$hopKeep
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Once $hopKeep is installed...

CRUCIAL
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Your default user name is: me
Your default password is: me

THE SECOND TIME YOU RUN $hopKeep, YOU WILL HAVE TO ENTER A USER NAME AND PASSWORD.  You can change the default user name and password ("me") by selecting the Tools menu, then selecting Passwords, and entering "me" in the user name and password fields, to access the Passwords grid.

TIPS
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- To DELETE A LINE ITEM in the Take Customer Orders form, or to delete a row/record in the Edit Messages or Shippers or Taxes table views: 1. Click in any cell/column of the row you want to delete; 2. Click the arrowhead in the LEFT-MOST column of the row you want to delete (the entire row will be highlighted); 3. Hit the Del(ete) key.  NOTE: It is NOT possible to delete a row/record in a couple of table views.  Try deleting records in Forms, where additional coding takes care of related considerations, e.g. such matters as udjusting in-stock quantities when a Line Item is deleted from an order (i.e. removed from the Order Details table).

- When taking a Customer order, ONE product should NOT be entered as TWO SEPARATE line items.  Though the second entry of a product will be stored and displayed on the Take Customer Orders form, only ONE entry of each product will appear on an invoice.

- To set your own messages (like this one) click on the Messenger menu, and then click Set Message....  When a message appears, such as this one, you can reset the date/time below, or delete it.  If you access $hopKeep on multiple systems (on a network), WITH THE SAME USER NAME, stop message checking on all but one system.  When a message pops up, the date/time must be updated before the Messenger will stop appearing.  Since you can't update the Messenger on all systems at the same time (if you don't have really long arms), let $hopKeep check for messages only on the system you're in front of.

- The above tip indicates that it is possible to run $hopKeep on a network.  How: 1. Install $hopKeep on a system ("system1"); 2. MOVE $hopKeep's database (dmkm.mdb) and reports (.rpt files) to a shared location on the network that is accessible by other systems; 3. On system1, create a shortcut to $hopKeep's .exe file (which is probably in C:\Program Files\$hopKeep - the default installation folder); 4. Right-click on the shortcut, then click Properties; 5. In the Shortcut to $hopKeep.exe Properties dialog box, in the "Start in:" field, type the path to the shared folder [e.g.: \\MyShare\$hopKeep (on Win2K systems), or, G:\$hopKeep]; 6. Install $hopKeep on other systems that have access to the shared network folder that contains $hopKeep's database and reports; 7. Delete the database and reports from the other systems (or leave them, if you want users to access their own local database at times); 8. Follow/repeat steps 3 to 5 on the other systems (to point the exe files on the other systems to the shared location).  Eh voila!  All systems will now access and update ONE database.

- In the Take Customer Orders form, if, after taking and updating an order, you realize that the name in the "Bill To:" field is wrong, completely erase the "Bill To:" name, then select the correct name from the "Ship To:" list.  Even if the "Ship To:" field already shows the correct name, click on it again to repopulate the "Bill To:" fields.

When a name is clicked in the "Ship To:" list, the Orders table (database) is searched for the current Order ID and Customer ID.  If a record is found, the "Ship To:" fields are populated based on the previous data.  ONLY IF a record is NOT found in the Orders table are the fields populated from data in the Customers table.  If the data in the Orders table is not what you want, completely erase the name in the "Ship To:" field, then select the name in the "Bill To:" list.  Even if the "Bill To:" field already shows the correct name, click on it again to repopulate the "Ship To:" fields.
  
(ONE) METHOD OF USE
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If you run a small shop, what might be important to you is keeping track of your inventory, number of orders, and the finances generated from orders, rather than WHO ordered from you.  To use $hopKeep to help you take care of this, each day (or days in advance):

1. Using the Customers' form, enter the day's date as a customer name (and enter other required info, such as a customer ID).  

2. Open the Take Customer Orders form and select the "customer" (the current day's date) from the list of customers.  

3. Each time you take an order that day, select the item in the product list drop-down box and enter the number of items ordered.  If the same product is ordered more than once, no need to select the product in the drop-down box again; simply increase the number of items ordered the previous time.

By the end of the day, you would have recorded the number of products ordered that day, and the monies generated.  You could then view orders for a specific day, or range of dates, and other types of information, from the Orders Reports menu.

IMPORTANT: Before taking an order
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It is MANDATORY to enter data into the Employees, Customers, and Products forms before trying to take an order.  It is also MANDATORY to enter details about a Shipper (select the Tables menu/Shippers).  Even if you won't be using a shipper, or don't have employees, enter default details (a name) anyway, because the details are necessary on the Orders form.

THE BOTTOM LINE
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$hopKeep is as flexable as your thoughts.  I hope it is of benefit to you!