To access the General Tab:
From the Master Menu, select the Vehicle rentals option and Company required.
The VEHICLE RENTALS Menu is displayed.
Select System maintenance option.
The System Maintenance menu is displayed.
Select the System parameters option.
The System Parameters form is displayed.
The General Tab is the default tab upon entry of this option
The System parameters (General Tab) form is displayed when the System parameters option is selected from the System Maintenance menu.
The following fields are contained within this form.
Availability general:
Half-days in shared memory tableThe number of half days to be displayed in the reservation form. This setting is important. Rental companies may initially decide to set this number to a high value; however, it should be stressed that the larger the value, the more system resources and memory are allocated to maintaining the table.
This value controls the width of the display on the Reservations form. If 250 is used as a setting then the system is able to hold bookings for vehicles going forward for 125 days, (remember it is displaying half days). A figure of about 730 holds a year, but it requires nearly three times the memory in order to store it, together with three times the required system resources.
The setting of the following field which controls the depth of the table has an equally dramatic effect whenever it is highered. Do not amend the value without advice from a consultant and remember that the booking summary must be rebuilt if it is changed. Whenever it is used, all users of the Vehicle Rentals system should log out of the system and then log in again to benefit from the changes made.
Tip: Default value is typically 60 - 180 depending on number of groups).
Groups in shared memory table: Half days held in the table described above, control the number of columns maintained for the Reservations form. Whereas this value controls the number of rows which can be maintained i.e. the vehicle groups.
Do not amend the value without advice from a consultant and remember that the booking summary must be rebuilt if it is changed. Whenever it is used, all users of the Vehicle Rentals system should log out of the system and then log in again to benefit from the changes made.
Tip: Default value is typically 12.
Morning start time: Used in the availability form as to when the morning session starts with regard to rental hire calculations. If a vehicle is returned after this time then it is unavailable for the morning session.
Tip: Default value is typically 8.00.
Afternoon start time: Used in the availability form as to when the afternoon session starts in regard to rental hire calculations. If a vehicle is returned after this time then it is unavailable for the afternoon session.
Tip: Default value is typically 13.00.
Availability alarm period: Time the system enables to elapse before the Reservations form is updated with the latest bookings made on other forms which are logged into the Vehicle Rentals module. The time should be entered in seconds. The lower th value in this field the more accurate the Reservations form will be; however, lower values also create a drain on the system resources.
Tip: Default value is typically 120.
Display availability values: If cleared then the quantity of available vehicles is not displayed in the cells of the reservation grid. This speeds up the form response.
Tip: Default value is a tick.
Availability summary form:
Display extra column: A checkbox which, if selected, displays an extra Code column within the Allocation summary form. The new column displays either a Transaction Log code or Agreement Status code dependent upon what tariffs are input into the two fields below; this function enables greater definition, if required, of the status of workshop bookings.
Transaction Codes: Extra Code column above displays transaction log codes for any tariff codes entered within this field (enter consecutively without commas) for example, entering a Daily Long Term tariff in this field means that any agreements with a Daily tariff have the associated transaction log code (held against the Tariff type) displayed in the extra Code column above.
Agreement Status Codes: Extra Code column above displays Agreement status codes for any tariff codes entered within this field (enter consecutively without commas) for example, entering a Maintenance tariff in this field means that any agreements with a maintenance tariff have the status of the agreement displayed in the extra Code column above.
Availability colors:
The cells within the Reservations form are displayed in user-defined colours. The
button search facility is available to enable editing of possible colour choices.
Tip: Default values are J E O C M.
General hour/day settings:
Overlap hours: Time allowed by the system for the late return of a hire vehicle without the penalty of a late charge being applied.
Used to determine if the system should automatically charge hours or not. If this figure is not zero then the system could charge this number of hours before charging a whole day. For example, if set to 1.0 then a rental agreement due to return at 8.00am but actually returned at 8.30am is charged at 1 hour not one day; however, a rental agreement due to return at 8.00am but actually returned at 9.01 is charged at 1 day. This can obviously only be used if there is a price for hours in the Prices Tab of the agreement.
Tip: Default value is a 0.
Leave whole weeks as days: Used when the system calculates the value of the hire. If a booking is created for 9 days then (based on a 7 day working week) the system can either represent that as one week and two days, or nine days. There are obvious savings to the customer if the weekly tariff rate is set-up at a lower rate than the daily rate.
Tip: Default value is a Cleared.
Convert days to weekends: In the same way as the previous field, this flag setting enables the system to calculate the most economic rate as a default when the agreement is created. There may be an instance, provided the flags are set correctly (and based on a 7 day working week), where a twelve-day hire could be seen as 1 week, one weekend and three days. In this scenario, if the checkbox is selected the system changes the daily Saturday and Sunday tariff to a weekend tariff (which once again may be cheaper for the customer if the weekend rate is set-up at a lower rate than the daily rate.
Tip: Default value is a Cleared.
Chargeable days: This is the typical standard week charged. If seven days are charged for a one week hire it should be ensured that there is an asterisk for each of the days. If, on the other hand, weekend hire is rarely charged then only five asterisks are required (i.e. Saturday and Sunday are removed). Beware, if a booking is created which starts on a Tuesday and ends the following Monday and the weekend asterisks have been removed; in this case, it is necessary to access the prices page and add the two days hire in order to charge for the weekend. If in any doubt at all ensure there are seven asterisks showing; in this way if an error is made it is in the rental company's favour.
The system parameter works at a global level. There is an override at Customer level. This is the Working Days field in the General Tab of the Marketing Company Record in the Rental Details form (drcom record). If the field is left blank at a company level then this ensures that the system uses the globally defined parameter for this company
Tip: Default value is a *******.
Print formats:
Agreement format: This is the three-character format identifier for the default agreement print layout.
Invoice format: This is the three-character format identifier for the default invoice print layout. This format is used when the invoice is printed from within the agreement itself (typically, when an agreement is Returned).
Credit note format: This is the three-character format identifier for the default credit note print layout.
Long term invoice format: This is the three-character format identifier for the default long term invoice print layout. This format is used when the invoice is printed from within the Long Term Invoicing process.
Consolidated invoice format: This is the three-character format identifier for the default long term consolidated invoice print layout. If the Produce Summary Invoice flag is selected in the General Tab of the Marketing Company Record in the Rental Details form (drcom record) then all agreements for that company are consolidated on to one invoice; in this case, a different format is required from the standard long term format. This format is used when the invoice is printed from within the Long Term Invoicing process.
Quotation format: This is the three-character format identifier for the default quotation print layout.
Order format: This is the three-character format identifier for the default order print layout. Not used.
Movement format: This is the three-character format identifier for the default Movement print layout.
Receipt format: This is the three-character format identifier for the default receipt print layout which is produced when a receipt is required for payments taken. This is only used if the Print Payment Receipts field is selected within the General 3 Tab in System Parameters.
Misc Invoice format: This is the three-character format identifier for the default Miscellaneous Invoice print layout.
Misc Credit format: This is the three-character format identifier for the default Miscellaneous Credit print layout.
Purchasing format: This is the three-character format identifier for the default Purchase Order print layout.