<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:x="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:excel" xmlns:p="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:powerpoint" xmlns:a="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:access" xmlns:dt="uuid:C2F41010-65B3-11d1-A29F-00AA00C14882" xmlns:s="uuid:BDC6E3F0-6DA3-11d1-A2A3-00AA00C14882" xmlns:rs="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:rowset" xmlns:z="#RowsetSchema" xmlns:b="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:publisher" xmlns:ss="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:spreadsheet" xmlns:c="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:component:spreadsheet" xmlns:odc="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:odc" xmlns:oa="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:activation" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" xmlns:q="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:rtc="http://microsoft.com/officenet/conferencing" xmlns:D="DAV:" xmlns:Repl="http://schemas.microsoft.com/repl/" xmlns:mt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/meetings/" xmlns:x2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2003/xml" xmlns:ppda="http://www.passport.com/NameSpace.xsd" xmlns:ois="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/ois/" xmlns:dir="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/directory/" xmlns:ds="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#" xmlns:dsp="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/dsp" xmlns:udc="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:sub="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/2002/1/alerts/" xmlns:ec="http://www.w3.org/2001/04/xmlenc#" xmlns:sp="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/" xmlns:sps="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:udcs="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc/soap" xmlns:udcxf="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc/xmlfile" xmlns:udcp2p="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc/parttopart" xmlns:wf="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/workflow/" xmlns:dsss="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/digsig-setup" xmlns:dssi="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/digsig" xmlns:mdssi="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/digital-signature" xmlns:mver="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns:mrels="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/relationships" xmlns:spwp="http://microsoft.com/sharepoint/webpartpages" xmlns:ex12t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types" xmlns:ex12m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages" xmlns:pptsl="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/SlideLibrary/" xmlns:spsl="http://microsoft.com/webservices/SharePointPortalServer/PublishedLinksService" xmlns:Z="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:" xmlns:st="" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)"><style></style></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1>Ger,<o:p></o:p>            First and foremost, kudos to you for being willing to share, free of charge, something that you have paid hard earned dollars to purchase. That is a very generous thing for you to do. We will agree that your programmer’s or builder’s efforts are not right for me. At least that is the way I feel about it now. There is still double entry with your system, which I can and do have to do now with Quickbooks and Outlook or a paper calendar. You and I work differently in that I have my office with me during the day. You go home to someone having had taken care of your office during the day. That seems a rather large distinction. Not only are there the issues that I have with scheduling or calendars with your program I also have to do payroll. If Quickbooks were better searchable as your is and had a calendar interface we would not be having this discussion as I would have found my holy grail and all would be well in Greg Newell land. As it is I am still hoping to one day have something that puts it all together for me. Your’s, as it is now. Isn’t it. It is, however, very nice, as I’ve said in the past and still do.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>All the best,<o:p></o:p>Greg Newell <o:p></o:p><a name="_MailEndCompose"><o:p> </o:p></a><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'>From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Gerald Groot Sent: Sunday, September 25, 2011 11:21 AM To: pianotech@ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Computer Software<o:p></o:p></div></div><o:p> </o:p>Hi Greg, <o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>Maybe FM isn’t the program for you, I don’t know…  It’s up to you if it is the program for you or not.  If it isn’t that’s fine.  J  Your original, main concern below, seemed to be (and still is) worrying about a program that might not be updated years down the road or no longer made like PTBiz.  That’s why I said, we can encounter that problem with any program and also said that FileMaker has been around since 1990 or so.  <o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>I really don’t know as if there is a program that “does it all.”  Probably not.  We all know that one particular program or, one particular piano for that matters, may  not fit the next persons needs.  Most programs that I use means, switching screens from one program to another even within itself, including emailing.    <o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>Yes, FM was created for me.  I paid for it all including purchasing FM.  But, the main issue here, is that it has already been created.  It already works.  It does not have to be created from scratch by anyone else.  Perhaps the most important thing of all?  It has not given me any problems at all since he made it for me in 2004.  No crashes.  No freezing up.  No lost information.  No missing information.  Nothing.  Of course, if something were required then, yes, I will hire someone to fix it for me, just as many of us hire someone to set up a website for us, to maintain that or to repair our computers when they break down.  That is my choice because I do not wish to take the time to learn how to do it myself.  But, so far with FileMaker, it needs no maintaining whatsoever.  All it needs from us, is our time to input clients into “it.”  I do this daily.  Or, I update the clients information that is already in there after each visit.  I enter today’s tuning, today’s date, what I did to the piano today, any estimates I may have given.  There is even a separate field in there for the amount of the estimate that I left.  Usually, in that field, I write the date which can be inserted by holding down control and typing the dash button (–), it will show up as 9/25/2011, which it auto enters as such.  It will enter the date using that short cut, anywhere into FM that you may want it to be.  Then, next to the date, I write in the amount of the estimate given on that date.  <o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>No, it will not take countless hours and it will not be a full time job to learn the program.  I haven’t learned the program.  I don’t need too.  I most certainly don’t want too either.  I have learned however, how to input information into the program which is just about as simple as typing a letter, hitting the enter button, tab button etc.  <o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>My advice to you and to anyone that I’ve sent it to, would be to immediately learn some of the short cuts.  Do that by going into the “help menu” and type in “shortcuts.”  A list of them will be brought up.  Read it.  Try some and watch what it can do for you.  It is very time saving to use the short cuts.  Just as typing in control P right now, will bring up the printer menu, to print this page, that short cut is a lot faster than moving the mouse up to find the print button somewhere else.  J  <o:p></o:p>To reiterate a bit, everything in my program is set up and ready to go and was made and sent to you and others for free.  J  I paid for everything myself and am willing to share that with anyone that can use it for free.  J  I have not had to modify anything whatsoever since the completed was set up in 2004.  Oh, I take that back, I wanted something to pop up sooner so, I had him change that for me which he did via email.  It was NOT a problem.  It was just something that I wanted changed..  That took us maybe 10 minutes tops.  Otherwise, there is no need for me to change anything else.  It is a strong, powerful, easy to use program, (once we use it for a while and get to know it a bit) mostly because all that is left to do, is to enter information in it.  Entering information into a program, is what is time consuming with any program. I do not use most of the programs that are in FM.  I use mainly the data base itself along with the billing program, the letter writing program that is in the billing program and the envelope printing button feature that is also in the billing program.  J  <o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>The main thing that many of you might have to do, is to change my name, address etc., to your name address etc.  That is fairly easy to do.  BUT, that will only have to be done in the Billing program.  This is how to do it.  Beware that whatever you change, it will ask you if you wish to save it.  If it is not lined up and you hit save, it is a permanent change but, you can go back into it again, and redo it as many times as you wish….  <o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>OK…  Open up the Billing Program.  On the FAR LEFT of the screen, directly under BROWSE there are 4 buttons.  The 3rd one is an arrow pointing upward.  Clicking on that will open up the Define menu which means, now you can enter your own information in there.  Double click on MY NAME for starters.  Enter in YOUR NAME instead and then see if it is centered or not.  Do the same with other fields such as your email, address, phone numbers etc.  Those are the only fields you will need to change other than if you are not an RPT, that will have to be deleted along with the logo that I had placed in there for me.  <o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>To get started in the main database or with the Billing program to make a new bill, because you have been given a empty data base by me that needs clients entered, simply hold down the control button and type the letter n.  This means new.  Now, click in a field that you want to type in and start entering the information you want for a new client.  Hit the tab button to move to the next field or, to skip a bunch of fields, click in another field using your mouse.  In one of the fields, hold down the Control dash button (–).  This will enter the complete date of 9/25/2011.  J<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>Microsoft Outlook (MO) is a good program for scheduling.  I use it.  I’m in the program anyway doing emailing.  There could be a way to incorporate MO into FM but, I don’t know how and for me, it isn’t that important.  I schedule with it, which is what that particular program was designed to do besides emailing which is the next important thing that I do with MO.  I copy and paste information that I have entered into MO into FM after the end of each day.  Name, address, phone number.  Any other information like piano make because I don’t know that many times until after I’ve tuned it what it is, the serial number, what I did to it that day, what is needed on the piano etc., I have written down on a piece of paper that I take with me.  I enter that info into FM at the end of each day.  It takes me less than 5 minutes to do this when I’m in my office.  <o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>Try it…  See if you like it…  J  You’ve already had it for quite some time now, have you even played with it at all yet? <o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>Hope this helps…<o:p></o:p> Jer<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'>From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Greg Newell Sent: Sunday, September 25, 2011 1:27 AM To: pianotech@ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Computer Software<o:p></o:p></div></div><o:p> </o:p>Jer,<o:p></o:p>            We talked about this before but FileMaker is a program that gives you everything necessary to create all that you have shown me and the list. It is very robust in what it can do. I agree that it is an excellent product that can be used to create a great many things. I’ve no doubt it will do all that I want it to do and more if I were only willing to drop everything else that I am responsible for and devote countless hours in order to figure it all out. Therein lies the issue. I don’t have either the time, or the desire to take on what would amount to at least another full time job. Whomever you used created all of that for you did a great job. What happens when he goes away or is too busy to fix or modify things for you? Will you be able or willing to do it for yourself? Will you pay someone else programming fees to configure it the way you want? This is exactly the problem I had with PTBiz which was, I believe, built from Excel or some other Microsoft product. So you see, I view this as another of the same issue I had before. If I knew how to do it all myself it would be a no brainer and I would adopt FileMaker in a heartbeat. Thoughts?<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>Greg<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'>From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Gerald Groot Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2011 7:48 PM To: pianotech@ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Computer Software<o:p></o:p></div></div><o:p> </o:p>I understand your frustration Greg.  We could have that with any company though.  From my understanding, FileMakerPro has been in business since around 1990 or so.  That’s 21 years +.  My current version is 7.0.  The most recent version is 11.0, I think.  Mine has never crashed, never given me even one problem whatsoever and at this point, I really see no reason to pay $300 or more to update unless someone out there wants to gift me with it…  J  I’ve had mine since 2004 with not even one teeny problem.  J<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>In case you’re interested, here’s something I happened across just now. <a href="http://www.filemaker.com/fba/devcon-awards-2011.html">http://www.filemaker.com/fba/devcon-awards-2011.html</a>  <o:p></o:p>Jer<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'>From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Greg Newell Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2011 7:31 PM To: pianotech@ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Computer Software<o:p></o:p></div></div><o:p> </o:p>FWIW, Jer, I really liked the database that you showed me in FileMakerPro but was faced with the same dilemma that I had with PTBiz some time back. All of the sudden the programmer decided that he wasn’t interested in supporting his own effort any longer. Before that he had specifically asked users for input on what we thought that the program should include and the reply I receive back from a laundry list of items it took some time to investigate was “what’s it worth to you?” Now I thought that he was looking to improve things with input not bucking for more dollars. He then added a dongle type thing which simply made the program a P.I.T.A. at which point I dropped it and moved to Quickbooks and a paper calendar. Bummer. Someday. Maybe. But it will have to be from a company that will be around for a while before I throw my hat in again.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>Greg<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'>From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Gerald Groot Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2011 7:14 PM To: pianotech@ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Computer Software<o:p></o:p></div></div><o:p> </o:p>I like Filemaker Pro.  Use it for both my main customer data base, as a billing program and for letter writing.  But, I use MS Outlook for scheduling.   <o:p></o:p>Jer<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'>From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Greg Newell Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2011 7:04 PM To: 'Matthew Todd'; pianotech@ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Computer Software<o:p></o:p></div></div><o:p> </o:p>Todd,<o:p></o:p>            You are not alone!!!! I’ve been searching for this for decades. I have a guy working on it right now. He is interested in feedback from people who want what I do. <o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>Greg Newell<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'>From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Matthew Todd Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2011 9:28 AM To: pianotech@ptg.org Subject: [pianotech] Computer Software<o:p></o:p></div></div><o:p> </o:p><div><div>I currently use Time & Chaos for my clientele database/calendar, and sort of use Quickbooks for my financials.  Do you guys know of/use a software that has the best of both.  I hate switching back and forth between two programs.  I would rather find something that can do both.<o:p></o:p></div><div> <o:p></o:p></div><div> <o:p></o:p></div><div>TODD PIANO WORKS Matthew Todd, Piano Technician (979) 248-9578<o:p></o:p></div><div><a href="http://www.toddpianoworks.com/" target="_blank">http://www.toddpianoworks.com</a><o:p></o:p></div></div></div></body></html>