 June 30, 2003 Keystone Systems, Inc. Volume 2003 Number 2 140 South Arthur, Suite 515, P.O. Box 206, Spokane, Washington 99210 Sales: (888) 863-9833 Fax: (509) 535-0520 Support: (888) 863-9797 Web Site: www.Trucking-Software.com E-mail: sales@KeystoneTruckSoftware.com |
| CONVERTING TO KSI'S CLIENT / SERVER VERSION IS EASY! |
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In the last couple issues of the newsletter, we have talked about the benefits of converting to Keystone's new Client / Server (Flash) version. Those include greater data safety from network hiccups, better performance (especially with four or more users), better security for your data, more flexible licensing, and easier setup for new companies or new computer work stations. Some have said, "That sounds great, but how much work is it to change?" or "Will our users have to learn new programs?" Those are both good questions. The conversion has been honed by our experience with many of our clients over the past six months. To complete the conversion has ranged from just over an hour to over two hours to set up multiple companies on multiple work stations. We can even spread the work over a couple days (day one: install the new programs and setup icons for one or more companies on each work station; day two: start the automatic conversion program). Your old data remains safe before, during, and even after the conversion. If there is any problem, you can easily resume using your old programs and data. After the conversion, we rename the old data folder to make sure you do not accidently access old information. The users will not see any procedural changes in their work. If it has been couple months since your last program update, you may see new features, but the programs are carefully designed to work the same between the BDE (old) version and the Client / Server (Flash) version. The only comments we have heard from users are that it is faster, or that they are glad they do not have to rebuild index files anymore! The cost is reasonable, we help make sure it goes smoothly, and your data is more secure! What are you waiting for? Call Chris today at 1-888-863-9833. |
| SPLIT LOAD PROCEDURE CHANGES |
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Your next version of Keystone Trucking software will include a new way to deal with split invoices (those orders carried by more than one truck). An example would be a load going to the yard and then final delivery completed by another truck. A new SPLIT LOAD button has been added, allowing you to indicate on the Pick/Drop screen your desire to have the load split, and where the split occurs. Just highlight the pick or drop that is going to be the last item of the first load and depress the split load button. You will then be asked the location for the split, which might be a customer location, a truck stop, or your yard. |
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This way of doing the split will accomplish several things: First, dispatchers will know that the load is going to go to the yard before having to do a trip assignment to get this information (as before). Second, the computer will now know exactly what trip accomplished each pick/drop, providing optional mileage interface better information when doing routing. |
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SUPPORT NOTES REPORTING ERRORS |
 If you get an error, be sure to write down the exact message you received. This will greatly assist us in resolving the problem is because we can look up error messages based on the exact wording of the message. It is hard for us to give you an answer to 'I got an error entering an invoice, what is the problem?' without details of the error message. It may be an inconvenience to write down the message, but we will probably need it to solve your problem. Sometimes you will get multiple error messages, with the first one triggering additional error messages. It is very important to write down the FIRST message that started the chain of events. (See the article about printing screens on this page.) |
| BACKUP BEFORE CLOSES |
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Before you close, you should ALWAYS BACKUP YOUR DATA FILES. Use the BK program that we provide to do a backup. For quickest performance, this program should be run on the server. In the new client / server version, it must be run there. Even with our questions that ask "HAVE YOU BACKED UP' before closing we are still finding people that do not backup. The backup is the only way to recover from a failed close, so it is very important that you do it. BACKUP BEFORE FINAL SETTLEMENTS This is optional. We still get quite a few calls on doing final settlements that could have been easily solved with a backup before final settlements. These are calls like: • I didn't want to do a final. • I forgot to print the report and I did a final. • I thought I was going to do just one driver, and all these drivers came out. • I did a final settlement, how can I make some more changes and run them again? If you want an easy solution to all these problems, backup before doing a final settlement. |
| PRINT SCREEN! |
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Why can't I do a print screen? There is a key on my keyboard labeled "Print Scrn," but if I press it, nothing happens! These are questions we often hear in support, because someone wants to show us (or we want to know) exactly what is on the screen. Since the advent of Windows, the function of the Print Screen key has changed. It used to do just what the name implied. Now there is so much that can be shown on a modern Windows screen, you need to give the computer more instructions. If you press the Print Scrn button, it does capture all the information on your screen, but it is saved to what is called the Clipboard, which a place where Windows saves information for later retrieval. While you could print this full screen image using the steps listed below, you usually need just the "active" screen or a portion of the overall screen. The active screen is the box with the top bar highlighted (normally bright blue). To print the active screen, follow these steps: • Make sure the portion of the screen you want is "active" (highlighted) • Hold down the Alt Key (next to the space bar) • Press the Print Scrn Key (you will not see anything happen) • Release the Alt Key • Use your mouse to click on Start (bottom left corner of your screen), then point to All Programs (Programs in older versions of Windows), then point to Accessories, and, finally, click on Paint • Use your mouse to click the menu item Edit (near the upper left corner of the program), then click on Paste • (In older versions of Windows, you may see a message "The image in the clipboard is larger than the bitmap. Would you like the bitmap enlarged?" Click on Yes.) • (It is possible to get more sophisticated and re-size the image you want printed by cropping the image or moving it around the page, but for our purposes, we will just print the image to your printer.) • Use your mouse to click on File (near the upper left corner of the program), then click on Print. You will see a typical Windows "Print Dialog" which will let you select your printer • Use your mouse to click Print • Use your mouse to click File, then exit (If you prefer, you can first save the file for later use.) Although the Print Screen function is more complicated than it used to be in the days of MS-DOS, it is also much more flexible and powerful. It can be useful to show someone else what you want for a standard procedure, to help you remember something you seldom do, or to help show us a problem or question you have. In this example, we put the image in the Paint program, you can just as easily put the image to your word processor and save several images and explanatory text in one file. |
| THIRD QUARTER 2003 HOLIDAYS |
 July 4- Independence Day |
 September 1- Labor Day |