ANSWERS
Distribution Management System
Release Notice and Update Instructions
Version 4.8
Copyright Data Resources Corporation 1981-2017
Table of Contents
Table of Contents 2
Introduction 3
Enhancement Features Summary 4
Preparing for Installation 7
Installation Instructions for Windows Servers 8
General 12
Inventory Management 17
Purchase Orders 18
Order Processing 22
Accounts Receivable 27
Accounts Payable 30
General Ledger 33
Job Cost 34
Answers Enhancement Suggestions Guidelines 35
Introduction
The following pages outline the enhancements that have been made to ANSWERS version 4.8. It is not the intent of this Release Notice to fully describe each new feature or the details for implementing and using these features. For this type of detail information, you should refer to the appropriate section of the on-line help. On the following pages, you will find the changes listed by application. Instructions for preparation and installation of the upgrade to the new version can be found on the first few pages of this document.
The last "complete" or “official” release of ANSWERS was version 4.7. You must be running this version or later in order to install this update. If you have not yet upgraded to version 4.7, then you must first install the upgrade to 4.7 before proceeding with installing this upgrade to 4.8. Failure to install updates in the proper order will result in an unusable system until both data and Answers programs are restored from a good backup.
Any specific system requirements or other software changes needed in order to use a feature have also been noted. This means that any enhancement features requiring an update of your AcuCobol software. In addition, it may be necessary to answer certain new configuration questions before a certain feature or enhancement will be available on your system. These questions should be answered appropriately once you have finished installing your update.
This release can be downloaded from our web site for customers with broadband internet access.
Enhancement Features Summary
The Answers 4.8 release includes many exciting new features. Below is a summarized list of some of the highlighted features you will find in this release. Please refer to the detailed listing by application found later in this release notice for additional information on the features listed below as well as other features not listed here. Always refer to the on-line help for complete operating instructions and explanations of program features.
General
➢ The default messages set up through Email Notes Maintenance will now be defaulted for faxes as well as emails.
➢ The Subject line can now be edited on all emails and faxes sent from Answers except for auto-sends where no user intervention is involved.
➢ Answers forms can now be printed on non-PCL printers (as well as PCL printers) if your system is re-configured to use non-PCL forms templates provided in this release. For more details, refer to the detailed explanation of this feature later in this Release Notice.
➢ System file I/O errors have been added to the Answers Online Help and linked to the File Error window, so that users can research the help when received system errors.
➢ When you encounter a record lock, you can now request the system notify you via an instant message when the record lock is released.
➢ Users can now be warned if they try to exit the main Answers Menu window with other Answers related windows still open. The warning window will provide a list of other running programs.
➢ Users can now add up to 100 Quick Link options to the right pane of their Answers Menu and will be able to see more than 10 at a time if the menu is enlarged enough vertically to allow more to be shown. If all Quick Links do not fit vertically, a scroll bar will be added to help navigate them.
➢ Options are also now provided when right-clicking on a Quick Link to have it moved up or down in the list allowing users an easier way to manage the order of their Quick Links.
Purchasing
➢ When entering and editing purchase orders, a Preview P/O as PDF option has been added to the File menu and the toolbar menu.
➢ When faxing or emailing Purchase Orders, if the user cancels out of the Fax/Email Window, the information they have already entered or selected will be retained.
➢ When searching for a Ship-To Address to enter on a P/O or Vendor RFQ, you may now search open orders, quotes and Invoice History for any customer to copy.
➢ Comment lines entered on purchase orders can now be set to display and print in color.
➢ Inventory Maintenance can now be accessed directly from P/O Entry if allowed in your system configuration or User Profiles.
➢ Detail lines can now be imported into Purchase Order Entry.
➢ Purchase Order header and detail information can be exported to Excel.
➢ Suggested P/O Review is now resizable and both the vendor list and item list have been upgraded to “grids” in order to allow them to show more columns of information and scroll horizontally if needed.
➢ The Purchasing Work Center has been made resizable including all of its tabs to allow viewing more columns of information and/or more lines of information on each tab.
Order Processing
➢ The configuration option and user profile option that controls the viewing and entering of costs can now be set to hide costs but still allow entry of costs on non-stock items in Order Entry.
➢ When faxing or emailing Quotes, Pick Tickets, and Order Acknowledgements, if a user cancels out of the Fax/Email Windows, the information they have already entered or selected will be retained.
➢ When reinstating an invoice, Answers can now prompt the user to send a “Void” or “Cancelled” notification to auto-delivery customers.
➢ When re-invoicing an invoice that was reinstated, auto-delivery customers will receive a “Revised” notification on their invoices.
➢ Order Entry will now allow viewing an invoice as a PDF instead of printing.
➢ When searching for a Ship-To Address to enter on a Sales Order, Return, Quote or Transfer, you may now search open orders, quotes and Invoice History for the current customer to copy.
➢ The window that lists out any quotes for an item being entered on an order will now copy all relevant information from the quote line to the order line, not just the price and/or cost.
➢ For nonstock items, this quote list window will now be shown prior to the optional nonstock window that prompts for fields such as Vendor, Buyer, Product Code, Price, Cost, etc. since if this information is copied in from the quote, there is no need for this window.
➢ Comment lines entered on sales orders can now be set to display and print in color.
➢ An option has been added that prevents the operator from changing the Entry Date in Order Entry.
➢ All 6 digits of the invoice number can now be assigned either on a system-wide level or on a per-warehouse level, eliminating the restriction that the leading digit will always be a “3”.
➢ Inventory Maintenance can now be accessed directly from Order Entry if allowed in your system configuration or User Profiles.
➢ The Taxable check-box and Tax Jurisdiction # is now accessible directly from the header tab if allowed in your configuration and User Profiles and if the Order Entry window is stretched wide enough.
➢ An option has been added to notify users when Prices/Costs on out of stock items have not been modified in xxx days.
➢ An option has been added to allow Re-Printing an Invoice for an order that has been Invoiced, but not yet updated from the Open Order Search/Display.
➢ The maximum number of customer deposits that can now be entered on a single sales order has been increased from 3 to 8.
➢ A Prospect # Conversion has been added.
Inventory
➢ A right-click menu has been added to the Inventory Transaction History with additional options over and above the buttons at the bottom of the window.
➢ The Nonstock Sales History Inquiry window has been expanded to a Nonstock Item Inquiry search.
➢ A new icon has been added to the Inventory Maintenance toolbar to allow adding, changing, deleting or viewing all Cross Reference Part Numbers linked to the current inventory item.
➢ The Stock Number Conversion Update program can now be added to the End-of-Day tasks.
Accounts Receivable
➢ The Invoice History display window now offers an Invoice # Search.
➢ Customer Ordering Information Notes have been expanded from 8 to 99 maximum lines.
➢ New “Credit Related Notes” have been added to relevant programs such Customer Maintenance, Inquiry, Cash Posting and the Credit Management WorkCenter.
➢ A Salesperson # Conversion program has been added to allow changing salesperson numbers on various relevant files or even merging two or more salesperson numbers together.
➢ A Customer Master Export to Excel has been added.
➢ A Customer Master Import has been added.
➢ An option has been added to control the number of days past due for Service Charges by customer.
➢ An Invoice History Search on Ship-To Addresses has been added.
➢ An option has been added to the Check Inquiry window to allow viewing payments by check date.
➢ An option has been added to allow editing a Check Number on payments already posted.
➢ Customer Part Numbers can now be viewed in Customer Inquiry.
➢ Customer Part Numbers can now be added, changed, deleted or viewed in Customer Maintenance.
➢ Chart displays now show customer balance information and 10 years sales and gross margin history on the main tab of Customer Inquiry, if the user is using the extended, larger size Customer Inquiry screen.
Accounts Payable
➢ A “Preview P/O as PDF” has been added to the right-click menu when viewing Purchase Orders and Purchase Order History and when viewing a purchase order.
➢ The Vendor Returns Search window (similar to Receipts History Search) in A/P Credit Memo Entry will now allow viewing Notes entered for Vendor Returns.
➢ An open item transfer has been added to the A/P Invoice Entry/Maintenance program.
➢ A new search feature is now available in the A/P Invoice Entry/Maintenance program that allows searching for invoice #’s, dates, and amounts with exact or partial matches.
➢ Vendor Purchasing/Invoicing Information Notes have been expanded from 8 to 99 maximum lines.
➢ Vendor Inquiry (including all of its tabs) is now resizable. This includes the tabs that can also be opened in separate inquiry or search windows such as Account Analysis, Open P/O’s, P/O History, Vendor Returns and Vendor Returns History.
➢ A Vendor Products Keyword search has been added.
➢ Additional configuration options have been added to further control the functionality of A/P Invoice Entry.
➢ A/P Invoice/Credit Memo Entry/Maintenance will now always show the Posting Date and Batch # (if enabled) in the Windows title bar to remind you of your posting parameters.
➢ Vendor Cross Reference Part Numbers can now be viewed in Vendor Inquiry.
➢ Vendor Cross Reference Part Numbers can now be added, changed, deleted or viewed in Vendor Maintenance.
➢ Chart displays now show Yearly Purchases History, Inventory Class Investment Analysis, and Purchases and Sales Objectives on the main tab of Vendor Inquiry, if the user is using the extended, larger size Vendor Inquiry screen.
General Ledger
➢ Manual Journal Entries can now be posted by individual user with each user having their own Journal Entry Register or all users can post to a combined register as before.
➢ 1-12 months and 13-24 months’ sales totals have been added to the Summary Info screen in the Executive Information Center.
➢ G/L Account Maintenance will now update all lines of a journal entry when edited with changes that are made to dates, source codes, reversing entry check-box, comment or reference field.
➢ An A/R vs A/P Projection tab has been added to the Executive Information Center.
Job Cost
➢ A Job Number Conversion program has been added to allow changing job numbers once they are entered even if labor and material have been posted to them.
➢ A Job Operation Code Conversion program has been added to allow changing job operation codes if labor and material have been posted to jobs using the operation codes.
Preparing for Installation
Every attempt has been made to ensure that you can install this new version of ANSWERS in a relatively simple manner; however, the following steps must be followed in order to insure success. Additionally, some installations occasionally require special attention due to things such as multiple companies, customized programs changed in the past, etc. If you feel that you may have problems due to an unusual aspect of your system, please contact Data Resources Corporation before starting your installation. As mentioned earlier, it is extremely important that you should only attempt to upgrade if you are currently running version 4.7 (any version of 4.7.x is acceptable) released in September 2016 (or later). If you are unsure, go to Help(About Answers from the Answers Menu before starting the update procedure.
The following steps should be performed regardless of your type of server. Once these steps have been completed, you should then proceed to the proper section of this manual depending upon the type of system on which you have ANSWERS installed.
1) Due to changes in the format of the following files, it is necessary to run and update the following journals before installing the update. Failure to do so will result in a loss of information from that particular journal being updated into other files such as General Ledger and the history files associated with it. Once the update has been installed, this could result in Invalid Format file errors and you will not be able to update them with the new version, thus the reason it is important to check and run each one of these now.
a. Run and update any Mass Inventory Maintenance requests entered but not yet updated. If you receive an error when attempting to run this program, then continue on skipping this step.
b. Run and update any Mass Customer Maintenance requests entered but not yet updated. If you receive an error when attempting to run this program, then continue on skipping this step.
2) Perform a Full System Backup. This backup will save your current version of ANSWERS programs and related files. This backup could be extremely important in the unlikely event you would have problems with the installation and would need to restore your system to the previous version until the problem could be resolved. On most Windows based servers, the ANSWERS programs and related files are actually stored on a “partition” of the disk drive and is usually referred to as the “D:” drive. While the Windows server operating system and other system related programs are typically stored on the “C:” drive. Therefore, when doing a full system backup, it is critical that you insure the “D:” drive (or the drive or folder where ANSWERS is located, if it is not “D:” on your system) is included in the Full System Backup.
3) Perform at least one or more data file (daily) backups. This backup is also extremely important and could be critical if something were to go wrong during the installation procedure with the conversion of your data files.
4) If you are starting the update procedure in the late afternoon or evening hours and you think there is any chance that the update process will still be running at the time your automatic end-of-day is scheduled to run, then you should disable your automatic end-of-day for tonight. It can then be turned back on tomorrow once the update completes. Another alternative is to schedule it to run earlier and get it done for today, before you start your upgrade install process, and then tomorrow change the time back to the normal time that it runs. It is extremely important that the end-of-day routines do not try to run while the update is in progress.
5) Once you have completed all of the steps in this section and feel as if you are prepared for the installation, then proceed on to the next section of this manual to perform the actual installation.
Installation Instructions for Windows Servers
1) Refer to the “Preparing for Installation” checklist provided on the previous pages before starting the update procedure to insure it is safe to begin.
2) Login as an “Administrator” on the Windows Server console. This will require you to know an administrator’s password.
3) Load the ANSWERS Update onto your system. After you have down-loaded the update from our website, then use Windows Explorer or My Computer to locate the update file you downloaded. Our website suggested saving the download file into the “answers” folder on your server (which you should have access to from both the server and from client P/C’s). However, this was only a suggestion and the file can be downloaded from our website to any machine and folder on your network as long as you remember where it was saved. Once you have found the down-load file, double-click on it to start the installation and proceed onto the next step.
4) When the WinZip Self-Extractor dialog box appears:
a. Verify that the Unzip to folder of “D:\answers” is correct. (If Answers is stored on a different drive on your server other than “D:”, -or- in a different folder on your server, then change the “Unzip to Folder” as necessary to have the correct drive letter and folder name where Answers is installed.)
i) If you are unsure the exact location of Answers on your server, bring up the Answers Menu, then click on Help(Client Info and the 3rd line from the bottom should read “Install Folder:”. This is the folder name that should be entered in the “Unzip to folder” box of the WinZip Self Extractor.
b. Verify that the “Overwrite files without prompting” box is checked.
c. Click on the “Unzip” button.
d. You will see various Answers programs and related files (bitmaps, ODBC dictionaries, help files, etc.) listed in the progress bar as they are unzipped and installed onto your system.
e. When complete, you should receive notification of the number of files unzipped successfully.
f. Click on “OK” when you receive this notice.
g. You will then be returned back to the WinZip Self-Extractor dialog box, where you should click on “Close” to exit.
h. This should complete the loading phase of the updated Answers software unless you received any errors during the above procedures.
5) To ensure that all users are logged off the system and that the system is in a “clean” state prior to starting the update procedure, reboot the system as you normally would by clicking on “Start” and then “Shut Down”. When the Shut Down confirmation window appears, click on “Restart” and then wait while the system goes through its restart procedure. This step is important to insure all Answers related data files are closed and that the update process can have exclusive access to them as needed.
6) Once the system has fully rebooted, log back in again as the “Administrator” on the Windows Server console.
7) Locate the icon for ANSWERS on the desktop of the Windows server console and “double-click” on it to start up ANSWERS. Note that while you can access ANSWERS from any P/C, you will need to perform this step on the console of the Windows server due to the manner in which some of the files are manipulated. Additionally, the conversion of the data files will run much quicker on the Windows server console than on a P/C connected over the network, just as is always the case with batch oriented type programs under Windows on a network.
8) When ANSWERS initializes it will detect that you have loaded a new version of programs. You will need to respond affirmatively to any confirmations you receive about updating, otherwise ANSWERS will be inaccessible until this is done. If you are not prompted to update Answers, then it is likely you have not extracted the Answers update into the proper folder. Verify where Answers is installed on your server by clicking on Help(Client Info from the Answers Main Menu program and then noting the “Installed Folder” before exiting back out of Answers and then re-running the Answers Update download again, changing the folder as needed to match the “Installed Folder”.
a. Once the Update Control program starts, it will convert any data files from the prior version to the new version. You will see pop-up windows informing you of which file it is converting. This helps to give you an idea as to which files may take longer periods of time to convert and which may take shorter, depending upon the size of the file, which directly relates to the amount of information or history you have in each one. If you receive any errors during the update process, you should notify Data Resources Corporation immediately so we can assist you in determining how to resolve the problem in order to get your system updated.
b. Please understand that this step may take some time depending upon how much history you have, the number of items setup in inventory, how long you have had your system, etc. The program may even appear to be not responding. Windows (especially newer versions) sometimes just show a completely white screen during this time especially if a screen saver was invoked or another program started over top of it. This does not normally mean the program is “hung”. It is very likely the program is still running and updating your files to be compatible with the new version. Do not abort the update procedure during this phase. Please be patient and give the conversion process time to finish.
c. When all files have been converted, your menu file will be updated to reflect obsolete programs that have been removed and new programs that have been added. Once this is done, the program will inform you that the update is complete unless you received any errors. You will then be returned to the ANSWERS Main Menu.
9) You should now click on Tools(Activate License from the ANSWERS Menu program’s pull-down menu bar. You will need to enter the Activation Key and License Number exactly as they appeared in the email you received from Data Resources containing the link to down-load the new version of ANSWERS. Failure to activate this new version will cause you to begin receiving warnings 14 days prior to the expiration date. If valid license information is not entered before the expiration date, ANSWERS will cease to function after the expiration date.
10) Once you have made any configuration changes for new features that you found in this Release Notice, you should be ready to allow other users to access ANSWERS again. Your installation should now be complete unless you have special circumstances, such as multiple companies, etc. If you have multiple companies, then it will be necessary to start up ANSWERS for each company using either the appropriate shortcut icon from the Windows sever console’s desktop, or by clicking on “File” at the ANSWERS Main Menu and then selecting the desired database directory from the drop-down menu. Then you will need to allow the update program to run for the alternate company, just as you did for your primary company.
11) If you have a web server for on-line ordering and inquiry integrated with ANSWERS, it will need to be updated with new web pages, scripts, and programs to insure compatibility with the new version of ANSWERS. Failure to do this step or failure to select the proper server or web-site folder will cause your web-site integrated with Answers to cease functioning properly until corrected. A web site update program is provided to assist you with this task.
a) If your web-site is hosted on the same server as Answers, then use a program such as Windows Explorer to get into the “answers” folder on your server and locate the update program which is named “UpdateWebSite.exe”. Note: the “.exe” may or may not show on the end of the file name depending on how you have Windows configured. Double-click on this program to run it. You will then be prompted for the folder where your web-site is located. If your web-site is setup in a different folder than the IIS default, be sure to change it here or your web-site will no longer work now that you have updated your version of Answers. This program will extract the updated web pages, scripts, and programs into the folder you choose.
b) If your web-site is hosted on a different server than Answers, then you will want to:
i) Login to the web server with Administrator privileges.
ii) Use a program such as Windows Explorer to browse over to the Answers Server and get into the main “answers” folder.
iii) Copy the web update program named “UpdateWebSite.exe” to a convenient location on the web servers such as the Desktop or Downloads. Note: the “.exe” may or may not show on the end of the filename depending on how you have Windows configured.
iv) Then double-click on this update program to run it.
v) You will then be prompted for the folder where your web-site is located. If your web-site is setup in a different folder than the IIS default, be sure to change it here or your web-site will no longer work now that you have updated your version of Answers. This program will extract the updated web pages, scripts, and programs into the folder you choose on this server.
12) If you encountered any problems, please notify Data Resources Corporation immediately, so we can determine what and if any potential problems exist for you. Remember that we offer free technical support on upgrade related issues on the day you have registered to install the update. Our standard Technical Support Policy applies after that.
E-mail: answerssupport@
Web: support.htm
Fax: (304) 255-1661
Phone: (304) 255-5247
13) Once you are confident your upgrade has been successful, you should perform another Full System Backup. However, be sure to use a different tape or drive than the one used to backup prior to starting the update. Doing another Full System Backup is important to insure that in the event of a disk or system problem throughout the next year, that you will be able to correctly restore your system with the new version of programs. Failure to do this backup will leave you only able to restore your old version of programs, which will be incompatible with your data files, which have just been converted up to the new version.
14) If you have Crystal Reports installed on one or more P/C’s and are generating reports from it that access the ANSWERS data files via ODBC or XDBC, then you will want to instruct Crystal to verify its database settings the first time you access each report after loading the update. This is due to the fact that Crystal maintains some information about the layout of the ANSWERS data files that it is accessing via ODBC/XDBC. Since the update may change the layout (size, key structure, etc.) of some of the files accessed by Crystal, it is a good idea to tell Crystal to verify its database information based on the new ODBC/XDBC dictionaries provided with the update. To do this, open up a report that has been previously saved, and click on “Database” on the menu bar at the top of the screen, and then click on “Verify Database”. You may notice a delay while this is being done. If Crystal detects any necessary changes, it will provide you with the file name(s) that have changed and ask if they should be fixed. Failure to do this procedure may cause Crystal to be unable to run the report, to hang, or to run very slowly.
Let us now take this opportunity to thank you for taking time to upgrade your ANSWERS software and express our sincere hopes that your organization benefits from these new enhancements. We look forward to your continued involvement with Data Resources Corporation and our on-going commitment to provide modern, up-to-date, and easy to use software for our customers.
Also, please keep in mind that you can keep your ANSWERS software up-to-date via our web site by checking for possible program corrections for any problems you might encounter and down-loading any available updates to your system. You can access the update download page of our web site directly by going to “”. This web site is updated often with any program changes and corrections and is dated so you can tell if you have the most recent update. Please note however that this web page only contains updates to this version of Answers, not the entire installation. You can also easily access this site from “Help” on the Windows Answers menu.
General
➢ Answers forms that have previously been restricted to printing on printers requiring PCL4 or PCL5 can now be printed on non-PCL printers (as well as PCL printers), provided your system is re-configured to use non-PCL forms templates provided in this release. This includes many less expensive printers such as ink jets, desk jets, office jets, or lower-end laser printers without PCL capabilities. Of course, you may not want to run high volume jobs on these printers, due to most of them having lower duty cycles and the more expensive ink cartridges compared to laser toner. However, the ability to print a form quickly on an ink jet printer connected to your computer can be very appealing and convenient. This change that was previewed at the October 2016 User’s Conference also brings about other options not previously available including:
• Logos used on Answers forms no longer have to be black and white. Logos can now be greyscale or color. Of course, trying to print a color logo on a black and white laser printer will get translated into various shades of grey, but when printed on a color laser or color ink jet printer, allows for a nice looking and more modern looking logo. Logos to be used on non-PCL form templates are still limited to a maximum of 1” height and ideally now in a bitmap format or they must be converted into a bitmap format before adding to non-PCL form templates.
• Color can be added to certain aspects of forms, such as shading can be colorized instead of grey. Lines can be colorized instead of black. Adding colors to forms requires custom changes to the non-PCL forms templates but generally these newer non-PCL forms are easier to customize than the PCL forms templates. An example of this can be seen on a sample quote on the next page.
• PDF’s generated for emailing or previewing can also contain color or greyscale logos as well as colors on forms.
• PDF’s generated for emailing or previewing no longer require Vsi-Fax or a 3rd party freeware converter to help prepare the PDF on the server, usually resulting in faster PDF generation.
• PDF’s generated in this manner are generated as embedded text, lines, boxes and shading (not as a single image). Some companies that want to read them in automatically are unable to read data out of the single image format like that generated by Vsi-Fax. The freeware PCL-to-PDF Converter also produced PDF’s as text, lines, boxes and shading versus a single large image.
• PDF’s generated using these new forms have the ability to show comments in color when selected on orders, quotes and purchase orders.
• The effort to upgrade to these more flexible forms templates in order to use more printers will depend on the extent of customizations that have been done by Data Resources to your current forms templates.
o For users running the default standard forms templates provided with Answers, upgrading is a simple matter of updating a few Runtime configuration files. Data Resources will assist with making this change for customer fitting into this category free of charge.
o For users running the default standard forms templates provided with Answers, but with a logo included will at a minimum need their logo upgraded or at least converted into a bitmap image as opposed to the TIFF images used in the past. Data Resources will also assist with upgrading or converting logos into the bitmap format free of charge.
o Users with more involved customizations such as removing selected data from forms, adding information to forms, rearranging of data, additional addresses, additional logos, etc. will all involve more time and effort. The extent of the time and effort required will vary depending on the complexity of the changes that have been done to your old form templates that you would like to carry forward. Please understand that Data Resources cannot provide these types of customizations on the newer forms free of charge, but will be glad to assist on an hourly basis to be billed at our current hourly rate upon approval by a client. For users with customizations, we may be able to give you some idea as to the amount of time required if you can email or fax us a copy of each of your forms that you use. We will be scheduling any of these customized form upgrade type requests over the next several months as time allows. This will allow us to compare what customizations have been done to your forms in the past and compare them to the standard default forms.
o Also, please understand, it is not necessary or required to upgrade to these newer format forms unless you want to take advantage of some of the things they have to offer such as being able to add color or being able to run them on other non-PCL printers such as inkjets, DeskJets, OfficeJets or even lasers without PCL5 support. If you decide not to upgrade them right away, you can always elect to switch to the newer format forms in the future.
• A simple example of a quote with a little color added along with a color logo and the more modern fonts is provided on the next page just to give you an idea of what types of things can be done with these new form features.
[pic]
➢ The default email messages that can be entered through Email Forms Notes Maintenance will now default for fax messages as well. Instead of having two separate message entry fields as in the past, the Email/Fax Window will now use a single message field. This means that not only will the message defaulted on faxes and emails be exactly the same, but if you edit the message and then switch between faxing and emailing, the message will not be lost as it was in the past. Also, fax messages will be spell-checked since they are now using the same entry field as the emails.
➢ The Email Forms Notes Maintenance program will be renamed to Email/Fax Message Maintenance
➢ on the menu. It will continue to work the same in allowing a default for the form being sent by user or without a user to make it a system-wide default.
➢ The Subject line can now be edited on all emails and faxes sent from Answers except for auto-sends where no user intervention is involved. The subject line will still be defaulted very similar to before depending on the form being sent, but now all windows that prompt for faxing and emailing choices, recipients, CC recipients, attachments and an email/cover sheet message will now include the ability to edit the Subject line. Note however, that fax subject lines are limited to 30 characters while email subject lines are limited to 255 characters, although practically speaking, you will usually want to limit the size on email subjects to much less than the maximum for readability.
➢ System file I/O errors have been added to the Answers Online Help and linked to the File Error window, so that users can research the help when received system errors.
➢ When you encounter a record lock, you can now request the system notify you via an instant message when the record lock is released. If the system is able to provide you with the user and terminal that holds the record lock or if it is able to provide you with a list of users that it suspects is holding the lock, then you will see a new [Notify Me] button in addition to the button(s) to notify the user(s) holding the lock. Once the other user releases the record lock by moving on with other work or closing out of the transaction they are entering, then an instant message will be automatically sent to you by the system. This is in addition to or regardless of whether you sent the user holding the lock a message or not and regardless of whether they manually reply to you or not. Note that in order to receive this notification of the lock release, you do need to leave an Answers Menu program running (just the same as you need to in order to receive other instant messages sent from within Answers).
➢ The Answers Menu can now warn users if they try to exit the menu with other Answers related windows/programs still running. This is done by the Answers Menu upon exiting by checking with Windows to see how many other Answers windows/programs (i.e. Runtimes) are still running. If there are others still running, a warning window is displayed to this effect listing out the title of each open Answers related window/program. At that point, the user can still force the Menu program closed even though other Answers programs remain running, cancel out of the exiting process, or refresh the list of running programs to help insure they have closed out of all other running programs. This feature is enabled by default but can be disabled if desired in Answers Configuration. This is intended to help users insure they are properly closing out of all open windows and programs related to Answers.
Menu System > Standard Option # 11
➢ Users can now add up to 100 Quick Links to the right-hand pane of their Answers Menu (up from the previous limit of 10). Additionally, if the main menu is enlarged enough vertically, users may be able to see more than 10 at a time depending on their screen size and resolution. If a user adds more Quick Links than can be shown at one time based on the height of their menu, a vertical scroll bar will appear allowing them to navigate up and down to access all of their Quick Links.
• Additionally, users can now right-click on a Quick Link menu line and move the selection up or down in the list. These options provide an easier way of managing the order of Quick Links especially now that you can have more than 10, than having to delete and re-add in the desired order as in the past.
Inventory Management
➢ A right-click menu has been added to the Inventory Transaction History menu. The right-click menu provides access to the Options, Print, and Export functions as well as the “View” for invoices and purchase orders. It also provides access to new Customer Inquiry and Vendor Inquiry options based on the type of transaction that is highlighted.
➢ The Nonstock Sales History Inquiry window has been expanded to a Nonstock Item Inquiry window. Instead of just searching for sales history of nonstock items, it will now search sales orders, quotes, transfers, RFQ’s, purchase orders, and purchase order history for the nonstock item entered (or by description). It will display the documents the item is found on along with various information. The user can view the document (sales order, purchase order, quote). Options are available to limit the number of years displayed, as well as the types of searches performed. This inquiry/search is available on the Inventory Inquiry menu, as well as the File Menu of Inventory Inquiry, Order Entry, and Purchase Order Entry.
➢ A new icon [pic] has been added to the toolbar in Inventory Maintenance to allow direct access to any of the Cross Reference Part Numbers linked to this stock number. From here you can add, change, delete or view any numbers that are setup linked to this stock number whether they be General, Customer Part Numbers or Vendor Cross Reference Part Numbers.
➢ The Stock Number Conversion Update program can now be added to run during automated End-of-Day tasks. This can be added just like other automated EOD programs by going into System Management(Answers Software Maintenance(Batch Data Entry and then clicking on the [Daily Tasks] button and scrolling down to find the “Stock Number Conversion Update” entry and enabling it. When run during End-of-Day it will send its progress messages to the RUN.LOG like other automated programs. It will still create a spooled report listing out stock numbers changed along with any comments, warnings or errors.
Purchase Orders
➢ When entering and editing purchase orders, a Preview P/O as PDF option has been added to the File menu and toolbar menu. This will allow users to see what their printed/emailed/faxed purchase orders will be look while they are in the process of entering them.
➢ When emailing and faxing purchase orders, if the user cancels out of the Fax/Email window, the information they have already entered will be retained. The message entered, fax number, email address, recipient information, and attachments will all be retained. So, when the go back to the window, they will not have to fill it all out again. This will be more convenient if you go into this window and realize you need to change something on the p/o, you will not have to re-enter. The system will maintain this information if you leave the purchase order and come back into it. On most user’s systems, it will be deleted in the automatic end of day process if the email or fax is still unsent at the end of the day
➢ In Purchase Order Entry and in Vendor RFQ Entry, the Ship-To Search window will now allow searching open orders, quotes, and Invoice History in addition to any Alternate Ship-To Addresses setup permanently. Buttons at the bottom of the Ship-To Search window will be provided for each area. By default, you will be searching within the customer # entered or defaulted onto the P/O or RFQ, however you are prompted with an option to search under a different customer if you wish. You will then be taken to typical search windows for the appropriate type of transaction you want to search. Within those windows, a [Select] button will be provided which will copy the Ship-To #, Name and Address back into the current transaction (and customer # too if it was changed and selected).
➢ Comment lines entered on purchase orders can now be set to display and print in color. When entering comments in the Automatic Comment Entry window, users can click on the Print Color button and select a color for the block of comments. When entering comments on individual lines, users can right click on the line and choose Set Comment Print Color to select a color for that line.
• Comments are entered in free-form paragraphs or blocks of lines and inside the Automatic Comment Entry window, only one color can be selected at a time. If you wish to set a color for a specific individual line, this can only be done on the main P/O Entry window (unless your comment is only one line). Users can right-click and select the color for each line of a series of comment lines… however, upon returning to the Automatic Comment Entry window, the user will be notified that all the lines will be set back to a single color since this window can only assign one color per paragraph of lines.
• Standard comments can also be set with a default color. This color will be used when importing from standard comments, however, if the standard comment is imported along with other standard comments, only one color can be assigned per series or block of comments. So, users may need to reset colors by individual lines on the main P/O Entry grid.
• Color comment lines will show on the main P/O Entry screen, as well as searches and displays. Colored comment lines will print assuming that you have a color laser printer or color ink-jet printer and you are using the new format DRC laser forms. Color comments also show up in emails and PDF previews when using the new format DRC laser forms. Colors may vary from printer to printer and may be a different shade on PC monitors and the printer.
➢ You can now optionally access Inventory Maintenance directly from within Purchase Order Entry similar to how you can access Inventory Inquiry, however this option is disabled by default. Before it is allowed, it must be enabled in either your system configuration or in the User Profiles for selected users. A password can also be required to access this feature if desired. It is available from the Inventory pull-down menu bar or on the detail tab from the right-click menu. If it is accessed while on a tab other than the detail line tab, Inventory Maintenance will be called up, but no particular stock number passed in. If it is used on a valid line item, that stock number will be passed into the Inventory Maintenance window and called up if setup in inventory. If it is accessed on a line item that is not an actual item (such as a Comment line), it will be called up, but again, now particular stock number passed in.
Order Processing > Standard Options # 30 and 31
User Profiles > Standard Option # 14
➢ Purchase Order detail lines can now be imported. Imports of detail line items can be done using a tab-delimited text file, a CSV text file, or a fixed-length text file. Detail lines can be imported with as little as the stock number and quantity because all the other information can be retrieved from inventory for stock items. An import map is defined under Purchasing Management > File Maintenance > Detail Line Import Management. The map will define the fields in the incoming file and how those fields relate to the fields on the detail lines in P/O Entry. In Purchase Order Entry, the user must complete the header. Then, on a new detail line, the user can select Edit > Import Detail Lines. They will then select the map they want to use for the import. Then, they will select their incoming file, how many header lines to skip, and the lines will be imported and updated onto the purchase order. Once the items are imported onto a line, they are treated like any other line on the purchase order. These lines can be edited as desired, deleted, etc. Any number of maps can be used as well, as long as the user does not exceed the 999 line limit.
➢ Purchase Order header and detail information can be exported into Excel. This option is now found on the Purchasing Management > Reporting menu. Exports can be done one of two ways. First, all of the available fields can be exported into a spreadsheet. The second method allows you to set up a spreadsheet template containing the columns you wish to be exported. This uses the cell-naming capability in Excel to give the spreadsheet columns the cell name that Answers recognizes. The complete list of field names that can be exported and more detailed instructions are found in the online help.
➢ Suggested P/O Review is now resizable. This should prove to be a useful program to re-size as you will be able to view more vendors and more information for each on the vendor listing screen, but even more helpful is being able to view more items and more information for each on the suggested item list screen. To go along with this enhancement, both the vendor list and suggested item list have been converted to grids with each column be resizable as well. The combination of these enhancements provides for several advantages and opportunities to improve functionality and ease of use.
• The vendor listing can now show all minimums and totals including suggested totals as well as approved totals without the need to toggle back and forth what columns are shown from the View pull-down menu bar.
• A green check-mark [pic] in the PO column indicates a P/O was created the last time this vendor was reviewed. This replaces the old Y/N column to indicate whether a P/O was created on the last review or not.
• A vendor which has been locked from further changes by the review process will now show a small lock icon [pic] to the right of the vendor’s name. This replaces the old lower-case y/n letters shown in the past on locked vendors.
• Many new columns have been added to the suggested item list and will be visible as users scroll horizontally. These include Unit of Measure, Carton Size, Average Lead Time, MTD Units Sold, Monthly Units sold for each of the prior 12 months, Vendor Part #, and Purchasing to Stock Keeping Conversion Information.
• In addition to the various ways of approving, holding, deleting and transferring items previously, now a new check-box column has been that be clicked on to toggle back and forth between Approved (green check mark [pic]) and Hold (blank check box [pic]). This replaces the old “A” and “H” letter codes. Transfers will now show with a [pic] icon instead of the “T” letter code.
• A new dedicated column for an inventory item’s stocking status has been added rather than having it combined with the order category code on items. This new column (headed with an “S”) is between the Description and the category code column (headed with a “C”). This column will be blank for stock items, “N” for Non-stock inventory items, “I” for Inactive inventory items and “D” for Discontinued inventory items. This replaces the old asterisk * code used in the past.
• Another new column has been added to the right of the Approve/Hold/Transfer column that will show a small lock icon [pic] when an item is “locked” from being changed by the inventory review process. This replaces the use of lower case letter codes a/h/t shown in the past instead of the upper-case letter codes on non-locked items.
• The third new column to the right of the locked column will show a small warning icon [pic] when quantities on an item have changed since it was last reviewed by the inventory review program. The purpose of this icon is to notify the buyer to pay special attention to suggested quantities as they could have changed up or down since the suggestion was last updated. This replaces the old tilde “~” symbol that was shown in the category code column on “changed’ items in the past.
• Additional new columns will show Carton Quantity, Average Lead Time, MTD Unit Sold as well as unit sales for each of the past 12 months, Vendor Part #, and Purchasing to Stock Keeping Conversion info.
• Three of the columns can be configured to suit your preferences on a user basis. These can be configured under Edit(Optional Column 1/2/3 Display. Each of these columns can be set to show from a list that includes: Average Monthly Usage, Order Point, Action Level, 6-Month Usage, 12-Month Usage or Quoted Items.
• Both grids column widths will be remembered upon exiting and re-entry into the program as well as the overall size and window location will be remembered upon exiting and re-defaulted back upon re-entry.
➢ The Purchasing Work Center is now resizable including all of its tabs. This ties in nicely to the enhanced Suggested P/O Review program in this release since Suggested P/O Review is the primary tab in the Purchasing Work Center. But this also adds resizable stand-alone modes of the following programs in addition to when these features are used from tabs within the Purchasing Work Center. Also like Suggested P/O Review, the Purchasing Work Center as well as these programs (when accessed separately) will remember their window size and screen position and will default back to that size after exit and re-entry.
• Suggested P/O Review
• P/O Hot List Expediting
• P/O Acknowledgement Request Log Viewer
• Vendor Request for Quote (RFQ) Log Viewer
• Buyer Task Reminders
Order Processing
➢ The system-wide configuration option as well as the User Profile option that controls the ability of users to see and enter costs in various areas of the system now has a 3rd choice in addition to Yes and No. This new choice “Only Nonstocks in O/E” is the same as “No” throughout the system with the exception that it will allow the viewing and entering of costs on non-stock items in Order Entry. Setting the option to “No” was often desired for some users, however this also made it inconvenient for them when trying to quote or sell non-stocked items. With this new choice, you can still protect costs and gross margins throughout the system but still allow selected users to enter and view costs on non-stocked items right in the Order Entry Detail tab.
Order Processing(Standard Options(# 17
User Profiles: Standard Options(# 8
➢ When emailing and faxing quotes, sales orders, and acknowledgements, if the user cancels out of the Fax/Email window, the information they have already entered will be retained. The message entered, fax number, email address, recipient information, and attachments will all be retained. So, when the go back to the window, they will not have to fill it all out again. This will be more convenient if you go into this window and realize you need to change something on the order, you will not have to re-enter. The system will actually maintain this information if you leave the purchase order and come back into it. On most user’s systems, it will be deleted in the automatic end of day process if the email or fax is still unsent at the end of the day.
➢ When reinstating an invoice, the user can now be prompted to send a Void or Canceled notification to the customer. The user can also enter their own message (up to 18 characters) such as “To be Revised”, etc. This option will only be presented on customers who automatically receive emails via email and fax. This way, if they were previously sent an invoice and the invoice is now being voided or canceled, you can send them another copy with a notice. If you are using the standard DRC PCL laser forms, the notification is the first line of the body of the invoice. If you are using the new non-PCL forms, the notification will be in bolder, gray letters across the top of the body in a “watermark” type format. Regardless of which forms you send, the email message is also modified automatically to include the Void, Canceled, or another message entered. The idea is to draw the user’s attention to the change.
Order Processing->Advanced Options-># 79
➢ When invoicing a customer set up for auto-send invoices, and the invoice has previously been reinstated and is now being re-invoiced, the invoice will include an “Invoice Revised” message. The message will appear as the first line of the body of the invoice when using the standard DRC PCL forms. When using the new non-PCL forms, it will in larger, gray, watermark type format. The message will include the date and time so that there will not be confusion with multiple revisions/changes. The email message will also include an “Invoice Revision” notice to draw the customer’s attention that this is a change and not a separate invoice.
➢ Now if you click on the Ship-To Maintenance button [pic] in Order Entry with a Ship-To # of 0, you will be automatically assigned the next available unused Ship-To # for this customer should you choose to continue adding a new permanent Alternate Ship-To Address. Previously the user had to choose their own Ship-To # to add. Also, now if you click on this button with a non-zero Ship-To # entered that is already on file, you will be warned that this Ship-To # already exists and prompted if you want to edit it. If you select [Yes] you will be allowed to edit the previously setup Ship-To #. If you select [No] this window will exit so that you can choose a different # or zero/blank out the Ship-To # in order to get the next available # to add defaulted for you.
➢ In Order Entry, the Customer Ship-To Search window will now allow searching open orders, quotes, and Invoice History in addition to any Alternate Ship-To Addresses setup permanently for the customer. Buttons at the bottom of the Ship-To Search window will be provided for each area. You will then be taken to typical search windows for the appropriate type of transaction you want to search. Within those windows, a [Select] button will be provided which will copy the Ship-To #, Name, Address, Tax Jurisdiction #, Route, Stop #, Territory and Taxable Flag back into the current transaction.
➢ When invoicing a sales order or return in Order Entry, the user will now have an option of “Viewing” the invoice on the screen as a PDF. The View button will now be provided along with the Print, Change Printer, and Cancel buttons once they click on the Invoice button on the totals tab, toolbar or pull-down File menu. This can be handy if the customer does not want a copy or you have already given them a copy of the pick ticket and you do not need an internal copy of the invoice, such as in a counter sale type environment. Viewing an invoice will still respect the auto-send feature for faxing or emailing the invoice if enabled on the customer or sales order and your configuration is also enabled for auto-send on invoices printed (or viewed) directly from Order Entry. The View option on Invoices is similar to the Preview option on Quotes or Order Acknowledgments in that it is displayed on the screen as a PDF. The difference is that since an Invoice also changes the status on an order, viewing an invoice finalizes the order just like it would if it were printed. Of course, invoices can be reinstated if needed and printed or viewed again up until they are updated through the O/P Daily Invoice Register which is normally run during end-of-day.
➢ If you have the window enabled in Order Entry that will list out any quotes for an item being entered on a sales order with the option to copy in the price or price and cost from quote, this window now copy in all fields from the quote line including description, vendor, buyer, product code, etc. Note that on nonstock items, this feature always copies price and cost as there is no other source for the cost, so it will be copied, but can be changed on the order line item if needed. On stock items, cost will only be copied from the quote if the [Use Price and Cost] button is clicked instead of the [Use Price] button. If the [Use Price] button is used, then cost will default from inventory as usual. This aspect works similar to before but now remaining fields from the quote line will be copied onto the order line making the entry of an item quoted previously easier.
This quote list window can be enabled with Order Processing->Advanced Options-># 50
➢ Additionally, this quote list will now be displayed for nonstock items before the optional nonstock window that prompts for key information such as Vendor, Buyer, Product Code, Vendor Part #, Price, Cost, etc. The timing of this window was moved on nonstock items because if you elect to copy from a quote and now that all information from the quote line is being copied in, there is no need for this additional nonstock window prompting for this data as it should have already been entered on the quote.
This nonstock window can be enabled with Order Processing->Advanced Options-># 65
➢ Comment lines entered in Order Entry can now be set to display and print in color. When entering comments in the Automatic Comment Entry window, users can click on the Print Color button and select a color for the block of comments. When entering comments on individual lines, users can right click on the line and choose Set Comment Print Color to select a color for that line.
• Comments are entered in free-form paragraphs or blocks of lines and inside the Automatic Comment Entry window, only one color can be selected at a time. If you wish to set a color for a specific individual line, this can only be done on the main Order Entry window (unless your comment is only one line). Users can right-click and select the color for each line of a series of comment lines… however, upon returning to the Automatic Comment Entry window, the user will be notified that all the lines will be set back to a single color since this window can only assign one color per paragraph of lines.
• Standard comments can also be set with a default color. This color will be used when importing from standard comments, however, if the standard comment is imported along with other standard comments, only one color can be assigned per series or block of comments. So, users may need to reset colors by individual lines on the main Order Entry grid.
• Color comment lines will show on the main Order Entry screen, as well as searches and displays. Colored comment lines will print assuming that you have a color laser printer or color ink-jet printer and you are using the new format DRC laser forms. Color comments also show up in emails and PDF previews when using the new format DRC laser forms. Colors may vary from printer to printer and may be a different shade on PC monitors and the printer.
➢ An option has been added to prevent the operator from changing the Entry Date in Order Entry.
Order Processing > Advanced Options > #111
➢ All 6 digits of Invoice Numbers can now be assigned. Previously only the last 5 digits could be manipulated. The leading digit of Order Processing Invoices was always a 3. Now all 6 digits including the leading digit can be manipulated and assigned either on a system-wide basis or a per-warehouse basis. This change also affects Service Charge Invoice numbering (which used to always start with a 6), Unapplied Payments numbering (which used to always start with a 5), and Manufacturer Rep. numbering (which used to always start with a 1). During the upgrade process, the invoice numbers will remain using the same numbering scheme as before until changed by a system administrator. These are all controlled using the Control #’s Maintenance program located under System Management(Answers Software Maintenance. These also now all include the starting and ending ranges for each different type of invoice numbers so that you have full control over when they will reset (loop around) and where they will start off at once that occurs.
❖ Caution: Just be aware that if you change your numbering scheme in one area (such as Invoice Numbers used for sales orders) to use a different leading digit(s) (such as per warehouse), that you also take this into consideration and update other numbering ranges that might possibly overlap or conflict. For example, if you decide to assign invoice numbers from 600000-699999 for your sales orders invoices in warehouse 06, then you may want to seriously consider assigning your service (finance) charge invoices a numbering range other than its previous default of starting with a leading digit of “6” to avoid possible conflicts and confusion over the source of an invoice which was one of the advantages of using the leading digit to indicate the purpose of the invoice.
➢ You can now optionally access Inventory Maintenance directly from within Order Entry similar to how you can access Inventory Inquiry, however this option is disabled by default. Before it is allowed, it must be enabled in either your system configuration or in the User Profiles for selected users. A password can also be required to access this feature if desired. It is available from the Inventory pull-down menu bar or on the detail tab from the right-click menu. It is also available from within the Kit window from the Inventory pull-down menu bar or right-click menu. If it is accessed while on a tab other than the detail line tab, Inventory Maintenance will be called up, but no particular stock number passed in. If it is used on a valid line item, that stock number will be passed into the Inventory Maintenance window and called up if setup in inventory. If it is accessed on a line item that is not an actual item (such as a Comment line or Special Charge), it will be called up, but again, now particular stock number passed in.
Order Processing > Standard Options # 30 and 31
User Profiles > Standard Option # 14
➢ The Taxable status check-box and Tax Jurisdiction # and search are now accessible directly on the Header tab if your Order Entry window is stretched wide enough to allow these to show. They will show below the existing check-boxes that were added for other popular options when Order Entry was made resizable several years ago. Please note that if your window was only stretched the minimum amount required before in order to get the other popular check-boxes to show, that it will now need to be stretched a little wider in order to allow for these new fields as they require some additional width to that area of the window. So simply drag one edge of the window left or right to make it wider until you see the popular options check-boxes displayed. Also note that the ability to edit the Taxable check-box and Tax Jurisdiction # can be enabled or disabled in the system configuration as well as at the user level in User Profiles. These options to enable and disable the tax related fields were already available but now apply to this new location as well if you decide to take advantage of a wider Order Entry window.
Order Processing > Advanced Option # 55
User Profiles > Advanced Option # 12
➢ An option has been added that allows a notification when and out of stock item (quantity is zero or below) is placed on a sales order or quote, and the last Price/Cost Change date of the item is over xxx days. This notice will help salesman identify items they may need to verify prices and/or cost on before quoting or giving the customer a price. These items must meet the specified criteria of being out of stock and having an older Price/Cost Change date. The Last Price/Cost Change Date is modified on items every time prices and/or costs change. There is a configuration option that controls how the Last Price/Cost Change Date is modified… either on all price and cost changes, or the 1st price only.
Order Processing > Advanced Option # 53
Inventory > Advanced # 1
➢ An option has been added to allow re-printing an invoice from the Open Order Search/Display window for orders invoiced but not yet updated. When viewing an order, the button that previously allowed you to Send the Invoice now gives the option of Printing or Sending the invoice.
➢ The maximum number of customer deposits that can be entered on a sales order has been increased from 3 to 8. To better facilitate the handling of additional deposits, the Deposit Entry window in Order Entry has been redesigned.
• There are familiar looking entry fields at the top of the window for entry of the deposit date, type (such as cash, check, ACH, EFT, or credit card), reference (such as a check # or manually authorized credit card #) and then the amount.
• A credit card button [pic] is still available for entry of full credit card information for those that have their credit card processing automated with one of the available credit card processing companies or for those wishing to enter this information for manual authorization purposes.
• A green check-mark button [pic] allows saving the deposit information and when used will then show the deposit in the list box below denoting it was posted to the order. Note however that on credit card types, either the credit card button or the green check-mark button will both take the user thru the credit card entry window and save the deposit.
• Previous deposits can be edited by clicking on them in the list box to high-light them and then clicking on the Edit [pic] icon to the right which will then allow changing any of that deposit entry’s information in the entry fields at the top of the window. But note that changing a credit card deposit when credit cards are being authorized automatically will first require voiding (available usually same day only) or refunding the customer’s card which essentially removes that deposit and then another deposit can be re-entered if desired.
• The printer button [pic] can continue to be used to print a list of the deposits on the order acting as a receipt that could be printed on any printer (since it is a simple report format) and given to the customer if needed.
• A Prospect # Conversion has been added. Similar to the Customer # Conversion, an input is used to enter the numbers to be converted, and then an update is run to actually perform the changes.
Accounts Receivable
➢ The Invoice History display now offers an Invoice # Search. This option is accessible beside the date field in the lower left corner of the screen. There is now a drop-down arrow that allows switching the field between a date entry and an invoice # entry field. Then green arrow will Search or Search Next on invoices making it possible to search and locate all instances of that invoice number on the customer’s account.
➢ When adding a new permanent Alternate Ship-To Address for a customer in the Ship-To Maintenance [pic] window in Customer Maintenance, you will be now be automatically assigned the next available unused Ship-To # for this customer. Previously the user had to choose their own Ship-To # to add.
➢ Customer Ordering Information Notes have been expanded to allow entry up to 99 lines (up from the previous limit of 8). Each line can contain 56 characters. These are the notes that can be set to automatically display in Order Entry and Customer Inquiry. They are available by clicking on the [pic] icon on the toolbar of Customer Maintenance and Inquiry.
➢ A new type of notes has been added to customers for entry and storing of “Customer Credit Related Notes”. These are available via a new icon [pic] in Customer Maintenance, Inquiry, Cash Posting, Order Entry and various tabs of the Credit Management WorkCenter. These notes also offer two check-boxes that can have them pop-up automatically in Cash Posting and/or Customer Inquiry when that customer is entered or selected from a search. The purpose of these notes is primarily to remind cash posting operators of information promised to a customer such as “if they pay their past due balances, they will be removed from COD terms”. However, given their accessibility from all of the above areas, they may also be used and come in handy for other purposes as well. These notes can be up to 99 lines long of 56 characters each. Like similar icons in Answers, when these credit related notes are present, this new icon will appear colored as in the above example. When no credit related notes are present, the icon will instead appear grayed out.
➢ A new Salesperson Number Conversion Input and Update program have been added to allow changing salesperson numbers once they have been setup and used throughout the system. These programs are located under Accounts Receivable(File Maintenance. These programs also allow combining/merging two or more salesperson numbers together if desired. In this case, the name and commission rates are retained on the “new” customer #, however historical data is added together from both old and new numbers so that they are a total combined figure. Files updated are the Customer Master, Alternate Ship-To’s, Codes File, Prospect Master, Salesman Commission Master, Product Code, and Invoice files, Job Master, Inventory Transaction History (for Sales), Lost Sales Detail History, Price Exceptions, B/O Fill Log, User Profiles, Order Entry Header and Detail, Quote Entry Header and Detail, P/O Header, P/O History, RFQ Header, Invoice History Header and Detail, Customer Maintenance Change Log and all Sales Analysis files that are stored based on salesperson numbers.
➢ A Customer Master Export to Excel has been added. This program will let you export information from the customer master file to an Excel spreadsheet. Information can be exported in two ways. A basic export allows you to export all the customer master fields and notes. The notes include Customer Notes, Ordering Information notes, and Credit Information notes. There are options to only export customer fields and just the notes fields. In this method, the fields in the spreadsheet will be neatly formatted for the data contained in them. A second method for exporting data is to create an Excel spreadsheet template using “cell names” that Answers recognizes and then have Answers fill in only these columns. The online help has complete instructions and a list of the field names to use.
➢ A Customer Master Import has been added. This import allows you to update and even add new customers to the customer master file. Similar to other imports in Answers, the user will first create a “map” that describes the incoming data columns and how they relate to Answers fields. Once the map is created, the program can import from three types of files: comma separated, tab-delimited, or fixed length. The import can update customers, the two primary contacts, customer notes, ordering information, and credit information notes.
➢ An option has been added to the Customer Master file, under the Setup Options tab, Advanced button, to control the number of days for service charges. Be default, the number of days past due to apply service charges (for customers with the Service Charge flag checked) is set in the Answers Configuration. Leaving it blank spaces here will use the default from the configuration. For customers that you need to handle differently, it can be set to 30, 60, or 90 days on the customer record.
➢ A search on Invoice History Ship-To Addresses has been added in Customer Inquiry. This search is available in the drop-down arrow list of search methods in Customer Inquiry. It allows the user to enter a text string and then searches the invoice history for all customers having that string in the Ship-To Name or any of the three Ship-To Address lines. This is an “exact match” type search, like the other miscellaneous type searches. If you enter “BEAVER, WV”, then the string with the comma and space must be found in order to be a result. So, if you believe the users may have been inconsistent, it would be better to just enter the ‘BEAVER” as the search text. Upper and lowercase is not a factor, but spelling and spaces and punctuation would be.
• In order to help with speed, there is a filter available for how many years back the history is searched.
• There is also a maximum number of results for the same customer. If you are trying to get an overall idea of the business shipped or delivered to a particular address from multiple customers, you may not need or want hundreds of results from one customer. In this case, you can limit to a certain number from the same customer.
➢ An option has been added the Check Inquiry window that will allow entering a check date and filtering out the payments made by a check # and a check date. This is useful in the case that the same check # has been used multiple times, such as is the case with credit card payments. Since the check #’s are usually CCAX, CCVS, etc, you can now enter a date and see what was paid via credit card on a particular date, instead of seeing all the payments.
➢ An option has been added to allow edting the check # after payments are posted. This option will change the check # on open items still showing in the “analysis” window. It does not change payments already posted to history. And, it only changes the screen display. The original Cash Posting journals (and Invoice Register for end of day) will show the check #’s originally entered. An audit is generated in the Archived Reports for all check # changes. This option is accessible in the Check Inquiry window and with a right-click on the main Account Analysis screen. It can be enabled/disabled in the Answers Configuration Options and also enabled/disabled by user in the User Profiles Maintenance. A password can also be set to be required before a check # change is allowed.
Accounts Receivable > Advanced > #12
Accounts Receivable > Advanced > #13
➢ A new icon [pic] has been added to the toolbars in Customer Maintenance and Customer Inquiry that will allow accessing Customer Part Numbers that are setup in the Inventory Cross Reference Part Number file for this customer. From Customer Maintenance you will be able to add, change, delete and view all Customer Part Numbers linked to your inventory stock numbers for this customer. From Customer Inquiry, only viewing the customer’s part numbers is allowed.
➢ If the user is displaying the larger, extended size Customer Inquiry screen, new chart displays will be shown at the bottom of the screen (space permitting). A visual representation will be shown of the customer’s balance information, showing what percentage of the total balance is current, 30, 60, 90 days. Length and width of the screen permitting, the ten year sales history will also be shown, including sales and gross margin, so the user can see at a glance the variance from year to year for the past ten years. These new charts are only shown if the screen size permits. In order to display the new charts, a third-party control must be installed. If the control is not installed, the user will have a message displayed in place of the charts that instructs them how to install. From the main Answers menu, click on Help > Verify Answers Installation and allow the installation program to run.
Accounts Payable
➢ When viewing Purchase Orders and Purchase Order History, a right-click option has been added to allow viewing the purchase order as a PDF. When viewing a purchase order, the PDF can also be viewed from the right-click menu, or from the newly added PDF icon in the lower right corner of the screen.
➢ When entering credit memos in A/P Credit Memo Entry and using the Vendor Returns Search window (same as Receipts History Search for Invoices), the user can now view any Notes entered on Vendor Returns using the Notes button at the bottom of the window, the right-click menu, or the key while a line is high-lighted for a Vendor Return that has any Notes entered.
➢ An open item transfer option has been added to the A/P Invoice Entry/Maintenance program. This option will let you move an unpaid invoice to a different vendor. To access this option, go into A/P Invoice Entry and select the Maintenance mode. The Transfer bottom is available at the bottom of the list along with the Void and Change option. Invoices that are paid or partially paid cannot be transferred. The invoice will be transferred “as is” meaning that it will go with the same P/O # information, dates, discounts, general ledger accounts as the original. If the receiving vendors accounts are different, the user does get a warning and is asked to “continue” the transfer. If these accounts need to changed, the “Change” mode can be used before or after the transfer. The user is allowed to edit the invoice number in the event the receiving vendor has an invoice already on file with that number. The Vendor open items and balance are updated, as well as the summary history shows the transaction.
➢ A new search box has been added to the A/P Invoice/Credit Maintenance window to assist the user in finding the desired invoice. It will be available once you have entered or selected a vendor and their invoices and credit memos are displayed. This can be especially helpful on larger vendors with many invoices and credits. You can enter an invoice #, a partial invoice #, a date, or an amount in the "Find" box in the lower right corner of the window and your cursor will automatically be re-positioned to the first matching invoice (provided a match is found). You can then click on the green arrow to the right of the "Find" box to advance to the next invoice matching the search value entered. If you advance thru all matching invoices, the search will wrap back around to the top of the list and start over. If this occurs, you will be notified with a message box. If you prefer to only search on invoice numbers as opposed to all columns (including dates and amounts), you can click on Search(Search Only Invoice # Column to switch the searching mode. Clicking on Search(Search All Columns will revert the search to the default mode of searching for the value entered in all columns. Note to properly search on larger dollar amounts into the thousands of dollars, be sure to enter a comma in the proper location as the search must match the values exactly as shown in the list. For example, enter 1,000 or 1,000.00 to search for an invoice of one thousand dollars exactly. Similarly, to search on dates, be sure to enter the "/" mark between months and days and years since that is how dates are shown in the list.
➢ Vendor Purchasing/Invoicing Information Notes have been expanded to allow entry up to 99 lines (up from the previous limit of 8). Each line can contain 56 characters. These are the notes that can be set to automatically display in Purchase Order Entry and A/P Invoice/Credit Memo Entry. They are available by clicking on the [pic] icon on the toolbar of Vendor Maintenance and Inquiry.
➢ The Vendor Inquiry program (including all of its tabs) is now resizable. The program will remember its location on the screen and size upon exit and re-entry so that if a user prefers a certain size and location, they will not have to adjust it each time the program is used. This resizing affects the “General Info” tab and each of the tabs differently. The highlights of how each tab is effected is listed below.
• If the Vendor Inquiry window is enlarged horizontally, an additional column showing General Ledger distribution information (including account numbers, names and percentages) will be listed down the right side of the “General Info” tab. Additionally, the most common options set on vendors will be displayed at the bottom of this extra column. The G/L Distribution information and options were previously only available on the pop-up “Setup Information” window.
• If the Vendor Inquiry window is enlarged vertically by a sufficient amount, you will be shown all of the possible phone numbers for your primary Billing and Sales contacts including cell and home phone numbers. In this case, a small blue arrow will point to the contact’s preferred phone number and a small green arrow will point to their preference of fax or email.
• Also, when the Vendor Inquiry window is enlarged both horizontally and vertically you will begin to see additional options for vendors in the far-right column that were previously only available on the pop-up “Setup Information” window.
• If enlarged enough horizontally, the Vendor Performance tab will be able to show the full description for departments in the Investment Performance frame. With the default size, the department names would sometimes have to be truncated to fit.
• The Account Analysis, Analysis History, Purchase Orders, Purchase Order History, Summary History, Open Vendor Returns and Vendor Returns History tabs are all expanded to show more lines vertically as space allows when the window size grows, and all of these with the exception of Summary History are expanded to show more columns of data without having to use the horizontal scroll bar as much.
• For this reason, the Open Vendor Returns and Vendor Returns History tabs were re-programmed to use a grid control so that they could grow horizontally and users could scroll horizontally easier to view all of the columns relevant to a vendor return. That also means that the grid of line items shown in the tabs will now show all relevant columns without having to always pop-up the View Return window to see the additional columns for line items.
• Note that another side benefit of this change is that the Account Analysis, Purchase Orders, Purchase Order History, Open Vendor Returns and Vendor Returns History tabs/windows will also be resizable and will remember their settings from exit to re-entry in most other forms and uses of these windows for searches, inquiry, or maintenance when called from other programs.
• This includes resizable windows that show a complete Purchase Order or Vendor Return in full view mode showing both header information boxes at the top of the window and detail line items in a grid at the bottom of the window along with option buttons that can be used along the bottom, such as when viewing or searching for a Purchase Order and/or Vendor Return in programs such as Inventory Inquiry, Order Entry, P/O Entry, Stock Receipts, Customer Inquiry, etc. or when editing an A/P invoice from A/P Invoice Entry/Maintenance.
➢ A Vendor Products Keyword Search has been added. This search allows the users to input various “keywords” for a vendor. These can be input through Vendor Maintenance. Each “keyword” can be up to 30 characters long. It can be a single word, or a string of text. These keywords should define products or items sold by the vendor, services offered, etc. This maintenance can be accessed from the Options menu in Vendor Maintenance. Up to 999 keywords can be entered per vendor.
• In Vendor Inquiry (using the drop-down arrow beside the vendor name) and Inventory Search (using the Search Method drop-down menu), the user can access the Vendor Product Keyword Search. The search allows you to type in a keyword, or string of keywords, and see results for matching vendors. The results can be filtered: exact match to the search string, matching any of the search keywords entered, or matching all the keywords entered. The resulting matches will be shown. The vendor number, vendor name, and the matching keyword string will be listed.
• In Vendor Inquiry, you can highlight a vendor and Go To Vendor Inquiry for that vendor.
• In Inventory Search, you can highlight a vendor and search the items for that vendor. Selecting a vendor will be the same as typing a vendor number for a Vendor Item Search.
➢ Additional configuration options have been added to further allow controlling the functionality of A/P Invoice Entry. By default, A/P Invoice Entry is set up to default information and skip entry fields to save operator keystrokes and make invoice entry faster. But, depending on practices at various companies, entry into fields may be desired. There were already several configuration options that controlled whether the cursor stopped at certain fields. This release adds additional fields: A/P Terms Code (if enabled for use), Discount Date, Discount Percent, and Due Date.
Accounts Payable > Advanced Options > #10 thru #17
➢ A/P Invoice/Credit Memo Entry/Maintenance will now always show the Posting Date and Batch # (if enabled) in the Windows title bar to remind you of your posting parameters. The title bar previously only showed the mode of the program you were currently working in (Invoice Entry, Credit Memo Entry or Invoice/Credit Memo Maintenance). Now it will show the mode, followed by the Posting Date, and then if enabled to post your Purchase Journal by Batch #, it will also show the Batch # all in the Windows title bar. This should prove helpful at the beginning of a new month or new year when you may be back-dating some transactions into the past month or year but also posting some transactions into the new month or year. By referring to the title bar, you can now assure what Posting Date and Batch # you are currently using.
➢ A new icon [pic] has been added to the toolbars in Vendor Maintenance and Vendor Inquiry that will allow accessing Vendor Cross Reference Part Numbers that are setup in the Inventory Cross Reference Part Number file for this vendor. From Vendor Maintenance you will be able to add, change, delete and view all Vendor Cross Reference Part Numbers linked to your inventory stock numbers for this vendor. From Vendor Inquiry, only viewing the vendor’s cross reference part numbers is allowed. Also note that these are only the vendor’s cross reference part numbers and do not include primary Vendor Part Numbers for each item that have been entered directly onto the inventory item master records. Vendor Cross Reference Part Numbers are setup over and above (or in addition to) the primary Vendor Part Number that can be assigned to each item.
➢ If the user is displaying the larger, extended size Vendor Inquiry screen, new chart displays will be shown at the bottom of the screen (space permitting). A visual representation will be shown of the ten year purchases history, so the user can see at a glance the variance from year to year for the past ten years. Width of the screen permitting, a visual reprensentation of the Inventory Class Investment will also be shown. This will show what percent of the vendor’s total inventory is invested in each of the inventory classes. A visual gauge will be shown as to what percent to goal the vendor is for purchasing and sales. Objectives or goals for both sales and purchases can be entered in Vendor Maintenance and these display show how close you are to meeting the goal. These new charts are only shown if the screen size permits. In order to display the new charts, a third-party control must be installed. If the control is not installed, the user will have a message displayed in place of the charts that instructs them how to install. From the main Answers menu, click on Help > Verify Answers Installation and allow the installation program to run.
On the Inventory Class Investment, all 13 classes can potentially be shown. However, when an individual class is less than 1.0%, it will be added to the class below it to make the chart and the wording more readable. So, if class 8 contained 0.75% of inventory for the vendor, that 0.75% would be added to and display as part of class 9.
General Ledger
➢ Manual Journal Entries can now be configured to be posted by user or combined similar to other functions in the system such as A/R Cash Posting, A/P Invoice Entry, A/P Disbursements, or Payroll Input. When posted as combined, all manual journal entries are posted onto a single Journal Entry Register which can be run and deleted by anyone with permissions as long as all other users are out of Journal Entries. When configured to post by user, each user can input and update their own manual journal entries independently of other users. The default remains to post to a combined Journal Entry Register.
General Ledger(Advanced Options(# 9
➢ 1-12 months and 13-24 months’ sales, cost, and gross margin totals have been added to the Summary Info button on the Sales and Bookings tab of the Executive Information Center. Totals are also available to be shown by warehouse. These figures come from the Sales Analysis history, the same totals as the Department Inquiry, but are shown here for ease of use and comparison to current sales figures. Company totals are available, as well as individual warehouse totals, and then company monthly sales and individual warehouse monthly sales.
➢ G/L Account Maintenance will now update all lines on a journal entry when any line of the journal entry is edited on the J/E Activity tab. This includes changes made to the date, source code, reversing entry check-box, comment, and reference field. In the past if you wanted to change an entry, you had to remember to change all lines of the journal entry or you could get your G/L out of balance such as when changing the date or the reversing entry box. Now the program will search for other journal entry lines in the same batch and update them all to match. This insures all lines of a journal entry are kept on the same date, with the same source code, and with the same reversing entry check-box. While not as critical to preventing out-of-balance situations, the program will also update the comment and reference field on any lines of the journal entry that had a comment or reference field matching the old value that was just changed. This still provides for some automatic updating of all parts of the entry when any part of an entry is changed but still allows for the flexibility of having different comments on different lines of an entry like can be done in the Manual Journal Entry program when initially entered.
➢ An A/R vs A/P Projection tab has been added to the Executive Information Center. This tab will visually display the projected incoming accounts receivable, the outgoing accounts payable, and the incoming commissions (if using the Manufacturer Rep system) to give you an idea of incoming payments vs outgoing payments over the next five weeks in a chart display format. Buttons are available to allow keying in the projection dates and recalculating and redisplaying the screen based on user entered dates. A Detail Amounts button lets you see the actual calculations. In order to display the new chart, a third-party control must be installed. If the control is not installed, the user will have a message displayed in place of the chart that instructs them how to install. From the main Answers menu, click on Help > Verify Answers Installation and allow the installation program to run.
Job Cost
➢ A new Job Number Conversion Input and Update program have been added to allow changing job numbers after they have been initially setup and saved. This is the same feature provided for various other master files in Answers such as Customers, Vendors, G/L Account #’s, and Inventory Stock #’s. These programs are located under Job Cost(File Maintenance. Files updated are the Job Master, Job Ship-To File, Job Notes, Job Auxiliary Keywords, Job Detail History for Labor and Material, Job Operation Codes, Job Operation Codes, Job Billing File, Job Material Allocation File, Job Material Allocation Audit File, Inventory Detail File, Inventory Transaction History File, A/R Analysis File, A/R Analysis History File as well as images attached to jobs.
➢ A new Job Operation Code Conversion Input and Update program have been added to allow changing job operation codes after they have been initially setup and used on jobs. These programs are located under Job Cost(File Maintenance. Files updated are the Job Operation Master, Job Operation Codes, Job Detail History for Labor and Material, Job Material Allocation File, Job Material Allocation Audit File, Inventory Detail File and the Inventory Transaction History File.
Answers Enhancement Suggestions Guidelines
We are now accepting enhancement suggestions that you feel would be beneficial in a future release of Answers. These will be compiled and placed on an “Enhancement Ballot” that will be made available to all Answers users later this fall. You and fellow users will then have an opportunity to “vote” on a selected number of enhancements that would be the most beneficial.
• It is to your advantage to explain your enhancements in enough detail so that other users will understand them and consider voting for them when they receive the Enhancement Ballot.
• Enhancements must also be explained in a manner so that Data Resource’s developers can program the enhancement should it receive enough votes to be done.
• We also limit suggestions to 5 per year per customer so that the Enhancement Ballot can remain a manageable size. Suggestions that are not explained adequately, those exceeding this limit, or those for features already available will be rejected.
• The cut-off date for submitting your suggestions is Friday, November 3rd, 2017. We welcome your suggestions by either of the following methods prior to this date so we can include them on the Enhancement Ballot for next year’s release.
Email: answerssupport@
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