PROJECT TRACKING PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION                               1
by Bob Breedlove


                             INTRODUCTION
            
Beginning in 1985, new IRS rules make it more difficult to deduct your 
personal  computer for business.  This program is designed to help you 
keep the logs required to justify computer use to the government. 

I designed the program as a collection process for a project  tracking 
database designed in Rbase:4000.  Because Rbase is copy protected,  it 
takes quite a while to get going. I didn't want to take the time to go 
through this lengthly process every time I change tasks (somes several 
times an hour). 

PTRAK.COM loads relatively quickly.  Input is easy,  since the program 
loads the END or START dates/times,  as appropriate,  with the current 
date and time. 

If you don't want to build another database to report  on  your  data, 
this program does produce a simple report. 

If  you  do  have  an  external  database,   the  program  produces  a 
comma-separated file. Many products including Dbase, Rbase, SuperCalc, 
etc. can read this file. 


































PROJECT TRACKING PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION                               2
by Bob Breedlove



                              THE FIELDS
          
PROJECT: Your project number. 

TASK: Your task number. 

USER: The user's initials. 

START DATE: The date in the format MM/DD/YY. When you start a new task 
(S), this field contains the current date. 

START TIME: The time in the format HH:MM:SS. When you start a new task 
(S), this field contains the current time. 

END DATE:  The date in the format MM/DD/YY.  When you end a task  (E), 
this field contains the current date. 

END  TIME:  The time in the format HH:MM:SS.  When you end a task (S), 
this field contains the current time. 

NOTES: Two lines of 50 characters. 


































PROJECT TRACKING PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION                               3
by Bob Breedlove



                               THE FILES
         

The system creates several files as follows. All files are expected on 
the current disk. 

PTRAK.DTA:  The main data file.  If one  is  not  there,  it  will  be 
created. 

PTRAK.DT$: A backup file created when you initilize PTRAK.DTA (I). 

TASK.LOG: The comma-separated text file produced by the 'F' option. 











































PROJECT TRACKING PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION                               4
by Bob Breedlove



                              THE PROCESS
           
This  section  describes the options on the menu.  Each is selected by 
entering the highlighted letter [S,C,I,P,F,X].  There is  no  need  to 
press Return or Enter. 

A  NOTE:  Because  I  did not want to take a great deal of time with a 
program primarily for Uncle  Sam,  the  input  process  is  relatively 
primitive.  To go from field to field,  press Return or Enter.  If you 
wish to change the field,  you must  reenter  the  entire  field.  For 
example,  when you Start a new task,  the current time is displayed as 
HH:MM:SS.  If you need to enter a different time,  you must enter  the 
entire  field.  If you enter only HH:MM that is all that gets onto the 
file. 

'S' Start new task:  This option starts the timing for a new task.  If 
the  last  task  was  not  completed (there is no END date),  you must 
complete it first (see 'C',  below).  To start a new task,  enter  the 
project,  task  and user.  The Start time and date have been filled in 
with the current date and time. If these are correct, hit return twice 
to accept.  If  they  are  not  correct,  fill  in  the  correct  date 
(MM/DD/YY)  and/or  time  (HH:MM:SS).  If you wish,  enter the comment 
lines.  After you have hit return for the last time,  the program will 
ask  if  everything  is  OK.  After checking the screen,  enter 'Y' if 
everything is OK or 'N' if there are errors.  If  you  enter  anything 
other  than 'Y' you will be asked to fill in the screen again from the 
start. 

'C' Close current task:  This option performs much the same as the 'S' 
option.  You  enter  the  End date and time information and can add or 
change the notes. 

'P' Print task file:  This option produces  a  simple  report  on  the 
printer (lst:). 

'F'   Create   comma-separated   file:    This   option   produces   a 
comma-separated file for input  to  programs  such  as  Rbase,  dBase, 
SuperCalc,  etc.  The  text  file records are in the same order as the 
data elements on the screen. 

'I' Initialize task file:  This option copies PTRAK.DTA  to  PTRAK.DT$ 
and  creates  an empty data file.  It is intended to be used after the 
'F' option has been run. 

'X' Exit to DOS: Closes the files and exits the program.










