IVDI - DATABASE INQUIRY

To open IVDI, press <Alt M> ("Menu") and follow the Menu path illustrated below, then press <Enter>, or simply enter <IVDI> in the "Enter Program Name" field and press <Enter>.

CONSOLIDATED

Distributors Database Consolidated With Christian Books & More (CB&M) Database

This option searches the distributor database, as well as the CB&M database, by description (title), author, key word(s), item number, barcode number, subject category, or vendor/publisher.  After making an entry in a search field, select Search=F5 to begin the search.

Desc

• If you enter the exact title, and the item is in the database, the item will be displayed and highlighted at the beginning of the list.
• If you enter only part of the title, or a title that is not in the database, the items will be displayed in alphabetical order by title, beginning with the closest alpha item.

Note:  Foreign language books can be searched in the Consolidated database by entering <FL-> in this field and pressing <F5>.  This will search out all foreign language books in the CB&M database and any foreign language books that can be interpreted as foreign from information provided by the distributors.  (You may also enter FL- plus a specific language, such as German, to search for titles in that specific language.)

Author

• Search by entering the author’s name, consistent with the way authors’ names are entered in the distributor database. (Example: Smith John or Smith J)
• Items by the author found in the database will be grouped together.

Note:   At the inquiry screen, you can further limit your search by title or author by pressing <F4> and typing the first few letters of the title or author, which will move the list to that alphabetical range.

Key Word(s)

• Search by entering a word that is known in a title.  If two words are known, it will help limit the search.

Example:    The words "choice happiness" will find only titles with happiness and choice in the title.

• Items found that include the word(s) in the title will be listed in numerical order, by item number.

Item #

• Search by entering the item/ISBN number.
• If the item is in the database, it will be displayed and highlighted at the beginning of the list.

Barcode #

• Search by entering the barcode number.
• If the item is in the database, it will be displayed and highlighted at the beginning of the list.

Category

• Search by subject category.  (Example: CC=Christian Classics)
• If you do not know the subject category code, press <F3> to look up.
• Items in the database with the subject category will be grouped together on the list.

Vendor/Pub

• Search by entering the letters that represent the vendor/publisher.

(Example:    ZON = Zondervan)

• If you do not know the vendor letter code, press <F3> to look up.
• Items in the database from this vendor/publisher will be grouped together on the list.

Note:   The distributor database will do a Boolean search in all fields.  When choosing the way you want to search the database, you may limit the search by putting in a search, followed by an asterisk, then tab or arrow down to the next way you want to search, enter the search and select Search=F5.

Example:    Enter SWIND* in the author field, tab down to the category field and enter CL, then select Search=F5.   This will search for Christian Living books that have been written by Swindoll.

 

Finding and highlighting an item in the inquiry list box allows you to view information on the screen, such as price, publisher, binding, etc.

Note:   The letter to the right of the Retail Price indicates the source of the listing information as follows:

Note:   The letters to the right of the title indicate:

Options at Bottom of Screen

Add'l Info=F2

If additional information is available for the item, this option will allow you to view the information.

Order=F6

This option allows you to make a special order of the item.

Distrib.=F7

Shows which distributors carry the item, as well as distributor pricing and discount information.

Lost Sale=F8

Will keep a record of lost sales when the requested item is not in stock and the customer does not order.  Enter the number of units of lost sales and select Save=F5 to record the lost sale, or Cancel=Esc to skip.  (Run the IVMS ["Missed Sales"] program "Report" option to view or print a report of lost sales and the "Clear File" option to clear the lost sale information in the file.)

IVM=F9

At the IVM screen, enter the category and the min/max levels, then press <F5> and Save, to add the item to your inventory.

Transfer=F18

If you are searching IVDI from Point of Sale or when making an order, this option allows you to transfer the item to the POS transaction or the order.

Branches=F12

Multi-Store Feature - Allows you to see if the item is carried by other stores and if so, the amount on-hand, on order, etc.

Image/TOC=F15

If an image and/or contents are available for the item, this option will allow you to view the information.

Print=F5

This option will print out information concerning all the items visible in the list box.

Press <Esc> to exit the inquiry information screen.

• Before using this database, you must direct BSMGR to the location of the CD-ROM that contains the file.  (See instructions for CB&M Environment settings in the Miscellaneous, SYStem Maintenance section of this reference manual.)
• There are separate files for various types of product (Books, Bibles, Music, etc.).
• Videos can be searched under “Books” and under “Music/Entertainment” as follows:

• Books – Teaching Videos (Bible studies, seminars, videos based on books, etc.)
• Music/Entertainment – Entertainment Videos (music, comedy, children’s entertainment [i.e. Veggie Tales], etc.)

• You do not have to key in the full name to search by author (Contributor) or artist. The first letter(s) typed jumps to a list box in the alphabetical range of the letter typed. (For example, when you type in an O, the list box jumps to last names beginning with O. Add K and E, and the list box jumps to Oke, Barbara; Oke, Deborah; Oke, Janette, etc.)
• Some products can be searched by Series. (Example: "Left Behind" series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins)
• By entering a check mark in the “Out of Print” check box, you can search for Books, Foreign Language Books, Bibles, Music and Software products that are out of print.
• When looking up (?) a publisher, a # symbol to the right of the publisher’s abbreviation indicates the publisher has a general promotion.  Use IVDI “Promo & New Titles" to view the general promotion.

 

Books

1.    The search by author (Contributor) may bring up books in which the author searched is not the primary author. Books are entered into the database with up to three contributors. 

Examples:  author/author/editor or author/illustrator/editor

2.    You can limit book searches by using up to three Categories. 

Examples:  Selecting a search for a book concerning Prayer, Women, And Devotional would seek prayer/devotional books specifically for women. Selecting Prayer, Women, Or Devotional would seek any books concerning prayer, any concerning women, and any devotional books.

When limiting by Category, you can further limit the search by selecting Binding.

3.    You can also limit a search by using up to three Key Words. Select And to search for a title specifically containing all three key words, or select Or to search for a title containing any of the three key words.

Note:  In order to be helpful in the search, keyword(s) must be in the title of the item.

Note:  Letters preceding a Contributor #1 indicate:

SG	Study Guide
WB	Work Book
LT	LargeType
LG	Leader’s Guide

Bibles

You may limit a Bible search by using a Keyword and/or your choice of Translation, Binding, Color, and Category.

In addition to the item number, title/description, and translation/color on the search result screen, the following codes may precede the translation:

R	Red Letter
I	Indexed
B	Button Flap Closure
Z	Zipper Closure

 

Music/Entertainment

When initiating a music search, the search can be limited to Recorded, Accompaniment or Printed, and further limited by Key Words and Format.  

Example:  Enter a key word, such as Messiah, select the Cassette format, then the Classical category under Recorded Music, and only classical titles of recorded music on cassette with Messiah in the title will be searched and displayed.

A search may consist of up to three Key Words.  Select And to search for a title specifically containing all three key words, or select Or to search for a title containing any of the three key words.

Note:    

• On the listing screen of a music search, the letters "AC" preceding some “Contributor #1” names indicates those items are accompaniment tapes, and "AO" indicates original version.

• The column of letters preceding Contributor #1 indicates:

CD	Compact Disc
CA	Cassette
VI	Video
PR	Printed

 

Video

Although teaching videos are listed in the database with Books, and entertainment videos are listed with Music//Entertainment, you may use this Video option to search all videos.

 

Software

Title, publisher, UPC/EAN number, ISBN number, or category can be used to limit a search for software.

 

Foreign Lang. Books

Searching “Foreign Language Books” is basically the same as searching “Books.”

You may search foreign books using the English title by selecting the "Search Using English Spelling of Title" check box.

 

Gifts

Use description, publisher, ISBN number, UPC/EAN number or category to limit a gift search.

Note:    Gifts are currently put into the database on an “as is” basis.  In other words, Christian Books & More is neither editing nor proofing the manufacturer's descriptions and categories.  Therefore, expect to see some inconsistencies in this area.

 

Curriculum

1. Date Information

(Incomplete - Information to follow.)

2. Categories

(Incomplete - Information to follow.)

 

Church Supplies

Reserved for Future Use.

Promo & New Titles

"View General Promotions" will show if the publisher has a general promotion such as, “Free Freight on Orders of $200 this Month.”

A search for promoted and new titles can be limited by choosing a specific vendor/publisher and by selecting a 30-, 60-, or 90-day range of time to search for titles that have been released recently or are due to be released in the near future.  The 30-day window means previous and next 30 days.  You may also choose to limit the search to only new products in the database.

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After searching for an item in the CB&M database, finding it and highlighting it in the Database Inquiry list box, you may view information on the screen, such as price, publisher, binding, etc.

Options at Bottom of Screen

Add’l Info=F2

This option allows you to view additional product information.

If the product is a promoted item or new title (Title/Desc. Preceded by a pound [#] symbol), you may view this information by pressing Special=F2.

Order=F6

This option allows you to make a special order of the item.

Distrib.=F7

Shows which distributors carry the item, as well as distributor pricing and discount information.

 

Lost Sale=F8

Will keep a record of lost sales when the requested item is not in stock and the customer does not order. Enter the number of units of lost sales and select Save=F5 to record the lost sale, or Cancel=Esc to skip. (Run the IVMS ["Missed Sales"] program "Report" option to view or print a report of lost sales and the "Clear File" option to clear the lost sale information in the file.)

IVM=F9

At the IVM screen, enter the category and the min/max levels, then press <F5> and Save, to add the item to your inventory.

Transfer=F18

If you are searching IVDI from Point of Sale or when making an order, this option allows you to transfer the item to the POS transaction or the order.

Branches=F12

Multi-Store Feature - Allows you to see if the item is carried by other stores and if so, the amount on-hand, on order, etc.

Correction=F13

Allows you to print item correction information, which you may mail or fax to BSMGR for correction in the CB&M Database.  

Note:    For Windows users, there is an Email option for sending correction information.  This option requires two Environment settings:

FROM_EMAIL and FROM NAME

Example:

FROM_EMAIL  you@email.com

FROM_NAME  Christian Bookstore

Image/TOC=F15

Provides a brief explanation of the contents of an item and a review if available.  (Music items will show a listing of songs.  If the optional tune player has been purchased, 30-second sound samples can be played for songs that are marked with an asterisk [*].)

Options-F5

• Print List Contents – Allows you to print out the list box that is shown on the screen.
• Print this Author/Artist – Allows you to print out a list of titles in the database by the highlighted author/artist.
• Print this Series – Allows you to print out the series.

At the inquiry screen, you may press <Esc> to return to the search screen. You will be given the option to erase the search information from the search screen or leave it so that you may change some of the information and continue the search.

OTHER DATABASES

Song Finder

Searches the database for song titles.  All hymn books, piano books, cassettes, CD’s, etc, which contain the song, will be listed and displayed to the screen.

Enter the exact title of the song, a part of the title followed by an asterisk (*), or key words to the song.  Select Search=F5 and the database will be searched for the song title.  Then, the items that include that song will be displayed.

Note:    Since search by "Key Words" requires 21 MB of disk space, some users may choose not to set it up in the SYStem Environment for use as a search option.

Ingram

You will not have the Ingram database lookup unless you obtain Ingram’s database from Ingram.  BSMGR will take their database and put it in a form you can use on BSMGR.

The Ingram database lookup works the same as the BSMGR database, except the options/commands at the bottom of the screen do NOT include "Add’l Info=F2" or "Abvr’s=F15."

Other 1

(Reserved for other databases.)

Other 2

If you have installed the Arkansas Book Distributor Database and created the lookup file, you can access the information using this option.  The items in the Arkansas Book Distributor Database will be listed in the same format as the distributor database and may be looked up in a similar way.

Other 3

(Reserved for other databases.)

Other 4

(Reserved for other databases.)

Note:   For users who incorporate databases into their system other than the databases included in the BSMGR software, the databases are enabled in SYStem, Environment, DATABASES-ENABLED 00000. Each zero represents an additional database in the order they appear on the IVDI Database Inquiry Options screen:

• 0 - Ingram
• 0 - Other 1
• 0 - Other 2
• 0 - Other 3
• 0 - Other 4

To enable a database, a one (1) is substituted for a zero (0). For example, to enable Ingram, the entry in SYS, Environment should be changed to read:

DATABASES-ENABLED 10000

 

Sales Totals

If you are signed up for the Industry Information Loop, this option will be activated so that you can locate the top 2000 sellers for the previous week by territory or by all territories to compare what's selling around the country with what your store is stocking.

• Stats - provides industry-wide data.

• Marketing Grp - provides data specific to a marketing group to which your store belongs, such as Parable or any other marketing group not associated with ECPA.

At the search result screen you may select the Option=F5 button to request a printout.

If you choose to “Skip items in IVM,” the printout will still include items with Min/Max of “0” and On Hand and On Order of “0.”  An asterisk (“*”) preceding the title will identify those items.

Note:  If your store is interested in signing up to participate in the Industry Information Loop, call BSMGR Technical Support for details.

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SEARCH PATH FOR DATABASES

When adding items to your inventory or making an inquiry on an item, BSMGR will try to match the item number with title, price, etc., using all the databases on the system.

The first database will be searched and, if the item is not found, the search will continue in the next database.  By default, the search order is:

• Christian Books & More.
• Distributors database file (currently Arbor, Riverside, Appalachian, Anchor, and New Day).
• Ingram PROfiche database (if you have purchased this from Ingram).
• Any miscellaneous databases you may have installed.

To override the default search path requires making a SYStem Environment setting as follows:

(Note:    If you do not have the Ingram database, do not override the default search path.)

DATABASE-SEARCH-ORDER     X          (where X = 1 or 2)

If X = 1 then search order is CB&M, Distributors, Ingram, Misc.
If X = 2 then search order is Ingram, then Misc.