ComicBook Pull File 1.12 Newsletter
This newsletter is going out to all CBPF users and those who have
expressed an interest in CBPF. See the bottom of this newsletter
if you wish to be removed from further e-mail updates.
Overview/Highlights
I have made a lot of changes for this update. Many people have contributed
with ideas (as well as ideas I came up with). It has been a long
time since an update, so if you don’t remember (or need help
with the process), don’t hesitate to call for help. Subscribers
will receive the support call for free. Purchasers will get the
call at no extra cost over the upgrade fee.
An update that barely squeaked in, I’m very happy about.
It will speed up reconciliation each month. I’ve added filters
to the reconciliation form similar to the filters on the Diamond
All form. This will allow you to see a subset of the Previews catalog
on the bottom half of the form. There is a lot of flexibility that
I added so be sure to check the detailed information below.
On the “Weekly Pull File” tab I’ve changed the
Last Completion date fields to visually change background color
so you can see which buttons have yet to be completed.
I’ve added a form to speed up adding data to cycle-sheets
by bar-code scanner.
The cycle-sheet form now uses the source form (the form from which
the cycle sheet was loaded) to filter by. Therefore if you filter
items on the Diamond All form, then enter the cycle-sheet form,
you’ll only see items which appear on the Diamond All form.
These are the highlights, below is a more detailed description
of ALL changes.
1.12 features
User Features
Programs>Weekly Pull File tab -
When the email sending module errors out (mostly
due to a bad email address), it must be restarted, causing some
customers to receive duplicate emails. I added a starting and ending
acct# when sending emails. So if a previous email errors out or
is cancelled, you can start where you left off. You can also repeat
a single email by specifying the same acct# in start and end boxes.
If you specify a starting but not ending, all emails with account#s
greater than or equal to the starting account# will be sent. If
you specify only an ending email, the emails will start at the beginning
of the customer list and quit after the ending account email is
sent. I also added the customer acct# to the reference box to assist
in knowing which emails were successful. This will stop customers
from getting multiple emails because of a store starting emails
over if there is an error. (thanks Chris-PLAY THE GAME READ THE
STORY)
When emails error, offer the user to cancel the rest of the emails
in the list.
Changed ‘last completion’ fields. They will specifically
note whether they have been completed after the button 1 import
with “sync to button 1” instead of a date. The background
will also change to red in the last completion field if the button
has not been ‘sync’ed with button 1. The two exceptions
to how this works is with the “5. Weekly E-mail” and
the “6. Remove Items Ordered” buttons. They instead
sync to button 3, as both buttons are based on the last build of
the weekly report.
added ‘Last Minute Customer Adds’. This is used if
you receive something in your shipment which you did not expect.
Maybe a Batman annual, which you want to add to each customers pull
list who has a Batman Auto Pull. The top half of the screen shows
all Monthly Auto Pulls, the bottom half of the screen shows the
items received this week. As always, Ctrl-? in the Item Code and
Acct# fields, gives you the valid commands. The hot-keys work just
like they do in the Diamond All and Reconciliation forms.
Programs>Order Monthly Items tab -
”4. Export to Previews Program” button now displays
the month exported as well as the date in the Last Completion field
to the right of the button.
added first/last name to Reconciliation form. This is to assist
in quickly noting who has the Monthly Auto Pull.
Show last month completed on the Program>Order Monthly Items
tab>‘Find Monthly Items’ button ‘Last Completion’
field. This will show which Previews file has been processed and
the date it was processed.
Reconciliation Form –
- Added filters very similar to the filters on the Diamond All
form. This will assist you in quickly finding matching items being
offered in the current Previews catalog. Though I’ve added
many checkboxes, I’ve come to rely almost exclusively on
the “Auto Series Code OR Item Description Front”;
the “Auto-Query” (under the ReQuery button); and the
“New Items” checkboxes.
- “New Items” – eliminates items which are
offered again
- “Auto-Query” – automatically queries each
time the you move to a different record on the top sub-form
(Items not found).
- “Auto Series Code OR Item Description Front”
– This automatically fills in the filter fields (Item
Description, and Series Code) with the information from the
current record. It also selects the Item Description>Begins
With option. What this accomplishes is that any item which
begins with the same Item Description will be shown. This
would include alternate covers listed with CVR A, or Smith
CVR after the item description. The series code will display
any items which match the series code for the item. Using
the “OR” means that if either the Series Code
or the Item Description match the results will display. Without
the “OR”, both conditions would have to match
for the item to display.
- Many other filters which are identical to the Diamond All filters.
All MAPs (Live Data) allows you to view and change the Monthly
Auto Pulls information for all customers. If the Item Description
changes, it is a simple change to copy/paste a new Item Description
for all customers pulling the same title. It also lets you quick
find all customers who are Auto Pulling a title if there is a
special or annual you want to sign them up for. The background
color of the form changes so you’ll be aware that you are
seeing all Auto Pulls, not just the ones not found.
- Auto Repeat and Order repeats Ctrl-M and Ctrl-O to all following
records which match Item Description and Vender exactly. Ctrl-M
causes Ctrl-O also. There is also a checkbox, “No Prompting”,
which eliminates the promptings/messages which occur when Ctrl-M/Ctrl-O
succeed.
- Bottom subform, now shows all items in the Previews catalog.
Not only the items which have a vender. Diamond removed the vender
numbers from some items, and those items stopped showing up on
the bottom form without this change.
Diamond All Form -
added hot keys to jump to ‘item code’ (alt-m) and ‘first
batchNo/IC’ filter (alt-s)
Added ‘Pg#’ filter. This will make it quicker to find
items in the Diamond All form which match a page number in the Previews
catalog.
Cycle Sheet Form -
Added form to be able to enter data into cycle sheet form via the
UPC code.
This is done quickest with a barcode scanner. The form to enter
data is on the cycle-sheet form>UPC button on upper right of
form. This data can be entered into any of the cycle sheet qty fields
this way (Inventory/Order/Received/Held Back).
Cycle-Sheet Form>Count Sheet with History. Assists in marking
cycle sheet counts. There are some additional fields (last Inventory
count/Total Rcv/Total Ordered/Accumulated Inventory [last inventory
+ Items Rcvd since the last count]) on this new report, and as it
is accessed via the Cycle Sheet form, it is based on the filtering
used in the source form (Diamond All, etc.) which is more comprehensive
than that available from the Reports Switchboard.
Source Forms -
Concept adjustment – When opening the Cycle-Sheet form, it
will display those items which are displayed on the source form
(the form which Ctrl-Y was used to open the Cycle-Sheet Form). Then
when choosing to run a Cycle-Sheet Report/Cycle Sheet Count Sheet/Export
to Hard Drive, those items which were filtered on the source form
will be what is displayed on the report. If additional filtering
is chosen on the Cycle-Sheet Dynamic Groupings Form, then this additional
filter will be chosen from within the original source form filter.
If no filter is chosen on the source form, then these reports will
work as in CBPF 1.11. The export to hard drive button will create
the file based on the source form filter, but not on the dynamic
groupings filtering or sorting. Source forms include the Diamond
All/Customer-Items Ordered/Customer-Items Supplied/Crossover Events/Reconciliation/Last
Minute Customer Adds. When using the Cycle-Sheet Report from the
Reports Switchboard, the Diamond All form is the source form and
so must be open. If a filter is currently in use on the Diamond
All form, the Cycle-Sheet Report will take the filter into account.
(Thanks Bub – UK)
Customer Form –
Added “Customer Form Format” combo box in setup tab.
This combo box changes the format of the Customer form to scale
when it is resized by stretching or maximizing. My best suggestion
on this is to try all three options and use the one which you like
best. If you use CBPF on two different computers, you may end up
setting this option differently on the two computers. The Customer
form must be closed and reopened to implement the change to the
combo box. The reason for this combo box is that resizing of the
Customer form is working different in Vista than in XP. Any of the
options may work, but if the Customer Form formatting is messed
up, try changing this.
Added Items Supplied (Customer Form>Special tab). This form
is similar to the Items Ordered tab, but it acts as a way to keep
track of items which you are ordering FROM the customer instead
of SELLING TO the customer. Or you can simply keep a list of items
related to this customer, but the items won’t show on the
weekly report or order these items during the monthly ordering process.
added Customer Form>Special tab>import/export buttons. These
two buttons can be used to import into the Items Ordered tab or
the Items Supplied table on the Special tab. The export button likewise
can export from the Items Ordered tab or the Items Supplied table.
The export creates a POW file from this customer using a specified
month (or date entered range). You can use this process to copy
items from one customer to another or one store to another. Or to
copy items between the Items Supplied and Items Ordered tables (or
vice-versa).
Customer>Items Ordered tab -
When adding new items on the Items Ordered tab, if the item is a
duplicate of a previous item already ordered by the same customer,
a prompt appears asking if the customer wants more. If answering
the prompt “No”, the cursor was resetting to the top
record. I’ve now changed the process to do an “undo”
which if changing an Item Code, it will revert to the previous Item
Code, if inserting a new Item Code, the cursor will return to the
new record (empty) to be ready for data entry. If answering the
prompt “Yes”, then the cursor stays on the newly added
record so that any additional changes can be made to the record.
Customer>Monthly Auto Pulls tab -
Added category field to Monthly Auto Pulls table. This field shows
up in the Customer/Reconciliation/Monthly Auto Pulls forms. Previously,
I used only the Item Description and the Vender to determine if
an item should be ordered. With this change, I am also including
the category (e.g. COMICS, BOOKS - GRAPHIC NOVELS, MAGAZINES, etc.)
This will make it safer to use the ‘Item Description Front’
and ‘All Venders’ checkboxes. If you currently have
some Monthly Auto Pulls (MAPs) which are not Comics, you’ll
need to change their category to the appropriate category before
the Find Monthly Item button will correctly find these items. You
can make the change within each Customer form>Monthly Auto Pull
tab, or you can change all MAPs within the Monthly Auto Pulls form.
To make the change, find the Category field and click on the drop-down,
then select the correct category. I’ve made this change optional
within the Programs>setup tab>Use Category checkbox. If it
is unchecked (default), CBPF will work as in the past, looking at
only the Item Description and Vender to determine items to be ordered
from the Monthly Auto Pulls..
Monthly Auto-Pull Form -
Added “Dis” conditional formatting to the Monthly Auto-Pull
form to highlight if an Auto-Pull has been discontinued.
Other –
removed Previews Update File import because Diamond changed the
file format to match the ‘master database’ file format
which has no field definitions.
Technical Features
Following is a summary of import/export formats available within
CBPF
File format review –
Button Fields Mimics Format Where Comment
Import Order (to Items Ordered or Items Supplied)
Item Code, Qty
or
Item Code, Item Desc, Price, Qty POW input file format
or POW output file format .csv Customer>Special
Create Weekly File Qty, Item Code, Item Desc Weekly file which Diamond
e-mails (either format as only Qty and Item Code are used by CBPF)
.csv Customer>Special Includes 4 row header
Export Order (from Items Supplied or Items Ordered) Item Code, Qty
POW input file format .csv Customer>Special Allows for items
to be copied from one customers Items Supplied to another (or same)
customers Items Ordered (even at another CBPF store) or to move
a customers Items Ordered from one store to another.
Export to Previews Program Item Code, Qty POW input file format
.csv Programs>Order Monthly Items
Import Completed Order from Previews Program Item Code, Qty
or
Item Code, Item Desc, Price, Qty POW input file format
or POW output file format .csv Programs>Order Monthly Items
Added Programs>Setup tab>“On-Line Order Deadline”
button which opens the table from which the “# days left on
xxx10 Previews” on switchboard. Normally this table will not
need to be manually changed, as I’ll keep the dates updated.
However, if I get behind, or a correction to the dates needs to
be made, it can be changed at each store.
Insert UPC code from weekly email into the Diamond All form when
“2. Add to received numbers” button is pressed. This
will place the latest “best?” UPC into the table.
Corrections
Crossover event. CBPF 1.11 would add a crossover
item which has just been added to a crossover event to a customer
who had subscribed to a different crossover. This would only happen
if the crossover event being added to had an identical item description
to an item description of an auto pull which was not a crossover.
Emails so that the Customer Form>Personal Information
tab>Weekly E-mail – ‘All’ checkbox, and ‘Weekly
E-mail’– ‘Mine’ checkbox, work individually
for each customer. They were only being looked at for the first
customer’s weekly email, and used for all subsequent customers.
when importing POW file “5. Import completed
order from Previews”, if there was already a Qty Ordered (probably
a 0) in the Diamond All Form, the import qty would not appear for
that item on the Diamond All Form. (Thanks Charlie!!)
Version 1.12 is now available for download from
the CBPF website www.comicbookpullfile.com
Subscribers receive the update for free. It is $150 for purchasers.
If you need help upgrading, please call.
This e-mail is only going to those who have purchased or are subscribing
to the CBPF system or have shown some interest in CBPF.
If you don’t want to receive these e-mails, please respond
with ‘Remove’ in the subject line.
As always, send me any suggestions on how to make CBPF
better.
Again, Thanks for your support.
James
ComicBook Pull File
james@comicbookpullfile.com
785-827-1133
ComicBook Pull File 1.11 Newsletter
This is a mandatory update for many users (Read On)
This newsletter is going out to all CBPF users and those who have
expressed an interest in CBPF. See the bottom of this newsletter
if you wish to be removed from further e-mail updates.
I’ll be creating a page on the CBPF website for retailers
who use CBPF (subscription or purchasers). If you’d like to
be listed, let me know and attach a .jpg or .gif of a logo along
with all your store info (I know, I already have it, but I’m
lazy and figure you know it by heart). This is an Opt-in offer,
so you won’t be included unless you let me know.
Overview/Highlights
Diamond is changing the extended file format of their weekly file.
Therefore CBPF needs to be changed to match the file change. It
is happening this weekend for next Wednesdays shipment. If you are
using the extended file format, you’ll need to upgrade before
importing next weeks file. I apologize from the bottom of my heart
for this, but I tried with every breath that I had to stop Diamond
from making this change. When that failed, I suggested some things
which would make the process less painful. You should also know
that Diamond refused to provide a test file to work from, so the
importing of the new format is untested (I’ve mocked up my
own file to work from, but it didn’t come from the horses’
mouth). To read more, check out the CBPF blog http://cbpf.blogspot.com/.
Please watch the website, if you run into problems with the importing.
These are the highlights, below is a more detailed description
of ALL changes.
1.11 features
User Features
Corrected strip option (strip issue # from Item Description) when
importing the monthly Previews On Windows file. Diamond occasionally
places an issue# in the Item Description. It was leaving an extra
blank after the Item Description.
Fixed switchboard to display the online order due date.
Technical Features
added the monthly export path to the setup tab. This will allow
the user to modify where the ImportWin.txt or StoreNum.csv export
to. Both files export to the same folder. Currently it defaults
to C:\program files\previews on windows.
extended file format change – Moved the discount code from
the end of the item code into its own field
Added user friendly error msg when email error occurs with HTML
checkbox selected, but not using Outlook.
Version 1.11 is now available for download from the CBPF website
www.comicbookpullfile.com
Subscribers receive the update for free. It is $90 for purchasers.
If you need help upgrading, please call.
This e-mail is only going to those who have purchased or are subscribing
to the CBPF system or have shown some interest in CBPF.
If you don’t want to receive these e-mails, please respond
with ‘Remove’ in the subject line.
As always, send me any suggestions on how to make CBPF better.
Again, Thanks for your support.
James
ComicBook Pull File
james@comicbookpullfile.com
785-827-1133
ComicBook Pull File 1.10 Newsletter
This newsletter is going out to all CBPF users and those who have
expressed an interest in CBPF. See the bottom of this newsletter
if you wish to be removed from further e-mail updates.
As mentioned in the 1.09 newsletter. I’ll be creating a page
on the CBPF website for retailers who use CBPF (subscription or
purchasers). If you’d like to be listed, let me know and attach
a .jpg or .gif of a logo along with all your store info (I know,
I already have it, but I’m lazy and figure you know it by
heart). This is an Opt-in offer, so you won’t be included
unless you let me know.
Overview/Highlights
I’ve had many stores ask about how to go about backing up
CBPF.
The Big One – I added an auto backup to CBPF. This backup
will occur ONCE each day when you close CBPF. If CBPF is left open
all night, it will backup at midnight. You’ll notice that
closing CBPF takes longer than in the past because it is waiting
for the backup to complete. You’ll notice on the status bar
at the lower left of the screen when you close CBPF of the backup
in progress notification. This backup is optional and must be turned
on. There are only two things to do. First, set the number of backups
you want to keep. Set to ‘0’ to turn off. Set to ‘-1’
to save all backups. Set to a positive number to keep a specific
number of backups before CBPF automatically deletes the oldest backup
and saves the new backup. Second, browse to the location where you
want them stored. These configurations are on the Setup tab in the
Programs section of CBPF.
These are the highlights, below is a more detailed description
of ALL changes.
1.10 features
User Features
Adjusted the cycle sheet report so that it can show items which
have been ordered but not received yet. (Previously the report would
only work for items which have been received).
allow POW and description file to be imported more than once with
a message box stating that it’s been previously imported.
(previously CBPF didn’t allow the second import of the same
file). This is only needed if the first import had a corrupted file.
check that email address is present before sending an email. If
blank, skip to next person. Previously, this would cause the emails
to fail in the middle of sending and the emails would need to be
re-sent.
use nz function on first/last names when sending email. A blank
last name in previous versions would cause an “invalid use
of null” error while sending an email.
fixed so that qty (in Customer Form>Monthly Auto Pulls tab)
works for crossover events. CBPF prompts for a qty when adding a
crossover event to auto pulls for a customer (default is qty=1).
Retry a record locked error 20 times before aborting the process.
This error occurs during a ‘Find Monthly Items’ button.
UK users
Removed extra space at end of “truncate” option (UK
users) when importing Previews files the Item Description had an
extra space at the end of each title truncated.
Add country code in setup tab so UK stores can import the POW file
(it is a different format than the US POW file)
Corrected setup Item Descriptions so that it shows what was selected
previously instead of resetting back to default.
Technical Features
used cCur function to convert bag and board price to currency from
a variant. Gave an error with UK regional setting if bag/board price
was empty.
Version 1.10 is now available for download from the CBPF website
www.comicbookpullfile.com
Subscribers receive the update for free. It is $90 for purchasers.
If you need help upgrading, please call.
This e-mail is only going to those who have purchased or are subscribing
to the CBPF system or have shown some interest in CBPF.
If you don’t want to receive these e-mails, please respond
with ‘Remove’ in the subject line.
As always, send me any suggestions on how to make CBPF better.
Again, Thanks for your support.
James
ComicBook Pull File
james@comicbookpullfile.com
785-827-1133
ComicBook Pull File 1.09 Newsletter
I’ve added a users forum back to the website.
This one is hosted by Google groups and is different than the last
one. So you will need to sign up again. I’ll respond, but
I encourage others to provide input also. I encourage each of you
to at least register and say hi and tell about your store so others
will know who else is using CBPF. http://groups.google.com/group/comicbook-pull-file
Wow, 1.09 is just as big as 1.08 was, but in a much shorter time
period. Check out the Overview to see what there is that can make
you more profitable or save you time.
Thanks go out to the many stores which made suggestions which were
included in this release.
Overview/Highlights
I need to apologize for this update. There are a couple of changes
in the way things are done with this update. (Yuk ?)
- Hot-Key changes - You’ll need to check
the hot-key help (ctrl-?) on several forms. George (Empire Comics
– IN) suggested that I add a re-order hot-key to the crossover
events form. I didn’t see the need, but upon asking for
justification, he presented a reasonable use. Therefore, instead
of simply adding one hot-key, I optimized the hot-key routines
so most of the forms use the same routine. This was more time
intensive, but as an example, you now can view the description
and cycle-sheets forms from within the crossover events and customer
forms. A few of the hot-keys needed to be changed for consistency
between all the forms. The forms that were changed were the Diamond
All, Customer (Items Ordered, Auto Pulls), Reconciliation, and
the Crossover Events.
- Override weekly pull report - I added a button
to the weekly process (I really split button 3 into two). There
is now button 3 which builds the report and button 4 which views
the report. The reason for this was that I wanted to add a way
for a store to override CBPF customer selections. To do this I
added button 3a to let you change the decisions made in button
3. There is no need to do this most of the time. It is only needed
if quantity you received for an item doesn’t meet the demand
for the item from your customer preorders. This could be due to
you not ordering a sufficient quantity or being shorted on your
shipment.
Import cycle-sheet data - Also on this update
courtesy of Rob at Pair A Dice Games and 3rd Planet Comics –
CA is the ability to import cycle-sheet information from a POS system.
Strip Issue Numbers - Bub in the UK called with
a request. The UK Previews file Item Description field contains
the issue number. So when we in the US complain because Diamond
occasionally includes an issue number in the Item Description which
causes an Auto Pull to not be found, UK retailers have every Auto
Pull not found. The UK Item Description also contains other information
to the right of the Issue Number which needed removed. I added the
Truncate ability for the UK stores which removes the issue number
(and other stuff) from the Item Description. But for the US (while
I was at it), I added the ability for CBPF to strip only the Issue
Numbers from the Item Description when they are found. This change
is in Programs under the Setup tab.
Navigate within the cycle-sheet form - Courtesy
of John Tannius is the ability within the cycle sheet form to navigate
to the previous/next series on the Diamond All form (or whichever
form the cycle sheet was loaded from) without closing and reopening
the form. This will speed up cycle sheet entry. Of course getting
the Diamond All form filtered and sorted into a good counting order
(prior to opening the cycle sheet form) will help also.
Order due date reminder - And for those retailers
who need to be reminded of the ordering due date, I’ve put
a countdown on the switchboard. There is no calculation for this,
CBPF must go from Diamonds announced dates. I’ll continue
to update these dates each year and when you upgrade CBPF near the
end of each year, you’ll get the next years dates. As this
update goes out, Diamond has only announced dates through Nov 2007,
so CBPF won’t have the 2008 dates until the next update.
Vista users – Because of the way Vista handles
files within the “program files” directory, the ComicBook
Pull File should be installed to a different directory (for Vista
users only). The directory I’m suggesting is C:\users\public\public
documents\comicbook pull file. However, when installing to a Vista
system, you’ll have to choose a custom install and browse
to the directory as this directory is not an option under the Microsoft
install procedure which I use.
CBPF branding – I’m going to be branding
CBPF to your customers with the intention of spreading the word
to other retailers. If your customers are happy with the service
you provide them (e-mails, reports, low error rates on pulling items),
they will tell their friends. These friends will then be able to
tell their local comic stores about CBPF and the great features
they wish their local store provided them. Placing the CBPF website
at the bottom of e-mails and reports will allow the customers to
know what program is enabling you to provide them with the customer
support that you do. In conjunction with this, I’ll design
a webpage on the CBPF website with your store logo (send me a .jpg
or .gif) and store information so that customers (and friends) which
note the branding will be able to find out which stores can provide
them with weekly e-mails, etc. You’ll need to opt-in to this
as I’m not going to assume you want to be put on the website.
If you have any other ideas in this area, be sure and let me know.
These are the highlights, below is a more detailed description of
ALL changes.
1.09 features
User Features
- Added these fields (Item Description Front, Series, and All
Venders?) to the Reconciliation form and Customer Archive form.
- Hot-keys revised in crossover events, Diamond All, Customer
form (Items Ordered tab), and Reconciliation form (top and bottom).
There is nothing lost but many hot-keys are now available from
other forms. A few hot-keys have changed for consistency between
forms.
- Add ComicBook Pull File website to bottom of each report and
“powered by www.comicbookpullfile.com” to the bottom
of e-mails.
- Added Import capability into the cycle sheet info – Programs>Maintenance>Import…Cycle
Sheet Info button. The format is .csv (Item Code (required), Date
(required), Inventory Qty, Order Qty, Receive Qty, Held Back Qty)
Thanks goes out to 3rd Planet Comics in California for this suggestion.
Help system shows format also.
- Import Customer info also. See help system for format and fields.
- Import previews update file. Note: Diamond only provides 4 fields
(Item Description, Item Code, SRP, Discount Code), so when you
import, be aware that there will be many blank fields in the Diamond
All form including the Vender field.
- Make the Dynamic groupings forms open completely.
- Truncate item description beginning with # for UK (truncate
option). Also, Remove issue # only and rebuild the Item Description
(Strip option). The Strip option can be used by U.S. retailers
to correct the occasional issue number which shows up in the Item
Description field. The issue # will be copied into the issue #
field if the field is blank. This can be found in Programs under
the Setup tab.
- Save Setup of Customer form. This will have the customer sort
order open in the same order as when it is closed.
- Hot key to Requery (alt-Q) and clear (alt-C) on the Diamond
All form
- Allow store to override customer choices for the weekly pull
report. This need only happen if there are shortages and you want
to choose a different customer to receive items.
- On weekly e-mails, added ability to send an attachment to customers
(ComicBase or other collector program/spreadsheet). This attachment
will allow the customer to import the items which were pulled
for them instead of inputting them manually. The title on the
import at this time is using Diamond’s Item Description
which doesn’t often match ComicBases Titles. The user can
match up the item on import though. The attachment option only
works if you are using the HTML option for e-mails. This attachment
is a comma delimited file with the first row being a header. The
fields are Title, Issue#, Quantity.
- Cycle Sheet Report – sorted by Date last for showing ordered/recved/inventory
in order by history
- Added prev/next item and prev/next series buttons within the
cycle sheet form. These buttons will navigate to the previous/next
item contained on the Diamond All form (or whichever form you
opened the cycle sheet form from). To move through the cycle sheet
process as quick as possible, make sure the Diamond All form is
filtered and sorted in the order you want to count your items.
Thanks to John Tannius
- Added Series Code filter on Diamond All form. Checked=must have
series code greater than zero. Unchecked=series code is blank
or zero, gray=both. This will allow you to filter to see one shots
or exclude one shots, or items which aren’t comics.
- When updating a record in the Monthly Auto Pulls tab, if the
All Covers checkbox is checked, CBPF verifies that the vender
# is not blank or zero. If so, a dialog box displays explaining
that a series code must be specified to use the All Covers checkbox.
- Blanking out a Customer credit card would cause an error. Now
corrected.
- Added online order due date to switchboard with a ‘# of
days left on JUN07 Previews’ line
- Added checkbox beside the e-mail button which is a bypass of
sending the items received info. The e-mail sends everything as
specified on the e-mail format but not the store receivals or
the customer receivals and would only send to those customers
who want the newsletter. Prompts for the subject line of the e-mails
with a default of ‘Your Newsletter’ - Mike @ Samurai
Comics
- Added conditional formatting to Item Description of Reconciliation
form (top half) so it is easier to determine if an Auto Pull has
conditions (First/Last Issue specified). Also added conditional
formatting to bottom half of form (Item Code) when item is Resolicited,
or has a Parent Item.
- Fixed Weekly Pull Report by Item Description. When receiving
back issues at the same time as regular issues, grouping was only
by Item Description and so all issues and back issues showed in
same group instead of grouping separately. Now grouping by ID
& Issue & Item Code. Thanks to Stacy at Comic Fusion.
Technical Features
- Corrected an error msg in btnBuildWeeklyReport to read “Weekly
Download Report Dynamics Grouping form (or Shortage Dynamics Grouping
form) error" instead of "'Weekly Download Report - Customer
First Name' report not found"
- Changed logic in archiveAndPull function. Don’t include
Issue# in Archive file if item was not found in the Diamond All
form.
- Ignore write errors to Diamond Recv table because it has referential
integrity, but the Comic Pull Issues doesn’t. Therefore
items could be marked as sold which are not in Diamond All. This
causes a ref integrity error.
Version 1.09 is now available for download from the CBPF website
www.comicbookpullfile.com
Subscribers receive the update for free. It is $90 for purchasers.
If you need help upgrading, please call.
- This e-mail is only going to those who have purchased or are
subscribing to the CBPF system or have shown some interest in
CBPF.
If you don’t want to receive these e-mails, please respond
with ‘Remove’ in the subject line.
As always, send me any suggestions on how to make CBPF better.
Again, Thanks for your support.
James
ComicBook Pull File
james@comicbookpullfile.com
785-827-1133
1.08 newsletter
One year and still chugging. CBPF was released approximately 14
months ago, which means that several stores have just had their
one year anniversary of using CBPF after the 60-day free trial.
I cannot thank these stores enough for having the faith to trust
their store and their customers to the best pull list program available
(I am slightly biased). If anyone would like to respond to this
e-mail with testimonials which I can add to my website, I’d
appreciate it.
I’ve added a blog to the CBPF website to keep you informed
about what is happening in the CBPF world on a more frequent basis.
It’s also a great way for you to make comments.
The CBPF forum is temporarily out of commission due to some changes
where I host my website (they broke it!!!). When I get a new one
up, it may be different.
Thanks go out to the many stores which made suggestions which were
included in this release. This release took several months because
I just kept adding and adding (as well as fighting through some
issues).
Overview
There are several updates included in CBPF 1.08. The mileage for
several updates are dependent upon your usage. Many reports are
now able to be exported so that the information can be used in another
program. The Credit Card numbers are now encrypted on the hard drive.
The weekly E-Mails are receiving a slight (but nice) facelift. When
sending an E-Mail of the stores receivals for the week, instead
of simply sorting by the Item Description, CBPF now sorts the items
by category and within the category it is sorted by Vender. This
will help customers insure that they haven’t missed their
favorite items. I also fixed a couple of errors which crop up occasionally.
See below for more details on these as well as other updates. Added
at the last minute was a utility to assist those people who download
pics from the Diamond website and use them for your own websites.
1.08 features
User Features
1. e-mails have the store receival list now sorted by category/vender/item
description. With category and vender as headers to the table of
HTML e-mails
2. Created Count Sheet report as a printout to assist counting cycle
sheet info. Accessed via the Cycle Sheet Dynamics Grouping Form
(Report>Other Reports>Cycle Sheets Report).
3. Monthly Auto Pulls report (by Item Description) – removed
erroneously placed phone# in header.
4. A utility program added to allow a store to abbreviate all file
names within a specified directory. This is designed for those who
download Diamond pic files, but don’t want the description
to the right of the Item Code. The files can then be used for store
websites. The length of the abbreviation can be modified so you
can keep the HI or LO if you download both size files. You must
have administrative rights to the directory which contains the pics
for CBPF to be able to perform this function. It creates a new directory
called CBPFmodified within the chosen directory and then copies
every file in the specified directory into CBPFmodified with the
abbreviated names. This will protect the user if he accidentally
chooses the wrong directory from disastrous results.
5. Encrypted Credit Card field. Displays normally on Customer Form,
but is encrypted on the hard drive. You likely won’t notice
any difference unless you open or import from the CBPF file. Also
with the new exporting ability now available, I wanted to protect
the credit card numbers from unintended exposure (e.g. e-mailing
a file).
6. Added Total Sold field to Cycle Sheet report. (from cycle sheet
form, and from Other Reports on switchboard).
7. Cycle Sheet dynamics grouping form, changed O/A, Res, and Limited
Series from on/off checkboxes to tri-state fields.
8. Added Export to Hard Drive button with Include Field Names checkbox
to export the report data to a .CSV file. If you want to know the
layout but don’t want the Field Names, do it with the Field
Names to see what each field is then do it again without the Field
Names.
a. Reports changed –
i. Cycle Sheet
ii. Item Pulls
iii. Monthly Auto Pulls
iv. Weekly Download
v. Phone Book
vi. Notables
9. Removed display of e-mail prior to sending the e-mail msg (Outlook
HTML users only).
10. Added comment field on reorders table so store can comment about
reason for the reorder.
11. Reconcile what you actually received against what the system
is expecting you to receive. Shortage corrections (negative Qty’s)
are now ignored since the retailer is expected to correct the shortage
on the week it happens. Negative numbers (shortages corrected by
Diamond) are displayed as white text on a red background. Promotional
and 8000 codes show up as red text on a yellow background.
12. Edit e-mail list prior to sending the e-mails. This will allow
removal of special orders, Adult titles and promotional items from
the list of items which the store received. This will allow a store
to remove items from the list if they are sending a weekly store
receivals list to customers.
13. ‘Diamond All’ form – made batchNo filter fields
to accept 3 (e.g. 036) & 5 (e.g. SEP05) digit formats as well
as a 9 character Item code.
14. Fixed date check on button 5 ‘Remove Items Ordered’
to give warning if button is used twice in the same week.
15. Create a file to upload to Previews online (If store prefers
to use online ordering instead of POW ordering). This is the same
format file as what POW uses but with a different name. If you use
online ordering with this file, the final ordered numbers won’t
be importable back into CBPF. This will mean that the store will
not have initial ordering numbers in the cycle sheets unless they
are manually entered. If a store creates a shelf customer, then
the preorder data of cycle sheets will be incorrect. Ultimately,
using POW is still the best usage and this feature was only added
because some stores don’t use cycle sheets and would rather
use the online ordering. If Diamond ever creates an export file
for their online ordering system, it would work just like POW.
16. Added Monthly Auto Pulls form - This form opens in datasheet
view and will allow for an easy overview of customers ordering specific
items. This is similar to a Monthly Auto Pulls report, but some
changes will be allowed from this form. This will allow for quicker
bulk changes (e.g. Title changes, Vender # changes, or when a series
ends and you want to remove all Auto Pulls for a title).
17. Ordered Comics form - Can now be viewed in datasheet view via
the new 'Datasheet View' button.
Technical Features
18. Added buttons to view the Error Log File (Front End and Back
End files)
19. Autoexec routine: changed errors so they print a line# also.
20. Add version to Local Setup file so FE can tell if it needs to
make changes to the Local Setup table. Add upgrade procedure for
FE. If Local Setup file not found, then create it with a Local Setup
version of 1.07.
21. E-mails formatted in Table format if sent in HTML format.
22. in saveOption() coverted null data to “” (space).
Gave error if removed all data from an e-mail format field. Now
saves “” to the options table.
23. Because ‘archives’ file has acct#/itemCode/OriginalDate
as primary key, it is possible for an item with a qty greater than
one to be partially filled, then fill the rest later and cause a
primary key error. Changed primary key.
24. An error with this word included “ChkMonthly()”
occasionally happens at a few stores. It happens during the “1.
Find Monthly Items” button. This error could always be overcome
by repeating the process, and the “Find” would make
it farther the next time until the process was completed successfully.
Version 1.08 is now available for download from the CBPF website
www.comicbookpullfile.com
Subscribers receive the update for free. It is $90 for purchasers.
If you need help upgrading, please call.
Tell your friends, your enemies, and your competition across the
street about CBPF.
I have a US map on my wall with all the stores who are using CBPF
marked, and there are still some gaps.
Trivia question of the “month” – What is the easiest/fastest
way to jump to the CBPF website? The first store to e-mail me the
correct answer will receive something special.
This e-mail is only going to those who have purchased or are subscribing
to the CBPF system (or by request).
If you don’t want to receive these e-mails, please respond
with ‘Remove’ in the subject line.
As always, send me any suggestions on how to make CBPF better.
Again, Thanks for your support.
James
ComicBook Pull File
785-827-1133
1.07 newsletter
The Baltimore Summit was great and I was able to show
CBPF to several stores. I only connected with one CBPF user (briefly).
As I don’t know what most of you look like, I’m relying
on you to see my CBPF T-Shirt. I hope Ft. Wayne will be even more
productive. Anyone else going? Please find me, as I’d love
to meet each of you.
Overview
Some of the new 1.07 features have been several months in coming.
Saving the forms setup will help everyone. The ‘Import Weekly
File’ button change is a protection against forgetting to
complete the previous week. The Notables Report is targeted at helping
you inform your customers of items which are available that they
may not be aware of. This will lead to more sales in your store.
If anyone comes up with a unique usage for the report post it on
the forum for other stores to see. The CBPF weekly e-mail now has
the ability to be sent in HTML format. There are also a few fixes
and a few other minor features.
There is a lot of info below, but it is well worth your time to
read and understand.
1.07 features
1. Save setup for each computer. (font/color/column
width/hidden columns/column order etc). Frozen columns are not saved
and restored at this time. This will allow for a computer to make
changes to forms which include datasheets (e.g. Diamond All, Customer,
Ordered Comics, Pull Archives, etc). When the form is closed, or
CBPF is closed the setups are saved, then when the form is reopened,
the previous form setup is restored to the way it was when it was
closed. If the computer is on a network, each computer has its own
setup.
This has been a long time in the works because of the research
and complexity involved. (Thanks to Charlie at Charlie’s Comic
Books – Tucson, AZ)
2. On 'Weekly Pull File' tab, the “Import Weekly
File’ button (button 1) checks to verify that buttons
2,3, and 5 are completed for the previous week before proceeding
with the import. If they were not completed a message box with a
warning message will be displayed asking whether to continue with
the import. If the 'No' button is chosen, the user has the chance
to complete buttons 2,3, and 5. If 'Yes' is chosen, the import continues.
(Thanks to all those who have accidentally imported the new file
before completing the previous week, including me).
3. Notables report. This works like the 'Previews
Description' filter on the Diamond All form. On the Diamond All
form, you can enter word(s) to be found in the description information.
Then only those items which have the word(s) contained in their
descriptions will be displayed in the Diamond All form.
The notables report lets you save a list of "notables"
(e.g. Alex Ross, Civil War, etc.) (Programs>Maintenance>Notables
Report) that match the description information. Saving the list
of “notables” will allow you to print the report each
week/month without retyping the list. The report (Reports>Other
Reports>Notables Report) will then build a report of those items
which match the "notables" that have been saved.
This report is intended to inform your customers of items which
they may not be aware. It can be filtered by BatchNo so that specific
Previews Catalog(s) "notables" can be printed (in an effort
to get preorders or special orders). Or the report can be printed
by Received Date so that customers can be made aware of new items
which you have received which are "notable". The report
can also be filtered by category (e.g. Comics, Posters, etc).
This report can be set on your counter or posted on a wall for
customers. If a "notable" is entered in the "notable"
field on the dynamic groupings form when preparing to print the
report, it will override the saved "notables"
and only build the report based on the word(s) in the "notable"
field on the dynamic groupings form. This would be useful if a customer
approaches the counter and asks for something. You can quickly check
the Notables Report and hand him a printout of all the items (posters,
statues, comics, etc) which contain the item he requested (You can
do the same thing in the Diamond All form, the advantage here is
to hand him a printout which may spur further sales as he browses
the store looking at the items on the printout).
The description information can be turned on or
off on the report.
4. Ctrl-z (hot-key) on the Item Description field of the Monthly
Auto Pulls tab on the Customer form will cancel a monthly
auto pull item and move it to archives. This will allow
you to reference past Auto Pulls. (Thanks to Stacy at Comic Fusion
– Flemington, NJ)
5. Added HTML e-mails with the requirement of
Outlook on the computer. This can be turn on or off in Programs>Setup>Use
Outlook E-Mails (HTML). Added e-mail banner field (information above
the Customer First Name) on Programs>Maintenance>E-Mail Format.
Using the HTML format is more flexible, but takes longer to format.
When not using the HTML format, links automatically are clickable
in the e-mail. But with the HTML format, links must have anchor
tags added for them to be clickable. The easiest way to correctly
format the HTML is to format the information in an HTML editor (e.g.
Dreamweaver, Front Page, MS Word, etc) then copy and paste the HTML
from the editor into the appropriate field of the Weekly E-Mail
Layout form. HTML is not hard to learn and can really jazz up your
e-mail by adding pictures, colors, etc, but is more work and is
prone to typographical errors. If you don't know HTML, but are interested
in pursuing HTML e-mails, the easiest way to proceed is to acquire
an HTML editor and check with high-school and college age customers
who may be able to spend a couple of hours with you showing you
the basics. There are also plenty of HTML books available.
The building of the HTML e-mails is displayed on the computer screen
when they are being sent. On my computer when using Express ClickYes
to bypass answering the e-mail security warning, if I don’t
use HTML, the warning is bypassed quickly, but when using HTML,
the bypass takes the full 5 seconds. This will make your computer
unusable for 5 seconds multiplied by the number of e-mails being
sent. This may have a bearing on when you send an HTML newsletter.
6. Added buttons (Programs>Setup) to allow modification/maintenance
of Brand, Genre, Category, Vender.
7. Fixed ‘Comment’ field on cycle-sheet form to accept
input.
8. Fixed Acct# sort on weekly download report.
Version 1.07 is now available for download from
the CBPF website www.comicbookpullfile.com
Subscribers receive the update for free. It is $90 for purchasers.
For those using the Online ordering system provided
by Diamond instead of Previews on Windows. The import file format
is the same with the exception of the file name. Therefore, if you
want to continue using the online ordering system but would like
to import the initial numbers from CBPF, you can rename C:\Program
Files\Previews on Windows\importWN.csv to [your Diamond acct#].txt,
then use this file to ‘Upload a completed Initial Order’
on the Diamond website. From this point you can add your shelf stock
count. Though this speeds up the ordering, it doesn’t work
as well for CBPF if you want to use cycle-sheets because you don’t
get your final numbers in CBPF. Diamond does not have a method of
exporting the completed numbers from the online system to your hard
drive. POW is still the method which works better
for CBPF because of its export capabilities.
I will be at the Diamond Summit (Ft. Wayne). I
encourage you to find me in the lounge or catch me roaming. See
the CBPF website for lounge times. I would like to meet each of
you and be able to answer questions, give CBPF tips, show demos,
etc. You can also be a great help by giving your unbiased opinions
of CBPF to others. The larger the user base, the better CBPF becomes,
and the cheaper (per user) it is to maintain. I have some t-shirts
for CBPF users if you’ll wear one during the Summit.
This e-mail is only going to those who have purchased or are subscribing
to the CBPF system. If you are using CBPF Basic and would like to
be added to the mailing list, please e-mail me.
If you don’t want to receive these e-mails, please respond
with ‘Remove’ in the subject line.
Is there anything I’m not doing that I could be doing
to serve you better? As always, send me any suggestions on how to
make CBPF better.
Again, Thanks for your support.
James
1.06 newsletter
It seems like each release is bigger than the previous.
At 3 “noticeable” changes, I decided I’d better
stop for this release. And yet my “to do” list continues
to get longer.
There is a lot of info below, but it is well worth your time to
read and understand.
1.06 features
1. There is now a shortages report which will be
available for printing when you “3. Build Weekly Report”
on the “Weekly Pull File” tab. You will be informed
that you have more customers who have ordered an item than what
you are receiving. This is your cue to get a re-order in to Diamond
if you haven’t already. This process happens automatically
and you don’t have to do anything different that what you
are doing now. The dynamics grouping forms for both reports are
mostly identical and both open so you can print/view whichever report
you want to first. You can access either form from the >window
selection of your menu bar. The header on the shortage report is
in red so that it stands out and you don’t get confused between
the two. Thanks go out to Jesse Mendoza at Comics Plus in Corpus
Christie TX for the suggestion.
I also added a couple of fields to the bottom of the Item
Pulls Report if printed by Item Description or Item Code.
There is now a “total ordered” field which shows how
many of the item your store ordered. Also is a ‘Cust%’
field which shows the percentage of your order has already been
spoken for by customers. If this number is bigger than 100%, it
will be in red. The ‘Total’ field from 1.05 and previous
has been renamed to ‘Cust Qty’ to show you the total
customer orders. If you are looking at an Item Pulls Report for
a month in which you haven’t ordered yet, you will get ‘N/A’
and ‘#error’ in the two new fields. This is a good way
to monitor how you are doing on items which you haven’t received
yet. If you have already received an item on the report, the customers
who had the item filled will not be counted on the report in the
‘Cust Qty’.
2. On the “Diamond All” form, you
will notice many fields at the top of the form. If you fill in the
information in one or more fields and press the ReQuery button,
the Diamond All will filter based on the data you have requested.
This has always been available with filter buttons on the toolbar.
However, this should significantly simplify and speed up the process.
For example, if you want to view the July 2006 Previews only, you
would enter 200607 in the BatchNo field and press ReQuery. If you
wanted to see all issue 1’s in the July 2006 Previews you
would enter 200607 in the BatchNo field and 1 in the Issue field,
then press ReQuery. All of your hot-keys are still available on
the Item Code field after a ReQuery. I moved the Previews Description
search from a special button to a field on the Diamond All form
to be filled in just like the other fields. There are First Received
Date and Last Received Date fields. If you enter a date in the First
Rcv Date field and not in the Last Rcv Date, you will see all items
which you have received from the specified date to the current date.
If you enter a First and a Last Rcv Date, you will see all items
between the two dates. This would speed up finding items which you
are recording cycle sheet data for, if you record the data on specified
weekly increments from when you receive them (e.g. 1 week, 3 weeks).
There is a drop-down box to specify a specific vender.
Since this list is long, it is much faster to click the drop-down
arrow (which highlights the field) and begin typing the vender name
until it matches (or comes close), then use up/down arrows on the
keyboard to move to nearby vender names. When your selection is
highlighted, press tab, enter, or click on another field.
There is also a drop-down box which lets you save queries
and quickly specify a saved query to use. If you want to save a
query, fill in the selections on the Diamond All form, press the
ReQuery button, then select ‘(save/modify/delete filter)’,
then type a name in the ‘Save current Diamond All filter as’
field, then press the ‘Save Current Diamond All Filter’
button. If you close and reopen the ‘(save/modify/delete filter)’
form, you can see the query which you saved, with the name which
you specified. At this point, you can manually change the query,
however, this is very picky that the wording be exactly correct
otherwise an error will occur when you try to use the query. If
you have any tech-heads working at your store or who are customers,
the query is a language known as SQL and they may be able to assist
in modifying a query to do what you want. This is a very flexible
language if you know what you are doing. I will include several
predefined queries for you to use and learn from. These are by no
means sacred. Feel free to delete or modify for your own purposes.
I will explain how they work on the CBPF forum under the “Diamond
All Form” section. This will help you modify them for your
purposes. The ones I added are more challenging than what I expect
you to add, which is why I added them. I’m leaving the easy
ones for you. If you mess up one of the filters which I created,
simply copy and paste the code from the forum over your mess up,
to start over with a modification.
The checkboxes (e.g. Ordered Items) are tri-state
check boxes. This means that if you check them, you are requesting
in this case to see only items which you have ordered. If you uncheck
it, then you will see only items which you didn’t order. If
you unselect the box (grayed) then you will see items irregardless
of whether you ordered them or not. With these check boxes, you
can easily view items which you ordered, but have not yet received
from a specified month. You must be careful to specify items which
are possible. For example, and impossibility if to view one-shots
and mini-series. The query doesn’t show both, it shows items
which meet all criteria. If someone has a specific query request,
let me know and I may be able to build a query for you to copy and
paste into your predefined queries.
3. In an effort to broaden the user base of CBPF, this version
contains CBPF BASIC (a “free” version)
of CBPF which is a scaled down version. It leaves the basic necessities
in place, but drops all the bells and many of the whistles. I think
that there may be a smaller learning curve with this and people
have the chance to use CBPF indefinitely, and decide if/when they
want to financially support development of the program. Some of
the items dropped from the free version
- cycle-sheets,
- Previews descriptions,
- multi-store,
- the new query options on the Diamond All form,
- crossover-events,
- custom requests,
- e-mails.
Though the readers of this newsletter have committed to supporting
CBPF, I don’t want any unhappy users. Therefore, if a subscriber
wishes to use CBPF BASIC, I will certainly let him. However, I hope
this can be the impetus to convince more paper stores to jump to
computer and for computer stores to choose a pull file program designed
for comic retailers. SPREAD THE WORD!!!
I would like to welcome Moonstone as a sponsor who has supported
CBPF for nearly a year. They have helped with advice and encouragement
as well. Check out their offerings each month in the Previews catalog.
You will notice their logo on switchboard. I would personally like
to thank Joe at Moonstone for his efforts.
Version 1.06 is now available for download from
the CBPF website www.comicbookpullfile.com
Subscribers receive the update for free. It is $90 for purchasers.
I will be at the Diamond Summits (Baltimore/Ft.
Wayne). I encourage you to find me in the lounge or catch me roaming.
See the CBPF website for lounge times. I would like to meet each
of you and be able to answer questions, give CBPF tips, show demos,
etc. You can also be a great help by giving your unbiased opinions
of CBPF to others. The larger the user base, the better CBPF becomes,
and the cheaper (per user) it is to maintain. I will probably get
some t-shirts made for CBPF users. If you are willing to wear one
while at the summit, e-mail me a size and I’ll get one made
for you. I have found a roommate for Baltimore, but if there is
anyone else looking, they can be added to our room to split the
cost evenly. I’m not planning on being there much anyway.
This e-mail is only going to those who have purchased or are subscribing
to the CBPF system. If you don’t want to receive these e-mails,
please respond with ‘Remove’ in the subject line.
Is there anything I’m not doing that I could be doing
to serve you better?
Again, Thanks for your support.
James
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