be returned to a menu which will allow you to
set up your income and expense categories. Press "S" to
set up your income and expense code name.
Next, you set up your list of Checking Accounts (C on the Main
Menu). Next, you enter your income and expense data. Last,
sort your entries and prepare your reports.
ABOUT COLOR
The default colors are white letters (the foreground color) on
a blue background. These colors can be changed by placing the numbers
your alternate colors in the DISKDRVE file.
Let me explain: each color has a number according to the list
below:
0=Black; 1=Blue; 2=Green; 3=Cyan; 4=Red; 5=Magenta
6=Brown; 7=White; 8=Gray; 9=Light Blue; 10=Light Green
11=Light Cyan; 12=Light Red; 13=Light Magenta 14=Yellow
15=Bright White;
14
Thus, Bright white letters on a blue background (the
default) would be 15 (bright white), 1 (blue);
Blue letters on a white background would be 1 (blue
15 (bright white);
You can add two lines of color numbers to your diskdrve
file to tell CK that you want it to use the specified
colors instead of white letters on a blue background. For
example, if you wanted White letters on a Black background,
your DISKDRVE file would look like this:
C [DATA DRIVE NAME, DRIVE C]
15 [THE NUMBER FOR THE COLOR WHITE]
0 [THE NUMBER FOR THE COLOR BLACK]
Don't type in the information in the brackets. That is
just to explain the data to you. Here is how you could create
a diskdrve version to put white letters on a black background:
C:\CK>COPY CON: DISKDRVE [RETURN]
C [RETURN]
15 [RETURN]
0 [RETURN]
^Z [CONTROL Z THEN RETURN]
1 file(s) copied
The control Z means that you hold down the control key and press
a Z at the same time.
If you are happy with white on blue, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO
ANYTHING AT ALL TO DISKDRVE. JUST LEAVE IT ALONE AND YOU WILL
GET WHITE ON BLUE.
14A
Sec. 2 B - Getting Started -- Copying The Program
(C) THE MAIN MENU EXPLAINED
The Main Menu looks like this:
Copyright David M. Alexander, 1984, 1987 For This Program And
For ALL Programs Called From This Program
Revision No. 3.19 Jan. 24, 1990
**** MAIN MENU ****
D DATA Entry From Your Check Stubs,
L LOOK At A File Of Checks
S SORT Your Checks & Create Reports
Y YEAR TO DATE Reports
R REPORT Information/Help
P PRINT Checks On The Printer
E EXPENSE Category Set up/Display
C CHECKING Accts Set up/Display
A ADD Several FILES Together
X EXIT To The Operating System
When you want to enter your checks and deposits into the
program, you press D.
When you want to review the checks you have entered or
correct typo's or add or delete checks, press L.
When you want to prepare reports, you will sort your
checks by name, number, amount, etc. Press S.
When you want to create a year to date report of your
income and expenses, press Y. CK will display the Year To Date
menu and give you the opportunity to erase the old year to date
report and create a new one or to add files to the existing
year to date report.
When you are unsure how to print a hardcopy of your re-
ports, press R. CK will tell you how to print your reports.
P will let you print your checks on the printer.
When you want to set up or change or look at your cate-
15
Sec. 2 C Getting Started -- The Main Menu
gories of income and expenses, press E.
When you want to set up or change the list of your various
checking accounts, press C. You will be able to chose up to
9 different accounts and will be able to sort each account separately.
When you want to add several files together press A.
CK which will allow you to add several individual files into one
big file, e.g. add three months of checks together to have one file
for the whole quarter.
When you want to return to the operating system, press X
which will and put you back into DOS.
WHEN YOU FIRST START THE PROGRAM, you will be automatically
taken to the module to set up your expense categories. After
returning to the Main Menu, press C to set up your list of
checking accounts. Only after you have done this will you
press D to enter any data. Only after you have entered
your data, will you press S to sort your checks and create
your reports.
You will be wise to create your reports to disk files
and print the files on your printer through your word processor
or through the DOS PRINT command or COPY filename LPT1:
If you don't have a word processor, get one!
16
NOTES TO SHAREWARE USERS
CK QUICK USE OUTLINE
The short course in using CK is as follows:
1) copy the disks as outlined above;
2) put the input disk in the A drive or, if you are using
a hard disk, go to your hard disk;
3) type A>CK [return] or C:\CK>CK [return]
4) You will be asked what drive you want to use as your
data drive. If you are using floppies, say B . If you are
using a hard disk, answer with your hard disk drive letter,
usually C.
5) press S to Set up your income and expense categories.
OR press D and then give the name: SAMPLE
6) when asked, respond with the name of a file to hold
your income and expense categories of up to seven (NOT eight)
characters --- use your initials or just call it EXP for
expenses.
7) enter your income and expense codes in answer to the
prompts on screen;
8) when done, return to the main menu;
9) Press C on the main menu, then when the next menu
appears, press S to Set up your list of checking accounts. You
can have up to 9, e.g. general account, trust account, Bank Of
America account, Visa Card, American Express, S & L account,
etc. OR press D, and SAMPLE list will appear.
10) Go to the main menu and press D to enter your Data
(that's your checks and deposits). When done go back to the
Main Menu.
11) Type S on the main menu to go to the sort
menu. Select the type of report you want to create and press the
menu entry for that kind of report. When the report is
completed, print it:
a) through your word processer, OR
18
b) A>COPY B:FILENAME.XXX LPT1 [return]
[For example: OCT88.CAT]
The above Table of Contents gives you an outline of what is
in the full CK manual. Users who register with me will get a
disk containing the full manual.
To register, send me your name and address and $25. If you
use CK, I ask you to send me the $25 as part recompense for the
many hundreds of hours I have invested in the program.
Commercial users, corporations, are also asked to pay the $25
if they use the program. If you haven't registered the program,
don't call with questions. If you have registered and you call
and I can't take your call, I will return your call collect.
David M. Alexander
2600 El Camino Real #506
Palo Alto, CA 94306
415-857-9233
If you like CK, you should consider trying MR. BILL tm, a
program I wrote to keep time and prepare full bills/invoices
including ageing, chronological reports, management reports,
variable billing rates and all the good stuff I needed for a full
billing program for my law practice. MR. BILL is also available
from the distributor who sent you CK.
Take care,
David M. Alexander
19
Directory of PC-SIG Library Disk #0462
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
CKM TBC 8189 9-07-89 4:18p
CKCAT TBC 18801 5-15-90 9:00a
CKDATE TBC 17472 9-07-89 4:20p
CKEXSET TBC 14886 9-07-89 4:18p
CKAMTD TBC 15903 9-07-89 4:19p
CKINPUT TBC 54884 2-21-90 5:09p
CKADD TBC 5955 9-07-89 4:19p
CKNAME TBC 22855 9-07-89 4:20p
CKNUMBR TBC 12949 9-07-89 4:20p
CKLOOK TBC 18121 9-07-89 4:17p
CKACCTS TBC 5277 9-07-89 4:19p
CKEXTOT TBC 9987 9-07-89 4:18p
CKCHRT TBC 11732 9-07-89 4:20p
CKSORT TBC 2556 9-07-89 4:18p
CKPRINT TBC 24100 9-07-89 4:18p
CK EXE 59424 9-07-89 4:20p
CKS 128 5-31-90 11:23a
SAMPLE CDE 2336 10-04-87 3:21p
SAMPLE MAX 284 10-04-87 3:21p
CK DOC 45056 2-12-90 6:08p
GO BAT 789 7-06-90 12:17a
21 file(s) 351684 bytes
0 bytes free