Category : Databases and related files
Archive   : PDSQUOTE.ZIP
Filename : QUOTE.HLP

This is the PDS*QUOTE program used to
quickly produce printed quotations for
your business. This "User Supported"
software is Copyright 1985 by PRO DEV
Software. If you find this program
useful, it is suggested that you
contribute $35 to:

PRO DEV Software
545 Grover Road
Muskegon, Michigan 49442

You will be placed on our mailing list
for software update notices and
notices of other PRO DEV Software.

The next screen is the Help Menu.
A = Add New Quotation To Data Disk
B = Quotation Disk File Names
C = Quote Description Text
D = Add Standard Material Items
E = Add Special Items
F = Add Labor Hours
G = Modify Existing Quote
H = Print A Quotation Data File

I = Default Print Values
J = Deleting A Quote Data File
K = Copying A Quote File To Modify
L = Manage The Random Access Data Base
M = Program & Printing Defaults



Add New Quotation

From the QUOTE program Main Menu,
press the "1" key.

You will see all of the existing Quote
file names on your data disk. The
extender of ".QUO" is not shown on the
screen to save room. In fact, only 120
files will be shown in case you have
more than 120 on the data disk.

Enter up to 8 characters for the file
name. You can use letters and numbers.

If you don't use all 8 characters,
press the Return key.

Certain special characters like the
dot, asterisk, colon, semi-colon, etc.
can NOT be used. Your DOS manual has
more information on all allowable
file name characters.

You can now add the text description
that will appear at the top of the
printed quotation.

After the description is entered, you
will see the Sub-Menu to add Standard
Items, Special Items and Labor hours.
Add Description Text

When a quotation is printed, it is
possible to have one or more
paragraphs of description text at the
top of the first page.

When you are building or modifying the
quotation text, you will see a word
processing window on the screen. Type
in the text. If you use both upper and
lower case, the text will be easier to
read. Note the Num and Shift lock
status at the lower right corner of
the screen. Two blank lines in a row
indicate end of text.

You will have word wrap. The Insert
key will insert blanks and the Delete
key will delete characters. Word wrap
is disabled during Insert and Delete.

Press the F10 key (lower left of the
keyboard) to save the text and
continue to the next part of the
program.
Add Standard Material Items

When you create a new quotation from
Main Menu option 1 and have selected
the file name and have entered the
text, you will see the Sub-Menu where
you can add Standard Material Items,
Labor hours or Special Items.

After adding the various items, press
E to save the new quotation and return
to the Main Menu. If you forgot
something, enter 2 to add items or
enter 3 to modify items.

To add Material Items, press the M key.

For each item, you will be asked for
the Quantity and Material Code. If you
have previously added the Material
Coded item to the random access data
base, the description will be
displayed and you will be asked to
strike the space bar if the item is
OK. If you press ESC, you can redo the
item.

If the Material Code is NOT found in
the random access data base, you can
treat the item as a Special Item or
save the quotation and enter option 6
from the Main Menu to add the item to
the data base.

When you are finished adding Material
Coded items and are being asked for
the next item quantity, press F10 to
return to the ADD Sub-Menu.

Please note that a Material Coded item
may be a Process, Sub-assembly or Part.
It could even be an often used
assembly from one of YOUR suppliers.
Add Special Items

When you create a new quotation from
Main Menu option 1 and have selected
the file name and have entered the
text, you will see the Sub-Menu where
you can add Standard Material Items,
Labor hours or Special Items.

After adding the various items, press
E to save the new quotation and return
to the Main Menu. If you forgot
something, enter 2 to add items or
enter 3 to modify items.

To add Special Items, press the S key.

For each item add the Quantity,
Description, Unit Price and Supplier
Code (press Return after each field).

If you use a new Supplier Code, be
sure that you use Main Menu option 6
to add the new Supplier Code to the
random access data base.

After you add the Supplier Code you
will be asked to strike the space bar
if OK or ESC if not OK.

Press F10 when asked for the next
quantity if you are done adding
Special Items.
Add Labor Hours

When you create a new quotation from
Main Menu option 1 and have selected
the file name and have entered the
text, you will see the Sub-Menu where
you can add Standard Material Items,
Labor hours or Special Items.

After adding the various items, press
E to save the new quotation and return
to the Main Menu. If you forgot
something, enter 2 to add items or
enter 3 to modify items.

To add Labor Hours, press the L key.

For each Labor Hour Group, enter the
Quantity and Labor Group Code (press
Return after each field).

After each group you will be asked to
strike the space bar if OK or ESC if
not OK.

If the Labor Group is found in the
random access data base you can
continue. If the code is not found,
press F10 to return to the Add
Sub-Menu, E to save the quote to this
point and 6 from the Main Menu to add
the Labor Group to the random access
data base.


Main menu option 2 can be used later to
add the Labor Group hours to this
quote.

Press F10 when asked for the next
quantity if you are done adding
Labor Group hours.
Modify An Existing Quote

It is assumed that you have previously
created a quotation with Menu option 1.

To Add items to the quote, select Main
Menu option 2.

To Modify the quantities of items on a
quote, select Main Menu option 3.

After pressing 2, 3, 4 or 5 from the
Main Menu, you will see the existing
quote files on the data disk. The
extender of ".QUO" is not shown on the
screen to save room. In fact, only 120
files will be shown in case you have
more than 120 on the data disk.

Enter the desired file name. If you
don't use all 8 characters, press the
Return key.

An easier way to select the file name
is to press any cursor control key on
the number pad. The last file will be
highlighted. Move the highlight with
the arrow keys on the number pad.
When you have highlighted the desired
quote file, press Return.

The quote will be loaded into memory
and you will see either the ADD
Sub-Menu or the MODIFY Sub-Menu.

If you are ADDING items, select
M (Material Coded Items)
L (Labor Group Hours)
S (Special Items)
to add to the quotation. After adding
each type of item, press F10 to return
to the ADD Sub-Menu. "E" = save quote.

If you are MODIFYING items, select
T (Text Description)
M (Material Coded Items)
L (Labor Group Hours)
or S (Special Items)

For each selection, you will see the
first item. You can browse through the
other items of the same type by
pressing the PgDn and PgUp keys.

Change any field as desired. When
finished, press F10 while on the
quantity field to return to the Modify
Sub-Menu.
Print A Quote File

Select Main Menu Option 4.

You will be asked if you wish Quote
(marked up prices) or Material (raw)
prices. Enter Q or M.

The first time you run the QUOTE
program, you will be asked 9 one-time-
only questions. The answers will be
saved to a disk file named QUOTE.CFG.
If you wish to reconfigure the QUOTE
program, run the QUOTE program and
select Main Menu option 7. This will
allow you to change the default values.

1 - Enter Your Company Name - to be
printed at the top of the Quote.
Example - JONES CASTING COMPANY

2 - Enter The Title - to appear to the
right of Your Company Name.
Example - BID SPEC QUOTATION

3 - Enter The Sales Tax - If 4%, enter
4 - If no sales tax press Return.

4 - Enter Overhead Rate - If 20.5%,
enter 20.5. See manual page 17.

5 - Enter Federal Tax Rate - If 45%,
enter 45. See manual page 18.

6 - Enter Default Return On Sale Rate.
This is YOUR desired profit rate.
If you wish to make 14.3% after
tax, enter 14.3. This value will
be used in those cases where a
quote item has no ROS code.
Deleting A Quote File

Select Main Menu option 5. Enter the
desired file name or highlight with
the arrow keys and press Return. You
will be asked if you wish to delete
the file. If you answer "Y", the file
will be removed from the data disk.
Copying The Quote

You discover that you wish to prepare
a complex quote very similar to an
existing quote. Exit the QUOTE program
and use the DOS copy command to create
a copy of the existing quote file,
but, with a different file name. From
the DOS prompt (shown as A> in this
example) enter:

A>COPY oldname.QUO newname.QUO
Are You Done Adding?

You have been adding items or labor
groups. When asked for the next
quantity, you just either pressed F10
or Return. If you answer "N", you can
add more items. If you press Return or
"Y" you will see the ADD Sub-Menu.
Do You Wish To Delete?

In the Modify mode, you have browsed to
an item and have pressed the F9 key.
If you do wish to delete the item you
must press "Y". Any other key will
cancel the deletition of the item.
File Already Exists

In the process of creating a NEW quote
you just entered the name of a file
already on the disk. Take your choice.
Do You Wish To Abort?

You just pressed the Esc key from the
ADD or MODIFY Sub-Menu. If you answer
"Y", you will be returned to the
program Main Menu WITHOUT saving any
of the changes to the quotation.
Do You Wish To Delete The Quote?

You have selected Menu option 5, you
have selected the file to delete, and
you now have a chance to change your
mind. You MUST enter Y to delete the
file from the disk.
Manage The Random Access Data Base

From the QUOTE program, select Main
Main Menu option 6. If you desire, you
can run the data base management
program from the DOS prompt by entering
DBMANAGE.

Option 1 of the DBMANAGE program will
allow you to Add, Modify or Delete the
Material Code, Supplier Code, Labor
Rate and Return-On-Sale (ROS) masters.

Since the DBMANAGE program has no help
screens, it is suggested that you read
Section 3 of the instruction manual.
Default Quote File Drive

As you create quotations with this
program, they will be saved to disk
files. It is recommended that you NOT
save the quote files to drive "A".

If you have a 2 drive PC, you should
enter "B". If you have a hard disk or
Local Area Network, press the space bar
or enter the hard disk drive letter.
Color Graphics Adapter Card

If you have a Color Graphics Adapter
card in your PC, enter "Y". If you have
a Monochrome adapter (even if it will
display graphics with some software),
enter "N".

Even if you do not have a color monitor
but, do have a Color Graphics Adapter
card, enter "Y".
Color Monitor

If you have a Color monitor, enter "Y".
Program & Printing Defaults

Select option 7 from the Main Menu. You
will be able to change the data file
drive, color options and the printing
options.

It is VERY important that you read and
understand the printing mathematical
relationships covered in Section 10.3
of the PDS*QUOTE manual. If your quotes
are understated or overstated, it is
because you did not provide the proper
printing defaults.
You may have need to print a quotation
to an ASCII disk file. If your word
processor can import an ASCII file into
a document, you can then combine the
ASCII quote file with a letter or other
word processor document. Press D to
print to a Disk file with ".PRN" for
the file name extender.

If you wish to print the quotation on
your printer, press Enter or P.