Installation

There are two experimental PalOMoney versions called, in programmer language, "debug" and "release."

Debug versions use the Microsoft debug libraries mfc90ud.dll, msvcr90d.dll, and msvcp90d.dll, which are not licensed for redistribution. These libraries are installed on computers that have Microsoft Visual Studio installed. Otherwise, they have to be installed on test computers only in compliance with the Visual Studio licensing terms. These terms are under investigation. Testers may have to have some relationship with the developer for these libraries to be distributed to them from the developer.

Release versions have not been extensively tested, and so may have bugs that are not present in the debug version. Also, release versions do not have the extensive error checking and reporting facilities of the release. Accordingly, it is most preferable to distribute debug versions to testers during this initial phase.

Using the PalOMoney-XXXX.msi file

• Download the .msi installation file to some folder on your computer.
• Open the folder in Explorer, locate and right click the downloaded file, the select Install.
• If the installation (.msi) file did not contain the necessary libraries, you will have to download them here.

Manual install PalOMoney-XXXX.zip file

• Download the installation file to some folder on your computer.
• Open the folder in your zip program (e.g., WinRar) and copy the files to a folder of your choice.
• Right click the PalOMoney.exe file, select Create Shortcut, and drag the Shortcut to your Desktop or the Start menu, or both.
• If necessary, download the required Microsoft libraries here.

PalOMoney creates a file of preferences titled PalOMoney.ini in its installation folder. You will have give yourself permissions to access the installation folder so you can save your preferences. A planned future enhancement will be to locate this file in your My Documents folder.

Test the Installation

See Usage.

• Back up or copy your Money file. (Of course, you should always back up to a different disk, for example, a flash drive, or another computer.)
• Optionally, open MS Money on the same file.
• Launch PalOMoney.
• Locate and open your Money file. Observe the list of securities you have in your investment accounts.
• Fiddle with the column widths, and check the column sorting.
• Click Update Now to update your quotes using the default settings.
• Observe the updated investment prices and totals in the PalOMoney list.
• Optionally, observe updated data in the MS Money. You might have to refresh the page.
• Close PalOMoney, relaunch, and observe that the window placement and column widths are the same as previously.
• Optionally, fetch historical quotes:
  • Click the History check box,
  • Click the Specify Historical button (labeled ...) to launch the Historical Quotes dialog
  • Choose or enter appropriate settings (e.g., Weekly on Fridays) and click Ok to close.
  • Click Update Now to update both historical and real time quotes.
• Play with the controls, and see which ones work.
• Check the help function:
  • Tool-tips give hints on what controls do. These should work.
  • The Help button (arrow-question mark) should launch the Help file and open an appropriate topic.
  • The Help menu pick should open the help file to the Table of Contents.
  • The help topics should be accurate and up-to-date.
• If anything doesn't work, email contact dev for development (later, this will change to support) at the appropriate email domain (can't get more specific here without triggering a lot of unwanted solicitations).