All ICommander Application Systems are accessed via the ICommander Menu System.
The Menu System starts up whenever a user logs onto ICommander. Unless you have
setup user-specific or alternative system-selection menus, the first screen seen
after a successful logon is the System Selection Menu.
If a user is restricted to one system for one company, this screen will be bypassed and the user will go directly to the menus of the system for which he or she is authorized.
The System Selection Menu lists all ICommander Application Systems available to general users. The System to use is selected by entering the Menu Choice Number next to it (or by using arrow keys to get to it or by clicking the choice with the mouse). If the user is authorized to access more than one Company in ICommander, there will be a prompt indicating that entry of 99 as the Menu Number will prompt for the Company-ID to be accessed. We purposely do NOT provide a lookup of Company-ID's to select from. This is for security purposes to avoid users attempting to identify and access any they are not authorized to access (not knowing what others are available avoids curiosity).
Once a System is selected, the Main Menu for that System will be displayed. The Main Menu generally starts with a Master Files Maintenance choice that will access the various Background Master Files for this System. In most cases there is not a need to go into Master Files Maintenance on a frequent basis.
If the System has what we call a Primary Master File(s) such as Vendors in A/P, Customers in A/R, and Employees in P/R, these will be listed next on the Main Menu. Following that will be the primary entry routines such as Voucher Entry in A/P, Sales & Cash Receipts in A/R, etc. The next few Main Menu choices will generally be to access current data (such as outstanding balances in A/R). Next will come routines done only at the end of a period and lastly, access to transaction history and purge and utility functions.
There are many shortcuts for navigating the ICommander Menus. These are all documented in the "*Secret Choices" and "*Secret Keys" options in the Help Topics Menu that is always available. Use the F1-Key for Help (prompted on the screen) or Click on Help on the ICommander Toolbar, or Enter 84 [the Secret Choice to go directly to the Help Topics Menu] to get to the Help Topics Menu. The first item will be "ICommander Standard Help Topics" and the first two choices on that Menu are the Secret Keys and Secret Choices. Selecting them will let you view the keys or choices on the screen and you will have an option to spool them for printing when you exit from viewing.
ICommander Standard Help Topics includes a number of other reference guides that you may want to review. A short but very useful one is "Vim Basics-Viewing Reports (PDF)". Viewing reports is via the vim editor. It is very simple to use but the guide clues you in to a few simple commands that relate to searching and quickly moving around in a report you are viewing.
You may want to do a Print Screen before exiting to remind you of the resources available here. You can use File > Print Screen from the Anziowin Toolbar or right click with your mouse and select Print Screen. You may also use the Print Screen button on your keyboard. Using the Print Screen button may directly print a text version of the screen. There is an option in the Anziowin configuration (under Edit > Advanced Options > Keys) to NOT have the Print Screen button print a text version. If you prefer a graphic screen print, it is useful to turn off the text version so you can avoid it when you plan to Paste the Print Screen into Wordpad or some other application.
Exiting out from here and from almost everywhere else is by pressing the F8-Key (aka the End-Key) or by clicking the End/Back button on the ICommander Toolbar. Years ago F8 was the last Function Key available so it was at the end and became and remains the End-Key.
Exiting back to the Menus for the System from which you accessed the Help Topics Menu is also by pressing the F8-Key. Once there you can either use the F1-Key for a Drop-Down Menu that will include the ICommander Print Utility or you can enter the 91 Secret Key to get there. Print the reports on the Secret Keys and Choices by accessing the Help and Utility Printouts and then select the ichelprn.nnn file and print it. It will be well worth your time to spend some time reviewing the shortcuts documented in these printouts.
At one time the ICommander Menu System served only as your route to access the ICommander programs. It continues to provide that function but now includes an extensive number of other functions that are noted below with many discussed in more detail under other topics.
Help Topics Menu
The Help Topics Menu that we accessed to learn about the Secret Choices and Secret Keys is a complete menu system of its own. When ICommander is initially installed, the ICommander Standard Help Topics is the only Menu Choice there. On the Help Topics Menu at ICommander Corporation we have 18 different choices on the main menu for it.We use it for easy access to many accounting and tax references in PDF form; for ICommander File Manager choices that include todo lists for each staff member, the ICommander Support Center (where we track all contact with customers), shared links to websites, and many other resources; we have a News and Events menu choice where new software features and other developments are published; we also have a "What's Happening" menu choice for shared staff communications; there are also menu choices to access ICommander troubleshooting and implementation guidance.
The Help Topics Menu can be a complete information management center for ICommander users. Many of the same resources included on it may be simultaneously made available on your Intranet for staff members who do not use ICommander or do not have access to it. You may also setup separate Help Systems to which you limit access when you want to use the powerful ICommander Menus to organize and access restricted information.
General Utilities Menu
All users have access to the ICommander General Utilities Menu by entering menu choice 90 at any Menu (and via F1-Key or Help Button and selecting from the Drop-Down list of options). The General Utilities Main Menu has 12 items on it and range from accessing Archived Reports to Transferring Files. A number of the options here will be used routinely and others are available for problem resolution, monitoring system resources, changing ICommander user configuration options, and using ICommander File Manager to explore various directories.
Management Utilities Menu
ICommander System Control includes specifying which users may access this Menu (by using Secret Choice 98). This Menu includes choices that enable watching or controlling other terminals, investigating ICOBOL and ICommander status, and rebuilding data files, if they have been corrupted.
Hidden System Selection Menus
The initial System Selection Menu is the normal route for accessing the ICommander Application Systems. There may actually be up to five levels of the System Selection Menus. The additional levels are considered "hidden" menus which you make available to all or selected users via ICommander System Control. We normally setup most users to be able to access the first hidden menu and include six useful options on it. This includes maintaining the Report Archiving Control, Maintaining Help System Menus, managing Shortcuts, Printing ICommander Manuals and Other Documentation, and accessing Saved Free-Form Data Extraction Parameters.These functions are actually part of ICommander System Control. However, it is important to limit which users may access ICommander System Control as it is used for controlling users and security settings as well as configuration of ICommander itself. The Hidden System Selection Menu (accessed by holding the Shift Key down when you press the F8-Key at the Main System Selection Menu) enables making various ICommander System Control options available to general users without giving them access to it directly.
ICommander Programs May ONLY be Executed via the ICommander Menu System
This is an important security matter. Otherwise, any user with access to your Server could locate the program files and, if they were able to determine the command line settings to execute a program using the ICOBOL Runtime System, could bypass all the security you put in place via ICommander System Control.
All ICommander programs check to make sure they have been executed by the
ICommander Menu System. If not, the program will immediately abort.