Techsurvivors
Archives => 2003 => Topic started by: csonni on April 14, 2003, 02:24:00 PM
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I'm having a hard time finding a simple piece of software that will do the job and do it well. I have a small business (bookstore/gift shop). I've tried several inventory (POS) programs (Demos) but find they aren't what I need. I want to be able to enter Categories (Books, Videos, Music) with subcategories and items, along with ISBN #'s, description, Quantity in Stock, Quantity ordered, etc. I have Filemaker Pro (only good in OS9). I'd want something where you can click on a hierarchal list of categories and choose which category to go to. A search engine for items is a must. Why is this so hard to find??? Inventory Tracker doesn't do this, EZ Business doesn't- is there anything so simple out there? What I'd really like is an auto-alert when inventory on an item gets down to 1.
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Just came across this. Looks like OS X only. $40. Free Demo.
Have no idea if it's what you're after.
http://www.macobserver.com/article/2003/04/15.1.shtml
http://www.intellisw.com/proinventory/
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Thanks for the try, Kelly, but I already tried that one. It doesn't have drop-down lists and other options I need. There must be something out there.
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Inventory search
Business Software
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Kelly, I've done both of those searches already. Believe it or not, but none of those programs meet my needs. Surely someone must have a small business on the side that is using some simple program to keep inventory control that has the options I'm looking for. I don't need the barcode option, but I don't mind if it comes with something I don't need.
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What's your skill level with FileMaker Pro...and what version do you have?
FM 3 came with a pretty sophisticated inventory template consisting of three related files. As the bulk of the work is already done, it shouldn't take long for you to customize it to your needs.
I could send you the templates, they're about 400k uncompressed. If you're interested, email me. They may even be available at the FM web site. FM 5-6 and 7 will convert these files, FM will run fine in classic on OS X.
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http://guide.apple.com/uscategories/business.lasso
http://forums.dealmac.com/read.html?f=1&i=...24587&t=1024587
http://forums.dealmac.com/read.html?f=1&i=...946241&t=946216
http://forums.dealmac.com/read.html?f=1&i=...853932&t=853932
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KPS- I have FMP 5.5 version 1. I haven't done anything with this app. I heard it's a good database. I did try out the Inventory template, but it didn't impress me for some reason. Maybe I'll look at it again.
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csonni, it's not the same template I'm talking about. The version 3 template is an inventory system consisting of three files: products, sales and line items.
Edit:
Took some screen shots...
Data entry for products
Data entry for suppliers
Data entry for sales
Data entry for shipping
[ 04-15-2003, 04:28 PM: Message edited by: kps ]
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Take a look at this http://www.iuni.com/software/iusoftware.html
Built for OS X 10.2 or Greater.
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Jepinto- thanks for the link. I downloaded iu software and tried it. For some reason the find option doesn't seem to work. It doesn't seem to be geared primarily towards inventory- mostly customer/product sales. So far, KPS's templates suit the best, except now I've got to find the time to enter all 3000 items of inventory- drats!. Right now I have them all listed on an Excel spreadsheet (workbook). What's nice about Excel is that the Find option works flawlessly. In AppleWorks spreadsheet, I had to scroll to to find each item and then enter or delete a stock item when sold or ordered.
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csonni...Filemaker can import XLS spreadsheets, you can even take a spreadsheet file and just drag and drop it on the Filemaker icon and it'll create a database for you....on the spot.
Rename the fields to match the names in the templates I sent you and IMPORT all your data...DONE!
Happy Filemaking...
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KPS- I just tried dragging my .xls file onto Filemaker Pro icon. I was told it "couldn't be opened (error)." I made a copy and cut my data down to half and it still couldn't handle the .xls file. I like the idea of importing all my data, but is there an alternative route since FMP won't deal with my file?
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Wait now. Maybe I'm suposed to do the renaming of fields before importing (dragging onto icon)?
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You might try here also:
FileMaker info site.
You might also try exporting that .xls file as a tab delimited text file, then import it with FM. I usually use its Import fucntion rather than doing the drag and drop routine, but it should be able to 'see' that data. Always amazes me when people use a spread sheet for a database!? Wonder if they do movies in Word? Word processing in iPhoto!
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The drag and drop should have worked....
You may need to experiment as to what will work based on your version of Exel and FM. That may be the reason.
Jim is also on the right track with saving the xls file as tab-delimited text and then importing into a FM database. You may need to create a temporary database file if the drag&drop doesn't work, then clean up the data (no import is perfect) and finaly import into the templates.