NOTE: If you have MS Word 2003 or 2007, we recommend you use our standalone version of Abacus, "Abacus SE". For more information, please click here.

The cost for the program is $41. This charge includes all taxes and handling fees. There are no additional charges. If you don't have an email address, we can always send you the unlock code via fax or mail. Just let us know your needs and we will be happy to accomodate you.

If you are upgrading from an earlier version of Abacus, the cost is only $19. Payment must be made by check or money order directly to Abacus Medical Systems, or using the online PayPal system.

I recommend you print out this file and refer to it as you go through the initial installation and operation of the Abacus. The program is really quite simple to use, but we need to go through a few steps to get things set up properly.

But first a message from our lawyers... THIS SOFTWARE AND MANUAL ARE SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. BECAUSE OF THE VARIOUS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS INTO WHICH THIS PROGRAM MAY BE PUT, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED. GOOD DATA PROCESSING PROCEDURE DICTATES THAT ANY PROGRAM BE THOROUGHLY TESTED WITH NON-CRITICAL DATA BEFORE RELYING ON IT. THE USER MUST ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THE PROGRAM. ANY LIABILITY OF THE SELLER WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO PRODUCT REPLACEMENT OR REFUND OF PURCHASE PRICE.

If you don't want to read this whole thing...

To start using Abacus as soon as it's installed, here's all you need to do:
1. Start Word and open a document whose lines you want counted.
2. Next start Abacus by pressing the shortcut key combination, "Ctrl-Shift-A".
3. You will see a nag screen asking if you want to prepare an order form; for now, click on "No". You will then see a "Quick Help" screen with some instructions. Click on "OK".
4. Now the Abacus main screen appears. In the upper left section, choose either to "Count gross lines" or "Count as chars per line". If you choose the latter, it will count characters and spaces at 65 characters per line. You can change this and add more counting options by clicking on "Configure" (more on this later).
5. Click the "Count" button. Abacus now counts the lines in this document and displays it for you to see.
6. Click the "Save Data" button. Abacus now records the line count into the log file.
7. To see what you have just saved, click on "View log file" in the upper right section of the Abacus screen. The log file will open as a text document in Word.

Would you like to count lines in several documents at one time? Change your counting options and save them? Learn how to configure the log file? Create an invoice from a log file? To learn about the many more options Abacus offers, to get answers to questions about installation and operation, or just to explore the program's many features -- read on...

How it Works:

The Abacus is an "Add-In" for MS Word (Office) 97, 2000, 2002(XP), (and 2003 and 2007). This means that the program was written in the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) programming language, and that means it can only be run from within Word. It is not a freestanding program, and you cannot use it unless Word is already running.

If you downloaded and unzipped the file "abacus30exe.zip"; and ran the unzipped file "abacus30.exe", the program files should already be installed. There are no other installation steps you need to take. If the files are correctly installed (i.e., if you received no error messages during installation), you can skip down to the section entitled "Starting the Abacus". You should have a program group with icons for this Readme file and the Uninstall program. There is no icon for the Abacus because you start the Abacus only after first starting Word, and from Word.

If you run the file "abacus30.exe", it will not start the Abacus program and will not start counting lines in your Word documents. This is just the installation program. After you run it, a message will be present on the installation program's main screen. This message will notify you that either the installation was successful or unsuccessful. If successful, you should skip on down to the section entitled "Starting the Abacus". If unsuccessful, you can email us so that we can help you manually install the Abacus files.

Installation:

If you did not see any error messages during installation, the setup process has probably completed successfully. You may be looking on your Windows desktop for the Abacus icon so you can run the program, but you won't find one -- that's not how it works. If there is an icon on your desktop, it is for the installation program, the uninstall program, this ReadMe file, or the backup program.

If you downloaded the ZIP file ("abacus30.zip"), you will find that it contains 3 files: "abacus.dot", "abacus30.dll", and "readme.htm" (this file). Since the ZIP file contains neither an install nor uninstall program, you will need to install the files manually. To do so, just follow these simple steps using My Computer or another file management program:

There are two main Abacus files that do all the work. One is named "abacus30.dll". It resides in your "windows" directory (folder), and works in the background. You never need to deal with it. (If you are using Windows NT/2000, the file is in the "winnt" directory). The other file is named "abacus.dot", and this is the guts of the Abacus program. But you don't start it by itself. That's because it is an MS Word "add-in" file, meaning that it works only when Word is working, and can be started only from within Word, just like a Word macro. The "abacus.dot" file should be located in your Word "startup" folder so that Word knows to run it each time that you start Word. Therefore, since the Abacus is already running when you start Word, you just need to know how to get Abacus to do its work for you. And for those details you need to skip down to the section entitled "Starting the Abacus".

Here are the typical default folder (directory) locations for the file "abacus.dot":
Word 97 and 2000: "c:\program files\microsoft office\office\startup"
Word 2002: "c:\program files\microsoft office\office10\startup"

Q: "Hold the phone! I can see the names "abacus" and "abacus30", but I don't see the extensions "dot" and "dll" when I look at these files using My Computer. Why not?"
A: If this is the case, you need to tell My Computer to show you the file extensions. This is usually turned off by default in Windows XP and 2000, so we need to turn it back on. This is a simple thing to do. Open My Computer and then click (on the menu bar) on "Tools->Folder Options" and select the "View" tab. Then locate the checkbox that says "Hide file extensions for known file types". Uncheck this box and then click on "Apply" and "OK", and then close the Folder Options screen.

Other Files and Uninstallation:

When you first start the Abacus it creates more files, and they will all be located in the "c:\abacus" directory. The Abacus makes a file named "abacus.ini" to store its default user configuration preferences, and a default log file named "abacus.log" to hold your line counts. When you create new log files, it is best to keep them in this directory as well. ("Default" means the files Abacus will use unless you tell it otherwise. For more on this, read on.)

During Abacus installation, a program group and icons are created. You should find an icon for this help file and another icon for the uninstall program. To remove Abacus from your computer, double click on the uninstall icon and the Abacus files will be deleted from your computer.

Restoring an older version of Abacus:

If you upgraded from version 2.1 of Abacus and wish to return to that version, here are the steps to take:

Starting the Abacus:

If the Abacus ("abacus.dot") is installed in Word's startup folder, the program will start up automatically each time you start Word. It can only be run from within Word. You can't save a Word document, exit Word, and then use the program to count the lines.

Because Abacus is a word "add-in" (like a very large macro), the first time you run Word with Abacus installed it MAY treat Abacus as a hostile file -- such as a virus -- and warn you. If this happens, you will see a screen that says:
"c:\...\office\startup\Abacus.dot" contains macros by Abacus Medical Systems"
At the bottom of this screen is a checkbox that says:
"Always trust macros from this source"
You should check this checkbox, and then click on the button that says Enable Macros.
This entire process is built into Word by Microsoft in order to protect you from viruses that can be introduced by macro programs and add-ins.

Once you are working in Word and have prepared a document (or documents) whose lines you want to count, you need to start the Abacus. Remember, Abacus is already loaded into the computer's memory, but now we have to wake it up and tell it to go to work. You start Abacus by pressing the default hotkey combination, Ctrl-Shift-A. Doing this makes the Abacus main screen appear.

There are several other ways of starting Abacus, such as assigning a different hotkey combination, putting Abacus on a toolbar or menu, or using the Macros box. Please consult your Word documentation for more information and instructions if you prefer to start Abacus using one of these techniques.

Operation:

Counting a single file and using the Abacus main screen:

Once you have a document open in Word and ready for line counting, just start the Abacus (Ctrl-Shift-A) and click on its "Count" button. It will count the lines in the open document and report the answer to you. Notice the Line Counting Options section. Here you can specify if you want to count:
1. headers and footers (as gross lines), gross lines, or all three;
2. just text that you have selected (highlighted); or
3. lines by counting characters and dividing by a "Number of characters per line" value (see next 2 paragraphs).

At the bottom of the screen the date is automatically displayed for you. The program uses today's date, but you may change it if need be, such as if you want to use an earlier dictation date. You can also enter a name -- perhaps the person who dictated the report, or the subject of this dictation. By default, the Abacus enters the open filename for you. One exception: For the "Count selected text" line counting option, the first selected line is assumed to be the name you want to use, and is automatically inserted. If it isn't what you want, just delete it and replace it with the name of your choice. After the line count is done, to save the data click on the "Save Data" button and the program will save the name, date, and number of lines counted in a special file named "abacus.log" in the directory (folder) named "c:\abacus". To view the contents of this log file, just click on the button "View log file". You can then edit the file, print it out, delete its contents, add up it's total number of lines, or just leave it be. New entries are always added on. Nothing is erased unless you do it. You can use this log file for billing purposes, or if you would like to prepare a more formal looking invoice, you can run the "AbacusMakeInvoice" macro to prepare and invoice from a log file.

Let's look at our two major counting methods in a little more detail.

Count gross lines: A gross line is nothing more that a line with text on it... any text. If you choose to count gross lines and a line has only 1 visible character, it will count as a line of text, just as would a line that has a full line of text. A blank line (just a carriage return) or a line of spaces and tabs will not be counted as a gross line.

Count as chars per line: Since many transcriptionists like to base their counts on a fixed number of characters per line (usually 65), you can also count the number of characters in a document and then divide. Just click in the middle of the Abacus main screen where it says "Configure" in red text, and another screen will open. This Configuration Options screen has 4 tabs. For our counting purposes, select the tab entitled "Counting options". Here you can determine if you want to use the 65 character per line constant, or change it to another of your choosing. Choose also whether you want to count just visible characters or count visible characters plus:

You will also note one other option. The checkbox, "Only count when turned on/off", applies only to counting bold, italicized, underlined, and capitalized characters. Here's what happens when you select this option. If you choose to count bold words, the program will add 2 characters each time your text changes from bold to nonbold state, and each time it changes from nonbold to bold state. This same rule holds for italicized and underlined text. This will also apply to headers and footers if you have elected to include them in your count. If you do choose to count words that are bold, italicized, or underlined, the counting process will be a bit slower -- so select them only if you are sure you need them! You don't have to select or deselect all 3 options together.

Example 1: Assume the word 'Abacus' is typed in bold, the text before and after is not, and you checked "Only count when turned on/off" and count "Bold characters". You will be credited 6 characters for the word itself, plus 1 char for starting a bold word, and 1 more char for switching back to non-bold, for a total of 8 characters. If you uncheck the option "Only count when turned on/off", in the above example you would be credited 6 chars for the word 'Abacus' plus 6 more (1 additional character for each bold letter) for a total character count of 12 characters.

If you also select "Shifted characters", Abacus will count each change to or from the shifted state as 2 characters (just like bold), unless it is counting a single shifted character -- and in that case it would add only 1 character.

Example 2: The phrase 'the Abacus' would count as 9 characters (for the 9 letters), plus 1 additional char for the capitalized letter 'A'. But if we changed the word to 'THE ABACUS', we would then get credit for 9 characters plus 2 additional chars -- 1 for starting the shifted chars, and 1 more for un-shifting at the end (assuming the text before and after 'THE ABACUS' is not shifted).

If you uncheck the box entitled "Only count when turned on/off", the shifted, bold, italicized, and underlined characters will all be counted. In this situation, for example, the word 'Abacus' would count as 7 characters -- 6 chars plus 1 more for the capitalized letter A. But the word 'ABACUS' would count as 12 chars; 6 for the word plus 6 more for each of the 6 capitalized chars. If you then make the word bold, it would add 6 more chars to the character count, and so on. Therefore counting with the "Only count when turned on/off" box unchecked will give you a much higher count -- but it may not be what you and you client (or employer) agreed on. So we give you two different ways of counting these special characters.

A clarification for those of you who have used the Word Count feature ("Tools->Word Count") built into MS Word. The value for Word's "Characters (no spaces)" is the same as the Abacus count you would get if you just counted characters per line with NONE of the options checked. The MS Word value for "Characters (with spaces)" is the same as the Abacus count you would get if you checked "Spaces" on the "Counting options" tab, but no other checkboxes.

Whether you count gross line or characters per line, Abacus will also count tables, textboxes, endnotes, and footnotes.

A final note about counting hightlighted text. Normally this option is used to count the number of gross lines in text that you have selected by highlighting it. However, you can also count characters using this method. To do so, click on the "Count as chars per line" checkbox, and then while holding down the Ctrl key, click on the "Count selected text" checkbox. Abacus will now count the number of characters in the highlighted text, and divide it by the number of characters per line that you specified in the Options dialog box. If you so specified, it will also use the other counting parameters, such as to count bold, italized, underlined, and shifted characters. If you indicated in the Options screen (Log file options tab) that you want the character count written to the log file, it will do that, too.

Now back to the Abacus main screen...

You will also see on the main program screen a section entitled "File Management". The first button, which says "ReadMe file", will start the "Readme.htm" file (the file you are currently reading), assuming it was placed in the correct folder during the installation process. The second button lets you open the log file for viewing, editing, printing, etc. The third button will delete the log file and all of its contents. Treat this one with respect. The fourth button opens a Statistics screen. This gives you a count of the characters, words, and pages in the open document.

The fifth and final button opens the Batch mode screen, which we will get into shortly.

You have the option of saving all the configuration settings you are using. If you always use the Abacus the same way (such as, always prefer the "Count as chars per line" options, and maybe a specific number of characters per line), click on "Save Settings", and next time you start up the Abacus, it will use these same settings.

To create new log files: You can change log files and create new ones. You may wish to use one log file for Doctor#1, another log file for Doctor#2, and so on. To change log files or to create a new one, click on the text entitled "Current log file". When you move the mouse over this text, the mouse cursor will change into a hand. You will find this toward the bottom of the Abacus main screen. Clicking here opens a file dialog box where you can select the log file you want to use, or just type in the name for a new log file and it will be created for you. If you then want to make this log file your default log file (the one that opens automatically each time you start the Abacus), click on "Save Settings" and Abacus will remember to use this log file until next time you change it. If you are using a log file you created and wish to go back to using the default log file ("abacus.log"), just double click on the log file's name in blue letters next to "Current log file".

To create new user configurations: You can change user profiles and create as many new ones as you wish. You may be counting for different clients or even for different transcriptionists, and may wish to use different configuration settings for each. Here's how you do it:
1. Make a new configuration user file: To do this, click on the text that reads "Current user" at the bottom of the main Abacus screen and the Open dialog box will appear. Type in the name you want to give the new user file, such as Jane.usr, or DrSmith.usr. Notice that the name can be any valid filename (ie, you can't use characters that are unacceptable to Windows). Then click on "OK". Now the new user file is created.
2. Enter the new user configuration information in its file: To do this, after making the new user file (as described above is step 1), click on or enter all the counting options you want to use, such as counting method, batch file default directory (see below for explanation of Batch mode counting), charge in cents per line, etc. Options that can be saved are found on the Abacus main screen, the Batch mode screen, and the Configuration screen.
3. Save the new user configuration file. To do this, just click on "Save Settings" on the Abacus main screen.
Now whenever you want to use this configuration file instead of the default one (which is named "abacus.ini"), just click on the the "Current user" text and then double click on the user filename you want to use (or click once and then click on "OK"). If you want to change back to the original default configuration file ("abacus.ini"), just double click on the name of the current configuration file which is displayed in blue at the bottom of the Abacus main screen.

Counting files in Batch Mode -- counting multiple files:

The Abacus also has the ability to count a series of documents all at once, which we call counting in Batch Mode. To do this you don't have to have a document already open. You can count documents that you previously prepared, and now want to count all at once. To open the Batch mode screen, click on the 5th File Management button (entitled "Batch mode"). Notice that at the top is a dropdown combo box next to the text, "Show file types". Here you can select the file types you want, displayed by their extension. The default extension is "doc", but you can change to any of the other extensions listed, you can use the wildcard designation ("*") which will list all file types, or you can enter an extension of your own. This will then determine which file types will be displayed in the upper of the two larger rectangular listboxes, where it says "Select documents to count".

The next dropdown combo box, also at the top of this screen, lets you choose which directory you want to use to find files to count. When you first start the Abacus, the default directory is "c:\". You can change to a different directory or even a different drive just by typing in the new name, such as "c:\my documents", or "d:\my files" (if you have such a drive and directory on your computer). You can also change the directory by clicking the down pointing arrow on the right hand side of this combo box. This will open up the combo box and display all sub-directories under the directory listed in the top of the combo box. You can also click the folder icon to the right of the arrow, and this will move you up one directory. (For example, clicking on it would move you up from "c:\my documents" to "c:\".) Finally, you can select a new directory or folder on your computer by clicking on the button to the left of the directory's dropdown box (the button with --- in it). By changing the directory via any of these methods or changing the file type, you will change the files that are listed in the file selection box that appears underneath the directory box. Optionally, you can also display files that are in subdirectories of the directory name displayed, as we will read about in the section about the Batch options page.

The next step is to select files from the file selection box (the top large listbox). The selected files - the ones that you place in the lower listbox -- are the ones that Abacus will count for you. To select a file either double click on it or click once on it and then click on "Add"; or to select all files in the file selection box, click on "Add All". The selected files will then appear in the lower listbox. To select a group of files from the upper list box, press the "Ctrl" key and simultaneously click on the desired file's name. Repeat this process for each file you wish to copy to the lower listbox. Then click on the "Add" button and the selected file names will appear in the lower listbox, ready to be counted.

Now... to count the lines in the documents you have selected and transferred to the lower listbox, just click on the button entitled "Begin Count". The Abacus will count the documents one at a time and record the line counts, date, and the name of the document to the log file. You can then switch to a different directory or a different file extention and repeat the same process to count more documents. After Abacus counts these documents, you also have the option of saving that batch of line counts in the log file as a separate subtotal. The log file will still include each individual document's line count as well as the grand total line count for the entire log. Since some transcriptionists need to know their total line count and charge for the day, we have made this option available in the Configuration screen (Batch options page).

When you exit the Batch Mode screen, or for that matter at any time, if you click on "Save Settings" the Abacus will remember the last directory name that you entered in the directory box at the top of the Batch Mode screen, and will start with this directory next time you run in Batch Mode. It also remembers the file extension that you used. If you always keep your documents in the same directory (folder), this will make life very easy for you.

If you prefer to use an "Explorer" type file dialog box when in Batch Mode, to the left of the combo box you will see a small square button with 3 dashes in it. Click on this button and a File Open Dialog Box will appear. You can use it to navigate among directories and select a file. When you do select a file, either by double clicking on it or by highlighting it and then clicking on the "OK" button, the file path and name will then appear in the Batch Mode screen's lower list box, ready to be counted. You can also select other filetypes in this manner, such as files with extensions other than DOC. You can select multiple files by clicking on them while holding down the Crtl key, and then clicking on the "OK" button.

Configuring Batch Mode screen/Batch options page: The Batch Mode screen has 4 additional options available to it. To access them, open the Configuration options screen by clicking on "Configure" on the Abacus main screen or the "Configure" button on the Batch Mode screen. Next click on the "Batch options" tab. Here are your 4 options:
1. You can elect to view files that are in subdirectories under the directory listed in the combo box at the top of the Batch mode screen. This option is not available if you are in the root directory (eg, "c:\" or "d:\"). But if you check this option and elect to use "c:\my documents" as you default directory, the upper list box will list files in the "c:\my documents" directory as well as all files in the subdirectories under "c:\my documents".
2. When filenames and line counts are recorded in the log file, the date is also recorded. By default Abacus records today's date (ie, the date you ran the line count). You can change this so that Abacus records the date the file was created. This may be helpful if you wait and do all your line counts at the end of the month, but want a record of when each dictation was actually transcribed. To activate this feature, just check the second option in the Batch options page.
3. The 3rd option lets you write a subtotal of line counts to the log file. This was discussed in detail earlier in this document. This option will write the subtotal of the batch right after running the batch. So if you run more than one batch in a day, you will have more than one batch subtotal.
4. If you select the 4th option you will make the Batch Mode screen your main Abacus screen. When you start Abacus it will open with the Batch Mode screen rather than the Abacus main screen, and when you click on the "Exit" button it will close the Abacus. If you click on the "Main" button, you will then be taken to the Abacus main screen. We felt this may be a welcome time saver for some users.

A few quick tips about the Batch Mode screen: Double click on a document name in the top listbox, and it will appear in the lower one. Double click on a document name in the lower listbox, and it will be deleted from that listbox. Clear the entire top listbox (and automatically refill it) by changing directories or file extensions. Clear the entire lower listbox by clicking on "Clear All". With either box you can view the file's name without the entire path (drive and directory) by clicking once on the document name (using the left mouse button), and then right clicking on it. This last tip is especially useful if your folder (directory) has a very long name and you can't read the entire thing in the list boxes.

Configuration Options (Click on "Options"):

Counting options page: Use this screen only if you count characters in order to get a line count. Choose what you want to count, and how many characters constitute a line. For additional details, see the above section entitled "Operation".

Log file options page: This page offers five options from which to select. The options all apply to the log file. The first option, "Print character count", allows you to write to the log file the total character count of each document. You should enable this only if you count characters, and make sure it is unchecked if you count gross lines.
Next, you can decide if you want your counting options written to your log file. If you check this checkbox, the log file will report whichever counting options are active at the time you prepare the log file (which may not be the same as the counting options you used when you counted the report. So be careful how you use this one).
The small box on the upper right portion of this screen lets you enter your charge. The charge should be in cents per line, for example 9, or 10.5. Don't use any quotation marks or letters, and don't enter your charge as dollars. The value 10 is OK and will be treated as 10 cents per line, but the value .10 is wrong because Abacus will think you want to charge a tenth of a cent per line.
Underneath the checkboxes is the option to add a space between entries. If you choose to use longer filenames (see "Misc options" page), or want to print the character count in the log file, you may wish to add a blank line between entries, just to clean it up a bit.
Finally, you will see the "Message box" which you can use or ignore. If you put your name and address or a message here, it will be printed at the bottom of the log file after you add up your line counts and calculate your charges (or rather, after the Abacus does all this for you). You are then free to format the log file any way you want. This message will also be printed on the bottom of the invoice, if you choose to create one from a log file.

Batch options page: This screen is used to select batch counting options. There are four options available to you, and they can be enabled by clicking on their checkboxes. For additional details, see the above section entitled "Counting files in Batch Mode".

Misc options page: Finally, we have a miscellaneous section in the Configure options box. It has seven options:
- You can decide if you want to be prompted to save your settings, and if you want sound effects to be used with Abacus.
- Next, by default Abacus displays filenames in the Batch Mode screen (and therefore when written to the log file) in lower case. You can also elect to retain the case of your filenames when listing them in the Batch Mode screen and writing them to the log file by selecting the "Maintain case in filenames".
- On the right side of the screen we have two troubleshooting options.
First, you can elect to use the error file. If you enable this option, a message will be written to the file "error.log" each time you count lines in a file. If errors are found, they will be reported in this log file. If is of use primarily when analyzing problems counting a particular file, but is also available to you if you wish to use it.
Second and THIS IS IMPORTANT, you can let Abacus back up your "normal.dot" file for you. We highly recommend this. A healthy "normal.dot" file is necessary for proper Word and Abacus function. Unfortunately this file can easily become corrupted, especially if Word or Windows is closed incorrectly. But if you check this option, Abacus will make a new backup everyday and save it in the "C:\Abacus\Backup" folder. These backups are name "Abacus00x.dot", where x is a number from 1 to 9. Once the 9th day is reached and Abacus has made 9 daily backups for you, it starts all over with 1 ("Abacus001.dot"). Therefore you will never have more than 9 backups of the "normal.dot" file, and they will never be more than 9 days old. Then if you find that Abacus has stopped working correctly or that you otherwise need to restore a valid "normal.dot" file, just select one of your "Abacus00x.dot" files, rename it to "normal.dot", and use it to replace your corrupt "normal.dot" file.
- After the troubleshooting selections is the option of having Abacus ask you if you want to unprotect documents for counting. This assumes that the documents are protected to start with. If they aren't protected, Abacus ignores this instruction. If documents ARE protected, here's what happens:
If you check this box, Abacus will ask you for a password when it encounters a protected document. It will then unprotect the document, count the lines, and re-protect the document.
If you uncheck this box, Abacus will count the lines of any protected document the best it can. This will usually result in an abbreviated line count for any protected document.
- And the last option, at the bottom of the 'Misc options' page, is that you can also choose to use longer filenames in the log file. In previous builds of the Abacus, you were restricted to using 30 characters in the filename. The name would be followed in the log file by the date and the line count. If you select longer filenames, you can have filenames as long as 75 characters. The date and line count will then be written on the next line. If this makes the log file look too cluttered, you can choose to put a blank line between entries in the log file (see "Log file options" page in the Configurations options box).

A few other things you may want to know about Abacus operation:

1. When you set up your document, you have a number of options how you wish the page layout to appear. You can find these options in the main Word menu under "View". When The Abacus counts lines, it will change the view to "Print Layout", as opposed to "Normal", "Online Layout", etc. It does this so that it can get an accurate header and footer count. When you finish counting, Abacus then changes the layout back to whatever you were originally using.

2. When the Abacus program first starts, it checks with your computer to get today's date, and prints it in the Date edit box at the bottom of the program's main screen. You may change this to any date you wish.

3. When the Abacus first starts in the "Count selected text" mode, it also gets a name to put in the edit box above the date edit box. The name it uses is the first line of the selected text in the current active document. You can always change the text it places in this edit box.

4. To total the number of lines you have saved in the log file, just click on "View log file" and the program will tell you the total line count and ask if you want it printed at the bottom of the page. This is only available after you have registered and paid for the program.

5. When you count lines as "Count as chars per line", headers and footers will be counted the same way as the body of the document. Therefor if you choose to count bold words, it will count bold words in the document and bold words in the headers and footers. The same rule applies to italicized and underlined words, and shifted characters.

6. In the Date box on the main screen, you can change the date's format from "Month, day, year" to "mm/dd/yy" by double clicking on its editbox (the box that holds the date). You can then change back to the other format by double clicking again. You can also delete the date and enter a date of your own choosing.

7. New releases containing minor bug fixes or upgrades are called "builds". When we release a new upgrade, we post it to our web site along with its build number. You can check the build number of your copy of the Abacus by double clicking on copyright message at the bottom of the Abacus main screen.

8. The rules for counting Tables are a bit quirky. A table is organized as a series of rows and columns. Each block within a table is called a "cell". Here's what Abacus does:
Counting gross lines: If the table is in the body of the document (not in the header or footer), as long as the first cell of each row has at least 1 visible character in it, the Abacus will count that row as a line of text. If the table is in a header or footer, Abacus will count how many rows the table has (whether there is anything in the cell or not), and report that as the table's line count.
Counting chars per line: Abacus will just count how many characters there are, just like when counting the rest of the document. It will count shifted, bold, italicized, and underlined characters if you selected them in the counting options configuration box. This applies to both the body of the documents as well as headers and footers.

9. If you right click on the counting option "Count selected text" you may see a messagebox asking if you wish to enable your custom Abacus plug-in. This only applies to those users who have customized versions of Abacus and can otherwise be safely ignored.

Abacus Macros:

The Abacus contains 5 macros. These macro names can be viewed in the Word macros window, which you can open from Word by clicking on "Tools->Macro->Macros->Macros in" and then selecting the file "abacus.dot". You can also access the Macros screen by simultaneously pressing the Macros shortcut key combination, "Alt-F8". Here are the five Abacus macros:

1. "AbacusCountLines". This is the macro that starts the Abacus program.
2. "AbacusLogFile". This macro opens the log file and offers to add up its line counts.
3. "AbacusMakeInvoice". This is the macro you use to make an invoice from a log file. Let's explain this one in a little more detail next. (See below under "Creating an Invoice".)
4. "AutoExec". This macro won't do anything if you click on it. It is a macro that runs automatically when Word first starts.

Creating an Invoice:

You can create an invoice from a log file by running the macro named "AbacusMakeInvoice". To do this, you must first have the log file (that you want to use to make an invoice) open in Word. The Abacus will read the entries in this log file, and create an invoice from them. However, it can only do so using log files that were created with Abacus builds number 020223 or higher. If you try to create an invoice using a log file made by an earlier build of Abacus, either Abacus will refuse to do so or it will create an invoice with errors.

On the other hand if you use this current build of Abacus to create log files, you may then use the "AbacusMakeInvoice" macro to create invoices from the log files Abacus has made. It's quite simple: start Word, open the log file, and run this macro. That's it! Now just edit the invoice if you want (for example, add a message, the client's name, etc.), and it's ready to print and send out. You can save the invoice as a Word document, and spice it up any way you want. Notice it will also write in any message that you have specified (using the Configurations options screen and the Log file options page), and it will write the line counting method.

You can start the AbacusMakeInvoice macro by using the hotkey combination "Ctrl-Shift-I".

How Accurate is the Abacus?

No program (including Word or Windows itself) works perfectly all the time. Software isn't perfect. The Abacus is no exception. Here's what our comparison research has turned up: the most accurate way to count lines is to do it by hand. But then there's human error (you're tired, there are too many lines, you lose track of the count, etc.). MS Word has a built in line counter, but it counts all the blank lines, doesn't count headers and footers, and won't record your results in a log file. Word will also give you a character count, but it will count just the visible characters, or the characters plus spaces. You then have to convert the count to a line count. Also there are other line counting programs. They might make you exit Word in order to do their work, or they may have to save your document in another file format. They may not count shifted characters, hidden characters, or other formatting strokes -- counting methods which you may wish to use. We make all of these options available so you can choose how you want to count. AND THOSE OTHER PROGRAMS ALL COST MORE THAN THE ABACUS. They all take up A LOT more disk space than the Abacus.

So I suggest you try something. Prepare a sample document. Count the lines by hand, count them with Word's built in line counter, count lines with our competitors' products (if they will give you free trial versions), and then count them with our line counting program. See which is most accurate, and decide in which you want to put your faith, fees, and customer's satisfaction.

I have received emails from users comparing Abacus to other line counting programs. Some complain because the other programs give them higher line counts; others complain because Abacus gives them higher line counts. Our position is that our goal is not to give you either the highest or the lowest line count, but to give you the most accurate line count and make a wide range of options available to you. This way you can establish with your clients (or employers, or employees) exactly what you are counting and what you are getting paid to do.

Disclaimer:

Try it free before you buy it. That way you know what you're getting into. Please don't buy without trying it out. We want you to make sure you like it, it works well for your counting needs and style, and it does what you want it to do. We don't want dissatisfied customers so PLEASE TRY IT OUT FIRST. FREE! If you buy it, we assume you have tried it out and it performs to your satisfaction. We don't offer refunds.

No software is perfectly safe or works completely bug free at all times on all computers. However, we have tried to make this program work as it should, and after testing on several systems, it seems to be behaving properly (within the above mentioned limitations). Therefore, the user must assume responsibility for anything and everything that goes wrong. Abacus Medical Systems does not express or imply, nor guarantee, that this program is perfectly safe for your computer. But we will be perfectly happy to answer questions and help out with the use of the program.

Please understand how the Abacus works before you enter into financial arrangements with your clients. There are several ways of counting lines and several differents ways of billing for work done. Be sure that you and your clients are in agreement about how you use the Abacus for billing, and that you understand exactly what the Abacus is -- and isn't -- counting.

How to Purchase the Abacus:

There are 3 ways to buy the Abacus:

1) US Mail: Just mail a check or money order for $41 per copy to:

Abacus Medical Systems
P.O. Box 1445
Templeton, CA 93465

and we will email to you a registration unlock code. When you receive the registration code, you simply start the Abacus, click on the bottom of the program's screen (where you see the copyright message), and the registration dialog box will open. Enter your registration code and click OK, and you're done! And please keep your code confidential.

If you are a registered user of Abacus and are upgrading from any earlier version, the cost in only $10. Just send us a check or money order, and the name under which you originally bought Abacus. We will then email you your new unlock code. You can also pay for the upgrade using PayPal online.

2) Online credit card processor: If you would like to pay via credit card, we have arranged with two credit card processing companies to take your credit card information and process the charge. They then notify us of your purchase, we send the registration code to you via email right away, and you then unlock the program and get rid of those nag messages.

To order the Abacus from NorthStar Solutions you must have a valid email account, and order the product from their internet site (ie, no email, no phone calls, and no snail mail to NorthStar Solutions; just internet credit card orders). You will then order Product # 4413.

You can also order the Abacus from RegSoft.net. You will order Product # 38659. They will also accept online, phone, and FAX orders, but you must obtain a telephone number from them at their web site.

The credit card company will confirm the credit card transaction, notify us immediately, and we send you the registration code via email. The cost is still just $41 for a single user, and remember, that charge includes all taxes and handling fees.

3) Online PayPal: You can pay for Abacus using the online PayPal system. Just log on to PayPay and click on "Send Money". When the "Send Money" screen appears, fill it out as follows:
Recipient's Email: sales@theabacus.biz
Amount ($): 41 (for each copy)
Type: Goods - Non - Auction
In the message area just indicate that you are buying Abacus. If you are upgrading from version 2.1 to version 3.0, the cost is only $19, which can be paid using this same PayPal system.

You can also obtain site licenses from us for extremely reasonable rates. Please contact us directly with your needs, and we will quote you a price. You can also download or view our site license schedule online.

Thanks for your support!

-- Bill Kneeland, Abacus Medical Systems
June, 2010