
     Documentation for the   Vehicle Records Program
     Written By              Bruce W. Roeckel
     Last Updated On         August 7, 1987


              The Vehicle Records program is designed to allow a user
         to store Mileage and Maintenance information for up to 25
         vehicles. A Full-Screen editor is utilized for the Addition
         of , Editing of, and Selling of Vehicle entries in the Master
         File, as well as all Mileage and Maintenance record keeping.
         
              Mileage information is broken up into two categories,
         City and Trip mileage. When reports and/or graphs are
         generated, these two categories are always kept seperate.
         Also, when entering Trip mileage, the user is prompted for a
         description of the trip.
         
              Maintenance information is also broken up into two
         categories, Recurring Items and Special Repairs. For the
         recurring items, the only data stored is that which pertains
         to the last time you performed the task. Typical recurring
         maintenance items are Oil Changes, Lube jobs, Tire Rotations,
         etc. Each time you update the recurring items, you are
         prompted for any notes that you may want to store (i.e. the
         type of oil used), as well as the date of repair, cost, and
         odometer reading. For the Special Repair items, you are asked
         for a description of the repair in addition to other data,
         like date, cost, etc.
         
              Summary reports can be obtained for any vehicle, and
         include (1) a Maintenance records report, (2) a City and Trip
         Mileage report and (3) a City or Trip Mileage graph.  An 
         interactive report display feature is included which allows
         you to view the report on your screen before printing.  In
         addition, the graphs can be displayed directly on the screen 
         without the Rainbow Graphics Option Card. 
1
1        When updating the Master File, you can BUY a new vehicle, which
1        will add it to the master file, EDIT an existing vehicles data
1        or SELL a vehicle.  The sale of a vehicle simply tags it and 
1        locks out certain operations you can perform on that vehicle,
1        like updating the mileage record, but all the vehicles data
1        is perminantly stored for future reference.
1
1        BUY a new Vehicle .. This option will allow you to enter the 
1                             Vehicles description, the ID number, the 
1                             date purchased, amount paid and odometer
1                             reading. This vehicle will then be added
1                             to the list of available vehicles for 
1                             logging Repairs and Mileage information.
1
1        SELL a Vehicle ..... This option will allow you to enter the
1                             date sold, amount sold for and the 
1                             odometer reading at the time of the sale.
1                             A sold vehicle no longer becomes eligable
1                             for logging of Repair or Maintenance info.
1
1        EDIT a Vehicle ..... This option allows you to edit all portions
1                             of the vehicles master information. One hidden
1                             feature in the software is the ability to 
1                             alter the actual odometer reading used during
1                             certain calculations by entering a number in
1                             the SOLD column under odometer reading. This
1                             feature is only useful if your speedometer has
1                             been changed out, causing the odometer to be
1                             reset to zero. It was added only because the
1                             author of this program encountered this exact
1                             situation !!!!
1
2        
2        Logging of vehicle repairs are handled in two different ways, those
2        repairs which are "recurring" maintenance items, and those which
2        are "special" repair items. Both type of repairs will prompt you 
2        for (1) Date of Repair, (2) Cost of Repair, and (3) Odometer
2        reading at the time of the repair. In addition, the recurring types
2        will ask you for any notes you would like to store. Somes examples
2        might be the type of oil used during an oil change, or who made the
2        repair, if an outside individual is involved. 
2
2
2        One important note to be mentioned is the fact that only the data
2        from the LAST TIME you made a repair is stored for all recurring
2        types (i.e. The present entry will overwrite the existing entry.)
2        
3
3        Vehicle Mileage is stored under two different categories, City
3        Mileage and Trip Mileage. City Mileage is defined as that which
3        occurs on a day-to-day basis, like driving to work, shopping, etc.
3        Trip Mileage is that which is logging during a vacation.
3
3        You can make the Trip Mileage more meaningful if you break the
3        data into logical groups, or legs of a trip. By doing so, you
3        can analyze the MPG's calculated based on different driving
3        conditions you encountered during your trip. Somes examples might
3        be a vacation which includes interstate driving to arrive at your
3        destination, mountain driving during sightseeing outings, or
3        driving with your air conditioning running. In order to enter the
3        data for your different legs, you must first add up all gallons
3        purchased and miles driven by hand, then enter them as a single
3        entry, with, of course, a description of this leg of the trip.
4
4        There are two summary reports available, and two different graphs
4        that you may choose from. 
4
4
4
4        Vehicle Repair Summary .. This report will list all repairs, special
4                                  and recurring, which you have logged for
4                                  the selected vehicle. The data is sorted
4                                  by odometer reading.
4
4        Vehicle Mileage Summary . Both Trip and City mileage data will be
4                                  printed, however, the MPG's calculated
4                                  will be separated for each category.
4
4        Graph Trip Mileage
4        Graph City Mileage ...... Both of these graphs will display the
4                                  MPG's calculated for the selected
4                                  vehicle. The lastest data will always
4                                  be shown as the last bar on the right 
4                                  hand side of the plot.         
4
4   User Interaction:  The program has been enhanced with a 'report on the
4   screen' feature.  What happens is the report is written to disk first,
4   then displayed on your screen, line by line.  To move around, you need 
4   to know the following commands:
4
4        D = Down   U = Up   T = Top   B = Bottom   P = Print   Q = Quit
4
4   When selecting either 'U' or 'D', you can follwing the entry with a
4   number indicating the number of lines to move up or down (i.e.  U5
4   would move up 5 lines.)  The default number of lines to move is 14.
4
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