
    +-------------------------------------------------+
    |  EZ Financial Calculator for Windows 95/NT/CE   |
    |                  User's Manual                  |
    +-------------------------------------------------+

                   written by Mike Huang
                     mihuang@tir.com

                Last updated on Feb. 2, 1998  


Quick Start
-----------

    To figure out a monthly payment on an $80,000, 360-month 
    mortgage at 8.0 percent interest rate:

    (1) Double click (or double tap if you are using the 
        Windows CE version) the "ezFCalc" icon to launch the 
        EZ Financial Calculator.

    (2) Click 80000 (the "8" button, followed by four "0" 
        buttons) on the on-screen calculator's numerical pads
        to generate "80000" on the calculator screen.

    (3) Click on the word "Loan:" (that one with a colon, but 
        not the input field for "Loan:") on the left of the 
        program window.  Now "80000" is displayed on the 
        input field corresponding to "Loan:".

    (4) Click on "C" or "CE" to clear the calculator screen.

    (5) Similarly, you can send "360" and "8" to the "Month" 
        and "Interest Rate" input fields respectively.

    (6) Click on the "Calculate It" button to get the answer.

Calculator
----------

    The numerical keypad on the right portion of the program 
    screen is not just for input purposes.  It's also a calculator.  
    For example, if the loan is 85% of your $80000 purchase, 
    you can do the "80000 times 0.85 is equal to 68000" math 
    without reaching for your pen and paper or switching to the 
    Windows' built-in calculator.

Main Windows
------------

    The main window is a tab-controlled window with three 
    tabs: Loan, Investment and Savings.  These three tabs are 
    used to switch to different features of the program.  Click 
    on the tab for the corresponding feature.

Input and Output
----------------

    Inside the main window, You can find two input/output 
    fields and two radio buttons.  For example, when you click 
    on the "Loan" tab, the main window shows the "Loan" and 
    Monthly Payment" input/output fields.  It also shows the 
    "Loan-->Monthly Payment" and "Monthly Payment-->Loan"
    radio buttons.

    If you click on the first (upper) radio button, then the 
    "Loan" field becomes the input field and the "Monthly Payment" 
    field becomes the output field.  If you click on the second
    (lower) radio button, then the "Loan" field becomes the output 
    field and the "Monthly Payment" field becomes the input field.

    You may, after clicking on the input field, use the hardware 
    keyboard to type input value directly onto the input field.  
    As described in the Quick Start section, you may also, after 
    preparing the input value on the calculator screen, click on 
    the text portion on the left of the input field to send input 
    from the calculator screen to the input field.  We recommend 
    the second method since, unlike using the hardware keyboard, 
    you don't need to move your eyes away from the numbers while 
    using the keyboard.  This is especially convenient if you 
    are using a handheld PC with one hand holding it.

    There are also two global input fields located above the main 
    window: the "Month" and "Interest Rate" fields.  These two 
    input fields retain the values when you switch to a different 
    feature (e.g. from "Loan" to "Investment" by clicking on the 
    "Investment" tab).  Similar to the input field described 
    earlier, you have the same two methods to enter the input 
    values for "Month" and "Interest Rate".  However, clicking 
    on the downward arrow of the "Month" input field gives you 
    the often-used values.  Click on the one you want to select 
    its value.  Clicking on the downward arrow of the "Interest 
    Rate" input field will give you 15 interest rates near the 
    one currently on the input field.

Menu Bar
--------

    The "Selection" menu title allows you to switch to a different 
    feature, but it is not as convenient as using the tabs of the
    main window.  The "Edit" menu title contains some functions 
    should you have to copy values from another program (such as 
    a text editor) to EZ Financial Calculator, or vice versa.

Decimal Accuracy
----------------

    (1) The input value inside the main window can have two 
        digits after the decimal point (that is, down to 1/100 of 
        a dollar).

    (2) The "Month" has to be an integer (that is, no decimal point).

    (3) The "Interest Rate" can have 2 digits after the decimal point
        (or 1 digit after the decimal point for the unregistered version).

    (4) The values for calculator can have 10 digits after the 
        decimal point.

Value Limits
------------

    (1) The input value inside the main window has to be positive 
        and cannot exceed 10,000,000,000 (or 10 billions).

    (2) The "Month" has to be an integer between 1 and 12000 
        (or 1000 years).

    (3) The "Interest Rate" has to be positive and cannot exceed 
        1000 (that is, 1000%)

    (4) The values for calculator have to be from -10,000,000,000 
        to 10,000,000,000 (or 10 billions).

Error Handling
--------------

    (1) If an input field contains invalid characters, the program 
        will ignore these characters and re-display the closest 
        value it can guess.  For instance, "3w200" will become 
        "3200" and "3.3.2" will become "3.32".  However, it is 
        the user's responsibility to ensure that the re-displayed 
        value is what the user intended to enter.  For instance, in 
        the above example, the user may actually intend to enter 
        "33.2" while the program's guess as "3.32" is not right.  
        In such cases, the user has to correct the input.

    (2) Many of the typing errors won't happen if the user uses the 
        on-screen calculator to enter numbers him/herself.

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Windows 95, Windows NT and Windows CE are trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.
