
AUCTION Program User's Guide
Version 1.04

10Mar96

Copyright 1994, 1995, 1996  Stephen J. Slager


INTRODUCTION

This program was created with a rather limited intent:  to make the annual
gifts and crafts "Time and Talent" auction of the First Reformed Church of
Cary, NC easier to handle.  It's not particularly elegant.  But it achieves
its purpose fairly well...  most of the important functions needed for a
church or charity auction are included, it isn't too difficult to master
and when things go wrong the program recovers (or restarts, if necessary)
gracefully and without losing much of your hard-gained data.

There are five executable files, AUCTION.EXE, SETUPAUC.EXE, PRTBILLS.EXE,
PRINTLOG.EXE and SIGNOFF.EXE.  The main program, AUCTION.EXE, will present
the user with menu screens to handle basic auction functions.  It is small,
fairly fast and reasonably robust.  The other executable files are
normally invoked from one of the AUCTION menu options.

The PRINTLOG.EXE file can be invoked indepently of the AUCTION program.  It
will simply print out the transaction log recorded by the AUCTION program
should that program become unusable for any reason.  It can also be invoked
from AUCTION.EXE.


PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The AUCTION program implements a straight-forward method of preparing for
and carrying out an auction.  Users of the AUCTION program can:

1. Create and update a numbered list of items to be auctioned, optionally
    including the identity of the individual or business providing the
    item.
2. Create a list of buyers and assign an identification number to each buyer.
3. Customize headers for Bills of Sale.
4. Print out a list of auction items for buyers to peruse.
5. Print out a list of buyers with buyer numbers assigned.
6. Print out buyer certificates for donated services.
7. Print out cue cards for use by the auctioneer.
8. Record auction transactions as the auction proceeds.
9. Optionally provide for including "silent auction" or "craft table"
     transactions in the Bill of Sale for each buyer.
10. Print out a Bill of Sale for each buyer who purchases an auction item.
11. Print out a summary of the proceeds of the entire auction.


PROGRAM CHARACTERISTICS

1. AUCTION runs in standard DOS mode, in MS Windows DOS windows and in OS/2
    Warp DOS (full-screen).
2. AUCTION does not provide mouse support.
3. AUCTION stores its information in five data files (BUYER.DAT,
    AUCTITEM.DAT, AUCTDSCR.DAT, SALESLOG.DAT and SETUP.DAT) which will
    normally need to be erased and recreated for each auction.
4. AUCTION's user interface is line-oriented.  When you are editing a
    record or title, hitting the Enter key will normally retain the
    information displayed.  If you change anything shown on a line, you
    will need to re-type all of the information you wish to save in that
    line.
5. Most menu screens in AUCTION will permit you to back out to the previous
    level by typing a "9", a "space" or an "Esc".


GETTING STARTED

System requirements:
AUCTION requires an IBM-compatible PC running DOS.  It has been run with
DOS versions 3.20 through 6.0.It has been run on machines with 8088, 8086,
80286, 80386 and 80486 microprocessors.  It has been used with machines
having 512K of RAM or more, but should be able to run with considerably
less RAM if necessary.  It has been used with both monochrome and color
monitors.  AUCTION uses only ASCII characters in printing, so it isn't too
fussy about the type of printer that it's directed to use as long as it's
attached to the LPT1:  parallel printer port.

Installation:
Nothing fancy -- create the directory you want AUCTION to run from, then
copy AUCTION.EXE, SIGNOFF.EXE, SETUPAUC.EXE, PRTBILLS.EXE and PRINTLOG.EXE
from this diskette to that directory.  Enter "AUCTION" at the DOS prompt to
start the program.  The following sequence would suffice:
C:> md auction
C:> cd auction
C:\AUCTION> copy a:auction.exe
C:\AUCTION> copy a:setupauc.exe
C:\AUCTION> copy a:printlog.exe
C:\AUCTION> copy a:prtbills.exe
C:\AUCTION> copy a:signoff.exe
C:\AUCTION> auction
You can also run AUCTION from a diskette in the A: drive quite satisfactorily.


FIRST TIME SETUP

When you first start AUCTION, feel free to poke around a bit.  The main
menu, like most menus in the program, asks you to choose an option by
typing a number.  Doing so will take you to another menu or invoke an
action.

To begin setting up for an auction, type "7" and you will see the "Set up
for the coming auction..."  menu screen.


PREPARING A LIST OF ITEMS FOR AUCTION

From the main menu screen, option 5 "Update Item information for the
auction list" will provide several functions to create and maintain a list
of auction items.


PREPARING THE BUYER LIST

From the main AUCTION menu screen, use option 6 "Update Buyer information"
to create and modify the list of buyers for the auction.


DURING THE AUCTION

From the main menu screen, use option 1 "Auction an item" to record auction
transactions while the auction is in progress.  When you first enter the
auction screen, enter the number of the item being auctioned.  AUCTION will
prompt you for the sale price of the item being auctioned and the prompt
you for the buyer number.  After these have been entered, AUCTION will give
you a chance to verify or re-enter the information (type "n" if the
information is NOT correct).  If the information is correct, press any key
except "n".  Another prompt will appear asking whether you wish to
continue; press any key except "n" and you will be prompted with the next
sequential item number.  Type in the number of the next item or press
"Enter" to accept the prompt.


CORRECTING A PROBLEM

Use option 2 "Correct a problem" from the main menu screen to access three
procedures useful in correcting problems.  Option 1 "Re-open a closed
account" will re-open a buyer account that has been closed.  Option 2
"'Unbuy' an auctioned item" allows you to "unbuy" an item that has been
incorrectly entered during the auction.  Option 3 "Disaster Recovery" can
be invoked if the AUCTION should become unusable for some reason during an
auction.  It will simply print out the log of all completed auction
transactions recorded to disk, which would make it possible to recreate
all of the auction transactions manually.


CLOSING AN ACCOUNT

Use option 3 "Close an account" from the main menu screen when a buyer is
ready to leave the auction.


CLOSING THE AUCTION

Use option 4 "Close the entire auction" when all accounts have been closed.


GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

It's a really good idea to make up a short list of auction items and buyers
and to practice with those before getting into a real auction.  Things
happen quickly, often with some confusion, during an auction and you'll
want to be comfortable with AUCTION when that happens.

Note that you can add new items and new buyers during the course of an
auction with no ill effects.  You can also close accounts of buyers leaving
early during an auction -- though it helps to have a fast, quiet printer.

We hope you find AUCTION useful in achieving your organization's goals.  We
do request that users make an annual donation of $25.00 to the memorial
fund established in memory of the originator of this program, Paul Kosht.
Checks can be made out to "First Reformed Church - Kosht Memorial Fund"
and mailed to the address shown above.  And, yes, your donation is tax
deductible.  Thank you.

For an additional $15.00 registration fee, you may register as a user of
the program.  You'll receive a User's Guide with some potentially useful
information and a 3.5" diskette with the current version of the program or
with the next version (if there ever is one) if you already have the
current version.

First Reformed Church of Cary, NC
Kosht Memorial Fund
PO Box 4373
700 Old Apex Rd
Cary, NC  27511
