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                                How Do I  ...... ?                               

Add a New Location   Clear the System Printer
Add a New Vehicle Class Close Files
Archive Contracts Contract Open Parameters (COP)
Archive Files Enter Additional Deposits
Attach Credit Card Reader to a Terminal  Ground Alert Dates and Mileage
Cancel a Reservation Nonrevenue Transfers
Change Class Codes on Due-Back Display Open Contract Accrual Report 
Change Time/Classes of Reservation Summary Chart Open Contract With a Pending Renter
Change Additional Driver Charges Print Pending Renter Contract
Change Prepurchased Gas and Refueling Prices Reference Vehicle Key Codes
Change the Bulletin Board/Hot Sheet Vehicle Auto Status Change
Change the Price of LDW, PAI, PEC, and SLI Vehicle Exchange
Change Young Adult Charges Vehicle Maintenance History
Clear Sort File Vehicle Next Movement Report
Clear Locked Records  

                 

                                  What Do I Do When  ..... ?                            

Contract Archive Program Not Archiving Contracts  "Must Run Post Control Admin Fix" Error Message
"Contract Already Closed" appears on the Vehicle Due Back Report "No Resave of CX1 Allowed" Error Message During Close
DIF File Not Being Created in Report Generator  Pound Signs on Snapshot Display  
Discrepancies Between Snapshot and Due-Back Display Record in Use at Terminal #(XXX)
Field Does Not Print on Report Generator Schedule Not Running
File in Use at Another Terminal  System Locked Message
False File-Full   Terminal Displays Ks When You Type
File Full X71 Error When Closing a Contract
Missing Data for a Specific Day on Unaudited Reports  

 

DBR and EDC Problems 

DBR Error Messages Zero-out Period Rental History
DBR Does Not Print Errors, Shows E Status EDC Batch Interruption at Phase 6c    
DBR Post Created a Blank Sales Journal   EDC Deposit Summary
"Travel Agent Transaction File Full" Message on DBR Report     EDC Errors and Corrections on a Verification Report or Submission  
Unable to Post: Receiving "Syscopy in Use at Terminal #" Message     Kill and Restart PBASE
 

Handhelds 

Handheld Hardware Reset the Handheld Base Unit 
Handheld Terminal Requirements    Restart Handheld Process
Killing the Handheld Process in UNIX  

 

Add a New Location

To add a new location perform the following steps:

Add the location to the location file using the following menu options: 

Version 6:

16-1-2 and 1 (Add)

Version 7:

16-1-2 and 1 (File Maintenance) and 1 (Add)

Complete the information on the first and second screens, then return to the menu.

Set up the DBR-to-GL-translation records for each valid city/location/company combination using menu options 16-1-12. (If you do not set up the DBR-to-GL records, you will get error messages when trying to use the new location.)

 REMINDER: The following files need to be updated when adding a new renting location:

1.

16-1-12 (DBR-to-GL Translation) 

2.

16-4-2 (Snapshot Display) 

3.

20-4-1 (Car Class by City/Location) 

4.

The location file will need to be created with any proper EDC information as needed. 

5.

Be sure to check Rates and Coverage files if they have different amounts per location.

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Add a New Vehicle Class

The following records need to be updated when adding a new vehicle class: 

1.

Car classes available by city/location (20-4-1) 

2.

Customization records=RZ CHART, VC CSA 1, and VC VA1P3 (13-3-3) 

3.

Snapshot Display (16-4-2)  

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Archive Contracts

The menu options for contract archiving are 16-10-1.  The first message you will see begins "Place Current Archive Tape..." At this prompt place your current archive tape in the drive and type S and press enter. (Note that the numbered options are "steps," not menu options.) At the Do You Want to Archive..." prompt, enter Y and press enter.

The next prompt will ask for the date through which you want to archive your contracts. You should have the date last archived through written on your current archive tape. (If you do not and do not now it, call the Orion Help Desk.) Choose a date about one month ahead of the last date used (most systems archive about once a month). Enter the date through which you want to archive and press enter. Enter Y in the Confirm Date prompt if the date is okay (double-check the year). Press enter.

The next few screens are standard print screens. Print to the printer if you want a hard copy of the contracts archived. Watch as the report prints to make sure contracts all say "archived." If you see "not archived" instead, you have a full archive file that needs to be purged.

When the archive is finished, you will be prompted to "Place Current Archive Tape in Drive." The tape should already be in the drive (from above). Press enter. Press enter again to return to the menu. When archiving is complete, remove the tape, record the date through which contracts were archived, and store the tape in a safe place.

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Archive Files

In order for the system to be used efficiently, files should be kept as small as practical. This means that periodi­cally data must be either purged (erased) or archived. When data is purged, it is gone. With con­tracts, the data must be saved, so it is archived. The contracts are transferred to an archive file on disk, then backed up to tape.

All functions needed to archive contracts are found in the Archive Contracts program (16-10). The additional programs are used to look at on-line archives and to download old archives.

The following files are often archived on systems. Not all of these files will have archives on every system. Please check your file usage displays (AA FILES) to determine which of the following files have archives (NOTE: The DB Da1 and DB Dm1 files are not archives. They are unaudited business total files.)

DB CM1

DB AD1

RZ RM1

VC VT1

VI  MR1

 

For example, if you have a DB Cm1, you will archive the DB CM1. If you have a RZ Rm1, you will archive RZ RM1, etc.

The DB CM1 and the DB AD1 files have a special archiving process that is discussed in the Archiving Process portion of this section. The VC VT1 archive is generally menu option 14-7-23 (Vehicle Inventory Control/File Management/Archive Vehicle Transactions). The remaining archives are accessible through menu options or F3 (temporary programs), depend­ing on your system. If you would like to have an archive that is not currently on your system or have an existing archive added to the menu, please contact Orion.

Archiving for the First Time -- 

Contracts must be archived to an on-line archive file which is backed up to an off-line tape.

The process is simple: Insert a blank tape in the drive and choose menu options 16-10-1 (Daily Business System/Contract Archives/Archive Con­tracts). The "Place Current Archive Tape in drive–Ready to Restore" prompt will appear. Since this is the first time you are archiving, the tape is blank and the archive file is empty, so skip this process by pressing s and enter.

After skipping the restore pro­cess, proceed with archiving. Enter the date through which to archive and the archiving pro­cess will be done auto­matically. During the archive process, the contracts to be archived are put in the Cm1 (archive file) and then are deleted from the CM1 (contract master file). A report of the contracts that have been archived is printed automatically. For example: the CM1 has 9,000 records.

When the archive process is complete, you will be prompted to remount the archive tape. The tape should still be in from the skip. Enter Y and press enter. At this time you will be backing up the updated version of the archive file. Label the tape clearly with the date through which the files are archived. Keep the tape in a safe place until the next time you need to archive.

Sequel Archiving

This archiving process is basically the same as the first time you archived. When you are ready to archive, put the most recent archive tape you will be archiving to in the tape drive. Be sure this is the tape you want to restore on top of the on-line archive file. 

To minimize the chances of corrupting the archive platter, we suggest that any tape from which you want to restore be checked before doing the restore process. To check the tape, use the read tape function at menu option 1-2-12 (Control Module/Disk Management & Backup/Read Tape). If the tape can be read, it should restore satisfactorily.

The archive program will ask if you want to restore to the current on-line archive file. Answer Y (yes) if you are using the current partially filled tape. The archived information will be copied back to the Cm1 file and the Cm1 file will be added to during the archive process. All the old and new archived information will then be backed up to the tape again at the end of the archive program.

The reason you want to restore from the current archive tape is that you want to make sure you have the most current archived contracts in the Cm1 file before you archive again. Someone may have restored an old archive tape to the on-line archive platter for researching archived contracts. When the old archive tape is restored, the data in the on-line archive file is written over with the information from the tape being restored. If you do not restore the most current archive tape before you archive again, you could lose data. Answer Y (yes) to restore the current archive tape.

After restoring the tape to the disk, the archive process is the same.

When the archive processes is complete, you will be prompted to remount the archive tape. The tape should still be in from the restore. Enter Y and press enter. At this time you will be backing up all the old and new archived information from the on-line archive file to tape. Label the tape clearly with the date through which the files are archived. Keep the tape in a safe place until the next time you need to archive.

Archive File (Cm1) Full

The Cm1 file on disk will have your current archived on-line contracts. The archive file is usually not initialized until just before the next time you need to archive.

The first step is to make sure you have a current backup of the Cm1 file before you initialize it. The ini­tialize program is used to clear the archive file after the file becomes full and the final archive of contracts is com­plete. Initializing the file lets the next archive process begin by archiving to a 0.00 full file. The archive file must be backed off to a tape backup before this program is run! All records in this file will be erased when it is initialized.

Make sure the backup tape is labeled with the correct dates and put the safe on so that the archived infor­ma­tion cannot accidentally be written over. Archive tapes should be stored in a safe place and clearly labeled so that the tapes are not used for anything else which could permanently lose the archive information.

Choose menu options 32-4-2 (Initialize File/Module Name–DB/Record File Name–Cm1/Company ID–your three-digit company code) CAUTION: Make sure the file name has the lower case m, not a capital M. A beep will sound and a message appear cautioning the operator that all records in the file will be erased. Select Y to continue with the initialization or N to return to the menu. Once the initialization has taken place, you can proceed with the archiving process as if you are archiving for the first time. You must use a new blank tape to backup after the archiving process is completed.

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Attach Credit Card Reader to a Terminal

Change the terminal defaults to accept the credit card input using the following menu options: 

VERSION

MENU OPTIONS

FIELDS

6 and 7

16-6-23 (Daily Business/File Management/Terminal Defaults)

 

#14 (Credit Card Reader)

#15 (Credit Card Server)

7.1

16-1-20 (Daily Business/File Maintenance/Terminal Defaults)

#13 (Credit Card Reader)

#14 (Credit Card Server)

Enter 3 (both tracks) in the Credit Card Reader field.

In the Credit Card Server field enter 0 if you are installing the reader only, with no authorization modem. If you are installing the reader and an authorization modem, enter 1.

Dip switches are present for 9600 baud. If attaching a card reader to a terminal that is running at 19.2, 4800, or 2400 baud, you must change switches 1, 2, and 3 on switch bank A. Switch bank B settings do not need to be changed (the settings are shown for troubleshooting purposes only).

 

Terminal Baud Rate: 9600

Terminal Baud Rate: 4800

Switch Bank A

Switch Bank B

Switch Bank A

Switch Bank B

1

On (down)

On (up)

Off (up)

On (up)

2

Off (up)

Off (down)

On (down)

Off (down)

3

Off (up)

Off (down)

Off (up)

Off (down)

4

Off (up)

On (up)

Off (up)

On (up)

5

Off (up)

On (up)

Off (up)

On (up)

6

Off (up)

Off (down)

Off (up)

Off (down)

7

Off (up)

On (up)

Off (up)

On (up)

8

Off (up)

On (up)

Off (up)

On (up)

Connect the credit card Y cable to the modem port on the back of the terminal. Plug the system cable into the Y cable. Connect the nine-pin adapter from the Y cable to the reader. Plug in the power supply.

Go into Contract Open. The system should request that you swipe the card before it asks for the reservation number or name.

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Cancel a Reservation

1.

Menu option 17-12 (Reservation Enter/Edit). 

2.

At the Enter Reservation # prompt enter the number of the reservation to cancel. 

3.

After the reservation is pulled up, press SHIFT F5. 

4.

Press enter until you see the TRX Type prompt. 

5.

Change the L to C (cancel). Press enter

6.

Press PRINT/SEND to save the change.

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Change Class Codes on the Due-Back Display

Use menu options 20-4-1-3 (Reservation System/File Management/Summary Car Class/Change). Enter the city/location/company code combination or press F2 to access a list of combinations. Change class codes (fields 4-17) accordingly.

NOTE: If any changes are made to the file, other than initial setup, the  Reset Summary Totals program (20-4-15) should be run to correctly reflect changes on the Reservation Summary Screens.

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Change Time/Classes of Reservation Summary Chart

First, print a customization file list using menu options 13-19 (Orion Scheduling System/Customization File). Enter RZ CHART in the high and low range fields. The customization file list will detail the contents of the Data field of the 13-3-3 screen.

Use menu options 13-3-3 (Orion Scheduling System/Customization File/Change). Enter RZ CHART in the Program field.

Enter/change data according to the customization file list.

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Change Additional Driver Charges

Access the customization file (Scheduling System/Customization File/Change (13-3-3)). Type (all capital letters) ADDLDRVR and press enter. Four items will appear on the data line. It is extremely important that you do not change the spacing between the items on the data line.

The items shown are:

    Item 1: D or F, indicating daily (D) or flat (F) charges

    Item 2: The grace period in minutes

    Item 3: The daily or flat dollar amount charged

    Item 4: The description of the charge

To make a change, enter 2 at the Enter Item # to Correct prompt and press enter. The cursor will move to the data line. Use your arrow keys to position the cursor on the item you want to change. After the change has been made, press enter until the main menu appears on the screen.

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Change Prepurchased Gas and Refueling Prices

Access the customization file (Scheduling System/Customization File/Change (13-3-3)). Type (all capital letters) GAS and press enter. Two items will appear on the data line. It is extremely important that you do not change the spacing between the items on the data line.

The items shown are:

    Item 1: Refueling price at contract close

    Item 2: Prepurchase gas price

To make a change, enter 2 at the Enter Item # to Correct prompt and press enter. The cursor will move to the data line. Use your arrow keys to position the cursor on the item you want to change. After the change has been made, press enter until the main menu appears on the screen.

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Change the Bulletin Board/Hot Sheet

To change the bulletin board use menu options 9-7. Delete the old message by holding down the SHIFT key and pressing F10 until all of the old text is gone. When all text has been removed, begin typing the new message. Press PRINT/SEND when your new message is completed in order to save it.

To change the hot sheet (the hot sheet appears in Contract Open and Reservation Entry) use menu options 9-7. And press F1. Delete the old message by holding down the SHIFT key and pressing F10 until all of the old text is gone. When all text has been removed, begin typing the new message. Press PRINT/SEND when your new message is completed in order to save it.

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Change the Price of LDW, PAI, PEC, and SLI

You may be able to change the price of various coverages if these coverages are stored in the LDW/PAI file.

Select menu options 16-1-9-2 (Daily Business/File Maintenance/LDW/MDW/PAE Rates/Print List). Leave the sort screen blank, and print to your printer.

Check the list to see if the coverages you want to change are listed. If so, select 16-1-9-1 (Daily Business/File Maintenance/LDW/MDW/PAE Rates/File Maintenance). Select Change. Pull up each record individually and change the price. Return and do the next record until you have finished all records on the printout.

If the price is still not printing or charging correctly, call the Orion Help Desk.

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Change Young Adult Charges

Access the customization file (Scheduling System/Customization File/Change (13-3-3)). Type (all capital letters) YNGADULT and press enter. Five items will appear on the data line. It is extremely important that you do not change the spacing between the items on the data line.

The items shown are:

    Item 1: D or F, indicating daily (D) or flat (F) charges

    Item 2: The grace period in minutes

    Item 3: The cutoff age for young adult charges

    Item 4: The daily or flat dollar amount charged

    Item 5: The description of the charge

To make a change, enter 2 at the Enter Item # to Correct prompt and press enter. The cursor will move to the data line. Use your arrow keys to position the cursor on the item you want to change. After the change has been made, press enter until the main menu appears on the screen.

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Clear Sort File

There are times while running reports when the sort file (the file used to sort the records into the order you request) becomes locked or assigned to a specific terminal. This normally occurs if, when printing the report, the connection with the system is lost or for some reason the print job gets an error. Most of the time, when the report locking up the sort file is printed, the sort file will be cleared and can be used by the next report.

 There are, however, times when the sort file becomes locked in a certain terminal and must be cleared. There are several reasons this happens:           

1.

The connection to the terminal using the sort file was cut off, not allowing the process to exit cleanly. 

2.

The person printing the report decided they didn’t want the report and pressed home to exit.

A message (Sort File In Use–Re-enter) appears indicating that the sort file is in use. In order to deter­mine which terminal was/is using the sort file), go to menu options 32-1-3-3.

Before clearing the sort file so you can use it, make sure it's not being used by someone else. Look­ing at your map of where each ter­minal number is located will help you determine who/where the sort file was locked.

If the sort file actually was locked, you will need to clear it. To clear it, select the sort file to clear, write down the device number, press F9 to remove the number, and press enter.

You can now select the same sort file and enter the number of the device that was removed. Re­mem­­ber to enter the identical device number in order for the sort file to be used. If you enter an incorrect device number, an error message telling you the sort file is too small or doesn’t exist will appear whenever you try to use the sort file. To avoid this, always write down the device number that you are removing before actually removing it.

The sort file screen will auto­matically fill in 0 for the Terminal Assigned and N in Background. After clearing and re-entering the device number, enter -1 to save and return to your menu. You should now be able to print your report.

If a sort file locks continually, call the Help Desk. It may be a different, more complex problem. Before calling, try to have a history of the terminal number(s) that locked the sort file(s), as well as what was being done at the terminal which locked the file.

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Clear Locked Records

At times, a record will be retained in the last terminal that accessed it. When this happens, you will see the message Record in use at Term XX. To correct this, press F3 from any menu. The following prompt will appear:

ENTER NAME OF PROGRAM TO LOAD ______       FUNCTION CODE ____

 Enter $$ CLEAR and press enter. Press enter at the Function Code prompt, leaving it blank. At this point, you will be prompted for the module, file name, and company code. Enter the module and file name that con­tains the record you are trying to access. In most cases, the company code will default. You will then be prompted to enter the key to clear. Enter the key to the record you want to access.

 ENTER KEY TO CLEAR [’  ’–EXIT] ---> 00123456         

1)

Module Name [’blank’ if DONE]

DB

2)

Record File Name

CM1

3)

Company ID

DMO

NOTE: This program requires leading zeros or spaces if they are included in the record because it will not right justify. For example, to clear a contract held at another terminal, the module (DB), file name (CM1), and default company code are needed. If the contract number is 123456, note that two spaces are left blank since the contract number field is an eight-character field. In this case, the contract number would need to be entered as 00123456 in order for the $$ CLEAR program to find it.  

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Clear the System Printer

If you get a "Printer is use" error and no one is using the printer, clear the queue from the system printer. Someone may have sent a report to the printer and then HOME'd out. The printer does not know whether to print the report.

Use menu options 32-1-4-3. Enter the number assigned to your system printer and go to the Use By column. Press F9 to remove the number.

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Close Files

Use the close files program overcome file access conflicts. It’s set up in the direct menus access and can be run from any menu screen. To run close files, type CLS in the prompt where you would normally enter the menu option number or press F3 to enter temporary programs and enter AA CLS 1.

Enter Program [blank  for PREVIOUS] ---> CLS

 The Close Files screen will appear and prompt for the module name, file name, and company code of the file you need to close. Enter the information and press All files in the Accounts Payable (AP) module after each entry. If all information is cor­rect, press All files in the Accounts Payable (AP) module at the enter ITEM TO CORRECT prompt. The file will be closed and a blank Close Files screen will appear. Repeat the process for any alternate keys associated with the file.         

1)

Module Name [‘blank’ if DONE]

VI

2)

File Name

MRI

3)

Company ID

DMO

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Contract Open Parameters (COP)

Whenever you work on the system’s data files, it’s a good idea to finish by running contract open para­meters (COP). This can be done from any menu by typing COP where you would normally enter the menu option number.

Enter Module [blank  to ENDS] ---> COP

The Reset Contract Rapid File Open Parameters screen will appear. Enter Y at the "DO YOU WANT TO RESET RAPID FILE OPEN PARAMETERS" prompt and press enter.

 * * * * * RESET CONTRACT RAPID FILE OPEN PARAMETERS * * * * *

DO YOU WANT TO RESET RAPID FILE OPEN PARAMETERS ---> Y

A standard print screen will appear, where you can elect to print to the screen or printer. All open para­meters will be reset when enter is pressed to leave the print screen. When the parameters have been reset, the screen will display a Contract Opening Parameters screen.

Do you want to Close All Files ---> Y

Enter Y and press enter at the "Do you want to Close All Files" prompt. Close information will be sent to the screen, not to the printer. When all files have been closed, the screen will display a car rental menu screen.

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Enter Additional Deposits

From the Counter Agent Control Menu: 

1.

Select Contract Extension (9). Enter your agent ID, password, and the contract number. 

2.

You will see a small box with options on the right side of the Extend Authorization on Contract screen. 

3.

Select 3 (Add Cash Deposit). Most of the prompts will default with the correct information. 

4.

At the Deposit Type prompt, enter CA for cash. 

5.

Enter the dollar amount of the deposit. 

6.

Press enter at the Reference prompt. 

7.

The prompt will then jump to the top of the screen. Select D (deposit) and press ENTER.

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Ground Alert Dates and Mileage

In 14-1-4 you can enter grounding and alert dates, mileage, or both. You can then run a management report (14-3-6) to plan your turnbacks and sales.  

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Non-Revenue Transfers

Beginning Location

Enter the Vehicle Status Change program using menu option 17-21 or type V from any menu prompt.

Enter your agent ID and password (if required).

Press F8 (Nonrevenue transfer BEGIN)

Enter the number of the vehicle beginning the nonrevenue transfer.

Respond to the prompts. The damage prompt refers to any current damage to the vehicle.

Print the transfer ticket to give to the driver.

Ending Location

When the vehicle is delivered to the transfer location, that location will need to:

Enter the Vehicle Status Change program using menu option 17-21 or type V from any menu prompt.

Enter their agent ID and password (if required).

Press F5 (Nonrevenue Transfer END)

Enter the number of the vehicle ending the nonrevenue transfer.

Respond to the prompts.

There is no reason to print the ending nonrevenue transfer ticket.

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Open Contract Accrual Report

The Open Contract Accrual Report (16-9-1–Daily Business/Monthly/Open Contract Accrual Report) shows revenue accrued for rental agreements still open as of the accrual date entered. This report is used by companies doing accrual-based accounting and can also be used to monitor deposits on cash rentals.

This report provides an excellent means to locate contracts that have had vehicles removed improperly.

The report calculates open and closed contracts, ignoring void contracts. If two rates are entered on the contract, the second rate is used to calculate the accrued revenue. If the number of dates to accrue is one to four, the system uses the daily rate; five to seven days, the weekly rate; and over eight days, a combination of the daily and weekly rates.

Today's date defaults in the prompt. If correct, press enter. If incorrect, enter the date through which to accrue revenue and press enter.

After entering the accrual date, the sort screen appears. The dates default according to the accrual date entered. To change any setting(s), select the option by entering the number and pressing enter. Enter the new setting and press enter. When the settings are as you want them, leave the entry field blank and press enter.

Select and verify the print option you want. Press enter to access the print command screen. Since you will probably want a hard copy of this report, make sure the disposition is set to P (printer). To begin printing, leave the entry field blank and press enter.

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Contract Open with a Pending Renter

Sometimes referred to as "advanced open," pending renter is used primarily when there is a shortage of vehicles. Pending renter lets a CSR complete a rental agreement, with the exception of the vehicle data. The contract is saved in the pending renter file for retrieval at a later time.

When opening a contract, complete all prompts prior to the Enter Vehicle or License # prompt. Press SHIFT F9. This causes the system to skip the vehicle information and let you continue from rate entry and the fuel purchase option and coverages. When the contract is complete, press SHIFT F13 if using a Wyse terminal or CTRL F1 if using a PC to save the contract in the pending renter file.

Retrieving the contract: From the contract open prompt press SHIFT F13 if using a Wyse terminal or CTRL F1if using a PC. Press enter for a general search. Use the arrow keys to select the appropriate customer. The contract will be brought back to the vehicle entry point. Enter the vehicle information and press PRINT/SEND to save and print the contract.

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Print Pending Renter Contracts

Should the need arise to print a copy of a contract saved in the pending renter file:

At the Enter Last Name/Customer #/Rez # prompt of Contract Open press SHIFT F13 if using a Wyse terminal or CTRL F1 is using a PC and press ENTER (for a general search) to access a list of pending renters. Write down the contract number(s) of the contract(s) you want to print. Press HOME to exit the list. Press ENTER again to return to the Counter Agent Control menu. Select menu option 4 (Reprint) and print the contracts selected.

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Reference Vehicle Key Codes

Go into any status change menu option, e.g., 17-21 (Counter Agent Control Module/Status Change). After entering your agent ID and password, press F3. A key code inquiry screen will appear. Enter the vehicle or license number to be researched.

If a key code has been entered in the vehicle master record, it will be displayed.

Press HOME once to return to the Counter Agent Control menu  

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Vehicle Auto Status Change

This program lets you automatically change the status of a vehicle to a status other than 07 (available-dirty) when the contract is closed. The program only affects vehicles on contracts that are currently open.

Use menu options 14-5-2 (Vehicle Inventory Control/Maintenance & Repair/Auto Status Change).

Enter the vehicle number, the status you want to change to at the time of contract close, a description of the work to be done on the vehicle, and the date the vehicle is to be pulled in for maintenance.  

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Vehicle Exchange

The vehicle exchange program (17-5–Counter Agents System/Vehicle Exchange) is used to change vehicles on a rental contract. Most information for the original vehicle appears on the screen when you enter the program. The items that require information appear one at a time at the top of the screen or as each window is displayed.

If changing one item, for example, the status code, and the replacement vehicle information is correct, enter the new code and press ENTER to go to the next field. Once ENTER is pressed, the PRINT/SEND key can be pressed to save the vehicle exchange information.

When vehicle exchange is selected, you will be prompted to enter your agent ID and possibly your password. The Agent ID # prompt appears only if the main agent field is blank in the terminal defaults record for the terminal. Otherwise, the "Enter Contract #" prompt appears. The agent's name appears in the upper right corner of the screen, and the hot sheet appears at the bottom of the screen.

Enter the contract number and press ENTER to access the vehicle exchange screen. At the "Enter REPLACEMENT Vehicle # or License #" prompt enter the appropriate number. When the new vehicle is entered, the exchange information defaults in the in/due fields of the original vehicle and the out fields of the replacement vehicle. The original in/due information from the first vehicle is transferred to the in/due fields of the replacement vehicle. 

If any messages were added to the contract using 17-7 (Counter Agents System/Messages), they appear after entering the contract number and pressing ENTER. 

The screen appears with the current date and time and the out city and location. If the vehicle is past due at the time of the exchange, "Warning!!! Contract Overdue! Due Back–MM/DD/YY" appears. To remedy this situation, either extend the contract or close the existing contract and open a new contract for the customer. 

To change information on the vehicle exchange screen, you must select the appropriate window. To select the exchange/original vehicle information or return to the beginning of the exchange vehicle information, press SHIFT+F2. To select the replacement vehicle information or edit the secondary vehicle information, press SHIFT+F3. In either case, the first field of the window appears. Scroll through the fields by pressing ENTER until you access the field you want to change. 

When you have made the changes, press PRINT/SEND to save them. The system will ask for the next contract number, assuming that multiple exchanges are being entered. Enter the next contract number and press ENTER to continue. If no more exchanges are to be entered, press HOME to return to the daily operations menu.

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Vehicle Maintenance History

This program is used to display the maintenance/repair history for a specific vehicle. Use menu options 14-5-5 (Vehicle Inventory Control/Maintenance & Repair/Vehicle History).

Enter the number of the vehicle for which you want to see the maintenance history and press ENTER. The next prompt asks were to direct the schedule. To view the information on the screen, leave S in the entry field and press ENTER. To print the information, enter P before pressing ENTER. If P is entered, the print options and print command screens will follow.

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Vehicle Next Movement Report

This is a very useful report. It lists vehicle and rental agreement information for contracts on a written status. It's looking at the next transaction for the vehicle/contract that is not consistent with proper procedures.

An example would be a vehicle that went from on-rent on one contract to being on-rent on another contract without being in an available status.

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Contract Archive Program Not Archiving Contracts

If the program does not select any contracts during the sort, double-check the archive date. Are there still contracts on file for this date or were they archived previously. A quick way to check the last date archived is to choose Archive Inquiry and enter the contract number shown as "last added" at the top of the screen. The DBR closed date on the contract should give you an estimate of the last archive date used.

If contracts were selected but the printout shows "not archived," there is probably a file full or a false file full. Return to the menu, press F3, and type AA FILES. Enter DB as the function code and press enter. Print to the screen. Check the Cm1 and Ad1 file sizes. If the Pct column shows 100% for either of these files, you need to purge the archive files. (Contact the Orion Help Desk for further information if you are not familiar with this process.) If the files are not full, you may need to rebuild the index on the archive files. Contract the Orion Help Desk.

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Contract Already Closed Message on Overdue Report

The "Contract Already Closed" message appears for one of two reasons:

1.   The rental agreement was closed off-line and the question to update the vehicle's status was answered N. Reporting potential problems that the vehicle shows on rent, but is not with the proper rental agreement number. 

2.   The rental agreement was opened off-line and the question to update the vehicle's status was answered N. The vehicle status was changed manually to 10, but the rental agreement number on that vehicle was not updated.

The report looks at all cars with a status of 10 or 11. It then extracts the rental agreement number in that vehicle's contract number field. It tries to get the Contract record accordingly. If the rental agreement number is closed, that is reported because you potentially have a missing car.

If a vehicle prints on the Due Back Report as overdue and also shows "Contract Already Closed," you need to go into status change to update the status record to show the date and time the contract was closed and the correct status. The contract was closed off-line and the status was not updated correctly on close. If the status record has the correct information, call the Orion Help Desk so we can check for duplicate status records.

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DIF File Not Being Created in Report Generator

If you are printing to DIF format but the file is not being created, double-check the path and name for the file listed as "System Filename to print to." The path /tmp/file defaults, but you can change the path and file name, such as /tmp/report1.

If this is correct, make sure you set "S" (screen) as the disposition on the print options screen. (You must print to the screen to create a DIF file.) 

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Discrepancies Between Snapshot and Due-Back Display

The due-back display and the due back report use the Due/In Location field for its calculations and Snapshot uses the Current Location field for its count. Snapshot also includes overdues in the due-today column (Call the Orion Help Desk for a program request change to eliminate this.)

Therefore, if the renting location and the return location are different, a discrepancy will occur.

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Field Does Not Print on Report Generator

If a field is not printing on a report generator report, select option 1 (List Report) on the report generator menu to print a copy of the report setup. Enter D (detail) and the three-letter code for the report as the high and low range for item 1 (Report ID). Check each field name on the report against the field list to make sure each is spelled correctly. Verify that the module and file name are correct on the sort screen.

If you have a report using two files, make sure you have opened the second file before trying to print the field. You should have two columns, one labeled "open file," and one labeled with the correct column heading.  If you have completed both steps, verify that you have entered the correct module and file name. Next, verify that N has been entered for Other File? for the first column and Y to Other File? for the second column. If everything appears to be correct, fax a copy of the report setup to the Orion Help Desk.

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File in Use at Another Terminal

Issue CLS (close files) command from any menu. Enter the module, file, and company code. This will close the file at all terminals.

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False File-Full

If the system is giving a message that a file is full but when you check file usage it shows the file is not full, rebuild the index on the file (see "Rebuilding Files"). Before running a rebuild, make sure that users are locked out of the system since additional file corruption might occur.

After rebuilding the index, try the activity you were doing prior to rebuilding the index. If the problem persists, contact the Orion Help Desk.

There are two reasons a false file-full occurs: corruption in the integrity of the “delete chain” or corruption in the file index, both of which produce false file-full errors in programs.

In order to take appropriate corrective action, you need to determine where the corruption occurred by running the AA ISAM program. Access the AA ISAM program through temporary programs (F3) or through menu options 32-4-25 (Analyze Delete Chain).

How to Use AA ISAM

Use the following steps to run the AA ISAM program: 

          1.   Before you begin, close files. Run the temporary program (F3); type in AA CLS 1; no Function Code; type in the module name, file name, and company code. NOTE: You may have to lock the system to run the AA ISAM program. It depends on the file you are accessing. 

          2.   Enter AA ISAM from temporary programs (F3) or menu options 32-4-25. 

          3.   Enter the file name to view. The file name must be entered with the module name first, then the file name and the company code; e.g., ARTX1DMO. 

ENTER FILE NAME TO VIEW ---> ARTX1DMO

           4.   The next screen shows the file parameters. You may need to check to see if the next record number is higher than the maximum records. If so, continue running AA ISAM. If the num­ber of key sectors is equal to the highest block used, press HOME and rebuild the index. The "Polling file parms every second–any key to stop" prompt appears at the top of this screen. Press enter

            Two examples are illustrated: One file “create new delete chain” and the other file needs to be rebuilt. 

            If the file does not appear to need rebuild­ing or have a new delete chain created and you have checked the file in AA FILES to verify that it is not actually full (see File Full), rebuild the file. 

            If the AA ISAM indicates that the file needs a new delete chain created, pro­ceed with the ISAM direc­tions (below). Other­wise, rebuild the file using the instructions provided in Rebuilding Files. Before actually running the de­lete chain, verify if users need to be locked out of the system for work to be done on the file.