Accounting system with program by example facilities

Claim 2

An accounting system for processing data in connection with an accounting form having data arranged in a plurality of columns, comprising: means for establishing a printing mode iN said system during which data is printed on said form; a printer, said printer having printing means, means for retaining said form in position for printing of data on said form during operations, and means operable during said printing mode for relatively moving said form and said printing means in order to position individual columnar locations on said form for printing by said printing means; a plurality of register means for storing data, said register means corresponding in number to the number of columnar locations on said form, and each of said register means being associated with a particular one of said columnar locations; accessing means for addressing said register means for entry or exit of data therein; counter means having a plurality of count conditions corresponding to said columnar locations and operable during relative movement between said printing means and said form in said printing mode to condition said accessing means to access the associated register means as each column on said form is encountered; Columnar Total keys for initiating printing of totals; means for storing signal codes representative of said Columnar Total keys for each column on said form; means for sensing said Columnar Total signal code representations; and means responsive to sensed Columnar Total signal representations for printing out the contents of said columnar registers as said columns are encountered and for concurrently resetting said columnar registers.

Claim 3

An accounting system for processing data in connection with an accounting form having data arranged in a plurality of columns, comprising: means for establishing a printing mode in said system during which data is printed on said form; a printer, said printer having printing means, means for retaining said form in position for printing of data on said form during operations, and means operable during said printing mode for relatively moving said form and said printing means in order to position individual columnar locations on said form for printing by said printing means; a plurality of register means for storing data, said register means corresponding in number to the number of columnar locations on said form, and each of said register means being associated with a particular one of said columnar locations; accessing means for addressing said register means for entry or exit of data therein; counter means having a plurality of count conditions corresponding to said columnar locations and operable during relative movement between said printing means and said form in said printing mode to condition said accessing means to access the associated register means as each column on said form is encountered; a Tab key in said printer for initiating tabulation operations; tabulation means in said printer responsive to depression of said Tab key to perform a tabulation operation in order to skip from any column location on said form to another column location; and control means also responsive to depression of said Tab key to step said counter means to a count status that accurately reflects the column location on said form to which said printer is tabulated.

Claim 4

An accounting system for processing data in connection with an accounting form having data arranged in a plurality of columns, comprising: means for establishing a printing mode in said system during which data is printed on said form; a printer, said printer having printing means, means for retaining said form in position for printing of data on said form during operations, and means operable during said printing mode for relatively moving said form and said printing means in order to position individual columnar locations on said form for printing by said printing means; a plurality of register means for storing data, said register means corresponding in number to the number of columnar locations on said form, and each of said register means being associated with a particular one of said columnar locations; accessing means for addressing said register means for entry or exit of data therein; counter means having a plurality of count conditions corresponding to said columnar locations and operable during relative movement between said printing means and said form in said printing mode to condition said accessing means to access the associated register means as each column on said form is encountered; a Tab key in said printer for initiating tabulation operations; tabulation means in said printer responsive to depression of said Tab key to perform a tabulation operation in order to skip from any column location on said form to another column location; and control means also responsive to depression of said Tab key to step said counter means to a count status that accurately reflects the column location on said form to which said printer is tabulated.

Claim 5

An accounting system, comprising: keyboard means having facilities for generating data signals, printer operation signals, system operation signals, program control signals, and special condition signals; a printer having printing means, means to retain an accounting form in position for printing of data, means for performing printer operations, and means for relatively moving said form and said printing means in order to position individual columnar locations on said form for printing by said printing means; arithmetic means in said system for processing data representative of arithmetic factors to provide desired arithmetic results; memory means for storing codes representative of said data signals, said printer operation signals, said system opEration signals, said program control signals, and said special condition signals; mode control means incorporating a plurality of mode indicating means selectively settable under operator control and respectively designated ''''Type,'''' ''''Manual, '''' ''''Load,'''' and ''''Auto;'''' means operable responsive to setting of said ''''Type'''' indicating means to interconnect said keyboard and said printer to operate said printer to print characters and to perform printer operations directly in response to operation of said keyboard; means operable responsive to setting of said ''''Manual'''' indicating means to interconnect said keyboard, printer, memory, and arithmetic means and to condition said system for entry of data from said keyboard and storage in said memory, processing of said data by said arithmetic facilities, and printing of arithmetic results and performance of printer functions by said printer; means operable responsive to setting of said ''''Load'''' indicating means to store signals from said keyboard as program code representations in said memory in a desired sequence for later use; means operable responsive to setting of said ''''Auto'''' indicating means to access program code representations previously stored during said Load mode for automatically controlling said system during subsequent data entry, processing, and printing operations; an Equals key on said keyboard for initiating a preconditioned multiply or divide operation; means responsive to depression of said Equals key to acutate said arithmetic facilities in order to multiply or divide two factors and develop a result for printing on said form; an Equals Accumulate key for initiating a preconditioned multiply or divide operation and transfer of a result to a selected area in said memory; means responsive to depression of said Equals Accumulate key to actuate said arithmetic facilities as when said Equals Accumulate key is depressed and further to transfer said developed result to said selected area in said memory; a Percent Equals key for initiating dividing of a result by 100; and means responsive to depression of said Percent Equals key for actuating said arithmetic facilities as when said Equals key is depressed with the additional development of dividing said result by 100 in order to provide a final result indicative of the percentage one factor bears to another.

Claim 6

An accounting system, comprising: keyboard means having facilities for generating data signals, printer operation signals, system operation signals, program control signals, and special condition signals; a printer having printing means, means to retain an accounting form in position for printing of data, means for performing printer operations, and means for relatively moving said form and said printing means in order to position individual columnar locations on said form for printing by said printing means; arithmetic means in said system for processing data representative of arithmetic factors to provide desired arithmetic results; memory means for storing codes representative of said data signals, said printer operation signals, said system opEration signals, said program control signals, and said special condition signals; mode control means incorporating a plurality of mode indicating means selectively settable under operator control and respectively designated ''''Type,'''' ''''Manual, '''' ''''Load,'''' and ''''Auto;'''' means operable responsive to setting of said ''''Type'''' indicating means to interconnect said keyboard and said printer to operate said printer to print characters and to perform printer operations directly in response to operation of said keyboard; means operable responsive to setting of said ''''Manual'''' indicating means to interconnect said keyboard, printer, memory, and arithmetic means and to condition said system for entry of data from said keyboard and storage in said memory, processing of said data by said arithmetic facilities, and printing of arithmetic results and performance of printer functions by said printer; means operable responsive to setting of said ''''Load'''' indicating means to store signals from said keyboard as program code representations in said memory in a desired sequence for later use; means operable responsive to setting of said ''''Auto'''' indicating means to access program code representations previously stored during said Load mode for automatically controlling said system during subsequent data entry, processing, and printing operations; an Equals key on said keyboard for initiating a preconditioned multiply or divide operation; means responsive to depression of said Equals key to acutate said arithmetic facilities in order to multiply or divide two factors and develop a result for printing on said form; an Equals Accumulate key for initiating a preconditioned multiply or divide operation and transfer of a result to a selected area in said memory; means responsive to depression of said Equals Accumulate key to actuate said arithmetic facilities as when said Equals Accumulate key is depressed and further to transfer said developed result to said selected area in said memory; a Percent Equals key for initiating dividing of a result by 100; and means responsive to depression of said Percent Equals key for actuating said arithmetic facilities as when said Equals key is depressed with the additional development of dividing said result by 100 in order to provide a final result indicative of the percentage one factor bears to another.

Claim 7

An accounting system for processing data in connection with an accounting form having data arranged in a plurality of columns, comprising: means for establishing a printing mode in said system during which data is printed on said form; a printer, said printer having printing means, means for retaining said form in position for printing of data on said form during operations, and means operably during said printing mode for relatively moving said form and said printing means in order to position individual columnar locations on said form for printing by said printing means; a plurality of register means for storing data, said register means corresponding in number to the number of columnar locations on said form, and each of said register means being associated with a particular one of said columnar locations; accessing means for addressing said register means for entry or exit of data therein; counter means having plurality of count conditions corresponding to said columnar locations and operable during relative movement between said printing means and said form in said printing mode to condition said accessing means to access the associated register means as each column on said form is encountered; a keyboard for entry of data into said system, said keyboard having a special column key for depression by an operator to indicate movement from one column to the next on said form; stepping means controlled by said special column key in said printing mode for stepping said columN counter to a count condition representative of said one column to a count condition representative of said next column in order to condition said accessing means to access the register means for said next column; a Tabulation key on said keyboard operable when depressed to tabulate said printer in order to skip over a selected column and wherein said stepping means is responsive to depression of said Tabulation key to step said columnar counter; means to read and dump information in said memory associated with the column skipped; and means for deconditioning said system for numeric entry until the next column in sequence is encountered.

Claim 8

An accounting system for processing data in connection with an accounting form having data arranged in a plurality of columns, comprising: means for establishing a printing mode in said system during which data is printed on said form; a printer, said printer having printing means, means for retaining said form in position for printing of data on said form during operations, and means operably during said printing mode for relatively moving said form and said printing means in order to position individual columnar locations on said form for printing by said printing means; a plurality of register means for storing data, said register means corresponding in number to the number of columnar locations on said form, and each of said register means being associated with a particular one of said columnar locations; accessing means for addressing said register means for entry or exit of data therein; counter means having plurality of count conditions corresponding to said columnar locations and operable during relative movement between said printing means and said form in said printing mode to condition said accessing means to access the associated register means as each column on said form is encountered; a keyboard for entry of data into said system, said keyboard having a special column key for depression by an operator to indicate movement from one column to the next on said form; stepping means controlled by said special column key in said printing mode for stepping said columN counter to a count condition representative of said one column to a count condition representative of said next column in order to condition said accessing means to access the register means for said next column; a Tabulation key on said keyboard operable when depressed to tabulate said printer in order to skip over a selected column and wherein said stepping means is responsive to depression of said Tabulation key to step said columnar counter; means to read and dump information in said memory associated with the column skipped; and means for deconditioning said system for numeric entry until the next column in sequence is encountered.