Addendum to Update 6.00

Addendum to Version 6.00
(The following changes were implemented since version 5.05)

We are proud to announce many new dynamic features in The Ultimate with this release. Please take the time to carefully read through this addendum to learn how to implement many of them.

Presentation Change!
Throughout the entire software, the word “Movie” has been replaced by “Rental”. This is merely a cosmetic change as many of our customers are expanding into other types of Rentals. This change has no effect on current features.

Automatic Customer Codes for new Customers
New Customers can now be automatically assigned the next available number. To activate this feature you must complete the following:

System Tables Setup / Customer Lookup Tables / New Customer Defaults

Use Auto Numbering? – answer “Y” for Yes
Prefix – enter a letter (1 – 3 in length) only if desired. Example: “CM” for CM1001, etc.
Next Code – enter a NUMERIC value for the NEXT desired code. This serves as a starting point and will advance each time you add a new customer.

Rental “Out & Overdue” Screen Listing
Rentals with a current status of “OUT” can now be viewed within a screen utility without the need for printing to paper.

Main Menu System / The Ultimate Modules / Rental Out System

Select Sorting Method – allows sorting of out rentals by Title, Bar Code, Alternate Code, Customer Name or Customer user code.
Which Rentals to View? – allows a choice of which out Rentals to View. The choices are similar to the Printed Movie Out Listing.
The listing can be started from any point in the file by entering a starting point. To start at the beginning of the sort, press <enter> to display the listing.

(F7) provides detailed Customer Information
(F8) provides detailed Rental Item Information

IMPORTANT: When reentering this utility you will be asked if you wish to clear the temporary “Rental Out File”. If any rentals have been checked out or in since the last time this utility was accessed, you will need to respond YES to rebuild the file. Otherwise the information displayed will be inaccurate since it will be leftover from the previous time. This was designed purposely the way since we expect you will enter and exit this utility often to research overdue movies and do not want to wait for the system to rebuild the file each time.

NOTE: There is NO printing option from this utility. To view a printed report, run the Rental Out & Late Listing from the Reporting System.

Customer Duplicate Driver’s License Warning
This new feature will not allow the entry of the same Driver’s License for two separate customers. As per request, there is NO security level override for this. If there is a conflict, the software will display the existing customer who shares the same Driver’s License.

Quick Entry of Customer Comments and Extended Memos
As part of the new Customer Shortcuts, you can now enter, edit and delete either the customer comment or extended memo of the customer you are currently invoicing. While in the middle of an invoice, press <ALT-4> at the same time to display the menu of shortcuts, which may be performed.

F1 = Edit Customer Comment
F2 = Edit Customer Extended Memo

New Customer “Quick Prints”
As part of the new Customer Shortcuts, you can now print the out movies and account detail of the customer you are currently invoicing. While in the middle of an invoice, press ALT and 4 at the same time to display the menu of shortcuts, which may be performed.

F3 = Print Out Movies
F4 = Print Account Detail

Security Maintenance
Two new security questions have been added:

POS – View Daily Activity & Statistics – an new input for “Previous” now means that you can separate clerks who are allowed to view only TODAY’S sales figures from the clerks that are allowed to view for any previous date. Therefore, “View” refers to only today and “Previous” refers to today AND previous dates. Example: View = 7 and Previous = 9 means that clerks with a level 7 or higher can view today’s figures, but only clerks with a level 9 can view previous days (as well as today).

Invoicing – Change Account Payment Amount – this question is added which allows the separation between clerks who can change prices for rentals and return late fees from clerks who can change the customer’s account payment amount during invoicing.

File Restore Warning
Due to the recent occurrence of some customers occasionally restoring files instead of Backup up, we have included a warning screen each time the “Restore Data Files” or “Restore Entire System” menu selections are entered.

Dbase Export of Customer Account Detail
Exports up to 20 line items of Account Detail into a file named ACCOUNT.DBF. Note: Security Level “9” is required to export any file to Dbase.

File Maintenance / Dbase File Exporting / Customer Account Export

Sort Fields and Record Ranges can be established the same as other exports and custom reports. Press (F10) for help on each step. Macros can be written for Microsoft Word, which can easily be used to generate mail merge letters for customers owing late fees.

Dbase Export of Daily Sales Totals
Exports Daily Sales statistics into a Dbase file. This file can then be imported directly into spreadsheet software such as EXCEL for analysis. Note: Security Level “9” is required to export any file to Dbase.

File Maintenance / Dbase File Exporting / Daily Sales Export

A data range can be entered to export. There are four types of files that can be created.

Export Sales Category Breakdown – creates file TOTALSS.DBF
Export Title Category Breakdown – creates file TOTALST.DBF
Export Format Breakdown – creates file TOTALSF.DBF
Export Rating Breakdown – creates file TOTALSR.DBF

Larger Print on Rental Labels
Due to customer demand, we have changed the text printing of Rental labels to 10CPI from 17CPI.

Parallel Cash Drawer Support
Support is now offered for Parallel Port Cash Drawers:

System Tables Setup / Invoicing Setup & Tables / Workstation Setup

Cash Drawer Port - answer “3” for LPT1
Cash Drawer Codes - Make sure to enter the proper code, which will fire your particular cash drawer. The most widely used code is 0707. For others, check with the manufacturer.

Additional Game Ratings
Four Additional Ratings were added for Video Game Rentals.

0 = None
E = Everyone (All)
T = Teen
M = Mature Only

The following steps MUST be taken to activate this feature.

System Tables Setup / Rental Lookup Tables / Rental Formats

Rating Type – input either “M” for Movies or “G” for Games for each of the formats that apply. This will determine what choices are available when entering the ratings for the rental items in Rental Maintenance.

File Maintenance / Reindex and Organize

ORGANIZE Customers, Rentals & Inventory ONLY. This will set the default Game Rating Priority for each customer to “M” = Mature. (as a starting point only) If this step is skipped, then the software will NOT allow game rentals due to ratings restrictions.

System Tables Setup / Customer Lookup Tables / New Customer Defaults

Games Rating Priority Default – input the desired default Game Rating for new customers.

System Tables Setup / Rental Lookup Tables / New Rental Defaults

Games Rating Default – input the desired default Game Rating for new rentals.

IMPORTANT: The Ratings of existing Game Rentals must be individually changed to the choices for Game Ratings. Press the <F10> key for the listing of Game Ratings.

Once the setup is complete, individual customers and users can have their “Game Rating” adjusted as needed.

In Rental Maintenance, The “Format” field has been moved ahead of the “Rating” field. This way when the proper Format is entered, the software will know which choices to provide for the Rating field. <F10> - List.

Rentals will continue to have only ONE Rating, but movies and games will have different lists from which to enter. Customers will have both a “Movie Rating” and “Game Rating” field, which restricts rentals of these items.

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