Page 3 C H A P T E R 2 G E T T I N G S T A R T E D INITIALIZING A NEW DATABASE The OWL Personal Portfolio Manager expects that files containing your portfolio data are present on the system and, if they are not found, gives an error message requesting that you either initialize a new database, set a new database path, or restore backup files. When this occurs, the File Maintenance Menu containing these options is displayed. A portfolio data base may be initialized on the same disk and directory as your working disk, or may be initialized on a different disk and/or directory. Use the "Set Database Path" option from the File Maintenance Menu to select where you would like your data to reside. After selecting a database path, use the "Initialize Data Files" option in the File Maintenance Menu to initialize data files on the selected path. (See Chapter 10 for details on these and other file maintenance functions). After your files are created, the options menu will reappear and you may either return to the main menu or proceed with other file maintenance functions. RUNNING THE OWL PERSONAL PORTFOLIO MANAGER Program OPPM must be executed from the disk drive and directory on which it was installed. Follow the procedure below to set your logged drive and directory. FLOPPY SYSTEM B>A: Insert the OPPM working disk in Drive A and obtain the DOS A> prompt. A>OPPM [PARAM1] See command line parameter below. HARD DISK SYSTEM A>C: Change the logged drive to your hard disk drive (if necessary). C>CHDIR \OPPM Change the logged directory to your OPPM Working Directory (if not installed in the root directory). C>OPPM [PARAM1] See Command Line Parameter below. PARAM1: This is the path name of the portfolio data base you will be working on. PARAM1 may be omitted if you are working on a portfolio data base which has the same path name as your OPPM Working Page 4 Disk\Directory. We strongly suggest that you familiarize yourself with the system by using the demonstration data provided. To run the OWL Personal Portfolio manager with the demonstration data type the following command line as appropriate for your installation. FLOPPY DISK INSTALLATION: OPPM A:\DEMODATA HARD DISK INSTALLATION: OPPM C:\OPPM\DEMODATA When using the demonstration data, it is advisable to restore backup copies at the end of each session (See File Maintenance in Chapter 10). Sample command lines and their resulting action are given in Table 2-1. ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸ ³ SAMPLE COMMAND LINES ³ RESULTING ACTION ³ ÆÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍØÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͵ ³ OPPM ³ Will access a portfolio data base³ ³ ³ which resides on the same drive ³ ³ ³ and directory as your OPPM ³ ³ ³ working disk. ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ OPPM B: ³ Will access a portfolio data base³ ³ ³ which resides in the root ³ ³ ³ directory on Drive B. ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ OPPM C:\SMITH ³ Will access a portfolio data base³ ³ ³ which resides on Drive C in the ³ ³ ³ directory named SMITH. ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Table 2-1 MAKING MENU SELECTIONS The OWL Personal Portfolio Manager is an easy to use menu driven system. There are no commands to type or remember. The user simply selects the desired command from a menu. Selections are made by using the arrow keys on your keyboard to highlight the desired command. Once the desired command is highlighted, the user executes that command by pressing the enter key (return key). ENTERING DATA Depending on the option selected, screens will appear requesting that you enter data. Data may be in the form of text (such as security names) or numbers (such as share prices). All data entry screens are alike in that data is entered in a highlighted area on the screen. To enter data simply type the data requested, being sure not to type beyond the highlighted area, and press the enter key. Before Page 5 pressing the enter key, you may correct any typo's by using the backspace key on your keyboard. If you make an inappropriate entry such as entering text where numbers were expected, your entry will not be accepted and you will be asked to re-enter that data. In all cases the system requests that you verify your data entries on a data entry screen. If your data is correctly displayed, press Y. If you wish to go back and correct an error, press N. Share prices may be entered either as a digital value or as a fraction. Prices with a fraction must have a space between the dollar amount and the fraction. 24 1/8 is equivalent to 24.125 The system converts prices entered as a fraction to their digital equivalent and displays these values rounded to the nearest whole cent. The value is, however, recorded with a precision of twelve significant digits. Dates are entered as a two digit month, two digit day, and two digit year in the form 06/22/87. Since the year is only two digits the system is limited to 100 years and assumes a range of 1933 through 2032. THE MAIN MENU After executing OPPM, the first menu to appear is the main menu. The following options may be selected from the main menu. ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸ ³ M A I N M E N U ³ ÆÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͵ ³ UPDATE PORTFOLIO NAMES ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ UPDATE SECURITY HOLDINGS³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ UPDATE PRICE HISTORY ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ RECORD DIVIDEND INCOME ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ OTHER ASSETS/LIABILITIES³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ ANALYSIS CHARTS ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ REPORTS ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ FILE MAINTENANCE ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ RETURN TO DOS ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Table 2-2 Page 6 In general, the main menu selections access secondary menus to perform the following functions. UPDATE PORTFOLIO NAMES: Use this option to create portfolios in your data base or to rename existing portfolios. UPDATE SECURITY HOLDINGS: Use this option to record purchases and sales of securities. UPDATE PRICE HISTORY: Use this option to record current or historical price/volume and market index data. RECORD DIVIDEND INCOME: Use this option to record income from dividends. OTHER ASSETS/LIABILITIES: Use this option to record your other assets and liabilities such as cash accounts, bonds, loans payable, receivables, the market value of your home, equity in insurance policies, etc. ANALYSIS CHARTS: Use this option to plot various graphs which will assist you in analyzing your securities portfolio. REPORTS: Use this option to obtain printed or on-screen summary reports on security transactions, net worth, annualized rate of return, etc. FILE MAINTENANCE: Use this option to reset the database path, initialize data files, restore backup files, and purge old data files. RETURN TO DOS: Use this option to exit the OPPM system. A detailed description of each of these options is provided in Chapters 3 through 10.