Introduction

Data Limits

Download

FAQ

Formulae

History

Known Issues

Licence

Listings

Log File

Release Notes

Report Bugs

Screen Shot

Suggestions

Using

Using EnCalcL Latest Version: 2.6 Size: 403KB Released 15-May-2008

General
EnCalcL can be used in several ways. It can be used to work out the running cost or total cost of a single item or it can be used to compare two items under identical conditions.

The cost of water is usually made up of two parts: the cost of water by volume and the cost of sewerage by volume which is often related directly to the amount of water used. There is often a sewerage volume allowance which reduces the sewerage volume to allow for the fact that not all water used goes down the drain.

Hovering over the various data boxes with the mouse will show the Tool Tips which give information as to what the box is for and what the data limits are if it is for data entry. Entering invalid data will cause an error message to be displayed explaining what data is wrong. These errors must be resolved before the calculate function will work. Use the tab key to move sequentially between data boxes or the mouse pointer to select individual boxes. See Data Limits for the limits used by the program.

To work out just just the running cost of an item without taking into account purchase price, set Cost to 0 (or leave it empty). The program will work with data in either or both of Item 1 and Item 2. Whilst the water volume cost is required, the sewage volume cost and sewage volume allowance are optional and can be set to 0 or left blank if required. If the Sewage volume Charge is set to zero then any Volume Allowance will be ignored. The Notes box is used to add short notes to make sense of saved calculations at a later date and record other useful data. The Payback Period is used to spread the Item Cost over a specified period.

For real examples of using the program look at the Log File and to see how the results are calculated click on Formulae.

Currency & Date Format
These are defined by the settings in the computer Regional Options which can be accessed via the Control Panel. The currency symbol reflects the settings in the Currency Tab. The date format in the log file reflects the Short Date format setting in the Date Tab. The currency or date settings can be changed with the program running. Currency changes will be reflected next time Calculate is clicked. Date format changes will be effective for the next new calculation.

Default Values
The cost of water and sewage and payback time plus whether the program runs on top and how save works can be saved as defaults values by clicking on the Save Defaults button - this function requires administration privileges. The Reset Defaults button can be used to restore the saved defaults.

Logging
The log file can be used to capture the results of calculations. Each entry is date and time stamped. Any internal program errors will also be written to the log file if possible. A start up message is written to the log file each time the program is started which includes the program version.