Levinson Lyon
CharterHouse Software Corporation
2801 Townsgate Road, Suite 225
Westlake Village, CA 91361
(805) 494-5191     Fax (805) 494-8191
http://www.chsoft.com  support@chsoft.com

Throughout this document, we refer to "Lyon" because it is brief.  Everything here also applies to CharterHouse.

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE

The following are some commonly asked questions about the Accounts Payable module.

A Vendor whose ID is '$' is the "CASUAL VENDOR". See the manual, page 2 - 39. Several AP programs use this Vendor ID for internal purposes. There are two ways to make a partial payment. The first way makes the program do all the work. The second way, you have to do all the work.

1. The first step is to Select the voucher For Payment (F2 #3).

When you select it, fill in the Partial Payment field with the amount you want to pay. Then run the Pre-Check Selection Report (F2 #4). When you print checks (F2 #5), the program will change the original voucher amount to the amount of the partial payment and create a new voucher for the remaining amount. We recommend this option even if you normally enter hand written checks. Just print the checks on plain paper; the program won't know the difference.

2. The second alternative for making a partial payment requires you to reverse the original voucher. Do so by entering an "identical" voucher for the same Vendor, but with a negative amount. The original and the negative voucher need to have a dummy check number and a check date. Then enter a voucher for the amount you want to pay and another voucher for the remaining amount you owe. Select the "partial" voucher and pay it.

A zero-amount check is VOID and the program won't (deliberately) print a void check. It won't print a negative amount check, either. To clear these things, use file maintenance and apply a dummy check number and a (real, within the current period) check date to both the positive and its offsetting negative voucher. By taking the check number and check date out of the voucher, through Voucher Maintenance (F5 #1), that voucher will be open and ready for payment the next time you write checks. Then you'll want to account for the voided check on the Monthly Check Register. You can accomplish this by adding a Vendor called "VOIDED CHECK". Use "VOID" as the Vendor ID. Then enter a $0 voucher to the "VOID" vendor and use the check number and check date of the voided check. If the voucher is 'Undistributed', just delete it through Voucher Maintenance (F5 #1). However if the voucher has been 'Distributed', you need to enter a negative voucher to reverse the original. Then give both the original and negative vouchers a dummy check number and a (real) check date so they will purge when you close the month. A voucher becomes 'Distributed' when your accounting method is ACCRUAL and you've closed the month with a period-ending date later or equal to the INVOICE date of the voucher. After a voucher is distributed, it cannot be deleted and the voucher amount and distribution entries may not be changed. An 'Undistributed' voucher has not been closed on or is in a system using the CASH method. You can maintain or delete an 'Undistributed' voucher. "Distributed" means "posted to GL" (even if you elect not to interface AP into GL).

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

The following are some commonly asked questions about the Accounts Receivable module.

Yes, you can. After you've posted an invoice there may be times when you need to reprint the same invoice, but you don't want to post it again. All you need to do is go into Invoice Entry (F1 #1) from the AR menu, use the TAB key to clear the transaction ID and type in the invoice number you want. Go ahead and re-enter the information as it was originally. Print the invoice, then cancel before posting. No. AR is "date stupid", not "date sensitive". When you close the month in AR, the program closes on ALL activity regardless of dates. When you print an aging, Lyon asks if you want to print zero-balance customers. When you answer No, the program looks to see if the CREDIT IN USE field (see Customer Maintenance) is 0. If it is 0, the program assumes this customer has a zero balance and thus does not belong in the report. However, you can reconstruct the CREDIT IN USE field by running an aging and answering YES to Print Zero Balance Customers. You don't need to print this report, you can just display it. Then go back and run another aging, but answer NO to Print Zero Balance Customers and you should see all customers with a balance. Because of maintenance and other factors, the CREDIT IN USE field occasionally becomes out of synch with the detail transactions you see in the Customer Profile. It is not a bad idea to routinely (say, once a month) run an entire Aging Report with the "Print Zero Balance Customers" = Yes. Again, you need not PRINT the report. Displaying or printing to a file will accomplish the same goal of reconstructing the CREDIT IN USE field. HINT: if you print to a file and use NUL as the file name, the report will print to nowhere. Go to Post Payments (F1 #2), hit F1 past the deposit slip screen, enter your customer's ID or name. Leave the payment amount field blank. On the next screen, enter the invoice number of the bad debt in the DOCUMENT NUMBER field; in the ALLOWANCE field enter the amount you are writing off and use the GL account number you're plugging this amount to (usually your Bad Debt account). This will move the amount out of AR and into the GL account you used. Make sure that whatever GL account number you're using has already been added to Revenue Maintenance (F4 #5). You can, but it is NOT ADVISABLE. When you post activity in AR like invoices, payments or credit memos, almost all the AR data files are updated at one time. However, changes made through Invoice/Payment Detail File Maintenance affect only the TRX.AR file. Your aging and customer profile would appear correct, but the Revenue Distribution Report, Monthly Sales Journal, Customer, Inventory, Etc. would not reflect the changes you made. This could cause problems at month end. A good rule of thumb to go by is: anything posted in error in AR needs to be reversed and posted correctly. So, to reverse an invoice, post a credit memo. To reverse a payment, post a negative payment. To reverse a customer deposit, post a negative deposit. Every time a GL account number is used in AR, Lyon verifies that it is valid in Revenue File Maintenance (F4 #5). AR ignores the GL Chart of Accounts (except that interfacing AR to GL expects these accounts to be the same). If you don't have the number added to Revenue Maintenance, the program won't allow you to post to it.

G/L INTERFACE

The General Ledger module has an interface feature. It will take the data you've entered into the Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable and Payroll modules and make journal entries for you. It is important to understand what you have to do to create the interface files and how the process works. You can specify whether the entries contain detail or are summarized; check in FILE MAINTENANCE for SYSTEM CONTROL and select DETAIL or SUMMARY. In Payroll, the selection is in UPDATE GENERAL INFORMATION. We like to interface immediately after a subsidiary module is closed even if some other module(s) we're going to interface aren't ready yet, so we set the left side of the GL (F2 #2) Special Journal screen to 'Y' for only one module at a time. (The right side is ALWAYS 'No'.)

Each time you close a module (run the month-end), that process creates a new file for interfacing into the General Ledger. Any existing file is destroyed, so you can't keep or accumulate entries for interfacing. Further, many things cause the temporary files to be deleted, so once you begin the month-end process, don't stop until you finish. When it is finished, don't wait to interface it. If, during the process of performing the month-end menu items, you find that you need more entries or to change existing data, you must rerun certain reports. We'll tell you which reports later.

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

Close AR on the last day of each month, after daily processing is complete.

IMPORTANT: Nobody else can be in Lyon (any module) during the close.

Yes. Absolutely. Without a doubt! If a problem occurs during the process of closing, you will need to restore your pre-close backup. There are two reports in the AR module that create files for the General Ledger to interface; the Revenue Distribution Report and the Inventory Valuation Report. Both are found in the Monthly Processing Menu.

1. REVENUE DISTRIBUTION REPORT - Every time an invoice, credit memo or payment is posted, the program updates the Revenue Distribution (REVDIST.AR) file. This is the file that the report comes from. When the report is run, it creates a temporary file named GLREVDST.AR. During the month-end close of AR (F3 #12), GLREVDIST becomes part of INTRFACE.AR. At every month-end close, this file is written over (old file is destroyed) with a new INTRFACE.AR. Therefore it is important to interface this file into the General Ledger before closing the next month. One Special NOTE: the GLREVDST.AR file is immediately deleted from the system if a user chooses Invoice Entry, Post Payments Received or Invoice/Payment Detail File Maintenance. If you've already run the Distribution Report, then decide to post more transactions before you close, simply run the Distribution Report again before closing. This will recreate GLREVDST.AR.

2. INVENTORY VALUATION REPORT - When the Inventory Valuation Report is run from '---- to ++++' (all categories), it creates an interface file (GLIRPT7.AR) that will make inventory adjustments to the General Ledger. The program calculates how much your inventory is worth. For each item in the INVENTRY.AR file, the value of your inventory is computed by multiplying the On-Hand Quantity times the Cost. The sum of each of these extensions is accumulated; both by category and in total. The difference between the prior Beginning of Period Balance and the new balance just calculated is what gets posted to GL ("net change"). The Beginning of Period Balance is in Category Maintenance. The (F3 #12) Month End process updates the Beginning of Period Balances for next time. If you do not want your GL inventory adjusted by the program, do not run the Valuation Report for "minus to plus" (---- to ++++); instead enter the correct descriptions of your first and last categories. We suggest you set it up from "minus to plus" only at month-end, and then only when you want an interface.

The Month End (F3 #12), in addition to its normal closing steps, also creates INTRFACE.AR. Remember, INTRFACE will be written over when you close the next month, so interface to GL "now".

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE

The AP has only one report that creates an interface file for GL, the Account Distribution Report; found in the Monthly Processing menu (F3 #2). It works much the same as the AR Revenue Distribution Report. A temporary file called APGLTRAN.AP is created when you run the report. Then, during the close, it is renamed to INTRFACE.AP. And like the AR Distribution Report, if you run this report and then need to add more activity or maintain files, you must re-run the report to recreate the file. INTRFACE.AP will be written over when you close the next month, so interface to GL "now".

Accounts payable is a date-sensitive module. What this means is that it will only close on activity with INVOICE dates earlier than or equal to the period-end date. As an example, say you've entered most of the vouchers for January, but before you get a chance to close the month you start to receive February invoices. You can go ahead and enter vouchers and print checks for this "future" period, then when you've made all your January entries, you can close the month with a period-ending date of January 31st and the program will pick out only those vouchers which belong in January. This allows you to close the month at your convenience with no interruption of daily processing. For the most part, our AP Month End Closing menu takes you step by step. First you'll want an Aged Payables Report (F3 #1). A number of our users also like to print a Voucher Register (F6 #1) before they close. These reports are optional and are not required by our program for the AP to close successfully. The next step is an Account Distribution Report (F3 #2). When you run this report, the program creates a file that will be used for interfacing to the General Ledger after the close is complete. AP cannot be closed without running it. Next, a Monthly Check Register (F3 #3) is also required in order for AP to close. Make a backup now! The month is finally closed by choosing Monthly Close (F3 #4). Yes. Absolutely. Without a doubt! If any unforeseen problem occurs while the program is in the process of closing, I.E. power outages, error messages, Etc., you will need to restore your pre-close backup. Restoring your data to what it was minutes ago is better than restoring data to what it was days or even months ago. The older a backup gets, the more likely it is to fail to restore. HINT: our Zip Backup is fast, efficient and reliable - and runs from the AP menu. When you choose Monthly Close from the menu, the program checks to see if the cash account(s) on the Account Distribution Report matches the grand total of the Monthly Check Register. If not, the program will stop you from closing and display a message telling you that the two don't balance. 99% of the time this problem is caused by vouchers that have a check date earlier than the date range of the Monthly Check Register. When you choose to run the Monthly Check Register, the program asks you to give it a "From" date and a "To" date. Always enter the lowest possible "From" date. If you always run it with a "From" date of --/--/-- (or 01/01/89 if "--/--/--" causes an error), vouchers with a check date earlier than the period you're closing will be picked up. If you still don't balance, you can run a Voucher Register and look for "problem" vouchers. Run a Voucher Register by Voucher Number (F6 #1), Starting = -----, Ending = +++++. Enter the "end of time" date into Period Ending Date. For versions older than 3.20, that is 12/31/99. For v3.20, enter 12/31/68. Say Y to Include Account Distributions. Examine the first voucher, looking for corruption or other issues. Go to the end of this report (press and hold CTRL, type END) and verify that TOTAL VOUCHER AMOUNTS is exactly equal to TOTAL DISTRIBUTIONS. Hit PAGE-UP and examine the last voucher, again looking for corruption or other issues. Fix any problems using File Maintenance.

HINT: you can print this to a file and then use a word processor to examine the file for three asterisks ("***"), which denote exceptions. Better HINT: Display the report and then view it using the Master Menu's "CharterHouse Menu Utility" feature. ESCape to Master Menu and hit CTRL U. Select MMLIST by typing the DOWN-ARROW key, hit ENTER. Type TEMPR*.* and MMLIST will display some file; if it isn't your VOUCHER LIST, hit CTRL PAGE-DOWN until your report is displayed. Search for the word BALANCE by typing a backslash ("\") and then BALANCE (or balance; case does not matter). You can search for *** if you prefer. Note the voucher number in case you need to do file maintenance on it. Use the F3 function key to repeat your search. When you have a complete list of the Bad Boys, hit F10 and then ESC.

When all is well, rerun the VOUCHER LIST with the same setup, but this time enter the date of the period you are attempting to close. Go to the end of the report and note the NET CHANGE TO CASH; this is the amount that should appear at the end of the Monthly Check Register. Go back to Monthly Processing and run the (F3 #3) Monthly Check Register. Be sure you set it up as described above. Note the rightmost GRAND TOTAL. This number MUST agree with the voucher listing you just ran! If so, run the (F3 #2) Account Distribution Report. Back up NOW. Now try the (F3 #4) Monthly Closing.

During the month-end close of AP, a file (APGLTRAN.AP, which later becomes INTRFACE.AP) is created automatically by the program. To get that file to the GL, you must invite it over. This means going to the GL menu and selecting (F2 #2) Special Journal Processing - Journal Transaction Interface. This will bring over the entries that appeared on the Account Distribution Report and make journal entries for you.

PAYROLL

The interface file for PR is created when you choose to Generate G/L Transactions (F1 #7) from the PR menu. It is important to remember that our PR program is meant to be run in the order of the selections on the Check Processing menu. In other words, you would have completed selections F1 #1 through F1 #6 before choosing to generate trx's. The program will tell you how many trx's it found from prior payrolls and ask if you would like to Erase them before creating current transactions, Delete them without creating new transactions or Keep them and add current transactions. If you've interfaced this file already, you'll want to erase them so they don't get interfaced again. If you're keeping this file all month and interfacing at the end of the month, you'll want to keep them and add the current transactions to the file. If you choose Post/Void Handwritten Checks (F1 #8) or Print Tax Deposit Checks (F1 #9), the program will ask if you want to create transactions for General Ledger; answering "Y" will add to the file you generated. We urge you to interface to GL immediately after the last payroll in the month; immediately thereafter, go back to PR and delete the interface transactions. If this is also Quarter-End, now is a grand time to increment the quarter number and set it NEW.

GENERAL LEDGER

After you've created your interface files, you can go to the General Ledger menu and invite those files over. Choose Special Journal Processing, Journal Transaction Interface (F2 #2). You need to fill out this screen by telling GL which year, period, application and journal you want to interface. You can choose one application or all. Put a Y in the Y/N column for the interface files you want to bring over. When you hit the F1 key the program looks for the files you've asked for. At the time it interfaces the file, it flags it as having been interfaced once. So if you try to interface the same file again, it will warn you. If you choose to interface again, your GL will contain duplicate transactions, so you should 'ESCape to abort'!

General Ledger doesn't review the file before it makes journal entries. If there are any problems with what it brought over, you'll be asked to run an Error Analysis Report. This report will give detail about what is wrong, so you'll want to make sure and PRINT it.

SETTING UP GENERAL LEDGER OPENING BALANCES

The General Ledger manual briefly discusses alternative procedures (section 2-96 through 2-98) for setting up the opening balances for the General Ledger accounts. This document contains more detailed procedures for accomplishing that task.

The following discussion assumes that you have set up a valid Chart of Accounts. It is also assumed that you are setting up the opening balances for the beginning of a fiscal or calendar year. If starting at mid-year, please refer to the section entitled ENTERING OPENING BALANCES AT MID-YEAR.

The General Ledger manual suggests two alternatives for setting up opening account balances. Those alternatives are:

1. Enter opening balances directly into the Account Balance File Prior Year fields through Account Balance File Maintenance.

2. Enter opening balances as journal entries and perform a final year end close procedure.

While both of these methods will work, it is recommended that you use method 2 especially if you intend to produce comparative financial statements.

Procedure:

1. If you have not yet set up the Chart of Accounts, do so now before continuing. Refer to sections 2-17 through 2-86 of the General Ledger manual.

2. You will need a general ledger report, trial balance or some other report/listing which contains all of the opening account balances (essentially the closing balances of your old system). It is recommended that you add up all of the balances to be entered by adding the debit balances and subtracting the credit balances. The net of all debits and credits to be entered must be zero. If not, you cannot proceed and must seek assistance from your accountant, accounting department, Etc. to obtain the proper balances. TOTAL DEBITS MUST EQUAL TOTAL CREDITS IN YOUR OPENING BALANCES.

3. Create a journal (manual section 2-107) in which to enter your opening balances. You can choose any journal number from 1 to 89. It doesn't matter which journal number you use since this procedure ends with a final year-end close which will empty whichever journal was used. Note the exception to this in the section below entitled ENTERING OPENING BALANCES AT MID-YEAR.

4. Proceed to Journal Entry (section 3-6) and select "C" as the processing year and specify processing period 12 (or 13 if you report on a four-week basis, which is pretty rare; the most commonly used number of periods is 12). Specify any valid journal number (see above).

5. Make a journal transaction entry for each opening account balance. Be sure to enter the amount into the proper debit or credit column.

6. When an entry has been made for each and every account that has a balance, the total debits and credits indicated at the bottom of the screen should be equal and a zero difference should be displayed. Only then will you be allowed to post the session. Now, post the session.

7. Once posted, print a Working Trial Balance report (F3, #1) to verify your balances are the same as the listing of opening balances that you started with. If not, make adjusting journal entries until they do.

8. Make a data backup at this time. It is recommended that you use a tape or other similar reliable medium for backup.

9. Run the Year-End Closing (F4, #1). When prompted, enter "F" for FINAL.

10. You are now ready to begin processing General Ledger.

ENTERING OPENING BALANCES AT MID-YEAR

Most often, the General Ledger is set up during the middle of an accounting year. In this case, your procedure may differ depending on YOUR requirements:

1. If you intend to run comparative financial statements (CURRENT VS. PRIOR YEAR):

a) Perform all of the above steps to enter opening balances where the balances entered reflect the balances of the accounts as of the end of the last accounting year.

b) Enter the net changes (reflecting activity in the months since the year ended) as journal entries (F1 #1) into the period immediately preceding the period in which you intend to begin normal General Ledger processing.

EXAMPLE: You are using a calendar year and you intend to start using the system in September 1999. Follow all of the steps in the section above, entering the December 1998 ending account balances. Then, enter the net change for each account (reflecting activity for January through August) as journal entries in year "C", period "08". Normal processing can now begin with year "C", period "09".

2. If you DO NOT intend to run comparative financial statements (CURRENT VS. PRIOR YEAR):

You can simply follow steps 1 through 7 in the first section above with the following exceptions.

a) Use opening balances reflecting the period immediately preceding the period in which you intend to begin normal General Ledger processing.

b) During step 4, specify the posting period as the period immediately preceding the period in which you intend to begin normal General Ledger processing.

c) It is suggested that you set up a special journal for these entries if using this option. These entries will be maintained in detail until the first FINAL YEAR-END closing is performed. By placing them in a unique journal, they will be less likely to be confused with other routine entries.

EXAMPLE: You are using a calendar year and you intend to start using the system in September 1999. Follow all of the steps in the first section above with the August 1999 account balances. In step 4, specify year "C", period "08". Do not close the year. Since no year-end close is performed, no prior year information will be available for comparative reporting.

PAYROLL

Our Payroll module has built-in checks and balances so that it can determine if there are inconsistencies in the data. You can verify that all is well by running (F3 #6) the Form 941 program. You don't need to print it; just start it. Look at the LINE 9 ADJ OF FICA & MEDICARE line. If the amount on this line is $1.00 or more, you have a problem because this amount represents the difference between the calculated FICA and FICA actually withheld. So the amount can't be more than "pennies" if there are no problems. You can also confirm that you have deposited correctly by checking the amount on line 14 TOTAL QTR DEPOSITS. Payroll runs a backup every time you COMPUTE (F1 #5). If ANYTHING is wrong with the results of the computation, RESET and then fix the problem. RESET (F5 #3) restores the backup - so you are right back where you were before the COMPUTE.

The COMPUTE process updates the employee earnings records. If you repeatedly COMPUTE, you keep adding this payroll to them. COMPUTE does not erase the prior results, it accumulates (adds to) them. So to run another COMPUTE, you must first undo this (bad) computation. When the computation is correct, then proceed to print checks.

We suggest the following method. After each payroll, back up to the oldest diskette. Use two disks in rotation so that you have two sets of data at all times. Use a third diskette and back up just before you print checks; that way if the checks jam you can just restore the backup and print again (void all of the first run of checks). Back up to a fourth disk at the end of each quarter (the most common mistake is to forget to change the quarter or to set it NEW). Many of our users like to keep a back up the year-end in case there are questions about W-2s. Use the HELP key. Three things are required for a 401K or 125 plan.

1) The (F1 #1) GENERAL INFORMATION's PENSION TYPE must be set properly (usually D).

2) The EMPLOYEE MASTER file must contain a Y in PENSION.

3) There must be a MISCELLANEOUS DEDUCTION record with a RECORD TYPE 1 (pretax deduction) and a TAX / PRIORITY of either 7 or 8. Use the HELP key.

You have the wrong PAY PERIODS/YEAR in (F1 #1) UPDATE GENERAL INFORMATION. No. The state is set in the UPDATE GENERAL INFORMATION and that is used for everything. Changing POSTAL STATE CODE FOR STATE TAXES is guaranteed to give you grief. This is a multi-state Payroll, but only for one state at a time.

GENERAL

Our software depends on DOS to provide a BACKUP and a RESTORE program, but current versions of DOS (and all versions of Windows) no longer provide BACKUP. Even when these programs exist, they often complain that they are being run under the "INCORRECT DOS VERSION". In order to provide a way to create and restore backups, we offer Zip Backup. I highly recommend it. The Master Menu has a hidden menu that you may find useful. When you press and hold the CTRL (control) key and type U, a menu titled CHARTERHOUSE MENU UTILITY will appear. The ESCape key dismisses it. Use ARROW keys to select from this menu, press ENTER to activate your selection. You can reindex data files, see a log of errors, and other neat things. My favorite function is MMLIST. It lets you view or search a file; check it out.

PRINTING

There are many different printer configuration files in Lyon. If you do a directory listing of all files with extensions of ".@MM", you'll get an idea of the possibilites, but the names of these files are cryptic so here is some additional information. The following are the names of some configuration files that you can enter when the program prompts you to PREPARE YOUR PRINTER; your cursor will be to the right of 'PRINT CONFIGURATION FILE'.

For laser and ink jet printers you'll want to specify LASER as the first part of the CONFIGURATION code. LASER-N means NORMAL, LASER-C means COMPRESS or CONDENSE (17 CPI). LASER-L means LANDSCAPE. LASER-LC means LANDSCAPE COMPRESS. Files that begin with EPS work for some Epson ink jet printers. BJEP is for some Canon Bubble Jet printers (in Epson mode).

To print "Columnar Income Statement", you must be using a laser (or a wide-carriage matrix) printer. Your laser printer will be put into landscape mode; to get back to portrait you probably will have to turn it off and back on. If you want the statement to print on legal paper use LZRLLSHD; the printer will ask you to insert legal paper. If you want the statement on letter-size paper, use LASERLCC or COLUMNAR. Unfortunately, there are some printers that do not have the "super condensed" mode which these statements require; in that case the TOTALS column will not be printed.

A matrix (impact) printer usually uses NORMAL and COMPRESS, but these codes are for IBM Proprinters. You usually must set, often using buttons on the printer, the "emulation" to be "IBM" in order to use a matrix printer with Lyon. Read your printer manual to see how this is done.

First, let me try to explain what we mean by "forms". A form is any pre-printed piece of paper such as an invoice or a check. Everything else is a "report" and is printed on blank paper.

When using a laser printer, try NULL as the configuration code when printing to a form. NULL does nothing to the printer, so if it wasn't properly set to begin with, NULL certainly won't make it correct. Because the next two can cause a blank page to be ejected at the start of a print job, you need to test these before you decide to use them. RESET-F sets all laser printers into PICA mode (6 LPI by 10 CPI), which is what you need in order to print on all forms. Because it is more likely than RESET to page-eject, use it as a "last resort". RESET sets the printer into its "last power-off" state, so if you last turned it off while it was in COMPRESS mode, that's what you'll get. None of these can undo what you have done with a configuration program (or via the buttons) to your printer. Lyon expects to use Courier font. The printer should (usually) be set for 60 lines per form. If lines are drawn, ROMAN-8 will produce odd results; use PC-8 in that case. All these things are set at the printer, not by the configuration codes sent by Lyon!

All programs which are capable of printing on a laser form have to be set up to do so. In each module, go to FILE MAINTENANCE - SYSTEM CONTROL. Most programs say LASER Y/N? Your answer here is critical; and if other information about laser printing is requested here, fill in the information requested.

FAX the printout to Support. You can see what is happening, but we can't! If needed, FAX two consecutive pages. Tell us what printer was used, what configuration file you sent it, and how your system control is set.

WINDOWS, IN ALL ITS 32-BIT FLAVORS

This error message is attempting to protect your data; thus it is deliberately fatal (you can't continue). The most probable reason for it is that you have started two sessions of Lyon. The immediate solution is REBOOT YOUR COMPUTER but the long-term answer lies in educating yourself; "Don't do that!". Always check to see if Lyon is running on your computer already before starting it again. Which leads us to... When you see this message, it means you did not use the ESCape key to cleanly exit or that you already have Lyon open. It can also occur if the name you see in the top left corner of your Master Menu is blank or is the same name as someone else who runs Lyon. When you exit properly, SYSLOCK.MM is updated to remove you from the list of users logged on. If you were forced to terminate, then you should proceed thus: ENTER, ENTER, ESCape, ESCape, Restart Lyon. Otherwise, DO NOT PROCEED until you have fixed the problem; your data will be corrupted. Windows, at least in its 32-bit versions, is - at the time of this writing - less than four years old. It is a baby compared to DOS. It is a complex, multitasking, graphical program. It is, according to Microsoft, the last of the DOS-based software from Microsoft. Windows NT has only a DOS emulator; there is no real DOS in it, and Lyon needs DOS. Frankly it is amazing that Windows is as stable as it is, but it crashes; and that is just a fact.

Use the "three finger salute" (press and hold CTRL ALT and DEL) when your program stops responding; select END TASK, wait for a second END TASK and select that. You might RESTART YOUR COMPUTER, but often all that is needed is to try again. We call this "Reboot, retry".

Return to the Home Page    Return to Help