Category : Databases and related files
Archive   : ACCTMN13.ZIP
Filename : ACCTMAN.TXT

(This is a text-only version of the Account Manager user manual.)

Account Manager

version 1.3


WinnoVation
Innovation through Windows...


(C) Copyright 1993-1994
Winnovation
PO Box 271071
Ft. Collins, CO 80527-1071
USA

Telephone: (303) 226-8682

FAX: (303) 226-8682

E-mail: CompuServe: 71774,605
Internet: [email protected]


Introduction
------------

Account Manager is a tool designed for people who
must keep track of how much time they spend on
different projects or accounts. Examples of such
uses are...

* A person who charges their time to several
different projects

* Someone who bills to multiple clients

* An entrepreneur who must keep records of
business vs. personal use of a computer for
tax purposes

* And many more!

To use Account Manager, you "punch in" to each
project or account as you begin working on it, and
"punch out" when you are done. At the end of the
week, or whenever you need a report of how your
time was spent, Account Manager will generate a
report, showing your time in varying levels of
detail.

Account Manager also has a convenient feature to
make it even easier to use. After your list of
projects has been entered, you can click on the
Account Manager icon with the right mouse button
to get the Quick Access List. This list shows all
of the projects in your list, and makes it very
easy and convenient to punch in and out of them.

For even greater flexibility and convenience,
Account Manager can automatically punch in or out
of a project or activate itself when certain user-
specified applications are started. You may never
have to punch in or out manually!

For those occasions when you must exit Windows for
whatever reason, Account Manager includes a DOS
command-line interface so you can punch in/out
from DOS.

Note that Account Manager requires Windows 3.1.


Packing List
------------

Your package should include the following:

This manual
Distribution disk
License statement

The following files should be present in the
distribution disk:

ACCTMAN.EXE Account Manager starter
$AM.EXE Account Manager program
ACCTDLL.DLL Account Mgr. support library
ACCTMAN.HLP On-line help file
DOSACCT.EXE DOS command-line interface
CTL3D.DLL Library for 3D controls
ACCTMAN.TXT Documentation text file

If any files are missing, please contact
Winnovation.


Installation
------------

Important: You must make sure no other copies of
Account Manager are running when you install this
version.

If your disk came with a SETUP or INSTALL program,
simply run that program. To do this, select
Run... from the File menu in Program Manager, and
type a:\setup or a:\install (change the drive
letter if necessary).

If you did not receive an installation program
with your copy of Account Manager, you can install
it using the following instructions. First, make
sure that no other copies of Account Manager are
currently running. Then simply copy all of the
files from the Account Manager distribution disk
to a directory such as C:\ACCTMAN. To do this
from a DOS prompt, type the following (assuming
your floppy drive is A: and your hard disk is C:):

MKDIR C:\ACCTMAN
COPY A:\*.* C:\ACCTMAN

Also move the file CTL3D.DLL to your
WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. You may need to close
other applications to perform this copy, if the
file is in use.

After the files are copied, add Account Manager to
a Program Manager group. To do this, find
ACCTMAN.EXE with the File Manager and drag it to
the group you want in the Program Manager. To run
Account Manager every time you start Windows, add
Account Manager to the Startup group in Program
Manager. See your Windows manual if you are
unsure about how to do any of these steps.


Upgrading from an older version
-------------------------------

If you are upgrading to Account Manager 1.3 from
an older version, you should make a backup copy of
your project list and database files. The file
formats that this version uses are different from
the previous versions, and the files will be
converted immediately to the new format when
Account Manager 1.3 starts.


Registration
------------

When Account Manager is first started, you will
see a registration reminder screen. Click the
Register... button and you will see the following
registration screen:



Enter your name EXACTLY as shown on your license
statement, and enter your serial number and
registration code (also found on the license
statement).


Getting Started
---------------

This section is intended as a general overview to
using Account Manager. For more detail, please
refer to the reference section. Please note that
the words "project" and "account" are used
interchangeably within this manual.

When you start Account Manager, you will see a
screen similar to the following:



The large space on the left side is the project
list. You should enter each project or account
that you work on in to this list. To do this, you
should click on the top portion of the list (you
will then see a flashing cursor there), type the
name of the project, and click the Add button.
When you do this, you will notice that the project
has been added to the list. Repeat this step for
each project that you want to enter.

For each project that you enter, you may select
whether or not Account Manager should prompt for a
comment when punching in to that project. A
comment is simply additional information to help
you track your time with more detail (see the
Comments section in this manual for more
information).

After all of the projects have been entered, you
may punch in to one. To punch in to a project,
select the project in the list and click the In
button. Alternatively, you may double-click on
the project name in the list. If the Prompt for
Comment box was checked, you will be prompted for
a comment for this session. After you punch in,
the status line at the bottom of the window will
reflect which project you are punched in to.

To punch out of a project, simply click the Out
button. You can also just punch in to another
project -- this will automatically punch you out
of the first one.

To make punching in and out more convenient,
Account Manager provides a Quick Access List. To
access this list, minimize Account Manager and
click on the icon with the right mouse button.
This will bring up a list of your projects for you
to conveniently punch in to and out of.

If you wish to delete a project, select it in the
list and press the Delete button. Note that this
will not delete the data in the database for that
project -- it will merely remove the project from
the Project List.

To generate a report, select Create Reports...
from the Reports menu. You will have the option
of creating several different kinds of reports.
For details about the different report types
please refer to the reference section.


---------
Reference
---------


Project Lists and Databases
---------------------------

In Account Manager, the Project List and the
Database are two different things. It is
important to understand the difference.

A Project List is simply a list of your projects.
It is displayed on the main window, and also in
the Quick Access List for easy access. Project
lists are usually saved with a .AMP extension.

A Database contains all of the punch in/punch out
data. Every time you punch in to or out of a
project, the database file is updated. Database
files are usually stored with a .AMD extension.

Note that Project Lists and Database files are not
connected in any way. A Project List exists only
for your convenience. It is possible to punch in
to a project which is not even in the Project List
(to do this, type the name of the project and
press In -- do not press the Add button, which
would add it to the Project List). Conversely,
deleting a project from the Project List will NOT
delete the associated data in the database.

To find out the current Project List and Database
files, choose Get Status... from the File menu.

Note that database files can grow quite large over
a long period of time -- it is recommended that
you delete old records periodically via the Edit
Database option. This will reduce the file size
and also speed up report generation.

Note that the application setup information (see
the Application Setup section for more details) is
stored in the .AMP file with the Project List.


Comments
--------

Comments are extra information you can enter when
punching in to a project, to provide more detail
about your activities. This allows you to keep a
more detailed log of your time.

Each project can be individually configured to
prompt or not prompt for a comment when punched in
to.

When you are prompted for a comment, you will be
shown a drop-down box which contains a list of
your 10 most recently used comments for your
convenience. You may either select one from this
list, or type in a new comment. Then click the OK
button to continue punching in. Pressing Cancel
at this point will cancel the punch in action.


Database Options
----------------

The Database menu contains several options related
to database management.


Punch In Earlier
----------------

This option allows you to punch in to a project at
an earlier time. This is especially useful if you
start working on a given project, but forget to
punch in to it.

When you select this option, you will see the
following screen:



Information Fields:

Previous Project: This is the name of the
last project that was active. If this is a
new database and there is no previous project
on file, this field will say "(none)".

Punched In/Out At: This is the date and time
that the previous project was punched in to
or out of (whatever the last punch in/out
event was). If this is a new database and
there is no previous project on file, this
field will say "(N/A)".

Selection Fields:


New Project Name: Enter the project you wish
to punch in to here. You can either type a
project name, or select one from the drop-
down list of projects. If a project was
selected in the project list on the main
screen, then that project will be shown here
as a default.

Time To Punch In: There are two fields in
this section.

Date: Valid dates are in the format
MM/DD/YY.

Time: Valid times are in the format HH:MM
(24-hr), HH:MMa or HH:MMp. For example,
the following are valid times:
8:00, 14:35, 2:35p, 1:30a


If the project you punch in to is configured to
prompt for a comment, then you will be prompted
for the comment.

Note that you are not permitted to punch in to a
project at an earlier time than the previous punch
in/out time. If you need to do this, you must
delete the last record in the database via the
Edit Database option. You are also not permitted
to enter a time which is later than the current
time of day.


Punch Out Earlier
-----------------

This option allows you to punch out of a project
at an earlier time. This option is useful if you
forget to punch out of a project, or if you are
away from your computer when you stop working on a
project.

When you select this option, you will see the
following screen:



Information Fields:

Current Project: This is the name of the
currently active project.

Punched In At: This is the date and time that
the current project was punched in to.

Selection Fields:

Time To Punch Out: There are two fields in
this section.

Date: Valid dates are in the format
MM/DD/YY.

Time: Valid times are in the format HH:MM
(24-hr), HH:MMa or HH:MMp. For example,
the following are valid times:
8:00, 14:35, 2:35p, 1:30a


Note that you are not permitted to punch out of a
project at an earlier time than the previous punch
in time. If you need to do this, you must delete
the last record in the database via the Edit
Database option.


Punch Out on Exit
-----------------

This option causes Account Manager to punch out of
the currently active project when exiting. This
is convenient in case you forget to punch out at
the end of the day, etc.

If this option is not enabled, then you will
remain punched in to the active project when
Account Manager is closed.


Warn if Active on Startup
-------------------------

If this option is selected, you will be warned if
you are already punched in when Account Manager
starts. The warning will be similar to the
following:



The top lines reflect the currently active project
including the time it was punched in to. You have
the following options:

Remain Punched In: Select this option if you
want to remain punched in to the currently
active project displayed.

Punch Out Now: Select this option if you want
to punch out now from the currently active
project displayed.

Specify Earlier Time to Punch Out: Select
this option if you want to punch out from the
currently active project at some time before
now. Note that you are not allowed to punch
out before the current project was punched in
to, nor can you punch out after the current
time.

Date: Valid dates are in the format
MM/DD/YY.

Time: Valid times are in the format HH:MM
(24-hr), HH:MMa or HH:MMp. For example,
the following are valid times:
8:00, 14:35, 2:35p, 1:30a


This option is convenient if you stay in Windows
all of the time. If this is the case, then there
is no reason that you should be already punched
in when Account Manager starts (unless you forget
to punch out), except for a system crash or other
undesirable occurrences.


Enable Application Punch In/Out
-------------------------------

This menu option enables the automatic application
punch in/out feature of Account Manager. For more
information, refer to the Application Setup
section of this manual.


Application Setup
-----------------

Account Manager has the capability of
automatically punching in or out or prompting for
a project when other applications are started,
closed, activated, or deactivated. To get to this
setup screen, select Application Setup... from the
Database Menu.

To enable automatic application punching in or
out, set up the applications how you want them
from the Application Setup screen and then select
Enable Application Punch In/Out from the Database
Menu.

The following is a typical Application Setup
screen with a few applications set up:



The following is a description of the various
fields on the Application Setup screen:

Event: This is one of the following,
depending on when you want to trigger.

Activate: An application is being
activated; for example, the user clicked on
its window. In technical terms, a top-
level unowned window is being activated.

Deactivate: An application is being
deactivated; for example, the user was
working in this application, but they just
clicked in a different window.

Start: An application is being started.

Close: An application is being closed.

Application Title: This is the title of the
application you wish to trigger on. This is
NOT the file name - it is the name of the
program, as shown on the title bar of the
window when it is first started. You only
need to enter the first few characters of the
name - for example, if you enter Calc, then
Calculator will match. The more characters
you enter, the more specific you can be as to
which application will trigger the event. If
you enter less characters, then multiple
applications will match and trigger the
event. For example, if you enter C, then
Calculator and Clock will both match.

If an application matches more than one
event, the event is chosen which matches the
greatest number of characters; i.e., the most
specific event that matches. For example, if
you have two application events with titles
of Cal and Calculator, then running
Calculator will only trigger the second of
the two.

If this field is left blank, then every
application will match the name (except those
that match another event more specifically).

Action: This is the action you want Account
Manager to take when the application
starts/closes. The options are:

Punch In: Punches into a project.

Punch Out: Punches out.

Activate: Activates Account Manager and
prompts for input. Note that Account
Manager will remain on top of all other
windows until some action is taken by the
user.

Project: If Punch In is selected as the
Action, then this is the project to punch
into.

Comment: There are three options for
comments:

None: No comment.

Application Title: This enters a comment
which is the title of the application that
triggered the event. This is convenient if
more than one application can trigger an
event - this comment can tell you which
application it was.

Select: Allows you to enter a comment, or
select one from the history list.


To add a new application event:

Fill in the event you want using the field
described above, and click the Add button.

To change an existing application event:

Click on the event in the list, make the
modifications you want using the fields described
above, and click the Change button.

To delete an existing application event:

Click on the event in the list, and click the
Delete button.

Note that application setup information is stored
with the Project List in the .AMP file.


Editing the Database
--------------------

This function allows you to delete data from the
current database. This can reduce the database
size, resulting in faster report generation.
Also, if you should accidentally punch in or out
of a project, you can delete the most recent
records (punch in/out actions) from the database
one at a time.

When this function is selected, a screen similar
to the following will be displayed:



Information Fields:

Database: This is the filename of the
currently loaded DatabaseDATABASEFILES file.

Database contains information from {date} to
{date}: These are the range of dates for
which information is available in the
database.

Selection Fields:

Delete data from {start date} to {end date}:
Selecting this option and pressing OK will
delete data in the database ranging from
start date to end date, inclusive. A punch
in/out pair will be deleted if the punch in
time is within the date range specified, even
if the punch out time is not. Valid dates
are in the format MM/DD/YY.

Delete data up to and including {date}:
Selecting this option and pressing OK will
delete data in the database from the
beginning up to date, inclusive. A punch
in/out pair will be deleted if the punch in
time is within the date range specified, even
if the punch out time is not. Valid dates
are in the format MM/DD/YY.

Delete last record in database: Selecting
this option and pressing OK will delete the
last record in the database. This record
will include both a punch in and a punch out.
The date and time shown are the time that the
project was punched out of. Note that since
using the database editor automatically
punches you out of the current project, there
will always be a in/out pair at the end of
the database when this option is selected.

Store deleted data: This option indicated
that the data which is deleted from the
database will be stored in this indicated
file (which is the database filename, with a
.BAK extension). Note that if this .BAK file
already exists, the new data will be appended
to it. Note that this option is not
available when using the Delete last record
in database option.


Note that selecting this function will cause you
to be punched out of your current project.


Reports
-------

The Reports menu contains options related to
generating and viewing reports. See the following
sections for details.


Selecting an Editor
-------------------

This menu option allows you to select an editor to
use to view your report files. The default is
notepad.exe, which is normally in your Windows
directory. If you change this editor, the new
editor must support a filename on the command
line, i.e. notepad.exe report.txt.

Hint: If you use CSV-format files (Comma Separated
Values), then a spreadsheet such as Microsoft
Excel is a possible editor.


Selecting a Time Format
-----------------------

This option allows you to select the format used
when printing time durations in the reports. You
have the option of HH:MM:SS format (i.e.
03:20:00), or a decimal hours format (i.e. 3.33).

Note: Some spreadsheets do not correctly interpret
a time span in HH:MM:SS format which is greater
than 24 hours. These time spans may import as a
string field, rather than a time field. If you
have this problem, you may wish to switch to the
decimal format for time spans.


Creating a Report
-----------------

This option allows you to create reports which
show your time usage. There are three different
report types, detailed in the following sections.
Note that the examples in the following sections
were not created from the same database.

There are two report formats: Formatted Text and
CSV. Formatted Text will create a space-formatted
file, suitable for viewing with an editor such as
notepad. CSV will create a comma-delimited report
file, suitable for importing into a spreadsheet.

The following example report files are examples of
the Formatted Text report format.

Overall Summary by Project
--------------------------
This report shows the total time spent on each
project in the database, from the starting date
to the ending date (inclusive). The following
is an example Overall Summary by Project
report:

Project Summary Report
Starting 01/01/93, Ending 04/05/93

Project Name Time (HH:MM:SS)
------------------------------------------------------
Presentations 1:14:02

Meetings 0:25:12

Project X 3:59:07

----------
Total Time: 5:38:21


Daily Summary by Project
------------------------
This report shows the total time spent on each
project in the database, from the starting date
to the ending date (inclusive). The following
is an example Daily Summary by Project report:

Daily Project Summary Report
Starting 01/01/93, Ending 04/05/93

Date Project Name Time (HH:MM:SS)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
03/21/93 John Smith 0:04:09
Patty Roburn 0:03:52
----------
Total Time: 0:08:01

03/23/93 John Smith 1:00:07
Ed Hayes 3:25:09
Jane Doe 1:00:09
----------
Total Time: 5:25:25

04/05/93 Ed Hayes 0:25:02
----------
Total Time: 0:25:02


Detailed Report
---------------
This report shows the time of each action
(punch in/out) present in the database, from
the starting date to the ending date
(inclusive). No summary is generated in this
report. Note that a detailed report is the
only report that shows the comments that were
optionally entered. The following is an
example Detailed Report:

Detailed Report
Starting 01/01/93, Ending 05/19/93

Project Name In/Out Date Time Total Time Comment
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project 3 In 04/05/93 3:00:00p
Project 3 Out 04/05/93 4:05:00p 1:05:00
Project 2 In 04/05/93 4:20:00p
Project 2 Out 04/05/93 6:18:30p 1:58:30
Project 4 In 04/05/93 6:18:36p
Project 4 Out 04/05/93 6:25:05p 0:06:29
Project 3 In 05/19/93 9:08:31p
Project 3 Out 05/19/93 9:08:35p 0:00:04 Sample comment
Project 5 In 05/19/93 9:08:35p
Project 5 -- Still Punched In --



Command Line
------------

The command line options for Account Manager are:

ACCTMAN
ACCTMAN -out
ACCTMAN -in
ACCTMAN project name

The first option runs Account Manager normally.
The -out option will punch out of the currently
active project, if any. The project name option
will punch in to the named project.

The -in option can only be used if you are
currently not punched in. It will punch you in to
the last project which was active. For example,
if project "my proj" was active, then you punched
out of it, and then ran "ACCTMAN -in", then
Account Manager would punch you in to "my proj".

Note that punching in via the command line, either
with the project name option or with the -in
option, will not prompt for a comment even if the
project is configured to prompt for comments.

Only one copy of Account Manager will run at a
time. However, if Account Manager is running and
you try to run it again, the command line options
will be passed to the running copy. So, if
Account Manager is running, running "ACCTMAN -out"
will punch you out of the current project.
Similarly, "ACCTMAN my project" will punch you in
to a project called 'my project'.

This powerful capability could be used with a
program scheduler such as Clocker (also from
Winnovation)OTHERPRODUCTS. This would give you
the capability to automatically punch out from
12:00 to 1:00pm for lunch, for example. If at
12:00 you executed "ACCTMAN -out", and at 1:00 you
executed "ACCTMAN -in", you would be punched out
from 12:00 to 1:00, and then punched back in to
the project you were previously working on. This
feature could also be used for regular meetings,
etc.


DOS Interface
-------------

Since many people have to exit Windows
occasionally to run a program that will not run in
a DOS box, etc., Account Manager provides a DOS
Interface to the database. This interface is
limited, in that you can only punch in, punch out,
or obtain the status of the database.

The DOS interface CANNOT be run from a Windows DOS
box. It is provided solely to be run completely
outside of Windows. If you are inside Windows,
you must use the Windows Account Manager
(ACCTMAN.EXE).

Command Line:

DOSACCT [-db database] -status
DOSACCT [-db database] -out
DOSACCT [-db database] projectname
DOSACCT [-db database] "project name"

The DOS interface will attempt to read your
ACCTMAN.INI file to get the name of the active
database. If this ACCTMAN.INI file is not
accessible (if you are on a network workstation

other than your own, for example), then you can
specify your database file with the -db option.
Use of this option is not recommended, except
where it is absolutely necessary.

The -status option will tell you which (if any)
project is currently active. The -out option will
punch you out of the currently active project.
The last two options are for punching in to a
project. If the project name contains spaces, you
must enclose it in quotes as in the fourth example
above.

Note that it is not possible to enter a comment
from the DOS command line interface.

Examples:

DOSACCT myproject

This will punch in to the project called
"myproject", using the database file specified in
the ACCTMAN.INI file.

DOSACCT -out

This will punch out of the currently active
project (if any), using the database file
specified in the ACCTMAN.INI file.

DOSACCT -db time.amd myproject

This will punch in to the project called
"myproject", using the database file TIME.AMD.


Miscellaneous Options/Features
------------------------------

Quick Access List
-----------------

The Quick Access List is accessed by clicking on
the Account Manager icon with the right mouse
button. This brings up a list of your
projects/accounts, with the currently active one
highlighted (if any). From here, you can punch in
to or out of a project.

The Quick Access List is especially convenient
when you are using the Icon Always On
TopICONALWAYSONTOP option, since the icon will
then always be visible. The Quick Access List is
then never more than one mouse click away.

To punch in to a project:

Select the project you wish to punch in to, and
click the "In" button. Alternatively, you can
double-click the project name. You may be
prompted for a comment at this point, depending on
how the project was configured.

To punch out of a project:

Click the "Out" button. Also, punching in to a
different project will punch you out of the
current project.

To Exit the Quick Access List without changing the
active project:

Click the "Cancel" button or press ESC.


Get Status
----------

This option, available on the File menu, will
display the file names of the current project list
and the current database.


Icon Always On Top
------------------

This option is available on the Account Manager
System menu. Enabling this option will cause the
Account Manager icon to remain on top of all other
windows on the desktop. This makes it especially
convenient to use the Quick Access List.


3D Controls
-----------

To use 3D controls, Account Manager requires
version 2.01 or later of ctl3d.dll. Account
Manager's distribution includes version 2.01, and
should work correctly. However, other
applications may install an older version. If you
get a warning message from Account Manager about
an old version, copy the ctl3d.dll from Account
Manager's distribution disk to your WINDOWS\SYSTEM
directory. Also ensure that no other copies of
ctl3d.dll are present on your disk you can use
File Manager to find all instances of the file).

Note that you may have to close other applications
in order to be able to copy ctl3d.dll to your
WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory if these other
applications are using the ctl3d.dll that is
currently there.

To Disable 3d Controls:

To disable the 3D controls, create a [Settings]
section in the ACCTMAN.INI file (which should be
in your Windows directory), if there is not one
already. Add the following line, under this
section header:

Controls3D=NO

Note that ctl3d.dll is still required for running
Account Manager, even if the 3d controls are
disabled. However, any version of ctl3d.dll will
work in this case.



Registration and Support Information
------------------------------------


Single copy Account Manager registration is
$24.95, payable in US dollars. If used on a
network, Account Manager requires one license for
each machine it is running on. Site license rates
are as follows:

5 users $ 109.95
10 users $ 199.95
20 users $ 349.95
50 users $ 699.95
100 users $ 999.95

For over 100 users, please contact Winnovation for
pricing information.

To register additional copies, print out
ORDERFRM.TXT or the order form in the on-line help
and mail the completed form along with payment to:

Winnovation
PO Box 271071
Ft. Collins, CO 80527-1071
USA

For faster processing, credit card orders can be
FAXed to the number listed below, or e-mailed to
the e-mail address below.

After your registration is processed, you will
receive a serial number/registration code
combination, a manual, and a disk for each copy
you ordered. Site licenses will receive only one
code, manual, and disk, with additional manual
copies available for a nominal fee. Registered
users will be entitled to unlimited support and
free upgrades to 1.x versions as they become
available. Future updates will be available at a
significant discount. Support will be via
telephone, E-mail and US mail. Winnovation can be
reached at:

Telephone: (303) 226-8682

FAX: (303) 226-8682

E-mail: CompuServe: 71774,605
Internet: [email protected]