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The Order Entry System (OES) developed by Legler Systems in California (CA) is based on the client-server model and supports many special features for handling the customer orders, billing and invoicing functions in small businesses and midsize companies. This customizable online OES software can be run as a stand-alone accounting application or integrated with other financial modules, such as the Inventory Management System and Accounts Receivable System. The Order Entry System identifies each product or service by Item-Code ordered by the customer. The Legler Order Entry software utilizes a character-based user interface with mouse support on desktop or laptop computers for fast data entry and optimum end-user productivity in a multi-user environment.
The latest OES software version is now available with recent changes described in the Accounting Software Revision History document. The latest updates include four different real-time transaction dashboards under the order entry menu, plus the Report History Dashboard showing the prior runs for each reporting procedure and inquiry procedure. This general-purpose Order Entry System is easy to use and can function with or without a mouse for greater end-user flexibility and productivity.
After installations on different hardware and operating systems, this reliable order entry software has evolved over the last 25 years to an efficient, proven and productive customer billing application for today under Microsoft Windows 10. Custom versions of the online OES software support in-house control of confidential customer order transaction records and have been in day-to-day operation in small businesses in Northern California for many years.
The online order entry (OE) end-user procedures are identified on the Order Entry System Menu (screen image shown below). Before any online OE procedure is run, the user must first sign-on by entering a valid User-ID and password. To display the Order Entry Menu from the main Financial Menu, enter "OE" to the System-ID prompt. To start a specific OE online procedure, enter the 2-digit number associated with that online accounting procedure or single-click the left mouse button when pointing to the procedure name on the Order Entry System Menu screen. The active keyboard function keys are identified at the bottom of all screens, including the order entry menu.
Data entry procedures OE01 (screen image), OE09 (screen image), OE11 (screen image) and OE19 (screen image) display the data fields that comprise each Customer Order Record and perform the update functions (add, modify and delete) to the online Master File (DBSMST) based on a Transaction Code. A Customer Master Record (name and address information) and Product Master Record (item-code and description) must be entered into the OE System before new customer orders are processed. Update procedure OE02 is a mass change procedure where the Order-Status code is changed in multiple customer orders. Data entry procedure OE16 is used to quickly update customer orders with mailing postage or shipping charges. The Order Entry Data Dictionary (printed by procedure DB11) defines each data field in data entry screens OE01, OE09, OE11, OE19 and OE16.
The online Help File contains a description of all OE data fields and OE error messages that are displayed in a separate Help Message Window whenever keyboard function key F1 is pressed. A drop-down list of valid codes for a field (marked by a down-arrowhead) is also shown in the Help Message Window when the F2 key is pressed after the F1 key. The Help Message Window temporarily overlays the bottom half of the basic application window (Command Prompt window).
For all OE inquiry procedures and reporting procedures, a selection screen is displayed so the user can enter various data selection parameters to retrieve specific customer records from the online database (DBSMST) and to format the output. Prior data selection parameters are shown in the Report History Dashboard under the selection screen.
Inquiry procedures OE10 and OE14 display each customer order and Ship-To address information for a specific customer and time period. Inquire Item History (OE17) shows a results screen by month for 5 years of customer order history. Inquiry procedure OE20 displays the top products ordered based on dollar amount, quantity or number of orders for any time period. Inquire Latest OE Changes procedure (OE96) displays a list of the latest Customer Order Records (OE01) in descending chronological date sequence.
Online reporting procedures OE03, OE06, OE07, OE08 and OE18 print management reports on a line printer (computer-size paper) or a laser printer (letter-size paper). Billing reports can be displayed in the basic application window or in a separate report window prior to printing a hardcopy. Customer invoices (OE05), customer quotations (OE12) and Order Confirmations (OE12) are printed on preprinted forms or blank letter-size paper. Shipping label forms are required for printing mailing labels by procedure OE13. Each online reporting procedure displays a separate selection screen for the user to enter report selection parameters, such as dates, order numbers, report format option and report sort option. Update procedures OE02, OE04 and OE15 print a one-page OES Control Report showing the number of customer order records processed for audit documentation.
Order entry procedure 92, procedure 94 and procedure 96 are the same procedures in the Database Control System. When 99 is entered as the OE procedure number, the main Financial Menu is displayed. End-user procedures DB03, DB11, DB17 and DB18 appear only on the Database Control menu.
Each online OE end-user procedure identified on the Order Entry System Menu is described in more detail in the OE Procedure Menu document, including a description of the order entry transaction dashboards and Report History Dashboard.
In addition to the operational, security, technical and customization features mentioned in the Accounting Software Overview document, imporant Functional Features and Objectives of this proven order entry software are highlighted below:
1. Handle a customer deposit at the time a sales order is entered into the system by procedure OE01.
2. Calculate sales tax based on the Item-Code (e.g. no sales tax for handling) and the customer (e.g. no sales tax for resellers) at the time customer invoices are printed by procedure OE05.
3. Any comments entered with the order are printed by procedure OE12 (print Order Confirmations) and procedure OE05 (print customer invoices).
4. Provide online credit checking against preset customer dollar limit for unpaid customer invoices in data entry procedure OE01.
5. Automatic GL revenue account assignment occurs when customer invoices are printed by procedure OE05. The GL revenue account codes in the Customer Master Record and/or Product Master Record are moved to the new Customer Invoice Record that is written to the online database. The revenue account code follows the standard GL account structure of either a 4-digit account code only or 4-digit account code plus a 2-character department number as set by System-Option-26 in procedure DB03.
6. Flexible online reporting capability allows the user to request and print 41 different Order Entry Reports, including customer invoices printed by procedure OE05, by specifying report selection parameters and a report sort option. One-time ad-hoc management reports are easily printed.
7. Print the customer address from Customer Master Record on customer invoices, Order Confirmations and customer quotations. The Bill-To and Ship-To addresses (optional) can appear on customer invoices.
8. For real-time List Dashboard (No. 4), the oldest ten open customer orders are shown under the Order Entry menu. Up to 4 different real-time transaction dashboards for order entry are displayed: two real-time Bar Chart Dashboards and two real-time List Dashboards. A Report History Dashboard is displayed under the parameter prompts for an OE reporting procedure and inquiry procedure showing the last 12 runs.
9. Enable Bill-To number lookup by name when the "#" character is entered in the Bill-To number field and then enter the Bill-To name, company name or phone number when prompted. Both uppercase and lowercase letters are tested.
10. Enable Ship-To number lookup by name when the "#" character is entered in the Ship-To number field and then enter the Ship-To name, company name or phone number when prompted. Ship-To names are matched in the same way as Bill-To names.
11. Online processing involves instantly viewing and changing customer order data in the online Master File (database) based on a Transaction Code (Trans-Code) for added accuracy. One customer order transaction is processed at a time.
12. Support batch job processing (optional), where report selection parameters are entered online for later batch processing by a separate job script, so large billing reports are printed offline.
13. In the OE system, special notes (comments, instructions or significant events) are entered and displayed from data entry screens OE01, OE09 and OE11 (AR01) by dynamic linking to data entry procedure DB17 (General Notes Record) using keyboard function key F7 or the mouse when the word "NOTES" appears.
14. Enable item number lookup by product name when the "#" character is entered in the item number field and then enter product's name, Mfg-Part number or item description when prompted. Both uppercase letters and lowercase letters are tested. When only one matching item is found, the associated item number automatically replaces the "#" character to eliminate the manual entry of the item number. This special item number lookup option is performed when "#" is entered in the Item-No prompt. This "#" feature is in addition to the standard item number lookup by item name initials (uppercase) in both a client-server (ASCII coding) and IBM mainframe (EBCDIC coding) environment.
15. Cobol source programs have been revised to reference a new common Copy member (SLP310) for the IBM AIX system call to execute the Unix chmod command, when an output file is opened and the OPR-SYS-PARM field is set to "AIX".
16. A complete backup of the order entry and billing application is created by periodically copying the LSC directory to an external removable device, such as a compact disc (CD-ROM) or USB flash drive (thumb drive). The CD-ROM disc or USB flash drive can be stored off-site for added protection in case of an unforeseen disaster. The financial applications can be run directly from these backup devices on any computer.
The online OES software references four master records in the Database Control System (required) to: (1) control basic system options and functions (Company Control Record), (2) verify User-ID and password and define the computer procedures the user can access plus other user options, such as the screen color code (background color and foreground color), display real-time dashboards, show dollar sign ($) in all dollar amount fields and Help Message Window screen color codes (User Control Record), (3) validate sales representative codes, Order-Status codes and other user definable codes, such as GL revenue account code and Location code (Code Definition Records) and (4) identify special notes or comments about a customer order by displaying the word "NOTES" on a data entry screen (General Notes Record).
When customer invoices are printed, procedure OE05 formats and outputs Customer Invoice Records to either an export Transfer File (fixed length records) for input to an external accounts receivable application or directly into the online database for subsequent use by the Legler Accounts Receivable System (optional). This Customer Master Record (OE11) refers to the same master record in the online AR System (AR01).
The optional PO System (PO Procedure Menu) links to customer orders in the OE System to print Purchase Orders to suppliers for special items ordered by the customer.
The OE System updates the quantity on-hand field in the Product Master Record for inventory control by the online Inventory Management System (optional) at the time customer orders are added to the online database by procedure OE01.
This user-friendly OES software supports dynamic linking between data entry procedures (such as OE01 to OE09) with a single keystroke (function key F7). The linking data field is marked by an up-arrowhead. Dynamic linking to existing General Notes Record (DB17) containing special notes about a customer order or product (item-code) is performed with one or two keystrokes (F7) or double-click of the left mouse button when the word "NOTES" appears on a data entry screen.
Update procedure DB18 in the Database Control System is used to: (1) export customer order data from the online Master File to a text file (csv format) for subsequent input to an external computer application and (2) support master file creation of customer master data by importing a csv file of customer master transactions to the import Transfer File (fixed length records) for subsequent processing by procedure AR14. Customer Master Records must be loaded into the online database first, before the entry of customer orders. (3) support master file creation of product master data by importing a csv file of product master transactions to the import Transfer File (fixed length records) for subsequent processing by procedure IM15. Product Master Records must be loaded into the online database first, before the entry of customer orders. CSV files contain variable length records where data values or fields are separated by a comma. Generally, a csv file uses the internal ASCII coding structure.
The Order Entry System operates on any x86 personal computer (desktop or laptop) in the Command Prompt window using any version of Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 3.1 to Windows XP (16-bit) and Windows 7 and now Windows 10. The OES source programs are compatible with 32-bit cobol compilers (such as Micro Focus Net Express) that generate executable code for Windows 10 (64-bit version). Personal computers can be connected in a local area network (LAN) with complete flexibility in specifying the disk location of master files on the client laptop or desktop computer or the file server. Additionally, the OES software can be run on a single stand-alone personal computer or on a UNIX based computer, such as the IBM RS/6000 with IBM 3151 terminals using the AIX operating system. In addition to the standard application window size (80x25), a larger Command Prompt window of 80 characters wide by 50 rows (80x50) is now supported for greater usefulness and allows real-time dashboards to be displayed under the order entry menu.
The 2017 version of the order entry software supports 32-bit code (.dll) or 16-bit code (.exe) depending on the OPR-SYS-PARM setting ("WIN" or "DOS") in the DBSPGM file. The exe programs run under Windows XP and the dll programs are used with Windows 10. AIX programs use the .gnt code. The OE application programs (32-bit code) run on 64-bit hardware.
The Run Time Environment for Micro Focus COBOL support is included at no extra cost with the OE executable programs. The latest Windows 10 order entry programs (32-bit code) are the same programs as the DOS order entry programs (16-bit code) for compatibility. For customer order data archiving and historical reporting, the same OES executable programs can be run offline from a removable device, such as a CD-ROM disc or USB flash drive; thereby eliminating the need to restore old customer order data and OE application programs to a separate hard disk drive in order to view or print order entry reports on a customer's status.
The Database Control System by Legler Systems Company is required to support online Master File updates in a multi-user environment and is included with the Order Entry software. The OES source programs are written in structured ANSI COBOL (COmmon Business Oriented Language), the most widely used business programming language, for easy maintenance in a client-server (ASCII code) or IBM mainframe (EBCDIC code) environment. A Micro Focus cobol compiler is used to generate the OES executable programs for personal computers using 32-bit or 64-bit addressing. Each OE end-user procedure identified on the Order Entry System Menu screen corresponds to a separate application program.
The OE System software cost is identified in the Software Price Sheet and includes: (1) OES executable programs for the Microsoft Windows environment, (2) OES Procedure Manual and (3) online Help File. The technical OES Systems Manual and OES source programs with common Copy members in the ANSI COBOL language can be purchased separately.
To request sample management reports and screen formats or a free working demo of this user-friendly OE System on a USB flash drive or CD-ROM disc for any version of Microsoft Windows, e-mail Bill Legler in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA.
Legler Systems Company, developer of the online Order Entry software, is located in the East Bay of the SF Bay Area in Northern California and provides local on-site OES software support in Alameda County (major cities are Oakland and Berkeley), Contra Costa County (major cities are Concord, Walnut Creek and Orinda) plus other counties in California. E-mail support is always available concerning OES software questions or issues.