
The Claims Manager


System Requirements

Place a "files = 120"  line in your config.sys file.  If 120 files is not enough, increase it slightly until the program runs.  In most cases you can use from 100 to 120.  
Program ONLY runs with at least a 386 class computer and at least 1 meg of free upper memory.  If program seems sluggish, you will need to install a disk caching program such as Smartdrive that comes with Windows.   If you are running on a Novel 3.1 network, you will need the statement File Handles = 99 in your Net.cfg file.

Installation

Installation from floppy diskette: 
1. Place the line files=120  in your config.sys and reboot your computer.
2. You may need to adjust the command share.exe in your autoexec.bat if the program will not open files.  You will know after installation if this step is needed because the message "Cannot share <filename>" will appear in a window..
3. Insert installation diskette 1 (some disk sizes only require one installation diskette) into a floppy.
4. Change to that drive.  Example:  If you put the diskette in your A drive, you would type A: and press the Enter Key.  Your prompt would then be A>
5. Type Install
6. Follow the on screen instructions.   
	Always type TV.BAT to start The Claims Manager.

Installation from a zip file:  
1.  Place the line files=120 (or more) in your config.sys and reboot your computer.
2. You may need to adjust the command share.exe in your autoexec.bat if the program will not open files.  You will know after installation if this step is needed because the message "Cannot share <filename>" will appear in a window..
3. Place the claims_.exe (or claims.zip) in  a sub directory (I use CLAIMS for the directory name) and type Claims_   ....don't forget the underscore character (or pkunzip claims.zip)
4. After uncompressing files, you may delete the claims_.exe file or claims.zip.
5. Type "TV.BAT".  The program will create any necessary files. If you run into a file create error, go back and rename the fixfiles.bak to fixfiles.bat. Then run TV.BAT again.  Always type TV.BAT  to start The Claims Manager.

UPGRADING:  If you are upgrading from a previous version of The Claims Manager,  you will need to rename the file called fixfiles.bak to fixfiles.bat.  Then type Tv.bat.  The upgrade will take place before the program loads the first time.

Windows 95 Notes
If you are using the Windows 95 peer to peer networking, you will need to edit the SYSTEM.INI file and add the following line in the [386Enh] section of all workstations:
PerVMFiles=200   (or whatever number of files you need)

If you use Windows95, you should use the file b_claims.exe.  It is designed to handle a problem printing in Windows95. 
If you use the regular claims.exe , the following applies to you. 
ALL Windows95 users, regardless of whether you use a network or not, need to go into the printers and click off the "Spool MS-DOS jobs".  Otherwise you will encounter an error whenever you try to print.  It is located under the Port Settings under the Details tab in Printer properties.  A word of caution to HP 820/870Cse Deskjet users.  Some deskjet printers will not print in DOS, only in DOS through a Windows MS-DOS icon.  If this is your printer, you will experience an error (Error on Disk j(junk) during read - general failure) whenever you try to print using claims.exe.  You MUST use b_claims.exe (rename it to claims.exe)


THE FIRST TIME YOU USE The Claims Manager: run Setup in Utilities.
     After loading the program, go to setup to enter your business preferences See Setup Below.    It is also recommend that you go into Utilities menu and enter your service profile information under the Brands menu option at this time.

Demo Version Notice
If  this copy is a Demo version of  The Claims Manager , you will be limited to only 6 invoices.  Registering the product will remove this limitation.  Please feel free to distribute copies of the demo version.  Upload it to your favorite BBS.




SETUP

* Your Company Name:  Cannot be changed.
* Federal ID#:  If you put a federal id# here, it will print on all invoices at the top, just below the heading.  Some companies that you work for might require this.  If you do not put a number here, nothing prints.
* Your company address:  Whatever you put here, prints on invoices.
* Your company city,st zip: Whatever you put here, prints on invoices.
* Your company telephone: Whatever you put here, prints on invoices.
* FAX# If you place your fax number here, it will be used on the parts order purchase orders that you generate in "parts ordering".  Your fax number will show up there automatically.  
* Local area code:  When entering customers, the area code you put here will automatically fill in.  Saves lots of time.
* Local Zip code:  When entering customers, the zip code you put here will automatically fill in. 
* Tax Percentage:  This is the tax rate that will automatically fill in on new claims.  You might have several tax rates in your area, but you use one the most.  Placing it here, will save you some time later.  You must have a tax table with this same amount in it, so when you leave this screen, be sure and select Tax Rates to verify that it is there.
* Parts percent markup:  The figure you put here (usually 40) is for marking up parts prices and will automatically fill in each time you create a new part item.   That figure can be changed at that time.
* Tax Labor etc.........   Some areas of the country tax differently than others.  If you are required to charge tax for labor or freight (and so on) you can control that here.  Answer y or n to each of these and they will be taxed (or not) individually as you create a new invoice.  They can be changed "on the fly" later on by pressing F3 while editing an invoice.
* New invoice status: Whenever you create a new invoice, the status will be blank.  Placing a status here will cause the status on the newly created invoice to be the same as here.  Example:  If you put "Awaiting Service" here, each time you create a new invoice, "Awaiting Service" will automatically be in status.
* New invoice tech: Placing a technician's name here will cause that technician's name to automatically fill in upon creating a new invoice.
* Part on order status:  Whenever you order a part, you will be given an opportunity by the program to show that the part is on order for an individual invoice.  At that time, whatever you put here, will automatically  be entered in the status field of that invoice.  I place "Awaiting Parts" in mine.
* The following lines .......  These lines print at the bottom of a paper invoice.
Sample wording might be:
This invoice shows charges for this repair job only.  We guaranty only
that the parts installed by us will perform satisfactorily under conditions of normal usage for a period of ninety days after date of repair.  There is absolutely no labor warranty on any instrument with an intermittent problem. Since the problem is not apparent, it cannot be traced.
Press Ctrl+Enter to save and go to:
Setup Page 2

* Banking Information Place your bank name, city and account number.  It will be printed on deposit slips.

* Number Labels This controls how many labels are printed if you print labels on a standard dot matrix printer.  This does not apply if you use a Seiko Smart Labeler.

* #Copies invoice:  Prints number here whenever you select paper invoice printing.
* #Copies SCALL:  Prints number of pages for a service call.  I print 2, one for me and one for the customer's receipt.
* Print Company Name on repair labels?   A "Y" here will print your company name at the bottom of the repair labels.  Some shops didn't want their names printed, so you can turn it off if you wish.
* The following lines are for the back of a postcard.  If you want to send your customer a postcard to advise them their repair is ready, then whatever you type here, will be printed on the back of a postcard.  I use this feature to inform customers of ready units when I was unable to contact them by phone.  I also use it sometime for estimate notifications. Sample wording might be: Please make arrangements to pick it up soon.  Thank you for allowing me to serve you!  Note:  Shop is Closed Saturdays & during lunch. Charge your repair to Visa Mastercard Discover. Sets uncalled for after 30 days will be sold.
* Print repair price on postcard? Answer yes to print it , no to omit.

* Extra Field#1 If you need a field on your invoices for lets say, cleaning, you can put the words CLEAN in this field.  Each and every invoice would then have a CLEAN field.  I use PU/DEL on mine.  You can use any 8 character label here.  It will print on the invoice.

* Extra Field#2  If you need another field on your invoices for lets say, Safety Leakage Testing, you can put the words SAFETY in this field.  Each invoice would then have a SAFETY field.  You can use any 8 character label here.  It will print on the invoice.

* Fixed price for #2 This will be a dollar figure.  Let's say you charge $3.00 for a safety leakage test.  You want that charge to appear automatically on each invoice.  Place an amount in this field.  When you add a new invoice, that number will appear automatically for you in Extra Field #2 amount field.  You will be able to change the figure on the invoice  as well.
?	Print invoice numbers Y/N  Some shops do not want invoice numbering printed on the paper invoices, so they can turn it off here.
?	Print "Safety Certified" Y/N  If you place a "Y" here, each invoice will reflect the following statement:  "SAFETY CERTIFIED - All exposed metal has been tested and found to have leakage below the level considered safe by industry standards for this type of chassis."
?	Print "Date Serv Requested" Y/N  a "Y" here will cause any date that is in the date requested field to be printed on the invoice.
?	Print "Signature" Y/N  A "Y" here will cause the program to print the word Signature and a line for a signature at the bottom of invoices.
?	Print "Credit Card info" Y/N   a "Y" here will cause the following line to be printed on the bottom of the invoice.  I use it to give the outside tech a chance to have a place for credit card information.
?	Fed ID# Y/N   a 'Y' here will cause your federal id# (which you have to fill in on the first Page of SETUP) to print just below the header on an invoice..                                   


       Version 4 and below, skip setup page 3.

Setup Page 3

Type Credit Cards you Accept:   This will be printed on Extended Warranty Certificate renewal notices.  If you do not plan to sell your own Extended Warranty Service Contracts, you can omit this step.
ENLARGED PRINT BEGIN:  Enter printer codes here.  They must be ascii characters only!  For example, if you looked into your printer manual, and it shows the code to be Esc 15 or if it says to use 027,15, then you must use the Alt key and the numeric keypad.  To enter 27,15, you would hold down the alt key.  While holding it down, key in 27 with your numeric keypad.  Release the alt key.  An ascii character should appear.   Now, hold down the alt key again.  Key in 15.  Release the alt key.  Another ascii character should appear.  That's all there is to it.

ENLARGED PRINT END:  Same as above.

Printer code for 10 CPI.  Same as above.  Enter the codes for switching to 10 characters per inch.

Printer code for 17 CPI.  Same as above.  Enter the codes for switching to 10 characters per inch.

Type in the wording you want (if any) that will print on your Extended Warranty Certificates.
If you sell Extended Warranties, and you want to print your own, Place the wording you would like printed here.




UTILITIES  

* Brands:  Place information from each service center profile here.  You can enter the rate structure and phone numbers as well as the mailing address.  By placing all this information here, it becomes available to you as you enter a claim.  While entering a claim (covered later on) pressing the F7 key will pop up this window allowing you access to you service profile information.  This is easier than looking in some book for the profile while filling in a claim.  This menu option is the only place you can edit manufacturer data from  Editing is not allowed while entering a claim.

* Customers:  Complete access to the customer file.  It is not necessary to add customers here unless you want to.  You will be able to ad customers and edit them "on the fly" as you enter claims.

* Dealers:  Place the dealers you do business with here.  Also frequented retail outlets.  This saves a lot of typing when customers bring in items  and you are filling in a claim.

* Complaint Codes:  EIA complaint code file.

* Repair Codes:  EIA repair code file.

* Invoice Numbering:  Place the next invoice number here.  It will automatically increment and be entered onto a claim each time you create a new one.     

* FCC AND UL CODES:  On the back of  each tv or vcr is a code.  By placing those codes here, you can have a reference of who makes what for who (did you follow all that?)

* Invoice numbering: Restart invoice numbers here.

* Certificate Numbering: If you generate your own service contracts, you will choose the Certificate number starting point here.

* Extended Warranty Companies:  Keep a datafile on Extended warranty companies here.  They will be used as you enter extended warranties into the system in the Extended Warranty menu in Reports/Contracts menu.

* Parts: Access to parts database.  You can access by Part number order, description order or vendor order.  

Part numbers  must be unique.  
Description (25 characters total) only 15 characters show on the invoice, but will print the full 25 characters.
Vendor:  type anything here and a list of your vendors pops up.  You can use one of them, or start a new vendor called, let's say RCA.  All vendors parts will be grouped together by vendor in part number order.
Cost:  Your cost for part.
Profit percent.  See the chart on right for explanation.
Freight is added to total retail (each)
Dud Value:  Some items must be returned for dud credit or a charge occurrs.  Put that here.
Taxable Y or N.  If you want to use a part item for a labor item, you can keep it from taxing by selecting N.  example:  Say you want to charge 3.00 for cleaning a unit and you want the customer to know he is paying specifically for cleaning.  You could call this part number Cleaning and a description of Complete unit.  Then charge 3.00 and not tax it, since it was a labor item.  
F6= Print label.  Prints a parts label.

* Phone Directory:  Vendor's phone numbers are placed here automatically.  You can place your other phone numbers and addresses here  for future reference.

* Zip Codes:  Exactly that.  All  the zip code information you have entered will be here and listed by zip code.

* Cities:  Same as zip codes, but listing is in order by city name.

* Tax Rates:   Place applicable tax rates here.  In some places several tax rates are needed depending on the area.  This gives you access to multiple tax rates.


Tutorial -- Entering an invoice....

1.  Select Claims Manager.  Note:  If you get a screen that flashes and says The Claims Manager can only be accessed by registered user,  then someone has tampered with your setup.dat file.  You will need to get out your installation diskette and replace that one file only. 

2.  You can select Not Paid or All. You can enter invoices from any of these table listings.  But, you would normally choose Not Paid and press Enter.

3.  You now have a new menu showing the different ways that Unpaid Invoices can be viewed.  Select By Name.  Press Enter.  The first time you use The Claims Manager you will have no records.  If there are no records in your database you will automatically be thrown into the invoice screen .  If you had invoices already entered, then go to step 4.

1. Press Insert.  A blank invoice will appear and the words "Record will be Added" will be at the bottom of the red screen.
  
2. Fill in the form as follows:

Function Keys :  On the screen you will see some White letters mixed in with the Yellow ones.  These are cursor shortcuts.  If you want to "Jump" to the Tax field, press Alt-T.  Or Other would be Alt-O.
* F3= Pops up a menu allowing you to change the taxability of certain fields on the form.  Press it to see the popup choices.
* F5=Extended directions.  If you have a customer on the phone telling you she lives on the third house just west of the big water tower, now you have a place to type that.  Just press F5, type it in, and when you print the service call sheet, it will be printed on the bottom of the paper.
* F7=Service profile information.  All the charges that you have been allowed from a certain manugacturer will pop up for reference.
* F9=Payments.  See Taking in payments later in the documentation. 
 
Customer:

Certain conditions will exist.  Please read all of these conditions before you start typing.

Customer has never been in the shop before:
     Type in a customer's name.  The correct format would be Last name, First name.  This keeps the customer  file in order by Last name, followed by First name.  Press Enter.  Or, you could press F2.  NOTE:  Wherever you see a little up arrow before a field, press F2 to get a browse list of available choices.   A list of customers in the customer database will pop up.  You may use the arrow keys at this time to move up or down in the customer file, but since the customer has never been in, their name will not be there.  Press Insert to add a new customer.  A smaller window will pop up. The message "Record will be Added" appears at the top of the form.  This is how you can tell if you are adding or changing a record.  Anything you typed in the customer field of the invoice will already be in the name field.  Continue filling in the name and address information.  Fill in the zip code.  If you are not sure what the zip code is, press F2 .  A zip code window will pop up.  Browse through the zip codes database by city name.  Press Esc. to return to the add screen.  The city will fill in automatically once the zip is entered.

Customer has been in shop before:
	Type in a customer's name.  The correct format would be Last name, First name.  This keeps the customer  file in order by Last name, followed by First name.  Press Enter.  The address and city information will fill in automatically from the customer database on exact matches.  Or,  you may press F2 and window will pop up.

Customer address or phone is in database, but is incorrect:
	Go back to the Customer field by pressing up arrow or the Esc key several times.  
Selecting the Customer Database:
There are two ways to access the customer database from this field.  You could press the F2 key or do the following.  Move your cursor to the last letter on the right of the customer's name.  Hint:  Using the End key takes you there instantly.  Ctrl+End will delete the whole line.  
Example:    Smith, John    Move your cursor to the n in John by pressing the End key.  Press Delete to delete that 'n' character.  Press Enter. 
Editing the customer information in the customer database:
The customer browse window will pop up on the screen.  Use the arrow keys to select the correct customer name to change.  Once you have highlighted that name, press Ctrl+Enter to enter the edit mode.  Another window should pop up.   You will then be able to edit the customer's information directly in the customer's information file.  Make the necessary changes, then press Ctrl+Enter to save and exit that screen.  You will now be back to the customer listing table and the same customer will still be highlighted.  At this time, just press enter.  The customer browse window will disappear.  All the correct information will now be displayed on the invoice screen

Status:  If you filled in a status in the Setup, it will automatically appear here.  If not, you can access this field in one of two ways.  Either type something and press enter, or press F2 and choose from a list.  If no list was made, you will be able to add to the status file here.  If the Status browse window is on the screen, pressing the Insert key will allow you to add a new status.

Claim No:
	When in the add new invoice mode (you originally pressed insert to add a new invoice), the next invoice number will be filled in automatically.  This number can be changed by selecting "Invoice Numbering" in the "Utilities" menu.  
Note about invoice number changing:  do not change a invoice number if there is payment history on a particular claim.  For instance:  If you made a invoice number 1234 and the charges were for 80.00.  The customer paid you 20.00.  You then decide to change the invoice number.  The payment history is linked to the claim #1234.  If you change that number, the payment history would be no longer valid, and would just lie there with no connection anywhere.  So, before you change a invoice number with payment history, go into Payments by pressing F9 and delete all history first.  You then may go back and reenter the payment history with the new invoice number.

Brand:
	Brand can be entered two different ways.
	1.  Enter any brand name and press Enter.
	2.  (Preferred) Press F2 when cursor is in the Brand field.  This accesses a history file for this customer.  All sets that were previously entered in here will be displayed.   If this is the customer's first time in, you will be automatically in the add mode.   Fill out the model, serial, type unit and so on information.  Press Ctrl+Enter to save.  Then select from the browse window the unit to be serviced and press Enter. 
	3.  If the customer has been in several times before, pressing F2 will pop up the history browse window, and you can choose from a list of previous repairs.  This saves time in retyping the information again.  Note: History information can only be entered in here.  It will not be automatically saved anywhere else.  If you do not use this feature, it will lie dormant.

Type Unit:
	Enter the type of unit in for repair.  Example:  VCR - Color Portable 9" -  Camcorder - and so on.  This gives you an indication from the screen what type unit this is.  This is a required field.

Transmitter:  If the customer brings in the remote, change this to 'Y'.  When you do a label print (a little later) you will print out an extra label for the transmitter.  Another thing, when the customer comes in to pick up his repair, and you print this invoice, if this box is 'Y' a reminder will pop up to tell you his remote is here.   

Redo?  Guess what this is for?  YUK!  This field does no more than give you a Y or N.  No hidden features here.

Symptom:                                  HISTORY
	List the customer's complaint.  The field will scroll on this field to allow a little more typing room.  Hint: Pressing F2 while on this field will allow access to the history file.  Press F2, a window will pop up.  Use the up/down arrow keys to view history.  If you see a previous symptom that you would like to view, press Ctrl+Enter to view the complete file.  If you want to pull that information back into the invoice, press Enter while it is selected from the browse table.  If you do not wish to choose one, press Esc to return to invoice with no changes.

Dealer:
	Press F2 to access a list of dealers.  Hint:  If you have a dealer you do service for all the time, put that name here.  For example:  Radio Shack here would allow you to go to the "Statement" menu selection and print a statement of all repairs in the shop for Radio Shack.  

Notes:  Just for your eyes only.  does not appear anywhere else and does not print.

Fault Code:  
	EIA symptom code go here.  Press F2 when cursor on field for access.

Repair Code:
	EIA repair code goes here.  Press F2 when cursor on field for access.
Sticker#:
	Zenith requires a sticker number for claim submission.  To be utilized at a later date.


Contact: this is just for your information.  If a company brings you in a unit, and your contact is a Mr. Jones, Place his name here.  That way, whenever you reference this invoice, you will know who to deal with.  This will also print on invoices.

Technician:  On new invoices, if  you put a technician's name in Setup, then it will automatically be here.  If not, type in a technicians name and press F2.  Choose from the list.

Tax%: The tax rate to charge for this invoice.  Note:  To change the tax rate, type in something that is not on the tax table, and the tax table will pop up again.

Labor: Labor charges.  HINT: By pressing F7, you will display your profile for that brand.  Your labor charges could be listed there by manufacturer.  While the profile screen is up,  pressing F6 will print you an address label of the manufacturer if this is a claim.  If you wish to tax labor, press the F3 key.  A chart of yes/no fields will pop up, allowing you to choose individually.  If you access that chart, you MUST close that window with Ctrl+Enter to save and exit that window.  If you use Esc, the changes will be ignored.  Hint:   AltL will move the cursor to the Labor field.

Deposit:  If you require a deposit to be paid up front, place that charge here.  Press F9 to take the money in.  You will have to figure out what to do with this charge after you repair the unit.  If you remove the amount in this field after the repair is made, the balance will reflect it by decreasing that amount.  (sounds confusing doesn't it?).  Play with this one with some figures and get a feel for how it works.

Freight: Freight Charges go here.  If you wish to tax freight, press the F3 key.  A chart of yes/no fields will pop up, allowing you to choose individually.  If you access that chart, you MUST close that window with Ctrl+Enter to save and exit that window.  If you use Esc, the changes will be ignored.

Serv Call:  Put service call charges here.  If you wish to tax Service calls, Press F3.  A chart of yes/no fields will pop up, allowing you to choose individually.  If you access that chart, you MUST close that window with Ctrl+Enter to save and exit that window.  If you use Esc, the changes will be ignored.

EXTRA FIELD #1   Whatever you designated in Setup will show here/.  If you wish to tax this field, press F3.  A chart of yes/no fields will pop up, allowing you to choose individually.  If you access that chart, you MUST close that window with Ctrl+Enter to save and exit that window.  If you use Esc, the changes will be ignored

EXTRA FIELD #2  I use this field for a Safety Check:  If you perform safety leakage testing, place charges here.  If you tax safety leakage testing, press F3.  A chart of yes/no fields will pop up, allowing you to choose individually.  If you access that chart, you MUST close that window with Ctrl+Enter to save and exit that window.  If you use Esc, the changes will be ignored.

Other:  Place miscellaneous  charges here.  If  you wish to charge tax on Other, press F3.  A chart of yes/no fields will pop up, allowing you to choose individually.  If you access that chart, you MUST close that window with Ctrl+Enter to save and exit that window.  If you use Esc, the changes will be ignored. Pressing AltO will take cursor to this field.

Qy:	Enter a number from 1 to 99.  Must be at least 1.  AltQ will pop up a choice of  lines to go to.  If you want the cursor to go to part number line 3, just enter 3 when the pop up is on, you will go there.

Part-Number:  Enter the part number (or a partial one).  Press F2 and you can lookup, add, edit, or delete right from the parts file.  If you press F4 you can look up your parts in order by vendors.
Description: 	Same as part number.  I have increased the size of this field to 25 characters.  You can only see 15, but 25 will scroll by.  25 characters will print on the paper invoice.  Pressing F2 will access your parts file in Description order.  HINT:  If the part number field is blank, pressing F2 in description will allow you to choose a part by description instead of part number.

Ref:	Part identification number.  Example F101   or R502

F3 - access to the tax calculations selections menu.  Just remember,. you must leave this screen with Ctrl+Enter for it to take effect.  If you leave with Esc or Ctrl+Esc, you will leave without saving.

F6 - Print.  No longer valid.  You must go to supplemental screen (Ctrl+Enter) to print.

F7 - Access warranty rates.  Ever  forget what a manufacturer pays for a carry-in minor on a color tv?  Just press F7 and the manufacturers rates for the brand set brought in will appear. The rates, however, must have been filled in through the utilities menu before you can display this form.  Can also be used to put rates in for non warranty brands.

F9 - Payments are added here.  When F9 is pressed, a payment browse window appears and you are in the add mode.  Just fill in the information and press Ctrl+Enter to complete the edit.  After the edit window disappears and only the browse window appears you can do several things.  Pressing Esc will take you back to the claim.  When the payment screen is up, you can use the insert to Add, Ctrl+Enter to edit and Del to delete just as you can elsewhere.  This way, you can have multiple payments and credits for one invoice.  Experiment and you will discover how to apply.

Ctrl+Enter:  Saves and exits to supplemental information screen.  Pretty self explanatory.  Again, you must use Ctrl+Enter to save before leaving screen.  Some items on this screen are filled in automatically as you do other things in the program.  Notice:  While saving the first page, you will notice a slight delay.  That is due to the program updating all the indexes at this time.  
Supplemental Data Screen:  is accessed after pressing Ctrl+Enter while in the claim form.  

Hint: Ctrl+Enter will always save and go to the next page.  When you press Ctrl+Enter after the first page, you might notice a pause before going to the next page.  That is because the database must update all the files and indexes before it can go to the next page.
Hint: Ctrl+ESC will always exit and go back to the previous page. All data that was changed will not be saved. 

Blue Supplemental Screen (Page 2) 

* Status: type something and press enter.  A window will pop up to choose from.  You can any status wording you wish.  The date the status was changed is reflected in the date field just to the right of STATUS.

* Warranty: NONE FULL PARTS  Use your arrow keys to choose or select n for none, f for full, or p for parts.  These letters will show up on the left of the screen in the unpaid table under Warranty? column. (that's what those little n's and f's and p's are)

* F9=Extensive Notes.   You have a whole page of notes you can doodle on per invoice by pressing the F9 key.  I put things that the customer tells me here.  A flashing reminder will appear if you have any notes entered.

*  Print invoice number on invoice:  Some servicers wanted to be able to withhold number printing on (paper) invoices, so here is how to do it.  If you selected Y or N in setup, it will be automatically reflected here.  This field applies to print paper invoices only.

* Serviced:  This date is automatically filled in whenever you print an invoice.  You can change it if you wish. 

* Choose print selection: Use arrow keys, or numbers 0 - 12.  Choices are to right of screen.  

* HELPFUL HINT:   some laser and ink jet type printers have a 3 line margin at the top of each page and a 3 line margin at the bottom of each page.  When printing to these type printers, you will experience a smaller printing area.  

Caution:  Use your ARROW KEYS to select the PRINT options!!

0.  None 
1. Paper  Prints the paper invoice .
2. Label.  Works on both a regular printer or if you have a Seiko Label printer properly  installed.
3. NESDA  Prints a NESDA invoice (unprinted forms are available from NESDA address on last page of this document.
4. NARDA Prints a NARDA invoice (unprinted forms are available from NARDA address on last page of this document.
5. CARD FRONT prints the customer a postcard to remind of service completed.
6. CARD BACK  prints the back side of that postcard.  Go to setup to change what isprinted here. 
7. SERVICE CALL prints a service call sheet.  Print two, if you do not use two-part forms.  This causes a flag on this invoice, and you can access service call information from it's own menu.  Makes tracking outside service a little easier. 
8. CHECK LABEL  This is a claim check label, of sorts.  I usually print this label and stick it on the back of one of my business cards.  This way, the customer has a receipt for his repair item, as well as my business information.
9. ADDRESS LABEL prints a mailing label, in case you need one to mail something to the customer  (like a bill).
10. READY LETTER  prints a letter similar to the post card for notifying a repair is ready.  (now, aren't you glad you have option 9?) 
11. LIGHTNING AFFIDAVIT prints two types of affidavits.  One is filled in from the information you have already typed in, and one is a blank one that you fill in by hand.
12. READY STICKER Just prints a sticker that says READY that I can see from a few feet away.


* Give estimate before repairing:  Yes or No.  If yes is selected, a flashing warning will appear on the invoice screen (red first screen) as a reminder.

* Enter a promised date:  Answer Y, and a calendar will pop up.  Choose the date using the arrow keys.   Press Enter.  That date will appear on the claim and  will cause this customer to be listed in the Promised listing of the Not Paid Menu.  This date will go to 00/00/00 when the total goes above zero.  In other words, if you place charges on this invoice, the promised date will reset to zero.  In that way, you will not have to see this repair in the Promised repairs browse listing.

* Amount of Estimate:  Dollar values from low to high.

* Date estimate Approved:  Self explaining.

* Purchase Ord# If the set owner gives you a po number, put it here.  It will print on his invoice.

* Location: Location of unit in shop.  If you have anything in this field, then whenever you print the invoice, you will be given a chance to change this to "GONE" or leave it as it is.

* Date called and advised ready:  Place a date here when contact is made.

* Date post card sent to customer:  Automatically filled in if a postcard is sent and option 6  (Postcard back) is printed above.

* Date claim mailed to Manufacturer:  Place a date here and you will have record of that date.  Automatically filled in if Narda or Nesda is printed.  A date here will cause this invoice to show up in the reports as claims sent.

* Technician info.  If you have several technicians, you can track them here.  The technician's name that was entered on the first page will show up here.  The Docket# (or receipt number) is for you to put in a number from an outside (or inside) technician's receipt book  for tracking purposes.  The cash, check, credit fields are for the moneys he collects.  Example:  Your outside technician has a receipt book.  You give him several service calls to run.  He calls you after the first one to tell you he fixed the set and collected 45 dollars.  You would put $45.00 under Cash or whatever, and under the Docket# you could record the receipt number he used for the customer (if you use receipt books).  If the technician has any special notes, you can put them in the Technician's notes field.  When the technician turns in the money, you would go to the first screen, and press F9 to receive the money into the business.  Any money he collects will be shown if you go to the individual technician's account by selecting By Tech from the previous menu.


Extended warranty Cert#.  (version 5 and above only) Notice the little up arrow.  This denotes you press the F2 key to access.  If the customer has any extended warranty information entered in the extended warranty database, it will pop up here.  Otherwise, you will be given the opportunity to enter Extended warranty information at this time.  Once you have entered an extended warranty data sheet, select it .  The information from the extended warranty page will be carried over to this blue page.  The dates will be filled in automatically.  You can also go to the reports menu and fill in extended warranties.  Go to the Reports/Contracts menu and enter them there.

Move this form to paid?   An invoice remains in the unpaid section as long as this equals "n".  Whenever you take in the money for the repair, this changes to a "y" and then moves this invoice to the "ALL" menu.  But......if someone decides to leave you with a unit that is not repairable and you don't want to delete this information from file, you can move it to paid, without losing the information.  Otherwise, you would have to show a charge and a payment before it leaves the not paid area.  

Service Call?  a Y or N here will cause this invoice to show up on the Service Call listing at the menu.  If you print a service call in the Choose print selection, then a "Y" will be here automatically.

Picked up by:  When the unit is paid for and the invoice is being printed, you will be asked for the name of the person picking the unit up.  The name in the customer field is suggested automatically, but can be changed easily by pressing ctrl+end to delete it and retype the new name in.

Part Number:  If you ordered a part in the parts ordering menu, and put a customer's name in the customer field, that information will show up here.
 Purchase Order#:  All the following fields are filled from the parts ordering section.  If you selected this customer's name by pressing F2 when you were ordering the part,  (remember that field that said F2 List of customers?)  well, that information will appear here.  However, only one part will show up here.  The status will also say Awaiting Parts (if you set that up in the setup file).

Now, for the good part.
Taking in Payments

When someone comes in to pick up a unit, find the customer's name in Not Paid and get that invoice on the screen.  Press F9 to access the payment screen.  At first, this screen will seem a little tricky, but it does follow a logical convention.  If no payments have been made on this invoice, you will be in the automatic add mode.  Today's date will be already filled in for you and the cursor should be sitting on the date, flashing.  You may change the date if you wish.  Next you can type in a description.  The description will print on your deposit slip.  As soon as you press enter, a window pops up.  You can use your arrow keys and choose from 1. The customers name, 2. the Dealer, 3. the manufacturer.  
* The customer's name is automatically filled in from the customer's name on the invoice.
* Dealer.  If a dealer name in the Dealer field, it will show up here.  
* Manufacturer.  I went into the BRANDS menu in the Utilities menu.  I selected each brand, and typed in the name of the company in the Mail Claims to: field.  Now, the reason for all that is simple.  Let's say Zenith is paying for this repair.  If you had gone into the Brands, made a brand called Zenith, then put in Zenith Electronics Corp. in the Mail To: field, then Zenith Electronics Corp. would now be in the purple manufacturer box.  If no name shows up, then you didn't put anything in the Brand database.  The whole point of that was to keep you from having to type in the manufacturer's name each time you receive money from them.  
Now, back to the selection.  The one you choose is automatically filled into the description, but you may change it if you wish.  The description is the name that will show up on the deposit listing.  Next, put in a reference if you like.  It could be a check number or the words MC or Visa or Disc if it is a credit card purchase.  If you press F6 or F& or F8 the balance will fill in automatically.... or you can enter the amount in either the cash, check or credit field.  Example:  Someone comes in, gives you a check , some change and has a credit voucher, or coupon.  You can enter something in all the fields if you wish.  Or, you can make a separate line for each one.  To create multiple lines, just press insert whenever the highlight bar is brown.  Another note...You cannot apply the money on a line until the cursor goes all the way to the right. (Pressing enter several times will do it, or ctrl+Enter).  Now, for the tricky part.  After you have entered in the money, you need to leave this window and go back to the invoice.  The only way to leave this window is to use the ESC key.  Now, the only way the esc key will exit is when the brown selector bar is visible. You  will know when this happens, because your cursor will disappear.  If you forget any of this, just press F1 while in the screen.  The help will be there.  You should now be back to the form.   Warning:  The balance (that was on the payment window which is now lower than it was, preferably zero) will be moved to the invoice.    If you press Ctrl+Esc at this point,  the balance will not be saved on the invoice.  You MUST press Ctrl+Enter to save the new balance and apply the payments permanently.  You will then be on the secondary information screen, (the blue screen where you print from) and you can now print the invoice.  The balance information was transferred to the secondary information screen for reference (in case you forgot how much it was).  When you press Ctrl+Enter on the secondary screen, the payment will be applied, and all changes will be made permanently.  If the balance is above zero, the claim will remain in unpaid.  If it goes to zero, the claim will no longer be listed as unpaid.

  


Main Menu

Not Paid
	Allows access to all invoices that are unpaid.  You will be able to access them by several different fields.  You will be able to add, edit and delete from any of these menus.
  
By Name: This will give you a sub menu.
1. All Unpaid Repairs- This is a listing BY NAME of all the Unpaid Repairs 
2. Fixed Unpaid - Listed, by name order.  The balance is greater than zero (or Extrafield#2 if you use it) 
3. Unrepaired - Listed by date in shop order.  The balance is greater than zero (or Extrafield#2 if you use it)

By Date in Shop:  Listed in order of date received.  This one takes a little time, because it counts all the repairs, and totals all the invoices for you into one big total.
By Dealer:  If you put anything in the dealer field, it will show up here.  If nothing was in that  field, it will be displayed here.
By Model Number:  If you have a model number, look it up here.
By Brand:  In order by brand.
By Promised:  If you put a date in the promised field, it will show up on this browse table.  You will also  be allowed to print this table to your printer.
By Claim #:  Not paid, by invoice number.  Great for finding an invoice that was paid by invoice number.
By Status: Not paid, listed by status.  You can press the F6 key to print a list of whatever status your cursor is pointing to.
All
	Allows access to all invoices in database whether paid or not. You will be able to access them by several different fields.  You will be able to add, edit and delete from any of these menus.

By Customer:  All invoices listed by name order.
By Serial Number:  All invoices listed in serial number order.
By Model Number:  All invoices listed in Model Number order.
By Invoice#:  All invoices listed in Invoice# order.
By Brand:  All invoices listed in order by brand.
By Dealer:  All invoices listed in order by Dealer.


	
 Service Call
Use this to access all invoices that were printed as service calls.   They will be grouped together here for ease of viewing.  Printing an invoice service call will place it here automatically.  In other words, say you are in not paid and entering an invoice.  Whenever you print a service call sheet for that invoice, that invoice will now be shown in this listing as well as the not paid listing.


By Tech
When you first select this option, a window will pop up.  Choose a technician with the arrow keys and press Enter.   If that technician has any repairs assigned and unpaid, they will be listed and totaled for you.  You can also print those when the activity list is on the screen by pressing the F6 key.  You can't edit the invoices from here, just view the listing and print the listing.  Press Esc to return to the menu.

Parts Ordering

Add/Edit Vendors:  Before you can order, you have to establish vendors.  Select this option, and fill in the vendor information.  All the information you fill in here will be printed on the parts purchase orders.

To order parts:
1. Select parts ordering, press Enter.  Next a list of vendors will appear.  Select the one you want by using the up, down arrow keys,  press Enter.  If the one you want is not listed, go back to Add/Edit and add it.  You should now see the following screen: (figure 1)
Figure 1
2. Press Insert to add a new part order.  Record will be added should appear in a box to show you are in the add mode. (figure 2)
Figure 2
3. The next po number will be suggested.  It is changeable.  
4. Next the date of order will be automatically today.  This is also changeable.   
5. Enter a quantity.  This is a required field.
6. You will now be in the parts section.  Type in the part number you wish to order.  Now, press F2.  Select the part number from the list  If it is not already in the database, press insert to add it.  You will then return back to the purchase order.  The description field comes from the parts file and can only be changed there. You may change the data tion and each if you want.  This information will print on the purchase order as it shows on this form.  
7. Confirm#.  Some companies give you a confirmation number to reference your orders.
8. If you are ordering this part for a specific customer and there is a claims invoice already started, press F2.  You will then be shown a list of customers that have unpaid repairs in the shop.  Select the correct one by using the up/down arrow keys and press Enter.  Note:  By selecting a customer from this list, you will be putting this parts order information on the secondary information (blue) screen for that customer (You remember, when you added a new claim, it was at the bottom of page 2 in the claims section).  Then if he calls to check on his unit, you can access the secondary information sheet(claims blue page 2), and the parts ordering data will be listed automatically at the bottom of that page!
9. Press insert from (figure 1) to add any further parts orders from this vendor.  Press F6 to print a purchase order.  A purchase order will print all orders with a 'Y" in the lefthand column.  To change the column from "Y" to a "  ", use the F3andF4keys.Aftertheyprint, today's date will be placed on each of the parts lines printed.  You may then fax that sheet to the vendor, or call them and place the order.  
* NOTE:  by using the "Y" field, it allows you to put off ordering a part today.  Let's say you are out of ECG125 transistors, but you don't want to order just those alone.  By placing the order item in now, the next time you order from this vendor, this item will be included in the order because of the "Y" field.  

Press F5 to print all items listed.
Press F7 to print a price check sheet.  It only prints an item with today's date in the date field (ignores the "Y" field).  You may then fax it to the supplier, and request price information.

Billed on Invoice Number:
The 5 items at the bottom of the form are to be used if you wanted to keep track of each item individually.  For instance, if you have a part (let's say a Zenith 9-160-05).  It was ordered for a set that was under warranty.  You could put in the invoice number you were billed on in the first field for tracking purposes.  By putting a date in the sent back to vendor field, you can track the date you sent the dud module in for credit.  There are also fields for an RA (return authorization) number.  You can show how you returned it.  When you do get the credit from the supplier, you may then go to the last item Clear this invoice out and say "Y" at this point.  It will then no longer show up under that distributor's name.  Try it out, and you will get the idea how it works.


List by Part Number:  browse through purchase orders on a part number basis.  No editing or printing allowed, just for reference.
List by Customer:   browse through purchase orders on a customer basis.  No editing or printing is allowed, just for reference.

Parts Inventory:  Not actually an inventory, but a listing of the parts you have priced here.  Another menu will appear allowing  you to choose from part number or description or vendor.




Symptom History

As you enter invoices, you will also be entering symptoms and cures for those symptoms.  These items are saved in a History file.  Access to those symptoms are gained through two ways.  By selecting Symptom History from The Claims Manager menu, you will be accessing them in several ways.  By Model number, by Brand, and by Symptom.  After selecting one of these menu options, you can browse through old repair history.  You can add, edit, or even delete them.
The other way to access the history files is through the invoice itself.  When the cursor is on the Symptom field, press F2.  A window will pop up allowing access.
History files are generated automatically as you save each invoice.

NOTE:  If you have several invoices already entered and are upgrading  



Phone Directory

A place to keep those much needed phone numbers.  As you enter numbers in the parts vendor files, they will also appear here.




Extended Warranty
* Note: The ability to add extended warranty information into the database is also available from the blue screen (page 2) of the invoice.  By pressing F2 on the Extended warranty field, you will access the same items as listed here.

The Extended warranty menu has moved to the Reports menu.  The Extended Warranty menu covers 2 possibilities.  One is if  your business sells Extended Warranties,  and two, if  you service units with other extended warranties.

The first time you go in...... 

Press Enter and you will see a blank form.  The cursor will be at the NAME field.  The name you type MUST be in the customer's database.  Type in the last name, then the first name.  Press Enter.  IF that name is already in your customer database, it will fill in automatically.  If NOT, then you would press Insert and add that information, just as you do when you fill in a customer's invoice.  In most cases, the customer's name would already be in, because you would have entered that info when he brought in an item for service.  But, no worry, just add it if it isn't.

If this is a new customer, then the screen will now go into an Extended Warranty screen.

1.  If you sell Extended Warranties, this applies:

Today's date will be there automatically.  Press Enter.

The cursor will go to the Certificate number.  The next available number will be automatically filled in.  Press Enter.
Notice the up arrow.  Press F2.  A window will pop up.  If the customer data is already in the database, choose it and press enter.  If not, press Insert and fill in the fields   (if none are in the database, you will already be in the Add screen) .

The type, model, date purchased and serial number will fill in automatically.
Date Begins is when the coverage begins. Enter a date, and press Enter.
Period:  Enter the number months coverage and press Enter.
A date will automatically be in the Date Expires field if you put a month value in above.
Type can be changed by using the arrow keys.  Press Enter.
Renewal amount.  This is the amount you would charge the customer for the same coverage when this coverage runs out.  This figure will appear on a proposal that will be mailed to customers before their coverage runs out.  If the new coverage is higher or lower, then here is the time to enter it.
Sold By:  the sales clerk that sold the policy and signed it.
Date accepted:  date of sale and clerk's signature.
Cost:  amount to be collected from customer.
At this time, you should collect the money.  Press F9 and use the same technique that you do when you receive money for a repair.
Now, press F6 to print the contract on the printer.  Be sure and sign the Contract to Validate it.

2.  If you are just entering data from a customer that has another companies Extended Warranty contract, do the following:

Today's date will be there automatically.  Press Enter.

The cursor will go to the Certificate number.  The next available number will be automatically filled in.  Override that by typing in the number from the customer's contract.  Press Enter.
Notice the up arrow.  Press F2.  A window will pop up.  If the customer data is already in the database, choose it and press enter.  If not, press Insert and fill in the fields   (if none are in the database, you will already be in the Add screen) .

The type, model, date purchased and serial number will fill in automatically.
Date Begins is when the coverage begins. Enter a date, and press Enter.
Period:  Enter the number months coverage and press Enter.
A date will automatically be in the Date Expires field if you put a month value in above.
Type can be changed by using the arrow keys.  Press Enter.
Renewal amount.  Not applicable 
Sold By:  Not applicable.
Date accepted:  Not applicable.
Cost: Not applicable.
Contract Company Name:  Fill in the companies name here from the Certificate.
Mail Claim to:  Fill in the address.  You will need this when repair is completed.
Phone:  Enter the phone number to call in case you need assistance from the Contract Company.
Auth#.  Some companies require you to get an authorization number first.  If so, place it here.
Special instructions.  You may be required to keep the parts, or send a copy of a receipt or whatever by some companies.  Here is where you would put that information.

LOOKUP POLICIES
allows you to browse through the certificate data files.
* By Certificate Number  
* By Customer
* By Serial Number





DAY SHEET MENU

A password is required to access this area.  On the demo version it is LINCOLN

Deposit Data

Deposit data is tracked by date of deposit, not the date of service. 

Payment fields:

Claim No:   The actual invoice number that this data refers to.
Date:  The date of service.
Description:  The name that was recorded on the check that paid for the repair.  When you did a payment you were allowed to put anything in description to describe that payment.
Check#:  The number you recorded when the payment was made.
Cash:  any cash amount that was recorded when the payment was made.
Check: any check amount that was recorded when the payment was made.
Credit: any credit amount that was recorded when the payment was made.
Customer:  The customer name that appears at the top of the claim screen.  Not always the same as Description.
Date Deposited:  The actual date the money was taken to the bank.  Putting a date here will cause  payments to be sorted in this order for deposit records.  In other words, all records that have a date of 01/01/1995 here will be listed together as a deposit for that date.  On the other hand, these same records will not appear together in the day sheet, because day sheet handles payments in order of date of service.
Deposited:  Yes or No depending on whether it has been deposited.


Current Deposit Record 
     As you receive payments they will appear here.  F6 will print a listing.  Gather up your checks, cash and credit card receipts to balance.  Compare your checks with the listing.  If you made any mistakes, go back to that claim and change the items in question.  After you are through comparing, press the F4 key to print a deposit slip.  Most banks will accept the format I have used.  You will need to cut on the lines to use.  Once you  print the deposit, you will want to remove each item from the listing since it is now deposited. To remove items from this table,  you can either press F10 to do them all at once, or press Enter on each transaction.  Change the flag to Y.   That transaction will then disappear from this table.   When finished, press escape to return to the Day sheet Menu.

Hint:  If you change a flag to Y by mistake, go to the day sheet  menu.  Select View By Date.  Search for that transaction  by entering that transactions date.  When you find it,  press Enter.  You will then be able to re-flag it to N  and it will reappear here.

View Deposits by a Date
     Allows you to browse day sheet file entries by date.  This way you can view any of your previous deposits again.  Remember,  if you were to change any of the data on these transactions, it would affect  the claim that the money applied to.  So BE CAREFUL!
 
Print Deposits/Detail
    Actually, you won't print deposit slips here, but you can  print your detail from previous deposits.  You will be prompted for dates to print from.  You must select two dates.  The left date MUST be earlier than the right date, or nothing will print.

Print Deposits/Summary
     Prints only the totals of deposits.  Say you wanted to know what your deposits were for January 1995.  You would enter 01/01/1995 as the lower date, 01/31/1995 as the higher date.  From that you will print a listing of the deposit totals only in January 1995.

DAY SHEET DATA

Day sheet data differs from Deposit Data in that all records are included in the searches.  Also, the date of service is tracked instead of the date of deposit. 

View By Date

     Payment records access by order of date serviced.

VIEW BY DESCRIPTION
     Payment records access by order of  Description.  The name that was recorded on the check that paid for the repair.  When you did a payment you were allowed to put anything in description to describe that payment.
    
VIEW BY CLAIM#
     Payment records access by order of claim#.

VIEW BY CUSTOMER
     Payment records access by order of Customer Name.

VIEW BY CHECK NUMBER
     Payment records access by order of Check Number.

Print Day sheet  
     Enter two dates, or the same date and find out how you did for a day or period.  Remember, Day Sheet information is only payment information.  Any moneys received will be here.  Repairs with no payment history will not be here.

Phone Directory  
Keep address and phone numbers handy here.  As you enter numbers in the parts ordering log, they will also appear here, but if entered here, they will not appear there.

Reports

TECHNICIAN REPORT FROM UNPAID INVOICES
Prints out all UNPAID invoices with a technician assigned.  Groups them together by technician.
You select a range of dates to print from.


TECHNICIAN REPORT ALL INVOICES
Prints out ALL invoices with a technician assigned.  Groups them together by technician.
You select a range of dates to print from.

PRINT ALL SETS IN STATUS ORDER

Every set that is unpaid, in order and grouped together by the Status Field.

Statement
Two options are given.  Statement to Customer and Statement to Dealers.

Customer:  If you have a customer with one or several invoices, choose this option.  A statement will be printed out that you can fold and put into a windowed envelope.  If more than one invoice is found, it will be listed and a total given.

Dealer:  If you have a dealer with one or several invoices, choose this option.  A statement will be printed out that you can fold and put into a windowed envelope.  If more than one invoice is found, it will be listed and a total given.

Note:  Since TV/VCR shops usually do not have "Charge" accounts, no aging or interest charging is included in this program.  To charge late charges, you would have to create another invoice, or add it to an existing one. 

BILLED INVOICES BUT NOT PAID
Have you ever sent out statements, and forgotten who you billed in a couple of days?  This should prevent that.  As you print statements, a date is put in the DATE STATEMENT SENT TO CUSTOMER field on the second page of the invoice.  Select PRINT BILLED to printout a listing of all billed invoices.  As you receive the final payment on an invoice, it will not longer print here.

 
WARRANTIES SUBMITTED BUT NOT PAID
As you print invoices and claims, if the warranty field equals full or parts, a date will appear in the DATE CLAIM MAILED TO MANUFACTURER field.  PRINT CLAIMS SUBMITTED will print all invoices with a date in this field.  Now you can track all claims that have not been paid.
 

PRINT ALL SETS IN SHOP
Prints every set that is in the unpaid section.


LISTING OF DUE CONTRACTS
Prints a list only of all service contracts.  You select the date range.  It chooses from the date expires field.  This is a listing only.  No notices are printed.

PRINT RENEWAL NOTICES
You select a range of dates.  It chooses from those dates, and prints renewal notices for you to mail out to the customer.  

ESC to exit this menu.

Options not covered here were considered obvious, and coverage not necessary.  Pressing F1 for help in these cases gives you all the help you will need.


File Notes:

Claims Manager  needs these files to operate the first time.  
* Claim.exe	
* Daysheet.exe
* Utilitie.exe
* Setup.dat
* Setup.mem
* Reports.exe
* Claim.hlp
* Tv.bat
* Fixfiles.bat
* Claim.fil

If you put these files in a sub directory by themselves, Claims Manager will automatically make all the necessary files it needs to operate.  So, if you need to begin all over, this is how it can be done. If you omit claim.hlp, then on-screen help will not work.

If a file index becomes damaged, you can delete the indexes for that file, and restart Claims Manager.  The indexes will then automatically be rebuilt (sometimes takes a long time).  You might want to use updat.exe on next page instead.  The data files have the extension of  (dat)  and the index files have the extension (k01 or k02.. and so on).  

If you want to start with a fresh empty file, say tax.dat,  just delete the old tax files and the next time you run Claims Manager the empty one will be created.  If you want to delete the history files shipped with the program, just delete the history files.  They will be recreated empty the next time you start the program.  NOTE:  This will NOT work with Setup.dat.  You MUST use the one shipped with the program.

All files with an extension of *.dat are data files.
All files with an extension of *.k## are index files.


UPDAT.EXE
NOTE: Updat.exe is not included in all versions and is only shipped when required.

BE CAREFUL..... You can do some permanent damage here.  I suggest a good backup before you proceed.  To use the file updater, go to the directory where The Claims Manager resides.  Rename fixfiles.bak to fixfiles.bat.  Then type Tv.bat.  The files will be rebuilt and The Claims Manager will come up.

To use Update individually from the dos prompt (not recommended) do the following:

The utility updat.exe that has been included will also repair damaged files.  Just run it in the same directory as your dat files.  The file claim.cla MUST be present or this will not work.  A list of files will come up. Select the file to repair.  Press Ctrl+Enter and it will repair the selected file.  

Command line Example:   To repair a damaged customer file, you would type:
       Updat claim.fil customer        
That's all there is to it.  Updat.exe can also be used to create empty files.  To create an empty file using updat.exe, Just type updat.exe at the dos prompt.  When the screen comes up, press enter and select from the list the file you want to create.   Press enter to move to the input file name field..  Blank out the input filename by pressing Ctrl + End.  Press Enter to move to the output file name field.  Leave the output filename alone.  Press Ctrl+Enter and it will be created.

The best way to use UPDAT.EXE is to rename fixfiles.bak to fixfiles.bat.  The next time you run the Claims Manager, all files will be fixed.






















Command Line Options

To load The Claims Manager  without the screensaver option, on the command line type:
     Claim /v=0   will disable the screen saver, otherwise,  after 10 minutes the screen will go blank      until a key is pressed or..  replace the 0 with a number of minutes for screensaver time out.
     Claim /b disables error beep.	
     Claim /L disables keyboard numlocks.	
     Claim /c disables cntl+break key.	

One thing to remember - Nothing beats a good backup!


Nesda claim forms can be ordered from:

NESDA, INC.
Mitchell Webb Press
633 India Street
San Diego, CA 92101
(817)921-9061.

Nesda form #N5CN is a 5 part numbered form.                  
Nesda form #N5CN-X is a 5 part unnumbered form.

Narda claim forms can be ordered from:

NARDA, INC.
ATTN: Forms Dept.
P.O. Box 717
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
(800)242-8678

Form# 923 is a 5 part numbered form.

The Claims Manager

                    
 PO Box 454, Chickasha, OK 73023 voice (405)224-8222 - (405)224-8824 fax - e-mail kentbald@qualityservice.com                    
4

