Easicare Frequently Asked Questions

Q :	How to bring back a sow that has been culled / died?
A :	Go into Easicare One Go into Edit Easicare One information Go into Sow information Go into By Ear Number Enter the Ear number of the sow that you want to bring back Go into Leaving Details Press the Space bar and ENTER on the leaving date Press F10 to save
Q :	How to edit parameters for the weekly management report
A :	Go into Easicare One Go into Management Report Go into Edit report Select the report that you want to edit Keep pressing F10 until you get to the page that has the parameter that you want to change Change the required parameter, then press ENTER Keep pressing F10 until you get back to the “select report to edit” menu
Q :	What is the latest version of the software?
A :	The latest version of the software is Version 17, which was released in the summer of 2004. If you have problems with your system that refer to date problems, the program saying that sows have left when you know they haven’t, or reports are showing too few sows / boars, then it is likely that you haven’t got the latest version.
Q :	I’ve just bought a new computer / had the hard drive replaced – what is the best way to re-install the software?
A :	If you don’t have a full installation CD for Version 17, then please call for one to be supplied. If you do have a v17 installation CD (supplied after April 2005), then all you need to do is place the CD in the drive and provided AUTORUN is enabled, the Installation program will install the software for you. If AUTORUN is not enabled, then all you need to do is carry out the following:  Go into MY Computer Double left click on the drive which represents your CD drive Double left click on the file call INSTALL Follow on- screen prompts
Q :	Having installed the program on my new computer / hard drive, and restored my data, I get errors when I try to run the program.
A :	The most common reason for this is that the operating system needs to be told how many files that it can have open for a MS-DOS session. Depending on what operating system you have determines the procedure for resolving this. Please read the Document called “Notes for running Easicare on different operating systems” for detailed instructions.
Q :	Having tried to restore my data, the program says “Restore information – unpacking failed
A :	The most common reason for this is that the program thinks that the backup hasn’t worked. There is a manual restoration method that is as follows (presuming unit 1 is the unit that you are restoring). Obtain the MS-DOS prompt (see document “Notes for running Easicare on different operating systems”) Type in    CD \EASICARE                  and press ENTER Place the disk to restore in the floppy drive Type in    EASIREST A: C:                and press ENTER Follow on-screen prompts Type in  MD 0001                            and press ENTER - ignore any error message that comes up Type in  CD 0001                            and press ENTER Type in   ..\PKUNZIP ..\0001EAS        and press ENTER (If a message comes up asking if you want to overwrite, press A Type in     EXIT                              and press ENTER Now, once you are back in Windows, run Easicare and see if the data is up to date (Form A on Easicare one should tell you your last week commencing date). If the above doesn’t work, then you probably need to be supplied with an alternative method for backing up / restoring, which is available if you contact us.
Q :	I’ve just bought a new printer, but Easicare won’t print anything to it
A :	There are a number of reasons for this. First of all you need to establish what type of interface your printer has. This can be either USB or parallel. If the printer has both, then for Easicare to work without any additional software, use the parallel option. If the printer is connected via USB, then the only option is to use a piece of software which will capture output from DOS programs and output them to any printer through Windows. There is a shareware program available to do this called DOSPRN. For instructions / descriptions of this, please see the document titled “DOSPRN”. If your printer is connected via parallel and printing is done via Easicare without the additional software, then it either needs to be Epson or HP compatible to work with Easicare. In general there is usually a way of getting any HP or Epson printer with a parallel connection to work with the program. Usually, if the formatting of each page in Easicare is slightly out, then the settings within the printer section of Utilities in Easicare can be adjusted to sort this out. If your printer is not HP or Epson compatible, then it is probably best to use Easicare with the DOSPRN program mentioned above (even if the printer is parallel). If you add a HP printer in the utilities section on Easicare, then, when it asks you if you want to copy the settings from another printer, if your printer is an inkjet, then copy from the HP560C settings, if it is a LaserJet, then copy the settings from the LaserJet III. If you’re adding in an Epson printer, then copy the settings from the Epson compatibles (narrow) in the program.
Q :	Information I’ve entered has not been saved
A :	The most common reason for this is that either ENTER wasn’t entered on a line, or F10 was not pressed at the end of a page to submit the information. On the input forms and in the editors, the keys are used as follows:- ENTER - used to accept a given line / field of information ESC - used to abandon changes or Escape back one page F10 - used to submit a page of information – once this is done, the information is submitted to file. F7 - used to access / edit further information – it is only active if the message at the bottom of the screen says it’s active. F1 - used to display help information – it is only active if the message at the bottom of the screen says it is active. PGUP and PGDN - used to scroll up and down a list one page at a time HOME and END - used to go to the beginning / end of a list UP and DOWN arrow keys – used to the previous / next item on a list. Please note, when entering information in a grid, if you enter something, then arrow up or down, without pressing ENTER, that entry won’t be acknowledged.
Q :	I need to get rid of the information for a unit as I’m re-stocking
A :	If you are 100% sure that you want to get rid of the information (i.e. you don’t want to keep the current information for historical analysis), then the procedure is as follows (presuming its unit 1 that you want to delete):-  Make a current backup of the unit that you are getting rid of. Go into MY COMPUTER Go into the C: drive (or whichever drive your Easicare data is on) Double click on the Easicare folder Highlight the 0001 folder by single left clicking on it (if its unit 2 you want to delete, then do folder 0002  etc …..) Press the SHIFT and DELETE keys (together)  - this will remove that folder (not send it to the recycle bin) Now, when you run Easicare, to set up the new unit, just go into Utilities, then select “add a new herd” and fill in the details. Once you’ve press F10 on that page, the new unit will have been created, and will be ready for you to enter information into. Please note, that when Easicare build up the unit menus (if you have more than one unit), it stops at the first gap it comes across, so if you had 2 units and you deleted unit 1, then unit 2 would not appear on the menu until a new unit was set up in Utilities to replace unit 1.
Q :	How do I get red of departments that I am no longer using?
A :	Unfortunately, there is no way within the program of doing this. The only way is for you to send a backup of your data to us and we will do it for you, returning the data back to you as quickly as possible so as to cause minimum inconvenience before you can put more information in.
Q :	How do I record animals retained from the feeding herd to the breeding herd?
A :	Enter them, first of all as sows entered on the Form A. When you get to the "Origin" section, enter "F/H". This will then open up two more lines. One for the  weight and one for the department (if your feeding herd is split into departments). Once this entry is saved, then the feeding herd will automatically be reduced by one pig, and the feeding herd weight will also be adjusted.
Q :	What is the minimum specification to run Easicare?
A :	As Easicare is an MS-DOS based program, it will work on just about any machine that has been sold since the mid 80's. The faster the processor, then the faster the program will run. Also, the more physical memory (RAM) the machine has then the more stable the program will be. Hard disk space requirements are about 20Mb for the programs and on average, about 10mb for each farm recorded.
Q :	Is there a quick way of getting rid of sows that left many years ago?
A :	In the latest version of the program, there is a new option for doing this. Go into Easicare One Go into Edit Easicare One information Go into Sow Information option Go into Delete sows that have left The program will then ask you for a date. Once this is confirmed, any sows that have a leaving on or prior to the date selected will be deleted permanently from file. Once the process is complete, it is advisable to carry out the following to tidy up the databases: Go into Utilities from the main menu Go into Database Maintenance If you more than one unit, select the unit that you want to do Go into Purge / rebuild indexes and answer “Y” to the warning Once the process is complete, you will be returned to the Database Maintenance menu. Please note that the time taken to process the purge / rebuild option will be dependant on the herd size, the level of recording and the speed of the computer. The numbers in brackets on each file name on the bottom line indicate how many records there are in each file – the number before the brackets indicates the record number that is been processed, so if it is building up really slowly, it should give you an indication if you can go and make a cup of tea whilst it is processing. Please note that once sows have been deleted using the above method, all of their records are gone for good – it is therefore recommended that you make a backup before carrying out the deletion and keep that backup safe (i.e. don’t ever overwrite it). The delete sows option mentioned above is useful if you need to get rid of sows “en mass” to free up sow numbers when you get new batches of gilts in. If there are many years of information held on file, if on selecting the date that you want to delete them prior to, it takes ages to do anything, then it may be advisable to do a year at a time, doing the database maintenance step each time before doing the next year – by doing it this way, it will have less information to look through each time. Again, the speed of deletion depends on the herd size, the level of recording and the speed of the computer. The worst case scenario would be on a herd with 3000 sows that has been running for 20 years which recorded every level of detail and was running on a 20 year old computer.
Q :	The information coming out on the weekly management report is not correct
A :	The reason for this is usually that the wrong report date has been entered. By default the report is set to run on a 7 day period. This means that the report date that you need to enter needs to be 6 days on from your week commencing date. For example, if your week starts on a Monday and the last weekly information was entered for week commencing 18/07/05, then the report date for the management report needs to be 24/07/05. The report will then include everything that has happened between the Monday and the Sunday (inclusive).  Please note that each time a report is run, by default, the program will give you a report date which is 7 days on from the last one produced, so the best advice is to keep an eye on what comes up, rather than just pressing ENTER on it, remembering that it needs to be 6 days on from the last week commencing date.
Q :	The stock count on the management report is incorrect (sucklers and feeders)
A :	For the suckler and feeder stock counts, the management report looks to the nearest stock count that it can find prior to the week commencing date. The stock counts that it looks for are those entered on Easicare Two, Form D, so if you haven’t been using this for some time, then it is likely that the figures could be in-correct. We strongly recommend that for this reason, the stock counts are entered as often as is possible. It is also recommended, that if a stock count is done and the date of that stock count falls within a week, that the stock count is entered before the weekly management report is run. This will enable it to pick up the accurate figures from the new stock count, rather than going back to the last one and adding in and taking away transactions between the stock count date and the date of the management report.
Q :	On the Easicare Two reconciliation report, what is the difference between the “Sows” and “Sows by Status” sections
A :	The “Sows” section is purely based on your last months physical stock count, adding in transfers in and purchases and taking off sales, deaths and transfers out between the two stock count dates, and then reports on the difference. The “Sows by status” section goes through each individual sow record, looking at the status of each sow and then categorizing it into the relevant status. This section is therefore the most accurate as it reflects what is actually recorded in Easicare one – it will give you the same results on a given date as the Sowlist, the Easicare Two report and Sow performance report. If there are huge differences in the balance, then it is likely that sow culls / deaths have not been entered (i.e. there are sows on file which haven’t had any events for ages, but have not been removed from the herd). The “Problem sow analysis” on Easicare one is a good way of tracking down un-productive animals.
Q :	Some reports are not showing what has actually been entered / some reports if compared with others that should show the same results, show different results
A :	This can happen if there is a lot of editing / deleting done in the editors. The solution is as follows:- Go into Utilities from the main menu Go into Database Maintenance If you more than one unit, select the unit that you want to do Go into Purge / rebuild indexes and answer “Y” to the warning Once the process is complete, you will be returned to the Database Maintenance menu. Please note that the time taken to process the purge / rebuild option will be dependant on the herd size, the level of recording and the speed of the computer. The numbers in brackets on each file name on the bottom line indicate how many records there are in each file – the number before the brackets indicates the record number that is been processed, so if it is building up really slowly, it should give you an indication if you can go and make a cup of tea whilst it is processing.  It is worth running the above procedure if any of the reports are showing incorrect information, and also if the input programs are causing errors (with an error code bigger than 100).