***1
INTRODUCTION

Essential Home Inventory is the premier 
software available for intelligently managing 
personal and household inventory. This 
program uses the same data management engine 
as Collect!, which was nominated for a 1993 
Shareware Industry Award. Not only is 
Essential Home Inventory flexible, it is
blindingly fast and simple to use. You'll be
surprised just how much you don't know about 
what you own until you've worked with it.

You can not only properly catalogue and 
manage the data, you can also use the 
financial capabilities for insurance reports 
and to determine which items you own that 
deserve special attention. You can also use 
it for estate planning.

***2
USES

Essential Home Inventory is usable for 
any custom inventory you can imagine. This
is accomplished by using templates that you 
create to tailor Essential Home Inventory to 
work with any particular data. You can 
create and use as many templates as you like.

You can also use Essential Home Inventory 
for  maintaining mailing lists and employee 
records. ESSENTIALLY, the program can be 
tailored by you for a wide variety of uses.

***3
MULTIPLE COPIES

Essential Home Inventory uses the Windows 
environment to the maximum, supporting 
graphics (pictures) and text. The registered 
version supports drag and drop techniques. 
Supported in all versions is the ability to 
run more than one copy at the same time. Do 
you run a small business? With Essential Home 
Inventory you can put a copy on screen with 
customer names, a copy of used inventory, a 
copy of new inventory -- and so on... And
with Essential Home Inventory being lightning 
fast you never have to wait to find things. No
doubt you'll find uses for Essential Home 
Inventory we didn't think of!

***5
RECOMMENDATIONS

The graphics/picture addenda doesn't have
to hold pictures -- if you have a scanner
you can use it for a variety of purposes.
For instance, you can scan in images of
receipts, drawings, or closeup photos of
special markings.

***6
SPECIFICATIONS

Number of data files -- unlimited
Number of Templates -- unlimited
Number of User Defined Fields -- 10
Number of User Defined Lists -- 1
Field Definitions -- TEXT or NUMERIC
Number of instances -- Defined by Win3
Number of records / file -- 5000
Graphics data types -- *.WMF, *.BMP
Graphics supported colors -- 256
Text Addenda Size Limit -- 30k
Pick List data entries -- 5000
Export Format -- comma delimited *.CSV

***7
WHAT'S A TEMPLATE?

A template allows you to tailor the data
you work with for a particular purpose.

Each template has a series of fields that
are user defined: you can set each one to
accept text or numeric data and give it a
meaningful name, such as "YEAR BOUGHT."
In any given inventory there is also at 
least one categorisation that is used above 
all others. You also have a pick list  that 
you can set up to use for a category 
definition as a part of the template. The 
pick list allows you to create a built in 
list so that it is not necessary to type in 
redundant data (such as "electronics 
equipment") for each field.

***8
EDITING/CREATING TEMPLATES

To edit a template, choose the OPTIONS
menu item and then CREATE a new one or
EDIT an existing one. You may wish to
EDIT first so that you can see how we
created some of the Collect! examples.
Essentially, the text boxes for each of
the user-defined fields allow you to name
the field, and the option buttons allow
you to specify the type of data for the
field. To edit the main category pick
list, enter text in the box above the
list and click the ADD button. Clicking
the DELETE button deletes the item seen
in the dropdown list window. You may name
any field a name that is up to 35
characters. If you choose to SAVE the
template and a data field is over 35
characters in length, you will be warned
that you have an invalid field name. Any
field that does not have a name will not
be seen on the main screen or be part of
the data set.

***11
CHOOSING FIELDS

Each valid field for the current template
will have a checkbox next to it. Checking
the checkbox will cause a data entry
window to appear. If the data field is
numeric, you can choose the relationship
you want to search for: Matching, Less
Than, Greater Than, or Range. Just enter
the criteria in the appropriate box(es)
and choose OK. For instance, if you want
to look for all items that cost over $55
you would check the PRICE PAID checkbox,
choose GREATER THAN, and enter 55 in the
text box. Text data fields are searched
as MATCH only, and you can check the CASE
IGNORE box to avoid problems with not
remembering if you capitalised letters in
each data field you're searching in.
Choosing a checkbox that has already been
checked will uncheck it and clear it.

***12
DECIDING HOW TO SEARCH

All searches use an inferred AND. You can 
search for seemingly impossible criteria: 
you can look for all ELECTRONICS items 
bought (WHEN BOUGHT) before 1987 with a 
PRICE of more than $50 and so on, and that
is an example from the supplied template. 
You can also create your own templates and
searches are just as fast.

***14
WHY TEXT IS "MATCH" ONLY

When a text search is intiated, the program
checks for the existence of the specified
text at any place in the field that is
being searched, not just at the beginning
of the field. For instance, if you were
looking for LABS in a field that had
ALSTON SOFTWARE LABS in it, it would be
deemed as a match. This is a very clean
and efficient way to search through text,
and is especially useful when you cannot
remember remember ALL of the text that
you placed in EACH data field. Searching
for LESS THAN or GREATER THAN would not
produce usable results, therefore text is
searched as a match only.

***15
CLEAR BUTTON

When you choose this, any checked data
fields are unchecked, all data that has
been accumulated to do a search with is
also cleared (i.e. you'd need to re-enter
any search parameters), and the menu
items related to search-found data are
disabled. Basically, you are removing any
references to data you have already found
or were about to look for.

***16
DONE BUTTON

This selection simply hides the Search
Window and removes it from view. If you
choose to open the window again from the
main menu, it will appear in the same
state as when you saw it last. You can
also minimize the search window and put
it on your desktop.

***17
SEARCH BUTTON

This button is what actually initiates a
search. Each data field is tested to see
if it is checked and contains valid data
to search for. When the search finishes,
the scroll bar is enabled and the number
of records found is shown. If no records
are found, the scroll bar is disabled and
you'll see "None" listed where it shows
how many records were found. Assuming
that there were found records, the scroll
bar can be manipulated and the found
records are presented in the main window.
The main window scroll bar also changes
with each record. You have the option of
switching between the two windows to do
any work you need. It's best to overlay
the two windows so that the data fields
are uncovered; you can watch the chnages
this way. Certain Menu items (mostly in
the FIND menu) are also enabled for file
level manipulation of the found data.

***18
FILE MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW

Not only are searches flexible, there are a 
number of options you have as to what to do 
with the data. Sometimes things happen that
are unexpected and the job of Essential Home
Inventory is to help you prepare for this.
For example, a local newspaper article had a
story in it about a lady who awoke at 3 AM 
to find a wrecked car in her living room. In
another story a family had a tree fall onto
the garage in a storm, ruining everything 
in the garage.  

To this end Essential Home Inventory is
equipped to handle most any need. Once
you have found data by searching, you can
take it out of the present file and put
it into a completely separate file in
order to better isolate it. You can also
append the data to other more applicable
files. It is much simpler to hand your 
insurance agent a printout of items in the 
garage, for instance, when that is the area
that was damaged.


***19
EXPORTING DATA

Search data can be copied out to disk in a 
format readable by spreadsheets or other 
database products. The data will remain in 
your data file, but a copy of the found 
recors is placed on the disk in a comma 
delimited ASCII format. You will be asked 
to provide a file name, and the program will
append a .CSV extension so that other 
products can read it.

***20
COPY DATA

Search data can be copied out to other
EHI data files. If you choose COPY
TO EXISTING file, the records will be
appended to the chosen file. If you
choose COPY TO NEW file, you'll be asked
for a file name to place the copy in. The
original data is still in your current
data file; all you did was make a copy of
the records.

***21
MOVE DATA

When data is MOVED, it is removed from
the current data file and into the file
specified. The affected records, as far
as the program is concerned, are deleted.
See SEARCHING | COPY for more information
concerning EXISTING and NEW data files.

***22
HOW TO USE THE MASK

The print mask is used as an easy way to
define what gets printed when printing
the file data. Essentially, the mask lets
you tell EHI what to NOT print. This
is useful, for instance, if you want to
create a catalogue of items but do not
wish to list the PRICE PAID for items. It
is also useful to disable or enable the
printing of pictures of items. In short,
it provides a way for you to customise
printouts easily.

***23
SELECTING FIELDS

When you bring up the PRINT MASK window,
you will see a list of fields that can
be printed next to check boxes. When the
box is checked, the data and the field
name will not be printed. You can also
select boxes that are already checked and
de-select them.

***24
DEFAULT BUTTON

When this button is selected, all fields
that have been checked are cleared, and
three default fields are selected for
you: TEXT ADDENDA, GRAPHICS PICTURE and
PRICE PAID.

***25
CLEAR BUTTON

This button clears all checked fields,
thus allowing all fields to be printed
or reselected.

***26
OK BUTTON

This button closes the PRINT MASK window
and accepts the selected fields.

***27
PICTURE CONSIDERATIONS

It takes a great deal of time to print a
picture, so when you decide to print an
entire file, bear this in mind. You are
probably better off to print pictures as
the result of searches -- i.e. on demand
or when you need them. Also, pictures are
printed about 1/6th page size 2/3rds of
the way up and centered horizontally, and
this means that when you are printing
data with pictures you will use a lot
more paper, because the PRINT PICTURE
algorithm used will kick out the current
page so that a fresh page will be used to
get the picture in the desired position.

***28
PICTURE BUTTON

This button will allow you to view / edit
a picture. The picture's name is defined
by the ADDENDA NAME field (and the program
will append the proper extension to this
name.) Therefore, if you do not have text
in the ADDENDA NAME field, nothing will
happen. If there is a valid name in the
field, the program will look for a picture
file with that name. If one is found, the
appropriate picture will be displayed. If
not, a blank window will be shown, but it
is possible to import a picture via the
menu. Up to 256-color picture formats are
supported.

***29
WRITING (TEXT) BUTTON

This button will allow you to view / edit
any text notes that you want attached to
the current data record. Notes can be up
to 30k bytes in length. Refer to the
PICTURE BUTTON discussion for information
on how filenames are determined.

***30
GRAPH (STATISTICS) BUTTON

This button brings up a window showing
statistics concerning the opened file in
memory, and how the current record
relates to the rest of the records. In
the registered version you can also create 
and print graphs based on the data. 
Statistical data is referenced to the 
financial fields -- PRICE PAID and 
CURRENT VALUE.

***31
CLIPBOARD BUTTON

This accesses the program's internal clip-
board, where you can copy a record's
contents and paste it into any other
record. Refer to The Internal Clipboard
discussion.

***32
THE INTERNAL CLIPBOARD

The clipboard is internal to the program and
not to be confused with the Windows system 
clipboard. It's used for filling data 
records with data that is similar to another 
record without having to retype the entire 
record contents. It is best used when adding
records that are similar to a current 
record. To see how it works, open up a 
sample data file and go to any record. Click
the CLIPBOARD BUTTON to get the clipboard, 
and  click the COPY RECORD button. Click the
CLIPBOARD BUTTON once more to see the 
clipboard  data, and click the JUST LOOKING 
button to  close the window. Click the 
ADD RECORD button, and your data file will 
increment to an empty record. Click the 
CLIPBOARD BUTTON one more time, and click 
the PASTE RECORD button. The data that had 
been saved on the clipboard will be filled 
into the empty record.

***33
ADD BUTTON

The Add Button is used to Add a record to
the current data file. When it is pressed
the counter for the NUMBER OF RECORDS is
incremented, and the current record (and
the scroll bar position) is set to the
new empty record. You can then enter data
in or paste it from the INTERNAL CLIPBOARD. 
See DELETE BUTTON.

***34
DELETE BUTTON

The Delete Button is used to delete the
CURRENT record, which is shown on screen.
The deletion takes the form of simply
making the record EMPTY, and all of the
data fields will have nothing in them.
When you SAVE the data file, any empty
records are ignored; when you open the
same file again the record will not
appear and you will have an empty record.

***35
THE SCROLL BAR

The scroll bar is used to sequence thru
the data in the file. As the bar moves to
the left, records numbers get smaller.
Organization is arranged from left to
right, record 1 through the last record
in the file. Clicking along the bar and
not the < or > buttons causes the scroll
action to change by 10% of the total
number of records. If you are using the
SEARCH facility: when you manipulate the
the search window scroll bar, the main
screen scroll bar changes as well so that
you can control your position in the file
using either scroll bar. Also note that
a data record is not saved until the bar
is moved. If you enter data into an empty
record and try to print it, you will not
see any data. You need to move the bar
once to make sure it is saved.

***36
STATISTICS

The program's statistics are finance 
oriented and give you a quick thumbnail 
sketch of what value your file has. In the
registered version, graphs can be made
and printed that show relationships of
the various data.

***37
ENTERING DATA

Entering data is as simple as typing in
what you want each field. Any field that
is set up as TEXT will save up to the
first 35 characters. Fields that are set
up as NUMERIC will accept text data but
can work in unexpected ways during search
operations. In general, it's best to have
field names be as descriptive as possible
to discourage entry of invalid data.

***38
TEXT EDITING MENU

The EDIT menu is only active when a text
or graphics addenda window is open. It is
divided with a separator bar; the upper
portion is used for editing text. All of
the operations work in the standard
windows fashion except for IMPORT TEXT
and SAVE TEXT. IMPORT TEXT allows you to
read in a text file and add it to the
text window. SAVE TEXT will write the
window contents to the file specified in
the ADDENDA NAME field; it will have the
extension .TXT added to it automatically.

***39
GRAPHIC EDITING MENU

The last three entries of the EDIT menu
are for working with graphics images, and
will only be active when the graphic
window is opened. The IMPORT GRAPHIC item
will allow you to bring in an image from
a file. Valid Formats are .BMP and .WMF.

***40
THE TEXT WINDOW

This is used for adding text notes to any
given data record. The type of data that
is put in is up to you. It can include
notes, copies of letters, and so on. There 
isn't a limit to what sort of information 
you record, but it must be in an ASCII text 
format if you are reading it in, and you are
limited to 30k bytes of notes per record.

***41
THE GRAPHICS WINDOW

You can use the picture recording capability
in a number of other ways. If you have a
scanner, you can store images of receipts
or passages or artwork from books. You
can also use it to store photos, such as
photos of art objects. You can also use it 
in conjunction with photos to store close up
details of items like close-ups of special 
markings or other details not seen in a 
normal photo.

***42
DECIDING WHAT TO ADD

Remember that storage on your hard drive
is finite and that image files can soon
grow to take a great deal of space. Text
files are not much problem, but images
require a lot of room. As a rule, you
should store images that are required to
show something in particular. It's easy
to get carried away with a scanner but it
is better to be conservative with space
and record those items that are unique
enough to justify the space.

***43
USING THE WINDOWS CLIPBOARD

Whenever the text window is being used,
you have access to the Windows system
clipboard. Note that if there is valid
text in the windows system clipboard, the
PASTE menu item is active. This allows
you to COPY or CUT data from one text
file and PASTE it into any other. This is
particularly useful for adding redundant
data to all text files. For example, if
you were working with a sports card
collection, you may want to create a stat
sheet in each text file. Using the clip-
board you can make ONE master, COPY it to
the system clipboard, and PASTE it into
the other text files as needed.

***44
FILE OVERWRITE CHECKING

All major files are overwrite protected,
and this prevents you from copying a file
over another using the same name. Addenda
files can be selectively tested for this
by checking this OPTIONS menu item. By
default it is ON.

***45
FILE BACKUPS MADE

As a safeguard you can make a backup copy
of your data file when it is written to
the disk. It is saved as FILENAME.BAK and
it is in the exact same format. If the
original is lost, you would need to do
little more than rename the backup file
to FILENAME.HIF. By default this option
is OFF.
 
***46
REGISTRATION BENEFITS

When you register Essential Home Inventory
you will receive an enhanced version that 
contains added features. A partial list:

1) Windows Help File -- This help file 
that you are reading is used ONLY because
it keeps the distribution size down.
2) Drag and Drop -- allows you to delete
selected fields or records QUICKLY.
3) Maskable Clipboard -- allows you to
select which data fields get dropped into
a record.
4) Printing Enhancements -- allow you to
mask field names as well as field data.
5) Text Editor Enhancements -- allow you
to change the displayed font size in the 
text editor to get better readability.
6) Directory Control -- Use directories
other than the default directory for 
data storage
7) File Sort Utility -- add-on utility 
to sort data files by ANY criteria in
ascending or descending order.

You'll also receive a Printed Manual,
more sample files, and a discount on
other Alston Software Labs products.

There's other enhancements that we're
working on, so there may also be new
goodies not already on the list!
 
***47
