AbacusLaw 2015

Reference Guide

Law Practice Control

Fast & Easy
Last Updated October 23, 2014

Copyright ©2014 Abacus Data Systems, Inc.

All rights reserved

Trademarks AbacusLaw, E-Calendars, MessageSlips, Smart Screens and

Laser Calendars are trademarks of Abacus Data Systems, Inc.
Other trademarks are owned by their respective
manufacturers.

Special thanks To all our Abacus users for your suggestions and
recommendations that have helped over 250,000 people to
know and love Abacus.

To contact us Abacus Data Systems, Inc.

9191 Towne Center Drive, Suite 180
San Diego, CA 92122
Administration 858.452.4280
Support 800.488.3334
Sales 800.726.3339
Facsimile 858.452.2073

support email: support@[Link]

website: [Link]
Contents
1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2
2. Support ........................................................................................................................................... 7
3. The Basics .................................................................................................................................... 12
4. Customizing Abacus ..................................................................................................................... 30
5. Controlling Names (Contacts) ...................................................................................................... 85
6. Controlling Matters (Cases) ........................................................................................................ 104
7. Controlling Name and Matter Notes ........................................................................................... 122
8. Scheduling (Calendaring) Events ............................................................................................... 130
9. Email and the Internet................................................................................................................. 168
10. Controlling Documents ............................................................................................................... 182
11. Linking Databases ...................................................................................................................... 192
12. AbacusLaw Format (ALF) Files .................................................................................................. 209
13. Generating Documents ............................................................................................................... 216
14. Form Generation ......................................................................................................................... 230
15. Fillable Forms ............................................................................................................................. 235
16. MessageSlips ............................................................................................................................. 276
17. Queries ....................................................................................................................................... 299
18. Court Rules (Timelines) .............................................................................................................. 312
19. Conflict of Interest Check............................................................................................................ 318
20. Tools to Help You Work .............................................................................................................. 324
21. Generating Reports .................................................................................................................... 351
22. Intake Forms ............................................................................................................................... 392
23. Extra Databases ......................................................................................................................... 408
24. Prospect Management................................................................................................................ 430
25. Synchronization .......................................................................................................................... 437
26. Timeslips Link ............................................................................................................................. 466
27. Administration ............................................................................................................................. 472
28. Third Party Integration ................................................................................................................ 496
29. Consultant’s Corner .................................................................................................................... 498
30. Codes.......................................................................................................................................... 518
31. Index ........................................................................................................................................... 521

AbacusLaw Reference Guide Contents i

1. Introduction
Welcome to AbacusLaw (or simply Abacus), the practice control
software that puts all of your important information right at your
fingertips. Abacus consists of two major modules, the Accounting
Manager (AM) which includes all the time, billing and accounting
features, and the Practice Manager (PM) which handles everything
else and integrates seamlessly with accounting data. Each has a
separate menu and toolbar, making it easy for you to permit access to
only certain users, for security purposes.
A separate Abacus Accounting Manager Reference Guide covers the
details of the time, billing and accounting features.

What Is Abacus?
Abacus gives you remarkable control over all of your firm’s important
information, including:
• Contacts
• Calendars
• Files (matters, cases, projects)
• Notes
• Communications
• Documents

The power of Abacus lies in linking: names (clients, attorneys,

adjusters, and other contacts), matters, calendar events, documents,
emails and notes. This makes it easy for you to get the information you
need from virtually anywhere in Abacus!

The Four Primary Databases

Abacus is powerful database software that can handle millions of
records with ease. A database is a collection of similar records such as
your address book, which has a name, address, city and phone
number for each person.
Abacus maintains the following four primary databases (and many
supporting ones) to organize your office information.

2 Introduction AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Names
Think of names as the contacts in your address book. This includes
every person with whom your firm has contact: Clients, prospects,
vendors, defendants, judges, attorneys, expert witnesses, friends,
relatives and anyone you might want on your mailing list. Abacusgives
you fast and easy access to information on anyone in your Names
database. Notes for names are kept in a linked database so you can
keep unlimited notes about your contacts.

Events
Events are any appointments, tasks, reminders or things-to-do that are
scheduled for specific dates. Events can be entered into Abacus by
many different methods. The Events window is the primary data
window, while the Calendar gives you different views of your events.

Matters
Matters refer to any matter, case, file or project that you need to track.
Once entered, matters can be attached to any number of names. Notes
for matters are kept in a linked database so you can keep unlimited
notes about your files.

Documents
In Abacus, documents can be files on disk, such as correspondence,
pleadings, pictures, scanned images, and Internet Web pages, or
printed documents stored in a box. Abacus keeps a list of these
documents in a database so you can find or edit them right from the
client’s Name or Matter window.

System Requirements
For minimum and optimal performance of Abacus, you will need:
• Minimum: Windows 2000 with 256 MB of RAM
• Optimal: Windows XP Pro (1GB RAM) or Vista Ultimate (2GB
RAM)
Not acceptable: Windows ME, Windows 98, or Vista Home Basic
• An Internet connection for installation
• A tape backup (highly recommended)

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 3

Installing Abacus
For information about installing Abacus, refer to the Installation and
Setup Guide for new installations, or the Update Guide for updating
existing ones.

Installing Practice Packs™ and Special Editions

Different practice specialties have different needs. For example, a
family law practice needs to keep track of certain personal information
that a real estate practice would not need, while a real estate practice
needs to keep track of transaction details that a family law practice
would not need.
Customizing Abacus can be a demanding job, so we introduced
Practice Pack technology as a way to automatically configure your
Abacus with extra fields, screens, reports and queries. Consultants or
users can package up customizations that can be applied to other
installations.
Using Practice Pack technology, Abacus has created Special
Editionsthat you can install on top of your existing Abacus installation
to get custom Matter and Name screens, Rules, Reports and Forms –
each for a specific law specialty such as Personal Injury, Family Law,
Estate Planning, Workers Compensation, etc. Each Special Edition is a
result of hundreds of hours of research and development with
specialists employing "best practices" in their fields.
If you practice more than one specialty, you can install more than one
Special Edition and they won’t interfere with each other. These Special
Editions include Smart Screens that recognize the type of matter
selected and can display the appropriate screen for each. For example,
if the matter is a Personal Injury, the Personal Injury Special Edition
matter screen is used, and if the matter is a divorce case, the Family
Law Special Edition matter screen is automatically used.
You can save hours or days that it might take to research, think about
and develop these valuable customizations. Call us at 800-726-3339
for more information or to order the special editions for your practice.
NOTE: A Practice Pack installation will overwrite any customizations of
previously installed practice packs.
To install a Practice Pack, follow these steps:
1. From the main Abacus window, select File/Setup/Practice
Packs/Install. The BackUp files window appears.

4 Introduction AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 2. Select Yes. When the backup is finished, the Select Practice Pack
window appears.

3. Click the Practice Pack File button. The Select Practice Pack
window appears.

4. Select the Practice Pack you want to install (select a file with a
.PPZ extension) and click Open. The Select Practice Pack window
reappears with the Pack now selected.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 5

 5. In the Code box, enter the Practice Pack license code if the Pack is
licensed. Practice Packs should have an accompanying text file
that states whether the Pack is licensed. NOTE: Practice Pack
codes are specific to each firm and cannot be used by a different
firm.
6. Click OK and the Pack will install.

Installing Rules using SlideRules

Rules are prewritten legal calendaring templates that configure your
legal calendar based on changes to the code and ensure you never
miss a [Link] can automatically calculate your deadlines and
schedule your important events by using sets of predefined rules. You'll
find it makes your tasks easier and reduces your firm's risks.
Rule sets are sold separately and are available for Federal, state and
California county courts. Call us at 800-726-3339 for more information
or to order the sets you need.
The SlideRules program lets customers with the current version of
Abacus quickly and conveniently install and update all of their rules
using an Internet connection. It is installed alongside the Abacus
program.
To install the latest version of SlideRules, or to read more about it, go
to [Link] and follow the instructions.

6 Introduction AbacusLaw Reference Guide

2. Support
In this chapter, you will learn how to get the help you need to use
Abacus.

Using the Help System

Select Help/Contents. The Abacus Help system appears.

Finding Information in the Help System

You can find information in the Help system in one of the following
ways:
• To select a topic from the table of contents, click Contents and
then click a topic to display it.
• To find a topic using the index, click Index. Enter a keyword in the
box provided and press Enter to scroll to that place in the index list.
Click the index term to view a pop-up list of related topics, then
click a topic to display it.
• To find a topic by searching on any word or phrase that appears in
help, click Search. Enter the word or words you wish to search for
in the box provided and press Enter. Topics containing the words
(or variations of the words) are listed. Click a topic to display it.

Search Tips
• Search is not case-sensitive.
• To find an exact phrase, enter double quotation marks around the
search string, for example, "matters browse window". This is very
useful when trying to find a field definition quickly. If your search
doesn't yield any results, try making the search phrase plural or try
searching on the least common word in the phrase.
• You can enter a portion of the word. For example, a search for
"log" returns topics containing the words "catalog" and "logarithm."
• If Highlight search results is checked, matching search
words/phrases are highlighted in yellow when you view the topic.
• Search topics listed in search results are ranked in order of the
strength of the match. Topics with the strongest matches are
ranked highest.

Using Breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs are navigational links displayed as gray text in the top
right corner of the help page. They outline your position in the table of
contents for the help system.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 7

 Click a portion of the breadcrumb trail to go directly to a topic.

Browsing through Topics

Browse buttons are located under the Contents button. Click the left
arrow to display the previous topic in the browse sequence (a group of
related help topic). Click the right arrow to display the next topic in the
browse sequence.
You can also click the Back or Forward button to move to a recently
visited topic.

Printing a Help Topic

With the topic displayed on the screen, click the Print button to print a
topic.

Using Context-Sensitive Help

To get help that pertains to the open window only, do one of the
following:
• Click the ? button or Help button on the window.
• Press F1 when the window is open.
This type of help is particularly useful to get information about the items
on windows.

Contacting Sales
Call 858-452-4245 or 800-726-3339 Monday through Friday from
6:00 AM to 5:00 PM Pacific time or email sales@[Link].

Contacting Customer Support

Call 800-488-3334 Monday through Friday from
6:15 AM to 4:45 PM Pacific time or email support@[Link].
When you call for technical support, please:
• Have the phone by the computer.
• Be ready to run Abacus.
• If you have a network, log in as supervisor and make sure you
know any required passwords for unrestricted access to Abacus
files.

8 Support AbacusLaw Reference Guide

Updating Abacus
Abacus includes an update process called Abacus Updates that checks
for new forms, rules, .exe files, and Specialty Versions. Abacus
Updates runs on a schedule based on user settings. Update downloads
and installs can be manual or automatic, depending on user settings.
With Abacus Updates, you can do any of the following.

To manually install updates:

If you did not select to update Abacus automatically, the Abacus
Updates window appears and lists any updates that need to be
installed. Check the updates to install and then click Install Updates to
install.
NOTE: To open the Abacus Updates window manually, select
Help/Abacus Updates.

To change Abacus Updates settings:

Click Change settings. The Abacus Updates Settings window
appears. Notice that information about when updates were most
recently checked and installed appears in the window. You can click
View update history and then click Program updates to see the full
program update history or click Subscription updates to see the full
subscription update history.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 9

 Make changes to the settings as follows:
• Drop-down box: Click the drop-down box and select if you want to
install updates automatically (recommended), download updates
but allow the user to choose to install them, or check for updates
and allow the user to choose to download and install them.
• Check for new updates every: Enter the number of days you
want to pass before Abacus Updates runs. For example, if you
want Abacus Updates to run daily, enter 1. If you want it to run
weekly, enter 7.
• Remind me about skipped updates after: Enter the number of
days you want to pass before Abacus Updates reminds you that
you have pending updates.
Click OK to save your settings.

To view your update history:

Select Help/Abacus Updates to open the Abacus Updates window.
Click View my update history and then click:
• Program updates to see a history of program updates that have
been processed. Selecting this menu option opens
vXX\Programs\[Link] in a text editor (like Notepad).
• Subscription updates to see a history of subscription updates that
have been applied to the current data directory. Selecting this
menu option opens vXX\data01\[Link] in a text editor
(like Notepad).
NOTE: "vXX" represents the current application version (such as v23)
and "dataXX" represents the current data directory (such as data 01 or
data 02).

10 Support AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 To manually check for updates:
Select Help/Abacus Updates to open the Abacus Updates window.
Click Check for updates. Abacus Updates runs. Any updates that
need to be made are listed in the Abacus Updates window.

To show all/newer items:

Select Help/Abacus Updates to open the Abacus Updates window.
Click Show all items to see all your purchased licenses. Click Show
newer items to see the ones that need to be updated.

Broadcast Messages
Broadcast messages allow Abacus to announce product
announcements or other alerts to all our users at once.
When you start Abacus within a day of an Abacus broadcast, the
broadcast message will appear in a window on your screen. Click
Done to close the window.
To dismiss a broadcast message so it will not appear again, check the
box at the bottom of the window before closing the window - otherwise,
the message will continue to display at each start of Abacus.
NOTE: Clicking hyperlinks in a message will open a separate tab in
your default web browser - not in the same window.

Training
In addition to on-site training, our Abacus Certified Consultants offer
training over the telephone, using CDs, and through webinars.
Contact Customer Support for more information or go to
[Link], then click Client Support, and then click
Training Videos.

Other Resources
In addition to the help system and the manuals that were shipped with
the software, you can find more documentation and troubleshooting
support for Abacus at [Link], then click Client
Support, and then click Knowledgebase.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 11

3. The Basics
In this chapter, you will learn the basics of using/navigating Abacus.

Starting/Closing Abacus
Starting Abacus
1. From the Start menu, select Programs/AbacusLaw/AbacusLaw.
The User Log on window appears.

2. Enter your user ID and password (if one has been set up).
3. Click OK.

Closing Abacus
Do one of the following:
• Select File/Exit,
• Press Alt+F4, or
• Click the X button at the right of the title bar.

Introduction to the Interface

Abacus includes the following key elements:

Menu Bar
Virtually every task performed in Abacus can be accessed from a
menu. You use the menu bar to select menu options in Abacus. To
select a menu, click the menu option once. A sub-menu appears. Click
the menu option to select it.

12 The Basics AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 In the help, when you read instructions like "Select Names/Find," click
Names on the menu bar. A sub-menu appears. Click Find from the
sub-menu options.

Toolbar
The most common functions in Abacus can be accessed easily by
clicking a button on the toolbar instead of using a menu option.
NOTE: For a description of the button's function, position the cursor
over a button (without clicking). In a few seconds, description of the
button's function will [Link] descriptions are called "ToolTips."
(These ToolTips can be turned off when adjusting user preferences.)

Message Bar (Status Bar)

The message bar (or status bar) provides information about the status
of the program. For example, it might tell you about the function of an
item on a window or it might tell you the status of a process in action.

Toolbar Buttons
Back (Shift+F7) - Displays the previous window in the
history list of names, events, or matters recently visited.

Forward (Ctrl+F7) - Displays the next window in the

history list.

History (F7) - Displays the history list, for you to select

a name, event or matter you have recently visited.

Calendar - Lets you view and edit the Calendar..

Staff - Displays calendars for as many people as you

choose in a columnar, side-by-side format.

Names - Displays a list of all your names. The list can

be filtered and sorted by choosing a query or index.

Events - Lists all scheduled events, including

appointments, reminders, things-to-do and calls–to-
make.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 13

 Matters - Displays a list of all your matters.

Intake – Displays a menu for working with intake

forms.

Conflicts - Checks for conflicts of interest.

Call Mgr (F2) - Opens the Call and Note Manager,

which lets you record phone call information and other
notes and view call history.

Date Calc (F6) - Lets you calculate days between

dates, and an ending date based on start date
plus/minus a specified number of days or court days.

Print (Ctrl+P) - Displays the print options for the

current window, and lets you print reports.

Clipboard - Copies the current name, matter or event

to the clipboard.

Find - Lets you find a particular name, matter or event

quickly.

Email – Opens the Send Email window that lets you

send an email.

Billing - Runs the Abacus Accounting module.

Forms – Runs the Abacus Fillable Forms module.

Hiding/Showing Button Labels on the Toolbar

Right-click the toolbar (not on a button) and select Show Text to turn
button labels on and off. When the menu item is checked, button labels
will appear. When the menu item is not check, button labels will not
appear.

14 The Basics AbacusLaw Reference Guide

Hiding/Showing Buttons on the Toolbar
Right-click the toolbar (not on a button) and select Customize. The
Customize Toolbarwindow appears. This window lets you select the
buttons you want to see, so you cansimplify the toolbar to only show
your favorites.

Buttons listed in the Available toolbar buttons box are buttons that
will NOT showon the toolbar. Buttons listed in the Current toolbar
buttons box are buttons thatWILL show on the toolbar. To move a
button from one box to another, highlight itand click Add or Remove.
Click Close to close the window and save your changes.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 15

Browse Windows
Browse windows are used to display a list of records in a database.
Each field appears as a column, and each record is a row.
There are three different types of Browse windows: Names(lists all
names in the Names database), Events(lists all events in the Events
database), and Matters(lists all matters in the Matters database).
To open the Names Browse, click the Contacts toolbar button or select
Names/Browse.

To open the Events Browse, click the Events toolbar button or select
Events/Browse.

16 The Basics AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 To open the Matters Browse, click the Matters toolbar button or select
Matters/Browse.

Following is some general information about working with Browse

windows.

Preview Pane
The Preview pane (the right pane) displays details for the highlighted
record. Notice that the Preview pane is in HTML format, so you can
click a link in the pane to open a URL in your web browser.
To change the size of the preview pane, click and drag its left edge (a
splitter bar separates the Browse from the Preview pane).
You can right-click in the Preview pane and select any of the following:
• Select All: Selects all the information in the Preview pane.
• Copy: Copies any highlighted information in the Preview pane.
• Switch to RTF: Changes the format of the Preview pane to rich text
format. To return to HTML format, right-click in the Preview pane
and select Switch to HTML.
• Print Preview: Displays a print preview of the information in the
Preview pane.
• Print: Prints the information in the Preview pane.

Navigation
• With the Browse window open, type a letter or number to find the
matching record in the current index. For example, if the list is
indexed by last name, you could type “sm” to jump to “Jane Smith.”
• Use the scroll bars or scroll wheel to move up and down the list of
records. You can also click the scroll bar above or below the scroll
bar thumb to jump up and down the list.
• When you drag the scroll bar thumb up and down the list, scroll tips

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 17

 appear. Scroll tips display the key value of the record that would be
displayed if you stopped scrolling.
• You can use these keystrokes to navigate in a Browse window:
PgUp Go up one screen
PgDn Go down one screen
Home Go to the first (top) record
End Go to the last (bottom) record
Esc Closes the window

Viewing Records
To preview record information, highlight a record in the grid and the
record information appears in the Preview pane.
To view full record information, highlight a record in the grid and click
OK (or double-click a record in the grid). The appropriate window
(Name, Matter, or Event) appears displaying the full record information.

Adding Records
To add a new record, click Add. The appropriate window (Name,
Matter, or Event) appears and you can add a new record from this
window.

Actions Button and Right-Click Menu

Clicking the Actions button or right-clicking the grid provides several
menu options that you can use to act upon the records.

Customization
• To rearrange the columns in the grid, click and drag column
headers. Be sure to keep your cursor in the heading row while
dragging.
• To resize columns in the grid, click and drag column dividers.
• To resize the Browse window, click and drag the window edge or
corner.

Querying
To limit the list to records that match certain criteria, such as only
clients, click Query and set a query.

18 The Basics AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Indexing
The order of records depends on the index setting. To change the
index setting, click a column heading OR click Index. The Indexes
window appears. Select an index and click OK.

Working with Data Windows

Data windows have different types of fields that let you enter data.

Field Labels
Identify fields.

Fields
Enter data here. The
cursor blinks in the
highlighted field when
you’re editing. Type
your text, then press
TAB to move to the
next field.

Lookup button
A field with a lookup button
indicates a list is available
for the field. Click the
button or press F9 to open
the list.

NOTE: Click the tabs across the top to see linked data related to this
record. You can design your own screens that can add even more tabs
of your information, and you can rename these tabs to match your
practice.

Regular Fields
To enter data in a field, you click in the field box and type. You can
press the TAB key to move from field to field.
Use Shift+Tab to go to the previous field, or Ctrl+PageDown for last or
Ctrl+PageUp for the first field. See page 27 for a complete list of
shortcut keys.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 19

 Fields with a Lookup Button for Codes
Fields that require codes have a lookup button. When you click the
lookup button (or press F9 or press Alt+Down Arrow), the Valid
Entries window appears listing codes you can choose for the field.
Select a code and click OK. The original window reappears and the
selected code appears in the field.
This feature eliminates “typos” so things can't “fall through the cracks,”
and lets you enter long entries with just a few keystrokes.

Lookup button
Click to open a list of
codes that you can
choose from for the
field.

Fields with a Lookup Button for Dates

Fields that require dates have a lookup button. When you click the
lookup button, the popup calendar appears.

20 The Basics AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Click a date and click OK and the date is displayed in the field.

Use the arrow buttons to

move to different
months.

Click Today to move to

today’s date.

Input Validation with List Boxes and FastFields

Note that many fields are validated using list boxes and FastFields.
• List boxes: If you enter an invalid code, the Valid Entries window
automatically appears. You can select the correct code and click
OK.
• FastFields: As you type, a FastField will match what you type
against the information in the database. As soon as a match is
found, it will be placed in the field. Abacuswill beep once when it
can’t find a match.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 21

Resizing Windows
Many windows in Abacus are resizable. To make a window bigger or
smaller, place the cursor over the bottom right corner. When the cursor
turns into a double-sided arrow drag the window to the desired size. (If
the cursor does not turn into a double-sided arrow, then the window is
not resizable.)

Using the Search Bar

The search bar can be found on many windows in AbacusLaw. The
search bar is used to search lists for content and file names for instant
retrieval and review. You can search lists of searchable documents,
notes, and emails throughout AbacusLaw when you see the search bar
on a window.

NOTE: See Customizing the Document Search Feature on page 59 for

more information about determining which documents are searchable.

Search Bar Navigation Keys

• Press Ctrl+S to move focus into the search bar.
• Once focus in is the search bar, the Down Arrow, Page Up, and
Page Down keys all put focus on the Browse.

22 The Basics AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Searching for Documents, Notes, or Emails
Enter the desired keywords in the search bar then press Enter (or wait
2 seconds and the search will initiate automatically). The keywords you
enter are checked against the content as well as the file names of the
searchable items. Then, the list of items is filtered so that only items
matching the keywords are listed.
If no records match the keyword search, the search bar is colored a
user-defined color (default color is red).
If non-linked documents (on the Linked Docs tab) or non-listed
documents (on the Document Manager) are found, a message displays
asking you if you want to see those search results. If you click Yes, the
Document Content Search Results window appears listing all matching
documents, whether or not they have a matching Abacus record.
To open one of the documents listed in the window, highlight the
document and click Open File.

Clearing the Search Keywords

Click Clear. The list will no longer be filtered and all items will be listed.

Reusing Prior Search Strings

Click the search bar’s lookup button and click Recent Searches. A
menu appears displaying recent search strings used for searching.
Select a search string and press Enter to reuse it for a search.

Searching All Documents (Including Non-Linked

Documents):
On the Linked Docs tab, you can search for documents not linked to
the current name/matter, and for the Document Manager, you can
search for documents not added. This is useful for debugging (“Why
doesn’t my file appear in the database?”) or if you’re on a different
name/matter than the one linked to the document.
Click the search bar’s lookup button and click Document Search
Results. The Document Content Search Results window appears listing
all matching documents, whether or not they have a matching Abacus
record. To open one of the documents listed in the window, highlight
the document and click Open File.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 23

 Search Syntax
When entering keywords in the search bar, phrases must be enclosed
in quotes; unquoted searches work only for single words. Never include
operators in quoted text ( “Attorney OR law” ) or it will be treated as
part of the phrase.
Following are some search bar syntax examples:
Search Case Example
Searching for text containing Attorney OR Law
either of 2 words
Searching for text containing 2 Attorney AND Law
words
Searching for text containing ALL Attorney AND Law AND lawyer
3 words
Searching for text containing Attorney OR Law OR judge
either one of 3 words
Searching for a single phrase “Attorney at law”
Searching for a phrase and a word “Attorney at law” AND lawyer
Searching for 2 phrases “Attorney at law” AND “San
Diego”
Searching for text about attorneys “Attorney at law” AND “San
at law in San Diego or New York Diego” OR “New York”
Searching for text that could be “New York” NEAR City
either before or after the specified
word (in this example searching
for documents containing New
York City or The City of New York)

Using Query Manager

Click the search bar's lookup button and click Query Manager. The
Queries window appears and can be used to find items. See Query
Manager on page 302 for more information.

Configuring Search Bar Settings

1. Select File/Setup/User Preferences. The User Preferences window
appears. Select the Queries & Miscellaneous tab.
2. Under SearchBar, the Delay before auto-search setting defines
the time that spans from the moment the search keyword is
entered into the search bar until the automatic initiation of the
search (which happens if the user does not press the Enter key).

24 The Basics AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 The default delay time is 750 milliseconds. 1,000 milliseconds is
equivalent to 1 second. If you find the searches are happening too
quickly, try setting the time to 2,000.
3. Under SearchBar, the SearchingColor is the color that appears in
the search bar while the search is processing (default is yellow).
The FailedSearchColor is the color that appears in the search bar
when the search fails, meaning no records were found that match
the search keywords (default is red).
To change a color, click the button. The Color window opens.
Select a color and click OK.
4. Back in the User Preferences window, click OK to save your
changes and close the window.

Tagging Records
When you tag a record you select it for some kind of action. Tagging
lets you select more than one record to take action on at the same
time. For example, you could select multiple notes to delete instead of
having to delete them one at a time. The tagging feature exists for all
browse windows in Abacus.

To tag/untag single records:

Click the tag box to the far left of the record or highlight the record and
press the spacebar. When it is tagged, the tag box will be checked.
To tag/untag all records in a list:
Right-click the list of records and select Tag All or Clear All Tags.
NOTE: Sometimes you might have to use the Tagged Events submenu
to access these menu options.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 25

 To invert tags:
Right-click the list of records and select Invert Tags. NOTE: Sometimes
you may have to use the Tagged Events submenu to access this menu
option.

26 The Basics AbacusLaw Reference Guide

Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts or hot keys let you quickly perform an action using
a particular key or combination of keystrokes. The following list details
the available keyboard shortcuts in Abacus.

Data Windows Shortcut Keys

Key Action
Ctrl+C Copies
Ctrl+Shift+C Copies record to clipboard
Ctrl+E Prints an envelope from the Name window
Ctrl+F Finds
Ctrl+M Shows a map (Name window)
Ctrl+N Jumps to Notes (applicable for the Event window
and Call Manager)
Ctrl+P Prints
Ctrl+S Saves edit changes
Ctrl+V Pastes
Ctrl+X Cuts
Ctrl+F4 Closes window
Ctrl+F6 Moves to next window
Ctrl+F7 Moves forward in history
Ctrl+PgDn Jumps to the last field
Ctrl+PgUp Jumps to the first field

Alt+A Adds
Alt+D Deletes
Alt+I Selects index
Alt+K Marks an Event as done
Alt+L Clones
Alt+P Prints from linked tabs
Alt+Q Selects Query
Alt+F4 Exits
Alt+Down Arrow Displays calendar for date fields or Valid Entries
window for other fields
Alt+Left Arrow Back
Alt+Right Arrow Forward

Shift+Tab Moves to previous field

Shift+F7 Moves back in history

Tab Moves to next field

Esc Cancels changes or closes window
PgUp Skips to the previous record
PgDn Skips to the next record

F1 Opens Help
F2 Opens Call Manager
F3 Opens Abacus Dashboard

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 27

 F4 Opens popup calendar
F5 Inserts text macros (in Notes)
F6 Opens Date Calculator
F7 Opens History window
F8 Opens Forms Library
F9 Opens valid codes
F12 Opens Global Search

Date Field Shortcut Keys

Key Action
+ or d Adds one day
- or D Subtracts one day
m Adds one month
M Subtracts one month
T Populates with today’s date
w Adds one week
W Subtracts one week
y Adds one year
Y Subtracts one year
F6 or A (add) Uses the Date Calculator to calculate a date
F9or C Uses the popup calendar to pick a date

Recommendations for Backing Up Data

Data files should be backed up at the end of each day. It only takes
one power surge or computer malfunction to destroy hours or days of
work. Be smart. Tape backup systems are now relatively inexpensive.
You can use our internal utility for backing up the data (see page 480),
but we still recommend a full backup of the entire Abacus folder at least
once a week.

Avoiding the Deletion Confirmation Window

When you delete a database item in Abacus, a deletion confirmation
window appears to make sure you want to delete the selected items.
This window is a safety measure for you in case you pressed the
Delete key or selected Delete by mistake.

28 The Basics AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 To avoid this window, press and hold the Shift key before clicking the
Delete menu option or before pressing the Delete key.

Googling Selected Text

To search the web on selected text in fields or notes, highlight the text
in a field or note, right-click, and select Google [selected text].
Your web browser automatically opens to [Link] with the
selected text used as input for the search.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 29

4. Customizing Abacus
While you can use Abacus right out of the box, you can also configure
everything from codes to databases to reports. In this chapter, you will
learn how to customize the system to fit your practice and make data
entry fast, easy and consistent. See page 4 regarding Practice Packs
and Special Editions for ways to automatically set up Abacus for
particular specialties.

Registering Abacus
Abacus will time out after 30 days unless registered.
The firm name used to register Abacus is used throughout the system.
It appears:
• On the nameplate (if you do not have a user name entered)
• On report headings
• On bills (for Accounting Manager)
1. Select File/Register to open the Registration for Abacus window.

2. Enter your customer ID and firm name in the appropriate boxes. If

you don’t have a customer ID, call Abacus Data Systems technical
support at 1-800-488-3334.

30 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 3. The Practice Packs box lists any practice packs and/or court rules
you have purchased and installed. If you need more information
about a practice pack or court rule listed, select it and click the
View Report button.
4. Click Activate to send your online registration information to
Abacus Data Systems, Inc. automatically.
5. After registration, click Transfer if you need to move your license
from one server to another.

Setting Up Your Law Firm Information

To set up your law firm information, you enter address and contact
information. This information is used for forms generation (Word forms
and .pdf forms) and can automate some steps when you generate
forms.
1. Select File/Setup/My Firm. The Select Your Firm window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Click Add. The New Name window appears. Complete this window
with your firm’s information.
3. Click Save. The Select Your Firm window reappears with your firm
name selected.
4. Click OK to save your selection and close the window.
NOTE: For firms with multiple addresses, you can use an alternate
address for forms. See Creating an Alternate Return Address for
Fillable Forms on page 255 for more information.

Setting Up the Nameplate

The nameplate appears on the main window, like this:

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 31

 Follow these steps to customize your nameplate:
To show and label the nameplate:
1. Select File/Setup/User Preferences. The User Preferences window
appears with the User Info tab selected.
2. Under Settings, ensure that Show Nameplate on main window is
checked. If this setting is not checked, the nameplate will not
display.
3. You have two choices for labeling the nameplate:
• Enter a name in the User Name box (located under Start Up
on the User Info tab of the User Preferences window).
• Leave the User Name box blank so that the nameplate label is
your firm name as entered during registration (see Registering
Abacus on page 30).
To select an image, font, or color for the nameplate:
1. Select File/Setup/User Preferences. The User Preferences window
appears. Select the Appearance tab.
2. Click Background profile.
3. The Select a Background Profile window appears. Highlight the
background profile you are using and click Edit.
4. The Color and Background Setup window appears. Under Main
Window, click Background.
5. A menu appears. Select:
• Nameplate Image: To change the nameplate image. When you
select this menu option, a window appears listing all image
choices. Select the image and click Open.

32 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 • Nameplate Font: To change the font for the nameplate label
text. When you select this menu option, the Font window
appears. Select the font type, style, and size and click OK.
• Nameplate Color: To change the color of the nameplate label
text. When you select this menu option, the Color window
appears. Select a color and click OK.
6. Click OK to close all the open windows and save your changes.

User Management
Overview of User Management
Users are the operators of Abacus who enter or access data. To use
AbacusLaw, Abacus Accounting, or Abacus Reports, you need a User
ID (also called an Operator code).
Administrators can maintain users from the User Manager window. To
open the window, select File/Setup/User Manager.

The green symbol represents if the user has access to accounting.

To see all users, click Show all. To see only active users, click Show
active.
From this window, administrators can:
• Add/edit/clone users
• Deactivate/reactivate users
• Set hours of Abacus operation for users
• Perform an ad-hoc shutdown for all users
• Assign security access profiles to users
• Print a list of users

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 33

 Adding/Editing Users
1. From the User Manager window, click Add, Edit, or Clone. The
User Preferences window appears.
2. From the User Info tab, complete/edit the settings under Start Up.
See Customizing User Preferences on page 43 for help in
completing these settings.
3. Click Done.

Deactivating/Reactivating Users
To deactivate a user:
From the User Manager window, highlight the user and click
Deactivate.

To reactivate a user:
From the User Manager window, ensure that Show all is checked so
that you see all users (including deactivated users). Highlight the
deactivated user you want to reactivate and highlight the user and click
Reactivate. A window opens asking you if you are sure you want to
reactivate the user. Click Yes.

Setting Hours of Abacus Operation for Users

Administrators can create a schedule of hours during which users can
operate Abacus.
1. EITHER click Shutdown on the User Manager window OR select
File/Setup/Scheduled Shutdown. The User Working Hours window
appears.

34 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 2. Use the Scheduled shutdown settings to create a schedule of in-
operation hours for Abacus users. The following describes all the
fields in the section:
• Enabled: Check to enable the Scheduled Shutdown feature.
• Users allowed in at: Enter the time that users can access
Abacus again.
• Users asked to exit starting at: Enter the time that users will
receive a message that they need to exit Abacus.
• Users are forced to close at: Enter the time that users will be
forced to exit Abacus.
• Alert countdown interval: The number of seconds before the
user is forced out of the system.
3. Click Done to save your settings and enforce the new scheduled
hours of operation.

Performing an Ad-hoc Shutdown for All Users

Administrators can perform an ad-hoc shutdown of Abacus on an as-
needed basis. When Abacus shuts down, it gently forces all users out
of the application.
1. EITHER click Shutdown on the User Manager window OR select
File/Setup/Scheduled Shutdown. The User Working Hours window
appears.

2. In the Scheduled shutdown section, enter the number of seconds

before users are forced out of the system in the Alert countdown
interval field.
3. In the Immediate shutdown section, enter the time when users
can use Abacus again in the Let users back in at field.
4. Click Shutdown Now. A window appears asking you if you are
sure you want to shut down immediately. Click Yes.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 35

 Assigning Security Access Profiles to Users
1. From the User Manager window, highlight the user you want to
assign a security access profile.
2. Click Security Profile. The Security Access Profiles window
appears.
3. Highlight the profile you want to assign. If you do not see the profile
you need, you can add or clone one.
4. Click Done. The User Manager window reappears with the new
profile assigned to the selected user.

Printing a List of Users

1. From the User Manager window, click Print.
2. A window appears asking you if you want to print a list of user.
Click Yes.
3. The Report Viewer window appears. Click Print.

Security Access Profile Management

Overview of Security Access Profile Management
You assign a security access profile to each user to restrict what the
user can view, add, change, or delete in the system. You can set up a
security profile for each type of staff position (for example,
Administrative Assistant, Paralegal, etc.) or create a profile for an
individual.
Security permissions are grouped in 3 categories:
• Case Management Permissions – includes all the rights for
AbacusLaw.
• Accounting Permissions – includes rights for accounting.
• Accounting Reports – includes permissions for accounting
reports only.

36 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 You manage security access profiles from the Security Access Profiles
window. To open the window, select File/Setup/Security.

From this window, you can:

• Add/clone security access profiles
• Edit security access profiles
• Delete security access profiles

Adding/Cloning Security Access Profiles

1. From the Security Access Profiles window, EITHER clickAdd if you
want to add a new profile OR highlight the profile you want to clone
and click Clone.
2. The Enter a Value window appears. Enter/edit the name of the
security access profile and click Done. The Profile Details window
appears.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 37

 3. Click the Case Management Permissions arrow and click the
sub-category of functionality you want to limit/allow.
NOTE: When adding a security access profile, initially only the
case management permissions are set. To change Accounting
permissions, simply click Edit again to set program or accounting
report permissions.
4. Under Allow the user to access, if a function is checked then the
user can perform it. Check/uncheck the functions you want users
with this security profile to be able to perform.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each sub-category.
6. When you are finished, click OK.

Editing Security Access Profiles

1. From the Security Access Profiles window, highlight the security
access profile you want to change.
2. Click Edit. A menu appears. Click the category of permissions you
want to edit (case management permissions, accounting
permissions, or accounting report permissions).
3. TheProfile Details window appears. Click the category of
permissions arrow (Case Management Permissions, Accounting

38 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Permissions, or Accounting Reports) and click the sub-category
of functionality you want to limit/allow.
4. Under Allow the user to access, if a function is checked then the
user can perform it. Check/uncheck the functions you want users
with this security profile to be able to perform.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each sub-category.
6. When you are finished, click OK.

Deleting Security Access Profiles

1. From the Security Access Profiles window, highlight the security
access profile you want to delete.
2. Click Delete. A new window appears asking you if you are sure you
want to delete the profile.
3. Click Yes.
NOTE: If you delete a security access profile that has been assigned to
a user, the user will automatically be assigned an administrator security
access profile.

Setting Up Codes
Codes are abbreviations that represent something. For example,
DEPO might represent a deposition. It is possible in other programs for
one person to enter depositions as "DEP" and others to use "DEPO".
But, when you print a report of all depositions and filter for "DEPO", you
won't see the "DEP" events and your report would be dangerously
misleading! Codes avoid this problem by standardizing data and
enforcing data integrity.
Codes for a particular field are grouped together as one "code type.”
For example, CONTRACT (for contract cases), CRIMINAL (criminal
defense cases), and DIVORCE (divorce cases) are all codes for the
CASECODE field. The field is validated by the codes, meaning only a
valid code can be entered in a field that requires a code, and blank (no
entry) may be set up as a valid code.
To make using codes convenient, Abacus provides lookup buttons for
fields that contain codes (see page 20). When you click a lookup
button, a list of valid codes appears and you can select a code.
To print a list of codes, generate a Codes report (see page 357).
You can review all your codes from the Code Types window. To open
the window, select File/Setup/Codes. To add, edit and delete codes,
just highlight a Code Type and click the Edit codes button to open the
Valid Entries window for that type.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 39

 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

For a list of default

codes, see page 518.

The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enou

NETWORK TIP: To keep certain users from changing codes,

adjust their security access profile appropriately.
To add codes to a code type:
1. From the Valid Entries window, click the Add button. The New
Code window appears.
2. Type the name of the new code in the box and click OK. The Code
Description window appears.
3. Type a description for the code and click OK. The Valid Entries
window reappears, and it now displays the code you added.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 to add more codes for the code type. When you
are finished, click OK on the Valid Entries window.
To edit/delete codes:
1. From the Valid Entries window, highlight a code.
2. Do one of the following:
• To edit the selected code, click the Edit button. The Code
Editor window appears. Edit the code and click OK.

40 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 • To delete the selected code, click Delete. Click Yes.
To add code types:
NOTE: Adding code types is an advanced feature that is usually only
used after you create your own fields and screens.
1. From the Code Types window, click the Add new type button. The
Enter a Value window appears.
2. Enter the code type name in the box. Code types are category
names, usually named after the field where they’re used.
3. Click OK. An empty Valid Entries window appears to add the
codes.

Setting Up Holidays
Your jurisdiction may recognize holidays different from the standard
Federal holidays that Abacus already knows, so you can customize the
holidays in [Link], holidays will change from year to year and will
need to be updated periodically.
Abacus lets you set up holidays to assist you in scheduling events.
Holidays are simply events that have a What code of "HOLIDAY," so
they can be edited just like any other event. To make adding, editing
and deleting holidays even easier, open the Holidays window by
selecting File/Setup/Holidays.
Once holidays are set, if you try to schedule an event on a holiday, you
will receive a warning message that lets you change the date.
To set up all common holidays:
1. Select File/Setup/Holidays and the Holidays window appears.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 41

 2. From the Holidays window, select the holiday you want to repeat
into the future.
3. Click the Make button.
4. The Make Holidays window appears. Type the number of years for
which you want to add this holiday and click OK.
To add new holidays:
1. From the Holidays window, click the Add button. A window
appears.
2. Type the date or use the lookup button to select a date.
3. Type a description of the holiday in Description, and click OK.
To edit a holiday:
1. From the Holidays window, select the holiday you want to edit.
2. Click the Edit button. Another Holidays window appears displaying
the information for the holiday.
3. Edit the data and click OK.
To delete a holiday:
1. From the Holidays window, select the holiday you want to delete.
2. Click the Delete button. A new window asks if you are sure you
want to delete the [Link] Yes.

42 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

Customizing User Preferences
Each user can set his or her own preferences for Abacus. Select
File/Setup/User Preferences to see yours. (Note that the User Manager
also uses this window to edit settings for other users.) Change settings
on this window and click OK to save.
The following describes each setting on each tab of the User
Preferences window.

User Info Tab

The User Info tab controls some general user settings.

The following describes each setting on the User Info tab.

Start Up Section
• Auto-Log on ID: If you enter your user ID here, then you won’t
have to enter it when you start Abacus. Also, if the Password is
blank, the Log On window will not even appear.
• User Name: Your user name.
• Password: Leave blank to bypass the Log On window.
• Startup Window: The first window you see each time Abacus
starts. For example, many users like to see the Calendar first. To
change, click the arrow and select another window.
• Email Address: Your email address. Used for E-Calendars and
Emails.
• Bar Number: Your Bar Number. Used for forms.
• Reset optional messages: There are several places in Abacus
where you can select not to display optional messages (like help

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 43

 messages). Click this button if you want all messages to be
displayed again.
• Reset windows and browses: Resets windows and browses to
their original locations and sizes.

Settings Section
• Show Tip of the Day: When checked, Abacus will display a Tip of
the Day each time it is started.
• Ask to BackUp at exit: When checked, Abacus will prompt you to
backup the system each time you exit.
• Show Picture Window: When checked, the Picture window will
automatically open and display associated images when you view
names, events and matters.
• Show mouse-over Tooltips: When checked, Abacus will show
descriptions of things when the cursor hovers over them for a few
seconds. This setting affects toolbar buttons, buttons and other
items inside windows, and the On Point feature of calendars that
shows full details for events.
• Remind to Email Calendars: When checked, this person will be
reminded to send E-Calendars.
• Show Nameplate on main window: When checked, a nameplate
for the user appears as part of the background for the main Abacus
window. The nameplate label depends on certain field values:
- If you have entered a name in the User Name box on this tab,
that name appears as the nameplate label.
- If the User Name box on this tab is blank, the nameplate label is
your firm name as entered during registration (see Registering
Abacus on page 30).
• Edit new doc details when a file is dropped: When checked,
when you drag a file to a name or matter, the Doc Details window
appears so that you can edit the properties. When unchecked, the
Doc Details window does not appear.
• Get admin alerts from Abacus: When checked, you will receive
messages from Abacus regarding registration issues.
• Bypass “Bill this record” confirmation: When checked Abacus,
will not confirm billed events first.
• Use Paste Assistant for “Add from clipboard”: When checked,
when selecting and adding names using Names/Add from
Clipboard, the Paste Assistant is used to correct inserted
addresses.
• Field editing: Insert mode: When not checked, when you place
your cursor in a field and type, your entry will overwrite all of the
field’s existing content. When checked, when you place your cursor
in a field and type, your entry characters will be inserted into the
field’s existing content.

44 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 • Expand text macros with SpaceBar: When checked, when you
edit any note, enter a text macro, and then press the spacebar, the
macro will be replaced with the looked-up text. The F5 function key
will also expand macros, and pressing this key when the cursor is
not on a macro will open the Text Macro window, which lets you
manage your abbreviations.

Appearance Tab
The Appearance tab controls what you see on windows.

The following describes each setting on the Appearance tab.

Screens Section
The Screens section affects the Name, Event and Matter windows.
• Names, Events and Matters buttons: Indicates the screen to be
used for these data windows. To change, click the appropriate
button. The Screens for window appears. Select the screen you
want to use. To use the default window, click the Use default
button. (You can also add a new screen – see page 66) Click OK.
• Use classic Event screen: You must select this to use any custom
or alternative Event window. By default this will use the same Event
window as version 13 of Abacus.
• Minimize new Events on save: This only affects adding events
from the Calendar. When selected, the Event window minimizes
after you save an event to return you to the calendar.
• New Name: Prompt for Class Code: For names, custom screens
might be selected based on the type of Class code selected. When
selected, this prompts for the Class code so that the correct Smart
Screen is selected.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 45

 • New Matter: Prompt for Case Code: For matters, custom screens
might be selected based on the type of Case code selected. When
selected, this prompts for the Case code so that the correct Smart
Screen is selected.
• New Event: Prompt for What Code: For events, custom screens
might be selected based on the type of What code selected. When
selected, this prompts for the What code first so that the correct
Smart Screen is selected.
• Use wallpaper backgrounds: When selected, the settings
selected in Background Profile are used for Abacus windows.
NOTE: At a color setting of 256 colors or lower, windows may
appear blotchy. In this case, change your Windows colors setting,
or un-check Use wallpaper backgrounds.
• Background profile: If Use wallpaper backgrounds is selected,
the background profile (also called a “skin”) determines the
appearance of Abacus windows. For more information see
Controlling Background Profiles on page 50.

Defaults Section
• Default Note type: The code used to initialize the Type field when
adding new notes.
• Default Link type: The code used to initialize the Link Type field
when adding new links between names and matters.
• Default Event time: The time (or blanks or “TO-DO”) used to
initialize the Time field when you add an event.
• Default Event date: The date used to initialize the Date field when
you add an event.
• New Phone call: Sets the default for call type (incoming or
outgoing) on the Call Manager.
• Matter notes: When Init linked name is checked, a note will be
associated with both the name and matter automatically.

Browses Section
• Line style: Indicates the line style to be used on the Names
Browse, Events Browse and Matters Browse windows. To change,
click arrow and select a style.

Fonts Section
• Labels: Sets the default font for field names and other text that
appears on the Name, Event and Matter windows.
• Input fields: Sets the default font for the text entered on the Name,
Event and Matter windows.
• Notes: Sets the default font for text in name and matter notes.
• Browses: Sets the default font for the Names Browse, Events

46 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Browse and Matters Browse windows.
To use any of these buttons, click the button. The Font window
appears. Change the font type, style, and size and click OK.

Printing/Email Program Tab

The Printing/Email Program tab controls printer, word processor, and
email actions.

The following describes each setting on the Printing/Email Program

tab.

Printers Section
• Reports: The default printer and bin settings to be used to print
reports. To change, click the Reports button. The Print Setup
window appears. Select a printer, change the bin settings if desired
and click OK. If set, you aren’t asked to pick a printer each time
you print something. If you want to be asked, leave it blank.
• Labels: Indicates the printer and bin settings used to print labels.
• Envelopes: The default printer and settings used to print
envelopes.
• Envelope Form: Indicates the quick form to be used for envelopes.
This lets each user have a special form set up for their envelopes.
For more information about customizing your own envelope form,
see Customizing Envelopes for User on page 55.

Report Default Font Type Section

• Fixed: Old-style 10-characters-per-inch font type. This is more
predictable in knowing exactly how many characters will fit across

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 47

 the page or in a column, but not as handsome as Proportional.
• Proportional: A Times New Roman font that is not fixed-pitch.

Word Processor Section

• Executable: The word processor to be used for mail merge and
form generation. To change, click the button, select the executable
file for your word processor (*.exe) and click OK.
• Files dir.: The default output directory where letters or other
documents will be created.
• Forms dir.: The default directory for forms. When you want to
assign a form to an event, this directory will be displayed first.

Email Section
For DefaultEmail Program:
• MS Outlook: Select this option if Microsoft Outlook is your default
email program. Then, click Setup. The Outlook Add-in Setup
window appears. Enable the add-in
• Other Email Program: Select this option if you do not use
Microsoft Outlook as your default email program.
• Custom Email command: Leave blank unless you have trouble
sending an email while using Abacus.

Queries & Miscellaneous Tab

The Queries & Miscellaneous tab controls query and map service
defaults.

48 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 The following describes each setting on the Queries & Miscellaneous
tab.

Default Queries Section

• Names, Events, Matters: Sets the default query to be used for
names, events and matters. Click a button and select the default
query you want to use.
• Number of queries to show in MRU lists: Sets the number of
most recently used queries that will display.

Internet Map Engine Section

Map Service: You can select to see a name’s

address on a map (see Copying and Pasting Name
Data
To copy and paste name data out of Abacus:
TIP: This procedure can be used when generating a letter for the open
name.
Open the name in the Name window. Then, click the Clipboard button
on the toolbar. Then, paste the information into a word processing
document.
NOTE: You can control what gets copied using the Clipboard button by
customizing the quick form clipboard.fm1.

To copy and paste name data into Abacus:

You can copy name and address text from any program and then paste
it into Abacus.
1. Copy a standard name and address block of text from any program
to the Windows clipboard.
2. Select Names/Add from Clipboard from the Abacus menu. A new
record is initialized, and the name and address text is pasted to the
correct fields in the Name window. (This will not overwrite fields in
an existing record; it always starts a new record).
3. Add the rest of the information for the name and click Save.

To copy and paste an Outlook vCard into Abacus:

If you have a vCard in an email in Outlook, right-click it and select Copy
to copy it to the clipboard. Then, in Abacus, select Names/Add from
Clipboard to create a name based on the vCard information.
• Showing Maps for Names on page 102). This setting determines

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 49

 which Internet map service to use.

SearchBar Section
• Delay before auto-search: Defines the time that spans from the
moment the search keyword is entered into the search bar until the
automatic initiation of the search (which happens if the user does
not press the Enter key). The default delay time is 750
milliseconds. 1,000 milliseconds is equivalent to 1 second. If you
find the searches are happening too quickly, try setting the time to
2,000.
• Searching Color: Defines the color that appears in the search bar
while the search is processing (default is yellow). To change a
color, click the button. The Color window opens. Select a color and
click OK.
• Failed Search Color: Defines the color that appears in the search
bar when the search fails, meaning no records were found that
match the search keywords (default is red). To change a color,
click the button. The Color window opens. Select a color and click
OK.

Override “MyFirm” Section

• Override "MyFirm": Lets you create an alternate return address
for fillable forms. See Creating an Alternate Return Address for
Fillable Forms on page 255 for more information.

Sync & Mobile Tab (if enabled)

The Sync & Mobile tab appears on the User Preferences window if
Abacus Sync and/or Abacus Mobile are enabled for your Abacus
installation. From the Sync & Mobile tab, you can use Abacus Sync
and Abacus Mobile to synchronize your mobile devices to Abacus.

Controlling Background Profiles

A background profile (also called a “skin”) changes the cosmetic
appearance of a window or a type of window. Abacus is installed with
several background profiles that you can select to use.
Background profiles are controlled from the Select a Background
Profile window. To open the window, selectFile/Setup/User
Preferences. The User Preferences window appears. Select the
Appearance tab and click the Background profile button. The Select
a Background Profile window appears.

50 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 From this window, you can:
• Select a background profile to use
• Create a background profile (through cloning)
• Edit a background profile
• Delete a background profile

Selecting a Background Profile to Use

From the Select a Background Profile window, highlight the profile to
use and click OK.

Cloning Background Profiles

From the Select a Background Profile window, highlight the profile and
click Clone. The Clone Background scheme window appears. Enter
the new name for the profile and click OK.
Edit the cloned background profile as necessary.

Editing Background Profiles

From the Select a Background Profile window, highlight the profile to
edit and click Edit. The Color and Background Setup window appears.
Make changes to the profile and click Apply to see the changes
without saving. When you are happy with your changes, click OK to
save.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 51

 The following describes the changes you can make to the selected
background profile from this window. Note that The Colors buttons
select solid colors, and the Background buttons select images.

Main Window
This section controls the colors or background images used for the
main window.
Colors
If you want to use solid colors for the main window, click the Colors
button and select one of the following menu options:
• Underlying Color: Changes the underlying color of the window.
When you select this option, the Colors window appears. Select a
color and click OK.
• Menu Color: Changes the menu bar background color. Do one of
the following: (1) select Pick a color to open the Colors window,
select a color, and click OK; (2) select Match Toolbar’s background
color to match the menu bar background color with the first pixel
color of the toolbar so the menu can flow nicely into the toolbar; or
(3) select Windows’ Default to use your normal Windows menu
color.
If you want the menu bar background color you picked to apply to
submenus as well, select Apply Color to SubMenus to check it.
• ToolBar Color: Changes the toolbar background color. Do one of
the following: (1) select Pick a color to open the Colors window,
select a color, and click OK; (2) select Match Main Window
background color to match the toolbar background color with the

52 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 first pixel color of the main window; or (3) select Windows’ Default
to use your normal Windows toolbar color.
Background
If you want to use images for the main window, click the Background
button and select one of the following menu options:
• Window Background: Changes the image for the window
background. When you select this option, a window appears with
image selections. Select an image and click Open.
• Toolbar Background: Changes the image for the toolbar
background. When you select this option, a window appears with
image selections. Select an image and click Open.
• Menu Background:Changes the image for the menu bar
background. When you select this option, a window appears with
image selections. Select an image and click Open.
If you want this same background to apply to submenus as well,
select Apply Color to SubMenus to check it.
• Nameplate Image: To change the nameplate image. When you
select this menu option, a window appears listing all image
choices. Select the image and click Open.
• Nameplate Font: To change the font for the nameplate label text.
When you select this menu option, the Font window appears.
Select the font type, style, and size and click OK.
• Nameplate Color: To change the color of the nameplate label text.
When you select this menu option, the Color window appears.
Select a color and click OK.
Restore
To return to the default Abacus settings, click Restore and select
Restore defaults for Main Window only to restore the main window
defaults or Restore all default settings to restore all the settings on the
Color and Background Setup window to default values.

Name Window, Event Window, Matter Window

These sections control the colors or background images used for the
Name, Event, and Matter windows.
Colors
If you want to use solid colors for the Name/Event/Matter window, click
the Colors button in the appropriate section and select one of the
following menu options:
• Headline/Label/Field Text: Changes the color of headline/label/field
text. When you select this option, the Colors window appears.
Select a color and click OK.
• Headline/Label/Field background: Changes the color of
headline/label/field backgrounds. Do one of the following: (1) select
Pick a color to open the Colors window, select a color, and click

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 53

 OK; (2) select Same as Window to match the headline/label/field
background color with the first pixel color of the window.
Background
If you want to use images for the Name/Event/Matter window, click the
Background button in the appropriate section and select the type of
window you want to change. When you select this option, a window
appears with image selections. Select an image and click Open.
If you want all window types to have the same background image,
select Same background for all pages. When you select this option, a
window appears with image selections. Select an image and click
Open.
Restore
To return to the default Abacus settings, click Restore and select
Restore defaults for Names/Events/Matters only to restore the
Name/Event/Matter window defaults or Restore all default settings to
restore all the settings on the Color and Background Setup window to
default values.

Notes
This section controls the colors used for notes.
Colors
Click the Colors button and select one of the following menu options:
• Names & Matters Note Text: Changes the color of note text. When
you select this option, the Colors window appears. Select a color
and click OK.
• Names & Matters Note background: Changes the color of note
backgrounds. Do one of the following: (1) select Pick a color to
open the Colors window, select a color, and click OK; or (2) select
Same as Window to match the note background color with the first
pixel color of the window the note appears in.
Restore
To return to the default Abacus settings, click Restore and select
Restore defaults for Notes only to restore the notes defaults or Restore
all default settings to restore all the settings on the Color and
Background Setup window to default values.

Browses
This section controls the colors or background images used for Browse
windows.

54 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Colors
Click the Colors button and select one of the menu options appropriate
for the item you want to change. The Colors window appears. Select a
color and click OK.
Background
Click the Background button and select one of the menu options
appropriate for the item you want to change. A window appears with
image selections. Select an image and click Open.
Restore
To return to the default Abacus settings, click Restore and select
Restore defaults for Browses only to restore the Browse window
defaults or Restore all default settings to restore all the settings on the
Color and Background Setup window to default values.

Deleting Background Profiles

From the Select a Background Profile window, highlight the profile to
delete and click Delete. A window appears asking you if you are sure
you want to delete the background profile. Click Yes.

Customizing Envelopes for Users

If you are on a network and sharing a printer with others, you will find it
useful to customize your own envelope.
1. View a name in the Name window.
2. Click the Print button on the toolbar and select QuickForms. The
QuickForms window appears.
3. Highlight envelope.fm1 and click Clone.
4. A window appears asking you for a new name for the cloned
envelope. Enter a name for your envelope, for example, ABCENV.
You don’t need to enter “.fm1” – Abacus adds this automatically.
Click OK.
5. Back in the Quick Forms window, find your envelope and highlight
it. Click Edit.
6. Edit the envelope for your printer and click OK.
7. Set your personal envelope as the default envelope form on the
User Preferences window, Printing/Email Program tab. (See
Customizing User Preferences on page 43 for help.)

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 55

Customizing System Options
Abacus lets you set system options that affect all users, such as how
often to index databases, how to schedule events landing on weekends
and what date format to use. In addition, you can customize the phone
field names on the Name window and the user-defined fields on the
Matter window.
Select File/Setup/System Options to open the System Options window.

Change settings on this window and click OK to save. The following

describes each setting on each tab of the User Preferences window.

Top Button Bar

• Supervisor Password: Setting a supervisor password will
prevent any users from intentionally or accidentally accessing

56 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 any system settings, utilities or data structures. It is an extra
layer of security, requiring users to enter it to take sensitive
actions. A supervisor password is also required to view private
records.
• Data Server: Provides input settings for the data server’s IP
address and the port to communicate on.
• Language:Not in use.
• Document Search:Sets up the Document Search feature.

Startup Section
• Auto indexing interval: Indicates, in days, how often the
program will automatically index. For example, if you enter 7,
then Abacus will re-index all databases once a week. Abacus
recommends at least once every seven days.
• Update TO-DOs on startup: When selected, the system
automatically moves the Things To Do events that are not
marked "Done" forward to today.

Terminology Section
• Field Names: This button lets you create your own labels for
the phone fields on the Name window and for the user-defined
fields on the Matter window. Click the button. The Field Names
window appears. Change the field labels as desired and click
OK.

Events Landing on Weekends Section

• Adjust to: When automatically scheduled events fall on
weekends, this setting indicates if the event will be rescheduled
to the Monday after the weekend or the Friday before the
weekend.
• Move Reminders to Friday: When selected, all reminders
landing on weekends will be moved to the Friday before the
weekend.

General Section
• Increment Names ID: When selected, Abacus will
automatically insert the next ID number when adding names.
For example, if the last name you added had and ID of 1, the
next time you added a name, the system would input an ID of 2
for you.
It actually increments any trailing numeric part, so if you add a
record with ID 2010-0001, the next record will be initialized to
2010-0002.
• Increment Case/File number: When selected, the system will
automatically insert the next case/file number when adding

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 57

 matters. Handling is the same as for Name IDs described
above.
• Use Zip Code Lookup: When selected, the system will
automatically fill in the Name window city or state fields based
on the zip code entered.
• Track Remote Synchronization: When selected, the system
tracks all your database changes in a file called [Link].
DO NOT TURN OFF SYNCHRONIZATION unless you are
positive there is no data in other databases that you care
about.
• Log Wireless Sync activity: Check if you want to record
Abacus Sync activity in a log file.
• Enable Field Templates: Check to enable the field templates
feature. If you want to use field templates to fill in blank fields,
also check Only fill empty fields.

Outlook Sync
• Log Outlook Sync activity: Select if you want the Outlook
Sync log to record only full sync activity (Full sync only) or all
activity (All operations). If you do not want to produce the
Outlook Sync log, select None/OFF.

DatesSection
• Century year: The “pivot year” that affects entry of 2-digit
years. Since dates are shown without the century for
convenience, it’s important to know at what point it is
considered to be of this century or last. The default setting of
1980 means that any years less than 80 are after the year
2000, and years 80-99 are in the 1900s. A date entered into
the system as 2/14/20 would be considered February 14, 2020,
not February 14, 1920. This setting should only be changed if
absolutely necessary.
• Use “Close Matter” option: When you enter a closed date for
a matter, the Close Matter option opens a window offering to
delete (or change to OFF Calendar so that the Status field is
changed to OFF) all future events for that matter. Select this
option to turn the Close Matter option on or deselect to turn it
off.
• Date format: The default format you want to use for dates. To
change, click the arrow and select a format.
• Warn if add an Event before…: The date range to receive
warnings when scheduling events. This is to prevent missing
deadlines due to typos on date entries.

58 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

Customizing the Document Search Feature
All the documents you’ve linked to Abacus can have their content and
file names searched for instant retrieval and review (see Searching
Documents on page 189 for more information). By default, this includes
the files in the Abacus\Docs folder. If you have linked documents
stored in other folders, you can configure Abacus to include those other
locations. (All documents do need to be stored on your server
computer, not dispersed on various workstations.)
For example, if you store documents in a folder on your network server
named “Clients“ that has a folder for each of your clients and their
matters, that folder can be searched as well.
Since Abacus displays a database that keeps information about the
documents, using the Document Search will limit the database to just
show the records that match found documents.
When you install Abacus on your server, it walks you through the
simple setup procedure. Since the search only happens on your server,
the setup can only be performed on the server.
Follow these steps to change the Document Search setup at any time:
1. Run Abacus on your server and select File/Setup/System Options,
then click Document Search. The Document Search Setup
window appears.

2. Set Share name to the Abacus main directory. (Default is

Abacus.)

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 59

 3. Under Additional Folders to Search, use the Add button to
create a list of locations to search. The Abacus\Docs folder is
required, but you can add any other folders on this server that
contain documents you want to link to Abacus.
4. Click OK to save your changes.

Setting Up Work Groups

You can schedule an event for a work group and have the event show
up on all the member’s calendars.
Work group scheduling can make scheduling tasks easier. You place
people in groups and then schedule the groups instead of the
individuals. For example, if John and Belinda are in group *LIT (work
groups always start with an asterisk) and you calendar a DEPO for
*LIT, when both John and Belinda look at their schedule they will see
the scheduled DEPO event.
The great part is, if John leaves the firm, just delete him from the work
group. Add any other people to *LIT, and all events for that group will
automatically show up on those people's calendars!
You add, edit and delete work groups from the Work Groups window.
To open the window, select File/Setup/Work Groups.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

To add a work group:

1. From the Work Groups window, select View by Who. All Who
codes in your system will display.
2. Select the Who codes you want to add to the group.
3. Click the Assign to button. The Valid Group Entries window
appears.

60 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 4. Click the Add button. The New "Group Entries" Code window
appears.
5. Type the name of the new group and click OK. The Group Entries
Code Description window appears.
6. Type a description of the group and click OK. The Valid Group
Entries window reappears with the new group listed.
7. Select the new group and click OK. The Work Groups window
reappears. Note that the new group is listed in the Assignments
box.
To add people to a work group:
1. Select View by Who. All Who codes in your system will display.
2. Select the Who codes you want to add to the group.
3. Click the Assign to button. The Valid Group Entries window
appears.
4. Select the work group and click OK.
To delete people from a work group:
1. Select View by Group. All work groups in your system appear.
Highlight the desired group.
2. The Assignments box lists the people in the group. Select the
people you want to delete from the group.
3. Click Delete. A window asks if you want to delete the Highlighted
person or all tagged people (if more than one was selected). Click
a button to make the appropriate selection.
To delete an entire work group:
Work groups are really just Who codes. Therefore, they can be deleted
just like any other code (see page 40).
NOTE: Deleting a group code has no effect on events that are already
scheduled. It simply removes the group from the list of valid Who codes
for adding new events.

User-Defined Fields, Screens and Indexes

Here are some ways to customize Abacus for more experienced users.
Practice Packs and Special Editions are also available that pre-
package data structures, screens, indexes, rules and more to fit your
specialties. See page 4 for details.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 61

 Customizing Database Structure
By default, the screens in Abacus only allow you to capture certain
types of information. Many law firms need to customize their screens to
display information that is unique to their practice. For example, one
firm may handle Personal Injury cases and need to add several fields
for specific data such as the type of injury or a police report number.
You can add, edit and delete fields to meet your firm’s needs. You can
specify the type of data a field will accept and how it will accept it. For
example, if you have a field called "Date of Injury" that must not be left
blank by the user, you could require input.
With Abacus you can design database structure changes at any time
and implement those changes later after everyone else has exited
Abacus – a very valuable feature for busy offices because you don't
have to shut everybody down. Since actually making the changes
requires a complete re-writing of the databases, be sure to have a
current backup first.
Select File/Setup/Database structures. The Data Structure window
appears.

62 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Click the Databaseto Edit arrow and select Names, Events or Matters.
(If you are working with an extra database, you cannot change this
field.) The fields listed are the existing fields for the selected database.
Not all fields appear on your data windows! Abacus has internal fields
that it uses behind the scenes. These will appear in this list, but you will
not be allowed to delete or change them at all. You have complete
control over fields you add. The standard Abacus fields that do appear
on your screens cannot be deleted, and we recommend that you not
change them at all, but if necessary you can change the Display Name
and Description. Some of them (like “Dear”) can have their lengths
changed. Fields that are primary index keys like Last and First cannot
be altered.
From this window do any of the following to complete or maintain the
data structure:
• Sort the list of fields
• Delete a field in the database
• Add a field to the database
• Edit a field in the database
• Print a list of the fields
When you are done, click Finished to close the window. Note that
when you click Finished, the Pending Changes Exist window usually
appears. See Finishing Field Structure for the Database on page 65 for
more information.

Sorting the List of Fields

Click the Sort By arrow and select to sort by Name, Number, or
Display (to sort by Display Name).

Deleting a Field in the Database

Highlight the field and click Delete. The deleted field is marked with
a red X. After you close the window and reopen it, the field will be
removed.

Adding a Field to the Database

1. ClickAdd. The Add Field to Database window appears.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 63

 2. Complete the window as follows:
• Field Name: Enter the actual name of the field. The first
character must be a letter, and the next 9 characters can be
letters, an underscore (_) or digits. Do not create fields that are
the same name except for the tenth character (like
NEW_FIELD1, NEW_FIELD2).
• Field Type: Select the type of field. You can choose between
several types: Character(which includes all letters and
numbers and most symbols), Numeric (which includes
numbers only), Date (which includes dates only),
Logical(“True/False" fields that appear as a check box option)
and HyperLink (which are used only for adding HyperLinks to
screens).
• Field Length: Enter the maximum number of characters for the
field. Date fields are 8 characters, Logicals are 1, Numerics
overall length includes any decimal point and digits. So if you
want your data to handle a maximum integer of 999, length 3 is
fine. But if you want to handle 999.99, the length must be 6 and
the Max Decimal must be 2.

TIP: If you are not using a standard field, you might want to
shorten the field length to 1 to save disk space.
• Max Decimal: Numeric fields may include decimals. This
setting specifies how many digits are on the right side of the
decimal point.
• Display Name: Enter the name that you want to see in lists
where you select fields, such as when adding fields to a new
report or creating a query. Usually, this is just a more readable
version of the Field Name. It must be unique; do not give two
fields the same Display name.
• Description: Enter the description of the field.
3. Click Save to save your changes and close the window.

64 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Editing a Field in the Database
1. Double-click the grid cell containing the information you want to
edit.
2. Once double-clicked, the cell is in edit mode. Make your changes
as necessary and press Enter to save.

Printing a List of the Fields

Click the Report button. A confirmation window appears. Click Yes.

Finishing Field Structure for the Database

When you click Finished on the Data Structure window, the Pending
Changes Exist window might appear:

Select any of the options to finish the procedure:

• Resume editing: Click if you clicked the Finished button too soon
and would like to go back to the Data Structure window and make
more changes.
• Kill changes and start over: Click if you want to cancel your
changes and return to the Data Structure window to start over.
• Kill changes and Quit: Click if you want to cancel your changes
and close the Data Structure window.
• Execute changes and create new databases: Click if you have
made changes and are ready to create the extra database.
• Compare current to proposed changes: Click if you want to
review the proposed changes (in a separate window).
• Postpone changes and quit: Click if you want to keep your
changes, but are not ready to create the extra database.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 65

 Managing Screens
User-defined screens define the layout of fields on the data windows
(Name, Event and Matter windows). When applied to a data window,
screens alter the appearance of the window.
Using screens, you can change the type of information captured
through fields on the data entry windows. You can display any of the
standard fields, you can mix in any of your own user-defined fields or
you can even ignore Abacus fields and only show your user fields.
Also, using screens, you can add tabs to the data windows for more
window space as well as for categorizing fields.
With the Smart Screens feature, Abacus recognizes the type of name
or matter being displayed and uses an appropriate screen to show it.
See To set up Smart Screens on page 77 for more details.
You manage screens from the Screens window. You can open the
Screens window in one of two ways:
• Select File/Setup/User-defined Screens and select the type of
screen you want to work with (Name, Event or Matter).
• Select File/Setup/User Preferences. The User Preferences window
appears. Select the Appearance tab. Under Screens, click the
button for the type of data entry screens you want to manage
(Name, Event, or Matter).
The Screens window appears listing screens created for the selected
type of data window.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

66 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Each screen represents one tab (also called a page) that can appear
on the data window. Multiple screens with the same Screen ID will
appear as additional tabs to the right of the “linked” tabs on the data
window. For example, if you create a screen called MYSCREEN for
names, the Name window will use it for the first “Standard” tab. If you
add another screen called MYSCREEN, it will appear as another tab on
the Name window after the LinkedNames tab.
Page numbers are only used to order the screen pages. For example,
page 3 will appear after Page 2.
To understand which screen is being used for a window, click the
Windows menu and hover over or click the Screens menu option. The
screen being used is displayed in the lower left-hand corner of the
window:

To add a screen:
NOTE: It is usually easier to clone an existing screen rather than
adding one from scratch.
1. From the Screens window, click the Add button. The Screen
Designer appears. (It is usually easier to clone an existing screen
rather than adding from scratch).
2. Create the screen from the Screen Designer window. (See To use
the Screen Designer on page 68 for help.)
3. Click OK. The Screens window reappears with the new one listed.
To clone a screen:
1. From the Screens window, select the screen you want to clone.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 67

 2. Click the Clone button. The Screen Designer appears.
3. Edit the screen from the Screen Designer. (See To use the Screen
Designer on page 68 for help.) Be sure to enter a new screen ID.
This is the new file name, and it must be different from the original.
4. Click OK. The Screens window reappears with the new one listed.
To edit a screen
NOTE: Do not edit the screen “Original” because this screen name is
reserved and any changes to it may be overwritten by future updates to
Abacus.
RECOMMENDATION: Clone a screen, then save your modifications to
a new screen name instead of editing the original screen.
1. From the Screens window, select the screen you want to edit.
2. Click the Edit button. The Screen Designer appears.
3. Edit the screen from the Screen Designer. (See To use the Screen
Designer on page 68 for help.)
4. Click OK. The Screens window reappears with the new screen
listed.
To delete a screen:
1. From the Screens window, select the screen you want to delete.
2. Click the Delete button. A window appears asking you if you are
sure you want to delete the screen.
3. Click Yes.

To use the Screen Designer

1. In the ID box, type the name of the screen.

68 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 2. In the Description box, indicate what’s special about this page.
3. In the Label box, type the name of the tab as it will appear on the
data window. You can leave it blank to have it numbered
sequentially (like “Page 7”). If you wantan underlined “accelerator”
key, put “&” in front of the number or letter to use. Since most
letters are already used by the menus and buttons, use something
like “&7 MyTab” so pressing ALT+7 will select this tab.
4. In the # box, type the number of the tab. If it is to replace the
Standard tab of the window, type 1; if it is to be added to the other
tabs, type 2, 3, 4, etc.
5. Use the following to help you add/edit the screen. When you are
finished, click OK on the Screen Designer.
TIP: To undo any changes you make, click Undo. The Saved Screen
States window appears. Select the changed state you want to return to
and click OK.
To add a field:
• Right-click on a blank area where the field label should start,
and select Add Field. The Fields window appears.
• Select the field and click OK. The Field Properties window
appears.
• Use the following to help you complete the settings on the
window for the field:
• Picture: Lets you display data in a certain format using
special function codes. To set the function code, click the
lookup button. The Valid_PICTURES Entries window
appears. Select a code (or add one) and click OK. The
following table describes some picture codes you can use:
Name Function
@K If the first keystroke in the field is a printable
character, the entire field clears.
@S Allows the field to scroll. For example, S10
would allow 10 characters to appear (even
though the field may contain 35 characters),
and then begin scrolling text as you type
towards the end.
@! Converts alphabetic characters to all capital
letters.
@4 Forces 4-digit years for date fields – very
useful for birthdates.
@U Forces the first character to upper case, then
allows any number of characters for therest of
the field.
# Allows digits blanks and signs for numeric
fields. For example ####.## would display a
numeric field with 4 digits and decimal places.
9 Allows only numeric data to be input.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 69

 , Use to separate digits to the left of the
decimal point, for example #,###.##.
. Use to designate the decimal point.
$ Use to display currency.
A Allows alphabetic characters only.

Combinations are permitted, for instance, @!K in the Picture

field would convert all characters to capitals, and the full
field would get cleared when the first editing keystroke is not
a cursor key. Here are more possibilities:

Name Function
@) Displays negative numbers in
parentheses.
@Z ###,##9.99 Allows the dollar sign to "float" or be
displayed next to the first non-zero
digit, for example, $1,971.26.
$###,##9.99 Displays a dollar sign with spaces
before the first non-zero digit, for
example, $ 1,971.26
@)Z $###,##9.99 Negative numbers are displayed in
parenthesis with the dollar sign
outside, for example, $ (1,971.26)
@(Z $###,##9.99 Negative numbers are displayed in
parenthesis with the dollar sign
inside, for example, ($1,971.26)

• Fastfield code: Input a Fastfield category (usually the

name of the field, but can be any single word). You can
think of this as the code type. A good example of a
Fastfield is the What field on the Event window. The
Fastfield code for it is "WHAT", so a list of Valid WHAT
codes is maintained in the codes database. Fastfields
display a look-up value WHILE you type! When the value
you want is displayed, just press ENTER to accept it. The
Fastfield also automatically sets up the Valid condition
and the Listbox to use, so you can leave these fields
blank on this window if you are using a Fastfield.
• Valid condition: If you are using a Fastfield, leave this
field blank. To force user’s entries into this field to match a
list of valid codes, just enter a one-word code type. For
instance, the What field for events has "WHAT" as the valid
expression, telling Abacus to allow only valid What codes
into the field. Otherwise, input any VALID logical
expression, referring to the user's input as "Value". For
example, to force a numeric field to allow positive numbers
only, you could enter VALUE > 0. To make a field
REQUIRED, enter !empty(Value). These simple
validations will not let the user exit the field if a bad value
exists, but will not alert users as to WHY they cannot move

70 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 to the next field. Use the ErrBeep() function to add a
message to your expression. You can also change the
value in other fields by using the SetField() function.
• Listbox to use: To allow the lookup button to maintain a
list of valid codes for this field, just type a one-word code
type. For instance, the What field for events has "WHAT"
as the list box property, so the lookup button knows which
codes to display.
• Message line: Type helpful text to be displayed on the
Message Bar at the bottom of the window when the user is
editing this field.
• Click OK.
To add text and variable text:
Text stays the same whenever the window is displayed. Variable text
changes with the data based on fields or special variables, but appears
like a text label and cannot be edited by the user the way an input field
can. For example, use variable text on a screen when you want to
display a field without letting users edit it.
• Right-click in the window and select Add Textor select Add
Variable Text. The Text Properties window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

• In theText or expression box, enter the text that will appear on

the screen or for variable text, enter the xBASE expression
used to evaluate whenever the window is displayed. Usually
this is a reference to a field with the special prefix "oDbf:" For
example, the Events screen ID display simply shows: oDbf:ID.
The ID for the current record is displayed, and it changes as
you change to a different record.
For more information about expressions, see page 498.
• Under Justification, select the way you want the text to align
on the screen.
• Click OK.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 71

 To add a group box (a rectangle around a group of fields):
• Right-click in the window and click Add Box. The Group Box
Label prompt appears.
• Leave it blank, or type the text to show at the top of box and
click OK.
To add a notes list box:
Right-click in the window and click Add Notes ListBox. This is only
valid for Name or Matter windows. It lets you show the same browse as
the Linked Notes tab, but on the first page of the data window. The box
can be stretched to any desired size.
To add a HyperLink:
A HyperLink is linked text on a Name or Matter window that shows data
from a different record — usually from another database. When clicked,
it opens a window to edit that other record.
At a matter,when the user hovers over a hyperlink to a linked name the
description for that link displays (for example, “Adjustor” or whatever
text was entered into the Description when the name was linked to the
matter).
After being added to a screen, HyperLinks look like this on the window.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

There are two different kinds of HyperLinks you can add to a screen:
LinkType or Direct
LinkType HyperLink: A LinkType HyperLink can be added to a Matter
screen to show a name linked to the matter, or to a Name screen to
show a matter linked to the name. You select the Type code of the
record you want the HyperLink to access. The most common use for
this style HyperLink is to show the related client on the Matter window
itself. If you link clients to each matter with the same link type code, the
correct name will show for every matter automatically.

72 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Direct HyperLink: A Direct HyperLink does not look up a linked
[Link], it displays a specific record which users select. You can
add a Direct HyperLink to a Name or Matter screen, and it can access
name, matter or event records. Note that, at first, the Direct HyperLink
will simply display “Not selected” on the Name or Matter window for
each record. When you click it, a browse window appears for you to
select the exact record to display. This is very handy for showing a
statute date on a Matter window. When a new matter is added and a
statute date has been added to the calendar, you can click the Direct
HyperLink and select that event.

To Add a LinkType HyperLink:

Right-click a blank area on the Screen Designer and select Add
HyperLink/Show Linked [Name, Matter]. The LinkType HyperLink
Properties window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

Complete the settings on the window.

LinkType code to find: Click the lookup button. The Valid Link Type
Entries window appears. Select the type of name you want to be able
to access when viewing matters or select the type of matter you want to
be able to access when viewing names and click OK.
Link Expression to Show: Enter the actual expression to display in
the HyperLink. If a matter record is to be displayed, this is usually the
matter [Link] names it is usually the LastFirst() function which shows
the usual lastname – firstname combination. For Events, use
DTOC(When) for the event's date.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 73

 Justification: Select to center, left justify or right justify the text for the
HyperLink within its box.

To add a Direct HyperLink:

IMPORTANT: For each record to know which other record to display in
a HyperLink, you must have a field in the database to store the link
information. So, before you create the HyperLink, edit the database
structure and add the HyperLink field (such as “Statute” for a Matter
screen). See Customizing Database Structure on page 62 for details.
Right-click a blank area of the Screen Designer and select Add
HyperLink/Direct to a Record. The Direct HyperLink Properties window
appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

Complete the window:

Store in Field: Click the lookup button and select the user-defined field
that was added to the database specifically for this HyperLink.
Link to Database: Click the lookup button and select the other
database whose information you want to display.
Link Expression to Show: Enter the actual expression to display in
the HyperLink. If a matter record is to be displayed, this is usually the
matter [Link] names it is usually the LastFirst() function which shows
the usual lastname – firstname combination.
Justification: Select to center, left justify or right justify the text for the
HyperLink within its box.
When you are finished, click OK.

74 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 The next time you are in the window to which you added the HyperLink,
it will appear as “Not Assigned.” Right-click the HyperLink and select
the record you want to show. That record will always appear in the
HyperLink for the main record. Left-click it to open the assigned record
in a new window. Right-click it to re-assign a different record.
To add a tab to the window:
Right-click in the window and select Add Page.
To delete a tab from the window:
Select the tab, then right-click on it and select Delete Page.
To add a line:
Add a box with no height or width. You can stretch the bottom down a
little to get a double-line effect.
To rearrange objects:
Just grab and drag objects to new positions.
To edit an existing object:
Right-click the object and edit its properties.
To move or rearrange objects:
Point, left click, and drag objects to new positions.
To resize objects:
Click to select the object. When selected, the object will be surrounded
with handles (black squares). Click and drag a handle to [Link]
can change the length of Fields and Text objects, but the height will
always be set by the system.
To select multiple objects:
Click on the first object, then press and hold the Ctrl key (the Shift key
also works) while clicking all the additional objects you want to select.
You can also click and drag a circle or “rubber band” around the
objects you want to select. (To rubber band, you click in an open place
on the screen and then drag a boundary around the items you want to
select.) Several operations will affect the selected group, including
moving, deleting and aligning.
To move several objects:
Select multiple objects, then click any selected one and drag the group.
To delete objects:
• Select one or more objects and press the Delete key.
• A confirmation window appears. Click Yes.
To align or resizeobjects:
• Select the multiple objects you want to align or resize.
• Click the Align button. The Align/Size options window appears.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 75

 • Select how to align or resize the objects.
To make all the controls the same width, under Resize All
Widths select Longest or Shortest.
• Click OK.
To size the screen:
Click and drag the bottom-right corner of the Screen Designer itself. Or,
to create a screen to approximately fit a maximized Abacus window,
right-click in the [Link] to Size to screen mode, and select the
resolution/font size (S = Small, L = Large fonts) of the computers that
will use this screen.
NOTE: If you create a screen bigger than the default size, some users
may not be able to see the entire screen, depending on their Windows
screen resolution and font size settings. To make it easy on yourself,
make sure all users on your network have the same settings, or keep
screen designs small enough to work for the “lowest common
denominator”. It’s also possible to create a different screen for
particular users.
To change the tab order:
• Select Set Order.
• Click on each field in the order in which they should be
navigated. You must set ALL fields to change the tab order.
• When you click the last field, Set Order is turned off and the
screen is re-designed with the new order. To test, click the first
field and press Tab to move to the next field.
To show a grid to help see alignments:
Select Show Grid and set the Size to the preferred value. The grid is
always active, causing objects to "snap to" the nearest grid position
when moving. Showing the grid may help visually, but it can make
processing sluggish since Windows wants to repaint the grid whenever
something moves. We recommend keeping Show Grid turned off, and
setting the Size to 2.
To show fields with 3-D or 2-D boxes:
Traditional Windows dialogs use a box enclosing data entry fields
called “field boxes.” When these boxes are three dimensional, they can
take up a large amount of screen territory when designing a complex
screen, so Abacus lets you remove the 3-D effect if you want to
squeeze things closer together or if you prefer the “flat” look.
Right-click an empty area of the Screen Designer and select Field
Options. The Screen Properties window appears.
• If you want field boxes to be three dimensional (so that they look
like they have depth), select Use 3D field boxes. Then, click the
Box height adjustment arrow and select the depth of the field
boxes (20% recommended).

76 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 • If you want field boxes to be two dimensional (or flat), deselect Use
3D field boxes. If you want your 2D boxes to have a border, select
Draw Border for 2D field boxes. Then, click the Box height
adjustment arrow and select the thickness of the border (1 px
recommended).

To set up Smart Screens

Smart Screens give Abacus the ability to automatically change the
appearance of windows based on the type of name or matter
displayed. For example, you might design a screen that is applicable to
divorce cases. You would not want to use this screen when dealing
with all matters – it would have fields that did not fit other cases. If you
assign this screen to a DIVORCE case code, then every time you
select a divorce matter, the screen designated for divorce will be used
in the Matter window.
To enable the Smart Screen feature, you must assign codes to
screens. You can assign a Name screen to Class codes or a Matter
screen to Case codes.
1. From the Screens browse window, highlight the screen to which
you want to assign a code or codes.
2. Click the Assign Codes button. The Valid CLASS Entries window
appears if you are working with a Name screen; the Valid
CASECODE Entries window appears if you are working with a
Matter screen.
3. Select (click in the checkmark column) the code or codes you want
to assign to the screen and click OK.
To directly assign a screen to a record:
You can assign a record directly to a screen, regardless of type. To do
this, with the name or matter record open, select
Window/Screens/Select a Screen. Select the screen you want to
assign and click OK. This record will always appear using the assigned
screen.
To identify a directly assigned screen:
If the current record has been directly assigned to a screen, you can
identify which screen it is by selecting Window/Screens and then
looking in the message bar. (The screen name only appears when this
menu is open.)
To unassign a screen for a record:
If the current record has been directly assigned to a screen, you can
unassign it by selecting Window/Screens/Un-Assign screen for this
record. (This menu option is only enabled if the record is directly
assigned to a screen.)
To restore screen defaults:
1. From the Screens window, select the screen you want to restore to
default (the state of the screen when you first installed the product).

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 77

 2. Click the Use Default button. A window appears asking you if you
want to restore the default for the selected screen.
3. Click Yes.

Managing User-Defined Indexes

Indexes allow you to find data within a database easily. Indexes define
the order that data is sorted.
Abacus includes several indexes, but you can also create your own
custom indexes for the Names, Events and Matters databases. The
indexes you create will be maintained by Abacus and will always be
available for custom reports as well as for viewing records in windows
and browses.
IMPORTANT: Before you add, edit or delete indexes make sure that
nobody else is using Abacus.
The most powerful element of user-defined indexes is the query
optimization that occurs. If you regularly use queries that access a
particular field like the Names database Attorney field, you should
create an index on that field. Later, when you use a query that tests for
something like "Attorney starts with 'M'", Abacus will instantly find these
records rather than having to scan the whole database!
You manage user-defined indexes from the User-defined Indexes
window. To open the window, select File/Setup/User Indexes.

From this window do any of the following to complete or maintain

indexes:
• Add/edit a user-defined index
• Delete a user-defined index
• Rebuild a user-defined index

78 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Adding/Editing a User-Defined Index
1. Do one of the following:
• To add an index, click Add.
• To edit an index, highlight the index and click Edit.
2. The Index Properties window appears.

Complete/edit the window as follows:

• Database: Click the Lookup button and select the extra
database you want to index.
• Index name: Enter the index name. Can be up to 10
characters, but only use letters, digits and/or underscores (_).
For example, LAST_FIRST. Usually, the name of the index
should be the name of the field you are indexing. For example,
if you are indexing on DOB, then the Index name should be
DOB.

IMPORTANT: For extra databases, the index name must

exactly match the field name.
• Index key: Click the Lookup button and highlight the field on
which you want to sort and click OK. The Field List window
appears.
Select whether or not you want to add more fields to the key
(Abacus will concatenate them together for you). When you
select No, The Index Properties window reappears. Be sure
any character fields are surrounded by the UPPER() function--
otherwise query optimization cannot occur, and searches will
be case sensitive.

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 NOTE: When editing an Index Key, you can add fields together
to create any valid xBase character expression. A simple
example: UPPER(COURT). A more complex example:
UPPER(LAST)-","-(" "+UPPER(FIRST)).
• Condition: Enter the condition you want to use to limit the
index to show only certain types of records. For experts only.
To change, click the lookup button for Condition. The User-
Defined Queries window appears. Select the condition you
want to use to limit the index to show only certain types of
records and click OK. The condition must be a valid LOGICAL
expression. For example, if you want a "AMS_CLNTS" index to
only include clients for attorney AMS, you would have a
condition of "NAMES->CLASS='CLIENT' .AND. NAMES-
>ATTORNEY='AMS'". (You would probably do the index Key
on the last name plus the first name). When a user selects this
index, only AMS's clients will appear, in name order.
NOTE: This option is seldom used. When an index with a
condition is used, the database appears to only contain the
matching records. Such an index can never show the entire
database! It is great if you have a huge database and want
very fast access to a group of records that is used regularly,
but where using a normal query would be too slow. Also,
indexes that have a condition will NOT be used for query
optimization. Even though they give you instant access to the
info you specify in these index properties, the index cannot be
used to speed up other queries that reference the fields of this
index key.
• Unique: When selected, only unique records appear in the
index search results. For example, if you index by name and
two records have the same name, only the first record will
appear. This is an unusual property that you will probably never
use, but it is necessary for some types of sophisticated
database access.
• Descending: When selected, the index search results appear
in descending (reverse) order. This is useful for dates where
the latest items appear at the top.
3. Click Save to save your additions/changes.

Deleting a User-Defined Index

Highlight the index you want to delete and click Delete.

Rebuilding a User-Defined Index

Highlight the index you want to rebuild and click Re-Index. The index
will be rebuilt when you close the window.

80 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

Field Templates
Overview of Field Templates
Field templates let you define default values to be used when entering
new records. You manage field templates from the Field Template
Manager window. To open the window, select File/Setup/Field
Template.
For field templates you can do any of the following:
• Add/edit field templates
• Clone field templates
• Delete field templates
• Auto apply field templates
• Manually apply field templates

Adding/Editing Field Templates

1. Select File/Setup/Field Template to open the Field Template
Manager window OR press F11 while entering a record to open the
Field Templates window.

2. If you are working with the Field Template Manager window, select
the database you want to work with.
3. To add a template, click Add. To edit a template, highlight the
template and click Edit. The Field Template Editor window
appears.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 81

 4. In the Template Name box enter/edit the field template name.
5. Add/edit fields in the field template as necessary.
To add a field, click Add. The Select a Field to Set window
appears. Highlight the field you want to add and click OK. The
Fieldname/Expression Editor window appears. Select whether you
want the selected field to be completed with text or an expression.
Then in the box, enter the text or expression. Click OK.
To edit a field, highlight the field and click Edit. The
Fieldname/Expression Editor window appears. Select whether you
want the selected field to be completed with text or an expression.
Then in the box, enter the text or expression. Click OK.
6. Continue to add/edit fields as necessary. When you are finished,
click OK on the Field Template Editor window to save your
changes and close the window.

Cloning Field Templates

1. Select File/Setup/Field Template to open the Field Template
Manager window OR press F11 while entering a record to open the
Field Templates window.
2. If you are working with the Field Template Manager window, select
the database you want to work with.
3. Highlight the field template you want to clone and click Clone.
4. The Clone Current Field Template window appears. Enter a name
for the new field template and click OK.

Deleting Field Templates

1. Select File/Setup/Field Template to open the Field Template
Manager window OR press F11 while entering a record to open the
Field Templates window.
2. If you are working with the Field Template Manager window, select
the database you want to work with.

82 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 3. Highlight the field template you want to delete and click Delete. A
window appears asking you if you are sure you want to delete the
field template.
4. Click Yes.

Auto Applying Field Templates

1. Select File/Setup/Field Template to open the Field Template
Manager window.

2. Select the database you want to work with.

3. Highlight the field template you want to automatically apply and
click Auto Apply. The Auto Apply Configuration window appears.

4. If you want to auto apply the selected field template when using a
certain code, check Only auto-apply on records and then select
the code.
5. Select when you want to auto apply the selected field template
(when adding or cloning).
6. Click OK.

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 IMPORTANT: For code-dependent, automatic field templates to work,
the Prompt for Code setting on the User Preferences window's
Appearance tab must be checked (turned on) for the selected
database.
This means that for:
Database: This user preference setting must be
checked:
Names database New Name: Prompt for Class Code
Matters database New Matter: Prompt for Case Code
Events database New Event: Prompt for What Code

Manually Applying Field Templates

Press F11 while entering a record to open the Field Templates window.

Highlight the field template you want to apply and click Apply.
From the Field Templates window you can also:
• Add/edit field templates
• Clone field templates
• Delete field templates
NOTE: Click Setup on the Field Templates window to open the Field
TemplateManager for more options for managing field templates.

84 Customizing Abacus AbacusLaw Reference Guide

5. Controlling Names (Contacts)
In this chapter, you will learn about names and how to manage them in
Abacus.

Overview of Names
Names are those people with whom your firm has contact: Clients,
prospects, opposing parties, judges, attorneys, expert witnesses,
vendors, friends, relatives and so on. In Abacus, you can keep track of
all your names, and using notes, you can keep track of your
interactions with names.
Most tasks for names are performed from the Name window.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 85

Name Window
The Name window is used to add, edit, delete and view information
about all the contacts you do business with. This information includes
address, phone numbers and any notes that you need.
The Name window has default data tabs that can be renamed or
hidden.

Link names to as many See events Track the letters and Track emails sent Link names to other
matters as you like scheduled for a other documents you and received for this names from the Linked
from the Linked name from the have created for this name from the Names tab.
Matters tab. Linked Events tab. name from Linked Docs. Emails tab.

Move ahead or
back one name
by clicking the
right or left arrow.

Keep unlimited
notes for each
name on the
Notes tab.

Enter a zip code

and the city and
state are
automatically
entered for you.

Easily add,
clone and
delete names.
See only the names that Display your names in a different order
match criteria you specify by by picking an index. The top line in the
using a query. Name window (next to the arrows)
matches the index.

To open the name window:

Do one of the following:
• Select Names/View a record.
• Select Names/Find and enter a name or ID. (This is the fastest way
to find a particular name record.)
• Click the Names button on the toolbar. The Names Browse window
appears. Select a name and click OK OR double-click a name.

86 Controlling Names (Contacts) AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 To open multiple Name windows:
Open the first one, then select Names/Open another Name window.

To browse names in the Name window:

Click the Previous record ( ) and Next record ( ) buttons to

browse names.

To resize the Name window:

Click and drag a side of the window. The data tabs evenly spread out
to fill the window space. Double-click the area to the right of the name
(in the area above the data tabs) to return the window to its original
size.

To use the Overview button:

Click the Overview button to open the Overview window, which
provides an instant view of activities for the selected name.
For more information about the Overview window, see Overview
Window on page 328.

To use the side panel browse:

The side panel browse lets you quickly pick another name record
without going to another menu. Click the display button to show/hide
the side panel browse. Click a record to select it.
With the side panel browse open you can search for a name by typing
the first few characters of the last name you want to find. After a couple
of seconds the search clears so you can search again as needed.

Data Tabs on the Name Window

The Name window has the following default data tabs.

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 Standard tab
Displays all the name, address, phone and status information for the
selected name.
You can manage general information for names from this tab.
The following describes each setting on the tab.
• Last name: The last name of the contact (or name). Can be up to
40 characters. Can be the name of a business.
• First name: The first name of the contact (or name). Can be up to
30 characters. If a business name is entered into Last Name, First
Name can be used for a contact person.
• ID number: The identification number for the name. Can be any
combination of digits and characters.
• Dear: The salutation that you use in your correspondence. If you
start a letter to someone as "Dear Mr. Smith," then Mr. Smith will
be entered in the Dear box. However, if you refer to someone as
John, "John" will be entered into the Dear box. When you use this
field with MailMerge documents, the salutation name will be
automatically added to letters.
• Label: Four fields, 35 characters each that contain the name and
address to be printed out on a mailing label. Do not enter more
characters than the label you plan to use will allow (if you do
mailings with 3-across labels that only accommodate 25
characters, do not input more than 25 characters in these fields).
Although you can use the Label fields any way you want, it is wise
to keep your data consistent. Therefore, we recommend the
following: Use Label 1 for the full contact name, i.e., "Mr. Jack
Smith". Use Label 2 for the firm name, i.e., "Smith and Associates".
Use Label 3 for the suite, i.e., "Suite 306" or leave it blank if there
is no suite. Always use Label 4 for the street address, i.e., "101
Third Ave."
• Zip: The zip code. To select a zip code, click the lookup button.
The Zip Code Browse window appears. Select a zip code, and click
OK.
• City: The city.
• St.: The 2-letter state abbreviation. To select a state, click the
lookup button. The Valid STATE Entries window appears. Select a
state abbreviation, and click OK. NOTE: If Abacus is set up to auto-
fill city and state, the City and St. boxes will be filled in
automatically based on the zip code you entered.
• Email: The email address.
• Dayphone: The daytime or business telephone number.
• Evephone: The evening or home telephone number.
• Fax: The fax number.
• Cell: The mobile telephone number.

88 Controlling Names (Contacts) AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 • Referred By: The name of the person or company that referred the
name. Can be up to 25 characters.
• Class: Contains a code used to classify names. To select a code,
click the lookup button. The Valid CLASS Entries window appears.
Select a code (or add a code on the fly) and click OK. Can be up to
8 characters.
• Atty: Contains a code that specifies the attorney who is assigned
to work with the name. To select an attorney, click the lookup
button. The Valid WHO Entries window appears. Select a code for
an attorney (or add a code on the fly) and click OK. Can be up to 8
characters.
• Open: The date of first contact with this name. With the cursor in
the box, press the T key to enter today's date.
• Active: When selected, indicates if a name is active (has cases
open). When not selected, indicates that a name is inactive (cases
are closed). You decide what determines "active" for different
classes of names.

Notes tab
Displays notes for the selected name. You can manage the notes for
the name from this tab.

Linked Matters tab

Displays the matters that are linked to the selected name. You can
manage the matters that are linked to the selected name from this tab.

Linked Events tab

Displays the events that are linked to the selected name. You can
manage the events that are linked to the selected name from this tab.

Linked Docs tab

Displays the documents that are linked to the selected name. You can
manage the documents that are linked to the selected name from this
tab.

Linked Names tab

Displays the names that are linked to the selected name. You can
manage the names that are linked to the selected name from this tab.

Emails tab
Displays the emails that are linked to the selected name.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 89

Showing, Hiding, or Renaming Data Tabs on the
Name Window
In the Name window, right-click a tab to open the Tab Setup for Names
Screen window.

From this window, you can do any of the following.

To show a tab:
Make sure that its check box is selected (checked). Click OK to save
your changes.

To hide a tab:
Make sure that its check box is not selected (unchecked). Click OK to
save your changes.

To rename a tab:
Enter the new name in the box provided. Any tab name entered here
will only take effect on the Standard tab if the screen label is blank in
the Screen Designer.

90 Controlling Names (Contacts) AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 If you want an underlined "accelerator" key, put "&" in front of the
number or letter to use. Since most letters are already used by the
menus and buttons, use something like "&7 MyTab" so pressing ALT+7
will select this tab.
Click OK to save your changes.

To add extra Databases as tabs on the window:

Click Extra Databases to Show. The ExtraDB Tabs to Show window
appears. Check the extra database(s) you want to include as a tab on
the selected screen and click OK.
NOTE: You can also add extra databases to a Name screen. For more
information, see Adding Extra Databases to Screens on page 417.

Tips for Structuring ID Numbers

ID numbers are 12 characters of digits and/or letters used for sorting
names in a useful manner. They can be formatted or structured
however you want, and a little forethought on how you might like to use
them can add great benefits later. Output dictates input. Think of
what information you want to get out of Abacus, and this will lead to the
best ways to input your data. The only requirement imposed on ID
numbers is that they must be unique: Two records may not have the
same ID. This ensures that, even if you have two “John Smith” names,
the events, matters and documents can always be linked to the right
one.
If you have no use for ID numbers and want to ignore them, you can
simply add your first Name as ID number “1.” Abacuswill then
increment the number for you as you add records, although you always
have the option of changing the number Abacusoffers. This method
has several drawbacks, however. Since the ID is alphanumeric, a list
will sort alphabetically, not numerically. “Alphabetic” sorts like this:

1 1
10 Not like this: 2
2 10

A better idea is to initialize the first record as “2003-10001” so records

will sort age the way you would expect a numeric sort to work. The first
three ID numbers would look like this:
2003-10001
2003-10002
2003-10003
At the start of year 2004 you would enter “2004-10001”, etc.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 91

 But even this is a limited approach. If you forget the idea of
incrementing numbers and think of what useful information you can put
in this field, many opportunities arise. Here are some possibilities.
• Use Social Security numbers for individuals.
• If the name is a company, use the last name of the contact person
plus part of the first name. You have 12 characters to work with.
• Start each ID with a letter or two that indicates the name's class: C
for client, E for expert, etc. Follow that with a hyphen and a sub-
group of four or more letters of the last name (plus part of the first
name, zip code or phone number or whatever it takes to make it
unique). Since you can sort the Names Browse by ID, you can
instantly see ALL experts together as a group in alphabetical order,
like:

C-ZEPHERELLI
E-NEURO-WILS
E-ORTHO-BARN
E-ORTHO-DAVI

• Start the ID with the year the name started with you, plus last
name.
• Use a billing number from your accounting department.
• Bigger firms like to use the primary attorney's initials plus last
name, so a sorted list shows all of attorney AMS's clients together
as a group.
Many more variations exist. Your firm may have an unusual bit of
information that makes things work for you. Don't be afraid to use it! It
is a good idea, however, to decide on how to structure your ID numbers
before you enter any names. You should also document your
procedure so new staff workers can get comfortable with it quickly.

Using Hyphens within ID Numbers

If you use a ID numbering scheme that includes a hyphen, Abacus will
increment the number after the hyphen when you add a new name and
put the prefix (the part before the hyphen) into the ID. For example, add
a name with ID of C-1000.
Now add a new name and enter C- into the ID. Press Tab and the ID
changes to C-1001.
For the incrementing to happen, the prefix must end with a hyphen (-),
AND the prefix must already exist in the database followed by a
number. Try using "C-" for clients, "A-" for attorneys, etc.
NOTE: This has no effect on how a new record is initialized before you
edit it. The program will still look to the last record added to increment a
proposed ID. Just overwrite this with one of your prefixes to get the
desired result.

92 Controlling Names (Contacts) AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Changing ID Numbers
Since the name’s ID is the link to events, notes and matters, changing
an ID causes Abacus to automatically update all of that name's events
on your calendar to match the new number. Abacus also automatically
alters the attachments to notes and matters, so that this name is still
related to the appropriate matters.
WARNING: When you change a name’s ID number, this change will
also happen in Abacus Accounting Manager.
NETWORK NOTE: Changing ID numbers requires locking the
events and cross-reference databases, so while you are doing
this no one else can edit the calendar or attach names to
matters. Try to decide how you want ID numbers formatted
before you begin adding records. If for some reason you need
to change a lot of ID numbers, do it when no one else is using
Abacus on the network.

Customization Checklist for Names

Before you work with names, there are a few things you can do to
customize the process. Note that while this customization is optional –
Abacus works whether you customize or not – customization can save
you time and add more meaning to your firm’s data.
You can:
• Auto-fill city and state: Set the system so that it automatically fills
in city and state when you enter a zip code (turned on by default).
You do this by turning on Use ZipCode Lookup on the General
tab of the System Options window. For more information, see page
56.
• Automate IDs: Set the system so that when you add a new name,
the ID is automatically incremented and entered (turned on by
default). You do this by selecting Increment Names ID on the
General tab of the System Options window. For more information,
see page 56.
• Customize the appearance: The Name window can be changed
to suit your taste. You do this from the Appearance tab of the User
Preferences window. For more information, see Customizing User
Preferences on page 43.
• Customize fields: You can customize the fields that appear on the
Name window. For more information, see Customizing Database
Structure on page 62.
• Customize the phone fields on the Standard tab: You can
change the names of the phone fields that appear on the Standard
tab of the Name window by selecting File/Setup/System Options
and clicking the Field Names button under Terminology. For more
information, see Customizing System Options on page 56.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 93

Browsing/Viewing Names
The Names Browse window is your electronic Rolodex. It displays a list
of all the names in the Names database.
To open the window, click the Contacts toolbar button OR select
Names/Browse.

From the Names Browse window, you can:

• View more information about a name: To find the name, start typing
the name you want (last name first) and it will be automatically
highlighted in the list. Once highlighted, click OK (or double-click
the name) to open it in the Name window.
• Add a name: See Adding Names on page 95.
• Print a name: See Printing Names on page 100.
• Generate a names report: See Generating a Report from the
Names/Matters Browse on page 359.
• Send an email to names: See Sending Email to Selected Names
on page 100.
• Generate labels for names: See Generating Mailing Labels on
page 217.
• Generate envelopes for names: See Printing Envelopes on
page217.
• Mailmerge names
• Promote as prospect
• Link names to a matter: See Linking Multiple Names to One Matter
on page 193.

94 Controlling Names (Contacts) AbacusLaw Reference Guide

Adding Names
There are multiple ways of adding names in Abacus. Choose the
method that is most efficient for you.
NOTE: After adding a name, you can associate a picture with it if you
like.

From the Name window

Use this method if you are working in the Name window.
1. On the Name window, select the Standard tab.
2. Click Add. All fields are cleared and the Save and Cancel buttons
appear.
3. Complete the information for the name.
4. Click Save.

From the Names Browse window

Use this method if you are working in the Names Browse window.
1. On the Names Browse window, click Add. The New Name window
appears.
2. Complete the information for the name. Click here for help
completing the settings on the window.
3. Click Save. The Names Browse window reappears where the
name has been added.

Through cloning
Use this method to add a similar name, like a person from the same
organization.
Open the similar name in the Name window and click Clone. An exact
duplicate of the current record is created. Now, you can just edit the
new name and save a little time and effort.

From copied data from an outside source

Use this method to copy name and address text from any program and
then paste it into Abacus.
1. Copy a standard name and address block of text from any program
to the Windows clipboard.
2. Select Names/Add from Clipboard from the Abacus menu. A new
record is initialized, and the name and address text is pasted to the
correct fields in the Name window. (This will not overwrite fields in
an existing record; it always starts a new record).
3. Add the rest of the information for the name and click Save.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 95

 From an Outlook vCard or iCal file
Use this method if you have the name data in a vCard in Outlook or in
an iCal file (.ics).
Right-click the vCard in Outlook or the iCal file and select Copy to copy
it to the clipboard. Then, in Abacus, select Names/Add from Clipboard
to create a name based on the copied information.

Associating a Picture with a Name

To view a picture associated with the selected record, open the Picture
window by selecting Window/Picture Window.
You can associate a picture with any name. For example, you could
associate images of clients with name records so you can remember
what they look like before a meeting. Pictures associated with names
appear in the Picture Window when the name is opened in the Name
window.
NOTE: Check out the Samples directory (double-click the Samples icon
in the Abacus program group). There are sample pictures for each of
the clients and attorneys in that database. If the Picture window is not
open when viewing a name, select Window/Picture Window.
For more information about the Picture window, see page 324.
1. The picture must be saved in a bitmap (.bmp) or JPEG (.jpg)
format.
2. Name the image with the ID number of the name. For example, if
the name ID is RE-1234, then name the picture [Link] or
[Link].
3. Move the picture to the Pictures subdirectory where the program
files are stored. By default, this will be Abacus\Pictures\Names.

Editing Names
You can start editing names anytime you are viewing a name in the
Name window. When information changes in the Name window, the
Save and Cancel buttons appear at the top of the window.
1. In the Name window, display the name you want to edit.
2. Change the information as necessary.
3. Click the Save button.

Deleting Names
1. In the Name window, display the name you want to delete.

96 Controlling Names (Contacts) AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 2. Click the Delete button. A confirmation window appears. Click Yes.
NOTE: Deleting a name also deletes all notes and events linked to it.

Indexing (Sorting) Names

An index for a database determines the order in which the data
appears. You can index (or sort) names from the Names Browse
window or from the Name window.

From the Names Browse window:

Click any column heading to sort on that column. The selected sort
column heading background turns blue.
NOTE: When you search for a name by typing a piece of information
for the name, the column heading with the blue background is the
column you will be searching on. For example, to find a name by ID,
first click the ID column heading.

From the Names Browse or Name window:

1. Click the Index button. The Index window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Select the index you want to sort the data. For example, if you
wanted to see names sorted alphabetically by last name, select
LAST_FIRST.
3. Click OK.
NOTE: You can also create and select user-defined indexes. For more
information, see page 78.

Finding Names
There are three ways to find a name in Abacus:

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 97

 • From the Names Browse. Use this option when you want to
browse through a list of sorted names.
• From the Find window. Use this option to access names quickly.
• Using a query. Use this option if you want to find one or more
names that meet certain conditions (like all names that are active).

Finding Names Using the Names Browse

1. From the Names Browse, click the column heading you want to
sort the list by. For example, click the Name column heading to
ensure that names are sorted by last name.
2. Type the characters you are looking for, like the last name of the
person you want to find. Or use the Page Down key to browse.
3. Once it is found and highlighted, click OK to view the name in the
Name window.

Finding Names Using the Find Window

1. Select Names/Find. The Find window appears.
TIP: If the Name window is open, you can just click the Find button on
the toolbar or press CTRL+F.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. In the Search for box, enter the information you want to find.
Abacus will search all indexes regardless of which index is
selected. But, if you want the found record to auto-fill the Search
for box as you type, click the Index button to select the correct sort
order first.
3. Click OK. The Name window displays the first name found.

98 Controlling Names (Contacts) AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Finding Names Using Queries
You can use queries to search for data in any field or combination of
fields, including user-defined fields. The most common queries will
involve the Active and Class fields to isolate clients, attorneys or judges
(e.g. show all Active names where Class = “CLIENT”), but you may
also use a query to search for a record with a particular phone number
or street name.
Queries that involve indexed fields (query optimization) will be much
faster than those that only reference non-indexed fields. For instance,
since names are indexed on ID, if you structure your ID numbers with
the year for the first four characters (as in “2003-SMITHJOHN”), a
Query for “ID =2003” will instantaneously isolate those records
without testing all the names in your database. So, if you often use
queries on a particular field (even a user-defined field), consider
maintaining a user-defined index on that field.
For more information about user-defined indexes and query
optimization, see page 78. For more information about queries, see
page 299.
You can query for names from the Name window or from the Names
Browse window.
1. Click the Query button. Select one of your recently used queries
from the list, or select either Quick query or Query Manager. If you
select Query Manager the Queries for NAMES window appears.

2. Select the query or queries you want to use (or create a new one –
see page 303).
NOTE: If you want to get a preview count of the records found by the
query, click the Count button and answer the prompts. Note that the
count is displayed in the Count column.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 99

 3. Click OK. The Where to Go? window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

4. Select one of the following options:

• Click First to view the first name in the query set.
• Click Last to view the last name in the query set.
• Click Previous for the name previous to the current one.
• Click Next for the name after the current one.
• Click Stay here to stay on the current name (even if it doesn’t
match the query).
5. To stop using this query, from the Name window, right-click the
Query button and select Clear current query.

Printing Names
Here are the common options for printing names. You can also print
name information by printing Labels, doing a mail merge, or using
Quick forms.
To print the current name in the Name window:
Click the toolbar Printer button (or press Ctrl+P) and select All fields
(to get a 1-page quick printout from a Quick Form) or Reports/This
name only if there’s a report layout you prefer.
To print the results of a query:
1. Run a query to find the names you want to print (see page 99).
2. Click the Printer button on the toolbar and select Reports/All (in
query).
To print a report:
Select File/Reports/Names to print a report of Names. For help running
reports, see page 357.

Sending Email to Selected Names

You can send an email to one name or a tagged or queried group of
names.

100 Controlling Names (Contacts) AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 When email is sent to multiple recipients, it is sent via blind carbon
copy (BCC). This means that all selected recipients will receive an
email, but the recipients will only see their own names in the To field.
They will not see any of the other names to which the email was sent.
The number of recipients allowed could be limited by your email
program as to how many addresses can be included in the BCC
recipient list.
1. Do one of the following:
• From the Name window: If you want to send an email to one
name, find the name. If you want to send an email to a queried
group of names, set a query for the names. Then, select
Names/Send Email to All.
• From the Names Browse window,the Matter window Linked
Names tab, or the Name window Linked Names tab: Tag or
set a query to identify the recipients of the email. Then, click
the Actions button and select Email to All.
The Email to Names window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Under Names to send a message to:

• If you want to send an email to the selected Name only, select
Current record only.
• If you want to send an email to all tagged names or all names
found in the query, select All records in query.
3. Enter the subject line for the email in the Subject box.
4. If you want to include an attachment, click the Browse button for
File attachment, select the attachment file and click Open.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 101

 5. If you want to use an existing text file for the body of the message,
click the Browse button for Text file containing body text of
email, select the text file and click Open.
6. Click OK. The email opens in your email program.

Creating Letters for Names

For a quick and flexible way of generating a letter for the open name,
click the Clipboard button on the toolbar and paste the information into
a word processing document.
NOTE: You can control what gets copied using the Clipboard button
by customizing the quick form clipboard.fm1. See Managing Quick
Forms on page 223 for information about editing quick forms.
You can also create letters for names using quick forms, mail merge
and form generation.

Copying and Pasting Name Data

To copy and paste name data out of Abacus:
TIP: This procedure can be used when generating a letter for the open
name.
Open the name in the Name window. Then, click the Clipboard button
on the toolbar. Then, paste the information into a word processing
document.
NOTE: You can control what gets copied using the Clipboard button by
customizing the quick form clipboard.fm1.

To copy and paste name data into Abacus:

You can copy name and address text from any program and then paste
it into Abacus.
7. Copy a standard name and address block of text from any program
to the Windows clipboard.
8. Select Names/Add from Clipboard from the Abacus menu. A new
record is initialized, and the name and address text is pasted to the
correct fields in the Name window. (This will not overwrite fields in
an existing record; it always starts a new record).
9. Add the rest of the information for the name and click Save.

To copy and paste an Outlook vCard into Abacus:

If you have a vCard in an email in Outlook, right-click it and select Copy
to copy it to the clipboard. Then, in Abacus, select Names/Add from
Clipboard to create a name based on the vCard information.

102 Controlling Names (Contacts) AbacusLaw Reference Guide

Showing Maps for Names
To view a map for the current name’s address, select Names/Show
Map. Abacus launches your web browser for Google™, MapQuest™,
or Yahoo™ maps to display the current name’s address.
You set the type of map service you want to use from the User
Preferences window, Queries & Miscellaneous tab (File/Setup/User
Preferences).
HOT KEY: Ctrl+M
For help setting up the mapping feature for specialty versions with
alternate address labels and for matters with address information fields,
see Setting Up the Mapping Feature on page 517.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 103

6. Controlling Matters (Cases)
In this chapter, you will learn about matters and how to manage them in
Abacus.

Overview of Matters
Matters are cases, files, or projects. Once entered, matters can be
linked to any number of names, events and documents.

Matter Window
The Matter window is used to add, edit, delete and view information
about your matters or cases.
The Matter window has default data tabs that can be renamed or
hidden.

104 Controlling Matters (Cases) AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Link matters to as See events Track letters and other See Emails sent and
many names as you scheduled for a documents you have received for this
like from the Linked matter from the created for this matter from matter.
Names tab. Linked Events tab. Linked Docs.

Move ahead or back

one matter by clicking
the right (next) or left
(previous) arrow.

Keep unlimited notes

for each matter from
the Notes tab.

Easily add, clone and

delete matters.
See only the matters Display your matters in a different
that match criteria you order by picking an index. The top
specify by using a line in the Matter window (next to
query. the arrows) matches the index.

To open the Matter window:

Do one of the following:
• Select Matters/View a record, or
• Click the Matters button on the toolbar. The Matters Browse
window appears. Select a matter and click OK OR double-click a
matter.

To open multiple Matter windows:

Open the first one, then select Matters/Open another Matter window.

To browse matters in the Matter window:

Click the Previous record ( ) and Next record ( ) buttons to

browse matters.

To resize the Matter window:

Click and drag a side of the window. The data tabs evenly spread out
to fill the window space. Double-click the area to the right of the matter
(in the area above the data tabs) to return the window to its original
size.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 105

 To use the Overview button:
Click the Overview button to open the Overview window, which
provides an instant view of activities for the selected matter.

To use the Accounting button:

For our Gold customers, for matters with a BILLTO link the Accounting
button appears on the Matter window. When clicked a menu appears.
The following describes each menu option.
• Accounting Summary: Opens the View Matter Summary window
that provides summary accounting information for the selected
matter.
• Browse Time Tickets: Opens the Time Tickets window listing time
tickets for the selected matter.
• Accounting Details: Opens the Matter Maintenance window in
Abacus Accounting to show general, billing, rates, and address
information for the selected matter.
• Billing Activity: Opens the Matter Billing Detail window in Abacus
Accounting to list any current billing activity for the selected matter.
• Trust Activity: Opens the Matter Trust Activity window in Abacus
Accounting to list any current trust activity for the selected matter.

To use the side panel browse:

The side panel browse lets you quickly pick another matter record
without going to another menu. Click the display button to show/hide
the side panel browse. Click a record to select it.
With the side panel browse open you can search for a matter by typing
the first few characters of the matter name you want to find. After a
couple of seconds the search clears so you can search again as
needed.

106 Controlling Matters (Cases) AbacusLaw Reference Guide

Data Tabs on the Matter Window
The Matter window has the following default tabs:

Standard tab
Displays general information for a matter. You can manage general
information for matters from this tab.
The following describes each setting on the tab.
• Matter: The name of the matter (up to 75 characters).
• File/case#: A unique, internal number for the matter (up to 15
characters). This is referred to as the "case number." Also known
as the CASENUM field. Required. NOTE: This does not need to be
an official case number; many offices use an internal office file
number here and use one of the user-defined fields for the court
number.
• Attorney: The Who code indicating the attorney responsible for the
matter. To change, click the lookup button ( ). The Valid WHO
Entries window appears. Select an Attorney code (or add a code
on the fly) and click OK.
• Case Code: The case code indicating the type of matter. To
change, click the lookup button. The Valid CASECODE Entries
window appears. Select a case code (or add a code on the fly) and
click OK.
• Court: The Where code indicating the court where the matter will
be handled. To change, click the lookup button. The Valid WHERE
Entries window appears. Select the Where code (or add a code on
the fly) and click OK.
• Court Case #: The actual case number as assigned by the court
(up to 30 characters).
• Opened: The date the matter was [Link]: Press the T key to
input today's date.
• Closed: The date the matter was closed. Left blank for open
matters.
• User-defined fields: Contain any input for the user-defined fields.

Notes tab
Displays notes for the selected matter. You can manage the notes for
the matter from this tab.

Linked Names tab

Displays the names that are linked to the selected matter. You can
manage the names that are linked to the selected matter from this tab.

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 Events tab
Displays the events that are linked to the selected matter. You can
manage the events that are linked to the selected matter from this tab.

Docs tab
Displays the documents that are linked to the selected matter. You can
manage the documents that are linked to the selected matter from this
tab.

Emails tab
Displays the emails that are linked to the selected matter.

Showing, Hiding or Renaming Tabs on the Matter

Window
In the Matter window, right-click a tab to open the Tab Setup for
Matters Screen window.
From this window, you can do any of the following.

To show a tab:
Make sure that its check box is selected (checked). Click OK to save
your changes.

To hide a tab:
Make sure that its check box is not selected (unchecked). Click OK to
save your changes.

To rename a tab:
Enter the new name in the box provided. Any tab name entered here
will only take effect on the Standard tab if the screen label is blank in
the Screen Designer.
If you want an underlined "accelerator" key, put "&" in front of the
number or letter to use. Since most letters are already used by the
menus and buttons, use something like "&7 MyTab" so pressing ALT+7
will select this tab.
Click OK to save your changes.

To add extra Databases as tabs on the window:

Click Extra Databases to Show. The ExtraDB Tabs to Show window
appears. Check the extra database(s) you want to include as a tab on
the selected screen and click OK.

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 NOTE: You can also add extra databases to a Name screen. For more
information, see Adding Extra Databases to Screens on page 417.

Case Numbers for Matters

A case number (also known as the CASENUM field) is a unique,
internal number assigned to a matter. Case numbers can contain up to
15 characters. Case numbers are assigned to matters on the Standard
tab of the Matter window.

Using prefixes with case numbers

You can use prefixes with case numbers and they will increment
independently. There is no special setup for these prefixes, but you
have to add a record with your prefix followed by a number to get it
started. For example, add a matter with Case number of RE-1000.
Now add a new matter and enter RE- into Case number. Press Tab
and the Case number changes to RE-1001. For the incrementing to
happen, the prefix must
end with a hyphen (-), AND the prefix must already exist in the
database followed by a number. Try using "RE-" for Real estate cases,
"PI-" for Personal Injury, etc.
NOTE: This has no effect on how a new record is initialized before you
edit it.
The program will still look to the last record added to increment a
proposed Case number. Just overwrite this with one of your prefixes to
get the desired result.

Affects of changing case numbers

Since the case number is the link to events, notes and names,
changing it causes Abacus to automatically update all of that matter's
events on your calendar to match the new number. Abacus also
automatically alters the attachments to notes and names, so they are
still related.
WARNING: When you change a case number, it also gets changed in
Abacus Accounting Manager.
NETWORK NOTE: Changing case numbers requires locking the
events and cross-reference databases, so while you are doing this no
one else can edit the calendar or attach names to matters. Try to
decide how you want case numbers formatted before you begin adding
records. If for some reason you need to change a lot of them, do it
when no one else is using Abacus on the network.

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Customization Checklist for Matters
Before you work with matters, there are a few things you can do to
customize the process. Note that while this customization is optional –
Abacus works whether you customize or not – customization can save
you time and add more meaning to your firm’s data.
You can:
• Automate Case numbers: The system is set so that when you
add a new matter, the Case number is automatically incremented
and entered (turned on by default). If you have your own formula
for how you want this field set, you can turn this off by selecting
File/Setup/System Options and un-checking Increment Case/File
number. For more information, see page 56.
• Customize the Matter window: The Matter window can be
changed to suit your taste. You do this by selecting File/Setup/User
Preferences then click on the Appearance tab of the User
Preferences window. For more information, see Customizing User
Preferences on page 43.
• Customize fields: You can customize the fields that appear on the
Matter window. For more information, see Customizing Database
Structure on page 62.
• Customize only the user-defined fields on the Standard tab:
You can change the names of the user-defined fields that appear
on the Standard tab of the Matter window by selecting
File/Setup/System Options window and clicking the Field Names
button under Terminology. For more information, see page 56.

Browsing/Viewing Matters
The Matters Browse window is your electronic file cabinet. It displays a
list of all the matters in the Matters database.

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 To open the Matters Browse window:
Do one of the following:
Select Matters/Browse.
Click the Matters button on the toolbar.

To view more information about a matter:

To find the matter, start typing the matter name you want and it will be
automatically highlighted in the list. Once highlighted, click OK (or
double-click the matter) to open it in the Matter window.

Tasks that can be performed from the Matters Browse window:

• Generate a matters report: See Generating a Report from the
Names/Matters Browse on page 359.

Associating a Picture with a Matter

You can associate a picture with any matter. For example, you could
associate an image of a real estate property with its matter record.
Pictures associated with matters appear in the Picture Window when
the matter is opened in the Matter window.
1. The picture must be saved in a bitmap (.bmp) or JPEG (.jpg)
format.
2. Name the image with the File/case# of the matter. For example, if
the case number is RE-1234, then name the picture [Link]
or [Link].
3. Move the image to the Pictures subdirectory where the program
files are stored. By default, this will be Abacus\Pictures\Matters.

Adding Matters
You can add matters from the Matter window or the Matters Browse.

From the Matter window:

1. Select the Standard tab.
2. Click the Add button. All fields are cleared and the Save and
Cancel buttons appear.
3. Complete the information for the matter.
4. Click the Save button.
5. If you want to add another matter, click the Add button and repeat
the previous steps.

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 TIP: To add a matter with similar data to the current one, click the
Clone button. An exact duplicate of the current record is created. Now,
you can just edit the new matter and save a little time and effort.

From the Matters Browse window:

1. Click the Add button. The New Matter window appears.
2. Complete the information for the matter.
3. Click the Save button.

Editing Matters
1. Find the matter you want to edit. Make sure that it is displayed in
the Matter window.
2. Change the information as necessary.
3. Click Save.

Deleting Matters
1. Find the matter you want to delete. Make sure that it is displayed in
the Matterwindow.
2. Click the Delete button. A window appears asking you if you are
sure you want todelete the matter.
3. Click Yes.

Closing Matters
Often a matter is closed or settled but there are still future events on
calendar. These become meaningless for your schedule so you may
want them all deleted, yet sometimes you may want to maintain what
had been scheduled for later review.
To close a matter, enter the date in the Closed field on the Matter
window. (Reports use queries for open matters by testing if the Closed
field is empty.)
As a convenience in handling this, when you enter a closed date for a
matter, a window offers to delete (or change to OFF Calendar so that
the Status field is changed to OFF) all future events for that matter.
Customize system options to turn this feature off (it is on by default).

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Adding Accounting Data to Matters
For our Gold customers, when you add a BILLTO linked name to a
matter, the Accounting Data for Matter window appears. This window
lets you add extra accounting information to the matter for use in
Abacus Accounting.
Complete the fields on the window and click OK to save.
The following describes each field on the window:
Originating Timekeeper: The timekeeper who brought the matter
(business) into the firm.
Assigned Timekeeper: The timekeeper who is working the matter.
Responsible Timekeeper: The timekeeper who is responsible for the
matter.
Billing Format Code: The billing format code to be used when printing
bills for thematter.
Default Trust Account: The default trust account for the matter.
Activity Rate Level: Enter the rate level for the activity codes to use for
thismatter when entering time tickets.
Minimum Retainer: Enter the amount of the client’s money you want
to have in theoperating account as a balance at all times.
Minimum Trust Retainer: Enter the amount of the client’s money you
want to have inthe trust account as a balance at all times.
Prior Balance: If you are bringing this matter in from another system,
enter theexisting balance for the matter.
Trust Balance: If you are bringing this matter in from another system,
enter theexisting trust balance for the matter.
Balance date: The date of the balance transfer.
Matter Fee Warnings: Let you set warning limits for matter fees. Enter
the dollaramount to initiate the warnings and the amount for a warning
that you have reachedthe escalation limit.
Billing Frequency: Select the time period at which bills are to be
generated forthis matter. Note that On Hold means that the bill will not
be produced in a massbilling; rather, it is generated only when
requested individually. Essentially, itputs the matter “on hold.” End of
Matter also means that the bill will not be producedin a mass billing.
Billing Mode: Select the method by which this matter is to be billed:
• Hourly: Generates a bill calculated by multiplying hours for
timekeepers by theirrate levels for this matter and adding all
other costs.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 113

 • Flat Fee: Generates a bill for a predetermined amount. When
you select this option,you should enter the flat fee amount to be
charged for this amount in the box provided.
• Monthly Fee: This can be used in one of two ways: (1) Abacus
Accounting generatesa bill for the predetermined amount that
you enter every month, or (2) Abacus Accountinggenerates a
bill for the predetermined amount for a specified number of
monthly periodsas setup on the Mth Schd. tab. In case (2),
leave the monthly fee amount blank.
• Minimum Fee: Abacus Accounting tracks all hours and costs
for the matter then generatesa bill for the predetermined
minimum fee plus all hours and costs above that [Link] you
select this option, you must enter the minimum fee amount in
the box [Link] Fees Previously Billed field also
appears. This field will be updated as invoicesfor the matter are
posted, reflecting how much of the minimum fee has been
incurred.
• Contingency: Generates a bill calculated on the percentage of
the settlement. Whenyou select this option, you must enter a
percentage in the Contingency box. The settlementamount is
entered during the actual generation of the bill.
Non-Hourly Billing Status: If Billing Mode is set to anything other than
Hourly,select whether the matter is to be Billed (which indicates that
matters that arenot hourly have had their special fees billed) or
Unbilled (which indicates thatmatters that are not hourly have not had
the special fees billed yet).
Tax Status: Indicates if the matter is taxable or non-taxable.
Billing Remarks: Enter any notes that you want to appear on the bills
for the matter.
Open Advanced Billing Options on save: When checked, advanced
billing options openin Abacus Accounting after saving the matter in
AbacusLaw to let you set custom ratesor specify detailed options.

Indexing (Sorting) Matters

An index for a database determines the order in which the data
appears. You can sort matters from the Matters Browse or from the
Matter window.

From the Matters Browse window:

Click any column heading to sort on that column. The selected sort
column heading background turns blue.
NOTE: When you search for a matter by typing a piece of information,
the column heading with the blue background is the column you will be

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 searching on. For example, to find a matter by name, first click the
Matter column heading.

From the Matters Browse or Matter window:

1. Click the Index button. The Index window appears.

2. Select the index you want to use to sort the data. For example, if
you wanted to see matters sorted in order by case number, select
CASENUMBER.
3. Click OK.
NOTE: You can also create and select user-defined indexes. For more
information, see page 78.

Finding Matters
There are three ways to find a matter in Abacus:
• From the Matters Browse window. Use this option when you
want to browse through a list of sorted matters.
• From the Find window. This is the fastest way to find a matter.
• Using a query. Use this option if you want to find one or more
matters that meet certain conditions (like all matters opened after a
specific date).

Finding Matters Using the Matters Browse Window

1. From the Matters Browse, click the column heading you want to
sort the list by. For example, click the Matter column heading to
sort matters by name.
2. Type the characters you are looking for, like the name of the matter
you want to find.

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 3. Once it is found and highlighted, click OK to view the matter.

Finding Matters Using the Find Window

1. Select Matters/Find. The Find window appears.
TIP: If the Matter window is open, you can just click the Find button on
the toolbar or press Ctrl+F.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. In the Search for box, enter the name of the matter you want to
find.
3. Click OK. The Matter window displays the first matter found.
NOTE: The Find window will search all indexes regardless of what is
selected for index, so if you type a full case number and press Enter it
will be found. But, if you want the found records to be auto-filled as you
type in the Search for box, click Index to select the correct sort order
first.

Finding Matters Using Queries

You can use queries to search for data in any field or combination of
fields, including user-defined fields.
You can query for matters from the Matter window or from the Matters
Browse window. For more information about queries, see page 299.
1. Click the Query button. Select one of your recently used queries
from the list, or select either Quick query or Query Manager. If you
select Query Manager the Queries for MATTERS window appears.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Select the query or queries you want to use (or create a new one –
see page 303).
NOTE: If you want to get a preview count of the records found by the
query, click the Count button and answer the prompts. Note that the
count is displayed in the Count column.
3. Click OK. The Where to Go? window appears.

4. Select one of the following options:

• Click First to view the first matter in the query set.
• Click Last to view the last matter in the query set.
• Click Previous for the matter previous to the current one.
• Click Next for the matter after the current one.
• Click Stay here to stay on the current matter (even if it doesn’t
match the query).
5. To stop using this query, from the Matter window, click the Query
button and select Clear current query.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 117

Printing Matters
Here are common options for printing matters. You can also print
matter information by printing Labels or Quick forms, or by using form
generation.
To print the current matter in the Matter window:
Click the toolbar Printer button (or press Ctrl+P) and select All fields
(to get a 1-page quick printout from a Quick Form) or Reports/This
matter onlyif there’s a report layout you prefer.
To print the results of a query:
1. Run a query to find the matters you want to print (see page 116).
2. Click the Printer button on the toolbar and select Reports/All (in
query).
To print a report:
Select File/Reports/Matters to print a report of Matters. For help
running reports, see page 357.

Managing Bills for Matters

The Print Bill button on the Matter window makes it convenient and
easy to manage and print your bills in AbacusLaw without having to
open Abacus Accounting. All bills can be printed from AbacusLaw
except for Settlement Billing statements, which require manual input.
NOTE: The Print Bill button is only activated when there is a linked
name with a BILLTO link. It will only appear in the Gold version of
Abacus when Abacus Accounting is installed.
Once the bill is open, you can conveniently add and adjust time tickets
and costs and adjustments on the fly and print the bill as necessary.
When you click the Print Bill button, the bill preview appears:

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 With the bill preview open, you can do any of the following to manage
the open bill:

To edit a time ticket:

1. Double-click in the Fees area on the bill preview. The Fees
subreport appears.
2. Click the linked ticket number for the time ticket you want to edit.
3. A window appears with the time ticket information. Edit the
information as necessary and click Save.

To add a time ticket:

1. On the bill preview, click Add Time Ticket. The Time Tickets –
Entering New Time window appears.
2. Enter the information for the time ticket and click Save.

To edit a cost/adjustment:
1. Double-click in the Cost Detail area on the bill preview. The Cost
Detail subreport appears.
2. Click the linked ID number for the cost/adjustment you want to edit.
3. A window appears with the cost/adjustment information. Edit the
information as necessary and click Save& Post.

To add a cost/adjustment:
1. On the bill preview, click Add Cost or Adjustment. The Costs &
Adjustments window appears.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 119

 2. Enter the information for the cost/adjustment and click Save &
Post.

To print the bill:

Click Print on the bill preview.

To move to the next bill:

Click Next Bill on the bill preview.

To close the bill preview:

Click Close on the bill preview. The following window appears.

Click Yes to post the bill in Abacus Accounting. Note that when printing
the bill from AbacusLaw, the bill only prints. Clicking Yes in this window
completes the billing process in Abacus Accounting by posting the bill.

Important notes:
• If you try to print a bill with pending payments in Abacus
Accounting, the bill will not be printed and an error message will
appear. Pending payments must be posted or deleted from Abacus
Accounting before the bill can print.
• In AbacusLaw, the bill preview only includes what has been billed.
For example, even though a note exists in AbacusLaw, it is not
included in the preview bill unless it has been billed.
• Once you add or edit a time ticket or cost/adjustment on the bill, the
change is made in the system. Closing the bill preview, does not
reverse your changes.
• Any user that has the rights to bill to Abacus Accounting will be
able to view and manage bills. If you do not want a user to access
bills, change the user's security access profile so that he/she does
not have billing rights (File/Setup/Security). If no security access is
set then any user can access bills.

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Sending Email for Matters
You can use the Matter Window Emails tab to send emails that relate
to a selected matter. (Emails are only tracked in relation to a matter if
you enable the MS Outlook Link.) For more information see Emails Tab
on page 172.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 121

7. Controlling Name and Matter
Notes
Overview of Name and Matter Notes
Using notes, you can record useful information about a name or matter.
You can add an unlimited number of name and matter notes.
Since you can search for names and matters based on notes, notes
can be a way to categorize names and matters. For example, you
might add a note with a type of GOLF to each name that likes to play
golf. Later, you can easily search for all the golfers in your contacts by
querying for NoteType = GOLF. You can also click the Type column
heading on the Linked Notes tab to sort by type and see all the GOLF
notes together, along with the other categories you use.

Viewing Name and Matter Notes

To view notes for a specific name:
Select the name in the Name window and select the Notes tab.

122 Controlling Name and Matter Notes AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 To view notes for a specific matter:
Select the matter in the Matter window and select the Notes tab.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

To view all name and matter notes:

Select Notes/ Browse All notes. The All Notes window appears. Note
that from this window you can highlight a note and click the Go to
button to open the linked name or matter.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

Adding Notes to Names and Matters

1. Do one of the following:
• With the name displayed in the Name window or the matter
displayed in the Matter window, click the Notes tab.
• Select Notes/Browse all Notes. The All Notes window appears.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 123

 2. Click the Add button. The Add Note window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

3. Complete the settings on the window for the note. Use the following
to help you:
• Note box: Contains the text for the note. Add or edit the text as
necessary. See some tips for adding notes on page 125.
• Private: When selected, the note will only be seen by the
operator that created it. For more information, see Controlling
Privacy on page 486.
• Previous/Next: Move you to the previous or next note for the
name or matter.
• Spell Check: Checks the spelling of all the words in the Note
box.
• Type: The type of note. Click the lookup button for Type. The
Valid NOTETYPE Entries window appears. Select a type code
that describes this note (or you can add a code on the fly – see
page 40) and click OK.
TIP: If you design a system for classifying notes with the Type
field, you will be able to make great use of them later. Perhaps
you will want to see a report of all the phone conversations you
had for a client. Or, maybe you need to know who spoke with a
client on a certain day and what was said. You can easily
generate these and many other reports by using the Type field
for notes wisely.
• Date: The date of the note.
• Phone: [optional] A phone number related to the note.

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 • Hours: The duration of the tasks related to the note. This field
has a Timer button. Click the button to use the timer for the
note (see page 336).
• Time: The time the note was recorded.
• Operator: Your operator name. This field is completed for you.
4. Click OK to save the note.

Tips for Entering Notes

Here are a few tips that will help you when you are adding notes to the
system.
• To stamp today’s date in the note, position the cursor and press
Shift+F5. To include the time, press Ctrl+F5.
• Use text macros (see page347) to make entering text easier and
quicker. For example, you can create shorthand abbreviations, and
then press F5 to expand them into full text. Try the pre-set macros
addr or phones to expand to the related name’s address or phone
numbers.
• Press Shift+F6 to pull in the related name’s phone number. This
also works for event notes. If you add an event with a What of
PHONE, the number will be added automatically, so this keystroke
is handy for pasting in the phone numbers for any other type of
event.
• Mark private text with 3 asterisks (***). When printing these notes
later, you will be able to set the system so that any text following
the asterisks is not printed.
• Drag and drop files on event or name/matter notes to paste the file
path into the note text box.

Editing Name and Matter Notes

1. View the note you want to edit (see page 122).
2. Highlight the note and click the Edit button. The Edit Note window
appears.
3. Edit the note as desired. For help with the settings on the window,
see Adding Notes to Names and Matters on page 123.
4. Click OK to save your changes.

Deleting Name and Matter Notes

1. View the note you want to delete (see page 122).
2. Highlight or tag the notes you want to delete.

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 3. Click the Delete button. A window appears asking you if you are
sure you want to delete the selected notes. Click Yes.

Finding Name and Matter Notes

You can search for any text in all the notes for one name or matter, or
in all the name and matter notes regardless of which name or matter
the note is linked to.
1. View the list of notes you want to search (see page 122).
2. Use the search bar to find notes. See Using the Search Bar on
page 22 for more information.

Printing Name and Matter Notes

1. View the name and matter notes you want to print (see page 122).
Highlight or tag the notes to print. If you want to print all notes, you
do not need to select any.
2. Click the Print button. The Print Options window appears. Select:
All to print all the notes in the list.
Highlighted to print only the notes that are highlighted.
Tagged to print only the notes that are tagged.
3. The Notes Report Control window appears. Make your selections
and click the Print button.

NOTE: You can also generate reports to print out different types of
notes. For help generating reports, see page 357.

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 Adding the Same Note to Multiple Names or Matters
You can add the same note to multiple names or matters in one step.
This feature helps you avoid tedious manual updates when you have
one action affecting multiple names or matters.
1. From the Name window, query for the names to which you want to
add a note, or from the Matter window, query for the matters to
which you want to add notes. If you don’t set a query, a note will
be added to every name/matter.
2. Select Notes/Add to all Names or Notes/Add to all Matters. The
Add Notes to All Records window appears.

3. Complete the settings on the window to create the note to add.

• Note Type: Indicates the type of note to add. To change, click
the lookup button. The Valid NOTETYPE Entries window
appears. Select a notetype and click OK.
• Note Text: The text for the note.
• Use a database to filter Notes?: Advanced feature – for users
experienced with mass mailings using exported .DBF files. Lets
you add a note for every record in an external database
provided it has an ID field that is identical to the one in Abacus.
To use, select Use a database to filter Notes?. More fields
appear below the option. For Database, click the Browse
button. Select the database and click OK.
4. Click OK to add the note to all selected names/matters.

Emailing Name and Matter Notes

1. Select Notes/Browse All notes. The All Notes window appears.

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 2. If you want to email only one note, right-click the note and select
Email current Note. If you want to email more than one note, tag
them. Then, right-click the list and select Email tagged Notes.
3. The email appears with the note or notes in the body of the email.
Compete and send the email.

Setting the Default Font for Name and Matter Notes

You can set a default font for all name and matter notes.
1. Select File/Setup/User Preferences. The User Preferences window
appears. Select the Appearance tab.
2. Under Font click Notes.
3. The Font window appears. Select the font type, style, and size and
click OK.

Billing for Name and Matter Notes

If you have purchased Abacus Accounting Manager, you can instantly
bill for the time you add in a note.
From a note window, click Bill. Note that you can also highlight a note
on the All notes window (Notes/Browse all Notes) and click Bill.
Abacus Accounting Manager starts and opens a window that starts a
time ticket for you based on the information from the note.
NOTE: Many administrators like to review the All Notes window at the
end of the day to check on what has or has not been billed.

Stamp Notes to a Name or Matter Field

The NoteType field can be posted to a field in the Names database for
easier filtering of sources.

128 Controlling Name and Matter Notes AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Identify the field that will store the NoteType by manually editing
[Link] in the data directory and adding one or both of these
settings to the Notes section:
[Notes]
StampNameField=XXXXXXXXXX
StampMatterField=XXXXXXXXXX
where XXXXXXXXXX is the name of a 10-character (or larger) field you
have added to your Names (or Matters) database. The field you specify
in StampNameField is populated when you stamp notes from the Name
window, and StampMatterField is used when running this from the
Matter window.

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8. Scheduling (Calendaring)
Events
Overview of Events
An event is a happening. It represents an action item.
Most tasks for events are performed from the Events Browse window,
Event window, and Calendar.
Abacus uses the following types of events: Appointments,
Reminders, Things To Do, and Calls To Make.

Types of Events
Abacus uses the following types of events: Appointments,
Reminders, Things To Do, and Calls To Make.

Appointments
Appointments are timed events that occur on a specific date and time.

Reminders
In calendars, any event that has a blank time is considered a reminder.
Prior versions of Abacus also referred to these as timeless events,
which include holidays, ticklers, etc.
Events can also use the Type field for categories, including using "R"
for Reminders. But this flag does not instigate any special behavior in
Law, it just gives you the ability to query reports and calendars based
on the values you enter into the Type field.
Auto-reminders are the event records created automatically by Law
when you enter numbers into the Reminders fields in the Event
window. For example, if you add a DEPO on May 3rd and enter a "2" in
the first Reminder field, Law will create an auto-reminder event record
for May 1st whose note will refer to the DEPO. Auto-reminders will
appear in the Linked Events list for their main event. Also, if you move
or delete an event that has auto-reminders, they will be regenerated or
deleted automatically.
If the main event has a time of TO-DO, the reminders will also be TO-
DO events (or Things To Do) so they will roll forward if not marked
Done.
To use auto-reminders as follow-up reminders, put a negative number
in the Reminder field. This will create the reminder record AFTER the
main event.

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 Law supplies two auto-reminder fields for extremely quick reminder
creation, but it is not a limit on the number of reminders you can have.
To create more, you can clone an existing reminder, or add a new one
altogether.
You can also edit or create a rule to automatically create as many
reminders as you like for any event. For example, you could create a
rule called DEPO with four reminders. Every time you calendar a
DEPO, Law will offer to create the four reminders for you. You can also
assign a form to one of the reminders to automate creation of any
necessary documents ahead of time.

Things To Do
In calendars, any event whose time is set to "TO-DO" will be
considered a Thing To Do. These TO-DO events will move forward to
tomorrow if they are not marked "Done" (put "D" in the Status field).
Usually, deadlines are entered as TO-DO events. This makes it very
easy to distinguish between the "timed" Appointments/Appearances
and the Things To Do. Some offices print a calendar for one person
that only shows timed events and print a separate calendar for another
person with only the TO-DO events.
When a TO-DO event is moved forward, the Status field keeps an "N"
for "Not done," and adds after the "N" the original month and day of the
event so you know its originally scheduled date even after it has rolled
forward several days.

Calls To Make
Calls To Make are either appointments or things to do that remind you
to make a telephone call.

Customization Checklist for Scheduling Events

Before you schedule events, you can do the following to customize the
process.
Customize holidays: The default holidays for Abacus probably do not
match your firm's holidays exactly. Set up your own holidays in Abacus.
Set up rules: Rules are optional, but they can help you automate and
manage the scheduling of tried-and-true processes, like all the
customary tasks that have to be performed when you accept a new
client.
Customizing the calendars: You can change some things about
calendars. Note that when you customize calendars you can color-code
events. For example, you can show each person's events in different
colors. Or, if you like, you can show different types of events (trials,
depositions, etc.) in different colors.

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 Customize dates: You can change the way dates and times work and
appear when scheduling events by changing the Dates setting on the
System Options window.
Automatically reschedule events landing on weekends: You can
set up Abacus so that when events that are automatically scheduled
fall on the weekend, they will be automatic rescheduled according to
your settings. You do this by adjusting the settings under Events
landing on Weekends on the System Options window.
Automatically update Things To Do events: You can set up Abacus
so that when Things To Do events do not get done on the assigned
day, they will automatically be moved to the next day. You do this by
turning on Update TO-DOs on startup on the System Options window.
Customize the Event window: The Event window can be changed so
that it is more aesthetically pleasing to your eye. You can do this by
changing the settings on the Appearance tab of the User Preferences
window.
Customize fields: You can customize the fields that appear on the
Event Window.

Event Menu and Right-Click Menu

In the Event window, the Calendar, the Staff Calendar and the Events
Browse window, you can access an event menu by clicking a button
(for example, on the Calendar you can click the Event Actions button)
OR right-click an event or open slot to see a menu of options. Following
are the standard options you will see. Note that not all options are
available for every event window.
Menu Option Description
Add a new Event Opens the Event window to schedule a new
event.
Clone this record Clones the selected event.
Add Events from a Schedules a series of events based on a
Rule rule.
Add Note for Name Opens the Call Manager for the
and Matter name/matter linked to the selected event.
NOTE: This menu option does not appear if
the selected event does not have a linked
name or matter.
Reschedule Reschedules the selected event.
Delete Deletes the selected event or all tagged
events.
Mark Done Changes the status of the selected event.
Priority Sets the priority for the selected event.
Recur Repeats the selected event at regular
intervals.

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 Menu Option Description
Send Sends the selected event information in an
email or MessageSlips instant message
to the event's Who code or name.
Linked Events Displays any events linked to the selected
event.
View linked Matter Displays the matter linked to the selected
event.
View linked Name Displays the name linked to the selected
event.
Print memo Generates a quick form for the selected
event.
Bill Opens an Abacus Accounting window that
starts a time ticket for you based on the
information from the selected event.
Form generation Generates documents using forms. for the
selected event and its linked name and
matter.
Calendar Setup Changes the settings for the Calendar.
NOTE: This menu option only appears on
the Calendar.
Open another Opens another Calendar window.
Calendar window NOTE: This menu option only appears on
the Calendar Actions menu on the
Calendar.
Tagged Events Clear/Set/Invert tags for the events.

Events Browse and Event Window

Events Browse Window
The Events Browse window displays a list of all the events in the
Events database.
EITHER click the Events button on the toolbar OR select
Events/Browse to open the Events Browse window.

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 For general tasks you can do from any Browse window, see Browse
Windows.

Event Window
The Event window lets you manage your appointments and other
events. It shows the information for an event, including who will do it,
which name and matter is involved, the status of the Event, and the
date of the event.

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 To open the Event window:
• Select Events/View a record, or
• Click the Events button on the toolbar. The Events Browse window
appears. Highlight an event and click Open OR double-click an
event.

To open multiple Event windows:

Open the first Event window, then select Events/Open another Event
window.

To browse events in the Event window:

Click the Previous record and Next record buttons to browse events.

To use the Event Actions menu:

Click the Event Actions button to display and use the standard event
menu.

To jump to Notes:
Press Ctrl+N or Shift+F3.

Fields on the Event Window

The following describes each setting on the window.
NOTE: Whether or not some of these settings appear on the event
window are determined by the Event Window Settings.
• Who: The selected Who codes for the event. To change, click the
lookup button. The Valid WHO Entries window appears. Check the
Who codes (or add one) for the event and click Done. If you are
scheduling for multiple people, you might want to create a
workgroup.
• What: The selected What code for the event. To change, click the
lookup button. The Valid WHAT Entries window appears. Highlight
a What code for the event (or add one) and click Done.
• When: The due date for the event. To change the date, click the
lookup button, select the date in the pop-up window (TIP: Press the
T key for today's date.), and close the pop-up window. The at box
(to the right of the When box) shows the time of the event. To
change, right-click and click the time. The for box (again to the
right), shows the duration of time expected the event to complete. If
the event will last all day, check All day.
• Where: The selected Where code describing the location of the
event. To change, click the lookup button. The Valid WHERE
Entries window appears. Highlight the Where code for the event (or
add one) and click Done. If you set the Where code to COURT, the
looked-up court name is displayed to the right of the Where field.

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 • Notes: A note about the event. TIP: At any time in the Event
window, you can press Ctrl+N or Shift+F3 to jump to Notes.
• Name: The name involved with the event. To change, click the
lookup button for Name. The Names Browse window appears.
Highlight the name and click Select. NOTE: To enter a one-time
event or an event that does not involve a name (like lunch with your
spouse), leave this box blank and put the person's name in the
event note.
• Matter: The matter involved with the event. To change, click the
lookup button for Matter. The Matters Browse window appears.
Highlight the matter and click Select. Below the matter name, the
file/case # is displayed, immediately followed by the related court
code, if the matter has one.
• Priority: Code indicating the priority of the event. To change, click
the lookup button. The Valid PRIORITIES Entries window appears.
Highlight the Priority code for the event (or add one) and click
Done.
• Type: Code indicating the type of event. To change, click the
lookup button. The valid TYPE Entries window appears. Highlight
the Type code for the event (or add one) and click Done.
• Status: 8-character code indicating the current status of the event.
To change, click the lookup button. The Valid STATUS Entries
window appears. Highlight the Status code for the event (or add
one) and click Done. Common usage is for marking events Done
(D) or Not Done (N). If a thing-to-do is rolled forward, Status will be
stamped with N plus the month and day from the original date.
• Private: When checked, only the operator that added the event will
be able to view it.
• Alarm: Lets you set an event alarm. Click the lookup button for the
Alarm box and select the amount of time before the event's start
date/time you want the alarm to appear. For example, if you want
the alarm to appear the day before the start date for the event,
select 1 day. If you want the alarm to appear 15 minutes before the
event (like for a phone call), select 15 minutes.
• Reminders: The first (left) Reminders box indicates the number of
days prior to the event that you want a reminder to appear on the
calendars. The second (right) Reminders box indicates the
number of days after the event that you want a follow-up reminder
to appear on the calendars (useful for following up on letters or
other tasks).

Event Window Settings

Event Window Settings let you customize the Event window.
1. View an event in the Event window. Then, click the Settings
button. The Event Window Settings window appears:

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 2. Set Event data detail to Less if you just want to see basic event
information. Set to More if you want to see all the fields available
on the Event window.
3. For Query and Index buttons, select if you want those buttons to
be visible or hidden on the Event window. NOTE: If you selected
Less for Event data detail, you will not have the option of viewing
Query and Index buttons on the Event window.
4. For Private checkbox, select if you want the Private setting to be
visible or hidden on the Event window. NOTE: If you selected Less
for Event data detail, you will not have the option of viewing the
Private setting on the Event window.
5. Click Done to save your changes.

Calendars
Calendar
To open the Calendar, click the Calendar button on the toolbar or
select Calendar/Open the Calendar window.

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 NOTE: In the sidebar calendars, red dates are holidays.

To change the Calendar view:

• Click WHO to select whose events to view in the calendar.
• Click Go to Today to select today's date.
• Click a date in one of the sidebar calendars to select that date in
the main calendar. To move to a different month, click the
previous/next month arrows.
• Click DAY for a daily view, WEEK for a weekly view; or MONTH for
a monthly view.

NOTE: When you select a weekly view you can select a 5-day
week or a 7-day week.

To use the Calendar Actions menu:

• Click the Calendar Actions button to display and use the standard
event menu.

To work with events:

• For more information, double-click an event to display it in the
Event window.
• Point to any event to display the event details if you have the Show
Tooltips box checked under File/Setup/User Preferences.
• Add an event
• Edit an event
• Delete an event
• Print events from the Calendar
• Reschedule events

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 • Change the status of an event
• Schedule a series of events based on a rule
• Schedule recurring events

To change Calendar settings:

• Change the settings for the Calendar

Selecting Whose Events to View in the Calendar

In the Calendar, you can view appointments and other calendar events
for just yourself or for several different people or Who codes. Click
WHO on the Calendar and the "Who" Setting for Calendars window
appears.

Check the Who codes whose events you want to view. For example, if
you only want to see your own events, check yourself only. But, if you
want to also track what is going on in a conference room or with a
colleague, check those Who codes as well.
If you want to select all Who codes, click Set to All People.
On this window, you can also do the following:
• Check Include work groups to see not only events scheduled for
the selected Who codes, but also events scheduled for any work
group to which the selected Who codes are assigned.
• Check Include if WHO is blank to see all events with no Who
code selected (like holidays or meetings for the entire staff).
• Click Add, Edit, or Delete to manage Who codes on the fly.
• Click Print to print a report for Who codes.
• If you want to change the color of a Who code in the list, highlight
the Who code, click Color, select the color and click OK.
• If one of the Who codes is an accounting timekeeper (for Abacus
Accounting users), highlight the Who code and click Link. In the
window that appears, select the associated accounting timekeeper

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 and click Done. This links the Who code in AbacusLaw with the
timekeeper in Abacus Accounting for billing purposes.

Calendar Print Options

1. Select Calendar/Print Options. The Calendar Print Options window
appears.

2. For What to print, select the type of events you want to print.
3. Change the date as necessary.
4. Click Print. The Events Report Control window appears.
NOTE: You can specify a particular layout to use for the Calendar and
TO-DO reports when printing by clicking the Setup button, clicking
Advanced, and then adjusting the Calendar Setup window's Printouts
tab.

Staff Calendar
Click the Staff button on the toolbar or select Calendar/Staff Calendar
to open the Staff Calendar.

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 The Staff Calendar displays a calendar of scheduled events for the
selected Who codes (potentially the entire staff). It provides a
convenient way to compare schedules, search for conflicts and
coordinate secretary/attorney calendars.
From the Staff Calendar, you can:
• Click WHO to select whose events to view in the calendar.
• Select a date for the calendar using the Previous Week, Previous
Day, Next Week, or Next Day buttons. Or, you can click the lookup
button for the date and select the date from the popup calendar.
• Schedule events for multiple people at the same time.
• Drag column headings left or right to re-order the calendar display.
Be sure to keep your mouse on the column head row as you drag
or the columns will not move.
• Point to any event to display the event details if you have the Show
Tooltips box checked under File/Setup/User Preferences.
• Double-click on any event or time slot to see the Event window.
• Click the toolbar Print button or press Ctrl+P to print.

Free Time Display

Select Calendar/Free Time to open the Free Time Display.

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 The Free Time Display shows free, or unscheduled, time for the
selected Who codes (potentially the entire staff). This feature is very
convenient when you need to know who is available, but you don't have
time to check everyone's personal calendar.
White blocks represent free time and green blocks represent scheduled
time.
From the Free Time Display, you can:
• Click Who to select whose events to view in the calendar.
• Select a date for the calendar using the Previous Day and Next
Day buttons. Or, you can click the lookup button for the date and
select the date from the popup calendar.
• Schedule or reschedule events from this display. Just double-click
the time slot to be scheduled/rescheduled for the person. Complete
the window for the event. Note that the settings on this window are
the same as the Event window. Click Save.
• Click the Print button or press Ctrl+P to print.

Calendar Setup
Overview of Setting Up the Calendar
You can control what you see on your Calendar and how your
Calendar works. The settings are saved to your User ID so they will be
the same each time you log in.

Setting Up General Calendar Settings

Follow these steps to change the general Calendar settings.
1. From the Calendar, click the Settings (gear) button OR select
File/Setup/Calendar Setup. The Calendar Setup window appears.

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 2. To indicate the Who code or codes that will be selected by default
when adding an event, click the Who button under Defaults. The
"Who" Setup for Calendars window appears. Change the settings
on the window and click Done.
3. To indicate the What code that will be selected by default when
adding an event, click the What button under Defaults. The Valid
WHAT Entries window appears. Highlight the What code you want
to be selected by default when you create a new event (or add a
What code on the fly). Click Done.
4. Under Work Hours, set the normal work hours for the Calendar:

Day Start time: The normal start time for each day on the
Calendar.

Day End time: The normal end time for each day on the Calendar.

Increment (min.): The time increment (in minutes) between each

time slot.
5. When using the advanced calendar setup, you can color-code
events. For Use Coded colors in, check the calendar formats you
want to use event color-coding.
6. The Date Navigator is the left column of calendar thumbnails that
let you click a date to select it on the Calendar. For Show the Date
Navigator in, check the calendar formats you want to show the
Date Navigator.

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 7. For Show Task/Reminder browses in, check the calendar
formats you want to include the Things To Do and Reminders
browses.
8. When you first install Abacus, the default calendar settings file
([Link]) is loaded. As you make changes to the Calendar setup,
these changes are saved to a file that is named with your user ID
(for example, [Link]). If you need to return to the default settings,
click Load and select [Link]. When you do this, your personal
.cs file will be overwritten with the default settings.
9. Click Done to save your settings and close the window.

Setting Up Whose Events to View in the Calendar

You can set up whose events you want to view in the Calendar by
default.
Do one of the following:
• Set up general calendar settings and click the Who button in
Calendar Setup, or
• Select Calendar/Who setting.
The "Who" Setup for Calendars window appears.

The following describes the settings on this window.

• Who Codes to view: The Who code or codes that will be selected
by default when adding an event. To change, click the lookup
button. The Valid WHO Entries window appears. Check The Who
codes you want to print (or add one). To view all Who codes, check
the <blank> row. Click Done.
• Include work groups: When selected, you will see on the
Calendar by default not only events scheduled for the Who code,
but also events scheduled for any work group to which the Who
code is assigned.
• Include if WHO is blank: When selected, you will see all events
with no Who selected (like holidays or meetings for the entire staff)
on the Calendar by default.

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 Setting Up the Appointments and Reminders Sections
of the Calendar
On the Advanced Calendar Setup window, the Appt & Rems tab lets
you control how events appear on the Appointments and Reminders
sections on your Calendar.
To open the tab:
1. From the Calendar, click the Settings (gear) button OR select
File/Setup/Calendar Setup. The Calendar Setup window appears.
2. Click Advanced. The Advanced Calendar Setup window appears.
3. Select the Appt & Rems tab.

Make changes to the appropriate section and click Done to save your
changes.

Appointments
The Appointments settings control how events appear in the
Appointments section of the Calendar.
• Expression: Controls which fields are displayed under the
Appointments section for events that do not have a What code of
NOTE.
• NOTE Expr.: Controls which fields are displayed under the
Appointments section for events that have a What code of NOTE.
To change the Expression settings:

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 1. Click the Expression button. A window appears asking you if you
want to use the default setting. If you do, click Yes and you are
finished. If not, click No. The Expression Designer window
appears.
2. From this window, you can add fields, edit fields, or delete fields.
3. When you are finished, click Done.

Reminders
The Reminders settings control how events appear in the Reminders
section of the Calendar.
• Title: Enter the label you want to use for the Reminders section.
• Query: Limits what records display in the section. To change, click
the button. The Queries window appears. Select a query (or create
one on the fly) and click Done.
• Expression: Controls which fields are displayed under the section.
To change the Expression settings:
1. Click the Expression button. A window appears asking you if you
want to use the default setting. If you do, click Yes and you are
finished. If not, click No. The Expression Designer window
appears.
2. From this window, you can add fields, edit fields, or delete fields.
3. When you are finished, click Done.

Setting Up the Things To Do and Calls To Make Sections

of the Calendar
On the Advanced Calendar Setup window, the Tasks & Calls tab lets
you control how events appear on the Things To Do and Call to Make
sections on your Calendar.
To open the tab:
1. From the Calendar, click the Settings (gear) button OR select
File/Setup/Calendar Setup. The Calendar Setup window appears.
2. Click Advanced. The Advanced Calendar Setup window appears.
3. Select the Tasks & Calls tab.

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 Make changes to the appropriate section and click Done to save your
changes.
The Things-to-do section settings control how events appear in the
Things To Do section of the Calendar; the Phone calls section settings
control how events appear in the Calls To Make section of the
Calendar.
Both sections have the following settings:
• Title: Enter the label you want to use for the Reminders section.
• Query: Limits what records display in the section. To change, click
the button. The Queries window appears. Select a query (or create
one on the fly) and click Done.
• Expression: Controls which fields are displayed under the section.
To change the Expression settings:
1. Click the Expression button for the appropriate section. A window
appears asking you if you want to use the default setting. If you do,
click Yes and you are finished. If not, click No. The Expression
Designer window appears.
2. From this window, you can add fields, edit fields, or delete fields.
3. When you are finished, click Done.

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 Managing Expressions from the Expression Designer
Window
From the Expression Designer window, you can add, edit, or delete
fields to manage an expression.

To add fields:
1. From the Expression Designer window, click the Add button. The
Select Fields for the Expression window appears.
2. Click the Database arrow and select the database from which you
want to select fields.
3. Check the field or fields you want to add. NOTE: The Field Name
column lists the name you will see on the screen; the (real name)
column lists the field's name in the database.
4. Click Done.

To edit fields:
1. From the Expression Designer window, highlight the expression
you want to edit.
2. Click Edit. The Field Setup window appears.
3. Change the settings for the field as necessary. You can control the
position and order of your field and view the expression. You can
edit the expression, but this is not recommended if you are not an
expert. Set the Field width to -1 if you want Abacus to show
whatever data is there, but trims off any trailing spaces. Set it to a
positive number if you want Abacus to always include that exact
number of characters.
4. Click Done.

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 To delete fields:
1. From the Expression Designer window, highlight the field you want
to delete.
2. Click the Delete button. A window appears asking you if you are
sure you want to delete the field from the expression.
3. Click Yes.

Setting Queries to Limit Records Shown on the

Calendar
On the Advanced Calendar Setup window, the Queries tab lets you set
queries to select which events to show on the Calendar, printouts, and
browses.
To open the tab:
1. From the Calendar, click the Settings (gear) button OR select
File/Setup/Calendar Setup. The Calendar Setup window appears.
2. Click Advanced. The Advanced Calendar Setup window appears.
3. Select the Queries tab.

The following describes how each button on the tab uses the selected
query:
• Day/Week: Limits the events shown on the Calendar's Day and
Week views.
• Month: Limits the events shown on the Calendar's Month view.

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 • Printouts: Limits the events printed from the Name or Matter
window Events tab.
• Event lists: Limits the events shown in lists of events such as the
Events Browse and the Name or Matter window Events tab.
Events matching the query are displayed in normal black text;
events that don't match are displayed in gray text. The default
displays "Done" events in gray text.
Follow these steps to change a query for a category:
1. Click a button. The Queries for Events window appears.
2. Click Clear to clear a setting (shows all events) or highlight the
query you want to use (or add a query on the fly) and click Done.

Selecting Quick Reports for the Calendar Print Window

On the Advanced Calendar Setup window, the Printouts tab lets you
specify a particular layout to use for the Calendar and TO-DO reports
when printing, especially from the Calendar Print Options window.
To open the tab:
1. From the Calendar, click the Settings (gear) button OR select
File/Setup/Calendar Setup. The Calendar Setup window appears.
2. Click Advanced. The Advanced Calendar Setup window appears.
3. Select the Printouts tab.

Complete the settings on the tab as necessary and click Done or select
another tab to save your changes.

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 The following describes the settings on the tab:
• Organizer: Click to select the layout for printing the Calendar's Day
view.
• Week Laser: Click to select the layout for printing the Calendar's
Week view.
• Month Laser: Click to select the layout for printing the Calendar's
Month view.
• Year Laser: Click to select the layout for printing the Yearly Laser
Calendar.
• Font size: The size of the font to be used in printed Laser
Calendars.
• Daily reports: Click to select the default layout for printing textual
reports of events.
• TO-DO reports: Click to select the default layout for printing the
TO-DO list.

Setting Event Alarm Preferences

On the Advanced Calendar Setup window, the Alarms tab lets you set
preferences for event alarms.
To open the tab:
1. From the Calendar, click the Settings (gear) button OR select
File/Setup/Calendar Setup. The Calendar Setup window appears.
2. Click Advanced. The Advanced Calendar Setup window appears.
3. Select the Alarms tab.

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 Complete the settings on the Alarms tab as necessary and click Done
or select another tab to save your changes.
The following describes the settings on the tab:
• Enable individual event alarms: When checked, turns on the
event alarm feature in Abacus. Abacus event alarms synchronize
with Outlook, PDAs, and smart phones. If you don't want event
alarms happening in both Abacus and elsewhere, turn them off in
Abacus by not checking Enable individual event alarms. If you
select Enable individual alarms, you also need to set Minutes
prior to event and Check every.
• Enable default alarm for events that have "none" set: When
checked, if there is no alarm set for an event, Abacus will only
generate alarms for the events in the selected query.
• Minutes prior to event: If you selected Enable individual event
alarms, in this box enter the minutes before the event that you
want the alarm to appear. For example, if you want to see the
event alarm 15 minutes before the event start time, enter 15 in this
box.
• Check every: If you selected Enable individual event alarms, in
this box enter the minute intervals you want Abacus to check for
event alarms. For example, if you enter 5 in this box, Abacus will
check to see if an event alarm needs to be generated every 5
minutes. Use zero (0) to disable alarms.
• Query: The query that defines the events that will generate an
alarm. This query usually excludes "Done" events. To change, click
the Query button. The Queries for EVENTS window appears. Click

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 Clear to clear the setting, or select a query (or add a query on the
fly) and click OK. NOTE: Event alarms that appear in Abacus with
a query will not appear in PDAs.
• Play a sound with the alarm appears: When checked, the
selected sound file (.wav file) will play when the event alarm
appears. To select a sound file, click the Lookup button. The Select
Sound File window appears listing preset sound files. Select the
sound file you want to use for event alarms and click Open.
• : Click to hear the selected sound file.

Setting Up Event Colors for the Calendar

On the Advanced Calendar Setup window, the Misc. tab lets you set
event colors for the Calendar. It also lets you set the field separator to
be used in expressions.
To open the tab:
1. From the Calendar, click the Settings (gear) button OR select
File/Setup/Calendar Setup. The Calendar Setup window appears.
2. Click Advanced. The Advanced Calendar Setup window appears.
3. Select the Misc. tab.

Complete the settings on the Misc. tab as necessary and click Done or
select another tab to save your changes.
The following describes the settings on the tab:

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 • Data Colors: Controls the color of events. Set by field to the field
that you want to control the colors. For example, to have each
person's events show up in a different color, select Who. To have
trials in a different color from depositions, select What. Then, click
Setup Codes. In the window that appears, click Color and select a
color.
• Misc. colors: Controls the colors for miscellaneous items on the
monthly calendar. To change, click the button and select the item
you want to color. Then, select a color.
• Field Separator in Expressions: What separates each field within
an event description. Normally, it is just a space, but you can set it
to special characters if you prefer. Or, enter a number up to 5 for
that many spaces.

Working with Events

Browsing/Viewing Events
You can browse and view events in any of the following ways:
• From the Event window: Use this option when you want to see all
the information for each database record.
• From the Events Browse window: Use this option if you want to
browse through a list of events.
• From the Calendar: Use this option if you want to view events
scheduled for the day, week, or month.
• From the Staff Calendar: Use this option to view events for the
entire staff (or a subset of the staff).
• From the Free Time Display: Use this option to view blocks of
scheduled/unscheduled time for the entire staff (or a subset of the
staff).

Scheduling Events
1. Do one of the following:

Select Events/Add a new Event.

Open an event in the Event window and click the Add button.

From the Calendar, do one of the following: (1) depending on the

type of event you want to schedule, double-click one of the empty
time slots or boxes in a section, or (2) click the Add button above
the appropriate section of the calendar, or (3) right-click an empty
time slot or box and click Add a new Event.

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 From the Staff Calendar, double-click the time slot to be scheduled
for the person or right-click the time slot and click Add a new Event.

From the Events Browse window, click Add.

2. The Adding a new Event window appears. Complete the window to
add the event.
3. Click Save.

Scheduling a Series of Events Based on a Rule

Use rules to calendar a sequence of related events. You can use your
own rules or you can purchase sets of rules from Abacus Data
Systems. Contact Customer Support for more information.
1. Do one of the following:

From the Calendar, right-click an empty time slot or box and click
Add Events from a Rule.

From the Events Browse window, right-click any event and click
Add Events from a Rule.

From the Event window, click the Event Actions button, and click
Add Events from a Rule.
2. The Rules window appears. Highlight the rule you want to apply
and click Done. The Adding a new Event window appears. Notice
that the rule is listed in the What box. (Rules are simply What
codes that schedule events based on a timeline.)\
3. Complete all the information for the series of events. For When,
select the start date for the series.
4. Click the Save button. The Creating Events from a Rule window
appears.
5. Click Yes. The Linked Events Browse window appears displaying
the series of events that were automatically generated by the rule.
6. If you like, you can:

Edit generated events: Select the event and click Edit. Edit the
event and click Done.

Delete generated events: Select the event and click Delete. A

window appears asking you if you are sure you want to delete the
event. Click Yes.
7. Click Done. The generated series events are scheduled.
NOTE: When you schedule events based on a rule, three asterisks
(***) and a description of the rescheduling is added to the end of the
note for the event.

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 Scheduling Recurring Events
You may want to recur an event for many reasons, for example, for a
weekly staff meeting.
NOTE: Events recurred with a daily interval of 1 will be bannered on
laser month reports.
1. Schedule the first occurrence of the event.
2. View the event in the Events Browse window, Calendar, Staff
Calendar, or Event window.
3. Right-click the event you want to schedule as recurring and click
Recur. In the Event window, click the Event Actions button and
click Recur. The Recur Event window appears.

4. Complete the settings on the window. The following describes each

setting on the window:

Interval: Indicates how often you want the event to recur.

Start: Reflects the first occurrence of the recurring event you

scheduled (cannot be changed in this window).

End: The last date that you want the recurring event to happen.
TIP: If you need help calculating dates, use the Date Calculator.

Days Apart [if you chose a daily interval]: Reflects the number of
days that pass between events.

Type of Day [if you chose a yearly or monthly interval]:

Calculations may be either "the first day of the month" or "the first
Wednesday of the month" depending on the day of the starting
event. The drop down list will offer something like "Day #1" and
"Wednesday #1". It may also offer "last Wednesday" if the starting

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 day is in the last week of the month. This will use the last Sunday in
months where there are five Sundays, or the fourth Sunday where
there are only four.

Omit weekend events: When selected, recurring events that fall

on weekend days will not be included.
5. Click Done. A confirmation window appears.
6. Click Yes. The Linked Events Browse window appears displaying
all of the recurring events you have scheduled.
NOTE: When the last recurrent event happens, Abacus automatically
displays a note to let you know that it is the last. Armed with this
information, you can choose whether or not to recur more events.

Rescheduling Events
You can reschedule events from any window that shows them.
Whenever you change the date of an event, Abacus checks to see if it
has Reminders or other related events and adjusts them as needed.
Events generated from a rule are linked together so you can change a
date on one event and all related events will be found and rescheduled
automatically.
NOTE: When you reschedule events based on a rule, three asterisks
(***) and a description of the rescheduling is added to the end of the
note for the event.

Rescheduling Single Events

From the Calendar:
Drag and drop an event to another day or time slot OR right-click an
event and click Reschedule. The popup calendar appears. Double-click
the new date.
From the Event Window:
Edit the event in the Event window to change its date or time.
From the Events Browse and Events tabs (on the Name and Matter
windows):
Right-click the event and click Reschedule. The popup calendar
appears. Double-click the new date. NOTE: You can only change the
date of the event, not the time, using this method.

Rescheduling Multiple Events

NOTE: You can only change the date of the event, not the time, using
this method.
1. From the Calendar, Events Browse, and Events tab (on the Name
and Matter windows), tag the events you want to change. Right-
click the selection and click Reschedule.

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 2. The Tagged Records window appears asking you if you are sure
you want to reschedule all the tagged records. Click Yes.
3. The popup calendar appears. Double-click the new date.

Cloning Events
1. With the event open in the Event window, select Events/Clone this
record.
2. A copy of the event appears. Make changes to the new, cloned
event as necessary.
3. Click Save.

Editing Events
1. View the event in the Event window by doing one of the following:

From the Calendar, double-click the event or highlight the event

and click the Edit button above the section.

From the Event window, find the event.

From the Events Browse window, double-click the event.

2. Information for the event displays in the Event window. Change the
event information as necessary.
3. Click Save.

Deleting Events
To delete a single event:
1. Do one of the following:

From the Calendar, double-click the event and click the Delete
button OR right-click the event and click Delete OR highlight the
event and click the Delete button for the section OR highlight the
event and press the Delete key.

Open the event in the Event window and click the Delete button.
2. A window appears asking you if you are sure you want to delete
the event. Click Yes.

To delete multiple events:

NOTE: Closing a matter can also delete all future events for the matter.
From the Calendar:

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 1. Press and hold the Ctrl key and click the events you want to delete
to highlight them.
2. Right-click the selection and click Delete OR press the Delete key.
3. A window appears asking you if you are sure you want to delete
the events. Click Yes.
From the Events Browse and Events tab (on the Name and Matter
window):
1. Check the events you want to delete.
2. Right-click in the grid and click Delete.
3. A window appears asking you if you are sure you want to delete
the events. Click Yes.
From the Event Window:
1. In the Event window, run a query to select the events you want to
delete.
2. The Where to go? window appears. Click First. The Event window
reappears with the query selected and the first match displayed. It's
a good idea to press PageDown several times to verify the selected
events are really the ones you want to delete.
3. Select Events/Delete/Delete All in query.
4. A window appears asking you if you are sure you want to delete all
the events found by the query. Click Yes.

To delete recurring or rule-generated events:

Delete the original trigger event. Abacus will delete all dependent
events.

Indexing (Sorting) Events

An index for a database determines the order in which the data
appears. You can index (or sort) events from the Events window or
from the Events Browse window.

From the Events Browse window:

Click any column heading to sort on that column. The selected sort
column heading turns blue.
NOTE: When you search for an event by typing a piece of information
for the event, the blue column is the column you will be searching on.
For example, to find an event by Who, first click the Who column
heading.

From the Events Browse window or the Event window:

1. Click Index. The Indexes window appears.

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 2. Select the index you want to use to sort the data. For example, if
you wanted to see events sorted by date, select WHEN.
3. Click Done.
NOTE: You can also create and select custom indexes.

Finding Events
There are several ways to find an event in Abacus:
• Review the Calendar.
• Use the Events tab at a Name or Matter window. Use this option if
you know the event is linked to a name or matter. Browse that list
or set a query there.
• On the Event window, use a query to find events that meet certain
conditions (like all depositions for an attorney). For simple
searches, use a quick query. Or use a full query for more complex
searches.

Changing the Status of Events

Event status defines an event's current standing. You define the event
status codes in Abacus. However, the program comes with 3 default
status codes that can be assigned to an event: Done, Not Done, or Off
Calendar.
TIP: Once an event is marked "Done," it can easily be filtered out of
calendars or reports.

From the Event window:

1. Display the event in the Event window.
2. Change the Status field as necessary and click Save.

From the Calendar, Events Browse, or Events tab (on the

Name and Matter windows):
1. If you want to change a single event, right-click the event and
select Mark Done. If you want to change multiple events, tag them,
right-click the selection, and select Mark Done. The Mark Events
Done window appears.

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 2. Click the lookup button for New Status. The Valid STATUS Entries
window appears.
3. Select the current status code for the event (or add a code on the
fly).
4. Click Done.
NOTE: The menu bar includes the Mark Done option whenever a
calendar or Event window is selected. This works the same as the
right-click menu option.

Sending Email about Events

1. Do one of the following:

To send an email for a single event to the linked Who code or

name: From the Calendar or the Events Browse window, right-click
the event and select Send. From the Event window, click the Event
Actions button and click Send. Then, select Email to Who or Email
to Name.

To send an email for multiple events to anyone (not necessarily

linked): From the Events Browse window, or Events tab (on the
Name or Matter window), tag the events you want to include in the
email. Right-click the selection and select Send/Email tagged
Events. The Tagged Records window appears asking you if you
want to send all the tagged events. Click Yes.

The Send Event window appears.

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 2. Change the subject and the Quick Form as necessary and click
OK. NOTE: The QuickForm controls the formatting of the message
body. Though designed to lay out the fields of a record, its ability to
add any text you want around the fields means you can design
special QuickForms with entire scripts or forms for common email
messages.
3. An email message appears with the selected events listed in the
body. Edit the email as necessary and send.

Viewing Events Linked to an Event

To view events linked to an event, do one of the following:
• From the Event window click the Event Actions button and click
Linked Events.
• From the Calendar, Events Browse window and Events tab (on the
Name or Matter window), right-click the event and click Linked
Events.
The Linked Events Browse window appears with a list of all events that
are related by setting reminders, using a rule, or by recurring an event.

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 Similar to the Events Browse window, you can manage events from the
Linked Events Browse window.

Copying Event Data

You can copy data about an event from the Event window and then
paste it into another file (like a word processor file or a spreadsheet).
To copy data, ensure that the event record for which you want to copy
data is displayed in the Event window. Then EITHER click the
Clipboard button on the toolbar OR press Ctrl+Shift+C. The event data
is copied to the clipboard.
To paste the copied data to another file, open the file and then use the
appropriate paste commands.

Printing Events
1. Do one of the following:

From the Event window: View the event. Then, click the Print
button.

From the Calendar: Highlight the event (appointment, reminder,

thing to do, or call to make) in the calendar. Then, click the Print
button.
2. Click one of the following Print menu options:

Print memo: Select to print a memo of the event information.

Print Calendars: Select to print a calendar for the day of the event.

Reports: Select to print a report for the event.

Quick Forms: Select to print a Quick Form for the event. Click
here for more information about Quick Forms.

Billing for Events

If you have purchased Abacus Accounting, you can instantly bill for the
time you add in an event.
From the Event window, click Bill or right-click an event in the Calendar
or Events Browse window. Abacus Accounting starts and opens a
window that starts a time ticket for you based on the information from
the event.

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Event Alarms
Overview of Event Alarms
Event alarms generate a pop-up window that alerts the user to the
event. Event alarms appear at a preset time (set by the user). Event
alarms do not create data; they only notify.
Some special properties of event alarms:
• Although event alarm settings can stretch across days to sync to
other devices (like Outlook and PDAs), Abacus ignores these
settings and only shows event alarms on the same day as the
event.
• Events alarms that appear in Abacus with a query will not appear in
PDAs.
• Event alarms are not implemented for things-to-do or events with a
blank time.
• In Outlook, event alarms are called "reminders."

Setting an Alarm for an Event

The Event window includes an Alarm box that lets you set an event
alarm. Click the Lookup button for the Alarm box and select the
amount of time before the event's start date/time you want the alarm to
appear. For example, if you want the alarm to appear the day before
the start date for the event, select 1 day. If you want the alarm to
appear 15 minutes before the event (like for a phone call), select 15
minutes.

Receiving Event Alarms

At the selected time, the Event Alarm appears displaying the
information for the event alarm.
You can do any of the following from this window:

Dismiss
Click Dismiss to close the Event Alarm window. You will not receive
any more alarms about the event.

Snooze
Click Snooze to close the Event Alarm window temporarily. When you
click Snooze a drop-down menu appears with timing options. Select
when you want the Event Alarm window to reappear.

Open

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 Click Open to open the Event window for the event.

Form
Use Form to generate a form with information from the alarm event.
Click Form and select Do the form if there is a form assigned to the
event. Click Form and select Assign a form to assign and then
generate a form.

Send
Click Send to send a message or email to someone related to the
event. When you click the Send button, a menu appears. You can
select to:
• Send an email to the WHO code for the event
• Send an email to the Name for the event
• Send an instant message using MessageSlips that includes event
information.

Setup
Click Setup to open the Calendar Setup window with the Alarms tab is
selected. This tab is used to set alarm preferences.

Setting Event Alarm Preferences

On the Advanced Calendar Setup window, the Alarms tab lets you set
preferences for event alarms.
To open the tab:
1. From the Calendar, click the Settings (gear) button OR select
File/Setup/Calendar Setup. The Calendar Setup window appears.
2. Click Advanced. The Advanced Calendar Setup window appears.
3. Select the Alarms tab.

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 Complete the settings on the Alarms tab as necessary and click Done
or select another tab to save your changes.
The following describes the settings on the tab:
• Enable individual event alarms: When checked, turns on the
event alarm feature in Abacus. Abacus event alarms synchronize
with Outlook, PDAs, and smart phones. If you don't want event
alarms happening in both Abacus and elsewhere, turn them off in
Abacus by not checking Enable individual event alarms. If you
select Enable individual alarms, you also need to set Minutes
prior to event and Check every.
• Enable default alarm for events that have "none" set: When
checked, if there is no alarm set for an event, Abacus will only
generate alarms for the events in the selected query.
• Minutes prior to event: If you selected Enable individual event
alarms, in this box enter the minutes before the event that you
want the alarm to appear. For example, if you want to see the
event alarm 15 minutes before the event start time, enter 15 in this
box.
• Check every: If you selected Enable individual event alarms, in
this box enter the minute intervals you want Abacus to check for
event alarms. For example, if you enter 5 in this box, Abacus will
check to see if an event alarm needs to be generated every 5
minutes. Use zero (0) to disable alarms.
• Query: The query that defines the events that will generate an
alarm. This query usually excludes "Done" events. To change, click
the Query button. The Queries for EVENTS window appears. Click

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 Clear to clear the setting, or select a query (or add a query on the
fly) and click OK. NOTE: Event alarms that appear in Abacus with
a query will not appear in PDAs.
• Play a sound with the alarm appears: When checked, the
selected sound file (.wav file) will play when the event alarm
appears. To select a sound file, click the Lookup button. The Select
Sound File window appears listing preset sound files. Select the
sound file you want to use for event alarms and click Open.
• : Click to hear the selected sound file.

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9. Email and the Internet
Emailing from Abacus
You can send an email in Abacus in the following ways:
• Send to a specific name using the Email field in the Name window.
Just click the Send Email button next to the email address.
• You can send an email to a selected list of names (see Sending
Email to Selected Names on page 100).
• If you ever see an email address in any field in Abacus, right-click it
and select Email. By default, Abacus creates an email with your
existing email program (like MS Outlook, Netscape or Eudora).
• Right-click an event in a calendar and click Send/Email to Who or
Send/Email to Name. You can also open an event in the Event
window and select Events/Send/Email to Who or
Events/Send/Email to Name. The Send Event window appears.
Change the subject and the quick form as necessary and click OK.
A blank email message appears, addressed to the Who code or
Name for the event.
• At a Name or Matter window’s Docs tab, right-click a Linked
Document record and select Email Document. A message is
started with that document as an attachment.
• At the Matter window’s Linked Names tab, click Actions and
select Send Email. A window appears to determine if you want to
send a message to one, all or tagged names, and if you want to
use a text file as a template or attachment.
• If you use Outlook, you can use the Emails tab on the Name and
Matter windows (see page 172).

Setting Up Email for MS Outlook

When you set up email for Outlook, you enable the Abacus Outlook
Add-in. This add-in works in both directions to let you link emails to
names and matters, and thereby, share them on your network:
• Within Outlook, the Abacus Add-In adds a toolbar so you can link
your messages to an Abacus matter or name. You can also save
attachments as linked documents to a matter or name.
• Within Abacus you can view the emails that are related to individual
matters and names, and enhanced features take advantage of
Outlook's capabilities.
• Your linked messages and documents are automatically shared
with all Abacus users (with control for "private" messages).

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 Follow these steps to set up email for Microsoft Outlook.
1. Select File/Setup/User Preferences. The User Preferences window
appears. Select the Printing/Email Program tab.
2. Under Email, select MS Outlook.
3. Click Setup. The Outlook Add-in Setup window appears.

4. For Operator code assigned to Outlook, enter you normal

Abacus logon ID (if necessary).
5. You can check In Abacus, bypass "New Email" window so that
you do not see the new email window, but this is not
recommended. If you want to bypass the new email window
manually, press the Shift key.
6. Select Always if you link most emails to names/matters in Abacus
or select Never if you rarely link emails to Abacus names/matters.
7. Click Enable the Add-In.
8. In Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007 you will not see a difference.
However, Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013 will now have an Abacus
tab that has the link buttons.

Disabling the Abacus Outlook Add-In

1. Select File/Setup/User Preferences. The User Preferences window
appears. Select the Printing/Email Program tab.
2. Under Email, click Setup. The Outlook Add-in Setup window
appears.
3. Click Disable the Add-In.

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Setting Up Email for Other Email Programs
Follow these steps to set up email for email programs other than
Microsoft Outlook.
1. Select File/Setup/User Preferences. The User Preferences window
appears. Select the Printing/Email Program tab.
2. Under Email, select Other Email Program.
3. Click OK to save your changes and close the window.
4. Try emailing from Abacus. If it is successful, then you are finished
with this procedure. If it is not successful, go to the next step.
5. Consult the documentation for your email program to find the
command line that starts a new message.
6. In Abacus, select File/Setup/User Preferences. The User
Preferences window appears. Select the Printing/Email Program
tab.
7. Under Email, enter the command to start a new email in the
Custom Email command box. You can click the lookup button for
a list of commands, but none of them is guaranteed to work.
8. Click OK to save your changes and close the window.

Inside Outlook: Linking an Email to Abacus

If you have enabled the Abacus Outlook Add-In, an Abacus toolbar
appears in the Mail viewer with two buttons: One to post a message to
Abacus and link it to a name and/or matter, and a second to save
attachments as linked documents. These messages and documents
will then appear in the Name/Matter window Emails and Docs tabs.
1. In Outlook’s Inbox or other mail folder, highlight the email that you
want to link to Abacus and click the Link to Abacus button.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

The Link to Abacus window appears.

The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

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 2. Click Name to link a name to the email; click Matter to link a matter
to the email.
3. In the Duration box, enter the time you spent writing or working on
the email (for billing purposes).
4. Check Private if you want the email to be seen only by the
operator who added it. For more information, see Controlling
Privacy on page 486.
5. Click OK.
When a message is linked, it is exported as a separate message file
under the Abacus folder, and a record is created in the Abacus email
database to control that message. From this point on, Abacus does not
interact with the original message in Outlook so you can move it or
even delete it as desired. The lists of emails inside Abacus only work
with these separate exported message files.
Disclaimer: The purpose of this feature is to share email messages
and their attachments with other users on your network. Since each
message “Linked to Abacus” is copied to your shared network drive,
you need to assume that anyone who has access to your network has
access to these emails. Therefore, it is important that you have internal
office guidelines as to what messages should be shared without
violating anyone’s sense of privacy, decorum, intellectual property,
trade secrets, etc. Abacus cannot control or be responsible for
unwanted access. That said, Abacus does attempt to enforce Privacy
settings within the program.

Saving Attachments
In Outlook, highlight a message that has attachments, and click the
Save Attachments button on the Abacus Add-In toolbar. The Link to
Abacus window appears for you to identify the related name or matter.
This first step is important because Abacus can then set the saved
file’s location to one calculated based on the matter or name. File paths
use the same formula that is set up for new documents created in Form
Generation. The default configuration uses the Docs folder under
Abacus, with a subfolder named from the matter’s file/casenumber.
See Setting Default Values for the Forms Library on page 271 for
details.
Once the attachments are saved, the Document Details window
appears for you to finish setting the document properties.
Note that when you link an email that has attachments to Abacus, the
attachments are automatically saved as Linked Docs as well.

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 Sending Emails
Whenever you send a message from Outlook, you are prompted with
the same Link to Abacus window to link that email to a name or
matter. Note that if you start a message from within Abacus, the
message already knows what records it is linked to and you are not
prompted again.

Emails Tab
The Emails tab, on both the Name and Matter window, is linked with
MS Outlook to let you view, send and manage emails for the related
name or matter.

From the Emails tab, you can do any of the following.

To search for emails:

Use the search bar to find emails in the list. See Using the Search Bar
on page 22 for more information about the search bar.

To send a new email:

1. From the Name or Matter window Emails tab, click New. The Send
Email window appears.

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 2. Complete the window as necessary. Click here for more
information about the Send Email window.
3. Click Send. The email appears in an Outlook email window.

To find an email:
To find an email, click the Query button and select Query Manager. For
more information about the Query Manager, see Query Manager on
page 302.

To open, reply to, or forward an email:

Highlight the email and click Open. The selected email opens in
Outlook and you can reply or forward as usual.

To edit email properties:

Highlight the email and click Edit. The Edit Email window appears.
From this window, you can:
• Click Name to link a name to the email.
• Click Matter to link a matter to the email.
• In the Duration box, enter the time you spent writing or working on
the email (for billing purposes).
• Check Private if you want the email to be seen only by the
operator that added it. For more information, see Controlling
Privacy on page 486.

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 To delete emails:
Select the emails you want to delete (by checking their check boxes)
and click Delete. The exported message files are deleted and the
Abacus email records are removed, but nothing inside Outlook itselfis
touched.

To print emails:
Select the emails you want to print (by checking their check boxes) and
click Print.

To bill for an email:

If you have Abacus Accounting installed, you can highlight the desired
email and click Bill to start a Time Ticket for the time spent relative to
that message.

Browsing Emails
With a Name or Matter window open, select Emails/Browse All email.
The All Emailwindow appears, listing all the emails that were linked to
Abacus by all users.

174 Email and the Internet AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 From this window do any of the following.

To search for an email:

Use the search bar to find emails in the list.

To open a linked name/matter:

Highlight the email and click Go to.

To send an email:
Click New to open the Send Email window that lets you send an email
to selected names.

To open an email:
Highlight the email and click Open. The highlighted email opens in the
email application and you can reply or forward as usual.

To edit an email:
Highlight the email you want to edit and click Edit. The Edit Email
window appears.
From this window you can:
• Click Name to link a name to the email.
• Click Matter to link a matter to the email.
• In the Duration box, enter the time you spent writing or working on
the email (forbilling purposes).
• Check Private if you want the email to be seen only by the
operator that added it.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 175

 To delete an email:
Highlight the email and click Delete.

To print an email:
Highlight the email and click Print.

To bill an email:
If you are connected to Abacus Accounting, highlight the email and
click Bill.

Sending Calendars Via Email

E-Calendars are calendars that are delivered to your email address
every day or on request - a convenient feature if you're traveling or
otherwise off-site. One or more people in your office can get a daily
reminder to send the calendars.
Outlook, Outlook Express, or any other MAPI compliant mail program
can be used to email attorneys their calendars.

To setup E-Calendars:
1. Select Calendar/Send E-Calendars.
2. The Send E-Calendars window appears. Click Setup.

3. The E-Calendar Setup window appears. To set up the people to

receive E-Calendars, click Set up E-Calendar Recipients.

176 Email and the Internet AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 4. The E-Calendar Recipients window appears.

This window lists the people who will receive E-Calendars. Add,
edit and delete recipients as necessary.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 177

 To add/edit recipients:
• To add a recipient, click Add. To edit a recipient, select the
recipient and click Edit. The E-Calendar Recipient
Setupwindow appears.

• Complete/edit the settings on the window for the recipient:

• Report: Lets you select the type of calendar report to be
emailed. To change, click the button. The Report List
window appears. Select a report template to use and click
OK.
• Interval: Lets you select the date to send the E-Calendar.
To change, click the button and click a time period. For
example, if the last person out at night is responsible for
emailing calendars, select Tomorrow or some future date
range for the interval. If the first person that arrives in the
morning is responsible, select Today.
• Who Codes: Lets you select whose events are to be
included on the E-Calendar to be sent. To change, click the
button. The Valid WHO Entries window appears. Select
one or more Who codes and click OK. NOTE: Select the
blank row to send a calendar for everyone in the office.
• Email: Indicates the email address to which the E-
Calendar will be sent. Either enter the email address or
click the button, select the email address and click OK.
• Click OK to save your changes.
To delete a recipient:
• Highlight the recipient you want to delete and click Delete. A
window appears asking you if you are sure you want to delete
the recipient. Click Yes.
5. To define the person responsible for sending E-Calendars, click
Users. The User Manager window appears. Highlight a user and
click Edit. The User Preferences window appears. Select Remind

178 Email and the Internet AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 to Email Calendars. Click OK to close the User Preferences
window and click Close to close the User Manager window.
6. By default, the first designated user who runs Abacus in the
morning will be reminded to send E-Calendars. However, if you
select Remind to send calendars on shutdown instead of
startup, the user will be reminded at the end of the day. You can
enter a time so that if any designated user exits Abacus before that
time she will not be bothered with a reminder.
7. Click OK.

To send E-Calendars:
1. Select Calendars/Send E-Calendars. The Send E-Calendars window
appears.

2. Click Send. Select Edit email before sending if you want to add a
personal note to each email before it is sent.

Accessing the Internet from Abacus

If any field in Abacus that starts with "www" or "http," you can right-click
the field and click Go Internet to open the address in your Web
browser.
Note that you can track any research you have done on the Internet by
linking the Web page to a name (see Linking Names to Documents on
page 199) or linking the Web page to a matter (see Linking Matters to
Documents on page 200). When Web pages are linked to records,
colleagues can double-click the linked document and it will open in their
browser.

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Filing Electronically
E-filing provides the fastest way to get your documents to the court at
deadline. Even if the court in your area does not yet accept electronic
documents, you can still file electronically. [Link] receives your
electronic filing and prints your documents at their facility nearest the
courthouse and hand files them timely.
If you’re not currently an E-filing customer, go to [Link] and
initiate the setup sequence.
1. From the Name or Matter window, select the Docs tab.
2. Right-click the document to be filed and click E-file this document.
The E-Filing window appears. Note that some of the boxes are
automatically filled in based on the information from the linked
matter.

3. If this is your first time using e-filing, click the Setup button. The E-
Filing Setup window appears.

180 Email and the Internet AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 4. Enter the user ID and password supplied to you by [Link] and
click OK.
5. Back in the E-Filing window, enter your Bar number. (After the first
time Abacus saves this number.)
6. Abacus enters plaintiff and defendant names if they are linked to
the matter. Enter the type of filing and fee. Abacus enters the
date/time.
7. Select the county and court of filing. When finished, click OK.

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10. Controlling Documents
In this chapter, you will learn about documents and how to manage
them in Abacus.

Overview of Documents
Documents can be word processing files, scanned images,
spreadsheets, pictures, etc. Documents do not have to be electronic -
you can use Abacus to track your paper documents. Linking
documents to a matter can save you hours of frustration. Instead of
hunting for files in storage boxes you’ll know exactly where to find the
document you need.
If your clients have Web pages on the Internet, add those URL address
as links too. You can have your browser jump to a web page by
double-clicking it.

182 Controlling Documents AbacusLaw Reference Guide

Document Manager
One of the places you can manage documents in Abacus is the
Document Manager. To open the Document Manager, from the menu
bar, select Documents/Browse (Document Manager).

Find specific documents.

Print a report on the

document links.

Open a document in the

application it was created
in.

Add, edit and delete

document links.

Adding Documents Links

Adding Document Links from the Document Manager
1. From the Document Manager, click the Add button. The Document
Details window appears.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 183

 Full path
Click to select any file or
folder on disk, or type in a
Web page address. Leave
blank if linking a paper
document.

Storage
Complete this section for
documents in storage.

2. Use the following to help you complete the Document Details

window:
• Full path: The directory path for the document (where the
document is stored on disk). To change, click the button. The
Select a Document window appears. Select the document you
want to link and click Open. The Document Details window
reappears.
NOTE: You can also enter a folder name (like c:\abacus) or a
Web address (like [Link]).
WARNING: Extremely long folder and file names may be
problematic.
• Short name: An identifier to help you distinguish the document
from others in the database. It can be up to 12 characters.
• Name: If the document is linked to a name, the name will be
listed here. To link a name or change a linked name, click the
button. The Names Browse window appears. Select a name
and click OK.
• Matter: If the document is linked to a matter, the matter will be
listed here. To link a matter or change a linked matter, click the
button. The Matters Browse window appears. Select a matter
and click OK.
• Type: The code describing the document type. To change,
click the lookup button. The Valid Document Type Entries

184 Controlling Documents AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 window appears. Select a code for document type and click
OK.
• Where: The code describing where the document is stored. To
change, click the lookup button. The Valid Document Location
Entries window appears. Select the code that describes where
the document is stored and click OK.
• Box #: The number of the storage box that holds the
document.
• Date: The document’s date. Initialized to today when a
document is added, this field can be used to track the date of
creation OR another date you prefer to track, such as date sent
or received.
• Author: The name of the person that created the document.
• Status: The code describing the status of the document. To
change, click the lookup button. The Valid Document Status
Entries window appears. Select a code that reflects the status
of the document and click OK.
• From Form: The original form used to generate the document.
Useful when you need to backtrack the history or versions of a
document. To change, click the button. The Select a Form
window appears. Select the original form that was used to
generate the document, and click OK.
• Notes: General notes, keywords or even an abstract for the
document.
3. Click OK. The Document Manager reappears with the document
link listed.

Adding Document Links Using the “Save and Log to

Abacus” Macro
Abacus provides a special macro that works with Word (versions 6 and
higher) and WordPerfect (versions 7 and higher). When you install this
macro, it adds the Save and Log to Abacus menu option under the File
menu. When this new menu option is used to save a document, the
word processor automatically adds the file as a linked document record
in Abacus. Your word processor opens Abacus and the Document
Details window appears for you to confirm the related name, matter
and other information.

For Word
To install the Abacus Word 2007 Save & Log macro:
1. Start Microsoft Word. NOTE: This step is important. You cannot
install the macro by double-clicking it.
2. Click the Office Button (at top left) and select Open.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 185

 3. Browse to your \Abacus\v21\Programs folder on your network (this
path is displayed on the title bar of Abacus) and select the file
[Link].
4. If you receive a security warningat the top of the document, select
Options, then Enable this Content.
5. When prompted, close and restart [Link] Save & Log Macro is
now installed, and the menuoption appears when you click the
Office button.
To use the Save and Log to Abacus menu option:
The most automatic way to handle documents is to start in Abacus and
to generate a form. This way Abacus will know information about the
document when you save it.
1. With a document open in Word, select File/Save and Log to
Abacus to save the document and create a record of it in Abacus. If
Abacus is not running, it will start.
2. If you were in Abacus generating forms, Abacus will remember the
current name and matter and open the Document Details window
for you. If Abacus did not initialize the document in Word, a
message box will tell you that Abacus doesn't know which name or
matter to use.
3. Verify the linked name and matter and add any other desired
information about the document.
4. Click OK. The document record is linked to the name and/or
matter.

For WordPerfect
To install the macro:
1. Start WordPerfect.
2. Select Tools/Macro/Play. The Open window appears.
3. Set List files of Type to *.WCM.
4. Browse to the \Abacus\v21\Programs directory, select the file
[Link] (for version 7 of WordPerfect) or [Link]
(for version 8 or later).
5. Select Install and click OK.
6. Exit WordPerfect and restart. Now the Save and Log to Abacus
menu is added to your File menu.
To use the Save and Log to Abacus menu option:
The best “automatic” way to handle documents is to start in Abacus
and generate a form. This way Abacus will know information about the
document when you save it. Otherwise, create a document normally for
a client, then:
1. With a document open in WordPerfect, select File/Save and Log to
Abacus.

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 2. If Abacus is not running, it will start.
3. If Abacus is running and you are using a form, Abacus remembers
the current name and matter and opens the Document Details
window. If Abacus did not initialize the document in WordPerfect, a
message box will tell you that Abacus doesn't know which name or
matter to use.
4. Verify the linked name and matter and add any other desired
information about the document.
5. Click OK. The document record is linked to the name and/or
matter.
The output file created using the Save and Log to Abacus macro is
stored to the path you selected for PDF forms and named using the
naming convention you have established for PDF forms. For more
information about setting the storage path and naming conventions for
PDF forms, see Setting Default Values for the Forms Library on page
271.

Adding Document Links from Windows Explorer.

1. In Windows Explorer (or “My Computer” or other standard file list
windows), right-click the file you want to add to Abacus and select
Send To/AbacusLaw.
2. The Document Details window appears. Complete the window and
select the correct matter or name to link.
3. Click OK. The document will appear on the linked Name window or
Matter window Docstab.

Adding Document Links in Notes.

In a name, matter, or event note, you can add a document link by
dragging and dropping files from Windows Explorer (or other standard
file list window) into the note text box to paste the full file path into the
note. You could also enter the file path manually in the note.
Readers of the note can right-click the inserted file path and click Open
to open the file - whether it is a document, image, spreadsheet, etc.
NOTE: If the file path has embedded spaces, you need to enclose the
path in quotation marks.

Scanning and Adding Documents to the Document

Manager
If you have Adobe Acrobat 4.0 or later (the full version, not just Acrobat
Reader), you can scan a document and link it to a name or matter
within Abacus.

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 1. Ensure that you have Adobe Acrobat 4.0 or later set up to scan
documents and place the document in the scanner.
2. From the Document Manager, click Scan. The Acrobat Scan Plug-
in window appears.
3. Select the device and format then click Scan. A window specific to
your scanner should appear (if not go to step 6).
4. Select the type of document you are scanning and click Scan Now
or OK or Continue. The Acrobat Scan Plug-in window reappears.
5. If you want to scan more than one page, click Next and repeat for
as many pages as necessary. Otherwise, for a single page
document click Done. The Save the scanned image window
appears.
6. Enter a file name for the scanned image. The default name is
based on the case number of the current matter plus today's date.
Click Save The Document Details window appears.
7. Enter all the necessary details for your new document and click OK
when done. Your scanned document is now added to the
Document Manager. Adobe Acrobat appears and displays the
scanned image.
To link the document to a name or matter, see
For more information about the search bar, see Using the Search Bar
on page 22.
8. Editing Document Links on page 189.

Adding Document Links from Outlook

If you have integrated Outlook and Abacus (see Customizing User
Preferences on page 43), you can click a button in Outlook to log an
email attachment on the Name/Matter window Linked Docs tab.
In Outlook, highlight the email that contains the attachment you want to
add to Abacus and click the Save Attachments button.

Editing/Viewing the Actual Documents

1. From the Document Manager, select the document you want to
edit.
NOTE: Click the Query button and select a query (or create one on the
fly – see page 303) to limit the documents listed.
2. Click the Open button. The document appears in the application in
which it was created.

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 3. Edit the document, save it, print it (if you like) and close it. The
Document Manager reappears.

Filtering and Counting the Documents List

The Query button lets you view a limited list of particular types of
documents, but it also opens up all the features of the Query system,
including counts. You can create queries identifying particular types of
documents, then click Count in the Queries browse to find out how
many such documents are in your database.

Searching Documents
The Document Manager and the Linked Docs tab on Matter and
Name windows have a search bar for instant searching of documents.
For more information about the search bar, see Using the Search Bar
on page 22.

Editing Document Links

1. From the Document Manager, select the document link or links you
want to edit.
• If you want to select one document link, highlight the document
link in the list.
• If you want to select multiple document links, check the box (to
the left of the document name) for each document link you
want to select.
2. Click the Edit button. The Document Details window appears.
3. Edit the settings as necessary (see page 183). If you selected more
than one document link, click the Next button to move to the details
for the next document link and edit as necessary.
4. Click OK. The Document Manager reappears with the selected
document links changed.

Deleting Document Links

NOTE: This process only deletes the link that causes the document to
be listed in the Document Manager; it does NOT delete the actual
document.
1. From the Document Manager, select the document link or links you
want to delete.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 189

 • If you want to select one document link, highlight the document
link in the list.
• If you want to select multiple document links, check the box (to
the left of the document name) for each document link you
want to select.
2. Click the Delete button. A window appears asking you if you are
sure you want to delete the selected document links.
3. Click Yes. The Document Manager reappears, and it no longer
displays the selected document links.

Emailing Documents from the Document Manager

1. From the Document Manager, select the document or documents
you want to email.
• If you want to select one document, highlight the document in
the list.
• If you want to select multiple documents, check the box (to the
left of the document name) for each document you want to
select.
2. Right-click and click Email.
3. The Send Email window appears. Complete the fields on the
window and click Send.
4. The email appears in an Outlook email window. Make any edits to
the email as necessary and click Send.

Printing the List of Documents in the Document

Manager
1. From the Document Manager, click the Print button. A window
appears asking you if you want to print the list of documents.
2. Click Yes. The Docs Report Control window appears.
3. Click Print and the output is sent to your default printer.

Copying and Pasting a Document Path

From the Document Manager or from the Name/Matter window Docs
tab, right-click a document listed and click Copy Path to Clipboard.
Open the email or document and paste. The path for the selected
document will be pasted.

190 Controlling Documents AbacusLaw Reference Guide

Billing for Documents
You can bill for documents from the:
• Document Manger (Documents/Browse),
• Document Details window (highlight a document link on the
Document Manager and click Edit), or
• The Linked Docs tab (Name or Matter window, Linked Docs tab).
Click the Bill button to enter billing details for the document. Refer to
the Abacus Accounting Reference Guide for more information about
billing.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 191

11. Linking Databases
Overview of Linking
The power of Abacus lies in linking: names to matters, matters to
events, events to names, etc. When you link objects in Abacus you
make it easy to get the information you need.
You can:
• Link names to matters
• Link names and matters to events
• Link names and matters to documents
• Link names and matters to notes
• Link names to other names

Name to Matter Links

Abacus lets you link matters to names so you can easily track the
relationships involved. For example, what if name "Roger Adams" is an
attorney for one matter, but an expert witness for another matter? You
can link Mr. Adams as a link type of ATTORNEY to the first matter and
then link him as a link type of EXPERT to the other matter. The link
type defines the role of the name to the matter. You could link several
different names to one matter. For example, for a court case, you could
link a client, a judge, attorneys, expert witnesses, etc. You can also link
the same name to a matter more than once with different link types,
e.g. CLIENT, DEFENDANT, and BILLTO, which is a special link type
that tells Abacus Accounting which party is to be billed for this matter.
Database linking allows form generation to automatically fill out even
very complex forms. For a given matter, Abacus can find all the data for
the linked client, judge, attorneys, experts, and other related people.
The description for the link type lets you add a short free-form
description so you can be even more specific about the role of that
name. If a case has several defendants with their own attorneys, the
attorney for one defendant might have a link type of ATTORNEY and in
the description you can enter “Represents John Smith.” In form
generation, this description is fed to the word processor as the “role
description”, since it describes the role played by this name for this
matter.

Linking One Name to One Matter

1. Do one of the following:

192 Linking Databases AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 • From the Name window (for linking a single name to a single
matter), display the name you want to link to a matter and
select the Linked Matters tab. Click Add link. The Matters
Browse window appears. Select the matter and click OK.
• From the Matter window (for linking a single matter to a single
name), display the matter you want to link to a name and select
the Linked Names tab. Click Add link. The Names Browse
window appears. Select the name and click OK.
The Name-to-Matter Link window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Click the lookup button for Link Type. The Valid Link Types Entries
window appears. Select a code for link type (or add a code on the
fly – see page 40). For example, if the name is the defendant client
in this matter, you would select CLIENT-D (Client-Defendant).
3. Click OK.

Linking Multiple Names to One Matter

1. From the Names Browse window, tag the names you want to link to
a matter.
2. Click Actions and select Link all tagged to Matter. The Matters
Browse window appears.
3. Select the matter and click OK. The Name-to-Matter Link window
appears.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

4. Click the lookup button for Link Type. The Valid Link Types Entries
window appears. Select a code for link type (or add a code on the
fly – see page 40). For example, if the name is the defendant client
in this matter, you would select CLIENT-D (Client-Defendant).
5. Select Use same link for all names if you want to have the same
link types for all selected names (for example, if all the selected
names are witnesses for your case). Select Confirm each name
explicitly if selected names need to be assigned different link
types. This option lets you confirm each name separately so you
can specify the appropriate link type.
6. Click OK.

Unlinking Names from Matters

You can unlink names from matters from the Name window or unlink
matters from names from the Matter window.
From the Name window:
1. In the Name window, display the name you want to unlink from a
matter and click the Linked Matters tab.
2. Select the matter you want to unlink and click Unlink.
3. A window appears asking you if you are sure you want to unlink the
matter. Click Yes. The Name window reappears. Note that the
matter is no longer listed under the Linked Matters tab.
From the Matter window:
1. Display the matter you want to unlink from a name in the Matters
window and click the Linked Names tab.
2. Select the name you want to unlink and click Unlink.
3. A window appears asking you if you are sure you want to unlink the
name. Click Yes. The Matter window reappears. Note that the
name is no longer listed under the Linked Names tab.

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 Editing Links from Names to Matters
You can edit links from names to matters from the Name window or the
Matter window.
From the Name window:
1. Display the name in the Name window and click the Linked
Matters tab.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Select the matter link you want to edit and click Edit. The Name-to-
Matter Link window appears.
3. Change the Link Type as necessary and click OK.
From the Matter window:
1. Display the matter in the Matter window and click the Linked
Names tab.
2. Select the name link you want to edit and click Edit. The Name-to-
Matter Link window appears.
3. Change the Link Type as necessary and click OK.

Re-Linking Matters to a Different Name

You can re-assign matters to a new linked name (e.g. if a new adjuster
takes over the matters of another, or a new judge takes over a case).
This feature is controlled by the security switch for "Edit XREF (cross
reference)". If you don’t want some users changing linked name/matter
cross references, you can change their security profile to disable it.
1. At the Name window’s Linked Matters tab, set a query to filter the
matters list so only the ones you want to change appear.
2. Right-click the matters list and select Re-link all to new Name.
TheName to move the links to window (a browse of names)
appears.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

3. Highlight the new name to attach to these matters and click OK.
The matters will disappear as they now are attached to the other
Name record.

Printing Matters Linked to a Name

1. At the Name window’s Linked Matters tab, click Print. A window
appears asking you if you want to print the linked matters.
2. Click Yes. The Report List: MATTERS window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

3. Select Matters List and click OK. The Output To window appears.
4. Select Printer and click OK.

Printing Names Linked to Matters

At the Matter window’s Linked Names tab, click Actions. A menu
appears. Select:
• All fields/This Name only to print only the highlighted name.
• All fields/All (in query) to print all names in the query results.
• Reports/This Name only to generate a report for the highlighted
name.
• Reports/All (in query) to generate a report for all the names in the
query results.

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 • Envelope/This Name only to generate a report for the highlighted
name.
• Envelope/All (in query) to generate a report for all the names in the
query results.
• Label to print a label for the highlighted name.
• MailMerge to print a mail merge document for the highlighted
name.
• Quick Forms to print a QuickForm for the names.

Name to Event Links

Linking a Name to an Event
When you schedule an event for a name, you link the name to the
event. For example, you need to meet with a client, so you set up a
meeting event and link the client to it. This is unlike other programs
where you truly type in the client’s name into the note for an event,
because the link makes data entry faster and lets you instantly see all
events set for that client! There is no searching of notes for a match,
and no worry that someone typed it wrong so it won’t be found. All
events scheduled for a name appear on the Name window Linked
Events tab, just one click away. You can link an unlimited number of
events to a name.
You can link a name to an event from the Name window or from the
Event window.
From the Name window:
1. Display the name in the Name window and click the Linked
Events tab.

2. Click Add. The Adding a New Event window appears.

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 3. Complete the window for the event.
4. Click [Link] Name window reappears. Note that the event you
linked is now listed under the Linked Events tab.
NOTE: You can view all the linked events for the selected name in
calendar format. Click the Week View button to see linked events in
the Weekly calendar. Click the Month View button to see linked events
in the Monthly calendar.
From the Event window:
1. With the event in the Event window, click the lookup button for
Name. The Names Browse window appears.
2. Select a name and click OK. The Event window reappears with the
name selected.
3. Click Save.

Unlinking an Event from a Name

You unlink names from events from the Event window by simply
clearing the Name field (see page Error! Bookmark not defined.).

Finding an Event Linked to a Name

1. In the Name window Linked Events tab, first browse the list to try
to see the event you want. If there are too many, click Query to see
a menu of options for limiting the list. The easiest method is to
select Quick Query.
2. Enter the information you want to match into the Quick Query
window, including text to look for in the note.
3. Click OK. If an event is found, the list is limited to just the events
that match your search [Link] query for events will also stay in
effect as you select different name records.

Printing Events Linked to Names

1. Click the Name windowLinked Events tab.
2. If you only want to print one event, select it. If you want to print all
events, no action is necessary - go to the next step. If you only
want to print some records, you can tag them. You can also click
Query to see a menu of options for limiting the list.
3. Click Print. The Select an Option window appears.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

4. Click Memo to print the selected event; click Full calendar to print
all linked events. The report is limited by the Printouts query in
Calendar Setup. By default, “Done” events do not print. The Print
window appears.
5. Verify your printer settings and click OK. The Event(s) report prints.

Document Links to Names and Matters

Linking Names to Documents
Abacus lets you link names to documents. By doing this, you can relate
contacts with word processing documents, scanned documents,
spreadsheets, images or even a Web address. For example, you could
link a letter to a specific person.
You can link names to documents from the Name window or the
Document Manager.
From the Name window:
1. Display the name you want to link to a document in the Name
window.
2. Click the Linked Docs tab.

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 3. Click Add. The Document Details window appears.
4. Complete the window settings.
5. Click OK.
TIP: You can also link documents, or entire folders, by dragging and
dropping them from the Windows Explorer to the Linked Documents
tab.
From the Document Manager:
Add a document (see Adding Document Links from the Document
Manager on page 183) and make sure you enter a name next to the
Name button.

Linking Matters to Documents

Abacus lets you link matters to documents. By doing this, you can
relate cases with word processing documents, scanned documents,
spreadsheets, images or even a Web address. For example, you could
link a letter to a specific case.
You can link matters to documents from the Matter window or the
Document Manager.
From the Matter window:
1. Display the matter you want to link to a document in the Matter
window.
2. Click the Linked Docs tab.
3. Click Add. The Document Details window appears.
4. Complete the window settings.
5. Click OK.
TIP: You can also link documents, or entire folders, by dragging and
dropping them from the Windows Explorer to the Linked Documents
tab.
From the Document Manager:
Add a document (see Adding Document Links from the Document
Manager on page 183) and make sure you enter a matter next to the
Matter button.

Scanning and Linking Documents to Names/Matters

If you have Adobe Acrobat 4.0 or later (the full version, not just Acrobat
Reader), you can scan a document and link it to a name within Abacus.
1. Ensure that you have Adobe Acrobat 4.0 or later set up to scan
documents and place the document in the scanner.
2. Click the Name windowLinked Docs tab.
3. Click Scan. The Acrobat Scan Plug-in window appears.

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 4. Select the device and format then click Scan. A window specific to
your scanner should appear (if not go to step 6).
5. Select the type of document you are scanning and click Scan Now
or OK or Continue. The Acrobat Scan Plug-in window reappears.
6. If you want to scan more than one page, click Next and repeat for
as many pages as necessary. Otherwise, for a single page
document click Done. The Save the scanned image window
appears.
7. Enter a file name for the scanned image. The default name is
based on the ID of the current name plus today's date. Click Save
The Document Details window appears.
8. Enter all the necessary details for your new document and click OK
when done. Your scanned document is now linked. Adobe Acrobat
appears and displays the scanned image.

Unlinking Names from Documents

You can unlink names from documents from the Name window or the
Document Manager.
NOTE: This process only deletes the link from the name to the
document. It does NOT delete the document.
From the Name window:
1. Display the name in the Name window.
2. Click the Linked Docs tab.
3. Highlight the document you want to unlink.
4. Click Delete. A window appears asking you if you are sure you
want to unlink the document.
5. Click Yes.
From theDocument Manager:
1. Highlight the document you want to unlink.
2. Click Edit. The Document Details window appears.
3. Click Name. The Names Browse window appears. Click Cancel.
4. A window appears asking you if you want to clear the setting. Click
Yes.

Unlinking Matters from Documents

You can unlink matters from documents from the Matter window or the
Document Manager.
NOTE: This process only deletes the link from the matter to the
document. It does NOT delete the document.

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 From the Matter window:
1. Display the matter in the Matter window.
2. Click the Linked Docs tab.
3. Highlight the document you want to unlink.
4. Click Delete. A window appears asking you if you are sure you
want to unlink the document.
5. Click Yes.
From the Document Manager:
1. Highlight the document you want to unlink.
2. Click Edit. The Document Details window appears.
3. Click Matter. The Matters Browse window appears. Click Cancel.
4. A window appears asking you if you want to clear the setting. Click
Yes.

Editing Links from Names to Documents

You can edit name links to documents from the Name window or the
Document Manager.
From the Name window:
1. Display the name in the Name window.
2. Click the Linked Docs tab.
3. Highlight the document link you want to edit.
4. Click Edit. The Document Details window appears.
5. Edit the link as necessary.
6. Click OK.
From the Document Manager:
Edit the document (see
For more information about the search bar, see Using the Search Bar
on page 22.
Editing Document Links on page 189) to change the Name field.

Editing Links from Matters to Documents

You can edit name links to documents from the Matter window or the
Document Manager.
From the Matter window:
1. Display the matter in the Matter window.
2. Click the Linked Docs tab.
3. Highlight the document link you want to edit.

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 4. Click Edit. The Document Details window appears.
5. Edit the link as necessary.
6. Click OK.
From the Document Manager:
Edit the document (see
For more information about the search bar, see Using the Search Bar
on page 22.
Editing Document Links on page 189) to change the Matter field.

Printing Document Links

To print all document links:
Print a list of document links (see Printing the List of Documents in the
Document Manager on page 190) from the Document Manager.
To print document links for names or matters:
1. At a Name or Matter window, click the Linked Docs tab.
2. Do one of the following:
• If you want to print one document, highlight it.
• If you want to print multiple documents, tag (or check) the
documents you want to print.
• If you want to print all documents listed, do not do anything.
3. Click Print.
4. The Print Options window appears. Do one of the following:
• If you want to print the highlighted document, click
Highlighted.
• If you want to print tagged documents, click Tagged.
• If you want to print all documents listed, click All.
5. The Docs Report Control window appears. Change the settings as
necessary and click Print.

Copying Linked Files

Some Linked Documents are disk files on your local or network hard
drives. These can be copied to other locations (like a flash drive).
To copy disk files linked to names or matters:
1. At a Name or Matter window’s Linked Docs tab, highlight a file or
tag multiple documents.
2. Right-click your selection. A menu appears.
3. Select Copy Documents. A Destination Directory window appears.
Select your desired folder and click OK.

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 Emailing Linked Documents as Attachments
In the Linked Docs tab, right-click a document that is a file on your
hard disk. Select Email Document to start a message with that file
attached. You can also tag several documents and attach them all.

Creating Exhibits from Linked Docs

When you create an exhibit based on a document linked to a name or
matter, you create an exhibit record in the Exhibits extra database.
1. Select the Docs tab on the Name window or Matter window.
2. Right-click the document link that you want to use to create an
exhibit and click Create Exhibit.
3. A form appears. Complete the form for the exhibit and click OK to
save the exhibit record.

Matter to Event Links

Linking a Matter to an Event
When you schedule an event for a matter, you link the matter to the
event. This is unlike other programs where you enter the matter name
into the note for an event, because the link makes data entry faster and
lets you instantly see all events set for that matter! There is no
searching of notes for a match, and no worry that someone typed it
wrong so it won’t be found. You can link an unlimited number of events
to a matter.
You can link matters to events from the Matter window or from the
Event window.
From the Matter window:
1. Display the matter in the Matter window.
2. Click the Linked Events tab.

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 3. Click Add. The Adding a New Event window appears.
4. Complete the window for the event.
5. Click Save. The Matter window reappears. Note that the event you
linked is now listed under the Linked Events tab.
NOTE: You can view all the linked events for the selected matter in
calendar format. Click the Week View button to see linked events in
the Weekly calendar. Click the Month View button to see linked events
in the Monthly calendar.
From the Event window:
1. Find the event (see Error! Reference source not found. on page
Error! Bookmark not defined.).
2. In the Event window, click the lookup button for Matter. The
Matters Browse window appears.
3. Select a matter and click OK. The Event window reappears with
the matter selected.
4. Click Save.

Unlinking a Matter from an Event

You unlink matters from events from the Event window by simply
clearing the Matter field.

Finding an Event Linked to a Matter

1. In the Matter window Linked Events tab, first browse the list to try
to see the event you want. If there are too many, click Query to see
a menu of options for limiting the list. The easiest method is to
select Quick Query.

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 2. Enter the information you want to match into the Quick Query
window, including text to look for in the note.
3. Click OK. If an event is found, the list is limited to just the events
that match your search criteria. The query for events will also stay
in effect as you select different matter records.

Printing Events Linked to Matters

1. Click the Matter windowLinked Events tab.
2. If you only want to print one event, select it. If you want to print all
events, no action is necessary - go to the next step. If you only
want to print some records, you can tag them. You can also click
Query to see a menu of options for limiting the list.
3. Click Print. The Select an Option window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

4. Click Memo to print the selected event; click Full calendar to print
all linked events. The report is limited by the Printouts query in
Calendar Setup. By default, “Done” events do not print.
5. The Print window appears.
6. Verify your printer settings and click OK. The Event(s) report prints.

Name to Name Links

Linking Names to Names
Abacus lets you associate names with other name records, helping you
track family members, multiple contacts within the same company, or
other relationships.
These name to name links are also called sub-names.
1. Display the name in the Name window and select the Linked
Names tab.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Click Add Link. The Names Browse window appears.

3. Select the name you want to link and click OK. The Name window
reappears. Note that the name you linked is now listed under the
Linked Names tab.

Unlinking Names from Names

1. Display the name in the Name window and click the Linked
Names tab.
2. Select the name you want to unlink.
3. Click Unlink. A window appears asking you if you are sure you
want to unlink the name.
4. Click Yes. The Name window reappears. Note that the name is no
longer listed under the Linked Names tab.

Viewing Information for a Linked Name

1. Display the name in the Name window and click the Linked
Names tab.
2. Select the name you want to view.
3. Click View. The Name window appears displaying information
about the selected name.

Viewing Name to Name Links from the Matter Window

You can view name to name links (or sub-names) from the Linked
Names tab on the Matter window.
1. Display the matter in the Matter window and click the Linked
Names tab

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 2. Right-click a name and click Go to Name LinkedNames. The Name
window for the selected name appears with the Linked Names tab
selected and listing the selected names name to name links (or
sub-names).

Printing Names Linked to Names

Display the name in the Name window and click the Linked Names
tab. Click Actions. A menu appears.
Select:
• Print to print a report for all the linked names.
• Email to all to send an email addressed to the highlighted name,
the tagged names, or the queried names.
• MailMerge to print a mail merge document for the highlighted
name.

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12. AbacusLaw Format (ALF) Files
Overview of AbacusLaw Format (ALF) Files
You may have a form that needs information about a matter. But, this
might include the client's address, which is in a name record. It might
also require the name of the judge, the addresses of opposing counsel
(more Name records) and the date of a particular event (data kept in a
linked event). All of a sudden, this form needs data from a lot of
different records. This is the problem that AbacusLaw Format (ALF)
files solve.
Abacus uses ALF files to manage complex related data. An ALF file
lets you gather the linked records that contain the data required by a
form and output all or some fields in a format the word processor can
understand. With an ALF file, you can export not only the fields from
the current name or matter record, but also the fields from any linked
name or matter, as well as information from linked notes and events.
This means that a matter that has related client, judge, expert and
attorney name records can merge the addresses or other fields from
each of those linked names into a form. The ALF file also lets you
name the output fields, so you don't have to modify your forms to match
Abacus.
ALF files let you:
• gather and identify the records to output for a form,
• identify the fields desired from each of these records, and
• name the output fields whatever you want.
For existing mail merge forms in Word, you can edit the ALF file to
output field names that match existing forms, so you don’t have to
change the forms. (Depending on how many forms and fields there are,
it may be easier to just change the form.)
ALF files are special text files, and are generally stored in the Layouts
sub-directory. [Link] is used for any form that does not have a
more specific ALF file setup. Generally, it should work for most or all of
your forms and you don’t need to consider creating other ALF files. If,
however, a particular form needs data in a format different from other
forms, you can create a special ALF file to be used just for that form.
Just create a new ALF file with the same file name and an ALF
extension in the Layouts subdirectory. If you have two forms with the
same name in different directories, you can put the ALF file in the same
directory as the form to ensure it is used.
ALF files use record properties to map forms and fields. IMPORTANT:
The "Primary Name" record property represents the current name
record at the time you run the form. If you are in a Name window, that's
it. If in a Matter window, the primary name is the highlighted record in

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 209

 the Linked Names tab. If in an Event window, it is the name linked to
the event. The data for the primary name is exported with the prefix
"Contact_".This is different than fields exported as Client_"! For simple
forms that you want to use for the current name window, use the
"contact" fields in your forms. Only use the "client" fields for
Names linked to the Matter as “CLIENT”.
Only use the primary event record for forms that are generated from an
event! If you generate the form from the Matter window, Abacus doesn't
know which event to use. To output event fields, try to use linked
events and identify the What code. However, the primary event record
property does give you quick access to an event's date and note if
you're sure you will always assign the form to that event and generate
the form from the event.

Using ALF Files for Forms

When you use a form to generate a document, an ALF file is used to
format the data. The most common method is to schedule an event for
a particular name and matter that requires a document, then:
1. Assign a form to the event.
2. Select Documents/Today’s Documentson that day to see the
events that have assigned forms.
3. Right-click the event and select Form generation/Do the form.
Abacus finds the appropriate ALF file for that form and gathers the
data. At this point, the current matter record (the one linked to the
event) is considered the primary matter. The current name record is
considered the primary name, and the event is the primary event.
These records and their linked names, events, matters, and notes can
be output by the ALF file.

Maintaining ALF Files

1. Select Documents/Setup ALF files. A message appears explaining
about ALF usage. Click OK. The AbacusLaw Format files window
appears. Note that the Layouts folder is selected.

210 AbacusLaw Format (ALF) Files AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 2. If you want to create a new ALF file, enter a new file name. If you
want to edit an ALF file, highlight the ALF file and click Open.
3. The ALF Editor appears listing the Records to Output. Each row is
considered a record property.

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 4. Maintain record properties for the ALF file as necessary: You can:

Add or edit record properties (see the next procedure)

Delete record properties: Highlight the record property you want to

delete and click Delete.
5. Click Test to "run" the ALF file against the current name and matter
records. It performs the same data searching and collecting (and
error checking) that happens when generating forms. After the run,
a list appears, showing all the output field names and their contents
that would be sent to the word processor.

This is an extremely useful tool that will save you lots of time! If you
make any modifications to an ALF file, especially to expressions,
the results will show you if the data is formatted the way you
expect.
6. Click OK to save your changes and close the window.

Adding/Editing Record Properties for ALF Files

1. Add or edit an ALF file using the ALF Editor.
2. In the ALF Editor, do one of the following:

If you want to add a record property: Click Add. A list of menu

options appears. Note that My Firm lets you output the special
name record containing your address. Select the type of record
desired. If you choose A Name linked to the Matter as, a list of valid
link type Entries appears. Select the link type that identifies the
name record to use and click OK.

If you want to edit a record property: Highlight the record property

and click Edit.

The ALF Record Properties window appears.

212 AbacusLaw Format (ALF) Files AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 3. Below Record type is the Link type (if the selected record
property represents a linked name or matter), the What code (if the
selected record property represents a linked event) or the Note
type code (if the selected record property represents a note). This
tells Abacus which linked record to find. For a name linked to the
primary matter, the Link type will be CLIENT, JUDGE, or other
codes you've used for linking names to matters. This can include
an asterisk (*) as an ending wild card to find the first record that
starts with the given text. For example, if you use CLIENT-P for
clients that are plaintiffs and CLIENT-D for clients that are
defendants, you can always find the client by using CLIENT*. This
will find the first linked name with a Link type that starts with
CLIENT.
4. In the Prefix box, enter/edit text that is added at the front of each
field name when the form is generated. This convenience ensures
that, for example, all client fields start with "Client_" as in
Client_Last, Client_first...
5. Repeat lets you manage multiple linked records with the same
code. If you have five linked names with type CLIENT and prefix
"Client", setting repeat to 5 will output all five records by
incrementing a number after the prefix. The first record will have
fields Client1Last, Client1First, etc., and the second record will
have fields Client2Last, Client2First, etc. Enter/edit the Repeat
setting as desired.
NOTE: For fillable (PDF) forms, you can set Repeat to zero (0)
instead of a fixed number. This will output only the existing records
instead of creating blanks up to a fixed number.
6. The Merge Fields for this record grid lists the fields in the
selected record property. If the grid is blank, Abacus will output all
fields. For fields for the record property you can:
|

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 Add or edit a field (see the next procedure)

Delete a field: Highlight the field and click Delete.

Populate the grid: Click Populate. This fills the field list with the
fields for this database, including user-defined fields. If the field list
already has a field name, it is not duplicated.
7. Click OK to save your changes.

Adding/Editing Field Properties for ALF Files

1. Add or edit an ALF file using the ALF Editor.
2. Add or edit one of the record properties in the ALF file using the
ALF Record Properties window.
3. In the ALF Record Properties window, do one of the following:

If you want to add a field: Click Add.

If you want to edit a field: Highlight the field and click Edit. The ALF
Field Properties window appears.

4. In the ALF Field Properties window, click Select to pick a field. This
will assign both the Merge field name and the Expression. Merge
Field names can be whatever you choose, but the Expression must
be a valid data expression or one of the items inserted by Insert
Special. NOTE: If the record property has a prefix, the final output
field name will be that prefix plus this name. For example, if the
prefix is File_, the output field name will be File_Attorney.

214 AbacusLaw Format (ALF) Files AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 5. In the Expression box, you can edit the expression if you like. Do
any of the following:
6. Click Insert Abacus field to pick a field to insert into the
expression, or, if you're an expert, enter any valid expression. (This
is usually just a field name.) The example above will output the full
text description of the attorney code instead of the attorney’s initials
(Abacus offers this if your field has a lookup). You can also convert
dates to words by using the DtoW() function, add several fields
together, format numbers, etc.

Click Insert Special to see a list of special items offered by

Abacus. For matter records, you can use MatterCaption (see
Common Functions on page 502 for more information). For name
records you can use Address to return the formatted "mailing
label" address, including all Label fields, City, State and Zip, all in
one field. For linked name records, you can use RoleDescription"
This will give you the link description that you entered when you
linked the name to the matter.
7. In the Comment box, you can enter a comment to explain the
field's intended purpose within forms or to explain any unusual
expressions.
8. Click OK to save your changes and close the window.

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13. Generating Documents
Overview of Generating Documents
Tracking existing documents is one thing. Producing the new
documents needed for a current matter is something else. Using the
built-in tools, Quick Forms, and mail merge with your word processor
makes it easy to generate letters, envelopes, labels and documents
using the data in the system.
In User Preferences, you can do the following to customize the process
of generating documents. (For more information, see Customizing User
Preferences on page 43.)
• Set the default word processor: You can tell Abacus which word
processor you will always use by using the Executable button on
the Printing/Email Program tab of the User Preferences window.
• Set the default Quick Form for envelopes: To set the default
Quick Form to use for envelopes, use the Envelope Form button
on the Printing/Email Program tab of the User Preferences
window. You can do the following to customize the use of word
processing forms.

Generating Today’s Documents.

The Today’s Documents window displays events that have forms
assigned to them and that are scheduled to be generated today.
Today’s Documents provides you with a quick and easy way to
generate documents
1. Select Documents/Today’s documents. The Today’s Documents
window appears.
2. Select the event/document you want to generate.
3. Click Go. The document is generated and is ready to print.
4. When you are finished with the document, you can change the
event’s status. Select the event and click Mark Done. The Mark
Events Done window appears.
5. Click OK to accept the change to “D”.

216 Generating Documents AbacusLaw Reference Guide

Printing Envelopes
You can print envelopes for one or more names. The envelopes are
formatted as defined in the Quick Form Envelope.FM1 unless you have
selected a different form in User Preferences (see page 47). You can
also use other Quick Forms for alternative layouts (see page 221).

For a single name from the Name window:

1. From the Name window, find the name.
2. Press Ctrl+E OR click the Print button on the toolbar and select
Envelope/This name only.

For a single name from the Names Browse window:

1. From the Names Browse window, highlight the name.
2. Click the Actions button and select Envelope/This name only.

For multiple names from the Name window:

1. From the Name window, run a query for the names you want.
2. Click thePrint button on the toolbar and select Envelope/All (in
query).

For multiple names from the Names Browse window:

1. From the Names Browse window, tag the names or run a query for
the names you want.
2. Click the Actions button and select Envelope. Then select:
All (in query) if you want to print an envelope for all queried names,
or
Tagged Records if you want to print an envelope for all tagged
names.

Generating Mailing Labels

1. Do one of the following to open the Label Printing window:

From the Name window: If you want to print a label for one name,
find the name. If you want to print labels for multiple names, run a
query for the names. Click the Print button on the toolbar and
select Label.

From the Names Browse window: If you want to print a label for
one name, highlight the name. If you want to print labels for
multiple names, tag the names or run a query for the names. Click
the Actions button and select Label.

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 2. Complete the settings on the Label Printing window.

Data to Print: Indicates whether you want just one name or all the
names from the query to be printed onto labels. IMPORTANT: If no
query is set, "All" will print a label for every name in your database!

Number of copies for each record: The number of labels you

want printed for each name.

Output Direction: Indicates if you would like to send the labels

directly to the printer or see them on the screen first.

Start at Label #: If you have a sheet of labels (instead of

continuous-feed labels) and an earlier print job used just a few from
the page, you can enter the starting position for the first label in the
Start at Label # box. The position for the starting label is counted
from left to right in columns across the page depending on the label
type. WARNING: Some laser printer manufacturers warn against
re-using sheets of labels. The glue on the labels cannot withstand
the intense heat more than once and may damage the printer.
Feeding label sheets more than once may void your warranty.

Layout: This window is really just a shortcut for printing a special

Labels report. You can modify the report by clicking the Layout
button. The Report List: NAMES window appears for you to select
from any existing label reports. You can also add a completely new
report or modify the current one. Editing opens the Block Report
Designer where you can change the layout of the fields. It also has
a special Labels menu option to choose a different Avery™ label
style (they're sorted by Avery numbers for easy access), or create
your own custom layout with complete control over the size and

218 Generating Documents AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 number of labels on a page.

Printer: The printer that will print the labels. This will be pre-set
according to your user preferences for the Label Printer.
3. Click Print.

Generating Documents Using Quick Forms

Overview of Quick Forms
Quick Forms provide a quick way to layout information to be printed for
a name, event or matter. The Quick Form’s ability to add any text you
want around the fields means you can design special QuickForms with
entire scripts or forms for common email messages. When using Quick
Forms as email templates, you can incorporate Abacus data into
standard email text.
Abacus has the following Quick Forms that you can use as is or
customize to meet your specific needs:
• NAME.FM1: Formats the File/Print/All fields output for names.
• MATTER.FM1: Formats the File/Print/All fields output for matters.
• EVENT.FM1: Formats the File/Print/All fields output for events.
• CLIPBORD.FM1: Formats name info when copying to the
Windows clipboard.
• CLIPEVNT.FM1: Formats event info when copying to the Windows
clipboard.
• CLIPMATR.FM1: Formats matter info when copying to the
Windows clipboard.
• ENVELOPE.FM1: Formats envelopes when using
File/Print/Envelope.
The body of the form contains simple text, or expressions inside curly
braces {}. Expressions can reference any field or function.
For more information about expressions and functions, see page 498.

Generating General Documents Using Quick Forms

1. In the Name window, display the name OR in the Matter window,
display the matter OR in the Event window, display the event
relative to the document you want to generate.
2. Click the Print button on the toolbar and select Quick Forms. The
Quick Forms window appears.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 219

 3. Highlight the Quick Form you want to use. NOTE: You can create
your own quick forms or edit existing ones to suit your needs.
4. Click Print.

Generating Letters Using Quick Forms

1. Find the name or find the matter you want to use to generate a
letter.
2. Click the Print button on the toolbar and select New Letter. The
Select a Quick Form Letter window appears.
3. Highlight the Quick Form that you want to use to create the letter.
4. Click Open. The New Letter to Create window appears.

220 Generating Documents AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 5. Select the path to store the letter and enter the file name in the File
name box.
6. Click Save. The letter appears in your default word processor.

Generating Envelopes Using Quick Forms

1. Find the name and display it in the Name window.
2. Click the Print button on the toolbar and select Quick Forms. The
Quick Forms window appears.
3. Highlight an envelope Quick Form and click Print.

Adding Images, Logos or Watermarks to Quick Forms.

On your Quick Forms, you can include the image associated with the
record (like a picture of the client) or another bitmap image, like a logo
or watermark. Ensure that any images intended for watermarks are
very light, or the text printed on top of them may be unreadable.
1. To add a watermark or logo, first create an image and save it as a
.bmp (bitmap) file. You can use any graphics program. (Windows
Paint comes bundled with Windows and works well.)
2. Open the Name window, Event window or Matter window. Click the
Printer button on the toolbar and select Quick Forms. The Quick
Forms window appears.
3. Highlight a form and click Edit. The Quick Form Editor window
appears.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 221

 4. Do one of the following:
• In a blank area of the form, type {PICTURE}. The picture
associated with the name or matter window will be printed at
the current row position and one inch from the left page edge.
• In a blank area of the form, type the full syntax of {PICTURE
TOP=0.25 LEFT=0.25 HEIGHT=2 WIDTH=8
FILE=d:\[Link]} where d:\[Link] is the full path
to an image. Omit the FILE section to use the picture
associated with the current record, or specify a file to have the
same image print for all records (such as letterhead or
watermarks). Adjust the dimensions to edit placement. Top and
left are the margins in inches from the top and left of the page,
while the height and width determine the size of the graphic in
inches. If the PICTURE command is followed by text you must
make sure there is enough blank space to fit, or the text will
print on top of the picture. (This allows watermark/background
pictures to work). NOTE: A recommended usage it to set a left
edge that you know will be to the right of any text. The only way
to ensure the correct aspect ratio is to omit both Height and
Width and print the natural size. But if you are confident all your
pictures are the same Height and Width, you can specify these.
The picture will be stretched to fit the coordinates.
5. Click OK.

222 Generating Documents AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Managing Quick Forms:
You manage Quick Forms from the Quick Forms window. To open the
window, with the Name or Matter window open, click the Print button
on the toolbar and select Quick Forms.

From the Quick Forms window, you can add, clone, edit, or delete
Quick Forms.

To add Quick Forms

1. Click Add. The Enter a Value window appears.
2. Enter the name of the Quick Form in the box and click OK. The
Quick Form Editor window appears.

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 3. Create the Quick Form just as you would a text document. Enter
fixed text. When you need to insert a field from the database, click
Insert Field. The Pick-List window appears. Select a field and click
OK.
4. Click Run to print a sample of the resulting document to help you
design the Quick Form.
5. When you are finished, click OK.

To clone Quick Forms:

1. Highlight the Quick Form you want to clone.
2. Click Clone. The Enter a Value window appears.
3. Enter the name of the new Quick Form in the box and click OK.
The Quick Forms window reappears.
4. Edit the cloned Quick Form as necessary.

To edit Quick Forms:

TIP: It is a good idea to clone the Quick Forms you want to edit, and
then edit thecloned copy. This way, if you ever need the original, it will
still exist.
1. Highlight the Quick Form you want to edit.
2. Click Edit. The Quick Form Editor window appears.
3. Change the Quick Form as necessary.
4. Click OK.

224 Generating Documents AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 To delete Quick Forms:
1. Highlight the Quick Form you want to delete.
2. Click Delete. A window appears asking you if you are sure you
want to delete theQuick Form.
3. Click Yes. The Quick Forms window reappears with the selected
Quick Form deleted.

Generating Documents Using Mail Merge

Generating Documents and Letters Using Mail Merge
Mail merge lets you create many documents - one for each name
record included in the merge (though if you only select one name, you
only get one document). So, mail merge can be used for simpler forms
that do not need to access many linked records.
Before performing a mail merge, be sure to identify your word
processor in User Preferences.
1. Do one of the following:
• Find the name, or from the Name window, query for multiple
names that should receive the document or letter. Click the
Printer button on the toolbar and select MailMerge.
• From the Matter window, select the Linked Names tab. Click
Actions and select MailMerge.
• From the Name window, select the Linked Names tab. Click
Actions and select MailMerge.
• From the Names Browse window, click Actions and select
MailMerge.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 225

 The Mail Merge window appears.

2. Click Setup. The Mail Merge Setup window appears.

3. Complete the settings on the window.

• File format: Indicates the word processor type and version to
use for the mail merge.
• Default name: When you open the MailMerge window, Abacus
initializes the data file name to a stored name (originally
"[Link]") in the Abacus directory. To change this name,
click Default name and the Default Data File window appears.
Select (or create) the default file you want to contain merged
data and click Save.

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 • Executable: Click and the Select Your Word Processor
window appears. Select the executable for your word
processor and click OK.
4. Click OK. The Mail Merge window reappears. Complete the
settings on the window:
• Data to merge: Select whether you want to use only the
selected record or all the records in the query.
• Data file to create: This field lists the temporary file Abacus
creates for you. You can use this file or click the button to
create a different file.
• Run word processor: Check to open your word processor
after you click OK on the Mail Merge window. Abacus will open
your word processor, load the document shown, and then
perform the merge. If for any reason your word processor does
not run automatically, just run it and load the appropriate letter,
then tell the word processor to use the data file created to do
the merge.
• Open form for editing: Check if you would like to open the
selected form for editing before performing the mail merge.
• Form: When Run word Processor is checked, you can use
the Form button to select the form you want to use for the mail
merge. Be sure to select the proper form for your word
processor. NOTE: You cannot use a form created for form
generation for mail merge purposes because the data format is
different. You must use word processing forms created solely
for mail merge.
5. Click OK. The letter(s) or document(s) are generated and ready to
print. Your word processor opens automatically displaying the new
document that contains the data from Abacus.

Mail Merge Troubleshooting with Microsoft Word

Following are some possible Microsoft Word errors you could get using
mail merge.

Cannot Open Data Source

This error message can appear when running a mail merge or using
Form Generation. It means that the data file created by Law for
merging with a Form (template) cannot be opened. Unfortunately, Word
will not tell you exactly what file it is, nor why it failed to open. For
Mailmerge, you set the Data File path and file name, so you know
which file it is. For Form Generation, Law creates a temporary file in the
LAWTEMP sub-directory called "Law_XXX.TXT" where "XXX" is your
user code.
The first step in isolating the problem is to open the data file directly
from Word to determine if Word is set up correctly:

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 227

 1. Close the error window and make sure the Form/template is the
current document.
2. Select Tools/Mail Merge to open the Mailmerge Helper. Click
Create and select Form Letters, and then select Active
Document to set up the document as a form.
3. Click Get Data and select Open Data Source. A standard Open
File window appears for you to identify the data file. Select the file
created by Law to see if the error occurs.
If the error still occurs, Word'97 will report this error because of an
undocumented interaction with Windows Explorer settings. To fix it:
1. Open Explorer and select View/Options.
2. UN-CHECK the box labeled "Hide MS-DOS file extensions for the
file types that are registered."
If the error still occurs, Word probably doesn't have all its ODBC data
drivers and text converters installed correctly. Re-install Word.
If the error does not occur when you open the data source "directly":
The template may already have a data source path saved in the
template, and that path is bad. This is common when templates are
copied from one machine to another. In this case, simply save the
template after attaching the data source.

Ambiguous Name Found: TMPDDE

This error message can appear when running a mailmerge or using
Form Generation. It reflects a condition created by the "Cannot open
data file" described above. In receiving commands from Abacus Law,
Word creates temporary macros in your [Link]. If an error occurs
when these macros exist, Word does not delete them. When closing,
Word asks if you want to save changes to [Link]. If you do
(please don't), these temporary macros become permanent macros
and future attempts to send mailmerge commands to Word will run into
this error.
To fix it, run Word and select Tools/Macros. Find TMPDDE and delete
it.

Mail Merge Troubleshooting with WordPerfect

If for any reason WordPerfect does not run, here are the steps for
finishing the merge yourself.

Using WordPerfect 8:
1. Select File/Open.
2. Select the document you are going to use.
3. Click Open. Select Tools/Merge. Click Create Document, then
select Use file in active window. Click OK.

228 Generating Documents AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 4. Associate a data file: Click the folder at the end of the field. Select
the correct drive in the Look in field, select the correct directory
and change file type to All Files. A list of files appears. Select the
file you had saved. Click OK. Click OK in the Associate Form and
Data window.

Using WordPerfect 7
1. Select File/Open, select the document you are going to use.
Click Open.
2. Select Tools/Merge, click Form and select Use file in active
window. Click OK.
3. Associate a data file: Click the folder in the end of the field. Select
the correct drive in the Look In field and select the correct
directory.
4. Change Name Field to *.* and click Select. Highlight the correct
file.
5. Click Select. Click OK in the Create Form File window.

In either version:
1. Delete the data you want to replace (e.g. the “John” from “Dear
John”) and put the cursor where you want to add a merge field (e.g.
the Dear field).
2. Click the Insert Field toolbar button. The Insert Field Name
window appears. Click the desired field to select it, then click Insert
to insert it into the document. Notice that the Insert Field Name
window stays open, yet you can move around in you document.
3. Repeat the procedure to add all the fields you are merging, then
close the Insert Field window.
4. Click Merge on the Feature Bar to open the Perform Merge
window. Make sure it displays “Current” next to the Form File
button, and click Merge to finish.

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14. Form Generation
Overview of Forms
Forms are incomplete documents. They are word processing file
templates that haveblanks where the contact and other information go.
Once the blanks are filled in,a form becomes a document.
Forms can be used to generate letters, pleadings or any other
documents you wantto create by incorporating information that you
keep in Abacus.
You can:
• Set up forms
• Assign a form to an event
• Create automatic form assignments using What codes
• Generate documents using forms
• Merge Abacus data to Excel

Setting Up Forms
To set up forms, you can buy a library of forms from one of the many
vendors that have created legal forms, or you can create a form in
Microsoft Word or WordPerfect using their extended merging
capabilities.
The following describes how to set up forms with Word and
WordPerfect.

Setting Up a Form with MS Word

1. From a Name or Matter window, click the Print button on the
toolbar and select Form Generation/Create MS Word Form. (This
option only appears if Word is set up as your word processor in
User Preferences.) The Select an MSWord Form/Template window
appears.
2. Select Word Document as the File Type, then locate and select the
desired drive letter and path.
3. Click OK. Abacus will run your word processor and bring up your
document and the Mail Merge toolbar.
4. Highlight the text you want to replace (i.e. client name and address)
and click Insert Merge Field.
5. Locate the corresponding merge field and click to replace the
existing text. TIP: Use "Client_Address" to replace an entire name
and address block.

230 Form Generation AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 6. If you need to include data that is not listed as a merge field, you
will need to edit your ALF file.
7. When you have inserted all the necessary fields into your
document, select File/Save As and save it as a ".dot" file. The .dot
file extension tells Word to use this file as a template. Next time
you use it, it will automatically create a form letter and merge your
client/matter information with the form.

Setting Up a Form with WordPerfect

Following are instructions for setting up a form with WordPerfect
version 8. Other versions are very similar.
To create a form (template):
1. In WordPerfect select File/New, a new window appears.
2. In the new window click Options, and then click Create WP
Template.
3. Fill out the body of the template, but at this time do not add any
merge fields.
4. Now save your template, giving it a name and description. NOTE:
Corel will save this template in the Templates folder under the main
Corel folder.
To set the merge fields for the form (template):
1. In Abacus, select Names/View a Record to display any name. (The
name isn't important at this time.)
2. Click the Print button on the toolbar.
3. Select Form generation/Create WordPerfect Form (If this isn't an
option you then need to make sure your Word Processor is set to
WordPerfect in the Abacus User Preferences.)
4. When the Select a Form/Template window appears, highlight your
template and click OK. Abacus will now start loading WordPerfect
for you.
To edit the document in WordPerfect:
1. With WordPerfect now open and the template loaded, select
Tools/Merge.
2. Click Create Document, and another window asks if you want to
use the file in the active window. Click OK.
3. Click the folder next to Associate a Data File.
4. Open the Abacus folder (where Abacus is installed), then open the
Lawtemp sub-directory.
5. The file you are looking for is Law_XXX.dat (with XXX being your
user initials).
6. Highlight this file and then click OK.
7. Click OK in the Associate Form window.

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 8. After associating the data a new toolbar appears in WordPerfect.
To insert the merge fields into the document, click Insert Field. A
new window appears with all of the merge fields from Abacus.
9. After entering all of the merge fields in the document, save it with a
different file name since this document will be specific for your user
initials.
10. Close the form.

Assigning a Form to an Event

Days or weeks before you need to generate a document, you can
assign a word processing form to an event. Then, on the day of that
event, you can quickly generate that form using the name and matter
related to that event.

At a list of events:
You can assign a form to an event at any list of events, including the
Calendar. Right-click the event and select Form generation/Assign a
form. Depending on your word processor, different windows will appear
to let you select a form. The full path is then embedded in the event's
note.

At the Event window:

You can assign a form to an event at the Event window. With the
desired event displayed in the Event window, click the Form button at
the bottom of the window.

For automatic assignment:

To fully automate your forms, you can assign them to events within a
rule. When adding/editing the rule, assign a form to a rule event (using
the Form button on the Event in Rule window). Then, whenever that
rule is used to create calendar events, those events will have the forms
already assigned.

Automatic FormAssignmentvia What Codes

When a What code is assigned to a form, when you schedule a
particular type of event,it automatically has a form associated with it.
Later, you can assemble the formwith one click.
You assign What codes to forms using the WhatCode-to-Form
Associations window. Toopen the window, select File/Setup/What
codes To Forms.

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 From this window you can add, edit or delete an assignment of a What
code to a form.

To add an assignment:
Click Add. The WhatCode-to-Form Editor window appears. Select the
What code and theform you want to assign to the What code and click
OK.

To edit an assignment:
Highlight the assignment and click Edit. The WhatCode-to-Form Editor
window [Link] your changes and click OK.

To delete an assignment:
Highlight the assignment and click Delete.

Generating Documents Using Forms

Documents can be generated in different ways.

Using the information from a name or matter:

1. Find the name or find the matter you want to use to generate a
document.
2. Click the Print button on the toolbar, select Form Generation and
then select the menu option that best matches your types of forms.
For example, if your forms were created using Microsoft Word,
select MS Word. A window appears that lets you select the form.
3. Select the form and click Open. The form is generated into a
document using the information from the selected name or matter
and is ready to print.

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 Using the information from an event in a calendar:
(The event must first have a form assigned to it as described on page
230.)
1. View an event in the Calendar or Staff Calendar.
2. Right-click the event and select Form generation/Do the Form. The
form is generated into a document using the information from the
related name or matter and is ready to print.

Using the information from an event in an Event window:

(The event must first have a form assigned to it as described on page
230.)
1. View an event in an Event window.
2. Click the Form button and select Do the Form. The form is
generated into a document using the information from the related
name or matter and is ready to print.

Merging Abacus Data to Excel

You can merge Abacus data into an Excel spreadsheet just like you
merge data into Word or WordPerfect with Form Generation.
1. Create an Excel worksheet or template. Where you want Abacus
information inserted, add the ALF field name inside angled
brackets, for example, <Client Last> or <File Matter>.
To get a complete list of fields, select Documents/Setup ALF Files,
select [Link], and then click Open. Click Test and click Print –
this will give you a complete list of fields ready to be inserted.
2. Open the Matter window, then click the Print button on the toolbar
and select Form Generation/MS Excel.
3. Browse to the Excel template or worksheet and select it.
4. The Document Details window appears letting you make changes
to the Linked Document information for Abacus. Click OK to save
your changes and close the window. The Excel spreadsheet
appears with data merged into any designated fields.

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15. Fillable Forms
In this chapter, you will learn how to easily merge your case, client and
related data into court forms and other useful forms. You will also learn
how to keep your Abacus Forms organized, and how to create your
own forms from existing PDFs or scanned forms.

Overview of Fillable Forms

What Are Fillable Forms?
Fillable forms are documents with fill-in-the-blank fields into which you
enter information. For example, to file a divorce petition, you would
open the appropriate court form and then fill in the blanks with your
client’s information. The form is always the same, but you fill it each
time with case-specific information.
Fillable forms combine a source document with a smart database layer
that hooks up your data to the interactive fields. This means that while
you keep the flexibility of manually editing the text, you get the power of
having your Abacus data automatically entered for you. Fillable forms
have an .af extension and are stored in the Abacus folder in
\v21\data01\forms\Library.
Though supporting official court forms is the primary purpose of fillable
forms, you can also use them to automate the filling of other useful
forms, including custom productivity forms or even tax forms.

Fillable Form Sets

Abacus Data Systems offers sets of fillable forms that are already
configured to receive your data. These sets contain federal, state, and
local court forms as well as other useful forms in specific legal practice
areas. Abacus fillable form sets are updated regularly and subscribers
may request update notifications by email.
Additional fillable form sets are being developed all the time. Contact
Abacus Data Systems at 800-726-3339 for further information.

Three Ways Fillable Forms Save You Time

Nature abhors a vacuum, and Abacus abhors typing anything more
than once. Fillable forms save and re-use your entries in these ways:
• The information that’s already in your fillable forms database is
entered into the form for you.
• Fillable form templates let you save and re-use information that

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 235

 would be the same for other similar matters.
• Non-Abacus information entered into a fillable form is captured
back to a special "profile" database for that matter. This data is
"replayed" into any future fillable forms that have the same field
names.

Fillable Forms Management Tools

Fillable forms activities involve three powerful components:
• The Forms Library is your repository of blank fillable forms waiting
to be filled. It stores and manages a variety of fillable forms,
including but not limited to the forms you get from Abacus. It does
not manage the final documents that you create by filling forms
(other features do this). The Library has many management
features to find, sort, organize and create forms, but primarily it’s a
way to select a form to fill out for a client or matter.
• The Filler, similar to Acrobat™ Reader, displays a fillable form and
lets you add or edit text before you print or save it. The big
difference is that it first fills the form automatically and as
completely as possible from your selected client and matter!
• The Designer, similar to Acrobat™ Professional, creates data-
enabled fillable forms from source documents. Unlike many forms
programs, Abacus is an open system where you can download
forms from your courts’ web sites or scan printed forms and add
them to your Forms Library. The Designer program connects data
to the form fields and checkboxes, and lets you modify fillable
forms to meet your needs.
If you purchase fillable forms from Abacus, you’ll probably never
need to use the Designer. But if you heavily customize your
Abacus databases and screens, you have a tool to integrate your
personal design into your fillable forms as well.

Filling Your First Form

Here’s a quick overview to see how easy it is to complete a fillable
form.
1. Display the desired matter in the Matter Window.
NOTE: You can completefillable forms from the Name window as
well, but this example is matter-centric for simplicity.
2. Press F8 to open the Forms Library window. The left pane shows
your fillable forms in a “tree” display. Ensure that the Getting
Started form is highlighted.

236 Fillable Forms AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 3. Press Enter to run the form. Behind the scenes, all the data related
to your matter is collected and saved to a special matter profile that
becomes the data source for the form. The Abacus Form Filler
window appears, displaying the form with your matter data in many
of the fields. At this point you can edit fields, mark checkboxes and
use other features to complete the form.
4. Click the Print toolbar button if you want to print the form.
5. Click the Save toolbar button. A standard window appears that lets
you specify the file name and folder. The folder may show “My
Documents” because you have not yet set up your destination
folders. Ignore that and notice that the proposed file name has a
full path with folders named for the matter’s file/case number plus a
calculated file name.
6. So, all you need do is click Save. The folders are created as
needed and your final documents are stored in a coordinated,
meaningful folder structure on your hard drive—and of course the
formula for the folders and file names is configurable.
Once your new document is saved, the Document Details window
appears, letting you link the saved document to the matter and
name records that were selected when you started the form.
7. Click OK and your final document will appear on the matter and
name window Linked Docs tab for easy future [Link] the
Filler window.
This exercise shows how the fillable form filling experience smoothly
integrates all these features:
• An organized forms repository
• Automated data entry
• Easy manual touch-up of form text

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 • Automatic smart filing of final documents and linking to your
Abacus records.
This example was simple, and along the way we skipped over many
extra features and options that make it extremely powerful as well. Be
sure to review the reference material below for all the details.

Alternate Ways to Start Forms

Forms are integrated throughout the program and not limited within the
Forms Library. To start a form you can:
• Assign it to a calendar event. You can also assign them to events
within a Rule. Whenever that Rule is used to create calendar
events, those events will have the forms already assigned.
• Link your forms to What codes as described on page 232, and the
form will be assigned to the event as soon as you schedule an
event with that code.
• Select it from a list of “Most Recently Used” Forms.
After you do a form, it is remembered for quick access later. At the
name or matter window, click the Printer button and a menu
appears with recently used forms at the bottom. Just click one to do
it again for the current name or matter.

Word Processing Forms Created Prior to Version 2011

This section is only of interest to people who spent a lot of time and
effort setting up Word processing forms in versions prior to v2011.
Anyone starting fresh with Form Generation needn't even be aware of
these issues.
For many years, "[Link]" was used to collect Form Generation
data for your word processor. With Abacus version 2011, such forms
are integrated into the powerful Forms Library to manage all your forms
(including PDF Court Forms) in one convenient place. And all forms,
with important exceptions, now use "[Link]" if they have no
explicit setting.
But don't worry about having to re-work anything: Abacus automatically
detects older forms and templates created with the old system, and
explicitly assigns them "[Link]" so they will keep working exactly as
before.
Additionally, the Forms Library Configuration window has two settings
to specify which default ALF file to use for unmarked forms. Normally
these should both be "[Link]", but if you heavily customized your
old [Link] and want to continue using it for all your Word forms,
you can specify it there.

238 Fillable Forms AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 There also was a little-known feature that some users took advantage
of where special ALF files could be created for individual forms, or for
entire directories of forms. If you did this, rest assured your forms will
still work fine without you needing to do anything special. In the
background, the new system has just improved how it works.
The problem with that system was that it was implicit. Once set up
correctly, the right ALF file would magically get used, but people forgot
where the files were and it was hard to debug any problems.
The new system makes it nice and clear which ALF file is defining your
merged data. And when you add old forms with special ALF files into
your Library, it automatically detects any implicit ALF files and sets up
the Form to explicitly use that ALF file.

Forms Library Interface

Accessing the Forms Library
Open the matter (or name) for which you want to generate a fillable
form. Then, do one of the following:
• Press F8
• Click the Abacus Forms toolbar button
• Click the Print toolbar button and select Form Generation/Forms
Library.
• Select File/Setup/Forms Library.

Overall Layout of the Forms Library

• It has its own toolbar.
• The matter you selected before you opened the Forms Library is
listed in the upper right corner and is the matter whose data will fill
selected forms. You can click the lookup button to change the
matter as necessary. (If you started at the Name window, the name
record is displayed instead of a matter).
• Forms are listed in the left pane. When you highlight a form, the
form properties appear in the right pane.

Forms Library Toolbar

The following describes the function of each button on the toolbar:
Select Matter: Selects the matter for the form.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memo

Fill the form: Runs the selected form for filling.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memo

Design form: Opens the Designer window to design a form.

The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memo

Form Data Templates: Opens the Template manager to

add, edit, delete, or associate templates for forms.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memo

Add form: Creates a new form from a source document.

The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memo

Add multiple forms: Creates multiple new forms from

source documents.

Edit form properties: Opens the Properties window.

The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memo

Remove form: Removes the selected form from the library.

The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memo

Settings: Opens a configuration window to set defaults and

other system settings.

or Swap TreeView <-> BrowseView: Toggles from TreeView

to BrowseView and vice versa.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memo

Print form: Prints the highlighted form. The form will be

blank unless you highlight one of the Completed Forms.

TreeView vs. BrowseView

The left pane of the window displays the library’s forms in either a
TreeView or a BrowseView. To toggle between the two views, click the
Swap button on the toolbar.
The Swap button looks like this when you have the TreeView selected:

and it looks like this when you have the BrowseView selected:

NOTE: You can also right-click the left pane and select Swap View.

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 TreeView

The TreeView displays your Favorites, Groups, General,

Miscellaneous, Federal, and State forms. Click the plus and minus (+-)
buttons to expand or contract a branch.
When you collapse the TreeView, you hide the contents of all the top
level folders. To do this, right-click the left pane and select Collapse All.
When you expand the TreeView, you display all the contents of the top
level folders. To do this, right-click the left pane and select Expand All.
To sort the TreeView, right-click the tree and click Tree sort order.
Then, click By Form Name to sort forms by name or click By Form ID to
sort forms by ID.

BrowseView
The BrowseView lists forms alphabetically by file name initially. You
can click on the column headers to sort by form ID, name, etc.

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 Organizing the TreeView
You can organize your fillable forms in the TreeView. You can use
folders to categorize your forms.
Court forms are organized in a jurisdiction/type-of-law hierarchy, while
general office forms are organized in a single-level folder system.
Do any of the following to create an organizational structure in the
TreeView for your forms.

To create a folder:
1. Right-click within the TreeView, point to Add Top Level Folder, and
click Court Forms or General, depending on the type of forms the
folder will store.
2. A window appears prompting you for a folder code. Enter a code
for the folder and click OK.
3. A window appears prompting you for a folder description. This is
the label that will display in the TreeView. Enter a description and
click OK.
4. The Valid Entries window appears listing the new folder. Click OK.

To move forms within the TreeView organization:

Right-click the form you want to move and click Edit properties.
The Edit Properties window appears.
If the form is a general form:
• Change the Category field to the top level folder you want to store

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 the form.
• If want to store the form in a sub-folder, set Folder (General forms
only) to the sub-folder name.
If the form is a court form:
• Change the Category field to the top level folder you want to store
the form.
• Set Jurisdiction to the jurisdiction for the form.
• Set Type to the type of law for the form.
Click OK to save your changes.

To move folders up/down in the tree:

Right-click the folder you want to move and click Move TLF up or Move
TLF down.

To delete a folder:
Remove or move all forms out of the folder. Then, right-click the folder
and select Remove empty Top Level Folder.

To rename a folder:
Right-click the folder and select Properties/Edit description. In the
window that appears, edit the folder name as necessary and click OK.

Form Favorites
Form favorites are those forms that you use most frequently and want
to be able to access quickly.

Adding Forms to Favorites

Right-click a form in the left pane and click Add to Favorites.

Viewing Only Form Favorites

Expand the Favorites branch in the left pane.

Deleting Forms from Favorites

Right-click the form favorite and click Delete from Favorites.

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 Finding Forms
Searching for Forms
To search for individual words, enter the words in the Search box. To
search for a phrase, enter the phrase enclosed in quotation marks (for
example, “apples and oranges”) in the Search box. Then, press Enter
(or click the Lookup button and click Search) and forms with the search
text or phrase in the form ID, name, or description are listed.
To re-use a previously used search, click the Lookup button and select
from the list of recently used searches.

Querying Forms
In the Forms Library click the Lookup button for the Search box and
click Query Manager. The Queries window appears.
See Query Manager on page 302 for more information about using the
Query Manager.

Editing Form Properties

1. To edit properties, do one of the following:
• Highlight the form you want to edit in the left pane. Then, click
the Edit Form Properties button on the toolbar.

• Right-click the form and click Edit properties.

• Press Ctrl+Enter.
The Edit Form Properties window appears.

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 2. Edit the form properties:
• Form Name: The name of the form. What you see listed in the
TreeView.
• Form ID: An identification number automatically initialized by
Abacus based on the form’s file name and jurisdiction.
• Category: Determines the top level folder where this form
appears. Usually reflects a State or Federal region, but can be
a user-defined code to create a new folder on the TreeView.
• Folder (General forms only): If the form is a general form (not
a court PDF form), the folder in the TreeView that will contain
this form.
• Jurisdiction: The primary jurisdiction (from your jurisdiction
database) using this form.
• Type: The form type. Note that when Type is set to a type that
is also the name of an ALF file, then the form will use that ALF
file.
• State: The state where this form is used.
• ALF file: Click the button to select an ALF file to associate with
the form. When this field is blank, the file to be used is
identified by:
a) If the Type field has a code that also the name of an ALF
file. For example, a Family Law form might have a Type of
“FAM”, and the file “[Link]” would be used if it exists in the
Layouts folder.
Otherwise,
b) The “default ALF file” identified in the Forms Library
configuration window. Normally, this is set to [Link].
• Update Source file: Only useful if you are designing your own
PDF forms. Abacus Forms combine an original source form
with a smart “overlay” layer. If the original form is updated (for
example, a revision is published by the court) the underlying
form image can be changed to the new form while keeping the
overlay intact. See What Are Fillable Forms On page 235 for
more information. You can click this button to change the
source file for the form.
• Form file name: The file name of the form. Court forms always
have an .af extension. General forms will have the appropriate
extension for your word processor.
• Form type: The type of source document for the form
(Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, Adobe PDF, or Microsoft Excel).
• Revision Date: The date the form was published. Preset forms
include a date that can be edited. Forms you have created do
not include a date, but you can add one.

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 • Notes: General comments about the form (for example, “Use
this form for divorce with separate property and minor
children.”)
• Help text to appear when editing the form: [only works with
PDF forms]Instructional information about the form that pops
up in the Filler when a user does the form.
• Printer Bin: [only works with PDF forms]The printer bin to be
used to print this form (for example, top bin or manual feed).
• Duplex print mode: [only works with PDF forms]The duplex
setting to be used to print this form.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

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 NOTE: You can click the Design button to run the Designer to
manipulate the form itself, map data fields, add comments, etc. See
Designing Forms on page 261 for more information.
3. Click OK.

Removing Forms
When you remove a form record from the Forms Library, the underlying
form may have other references to it. When you delete the last
reference, an option appears for you to delete the .af file itself.
Highlight the form and click the Remove Form toolbar button, or press
the Delete key.

A confirmation window appears. Click Yes.

Filling Forms
Filling a Form
Abacus provides a special “Getting Started” form that has useful tutorial
information built into it. You can use this or any other form while
following along in this section.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

1. To start a form within the Forms Library, do one of the following:

• Highlight the form in the left pane and press Enter or click the
Fill the Form toolbar button.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

• Right-click the form in the left pane and select Fill the form.
• Double-click the form in the left pane.
• Fill a Form Group that includes the form.

2. If the form is associated with a template, the Template Manager

window appears. (For more about templates, see Form Templates
on page 258).
Select a form template and click Continue.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

3. The fillable form appears in the Filler window with fields

automatically filled out with your matter’s data. Just click any
shaded field to change or add text, or click on checkboxes to check
or uncheck them. For more information about using the Filler, see
Using the Forms Filler on page 250.

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 4. Click the Save toolbar button on the Filler window. The Filler’s
Save window appears. The file name is automatically initialized
according to your setup, usually to a folder based on the case
number. Edit it if necessary and click Save.

5. The Document Details window appears, displaying the matter and

name records that were selected when you started the form and
allowing you to specify more details about the linked document.
Enter or change any of these details as you like. For more
information about document details, see Adding Document Links
from the Document Manager on page 183.

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 6. Click OK. The document is added to the selected matter’s Linked
Docs tab and to the name’s Linked Docs tab.

Using the Forms Filler

The Forms Filler appears when you are filling a form.

From the Forms Filler, you can do any of the following.

Saving the Form

Click the Save button on the Forms Filler toolbar(or select File/Save
from the Forms Filler menu bar).The Filler’s Save window appears. The
file name is automatically initialized according to your setup, usually to
a folder based on the case number. Edit it if necessary and click Save.

Saving a Read-Only Copy of the Form

Select File/Save as Finalfrom the Forms Filler menu bar to save a read-
only version of the form. This prevents any further changes to the
database fields since editing is not allowed in the final version.

Printing the Form

Click the Print button on the Forms Filler toolbar (or select File/Print
from theForms Filler menu bar) and a Print window appears. Change
the settings as necessaryand click OK.

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 Emailing the Form
Save the form and then click the Email button on the Forms Filler
toolbar (or select File/Email on the Forms Filler menu bar). An email
message window appears. The form is added to the email as an
attachment. Enter the email address and send the email as usual.

Moving Fields on the Form

Click the Move button on the Forms Filler toolbar (or select Tools/Move
objects from the Forms Filler menu bar). Once move mode is activated,
you can drag and drop the editable fields on the form to new locations.
Click the Move button again (or select Tools/Move objects again) to
deactivate move mode.

Typing on the Form

Click the Typewriter button on the Forms Filler toolbar (or select
Tools/Typewriter mode from the Forms Filler menu bar). Then, click
and type anywhere on the form. Click in a blank area on the form when
you are finished.
To remove a field added using the Typewriter button, right-click the
field and select Delete Field.

Adding Addendum Pages

Click the Addendum button on the Forms Filler toolbar (or select
Document/Add Addendum from the Forms Filler menu bar). The Select
Addendum File window appears. Select the addendum file and click
Open.

Adding, Inserting, and Deleting Pages

From the Document menu, select any of the following menu options:
Add new page: Adds a new blank page to the end of the document.
Insert new page: Adds a new blank page before the current page.
Delete this page: Deletes the current page.

Maintaining Comments on the Form

Comments are like electronic sticky notes that you place on the form.
They do not print with the form. Rather, they are for internal or user
purposes only.
To add a comment, click the Note button. Draw a box on the form
where you want to put the note. Enter your comment in the note box.
To delete a comment, click the comment box to select it, and press the
Delete key.

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 Changing Fonts for All Fields on the Form
Click the Font button on the Forms Filler toolbar (or right-click a blank
area in the form and select Font – For all fields). The Font window
appears. Select the font type, style, and size and click OK.

Changing Fonts for Selected Fields on the Form

Right-click the desired field and select Font. The Font window appears.
Select the font type, style, and size and click OK.

Spell Checking the Form

Select Tools/Spell Check/Current Document.

Adding Security to the Form

The Security button on the Forms Filler toolbar gives you owner and
user password protection to forms to allow or deny printing, modifying,
and copying.
Click the Security button to open the Security window. Complete the
window for security settings and click OK to save.

Viewing/Editing Field Values for the Form

The Field List button on the Forms Filler toolbar gives you a table view
of all of the fields in the form where you can quickly edit all those
values without paging through the form.

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 Click the Field List button. The Field List View window appears listing
the available fields in the form. Click to select any cell in the Value
column and enter or modify text as needed. Click OK to save your
changes.
You can also use the Fill From button to assign values to the fields.
Click the Fill From button and select any of the following options:
• From Template: Lets you select a template that has predefined
values.
• Insert Abacus Data: Opens the Form Field Quick Filler that shows
Abacus fields and values (ALF output) and lets you insert any
field’s value into the selected cell in the Field List View.
• Refill with Abacus data: Overwrites the value of any form field
WITH A FORMULA with data from the corresponding field in
Abacus. Fields without formulas will retain their current value.

Adding Fields to the Form

1. Select Tools/Add Field from the Forms Filler menu bar. This
activates add field mode.
2. Click and drag to draw a box on the form. Release the mouse
button when you have correctly positioned and sized your new
field.
3. Continue to add fields as necessary.
4. Double-click a blank area in the form to deactivate add field mode.
5. Enter text in the new fields.

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 Deleting Fields from the Form
Click the field to select it, and press the Delete key OR right-click the
field and select Delete Field.

Arranging Items on the Form

Press the CTRL key and select the fields you want to work with. Then,
select Tools/Arrange items and select the menu option for the task you
want to perform. You can align the selected fields, center them, or
make their heights/widths equal.

Viewing the Ruler for the Form

Select View/Ruler from the Forms Filler menu bar.

Inserting Abacus Data into the Form

Right-click a field and select Insert Abacus Data. The Form Field Quick
Filler window appears listing Abacus data fields. Highlight a data field
and click Paste to use the data field to fill the selected form field.
NOTE: If you want the form field to be filled at the cursor position,
check Insert at cursor position. If Insert at cursor position is not
checked, the form field value will be completely replaced with the date
field value, regardless of where the cursor was positioned.

Setting Up Forms
1. Select File/Setup from the Forms Filler menu bar. The Setup
window appears.

2. If you want to use a different font when filling forms, under My font
override for all forms, click Select Font. Select the font style to
use when filling the form and click OK.

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 3. Under At Startup, when fields have unresolved Formulas,
select whether you want to leave the fields blank or show the
formula.
4. Check Save final forms in PDF/A file format if you want Abacus
Forms to save filled PDF documents in the PDF/A format.
5. Click OK to save your form setup changes.

Exiting the Forms Filler

Select File/Exit from the Forms Filler menu bar.

Creating an Alternate Return Address for Fillable Forms

When you customize Abacus with your firm information (see Setting Up
Your Law Firm Information on page 31), you enter the firm’s mailing
address. When you fill forms, this determines your firm’s return
address.
However, some customers need to fill forms with different return
address information depending on which user is filling the form. For
example, assume one firm has a Terminal Server that services many
satellite offices, and it is the satellite office's address that needs to be
used in forms.
To create an alternate return address for fillable forms, follow these
steps:
Add a name record for the return address you want to use in forms.
1. Select File/Setup/User Preferences. The User Preferences window
appears.
2. Select the Queries & Miscellaneous tab and click Override
“MyFirm”.
3. The Override MyFirm window appears. Highlight the name record
you created for your return address and click OK.

Working with Groups

Overview of Groups
Groups are a way to fill several forms together as a batch. Groups you
create are listed in the TreeView under the *Groups* folder.

Adding Forms to a New Group (Create a Group)

1. Right-click the form in the left pane of the TreeView and click Add
to Group. The Add to Group window appears.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Click New Group. The Add a Form to a Group window appears.

3. Enter the name of the new group and click OK.

Adding Forms to an Existing Group

1. Right-click the form and click Add to Group.
The Add to group window appears.
2. Click Existing Group. The Available Groups window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

3. Select the group in which you want the form to reside and click OK.
Once you add a form to a group, that group is “memorized” and a
third button appears on the “Add to Group” window for quicker
access for other forms.

Renaming a Group
Right-click the group and click Rename Group. The Rename Group
window appears. Edit the name as necessary and click OK.

Removing a Group
To remove a group, you need to remove all of the forms from the group
and the group is automatically removed from the TreeView.

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 For more information about removing forms, see Removing Forms on
page 247.

Moving Forms to Another Group

You cannot directly move a form to another group. Instead, you have to
remove the form from the current group and then add it to another
group.

Reordering Forms within a Group

Right-click the form in the left pane of the TreeView and click Move up
or Move down. You can also press and hold the CTRL key and use the
arrow keys on your keyboard to reorder forms within a group.
NOTE: For forms in the rest of the TreeView, there is no option to
reorder forms. These forms are listed alphanumerically. If you want to
change the order, edit the form properties (see Editing Form Properties
on page 244) and add a number or letter to the beginning of the form
name.

Filling Out Forms in Groups

For any group (listed under the *Groups* folder), you can fill out all the
forms in a group as a batch.
Right-click the group and click Do the group. Each form in the group
opens as a separate window in the Filler program where it can be
completed and saved.

Auto-replay of Form Entries

The Matter Profile
Whenever you start to fill or design a form, all the related data for the
current matter is collected and saved to that Matter Profile for that
matter. Think of this as the data that is exported to be available for form
filling. Initially, the Matter Profile is a list of all the fields (and their
values) for the matter. But it can contain more!

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 Preserving Form Entries
As you fill forms, sometimes you must type entries for fields that are not
stored in Abacus. These extra entries are also saved into your profile
and re-used the next time you fill a form for that matter. For example,
you do a form that requires a Date of Marriage, but you don’t have that
field in your Abacus matter screen. When you enter the date and then
save or print the form, the date is preserved in your matter profile. Next
week you do another form that requires Date of Marriage, and the date
is auto-filled for you.

Form Templates
Overview of Form Templates
Abacus already fills the form fields that are specific to your matter. But
some fields in a specific form may need the same values for all matters
with a common quality. Form Data Templates are re-usable, partially
filled forms that save you from re-typing common data. So if you find
yourself typing the same values into a form more than once, make a
template.
For example, assume a divorce petition is much more complicated if
children are involved, and then certain fields or checkboxes always had
the same values. You could save two templates: one for cases with
children and the other for cases without children. When you get a new
case without children and you start that form, the two related templates
appear automatically in a list. You pick the “divorce petition without
children” template, and the Filler opens with many fields pre-filled with
the common values for no-child cases.
So usually a template is created specifically for one form. However
there is a subtle extra feature: A template is not literally a copy of a
form with “answers” typed into it (like some word processing
templates). A template is a collection of fields and their data, and can
be thought of as a “data package”. If multiple forms use the same field
names, you can associate the same template with all those forms.

Opening the Template Manager

Templates are always dealt with in relation to a particular form. So first
select a form, and then do one of the following:
• Click the Form Data Templates button on the toolbar.

• Right-click the left pane and click Templates.

• Press CTRL+T.

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 • Run a form that has an associated template.
The Template Manager window appears.

Creating Form Templates

1. In the Template Manager window, click Add. The selected form
appears in the Filler window. Notice the first toolbar button is now
called Template. Enter data into the form fields that you want
saved into the template.
2. Click the Template button. The Select the fields to save to a
Template window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

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 3. Enter the name of the template in the Template name box.
Template names cannot contain spaces and cannot be more than
30 characters.
4. The fields that have values have an entry in the Value column.
Select the fields that you want to include in the template by
checking the check box to the left of the field name.
Notice that the list shows the form field names and any data field
mappings (a checkbox to the right tells you which kind of field it is).
If you save a data field to a template, then when it is applied to a
form all fields that use that data mapping use the template’s value.
If you save a form field to a template, then only the single field with
the same name in the form is set to its value.
5. Click Save.

Editing Form Templates

1. Open the Template Manager (see Opening the Template Manager
on page 258).
2. Highlight the template you want to edit and click Edit.
3. The selected form appears in the Filler window with the values of
the template. Edit the form as necessary for the template.
4. Click the Template button on the toolbar. The Select the fields to
save to a Template window appears.
5. In the Template Name field, enter the same template name.
6. Select the fields that you want to include in the template. See
Creating Form Templates above for details about the field list.
7. Click Save.

Deleting Form Templates

1. Open the Template Manager (see Opening the Template Manager
on page 258).
2. Highlight the template you want to delete and click Delete.
3. A message window appears. Click Yes to delete the template and
remove its association with any forms.

Associating Form Templates with other Forms

Templates associated with a form appear when you fill the form.
If you want to associate an existing template with another form that has
many of the same fields, follow these steps.
1. Open the Template Manager (see Opening the Template Manager
on page 258).

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 2. Highlight the template you want to associate and click Associate.
The Select a Form to associate with this Template window
appears.
3. Highlight the form and click Open.

Designing Forms
Overview of Designing Forms
Abacus Forms combine an original source form with a smart “overlay”
database layer. The original form’s image serves as a background, and
the overlay contains fields, checkboxes and other interactive
information.
If you purchase forms from Abacus, there are no Source files to think
about and you probably won’t use the Forms Designer. If you do design
your own forms, it’s useful to know how they are structured.

Source Forms
The source form is the form in .pdf format that you start with to create
an Abacus form. After the Abacus form exists, the source form is no
longer used. But it is good to keep it in the Source folder in case you
want to start over. Source forms can be created by converting
documents into .pdfs, or they can be downloaded from legal sites.
Source forms are stored in \Abacus\v21\Data01\Forms\Source.

Overlays
The overlay is the transparent top layer that contains the fields,
checkboxes, and database mapping information. Once the Abacus
form is created, you don’t need to be conscious of the overlay layer
unless you want to update the background form image. The interactive
fields and checkboxes behave just as if they are in the underlying form,
but by keeping them separated internally it’s possible to completely
replace the background while leaving your overlay design intact.
For example, assume you have the following simple source form:

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 Using the Forms Library, you create an overlay that gets saved with the
form. In the following example, the overlay automatically maps general
client information for the selected matter:

If the original source were updated by a court to simply change

“NAME:” to “Name”, you can update the source background and not
have to re-design the interactive overlay at all.

Designing an Existing Form

Follow these steps to design an existing form and map data fields to
form blanks.
1. Do one of the following:
• Highlight the form and click the Design Form toolbar button.
• Right-click the form in the left pane and click Design form.
2. The form appears in the Forms Designer. Make your changes to
the form design as described in the following section and click the
Save button.

Using the Forms Designer

The Forms Designer appears when designing a form.

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 From the Forms Designer, you can do any of the following.

Opening a Different Form

Click the Open button on the Forms Designer toolbar (or select
File/Open from the Forms Designer menu bar) and a window opens
listing forms. Highlight a form and click Open.

Saving a Form
Click the Save button on the Forms Designer toolbar (or select
File/Save from the Forms Designer menu bar).

Saving a Read-Only Copy of the Form

Select File/Save as Finalfrom the Forms Designer menu bar to save a
read-only version of the form. This prevents any further changes to the
database fields since editing is not allowed in the final version.

Printing the Form

Click the Print button on the Forms Designer toolbar (or select
File/Print from the Forms Designer menu bar) and a Print window
appears. Change the settings as necessary and click OK.

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 Emailing the Form
Save the form and then click the Email button on the Forms Designer
toolbar (or select File/Email on the Forms Designer menu bar). An
email message window appears. The form is added to the email as an
attachment. Enter the email address and send the email as usual.

Previewing the Form

To preview what the filled form looks like to the form user, click the Run
button on the Forms Designer toolbar (or select View/Run from the
Forms Designer menu bar). To return to design mode, click the Design
mode button.

Mapping Data Fields to Form Fields

“Mapping” means setting up a particular form field to receive data from
a database field. To map data fields to form fields, right-click a form
field OR select a form field and then click the Data button on the Forms
Designer toolbar (or select Tools/Data from the Forms Designer menu
bar). The Select a db field, formula, or new field namewindow appears.
This window lists all the fields in the matter profile (this is why you
always use the same matter when designing different forms—all the
fields are collected to a common master list so you can avoid creating
duplicates). Field values are shown as a convenience for recognizing
their usage.
If a field does not have a clear name (some forms just have numbers
for field names), you should set it to something useful—usually the
same name as the data field you want to fill it. The Formula field is
where you map the data. Formulas start with “=” and are usually just
the name of a data field from the matter profile, but they can be a
complex expression or calculation too.

Matter Profile
The list shows all the fields in
the matter profile. Most of
these are Abacus fields
exported via the ALF file, but
others can be “extra” fields
added here in the designer.

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 1. In the list, double-click the data field whose value you want set into
the form field. This is what you’ll do 95% of the time. For example,
for the Name field on the form, you might want to use the client
name field. The Field name and Formula are inserted for you.
2. You can set a fixed value to a field. Simply enter the text without
the leading “=”. You can also use this feature for a prompt that you
expect the user to overwrite (instead of just seeing a blank field).
For example, for the Name field on your form, you might want the
user to see the text “Enter your first and last name.” Enter these
types of values in the Formula field.
3. To see how the form looks to the user, click the Run button.
4. Continue to map fields as necessary. Note that you do not need to
close the window while you do this. After it is open, just click a
different field, make changes, and click Apply.
5. Click Close.
Adding Data Fields to the Profile
Sometimes a form field will not have an equivalent available for you to
select from the matter profile. You can create a new field in the profile
by entering both a new name and a formula. For example, set the field
name to Respondent and the formula to =Respondent. Click Apply
and the new field is added to the list.
Using Multiple Field Syntax
When you map more than one Abacus data field to a form field, you
need to join them with the proper syntax.
Use:
+“”+
between each mapped field within a form field. The plus signs (+) join
two fields and the quotation marks (“ ”) let you insert spaces or
alphanumeric characters between fields.
For example, the mapped fields:
=MyFirm_City + “, ” + MyFirm_State + “ “ + MyFirm_Zip
join three fields, MyFirm_City, MyFirm_State, and MyFirm_Zip. There is
a comma (,) and a space inserted between the first 2 fields and a
space inserted between the second and third fields. So, once the form
is run, the value for this mapped field might look like this:
San Diego, CA 92122

Adding Fields to the Form

Your original form may or may not have fields already in it. To add a
field to the form, click the AddField button on the Forms Designer
toolbar (or select Tools/Add Field from the Forms Designer menu bar).
Then, click and drag to draw a box on the form. Click the empty form
field to select it and right-click it to set properties.

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 Deleting Fields on the Form
Click the field to select it and press the Delete key.

Maintaining Check Boxes on the Form

To add a check box: Click the CheckBox button on the toolbar (or
select Tools/Add CheckBox from the Forms Designer menu bar). Then,
draw a box on the form.
To delete a check box: Click the check box to select it and press the
Delete key.

Maintaining Comments on the Form

Comments are like electronic sticky notes that you place on the form.
They do not print with the form. Rather, they are for internal or user
purposes only.
To add a comment, click the Note button. Draw a box on the form
where you want to put the note. Enter your comment in the note box.
To delete a comment, click the comment box to select it, and press the
Delete key.

Hiding Parts of the Form

The White Out button on the Forms Designer toolbar hides parts of the
form behind a white box. To use, click the button, then click and drag
on the form to add a white box. Any content behind the white box will
not be displayed when viewing the form on the screen or when printing
the form.

Changing Font Style for Form Fields

Do one of the following:
• If you want to change font style for ALL fields on the form, do NOT
select any fields.
• If you want to change the font style for selected fields only, select
one or more fields. To select multiple fields, hold the Control key
while clicking the additional fields. To de-select all fields click the
cursor in an open space on the form.
Then, click the Font button on the Forms Designer toolbar. The Font
window appears. Change the settings as necessary and click OK.

Changing Font Size for Form Fields

Select the field for which you want to change font size. Click the Font+
button on the toolbar to increase the font size for the selected field.
Click the Font- button on the toolbar to decrease the font size of the
selected field.

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 Changing Tab Order for the Form
The Tab Order button on the Forms Designer toolbar enables
complete control of the tab order for fields in each page of a form. To
use it, click the Tab Ordertoolbar button, and then click each field in
the form in the order you would like the cursor to move between fields
when the Tab key is pressed. You must repeat the steps (click the Tab
Order button and then click each field on the page) on each page in
the form to assign the tab order throughout the document.

Arranging Items on the Form

Press the CTRL key and select the fields you want to work with. Then,
select Tools/Arrange itemsfrom the Forms Designer menu bar and
select the menu option for the task you want to perform. You can align
the selected fields, center them, or make their heights/widths equal.

Viewing the Ruler for the Form

To view the ruler, select View/Ruler from the Forms Designer menu
bar.

Spell Checking the Form

Select Tools/Spell Check/Current Document from the Forms Designer
menu bar.

Setting Up Forms
1. Select File/Setup from the Forms Designer menu bar. The Setup
window appears.

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 4. If you want to use a different font when filling forms, under My font
override for all forms, click Select Font. Select the font style to
use when filling the form and click OK.
5. Under At Startup, when fields have unresolved Formulas,
select whether you want to leave the fields blank or show the
formula.
6. Check Save final forms in PDF/A file format if you want Abacus
Forms to save filled PDF documents in the PDF/A format.
7. Click OK to save your form setup changes.

Exiting the Forms Designer

Select File/Exit from the Forms Designer menu bar.

Adding Forms to the Forms Library

You can:
• Add a single form to the Forms Library, or
• Add multiple forms to the Forms Library

Adding a Single Form to the Forms Library

1. Download the original form you want to add to the Forms Library.
Save it under Abacus in the Forms/Library/Source folder (you can
create a subfolder there if you want many forms to be managed
together).
2. Do one of the following:
• Click the Add Form button on the toolbar.

• Right-click the left pane and click Add form/Single form.

3. The Select a form to add to the Forms Library window appears.
Select the source file and click Open.

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 4. The Add a new form to the Forms Library window appears.
Edit/complete the form properties (see Editing Form Properties on
page 244) and click [Link] Designer program initializes the smart
database layer and opens the form for you to map your data fields
to the form fields. For more information, see Designing Forms on
page 261.

Adding Multiple Forms to the Forms Library

1. Download the original forms you want to add to the Forms Library.
Save them under Abacus in the Forms/Library/Source folder (you
can create a subfolder there if you want many forms to be
managed together).
2. Do one of the following:
• Click the Add Multiple Forms button on the toolbar.

• Right-click the left pane and click Add form.

3. Select one of the following menu options that appear. Click:
• A Folder of General forms if you want to add all the general
forms in a folder.
• Multiple General form files if you want to randomly select
multiple general forms to add.
• A Folder of Court Forms if you want to add all the court PDF
forms in a folder.
• Multiple Court Form files if you want to randomly select
multiple court PDF forms to add.

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 4. If you select to add a folder of forms, the Select the folder window
appears. Highlight the folder that contains the forms you want to
add and click OK.

If you select to add multiple, randomly picked forms, the Select a

Form window appears. Press the Ctrl key and highlight the forms
you want to add. Then, click Open.

8. A confirmation window appears. Ensure that all the source forms

are listed and click OK.

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 9. The Add a New Form to the Forms Library window appears. Enter
the information to apply to all forms and click OK. The forms are
added as Abacus forms and appear in the Forms Library.

Creating Forms from Word/WordPerfect Documents

Follow these steps to create a form based on a Word/WordPerfect
document.
1. Ensure that you can access the Word/WordPerfect document you
want to use to create a form (from the hard drive, disk etc.)
10. Move the Word/WordPerfect document to the
Abacus/v21/data01/Forms/Library/Source/General folder (you can
create a subfolder there if you want many forms to be managed
together).
11. In the Forms Library (see Accessing the Forms Library on page
239), right-click the left pane and click Create MS
Word/Wordperfect Form.
12. The Select an MSWord/Wordperfect Form/template window
appears. Select the Word/Wordperfect file and click Open.
13. The Word/Wordperfect document opens in the appropriate
program. Insert Abacus merge fields as desired. (For example, in
Word 2007, you would go to the Mailings tab and select Insert
Merge Field.)
14. When you are finished designing the form, save the form to a
desired location, usually Abacus/v21/data01/Forms/Library/Source.
15. Add the new form you created to the Forms Library (see Adding
Forms to the Forms Library on page 268).

Forms Library Admin

Setting Default Values for the Forms Library
1. Click the Settings button.

The Forms Setup and Default Values window appears.

2. Complete the settings on the General tab as follows:
• Base (root) folder for saved documents: The directory under
which all saved documents are stored.
NOTE: Documents created using the Save and Log to Abacus
macro (see Adding Document Links Using the “Save and Log
to Abacus” Macro on page 185) are also stored in this location.

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 • Folders\Subfolders and File name: Indicates the naming
convention to use for sub folders (under the root folder) and file
names for filled forms. This formula is also used for new Linked
Documents created by the Outlook Link.
NOTE: Documents created using the Save and Log to Abacus
macro (see Adding Document Links Using the “Save and Log
to Abacus” Macro on page 185) are also named using this
naming convention.
• Court Setup: Click to add, edit, or delete a court on the fly. For
more information, seeSetting Up Courts on page 273.
• Jurisdiction Setup: Click to add, edit, or delete a jurisdiction
on the fly. For more information, seeSetting up Jurisdictions on
page 274.
• ALF File Setup: Lets you select an ALF file for the form, which
defines what information is going to go out from Abacus and
over to your document/PDF form.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

3. Complete the settings on the PDF Court Forms tab as follows:

• Default Printer Bin: The printer bin you want to be selected for
new form properties.
• Default Duplex print mode: The duplex print mode you want
to be selected when printing forms. Individual forms can also
have a specific setting in their Forms Library properties.
• Matter to use in Design mode: When designing forms, you
want to have a common matter selected so that all mapped
data fields are collected into one matter profile. This makes it
easy when you design the next form to select from a complete
list of fields so you don’t create two field names for the same
purpose.
• Linked Name to save to: Select the type of linked name
(client, petitioner, plaintiff, etc.) to associate with completed
forms. When you save a filled form, you want to link it to the

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 case and a name. This setting determines which name linked
to the matter is initially selected, but you always have a
chance to pick a specific name. The form is then listed on the
name’s Linked Docs tab.
• Word to add when saving a final copy: With PDF forms there
is an option to save as final, which means that you are locking
down all the values, and users will not be able to change the
file anymore. When a PDF file is saved as final, the word "final"
is added to the PDF file name. This helps distinguish the final
PDF file from ones that have not been finalized and can still be
opened and edited. If you do not like the word "final" you can
enter a new word in this field.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

4. Click OK.

Setting Up Courts
1. Click the Settings button on the Forms Library toolbar.

The Forms Setup and Default Values window appears.

16. Click Court Setup. The Valid Court Entries window appears.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

17. It’s best to use the court definitions supplied by Abacus to stay
consistent with supplied forms. But you have the power to do any
of the following:
• To add a court to the list, first click Populate to see if it’s
already defined by Abacus (see below). Otherwise click Add.
The Court Properties window appears. Enter the information for
the court and click OK.
• To edit a court, highlight the court and click Edit. The Court
Properties window appears. Edit the information as necessary
and click OK.
• To delete a court, highlight the court and click Delete. A
window appears asking you if you are sure you want to delete
the court. Click Yes.
• To print court information, highlight the court and click Print.
• To import courts from existing Where codes into the list, click
Import. The Valid WHERE Entries window appears. Check the
courts you want to add and click Add. This feature is for users
who are updating from earlier versions of Abacus.
• To add standard courts to the list, click Populate. The Tag all
Courts to add window appears. Check the courts you want to
add and click OK.
18. Click OK to close the Valid Court Entries window.

Setting up Jurisdictions
1. Click the Settings button on the Forms Library toolbar. The Forms
Setup and Default Values window appears.

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 19. Click Jurisdiction Setup. The Valid Jurisdiction Entries window
appears.
20. It’s best to use the jurisdiction definitions supplied by Abacus to
stay consistent with supplied forms. But you have the power to do
any of the following:
• To add a jurisdiction to the list, first click Populate to see if it’s
already defined by Abacus (see below). Otherwise click Add.
The Jurisdiction Properties window appears. Enter the
information for the jurisdiction and click OK.
• To edit a jurisdiction, highlight the jurisdiction and click Edit.
The Jurisdiction Properties window appears. Edit the
information as necessary and click OK.
• To delete a jurisdiction, highlight the jurisdiction and click
Delete. A window appears asking you if you are sure you want
to delete the jurisdiction. Click Yes.
• To print out jurisdiction information, highlight the jurisdiction
and click Print.
• To add other standard jurisdictions to the list, click Populate.
The Tag all Jurisdictions to add window appears. Check the
jurisdictions you want to add and click OK.
21. Click OK to close the Valid Jurisdiction Entries window.

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16. MessageSlips
In this chapter, you will learn how to use Abacus MessageSlips™ to
send messages to officemates, take phone call messages, and see
who is in or out of the office at the moment.

Getting Started with MessageSlips

Overview of MessageSlips
Abacus MessageSlips is an intra-office-only instant messaging system,
in/out board, and phone message pad. Intra-office-only means users
cannot use it to converse with family and friends because it is only
available to users of your Abacus database. Use it to:
• immediately send and receive text messages to other users
• see who is currently in the office
• take messages for users who are out or busy
• start the Call Manager to return calls
• schedule callback reminders
• quickly open the Abacus names browse to check a phone number
Because it is integrated with Abacus, messages can be associated with
your clients and matters for quick data entry, and significant messages
can be posted as notes to Abacus so you don’t need to re-enter data.

Installing Abacus MessageSlips

No special installation is necessary. When you install Abacus,
MessageSlips is also installed to the Abacus folder. (The installer has a
Components page for you to mark the programs you want to install.
MessageSlips is selected by default but you can choose to not install
it). Notice that after you install, the MessageSlips icon is added to your
system tray.
As normal for Abacus itself, each station on the network must run
[Link] to set up icons there.

MessageSlips Icon
The MessageSlips icon appears in the system tray, which is located to
the far right of the task bar. The system tray contains icons that
represent programs that are currently running, usually in the
background. It can also include the system clock and volume controls.

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 NOTE: Don’t confuse the system tray with the Quick Launch bar
located to the left of the task bar. The Quick Launch bar is used to run
programs that are not yet running.
Click the MessageSlips icon in these ways to use MessageSlips:
Right click View menu with In/Out User list.
Click elsewhere to clear it, or Exit Abacus
MessageSlips to close it so your initials
appear in red on other stations.
Left click Open waiting message if icon is animated,
otherwise view menu.
The hot key alternative to left-clicking the
icon is Alt+Shift+A. This hot key is
available any time, even when in other
programs. It can be changed in User
Preferences if it conflicts with another
program.
Double click Start a new message.

MessageSlips Menu and In/Out Board

The top portion of the MessageSlips menu has all the options to start a
message. Abacus users are listed first, with users who are ready to
receive a message shown on top in green, then those not running
MessageSlips in red. (You can change your MessageSlips user
preferences to list users in alphabetical order if you like.) You can also
start a message to All users (*) or select New Message to start a
message with no user selected.

Click to start a new message.

Green is In
But users who appear in
red are not ready to
receive instant
messages. You can
send one, and they’ll get
it when they restart.

Unread Messages
Extra option appears Click to view previous messages.
here if messages are
pending. Shows a list of Click to set preferences.
waiting items you can Click for Actions menu.
check off instead of
opening in separate Your initials, click to switch users.
windows.

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 Next are the maintenance options where you can review historical
messages, see pending messages in a list, change your setup, or log
on as a different user.
Abacus Actions lets you interact with Abacus itself to see your browse
of names or matters, see your Calendar, or start taking notes for a
phone call.

Starting Abacus MessageSlips

After installation, MessageSlips will start automatically every time you
start your computer. You can stop this by unchecking the Launch box
in Setup/User Preferences.
To start it manually, select Start/Programs/AbacusLaw/Abacus
MessageSlips, or copy that icon to your desktop or QuickLaunch
toolbar. This is handy if you want to use MessageSlips as an In/Out
board. Have users exit the program when they leave the office, and run
it again when they return.

Exiting Abacus MessageSlips

To close MessageSlips, right-click the MessageSlips icon and select
Exit Abacus MessageSlips. Your initials will appear in red on other
stations' menus, indicating you are out.

Starting Abacus from MessageSlips

To access Abacus directly from MessageSlips, right-click the
MessageSlips icon and click Abacus Actions for a submenu. Select:
• Run Abacus to start Abacus.
• Daily Organizer to start Abacus and automatically open the Daily
Organizer (or open the Daily Organizer in the already open
Abacus).
• Names to open the Names browse in Abacus.
• Matters to open the Matters browse in Abacus.
• Phone to start Abacus and automatically open the Call Manager (or
open the Call Manager in the already open Abacus).

Automatic MessageSlips Database Shutdown

After 10 minutes of inactivity, MessageSlips closes the databases. This
allows automated backups to run even though MessageSlips may be
left running overnight.

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Sending Messages
Sending a Message
You can send a message to anyone on the network.
1. Do one of the following:
• Right-click the MessageSlips icon in the Windows system tray.
(If there are no unread messages waiting, left click will open
the menu too.) A menu appears that includes a list of Abacus
users. Select the person to whom you want to send a message
(the recipient). The Send New Message window appears,
initialized for the selected user.
• Right-click the MessageSlips icon in the Windows system tray
and select New Message from the menu. The Send New
Message window appears.
2. Select the tab that best represents the message. While you can
use either tab for any type of message, the Instant Message tab is
best suited for a simple message that is not related to a phone call
or Abacus name or matter (like “Come see me when you’re free”).
When taking a phone message, you usually get the caller’s name
and phone number before taking the text, so the Phone Message
tab is better.

Instant Message tab

Best suited for a simple
message that is not related to
a phone call or Abacus name
or matter.

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 PhoneMessage tab
When taking a phone
message, get the caller’s
name and phone number
before getting the note.

3. The settings on both tabs are the same – they are just arranged
differently to accommodate the message type. Use the following to
help you complete the settings on the tab you selected for your
message:
• To: The recipient of the message. Enter one or more UserIDs
separated by commas, or a group name (use “*” to send to all
users). To set by mouse, click the Lookup button. The Users
Browse window appears listing all the users and groups on
your network. Select the person or group to whom you want to
send the message and click OK. See page 290 for details on
group setup.

One or many
Select one or check
several people to receive
the message.

• Classic Subjects: Pre-set messages you create for quick entry

of common text. Type the first few characters and your
message is auto-filled and has any assigned sound

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 automatically attached. To set by mouse, click the Lookup
button. The Classic Subjects and Matching Sounds window
appears listing preset subjects. Select a subject for the
message and click OK.

NOTE: You determine the choices for classic subjects. For

more information, see Managing Classic Subjects on page 289.
• Note Box: Contains the message text. After you enter your
text, click the Spell button to check your spelling.
• Check boxes: One-check messages for quickest entry, or add
extra definition to the message. Urgent is a fixed feature to flag
important messages, but the other checkboxes (Called, Will
call back, etc.) can be changed in System Options.
• Contact: The client or other person the message is from or
about. This is usually an Abacus name (type last names first,
just like calendar events), but can be any name you enter. To
select from a list, press F9 or click the lookup button. The
Names Browse window appears listing the names in Abacus.
Select a name and click OK.
Notice that when you select a name, the telephone number is
automatically displayed in the Phone box (if the name record
had this field complete). If the name has more than one
telephone number, the others are listed in the drop-down list.
• Re: The related Abacus matter. Enter a matter name or click
the lookup button. The Matters Browse window appears listing
the matters in Abacus. Select one and click OK.
4. Click Send (or press Ctrl+Enter) and the message will be
immediately sent to the recipient.

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 Replying to a Message
To reply to a message, click the Reply button in the Messages window.
The Reply to Message window appears.
This window is the same as the Send a Message window initialized to
the original sender.

Messaging from Abacus

From within Abacus, you can send an instant message about an event
on the calendar. The message is addressed to the event’s Who code
and will be sent as long as the Who code is on the MessageSlips
network.
Right-click an event scheduled on a calendar and select Send/Instant
Message. The Send New Message window appears with event
information in the body of the message. The event’s Who code will be
selected as the message recipient.
Click Send to send the message.

Resending Sent Messages

1. Right-click the MessageSlips icon and click Message History. The
Message History window appears listing old messages.
2. Select Sent to view your sent messages only.
3. Highlight the message you want to send again and click Re-send.
The exact message is sent again and will appear listed in the
Message History window.

Send Message Actions

When sending messages in MessageSlips, the Actions button provides
alternatives to sending a MessageSlips message. Once you select the
recipient, you can click the Actions button and then select one of the
following options:

Call now
Click Call now to open the Call Manager in Abacus with the name and
matter selected.

Create call-back reminder

Click Create call-back reminder to create a PHONE event in Abacus.
Change the event details as necessary and save.

Post to Abacus note

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 Click Post to Abacus note to copy and paste the message text into a
new phone call note in the Call Manager in Abacus. When you post a
note to Abacus from MessageSlips, your operator's code is displayed
at the end of the note.

Copy to clipboard
Click Copy to clipboard to copy all the message text to the Windows
clipboard so you can paste it somewhere else later.

Save to file
Click Save to file to save the message content to a text file. When you
click Save to file, the File to Create window appears. Select the file
name and location and click Save.
NOTE: You can only create files with a .txt extension.

Email Message
Click Email Message to open your email application and insert the text
from the message into the new email. Then, you can edit and send the
email message.

Receiving Messages
Receiving a Message
The way you receive a message depends on the message and how
you have set your message receipt behavior (see see Controlling
Message Behavior and Defaults on page 292).
• If the message is urgent, the received message automatically
opens on your desktop (regardless of your message receipt
behavior settings).
• If you have set received messages to open automatically, the
received message opens on your desktop.

If you have NOT set received messages to open

automatically, when a message is received, the
MessageSlips icon becomes animated and a small
message preview windowappears above the
MessageSlips tray. See Previewing Messages
• Message Previews on page 287 for more information.

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 Receiving Several Messages
If you set up your MessageSlips user preferences so that incoming
messages are displayed automatically, then they will display in
windows one on top of another on the screen whether you are at your
computer or not. But, if you are set up so that the icon blinks to
announce messages, you can view them all in a list by using the
Incoming Messages window. This is the same window you see at
startup if more than one is waiting.
To open this window, right-click the MessageSlips icon and select
Unread Messages. This option only appears if messages are waiting.
NOTE: On the Incoming Messages window, you can sort by some of
the columns by clicking the column heading.
From the Incoming Messages window, you can:
• Read messages in the Preview pane and mark them as read with
the checkboxes.
• Double-click the message or highlight it and click the Open button
to see the full message window.
• Mark all messages as read by clicking the Mark All button.
• Open a list of all messages received or sent with the History
button.

Receive Message Actions

When receiving messages in MessageSlips, the Actions button
provides the abilityto perform other message actions. Click the Actions
button and then select one ofthe following options:

Acknowledge Message
Click Acknowledge Message to send an automated acknowledge
response. This is a messagethat says "OK" to let the sending know that
you received the message.
SHORTCUT: Press and hold the CTRL key and click OK.

Forward Message
Click Forward Message to forward the message to another recipient.

Reply to All
Click Reply to All to send a reply message to all recipients listed in the
From box.
NOTE: Quoting can be turned off in MessageSlips user preferences.

Call now

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 Click Call now to open the Call Manager in Abacus with the name and
matter selected.

Create call-back reminder

Click Create call-back reminder to create a PHONE event in Abacus.
Change the eventdetails as necessary and save.

Post to Abacus note

Click Post to Abacus note to copy and past the message text into a
new phone callnote in the Call Manager.
When you post a note to Abacus from MessageSlips, your operator's
code will be displayedat the end of the note.

Copy to clipboard
Click Copy to clipboard to copy the message text to the Windows
clipboard so youcan past it somewhere else later.

Save to file
Click Save to file to save the message text as a text file. When you
click the menuoption, the File to Create window appears. Select the file
name and location andclick Save.
NOTE: You can only create files with a .txt extension.

Email Message
Click Email Message to email the message text to distribute information
to peopleoutside the MessageSlips network. When you click the menu
option, your email applicationopens with a new email populated with
the message text. Complete and send the emailas usual.

Printing Messages
From the received message, click the Print button.

Viewing Old Messages (Sent and Received History)

1. Right-click the MessageSlips icon and select Message History. The
Message History window appears, listing old messages.

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 NOTE: You can sort by some of the columns in the table by clicking
the column heading.
2. Select one of the following for your view of messages:
• Received: Displays all of your received messages whether or
not they have been read.
• Sent: Displays all of your sent messages.
• All Users: Displays all messages from all users on the
network. Requires supervisor password, if set.
3. To find a specific message or all messages matching certain
criteria, click the Query button. The Query window appears.

Complete the criteria for the message you want to find and click
OK. The Message History window reappears with the first message
meeting the criteria highlighted.
4. Click Print to print either the highlighted message or all messages
in the list.
5. When you are finished, click OK to close the Message History
window.

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 URL Access in Messages
The History Preview and Unread Messages windows use a “RichEdit”
window so URLs are live (meaning that you can click a hyperlinked
Web page address and it will open in your browser).

This is also true of the Read Message window whenever you are
reading a message someone sent [Link] reference a file on your local
network that you want someone to be able to open with a single click,
add “[Link] in front of it, as in:
[Link]

Previewing Messages
Message Previews
If you have NOT set received messages to open automatically, when a
message is received, a small message preview window appears above
the MessageSlips tray. It shows a couple of lines of the message. The
message preview window disappears after a user-definable period of
time.

From this window, you can:

• Hover the mouse over the message window to keep it open.
• Click the Abacus symbol or the Close button to dismiss the
message.

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 • Click the text to open the message in a MessageSlips window.
• Click Actions to use the Actions menu.

Message Preview Actions

When previewing messages in MessageSlips, the Actions button
provides the ability to perform other message actions. Click the
Actions button and then select one of the following options:

Mark as Read
Click Mark as Read to mark the message as read.

Acknowledge Message
Click Acknowledge Message to send an automated acknowledge
response. This is a message that says "OK" to let the sending know
that you received the message.

Reply
Click Reply to send a reply message to the first recipient listed in the
From box.

Reply to all
Click Reply to All to send a reply message to all recipients listed in the
From box.

Forward Message
Click Forward Message to forward the message to another recipient.

Call now
Click Call now to open the Call Manager in Abacus with the name and
matter selected.

Create call-back reminder

Click Create call-back reminder to create a PHONE event in Abacus.
Change the event details as necessary and save.

Post to Abacus note

Click Post to Abacus note to copy and paste the message text into a
new phone call note in the Call Manager.
When you post a note to Abacus from MessageSlips, your operator's
code will be displayed at the end of the note.

Copy to clipboard

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 Click Copy to clipboard to copy the message text to the Windows
clipboard so you can past it somewhere else later.

Save to file
Click Save to file to save the message text as a text file. When you
click the menu option, the File to Create window appears. Select the
file name and location and click Save.
NOTE: You can only create files with a .txt extension.

Email Message
Click Email Message to open your email application and insert the text
from the message into the new email. Then, you can edit and send the
email message.

Managing Classic Subjects

Overview of MessageSlips Classic Subjects
Classic subjects are pre-defined messages. MessageSlips is installed
with a few subjects already set up for you, but you can add as many as
you like for your practice. You can also edit and delete them as
necessary. If you find yourself sending the same message regularly,
just create a classic subject and you'll be able to send it in just a few
keystrokes. If you have a soundcard and a microphone, you can record
your message as a ".wav" sound file and attach that to your classic
subject text. Whenever you send that message, the recipient will hear
your voice speaking the message.

Adding Classic Subjects

1. From the Classic Subjects and Matching Sounds window, click the
Add button. The Classic Subject window appears.

2. In the Text box, enter the message (like “Come see me when
you’re free”).

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 3. If you want the classic subject to have accompanying sound, click
the Sound lookup button. The Select Sound File window appears,
listing .wav files in the Sounds folder under Abacus. Select a sound
and click Open to insert it into the Classic Subject.
NOTE: If you have a soundcard and a microphone, you can record
your message as a ".wav" sound file and save it to the Sounds
folder, then attach it to your classic subjects or messages.
4. Click Save.

Editing Classic Subjects

1. From the Classic Subjects and Matching Sounds window, select
the subject you want to edit and click the Edit button. The Classic
Subject window appears.
2. In the Text box, edit the subject line.
3. To change the accompanying sound, click the Sound lookup
button. The Select Sound File window appears. Select a sound and
click Open.
4. Click the Save button.

Deleting Classic Subjects

From the Classic Subjects and Matching Sounds window, select the
subject you want to delete and click the Delete button. A confirmation
window appears. Click Yes.

Managing Groups
Overview of MessageSlips Groups
Groups are a collection of related users. When you send a message to
a group, every member of the group receives it. This is a great time
saver as you can send the same message to many people in one step.
Groups are managed from the Group Definitions window. To open it,
right-click the MessageSlips icon and select Setup/Groups.

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 Adding Groups
1. From the Group Definitions window, click the Add button. The
Group Properties window appears.

2. In the Group Name box, enter the name of the group. Note that all
group names must start with an asterisk (*).
3. In the Description box, enter a description for the group.
4. To add users to the group, click the Users lookup button. The
Users Browse window appears.
5. Select (check) the users you want to include in the group and click
OK. The Group Properties window reappears.
6. Click OK. The Group Definitions window reappears with the new
group listed.

Editing Groups
1. From the Group Definitions window, highlight the group you want to
edit and click the Edit button. The Group Properties window
appears.

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 2. Edit the group name and description as necessary. Note that group
names must start with an asterisk (*).
3. To change the group membership, click the Users lookup button.
The Users Browse window appears. Select (check) the users you
want to include in the group and click OK. The Group Properties
window reappears.
4. Click OK.

Deleting Groups
From the Group Definitions window, highlight the group you want to
delete and click the Delete button. A confirmation window appears.
Click Yes.

Setting User Preferences

You can control the following aspects of MessageSlips for your desktop
installation:
• Message behavior and defaults
• Sounds

Controlling Message Behavior and Defaults

1. Right-click the MessageSlips icon and select Setup/User
Preferences. The User Preferences window opens with the
MsgSettings tab selected.

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 2. Use the following table to help you change the settings on the
window.
If you want to… Then…
Set up message Under When a new message arrives (for
receipt behavior normal messages) and under When an
Urgent message arrives (for urgent
message), select one or both of the
following:

• Blink the tray icon: When selected,

the MessageSlips icon will be
animated when an unread message
exists, requiring the user to click the
icon to display the message.
• Open the message window: When
selected, sent messages will appear
automatically on the recipient’s screen.

Set up new Under When writing a new message, do

message defaults any of the following:

• Select Use Phone message layout to

use the Phone Message tab for a new
message. (If this is not selected, the
Instant Message tab will be the
default.)
• Select Put focus on the notepad to
place the cursor in the note box,
bypassing the Classic Subject field.
• Select Reply with quote to include the
original message in your replies.
• Select Use Ctrl + Enter to send
message to be able to use this
keyboard shortcutto send a message.
• Under Default values, click the To
lookup button and select the user you
want selected by default for new
messages. Click the Subject lookup
button to select the classic subject you
want to start with.
Set up the way Under Menu options:
users (or message
recipients) appear • Select Show Logged on users first to
in the list those MessageSlips users that are
MessageSlips currently logged on at the top of the list
menu of users that appears in the
MessageSlips menu.
• In the Number of users to show in

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 menu before creating submenu box,
enter the maximum number of users to
be listed in the MessageSlips menu.
This will limit the number of users you
see when you right-click the
MessageSlips icon and will prevent
clutter on the menu. Any extra users
will appear in a submenu.

Set up the Under Misc options, enter the number of

message checking seconds between checks in the Seconds
schedule between checking for messages box.
Shorter times give faster response but
more network traffic. 5 seconds
recommended.
Set up the You can receive a message or open
MessageSlips hot MessageSlips without using the mouse.
key Pressing the MessageSlips hot key gets
the same results as if you had clicked the
MessageSlips icon with your mouse. The
MessageSlips hot key is set at
ALT+SHIFT+A by default, but you can
change the letter used.

Under Miscellaneous Options, enter the

preferred letter in the The letter to press
with Alt + Shift to “click” the icon and
show the menu box. For example, if you
want to use ALT+SHIFT+M to open
MessageSlips, enter M in the box.
Have Under Startup Options:
MessageSlips • Select (check) Launch MessageSlips
start automatically when Windows starts if you want
every time MessageSlips to start up automatically
Windows starts when Windows starts. Enter your
MessageSlips user name in the
AutoLogOn ID box if you want to log
in automatically as well.
• If you have more than one Abacus
directory, click the Directory to start
MessageSlips in arrow and select the
actual Abacus directory.

3. Click the Save button.

Controlling Message Sounds

If System Options allow users to change their sounds, you can change
the default sounds for your desktop installation of MessageSlips.

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 1. Right-click the MessageSlips icon and select Setup/User
Preferences. The User Preferences window opens. Select the
Event Sounds tab.

2. Under Sound Effects, select:

• No sounds if you do not want any sound effects when using
MessageSlips.
• System beeps only if you only want a beeping noise when
using MessageSlips.
• Play sounds if you want to use different sounds for different
types of message functions.
3. If you selected Play Sounds in the previous step, you can define
which types of sounds to play for different message functions. First,
select Play sounds received in messages?. Then, for each
message action that you want to use a sound, click the Lookup
button. The Select Sound File window appears. Select the sound
you want to associate with the action and click Open. Leave a box
blank to use the default setup from System Options.
NOTE: To hear the selected sound, click the speaker button.
4. Click the Save button.

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MessageSlips System Administration
Logging On as a Different User
You can view your messages in MessageSlips from any computer on
the network as long as you are logged on with your own user name and
password.
Follow these steps to log on to MessageSlips from any computer.
1. Right-click the MessageSlips icon and click User Logon. Notice
that the initials next to User Logon indicate the user currently
logged on.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

The User Initials window appears.

2. Enter your Abacus user ID (your initials) and click OK.

Indexing Data Files

To index the data files for MessageSlips, right-click the MessageSlips
icon and select Setup/Re-index Data Files.

System Options
Your system administrator can follow these steps to manage
MessageSlips for all users on the MessageSlips network.

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 1. Right-click the MessageSlips icon and click Setup/System Options.
The System Options window appears.

2. Use the following table to help you change these settings:

If you want to… Then…
Create a system Enter the password in the Supervisor
administrator password box.
password that restricts
access to the System NOTE: Set a password, otherwise all
Options window users will have access to the System
Options window.
Delete all data from Click the Purge Data button.
the database
Set up global groups Under Message features, click the
Group setup button. The Group
Definitions window opens, letting you
manage groups. See Managing
Groups on page 290 for details.

Set up global classic Under Message features, click the

subjects Classic subjects button. The Classic
Subjects and Matching Sounds
window opens, letting you manage
these. See Managing Classic Subjects
on page 289 for details.
Let users edit global Under Message features, select Let
groups and classic users edit these.
subjects
Change the message Change the checkbox headings under
checkbox text Text for Checkboxes. You can create
hot keys by inserting an ampersand

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 (&) in front of the key you want to
designate as hot.
Let users change Under Default Sounds, select Let
default sounds users personalize Sounds.
Change the default Under Default Sounds, click the
sounds lookup button for the action. The
Select Sound File window appears.
Select the sound and click Open.

NOTE: To hear the selected sound,

click the speaker button ( ).

3. When you have changed all the settings on the window as you like,
click the Save button.

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17. Queries
In this chapter, you will learn about queries and how to manage them.

Overview of Queries
Queries filter data so that you see just the records you want to see. For
example, you could use a query to see only active clients from the
Names database. Or you could use a query to see all matters opened
prior to 1999. Queries can be used on-screen to view certain records or
with reports to print just the information you want.
The Query Manager lists the queries for a particular database. You can
create any number of queries and save them to use again. It also
keeps the last “count” of matching records for each query, keeping you
informed of critical statistics.
You can also set up default Queries so that the main data windows and
browses automatically come up showing your filtered choices.

Types of Queries
There are three different types of queries:
• Regular: Has all the settings to create a query.
• Quick Query: A simpler version that has a faster interface to
add/edit, but lacks advanced capabilities like mixing “and/or” logic.
• My Queries (Mine): A regular or quick query that has been tagged
as "mine". Simply another level of categorization that lets you
access commonly used or favorite queries quickly.

Query Expressions
Query expressions are the conditions that the data must meet to be a
match. For example the query expression:
"Opened = 1/14/06"
…applied to matters asks to display all matters opened on January 14,
2006. You can combine many query expressions together to ask more
complex questions. The purpose of the Quick Query and Query Builder
interfaces is to give you an easy way to manage these logical
expressions without having to learn the programming language. Each
of your queries results in an expression that is stored and used by the
system. In the Query Manager, you can scroll the list to the right to see
a column that shows the actual expressions.

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 And/Or Connectors
When you have more than one query expression in a query, you
connect them with “And” or “Or”.
• And statements require each record to match two or more query
expressions at the same time. For example, if you needed to find
all matters opened after January 1, 2006 for client Joe Smith, you
might write a query using "and" like this:
Opened greater than or = to 1/1/2006
and
Last = Smith
• Or statements require a record to match any one of several query
expressions. For example, if you needed to find all matters opened
after 2005 plus all matters for client Joe Smith, you might write a
query using "or" like this:
Opened greater than or = to 1/1/2006
or
Last = Smith
When you add a new expression to an existing query, a window asks if
you want to combine the new expression with AND or OR. Always think
of what ONE record in the database has to match to pass the test. If
the first expression must be true AND the second expression must be
true for one record, select AND. If a record only needs to match ONE of
the criteria, select OR.

Complex Multi-line Queries and Parentheses

If you need more than 2 conditions in a query, as long as all the
connectors are AND, it’s still simple logic. Similarly, if all the connectors
are OR, it’s simple. But as soon as you combine AND and OR
connectors in a query, it’s easy to misinterpret the combined logic. And,
it’s not as simple as just reading from the top down. Internally, the AND
connector has higher priority than OR, so if you have no parentheses,
all lines connected by AND are evaluated first, and THEN the OR
connectors are applied. So, to make sure your logic is clear, always
use parentheses when using both connectors.

Query Examples
“Arthur or Neil” at SDSUPER
To find all events for Arthur (AMS) and Neil (NPB) at San Diego
Superior Court (SDSUPER), first translate it to what one event needs to
match. “Who = AMS and Who= NPB” will never be true for one record,
but you may at first incorrectly think of it as “all Events for AMS and
NPB”. So the result is something like “the Who equals AMS or the Who
equals NPB and Where equals SDSUPER.”

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 When you have more than two rows and the connectors are not all
“and,” you need to add parentheses to show which rows get logically
combined first. In this case we need to combine the two Who
expressions as shown below.
(Who = equals/starts with AMS or
Who = equals/starts with NPB) and
Where = equals/starts with SDSUPER
If you do not add the parentheses, since the “and” connectors get
evaluated first you will see all events with “Who equals AMS,”
regardless of the Where field, plus events with “Who = NPB and Where
equals SDSUPER” — which is not what we wanted!

Querying for events that are “Not Done”

This common example is one of the standard queries that comes pre-
set in Abacus with the ID “NOT_DONE.” In your Calendar, you
probably don’t want to see events that have already been “done” (but
you don’t want them deleted from your database because you want to
leave a trail of what has been done).
Apply the following query to see only “not done” events:
Status is not equal to D and
Status is not equal to OFF

Events prior to a cutoff

This example is pre-set with the ID “BEFORE.” It is often used when
deleting multiple events found with a query (see page Error!
Bookmark not defined.). In the following example, the system will find
all events before January 1, 2006. (Just change the VALUE every time
you want to remove all events before that date.)
When is less than (<) 01/01/06

Events that are “Not Reminders”

This example is pre-set with the ID “NO REM’S.” On your monthly
Laser Calendars™ you probably don’t have enough space to see all
the “Reminders” for future events, so you can use this query to keep
the calendar un-cluttered:
What is not equal to REMINDER
You may even want to exclude “Done” events as well, so you can
create a new query that would look like:
What is not equal to REMINDER and
Status is not equal to D

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 Querying the Time
To limit a calendar to only “timed events” (all events that have a real
time, not TO-DO, blank, or 0:00), set up a query like this:
Time is not empty and
Time is less than TO-DO
To see only non-timed events, including TO-DOs, set it up this way:
Time is empty or
Time = equals/starts with TO-DO

Query Optimization
Abacususes state-of-the-art query optimization to make queries faster
than normal – in some cases 1,000 times faster. Most users can ignore
this, but “power users” may want to take special advantage of it.
Basically, whenever a query is set Abacusscans the indexes (in an
instant) to see if the query involves the fields used in the index. If so,
the index can instantly identify a range of records for the query, and
Abacusdoesn’t have to look at the database records at all to determine
which records to show.
For instance, Abacusmaintains an index for names on ID. If a query
has “ID = ‘99’”, Abacusinstantly knows the range of records that start
with “99” from the index, and it doesn’t need to look at the database to
determine if a record is a “hit”. If all the clauses in an index expression
are “optimizable” in this way, there is no delay at all in finding records!
If, however, a clause in a query references a field that is not indexed,
then Abacusmust look at database records to determine if the record
matches the query. This can take time if none of the clauses are
optimizable. So, if you have queries that you use all the time but seem
to take too long to find records, consider building a user-defined index
on the fields you are testing. For example, if you often generate names
reports with queries on the Class field, create an index on Class.
For more information about user-defined indexes, see page 78.

Query Manager
Most query tasks are performed from the Query Manager, also referred
to as the Queries window.
To open it, do one of the following:
• From the Names Browse, Events Browse or Matters Browse
window, click the Query button.
• From the Standard tab of the Name, Event or Matter window, click
the Query button and select Query Manager.

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 The Queries window displays a list of saved queries for the database.

Tags
Click to select more than
one query.

Experts can scroll right

to see part of the query
expression.

Click to print a list

of queries.

Click to stop using an

active query.

Click to count the number

of matching records.
Experts can use this button to
edit the programming-level
xBase filter expression directly.
For more information, see the Add, clone, edit and
Consultant’s Corner in help. delete queries.

Adding Queries
1. From the Queries window, click Add. The Query Builder appears.

2. In the Query ID box, type the name of the query.

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 3. In the Description box, type a description for the query.
4. Add, insert, edit and delete query expressions to create the query.
You can click the and/or button to switch the way expressions are
combined. Blank connectors are interpreted as “and.”
5. When you are finished, click OK. The Queries window reappears
with your new query listed.

Managing Query Expressions

From the Query Builder window, you can add, insert, edit and delete
query expressions to create a query.

Adding/Inserting Query Expressions

1. From the Query Builder window, do one of the following:
• To add a query expression, click the Add button.
• To insert a query expression (add an expression before the
selected expression), click the expression that you want the
new expression to go before and click the Insert button.
The Expression Editor window appears.

2. Complete the settings on the window to create a query expression:

• Field: The actual field that you want to query on (Who, What,
When etc.). To change, enter a field name. Or, click the lookup
button. The Fields window appears. Select a field in the
database and click OK. Note that, if necessary, you can click
the Database arrow and select fields from a linked database.
For example, you may want to filter the names database
(create a names query) for those who have linked matters with
a CaseCode of “PI”. In this case you would select the Matters
database in the Fields window and select the CaseCode field
from that list.
• Comparison: How you want the field to be compared to the
Value. To change, click the lookup button and select the
comparison operator you want to use to create the expression.

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 • Value: The field value you are searching for (in relation to the
field and comparison operator).
3. Click OK.
You may want to add more than one expression. Click Add and a
window asks if you want to combine the new expression with AND or
OR. Always think of what ONE record in the database has to have to
pass the test.

Editing Query Expressions

1. From the Query Builder window, select the query expression you
want to edit.
2. Click the Edit button. The Expression Editor window appears,
displaying the expression you chose to edit.
3. Edit the expression as necessary and click OK.

Deleting Query Expressions

1. From the Query Builder window, select the query expression you
want to delete.
2. Click Delete. A confirmation window appears. Click Yes.

Adding Quick Queries

1. From the Standard tab of the Name, Event or Matter window, click
the Query button and select Quick query. The Quick Query window
appears. For Events you will see a Notes box where you can enter
text to search the notes.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. In each field enter the information that records should match. For
example, if you are looking for specific types of cases, click the

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 lookup button for Case Code and select a case [Link] find blank
fields, enter a double quotation mark (“) in the field.
3. If you want to find records that match all the criteria you have set,
select Match ALL Values. If you want to find records that match at
least one of the criteria you have set, do not select Match ALL
Values.
4. If you want to save the query to re-use it later, select Save in list
of queries.
5. Click OK. The Where to Go? window appears.
• Click First to view the first matter in the query set.
• Click Last to view the last matter in the query set.
• Click Previous for the matter previous to the current one.
• Click Next for the matter after the current one.
• Click Stay here to stay on the current matter (even if it doesn’t
match the query).
6. To stop using this query, from the Name, Event or Matter window,
click the Query button and click Clear current query.

Creating a List of Personal Queries

1. From the Queries window, under Show, click All or Quick to see
the type of query you want to add to your personal list.
2. Right-click the query you want to add to the list and click Add to
My Queries.
3. Under Show, click Mine. Notice that the query has been added to
your personal list.

Setting up Default Queries

You can set up a default query for Names, Events and Matters. This
query will be automatically applied when you open a main data window
or the browse window for these primary databases, so you’ll always
see just your preferred data.
To set your preferred query in a main data window or browse, click the
Query button and select Query Manager. The Queries window
appears. Select the query so it’s active. Then, click the Query button
and select Set current query as Default.

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 You can also set the default query from the User Preferences window.
Select File/Setup/User Preferences. The User Preferences window
appears. Click the Queries tab. Set default queries by clicking a button
under Default Queries, selecting the query and clicking OK. Note that
there’s also a setting for the number of queries to show when the Most
Recently Used (MRU) queries menu is shown.

Selecting a Most Recently Used Query

When you click the Query button at the bottom of any Name, Event or
Matter window, a popup menu appears. At the bottom of the menu,
your most recently used queries are listed. Click the desired query to
use it.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

Quick picks
Most recently used
queries are this
handy.

Editing Queries
1. From the Queries window select the query you want to edit.
2. Click the Edit button. The Query Builder window or Quick Query
window appears depending on the query’s type.
3. Add, insert, edit and delete query expressions to change the query
(see Managing Query Expressions on page 304).
4. When you are finished, click OK. You are returned to the Queries
window with the query changed.

Deleting Queries
1. From the Queries window, select the query you want to delete.
2. Click the Delete button. A confirmation window appears.
3. Click Yes.

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Stop Using (Clearing) a Query
When you clear a query you are simply telling Abacus to stop using this
query. From the Queries window, select the active query and click the
Clear button. Notice that the Query window is often used to select a
query for a saved setting, as in a report or calendar setup. In these
cases the setting is cleared.

Counting Records Found by Queries

1. From the Queries window, select one or more queries to count.
2. Click the Count button. The Select an Option window appears.
3. Choose an option and click Yes.
4. An information window appears letting you know that the count
analysis is complete. Click OK to close the window. The Queries
window reappears with the results of the count posted to the table
under the Count column.

Adding Query Prompts

Query prompts let you dynamically change a value in a query when you
select it. For example, instead of creating the same query several times
with one changed value (like an Event Who code), you can create just
one query and have it prompt you for the desired Who code value to
match.
To add a query prompt to a query, follow these steps.
1. From the Queries window, do one of the following:
• If you want to add a prompt to an existing query, select the
query and click Edit.
• If you want to add a prompt to a new query, click Add.
The Query Builder window appears.
2. Click Add. The Expression Editor window appears.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

3. Click the Field lookup button and select the field you want to be
prompted for a value.
4. Click the Comparison lookup button and select Prompt me for
value. The Query Prompt Editor window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

5. Enter the question or prompt that will elicit from the user a value for
the query and click OK. Now, every time you use the query, it will
display your prompt like this:
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

so that you (or another user) can input a value to customize the
query.

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Expert Query Options
In the Queries window, you can click the horizontal scrollbar until the
Query Expression column appears. This column shows the beginning of
the internal programming-language query expression for those expert
users who want to see the specific logic used in a query. If necessary,
you can even edit the raw expression.
The Expert Query Mode is designed for experts to edit query
expressions on a programming level. The Query Builder however, is
capable of building quite complex queries. Therefore, this feature is
recommended for experts only.
Once a query has been edited in Expert mode, it cannot be edited
with the standard Query Builder and can only be edited in Expert
mode.
To edit a query in Expert mode:
1. From the Queries window, select the query you want to edit and
click Expert. The Select an Option window appears.

2. Click Edit this Query. The Query Expert Editor window appears.

3. Make the desired changes to the query and click Test to verify it is
a logical expression.

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 For more information about expressions, see Overview of
Expressions on page 498. You can also refer to Consultant’s
Corner in the help.
4. Click OK on each remaining window to exit.

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18. Court Rules (Timelines)
In this chapter, you will learn all about rules and how to use them in
Abacus.

Overview of Rules
A rule is a timeline of related, generic events. Rules can be re-used to
schedule a series of related events automatically. Using a rule, you can
schedule a single trigger event, and Abacus automatically schedules
the other related events in the series. Not only do you save time, but
also all of the dates are accurately calculated, and you get automatic
recalculation if a date changes.
To save you time, Abacus Data Systems offers the following sets of
rules (also called practice templates and timelines):
• General Practice Templates (covering 20 different practice areas)
• Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (timelines for discovery, motions,
statutes and other deadlines)
• Civil Procedure Timelines (18 different timelines for discovery,
statutes and other deadline criteria)
• California Fast Track Rules (all 58 counties, updated quarterly)
Additional sets are being developed all the time. Contact Customer
Support for further information.
Rules are managed from the Rules window.

Rule Example
This first example is a simplified one for demonstration purposes and does
not reflect current court rules.
Suppose that when your firm files a complaint in San Diego, you have a
set series of events that have to happen:
• You serve the complaint and file proof of service within 60 days.
• They respond within 30 days of filing the complaint.
• You would request a default after 15 days if no response.
• You would file for judgment 60 days after default.
• You file an at-issue memorandum 140 days after a response is
received.
• You attend a status conference within 30 days after filing the at-
issue memorandum.

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 Since this is a tried-and-true process for you, you set up a rule called F-
SDCOMP ("File complaint in San Diego") that includes these
predictable steps and their timing, like this:

Note that each rule event is identified with an Event #. Each interval
shows the timing of the event and the relative value indicates which
event the current event is relative to. For example, DEFAULT will be
scheduled 15 days after Event #3 (RESPONSE); C-STATUS will be
scheduled 30 days after Event #6 (F-ATISSU); and so on.
The next time you have to file a complaint in San Diego, you schedule
the first event with the F-SDCOMP rule and the rest of the rule events
involved are scheduled automatically for you.

Adding/Editing Rules
1. Select File/Setup/Rules to open the Rules window.
2. Do one of the following:

To add a rule: Click the Add button. A message window reminds

you that rule names must also be valid What codes. Click OK. The
Add Rule window appears. Enter the name of the rule and click
OK. Enter a description of the rule and click OK. The Event in Rule
window appears. Click Cancel to close the window.

To edit a rule: Select the rule you want to edit and click the Edit
button.

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 22. The Rule Name window appears and displays the series of events
associated with this rule. Maintain the rule events as necessary.

To add rule events: Click Add. The Event in Rule window appears.
Complete the window for the rule event. Click OK.

To clone rule events: Select the rule event you want to duplicate.
Click the Clone button. The Clone Item window appears asking
you if you are sure you want to clone the rule event. Click Yes.
Then, edit the cloned rule event as necessary.

To edit rule events: Select the rule event you want to edit. Click the
Edit button. The Event in Rule window appears. Edit the rule event
as necessary. Click OK.

To delete rule events: Select the rule event you want to delete.
Click the Delete button. A window appears asking you if you are
sure you want to delete this rule event. Click Yes.
23. In the Rule Name window, click the Options button to set the
default time for events to be scheduled. This setting applies to ALL
rule events.
24. When you are finished, click OK. The Rules window reappears with
the new rule listed.
TIP: To add a similar rule, select the similar record and click the Clone
button. An exact duplicate of the current record is created. Now, you
can just edit the rule and save a little time and effort.

Event in Rule Window

This window shows the details for each individual event within a rule.
You use this window when adding/editing a rule.
The following describes each setting on the window.
• Event number: The number of the event.
• Allow event number editing: Lets you change the order of the
events within the rule.
• What: Code describing the event. To change, click the lookup
button ( ). The Valid WHAT Entries window appears. Select a
What code that describes the event (or add a code on the fly). Click
OK.
• Description: A description of the event. This description will be
appended to the note for the scheduled event. For example, a rule
might include a REMINDER event relative to the task of recording a
deposition. The description for the rule might be "Get court
reporter."
• Form: Used to assign a form to the rule. Click the button, select a
form and click Open. If the rule requires a document to be

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 generated, then this is the form that will be used.

Rule Calculation tab:

• Interval: How many units (days, weeks, months, etc.) that this
event will be scheduled from its relative, first event. Negative
intervals create events prior to the relative event. For example,
enter –5 Court days for five court days before the relative event.
Note that Court Days are defined as Monday through Friday,
excluding holidays. If an interval is specified by months or quarters,
the resulting day will be no later than the last day of the correct
month.
• Relative to event#: The number of the rule event in the series that
this event is dependent upon. If your event is the first one in the
series or is calculated relative to the trigger event, enter 0.
• Move weekend date to: Indicates what happens if this event falls
on a weekend where:

Use System Options settings uses the setting that appears in the
Events landing on Weekends section of the System Options
window.

Friday schedules the event for the Friday before the weekend.

Monday schedules the event for the Monday after the weekend.

Under the Event Details tab:

• Who: Enter any values you want inserted into the calendar event.
When the rule generates events, Who lets you specify a person
responsible for this event, even if the trigger event is scheduled for
someone else. Leave this blank and the Who in the generated
event is taken from the trigger event. Note that you can enter an
asterisk (*) in the Who box to allow the user to input the Who code
when the rule is used.
• Priority: The priority code to be assigned to the event generated
by the rule.
• Type: The type of event to be assigned to the event generated by
the rule.
• Time: The time to be assigned to the event generated by the rule.
If this field is blank, the generated events are scheduled with your
default setting. Events with this time will not generate scheduling
conflicts. If you prefer generated events to be scheduled, for
example, 8:00 am, click Options in the Rule Name window. A
prompt asks for a new time. Type 8 and click OK. You may also set
your default time for rules to "TO-DO." This makes it very easy to
separate your appearances (which tend to be calendared
individually with a specific time) from all other deadlines and tasks,
which rules tend to generate.

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 • Hours: The number of billable hours to assign to the event
generated by the rule.

Under the Secondary Calculation tab:

Specify whether the date of the event should be the earlier or later of
two calculations. The secondary Interval and Relative to event# fields
work the same as the primary calculation.

Deleting Rules
NOTE: Deleting a rule does not change What codes or events already
added from a rule.
1. Select File/Setup/Rules to open the Rules window.
25. Select the rule you want to delete and click the Delete button.
26. A window appears asking you if you are sure you want to delete
the rule. Click Yes.

Importing Rules
Rules purchased separate from Abacus can be easily imported into
Abacus from the rules install disk. If you have more than one rules disk,
install the first one and finish importing, then repeat the process with
the second disk. If you are on a network, you must be the only user in
the program.
To install the rules disk:
1. Insert the rules diskette into your floppy drive.
27. Select File/Setup/Rules to open the Rules window.
28. Click the Import button. The Rules Merge window appears
displaying the rules Abacus has found on the diskette.
29. Double-click the rules you want to import to select them.
30. Once you have selected all the rules you want to import, click the
Continue button.

Printing Rules
1. Select File/Setup/Rules to open the Rules window.
31. If you want to print one rule, select it. If not, go to the next step.
32. Click the Print button. A window appears asking you if you want to
print the select rule or all the rules. Click the All button to print all
rules or click the Highlighted button to print only the selected rule.
The Rules Report Control window appears.
33. Click the Print button.

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AbacusLaw Reference Guide 317
19. Conflict of Interest Check
In this chapter, you will learn how to check for potential conflicts of
interest so you can avoid having to give back a fee if you’re conflicted
out of a case. You can use the Conflict of Interest Check to set up
search criteria and search your entire database for any names that may
be a conflict of interest. For example, you can use this to be sure that
another attorney in the firm is not representing Mrs. Jones in a divorce
when Mr. Jones seeks your counsel.

Starting a Conflict of Interest Check

To open the Conflict of Interest Check, click the Conflict of Interest
Check button on the toolbar OR from the menu bar, select
Tools/Conflict of Interest.

Running a Conflict of Interest Check

1. In the Enter last name box, type the last names of the people for
whom you want to find any conflicts of interest. Press ENTER after
typing each name. The name(s) you enter are listed in the Defined
Names box.
2. Click the Run button. The Conflict Check Hit List window appears.
This window displays any references found for the selected
name(s) – even if the reference was buried in a small note.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

On this window, the following fields display information about each

hit:
• Name: The name that the search was performed for.
• Data: The data that the search hit on. If you searched for
"Smith" you might hit on "Smithsonian".
• Field: The field that was hit.
• Key: The index key for this record.
• Rec #: The record number of the hit.
• Offset: The spot within the field or note where the text was
found.
3. With this list of hits, you can review details and determine whether
or not there is a conflict. Do any of the following to enhance your
review:
• For more information, select the hit and click the View button.
A window appears displaying more information about the hit.
• To delete names that are not a conflict, select the names by
checking the Del box and click the Delete button.
• To print the hits from the conflict check (to prove a conflict
check was performed), click the Print button.
If no conflicts are found, you have the option of generating a report
that lists the names that were checked (proof that you ran a conflict
of interest check). The report appears in Notepad where you can
print it or copy and paste it to another application.
4. When you are finished, click Close.

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Setting Up a Conflict of Interest Check
1. From the Conflict of Interest Check window, click the Setup button.
The Conflict Check Setup window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. The Fields to Check box lists all the fields in which your names will
be searched. Add, edit and delete fields for the check (see
Managing Fields for the Conflict of Interest Check Setup on page
321).
3. Use the following to help you change the other settings on this
window:
• Use long form on reports: When selected, all fields for each
record found will be printed. When NOT selected, only the field
name, field data, record number and ID/CaseNum for each
record found will be printed.
Under Print full note:
Notes can contain a special marker of three asterisks (***). When
Notes are being displayed on screen or on a report, you have the
option of printing all notes, no notes, or only text up to the "***" (referred
to as "partial" notes).
Under Name and Matter notes:
• No Search: Will NOT search in the notes for the name(s).
• Substring: Will search each note for a match of a name in any
part of a word. Example: It will find “son” in “JohnSON.”
• Starts with: Will search each note for a match of a name only
at the beginning a word. Example: It will find “John” in
“JOHNson” but not in “UpJOHN.”
Under Event notes:

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 • No Search: Will NOT search in the notes for the name(s).
• Substring: Will search each note for a match of a name in any
part of a word. Example: It will find “son” in “JohnSON.”
• Starts with: Will search each note for a match of a name only
at the beginning a word. Example: It will find “John” in
“JOHNson” but not in “UpJOHN.”
4. Click Close. The Conflict of Interest Check window reappears and
you can run the conflict check.

Managing Fields for the Conflict of Interest Check

Setup
You can add, edit and delete fields to include in the conflict of interest
check setup.

To add a field for the Conflict of Interest Check:

1. From the Conflict Check Setup window, click the Add button. The
Databases window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Select a database and click OK. The Fields window appears.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 321

 3. Select the field you want to search and click OK. The Search
Types window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

4. Select:
• Starts with to search for a field value that starts with the
search criteria. For example, if you were searching for “JOHN,”
you might find “JOHNSON.”
• Field Contains for a sub-string search. For example, if you
were searching for “SON,” you might find “SONNET,”
SMITHSONIAN” or “JOHNSON.”

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 • Any Word Starts With to match only the beginnings of words.
For example, if you were searching for “SMITH,” you would find
“JONES V. SMITH” but not “NASMITH.”
• Exact Match to find field values that exactly match your search
criteria. For example, if you were searching for “JOHN,” you
might find “JOHN” but not “JOHNSON.”
• Soundex Match to find the first word in a field that sounds like
the search criteria. For example, if you were searching for
“SMYTHE,” you might find “SMITH” but not “SMITHSON.”
• Soundex Starts Liketo find the beginning of a field value that
sounds like the search criteria. For example, if you were
searching for “SMYTHE” you might find “SMITHSON.”

NOTE: Soundex allows for "sound-alike" matches. Since it will only

work on the first word in a field, it is not recommended for notes or
matter names. Client Last Name is a good candidate, however. First
letters must be exact for a soundex match, after that all vowels are
ignored and similar consonants are considered the same, so "BAT" will
match "BAD", and so on.
5. Click OK.

To edit a field for the Conflict of Interest Check:

1. From the Conflict Check Setup window, select the field you want to
change.
2. Click the Edit button. The Search Types window appears.
3. Change the search type.
4. Click OK.

To delete a field from the Conflict of Interest Check:

1. From the Conflict Check Setup window, select the field you want to
delete.
2. Click the Delete button.

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20. Tools to Help You Work
In this chapter, you will learn about some special Abacus tools and how
to use them to work more efficiently and effectively.

Abacus Dashboard
Abacus Dashboard is designed to display Abacus information and
Internet content using a set of intelligent apps. The Dashboard is ready
to use as is or it can be customized to match your style.
To open Abacus Dashboard, do any of the following:
• Select Tools/Dashboard from the menu,
• Press F3, or
• Click the Dashboard button ( ) in the lower right corner of the
Abacus window.

To hide the Dashboard at any time press F3.

For more information about Abacus Dashboard, refer to the help
system accessed through Abacus Dashboard.

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Global Search
Global Search searches all the databases – Names, Events, Matters,
Notes, Docs, and Emails – from a single input. Global Search searches
through indexed fields, note fields, emails, and documents to find
matches.

Global Search Navigation Keys

Press Ctrl+S to move focus into the search bar.

Searching for Records

Do one of the following:
• In the Global Search bar in the status bar, enter the keyword
search term. The search term needs to be at least 3 characters
long. Then, click the Find button ( ) and click Search.

• Press F12 or double-click the Global Search bar. The Global

Search window appears. Enter the keyword search term in the
search box and press Enter.
TIP: If the Global Search window is open, clicking in the Global Search
bar brings the window forward and places the cursor in the search bar.
The Global Search window displays a list of records that match the
keyword search.
NOTE: Generic searches that find many documents can take a while to
resolve.

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 From the Global Search window, you can do any of the following:
• To close the window, click Close.
• To open a record in the list, highlight the record and click Open.
• To view a linked name or matter, right-click the record and click
View linked Name or View linked Matter.
• To delete a note or event record in the list, highlight the record and
click Delete. Only note and event records can be deleted.
IMPORTANT: When you click Delete, it removes the actual record
from the database, not the search listing.
• To bill for a record in the list, highlight the record and click Bill.
• To change the databases you are searching, check databases you
want to search and uncheck databases you do not want to search.
After search results are returned, under the Documents database you
might see links for All Docs and Linked Docs. All docs includes
documents found in the AbacusLaw\Docs folder. Linked docs includes
only documents found that are linked to a name or matter.

Clearing Search Keywords

Click the search bar's lookup button or Find button ( ) and click Clear
Search Text.

Using Wildcards
A wildcard is an asterisk (*) that can be used in a search term to
represent one or more other characters. You can use wildcards at the
beginning and/or end of a search term. For example, the search term
"smith*" might find the last names Smithfield or Smithson. The search
team "*smith" might find "Blacksmith."

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 Reusing Prior Search Strings
Click the search bar's lookup button or Find button ( ) and click
Recent Searches. A menu appears displaying recent search strings
used for searching. Select a search string to reuse it for a search.

Googling Search Keywords

Enter the search keyword you want to google in the search bar. Then,
click the search bar's lookup button or Find button ( ) and click
Google. Your Internet browser appears with the Google page open and
the search term selected.

Searching for Phone Numbers

You can search phone numbers the same way you search text.
Groupings of numbers separated by hyphens or spaces can be
searched like words. For example, searching for 3339 will find the
number (800) 726-3339. However, it will not find a number with no
delimiters, like 7263339.
Note that you can always use the wildcard (*) before and/or after a
search term to find phone numbers with no delimiters.

Configuring the Global Search Grid

To configure the Global Search grid, right-click a header in the Global
Search window. Then, point to Browse Configuration and select to
change line style, header colors, background features, or border color.

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 Search Syntax
When entering keywords in the search bar, phrases must be enclosed
in quotes; unquoted searches work only for single words. Never include
operators in quoted text ( “Attorney OR law” ) or it will be treated as
part of the phrase.
Following are some search bar syntax examples:
Search Case Example
Searching for text containing Attorney OR Law
either of 2 words
Searching for text containing 2 Attorney AND Law
words
Searching for text containing ALL Attorney AND Law AND lawyer
3 words
Searching for text containing Attorney OR Law OR judge
either one of 3 words
Searching for a single phrase “Attorney at law”
Searching for a phrase and a word “Attorney at law” AND lawyer
Searching for 2 phrases “Attorney at law” AND “San
Diego”
Searching for text about attorneys “Attorney at law” AND “San
at law in San Diego or New York Diego” OR “New York”
Searching for text that could be “New York” NEAR City
either before or after the specified
word (in this example searching
for documents containing New
York City or The City of New York)

Overview Window
The Overview window is a unified list of linked data for a matter or
name. It shows in chronological order all the events, notes, emails, and
linked documents listed together for an easy overview of everything
going on for a case in one window.

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 You can do the following from the Overview window:
• Open and customize the Overview window
• Open an item from the Overview window
• Delete an item from the Overview window
• Generate a report for the Overview window
• Bill for an item from the Overview window

Opening and Customizing the Overview Window

1. To open the Overview window, click the Overview button on the
toolbar or click the Overview button on the Name or Matter
window.

34. If there was a name or matter selected, it will be listed in the Select
Subject box. If you want to select a name or matter (or change the
existing name or matter), click the Select Subject button. A menu
appears. Select Name if you want to select a name; select Matter if
you want to select a matter.
The Name or Matter browse window appears. Highlight a
name/matter and click OK.
35. Use the Start Date and End Date fields to select a date range for
the items you want to see. For example, if you enter a range of
08/01/10 to 08/31/10, then you will see all checked items for the
month of August 2010.
NOTE: You must enter a date range to see items.

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 36. For the check boxes, check the types of items you want to see. For
example, if you only want to see notes for the selected
name/matter for the selected date range, check Notes. If you want
to see events, notes, emails, and documents, check All.

Opening an Item from the Overview Window

Highlight the item in the Overview window and click Open.

Deleting an Item from the Overview Window

Highlight the item in the Overview window and click Delete.

Generating a Report for the Overview Window

In the Overview window click Print. The report appears in the Report
Viewer. Use the Report Viewer toolbar to save, email, or print the
report.

Billing for an Item from the Overview Window

If you have Abacus Accounting Manager, you can bill for items listed on
the Overview window. Highlight an item and click Bill. For more
information about billing, see the Abacus Accounting Manger
Reference Guide.

Picture Window
The Picture window displays a picture associated with open records.
When you have a Name window open, the Picture window displays the
picture associated with the name (like a picture of the client). When you
have a Matter window open, it displays the picture associated with the
matter (like a picture of real estate property). The Picture window itself
is a separate window that can be resized or placed anywhere on your
screen.

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 To open the Picture window, make sure you have a Name or Matter
window open. Then, from the menu bar, select Window/Picture
Window.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

Picture window

To close the Picture window, just click the close button ( ) for the
window.

Showing the Picture Window Always

If you want the Picture window open when you are viewing names or
matters, select File/Setup/User Preferences. The User Preferences
window appears. On the UserInfo tab, under Settings, select
ShowPictureWindow.

Sizing Images in the Picture Window

Bitmap images can appear in their natural size or be automatically
shrunk or stretched to fit the window. Right-click the Picture window
image to switch between these two options. If Actual Size is selected
then the image is displayed in its original size. If Fit to Window is
selected, then the image is being stretched to fit the Picture window.

Hiding the Picture Window

If there are no images associated with the open record, you can select
to hide the Picture window (instead of showing the default image).
Right-click the Picture window and select Hide if there’s no associated
picture.

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 Picture Locations
Underneath the Abacus data directory is a sub-directory called
Pictures. This has two sub-directories called Names and Matters,
where the images must be placed for the appropriate records. The
image files must have a base filename that is the same as the name ID
or the matter file/case number.
For example, for client Anthony Pirelli, ID# 19, follow these steps:
• Scan a picture of Anthony, use a digital camera, or otherwise
create the image file.
• Save your picture as a standard Windows bitmap with the name
[Link]. JPEG (.jpg) files can also be used. Just make sure the
base name of the file matches the ID.
• Place the file in the Abacus\v21\data01\Pictures\Names or
Abacus\v21\data01\Pictures\Matters folder.
• That's it! With the Picture window open, Anthony's picture will
appear whenever you view his record at the Name window.

Restrictions on IDs and Case Numbers

To use the Picture window, you must have name ID numbers and
matter case numbers that can be valid file names. This means you
cannot have certain unusual characters (hyphens are OK, but all other
characters should be letters or digits). Abacus will attempt to replace
illegal characters with underbars (_) when searching for the picture, so
an ID of "90:001" can have a picture with a file name of "90_001", but it
is better to avoid non-letter characters. You should not have any
spaces between characters.
Also note that your network may not allow long file names. Novell 3.12
for example requires a patch to handle long file names.

Using the Class and CaseCode Fields

If the current record does not have a picture available, Abacus can fill
the Picture window with an image you've saved for that class (for
names) or casecode (for matters). The Pictures\Names directory has a
sub-directory called class, and the Pictures\Matters directory has a
sub-directory called casecode. Place images in these directories that
match your class and casecode entries underneath the
\Abacus\v21\Data01 folder. For example, if you use the standard class
codes of CLIENT and JUDGE, create
Pictures\Names\Class\[Link] and
Pictures\Names\Class\[Link]. When you view a client that has
no specific picture, the basic CLIENT picture will appear. When viewing
a judge, the image will change to show the new class.

332 Tools to Help You Work AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Creating Pictures
The pictures must be standard bitmap or JPEG files (*.bmp or *.jpg).
Bitmap files are the most efficient. Using JPEGs or creating very large
files has the potential to slow down operations. If you aren't sure of the
type of bitmap files your image software creates, just try to open it in
the standard Windows Paint program. (You probably want to save it as
a 256-color bitmap, not 24-bit.) If you have a scanner, you can scan a
driver's license or other picture, then use your scanner's software to
save the image file. If you have a digital camera, use the software that
manages the images to save off the image, or use a commercial or
shareware program to convert it.
BE AWARE: Each station on a network may have different video
capabilities. What looks good on one may be unrecognizable on
another. You may need to satisfy the "least common denominator" and
save images that are compatible with your oldest and least capable
computer.
Please notice file sizes! Small files will load quickly as you move from
record to record. Large files will be a bit slower and will use a lot more
disk space. A 256-color face-only picture with acceptable quality that
shows up as about an inch square can be as small as 18,000 bytes.
File size depends on the resolution as well as the size of the picture, so
try to find a balance between file size and picture quality that works for
you. Although it is good to have all the images use the same color
setting (256-color recommended) and similar size, you do not need to
make all the images the same size – the "stretch to fit" option can make
small pictures and large ones fit the same window. This can distort the
picture, however. If, for example, the window is square and the picture
is a tall rectangle, the stretch-to-fit option will widen the image.
Therefore, we strongly recommend:
• Stick to 256-color bitmaps, not 24-bit.
• Use graphics software to crop the size and shape to be consistent
(square is easiest to track).
• Test the results in Abacus before creating a lot of pictures; you may
change your mind on how to create them.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 333

 IMPORTANT TECHNICAL DETAILS: Bitmaps can have many
different internal settings. If you are starting with a true-color or 24-bit
image, it may be anywhere from 200,000 bytes to two megabytes!
These will fill up even a large hard disk fast, and be very slow to
display. They also will look horrible on a machine that is set up to only
display 256 colors. You should convert them to 256-color bitmaps, but
be sure to use software that keeps them close to photographic in
quality! For a bad example, Paint will convert such images, but will
change the color palette to the standard system palette and "posterize"
the image. Instead, you need software that will create a custom logical
palette when it converts to 256 colors. This will create a picture a tenth
the size that loses very little quality.
Here are software programs that can do this:
• Corel Draw or Corel Photo.
• Microsoft Photo Edit.
• Shareware that you can download from [Link].
Please note that Adobe Photo Deluxe 1.0 does NOT convert correctly,
although Adobe Photoshop probably does but has not been tested.

Are These Pictures Part of the Data of Abacus?

No. Abacus does not import pictures into its actual databases. (Notice
that this also means the Back Up utility will NOT back up your pictures!)
By letting you position the files on your hard disk in this way, you have
complete freedom to manipulate, delete or replace the pictures. As
people change or you get a better scanner, just overwrite the pictures
with new ones and they will show up automatically.

Using Multiple Pictures

To have access to more than one image for each record, link the
images to a name or matter. Once linked to a name or matter, you can
just double-click the document from the Linked Documents tab of the
Name or Matter window to open the image in the appropriate
application.

334 Tools to Help You Work AbacusLaw Reference Guide

Date Calculator
The Date Calculator lets you quickly find a date any number of days,
weeks, or months away from another date or you can find the number
of days between two dates.

To open the Date Calculator:

Click the Date Calc button on the toolbar OR from the menu bar, select
Tools/Date Calculator.
To calculate a due date:
1. Under Date+Interval, select or enter the first date in the first (top)
box.
2. Select or enter the number of units in the second box.
3. Select the type of unit (days, weeks, months, etc.).
The results are automatically calculated and displayed at the bottom of
the Date+Interval section.
For example, to calculate the due date for a project due in three days
from today's date, you would enter today's date in the top box, 3 in the
second box, and then select Days.
To calculate the days between two dates:
Under Days Between, select or enter the first date in the first (top) box,
and then select or enter the second date in the second box. The results
are automatically calculated and displayed in the Days Between
section.
NOTE: Work days are inclusive, so Today - Today is one work day,
even though the Days Between is 0.
To copy and paste results:
If you opened the Date Calculator while working in a date field (on the
Event window, for example), click Actions and then click Paste to input
the calculated date into the field. Otherwise, click Copy, place the
cursor where you want to copy the results, and press CRL+V to paste
the results.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 335

 To add an event:
To add an event from the Date Calculator, click Actions and then click
Add Event. The Adding a New Event window appears letting you add
an event.

History
Abacus is designed to handle interruptions. You can use the Forward,
Back or History buttons on the Toolbar to help you multi-task.
To return to a record you were working on, click the Back button. To
see a list of the names, matters, and events you viewed recently, click
the History button. The History window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

Select a record and click Go To.

TIP: this is a great way to review your day’s work and verify that you
have billed for everything you accomplished.

Timer
The Timer lets you track the time you spend on a task. You can open,
start, or stop the Timer from anywhere in Abacus by simply clicking in
the Timer box located on the Message Bar at the bottom of the Abacus
window, or you can select Tools/Timer. Notice that the timer displays
both the elapsed time as well as the amount to be billed for the elapsed
time.

336 Tools to Help You Work AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Note: If you purchase Abacus Accounting Manager, you have a much
more sophisticated timer available. Each time you bill an event or note,
a new Time Ticket window opens for you to finalize the data. This
window includes its own start/stop timer, it can stay open while you
work in other windows, and you can open more than one at a time.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

You can also start the timer from any name note, matter note, or the
Event window by clicking the Timer button next to the Minutes box.
For example, when you start a phone call, you can start the timer in the
note, take notes as you engage in the phone conversation, and when
you are done click the Timer button again to bring up the timer. Then
click the Post button to post the elapsed time to the note or event.

Click the Timer

button to open
the timer.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 337

 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

Click the Timer

button to open
the timer.

Setting Up the Timer

1. From the Timer, click the Setup button. The Timer Setup window
appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Use the following to help you change the settings for the window as
necessary:

338 Tools to Help You Work AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 • Description: The description of what you are timing. Usually
this is set for you to a matter or name, but you can modify it at
will.
• $ Rate: The dollar rate at which you value your time for this
project. This will be multiplied by the duration to display an
accumulated dollar amount. Set this to zero (0) to hide the
dollar display altogether.
• Auto-start Timer in Dialer: When selected, the timer will start
automatically whenever you use the Phone Dialer (unless the
timer is already running). If you are not using the timer
features, turn this feature off here. Note that you can still start
the timer manually by clicking the Timer button from the Phone
Dialer.
• Enable Time Cop: When selected, Abacus will automatically
stamp the associated note with a description of certain
activities (helpful in billing for services). For example, if you
generated a form then the system would add a note stating the
time this was done and the name of the template used to
create the document. Time Cop only works if the timer is
running and it was started from the button next to a Note or
Event's Duration field (otherwise Abacus doesn't know which
note is associated with the timer).
• Background: Indicates the image used for the background of
the Timer window. To change, click the button and select
another background image.
3. Click Save to save your settings and return to the timer.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 339

 Timing a Task
From the Timer, do any of the following to help you time a task.
To start/stop/reset the timer:
Click the Stop/Start the timer button to alternately start and stop the
timer. Click the Reset the timer button to zero out the time.

Click the red light/

Click the gray button green light button to
to Reset the Timer. start/stop the Timer.

To minimize the timer:

Click the Close button in the upper right corner of the window. The
timer will continue to run in the background while you are working.
Notice the elapsed time displayed in the Message Bar. To open the
Timer window, click the timer hotspot on the Message (status) Bar OR
click the Timer button again.
To post the final time:
When you are finished with your task, in the Timer window, click the
Post button to stop the timer and enter the final time into the window
you were working with.

Phone Dialer
The Phone Dialer lets you call names or a custom number. You can
use this feature if you have a modem that is connected to your handset
phone line.

340 Tools to Help You Work AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 To open the Phone Dialer, from the menu bar, select Tools/Phone
Dialer.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

NOTE: The first time you open the Phone Dialer, you might be asked to
set up the modem (see page 343).
To select a different name, click the Browse button and choose one
from the list.
In most cases, the Dialer displays the numbers for the current Name,
with the first number ready to dial. If, however, you are editing notes or
highlighting an event with a phone number in the notes, that phone
number will be ready to dial.
Select one of the four phone numbers to dial or select Other and type
the number in the Number to dial box.
NOTE: If the phone number is followed by an extension, for example,
(222)555-1212 x203, only the part up to the "x" is sent to the modem.
Click the Dial button and your call is placed.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 341

 Phone Number Options
For numbers that need to be dialed differently (like dialing a 1 but no
area code), click the Options button. The Phone Number Options
window appears. This lets you specify exactly how to dial the phone
number that is currently selected. If one of the four name record
numbers is selected, these options are saved in the name record so
the number will be dialed correctly next time.
Each of the four phone fields in the Names database can be set up for
dialing a certain way. This lets you keep phone numbers in a consistent
format, yet keep track of those numbers that need special dialing. For
instance, in some areas a number may need “1” but no area code, or
the area code without a “1,” or international code.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

Use the following to help you complete the window:

• Use default logic: Uses the default logic to dial the number.
Example: The phone field contains 1-858-555-1212. If you are
located in the 858 area code, Abacus will dial 555-1212 and
not the entire number.
• Dial literally: Dials the number exactly as it is typed.
• Custom settings: Lets you specify exactly what type of
handling you want to use.
Click OK to close this window. The Phone Dialer reappears.
If you need to time the call, click the Timer button. The timer may start
automatically when you place a call depending on your Timer setup.
For help using the timer, see page 336.

Setting Up Speed Dial Numbers

1. From the Phone Dialer, click the Speed Dialer button. The
Personal Phone Numbers window appears.

342 Tools to Help You Work AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 2. Enter the names and phone numbers of the people you call most
frequently.
3. Click OK.
4. Close the Phone Dialer. The next time you use the Phone Dialer,
you will see the speed dial numbers you set up displayed.

Calling Names Via Speed Dialing

From the Phone Dialer, click the speed dial button for the person you
want to call. The call is placed automatically.

Setting Up the Modem

1. From the Phone Dialer, click the Modem Setup button. The
Modem Setup window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

NOTE: This window appears automatically if you try to open the Phone
Dialer when the modem is not set up properly.
2. Use the following to help you change the settings for the window as
necessary:
• Dial all numbers literally: When selected, the Phone Dialer
will always dial numbers exactly as they are written.
• COM Port: The COM Port that your modem is configured to
use. If you are unsure, you can cycle through 1-4 until the
phone dialer functions.
• Local area code: Your local area code. Be sure to enter this
field so the area code will not be dialed when calling local
numbers.
• Long distance: The number you dial to get national long
distance (usually 1). You can also include access codes if
necessary.
• International: The number you dial to get international long
distance (usually 011).

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 343

 • Other Prefix: Other number(s) you must dial for phone usage.
Many companies require you to dial 9 to access an outside
line.
NOTE: You can use commas to create a pause when dialing other
prefixes.
• Suffix: Any suffix numbers you might have to use. Suffix
numbers are sometimes used in telephony products to identify
who has made the call, as in automated billing.
3. Click OK.

Call Manager
Overview of the Call Manager
The Call Manager lets you keep notes on an incoming or outgoing
telephone call. It also lets you review telephone call history and other
notes related to the selected name or matter. Phone call notes entered
into the Call Manager are automatically posted to the Notes tab of the
Name and Matter windows.

To open the Call Manager:

• Click the Call Mgr button on the toolbar, or
• Press F2, or
• Select Tools/Call Manager, or
• Right-click any event in any of the vent list views and select Call
Now. (This is useful in the Calls To Make section of the Calendar.)
For Call Manager you can:
• Record telephone calls

344 Tools to Help You Work AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 • View call history
• Configure Call Manager

Recording Telephone Calls with Call Manager

TIP: At any time while recording telephone calls, you can press Ctrl+N
to jump to the Notes box.
1. From the Call Manager window, select In if it is an incoming call or
Out if you are making a call.
NOTE: To set the default value for this setting, select
File/Setup/User Preferences, select the Appearance tab, and
change the New Phone call setting.
NOTE: You will not see the In/Out options if they are not
configured for the Call Manager.
37. Change the date and time for the call as necessary.
38. If the name window is open and the Call Manager has been
configured to initialize to the open name/matter, the Call Manager
is initialized for that name record. If no name is selected, for Name,
enter a few letters of the name and press Tab OR click the lookup
button and select a name. If applicable, for Matter, enter a few
letters of the matter and press Tab OR click the lookup button and
select a matter. Notice that when you select a name, the phone
number for the name appears in the Phone box. Additional
numbers for the name will be listed in the drop-down list. Select the
appropriate number for the call.
39. Click the lookup button for the field to the right of the Name field
and select a note type.
40. If you want the call to be private, check the Private box. For more
information about privacy, see Overview of Controlling Privacy on
page 486.
NOTE: You will not see the Private check box if it is not configured
for the Call Manager.
41. If you have a modem connected to your phone line, click the phone
button or press Ctrl+D to activate the Phone Dialer (see Phone
Dialer on page 340 for details). If you do not have a modem, make
the call manually.
42. Start the timer.
If you called using the Phone Dialer or if you have configured the
Call Manager to start the timer upon opening the Call Manager, you
do not need to start the timer.
If you called manually and have not configured the Call Manager to
start the timer upon opening, start the timer by clicking the start
button (or press Ctrl+P for the internal timer).

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 345

 43. Finish your telephone call. If you called manually, after the call be
sure to stop the timer by clicking the pause button to the right of the
timer (or press Ctrl+P for the internal timer). When you are finished,
in the Call Results box to the right of Matter, select the type of
contact you made (Spoke to, Left Message, No Answer, etc.).
NOTE: You will not see the Call Results box if it is not configured
for the Call Manager.
44. Record notes about your call in the Notes box. Press F5 for text
macros for fast note entry.
45. When you are finished, click Save (if you have configured for the
Call Manager to display the Save button). The phone call note (or
notes) will be saved as a special type of note that will appear in the
Related Notes pane as well as with any selected name or matter.
(This means that the next time you view the name or matter
associated with the phone call, the phone call will appear under the
Notes tab.)
46. At this point, do any of the following:
Click Close to close the Call Manager. You call will automatically
save, even if you didn't click Save.
Click Remind to create a reminder to call this person back. The
New Event window appears where you can add a callback
reminder event.
To print the current note, click Print. The Select an Option window
appears. Click Current.
If you are billing for this call, click the Bill button and the time will
be sent to billing.
To save the current note and immediately add another phone call
note, click Add and add the next note.
NOTE: To save and close the Call Manager in one step, press and hold
the Ctrl key when clicking the Save button, or press Ctrl+S.

Viewing Call History in Call Manager

When you select a name and/or matter on the Call Manager window,
previous calls forthe selected name/matter are listed in the Related
Notes pane (right top pane). Youcan highlight a call in the Related
Notes pane to see it in the Related Notes Previewpane (right bottom
pane). Notice that you can resize the entire window to see morenotes,
and there are vertical and horizontal "splitter bars" to resize the
browseand the preview pane.

346 Tools to Help You Work AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Do any of the following to get more call history or note information:
• At the top right, select My to view only notes or calls you made or
received.
• In the box to the right of My, filter the list by selecting the type of
previouscalls or notes you want to view.
• Highlight a call in the Related Notes pane. The note for the
selected call appearsin the preview pane below.
• To print historical notes, click the Print button. The Select an
Option window [Link] List to print the entire list of historical
calls OR click Highlighted to onlyprint one note.

Configuring Call Manager

To configure the Call Manager, click the gear button. The Call Manager
Settings window appears. Make changes to the settings and click OK
to save.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 347

 Following is a description of each setting.
• Timer Style: Lets you select an internal or external timer. An
internal timer appears inside the Call Manager window. An external
timer appears as a separate Timer window when the timer is
started.
• Set initial cursor position to: Lets you set the initial cursor
position in the Call Manger window to the Name, Matter, or Notes
field.
• Start timer upon opening the window: When checked, the timer
will start when the Call Manager window is opened.
• Initialize to an open matter or name window: When checked, the
Call Manager will use the open name or matter to auto-fill the
Name or Matter field.
• Stay up if Abacus is minimized (creates own taskbar item):
When checked, the Call Manager window will remain open when
Abacus is minimized. When not checked, the Call Manager window
will minimize when Abacus is minimized.
• Keep call manager on top of other windows: When checked, the
Call Manager window will be positioned in front of any other open
window.
• Show In/Out radio buttons: When checked, the In and Out
settings will appear on the Call Manager window.
• Show the "Private" checkbox: When checked, the Private
checkbox appears on the Call Manager window.

348 Tools to Help You Work AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 • Show related notes: When checked, the related notes panes will
appear on the Call Manager window.
• Show the Save button (for intermittent saving): When checked,
the Save button appears on the Call Manager window.
• Show "call results" box (Spoke to...): When checked, the Call
Results box appears on the Call Manager window (to the right of
the Matter field).
• Close call manager after billing a note: When checked, the Call
Manager window closes after clicking the Bill button to bill for a
call.

Text Macros
In any note field in Abacus, you can use text macros. Text macros are
“abbreviations” that you can create to reduce typing effort. Within the
note field, you can quickly expand the text macro into regular text.

Expanding Text Macros

There are two methods you can use to expand text macros:
• Use the F5 key
• Use the spacebar
Note that the spacebar option has to be turned on in User Preferences
before you can use it. Select File/Setup/User Preferences. In the User
Preferences window’s User Info tab, check Expand text macros with
SpaceBar.
To expand a text macro, place the cursor at the end of the text macro
and press the F5 key or the spacebar (if this option is turned on). The
text macro is replaced with the associated text and you can continue
typing. If there is a question about the text macro, a browse window of
text macros appears for you to add or edit your own abbreviations.

Importing Small Files

The text replacement for text macros is normally limited to 50
characters. If you want longer passages from a text macro (some users
set up small “templates” with several lines of text), you can set the
description to identify a small text file that contains your text (the size
limit is 6,000 bytes). For example, create a macro called NoteForm.
The description must be in the form of “FILE:<FileName>", so enter:
FILE:c:\Abacus\[Link].
To use it, edit a note and type NoteForm, then expand the text macro.
“NoteForm” will be replaced by the contents of the file
c:\abacus\[Link].

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 349

 Special Macros
• Enter addr or phones in a note and then expand it to the related
name’s address or phone numbers.
• Enterfi in a note and then expand it to “[Link]
• Enter htin a note and then expand it to [Link]
• Enter CRT in an event note and then expand it. If the linked matter
has a court set, the court's street address replaces the text macro.

Popup Calendar
Abacus provides a perpetual calendar for you to view any time.
To open the calendar, do one of the following:
• From any date field, press F9 or click the lookup button. The popup
calendar appears. Click a date and click OK and the date is pasted
into the field.
• At any time, press F4 or select Tools/PopUp Calendar.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

Use the arrow buttons to

move to different
months.

Click Today to move to

today’s date.
Drag the corner to resize
and see multiple
calendars.

To resize the popup calendar to see multiple months, click the bottom
right corner and drag.
You can use any of these shortcut keys to adjust the date:
T Today
D Enter a date to jump to
Home First day of the month
End Last day of the month
1-9,0,-,= Go to that month number. 0 is 10, - is 11, = is
12
PageUp or M Prior month
PageDown or m Next month
Y Prior year
y Next year
H View or Edit Holidays for this month.

350 Tools to Help You Work AbacusLaw Reference Guide

21. Generating Reports
Overview of Reports
Abacus includes an extensive list of standard report templates that can
be used to generate reports. In addition, you can customize any of the
existing report templates or add new ones from scratch. Combined with
the index and query features in Abacus, reports can be built to output
your data in almost any format you could ever want.
Most reports can be output as a standard text file, making them small
and easy to email or edit in a word processor.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 351

 Report Templates and Reports
Report templates contain the information that tells Abacus what data to
put in the report and how to format this data.

Report templates
are used to define
the way a report
looks and what data
will be in the report.

352 Generating Reports AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Report Types
Abacus creates the following report types:

Columnar
Columnar reports provide a one-line per record display of data. These
reports are usually called "Lists" (such as Names List or Matters List).

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 353

 Block
Block reports provide multiple lines of data for each record.

Label
Labelreports provide almost any type of label including standard
mailing labels and folder labels.

354 Generating Reports AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Laser Calendar
Laser Calendar™ reports provide weekly, monthly, or yearly graphical
calendars.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 355

 Organizer
Organizer reports provide daily lists of Appointments, Reminders,
Things To Do and Calls To Make.

Organizer Printout Wrapping

Printed Organizers will automatically print two lines of Appointment
information for every time slot if there's enough space. This includes
the default “Portrait” Organizer layout. The other boxes have an option
for whether to wrap or not.

356 Generating Reports AbacusLaw Reference Guide

Generating a Report
1. From the menu bar, select File/Reports and select:
• Names to generate reports based on name data (like client
lists).
• Events (Calendars) to generate reports and calendars based
on event data.
• Matters to generate reports based on matter data.
• Codesto generate reports based on code data.
• Rulesto generate reports based on rule data.
• Name Notesto generate reports based on name notes data.
• Matter Notesto generate reports based on matter notes data.
• Operator Audit to generate the Operator Audit report. This
report creates a list of all names, events, matters and rules
edited by a particular user for a specific date range.
The Report Control window appears. If you selected to generate an
Events report, the window includes the Interval and Who fields.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Use the following to help you complete the window as necessary:

• Report: Indicates the report template that will be used. To
change, click the button. The Report list window appears
displaying report templates. Select the report template you
want to use and click OK.
• Query: Indicates the query (if any) that will be used to filter the
information to be included in the report. To change, click the

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 357

 button and select Quick query or Query Manager to create or
select a query to use. (You can also select Clear current query
to remove the currently selected query.)
For more information about queries, see Overview of Queries
on page 299.
• If you chose to generate a report based on the Events
database, click the Interval button and select the time period
for which you want to limit data. Edit the date boxes as
necessary.
• If you chose to generate a report based on the Events
database, click the Who button. The "Who" Setup for
Calendars window appears. Complete the settings on the
window.
• Output to: Indicates the type of output you want to generate
(to the printer, screen, file or data-merge file). To change, click
the button. The Output to window appears. Do one of the
following:
• To send output to the printer, highlight Printer and click
OK. The Report Control window reappears.
• To send output to screen (in .pdf format), highlight Screen
and click OK.
• To send output to a file, highlight File and click OK. The
Report Control window reappears. If you want the file to
appear on the screen automatically after saving, check
Open the generated file.
• To send output to a data-merge file (like a spreadsheet
file), highlight Data-Merge File and click OK. The Merge
File window appears. Highlight the type of file you want
and click OK. The Report Control window reappears. If you
want the file to appear on the screen automatically after
saving, check Open the generated file.
• Printer: The printer to be used (if not outputting to the screen
or a file). It is initialized to your User Preference setting for the
printer associated with printing labels or reports. To change,
click the Printer arrow and select the printer. If left blank, you
will be prompted to select a printer when you click Print.
3. Click the Print button.
• If you selected to output to a printer, the report is sent to the
selected printer.
• If you selected to output to the screen, the report appears on
your screen in .pdf format.
• If you selected to output to a file or data-merge file, a window
appears prompting you for a file name, file type, and storage
path. Enter the information and click Save. The report file is
saved. If you checked Open the generated file, the report file
appears automatically in a text editor (for text files) or in a
spreadsheet program (for data-merge files).

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Generating a Report from the Names/Matters
Browse
You can create a report based on selected records from the Names or
Matters Browse.
1. From the Names Browse window or Matters Browse window, do
one of the following:
• If you want to generate a report for one name/matter, highlight
the name/matter.
• If you want to generate a report for more than one
name/matter, either tag the records or run a query for the
records you want to include.
2. Click the Actions button and select Reports. Select:
• This Name/Matter only if you want to generate a report for the
highlighted name/matter.
• All (in query) if you want to generate a report based on query
results.
• Tagged Records if you want to generate a report for all the
tagged names/matters.
3. The Report Control window appears. Complete the window as
necessary.
4. Click the Print button and the report is generated.

Generating Multiple Reports in a Batch

1. From the menu bar, select File/Reports/All Reports.
2. The Report List window appears displaying all report templates for
all databases. Check the boxes for the reports you want to
generate and click OK. A window asks if you want to save this
tagged list to print any time from Batch Reports.
3. Click Yes. You are prompted to enter a descriptive name for the
report batch. (If you click No, you are asked if you want to print all
the tagged reports.)
4. Click OK. You are asked if you want to print all the tagged reports.
5. Click Yes if you want to generate all the reports in the batch now.
You are finished with this task. Click No if you want to generate all
the reports in the batch later.
This ability to tag multiple reports exists whenever the Report List
window is displayed. So, if you want to create a batch only of name
reports, you could select File/Reports/Names, then click the Report
button to see a Report list limited to names.
For help generating reports in a batch, see page 362.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 359

Report Viewer
When you send a report to the screen, the report is displayed in the
Report Viewer.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

Report Viewer Tools

From the Report Viewer, you can:

Click the Print button to print the

report.

Click the Save As button to save the

file under a new name.

Click the eMail button to send the

report to an email address.

Click the Exit button to exit Report

Viewer.

Jump to other pages in the report.

Zoom in and out on the report.

360 Generating Reports AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Report Viewer Right-Click Menu
The Report Viewer also has a right-click menu:
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

• Save As: Lets you save the report under a new file name. (It is the
same function as clicking the Save As button on the Report Viewer
toolbar.)
• Print: Lets you print the report. (It is the same function as clicking
the Print button on the Report Viewer toolbar.)
• Show Toolbar text: Toggles toolbar button labels on/off.

Managing Batch Reports

A batch consists of two or more reports that have been grouped
together so that they can be printed at the same time. Batch reports are
great to use if you need to generate more than one report or if you
generate the same reports on a regular basis.
For example, suppose you need to print a separate calendar for each
attorney in a large law firm every Monday morning. Instead of printing
them one at a time, you could tag all the reports and save them as a
batch. When you come in Monday you simply print the one batch, and
all the reports that you tagged will be printed.
Batch Reports are managed from the Report Batches window. To open
the window, select File/Reports/Batch Reports.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 361

 Adding Batch Reports
1. From the Report Batches window, click the Add button. The Report
List window appears.
2. Select the reports you want in the batch and click OK. You are
asked if you want to save this batch to be printed any time.
3. Click Yes. The Enter a Value window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

4. Type the name of the batch in the box and click OK. The Report
Batches window reappears with the new batch listed.

Editing Batch Reports

1. From the Report Batches window, select the batch you want to
edit.
2. Click the Edit button. The Report List window appears.
3. Select/deselect the reports you want in the batch.
4. Click OK. The Report Batches window reappears.

Deleting Batch Reports

1. From the Report Batches window, select the batch you want to
delete.
2. Click the Delete button. A window appears asking you if you are
sure you want to delete the batch.
3. Click Yes.

Generating a Report Batch

1. From the Report Batches window, select the report batch you want
to print and click OK.
2. A window appears asking you if you are sure you want to print the
batch. Click Yes.

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Adding Report Templates
1. From the menu bar, select File/Reports and select the database for
which you want to work with reports. The Report Control window
appears.
2. Click the Report button. The Report List window appears for the
selected database.

3. Click the Add button. The Enter a Value window appears.

4. Type the name of the new report template and click OK. The
Report Types window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

5. Select a report type. For help understanding the different report

types, see page 353.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 363

 6. Click OK. One of the following happens:
• If you selected to create a columnar template, the Edit Report
window appears. Use this window to design the template. For
help, see Working with the Edit Report Window and Report
Designer on page 367.
• If you selected to create a block report template, the Report
Designer appears. Use this window to design the template. For
help, see Working with the Edit Report Window and Report
Designer on page 367.
• If you selected to create a label report template, the Label
Setup window appears. Use this window to design the
template. For help, see Working with the Label Setup Window
on page 380. Note that after you use the Label Setup window,
the Report Designer appears letting you format the label layout
on the report. For help using the Report Designer, see Working
with the Edit Report Window and Report Designer below.
• If you selected to create a Laser Calendar report template, the
Laser Calendar Design window appears. Use this window to
design the template. For help, see Working with the Laser
Calendar Design Window on page 382.
• If you selected to create an organizer report template, the Daily
Organizer Setup window appears. Use this window to design
the template (see page Error! Bookmark not defined.).

Cloning Report Templates

1. From the menu bar, select File/Reports and select the database for
which you want to work with reports. The Report Control window
appears.
2. Click the Report button. The Report List window appears for the
selected database.

364 Generating Reports AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 3. Select the report you want to duplicate.
4. Click the Clone button. The Enter a Value window appears.
5. Type the name of the new report and click OK.
6. The Report List window reappears with the cloned report now
listed. Edit the cloned report as you like.

Editing Report Templates

1. From the menu, select File/Reports and select the database on
which you want to report. The Report Control window appears.
2. Click the Report button. The Report List window appears for the
selected database.
3. Select the report you want to change.
4. Click the Edit button. The appropriate editor window appears:
• If the report was a columnar report, the Edit Report window
appears. Edit the report template. For help, see Working with
the Edit Report Window and Report Designer on page 367.
• If the report was a block report, the Report Designer appears.
Edit the report template. For help, see Working with the Edit
Report Window and Report Designer on page 367.
• If the report was a label report, the Report Designer appears.
Edit the report template. For help, see Working with the Edit
Report Window and Report Designer on page 367.
• If the report was a Laser Calendar, the Laser Calendar Design
window appears. Edit the report template. For help, see
Working with the Laser Calendar Design Window on page 382.

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 • If the report was an organizer report, the Daily Organizer Setup
window appears. Edit the report template.

Deleting Report Templates

1. From the menu bar, select File/Reports and select the database to
report on. The Report Control window appears.
2. Click the Report button. The Report List window appears for the
selected database.

3. Select the report template you want to delete.

4. Click the Delete button. A window appears asking you if you want
to delete the tagged (selected) templates or only the highlighted
one.
5. Make your selection. The Report List window reappears and the
selected report template(s) is deleted.

Renaming Report Templates

To rename a report template, right-click it in any report list and select
Rename. The Modify report name window appears. Change the
information for the report template as necessary and click OK.

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Working with the Edit Report Window and Report
Designer
Designing a columnar report template using the Edit Report window
and block report template using the Report Designer is basically the
same, but with one difference: When you design a columnar template,
information is laid out in columns for you, but when you design a block
report template, you can move the fields (or information blocks) around
in the Report Designer.

When you design a

columnar report
template in the Edit
Report window,
information is laid out
in columns for you.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 367

 When you design a
block report template
in the Report
Designer, you can
move the fields (or
information blocks)
around.

In designing a columnar or block report, you can do any of the

following. When you are finished creating the report template, click OK
to save the report template and use it later or click Run to generate a
report using the template now.

To add columns to the report:

1. Click Add. The Fields window appears.

Depending on the
database you’re
reporting on
(especially Events),
you may be able to
select a related
database’s fields.

2. Select the check boxes for the fields you want to appear on the
report. Each field will be represented by a column in the report.
3. Click OK. The Edit Report window reappears with the new
columns.

To edit columns in the report:

1. Double-click the header of the column you want to edit. The
Column Properties Edit window appears.

368 Generating Reports AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Numeric Formatting
If the field expression is
numeric, these options
format the display in the
report body and in any
totals.

2. Use the following to help you complete the settings on the window:
• Column head: The title for a column of data. By default the
column head is the sameas the name of the field. You can use
multiple lines by separating each word witha semi-colon. For
example, First;Name would create a column that looked like
this:
First
Name
TIP: If the heading is longer than the column width, it will be
truncated, so be sure to change the width accordingly.
• Expression: This programming-level expression determines
exactly which data is [Link] is usually just the name of a
field (preceded by the database "alias") and doesnot need to
be adjusted, but experts with a strong understanding of
database expressionscan do even complex expressions. For
example, if you know two fields are exactly8 characters wide,
you can leave the column width at 8, check the Wrap box, and
addthe two fields together so that the second field appears
below the first on a secondline:
Names->Attorney + Names->Class
• Position #: Indicates the column order in the report (where 1 is
the column farthestto the left).

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 369

 • Column width: The number of characters wide the column will
be. TIP: Make the columnwidth longer than necessary to force
a blank space between columns.
• Only Print on Group break #: Only prints data one time for
information that has beengrouped. For example, the Short
Format Calendar is grouped on the When field. Thedate is set
to 1, so the date only prints once for each day and then again
each timeit changes. This cleans up a report that would
otherwise have the same date printedon every line for each
event in the day.
• Fill column: When selected, if you are using a proportional
font, the column will display as much text as will fit depending
on the Column width value. Note that with a proportional font,
Column Width is interpreted as the horizontal width of the
column in 1/10 of an inch, NOT necessarily the number of
characters to print. For example, if you enter 25 in this field and
you are using a proportional font, the column will fit 0.25 inches
of text, NOT 40 characters.
• Wrap if wider than column: When selected, columns that
include character stringsthat are too long for the column will
continue on multiple lines.
Under Numeric Formatting:
Numeric fields or expressions can have formatting applied (dollar
signs, commas every 3 digits or right-justification), and you can still
get totals on these fields. The totals will be formatted, too. These
options are disabled for other types of fields.
• Total this field: When selected, columns with numeric data are
totaled.
• Add Dollar sign: Inserts a "$" in front of the number.
• Right Justify: Places the number at the right edge of the field
rectangle instead of at the leading left edge. This is better for
lining up numbers in columns.
• Commas every 3 digits: Inserts a comma separator (so
numbers look like 1,000,000).
3. Click OK.

To change page layout:

1. Select Format/Page Layout. The Page Layout window appears.

370 Generating Reports AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Use the following to help you complete the settings on the Page
Layout window:
• Orientation: Lets you choose whether you want the report to
be printed Portrait (vertical) or Landscape (horizontal).
• Page Size: Determines whether the report fills a legal (8.5” x
14”) or letter (8.5” x 11”) sized page.
• Direction: Lets you choose the report output format. Click the
button. The Output window appears. Select the output format
and click OK.
• Record Separator: Indicates what will be used to separate
records. For example, if you chose line as the separator for a
names report, a drawn line would separate each name. This is
also how you can separate groups of records.
• Condensed: When selected, the report uses a "condensed"
typeface (around 16 characters per inch across the page).

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 371

 • Advanced: When you click this button, the Report Properties
window appears, providing some advanced settings for
formatting the report.

Use the following to complete the settings on this window:

• Output file name: Lets you use the same output file for
reports always sent to a file. This way you won't have to
enter it each time, and Batch reports can send different
reports to different files. Abacus is one of few Windows
programs that lets you output reports as an ASCII text file
(not a graphical image) so you can edit them in a word
processor or send as email.
• "Continued" expr.: When a record has too many lines to
print on the page and "breaks" to print the rest on the next
page, this setting indicates the record's ID or main fields at
the top of the second page. For example, a Names report
can be set to: trim(LastFirst()) + " (continued...)"
so the new page will display: Smith, John (continued...)
For more information about expressions, see page 498.
• Keep lines together: For block reports, this setting
controls whether a record will print partially at the end of a
page, then "break" and print the rest on the next page. A
setting of 0 means the report will NOT print partial records.
Instead, the space at the bottom of the page is left blank
and the full record is printed on the next page. If the layout
of a record is many lines but it has a natural breaking point,
you may want to allow breaks there to save paper. For
example, a Names report may print 4 lines of data, then
have a blank line, then 4 more rows of data. A setting of 4
would allow page breaks at that blank line.
• AutoHeads for Groups: If the report has group
expressions defined, then special lines are printed at the
beginning and end of each group (these are called group

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 headers and footers). The default "AutoHead" prints the
group expression itself, preceded by one or more asterisks
to indicate the group level. If you defined custom group
headers, you can turn this setting OFF to avoid these
automatic headers.
• Summary Only: A summary report ONLY prints group
headers and footers. It does not print the data for individual
records. This is useful for reports with numeric fields with
totals set, so you can see the totals for the groups without
wading through the data.
3. Click OK.

To delete columns from the report:

Click within the column and click Delete. A confirmation window
appears. Click Yes.

To create a custom page header:

1. Select Format/Custom headers. The Page Headers window
appears.

Use this box to create

custom headers for
the report.

Use these settings to

format the column
headers for the report.

2. Type the custom page header in the box. Note that headers have
three sections: Left (which is left-justified), Center (which is
centered) and Right (which is right-justified). Each section should
be separated by a vertical bar (|). For example, if you want a
centered header, you would type |My Centered Text. If you want a
header with both left text and centered text, you would type My
Left Text|My Centered Text. For just a right header, you would
type ||My Right Text.
3. Under Column headers, if you want the headers to show, make
sure that Show is checked. Then, select whether you want the
column headers left-justified, centered, or right-justified within the
column.
4. Click OK.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 373

 To add images to the first or all pages:
Select Format/Images. The Report Images window appears. You can
add a logo to just the first page, or have watermarks covering each
page, and more. Bitmap (.bmp) and JPEG (.jpg) formats are supported.

To change font usage:

1. Select Format/Fonts. The Report Font Setup window appears.

2. Click one of the buttons for a text group. The Font window appears.
Change the font settings on the window and click OK.
3. Change the other text groups as you like.
4. (Optional) In the Horizontal spacing character box, type a
character to determine horizontal spacing. With proportional fonts,
by default, Abacus will still place the columns or fields in the same
horizontal physical location as with the original fixed pitch fonts.
This system uses an average character width of a tenth of an inch,
with an adjustment for Condensed reports. This gives you control
over having plenty of space for the text without one column’s text
running over the next column because it contains a lot of wide
upper-case characters (this is a common problem with other report
writers). However, this means that no matter how small you may
make a font, the amount of data that appears on a page doesn’t
change; you can’t squeeze more columns in because the column
widths haven’t shrunken with the text. Instead, you get more
meaningful white space between the columns. Also notice that if
you make the body font excessively large, the data may not fit into
the column width and can become truncated.

374 Generating Reports AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 To give you more flexibility with these issues, the horizontal spacing
character lets you tell the report engine to instead calculate an average
character width from the character you enter. We recommend a "B".
When a character is entered, the report engine no longer uses a tenth
of an inch to determine horizontal spacing, but instead uses the width
of your character. So, if you define a small font, you can squeeze more
columns onto a report because the columns widths will shrink to fit the
text size.
Similarly, if you want to use a large font, the column widths will grow,
and you will not be able to fit as many columns on a page. Notice that if
you use this feature you do risk letting some data run together or get
truncated. Different fonts have different characters that are wide or
narrow – some script fonts have very wide Bs and will need a different
character to control horizontal spacing. But if you want to create a tiny
font with lots of columns, it lets you design some very interesting
reports!
5. Click OK.

To sort the report:

1. Click Index. The Edit Index Properties window appears.

2. Click the lookup button for Index to use. The Indexes window
appears. Select an index (sort order) and click OK.
3. For experts only. For this report to build its own special index each
time it is run, clear the Index to Use box. In the Expression box,
type a valid xBASE expression to index. This will usually be the
name of a field. For example, to index a names list by zip code,
type Zip. You can combine fields for a multi-level sort as long as
everything is a character string. For example, in names “Last+first”
is fine because they are both character types. “Active+Last” fails
because Active is a logical field. Abacushas an internal function
called “cast” that you can use to convert any type field to a
character, so “cast(Active)+Last+first” would work, giving you all
inactive names first (“N” comes before “Y”), all in alphabetical
order. See page 498 for details on expressions.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 375

 NOTE: Creating temporary indexes normally needs to go through the
entire database, which can take a while on large files. If a report needs
to be run regularly with an index that is not in the Index To Use list,
you may want to create a user-defined index (see page 78). Abacus
will maintain that index just like its own, so the report can leave the
Expression field blank and simply use that index by naming it here in
Index to use.
4. For experts only. The Scope Top and Scope Bottom fields let you
specify a range of values within the index. This type of selection is
much faster than just using a query. For example, if a names list is
indexed by LAST_FIRST and the Scope Top is "G", this report will
always start on the Gs. If you set Scope Bottom to "KZ," the same
report will print starting at the Gs and ending with all that start with
K.
NOTE: If you select a standard Index to Use, set a Scope AND input an
Expression, Abacus will sub-sort the scoped data. This means the
standard index and scope can select a subset of data (instantaneously)
and then re-index ONLY those records. If you have very large
databases this can create a complex management report in seconds
instead of minutes.
5. Click OK to save your changes.

To change notes display in the report

For name and matter reports only.
1. Click Notes. The Notes Display window appears.

2. Under Print full note? select:

• Yes to print the linked note for each record.
• No if you do not want to print linked notes.

376 Generating Reports AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 • Partial to print notes up to private text, which is preceded by a
three-asterisk marker (***).
3. Click OK.
4. If you selected No, then you are finished with this procedure. But if
you selected Yes or Partial, then the Enter a Value window
appears. Enter the number of characters you want to use to indent
notes. If notes are printed, they appear under the main record and
can stretch all the way across a page. Indenting the notes lets you
center the notes and position them for the best appearance.
5. Click OK. Another Enter a Value window appears. Enter the
number of characters wide you want the notes column in the report
to be.
6. Click OK. Another Enter a Value window appears. Enter the
number of notes you want to print. If you enter 0, all the notes will
print. Any other integer value will print the latest number of notes.
For example, if you have clients with hundreds of notes, you may
prefer to only print the latest 10 notes for each.
7. Click OK.

To change the example record:

1. Select Other/Data. A Browse window appears.
2. Select the record you want to use as an example as you design the
report template.
3. Click OK.

To define report groups:

After an index is selected, you can define groups that group together
records with common data. For example, a Names report might have a
group of all last names that start with the same letter.
To have a report group, you must be using an index. A group
expression must then match the first part of the index expression. All
records in the first group will have the same value for the group
expression.
For instance, if you index Names by LastName + FirstName, you can
create a group expression for LEFT(LAST, 1). Notice the LEFT()
function is used to specify the first character of the last name. All
names that start with “A” are now in a group. When you hit the Name
that starts with a “B”, this is called a group break. At this point a report
might output special footers or totals or even a page break.
Once the footer information for the “A”s is done, a report may print
group header information for the upcoming “B”s, then print the “B”s as
a group, and so on with footer information following each group.
For more information about expressions, see page 498.
1. Select Other/Groups. The Group Properties Edit window appears.

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 2. Use the following to help you complete the window:
• To group headers and footers: You may enter multiple lines
for group headers or footers. Be sure each line is by itself a
valid expression. This means field names can be entered
exactly, but simple text must be enclosed in quotation marks.
You may not have a complex expression wrap to multiple lines.
A sample header for a Name report indexed by Last and grouped by
the first character of last names (LEFT(LAST,1), causing a group break
for each letter of the alphabet) might look like this:
"---------------------"+ Left(last,1) + "--------------------------"
This would give some blank spaces at the left edge, followed by
dashes and the letter of the alphabet for the following section.
• To suppress group totals: Select Hide any group Totals? to
allow grand totals at the end of the report but NOT have totals
print for each group break.
3. Click OK.

To change the report name:

1. Select Other/Rename. The Enter a Value window appears.
2. Edit the name of the report and click OK.

To assign a query to the report:

1. Click Query. The Queries window appears. For more about
managing queries, see page 299.
2. Under Show, select the type of query you want to see.
3. Select the query you want to assign from the list.
4. Click OK.

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 Sub-Reports:
In Name and Matter reports, you can list linked data for each master
record. For example, a name block report can list the related matters
for each name. It can also list the linked Events!
You can control how these lists are formatted:
1. Select Sub-Reports from the menu of the Report Editors for name
or matter reports.
2. Select Linked Events, Names, Matters, or Documents and a list of
columnar reports for that database appears. By default, a report
called "Linked List in ... Reports" will be highlighted. We
recommend this layout, but you can select any report you like.
3. Set any of the following settings for the sub-report:
Indent this list by: Enter the number of characters you want to
indent the sub-report in comparison to the report.
Precede this list with: Select whether you want the sub-report to
have a blank line and/or a header before it.
4. Click Clear if you do not want a sub-report for this database to
appear.
To make changes to the fields displayed in the sub-report, finish editing
your main report, then edit the selected sub-report itself (probably
"Linked List in..."). For example, to add a different field to the list of
linked Events printed in a Matters report:
1. Select File/Reports/Events.
2. Click Reports.
3. Highlight "Link List in Other Reports".
4. Click Edit.
5. Modify the report as desired.
Notice that you can also assign a Query to this sub-report to limit the
linked records printed! If you don't want DONE Events listed, just
assign the NOT_DONE Query to this report.
Sorted Order
Linked names and matters are always sorted in the order set at the
respective Name or Matter window. For example, at the Name
window's Linked Matters tab, click on one of the sortable column
headers to sort the list as desired. This is memorized as your preferred
sort order for Linked Matters, and any reports listing Linked Matters will
use that setting.
The sort order of Linked Events is always by date.

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Working with the Label Setup Window
Labels are a special type of Block Report. When you add a new Label
report, the Label Setup window appears first for you to select a
standard label form, and then the Report Designer appears for you to
modify the layout of data just like any other Block report. When editing
in the Designer, you can always get back to the Label Setup window by
selecting Labels from the Designer’s top menu.
For help using the Report Designer, see page 364.

Close blank lines

Labels usually omit blank
lines. Un-check this to
leave them in.

From this window, you can do any of the following to design the label-
specific settings. When you are finished, click OK to save and the
Report Designer appears for you to manage all the general report
settings.
• 1st line font: Select the font for the first line of the label. It can be a
different font or color than the rest to emphasize people’s names.
•
nd
Body font: Select the font for the other lines (2 line on) of the
label.
• Close blank lines: When selected,blank lines are omitted in the
data.

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 To add label definitions:

1. Click the Add button. The Label Definition window appears.

2. Complete the settings on the window to create the label definition.
Specify the number of rows and columns of labels per page, plus
the exact physical size of the label.
3. Click OK.

To edit label definitions:

1. Select the label definition you want to edit.
2. Click the Edit button. The Label Definition window appears.
3. Make changes to the definition as necessary.
4. Click OK.

To delete label definitions:

1. Select the label definition you want to delete.
2. Click the Delete button. A window appears asking you if you are
sure you want to delete the definition.
3. Click Yes.

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Working with the Laser Calendar Design Window

Sorting Options
Arrange Appts, Things-
to-do and Reminders as
desired. Many users
prefer to show appoint-
ments before reminders.

From the Laser Calendar Design window, you can do any of the
following to design/edit your Laser Calendar report template. When you
are finished creating the report template, click OK to save.

To add fields to the Laser Calendar:

1. Click the Add button.
2. Select the line to which you want to add the field and click OK. The
Select Fields for Calendar window appears.

3. Select the field(s) you want to see on the calendar and click OK.

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 To edit fields for the Laser Calendar:
1. Select the field you want to edit.
2. Click the Edit button. The Field Setup window appears.

3. Make changes to the field settings as necessary:

• In the Field Name box, edit the name for the field. Note that
changing the field name has no effect on the data displayed on
the calendar.
• In the Field Width box, edit the width. The preferred width is -1
which means that the field is trimmed of all trailing spaces. A
positive number, like 8, means the field will have exactly 8
characters and data will be truncated or padded with spaces as
necessary. This can be useful to limit long fields to a maximum
number of characters or for adding white space for readability.
• For week and month calendars only. In the Row # box, type
the number of rows of field data you want (up to 2).
• In the Position # box, type the order in which you want the
field to appear.
• Experts only! In the Expression box, edit the xBASE
expression.
4. Click OK.

To delete fields for the Laser Calendar:

1. Select the field you want to delete.
2. Click the Delete button. A window appears asking you if you are
sure you want to delete the field.
3. Click Yes.

To set general display options:

• Click the Type arrow and change the type of Laser Calendar if you
like.

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 • For weekly calendars only. Click the # of weeks arrow and select
1-6 where 1 week will provide room for the tallest boxes, and
therefore, will show more events per day.
• Click the Orientation arrow and select Portrait (vertical) or
Landscape (horizontal).
• Click the Page size arrow and select letter size (8.5" x 11") or legal
size (9.5" x 14").
• In the Start day box, type 1 for Sunday, 2 for Monday, and so on.
• In the # of days box, type the number of days out of the week you
want displayed. For example, type 5 for 5 out of 7 days or just type
1 to only see one day of the week.
• Click the Separate with arrow and select what you want to use to
separate events. Note that if you select Blank Line a window will
open asking you for the number of blank lines to use.
• Select Mix Sat/Sun if you want both days in one column. Note that
Start Day cannot be Saturday (7) for this to work.
• Select Scroll 2ndline if you want the fields selected for line 2 to
wrap around to multiple lines (up to 20). Note that this is usually
impractical for monthly calendars, but can be used with weekly
calendars.
• Select Showcalendars if you want to see small calendars at the
bottom of a calendar. Note that if you need more room on a page,
you should deselect this option.

To change calendar colors:

1. Click the Colors button. The Laser Calendar Color Setup window
appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Under Heading Colors you change the colors of the various

headings on the Laser Calendar. Click the button that represents

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 the type of title you want to change. The Color window appears.
Select the color and click OK.
3. Under Miscellaneous colors, click the button that represents the
part of the report that you want to change. The Color window
appears. Select the color and click OK.
4. Under Data Colors, click the Defaultcolor button and select the
standard color you want for all data text. Click OK.
5. Under Data Colors, the Query buttons allow you to associate a
color with a specific query (up to 3):
• Click a Query button. The Queries for EVENTS window
appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

• Select the query you want to color and click OK.

• Click the Color button for the query you just selected. The
Color window appears.

• Select a color and click OK.

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Accessing Your Favorite Reports
If you have some reports that you regularly use, you can add them to a
list of favorite reports.
To mark a report as your favorite, right-click the report in any report list
and select Add to My Reports. Then, when you want to generate the
report, under Show, select Mine from any report list. Only those reports
marked as favorites will be listed, letting you select and generate the
report quickly.

Special Reports
Malpractice Alert Report
This is a unique report that discovers those cases that have "slipped
through the cracks". It finds calendaring mistakes early to help prevent
malpractice suits.
This report scans for all open matters with nothing scheduled in the
future. It also scans for matters with no notes scheduled in the recent
past. Both are warning signs that something is not right with a case!
To run the report, select File/Reports/Matters, and then click Report to
see the list of reports and select Malpractice Alert. A prompt appears
for you to specify the cutoff date to use (usually Today, but you may
want to see “all matters with nothing scheduled after December 31”.) A
second cutoff date is for “matters that have no notes after this date”
(usually 30 days prior to today, or you can set this to a blank date to list
all matters that have no notes added at all).
You can choose either or both of these search methods. The result is a
list of matters that need your attention.

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 Configuring a Malpractice Alert Report
If you find yourself changing the dates each time you run the report,
you can configure it to match your preferences. This is especially useful
if you run this as an unattended batch report. Edit the report and select
Special/Malpractice Alert Reportfrom the menu. The configuration
window appears.

Matter Synopsis Report

This new report shows linked data sorted by date under each matter,
so day by day you see a listing of notes, events and documents. You
can review recent history as well as future events at a glance. This
report is often run for a single matter, and is particularly useful for
getting up to speed on its current status. This view is also available for
a Names report. To run this report:
1. Select File/Reports/Matters. At the Report Control window, click
Report to see the reports list.
2. Scroll down the list or type letters to highlight Matter Synopsis
Report.
3. Click OK to select it, then at the report control screen click Print to
run it.
4. A prompt appears for a date range. Enter the earliest and latest
dates for the events, notes and documents you want listed.

Operator Audit Report

The Operator Audit is very effective for tracking "who did what" on any
particular day. A common example is when you hire a temp employee.
You can check which names, events and matters were last edited by
that user today. Note that the system only keeps track of the last
person who changes a record, so if AMS adds a record and NPB then
edits it, an audit for AMS will not show that record.
Select File/Reports/Operator Audit. The Operator Audit Report Control
window gives the options for printing an Operator Audit. You can click
Query to designate which user to search for and a date range for that
report. You can also set output direction to Screen, Printer, or a File.

Conflict of Interest Report

After running a Conflict of Interest check you can print a report of those
records that contain the given search names. See p. 318.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 387

 Special Reports from Browse Windows
When items are listed in a browse window, they can usually be printed
via a Print button there, even if there is no option for it on the
File/Reports menu. These are useful for administrators to manage
workflow and coordinate data entry, and include:
• Query Manager: You may want to print and keep a report of
queries and their counts to compare to a later date.
• Documents: From Documents/Browse (Document Manager).
• Database structures: From File/Setup/Database structures. You
can print a list of your fields (including User-Defined fields).
• Codes: Also available from File/Reports/Codes.
• Rules: Also available from File/Reports/Rules.

Counts Report (Getting Counts of Anything)

“Counts Reports” refers to reports that give you the count of “how many
of these things exist”. Notice this is different than getting Totals on
numeric fields. The idea is to increment a counter once for every record
that matches your criteria. This is a very useful tool in information
management.
There are several methods to count records. Every Abacus report lists
the number of found records at the end of the report. And in the Query
Manager you can get a count of all records that match a query (see p.
308). Below are special features available in columnar reports.

Group counts with no field definitions

The first and easiest technique is to simply create a columnar report
with no fields, but group on the field you want to count. If a columnar
report has NO fields selected, it will produce a special format that lists
each Group and the number of records in that Group. If you don’t
understand Report Groups, please see p. 377 for details. Just
remember that the data must be Indexed on the field you want to group
by (so all records that fit that group are in order together in the list).
Example: How many Trials or Depositions are on calendar this year?
An events report grouped on EVENTS->WHAT but with no fields will
list each What code encountered and give a count for how many
events have that code. So you can use a query to filter the report for
“events this year”, and quickly see counts for each code. Just scan the
list for Trials and Depositions to see how many there are. If you want to
ONLY show those two codes, just add that criteria to your query. This
report would use the index called WHAT, which sorts the data by What
+ When.

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 If you add more than one group to the report it will give counts for each
subgroup under each group. So if you add a group for
EVENTS->WHEN it will give you the instances of each What code for
each date.
Another example: How many Matters do I have for each Type of Law?
Since there is a standard index on CaseCode:
1. Create a Matters columnar report.
2. Select Index from the menu and select CaseCode.
3. Select Other/Groups and group on CaseCode.
That’s it! Since you didn’t add any field columns, this report will list
each CaseCode that appears in a matter record, and print the number
of matters that have that code.
Once you understand how things work, this report is a very quick way
to get valuable information out of your database, but it is a “hard-
coded” layout and lacks the ability to reformat the display.

Special Column Definitions

The second and slightly more complex type of Counts Report can have
several different columns counting different things for each record. You
can add this technique to existing reports and maintain all your
formatting control. Though this is not dependent on Indexes and
Groups as in the previous example, the report is usually set as a
“Summary” report that does not print each record. Only the Grand
totals (at the end of the report) and any Group totals are printed in a
Summary report. The Counts we’re looking for will appear in the Totals
display.
This method uses the if(,,)function to create special columns. Its
structure is as follows:
if(<Field or expression you are testing>,<Result to return if test is
true>,<Else If the result is not true return this>)

Example: How many Appointments are on calendar?

Column expression: if(EVENTS->WHAT = "APPT", 1, 0)

In this example the What field in the Events database is being checked
to see if the code is equal to APPT. If it is, it will return the value 1. If
not it returns 0. We will simply total on this column, thus adding 1 to the
total for each record that passes the test and thereby getting our count
of how many appointments are in this data set!
To set up the report:
1. Add any field and edit it (the field isn't important; this just adds the
column so we can edit it and enter a new expression).

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 2. In the Column Properties Edit window replace the Expression with
your if(,,) expression. Always make the second and third elements
“1,0”. You just need to specify the logical test in the first element to
identify what you want to count. You probably want to change the
column head at this time.
3. Ensure that the Total this field check box is checked.
4. Repeat as necessary for each column desired.
5. Select Format/Page Layout and click Advanced.
6. Ensure the Summary only check box is checked.
The totals at the end of the report will show your Count in each special
column you’ve defined.
Of course the best implementation of this technique will be with your
own user-defined fields. If you add a field to the Matters database
called CaseValue to contain the dollar value of that case, add this
column definition to a report:
if( ! empty(CaseValue), 1, 0)
… you get a count of how many matters have an established value.

Totals Report
Any numeric field or expression in a columnar report can be totalled by
checking the Total this field check box. That’s easy. But you can also
get more refined totals of subsets of your data that match certain
criteria — without filtering the entire overall report. This lets you get
more than one total in one report, rather than running several reports.
This technique uses the same if(,,) function described in Counts
Reports, but instead of returning a 1 or 0 it will return the value of a
field or zero. This lets you total a field ONLY IF it passes a test.

Example: Show the total # of hours for Appointments and Phone calls
In this Events report example, add a column for Duration and edit its
expression. The return value for the if(,,) test is the contents of the
Duration field which will give the # of hours, but only if the record is an
Appointment.
if(EVENTS->WHAT = "APPT", EVENTS->DURATION, 0.00)
Notice that the value for the ELSE portion is 0.00. Because Duration
has decimal places this ensures the right number of decimals will be
shown.

That was the first column. Let’s have the second column be
if(EVENTS->WHAT = "PHONE", EVENTS->DURATION, 0.00)

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 And the third column will be the total of the first 2 columns
if(EVENTS->WHAT = "APPT" .OR. EVENTS->WHAT = "PHONE",
EVENTS->DURATION,0.00)
Set the Interval to any desired date range and you get the total hours
for appointments, phone calls and their combined times.
Now if we add a column for Case number (just add it normally) and
group on Case number, we have a report that shows the total hours for
appointments, phone calls and their combined times for each Matter!

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22. Intake Forms
Overview of Intake Forms
What are Intake Forms?
Attorneys have used printed intake forms for centuries to gather the
initial information about a new case and the people involved all in one
step. When this practice moved to computer programs, it required you
to enter information in several different windows: one for the matter, a
different one for the client, others for events and notes. This method
organizes the information and makes it more accessible later, but it
also makes data entry more complex and requires a broader
understanding of where information belongs and how it is linked.
Abacus Intake Forms let you enter data for the case, client, other linked
names, calendar events, and notes in one step using a single window,
just like a traditional printed form. Then, Abacus creates the separate
matter, names, notes, events records, and their appropriate links for
you! With the intelligence built into these forms, even complex data can
be entered by someone with little training. Use your Abacus Intake
Forms to capture case information in a manner and sequence that
matches your practice. Data entry becomes easy and intuitive, your
staff needs no additional training, and even your clients can do the data
entry for you when you set up a Web Intake Form.

Types of Intake Forms

Intake forms are not only internal intake forms. They can also become
web forms that you post on your web site. The value of intake forms
grows exponentially if you have added custom codes, fields, and
screens to Abacus. Our Special Editions, enhanced for individual
specialties, make great use of these.
Internal Intake Forms
You use Internal Intake Forms for in-office data entry of matter, party,
note, and calendar information through a single window in Abacus. You
can set them up to look just like familiar printed intake forms. More
importantly, you can build "intelligence" into the form so even complex
data can be entered by someone with little legal training. For example,
one Abacus user does "1031 Exchange" real estate transactions and
gathers matter, client, property addresses, transaction dates, real
estate agent, escrow company, and escrow officer contact information
all in one simple form. Because of special hidden fields built into the
form, the transaction dates become event records with correct values
for the What and Type codes, and it automatically triggers the New
Case rule which schedules several deadlines and Things-to-do.
Web Intake Forms

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 After you understand how an Intake Form consolidates your office's
internal data entry, it's easy to turn it into a form on your website where
anyone in the world can enter data. When a visitor completes the form
and submits it, the data is encrypted and emailed to a special email
account that you set up. (Web data will not go to your normal email
program, so you need not worry about it clogging your inbox.) You use
Abacus to retrieve those special emails and display the data in an
internal version of the same form for your review. When you save the
form, the matter, client (and other name records), events, and notes
are all created in Abacus with the correct links and validations
established. Abacus schedules Things-to-do and appointments in your
calendar for you and even triggers your Rules to generate related
events and deadlines.
A Web Intake Form may be used to:
• Solicit prospective clients
• Get case and party information from current clients
• Give remote staff the ability to enter case information
• Enter data from any computer with a web browser

Completing Intake Forms

Abacus provides several handy Intake Forms for you to use right out of
the box. It's good to become familiar with these before jumping into
creating your own.
1. Select Matters/Intake Forms and a submenu appears. All available
intake forms are listed at the bottom. Click Recent Intake Forms for
a list of most recently used Intake Forms.
2. Click an Intake Form and it appears.
3. Complete the Intake Form with the client and case data. Following
are a few tips to help you:
a. Use the timer at the bottom of the Intake Form to record
your time spent.
b. Click the spell check button to check your spelling within
memo blocks.
c. Click the Save Draft button at the bottom of the Intake Form
to save a draft of your work. When you click this button you
will be prompted to name the draft.
4. Click Save. The matter, client, and related records are all created
for you in Abacus.

Saving/Retrieving Intake Form Drafts

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 You can save a draft of an Intake Form by clicking the Save Draft
button that appears at the bottom of the Intake Form. When you click
this button you will be prompted to name the draft.
When you are ready to return to the draft Intake Form, select
Matters/Intake Forms/Saved Drafts and click the draft. It reopens so
that you can edit it.

Managing Intake Forms

The Intake Form Manager window is used to control intake forms. To
open the window, select Matters/Intake Forms/Intake Form Manager.

You can do any of the following from the Intake Form Manager window
to manage Intake Forms:
• Create Intake Forms
• Edit Intake Forms: Highlight the Intake Form you want to change
and click Edit. The Web and Intake Form Designer window
appears. Complete the designer.
• Delete Intake Forms: Highlight the Intake Form you want to delete
and click Delete.
• Preview intake forms: Highlight the Intake Form you want to
preview and click Run.
• Print intake forms: Highlight the desired Intake Form and click
Print. The printed result can be used for pen or pencil data
collection.

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 • Configure the email address to receive Intake Form data
• Upload Web Intake Forms to your Web server
• Add an Intake Form as a template: Right-click the Intake Form
you want to add as a template and click Move to Templates.

Creating Intake Forms

There are multiple ways of creating Intake Forms in Abacus. Choose
the method that is most efficient for you.

From an Intake Form template

It is always easier to start with an existing Intake Form than it is to start
from scratch. Abacus provides several templates for this purpose.
1. Select Matters/Intake Forms/Intake Form Manager. The Intake
Form Manager window appears.
2. Click Add and click From Template. The Intake Form Templates
window appears.
3. Highlight the template you want to use and click Select.
4. The Web and Intake Form Designer window appears. At this point,
you can edit the Intake Form and save it using a different name.

From the standard default Intake Form

This method provides a basic starting point.
1. Select Matters/Intake Forms/Intake Form Manager. The Intake
Form Manager window appears.
2. Click Add and click Default Sample Form. A window appears
prompting you to enter a new name for the Intake Form.
3. Enter the new name and click Done. The new Intake Form is
created using the default sample format, and it is added to the list
of Intake Forms on the Intake Form Manager window. Edit the
Intake Form as necessary.

From scratch
This method provides a blank starting point.
1. Select Matters/Intake Forms/Intake Form Manager. The Intake
Form Manager window appears.
2. Click Add and click From Scratch. A window appears prompting
you to enter a new name for the intake form.
3. Enter the new name and click Done.
4. The Web and Intake Form Designer window appears. Complete
the designer.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 395

 Through cloning
Use this method to create a similar Intake Form.
1. Select Matters/Intake Forms/Intake Form Manager. The Intake
Form Manager window appears.
2. Highlight the form you want to clone and click Clone. A window
appears prompting you to enter a new name for the intake form.
3. Enter the new name and click Done.
4. The Web and Intake Form Designer window appears. Complete
the designer.

Web and Intake Form Designer

The Web and Intake Form Designer appears when you select to add,
clone, or edit an Intake Form.
The Web and Intake Form Designer is a wizard, so when adding a new
Intake Form use the Next button to walk through the tabs in order, from
left to right. For later editing, tabs can be individually selected as
desired. This topic describes each tab on the window.

Start Tab
The Start tab asks for general information about your Intake Form. The
following describes each setting on the tab:
• Name of this form definition: The name of the Intake Form file.
This is the name that you see used in Abacus.
• Title to appear at top of the form: The title that will appear at the
top of the Intake Form. This is the title that the user of the form will

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 see.
• Is this form for a web page or for internal Abacus data entry?:
Lets you select the type of Intake Form. Web Intake Forms are
used as a page in a web site that you or your clients access using
an Internet browser. Internal data entry Intake Forms are Intake
Forms that are used within your firm so that only your employees
see the form. Note that you can also select to have the form serve
both purposes.
Click Next to move to the Records tab.

Records Tab
On the Records tab, you select the records you want on the Intake
Form. These records determine the type of data that is collected. Then,
for each record, you enter the fields you want to present to collect
information. For example, if you want to collect name information, you
might add First Name and Last Name fields to the name record for the
form.
Maintain all the records and fields for the Intake Form, and then click
Next to move to the Web Details tab.
You can do any of the following from the Records tab to maintain
records and fields.
To change record order:
The records in the grid are listed in the order that they appear on the
Intake Form, from top to bottom. For example, if the Names record is
listed first, then all fields added for the Names record are listed at the
top of the Intake Form. To change the order of records, highlight the
record and click Move Up or Move Down.
To maintain records:
• To add a record: Click Add a Record and select the record type
(Name, Event, Matter, Note) from the drop-down menu. The Intake
Form Record Properties window appears, letting you maintain the
new record and its fields.
• To clone a record: Highlight the record and click Clone Record.
The Intake Form Record Properties window appears, letting you
maintain the new record and its fields.
• To edit a record: Highlight the record and click Edit properties.
The Intake Form Record Properties window appears, letting you
maintain the record and its fields.
• To delete a record: Highlight the record and click Delete.

Web Details Tab

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 The Web Details tab lets you manage what happens when a web user
submits the Intake Form. (If you are editing an Internal Intake Form,
you can skip this tab.) In an actual Web Intake Form submission, the
user's data is encrypted to maintain privacy and security and sent to
your Abacus installation via a special email account. (Web data will not
go to your normal email program, so you need not worry about it
clogging your inbox.)
NOTE: We suggest that you create a standard POP3 email account
with your Internet service provider and dedicate it to receiving your
submitted Web Intake Form data. Web email accounts such as Gmail,
Yahoo, etc. use different port connections and will not work.
The following describes each setting on the tab:
• Email address to receive the form when posted from the web
site: The email address that receives submitted information from
Web Intake Forms. Every time a web user completes and submits
a Web Intake Form, the email address receives an email with the
form information. NOTE: You can leave this blank if you have
configured a default email address. Otherwise the address you
enter here on the Web Details tab for a specific Web Intake Form
will be used, and the default email address will be ignored.
• Optional URL to redirect to after a form is submitted: Enter
your post-submittal web page URL. After a web user submits a
Web Intake Form, this web page will be displayed to confirm that
the submission has been received. This way the user understands
that the submission process was successful.
Click Next to move to the Finish tab.

Finish Tab
The Finish tab lets you finalize the intake form and preview it.
Click Preview to see your resulting Intake Form. The intake form opens
as it will appear to the user. Make note of any changes that need to be
made and close the preview window. Go back to any tabs in the Web
and Intake Form Designer and make changes as necessary.

Maintaining Intake Form Records and their Fields

From the Web and Intake Form Designer's Records tab, you can
maintain records and their fields.
1. On the Records tab, highlight the record that will contain the fields.
For example, if you want to add name, address, phone, etc. type
fields to your Intake Form, you would highlight the Names record.
2. Click Edit properties. The Intake Form Record Properties window
appears.

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 3. In the Header text to show above this record box, enter the text
you want to appear over the selected record’s group of fields on the
Intake Form. Check Header in Bold if you want the text to be
bolded.
4. In the Footer text to show below this record box, enter the text
you want to appear below the selected record’s group of fields on
the Intake Form. Check Footer in Bold if you want the text to be
bolded.
5. In the Text Label fields, change the labels as necessary depending
on what you want the label to be for the Intake Form.
6. Add, edit, or delete fields for the record. Note that fields are listed in
the order that they appear on the Intake Form. To change the order
of fields, highlight the field and click Move Up or Move Down.

To add a field: Click Add Field and click the type of field you want
to add. A Notice window appears. Click Done to close the window.
The Fields window appears listing Abacus fields for the selected
record. Check the fields you want to add to the Intake Form and
click Done.

To edit a field: Highlight the field and click Edit Field. The Intake
Form Field Properties window appears. Complete the settings for
the field and click OK.

To delete a field: Highlight the field and click Delete.

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 7. In the Footer text to show below this record box, enter text you
want to appear on the form below the selected record's group of
fields.
8. Click OK to save your changes.

Intake Form Field Properties Window

Use the Intake Form Field Properties window when maintaining fields
for records for Intake Forms.

The following describes the fields on the window:

• Label: Enter the label you want to appear on the screen for the
field.
• Name: The name of the field. This value is view-only and cannot be

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 edited.
• Default value: Enter the initial value that will appear automatically
in the field's box.
• Type: The field type. This value is view-only and cannot be edited.
• Message line: Enter the text to appear in the status bar when the
intake form user hovers over the field with the mouse or tabs into
the field.
• Abacus codes list: If you want to use preset Abacus codes
(instead of creating custom codes), click the Lookup button and
select a set of Abacus codes.
• Use custom list instead: Check to use your own custom options
(instead of preset Abacus codes). If you choose to use custom
options, use the Add, Edit, and Delete buttons to define your
options.
• Show next field on same line: When checked, the next field is
NOT moved to a new line. Often used for City and State so they
are on the same line with Zip.
• Next column's offset in pixels (Zero = auto): If you select to
have the field show on the same line as the prior field, enter the
number of pixels to the right of the prior field you want the label of
the field to start.
Since web pages have different display requirements than windows
inside a program like Abacus, there are special settings for each
environment separated onto two tabs: As a Web Form (for Web Intake
Forms) and When used in Abacus (for Internal Intake Forms). One of
the tabs is disabled unless the form is set to be used for Both formats
on the Start tab of the Form Designer.
The following describes the settings on the As a Web Form tab:
• Control type: Select the type of data entry control you want to use.
The following describes each type available:

Text box is for standard single-line fields where the user enters
alphanumeric characters. Text cannot scroll to more than one line.
For example:

Memo - scrolling text is for notes. It's like the text box except that
text is not limited by the width of the box and can scroll to many
lines.

Option/Radio buttons are used for text fields that are limited to a
few specific options. They appear as a group of options with open
circles, one of which is filled in to show the selected choice.

CheckBox is for logical (true/false) fields, and appears as the

standard box that is checked when the user clicks it.

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 Drop-down list is for text fields that are limited to any number of
specific options, which appear as menu options when the lookup
button is clicked, for example:

Hidden is for fields that should always be set to a given value and
do not appear on the screen to the user. This is where you can
build intelligence into your Intake Forms. For example, the client
information should create a name record with a class of "CLIENT",
so you would add a hidden field for class with this fixed value. The
Intake Form may also ask for a date of an accident, which creates
an event record with a What code of "ACCIDENT", so you would
add a hidden field for What with this fixed value. Hidden fields can
also be used in Web Intake Forms to track which web page is
used. For example, you may direct prospects to one Web Intake
Form with a hidden class field specifying "PROSPECT", and
current clients to another Web Intake Form with a hidden class field
specifying "CLIENT".
• Max Length: The maximum number of characters that can be
entered into the field by the user.
• May not be blank: aka "Required". When checked, the user is not
able to submit the Intake Form without entering some value in this
field.
The When used in Abacus tab includes the same settings used by the
Screen Designer when creating user-defined screens in Abacus.

Email Configuration for Web Intake Forms

To receive your web data from Intake Forms and import it directly into
your Abacus database, you must set up a dedicated email account with
your ISP for use with Intake Forms and Intake Form templates. This
account must not used for anything else, and it must be a standard
POP3 account using standard TCP POP3 ports only (web-based mail
services will not work).
Once you have this email address ready, use the following procedure
to configure the program to receive your submitted Web Intake Form
data.
1. From the Intake Form Manager window or the Intake Form
Templates window, click Configure. The Email configuration for
Web Forms window appears.

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 2. Enter your web server's URL. If the web server is the local host,
leave the fields blank.
3. For Mail server URL, enter the outgoing email server name.
4. For Email account user name, enter the email address where
submitted Web Intake Forms should be sent.
5. In the Email account password box, enter the password for the
email address you entered. Check Remember password if you
want Abacus to remember the password (so you won't have to
enter it again.)
6. Click Done.
NOTE: You may also set up a specific Web Intake Form to send data
to a different email address. (This is done under the Web Details tab
on the Web and Intake Form Designer.) The address here on the
Configuration window is only used by Web Intake Forms whose
individual setting is left blank.

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Uploading Web Intake Forms to Your Web Server
To be able to see a Web Intake Form via the Internet or Intranet, you
need to upload it to your web server. To upload a Web Intake Form,
you insert a reference to it in a web page and then upload the .htm and
.itk files to your web server. Although you can create a complex web
page yourself and insert this reference into a frame or iframe, it's easier
to start with the automatic feature to create a basic web page. Then, if
desired, you can modify the result with your own style sheets and
templates.
1. Select Matters/Intake Forms/Intake Form Manager. The Intake
Form Manager window appears.
2. Right-click the desired Web Intake Form and select Create Web
page. The HTML template to create a web page window
appears with a selection of web pages that have been specially set
up to display Intake Forms.
3. Highlight the web page template you want to use and click Open.
The Save new web page window appears. Select a path where
you want your web page stored, enter a file name, and click Save.
4. Use your FTP program to upload two files to the root folder of your
web site: The web page (.htm file) you just created and the
selected Intake Form itself (.itk file, stored under your Abacus
folder in data01\layouts\Intake.)
5. To run the Web Intake Form, create a link to the .htm file on other
web pages. For example, your home page might have a link
entitled "Submit a new case" that has an href to the URL of your
new web page.

If you do not want to store the .htm and .itk files in the web
site root folder:
You can put them both into a different folder. However, you have to edit
the iframe (or frame) statement for the web page (.htm file). To do this,
open the web page (.htm file) in a text editor, locate the iframe or frame
statement, and edit the path to include the folder in which the .htm and
.itk files are stored. You need to insert the folder name right after the
equal sign (=) in the path.
For example, in the iframe statement:
<iframe src="[Link] New
Case Web [Link]" width="600" frameborder="0" height =
"400"></iframe>
you would insert the full path after ?itkurl=.

If you want the web form to appear in a separate, pop up

web browser window:

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 The popup requires a reference to java in the page header, for
example:
<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"
src="/abacus_scripts.js"></script>
Here is an example of the link using javascript:
<a href="javascript:void(0)"
onClick="MM_openBrWindow(‘[Link]
bin/[Link]?itkurl=New Case Web
[Link]','','scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,width=770,height=525')"
class="style4">Client Intake Form </a>

Downloading and Importing Web Intake Form Data

Abacus users with the proper permissions may access the mail server
and download data that was submitted by visitors via Intake Forms to
your website.
1. Select Matters/Intake Forms/Download and import web data. The
POP Mail Connection window appears.

2. Enter your POP mail server URL. Then, enter the email address
and password that receives the Intake Form data.
3. Check Load forms after successful download to review and
import the data immediately.
4. Click Done. A preview of the downloaded web form is displayed in
the Intake Form itself.
5. Complete the form as necessary. You can click Use existing
Matter or Use existing Name to select a matter or name that is
already in the Abacus database.
6. Use the buttons at the bottom of the page to accept or reject
submissions:

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 • Click Save to import the processed data into Abacus where
names, matters, calendar events, and notes are created.
Abacus also creates links between the records.
• Click Next to move to the next submission (without saving any
changes you have made to the current form).
• Click Reject to permanently delete the Web Intake Form data
without adding it as a record. An option lets you move the data
file to another location. You may want to import it into a
different Abacus database (perhaps to forward as referrals) or
simply preserve it for record keeping.

Managing Intake Form Templates

Intake Form templates are Intake Forms that can be used as a basis
for another Intake Form. To view existing templates, Select
Matters/Intake Forms/Intake Form Manager. The Intake Form Manager
window appears. Click Add and select From Template. The Intake
Form Templates window appears.

You can do any of the following from the Intake Form Templates
window to manage Intake Form templates:
• Create an Intake Form from a template: Highlight the Intake
Form template you want to use and click Select. A window appears
asking you for a new name for the intake form. Enter the new name
and click Done. The Web and Intake Form Designer window
appears. Design the template just as you design an Intake Form.
• Clone an Intake Form template: Highlight the Intake Form
template you want to clone and click Clone. A window appears

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 asking you for a new name for the template. Enter the new name
and click Done. The Web and Intake Form Designer window
appears. Design the template just as you design an Intake Form.
• Edit an Intake Form template: Highlight the Intake Form template
you want to edit and click Edit. The Web and Intake Form Designer
window appears. Design the template just as you design an intake
form.
• Delete an Intake Form template: Highlight the Intake Form
template you want to delete and click Delete.
• Preview intake form templates: Highlight the Intake Form
template you want to preview and click Run.
• Print an Intake Form template: Highlight the Intake Form
template you want to print and click Print.
• Configure the email address to receive Intake Form data

Adding an Intake Form as an Intake Form Template

Select Matters/Intake Forms/Intake Form Manager. The Intake Form
Manager window appears. Right-click the Intake Form you want to add
as a template and click Move to Templates.

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23. Extra Databases
In this chapter, you will learn how use extra databases to collect data
that is not standard in Abacus.

Overview of Extra Databases

Extra databases can be used to collect data that is not standard in
Abacus. For example, a criminal law practice could use an extra
database to store charges and penalties for a case. Or, a family law
practice could use an extra database to list all the information about
assets involved in a divorce.
Extra databases are for when you have information that does not
belong with your Abacus calendar, notes, emails, or linked documents
tabs that you use for case management.
An extra database is better than using a Word document, a
spreadsheet, an Access database, or any other standalone program.
Each extra database is a tab on your Matter (or contact) window. It
comes with a standardized data entry screen, at no added expense, is
backed up along with Abacus, uses Abacus reports, can be
customized, and the extra database information is available for output
to document templates and court forms.
Extra databases are associated with one name and one matter. They
are accessible through a custom tab added to the Name or Matter
window.

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Facts and Exhibits Extra Databases
The Facts and Exhibits tabs included on the Matter window can help
you track case facts and exhibits. They can also serve as examples for
how extra databases can be used.
The Facts and Exhibits tabs are independent and cannot be linked to
each other. However, each record in the extra database can be
relationally linked to a name and/or a matter.

Facts Extra Database

Enter case facts into the Facts extra database so you can review their
chronology and analyze whether they help or hurt your case. Abacus
will group facts by issue on the Issues report to help you prepare for an
appearance on a specific issue (e.g. a motion to modify a custody
agreement). Run a Key Facts Report to focus on the pivotal facts. The
Chronology Report helps you see case facts in chronological order,
with issues, sources, and legal analysis attached to each fact record.
You not only know what happened when, but why it matters to the
case, making your analysis of the fact’s value and its impact on your
client’s rights much easier.
For example, you could use the Facts Grouped by Issue report in a
family law matter, to see all of the case facts that pertain to custody
grouped together, with the next group pertaining to property settlement,
and the next group pertaining to mental or physical abuse. Use the
Chronology Report to establish the timeline of the case as it pertains to
two distinct issues, custody and domestic violence. Facts extra
database entries would include incidents of abuse, visits by the police
(including linked police reports), photographs, videos, medical records,
reports from child protective services, children’s names and birthdates,
current custody arrangements, and more. The analysis field on each
fact record captures the lawyering involved in handling a domestic
violence and custody case. Key facts can be designated as such so the
firm can focus on those most important facts with the click of a mouse.

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 Exhibits Extra Database
Enter exhibits into the Exhibits extra database so you can generate
exhibit lists for depositions or trials in the approved format for your
jurisdiction with a click of your mouse. The Exhibitsextra database
stores exhibit numbers, the offering party, Bates numbers, authors and
signatories, marked and admitted dates as well as your legal analysis
of why the exhibit is important and how it impacts the case(helpful,
harmful, neutral, etc.) and status (confirmed, contested, etc.).
Exhibit records also have document hyperlinks so you can access the
document that the exhibit record refers to with a mouse click. The
Exhibits extra database gives you consistent data entry with drop-down
menus and helps you prioritize exhibits as you build your case.
For example, a litigation firm representing clients in a product liability
dispute would use the Exhibits extra database to assemble purchase
documents, warranty information, invoices, internal memorandum,
emails, research reports, insurance documents, photographs, service
bulletins, depositions including page and line numbers, medical
diagnoses and medical bills including amounts. Entering that
information into the Exhibits extra database means the firm can
generate an exhibit list at any time and run an Exhibits analysis report
to see what items help or hurt the case.

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Extra Database Work Flow
When you work with an extra database, following is the recommended
work flow:
Step 1: Create the extra database.
This step creates an empty database shell.
See Maintaining Extra Databases on page 412 for more
information.
Step 2: Create the extra database field structure.
This step creates the fields in the extra database.
See Maintaining Field Structure for an Extra Database on page 414
for more information.
Step 3: Add indexes to the extra database
This is an optional step that lets you create indexes to be able to
sort the extra database information by specific fields.
See Maintaining Indexes for an Extra Database on page 415 for
more information.
Step 4: Design the extra database intake form
The extra database intake form is used to input the information you
want to capture. You define which fields should appear on the form
for the end user.
See Designing Intake Forms for an Extra Database on page 416
for more information.

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 Step 5: Add the extra database to a Name or Matter window
The extra database appears as a custom tab on the Name or
Matter window. This tab provides access to the extra database
intake form designed in the previous step.
See Adding Extra Databases to Screens on page 417 for more
information.
Step 6: Use the extra database to collect information
The user can now access the extra database intake form to input
information into the extra database for a name and matter.
See Using the Extra Database Intake Form on page 420 for more
information.

Maintaining Extra Databases

Select File/Setup/Extra DatabasesOR select ExtraDBs/Setup Extra
[Link] Extra Databases Setup window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

From this window, you can:

• Add/edit an extra database
• Delete an extra database

Adding/Editing Extra Databases

1. Do one of the following:
• To create an extra database, highlight the type of extra
database you want to create and click Add.
• To edit an extra database, highlight the extra database name
and select Edit/Properties.

412 Extra Databases AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 47. The Add/Edit Extra Database window appears. Complete/edit the
window as follows:
• File Alias: Enter a reference name to be used in other files
(like the ALF files) to allow people to pick out fields to merge
into documents and/or forms. For example, “Assets_acquired”
would be used to reference the Acquired field in the Assets
database.
• Description: Enter the description of the extra database.
• Display Text for menus: Enter the label for the extra database
that will appear in two places in Abacus:
(1) On the Screen Designer, to add an extra database to a
screen you right-click and select Extra Database Tabs. The
Extra Databases Available window appears listing extra
databases. The labels for the extra databases listed use the
Display Text for menus values.
(2) In the ALF Editor, when you click the Add button for one of
the records listed, the Linked Extra databases menu appears.
The submenu options use the Display Text for menus values
for the extra database labels.
• File Name: This field populates automatically. You do not need
to enter any information.
• Linked Tab Text: Enter the name of the tab that will appear on
the Name or Matter window for the extra database.
• Help text to appear when editing the form: Enter
instructional information about the extra database intake form
that pops up when the user is completing the form.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

48. Click OK to save your changes and close the window.

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 Deleting Extra Databases
1. Highlight the extra database you want to delete and click the
Delete button.
49. A window appears asking you if you are sure you want to delete
the extra database. Click Yes.

Maintaining Field Structure for an Extra Database

1. SelectFile/Setup/Extra Databases. The Extra Databases Setup
window appears.

50. Highlight the extra database for which you want to set up field
structure and click Edit/Field structure.
51. The Data Structure window appears. This window lists all the fields
in the extra database.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

From this window you will maintain fields just as you do for any
database. For more information, see Customizing Database Structure
on page 62.

Maintaining Indexes for an Extra Database

If you want to be able to sort on a specific field in the extra database,
you need to create an index for that field.
1. SelectFile/Setup/Extra Databases. The Extra Databases Setup
window appears.

52. Highlight the extra database for which you want to create an index
and click Edit/Indexes.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 415

 53. The User-defined Indexes window appears listing any existing
indexes for the extra database.

From this window you will maintain indexes just as you do for any
database. For more information, see Managing User-Defined
Indexeson page 78.

Designing Intake Forms for an Extra Database

The extra database intake form is a list of fields from the extra
database that are used to collect information from the end user.
1. SelectFile/Setup/Extra DatabasesOR select ExtraDBs/Setup Extra
Databases. The Extra Databases Setup window appears.

416 Extra Databases AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 54. Highlight the extra database for which you want to create an extra
database intake form and click Edit/Screen Layout. The Intake
Form Record Properties window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

From this window you will maintain fields for intake forms just as you do
for any intake form. For more information, see Error! Reference
source not found. on page Error! Bookmark not defined..

Adding Extra Databases to Screens

1. SelectFile/Setup/User-defined Screens and then select Name or
Matter, depending on which type of screen you want to add the
extra database intake form. The Screens window appears.
55. Select the screen to which you want to add the extra database
intake form and click Edit. The Screen Designer appears for the
selected screen. Right-click the tabs area on the Screen Designer.
56. The Tab Setup window appears. Click Extra Databases to Show.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 417

 57. The ExtraDB Tabs to Show window appears. Check the extra
database(s) you want to include as a tab on the selected screen
and click OK.

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Adding Extra Databases to Standard Data Tabs
You can add an extra database directly to the standard tab of a screen.
You can add any extra database you wish, but only one extra database
is allowed per screen using this method.
To add an extra database to a screen definition on the standard tab,
follow these steps:
1. Select File/Setup/User-defined Screens and select the type of
screen you want to edit (Name, Event, or Matter).
58. The Screens window appears. Highlight the screen to which you
want to add an extra database and click OK.
59. The Screen Designer window appears. Right-click in a blank area
on the screen and select Add Box.
60. The Group Box Label window appears. Enter the name of the extra
database (case-insensitive). Click OK.

61. The group box appears on the screen. Drag and reshape the group
box the way you want it to appear on the screen.

62. Now, when this screen is used, the user will see the extra database
directly on the standard tab, similar to this:

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Using the Extra Database Intake Form
1. Ensure that the Name or Matter window is using the screen that
includes the extra database:
• Select File/Setup/User Preferences. The User Preferences
window appears. Select the Appearance tab.
• Click the Names button to set the default Names screen or
click the Matters button to set the default Matters screen.
• A window appears displaying the Name/Matter screens.
Highlight the screen that includes the extra database and click
OK.
• Click OK on the User Preferences window to save your
changes and close the window.
63. Open a Name/Matter window.
64. Select the extra database tab.
65. From the extra database tab, do any of the following:
• Add an extra database record using the extra database intake
form
• Clone an extra database record
• Edit an extra database record
• Delete an extra database record
• Printing an extra database record

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 Adding an Extra Database Record
1. ClickAdd. The extra database intake form appears.
66. Complete the fields for the extra database record.
67. Click OK. The record is listed on the extra database tab on the
Name/Matter window.

Cloning an Extra Database Record

1. Highlight the extra database record and click Clone. The extra
database intake form appears with the fields populated with the
selected record’s information.
2. Complete/edit the fields for the new extra database record as
necessary.
3. ClickOK. The copy of the record is listed on the extra database tab
on the Name/Matter window.

Editing an Extra Database Record

1. Highlight the extra database record and click Edit. The extra
database intake form appears with the fields populated with the
selected record’s information.
2. Complete/edit the fields for the extra database record as
necessary.
3. ClickOK to save your changes.

Deleting an Extra Database Record

Highlight the extra database record and click Delete.

Printing an Extra Database Record

You have several options for printing record information.
To print a single record: Highlight the record and click Print. Another
window appears. Click Highlighted.
To print all records: Click Print. Another window appears. Click All.
To print multiple records: Check the records you want to print.
Another window appears. Click Tagged.

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Example: Working with an Extra Database in
Abacus
The following example demonstrates creating and working with an
extra database in Abacus.
Mr. Simon of Simon & Barnes law firm wants to be able to track the
assets involved in client John Kimble’s divorce case (Kimble v. Kimble).
So, he decides to use an extra database to track each asset.
1. Mr. Simon creates the extra database – he calls it “Assets.”
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

68. To define the field structure for the extra database, Mr. Simon adds
the following fields:
• ASSETNAME to capture the asset name,
• DATEACQ to capture the date that the asset was acquired,
• ESTVALUE to capture the current estimated value of the asset,
and
• PURVALUE to capture the purchase value of the asset.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

69. To be able to sort on asset name in the future, Mr. Simon decides
to add an index for the ASSETNAME field.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

70. Mr. Simon designs his extra database intake form. He put some
brief instructional text in the header to guide the extra database
intake form user. Then, he includes the following fields on the extra
database intake form: Asset Name, Date Acquired, Estimated
Value, and Purchase Price.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

71. Mr. Simon decides that he wants to add the extra database to the
Names window. So, he goes through the following steps to add it to
one of the Names screens:
• He selects File/Setup/User-defined Screens and then selects
Name to open the Screens window. He highlights one of the
Names screens and clicks Edit.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

• The Screen Designer appears for the selected screen. He

right-clicks the tabs area on the Screen Designer.

424 Extra Databases AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

• The Tab Setup window appears. He clicks Extra Databases to

Show.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

• The ExtraDB Tabs to Show window appears. He checks the

Assets extra database and clicks OK.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 425

 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

72. Mr. Simon ensures that the Name window is using the screen with
the extra database in User Preferences.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

The extra database is now set up and ready to be used.

73. The user opens Mr. Kimble’s name record and selects the extra
database tab. The user clicks Add to add the first asset record.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

74. The extra database intake form that Mr. Simon created in step 4
appears. The user completes the fields for the first asset and clicks
OK.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

75. The extra database tab now lists the added asset record. The user
continues to add asset records for the case.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 427

 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

Viewing/Managing All Records in Extra Databases

Once an extra database has been created and at least one record
has been added to it, the extra database is listed under the
ExtraDBs main menu option. You can use this menu option to view
and manage records in the extra database.
Select ExtraDBs and then click the extra database you want to
work with. The Extra Database window appears listing the records
in the selected extra database.
From this window, you can do any of the following.

To add a record:
Click Add. The Add record window appears. Enter the values for
the fields and click OK.

To edit a record:
Highlight the record you want to edit and click Edit. The Edit record
window appears. Make changes as necessary and click OK.

To clone a record:
Highlight the record you want to clone and click Clone. The Clone
record window appears. Fields are filled with the selected record's
values. Make changes as necessary and click OK.

To delete records:
Highlight the records and click Delete. A window appears asking
you if you are sure you want to delete the records. Click Yes.

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 To print records:
If you want to print all records, click Print and then click All.
If you want to print highlighted records, highlight the records you
want to print. Then, click Print and click Highlighted.
If you want to print tagged records, check the records you want to
print. Then, click Print and click Tagged.

To open a linked name or matter:

Highlight the record. Then, click Go to and click Linked Name or
Linked Matter.

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24. Prospect Management
In this chapter, you will learn how to manage your prospects (or
potential clients) in a separate database and then, when you are ready,
add the prospects to your main Abacus database when they become
clients.

Overview of Prospect Management

With prospect management, you can now maintain information about
prospects (or potential clients) in an independent data directory
separate from your main client data. When a prospect is ready to
become a client, you can easily move the prospect record (and all
related data) into the main client database. Fundamentally, you create
a special relationship between two data directories, referred to
descriptively as “prospects” and “main”, so data can flow from one into
the other.
Follow these steps to manage prospects:
Step 1: Identify your main Abacus data directory
Usually this is the default “Data01” folder, but you can create this
relationship between any two directories.
Step 2: Create the Prospect Data Directory
This is a one-time task. This is the directory that will hold the
information for all of your potential clients. If you have already created
multiple data directories for a similar purpose, you can use an existing
one.
For more information, see Creating the Prospect Data Directory on
page 431.
Step 3: Set Up the Flow Database
This is also a one-time task. The flow database is a configuration file
that holds the information that controls the relationship between the
prospect directory and the main directory. It indicates where the
prospect information will be copied when the prospect is promoted.
76. For more information, see Once the new data directory is created
you will be prompted to log into it. Log in and continue to set it up
as prompted. Notice that the new directory is named something like
“data02” or “data03”.
Maintaining Flow Databases on page 432.
Step 4: Use normal Abacus actions to populate the Prospect Directory
You can maintain prospects their directory just as you would clients in
the main directory. Add names, notes, matters and calendar events to
track each prospect.

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 For more information, see Populating the Prospect on page 434.
Step 5: Promote Prospects to Clients
You can promote prospects any time you are ready to make them
clients. When you promote a prospect, Abacus copies the entire
prospect record (and any related data) to the main Abacus database,
thus turning the prospect into a client.
For more information, see Maintain prospect name records and any
other related information in the prospect data directoryjust as you
would manage clients in the main Abacus directory.
Promoting Prospects to Clients on page 434.

Identifying Your Main Abacus Data Directory

The main Abacus data directory will usually be “Data01”, but you can
create this special relationship between any two directories.
TIP: Look at the Abacus main window title. It specifies the currently
loaded data directory.

Creating the Prospect Data Directory

NOTE: Skip this step if you already have a directory holding your
prospects.
1. Select File/New database.
2. The Create a New Abacus Database window appears. Select
Selected files from current folder and leave all other options
unselected. Click OK.

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 77. Once the new data directory is created you will be prompted to log
into it. Log in and continue to set it up as prompted. Notice that the
new directory is named something like “data02” or “data03”.

Maintaining Flow Databases

Flow databases connect a prospect data directory to the primary
Abacus data directory (that holds clients). It indicates where the
prospect information will be copied when the prospect is promoted.
Flow databases are maintained from the Flow Databases Setup
window.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

To open this window:

1. Ensure that the main data directory is open in Abacus. (Select
File/Change directory to switch databases if necessary.)
2. Select File/Link Directory.
From this window do any of the following to maintain flow databases:
• Add/edit a flow database
• Delete a flow database

Adding/Editing a Flow Database

1. Do one of the following:
• To add a new flow database, click Add.
• To edit a flow database, highlight the flow database and click
Edit.

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 2. The Add/Edit Flow Database window appears. Click Other data
directorylocation and select/change the location to your prospects
data directory. The other properties in this window should only be
changed under the guidance of Abacus support staff. Click OK.

78. The Flow Databases Setup window reappears. Click Close to

close the window.

Deleting a Flow Database

Highlight the flow database you want to delete and click Delete. A
window appears asking you if you are sure you want to delete the flow
database. Click Yes.

Populating the Prospect Data Directory

Maintain prospect name records and any other related information in
the prospect data directoryjust as you would manage clients in the
main Abacus directory.

Promoting Prospects to Clients

When you promote a prospect into a client, you move the prospects
name record and all the related data to the main Abacus database
where it becomes a client name record.
1. Before performing this procedure, be sure that you have created a
flow database that links the prospect database to the main Abacus
database (the client database).
2. In the prospect database, click the Names button on the toolbar to
open the Names Browse.
3. Do one of the following:
• If you want to promote a single prospect, right-click the
prospect and click Promote prospect.

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 • If you want to promote multiple prospects, tag (or check) the
desired ones in the Names Browse and then click Actions and
select Promote tagged prospects.

4. The selected prospects are added to the linked main Abacus

directory. All events, notes, docs, and matters linked to each
prospect will be copied over as well. New U_IDs (unique record
IDs) are assigned to all records. If the prospect record’s U_ID
already exists (this is not likely), the record will not be promoted. If
any of the linked records’U_IDs exist, those linked records won’t be
copied over.
5. You should now be able to see the prospect listed as one of the
name records in the main database. It’s a good idea to leave the
prospect in the prospect database so you can track your marketing
success using AbacusLaw Rainmaker or your own reports. If you

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 no longer want the prospect to be in the prospect database, you
must delete the name record from the prospect database manually.

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25. Synchronization
Overview of Synchronization
There are three types of synchronization included in the standard
AbacusLaw installation:
• Abacus Sync: Lets you synchronize your calendars and contacts
on a mobile device.
• Outlook Sync: Lets you synchronize Microsoft Outlook data with
Abacus data.
• Laptop Sync: Lets you keep two properly licensed installations of
Abacus synchronized.
Abacus Mobile is an optional Web application that can be purchased
for an extra fee. Abacus Mobile gives you instant access to your
AbacusLaw matters, contacts, calendars, documents, emails, and
notes from any device with an Internet connection.

Abacus Sync and Abacus Mobile

Overview of Abacus Sync and Abacus Mobile
Abacus Sync lets you synchronize your calendars and contacts on a
mobile [Link] Mobile is an optional, separate Web application
that lets you access yourAbacusLaw information from a mobile device
with an Internet connection.
Click here for more information about Abacus Sync and how it
compares to Abacus Mobile.

Abacus Sync
After setting up Abacus Sync on your mobile device, Abacus Sync lets
you synchronize and access your calendars and contacts on the
device.
NOTE 1: The Abacus shutdown schedule, which is primarily designed
to assure exclusive access to the database, will not allow Abacus Sync
to work. Therefore, customers using the shutdown schedule may need
to reconfigure the feature.
NOTE 2: You must not attempt to synchronize the same phone to
Abacus TWICE by using Abacus Sync and any other external sync
software. This will duplicate all your phone data. Use either Abacus
Sync OR any other external sync software– do not use both.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 437

 Abacus Mobile
Abacus Mobile (optional-add on) gives you instant access to your
AbacusLaw matters,contacts, calendars, documents, emails, and notes
from any device with an Internetconnection.
If you already have Abacus Mobile, additional help can be found within
Abacus Mobilefrom the Help menu.
If you need help installing Abacus Mobile, contact Customer Care at
800-488-3334.
If you are interested in signing-up for Abacus Mobile, call 800-726-
3339. AbacusMobile requires a small yearly fee and small one-time
installation fee.

Setting Up Abacus Mobile

1. Select File/Synchronize/Abacus Sync & Mobile/Setup. The User
Preferences window appears with the Sync & Mobile tab selected.

2. Ensure that Enable Sync and Mobile web features for this user
is checked.
3. Under Login Info for both:
• Enter an Abacus Mobile user ID. The ID must begin with your
Abacus Customer ID followed by any additional characters of
your choice. Often, the operator code will be appended at the
end. So, for instance, if your Abacus Customer ID is 100000
and your operator code is JDK, you could make the Abacus
Mobile user ID 100000JDK.
• Enter an Abacus Mobile password. The password can be
anything, but keep in mind that it will be exposed to the
Internet. Often, a collection of random words or a password

438 Synchronization AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 that incorporates numbers and/or special characters (such as
!@#$) should be chosen over something too simple.
4. Under Mobile Web Access, click Mobile Settings. The Mobile
Web Access Settings window appears.

5. The Web Browsing Queries let you limit the data shown in web
browsing from your phone, tablet, or other computer. For example,
to receive just a subset of names, you can select a names query.
For example, often attorneys limit their phone contacts to just
names where they appear on the name as the attorney.
Set names events, and matters queries as desired.
6. Click OK.
7. Click OK in the User Preferences window to save your settings and
close the window.

Setting Up Abacus Sync

Follow these steps to set up Abacus Syncfor mobile device
synchronization.
1. Determine which machine should handle the sync process (usually
the server) and verify that the machine has a static IP address.
79. Download and run the installer from
[Link]/downloads/[Link]. Use caution
when picking the data directory if you have multiple installs.
80. The installer displays a message. Click OK and Abacus starts.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 439

 81. Select File/Setup/User Manager. The User Manager window
appears.
82. For each user that will use a phone/device with Abacus, you need
to do the following:
• Highlight the user and click Edit. The User Preferences window
appears.
• Select the Sync & Mobile tab.

• Ensure that Enable Sync and Mobile web features for the
user is checked.
• Under Login Info for both, enter an Abacus Sync user ID. The
ID must begin with your Abacus Customer ID followed by any
additional characters of your choice. Often, the operator code
will be appended at the end. So, for instance, if your Abacus
Customer ID is 100000 and your operator code is JDK, you
could make the Abacus Sync user ID 100000JDK.

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 • Under Login Info for both, enter an Abacus Sync password.
The web password can be anything, but keep in mind that it will
be exposed to the Internet. Often, a collection of random words
or a password that incorporates numbers and/or special
characters (such as !@#$) should be chosen over something
too simple.
• To customize the setup for the user, under Smartphone Sync,
click Sync Settings. The Abacus Sync Settings window
appears.

Complete the settings on all three tabs as necessary. See

Abacus Sync Settings Window on page 442 for more
information.
• Click OK.
83. Login to your router. Then, use port forwarding to forward port 8443
to the static IP address for your machine. Open up port 8443
inbound on your computer firewall as well.
NOTE: You can find your public IP address by going to
[Link].
84. Using the login information from your administrative login email, go
to the administrative website at
[Link] and log in.
85. Edit your URL endpoint so that it has
[Link] where yourpublicip will be the
actual IP number.
86. Create a user name and password that exactly matches what you
entered into AbacusLaw for the user.
87. Login to the user website at
[Link]
%[Link].

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 441

 88. Click the button to setup your phone.
89. Backup your phone/device and be sure to copy the backup to a
safe location (if you have the iphone, beware that each new backup
overwrites the last, so you should copy the backup file to another
folder as well).
90. Select your phone/device and follow the directions to install the
sync client and configure it with the same user code and password
that you previously used.
91. Sync your phone/device to Abacus.

Abacus Sync Settings Window

The Abacus Sync Settings window is used when setting up Abacus
Sync for a [Link] following describes the settings on each tab on the
Abacus Sync Settings window.

Name & Notes Tab

The Name & Notes tab on the Abacus Sync Settings window controls
the synchronization of names and name notes.

The following describes the settings on the tab.

• Sync Method: Lets you choose the direction of sync information.
You can select to send information from the phone/device to
AbacusLaw AND from AbacusLaw to the phone/device; or you can
select to send information only to the phone/device from
AbacusLaw; or you can select to send no information at all.
• Include “Personal” category in sync: Check to include personal
names in the synchronization.

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 • Transfer contacts with a blank Last name: Check to include
names with a blank last name.
• Names query: To receive just a subset of names, you can create a
query using this field. For example, often attorneys limit their phone
contacts to just names where they appear on the name as the
attorney.
• Number of notes to transfer: Enter the number of name notes
that will be transferred during the synchronization. The limit is 9.
• Type for new notes: Enter the note type to be automatically
assigned to new name notes transferred. With name notes, if you
already have existing notes synced in from AbacusLaw on your
synced phone/device, new notes added to the phone/device will
not be transferred. New notes, up to the limit, will come in from
AbacusLaw however.

Events & Alarms Tab

The Events & Alarms tab on the Abacus Sync Settings window
controls the synchronization of events.

The following describes the settings on the tab.

• Sync Method: Lets you choose the direction of sync information.
You can select to send information from the phone/device to
AbacusLaw AND from AbacusLaw to the phone/device; or you can
select to send information only to the phone/device from
AbacusLaw; or you can select to send no information at all.
• Sync Alarms: Check to have alarms that have been set in
AbacusLaw also pop up on your phone.
• Include Private events in sync: Check to include private events in
the synchronization.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 443

 • Bill Events that are marked with a dot (.) at the front of the text:
Check if you want to be able to bill a particular event in your phone.
To bill an event, you need to edit the subject line byinserting a
period (.) in front of the subject. When the event is synchronized
again, the event will be marked as “pending” and if you select
Tools/Accounting Setup/Bill Pending Items in AbacusLaw, the
program will create time tickets for all pending events.
• Sync Things-to-do: Select to sync events in AbacusLaw that have
TO-DO entered in the time field.
• What code for new Events: Select the WHAT code to be
assigned to new events entered on the phone/device.
• Events query: Limits items transferred to the phone. Usually, the
PDA_Event Query is chosen.

Phone Number Mapping Tab

The Phone Number Mapping tab on the Abacus Sync Settings
window lets you map where phone numbers are placed in Abacus.
Mapped phone numbers will be set appropriately for the phone number
fields in your phone/device.

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 Private Data and Category Handling – Platform
Differences
Android
Contacts
Android uses a system of multiple accounts that are synced
independently, but can be viewed as a single collection within the
contacts manager. Installing the Funambol sync app creates a
Funambol account on the phone, to which data from the Abacus
Syncserver is synchronized.
When first logging in to the app, it offers you the option of importing
contacts from the other accounts into the Funambol account. If you
wish to keep private data separate from Abacus, you should NOT
perform this import.
Creating a New Contact
When entering a new contact on the phone, you can choose which
account it is placed in. If you wish to add the contact to Abacus, you
should choose the Funambol account (may be named as your Abacus
Syncuser name instead of “Funambol”).
Editing an Existing Contact
Contacts CANNOT be moved directly to a different account after they
have been created. They can be linked to similar contacts in another
account. But see below how the Import utility can move them.
Group/Category/Class
Contacts from any account can be placed within Groups on the phone,
but the Funambol sync app does NOT appear to support syncing this
field on Android. Therefore, this CANNOT be mapped to a
category/class.
Choosing to Sync Private Data
If you wish to sync private data, you should use the Import option in the
Advanced section of the Funambol app to import contacts from other
accounts on the phone to the Funambol account on the phone, and
then sync with Abacus Sync.
Calendar
Similar to contacts, multiple accounts are synced independently, but
can be viewed as different calendars within the calendar app. Installing
the Funambol sync app creates a Funambol calendar on the phone, to
which data from the Abacus Sync server is synchronized. The
Funambol app does NOT offer an import from other calendars.
Creating a New Appointment
When entering a new appointment on the phone, you can choose
which calendar it is placed in. If you wish to add the contact to Abacus,
you should choose the Funambol calendar.

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 Editing an Existing Appointment
Appointments CAN be moved to a different calendar after they have
been created. This will be treated as a deletion from one calendar and
an addition to the other.
Choosing to Sync Private Data
Syncing private data is not possible unless the appointments are
moved to the Funambol calendar.

iPhone
The iPhone uses a system of multiple accounts to sync contacts and
appointments (similar to Android). The Synthesis SyncML PRO sync
app for the iPhone does NOT use this system.
The iPhone does NOT have any concept of a private flag for contacts
or calendar.
Contacts
The Synthesis app for iPhone has an option of syncing ONLY local
phone contacts OR ALSO contacts from other accounts (such as
Exchange). It is assumed that under normal circumstances, you will
NOT use the option to sync other phone accounts to Abacus Sync.
Contacts can be placed in groups on the iPhone, but only if groups
have been created programmatically (e.g., by the sync app) first. There
is no way for you to create/manage contact groups on the iPhone
(unless there’s an app for that…). Groups are sent to Abacus Sync.
Groups can be treated as Abacus classes, if required.
When entering a new contact on the phone, you can choose which
group it is placed in, if any exist. If you wish to add the contact to
Abacus, you should create the contact in a group named “Abacus.”
Anything ELSE would be treated as private data. However, note the
following complications:
• You have NO WAY of creating this group on the iPhone, prior to
syncing with Abacus Sync. This implies that phone contacts must
be IGNORED on the first sync, treating them as private data. The
Abacus group will be created by the sync app as soon as any
contacts are received from Abacus.
• The iPhone does NOT allow you to move contacts from one group
to another. This means that you CANNOT move private contacts
into the Abacus group after the group has been created by the
sync. The iPhone only allows newly created contacts to be placed
within a group.
Choosing to Sync Private Data
The default behavior will be to ignore contacts not in an Abacus group.
If you wish to sync private data (i.e., that in other groups/no group), a
setting can be provided within the Abacus Sync control panel to do this.

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 Calendar
A similar situation applies to appointments as to contacts. Users cannot
create separate calendars on the iPhone directly, so they cannot
segregate private appointments from those they may wish to sync with
Abacus. However, calendars can be created via syncing with iTunes.
Further Complications
The iPhone calendar API does NOT allow applications to create
calendars, UNLIKE contact groups. Therefore the Synthesis app
cannot create an Abacus calendar into which to place appointments.
The only way of creating a separate calendar on the iPhone is by a
manual process of:
• Creating a calendar in Outlook/iCal.
• Using iTunes to sync that (empty) calendar to the iPhone.
• Stop syncing the calendar with iTunes. The calendar REMAINS on
the phone.
Both you and the Synthesis sync app can then create appointments in
the Abacus calendar, and anything not in that calendar can be treated
as private data.
Choosing to Sync Private Data
The default behavior is to ignore appointments not in the Abacus
calendar. If you wish to sync private data (i.e., that in the default
calendar), a setting can be provided within the Abacus Synccontrol
panel to do this.

Outlook Sync
Overview of Outlook Sync
Outlook Sync lets you synchronize Microsoft Outlook data with Abacus
data. You can perform a two-way synchronization by sending Outlook
data to Abacus and Abacus data to Outlook, or you can perform a one-
way synchronization by removing all Outlook data and sending Abacus
data to Outlook.
NOTE: In AbacusLaw, items marked Done or deleted items are
removed from Outlook.
For Outlook Sync, you can:
• Set up Outlook Sync
• Perform Outlook Sync
• View Outlook Sync log files

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 447

 Setting Up Outlook Sync
1. Select File/Synchronize/Outlook Sync/Setup. The Outlook
Integration window appears.
2. Complete the settings on each tab of the Outlook Integration
window as necessary. Click OK to save your settings and close the
window.
3. Click Run Full Sync if to perform the initial Outlook Sync.
4. The Outlook Sync window appears. If Outlook has data, select
whether you want that data merged into Abacus or deleted and
replaced by the Abacus data. Select Cancel to cancel the Outlook
Sync process.
NOTE: Private data will never be deleted.
5. Click OK.

Outlook Integration Window

The Outlook Integration window is used when setting up the Outlook
Sync for a user. The following describes the settings on each tab on
the Outlook Integration window.
• Setup tab
• Names tab
• Events tab
• Phone Number Mapping tab

Setup Tab

448 Synchronization AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 The Setup tab on the Outlook Integration window lets you set up
options for Outlook Sync. The following describes the settings on the
tab.
Outlook Sync Options
• Enable Outlook Sync: Check to activate the Outlook Sync feature.
• Sync at Startup: Check to perform an Outlook synchronization
every time AbacusLaw is started.
• Sync at Shutdown: Check to perform an Outlook synchronization
every time AbacusLaw is exited.
• Play sound after successful sync: Check to play a sound every
time an Outlook synchronization successfully completes.
• Display time for pop-up: The number of seconds the pop-up
notification window will stay visible. Enter a zero (0) to disable the
pop-up notification window.
• Hide pop-up when no data was synced: Check to hide the pop-
up notification window when there is no data to be synchronized.
• Sync every: Enter the time period between automatic Outlook
synchronizations. Enter zero (0) if you do not want to automate the
Outlook sync process.
Outlook Email Options
• Outlook Add-in Setup: Click this button to set up the Outlook add-
in.
• Open Abacus as needed: Check to allow Abacus to open when it
is necessary for linking an attachment.
• Initialize the linked Name/Matter if possible: When checked,
Abacus will try to look up and populate the linked name and/or
matter.
• Flush Outlook temporary files: When checked, Outlook
temporary files will be deleted in Outlook v2003 only.
• Spellcheck whole email: When checked, Outlookwill spell check
the entire email, not just the part you wrote (for example, headers,
reply emails, etc.). This only applies to users of Outlook v2007 and
higher.
• Save attachments when linking an email: When checked,
Outlook will automatically save any files attached to the email when
the email is linked to Abacus.
• Pick which attachments to save: When checked, Outlook will
prompt you to select the attachments you want to save.

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 Names Tab

The Names tab on the Outlook Integration window controls the

synchronization of names and name notes. The following describes the
settings on the tab.
• Sync Method: Lets you choose the direction of sync information.
You can select to send information from Outlook to AbacusLaw
AND from AbacusLaw to Outlook; or you can select to send
information only to Outlook from AbacusLaw; or you can select to
send no information at all.
• Include Outlook Personal, Private, and Confidential contacts
in sync: Check to include personal, private, and confidential
names in the synchronization.
• Transfer contacts with a blank Last name: Check to include
names with a blank last name.
• Names query: To receive just a subset of names, you can create a
query using this field. For example, often attorneys limit their phone
contacts to just names where they appear on the name as the
attorney.
• Number of notes to transfer: Enter the number of name notes
that will be transferred during the synchronization. The limit is 9.
• Type for new notes: Enter the note type to be automatically
assigned to new name notes transferred. With name notes, if you
already have existing notes synced in from AbacusLaw on your
synced Outlook, new notes added to Outlook will not be
transferred. New notes, up to the limit, will come in from
AbacusLaw however.
• Treat address fields as: Select whether you want the address
fields to be for home or business.

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 Events Tab

The Events tab on the Outlook Integration window controls the

synchronization of events. The following describes the settings on the
tab.
• Sync Method: Lets you choose the direction of sync information.
You can select to send information from Outlook to AbacusLaw
AND from AbacusLaw to Outlook; or you can select to send
information only to Outlook from AbacusLaw; or you can select to
send no information at all.
• Sync Alarms: Check to have alarms that have been set in
AbacusLaw also pop up on your phone.
• Include Outlook Personal, Private, and Confidential events in
sync: Check to include personal, private, and confidential events in
the synchronization.
• Bill Events that are marked with a dot (.) at the front of the text:
Check if you want to be able to bill a particular event in Outlook. To
bill an event, you need to edit the subject line by inserting a period
(.) in front of the subject. When the event is synchronized again,
the event will be marked as "pending" and if you select
Tools/Accounting Setup/Bill Pending Items in AbacusLaw, the
program will create time tickets for all pending events.
• Sync Things-to-do: Select to sync events in AbacusLaw that have
TO-DO entered in the time field.
• Who code for new Events/TO-DOs: Select the WHO code to be
assigned to new events and new to-do events entered in Outlook.
• What code for new Events: Select the WHAT code to be
assigned to new events entered in Outlook.
• For new TO-DOs: Select the WHAT code to be assigned to new

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 to-do events entered in Outlook.
• Events query: Limits events (with times) transferred to Outlook.
Usually, the SYN_EVNT query is chosen.
• TO-DOs query: Limits to-do events transferred to Outlook. Usually,
the SYN_EVNT query is chosen.

Phone Number Mapping Tab

The Phone Number Mapping tab on the Outlook Integration window

lets you map where phone numbers are placed in Abacus. Mapped
phone numbers will be set appropriately for the phone number fields in
Outlook.

Performing Outlook Sync

NOTE: This procedure cannot be performed until after Outlook Sync is
set up and an initial Outlook Sync has been run.
To perform an Outlook Sync, select File/Synchronize/Outlook
Sync/Sync Now. The synchronization process runs according to your
Outlook Sync setup.
In AbacusLaw, items marked Done or deleted items are removed from
Outlook.

Including Company Name with Outlook Sync

If you have created a contact for your company, you can include your
company name in the Outlook synchronization by adding the field
“Company” to the database structure of AbacusLaw. Once added,
company name is automatically included in the synchronization.

452 Synchronization AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 1. Select File/Setup/Database structures. The Data Structures for
Names window appears.
2. Click Add. The Add Field to Database window appears.
3. In the Field Name, Display Name, and Description fields, enter
Company.
4. Set Field Length to 45.
5. Click Save.
6. Click Finished. The Pending Changes Exist window appears.
7. Click Execute changes and create new databases.

Viewing Outlook Sync Log Files

Each Outlook synchronization process is documented in a log text file
(*.log). Follow these steps to find and view an Outlook Sync log file.
1. Select File/Synchronize/Outlook Sync/View Log Files.
2. The Select a log file to view window appears listing log files for past
Outlook synchronizations. Highlight the log file you want to view
and click Open.

Laptop Sync
Overview of Laptop Sync
Laptop Sync lets you keep two properly licensed installations of Abacus
synchronized. All changes made in one installation to Names, Events,
Matters, Notes and Codes are reflected in the other, and vice versa.
When using Laptop Sync with Abacus, the word "database" refers to an
installation directory or "folder". A directory containing all the Abacus
files is considered a database, and during setup procedures each
database is given a Unique Database Number (UDN) and description
to distinguish it from the other databases installed on different
computers.
The most common scenario is for an office network to have the primary
"Parent" database at F:\Abacus\v21\Data01 (which might be named
"Main Server" in the Laptop Sync setup), and for a laptop or home
computer to have another "Child" installation at C:\Abacus\V21\Data01
(which might be named "My Laptop").
There are 2 different types of synchronization:
• Connected: A laptop with a network card is connected to an office
computer or network server, and is able to see the disk drive
containing the main Abacus Database.
• Disconnected: A separate computer is not attached to the

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 network, and files containing changes (known as Data Packages)
will be transported via E-mail or floppy disk. This can accommodate
Branch Office synchronization or Office-to-Home synchronization.
Abacus does "field-level" synchronization. This means you can change
John Smith's address in one database, and change the phone numbers
for him in the other database, and end up with both the new address
and the new phone numbers after synchronizing. The only data files
that are synchronized are Names, Events, Matters, Notes and Codes.
No other data files are synchronized.

Setting up Laptop Sync

At the Parent database, run the Initialization Wizard to set things up
and copy the data to the new Child database. You must be a valid user
in both databases to do a direct Sync. We recommend using the Auto-
Log On feature (in User Preferences) to avoid having to log on to each
database manually.

Initializing a Database with a Direct Connection

1. Log in to the Parent database and select File/Synchronize/Laptop
Sync/Initialize/Another [Link] Synchronization wizard
appears.
2. Read the Wizard’s instructions carefully. Note that you must have
exclusive use of the Parent database and the Child database, so if
any other users on your network are in Abacus ask them to exit.
Click Next for the next page (Description tab).
3. Enter a descriptive name for your existing Parent database. For
example, "Office" or "Main Server".
NOTE: This is a one-time setup for the name of the Parent database
and will be skipped if you run the wizard again.
4. Click Next. The Target Descriptiontab appears.
5. Enter a descriptive name for the new Child database. For example,
"My Laptop" or "Bob’s Notebook". Leave the default setting for
Yes-Copy files there directly, and click Next. The Location tab
appears.
6. Click Target and select the location of the Child database on the
Laptop. This is the directory where you just installed Abacus. Click
Next. The Copy tab appears.
7. Ensure that the locations of both the current database (the Parent)
and the location to copy files to (the Child) are correct. Click Finish
to complete the Wizard and begin Initializing the new database.
The Synchronization Collision Handling window appears. Make the
appropriate selection and click OK.

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 Parent Prevails: The data entered by the secretary or other users
in the office will override those coming in from the laptop
(remember, however, this is only under the unusual circumstances
where both users changed the exact same field since the last
sync).
Child Prevails: The values entered on the Laptop override those
on the Office computer.
Later Change Prevails: Compares the time when the two entries
were made and the later of the two prevails.
8. A confirmation window appears to verify the target folder. Once the
files are copied, the data from the Parent directory will completely
overwrite any data in the Child database, so make sure the
displayed path points to the new installation that contains no data,
and then click Yes. The files are copied and the two databases are
now the same.

Knowing Which Database You Are Working With

Notice that the program is still accessing the Parent database. The
power of a Direct Connection is that you can easily access both
databases when connected to the network. This makes synchronizing
much easier and lets you work directly with the Network data while in
the office, but you will need to make sure you know which database
you are accessing. The File menu shows the different databases for
you to select, with the current database at the top of the list. You may
also want to create two shortcuts on your desktop for Abacus  one for
each database.
We recommend synchronizing whenever you first connect to the
network, then using the Parent database the entire time you are
connected. Synchronize again just before disconnecting.

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 Synchronizing Connected Databases with One Click
Once you have synchronized two databases, a button appears on your
Toolbar. As long as the computer you are using is always used to sync
between the same databases, just click the button.
If your computer is used to synchronize more than one disconnected
database (e.g. a secretary creating Data Packages for several
attorneys' home machines), select File/Synchronize/Laptop
Sync/Select a Database, highlight the other database, and click Sync.

Initializing Disconnected Databases

If you are synchronizing a home computer with the office, or even two
separate offices, follow these steps:
1. Run the Parent installation of Abacus. This should be the normal
icon or menu item you use on your workstation.
2. Select File/Synchronize/Laptop Sync/Initialize/Another database.
The Synchronization Wizard appears.
3. Read the Wizard’s instructions carefully. Note that you must have
exclusive use of the Parent database, so if any other users on your
network are in Abacus ask them to exit. Click Next to go to the
Description tab.
4. Enter a descriptive name for your existing Parent database. For
example, "Office" or "Main Server".
NOTE: This is a one-time setup for the name of the parent database
and will be skipped if you run the wizard again. Click Next. The Target
Descriptiontab appears.
5. Enter a descriptive name for the new Child database. For example,
"Home Computer" or "Anne’s Machine". Select
No - Create a zip file for me to Transport. This is the important
difference between connected and disconnected synchronizations.
Click Next. The Location tab appears.
6. Click the Output File button to select the path and file name for
your initialization "zip" file. You may want it written to a floppy drive
if you will be using diskettes, or you can save it to the hard drive
and attach it to an email message. Click Next. The Copy tab
appears.
7. Ensure that the locations of both the current Parent database and
the path to the zip file are correct. Click Finish to complete the
Wizard and begin Initializing the new database. The
Synchronization Collision Handling window appears.
8. Make the appropriate selection as follows and click OK. The Parent
database’s files are compressed into your Output File. This special
"zip" file is called an Initialization Packet.
Parent Prevails: The values entered by the secretary or other
users in the office will override those coming in from the laptop

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 (remember, however, this is only under the unusual circumstances
where both users changed the exact same field since the last
sync).
Child Prevails: The values entered on the Laptop override those
on the Office computer.
Later Change Prevails: Compares the time when the two entries
were made and the later of the two prevails.
9. Transport the initialization packet to the machine where the new
Child database will reside.

Receiving an Initialization Package

To finish initializing a new disconnected database:
1. Install a fresh Abacus on the new computer. Be sure it is the exact
same version that is installed at the Parent database, and that
there is no valuable data in this folder.
2. Select File/Synchronize/Laptop Sync/Initialize/Receive Initialization
Package. A file selection window appears.
3. Select the initialization zip file you created at the Parent database,
and click OK. A confirmation window appears.
4. Make the appropriate choices to continue. The new files from the
Parent database are copied and the two databases are now the
same.

Synchronizing a Disconnected Database

Once you are set up, a "Remote Synchronization" button appears on
your Toolbar. Just click it to synchronize the same two databases.
Normally this is all you will have to do to stay synchronized. However,
with a disconnected sync, you will transport Data Packages between
the two databases. These are special compressed files with the
extension ".SYNand they contain all the information about records that
you have added, edited and deleted since your last sync. You can
decide whether you want to use diskettes, email, or another mode to
transport the files. But you should always put them in the same folder
so Abacus can automatically find them for you (it will remember the
location of the first file you select).
1. After you have made some changes to your Child database and
you are ready to head back to the office, click the button. A window
asks you to confirm if you want to Send, Receive, or Both.
2. Since you do not yet have a Data Package to receive, select Send,
then click Sync. A window explains that you need to set up the
location for outgoing Data Packages.
3. For diskettes, select A:\. If you will be using email to transport the
files, you may want to use the Sync folder under Abacus to store

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 them. Or you may prefer to select C:\Windows\DeskTop, which
will place an icon on your Desktop that you can drag into an email
message.
4. After selecting the Output Folder, your changes are collected into
the Data Package. When finished, take the Data Package file to the
Parent machine.
5. For diskettes, just put it in the drive of the Parent machine.
Otherwise copy the file to a folder you intend to use for all such
files, perhaps the Sync folder under Abacus.
6. Click the button. The Send/Receive/Both window appears. Select
Both and click Sync. Since this is the first time you received a file,
a window prompts you for the file’s location. (As long as you use
the same folder, this step will be skipped in the future.)
NOTE: If the workstation that you are using at the Parent database is
used to synchronize other Child databases as well, the toolbar button
will not always work. The purpose of the button is the same as the
menu option File/Synchronize/Laptop Sync/Repeat Last Sync. This
means the last time a Sync was performed, Abacus memorized which
two databases were involved so it can repeat the same action. If you
need to Sync more than one Child database from that station, select
File/Synchronize/Laptop Sync/Select a Database. A list of all known
databases appears. Highlight the desired one and click Sync.

Branch Office Synchronization

Although the most common example of synchronization is to maintain
data on notebook or home computers, it is just as easy to synchronize
multiple offices so they are seeing the same data. This feature is
known as Branch Office Synchronization, and it is available only with
the Fortress option of Abacus.

Special Licensing
Your Main Office buys licenses for each of your offices and all of your
users. Whenyou create an Initialization Package for a Branch Office,
you allocate the numberof user licenses to that office for which you
paid the license fee. There will thenbe fewer user licenses available
locally at the Main Office. When employees movefrom office to office,
you can, within certain limits, re-distribute licenses amongyour offices.
The limit for each Branch Office is the size of the Advantage
DatabaseServer (ADS) license you purchased for that location.

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 IMPORTANT: Make sure there are never more users set up at a
Branch Office than thenumber allocated to it at the Main Office
because sync operations will not [Link] manages the
allocated licenses whenever a sync operation is performed to
ensurethat the correct number of users is set up at a Branch Office. If
you allocate 10licenses to a Branch, initially it is automatically set up to
allow 10 users to beadded using File/Setup/User Manager. If you then
change the Main Office allocationfor that Branch to 8, make sure
someone at the Branch deletes 2 of the users beforeattempting the
next sync.
Laptop and home users:
At a Branch Office, up to 25 licensed users can also set up
synchronization to asingle-user laptop or other remote computer,
provided the user’s Branch Office workstationis not used at the same
time as the remote computer. You do not sync these to theMain Office.
They are part of the Branch Office setup and work just like a normal
Laptop Sync setup.
Contact Information:
You must supply to Abacus Data Systems, Inc. the address and
contact informationfor each Branch Office you set up.
Database Server Licensing:
You must get a specific Advantage Database Server (ADS) license for
each Branch Officeto accommodate the range of users there. The ADS
licensing has fixed sizes of 5,10, 15, 25, 50 and increments of 10
thereafter, and those licenses are not transferableamong your offices.
Since they cannot be re-allocated in the way Abacus licensescan, be
sure to set up the maximum number of ADS users at each installation
at thetime you buy Abacus.

Setting Up a Branch Office

1. At the Main Office, determine if the Branch Office has a direct
connection or [Link] it does not, and Data Packages are sent
between the two offices via [Link] if you have a reliable Wide
Area Network (WAN) so a computer in the Main Officecan see the
disk drives and files of the Branch, it is possible to use this
directconnection for synchronizing.
2. At the Main Office, select File/Synchronize/Initialize/Another
Database and use theSynchronization wizard to create an
initialization package zip file (it can spanacross more than one
diskette if necessary). The Target Description page of the
wizardhas a section called Select a type of sync database. Set this
to Create a BranchOffice sync database. A new field appears for
you to enter the number of user licensesto allocate to that branch.
Finish the rest of the wizard and create the initializationpackage.
3. At the Branch Office, install Abacus, and then receive the
initialization package.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 459

 Decide how often you want to synchronize. It's best for this to be the
responsibilityof a particular person. Remember that your branch will
only receive data from theMain Office. If there are other Branch Offices,
they must all sync to the Main Officebefore you do for you to have all
the data.

Changing the Number of User Licenses for a Branch

Office
At the Main Office, select File/Synchronize/Select a Database to
browse all synchronizeddatabases. Highlight the Branch Office and
click Edit. The Unique Database Propertieswindow appears. Change
the value in the #Licenses field. You cannot increase thenumber
beyond the total number of users at the Main Office plus all those
allocatedto Branch Offices.
WARNING: If you reduce the number of users allocated to a Branch,
be sure to havesomeone at the Branch Office delete users to be at or
below the new value. This musthappen before attempting to sync data.
If they attempt to sync when they have morethan the allotted number of
users, they will get errors and have to select File/Synchronize/Laptop
Sync/Selecta Database and click the Re-Do button to repeat the last
sync operation and avoidlosing data.

Collisions
A Collisionoccurs when users on both databases (e.g. a secretary at
the office and a lawyer using the laptop in court), change the same field
in the same record. When the laptop is later synchronized with the
office database, one of those two entries must be selected for that field.
You will be able to hand-select an entry later, but initially the
synchronizing process makes a selection based on your setting in the
Synchronization Collision Handling window.
• If you select Parent Prevails the data entered by the secretary or
other users in the office will override those coming in from the
laptop.
• Select Child Prevails to have the values entered on the LapTop
override those on the Office computer.
• Select Later Change Prevails to compare the time when the two
entries were made and select the later of the two.

Collision Review
If any collisions occur during a sync, Abacus automatically displays the
Sync Collision Review window. You should review the collisions to
confirm the information that was automatically selected based on your
settings, and decide if you would rather select the alternate information.
If you select the alternate information, and your other database is non-
connected, you will need to sync again and send those changes to the
non-connected database.

460 Synchronization AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 1. To resolve the collisions, select File/Synchronize/Laptop
Sync/Resolve Collisions. The Sync Collision Review window
appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. If you are completely sure that the default handling of collisions is

to your liking, you may click Accept all to resolve all the collisions.
Otherwise, continue to step 3.
3. Click a button for a particular data type to see the records that have
collisions.
4. The Check box columns tell you whether the default selected data
came from the current database (Mine) or the other database being
synchronized (Other). In the case of a direct connected
synchronization, "mine" refers to the Parent database and "other"
refers to the Child database. These are clearly displayed at the top
of the window.
5. If the selected data came from fields in both databases (because
your default setting was to select the later change), the check box
"Both" is selected.
6. If you are confident the default handling made the correct choices
for ALL RECORDS, click Accept all. The collisions are resolved
and the window closes.
7. If you want to review the actual fields that created the collision,
double click on a record or click View fields. The Collisions window
appears, where you can see exactly what values were saved in
both databases.
8. The current real data for that field appears in a large display to the
right. Near the bottom of the window, the alternate data that was
discarded is shown. Below this alternate field is the Show: radio
button that shows either My data or Other data. This toggle
changes the Alternate field to show the data for the collision as it

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 came in from either database. To change the real data in the
current database, click Overwrite the current with alternate. This
takes whatever data is displayed in the Alternate field and selects it
for the current database.
9. You may select one of those original values or edit the entire
record if desired. In this case click Edit record. Your normal
screen for editing that record appears. Make any desired changes
and click Save to return to the Collisions window.
10. If the collision was in a note field, you can display the alternate data
from both databases, then copy pieces of each note to the
Windows clipboard with Ctrl+C and paste them into the Current
field with Ctrl+V.
11. Once you click Save in the Collisions window, all collisions for
those fields are considered resolved and that record will be
removed from the Records with collisions list.

Viewing Synchronized Databases

Abacus keeps a list of all established databases that are kept
synchronized. To view the list, select File/Synchronize/Select a
Database. A browse window appears, showing the UDN (Unique
Database Name) and description for each database, as well as the
date and time it was last synchronized.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

This window is often used by a secretary in the office whose job is to

create outgoing Data Packages for multiple attorneys. In this scenario,
the sync button isn't helpful as it tries to repeat the last action, so the
secretary will simply highlight a particular database (usually a non-
connected one) and click Sync. The process can be repeated for as
many databases as needed.
Sync button: This button enables you to synchronize the current
database (mine) with the highlighted database (other).

462 Synchronization AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 Edit button: Allows you to edit the properties of a synchronized
database. Note this should not be done unless absolutely necessary.
Delete button: Disconnects a synchronized database.
NOTE: If you delete a synchronized database you will no longer be
able to synchronize the data in that database. You must initialize the
database again.
Re-Init button: Allows you to re-initialize a database. This is useful
when some mistake or error occurred Initializing a database, or if the
Initialization package was lost due to a bad diskette or email server
failure. Because this feature completely overwrites the Child data with
the latest Parent data, only use this feature if you are sure you want to
overwrite the Child data.
Re-do: Allows you to re-create a data package for a disconnected
database. It will re-create the data package with the same start time as
the last data package which will include all changes since that start
time. This is most useful if you have a lost or corrupted data package.

Turning Off Synchronization Features

By default, Synchronization is turned off in Abacus. If you have used
Laptop Sync in the past and you are no longer going to use it, you may
want to turn this feature off to save disk space and resources. To turn
off the Synchronization feature, select File/Setup/System Options. In
System Options, un-check Track Remote [Link]
this is turned on automatically when you Initialize synchronized
databases, but you can turn it off if you decide to stop using the
Synchronization features. If this box is checked, Abacus tracks all your
additions and changes in an extra file called [Link]. If you turn
off this feature, Abacus will no longer use [Link] and you will
need to fully Initialize new databases to use synchronization. DO NOT
DO THIS unless you are positive there is no data in other databases
that you care about.

Synchronization Details
Important Points to Remember
Synchronization can only happen between a Parent database and its
Children. You cannot sync between two children, and you cannot use
the sync files intended for one database to update a different one.

Linking to Billing Programs

If you are synchronizing your data with Timeslips, only do this on the
Parent machine. You must not try to link to these programs on more
than one machine. External synchronization information is not
transferred during a Laptop Sync operation.

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 Deletions
Deleting a name or matter will delete that record on the other machine
AND it will delete all related records just as if you deleted it from the
main window. Deleting an Event will automatically delete any
Reminders just as if you deleted it from the Event window.

Temporary Files
When doing a Connected sync, temporary filesare always placed in the
Child's LawTemp subdirectory. The out-going Data Package is called
RS_O<User ID>.DBF with a matching file that has the extension .FPT.
The in-coming Data Package (data from the Parent) is called
RS_I<User ID>.DBF and .FPT. These files are re-used each time you
sync, so there is no need to delete them.

For a Disconnected sync, the data is compressed into files with the
.SYN extension. The base file name is composed of the UDN (Unique
Database Number) plus the Sequence number. Abacus never deletes
these Data Packages because it does not know when you have
successfully applied them to the other database. You can edit the path
where these files are stored in the Unique Database Properties
window. These files are normally small because of the high
compression ratio achieved, but you may want to delete them
periodically.

Log Files
Every time you synchronize, a log is kept that traces each step of the
process. The same file is used for a specific user during one day, and a
new log file is started the next day. These logs are very useful in the
uncommon event that something goes wrong. For example, a disk can
run out of disk space or other unusual problems can arise that keep a
sync from finishing successfully.
The log will also include Collision Resolution actions (both automatic
and user selected) for you to trace any problems regarding data. The
files are created in the \Abacus\v21\Data01\Sync\Logs subdirectory,
with a name format of <date>.<User ID> (for example,
[Link]). You may want to delete them periodically.

Dates
Abacus will handle dates through the year 2099.

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 Time Zone Issues
Taking your data across time zones creates several problems for any
calendar system. If you schedule a meeting at 3:00pm in Los Angeles,
but synchronize your data with a New York firm, what time should it
say? If it says 6:00pm for an L.A. event, it appears to be after business
hours and leads to serious confusion. But if the event were for a call to
the N.Y. office, then it would make sense for the N.Y. people to see
6:00pm.
To avoid confusion for users, Abacus does not recommend
synchronizing databases across different time zones. If you need to
synchronize data between two such offices, it is best for the Child office
to consider itself to be looking at a copy of the Parent office’s data. If
calendar events are added for both locations, it is important to use the
Where field and know that all references to time are in local time. Also
be aware that if two users change the same field in the same record
before synchronizing, the changes may not be seen as a collision and
only one change will be saved to disk.

Protecting Against Station Clock Differences

Abacus keeps a Transaction file that records the time of all your
changes to data. This is how it knows which changes to send to which
computer.
When a Data Package is created for a unique database (UDN), Abacus
makes sure that the following time that UDN is sent data, all
subsequent transactions are posted. If another station on your network
has an earlier clock and writes a change seconds after the Data
Package is created, the clock difference would make it seem like the
transaction occurred BEFORE your Data Package was created. If this
were allowed, the change would not be seen the next time a Data
Package is created for that UDN, and the new data would not get sent
to the other database.
To guard against this, Abacus saves the last time any Data Package is
created. When transactions are posted, it will see if a bad clock setting
attempts to write an earlier time and it alerts the user to check the
clocks on all stations. The time of the transaction is posted in a way
that ensures it will be included in any future Data Packages.

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26. Timeslips Link
Here’s how the optional link to Timeslips will help you eliminate
duplicate data entry, make billing easier, and increase your billable
time:
• Eliminate duplicate data entry: You will never have to enter new
names or make changes to addresses and telephone numbers in
both programs again. Once linked, changes in one program are
made in the other program without re-typing.
• Make billing easier: You can create a bill slip in Timeslips for any
event (appointment, phone call, etc.) or note in Abacus. Just click
the Bill button in Abacus (or select Bill from the right-click menu.)
• Increase your billable time: Because it is so fast and easy to
create a bill slip while you are typing a note or marking an event
“done”, you’ll increase billable time two ways: a) you will capture
more of those billable minutes that used to slip through the cracks,
especially during interruptions; b) you will spend less time on the
non-billable administrative tasks like billing, and have more billable
time during the day.

Note that Abacus links to the 32-bit versions of Timeslips (version 9

and later). If you use Timeslips version 8 or earlier, you must either
update to a new version of Timeslips or disable the link.

Linking to Timeslips
If you use Timeslips, you can link it with Abacus so that the programs
share information. If in Timeslips you are using the [Link]
system, new matters are sent from Abacus to Timeslips with full
address information.

Creating the Timeslips Database

In Timeslips, create the real working database ([Link]). If using a
network, place it on a network drive where all users can access it using
the same mapped drive letter. Use the full network install of Timeslips.
If upgrading from an earlier version of Timeslips, run its Data Converter
to create the database.
Remember the full path to [Link].

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 Setting Up Timeslips on Each Workstation
1. Using Windows Explorer, go to the Timeslips program folder
(probably f:\Timeslips\, where f: is the mapped drive letter of the
server) and open the sub-directory called Loclinst. Run the
[Link] in that folder to install necessary files to the
workstation.
2. Run the latest service release of Timeslips. For Timeslips v.9, you
must update to Service Release 6 or later.
3. Run Timeslips and access the database on the Server ([Link]).
You must access the database once through the Timeslips
program itself from each workstation before accessing it through
Abacus.

Setting Up the Timeslips Link

1. From the menu bar, select Tools/Timeslips Link/Setup. The Setup
for TimeSlips Link window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Use the following to help you complete the settings on the window:
• Timeslips database: Lets you select the Timeslips database.
To change, click the button. Select the [Link] containing
your real data and click OK.
NETWORK NOTE: Notice that this is a shared setup, so all
stations must be able to access the same drive letter and path.
For example, if the Timeslips database is located at
"F:\Timeslip\Data01\[Link]", all stations must have drive "F"
mapped to the same network location. Also, different users
cannot link the Abacus database to different Timeslips
databases.

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 • Import/export Matters as well as clients?: Select if you are
using the Client Project system in Timeslips and you want
Abacus to export all the matters for each client as a separate
record in Timeslips. The name records will export as master
clients, and matters linked to a name as a CLIENT will export
with NickName1 set to the client’s ID# followed by a dot (.) and
the matter case number. The dot (.) is configurable in Timeslips
and Abacus will use whatever your setting contains.
If you have data in Timeslips that you plan to import into Abacus, select
this option if you want a separate matter record created for every Client
Project record in Timeslips. If this option is not selected, importing will
create a name record for each Timeslips record. If you aren’t familiar
with Client Projects, open the Timeslips help system and search for
"Projects.
• Link Type Code: The code you use to link names to matters
as a client. Abacus lets you link names as attorneys, judges or
other roles, and these should not become records in Timeslips.
Usually clients are linked to matters with a link type code of
CLIENT, but if you use a different code (like CLIENT-B for
Billing Client) you can enter it here.
NOTE: The two previous settings affect how Abacus behaves later
when you add new records. When you add a new name record,
Abacus sends that new record to Timeslips as a master client record.
But when you add a new matter, Abacus doesn’t know yet if the matter
has a linked client. So, Abacus only exports new matters at the point
where you link a matter to a name using this special link type code. If
the Import/Export Matters box is checked, the matter will be exported
as a Client Project record for that linked name.
• Get address changes at startup: When selected, Abacus will
ask Timeslips for new or modified records whenever you start
Abacus. Once the link is established, Timeslips notices when
you add or change client records and saves that information.
Abacus can ask for it at startup and make those changes to the
same records in Abacus, or you can use a menu option to ask
for these changes at will. In general, it’s better if you add and
modify addresses and phone numbers in Abacus only and let it
post those changes directly to Timeslips. Users that don't
understand or want the responsibility of accepting address and
phone number additions and changes should NOT select this
option.
• Field assignments: Used to change the default settings for
special reasons. This function lets you map the fields in Abacus
to the various fields in Timeslips. You may, for example, have
existing Timeslips records that have the Fax number in the
second phone number field instead of the third as in Abacus.

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 Notice that the default setup has field assignments that map Abacus
fields to the Timeslips fields. For example, the Names ID field will be
the same data as the Timeslips NickName1 field, and the Names Last
field (client's last name) will have the same data as the Timeslips
NickName2 field. We strongly recommend you stick with these
assignments. If you expect to do a bulk import or export to move all
clients from one program to the other, you must have unique values in
these "key" fields, so changing the field assignments can create
problems. However, the address lines may be used differently in
different firms so you want to confirm your data is mapped the way you
want. Timeslips numbers the address lines differently than Abacus
"Label" lines, so be careful!
For peace of mind, if you already have data in both programs and don't
have NickNames that match IDs in Abacus, you can clear those
assignments (don't map Nickname fields to anything). When one
program updates the other, you can be sure only the fields you leave
mapped will transfer data.

NOTES: (1) Abacus will NOT overwrite the Timeslips NickName fields
when posting changes to existing records. Since the Nickname fields
are "key" fields that identify records for related information and
historical records, automatically overwriting them has too much
potential for user's simple mistakes causing a big problem. If a user's
Last Name changes and this is mapped to the Nickname 2 field, you
will have to make that change in Timeslips IF indeed you want that field
to change.
(2) If you are starting a new Timeslips database, you will need to add
all your Timekeepers and Activity codes in Timeslips before you can bill
slips. Abacus can let you "link" its codes to existing Timeslips codes as
you bill new notes and events, but it cannot add new Timekeepers or
Activity codes for you.
3. Click OK.

Importing Names from Timeslips to Abacus

To import names from Timeslips to Abacus, select Tools/Timeslips
Link/Import names. Abacus must ensure that no duplicate ID numbers
are created, so if the field in Timeslips (usually Nickname1) assigned to
the ID field in Abacus contains data that would cause a duplicate ID in
Abacus, the record will not be imported. Once the import process is
complete, an error log is displayed and shows any records that didn’t
get added to Abacus.

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 Exporting Names from Abacus to Timeslips
You can export all or a portion of your names from Abacus to
Timeslips. As Abacus often has names that are not “clients,” to export
only client names to Timeslips for billing, follow these steps:
1. From the Name window, click the Query button and select the
CLIENTS query. This will limit the exported names to clients only.
(If you have attorneys and judges in your Names database, you
probably don’t want those in Timeslips.)
2. Select Tools/Timeslips Link/Export names to export all names
matching the current query. If a query is not set, Abacus gives you
a warning.
If you import or export records they are automatically “linked” and there
is no more setting up to do for names. When you make additions or
changes in one program, the changes will automatically post to the
other.
NOTE: If you are starting a new Timeslips database, you will need to
add all your Timekeepers and Activity codes in Timeslips before you
can bill slips.

Synchronizing Timeslips and Abacus Databases

If you already have clients in both Timeslips and Abacus, you need to
match (or link) the Abacus records to the Timeslips records.

To link names:
1. In Abacus, with the Name window open, select Tools/Timeslips
Link/Link this record or press Ctrl+L. A list of Timeslips clients
appears. (The highlighted row may be the last record in Timeslips;
if so, scroll up to see the other records in the list.)
2. Select the Timeslips record that matches the Abacus name. A
message bar will tell you whether or not your Abacus record is
already linked to a Timeslips record.
3. Select the record you wish to link. (Notice that, in order to minimize
mistakes, pressing Enter will not select. You need to double-click a
record or click the Select button.) If you accidentally click the
wrong record, repeat this process and click the correct name.
NOTE: A name in Abacus can be linked to only one name in Timeslips.

To link matters:
Linking a matter to a Timeslips record only affects billing (not address
and phone number data).

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 Timeslips lets you bill client matters in two ways: the Client Project or
Reference method. For ease of use, we recommend the Client Project
method. For more information on these two methods, refer to Help in
Timeslips.
If you use the Client Project billing method, go to each Abacus matter
you want to bill for, then select Tools/Timeslips Link/Link this record to
link that matter to the appropriate client/project record.
If you use the References method, select Tools/Timeslips Link/Link this
record and link the Abacus matter to the client record. When you bill an
event, switch to Timeslips and select the appropriate reference for the
slip.
Import and export also handles matters that are linked to names with a
LinkType code of CLIENT (which is configurable). Exporting from
Abacus will create non-master records in Timeslips with NickName1 set
to the client ID plus the Timeslips separator (usually a dot) plus the
matter case number.

To link codes to Timekeepers and Activities:

You can link each of your Abacus Who, What, and NoteType codes to
its Timeslips counterpart ahead of time or as you go. Link a code once
and Abacus automatically uses the same code thereafter. Abacus Who
codes correspond to Timeslips Timekeepers and Abacus What and
NoteType codes correspond to Timeslips Activities.
If you add a new code in Abacus, the first time you bill using it, you will
be asked to link it to a Timeslips Activity or Timekeeper. You can then
link the code and continue working.
To set up all codes, select File/Setup/Codes. Then select Who, What,
or NoteType and click Edit. If Timeslips is linked and the user has
security access, the codes list box has a Timeslips Link button that
lets you pick a Timekeeper to link to a Who code and an Activity to link
to a What or NoteType code. You may link more than one Abacus code
to a Timeslips activity. (There is a hidden third column that contains the
Timeslips record ID linked to that code. This is a meaningless number
to the user, but it’s useful to make sure a code is linked to Timeslips.)
NOTE: When billing for name or matter notes, be sure the User ID is
the Who code for the Timekeeper. Since most people have Who codes
that match their User ID, this is usually not a problem. You may need to
add other users to the list of Who codes.

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27. Administration
In this chapter, you will learn some Abacus administration tasks.

Importing Data
Importing SmartLaser Data
1. From the menu bar, select File/Utilities/Import/SmartLaser. A
window that lets you select the SmartLaser database appears.
2. Select the SmartLaser database that you want to import and click
Open.

Importing Legal Solutions Data

1. From the menu bar, select File/Utilities/Import/Legal Solutions. A
window that lets you select the Legal Solutions database appears.
92. Select the directory that includes the Legal Solutions database that
you want to import and click OK.

Importing Other Data

There are two steps involved in importing data from another database
into Abacus:
Step 1: Add, clone, or edit an import template that tells Abacus where
the source file is and how the various fields map to the fields in Abacus.
Step 2: Select the import template to import the data.
If you are new to Abacus and are importing data from another program,
you must first make sure that the source data is either in a .DBF or a
.CSV format.
NOTE: You must have exclusive use of all databases to import data.
Please make sure any other users on your network quit the program
before you attempt importing.
You manage import templates from the Import Templates window. To
open the window, select File/Utilities/Import/Other.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

From this window you can:

• Add/clone/edit import templates
• Delete import templates
• Select the import template to use to import data

Adding/Cloning/Editing Import Templates

1. From the Import Templates window, do one of the following:
• To add an import template, click the Add button.
• To clone an import template, select the import template you
want to duplicate and click the Clone button.
• To edit an import template, select the import template you want
to edit and click the Edit button.
The Import Setup window appears.

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 473

 2. Use the following to help you change the settings on the Import
Setup window as necessary:
• Template Name: The name of the import template.
• Description: A description of the import template.
• Import to: Indicates which Abacus database to import the data
into.
• Source: Indicates if the source file is a comma-delimited text
file or a .DBF (dBASE or Foxpro) file.
• File: The full path to the source data file.
3. Click OK.
4. TheMapping Fields window for the appropriate database (Name,
Matter or Event window) appears.

474 Administration AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 From this window, do any of the following:
• To map a field from your source file to a particular field in
Abacus, double-click or right-click the Abacus field. The Import
to Abacus Field Assignments window appears listing the fields
from your source file. Select the one that matches. You must
assign all desired fields in this way. Any source fields that are
not selected will not have their data moved into the Abacus
record. Click OK when you are finished to close the window
and save your changes.
Note that you can click the Constant button on the Import to
Abacus Field Assignments window to assign fixed text. Abacus
will not allow blank or numeric entries. Also, you can only
assign a constant that starts with a non-digit.
• If the source file has a note or memo field (or other character
field with miscellaneous information), click Note field to select
it. For names and matters, this tells Abacus to create a note
record with the contents of that field.
• If the source file has combined data for both name and matter
information, create one template for names and import that
data, then create a second template for matters, map the
appropriate fields, and import again from that file.
• The Duration field in events can be mapped in one of two
different ways. The source file can have a Duration field
containing hours, or it may have a pair of fields with start and
end times. If it has start and end times, Abacus will calculate
the duration for you. To map, simply double-click the Duration
field and select the method for mapping.
When you are finished click Done.

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 Deleting Import Templates
1. From the Import Templates window, select the import template you
want to delete.
2. Click the Delete button. A confirmation window appears. Click Yes.

Selecting the Import Template to Use to Import Data

From the Import Templates window, highlight the import template you
want to use to import data and click Import.

Creating Links
When importing events, Abacus can create the links between the
Events database and the Names and/or Matters database. The source
file for events must have a field in it with data corresponding to the ID
field in names or CASENUM in matters. You must import the names
and matters first so Abacus can find the records to link to.
If your event data only has a name field that has a person's name in it
rather than a value that corresponds to the unique Name ID field,
Abacus will not be able to link to the name record and the client's name
will not be imported. Similarly, a matter name is not usable unless it
has been mapped to the matter CaseNum field when importing the
matters.
EXAMPLE:
Your source file for the names import has a field called CLIENT#, so
you import those Names and map CLIENT# to the Abacus ID field. The
Events source file also has a field called CLIENT#, and it contains the
CLIENT# for the appropriate Name record.
In the Mapping Fields window for events, assign CLIENT# to the
"Name" field. Map all other fields and import your events. They will
display the linked names.
Similarly for linked matters, assign to "Matter" the field that corresponds
to the Matter CaseNum field.

Importing Cross-Reference Data

Cross references are name-to-matter links.
To import cross-reference data, you need to create a CSV file that
contains the cross reference source data. The CSV file must not
contain a header row and the field order must match your Abacus cross
reference tables (for example, ID, CaseNum, and Type).
Then, to import the cross reference data into Abacus, follow these
steps:
1. SelectFile/Utilities/Import/Cross References. The Cross Reference
Import window appears.

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 93. For Source file, select the cross reference CSV file.
94. If you like, you can assign the same link type for all the name-to-
matter links you are importing by selecting a link type for the Link
Type field.
95. ClickOK.

Importing Notes Data

To import notes, you need to create a CSV file that contains the note
source data. The CSV file must not contain a header row and the field
order must match your Abacus cross reference tables (for example,
When, Time, Duration, ID CaseNum, Operator, Type, and Note).
Then, to import the note data into Abacus, follow these steps:
1. SelectFile/Utilities/Import/Notes. The Notes Import window
appears.

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 96. For Source file, select the notes CSV file.
97. If you like, you can assign the same note type for all the notes you
are importing by selecting a note type for the Note Type field.
98. Click OK.

Exporting Data
Exporting All Abacus Data
Abacus has extremely flexible export capabilities for any database
through the report engine. Notice, however, that the MailMerge option
for names will export name information to your word processor, which
is the most common need for exported data.
You can export data from any database from the Reports menu. Just
set the output of a report to "Data/Merge File," and the fields identified
in that report are sent to a raw data file instead of to a formatted report.
You can select from .DBF, comma-delimited, and WordPerfect formats,
among others (Microsoft Word uses comma-delimited or .DBF).
Most databases have a standard report called MailMerge that is setup
to export ALL fields in the database, so exporting is usually as easy as:
1. Select File/Reports and select the database (Names, for example).
2. Click Report to see a list of reports. Select the report called
“MailMerge.”
3. At the Report Control window, the Direction should be set to
Data/Merge File, so just click Print. You will be prompted to input
the output file name if it is not setup.

If your database does not have a MailMerge report, or you want a

customized version of one, just add a new report with NO fields (this
tells the report engine to export ALL fields). Now run the report with
output Direction set to Data/Merge File. If you use a report that has
fields defined, only those fields will be exported.
By using the reporting system for exports, you have the ability to:
• Use any index for sorting, including user-defined indexes
• Assign a query to be used every time for that export
• Setup the output filename
• Run the export regularly from a batch, with no further setup!

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 Exporting Data for One Who Code
You can export data for only one Who code. This is useful if an
attorney leaves a firm or is transferred to another office and wants to
take his/her Abacus data.
1. Select File/Utilities/Export/All data for one Who code. The Export
Data for a “Who” Code window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Click the Directory to export to lookup button and select the

output path. To avoid the possibility of overwriting Abacus
databases, this MUST be an empty directory. You can also enter a
new path and it will offer to create the new folder for you.
3. Click the Who Code to export lookup button. The Valid WHO
Entries window appears. Select the person for whom you want to
export data. Only one code can be entered at a time. Contact
Abacus tech support if you later need to merge data for more than
one Who code at the new office.
4. Click the Execute button.
This will create databases in the target directory with:
• names and matters that have that code in the Attorney field
• all matters attached to exported names
• notes attached to those names and matters
• events with that code in the Who field
Be sure to review the data carefully. Because of variations in how
people enter data we cannot guarantee that all desired records are
exported. If you want less data than is created here, copy these files to
a temporary Abacus directory and delete records as desired, then Pack
the databases.

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Backing Up Data
Data files should be backed up at the end of each day. It only takes
one power surge or computer malfunction to destroy hours or days of
work. You can use the Abacus internal utility for backing up the data,
but a full backup of the entire Abacus directory at least once a week is
recommended. Put backups on removable media and store them
offsite!
For a complete backup of data, make sure that there is no one using
Abacus or MessageSlips.
To backup your data using the Abacus internal backup utility:
1. Select File/Utilities/Backup/Backup. The Backup Abacus Files
window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Use the following to help you complete the settings on the window:
Under Directories:
• Destination: Indicates the directory where the backup file will
be stored. To change, click the button. The Destination
Directory window appears. Select the directory and click OK.

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 • Source: The directory containing the files you want to back up.
To back up a different directory, first select File/Change
Directory from the main menu.
• Number of backup files to retain: The number of the most
recent backup files to keep. For example, if you select 5,
Abacus would always keep the 5 most recent backup files.
RECOMMENDATION: Select to retain at least 5 backup files if
you have the disk space. If you are backing up to a floppy disk,
you should select to retain 1 backup file to use all the disk
space for a single backup. Then use different backup diskettes
for each backup.
Under Include along with main data:
• Abacus MessageSlips: When checked, MessageSlips data
will be included in the backup. If you have MessageSlips open
at the time of the backup, you should not select this option.
• Forms .AF files: When checked, all form files (files with an .AF
extension) will be included in the backup.
• Accounting data: When checked, accounting data will be
included in the backup. (Saved PDF bills will be included in this
backup data set only if Saved PDF bills is checked.)
• Saved PDF bills: When checked, saved PDF bills will be
included in the accounting backup data.
3. Click the StartBackup button. When the backup is complete, a
message window appears. Click OK. A backup file named
LAW_XXX.zip is created (where "X" is the backup number) and
stored in the selected directory.

Restoring Data
When restoring, the original files are renamed so they stay intact after a
backup. DBF, ADT, ALF and FM1 files are renamed with a BAK
extension, and FPT files are renamed with a TDK extension. For
example, a file named [Link] before restoring is changed to [Link]
after restoring.
Abacus backups should only be restored through the Abacus restore
utility. If for any reason you need to unzip one of these backup files
manually, be careful to put ALF and QuickForm files in the layouts
folder.
NOTE: You must know the supervisor password to restore data, and no
other users can be using Abacus.
IMPORTANT: Where .dbf and .fpt files have the same base name, you
must always restore both of them together from the same backup file.
Mismatching a .dbf file can corrupt the data.

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 To restore data from a backup file created by Abacus:
1. From the menu bar, select File/Utilities/Backup/Restore. The
Restore Setup window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Use the following to help you complete the settings on this window:
• Source File: The file from which you will restore data (the
backup file). To change, click the button. The Select a file to
restore from window appears. Select the backup file and click
Open.
• Destination: The directory where restored files will be located.
• Restore Files for: The databases to be restored. (All indicates
that all databases will be restored.)
3. Click Restore. The Select Files to Restore window appears. [For
experts only] Select/deselect files by double-clicking them.
4. Click Restore. A message appears when the restore process is
completed.

Packing Databases
When records are deleted in Abacus, they are no longer visible to you,
but still exist in the database as records marked for removal. When a
database is "packed," it is rewritten to permanently remove deleted
records and recover disk space. This is similar to deleting files in
Windows and then having to empty the Recycle Bin.
To pack Abacus databases, select File/Utilities/Pack.

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Erasing Databases
RECOMMENDATION: Make a backup of your data (see page 480)
before erasing it.
You can erase (or zap) all records from a database permanently. Note
that once you erase a database, there is no way to recover the erased
data other than from a backup file.
Selecting the Names, Events and Matters databases will erase these
databases as well as any associated links and notes, but it will not
erase the codes, rules or operators (users) databases.
1. From the menu bar, select File/Utilities/Zap. The Zap Databases
window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

2. Under Database to Zap, select the database you want to erase.

3. Click the Zap button. A window appears asking you if you are sure
you want to erase the database.
4. Click Yes. The database still exists, but it is now empty.

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Creating New Abacus Databases
Some firms need to keep data separate. For example, a firm with
different divisions or different departments might want to store data for
each division in a separate database. AbacusLaw includes a menu
option that will help you create new Abacus databases quickly and
easily.
The original Abacus database is named Data01. When you create new
databases, they are automatically named Data02, Data03, Data04, and
so on.
1. Select File/New database. The Create a New Abacus Database
window appears.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

99. Under Source Data, select the type of database you want to
create:
• None – Standard empty database: Select to create a new
empty Abacus database.
• Existing Abacus data: Select to copy an existing Abacus
database. Once the database is created, you can add, edit,
and delete data in the new database and leave the original
database intact. If you select this option, click Source folder
and select the database you want to copy.

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 • Selected files from current folder: Select this option if you
want to copy certain types of data from an existing database
(instead of the entire database). If you select this option, the
check boxes under Select data for new directory become
active. Check the data types you want to copy into the new
database.
If you do not check any data types, the database structures for
Names, Events, and Matters will be copied even if the
corresponding checkboxes are not checked.
100. Click OK and the new database is created.
REMEMBER: To use a different Abacus database, select File/Change
Directory.

Selecting the Abacus Database to Use

If you have more than one Abacus database, select File/Change
Directory to select different Abacus databases. The New Data Directory
window appears. Select the database you want to use and click OK.
NOTE: Databases are named Data01, Data02, Data03, and so on.
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Controlling Privacy
Overview of Controlling Privacy
Any user with adequate security rights can mark their events and notes
as “private” by selecting Private on the Event or Note window. Only the
user that marked a record private can see the information.

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 If an attorney creates a private event for two hours, the secretary will
not be able to see that event on the calendar. But if the secretary
attempts to schedule another event for the same Who code during that
time, a Schedule Conflict window appears with the message that a
private event is scheduled and shows the start time and duration.
NOTE: Normal operations in Abacus hide private records from other
users. But this is a shared network database, and there are
circumstances where administrators or people working outside the
control of the program might see the information. Before you start
entering extremely sensitive data and marking it private, be aware of
these risks.
To control privacy, the administrator can:
• Assign privacy rights to users
• Assign override privacy rights to himself as an administrator

Assigning Privacy Rights to Users

1. Select File/Setup/Security. The Security Access Profiles window
appears.
2. Highlight the user’s security access profile and click Edit. The
Profile Details window appears.
3. Scroll down to the bottom of the list of security access rights and
adjust the following rights as necessary:
• Mark records private: When checked, the user can mark
records as private.
• View “others” private records: When checked, the user can
override privacy to see normally hidden records. Normally, this
right is only granted to an administrator.
101. Click OK to save your changes.

Assigning Override Privacy Rights to Administrators

If for some reason private information needs to be seen by someone
else (for example, if an employee leaves the firm), anadministrator can
view a user’s private records. The ability to do this is limited by two
things:
• the supervisor password (if one is set)
• a setting in each user’s security profile
By default this is only available to administrators. Other users would
need to be granted that right in the security setup. So be sure to assign
correct profiles to new users — don't just let everyone be an
administrator.
Follow these steps to view another user’s private records:

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 1. Select File/Setup/View Private Records. The Privacy Configuration
window appears.
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2. The Operator box displays the current user. This is followed by a

master setting to view private records or not. For this drop-down
setting, select one of the following:
• will view “others” private records: Select if you want the
selected administrator to be able to view other users’ private
records for the current session. When the administrator logs
out of Abacus, he/she will not be able to view private records
the next time he/she logs in.
• won’t view “others” private records: Selectif you do NOT
want the selected administrator to be able to view other users’
private records.
• permanently view “others” private records: Select if you
want the selected administrator to view other users’ private
records always. This setting will NOT be reversed once the
administrator logs out (as it is for will view “others” private
records).
3. The Available box contains a list of users. The Selected box
contains users for whom the administrator can view private
records. To move users back and forth from the Available and
Selected boxes, highlight the user and click the right arrow button
(-->) or left arrow button (<--). To move all users to another box,

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 click the double right arrow button (-->>) or the double left arrow
button (<<--).
4. If records were marked private with a user ID that is no longer in
the user database, enter it into the Other field and click Add.
5. When you have all desired users listed in the Selected box, click
OK to save.
If you are an administrator and have been set with permanently view
“others” private recordsaccess, when you log in to Abacus you will
be prompted to a) clear the permanent setting, b) skip the permanent
setting for the current session but keep it turned on for future use, or c)
use the permanent setting for the current session.
NOTE: So you can monitor who uses this window, the current user ID
is logged to the file “[Link]” in the Abacus data directory whenever
privacy is overridden.
TIP: When viewing a private record, hover the mouse over the
Privatecheckbox and a pop-up tip will display the owner.

Retrieving Deleted Records

When records are deleted in Abacus, they are no longer visible to you,
but still exist in the database as records marked for removal. When the
data-base is packed, these records are permanently removed. You can
follow these steps to retrieve records that have been deleted since the
last pack.
No one else can be in Abacus while you use this option.
RECOMMENDATION: Make a backup of your data (see page 480)
before retrieving deleted records.
1. Select File/Utilities/Generic database/Recall deleted records. The
Generic Database Utility window appears.
2. Click the Select a database arrow and select the database that
contains the deleted records you want to recall.
3. Click OK. The Deleted Record Recall Utility window appears.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

4. Either select the records you want to recall and click the Recall
Tagged button OR click the Query button and select a query to
limit the display to records that match your criteria, then click the
Recall All button to recall all the records that match the query. Be
careful with this button! With no query selected, it will recall
every deleted record in the database.
5. A window appears asking you if you are sure you want to retrieve
the selected records. Click Yes.

Viewing Database Statistics

For the Names, Events, Matters and Documents databases, you can
view:
• The number of records in each database
• The directory path storing the databases
• How much disk space is available on the hard drive
To view database statistics, select File/Utilities/Statistics. The Database
Statistics window appears.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

Replacing Fields Throughout a Database

You can replace a field value for all or some records in one step. For
example, you might need to globally replace the Who code for an
attorney who has left the firm with the name of the new attorney
assuming responsibility.
IMPORTANT: No one else can be using Abacus while you use this
option.
WARNING: Be sure you have a CURRENT BACKUP before using this
utility! It lets you make wide-ranging changes that are not validated like
the rest of Abacus. This utility gives you complete generic access to the
database file. If misused, your files could become unusable.
1. Select File/Utilities/Generic Database/Delete/Replace. The Generic
Database Utility window appears.
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102. Click the Select a database arrow and select the database for
which you want to replace field values and click OK. The Generic
Utility window appears listing all the records for the selected
database.

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 The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

103. If you want to replace a field value for all records, then skip to the
next step. If you want to replace a field value for selected records,
click the Query button. The Queries window appears. Select the
query you want to use to filter records and click OK. For more
information about queries, see page 299.
104. Click the Replace All button. The Global Replace window appears.
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the file again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it again.

105. Click the Field Name arrow and select the field for which you want
to replace its value globally.
106. In the Replacewith box, type the replacement value. The
replacement value can be an expression by enclosing it within {}.

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 NOTE: When replacing a checkbox field that holds a True/False
value, enter Y or N for a fixed value to assign to all records or use
curly braces for an expression that returns True or False.
7. Click OK. The Generic Utility window reappears.

Deleting Selected Records in a Database

You can delete multiple records for a database in one step.
IMPORTANT: No one else can be using Abacus while you use this
option.
WARNING: Be sure you have a CURRENT BACKUP before using this
utility! It lets you make wide-ranging changes that are not validated like
the rest of Abacus. This utility gives you complete generic access to the
database file. If misused, your files could become unusable.
1. Select File/Utilities/Generic Database/Delete/Replace. The Generic
Database Utility window appears.

107. Click the Select a database arrow and select the database for
which you want to replace field values and click OK. The Generic
Utility window appears listing all the records for the selected
database.

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 108. Click Query. The Queries window appears. Select the query you
want to use to find the records you want to delete and click OK. For
more information about queries, see page 299.
109. Click Delete All. A window appears asking you if you are sure you
want to delete the selected records.
110. Click Yes. A window appears confirming the deletion. Click OK.
NOTE: The records were not actually deleted yet – they were only
marked for deletion. You can retrieve them (see Retrieving Deleted
Records on page 489) or really delete them by packing the database
(see page 482).

Testing Database Integrity

1. SelectFile/Synchronize/Test Database Integrity. The Database
Integrity Test window appears.
2. Click Yes to run the test.

Manually Reindexing Databases

Note on the Fortress Edition: The issues discussed below do not
apply to Fortress because of its Client/Server architecture. Reindexing
is unnecessary except in the rare situations where your Server
crashes. Without Fortress, each workstation opens the databases and
therefore can create problems if the station hangs or its power is turned
off while programs are still running. With Fortress, only the database
server program itself opens the data files and indexes, so they are
protected from mishaps on workstations.
Although Abacus takes every precaution to secure your data,
unforeseen problems, such as power outages, can affect your index
files.
This can appear as an "Open Error" on start up, as an "Internal Error"
at run time, or as records appearing out of order or missing altogether.
Most "Internal Errors" are caused by index file corruption.
Abacus will normally detect errors and issue a message indicating that
it is deleting all index files. However, if no message appears and you
think index files may be corrupted, you can follow these steps to
reindex the files:
1. Close all windows.
2. From the menu bar, select File/Utilities/Reindex.

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Scheduling Automatic Reindexing of Databases
On the System Options window, under Startup, you change the Auto
indexing interval value to schedule automatic reindexing of
databases. For more information, see Customizing System Options on
page 56.

Merging Two Abacus Databases

If you are merging two offices and want to combine two unrelated
Abacus databases, use Abacus’ Merge Databases utility. This utility
pulls all the data from one Abacus database into another and
automatically fixes any issues related to unique/duplicate IDs.
Contact Customer Support for more information about the Merge
Databases utility.

Manually Updating Multiple Databases

When updating to Abacus 2015, your data01 database (which is the
main database) is automatically updated from the v22\data01 folder to
the Abacus\v23 folder.
However, if you use multiple databases, databases other than data01
are NOT automatically updated. To update databases other than
data01 manually, run Abacus 2015 using data01. Then, for each
database other than data01, select File/New database and create a
new folder under v23 and specify which v22 folder to use as the
source.

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Third Party Integration

28. Third Party Integration

Quickbooks
You can import data from Quickbooks or you can synchronize your
Abacus clients and matters with Quickbooks.

TAPI Support for Fonality

Dialer
If you use the Fonality phone system, you can have buttons in the
Abacus Name window dial the phone for you.

“Screen pops”
This is the popular nickname for popping up a Name window
automatically when your phone rings and CallerID has a phone number
that belongs to one of your Name records.
Screen pops uses phone Full Text Search indexes. This is a faster and
more accurate search, and includes Dayphone, Evephone, and
Phone4/Cell. If you also want the Fax/Phone3 or other user-defined
fields to be searched, you can add indexes on those fields for the
Names database and they will be included.
Screen pops also includes the option to NOT show the FIND window
on a failed incoming caller ID search. Some users do not want
unknown callers to cause the Find window to show, especially if users
are away from their desk while calls came in. In [Link] set this to
zero: [TAPI] ShowFindOnFailedSearch=0.

TAPI Support for Other Systems

If you have a different TAPI-compliant phone system, the Dialer will
probably work for you after you identify your TAPI Service Provider (the
name of a special DLL for your phone system).
Screen Pops are very specific to each phone system, and we cannot
guarantee we can make it work with yours—but we’ll try! Just call tech
support and supply the details about your system.

Skype
If you have a Skype-to-landline account, you can direct Abacus to use
the Skype TAPI Service Provider to dial through that account.

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 Make sure [Link] is in the System32 directory and registered
via [Link].
Then, open [Link] and add:
[TAPI]
TSP=SKYPE
UseTapiDialer = [data directory path, for example,
c:\Abacus\v23\data01]
NOTE: [Link] is located in
\users\[username]\AppData\local\VirtualStore\windows\[Link].
Make sure Skype is installed and a user is logged on. Abacus will run
Skype if it is not running.
The first time you make a call, Skype will display an access request for
[Link] to use Skype. Click Allow Access.
Screen Pops are not yet supported for Skype. Please call and let us
know if you are interested.

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Consultant’s Corner

29. Consultant’s Corner

This chapter provides some information and tips for Abacus experts
and consultants.

Overview of Expressions
An expression is a user-defined reference to fields or other variables.
When your data is displayed in a window or report, it is the result of
evaluating an expression for the current record. In a query, a logical
expression is used to compare the current record's fields to certain
values. If you think this sounds like "programmer talk," you're right.
Abacus Law is ready to use out of the box, but it offers tremendous
flexibility in letting you "re-program" it to behave just the way you want.
Expressions can be quite simple or very complex. Even novice users
can select the fields to appear on a report without being overwhelmed
with technical issues. At the same time, an expert user with a head for
programming issues can get a wider range of results by combining
several simple expressions into a complex one or by using special
functions to look up or format data.

Simple Example
Here's an example of a simple expression that will return the last name
from the current name record. This expression can be used in a report
column expression, a quick form, or other places:
Last

Qualifying Field Names with an ALIAS

Since the same field name may appear in two databases (and for other
important reasons), it is usually best to specify the database that
contains the field. This removes any ambiguity. The database name is
called an "alias" because it is not necessarily the name of the database
file on disk. The primary aliases in Abacus are Names, Events, and
Matters. To refer to a field explicitly, you enter the alias followed by an
arrow (a hyphen and a greater-than sign) and then the field name.
Following is another example of an expression, again asking for the
last name field, but this time indicating which database to select from
(this is the form you should usually use):
Names->Last
The alias and field name can be in upper case, lower case, or mixed
case.

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 Both of the expression examples will return the contents of the last
name field. If you entered "Surber" as the last name, both of these
expressions will return "Surber" plus however many spaces fill out the
field.

Types of Expressions
Just as fields can be different types (character, numeric, date, logical,
etc.), expressions can be different types. Simple expressions have the
same type as the field. More complex expressions always evaluate to a
value that has a similar type.

Functions
A function is a program routine that can be included in an expression to
manipulate data and return a value. Function names are NOT case-
sensitive.
Function names are always followed by parentheses that may enclose
one or more "parameters."
For example, trim("Surber ") will return "Surber" with no trailing spaces.
The same is true for trim(Names->Last).
For descriptions of some common functions in Abacus, see Common
Functions on page 502.

Date Functions
Date functions are functions specifically used for manipulating dates.
For more information about date functions, see Date Functions on page
504.

String Constants
"String" is another word for "character expression." "Constants" are
expressions that don't change, like a simple number or a quoted string.
So in the expression:
trim(Names->First) + " " + names->Last
there is a space character (string constant) that is added after the first
name to separate it from the last name. You can use either double
quotes or single quotes to enclose a string constant.

Combining/Adding/Concatenating Character
Expressions
You can use the plus sign to add two or more fields (or other character
expressions) to make a longer one, such as
trim(Names->Last) + ", " + names->First

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This is essentially what the LastFirst() function does. It returns the last
name followed by a comma and a single space, then followed by the
first name. You can combine any number of character-type fields,
functions, or constants in a character expression. Just be sure that
each piece is of type character! For example, if you want a date field
added after an event's What code, you must use a function to convert
the date to a character string:
trim(Events->What) +" " + DToC(Events->When)

Logical Expressions
Logical expressions result in a value of True or False (in xBase
expressions, these are represented by .T. and .F. ).
A logical type field, such as Active in the Names database, is a valid
logical expression by itself. It is either True or False.
The most common logical expressions are queries. When you filter a
database to see only certain types of records, the query expression is
evaluated for each record.
If it evaluates to True, the record is visible.
The Empty(xValue) function returns a logical value. It takes any type of
value as its parameter and returns True (.T.) if that value is empty for
its type.
For a numeric type, only zero returns .T.
For a character type, a value that is all spaces or that has no length
returns .T.
The if(expressionL, expression1, expression2) function uses a logical
expression to decide whether to return expression1 or expression2. For
example, a user-defined screen might have a numeric field that needs
to be validated as always greater than zero. In the field properties, the
Valid expression might be:
if(Value > 0, .T., ErrBeep("Enter a value greater than 0.")
This if() expression returns .T. if the field's value is greater than zero
(allowing the user to tab to another field). But if the value is 0 or
negative, the second expression is evaluated instead. This takes
advantage of the fact that the ErrBeep() function always returns .F.
after popping up the enclosed message. When .F. is returned by a valid
expression, the user is not allowed to exit the field.

Expressions in the VALID Field Property

When an operator enters data into a field and then presses TAB (or
takes other actions to "leave" that field), the VALID expression for that
field is evaluated. If it returns True, the operator can continue to other
fields. If the expression returns False, the operator is not allowed to
leave the field until a valid entry is made.

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 For more information about expressions in the VALID field property,
see Expressions in the VALID Field Property on page 501.

Expressions in the VALID Field Property

When an operator enters data into a field and then presses TAB (or
takes other actions to "leave" that field), the VALID expression for that
field is evaluated. If it returns True, the operator can continue to other
fields. If the expression returns False, the operator is not allowed to
leave the field until a valid entry is made. There are two special
"variables" available to you in the expression:
• Value is the current value in the field when TAB is pressed.
• oDbf is the database object that holds the values for all the fields in
the current record. You will seldom need to reference this, but you
can use it to see the value of other fields such as "oDbf:First" to
return the value of the First name field, or "if( empty(oDbf:Class),
…" to see if the Class field is empty.
As an added benefit, since the VALID expression runs after entry to a
field, it gives you the opportunity to take other actions as a result of this
new data. In particular, you can use SetField(cField, xValue) to make
automatic changes to other fields in the window.
Since the SetField() function always returns .T., it can be nested inside
more complex VALID expressions like:
if(Value > 0, SetField("Percent", Value*.01), ErrBeep("Value cannot be
less than 1!"))
EXAMPLE: If you have 2 fields named Total and TenPercent and edit
the Total field's VALID expression, you can have:
if(Value > 0, SetField("TenPercent", Value * .1), ErrBeep("Value cannot
be less than 1!"))
Now you use the screen to edit a record and change the Total field.
Press TAB and the expression above is evaluated. Remember "Value"
in the expression is the current field's value, so this is the number you
just entered in the Total field. If you entered 0 you will get the error
message. If you entered 90 then the OTHER field called TenPercent
will be set to "9" (the value of Total times .1).

Iscode() Function
IsCode( lForceListBox, cCodeType )
Where cCodeType identifies the list of codes (usually the name of a
field). Pass .t. in the first parameter to display a listbox; pass .F. to use
as it in a valid expression.
For example: In the Screen Designer field properties window for a field
called "MY_CODE", you would put

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IsCode( .T., "MY_CODE" ) in the ListBox setup, and

IsCode( .F., "MY_CODE" ) in the VALID expression
On screen, the field will behave like the WHO code fields where the
user can either type a comma-separated list of codes, or click the
lookup button to tag codes in a tag-able browse, which will create the
comma-separated list to be stored in the field.

InitLabels() Function
The InitLabels() function is called from the valid expression for the
Name window first name field. It initializes the label fields according to
the option number passed to it:
InitLabels( nMode ): Change the nMode parameter to 1 2 or 3 to affect
the first 2 Label fields:
1= Label1 == first+last;
2= Label1 == blank, Label2 == first+last
3= Label1 == first, Label2 == last
Address( , , , nLines ): guarantees minimum number lines output (pads
CRLFs so in output to form generation you can guarantee the same
number of lines)

IsZip()
IsZip() validates any secondary zip code field and works with different
city and state fields as well.
For example, a customer wants to have two have two addresses in a
name record.
To implement, add 3 new fields for city/state/zip as in CityHome,
StateHome, ZipHome. (Fields can be any legal name, so HomeCity is
fine too.)
In the Screen Designer, add the 3 fields, then edit the ZipHome field
and set the VALID field to:
IsZip( .F., "CityHome", "StateHome")
and the LISTBOX field to:
IsZip( .T., "CityHome", "StateHome")
The field called ZipHome will be validated just as the original Zip field,
and it will set the CityHome and StateHome fields just as the original
City and State are by the Zip field.

Common Functions
Here are a few of the most common functions you will use in
expressions, followed by categorized lists.

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 • LastFirst() is a function that returns the current name record's last
name field, plus a comma, plus a space and the first name.
• Trim(cValue) returns the same character string that is passed to it
as cValue, but all trailing spaces are trimmed off. So trim("Surber ")
will return "Surber" with no trailing spaces. Since fields have fixed
sizes, and since a field reference returns the field contents padded
with spaces to have the right length, the TRIM function is often
used around field references. For example, Names->Last will return
"Surber" plus enough spaces to have 30 total characters. To get
just the text, you would use Trim(Names->Last).
• Lookup(cCodeType, cValue) returns the description of a code.
Whenever a field has a lookup button that displays a list of valid
entries, these entries are stored in the Codes database. Each code
has a code type that is usually the field name. For example, all
What codes for events are stored with a code type of "WHAT" to
identify the field they belong to. Since all codes have a description,
it is often useful to output the description instead of the code itself.
So for an events report to show the looked-up description for "F-
SDCOMP", you need to supply both the code type and the code
itself:
Lookup("WHAT", "F-SDCOMP") will return "File a complaint in San
Diego."
You would, of course, usually pass the What field so each record's
What code will get looked up:
Lookup("WHAT", Events->What) will return "File a complaint in San
Diego." if the current event's What code is F-SDCOMP.
Another usage is to expand the state abbreviation to full words for
states:
Lookup("STATE", names->State).
This tells Abacus to lookup the names->State field in the codes
database for the STATE codes and return the description.
How to avoid seeing the description “All People”: When the WHO
code is blank, the string returned by Lookup() is "All People". There
are situations in which it's preferable to return an empty string
instead. A third parameter can be used to specify the default Who
description to return in case the WHO code is blank. If the user
wants Lookup() to return a blank instead, the syntax will be like
this: Lookup( "WHO", matters->attorney, "" ).
• CityStZip() combines the City, State and Zip fields formatted as in
"San Diego, CA 92121".
• Empty(xValue) takes any type of value as its parameter and
returns True (.T.) if that value is empty for its type. For a numeric
type, only zero returns .T. For a character type, a value that is all
spaces or that has no length returns .T.
• if(expressionL, expression1, expression2) uses a logical
expression to decide whether to return expression1 or expression2.

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For example, a user-defined screen might have a numeric field that

needs to be validated as always greater than zero. In the field
properties, the valid expression might be:
if(Value > 0, .T., ErrBeep("Enter a value greater than 0.")
This if() expression returns .T. if the field's value is greater than
zero (allowing the user to tab to another field). But if the value is 0
or negative, the second expression is evaluated instead. This takes
advantage of the fact that the ErrBeep() function always returns .F.
after popping up the enclosed message. When .F. is returned by a
valid expression, the user is not allowed to exit the field.
• EventNotes(lPartial, nLength) returns the current event's notes,
optionally with only "partial" notes (up to "***") or limited to a
particular length. Laser calendars usually use this so that the
automatic notes added by Abacus as an audit trail for events do not
get printed (they are always preceded by "***").

Date Functions
Date functions are functions specifically used for manipulating dates.
For more information about date functions, see Date Functions on page
508.

Common Functions for Logical Expressions

The most common logical expressions are Queries. You will only use
functions there in Expert Mode. The next most common usage is in the
VALID property for a field on a user-defined screen. The most common
logical functions are if() and empty(), described above, plus:
• ErrBeep(cMsg, cTitle) pops up an error message with an OK
button.
• SetField(cField, xValue) only used in the VALID property's
expression, this sets the value of some other field in the current
record.

Common Functions for Character Strings

Functions for character strings are usually used in formatting a report
column's contents. Following are some common functions for character
strings:
• Alltrim(cValue) removes trailing and leading spaces from cValue.
• HyperTarget( cFieldName, cExpr ) creates a direct hyperlink. To
be able to see a direct hyperlink (i.e., a hyperlink field on a screen),
the syntax is HyperTarget(cFieldName, cExpr ).
Example: NAMES->( HyperTarget( "HYPERTEST", "LastFirst()"
This example would likely be for a matters report that wanted last,
first fields of a direct connect hyperlinked name.

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 • LastFirst(nChars) returns current name formatted like "Smith,
John." nChars=length of string to return.
• Padr(cValue, nChars) pads cValue with spaces as needed to be
nChars long.
• StrTran(cSource, cDelete) deletes cDelete from cSource.
Example: STRTRAN(names->zip, "- ") formats the ZIP field so if it
only has 5 digits the trailing hyphen and following spaces are
removed.
• Trim(cValue) removes trailing spaces from cValue.

LinkedData() for Reports and Forms

LinkedData()can be used for reports or forms to be able to display a
linked record based on a specific link type. It must always be used from
a Names or Matters database.
Using LinkedData(), a matter report can show a specific linked name or
phone number in the matter data section instead of only in subreports.
This can also be used in an extra database intake form.
Detailed specification:
LinkedData(cLinkType, cExpr [, oDbf] )
Arguments:
• cLinkType is a string with the desired link type (i.e., "PET" for
Petitioner).
• cExpr is the string to display when a match is found. For a matter
looking for a linked name, it can be any normal field or expression
like “LastFirst()”. You can also display the cross-reference record
fields by using the XREF alias (e.g., "XREF->Descript").
• oDbf is optionally a database object that is not needed for reports,
but it is needed if used in an extra database intake screen to show
data from a specific name linked to the matter. A variable text
object could be set up to show the name of the client linked to its
matter, even if that client is not the name directly linked to the xDB
record. In that context, “oDbf” represents the current extra
database record, and it has a property “MattersDbf” that represents
its linked matter, so the call would look like this:
LinkedData(“CLIENT”, “LastFirst()”, oDbf:MattersDbf )

Special Variable: Today

Anywhere a date type field could go, you can use the variable "Today"
for today's date.
"The date is " + DToC(Today)+ ", which is today."

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You can use Today in queries. For example, a query for "All matters
entered or changed Today" would test the Matters->Entry field (which is
automatically stamped whenever a matter is added or edited) against
Today. In the Query Builder, edit the expression and enter Today into
the Value field.

MatterCaption()
MatterCaption() searches for a matter note with a note type of
CAPTION, then returns the entire contents of that note (presumably
containing a multi-line caption for a court form).

Defendants()
Defendants() first searches for a matter note with a note type of DEFS,
then returns the entire contents of that note (presumably containing a
multi-line caption for the defendants for a court form). If no such note is
found, the function searches for a name linked to the matter with a link
type of DEF and returns the Label1 value for that record.

Plaintiffs()
Plaintiff() first searches for a matter note with a note type of PLAINTS,
then returns the entire contents of that note (presumably containing a
multi-line caption for the plaintiffs for a court form). If no such note is
found, the function searches for a name linked to the matter with a link
type of PLAINT and returns the Label1 value for that record.

Manipulating Dates
Overview of Dates
Date values are a specific type of data that can be manipulated like
numbers and formatted to appear in different styles. A date value (we’ll
just call it a "date") usually appears on screen in the familiar format of
"11/29/2009", and can be stored in a field in your database. Dates can
be displayed on screen or in reports in many other formats, including
"November 29, 2009". You might manipulate dates when you want a
date calculation in a report, query, or form, or to show the age of
people in your Name window if you have a field storing their birthdays.
NOTE: To understand this discussion, you should read the section on
expressions and make sure you understand its concepts - especially in
using functions. All the places in Abacus where you manipulate dates
are places where you are editing expressions.

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 Date Fields
Date fields are simply fields in Abacus databases that hold dates. They
have a name that can be used in expressions. Some common date
fields used in Abacus include:
• Opened: Represents the date a matter was opened.
• Closed: Represents the date a matter was closed.

Date Variables
A date variable is like a field but is not stored in a database. It is a
name that holds a value. The most common date variable used in
Abacus is Today. Today represents your logged-in date. For example,
if the date you logged in to Abacus is January 1, 2009, Today is
1/1/2009.

Date Math and Date Functions

To manipulate dates, date variables and fields can be used in date
math and in date functions:
Date math involves performing simple calculations with dates, like
subtracting one date from another to find the "days between" or adding
a number to a date to get a later date.
Date functions are used when you want to extract part of the
information from a date (such as its month name), or format date
information to appear in various ways. In the first case, a date is
passed to a function and the month name is returned (or the year, or
day number, depending on the function), In the second case, a date
value is passed to a function that converts it to the desired character
text. This can even be as verbose as "this Twenty-ninth day of
November, Two thousand and Nine".
NOTE: In addition to date math and date functions, in the Screen
Designer, you can set a date field to always show the 4-digit year with
century by setting the Picture property to @4. This is handy for showing
birthday fields that may be before the year 2000.

Date Manipulation Examples

For some examples of how date fields can be manipulated to get the
information you need to see, see Date Field Manipulation Examples on
page 512.

TIP: Date Field Shortcut Keys

There are special keyboard shortcut keys that are active when editing a
date field. They can help save time when working with dates. See
Keyboard Shortcuts on page 27 for more information.

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Date Math
One of the ways you can manipulate date fields is with date math. Date
values are just like numbers in that you can add and subtract them.
Here are some common examples of date math:
• Yesterday can be calculated by Today – 1.
• Tomorrow can be calculated by Today + 1.
• Days between dates can be calculated by <Date2> – <Date1>.
• Days between Today and a future date can be calculated by
<Date> – Today.
• Days between Today and a past date can be calculated by Today –
<Date>.
• The number of days a matter has been open can be calculated by
Today – Opened.
• The number of days between when a matter was opened and
closed can be calculated by Closed – Opened.
WARNING: An empty (or null) date is translated to zero in date math,
so it presents a problem in date math calculations. For example, in the
Closed – Opened calculation, if either Closed or Opened has no value
set, the result is a useless very high (or very low) number. Keep this in
mind if you create a report that uses date math. Either filter the date to
only access records with valid date entries or create a more complex
expression that checks for empty fields.

Date Functions
Date functions are tools used for manipulating dates.

Date Function Syntax

The syntax for many date functions is:
FunctionName(<dDate>) --> Result
where:
FunctionName is the name of the function (for example, CDOW),
(<dDate>) is the date variable or date field (for example, Today or
Opened),
and Result is the value returned from the function.
For example, CDOW( Today ) will return something like "Monday."
Most functions return a character string, but some return a number,
such as Year(<dDate>) or DOW(<dDate>), which returns the Day Of
Week as a number between 1 and 7.

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 Common Date Functions
The following lists common date functions that can be used in Abacus
to manipulate date fields. Function names are NOT case sensitive and
can be upper or lower case.
NOTE: The most common functions are Day, Month, and Year.
AGE(dStartDate)
Returns the age in years of the person (or thing) since the given date.
So, for example if you have a Birthday field called DOB, you would use
Age(DoB) to know how old someone is. This function would return the
number of years between the DoB field and Today’s date. For
durations between two dates, like the length of a marriage, you can
pass the second date as in AGE(dStartDate, dEndDate).
You could also calculate the residual months (in some divorce cases,
you might need the number of years and remaining months) by adding
an "M" as the third parameter, like this: Age (dStartDate,
dEndDate,"M"). This function returns the remainder months after the
years have been extracted.
CDOW(dDate)
[Character Day of Week] Returns the conversion of a date to the day of
week in word format, for example Tuesday. CDOW(Today) might return
Monday.
CMONTH(dDate)
[Character-Month] Returns the name of the month, for example,
January or June.
CToD(dDate)
[Character to Date] Converts a character string to a date expression.
CTOD("01/01/08") would return a date variable.
CtoMonth(cMonthName)
Returns the number of a month from its name.
DATE()
Return your operating system’s current date.
DAY(dDate)
Returns the day of the month as a number, for example 1 or 15.
DAYSAWAY(dDate)
Returns the same text seen on the Event window, showing how far
away a date is. This function might return any of the following: Today,
Yesterday, Tomorrow, x days past, x days to go.
DOW(dDate)
Returns the numeric value for the day of week, for example, 1 (for
Sunday) or 2 (for Monday).

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Consultant’s Corner

DTOC(dDate)
[Date to Character] Converts a date to a character string, for example,
DTOC(When) would return characters for an event date. This is
necessary when combining a date field with character fields for a long
expression, as in trim(events->What)+" "+dtoc(events->When).
DTOS(dDate)
[Date to String] Converts a date to a character string in the format
CCYYMMDD, for example, 20000130. This is needed for index
expressions so the date will sort correctly (DTOC fails because the year
is not in the front).
DTOW(dDate)
[Date to Words] Converts a date to word format, for example January
1, 2009.
FullMonth(xmonth)
Takes a number or partial month name (for example, "Jan") and returns
the full month name.
MAKEDATE
Provides the ability to calculate more unusual requests based on a
given day, month and/or year. For more information on this powerful
function, see MakeDate Function on page 511.
MONTH(dDate)
Converts a date expression to a month number.
NEXTBDAY(dDate)
Returns the date of the next occurrence of a birthday – later this year or
into the next. This date function lets you filter for coming birthdays,
wedding anniversaries, etc. For example, if DoB were a Date-of-Birth
date field you added to the Names database, you can print a list of all
people with birthdays coming up in the next two weeks by setting an
expert query to: NextBDay(Names->BoD) - Today < 14.
NToCMonth(nMonthNumber)
Returns the month name from its number.
NUM2TEXT(nNumber)
Converts a number into text format. For example, 301 would convert to
"Three hundred one." Passing a second "True" parameter returns an
ordinal number instead of a cardinal number: NUM2TEXT( 301, .t.)
returns "Three hundred first." So, the full text for the current year would
be NUM2TEXT( Year(Today) )
YEAR(dDate)

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 Converts the year portion of a date into a numeric value, for example
YEAR(DoB) would return 1921 if the DoB field had a date in that year.
You might use this in a query to find all people born after 1921, using
this logical expression: YEAR(DoB) > 1921.

MakeDate Function
MakeDate( nMonth, nDay, nYear, [lLimitToLastDOM] )
MakeDate is a date function with tremendous flexibility. In its simplest
form it creates a date value from a given month, day and year, for
example:
• MakeDate( 1, 1, 2006 ) => 1/1/2006
• MakeDate( 3, 13, 1987 ) => 3/13/1987
It may seem (and in fact is) silly to use this expression to refer to a
known date.
The power and flexibility of the function come from the range of
possibilities for the parameters, especially when they come from a
variable or a field value that changes as a report or query moves to
different records.
Here’s how you can use the MakeDate function return "the first day of
next month":
MakeDate(MONTH(Today)+1, 1, YEAR(Today))
The real key to this function is that the nMonth and nDay values can be
"out of range", thus calculating a different month or year. For example,
you would expect nDay to be limited to values between 1 and 31(and
less on shorter months). But, at the time you use the function in an
expression you don't know which month is currently accessed; the
function needs to work anyway. So nDay can in fact be any integer
number, negative or positive (or even zero!). Since the last day of last
month is one day less than the first day of this month, the calculation is
this easy:
MakeDate( MONTH(Today),0, YEAR(Today) )
because zero is one day prior to day 1 of this month. Passing -1 would
give the second-to-last day of the prior month.
Similarly, the nMonth parameter can be "out of range". Since month 1
is January, month 0 would be December of the prior year:
MakeDate( 0, 25, 2006 ) => 12/25/2005
and a realistic usage would be:
MakeDate( MONTH(Today) - 1, 1, YEAR(Today) )
which in January would yield the previous December 1st, and in
February would yield January 1st.

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Consultant’s Corner

Values can also be out of range to the future. If nDay is 32 you will get
the following month with a day number that varies with the number of
days in this month. This is an unusual example, but in cases where you
have an incrementing counter it could look like:
MakeDate( MONTH(Today), nCounter, YEAR(Today) )
and you could be seeing each date in succession.
For the nMonth parameter, passing a larger value moves the result into
the following year (notice 2007):
MakeDate( 13, 25, 2006 ) => 12/25/2007
A fourth optional parameter is seldom used. If you pass .T. it will limit
the resulting date to the last day of the given month. For example: if
nDay is 31 and nMonth is 2 (February), the result will be limited to
February 28th or 29th depending on if it's a leap year.
MakeDate( 2, 31, 2005, .T. ) => 2/28/2005
MakeDate( 2, 31, 2008, .T. ) => 2/29/2008
Without the fourth parameter, the nDay value is interpreted to roll
forward into the next month as previously described.

Date Field Manipulation Examples

To display only the 4-digit year:
Use the date function: YEAR(Today) to return the 4-digit year (like
2010)
To display the beginning of the year:
Use the MakeDate function: MakeDate(1, 1, year(Today))
To display the last day of the year:
Use the MakeDate function: MakeDate(1, 0, year(Today) + 1)
To display yesterday’s date:
Use the date math equation: Today - 1.
To display tomorrow’s date:
Use the date math equation: Today + 1.
To display the days between dates:
Use the date math equation: <Date> – <Date>
(Note that putting the earlier date first would yield a negative number.)
To display the number of days between today and a future date:
Use the date math equation: <Date> – Today
To display the number of days between today and a past date:
Use the date math equation: Today – <Date>

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 To display the number of days a matter has been open:
Use the date math equation: Today – Opened
To display the number of days between when a matter was
opened and closed:
Use the date math equation: Closed – Opened
To calculate start and end dates for the current week (starting at
Monday):
dStart = (Today - DOW(Today)) + 2
dEnd = dStart + 6
To calculate start and end dates for the next week (starting at
Monday):
dStart = (Today - DOW(Today)) + 9
dEnd = dStart + 6
To calculate start and end dates for the current 2 weeks (starting
at Monday):
dStart = (Today - DOW(Today)) + 2
dEnd = dStart + 13
To calculate the first and last days of the current month:
dStart = Today - DAY(Today) +1
dEnd = MakeDate(MONTH(Today)+1, 0, YEAR(Today))
To calculate the first and last days of the next month:
dStart = MakeDate(MONTH(Today)+1, 1, YEAR(Today))
dEnd = MakeDate(MONTH(Today)+2, 0, YEAR(Today))

Practice Packs and Special Editions

Overview of Practice Packs and Special Editions
Different practice specialties have different needs. For example, a
family law practice needs to keep track of certain personal information
that a real estate practice would not need, while a real estate practice
needs to keep track of transaction details that a family law practice
would not need.
Customizing Abacus can be a demanding job, so we introduced
Practice Pack technology as a way to automatically configure your
Abacus with extra fields, screens, reports and queries. Consultants or
users can package up customizations that can be applied to other
installations.

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Consultant’s Corner

Using Practice Pack technology, Abacus has created Special Editions

that you can install on top of your existing Abacus installation to get
custom Matter and Name screens, Rules, Reports and Forms - each
for a specific law specialty such as Personal Injury, Family Law, Estate
Planning, Workers Compensation, etc. Each Special Edition is a result
of hundreds of hours of research and development with specialists
employing "best practices" in their fields.
If you practice more than one specialty, you can install more than one
Special Edition and they won't interfere with each other. These Special
Editions include Smart Screens that recognize the type of matter
selected and can display the appropriate screen for each. For example,
if the matter is a Personal Injury, the Personal Injury Special Edition
matter screen is used, and if the matter is a divorce case, the Family
Law Special Edition matter screen is automatically used.
You can save hours or days that it might take to research, think about
and develop these valuable customizations. Call us at 800-726-3339
for more information or to order the special editions for your practice.
NOTE: A Practice Pack installation will overwrite any customizations of
previously installed practice packs.

Installing Practice Packs and Special Editions

NOTE: A Practice Pack installation will overwrite any customizations of
previously installed practice packs.
1. From the main Abacus window, select File/Setup/Practice
Packs/Install. The BackUp files window appears.
2. Select Yes. When the backup is finished, the Select Practice Pack
window appears.
3. Click the Practice Pack File button. The Select Practice Pack
window appears.
4. Select the Practice Pack you want to install (select a file with a
.PPZ extension) and click Open. The Select Practice Pack window
reappears with the Pack now selected.
5. In the Code box, enter the Practice Pack license code if the Pack is
licensed. Practice Packs should have an accompanying text file
that states whether the Pack is licensed. NOTE: Practice Pack
codes are specific to each firm and cannot be used by a different
firm.
6. Click OK and the Pack will install.

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 Practice Pack and Rule Set Licensing
The content that is added to your directory from licensed Practice
Packs or Abacus Rule Sets (which are installed as Practice Packs and
licensed in the same way) is protected. It cannot be exported to other
Abacus directories, and cannot be changed using the global replace
utility.
A daily startup test makes sure that you have licenses for protected
data. If the license file does not exist or does not have all the licenses
required, the program will UN-register the data directory and only allow
single user access until the problem is corrected. A directory that is not
registered will run for 30 days, after which it will not run at all until the
appropriate licenses are in place. Contact Abacus Customer Support
for help with any license issues.

Correcting a Non-Compliant Installation

When Abacus requires licenses, the user will see a window at startup
that offers either to run unregistered or to delete the licensed records.
Deleting these records is not recommended! You may lose important
parts of your setup. This option is available for the rare occasions
where you don't have a legitimate license to that data, for example if
someone accidentally copied protected records into your databases
using another program.
You should contact Abacus Customer Support to acquire any needed
licenses.

Creating Practice Packs

1. From the main menu, select File/Setup/Practice Packs/Create. The
Practice Pack Setup window appears.
2. In the Pack Name box, enter the name of the Practice Pack. Note
that this also serves as the Practice Pack's file name. Practice
Pack files will be saved in a folder with your Pack name under the
Practice Pack folder under the current data directory. Your Pack
folder is used to store various temporary databases and, ultimately,
will contain a text file report outlining the contents of the Pack. The
Practice Packs folder will also contain two files with your Pack
name as the base file name. The file with extension .PP is the
setup file that Abacus maintains to remember your settings so you
can edit the Pack later. The file with extension .PPZ is the
compressed Practice Pack itself that will be delivered to users.
111. In the Code box, enter the unique Practice Pack code given to you
by Abacus when you registered the Practice Pack. Registration
provides protection. By registering the Pack, you can ensure that
only users who have purchased the Pack will be able to install it.
Also, Abacus is able to restrict any copying or exporting of the
rules, reports, and screens received from a protected Pack. You

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Consultant’s Corner

can distribute unregistered Practice Packs, but they will not have
any of this protection.
112. Under Export, select what you want to be exported (included) in
the Practice Pack you are creating:
• Select Data Structure and one or more types of data structure
(Names, Events and/or Matters) to include data structures in
the Pack.
• Select Screens and one or more types of screens (Names,
Events and/or Matters) to include screens in the Pack.
• To export all rules, select Rules. You can click the Rules
button to open the Rules window and make any last minute
changes to your rules.
• To export all codes, select Codes. You can click the Codes
button to open the Code Types window and make any last
minute changes to your codes.
• To export selected queries, select Queries and click the
Queries button. The Queries to Include window appears. This
window lets you select the types of queries you want to include
in the Practice Pack you are creating or editing. Select the
queries and click OK. Note that you can make last minute
changes to queries by clicking the query type button. NOTE:
Only custom queries will be exported; Abacus default queries
will not be exported to the practice pack.
• To export selected reports, select Reports and click the
Reports button. The Report List window appears. Select the
reports you want to include in the Practice Pack and click OK.
• To export user-defined indexes, select Indexes. You can click
the Indexes button to open the User-defined Indexes window
and make any last minute changes to your user-defined
indexes.
113. Click OK when you are ready to create the Pack. A text file
appears displaying the contents of the Pack.
114. Click Close and the Pack is created.

Editing Practice Packs

1. From the main menu, select File/Setup/Practice Packs/Edit. The
Select Practice Pack Setup File window appears.
2. Select the Pack you want to edit (select the file with the .PP
extension) and click Open. The Practice Pack Setup window
appears.
3. Make changes to the Pack and click OK. A text file appears
displaying the contents of the Pack.
4. Click Close and the Pack is saved.

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Setting Up the Mapping Feature
For standard address fields, you can view maps for names' addresses.
For specialty versions with alternate address labels and for matters
with address information fields, you need to adjust the [Link] file to
be able to use the mapping feature.
Change the MatterAddressFields section in the [Link] file to
identify the fields.
Replace the following sample names with your field names. Note that
only Address1 is required.
[MatterAddressFields]
Address1=St_Address
Address2=St_Addres2
City=City
State=State
Zip=Zip

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Codes

30. Codes
The following partial lists show samples of the codes included with
Abacus. These codes are subject to change and do not include any
codes that users may create.

Link Type codes

Code Description
ADV-P Adversary - Plaintiff
ADV-D Adversary - Defendant
ADV-ATTY Attorney for Adversary
BILLTO Billing Party
CLIENT-P Client - Plaintiff
CLIENT-D Client - Defendant
EXPERT Expert Witness
JUDGE Judge

Note Type codes

Code Description
MEETING Meeting
MEMO Memo
PHONEIN Incoming phone call
PHONEOUT Outgoing phone call

Case codes
Code Description
CONTRACT Contract
CRIMINAL Criminal Defense
DEATH Wrongful Death
DIVORCE Divorce
PI Personal Injury
RE Real Estate

Class codes
Code Description
ATTORNEY Attorney
CLIENT Client
EXPERT Expert
JUDGE Judge

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 Priority codes
Code Description
1 Drop everything else
2 Do it within the next 2 days
3 Do it within the next 3 days
4 Do it within the next 4 days

Status codes
Code Description
D Done
N Not Done
OFF Off Calendar

Type codes (for events)

Code Description
A Appointment
D Deadline
R Reminder
T Task

Where codes
Code Description
HERE Office
LASUPER Los Angeles Superior Court
SDSUPER San Diego Superior Court
SDMUNI San Diego Municipal Court

Who codes
Code Description
AMS Arthur M. Simon, tax specialist
NPB Neil P. Barnes

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Codes

What codes
Code Description
APPEAR Appear
APPT Appointment
ARBITRAT Arbitration
C-CLIENT Client Conference
C-MANAGE Management Conference
DEPO Deposition in office
DISCOVER Discovery Deadline
F-ANSWER File Answer
F-PROOF File Proof of Service
F-SDCOMP File complaint in San Diego
F-STMT File statement with court
HOLIDAY Holiday
MEET Meeting
PHONE Phone Call
PRODUCE Produce Documents
RESPONSE Response Deadline
RETAINER Send client retainer agreement
S-COMPLA Serve Complaint
SOL Statute of Limitations
TRIAL-SD Trial in San Diego

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31. Index
#: (page number in screens), 72 ALF files, 219, 220, 221, 222, 224
# of weeks, 402 ALF Record Properties window, 222
# or days, 402 alias, 524
$ Rate, 355 Allow event number editingMERGEFORMAT,
***, 131, 163, 335 329
.af extension, 248 Alltrim(), 529
st
1 line font, 398 and, 315
2-D boxes: for screens, 80 And/Or in queries, 320
3-D boxes: for screens, 80 Android, 467
Abacus: closing, 13; linking to Timeslips, 489; announcements, 12
registering, 31; starting, 13; starting from Any Word Starts With, 337
MessageSlips, 293; synchronizing with Appearance tab: of the User Preferences
Timeslips, 494 window, 46
Abacus Dashboard, 339 appointments, 137, 152, See events
Abacus Forms, 263, 277 Ask to BackUp at exit, 45
Abacus Mobile, 459, 460 Audit operators, 406
Abacus Outlook Add-In, 176, 178 Author, 193
Abacus Sync, 459, 461, 464, 467 Auto indexing interval, 60
Abacus Sync Settings window, 464 AutoHeads for Groups, 391
Abacus Updates, 10 Auto-Log on ID, 44
AbacusLaw Format (ALF) files, 219, 221, 222, Automatic Notes window, 133
224
automation: for indexing, 60; incrementing
AbacusLaw Format (ALF) Files, 220 matter case/file numbers, 61; incrementing
abbreviations, 365 names IDs, 61; rolling over To-Do events,
accounting data for matters, 119 60; zip code lookup, 61
Actions menu, 299 Auto-start Timer in Dialer, 355
add forms, 282 Avery labels, 398
Add Note window, 130, 131 Back toolbar button, 14
Add to My Queries, 322 Background, 355
addr, 366 Background Profile, 47
address, 268 background profiles, 53
address information, 32 backgrounds, 47
Adjust to, 60 backing up: automating, 45; data, 29, 504
admin alerts, 45 Backup AbacusLaw Files window, 504
Adobe Acrobat, 196, 210 banner, 33
Advanced, 390 batch reports: adding, 379; deleting, 380;
advanced Calendar setup, 152, 154, 157, description, 378; editing, 379; generating,
158, 160, 161, 174 380
AGE date function, 535 billing, 135, 200, 489
alarms, 160, 172, 173, 174 billing events, 172
ALF Field Properties window, 224 Billing toolbar button, 15

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 521

Index

bills, 124 Client/Server architecture, 520

BILLTO: special link type, 201 clients. See names
bitmaps. See pictures; on reports, 392 Clipboard toolbar button, 15
Blackberry, 467 CLIPBORD.FM1, 230
block report template: designing, 381 CLIPEVNT.FM1, 230
block reports, 371 CLIPMATR.FM1, 230
Body font, 398 Close blank lines, 398
Box #, 193 closing, 13
Branch Office Synchronization, 481 CMONTH date function, 535
broadcast messages, 12 code types: adding, 42
browse all emails, 183 Code Types window, 41
browse windows, 17; changing font style, 48 codes: adding, 42; assigning to screens, 81;
Browses, 48 default listing, 545; description, 40;
BrowseView, 253, 254 editing/deleting, 42; fields, 21
browsing: matters, 116; names, 99 collisions, 483
buttons, 13, 16, 45 colors, 161
Calendar, 145, 146 column headers: for columnar report, 391
Calendar Print Options window, 147 Column Properties, 408
Calendar setup, 150, 152, 154, 157, 158, 160, columnar report template: designing, 381
161, 174 columnar reports, 370
Calendar toolbar button, 14 COM Port, 360
calendars, 148, 149; sending via email, 184 combining databases, 520
Call Manager, 360, 361, 363, 364 company name, 475
Call Mgr toolbar button, 15 Condensed, 389
calls, 360, 361, 363 Conflict Check Setup window, 335
Calls To Make, 137, 154 Conflict of Interest Check, 333; adding fields
Case codes, 545 for, 336; deleting fields from, 338;
description, 333; editing fields for, 338;
case numbers, 115
opening, 333; running, 333; setting up, 335
case/file numbers, 61
Conflicts toolbar button, 15
CASENUM, 115
connected synchronization, 476
cases. See matters
constants, 524
CDOW date function, 535
contact: in Alf files, 219
Century year. See
contacts, 90, See names
change directory, 511
context-sensitive help, 9
Character, 67
Continued expression, 390
character expressions, 524
copy path to clipboard, 200
character strings, 529
copying: documents linked to names/matters,
CityStZip(), 529 213
Class codes, 545 Count, 323
Classic Subject: bypassing, 308 Count button, 105, 123
classic subjects: adding, 304; definition, 304; Counts: of documents, 197
deleting, 305; editing, 305
Counts Reports, 406
client: in Alf files, 219
courts: setup, 287
[Link] system, 489

522 Index AbacusLaw Reference Guide

create exhibit, 214 date variables, 533
cross-references: importing, 500 Date+Interval, 350
CRT, 366 dates: calculating, 350; fields, 21; setting
CToD date function, 535 default format, 62; using popup calendar to
CtoMonth date function, 535 select, 366
Custom Email command, 50 Dates, 61
Custom settings, 358 DAY date function, 535
customer support, 9 Days Between, 350
data: backing up, 29, 504; exporting from DAYSAWAY date function, 535
Abacus, 502; importing, 496, 500, 501; Default Email Program, 50
permanently removing deleted reecords, Default Event Date, 48
507; restoring from backup, 506; retrieving Default Event Time, 48
deleted records, 514; standardizing, 40 Default Link type, 48
Data, 334 Default Note type, 47
Data Colors, 403 default queries, 51, 322
data directory: for prospect management, 453, default screens, 82
456
default values, 285
Data Server, 59
[Link], 219
data tabs, 92, 95, 113, 114
defaults: setting for date formats, 62; setting
data validation, 22 for directory for documents, 50; setting for
data windows, 69 directory for forms, 50; setting for event
Data windows, 20 time, 48; setting for event warning date
Database Statistics window, 516 range, 62; setting for link type, 48; setting
Database to Zap, 508 for note type, 47; setting for printer for
envelopes, 49; setting for printer for labels,
databases: automating indexing, 60; changing
49; setting for printer for reports, 49; setting
structures, 65; creating, 509; definition of,
for quick form for envelopes, 50; setting for
2; deleting selected records, 518;
word processor, 50; setting for years, 62
Documents database, 3; erasing (zapping),
508; Events database, 3; in Abacus, 2; DELETE key, 29
Matters databse, 3; merging, 520; Names Deleted Record Recall Utility window, 515
database, 3; packing, 507; reindexing deleted records, 514
manually, 520; replacing fields, 516; deleting: selected records in database, 518
selecting, 511; synchronizing Timeslips and deleting databases. See erasing databases
Abacus, 494; updating multiple, 521; user-
deletion confirmation window, 29
defined indexing, 82; viewing statistics, 515
Description, 355
Date, 67, 193
DescriptionMERGEFORMAT, 329
Date Calc toolbar button, 15
Designer, 249
Date Calculator, 350
Designer, 277
DATE date function, 535
Destination, 505, 507
date field manipulation examples, 539
Dial all numbers literally, 359
date field shortcut keys, 29
Dial literally, 358
date fields, 533
Dialer, 522
Date format, 62
Direction, 389
date functions, 533, 535
disconnected database, 480
date math, 533, 534
disconnected databases, 478
date values, 533

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 523

Index

disconnected synchronization, 476 email: browse all emails, 183; calendars, 184;
Display Name, 68 from Abacus, 176; linking from Outlook,
Display window, 156 178; set up for other email programs, 178;
set up for Outlook, 176
Document Details window, 191
Email, 170
document generation, 227
Email Address, 44
document links: adding from Windows
Explorer, 195; adding to notes, 196; adding email configuration, 422
with Document Manager, 191; adding with Email toolbar button, 15
Save and Log to Abacus macro, 193; emailing: adding document links from Outlook,
creating exhibits, 214; deleting, 198; 197; documents, 199; documents, 214; for
editing, 198; printing, 199 matters, 127; name/matter notes, 134;
Document Manager: description, 191; names, 106
opening, 191; printing document links, 199; emails: searching, 23
scanning documents, 196; using to add Emails tab, 92, 113, 180
document links, 191 Enable Time Cop, 355
Document Manager window, 199 Envelope, 49
document search, 198 Envelope Form, 49
Document Search, 60, 62 ENVELOPE.FM1, 228, 230
documents: adding links from Outlook, 197; envelopes, 228; customizing for users, 57;
adding links from Windows Explorer, 195; generating with Quick Forms, 232; setting
billing, 200; copying links, 213; definition, 3, default printer, 49; setting default quick
191; editing/viewing linked documents, 197; form, 50
emailing, 199, 214; generating Today's
erasing databases, 508
Documents, 227; generating with forms,
246; generating with Quick Forms, 231; ErrBeep(), 529
including records from different datbases, event alarms, 160, 172, 173, 174
219; linking in notes, 196; linking to event colors, 161
matters, 209; linking to names, 208; linking Event in Rule windowMERGEFORMAT, 329
to names/matters, 210; mail merge, 236; Event numberMERGEFORMAT, 329
searching, 23, 198; setting default directory,
event right-click menu, 140
50
Event Sounds, 310
Documents database: directory storing, 516;
disk space available, 516; number of Event window, 141, 143, 144; changing
records in, 515 background, 47; changing field font style,
48; changing label font style, 48; minimizing
Done, 169
after saving, 47; selecting a screen for, 47;
dopcuments: copying and pasting document using classic Event window, 47; using
paths, 200 screens to change appearance, 69
DOW date function, 535 EVENT.FM1, 230
DTOC date function, 535 EventNotes(), 529
DToC(Today), 529 events, 137, 139, 145, 146, 162, 163, 164,
DTOS date function, 535 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172;
DTOW date function, 535 assigning forms, 244; changing weekend
due date, 350 scheduling, 60; definition, 3; finding event
Duration: totalling, 409 linked to name, 207; holidays, 42; linking to
names, 206; rolling To-Dos over to next
E-Calendars, 184
day, 60; sendinga message about, 296;
Edit Report window, 385 setting default date range for warnings, 62;
E-filing, 188

524 Index AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 setting default time, 48; unlinking from Field Name, 67, 401
matters, 215 Field Names, 60
Events Browse window, 17, 141; changing field properties for ALF files, 224
font style, 48; setting line style, 48 Field Properties window, 73
Events database: directory storing, 516; disk Field Setup window, 401
space available, 516; number of records in,
field structure: extra databases, 435
515
field templates, 86, 87, 88, 89
Events Landing on Weekends, 60
Field Type, 67
Events toolbar button, 15
Field Width, 401
Exact Match, 338
fields: adding to screens, 73; changing font
Excel, 246
style, 48; changing on Name and Matter
Executable, 50 windows, 60; customizing on windows, 65;
exhibits, 214 data validation, 22; for intake form records,
Exhibits extra database, 430 415, 417, 419; replacing throughout
exiting, 13 database, 516; required, 74; types, 20
Expert Query Mode, 325 file numbers, 115
exporting: data for one Who code, 503; data files. See matters
from Abacus, 502; names from Timeslips, Files dir, 50
493 filing electronically, 188
Expression, 401 fillable form sets, 248
expressions, 524, 529 fillable forms, 248, 250, 268
extension, 357 fillableforms, 249
extra databases: adding fields, 67; adding Filler, 249, 263
indexes, 83; adding/editing/deleting, 433; filling a form, 260
definition, 429; deleting fields, 66, 67;
Find toolbar button, 15
deleting indexes, 85; editing fields, 68;
example, 444; field structure, 435; intake Find window, 104
forms, 438, 443; maintaining indexes, 437; finding: events linked to matters, 216; events
Matter windows, 114; Name windows, 95; linked to names, 207; names, 103
on screens, 440; on standard tabs, 441; finding documents, 198
rebuilding indexes, 85; sorting fields, 66; Finish tab, 415
viewing/managind records, 450; work flow, firm information, 32
432
Fixed, 50
F1, 9
flow databases, 454
F5, 365
Fonality, 522
Facts extra database, 430
fonts: changing for fields on Name, Matter and
Fastfield code, 74 Event windows, 48; changing for labels on
FastFields, 22 Name, Matter and Event windows, 48; for
favorite reports, 404 notes, 135
favorites, 256 form data templates: definition, 272
fi, 366 form design: definition, 275
Field, 334 form favorites, 256
Field assignments, 492 form templates: adding to Forms Library, 273;
field boxes, 80 associating with other forms, 275;
Field Contains, 337 definition, 272; deleting in Forms Library,
Field Length, 67

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 525

Index

274; editing in Forms Library, 274; removing, 270; renaming, 270; reordering
Template Manager, 272 forms, 270
FormMERGEFORMAT, 329 groups in MessageSlips: adding, 306;
forms: adding, 282, 285; and matters, 271; definition, 305; deleting, 307; editing, 306
assigning to events, 244; assigning to What Heading Colors, 403
codes, 245; automate with rules, 244; help, 8
designing, 275; editing properties, 257; History, 351
fillable, 248, 249, 250; filling, 260; filling out
History toolbar button, 14
in groups, 271; finding, 257; including
records from different datbases, 219; holidays: adding, 43; as events with What
overview, 242; removing from Forms codes, 42; deleting, 43; description, 42;
Library, 260; setting default directory, 50; editing, 43; setting up common, 42
setting up, 242; starting, 251; using to Holidays, 367
generate documents, 246 Horizontal spacing character, 392
Forms Designer, 277 hot keys, 28, 309
Forms dir, 50 hours of operation for users, 35
Forms Filler, 263 ht, 366
Forms Library, 249; accessing, 252; adding http, 187
forms, 282, 285; default values, 285; finding HyperLink, 67
forms, 257; form templates, 272; groups, HyperLinks, 76
269; interface, 252; removing forms, 260;
HyperTarget(), 529
toolbar, 253
ID, 72
Forms toolbar button, 15
ID numbers: changing, 98; definition, 96;
Fortress, 520
incrementing automatically, 61
Forward toolbar button, 14
if(), 529
Free Time Display, 149
if(,,), 408
From Form, 193
images. See pictures
Full path, 192
Images: on reports, 392
FullMonth date function, 535
import templates, 496
functions, 524, 529, 535
Import/export Matters as well as clients?, 491
General, 60
importing: cross-reference data into Abacus,
generating: batch reports, 380; multiple 500; data into Abacus, 496; Legal Solutions
reports, 376; reports, 374 data into Abacus, 496; names from
Generic Database Utility window, 515, 517, Timeslips, 493; notes data into Abacus,
518 501; rulesMERGEFORMAT, 331;
Generic Utility window, 517, 519 SmartLaser data into Abacus, 496
Get address changes at startup, 492 In/Out board, 291
Global Replace window, 517 Incoming Messages window, 298
global Windows hot key, 309 Increment Case/File number, 61
grids: showing for screen design, 80 Increment Names ID, 60
group boxes: adding to screens, 75 Index name, 84
Group Definitions window, 305 Index window, 102, See
Group Properties Edit window, 396 indexes: user-defined, 82
groups: adding forms, 269; definition, 269; indexing: automating, 60; databases
filling out forms, 271; moving forms, 270; manually, 520; extra databases, 437; for

526 Index AbacusLaw Reference Guide

 MessageSlips, 312; matters, 121; names, Laser Calendar report template: designing,
102 382
initialization package, 479 Laser Calendar reports, 372
InitLabels(), 527 LastFirst(), 529
Input fields, 48 laww firm information, 32
installation, 290; Practice Packs, 4 Legal Solutions data, 496
Installing Abacus, 4 letters: generating with Quick Forms, 231;
Intake Form Field Properties window, 419 mail merge, 236
Intake Form templates, 426 licensing, 542
intake forms: for extra databases, 438, 443 Line Style, 48
Intake Forms, 410, 411, 412, 413, 415, 417, lines: adding to screens, 79
422, 424, 425, 426 Link Type Code, 491
Intake Forrms, 419 Link Type codes, 545
Intake toolbar button, 15 linked data, 529
Integrate with Outlook, 50 Linked Docs, 214
Internal Error, 520 Linked Docs tab, 93, 113
Internal Intake Forms, 410 Linked Events Browse window, 171
international: phone numbers, 358 Linked Events tab, 93, 113
International, 360 Linked Matters tab, 93
Internet, 187 Linked Names tab, 93, 113
Interval, 375 LinkedData(), 529
IntervalMERGEFORMAT, 329 linking: Abacus to Timeslips, 489; documents,
iPhone, 467 195; documents in notes, 196; documents
IsCode(), 527 to matters, 209; documents to names, 208;
documents to names/matters, 210; editing
IsZip(), 527
matter-to-document links, 212; editing
jpg; images in picture window, 347; on name-to-document links, 212; editing
reports, 392 name-to-matter links, 204; names to
jurisdictions: setup, 288 events, 206; names to matters, 201, 202;
Keep lines together, 390 names to names, 217, 218; overview, 201
Key, 334 links: setting default type, 48
keyboard shortcuts, 28 List boxes, 22
knowledgebase, 12 Listbox to use, 74
Label, 72 lists, 370
Label Definition window, 399 Local area code, 360
label report template: designing, 382 Logic, 67
label reports, 371 logical expressions, 524, 529
Label Setup window, 398 logos, 232; on reports, 392
labels: setting default printer, 49 Long distance, 360
Labels, 48, 49 lookup button, 21, 41, 366
labels for mailing, 228 Lookup(), 529
Laptop Sync, 459, 476, 477, 478, 479, 480, macros, 365
481, 483, 485, 486 macros, 193
Laser Calendar Design window, 400 mail merge, 236
Mail Merge Setup window, 237

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 527

Index

mail merge troubleshooting, 238, 240 from documents, 211; unlinking from
mailing labels, 228 events, 215
main Abacus data directory, 453 Matters Browse window, 17, 116, 376;
[Link], 490 changing font style, 48; setting line style, 48
Make button, 43 Matters database: directory storing, 516; disk
space available, 516; number of records in,
MAKEDATE date function, 535
515
MakeDate function, 537
Matters toolbar button, 15
Malpractice Alert Report, 405
Max Decimal, 68
Management Reports, 405
menu bar, 13
map service, 51, 52
Merge Databases utility, 520
maps, 544
message bar, 13
Mark Done, 169
Message History window, 300
Mark records private, 512
Message line, 75
Match ALL Values, 321
message previews, 302
Matter, 192
messages: hot key, 309; print, 301; printing,
matter names: printing, 132 300; receiving, 298; replying, 296;
matter notes: adding, 129; adding multiple, resending, 296; sending, 293; sendingfrom
133; billing, 135; definition, 128; deleting, Abacus events, 296; setting behavior and
132; editing, 131; emailing, 134; finding, defaults, 307; setting sounds, 310; URL
132; setting font, 135; viewing, 128 access, 301; viewing history, 300
Matter Synopsis Report, 405 MessageSlips: resending messages, 296;
matter to name links, 201 send message actions, 297
Matter window: changing background, 47; MessageSlips: automatic database shutdown,
changing field font style, 48; changing label 293; definition, 290; exiting, 292; in/out
font style, 48; changing labels for user- board, 291; installing, 290; menu, 291;
defined fields, 60; data tabs, 113, 114; replying to messages, 296; sending
overview, 110; selecting a screen for, 47; messages, 293; starting, 292; starting
using screens to change appearance, 69 Abacus, 293
MATTER.FM1, 230 MessageSlips: receiving messages, 298
matters: accounting data, 119; adding, 118; MessageSlips: receiving unread messages,
and forms, 271; associating with a picture, 298
117; case numbers, 115; cloning, 118; MessageSlips: Actions menu, 299
closing, 119; copying linked documents, MessageSlips: viewing message history, 300
213; customization checklist, 116;
MessageSlips: classic subjects, 304
definition, 3, 110; deleting, 118; editing,
118; editing links to documents, 212; MessageSlips: groups, 305
finding, 122; finding linked events, 216; MessageSlips: user preferences, 307
finding with Find window, 122; finding with MessageSlips: setting message behavior and
Matters Browse window, 122; finding with defaults, 307
queries, 123; incrementing case/file number MessageSlips: logging on, 311
automatically, 61; indexing (sorting), 121; MessageSlips: indexing, 312
linking to documents, 209, 210; linking to
MessageSlips: system administration, 312
emails from Outlook, 178; linking to names,
202; managing bills, 124; printing, 124; MessageSlips icon, 291
printing linked events, 216; re-linking to Microsoft Excel, 246
names, 204; sending email, 127; unlinking Microsoft Outlook, 176, 178, 179, 469, 470,
475

528 Index AbacusLaw Reference Guide

Microsoft Word. See Word; creating forms, automatically, 61; indexing (sorting), 102;
285; setting up forms, 242; troubleshooting linking to documents, 208, 210; linking to
for mail merge, 238 emails from Outlook, 178; linking to events,
mine, 404 206; linking to matters, 202; linking to
Mine, 314 names, 217, 218; overview, 90; printing,
106; printing linked documents, 213;
Minimize new events on save, 47
printing linked events, 208; printing linked
Miscellaneous colors, 403 matters, 205; printing names linked to
Mix Sat/Sun, 402 matters, 206; re-linking to matters, 204;
modem, 359 sending emails, 106; speed dialing with the
Modem Setup window, 359 Phone Dialer, 359; structuring ID numbers,
MONTH date function, 535 96; unlinking from documents, 211;
unlinking from events, 207; unlinking from
monthly calendar: shortcut keys, 367 matters, 203; unlinking from names, 217;
most recently used queries, 322 viewing linked names, 218; zip code
Move Reminders to Friday, 60 lookup, 61
Move weekend date toMERGEFORMAT, 329 Names Browse window, 17, 99, 376;
MS Excel, 246 changing font style, 48; setting line style, 48
MS Outlook, 176, 178, 179, 469, 470, 475 Names database: directory storing, 516; disk
multiple databases, 521 space available, 516; number of records in,
my firm, 32 515
my reports, 404 Names toolbar button, 15
MyFirm, 268 Name-to-Matter Link window, 202
Name, 192, 334 name-to-matter links, 500
name notes: adding, 129; adding multiple, new database, 509
133; billing, 135; definition, 128; deleting, New Event Prompt for What Code, 47
132; editing, 131; emailing, 134; finding, New Matter Prompt for Case Code, 47
132; printing, 132; setting font, 135; New Name Prompt for Class Code, 47
viewing, 128 New Phone call, 48
name to matter links, 201 NEXTBDAY date function, 535
Name window, 91; changing background, 47; NickNames, 492
changing field font style, 48; changing label
No Search, 335
font style, 48; changing labels for phone
fields, 60; data tabs, 92, 95; selecting a Note Type codes, 545
screen for, 47; using screens to change notes: adding for multiple names and matters,
appearance, 69 133; adding for names and matters, 129;
NAME.FM1, 230 billing, 135; deleting for names and matters,
132; editing for names and matters, 131;
nameplate, 33, 45 emailing, 134; finding, 132; for matters, 3;
names: adding, 100; associating with a for names, 3; for names and matters, 128;
picture, 101; changing ID numbers, 98; importing, 501; linking documents, 196;
copying data, 51, 108; copying linked marking private text, 131; printing, 132;
documents, 213; creating letters for, 107; pulling in name's phone number, 131;
customization checklist, 98; definition, 3; searching, 23; setting default type, 47;
deleting, 102; editing, 102; editing links to setting font, 135; stamp to Name/Matter
documents, 212; editing links to matters, field, 136; stamping with today's date, 131;
204; finding with Find window, 104; finding tips for entering, 131; using text macros,
with Names Browse window, 103; finding 365; viewing for names and matters, 128
with queries, 104; incrementing IDs
Notes, 193

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 529

Index

notes list box: adding to screens, 76 Phone Number Options window, 358
Notes tab, 93, 113 Picture, 73
NToCMonth function, 535 Picture window: creating pictures for, 348;
NUM2TEXT date function, 535 description, 345; hiding, 346; opening, 346;
Number of backup files to retain, 505 restrictions on IDs/case numbers, 347;
showing always, 45, 346; sizing images,
Number to dial, 357
346; using class and casecode fields, 348;
Numeric, 67 using multiple pictures, 349; where to store
Offset, 334 picture files, 347
old messages, 300 pictures: associating with matters, 117;
Open Error, 520 associating with names, 101; on reports,
Operator Audit, 406 392
operators, 34, 35, 36, 37 popup calendar, 21, 366
optional messages, 45 Position #, 401
Options, 358 potential clients, 452
or, 315 Practice Packs, 4; creating, 542; definition,
organizer report template: designing, 382 540; editing, 543; installing, 541; licensing,
542
Organizer reports, 373
preferences, 44
Orientation, 389, 402
prefixes for case numbers, 115
Other Prefix, 360
previews for messages, 302
Outlook, 50; document links, 197; linking to
Abacus, 178; synchronizing with Abacus primary name: in ALF files, 219
data, 469 Print: messages, 301
Outlook Add-In, 176, 178 Print full note, 335
Outlook Integation window, 470 Print toolbar button, 15
Outlook Sync, 459, 469, 470, 475 Printer, 375
Output file name, 390 printers: setting default for envelopes, 49;
override MyFirm, 268 setting default for labels, 49; setting default
for reports, 49
packing: databases, 507
printing: document links, 199; documents
Padr(), 529 linked to names, 213; events linked to
page: in screens, 70 matters, 216; events linked to names, 208;
page headers: for columnar report, 391 matters, 124; matters linked to names, 205;
Page size, 402 messages, 300; names, 106; names linked
Page Size, 389 to matters, 206; notes, 132
Password, 44 Printing/Email Program tab: on the User
Preferences window, 49
passwords, 59
Paste Assistant, 46 Priority codes, 546
privacy, 130, 512
permanently view others private records, 513
personal queries, 321 private records, 512, 513
private text, 131
phone, 366
projects. See matters
phone calls, 360, 361, 363
promote prospect, 456
Phone Dialer: description, 356; opening, 357;
setting up modem, 359; setting up speed prompts, 324
dial numbers, 359; speed dialing, 359 Proportional, 50
phone fields, 60 prospect data directory, 453, 456

530 Index AbacusLaw Reference Guide

prospect management, 452, 453, 454, 456 Relative to event#MERGEFORMAT, 329
queries, 314; adding, 318; adding quick re-linking matters, 204
queries, 320; and/or connectors, 315; Remind to Email Calendars, 45
clearing (stop using), 323; counting records reminders, 137, 152; changing weekend
found, 323; creating list of personal queries, scheduling, 60
321; default, 322; defaults, 51; definition,
remote synchronization, 476
314; deleting, 323; editing, 323; examples,
315; expert options, 325; expressions, 314; replacing fields throughout database, 516
optimization, 317; selecting most recently Report, 374
used, 322; setting MRU number, 51; stop report batches. See batch reports
using, 106; types, 314; using to find Report Batches window, 378
matters, 123; using to find names, 104 Report Control window, 374
Queries: for documents, 197 Report Designer, 385
Queries & Miscellaneous tab: on the User Report Font Setup window, 392
Preferences window, 51
Report List window, 380
Queries for NAMES window, 105, 123
report templates, 369; adding, 380; deleting,
Queries window, 317 383; editing, 383; renaming, 384
Query, 375 report templates vs. reports, 369
Query Expert Editor window, 326 Report Types window, 381
query expressions: adding/inserting, 319; Report Viewer, 377
deleting, 320; editing, 320
reports: adding batch reports, 379; adding
query optimization, 82 images, logos and watermarks, 392; adding
query prompts, 324 report templates, 380; batch reports, 378;
Quick Form Editor window, 233 deleting batch reports, 380; deleting report
quick forms: overview, 230; setting default to templates, 383; description, 368; editing
be used for envelopes, 50 batch reports, 379; editing report templates,
Quick Forms: adding images, logos and 383; favorites, 404; from Names/Matters
watermarks, 232; managing, 234; using to Browse, 376; generating, 374; generating
generate documents, 231; using to batch reports, 380; generating multiple,
generate envelopes, 232; using to generate 376; setting default printer, 49; types, 370
letters, 231 Reports, 49; Counting records, 406;
quick queries, 314; adding, 320 Management, 405
Quickbooks, 522 required fields, 74
Rec #, 334 rescheduling, 166
record properties for ALF files, 223 Re-send, 296
Record Separator, 389 Reset the timer, 356
records: counting in databases, 515; deleting resizing windows, 23
selected in database, 518; for intake forms, Restore Files for, 507
415, 417; permanently deleting, 507; Restore Setup window, 506
retrieving deleted, 514; tagging, 26 restoring: data from backup, 506
Records tab, 415 retrieving deleted records, 514
recurring events, 164 return address, 268
registration, 31 returning to a previous record, 351
Re-index Data Files, 312 Row #, 401
reindexing, 60; databases manually, 520 rules, 6, 163; adding/editingMERGEFORMAT,
Relative, 328 328; deletingMERGEFORMAT, 331;

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 531

Index

example, 327; importingMERGEFORMAT, Short name, 192

331; licensing, 542; shortcut keys, 28; monthly calendar, 367
printingMERGEFORMAT, 332 Show Nameplate on main window, 45
sales, 9 Show Picture Window, 45
Samples directory, 101 Show Tip of the Day, 45
Save and Log to Abacus macro, 193 Show Tooltips, 45
Save in list of queries, 321 Showcalendars, 402
scanning, 210 shutdown, 35, 36
scanning documents, 196 simple expressions, 524
scheduling: setting default date range for skins, 53
warnings, 62
Skype, 522
Scope, 394
SlideRules, 6
Screen Designer, 72
Smart Screens, 4, 540; setting up, 81
screen pops, 522
SmartLaser data, 496
screens, 82; add HyperLink, 76; adding, 71;
sorting. See indexing; names by ID, 96
adding extra databases, 440, 441; adding
fields, 73; adding group boxes, 75; adding Soundex Match, 338
lines, 79; adding notes list box, 76; adding Soundex Starts Like, 338
tabs, 79; adding text/variable text, 75; sounds, 310
aligning objects, 79; assigning directly to Source, 505
records, 81; assigning to codes, 81; Source File, 507
assigning to windows, 47; changing tab
order, 80; cloning, 71; definition, 69; source forms, 282, 285; definition, 275
deleting, 72; deleting objects, 79; deleting Special Editions, 4, 540, 541
tabs, 79; editing, 71; editing objects, 79; Special Reports, 405
identifying directly assigned, 81; moving speed dialing: set up, 359; using, 359
objects, 79; rearranging objects, 79; spreadsheet, 246
resizing objects, 79; selecting objects, 79; Staff Calendar, 148
showing grids, 80; sizing, 80; unassigning,
82; using 2-D boxes, 80; using 3-D boxes, Staff toolbar button, 14
80 stamp notes, 136
Screens window, 69 Standard tab, 93, 113
nd
Scroll 2 line, 402 standard tabs: extra databases, 441
search bar, 23 Start day, 402
Search Notes window, 132 Start tab, 415
searching. See finding starting, 13
searching documents, 198 Starts with, 336, 337
security: setting supervisor password, 59 Startup, 60
security access profiles, 37, 38, 39, 40 Startup Window, 44
Select Fields for Calendar window, 400 statistics, 314; viewing for databases, 515
Send New Message window, 293 Status, 193
Separate with, 402 status bar, 13
Set Field function, 527 Status codes, 546
SetField(), 529 status of events, 169
Setup for TimeSlips Link window, 490 Stop/Start the timer, 356
SHIFT key, 29 string constants, 524

532 Index AbacusLaw Reference Guide

StrTran(), 529 Timeslips database, 491
sub-names, 217, 218 Timeslips Link, 489
Sub-Reports, 397 timing tasks, 356
Substring, 335 tip of the day, 45
Suffix, 360 Today, 367
Summary Only, 391 Today’s Documents, 227
Summary reports, 407 To-Do events: rolling over to next day, 60
Supervisor Password, 59 toolbar: Forms Library, 253
support, 9 toolbar buttons, 14
support resources, 12 toolbars/button labels, 16
synchronization, 459, 469, 476 toolbars/definition, 13
synchronized databases, 485 toolbars/hiding/showing buttons, 16
synchronizing: Abacus with Timeslips, 494 ToolTips, 13, 45
syntax, 535 totals: in reports, 408
system options: customizing, 58 Track Remote Synchronization, 61
System Options window, 312 training, 12
system requirements, 3 TreeView, 253, 254, 255
tabs, 92, 95, 113, 114; adding to screens, 79; Trim(), 529
deleting from windows, 79; reordering, 80 Type, 193
tag: documents, 214 Type codes (for events), 546
tagging records, 26 undeleting. See retrieving deleted records
Tapi, 522 unlinking: documents from matters, 211;
tasks. See events documents from names, 211; events from
technical support, 9 matters, 215; events from names, 207;
telephone calls, 360, 361, 363 matters from names, 203; names from
names, 217
Template Manager (forms), 272
unread messages, 298
templates, 426
Update TO-DOs on startup, 60
Terminology, 60
updates, 10
text: adding to screens, 75; marking as
private, 131 URL access, 301
text macros, 365 Use Classic Event Screen, 47
Things To Do, 137, 154; rolling over to next Use Default, 82
day, 60 Use default logic, 358
Time Ticket window, 352 Use long form on reports, 335
Timekeeper, 495 Use Wallpaper Background on Main Screens,
Timer: description, 352; minimizing, 356; 47
opening, 352; posting results, 356; Use ZipCode Lookup, 61
resetting, 356; setting up, 354; User Initials window, 312
starting/stopping, 356; timing tasks, 356 User Logon, 311
Timeslips: creating database, 490; exporting User Name, 44
names, 493; importing names, 493; linking user preferences, 307; customizing, 44
to Abacus, 489; setting up link, 490; setting
user working hours, 35, 36
up on each station, 490; synchronizing with
Abacus, 494 user-defined fields, 60
Timeslips Activity, 495 user-defined index, 394

AbacusLaw Reference Guide 533

Index

user-defined indexes: definition, 82; using to windows: changing backgrounds, 47;

optimize queries, 317 changing field font style, 48; changing
User-defined Indexes window, 82 fields, 65; changing label font style, 48;
users, 34, 35, 36, 37 controlling appearance, 53; resizing, 23;
selecting screens for, 47; using screens to
Valid Entries window, 21, 41
change appearance, 69
VALID expression, 527
Windows Explorer, 195
validation, 22
won’t view others private records, 512
variable text: adding to screens, 75
Word: creating forms, 285; Save and Log to
View others private records, 512 Abacus macro, 194; setting as default word
viewing: names linked to names, 218 processor, 50; setting up forms, 242;
wallpaper, 47 troubleshooting for mail merge, 238
Warn if add an Event, 62 Word processing forms, 251
watermarks, 232; on reports, 392 word processors: setting default, 50
Web, 187 Wordperfect: creating forms, 285
Web and Intake Form Designer, 415 WordPerfect: Save and Log to Abacus macro,
Web Details tab, 415 194; setting as default word processor, 50;
Web Intake Forms, 410, 422, 424, 425 setting up forms, 242; troubleshooting for
mail merge, 240
weekend events, 60
work groups: adding, 64; as Who codes, 65;
What codes, 547; associate with forms, 245 definition, 63; deleting, 65
WhatCodes-to-Form Associations window,
Work Groups window, 64
245
www, 187
WhatMERGEFORMAT, 329
[Link], 188
Where, 193
YEAR date function, 535
Where codes, 546
Zap Databases window, 508
Where to Go? window, 105
zapping databases, 508
Who, 146, 375
zip code, 527
Who codes, 546
zip codes, 61
will view others private records, 512

534 Index AbacusLaw Reference Guide