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                                for the program                       
                                      INV                             
          
                                  Property of                         
                        Associated Computer Industries                
                                with all rights                       
                              pertaining thereto                      
          
          
                        17751 Sky Park East, Suite g-h                
                               Irvine, Ca. 92714                      
                                (714)-557-0560                        
          
                          Patrick Horton, Programmer                  
          



































                                   (Page  1)

          
          
                Welcome to the ACI  Inventory  Program  Users  Manual.
          This  program  and  manual  assume  some  prior  use  of the
          operating system,  especially the system editor. For further
          information  on the use of the UCSD Pascal  Screen  Oriented
          Editor  see the  WD-90  Pascal  Microengine  (tm)  Reference
          Manual.
          
          TABLE OF CONTENTS                                     page 
          ----------------------------------------------------------  
          cover .................................................  1
          intro & table of contents .............................  2
          files in the system ...................................  3
          GFILE.TEXT ............................................  4
          Getting Started .......................................  5
          A)dd ..................................................  5
          I)ssue ................................................  6
          D)elete ...............................................  6
          C)hange ...............................................  6
          Closing ...............................................  7
          R)eports ..............................................  8
          









































                                   (Page  2)

          
          
                              Files in the system                      
                              -------------------                    
          
                There are four  files  associated  with the  Inventory
          program. They are: the program  itself, the inventory  file,
          the  transaction  archive file, and the assembly group file.
          In  addition  to  these  files  you may  specify  a file for
          output of any name  (usually  output is directed to a device
          however).
          
                The  inventory  file  is  made  up  of  records  which
          contain  the part  number,  a  description  of the part, the
          quantity on hand, and the last date of access.
          
                The transaction  file (archive)  contains an entry for
          every  transaction made to the inventory,  including initial
          quantities.  This  allows  for a  complete  balance  of  all
          transactions.  A  transaction  record  is  made up of a part
          number,   quantity,  date,  a  transaction   number,  and  a
          transaction code.
          
                The assembly  group file contains  information to link
          a single  part number or  designator  to multiple  inventory
          parts.  With it you may  specify a single  part number (as a
          major  assembly   number)  and  individual   items  will  be
          subtracted  from the  inventory as nessecary. In other words
          you might  specify  major part  number A, and this  assembly
          might  use two  part  X's, one part Y, and six part  Z's. In
          this way you can inventory out total assemblies  rather than
          having to make an entry for each screw, washer, etc....
































                                   (Page  3)

          
          
          
                                  GFILE.TEXT                          
                                  ----------                         
          
                The file for the groups is a  sequential  (text)  file
          which you must  build  with the  editor.  It must  reside on
          unit #4 and be called 'GFILE.TEXT'.  Without such a file the
          program  will  not run, so even if you are not  going to use
          this  feature  you must at least  create a dummy  file  that
          meets these specifications.
          
                The  format  of this  file is a line for each  type of
          part  in each  major  assembly.  A line  consists  of  three
          numbers  seperated  by  spaces.  Although  they  are  called
          partnumbers  they may be any  combination of  alpha-numerics
          that your  system will  recognize.  The first  number is the
          major  assembly  part  number, the second is the part number
          that is part of this  assembly,  and the third number is the
          quantity of these parts used in this  assembly. For example,
          given the line:
          
          A-102  f-100  3
          
          we are told that  major  assembly  number  A-102  uses three
          f-100's.  There  may be any  number  of these  lines in this
          file.
          
          


































                                   (Page  4)

          
          
                                Getting Started                        
                                ---------------                      
          
                In order to get started you should  first create (with
          the  editor)  a  file  called  'GFILE.TEXT'  on  unit  #4 as
          described  above. You should also have a new  formatted  and
          zeroed diskette in unit #5, and the program  'INV.CODE' on a
          diskette in unit #4.
          
                Type 'X' for  execute,  followed by the word 'INV' and
          a return  <cr>. The  program  will  search unit five for the
          two  files:  'INV.DATA'  and  'ARC.DATA'.  If not  found the
          program  will  allow you to create  them by merely  entering
          another carriage return.
          
                Once you have done this you may build  your  inventory
          using the A)dd command.
          
          
                                     A)dd                            
                                     ----                            
          
                In  order  to add an item to  inventory  type  'A' for
          A)dd and then enter the part  number of the item you wish to
          add. If the part  number is not  already  in  inventory  you
          will  be  allowed  to add it.  Adding  an item to  inventory
          consists  essentially  of entering a description,  the units
          of  distribution,  the  initial  quantity,  the  date, and a
          transaction  code. This  transaction  code may be any (up to
          ten)  characters  you wish but you should be  consistent.  A
          good idea is to use the word  'initial'  as the  transaction
          codes for  beginning  entries.  The  reason for this is that
          later you may wish to produce  reports by  transaction  code
          so it is of utmost  importance that the codes be spelled the
          same (down to the  capitilization of individual  characters)
          in order to utilize this facility most effficiently.
          
                A)dd is also used when you  receive  goods to be added
          to  inventory  after the number is already in the system. In
          this case you may specify another  transaction  code such as
          'reciept' or some such string.





















                                   (Page  5)

          
          
          
                                    I)ssue                             
                                    ------                           
          
                Once you have built an  inventory  you may  distribute
          it using  the  I)ssue  command.  There are two ways to issue
          items:  S)ingle,  and G)roup.  Issuing a single item amounts
          to  entering  a date,  transaction  code (such as 'sales' or
          'returns'), a part number, and a quantity.
          
                Issuing a group is done by entering the group  number.
          Then  for each  line in the  GFILE  for that  group a screen
          display is made, showing the  description and quantity to be
          used, the quantity in inventory  before the  transaction and
          the quantity in inventory after the transaction.
          
                When this  happens  you have  three  choices.  You can
          enter  a  carriage  return  and  the  transaction   will  be
          completed.  Or  you  can  enter  an  escape  <esc>  and  the
          transaction will be aborted  (including all subsequent lines
          in the  group).  Or  lastly,  you may enter an 'S' for S)kip
          and skip that line and go on to the next item in the group.
          
                For each return entered above, an individual  entry in
          the  transaction  file  will  be  made.  In  this  case  the
          transaction   code  is  given  the  group  number.  This  is
          automatic and may not be changed by the user.
          
          
                                   Deleting                          
                                   --------                          
          
                Sooner  or  later  you  are  either  going  to  make a
          mistake  in using the  system,  or are going to stop using a
          specific  item,  and you are going to want to delete an item
          from the  inventory.  In order to do this you will  type 'D'
          for  delete. The program  will ask you if you wish to delete
          from the inventory file, the transaction  file, or both. You
          will enter the proper  command  followed  by the part number
          you wish to delete and it will be removed from the system.
          
          
                                   Changing                          
                                   --------                          
          
                In order to change a part  number  you must  enter the
          command  C)hange. Then you may specify if you wish to change
          the number in the  inventory,  the  archive,  or both. After
          entering  the old  number and the new  number,  the  program
          will change the part number in the specified files.












                                   (Page  6)

          
          
          
                                    Closing                           
                                    -------                          
          
                Every so often  the  archive  file is going to  become
          over-crowded.  The procedure for taking care of this will be
          to copy the  archive  file onto  another  diskette  and then
          R)emoving  it using the  filer. The  program,  when run will
          make a new  version of this file and you may start  entering
          new  transactions.  This process should be done on a monthly
          basis depending on individual requirements.
          
          

















































                                   (Page  7)

          
          
                                    Reports                           
                                    -------                          
          
                There  are  basically  three  reports  which  you  may
          create. They are (once again)  inventory,  archive, or both.
          To create a report,  type 'R' for report, and then  'I','A',
          or 'B' as the  case may be. The  program  will  then ask you
          for the output  device to which the report  will go. You may
          specify '#6:' for a parallel  printer, '#2:' for the screen,
          and '#8:' for the serial port  printer. In addition to these
          you may enter a  filename,  if for some  reason  you wish to
          save the report.
          
                After  designating  the above  parameters, you will be
          allowed to enter what are called  wildcards.  In the case of
          the  I)nventory  report  you will  enter only a part  number
          wildcard.  With  the  other  reports  you  will  enter  part
          number,  date,  transaction  number,  and  transaction  code
          wildcards.
          
                The  wildcards  serve as  selection  criteria by which
          certain  parts of the data are  included  in the  report. If
          you enter blank carriage  returns for all the wildcards then
          all the  information  in the file  will be  included  in the
          report.
          
                The format for a wildcard  is to specify the items you
          wish filled with question marks where you don't care.
          
                i.e. given the  wildcard  'A-???'  for part number the
          report  would  include all parts that  started with 'A-' and
          that were five or less  characters  in length. The  wildcard
          '?' for  transaction  code  will  pull out all  transactions
          with a single  character  code. The wildcard  '07??80'  will
          pull out all of the  transactions  for  July,  1980. In this
          way  you  can  look at  selected  parts  of the  information
          without dumping the whole file.
          
                (note: It would  probably be a good idea to do a B)oth
          report with no  wildcards  before  closing the archive  file
          out.  This  way you have a record  of all  transactions  and
          quantities 'for the books').




















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