"BANK" by Pete Sipple
              Written for the Psion Series 3  (September 1994)



BANK is a shortish procedure that I've been using for the last few years, with
the occasional re-write here and there. I've found it very, very useful for
keeping track of my bank and credit card accounts.

BANK allows the user to create up to five accounts, which can be either BANK or
CREDIT CARD accounts. It will automatically pay standing orders, arrange 
inter-account transfers, and lets you print a statement to screen or printer. 
It allows the user to verify a bank statement, and comes with a basic password
facility, to prevent casual prying. 






Installation of BANK
====================


BANK runs on either the Series 3 or Series 3a.

To Install:

1. Create a directory called \BNK\ on either A:, B:, or M: 

1. Copy BANK.PRG into the \BNK\ directory

2. Copy either BANK3.OPA or BANK3A.OPA into a directory called \APP\ on the
   same drive.

3. From the system menu, select Install Application, and select the
   appropriate BANK application.



Note:
Users who are upgrading from a previous copy should note that files are
relocated to a new directory, \BNK\ . This is to ensure all files are
kept in one central directory. You are advised to take a backup before
proceeding. 




Files included with this release
================================
BANK.PRG	The main part of the procedure.
BANK3.OPA	Application for Series 3
BANK3A.OPA	Application for Series 3a
BANK3.ICO	Icon for Series 3
BANK3A.ICO	Icon for Series 3a
BANK.TXT	This text file



Many thanks to all those who have contributed icons for BANK, in reponse to
my recent request. As mentioned above, 'Thrax' and 'Cow' have had their
icons accepted. Your help this this is greatly appreciated!





============================================================

BASIC OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS:
=============================

When you first run the program, you will be presented with a menu called SPECIAL, from which you can specify a password if required, but more importantly, to setup each bank account. Select 'Setup Accounts', and you will be asked for a name for A/c:1. Type in a name, ie CURRENT, ACCESS, etc, and select the type of account - either a BANK or CREDIT CARD account. Press ENTER, and continue setting up accounts (max of five). Press ENTER or ESC to quit.

Once you've set up your accounts, you get the main system menu, which is 
the business end of the program.



Menu Options
============

The File Menu Card presents a list of the accounts that you have set up. select an account to use.

Find - Search the selected account for an individual item - press <enter> to scroll
New - To Enter a new item
Transfer - Transfer funds between accounts

View - View a list of transactions/balances in date order (Bank statement)
Check - To match BANK data with your bank statement
Balances - today's balance on all accounts

Tidy - Tidy entries older than specified date (entries are deleted)
Std Orders - Setup or edit standing orders
Print - Print a list of transactions/balances in date order (Bank statement)

Setup Accounts - Change / setup bank account information
Defaults - To change the currency symbol and decimal places
Password - change password (a blank field will disable password)



Explanation of "Clearing" & "Stmt"
==================================

By default, new entries are marked as "uncleared", which means that they haven't appeared on your monthly statement from your bank. If an item is uncleared, <u/c> is displayed alongside the entry.

The Balance shown on the main menu screen shows "Balance" (which includes all transactions, cleared or not, as of today's date)

The Cleared total shows the amount shown on your latest bank statement.

To adjust "cleared", use the "check" option from the statement menu. Press C to confirm that an item is cleared, ie. has appeared on your statement.

Note that items with a transaction date greater than today's date will not affect the current balance, until that date is reached.



Standing Orders
===============
There is no limit to the amount of standing orders that can be setup. When Bank is run, it automatically pays any standing orders that are due in the current month, or next month. 

To delete a standing order, delete the Item Name and press <return> with that field blank.




Viewing Bank Statements
=======================
Symbols used in the view/print statement options, are
u = uncleared
D after the balance indictes a debit
<< indicates the current balance



============================================================

History:
========


v8.0  - Major rework of code to include new menu layout and new file
        structure. BANKCONV util created to convert v7.x files to v8.0
        Significant changes to layout of most screens. 

v8.1  - Now runs on Series 3 or Series 3a

v8.2  - Includes install routine
        Copies files to \BNK\ directory for neatness
        Option to run as OPO or OPA added
        International currency support added
        Minor bug fixes (password / print to file)

v8.21 - 'Check' option now searches in date order by oldest uncleared item
        Improvements made to 'View' layout
        Startup routine now prompts for password before s/order check
        Minor bug fix (S/Order nil amt trapped)
        Bug Fix (Standing order credits v8.212)
	Bug fix - transfers to non-opened accounts trapped (v8.213)
        Minor layout changes
        New icons for Application versions
	Checks for duplicate S/O names (v8.214)
	Now runs from \BNK\ directory on A: or B: as well as M:
	No longer released with OPO version from v8.214

============================================================

Notes:
======

At present, it is not possible to exit the program from the Psion
sytem screen using "Delete". There's a reason for this. Each account's
balance is saved to memory and compared to the file, so that if the 
machine crashes, the balance is protected. If the program is exited
suddenly, there's the danger that the balance may trash. To prevent
that danger, I've made it impossible to exit from outside the program.
Using KILL runs the risk of losing your data. be warned. The correct
way to exit is from within the program using the Exit option (Psion-X)
Apologies if this causes problems, but I don't want to get into 
improving the error checking for exits, or running the risk of losing
balance info.




Please let me know your comments or suggestions regarding this procedure. If
someone, somewhere finds it useful, I will gladly re-write the procedure, or
provide some kind of additional information/documentation. Before I do this,
I'll need to know that someone's interested.

I can be reached by email at:

psipple@cix.compulink.co.uk (checked daily)

(please state which version of Bank you are using!)




Emailshot
=========
If you'd like to be informed of changes that are made to BANK, please email
me to be added to the "emailshot" list.**




Disclaimers, etc
================
Although this procedure appears stable, I cannot accept any liability for loss,
or damage, as a result of using this procedure.

BANK is released into Public Domain, and I am not looking for any
payment for this procedure. I am, however, interested to know whether you
have found this procedure useful, and whether you have any suggestions for
improvements. Please feel free to email me with comments!

The procedures included with releases of BANK remain copyright of Pete Sipple.
You may freely distribute the files to other users, but please make sure that
ALL files including this documentation are kept together. Distribution of
reverse-translated source code is not permitted. 


Written by: Pete Sipple
            13 August 1994