How do I enter
dates quickly without making any typos?
Where ever a date is
requested, press CTRL D. A pop up calendar appears. Click on the day/date.
As a reminder, D is shorthand for date.
How do I print
reports without wasting paper?
A report preview is available that permits catching
errors before wasting paper. The initial preview condenses a printed page
onto a single screen. Print size is increased two ways: by left clicking
on the display; or by clicking on the down arrow next the "Whole Page"
icon at the top of the preview screen. This affects only the screen
display; it does not change the size of print when the report is sent to
the printer.
The default printer defined by Window's setup is used
when reports are sent to the printer. If using the preview screen, reports
can be sent to the printer by queuing on the printer icon in the top left
corner of the screen. Alternatively, to skip the preview step, click on
the printer button that appears on the screen where the report criteria
are entered.
Customization of printer output is possible by clicking
on the icon just to the right of the printer icon in the top left corner
of the screen. Output can be directed to different printers, paper size
can be defined, different paper trays identified, Landscape vs. Portrait
orientation defined, and output can be directed to a fax machine.
In addition to many standard reports, a "Query" report
writer is included to prepare custom reports. These reports can be sent to
disk files for importing into spread sheets such as Excel, Lotus 1-2-3,
and Quattro Pro for merging with data from other sources. Output can also
be imported into word processors for a myriad of uses, including the
printing of bar coded labels to speed inventory taking.
How do I
Implement just the features that I need?
First decide on what information you need.
If your goal is to print a daily production work sheet that lists portions
of recipes to prepare with recipe descriptions and portion sizes, then
build "shell" recipes that are nothing more than descriptions and portion
sizes. Group these into serving patterns known as menus (what is served by
meal, diet type, location, date) and you are operational. There is no need
to have recipe ingredients or a supporting product file.
If your goal is to cost and extend inventory, then
products need describing along with their costs. The pre-loaded product
file has much of this already done.
If recipe costing is desired, then both the product and
recipe file are required. This can be tedious and time consuming.
Ingredients that are measured in terms of cups in one recipe may be used
in terms of weights in others. Products can be setup to be used in terms
of both weights and measures, and when used in printed recipe's cups may
explode to quarts, or ounces to pounds. It is the planning that is
important.
How do I add
new products when I am in the middle of recording vendor invoices?
Multiple tasks can be run at the same time. Keep
the product master file open while recording invoices. When new products
are encountered, click on the open master file view, add the product, then
click back to the vendor invoice to record the purchase.
How do I price
and extend my inventory without having to add all products in my coolers,
freezers and storerooms?
No. Add costly items such as those used on the center of
the plate, and other items you wish to monitor such as beers, wines and
liquors. It is not necessary to record items such as individual spices,
except to note when they need ordering. Some users add a miscellaneous
product with a unit cost of $1.00 to capture
costs for items not specifically identified.
How do I find
costs for categories such as meats, poultry, produce, etc. without setting
up individual products within those categories?
Set up a miscellaneous product within each of the
categories. When recording vendor invoices, enter purchases using those
miscellaneous codes. End-of-period consumption reports will summarize all
purchases by the desired categories.
How do I
transfer a list of my recipes with their portion sizes, prices and costs
to my word processor.
Install the optional Query report writer.
Select Query which is found under Reports...Report Writers and
Explorer...Query...Reports. Click on the down arrow under Main File and
select Recipes. Under DBMS fields click on Description, Portion Size and
Selling Price. If you want an alphabetical listing, click on the Ordering
tab. Click on the down arrow and select "Description,
Code." On the Misc. tab click on File.
Enter a name for the file and directory location where
you normally store word processing documents. Four out
put formats are available: comma separated, line delimited, formatted and
HTML. Click on run. Use your word processor to open the file. Experiment
with the formats to find one suited to your needs. Report formats can be
saved for future use. Output from Query can be used in word processors and
spread sheets.
How do I
directly link products, recipes and menus to other software packages?
An ODBC (Open Data Base Connectivity) driver is required
that permits changes in one package to be reflected in the other. Changes
can go both ways, with limitations. Core can be directly linked to
Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Crystal Reports,
PageMaker, Novell Word Perfect, Borland Delphi, Paradox, Lotus Approach,
Lotus Word Pro, and Lotus 1-2-3.
The Query report writer, available
at no charge, can export data by way of either line-delimited or
comma-separated ASCII files.
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