This manual was last amended 13 Aug 98

Application Development by R.J Brown Email to : [email protected] Visit the Web Site at : http://www.ozemail.com.au/~brownyrj/

1.0 About this document:

This manual has been designed using Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML)

The manual can be viewed using any Internet Web Browser Software and user defined sections can be printed using the software's "Print" options.

You should read the entire contents of this manual before using the software to give you a broad understanding of the programs functions and menus.

Any underlined words or sentences throughout the document in blue represent a "Link" to another page or bookmark within a page for a detailed explanation.

You can also use this manual simultaneously with the program to learn as you go by running R.A.P Manager under Windows and task swapping between the two programs.

If you have any suggestions or improvements to the software you can "Click" on the animated envelope above to direct e-mail to the application developer.

Updates or changes to this manual are posted on the internet and can be viewed, downloaded or printed at;
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~brownyrj/rap/START.HTM

1.1 What is the RAP Manager ?

RAP Manager was custom designed from the ground up as an application for a unit Regimental Aid Post .It consists of an easy to use menu driven interface and data forms. There are many features and options included with RAP Manager that are detailed further in the manual but with it's main features you can :

Report any inoculation due or overdue within a date period by sub unit
Report any Med board due or overdue by sub unit
List PES statistics for the unit or sub unit
Generate statistical reports for Height, Weight and Body Mass Index
Create daily appointment sheets for specialists and track accounts received and sent.
Create daily occurrence lists or RAP attendance sheets
List Hospital Admissions for a date or period
Create simple or complex reports for any information contained in the RAP manager.

With the Requests manager module you can

Compile and register AB189 stores requests.
Select items for the requests from a 12,000 item medical stores catalogue.
Track item request status and demands for items.
Compile statistical reports on commodity usage.

Use the Memo Pad to

Create daily task lists for Regimental Aid Post staff.
Use it as a generic note pad for staff to read.
Print any memo pad entry.
Locate notes, phrases, dates or key words at any time using the powerful index, Locate or Query-by-form functions.

The RAP Manager functions reduce the manual labor intensive searches of medical records to determine who is due certain inoculations at a given time, the total number of appointments, hospital admissions, RAP attendance's, due dates for Medical boards, account tracking options for civilian practitioners, etc...

All data entered into the RAP Manager is fully search able and as such gives you the flexibility to create customized searches of specific data. for example you may wish to know "How many males in the unit over the age of 35 have not been HIV tested since a specific date ? " or "Which members have been admitted to Hospital within a given date for an Ankle related injury ? ".

The options available are endless and only restricted by your own imagination. Some of the common questions that would be asked are included as pre-defined menus within the programs reports section for fast record retrieval.

1.2 System requirements

The minimum requirement is a 486 with 8 MB of ram and approximately 25 MB of hard drive space available. If possible you should use a memory management program such as Memmaker or Qemm to make maximum use of your basic 640k of memory. All reports designed in the program have been formatted for A4 210 x 270 paper in portrait. The program can be installed and run on any net BIOS compatible file server. You must be running SHARE.EXE. (This comes with DOS, refer to your DOS manual for more information)

1.3 The CONFIG.SYS File

When you start your computer, it searches for a file called CONFIG.SYS. This file must contain commands for the program to function correctly. As an approximate guide your CONFIG.SYS file should contain the following settings FILES=99 BUFFERS=32 Note: Increasing the buffers parameter increases disk access speeds, but uses up system memory.

1.4 Starting RAP Manager

To start the RAP Manager version from the DOS prompt you will need to be in the C:\RAP directory. Type "RAP" [enter]. The program will load and display the opening banner page. Press any key to continue. The programs password protection control will show , asking you to enter the password . Enter the password and press [F10]. The password is case sensitive meaning it could be in capitals or lower case or a combination of both. Three attempts at the password are allowed. On the third failed attempt the password control displays "failed" in the password box. Press any key to continue and the "Access denied" prompt shows on the screen for a few seconds and the program aborts. If the password control is correct the program will load and display the main menu options for the RAP Manager.

1.5 Using RAP Manager Under Windows

You can run RAP Manager under windows and have it displayed in its own DOS window.

1.6 To set up an ICON in windows 3.11

Open the program group where you want to store the ICON that will start RAP Manager or create a new one.
Select "Program item" and click on OK
At description enter "RAP Manager"
In the command line box enter C:\RAP\RAP.PIF (where "C" is your drive letter)
Click "Change icon" and "OK" when told there are no icons for the file.
Click on "browse" and select the directory C:\RAP and choose any file ending in ".ICO".
Click "OK" for each prompt until the icon appears in the program group window
Double click the ICON to start RAP Manager RAP Manager will then run in windowed mode. You can re-size the window by dragging the borders or select "Fonts" from the drop down box and choose a size suitable to fit into a window without being too distorted , use 7 X 12 as a guide.

At anytime you can switch between windowed mode and a full screen by pressing [ALT-ENTER]. To switch between open programs hold down the [ALT] key and press [TAB] continuously until the desired program is displayed then release the [ALT] key.

1.7 Navigating the menus

The menu structure for the program is laid out in a cascading sequence with a level indicator in the top left of each screen.

You can use the [UP] ,[DN] arrows keys to scroll up or down the list of menu options and press enter on the highlighted option. You can use the corresponding 'Hot' key for each menu option by simply pressing the corresponding highlighted letter in each menu name or alternatively if you have a mouse, click on the menu option with it.

The Menus are set out as follows: < Click Here !

1.7.1 Initial data requirements

Before you attempt any initial data entry to the R.A.P manager there are a number of database maintenance tasks that need to be completed.

To assist you in the process of entering new member records and ensuring data accuracy there are a number of pop-up fields such as Ranks, Sub Units, Corps and ECN's which require editing to speed up your Initial data entry. These databases can be found in the Utilities section from the main menu.

Ranks: At present the list of ranks only contains Army abbreviations for ranks from Private to Brigadier. If you try to enter a rank not contained in the ranks database the entry will be rejected so you should edit this database first and add any ranks you are likely to encounter during data entry. This rule has been set to prevent any mistakes or unauthorized ranks being entered and protect data integrity.

Sub Units: The Sub units pop-up database contains only sample data initially and should be edited and/or added to, to ensure data accuracy during initial and subsequent data entry. Any sub unit not contained in the database will cause the new member record to be rejected.

Corps: The Corps pop-up database only contains a sample list of authorized Army Corps abbreviations and descriptions. You should enter any corps you are likely to encounter in your unit to the list prior to entering new member records. You are allowed to enter a corps to a member record that doesn't exist in the pop-up database but are warned "No match found for entry" and allowed the option to permit it. If it is likely the particular corps will be used often you should add it to the corps database.

ECN : (Employment Category Number) The ECN pop-up database only contains a sample list of authorized Army ECN's and descriptions. You should enter any ECN you are likely to encounter in your unit to the list, prior to entering new member records. You will be allowed to enter an ECN to a member record that doesn't exist in the pop-up database but you will be warned that there is "No match found for entry" and given the option to permit it. If it is likely the particular corps will be used often you should add it to the corps database.

1.8 Acknowledgment:

Special thanks to the guys at the 16 AD Regiment R.A.P, Sgt Andy Saville, Cpl Dyer and Cpl Crettenden who put the pressure on me by showing a keen interest in having a program which can not only make their job easier but increase productivity in the Regiment.

This would without a doubt be the most demanding application I've done in the last 8 years and even if nothing more comes of it I still have the satisfaction of seeing it work for 16 AD Regiment and reducing the amount of manual paperwork that the guys in the RAP have to do to prepare the unit .