The committee would like to reduce their admin effort and ensure the long term viability of the Group by e-mailing the newsletters. In future meeting notes and news will be posted on the internet and sent by e-mail to financial members. This issue (Nr.138) will be the last hardcopy issue.

This should make it easier for members to locate information by topic - members can copy to a file and use indexing to search for what they need.

If, however, you are unable to receive e-mail and cannot access the internet then please advise secretary Judy and something will be arranged for you.

These will still be bi-monthly but, as previously notified, not at the RSL but at Judy’s place:

We invite any member to e-mail any questions for discussion at a meeting to:

aoaug@tpgi.com.au

1. <Alt F1> to bring up the help manual returns the message "you have performed an illegal operation". (I tried this on my machine and got the message "OA-III.EXE not found". This may mean you need to load this application first. Lindy M.)

 

1. Can you make a field change colour in a screen mask under certain conditions, like when a debtor has an overdue account? NO, but you could add an extra field which highlights this under certain conditions or is null otherwise.
   
1. Text fields in a database. Set the precision to zero if you wish to enter numeric data into the field without decimal places.
   
1. A user had a screen mask with 4 date fields and wanted the 5th field to show the latest date. Use a nested conditional statement to do this.

1. Alt &Tab Keys pressed together enables you to toggle between windows.
   
1. Alt & Enter Keys pressed together brings up the Open Access screen quickly. Shrinking and restoring the window also does the same thing.
   
1. The elastic band at the top of the window when opening Open Access enables you to copy and paste data on the screen. This is particularly helpful when trying to move text on a screen mask. You can also copy information from a dependent evaluated field if you need to, although you can only copy what can be seen at any one time.
   
1. A removeable disk or second hard drive is handy for backing the system onto. Use a second window and <Ctrl-C> and <Ctrl-V> to copy & paste from one to the other.
   
1. Does anyone know how to return a window to a full screen which includes the toolbars at the top under Windows 98? Sometimes when the screen is restored, it only expands to about 2/3 the screen size. Stretching the screen does not seem to work. Altering the size using the font size does not fill the screen exactly. The æautoÆ size loses its original sizing.

This talk centred around whether a small business earning less than $50,000 per annum should apply for a GST number, and also for the GST. The result really depended on whether you could claim back in GST expenses the same or more than you would charge out.

I also mentioned the requirements for the Business Activity Statement. This includes GST income and expenses, wages tax if applicable and any provisional tax that is estimated to be paid.

Having discussed all this with my accountant, it appears that you pay up front the best fit of taxes and GST, and then get your accountant to ‘correct’ your figures at the end of the financial year for an adjustment later. This is similar to what we do now, in that you may get a tax refund or pay more at a later date. You do not have to be 100% accurate with the payments on the Activity Statement. The best thing is to be prepared, and keep your tax invoices.

Lindy Meyers.

Library sheet Nr-195. This is Michael’s report on this very useful software for handling hard disk backups.

A search feature has been added to the User Group Website. There are now dozens of pages, so it is best to try the search facility to narrow in on the pages that cover the topic of interest. If possible, please use this before contacting a User Group member for help.

• Michael Paine’s E-mail address:

mpaine@tpgi.com.au

Michael has agreed for the OAUG members to send their queries by e-mail to him at his E-mail address.

This address in the Netherlands is:

D I S P I

Vivaldistraat 18

5216 EL’s-Hertogenbosch

Netherlands

Free advice for one-off queries. Extended use of this facility may incur a request for payment.

Prog, App’s, Db.