This is the 'official' read me file for Electronic Teller 3.00a

CONTENTS:

    - Introduction
    - Installation
    - A Call for Translators
    - Files
    - Migration (using pre-2.9 accounts in 3.00a)
    - Importing (from QIF files)
    - Bug reports
    - Contact information


                           INTRODUCTION 
                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Electronic Teller is a home finance application. It features a rich set of 
functions and utilities, which include: 

      An attractive user-interface to handle various sets of accounts. 
      Multiple-user support to shield accounts from one another. 
      A calculator that can be used to paste calculations directly into 
       the dialog used to create new transactions. 
      A calendar that can also act as a reminder for upcoming events or 
       payments, be they one-time events or repeated indefinitely. 
      A configurable cheque printer that supports user-defined designs 
       and multiple cheque-per-page printing. 
      A wide assortment of reports, from budget to transaction reports, 
       with a variety of subtotalling options. 
      Budget tracking and graphs. 
      Transaction fee or service charge tracking. 
      A converter to import and export QIF files. 
    

Electronic Teller is released as shareware, and sells for $40.00 US.


                               INSTALLATION
                               ~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unzip the files in the archive to a directory and run the install.cmd Rexx
script.  You will be asked to supply a destination directory.  If you have
a version earlier than 2.9xx, the data will have to be exported to QIF
format and then reimported into version 2.90a.

Any version later than 2.90a will be migrated automatically.

Certain program files have either been replaced or are no longer needed.  If
installation is performed in an existing directory, it may be wise to ensure
that the following files are removed -- purely to conserve disk space:

      readme.1st
      history.txt
      etview.exe
      restini.exe
      etdeskf.rc        (usually located in card subdirectories)

The installation utility will not create folders containing existing accounts.
To have these created in Electronic Teller's main desktop folder, start the
program.  As existing cards are read, WPS folders will be created and each
folder will contain the card's corresponding accounts.  Accounts can then
be launched directly from their respective WPS object, bypassing the Service
Desk altogether.

                            A CALL FOR TRANSLATORS
                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Code is in place to allow Electronic Teller to display different languages, 
although I don't envision translating this help file (the amount of work would 
be overwhelming).   

I have received, and accepted, an offer for a Spanish translation, which version 
3.00a now supports.  If there is anyone who would like to donate his/her time to 
translate Electronic Teller to his/her native language, please step forward.  
Because Electronic Teller remains relatively inexpensive, I'm afraid I can't 
provide any monetary reward.  Translators, however, will receive a free copy of 
Electronic Teller, a free copy of PM PostNotes' Deluxe Edition (which I have 
also written), for a combined value of $70.00 US, as well as their name in the 
Product Information dialog.   

What is involved on the part of the translator is, of course, a translation of 
roughly 700 lines of text.  Some of these lines are quite small -- no more than 
a single word -- while others are complete sentences.  In short, any text that 
appears in Electronic Teller would need doing.  In addition, I would need to be 
able to get in touch with the translator easily so that additional translations can 
 be provided or, perhaps, changes made to existing items.  In short, this would 
be an ongoing effort.   

If anyone is interested in contributing some time to Electronic Teller, I can be 
reached at: 

      "Paul Caron" <phcaron@travel-net.com>


                                   FILES
                                   ~~~~~
Included in the archive are the following files.  Depending upon your
needs, some may be safely deleted.  Files that are essential are prepended
with an asterisk (*); runtime dynamic link libraries are not included,
here:

    * etbook.exe         Account Book 
      etbuds.exe         Budget graphs / printing 
      etcalc.exe         Calculator 
      etcald.exe         Calendar and reminder utility
    * etdesk.exe         Service Desk 
      etprnc.exe         Cheque printer/designer
      etqifie.exe        QIF Converter (essential in importing pre-2.9 accounts) 
      Icons\etfold0.ico  Closed ET folder icon used by the WPS
      Icons\etfold1.ico  Opened ET folder icon used by the WPS
      Icons\bank.ico     Bank account icon used by the WPS
      Icons\credit.ico   Credit card account icon used by the WPS
      Icons\cash.ico     Cash account icon used by the WPS
      Icons\asset.ico    Asset account icon used by the WPS
      Icons\liabil.ico   Liability account icon used by the WPS
      Icons\1.ico        Icon used for user-defined transaction flag, example 1
      Icons\2.ico        Icon used for user-defined transaction flag, example 2
      Icons\3.ico        Icon used for user-defined transaction flag, example 3

The installation utility will selectively copy and install application, icon,
and documentation files for you, so manual deletion is not necessary.


                             IMPORTING FROM 2.80a
                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To import your existing pre-2.9 ET account files, follow these simple steps
(WARNING:  do not have two copies of the program running concurrently; ET
scans the task list for window titles in order to communicate with itself.
If more than one copy exists, it will stop scanning at the first match,
which may not be the newer version):

1)  Open your existing pre-2.9 copy of ET

    i.   Open the folder containing the account(s) to be exported.  
    ii.  Select the account to export.  
    iii. Select 'Export to QIF...'  from the 'Accounts' 'Maintenance'
         submenu.  
    iv.  Check the 'Regular transactions', 'Categories', 'Classes' boxes in
         the 'ET Converter' dialog.  
    v.   Click 'OK' to invoke the file dialog, and enter a filename.  
    vi.  Repeat steps i through v for each account to be exported.
      
2)  Close ET and open version 2.9.  
3)  Recreate the folder(s) into which you want the newly-exported Accounts
    placed ('Cards -> New...').  
4)  Access the newly-created card and invoke the QIF importer ('Cards ->
    Import QIF...').

The rest should be pretty self-explanatory with the exception of a few
items.  On export, ET will use the system's country settings in creating
the date, so it is possible to have (for 31 Jan.  1995) one of the
following three formats:

    1/31/95     (US) 
    31/ 1/95    (European) 
    95/ 1/31    (Canadian)

Rather than guess at what format is used in the QIF file (or assume that it
corresponds to the system's country settings), the converter will display
the first transaction in the Date Format dialog with the date parsed in
accordance with the default (US) format.  If it looks right, then click
'OK'.  Otherwise, use the 'Up' 'Down' buttons to shift the date elements to
reflect the format, and click 'OK'.  If the format is incorrect, the
converter will import records until it reaches a date with an element out
of range.  For example, if the US (mm/dd/yy) format was used when, in fact,
the European (dd/mm/yy) format ought to have been used, as soon the
converter reaches a date whose month exceeds 12, a fatal error will be
raised and the conversion stopped.

Complete help on importing is available on-line.


                                BUG REPORTS
                                ~~~~~~~~~~~
All bug reports are to be directed to my e-mail address:

    phcaron@travel-net.com

Please use the supplied 'problem.txt' template when reporting bugs.


                             CONTACT INFORMATION
                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you experience difficulties, have question, or would like to comment
generally, I can be reached at:  

   phcaron@travel-net.com

For update information, visit my home page at:  

   http://www.travel-net.com/~phcaron
