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Top Windows FAQs |
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Q. Why do some reports have solid blacks bars, especially where sub-totals or headings should be? Many Clients & Profits reports are now designed with color to be very readable. Some reports are formatted to mimic old green-bar computer paper, which makes them easier to analyze. These reports require a printer that can print in color, or at least in shades of gray. Some laser printers (especially ones that don't contain Postscript) can't print the colors sent to it from Clients & Profits, displaying solid black instead of green or gray. Depending on your printer, there needs to be a user-defined option to print gray-scale -- which should be enabled. It's caused by some incompatibility between the printer driver, Windows, and the printer itself. (It's only a problem on Windows, because the shades of grey print fine for Mac users.) There isn't a single cause of the problem, so there's not a single solution, either. In general, newer printers are more compatible with grey-scale printing than older ones (i.e., anything made before 1995). Also, Postscript-based laser printers are better with C&P than non-Postscript printers (that's because the reports in C&P are Postscript-based, but are interpreted down for non-PS printers). Several C&P users with Hewlett Packard printers have printed reports correctly by using the Color LaserJet (5M) driver. Some of the newer HP printers work well with the HP 6P enhanced driver. Drivers are available from the HP web site. You may need to try printing to two or more different printers to find one that works. In any case, it's a matter of trial-and-error until you find the right printer/driver/system software combination that works. If you're using a non-HP printer, check the manufacturer's web site for updated Windows printer drivers. Why can't the colors just be removed from the reports? Reports use these colors and shades to make the information more presentable, for both the agency staff and clients. Most people think the reports look a lot better than they used to because of the green (or grey) bars, so it's worth trying several drivers to make it work. NOTE: As a last resort, color graphics on reports can be removed from Clients & Profits with the special "BlackWhiteReports" patch. The patch, which takes several minutes to run, should be installed only on the PCs that can't print reports with color. This patch needs to be re-run each time a new Clients & Profits update is installed.  Q. Why does the
mouse pointer sometimes become a padlock? The padlock cursor means two things: (1) the
record you're trying to update is already being edited by
another user, so the record is locked, or (2) the server
and/or network is so busy that communication has been
delayed. The padlock cursor looks like this:  Whenever a record (such as a job, an invoice, a PO, etc.) is being added, edited, or saved the “pointer” (i.e. cursor) will become a padlock when the same record is used by some other user -- who started edited it before you. This is a natural, normal feature of multi-user databases to ensure that two people don’t update the same record at the same time. The padlock cursor disappears automatically as soon as the person who’s editing the record saves their changes, usually within seconds. But there’s no way to know how long the user will keep it locked while making their changes -- and there's no way to know who's editing the record you want. You can cancel the padlock by pressing command-break (on a PC) or command-period (on a Mac), then canceling whatever you were editing. After a minute, try editing the record again; if the record isn't locked, you'll be able to save your changes without getting locked out. If you get a padlock cursor and don't want to wait DO NOT TURN OFF OR RESTART YOUR COMPUTER -- this can damage the database. Q. Why do I sometimes get an "insufficient memory" error message when printing reports? If you're using Windows 95 or Windows 98,
the system can't handle reports that select a large number of records.
The volume of data is so large that Windows 95/98 runs out of memory
and the report can't be printed. This problem is most common at year-end,
when time, cost, and G/L reports are printed for the entire year's
work. For technical reasons, just adding more memory usually doesn't
help. The solution is to print the reports from a PC running Windows
XP/2000/NT, which is a faster and more powerful operating system.
Q. In the Checkbook window, the check number and word "Check" appear as gibberish. Why? If you have this problem, the
top of the Checkbook window will look like this: 
Q. Why can't I enter my initials in the Introduce Yourself window? The initials field is too small. Make sure the special
cross-platform Clients & Profits fonts are installed.
These fonts are designed especially for compatibility
between Macintosh and Windows users (they are equivalent
of the standard Mac fonts Geneva, Monaco,
and Chicago). These fonts are smaller than regular
Windows screen fonts, so they allow windows in Clients
& Profits to show more detail. If these fonts weren't
installed with the C&P Player, they can be found in
the C&P directory in a folder called FONTS. Use the
Fonts control panel (choose Start > Settings >
Control Panels > Fonts) to copy them into your Windows
system directory. If these fonts aren't installed, your
Clients & Profits windows won't have lines under
fields and some fields will be too short for data entry. Check to see if your Windows
system is set to display "small fonts." Since the
cross-platform fonts in Clients & Profits are smaller
than the typical Windows font, the C&P windows won't
work correctly without choosing the "small fonts"
setting. If set to "large fonts," some field labels are
truncated (but it's only a cosmetic problem). To check
this setting, choose Start > Settings > Control
Panels then open the Display control panel. Click on the
Settings tab then choose "Small Fonts" from the Font Size
drop-down menu. Q. When I print a wide report, like the Client Invoice Aging, to the printer it's actually printing vertically on the paper -- why? Clients & Profits always
prompts you to choose the report's page orientation
(landscape or portrait) before it is printed. A message
will appear at the bottom of the screen indicating the
report's orientation, which you need to select in the
report's Page Setup dialog box. If the wrong orientation
is chosen, the edge of the report may be cut off. Q. When I print a report to the screen for a preview, then print it to the printer, the bottom of the report is being cut off -- why? When a report is printed to the
screen first, be sure to select the correct page
orientation -- portrait (i.e., vertical) or landscape
(i.e., horizontal) -- when Clients & Profits prompts
for it. If not, the edge of the report may be lost if the
screen report is sent to the printer. Q. When I click on a line item in any window it disappears -- why? This is a function of how your
PC's colors are set up, which is customizable in Windows.
(In fact, different PCs might have different settings, so
some will have this problem while others won't.) The
solution to the disappearing line item is to pick a
different color in Windows' display properties: (1)
choose Start > Settings > Control Panels >
Display > Appearance; (2) click on the Item field,
choose Selected Items from the pop-up menu; (3) in the
Font field, choose a different color than white; (4) then
click Apply then OK. Q. Does Clients & Profits work differently on Windows 98 vs. Windows 95? No. The installation,
functionality, and system requirements are identical. The
same C&P Player, Clients & Profits application,
and database run the same on both versions of Windows.
Q. Is it better to run Clients & Profits on Windows 2000/NT? Yes. Clients & Profits runs about 20%
faster on Windows 2000/NT when compared to other versions of Windows.
The faster performance is especially noticeable when printing, saving,
and exporting/importing data. Q. How much RAM does Clients & Profits need on a Windows-based PC? A typical Windows 95/98-based PC needs at
least 32mb of RAM. A Windows 2000/NT workstation should have a minimum
of 64mb of RAM to run Clients & Profits, the operating system,
and some other application comfortably. In all cases, adding additional
RAM improves the speed of a PC because less "virtual memory" is used.
Also, additional RAM lets more programs run simultaneously, which
saves time opening and closing applications. The actual RAM you need
is based on how many programs you use at the same time and their own
memory requirements. If you find your system running suddenly slower,
adding more RAM (especially since its cheap these days) might be the
answer. Q. What's the best way to start Clients & Profits? Can I make a shortcut to it? The first time you use Clients
& Profits, launch the C&P Player first (it's
named something like CPLAYER.EXE depending on which
version of Windows you're using), choose File > Open
Application then select and open the Clients &
Profits application (e.g., CPAM310.LBR). This registers
the application and the C&P Player inside Windows. To
save time later, make a shortcut of the Clients &
Profits application (not the C&P Player) then
double-click on the shortcut to launch the program. Your
database should open automatically in both cases.
Q. Why can't I see tool bar icons in my Clients & Profits windows. Make sure the CPPICS.DF1 file,
which contains the icons for the tool bar buttons, is in
the same directory as CPLAYER.EXE. If you move the
Clients & Profits Player to a different directory, it
loses its path back to the Pics file, as well as the
other extensions and DLLs that are needed. (If you need
to move the Clients & Profits Player, then make a
shortcut of the executable file instead. The shortcut can
be moved anywhere.) Q. Why do some reports show a long line of zeros? This is unique to the Windows
version of Clients & Profits. The problem occurs on a
report when an empty field is divided by zero - for
example, on a Job Summary where a job has no costs but
has billings. The report calculates the gross margin
percentage, which is invalid because the job has no
costs. Dividing billings into no costs causes an
overflow, which appears on the printed report as a line
of zeros. There is no work around, except printing the
report on a Macintosh. The problem doesn't happen if all
fields have some kind of value other than zero.
It means that too many other people are currently using C&P, and there's no more room for you in the database. Clients & Profits is licensed for certain number of concurrent (i.e., simultaneous) users. For example, a 10-user version would let any ten people open the C&P database anywhere in the shop. Once the 11th user tries to start Clients & Profits, they'll get the "too many workstations in use" error message. When a user quits C&P a new user can take their place, up to the number of users licensed to use it. In this case, more licenses might be needed. This error could also be caused by using different C&P serial numbers. Make sure all C&P for Windows users use the same serial number on their C&P Players. This error could also mean you're using Windows' built-in file sharing (i.e., peer-to-peer networking) with Clients & Profits, which has a 10-user limit. Because of the performance limitations of peer-to-peer networking in Windows 95/98, it is not recommended for Clients & Profits sites with more than 5 simultaneous users. Q. Why do the fonts look awful on some reports, such as the Weekly Traffic report and the Detailed Job Summary? Some reports use a compressed, or narrow, font A narrow font lets more information appear on the printed page, saving paper and making the report more readable. The Macintosh versions of Clients & Profits use N Helvetica Narrow, which is the equivalent of Arial Narrow in Windows. If your PC doesn't have Arial Narrow installed in the font's folder, then reports print in the standard printer font -- and the fields overlap on reports. If you have changed the original fonts that work with Clients & Profits, problems occur on the detail (viewing or entering of characters) of different reports. You can fix this by installing the Arial Narrow font. If it isn't already in your fonts folder, you'll need to copy it from a PC that has it. Your fonts folder is located in the Control Panels folder. Or, you can choose any compressed font available in your PC font folder. To change Clients & Profits' settings to recognize this font on your reports, choose Setup > Utilities > Report Fonts. Select the Report Font Table. On line 6, replace Arial Narrow with the name of the compressed font, then click OK. If you choose a font other than Arial Narrow, be sure to test, print several copies of the affected reports (such as the Detailed Job Summary) to make sure the font fits the text. If you don't have any narrow
fonts at all (which would be unlikely, especially with
newer PC's), then you'll need to buy some kind of narrow
font to make the reports print properly. Changing the
report font table affects only the computer on which you
made the changes. You will need to perform the same steps
on any other computer you wish to use this font when
printing these reports. Q. Can I use an ink-jet printer, like the H-P DeskJet, with Clients & Profits? Yes. This error is caused by an
incompatibility with an older version of the Clients
& Profits Player for Windows 95, version 3.5. It is
fixed with the Clients & Profits Player included on
the C&P Classic 3.0, 4.0, C&P Pro/ 3.0, or Job
Tracker 3.0 or later CD. Q. Does Clients & Profits support long file names for the database? Yes, as long as it ends with
the .DF1 suffix. The database must end in .DF1 in order
to be seen and opened by the different versions of
Clients & Profits (i.e., Macintosh, Power Mac,
Windows 3.1, Windows 95/98, Windows NT). A name like
AGENCY97.DF1 is recommended; each year you should rename
next year's copy of the database, indicating the
database's fiscal year (e.g., AGENCY98.DF1). Omnis 7 is the relational database
program in which Clients & Profits was developed. It is the engine
that runs Clients & Profits, much like Excel is the engine that
runs your spreadsheets. Most of the references to Omnis have been
changed to Clients & Profits, but you'll still see the word "Omnis"
pop-up from time to time. So whenever you see the word "Omnis" think
"Clients & Profits".
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