General Requirements

Q.1 What are the system requirements for dynaMACS?

dynaMACS may be used on a Windows 95/98/NT 4.0 or higher/2000 or Windows XP based computer or a network of computers.

For complete system requirement details, view the System Requirements page.

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Q.2 What are the system requirements for dynaMACS Mobile?

dynaMACS Mobile software may be used on a Windows 95/98/NT 4.0 or higher/2000 or Windows XP based computer. It is a single user software designed to work in conjunction with dynaMACS Agency Software. Ability to download dynaMACS files via email is a requirement.

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Q.3 How do I move dynaMACS to a new computer?

Make sure that you have a complete backup of dynaMACS folder before starting any of the following instructions.

Moving dynaMACS if the new computer is on the same network as your current computer

If you are using a network of computers, it is lot easier to simply copy the dynaMACS folder from the current computer to the new one using the following method. If you are not familiar with networking in Windows, contact your network administrator or technician for help. These steps may need you to browse through the network in Windows.

  1. Double-click on the My Computer icon on your windows desktop.
  2. Open the drive and directory where dynaMACS is located.
  3. Right-click the dynaMACS folder and select Copy from the menu.
  4. Next you need to connect to the new computer. If you already have the drive on the new computer mapped, proceed to Step 7. Otherwise, double-click on the My Network Places (Network Neighborhood if using Windows 95 or 98) icon.
  5. Browse through the network and locate the new computer in the network.
  6. Open the drive and directory where dynaMACS will be on the new computer.
  7. Right-click in an empty place in the window and select Paste.
  8. Windows will now start copying the dynaMACS folder from the current computer to the new computer. Wait for the copy process to finish.
  9. Proceed to “Activating dynaMACS on the new computer” section below.

Moving dynaMACS if the new computer is not on the network

If the two computers are not connected, you will need a Zip drive, a Tape drive or a CD-Writer drive to backup dynaMACS on the CD and then take it to the new computer. Use the following steps:

  1. Make a backup of the dynaMACS folder to your tape drive on the old computer and then restore it on the new computer. You will need to have the same tape-drive and software available on the new computer.
  2. If you are using a Zip Drive or a CD-Writer that is configured for drag-n-drop recording, follow these instructions. Otherwise follow instructions that came with the CD-Writer drive and/or software on how to record dynaMACS folder on to the CD.
  3. Double-click on the My Computer icon on your Windows desktop.
  4. Open the drive and directory where dynaMACS folder is located.
  5. Right-click on the dynaMACS folder and select Copy from the menu.
  6. Open the My Computer window again where you see the list of all drives on your computer.
  7. Open the Zip Drive drive. Right-click anywhere in the blank area and select Paste from the menu.
  8. Windows will now copy the dynaMACS folder from your computer to the Zip Drive. Wait for the copy process to finish.
  9. Go to the new computer. You may have to move/install the Zip Drive on the new computer if it does not already have one.
  10. Take the Zip disk to the new computer and insert into the Zip Drive.
  11. Double-click on the My Computer icon and open the Zip Drive.
  12. Right-click on the dynaMACS folder and select Copy from the menu.
  13. Now, open the drive and directory that you wish to install dynaMACS on.
  14. Right-click in a blank area and select Paste from the menu.
  15. Windows will now copy the dynaMACS folder from the Zip disk to the new computer. Wait for the copy process to finish.
  16. Proceed to “Activating dynaMACS on the new computer” section below.

These instructions can also be used with a CD-Writer drive. You may burn the dynaMACS folder using your CD-Writer software. If your CD-Writer supports drag-and-drop recording, you may be able to use the instructions above to copy and paste the dynaMACS folder on to the CD.

Activating dynaMACS on the new computer

  • If you used a CD to copy the dynaMACS folder to the new computer, the newly copied files will be marked Read-Only because data on a CD is recorded this way preventing alterations. You need to change this attribute on the new computer. Go to the new computer. Locate and Right-click on the dynaMACS folder and select Properties from the menu. On the General Tab, un-check the Read-only box and click the Apply button. Now click the OK button.
  • Contact dynaMACS Technical Support to help you activate the software on the new computer.
  • If you have not upgraded to dynaMACS Version 2 yet, use the dynaMACS Version 2.0 CD to install the new version and proceed to the Configure Workstation for dynaMACS section below.

Configure Workstation for dynaMACS

  • Go to the new computer and double-click the My Computer icon on Windows desktop.
  • Open the drive and directory where dynaMACS folder is located.
  • Double-click the dynaMACS folder.
  • Locate the file dm_Wrk2.exe. If you cannot locate the file, you may be using an older version of dynaMACS. Locate the latest dynaMACS CD (Version 2 or higher) that may have been sent to you and follow the instructions sent with the CD to upgrade your software or contact dynaMACS Technical Support for further help.
  • Double-click the file dm_Wrk2.exe and follow on-screen instructions to setup the workstation. This step will create a dynaMACS icon and a program group under the Windows Start / Programs menu.
  • Start dynaMACS by using either of these options. If you just upgraded dynaMACS to a newer version as mentioned in Step 4, the dynaMACS Software Upgrade Wizard will automatically start. Wait for the process to finish.
  • Log into dynaMACS using the same User-ID and Password as on the old computer.
  • Contact dynaMACS Technical Support if you receive an activation error message when starting dynaMACS.

Requesting dynaMACS Permanent Activation

  • Start dynaMACS and log in.
  • Go to the menu option Other Functions > Administration >Print Activation Sheet.
  • Fax the Activation Sheet to 1-239-514-3162 or 1-239-566-2560.
  • A permanent ProvideX Activation number and Instructions to install it will be sent back to you within 72 hours.

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Startup Questions

Click on the links below to download support PDFs:

  • How do I change the password in dynaMACS?
  • How do I put my logo on the reports?
  • How do I renew my subscription in dynaMACS?
  • How do I setup miscellaneous accounts?
  • How do I setup a location for a customer?
  • How do I delete a customer or manufacturer or sales rep in dynaMACS?
Sales Entry

Click on the links below to download support PDFs:

  • How do I enter prior history into dynaMACS?
  • How do I enter a cross-reference into dynaMACS?
Reassigning Customers

Click on the links below to download support PDFs:

  • How do I reassign multiple customers for one sales rep to another sales rep without changing each customer individually?
  • How do I transfer multiple customers’ sales history from one sales rep to a newly assigned rep?
Commission Reconciliation

Click on the links below to download support PDFs:

  • How do I find invoices?
  • How do I correct an applied commission after I have posted the session?
  • How do I add commissions without effecting the sales amount?
  • How do I zero out unpaid invoices?
  • What process month should I use in commission reconciliation?
  • How do I enter prior history into dynaMACS using commission reconciliation?
eSi

Q.1 Some of my manufacturers are interested in learning more about eSi. Where can they find more information?

They should visit our website and go to the eSi page from the Products menu. There are links on the eSi product page specifically for manufacturers. You may also copy the following link into an email to the manufacturer:

http://www.dynamacs.com/optional-modules/esi/

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Q.2 I am ready to start eSi with a manufacturer. Do I need to set-up all the Manufacturer/Customer x-reference records before I import the first file?

No, the easiest way to implement eSi is to just start processing a file. The quickest way to setup the manufacturer’s customer codes in the x-reference file is to do it during the correction phase of eSi.

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Q.3 I imported a file into eSi and now I want to delete this file so I can import a different file. How do I delete the file?

When attempting to import another file into eSi while another file is already in process a warning message comes up. The user has the option to delete the existing file and start over with the new file or cancel out of the process and then continue processing the existing file.

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Q.4 Do the X-Reference records apply the same in eSi as they do in normal Sales Entry?

Yes, all the rules that would normally apply during Sales Entry as they relate to the X-Reference file will apply during eSi. However, it should be noted that if there is a commission percent or commission dollars in the eSi file, it will be used as is and any commission overrides setup in the X-Reference file will be ignored.

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Q.5 If an eSi file has both commission % and commission $ fields, which is used to figure the commission?

If the file has both a commission percent and dollar values, the commission dollars will be used and not the commission percent. If either the commission % or the commission dollars are in the file, that will be used to calculate the commission. If both are left blank, then the normal commission calculations will be done using the mfg default value or any x-reference values that might be in effect.

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Q.6 I want to track sales by Ship-To location. However, the manufacturer only provides the Sold-To customer number in the file. Is there still a way to have dynaMACS automatically post sales to the Ship-To location?

Yes, most files from a manufacturer should have either a ship-to city or a ship-to zip code or something to indicate where the invoice was shipped. If one of these fields is “appended” to the sold-to customer number, then a unique ship-to identifier is created. This unique field would then be set up in the x-reference file to the appropriate ship-to location record in the dynaMACS file.

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Q.7 After I run the “Create Sessions” process in eSi, where did my file go?

A session is created just as though the entries had been manually entered. This session can then be listed and edited. When you are satisfied with the entries in the session, run the Post Sessions program to complete the updating process.

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Q.8 Some customers for one manufacturer have different commission rates. How do I change their rate when I use eSi to import the file?

Refer to the earlier FAQ regarding commission rates and commission percent. If the file comes in with either a % or $$ that value is going to be used. If there is no commission that comes in then any overrides should be setup using the x-reference file.

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Q.9 My commission rates in the Sales Entry session imported through eSi don’t seem to be correct. How do I fix them?

Go into Sales Entry and Edit the session. In the edit mode, any of the entries in the session may be retrieved and changed on screen including the commission amount.

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Q.10 The manufacturers’ customer codes have zeros at the front. After I open the file in Excel and save it as a CSV file, the zeros disappear. How do I prevent this?

If a file with a .csv extension is opened by excel, any fields with numeric values (i.e. customer numbers with leading zeros) will be treated as numbers and the leading zeros are dropped. If the file is opened in Excel by double clicking on the csv file and then saved again the leading zeros will be lost.

To avoid this, do not open the file in Excel. Under some circumstances, this may be necessary to manipulate the data prior to import into dynaMACS. The only way to “work around” this problem with Excel is to first rename the file with an extension other than csv. For example, you could put .eSi. Then start excel, open the file in Excel and a wizard will come up that will walk you through opening the file. The import wizard has three steps.

Step 1 – Tell the wizard that the file is a a delimited file.
Step 2 – The delimiter should be comma and not tab.
Step 3 – In the wizard, highlight any of the columns with leading zeros and change from a general classification to a text classification.

This will retain the leading zeros in the values when the file is saved after the manipulation.

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Q.11 After importing a file, I discovered that most of my commission amounts are zero, why?

It may be that the commission percent or commission dollars had a zero in the value and the import program assumed that the zero value was to be used instead of a calculated value. A zero is treated differently than a blank value. If the value is blank then the appropriate calculations are automatically done using default commission rates.

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Q.12 I opened the file from my manufacturer in Excel and some of the columns were changed to date format. How do I fix this?

Refer to the earlier question regarding leading zeros on customer codes. The same approach may need to be done on Step 3 of the wizard where the column that is getting changed to a date format should be highlighted and checked as a text column.

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Q.13 The spreadsheet we receive from the manufacturer contains subtotal rows. How do we remove them from the spreadsheet?

If there aren’t too many subtotal rows, manually highlight the rows and then click Delete to eliminate the subtotals rows. Under some circumstances there are so many subtotal rows that it may be easier to sort the entire spreadsheet on a column where all of the subtotals sort to the front or the back or end of the file. It is then easier to delete the subtotal rows. This same approach can be taken to get rid of any heading rows where there are multiple pages in the spreadsheet and each page has a set of headers and column heading on it.

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Goal Tracking

Click on the links below to download support PDFs:

  • How do I start using Goal Tracking?
  • How do I enter goals into dynaMACS?
Sales Analysis

How do I get started with using Sales Analysis Report Generator program?

Convert your raw sales data into meaningful information effortlessly. The Sales Analysis Report Generator enables you to generate summary and/or detailed reports using pre-defined column sets (column headings) and sort sequences with user-defined filters and customization options. This powerful feature of dynaMACS Software provides you with virtually limitless possibilities for generating vital sales and commission reports.

This document is intended to help you maximize the benefits of Sales Analysis Reports.