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CreditWindow is a credit account management program. Though mainly for use with credit cards, it can be applied to other types of consumer credit. It was born out of a need for the author to find out just how bad his credit situation was, and in the hopes that better tracking would result in better credit management. Too many of us have large credit card bills without really knowing how they got that way. CreditWindow allows you to track these purchases. CreditWindow is also optimized to track only credit, unlike many other programs on the market that attempt to use one data entry system for everything.
Although there will be a few more additions to CreditWindow in the near future, (Such as expanded reports and interest cost analysis), there are some things it will not do. The most glaring one, is that it will not subtract payments made from your current balance on any given account. This is for one main reason. This is that, as most of us know, consumer credit has interest. The amount of that interest charged per month is based on a average daily balance. This means that the amount of your payment that goes towards the principal depends on how many days in the month (or billing cycle), and when your payment gets there. Since in most cases this is not possible to know, I do not attempt to guess. The result of all this is that you have to re-enter your balance when you get your statement each month. Sorry, but it's more accurate this way.

Please leave any comments to me by E-mail, and I will consider everything. Please feel free to report any bugs found also, and I will correct then as soon as possible.
I have tried to be complete in testing, but this is my first serious WinApp, so something could have sneaked through. Also, it was developed on a CGA system, so I don't know what it looks like in color!







File Commands

NewThis command will cause a new database to be created.
This consists of 4 .DB files, and 4 .IDX files. Three of the .DB files are hidden, so that they do not show up on the "open" dialog box. Database filenames can be no longer than 7 characters, not the ususal 8. This command also leaves the new database in an open state.

OpenThis command opens a database that is defined on disk. All database and index files are opened when the main name is selected.

Check This command checks the current open database for any bad records. Every attempt is made during operation to ensure that this does not happen, but an unexpected power failure at just the right time can cause problems. This command attempts to delete any bad records that it has found, but in most cases little can be done. If bad records are found but cannot be deleted, a message to that effect will come up. The only recourse is to rebuild the database from scratch or restore from the backups you should make after each session.

Backup This command will backup the current database and index files to drive A:.IT IS STRONGLY SUGGESTED THAT THIS BE DONE AFTER EVERY SESSION! Every attempt is made to ensure that data is saved as soon as you change it, but unexpected problems (such as power) can occur at just the wrong time. A backup can save you many hours of work.

Restore This command will restore the current open database from drive A:. If you have a corrupt database on your hard disk, and wish to restore from floppy, create a new database with that name before restoring.

Print This command, which only shows up when a report is selected and being displayed, will cause a hard copy of that report to be printed.


Reports

Totals This report will display the current account balances and show the total for all accounts.

Charges Not implemented

Payments Not implemented



Activities

Charges This command invokes the charges dialog box. This box is the interface that allows the user to enter in his cahrge information for all accounts. When first displayed, the listbox will show all currently defined accounts. The user must first select which one of these he will be working with. When selected, the name will appear in the "Account Name" edit box. Alternately, the user can just type the first characters in this box of an account name (enough to distinguish it from any other accounts) and tab out of this field. The database will be searched and the closest match will be entered in the edit field. The next step is to select a catagory to allocate the charge to. This can be done by selected the "Catagories" radio button, and then choosing from that list, or as in the account name field, type a few characters and tab out. The closest match will be filled in. The next step is to enter a description of the charge. This should be a short note just to remind you exactly what you spent your hard earned credit dollar for.
The next items to be entered are the amount of the charge, and then the date. The date can be entered as simply as 3/4, or as complex as 03/04/89. It will be filled out (using the current year, of course). Be sure to use a slash between day and month. When all this data is entered, select the "ADD" pushbutton. THe listbox will change to the charge mode, and the charge will be added.
To delete or change any charge, select the account first, then select "Charges" over the listbox. All charges for that account will be listed. Selecting one will cause it's information to be displayed in the edit boxes. Any item can be edited, and then the "Change" button can be pressed, or a selected charge can be deleted by pressing the "Delete" button.

Payments This screen allows the user to record all payments made to the charge accounts. The user must first select an account from the box, and then enter the reqested data. When the "add" button is pressed, the box will switch to payments and the payment will be displayed. Deletions and changes function as in the "Charge" dialog box.

Balances This dialog allows the user to enter in the current balance from his last statement. "Change" is the only option here.


Setup

Account informationThis screen allows the user to define all information about the charge accounts. Several common ones are listed, or "other" can be selected to enter your own. Simply enter everything asked for, and press "Add". "Change" & "Delete" function as in the other screens.

Catagory information This screen allows the user to set up catagories for future allocation. If default catagories were chosen at build time, they will be displayed here.


Disclaimers:

This documentation is by no means complete, and will be updated in the near future.

Use or registration of CreditWindow does not entitle the user to any warranties, express or implied. The software is provided on an "as-is" basis. Regular backups of the database are strongly recommended.

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