The Interest Analyzer Page 1 --------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS GENERAL INFORMATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 About Insight Software Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 ShareWare Concept. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Contents of Distribution Disk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 GETTING STARTED WITH THE INTEREST ANALYZER . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 System Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Running The Interest Analyzer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 SCREEN LAYOUT IN THE INTEREST ANALYZER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Common Screen Lines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Menu Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Data Input Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Data View Screens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 MOVING AROUND IN THE INTEREST ANALYZER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Menu System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Moving Field to Field. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Editing Within a Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Special Fixed Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Special Function Keys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 INTEREST ILLUSTRATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Interest Inputs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Interest Function Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 AMORTIZATION ILLUSTRATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Amortization Inputs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Amortization Function Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 DEPRECIATION ILLUSTRATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Depreciation Inputs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Depreciation Function Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 QUICK CALCULATOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Financial Calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Four Function Calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ON-LINE USER MANUAL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 CONFIGURATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Color Attribute Selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Printer Selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Program Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 FILING SYSTEM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 The Interest Analyzer Page 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------- GENERAL INFORMATION Disclaimer Insight Software Solutions makes no warranties or representations of any kind, expressed or implied, including any implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for any particular purpose. Insight Software Solutions shall not be liable for any errors contained herein or for any loss of profit or for incidental or consequential damages or for any other damages. About Insight Software Solutions Insight Software Solutions is located in Bountiful Utah. Please send any inquiries, questions, suggestions or comments to the following address: INSIGHT SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS P.O. BOX 354 BOUNTIFUL, UT 84011-0354 ShareWare Concept The Interest Analyzer is being released as a ShareWare product. As such, Insight Software Solutions encourages free distribution, but not free usage. If you find The Interest Analyzer of value to yourself and are interested in obtaining a fully operational, current release, you may do so by sending a check or money order to Insight Software Solutions in the amount of $20.00. You will then become a registered user. Contents of Distribution Disk The Interest Analyzer diskette contains several files which are needed for optimal performance. Listed below are the names of the files and their particular function. - INT.EXE This is the main executable program. - CONFIG.INT This contains program configuration information such as screen color and printer selections. This file is automatically created if not found. - PRINTERS.INT This contains printer definitions for a variety of printers. - DOC.INT This is the User Manual for The Interest Analyzer. - INT.BAT This is a start up batch file for hard disks. - INSTALL.BAT This copies the program to a hard disk. - FILER.INT This contains all saved cases. The Interest Analyzer Page 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------- GETTING STARTED WITH THE INTEREST ANALYZER System Requirements The Interest Analyzer is almost hardware independent. It will run on most PC systems. The minimum requirements are as follows: - IBM type PC, XT, AT or PS/2 (or compatible) - 384K Ram - Dos 2.0 or higher - any monochrome, color, or composite monitor - virtually any printer that supports condensed printing Installation The Interest Analyzer may be run from either a floppy or hard disk. There are no special installation procedures to set the program up. To load the program onto a hard disk, simply copy the contents of the floppy diskette onto the hard disk. We recommend that it be placed into its own subdirectory. A batch file called INSTALL.BAT is provided to assist you in the installation of the program on a hard drive. From the A> prompt, simply type in "INSTALL C". This creates a subdirectory called C:\INT and copies the contents of the diskette into it. It then copies the file INT.BAT to the root directory. (You may type "INSTALL D" to install onto drive D, etc.) Running The Interest Analyzer To run The Interest Analyzer, simply type "INT". This can be done from the floppy disk or from a hard drive if you used the provided installation procedure. SCREEN LAYOUT IN THE INTEREST ANALYZER Common Screen Lines There are several common screen lines found in The Interest Analyzer. This includes the first, second, twenty third, twenty fourth, and twenty fifth lines. The first line contains the current date and time as specified by DOS. It also contains the copyright notice of INSIGHT SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS. The second line is part of the box surrounding the user work area. It generally contains a centered title describing the function of the current screen. The twenty third line is the status line. It shows the status of the Help, Caps, Scroll Lock, Num Lock, and Insert keys. The twenty fourth line is the Function Keys Status line. It shows what Function Keys (F1, The Interest Analyzer Page 4 --------------------------------------------------------------------- F2, ...) are available for use and what their particular functions are. The twenty fifth line is the prompt line. It indicates what you are supposed to do for a given input field. Menu Screens Menu Screens appear as a list of numbered items. There is also a movable highlight bar indicating the current menu selection. Data Input Screens Data Input Screens contain fields or areas which can be changed by you. These fields are generally preceded by a label indicating what type of value is desired for the field. Data View Screens Data View Screens contain scrollable text for your viewing. Generally, the text can be scrolled up and down and left and right. Indications of the current location in the text are given on the left side of the status line. MOVING AROUND IN THE INTEREST ANALYZER Menu System Menus appear as a list of numbered options. To select the option desired, you may press the associated number. An alternate method is to use the arrow keys along with the key. One option is always highlighted and indicates the current option. To change the current option, you may press the UP and DOWN arrow keys to move the highlight bar. Once the desired option is highlighted, pressing the key selects it. Moving Field to Field Moving from one field to another field can be accomplished by many different keystrokes. Listed below is a summary of the keystrokes available and the function they perform. - ENTER KEY: This moves you to the next logical field. - RIGHT ARROW KEY: If you are on the last editing character of the field, this moves you to the field to the right of the current field. - LEFT ARROW KEY: If you are on the first character of the field, this moves you to the field to the left of the current field. The Interest Analyzer Page 5 --------------------------------------------------------------------- - DOWN ARROW KEY: This moves you to the field below the current field. - UP ARROW KEY: This moves you to the field above the current field. - PAGE DOWN KEY: This moves you to the last field on the screen. - PAGE UP KEY: This moves you to the first field on the screen. - TAB KEY: This moves you to the next logical field. - TAB LEFT KEY: This moves you to the previous logical field. - RIGHT ARROW KEY: This moves you to the field to the right of the current field. - LEFT ARROW KEY: This moves you to the field to the left of the current field. Editing Within a Field Editing within a field can be accomplished with many different keystrokes. Listed below is a summary of the keystrokes available and the function they perform. - RIGHT ARROW KEY: This moves the cursor one character to the right. - LEFT ARROW KEY: This moves the cursor one character to the left. - HOME KEY: This moves the cursor to the beginning of the field. - END KEY: This moves the cursor to the last character in the field. - BACKSPACE KEY: This moves the cursor to the left one character and erases that character and shifts all trailing characters to the left one space. - INSERT KEY: This toggles between insert mode and typeover mode. - DELETE KEY: This erases the character under the cursor and shifts all trailing characters to the left one space. - ALPHA/NUMERIC KEY: This outputs the character where the cursor is and moves the cursor over to the right one space. If insert mode is on then all trailing characters are moved to the right The Interest Analyzer Page 6 --------------------------------------------------------------------- one space. Special Fixed Fields There are certain fields which have fixed values. When the cursor is moved to these fields, a window of choices appears. Each choice has either an associated number or letter next to it. Pressing the associated number or letter automatically makes the desired selection and moves the choice into the input field. Special Function Keys There are a number of special function keys which perform a variety of tasks. These keys are as follows. - KEY: This key always takes you back one level from where ever you are. For example: if you enter a screen from a menu, then the key will take you back to that menu. - KEY: This key is the help key. It toggles off and on whether help messages should be shown with each input. - .. KEYS: These other function keys may or may not be active and have different functions in different parts of the program. Brief explanations of what these keys do are displayed on the screen in the Function Key line. Detailed information is given under the documentation of each particular screen as to which Function Keys are active and what their function is. INTEREST ILLUSTRATIONS Interest Inputs There are up to 12 different Interest Inputs depending on the Interest Illustration chosen. They are as follows: - COMPANY NAME: This is for the printed illustration only. If you choose to use this software professionally, then you can have your company name printed on the top of the illustration. This uses a line on the illustration print out only if something is entered; therefore, you can fit more illustration on a page if the company name is left blank. - PRODUCED FOR: This is for personalizing the printed illustration. This uses a line on the illustration print out only if something is entered; therefore, you can fit more illustration on a page if the company name is left blank. Please note that if you are saving and restoring cases (files) that the The Interest Analyzer Page 7 --------------------------------------------------------------------- filer system distinguishes unique cases by this name; therefore, you should specify a name if you wish to save different cases. - PRODUCED BY: This is for personalizing the printed illustration. This uses a line on the illustration print out only if something is entered; therefore, you can fit more illustration on a page if the company name is left blank. - BEGINNING BALANCE: This is a beginning balance or a lump sum amount that the interest calculation starts out with above and beyond the first monthly or yearly deposit. - MONTHLY DEPOSIT: This is the amount of money that is to be deposited every month. Depending on the "payment mode", this may be "yearly deposit" in which case it is the amount of money to be deposited every year. Deposits are assumed made at the beginning of each period. A notation to the right of the deposit will say either "flat deposits" or "variable deposits". "Flat deposits" means that the monthly deposit shown is for every single month during the illustration period. "Variable deposits" means that it has been specified at some point to use a different deposit. Variable deposits are made possible through the F2 (DEPOSITS) function key. - NUMBER OF MONTHS: This is the number of months to compute and run the illustration. The maximum number of months allowable is 480 or 40 years. If the "payment mode" has been specified as a yearly value, then the months are automatically rounded to the nearest year. - INTEREST RATE: This is the rate at which to compound the money. Three decimal places are allowed. A notation to the right of the interest rate will say either "flat rate" or "variable rate". "Flat rate" means that the interest rate shown is for every single month during the illustration period. "Variable rate" means that it has been specified at some point to use a different rate. Variable interest rates are made possible through the F3 (INTEREST) function key. - ORIGINATION DATE: This is the date at which the money is first deposited and the illustration starts. The printed illustration keeps track of every month and year based upon the origination date. - PAYMENT MODE: This is the desired frequency of deposit payments and of compound interest. The frequency of payment may be annual or monthly. The interest may be compounded yearly, quarterly, monthly, or daily. This produces seven choices from which to choose. They are annual compounded annually, annual compounded quarterly, annual compounded monthly, annual compounded daily, monthly compounded quarterly, monthly compounded monthly, and monthly compounded daily. The Interest Analyzer Page 8 --------------------------------------------------------------------- - ILLUSTRATION DETAIL: This determines whether to print every month or just every year of detail on the illustration. If your payment mode is annual, then the illustration detail is always annual. If; however, your payment mode is monthly, you may choose to illustrate the results on a yearly basis only. This saves you many extra pages of illustration. The monthly detail is available if desired. - SPECIAL OPTIONS: This consists of five choices which are as follows: None, Tax Imposed Comparison, Cost of Waiting Comparison, Tax Imposed Cost of Waiting Comparison, and Cost of Lower Interest Rates. Selecting "None" will produce basic interest illustrations consisting of four basic elements- Deposits, Interest Rate, Interest Earned, and the sum of the Deposits and Interest Earned. The "Tax Imposed Comparison" does a comparison of the Basic Interest Illustration along side the same illustration with the interest rate adjusted for a given tax bracket. It shows your real return on money for non tax- sheltered savings. It also shows the difference in savings using non-taxed investments. The "Cost of Waiting Comparison" does a comparison of the Basic Interest Illustration along side itself offset by a given number of months. It shows the difference in savings over the years that you can make by saving now instead of later. The "Tax Imposed Cost of Waiting Comparison" is the same as the "Cost of Waiting Comparison" except that its values have the interest rate adjusted for a given tax bracket. The Basic interest illustration is not shown here. The "Cost of Lower Interest Rates" does a comparison of two interest rates on the same deposits for the same duration and shows them side by side with the difference in earnings. This allows you to see the difference in savings that can be made by obtaining higher interest rates. - ALTERNATE INT. RATE: This is a second interest rate for interest rate comparisons. This only appears when the special option "Cost of Lower Interest Rates" is selected. - TAX BRACKET: This is the estimated tax bracket in a percentage form of the person for whom the illustration is for. This only appears when the special option "Tax Imposed Comparison" or "Tax Imposed Cost of Waiting Comparison" is selected. - MONTHS TO WAIT: This specifies the number of months to wait before doing the comparison. This only appears when the special option "Cost of Waiting Comparison" or "Tax Imposed Cost of Waiting Comparison" is selected. Interest Function Keys - F2 KEY (DEPOSITS): This pops up another screen which allows up The Interest Analyzer Page 9 --------------------------------------------------------------------- to 100 deposit inputs. Each deposit is numbered. New function keys appear indicating how to change deposits above 100. There will be enough inputs and function keys to cover the duration specified for the illustration. By this fashion you may enter in different deposits for the entire span of the illustration. The new F2 key (DUP) will duplicate the previous value and advance the cursor. This allows easy duplication of deposits without having to rekey them all in. - F3 KEY (INTEREST): This pops up another screen which allows up to 120 interest rate inputs. Each interest rate is numbered. New function keys appear indicating how to change interest rates above 120. There will be enough inputs and function keys to cover the duration specified for the illustration. By this fashion you may enter in different interest rates for the entire span of the illustration. The new F2 key (DUP) will duplicate the previous value and advance the cursor. This allows easy duplication of interest rates without having to rekey them all in. - F4 KEY (VIEW): This calculates the illustration with the given values and displays the illustration in a window on the screen. The illustration can be scrolled around the window vertically and horizontally by use of the arrow, PgUp, PgDn, Home and End keys. The viewed illustration is identical to what the printed illustration will look like with the exception that the printed illustration may use condensed and bold print. - F5 KEY (PRINT): This calculates the illustration with the given values and sends the results to the printer. Depending on the width of the illustration, the program chooses whether to print using condensed print or not. All illustrations are centered, but can be adjusted by means of the printer configuration section, and have titles and totals in bold print. Each page is numbered. - F6 KEY (FILER): This brings up the filing system menu. See the documentation on the filing system. - F9 KEY (QUICK CALC): This simply pops up the quick calculator. See the documentation about the quick calculator for usage. AMORTIZATION ILLUSTRATIONS Amortization Inputs There are up to 13 different Amortization Inputs depending on the Amortization Illustration chosen. They are as follows. - COMPANY NAME: See "company name" under Interest Inputs. The Interest Analyzer Page 10 --------------------------------------------------------------------- - PRODUCED FOR: See "produced for" name under Interest Inputs. - PRODUCED BY: See "produced by" under Interest Inputs. - ORIGINAL PRINCIPAL: This is the original principal of the amount to amortize. - NUMBER OF MONTHS: This is the number of months over which to amortize the original principal. This can be up to 360 months allowing for a 30 year amortization. - INTEREST RATE: This is the rate at which to amortize. Three decimal places are allowed. A notation to the right of the interest rate will indicate either "flat rate" or "variable rate". "Flat rate" means that the interest rate shown is for every year during the amortization. "Variable rate" means that it has been specified at some point to use a different rate. Variable interest rates are made possible through the F3 (INTEREST) function key. - ORIGINATION DATE: This is the date at which the amortization starts. The printed illustration keeps track of every month and year based upon the origination date. - ILLUSTRATION DETAIL: This determines whether to print every month or just every year of detail on the illustration. You may choose to illustrate the results on a yearly basis only thus saving you many extra pages of illustration. The monthly detail is available if desired. - SPECIAL OPTIONS: This consists of six choices which are as follows: None, Early Payoff, Variable Payment, Tax Savings, Tax Savings with Early Payoff, and Tax Savings with Variable Payment. Selecting "None" is for doing basic amortization illustrations consisting of six basic elements- Original Principal, Payments, Interest Rate, Interest Paid, Principal Paid, and Remaining Principal. The "Early Payoff" option adds the ability to specify a constant extra amount payable towards the principal each month. The new amortization is compared to the Basic Amortization. This allows you to see how a little more of a payment reduces the length of a mortgage by a great deal. The "Variable Payment" option adds the flexibility to specify whatever payments you would like for every month of the mortgage. This amortization is compared to the Basic Amortization. You can specify exactly how you plan to pay your mortgage and see the effect it has. The "Tax Savings" option adds several elements to the Basic Illustration. Property taxes and insurance amounts are added to give a fuller picture of your total payment. Tax savings (based on itemized deductions) are also computed with a given tax bracket. The "Tax Savings with Early Payoff" option follows the same concept as the "Tax Savings" option, but the Tax Savings is The Interest Analyzer Page 11 --------------------------------------------------------------------- applied to an Early Payoff Amortization. The "Tax Savings with Variable Payment" option follows the same concept as the "Tax Savings" option, but the Tax Savings is applied to a Variable Payment Amortization. - EARLY PAYOFF AMOUNT: This field appears only with the special options which utilize the "Early Payoff" feature. It is an additional amount of money which is to be applied to the loan each and every month. This amount of money pays towards the principal of the loan and accelerates the amortization and pays it off early. - MONTHLY PAYMENT: This field appears only with the special options which utilize the "Variable Payment" feature. The monthly payment is normally determined by amortizing the original principal at the given interest rate for a given duration. The Monthly Payment field; however, lets you override the monthly payment amount. You can specify whatever amount you want to pay towards the loan. This allows total flexibility in the amounts you wish to pay towards your loan. A notation to the right of the monthly payment will indicate either "flat payments" or "variable payments". "Flat payments" means that the monthly payment shown is for every single month during the illustration period. "Variable payments" means that it has been specified at some point to use a different monthly payment. Variable payments are made possible through the F2 (PAYMENTS) function key. - TAX BRACKET: This field appears only with the special options which utilize the "Tax" feature. This is the estimated tax bracket in a percentage form of the person for whom the amortization is for. This allows an estimated savings in taxes that a person can realize from a mortgage based on itemized deductions. - MONTHLY PROPERTY TAX: This field appears only with the special options which utilize the "Tax" feature. This is the amount of property tax paid per month for a mortgage. This allows a fuller picture of actual payments of a mortgage and helps estimate the tax savings. - MONTHLY INSURANCE: This field appears only with the special options which utilize the "Tax" feature. This is the cost of insurance which is required on most mortgages. This allows a fuller picture of actual payments for a mortgage. Amortization Function Keys - F2 KEY (PAYMENTS): This pops up another screen which allows up to 100 payment inputs. Each payment is numbered. New function keys appear indicating how to change payments above 100. There will be enough inputs and function keys to cover the duration The Interest Analyzer Page 12 --------------------------------------------------------------------- specified for the illustration. By this fashion you may enter in different payments for the entire span of the illustration. The new F2 key (DUP) will duplicate the previous value and advance the cursor. This allows easy duplication of payments without having to rekey them all in. - F3 KEY (INTEREST): This pops up another screen which allows up to 30 interest rate inputs. Each interest rate is numbered. By this fashion you may enter in different interest rates for each year of the illustration and produce a stepped rate mortgage illustration. The new F2 key (DUP) will duplicate the previous value and advance the cursor. This allows easy duplication of interest rates without having to rekey them all in. - F4 KEY (VIEW): This calculates the illustration with the given values and displays the illustration in a window on the screen. The illustration can be scrolled around the window vertically and horizontally by use of the arrow, PgUp, PgDn, Home and End keys. The viewed illustration is identical to what the printed illustration will look like with the exception that the printed illustration may use condensed and bold print. - F5 KEY (PRINT): This calculates the illustration with the given values and sends the results to the printer. Depending on the width of the illustration, the program chooses whether to print using condensed print or not. All illustrations are centered, but can be adjusted by means of the printer configuration section, and have titles and totals in bold print. Each page is numbered. - F6 KEY (FILER): This brings up the filing system menu. See the documentation on the filing system. - F9 KEY (QUICK CALC): This simply pops up the quick calculator. See the documentation about the quick calculator for usage. DEPRECIATION ILLUSTRATIONS Depreciation Inputs There are 12 different Depreciation Inputs. They are as follows. - COMPANY NAME: See "company name" under Interest Inputs. - PRODUCED FOR: See "produced for" under Interest Inputs. - PRODUCED BY: See "produced by" under Interest Inputs. - STRAIGHT LINE METHOD: This allows you to select the straight line method of depreciation to appear on the illustration. The Interest Analyzer Page 13 --------------------------------------------------------------------- - LIFE PERIODS METHOD: This allows you to select the life periods method of depreciation to appear on the illustration. - ANNUITY METHOD: This allows you to select the annuity method of depreciation to appear on the illustration. - SINKING FUND METHOD: This allows you to select the sinking fund method of depreciation to appear on the illustration. - DEPR. ITEM: This is simply the name of the item to be depreciated. It appears as a header on the illustration. - ORIGINAL COST: This is the original cost or value of the item to be depreciated. - RESIDUAL VALUE: This is the value of the depreciated item after the depreciation period ends. - YEARS OF DEPRECIATION: This is the depreciation period. It is the number of years over which to depreciate the item. - ANNUITY INTEREST RATE: This is an interest rate which is used internally for calculating the Annuity and Sinking Fund methods of depreciation. Depreciation Function Keys - F4 KEY (VIEW): This calculates the illustration with the given values and displays the illustration in a window on the screen. The illustration can be scrolled around the window vertically and horizontally by use of the arrow, PgUp, PgDn, Home and End keys. The viewed illustration is identical to what the printed illustration will look like with the exception that the printed illustration may use condensed and bold print. - F5 KEY (PRINT): This calculates the illustration with the given values and sends the results to the printer. Depending on the width of the illustration, the program chooses whether to print using condensed print or not. All illustrations are centered, but can be adjusted by means of the printer configuration section, and have titles and totals in bold print. Each page is numbered. - F6 KEY (FILER): This brings up the filing system menu. See the documentation on the filing system. - F9 KEY (QUICK CALC): This simply pops up the quick calculator. See the documentation about the quick calculator for usage. The Interest Analyzer Page 14 --------------------------------------------------------------------- QUICK CALCULATOR The Quick Calculator can be selected as option four from the main menu or by the F9 (QCALC) Key from one of the input screens. The Quick Calculator option is used to calculate a variety of financial calculations and for simple math functions. Selecting the Quick Calculator pops up a window which contains its own menu. You can select a financial value to solve for or a four function calculator. Financial Calculator The financial calculator is for calculating present values and future values. It consists of six solve for values. By selecting one of these values to solve for, inputs appear which you must enter to solve for the selected value. These values and inputs are listed below. - LUMP SUM AMOUNT: This lets you solve for a lump sum amount (or present value) given the future value, interest rate, number of months, and any monthly payments. - MONTHLY PAYMENT: This lets you solve for a monthly payment given the future value, interest rate, number of months, and a lump sum amount (present value). - NUM OF MONTHS: This lets you solve for the number of months it takes to reach a future value given the future value, interest rate, monthly payment, and a lump sum deposit. - INTEREST RATE: This allows you to solve for a simple interest rate based on a lump sum amount (present value), the number of months, and the future value. - ANNUITY RATE: This allows you to solve for an annuity interest rate based on a monthly payment, the number of months to pay, and a future value. - FUTURE VALUE: This allows you to solve for a future value given a lump sum amount (present value), a monthly payment, an interest rate, and the number of months to pay. Four Function Calculator The four function calculator simply allows you to type in numbers and add, subtract, multiply, and divide them. It displays the result. The result can then be used as one of the next numbers in a calculation. The Interest Analyzer Page 15 --------------------------------------------------------------------- ON-LINE USER MANUAL The Interest Analyzer provides the capability to review this manual on-line. Option number five from the main menu allows this. Once option five is selected, the user manual is loaded into memory and displayed on the screen. You can scroll through it at will by use of the arrow keys and PgUp and PgDn keys. The file "DOC.INT" contains the user manual. It is in standard ascii format and can be read in by virtually any editor or word processor. It can be printed by simply using the Dos Print command. CONFIGURATION The configuration section allows you to configure the program to work with the printer of your choice and to work with the colors of your choice. Option number six from the main menu brings up this menu. The menu contains three options. The first is to allow you to change the colors used in the program. The second is to select a printer and set up specific printer options. The third is to display a little background about the program. Color Attribute Selection Selecting the color attribute option brings up a screen with a list of all the different areas where different colors are used and a displayed list of color to choose from. These are listed below with a brief description of what areas are effected by the specified color attribute names. Listed below the attribute names is a list of active Function Keys which can help in setting up your colors. - SCREEN ATTRIBUTE: This is the color that the screen uses everywhere except for the following special areas. This is the most common color. - FIELD ATTRIBUTE: This is the color that input fields appear in while they are not being edited. This distinguishes them from normal text on the screen. - EDIT ATTRIBUTE: This is the color of an input field while it is being edited. This helps identify where you are at on the screen. - FKEY ATTRIBUTE: This is the color that the FKey line appears as at the bottom of the screen. - ERROR ATTRIBUTE: This is the color that error messages pop up in. - MENU NORMAL ATTRIBUTE: This is the color that pop up scrollable selection windows appear in. The Interest Analyzer Page 16 --------------------------------------------------------------------- - MENU HIGHLIGHT ATTRIBUTE: This is the color that the highlighted selection of menus and pop up scrollable selections appear in. - STATUS ATTRIBUTE: This is the color that the screen title appears in. It is also the color of the Caps Lock, Num Lock, Insert, Scroll, and Help status appear in. - F2 KEY (SHOW COLOR): This displays the current color specified in the field where the cursor is located. The color is displayed in a little window in the bottom right corner. - F3 KEY (OTHER COLORS): There are 256 colors available, but only 128 of them are displayed on the screen at one time. The F3 Key toggles between displaying the different sets of 128 colors. - F4 KEY (DEFAULT MONO): This automatically sets all the fields to the default colors selected by Insight Software Solutions for a monochrome monitor. - F5 KEY (DEFAULT COLOR): This automatically sets all the fields to the default colors selected by Insight Software Solutions for a color monitor. Printer Selection The printer selection brings up a menu which has several options. The options are to Select A Printer, Delete A Printer, Add A Printer, Modify A Printer, and to Alter Line Spacing and Margins. Below the menu items is a list of the current printer specifications. Selecting a printer brings up a list of printers. Simply use the arrow keys to highlight your printer type and press the key. If your printer is not listed, you may try several of the printers listed to see if your printer is compatible with one of those listed. If it is not then you may enter your own printer definition for your exact printer. Deleting a printer definition should not be used very often. Simply use the arrow keys to select the printer definition to be deleted and press the Key. You will be prompted to verify that you really want to delete the printer definition. Adding a printer definition can be difficult if you are not familiar with printer control sequences. Selecting this option brings up a printer input screen. It asks for a printer name along with many different printer control sequences. The printer control sequences need to be entered in hexadecimal notation. If you are incapable of performing this task, Insight Software Solutions is willing to set up your printer definition for free if you are a registered user and you send Insight Software Solutions a copy of the control codes out of your printer manual. The Interest Analyzer Page 17 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Modifying a printer definition brings up the same screen as Adding a printer definition. You may then change any of the fields desired. If the printer name is changed, the changed definition will not be overwritten, but will appear as a new printer definition. This allows you to create a similar printer definition without rekeying all the control sequences back in. The altering line spacing and margins actually allows you to specify four different items. These items are the top margin, left margin, line spacing, and page pausing. The illustration is automatically centered on the page left to right starting at line one. If you desire a top margin it can be specified. (Note: Laser printers should not normally specify a top margin.) If a larger left margin is desired (for punched holes, etc) then a larger left margin can be specified. The line spacing can be sent to either 6 lines per inch or 8 lines per page if more information per page is desired. Pause After Each Page allows you to insert new pieces of paper if your printer does not have continuous form paper. Program Information The program information displays the current mailing address of Insight Software Solutions along with the distribution policy and price of the Interest Analyzer software. FILING SYSTEM The Interest Analyzer provides the capability to save and retrieve Interest, Amortization, and Depreciation cases that you have been working on. To invoke this option, you need to press the F6 (FILER) Key from within one of the input screens. Pressing the F6 (FILER) Key brings up a menu. The menu allows you to load saved cases or save out the existing case you are working on. Cases are distinguished by the type of illustration (interest, amortization, or depreciation) and the name specified as the client. If when saving a case, a case by that name already exists, you will be prompted to either not save or to overwrite the existing case. Retrieving a case is simple. A list of all saved cases will appear. You can scroll through the cases and by pressing the Key, load in the highlighted case. Saved cases can be marked for deletion by pressing the F2 (MARK A CASE) Key. This simply puts a little box to the left of the case name. You can mark as many as desired for deletion. No cases are deleted until the F3 (DELETE MARKED CASES) key is pressed. Pressing the F3 (DELETE MARKED CASES) Key still gives you one more chance to back out before deletion begins.