Installing Price Update Disks

The various wholesalers will provide 'price disks' to allow you to update your prices to match.

The first step is to get the update file onto your computer.

This can be done in a number of ways depending on your wholesaler and how your system is configured.

Getting the Update File

Direct Pickup from the Web
As of the April 2005 release it is possible if you have an Internet connection to pickup the price update directly from the suppliers Web Site.
This currently applies to NVS, Dunlops and Centaur. Use the 'On-Line Service' menu -:

Menu -> Fee and Stock -> Stock Control -> Ordering -> On-Line Services
Select the wholesaler required then Pickup Price Update Disk.

Note: If this is the 1st time you have used this option you will need to add some additional details if you are using Dunlops or Centaur as a wholesaler - see the footnote below.
This will connect to the wholesaler and collect the disk.
You should now refer to the bottom part of this guide on how to update the prices.
E-Mail
This only applies currently to Centaur.
Centaur will send you a price update via e-mail, you can use this to update the system. You should get Centaur to mail the update to one of your accounts on the Premvet system - if you do not have EnServe installed you can still receive mail - use user@machine.premvet.co.uk as the mail address.
Note: it may be a good idea to use a generic mail account e.g. prices@your-mail-address - use the Admin Login to create a Mail Alias so that 'prices' is directed to the appropriate member of staff.
Once you have received the e-mail:
- From within the vet system access your E-Mail (via a Function key, or Option on Text menu or from a shell prompt.)
- Select the message, use the 'Attachment' menu via 'v'.
- Select the attachment 'Price.zip' and press 's' (for save).
- Use the default filename Price.zip
You should now refer to the bottom part of this guide on how to update the prices. The system will automatically un-zip the attachment for you.
By floppy disk

The price updates option is found in:
Menu -> Fee and Stock -> Stock Control -> Utilities -> Price Updates
The first step is to copy the contents of the floppy onto the hard disk. You do this by selecting the option:

Disk - Copy from floppy

You will be asked which drive the disk is in - in most cases this will be Drive A - If you select A and an error message occurs please phone support for advice on which drive you are in. All the files on the floppy disk will be displayed enabling you to identify the filename easier.
Enter the name of the update file.
Generally there will only be one file listed - use that - if you are not sure either contact Support or your wholesaler.
Once the file has been copied from the floppy it is no longer required and can be removed from the drive.
You should now refer to the next section of this guide on how to update the prices.

Updating the Prices

The option to update the prices is located:

Menu -> Fee and Stock -> Stock Control -> Utilities -> Price Updates

Tip: Look at the top line of the screen, this will show you the current update disk and the date it was last updated. If the the update date is old it would suggest the latest disk has not been copied and you should refer back to the earlier section and check you followed the procedure correctly. e.g. here the disk is very old '2003'.

Supplier update file 'tcnumf1' is dated 18-03-2003

If this is the 1st time you have used the price update option we suggest you pick the 'List Records' option. This will just list all the stock items until <ESC> is pressed, it allows you to check that they 'look' ok. If not have a look at the setting option in the manual.

To update the prices select the option 'Update Files'.

This will give you a menu with the following :

Update files if	H, L or D	Higher - this will only alter prices that have INCREASED. Lower - any prices that have gone down will be altered. Different - if prices have gone either way. The Lower and Different option WILL result in YOUR prices being decreased if they are now cheaper!
Price diff:	.01	Will update if more than this amount, if set to 0.10 then only prices changed by 10 pence will be listed.
Update or list	U or L	If you just want to list the changes then L. To update the prices select U. The 1st time you use the option we recommend you use List just so you can see what the system will do.
Screen or Printer	S or P	Screen to display the list P to print the list.
Supplier code:	0	If you are using multiple supplier for similar items (e.g. the Supplier Ref is the same) then enter the number of your supplier. The default is supplier '0' which will ignore the supplier code completely and just look at the supplier reference.
Check for Duplicate	Yes or No	Indicates that you have more than one stock item with the same supplier reference.

Select the options as required.

When the update is finished it will print a list of any codes that are on your system but not on the disk. This means you can check these items to see if the supplier references are correct.

If you have remote sites that are using Cross updating you can update the prices at the main site and then use the option 'Send to Remote' which will send all the updates over to the branch(s). For this option to work the stock records at the branch must match the main site. e.g. Stock Card 22 = Synulox 250 at the main AND the branch.

Notes on Dunlops/Centaur Web Pickup

You will need to add your user name and password for access to the suppliers web site - if you are not sure of them contact their IT department.

This has only got to be done once.

Once you have them you need to add them to params.txt:

Centaur

   Centaur_url_user =  your-user-name
   Centaur_url_pass =  your-password

Dunlops

   Dunlops_url_user =  your-user-name
   Dunlops_url_pass =  your-password

If you don't add them (or they are wrong) you will get an '401 Authorization Required' message when trying the download.

NVS

Currently you do NOT need any special entries for price updates from NVS. If in the future they require user authorisation then use:

   NVS_url_user =  your-user-name
   NVS_url_pass =  your-password