NPD Update 3.57 (03/15/04) by Acorn Data Systems

New Release Adds Features to Make You More Productive

 

New Key Features:

·         No sales tax for Office Pays

·         Modified Good Start to Track OP to BR flips

·         Backup on Normal Exit by Day of Month or by Day of Week

·         Backup displays recent backup destinations

·         Now easier to install a second NPD on your computer

 

What’s on this NPD CD?

·         New NPD Installation—to install NPD on a new computer.

·         NPD Update—to update NPD with the latest features on your current computer.

·         AcornFTP—to install AcornFTP on a new computer.

·         Adobe© Acrobat Reader 5.0—the free software for reading PDF files.

You may install any of the four applications on this CD that you need. It is redundant to run both the NPD Update and the New NPD Installation. The New NPD Installation and the AcornFTP may restart your computer.

 

Save This CD

In the event that you buy a new computer in the future, you can use this CD to install NPD on your new computer.  Then use NPD Tools to download the latest version before you restore your database to the new computer.  If you don’t do this NPD may not run until you do.  See the NPD Technical Note How to Install NPD on a New Computer which is on the acorndata.com web site.

 

Modifications and Buttons to Look for on NPD 3.57:

For many of you, these changes are not new.  You have been using NPD Tools to download NPD Updates in response to my email notices.  Those of you who are not on my email list are missing important updates as they are made available.

  1. A button was added to the Carriers switchboard to allow you to change a Carrier ID.
  2. Carrier Mail now indicates a change from DS to Korean Daily.
  3. The Export for Address Check now has a check box to indicate that Microsoft Outlook is your default email program.  When that is the case NPD will automatically generate the email notification that you have exported your addresses.  Prior to this check box, if Outlook was installed but not your default email, NPD would display several error messages while attempting to automatically prepare the email.
  4. Billing automatically treats Office Pay (PP) as sales tax exempt.  This allows you to mark those accounts as taxable so that they become taxable in the event of a  flip from Office Pay to Distributor Billed.
  5. An Exception Report was added to the OP Credits download.  This report lists all credits that NPD did not apply to the accounts.  Remember, for accounts that flipped from Office Pay to Distributor Billed, the Post may issue you a credit for a portion of the time you billed the customer as a BR.  Applying the credit to the account would lead you to believe the customer had paid.
  6. At the completion of a Local Move, the temporary account is made inactive with a bad pay year of the current year less 100.  Prior to this change, they were all assigned to year 0.  Now, you can purge old temporary accounts during your end of year cleanup.
  7. Bill Now treats Good Starts like regular customers.  It no longer bills for exactly 8 weeks from the start date.  This change was brought about by the adaptation of the Good Start software to tracking PP to BR flips.
  8. Due to some problems with matching the OP Credits and Tip file names with those used by Central Records/DSI, you may now try different period numbers to attempt to download the correct file.
  9. Backup on Normal Exit now supports two cycles of backups: By Day of Week and By Day of Month.  Go to Distributor Info to select the cycle that you desire.  Prior to this change backups were by day of week, e.g. EXITBACK\MON,…,EXITBACK\SUN.  With the day of month cycle, you get a separate backup for each day of the month, e.g. EXITBACK\DAY01,…,EXITBACK\DAY30.
  10. The Backup function in NPD Tools now displays the drives and folders used for the most recent backups.  Remember to backup to external media on a regular basis.  While backing up to the hard drive is fast, it is of no value if there are hard drive problems.
  11. When installing NPD you can select a “standard” installation that uses C:\NPD01 as the NPD folder, or select “non-standard” which will allow you to supply a four digit number to use.  The non-standard install is for when you want to install a second NPD on your computer.

FYI: Tips that will make your work a little easier

1.       Passwords:  The password to download a NPD update from NPD Tools is update. The password to FTP an Export for Address Check is earl.

2.       When to Call Acorn Data:  The best time to call with problems or questions is Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., or between 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Please limit calls at other times to emergencies only.

3.       Be Safe, Back Up Your Work:  Use the Backup on Normal Exit option on the Main Switchboard to automatically back up your work on NPD. This feature is not a replacement for external backups (you should continue to do that), but it is a convenient way to restore your database.  Effective May 1, 2002, the Acorn Data fee to recover from a problem when you lack adequate or reasonable backups is $200 for the first hour.  The purpose of this fee is to encourage you to keep backups for at least a week as sometimes a problem is not uncovered for several days.

4.       NPD Technical Notes.  From time to time, a new Technical Note will be added.  Go to NPD Technical Notes from the www.acorndata.com web page and note the How Tos listed there.  You may want to print and save some of them.

5.       Keep Up to Date, Get on My Email List:  Stay informed of updates, tips and other valuable information. If you are not already on my email list, send an email to emerrill@acorndata.com. Include your name and area number. Also, remember to notify me of any changes to your address, phone or email.

 

Earl O. Merrill

Acorn Data Systems, Inc.

emerrill@acorndata.com 410-997-0187 www.acorndata.com