HOME INVENTORY V1.4 (S3A Only)
------------------------------

Following the success of my Home Accounts  program 
S3ABANK,  a number of people have  suggested that I 
issue some of the optional modules as standalone programs.  
This is the third of these modules (the others are the 
Investment Tracker S3AINVx.ZIP, the Fuel Consumption 
monitor S3AFUELx.ZIP, the Expense Account Monitor 
S3AEXPx.ZIP and the Financial Planner, S3APLANx.ZIP.   
(Where the 'x' is the version number)  

This program allows you to keep track of the contents of 
your home, for insurance purposes.

To Install the program,

     1.   Put S3AHOME4.APP in your \APP\ directory

     2.   If you want to use the optional On-Line Help (Highly recommended)
          put the file S3AHOMEH.OVL into an \APP\S3AHOME\ directory.

     3.   If you want to use the optional Print option put the file 
          S3AHOMEP.OVL into the \APP\S3AHOME\ directory and the file
          S3APRINT.DYL into an \OPD\ directory.  Note that this file is
          common to all my programs, so if you have more than one of
          them you only need one copy of this file.

     4.   Install (PSION-I)

Now go into the program.  You can either use the default  
file Home, or use <PSION-N> to start one of a different 
name.  The 'nag' screens can be removed by registering the 
program, which will also allow you full access to the 
program, i.e. 23 Rooms and 23 Categories.  The 
unregistered version allows you just 5 rooms and 5 
categories, to enable you to see the capabilities of the 
program. For now use anything you like as the House title, 
it can be changed later.

The new Help system is very extensive and should describe 
the program's capabilities in full.

Working through the MENU commands will show you the 
capabilities of the program.  You can have unlimited 
numbers of houses, and the  File  menu gives you the usual 
handling commands for these houses (If you want to delete 
a house, use this menu option. If you delete it from the 
System screen not all the appropriate files will be deleted). 

In each  of the three screens (accessed via the diamond key, 
the menu or appropriate 'hot keys') the Edit menu allows 
you Enter, Update and Delete entries, and for Rooms and 
Categories, the option to Move them in the list.  Again, for 
Rooms and Categories, the Enter and Update dialogs give 
you the option of excluding a room or category from the 
total value (shown by an "x" in the list rather than a 
number). There is an  Update Items  Value option which 
allows you to uprate (or deflate) every Item (or by 
Category) for inflation. (As you will see later, Items can be 
excluded from this by setting a flag as  Purchase Price  
only). Also on this menu is an ‘Amend Title’ option to 
change the name of the House, and an 'Edit Memo' feature, 
similar to that used in the Agenda, so that you can also keep 
track of insurance policy numbers or other details you may 
wish to record. 

The 'Search' menu allows you to use the ‘Find Item’ option, 
and the 'Special' menu allows you to add a Password, Print 
the Items, switch between font sizes, and exit the program.  

Finally, the 'Set Preferences' option allows you to configure 
the font type, date format, the currency separator (12,345.00), 
the number of decimal places, setup the printer and specify 
if you wish to stay in the Preferences menu while setting up 
the program. As usual, CTRL-Menu will toggle the Status screen.   
In the Item screen, there is also an additional Menu selection to 
allow sorting of the Items.

To see how the program is used, use the Menu or <Psion-I> 
to add an Item. You will be asked for a purchase date, and 
all the usual details.  Leave the flag as  ‘New for Old’  if you 
want the Item to be taken into account when the  Update 
All  option is used.  Now use the diamond key to cycle 
between the 3 screens to see the full capability of the 
program.

Note that when you enter the  Item  display from the  
Rooms  screen, you will be shown the Items in that room, 
but if you enter from the  Category  screen it shows the 
Items in that category.  In this screen, using the right/left 
arrows will cycle through the rooms/categories or you can 
go directly to a Room or Category by using <Psion-S>.  (In 
the Rooms and Categories screens, the arrows move you 
between houses)

If the Item list gets rather long, there is now a 'Find' option 
to quickly jump to an Item.  If you have more than one Item 
with the same description, repeated use of the Find option 
will move through the list.

Finally, in the Item screen you have the facility to Move or 
Copy Items between Houses, if you are running with more 
than one House.

If you find the program useful and wish to register it, please 
see the file REGISTER.TXT for up-to-date instructions on 
how to register.  Apart from giving you a 'warm' feeling, 
allowing  you  23 rooms and categories, and getting rid of 
the 'nag' screens, registering will give you access to full 
support and notification of  regular, free, updates.   If 
anyone has any useful suggestions for improvements, I will 
always try and include them in the next version.

Al Richey